Super sump

It’s always a pleasure to support a real craftsman. Someone who always puts all of their expertise into their work. Peter Mulberry of Mulfab is one of those people. I found his company while looking  for ideas for a new fuel tank on the internet. The pictures on the Mulfab website are really worth looking at.

The reason for changing the sump is that the Range Rover V8 uses an extra deep cast aluminium item. This is so deep that the static ground clearance is about 50 mm. It wouldn’t survive the first test drive! I needed a suitable replacement and I couldn’t use any old Rover V8 sump because my engine has the crank-driven oil pump and therefore a different flange shape at the front.

Here it is, made to my requirements, but designed entirely by Peter. I simply told him that when installed it should project no lower than the bottom of the bell housing. He did the rest. It includes two hinged flaps to prevent oil surge which could be a problem with a full length design. Not cheap, but worth every penny. Let’s hope it will survive the Isle of Wight’s bumpy roads…

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Wooden chassis Mantula!

No not really. Yesterday I built a cradle for the body so that I can keep it on the front drive wrapped in tarpaulin. It’s got some large castor wheels so  I can shunt it around the drive when I need to move the chassis.

The original idea was to suspend the body shell from the garage roof, but that proved to be impractical as it would limit my working space too much

For now the cradle is in the back garden. Hopefully put it into use next weekend.

Update 2016-10-08

The body was moved onto the cradle today with the help of my neighbour, thanks Nick! It works well, very easy to move the body around.

Ian