[Ben Stevens]

It has been reported by another club member that a Scrutineer at Prescott stated “no balaclava, no racing” so I think we should probably advise every competitor to have one in the car for all events.

[Ben Stevens]

If anyone else is looking for these, please get in touch via this link and I will point you in the right direction

[Ben Stevens]

Next I needed to actually repair / remake the doors themselves.

You can see here how much I chopped off the bottoms

The internal structure also needed modifying

New wood bottom neatly finished

Internals added

[Ben Stevens]

then I needed to think about A pillars & B pillars – I had one half decent door frame and one B pillar to go from.

Some other bits of wood needed repairs as well

[Ben Stevens]

Next I set about lining up some doors; you’ve got to love a bit of CAD (cardboard aided design!)

[Ben Stevens]

Msg from David via email

David Cornwallis is the person to contact re males steering boxes. The Palm Beach box is different from the K’s L’s etc.
His email
info@davidcornwallis.com.
I cannot help on the steering wheel . The original steering wheel on a PB is not Blumels. Probably a proprietary one from a Vauxhall in period.

[Ben Stevens]

Maybe David Moseley might know?  He has a Palm Beach.  I’ll msg you his email privately Steven.

[Ben Stevens]

testing – please ignore me

Ben

[Ben Stevens]

It’s true… here’s a picture showing what happens if you don’t fit a filter BEFORE your fuel pump

[Ben Stevens]

Also…. Peter Love said this on the Social WhatsApp chat (let me know if you want adding to that group)

You can tell him Ben it’s quicker to take the engine out than undo the rear axle springs to move it all back with the torque tube etc. If it was just the pan gasket, he could do that in situ. Yours PL
Also how does he know its on the clutch as there is a drain hole in the bellhousing and all Allards leak. They only have a screw at the crankback end. PL

[Ben Stevens]

Hi Colin,

When I had mine out I was advised that it’s possible – but actually easier / quicker to just have the engine out than fiddle around trying to shuffle it forward enough.  I do have an open prop shaft so easier than a torque tube but the gearbox mounting metalwork meant that I couldn’t really pull it back far enough, hence the engine came out too.

[Ben Stevens]

Hi Dave,

I have a Facet electrical pump and no mechanical pump on my special.  It works very well, and it’s a useful security measure being able to switch it off with the hidden switch.

Also useful to remember to turn it back on again otherwise there’s just enough fuel in the pipes to get you down the road before it stops.

[Ben Stevens]

Next the engine and gearbox.

Having painted the chassis a slightly more appealing colour off it went to Jim Turnbull at Royal Kustoms for some modifications to take a Tremec T5 g speed gearbox and rebuilt flathead.

This would involve removing the torque tube and subsequent strengthening of the chassis to take the new mount for gearbox and rear radius arms.

 

I also set up the brakes at the same time, and Jim’s welders (I was still very much learning to weld at this time) put in a sturdy structural upright for the seatbelt mounts.

Here is the car as it came back, you can see the seatbelt mounts, some rear inner mudguards (which I later needed to modify quite significantly) and a spare engine block in the front so I could continue with bodywork while Jim was finishing my engine.  I needed everything to be roughly level hence wanting the weight in the front.

This last picture was taken during the MOT, a handy opportunity to see the underneath whilst on a ramp.

[Ben Stevens]

Mine was 6v Steve, but I think most people convert to one 12v battery.  I also made a plastic (fibre glass) box for my battery to save any risk of catching your spanner against the metal when undoing the cable clamps.

Looks like you’ve got your work cut out there with some of that woodwork, I’ll look forward to seeing it take shape.

[Ben Stevens]

The Autumn Lunch is back for 2025.  More details here

[Author]

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