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Bring loads of pics with you on Monday. See you then.
So that you are uncomfortable whenever I allow you to be a passanger
I made a little more progress today. The floorboards which I cut and painted with resin last weekend have been bonded in after cutting down the bulkhead which took a suprisingly long time. Getting the grinder into some of the corners around the door frame was a pain but I managed to get there in the end. I have put the frame into place and will bolt in tomorrow but after cutting flaps of skin into both thumbs and packing some of the items that have sold on ebay I decided to call it a day.
I assume that the frame needs a bit of persuasion to get all of the bolts in? It looks like the frame needs to come forward 5mm to bolt into the door hinge area but if i do that it leaves me needing to bring it back about an inch to get the two rear bolts in.
I assume that the frame needs a bit of persuasion to get all of the bolts in? It looks like the frame needs to come forward 5mm to bolt into the door hinge area but if i do that it leaves me needing to bring it back about an inch to get the two rear bolts in.
Yup it''ll need tweaking as no 2 donors are the same and add that to minor differences in the frame makes it an interesting fit
I wacked with a big hammer and even cut and re_welded a few bits, but I know that Trevor managed to fit it without cutting by using ratchet straps and some swearing
I thought that may be the case, just thought I would check before I do anything with it tomorrow. I will give the ratchet strap and swearing method a try which will hopefully give me the extra inch or so that I need.
Gaz , I see you have one of the frames that doesnt quite line up . . this is the frustrating bit for me as the frame was developed on a car and then jigged . . all frames should be the same . the problem is that the donors appear to have differences too ! if you need to , you can cut and tweak a little to make them fit . . its acceptable to weld the hinge plates on to the bulkhead if that helps or redrill the plates or bulkhead - neither resolution affects registration . . . . . we are getting the same problem with the chevaux as well ! it is get roundable and just another part of hand building a special !
Gaz
Mine was not lining up but the ratchet straps worked for me, Quite a bit of tension was needed and a good bit of leverage to get the frame onto the door hinge holes, but it got there with no cutting.
Looking at the front cross member of your frame you may need to cut the corners off this to get the body to sit low enough, ( Take a look at my build thread it will show you the problem i had) , nothing that cant be fixed but a little un nerving when you first start out and wonder if you are the only one to face the issue..
Cheers Psycho Pops
Also had to open out one of the holes in each door plate (whatever combination I tried, 2 holes lined-up and the other one was slightly out) and the hole in each foot of the frame where it bolts through the floor.
The beauty of the Sammio is that things do not need to be absolutely exact and there always seem to be plently of scope to fettle.
We have also had misalignment issues with bulkheads that have been removed , cut and replaced as well as replacement outriggers being out of line etc....these cars are 50 years old , things change.
As people are saying , its fixable , just a tad annoying.....we get a problem frame and start doubting the jig , then the next one fits straight on !!
I think we cut the front corners on your frame ....we have forgotten to do a couple and it restricts the body drop on the driverside a bit sometimes - again not every time ....
Whats interesting is the Chevaux frames are made from a jig by a professional company specialising in this type of work and we still get minor issues with those as well ....its not an exact , precision , high dollar science !
It is however , a cheap , easy way to create a beautiful little Roadster !!!
I think we cut the front corners on your frame ....we have forgotten to do a couple and it restricts the body drop on the driverside a bit sometimes - again not every time ..
Just checked your picture again , Gaz....we didn't cut your front corners...its the front goalpost top corners , sometimes they hit the body before it has gone low enough ...just cut a 45 degree cut across the corners both sides and it will clear , if its touching....square frame and curved body is why it does it , but again , not always...I usually cut now as a mattter of course , but we have put a few of these out recently and I missed yours ...apologies.
It will take literally 2 minutes to rectify ...when you cut leave material from the upright and the horizontal ...cut across the two halfway...this ensures enough of a footprint of weld to keep the joint strong.
It looks like I will be able to fit the frame without cutting or welding anything. I've got the door hinge and outrigger bolts in and managed to get one of the rear bolts in easy enough with the help of a clamp. The last one needs pulling back which is easy enough but also needs pulling out so will have to wait until I can get a ratchet strap or a bigger clamp.
Thanks for the heads up on trimming that corner. I will take a look later in the week as I will be working away for a few days.
Gary, I will be picking BazMason up from southampton airport tomorrow afternoon and thought it would be a good time to drop in, would it be ok with you if we called by around 4pm?
It seems that Baz gets in a little later than I had though so we probably couldn't get to you before 5.30. If this is too late for you we could probably find the time to drop in on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Due to poor weather over the weekend I got no work done on the car but did spend quite a lot of time on ebay to buy most of the bits that I need to finish the build including new seat belts, P700 style headlights and I also had some lowered seat pans fabricated for me.
Today was spent doing lots of jobs that dont look like much but turn out to be quite time consuming. I had the floor pans built from 1.5mm steal and was planning to fabricate some kind of support but on collection today they seem very, very solid so they went straight in as they are. I couldnt find a way to get them in place without taking the frame back off so so spent most of the morning putting it back on again!
Tomorrows plan is to fit the hanbrake lever and seatbelts, bolt in the fuel tank and get the body on and in place ready to be glassed in. I will get a few pics of the progress and post them tomorrow.
Over the last few days I've managed a little progress between heavy rain showers. Yesterday I picked up and fitted my floor pans
They have a drop of 3 inches which was needed due to me being 6ft 3ins. My plan is to sit the back of the seat onto the floor pan to keep the height down but incline the seat so that the front is level with the plywood floor. This feels a better seating position for me and also will allow any short arse driver to move the seat forward.
Today I have fitted the handbrake and fabricated some seatbelt mounts, although I plan to fit them inside of the car just behind the seat so cant fix them into place until the body is completly fitted. The fuel tank is also fitted and the body has been sat in place ready to be glassed in.
If all goes to plan the car should be ready for the DVLA inspection after the weekend!
I'm toying with the idea of adding lowered floor pans myself - I'm not that tall but I don't want my swede sticking up too far into the air-stream spoiling the aerodynamics.
I'll know if I need to when I cut the floor boards next week and trial fit the seats. If I do drop the pans I'm thinking I'll drop them at the back and angle them up so that they're level with the top of the chassis at the front so that the driver's seat rises up as you move it forward. I guess that's what you're aiming to achieve with an angled seat rail?
Yes, if I had of thought of that before getting them made then that is what I would have done. Its not worth me getting them altered now as it will be a simple fix but would have looked a lot neater the other way.
I was suprised just how much I stuck out of the top when I trail fitted the body. I was hopefull that I wouldnt need to do it at all but the wind deflector would have just deflected the air straight into my face so I had no choice but to drop the seats.
The Floor pan nearly deserves a thread of its own but I'm with the idea of a sloping arrangement, 3" at the back to level (Or just below) front seems to be optimal for the majority of driver heights.
Construction seems to vary between the agricultural to high tech and I've yet to decide which way I'll go on this. (Maybe even a wooden structure with glass reinforcement and weatherproofing?).
Gaz, Yours seems to be just right in plan form. Could I ask what the dimensions are? Did you get them built locally and would the fabricator be interested in building a few more?
Andy, the pan is 20"x19" with a drop of 3" and a 2.5" lip all around. The width of 19" is more than enough for my seats and gives me plenty of room to adjust the position to where I want them although without any slope they would have to be made longer so that they could be move forward and back depending on drivers height. My plan is to make some hardwood wedges and bond/bolt in and fiberglass over them. I had them made up locally and I'm sure that it would be no problem to get some more made up.
Although I have been working on the car almost every day I keep forgetting to take pictures as im packing up. I keep telling myself that I will take some pics tomorrow and update this but again I have not taken any pics so will update anyway.
I now have the body and interior fibre glassed in place and the inspection booked for Wednesday down in Poole. I visited my local DVLA office last week and spent half an hour talking to somebody and simply getting nowhere so the most simple option for me was to hire a trailer and make the 10 hour round trip.
I have replaced the front springs with softer spitfire springs. I had considered simply cutting the herald springs down but due to the drastic weight loss I thought that the spitfire springs may make the ride less harsh and lower the car at the same time. I will keep hold of the old springs incase I want to change back in the future but for now im happy with the amout it has lowered the front end.
I had a delivery today of a new electric fan and adjustable thermostat. I will have to wait until I get another delivery of longer radiator hoses before I can fit them but with the expansion tank I got from the scrap yard last week I should have everything I need to lower the radiator. I also have a new back box for the exhaust coming soon as the original was just a little too long to fit under the new body.
Fingers crossed, if all is well at the inspection, I could have the car ready to be painted within 2 weeks!!!
Thanks all. I was very lucky with my donor, it looked like it had been rebuilt with a lot of new/reconditioned parts not so long ago with nothing worse than a few spots of surface rust so the full rebuild I was planning just seemed pointless. I have also had very few work commitments so have been able to work on it most days.
