MadaboutKitcars

It has been suggested to me by Paul L that I start a new thread about the build of my Fiorano T48 which uses a Triumph Spitfire as a donor. I would like to point out from the start that this is my first kit car build and that I will doubtless be making mistakes along the way. If those of you, who really have seen it, done it and got the T shirt for building a kit car, spot any mistakes, can pre-empt them or generally would like to offer advice, please chip in as your advice will be greatly appreciated - as long as you don't mind me doing it my way if I feel it suits me better.
To cut a long story short, I had given up riding my Ducati 916 ( I'm 65 with a few creaks and squeeks) and was looking for something to replace it with. I originally thought of a Lotus 7 look-alike as I lusted after one of those as a youth, but then I thought better of it as I'd just look like another sad old bloke trying to relive the past. (On a motorbike nobody can see how old you are so you can get away with it much more easily and I can still "make progress" when the mood takes me!) I trawled the internet looking for something which was a bit more "50's" in appearance and came across the Fiorano T 48 and a Jaguar D Type replica which both seemed to fit the bill.
I finally chose the T48 because it seemed to be much more simple to build and I didn't need any of the bodywork from the donor vehicle. I struck a deal with Chic Doig, the Triumph Specialist up here in Scotland, to buy a triumph Spitfire 1500 less the bodywork. This was a good deal for both of us as he still had a good body tub to sell and I didn't have to remove it and then have the problem, for me, of storing the body tub and then finding someone who wanted one. Win,win! Hopefully, I have managed to attach some photos of most of what I bought. (To be continued)

Old Jock - Obviously I am looking forward to seeing your build thread develop.

Given this is what you are starting with, it should be a great journey.



I've very impressed you were still riding a 916 until recently.

I always liked the look of those, even if I opted for the yellow Triumph in my Avatar instead.

Good luck, Paul.

Thanks Paul L, it's not quite as bad as it looks in the photos. This was my "Yellow Peril"

Great colour.

Don't know why, but I associate the 748s with yellow and 916s with red.

That's why I had a yellow one. Red 916s are as common as dog poo - one on every street corner!

Congratulations on your new build thread - I reckon you've chosen a beautiful car to build (but obviously I'm biased)

Just to keep this thread in a chronological order, I have cut and pasted what I put in Car Photographer's thread.

My friend has started building the car port for me to work in. It's a bit rough and ready but I'm glad to have it. I spent today removing the rear suspension and drive shafts etc. It doesn't half take a lot of time and effort to achieve comparatively little! This is what the rear end looks like now.
I've started to remove the front suspension, brakes etc and will post some photos once that is done. I'm also toying with the idea of fitting MGF 8 spoke alloys instead of 15" wire wheels, partly due to cost and partly to be a little different. The T48 is a pastiche after all, not an accurate replica of the Ferrari T166. I could still use 185 70 15 tyres to give a similar rolling radius as 165 80 15s. Any comments, is anyone able to use photoshop or something similar to put the 8 spoke MGF wheels onto a photo of a T48? I can always change to wires at a later date if they don't work out. Undecided at the moment but I do like to plan in advance.

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Redratbike, Thanks for inserting the images, I just noticed the tab at the top of the message header so will do that from now on.

are the 8 spoke wheels the mini lite style ones? with the rounded tube like spokes?

like this? [IMG]1interior5 by paul ward, on Flickr[/IMG]

Hi Paul, yes they are as you have shown. Thanks very much - they don't look too bad. Maybe not as good as wires but I can buy 5 wheels for around £100 - 140 and the studs and wheel nuts for around £30. ie around half the price of the wire wheel adaptors! Hmmn!! Did you photoshop this? If you did, could you "put" them on your car for a direct comparison. (Sorry to be a pain!) Cheers, Paul (I'm a Paul too)

No I found this pic a while ago when I was looking for different pics of the corsa spyder, and remembered that it had those wheels on it

OK. My wife likes the MGF minilite look-a-likes so thanks for the photo.

Nice to have another Paul on the forum to balance out all the Daves.

Welcome to the forum, very much looking forward to your build thread.

Love the Fiorano, looked into building one a few years ago, actually a lot of years ago. Great value for money kit and look superb when done.

I remember seeing a load of Fiorano's at Stoneleigh one good weather year and the individuality of each one was what appealed, every builder had done something slightly different to the next, all looked fab.

John

Well Played Sir!


Tempting providence, somewhat .

I'm on my 15th or 16th build or rebuild, and perseverance is still the key. I have a metal sign I stamped in my cave which reads 'STOP BEING SO FUCKING FEEBLE'. On the many days I look at the project first thing and feel like turning my back on it, this bump starts me.

I'm sure you'll get there and the result will be well worth it. Looking forward to following your thread

Here you go - not ideal as I only had one angled wheel to work with - [IMG]DSC_0227wheels by paul ward, on Flickr[/IMG]
[IMG]DSC_0227 by paul ward, on Flickr[/IMG]

don't know if these are any good to you - seem pretty cheap
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Classic-14-MG-Wire-Wheels-/252374331196?hash=item3ac2aeaf3c:g:jTYAAOSwzvlW~Ed4

Hi Paul, Thanks very much for the comparison photos and the Ebay link. I have to say that I rather like the minilites so think I will go down that route at least initially. My wife has also expressed a preference for the minilites too so it looks like another decision has been made. There are plenty of the MGF minilite style wheels on Ebay so I'll have another trawl through them and see which seem the best buy and get them. A "bonus", I guess, is that I can use an MGF space saver wheel as a spare with an appropriate size tyre on it which should give a bit of extra space in the boot to carry the tool box which I will no doubt need!
Cheers, Paul (A)

Thank you Paul L, John and Mick for your kind words.

Well, wheels now sorted. I bought these from Ebay plus 16 new wheel nuts. Wheels were £60 and nuts were £12.49 in bright zinc non rust finish. Just need to get the Freelander wheel studs and that's them sorted.

Cool

Had a lazy day today. Cleaned up the instruments I shall be using on the dashboard for the T48. The big one in the middle is the speedo from an early XJ6, the one to the right is the original Rev Counter from the Spitfire with the bezel polished back to chrome and the one on the left is a Tri-gauge set from I think a Triumph or MG of some sort. The layout you see will be directly in front of the driver with probably an ammeter and a clock to the left of this cluster along with various switches and warning lights etc. I got the Jaguar Speedo plus a Rev counter for £20. Initially, I was going to have a big rev counter in the middle with the smaller Triumph speedo to the right but decided that as the car is for the road not racing that the speedo took precedence.eep: I have still to add the Ferrari emblems to the faces of the 3 gauges just for an extra bit of kidology!

Old Jock - I posted this message on the Tribute forum the other day and have just modified it for your post.

Hope it helps, Paul.

If I click on the attachment "DSC03889.jpg" then I can see both the photo and the following "address" at the top of the screen:

http://www.madabout-kitcars.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=3562&d=1463770556

If you put [img] in front of that address and then [/img] at the end, the photo will appear in the post.

So the code will look something like this:

[img]http…..0556[/img]

And this will be how it will appear.