mk1 bullnose pickup

time for a bit of an update on this one.

i continued with removing the bits that wont be going back!




nasty crack behind the steering box plate indicating that the old girl worked hard in her lifetime!!






no nasty horrors under the plate this side.






next i got the donor in for stripping, oo mk5 just turned 100,000 miles, driving mint but rotten as a pear!!! the late mk5,s really did go badly. i picked this up with a new battery and recent full exhaust for 200 quid.













just for the heck of it while i had the lump and box on the crane i sized it up in the mk1, looks snug enough!











ive had this subframe with twin wheel struts sitting for a while now in planning for an ifs conversion. so the plan was to use this one as the jig.






first i took out the springs and welded a bar in each side to hold the two wishbones in the same ride height position.







i then bolted the subframe into the mk5 shell, got the two front hubs facing dead straight before welding a piece each side of the shock mountings to the spring housings.










so thats the castor and camber locked in position. the flat mounting face of the subframe sits level in the mk5 so in theory if i get it sitting level in the mk1 also my castor and camber should be pretty close to spot on,....well thats the plan anyway!!


next i chopped out the top mount turrets from the mk5. i got a loan of a plasma cutter form a guy at work which shuld be a huge help, it certainly made short work of the turrets!!






i retired the mk5 for the moment till i need to rob some more bits from it as i go along!!






so in with mk1 again and beam axle out.






i was well delighted with the condition of the legs after a cleaning where the subframe ill be going.






with a bit of fettling on the lift i leveled the chassis best i could so i could use it as a reference for the subframe.










so after a bit of jostling with jacks and measuring i got the subframe in hopefully the right position. now heres something i wasnt expecting,......when i tried the mk1/mk2 wheel on the mk4/mk5 hub it wouldnt fit. pcd of studs a wee bit wider on ifs hub. will deal with this problem later but just wondered.


as this is a twin wheel and they generally sit a bit higher im hoping to get away without notching the chassis legs as is done with single wheel vans. im figuring the inch or so wont make much difference and will leave a bit more clearance for the engine and box. ive called in the help of a mate who is a whizz at fabrication and welding to give me a hand with this part of the conversion. the second pair of hands makes a huge difference for getting bits into place etc.








this wedge shaped wee level the old man had lying about came in very handy for setting the subframe level to correspond with the overall chassis. i plan to use two wedge shaped mounting sections with captive nuts welded inside to box the chassis down to meet the subframe. should be a good strong job especially as ill not be touching the chassis bar drilling a a pair of holes in the bottom for the front captive nuts to clear.








i got some 60mm x 60 box section with a 3mm wall which shuld do the job.






this as far as we ave got for the moment, one drop bracket cut out and trimmed to fit. there will be lots more measuring and head scratching before the first weld im sure!!

latest update,......



we continued with the chassis end repairs.










to save a bit of time i just removed the entire end of the r/h leg instead of peeling the spring hanger off it.






and heres the replacment section my mate made up, i think its fair to say hes a top notch fabricator.





there was a rectangular box section fitted across between the legs at some stage to replace the original crossmember. we decided to keep this as its good and solid and was fitted pretty well.





so once the repair sections were fitted it was in with the subframe again and after one last measuring session we got the front drop brackets welded in place.










and next for the dreaded part of chopping through the inner wings to mount the mk5 top mount turrets.







after sizing up the height they should be mounted to allow enough shock travel frank once again came up up trumps with a mounting.







and in place, some trimming needed yet.












and thats as far as we are for the moment, i have to get some more 1.5mm sheet tomorrow to finish them.