Preston Sammio

[AndyP57]

Things have been moving on well with the addition of some more eBay purchases. After looking at the state of my original radiator, Mister Towed's solution of a Civic rad seemed a good choice, and finding a purpose made shroud and fan at around £50 was a bonus! A brief PM with 'MT' about how he had tackled mounting it left me with a clear idea of mounting via the shroud rather than attaching anything to the radiator itself so a couple of ally brackets were riveted up and seem to hold things very nicely in place:



The ancillaries were serviced and fitted to the LH side of the engine:



Still working out where plug lead #1 should go but I'm not too worried about that just yet.

The Exhaust system is installed and clamped together:



And a bar bolted across the tail extensions to sling the boxes from:



Which will be finished off with a couple of bobbins then painted before I declare that system finished.

Back in the shed, I've worked with the loom, labelling all connections and trimming where necessary. I'm going to cut it at front and rear, installing plugs to separate the lighting into 'sub-looms' so all can be attached to the frame and chassis then disconnected when necessary to take the bonnet off for example.

Carbs are in the process of being serviced. Typical of me to have a car with different carbs to all my manuals, I have Temperature compensators and a 'Starter disc' which, I think, are Stromberg 150CDSE which were fitted to GT6 Mark 3?

Ho Hum, Marching on... I've got the Phenolic floors to cut, the Frame should arrive this week and it's getting very close to shipping down to Gary for body fit!

More soon

[AndyP57]

Looking at these photos I just realised how shiny everything looks on this lovely sunny morning

[Mister Towed]

Wow, that Honda radiator looks the biz. Is it an alloy racing one by any chance?

[AndyP57]

That's the one. Good call sir

[Straight Sixer]

very impressed with your build and your pictures.

Len.

[Psycho pops]

I have been fitting the same boxes to my Sammio and was worried about how far the tail pipes protrude in order to clear the back axle, If I keep them short then the boxes only have about 4 -5 inch clearance , Is there a legal limit for protrusion or is i just sore when you shin yourself on the pipes...?

[Paul D]

Is it just me???

I'm getting a little bit intimidated by all these wonderful lovely beautiful shiny chassis shots with expensive twiddly curvey dangly bits! .

I'm almost getting too embarrassed to put pictures up of our little project.

What ever happened to the more earthy basic 'Skippy'' approach to Sammio building, come on back Pat, all is forgiven.......

Paul D.

[Mister Towed]

Originally Posted by Psycho pops

I have been fitting the same boxes to my Sammio and was worried about how far the tail pipes protrude in order to clear the back axle, If I keep them short then the boxes only have about 4 -5 inch clearance , Is there a legal limit for protrusion or is i just sore when you shin yourself on the pipes...?

There's no specific rules in the Construction and Use Regulations covering exhaust pipe protrusion, just noise, maintenance and modification to increase noise (not allowed!).

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1...chapter/K/made

There is an offence, however, of using a motor vehicle on a road in a condition which is likely to cause danger to other road users. This is more geared towards people driving home from B&Q with five metres of two by four sticking out of the passenger window of their Fiesta like a jousting lance and picking off pedestrians and pedal cyclists as they pass.

As for the danger of someone burning themselves on the tail pipe as they walk by when it's parked up, if you look at exhausts on motorcycles they're often fully exposed, as they are on Cobra and Seven replicas with side-pipes fitted. If someone ever called me to complain they'd burnt themselves on a motorcycle or car exhasut as they walked by I'd be steering them towards the Citizens Advice Bureau to see if they could bring a civil claim for damages as I really don't see it as a criminal matter.

Interestingly, there's no legal minimum ground clearance in this country either. You can drop your car as low as you like. As the legal maximum for a speed hump is 4" (although most are only 3") I'd suggest around 100mm as a minimum or be very careful when driving around town! Having said that, my Saab 9-3 (now departed) only had 100mm ground clearance under the sump and never fouled a hump.

I'm sticking with my standard stainless steel silencer which is angled up just right to give maximum ground clearance funnily enough.

[davecymru]

Originally Posted by Paul D

Is it just me???

I'm getting a little bit intimidated by all these wonderful lovely beautiful shiny chassis shots with expensive twiddly curvey dangly bits! .

I'm almost getting too embarrassed to put pictures up of our little project.

What ever happened to the more earthy basic 'Skippy'' approach to Sammio building, come on back Pat, all is forgiven.......

Paul D.

I'm with you on this one! I found a tin of black paint helps things no-end

[Mister Towed]

I started out with the idea of just binning the Vitesse body, grafting the Sammio shell on and driving off into the sunset. The reality was that once I started stripping the donor everything was so crap that most of it needed replacing. The renovation process then gets a bit like chewing a fruit gum - once you start you just can't stop!

[Paul D]

My pain and outright envy is somewhat eased by the thought that half an inch of fibreglass & bonding paste dust layered over all that lovely shiny paint will be a great leveller.

Everything looks pretty the same under a pile of dust!

Paul D.

[AndyP57]

My approach was a bit like Mr T. As you will see from early photos I thought I was in for an easy ride but after stripping it and finding it was truly a 'barn find' (I'm actually digging mud out of the carbs!) Things needed doing and it didn't seem a good idea putting a good bit onto a bad one so it got deeper and deeper. As a result I've busted my budget manifold but am happy with the result.
The Spitfire donor I have for Cordite, however, I hope to be a different story....

[AndyP57]

I'm about to cut the floor panels and wondered if someone could give me a steer on dimensions.

I know the rear of the floor follows the rear outrigger and meets the joint between it and the side bar and that the front is somewhat further out than the chassis side but by how much? I could obviously cut it too much and trim down later but if I'm near the mark to begin with I'd be really happy.

Thanks in advance

[GazDavies]

From memory, I think that I left an over hang of around an inch and a half. Like most things on the build, its not exact science and so long as it doesnt stick out past the foot pans there will be no issues.

[AndyP57]

Thanks Gaz,

That sounds about what I was expecting. I haven't got my floor pans around at present as they are being blasted but I wanted to carry on moving the project along. Whilst you're on by the way, how far back did you fit the floor pans? As our pans are the same size in planform, a previously fitted reference would be useful.

Looking forward to seeing your project out of paint!

[GazDavies]

I cant make any exact measurements due to the car being at the paintshop but looking at these photos it seems that the pan is set back maybe 4" or so from the front

Have you tried fitting the floor pans into place yet? I didnt think that there was too much room to play with as they were a snug enough fit into the chassis so you cant go far wrong.

[AndyP57]

Thanks again Gaz, That's all I needed to get them in place. First floor is now cut in between 'work' jobs and I'll have a go at the pans soon.

Looking at your photo, I assume you don't have the angular seat belt mounting near the tunnel?

[GazDavies]

No problem Andy. No my donor didn't have the seatbelt mounting points.

[AndyP57]

Many thanks for the help Gaz ,

Though not bonded in yet, the floors and pans are fitted now and seem to be at the right level for my eye. Seats fit nicely in them with plenty of 'wriggle room' so I won't drill the pans until I have at least the frame and probably the body on it.

[Mister Towed]

Hang on a minute, I recognise those seats...

I guess Dax will be taking on extra staff.