An Introduction: Chris Collins and Morris Tilly Project

[jack neville]

Canvas tilt and seat cushions are being made by Frank Brown in the UK and we anxiously await their arrival. In the meantime we carry on with the fiddly last minute bits. Wiring is largely complete with a couple of modifications. The side lights have been converted to indicators using amber LED globes so they still look like white glass lenses. The side lights have been incorporated into the headlights by drilling a small hole in the headlight reflector and mounting a small daisy cup holder. Headlights have been upgraded to halogen bulbs.
Chris wanted seatbelts fitted but the construction of the Tilly does not lend itself to too many strong points for the fitting of belts so some reinforcing of mounting points was required. The B pillar itself when belonging to the original Morris four door car body, the Tillys were fashioned from, would have been one thing but once you take the back half of the roof off it substantially weakens the ability of that B pillar especially since its only other support is the piece of timber bolted behind it. I fashioned up some steelwork in 3mm plate to reinforce the upper section of the B pillar which encapsulated the timber support utilising all available existing upper hinge bolts. Similarly the lower anchorage point wrapped around the bottom of the B pillar as well as anchoring through the floor and also picking up the bolt that secures the rear spring mount. This is probably now the strongest part of the car. The drive shaft tunnel was utilised for the inside mount with an anchor plate underneath.