Due to cost of webhosting I may not be able to continue to provide this content free for much longer.
I'm asking for your support by providing a donation to keep this site active. The only other choice that I have is to
convert his site to one that is accessable only to subscribers, and I really don't want to go that route.
You can do so simply by clicking the button below and donating whatever you like.
To donate you can either use your PayPal account or a credit card (using secure authorization).
Donations can be for as little as $1.00
| Date |
Costs |
Activity |
| |
$90 |
Received Vortex plans, will have to make adjustments so that I can fit in aftermarket seats... |
| |
$225 |
Purchased plywood and glue for chassis.
I decided to build the bulk of the chassis from 3/4" plywood instead of the 1/2" plywood suggested in the plans. My rational is that 3/4" plywood is *far* flatter than 1/2". Don't believe me? then just put a nice new flat sheet in your garage and come back in a day or two... |
| 12/17/2004 |
|
Got a 3 day weekend, getting started on the chassis and dedicate the entire weekend.
There is no 10' plywood sheets in my area and plans called for one for C1, so what I did is to append on a 2' piece onto the front of C1, I located the seam in the area where the cutout for the steering rack would go. Use a piece of wood on top and below the seam and screw it all together. No need to glue as this area is cut out before glassing.
Was able to complete the following: C1, C2, C3, C4, C9, C12 in one day, did not put the chamfer onto C1 will wait and do it by eye with a belt sander later. Since I am not putting standard bench seat C5, C6, C7, C8 will not be installed.
|
| 12/18/2004 |
|
Some confusion today, looking at plans it is not clear to me how C18 is positioned. Plan does not state which end goes towards the front of vehicle. Probably wasted an hour or so, finally compared taper to that which is on the front of C22 and made decision of which end is which.
More confusion, the plans call for the top of C18 to be 11", it is not clear if it should be from the bottom of C1 or from the top. Looked at plans for front suspension and determined it is from the bottom of C1. I realized that the plans are great for individual components but lack any real assembly diagrams which shows how parts are lapped, it's cut and test fit to finally determine this... Only problem is that since I am using 3/4" plywood and tweaked some dimensions that it is tougher than if I had used original plan dimensions...
Was able to complete the following: C10, C14, C15, C16, C18.
 |
| 12/19/2004 |
|
Started out well today, put in C9, C20, C22, C25 and started on small triangular pieces C17. It became apparent that something was not right as C17 fitted was no where close to what dimensions in the plan state.
Scratch head and pour over plans to see what went wrong. In the end I finally realized that the direction that I determined that C18 should be put in was wrong.
Frustrated - early evening call it quits... |
| 12/20/2004 |
$450 |
Through the Yahoo Vortex discussion group I located a person (Greg Dawson) that had a complete Triumph Spitfire front end including wheels/tires that wanted to sell it. Appears that he decided to go another route using a custom front end so I snatched it up. He also had a rebuild kit and steering rack included. I know that I will need some additional parts such as gaiters, tie rod ends, etc. but looked like a good deal (or at least a good start!).
Included in the deal was a set of slotted aluminum front wheels along with a set of low profile Sumitomo HTR 200 175/50R13 tires.
 |
| 12/24/2004 |
|
Spent today removing all parts that went into the front of the vehicle, glue worked pretty well and had to remake the parts...
This time corrected the mistake that I made in C18 and put end that is more tapered towards the front of the vehicle. Also modified the top of C18, and bottom of C22 to include a 6 degree angle so that they would mate up better.
I am not going to install headlights in front compartment, not sure exactly what will do but do not like the looks/functionality of them where they are. |
| 12/25/2004 |
|
What a wife! After doing the Christmas thing in the AM, went to work in the afternoon!
Today I put on the C13 as well as correctly put in C17. |
| 12/26/2004 |
|
Clean up shop, tired of tripping over all the plywood scraps!
Here is progress in the front compartment so far.
 |
| 12/27/2004 |
$65 |
With the prior mistakes needed to get some more plywood, got another 3/4" sheet as well as a 1/2" sheet for portions that are not structural. |
| 12/27/2004 |
$328 |
Found aftermarket seats that I was looking for bought them on eBay for $249 plus $75 shipping, they also come with a set of sliders. |
| 12/28/2004 |
$80 |
Picked up 2 gallons of polyester resin, automotive body filler, and some glass mat. I already had a roll of 3" seam tape. |
