Rickhlondon – A belated welcome to the forum Rick.
You’ve already had some good advice from
Mister Towed & Lancelot Link, so I’ll just throw in a bit more.
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”I gather Dave Cymru is the man on this so any input from Dave would also be appreciated.”
Even though Chris @ Tribute now sells the Speedster, Miglias have their own sub-section of the forum here:
http://www.madabout-kitcars.com/foru...splay.php?f=21
Where you will also find
DaveCymru’s Miglia Speedster build thread:
http://www.madabout-kitcars.com/foru...ead.php?t=4953
So you can use that thread to send him a message either via a reply to the thread.
Or via a PM (Personal Message) by clicking on his user name where it appears to the left of his posts.
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”Chris advised there were one or two issues with the body as it currently is supplied notably the rear nearside wheel arch not being centred etc and I believe one or two other matters.
Could any of the members give some guidance on quite how much of a problem this is given that I may be attempting the work myself and have limited skills with regard to bodywork.”
Most people who share their build threads on here will cover their fibreglass work in detail which really helps.
As prior to starting my own Sammio Cordite build, I’d never worked with fibreglass before.
But once you get the hang of it, making changes to things like the wheel arches is pretty straight forward.
So it is definitely possible to learn bodywork skills to make significant changes to an ‘acceptable’ standard.
Before:
After:
However, there are two things to note carefully here:
- If you want professional standard bodywork, pay a professional to do it!
- I spent a HUGE number of hours messing about with fibreglass & filler, so time is the real cost.
( Although you will also have to spend real money on materials too. )
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”Bottom line is that the car is very evocative and attractive and in theory at least should be relatively easier (I may eat those words) to put together on an existing chassis than starting totally from scratch.”
Seeing the original Sammio Spyder (#66) on the front cover of a magazine was enough to drag me into this world.
So if your heart is really set on a Miglia Speedster, then anything is possible\achievable.
But just a few words of caution from me…
You are correct to say starting with an existing chassis is easier than building a chassis from scratch.
However, you will need
someone to build a custom internal framework to suit.
Lancelot Link’s framework for his Formosa 120 GR gives you some idea of what is required.
I also learnt to weld (to a fashion) during my build and modified my own framework quite a bit.
But I would have found the task of building a frame from scratch too much for a novice to take on.
I was able to strip my Spitfire donor down to the rolling chassis with no prior experience.
Clearly, at this point the donor could not be driven which lead to clutch and engine problems.
( Due to the time it took me to put everything back together. )
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So I would echo
Mr T’s point about considering kits that keep more of the donor car.
Both the new Sammio Alpha and the Tribute A352 allow the donor car to remain driveable during the build.
( Not road legal, but OK to fire up and drive in the garage/driveway. )
The big advantage of this is that you don’t need to remove things like the wiring, steering column, handbrake, etc.
Here are a few photos that give you an idea of what remains of the donor car underneath the new body work.
Alpha
A352
As a general rule, builds that start with a bare chassis take longer than those that just cut down the donor.
If you check the Miglia build treads, some are relatively quick, but others take years.
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”I am in Hertfordshire but happy to travel.”
Whilst I don’t have a Miglia, I do live in Wembley, so you can’t be too far from me.
If you can wait until I’ve finished painting my car you are welcome to visit/chat/come for a spin.
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Hope that helps and good luck, Paul.
