Deni's Miglia Build

[deni]

I have also started to make a battery tray. A couple of shortbread tins were cut and used to create the plug, which will be then used to create a fibreglass tray.

This will then be glassed onto the bulkhead. I have left the fibreglass to cure for a few days till I'm back in the garage next weekend, so I will post the photos of the finished tray next time.


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[deni]

The last thing I had time to do is to paint the frame and the chassis with another layer of paint (except for the places where I still need to do more welding).

The frame and the chassis were scratched on a multiple places due to trial fit of the body and the floor panels, so I thought it's good to do it before I glue the floor panels to the chassis and put the body on.

I will also waxoyl everything before I put the floor panels back on, as it is very easy to access the inside of the chassis now.

I have also inspected the fuel line and the brake line and they look in a very good condition, so I don't need to replace them.


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The next step is to finish welding at the back of the frame and to fabricate the prop shaft tunnel. After that, I can install the petrol tank and radiator, finish the bulkhead and the compartment behind the back seats, install the master cylinders and handbrake, followed by wiring...still some work to do till I reach a moon buggy stage, but I am another step closer.

So much for now.

Cheers, D.

[Mister Towed]

Great progress - love the pedal box solution.

As for the seats, if you can make them fit, the MGB seats are great.

You might want to measure the maximum distance between the outside top corners of the seat backs with the seats in place (dimension 'A') and the width of the cockpit opening where the seats will be (dimension 'B'). If 'A' is wider than 'B' they're not going to fit, I'm afraid.

The problem on a Spyder body/frame is that the chassis is in the way so you can't move them any further inboard without them being too high. Maybe the Miglia is a different matter, but the bodies look spookily similar... Good luck!

[Paul L]

Deni – Wow!

It looks like you have made a HUGE amount of progress.

Looking at your MGB seats, I can tell why you liked the leather ones I am selling.

I certainly agree that an ‘old’ brown colour will suit the 1950s image of the car.

It also looks like you are embracing the fact that anything done in metal or fibreglass can be changed.

So, if your first attempt (battery box frame) isn’t right, you can simply cut and re-weld it.

It might be worth testing your pedal support plate before fitting the fibreglass bulkhead.

As this would avoid any damage from the heat generated if extra welding was required.

Obviously, I know I song about melting some plastic end caps while welding box section.

If it helps, I’ve found some old photos of my original Cordite framework.





Similarly, I would double check you could remove a spare wheel with the seats in place.

As, After fitting my seat belt mounting points, I realised I had entombed my petrol tank forever.

Finally, the main reason to treat the underside of your fibreglass floor panels is simple…

It creates a good first impression at the MOT station when the car goes up on the ramps.



Good luck, Paul.

[Paul L]

D'OH!

Just realised Mr T had replied about the spare wheel already.

[Mitchelkitman]

Originally Posted by deni

I will also waxoyl everything before I put the floor panels back on, as it is very easy to access the inside of the chassis now.

I don't know how accurate the info is, but I saw a report that Waxoyl will eat into and damage GRP - so maybe care has to be taken on the chassis/body interface that no waxoyl gets on the GRP.

[deni]

Mister Towed - thank you for your comments. I have bought a couple of 2nd hand seat base assemblies, and, as an experiment, I have already made one of them narrower, just to see how much closer I can position the seats towards the middle. I might need to make some additional "brave grinder cuts" in the corners of the body. I will trial fit the body with the seats in this weekend and will post an update later on. I would really like to use these seats, so I will try and do my best to fit them

Paul L - thank you too for your comments and suggestions. I did not think about the MOT, but you're right, it is important to leave a good impression.
Also, some of my friends were asking why am I painting the parts that won't be visible, like gearbox bell housing or diff, etc., and they would say "no one would see or know", but the point is that I would know.
Thank you for posting your photos as well. I was thinking that if I have to add the brace after fibreglassing to use bonding paste instead of welding, to avoid melting the fibreglass. I will weld the tubing below the plate and the battery compartment though before fibreglassing.

Mitchelkitman - Wow! I didn't know that, so thanks for the heads up. I will try to find more information about it. I will make sure that when I apply Waxoyl to avoid contact with fibreglass.

[Mister Towed]

Just dug out the pictures of the MGB GT seats I tried in my Spyder (hope they appear, photobucket are being a bit of a pain, these days...) -

Fitted quite snugly into the chassis once the floors were lowered enough to avoid the 'Noddy' driving position -



Very comfortable and a nice, laid back driving position -



But, once the frame went on -



The upper frame box-section tube is only about 2mm outboard of the inner cockpit edge and the Miglia and Spyder bodies are virtually identical (in case you don't know, the Miglia prototype was just a Spyder modified by Gary J's ex assistant) so you might well face the same issue. It would've taken major seat frame surgery to the tune of about three inches narrower to get them to sit right (no pun intended), but they'll be very comfortable if you can use them.

Good luck getting them to fit.

[deni]

Mr.Towed - thank you for the photos, much appreciated. I remember seeing those when I was reading your thread.

The seats in my photos are with the frame fitted, so the frame is not in the way.
I have tried a few things with the seat base. I have narrowed a 2nd hand Ford Focus seat base for 6cm and it looks like I will be able to move the seats towards the middle. However, I suspect the body might still be in the way. I could not trial fit the body this weekend to know for sure, but when I do I'll post some photos.

Cheers, Deni

[deni]

Originally Posted by Mitchelkitman

I don't know how accurate the info is, but I saw a report that Waxoyl will eat into and damage GRP - so maybe care has to be taken on the chassis/body interface that no waxoyl gets on the GRP.

Hi,

Does anybody know a bit more about this please?

Thank you. Deni.

[lancelot link]

The Miglia frame is simpler than the original S*mmio one , a little too simple in my opinion . Mike was an ok laminator but he isn't a fabricator and , I felt , the frame in the Miglia demonstrated this quite well ..its a bit lacking in strength in my opinion ...but this factor probably means it accommodates seats better .... I would take the opportunity to brace the frame with some triangulation whilst you are building the car ...

[deni]

Hi Gary,

Thank you for the advice. Do you mean to add the triangulation at the area below the doors, from back to front?
I am going to add the centre section along the prop shaft, from front to back for sure and strengthen the area for the steering wheel column.

Thank you.

[Mister Towed]

This might help -

[deni]

Thank you Mr T. I am planning to use the doors supplied with the body though, so I won't be able to replicate the Spider's frame, but I will have to try to improve my frame at certain places.

We discussed the frame previously in the thread but it was related mainly to the steering wheel column mounting reinforcement.

Not sure where exactly Gary suggests to add the triangulation, as the Formosa's frame is quite different from Miglia's. Only way I could do this is to modify the doors by reducing their height I guess , if that is the area he refers to?

.

Cheers, D

[davecymru]

That is coming along very nicely matey! can't wait to see the moon-buggy stage as that is always a huge milestone

In case it's of any help as far as frame strengthening is concerned, i added a reinforced the central tunnel area on my frame made from steel box as i'd originally had flex from my handbrake area on the Sammio until i re-enforced it, so i thought I'd address that straight out of the blocks this tine.

Then rather than adding to the side frames with triangulated steel (as i wanted working doors as well!) i decided to do the rest of the strengthening with the alloy panelling and it's supporting alloy framework.

With my old v.hard front suspension i've very little body flex or creaking so far, so i'm happy with how it turned out.

[deni]

davecymry - thank you very much for your comments and the advice mate, very helpful.

I can't wait to reach moon-buggy stage but I'm getting there (slowly ). I am a bit slow as I can't work on the car regularly, but mainly due to the lack of experience, and sometimes have to research a lot and re-think some ideas to not make silly mistakes. This slows me down and for that reason I appreciate all comments and advice. I am pleased how it is all turning out and thank you and all the other people that are helping with invaluable advice.

I was thinking about the frame reinforcement for the last few days and came to the conclusion that if I want to keep the doors, I will not be able to do much in that area.
This only leaves me with a few possibilities, and adding a prop shaft tunnel is definitely the most important one, so I will do that for sure.

I was thinking to reinforce the areas in front and behind the doors on each side, but I would not like the frame to become too heavy - now you have mentioned that the internal paneling adds quite a fair bit to the overall stiffness and the strength, which makes sense, I will first add the middle section and then see if I need to add any further reinforcements in other areas.

Cheers, Deni.

[deni]

Hi all,

More progress, so here are some photos. When I had a trial fitted the seats, I have noticed that I have to raise them quite a bit to be able to see above the screen. I decided to do an experiment and I have bought two 2nd hand adjustable seat bases with the sliders, which can also be height adjusted. They can also be electrically adjusted apparently, but I am not bothered with that to be honest. I just want to make sure that I can pass the M.O.T and to be able to see above the screen.

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I have removed two back mounting plates, as they were pointing in (for my purpose) wrong direction and would not allow the seat to fit in the floor pan.


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...no way back now...


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I have narrowed the seat for 6 cm and just tacked them for now.

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They fit very nicely now. There are plenty of possibilities to use my MGB back part of the seat and attach it to this base. I will use the original foam and the vinyl from the MGB seat to cover this new seat base.

I could not trial fit the body this weekend to further check the clearance on top, but I can now move the seats more towards the centre, and if I have to cut into the body to make it all fit, then so be it...


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I will post further update on seats when I trial fit the body.

[deni]

As I could not trial fit the body this time, I have continued with welding the additional bits on the frame.

I have added the reinforcement to minimize the movement of the pedals plate and done the same on opposite side.


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The frame was delivered without the mounting points to the back of the chassis, so I've added those too. This will make everything a bit stiffer and help carrying the weight of the petrol tank when filled with the fuel.


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I will weld it all to the frame later on, as I would like to take the frame of the chassis to be able to turn it upside down to make it easier to weld the bottom side of all added bits.

[deni]

I have also prepared the back plate for the pedals. This will be welded below the pedal plate as the bottom part of the bulkhead will be a bit further away than the original, as the square tubing is surrounding the plate. I will attach the back of the pedals to the bulkhead too using some tube spacers.


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My lowered battery tray has cured now and I have peeled it of the mold. This is now ready to be inserted into the top part of the bulkhead and glassed in when I am ready to do final bonding of the fiberglass bulkhead to the steel frame.



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So much for now.

Cheers,D.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by deni

… The frame was delivered without the mounting points to the back of the chassis, so I've added those too. This will make everything a bit stiffer…

Deni – That is definitely a good call, as there were rear “feet” on the original Cordite framework.
( Although I had to shorten mine to accommodate the Spitfire rear arches I used. )



Also, it looks like you have reached the ‘fearless’ stage of cutting and welding now.

Good luck, Paul.