Oxford build

[oxford1360]

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.

[Mister Towed]

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.

[davecymru]

Originally Posted by oxford1360

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

Sounds spookily familiar

Welcome and the best of luck with your build

[tlrtone]

Welcome to the madhouse!

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

[oxford1360]

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

[tlrtone]

Originally Posted by oxford1360

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

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

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

[davecymru]

Originally Posted by tlrtone

....all curious to see what others are doing.:

i.e nick your ideas!

[froggyman]

Originally Posted by davecymru

i.e nick your ideas!

Some lead others follow!!!!

[davecymru]

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

[Mister Towed]

Originally Posted by davecymru

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

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.

[oxford1360]

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.

[oxford1360]

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.

[Nick59]

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!

[Mister Towed]

Nice steady progress. Another perfectionist joins the fold.

[tlrtone]

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

[oxford1360]

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

[Paul L]

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...



[Cinema Voice Over]

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

[/Cinema Voice Over]



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.

[oxford1360]

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.

[oxford1360]

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.

Safe systems of working.......well kind of.

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.".

[tlrtone]

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"