AK SPORTS CAR GT40

[Jerry Irwin]

Hello from Jerry in Wales.
My back ground in cars has been racing / designing and building cars for Castle Combe GT Series for the last 25 years.
(Last car was Tigra Spaceframe with +400 bhp turbo ecoboost and sequential box ) now sold for use up north..
In the later years driven by my talented Nephew Oliver Bull ( championship winner in 2015 )

So i'm no stranger to problem solving when it comes to car building.!

I took the plunge about 18 months ago and decided on the AK GT40.
Due to house moves and fitting out Garage and 'other buisness' only took delivery of 'bits' in march this year ( 2023)
I have decided on full AK Parts with quaife trans.
I am building my own 302 / 347 stoker using a block supplied from USA dated 1972 with +30 on bores and decked and line bored and magnafluxed.
ALL other parts on engine are BRAND NEW from summit race ( shipped from USA so loads of money on import duties and freight shipping.)
Those interested I can do a list of bits im using. ?
expected power in the region of 400 to 450 bhp.
Main use is for road use but hope to do the odd hill climb / sprint . would love to race but 2 problems arise.
1. full roll cage needed to MSA spec....not easy and would make getting in and out not easy. ( i'm fit but not that young @68 )
2. the thought of some one else making a mistake and wiping me out at this value of car.....not going to happen

so, onto the build.
All parts delivered ( chassis , panels, suspension , uprights, body panels, wheels , glass , steering ect ect.... you get the idea.....ALL PARTS..
delivered by NEIL from AK.
2 x full sets of tyres ( AVON going out of buisness ! )

I have checked thru all items and are really impressed by the quality... well done AK.

I have not yet started on the chassis but have spent the last few months on building the engine.
No real problems so far... well, none that cant be got round...
I'm fitting a standard 165 tooth flywheel... so that's where my first problem arose.
the overall dia is too large for the bellhousing supplied by AK. Not by a lot.

So, as I have a milling machine i mounted the bellhousing on a rotary bed and carried out a bit of machining.
second problem was clutch pack.
I tried a 10.5 inch pack and that meant too much material to be removed !
so, 10 inch clutch pack tried..... just a bit more material to remove and .... hey presto...it fits with the ring gear at same level as bottom of box .
I' going to fit a centre push clutch slave so next op is to work out size / space and see what AP or tilton do ?

Back to engine build...
I bought a baffled sump......wrong decison ....
When fitted to engine and a trial fit into chassis it revealed that the sump protruded 1.75 inches below chassis!!!
Remedied by doing a cut and shut on sump and then increasing capacity by adding extra bit towards flywheel ( no cutout required for crossmembers ect )
This now brings bottom of sump level with bottom of chassis and level with Flywheel.

Next task was to turn up ( i have a lathe ) a drive pulley to mount on the harmonic bit .

This done, I can now sort out brackets to position the Alternator and Air Con Pump.
Looking like Air con on r'h side and alternator on l/h side.
this means alternator can sit low and not interfere with oil filter ( using remote take off as will be fitting oil cooler )

Still waiting for other parts to arrive from USA......( Induction and electronics ! )

I have been posting on youtube a series of vids showing my progress
it can be viewed here :

That's about how far i have reached as i now have to take a few weeks break to recover from a small Operation !!!
If any one has questions / comments / suggestions then i would love to hear from you.

I will be posting some more vids in the near future that I have been saving up .....

 

[Brian Magee]

Hello from Jerry in Wales.
My back ground in cars has been racing / designing and building cars for Castle Combe GT Series for the last 25 years.
(Last car was Tigra Spaceframe with +400 bhp turbo ecoboost and sequential box ) now sold for use up north..
In the later years driven by my talented Nephew Oliver Bull ( championship winner in 2015 )

So i'm no stranger to problem solving when it comes to car building.!

I took the plunge about 18 months ago and decided on the AK GT40.
Due to house moves and fitting out Garage and 'other buisness' only took delivery of 'bits' in march this year ( 2023)
I have decided on full AK Parts with quaife trans.
I am building my own 302 / 347 stoker using a block supplied from USA dated 1972 with +30 on bores and decked and line bored and magnafluxed.
ALL other parts on engine are BRAND NEW from summit race ( shipped from USA so loads of money on import duties and freight shipping.)
Those interested I can do a list of bits im using. ?
expected power in the region of 400 to 450 bhp.
Main use is for road use but hope to do the odd hill climb / sprint . would love to race but 2 problems arise.
1. full roll cage needed to MSA spec....not easy and would make getting in and out not easy. ( i'm fit but not that young @68 )
2. the thought of some one else making a mistake and wiping me out at this value of car.....not going to happen

so, onto the build.
All parts delivered ( chassis , panels, suspension , uprights, body panels, wheels , glass , steering ect ect.... you get the idea.....ALL PARTS..
delivered by NEIL from AK.
2 x full sets of tyres ( AVON going out of buisness ! )

I have checked thru all items and are really impressed by the quality... well done AK.

I have not yet started on the chassis but have spent the last few months on building the engine.
No real problems so far... well, none that cant be got round...
I'm fitting a standard 165 tooth flywheel... so that's where my first problem arose.
the overall dia is too large for the bellhousing supplied by AK. Not by a lot.

So, as I have a milling machine i mounted the bellhousing on a rotary bed and carried out a bit of machining.
second problem was clutch pack.
I tried a 10.5 inch pack and that meant too much material to be removed !
so, 10 inch clutch pack tried..... just a bit more material to remove and .... hey presto...it fits with the ring gear at same level as bottom of box .
I' going to fit a centre push clutch slave so next op is to work out size / space and see what AP or tilton do ?

Back to engine build...
I bought a baffled sump......wrong decison ....
When fitted to engine and a trial fit into chassis it revealed that the sump protruded 1.75 inches below chassis!!!
Remedied by doing a cut and shut on sump and then increasing capacity by adding extra bit towards flywheel ( no cutout required for crossmembers ect )
This now brings bottom of sump level with bottom of chassis and level with Flywheel.

Next task was to turn up ( i have a lathe ) a drive pulley to mount on the harmonic bit .

This done, I can now sort out brackets to position the Alternator and Air Con Pump.
Looking like Air con on r'h side and alternator on l/h side.
this means alternator can sit low and not interfere with oil filter ( using remote take off as will be fitting oil cooler )

Still waiting for other parts to arrive from USA......( Induction and electronics ! )

I have been posting on youtube a series of vids showing my progress
it can be viewed here :

That's about how far i have reached as i now have to take a few weeks break to recover from a small Operation !!!
If any one has questions / comments / suggestions then i would love to hear from you.

I will be posting some more vids in the near future that I have been saving up .....

Hello from Jerry in Wales.
My back ground in cars has been racing / designing and building cars for Castle Combe GT Series for the last 25 years.
(Last car was Tigra Spaceframe with +400 bhp turbo ecoboost and sequential box ) now sold for use up north..
In the later years driven by my talented Nephew Oliver Bull ( championship winner in 2015 )

So i'm no stranger to problem solving when it comes to car building.!

I took the plunge about 18 months ago and decided on the AK GT40.
Due to house moves and fitting out Garage and 'other buisness' only took delivery of 'bits' in march this year ( 2023)
I have decided on full AK Parts with quaife trans.
I am building my own 302 / 347 stoker using a block supplied from USA dated 1972 with +30 on bores and decked and line bored and magnafluxed.
ALL other parts on engine are BRAND NEW from summit race ( shipped from USA so loads of money on import duties and freight shipping.)
Those interested I can do a list of bits im using. ?
expected power in the region of 400 to 450 bhp.
Main use is for road use but hope to do the odd hill climb / sprint . would love to race but 2 problems arise.
1. full roll cage needed to MSA spec....not easy and would make getting in and out not easy. ( i'm fit but not that young @68 )
2. the thought of some one else making a mistake and wiping me out at this value of car.....not going to happen

so, onto the build.
All parts delivered ( chassis , panels, suspension , uprights, body panels, wheels , glass , steering ect ect.... you get the idea.....ALL PARTS..
delivered by NEIL from AK.
2 x full sets of tyres ( AVON going out of buisness ! )

I have checked thru all items and are really impressed by the quality... well done AK.

I have not yet started on the chassis but have spent the last few months on building the engine.
No real problems so far... well, none that cant be got round...
I'm fitting a standard 165 tooth flywheel... so that's where my first problem arose.
the overall dia is too large for the bellhousing supplied by AK. Not by a lot.

So, as I have a milling machine i mounted the bellhousing on a rotary bed and carried out a bit of machining.
second problem was clutch pack.
I tried a 10.5 inch pack and that meant too much material to be removed !
so, 10 inch clutch pack tried..... just a bit more material to remove and .... hey presto...it fits with the ring gear at same level as bottom of box .
I' going to fit a centre push clutch slave so next op is to work out size / space and see what AP or tilton do ?

Back to engine build...
I bought a baffled sump......wrong decison ....
When fitted to engine and a trial fit into chassis it revealed that the sump protruded 1.75 inches below chassis!!!
Remedied by doing a cut and shut on sump and then increasing capacity by adding extra bit towards flywheel ( no cutout required for crossmembers ect )
This now brings bottom of sump level with bottom of chassis and level with Flywheel.

Next task was to turn up ( i have a lathe ) a drive pulley to mount on the harmonic bit .

This done, I can now sort out brackets to position the Alternator and Air Con Pump.
Looking like Air con on r'h side and alternator on l/h side.
this means alternator can sit low and not interfere with oil filter ( using remote take off as will be fitting oil cooler )

Still waiting for other parts to arrive from USA......( Induction and electronics ! )

I have been posting on youtube a series of vids showing my progress
it can be viewed here :

That's about how far i have reached as i now have to take a few weeks break to recover from a small Operation !!!
If any one has questions / comments / suggestions then i would love to hear from you.

I will be posting some more vids in the near future that I have been saving up .....

 

[Mike Pass]

Welcome Jerry. You have made a good start to your build. I don't know if you have joined the GT40 Enthusiasts Club but you might find it useful to link up with a group near you. As you are in South Wales you are a long way from us up in the NW but if you are up this way on the first Wednesday of the month you are most welcome to join us.
As your AK is the continuation of the Souithern GT you will find lots of useful build logs on the forum. We have SGTs on the road and in build up here in the NW. I will send you a PM through this forum so you can make contact.
Cheers
Mike

 

[NickD]

Congratulations. You chose well. The best option to purchase in the UK. Southern GT on which the AK is based raised the bar on UK offerings.

PS, Bloody nice garage !

 

[Morten]

Congratulations. You chose well. The best option to purchase in the UK. Southern GT on which the AK is based raised the bar on UK offerings.

PS, Bloody nice garage !

Could you please elaborate on what has raised the bar?

 

[NickD]

Could you please elaborate on what has raised the bar?

The Southern raised the bar.

 

[Brian Kissel]

Welcome to GT40S Jerry. Sounds like you have a great plan for your build. Please keep posting your progress. The guys on your side of the pond sound like they have some great club activities as well.
Enjoy the forum !!!
Regards Brian

 

[Jerry Irwin]

Welcome Jerry. You have made a good start to your build. I don't know if you have joined the GT40 Enthusiasts Club but you might find it useful to link up with a group near you. As you are in South Wales you are a long way from us up in the NW but if you are up this way on the first Wednesday of the month you are most welcome to join us.
As your AK is the continuation of the Souithern GT you will find lots of useful build logs on the forum. We have SGTs on the road and in build up here in the NW. I will send you a PM through this forum so you can make contact.
Cheers
Mike

Thanks Mike,

Yep, been a member for quite a few years now....

 

[Jerry Irwin]

Congratulations. You chose well. The best option to purchase in the UK. Southern GT on which the AK is based raised the bar on UK offerings.

PS, Bloody nice garage !

Thanks Nick,

Yes, the garage was a priority and i prepared it before i actually moved into the house...i have a very understanding partner.....

Jerry

 

[Jerry Irwin]

Welcome to GT40S Jerry. Sounds like you have a great plan for your build. Please keep posting your progress. The guys on your side of the pond sound like they have some great club activities as well.
Enjoy the forum !!!
Regards Brian

Thanks Brian,
Yes, many activities, but im more of backroom boy, keeping out of the limelight !
Jerry

 

[Jerry Irwin]

Hello to all again,

just a few pictures of build so far..
engine block as received from USA...
uprights all painted up ( not sure how long they will stay looking like this ! )
trial fit of engine / box.. easier to do this before any work on panels.
underside view showing all level with bottom of chassis..
trial fit of steering wheel / pedal box.
view of workshop side of garage.

 

[Jerry Irwin]

MORE PICS...

 

[Jerry Irwin]

Fitting engine box did pose a few problems but his is the first combination of 302 / quaife box that AK has done.
Had to elongate the holes on engine bracket and then redrill forward ones into chassis.
Had to slightly enlarge slots for box fit into chassis ..need to be about 5 mm further apart.
Need to make up some 'cotton reel' spacers to go between box bottom mounts and the mount slots.
Have to move the top box mount bracket rear wards to mate up with box lugs. This means re drill of chassis to suit bracket.
all minor items that AK will rectify for future orders.
Managed to cut and shut baffled sump to get level with chassis.
capacity as supplied was 8 quarts ( USA )
After i messed around with it it is now 6.5 quarts ( USA ) with oil level at 1 inch below conrod. marked up dip stick acordingly.

That's it so far.

Jerry

 

[Frank Catt]

What is the depth of your sump, if 7.5 inches I run sump pan 40mm BELOW bottom chassis rail - for lots of reasons !

 

[Jerry Irwin]

What is the depth of your sump, if 7.5 inches I run sump pan 40mm BELOW bottom chassis rail - for lots of reasons !

Hello Frank,

sump depth is :6.75 inches bottom to block face.

Jerry

 

[Jerry Irwin]

Hello from Jerry in Wales.
My back ground in cars has been racing / designing and building cars for Castle Combe GT Series for the last 25 years.
(Last car was Tigra Spaceframe with +400 bhp turbo ecoboost and sequential box ) now sold for use up north..
In the later years driven by my talented Nephew Oliver Bull ( championship winner in 2015 )

So i'm no stranger to problem solving when it comes to car building.!

I took the plunge about 18 months ago and decided on the AK GT40.
Due to house moves and fitting out Garage and 'other buisness' only took delivery of 'bits' in march this year ( 2023)
I have decided on full AK Parts with quaife trans.
I am building my own 302 / 347 stoker using a block supplied from USA dated 1972 with +30 on bores and decked and line bored and magnafluxed.
ALL other parts on engine are BRAND NEW from summit race ( shipped from USA so loads of money on import duties and freight shipping.)
Those interested I can do a list of bits im using. ?
expected power in the region of 400 to 450 bhp.
Main use is for road use but hope to do the odd hill climb / sprint . would love to race but 2 problems arise.
1. full roll cage needed to MSA spec....not easy and would make getting in and out not easy. ( i'm fit but not that young @68 )
2. the thought of some one else making a mistake and wiping me out at this value of car.....not going to happen

so, onto the build.
All parts delivered ( chassis , panels, suspension , uprights, body panels, wheels , glass , steering ect ect.... you get the idea.....ALL PARTS..
delivered by NEIL from AK.
2 x full sets of tyres ( AVON going out of buisness ! )

I have checked thru all items and are really impressed by the quality... well done AK.

I have not yet started on the chassis but have spent the last few months on building the engine.
No real problems so far... well, none that cant be got round...
I'm fitting a standard 165 tooth flywheel... so that's where my first problem arose.
the overall dia is too large for the bellhousing supplied by AK. Not by a lot.

So, as I have a milling machine i mounted the bellhousing on a rotary bed and carried out a bit of machining.
second problem was clutch pack.
I tried a 10.5 inch pack and that meant too much material to be removed !
so, 10 inch clutch pack tried..... just a bit more material to remove and .... hey presto...it fits with the ring gear at same level as bottom of box .
I' going to fit a centre push clutch slave so next op is to work out size / space and see what AP or tilton do ?

Back to engine build...
I bought a baffled sump......wrong decison ....
When fitted to engine and a trial fit into chassis it revealed that the sump protruded 1.75 inches below chassis!!!
Remedied by doing a cut and shut on sump and then increasing capacity by adding extra bit towards flywheel ( no cutout required for crossmembers ect )
This now brings bottom of sump level with bottom of chassis and level with Flywheel.

Next task was to turn up ( i have a lathe ) a drive pulley to mount on the harmonic bit .

This done, I can now sort out brackets to position the Alternator and Air Con Pump.
Looking like Air con on r'h side and alternator on l/h side.
this means alternator can sit low and not interfere with oil filter ( using remote take off as will be fitting oil cooler )

Still waiting for other parts to arrive from USA......( Induction and electronics ! )

I have been posting on youtube a series of vids showing my progress
it can be viewed here :

That's about how far i have reached as i now have to take a few weeks break to recover from a small Operation !!!
If any one has questions / comments / suggestions then i would love to hear from you.

I will be posting some more vids in the near future that I have been saving up .....

CORRECTION :
ITS A 157 TOOTH FLYWHEEL !!!!!

 

[Jerry Irwin]

Been a bit quiet latley due to recovering from a minor op.
Played around with the rear suspension and correctly fitting engine and box.
Had a few problems with engine mounts as seemed to wide ?
ended up fitting the left mount and then cutting and re welding right hand one.
had to remove and remake the lower slotted pickups on chassis as the existing position caused the top gearbox mount to collide with the oil filler / breather on box.
Had to do a little material removal on the wheels as it was too tight to fit on hub ( just remove paint )
a few pictures attached

 

[Jerry Irwin]

Just completed trial fit of all the front suspension... a few hiccups but AK came to the rescue once again....
a few pictures attached.

Nest job is to remove ALL the suspension bits back to a nice clean chassis and start fitting the ally panels.
I have watched Ratchet's build and I am going to try the same approach and coat all the panels in Nytol.

I have already used it on the inside of the wheels and exposed area's of the ally uprights.
Really nice stuff and I'm sure as a bonus could get quite HIGH on the fumes.....LOL

 

[Andrew]

I found your YouTube channel a couple of evenings ago and enjoyed catching up on progress of your build

Nyalic smells amazing!! Hahah!!!

Andrew (Ratchet)

 

[Jerry Irwin]

Thanks Andrew,

Watched your vids with great interest and much knowledge learned from them ! Thankyou.
Using same protection for panels and chassis as you have.
Jerry