Davecymru's Miglia build :)

[davecymru]

Originally Posted by 1iTim

Hey dave my starter is on the other side of the engine (non manifold) side, ehat r u using?

1966, 1.6 Vitesse straight 6

[1iTim]

Ah, of course, i see that from ur other pics. Thx have a great3 weekend!

[davecymru]

Must remember... never set myself deadlines....


Ok, so i'm a week(ish) behind where i wanted to be but i have now:

* Finished fitting the steering.
* Had tyres and tubes fitted to my nice shiny 14" wire wheels - went for 175,70,14 in the end
* Undersealed everything
* Trial fitted the body so that i could redesign the exhaust and finish fabricating the bulkhead.
* Modified the exhaust.
* Finished the bulkhead (as far as it's going until the shell is on) and fitted a lowered battery tray.



That has now been sealed, etch-primed and painted black since i took that photo.
I had pondered leaving it shiny (too much cleaning) or painting it body colored but i thought that Black would be easiest in the long term.

And I've now started refitting the wiring loom:



This one has fuses!!

You can also see in this pic that I've stuck with what is quickly becoming Miglia tradition and I've re-worked the frame around the steering wheel so that i can place the dials where i want! Plus i also want a glovebox! (posh, i know!)
PI do like a bit of on-the-fly Heath Robinson fabrication

So hopefully this weekend the wiring will all be in and i can test that everything works.
Then plumb in Clutch and Brakes.
Then it can go onto it's wheels!


At least, that's the theory..

[Mister Towed]

Love the ally front bulkhead and 'pans, very jealous indeed.

[1iTim]

Beautiful dave!

[Paul L]

Dave - Whilst I didn't mention it at the time, I did think your deadline was a tad optimistic.

Having said that, it is all looking good so far.

Good luck, Paul.

[mikmiglia]

Dave looking great, its worth making the effort on the details.

[Thurcroft flyer]

I like the alloy Dave looks really professional and well done. I went with the ally chequer plate, partly for strength, but mostly because I had it given to me for free........ needs must as they say. keep up the great work and up dates.

[davecymru]

And after a long weekend, the front of the bulkhead is etch primered and painted.

New battery clamps fabricated and the battery is fitted.

Air filters are on (left protective covers on them for now!)

New points, condenser, plugs and leads all fitted.

The Final lengths of brake and clutch lines were run and attached with my nice shiny rubber lined P-Clips! (another thing i promised myself i would use on my next build )

The new +ve and -ve power lines have all been made up and clipped in place and the wiring loom has been run back-to-front!
Obviously the loom is still loose at the ends until i fit the shell (you can see the front part cable tied to the front cross member in my 2nd pic) , but i will be wiring up and trying all lights and indicators and dials, gauges and switches "before" i fit the shell as i'm not messing around with the shell fitted like i did with the Sammio!



Note: Rocker cover breather filter is on order!

Then i realised that as i'm using a totally std cooling system i could fit the expansion bottle. So i found where the old panel had been.... carefully stored.... (cough)thrown(cough) and removed the expansion bottle bracket.

That was stripped, primed and painted and then a length of alloy angle was riveted to one of the front frame uprights to give me just the position i was after to mount the bottle.



It's a lot lower than it looks in that photo and the top is below the cross member.


I've also fitted the wire wheel adapters and with any luck tomorrow i'll try and start her up!!

[davecymru]

And before anyone else spots it, yes the clutch line is clipped to the bulkhead atm, i was on-a-roll by that point and not thinking! That clip will be removed before i try to start the engine!

[Paul L]

Coming together very nicely.

Originally Posted by davecymru

... with any luck tomorrow i'll try and start her up!! ...

Fingers crossed.

Good luck, Paul.

[1iTim]

So did it start alright?

[davecymru]

Not exactly

I tried starting it but got no-joy and I spotted a few things that needed addressing. So, in the spirit of this build, I'm not messing around and i'm going to address them properly.

The story so far....

I have replaced the plugs, leads, distributor cap, rotor arm and coil.
I've now fitted one of those "in distributor" electronic ignition kits.
I've picked up a new timing light and I've tested the wiring is all working and I can see that i'm getting sparks. But it was being, what is technically known as, a bit of a bugger!
So...
The carbs are now off as they were the pime suspect and were also leaking slightly, so they are going to be stripped and inspected as i suspect the starting problem is a mix of crud from the new/old fuel tank and the floats not being set right.

The exhaust manifold was also blowing slightly, as when i refitted it i just reused the old gasket (i know, i know), so the manifold is now off and I'm waiting on a new gasket from messers Rimmer.


At the same time as all of that......


I have now filled and bled the clutch.
I also tried to bleed the brakes but the bleed nipples on the rear cylinders (the bits I'd not changed!!) were seized solid so I've replaced both the rear brake cylinders and now have a fully bled brake system

I've also run all of the wiring for all the rear lights (brake/stop, indicators, numberplate light) and they have been trial fitted and are now all working.

I've also run the front wiring and i've removed any excess extensions (i.e. for dual lights) and the horn has also now been trial-fitted, tested and is working.
I've also wired up the fuel gauge and that is working.
(i find wiring quite relaxing!)

So i'll sort out the Carbs hopefully tonight and then the manifold tomorrow night and then everything can be rebuilt on Wed and try again!


The lesson from this last week is - the bits I've assumed didn't need replacing, did!

Although on a positive note, the way things are going, when i do come to fit the body, i will already have everything mechanical and electrical in place and working, which is one thing i did want with this build

[davecymru]

Exhaust gasket changed and carbs rebuilt - there were a few odd things that needed sorting but it's been a long day and I need wine, so for now i'll just say...

IT STARTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[1iTim]

Congrats!

[davecymru]

Multi-part update time

First, on my old Sammio Spyder i had 15" wire wheels with 165 80 15 tyres, giving a total diameter of: 64.5cm
TBH, they were too big! as my bulkhead exploits with the hammer and welder proved.
So on the Miglia i've gone for 14" wire wheels with 175 70 14 tyres, giving me a total diameter of 60.06cm and what a difference that makes. In a good way!

So with the engine started last night, the new throttle linkage was fabricated this morning and the car put onto it's wheel for the first time since it went in the garage a few months ago.

The engine started and it drove out of the garage with no problems at all!!!!!!


MOON BUGGY!!

[davecymru]

So.... will it fit?



YUP!!



I and sit much lower in it that i did in the Sammio as you can see from the photo (i'm 6'2")

It's not bonded in yet, but i can see that only minor jiggling is going to be needed!



And the bit i was worried about, the rear end, seems fine! phew!

[davecymru]

The Cobra Cub bucket seats are perfectly sized and exactly what i was after!



As you could see above, they give me a lovely driving position and i do feel much lower down than in the Sammio and the view over the bonnet is much more impressive that little bit lower!



And the initial body on-off-on-off--repeat... jiggling to sort out the steering wheel and pedal position really paid off!



It's like it was tailored just for me. Oh.. it was

Finally i was never really sure about cutting and extending the gear lever, so after getting an idea from one of the old-timers when i went to the Mark Moor International vehicle festival, i talked to the very nice chap at Spitfire Graveyard (http://spitfiregraveyard.com/ I can't recommend them highly enough!! ) and told him what i was upto. We figured out that one of the Spitfire gear levers was cantered over considerably more than the Herald/Vitesse one and should give me the reach and clearance i was after. About an extra 2 / 2.5 inches, or so.

As you can see two pics above, it seems to have worked a treat!

Here's it is in Neutral



and in 1st / Reverse / 3rd i still have a few cm's to the dashboard!



Yes... you need long arms to use it. But did i mention i'm 6'2"?


All in all a very, very productive weekend and now i have to spend some time with the family before they forget what i look like

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by davecymru

... All in all a very, very productive weekend ...

It certainly looks like it.

Before I got side tracked on body work, I was really hoping to have a working moon buggy by now.

There must be something very encouraging about knowing everything worked before the body shell goes on.

Good luck, Paul.

[Thurcroft flyer]

well done your flying along, looks like a real sports car now, you will be on the road in no time, keep up the good work and the photos.