Oxford build
 

I'm ashamed to say that I have been a lurker for over a year and have been preparing/building secretly in Oxford for nearly a year. Progress has been slow. Partly because of available time, and partly because I've had to build/rewire the workshop.

Thanks for the entertainment and insights that you have all provided. I like the tone of the forum and the fact that this is "not a club".

I shall start to post photos and updates in the next few days.

I started with a 13/60 Saloon that came with a complete stripped Vitesse plus a van load of other spares.

The aim is to end-up with a nimble road car that I can use in sprints and hillclimbs. It will be a 1300 with twin SUs and a 4-2-1 straight through. Unleaded head and a little bit of lightening and balancing.

I plan to use the steel floor from the tub and build my own frame. Gary kindly supplied me with a body in April.

What started as a pragmatic "get it on the road" build has become an obsession and I now have a zero miles Newark Engine, and zero miles Mike Papworth gearbox and diff tucked safely away waiting to be installed.

That's enough for now. I look forward to getting to know you all.

Well I wish you a hearty welcome!

Don't worry, I think most of us started out with the idea of whacking the car together in a couple of months but very quickly became obsessed with the details, I know that's how mine's gone.

Anyway, nice to see another builder on the forum and I can't wait to see some pictures and maybe steal, I mean share a few ideas. :party:

Sounds spookily familiar :)

Welcome and the best of luck with your build :)

Welcome to the madhouse! :nerd:

Hurry up and get the pictures up, admitting your a Sammio builder is only part of your rehabilitation! :playball:

You are right. It's taken a lot of courage!

Hey, once you start posting pictures, it is a great feeling! :hippie:

You are amongst friends here and we are all curious to see what others are doing. :noidea:

i.e nick your ideas! :)

Some lead others follow!!!!

Don't get me wrong, i meant that in a good way.
And on this forum and with Sammios more than anywhere i've encountered there are a bunch of people who all appreciate what each other are doing (i'm not sure i've seen a really nasty negative comment yet?) and if they see bits of each others cars that we like then it's a case of:
"that's cool, i'm going to do that. but i'll do it my own way" :)

Which is why i look forward to new builds like this one :)

:grouphug:

Seconded. I reckon there's a better spirit running through this forum because we're not just assembling a kit, we're setting out on an adventure! To get one of these babies on the road takes more than a bit of basic spanner twirling. :biggrin:

I agree. It's the problem solving that is so attractive. Seeing how others go about things is brilliant. I'm sure I'm not alone in scouring photos for detail.
Interiors are my bag at the moment - I can't get enough of them. The drive train pretty much takes care of itself, and I have a good idea of how the bodywork will end-up, but the interior is the challenge. I'll beg, steal or borrow ideas, and I might even come up with some of my own.

Up to date with some pics
 

I've picked 10 or so of my favourite pics from the last year to get up to date and to assuage my lurker guilt.

June 14th 2011 - 13/60 donor delivered from Welwyn into my newly borrowed workshop. It was a few days after its 40th birthday when it arrived, and it had been off the road for the last 20.


A couple of weeks later I had some time to get started. This is one of my favourite pics because it was on this day that I realised I really was going to build a Sammio.


The main chassis rails were very solid with only minor repairs needed in the usual diff area.


Which was very different from all of the outriggers that were made of dust.


Who needs a pit?


Some of my chassis plating. Quite pleased considering it's a gasless mig. It was at this stage that my obsession began to appear. I wanted the chassis to be "symetrical" so if I plated one side, I'd add an identical plate on the other even if it didn't need it.


Floorpans were salvageable........


But I couldn't resist.


In April I went down to Poole and met a nice chap called Gary........


I stopped three times on the way home just to open up the van doors and look at it.

My little risk - going for a steel floor. I want the profiled steel and the curved tunnel rather than flat sections.


It's cut along the line of the centre of the diff. I may have to take more off when I add the lowering block. And, the steel wheel arches will need some trimming so that they are not visible, but rough layups have suggested that the idea is not total madness. Another reason for the steel floor is I want to encase the fuel tank in a steel "box".


I was travelling home one Friday evening and I couldn't resist dropping by the workshop (which is known as "The Glade") just to tuck her in.


All her "arms and legs" back on. New outriggers and rails all round.


Yesterday was time for some reorganisation so that I can really make progress on the chassis.


You can see why it's now dubbed "The Glade". I've had deer wandering past and I saw a weasel last week.


Which brings us to today. The back is off completely and I've had the N/S driveshaft and hub on the bench to use one of my lovely new tools.


I have set aside every Friday morning, so although progress will not be fast, it will be steady. And, as the evenings are light, I shall be able to get plenty of small tasks completed.

Great little story coming together....youve seen a weasel...you have got towed on here and we have ratbike, just need owl....now who wears goggles and a flying helmet hmmn!

Nice steady progress. Another perfectionist joins the fold. :)

good work and a great start to your build thread!

Consider yourself officially one of the 'nutters' and all guilt is suitably absolved!

We now expect a picture and work summary every friday afternoon :biggrin:

At last - people that understand! Wife and children are chillingly unimpressed when I show them pictures on my phone on a Friday evening.

The more build threads the merry as far as I'm concerned.

I know that the community spirit of this forum is what sucked me in.

But I must end with this great photo...

http://www.thewebsofa.com/carpics/f15.jpg

[Cinema Voice Over]

In the woods, no one can hear you angle grind / weld / hammer / curse!

[/Cinema Voice Over]

:wink:

Good luck with the rest of your build, Paul. :)

PS
I've got friends in Headington, so perhaps I'll get a chance to say hello one day.

In a forest, if a man swears and nobody hears, does he actually swear?

Yes, he does.

When my friend saw that pic he said it looked like something out of Deliverance.

Friday 1st June
 

Not much visual progress but one of those special days as all welding is now complete on the chassis. There were a couple of seams on the new plates that I couldn't get proper access to until the rear suspension was off, but they are now done.


I then spent some time with the grinder doing some tidying.

Down at The Glade I have no assistance to call on (ever!), so I need to be able to move the chassis around on my own. My plan was to blast the back half, and then prime, paint and rebuild the rear end before doing the same to the front. This was so that I always had an "end" that rolled.

I have come to the conclusion that, with the help of my engine hoist, I can still move the chassis around on my own. So, next job is to strip the front, and then I shall blast and paint the chassis in one go which is much more efficient.

I also managed to get my last trunnion stripped. What a bugger that was. Who would have thought that a plastic/metal interface could resist such force.

The thought of priming and painting the chassis is uplifting. I'm just starting to turn the corner - leaving Destruction Street, and heading along Construction Road. Lovely.

Blasting and spraying also means that I can try out some of my new toys that I have accumulated over the last 12 months. You know the ones......

"What is that large box in the hallway that was delivered today?"

"Nothing, darling, just some bits and pieces.".

oooh, a Friday update! Cool progress.

When SWMBO asks me what's in the box, I just say "that old thing - I've had it for ages" :biggrin:

I normally drop the boxes off at the garage, before i get home!

When my better half asked me what the credit card bill for over £200 to Canley's was for I had to think quickly and told her Canley's was a lap-dancing club.

Phew, that was a close call. :icon_neutral:

Thank goodness it didn't say "Rimmer Brothers". Apologies for lowering the tone.

One of the only upsides of working in an office with a bribe-able receptionist is that all deliveries go to the office and the straight to the garage when I get home and SWMBO need never worry her pretty little head :)

until you leave this page open and she reads it........

Exactly! And I'm telling all your wives and partners!
Yours faithfully,
Mrs Oxford1360.

A rainy Sunday down at The Glade
 

So, it's raining and the TV is full of a little old lady who has done the same job for 60 years. What is there for a man to do?

I had planned to leave the suspension turrets and lower wishbone pickups in place when I blasted, but for the sake of 14 bolts, I couldn't stop myself.


Now she is as naked as the day she was born. Since the age of 13 I've found a bare chassis captivating. Some things don't change.

A new chassis coating
 

Why spend money on a chassis coating when you can mix a handful of soil with some old engine oil? Just coat the chassis, and 40 years later the original paint will still be there. The engine cross-member is like new.


This is by far the crappiest job I've done so far.

Looks like it'll 'do a trip' :)

Thieving b*stard(s)
 

There are some positives to having your workshop in a remote area, but the a negative is that thieving b*stards can visit in the night and steal your tool chest.

It could have been worse; whoever it was didn't notice my brand new sandblaster under the bench. And, my new engine, gearbox and diff were left.

All items of value have now been brought home, a large(r) shackle has been fitted, and CCTV is now in operation.

No thieving little sh*t is going to spoil my fun.

On the upside, the stubborn bolt that I have been feeding with WD40 all week finally came out with a few blows from the hammer that they didn't take. So, not a bad day in the end.

Sorry to hear that. :icon_sad:

I had a tool box stolen once it was the those 'odds & ends' you pick up over the years that I missed the most.

Hope the rest of your build is trouble free, Paul.

Thanks, Paul.
It's things like circlip pliers, brake hose clamps and ball joint splitters that are annoying to lose. Spanners and sockets are easy to replace.

Ooh, bad luck, but like you say, at least your 'blaster engine and box weren't taken. Are you insured?

No Friday progress due to the tool situation, but I've been busy building a blast cabinet. Details can be seen in separate thread.

Sad to note your tool loss. I've had a similar problem with remote workshop and morons nicking odd bits off another project vehicle.

Nothing you can do except to 'suck it up' as our colonial cousins might say..

Rubbish job
 

It was a bit of a bad coincidence that my tools went walkabout at the same time that I was having to face-up to one of the less enjoyable tasks that is part of "The Joy of Sammio".

I apologise for the incredibly boring picture below but I need proof that I am making progress. The chassis is now degreased and I really can blast it next Friday if the weather is dry.

My cross member is grease free. I am not sure why it was cross and I refuse to answer how it got covered in grease.


I feel that I know this chassis better than I knew some of my ex-girlfriends.

Makes the £100 ive paid to have my chassis blasted look well worth it! picking it up in the morning fingers crossed its as good as it looked covered in oil!

You did the right thing. I had the opportunity to have it blasted and primed for £120. There are moments when I think I was mad to decide to do it all myself, but I do secretly enjoy it.

There has to be a Times best seller coming out of this 'Forum'..

Although I enjoyed blasting my chassis myself I have to say it was time consuming and dirty work using the diy kit. At the end of every session I looked like Elizabeth Taylor made up as Cleopatra - even though I wore a face shield, overalls and dust mask the black residue from the grit still got into my eyes, ears, nose, pockets, underwear etc. It also got into the rafters of my garage and even though I got up there and vacuumed it still rains grit every time the wind blows. For that reason alone I'd probably have it done professionally if I ever did another one, but I'm glad I've had the experience of taking a dead chassis and making it good again.