Baloo's Blitz

[Baloo]

here we go then

l bought an NCF Blitz a few weeks back all in working order but a bit scruffy, was mini A series powered with a metro subframe, cant say as l am to much of a fan of the A series great in its day no doubt but that day has gone imho,
K series seems a reasonable choice to me since it will fit into the metro subframe l already have in the blitz, and they are so cheap l managed to get a complete mgf vvc for £200 that was working and driving it was just tommy cotton

so l stripped the blitz down to a bare chassis and sent it for shot blasting, all came back clean and shiney with no suprises,
l have just applied the first coat of primer, sure does make a mess of the worksop lol

 

[CAW]

Nice one Andy, looks good red lead.........mine will be hand painted red lead after the bits are welded on, so i dont get divorced :

Andy

 

[Baloo]

lol, l just waited to swmbo had gone shopping and out came the spray gun : it was to late when she got back ;D

need to pull the same stunt with the top coat now, maybe later today depending on the weather, wether she goes out that is


been having a fiddle around making side panels for the blitz, l still have a new pair of original galv steel panels that were supplied with the kits l bought 10 years ago, not keen on the very thin galv steel but the shape of them with the folds running through make them more intresting to look at

l made these up on the press brake from 2mm ally, a lot stiffer but they look a bit plain, ( need triming to lenght yet ) l could get round this with graphics or l am pondering having a go at making some new panels out of fiberglass, l could fix some mouldings to the ally panels to make them look a bit more intresting add a kick out at the rear to cover the rear tyre etc and take a mould of them

 

[CAW]

Hi Andy,

Dont think It would need it on the ali panels, but I bet it would look good Quiverfied, if it could be done on that shape

Andy

 

[Baloo]

since l have pushed the pedals forward to get more legroom l can no longer have vertical master cylinders if l want to get them under the bonnet so l decided to have a go at biulding my own floor mounted pedal box
first l made a new floor panel to drop in where the petrol tank used to live this gives me some where to bolt the pedal box down to
l am still waiting for my clevis pins/clips to arrive hence the zip ties holding the pedals to the master cylinder rods,

since l see this being used offroad primarily l have opted for a very quick rack at just over 1 turn lock to lock l imagine this will make it 3 times as hard to turn the steering wheel turn as most of yours, to over come this l have shortened down the mgf electric power steering column to fit in, this can be switched in and out as required to give power or no power assistance as required

 

[CAW]

Fair play Andy the normal standard I see, cant wait for this build

Andy

 

[Danny]

Yeah i just knocked up a pedal box... jesus I wish

Nice build

 

[esdebe]

Are you not going to be tripping over the steering rack to get to the pedals...

 

[Baloo]

Are you not going to be tripping over the steering rack to get to the pedals...

no l dont think so, my heels fit nicley up against the rack forming a stop, might make a section up that drops over the rack to protect although l doubt you could do it any damage with your heels
Andy

 

[offroad 68]

Are you not going to be tripping over the steering rack to get to the pedals...

Especially with 3 feet, count the pedals

 

[Baloo]

Yeah i just knocked up a pedal box... jesus I wish

Nice build

well it wasent just one pedal box it was 4 if you are going to go to the trouble of getting your ronco pocket lazer out you may as well put it to good use
the other 3 have now left the biulding but l will need to cut one more as this biuld is a dummy run, well its not really a biuld it a rebiuld as some one else has done all the hard work before me, its just a nuts and bolts job really apart from the pedal box,

l am using this to work up to another buggy but with a bit more room, since this was designed to use mini bits l find it a bit narrow in the cabin for 2 people, irrating really because when l put the side panels on there is nearly 5 " in side each panel that is unused so the frame could have been 10" wider and yet not make the buggy wider overall, that would be spacious enough for 2 of me lol,
so what l am doing here is testing out and devloping some ideas to biuld another from scratch that is wider and maybe a few inches longer, doner for this one will be the honda prelude vtec, these are cheap as chips £400 will buy you a good running example with around 200 bhp as standard plus a semi automatic gearbox that will allow you to have paddle shift on the steering wheel

 

[CAW]

Lol, Heres me thinking I'm at the front of technology doing 1/8" chain drilling to make bigger holes when I need them. ;D , must be a nice bit of kit you have there

Andy

 

[swifthalf]

nice im just doing a secondhand one my self your right about space mine is now 1 seat the guy i got it off said its a special addition blitz 2 but i suspect he just made one seat as he was a big lad lol well i say made it one seat the seat was only held in with cable ties not now lol

 

[Baloo]

yup not a lot of room in them is there

frame has gone all red again

will start putting back together as soon as the paints dry

 

[Phaeton]

Your speed always amazes me Andy, you've finished doing the job by the time I have thought how to.

Alan...

 

[Baloo]

well l am spoilt by having a big garage, it means l can work on the buggy at all hours of the day, dont think l would have the drive to do it if l was working outside as some of you have too,

not all plain sailing with the gearbox, l thought l was just going to swop to the one with the lsd in it, not so th elsd gerabox came of a t seires engine not a k so wont fit, have to swop just the diff over instead, shame l dident realise that before l cleaned up the wrong gearbox :

 

[CAW]

Nice job on the chassis Andy, shame about the wrong gearbox but at least If you wanted to sell it, I'm sure it would go fast lol.................yes so jealous of the space you have, must be great to leave off, and just leave it .

Waiting for next installment now :

Andy

 

[Phaeton]

yes so jealous of the space you have, must be great to leave off, and just leave it .

Know that feeling well, takes me 1/2 hour to be able to get to start & then by the time I have thought for another hour what I intend to do I have to start packing away which takes another 1/2 hour.

Alan...

 

[Baloo]

sorry chaps l will push it out on the drive if it makes it more bareable for you, ;D

gone all blingy, just a trial fit for now but there is no way on gods earth am l having yellow tie rod bushes on a red buggy just not acceptable, will have to be black or red, l thought the grey on the top arms and hubs would look ok but it dosent so they will have to black as well, and the red of the shocks is a bit out and will need repainting in the body colour too,
do they sell stainless nut and bolt kits for mini's ? as l cant refit the dirty ones

and l have delved into the inner workings of the gearbox, this could end in disaster

 

[CAW]

, When your driving the buggy you wont see the yellow bushes Andy , If they do SS can I have your rusty ones lol, for spares

I can see this build is going the way of that nut and bolt rebuild of that chaps Pilot we saw at JP's, you'll know him :-[

Andy