Volvorsport
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| posted on 28/9/13 at 01:31 PM |
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does you friend have an hourly rate ? contact no ?
www.dbsmotorsport.co.uk
getting dirty under a bus
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PhillipM
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| posted on 28/9/13 at 01:38 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by John Bonnett
If you really want one I'm sure my friend Mark would be pleased to make whatever you'd like 
Does he work for biscuits and tea?
[Edited on 28/9/13 by PhillipM]
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John Bonnett
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| posted on 28/9/13 at 02:22 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Volvorsport
does you friend have an hourly rate ? contact no ?
U2U sent.
John
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ceebmoj
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| posted on 28/9/13 at 11:33 PM |
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Looks amasing
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T66
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| posted on 29/9/13 at 07:03 AM |
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Quality - Keep the pictures coming John...
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TheGiantTribble
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| posted on 29/9/13 at 07:59 AM |
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I love the time effort and skill involved in this project, well impressed.
However I do find it sad that 'once upon a time' we had a country full of such skills and now they are just relegated to a few people
working in sheds and garages.
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John Bonnett
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| posted on 29/9/13 at 08:39 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by TheGiantTribble
I love the time effort and skill involved in this project, well impressed.
However I do find it sad that 'once upon a time' we had a country full of such skills and now they are just relegated to a few people
working in sheds and garages.
I'd like to thank you all for the kind things you have said about the project and for your encouragement. I'm really enjoying what
I'm doing more and more as it progresses. I am very much a novice, completely self-taught and owe all I know to a number of tutorial videos made
by various craftsmen. I'm slowly unlocking the secrets of wheeling up a decent panel and when it does go right first time it is hugely
satisfying.
As far as the number of craftsmen making panels in this Country goes, there are more businesses than you might think all turning out panels and
complete bodies to amazingly high standards. We can thank the high market values of vintage and classic cars as well as damage done while racing. Our
own Trev D has a thriving business and is just one of several in the Midlands. Near me in Devon there are three or four and there is Geoff Moss (ex
Aston) in Liskeard. And they are not all old-timers either. My friend Mark has just turned forty with a great future ahead of him.
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John Bonnett
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| posted on 12/10/13 at 04:36 PM |
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The return is now ready for welding to the quarter light panel and with the main wing panel bolted in place it gives a good idea of how the rear end
will look. It is rather more tapered and rounded than the standard car, even the round tail models. The close up shot shows the wing bolted on but not
nipped up because just out of shot is a double thickness of material awaiting trimming and welding.
[Edited on 12/10/13 by John Bonnett]
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John Bonnett
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| posted on 9/11/13 at 05:01 PM |
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Work has been continuing on the steel shell but not much aluminium panel work done since the last post. Mark is doing an incredible job and now the
rear tub is joined to the floor and the scuttle/bulkhead has been trial fitted. Everything is inter-dependant and each part has a knock-on effect with
door gaps and quarter light to windscreen frame gaps. We now have a situation where he is happy and some serious welding can begin very shortly.
When I visited Trev D a month or two ago, his colleague Martin was making a new bonnet for an Alfa TZ (Zagato). I just loved the shape and the curves
of the bonnet and thought how good it would be if fitted to my project. Dimensionally the two bonnets are so close to each other this could be a
reality Well it seems I can help Martin and in return he is going to make me a bonnet skin. This is really exciting and will be the best bit of my
car by a country mile.
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rdodger
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| posted on 9/11/13 at 05:06 PM |
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WOW that's gorgeous!
Can't wait to see that!
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John Bonnett
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| posted on 9/11/13 at 06:07 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by rdodger
WOW that's gorgeous!
Can't wait to see that!
Yes it's absolutely mind blowingly beautiful. i can't wait either.
The flaps can be opened in the cockpit and the hot engine bay air is taken out just in front of the windscreen. Under bonnet temperature has always
been a problem on the GT6 and i'm hopeful that this arrangement will be the solution.
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Andy B
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| posted on 9/11/13 at 06:26 PM |
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I dont think we have spoken on here before John but I have been following your build from the start and its one of those threads that always leaves me
gutted when I reach the end of the latest update. Its totally absorbing not to mention incredible in its detail and your skill and I just love seeing
the parts being formed from scratch. Keep it up and hurry up with the next update
Andy
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keith777
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| posted on 9/11/13 at 08:25 PM |
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Can't believe I've only just found this thread,your work is absolutely brilliant
Can't wait to see the finished product !
cheers Keith
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John Bonnett
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| posted on 9/11/13 at 09:30 PM |
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Thank you all very much for your interest and very kind comments. I'm still very much a novice metal shaper with an awful lot to learn.
Fortunately my mentor Trev is a great inspiration and is very generous in passing on advice. It's probably lucky that he's in Northampton
and I'm in Devon. Any closer and I'd be an even bigger nuisance to him
Once the sills are in place I'll be able to finish the left hand rear wing and make a start on the one the other side. To make things a bit
easier for me I am avoiding putting in the straight creases or coach lines of the original design and sticking to flowing curves which I actually
quite like. I'm not saying that the shape I've conceived is any prettier than the original, just easier for a beginner to cope with.
I'll certainly keep you posted with progress which hopefully will move up a gear once Mark has completed the restoration of the steel shell.
John
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rdodger
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| posted on 9/11/13 at 10:16 PM |
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Have you decided on an engine yet John?
In a body that's going to be that pretty it has to be at least a V6!
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John Bonnett
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| posted on 9/11/13 at 10:37 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by rdodger
Have you decided on an engine yet John?
In a body that's going to be that pretty it has to be at least a V6!
It is a six but a straight six. A freshly built 2.5 Triumph engine which I'm going to install six inches further back in the frame to aid weight
distribution. For the moment, bodywork is everything and that's where I am focussed. The mechanics are pretty straightforward and should be a
fairly easily assembly job certainly compared with the body.
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NigeEss
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| posted on 9/11/13 at 11:02 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by keith777
Can't believe I've only just found this thread,your work is absolutely brilliant
Can't wait to see the finished product !
My thoughts exactly
Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.................Douglas Adams.
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Nickp
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| posted on 10/11/13 at 07:05 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by John Bonnett
Simply stunning!! 
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John Bonnett
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| posted on 15/11/13 at 06:19 PM |
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Mark has overcome all the problems now and has achieved very nice shut lines of the doors against the sills, A post and windscreen. There is still a
way to go yet but the rest should be much for straightforward.
For my part, I have welded the return to the lower wing section and welded the two rear wing section together. Once the sill is on, I can make the
last two pieces to complete the wing.
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Mike Wood
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| posted on 17/11/13 at 09:00 AM |
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Hi John
An imaginative project with great workmanship; thanks for posting.
How are you going to mount the aluminium body panels? Keep the underlying steel structure - using aircraft/boatbuilding practice of barrier paste,
such as Duralac ( http://www.intek-uk.com/duralac.htm ) to stop electrolytic action - combined with Monel rivets to make the structural join? Or go
for superleggera approach of lightweight framework of small section steel tubes as used by Touring of Milan for 1950s and 1960s racing, sports racing
and GT cars? ( http://www.velocetoday.com/images/january%2007/gt3a.jpg http://www.registrotouringsuperleggera.com/images/storia02.jpg
http://www.moal.com/04_gallery/11gatto/01.jpg http://images.hemmings.com/wp-content/uploads//2012/04/TouringSuperLeggera_01_1200.jpg )
The project does remind me of 1960s works racing cars, either specialist Le Mans cars such as the works Triumph Spitfire coupes -
http://www.canleyclassics.com/?xhtml=xhtml/workscars/default.html&xsl=workscars.xsl - or Austin Healey Sprite based Sprinzel Coupes (for racing
and rallying): http://www.sebringsprite.com/pmo200.html ; or standard bodied cars using aluminium replacement panels to conform to more limited
silhouette racing rules, e.g. http://www.sebringsprite.com/mark2sebrings.html
Your project does remind me of the work of Williams and Pritchard - http://www.williamsandpritchardregister.co.uk/ - who made a range of racing car
bodies for open single seater cars, open and closed racing sports cars for a range of manufacturers e.g. Lotus but also initially for Sprinzel for
Sebring Sprites. Also makes me think of Italian coachbuilders such as Scaglietti, Touring, Betone and Zagato building sports car, sports racing car
and GT bodies on short 'production' runs. The English coachbuilding firms dating from the 1920s and 1930s, e.g. Hooper, Gurney &
Nutting, always seemed to concentrate on large saloon cars and limousines, with only new concerns springing up in the 1950s and 1960s working on
sports and racing car bodywork in both aluminium and fibreglass.
Engine - surely just use the 2litre straight 6 of the GT6 tuned?; or for more torque could put in the 2.5 litre engine from the 2500 saloon. Guess
you've already checked out info on websites: Chris Witor Triumph spares, Canley Classics and Triumph Six Sports Car Club? Also people putting
the 2500 engine into Triumph Herald Vitesses.
I enjoyed reading your Fury build blog including all your production engineering - how you solved all the detailed design/fabrication issues for small
components and fitting it together properly. So this project perhaps not such a surprise!
Best wishes
Mike
[Edited on 17/11/13 by Mike Wood]
[Edited on 17/11/13 by Mike Wood]
[Edited on 17/11/13 by Mike Wood]
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[Edited on 17/11/13 by Mike Wood]
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[Edited on 17/11/13 by Mike Wood]
[Edited on 17/11/13 by Mike Wood]
[Edited on 17/11/13 by Mike Wood]
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John Bonnett
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| posted on 17/11/13 at 10:15 AM |
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Hello Mike, very nice to hear from you and to read your detailed reply. The Phoenix you mention seems a lifetime away now. It was a big mistake
putting the Cosworth engine in. The sheer weight of the unit spoiled the balance and handling. I believe it now has a K series engine which I imagine
will have transformed it into a much more nimble car. I can never understand why people fit heavy lumps up front in a 7 but perhaps like me, they just
had one!
The GT6 has a steel skeleton frame which I am using to fit the aluminium panels to. I do have Duralac and also some plastic tape which will insulate
the dissimilar metals and help to prevent corrosion. Monel rivets are a good idea too. The roof , tailgate aperture panel and the rear quarter light
panels will all be bonded to the steel frame. The rear wings as you can see will be bolted on. I'm going to fabricate a steel supporting frame
for the bonnet skin but at the moment I've not decided whether to bond or clench. I'm quite excited that Trev D has agreed to make the
bonnet skin for me. It should take several months off the build and it will really enhance the look of the car.
Work is progressing well on the steel shell but still a fair way to go before it is finished. I've formed quite a lot of the panels already and
hopefully it will all come together quite quickly once the shell is done. I don't want to hang around with this project and am looking to have
it on the road by the middle of next year. Spa in May was my target but I don't think that is realistic although I shall try.
I shall be using a Triumph 2.5 litre engine just because I have one. Otherwise, it would be a 2 litre. I also have an overdrive gearbox and a 3.27
diff. The rear suspension will be rotoflex.
I have two more sub-panels to make to complete the rear wing and once they have been formed and welded together the rear left hand three quarter will
be finished.
Will keep the thread updated. Thank you for your interest.
regards
John
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slingshot2000
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| posted on 17/11/13 at 01:52 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Mike Wood
I enjoyed reading your Fury build blog including all your production engineering - how you solved all the detailed design/fabrication issues for small
components and fitting it together properly.
Hi, not wanting to hi-jack the original excellent thread, but can anyone point me towards where I may find the above mentioned blog please?
Regards
Jon
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John Bonnett
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| posted on 17/11/13 at 02:53 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by slingshot2000
quote:
Originally posted by Mike Wood
I enjoyed reading your Fury build blog including all your production engineering - how you solved all the detailed design/fabrication issues for small
components and fitting it together properly.
Hi, not wanting to hi-jack the original excellent thread, but can anyone point me towards where I may find the above mentioned blog please?
Regards
Jon
Here it is Jon. After such a long time, I'm surprised it is still accessible. It is actually a Phoenix not a Fury but both cars are very
similar.
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/johnsphoenix/Phoenix-build-part13b.html
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slingshot2000
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| posted on 17/11/13 at 03:08 PM |
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Thanks very much, I will have a browse through that tonight when the rubbish is on the box.
Regards
Jon
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John Bonnett
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| posted on 5/12/13 at 07:09 PM |
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Mark has done a fantastic job and the steel shell is pretty much there which is now allowing me to press on and form some more panels.
I took the opportunity today to dust off all the panels that I've made so far and place them in position. Not only is it encouraging it is also
a measure of the progress that has been made.
I have to make two more sub panels to complete the rear wing.
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