Well, I'm not breaking any records... but I have spent a few hours on the ole bomb over the last week or so. I fitted up a new finned side cover & a set of extractors & dual carb intake which a mate made for me recently. I will get a pic of the manifolds bolted up, & try for a dodgy run video, but it cranked up with out any real issue, it needs some fettling, as it doesn't seem to be firing on all cyls, but I am excited to get some progress again!
I'm back at it again!, will get some more pics up soon. @edfueler rattled my cage & heckled me enough to enter for the Rattletrap Beach Race - (mid May) -. So the race is on, so to speak. The plan is to get the bucket of bolts race worthy with an eye to getting it on the road. First job done on this new push was to weld up a short exhaust. Small steps in the right direction, aye... This old trunk was in the tray of my first A RPU. I think it will find a home here too.
I'll get some pics up soon, but I am slowly getting some little jobs done, mounted a fuse panel & fuel pump. I'm not entirely happy with the fuel hose but it will work for now. We've started mounting the seats, & have the exhaust bolted up. I'm adjusting the length of the throttle & advance/retard rods to work with the twin carb manifold. It starts & idles nicely, though has a bit of a miss when warm. My plan with this car is for it to be a rolling progression. Between 3 young kids work & other communities time is tricky to find. This model A is about putting smiles on Dials, so driving & ready to race is first stop, then Registration is next after that. This pic is for no other reason than for something to look at. Will get some other pics up soon. 4 weeks till show time!
A little progress, cutting floor boards this weekend. These were old cupboards from our house, I've saved much of the timber that has been removed from the house during reno's. I'm trying to recycle as much as I can in this build - parts from wrecks, steel/timber etc Not to be deliberately rough but to keep it low key. It'll be a beater more than anything neat.
These pics, sorry for blurr are of the steering column mount rescued from a particularly rusty tank I dragged home 15 yrs ago. We took the firewall out of it also. It was nice to be able to re-use this piece of 'junk'. The chassis is a factory RHD however the body is LHD & the original column mount on the tank had been hacked off prior to my getting it.
View attachment 5377999 Small steps, I still need to tidy the toe board up & screw it down, but got it fitting tonight. My dad who lives over 1000 miles away is staying & has been helping me which has been really nice. At 82 he's still fit & active. The time is precious. I havn't decided on a battery hatch as yet, as the floor will lift out. But I do plan on some sheet steel strips around the holes & at the join. This may happen after Rattletrap. Will have to wait & see.
A good mate Dwight dropped in & grabbed the temporary - race seats - took them home & fabbed up a quick bracket to mount them in the car, hopefully they will get fitted tomorrow night. I bent up the Ign push rod, & got it working ok, tonight. A bit more fettling is needed but it's on the way.
The seats are mounted to a sub frame, just need some bolts to attatch it. Longer term I think it will end up with a bench seat but these work for now, they were free & had some sort of upholstery. Dwight dropped back & had a look at the dizzy, found 2 plugs were not firing properly or at all, turned out the rotor button was worn out. I ratted a dizzy out of an engine that came with my first A model (20 years ago), the button was quite reasonable so put that to work & now it runs very nicely! I am really pleased with how it is coming together. Incidently Dwight is also the one who welded up the inlet manifold & headers.
Still plugging away here, didn't get much done over the weekend with one of my kids in Hospital overnight & a couple of trips for me & an overnight stay too. Anyway making small steps, should have some pics n more updates over the next few days. A little over 2 weeks till we are due to head to Crowdy Head for the beach race . This photo was taken a month or two back when the car was used as a gate guard for our local hot rod show with the goofy arrow showing the way. My family couldn't help but line up for a photo!
Hope all is ok with your daughter now mate. As we know just keep plugging away, many small jobs are hard to see progress some times but then one day you walk in and realise you have achieved a LOT
It was the little boy in the hat standing in the back, he fell 3.5meters (11-12ft) out of a tree, he has recovered very well & miraculously did 't break any bones. Since this last burst, I have mostly only worked on it after the kids have gone to bed. Hopefully this weekend I can wheel it out & get a bit more done. Thanks for checking in.
Thanks mate, cheap & dirty, hoping for maximum fun & little care/worry I will be throwing many people behind the wheel.
Thanks Joey, you've got a great lil car coming together & had much fun with its first 'phase' I have thoroughly enjoyed your tales from a world far from here Hope you find a few things that make you smile here.
Thanks fella's, i am really pleased with them. Made up out of scrap pieces from an old dairy - I believe.
Working on getting the handbrake sorted & fitting some missing brake rods/clevis's. I have been able to get these out of my stock -rusty junk in the yard- which has been very satisfying. You can see another rod in the top pic, I put a grove in it to grab hold of the spring so I could pull it into position I battled with putting the handbrake arm on it before I realised that the pinch bolt was stopping it from sliding on. Dropped on fairly easily after this.
My wife was holding the spanner (brake lever out of the way) & had to go attend to the kids, so came up with this strap to hold it. I'm Lucky that she has a sense of humour, she laughed when I told her she was replaced by a strap!
Good result! I try and do all my work by myself but had to get my Mrs help yesterday for 5mins after looking at the job for 20mins on how I could do it by myself
Just need to sort out clevis pins & the brakes are done. With a bit of heat & penetrant soak I was able to unwind one of the hand brake rod ends, it was quite satisfying. The other I put in the lathe & drilled it out a little. Will try an easy-out tomorrow. Before this hits the road I may replace some of these parts with new ones, but will be more than adequate for the race in less than two weeks! We also drove some laps around the block this weekend, unfortunately no good pics/video. Will get some for you. I took all the family at different times & they all loved it. I'm quite pleased with how it goes, I got it into 3rd & maybe 30mph. It will be interesting to get up to speed & see how it drives & tracks.
Here's a couple of pics, we have been getting things done. hopefully, we will get the last of the jobs for the race done tomorrow.
Had a few mates here today, we got a fair bit done & a got a few jobs knocked over, a few nights this week. Lettering happened today, headlight bar was welded up (using a couple of stuffed - bent/rusty bars) wiring tidied up, battery isolator fitted, got the pax door fitting. we pinched the striker from a spare tourer pillar, the latch knob from a junk AA door & various other bits n pieces. There were perhaps a couple of sprints/test runs up & down the road & I am really happy with how it runs for something thrown together out of junk. I'll need to trim off the windscreen posts prior to the race as I won't be able to get a screen done in time. But that will be ok. was going to cant the posts anyway.
We are due to leave for Crowdy Head tomorrow after work, however I discovered the trailer I was going to use had 2 broken main leaves. I think I have another trailer lined up. It is 1250 miles round trip, so we have some country to cover. Hopefully will get the car loaded tonight.
The Jalopy Journal
