Smash, point taken. I'll address several replies in one go here. The whole design takes loads of Zagato cues from different marques. Without a doubt in my eyes, the AM version is the most beautiful car overall, but this shape varies considerably in many areas, so badging would be mis-representative in the extreme, and not my intention (apart maybe from some BMW "Z's" on the front wings a la Zagato). For example, the bonnet is modified SWB, the roof is modified 275, the rear is chopped 250 coupe, the cills are Cobra and a Micra rear screen is nothing like any of the Zagato models, not to mention the Ford nose. The side grills are from an unknown vehicle that Chris picked up from an auto jumble some years ago.
All along, and discussed again this week with Chris, I just wanted a beautiful car that I could drive as a daily runaround in my retirement, and the 250 SWB didn't quite do it for me.
It took a long time to convince Chris to have a go at this (about a year), and only on the basis of cannibalising as much of existing panels as possible. Also, that it would only get done when it got done. My fallback plan was a narrowed 250 bonnet a la WCA, cobra rear and a Z3 hard top. That would have been much cheaper, and on the road by now!
The wheels on the picture are Caliber Classic, same spec as Ericholm used on his 250 soft top California. I may have a look at dummy spinners, but to be practical, and being lazy, I'll stick with these for the time being.
The nose is longer than the SWB but shorter than theZ300 and 275. We took it far enough to encompass ac fan, but also to profile the droop nose.
It will be custom glass. Chris knows where to get it made. He just needs to make the template.
Early spring 2019 at the best. The buck prep will take a lot of time. Chris has commited to a proper paint job so that the molds are best quality.
These things always take longer than we hope or expect, as you know. I trust that your knee is getting back to usable and that you can now make some real progress on your own star. There are scores of hungry boarders waiting for some titbits.
That is a decision for Chris. The project cost was discounted so Chris had rights to reproduce panels. I do not know if it will be offered as a kit, or turnkey only. It means I have to pay a premium over panel cost, but I am good with that, it was the only way to get the car I wanted at an affordable price. The details are of course confidential.
MX250 - Cobra Hybrid
I saw this in the background to an ebay ad for the A352. It looks unexpectedly good.
ps Tinypic is down, so cannot get the image directly into the post. Yes, I know there are other hosting sites, but I am old and resistant to change.
Hi Munky, the progress of panel styling has not progressed much, the passenger side needs to be profiled the same as the agreed driver side as pictured. Then there is loads of work to fill and smooth the buck, then paint, then the moulds. It will be spring before the panels for my build are available.
However, I still have the custom dashboard as pictured earlier in the thread to finish and fit. Progress has been on hold whilst we had the kitchen and bathroom re-modelled in our house, but that has just finished. I did the stripping out to reduce contractor costs, and also insulated much of the roof at the same time. I had planned to cover the dash with vinyl, but after visiting JaguarTVR to see his projects, he has convinced me that crackle paint is the way to go. I plan to try it out in the very near future, and if it does not suit, can still use the vinyl.
I have also been slightly diverted by another project. As Chris quite rightly insisted on building the first Z3gato, my big retirement project diminished in work input from me. Chris will deliver a road legal car, but with untrimmed coloured gelcoat panels, so all of the prep for painting etc will need doing, and meantime, I need to buy all the lights.
My plan to keep myself out of the way of Mrs Barber is to buy a classic Lambretta scooter wreck and refurbish it. To that end, I have been making a motorcycle lift by converting a £80 table lift by building an extended base, table top and stabilising struts from scrap angle iron. I just began my first welds (after a basic induction training / practice) this week. I am waiting until after Christmas for the one or two projects that will come up on ebay as some folk realise that they have spent too much over Christmas, and that the work involved is more than they realised, so want to sell off the projects. A friend is trying to convince me that we should go on a road tour and source the scooter in Italy, and bring some others to sell on and finance the trip. Tempting.
Meanwhile, I was going to change the Z3 interior to black, but when explaining the project to an inquisitive neighbour, realised as I was saying that California Sage Green was the intended paint colour, that the current Oregon Beige interior would probably look OK. The challenge is to get the custom dash to match that colour. I will probably have to have paint made up to match the gear lever gaiter.
I also need to strip out the storage box etc and use the vinyl to re-cover that area. I will not remove the roll bars until the car is due to go down to Chris for the build next spring. Chris will let me have a rear shelf to cover in advance of fitting, and will also make an interior roof panel (same as Kidge did on his 275 build) so that I can prep and line it ready to fit into the build.
The upshot is, it will be spring before any meaningful build stuff appears. I cannot wait to get the car. We have a wedding to attend in eastern Poland next summer, and I would love to take a leisurely tour in the car to get there (even in an unpainted state a la IanA).
I had considered BSA Bantams, or even some of the Italian mopeds.
But the key consideration is, that I did all the maintenance and fixes in my late teens, on Lambrettas, so I know can do it. Also, there are top end upgrades for the small block Lambrettas, from 175 to 186cc. Even a 1215 can have a couple of gears swapped out, and a GP200 crank. So long as I cover my costs, and sell at just under the going rate, it is a free hobby and should also pay for the drifts and punches required (about £375). So far my outlay has only been £70 for the lift, £60 for the Aldi welder, £8 for rods and £43 for the welding mask and gloves. And I have had a lot of fun planning and implementing.
Here is my motorcycle lift in progress. The foot frame and table top have been welded, but are not yet welded to the £70 red lift that I bough off ebay. I have yet to fit the adjustable stabilisers to the frame so it doesn't rock. But with a bit of luck, finished this week.
It is more robust than it appears.
That is an interesting idea, I will look into it, and it also reduces the risk of different shades of beige in the trim. I plan to change the steering wheel for something a tad smaller, and the chances are it would be black, so that works out too.
There may be a risk, but probably not great. The Lambrettas rest on the parking stand (leg each side) and the back wheel. They weigh less than 200kg, and the lift is rated for 750kg if my memory serves me well. I will be having lockable support struts supporting each corner. Most importantly, the legs on the parking stand will be directly above the side rails of the table and foot frame. Also, the lift will not have to raise more than around 600mm from the ground. I am comfortable with it.
Correct about the legs and width. The lift width is 42m the top rails are 700mm as are the foot rails. The stabiliser struts will effectively be the legs, and at made of angle iron hinged at the top and lockable along the foot rails. One on each corner. There should be no twist torsion applied to the lift itself, it only goes up and down. The only risk is at raising and lowering. That can be mitigated by fixing a cross strut to the stabiliser legs front and back.
Just a quick update, the lift is rated 135kg and a scooter weighs 75kg. I should not rely on my faltering memory for hard facts. A regular motorcycle lift is rated around 350kg at least.
I found some other sites that say 104kg dry weight. The SX200s had bigger blocks, but being aluminium, that wouldn't account for the difference. Was your Party 7 still on the floor?
Wow, I thought the SXs were just different panels and headsets with the option for the 200cc motor. Obviously more to it than that. I'll bear that in mind if I ever get an SX for restoration though, and not lean on the worktop!
Yep, the car looks a muscled up version of several Zagato designs. You can see the step up from the Ferrari. The front reminds me a lot of the MX5 version that Zagmad scrapped in order to pursue the slab sided Lancia saloon. Where did that get to I wonder?
Just to confirm that this project has not stalled or stopped. After getting the lines on one side agreed with Chris late last year, the process of tweaking the back and front, then completing the other side has taken a while, and Chris lost some time out with a bad back. Chris should be in the "fill and sand back" any day now, and has some ideas about the window surrounds that he wants to try out. I promise that I will get some photos up shortly (a few weeks). meantime, now that the weather has started to warm a little, I may be tempted to swap the dashboard out. The only trouble is that I am wary of painting the new one in this colder weather. Is it a big risk?
I have already got some plastic primer, satin black and the wrinkle finish to go on top. If anyone can foresee a problem, shout out now please! After the warm weather this week, I am tempted to get going before Easter if it repeats. I will post pics regardless of my assessment of success.
ps I shortened the legs on a trundle bed frame a couple of weeks ago. Cut out sections, cut a slice out of the extracted tube and then squashed and used it as a strengthener in the residual bits, then welded together again. I used a rattle can (old English White) to touch up the blackened mess. I thought i had contained it pretty well, using newspaper and masking tape. Sadly, the patio table looks like it has leprosy, as well as the plague from where I converted a double bed wooden frame to a single and had to re-drill dowell holes. I clamped the pieces to ovehang the edge of the table where I was drilling..... I thought.