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Hi Patrice (and all)
New to the forum as a poster but been reading with interest for months, great progress Patrice and a lovely looking car, hope you dont mind but as someone clearly more advanced mechanically than me I have a few questions about your fantastic car..
Ive recently acquired a Sammio (thanks Gary), thats having some minor mods being finished off at the moment e.g. roll hoop, uprated suspension, race bonnet pins, 1500 twin carb engine, tubular exhaust etc etc. etc.
Interested in what you have done with the engine cooling system, looks like its been uprated in your car and is that the standard or a bigger radiator? Also, did you move the battery inboard for weight distribution or because of space after the beefed up pipework etc you fitted?
Have you also fitted an oil cooler?
Also, I may be wrong but looks in one pic like you have a side exit exhaust? If so, what is it and how do you get around a) heat in the cockpit and b) noise levels for inspection without a silencer?
Thanks in advance for any info you can share with me and keep up the posts, they are very motivational!
The engine that I have use in my Sammio is a standard one coming from a spitfire MK1. Have modify the cooling system because with the front bonnet we are obliged to go down the radiator (a standard one !) Have a look to the picture. With this kink of water box you use about 2 liters more with always water level above your head.
Have move the battery who is now inboard, it’s easier to cut off when I dont use the car.
No for instant no oil cooler have been fit.
Yes, have a side exit exhaust (home made) and the silencer is under the side passenger. Have use a race exhaust manifold and a silencer similar as a cherry bomb silencer. (No more than 95/100 dlb)
I guess we just hope a forum admin/mod spots this and there's enough interest to warrant our own section?
p.s. you're not to far away from me, i'm by M5 J22!
In the meantime i may as well post a quick overview of where i am. After my last project died a slow and painful death (LONG story!) I'm not messing around this time and i fully plan to build the car, get it on the road and enjoy it this summer.
Then I'll overhaul the engine or chassis this winter, drive it next summer, overhaul something else next winter then repeat-as-necessary, as the shampoo advert says
So far the Vitesse has been bought and stripped. Well.... i say Vitesse, it was actually a Herald 13/60 that someone had spent a fortune converting to Vitesse mkII spec in the early 90's. Lots of upgraded parts (engine, gearbox, drive, diff, front brakes etc..), and an engineers report to prove that it was all done ok
I've given chassis a 'basic' overhaul with a bit of a clean-up, rust kill and a lick of paint. I've replaced the main brake and fuel lines as the ones on there were too far gone and I've just got to put the carbs and radiator back on and sort the electrics out and it should hopefully be running again.
I picked up the full kit yesterday, BIG grin day!
The frame is already bolted in place, the floor is bonded in (sealant drying atm), steering frame pick-up point mildly fettled and I'm hopefully going to trial fit the petrol tank and then paint the frame tonight ready to start fitting the main body this week.
I have just purchased my Herald donor, and it's currently waiting on my drive for me to clear my garage to get it inside. Once I get it in there I will be ordering my kit. I am hoping to order it next week, and having contacted Gary, we are currently looking at a 4-5 week lead time.
Something I mentioned to Gary when I e-mailed him was the possibility of me being able to offer a delivery service to anyone who may also be ordering their kit at the same time. I live in Durham, so will be travelling most of the country to collect my kit. If anyone would be interested I could hire a larger van and get more than one kit on board. I would estimate delivery would then be around £150-£200 depending how far out of my way I would have to go. Still not amazingly cheap, but quite a saving over the £350 I have been quoted on Shiply by several couriers.
Anyone interested can PM me, then obviously order your kit as normal from Gary at Sammio. I hope this will help someone, and make my journey a little bit more worthwhile.
Cheers
Alan
Interesting topic just cropped with my build.
I stumbled across the fact that it became legal to have front seat, seat belts fitted to all cars from 1967 (ish) and seeing as my donor is a 1969 Vitesse, so it would seem that I'm going to have to fit seat belts!
I was toying with the idea anyway as i want to be able to take my sons out in it and i want them to be safe, but it seems my hand has been forced.
It's lucky that I've got a nice pair of retractable belts left over from my previous project, all I've got to do now is a bit of reading up on how some of the Lotus and Cobra boys fit theirs to give me ideas.
My apologies, I've never been that good at making myself clear on this here interweb
I was previously planning on fitting harnesses (but thinking about/toying-with retractable seat belts as i have a pair in my attic and i'd be more comfortable with them and the boys using booster seats), but when i was reading around earlier in the week it read as though if the donor car originally had seat belts fitted then i "had" to fit seat belts as opposed to harnesses.
After further reading, it seems as though i jumped to conclusions and i can fit retractable belts OR harnesses.
BUT.... it is true that if my donor was pre-67 then i wouldn't "have" to fit either.
Firstly, thanks Patrice for your ever useful pics and explanations.
Im nearing collection of my car (hopefully) from trimmers, and mechanics after some minor mods :-) 1500 twin carb engine, adjustable rally front and adjustable rear shocks (hope to eliminate some of the dreaded 'tuck in' and improve handling (Interested to know what Patrice has done on this as I believe he will be racing his car), new seats, roll hoop etc.. Yes, i know i should be doing all this stuff myself but very limited time and availability of a helpful/experienced car builder influenced my decision .
There will still be plenty to do when it gets here!
Uprated front ARB
Electric cut out (FIA type)
Sports alternator
Good allround service
Uprated cooling if required (will see how it goes with header tank etc and may think about an oil cooler later if required), due to style of front intake im pretty sure it wont be needed.
(eventual engine re build, want to enjoy it this summer first)
Uprated discs
New leads
Tidy up engine bay
Wheel allignment and setup
Bolt on Brace from top of roll hoop diagonal to passenger footwell chassis point (Maybe) for when im in car alone and driving 'enthusiastically'.
Etc.
Hard top...... only joking !
Has anyone fitted a harness yet, if so what mounting points did you you use?
Regarding seats, im rather tall for the car though do fit; to avoid looking like noddy and to go with the period race theme i may end up swapping out the existing (newly trimmed seats). Does anyone have any ideas/suggestions about low ( v low ) type seats that could be fitted on an angle straight through/to the floor? With spreader plates below? Any input would be useful and im sure many of you will have more experience than me.
As soon as the cars in my garage Ill get some pics on here for anyone thats interested, in the meantime im sure we'd all be interested in seeing some pics of your progress to date (anyone).
Good to see so much enthusiasm for this v interesting project and special type car.
No pics yet im afraid as collection has been delayed slightly; the herald setup is obviously inherently flawed but not as bad as some people make it out to be. If the rear bushes are swapped out for poly bushes (if you are rebuilding), add uprated (stiffer) adjustable rear shocks and add a lowering block to the centre of the spring and possibly remove a couple of leafs... The remaining options would then be a swing spring kit (as per later triumphs) available from Canley or a Camber Compensator as the guys in the states and Triumphs own head of motorsports preferred.
Thats the rear but the the overll handling dynamics should include close attention to the front too... definitely add a spitfire thicker ARB and for me adjustable shocks with uprated springs. Part of the logic as the mods to the rear can alter the handling and induce understeer or oversteer, modding the front as suggested compensates this and also reduces overall body roll and hence 'diving' of front under braking and turning which lightens the rear and increases chances of tuck in when combined with a sharp change in direction.
OK, thats all the theory and initially im not fitting a rear later 'swing spring' or camber compensator... adjustable shocks etc are the current works. Im by no means a dynamics expert and many will disagree with elements of my statements above but some research and experience in a track spitfire lead me to the above.
Ive taken a look at the blog and things are coming on, ill be very interested to see your progress, i can see a Sammio run out happening in the near future .
Many years ago (30) in my spitfire days, a firm called SAH did a tight turn kit which was a wish bone set up for the rear suspension I never got any further as when you phoned them the department you needed never picked up, I understand it came at quiet a price, anyone else heard of it?
After a very productive evening pottering in the garage i think it's worth adding a lesson learnt..
If you're over 6ft and plan to fit Cobra style bucket seats, or the nice bucket seats that Moss do that i've opted for, then you'll need to lower the floor pan as it's a bit tight on the flat floor.
If you are going to do that then you may want to reuse and modify the floors from the original body tub (rather than scrapping it quite as quickly as i did!), as while fabricating brand new floor pans is giving me exactly the 60mm seat drop that i want, it's taking bleedin ages and i want this on the road this side of Summer!
I'm 6FT4 and was about to cut up and scrap the bodyshell next weekend, but after reading that I might angle grind off the lower section of the floor pan.
Many years ago (30) in my spitfire days, a firm called SAH did a tight turn kit which was a wish bone set up for the rear suspension I never got any further as when you phoned them the department you needed never picked up, I understand it came at quiet a price, anyone else heard of it?
Ah the fabled SAH kit. I had an SAH catalogue at about that time which listed the 'Tight Turn' kit, from the pictures it seemed to resemble the Triumph rotoflex set up. I recall some discussion in the TSSC at the time about whether they has actually ever made and sold any, the general consensus was that no one had ever seen one.
Im also a tall one (6ft 3"), at the moment I have a standard floor but with low seats mounted direct (modified Moggie seats)... It may be that when i get it back i'll also need to mod my floorpan but it 'seemed' ok'ish when i sat in one before the current works started.
I'll try it out and let you know but by the time it arrives you may have moved past that point in your build.
Cant wait to collect it now and actually get some driving in during summer (hopefully).
Thought this might interest some of you .....I get asked all the time what other cars the Sammio body will fit and generally , unless you do major mods , its not many...we are looking into MX5 as a possible at present , requires some surgery but not too far away from our dimensions ....
We sold a body to a Citroen 2CV enthusiast earlier this year ....we had to modify the bonnet for him to allow for the slight change in wheelbase ( 2CV is slightly longer )
Graham has just sent me these pictures and it worked out ok...I know the 2CV isn't everyones first choice but they are plentiful , simple costruction and have proved very popular over the years .
Anyhow , He is prepared to recreate his subframe / Spaceframe assembly he has created and we can supply the modified body - so if anyone has an interest , email me direct and I can put you in touch with Graham who will be marketing these under his banner using our bodies....
Tribond, I didn't dream it (it's me age you know) thanks, from thinking back I did they ever sell any thing you got through the switchboard and then they never picked up. I'm 6' and it seems I don't stick out the car sat on the floor' but it doesn't allow for much under bum padding. One of Gary's early models used a garden type chair (no legs) fixed to the floor it worked..
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