New Moke Owner 1965 UK Little Wheeler in Oregon

YOUR own topic about YOUR own Moke.
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fistral fig
Posts: 130
Joined: Thu May 26, 2011 17:42
Location: Chipping Ongar, Essex

Re: New Moke Owner 1965 UK Little Wheeler in Oregon

Post by fistral fig »

Well done Chris, you have worked wonders on this project and in short time too, I like it as it is funnily enough, ............FF
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clm
Posts: 278
Joined: Mon Dec 26, 2011 11:17

Re: New Moke Owner 1965 UK Little Wheeler in Oregon

Post by clm »

Thanks Fistral,

I rather like it too, but think I will like it more when I am done with it! ;)

Chris
1965 Austin Moke - Rust was not free, I paid dearly for it
1961 Morris Traveller - Bent but repairable
1960 Morris saloon.. err wagon.. err Pickup, yeah that's it! - My first car
1980 Mini 95 Van shell - pickup load floor donor
Nigel(no top)Sykes
MMC Member
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Location: Everywhere and nowhere baby

Re: New Moke Owner 1965 UK Little Wheeler in Oregon

Post by Nigel(no top)Sykes »

You stopped the video too soon ...... I didn't see the grin on your face when you returned
Come on summer
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clm
Posts: 278
Joined: Mon Dec 26, 2011 11:17

Re: New Moke Owner 1965 UK Little Wheeler in Oregon

Post by clm »

Well I just let the moke do the grinning for me ;)

Chris
1965 Austin Moke - Rust was not free, I paid dearly for it
1961 Morris Traveller - Bent but repairable
1960 Morris saloon.. err wagon.. err Pickup, yeah that's it! - My first car
1980 Mini 95 Van shell - pickup load floor donor
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clm
Posts: 278
Joined: Mon Dec 26, 2011 11:17

Re: New Moke Owner 1965 UK Little Wheeler in Oregon

Post by clm »

Hey all,

I towed it to Florence OR last Saturday as I don't trust the engine enough to drive it that far yet. To tow it I built up some brackets that slid over my front bumper that bolted to a tow bar my father has. It worked a treat, about 5 minutes to hook it up and 5 minutes to take it off. With the way I rewired my tail lights I found I can use a 6 foot trailer light extension and just plug it right into 4 wires on my wiring harness. The Lucas bullet connectors are perfect fit in the 4 flat plug!

I have experienced a failure already though, my speedometer seized and destroyed the hairspring for the needle, I now need to find another 90mph standard 850 speedometer, although I did hack apart a Morris Minor speedometer clean up and lube all the moving parts sparingly and got it working in a blackface 90mph speedo body... although I doubt it reads correctly :)

Image

I also think my clutch master cylinder is failing as it's not always fully releasing the clutch... doh.

Chris
1965 Austin Moke - Rust was not free, I paid dearly for it
1961 Morris Traveller - Bent but repairable
1960 Morris saloon.. err wagon.. err Pickup, yeah that's it! - My first car
1980 Mini 95 Van shell - pickup load floor donor
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janz
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Location: Pyrénées Atlantiques, Aquitaine,France

Re: New Moke Owner 1965 UK Little Wheeler in Oregon

Post by janz »

Small problems apart... you've done a top job Chris - like the Rat look too, but I think you're right - once it's all done and painted - hood (or whatever it is you folks call it out there) - wheels etc, you'll be happiest with it. Then you won't want to bring her out to play anymore... D'oh :lol: Good luck :wink:
Get a life, Get a Moke...
JanZ
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clm
Posts: 278
Joined: Mon Dec 26, 2011 11:17

Re: New Moke Owner 1965 UK Little Wheeler in Oregon

Post by clm »

That's why I won't be looking to have a perfect paint job... only one that is functional ;)

If I can get it with nice long legs and capable of doing freeway speed I plan on taking it touring around the US... although I need to build my trailer first ;)

Rear half of a mini wagon+rear half of a mini saloon + elbow grease = mini airstream camping trailer!

Chris
1965 Austin Moke - Rust was not free, I paid dearly for it
1961 Morris Traveller - Bent but repairable
1960 Morris saloon.. err wagon.. err Pickup, yeah that's it! - My first car
1980 Mini 95 Van shell - pickup load floor donor
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janz
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Joined: Sat Jun 11, 2011 9:11
Location: Pyrénées Atlantiques, Aquitaine,France

Re: New Moke Owner 1965 UK Little Wheeler in Oregon

Post by janz »

I'sa lookin fawward to dem pictures... and a write up for the mag of course.... :D Think about a Moke is - you just don't want it too perfect. It just ain't right. It's gotta be solid and useable - shelf or garage queens are not the spirit.
Get a life, Get a Moke...
JanZ
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clm
Posts: 278
Joined: Mon Dec 26, 2011 11:17

Re: New Moke Owner 1965 UK Little Wheeler in Oregon

Post by clm »

No idea quite how to write an article for the mag, seeing as it is not yet fully done... and my writing skills mostly suck... rambling aimlessly skills are all right though :p

Hey all, it has been a hectic past week.

The speedometer I rigged together failed... the needle now no longer moves... however the odometer is still working!

Last Saturday was the local town parade, car show, and cruise. I was determined to drive the moke in it and all set to take it out Saturday morning... when the u-joint fell apart! ARRGH! Apparently one of my steel ql500 caps slipped out of the U bolt... crap now I need to find another one to complete my set :(

I quickly pushed it up on ramps and proceeded to pull the remains of that joint from the moke and put in an old rubber cross joint. With everything all bolted back up tight I pulled it down from the ramps and pulled the parking brake... and the knob flew out of the end of it! O.o The Moke was not happy! But I managed to get it down to the parade starting point and shortly before the start my grandmother and my cousins daughter showed up to ride through the parade with me.

The Moke really was not happy creeping the couple miles of the parade but thankfully it did not overheat!

Image

After the parade I put the moke in the car show, it was the only non-American car in the whole show! And being fairly unusual it received it's fair share of attention.

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After the car show there was an hour and a half cruise though the town of which the moke managed to survive without going nuclear :) I managed to win an award for having the most unique vehicle in the cruise. It was fun :) ...although I did not get many pictures due to driving the moke.

Today I took the old nasty top in and had the ripped stitching as well as the tear in the top sewn up and proceeded to mount it. For being so bad it turned out quite well if I should say so myself :)

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All in all a fun past couple of weeks :)

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p.s. I love how the tail lights look with dual red lights :)

Image
1965 Austin Moke - Rust was not free, I paid dearly for it
1961 Morris Traveller - Bent but repairable
1960 Morris saloon.. err wagon.. err Pickup, yeah that's it! - My first car
1980 Mini 95 Van shell - pickup load floor donor
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Ezeltje
Posts: 108
Joined: Tue Aug 28, 2007 18:58
Location: Hengelo - Holland

Re: New Moke Owner 1965 UK Little Wheeler in Oregon

Post by Ezeltje »

I like your style 8)

Happy Moking

André
-/__MOKE MY DAY__\-
Nigel(no top)Sykes
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Location: Everywhere and nowhere baby

Re: New Moke Owner 1965 UK Little Wheeler in Oregon

Post by Nigel(no top)Sykes »

I must admit to cheating with my African.... I swapped over to pot joints when I was refitting the engine, time was I didn't mind rolling about fastening all those U bolt nuts ...... But I was young and daft then
Come on summer
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clm
Posts: 278
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Re: New Moke Owner 1965 UK Little Wheeler in Oregon

Post by clm »

Yes, pot joints will be a future addition... along with a guess works hybrid magic wand transmission, but for now it's run what you had in the shed :)

Chris
1965 Austin Moke - Rust was not free, I paid dearly for it
1961 Morris Traveller - Bent but repairable
1960 Morris saloon.. err wagon.. err Pickup, yeah that's it! - My first car
1980 Mini 95 Van shell - pickup load floor donor
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clm
Posts: 278
Joined: Mon Dec 26, 2011 11:17

Re: New Moke Owner 1965 UK Little Wheeler in Oregon

Post by clm »

I had a run out to moms house today to pick up the lawn mower, on the way back I tried pulling the choke while driving and found the general lethargy of the engine cleared up and I was able to accelerate up to the road speed of other drivers... That tells me it's running a bit lean at the top end I think...

It's running the 1100 engine with a 1275 smog head, a cast iron manifold, and a 1 1/2 SU with biased needle. The needle it has is an AAC needle currently, any suggestions? :)

Image
Moke being used as a pickup truck! The horror!

Chris
1965 Austin Moke - Rust was not free, I paid dearly for it
1961 Morris Traveller - Bent but repairable
1960 Morris saloon.. err wagon.. err Pickup, yeah that's it! - My first car
1980 Mini 95 Van shell - pickup load floor donor
Nigel(no top)Sykes
MMC Member
Posts: 5217
Joined: Tue Mar 07, 2006 21:04
Location: Everywhere and nowhere baby

Re: New Moke Owner 1965 UK Little Wheeler in Oregon

Post by Nigel(no top)Sykes »

Even looking through the Haynes SU book there's nothing near your set up!..... Best thing would be a Mini friendly rolling road session, that or a set of hens teeth in your part of the world I would suspect :cry:
Come on summer
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clm
Posts: 278
Joined: Mon Dec 26, 2011 11:17

Re: New Moke Owner 1965 UK Little Wheeler in Oregon

Post by clm »

Heh not much in the way of rolling roads in this area either unfortunately, trial and error will have to be the name of the game. After MMW I am going to look into the distributor and carb and likely swap the head down to a correct small bore item. Try to get everything as standardish as I can and work from there... and maybe a different final drive :shock:

Chris
1965 Austin Moke - Rust was not free, I paid dearly for it
1961 Morris Traveller - Bent but repairable
1960 Morris saloon.. err wagon.. err Pickup, yeah that's it! - My first car
1980 Mini 95 Van shell - pickup load floor donor
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