Ulster - MV 1344

[goodwoodweirdo]

looks fantastic and may thanks for sharing ...

[austin]

Quick update on MV.

For some rather boring reasons there hasn't been as much progress as we wanted.

A lot of time has been spent sorting out the bodywork, the crashed TT tail has been (very) carefully unfolded and is looking good.

Below is the first test fitting, (bits were in different locations before this). Steering column is to short at the moment, this is a known issue for us to deal with, the standard one on it was done so we could take it to the centenary event.

   

Lots of drawings and bucks are being finalised for the bulkhead, floor and tank, all done from references of various existing cars.

Finally the decision has been made to sell the special body it came with, it's not something we are going to put back on at any time and could be of interest to others and will save space in the garage.

Link on eBay here 

[Charles P]

Quick update on MV.

For some rather boring reasons there hasn't been as much progress as we wanted.

A lot of time has been spent sorting out the bodywork, the crashed TT tail has been (very) carefully unfolded and is looking good.

Below is the first test fitting, (bits were in different locations before this). Steering column is to short at the moment, this is a known issue for us to deal with, the standard one on it was done so we could take it to the centenary event.



Lots of drawings and bucks are being finalised for the bulkhead, floor and tank, all done from references of various existing cars.

Finally the decision has been made to sell the special body it came with, it's not something we are going to put back on at any time and could be of interest to others and will save space in the garage.

Link on eBay here 

Looking good Austin. 
I know this was debated when you acquired the car but I really think the TT body on this chassis is a good solution for both.
And I had to lengthen a steering column for my car. It’s very possible if you plan the joint design and welding thoughtfully. 

Charles

PS. I see that “750R” has now gone from the tail. That must have been on there for considerably more that half the body’s life!

[Ruairidh Dunford]

Using this body, on this chassis, is absolutely the correct thing to do. A very in-period action, t’s going to be superb.

[austin]

The 750R is still there but has faded a bit due to the heat being applied to anneal the aluminium.

It looked like this to start with:


HH TT 2 by henryharris, on Flickr

The "folded over" bit took a lot of time to work out, various bucks, hydraulic tools and a lot of looking and tea drinking were involved. Have to say pretty happy with the result. It's not perfectly smooth but I never really wanted that anyway.

I was wondering about the ability of welding to extend the steering tube but felt nervous about it for obvious reasons. The other Ulster has a standard one with a Blumels and you soon learn to not let your fingers get to 12 o'clock!

[Charles P]

The 750R is still there but has faded a bit due to the heat being applied to anneal the aluminium.

It looked like this to start with:

HH TT 2 by henryharris, on Flickr

The "folded over" bit took a lot of time to work out, various bucks, hydraulic tools and a lot of looking and tea drinking were involved. Have to say pretty happy with the result. It's not perfectly smooth but I never really wanted that anyway.

I was wondering about the ability of welding to extend the steering tube but felt nervous about it for obvious reasons. The other Ulster has a standard one with a Blumels and you soon learn to not let your fingers get to 12 o'clock!

Glad about the 750R. For total completeness I have a video of the tow car with the 750R registration plate.

To extend the inner column I avoid a plain butt joint but used two inner columns and cut a matching pair of "forks" into the upper and lower parts. This increased the weld area, put the turning load onto a "metal to metal" join rather than just a butt weld and gave me some reassurance that a weld fail might not result in the loss of all control. 
Since I'd sacrificed two columns I made an identical test joint on the unwanted sections and Tig welded the parts together. I then tried a destructive test, which was unsuccessful, giving me more reassurance. 
The outer column, being thinner, had an external sleeve. I used longer control tubes which David Cochrane could supply.

[Chris KC]

The work you've done on the tail is tremendous.

[Charles P]

For those without a library of old magazines here's the article that John Hinchliffe wrote for the VSCC Bulletin back in 1987 about his Ulster chassis/TT body combination

   

   

[Chris Garner]

Austin
Congratulations on being able to restore the tail to a near original state. I have a friend who is able to accomplish this sort of work on similar projects and I am in complete awe of him. I look forward to your continuing progress on the car.
...and thank you Charles, for the article - one I hadn't seen before.

[goodwoodweirdo]

whats the story to 750R for those newbies :-)