MadaboutKitcars

Good luck for tomorrow, take some pics. garyh.

Thanks. I will make sure that I get a few pics tomorrow and get them on here as soon as I can.

I have not done very much work on the car since my last update. I have been held up a little waiting on some bits and peices that I have ordered (radiator hose, fuel filler hose, exhaust silencer etc). I had planned to tidy the car up a little today but started the day by firing the car up to drive onto the trailer. It ran for 10-20 seconds then cut out! It didnt take too long to figure out that the fuel wasnt getting through so started at the fuel pump and worked my way back checking all of the fuel line as I went. After getting all the way back to the tank I knew that it must be the pipe inside the tank itself so had to remove all of the bolts and drop it to give me enough room to get it out under the body. Sure enough it was filled with crap so after drilling it out and getting it all put back together I didnt have the time to do any of the jobs that I wanted to do at the start of the day.

Lessons learned.
1. Dont over look anything and double check everything before the body goes on as its much easier to fix it then!
2. When starting up the engine, make sure that you re-attach the oil pressure tube to the gauge!
3. Put some padding on the rear outriggers until they fall off!

I think that there's more than one of us on here who knows exactly what you mean!

Good luck with the process Gaz (Not that you'll need it!)
Herald + [Road Trip] = [Sammio Spyder]

It Must Be A Sammio By Now?

We are all eagerly awaiting the results of your inspection like expectant fathers!!!!! I trust you will take the relevant paperwork around to your local office on return for reimbursement of the unecessary costs involved!!

After a very early start I'm now most of the way home, no longer towing a Triumph herald but a Sammio Spyder! The inspection could not have been more simple, a quick check of the engine and chassis numbers and a very brief look around the car and it was over. I wasn't expecting any problems but still a little nervous about the process incase there was something that I had over looked but it really was very simple, no doubt due to them seeing several sammio builds in the past.

I will post a few pictures when I get home as I'm on my phone at the moment.

Big thanks to Gary for taking the time out of his very busy schedule to book it for me and come along with me to the inspection.

well done Gaz, I am hoping mine will be in a few weeks. I live just up the road from where you took yours, so I am hoping mine will be as easy as yours was!

Looking forward to the pics......

The 10 hour round trip was well worth the effort and as others have said, it feels like passing a milestone in the build.




I plan to spend the next few days having a tidy up of a few areas and getting the radiator lowered and hopefully have the bonnet fitted by the weekend. If all goes as planned I should hopefully have the car on the road in 4 weeks.

Nice one mate - just need to get it finished in time to take me to Stoneleigh in it!

Fingers crossed I will be mate. Not much room to pack a bag though so travel light!

Surely a phone and a credit card is all you ever need anyway?

Good to see you again today Gaz.....thanks for making the effort to bring it back down....bit of a jaunt but worth it afterwards.

Still annoys me that you had to travel a 10 hour round trip for a 15 minute inspection and suffer my company for an hour just because your local office don't know what to do !!

Guess you are grinning like a true Cheshire Cat now !!!

That does help although Stuart , the guy who I liased with initially to make sure the kit fitted within their guidlines and regulations , has left the Ministry now and Keith has taken over his job ....this was only the 2nd one Keith has done but he has no issues with the way they are built and presented....

I think I have one next week to do , possibly one the week after and Tlrtones as well , so that'll keep him busy !!

No suncream? You are getting brave!

The 10 hour trip, although a little frustrating that it was necessary, was a minor inconvenience and well worth the effort to get the car correctly registered.

Once again, thank you very much for your time! There are a few kit car companys around that could learn from your customer after care.

I haven't done too much on the car today, the bits sticking out of the back and the bits on the front that stop the bonnet going on seem to have fallen off since the inspection yesterday I've got the radiator lowered and temporarily in place but the hose has a slight kink in it so will have to get a bend for it soon.

Tomorrow I will be looking at fitting the bonnet. It seems that it will take quite a bit of time to get it lined up and get the shut lines looking half decent. Anybody got any hints and tips?

I found a hydraulic jack under the front allowed for easy fine-tuning if you're doing this on your own.

Try and get it as close as you can without using filler.

1mm cutting discs in an angle grinder are excellent for any trimming, just wear a face mask

Gaz, post loads of pictures and let us know how you get on as I am coming up to that stage in the next few weeks and would love a heads up on how it goes!

We screw the bonnet in place at the bulkhead end...screw the top centre first and use a jack under the grill to control height , positioning etc....screw at cill height or thereabouts when you are happy.

Take the time to stand back and check the flowing line of the bonnet and make sure the headlight faces are upright

You WILL need to gap the bonnet....we try and add any material or take away from the bulkhead not the bonnet....Mike has even filled the gap completely and then 're-cut' it using the edge of the filler spreader before to get a nice line.

Any holes can be filled at the end when the bonnet is hung and hinged....

It isn't a 5 minute fix but is crucial to the finished looks ...panel fit can be the downfall of any classic car - you only need to see how crap the bonnets fit on a stock Herald to see what I mean !!

Erm, Gary, is anything on a Sammio a five minute fix????

Ah! got it!

Changing the steering wheel!

Getting the V5c changed to Sammio in Poole is !!!!

I had been making quite good progress on the spyder and had the car booked in at the end of this week to be painted but earlier this week I got a bad case of man flu and all of my get up and go got up and went. Im still suffering and also have one of the kids off school ill so most of the week has been a write off so the paint job will have to wait until next week.

I have managed to hang the bonnet and get the new electric fan and thermostat in place and working as it should so everything under the bonnet is now good to go. I still have to repair the rear end where the chassis was sticking out and trim and fit the dash into place as well as a bit of fiberglassing around the bulkhead just to tidy it all up. Im far from happy with the shut lines of the bonnet but the body shop im using to paint the car have said that they will sort it out included in the price of the spray. Im a little nervous about them doing that is it plays a big part in how the finished article looks but I guess that they have much more experiance than me so will no doubt do a great job.

It feels good to be looking towards the interior and thinking about the finishing touches (Gary, any idea when you can get hold of fuel cap and bonnet straps and what my kit number was?). I am hopefull to have the car finished completely by Stoneleigh.

Bad luck about the man flu thing and good luck with the spray job. What colour are you going for?