GBS Factory Tour

It is well worth setting aside some time when you collect your kit to have a good look around the GBS workshop. On the day I was there approximately five cars were in the process of being made for customers. This is a great opportunity to have a look at the cars being constructed, talk to the staff and take loads of pictures. I came away with a whole load of detailed pictures which will help with the build. It is probably worth taking a pad and pen to note down some of the usefull things Richard tells you, as by the time you get home you can't remeber what to do first. I was also pleased to see that a new version of the build manual is underway, with loads of pictures, tips and step by step photos of things like panel fitting order.

All in all a great day, my thanks to Andy who helped with the driving and loading/unloading.

Chassis

Once we arrived at GBS it was a straight forward job to check the items off with Richard and then load the van. One of the things I had been very indecisive about was the chassis finish. In the end after talking to Nigel Dean at Kitcar magazine I went for the option of black satin powdercoat at £220. This is the best money I have spent yet. Someone else was picking up a chassis and it was parked next to mine, comparing the difference to picking up a bare metal chassis to picking up a fully finished powdercoated one is not to be underestimated.

The guys at GBS really do a first rate job on the powdercoating. The finish is 1st class, and you get all the wishbones, pedals, hub carriers, cycle wing supports, floor pan etc done as well. In my opinion money well spent.

Collection from Great British Sports Cars

Last Saturday the 13th June 2009 we drove the 300 mile round trip to GBS at Boughton near Newark. The first job was to hire a big van. After a long search I decided that getting a large newish van was the way to go, you don't want to break down on the way, or find it dosn't fit when you get there. The chasiss is about 11 feet long so will fit in a LWB van. It is worth double checking the van internal length as I found some LWB vans were shorter than this.

Chassis stand

Above is a picture of the newly built chassis stand, built from wooden trestles and on wheels. Pictured with my two children Jack and Abigail who are also part of my technical build team.

(Most of their advice seems to centre around hitting things with a large hammer).

Workshop

I am a firm believer in a tidy and well organised workspace. As well as spending the last 9 months cleaning up the donor parts I have also been busy sorting out the garage. When you only have a single garage in which to build your car things need to be ultra organised. All the tools are on racks on the wall or in cupboards, and I have various shelves and racks to store the parts. Hopefully this will help produce a high quality kit car.

Sierra uprights & hubs

These are the brand new Ford Sierra 2wd uprights complete with hubs and bearings. I picked these up for the bargain price of £75 inc vat for the pair at the Stonleigh Kit car show. In case you want to get some at this bargain price here are the details of the company i bought them from, they had loads.

Spire Sports Cras
www.spiresportscars.co.uk
01773 874694
07836 355785

2.0 Ford Pinto engine

The 2.0 Pinto engine still in the owners Capri before we bought it.

It is definitely worth sourcing an engine that you can see and hear running in a car, rather than one that has been rusting in someones shed for years.

The top picture show the engine after extensive cleaning and re-painting in Ford blue enamel. It has a new wide gasket rocker cover, with Ford Racing logos. The cover also has the correct funny shape thick washers, polished stainless steel bolts and new original Ford HT lead holders.

It has a new water pump, thermostat, blue alloy vernier pulley, new oil spray bar, cam belt tensioner, cambelt (Gates Powergrip), new silicone HT leads (7mm), a Aldon performance distributor (awaiting conversion by Aldon to work with the twin 40's).

I have also sent all the pulleys off to be zinc plated along with the appropriate bolts/washer. All the external gaskets have been replaced and all the bolts/washers are new.

I am just waiting for the Weber's to arrive from Pete Bowley, and the sump from GBS.

I will post some nice detail shots of the engine once complete.