Thanks Mike, at last you`re fully legal! Although this is a bumper
Transcription
Thanks Mike, at last you`re fully legal! Although this is a bumper
“discrepancy”. Once again I approached the Swansea telephone system, this time however with more confidence, as I was becoming something of an expert now. “No problem Sir. All we want to do is confirm your chassis and engine number”. “On your letter you say I have to bring the vehicle on a trailer if it is not Taxed or Licensed. Can I tow it on an A Frame as I do not have a trailer?” “Certainly not, it must be on a trailer” was the reply and I decided not to challenge this in any way in case they stuck to their guns and did not inspect the vehicle, so trailer it was. The due day arrived in early December and I set off, arriving 15 minutes late due to a miscalculation about the amount of traffic on the road at that time of day and fully expecting to be told to come back another time. But NO, a minion came out, gave the chassis plate a rudimentary check and said they would be in touch. No question about checking the engine number even when I asked and, to be frank, the chassis plate was a repro item; hand etched with the chassis number so could have been anything. Half expecting to get a ‘Due to a discrepancy in our records’ letter I was pleasantly surprised to get, dated the 15th December, a nice new V5 listing my vehicle as a JC Midge, only about six and a half months after I started the process. So, essentially, changing details in the V5 should not present problems if everything goes as it should do. I am now the proud owner of a ‘real’ JC Midge, the Log Book says so!!! Car Shows for 2007 I have received details of Autojumbles and Classic Vehicle Shows from Mark Woodward Classic Events. Mark has taken over from Andrew Greenwood in organising a number of shows. There are too many to list here. For more details check out www.markwoodwardclassicevents.com or phone 01253 407779 A list of major National Shows is given below, so now there’s no excuse for leaving your Midge in the garage when you could be attending a show in the company of fellow enthusiasts! Thanks Mike, at last you’re fully legal! 11 February Triumph Show & Spares Day NAC, Stoneleigh, 17 - 18 February Bristol Classic Car Show Royal Bath & West Showground, 25 February MG Show & Spares Day NAC, Stoneleigh, 24 - 25 February London Classic Car Show Alexandra Palace, 11 March Spring Restoration Show NAC, Stoneleigh, 23 - 25 March Int. Historic Motorsport Show NAC, Stoneleigh, 14 - 15 April 6 - 7 May National Kit Car Show NAC, Stoneleigh, 26 - 28 May Enfield Pageant of Motoring Enfield, 17 - 18 June Newark Kit Car Newark & Notts Show Showground 24 June Bromley Pageant of Motoring Norman Park 7 - 8 Sept Beaulieu International Autojumble National Motor Museum, 16 Sept Here we have the most unusual Midge I have yet seen. Steven Greenslade is the proud owner of this unique vehicle which appears to have a Midge body with a Locust bonnet. Perhaps it should be called a ‘Lidge’ or a ‘Mocust’. Would anyone like to suggest a suitable name?? Although this is a bumper issue of the Newsletter, I have been unable to include articles from Simon Bates and Pat McCarthy. These will be published in our next Newsletter, along with Nigel Auker’s experiences in building his Gentry, and how this differs from the Midge. Please keep your articles coming. I can only include what I’m given, and it’s YOUR Newsletter after all! 6 European Kit & Kent Agricultural Car Builder Showground Show Detling, Vintage and Tredegar House, Specialist Rally Newport 15 - 16 Sept The National Kit Car Show Donington Park, 28 October National Restoration Show NAC, Stoneleigh, 9 - 11 November International Classic Motor Show NEC, Birmingham 17 - 18 Nov Exeter Kit & Car Builder Show Exeter various engines, both petrol and diesel ranging from a four cylinder 115BHP engine up to a straight six 2.5 L BMWsourced turbo-diesel giving 130BHP. If you are using your Midge for trials and other competitions and want even more power you could use the engine from a post-1994 SAAB 900 (the B204 I think it's called) or early 9-3 combined as that bolts directly to the Omega gearbox (get a gearbox from a diesel car so it can handle the 185 BHP of the turbo engine). The SAAB engine is a development of the old Triumph slant-4 so it's not without pedigree either. The SAAB engines are also very tuneable. People have produced over both 700 and 800 hp with those engines. Not that you'd ever need that much in a Midge. The Long and Winding Road A Tale of Frustration by Myke Pocock The list of trials and tribulations when building a Midge, not to mention keeping what is essentially a classic 37 year old car on the road have now been added to by my dealings with the DVLA concerning attempts to change details in the V5. Another chapter in the saga of Midge ownership. I shall elaborate! I had come to the conclusion that something had to be done about the fact that my Midge was described in the Log Book as a ‘Triumph Vitesse Sports’. This originally came about when I had completed my Midge build in 1996 and legitimately informed DVLA of the change in body plan. They then altered the Log Book by simply adding the word ‘Sports’ to Triumph Vitesse. I had, however, heard fairly recently that the vehicle must be described in its Log Book as exactly what it is and not what it was. In addition I thought that if I was to sell the car in the future it may cause problems and also if it was to be MOT’d at some stage in the future (currently on SORN) the MOT computer may throw a wobbly. My reason for delaying the inevitable was that I had also heard that some vehicles had been subject to an SVA Test under the same circumstances. The tester wouldn’t have a form long enough for all the failures (sharp edges, projections etc) even with a vehicle such as mine that has been subject to some very stringent MOT testing in the past. Anyway I decided to bite the bullet and visited, on the 30th May this year, my local DVLA Office to explain my request and to be told to write a letter explaining this. Expecting to go home and return with the letter at a later date I was surprised to be given a piece of paper and pen and asked to write the letter there and then, requesting the change of the existing vehicle name to JC Midge. The front of the V5 was removed and retained and the back returned to me duly stamped with their official date stamp. “I would be hearing from them.” By mid October this year I reasoned that them ‘Getting back to me’ after nearly 5 months was stretching the imagination a little so declared open combat on DVLA’s phone system and eventually, by a process of elimination and deciding that if I got through to the wrong person they could redirect me, spoke to a real human being. “Your request? We have no record here Sir. Write to us with all the details and we will contact you. Anyway, you should have heard from us within six weeks!” Mmmmm. So I wrote. Seven weeks passed and still no reply so, remembering their 6 week rule and having a few hours spare I decided to negotiate their Telephone Menu System once again. Remember I had been there before so forewarned was forearmed. “We have just written to you Sir”. A likely story but, sure enough, their letter turned up the next day requesting photographic evidence of the build. I duly scanned four representative photographs, lucky I had some, and sent them off. This now took me to the 6th November when I received a letter from Swansea informing me that “……..due to a discrepancy in our records your vehicle will have to be inspected before a Registration Certificate can be issued” followed a day or so later with a letter from my local office with an appointment. This date I couldn’t make and I was also concerned about the Grille and other parts Sourcing a suitable grille (radiator surround) in Sweden may also be a problem. Perhaps you could find a suitable grille from a pre-war German car like the Adler, but otherwise I think Mercedes up to the early 1970s may be a fit (but then you'd almost have to use a Mercedes engine too and something like the 1930s Mercedes-Benz 500K roadster (you could do worse). I have also considered the 1932 Ford coupé grille. It's popular among hot rodders so replicas are available. Another option would be to make your own grille or have someone make it for you. The dashboard top may be a problem, but since I was planning on having a flat top (like the Lotus 7) rather then the roller coaster style it not a major issue. A flat top can quite easily be done with a piece of aluminium sheet. The headlights are a bit tricky, but sometimes suitable items are sold as headlights for tractors. A low budget alternative I heard about is the headlights and chrome rims from a Volvo 140 combined with a pair of stainless steel salad bowls from IKEA. Rear lights from a Land Rover Defender look good and can be picked up almost everywhere (i.e. where you would find Volvo parts since they are both owned by Ford) at a low cost. Merecedes Benz 500K roadster replica. A bit more overstated than the Midge! Member Myke Pocock has written about his experiences in successfully getting his Midge registered correctly. I’m sure the article will help others, so here goes…… 5 New Members We are delighted to welcome three new members who have joined us since our last Newsletter • Patrick Nally lives in County Mayo, Eire, and has bought the Midge previously owned by Stuart Davies • Eddie Lancaster from Oldbury in the West Midlands is a man with a mission (and a Midge!) – see above • Staffan Vilcans from Spanga Sweden is a software development engineer and a Midge enthusiast. The article below tells about his ambitions in Midge building. Using an existing chassis The traditional way of building a Midge as basically a body change for a Triumph Spitfire/Herald would be qualify as a rebuilt vehicle , but in Sweden donors are both rare and expensive so that is not a viable option. Cars with a separate ladder frame are not common and the best would probably be the old Volvo Duett. The Duett went out of production in 1969, but you can still find frames that still have their identity. They are a popular choice as basis for hot rods and emergency tractors (they are of course not used as tractors, but a legal loophole allows 16 year olds to drive something similar to a car). However the Duett chassis isn't flat like the Triumph chassis, but you can perhaps adapt the body for it. It is also quite long with a 2600 mm (102.362 inch) wheelbase so you'd end up with a rather long Midge. You could of course import a suitable Triumph chassis (perhaps with suspension) as junk and fit it with locally sourced engine and gearbox. You wouldn't be able to register as a rebuilt vehicle, but it may be cheaper and simpler than building your own chassis from scratch. Building a Midge in Sweden – Staffan Vilcans Building a Midge in Sweden presents a few challenges compared to building it in the UK. Let me start with telling you about the SVA process in Sweden. In some ways it's easier than in the UK (for instance is no demister required on open cars), but in some ways it's harder (they check welding and suspension harder). For a build you have two options, either you make a "rebuilt vehicle". This means you are allowed to change the bodywork, but have to keep the chassis, suspension and drive line intact. This only requires a single inspection. You could decide to make an "amateur built vehicle". Then you are allowed to make everything yourself if you wish. This requires no less than three inspections. The first two inspections are done by a member of SFRO, an organisation for car builders. They also help you to build your car by offering guidance. The first inspection is done when you have reached the rolling chassis stage. You are not allowed to grind down any weld seams or paint the chassis as they check the quality of your welds. This means you have to take everything apart again to grind down the seams and paint the chassis. They also check the suspension, engine mounts, steering column etc. The second inspection is done when our car is finished. They check everything about it and does breaking and noise tests. The third inspection is not done by SFRO, but is an ordinary vehicle inspection (i.e. MoT). You will probably notice that I mention Volvo parts quite often. It's because here they are very available (it's often said that you can pick up Volvo parts at any convenience store and it's sometimes even true), mechanically simple and reliable, although a bit heavy. Volvo is also very conservative so they kept making cars with rear wheel drive and a live axle for very long. The Volvo Duett Chassis Building your own chassis The option with building a chassis and using parts from Ford Escort and Ford Cortina (or rather the Ford Taunus as it is called on the continent) is more viable, but finding a mk1 or mk2 Escort is also getting quite hard. I tried to find a rear axle a while ago and called a Ford specialist junk yard and they basically laughed at me. Volvo parts on the other hand are easy to find. The rear axle of a Volvo is 10 cm wider than the Escort rear axle so the chassis needs to be widened. If you go for Volvo parts for the front suspension too you have to find a Volvo 140 as it has double wishbone suspension. If you are living in eastern Europe the good old VAZ Lada (or Zhiguli as it was called in their home market) can be very useful since it has both double wishbone suspension, live rear axle and the dimensions are almost exactly the same as the mk1 and mk2 Ford Escort. The Midge chassis is very simple and I would be able to use the extensive knowledge about hot rod building that exists in Sweden. Engine and gearbox For the engine and gearbox the Ford Sierra is perhaps the obvious choice. The classic engine is the Pinto and it's a large (even larger than the Volvo B20) and heavy engine. The Sierra also came with the CVH engine and the Cologne V6. You could build using mostly parts from the Volvo 740 and combine it with the M47 gearbox and the prop shaft from the Volvo 240. HRG used a Volvo engines in some of their cars so it wouldn't be unheard of. The Opel Omega (Vauxhall Omega in the UK) is a rear wheel drive car with The Volvo Duett – an unlikely donor for a Midge 4 underneath the spare wheel. There isn’t any chrome work or bumpers apart from a pair of chrome horns and several polished aluminium bits like the radiator and windscreen surrounds plus a badge barcum “W” made out of an old roof rack. This last item is to imitate the 30’s style Wolseley Hornet. The wheels are 16”x72 spoke with 5” rims fitted with “Dunlop Taxi” tyres. The seats from the donor were reduced in all dimensions to fit in the limited space and re-covered by me. The hood was made by a local specialist. The sidescreens built by myself, and hinged from the windscreen and connected to the door with a bracket. The window is Perspex 0.125” thick and mounted in the frame using a rubber extrusion from “Vintage Supplies”. Registration, Insurance and MOT. As the car was registered in 1991 all I needed was a visit from the local DVLC man from Reading who liked the car checked all the numbers and let me keep the same registration. Sadly the car is now called a Triumph Vitesse though originally it was a Triumph Vitesse Sports on the old V5. Currently I am trying to get this changed to Triumph Midge or JC Midge. Fitting Out: The Vitesse pedal box was reused without any modification, mounted on a 3mm stainless steel plate. I had to mount the pedals as far forward as possible, and the front bulkhead is cut away at this point to give more leg room. If I should ever build another tub I would make it about 2 inches longer (I was only 5’10” tall when I built it but I am getting shorter so things are improving, I wish!) I have used a modified Mini heater which is mounted through a square hole and protrudes above the top of the foot well by a couple of inches. This raised position is necessary to allow room for the gearbox cover underneath. The wipers are fitted at the top of the windscreen and wiper unit was originally a 6 volt motor which I modified to work on 12 volts. The Spitfire petrol tank is mounted on two hanging brackets made out of 6mm steel plate, and held in place with lightweight brackets fixed to the tank flange at each end. The original radiator used when the car was first put on the road was a standard “Maxi” unit but this was never adequate for the 1600 engine which overheated when cruising at 3000 rpm and in traffic jams of course, even with an electric fan connected. When the core finally gave up it was replaced with a taller core, about 4”, and increased the cooling pipe rows from 3 to 4. With the Vitesse plastic cooling fan fitted instead of the original old Brunel designed unit the engine has never overheated plus the electric fan isn’t required even in traffic. When the new core was fitted I also had the bottom hose spigot moved from nearside to offside so the plumbing is pretty much the same as on the original car. Instruments and electrics I reused all the Vitesse instruments plus an additional oil pressure gauge. All the switches and lights were retained but with extra switches for overdrive, main/dip and indicator switch mounted on the dash panel. I couldn’t use the column mounted switches because of lack of room in the cockpit. The steering column is pushed as far forward as possible to avoid having the steering wheel too close to the chest. You have a car to be proud of, Roy, and I’m sure many members will envy your practical skills. Eddie (the eager) Lancaster runs a most interesting company which goes by the name of Classic Capsule. Do check this out on www.classiccapsule.co.uk where you will see all sorts of goodies related to classic car motoring. As an example Eddie has produced key fobs suitable for the Club, as shown below. The clean lines of the recessed dashboard These would grace the dashboard of any Midge and are available at £5 + p&p from Eddie via the Website, phone 0780 558 6906 or write to him at Classic Capsule, PO BOX 13666, Oldbury, West Midlands. B69 9BG If anyone would be interested in purchasing Club regalia please let me know what to buy and I’ll send in a bulk order! The front lights are “Mini” sealed beam units with combined side lights mounted in grp pods Indicator and rear lights are Land Rover style. The indicators at the front are mounted in a pair of chrome Harley Davidson indicator pods and the rear lights mounted on a bar 3 Suspension, Steering and Brakes The donor front suspension with custom made springs was used to give the correct ride height. The rear springs are standard Dolomite rear springs with a rate of 140 lbs/in but with 1” spacers to give the correct ride height. The rear suspension is trailing arm with panhard rod, plus an anti roll bar is fitted to the front to give a reasonably comfortable ride. An anti roll bar also helped to reduce body roll at the rear end. The steering uses all standard parts from Herald/Vitesse extended in length with a TR6 steering joint to negotiate the engine mount. The front calipers were seized after 11 years of storage outside but they were dismantled and refurbished. The rear brakes needed just a new set of rubbers and a single hydraulic layout was made up using copper pipes. The original master cylinder was reused with a new set of rubbers. I decided to use silicon fluid to reduced corrosion in the system and after 15 years on the road I haven’t had any problems at all which is surprising considering the limited use the car gets. Bodywork The body is the two seat version in order to make room for the engine. In the original plans the doors are too small to be of any use other than for midgets so I extended the opening rearwards by a couple of inches, a decision which I would regret when I fitted the 16” wheels some years later. The tub construction is different from the plans in order to get larger rounded corners at the rear, plus the axle cut-outs are much smaller as I did not have to accommodate the Triumph Vitesse transverse rear spring/axle. The finished tub was painted with etch primer and cellulose using an old vacuum cleaner with a spray gun. The rolling chassis was completed with everything fitted ready for the body to be lowered on to it. Fitting the body was done using an “A” frame and one of those old Halfords lots-of-pulleys-and-string hoists and a helping hand from my wife to position the body on the chassis. The cycle mudguards at the front steer with the wheels and the rear mudguards have three point fixings to the body tub, installation of these being done after the body was fitted. The fibre glass scuttle supplied by Mr Cowperthwaite needed strengthening and the dash panel is recessed about two inches to make a little more room in the cockpit. Roy’s Midge is a really good looking vehicle I built a kit car because work was very negative at the time so I wanted to do something constructive and challenging. The Midge was the least expensive investment and therefore the least risk should I never complete it. I have no idea how long it really took to build my Midge. It was done at weekends and an occasional evening for about 2½ years. I was out of commission for 6 months or so with a frozen shoulder so all I did then was sit and contemplate the project and try to plan the next steps. The Midge is not a ‘bolt the bits together’ job and because my car has the Vitesse engine there are many changes necessary to the standard build instructions and plans. At least half of the build period was spent thinking about how to do it. I don’t know the total cost, but at a guess it would probably be around £1000 A composite picture showing the Midge in its early build The donor vehicle was a 1965 Triumph Vitesse 1600 bought through the local freebie paper for £70 and £30 getting it delivered. The car had been laid up for 11 years in the open after the chassis had failed the MOT. I am the second registered owner. Dismantling the donor didn’t take very long as it was very rusty everywhere, the main chassis was so thin that a junior hacksaw was sufficient to cut it up into manageable pieces for the local tip. The previous owner was a builder so the underside of the car had suffered badly as a result of the building site environment. I obtained a new box section chassis designed to use Triumph front suspension and trailing arm rear suspension using coil springs and Triumph Toledo/Dolomite rear axle. A second hand Vitesse mk2 gearbox with overdrive was acquired, stripped down and refurbished with new input bearing on the gearbox and new clutch assembly. I also put a second hand planet carrier assembly in the overdrive. It’s all coming together now 2 Midge Owners and Builders Club Newsletter – February 2007 Editor:-John Bircumshaw, 7 Llys Dedwydd, Rhos on Sea, Colwyn Bay, LL28 4BG. Tel: 01492 548904 email [email protected] Most Newsletters have an ‘Agony Aunt’ these days, and I’m pleased to say that Colin Grant has volunteered to be our ‘Agony Uncle’ and deal with problems we may not know we have. This month he tells about making the Herald Chassis fit for constructing a Midge Dear Members, May I first of all wish you a Happy New Year, even though it’s now into February. Those of you who have read the Editorial in the December issue (and I hope that is everyone!) will probably be surprised to receive this Newsletter so early, but I’m delighted to say that I’ve had more free time this month, and much more material for the Newsletter so I’m able to produce this copy. It is after all much easier to sit at a computer and press a few keys than it is to crawl under a car in a cold garage and wield a few spanners. If you read Kit Car magazine you may have seen my letter confirming that the MOBC is alive and well. The Editor Ian Hyne has said that he will do an article about our Club, so I hope that he keeps his word. I’ve a good supply of photographs and enthusiasts who would be delighted to help! I’m also pleased to report that Jim Yallop one of our longstanding members who was not able to complete his car for health reasons has sold all the bits and pieces and there is a very good chance his car may be built after all [If you’re reading this, Stuart, do let me have your Registration Form asap] Jim’s wife, Margaret wrote to thank me for making the contact, and she also helps Jim to read the Newsletter due to his failing eyesight. Altering the Triumph Herald/Spitfire chassis for your Midge build – Colin Grant During the repairs that had to be made to my own Herald Chassis, I noticed that no attempt had been made to box in the ends where the chassis had been shortened. This would leave the box section much weaker than the original – but just how much weaker was quite alarming. At the front end, the anti roll bar brackets were out of line once the bar itself was removed. Straightening was carried out easily with an adjustable spanner, used to lever the brackets into line, the whole box section twisting diagonally. The brackets were set straight and braced with a piece of flat bar, drilled and fitted in place of the anti roll bar for welding purposes. I then made up two pieces of 16swg plate and welded them to close in the chassis box section ends. After removing the piece of bar, another attempt was made to move the anti roll bar brackets, but there was no way they were going to twist! The whole chassis including the tub could be lifted with the anti roll bar bracket, so boxing in the ends really does make a big difference and also keeps out unwanted rainwater. Thanks for this, Colin. We look forward to more pearls of wisdom in a future newsletter. Life Members of the MOBC The Club has a number of Life Members who were so elected when they rescued the Midge copyright from White Rose Vehicles after that company had gone into receivership. This involved considerable expenditure on their part, so we’re thankful for their initiative. The life members are Tony Reagan, Alan Wynne, Dave Everall, Keith Warren, Alasdair MacDonald and John Bircumshaw. In my case it’s more like a life sentence than a life membership, but I’m enjoying every minute!! I’m sure you’ll let me know if there any names have been omitted This period photograph of Webmaster Neil Russell fits in well with the period advertisement opposite If you were each asked why you built your Midge, the answers would be many and varied. It may have been the seductive advertising (although I doubt it!) or perhaps an outlet for your practical skills. This is the story of the build of a JC Midge (from 1988 to 1991) by Roy Tingay, one of the club’s earliest members. It was first published in the TSSC news and is reproduced here without their permission, but with Roy’s approval! 1
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