Noob Member With Hotrod Project

[Roadkill]

We did a one-off show at Bletchley park in 2008 (??) . . we were promised a lot of support but very little showed up and it was a bit of a waste of time, really.

[Cunning Plan]

I think from the last time we had a similar conversation it was established that MKB has converted into more of a forum for car enthusiasts now rather than a 'local' club, which is as it had started.

I'm not near MK or Bedfordshire anymore, neither are a few others I can think of, but I keep coming back for the kinky conversation.

I think we were the Mondeo Klub for Boys at one point as we seemed to all have a Mondeo as a daily driver

[art b]

Quoting: Cunning Plan

I think we were the Mondeo Klub for Boys at one point as we seemed to all have a Mondeo as a daily driver

it was a third gen owners... donut eating club too...

[Roadkill]

(properly hijacked)

[art b]

[Big Mouse]

I know Dean had a negative response from Pete but he is a good guy but very very busy.

Rob Loaring at ICE is into some very serious design stuff focused around intakes at the moment with Jon Webster

Marc Lamude is building some good stuff too, curently working on a hipower TT sbc

But at the end of the day thats fine if you want a Ford, Chevy or a hemi, anything else you are better off looking at the US - shipping is costly but the savings on the engine itself often negate the cost of shipping anyway - unless you need to send it back of course! the US has a very odd (overseas) customer service ethos.

Nice looking prject btw, I'd go efi for my next car too - if I ever raise enough money again!

[Ralph]

Soooooooooooooooo...

Hotrod has now moved houses and lives down in Portsmouth @ Insane Creations ready to get it's chassis made.

This will be kicking off in June/July.

Not much more progress at this point so lots of sitting around waiting...

It has made other hotrod friends which is always nice.

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Also got to park this up at Insane Towers which was a hoot!

Very tasty 2 Lane Black Top replica with a HUGE motor!

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So there we have it, there are lots of other things going on in the background but don't want to give the whole game away too soon ;)

[Cunning Plan]

You need to post more often Ralph

[Ralph]

Yes I do haha

When I have more to waffle on about!

Trying not to think about engine upgrades and things like that until the car is at least rolling.. As the chassis work is being done by Insane Creations it is now very dangerous being around very powerful drag/road cars, gives me too many ideas haha

[Ralph]

Right, 2015 is here. The year *fingers crossed* when shit actually gets done and REAL progress is made.

There have been so many set backs with the body and I am a little shocked to think that this all started in May 2013... So really very little to report!

BUT, now things are happening and there is movement in the hotrod camp!

Just before xmas we stripped down the donor car! Wahey! It all went a little bit like this:

We headed down to Insane Creations to tear down the donor car and carefully extract the motor and desired running gear.

Once all done, the plan is to get the body back from the body shop, drop the motor on to the frame rails along with the new body and start mocking some bits up and plan out the final chassis dimensions and so on...

Anyway... A friend of mine Adam arrived with his trailer and we loaded up the old girl for the final time and set sail to Portsmouth!

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After a nice straight forward drive down and a brief stop for supplies (beer) we arrive at Insane Creations and roll the old girl in to the workshop.

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We get stuck in after having a cup of tea (first of perhaps 100 this weekend) and a quick look at what else Ron and the team are working on currently. Most of the interior is stripped already as you can see from previous posts so.. Bonnet off and time to 'carefully' remove the motor. Nearly all the ancillaries won't be going on the 31 Coupe but if they are, smaller ones will be used as pretty much everything on the BMW was HUGE!

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A few hours later, as the car is getting crushed regardless, we decided to chop the front out to make engine removal a little easier...

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Exhaust off, prop shaft off... The remaining fuel and oil lines chopped and the engine bay wiring loom isolated... Time for the tug!

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The headers on the right hand side of the motor were giving us a little grief getting the old girl out so off they came and at long last... FREEDOM!

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WOW, the motor was so much bigger than we all first thought and it was really tucked in to that engine bay well! A few more cups of tea followed by a beer and pizza to celebrate!

It really is amazing how well they packed everything in to that engine bay

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We then retire for the evening feeling good at how much we have accomplished.

A few more beers then we make camp in the motor home to get much needed rest for day 2. The tear down is still far from over.

Up at 7.30 to get the workshop opened up and the kettle on. Whilst waiting for everyone to arrive I have a little play with the grille shell which will be going on the hotrod.. Yup, the motor sticks 2.5 inches out each side of the grille!! It's one big lump!

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Day two see's us tackle the rest of the wiring loom, the fuel tank/pumps, dash, suspension,, hubs, brakes and anything else that remains. Carefully labelling the loom as we go so we know what it all does. Deciding to keep the majority of the loom to see if there is anything else we need later on. The car drove in to the workshop so hopefully we have everything we need.

The car now looking a little lighter...

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Fuel tank, pump, all under car wiring stripped out...

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Turns out there was some nice original paint left on the car... Behind the dash!

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Steering column, dash, ignition barrel all stripped out. The pedal assembly is far too big so this was junked also.

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Finally all the cross members front and rear come out along with all the suspension, diff and so on which means we load the car up on to the trailer to get scrapped. This concludes day two working on the car.

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We clean ourselves up and ready for a curry with all who have helped over the past two days. Swarfega in the eyes... Not the best idea ever... But worked a treat so no pain, no gain...

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After a fantastic evening with quite a few beers and a great curry, in the morning of day 3 we get the kettle on for the penultimate time and start breaking down the suspension and clearing the shop.

With all the needed components now stored away with the loom and everything else we need, we sip our last cup of tea (pretty sure this was number 100) and start the journey home.

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What's Next?

Well, the body will be done soon and we can start mocking up the rest of the car and getting the welders out! It's all getting very exciting now and I can't thank Ron Haslett and the Insane Creations team, along with Adam (the hero) and the Wren family for their help over the weekend. I can't wait to see this all evolve now!

[Cunning Plan]

Wow, this project just made a huge leap of progress!

Quoting: Ralph

It really is amazing how well they packed everything in to that engine bay

German engineering

[Roadkill]

Awesome stuff.  

Not my first choice of running gear (I can't / don't do EFI) but that's what makes it even more interesting to me .... No point doing ANOTHER 350/350 combo when you can do something original.

Looking forward to seeing it take shape .... Keep us updated.  

[Ralph]

So last week I took a trip down to Insane Creations with some more parts and to see this all for myself and to go through some decision making with Ron, I can say for certain I came away smiling and still am this morning!

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Final plans will be made when the body comes back from Meon Valley Hotrods as then we will see the final dimensions in place and not just lined out with string and board. Will also be able to sit in the thing with a mock up seat so Ron knows exactly what to work to, then the real fun begins.

We did have a good go at sussing it out yesterday however as mentioned by marking out on the chassis where things should go, how much room there will be in the cabin and how much room we have to play with in the 'engine bay' so to speak.

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After a trip over to Meon Valley, where we took some more measurements of the body... No pics sorry, I was far too excited taking it all in, that place is great! We headed back to Insane Creations to mark the newly taking body measurements out, we weren't far off at all which is good but we now had exact measurements for the front end which was our point of concern. It also turns out Mark from Meon has a hood top which mates from a 28-31 Ford to a 32 grille! PERFECT, so one of these will be on order with the body!

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The M60 motor is a huge lump and it was looking as if it was going to be touch and go whether it would all look right and actually fit in there at all...

Verdict...

It looked like it was going to fit!!! IF we took off the fan, the power steering pump and air con setup... Which we won't need on the end product so we lifted the motor off the rails, stripped those parts off, welded a new bar under the chassis rails to rest the motor on, making sure the lowest part of the sump was resting on it, this way nothing hangs lower than the rails, then dropped the motor down and slid it forwards perhaps a couple inches.

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This now brought the bell housing of the gearbox about an inch ahead of the cowl/firewall... LIKE A GLOVE!

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It even looks like we will be able to squeeze a radiator up the front too inside the grille too so no need for crazy wiring out back! Job, is a gooden!

On top of this, with the motor now dropped down by about 4 inches there will be plenty of clearance for the hood to fit on there nicely which was all part of the original dream!

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Next we need to wait for the body to be delivered and start chopping it about to make fit on the rails with the motor, get everything measured up, final plans decided when we know what room we have to play with, send off the fuel pump/pickup to Andy at A-TM Engineering who will be making up a fuel tank for the car!

It's all getting very exciting and this is starting to come together nicely!

The next update will be when the body arrives so watch this space!!!!

And yes for all those that noticed.. That is an Eaton M112 Blower for it too ;)

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[Roadkill]

It'll be an interesting manifold to mate that blower to the block . . . I assume it wasn't available as stock like it ?

[Ralph]

Should be a fairly straight forward one (note date and time of that statement) as it's port layout is very similar to this:

Which is what the blower is off.



Then, there will be something which resembles this setup...

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Not sure how to wang a FB video in here but yes, basically using the throttle body and MAF and so on...

UK Blowers are helping with the setup. But no, there was no factory blower option, they do a kit for a centri blower but lots of money for not much gains.

This was cheap, should look mental, still minimal power gains but will be a laugh!

[Cunning Plan]

Are those filing cabinets holding up the roof?

Quoting: Ralph

IF we took off the fan

How will you cool it without the viscous fan, I assume an electric fan?

Does the electric fan sit behind the radiator, which is mounted to the front grill?

Quoting: Ralph

This was cheap, should look mental, still minimal power gains but will be a laugh!

[ianjpage]

coming along nicely!!  

[Ralph]

Yup lecky fans, there is enough room for them, just not enough room for the huge whirling dervish!

Well, I say that, we offered it up and looks good but you know how things change! When the body arrives we will be able to get it bolted down and know where everything will sit for definite. I will be sure to let you all know the pitfalls I come across. There will be many, of that I am sure!

The filing cabinets aren't supporting the roof... Yet ;)

[Roadkill]

We'll have to have a serious chat at some point as I've always wanted to build a "rod" and the original Caddy motor will be available soon and gaggin' to go in a Model T / A.

That said a Rod project will come after the Caddy's finished . . and after I've done my next project . . . so probably when I'm about 60 !



Looking good, though.  

[Ralph]

haha excellent! Yes I know where you can get good repro bodies soon! ;) Although you strike me as a man that likes his steel!

Need to see the 3rd gen and Caddy done!!

Personally I'm a little more excited about the 3rd Gen as it just looks pure evil, but that Caddy's new motor is lush!

Think you will have one done in time for April?

[Roadkill]

Quoting: Ralph

Although you strike me as a man that likes his steel!

Nah, not for a "hot rod" . . Steel would be great, but paying an extra £20,000 for the privilege ?  Er, No !

Quoting: Ralph

Personally I'm a little more excited about the 3rd Gen as it just looks pure evil, but that Caddy's new motor is lush!

The Caddy will be pretty mean when I'm finished, believe me.

Quoting: Ralph

Think you will have one done in time for April?

The Camaro is unlikely - I'll be honest.  

The Cadillac will (and is) fully roadworthy and legal . . .

[Ralph]

Awesome stuff! Well I know where to get some really good bodies now, as well as where not to get good bodies! haha

Be good to rally some more of the MKB guys for the April Full Power Launch meet in Aylesbury! (12th April)

Be good to put some names to faces! All vehicle types welcome! :D

[Roadkill]

Aylesbury should be doable .... Andy sent me an invite but it'll be dependent on childcare (as usual).

[Ralph]

Awesome!

Who else on here has a working vehicle? Be good to use this as a rally point for all the MKB guys then maybe it will spark enough enthusiasm to start a summer MK meet or something?!?!

Be good to get some more stuff going on in MK anyway!

[Cunning Plan]

Quoting: Ralph

All vehicle types welcome!

60BHP 47 year old VW Bus?

I... I mean, I could create a nice smoke screen as an entrance for your cars?

Quoting: Ralph

Who else on here has a working vehicle?

Oh, that's me out..