I sold my ol' roadster a while back and wasn't intending to buy anything just yet, but to rebuild the seized motor in the modified, but like all good plans, they change. A 1931 Sport Coupe caught my eye and was too good to pass up What to do now? Stand back and look for a bit to get a plan going in my head. Plan A: AV8 high boy with a heavy chop, rebuild and fit the motor from the modified and along with the gearbox and back axle. No rear chassis step and no drop on the front axle. 16" wires with 7.50's and 6.00's. Plan A is good, no need for plan B.
Time to chop. With a sport coupe there's not much to chop so was done pretty quick. That's the easy bit done. I also cut holes in the visor and flared them Time to push it outside to take a look.
The wood in the car was all rotten as to be expected, so new and very expensive wood kit was ordered. What a terrible fit. Spent ages working on the wood. Never bought anything that fitted so bad. With the wood mocked up in place I draped an old sheet over to make sure the wood was positioned right and gave me 'the look' I wanted.
With the roof looking like it'll turn out ok I turned to the chassis and running gear. So with the car back in the garage I removed the body and started to make the flatty fit along with the Volvo M40 gearbox and Winters rear axle.
Very cool man, I was looking at the first pictures and thinking that would look cool with a heavy chop. Then bam 6"s gone, looking forward to seeing it finished out.
With the chassis I could have gone wild and turned it into a piece of art as some of my other builds, but this was to be simple. I have kept the A centre crossmember which has been part boxed as have the chassis rails. I added a pair of rails to the rear and a pair of 90 degree parts to the front for pedal assembly and brake master cylinder. I've also added some extra sections that conect the front parts to the rears under the centre crossmember that the gearbox mount is bolted to as well as the split rear wishbones. There is also mounts for front wishbones and in the middle is a mount for a hydraulic e/brake.
Before the body goes back on I need to cut the firewall. In the past I only cut out the bare minimum to allow the motor to fit. This looks real nice but is a complete arse if heads need to come off. So this time I cut a big hole. Doesn't look as good but I'll run with a full hood most of the time. Once it's been welded up and painted it's fine
With the body back on I replace the middle and rear floors. There was no rust but they were pretty bashed up and I needed to replace the under seat panel for a flat one anyway. The raised bit in the middle has a 1/4" steel plate inside to mount a seat belt that's needed for competing. Managed to use the main wooden floor that the car came with. Also made a trans cover. Kept it fairly simple with just a bit of bead rolling and a few rivets.
Happy that the chassis and body are good to go I got the paint gun out. The chassis gets and coat of etch primer and gloss black top coat. The body gets a good wire brush and under seal on the under side while the inside gets etch and gloss on the floors and sub rails. The inside panels get a heavy coat of Matt black. On the outside only the areas that were chopped get a rough coat of gloss. The paint on the car isn't great, probably done a fair few years ago and cheap. I'm not much of polish and wax guy so not too bothered, as long as it has paint, it's good.
Build up time. With the chassis still on the rotary stand I ran the brake lines. Fitted master cylinder and Land Rover steering box which I'd shortened the column and fitted a uj. Hydraulic e/brake New body mounting wood Body wood fitted and painted matt black.
I know have a roller with the body on. A mate, Rik was going to be making and fitting the roof for me and as he was always busy we weren't sure when he'd get a bit of time and space in his workshop. So rather than work on the engine and the rest of the bits I spent my time working on the inside of the car so it would be all done and ready for when Rik had a slot. I bought a pair of Cobra seats. Seating was going to be important if the car was to be usable with the heavy chop. And they were perfect. My view through the windshield is perfect. I also did the wiring, fitted overhead switches and interior lighting.
I bought one of those cheap Chinese made radiators. Have to say it's not bad. Had to modify it slightly to get it to fit the way I wanted, but that's just me being fussy. With it fitted I fitted the hood and sides and the headlamps, which were fitted as low as I could get them. At this time it was still a little on the high side. Both front and rear springs were to be replaced with reverse eye.
Engine time. Last time this motor ran it suffered an oil pump problem which seized the rods to the crank on numbers 4 and 8. The crank was reground and a new set of Scat rods and Mellings oil pump were bought. One of the things I wasn't happy about on the motor was it never liked to rev. I put this down to not enough exhaust porting compared to intake porting. So I spent some time opening up the exhausts. Most other internal bits from the motor were good so used them again.
The motor was fitted with a pair of new Edelbrock heads, Edelbrock slingshot intake and a pair of new Big Stromberg 97's. A powergen and new water pumps and the motor was good to fit.
Just as I had the motor fitted Rik called me to say he had a slot to do the roof. What a job he did too, I love the shape and the amount of padding he used. Just enough but no so much it looked over done. Although not quite finished at this point, still some trim to fit, but you can see 'the look' is starting to get where I want it.
As soon as I got the car back from Rik it was full steam ahead on getting it running and driving. VHRA Pendine Sands was going to be its first run out and it was approaching fast. Lots of minor issues, but nothing that couldn't be sorted. Once all running it went back to Riks for the finishing trim on the hood and I got to drive it around locally for a few days before the trek to the Sands. I also managed to buy a set of repop Lyons covers.