28 Jan 2012 - Cutting edge
After last weekend the stripping was mostly done with the rear tub completely removed, and the chassis exposed. What was on the outside a great example of a Vitesse, proved to have quite a bit of patching on the chassis, so looks can be deceiving! Nothing my MIG welder won't sort out, so I am not too disheartened at this stage - plenty of time to be disheartened as the build progresses I am sure....
Anyway, the main aim of today was to get the windscreen removed and into my trailer with a load of other scrap metal that I am taking to the scrap metal place on Monday.
What is really nice about the Sammio Sypder is that it is a basic kit, and you can adapt or change any aspect of the car and build which means that each one is different. There is a great section called Getting Started on the Sammio website which was added to my Favourites very quickly and has become one of my nightly review activities over a cup of coffee (would be a beer but I have decided to loose some weight and the damn diet doesn't have beer in the menu!).
Once I had a clear idea of where I was going to cut, I got out my trusty 9" angle grinder with a cutting a disc and attacked the bulkhead. That certainly got though most of it, and with my small grinder with some really excellent super-thin cutting discs from Toolstation, I was able to make short work of removing the screen surround. Whether it is in the right place or not I will find out when I get my kit from Gary!
With the frame off, I set about tidying up the edges and cutting off some unnecessary brackets such as the windscreen wiper mounting - this is not needed as the Sammio Spyder has a 'wind deflector' so no washers or wipers are required. One less thing to go wrong. The next to go was the battery mounts. I have ordered a recessed battery tray with my kit which is required for the battery to clear the lower bonnet level, and so I am not too worried about the neatness at this stage. I will also fibreglass the Sammio Spyder body to the bulkhead so all this area will be tidied up in due course.
With the screen removed you can start to get an idea of how low the Sammio Spyder kit will sit and so I had to get the wife to try it out for size. She obliged, with a rather convoluted mime of opening the imaginary door, winding down the imaginary window and sitting in the imaginary seats! Bless her, she obviously doesn't get out much!
(I have yet to tell her the Sammio Spyder doesn't have doors or wind up windows - I will let her down gently as the build progresses!)
