Outback Moke Build

[Spider]

Not sure if anyone here would be interested in any big wheel Australian Moke stuff, but this is one I did recently for a mate, Cyclops, not a restoration, but a special modified build for taking it in to the Australian Outback and bringing it back alive!:-


Cyclops presented me with this







"You want me to do [size=14pt]WHAT[/size] exactly with that?"


We spent a day stripping it, then off for soda blasting to see what surprises await us (oh goodie ::) )



and actually came back not too bad, just really beaten up





anyway, we got to and started straightening it back out and also started on all the usual Spider 'Super-moke' mods ;D

Rear shock towers



paneling back in the side box (for a top fill)



Windscreen frame



Rear Panel



Mazda MX5 Seats (with Speakers in the headrests )



straightening out a front bar



cutting & drilling all the roll bar foot plates



I got myself a tubular notch cutter this time around - WOW - so fast !



Roll bar nearly done



seat belt mounts



new wheels



more to come

[newtune]

That's quite some project ! lease there's not to much body work to do, wish we could find mokes like that in England

[miniminor]

Australian cars must be so boring to work at without rust!
Nice looking metalwork!

[Tupers]

That's a pretty comprehensive cage, is it getting coilovers on the front as well?

[Spider]

Thanks for the nice comments guys. I was of two minds about posting it here as I wasn't sure if it's something you guys would like to see. I do also tinker with Minis (I've actually got more minis than mokes

I've also been reading ronie's thread here

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2504

While I'm real impressed, I'm also really intimidated. What a score and TOP project, eh fellas?

These outback Mokes are not really done to a high finish standard, just so they look nice (at least in photos ) but reliability and functionality are the prime objectives.

newtune, Mokes here are not that easy to find, but they do seem considerably easier to come across than in the UK. The money they command though is at times ridiculous - they are only half a car after all!

miniminor, this particular one is a factory galvanised one, mind you, they still will rust, but usually are much better in that dept than their earlier cousins, sadly, Mokes are rust buckets. One thing about them though, is for a very long time they were regarded as a cheap car and often treated as such, so very little money was spent on repairs. It's very hard to come across one that hasn't been seriously bodged up in some way or another and this one was a prime example.

Tupers, thanks for the nice comment on the cage. It's main function is actually to stiffen the body up as Mokes have all the torsional stiffness of a sheet of paper! It seems that half the suspension movement is in the twist of the body!! So the cage does stop the body from twisting and cracking up. It actually has Air Adjustable shocks on the rear (I'll come to that) as well as the stock rubber cones. It doesn't have front coil overs but I am looking in to (when I get time ) Air adjustables for the fronts too.

By the way, as I write this, the vehicle is finished, but thought I'd share the build here all the same So on with it!


Front bar fits and now modified



In the paint shop



painted



Starting to put it together





Instrument Panel





wiring



trial fit of the BIG side fuel tank (60 litres this one)



windscreen being fitted





fitted





off to the trimmers

[newtune]

As said that's quite a cage ! love mokes they have something about them, had mine since I was 19 and would never sell it even thou I only drive it 3 or 4 times a year

Keep the pic coming looks like its going to be one hell of a moke !

[MadMatt]

you work far too hard Spidey
well done mate, goin great guns

[LDR209H]

Nice work there,that's going to be a beast.

'Newtune, Mokes here are not that easy to find, but they do seem considerably easier to come across than in the UK.'

When I was travelling around Oz in the late '90's a lot of people were talking about Magnetic Island in Queensland,there were several companies renting 'em out over there. They had to refresh their fleets from time to time so used to have big sales - they'd be in some
state without doubt,outback + rental car abuse !!

[Spider]

Hope all you guys in the UK are OK, been seeing the bad weather you guys have copped a couple of days ago. Nasty stuff.


Hey Matt, nice to see your smiling face How's the surf been mate? Work too hard? you're kidding right? Actually, I'm starting to run outta money so I think I have to go do some real work for a few months.

LDR209H, yeah, it's widely rumoured that the the guy who owns all the Magnetic Island Mokes had the biggest Moke fleet in the world. I used to send him Mokes by the truckload, mind you, that was a good few years ago now. I do know that in recent years they have reduced their fleet from around 60 to about 15 or so. I've never actually been there,,,,,, now, there's a thought,,,,,,,,,

Anyway, back to the build;-

I don't seem to have a return from the Trimmer's pic, I think there is one kicking about somewhere, but, yes, rest assured, it did come back!

Anyways, Steering Rack - Overhauled and ready to fit





and fitted



Building up the Front Subframe



Rear Subframe built, just checking the alignment of it here



The BIG Side Tank Fitted with a Non-leak Cap



Rear Subframe going in





and the Front one



Front Hubs fitted



back on (some) wheels



Fitting up the Rear Auxiliary Fuel Tank (this one is 40 litres)



Heater over-hauled and ready to fit




DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME FOLKS!!!!!!!!



(straightening out the rear bar)

Engine Machining





Brand New Cylinder head, but Lapping the valves all the same



Rocker Gear overhauled and ready to fit



Fitting the diff



Crickey, down to my last 2!


One last peep before the head gets fitted



Just like a Rolls Royce, it has a hand made Radiator Cowling



Going in



Getting fitted up



and this one also got a CSI Distributor



This is about the nicest this is ever gunna look!



Coming out, on it's way for RWC



Finished and Registered!!!



The end

Well, actually not quite,,,,,,,,,

[georgek]

Very nice! You've done a great job!

[Chris64]

That's brilliant! Never mind the outback, it would be perfect for the school run here!

What's the front screen from, or is it custom made? I noticed it was bonded in.

Cheers,

Chris

[850man]

Nice work Spider. Now you need to build a nice original little wheeler with canvas side screens, I might like that one

[Tim]

Spider, I've never asked, is this your day job? Do you build Minis all day, or do you do something else as well?

Tim

[Spider]

georgeek, thanks for the lovely compliment

Chris64, the windscreen frame is of course a custom one that I make. It is also the front hoop of the roll cage and a stock Moke glass fits it. That was a pretty important thing for us, to make getting replacements easy. And yes, the glass is bonded in (like them modern cars ) from the front, so you don't have to pull half the car apart just to fit a glass.

850man, nah, the little wheelers get hung up on rocks and sand dunes way too easy mate, have a look at my website \/ and you'll see what I mean Why not have a look at your good mate dumb over on Terry's forum, just what you are after

Tim, a long time ago, but not these days. But somehow every now and again, I get talked in to do just one more. Bloody Cyclops, when he was interested in building one, he only asked if I could give him a bit of a hand from time to time,,,,,,,,,,,,Yeah, after he dumped it off at my shed (actually, come to think of it, I even got talked in to picking it up), I hardly saw him until about the last 2 weeks of the build,,,,,,,,,,,, cheers Cyclops,,,,,,,,,,

The end

Well, actually not quite,,,,,,,,,

OK, so now having built it, it had to be tested of course. 4 days after is was registered, we set off on a 10 000 kM trip, just a shake down run (literally!).

http://mokespider.wix.com/spiders-moke- ... bh01/c17l7

enjoy (be kind, that is my first attempt at doing a webthingy)

[InimiaD]

Enjoyed watching / reading about your road ?? trip Spider.
There's me making feeble excuses not to drive a mere 50 miles. The shame of it.