MDA Mk1 with Gulf Arches - Martin P

[Phil Self]

Hello Martin
I've been looking at your build diary, which is very impressive. As I'm weighing up whether to build a GT40 replica (MDA like yours), or an Ultima & as you live in Hants as I do, could I contact you to discuss a few things to help me make up my mind?
My tel no is 01256/381819 & email is [email protected]
Thanks, Phil Self

 

[Martin]

Next body mod was to add the additional vent holes in the rear clip as per the gulf cars. Once I'd settled on the final shape, I drew, in permanant marker pen, the outline on the body. Then stepping back and comparing it to photos I re-drew it a few times, sanding off the old lines until I was happy. Then I traced the outline and transfered it to the other side so I could be sure they would be identical.
Only issue is that the holes go back into the light recess and not the engine compartment so I will need to be a little creative and construct a plenum to take air from the hot engine compartment out to the vents. Pleased with the results though.

Martin

 

[Martin]

Now to make these rear air vents functional !
Firstly, as these holes go into the rear light recesses, i needed to isolate the lights from the vents.
I did this by forming a piece of aluminium inside the recess. Then pop riveted and glassed it in position. Next I opened up the inner wheel arch so as to provide a path from the engine compartment out to the vents. I have no idea how effective this will be at reducing temperatures but we will see. Quite pleased with the results though.
Cheers,
Martin

 

[Chris Kouba]

Martin-

Excellent idea! Nice work.

 

[Ricky]

Great work Martin.

I really don't want to rain on your parade, but in the rear end shots something looks a little odd around the rear screen. It may be an optical illusion but something appears twisted (bottom left window corner looks higher than the right.)

Maybe that is just how the clip moulding is, or maybe, just how the screen has been taped up.

 

[Malcolm]

Maybe the car is being built for oval racing?

 

[Martin]

Malcolm you kill me....

Thanks Ricky for taking the time to look so closely at my photos, certainly made me rush into the garage with my tape measure. Thankfully there is no problem. The photos do look like there is something amiss, but I checked it out and it looks o.k.

 

[Martin]

Rick, as am ammendment to my last post, the clip is fine, but when looking more closely, my crude attempt at lowering the car to the correct height had resulted in one side of the car being slightly higher than the other. I've corrected that now so future photos should look better. I simply lowered the spring bases to lower the car, so there is no spring pre-load. Once I get some weight on the car, i'll adjust the springs back up. You guys are sharp !

 

[Ricky]

I certainly did not wish to unduly worry you, particularly with the effort being put into your build.

Believe me I know from 1st hand experience that even though you put everything into the job at hand, some joker comes along and says what about this or that before the job is complete. Well...., it just rubs up the worng way. I certainly mean no offence in my observation and am really glad it is only a ride height setting imbalance and not something much more difficult to correct.

Best wishes with the continuing build.

 

[Martin]

Thanks Ricky,
I'm not a highly sensitive type and all comments are welcome. Checking your work is always good. Having someone else check your your work is even better. Not even starting to be offended,
Cheers,
Martin

 

[Pat Buckley]

Thanks for sharing your build - it looks like fun!

Do you suppose that those vents you are installing were originally there to vent the wheel well area and not the engine area? It would seem to make sense.


Save you a bunch of work, too!

 

[Bill D]

Excellent job! I wanted to add those same holes, but chickened out (afraid I would screw up the body). I wish I knew how to work with fiberglass.

Great job!
Bill

 

[Martin]

Hi Pat,
I believe the holes were indeed originally designed to vent the wheel wells. However, I had a dilema. As my car will be predominently a road car I didn't wish to chop away the light boxes at the rear as they provide good protection from debrit that will undoubtedly come from the tyres. The original gulf cars didn't have boxed in lights but the MDA does. I figured it was quite a good feature so decided to keep the boxed in lights and work around it. Yes it is more work but I REALLY wanted those vent holes and not just for show, but to have some purpose. I'm thinking in the future that I might install small fans to drag the hot air from the engine compartment into that area. Not sure about that yet.

Thanks for your comments,
Martin

Bill, your car is awesome.. Period.

 

[Martin]

Today I trial fitted the windscreen. The fit into the recess wasn't perfect, so I made a few alterations, shaving some material from some areas and adding some to others until I got a good fit. It's still not perfect but it's much better than it was and i think only small alterations will be necessary when it comes to having it professionally fitted. I've marked where I had to make the alterations on the photo.

 

[Chris Martino]

Looking good Martin - once the body projects are finished I'm sure you'll be happy to move forward with more mechanicals. MDA dropped my windscreen in before shipping and I don't know if that made a difference but the pillars and screen area fit pretty well - maybe the spider/windscreen install combo prevented any distortions as the fiberglass set but I'm not an expert in that area - except maybe a little on modifications!

Cheers

Chris

PS - the rear spoiler template has shipped to you - sent you an email.

 

[Martin]

While I'm waiting for other bits to arrive I decided to have a go at meshing the front intakes. SVA are apparantly getting stricter on this. I'm not a fan of mesh grilles on GT40's so I was careful in choosing my grille material. I went for a fine steel mesh and painted it black so it would be as invisible as possible. I also wanted to make them completely removable, so took some time to attach them via screws and bolts/nuts rather than simply use adhesive.
I'm very pleased with the results as they are almost invisible.

Martin

 

[Keith]

Martin, after having rocks, various nuts & bolts and other sundry hard debris "fired" through my rad (not a '40) I quickly became a fan of a mesh screen...

Plus, (ting!) it was a lot easier to clean debris from it to prevent overheating - but that was racing.....

To be honest, UK roads today are an absolute minefield of debris - mainly rocks from bulk carriers and the like, plus the odd shovel, bucket and gear from East European trucks...

 

[Malcolm]

I think within a few days of my car being road legal I ran over a set of bicylce handle bars that were slightly unexpectedly in the middle of the road! Actually never had issues with the rad on my car with it being unprotected (till now I suspect!).

 

[Ian]

I think within a few days of my car being road legal I ran over a set of bicylce handle bars that were slightly unexpectedly in the middle of the road! Actually never had issues with the rad on my car with it being unprotected (till now I suspect!).

How was the bike rider?

 

[Mark Worthington]

How was the bike rider?

He'll be here again tomorrow night, folks. Try the veal - it's fabulous, and remember to tip your waitress!

Martin, your fiberglass work is inspiring. Nice job.