Thanks Paul, yes, I'm afraid I too found the adverts more interesting than the show...

So, progress over the weekend and today revolved around continuing to develop the racing doors.

I reused the alloy former that I made to create the sills to make a front/lower inner section for the passenger door, then glassed it into the door with a gap of three lolly sticks (5mm) all round to ensure it would still open and close without jamming -

https://i.ibb.co/mHFyhSW/IMG-20211017-150742189.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/JqxDkmp/IMG-20211018-095837184.jpg

Slots added to take the hinges -

https://i.ibb.co/0CrCPj3/IMG-20211018-113356325.jpg

I made the door inner quite thin so it would be flexible enough to align properly - it's about three layers of 200gsm mat - and I expected to have to reinforce it later, but now it's glassed in place it's really very rigid. That will only improve when I join the back of it to the rear of the door so I reckon it's strong enough. I'll be doing that this week once I've decided how I want it to look. Although I have an idea in my head as to how it's all going to come together, I am making this up as I go along!

As I've never had much faith in limit straps to stop the doors opening too far and damaging the bodywork, I wanted to fit proper stays. I had to guess what might work and sourced a pair of Peugeot 206 rear door stays brand new for £15.00 on ebay.

I went for the rear ones as they're longer than the fronts and I guessed, correctly as it happens, that would give me more scope to make them fit and work.

They're obviously designed for much heavier doors than I have and the 'ramps' on them were too steep to operate smoothly without jamming, so I trimmed them down with the angle grinder.

They're also about 1cm too long, which is fine as it means that the front stays would be about 2cm too short so the door wouldn't open far enough if I'd bought a pair of those, and I just ground in a new 'stop' so they don't allow the door to over-extend. Hopefully these pictures should explain better than I've just tried to -

Before

https://i.ibb.co/PgZ8XF6/IMG-20211018-151200838.jpg

After

https://i.ibb.co/d4VJCRS/IMG-20211018-160438356.jpg

Doing its job

https://i.ibb.co/yfpRG4t/IMG-20211018-161537341.jpg

And the spring clamp inside the door

https://i.ibb.co/bHgkb4F/IMG-20211018-161552705.jpg

Tomorrow I'll be doing the same to the driver's door, then I need to join up the lower and rear sections of the doors where there's still a gap and finish them off by creating inner panels to box the doors in.

More later :)

good work!

More progress today despite the very windy weather which kept blowing my fibreglass mat all over the place.

I started by remodelling the aluminium former for the driver's side again so I can make the lower/front inner section for that door -

https://i.ibb.co/q99qHTT/IMG-20211019-110139349.jpg

I'm lucky enough to have a very nice selection of panel beating hammers which I inherited from my late father-in-law, who was a very skilled professional metal fabricator by trade. I can only hope that some of his skills have infused into his tools over the years and rub off on me. With hindsight I should have 'glassed both the underside of the former to make the sill and the top of it to make the door inner at the same time as it would have saved quite a bit of faffing about bending the former one way then t'other, but as I've already said, I am making this up as I go along...

Once the inner had cured I then bonded it into the door. Here's a pic of the necessary bits'n'bobs to do that -

https://i.ibb.co/9GXx2nz/IMG-20211019-160432061.jpg

While that was curing I took the time to trial fit the passenger door to see how usable the opening would actually be -

https://i.ibb.co/NW8Hd5B/IMG-20211019-134232370.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/1s50Znw/IMG-20211019-134302409.jpg

I'm rather pleased with the results so far. As you can see, the opening is plenty big enough and I really like the angle that the door opens to.

Hopefully I should have something a bit more interesting to report back on over the next few days :)

That looks great Mr.T. I have to agree, the angle the door opens to looks really good.

Deni.

Thanks Deni. The look I'm going for is inspired by the 550 Spyder -

https://i.ibb.co/dDDGz0Z/579127ff59d...f5e3f3f7fb.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/1s50Znw/IMG-20211019-134302409.jpg

Looking pretty similar so far :)

Enjoying your regular updates, keep them coming.
I also like the way you are using OEM parts, just like Lotus :icon_lol:

Thanks Peterux, my mantra with parts like door latches is to keep it simple and stick with what I know.

When I restored our Midget I was impressed with the simplicity and effectiveness of the hinges and latch mechanism, so I figured it's be a good idea to use them on my Speedster. They're cheap too, which is a bonus.

I also want to be able to truthfully say "There is not one single Volkswagen part in this car" should anyone ask if it's a converted Beetle. Of course, I'm not going to add that it's substantially constructed from British Leyland parts...

My task for today was to come up with some sort of inner surface panel for the doors. I'm taking my inspiration from Porsche's 718 and 550 Spyders, and I really rather like the minimalist look that the inside of their doors have -

https://i.ibb.co/nQ8LgLY/Dd2361cbe07...cfddbacf8a.jpg

So, a bit of CAD (Cardboard Aided Design) and I came up with this -

https://i.ibb.co/xq8RRp6/IMG-20211020-113039560.jpg

Quick check that it fits both doors, which it does if you flip it -

https://i.ibb.co/tHxpMTF/IMG-20211020-113649332.jpg

Then transferred onto a bit of aluminium sheet and cut slightly oversized so it can be trimmed to fit -

https://i.ibb.co/7jKzqxT/IMG-20211020-130711779.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/nQhXxrP/IMG-20211020-134452738.jpg

As I want the openings to be chamfered inwards, I cut a bit of rubber hose and used it with some plasticine and parcel tape to make a suitable former -

https://i.ibb.co/YN0Ms6k/IMG-20211020-134536220.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/tC8tVGB/IMG-20211020-160412735.jpg

Then a nice thick coat of gelcoat -

https://i.ibb.co/7VW4R3B/IMG-20211020-163314080.jpg

I've finished it off with three layers of 300gsm mat, but you'll have to wait to see the result until tomorrow as it's curing in the garage at the moment.

If it looks the part it's just a case of popping out the recess former and taping it back through the hole on the other side of the alloy sheet to make the panel for the other door.

More tomorrow :)

After popping my door panel off the alloy former and tidying it up a bit I'm not happy with the result. It looks 'okay' but my efforts to create a chamfered edge using hose and plasticine resulted in a slightly uneven opening that was a bit bigger than I intended -

https://i.ibb.co/khyfjkD/IMG-20211021-124312574.jpg

Plan B has, therefore, swung into place, which is to create a flat panel with greater thickness around where the opening will be so I can carefully cut it out and shape it how I want it -

https://i.ibb.co/gFkF290/IMG-20211021-135448097.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/T1qc5X4/IMG-20211021-143452492.jpg

Again, that's curing in the garage overnight as the cold snap we had here today has slowed down the hardening process somewhat :(

Okay, just taken a look in the garage and the fibreglass has now fully set.

It doesn't look like much, but I'm a lot happier with the result this time -

https://i.ibb.co/Bs9YnBp/IMG-20211021-195818212.jpg

It has a nice guide for me to follow to cut out the opening so I'll tackle that in the morning :)

There, that's much better -

https://i.ibb.co/CnyFBnk/IMG-20211022-153226466.jpg

The image possibly still makes it look a bit wonky, which it isn't, and I'm confident it will look right once it's cut to size and properly lined up with the structure of the door.

I've made a mirror image of the inner panel for the other side which will be ready to have its opening cut out tomorrow.

While that was curing I made a start on the next step, which is to create something to make the doors weatherproof. That might seem a bit unnecessary on a completely open car, but it's mainly to stop it filling up with water if it's parked up in the rain with its tonneau cover fitted.

550 Spyder replicas often have a flange that overlaps the door on its inside to take a D section rubber seal -

https://i.ibb.co/7pr00Jj/A9cf7283135...ced55f2332.jpg

So, my plan is to recreate that lip around the inside of the door aperture at the front and bottom of the opening. The inside back edges of my doors have the facility to take a seal already, albeit a self-adhesive one rather than one that clips over the lip, so I won't need to continue the lip up the back edges. A picture of what I'm doing might well explain that better.

A big chunk of alloy sheet cut to match the opening -

https://i.ibb.co/pj2nkKr/IMG-20211022-163332295.jpg

Then my now 'old faithful' former for the door sills was reused again to overlap the edge -

https://i.ibb.co/fvSpZZ5/IMG-20211022-171156920.jpg

Tomorrow I'll fibreglass about a 4" band around the join between the flat panel and sticky out panel, which, once cured, will be moved 10mm back and up and 'glassed in place to form a lip the right size to take a slim D section seal.

Hopefully I should have that done tomorrow :)

I love it went you talk technical. :icon_twisted:

Jokes aside, your fabricating skills are letting you build your car the way you want it. :cool:

Good luck, Paul. :)

What I really like Mr.T is that you always have a plan B. I'm sure the doors will look great when they are finished.

Thanks for the supportive words guys, they're much appreciated :)

Not much progress this week, I'm afraid, due to family commitments.

I did manage to make the seal 'lip' for each door, though. They just need a bit of sanding and trimming to make them an even thickness and height above the door opening all the way round, then they'll be bonded in place, and they'll need to stand off from the opening about 5mm to allow space for the seal to contact the surface of the door under pressure but without completely crushing it. That will negate the need to have a recess around the doors to take the seal -

https://i.ibb.co/J7RSM44/IMG-20211023-125006510.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/fMbQFR5/IMG-20211023-133724813.jpg

To keep it looking neat and 'factory' finished, I'm thinking that I need to find a way of using a seal that clips over the lip rather than a self-adhesive version. As there's quite a wide and deep gap between the back of the doors and the body I think I can make that work...

Hopefully I should have a better update later this week :)

Having spent a week doing other things, I have picked up the baton and restarted work on my Speedster doors.

I just had a couple of hours spare today, so decided to trim the oval hole in the passenger door inner surface panel, cut it to size - just at the top for the moment - fit it along its top edge and work out where the door handle needs to be.

to help me fix the panel in place I recently bought this rather Gucci M4 Rivnut tool -

https://i.ibb.co/C92VQhG/IMG-20211105-151820566.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/ZgJXKZp/IMG-20211105-151844221.jpg

As you can see, it's rather different to the usual 'pliers' type which require a lot of brute force to operate. This one uses two 13mm open ended spanners to draw the Rivnut up and compress it into place, which gives you a lot of control over exactly how tight it clamps into its hole.

It's the first time I've tried it and I do like it, you just have to be careful to stop when you feel the resistance to turning the nut increase or you'll strip the thread out of the Rivnut and have to drill it out and replace it (don't ask me how I know this...)

Anyway, that allowed me to fix the panel in place along its top edge with M4 countersunk allen bolts, and then find a suitable place for the handle -

https://i.ibb.co/Gd3Cmpn/IMG-20211105-153158747.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/qYhgYRG/IMG-20211105-160903561.jpg

I'm pleased with the results so far, I think it's all coming together the way I envisaged it :)

Those Riv Nut tools do come in handy. Good job!

Showing my age...
 

Whilst idly surfing through chrome fuel filler caps on ebay, I came across this image, and I saw something completely different to my son (20) and my wife (a fair bit younger than me) -

https://i.ibb.co/7g5JVmt/S-l1600.jpg

So, what did you see?

I saw a freaky image of someone in a hoody wearing an Edvard Munch 'Scream' mask reflected in the chrome, while my far more tech. savvy son and wife both just saw the latest mobile phone being used as a camera.

I do now feel rather old this morning :(

That's funny! I saw exactly what you had seen.

Progress has been a little slow lately due to family commitments and the like. I have been able to get on with the driver's side door seal 'lip' over the last week or so, though.

I've now set the correct gap for the seal and bonded/glassed the lip in place at the front and along the bottom, and I've temporarily screwed in a strip at the rear of the door aperture, which I'll bond into place in a day or so -

https://i.ibb.co/bgDT7rR/IMG-20211216-145422880.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/B6dBm3r/IMG-20211216-145501622.jpg

The seal fits snugly against the inner face of the door all round without leaving any gaps for water ingress or making the door too tight to close easily.

The seal looks a little uneven and there appears to be a squared section in the curve that joins the door upright to the lower edge in the photo taken from inside the cabin, but I just hadn't seated it properly all the way around so it does fit better than it looks.

Anyway, Christmas is only a week away so there won't be any more progress today as I have some shopping to do...

Mr T - how weird is this, was just wondering how you were getting on just today!
Great to see you are still ‘plugging’ away.
Looking forward to seeing more progress in 2022!

Looking good so far MrT. Keep up the good work and progress thread.

It’s a bit quiet on here lately and your content worth coming back for.

Thanks for your positive comments, guys, it's nice to know you're interested in what I'm doing :)

It's all coming together slowly but surely, and I should have another update shortly after Christmas.

looking good

Mr T - A very belated 'Nice job on the doors'. :cool:

Any more progress to report?

Good luck, Paul. :)

Hi Paul, no more progress to report just yet as I've been busy with other things recently.

Will be getting on with it soon, though...

Hi Mr T.

Would you be kind to give more info on your spring choice for the Speedster please?

I have read that you have used 170lb springs (did you buy them at Rimmers? - I could only find higher rate springs on their website)?

I was researching a bit more about springs, and I think that I have read somewhere that you were intending to use 150lb springs for this build. Is that correct? If yes, what made you change your mind?

Also, did you have to cut down the springs you installed on the speedster, and if yes for how much please? The stance of the speedster looks great - I am curious what is the fitted length of the spring you ended up with?

I hope the build is going well, and that you also manage to find the time to go out and look for treasures with your metal detector.

Cheers, Deni.

Hi Deni, thanks for the positive comments they're always appreciated.

I've now sourced a pair of 150lb front springs from Moss Europe. I've gone with the softer rate as my car isn't going to be very heavy - the 180lb springs were perfect on my Spyder, which ran a straight 6, but the Speedster's only got a four pot - and a car with overly firm suspension is dangerous on the roads where I live.

The fen roads round here are very undulating as the ground they're built on is about as solid as blancmange, so stiff suspension on a car can make it impossible to drive safely at anything over 50mph. As an example, I attended a single vehicle RTC near Wisbech where a garage delivery driver had been driving a customer car, a Porsche Cayenne SUV on 20" alloys and 'uprated' suspension on a fen road. There was a particular straight where the road dips and rises twice in quick succession, and the Porsche was launched into space as it failed to damp the second rise after hitting the first dip way too hard - there were witness marks where the car had bottomed out. It struck a telegraph pole just under three metres above ground level almost twenty metres from where it took off, and ended up in the roadside ditch. The driver was fine, a bit shaken and probably in need of a new job, but the car was written off.

Anyway, back to the springs. Here's a list of what Triumph fitted and when:

http://auskellian.com/paul/links_files/springs.htm

And here's where you can buy the 150lb springs from:

https://www.jamespaddock.co.uk/front...111-spitfire-2

I also use Gaz ride & height adjustable shocks on their softest setting and almost fully extended to get the stance just right.

https://rimmerbros.com/Item--i-GSA366GAZAS

Not cheap but excellent quality and infinitely preferable to cutting the springs down.

Anyway, got to go as I'm on holiday and wifey wants me to get ready for dinner :)

Hi Mr.T,

Oh dear, It's amazing how far and high this guy was "catapulted" in the air :surprised::shocked:. Poor guy, but I admit I had to laugh as well...I loooove your stories Mr.T, so thanks for sharing.

Thank you so much, your advice is so helpful, as always.

I have GAZ adjustable shocks. I have decided to part-exchange my spring seats for springs with 2,75" ID, and replace them with the ones for the springs with 2,5" ID. I need to lower my car significantly, so I reckon I need shorter springs, and there is so much choice if are buying 2,5" ID springs.

Your speedster looks great, and it will probably be a bit lighter than my car, as I have added some weight to the subframe modifying it to make it a bit more sturdier and safer, as it was quite basic.

So, I have now ordered 9" long, 170lb springs, and we shall see how they work. I know this is trial and error process, but at least I have a starting point. I tried to come close to factory Spitfire 1500 spec as a reference.

I'm only worried a bit about the top seats. Not sure they will be ok now, as the springs OD might be a bit smaller too.

Looking forward to see your next update on the speedster build.

Have nice holidays and thanks again, your help is much appreciated.

Cheers, D.

At last I've found some time to get on with my Speedster. Part of the reason for the delay was that I've just been so busy doing other things since I retired, like holidays abroad, visiting English Heritage and National Trust historic buildings and digging up the past in the fields near my home.

The other reason for the delayed progress is that I wasn't happy with the way my subframe and floorpan efforts were coming together. It looked fine, but I had niggling doubts that it was starting to get cumbersome, overcomplicated and might just not be up to the important job of locating the rear suspension.

As I've been following progress on the Old No.7 A6 GCS Coupe with interest, I had a bit of a lightbulb moment the other day as the answer has been sitting on my driveway under a tarpaulin for about the last four years.

I have an early Triumph Spitfire body that I had intended to turn into a GT-Sixfire by putting it onto a GT-6 chassis that I just happen to have in my shed, but tbh I'd rather build another special once I've finished my Speedster (probably an A6 GCS...) so I decided to sell both the GT-6 chassis and the Spitfire body.

Someone bought the body and then bottled it the night before they were due to collect it, but that's when the penny dropped and I realised that I should really use the Spitfire body as a subframe in the way that Dan at Tribute/Old No.7 do with their Triumph based cars.

I don't know why it took me so long to think of it, but I have now so I have gone at it today to see whether it will work with my 356 body.

First job was to remove the (fibreglass) rear wings -

https://i.ibb.co/3prGwJQ/IMG-20220904-110617810.jpg

This revealed a bit of a hidden horror in that a previous owner, after welding in new floors and sills, filled the sills with builders' expanding foam, which blocked the drainage holes and trapped water against the new metal :(

https://i.ibb.co/xzT0zNQ/IMG-20220904-110620826.jpg

Thankfully, the sills survived the experience and the only rusted part is the non-structural bottom edge of the wheel arch liner, which I'm going to cut out anyway.

First trial of the body looked promising. This isn't a great picture, I'm afraid, but the back end grounded out about four inches too high as the Spitfire's inner rear wings were fouling the body while the Spit's rear valance made it difficult to lift the body on and off.

https://i.ibb.co/dKJpDxc/IMG-20220904-140536100.jpg

So, out with the angle grinder and chop, chop chop...

https://i.ibb.co/gvD6TPQ/IMG-20220905-112850153.jpg

I eventually had to cut away the inner rear wings completely and part of the rear deck, while I also cut away the 'rear seat' area on the Speedster body so I could see what was going on inside. I'll reinstate that once it's all fitting together.

So, at close of play today, the body sits on top of the Spitfire frame perfectly, and the door apertures match exactly, which is more by luck than judgement!

https://i.ibb.co/RDqzs35/IMG-20220905-154905973.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/JdtvhC3/IMG-20220905-154953941.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/BtzJ407/IMG-20220905-154937100.jpg

Before packing up for the day I trial fitted the dash, and all that needs is for a bit of the Spitfire's dash panel to be cut back and that will fit perfectly too! I suppose the fact that there's only 8mm difference in the wheelbase between the Spitfire and the Porsche 356 helps :)

that is a positive step forward , i’d be feeling pleased with myself which i’m sure you are.


sounds like retirement is agreeing with you too

[QUOTE=redratbike;107987]that is a positive step forward , i

[QUOTE=redratbike;107987]that is a positive step forward , i

Forum's playing up again, my last post completely failed to appear :(

I did keep a draft, though:

That's a big YES on both counts:

I'm pleased that I've seen the light and realised that I should use the donor Spitfire's body as a subframe as it resolves a lot of design headaches that I'd unnecessarily set myself.

Retirement is also agreeing with me this time round (I unretired five years ago).

After 43 years keeping my nose pressed firmly against assorted grindstones, I've now finally accepted that work sucks and that I've had enough of it.

As it happens, doing your own thing all day every day turns out to be a much better work/life balance than putting work first and life second and I can thoroughly recommend it.

Now, back to my Speedster. I'll be mostly working on the Spitfire 'subframe' over the coming weeks to address the holes in the floor and to strengthen the sills to take the weight of the Speedster body, once I get back from Goodwood, anyway.

I need to get a move on, really, as I want this car on the road for Goodwood next year (that's always my target completion date), and a quick check on Google threw up the fact that prices of the real thing haven risen so much, almost a million pounds for a RHD Carrera Speedster recently, that a decent replica can now command the kind of price you'd have paid for a pristine early Porsche 911 around ten years ago - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/134200976...Bk9SR_rGqe7kYA


https://i.ibb.co/Hqwbf31/Picture1.png


Well, seventy grand is at least what they're asking...

Now I know that the Speedster body will fit on the Spitfire tub with a bit of jiggery pokery, my main job for today was to separate them and move the Speedster body outside so I can work on further trimming down and repairing the Spitfire tub before reuniting it with the chassis and getting it to the Moon Rover stage.

https://i.ibb.co/DRwD5L5/IMG-20220910-134142687.jpg

Hmm, looking at that I can't help thinking of James Dean's 550 Spyder...

Wow Mr.T, that is very exciting development (and such a great idea in my opinion)! I'm looking forward to see how you are going to do this.

Mr T – Belated congratulations on your ‘Light Bulb’ moment. :cool:

Obviously, I started having flashback nightmares of the rusty tub I butchered for my own build. :eek:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw...-no?authuser=0

I’m sure you’ve already spotted the box section in the boot area is not standard Spitfire.

The good news is that it makes no difference to what you need it for.

This approach should also make fitting the pedals an easier process.

When are you going to be in Goodwood?

As I’ve just been offered a ticket for Friday (via work), so I might see you there.

Good luck, Paul. :)

PS
Where is the build thread for the Old No.7 A6 GCS Coupe?

Hi Paul, yes I'd noticed that my boot floor had been replaced with some square steel tube, good news really as it's been welded together really securely and pretty much matches what I made myself.

It's good to see a picture of your 'Moon Rover' as it's given me a few ideas. Did you do away with the outer sills completely? It looks like you just have a steel box section tube where the curved sill should be. Cutting mine out and welding in something similar to what you have would make it much easier to mount the body.

I will be going with Triumph pedals - one of my reasons for having to rethink the floors/bulkheads was that my floor mounted pedal box was going to be too close to the driver to use due to the length of the master cylinders. They do pedal boxes with them facing the other way but they're much more expensive and harder to install.

I'm at Goodwood on Friday and Saturday and it'd be great to catch up. Do you still have my number? If not, let me know and I'll pm it to you. I'm afraid I lost yours when I threw my phone onto a concrete floor at a car show - it wasn't in a fit of pique, it slipped as I took it out of my pocket to take a picture and in trying to catch it I ended up propelling it into the concrete like it had come out of one of those Spanish Pelota ball scoop things.

Old No.7 A6GCS doesn't have much presence on the forum or otherwise online but they do seem to be selling a few, particularly overseas. Most of what there is is on facebook, but it takes some searching - https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid...88463654802306

Anyway, hopefully see you at Goodwood :)

Okay Paul, I just checked through your build thread, and I see you did away with the Spitfire floors completely and used the Cordite frame instead. Still given me some good ideas, though :)

Mr T - I was just about to dig out some photos to show my whole Frankenstein approach.

But, given your build skills, I see no problem with replacing the original sills with some box section.

As you know, my car can be described as 'solid'. :wink:

I've got your number, so will ping you a text in the morning.

I'm still not 100% sure how my day is supposed to go, but hope to see you on Friday.

Cheers, Paul. :)