Saturday 24 February 2024

Now the work begins. Update #2

Now with Maurice tucked up in my workshop I started to evaluate what needed to be done to get it road worthy. There were many head scratching moments of what to do and even where to begin. So, I thought I’ll just start at one end, and as the rear is the one I encounter when I walk into the shed, the rear it was to be.

There was no provision for a boot / trunk to carry any tools, jack or wheel spanner so that had to be rectified. I cut timber pieces to fit in between the chassis rails, and cut openings into a large piece of 1/4" steel plate fitted to anchor the spare wheel. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of the area before I modified it. So you just have to imagine looking through to the workshop floor instead of the boot / trunk floor. 


Then to install stop lights, tail lights and indicators / turn signals. There was one large stop/tail light fitted, but it was not in the centre or wired up. This was removed and some 1932 Ford replica tail/stop lights I had were used, and two motorcycle indicators. 



I did deviate from my plan from starting at the rear of the vehicle - once. I notice that the radiator cap was the old 'dog bone' style but needed something. As I'm selling my Humber Speedster project I
re-purposed the radiator emblem I had used on that. It was an emblem my father had kept from a
car he had to sell, before I was born, I found it in a box of his personal stuff after he passed away. I'm sure he would be OK with using it, and it just set off the existing cap on Maurice for the better.



I had already replaced both electric fuel pumps. If you listen to the guy starting the car in the video from at the auction you will hear him say the drum of fuel he lifts up is because there is a serious fuel leak. When I started looking into it I noted the leak was from one of the existing electric fuel pumps, which I replaced. When I fitted the new pumps one of them started making a terrible noise, we found that one of carb float valves has stuck in the closed position making the pump work it's ring out pumping against a closed head. This is what probably destroyed the old pump. I've bought two new carb rebuild kits to sort this out.  

The next job I jumped into was to fitting a temperature gauge and a speedo, neither of which had been installed originally. Because of several issues I went with a GPS speedo, which of course wouldn't fit on the dashboard along with the new temp gauge. Please bear in mind I have been trying to make these new modifications look period. I know the car has been hand built out of parts from the 1960's vehicles but its overall look is from the 1920's. So I ended up making a steering column mount for the speedo and indicator switch and dash lamps. The temp gauge was fitted below the existing Tacho and oil pressure gauge. 

 








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