The Mors

Details of the Mors. The full shape of the bodywork will be revealed here within a matter of days! Until then you will have to make do with the following!

The Austin is Back!

Dear Readers,

We have been absent from the worldwideweb for some time. We are now back to our adoring public!

Work on finishing the Mors continues with a somewhat depleted workforce. A full unveiling of the car with minimal bodywork will happen here FIRST!

The delay in the departure for Peking does , at least, give us a little time to test the car and this has commenced. It also gives us time to enter the world famous VSCC Wiscombe park speed hillclimb and a race at Cadwell Park (See www.vscc.co.uk for event details).

Decided to enter the Austin Hall Scott at Wiscombe as well to give us something to do! The drive into deepest Devon should be exciting, with both cars there is a combined litreage of over 18l!

The Austin was dragged out of its barn this afternoon (photo above), a new set of plugs put in and dusted off. Then commenced a hair-raising test drive by chief pilot Jero. He reports that all is well especially at higher speeds.

DOWN THE PUB FOR SUNDAY LUNCH

I remember those Lotus advertisments where Dr. Someone or other bought his Elan in kit form (to avoid purchase tax) and it was delivered on the Friday and by Sunday morning he had finished building it! I think it was mainly a question of putting the wheels on and maybe dropping the engine in to the chassis. Anyway he had finished it to go down the pub for Sunday lunch..........so did we! The Mors was towed by Linda in her 3 litre Bentley well past our only neighbour and then fired up. Usual noise factors despite fitting 8 motorcycle silencers on to the stubs. Jeremy drove there and I back. Cooling was fine with the radiator running very cool. Oil pressure steady 55psi..........spot on. Dropped 3 cylinders on the way there. One pluglead off at the plug and one pluglead broke under vibration. ( We are using temporary leads we fitted to run it on the test bed). Also some arcing across the magneto output. Jeremy had geared up the braking during the morning by fitting a longer lever on the cross shaft and this improved things greatly. The steering definately needs sorting. Its sticky with little castor return and also vague dead ahead.
Jeff Theobald called in today with his magnificent Stanley Steam car. His wonderful permanent smile became even bigger when we fired the Mors up for a few seconds to demonstate it at tea time.
Becker top the day off with a great Aerobatic display in his Zlin 50. Stunning!
As Oliver has reportrd we now have a Registration number!

Photo.

Back in time to the radiator gilling phase - here is guest giller Robin Balloonist hard at work with second-in-command giller Sud Minor

Sud Special (not special Sud)

This is photo of the week - the extraordinarily large 'Le Sud Special' bicycle.

It's been an unusually quiet weekend now some of the pressure is off... Still plenty of visitors though such as Paul & Margaret Mayhead yesterday and various others today including a steam car.

We were at VSCC Silverstone just spectating yesterday which made a pleasant change, and today I started working on the Austin Hall-Scott beginning preparations for VSCC Wiscombe - such as replacing the fuel pump which Model A Ward nicked for fitting to the Mors.

Recipe of the week again is Buzzard of Garson's excellent tip of asparagus on the barbeque - 10/10!

As I write news comes in that William's moustache is coming on well.

Important Press Release

It has been decided to delay the departure of the Raid from Peking until circa August 6th. The main reasons for this are twofold:

1) William Way, mechanicien, requires the extra time to enable the growing of a fully functional moustache.

2) VSCC Loton Park Hillclimb takes place on 23rd/24th June when the raid would originally have been in full-force somewhere between Peking and Paris. This created quite a stir when discovered as it is well-known as one of the finest VSCC events of the year, mostly as it includes an excellent hog-roast on the Saturday evening.

There may also have been some other reason involving Chinese Import Permits but I shall gloss over that for now. This will make the departure of the 2007 raid 100 years and 2 months after the original raid - better than just 100 years some might say.

So Far

The Mors at 18.55 this evening.

Wednesday

Off to the DVLA test station early this morning to have the Mors inspected to get a period registration number.

All went well and passed through with flying colours. Unlike the nice gentleman who's car was next in line to be inspected - he managed to get himself handcuffed and arrested for perjury just as he was having a look at the Mors. Alarming - I naturally assumed there had been a mistake and that it should have been me being arrested. A third policeman cheerfully explained to me that this is what happens to you if you lie, luckily I hadn't embellished any of the Mors history to them!

Meanwhile Ben Sud has been finishing up the long job lists and making the machine complete whilst I have begun to attack the body panels with some zeal.

It looks increasingly unlikely that the machine will be shipped on target as it is taking so long to process the correct Chinese import permits. This may, however, be a bit of a blessing as some testing before departure can be carried out.

A LONG WEEKEND

It was another long (but must admit jolly weekend). Our friends Alain and Kate d' Arrison arrived at 18.01 Friday and the remainder was quite a blurr.......... Saturday: William and I removed the gearbox as the Friday test showed that the front bearing housing was getting hot. The problem was partly because a weld on the input shaft had picked up on the screw-in covering adjusting the preload on the front thrust bearing. William who is much better an Engineer than me redesigned the whole arrangement.We remachined it and also fitted a modern style front oil seal. A test run on Sunday afternoon showed it working really well. This was the first time I had driven (or been driven in the car). It is a Beast and requires much taming to become usable. We have had this before (the 10 litre Austin was the same, just like breaking in a Horse. It was great to be in the passenger seat with Will driving and seeing Horses Bolting, huge flames from the stub exhausts and the countryside a blurr.
Rad temp, ok. Oil pressure 55psi. Mag arcing slightly between terminals.Steering needs more caster return. Diff and gearbox running cool. Brakes rather ineffective. Delightful clutch and gearchange.
Much done and some to do........
Lots of discussion over weekend as to how long it would take to grow a decent moustache. Can anyone advise? To qualify the tips would have to be visible viewed from behind the owner. I presume waxing will be vital!

Choc O'Clock

Recipe of the weekend: Chocolate Crunch, courtesy of Ma Buzzard!

1/2 lb Rich Tea Biscuits - crushed into chunks

Mix the following in a saucepan and melt over a low heat:
1/4 Ib Marg
1 1/2 tbsp Golden Syrup
1 dsp sugar
3 dsp chocolate powder (preferably Green and Blacks!)
3 tbsp coffee granules

Throw in a handful of raisons. Add the crushed Rich Tea biscuits, stir and spread into square baking tin approx 8" by 8". Finally Melt one bar of Green and Blacks dark chocolate and pour over the biscuit mixture to top, cool in the fridge for 20 mins.

Serve with a generous cup of tea in the sunshine!

Back on the road!

Soldering on the radiator was finally completed by Ben Sud and myself this afternoon. Jeremy completed the pipework connecting the engine to the wonderful looking radiator tanks.

It was then time for a proper test drive! An experience that was so bad that it was really rather good! The noise from the 8 stub exhausts is something to behold - no doubt our neighbours were delighted. Cows and sheep scattered across fields and a large dust cloud developed as we got up to speed on the single track country roads surrounding the workshops. Vicko the upholsterer extraordinaire had the misfortune of meeting us coming the other way on a small hump-backed bridge - one must remember that the Mors looks quite brutal at the moment without any bodywork!

All went well with good oil pressure (60psi) and 3rd gear reached (for those interested in the technical details).

On our way back we discovered that a largish cow had escaped in fright and was being rounded up by some mildly irate farmers. Otherwise all went very successfully and we returned to the delighted mechaniciens for a complete debrief.

It's now half past drinks o'clock and the world famous artists and signwriters Alan and Kate Harrison have arrived to drink the Patrons cellar and put their trademark on the Mors.

Got to go and see a man about a Horse, a White Horse!

Attention Chinese Prime Minister!

Dear Wen Jiabao,

You will no doubt have been following this blog with intrigue and perhaps mild amusement. I expect you have been noting how many people have been assisting with this project and wondering how you can get involved......well here it is; we are having a spot of bother getting one these Temporary Import Permits that you seem to insist on - and this is putting the whole project in jeopardy!

I know there isn't much time for you to prepare for our arrival in Beijing and I apologise for this, but perhaps you can forgo some of the grand dinners and parties you would like to put on in our honour.

You will find we really are a decent bunch of chaps and I'm sure the lovely Mors racing car will slip into Beijing and glide out across the Mongolian border whilst receiving excellent publicity for China Tourism that will be of enormous benefit to your economy.

All you need to do Mr Wen Jiabao, Sir, is to have a word with one of your chaps in the import permit department and all will be sorted.

I look forward to seeing you on our arrival.

Kind Regards,

William Way (mecanicien)

PS, In your honour we may even christen the car with the name of this year's Chinese year - The Wild Boar (although I will have to run this by the createur as many people will know he is a bit fickle about these things....)

DRIVING VERY SOON !

The car is very nearly there. All power and transmission units finally placed and Jeremy has even fitted a starter motor on a rather spiffing bracket. This will be a real luxury to us as on the 10 litre Austin its a 'push job'. This will also please Jim Wood, the world's best start line marshall who I suspect we have frustrated many a time at VSCC events!
The radiator is now over half assembled with only 70 or so more tubes to solder top and bottom. Sud Major and Oli are working on this. Rather fine copper tube work is being bent up to connect the two engine banks to the bottom and top radiator tanks.
Vicko's seats are a revalation, the driver's which is an original one has been restored by her (but still well patinated), the Mecanicien's is largely a wonderful copy.
After the radiator will be the front body sections but the buck has already been made by Oli so much of the 'thinking' has been sorted.
The seats are quite far back and a chain guard, or body at that point would seem to be sensible.
The original registration number has been lost and we have had a frustrating time organising an age related number. Unfortunately the VSCC sent the official dating letter direct to Swansea DVLA which is not the thing to do. Once we recovered this I rushed down to our local office who then requested Insurance and an MOT. These sorted, we have an official DVLA inspection booked for Wednesday 19th. I think we will receive a number within a few days after that. The V5 which we may need for
some countries will be sent from Swansea and I'm fearful about how long this may take.
The BIG BIG problem is getting permission to run the car through China. More of this later. We have several strategies.............

It's Guillaume Sud's Birthday!

It is his birthday!

Here it is...

Back by popular request - recipe of the week.

Having just had the first asparagus spears from the extensive Bigenor vegetable plot, recipe of the week is asparagus (pleasingly I believe our crop beats Garson's of Esher pick your own farm????!):

Firstly mix 1/2 tonne of well rotted horse manure into a patch of well-dug soil. Plant some asparagus crowns as per manufacturer's instructions.

Wait for about three years, then cut the spears just below ground when they appear in April. Steam immediately, smother with butter, salt and pepper, and eat.

ALSO, on the topic of food and drink, the total consumption of various items over the four day weekend has finally been tallied up:

115 mugs of tea (PG Tips Loose Tea); 88 Hot Cross Buns; 18 Bottles Wine; 2 Bottles Cider; 48.5 pints bitter (guess who had the 1/2 pint!); 4 Gin and Tonics (can't think who had these...); 2 Grouse whisky; 2 chickens; 1 large gammon; 1 side of beef (4 ribs).

Jero.

Tuesday Evening

Chief Mechanicien Mr A.Ward leaves us for Oxfordshire tonight on a flourish with the completion of one side of radiator tubes attached and tested successfully. Should get the other side finished tomorrow and it will then simply be a case of connecting the tanks to the engine and firing her up!

In the meantime work on mounting a beautifully made luggage rack has progressed with Ben Sud and the starter and charging system are being fitted by J.Way Esq.

Mr Ward has worked tirelessly for the last ten days - absolutely amazing! The pile of stuff we had when he arrived from Oxford now resembles the car that it should.

A seasonal recipe is to follow.......

Afternoon Tea

We have stopped for coffee/tea (depending on preference) and a lovely cream egg after successfully soldering the first six gilled pipes in place on the "radiateur"! No one else really seems to be doing much, but Oliver and myself have been working like Stanley the steam car all day - silent and steady, but surprisingly torquey.

Unfortunately a lot of visitors arrived for a bank holiday lunch resulting in the easter dove being burnt; instead we have been forced to eat lots of chocolate. The visitors redeemed themselves by being very entertaining and promising to drop a fruitcake from a plane to replenish supplies when we run out. We are creating a parachute as I "blog".

LAND OF HOPE AND GLORY !

As recorded by Oli the beast was pushed out of the workshop yesterday with firstly 2001 Space ODYssey on the sound system then Land of Hope and Glory. Both somehow seemed so appropriate.
It had been another long day with a big team beavering away. Constantly amazed how/why everyone does turn up, maybe it is Linda's cooking?
The sound of these early Aero Engines is so atmospheric and it was a complete delight to hear it burst into life after a short push.
Still huge amounts to do but we will fire it up again today.
I think I'm on fitting starter motor duty.
Yorkstone left to go back north at 06.00 hours and at the time of writing there are 5 Mechaniciens tucking into a cooked breakfast.
MOT is booked for 08.30 tomorrow !

It's Running!

At 17.35 the Mors was wheeled out into the evening sunlight. A gallon of petrol was poured into the massive tank and Mr Ward pumped frantically on the fuel air pressure pump whilst W.Way primed the Zenith carburettor. The Patron of this foolish undertaking then mounted the beast, Mr D.Flintstone armed himself with two fire extinguishers and all others present gathered for the push start. Within 10 yards the engine burst into earsplitting life and the machine leapt forward.....

As yet no radiator has been added, so the excitement was short lived. However the engine was run long enough to ascertain that at least two of the forward gears work, the clutch works, the brakes slow the vehicle and the engine runs on all eight cylinders and has a good 60psi oil pressure.

Congratulations must be made to all those involved so far - an amazing effort!

EASTER SUNDAY LUNCHTIME

A cracking morning with big progress on the whole car. Oliver arrived with a borrowed bottle of Acetylene kindly loaned by Paul Mayhead to finish silver soldering the radiator tanks.
Engine now bolted up in final position.
Clutch working with only a little finishing work required on the Forchette.
Seats finished by Vicko and Sud Minor and in place. Vicko has also filled the gearbox and diff case with 140 grade oil. Engine filled and oil pump primed with straight 50.
Yorkstone has helicoiled the mag drive cover threads which were worn.
Sud Major has been making a styly radiator header tank bracket.
Jeremy has got the main drive chains on.
Adrian working on fuel, air and wiring.
We are not far off firing up the great beast. At least this afternoon we will give it a tow to check drive systems and obtain oil pressure.
Will report later!

The Car (boring) Brummel (quite interesting (or odd))

Here we see two photographs of the car with a Mongolian lad driving it. Followed by stunt dog Brummel doing his daily shoulder walking (a bit like aeroplane wing walking but for dogs).

Seriously though it has been a good day with work progressing well. AND the White Horse Inn is now serving food - s0 get down there everyone! We are expecting an important visit from landlord Michael this week to inspect progress on his major sponsorship deal....

Good old Tim Maron has finished fitting the all-important shock absorbers as well as the continuous flow of intriguing stories surrounding his life back in Oxfordshire (see profiles page)

That's all for now.

Jeremy. (writing in the name of famous driver Will Way who has succumbed to the pressure of this real work and gone to bed).

PROGRESS IS GOOD

Great progress this week with an average attendance of 7.4 people each day. The differential and rear sprockets are well set up and it's all going together rather well.
Attendance today (Friday) was:

Oliver (the governor header tanks and radiator)
Model A Ford Ward ( fuel and air systems)
Frank (the works boy Painting and engine mounts)
Jeremy ( brakes and linkages)
Tim (the stud) Brown (shock absorbers, amortisseurs)
William (chains and sprockets)
Yorkstone (brakes, chain drive carburettor)
Sud Major (Gilling)
Sud Minor (7 Gaskets in 7 minutes)
Vicko (restoration of the seats)
Le Patron (clutch release)
Vieux Sud ( Chainsaw )

Also in attendance but in the sky was Becker Aerobatically, Malvina Knickers( Goodwood Club plane) and Paul Mullins (Tiger Moth). All gave a virtuoso performance.
Tomorrow is going to be a big day............. report to follow....

Working Lunch

Photo taken at lunchtime today - a normal working lunch. Note the religious Easter themed halo over the head of Model Adrian Ward (NB. he is not a model).

No more visitors can be accepted due to a lack of trees to sit against.

No more gills!

The radiator department had a new recruit today in the form of "works boy" - aka Frank (I prefer the french pronounciation "frornck"). He arrived just in time to thread on the 16,ooth gill and complete the final tube! The 120 odd tubes were then dunked in molten solder to secure the fins against the rough parisian roads. Despite starting with 2kg of highgrade plumbers lead we quickly ran out and had to make a quick dash to Austen's home hardware shop for supplies. Surprisingly Austen's home hardware stocks large blocks of solder ready for melting, they have everything in that shop. Frornck sped us back in the racing styled fiat and we managed to finish 87.3% of the tubes before running out of solder again at the end of the day.

In celebration, and to cool off after the propane fired solder bath had singed my fair ginger eyebrows, we had a big bonfire. A big religious, chocolatey weekend of proper work to look forward to!

Hot Cross Bun O'Clock

Snapped at the weekend are many hands making light work of putting thousands of gills onto radiator tubes.(Guest gillers Matt Shepherd and James Talbot-Lago) 13,000 gills have now been fixed in place, approx 2000 to go! Then will come the major test, will it leak?

Meanwhile Mr Model A Ward is hard at work on the fuel and oil pipes and making a lovely job of it - as expected!

The radiator header and lower tanks are coming on with many pounds worth of silver solder joining them all together.

The front sprocket maching has been finished by Paul and are ready for final assembley.

Adrian serenaded us with a beautiful rendition of Bat out of Hell - all six minutes of it. (not pleasant).

Ben Sud's Dog Training Classes