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Hello, we're new builders from Holland. (sorry for the bad English)
We followed some blogs and topics for a while and we registered us today.
I'm Jerome and I am building a Sammio with my dad. We've a English Vitesse as a donor car.
There is a lot of work done at the chassis, suspension and bulkhead. Most used parts are new.
We are building a Sammio Spyder with a Lancia style bonnet.
Here some pics of our project.
Some photos from Gary's place and our trip to England.
We fitted the body and had a lot of problems with the fitting shape (?)
The left side (seen from behind) is at the bulkhead 2 cm's longer than the right side. Our bonnet is at the right side 2cm longer (so no problem) But we've a problem. We have a very big gap between the body and the bonnet. I've seen a lot of pictures of other Sammio's and some gaps are very narrow. Is this filled with filler before painting or is our bonnet very bad in shape?
Here a pic of our gap (we,ve cut some pieces out to fit it like this..)
Another question is about the front springs:we've bought some lowered (1 inch)
springs and 'spax' absorbers (ride adjustable)but it still too high.
In Holland it is not allowed to cut the springs,so I need shorter springs.
Any options?
The black and white photos were took in England, at 'The Sammio company'
Our workshop/garage is very small, but big enough. its in our backyard. When the car is finished we need a crane to whip it out our backyard onto the street.
well your bonnet looks like it`s fitting pretty well, first get a striaght line on your bonnet all the way over from wing to wing, just use 36 grit sanding disc, that rub it back easy, then build your gap out from your bulkhead to meet your bonnet line, with body filler, thats how i got over the same problem as you."not much problem just few mintues of thinking...." HAPPY bulding
Welcome to the "not a a club" and the best of luck with your build, it sure looks like you're enjoying yourselves so far and MUCH respect for making the journey over to pick up the shell!
If you've seen my build thread then you'll see all the fun i had with the bonnet shut lines and even now i'm not 100% happy with how it turned out and i'm already planning on how i'm going to alter it all next winter (after a good summer of use!)
I don't think that there is any one way to do anything with these builds due to age and differences in donors and how we all want to tackle things, but knowing that i know now, i'd try and make up as much of your shut lines with fibreglass / jiggling before using any filler/bonding paste.
Welkom op de Sammio ervaring Jerome. Ik hou van de look van uw gerestaureerde chassis, zeer professioneel!
Phew, that's my Dutch exhausted I'm afraid.
I can't help with the bonnet shut line problem as I haven't got that far myself yet, but If your regulations won't allow the springs to be cut you could try early Herald or Spitfire springs which are considerably softer. This should allow the weight of the engine to drop the suspension for you and give a softer ride than with the cut down springs we can get away with over here.
Anyway, veel succes het vinden van een oplossing voor het probleem.
I am just going through the body alignment stage, and having the same challenges. I think the cost of the kit is very good, and perhaps a third of the price of most others, so you have to bear in mind that it also has some fitting issues. It will not fit right straight out of the box. It will need some work to get it to fit to your bulkhead/chassis/frame combination.
The advantage is that fibreglass is not a huge issue to modify and as Mulberry and DaveCymru have said, there are different ways of tackling the bonnet gap. Some build out the bulkhead and some add length to the bonnet. Either is fine and whatever works for you.
One thing to consider is some strengthening "webs" on the inside of the bonnet - Gary has added these to a car he was building and the big advantage with them is that is will help the bonnet keep the right shape, particularly down the sides where the catches are mounted.
I'm sure I'm not the only one that just LOVES the black and white photos of the Sammio Motor Car Factory. Very period and would look great enlarged and framed! Welcome to the group. Looks like your car will be stunning !
Re springs I think you need much softer springs. If you just chop them you will have a hard ride. Fine for a smooth race track. The finished Sammio is much lighter, so you could nearly halve the rate to 100 lb and that would drop you loads. If you fit short springs there is a risk they will become unseated when you get airborne.
Going briskly on b roads is all about keeping the tyres on the tarmac, and hard suspension does not help that, even if it feels better! On the rear spring you could remove the top three leaves as well.
I am not as well qualified to answer the technical stuff as some guys on here ...diff ratio's , spring ratings etc. not really my field , but there are some talented and knowledgable guys on here that are happy to share their expertise....
Bodywise ....there is a slight difference one side to the other....most people accept it , build the adljustment in and gap up accordingly with the attitude ''you cannot see both sides at the same time''...
some people like to correct the measurement .....both ways are acceptable - just different ways to achieve the car depending on builders choices....
Many production and most kit car bodies aren't perfect ...not making excuses for mine , but having come from a restoration background as well as kit car / Hot Rod building , I have seen measurements on cars like old Jensens , porsches etc as well as the run of the mill stuff that is quite surprising ....the truth is , you don't generally eye up measurements on a car but generally process what you see as an overall image ...
Most of the Cobra bodies ....certainly the lower end ones are not symmetrical ....I have seen Cobra bodies with doors an inch or more longer one side than the other ! I have heard tale of the originals being the same...
I think my original 1961 donor vehicle that I used to create the first body had an untrue bulkhead ....something that has translated into my bodies....we built a vitesse for a guy a few years back and his wheelbase was 22mm out one side compared to the other , so we know the donors aren't always correct either !!
Now Mike is more than capable of taking one of our bodies and perfecting it , but this changes a couple of important factors ....firstly , I like the primitive early 50's feel of our product , taking kit car building back to its roots , an affordable level with uncomplicated build process ...also the flexibility of change , as in Charmans G46 , Any Kendricks car etc. is very easy at this level....also , , having spent just under 5 figures 'facelifting' a Spyder to create the Cordite , we would probably need to spend the same again bringing the level up and certainly re-mould the entire body ....result of that , a price increase to nearly double it is now to justify the new spec. and investment....
Hopefully regular involvement here and lots of questions , if you are unsure , will get your car built to a level you are happy with .....
Your ideas for a race style look are great ...just started collecting bits myself for my own build and I intend to go down a similar route with mine.....
Just like to confirm what Gary has said. Before mass production, computer, cad, etc. all cars were hand made. With this method it meant each panel was made to fit the gap it needed to fill, the result being a wing or door from one car would need work to try and fit it on another. So the Sammio really does resemble a hand made car of the era.
Mike had to fit an E-type bonnet a few years back and he told me when it arrived it was overlength by about 4 or 5 inches .....the instructions were ....''trim back to fit '' !! Thats a £7000 panel ....
Any way , excuses and justifications over ....lets just build them and enjoy them !!
Mike had to fit an E-type bonnet a few years back and he told me when it arrived it was overlength by about 4 or 5 inches .....the instructions were ....''trim back to fit '' !! Thats a £7000 panel ....
Any way , excuses and justifications over ....lets just build them and enjoy them !!
Agreed: If you want a £15k AirFix kit buy a Caterham. If you relish a challenge buy a Sammio!
Thanks for all the reactions!
Its good to know that it is not our fault, so we can continue the build without any trouble and having fun! Our car haven't to be a concours winner, it have to be looking a bit rough, so maybe we paint with a matt finish (?)
The 50's style is what we like of the Sammio, just a simple design and a lot of space for your own ideas!
Thats also the reason why we haven't build a Burton (2cv-kitcar from our village in The Netherlands). Thats a perfect designed kit, but there isn't a lot of space to make it your own.
And i've never seen a Sammio before in the Netherlands, I see in summer almost 10 Burtons a day in our city!
Here a shot of our project from yesterday (with the cut-of springs)
Just love the Dunlop wheel, Gary was mocking up a Rudge wheels last year ??? which I think also evoked the period.
Madmark had the issues with not being able to get a decent selection of wheels to race his SD1 so tracked down some ali billet spaces from the States which offset the rover PCD to a PCD of his choice which opened up the selection of wheels he could use.
So there is a solution available from the states to use a different PCD if one needs
