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-   -   Mick O'Malley's Moss Monaco (https://madabout-kitcars.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6245)

Mick O'Malley 1st March 2017 13:59

Rain Stopped Play - Again :rolleyes:
 
Today I decided to attack the boot and seating areas. I measured the amount of material I'd need and ordered a sheet of 8' x 4' 12mm exterior ply, which is enough for both areas. This is being delivered tomorrow.

The boot floor will be bonded to the body around its edges and bolted to the tappings on the tops of the suspension turrets. It'll be stepped down to the rear and will hopefully provide a useful amount of luggage space as well as taking the fuel tank and battery.

The seats will be similar to those I made for my Westie and Marlin - a one piece backrest shaped around the transmission tunnel and individual squabs, all made from the ply, 3" thick foam and faux leather vinyl. The back will tilt forwards as it did in my Marlin to provide access to the boot space.

This meant the existing fibreglass seat back area would have to be opened up. I marked it out in felt tip, drilled 8mm holes at key points and jigsawed it out.

http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psrm0pntby.jpg

I'm waiting for delivery of a host of bits so, as postie still hadn't arrived, I decided to have a play with the rear number plate and light. Again, after careful measuring and trial positioning, the drill came out and both are now fitted, albeit with yellow bolts.

http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psamikowbn.jpg

Big spots of rain then began to fall so I called it a day. Postie arrived just then but he only delivered my two lengths of 21sq mm battery cable, one red, one black. I have an isolator switch and crimp on terminals but no battery or starter solenoid, so this will have to wait.

Regards, Mick

Mick O'Malley 4th March 2017 16:44

Not a lot done
 
While I was out on Thursday afternoon my 8'x4' sheet of 12mm plywood arrived, which my son helpfully stowed in the man cave. Yesterday was a washout, the only progress I made was to walk to Argos and collect my grille mesh and headlamp pods.

http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...pswvgblppj.jpg

This morning, being fine, I was down in the man cave early, where my ply sheet had blown over and partly lost its cover, fortunately doing no damage. I decided to cut it in two so that I could access my bench, against which it had been leaning.

I re-checked the measurements I'd made of the seats and boot floor and cut out 1/10 scale templates which I shuffled around on a similarly scaled paper ply sheet until I had the optimum layout. I then marked the bisecting line and hand sawed it into two. The frame of my granddaughters swing came in handy here as a support, and the two pieces now fit in the shed.

I'd hoped to make a start on the boot floor but in the absence of my son to assist in body removal (Burke and Hare?) and heavy showers I had to content myself with replacing the lairy number plate bolts and walking to Machine Mart for some wood blades for my jigsaw.

http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psrelrybem.jpg

Regards, Mick

paul_n 4th March 2017 17:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mick O'Malley (Post 86548)
While I was out on Thursday afternoon my 8' x4' sheet of 12mm plywood arrived, which my son helpfully stowed in the man cave. Yesterday was a washout, the only progress I made was to walk to Argos and collect my grille mesh and headlamp pods.
Regards, Mick

Mick

Looking good , soon be drivable :wink:

Where did you find as the cheapest source of plywood and headlamp bowls ?

I have some 9" headlight shells and wanted to fit some 7" bowls and headlights inside them to look suitable ' antique ' !

regards Paul

Mick O'Malley 5th March 2017 08:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by paul_n
Where did you find as the cheapest source of plywood and headlamp bowls ?

I have some 9" headlight shells and wanted to fit some 7" bowls and headlights inside them to look suitable ' antique ' !

regards Paul

Hi Paul

I bought the bowls from Ebay, item no. 222054837202. The plywood came from a family business just around the corner from me in Gloucester. Not the cheapest, but I like to support them :)

Regards, Mick

Mick O'Malley 7th March 2017 05:26

A fine day, at last!
 
Yesterday dawned bright so I decided to tackle some of the woodwork.

First job was to make a paper template of the seat back and transfer the outline to my ply. I knew it would be unlikely to come out perfect first cut so I sketched the outline about 30mm oversize. I lay the ply sheet on some stout lengths of 4 x 4 timber and set to with the jigsaw. The new blade made short work of this.

http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3onugaqe.jpg

http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6thxy6cg.jpg

I offered up the newly cut seat back to the body and sketched in the areas that needed cutting back and chopped them off. During one fitting I tried turning it round to see if it was any better and discovered that the body is far from symmetrical! I was back and forth four or five times before I was satisfied with it. I'll sand the edges when it's time to fix the foam and vinyl on.

http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psujtjihvs.jpg

Next job, after stowing the seat back in the shed, was to recruit my son and remove the body, lying it upside down for better access to the boot space. I couldn't find a big enough piece of cardboard to make a template of the first portion of the boot floor so some head scratching was required.

I lay a stout batten on the inverted floor and cut a short length of ply to size down to the cut edge of the boot aperture. With a bit of gymnastics I was able to mark where the floor would sit on the inside of the body. I could them measure and mark out my next cuts.

These turned out more or less perfect, except for the straight edge to the body aperture which I discovered was bowed. One more cut and it sat nicely. It'll be glassed in around the edge, bolted to the suspension turrets and I may support the 'straight' edge with a couple of short lengths of angle or batten. It'll also need a rectangular hole and cover for access to the leaf spring retaining bolts

http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psipariyzz.jpg

My son, who takes the lighter front end of the body for removal etc. had pointed out how floppy it was where the bonnet opening, which is reinforced at the sides with glassed in wood, had been cut away for the DCOE. I found a handy length of aluminium angle and drilled and screwed it bridging the gap to put the strength back temporarily.

http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...pswhdjn4qa.jpg

We popped the body back on and I tidied everything away as I was very pleased with the day's progress and didn't want to push my luck.

Regards, Mick

Jaguartvr 7th March 2017 06:43

The moulded rivets look a little large, sort of thing you would see on a steam engine. Would it be worth sanding them down and replacing them with pop rivets?

Mick O'Malley 7th March 2017 07:11

Jumbo Rivets
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaguartvr
The moulded rivets look a little large, sort of thing you would see on a steam engine. Would it be worth sanding them down and replacing them with pop rivets?

I think they're more like rivets on a Dreadnought! Too much work for not much return. It's never going to be a posh build, I think a big part of its charm is its crudity. This suits me fine having spent countless hours on detailing my A352 :rolleyes:

Regards, Mick

Jaguartvr 7th March 2017 07:16

I've been using a mini belt sander, really quick and just a thin skim before sanding smooth. It's not as if it's a vast area :badgrin:

DaveP 7th March 2017 08:08

Looking good progress - like the plywood thickness in this instance

Dave

molleur 7th March 2017 14:43

Coming along very nicely!

Mick O'Malley 8th March 2017 06:57

Another Fine Day
 
Another early start yesterday. My son wasn't around to help remove the body, so I decided to cut the spring bolt access hole in the panel I made yesterday. More careful measuring and re-measuring (it's not unknown for me to make real howlers!) before carefully drilling 8mm corner holes down a 4mm pilot hole from both sides to prevent splintering. Joined them up with the jigsaw and was quite pleased with the result.

In order to cut the vertical step panel for the boot floor I needed to temporarily locate yesterday's effort. Luckily, the steel strip I'd bought for strapping the rear body to the chassis had arrived with a nice length of door stop supporting it. I cut two short lengths for the sides and wood screwed the three through the body.

My son still hadn't surfaced so I turned my attention to the steering. The UJ between the rack and column had seen better days and, when searching on line for an overhaul kit (which is still available) I came across an upgrade in the form of a proper Hooke Joint, which I bought. A previous owner had drilled a very accurate hole in the bulkhead and I was able to connect together the standard column, extension, joint and rack, supporting the top end on blocks and scraps of wood until I was satisfied with the alignment. I marked the dash so I can work out the top bracket with the column out to enable body removal.

http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psexfzglgc.jpg

My thoughts then turned to the diff so I inserted my vacuum pump into the filler hole and sucked. Nothing, apart from a rusty looking smear of some indeterminate liquid on the pipe's end. I decided a drain hole was needed to further investigate. Jack up, axle stand, 4mm pilot hole, 5mm hole, (Cobalt bits - brilliant!) then 6mm tap. Some more of the above juice seeped out so I screwed in a suitable M6 bolt and pondered the best flushing medium to rinse the inside - any ideas?

Body removal assistant had emerged so I could turn my attention to more woodwork. It was a simple matter to wedge the floor up against the strips, balance the ply in position, mark and cut it out. Just then the nice man from Interlink Express arrived with my P700 replicas - how cool will they look? I love them on my A352 :)

http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...pstfrhkhjc.jpg

Again pleased with progress I packed up and called it a (successful) day.

Regards, Mick

froggyman 8th March 2017 08:52

Well done Mick, your rebuild is certainly moving forward at great pace, the regular informative updates are much appreciated.

Car photographer 9th March 2017 00:17

Good work

molleur 9th March 2017 00:35

Well done, coming along nicely!

Mick O'Malley 10th March 2017 05:16

Slow Day
 
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 :rolleyes:, 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!

http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psny9dt2se.jpg

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.

http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...pshscbsfhm.jpg

http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psqbf2ofbe.jpg

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.

http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psgp8mindj.jpg

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.

http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5zdgeujd.jpg

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 10th March 2017 08:38

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:bounce:

Mick O'Malley 10th March 2017 09:41

Found My Colour
 
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 :).

http://i1160.photobucket.com/albums/...psxwkl9t1v.jpg

Regards, Mick

Car photographer 10th March 2017 21:49

Nice colour! ;)

DaveP 10th March 2017 23:26

Bloody nice colour.

Loving the man cave in the sun

Dave

paul_n 10th March 2017 23:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mick O'Malley (Post 86708)
I'll be going to the Spring Autojumble at Beaulieu Regards, Mick

Going in the A352 ?

regards Paul


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