Mick O'Malley's Moss Monaco

[Car photographer]

Good work

[molleur]

Well done, coming along nicely!

[Mick O'Malley]

Yesterday my son had been staying away overnight so body removal wasn't possible. After a bit of head scratching I decided that the A352 should now live on the front rather than in the man cave. As soon as a few days fine weather is forecast I'll take it for its test, so that, when it eventually passes , I can at last use it.

This simple sounding task was a bit of a logistical problem. The Monaco had to be pushed right back, the wheelie bins and my daughter's redundant fridge and freezer moved temporarily into my front garden and the bird feeder moved from its socket in the lawn. It's a tight squeeze through the gaps for the A352, especially its wide back end. It's a lot easier with a helper, which I didn't have, so I had to hop out of the cockpit two or three times to check clearances. The beast eventually resided in its new home on the gravel next to the hedge (which is in sore need of attention). The aforementioned then had to be put back. My Machine Mart sack truck has been a godsend!



Next job was to move the Monaco. Space is tight so the manoeuvre involved a seven point turn, not easy without a steering column, but after much huffing and puffing it was sitting happily in the sunny cave.





In the continued absence of help, I turned my attention to fettling the L692 stop/tail lights which had come in the post the day before. The lenses are a fabulous deep cherry red which, when removed, revealed pristine interiors. I'm well pleased with them although separate reflectors will be needed. The nuts on the mounting studs were rusted solid so I set to work with wire brush, WD40 and judicious use of the blow lamp, protecting the backing rubbers with a wet cardboard shield. They eventually yielded without damage. My M10 120mm A2 bolts for the centre outrigger mountings had also arrived so I assembled them with my angled sleeves ready for the distant day when the body gets attached.



I pushed her forward a bit so I could sit behind in the sun and, with the aid of a plan I'd ripped from a Westfield site, tried to work out legal positions for them. I quickly realised that it wasn't possible to mount them on the body within the law. The maximum permitted distance between the edge of the vehicle and the light is 400mm but this wasn't possible on the off side, although it was on the near: the body really is asymmetrical! They'll have to go on the mudguards, eventually.



The grass was begging to be cut so I called it a day on the project as, on his return, my son was full of cold and disappeared to convalesce so body shifting wasn't an option .

Regards, Mick

[Jaguartvr]

The outer edges of the front cross member would make s nice mounting point for a pair of chrome headlights. The pods look a bit bulky.
Is it true that you have to wear a Dick Dastardly outfit when driving the Moss?

I see with the front wheel set up you are intending to go oval racing

[Mick O'Malley]

I went out to work on the Monaco, and it's raining! What a difference a day makes . I decided to search the web for a colour and paint code as I'll be going to the Spring Autojumble at Beaulieu where my suppliers exhibit and sell. They need plenty of notice to mix it so now's a good time.

After going down many blind alleys I finally found what I had in my mind's eye: Jaguar Regency Red .



Regards, Mick

[paul_n]

Originally Posted by Mick O'Malley

I'll be going to the Spring Autojumble at Beaulieu Regards, Mick

Going in the A352 ?

regards Paul

[Mick O'Malley]

Yesterday I decided to address the problem of having to wait for help each time I needed to remove the body. Now that the Monaco was in the cave I resorted to the method I used when the same difficulty arose building the A352.

I'd screwed stout hooks from Wilko's gardening aisle into the cave's 4" x 2" roof timbers. I'd cut suitable lengths of nylon rope with looped ends to support it and hung it high enough to roll out the underpinnings. This was easy with the A352 as the front end was separate and I could stand inside the tub, not an option with the Monaco.

Anyway, I propped up the front end, made the bespoke rope support, looped it over the hooks, propped the rear and rolled out the chassis. It only just scraped by so a little shortening will be needed, but at least it worked .





I decided to drill the holes for the centre outrigger attachment bolts while I had access. I'd already carefully marked their positions on pieces of white self-adhesive label stuck under the floor so, after putting a safety plank supported by two garden chairs underneath I drilled 5mm pilot holes then opened them out to 11mm from both sides to prevent splintering. On replacing the body I trial fitted the M10 bolts which aligned perfectly. Result! Previous owners have drilled a variety of other holes in the floor to the extent that I may name her 'Emmental'. The wood sandwiched in the floor is quite wet so a summer in the south facing cave won't do any harm!

I socialise on Friday afternoons so that was it for the day.

Originally Posted by paul_n

Going in the A352 ?

I've been going every year since '94 with an old kit car friend who built one of the first Westfield IIs in the early 80s. We camp in the New Forest, making a weekend of it, so practicalities demand we use his Mercedes, especially since the likelihood of our buying bulky automotive items is high!

Regards, Mick

[paul_n]

Originally Posted by Mick O'Malley

I've been going every year since '94 with an old kit car friend who built one of the first Westfield IIs in the early 80s. We camp in the New Forest, making a weekend of it, so practicalities demand we use his Mercedes, especially since the likelihood of our buying bulky automotive items is high!

Regards, Mick

Hi

yes I went last September and camped , couple of good down pours and I needed a boat on the camp site , however had a great time and will probably go again.

regards Paul

[Car photographer]

Nice colour!

[DaveP]

Bloody nice colour.

Loving the man cave in the sun

Dave

[7Fan7]

Same post already elsewhere on the forum

[Mick O'Malley]

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

[peterux]

Hi Mick,
just to say, I'm really enjoying your build updates

...peter

[Dpaz]

I've been enjoying your build while work has been keeping me from overdue retirement and my Marlin Roadster re-work. Excellent stuff.
On the subject of your body hoist, Aldi/Lidle sometimes have a cycle hoist with pulleys. I made one with some sailing dinghy pulleys to lift a Canadian canoe.
Makes life a lot easier and with forethought all ropes can be pulled at the same time for a vertical lift.

[Mick O'Malley]

Originally Posted by Dpaz

Aldi/Lidl sometimes have a cycle hoist with pulleys.

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

Regards, Mick

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

[molleur]

Looking good!

[Mick O'Malley]

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

[Paul L]

Mick - Great progress as always and I like the dash layout.

Good luck, Paul.

[Mick O'Malley]

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

[Mick O'Malley]

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