Hi! Just want to share some pic of monocoque builds 289 and 427 engines. My goal is to be able to go down to LE-Mans 2006 with 2 cars and drive 2 laps around the circuit with the cars. It all started many years ago 1985 when I saw some cars in a magazine and got interested. I was studying to an Engineer and Started to build my own mid engined car witch was finished or lets say driveable, 1988. I drove it a couple of years in the summer time before selling it. In the meantime I and friend, Thomas, went to England 1989 and visit GTD. We traveld around to see the Safir and spoked to Peter Thorpe in telephone. Since he was a bit busy we wasn’t able to set up a meeting so we missed that. The most funny things can appear, just by turning the Volvo and going back on the street we saw a sign “Gomm Metal”, if I don’t remember wrong. We parked and rang on the bell. An elderly man opened the door and introduced himself as Marius? Gomm. I must say we had just about 2 lovely hrs with him and he was a wonderful man. He really took time for us showing pic from Bond movies to GT40. They really know how to bend metal. I remembered asking him about Tig welding Aluminium but he preferd the Gas welding, talk about craftsmanship. Anyway, many years went and lots of car-project, Solon Electric car mechanical design, special machines, prototypes design- manufacturing, Koenigsegg door hinge design and construction. Then I sold my business, started with RD for a big group and then I got in contact with some GT40 Guys. I quit my work for starting with an old dream, building a GT40 Monocoque. So now after 1 ½ years hard struggle and thanks to my colleges Roy and Kent, my family and all other good old contacts and Industry contacts in Sweden and England Thanks!!!! We now have all necessary tooling for building a complete car. A project like this is nothing anyone does by them self but a good cooperation is what are needed. In my case it also really helps that we have some serious tooling. Especially Kent has backed us up with his company that is specialised in machining and grinding gear, spline, wire eroding. They have plenty of machines and they have been running since 1943 and are wellknown for there quality.
Anyway back to the build, the 289 will be running a Hewland LG 500 and I modified the sand core pattern Ford- ZF bellhousing and Casted a new one to fit the hewland. It really helps that we have a “hobby foundry” for doing that sort of things including shrink-compensation facilities for pattern making. We also manage to buy one set of old moulds from the 60`s. It took 3 month of work before they where straighten up reinforced properly, renovated in a historic way so it will not destroy the originality because many of the mk1 cars have there bodys from these moulds. I will run my 289 with standard body and bigger brakes than original except that strictly as it should have been 1965. The chassis is built in a jig that we made around a original car so it is a close as it can be. Every thing is made with modern technic and that has been my occupation all years and I´m still working on it. We made 110 presstooling and are going to make some more to easy up for the future and I must say it was a nightmare to assemble the chassie with all the special tooling and all different spotwelders and special one side ones. We have made all tooling and it is a very nice feeling after all this work and I must say, time optimist as my friends say I am, I never could imagine that it was that much work.
The 427 one as I refer to will be built with a Hewland LG600 and I´m looking for a bellhousing if some one has a genuine for sale or can rent it out for pattern so I can make my own. I missed one, but that is life. Anyway I was extremely lucky and got hold of a 1967 Le- mans program 427 engine that never been used and I think it will be historical ok to put them together. Off course if someone has a T44 from the sixties over that they don’t need but… The body will be a “Gulf “Mk 1 body until I get hold of a genuine MK2 and wide tires.
This will be all for this time so I don’t bore people.
Here are some pic of the first one that will be a finished rolling chassis with body in a few weeks and more chassis are under build. As we say here, we manage to do it and they will improve.
Best reg!
Göran
Anyway back to the build, the 289 will be running a Hewland LG 500 and I modified the sand core pattern Ford- ZF bellhousing and Casted a new one to fit the hewland. It really helps that we have a “hobby foundry” for doing that sort of things including shrink-compensation facilities for pattern making. We also manage to buy one set of old moulds from the 60`s. It took 3 month of work before they where straighten up reinforced properly, renovated in a historic way so it will not destroy the originality because many of the mk1 cars have there bodys from these moulds. I will run my 289 with standard body and bigger brakes than original except that strictly as it should have been 1965. The chassis is built in a jig that we made around a original car so it is a close as it can be. Every thing is made with modern technic and that has been my occupation all years and I´m still working on it. We made 110 presstooling and are going to make some more to easy up for the future and I must say it was a nightmare to assemble the chassie with all the special tooling and all different spotwelders and special one side ones. We have made all tooling and it is a very nice feeling after all this work and I must say, time optimist as my friends say I am, I never could imagine that it was that much work.
The 427 one as I refer to will be built with a Hewland LG600 and I´m looking for a bellhousing if some one has a genuine for sale or can rent it out for pattern so I can make my own. I missed one, but that is life. Anyway I was extremely lucky and got hold of a 1967 Le- mans program 427 engine that never been used and I think it will be historical ok to put them together. Off course if someone has a T44 from the sixties over that they don’t need but… The body will be a “Gulf “Mk 1 body until I get hold of a genuine MK2 and wide tires.
This will be all for this time so I don’t bore people.
Here are some pic of the first one that will be a finished rolling chassis with body in a few weeks and more chassis are under build. As we say here, we manage to do it and they will improve.
Best reg!
Göran
