Thanks Mr T. The old Herald rad is pretty damned good to be honest so I'll give it a try. No doubt more pictures will follow in due course.
ATB
Slarti

It's been a long time .....too long. So many other things that "her indoors" has wanted done. Anyhow....the rad is now installed & throttle cable connected. I've laid some of the wiring back in and hope to be able to at least start the engine (or attempt to !!) within the next few weeks. ....Where have we heard that before.
Goodwood this week-end ...as part of the growing number in The Goodwood Actors Guild....hope to meet um with Mr Towed and have a closer look at his beautiful Sammio.
Let's hope it's not another year before my next post .....retirement is only just around the corner so I'll have bags of time to spend with a spanner in my hand.
Cheerio for now
Slarti

http://s1287.photobucket.com/user/sl...uzofz.jpg.html
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...psegfuj2i8.jpg
http://i1287.photobucket.com/albums/...psegfuj2i8.jpg

Slarti - Good to see you are still chipping away at your Sammio. :cool:

If it helps, I was surprised with just how few wires I needed to connect to get my engine running again.

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p...L/DSCF7802.jpg

Good Luck, Paul. :)

PS
Enjoy Goodwood.

Great week-end at Goodwood .....met up with Mr Towed and shared some stories and more tips.
Purchased a new coil, solenoid and voltage controller. Hope to get the engine started in a couple of weeks. .....watch this space
Slarti

After fitting the coil and solenoid ....I have a spark at the points....weak I'll admit ....but a spark none the less. A new condenser will be purchased and ...watch this space ..yet again. A couple of weeks ....I still have to work!!
Slarti

Slarti - Sounds like you are getting closer to the engine firing up. :pray:

Good luck, Paul. :)

I can't believe that my last post was back in September !!! Then I was saying that it was only a matter of weeks before I had the engine started! Well now I have finally retired and more time to get on with the job of sorting out the Sammio. Today ...after a bit of tooth sucking I got the engine started and it runs very smoothly. Now I can seriously think about mounting the body and sorting out the steering and dash. Photos to follow ....I promise.
Slarti

Good news on the retirement and the engine start. :cool:

I'm looking forward to seeing your build burst back into life.

Good luck, Paul. :)

Welcome back Slarti. Have you retired from acting too?

Certainly not Mr T ! See you at Revival? I'm on duty in the Drivers Club but should get time to meet up if you are going. If you would like b&b facilities at our house do get in touch. Only 30 minutes from Good wood. Best, Slartibartfast 😋 😋

Good to hear that you'll still be Thesping at Goodwood and I'll be there on the Friday and Saturday. What character have you drawn this year?

Thanks for the B&B offer but I booked a hotel room nearby back in January and it's non-refundable. :(

See you at the revival, which is just two months away now...

I'm in the Drivers Club this year. They are setting up a Henley Regatta scene. I'll be playing a rowing coach of all things. Should be fun ..... looking forward to it. Hope to see you there.
Slarti

Gentlemen !
I'm now doing a bit of a trial fit of the body shell before bonding it to frame. Am I right in thinking that nothing actually lines up perfectly? I'm trying to get a true center line to work from but I'm finding that the cills don't line up too well with the chassis. Is it matter of getting as close as possible and then working round it to line up the bonnet. Any advice great fully received. Perhaps someone can direct me to the relevant part in a build.
On a positive note, the clutch and brake circuits seem to be working ok and I've checked some of the lighting circuits which again seem ok.
Slarti

It's a hard one to explain on here , standing next to the car is the best way to run through it ...but , in summary , yes ...they aren't great in the lining up dept....

I usually start by centreing the rear wheels in the arches and setting the cill and bulkhead height as best you can ...use scissor jacks , stands , blocks or wood , whatever to get the height adjusted and lots of eyeing up as the tape measure will only frighten you ..so do it all by eye initially ...

The bulkhead has a handy lip on the bottom which makes it tricky to get that wrong ..so ..basically , set body at height in the bulkhead area ..centre the rear wheels ..one centre's better than the other ...when you have the first one centred , fix the bulkhead that side with a tech screw or similar ..then pull or adjust the other side to centre it and fix that side down on the bulkhead too ..this temporary fix will get you started .....

The bonnet can have many variables ...again wheel arch alignment is tricky ..but when you are happy with the body position and its fixed nicely ...then the easiest way is to fit the bonnet on the bulkhead line with a few tech screws again and raise and lower the front on a trolley jack until you are happy-ish .....One arch will fit nicely ..the other not so nice ...many people have left it alone , but its a fairly straightforward adjustment , if it bothers you ...

You will need to practice the art of ''some compromise'' and acceptance of symmetrical unimportance !!

Lots of people have done no adjustment ...some a bit ..others a lot .... great looking cars have come from all 3 camps ...

Thanks for that. It all makes sense and VERY helpful. Awaiting stud converters at the moment before fitting the wheels. Pictures to follow .....thanks again for your help & advice
Slarti

Stud converters not yet received ....so I've been working on fitting electric fan to the rad: I purchased some dials from Europa and ordered some Saturn seats. Slowly , slowly but all good fun and good for the blood pressure :)
Slarti

On the road for the Revival this year then...

.........very funny Mr T.. next year's Revival is my aim.
See you there and get a few more tips.

https://www.photobox.co.uk/my/album?album_id=5069546554
https://www.photobox.co.uk/my/album?album_id=5069548768
https://www.photobox.co.uk/my/photo?...d=500212106926
Hi all, I'm back at last.
Been working away slowly. I hope I have attached some links to my update. I now have a working handbrake after a small engineering works helped out with the mounting bracket. I've put in some rubber matting rather than carpet just in case I'm caught out in the rain. A trial fit of seats and a mock-up dashboard before I start work on bonding the body to the frame.
More updates to follow.
All the best to Mr Towed on his new project ...
Slarti

https://www.photobox.co.uk/my/album?album_id=5069548768
https://www.photobox.co.uk/my/photo?...d=500212106926

Unfortunately, those links are not working for me, I get a can't access this album error message. :icon_sad:

But it is still good to hear you are back on the car and I am sure you will quickly build up some momentum again.

Bonding the body shell into place is certainly a key milestone in these builds.

Good luck, Paul. :)

I can't access the links either Slarti. Never mind, just keep chipping away at your car and let's see it out on the road. :)

Ho hum .....Now that Photobucket is by subscription have you any ideas of how to upload photos for free? I tried Photobox but as you see, no-one can access the links :( http://www.madabout-kitcars.com/foru...icon_frown.gif

Flickr :) So Far, So Good!
 

https://flic.kr/p/Zmc1uQ

Have I got it this time?
If so, I will upload some more; if not I will sit in a darkened room and pull my hair out ...
Slarti

whilst I'm sitting at my computer thought I would have another go. Here at last I have a working handbrake.
More to follow when stud converters are ...erm ...converted!
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4473/...962f7075_h.jpgDSCF0087 by Paul Bailey, on Flickr

Oh! by the way....THANKS Mick...all seems to be sorted. http://www.madabout-kitcars.com/foru...lies/thumb.gif

I'm back ! I have been chipping away fiddling around fitting and adjusting a stainless exhaust system. But it does seem to be one step forward and two steps back. Perhaps someone can help/advise me regarding wheel studs (Rimmers were not able to help). I want to take out the existing wheel studs from the Herald hub and put in larger ones from an MGF as I've got some stud converters and will be putting on New Mini wheels. My question is, will the splines on the MGF stud fit into my Herald hub or will I have to go down some other route? I look forward to any help you can offer.

I fitted some mg tf studs to my triumph vitesse based spartan a while back and they pressed in nicely and didnt turn when putting on thewheel nuts. I got mine from ebay and needed to get a mate to turn the underside of the heads from flat to countersunk on his lathe.

Freelander studs fit the hubs perfectly, just press out the old, press in the new. I did find that I needed 5mm spacers on the front wheels (with MGF alloys) as the MGF wheelnuts bottomed out without fully locking the wheels down. Hope that makes sense.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LAND-ROVE...MAAOSweedcZHJX

Slartibartfast - Good to see an update on your build thread. :cool:

Sorry I can't help with the technical questions. :rolleyes:

However, at some point I need to get my car noise tested at Goodwood.

I seem to recall that you are based close (ish) to the circuit.

So, if you were interested, perhaps we could arrange to meet up?

I haven't arranged a date yet, so it is just a thought at this point.

Cheers, Paul. :)

Thanks Andrew, thanks Mr T, thanks Paul. I think I'll go down the Freelander route & report back.
Paul: with regards to getting together to go to Goodwood,....yep. I live in the GU27 area; about 20 miles from Goodwood. PM me & we can tie up sometime. Being retired I have all the time in the world ….except when I am on holiday travelling around the world.....in other words, pretty often. No doubt we can arrange something. Best. Slarti

Anyone going to Goodwood next week-end?
Again, I shall be in an acting role at Gate 2 …..
But..... I've been chipping away at the Sammio and would like some advice on seat harness: There is just 1 lug welded on the frame supplied but I can easily get another welded in place....Q: where should I fix the bottom mountings? Should I drill into the Herald chassis and weld in some fixings or can I safely fix to the frame supplied with the kit. This does have some bearing on whether I go down the 4 point fixing racing harness or something else.
Love to hear from anyone with advice.
Slarti

Hi Slarti, nice to hear that you're still working on your Spyder.

I'll be at the Revival Friday and Saturday in 'Iris' (my light blue Midget) so I'll keep an eye out for you.

I found the rear corners of the Spyder cockpit were a bit tight for space, so to get them in the most useable position, I centrally mounted my three-point, inertia seatbelts (so the diagonal strap came over the driver's left shoulder and passenger's right).

I attached the upper and inner lower mounts to the frame and the outer mount (for the rat-tail with the quick release mechanism attached) to a bracket welded across the seat runner. I had no problems with that setup, either in use or from my MOT chappie.

Bearing in mind that 50's racing cars didn't have safety belts at all, any seatbelt you fit, whether it's a classic aircraft buckle, modern inertia-reel or bright red nylon webbing racing harness will look fine as those in the know will just assume they were retro-fitted at some stage in its history.

Keep up the good work and hopefully see you at Goodwood. :)

Slarti - Like Mr T, I also welded my seat belt brackets to the framework.

Partly, this was to kept within the re-body rules that says the new body shell must bolted to the original chassis.

Good luck, Paul. :)

FANTASTIC week-end at Goodwood Revival; weather held out well. Sad thing, as I was acting/working all the time I didn't get much time to see any racing. However, as part of staff I do get access all areas which means the paddocks & drivers club !
Did anyone happen to see The Fab Four Beatles at gate 2? If so, it was me acting as their manager. In the morning, Brian Epstein and in the afternoon Allen (Al) Klein. Right …. better get on with the Sammio...see if I can get it to Goodwood next year ...Slarti

I was a last minute volunteer at Goodwood, but it took me a while to work how where everything was.

Hope it inspires you to keep chipping away at the car.

Good luck, Paul. :)

Were you wearing a black cap, black crew neck top with a blue jacket?

If so, you made a very brief appearance on the ITV4 coverage. :cool:

Lockdown has worked quite well for me. Wife hasn't forced me to go to a garden centre or shopping in Chichester so I've had a lot of time on the Sammio. Got all the lights and indicators working; now need to concentrate on the instrument panel.
A bit of advice from you guys who have put a bulge in the bonnet please: Can you give some advice on fibreglassing. I've got a mould (of sorts ....it's a stainless steel cowl from an extractor fan which is the right size and shape) Do I need a gel-coat or can I just get some release agent and start glassing up.?
Photos to follow
Slarti

Sorry, I've got to be quick now, but can come back later if you have any questions.

My effort starts here.

http://www.madabout-kitcars.com/foru...film#post70338

No gel-coat for me, but it obviously then needed a coat of filler to give a smooth finish.

Hope that helps and good luck, Paul. :)