CRX90B Rally Replica Project

Started by Armycook, April 04, 2017, 07:49:31 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Armycook

Hi Bruce! Yes I do! I even have that BMC secrets which even have accounting paperworks of how much BMC paid the crew, what they served the staff and Paddy Hopkirk's pay stubs lol

Armycook

There have been a lot of new things going on and new friends I met the past few weeks. One of them is Guy Smith. Not sure if you guys heard of him but this is the dude who restored EBL56C in the mid 1980s. He told me he likes what I've been doing with the car BUT gave me a rude awakening hat I should convert my car to right hand drive. He told me that the toughest part of restoring a Works car is it's electrical wiring and having to start it with a left hand drive would pretty much be pointless as why accurately do everything and leave the important part....

And so he gave me some questions to think about and man that really knocked my socks off the whole day. I have a few big mini events and after Mini Meet west in Oregon I will convert my car to right hand drive


Armycook

#52
Few additions on the car by the way. I drilled and installed the second Austin "S" on the boot.. Don't laugh. So there was a time before CRX90B competed and they badged it as Austin then last minute decided it will compete as a Morris so since those two badges didn't have the same mounting, they decide to leave the Austin S on to keep no holes on the boot. I also was able to acquire a 6 bolt pattern Les Leston wheel but unfortunately i only have an austin badge on. But a friend of mine in japan have sourced me a mk1 Morris push horn and accurate pea lights for the dash. And repainted my wheels to silver which CRX90B originally had at the 1965 Monte Carlo Rally which I recently found out. I also found a new old stock Desmo demister for the back window but this seems to be small. But I heard it's ok according to a few ex works people i've been talking to lately.

One thing I found out is that I picked the toughest car to replicate that doesn't have much photo and video evidence.. But i'm beginning to feel more accomplished and happy for myself as I go through it all.

Funny I kept getting bashed by some mean purists about my replica car on facebook. I just laugh at them now because the very few special people who worked on, eat and breathe and currently owns the Ex Works cars are giving me thumbs up. And the opinions from those specific people are what matters to me. It's never perfect I know and I already made a few mistakes but at least these people are offering constructive corrections.

Here are a few photos:

Armycook

#53
My car will be at the LA Auto show at the Los angeles convention center from March 2-4 c/o Minis of America Los Angeles (MOALA) Thanks to Michael Hammonds, Graham Reid of Heritage Garage in Costa Mesa, CA for inviting me. I just found this enclosed trailer 7'x14' and will be picking it up on a monday or Tuesday.

My homework is to make a street sign for my props. We're gonna have a muddy car so I'm praying for a little rain so I can drive it and have muddy mist on the sides. I also am expecting two new Dunlop SP44 Weathermaster tires and I'm using the two NOS Weathermasters that originally was with the Ex Works LBL666D which Paddy Hopkirk drove at the Monte. But it's just for show and I will not be driving it on the road because if it's 53 year old age. I also couldn't find an affordable Irvin racing's harness so i went and bought these cheap Tanaka harnesses because they do have similar characteristics to the Irvin (showed on pic from a friend's seat). I grabbed my exacto knife and carefully peeled off the Tanaka labels and I'm talking to someone local to produce me some Irvin labels 😁😁😁

MiniDave

Dennis, you're doing a fantastic job, do it the way YOU want it, don't worry about the naysayers......
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

Armycook

So I was invited this last weekend to have the rally replica to be displayed as a feature car on the vintage rally theme display for MOALA at The Classic Auto Show 2018 held this March 2-4, 2018 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. We had a good amount of mk1s, a Moke and a clean Woody. My car was next to Graham Reid's Panel van. I met a lot of cool peeps like Chip Foose, Dave Kindig, All Girls Garage girls Rachel de Barros and Bogi, Mike Brewer, Wayne Carini, Steve Moal and a few more. I had these 20"x30" photos of CRX90B in action at the 1965 Monte and they all signed it. Planning on sending these to the owners of Works rally minis as my token of appreciation for helping me build my car.

Mike Brewer wanted to buy my car and unfortunately i'm not selling my car. So in case you guys know a nice Cooper S please let me know so I can tell him 👍👍

BruceK

I am Almond Green with jealousy. 


Very very cool.
1988 Austin Mini
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

94touring

Super cool  4.gif. Car looks awesome.

Armycook

I couldn't look when Joanie was splashing mud all over it. That a wheeler dealer guy wants to buy my car.

It's a great event. Didn't expect to meet a lot of people like Carrol Shelby's wife and Peter Moss former owner of a real Works rally mini DJB92B. He happens to be in town that weekend because he was attending some Porsche event in anaheim. I thought that was the biggest highlight and closest encounter I have with anything genuine Works mini. He said he's good friends with the owner of the genuine CRX90B Mr. John littman and Mike Hyrons owner of LBL666D.

MiniGene

Man, that is cool!  Good thing you didn't sell your mini to Mike Brewer, he would have low-balled ya-hahaha.

Armycook

So after that Los Angeles event I thought that was it but then I got another invite and this time it's the first La Carretera Show in downtown Los Angeles. Sounds like a good event as they have a good selections of cars that will be shown plus the benefit is awesome. So I am now fine tuning whatever needs attention on the car before Mini Meet West in Oregon and this Sunday's La Carretera. I really don't wanna add anything major yet like RHD conversion and tinkering with anythjng electrical. At first I thought I'd make this project really fast but now O feel like taking my foot off the gas and just take my time.

Few additions I have now are the painted back shells of my bonnet Lucas 576 lamps and that bracket I'm building that's supposed to hold them to the hood.

Armycook

So this just happened. Went to Mini Meet West and was able to acquire a proper
Works driver bucket seat with the right grey black fabric pattern made for me by a friend in Japan. Then I signed up to be in that private luncheon to be with a small group of people with the legend, PADDY HOPKIRK!!! Special thanks to Oregon mini society, MMW2018 organizers, Jeremy Thorpe and Eric Newland for making this happen. I also won the Themed and Race Category. It helped that Paddy H was there to cheer me on. What a special week!!

Armycook

Yesterday I also received my July Issue of Cooper World magazine and Robert Young was able to write a short article about my car there. There was a few miscommunication about some small details like me working in Coronado (in San Diego, CA) and not Colorado, that I was able to buy and sell cheaper Japanese old mini trucks and not classic minis. Lol but overall it was a nice little article. Thanks to social media. If not for the internet, I wouldn't have made this project possible.

MiniDave

Excellent - partial justification for all your hard work!  Well done!  77.gif
Complete failure at retirement

1989 Cooper Racing Green
2009 Clubman S
2014 Audi Allroad

BruceK

Quote from: Armycook on July 06, 2018, 05:47:39 AM
So this just happened. Went to Mini Meet West and was able to acquire a proper
Works driver bucket seat with the right grey black fabric pattern made for me by a friend in Japan. Then I signed up to be in that private luncheon to be with a small group of people with the legend, PADDY HOPKIRK!!! Special thanks to Oregon mini society, MMW2018 organizers, Jeremy Thorpe and Eric Newland for making this happen. I also won the Themed and Race Category. It helped that Paddy H was there to cheer me on. What a special week!!

Wow.  That is very special.  What a great honor.
1988 Austin Mini
2002 MINI Cooper S
1992 Toyota LiteAce (JDM)
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sahara

MiniGene


John Gervais

Dennis, please tell me more about those rivets used on your bonnet lamps.  I need to repair one of my PIAA lamps, or if I can't, I'm more or less compelled to mount a pair of Cibie Oscars.

What are they called, where to get 'em; are special tools or techniques required? 
- Pave the Bay -

Armycook

Hi John. Happy to see you here and long time no talk! So the plate I fabricated with rivets is only for display to make it looking complete just like how the Works cars were in the 60s. It would make sense for the comps department to use extra plate riveted to secure it well on the bonnet because the original bonnet lamp mounts were just a piece of pipe cut slanted maybe 30-45 degrees just so the end of it will be perfectly flushed 90 degrees against the Lucas 576 lamp. I'm confused how those are held tight back in the day but they're only supposed to last a race only anyway.

Mine is a solid aluminum cylinder block that was cut the same way the pipe was in the 60s but mine has two 1/4" long bolts that secures it sandwiching the bonnet with spacers on the other side of the bonnet just like how bumper over riders are. I'll post a photo of how the Works did their and how mine is.

John Gervais

#68
Howdy - yeah, I don't speak very much anymore.  I've become a recluse - some might say arsehole, but I've lost more than just a little faith in 'people'.  My mini's also dead for now, drove it twice this year - broke the ignition's optical switch and waiting for a new coil also.  Can't afford the switch, so I'll be using points for a while once the coil arrives.

Right - How did you attach it - I'm interested in that type of rivet.  What and how -

Somebody backed into one of my PIAA lamps and one of the rivets became a bit loose.  So, I'm thinking of drilling it out and replacing it with a similar type rivet but before I started 'Googling' around looking for something, I figured I'd just ask 'what and how'. 

Or, I've got a couple of sets of old, rust-free Cibie Oscars sitting in a box somewhere from decades ago, with both driving beams and long (pencil) beams which I could theoretically fit to the car, but I'd need to extend the lamp bar - the Cibie's are rather deep (and 180mm dia ('YUGE)).
- Pave the Bay -

Armycook

Catmint actually sells these bonnet spacers as a kit now. Go to Catmint.biz the owner is Gordon Furness and you can email him in case the shopping cart doesn't work.

Armycook

Ohh! These are solid rivets and came in different variety of lengths. You'll need a solid rivet gun.

Armycook

mine are Aircraft solid rivets. I suggest using aluminum instead of stainless steel because it's easier to use and remove in case you want to replace it. Stainless steel is very hard.

John Gervais

Ok, cool - aircraft solid rivets and a special solid rivet gun. 

I'll try to see what I can find - THANKS -
- Pave the Bay -

Armycook

If you can't find these rivets I can send you some. Be careful with the rivet gun. They can jump all over the place

Armycook

Like I said, mine is just for decoration. The rivets I used are flushed underneath the vent sheet metal aluminum and mounted using 3M extreme all weather double sided tape. It's the same solid rivets I used for the Union Jack on the side fender. I didn't wanna drill any more holes so those are short solid rivets and flushed underneath the flag too. I figure it's just another reason to start rust.