Okay, I have to make this kind of quick, but here goes.
I received my GT40 kit from Phil Ware at GT40 Replication, Ltd. in Auckland, New Zealand in early November. It is the first example of his work in the states, and the first left-hand drive version, period. Since I received it the car has mostly been sitting under a tarp while I built a living space in the ex-body shop I am renting. I recently finished unpacking and disassembly of the car and am finally in a position to comment fully on the (very high) quality of Phil's workmanship.
I ordered the following:
Basic kit
LHD
Explosafe (in tanks)
Fuel tanks (baffled)
AC console (controls,etc)
Wheel adaptors & spinners (pin drive)
Sidescreen hinges & latches
SS coolant tubes (welded in place)
Filler caps
Bonnet catches
Double glazed firewall screen
Sidescreen apertures
High level stop light
Door handle assemblies
Rear grille set
Wiper mechanism (no motor)
Door hold-down brackets
Bell housing Ford/Renault
Sandwich plate
Trans output flanges
Input shaft (for gearbox, installed)
Door seals
Dash covered in vinyl
Clutch mechanism
Koni shocks & springs (custom valved)
Hard lines (brake and clutch)
Wiring loom
Extra windscreen
Transaxle (refurb)
Cladding and firewall
Aluminium filler boxes
Wiper motor
Motor and trans mounts
Swaybars
Shift linkage
Radiator
Rearlights
Rad fans
Loading
Shipping + docs (lone container)
Phil arranged the shipping for me.
All of that, plus customs and delivery to my door, was $29K. That's based on the exchange last summer when I ordered the car. I don't know if prices have changed at all in the interim.
The car arrived with the steering and suspension loosely installed. Aluminum panelling was pre-bent and fitted, held in place with tape. The bottom of the car is totally flat, covered by three aluminum panels. The front and rear clips were mounted, roof section pre-fitted to work with the windshield, and doors were hung and adjusted.
Fuel tanks were in place. The brake lines were pre-bent and fitted with most mounting holes already drilled and clamps in place. Coolant pipes are stainless and run up the spine of the chassis. The dash, tubs, and center console shipped in place. The transaxle and bellhousing arrived in a crate, and all the glass and acrylic are in a separate carton. The car was brought over in its own container.
I have removed both clips, the rocker covers, all the aluminum, suspension, and steering, dash, console, doors, and tubs. The chassis is burly. It looks great. Well triangulated. There are even weld nuts in the hard to access places. The clip and door hinges are sensible and fully adjustable. The suspension is rose jointed everywhere there is non-planar motion, and uses
polyurethane bushings and sealed linear/spherical bearings at the inboard ends of the wishbones. The spindles are set up to take Wilwood calipers, the front rotors are vented and slotted, and the rears are solid. The chassis is configured for a Wilwood two-pedal assembly with bias bar.
The fiberglass work is superb. Very heavy layups with reinforcement bonded in. No sign of print-thru. The mold lines are straight and even where they haven't been ground out and filled. There are even wires for a dome light bonded into the roof section. Pretty cool.
The aluminum paneling is beautiful. There are both welded and intricately folded bits. I really can't say enough about the amount of work that went into these pieces. I'm pretty sure you could just take the paneling as it arrives, throw some clamps on it and start drilling and riveting. It is very very nice. I am told that the panelling has been redesigned since I received my car, and that it is even better now. Perhaps Neal could comment soon.
All the custom bits like door handles and filler caps show excellent workmanship as well. Nicely polished and ready to go. The fuel tanks are very cool. They are notched around the roll hoop tie-ins and are very large. The roll hoop itself is bent round tube with heavy duty supports angling
back into the engine bay. The car came with a copy of the FIA homologation for the hoop.
The suspension bits (wishbones, trailing arms, etc.) are nicely welded and very stout looking. The trailing arms have a left hand thread one end to make adjustment easier. Everything but front caster is adjustable by screwing rose joints in and out. Front caster changes are accomplished by moving packing washers areound.
The radiator is extremely heavy duty. I doubt I'll be having any cooling problems.
The bellhousing is a nice cast aluminum piece. The clutch setup included throwout arm and bearing, pivot, slave cylinder, etc. It is set up to take a 10.5" Ford clutch.
Steering column and rack are Toyota. Tilt column. Both bits seem well suited.
The wiring loom is very professional and comes with routing notes.
To say that I am pleased with the car is an understatement. I got more than I was expecting. It is going to make for a very nice GT40 with what I think will be a minimum of fiddling around. Phil delivers the car with the hardest and most finicky tasks (like getting the roof section set up and bending the paneling) completed. Not only is the kit an incredible value, it's of the highest quality.
Dealing with Phil was very straightforward. I would definitely do business with him again.
Looking back over this post, it is both long and poorly organized, for which I apologize. I'm in something of a rush this week and wanted to get this review out sooner rather than later, as it is already well overdue.
If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask and I will try to answer them. I can get photos out at some point (still taking pictures right now) too. I'd be more than happy to have people come take a look at the car, which is in the San Francisco bay area. Just drop me a line, we'll work something out.
Scott
[email protected]
I received my GT40 kit from Phil Ware at GT40 Replication, Ltd. in Auckland, New Zealand in early November. It is the first example of his work in the states, and the first left-hand drive version, period. Since I received it the car has mostly been sitting under a tarp while I built a living space in the ex-body shop I am renting. I recently finished unpacking and disassembly of the car and am finally in a position to comment fully on the (very high) quality of Phil's workmanship.
I ordered the following:
Basic kit
LHD
Explosafe (in tanks)
Fuel tanks (baffled)
AC console (controls,etc)
Wheel adaptors & spinners (pin drive)
Sidescreen hinges & latches
SS coolant tubes (welded in place)
Filler caps
Bonnet catches
Double glazed firewall screen
Sidescreen apertures
High level stop light
Door handle assemblies
Rear grille set
Wiper mechanism (no motor)
Door hold-down brackets
Bell housing Ford/Renault
Sandwich plate
Trans output flanges
Input shaft (for gearbox, installed)
Door seals
Dash covered in vinyl
Clutch mechanism
Koni shocks & springs (custom valved)
Hard lines (brake and clutch)
Wiring loom
Extra windscreen
Transaxle (refurb)
Cladding and firewall
Aluminium filler boxes
Wiper motor
Motor and trans mounts
Swaybars
Shift linkage
Radiator
Rearlights
Rad fans
Loading
Shipping + docs (lone container)
Phil arranged the shipping for me.
All of that, plus customs and delivery to my door, was $29K. That's based on the exchange last summer when I ordered the car. I don't know if prices have changed at all in the interim.
The car arrived with the steering and suspension loosely installed. Aluminum panelling was pre-bent and fitted, held in place with tape. The bottom of the car is totally flat, covered by three aluminum panels. The front and rear clips were mounted, roof section pre-fitted to work with the windshield, and doors were hung and adjusted.
Fuel tanks were in place. The brake lines were pre-bent and fitted with most mounting holes already drilled and clamps in place. Coolant pipes are stainless and run up the spine of the chassis. The dash, tubs, and center console shipped in place. The transaxle and bellhousing arrived in a crate, and all the glass and acrylic are in a separate carton. The car was brought over in its own container.
I have removed both clips, the rocker covers, all the aluminum, suspension, and steering, dash, console, doors, and tubs. The chassis is burly. It looks great. Well triangulated. There are even weld nuts in the hard to access places. The clip and door hinges are sensible and fully adjustable. The suspension is rose jointed everywhere there is non-planar motion, and uses
polyurethane bushings and sealed linear/spherical bearings at the inboard ends of the wishbones. The spindles are set up to take Wilwood calipers, the front rotors are vented and slotted, and the rears are solid. The chassis is configured for a Wilwood two-pedal assembly with bias bar.
The fiberglass work is superb. Very heavy layups with reinforcement bonded in. No sign of print-thru. The mold lines are straight and even where they haven't been ground out and filled. There are even wires for a dome light bonded into the roof section. Pretty cool.
The aluminum paneling is beautiful. There are both welded and intricately folded bits. I really can't say enough about the amount of work that went into these pieces. I'm pretty sure you could just take the paneling as it arrives, throw some clamps on it and start drilling and riveting. It is very very nice. I am told that the panelling has been redesigned since I received my car, and that it is even better now. Perhaps Neal could comment soon.
All the custom bits like door handles and filler caps show excellent workmanship as well. Nicely polished and ready to go. The fuel tanks are very cool. They are notched around the roll hoop tie-ins and are very large. The roll hoop itself is bent round tube with heavy duty supports angling
back into the engine bay. The car came with a copy of the FIA homologation for the hoop.
The suspension bits (wishbones, trailing arms, etc.) are nicely welded and very stout looking. The trailing arms have a left hand thread one end to make adjustment easier. Everything but front caster is adjustable by screwing rose joints in and out. Front caster changes are accomplished by moving packing washers areound.
The radiator is extremely heavy duty. I doubt I'll be having any cooling problems.
The bellhousing is a nice cast aluminum piece. The clutch setup included throwout arm and bearing, pivot, slave cylinder, etc. It is set up to take a 10.5" Ford clutch.
Steering column and rack are Toyota. Tilt column. Both bits seem well suited.
The wiring loom is very professional and comes with routing notes.
To say that I am pleased with the car is an understatement. I got more than I was expecting. It is going to make for a very nice GT40 with what I think will be a minimum of fiddling around. Phil delivers the car with the hardest and most finicky tasks (like getting the roof section set up and bending the paneling) completed. Not only is the kit an incredible value, it's of the highest quality.
Dealing with Phil was very straightforward. I would definitely do business with him again.
Looking back over this post, it is both long and poorly organized, for which I apologize. I'm in something of a rush this week and wanted to get this review out sooner rather than later, as it is already well overdue.
If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask and I will try to answer them. I can get photos out at some point (still taking pictures right now) too. I'd be more than happy to have people come take a look at the car, which is in the San Francisco bay area. Just drop me a line, we'll work something out.
Scott
[email protected]
