Mel Hubbard's Veep...

manxdavid · Post by **manxdavid** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 8:36 am

[QUOTE="1856;15016"]Actually it's kind of a muddy red color ... and Richard is his first name.

[/QUOTE] That's the first pic I've ever seen of Richard's car...what a sweetie. I wouldn't resore it ever, I'd just clean it, grease the front end, change the oils and use it!!!

manxdavid · Post by **manxdavid** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 8:42 am

[QUOTE="1856;15016"]Actually it's kind of a muddy red color ... and Richard is his first name.

[/QUOTE] That's the first pic I've ever seen of Richard's car...what a sweetie. I wouldn't resore it ever, I'd just clean it, grease the front end, change the oils and use it!!!

rzeller · Post by **rzeller** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 6:35 pm

[quote="Manxdavid;15021"]That's the first pic I've ever seen of Richard's car...what a sweetie. I wouldn't resore it ever, I'd just clean it, grease the front end, change the oils and use it!!![/quote] WOW! Wish it were mine. I'd show it some love

Bud

mel hubbard · Post by **mel hubbard** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 8:06 pm

[QUOTE="1856;15016"]Actually it's kind of a muddy red color ... and Richard is his first name.

[/QUOTE] I guess going for a swim after Katrina made it that color!!. Hey Dave, Richard does (or did) also own a green Manx, maybe thats the one you were thinking of, he drove that one on the 98 or 99 Manx club Baja run,,, I cant think which of the two years it was, but quite confident it was the 98 trip.

mel hubbard · Post by **mel hubbard** » Wed Oct 21, 2009 8:18 pm

[QUOTE="CairoManx;15019"] without the right windscreen, the buggy just wouldn't look right. [/QUOTE] I totally agree with you there Nigel!!, it has to be all or nothing with that kinda replica, but since meeting up with Martin a couple of times and chatting about the project, I get the feeling it will end up with the right windshield. Funny thing is ManxDavid also noticed a while back that he called you Nigel, I will remind him its Nelson next time we speak.

theManiac · Post by **theManiac** » Sun Dec 06, 2009 6:40 am

Hey Mel, I spoke with one of the guys that I helped build a Hadley VEEP. He used it off & on over the years, then parked it one day & never used it again. The engine & transaxle were pulled & used in a sandrail. The hood, windshield & convertible top were used on a friend's "real" Jeep. What was left finally rusted real bad & was just recently taken to the recycling place! A number of years ago, a guy told me about a "Monocoque Manx" that was up in the little town of Ojai, north of Ventura about 15 miles. I drove up several times looking for it & after numerous trips I located it. It was sitting next to a garage & had been kept covered up for years. We had been whipped by really strong winds for about a week & the cover had gotten ripped & the buggy shined thru. The old guy that owed it was in failing health & hadn't made it out to recover his treasure. From what I could see, it sure looked like it was "probably" a Monocoque! The old guy was not very friendly & you really had to handle him with kid gloves. I talked to him a couple times, but didn't really get any info about the buggy. A few months went by & I cruised up there again. When I arrived, the buggy was nowhere to be seen & a lot of landscaping had been done! I managed to get a guy's attention thru the locked front gate & he came over to talk to me. He was the old guys son & his father had passed away. He explained that they were going to sell the buggy, but his cousin in Oregon said that "Uncle" had always promised it to him, so they gave the buggy to him, he put it on a trailer & back to Oregon he went! I tracked him down & found out that right after he got back to Oregon, he traded the buggy for a running Baja Bug, then the new owner sold it to a guy that moved to the Chicago area & supposedly got it running! Then he & his brother moved to the Dallas/Fort Worth area! I talked to the younger brother on the phone & he said that he & his brother had a falling out & quit speaking to one another. He said he wasn't positive, but he thought the buggy was a "Monocoque Manx" as it did not have a VW pan, but was fiberglass all underneath! His brother had repainted it a dark blue. A bit later I called the number I had & it was no longer in service & then later on someone else had the number & my trail had grown cold! That was about 4 years ago & I haven't heard anything else! A guy named Randy up near Fresno supposedly had a monocoque for several years, then he sold it to someone in Dinuba, CA & that guy sold it to someone in Visalia, CA & then somehow it ended up in Springville, Missouri!!! It was red in color, not sure if it was painted or not! I never saw it, but talked to several of Randy's relatives that I've known for many many years & they also said it was a Monocoque Manx!!! So they are out there, probably sitting next to a garage or out in a field... keep your eyes open & scanning the area!

mel hubbard · Post by **mel hubbard** » Sun Dec 06, 2009 12:09 pm

[QUOTE="theManiac;15329"]Hey Mel, I spoke with one of the guys that I helped build a Hadley VEEP. He used it off & on over the years, then parked it one day & never used it again. The engine & transaxle were pulled & used in a sandrail. The hood, windshield & convertible top were used on a friend's "real" Jeep. What was left finally rusted real bad & was just recently taken to the recycling place! A number of years ago, a guy told me about a "Monocoque Manx" that was up in the little town of Ojai, north of Ventura about 15 miles. I drove up several times looking for it & after numerous trips I located it. It was sitting next to a garage & had been kept covered up for years. We had been whipped by really strong winds for about a week & the cover had gotten ripped & the buggy shined thru. The old guy that owed it was in failing health & hadn't made it out to recover his treasure. From what I could see, it sure looked like it was "probably" a Monocoque! The old guy was not very friendly & you really had to handle him with kid gloves. I talked to him a couple times, but didn't really get any info about the buggy. A few months went by & I cruised up there again. When I arrived, the buggy was nowhere to be seen & a lot of landscaping had been done! I managed to get a guy's attention thru the locked front gate & he came over to talk to me. He was the old guys son & his father had passed away. He explained that they were going to sell the buggy, but his cousin in Oregon said that "Uncle" had always promised it to him, so they gave the buggy to him, he put it on a trailer & back to Oregon he went! I tracked him down & found out that right after he got back to Oregon, he traded the buggy for a running Baja Bug, then the new owner sold it to a guy that moved to the Chicago area & supposedly got it running! Then he & his brother moved to the Dallas/Fort Worth area! I talked to the younger brother on the phone & he said that he & his brother had a falling out & quit speaking to one another. He said he wasn't positive, but he thought the buggy was a "Monocoque Manx" as it did not have a VW pan, but was fiberglass all underneath! His brother had repainted it a dark blue. A bit later I called the number I had & it was no longer in service & then later on someone else had the number & my trail had grown cold! That was about 4 years ago & I haven't heard anything else! A guy named Randy up near Fresno supposedly had a monocoque for several years, then he sold it to someone in Dinuba, CA & that guy sold it to someone in Visalia, CA & then somehow it ended up in Springville, Missouri!!! It was red in color, not sure if it was painted or not! I never saw it, but talked to several of Randy's relatives that I've known for many many years & they also said it was a Monocoque Manx!!! So they are out there, probably sitting next to a garage or out in a field... keep your eyes open & scanning the area![/QUOTE] Interesting story Michael, sometimes I find the hunt for things is just as exciting as getting hold of them,, but its nice to track them down in the end, thats a real shame you never got hold of that Manx after tracking it for so long. Shame that guy let his Veep rust away too. I've just jot mine rolling, still waiting for 600 X 16 military bar grips, but she's sitting on some old land rover tires right now. Got all the steering connected up last night, so just doing a little on it now & then, which is why its slow going. Bob A has been a BIG help by printing me a set of original Veep build instructions, as putting it from right to LHD was a little confusing, but simple when you know how!!. I had to lift the body by 1 1/2 inches, plus its now fitted with Thing spindles & lower arms, so the height seems close to how I think it should look. Given the choice I would have liked to have gone higher with it, but being a swing axle there's too much positive camber, by going any higher,,,,,,IRS was not really an option as I had to use an early narrow (swing axle) axle to get the rear wheels in more for the look. I'll try and get some snap shots over to ya Mike, and you Bob.

CairoManx · Post by **CairoManx** » Sun Dec 06, 2009 6:37 pm

[quote="mel hubbard;15334"]I had to lift the body by 1 1/2 inches, plus its now fitted with Thing spindles & lower arms, so the height seems close to how I think it should look. Given the choice I would have liked to have gone higher with it, but being a swing axle there's too much positive camber, by going any higher,,,,,,IRS was not really an option as I had to use an early narrow (swing axle) axle to get the rear wheels in more for the look.[/quote] Okay Mel, now you need to find a set of original Johnny Johnson RGB adapters.

mel hubbard · Post by **mel hubbard** » Sun Dec 06, 2009 8:54 pm

[QUOTE="CairoManx;15338"]Okay Mel, now you need to find a set of original Johnny Johnson RGB adapters.[/QUOTE] Nelson, I did look into this and even picked up an RGB trans, but it worked out that the track would be too wide on the rear, even the later wider swing axle shafts were too wide and from what I remember the RGB's make the wider axle even wider.

CairoManx · Post by **CairoManx** » Sun Dec 06, 2009 9:18 pm

Did you see this album? http://picasaweb.google.com/Charleslukey/HadleyVeep#

mel hubbard · Post by **mel hubbard** » Sun Dec 06, 2009 11:07 pm

Thanks for posting that Nelson, seems like he put some different pedals in, good idea if you can find the right set, but I'm going with the pedal set that you mailed. I see the owners also widened the fenders, or maybe they were standard on the Veeps,, they are wider than standard MB ones, mine never came with the originals so don't really know, also notice it seems to have a fiberglass box under the hood, I knew they had some kind of box, but was not sure what it was made of,, another thing mine never came with. Mine did have was those add on wheel arches on the rears though, but with the narrow axle I can get out of using them now.

CairoManx · Post by **CairoManx** » Sun Dec 06, 2009 11:14 pm

[quote="mel hubbard;15345"]Mine did have those add on wheel arches on the rears though, but with the narrow axle I can get out of using them now.[/quote] Unless you add RGB's. There's this one picture on DBA also.

manxdavid · Post by **manxdavid** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 6:10 pm

It still looks a bit on the low side to me Mel... http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Toylander-series- ... A%26ps%3D4

theManiac · Post by **theManiac** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 6:31 pm

Hey Mel... all of the Veeps I helped build & I believe all that I've seen, have those little fender flares on the rear wheel openings. Some were fiberglass & some were metal. A friend had a Veep with a swingaxle/Bus gear reduction boxes & a Johnny's No-Hop kit & a great running 1600cc dual-port. They cut the spindles off & welded on plates with a relocated spindle that raised the front about 3 inches. The transaxle had a 4.62 R&P & that with the gear redux boxes, it was very low geared. It was amazing how well this Veep worked off-road, especially at slow speeds. We took it on many "Jeep trails" up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Central California & only used its Warn 8274 winch a couple times. I always wanted one setup like his for myself, but never got around to building one.

mel hubbard · Post by **mel hubbard** » Tue Dec 08, 2009 10:26 pm

[QUOTE="theManiac;15373"]Hey Mel... all of the Veeps I helped build & I believe all that I've seen, have those little fender flares on the rear wheel openings. Some were fiberglass & some were metal. A friend had a Veep with a swingaxle/Bus gear reduction boxes & a Johnny's No-Hop kit & a great running 1600cc dual-port. They cut the spindles off & welded on plates with a relocated spindle that raised the front about 3 inches. The transaxle had a 4.62 R&P & that with the gear redux boxes, it was very low geared. It was amazing how well this Veep worked off-road, especially at slow speeds. We took it on many "Jeep trails" up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in Central California & only used its Warn 8274 winch a couple times. I always wanted one setup like his for myself, but never got around to building one.[/QUOTE] Mike, that veep with RGB's sounded real good, but I was more trying to make this thing look as close to an original military model as possible, so I removed the fender flares that were also fitted to mine and put the narrow axle in, just to get the tires in further. Its fooled a few so far that have called in, but then most in UK don't know what a Veep is anyway!. If it all turns out wrong in the end I'll hunt for a No Hop kit as I still have a bus trans with the RGB's sitting in the shed.

Manx Club

Mel Hubbard's Veep...

Rear Fender Flares