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Nearly there with this one and felt it needed its own thread really...
Going in for re-test tomorrow , she failed on low handbrake reading and excessive travel...changed a few bits around this afternoon and feels a lot better...
Hopefully tax tomorrow as well , bolt seats in temporarily until interior sorted and try her out over the Bank Holiday !!
Jammed in workshop pics taken last thing tonight ...better pics tomorrow when she goes back for re-test....
Would you believe that there is about 500 rivets in the car !
I bought 200 and thought ...''that'll be enough ! ''
I wanted to try something different from the examples being built , so the seperate tonneau is from a G46 with curved ends to give an oval , curved corners type cockpit ....the single screen is a modified G46 screen frame mounted on an additional centre plinth that supports the screen , rear view mirror and gives the tonneau a bit of shape...one off screen is sort of D24 styled.....
I really like the single seater styling.....we went with a mesh type grille to back up the minimal race look as well....
colour is a RAL pale blue and we went with ivory roundalls instead of white....the ''triple shilling'' number plate is quite cool too !!
Going in for re-test tomorrow , she failed on low handbrake reading and excessive travel...changed a few bits around this afternoon and feels a lot better...
Marginal handbrake seems to be a common theme on Triumph forums. Even with new components and perfect adjustment some people struggle to get enough to satisfy their MOT tester (I think some modern friction materials simply don't provide the 'bite' that the old Asbestos ones did). Conversion to MGF rear discs and calipers is getting quite popular.
Good idea Philip..... I will get on that next week...
She passed her MOT by the way !!
Morini , you are right ....we have an issue with the handbrake EVERY time....I have changed the mech. and moved the lever forward a bit , its still not great in modern terms but it got the necessary reading and holds the car still....job done !!
Looks great Lancelot,
How did you mould the screen, I am looking at a similar idea for twin screens on mine similar to a piccy I saw of a Lancia D24 sporting just that.
Cheers Pops
I KNOW THE CAR YOU MEAN....There's some great Youtube footage of it driving....That was instrumental in my choice too...
The base is just a G46 single screen base already made for that marque...The plastic part is just flat polycarbonate or similar bent around to fit....I made a template from hardboard first and clamped it in place , then my screen man transferred that to the sheet material he uses for the screens.....I did go 1mm thicker with the material this time and it was a bit of a bugger to bend , but if you get one fixing in and use a pump clamp , its not too bad....
If you want some single screen base units , I am sure Gaz on here will sell you a pair...
Love the use of the wing mirror, the rivets and using a different colour background for the roundels. What colour seats? And any others mods that are hidden?
That looks even better from behind Gary, great job as usual.
Can you get your knees under the enormous Herald steering wheel? I have a 14" wheel fitted and it's a bit of a squeeze getting my legs under it. It's not an issue though (before anyone starts carping on about sicherheitsstandards) as I can still get in and out in a matter of seconds.
What's under the bonnet by the way, I'm guessing it's another early 948 Herald, or is there a V8 lurking inside?
Morini , you are right ....we have an issue with the handbrake EVERY time....I have changed the mech. and moved the lever forward a bit , its still not great in modern terms but it got the necessary reading and holds the car still....job done !!
In the past I've replaced the 90 degree cable guide channels with a pair of pulleys for someone. I had a couple of sets of Fiat X1/9 handbrake pulleys to hand (just a plastic wheel rotating on a metal bush). They made a useful difference.
I've got MGF calipers lying around. I bough them complete with hubs, uprights and shafts from Spitfire Graveyard. People have adapted the MGF uprights instead of using the Rotoflex ones, but I already had the Rotoflex uprights and bored them out to take the MGF (or Rover 100) bearings, hubs and shafts (a pair of passenger side Rover 100 hafts with Volvo CV joints on the inner end and adaptor plates for the diff flanges is the usual conversion). Since I have the bigger rear drums, I haven't bothered with the disk conversion. You just need a bracket to replace the drum backplate and mount the caliper. They usually then use the larger Freelander wheel stud (fits the hub just like the Herald etc. type). I haven't looked at how that would work with the wire wheel adapters, but it's ideal with alloys (and is often done for that reason).
In the past I've replaced the 90 degree cable guide channels with a pair of pulleys for someone. I had a couple of sets of Fiat X1/9 handbrake pulleys to hand (just a plastic wheel rotating on a metal bush). They made a useful difference.
I've got MGF calipers lying around. I bough them complete with hubs, uprights and shafts from Spitfire Graveyard. People have adapted the MGF uprights instead of using the Rotoflex ones, but I already had the Rotoflex uprights and bored them out to take the MGF (or Rover 100) bearings, hubs and shafts (a pair of passenger side Rover 100 hafts with Volvo CV joints on the inner end and adaptor plates for the diff flanges is the usual conversion). Since I have the bigger rear drums, I haven't bothered with the disk conversion. You just need a bracket to replace the drum backplate and mount the caliper. They usually then use the larger Freelander wheel stud (fits the hub just like the Herald etc. type). I haven't looked at how that would work with the wire wheel adapters, but it's ideal with alloys (and is often done for that reason).
The rear view mirror is the c*bra style wing mirrors ...I have seen Ferrari's etc using similar mirrors as rear view and thought it looked cool...
The cream roundalls was as a result of seeing a 289 C*bra replica locally with cream roundalls and thought it gave the car a slightly aged look...it works really well with RAL 5024 as well !!
Number 3 incidentally is Sam's age.....Jennettes idea.
The car is a 1963 Herald with a 13/60 engine and box....it goes really well.
no tricks underneath - the car was bought in as an already well under way example and I have just detailed it really....being a '63 we could take full advantage of things like white front and red rear indicators , no wing mirrors etc...
seats are going to be black , cockpit is black as well...probably satin black dash with centre panel left shiny...nothing too flashy really...
Vitesse banjo is fine , the car has homemade dropped pans and it gets the slender seat well out of the way....I really like the Banjo wheels , they are just so fifties !!
I wanted to build an example that embraced everything Sammio but was a bit different from the examples we have seen so far....
Did about 50 miles yesterday in the car , all around Poole , Bournemouth and Christchurch - following coast roads as much as possible.....took about 5 mins to remember why I do this car building thing....loved it !!
Did a few miles today and followed Jennette and Sam around as she put some miles on the car too....over to Christchurch River , Mudeford etc..
Car drove really well ...little tick over issue ( cured by keeping choke out a bit ) but otherwise absolutely awesome....
FOLLOWING THE CAR WATCHING IT GO AROUND BENDS ETC. WAS NEARLY AS MUCH FUN AS DRIVING IT MYSELF !!
Did about 50 miles yesterday in the car , all around Poole , Bournemouth and Christchurch - following coast roads as much as possible.....took about 5 mins to remember why I do this car building thing....loved it !!
Did a few miles today and followed Jennette and Sam around as she put some miles on the car too....over to Christchurch River , Mudeford etc..
Car drove really well ...little tick over issue ( cured by keeping choke out a bit ) but otherwise absolutely awesome....
FOLLOWING THE CAR WATCHING IT GO AROUND BENDS ETC. WAS NEARLY AS MUCH FUN AS DRIVING IT MYSELF !!
I bet you'll both be sad to see it go when it sells.
What's coming next though - a complete change of direction? And how's Mike's special build coming along?