Hi All
As I've just about finished my Hot Orange Lola T70 project, featured elsewhere on the forum, ( http://www.gt40s.com/forum/builder-log-forum/21427-maurader-t70-back-grave.html )I'm missing freezing my ass off in the garage, and it's now time to complete the Kit Car Centre GT40 replica that I bought a while back.
This project's been sitting under a tree at my mates place for a while and used as a handy workbench to get his GT40 project finished. Before that, I don't think much work has been done on it since 1990 when someone bought the chassis and body.
It's an interesting relic from the good old - bad old days when the replica car industry started to take off here in South Africa... Features a chassis made of solid iron girders and suspension off a Ford Granada, as was the norm for some of the cheap replicas in the UK at the time...
Things have come a long way in the past 15 years or so wouldn't you agree:
Body was carved from granite I think, as it's extremely heavy, and hasn't got a single chip or crack in any of the panels... You would expect it to be pretty rough after 17 years of lying around in peoples back yards, but this one's in great shape. Still has the mould marks on it, and no cut outs for lights, grills etc...
Not much work has been done on the car at all - But someone did a very nice job of boxing in the chassis at some point and the cladding looks very nice indeed. Okay, so it was cut by hand, and the rivets aren't all exactly 48mm apart and in a perfectly straight line ...
Dash has been hacked away for reasons unknown, and great big holes cut in the passenger footwell and bulkhead to run the water pipes where the passanger seat should go! Why??? I know that these replicas didn't exactly come with an instruction manual (or a parts list), but I didn't think running them through the sills would be too difficult to figure out...
Do like the gear shift though - Nicely thought out arrangement and works very well apparently. Confirms what I originally thought about this car - Some parts are very well executed, other parts are dismal, I think at least five different people, with varying skill have owned this project before me.
The best bit ^^^^^^^
1x rebuilt 289 with adaptor plate, brand new clutch and overhauled Audi box with a rod gear change that actually works... Drive shafts installed and disk brakes with handbrake cables attached and brake lines installed.
And yes, a quaint Granada rear suspension as well No I'm not changing it. I could, if budget allowed, change it to a spanky new independant set-up all round, big brakes, custom hubs etc... But what's the point? If I wanted that, I would have bought a Bailey Edwards or a CAV right? (According to my bank balance, a 'bit' out of reach at the moment)
This is a throw-back from the late '80's - early '90's and will be built as it was originally intended... I'm going to have a lot of fun building this and will hopefully create something Old-School-Cool...
I have just about everything I need to complete this project
Radiator, cooling pipes, brackets and hoses, lights, gauges, glass pack, rims, tires, locks, latches - the list goes on... Only thing I really need are seats, small misc items, cases and cases of Heineken and about 300 man hours
As I did with my Hot Orange project, I've prepared a rendering of what I want to achieve and stick to it. This gets printed out poster size and stuck on my garage wall. Helps me over the frustrating times and keeps my eye on the prize...
So from this
To this
Will be drawing up a battle plan this week and will hit the car hard this weekend... Will keep you up to date weekly (hopefully) and in the interim, if anyone would like to donate to the "Mark-Would-Really-Like-A-Set-Of-BRM-Rims-Fund", all currencies welcome
Cheers - Mark
As I've just about finished my Hot Orange Lola T70 project, featured elsewhere on the forum, ( http://www.gt40s.com/forum/builder-log-forum/21427-maurader-t70-back-grave.html )I'm missing freezing my ass off in the garage, and it's now time to complete the Kit Car Centre GT40 replica that I bought a while back.
This project's been sitting under a tree at my mates place for a while and used as a handy workbench to get his GT40 project finished. Before that, I don't think much work has been done on it since 1990 when someone bought the chassis and body.
It's an interesting relic from the good old - bad old days when the replica car industry started to take off here in South Africa... Features a chassis made of solid iron girders and suspension off a Ford Granada, as was the norm for some of the cheap replicas in the UK at the time...
Things have come a long way in the past 15 years or so wouldn't you agree
: Body was carved from granite I think, as it's extremely heavy, and hasn't got a single chip or crack in any of the panels... You would expect it to be pretty rough after 17 years of lying around in peoples back yards, but this one's in great shape. Still has the mould marks on it, and no cut outs for lights, grills etc...
Not much work has been done on the car at all - But someone did a very nice job of boxing in the chassis at some point and the cladding looks very nice indeed. Okay, so it was cut by hand, and the rivets aren't all exactly 48mm apart and in a perfectly straight line
...
Dash has been hacked away for reasons unknown, and great big holes cut in the passenger footwell and bulkhead to run the water pipes where the passanger seat should go! Why??? I know that these replicas didn't exactly come with an instruction manual (or a parts list), but I didn't think running them through the sills would be too difficult to figure out...
Do like the gear shift though - Nicely thought out arrangement and works very well apparently. Confirms what I originally thought about this car - Some parts are very well executed, other parts are dismal, I think at least five different people, with varying skill have owned this project before me.
The best bit ^^^^^^^
1x rebuilt 289 with adaptor plate, brand new clutch and overhauled Audi box with a rod gear change that actually works... Drive shafts installed and disk brakes with handbrake cables attached and brake lines installed.
And yes, a quaint Granada rear suspension as well
No I'm not changing it. I could, if budget allowed, change it to a spanky new independant set-up all round, big brakes, custom hubs etc... But what's the point? If I wanted that, I would have bought a Bailey Edwards or a CAV right? (According to my bank balance, a 'bit' out of reach at the moment)
This is a throw-back from the late '80's - early '90's and will be built as it was originally intended... I'm going to have a lot of fun building this and will hopefully create something Old-School-Cool...
I have just about everything I need to complete this project
Radiator, cooling pipes, brackets and hoses, lights, gauges, glass pack, rims, tires, locks, latches - the list goes on... Only thing I really need are seats, small misc items, cases and cases of Heineken and about 300 man hours
As I did with my Hot Orange project, I've prepared a rendering of what I want to achieve and stick to it. This gets printed out poster size and stuck on my garage wall. Helps me over the frustrating times and keeps my eye on the prize...
So from this
To this
Will be drawing up a battle plan this week and will hit the car hard this weekend... Will keep you up to date weekly (hopefully) and in the interim, if anyone would like to donate to the "Mark-Would-Really-Like-A-Set-Of-BRM-Rims-Fund", all currencies welcome
Cheers - Mark
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