Blondie's blog 5, or…to rebody or not to rebody that is the question!

Blondie's Blog 5....

So here we are again.... Scribbles and nonsense interspersed with the odd bit of useful info. Bit like my brain really. Mossy, scrambled but occasionally gifts some intelligible nuggets to the world.

This month has been, as always chaos at the workshop but, we did get a day off for Ian's birthday. A day in Brighton was planned visiting the upside down house, a pub roast dinner, the arcades then a slow plod home.

Very sadly we arrived to find there had been a devastating fire the night before on the seafront. The Royal Albion Hotel, a Georgian building with a rich history of famous guests that had previously suffered a devastating fire in 1998, was still very much alight albeit less dramatically than news reports show it the previous eve.

We walked past a few times moving from place to place and as the day turned into early eve it was clear that the front of the building was collapsing. Such a sad thing to see the hugely prominent hotel no longer a seaside feature but a ghostly charred shell with little left of the Georgian frontage, let alone the inside. Pictures could be seen still hanging on charred walls through the sadly mangled antique metalwork balconies and melted and shattered windows.

Not all guests were accounted for according to press reports but, importantly, there were no casualties reported either so hopefully everyone got out. The hotel has long been known as part of the troubled Britannia groups stock, left unloved in some areas and neglected generally, with negative reviews abound online not only about the lack of maintenance in this hotel but the group generally cutting corners. What a terribly sad way to treat our architectural heritage.

I hope everyone affected receives the correct support in the coming days and months.

Moving onto the workshop....

A few bits have moved about this week. Not least the continued clear out of old junk as we have an exiting visit coming up soon from an eminent motoring video blogger!

Simon's gorgeous Carpathian Grey Cobra has had 4 new Continental Contact premium shoes, a new MOT, a good clean and been dropped off with a family member, giving us the opportunity for a very windy beach evening in Hayling Island and a slow drive back. Always feels more like a day off when we drop off a car to somewhere near the sea, even if I did manage a full of rear slide of the ancient tow truck on a particularly wet bend coming down the slope through Selbourne... Pant colour changing moment even at slow speed. Thankfully oncoming Skoda estate and pursuing fiat 500 deathbox both stayed calm as I righted her. We often forget as drivers how dangerous our machines are. This was a staunch reminder for me of sudden rain after dry spells and rubber on road!

In other news.. .Richards's Z3GT based on a BMW Z3 3.0 is ready for paint and we have obtained an August space for that plus dealing with the paperwork for registration change as it cannot be MOT'd until it is correctly reflected on the V5 paperwork (more below on that how we register our little rebodies)

Our lovely painter has the MX250 well underway after an unavoidable and unexpected premises move earlier this year which must have been a bloody nightmare! I know how hard ti was for us to move when we were a quarter of the size we are now, cannot imagine dropping down and re setting up a full spray shop with no notice, let alone the challenge of finding premises, we know how hard that is. We're so lucky to have both our painters, they keep things affordable for us and our customers and never give us any grief. Very hard to find decent trades at the moment as we've lost a lot of very skilled people back to Europe in the light of Brexit and Covid. Hopefully the powers that be will allow our skilled and much needed European neighbours back with less red tape soon.

Red Le Mans is progressing well, no pics this week as the dash is not in yet, just waiting for the dials as they're all hand made in Britain and perfection takes time. Even the PCB's inside the dials are hand made in England by a family business and specifically tailored electronically to the base vehicle. They really do set the interior off!

As for our own projects, it's been a good week, we have organised a few things that will allow us to produce and supply something a little different... More on that as is progresses but its fair to say things are looking very exciting for the rest of the year and beyond!!

I have a few times now been asked to elaborate a little on what a Rebodied car is... I tend to go off half cock and jump from one subject to the next without explaining fully so... Here it is.

Most of you will have heard of Kit Cars and many of you will have a Marmite opinion of them. From the 1970's clunky chunky (and often smelling funky under tarpaulin in the middle of a field/garage/grandads drive) home built attempts to the factory built beauties that attract a considerably higher initial build cost and resale value.

Then there's the weird and truly wonderful such as the outspan orange, the motor sofa and more recently our lovely friend Kevin Nicks very very awesome ( land speed record holding) SHED. Yes really, a shed, the worlds fastest shed! ( and wheelbarrow and wheelie bin in fact, hes a genius! professor of all things seemingly daft yet tangible and once he gets an idea in his head, it's happening!

He will also be at the British Motor show this month (17 to 20th august, Farnborough international centre) with his wonderful creations.

Why rebodies i hear you say....

Well....Kit cars have become increasingly harder to register in the united kingdom over the last couple of decades. Not least for peoples safety but in some parts due to increased red tape and bureaucracy, especially when one takes into account that a person can strip out an old electric car, with no previous training or experience with the incredibly dangerous (in the wrong hands) battery packs and wiring then transplanted into any vehicle (Crashed Nissan leaf to MGBGT as a loose example) Frankenstein electric created at home, with no experience or training... that terrifies me!

So that's where the rebodies come in. They bridge the gap between "normal" cars and kit cars.

To qualify as a Rebody the vehicles monocoque chassis must remain unfettered, uncut and unmodified with only the body shell shape different... That's the basic idea anyway, there are a few little things you can do but you must not adjust the base vehicle, save for easily removeable body parts (not cut off )

For example..

A "body kit" is usually taken to mean...

a collection of exterior modifications to a car, typically consisting of front and rear bumpers, side skirts, spoilers, and sometimes wing mirrors.

In the case of ours (mainly BMW Z3 based) this means the fibre glass kits we provide, lights, mirrors brightwork and anything else needed to get it through a standard MOT.

You cannot remove the windscreen on the Z3 due to it being part of the chassis with the frame work being one piece and running directly up from the same, so for us it includes that.

Once you've spent many dozens of hours fettling the kit, fitting lights etc and generally beautifying the vehicle it would then be time for a fresh MOT, however until the cars body type has been changed on the V5 document this isn't possible as the tester must test as presented from the current V5 description.

If your give him a thing that looks like a nice shiny cobra and the look book states BMW Z3 it will fail as amongst other things, the lights will differ front and back) and in the case of having altered the interior and removed the steering wheel, dash etc... they cannot see the lights go "on and off" so they will be unable to pass it unless its showing as a modified vehicle online.

This is where DVLA re registration comes in. We help with this and best of all, it's FREE.

A quick simple downloaded form, an invoice, pics of car in stages, a few other bits of magic and in a couple of weeks or so and your shiny new Rebody car has a new name and can be crowned with a fresh mot test and be driving away like a royal chariot with you beaming like the brightest sunshine at the wheel!

Obviously there's a lot more involved but that's the basics. As long as you don't alter the chassis and follow the rules all is good.

There are some guides online but the best place to look is on the .gov site. It gives a very strict set of rules ref what comprises a rebody.

I could go on all day about it but, I've waffled already so I'll leave that bit there for today.

As a child, all things automotive were a huge part of my life but kit cars and modifications, engine swaps and even go faster stripes were the best bit. I guess its in my blood so, here on the sliding hill towards the grand age of 50 I find myself in a really good place around like minded people and probably the calmest I have felt in years.

Lastly, my next blog will be about the most incredible event of the year.. The British Motor Show!

I'm a little behind with typing due to sheer workload and some pesky health issues that have reared their head again and slowed me down a lot but it will be up in the next week or so, in two parts most likely as I am expecting it to be huge!!

We have shirts and hats being made with BMS livery on and our nicknames and will have loads of Powerflex and BC Racing goodies to give away as we have been agents of both of the m for some time for Vehicle Bushings and Coilovers respectively but, haven't done the greatest job of publicising them up till now!

I will sign off now as I have literally hundreds of BMW Z3 parts to prepare, clean and list ready to do a huge drop off to our friend in Belgium in next few weeks as we have been unable to go and offload our huge stock for a couple of years and the workshop and containers are totally rammed!

Have an awesome day... Can't promise sunshine at the moment as El Nino has decided that summer is over, for now at least but, if you're doing something you love, you'll always have sunshine nearby.

Belle/Plastic Car Blondie

Ian and myself have been busy making Armco pieces from fibreglass and wood for our stand at the British Motor Show which I aged with everything from a blow torch to bits of mud and glue! I enjoyed it a little too much!