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I know what you mean Andy, it would be great to choose my own engine and layout but to be honest I dont see too much wrong with the Essex V6 and a little extra time finding the right donor would probably save me a lot of time and money building a chassis and running gear. Plus my plan was to give the car to Gary and Mike and let them rebody this one for me.
The pain is finding an SE5 model. There seems to be loads of SE6's suitable for my needs but very few 5's at the moment!
I know what you mean Andy, it would be great to choose my own engine and layout but to be honest I dont see too much wrong with the Essex V6 and a little extra time finding the right donor would probably save me a lot of time and money building a chassis and running gear. Plus my plan was to give the car to Gary and Mike and let them rebody this one for me.
The pain is finding an SE5 model. There seems to be loads of SE6's suitable for my needs but very few 5's at the moment!
It would have been but im 90% sure that I have contacted the seller (ive contacted that many!) and its already been sold. I will try them again just to be sure though.
Gary sent me some more photos of 'Vanessa's' progress. Interior is now boxed in and should be glassed today. The 'glove box' is just how I'd envisaged in the headrest so I won't have to dive deep to grab my goggles/helmet/gloves etc. before levering myself in
More progress on Betsy. The Bulkhead has been fitted after a forward foot was welded onto a new 'floor' panel, Engine shrouds are in, radiator fitted in a lower position (and shrouds subsequently trimmed in height. Steering column is back in, as are the Master cylinders and pedals. Apart from a bit more paint and fitting the forward part of the wiring loom, it's almost ready for the kit (Which won't be too long hopefully)
In 'other news', the Spitfire has passed it's VIC at VOSA Chadderton yesterday and today failed MoT on a couple of minor points like sills (They are obviously going), Headlight aim (Again, no consequence), rear brake adjustment (Simples) and a top bearing on the front suspension. Well worth going through to give the work after stripping it some target points rather than mending something that isn't broken,
It will be a G46 next for me, just have to find a decent donor at the right price!
I know we are going over old ground here .....but if the V6 is good for you and finding an SE5 is an issue ....hows about a TVR Tasmin ?
I measured it up for WCA before ...he even bought a Tasmin !! and its not too far away dimensionally ....we would need to modify the body by shortening the rear deck a bit , about 4-5'' from memory...the rear width is ok , the front slightly wider ...only a bit , I think sone suitable wheels and/or a slight wing tweak would deal with it , would need to be round arched to make things easier too...
The front hubs are Granada , so maybe can be moddded it required as well ...
If the general concensus on here is correct , a slightly shorter decked and round arched car would look pretty sharp !!
The donors can be a little dearer , but a TVR base special has got to commend stronger money/value at the end , surely ?
I know we are going over old ground here .....but if the V6 is good for you and finding an SE5 is an issue ....hows about a TVR Tasmin ?
I measured it up for WCA before ...he even bought a Tasmin !! and its not too far away dimensionally ....we would need to modify the body by shortening the rear deck a bit , about 4-5'' from memory...the rear width is ok , the front slightly wider ...only a bit , I think sone suitable wheels and/or a slight wing tweak would deal with it , would need to be round arched to make things easier too...
The front hubs are Granada , so maybe can be moddded it required as well ...
If the general concensus on here is correct , a slightly shorter decked and round arched car would look pretty sharp !!
The donors can be a little dearer , but a TVR base special has got to commend stronger money/value at the end , surely ?
Hmmm, that may well be a good option that I hadnt thought of! I May just have found an SE5 but its going to need some work doing on it. How much work has to be done will be seen this week but I can start to look at a wider pool of donors now. Bloody SE6's everywhere but very few SE5s!
Well, it seems like a while, though in reality it's not been too long, but Vanessa is back and looking Spectacular
Great work by Gary and Mike getting it from moon rover to how she looks now. I'm having a concerted attempt at getting the internal fit and remaining electrics sorted through next week so there are bound to be more posts as I go but for the time being, I'll let the photos do the talking:
Wednesday morning, at Gary's workshop, a great opportunity to see Two 'finned' spyders (wouldn't look out of place on a Scalextric track!)
Vanessa arrives at the unit:
Unloading.. ground clearance virtually nil going down the ramp
Ah. That would be a kit we brought up North for a customer in Cumbria. The van was big enough so we got it this far for him. Just been collected. Come in Jeff, the forum's fun
Progress is being made on Vanessa as the new Sammio Spyder demonstrator and she now has a full light set and apart from a stray earth where all four indicators came on with the main beam and a seized Starter Motor, now sorted, all the circuits work so I can get cracking with decking out the dash and interior. (Photos to follow).
I'm currently looking to move into a larger unit so I can store some kits up here but in the mean time, my build priorities have somewhat changed. As I'm hoping to attend as many shows as I can and want to have a demonstrator for each model finished to a good standard, I really need to get cracking on a Cordite!
To this end, I need to do something with Betsy...
For those who have not followed her progress, the chassis is sorted, having had all welding done, the bulkhead has a new floor and foot on one side to replace a rotten one and suspension is lowered already. I have an untouched Spyder kit sat beside her (Maybe she should be renamed Miss Tuffett) and a bag of goodies such as headlight shells, rear light units, Cherry Bomb Exhaust box and a Spitfire fuel tank ready to fit. I'd be happy to put her on the sidelines to wait for her 'turn' but if anyone would like to take her over at this stage, I'm open to offers in the region of £2000 which covers my costs of transit, repair and parts.
Well, the weather isn't looking too good for Newark but I'm going anyway as I've a shopping list to complete Vanessa. If anyone here is going, please take my number from the web site and give me a yell so we can meet up for a Coffee/Beer/Chat/Shelter from the rain.
It's been a long time coming but today we had to move Vanessa out of the unit to ready her for a possible show tomorrow at Tatton Park (Weather doesn't look too good for it at present though) so rather than push her around it made sense to see if she would move under her own steam. Not road ready yet as there's some brake work yet to do but this is the first time that car has moved by engine power alone in over 30 Years. Glad to say she didn't let me down.
