P1119 anyone ?
- Thread starter josvdp
- Start date
Seymour Snerd
Lifetime Supporter
Don't forget the Mk V's had some significant design changes and improvements made (by Len Bailey?) to the frame, so it's arguably not a "continuation" of a Mk I. I've forgotten exactly what, just that when I've seen the frame they jump out at me. Actually if you look at the shot of the RHS of the engine and you know your GT40 frames they should jump out at you.
The Mk V tubs were simplified to allow build without die stamped panels. The front area that on a MK I is rounded to fit the spare tire for example is composed of flat panels on a MK V. The front suspension is done to the later Alan Mann specs and the uprights front and rear are not sided, i.e. work left or right for reduction of cast parts. The roofs were hand formed, origianally by Brian Angliss at Autokraft until he had a falling out with Peter Thorpe.
Jim Rosenthal
Supporter
I think this car's been complete for quite a while, actually. Nice item although the Gulf colors are not my favorite. Rick is exactly on the money- the chassis was redesigned by Len Bailey to make it easier to assemble from flat stock, and the uprights are, as you say, not "handed". They are also not as pretty as the ones on the original cars. Safir cars had much improved brakes, with very large (and somewhat heavy) AP 2271 calipers fitted, as well as AP rotors and bespoke hats. The seats are also different in a Mark V- they are, I think, complete units that bolt in as such, rather than fabric constructions that lie on a built-in metal framing arrangement. These cars have later ZF transmissions derived from the BMW M1 ZF unit, and also CV joints rather than Metalastik couplings and Kardan joints, as the Mark I cars had. But the bodywork and much of the car is quite close to a Mark I car. Now- has anyone here driven both, and care to comment on that?
MKV´s were the first real good replicas of the original GT40.
The guys who started the production of those cars decided to do so because they could not find an original car at the right price. As Safir was part of it, and were the owners of the name and so on, they could call it GT40, and give them the chassis numbers continuing the sequence from the original ones.
Chassis was simplified in order to be able to produce it at a cheaper price (my friend Kerry Adams built them all in his premisses) as stamping all the pieces that made the original chassis would make the enterprise not feasible.
But no matter in which books, register, list... those cars appear, they are the first replicas, clones, continuation... GT40 ever built.
The guys who started the production of those cars decided to do so because they could not find an original car at the right price. As Safir was part of it, and were the owners of the name and so on, they could call it GT40, and give them the chassis numbers continuing the sequence from the original ones.
Chassis was simplified in order to be able to produce it at a cheaper price (my friend Kerry Adams built them all in his premisses) as stamping all the pieces that made the original chassis would make the enterprise not feasible.
But no matter in which books, register, list... those cars appear, they are the first replicas, clones, continuation... GT40 ever built.
Ron McCall
Supporter
Jim,
You are correct aboutr the seats, they are two-piece aluminum with foam and upholstery attached. The base sits on the tub floor and the back attaches to the bulkhead. They are retained by screws that go through a seat grommet an into well nuts on the bulkhead.
The brakes are the big APs, the wheels BRMs and overall they are well built. The Zf is the M1 type whick requires modification to the input shaft length to prevent damage to the engine thrust bearings (ask me how I know..) I have driven P1116 at speed at Watkins Glen and on the road but would be hard pressed to give a proper comparison to an FAV car as I am NOT the Stig!
Jim Rosenthal
Supporter
I forgot to mention maybe the most significant difference between the Mark I and Mark V chassis...when Len Bailey designed the updated Mark V chassis, he incorporated the improved suspension geometry that had been worked out by the Alan Mann team, to which many original cars were modified. The difference is enough that when Kerry finished building my chassis (he made the roof etc and welded it onto the David Brown monocoque) he made, per our request, a set of suspension arms. Except they didn't fit. he had used the Mark V jigs to make them, and my chassis, which had been built by David to Mark I drawings, had different suspension mounting points. Arguably the suspension in my car is not as advanced as in Mark V cars- not that, with my mediocre driving skills, I'll be able to ever tell the difference.
