Andy's awful autos: Trailers and tribulations

[Andyrew]

[bezzabsa]

On 30/08/2025 at 17:15, Andyrew said:

Rustival (car park) achieved. Didnt skip a beat. Engine wise it pulls nicely and 60 with the overdrive is a out 2500rpm so rather pleasant.  

Front end steering and suspension is absolutely hanging but I have a plan hopefully to sort that. 

Overall verdict : good enough.

to put that into context - just come back from Wales, at 60mph the mondog is doing 1500rpm in 6th, and will drop to 35-40 in 6th with a touch of juddering, but still does it

[beko1987]

Nice work on the merc! I remember washing it a few years ago 🤔

[Andyrew]

It always seems simpler in your mind.

With the spitfire now running better than ever it's down to rust repair. The body however, while not that bad compared to some its twisted, has alot of filler and needs panels either purchasing or making so  Either spend money to save time or spend time to save money.  I've looked multiple times and just cant see a good place too start.

Give up and Sell it as is and take a hit or make it a nice spitty.

I tried to find a suitable replacement body tub, just something that is straight with minor repair would have been perfect, but this didn't work out. However recently a tub came up that's had extensive work and panels and is left in a mostly bare state, cheaper than the value of the panels I'd need for mine and has been braced during its repairs. A price (unseen) agreed and a plan in haste hatched.

It is however  sat on a pallet, 180 miles away, ill be going on my own and I drive a vauxhall astra, but it has a towbar.

Now i appreciated that as long as it looks legal ill probably have zero hassle but to me id rather do all i can to keep things correct on such a long journey and given the ratio of physical size of car/trailer.

wanting to keep things legal and sensible cost wise I decided I'd see if I could get a trailer. The issue is that the Astra had a 600kg unbaked limit and a 1150kg braked limit

The shell doesn't weigh much but if based on the MAM of the trailer a large enough 750kg Unbraked trailer is technically over the astra limit and finding large braked trailers rated to 1000kg is uncommon. 

Then I found this, and the stated internal dimensions ment the shell will fit with mm to spare. Nobody would get internal and external measurements wrong on an advert and the buyer would check when they got there wouldn't they? Surely they are not that silly. . . 

 

[jim89]

☕🍪🍪🛋️

[Andyrew]

Upon viewing, the sellers were lovely to meet but the trailer had clearly had a hard life, similar trailers are shocking money new and the price i paid is what old plywood cobbled together in the 70s stuff goes for so im not too worried about getting my money back after a bit of TLC. A deal was done and it was dragged out. 10mins later a wheel was trying to part ways. And the sat nav was adamant on me taking the M25, not somewhere I wanted to take an unknow trailer after a wheels tried to come off.

Some Blood pressure increase and me asking myself why I do this shit to myself later i arrive back at the workshop.

Then looking around my purchase do I start noticing the problems, and just to double check that the shell will fit. Ohh bollocks.

It's too narrow by about 3 inches. 

[DeanH]

Could you go equipped with some extra pallets to raise it up past the trailer sides? Although admittedly that probably goes against the idea of things looking legal and being legal...

[grogee]

3" is a lot of mm, I wonder if the advertised measurements were 100mm out? 

Anyway this is shit news. 

My first instinct is to chop the sides off the trailer but I'm not sure how structural they are. 

Good luck, we're all counting on you. 

[Andyrew]

Deposit sent for shell, and collecting date rescheduled I now had/have a few days to sort this.

Handbrake broken, cross bars are bent from overloading, too narrow,  wiring damaged, missing lights and various other issues.

A rumage through the stock pile of old box section, finally making my chop saw work, two donor trailer boards and some bolts.

Let's make a flatbed.

Stripped and after much jigging and beating the shit out of them the cross bars are straight enough.

Sometime you need 2 long lengths but only have 3 shorter bits.

Frame made (ill make it bolted in the corners sometime in the future for easy storage when converted back too sided) 

the floor from the trailer is 20mm ish thick PVC type plastic, it's monstrously heavy at 70kg. I'd rather use something lighter but I had it and it was the only thing big enough.

Trimmed down to size so it fits snug in the frame.  Frame painted with bumper and trim grey as that all I had enough of in Rattle cans.

now to do the wiring, fit a fog light (requied for trailers over 1.6m wide from what i have read) sort brakes and repack bearings.  Ready for tomorrow morning. Eeeeeeep.

 

 

 

[grogee]

Bloody hell. Magnificent work. 

I want you on my Scrapheap Challenge team.

[Tickman]

Tremendous work as usual.

 

3 minutes ago, grogee said:

Bloody hell. Magnificent work. 

I want you on my Scrapheap Challenge team.

I'd certainly watch this episode.

[warninglight]

2 hours ago, Andyrew said:

The shell doesn't weigh much but if based on the MAM of the trailer a large enough 750kg Unbraked trailer is technically over the astra limit and finding large braked trailers rated to 1000kg is uncommon. 

Sorry a bit late to the party but worth noting - the MAM of a trailer wouldn't be an issue in this case, you can tow a bigger trailer with a light load or no load behind a car with lower towing capacity. 

My twin axle car transporter weighs approx 600kg empty so would have left plenty of headroom for something large but lightweight like a Spitfire tub.

As long as you don't exceed any of the car or trailer axle weights, and don't exceed the car's train weight or towing weight, you're fine.