New Moke Owner 1965 UK Little Wheeler in Oregon

[clm]

Another update and another tip toe closer to driving!

First thing on the agenda, I welded on the replacement bonnet hinge bracket.. (although I didn't take a picture until after the engine was in!)



After that, I received the rest of the parts I needed to assemble the engine, all hoses replaced, new belts, good radiator bolted on... a 1275 top rad bracket due to the 1275 head. And it was ready to get off the bench


And to meet the moke



I like that pic for some reason... it has character

Once everything was lined up I brought in the cherry picker and rigged it up using a vice grip for a hook and a heavy duty tiedown strap to pick it up... Sounds risky but it worked fine. Once everything was rigged, I proceeded to stuff the engine in the poor moke







And finally..



And once the engine was sitting inside I doubled up the strap and used some stands for safety... And lifted up the whole front of the moke to get to the bolts underneath!



And you thought it was flaky lifting up JUST the engine with a vice grip and a tie down strap!

Yeah the cherry picker is missing all of it's chains.

Actually quite easy to install... bolting the engine mounts in were a different story, but you all already know that I don't yet have the dive lines hooked up as I still need to grease my u-joints in my metal QL500s. Although I did install my shift lever, my still in bag shift knob and tossed my carb setup in to make sure everything fits.







Tomorrow I plan to grease the u-joints so I can get it back on 4 (somewhat flat) tires and do more work in the engine bay and once everything is good see if it starts

Until next time
Playing in the dirt.
Chris

[pbraun]

Hi, Chris,

My nephew is in Eugene, but I have the Moke in N.C. Welcome to this forum! I am not very active, but possibly more soon, as I am starting to get stuff done on my '65.

It is now one week at the blasters, must see how much bad body work is revealed.

So, how is progress on your project?

p.s. Cripes, I am an idiot - posted and saw your update from just a few days ago! good job!

[Doug G]

Why didn't you take the opportunity to paint the engine bay when the engine was out?

[Nigel(no top)Sykes]

And on a different note, am I right in thinking you've got a 12G940 head on a 1098 block ?

[clm]

Because the engine is coming out again Doug. I am putting it together to run this summer, and pulling it apart to finish the body next winter.

Close, it's a smog port 1300 head from a mg1300/austin america 1275. Like I said the 1100 is.. interesting If it survives the summer I will probably pull it down and put a small bore head on it when I put it back together

Chris

[Nigel(no top)Sykes]

I only ask because the usual thinking is that the block has to be pocketed in cases such as yours or the valves can hit the block

[clm]

That is a possibility Nigel, but I know this engine was driven previously so I am just taking it as faith that everything up there is fine.. seeing as it seems to turn over fine

Chris

[Nigel(no top)Sykes]

Good. Next, on a lighter note, are you going for the Rat Look with the Moke on your first event then ?

[clm]

You say rat look, I say project moke look You say tomato I say tomato you say potato I say potatoe!

Basically I am going to be putting it together and running the bugs out before I finish it, not going out of my way to ratify it

Chris

[Nigel(no top)Sykes]

You say ratify, I say rectify

[clm]

I have some BIG purchases before you are going to see any shiny paint on this thing!

For example...

http://www.m-parts.co.uk/shop/index.php ... uct_id=348

I am going to get a removable grill front panel for it.. adjusting that alternator was... annoying. I am going to save the old front end however as it is repairable.

Chris

[clm]

Nothing really photographic to show, but I have gotten the quite a ways since the last post. The engine is fully in and it runs. I had a small hole in the radiator that had to be patched... Putting it back in was almost hell, I had to enlarge the hole in the bottom of the lh inner fender to actually re-install it. I picked up a Gunson Eezebleed and proceeded to blow a hole in the clutch master reservoir... Which I patched. I have my temp and oil pressure gauge mounted below the speedometer pod for now.

And ... scratch that I took some pics



Checking out the top







I retrieved my rims today from the powdercoater... 3 weeks and they haven't been touched, I cleaned them up the best I could and tossed some paint on them along with a few rubber accessories (tires :p ) I found it really easy to mount the 10 inch tires, easier then I had come to believe mounting car tires was. I have also... insured and registered it!! So I can make the test drives legally... minus the seat belts of course.. grandfathered cars are fun! lol

I pulled out my nasty top and upon closer inspection the biggest problem with it is the rather large seams that have come undone, the top didn't rip however, it was the threads that failed. I should be able to get them restitched and the one major hole in the top patched and be able to use it until I get another one. (yay)

My fw2 wiper motor works fine... manually But no go electrically. I tried putting the new armature in it and it was a no go. The old armature had wires sticking out of it in random directions so I figured it was probably no good. I will end up sending it in to be repaired properly eventually, but for now I paid $39 for a generic shaft mount wiper to use in the mean time.

If all the planets line up I will be driving it in days... and taking it on a trip to my club meeting Saturday. 60 miles there, 60 miles back Should be an adventure!


Oh yeah... I drove it forward and backwards a couple inches to test the clutch

Chris

[Nigel(no top)Sykes]

That was why I retired the motor in the first place Chris To be honest it was pretty effective when used in the manual setting, 1sweep flick wipe mode, So long as you don't encounter any monsoons you will be fine ....... And if you do encounter vast rainfall the lack of an electric wiper will probably be the least of your worries

[Robin Jones]

Hi, Chris,

My nephew is in Eugene, but I have the Moke in N.C. Welcome to this forum! I am not very active, but possibly more soon, as I am starting to get stuff done on my '65.

It is now one week at the blasters, must see how much bad body work is revealed.

So, how is progress on your project?

p.s. Cripes, I am an idiot - posted and saw your update from just a few days ago! good job!

Peter,
Might I suggest you start a build thread in this forum so we can all get more "Moke porn"
Any pictures from the media blaster?

[clm]

Hey all! Thanks for the comments!

Guess what? The rubber has hit the road!

But first, I mounted my licence plate in the middle of the grill which should work as a form of moisture block to the distributor. I also got the cheepo wiper motor in the mail so mounted it up and got a 12 inch wiper blade for it.





I am not sure I like how much the front tires poke out.



And then the sun came out and rain went away... So I drug the moke out of the shop and got it to the street.. And it's tires touched the asphalt for the first time since I got it off the trailer a year ago



And drove it all over town, even got one offer to buy it... which I rejected

Here is a pic of the moke in the wild



And if you want to see video to be sure I didn't just push it...


(click this!)

Now to try to build a temporary top for it out of some tarps and whatnot so I don't have to keep bringing it back in the shop!

Until next post.
Chris