MadaboutKitcars

copycat!

I think of it more as sharing best practice...

I'm on the bulkhead this weekend so I will ready my lump hammer

One of the topics that's been raised on this forum is whether it's right to sacrifice an old Herald or Vitesse (or Spitfire or Scimitar for that matter), which are all classics in their own right, in order to build a Sammio.

All have their own view on this: I for one find the Herald/Vitesse styling isn't quite to my taste while the inherent handling flaws would put me off wanting to use one on a day to day basis. I'm sure, however, that there are died-in-the-wool Triumph enthusiasts out there right now chomping down angrily on the ends of their pipes and searching for a pen in one of their many Harris tweed jackets with which to write angry letters to The Guardian while Radio 2 drones on in the background. (I hope that doesn't stereotype Triumph enthusiasts too much...)

Now, the saving grace for me is that all the bits of my donor that I didn't need any more: the roof; body; interior; bonnet; etc, went to help people restore their Michelotti originals which could otherwise end up being weighed in for a journey on the slow boat to China and a new life as a cheap saucepan.

Now I've bought and sold loads of stuff on ebay but a first for me is that I've recieved a lovely letter from the chap who bought my bonnet (thanks Peter). He even sent me a picture of his beloved Herald with my old Vitesse bonnet fitted -



So, I get to put my dream sports/racing car on the road, so I'm happy. Peter gets to keep his Herald on the road so he's happy. And the fact that two of Triumph's finest will be staying on the road (in one form or another) should keep the Triumph enthusiasts happy. Job done.

Completely agree! I did (and do) feel a bit guilty about using an old Vitesse as a donor. But as i stripped mine it was obvious that it would have been completely uneconomical to have repaired it and what i was actually doing was to put it out of it's misery

As you mention, i was also really chuffed with the responses of the people who came an bought my old parts from me, they were lovely people and when i explained what i was doing not one of them criticised me and in fact one old chap (who wasn't quite wearing tweed) commented that he was glad that i was doing what i was and that i was keeping the base car together rather than seeing it all stripped solely for spares


This reminds me, i've still got some bits to sell....

Success! There is now daylight and a gap big enough to slide a finger through between my tyres and the bulkhead, while the intrusion into the cabin from the delicately altered bulkhead is minimal -







I've also had my first ever go at fibreglassing in order to repair the join between the side of the bulkhead and the edge of the floor, which had been completely eaten by the tin worm. I've used modeller's stainless steel mesh and fashioned a repair patch out of glass matting -









Lessons learned today:

Acetone really stings when you get it in a cut;

The resin is really sticky, as soon as I started working with it my rubber gloves started picking up loose glass strands quickly making my fingers look like those penguins that have the fancy eybrows;



the chemicals involved really stink, although I wore a decent mask throughout, when I came indoors for a cup of tea and took the mask off the fumes have impregnated all my clothing and I smell like a canoe factory;

The instructions that came with the fibre-glass kit are pretty meagre, there was no mention of what to do with the tissue paper(?) for example, so I laid it on top of the glass mat and tried painting the resin on top. This resulted in the tissue disintegrating and strands of glass lifting out with every brush stroke.

I'll know tomorrow if my repair has worked, but if anyone's a dab hand with the old fibreglass I'd love to see a master-class post put on here with any hints'n'tips...

great job

looking great u have got on well .....got mine all back on road and had that big big tidy up well done one more job out the way

Cheers Phil, glad you're back on the road. How's the gearing with the new diff and did you get the 175/80's to fit?

not been out , hope in to get out this week as off work at mo i will let u no how i get on look's like a good week ahead with some sun.... re painted all under side and engine bay so no going out in wet yet cars looking fab at mo now all clean

Spent most of today on a shopping trip to Springfields in Spalding as it's Mothers' Day.

Did have a couple of hours of daylight left when we got back though so I thought I'd cut the floor panels out ready to do some more work on the Spyder later in the week.

Once I'd done that though, it seemed like a good idea to trial fit the frame.

And then I thought 'what the heck, let's see what it looks like with the body and seats fitted.' And guess what?

It's a car! It actually looks like a car!!!

Bearing in mind it started out its life like this:



And then went through a rather long stage of looking like this:



Today it looks like this:





Only thing is it's a better fit for my son, who's currently about five feet tall, than it is for me at 5'11". Methinks I'll be doing a bit of floor lowering and seat base modification as the MGB seats stick out of the cockpit by about 75mm at the moment.

It shouldn't be an insurmountable problem, just another challenge to address as I rather like the look of the MGB seats. And having spent less than forty quid on them in the first place, if I end up scrapping them and starting over with new seats it's not the end of the world.



I'm really looking forward to the next stage of the build as the transformation from Vitesse to Sammio is really quite dramatic.

Back to work tomorrow I'm afraid but the way it looks with the body on has really given me a boost today and recharged my enthusiasm batteries to maximum. I'm beginning to think I might just get it on the road for summer!

Looks great Mr T!

Every night I put the body back on mine and put the cover over it. As you say, it gives you a great boost.

I am only a little bit ahead of you, so race ya to the finish!!

I'm afraid you'll win that race hands down so I won't be putting any money on the outcome!

Quite a satisfying stage of the build though, eh?

Too right. I have even started to plan the interior on mine now!

Funnily enough that's exactly what I've been doing. Having done exactly ten square inches of fibreglassing in my whole life i now feel confident enough to start moulding a Lancia D24 instrument binnacle...

LOL, I have been watching so many Youtube videos on custom door panels and car seat recovering that I reckon I have too many ideas to fit in my car!

I did my Herald Convertible interior and it turned out okay:


So I am getting bold on my designs for the Spyder!

How bold exactly?

Someone looks a bit chuffed!

So is this the Sammio version of the Cowl-less motorbike, the bonnet-less Spyder

I am going for a hinged bench seat back that will be built in MDF with a metal frame, with a hidden catch. It will be red vinyl with contrasting cream fluted panels (the car will be cream). I may incorporate a hinged armrest in it too for good measure.....

The side panels will be two tone as well with horizontal fluted panels and the opening for the 'door' pockets. The dash is being modified to include a centre console so I am making my own gearbox cover rather than using the old vitesse one that doesn't really blend into the square centre tunnel. I will be adding arm rests and grab handles on the side panels as well.


Well that's the idea anyway!

I think you'll struggle to fit those in given the narrowness of the cockpit. Rest of it sounds good though.

Chuffed ain't in it! Like a dog with two tails. And three ccks...

Great progress, must be such a high point after your chassis woes. Yesterday a go kart, today a Sammio. Brilliant.

Spent some time working on my floors yesterday, specifically the issue of getting my (huge) MGB seats into the Spyder cockpit.

Although the Cordite floorpans Gary and Mike are now producing look pretty good value given the time and materials needed to make them, they wouldn't provide a deep enough drop or a wide enough lowered area to fit my seats into. Given the size of the seats I want to fit I need just about every mm of space width wise to get them in together with a five inch drop...

So, I've lowered the back of the floor by five inches and the front by two, which will allow my seats to fit just under the body line, give extra leg room and leave my eyeline just above the wind deflector -











It's still very much a work in progress at the moment - I've only tackled the driver's side so far and the whole thing needs glueing/bonding together and some kind of support adding underneath so they don't drop out, but I'm pleased with the way it's turning out given my extremely limited cabinet making skills.

Oh, and while I was working in the sunshine yesterday afternoon there was a sound akin to the arrival of the four horsemen of the apolalypse which heralded a pleasantly unexpected visit from Phil J in his breathtakingly good BRG Spyder 'No.2' -





It was great to see Phil again and seeing his car on my drive with my rolling chassis has spurred me on to get mine finished and on the road. I also consider myself very fortunate to have Phil, who's already finished one Spyder and is building two more, just up the road as a source of valuable information and advice. Cheers Phil.

these are the best photos yet T. If you don't have someone like Phil, living on your doorstep... these are invaluable. garyh

Looking really good, apart from that fact that some dodgy guy in a norgie seems to have stopped for a sit down in one of them

My seats are also quite wide, so once you've got the floor roughly sorted i'd suggest placing the seats in position and then putting the main part of the shell on just to see where the tops of them fit as i had to trim the rear curved corners of mine off in order for the seats to fit nicely.

Also I may have said this before, but I am very jealous of your garage!

nice to see you to.... here if you need help just ring.... be nice when got barry and yourself out for a run in the sun just doing a bit on barrys sammio to day keep up good work.