Marko's GTD (I think) 40

[Marko S.]

Agreed. Nothing better than an old rusty piece of metal brought back to life.

 

[Marko S.]

Hello,

Finally got the 40 to my workshop. Some water got into the chassis during transport since it was pouring that day. I'll try flipping it around tomorrow and see if it drains out.

Here are a few photos of the stripped chassis. The frame is clearly visible now as opposed to the previous photos.

I also bought some tools at an auction, something I like to do quite often. The engine crane looked a lot smaller on the pictures so this might be a bit of an overkill But bigger is better.

I leaned the bodywork against the wall, hopefully this is the right way to store it to avoid warpage. Can anyone confirm or think of a better way?

Cheers,
Marko

 

[Keith]

That crane!

The best advice I've see re: body storage is to make simple wooden frames which you attach the body to, in order to prevent warping..otherwise they almost certainly will.

 

[Marko S.]

That was my reaction too when I first saw it. Three of us barely managed to load it on the van.

Thanks for the tip Keith. I'll do the wooden frames. Makes perfect sense

 

[Randy V]

Yep, that spider will cause you all sorts of grief if it sags or warps - I am speaking from experience!

 

[Marko S.]

Thanks Randy, although I have a nasty feeling that that ship has sailed already. The guy I bought it from had it for couple of years and did nothing. When I came to pick up the parts the spider was hanging on the wall with the rest of the bodywork. I tried putting it all together to see how it fits and the roof section of the doors sunk a good half an inch in relations to the centre section of the spider. I see many headaches in my near future.

Cheers,
Marko

 

[Peter G-Pete Fritsche]

Marko, the biggest problem with the spider is--- the guys are scared about it. It is just the smallest piece of fiberglass (glass fiber in Europe) on the whole car and dictates the guys around.

NO

If needed cut and re-glass the spider to fit everything. That is less work than work all the pieces.
A nice trick is also to build in a 6 point roll cage. There you can shim the spider in the shape you want...

 

[Randy V]

Pete's pretty close in his analysis...

Check out my Build Log for some insight on how I have solved my spider problem::
http://www.gt40s.com/forum/gt40-build-logs/45158-randys-gt40-build-log-take-2-a.html

And as Pete suggests - I also have a cage that is used to help index the spider and give it the support it needs.

 

[Marko S.]

Good point Pete. Been planning to build a rollcage anyway for couple of reasons. But as you said, a spider slightly bent out of shape is far from a toughest task we have while building these cars. When I think of all the bits and pieces that need fabrication and setting up the steering and suspension and building exhaust and making everything work together, reshaping the spider a bit suddenly doesn't seem so hard

Randy, I went over your build log. Mine is a similar case, the difference being it's warped in the middle rather than between the door and the rear clip. Nicely done btw

Cheers,
Marko

 

[Marko S.]

Hi guys,

Got some good news and some bad news. Everyone always wants bad news first so I'll start with those.

The aluminum heads I ordered seemed suspicious after close examination since there were no Brodix markings anywhere. After some research I came to the conclusion that they are in fact Strike Force or something, borderline no-name heads. After the big disappointment and a "chat" with one of the unfriendliest and most illiterate Ebay sellers I have ever come across I have decided to return them. The icing on the cake is that even though this sneaky scamming neanderthal clearly described the heads as being Brodix I still have to pay for the return shipping which amounts to over $100. Suits me right for not doing my homework before paying.

Before the good news some mediocre news first. I spent the whole afternoon getting the bushings out of the A arms. No one probably touched them for 30 years so I had a jolly good time with them. After a whole lot of punching (with two punches as casualties), vicing, heating, banging and bending heavy duty bolts I managed to get em out. However, one of the arms still has the metal sleeves inside and the bushings on the other one went out along with the sleeves. What am I to do regarding this matter? Do I get em all out and make new ones?

The good news is shorter, as always. Been doing some measuring for the roll cage and almost finished up painting the suspension bits. The package from GT-Forte should soon be on its way so I'll have everything necessary to start building the suspension, steering and braking. Also in the package is the 302 to 01E adapter kit so I can start lining up the engine and trans and welding mounting points.

Cheers,
Marko

 

[Keith]

Hi Marko, you probably got caught because he used "Brodix" in the heading and if you check back, it was probably not in the Seller's Description. Many items are advertised in this way on EvilBay because the Seller means the item to be "In the style of" i.e. in your case Brodix.

This is important because if the seller used the term "Brodix" in the Seller's Description+ then he has clearly committed a fraud which means if you open the case with EBay, you will get your postage refunded also. In any event, with EBay nowadays, if the goods are not as described then you are entitled to a full refund inc postage.

If the transaction is subject to EBay's Moneyback Guarantee, it will say so on the item's title page.

 

[Marko S.]

Hi Keith,

I "asked Ebay to step in and help" as they call it. I checked, he didn't use Brodix in the heading at all, but in the description of the heads and in one place only. Something like "Offered here are a pair of small block Ford Brodix heads" or similar. Hopefully I'll get the full refund including return postage. I should know by tomorrow, that adds up to 48 hours as they stated.

Finished up painting the A arms and uprights and whatnot. Too tired for the photos though. I also started disassembling front hubs/discs/calipers/uprights. It all seemed to be a solid piece of metal after all those years. Anyways, I approached them with good ol' brute force and ignorance system so my knuckles are bleeding from various locations now. Made some progress though.

I'll probably tackle my 300C in the next few weeks. I got most of the bits ready to turbocharge it. It's going on sale anyways since both the 40 and the 300C are too much of a gold diggers for a single man to handle, and a turbo conversion should make it more appealing to potential customers.

Cheers,
Marko

 

[Keith]

300c?? :huh:

This?



or this?

 

[Marko S.]

The Chrysler, but 05 model, 5.7 hemi. Lovely car

 

[Keith]

You're going to turbo a hemi Chrysler? You could go to jail for that! :shocked:

 

[Marko S.]

Sure I could, but then again I'd be very much liked in jail for building a turbo hemi

 

[Marko S.]

Hi,

here are a few photos of the finished wishbones, A arms, uprights, etc. I'm pretty pleased with the result. They look very clean in the matte black. Between the shipment from GT-Forte and the bits I got here I should have everything ready to get the suspension and steering done. Still have to get the brakes though - I'm currently negotiating with few Ebay sellers.

I finally got the front hub assembly disassembled. I only need the uprights. I'll get em blasted and painted like the other parts. When I took them apart I found an awesome looking washer. Things like this make my day sometimes. Check the pics.

Also received the Air Gap, as suggested (thanks guys). The guy I bought it from did a very clean job in painting it and my son agrees too.

I got a full refund from PayPal for the heads BEFORE I shipped the heads back. Also, there is no mention anywhere about me having to return them. Did some reading about that and found out that PayPal does that sometimes. By the looks of it I got these heads, although not top notch, for free. And free aluminum heads are always good.

Last but not least, a few pics of the turbo that's going into the 300C. Notice its little brother next to it which is a turbo from a VW 1.9 TDI.

Cheers,
Marko

 

[Keith]

Looking good! Great results on the heads which presumably are the generic "cheap Chinese" versions. I have heard that they can produce reasonable power if checked over carefully and corrected. Hopefully core shift won't be an issue.

Your eBay seller must have been a known fraudster for them to reimburse you immediately - perhaps there were other unfortunate customers too..

 

[Marko S.]

Hi,

Yeah it turned out to be quite a good deal. I was told by the specialist here that I can polish the ports myself and quite easy too so I'll be doing that. I'll be measuring wall thickness too to see if there is any core shift. Fingers crossed.

Haven't done any work today apart from breaking four drill bits and one screw extractor no. 4 while trying to get a busted bolt out of the front upright. The extractor flew half an inch past my father in law's eye, hit a 20 foot high ceiling and landed on top of a cabinet. Then I took the upright to the machinist.

Cheers,
Marko

 

[Marko S.]

Hi guys,

It's been a while. Been busy with the 300C for the last few weeks. I'm making some progress and can't wait to hear that turbo start to whistle.

Received some parts from Darren over at GT-Forte but I haven't had much time to try em out. I did mock up my first mock-up though Should have the engine in the workshop next week too so I can start with the actual build pretty soon.

I found an 01E, looks to be in a decent shape. Got the price down to 200 euros together with the drive shafts, which I think is seriously low. Hope the drive shafts fit. The numbers on the box are 01E 301 211 C and 01E 301 103 K-L. Anyone has any information regarding this box? I came across some info that this is the box with the wide 1st gear, dunno how true that is.

In other news, I'm bringing my 67 New Yorker into the workshop as well to fit the 440 I got in it. Gotta control myself to keep this GT40 build log about the GT40.

Also got some new tools. Yummy!

Cheers,
Marko