|
Sammio Builds and discussions Sammio bodied car builds and specials |
6th May 2012, 19:38
|
Senior Member
|
|
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Margate, Kent
Posts: 133
|
|
Better progress
Well seem to have made a bit of progress this weekend and another day to go
Floor pans are all repaired and a bit of seam welding to give me another half inch on the tyre clearance, rust treated and primed.
before
Also got the petrol tank bolted in and connected, bolted the rear frame and corners....not a bad fit at all
Also thought I would drop the engine and gearbox back in to settle the suspension prior to bolting it all up....put the brake lines in and ran fuel pipe through....facet electric pump to come
Also got a BMW mini 1 handbrake for a fiver on ebay....thinking I am going to mount the plate on the underside as low as I can go...it seems to have a centre pull so hoping I can connect in a straight pull without the fulcrum thingy?
Floorboards cut ,sealed and primed
...think I deserve a bottle of wine or two as I am now knackered
|
6th May 2012, 20:06
|
|
Senior Member
|
|
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 5,328
|
|
Looking good. Enjoy your wine!
|
6th May 2012, 22:05
|
Senior Member
|
|
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Margate, Kent
Posts: 133
|
|
Hic thank towed...2nd bottle!
|
10th May 2012, 15:53
|
Senior Member
|
|
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: birchington, kent
Posts: 1,769
|
|
All looking good Nick, did you do much on the monday? Or did you have another bottle of wine?
|
29th May 2012, 12:10
|
Senior Member
|
|
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Margate, Kent
Posts: 133
|
|
Can`t believe that nearly three weeks on from last post I have not got much further on....mind you I did manage to sneak to Barcelona for the Grand Prix Everything is now ready for the body bonding to begin Gravicol is ordered for Friday delivery and NOTHING is going to stop me getting it bonded on whilst Queenie paddles the Thames apart from all the beer festivals that appear to be on! Hopefully next pic will be with the tub on! then to attempt the first DVLA inspection in Kent! quickly followed by a trip to Gary and his inspector inspector when ive upset my local one !
|
4th June 2012, 20:23
|
Senior Member
|
|
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Margate, Kent
Posts: 133
|
|
Body trial fitting
|
4th June 2012, 20:41
|
|
Senior Member
|
|
Join Date: May 2009
Location: POOLE , DORSET
Posts: 2,200
|
|
DOESN'T LOOK TOO BAD TO ME NICK....You are definitely getting there....
The bodies aren't totally universal due to 'peculiarities' on each car....you say the wheel is closer to the bulkhead one side compared to the other ...have you checked your wheelbase measurement ? We built a car for a customer last year and couldn't get it right , after hours of going crazy , trying to work out what we had done wrong , I measured the wheelbase and it was about 3/4'' out !!
You may need to cut that cill overhang off , if you can tease the body back a bit more even better ...we have clamped one side before and pulled the other because the bodies have parallelogrammed whilst sitting about ...if you do that make sure you fix or clamp the rear in place and then re-centre the front to avoid the body being too far over one side...
|
4th June 2012, 20:55
|
Senior Member
|
|
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Margate, Kent
Posts: 133
|
|
Thanks Gary, yep I am pretty pleased so far, just wish i could spend more time on it.
I will have a further little tweak before I commit to the bonding paste. The rear dimensions all sit pretty square and the rear wheel dims in the arches are about a match with each other....so if it looks about right I will bond it....Still tempted with the chrome wrap.....Also now realize that the 15" wheels make a difference.....Its quite a leg over!!! Cordite for me before too long
|
4th June 2012, 21:11
|
|
Senior Member
|
|
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 5,328
|
|
|
4th June 2012, 21:28
|
|
Senior Member
|
|
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Somerset
Posts: 1,671
|
|
Just make the wheels as centred in the arches as you can make them and be happy with that!
I'm an IT bod by day and used to things being right or wrong, and it wasn't until I talked to Gary on my inspection trip that i realized that there is a third state of "near enough"
my experiences of talking to others over the last year, no 2 of these donors are anywhere near identical so just get yours right for you.
|
10th June 2012, 22:06
|
Senior Member
|
|
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Margate, Kent
Posts: 133
|
|
More haste less speed or look before you bond!
Well as others have said, you can only look long enough before the big decision to bond and having thought I had got it just about there....the day of bonding cometh!
Straps ready and ratcheted? and paste and glass in hand and this is where I got
Was generally quite happy with my work.....Until realization took hold....that little alignment that I thought would be just a trim back on the cill line
All looks fine
Other side
Not only serious bulkhead bashing to do (yes it is sitting square) but there is no way the wheel is going to run past that shutline.....Unless someone would like to tel me otherwise I am in for cutting the panel and shunting it all back?
Then I looked at the top
not sure if you can see it but the far end kicks right forward! so I have definately got an alignment problem.
Bugger! its bonded and glassed
|
10th June 2012, 23:28
|
|
Senior Member
|
|
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Marmande 47200
Posts: 501
|
|
Nick,
What about cutting through your glass and bonding down the left hand side and pulling the body back into position, now the right hand side is fixed you may get enough flex to align it all?
Would be better id have thought than cutting a section out from the front.
Pops
|
11th June 2012, 06:44
|
|
Senior Member
|
|
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 5,328
|
|
Ooh, bad luck. Did both sides line up on your trial fits? Is the rear face of the cockpit straight across the top of the frame or has it slipped forward on the nearside? I hope you find a simple fix for this one.
|
11th June 2012, 07:25
|
|
Senior Member
|
|
Join Date: May 2009
Location: POOLE , DORSET
Posts: 2,200
|
|
NICK , CLEARLY SOMETHING IS WRONG ....Its very difficult to say what the issue is without seeing the car ....our bodies do run out a bit on the pass. side , but it doesn't normally create an issue like that ...all the bodies are from the same moulds , so they cannot change , all the cars are slightly out one side , but yours is puzzling ....
Sometimes an unfitted body can parallelogram a bit whilst sat around , depending on how it is stored.....we fit one side , clamp it and then tug the other into place when we do ours ...
I think you may have to do a bit of corrective surgery like tlrtone did on his body , but you may want to check your bonnet alignment first ...
You can cut and fix this area even though its bonded on if you haven't fitted the end caps yet....
|
11th June 2012, 09:36
|
Senior Member
|
|
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Margate, Kent
Posts: 133
|
|
Thanks for your comments,
It all looked sort of right everywhere, although the difference between the suspension and wheel to the bulkhead is concerning, as driver side plenty of clearance, passenger side tyre is rubbing the bulkhead? The bulkhead is square to the chassis and if I had moved it back to clear the tyre, it would have made my current situation worse!
I trial fitted the bonnet for alignment and I rekon passenger side needs to come back a good 2".
I know I am not sitting square with the frame rail at the hump....hump is tight against the frame and runs out about 1" so need more than that. Can`t go any further back driver side as I am already sitting tight against the frame rail?
Looking at the rear arches, if I pulled the body any further forward the wheels would touch the rear of the arches
From the rear, all looks like it is sitting square and I am happy with the body sitting where it is.
Am thinking this car will be good at going round left hand corners!
Think I will need to sit and ponder a while before I start any cutting as with the amount of bonding paste I used I dont relish cutting through it!!!
|
11th June 2012, 10:10
|
|
Senior Member
|
|
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 5,328
|
|
It may be the angle the picture's been taken at, but to me it looks like your nearside rear wheel is too far back in the arch. That would explain the front of the body being too close to the nearside wheel. How set is your bonding paste? I'm aware that it can take a few days to go off fully, depending on how much catalyst you add (if any in my case!) and it might be worth seeing if you can separate the body from the chassis now and have another go if it isn't aligned properly. Good luck.
|
11th June 2012, 11:28
|
|
Senior Member
|
|
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Poole, Dorset
Posts: 615
|
|
Nick, it sounds exactly like mine, so I would say that you may not have anything wrong with your body or your chassis.
The side rails on mine needed widening at the rear to sit under the body (and have space to put the ply side panels under the lip), and the rear frame was not square with the back of the cockpit on the body.
The first bit was rectified by cutting and re-welding the side rails. I did mine with the body off though which did make life easier. You could try and do it with the body on, or even cut the rail and then make up a bracket that can be bolted in - it is purely a strengthening rail so bolting it would be fine.
the rear frame was a minor issue in my mind as I just cut and trimmed the plywood panel at the rear to fit and then made adjustments with the final filler and bonding paste, so no major trauma.
The front wheel arch looks exactly as mine did and I too pondered a while over a few evenings. The outcome was my cut and shut story, that is on my thread, and actually I think it turned out better for it! You can get the bonnet to line up and fit, so don't panic over that. I am still not sure why the body fitted like it did, I took many measurements and diagonals and in the end decided that I would fit MY body to MY frame and MY chassis and this meant minor adjustments to all of them! The overall results is very good and even though things are not 100% square or a mirror image from side to side, it doesn't really matter in the overall scheme of things, people WILL NOT notice!
So don't pull you hair out trying to decide where the error is, just satisfy yourself that you have no major chassis twisting by taking diagonal measurements and the bulkhead is fitted correctly ( you can't really get this wrong if the bolt holes line up!) and then just make a plan to adjust the body to fit.
Take a deep beath and get your marker pens out and plan your cuts. Remember that it is only fibreglass and the worst that can happen is that you make a wrong cut and have to add more fibreglass or cut it and do it again!
Good luck!
|
11th June 2012, 12:20
|
|
Senior Member
|
|
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Somerset
Posts: 1,671
|
|
You're not the first to need to make "adjustments" after things were bonded in place! Tips from my experiences would be to do a lot of thinking befpre making any cuts but as soon as you know what needs doing then get the 1mm cutting discs and just go for it!
Best of luck matey, it is worth it in the long run!
|
12th June 2012, 12:57
|
Senior Member
|
|
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Margate, Kent
Posts: 133
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by tlrtone
Nick, it sounds exactly like mine, so I would say that you may not have anything wrong with your body or your chassis.
The side rails on mine needed widening at the rear to sit under the body (and have space to put the ply side panels under the lip), and the rear frame was not square with the back of the cockpit on the body.
The first bit was rectified by cutting and re-welding the side rails. I did mine with the body off though which did make life easier. You could try and do it with the body on, or even cut the rail and then make up a bracket that can be bolted in - it is purely a strengthening rail so bolting it would be fine.
the rear frame was a minor issue in my mind as I just cut and trimmed the plywood panel at the rear to fit and then made adjustments with the final filler and bonding paste, so no major trauma.
The front wheel arch looks exactly as mine did and I too pondered a while over a few evenings. The outcome was my cut and shut story, that is on my thread, and actually I think it turned out better for it! You can get the bonnet to line up and fit, so don't panic over that. I am still not sure why the body fitted like it did, I took many measurements and diagonals and in the end decided that I would fit MY body to MY frame and MY chassis and this meant minor adjustments to all of them! The overall results is very good and even though things are not 100% square or a mirror image from side to side, it doesn't really matter in the overall scheme of things, people WILL NOT notice!
So don't pull you hair out trying to decide where the error is, just satisfy yourself that you have no major chassis twisting by taking diagonal measurements and the bulkhead is fitted correctly ( you can't really get this wrong if the bolt holes line up!) and then just make a plan to adjust the body to fit.
Take a deep beath and get your marker pens out and plan your cuts. Remember that it is only fibreglass and the worst that can happen is that you make a wrong cut and have to add more fibreglass or cut it and do it again!
Good luck!
|
Thanks for the comments: I think it is the thought that I am missing (or screwed up) something obvious, as I could not believe my luck (or Garys spot on frame) that everything lined up even to the extent of bolt holes into the original door hinges...I have studied your thread and will now attempt corrective surgery....watch this space
|
12th June 2012, 13:41
|
|
Senior Member
|
|
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 5,328
|
|
Perhaps that's the problem - if your chassis lines up with one of Gary's frames without loads of hammering, levering and swearing, then your chassis must be out of alignment.
My frame was a nightmare to fit and yet the body looks like it's going to go on relatively easily, with the only mismatch being where the body doesn't quite fold under the outrigger at the very front of the driver's side.
I do hope you find a simple solution to the issue.
|
Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
|
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
All times are GMT +0. The time now is 06:39.
|