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Got a chance to re-position the bulkhead today and fit the body quickly ...even though the rear is not under load and the wheels are very small ..it gives you an idea of proportion better than when sat on the floor ...
The side profile shows the gorgeous climb of the front wing from the rear section of the car and its sexy pout ...
I didn't mention it previously , but the kit package will come with the bolt in crossmember that is required to support the front bulkhead mounts when its shifted back ...
Somebody also asked about seat positioning with the shifted bulkhead ...in the same way that the Miglia works , the dropped floor section will allow a Cobra style seat to be fitted without compromising legroom etc. and not fouling on the rear side rigger .....the headrest has been angled back slightly to follow the line of the driver in his/her slightly raked position
Both yourself and Glan should be congratulated for a very well done project! I thank you, but afraid I'll never see one on this side of the pond. I'm stuck for a coupe anyway.
Professional results are always worth the effort. Great job.
Update time ...not a lot to show , but its all steps forward ...the body is booked in on Monday to have the frames done ...I have sketched my plan , but I suspect Mark will change it !! He needs the car for the week ..so hopefully this time next week I can show a frame sat on a chassis too ...
Glan has moulded the doors ...
I am drilling the flanges tomorrow morning , but they are done ...
Bootlid is getting a 10mm return edge on it too , we had a flat panel mould already , but I used the single panel as a template to gap the boot properly and then we adjusted the mould and Glan made the flanges ..I need to crack them off in the morning , slide them forward a bit and drill ...
None of the above is particularly exciting to anybody but me really ...but it does mean all moulding on the bodyshell itself is done ..just the Triumph style bulkhead panel to do ...so , realistically , anyone wanting just a bodyshell with the intention of doing their own frame etc...could order one now ... ( I have had 3 enquiries going down that route )
I also had a visit from my laser cutting man today ...He dropped off the door hinges , tilt front bracketry and screenpost bases for me ...
The tilt front brackets and screenposts need some fabrication before they are ready , but , although the hinges need welding too ..I was able to slot one together to take a picture .....
All bracketry is drilled in the same style as these ...I am really pleased with them ..hopefully next week , a set will be hanging off the framework ...
Update time ...not a lot to show , but its all steps forward ...the body is booked in on Monday to have the frames done ...I have sketched my plan , but I suspect Mark will change it !! He needs the car for the week ..so hopefully this time next week I can show a frame sat on a chassis too ...
Glan has moulded the doors ...
I am drilling the flanges tomorrow morning , but they are done ...
Bootlid is getting a 10mm return edge on it too , we had a flat panel mould already , but I used the single panel as a template to gap the boot properly and then we adjusted the mould and Glan made the flanges ..I need to crack them off in the morning , slide them forward a bit and drill ...
None of the above is particularly exciting to anybody but me really ...but it does mean all moulding on the bodyshell itself is done ..just the Triumph style bulkhead panel to do ...so , realistically , anyone wanting just a bodyshell with the intention of doing their own frame etc...could order one now ... ( I have had 3 enquiries going down that route )
I also had a visit from my laser cutting man today ...He dropped off the door hinges , tilt front bracketry and screenpost bases for me ...
The tilt front brackets and screenposts need some fabrication before they are ready , but , although the hinges need welding too ..I was able to slot one together to take a picture .....
All bracketry is drilled in the same style as these ...I am really pleased with them ..hopefully next week , a set will be hanging off the framework ...
The plan with the hinge pivot points is to open them up a little to allow an 8mm oil light bearing to be fitted ..they will hang from the main bracing frame and be mounted to a smaller framework inside the door with a matching plate to the hinge base ....there will be a plate at the other end of the door to accept a latch ..
Gary,
I'm not in the market for one of these (I've got enough other projects!) but I have found your updates on the process of making the mould very interesting and educational.
Thanks for taking the time to update the forum and good luck with lots of sales!!
The project is now sat in my mates workshop in Southampton awaiting the framework to be fabricated ...
In it's absence , Glan has carried on with the screen mould and the headlight covers ...The screen mould is fairly simple , we screwed a bit of lexan onto the cowl area I saved from the plug when it was cut up and disposed of ...a mould was taken from this and the screw holes filled ...we are going to mould a thin fibreglass one and cut it to fit the body , this will also become the trimming template for the guys making the screens and headlight covers for us .....
I am thinking about changing my screen style and modifying the posts slightly , so I can have the option of single screen like the Ferrari's etc. or the doors can be fitted with side screens like the Maserati's ...these would be in the same thickness as the screen , thicker than the original S*mmio format and attach to the return edge on the inside of the doors ...
Glan also started on the headlights ... I bought 2 Vincent Cafe racer style fairings from a mate of mine who was clearing out a load of Vincent and other motorcycle parts ....they were both slightly damaged , so very cheap ...
Glan cut the centres out , trimmed them and I screwed them to the two wing tips we kept from the plug ...
These were sanded slightly and plasticined around the edges and a mould taken ...
some plywood braces and feet were added at the same time ...
these were popped off and trimmed ...
Glan made a couple of fibreglass examples from the mould to 'prove' them ..these were trimmed and test fitted to the bonnet that hasn't gone to Southampton with the rest of it ...
Tomorrow Glan will lay up another set and put wooden braces on them as the concave lenses need a 2 piece mould to make them , the plastic is draped on one mould and pressed with the secondary one , the moulds are oversize to get the crinkled waste plastic away from the main lense area when its squashed and they will be trimmed back to size afterwards ..... The screen is a single mould as its curved but only one way , not concave ...
I had to take a day off yesterday and in my absence , Glan finished the male and female headlight moulds ...they just need the felt glueing on , but the plastic company will do that ....
Now , we are waiting for the car to return from the tube formers ...So Glan is having a few cheeky days off !!
I received some pictures from Mark today ...he had a bit of a setback with another job , but has been able to make a start on the frame ...he has basically done the perimeter pieces ,spare wheel mount , petrol tank mounts and started the tunnel sections .
tomorrow I should get some images of the cockpit side detail , door framing etc. but for now , here's a couple of pics to start things off ....
I shot up to Eastleigh today to visit the car and run through a few things with Mark ...no progress today due to my getting in the way , mostly , but he's back on it tomorrow with a finish date of Sunday hopefully ...
We ran through the design ideas for the dropped floorpans and tunnel arrangement as it has changed slightly ....The tunnel is now space framed as you can see ..the intention is to clad it on the inside with steel , so the space framing is still visible but the prop is obviously fully enclosed . the steel cladding will continue either side of the tunnel and drop between the rails to form the dropped floorpans , it will also be tied into the side framework as it exits the floorpan area ...so basically a complete Space frame setup with fitted tunnel and floorpans that will simply drop / locate into place on your prepped chassis . the front frame will attach to the bulkhead on the top door hinge point and this will obviously locate the bulkhead ...a pair of bolt on extra crossmember pieces will also sit under the bulkhead front edge to support it in its new , stepped back off the outrigger , position .
The rear frame has all mounting points for the Spitfire fuel tank and a mounting point for the spare wheel ...the rear frame will mount on the original body mount positions and 2 extra ones on the boot ouriggers ...
strapping is being used in areas the framework doesnt touch to enable the body to sit on the structure and it can be bonded in place as well as fixings in the door shuts etc...
If anyone understands all of that ....can they explain it to me please !!!
Here's some pics that don't show anymore than previously but do show the car from a few different angles than previously and also the first ones with the 15'' wheels fitted ...
The body will be bolted to the framework at the rear in the boot shut area , no visible fixings when bootlid in place ...
The car came back from the frame guy today ...He had it a little longer than I had hoped but I'm pleased with it so far ...I need to do a change to the door framing and add a steering column mount that was overlooked , but generally , its as I had hoped ...
Steel dropped floorpans , fuel tank mount , spare wheel saddle ( or boot floor bracing ) , steering column mount and tunnel cladding to be standard as well .....
Frame also has hinge mounting points fitted and 4 x door hinges will be included too as well as a framework to go inside the doors ( hopefully making them tomorrow ) which the hinges bolt directly to and a plate to mount your door latch at the rear ...
Although the frame is designed to fit a stock Bulkhead cut down to fit under the bodyshell , I am looking at creating a box section bulkhead structure as an extra to be added to the frame for a customer with no bulkhead or a very rusty one ...
The bulkhead panel that blends the body to the original bulkheads was originally going to be a fibreglass item ...now we are looking at supplying it as an aluminium panel that will be bonded and rivetted in place ...
I love the look of this Gary and I think you have a winner on your hands.
One thought.......finding a decent bulkhead is quite hard these days. I'd be inclined to to extend the frame and recreate the step for pedal mounting. Simple drop floorpans for your feet and bingo........it's easy if you say it quickly.
Although the frame is designed to fit a stock Bulkhead cut down to fit under the bodyshell , I am looking at creating a box section bulkhead structure as an extra to be added to the frame for a customer with no bulkhead or a very rusty one ...
Very impressive frame. I was going to comment on how much like a sand-rail it looks, then I remembered that your frame chappy makes sand-rails. Nice work.
