1956 Red Goddess - No socks for this birthday!

[a100terry]

First picture was taken at Exeter services in 2003. The second was at Shepton Mallet showground in 1986 - the registration number was BMC 29.

Wow that's some project you've taken on - Good luck

[Frankenhealey]

So I had to haul the spare wheel carrier off to the welders this morning so a few photos were in order.

I had wondered about how to handle to 100 kilos or so of the spare wheel and whether I'd need a jack to lift it up onto the brackets and then I saw this. 50's technology at its simple best ;D









Technique is to undo two nuts and unwind lifting bracket, slip bracket through wheel centre and locate bracket studs in holes in wheels. Wind wheel up using wheelbrace, locate stud ends in holes in winch base and tighten up nuts to secure wheel.

At the welders.



These are the brackets that will mount the UHMWPe runners for the ramps. As the brackets are on the lifting bed itwill help to get the ramps out of the bed by tilting the bed slightly at first.



Bed hinges



Top parts of the soft top hoops

[djmatt]

Epicness Must be costing you a pretty penny to get the tilt bed made... :/ I won't pry!

Are you using hydraulics to lift the bed? Where will the pivots be for this?

[djmatt]

PS that spare wheel lifter mech is pretty much the same as most 4x4s and utes are today - in fact they still use the same design on the Discovery 3, Ovlov XC90, Chrysler Voyager, Ford Falcon Wagon (non LPG), Toyota Hilux, Land Cruiser etc etc etc - Don't fix what ain't broke!

The design usually comes in two forms - one is a cable design and one is a chain. Usually the chained designs are for the heavier wheels like on HGVs etc but yours looks pretty heavy and it's a cable... Blows my theory out!

[Frankenhealey]

Must be costing you a pretty penny to get the tilt bed made... :/ I won't pry!

With no fabricating or welding skills the best I could get was 'mates rates' which is why it's taking so blooming long

Are you using hydraulics to lift the bed?

Yep, current** scheme is two double-acting rams spaced out a bit to give the bed some twist rigidity on lift.

(current** : this project has had more changes than the Navy's new aircaft carriers. Now there's a thought; make her amphibious, buy a redundant Harrier to launch up the raised bed and offer it to the MOD as a naval weapons system for the 21st century. Only 3 billion apiece to you Guv and ready before 2030! ;D)

[welshpug]

transit vans still have a pretty similar spare wheel lifter/carrier dooberry

[Implandy]

just caught up with this thread, nearly fell off my chair when I saw the guy doing the recovery work, hadn't seen him for years then bumped into him this summer, certainly was a banger boy, but boy could he drive just about anything , pretty good as a rally mechanic when the pressure was on during an event, love the build

[Frankenhealey]

Thinking of more small mods while the endless stay at the welders continues. I expect I'll be doing a bit more night driving than usual due the the slowness of the old warhorse so I'll want better lights than she has now. Don't want to ruin the 'looks' with spotlights so considering this double headlight arrangement. Question is; does it look stupid? Answers on a postcard or here please

[Phil2600s]

Hmmm...i think its a good thing that on first glance i didn't really notice anything different about it! That's gotta mean it looks "right" surely?

[Greenfox Motors]

looks good, would a HID upgrade Kit not work on this?

[Frankenhealey]

By machining the hole for the new headlamp I'll lose the side and turn lights so the plan is to use a sealed beam unit in the botom light with an integral side light and use smaller indicators as the ones fitted are waaaay too large. An ideal place for those would be the little side 'wings' next to the headlamp nacelle/plates.

The top headlamps will be HID for some flamethrower action ;D

[Clamity]

Lovely. I think the stacked headlights really suit it.

Perhaps you could you use orange painted motorcycle indicator bulbs in the holes the side lights would have gone in on the upper pair? The ones I'm thinking of are 21W and bayonet but only a little bigger than a sidelight bulb and have a pip on the end.

[luckygti]

Great stuff, the lights will look good I reckon, maybe have an indicator in the headlight? That winch system is the same as that used on the MK/MJ Bedford used by the MOD! I may have used one or two a few years ago

[wheeler]

The stacked lights look great!

Awesome project!

[MiataMark]

For HID's will you not need headlamp washers and auto levelling, or is that only required for HID low beam?

[Frankenhealey]

Just planning on HID's for high beam only. Also need to plan the rest of the lighting. I'm thinking running lights along the sides with strobe yellows in the grille and convoy lights and a low level light bar at the back of the cab so I can be seen while crawling up hills at 15mph

[morns]

Dec 8, 2011 8:44:23 GMT Frankenhealey said:

Just planning on HID's for high beam only. Also need to plan the rest of the lighting. I'm thinking running lights along the sides with strobe yellows in the grille and convoy lights and a low level light bar at the back of the cab so I can be seen while crawling up hills at 15mph

Now thats a good idea.

Love the stacked headlights tho, that little block to the side is perfect to mount the indicators in tho, rather than in the headlights.....

ala.....

[Deleted]

Mercedes 280 with an HID/H4 upgrade could be an option. Although it would require more fab work than you're currently planning it could look very cool indeed. Paint the main chrome trim to match the body and keep the chrome rings on the headlights so it's not too blingy for the bus.

[Frankenhealey]

Volksangyl, you always manage to come up with some car I haven't thought of! However, this was my original inspiration



Plan is to machine another headlamp hole in the removable plates that already hold the single lights. I did check out the cost of the Merc chrome bezels and have to say *koff*koff* expensive.

[Frankenhealey]

Popped out at lunchtime to pick up the ramp support/sliders. May have wayyyyyyy over-engineered these. But hey-ho the ramps won't rattle, won't come out on the road and will slip in or out like slippy slidey things ;D