Andy Kendrick's Special
 

Andy from Wales has been discussing a project for a while now and we have finally settled on using his GT6 as a donor.

This is pre-cordite , no doors , so we have shortened and modified a Spyder body and started stretching a Lancia bonnet to fit.

Its a bit of a one off and will be a bit different.

Bonnet and front arches need some work but heres some taster pics for you....

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18...DSCF0241-3.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18...DSCF0242-5.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18...DSCF0243-4.jpg

next week we will lower the front suspension , secure the body properly and rework the bonnet and arches to follow their correct lines....

Got a bit done ....

internal frame is in and gives an insight in to how the Cordite one will be at the rear ( front section will be bonded into the bodies )....rear axle tie rods are bolted through new outrigger

body is secured.

bonnet has been lengthened and arch re-location is next.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18...DSCF0233-1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18...DSCF0234-3.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18...DSCF0235-3.jpg

Managed to get all cuts fully glassed today.

Internals were already done but Mike pasted and glassed the outside as well for strength.

Steel hinge bar has been glassed and sikko'd into the nose , extra layup under bonnet to hide scars and some ply 'inner wings' added to brace the extra long bonnet.

Dash mounted and sikko'd in place as well as glassed.

front bulkhead fully glassed in place also.....

I started prepping some lowered floorpans for it as well....

tomorrow should see the bonnet mounted and then we can start creating the new arches and longer chin ( good game , good game ! ) as well as hopefully getting some internals sorted.

pics to follow as forgot bloody camera !!

I wondered what was lurking in the background of the G46 pictures you posted the other day.

Looks like you have shown me how to stretch the bonnet on the G46 if I end up fettling the bodywork.

I love the way you style these cars. They all slightly different but all distinctly yours.

THANK YOU ....WE like them !!

The stretching involved , cutting the bonnet in two , then fixing the rear in place against the bulkhead , positioning the front after that ...this left the 4'' gap...At this stage things get crude and a bit Dr. Frankenstein , you need to join the two halfs together...we use fibreglass and steel splints , there is still one attached in the picture but it was done using about 5 in total , all bolted through nice and strong....its a bit fiddly , 2 man job.
The gaps between the splints are filled by glueing and screwing flat sheet ( can be hard board , formica , anything really thats got one side smooth) - face down and any gaps taped up...it looks a mess but basically you need to create a ledge to glass against.
flip the bonnet over , wax the ledge/filler pieces , add a couple of coats of PVA release for good measure and then lay your glass up...couple of layers will be good to start.
When its dry , unbolt/unscrew/unstick your patches and you are left with the scar as shown. If you use a material thats not smooth , it could stick , but even if it does , hardboard can be sanded off , if necessary...the pva should prevent this but theres never any guarantees !
You can then add extra material to the underside to help blend the scar into the existing bonnet and the top side can be filled and sanded as per any external repair....

A similar process will be used to create the new arches.

You can 'splint' any part of the body , but more complex areas ie. rear quarters will require lots of them to avoid movement....always put two fixings through at least one side of the splint as well.....a splint screwed just once on each end can pivot putting things out of line - a second screw in one of the ends will prevent that ....sounds obvious but needed saying.

Doesn't sound obvious to me.

I might be down on Saturday with a wad of cash. Depends on what happens on Wednesday with the house buying.

i assume with the amount of work you are doing there will be a long enough lead time for me to get the chassis and engine up to scratch before the body arrives. It looks like your workshop is getting crowded.

MIGHT SEE YOU SATURDAY THEN !!

It will need to be early to mid morning , about midday at latest as I have an airport run to do after that.....

Lead time is currently 2-3 weeks for a kit ....we deal with them slightly differently to the longer term stuff....we can delay it for you , no problem.
I have 2 G46 kit packages to do at present anyway.....

Yes , workshop is rammed .....difficult to know which way to turn most days - trying to get everything moving on a bit constantly....could do with extra help but just can't justify the extra expense right now ....getting Dave on board as a 'build agent' has helped...

Gary - I will do what works best for you with regarding the timing. I have a son of a friend of a friend helping me with some of the oily bits. I am paying him with trips in the TVR with the roof down and the throttle up. I thought and early morning blast down to Poole to see what he is helping me with would be fun.

Pictures as promised ....

Bonnet underside with scar smoothed out , inner wing style braces in place , hoop and hinges fitted.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18...DSCF0241-4.jpg

Bulkhead glassed in place

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18...DSCF0242-6.jpg

Hinge plates welded to front crossmember to mount bonnet ( small brackets/bodymounts allowed without affecting IVA exemption

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18...DSCF0243-5.jpg

Bonnet in place with beginnings of front arch re-alignment.....the extra few inches in the bonnet quite dramatically change the car.....I like it.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18...DSCF0244-3.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18...DSCF0245-3.jpg

Very neat Gary, it's looking smart! can't wait to see it in a colour!

its interesting how a slight change in proportion really changes the lines---
I like it - What colour is it likely to end up

Andy runs a bodyshop in Cardiff and is still playing with colour choices but I think it will be a shade of blue , just not certain which one yet.....I know he was looking at some of the old Jag colours today...

When I get a chance , we will roll it outside and redo the original pictures.

Andy plans to run triple webers on the 2.5 lump....combine that with the 84'' wheelbase and it should be interesting !!

That wouldn't be the Andy that I bought my donor from would it? :)

Gary, was the bonnet stretch necessary or just a cosmetic choice? I'd think that the general dimensions from the bulkhead forward would be quite similar between the GT6/Spitfire and the Herald/Vitesse. This would mean that the standard 'italian' bonnet would fit either...

Baz from Brussels

Yes mate .....same one.

CBJROMS bought his from him as well and the Vitesse on the getting started page top pic was from him also....... he has just sold a rolling chassis for a Vitesse to another guy who is meant to be getting in touch soon as well....

Baz , yes it was necessary ....the different front crossmember changes the length ...it curves forward quite a lot , throwing the grille forward...this is why the front arches needed their front edge moving back a bit.

We are thinking about using a Lancia style bonnet in its modified format as an option on the Cordite....it will need a little blister or scoop to deal with the front carb on the Spit based ones in the same way as the Spit engined Spyder does ...but the GT6 , stromberg version will clear ok...

I have done a Spit based car before with the German bonnet but I can't remember how I got it all to fit !!

webers
 

hi gary looking good... if you man is going to us triple webers he is best to use triumph tune manfolds as they slop forward...front one is 1 1/2 in lower then back one... have a look at pic of barry's car on is forum ..they take up a lot of room i will send u so pic's to your web sit as have in a game with pic.s on this f0rum cheers phil kings lynn.

have email you some pic's nice job of bonnet but going to be tight with bonnet ribs i look forward to see how it tunes out our bonnet fit with no cuting but i think i just got luck'e keep up the good work .

of course! I momentarily forgot that the front of the chassis is considerably different...

Pictures of Barry's car sent to me by Phil9.....

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18...sammio2114.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18...sammio2096.jpg

THANK YOU MATE ....Thats looking pretty cool....

Rolled her outside this afty to get a better look....

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18...DSCF0243-6.jpg

It looks even better than the spyder Garry

You can't dis' the Spyder... It's only a bit longer! Respect.

i wasn't "dis'ing" my brethern but stating that my preference is to the longer bonnet.

I know you say that size isn;t important but in this case the longer lines of the bonnet adds to the sleeker - faster looking car.

that looks wicked, best find a gt6 to chop up next....

Andy has very definite ideas about how he wants the car to look ....Although he lives in Wales , he is originally from Norwich way , as is Phil9 , Andy asked for a scoop like Phils , Mike has done this.....

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18...DSCF0245-4.jpg


These scoops must be now known as NORFOLK SCOOPS....:biggrin1:

We also managed to get the interior fitted ....dropped floors ( slightly modified as I made the frame before we had dropped pans ) , wooden sides and rear bulkhead and our new steel tunnels ( £60 each and supplied over length to be cut down )

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18...DSCF0246-3.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18...DSCF0244-4.jpg


Rear light holes and pods have been grafted on also....

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18...DSCF0247-3.jpg

The above picture shows the shorter tail quite well.....Obviously still a Sammio yet a bit different....

READY FOR COLLECTION .....SUBJECT TO FUEL AVAILABILITY !!

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18...DSCF0249-3.jpg


http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y18...DSCF0250-3.jpg

Ooooh, that's NICE Gary!

Hope you took a mould, as you might be selling a few of them!

Hi there to everyone in the sammio family, thought its time to get myself on here, ok im Andy from cars & classics from wales i have a car restorers and bodyshop and over a long period of time have worn poor garys ears out and he stays so polite!! bless him well im glad to see the excellent feed back on my special gary and mike are the dogs!! cracking job big thanks to them and a thank you to those of you that have bought donnor cars from me!! carnt wait to get mine ready, got a big pile of new goodies to, got to do the finishing touches collecting car next week and droppping off more donnor vehicles to gary as im hoping to become a agent here in wales for gary suppling them in all levels and stages hopefully!! so whatch this space, thanks for reading and keep up the good work to all of you out there
thanks Andy.

my sammio special with a norfolk scoop!!
 

hi gary finaly on here!! carnt wait to collect my sammio next week looks fab and great feedback on the car, next lot of donnor vehicles ready to come down, introduced myself on here hopefully will be a big part in these cracking little cars!!
cheers Andy.

Welcome to the fold Andy. I'm sure there's room on here for the odd pro' amongst us amateurs. Looks like selling Sammio's could be a nice little addition to your business empire. Good luck!

Welcome Andy. Looking forward to seeing the 'Special' in paint.
I've taken the liberty of putting you 'on the map'. You are the Cars & Classics based in Taffs Well aren't you?
Matter of interest, what stage are you supplying donors at? As bought or Stripped or Stripped and restored?

sammio special
 

=chap68, Hi there and thank you for a nice warm welcome, yeh im looking forward to getting involved with them more deeply!! helps gary and myself exspand business help customers get what they want!! just got to get the hang of using the forum so please bear with me! lol cheers.

Andy .....you got here in the end then ?

Welcome aboard ....

In answer to your question , Andyp , I think any level required really ....Andy is keen to act as an agent in Wales and I am sure between the two of us we can accomadate most requests !

I am taking delivery of a rolling chassis next week from Andy , no engine but overhauled suspension etc....its the beginnings of my car / new demonstrator etc...so I will start a new thread when it arrives , don't want to hijack this thread too much !

sammio special
 

=chap68 Hi thanks for a nice welcome, yes looking forward to getting my sammio special in paint still playing with colour options at the mo? yes thats me in taffs well so thanks for that!! im hoping to supply at all levels from bear chassis to fully built turn key cars! but with gary having a imput of build to, he has developed a fab creation with the sammio, true old school rod builder keep it simple but very effective to say the least!! when i collect my car im leaving him with a 1970 vitesse rotorflex chassis 2.0 six banger!! to become a sammio for sale, will give someone a chance to buy with there own imput without getting dirty!! cheers.

Hi Andy and welcome to the forum, it's good to hear that you eventually decided to do a Spyder for yourself rather than just providing a few of us with donors :)

I bought the Herald 13/60 that had been converted to a Vitesse off of you last year and i'm happy to say that i've recently finished converting it to a Sammio Spyder and i've had a great time doing it :)

When i came over and saw the donor (about this time last year?) i do remember promising you that i'd come over when i finally finished and as soon as the weather cheers up and when i've gained a bit more confidence in it i'll pop over for a blat :)

I look forward to seeing how yours turns out, especially seeing as you're a top bodyshop bod!

Dave

Hi dave nice to hear from you and glad xmu did you proud!! yes it taken me a bit of time to swing mine into action but i knew all along what i wanted and and a bit of difference and i can honestly say gary and mike have got the vision of mine just how i want it to look, looking forward to being a agent to its all exciting stuff, still plaing with colours for mine i have 4 colours in mind for mine so you will all have to wait and see pics will follow!! thank you for the kind comment about my bodyshop, yeh when it warms up and have time pop over ketttle will be on!!
Andy.

Norfolk Scoop
 

Gary

Re your early post in this thread

1. How do we form the Norfolk Scoop into the bonnet to you "plant on" or "cut in" ?

2. Could we use you metal tunnel section to form the recess under our door cills to run the side exhausts within or do you have a standard tunnel section in fibreglass, current thinking is to mould the section around a length of 150mm dia drain pipe.

Just wondering if there's a progress report on this cracking looking one-off special build? Would love to see the finished car...

I would think not as this is the person that was allegedly 'taken for a ride' I think.