65 Mini Moke

Started by pbraun, September 26, 2013, 05:27:06 PM

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pbraun

I brought home this 65 Moke from Florida, where the owner said the body work had all been done and it was in primer, ready to go!.

See picture below, moke on wooden cart I made, soon to have some pretty bad bodywork exposed.

That was two years ago. Since then, I've been slowly getting organized, buying some parts, and looking around to find a good body shop who could help with some details like adding Old English White paint, etc.  Well, I finally found the shop and 2 guys who are talented artists in auto sheet metal and paint, and who like interesting projects. Turned out to be close to swiss cheese after sand blasting. I thought it might be worse, but, it was whatever, and I then started to price panels from England, ending up with getting most from Leo Jack, at mokepanels.com. Nice guy, good prices, good pieces.

Now, the shell is still at the shop, maybe another month or so, till some more smaller panels get fabricated and installed. The motor and tranny are being rebuilt by a guy who has been doing that work for about 30 years and who is a real Mini enthusiast, right here on the East Coast USA.

and, I am tired, and it's late, so long story short, for now. Here's a link to about 206 pictures, as of now, in reverse order, the most recent being the first, that ya'll can look through and see what I am up against. More coming. Cheers.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pbraun/sets/72157626938170988/
Peter
65 Moke
60 Bugeye modified
66 Jaguar XJ13 ( I can wish )

94touring

Thanks for sharing.  I like your little cart, looks like you could sit a welder on it while you do repairs.

pbraun

Yeah, ya could. The Moke has it's own jig now and the cart is full of parts and
Assorted bits.

Hope thread might be of interest.
Peter
65 Moke
60 Bugeye modified
66 Jaguar XJ13 ( I can wish )

pbraun

Boy were those front rubber cones, aluminum trumpets and steel knuckle joints hard to remove.
Peter
65 Moke
60 Bugeye modified
66 Jaguar XJ13 ( I can wish )

94touring

I have some that I am dreading to deal with too. 

pbraun

#5
Actually, once I found a massive press and good operator,
The separation was easy. Home inside an hour!.
Peter
65 Moke
60 Bugeye modified
66 Jaguar XJ13 ( I can wish )

Mudhen

I just picked up a tool on ebay for those...thought it would be easy.  So you must have to compress them?  Never even looked at how they go together...

pbraun

Well, the rubber cone and aluminum trumpet just slide together pretty loosely.  However, over years of being that way, and add rain and water, and they kind of rust together and do some dissimilar metal action. Usually they don't need to be compressed except to assemble or take apart.
The knuckle joints, on the other hand, get really hard in there and often need special persuasion to separate, as in a press.
Peter
65 Moke
60 Bugeye modified
66 Jaguar XJ13 ( I can wish )

MPlayle

I have successfully used a long 3/8" diameter steel rod and a hammer to separate the pieces.

Separating the knuckle joint:
Stand the assembly in the center of a couple of wheels stacked on top of each other (like an ice cream cone in a stand - tip down).  Slide the steel rod down the center to rest on top of the knuckle joint post.  Whack the steel rod crisply with the hammer (mine was a standard 1-lb. hammer).  It usually pops the knuckle out with only two or three whacks.

Separating the cone & trumpet:
After knocking out the knuckle joint, turn the cone/trumpet pair upside down on the ground.  Slide the steel rod down through the hole for the knuckle joint - following the side of the trumpet to rest the rod on the rim of the steel cup in the cone.  Whack the steel rod crisply a few times.  If they don't pop apart, shift the rod to the other side of the cup and repeat.  If they are really old and nasty, it may take walking around the rim of the cup to impact loose the rust and corrosion.

The steel rod can by bought at Home Depot for about $5.

Mudhen

I have lots of questions about those rubber cones...sorry, wondering what I'm going to do if I ever get to that point (and my only Mini suspension experience is Hydrolastic).

Are you replacing them, is that why the disassembly?  Or just cleaning them up?

They wear out like a shock?  Ahh...Google is my friend.  Looks like they make competition ones that, 'may last a year'.  Wonder if they'll hold up to rallying...or, 'may last a race'.  I guess then it would be, 'may be replaced with coils'.

pbraun

Mudhen, I am replacing them, as they are almost 50 years old now. Will be cleaning up the aluminum trumpets before reassembly, and new knuckle joints also.

Mplayle - yep, I tried all that to no avail. The press was the only answer. Frozen they all were.
Peter
65 Moke
60 Bugeye modified
66 Jaguar XJ13 ( I can wish )

pbraun

The body shell is going back together now, as just about all the panels are assembled and made. It's a long slow process with thousands of rosette welds.

The alignment jig is so precise, one slight change and everything moves, so you really have to get it right and clamped before welding.

Oh, what fun!  Hope to see some paint fairly soon, we'll see.

I know there's a Moke in there somewhere:
Peter
65 Moke
60 Bugeye modified
66 Jaguar XJ13 ( I can wish )

94touring

Why is it every time I see a moke being built they always have the coolest assemblies holding it all together?

pbraun

Cause otherwise they just fall apart! :D
Peter
65 Moke
60 Bugeye modified
66 Jaguar XJ13 ( I can wish )

pbraun

Getting closer!

maybe seam sealer and some primer next week!
Peter
65 Moke
60 Bugeye modified
66 Jaguar XJ13 ( I can wish )

94touring


pbraun

Peter
65 Moke
60 Bugeye modified
66 Jaguar XJ13 ( I can wish )

94touring

Wow is that brand new or did you have it blasted and coated?

pbraun

Vintage 1965, blasted and powder coated - like new!
Peter
65 Moke
60 Bugeye modified
66 Jaguar XJ13 ( I can wish )

pbraun

Well, I thought I'd have it all clean and seam sealer about a month ago, but odd stuff just seems to happen. Got the wrong sand delivered, then the guy got sick, couldn't pick it up and replace with finer stuff, so yesterday I just went out and got the proper material. Soon maybe. 50.gif
Peter
65 Moke
60 Bugeye modified
66 Jaguar XJ13 ( I can wish )

jedduh01

Keep it up Peter-   !! No matter these things take time!

pbraun

Bottom side of shell now blasted. Hope it isn't too humid here, but it is, :-\  and maybe primer very soon.

Peter
65 Moke
60 Bugeye modified
66 Jaguar XJ13 ( I can wish )

pbraun

Peter
65 Moke
60 Bugeye modified
66 Jaguar XJ13 ( I can wish )

Mudhen

 4.gif

I dream of that day...looks awesome.  What kind of primer?  High build something or other?

pbraun

The first coat of primer was etching epoxy primer. Second and subsequent coats are high-fill epoxy primer. Working well.



Here you can see some sanding being done to smooth out some minor imperfections, well, some a bit more than just minor....at least so ya can't see where any repairs might have been made.



Peter
65 Moke
60 Bugeye modified
66 Jaguar XJ13 ( I can wish )