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Go Back   Madabout Kitcars Forum > Mad Build Area > Sammio Builds and discussions

Sammio Builds and discussions Sammio bodied car builds and specials

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  #1481  
Old 18th December 2014, 08:50
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I feel for you with the bonnet work, having been through similar (although not quite as severe) modifications with my Sammio.

Best of luck matey!
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  #1482  
Old 18th December 2014, 16:03
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Dave - Cheers.
I know there is a lot of work required to sort out the bonnet & front end of the body shell.
But I hope this represents the last round of major modifications to the original Cordite package.
Which means I will eventually reach the point where I can finally start putting it all back together!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Little Bits & Pieces...
A damp & dreary day outside and a sick child to look after inside, meant I could only manage a few small jobs today.

I used my cardboard template to mark out the grill.



Not easy to see in the photo, but by laying the grill on top, I could roughly line up the circles with the bonnet opening.

And I do mean roughly, as an OCD level of alignment is just not possible, so it is pointless wasting too much time on this.

Next I peeled off the car covers and brought the main section of bonnet through the house onto the patio.



That way I could leave the rest of the car tucked away on the drive and just nip out back when I got the chance.

I cut the grill roughly to shape, before marking and fine tuning the edges until it slotted into place.



I also used my grinder to soften the cut edges so I didn't lacerate my hands on this oversized cheese grater.

This is the view from the front.



As is the tradition, I can't finish this job until I do a few more related jobs.

The first is I need to create an even/level gap around the bonnet opening for the grill to sit flush.

Not a great photo, but you should be able to see that uneven nature of the current gap.



But that job is also linked to the need to straighten out the bonnet nose itself.

I plan to build out the driver's side until it reaches the same size as the passenger side.



I will also build up the inside of the bottom edges of the grill opening to create a slightly deep edge for the grill to press against.

At this point I haven't decided whether to make the grill removable, or simply fix it into place.

Next I did a quick test on the scissor hinge brackets to see it they would fit.





Although in practise they will probably be fixed a bit further away from the grill compared to the photos above.

The following photo might make it easier to understand my concept of an upside down bonnet bulge.



Depending on the final length & position of the hinges, I will simply rebuild the section of bonnet below the grill opening around them.

I plan to bolt the brackets I've made to the "factory" hinge points to form a single structure.



Although you may recall that the hole in one bracket is bigger than the one on the other side.



It took a bit of effort and some oil while drilling to enlarged the smaller hole to match.



So I've also just ordered some cobalt drill bits to help me to drill the new holes required in the 5mm thick flat bar.

The final area I started playing with was my petrol cap.



I made a point of not boxing this away when I was tidying up the other day, as I want to mark up the body shell at some point.

The original Spitfire rubber seal is designed to slot into thin sheet metal.
( Sorry the photo is blurred. )



So I intend to modify the approach DaveCymru took on his Miglia.



Unfortunately, whilst I still have the petrol cap section of my 2nd body shell (including an old seal), there isn't enough metal around the hole.

However, I do have some fresh sheet metal that I can cut to size and use instead.



The idea at this stage it so cut a hole in the fibreglass that the outside of the rubber seal will fit through.

Then fix the sheet metal over the top with a slightly smaller hole that the rubber seal can slot into as Triumph intended.
( Touch Wood. )

Until next time, take care, Paul.

PS
I watched "The Muppets' Christmas Carol" with my daughter earlier and so for fans of this film...

Seven more sleeps 'til Christmas.
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  #1483  
Old 20th December 2014, 17:46
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More Bits & Pieces - Part 1:
Friday was spent preparing for the first meal at our house for guests during the Christmas season.
( We had a good night yesterday, although the next one is tomorrow. )

So I was happy to get a little bit done today...

Although I didn't get off to a good start when water poured off the car covers & straight into the hole in my trainers.



I dug out the strip of rubber I plan to use for the bonnet lip.



Parts of the lip are about the right size to for the bonnet to sit, although not easy to see in the photo.



But in other areas, the lip is too deep.



One bit of good news it that the bonnet will clear the brake master cylinder with ease.



Then I knocked up a crude marking device.



This allowed me to "clear" the wind deflector lip and mark dots parallel to the dash board lip across the scuttle.



Although the cockpit edge does curve out at the edges, so I drew a "best fit" line based on the dots.



In the photo above, you can see I've matched the green line to the existing passenger side lip angle.

By using a set square and the Spitfire bulkhead I could see how much the driver's side was out by comparison.



Passenger:



Driver:



So if I build out the driver's side I can get a roughly similar bonnet lip shape on both sides.

It will only be roughly, because the inside edges of the cockpit don't line up with the outside edges of the scuttle.

I cut the line into the filler with my angle grinder, taking extra care not to cut too deeply.



I also marked up where the front of the bottom edge of the lip needed to be.

Before cutting that out too.



Then I add some fibreglass filler along the bottom edge to try to even up the vertical gap a bit.



End of Part 1...
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  #1484  
Old 20th December 2014, 17:48
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More Bits & Pieces - Part 2:
Obviously I can't trim the driver's side until I've got the right shape roughly built out.



So I've now added the first layer of fibreglass filler to start that process.



While I had the filler out, I also gave a light skim to the back of the wind deflector lip.





That was as much as I could do out the front as the sun was already setting rapidly.

So my final job of the day involved marking another line along the front of the bonnet.



Then I took my angle grinder to the bonnet nose to give me a "roughed up" area to work with.







Excuse the flash, but it was starting to get dark by now.

The basic plans for my "nose job" are:
- Extend out the driver's side of the nose so it matches the passenger side.
- Give the outside edge of the nose a slightly sharper point, as it is currently very flat in places.
- Build up the inside edge of the nose opening to provide a deeper area for the grill to fit against.
- Ensure that inside surface that the grill fits against is also flat and even all the way round too.

Initially I will mix up a batch of "home brewed" fibreglass filler to get the main shape I want.

Until next time, take care, Paul.
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  #1485  
Old 23rd December 2014, 14:26
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We hosted yet another Christmas meal at our house yesterday, 3 meals in 4 days has been a bit hectic on the domestic front.
But by banking some brownie points for cooking & cleaning, I could spend some time on the car today.

Nose Job - Plan B:
More than once on this build I have struggled to see the wood from the trees.

In this case, I was too busy working out what I needed to do to fix the shape of the bonnet's nose from the outside.

It was only when I saw Swifty's nose job that something else dawned on me.



I had a brief look at my bonnet's nose yesterday and although the inside lip for the grille to fit against isn't smooth, it is roughly the same depth.



So if I make the outside edge of the passenger side my reference point...



And build up the outside of the driver's side to match...



Then I will end up with the grille sitting at the same "wrong" angle that it is now.

If I tried to move the grill lip edge forward on the driver's side, I'd risk the bonnet hoop coming away.

So today I decided to stop "dilly dallying" around and get on with making the fix as simple as possible.

One thing that actually worked in my favour was the fact I've already removed a section on the bonnet below the grill opening.



This allowed me to start cutting from the edge of the nose here:



I used an off cut of box section to give me a 20 mm spacer.
( Which is the same adjustment that both Swifty & Mac measured. )



I extended the cut most of the way across.



Then another idea I copied from Swifty was to add the parcel tape covered strip before the fixing brackets.



I started on the passenger side and slowly worked my way across, checking the gap as I did.



Not easy to see from above, but the view from below is better.



Then I cut out some fibreglass matting.



Note:
I will fill the very thin gaps by opening up the slit from above.



And when it was applied the inside edge looked like this.



I am now happy that even if the nose isn't 100% perfect, it will still be better than when I started.

Next I started chopping up my matting scraps ready for some "home brew" filler.



Although, now I just need to reshape & build up the grill opening, so I will not need much.
( Compared to Plan A, which was to build out the whole of the driver's side using this stuff. )

However, by now, the blustery conditions I had been working in had brought dark clouds & the threat of rain.

So rather than push my luck, I carefully moved the bonnet and wrapped it up.



I'm now going to switch back to domestic chores and start laying the table for Christmas Day itself.

That way I might be able to get a little bit more done tomorrow.

So until next time, take care, Paul.
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  #1486  
Old 23rd December 2014, 16:21
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Captain's Log Supplemental:
I had just started getting stuff together for the Christmas dining table, when the skies started to lighten up.

I still didn't trust it enough to start any more fibreglass work, but there was another car chore I could do.

I gave a first rough sanding to the fibreglass filler I'd applied to the bonnet lip the other day.



Then I made a cardboard template of the angle on the passenger side.



Which I could then reverse to help me mark up the driver's side.



With a best fit line drawn I cut along the filler and then marked up & trimmed the bottom edge of the bonnet lip too.



Unfortunately, I also managed to cut straight through the scuttle in one area.



At least this meant I remembered to lift the body shell up when I cut the bottom edge next to the master cylinder.



Here is the overall view of the bonnet lip now.



Although it is slightly easier to see with the dust sheet removed.



As before, this is not a perfect job by any means, but overall it is pretty good and it will certainly do.
( Although there is still some fine tuning with filler required to get an even gap across the whole thing. )

Anyway, I've really got to go now, cheers, Paul.
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  #1487  
Old 24th December 2014, 10:32
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Nice work Paul and what i have learn't with this build is to just dive in to the deep end and all will work out as it can't be any worse than what we start off with, but great work and detail as usual.
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  #1488  
Old 24th December 2014, 13:11
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Swifty - Thanks.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Merry Christmas!
I just have a little bit of progress to report today.

Thankfully, yesterday's fibreglass work had set hard enough for me to remove the support brackets today.



But rather than tackle this side of the bonnet, I tidied up the inside edges where the tek screws had been.



Then I added a few layers of matting over the holes & along the gap.



Once it had started to set, I left the bonnet out in the sun to help speed up the process.



Note:
The cardboard on the corner was to stop the sharp edge of the bonnet tearing the covers.

But the fact is that whilst it was sunny, it was still pretty cold outside.

So rather than start rushing things, I decided that work on the top side of the join could wait until after Christmas.

So I carried the bonnet back out to the front drive so it would be better protected with my waterproof tarpaulin.

Obviously it still all looks a bit of a mess at the moment.



But at least I have actually started the healing process & as Swifty says, it can all be fixed.

Hope you all have a great Christmas, take care, Paul.
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  #1489  
Old 24th December 2014, 13:26
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hats off to you Paul, you have the patience of a saint doing all that bodywork. I think you will be well within your rights to take a mould of it once finished and sell as your own design what with the amount of fabrication you've done, it's pretty much a new car.
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  #1490  
Old 24th December 2014, 20:29
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Damn good work Paul, at least you will have a really unique car that you deserve once its all done and dusted!

Merry Christmas to you!


Scottie
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  #1491  
Old 26th December 2014, 10:44
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JG & Scottie - Cheers chaps.
I am definitely well on my way towards a "one off" car, that I hope will still look the part.
Unfortunately, it will still have a number of significant symmetry issues when I've finished.
So I can't imagine that anyone would want to take a copy of my wonky build.
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  #1492  
Old 27th December 2014, 13:19
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Christmas:
Well I must have been a good boy all year, as Santa brought me this lovely book.



It is a shame that open wheeled racing cars are not road legal, or I could add this ERA to the Chris/Tribute wish list "next door".



Obviously I was happy to see this colour combination featured.



But I was really pleased to see this Austin-Healey 100SA sporting a wind break lip for its aero screens.



- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A Quickie...
Managed to make a start on the sunny side of the bonnet's nose job by countersinking the screw holes & grinding out the slit.



Then I made sure I pressed the fibreglass filler firmly into all the holes and cracks.



I'm off out with the family now, but if I get back before it gets dark I will start sanding this down later today.

Cheers, Paul.
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  #1493  
Old 27th December 2014, 16:31
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Dusk:
Just managed to get the filler sanded down before dark, but boy was it cold outside.



The screw holes on the left look neater than the ones on the right, as I went around the edges of the ones on the right with my grinder.

At some point I will add a skim of normal body filler across the whole front section of the bonnet nose, but that will do for now.

Until next time, take care, Paul.
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  #1494  
Old 27th December 2014, 18:01
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It takes a brave man to work in the cold or whats that saying "Mad dogs and english men".

It's looking good Paul and i certainly take my hat off to your dedication working outside at this time of year.
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  #1495  
Old 28th December 2014, 09:26
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You are a braver man than me at the moment Paul!


"So I can't imagine that anyone would want to take a copy of my wonky build."


Hey, don't sell yourself short on the "no-one wants a car like mine" bit.

Remember, lots of people bought cars like yours, with all the faults yours had (I would imagine)-----unless the moulder made a special crappy one just for you!

So perhaps the chance to take a mould off a car that has had all the major faults rectified would appeal to some people.

Why not? You have put so much time and effort into getting it right, and any minor faults that may be left will not be noticed, due to the overpowering impact the finished car will have.
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  #1496  
Old 28th December 2014, 18:28
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Swifty - It was definitely madness working outside today.

Scottie - You are too kind sir, but there will be no moulds & this will remain a one off build.
( Especially after all the grief that followed the launch of the Miglia Speedster. )
If I can create a good first impression, then I will not worry about want a closer inspection will reveal.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Slow Progress - Part 1:
Call me a soft, Southern, Jessie if you like, but I don't like seeing ice on the car cover when I start work.



I've been following the great work Swifty has been doing on his bonnet recently.

And this photo made me think about my own bonnet.



By chopping out the middle of the bonnet, the front hose will be able to sit a lot lower.

Mac has fitted his bonnet without a scoop, like so.



And currently, my engine sits neatly under the bonnet in this higher position.



The limiting factor for me is the radiator cap.



So I was thinking along the lines of a small "bonnet bulge" for this cap area, which would let me drop the nose a little bit more.
( A bit more that this, but you get the idea. )



But before I did anything, I thought I would try to follow the "measure twice, cut once" school of building.

I currently have the standard Spitfire radiator in place.



However, I did buy a wider one from Rimmer Bros. ages ago.



At first glance the radiator cap is in the same position on both.

But a more detailed look revealed that the top of the new, wider, radiator sits higher than the original.





Now, obviously I could chop enough holes in the bonnet to cover everything if I wanted to.

But to be honest, I need simpler solutions, not ones that require even more work.

So a high nose and no bonnet scoops, similar to Mac is the way forward for me.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

With that decision made, I could turn my attention to the bonnet hinges.

I added some tape to highlight where the edges of the front cross member were.
( I need to come back and tidy the edges up with my grinder at some point. )





This tape was going to act as a rough guide for lining up the bonnet hinges.

Then I marked up where the factory fitted hoop bracket sat relative to the scissor hinge.







End of Part 1...
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  #1497  
Old 28th December 2014, 18:30
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Slow Progress - Part 2:
Then I had my first go with my new colbalt drill bits and they are great.



They had no problem getting through the 5mm thick flat bar.



I needed to take a little bit off the edge of one of the brackets...



So the hinge would fit flush against it.



Then I had the two hinge halves in place.



I balanced the bonnet as best I could to give me a position where the hinges would pivot underneath the chassis.





With the pivot point marked up, I had to unbolt everything to drill two more holes.





Once they were bolted back into position, I could mock up the other half of the scissor hinge.



I then cut the flat bar a little bit oversize and drilled two holes.



Which left me with a hinge that looks like this.



I know Mister Towed's hinge doesn't have a washer between the two plates, but I've added one to mine.



This is because the hoop brackets are not perfectly square, so I need a small gap to prevent the two halves getting stuck.

This is the position of the bonnet nose relative to the chassis now.



Rather than rush into welding the chassis side of the brackets into position, I called it a day at this point.

Plus the sun was setting and I was bloody cold, there was still some ice on the cover when I packed up.

I also want to add a couple of "lugs" to parts of the hinges before I weld them in place.

I will be very happy if I can get this to work as I will then have a fixed reference point for the rest of the bonnet work.

Until next time, take care, Paul.
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  #1498  
Old 30th December 2014, 11:07
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Winter Wonder Workshopland:
Family stuff has taken priority over car building for a couple of days and secretly I am quite relieved.

As currently my front drive workshop is as cold as it looks.



And my alternative back garden workshop is only marginally better.





I did repair one of the flat bars for the chassis half of the scissor hinge the other day.

As I had somehow managed to drill the hole at an angle.



So I welded the "gap", tidied up the surface & re-drilled the hole.

I then promptly packed everything away without taking the "after" photo (I blame the cold ).

I will be enlarging these holes from 10mm to 12mm when some new M12 bolts arrive.

But I can use M10 ones to set the hinges up for now.

With a bit of luck I will get a chance to weld the hinges in place in the next couple of days.

So until then, take care, Paul.
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  #1499  
Old 30th December 2014, 11:30
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Don't know if its any help Paul, but I had the same high rad-cap problem with my build earlier, and dumped the whole rad down quite a fair bit.

If you search through my older pages, you will find how it was done in pictures.

Lowering the rad, usually means fitting a header tank, or (like I did) some means of filling the system to the top and bleeding the air out. Good luck with it, but you are now an expert at modding I know!!
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  #1500  
Old 31st December 2014, 16:25
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Scottie - Funny you should mention that, as I was looking closely at the radiator mounts the other day.
As I'd remembered the work you had done to lower yours and could see how/where it was possible.

However, it looks like I should be able to get away without changing the standard Spitfire engine layout.
This is because I have effectively raised the height of my scuttle compared to the original Cordite design.
( Which had been built around the smaller Herald bulkhead, instead of an original Spitfire one. )

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Just to follow up on yesterday's post, here is the hole in the flat bar I repaired.



As I will be enlarging this, I don't need to worry about the small gaps that remain.

Bonnet Hinges - Part 1:
Before I could start any car work I had to use some salt to "grit" the driveway & the pavement.



As these days the sun will not reach this area, so it was very slippery under foot.

Next I wasted some time trying to create some sort of level playing field.



As I'd feel happier I was lining the bonnet up properly if I didn't have a sloping drive.

But there was no easy way of getting the car into a horizontal position, so I abandoned this idea.

I also accepted that there is only so much I can do, so I just need to do the best I can.

Then I spend some time propping up the bonnet so it all lined up as good as I could get it.







At which point I remembered that I was supposed to clean up the metal for welding before I did this.

So I removed the bonnet and got to work with my grinder.



Then I lined everything up again for the second time and tack welded one hinge in position.



This allowed me to position the other side as best I could and tack that into place too.

So for the first time since I started this project, the bonnet was actually held in place by itself.



But then it was removed again so I could finish welding the flat bar to the chassis.

I've love to say that all four edges were welded up as nice as this one...



But they weren't.

Still, at least the two brackets were very solidly fixed into position.



Then I removed the hinges from the bonnet, so I could add some "stops" at the end.

Thankfully I had just enough flat bar left to make them.





I had to draw a very rough guide sketch so I could remember which way was up.



Then I was left with a very agricultural looking chunk of metal.



End of Part 1...
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