Davecymru's Miglia build :)

[Paul L]

Dave - It is all looking good.

With a bit of luck, you will be on the road just as the decent weather returns.

Good luck, Paul.

[davecymru]

Isn't it amazing how a bit of sunshine re-energises you!

So the bonnet is now on and the bonnet catches fitted and adjusted and then I drove the car out of the garage for a proper look. Well happy!

The rear has settled a little bit since this pic and I will also raise the front just ever so slightly to get a nice balance.




Next it was front indicators in, front light buckets in, and most importantly the AA badge has been fitted




Keeping the interior basic for the time being I have simply painted the floors black and then put the seats in!

I have to add gear and handbrake gaiters over the next few days and then I have all sorts of bits-n-bobs to add, but the those can be done once its on the road.




And now the seats are in I have fitted and set-up the wing mirrors and I'm very happy with how well the original Vitesse ones look, as they really fit in with the look I was going for!



Next... the doors.....

[jones]

Dave you must be so happy - it looks absolutely awesome!

Congratulations - not long to go now.

[Mister Towed]

Dave, looking mighty fine but you might want to put your passenger side seatbelt in the right way round.

[Thurcroft flyer]

looking good Dave, your almost there

[Paul L]

Dave - Your car is looking great in the sunshine.

I keep forgetting to ask how you fix your lights & head lamp buckets to the body shell.

Do you use self tapping screws, or nuts & bolts?

Without wishing to tempt fate, you seem well on the way for a sub 12 month build.

Which has got to be one of the quickest builds on here, especially if you ignore the professional (i.e. full time) builders.

Good luck with the doors, Paul.

[davecymru]

Cheers guys, nearly there

Towed - I see you spotted my deliberate mistake.... ..... that'll be sorted in a mo (cheers matey!)


Paul, I'm not a fan of self tappers, even into those clip thingies, so I have used bolts with big washers, spring washers and normal nuts on the back to hold the buckets in. I'd used that setup on the Spyder as well so I know it works and stays in place.
BTW you were right about the bucket orientation! Even those there is no 'up' marked on the buckets, when I came to fit the bulbs there was! luckily it was a simple 2 min exercise with the drill to fix.

[davecymru]

Time for the doors...

Refitted the drilled bolt that will hold the non-lock end of the door release cable




Fed cable through the hole in the bolt and fastened with a U-clamp and also a trick my father showed me years ago to cover stray cable ends that also adds extra strength, by using the innards of an electrical choka-blok! Works and looks lovely






I forgot to get a pic of the catch end, but the cable was trimmed to sit just below mid-way




Then to tidy up the 'look' I had intended to fit recessed alloy boxes in the same style as the Countach door recesses, but after a day of faffing I couldn't get it looking quite right, so it's KISS for now and a quick lick of black paint was applied inside the door with the new cable tied up out of the way




And with the Alloy panel fitted it looks just the job! It also gives me another thing to add to my "improve over time" list

You can see on this pic two rows of rivets above and below the recess opening. They are securing 2 lengths of L-Section alloy to strengthen the panel and to also act as mounting point for the internal door boxes if/when I get around to them.




And with the doors shut I'm very happy with the look, and the cable releases work remarkably well!




So from the outside with the mesh fitted behind the side vents everything is just about finished, apart from fitting the headlight trims (after I've adjusted them), _LOTS_ of polishing and adjusting the height of the shocks.

This pic shows up the current front/rear wheel arch height difference really well, but I don't want to lower the rear any more as I have memories of tyre scrub on the rear wheelarches in my Spyder in the back of my mind... So for now i'll see what I can achieve by raising the front

[Mister Towed]

Nice door panels Dave, they remind me of the Porsche 718 RSK.

I think you're going to need to lower the back an inch or so though - it does look like you've got a bit of positive camber on the back wheels and they really want to be vertical for best results.

On the road soon though, eh?

[jones]

Dave you must be really happy, those doors look great well actually the whole interior does.

[Thurcroft flyer]

she,s looking well Dave, you have really impressed me with the speed of your build. you have done some great work on that car you should be proud of yourself. now you can enjoy driving in the summer sunshine.......if we get any???.

[Paul L]

Dave - Your doors look great, inside & out.

Looking forward to seeing it polished in the sunshine.

Good luck, Paul.

[reneanglia]

Really like it...........
Only thing i don't like are te wheels sticking out on the rear end,i think if thr rear wings where i little bit wider at the rear down side it will look better.
I know you stick with this shape now,maybe a future build to adjust this?
Still a beatiful car though,i start to feel a dutch miglia is coming up in the future..........

[davecymru]

Cheers guys.

It's probably worth pointing out that the rear end has already had a 1" lowering block added and a brand new swing spring conversion, but it's mainly been up on axle stands from the time it was fitted until the last few days so there's been no time for the spring to settle, so before i make any more changes to the rear i'll see how it looks after a week or so!

Few more piccys to add from the last week or so:

During the build I'd been using a length of 2x4 as my bonnet prop and it was about time that I addressed it as my neighbours were taking the mick



So I found a length of 10mm alloy bar, calculated how long I wanted it, cut it to length and then bent it to an S shape with some soft-jaws in the vice and then threaded one end



Luckily a piece of box that I'd used to mount the front of the shell was in exactly the right location to act as hinge end, so a hole was drilled right the way through



And a length of alloy angle cut, shaped and drilled to act as the bracket. I also found that fitting a rubber grommet makes it look and work much more professionally.



With the 2x4 still in place to keep things steady, the bracket was bonded to the bonnet in the right location



then multiple layers of fibreglass matting were glassed over it for added strength



And with a lick of black paint, bobs ur uncle



Some of you may have spotted the foam rubber at the top of the prop. I was trying to figure out how to keep it in place when not needed, and with that bit of foam over it, when the bonnet is closed it is exactly the right size to go between my bonnet pin mount and the bonnet to stop it moving about. result!

[toe911]

Originally Posted by reneanglia

Still a beatiful car though,i start to feel a dutch miglia is coming up in the future..........

Wishing you the best of luck with that , my friend.

[reneanglia]

Originally Posted by toe911

Wishing you the best of luck with that , my friend.

I'll guess this remark is about all the fuzz that's going on with the miglia HQ not responding?
I did not try to reach them yet as i am not sure what i will build in the near future,could also be something else like an A352 tribute or even a sammio or to keep it simple a dutch kit like a Burton.

@Dave.......is it possible to make a alloy bonnet cover on the inside?......it will look so much better as the hairy unfinished inside it has now..........

[DerbyDreamer]

Perhaps a heat reflective mat might be an alternative - my Gilbern GT (60's GRP) has one, in an attempt to preserve the paint on the bonnet, I guess?

[davecymru]

Cheers guys.

I was thinking about that heat reflective mat eventually as well, but black paint will do to start with

What I had encountered on my Contach was that the silver mat on the engine cover needs to be fitted... right... otherwise it can get very tatty very quickly.

[davecymru]

Btw, can whoever is trying to hack into my profile, please stop.

Many thanks

[davecymru]

Well....

I don't know how to say this....

but..

I HAVE AN MOT!!!!!!