Hi all
A few have asked for some more detail and pics of my build so here it is
Well were do I start I have two mokes one under construction and one almost ready for rego (Morgan) this is the one I intend to talk about. Firstly the name Morgan, my 19 year old niece was killed while driving her 1977 mini clubman that she just adored, on 1.1.2010. It goes without saying that the whole family was devistated. During and as part of the grieving I mentioned to my two boys Dale 8 and Joel 6 that we would build one of the Mokes and dedicate it to Tahlia Morgan Spark hence the name Morgan the Moke (Hold on while I wipe away a tear) So the build began in earnest a few
months after her untimley Death. off to the blasters. we were very happy to find virtually no rust
The pin holes you see are where the blasting process blew through the thin/pitted metal. this is in the front side box floor and that was all that was found.
Mavro, bet you would like a body like that when the weld splatter is bouncing off your thongs hey.
The Blaster is a painter and beater by trade so he used a product called liquid metal (comes in a tube like toothpaste) i didnt see him apply it so i don't know much more than that, but he backs it.
for this type of repair. Battrey box and floors all original and sound.
The boys Dale and Joel with the freshly blasted body before any primer is applied.
After the etch was applied we brought Morgan home for a few weeks while the painter was found
I already had some coulors in mind but wanted a bit of a theme that would also reflect on Tahlia's tastes I had talked with her about the Atiomic green that Holden make, she liked Holden above ford but mini above all. Any way i know she loved that colour and I am red green colour blind so i see it diferently to most but I still really love the colour. So atomic green is the fondation for the colur scheme. She had also recently had some rust repaired on her car and a shiny new paint job, Red with a very subtle purple perl so i wanted these colours in the build. My 8 year old boy wanted flames so it was decided that the purple perl would be used to paint ghost flames on the Moke ( this didnt happen as the purple looked more brown when applied over the green) I may still do somthing along this line in the future. The little red clubman had recently aquired a set of charcoal mini lights and that is where the black comes from in the build. The colour is Ego perl Ford colour, the photo dosn't do it justice, the colour is mad in the sun light and has a pinkish tinge to it so i have sort of achived the purple I was after. The red is in the engine bay as a highlight.
I was pointed in the direction of a great Guy to prep and paint the car by the bloke that blasted it, he isn't trade qualified but i saw some of his work and it looked good and suited my budget, in all honesty probably about half the cost of a pro, However the paint is changing colour after six months and looks patchy. the painter has been over this morning to inspect and has worked out what went wrong so he has promised to repiant the car. I am going to register and enjoy for a while and probably book in for next winter. I feel really sorry for him as he is a top bloke and very knowlegable. I will fix him up for all the new materials and help with the rub back so he won't be out of pocket just time.
I brought a 1275 engine with some good bits in and on it off the net but it was buggered (i new this at the time) and need new block and full rebuild, turns out I purchesed it from the bloke who used to own Mini Tech (still did at the time) so I had him quote me for the build, The brief was Strong, Usable, as reliable as possible, and somthing with a bit of punch. So the head has oversize valves, hardened seats,, roler rockers, all balanced and lightend double row timming, some fancy strong pistons, 1100s wide journal block twin 1.5 su (not on yet) plus all the normal stuff, I think it should go OK.
Pretty much the whole car has been recoed or replaced New and recoed brake parts throughout.
New seats Moke Aust
New wiring I am still ironing out a few things there
all new pins, bushes, bearings, bolts, rubbers,
New SS windscreen frame
New seatbelts
Powder coated subframes etc
After six months at the painters ( he has a full time job and a family)
Oh, the painter also has a flair for costomising so the front corners were cut off the bonnet and the bonnet clips were welded internally, he also modified the side boxes and the covers and installed nutcerts for the fixing of the covers later, the little brackets that are on top of the side boxes ( the ones the hood bow pivots on) were also removed and welded internaly, most of the seams were smoothed and the whole car straightend. Fuel filler was replaced with a lockable areo style one. not to forget the motif on the back guard thanks the the design flair of the painters wife Ange, I reckon she did a top job. and they managed to slip in some of that purple and black that i spoke of earlier.
I know its not everybodys cup of tea but then again its not everybodys car
Well the car came home just a few days before Xmas 2010 and i had the wiring, fuel tank, lights, subframe and engine in by boxing day the fact that i put it back on the rotiserie made it a lot easier.
The front lights are standard but i will upgrade it the future, rear lights are LED. I am still not sold on the reverse lights but they are there now so they are staying
The young fella was a bit disapointed that there wern't any flames on the car when it came home but i had one up the sleeve, see there was some paint defects in the clear on the front guards , where the clear had been layed on to thick and had airated so i designed and had flame decals made to cover the defects.
The following months were spent sorting out all the bits and working out what went where, i am not big on labeling but i got it back together, only time will tell how well. lol
The car is off to the Mechanic for a few things tommorrow and hopfully ready for engineer sign off the following week. He says another five working days to get the cert and then its blue slip and cruizin. can't wait.
I have ordered the rego plates, black background with green letters MOKE S should look sweet. I still have to fab and paint the bars they are at the benders now , they are a cross between a jeep bar and the cali bar i will post a pic when finished
Al
Topic: MY 1980 MOKE RESTO warning not for the purist (Read 14098 times)
