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Go Back   Madabout Kitcars Forum > Mad Build Area > Vintage and Classic Roadster Kit Car Builds

Vintage and Classic Roadster Kit Car Builds For Vintage and Classic era kit cars. Post your build reports, problems and progress here

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  #101  
Old 26th April 2017, 16:58
Mick O'Malley Mick O'Malley is offline
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Lightbulb 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
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  #102  
Old 28th April 2017, 17:47
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Mick - Great progress as always.

Daft as it sounds, but the smiley face on the cardboard grille brought a smile to my own face.

Good luck, Paul.
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  #103  
Old 29th April 2017, 08:34
Mick O'Malley Mick O'Malley is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul L View Post
Mick Daft as it sounds, but the smiley face on the cardboard grille brought a smile to my own face.
Growing old is unavoidable, growing up, however......................

Regards, Mick
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  #104  
Old 29th April 2017, 10:03
retro200 retro200 is offline
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Default moss monaco

hi mick have you seen item number 162495809318 on e bay !!!
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  #105  
Old 29th April 2017, 18:52
Mick O'Malley Mick O'Malley is offline
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Default Wow!

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Originally Posted by retro200 View Post
hi mick have you seen item number 162495809318 on e bay !!!
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.

Ebay Monaco

Regards, Mick
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  #106  
Old 29th April 2017, 19:25
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Jaguartvr Jaguartvr is offline
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So that's where Mr Towed's bonnet bulge went!
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  #107  
Old 30th April 2017, 07:56
Mick O'Malley Mick O'Malley is offline
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Talking 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
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  #108  
Old 30th April 2017, 10:43
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looks like a nicely finished example ...

I was asked to price up restoring one of these years ago ...a guy up near Calne , from memory ....I suspect , there is a few sat around unloved ..I really like the old open wheeled GP style cars ......shame thats not a few more about really ...
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  #109  
Old 4th May 2017, 11:08
Mick O'Malley Mick O'Malley is offline
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Thumbs up 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 edited by Mick O'Malley; 4th May 2017 at 11:11..
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  #110  
Old 11th May 2017, 07:23
Mick O'Malley Mick O'Malley is offline
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Arrow 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
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  #111  
Old 12th May 2017, 07:49
Mick O'Malley Mick O'Malley is offline
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Default 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

Last edited by Mick O'Malley; 14th May 2017 at 07:56..
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  #112  
Old 13th May 2017, 17:35
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Mick - I think the big rivets suit the car & I love the look of your extendable rivet tool.

I think I could use "Retro Charm" to describe quite a few areas of my build too.

Good luck, Paul.
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  #113  
Old 3rd June 2017, 16:25
Mick O'Malley Mick O'Malley is offline
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Cool 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

Last edited by Mick O'Malley; 3rd June 2017 at 16:28..
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  #114  
Old 4th June 2017, 08:52
Mick O'Malley Mick O'Malley is offline
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Default 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
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  #115  
Old 4th June 2017, 15:47
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Sounds like you are still pushing forward and I like the lights.
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  #116  
Old 8th June 2017, 06:59
Mick O'Malley Mick O'Malley is offline
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Smile One Small Step.........

After a few days of rain watching, yesterday I took advantage of the fine weather to address the last couple of hurdles before final fixing of the body to the chassis.

As the seating position in the Monaco is well aft of the Spitfire's, the gear lever needs to be similarly relocated. I'd done this on the A352 to get an authentic D Type forward angle and situation. I did this by butchering two extensions and joining them by bolting through a length of aluminium channel. The rod was extended with a length of welded on close fitting tube. This has worked well in service.



However, the build CD I got with the kit (scans of the 'manual', I don't think CDs were invented when it was manufactured) describes a simpler solution - chop the extension and bolt the driver's end through the GRP tunnel. Amongst the box of brackets I got is a fabricated extended rod but it's pretty crude so I'll extend the original again.





Next job was to fabricate brackets to firmly locate the body sides to the front outriggers. I couldn't use the existing tappings in them as the off side one has gone AWOL. I decided to make them from steel rather than aluminium sheet as decent strength and rigidity is needed. I plumped for M6 bolts through the top face of the outriggers and a combination of M5 bolts and big head rivets through the body, the outward curve of which means that neither of my rivet guns would fit to rivet the lower holes

Cardboard assistance was again used to make templates for the brackets and the angle of bend required. Due to the asymmetry of the body one of the nearside fixing holes had to be tapped into the inner boxed in section of the near-side outrigger.



I next applied the foam cushioning to the manufacturer's rear suspension bridge body mounting points and offered up the Monaco body. It now sits flush along its whole length and to my fabricated boot floor, and the mounting holes for my outrigger brackets look perfectly positioned.



I then quit while I was ahead, a sound decision as it began to rain whilst I was packing everything away!

Regards, Mick

Last edited by Mick O'Malley; 8th June 2017 at 07:09..
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  #117  
Old 24th June 2017, 18:33
Mick O'Malley Mick O'Malley is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mick O'Malley View Post
I'll post more pictures if I find any.

Regards, Mick
Whilst searching for a photo' of my laps of Castle Combe in a 550 Spyder, I at last came across one of my friend's Phaeton in M'boro McClaren colours. I'm the gormo on the right, blinking at exactly the wrong moment, and my kit car pal of 35 years on the left gives away the era with his mullet!

Happy Days



I also found a forgotten Monaco picture taken at Stoneleigh in 20**?



Regards, Mick

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  #118  
Old 16th July 2017, 17:41
Mick O'Malley Mick O'Malley is offline
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Default 38 Days Later!

Can't believe it's that long since I posted an update! I haven't been entirely idle, but it's true what they say about ever having found the time to go out to work! Crazy as it seems, on many of the intervening days it was simply too hot to work outside, either in the sun or the stifling heat of the south facing man cave.

I must have had the body on and off the chassis a good dozen times all told trying to ensure that it both sits properly along its whole length and that the holes I drilled aligned perfectly with tappings in the frame. The body now has 12 attachment points: two to the rear suspension bridge tappings; two to the rearmost original body mount tappings; two to the inboard seat belt tappings (these are no good for belts due to the Monaco's revised seating position); two which I described in an earlier posting to the short angled outriggers; and four fabricated angle brackets bolted/riveted to fix the floppy body to the front outriggers and curved front rail.

My extended gear change rod is slightly shorter than the pretty crude one supplied which would have put the lever in too rearward a position and pushed the handbrake lever back as well. When I drilled the four mounting holes in the rear half of the casting, I clamped a piece of 6mm ply to it to use as a template for the mounting holes in the tunnel. This worked a treat and the holes align perfectly.

DSCN0256 by Mick O'Malley, on Flickr

DSCN0255 by Mick O'Malley, on Flickr

Next job was the handbrake. On the donor system there is a secondary horizontal lever which multiplies the effort. It's too long to fit in the Monaco's tunnel so I decided to use it in the vertical plane. To achieve this I've had to butcher a spare cable guide to take two clevis attachments at 90° to each other. I'll cut the redundant 'wings' off once it's welded. Also, with the lever sitting much higher than on the Spitfire, I'm having to extend it downwards to provide a lower cable attachment hole. Quite how I'm going to mount the pivot rod for the multiplier lever within the skinny tunnel will be tricky, to say the least, but then it's no fun if it's easy.

DSCN0257 by Mick O'Malley, on Flickr

I cable tied my two lengths of thick battery cable together and cut and drilled seven P clips from ally which will locate them within the tunnel and gearbox cover, my battery being behind the passenger side seat back. I'll rivet them in place when the body comes off for, hopefully, the last time.

Today I dug out the ex-MOD seat belts (I've seen some on another thread on here) which I was going to use on the A352 but they just didn't look right. I offered them up and decided where the mountings would be. I then bought the necessary six eyelet bolts and spreader plates with nuts welded on that I'll need.

Regards, Mick
Attached Images
File Type: jpg DSCN0256.jpg (96.2 KB, 11 views)
File Type: jpg DSCN0255.jpg (82.1 KB, 9 views)
File Type: jpg DSCN0257.jpg (93.7 KB, 6 views)

Last edited by Mick O'Malley; 16th July 2017 at 18:46..
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  #119  
Old 16th July 2017, 17:46
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for flikr you click on the 'share arrow' near the image and then I select the 'BB code' - copy that and paste into here - seems to work fine for me

1-screengrab by paul ward, on Flickr

Last edited by Car photographer; 16th July 2017 at 17:56..
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  #120  
Old 16th July 2017, 17:55
Mick O'Malley Mick O'Malley is offline
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Default BB Code?

Can't see one of those?

All I get is https://www.flickr.com/photos/149954.../shares/9pQW2D when I click the 'Share' arrow.

Regards, Mick
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