Davecymru's Miglia build :) - Forum Archive

Paul L 21 Dec 2018, 7:39am

Dave – The gear knob is just another one of the nice touches on your build. :cool:

Keep enjoying the car until you start building something else, Paul.

PS
Have you already forgotten the grief of your last Countach build?

:icon_wink:

davecymru 1 Jan 2019, 1:35pm

Cheers Paul,

I'm currently applying lad-logic and man-maths to my next build and using those i think an Audi V8 powered Countach is perfectly do-able...... :lalala:

But i also have my eye on the tri-king kits, so i'll just have to wait and see what 2019 brings

And on that note HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I've been preparing the car for it's triditional new year jaunt over the past few weeks and my son asked if there was anything he could help me with, so a quick check of the "one day" list of jobs and a nosey through the bits-n-bobs pile and i decided to fit a headrest as i quite liked the one on my Sammio.

So we cut a backing plate from some exterior ply lefft over from the Sammio

Dug out some seat foam and fabric, also left over from the Sammio build!

cut-trim-stick

And while it doesn't look like a professional job, i'm quite chuffed how it turned out and i had some great father/son bonding time doing it

And it looked the part on this mornings jaunt over the hills!

Happy 2019 everyone

Paul L 1 Jan 2019, 5:26pm

Dave – Looking good. :cool:

Although it is quite spooky, as I’ve recently been toying with the idea of making my own head rests too.

I have some leather and I bought a leather sewing kit and some of those plastic ‘Fir tree’ clips from Ebay.

I also went back to Mister Towed’s Spyder build to have a closer look at his headrest.

So a couple of quick questions from me:
- Do the fixing clips just get held in place by the foam?
- How did you attach the material to the plywood at the back?

Cheers, Paul.

lancelot link 1 Jan 2019, 6:11pm

if you get the hole the right size they can be pressure fitted ..but a blob of adhesive is better ...

I would staple it to the ply ...

davecymru 1 Jan 2019, 6:17pm

Wot e said!

No.1 son did a few different size holes on some test pieces and found the size that held the ones i had nice and tight as i can't remember where they came from (they're either recycled VW or MR2) so i didn't use adhesive.

Then when it's covered you just press through in the right places and it works a treat.

As far as holding it all together, i held the foam and front of the fabric in place with spray adhesive so that it doesn't all move around and then used a staple gun and contact adhesive to stick it to the back.

I used that approach for the interior of er' camper and it's held up to a few years of heavy use from the kids, so it's probaly overkill for this but was good fun to do

Paul L 5 Jan 2019, 8:55am

Gary & Dave – Thanks chaps. :cool:

deni 5 Jan 2019, 12:11pm

Hi Dave,
Your Miglia still looks great in the above photo and I like it's stance. Did you replace your front coils ( ones you've ordered from Marlin)?

Thanks, D.

davecymru 12 Jan 2019, 6:45pm

deni wrote:

Hi Dave,
Did you replace your front coils ( ones you've ordered from Marlin)?

Thanks, D.

ATM i've still got the very stiff ones from Merlin on there, but i'm doing a bit of general tinkering with the car atm and i've decided to try some softer ones for normal road use. i'll probably order them in a week or so.

deni 12 Jan 2019, 6:49pm

Hi Dave,

Thanks for your reply. I am curious how will new springs compare to the Merlin ones.

Cheers,Deni

davecymru 19 Jan 2019, 5:53pm

Well i've finally got off my laze @rse and sorted the front suspension!

First I whipped the front shocks off.

Disassemble

Then i ordered the new springs from Merlin Mororsports who are based on Castle Combe race circuit and have given me lots of great advice over the years.

Existing springs are 325lbs and give no flex whatsoever, but it does corner like it's on rails!

So i did some reading and saw that oem Vitesse/GT6 rating was about the 180/190 range and with the metalwork removed and replaced with fibreglass, but wanting slighlty firmer, i've now opted for 200lbs. TBH i'm not sure how lad-logic ended up with me getting the 325's in the first place, but we live and learn!

As i've gone quite a lot softer, before i ordered i looked at where the old shock seats had ended up being positioned and I decided to add an extra inch. (cue the abuse!)

New 200lbs x 9" springs on left, old 325lbs x 8" on right.

Everything was cleaned and inspected (all good) and then reassembled with the spring seats set at 1" up from lowest as a starting point.

All is now refitted and i took the opportunity with the wheels off to give the suspension a bit of a light clean.

Next, setting the ride height!

davecymru 21 Jan 2019, 6:31pm

Shocks fitted with the bottom of the Spring seat locking nuts at 1" from bottom of the threads it all seemed a bit close and didn't leave much room for movement.

So back in the garage and lifted by 1/2" to 1 1/2" inches

Looked better but it was getting dark and it still seemed a bit low, so back into garage and raised to 2" inches

Now given that the springs are likely to settle a little over time, i'll leave it at this for the moment.

Took it for a quick blast down the road and back and it really does feel a lot better on the rough roads around here!
I'll have to take it further the next time it's dry, but happy for now!

Paul L 22 Jan 2019, 8:48pm

Definitely looks better in the second photo. :cool:

davecymru 22 Mar 2019, 11:40am

Quick update, another year another MOT pass with no warnings!

davecymru 12 Jun 2019, 6:03pm

And after 5 years and lots of fun i have finally sold the Miglia and i hope that the new owner (Paul) has as much fun with it as i did!

:icon_cry:

molleur 12 Jun 2019, 7:57pm

Congrats on the sale, I'm sure Paul will enjoy it as well.

lancelot link 13 Jun 2019, 12:10pm

WELL DONE ... So what's next ?

Paul L 23 Jun 2019, 8:41am

Dave – Congratulations/commiserations on selling your car.

I hope you got a good price free from German interference. :icon_wink:

deni 27 Jun 2022, 12:43pm

davecymru wrote:

....Additionally to that and with the help of the nice chaps at Merlin Motorsport and the Triumph Owners Club forum, I've been doing a bit of research into the Vitesse Suspension as I'm not happy with how mine is sitting at the front and my local MOT men don't like chopped springs!

Here's an interesting read (with embedded charts) for anyone looking at altering their front suspension that shows you what std springs were fitted and advise for after-market spring rates:

http://club.triumph.org.uk/cgi-bin/forum10/Blah.pl?m-1294420747/

That shows us is the front spring rates and that the OEM ones are 2 3/4" internal diameter.

Now interestingly.... if you buy the height adjustable GAZ shocks from mssr's Rimmer, those were custom made for Rimmers with a 2 3/4" spring seat so you could fit the std springs!
I know this as the nice man at Merlin Motorsports rang them and asked for me

But... most after-market lowering springs, including the ones i'd bought previously specifically for the Vitesse (although i can't remember where from) are 2 1/2" Internal Diameter!

So, If you alter the spring seats down to 2 1/2" (not too hard i've found!), or buy some 2 1/2" spring seats for your shocks then suddenly the world is your lobster!!

And if you talk to the nice man at Merlin, you can opt for just about any length and rate of 2 1/2" spring that you'd ever want and for not a lot of money at all!!

https://www.merlinmotorsport.co.uk/s/suspension-steering/coilover-springs/faulkners-race-springs/2-5-inch-i-d-coilover-springs

After my reading and measuring i have now ordered some 2 1/2" x 8" x 325lbs springs and we shall see what we shall see

Hi,

I need to ask a question please? This is a quote from Dave Cymry's Miglia blog (I hope Dave that you still look at this forum now and then).

I will buy/part exchange the bottom spring seats, but I'm not sure what is the solution for the top plates that are on the original shocks, as they are used with the GAZ absorbers to fix them to the chassis.

Did you modify the original top spring plates in any way to fit the smaller diameter spring?

I know that I could buy springs from Rimmers, but they are longer and stiffer than the ones I would like to buy, and I would prefer not to cut the springs down.

Cheers, D.