Wanted lower wishbones for Malone Skunk

[PhilipRM]

Hello, I am after something that is probably rarer than the proverbial hen's teeth. In November 2019 I sent my wishbones to Andy at AB Performance as one needed a bit of remedial work on a bracket. Andy thought they were a bit lightweight and so he said he would make me a new pair slightly beefed up. I believe he had a new production unit coming on line Feb/March 2020 which, would have allowed him to make me new wishbones.

Very sadly for Andy AB Performance was liquidated in February 2021 and everything has been removed from the site. I don't know where my wishbones are now but it could be they just became scrap metal. I can't get upset with Andy even though he did promise a couple of times in the Autumn 2020 to send them back to me; after all he has lost his business. I have tried contacting him recently through LinkedIn but no joy.

So my question is does anyone have a set of lower wishbones for a Malone Skunk that they could either let me have or have copies made thereof? It's one hell of a longent but I have to ask as without I will probably have to scrap the car. Living in France as I do having some made up here is next to impossible, there just aren't the little industries that exist in the UK for such things and since moving the car now is next to impossible I need someone who can come round to my workshop.

Cheers

Philip

[sociopath]

I thought AB performance had been bought out by someone, I'm sure I saw that on the web somewhere last week.

[sociopath]

sociopath said:

I thought AB performance had been bought out by someone, I'm sure I saw that on the web somewhere last week.

Yes, thought so MK sports cars have taken over. They might be able to help at least locate your gear

[InitialDave]

There's an older thread here, if any of the posters involved could be of assistance?

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[mikeveal]

Hi Philip,
I suggest you give Jon Malone a call, or email to see if they have spares, or will make you some.

I believe the aero bar the wishbones are made of was custom made. They do look a bit flimsy, but they've been absolutely fine on all the Skunks I know of. The profile is pretty strong.

I don't think you'll get any other than by that route. I don't know of any more cars that are part built, or that have been taken off the road (other than mine, engine still in a wheel barrow, but no, you're not having my wishbones!)

If Jon can't help I could measure mine for you. But he'll probably give you the dimensions if you ask.

[PhilipRM]

Hello Mike, I have sent you a PM

Cheers

Philip

[PhilipRM]

Hello Mike, I have sent you a PM

Cheers

Philip

[mikeveal]

I tried to respond, but your email address bounced the reply:

free.fr said:

There's a problem with the recipient's mailbox. Please try resending your message. If the problem continues, please contact your email admin.
mx1-g20.free.fr gave this error:
This mailbox has been blocked due to inactivity (UserSearch)

The malone's contact details are here:
http://www.malonecar.eclipse.co.uk/Contact.html
HTH

[kambites]

mikeveal said:

...
I don't think you'll get any other than by that route. I don't know of any more cars that are part built, or that have been taken off the road (other than mine, engine still in a wheel barrow, but no, you're not having my wishbones!)
...

What have you managed to break on it this time?

[PhilipRM]

Mike, yes sorry about the email address. I cannot for the life of me find out how to change it. If someone could give me a pointer I'll put the correct address.

Cheers

Philip

[mikeveal]

kambites said:

What have you managed to break on it this time?

Hiya, how's it going?
You know my Skunk, it doesn't need an excuse to break.

The engine is rather poorly. It's been burning oil on #4 valves for a while, exhaust valves coked up. On the plus side I've not needed to change the oil for a bit, it's more of a continual flow, I keep putting fresh stuff in and it blows out the exhaust!

On top of that, I took it out last year, got about a mile from home and it conked out. Engine won't run when warm.

I've stripped the engine & can't find anything untoward. I put a new (2nd hand) head on that will hopefully solve the oil burning issue. I know there's nothing wrong with piston rings / compression & I'd already tried replacing the valve seals and regrinding the seats, so it can only be valve & guides. A second hand head at £200 is just about cheaper than a three new valves, guides, seals etc.

So the engine's been stripped, filters cleaned, O-rings changed, new head. It's ready to go back in. I have a bit of tidying up to do in the engine bay & I'll refurb the girling master brake cylinders too, easier with no engine & they need doing every few years.

Having found nothing else to explain it, I suspect that my warm running problem could just be the auto-choke getting stuck. There was a fair bit of gunk in the cooling circuit, so it could just be clogged.

I also need to replace the ceiling & all the joists in our bedroom and replace the wooden lintel over the bedroom window with a steel. It would be lovely to get someone in, but none of the good builders are interested. Busy busy.

Say "Hi" to Yana & everyone in Sleepy Hollow for me.

[kambites]

mikeveal said:

Say "Hi" to Yana & everyone in Sleepy Hollow for me.

Will do if I ever get to see them (the people at work not Yana, obviously)!

Hope you have the Skunk back on the road soon. As much as I still think you're mad for taking on that project when there was pretty much no others on the road, I still always had a soft spot for it.

[Scrump]

PhilipRM said:

Mike, yes sorry about the email address. I cannot for the life of me find out how to change it. If someone could give me a pointer I'll put the correct address.

Cheers

Philip

Details here:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[PhilipRM]

I received excellent news today from the liquidator of AB Performance who, has been able to contact Andy Bates for me. My wishbones are packaged up and waiting to be sent to me so that's a result. Still a huge shame though that Andy had to close up shop.