Preston Sammio
 

Hi all, I've taken the first step and am now the proud owner of my donor vehicle, a 1969 Vitesse Mk 2 which has been dry stored for 31 years!

It will be a while before I see it turning into a Sammio as I intend carrying out a full strip, refurbish and repaint of the donor parts before ordering the kit (Stand by Gary! )

I'm also part way through a build of an Eco-Exo trike which takes a bit of time away from my schedule. Nonetheless, as I go, I'll be posting here and look forward to many happy e-chats with you all.

Welcome to the club and the best of luck with the restoration, fingers crossed that there aren't any major "surprises" :)

Dave

Hi Andy, nice to see another Vitesse based Sammio being started and I hope you find less horrors hidden under your donor body than I did with mine. Look forward to seeing some progress.

STANDING BY... !!

Welcome aboard.....please put pics up as you go , if possible , the prep work and renovation etc is just as interesting and relevant to us and lurkers etc as the actual kit fitting can be ...

A lot of my customers and potential customers are fairly new to the hobby , having been drawn in by the price and styling of the Sammio ....all reference articles and help is invaluable to these guys...

I'll certainly keep a photo log from day 1. Whilst you are here, is the lovely 'D Type' Fin you mocked up in card likely to be available on a Sammio body sometime soon or do you see the idea as a one off?

Styling and then the price.

If your like me you are going to enjoy this big time even the set backs and there is always this place for solace "Sammio's Annonymouse" (spelling not requiered). I've found myself in the garage just finking then getting on with it, welcome and enjoy, Pat (& Skippy)

hi Andy welcome, and happy building, you find lots of helpfull tips and tricks on here, and if your not sure just ask, one of us on here would have the answer....

AVAILABLE END OF JANUARY...Price to be finalized but in line with our existing price structuring ....ie. CHEAP !

Fin-Tastic!
 

Gary, That's just the answer I was hoping for :eusa_clap:
I hope to start the strip as soon as tomorrow (If it stops raining:rain: )and will soon have an idea of the timeline but end of January sounds ideal for when I'd be ready to put an order in.

The Donor
 

Jan 1st 2012 and as it stopped raining for a few minutes, I popped outside to take a few photos of the donor as delivered.
I really had to make a hard decision whether to restore it to its former glory as a Mk 2 2Ltr Vitesse or start stripping to become a Sammio Spyder. The Spyder won hands down but I'm hoping to put some of the nicer body parts into the hands of a Vitesse restorer.
Watch this space!

http://i1237.photobucket.com/albums/...o/P1010019.jpg

http://i1237.photobucket.com/albums/...o/P1010020.jpg

http://i1237.photobucket.com/albums/...o/P1010021.jpg

http://i1237.photobucket.com/albums/...o/P1010022.jpg

That looks to be in great shape for a 43 year old car and I really like the colour too. Do you know what it's called or the paint code?

Must've set you back a fair bit unless you were very lucky...

Any hidden horrors lurking underneath the shiny bits though?

I'm not sure what the colour is but if you could guide me to where the paint code is on the vehicle I'll certainly have a look (Not sure if it's 'Cherry' on the link: http://www.classiccarhub.co.uk/tech/...ours.html#reds )
I've not started looking too deep yet but on a first walk round, I'm impressed and hope the deeper inspection doesn't turn up anything nasty. I'm currently feeling lucky as it came to me at a grand with a spare (!) Engine and Gearbox which I've yet to collect.

Hi Andy
I know only too well that guilty decision that has to be made, restore or use as you intended, I too slept on it for a night before I made my mind up Sammio won hands down,
E bay fetches a lot of the initial outlay back and I guess goes toward restoring others that would other wise be lost.

Welcome to the madhouse and good luck.
Pops

Paint code should be on the commission plate located on the passenger side of the bulkhead just behind the front wheel.

Useful link btw, looks like yours could be Cherry or Burgundy from the examples given.

If the condition of your panels is as good as they look in the pics you should get most of your grand back if not more. My bonnet sold to a chap who'd had his daily-driver Herald 13/60 bonnet crunched by an uninsured teenage driver a couple of days before the auction ended and he was desperate to get his pride 'n' joy back on the road. I've never seen anybody look so pleased with an ebay purchase when he collected it.

Just so you've got something to compare yours with here's a picture of mine before I started stripping it:

http://i1186.photobucket.com/albums/...vidpics014.jpg

The decision for me to convert mine to a Sammio was easy as I bought the Vitesse with that intention in the first place. I also don't find the Herald/Vitesse to be a particularly attractive design personally, while Gary's take on the fifties sports racing car really floats my boat.

The clincher for me has been uncovering the bodged repairs that had been made to the chassis of a solid looking 'classic' however. It wouldn't have taken much to get it through the mot which would have left me unknowingly driving a potential death-trap.

Anyway, enjoy the challenge and I look forward to seeing your build progress.

Heck Andy That Car Is Far To Good To Chop Up.......take It Apart Bolt By Bolt......another Win For Sammio I Reckon.........

Pretty car Andy......

Whats it they say ....'' you gotta crack eggs to make Omelettes'' or something like that.
Some people like eggs ....I'm an omelette man myself !!

Ebay and club forums etc will get you a fair chunk back ...good Vitesse bonnets can make 2/3/500 a time , those wheel trims and ally bumper trims etc will get a decent return as well....

Second Step:
Deposit put down on a Sammio!
Cheers Gary

I should've spent more....
 

Just like mine, Andy.:eusa_liar: http://i1090.photobucket.com/albums/...4/IMG_0413.jpg

THANK YOU