All Blog Posts (496)

perfect day for a spin in the Dutton 

hope to do some modifications very soon uprate my rear breaks for discs and sort my dodgy wiring out !!!!!

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Updated 18 June 2020:

Thank you to all those who made comments and expressed interest in my lovely car. Sad to say, but my car is now sold!

Sad for me, but not for the new owner or for my car, which will now get to be used regularly again and give the same pleasure to its new owner as I had for over 15 years! It now lives in Warwickshire, not a million miles from Stoneleigh, so it should continue to make an appearance on the Owners Club Stand. I look forward to seeing it when I…

I’ve really got my mojo back within the past couple of months.

Brake lines have been removed.

Loom as been cut out.

Steering column has been removed.

Scuttle has been cut off (previously was bonded to the bulkhead).

Left hand side aluminium side skin has been removed.

Tried to remove the bulkhead and foot wells but they won’t fit out of the chassis as there are lumpy bits of fibreglass in the way. Does anyone know how this were originally fitted into the…

After more than 30 years in storage I have finally transported my beloved Dutton to my home in France. Now to start the restoration of the car. At first look at the body reveals lots of gelcoat blisters and stress cracks, so a major cosmetic job is planned, but the original colour will be retained.

The chassis looks like it has survived the 30 years intact, I did paint it with Hammerite when I built the car and used Waxoyl in the tubes where I could. I will find out more when I remove…

Well the rear axle is now in ,however I need the get the chassis height  set up with blocks to get the top position for the shock absorber bracket ,I forgot to take the height of chassis before I took it apart so if anybody has an S2 Phaeton  on cart springs can you please post the road to chassis height on here please , At present the height is set at 125mm but  it means my link bars point downhill slightly …

The box of parts that I was sold as a Dutton B Plus has now been assembled and with some drilling, hammering and bending most are now assembled together. The plan is now to strip it down and then reassemble a second time, not normal behaviour I know. Anyway I’m planning to be on the road early next year and hoping the Northern Duttoneers have some planned outings. Happy New Year to everyone keeping a Dutton on the road or warm in a garage.

The rear suspension is done!

Dave Gallop at Track Developments has done an amazing job on it.

He took my rough design for what I was planning and promptly (but politely) binned it. Instead he took a while and worked it all out himself and is now confident it should be good. The maths certainly looks good to me.

Trailer-ed her to her new temporary home at my parents place. Dad has move a small mountain of…

Hey all, I'm back...again. I'm going to try not and make a habbit of this back and forth-ing lark.

The story so far (cliff notes addition); kit kept at my Grandads, he died middle of last year denting morale and motivation, house on the market (been a nightmare in its own right), realised I now had nowhere to keep the car, parents are buying a house in Somerset with a garage and have said I can move my Phaeton to there and although it means it will be 145 miles away it's practically…

message to Andrew pounder .saw your blog and I am a trimmer by trade if you need any help or work doing

I have finally taken the plunge and purchased the remains of a Dutton B type. In addition to my head looking at I think I’m in need of some weather gear. Is there any thing out there? Or is there a company out there making new items? 

For all who know Margaret. On Saturday night not to well. Sunday watching the rugby taken ill again.

Monday morning big yellow box with flashing lights outside my house for an hour saved her life. Another huge episode yesterday in intensive care. Not well enough for op yesterday. Under going big op this morning, promised she will be fit again soon. Bit of plumbing and rewiring and right as rain.

Hello all, and belated HNY to everyone!

I didn't manage to get the Phaeton out as much as I'd have liked last year, and I'm still waiting for that first win. Even in little events where it's me versus three Micras... quite embarrassing.

Anyway, I got the rear leaf spring mounts beefed up nicely after on failed. One rear damper was shot so it's on new spax gas adjustables at the back, and polybushes on the whole rear end. Other than that, we didn't really upgrade…

im looking at possible options for a 5 speed box to fit in my leggera over the winter i could go for the type 9 box but they are getting pricey these days and i would have to change/do some chassis mods to get it in there .so i was thinkin mx5 or rx8 i believe these are both rwd boxes but im not sure of size in comparison to the type 9  also the prop could be an issue if they are different splines .any one with experience on this ??? your advice would be appreciated 

After almost a decade in the garage, I have finally had the time and motivation to start getting my Melos back on the road. LED lights all set up for the front end now. Polybush suspension. New fuel tank and pipe work next along with silicone cooling hoses, new exhaust system required and interior to clean up. Replacing the pepper pot wheels with a set of smart 15" alloys in anthracite.…

Wednesday 11th near midnight, my Grandad past away after going into hospital for stomach pains a few days prior. My family has set about getting the funeral arranged and looking at clearing the house to put it on the market. It's a big place with a lot of "treasures" (as my Grandad called them) from charity shops, but also quite a lot of important family related docs/pics/items so will actually take quite a while to fully sort through. This gives me a little time to make arrangements for the…

so today it begines to look worse before better body work, not to bad most cracks were bad paint reaction dug out the star cracks and it was only in the gel coat so using the carbon fiber filler…

well what can I say only just got back on this lol

2017 was a crap year for me dad got terminal cancer and found out on my birthday so was looking after him most of last year till he passed bonfire night and my best friend passed away nearly same time so no work on Dutton as no money to do anything , 

2018 came right got to get my arse in gear lots have happened to my Dutton 

got it though mot new brakes all round new exhaust full service and electronic ignition, new…

For quite a while now I've been battling with my rear suspension and replacing the rear shocks (as well as holidays etc). I originally just wanted to replace what was required to test drive it to decide if I liked the car. If I did then the plan was to upgrade it to a 5 link system as many have suggested. (Keep this in mind for a sec).

However, cutting straight to the point; my Grandad has been diagnosed with terminal cancer in multiple places including the liver. The doctors don't…