Seat belt mounting threads

Another quick task which needs to be done is cleaning the seat belt threads of powder coat to allow for the seat belt anchors to screw through cleanly.

Using a 7/16 x 20 UNC tap sourced off ebay together with plenty of WD40 sprayed into each thread I gently turned the tap 1/4 turn clockwise 1/2 turn anticlockwise being fully aware not to cross thread the existing threads.

All eight anchorage points cleaned and the thread runs nice and true.

first task completed

Well, a week has passed since the collection from GBS, Christmas is fast approaching and I have been desperate to fit something to the chassis, nothing too onerous or challenging to start with and a spare couple of hours presented themselves this afternoon allowing me to make a start.

So....Steering column bush, looks relatively straightforward and a quick-ish job to do....

Simple task locate rubber grommet into the chassis steering column bracket and in turn insert a nylon collar followed by a further collar to provide a bush for the column to pass through into the engine bay and onto the steering shaft.

Reading other builds some grease/lubricant maybe needed to ease it all into position but it actually went together quite well, the nylon collar being teased into position with the help of a screwdriver easing the rubber grommet over it.

Test fitted the steering column and whilst the column goes into the bush it is not coming through cleanly on the other side which suggests to me the angle of the chassis bracket needs bending slightly towards the cockpit to allow the column to pass through, some reading on other blogs needed to confirm if that is the case.

25 January update - further research suggests the chassis bracket did need bending, duly bent with some brute force, steering column now comes through the bush absolutely fine

Getting sorted

So, having had some sleep it was time to get in the garage and sort out what had been deposited in there in a rush late afternoon yesterday.

As a point of reference I ordered the GBS Zero Ford based kit with lowered floor panel, powder coated chassis, fuel system, brake lines and main wiring loom in lieu of the GRP bodywork which I don't need until later in the build. My intention throughout this process is to be methodical and logical in the build acquiring bits relevant to the stage of build as I go along.

So, with that in mind I need to find homes for everything, having a double garage helps but I do need to recognize the left hand side of the garage is for Sue's MX5 the right hand side is for the Zero! - clear demarcation lines to observe

Conscious some of the panels are long (side panels), awkward and bulky (bonnet and rear panel) and downright fragile (top shroud) the roof of the garage came in handy to store these bits till required.

i went through the various boxes, labeling, identifying and safely storing for future needs.  

One thing that does stand out is the quality of finish on the powder-coat, really first class and I was conscious with the wishbones, hub carriers etc to place down gently for fear of damaging the coating.

I finally ripped off the protective film around the front of the chassis and wrapped bubble wrap around the exposed radiator brackets and rear rollbar supports (both to protect the powder coat but also me when brushing against the chassis!)

A long but rewarding morning and I am itching to get started, fit something, drill something, thinking all of this (and more) has to fit on the chassis at some point, exciting times ahead!

 

Collection day!

Well after what seems like an age since placing the order and having come back from holiday suitably refreshed the day finally arrived to collect the much anticipated kit.

Van collected the night before (thanks Enterprise rent a car, excellent service highly recommended, top tip book as far in advance as you can, great deals to be had) and a detour via my Brother in laws to drop off a large MDF board for Christmas (another story!), I started the trek across to GBS in Nottinghamshire breaking the journey up in Chesterfield with a night stop at my parents house.

Saturday dawned a crisp cold clear day and I took this opportunity to bring my father along for the ride as I know he was extremely keen on the project and afterall he was a catalyst to this project many years ago.

We arrived at GBS and were warmly greeted with coffee and mince pies, Steve spent loads of time with us, taking us into the workshop to point out aspects of the build I was unsure about but also aspects I had not considered, information overload but gratefully received at the same time

Then we moved onto the kit and spent the next hour/half going through the kit and loading onto the van. Any doubts I had about the van being too big were dispelled and I would recommend to anyone hiring a van for collection go for the long wheelbase and also another tip - take plenty of packing, rope, foam anything soft really to pack around the chassis and so forth (an old duvet and pillows proved useful here!)

So from arriving after 10:00AM we finally started the trek back to Cheshire via Chesterfield just after 12:00PM I needed to get the van back to the hirer by 5:00pm so a tight deadline beckoned!

After dropping my father off and a welcome bacon and egg butty the last stage of the journey to Cheshire was tiresome with Christmas shopping traffic but I made it back to home where my Brother in law ably assisted me in unloading everything into the garage, I'll worry about finding homes for everything tomorrow, need to get that van back!

Holiday!

Mauritius here we come...two weeks of sun, sea and doing very little!!

Back in December when the chassis will be collected and the build commences...

Garage tidied, rear diff cleaned

So approaching just over one month to go before the chassis arrives, felt I should turn my attention to the garage and have a tidy an prepare some space.

Having access to a double garage has its benefits as I have not had to barter, negotiate space with my wife's car so the right hand side is becoming the workshop for the zero when it arrives.

A new workbench has been ordered and fits nicely along the side of the wall plus cadging some old shelving from my in-laws and a trip to Ikea has generated some more shelving space.

Looking at the space I think /hope there is enough room come December....time will tell on that one!


Also took the time to start and clean up the rear diff as that will be one of the first fits on the chassis when it arrives. 

I drained the oil from the diff and started to attack the casing,plenty of deagreaser and toothbrush work on the casing and its starting to come back to life. Intention is to get some silver smoothrite applied and renew the seals in readiness for fitment.

Donor Parts Bought

Managed to secure the initial donor parts for the build over the weekend. A short trip up the M6 across to Accrington and £200 later I have acquired:

• 3.92 differential 
• Slot in drive shafts
• Steering column 
• Intermediate Shaft to inner Column 

Also included were the rear drum brakes and prop shaft which are not likely to be used so hopefully I can move these on at a later date.

items came off a 1991 Sierra and whilst collecting the parts could not help but notice the seller had a lovely Haynes Roadster so we ended up having a good chat about kit cars!

So some cleaning up, hammerite painting and general prep work to do prior to installation but pleased to have secured these parts.

Van hire sorted

Spare bit of time to it so thought better turn attention to getting van booked. 

Still plenty of time before the collection date but don't want to forget to rent a van and come collection time I am scrambling around looking for a suitable van to rent.

Enterprise rent a car to the rescue with a good rate of £65 for an extra large van which as I am collecting on a weekend allows for a drop off Saturday or Sunday so no need for it to be booked all weekend and it sat idle.

Order placed

Further update from the last post where I mused over choice of kitcar project following which I had a window of opportunity to visit GBS Sports Cars nr Mansfield.

I was greeted by one of the directors, Keith Bird whom gave a great tour of the premises and talked through the build of the car. An extremely useful chat which pointed out a few things I had not considered but also re-enforced the build sequence I have been drafting over the past few weeks.

I also got an opportunity to have a test drive in one of the GBS Zero cars (kindly loaned by an employee!) and that further convinced me this was the car I would be choosing as I embark down the kitcar self build route.

Keith was keen to show what the car could do on the open road and it did not disappoint, road holding, handling, performance all big ticks and thumbs up from me. It was also good to hear they are not resting on their laurels and are constantly evolving the chassis, it would be very easy in this day and age to accept the chassis as it stands but clearly a lot of work has gone into and continues to go into development of the vehicle.

So, a deal done!

We talked through options and agreed to exchange the GRP body work for the wiring loom and take the body work further down the build path plus I opted for the lowered floor to accommodate seat runners for the more vertically challenged driver!

A deposit paid, and now the wait begins - given an ETD of 6 December for collection - seems such a long way off but actually with a two week holiday in between, a lot of DIY to do at home plus clear a garage I am sure the time will fly..

** update, delivery confirmed for 13 December**

Decisions, Decisions

Decisions, Decisions!

So having made the monumental decision, time for research.

As mentioned in the opening paragraph the last time I ventured down kitcars was many years ago, the manufacture landscape has changed and is frankly unrecognisable from the mid 1990's.

One thing was a constant, I still yearned to do a Lotus 7-esque style car. I narrowed the list down to a select handful of companies, some top end others more mid table priced:

Caterham
Westfield
Tiger
MK
Aries
GBS

Alas immediately Caterham and Westfield were dismissed from the potentials.

Price is a factor in this project and whilst not working to a complete shoestring in this project conversely I do not have a bottomless pit of funds to throw into the idea. Caterham and Westfield command significantly higher entry price points and Caterham have frankly moved away from the build it yourself to a more turn key drive off into the sunset philosophy. I had a good look round at their stand during the recent Chris Evans Carfest event at Oulton Park but the representatives did not show any keenness or interest in self build, alas immediately dismissed.

Westfield were in similar vein, when I first looked with my father Westfield were a serious consideration and they still do produce a nice product but again I was not drawn to them as a serious consideration perhaps they are not positioning themselves in the market to attract builders like me, a strange one. borne out all the more at the recent Donington Kit car show where they had a stand but wished to promote turnkey ready to roll cars.

So moving to the more traditional kitcar manufacturers, I looked at Tiger next based over in Wisbech in Lincolnshire. Excellent product backed by an enthusiastic family team, been in the industry for many years and produce some nice literature. I was particularly interested in the Avon vehicle which you build in hand with their own book, keenly priced, available in stages as you progress the build and supported by a very active builder, driver forum on the web. Seemed to tick all the boxes.

The Donington visit was to be the time to have closer look and chat with Jim and the team from Tiger...slight problem....they had no stand at the show!! what a disaster, I was ready to talk and place an order.

I was left with wandering around the owners club area and looking at some very nicely finished and presented examples which did expose an issue for me - size. The car looked relatively small in comparison to other makes, a possible issue with physically fitting in comfortably.
So frustrated, so close yet so far

Back to the drawing board. Perhaps the kitcar gods were guiding me along another path as a manufacture whom was at the show and very prominent was GBS. A manufacturer I had looked at briefly during the early research days but for a reason unbeknown to me I did not really pursue - what a mistake that could have proved to be...

Immediately I was greeted by a very enthusiastic team, Ruth and Keith were on hand to answer as many questions serious and daft as they could field, I tried the car for size, I fitted with ample space and I was impressed with the overall build quality of the car - a lot of time and effort has been expended by GBS to get a very impressive vehicle on the road.

Budget wise, entry point on the kit was higher than the preferred Tiger but you got more your buck - time for some cost comparisons and the inner Accountant to rear his head, much to my wife's amusement!

Plans were made to follow up with a factory visit to Ollerton, nr Mansfield at a later date.
The final manufacture to consider was MK - I had read on a couple of forums how the Indy was a very capable chassis and worth considering, I did the research and realising they were near to GBS being based in Rotherham hoped to tie in a visit to them whilst heading that direction. Kit price was a the higher end but again a comprehensive kit, still work considering at that point in time.

A final comment on Aries motorsport. whom distribute the Stuart Taylor locost. price is definitely at the lower end of the market and on paper it looks a nicely presented vehicle. However despite several emails seeking more information and arranging a visit no response has been forthcoming. Disappointing to note and unfortunately not one I will be pursuing any further.

An idea forms...

An idea forms.....

Roll the clock back twenty plus years and I sat down with my father discussing the idea of kit cars and should we do one... for what ever reason we never got round to doing such a project although we looked closely at the Dutton Phaeton and Westfield alas nothing serious came of those conversations, marriage, children, jobs and other interests/commitments came and went seemingly consigning those ideas to history.

Fast forward to 2014 and I have found myself revisiting the same project. a wiser head on older shoulders...who knows... ask me in several months time when I am staring at a kit in the garage wondering how it goes together and in what sequence!

What has driven this urge to make this mighty step? An empty garage space is a help! That space was previously occupied with a rotax kart which I raced for many a year. However age catches up with us all and after one Monday too many, waking up following a weekends racing complaining of aches and pains my wife, Sue, mentioned in passing perhaps the time was right to hang up the helmet, overalls and retire gracefully from what is a young mans sport and suggested I revisit the kitcar idea I'd spoken about many times in passing.

So over the coming however many months (years) I aim to capture the trials, tribulations, successes of building a car, I hope you enjoy the journey............