MadaboutKitcars

http://www.the-ace.org.uk/chassis-and-monocoque-modification/

I think mine must have coroded by about .4mm MM as it seems to match?

Cheers for the info...

I will use 1.6mm 16SWG, but what quality of steel, sorry to ask such stupid questions, I am not sure, which to purchase.

Is it just mild steel? Wheres Mr.M, he know...

Plain old mild steel. Anything higher grade is generally a special order anyway. I get most of my steel as salvage, having an air nibbler and a plasma cutter comes in handy!

Avoid galvanised as the Zinc will give you a crippling headache if you breathe in the fumes (Metal Fume Fever) as well as making a mess of the weld. Phosphated steel is good if you can get it.

Many thanks, just got to get a air nibbler, I will speak with the local steel stockist when I get home for sheet off cuts and the price sheet steel (Mild steel 16SWG).

In my experience, air nibblers are the biggest source of me " messing about" in the garage

Well my plans changed again, bought a Vitesse in December, finally remembered to collect it today.

Doors
Glass
Interior
Boot
Roof
All removed and ready to go on eBay.
Not bad for three hours work, will hopefully get the tub removed tomorrow.

Hopefully shell and frame will be ready for collection in April 2013.

Panning to fully strip the chassis and bulkhead on Monday / tues to get the chassis bead blasted and welded on Thursday.

Hopefully should be able to spend a full two - three weeks on it, if I don't get dragged to the shops by the misses.

Pictures will follow

Gents

How do I post pictures on here??????

If you want direct links to your pictures (so they automatically appear in the post) go to [url]www.photobucket.com[/url] create a (free) account and follow the instructions to upload your pictures.

Then open the picture you want to put in a post, click on the 'IMG CODE' tab in the menu that appears to the right of the photo and it'll flash the word 'copied'.

Go back to the post you're writing, right click and 'paste' where you want the picture to be and it'll appear when you hit 'post reply'.

Good luck!

Here goes


A sad looking Vitesse


Nearly Stripped


The Tat Given Away


Rolling Chassis Prior to Complete Strip Down


Showing Missing Out Rigger and Side Rail


Engine prior to extraction.

Quick work there, misspent youth :-)

Loving those wheel dollies. Very useful tool for building one of these and I wish I had a set.

Excellent in the garage, but a waste of time on the drive, the car jumped off twice, as the wheels are to small on the block paving, will be good as I will put the Land Rover in the garage then put the vitesse / spyder / pilot up close.

Once the garage is cleaned and painted I put some pics on.

Not bad for two and half days, and all the items sold or given away within four. It took me long removing thre bolts from suspension the the rest of the strip down.

Also removeed all the out-rigger and side rails ready for new one to be welded in.

More pics to follow, if my son gets off his @rs3 and takes them of chassis, prior to blasting and paint.

Back in the UK in four weeks, so welded, blasted and painted week one. Start to build up the rolling chassis week two (collecting the new suspension, brakes, mounts etc as soon as I get home. Week two mod bulkhead and collect kit off Andy.

Then the next time I am home engine rebuild, install engine gearbox, steering column. And make new wiring loom.

Would have liked to have complete that trip but been realistic the mrs will kill me I don't take her on holiday.

More picture on the build site [url]www.mikessammio.com[/url] , plus if the mrs is at work my first week home I will be able to the Land Rover on the road as well.

When I get home I will be taking the chassis to get shot blasted, welded, then I will either paint it or powder coat it (going with the painting option at the moment as I have spent a small fortune on new parts (some listed below), to be collect on the 11th May.

Every nut, bolt and washer etc..... for the following

Steering, Suspension, Brakes, Engine / Gearbox, Diff, Drive - Springs, bushes, radius arms, lowering kit, wishbone links, Mounts, bushes, gaskets, HT leads, plugs, filters, fan belt, coil, condenser, diff mounts, UJ's, Wheel bearings, Rotoflex couplings, rear spring, shocks, dampers, tunnions, ball joints, hoses, master and slave cylinders (brake and clutch), brake and fuel system pipes, brake (hoses, pads, discs, adjusters, etc......) and New front floor pans.

Hopefully then once all this is added to the rolling chassis, the only addition things I need to purchase are the electrical bits (dashboard, lights (P7 replicas, land rover), fuse box, regulator, wiring (think of making my own wiring loom as the Vitesse one was melted in several areas, also double earthing everything (advise please, is this a good idea or not),

And a exhaust system, still planning this part, and then in the future the last purchase will be new wheels, I am going to blast and powder the Vitesse wheel in the interim and see what they turn out like.

So these end up in the right thread, a couple of photos of the frame under construction. I'll add more as it progresses. Note I'm using a factory spec Herald chassis as the assembly jig so that the holes all line up

Frame Formers in temporary wooden jig:


Frame rear being assembled on chassis:

And the Tank supports are now welded in too:

More frame photos. Nearly finished now with just a couple of braces for the fuel tank supports to fit then some general tidying and a coat of rust proof paint to go:

Well I was able to finally collect the body shell from Andy. I seemed to have one problem after another.

Got my old Land Rover back on the road after extensive wallet surgery, only for the gearbox to collapse and my engine developed a severe thirst for oil, so a new used engine and gearbox installed.

My next job is to get finish stripping the paint off and get it re-sprayed. New door are now on, just a tailgate to source (OH and a 1950's / 1960's Harvey Frost A-Frame winch/lift), then HOPEFULLY it will go from this -



To this (within the next SIX weeks)-





Now I have got the shell, I really dislike the colour so RED it is going to be with black and silver components.

I was also able to collect ALL the NEW suspension, brakes and steering components, so next time I am back in the UK, it is a case of shot blast chassis, well extension then powder coat, then hopefully a fast build.











Now had all the out-rigger and side rails welded, just the rear extension to replace once the chassis has been shot-blasted. Then it will be ready for painting.













Big thanks to my neighbour who welded the chassis for me, also have learnt that a MIG welder with Gas, gives you far cleaner welds than a Gasless one.

So I will be selling my gasless MIG (less than 1 hours usage) and buying a MIG with a gas system.

Is that an example of a new-style frame. Can I ask from where you will hang the steering column? The old frame had quite a lot of box-section in the scuttle area.

Yes it is the new frame, I will be moding it a little to make it slightly stronger and redoing some of the welds, for my own piece of mind, but it fit the chassis nearly perfect (or as well as can be expected with a Triumph).

I will be using the same mounts as the original Vitesse / Herald.

But have not tried dry fitting yet, got the new floor pans (not the new one as they are longer from Andy) but have also purchase new footwell floor pans so once everything is shot blasted I will try fitting.

Might have to do some welding but not 100% certain at the moment.

Look at the heating possibilities, here is one of options.



http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4-seats-heated-seat-kits-round-switch-seat-heater-fit-12V-cars-motorcycle-trucks-/170830693392?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item27c64d8410

£100 for 4 seats (two in the Pilot and two in the Land Rover).

Hmmm interesting idea I have been thinking about something like a couple of these
http://item.mobileweb.ebay.co.uk/viewitem?itemId=200827343087
I was wavering as it occurred to me i would be heating the air not the occupants i like your idea much more and may have to steal it
!

The heaters seemed expensive, compared to the heat seat option, all my new cars have them, so the Pilot / Spyder and Land Rover might as well, there is a few options but the link below is the simplest Hi-Lo-Off.

If it doesn't work then back to the drawing board.