MadaboutKitcars

I have been asked to put one of our Formosa packages together for a customer.
I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to showcase the assembly of a Formosa on here ....


Graham Alexander bought a 2.0 Vitesse as a donor and it has been delivered to Southern Triumph Services in Bournemouth and a deal has been done to do a few changes and renovate the running gear and chassis.

The chassis has been fully repaired and outriggers boxed for strength etc.

The suspension towers have been reversed and the engine moved backwards approx. 8''
An aftermarket manifold has been fitted also.
Mark at STS is now prepping everything for paint (black) and then re-assembling it before it is delivered to me .
I will then be doing the little mods required to the bulkhead , fitting the extra riggers ( bolt on ) and starting to fit a kit ...

pictures of the fully welded chassis and a pattern engine in place whilst Grahams 6 cylinder is checked over and re-assembled ...

Looks like an exceptionally good start, can't wait to see it progress.

Not much to report as the chassis is still over at Southern Triumph Services being prepped ..I think its painted now and undergoing re-assembly ...

I tidied up the bulkhead whilst we are waiting , repaired the missing body mounts and floor sections underneath and painted the front face satin black ...the floorpans will need a small mod or two to go back on , so no work done on those until they are re-united with the chassis ...

THE CHASSIS IS COMING BACK TOMORROW LATE MORNING ...Here's a couple of pictures that Mark at STS took today ...I will take some more when its back ...

Chassis has been with me for a couple of days now ...I went to STS to get the missing engine parts and collect the rest of the exhaust etc....so plenty to get on with now !!

I trial fitted the frame and my development body yesterday to make sure it all fitted ....I had to adjust the floorpans slightly as Mark made them such a snug fit , the slight differences across chassis meant that they were a bit too snug ...I had to nibble the rear corner of the passenger one to allow room for fuel and brake pipes to clear ....The development chassis was not plumbed ..
I needed to move a central tube to clear the overdrive unit too ..an inch back from where it was ...

So all new frames will be built taken these factors into account ...



Today , I started to make the new outriggers that support the bulkhead in its new position ..these are not drilled yet but will be a bolt in rigger that you will need to drill two holes either side to fit ( Bolt in keeps us IVA exempt - should builders choose to weld them in at a later date , that's up to them , but bolted will be strong enough )

These two riggers will be supplied as standard with the full kit package , but obviously can be bought separately if required...

Gary - The rolling chassis looks like a first rate starting point for this build.

The fact that you are able to fine tune the set up at such an early stage of production can only be a good thing in the long run.

It certainly looks like the body shell is a lovely snug fit straight out of the box.

Which, as I've said all along, is the real key to a successful build.

Good luck, Paul.

Very nicely done!

Hi everyone, my name is Graham Alexander (Alex) and this is my first post,I have wanted to do a car build project pretty much all my life but sadly following a very serious illness some years ago which has left me with limited mobility and other issues I am never going to be in a position to build a car myself.I have always been into cars and my first car was a mini then an Escort mk1 1300E a 1600 John Player Special Capri then a 3.0l S Capri (wish I had kept all those) since I was ill I have bought a year 2000 Jaguar XK8 Convertible in Carnival Red which is my summer / weekend car but I wanted to get something else as well so whilst looking for a classic car circa 1940`s / 1950`s which had to be a 2 seater sports I came accross the Sammio Spyder so got in touch with Gary (Lancelot Link) in January to look into the possibilities of Gary building one for me, as luck would have it Gary said he was developing a new model this year the Formosa GR120 so it was agreed that we would go for one knowing full well that this would be a development and a learning experience for both Gary and I . As you will see from Garys first post on this thread I sourced a doner Vitesse, the chassis is now fully refurbished along with the engine.New brakes / clutch / suspension etc etc have now been fitted by Mark at Southern Triumph Services to which I owe him much gratitude, Gary is now working on the body shell and internal framework so exciting times for both Gary and I ahead.
It has been really good being involved in the development of the Formosa and again huge thanks to Gary for all his work and effort. As soon as I saw his design I knew it was for me and didn`t hesitate ordering one from him plus having build no 1 really appealed to me.I have decided to go for the Ferrari Monza 850 look which I hope will look stunning when completed, it is not going to be a like for like replica but something close. I have really enjoyed sourcing all the parts required and really hope that I have chosen well on all the details ie seats / lights /mirrors / dash switches /bonnet and boot catches the list goes on and on.Gary has been a great help with his knowledge and what would suit the build best, I have chrome air filters / rocker cover and radiator even a chrome horn and chromed hand brake. The wheels were from a Morgan which I had chrome plated at Tudor Wheels in Southampton ( Highly recommended at £60.00 a wheel) they also sourced and fitted the tyres and inner tubes.I am so looking forward to the next few weeks when things will really start to take shape, Cheers Alex

Welcome Alex, sounds exciting!

Alex - Welcome to the forum Graham.



Sounds like a plan.

I wouldn't get too hung up about creating a 1:1 replica, as the car will still turn heads.

By the sounds of it you are going to have some nice detail touches and you'd be surprised how well they go down.
( E.g. I get a lot of positive comments about my leather bonnet straps. )

Good luck with the build, I'm sure you will end up with a great car.

Cheers, Paul.

Managed to get a few more bits painted and back on the engine ...



Graham might be going with twin pancake filters yet ...and we are having a chrome rocker cover , I think ...

When the car came back from STS , it had a new twin pipe exhaust system with it ...STS had fitted the manifold , but due to engine setback and shorter body at the rear , they didn't fit the rest of it ...

I shortened the centre section about 20'' and made a tweak at the rear ... a piece of tube was fitted with bolt on ends and two exhaust hangers to support the twin silencers at the rear under the spare wheel cradle ..



Not the clearest of pictures , as the silencer tips still have their protection on them ..but it gives you an idea of how the two pipes will sit in relation to the rear of the body ...

Made a start on fitting up the flip front ...I was hoping to use the car to develop the front framework for the kits ..but STS put a straight tube on instead of the cranked one and , as it wasn't a restoration , didn't worry too much about location , hence its about half an inch too far back than a standard one ..
The principal will be the same but I will need to do the standardized ones on a stock chassis ...

Anyway ... here's the framework in place ..fully bolt on , bolts through the chassis rails at the bottom and clamps to the tube using modified benelli clamps ..



The bonnet mounted hinge plates need bracing and tying together , but I will do that when it goes on the new body .. pivot pin is a 10mm bolt with some nylon washers between the metal plates to reduce friction ..

Gary - It is all the little touches, like the tail pipe brackets, that will really help people building this kit.

Good luck, Paul. )

Will it be ready for the Tribute Owners Club BBQ?

READY TO GO ?.. no ...

Ready to attend ....yes , on a trailer ..as an ongoing build ..

Perfect. Your place is reserved. All welcome to come and gawp

I have done a bit more this week ...... Managed to get the radiator and twin fans fitted as well as most of the plumbing ...still waiting for the remote inline filler cap to arrive and will need to make the bracketry for that , but have made a spaceframe style inner wing section to mount the radiator and tie the front together a bit better ......I will need to add a few bits as I go , but it's pretty much done .....



new fuel pump and fuel lines have been run too ...



Inner wing tubework mounts to the bumper tube , front inner wing mount on the suspension turret , the original bulkhead mount and throught the bulkhead ...



I also got a chance to make a handbrake bracket ...original Triumph handbrake cables and bracketry have been used ...I made a new pivot bracket to mount the horseshoe bit ...the original caged nut is fitted to the floor of the original body , so no longer relevant ... Graham has opted to use a Morris Minor / early Mini style handbrake as recommended by my good self ...I've used them lots of times before and they have an early look and their simplicity keeps things , well , simple !! Its been mounted with a slight bias to the passenger side to avoid clashing with the gearstick travel ...I put a seat in , sat in it , both sides and its easily reached and doesn't interfere with pass. legroom ...so happy days ...




I started to map out the steering , Grahams choice of exhaust has complicated things slightly , but its get aroundable .....I know what to do ..hopefully ..just need to do it !!

Looking really good Gary, great progress and really taking shape, I am very pleased with everything that you have achieved. Looking forward to each stage of the build and hopefully when complete its going to be a real head turner

Cheers Graham

Good opportunity whilst you have such good access to swap the dynamo for a more modern alternator.

If Graham wants one ..he can have one ...me , personally , being a traditionalist and the fact the car is going to fairly minimal electric-wise would stay with a dynamo ....but if he wants one , he can have one ...

The two new electric fans probably use more power than the whole of the original car. I found that my Kenlow on the Jag would get the charge light on the dash to light up when sitting in traffic. Fitted an alternator and it stopped happening, must be less than half the weight.
As it is a "new" engine that hasn't had any water in it I would be very tempted to go for the Evans waterless coolant, but expensive.

It really is turning into an impressive build.

Got a bit more done today .....made a start on the steering and nearly finished it ...I've about an hour left to do on it ...

I needed to change the angle of the steering due to engine setback and Grahams exhaust choice , a straight path wasn't easily achievable ... I could have gotten away with one u/j to change direction , but felt the column and wheel would be too upright , fine on a Hot Rod , but the cars of this style and era tended to have columns nearer the horizontal with slight inclines and not the 45 degrees that one u/j would have created ...

So , with the help of a pair of TR6 u/j's and a spare inner column from a Herald , I first cut the upper column off , both inner and outer , added one u/j to the bottom of this using the spare inner to create an inner sleeve , the flat section was used so the cottle pin bolt could go in and it was bolted up tight and then fully welded ....then another piece of the inner was welded to the bottom of the u/j , an outer section sleeved over it and fully welded , but leaving the splines exposed .....the outer aluminium colum that had been shortened was fitted with an oil lite bearing at the base to replace the rubber bush that was cut off ..



I then made the centre section using the second u/j , slipped a rose joint over the first part and clamped the lower part on using splines and pinch bolt ..this means the column can be split to remove it easily and the rose joint can be taken off if required ..



I mounted the column to the stock mount on the frame , the second bracket that normally bolts to the bulkhead was hung from a suspended steel plate , the rose joint has been bolted through a plate bolted up through the bulkhead just to the left of the pedal mounts ...see picture ..



Although its all working fine , there is a bit of twist on the rose joint bracket where it flexes through the thin bulkhead ...so I need to brace and re-inforce the bracket and its mounting plate , making it wider to spread the load a bit better .....also , although the lower shaft is straight and turns fine , it flexes a little due to its extra length and the fact they are generally pretty spindlely from the factory ...so I think I'm going to add an extra rose joint along its length mounted off a bracket attached to my inner wing framework , just to give it a bit of extra support ...

I think the revised column angle is much better now ...

GOT THE STEERING FINISHED TODAY ..... I made the bracket under the dashboard holding the first rosejoint twice as wide and triangulated it ..its bolted through the bulkhead with a matching spreadplate and 4 8mm bolts , so its not moving now !! I also stripped the lower shaft out , added a thin sleeve that my engineering buddy made for me that brought it up to the same width as the nearest rosejoint I could buy to the shaft size ..I slipped the second rosejoint over it , tack welded the sleeve in place and made a support bracket for the rosejoint out of 3mm and 5mm plate joined together with two short pieces of 12mm tube to match the framework it is bolted through ...it works a treat now , no flex and is all fully removable should you need to take it apart ...



I also finished off the top hose assembly with the inline filler and a bracket made fom an old coil clamp welded to a small box steel section to 'guide' the flexihose into the area of bonnet with clearance ...



so , not much to report , but a few more jobs crossed off the list .........

BIT MORE DONE ... I have added some harness mounts to the framework and floor sections to take Graham's belts he has supplied ... bit tricky to see but they are welded plate with captive nuts welded to them mounted to the lower cross bar and some captive nuts fitted to the frame either side of the dropped pans ...





I am at a point where I think all the welded attachments are done , so opted to paint the frame and floorpans ...We decided to do the tubework satin silver to contrast the red body and I have done the floors black to tie them into the chassis visually ...so off with the frame it was ....



whilst the frame was off I fitted the propshaft that I shortened just over 8''

The tubework is now silver and floors black ....






next job is to patch and modify the front pans to fit the chassis after the 8'' shift backwards ...

I have made a hardboard rear bulkhead pattern . The kit comes as standard with this flat bulkhead in 2 fibreglass sections with the central seam ...I just hadn't made the patterns yet !!
They are done now and Graham has opted for the bulkhead as standard ...so I will lay up some flat sheet and cut a pair out next week ...



I have also started to work out my grille insert ...the small section shown is what I am intending to do ...approx. 40mm x 40mm square sections in the traditional 'beer crate ' egg box styling ... about an inch deep and made from moulded resin ...