1946 Morris 8 Series E - off to storage

I was hoping to make a fair bit of progress this weekend, but got distracted by some Christmas nights out and was "un-well" on Saturday....

Still got some work done on the front suspension box.















Its not got any of the diagonals in yet, but i want to get it the main chassis together and welded first, to try and prevent things being pulled.

Will need to get an engine and box sorted soon as I want to make sure I don't build things too tight.

Hopefully get some more done next week.

I mainly ended up finishing the decorating this weekend, but gt a couple of hours in the workshop.

I've been trying some different bits out in CAD and starting to get there.



Stuck the body onto the chassis to check some things out.



Welded in the rear suspension module.





Hard to believe these are 4 seat cars when you see how little space there is inside.

I put some pieces of cage tube in to get an idea of how it impacts on the space. I'm definately goin to bave to bend the door bars out into the door frame a bit.



I also tried the front inner wing on to make sure i don't poke into the wings.





there's still a load of room.

Unfortunately the next few weeks i'm going to get nothing done on it as i'm indulging in my other passion (playing in a band .... www.facebook.com/akaizenblitz ) and we're off into the studio to record some more things.

So, after much time spent working in the studio and generally faffing about doing other things, i finally got some time in the workshop.

I was held up a bit as my cage didnt turn up when it was supposed to..... Still should be here this week, just in time for me to have 3 weekends on the trot when I cant hit the workshop :-)

Anyway, you don't want my rabbitting, here's some pics.



Front and rear suspension box stiffening going in.





Cage rear stays support plates



Main Hoop doubler gussets



Suspension brackets setting jig





Front brackets in





I then started on the jig for making the rear suspension components..... i may have over specced the steel, but it certainly wont pull when welded...







There's still quite a bit of work to go on it.

The rear transverse member at the front is just a temporary piece. Its there to hold it all nicelly square and make it easier to put together.

Once the rest of the structure is tied together and things cant move, it'll be cut out and the end plated over. Its about between where cylinder number 1 and 2 are. The bottom of the sump will be notched round the lower member.

I'm still in two minds as to what i'm going to go for.

It either going to be a lightish v6/v8 Jag etc engine, or something like a modern diesel. Will see how things develop.

With the cage in that looks cosy. Enough room for the driver and not a lot else.

I got a little bit more done on the morris this weekend. Doesnt look much for the effort it took.

Rear cage stays in



Detail of the lower rear stay mounts. Its only tacked at the moment, but will be finish welded.



Also tied to diff / rear suspension cage diagonals to nicely stiffen up.



Front cross bar in



Along with front module upper bars



I was pretty happy as welded these in front and rear, and when released from the braces, the whole lot moved up 2mm at the front, and 3mm at the rear. It was also equal side to side, so isnt attempting to twist out of true, at least not yet.

I then spent the rest of today turning up bits for the suspension jigs.

Bored some holes in the front adjuster mounting plate (not pics taken), then turned some bobbins to hold the wishbone tubes in the right place.



First time i've turned anything in ages, and had bought a new tool (indexible carbide cutter) which made a big difference. Really need to get a rhd and left hand tool, and a parting tool.



They worked well





And then i realised i had a "macro" button, so tried some pics with than on.





Should hopefully get the lower rear wishbone jig complete next weekend. If I don't get sidetracked again as back in the studio recording some more bits at the moment and putting finishing touches to our album.

Interesting build and a strong looking chassis, nice to see someone using some FEA to develop one. Looking forward to the end result

As you're building up the space frame - is it a space frame? It looks more space framey than chassis-y to me - having such a rough shell to begin with does make sense as it looks like much of the really bad areas of the shell have had to be removed to accommodate the new steel. Deliberate, or just serendipitous?