MadaboutKitcars

What a diff-erence a week makes.


As no suggestions were forthcoming I put some broad search terms into Ebay and decided upon STP Engine Flush, which sounded quite aggressive. Scrutiny of the label on its arrival confirmed that its toxicity was akin to that of Ricin - just the job!

Donning my border patrol gloves, I poured half the container into the diff. and rolled the car quickly back and forth about ten metres to ensure the gears had a good rinsing. I left it overnight, repeated the rolling the next day and drained the day after. The crud that emerged dissolved in the juice was disgusting, so I let it drain overnight and repeated the whole process, which was completed this morning. The second draining was almost clear. Result! I filled to the hole with fresh EP80/90 and did a little more rolling to ensure the internals were well coated. It now feels super smooth.

Regards, Mick

D'Oh!


In view of the inclement weather yesterday I decided to fit my new headlamp bowls and P700 lookalikes to the GRP pods which came with the kit. Imagine my surprise when I realised the pods are for 5¾" lights and I'd bought 7" .

These are therefore surplus to requirements. They cost me £73.40 so, if anyone on here would like them before I list them on Ebay, make me an offer. I can deliver to Beaulieu, Prescott, Shelsley Walsh, Castle Combe or Stoneleigh, you can collect from GL1, or I'll post at cost.

I did offer them up to my spare set of S4 Seven bowls but they're incompatible.

Regards, Mick

More Floor

Today I was determined to go for a spin in the A352 as the weather forecast was so good and the poor old girl's been sat there for ten days since her MOT. As I was taking the top cover and tonneau covers off I remembered I was supposed to be taking up a carpet for my daughter. I pitched into that and an hour had gone. I thought, I'll wait until it's a bit warmer as the wind was quite bitter, and I'll do some Monaco in the meantime.

My son's away for the weekend so I had to resort to my rope trick to remove the body. By the time I'd managed this, wheeled the chassis out of the way, dropped the back end of the body onto my Machine Mart trolley, pulled it onto the grass (which I'd interrupted proceedings to cut) and pushed the chassis back into the cave, another hour had gone.

I then remembered that the 'lift the dot' studs made it very difficult to single handedly manoeuvre the body inverted, as they turn it into a harrow, so I removed the front fibreglass coaming and the top five rear studs and rolled the body over. Yet more time gone.

I'd decided to use a classic Mini petrol tank in the tail and had bought a refurbished one a couple of weeks ago. I offered it up and cut a hole for the filler neck which protrudes at a weird angle, although the tank itself sits quite nicely in the space. I'll have to cut and shut the neck.

I refitted the first bit of boot floor, after carefully drilling the holes for attachment to the rear suspension turrets - I'd drawn around the latter from underneath during the last trial assembly. I then measured where the bottom of the tank would sit and prepared a cardboard template to fit parallel to the plane of the other bits of floor.

Out came the ply, the jigsaw and the support blocks, I drew around my template and cut the new bit of floor which only needed very slight trimming to fit snugly. I cut four doorstop temporary supports, screwed them to the body and rested it in place. I'm quite happy with it although I think it's possible the two big eyes on the very back of the chassis frame might foul it. Time will tell and, if so, something will have to give.



By this time my concentration was waning so, rather than press on, I tidied everything away. As the body will live upside down on the grass whilst the dry weather continues, I taped over the tops of the multitude of holes so that drying of the sandwiched wood isn't compromised. Some of the mounting holes had definitely been drilled on a 'hit and hope' basis. Mine is the one with the white tape - apologies for the rubbish picture!



As for the blat in the A352, mañana.

Regards, Mick

Thanks! I'll keep my eyes peeled for that.

Regards, Mick

p.s. And thanks to you and peterux for the kind words .

GRP & Dash

Today, as the morning weather forecast was good, I decided to do some work on the rear body, where the petrol tank will eventually sit. I temporarily re-fitted the second piece of floor to the inverted body, and attempted to manoeuvre the petrol tank through the hole I had cut in the seat back area, This was to help me decide whether to make the floor permanent or removable in the event of tank maintenance or replacement at some future date. It almost not quite fitted through the aperture so I decided on permanent, as only an additional thin sliver would need to be removed. I took the floor back out and, as you can see, the rear body is far from symmetrical.



I then cleaned the areas that I was going to repair, first with production paper, then acetone to ensure surgical cleanliness. Where the bottom of the skin in front of the wheel arch meets the seat back there was a nasty crack and split, and another split at the bottom of the opposite corner. I filled the former with a wedge of U-Pol. When this had cured I bridged both cracks with two layers of mat and resin. I'll add another two when weather permits.





While the GRP kit was out I decided to cover the bottoms of the redundant mounting holes with more mat and resin, following the same cleaning regime. I now only have to tape over my two holes of a night whilst it's inverted on the grass. I'll wait until I'm good and sure that the wood sandwiched in the floor is dry before sealing the other side.



The nice man had delivered my dashboard blank yesterday. The same friend who turned my A352 wheel spigots and steering wheel boss laser cut it for me. Top bloke! I decided I'd trial fit the clocks, switches and lights to boost enthusiasm and was very pleased with the look of it. I won't cut the top profile until I've fitted the upper steering column mounting as it may slightly affect positioning. The top two on the left are dip switch and horn; the outer two beneath, accessory socket and lights. The indicator switch looks as though it fouls the oil pressure gauge, but it's well clear.



By this time black clouds were piling up and another nice man had just delivered the plywood I'm boarding my daughter's loft with tomorrow. The 8'x4' sheets have to be jig-sawn down to 4'x2' to fit through the hatch. This was my last job of the day.

Regards, Mick

Tank Mounting

Yesterday, after a wet morning, I decided to press on with the Mini fuel tank. First job was to find a way to sit it upright in the inverted body. I considered wedging it with wood off-cuts but, as both surfaces are curved, I discarded that idea. I took off the number plate and threaded a loop of para cord through the holes. With the filler neck in its hole I then knotted and re-knotted the ends until the tank sat nicely.



I laid a straight edge along the bottom flange and marked the inside edges of the body. I put the floor back in place and transferred the marks to its edges, then cut an oblong of ply against which the rear face of the flange will locate. I stuck it to the floor temporarily with four small blobs from my Machine Mart hot glue gun and offered it up. I could see that my idea would work. As the base of the tank is curved, further ply will have to be fixed to support it across its width. I'll probably use Sikaflex and short countersunk wood screws for final assembly.





A matching but removable ply locating plate will sandwich the front of the flange. I'm unsure how I'll locate the top of the tank but there's a handy mounting hole and I can fabricate a removable neck escutcheon, once the odd angle at which it protrudes has been sorted by cutting a V and welding.



That was it for the day.

Regards, Mick

Back on The Job

I've been side-tracked for a week and a bit by other jobs, plus another half day sortie in the A352, but on Sunday and yesterday I was able to get back Monaco-ing.

When I'd offered up both levels of my boot floor I realised that the front one, which will bolt to the suspension towers, wasn't long enough to enable the ply joining the two to be vertical. Fortunately, one of the jobs which sidelined me was fabricating new gates between the houses from 13mm ply (the old ones were modified fence panels and hadn't stood the test of time), so there was enough spare to make a new extended floor using the old one as a template.

When cut out I noticed that the ply was de-laminated quite badly so I made up some resin, brushed it liberally into the gap and weighed it down flat (there's a car battery in my bin) whilst the resin cured. This worked, but I haven't offered it up yet.



I then turned my attention to the front body and bonnet which had been cut for the 40DCOE (now sold) which the project came with. Luckily the previous owner had kept the bonnet section and part of the body side. The latter first needed screwing to the length of strengthening angle I'd fitted. I set to with the GRP gubbins, completing the underside of the bonnet and one of the gaps left either side of the body bit.









Number two son then arrived for his birthday get-together so, at lager o'clock, I tidied everything away.

Regards, Mick

Carbs, Gearbox & Engine

On Tuesday I decided to neglect the bodywork and do some chassis work instead.

I'd found a pair of 1¼" SUs on a four inlet port Spitfire manifold when I cleaned out my shed. I think it came as a spare when I bought my Marlin Roadster about ten years ago. Maybe. I'd bought an overhaul kit so I set to, firstly with a bannister brush, then dismantling fluid (I find this an excellent cleaner). It took a good morning to fit the kit and give the dashpots a quick once-over with Autosol.

Next job was to bolt the manifolds to the head which revealed that the two tapped extensions which are meant to be bolted to the exhaust manifold were too long. I cut ever smaller slices (three) off them until I obtained a good fit and tightened everything up. The carbs sit nicely now, albeit without cable operated pivots for either the throttle or choke, or return springs. Beaulieu Spring Autojumble awaits!



Yesterday morning, again not wanting to do bodywork, I decided to re-fit the clutch and gearbox. The days when I could fit a gearbox with a loop of old seat belt around the back of my neck have gone, so my trusty Machine Mart engine crane was pressed into service. While this was handy I renewed the engine mountings as well as the gearbox ones, the former looking like 60s originals. I thought I'd check the gearbox oil level whilst I was down there and found it was empty, 1½ pints of hypoy later all was well . I also fitted the oil feed pipe to the rockers. The Christmas tree arrangement necessary for this, an oil pressure gauge and switch can be seen in the picture. The end switch is to blank the hole until it's time to fit the dash (crap photo' alert).



This morning I decided to tackle the mini tank problems. From Ebay I ordered a neck grommet, locking petrol cap and sender unit, the tank having come bare. I offered it up in the boot area and decided that the two original holes in the flange were insufficient for secure mounting and cut two fishplates (there'll be two mountings top and bottom) from an old joist hanger which will be welded to the flange by my demon welding contact. I also marked out and made the V cut in the filler neck to correct its odd angle with the body. He'll TIG this for me as well. I toyed with the idea of whizzing over to his workshop with it in the A352 but decided that Maundy Thursday afternoon wasn't the best time to be distracting him from his real customers' jobs. Tuesday will have to do.



I packed up and called it a day.

Regards, Mick

More Tank & Boot Floor

Yesterday I set to and offered up the tank and boot floor to the inverted body. I decided that, on my previous attempt, I hadn't optimised the tank's orientation in regard to the outlet, which wasn't quite as low as it should have been. This slight angle would also have compromised correct operation of the fuel gauge sender.

After a bit of jiggling I realised a new neck hole would be needed in the body. Its new location would be almost perfectly central, so I marked the new position, drilled a pilot hole and used my hole saw from both sides to ensure a clean cut. This I hadn't achieved the first time as I'd used the 'ring of small holes' method, which was ugly, to say the least! This will obviously need to be glassed over!

The very bottom of the tank and the middle of the plywood floor now occupied the same space so, using Cardboard Assisted Design, I made a template, transferred the outline to the floor, and cut the hole. It needed a bit of tweaking with my jigsaw's angled cutting facility coming in very useful. After three or four attempts the floor and tank mated perfectly.







The nice man had delivered the large headed rivets I intend using for my demon rear floor section supports, but not the aluminium strips that they'll fix to the body. Last job of the day was to cut and drill the short lengths of aluminium angle which will support the front edge of the forward boot floor section and temporarily bolt them in position. Regular readers will notice that the access hole for the spring mounting has miraculously healed itself. My first attempt wasn't measured accurately enough but luckily I had more than enough spare ply from my gate building to make another which is just a little longer



Regards, Mick

Fuel Tank & Supports

Yesterday I took the Mini fuel tank over to my welder in the A352. It was the first time he'd seen the so-say 'D' and was impressed. I pointed out the bits he'd done: folding the transmission tunnel; welding the flip front hinge; the neck and blanking plate on the tank; the hand brake support; the gear lever; its mounting bracket and the extended gear change remote. I explained the jobs I wanted doing on the tank: he's busy at the moment after the holiday but will give me a ring next week when it's done.

Today I fabricated the rear boot floor section supports from 3mm x 25mm aluminium flat. There are five of them: two for each side and one for the back. They'll be attached with 4.8mm large headed rivets through from the outside of the body; the floor will be M8 bolted to them with penny washers each side. Having seen the structural engineer's calculation for the box beams in my cottage using wire ovals through ply (it was many tons shear force per nail), I'm confident that the 20 rivets will be more than secure.



That was it for today, apart from 'phoning my Spitfire breaker contact and ordering a large flanged propshaft and a fuel pipe, the hard plastic type. He's frequently up and down the M5 from Devon so they'll arrive in a week or two.

Regards, Mick

Radius Arms

Correctamundo! He supplied the engines, gearboxes and lots of other bits for both my Marlin Roadster and A352. Top bloke!

Monday and yesterday I tackled how I'm going to locate the forward ends of the radius arms. I originally intended to extend them forward to the centre outriggers as Micky1Mo did. However, these items popped up on Ebay so I bought them to see if they could be somehow adapted.



After a bit of head scratching I decided that adaption was possible and cut them down ready for base plates to be welded on. These will be bolted through the wood and GRP floor with a steel sandwich plate inside to minimise the possibility of their working the holes.



I made a cardboard template of the mounting plate - the triangular ears will be folded up before welding to provide resistance to the twisting moment. I might supplement this with a metal strap leading forward - belt and braces!



I dug out the radius arms and set to with replacing what looked like the original bushes. The bolts through the mounting brackets had to be cut out as they were rusted solid into the bush sleeves. I drove the old bushes out and the new ones in using the vice, bolt and socket method, after cleaning their housings with emery cloth and using plenty of dismantling fluid before assembly.

That was it for Tuesday. Once my demon welder 'phones to let me know my tank's ready I can whiz over and raid his skip for suitable bits of scrap for the above. Happy Days!

Regards, Mick

Grille Manufacture

Today I had other tasks to complete, so there was only a small time window for the Monaco. I decided to cut the grille out of the 50cm square sheet of mesh I bought what seems an age ago!

Using the trusted cardboard assisted design method I fashioned a template which only needed a couple of small adjustments before it sat perfectly in the nose. I lay the mesh over it and marked the snip line with a black felt tip pen, including three flanges which may assist fixing.





Ten minutes with my Machine Mart aircraft quality left hand curve tin snips had the job done. It sat in place under its own weight exactly. It's now hanging in the corner of the shed awaiting the distant day it'll be sprayed black and fitted.



Regards, Mick

Growing old is unavoidable, growing up, however......................

Regards, Mick

Wow!


No, I hadn't. Thanks for that

It's Ford based and extremely well finished, I love those wheels! However, I doubt it will make anything like that, £5k is a little more realistic, but good luck to the vendor.

[COLOR="green"]Ebay Monaco[/COLOR]

Regards, Mick

Another French Monaco

The other day I received a Facebook message from a fellow member of the Moss group to tell me her husband has built her a Monaco. I sent her a link to this thread and this morning she sent me a picture of her 'Premiers tours de roue ce matin...'.

Trés cool!



Regards, Mick

Column-Dash-Screen

Life got in the way of the build for a few days but yesterday I managed a couple of hours play

I decided to address the problem of the top steering column mounting which I knew would impact on the position of the dash. My first job was to suspend the column from a roof beam of the cave with paracord, having manoeuvred the car into a suitable position. I'd tried wedging it from below but this made sitting in too difficult. Once I was happy that it sat perfectly, I made a rough cardboard screen as the top edge of my ally dash will need to be trimmed to match it. This I cut down whilst sitting in to ensure a decent sight line for driving.



I then made a cardboard dash blank and marked and cut out the area which mates with the column. After a bit of jiggling and snipping I was able to get it into a semblance of its final position. When the real thing is fitted the back of the dash, which I will set out a little, will be visible through the screen. Tidy wiring will be essential!



The outer column has a handy welded on bracket at right angles, i.e. across the footwell, with two mounting holes. Pondering how to attach it, and discarding the idea of a full car width bar, I hit on the idea of a scuttle brace, as in the donor. By joining the bottom of the dash to the tunnel, and supporting the LH end of the column brace, which will run to the RH skin, it will provide the necessary rigidity. Scratching around in my metal pile I found an early 3mm thick dash blank which, when adapted, will be perfect. It will be a broad U section with ears each side of the very sturdy Monaco transmission tunnel (which has been manufactured strong enough to take both the handbrake and remote gear levers). I bend thinner ally and narrow strips myself but making a tidy 'in full view' job of this I baulked at. My welding friend has an hydraulic folder (he did the A352 tunnel for me) so I marked it out ready for taking to him when I collect the modified fuel tank. Once it's been formed I can cut the bottom to sit astride the tunnel and the top to underlap the dash slightly.

That was it for the day

Regards, Mick

Last tank lap, hopefully.

On Tuesday I'd whizzed over to my welder friend's place and collected my modified tank. Whilst there I successfully raided his scrap metal skip for the flat steel I need for my radius arm mountings.

Yesterday provided an opportunity to offer up the tank, having first glassed over the wrong side of my first, very ugly, filler neck hole. After a bit of jiggling I discovered it didn't sit quite right, the reason being that one of the tank's many bulges had been sitting in that hole. Aargh! The solution will be dressing said bulge with a block of wood and a lump hammer.



The floor sat over it in a satisfactory manner with the lower of the two new lugs ready for its locating bracket. I know it looks to be very low and vulnerable but it's in fact masked by the diff. in situ. Today's task will be rivetting the floor's locating straps to the body, prior to fashioning and fitting the tank's upper locating brackets. I'd had to relieve the other floor section as well to get a snug fit. This part of the build has been a little tedious and time consuming but, once it's completed, the body will be ready for mounting onto the chassis, which will first need some handbrake and brake line related fettling. Happy Days!



Regards, Mick

Last tank lap, hopefully, part II

Yesterday, between showers, I finally managed to get my tank floor supports rivetted to the body sides. To make sure they were plane I fitted the rear one first, next the two front ones, drilled their M8 bolt holes in the floor and temporarily fitted same. I could then accurately mark the correct positions of the other two. After attaching them another temporary floor fitting gave me the last two M8 hole locations. It was very satisfying when all five bolts dropped through the floor into their respective brackets under gravity, my anally retentive approach vindicated!







Looking afresh at that last picture shows just how pissed the body is, possibly partly from being shunted from pillar to post for three decades. I tell myself it's all part of its retro charm . A bit of caulking is going to be needed along the edges, especially the rear one.

I'm pleased with the look of the big head rivets, they passably match the moulded in 'Dreadnought' ones. I think more of them will be pressed into service when body fitting time comes around . The lazy tongs rivet gun certainly made things easy, a sound investment.

Regards, Mick

Body Mounting - At Last

Several times since my last post (three weeks!) I've done small jobs on the project which haven't been worth reporting, and some on the A352 which have proved a distraction. I also visited the Beaulieu Spring Autojumble which yielded front and rear indicators which I've neglected to photograph before this post. Next time!

Anyway, the net result of my labours has been to arrive at the point where I could at last mount the body on the chassis, or so I thought . On Friday I'd finally bolted the mini petrol tank in place, having had to wait a few days for the windscreen washer tube I've run from the breather stub down to the bottom to arrive. The tank's four bolt mounting and the tight fit of the filler neck have resulted in a satisfactorily rigid result , although the filler isn't quite central, more retro charm.



Yesterday I very carefully marked the side rails of the frame next to the factory seat belt and body mounting tappings, transferred them to the body underside, measured the offsets and drilled 13mm holes through the floor sandwich. More on this below.

Today I surgically cleaned with acetone the mating top face, the limits of which I'd marked with a felt-tip, then cut and applied the self-adhesive foam strip which hopefully will prevent the two rigid surfaces from drumming.



I then turned my attention to the brake pipes which a previous owner had cunningly mounted so that they would chafe on the return flanges and outrigger holes they pass through. Genius! I carefully straightened and recurved them where needed and added a couple of home made P clips using split tube between them and the pipe. I'd come across a similar problem when I ally-skinned my pre-lit Westfield Seven. The master mechanic who'd built it had routed both the brake pipe and the handbrake Bowden cable over the top centre of the diff, the only place where they could be (and were!) crushed against a transverse spaceframe tube. Brilliant.

Crap photo' alert!





Recruiting my son the body was clapped on the chassis for the umpteenth time and checking underneath revealed perfect mating, apart from the tops of the rear suspension turrets where I'd forgotten to stick the foam. Aaaargh! That will wait for another day now. Probing my new floor holes confirmed that the above mentioned marking and drilling had been accurate. At least I'd got something right .

Regards, Mick

Indicators

Here are the very reasonably priced indicators I picked up at the autojumble. I was drawn to the yellow ones by their unusual colour. They're mismatched but, as they'll be on the rear wings, I think it would take a particularly eagle eyed tester to notice this. The other two are new Lucas L488s which were about half price. Result!



Regards, Mick