tiny...aka 1958 lloyd

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bullets on stands, while the milanos 2.5 runs just fine and strong, for being in 130-150k mile range, i needed to pull the engine to do more engine bay work so why not swap too?

of course im having some issues figureing out the best way to swap the oilpump but whatever

and i love my wife for letting me use the kitchen for parts!...

the pan was done with nothing but hot water presure washer hooked up to my outside "hot" faucet straight off the hot water heater..works like a charm

 

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so heavy calculations, while you "can" move a milano engine back 4 inches before there are pan issues, you run into a bottleneck in the trans tunnel pretty fast after 2 inches, in fact you would have to do some HEAVY cutting to go further back as the taper becomes snug on the bell you also would be forced to cut a large section of wall too, 2 inches is EASY..so im sitting at just shy of 2 inches of setback here with little more than a fold over of the tunnel lip and a bashed out section for the starter snout, ill have to mod the mounts on the body for the bellhousing and engine mounts but its pretty minor stuff, i look at it this way...i now have room for a nice big 15x28 aluminum rad with "just" enough space for a ac condensor and pull fans, of course i will NOT be able to run a full shroud only a partial one as ill have some limitations around the water neck

 

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not a whole lot to see here, did a but load of bay cleanup of the oil/grease mess , and started marking holes to fill and figureing out what/where needs to be changed, modified or removed....going to be alot of minor alterations going on up here, never mind the surface rust its nothing

one last look at the bullets

grungy nasty high mile 2.5, very fresh but needs work 24v, now if only i can find a second "front" valve cover and coil pack cover

 

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been nibbling away at the engine bay, i figure ill start at the front and work my way back

ive been cutting out sections id previously done as they either needed change or i didnt like the way it had turned out..so..refinements braces n tweaks

first on the priority list is "pockets" to fit a rad and condensor, with the engine set back 1.5 and a slight tweak in the grill ive made space for a 28x16 3 core rad and condensor, fans will be a serious trick to get fitted but i figure if i go bare 13 inch fans with no shroud i should be good

lots of clean up to go but the base stitching is done

 

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the pocket behind the strut rods has been needing finished for a very long time, plans change and adjusted , so i braced n flushed up a panel for both sides, nothin special

 

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with setting the engine back i had to tweak the tunnel, nothing special but with doing that i didnt like the previous unfinished lines of the fire wall soooo out came the knife and i hacked it back curved it adjusted it and smoothed it out...im now happy with the shape, in the mix is a more cleaned up shot of one of the rad pockets , theres alot of little welding all over up front along with misc temp braces that are no longer needed getting hacked out, alot of unfinished stitch welding going on, stuff like that....once all the welds are done up front ill strip every inch of paint up there rust proof and prime, i may or may not do the body work

 

[69.5CUDA]

between lettting panels cool or dust settle ive been trying to figure out a solution for heater, initialy i was going to run 70s toyota pickup unit as they are pretty small, thing is even that is too big to fit, i had also picked up a 93? vw euro van floor heater, its pretty compact and would actualy fit in the doors , i also picked up the AC unit from the same rig, pretty cool and compact, bonus its not part of the heater in any way...the ac will mount in the rear with vents going forward

the problem ive got up front for heat is a serious lack of space, 8 inches wide and about 11 inches tall , thats what ive got to work with for "un-used" space, as of right now im looking at cutting up the vw heater unit and "clocking" some sections, it will be twice as effective as the toyota unit just in design, never mind the core being double the size, right now as t looks if i clock the motor 90 and then clock the output 90 ill have a unit 8 inches wide 11 inches tall with a tapper down to fit in the console curve without eating gauge or radio space, but its going to be TIGHT

ive scoured the wreckers for small heaters for many many years now for parts for other projects ALWAYS keeping an eye out for lloyd parts like a heater, the 93 euro van unit i have was picked up late last year in fact, while work on the lloyd may have died while i wasnt posting i NEVER stopped gathering parts/supplys as i could find them/afford them

most heaters are MASSIVE as they contain both heat and air with a million vent ports etc, the smallest unit without modding ive found to date is the toyota pickup units from the 70s-early 80s. however it too is too big and would need modded even more than the vw unit to only net me with a "ok" heater with its ancient core design and oversized blower motor, ill be shooting pics when i start hacking up for visual referance

ive checked this from every angle, ive got 4 options
move the heater to the trunk..sure but how much heat will you scrub in the distance so that defrost no longer works
axe the glove box(seriously considering this) but the heater would still have to be a custom build
hack up and slot into the space i do have
axe the power windshield plan and budge out the firewall for it.....probably the simplest solution but....NO ONE as best i can tell has ever done a power windshield that totaly hides away....so i want to BAD

as of today running numbers checking space behind the guages in the console, it looks like my best bet is to basicly make my own box and slot the vw parts into it, as the parts without box fit without issue, the thought of axing the glove box is tempting regardless since what do i need to put in it besides registration

id KILL for a "petrol" gauge in black with white marks chrome ring, no not a fuel gauge one that actualy says petrol, im looking for 50/60s vintage gauges for the console, temp, oil, fuel, tach, or mini tach and clock ...call it one of my missing pieces

 

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so heres the whole heater delema and issues, the "clean" unit is the old 70s toyota unit, the "dirty" one is the 93 vw eurovan unit that sits just behind the seats in the floor, youll note the sizes are pretty slim to begin with but the lack of space is so tight i will have to re-engineer even aftermarket streetrod units to fit, basicly NOTHING that would fit would provide heat

sooooo some sculpting will be required, right now im pretty annoyed as a family were staying confined to the house and even if we wernt...my plastic shops closed until further notice...end result the heater box will be mostly hand fabed from ABS plastic

 

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heres the "slot" that ive gotta fit, while it looks like it could work and be close, youve gotta calculate for the backside of gauges, tach, radio, i figure ill modify the spine ever so slightly to allow for some blower motor space, and angling the core will allow to slip past the radio and gauges, make note of the white mark on the center brace, the brace will be moved, but the white mark is how far in the radio will need for clearance

after dissasembling both units and measureing cores and blowers it became obvious the vw unit was the ONLY choice and after testing the blowers for noise and output the vw unit is almost whisper quiet which is ideal for a blower thats gotta be mounted in the console, ill obviously be trimming off the un-needed section of console under the gauge area, for the blower but initial mockup shows a working plan, just wish i had the 4x4ft half sheet of ABS i thought i had

 

[69.5CUDA]

been alot of welding grinding burning holes, butting and re-sculpting and back filling, the engine bay is currently just some minor filling and cleaning away from being 100% done, im also taking this time to weld up everything from the wheel well sides of the bay as well for a much more "solid" seem, since the bay side gets ground smooth the wheelwell side doesnt need cleaned up, ive also gone back thru and done the cabin side of the firewall as well, and since im in the wheel wells i figured strip the primer off the fenders and do some body work and check back for pinholes and such

on a more work side note, ive descided i HATE the way the brake masters are mounted both from an acess and serviceability, so the entire mount is going to be cut off and "flipped" upside down so that the howe master frame gets mounted from the bottom up but while im at it im going to drop it 1.5 inches and sink it back tward the firewall 2, this will gain a lil steering column movement that i need as well as allow me to tweak the pedal location slightly , the original plan still remains it was just not done the way i should have done it

 

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so with a heater in mind i did some spine alteration, honestly i probably dont "need" the spine but i like knowing the the chassis is ridgid as possible without a cage, with the body work being as "thin" an unridgid as it is

with a rough idea of how the interior will lay out with carpet and fill panels etc, i knew i would be adding some side plates to the spine to aid in attachments so doing a pair of drop bars was a no brainer, i gained about 1.5 inches and the double bars will give me more space to bolt a heater box in, the only issue i came across which isnt new was that my cable shift setup would have the cables in the way floating out and over buldging the floor, so i made a drop out section thats re-enforced with bar stock inside the tubes with nuts welded to the back side, the results is cables being tightly tucked

i have also entirely removed the brake pedal and master assy, (read cut clean out) with new plans for how all that will get re-done, i had issues i didnt like that need to be adressed, so a few steps forward and a few steps back at the same time

make special note of where im pointing, and where the shifter is and you truely start to get an understanding of yes the clutch is in your hip! , i should shoot some vid of how that shifter works before i seal it all up, the throw is SHORT in all directions, in fact the shifter boot is a 2inch fender washer in a 1.25ish hole but the shifts are very crisp and feedback very well....losing the stock shifter and iso shift linkage was a huge improvement, but switching to cables was an improvment even over the shankle shift

 

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heres a few shots of the cable shift setup, just incase anyone is curious, works way better than the stock linkage
started dog housing in the cables as well

 

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ya know what gets old...working in the dark of the interior of a car, worse when your welding or doing cleanup...or both, so...i popped the top back off, in doing so i found a smidgen of flex i hadnt seen before and im seriously contemplating caging the thing now...i mean its not but 1/4 inch at the roof of the windshield but its enough to bug me

 

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before i pulled the seat, i closed my eyes and held the steering wheel and marked the dash, i did this several times and came to the conclusion the wheel needed to goto the left 2+ inches,since all my marks were in the same rough place, and a tripple check of center from door to edge of console confirmed it .....which also ment the brake setup had to be cut out changed and re-done..i always wanted and intended on keeping the brake master hidden up in the dash, trying to go for as clean of an engine bay as i can, not to mention the plan of the power window...i found with some minor tweaking i could re-arange everything and put the masters below the stop line of the window and get the braketry for them to clear the column "just"....

we all take for granted the placement of things, and where the designers put them....im realising this as i have to change locations of things that i thought id put in the right spot...when your basicly doing it from scratch its all a big can of worms

 

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built a bracket to weld in that would hold the master cage, trimmed down the firewall for a tight fitment, welded in said bracket and started working on braces and such, the fitment and clearances are all very nice..much better than expected actualy, of course ill have to make new pedal arms but thats not a big deal, except the clutch one will have to jog around the column

 

[69.5CUDA]

fully dissasembled my LED turn signal setup, and rebuilt it on new custom made boards, the main board was custom made and programed by a guy who does model train stuff, the new LED boards were made by a friend of mine who makes alot of sound board stuff for musicians, 20leds per ring, de soiledered trimed re soildered, they "chase" and fade, with the flip of a ribbon i can change the direction on each ring for a few different styles

 

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with a total revamp of the brake master setup, which basicly translates into lowering fliping and side stepping the Howe aluminum cage mount, i needed to then make up a new "box" to keep everything "tight", the cage had to be transfered onto 16g sheet, and then a matching 16g "tray" was hand bent, and the firewall slowly cut to match then the tray back cut to match

as much as i didnt want the masters in the bay im happy with it

 

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everything came to a screeching halt, with my wifes surgery and now my mother having cancer in her leg, im on 24/7 call and have no time for anything

id love to blame the virus but..meh.....between the 4 jobs pulled on me as well...im runnin on fumes

my current hope is as my wife recovers and gets back to normal, that ill get a lil more time, but with the cancer in mom well....thats based on an injury caused by a city bus lift operator dumping her and her wheelchair, the deep tissue injury has caused cancer, ......its currently contained, the last couple months have been alot of "we had a cancelation and can get you in sooner can you be her in a couple hours" or we have a cancelation at 6am tommaro can you be here"..so its alot of drop n go, with my back doing all the body transfers

so a lil luck maybe ill have some time by november...its been a clusterfuck**** year even WITHOUT the virus


slowly starting to get back at it....moms cancer was gone but came back for newyears......hip is getting taken this round...lets hope for perfectly clean margins..or lifes going to get real bumpy bad and i may have to axe..well...all my projects

i did however..build a dream over the past 3 months..a 25+year dream of building my mother an offroad wheelchair as shes not been on the beach since 1987, and prior to 1985 was out motorcycle riding with me in the woods..hell..she rode a desert enduro while pregnant with me...so...it blew her mind xmas day when she got to see that dream she thought was dead suddenly in front of her

had her in it last week for an hour or so test n tuing..some tweaks need to be made but shes still blown away....and its out of my shop so i can clean up..get the viper red mist off eveerything and see if i can pull myself away some time to work

also...GSD pup for my bday in nov..so...lots of puppy training i havnt done since 95/6?...but its going smooth....tho stress is gunna kill me i swear

 

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you guys are now caught up...and the majority of those shots are all from about 9 months ago till more recent...

for now....its been a lazy week or so..mom goes in for surgery next week ..i think..hell ive had PT apt's every other day all dec for my shoulder too which has been a train wreck since jan....

as for the virus..it didnt change our lives here any...save for no wrecking yard runs and masks...we only went out once a month for food stocks anyway..now its just me or every other month...so...virus wise its not been bad at all..just a minor inconvenience really ...and yes...im taking it serious to the point moms not been allowed out, i wear my leather and such sso ppl WANT to maintain maximum distance from me...and only going out for absolute need....of course..getting stuff for the chair build was sending me out more than id like ....but thats been the exception

 

[b-body-bob]

Looks like you sized the car to fit the garage. I wish I was that smart. I'm forever walking around or into stuff in mine.

I'm basically the same as you - Covid didn't really change my routine. I've worked from home for 21 years now and have been anti-social all my life. The dips I work with actually WANT to go back to the office.