mk1
New Member
Posts: 7
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Post by mk1 on Jan 16, 2015 5:13:51 GMT -5
Hi, I'm Mark Forster a new member from Northern England. I sort of have a long association with Terrapins, in as much as my Dad used to compete regularly with Allan back in the 60's & I was there the first time Terrapin NK1 A made its appearance. I have been involved in all sorts of restoration & motorsport over the last few years & sort of came full circle a few months ago when I bought Terrapin 1a/17 from Leighton Hughes. 17 had been partially restored but has seized on the rollers due to a mixture of Castrol R & Mineral oil that it had been fed. I have since fully stripped it, put the frame back to original, scrapped the horrible Tyrell type shovel front bodywork it came with & am currently building it back so it looks more like it did when it was new, or should I say so it looks more like an early Terrapin. With a bit of luck it will be back at Harewood later this year. I have a few questions, does anyone have any nose badges currently available & whats the best way to obtain plans now Allan is no longer with us? Anyway, for the moment, I'll finish with a couiple of pictures of the work in progress & a prize for anyone who recognizes the donor body work.
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Post by austin7 on Jan 20, 2015 8:25:38 GMT -5
Hi Mark, looks a great deal better than mine!! I am interested in the bodywork as I will be douing the same sort of thing to my car. I bought it without a body and wish it to look "period". At first I thought it was a Techno body but the radiator opening is wrong. Not Lotus but could it be a replicar kit nose cone? All the best from sunny Scotland, Steve
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mk1
New Member
Posts: 7
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Post by mk1 on Jan 21, 2015 11:26:54 GMT -5
Hi Steve, Thanks for your reply. The bodywork is Chevron B14, I bought it from a guy who was advertising a number of 60's bodies & nose cones on Uphill Racers. If you look for a post by "Dermot Healy" in the for Sale section he may be able to help you too. www.uphillracers.com/
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Post by carnut on May 1, 2015 5:54:13 GMT -5
Mark,
Great to see that Terrapin 1a/17 is being restored to its original form. Is your Terrapin wearing 13" Formula Ford boots? If it is on 13" rims, could you tell me at what heights and centre distances the wishbones are positioned in the chassis front and rear? How does it handle? Love the photos.
Cheers, Steve
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mk1
New Member
Posts: 7
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Post by mk1 on Sept 11, 2015 10:45:20 GMT -5
The rebuild is moving on apace now. Won't be out for this summer, but will be all sorted for beginning of next year. Engine is rebuilt after it was found to be ceased after the previous owner fed it a mixture of Castrol R & Mineral oil. New crank, rods, block, flywheel, but retaining the original Slark head, manifold & weber, along with its original Maniflow exhaust system. the Jack Knight dog box was also found to be more or less perfect. So that all back together, painted & ready to go back in. The main body conversion is more or less complete now with all the re shaping sorted & most of the body in primer. All the suspension is back on, but needs setting once the engine is in. Does anyone know if there are any earlier Terrapins that still retain their original A series engines? and are more or less as first built?
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mk1
New Member
Posts: 7
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Post by mk1 on Sept 11, 2015 10:51:14 GMT -5
PS. Mine is Terrapin MK1 / 17
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mk1
New Member
Posts: 7
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Post by mk1 on Sept 11, 2015 10:53:23 GMT -5
Steve,
Tell me how you want me to measure this & I will. I have no idea how it handles yet as I bought it as a non working project. The previous owner had completed a partial rebuild then lost interest when it seized on the rollers.
It was however originally built with 13" rims in mind. I still have the original 13" weld outs.
M
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Post by carnut on Sept 11, 2015 19:34:27 GMT -5
Mark,
It's good to see your taking MkI/17 back to original. So far it's looking great. The easiest way for you to measure the inboard wishbone pick up points would be:
Heights: measure the centreline of wishbone pickup hole/bolt to ground level (as long as the chassis is not disturbed/moved during process). Also a measurement from ground to bottom/lower edge of chassis framework.
Widths: measure the centreline of wishbone pickup holes/bolts left to right (may have to drop a plumb bob from the pivot holes to gain a measurement between the two points?) when halved, this will give me the centreline out to the pivot point hole/s.
The lengths of the wishbone arms centre to centre would be great.
Hub distance between top to bottom wishbone mounting points (is it standard classic mini ball joints)?
Thanks a lot for doing this, it's a good starting point. Then I can get out the old string computer and play with the results.
You wouldn't have any old photographs of Terrapins in their hay day would you?
Cheers Mate.
Steve
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