This is a read-only archive of the old Madabout Kitcars forum. New posts and replies are no longer possible, but every thread is still here to browse and read.
Great flip front - full engine access - will have to 'pretty up' the engine now.
The hatch is looking good, a practical solution and there looks to be some usable space for the odd soft bag too and a nice way to get some dead weight off the front.
Brilliant idea for alternative wheels - I was looking at wires, but these make far more sense and will be perfect for what I have in mind. One set of 5 please !
A bootlid?
Garry now your just teasing me
Seriously though she looks great, part of me wishes i had waited for that rear but im well past that now but at least it will explain if i get caught looking dreamily at the rear end of someones G46
I agree "looking good".
Be nice to see the wheels painted and on the car!!
I ment to ask why is the car called the G-46?
Also If I'm No5 on the G-46 body what is the number of my Spyder body?
Regards
Mike
I ment to ask why is the car called the G-46?
Also If I'm No5 on the G-46 body what is the number of my Spyder body?
Regards
Mike
Mike ,
nothing very clever about the G46 name ..... The car was conceived and created within the last year and I have just had my 47th birthday !
The Sammio name comes from my son SAMUEL OWEN JANES being born around the same time as the project.....The initial name I had in place years ago was The Frugal Spyder , but we didn't run with that after Sam's arrival.......
I think , depending on final running order , that you will be 70 or 71
68 has just gone to Norwich and the dreaded 68.5 is going to Holland with a 2cv frame next week .....
Agree with all the comments from "micky1mo" "Roadster" & "nike55" she (Orca) is developing into a real beauty!
Wheels have been taxing us, you may have the solution we were thinking wires (powder coated matt black) and then Dunlop replicas as per "D Type" until we saw the prices.
Digging through the old garage, after spending the day working on the new garage, found a beautiful steering wheel identical to the "D Type" photo you posted, that I have had for the last thirty years, used on old projects such as MGB GT and Hawk 289 but saved when they went.
I love finding old treasures we are collecting all the bits we need engine and gearbox from a TR7/8 we did then into the 289 now to relive in the G46.
One problem my wife, Charlie mum, has just cottoned on what we are up to, that old adage comes to mind "It easier to beg forgiveness than to ask for permission up front"
We are building this example for a customer so , its a case of trying to juggle development and progress...
Patrice wanted side vents and a central bar - as do a few others ....we have been making these individually up to now but decided we needed to standardize a mould...our central bar moulding will fit both this and the original Sammio Spyder....
The vents Mike has started are nice ....he has ' bevelled ' the edges so they look like they are stamped into Ally or similar....the centres will be opened up slightly to make them look less heavy...
Mike has also been playing with the headlight lenses ...making the apertures and tags for mounting...still a bit to do , but shaping up nicely....
Tomorrow I am going to start making the plug to mould the half tonneau to cover the passenger seat ....
Patrice wants a single screen (we have already made a full width screen flange and door cap screen flanges to make a full 2 seater screen but until I have the screen itself back from the screen makers , I won't show that ...) so tomorrow , I will start the driver only screen setup as well....
I like the idea of the side vents and was wondering about something like this for mine :
I might try and pop down today if that is okay. The wife has moved from "It's a divorce" to "If you are doing it then I want it in blue" so I wouldn't mind another look and getting some measurements.
I guess we're going to have to agree to disagree, WCA.
As a retired military engineer I really like the function over style of the original 50's race cars - if you take a look at a Lancia D24, for example, it's covered in afterthougt riveted alloy panels where mid-race rolling development has been effected. Take the o/s front wing air inlet above the headlight on the example below: it's clearly been added to cool something under the engine bay way after Pininfarina penned the original shape.
To me the massive chrome vents on the concept cars some are posting as inspiration on here look a bit, well, bling. As if they've been designed by professional footballers for professional footballers.
But, when it comes down to it, you pays your money, you takes your choice.
It was more shape than chrome I was looking for. The three holes in the side are nice are different to what I was envisaging.
Function and form works for me. I am going to be running an MX5 4 pot in there and possibly adding a supercharger a bit later. I want to keep the heat out of the footwells without toasting the engine bay.
I am not looking to make my G46 a tarty show car, just looking at period cars for design cues. The trouble with google images is that they mostly come up with Pebble Beach show cars that have been polished and chromed to within an inch of their life.
If you had seen the result of my first attempt at seat covering I did at the weekend you would realise that anything I build will look 'developed' rather than simply polished.
;-)
I think we do broadly agree in principle, it is just the ggogle images I found were a bit too shiney.
Both beautifully made, better onced raced as the chrome would tarnish and wouldn't look so 'tartish'.
The Lancia D24, i like this and the rivets, obviously how they needed to make it! easier to change a panel if you crash... and it was 1954.
Not sure how well these pics will come out but heres some initial work on creating the bulkheads in the body.
The rear one supports the sides and still allows a spare wheel to pass through.
The one midway down nicely doubles up as a stop for the spare wheel and the back of the rear seat area , allowing me to fit a cockpit bulkhead with two hatches , one behind each seat - this means this space can be used to store or carry things....its actually quite a decent size...
I have used 12mm plywood cut to shape ( not too crucial as the use of tiger seal and glassfibre to secure them deals with any gap issues. ) the panels were tacked in place with tiger seal and then strips of glassfibre laid around the edges and along any panel joins...any straggly bits will be trimmed back when cured..
The addition of these bulkheads has already stiffened the car up quite nicely ...add the cockpit one and the under arch / inner panel ones yet to do and the rear end will be as solid as the original Scimitar was....
Lancelot, that is really coming together. The pictures and text give a good indication of how tight and solid the construction is and gives an excellent impression of how useful, neat and functional the completed interior will be.
We have produced a mould for the tonneau now and Mike got the first one out this morning...it needs a minor repair but gives you an idea of how it will look.....
The first picture also shows the nearly finished 'single screen' moulding.
This will be a 3 part mould including side screens for door top and centre bar....
Had a little play this afternoon with an idea I am bouncing around...... A D-Type/ Cunningham style tail fin...not as harsh as the Jag one but influenced by Boat and AERO versions...if I make these they will be a seperate panel with a lipped base that sits on the headrest...secured by tiger seal , rivets etc....would be interested in feedback...
no the fin would have to be cut to allow for it to still be removed...if the bootlid is fitted 'pin and latch style' then an extra pin and hole in the tailfin would locate it when boot in place...
