Thanks for reposting my post Ned Down here in Australia we face a number of hurdles when building any sort of specialist car. Firstly the state authorities do not like hot rods and they require very strict adherence to lots of regulations about modifications. Secondly its getting very expensive to get any sort of old car stuff the more traditional hot rod sources of Fords and Chevies are sold fro silly money even if they are little more than rust and rot. that said I think that a modified Brit car can and does provide some really good starting points fro a fun ride. May car won't be super fast but it will be a lot of fun. here is my latest vid http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyTDuB5_Znc
Ned, You might consider leaving the front track narrower until you test drive it. That should make it understeer some which may be a desired quality, or not...
I'm thinking aircraft inspired. These guys sticking surplus airplane bodys on car or truck chassis probably are a long way from the first to come up with the idea.
Actually I think that the car in the picture is inspired more by Zeppelins than air-planes which were very high in the public imagination prior to the Hindenburg disaster, I think it does as well getting the lines right was my main design aim and if you have checked out my vids you will see that with the new cockpt sides the lines are even better
As with any picture I post,I give all the information I get....still a special as it is not really intended for road use...
What an amazing and delightful project Using a Morrie Minor bonnet as the basis for the tapered body panels at the rear of the car is clever. Back in the 1970s my brother rebuilt a Morris 8 sedan from the chassis upwards so I can remember very well just how suitable the chassis would be for building a special. In my 20s tuning 'A' series engines was very much my thing and I can very much vouch for just how unburstable they are.
From an aesthetic point of view the Morris Eight Chassis has a couple of issues because the C faces outwards. I will of course be welding some steel sheet (1,6mm) to the outside whcih should add a bit of strength. I now have a gearbox starter and Mini (Lucas) Alternator and a few other bits and bobs that I will need to make it a goer courtesy of my brother. I went to a swap meet today and even managed to pick up the rare glass lens for my Morris Z tail-light. SanctaRosa Its a matter of looking at the shapes and seeing what fits your vision I suppose sadly I still an learner when it comes to panel work. It also helps when you have some Morris bits to draw on
Zeppelin's were the pinnacle of technology in the early 30's. When I built my own special, my fabric-bodied Zeppelin Speedster, I imagined what my grandfather would have tried to build in 1934 after standing on his front lawn and watching an 800 foot Zeppelin soar overhead on it's way from Europe to Lakehurst NJ and points unknown. My Dad agrees Grandpa would have loved it!
That's Tim duttons model a , Tim runs duttons the bugatti restorers just 5 mins from where I live, Did the Exeter trial , in a friends Morris a few years ago , and to cut a long story short I ended up driving Tim,s model a 150 miles back at night , I was trundling along the motorway at 50 mph when there was a big bang , but it still went fine then there was another louder bang , looked behind to see a lot of oil all over the road , Pulled over the engine was still ticking over smoothly , but looked underneath there was a hole in the crankcase big enough to get your hand in , Got the AA to take me home When I helped Tim strip the car thinking I had broken a rod or something , it was found the centre main had broken a bolt some time during the trial , then the other bolt broke dropping the bearing cap into the bottom of the crankcase , first bang the second was the crank hitting the bearing cap out through the engine block ,, never saw it again Glad it wasn't my fault
You guys may be interested in my scant progress you can see the new hood that I have made from scratch in this Vid
OK Lain,when do we see parts 10 and 11? I gotta hear those vroom vroom noises you were talking about!
My brother has promised to come around this week and we will get her going. I would have done it sooner but I have been laid up with back trouble so stay posted (or subscribe to my YouTube channel) and you will hear the noise as soon as I make it.
OK, I gotta ask, what's the deal with those black rectangles out on a stalk in front of the cars? There's one on this last post, and one on the car in post #295. That one looks like a giant version of the flag off of a mail box. What are these things there for? Are they clearance markers to show the driver where his front wheels are, or what? I've driven open wheel race cars and we never had anything like that on the front, so I'm confused.
So, does the tire not do this? Drag cars have the same sort of timing system, and they all seem to just use the sidewall of the tire. I totally take your word for it, I'm just not understanding why they'd need/want a special beam target when the tire has to be there anyway. They look kinda goofy, and they've gotta get tangled up in stuff when you're walking around the things.
The Jalopy Journal
