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Not too concerned with fender - rim height but front rear is alright. I've not got the back sorted regarding the very back section of the chassis so that may hold a bit of info.
That motor does look as if it's protruding rather a lot.
From one of the pictures it appears that the body is just resting on top of the rear boot outriggers, once they're cut down and sitting about 4" up inside the shell the front edge of the bonnet should rise up a little.
Is it just the front of the engine that's proud of the bonnet opening? If so, dropping the back of the shell over the outriggers may help with the engine clearance, but it may also make your seat a bit too high.
You mention that the supplied floorpans are not fit for purpose, is your seat on a flat floor at the moment? If it is I'd recommend you make up some lowered pans as you don't want your driving position to be too high up or your ears will ruin the aerodynamics...
I've moved the body forward a bit and that has helped. Mr t the seats are on blocks to simulate the floor height I want/ can accommodate the herald seats. I'll make some drop floors from 1mm steel. I'm probably being harsh re the fibreglass floors but they are narrow and go back so far that getting to the rear toe adjustment/ tie rod nuts would be difficult. I also have concerns over the strength of them with a seat, person and bumps. So I will go metal. (Not mental)
Once I figure out what my compliance engineer thinks I will sort those rear chassis extensions.
Tim , thx for the extra info. I think that with a bit of wrestling you can workout the fit ok. It must be frustrating after such a long time to put it on and its not visually as you had imagined , but your initial thoughts might be unjust after you adjust heights , angles ect.
My question was relating to rim position in the fender arches , are they centered ? I know this is an issue with the Sammios but have been led to believe its fixed on this reworked version of that car. Its difficult to get a difinitive answer on this one as pictures suggest there is still issues in this area but not a lot of info from builders being offered up to answer the question thoroughly.
I don't know what the current situation is with buying a Miglia at the moment as things seem very quiet on this thread , no imput from the suppliers and virtually no new builds appearing , but there is something very charming about this little car that keeps drawing me back to it.
Thanks guys, I'll be working on it. There a couple of bits where I may have the fitment out, but I'll fiddle around and take a few more photos. Your (all you fellow madabouters) input and comments, and re-posting of relevant pics is very helpful.
I think I've come across a bit negative which is not how I'm feeling- the proportion of this car is very sweet and I'm looking forward to working it out.
Thanks for posting those pics up Paul, that saves me doing it and that seems like so long ago now!
As far as initial body and frame fit is concerned, I remember I did a lot of jiggling around to get the wheels where I wanted them to be in the shell and then getting all mentally prepared to lower my radiator like I did with the Sammio.
But then I roughly positioned the frame, body and bonnet and it all just fitted and covered everything!
And that was over my straight 6 with a normal rad. In fact I remember phoning Mike to double check that it was meant to "just fit" without having to lower anything and being very happy when it did
In case it helps.... If I were to do it all again I would screw the doors and bonnet in place while you do the initial frame and body fitting and then when it's roughly bonded in place and the main tub can't move about, only then take the doors and bonnet off! I had a few alignment issues on my doors because I didn't do that. It wasn't hard to fix, but it would have been so easy to avoid in the first place
I used Mikes rear floorpans and while there is some flex in them they have been fine so far and were a really good fit.
Although I did fabricate alloy front pans due to me wanting to press on while I was waiting for mike (and I wanted to have a play with alloy fab before I started on the interior panelling!)
I see in one of daves photos the front cross member that the bonnet hinges from, there's mounting points that I don't have. Also at the rear it looks like my chassis (herald 948 coupe/convertible) has mounting points a little different to his too. More pics later
Having spoken to Mike recently , the kits are very much still available . I believe they are actively being advertised still.
Mikes main business is camper van repair and some bodykit fibreglass items he supplies in bulk for a manufacturer , so the kits have become a side business due to economics but he tells me he has 5 on order so they are still selling .
I cant say why these new builders arent on here but maybe they lurk , maybe forums arent there thing ? It would be cool if they could just say hello and goodbye though , so we can keep things current on here .
I see in one of daves photos the front cross member that the bonnet hinges from, there's mounting points that I don't have. Also at the rear it looks like my chassis (herald 948 coupe/convertible) has mounting points a little different to his too. More pics later
T
Tim , the first Sammio was built on a 948 chassis and when it went into production , the framework had to be altered as the later , 1200 style chassis are different.
The biggest difference was the box section itself , the earlier ones are flatter than the later ones , I cannot remember if they were the same section but laid on its side or just shorter sections but they are definitely not as tall. Also as you say the rear section is different and the front crossmember was different as well.
I dont know exactly how Mikes frame works but it will be a similar concept to the Sammio one , he definitely created his framework using the later style chassis , so , although I cannot stand here and say definitely , there is a chance your frame will need modifying to work for you .
You are right El p here a shot of daves front chassis:
Showing the mount points I don't have.
Here's mine:
Here's how it sits in that position:
Big gap wheel to arch but still has orig suspension. Here's a look from the side with the body on in that position With the front frame drop mounts on top of the "internal bumper bar" as I'm calling it:
Looks like I'll need shorter spring after all- the spax adjustable is not quite enough.
I'll probably end up mounting the front frame cross member to the vertical bonnet hinge attachment points.
T
Brilliant to hear he's still producing, he's got a really cool product!
I've been looking for a pic of my frame "as delivered" so that you have something to compare to but I can't find one, plus I know that Mike is constantly improving his default offering so I'm not sure how relevant it would be?
That said, I have found some more detailed pics I'd not posted before with a few of the mods I made to my frame. I hope you don't mind me posting them here?
Here's the rear.
The circled bits are the main crossmember, which I was going to cut off and re-welded in order to give more wheel arch clearance, but in the end I simply chamfered the ends and that did the job.
The other is the small vertical bracket I added and bolted to the chassis (2 - one each side of the tunnel) as the rear frame cross member was flexing when the handbrake was pulled on and it wasn't working very well. Adding these two brackets hugely improved the feel and efficiency of the handbrake and made things much more solid.
Here's what I ended up with the front of my frame looking like after I'd chopped and re-welded a few bits in order to get better clearance for the gauges.
Plus i added some re-enforcing for the pedals and the two small sections of Box for the wings to fit onto.
Yes good to hear mike is still making these. Also no probs posting those pics here in fact brilliant. You wouldn't happen to have any photos of the rear under the tank? Also you added the front to rear handbrake bit?
I've had another crawl around and a few more mental notes. I must say that the gear lever extension that mike supplied is the perfect length. I'll need to consider changing to a later model rocker cover to get that height down. Anyone done this? The rear frame mount points are a little uneven: I may simply shim one side.
I've spent some time in the seat and stuck on some instrument placings too! But the steering wheel will need moving up and out so that will change in time.
looking at that front 3/4 shot the rear bulkhead support bar looks very low to me , again no expert on the Miglia frame but I would have expected the body to drop down and sit on that 'goalpost' bar putting the seat belt mounts into the top outside area of the cockpit rear , ie , just behind your shoulder. Perhaps Davecymru can jump in here but if the body could drop to that height would that possibly sort out the front height issue too ? Is your inner wing area sat on the frame ? Is your steering support area , the front goalpost under the dash anywhere near being sat right under the front bulkhead ? Thats where I would expect it to be , but cannot stress enough that I am familiar with the Sammio concept and not the Miglia , so it may be different.
I would be tempted to chop those front support legs right off , let the front of the frame drop and see how that changes things , re instating the support legs later when you know therir correct length and changing them to pickup with a mounting point on the chassis , maybe an angle iron style bracket mounting to the rail behind the front tube and bolting horizontally through the rail ?
Just caught up with your build 1iTim and congratulations on the arrival of the body.
The fun now begins and the figuring out of how to make things fit is what makes these builds unique. By the looks of it the finish on your tub looks a million dollars compared to what i started with so definitely a lot less work required as i have just spent 8 whole hours rubbing the shell down to try and aim for a good finish and still have to do it all again twice over, oh happy days.
Looking forward to see the rest of your build with plenty of photos i hope.
Having spoken to Mike recently , the kits are very much still available
Further to this , I visited Mikes neighbour in the unit 3 doors down this evening . Although it was well after hours and Mikes unit was locked up for the night , there are 3 Miglia frames sat outside looking like they have recently been delivered by his fabricator. So , I have seen physical evidence of the kits still being produced.
Hi all, may be crass talking costs but if any Aussies are reading this and weighing up the costs it cost me just under $5k Australian to get the crate of parts from door to door.
Further to this , I visited Mikes neighbour in the unit 3 doors down this evening . Although it was well after hours and Mikes unit was locked up for the night , there are 3 Miglia frames sat outside looking like they have recently been delivered by his fabricator. So , I have seen physical evidence of the kits still being produced.
Yes they are available I just took delivery of my subframe last week. Although Mike is doing other things he is available and can be caught during the day. Happy days for me, its on with my next phase, I might get my body on before the winter set in, which will leave me the cold months to trim and flatten ready for final painting next spring.
Well, that is good news - I might still be able to get a receipt from him then, so I can register mine. Wish he would reply to calls, texts and emails though...sigh...
