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-   -   Geoff's 250 SWB Replica Build (https://madabout-kitcars.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4261)

WorldClassAccident 24th June 2014 19:05

Hi - my car is sat outside my house without any problems - I guess I don't live in a scummy area though...

...only joking ;-) mine is actually tucked up on the drive most nights

I read something on this thread about getting a rear window for a Ford Popular done from a template. Okay on flat glass I guess. Unfortunately it is 82 pages - somewhere around page 30 i think

http://www.rodsnsods.co.uk/forum/top...hop-week-32177

redratbike 24th June 2014 23:13

There's a guy who advertises in custom car mag I'm sure that does flat glass...does a lot of heavy plant on sites aswell as they are all flat

redratbike 24th June 2014 23:19

http://www.aik-glass.co.uk/products

Also
http://www.construction.co.uk/company_143843.htm

Our vans are stocked with laminated and toughened safety glass so we can cut and fit all in one visit, so you have a minimal amount of downtime.

casamolino 25th June 2014 08:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by redratbike (Post 56751)
http://www.aik-glass.co.uk/products

Also
http://www.construction.co.uk/company_143843.htm

Our vans are stocked with laminated and toughened safety glass so we can cut and fit all in one visit, so you have a minimal amount of downtime.

Redratbike , thanks for that , Geoff .

Mister Towed 25th June 2014 09:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by casamolino (Post 56727)
Thanks for all the comments , i will be sticking with the existing side window glass (rather than two pieces of sliding lexan)

Are you going to use the donor's doors? From the development pics it looks like custom made 'glass doors are being fabricated unless they're just skins to bond over the Beemer doors.

Will you be replicating/homaging the Ferrari interior or keeping the modern dash and trim?

Sorry for all the questions but this car's really caught my attention as it's got the potential to be a 'sensible' daily driver to complement my Spyder. :eusa_think:

casamolino 25th June 2014 10:25

Good morning Mister Towed , the car will retain the Z3 doors but they will be reskinned , as for the interior , a 250 SWB style interior would be the best way to go , but for the sake of my wallet/sanity/reliability , the desire to drive it as soon as possible will take precedence , i will be replacing the seats with something more period and would look to use the seat material to have the door cards and possible the centre console/dash covered , the "sensible daily driver" term is exactly what i am hoping for , thanks Geoff .

Mitchelkitman 25th June 2014 14:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by redratbike (Post 56751)
http://www.aik-glass.co.uk/products

Also
http://www.construction.co.uk/company_143843.htm

Our vans are stocked with laminated and toughened safety glass so we can cut and fit all in one visit, so you have a minimal amount of downtime.

That would be interesting to see - Thought you couldn't cut toughened glass? Please show a video to prove me wrong! We'll know it's toughened when it breaks into thousands of pieces.

WorldClassAccident 25th June 2014 14:45

http://www.wikihow.com/Cut-Tempered-Glass

zagmad 25th June 2014 15:58

would the rubbers off a hartop bonded be used on to a small cut of tempered,polished glass to fit work. like some of the mercedes coupes and i think the astra that was on here had rubber seals in between the glass at the back. could take a mould off the hardtop as a template and then back to the shape of the door. just brainstorming. yes you would see a thin rubber seal close up but not from a distance.

y cymro 30th June 2014 19:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by casamolino (Post 56758)
as for the interior , a 250 SWB style interior would be the best way to go....... i will be replacing the seats with something more period

Evening Geoff
I've found an Italian supplier who'll sell a pair of SWB seats for 3700Euros if that's of use :-)
Steve

casamolino 30th June 2014 20:47

Any chance of some discount if we both buy a set! Geoff .

zagmad 1st July 2014 16:10

I understand where your coming from as far as driving the car and interior. Im gonna use the mx5 interior as is till I've cleared my loan and start changing bits when i can. I've bought the usual steering wheel and gear knob. Was looking at mini buckets with a head rest would look period. I prefer cloth seats to keep the weight down. Havnt driven the car since i dropped it off bout a year ago.

zagmad 1st July 2014 16:12

I had a new clutch kit fitted and water pump and cam belt so it keeps all the major moving parts in sync and nice and cool when one day i drive it home.

AcC8braman 1st July 2014 19:55

Think I will have to sell my lambo and get one of these :)

Pandora 6th July 2014 17:39

I may have missed someone previously pointing out the blindingly obvious, but it just struck me that the MGB has a pretty close track / w'base to the SWB - could this kit be made to fit an MGB roadster, but using BGT windscreen (rather than the seperate alloy pillars of the roadster) and still avoid IVA? The BGT and SWB screens do look to be broadly similar in 'wraparound' and have square corners rather than radiused, have easily available chrome trim etc.

An early roadster would of course have a perfectly period interior etc.

Al

Mitchelkitman 6th July 2014 21:47

Hmm - now that sounds a good idea! Spare parts unlikely to ever be a problem as well. Wires as well. Good thinking Batman

Tribute Automotive 6th July 2014 22:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pandora (Post 57171)
I may have missed someone previously pointing out the blindingly obvious, but it just struck me that the MGB has a pretty close track / w'base to the SWB - could this kit be made to fit an MGB roadster, but using BGT windscreen (rather than the seperate alloy pillars of the roadster) and still avoid IVA? The BGT and SWB screens do look to be broadly similar in 'wraparound' and have square corners rather than radiused, have easily available chrome trim etc.

An early roadster would of course have a perfectly period interior etc.

Al

Before buying the swb wooden buck I did look at MGB wings and doors as a starting point for the panel shapes, but your idea of using the roadster shell is a good one. I will look into it once we have the Z3 version sorted.

Pandora 7th July 2014 11:02

I'm full of good ideas, me! It'd be a bit like the sebring sprite, where the windscreen frame is part of the roof / rear moulding, but picks up on the detachable screen mounting points

Are MGB rear wings welded on? I think fronts are bolt on. Does this make a difference to IVA?

DSG4ME 7th July 2014 11:24

What about a 250 SWB Spyder. Notice that I ommited the word "replica" because Ferrari never made a convertible version in this bodyshape.

The 250 Spyder that Ferrari built in those days was the famous California Spyder.

Now, there's another idea for another model in the future. Maybe Z3 based ? :icon_idea:

jones 7th July 2014 13:59

DSG4ME - I restored an MGB roadster a number of years back and I am sure if my memory is correct they are welded and then have a lead bead along the top. Fortunately I only had to replace the sills and lower rear quarters (plus the front wings, front valance, rear valance, drivers & passengers floor - in fact the only things that was rot free was the boot! )

I have to admit the idea of using an MGB as a donor is one that I would favor as the engine bay is large so can fit the notorious rover V8 as fitted in the MGB GT :-) or the V6 that the MGC had.

Scottie22 7th July 2014 14:48

Jonesy is right,with using the MGB shell, the biggest problem would be rust.
I completely renovated one once, and vowed never to touch one again.

And with a brand new Heritage shell costing £8000+ then all the work to transfer everything over, that would rather defeat the original concept.

A good idea in principle, but not in practice, unless you are a workaholic welder!

Pandora 7th July 2014 15:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by jones (Post 57203)
the engine bay is large so can fit the notorious rover V8 as fitted in the MGB GT :-) or the V6 that the MGC had.

The BGT had the same 1800 in line 4. There was the later BGT V8 (by the factory or by Costello)

The MGC had the in-line 6 cylinder 3000 as used in the later Big Healeys.

Yes, rust is an issue, but donors are cheap. A late 'rubber bumper' project shouldn't be more than a grand, and the re-shell mans you don't have to do the tricky external welding of the bodywork.

Al

Scottie22 7th July 2014 16:11

I would think a lot of people will be put off by the 8 grand shell cost?

jones 7th July 2014 17:15

[IMG][/IMG]Scottie I agree - when I restored mine it was a '75 rubber and it looked great when I purchased but happened to be 90% filler and plating not the simple chrome bumper conversion i was looking for! so thought the heritage shell was a great way forward - problem is I went to look at the shell at MGOC the panels were as poorly fitted as they were probably out of the factory. :focus:

sooooo.... busy day at work so drew up the following.....

[IMG]http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7b3cd324.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/...pse7aeb183.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/...psa1a3b624.jpg[/IMG]

Scottie22 7th July 2014 18:29

Looks really good, I suppose I just had a bad experience with the MGB I welded up.

It wasn't so much the outer panels, it was all of it!
The sills are in three pieces, and all three needed welding, and the "castle rail" as its called, is in between the outer and inner sill walls, so the outer sill had to come off in order to get the castle rail in and welded. Of course once the castle rail is sorted,
The outer sill has to be completely welded back on.
I found the whole thing a bit of a nightmare, and as I said, I would not want to do that again.

y cymro 7th July 2014 21:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scottie22 (Post 57218)
I suppose I just had a bad experience with the MGB I welded up.
It wasn't so much the outer panels, it was all of it!
I found the whole thing a bit of a nightmare, and as I said, I would not want to do that again.

I had the same experience Scottie. Had to change floorpans too. After all that work I had a fast Austin Cambridge. Great.

casamolino 8th July 2014 14:59

Door glass off a BMW Z3 M coupe bought , passenger and drivers , Geoff .

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u.../DoorGlass.png

y cymro 8th July 2014 15:16

http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7b3cd324.jpg

http://www.cloudbaseimaging.com/Cars...IMG_0358-M.jpg
(photo copyright of cloudbaseimaging.blogspot)

Geoff, it will be interesting to see how the roof line can be made to swoop into the sloping C pillar of the SWB due to the rising profile of the new glass, especially at the rear corner.
Steve

Tribute Automotive 9th July 2014 22:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by y cymro (Post 57261)
http://i1373.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7b3cd324.jpg

http://www.cloudbaseimaging.com/Cars...IMG_0358-M.jpg
(photo copyright of cloudbaseimaging.blogspot)

Geoff, it will be interesting to see how the roof line can be made to swoop into the sloping C pillar of the SWB due to the rising profile of the new glass, especially at the rear corner.
Steve

This is the theory. Existing runners shown in green, glass shape in pink, Rotate the whole assembly in the door and then replace the quarter light when framing the whole door glass:

http://i1046.photobucket.com/albums/...ps379f4a1c.jpg

Fingers crossed.

Tribute Automotive 9th July 2014 22:08

The back end surfaces are now finished to a level where a slash mould can be taken:

http://i1046.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1dc8cc5a.jpg

Existing splash mould placed back on the rear of the buck:

http://i1046.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0e9c9fcd.jpg

Flanges added to split the mould and gelcoat painted on:

http://i1046.photobucket.com/albums/...ps891ceb29.jpg

The first set of panels should be ready to try on the Z3 early next week.

y cymro 9th July 2014 22:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tribute Automotive (Post 57333)
Fingers crossed.

Chris, my fingers have been crossed for so long they're numb :nod:
This sounds like an interesting plan. If anyone can pull it off it's you.

y cymro 9th July 2014 22:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tribute Automotive (Post 57334)
The back end surfaces are now finished to a level where a slash mould can be taken.
Flanges added to split the mould and gelcoat painted on.
The first set of panels should be ready to try on the Z3 early next week.

Absolutely superb. Well done.
Steve

casamolino 10th July 2014 08:37

Morning Steve i bought the two pices of glass (just in case) , not exactly correct but the Z3 M Coupe is so thin on the ground , and the price was so good that it seemed worthwhile , each new picture that Chris puts up makes the project look better and better , Geoff .

Mister Towed 10th July 2014 08:43

Imaginative solution to the side glass issue. Can't you just wander into a BMW dealer's and order a pair from the parts dept?

If not, could a pattern be cut to make some from Lexan/Plexiglass? I kind of like the idea of sliding side windows rather than up'n'down ones.

froggyman 10th July 2014 09:09

This project just gets better and more interesting as time goes on.Llooking forward to next week to see it on the Z3.

Towed have you ever bought a part in a BMW dealers? Went in not so long ago to get an X5 door mirror for a friends car. Well I left without it as I could have bought a decent little runabout for the cost of that. Did a 'Scottie' repair in the end £1.75. Lovelly jubbly.

Mister Towed 10th July 2014 09:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by froggyman (Post 57349)
This project just gets better and more interesting as time goes on.Llooking forward to next week to see it on the Z3.

Towed have you ever bought a part in a BMW dealers? Went in not so long ago to get an X5 door mirror for a friends car. Well I left without it as I could have bought a decent little runabout for the cost of that. Did a 'Scottie' repair in the end £1.75. Lovelly jubbly.

Never had a Beemer, but did buy wifey a new Mercedes Benz a few years back. The service/parts manager carried a pair of flintlock pistols, wore a mask and Tricorn hat and greeted me with a cheerless 'Stand and deliver!' every time an invoice was due payment. :(

WorldClassAccident 10th July 2014 09:39

I remember the windscreen wiper blades for my old CL being something ridiculous like £80

Scottie22 10th July 2014 14:06

And here's me thinking I had been shafted at £66, for my toy wipers!

Tribute Automotive 12th July 2014 17:30

http://i1046.photobucket.com/albums/...ps06832537.jpg

http://i1046.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2c36411b.jpg

http://i1046.photobucket.com/albums/...ps73f48f8d.jpg

http://i1046.photobucket.com/albums/...psed90a01f.jpg

mike.gamble 13th July 2014 13:27

I'm new here but have been watching this thread for weeks now after being told about this by a friend who has the MX250.

This is very interesting and I'm looking forward to seeing this develop over the next few weeks!


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