Clancy's Moke Restoration

[tennmoke]

All Moke body panels are made by Moke Panels - Leo Jacks. M Parts buys their panels from Leo. I have ordered from both. Frustrating waiting for MParts little old ladies to make up seat squabs but worth the wait. The squeaky wheel get oiled so CALL them to get updates. Don’t waste your time on emails.

[MiniDave]

Thanks for that info, I don't have an international calling plan so I messaged my brother in England and he called them for me. I got a response from them the next day....of course I still don't have my parts! 

[MiniDave]

Clancy reached an impasse on his Moke so he brought it down to my shop so I could finish a few things while he's back on the road - this time to South Carolina to deliver a Chevelle to a customer (not his, he's just the deliver-er)

My brief was to get it wired and running. The Moke is a fairly simple car to wire, and he has a new harness - he had the back end all done, I just needed to do the dash and front lights, turn signals, engine compartment, starter, regulator, dizzy and such. Of course, he doesn't have a complete steering column so we decided to just use a turn signal switch much like a Bugeye, which meant making up a harness as the T/S switch usually has it's own harness that ties into the main harness.

I got that all done, ignition switch wired correctly, light switch wired correctly and dimmer working, then ran the water temp and oil pressure tubes. I also installed a set of horns and did some other tidying up. the worst part was trying to install the speedo cable, turns out it must have broken the cable at some point as the cable end was still in the housing on the trans, and had been RTV'd over. I finally got the lower radiator hose off so I could get access and managed to take the entire cable drive out of the trans. I was happy to see there was no broken off cable end embedded in the drive!

So, all that's left is to set the timing, hook up the choke and accelerator cables, install the missing center manifold studs and some other general fettling and it's ready to start. I also need to bleed the clutch and brakes and get them operational. He said I can drive it around, it's licensed and insured, but there's no exhaust so I'll settle for seeing it move under it's own power. On top of that it's sitting on top of a support frame and I'll need help getting it down off there.....so I won't be driving it till he comes to get it.....he'll bring a gantry crane and we'll use an engine hoist on the front, then we can slide the support frame right out the back and set it on the ground.

The reason there's a black surround on the gauge is that he cut the hole slightly too big, the gauge just fell thru the hole! So he'll get one of his buddies to machine up a surround later - this was the best I could do with what I had on hand.

I may get it started tomorrow if all goes well. He'll be back Tuesday and Wed he's leaving for 2 weeks, so we'll need it out of here by Tues night at the latest.

[Willie_B]

That's a good way To mount the front tag. I glued magnets on the back of the tag I will have on the front. Only put it on at a show.

[MiniDave]

It will easily stick to the front of the car under the bumper then, right?

[Willie_B]

It will easily stick to the front of the car under the bumper then, right?

I can stick it to the bumper or on the front panel.

[jedduh01]

Nice progress = Looking good = amazing that its all Powdercoat too!


 A good oleMmoke = use your arm for signals is the most direct signal system

I also like the tidynes of the brake lines + other bits.  VERY Clean!


 

[MiniDave]

Clancy did all that, he builds racing Sprites so a lot of what he does is because of the lessons learned over his race career - for example - everything gets a nylock!

I did the front and rear subframe build up, got the engine running in the test stand a while back, he laid the harness in but I did all the connections. I put a Bugeye turn signal toggle switch right in front of the steering wheel on the brace and they work just fine.....

I've eyeballed the alignment and once I get it running, stopping and shifting we'll take it down off the stand he built and load it on the trailer to go back to his place - he's then leaving for two weeks to do SCCA stuff. when he gets back we'll finish up the details and it'll be on the road. Right now it doesn't have an exhaust system - just the header -  so we won't be driving it much till he gets that sorted too.

The powdercoat is really much nicer than I expected - but it does have one issue - if you scratch it how do you  touch it up?

BTW, he's looking for the steering column covers if anyone has some they don't need - we can buy a new t/s switch and horn stuff but I don't think the column covers are available?

Edit: MiniSpares has the column covers new, so no worries!

[MiniDave]

2 steps forward.....

Got the clutch bled out with no issues.

Started bleeding the brakes and found a major leak at the proportioning valve in the back in the short line from the right flex line to the valve. Took the line off, flare looks perfect - no splits in line......yikes. I guess I'll have to make a new line but I can't see anything wrong with either it or the valve......

Clancy will be down tomorrow to get the car, I was hoping to be further along by now....maybe get it running too. We'll see how far I get tonight and tomorrow morning.

[Scargo]

If you need a Mk1 style (narrow)
column cover let me know.

[MiniDave]

Thanks, I'll let Clancy know - how much?

[Scargo]

I just for the first time, noticed a very tiny crack at one of the screw holes on the lower half. It seems it was glued on the inside by a previous owner. This does not cause any issue with attachment to the ears on the column, but due to that, tell Clancy he can have it at just the cost of shipping, which will not be much.

Again, this is the narrow version which came on the UK Mokes and Mk1 Mini's.

If acceptable, let me know where to send it. PM me if you wish.

[MiniDave]

PM sent - thanks Howard!

So, my woes with hydraulic brake lines continue - I bought brand new lines from MiniSpares and they looked perfect, but the one going into the proportioning valve leaked like crazy! I found an old line in my pile 'o parts and bent it to fit and Bim, guess what? No leaks!

I got them somewhat bled, and when Clancy gets here I'll have him help me get the last bit of sponge out of them, then we'll take it off the fame support and load it on his trailer as he's leaving town for two weeks. We might get it running before he goes if he has time.

Stay tuned for pics of how we're gonna get it down off the support frame, should be interesting!

New line and old....can't see a damn thing wrong with this new line. All I know is that the old one I bent up to fit doesn't leak a drop!

[MiniDave]

So, the Moke went home today - but not without it's teething problems.

The brand new brake master cylinder is no damn good, it leaks internally and sucks air.

The oil pressure gauge leaked oil all over the floor....good news is we know we have oil pressure.

The rear brake line I made up did not leak.

The engine would not start - which bothered me immensely - till I figured out what was wrong - it had a broken rotor bug, a new rotor and it fired right up. But.........new carb meant that it wasn't even remotely tuned and would only run on the choke.

However, the choke cable wouldn't reach so it wasn't hooked up, so I had to walk along side the car holding the choke up while he drove onto the trailer.

We lifted it off the storage frame using two engine hoists, which went more smoothly than I thought it would - but there wasn't room for the frame on the trailer so it's parked on the side of my house till he gets back in two weeks.

But - he drove it onto the trailer, oil leak and all - and it's headed home on it's own wheels!

[tsumini]

I see your new brake pipe is a double flare. I got new pipes for my car and all were double flares but those removed were bubble flares. I got from MM and they said they would work which they did if I torqued them up until i thought they would break (see my Post 97 in my thread) ... also had trouble with the proportioning valve leaking. Glad you got it sorted.
Couldn't help but notice the moke RF tire hanging over the side of the trailer.   
On second thought that may be the trailer spare.

[MiniDave]

You're right, trailer spare.....

[MiniDave]

tsumini, unless they're "modernized" the new parts, they should be double flares as bubble flares didn't become a thing till the 90's....and of course, I don't have a bubble flare tool anyway. I'm told bubble flares will work in place of doubles, but not the other way round.

It's still a puzzle to me why this line leaked so badly - it was a new MiniSpares factory made line, all I did was bend it into the right shape.

Of course the brand new master cylinder is no good either - which pisses me off greatly - I also found a brand new boot for one of the tie rod ends is split and frayed - it almost looks like something chewed on it, but I'm about 99% sure it's just the crap plasticky rubber they use nowadays - same stuff on the CV boots that don't even last a year.

I've been reading the complaints on the English forums about poor quality parts from all of the Mini parts suppliers lately but this is the first I've encountered and it bit me in the ass but good.

BTW, I sent a strongly worded letter off to MiniSpares this morning complaining about the crap quality of parts they're selling, it will be interesting to see if they reply and what they have to say.

[jedduh01]

To the Master cylinder...  How long has it been available / waiting to be installed and bled.?

 Off Moke topic but relevant:  Master Cyl Recall....

    I only ask, I had a Cylinder purchased April 2019  - held in stock until used about a month ago on a car..
worked OK but after about 2 weeks lost brakes  completely... ( one drive pedal felt weird)  then next 2 -3 pumps NO pressure.
  got the Car home  via the parking brake and fluid Leaking down the pedal.

That turned to a inquire to Mini Spares , that turned into the Recall Cylinders.  I had a cylinder in the defective part range date.
   Meanwhile i installed a new seal kit i had + fixed it =  the Rubber seals were badly made + shrink upon use. 
 New seal kit fixed it but I still wanted  something from mini spares.
 
After contact. they still wanted me to send the defective cylinder back.... annoying..  But i made them ship me a new one first.  - First the fellow forgot the shipment after one week = finally dispatched received for days later.  Now processed a return at 29$ my cost back to England ( they say they will refund) but we shall see.......

Just FYI  I have the details of what to look for ( but the stamping is on the bottom side of the cylinder )  There is a code range of the affected units. B30 -B52 I think....I had a B50

[MiniDave]

Yeah, they replied but all they asked for were the part numbers of the parts I had issues with....we'll see what they do but I'm not shipping the parts back to them unless they pay the shipping both ways (new part and return)

I'll get a m/c kit and install it too as I'm sure that's all that's wrong with it - bad seal inside. It just annoys me when I have to do things over because of a bad part - twice the labor or more as you also have to clean up all the brake fluid that leaks out.

I know I'm not the first to have issues, especially with rubber parts. That's why NOS parts are bringing stupid prices on Ebay these days....but at least there's a chance they'll work and hold up. when it comes to brakes tho - that's a safety thing not just inconvenience. first time a new master cylinder fails and the car takes out a busload of kindergarteners and nuns there will be hell to pay.

[MiniDave]

Haven't heard a word back from MiniSpares since they asked me what part numbers I was having trouble with.....didn't really expect to of course.

While waiting for the rest of the bits to come in and while Clancy's out of town on SCCA bidness, I found a set of casters that would work on the stand - I had to fettle them a bit so they would fit and turn easily, but they bolted right into the existing welded in fasteners. They are quite a bit taller too, so now not only will it roll easier, we can get a jack under the frame to lift it if needed to go over a lip into a garage or onto a trailer.

The casters he had on there were not nearly heavily rated enough for what he was doing - they had collapsed and were more like squares than rounds!

These were on sale at HF for like $8 each!

[MiniDave]

Clancy pulled the brake master off the Moke - code was B70 - so not in the recall range?

BTW, where was the recall mentioned? I see nothing on the MS site.

I'm going to get a repair kit from Vicky Brits and install it tomorrow so we can get his brakes working. I also got the new brake cables so I can get his e-brake installed and working too.

Car should be drivable tomorrow afternoon - video if it happens!

[jedduh01]

After a bit of digging., Here is the supplier Website of the recall.

http://recall.920e.co.uk/

As i bet they supply to everyone not just mini spares, mini spares isnt the sole responsible for collecting the defective units or such.

as also discussed on MK 1 forum, Where i had also read about it Late 2019

http://mk1-forum.net/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=26753&p=229751&hilit=cylinder+recall#p229751
_________________

in playing with masters = I have become real good at doing them at this point. I had one (new seals) that wouldn't get ANY fluid moment or pressure.
 I ended up cracking the line At the cyl =  FINALLY a type of BENCH BLEED>some fluid popped out.. and re attached line the cylnder worked.

 Surely give that a try too.  Atleast see fluid is coming OUT of the cyl from the Line start point. (most the time they're not that difficult to get fluid moving)

[MiniDave]

Thanks for the update!

We had fluid coming out OK, but after we'd get pressure and a good pedal, it would just go away, and there would be tons of air in the system again. We pulled the guts out and one of the seals just looks totally wrong, so I'm going to get a kit from Vicky Spares and see if a new rubber will do the trick - it was the inner rubber, not the outer one.....

A couple of other teething problems have showed up - I fixed the oil leak at the gauge - turns out the line popped out of the fitting. I got the right e Brake cables but Clancy couldn't find the handle, so we ran the cables into the car and taped them down so they wouldn't fall back out.

I got the car to run but the carb just is lean - like it's sucking air somewhere.....that will have to wait as we were working outside and it was just too damn hot today. But with the choke out the car went around the block and it was pretty quick - that put a smile on Clancy's face!

As soon as Clancy can find the rest of his parts we can get the engine running right and the brakes sorted.