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Hi Paul. It's so far so good with the Honda radiator running without a header tank.
The length of hose I have running back to the bulkhead with the in-line filler in it gives plenty of extra coolant capacity and the water level remains constant after running it up to operating temperature. I haven't tested it on a long drive yet as I'm still at the moon rover stage and don't have private land to hoon around on like Phil J does, but it sat at idle on a blazing hot day for over an hour without overheating, so it should be fine at speed with air being force fed through it.
The only possible issue is that I haven't managed to get the heater working yet. I've put a bleed valve into the return hose but I don't seem to have any flow into the matrix - I can take the cap off the bleed valve completely with the engine running and no water comes out. I've primed it by filling the heater hoses with coolant but it just sits there doing nothing with the cap off. I don't think that's anything to do with the radiator though, it's more likely a blockage in the original heater feed hoses.
If anyone's an expert on the Vitesse heater system btw I'd appreciate any ideas on how to get mine working...
I'd say that the Civic radiator is a good bet for fitting to any Sammio as it's compact and does the job. I've gone for the standard one intended for engines up to the 125bhp 1.5 vti at forty quid brand new. It does look very small and thin compared to the old Triumph one it replaced, so if you want something that looks a bit more substantial then the alloy racing version of the same is twice as thick and great value at about £75 delivered.
I'm sure there are other suitable radiators available - I believe Trevor B used a Golf rad in No.48, but I couldn't find a new one from any other car at anywhere near the price I paid for the Civic one.
Good luck finding a suitable rad, it's all part of the challenge.
Not much progress to report this last week or so mainly due to work commitments - yesterday was supposed to be a day off but instead I spent it doing crowd control as the olympic torch passed through Sandringham. Great event though, I really enjoyed it despite being trussed up in body armour, waterproof fluorescent jacket and tall hat on the most humid day of the year. Five hours on my feet without a drink or a chance to go pee pee...
Anyway, I have been fiddling with the electrics today and I now have a working horn, a wireless that can get Radio 2 and a lot less extraneous electric string dangling under the dash. I've also wired up a self designed alarm system based on a popular terrorist booby trap design (did I mention I used to teach sabotage techniques to special forces troops?) which should deter anyone from trying to steal my pride and joy.
Big day tomorrow: aiming to get the rest of the exhaust heat wrapped to stop it making the cabin hot and then it'll finally be time to....
Yes, I have been putting it off a bit. I really wanted everything to work before restricting the access too much and now it's all in and working I can jolly well get on with it.
Yes, I have been putting it off a bit. I really wanted everything to work before restricting the access too much and now it's all in and working I can jolly well get on with it.
You will be surprised how accessible everything is afterwards - apart from under the dash or the pedals! For that you will need to practise standing on your head and working upside down!
Believe me, you WILL have forgotten to do something!
Not much progress to report I'm afraid, mainly due to the weather being crap. I need a dry day to get the body bonded to the moon buggy as I want lots of space around and good light to make sure it goes on right. Once it's bonded on it's going to be bloody hard to rectify any errors afterwards.
I have managed to get the wireless in and working and I really like it. You have to turn it up 'king loud to hear it over the engine and exhaust though.
I also spent half an hour this morning finishing off the exhaust heat wrap. I'd recommend this to keep the cockpit temperature comfortable in the summer.
Oh well, if I want to get the body on I'd better keep a weather eye on the, um, weather. ray2:
I have managed to get the wireless in and working and I really like it. You have to turn it up 'king loud to hear it over the engine and exhaust though.
Having wired in an amplifier and 6x9 speakers to mine, so I can simply plug my MP3 (or phone) into it, I have never used it yet!
The wind noise is such that you can't hear much and to be honest, if you have it loud enough to hear it going along, you are deafened when you come to a stop! (not to mention that people start to stare for all the wrong reasons - ie your choice in music rather than the car! )
Having wired in an amplifier and 6x9 speakers to mine, so I can simply plug my MP3 (or phone) into it, I have never used it yet!
The wind noise is such that you can't hear much and to be honest, if you have it loud enough to hear it going along, you are deafened when you come to a stop! (not to mention that people start to stare for all the wrong reasons - ie your choice in music rather than the car! )
Yes, there is a possibility I won't be able to hear it on the move, but at least it'll give me something to listen to when I'm stuck in traffic or waiting for the RAC to show up.
My modern wireless also has an aux. input for MP3's and a usb port so I can plug an i-phone into it (whatever that is) and answer calls hands-free on the move. It'd be a bit Dom Joly though - "[SIZE="7"]HELLO! NO, I'M IN THE SPYDER...[/SIZE]
I should be around the same stage when I get home, once I get the nerve...
Pops
Looks sunny today and I don't start work until five this evening. Have just had breakfast and am now starting deep breathing exercises prior to popping open the bonding paste...
Phil, I'll give you a ring about uploading the photos.
After much fettling and fiddling to make sure the body was going to go on exactly how I wanted it to sit, I applied bonding paste where the body touches the frame and finally fitted the body -
I'm pleased with the final stance even though I eventually had to remove the extra lowering leaves from the diff spacer to give the exhaust a bit of ground clearance. It now has about 50mm where it did have just under 30... On Phil J's advice I also raised the back of the body up another 20mm to give the tyres some clearance in the arches. It now sits like this -
I ended up cutting virtually all of the 'feet' off the front of the bodyshell due to all the add-ons on my bulkhead. I kinda wish I'd profiled the cut line along the top of the bulkhead to match the underside of the body though, I know someone's done that on here and it'd save a lot of messing about with fibreglass later, which is what I'm going to have to do to fill in the gap that's left.
Off to work shortly but I have a few days off then so I'll be fibreglassing the sides to the floor tomorrow.
Yes, the profiling of the bulkhead is something that needs looking at when you cut the windscreen frame off. Once I'd cut mine off and sold it there was no going back. I'll get by with fibreglass though.
Thanks for the encouragement guys. 'The Blob' behind the seats is where your hand naturally falls when you climb in so it's there to brace the panel and stop it cracking (hopefully). I'm toying with the idea of putting a leather or aluminium 'shield' over it so the paint doesn't get scruffy.
I love the dash too Gary, couldn't be happier with it. It's plain and simple and will be completely the opposite of the typically overdone Cobra dash when it's finished.
Hmm, finished. There's a word that seems to be evading my thread at the moment. My original deadline of my 50th in January came and went as did the revised deadline of my wife's birthday in April. Then it was 'the end of June' but August is fast approaching and I still haven't finished it New deadline is the end of September, which I'm hoping is now a realistic prospect. It would help if it stopped raining though - although I've got a decent sized double garage to work in the light's so much better outside that things just seem to get done a lot faster when the sun is shining.
Anyway, morose moment over, I'm off to see Phil J later this morning to see if I can help with the photo uploading thing. Oh, and to see Barry's blue Spyder as Phil's nearly finished it. I might even take some photos...
Looks really good matey and i completely agree about that dash, less is more!
I notice that your shell doesn't lip under the front of the chassis rails and it sits about the same as mine. A bit of black paint on the exposed rail sorts that a treat!
Looks really good matey and i completely agree about that dash, less is more!
I notice that your shell doesn't lip under the front of the chassis rails and it sits about the same as mine. A bit of black paint on the exposed rail sorts that a treat!
Yes, my bodyshell doesn't cover the chassis rail on the driver's side but then Phil and Barry's cars are exactly the same. I've given the rail on that side a lick of silver to match the final body colour. If it still stands out once the paint's on then it'll get a coat of matt black.
Incidentally, I've just spent a couple of hours drooling over Barry's car round at Phil's place now it's practically road ready. I love the colour, it's a 1963 E Type shade apparently and looks much darker in the flesh than in the photos. Phil's done a great job imho, but judge for yourselves -
Thanks guys. When you are ate the bare chassis stage and it's p*ssing with rain outside, photos like this keep me going. Seeing two together is very nice indeed. Very, very 1950s. They look terrific.
ray2: 
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