Help required from new member!!

I have always wanted a GT40 and just purchased an early KVA Mk1. It has a Rover 3.5L V8 coupled to a 4 speed citroen gearbox. A bad specification as the car feels underpowered and I need some advice on what I can do. If I put a larger Rover V8 in will the gearbox be able to handle the power?. I would really prefer a 5 speed box but what one could I use. I do not know what to do for the best. My ideal would be to have a ford engine but is this a great deal of work?

I am having trouble getting any information of how to do this, any help you can give would be great.

Many thanks

Simon.

 

[Fred/Belgium]

Simon,
Experienced same frustration when I started it all with a very old GTD40 with rover V8.

Serioulsy suggest you to eighter:
1.Sell the car and find one with a Ford V8 and a Renault gearbox (that's what I did at the end).
2.Replace gearbox and engine with a second hand V8 Ford SB and second hand refurbished Renault UN1 gearbox.
PS: I am not familiar with Citroen gearboxes.

I telling from experience how much money I put in my first one for little return.

Good luck

Rgds
Fred

 

[Joe T]

If you have a citroen box I reckon its the early Esprit, but this was a 5 Speed, here is a link from a Lotus site, halfway down is some info on the gearbox. web page

I cant think of another Citroen box that would be used with a V8.
Before doing anything I would check that what you have got is working right.

 

Thanks for the response guys.

Could you advise me of anyone I could contact in the UK to give me some detailed information. I did not pay huge amounts of money for the car so I can afford to get this engine/gearbox issue sorted out hopefully. This is all new to me so the more help the better!!

Simon

 

[Brian Magee]

Hi Simon.
Is this a very early chassis with the Cortina front sub frame or is it the later 'C' type chassis with KVA front 'A' arms and trailing arms on the back (two suspension arms running from just behind the seats to the rear uprights)? If it is the early type then I suggest you enjoy the car as it is until you can afford to buy a later car. If it is a 'C' type, then it is worth spending out on a second hand 289/302 Ford engine and a Renault UN1 box. This is the combination the car was originally designed to take so converting it should be fairly straight forward. Where in the UK are you? Maybe someone close to you would be willing to have a look at the car and give you more advice. Enjoy it either way.

Brian.

 

Hi Brian

I think that it is the early chassis and not the C-type chassis as you have described. Is it not possible to modify the early chassis to the later C-type?. I have a friend who is a good welder if this is possible. As far as a new car goes it seems that in the UK the choice of GT40 replicas is now very limited, unless you build from scratch. I live on the Isle of Wight so about as far south as you can go!. You don't see GT40's everyday down here thats for sure.

I think from the information given I need to study the car in much greater detail and evaluate my options. Even if I can't get it as I want it, still looks great on my driveway!!!

Simon

 

[Fred/Belgium]

Simon,

I contacted Frank Catt at the time and he was the one who advised me after having seen my first car.
You can contact him trough this site.
Rgds
Fred

 

Thanks Fred

If I can get the car sorted out ready for use after rectifying a few problems I am going to spray it the Gulf colours. I have been able to track down all the decals apart from the horse shoes at the rear. Doing a search on this site I see that your car is in the Gulf colours. I would be very grateful if you could send me some pictures of your car Fred. The horse shoes decal could be made up locally if I had a picture.

Regards

Simon

 

[Fred/Belgium]

Simon,
I wil send you a pic, no problem.
FYI: I made these stickers trough a vendor based on a pic (from a scaled kit) I received from someone of this site and let them make.They are not 100% accurate (however I wonder where/how they are in reality)
I also did the same with the blue triangle (power) on the front of the side doors(1968 winner car).
Rgds
fred

 

[Dave Gilling]

[ QUOTE ]
Is it not possible to modify the early chassis to the later C-type?

[/ QUOTE ] Yes it is, if you have the time, patience, this guy is/was/has done it http://www.gt40-kva.co.uk/construction.html
I have a KVA A1 chassis that I was going to modify, but have decided to use it for basic measurements and build a new chassis from scratch, it depends how much work you want to put into it /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
With regards to the Rover engine, the basic carbed version puts out around 150-165BHP, depending on what it was lifted from. This can be raised to about 225BHP on a 3.5litre for not a lot of money, in 4.5 to 5litre injected form between 300-400 usable BHP is possible /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif 4.2's can make 350 http://www.joospeed.co.uk/Default.asp .TVR Rover engines can be found for reasonable amounts of cash

 

[Chris E]

Simon
The GT40 Enthusiasts Club has just appointed a Technical Secretary to the committee and he has plans for modifying your type of KVA chassis which he is sharing with other members.
If you join the club, you could get all of the info you need.

 

Dave,

The picture you have posted look like how my rear chassis is set out. It is good to know that I could indeed modify my existing set up to the later C-type layout. Time is not a problem as I am in no rush to sort the car.
I think that the Rover engine has already been modified in some way, holley carb etc. I am fortunate enough to own a TVR Griffith 500 and if I could (by getting a new engine) get the Gt's performance anywhere near that I would be most happy!

Chris

I will make contact with the club and join up today. Any details or plans I could get for the chassis modification would be great.

Regards

Simon

BTW. A big thank you to all the people who have responded to my post.

 

[BenL]

A Rover V8 bored out to 4.4l can put out 300HP/300ft-lbs (at the flywheel) without stressing the engine too much.

 

[Chris E]

Simon
Our local club get together is at the Bullington Cross Inn which is at the junction of the A34 and A303 just north of Winchester.
We meet on the 3rd Tuesday of every month at about 7pm onwards.
I think you will find it well worth the ferry trip, as you will meet quite a few club members who will be only too pleased to discuss your project with you. And, if its dry, there will probably be half a dozen cars there too.
The next meeting is next Tuesday - 17th May.