The Miura project begins (Page 23/84)
jbuell AUG 30, 10:23 AM
The steering wheel looks like a tilt steering wheel. Archie's post on the last page dated 7-09-08 shows some better pictures displaying how the steering wheel relates to the wind shield. Look at pics 3, 4,& 5 and 13, 14 & 15 in that series to get a better look at how the steering wheel will relate to the large curved windshield .
Archie SEP 10, 11:29 PM
The time has come to start with the body work.





I think I mentioned earlier in this thread, I know for sure that the customer & I have talked about it, that the body panels were of marginal resin rich fiberglass. As such they have been moving around. Now that we have the chassis ready to go, we have to do what it takes to get the body panels in the right shape & get it to stay there.

The biggest problem we expect to have is with the rear clip. The "sideburns" in front of the rear wheel wells have moved in about 12" total. The glass is real resin rich & thick & it's going to take a lot of work to get it in the correct position & even more work to try to get it to stay where we put it.

In these pics, we actually spread the rear clip out by hand as we were closing it.







We went up underneath the rear clip & made some cuts in the fiberglass to try to get it to loosen up a bit. We also put some heat to the fender crowns to try to get it to open up a bit. In some of the pics, you can see wrinkles in the fenders.

This is pretty serious work, this is the heat gun we had to use to heat it up.....



Then Rob hand bent a steel framework to hold the body in shape. This steel & a little more will be glassed in tomorrow.





So far this steel is helping to hold the body shape....



Archie
Theo_nr1 SEP 14, 05:49 AM
Nice project Archie,

New at the forum here.. just found this thread registred right away. Haven't yet read all about this Miura project will do so soon! I also have a Miura body and also have the Prova chassis with it although I don't think I will be using the chassis. The Miura is stored and will be stored some years before I might start that project. Here a picture how it is stored.



Like the powerplant !!! could be interesting to use it.
Just wonder how much this Miura Fiero will weight with all those steel tubes. Looks a bit heavy especially the tubes laminated into the bodywork.. I was more thinking about using some alloy tubes of 8 mm or so.. The original Prova chassis is heavy too.. a bit tooo heavy to my personal liking.. so I might look for other options or built my own!?

I know of about 4 Miura replica owners... all in storage/building phase.
Did you get the side windows? I still need those and others too.. Possible the bodywork will not be 100% similar at the windscreen between original Miura and the different body works.. I have the windscreen, the original one, and it fits perfectly but yes I was told too that the body was modified to accept it as the orignal Prova body was no 100% fit.

Cheers, Theo
Jake_Dragon SEP 15, 07:03 AM
I have been thinking, couldn't you use a good sized hole saw to lighten up the steel in the body work? It would still be strong enough but it would take some of the weight off of the rear clam shell. It would also allow water to drain instead of collecting inside the tubes and rusting out.
I would never drill holes in a support frame but for body work I think it would be strong enough.

Just a thought.

[This message has been edited by Jake_Dragon (edited 09-15-2008).]

jbuell SEP 20, 09:28 AM
I would be interested to see some pics of the chassis that Theo owns that originally came with the Prova body .I heard It had a reputation of having significant amounts of flex and was not stiff enough to take a large torque engine , but I have never seen one. Theo , would you be so kind as to send some pics of the Prova chassis to this thread ? I think comparing it to Archie's modified Fiero chassis would be interesting .
Bremertonfiero SEP 20, 07:25 PM
archie in that back lot how many fieros were there? i counted over 10...
Theo_nr1 SEP 23, 02:19 PM

quote
Originally posted by jbuell:

I would be interested to see some pics of the chassis that Theo owns that originally came with the Prova body .I heard It had a reputation of having significant amounts of flex and was not stiff enough to take a large torque engine , but I have never seen one. Theo , would you be so kind as to send some pics of the Prova chassis to this thread ? I think comparing it to Archie's modified Fiero chassis would be interesting .



Engine option Audi V6


Main section.. heavy steel used for front and rear bodywork, alloy would be much nicer


Reinforcement (tunnel) for chassis to minimize flex know from original Prova chassis


Complete chassis


Some parts I don't plan to use... fit the original Miura wheel


Workshop


Cheers, Theo

[This message has been edited by Theo_nr1 (edited 09-23-2008).]

Theo_nr1 SEP 24, 03:19 PM
Ok to comment on the Prova chassis once more... It is the same beside some minor details as the one used for the Countach replica of Prova. The flex is in due to mainly the lack of a reinforcement at the middle (missing tunnel which is welded in in mine) of the chassis. At least this is what I heard. Originally it was designed to take donor parts of Renault (V6) and Fiat x1/9 plus Ford Taunus typical English. To my liking the chassis is way tooo heavy as it uses very big steel tubes and also the suspension hasn't been developed real nice. Using a Fiero instead is not a bad idea. The way Archie has done it (now that I have read all and seen all) looks good. Reinforcements are quite heavy I think still but this will do the job for sure... not forgetting there will be serious power this is not a bad thing. These guys have experience so I might be wrong when I think it is a bit too much...

Makes me wonder about the roof section... wonder how it compares to the original Fiero? Is it weaker or similar? If one compares it to other kitcars it is good I recon. A detail picture of the A-pillar would be interesting to me. My daily car is the yellow Matra Murena that can be seen in the workshop picture... it can be compared to a Fiero ahum .. will be interesting to compare roof structure. Don't compare it to my Sylva/Fisher Fury's (the other cars in the workshop) these have totally no steel in the A-pillar.... made to drive, race and not to crash.

My plan's ? no idea.. wait and see... make a new chassis and use suspension parts from other kit/race suppliers.. eg. Tornado sportscars or who knows.. or even get a Fiero or Murena as donor. One thing is clear there should be a decent powerplant fitted to match the looks... weight should be kept to a minimum to get a good power to weight ratio and have the tires screaming!

Cheers, Theo
bubbajoexxx OCT 01, 11:36 AM
despreat for an update need imput trying to maintain my sanity
Archie OCT 05, 03:55 PM

quote
Originally posted by Theo_nr1:

Cheers, Theo



Very good info. Thank you for posting it.

Please feel free to jump in anytime you have anything to add.

I'll try to find some better pics of the "A" pilar section.

We did some testing of the chassis before we sent it out for powdercoating & it was stronger than I expected.

Anyway, thanks for the input.

Archie