Out with the old, in with the new
September 22nd, 2010
The strip down of Maurice is nearly complete, I have but the clutch pedal and brake pedal still to remove and then it will be nothing more than a body shell, not a single detachable item still on it, thus allowing me to remove as much rust as possible before repainting so that the car can go on for another 44 years (you see this isn’t just about going faster, it’s about recycling and sustainable motoring too…)
This is my ‘new’ engine, from a 1300 Morris Ital. It looks like a hunk of rubbish, but with a complete strip down and rebuild it should be a beaut.
The old drum brakes on the left, and the new Escort disc brakes on the right.
The old rear axle and suspension out… all the suspension to be replaced with new as it is shagged, axle to be replaced by a stronger Morris Ital one, which also has a better diff ratio and 8″ drums instead of the Moggy 7″ ones.
Cylinder heads and disc brakes, the stuff dreams are made of!
Old suspension legs cleaned up and ready to paint…
Engine Out!
September 14th, 2010
The Morris is nearly completely stripped out now, more photos to come but this one fills me with joy… it is the moment I had been dreaming about for a year!
Bloody Excellent Fashion Shoot Concept
September 3rd, 2010
This is just 100% excellent. Big up This Is Real Art.
Morris Minor Hot Rod – Part 1
September 1st, 2010
This is my car, a 1966 Morris Minor 2 door saloon. I’ve had it since I was 16 and I bloody love it. My insurance expired a few weeks ago and I’m skint, so I’ve decided to take it off the road and do a balls to the wall restoration and hot rod it at the same time… new suspension, new brakes, new engine, new interior, new paint job etc etc (all of which will, of course, be bigger, better and louder).
So, for those reading this who are of a mechanical nature, here follows the plan for the car, for those of you who are not, feel free to skip this bit!
Engine: Remove and replace with tuned Morris Ital 1300 engine (big valve, ported 12G940 head with bronze guides / Metro camshaft / centre main strap / HIF44 carb with K&N filter into an alloy inlet manifold / LCB exhaust manifold into 1.75″ stainless exhaust with single Cherry Bomb muffler / electronic ignition / LPG gas conversion). This will later be fully balanced, crank tuftrided etc etc to prepare for super charging, but can’t afford that at the moment!
Drivetrain:Standard 4 speed box (one day will replace with Ford Type9 5 speed), replace standard Minor axle with Morris Ital 1300 axle with 3.89 ratio diff. MGF steel wheels running 175/65 at the front and 195/75 at the rear.
Suspension: 1.5″ suspension drop front and rear, all new parts, stiffen dampers with different oil.
Brakes: Ford vented disc brake conversion to front, not servo assisted.
Interior: Custom made interior of Cobra Classis bucket seats trimmed in green and piped in white, remove rear seats and replace with 2x 12″ subwoofers, 2x 10″ 3 way speakers and an amp, custom trimmed door cards to match seats.
Paint and Body Mods: Respray in 1955 Jaguar British Racing Green (so dark it’s almost black), louvered bonnet, front chin spoiler, de-bumpered rear, custom made 1″ or 2″ oversize rear wings with frenched lights, side skirt running boards from wider wings tapering in to front.
The car should end up developing about 80-90bhp hopefully, and will be a pretty nifty little Minor – I could get far more power from swapping to Fiat Twin Cam, Zetec or V8 but I like the idea of taking an A-Series engine and seeing how far I can go with it, hence the ultimate goal of super charging to achieve 100+bhp.
I haven’t really had a summer this year as I’ve been working solidly on getting my printmaking business off the ground and getting the studio sorted, so for the next few weeks with what little sun remains I’m going to be indulging myself with getting all this done and the Moggy back on the road… stay tuned.
It’s Alive!!!
August 27th, 2010
Ladies and gentlemen, after literally weeks of work and more time in front of a computer than I can bear during this wonderful summer, I introduce to you, Barnhaus :) :) :)
Been Done Gone An’ Got Me A Commission
June 16th, 2010
I’m working on a commission at the moment, some more of my Cuba based work. In line with my new way of working with print making I’m working on a number of different pieces all based on the same image, so that I can explore different avenues during the process and not have to toss up between different aesthetic routes, I can then choose the most successful at the end.
Barnhaus cometh
June 1st, 2010
Now the studio is finito, all screen printing gear set up and running properly and the kit car is out of the workshop, I can finally turn my attention to actually starting up the business! I shall be offline now for some time knee deep in paper and ink samples, working out price lists and designing the website and promotional material for the business. Hoorah, here we go! :)
JH Classics
May 31st, 2010
Back in the day my Dad ran a kit car company, producing replica Ferrari Dino’s and a car that he designed from scratch, the Mirabeau. He designed and built everything from the space frame chassis to the suspension to the interior himself, all bespoke and engineered in house. I spent much of my childhood running around his factory, at race tracks or building imaginary cars out of parts lying around the factory with my brother, so it’s no wonder I’m a petrol head now! The cars below are some of beauties that he built…
Ferrari Dino replica
The Mirabeau – his own design, ground up
He’s done various things since those days, but now having retired he is getting back into it and used the car below to warm himself up. It’s a kit that fits over a cut down Toyota MR2, so unlike his original cars it uses an existing car as the base, a nice idea. I got given the paint job for the car so have been working on it over the last few weeks…
The car as it came to me
After first primer and wet sand
This is what perfectly smooth bodywork and countless hours of hand sanding looks like!
Just after the final colour coat, before colour sanding and polishing
The finished car following final sanding, polishing and final assembly. Shiny eh? :)
