MadaboutKitcars

And the rear end is now reassembled thanks to the assistance of messers Rimmer, Canley, Fittchet, Paddock etc.

I've got for largely the same setup as on my old Sammio as i know it works "for me" and it also provides me with adjustment on the road. So I've gone for:

• Swing Spring
• 1" Lowering Block
• Gax adjustable shocks
• New trunions!
• All new brake lines

It also turns out that under the muck of the original donor, it already had Stainless brake hoses fitted!! So those have been cleaned and refitted along with new stainless locknuts throughout.

I also stripped, checked and cleaned/repainted everything else and this time around it looks as though the rear brake components are good enough that i don't need to replace it all



Now to see if i can sort out the front end before the kit turns up

That's all looking very clean DC. Good choice of donor.

Another weekend with the sprogs away with Cubs, means another unexpected boost to the timelines!

So with the rear end done until the frame turns up, i turned my attention to the front.

The engine was new only 11 years ago and it shows (ignoring the rocker cover!!), so I've no intention of removing it, but i want everything else off, cleaned and repainted.

So after a few evenings, a long Saturday, 2 cans of WD40, 1/2 a dozen 1mm cutting discs and amazingly all of my skin still intact! the front suspension (and other assorted bits) are now off!!



And yes, i do seem to be collecting Triumph Heater Matrixes, or is that Matrices? anyway...


Then came a few hrs with the fibrewheel to clean everything and it came up a treat!
This is the passengers side stripped, the drivers side is already stripped and repainted and just about visible in the background.


There were a few.... 'interesting' bits along the way and as-ever both sets of trunions will be completely rebuilt. I'm also replacing all of the bushes, which is a good thing given what i found on the bottom of the shocks!



What scares me most is that the previous owner really looked after the mechanicals of this car until it was taken off the road yet still things like this creep through all of the inspections! I also know he'll be reading this, so i thought this would be an interesting pic for him
Good job I've got new shocks to go on!

hi dave all looks good you will be finished before you know it number 3 on the road/bressuire g/p next year ? rattler

hi dave I have a standered t/rad with 14 inch fan car runs at90 d even on a short circuit track but it is only 1200 cc .sat in it my big head is 50mm above the hump rattler

Thanks Rattler, i'm hopefully going to get the front chassis painted over the next few days and the front suspension reassembled and then i'm onto cleaning and servicing the engine. At that point i'll start looking at my new radiator and my cooling system.

Looking at what Towed has recently been through, and also what i went through with the Countach, I've been revisiting my coolant volume calculations and from what i can see (in mm) the numbers are:

Towed

• Towed original Honda rad - 350x430x42mm = 6,321,000 mm3
• Towed new posh rad - 450x450x42mm = 8,505,000 mm3

Me

• Core of my Alloy rad - 350x385x60mm = 8,085,000 mm3
• Overall size of my alloy rad- 385x475x60mm = 10,972,500 mm3

Obviously i know that it's not a solid space and final volume depends on the number of cores, differences in shape of the header tanks etc. Let alone the thermal differences in materials! But with these numbers as a starting point I'm happy to continue with the alloy option for now.

What i also planning on doing is opting for the biggest single Kenlowe dual-speed fan i can get in order to get the best CFM airflow rate.

Ref: http://www.kenlowe.co.uk/fans/specifiers/fans-cpc.html

fun fun fun

Gearbox off and i find... i've got the newer style clutch fitted:



Which was a nice find

With a bit of "gentle persuasion" that parted company with the flywheel and everything seems to look in good condition and easily cleanable

What i don't know - so i thought i'd ask - is a clutch plate "cleanable-n-reusable" if the friction material is all there? Or do you just replace it rather than risk it?

I think I've answered my own question there haven't i!

I'd buy a friction plate and release bearing while you have it off...........which is multi-tasking.

Also check the pressure plate springs for signs of fatigue and the friction surface for wear, you can generally tell the condition of a clutch from the amount of friction liner left.

ISTR the clutch has done less than 2000 miles and the release was changed at the same time.
Looks as if all is going well
Brian

Brilliant, thanks Brian

Despite me saying that the engine was staying in and staying in one piece, i have two weeks until the kit turns up and with the Sammio there were a few jobs that I'd wished I'd done more-thoroughly,so.....

Engine lifted.
Manifolds off, dynamo off, fan off, steering rack off, front brake pipe off etc...
Front chassis de-greased and fibre-wheel'd
Etch-Red-Oxide applied:




Then when that dried, Chassis Black applied:


So that is now the whole chassis done, apart from the inner rails at the front which face the engine as after the grease was stripped off of those, they were mint! gawd-bless the Triumph rust protection scheme i.e. cover it all in oil-n-grease!

Exhaust manifold fibre-wheel'd and painted in VHT.
Steering rack stripped down, cleaned, painted, new gaiters fitted and new track rod ends fitted



and while i'm waiting for the new gearbox and engine mounts to turn up i've also started de-greasing and cleaning the inlet manifold and gearbox:



I should gain a fair bit of weight saving simply due to removing pounds of crud from inside the bell housing!

So "Fingers Crossed" this will be the last of the stripping and cleaning and i'll soon be on to the build/rebuild

Dave - This is all coming together very nicely.

Good luck, Paul.

Stripping and cleaning all those parts is a wise move Dave as it easier now than it would of been once fully built plus you see what condition the parts are in.

The chassis look great, look forward to the rest of the build.

Just before 8am this morning I was greeted with "Hi I've got your kit for you"

Apologies to John for me only being semi-conscious while helping him unload! But it's the day after we came back from holiday and i wasn't expecting you until 8.30 so my alarm was set for 8.15!

But waffle aside i have now taken delivery of:

• Main body-shell
• Bonnet
• Doors
• windscreen strip
• Main frame

with a few other bits-n-bobs to follow:

• Floorpan,
• Headrest,
• Screen,
• Grill.

and i'm still dithering about getting a fiberglass bulkhead from Mike or making one, as TBH after looking at the frame this morning it doesn't look like brain surgery!!

So progress this morning.... frame fitted:



Just kidding, it's just resting in place

Now i'm of for a bit of a tinkering session and to give everything the once over and i'll add a few more pics later on.

That said, just from looking at the molding of the wind deflector strip compared to my old Sammio one, i can see that things have moved on quite a bit in terms of quality!!

Dave - I always say the quality of the Miglia is miles better than the original Cordite.

The fact the gel coat is so shiny is also a good sign.

Good luck, Paul.

hi dave car looking good I made my b/head resin bonded ply skind in aly I sill cant post pic but im sure there is some on one of my post another ride out today brilliant rattler

Can't means won't... that's what i was always told.

? Not sure i understand the can't / won't thing?

anyhow....

I've just about finished rebuilding the front suspension but the cheepo lock nuts supplied with the track rod ends from Rimmers both stripped their threads when torquing them up.

I'd set the 1st for 30lbs which was the lower end of what Haynes recommend and it stripped way before then.
So i set the 2nd for 22lbs, it reached that but felt like it wouldn't go much further and when i upped it to 26lbs it stripped as well. <grrr>

I managed to get them off with my nut splitters and luckily it was just the nuts, so i'll have another crack at those tomorrow!

Apart from that i've also run all of the brake lines (apart from to the master cylinder - as it's not there yet!) and i've also tried bolting the frame down

and.....

..

..

IT FITS!!!


Mike, i always knew it would, but it was nice to see anyway


Both front mounting points, all 4 main mounting points and the 2 over the rear suspension all lined up without any use of adjustment-tool-No.1!!

There may be a minor bit of "fettling" needed on those over the rear outriggers, but I've never seen 2 sets of outriggers in the same location, so i'll forgive that

I hope to have the petrol tank and seatbelt mounts sorted, trial the pedals and steering and then start painting the frame tomorrow, so i'll get loads of pics then

Hi davecymru I think i am down near your neck of the woods next week, visiting Okehampton, is that near you.

Swifty, just in case you missed it, i dropped you a PM.


As far as the build is concerned there has been a lot going on (frame fettling, front suspension and engine rebuild, line running etc.) but there's not many pics i want to post yet until things start coming together, hopefully after the weekend!

That said, i did have a bit of a falling-out with one of the new front suspension bushes so I reverted to the vice to get it in place.

The Bush won!



I ended up removing the bush, binning it and it's replacement went in no problem at all!

Apart from that wifey thinks that the suspension may be set a bit low atm!



Joking aside this is one of the first pictures I've seen of a Miglia with someone sat in the shell and i think it really shows how much longer the bonnet is!

I'll try and get some decent build pics up over the next few days.

Looks nice... and the Miglia... BOOM BOOM, as Basil Brush would say.

keep the images flowing D , regular updates are neat.

The shape of the shell looks good, the long bonnet definitely suits the shape of the car, looking forward to see your progress.

I did get your pm but are heading back early hours sat so unable to call in, may be another time and thanks for the offer.

I think I've just about stripped and cleaned every original part i'm going to reuse and those that haven't already been refitted are drying, i.e. the refurbished brake pedal housings.

I have trial fitted the petrol tank and run all the new fuel lines, i'm just waiting for the frame to dry before i refit it.

I have fabricated a central tunnel and welded that onto the body frame and mounted the handbrake cable linkages. The handbrake was delivered to work last week while i was out so i'll pick that up tomorrow.

I have also painted the frame. I know i may still have to make minor adjustments, but i wanted it cleaned, treated and painted partly to keep my spirits up and parts to stabilise it.

Frame primered



And painted



and i know that I've not posted much about the body yet as i've been trying to finish off the chassis and frame, but i had to do a trial fit, just-to-see how it'd go!



It fits a treat!!! Well done young Mike!

I know that I've got to adjust the height of the rear when i fit it properly, but the front all seems to line up lovely and the shell 'tucks under' nicely.
It also looks good around the ends of the front outriggers to be able to mount that area quite strongly.


I'm now just doing my last few little jobs putting the engine back together while i wait for the lowered floor-pans to turn up (cough)(cough) as until they're fitted i can't bolt the frame down and start mounting the body properly.

oh... and i know this is asking for trouble quoting a deadline.... but atm i'm aiming to have it on the road in basic form ready for "at least" the last local show of the year, the The Footman James Classic Vehicle Restoration Show on 1st/2nd Nov

I've finally chosen my handbrake!

I always wanted a chrome one (as there will be a nice scarttering of high quality chrome bits on this car eventually) and i wanted something 2nd hand as i was a bit of age and there was no way i was going to pay £200+ for an e-type one!!

So i have gone with the below...



Before you scroll down, anyone care to guess what it's from?

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If you said Humber Super Snipe, award yourself 10 points!

Plus i have also chosen the paint colour.
Obviously it was always going to be a red one, because as we all know, red ones go faster! But wanted something rich and a red that has been around for a while.

Second place was:
Ferrari Rossa Corsa

But after seeing a few cars in this recently, i have finally opted for:
Porsche Guards Red!