[Lance]

OTHER SYSTEMS

• Rather than the standard DRB demister / fan arrangement, an heating element has been placed in front of the AC unit in the duct to the cross beam. This is heated by water from the engine. Hot air can be directed into the cabin and / or windscreen. A valve in the engine bulkhead controls the water flow. The AC fan drives all cabin air; hot and cold.
• Vents have been placed in the underside of the cross beam facing forward to blow air into the footwell so that any heat build up is avoided.
• Fresh air from the supply plenum can be ducted both through the AC / Heater unit and directly into the cabin so that some fresh air is always being introduced.

• The standard Holden Commodore radiator has been converted to dual pass to put both connections on one side to help clear the shroud. A bleed point has been installed at the closed off connection, which is the high point for the radiator. I’ll see how it goes and may go for an aluminium radiator next time round. ,The fans and shroud are from a Ford Mondeo (I think), but the late model Falcon twin fan unit will also fit.

• The floor will be made up of 50mm of insulation sitting on the steel floor with another, probably timber floor sitting on top. Instead of running the water pipes through the cockpit in a tunnel, they are run side by side between the seats and along the steel floor, so they are hidden and the floor area is open for legs. This ‘floating floor’ is scooped out around the pedals as required for my feet.

FUTURE

• The Ford GTX1 is not to everyone’s taste, but it is to mine. Once I have mine licensed and have a few miles up on it. I’m going to start looking at cutting off the roof. I believe it can be done to be pretty much completely reversible to retain the standard hardtop coupe look.
• I’m a bit concerned about getting caught out with speed bumps (the curse of modern society). I note that the Ferrari Enzo has a jacking system to lift it 50mm for this reason. I’ve looked at various air shocks, etc, but don’t like any of them for a performance car like the GT40. What I’m looking at now (and I don’t know that it will work) is to use the anti sway bars to jack up the car. The idea is that the entire standard suspension remains unchanged, so no effect on handling, but helps jack up the car a bit when the air rams are actuated. I’m just starting to do the calcs, etc now. I’ll keep you updated.