by "Trevor Slattery, ACTOR" (anacostiabikecompany)
Published 09/01/2017 at 09:56
by "Trevor Slattery, ACTOR" (anacostiabikecompany)
Published 09/01/2017 at 09:56
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STARS: 11
This is my old coworkers Morgan +8. He built it from scratch. This is probably the fourth one he has done.
Everything on it is custom. The fenders have been widened to accommodate the huge tires and the body is made out of aluminum instead of steel. And yes, he shaped the body panels himself.
Shaved A-008s on custom made Minilites, not the usual Panasport knockoffs.
Note all the aluminum. Cut and rolled by hand.
He sweats so many little details. Drilled out seat pan and titanium bolts. He used them everywhere. He saved something like SIXTEEN pounds. Note the notch in the seatpan to get some extra adjustability. Oh, custom stitched Connolly hides for the seats.
Wood dash of course made by hand. Custom Borg-Warner T-5. Note the speedo is in front of the passenger. Car was built for show/autocross.
He is a VW Beetle fan as well and is fond of the old roller ball accelerator pedal.
This picture is just to show his attention to detail. This is the routing from the fuel cell to the engine compartment. He could have drilled a hole and used a grommet and just run the fuel line. He puts a AN fitting in the firewall and starts again in the compartment. Clean. Tidy. I actually watched him make the wiring harness and do the blue tape by hand. For you British car freaks, he has a special jig for his mini vise so he can SOLDER all bullet connections before final assembly.
But this, THIS...my friends. 375 BHP at the wheels at 6,000RPM. The car weighs 1700lbs. I have driven this car on the street and on an autocross course. The acceleration is STUNNING.
Custom headers into straight pipes. You pull up next to a hot shot in a Mustang or Camaro V8 and rev this thing and the just shake their head in awe. Nobody ever takes a chance.
Again, attention to detail. He was throwing alternator belts at redline, so he installed a serpentine belt arrangement to run everything. Yeah, he polished everything.
More details. Panhard rod location. You see this mod a lot on vintage cars.
This is an earlier project he did. An AC Aceca. The Aceca is the hardtop version of the AC ace, upon which the AC Cobra was based. So he decided to make an Aceca Cobra. Same setup, Borg Warner T-5, Cobra crate engine, etc. Instead of the race interior he went with the full leather interior (hand stitched again). I last saw this one for sale 5 or so years ago for around $90k.
And yes they get driven HARD.
The madman himself is on the left, Rich. His buddy and co-driver Larry on the right. Both Nam vets. Do NOT let the Coors light and beer gut fool you. Larry’s father owned a Triumph dealership in the 50-60s and dude has been racing since before most of us were born. Stig level skills.
"Party-vi" (party-vi)
09/01/2017 at 10:01, STARS: 3
Oh no biggie just the fourth one he built Jesus Christ on a stick!
"WilliamsSW" (williamssw)
09/01/2017 at 10:06, STARS: 2
We have found our god. ALL HAIL RICH!
"Trevor Slattery, ACTOR" (anacostiabikecompany)
09/01/2017 at 10:10, STARS: 0
He is a fucking genius man. He restored a oval window Beetle that was just THE SHIT. He used to lend it to me when I had a hot date and I wanted to make sure things went my way, lol! You pull up in a MINTY early 60s Beetle to take a young lady out to dinner and it is like bringing a puppy.
Last I spoke to him he and his stepson, were going to build a Caterham/Lotus FROM SCRATCH just using plans. The crazy thing is I have seen his other projects come together...the Caterham will be an EASY one for him.
"ShrimpHappens, née WJalopy" (bakeshake)
09/01/2017 at 10:14, STARS: 1
Do NOT let the Coors light and beer gut fool you.
That’s definitely a Miller Lite. SOURCE: I went to a state college.
"Trevor Slattery, ACTOR" (anacostiabikecompany)
09/01/2017 at 10:23, STARS: 0
http://www.britishv8.org/Other/RichardLipsky.htm
This is one of his earlier V-8 racers. This one has the Buick/Rover V-8 at 4.6l. 100lbs lighter than his current whip.
"functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion)
09/01/2017 at 10:27, STARS: 1
Wow, just wow. Thanks for sharing. I love craftsmanship like this, it’s what I would do if I could somehow slip into a parallel universe at night instead of sleeping. Only I’m sure I wouldn’t be as good.
"Trevor Slattery, ACTOR" (anacostiabikecompany)
09/01/2017 at 10:33, STARS: 1
Watching guys like him really demystified a lot of things for me. They make things look so common sense and simple.
"functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion)
09/01/2017 at 10:41, STARS: 1
I worked at a wooden boat shop for a summer, and while it’s a totally different animal, I don’t look at them with the same wonder anymore; I know exactly what it takes to restore / build one of those things.
"Monkey B" (monkeyb)
09/01/2017 at 13:30, STARS: 1
if he was my neighbor I’d never be at home.
"Trevor Slattery, ACTOR" (anacostiabikecompany)
10/02/2017 at 15:11, STARS: 0
FYI, just exchanged emails with my man Richard. He is having his knee replaced :-(
But, there is a new 500BHP engine going in this winter! I cannot wait to drive it this spring!