GT40 Restoration

[Cplus]

nice work mate - looks like fun/hell all at the same time :D

[Willy]

A fork in the road..

Yesterday we were able to get stuck into the car again. We were at a bit of a loss yesterday as to which aspect to attack first so we took the option of tidying up the garage. It was certainly needed. Now we can easily move around the car. Ah, much better...





After finishing the tidying, we took some time to reflect on where we want to go with this car and what should be the plan of attack. Our original plan was to get this thing on the road ASAP, but that goal is slowly slipping away as we discover more and more things we need to do. As you can see from the photos, in its current state it is not far until it is complete stipped. It really is the front suspension, wiring and cabin section that are left. We deliberated for some time as to whether we continue down the path of stripping it down entirely (and add considerable time to the project) or do we tidy it up from where it is now and ignore the cabin section. What do you guys think?

The interior is not too bad, but we don't know what lurks beneath the carpet. What we do know is that the coolant lines, wiring and chassis down the sides need some attention. I think we are now of the opinion that we will continue to strip this thing down. We have come so far, we'd may as well do the whole car properly and then we have no worries about the car in the future.

OK, so with that thought in mind we decided to start ripping out the front suspension. It's quite a funny design. Bascially, all they have done is ripped the front cross member and suspension off a Cortina and bolted it to the box-section chassis. Not much to it really. It looks heavy, but being a dual control-arm setup, hopefully it has reasonable handling. It's amazing how much little front collision protection there is. Haha





We were able to undo all of the bolts apart from one (yes there's always one). It was jammed in between the cross-member and the panelling behind the pedals. Impossible to get at without removing the pedal box and panelling. This caused us much grief. I was lying upside down under the dash for several hours. Not fun.



We eventually removed the pedal box. There were a few painful screws and bolts on this one. By this time, we'd yelled a few profanities and Dad had to head home. I decided to plod on and attack the panelling. My wife, Kristen came out to the garage and couldn't find me until she saw this...



Nope, that's not photoshopped. Hilarious...



There was one bastard of a screw in there that was near impossible to get out and just about threaded. Damn flat-headed screws. Worst idea ever! In hind-sight, I should have just drilled it out, but I was determined to get it out and ended wasting 45 minutes (and my sanity) to get it out with vice grips.

In other news, we visiting the engine shop yesterday with the intention of picking up the block. Unfortunately the engine builder had forgotten we were coming in and hasn't progressed yet. No hurry. We have lots of work to do.

Unfortunately, I'm away for the next 2 weekends, so not much is gonna happen for a while

[spiller]

I am of the opinion that you should strip it right back, take the body off the chassis and thoroughly clean up the chassis. looks like there is a fair bit of crud on the car so it will be worth while. piece of mind is priceless IMO. It will be more rewarding knowing that you've been over every inch of the car when its all done.

keep up the awesomeness.

[peal]

Yep, ultimately will save you time in the long run. However, I understand there may be some anxiety about getting it regoed, ASAP.

[Dogsballs]

surely it will be easier to rego if its all clean and tidy and you can answer any question the engineer or authorities ask about it?!

great job.

[Willy]

Stumpy GT40
So the GT40 is now a lot stumpier than when we bought it....



Yep, we finally found some time to get stuck into it. My Father in law, John was down for the weekend, so John, Dad and I spent a few hours in the garage on Saturday (no better way to spend your weekend). This time we attacked the front end. We've now removed the front suspension. We removed it as a whole. It wasn't overly difficult, just a bit fidddly to get all the bolts out. First we had to remove the panelling in the footwell to access bolts, then we had to cut off the 25mm RHS holding on the front clip and then cut one of the bolts at the front of the crossmember. After that, we were able to lift the crossmember and suspension as a whole. When it goes back together, we'll redesign it so no cutting is required next time.

Done and done

Much to our surprise we found an old mouse nest under the front crossmember. On the munched up bits of newspaper I saw an ad for a real estate place in Hervey Bay, so they are obviously Queensland mice.



So, as you can see, there is quite a bit of tidying up to do in the front end. The wiring is pretty messy. I can't wait to tidy that up (hey, I'm an Engineer). This thing will look schmick once we're done with it.



So I think the plan from here is to keep on stripping it down. We've come this far, so we'd may as well go all the way. Having the front suspension out as a whole is very handy, we can fully tidy it up and rebuild it on the bench and then bolt it back in when we're ready.

Speaking of the bench..... while John was down he gave me a few welding tips. I think this will help immensely and I now know where I was going wrong and why the bench took so long to weld. We had a crack at the bench on Sunday and it's just about done (FINALLY!).

[Greg Rust]

Far out guys, this is really turning into an epic rebuild but it will be worth it in the long run, driving around with peace of mind knowing that everything got renewed.

[Willy]

Yep, good piece of mind is what it comes down to. We've found so many things that need attention, we never know what else is lurking. Better to strip it down fully and do it properly.

[Dogsballs]

all that mess and rust. which is why i will never restore an old car again after my hx wagon saga.

[Willy]

Dad's comment yesterday summed it all up "What have we done?" Hahaha. As you can see from this photo, we carried out some pretty drastic work to the car.


I dunno what Ben is doing with the light here. Starwars light sabres?

So yesterday was quite a productive day. My mate Danny came around to help Dad and I out. We got stuck into removing the body and interior. First up, one door was gone. 4 bolts and that's sorted..



Next up, seats..



It was probably a good thing we removed these. The seat mounts are not in great shape. Of course, it's always interesting to see what random stuff has made it's way under the seats over the years. We discovered a 1/4" socket (I wonder how long the previous owners searched for this?) and 3 South African Rand (about 35c Australian). Why could it not be some gold bar from South Africa?



Anyway, so after pulling out the seats and the doors, we attacked the windscreen. Attacked being the operative word here... inevitably we cracked it, despite being careful. Doesn't matter. It was an SA standard windscreen and needed to be replaced to meet Australian regulations anyway.



Next it was time for the body (commonly referred to as the Spider). Once we unscrewed a whole load of screws, it came off pretty easily.


Danny looks like he's having some serious fun here

These spiders are pretty flexible once they are off the car. We knocked up this rack to hold it firmly. The garage is filling with GT40 stuff again..



So all that's left now is a chassis, floor pan and dash. The random guy in the back is my mate Ben. He arrived from Townsville at about the time we were lifting the Spider off the car. As soon as he arrived he got in his work gear. Thanks Ben





What's going on with the engine?

Yesterday morning we also paid a visit to the machine shop. Before we left, I said to Dad "Do you think we'd better give him a call to make sure it's ready to pick up?". Dad's reply, "Nah, he's had it for months now, he'll be ready". Surprise, surprise, we rocked up and it still wasn't finished. The shop is run by an old guy, who's obviously an engine enthusiast, but not so enthusiastic about job cards, etc. So the cam bearings have arrived, but they haven't got around to pressing them in yet. He said he'd do it Saturday arvo. We told him no hurry. We're certainly not ready for it yet anyway.

Dad also spent a few hours working on the crank journals yesterday. One more job done. Thanks Dad.

So next weekend, we should finish stripping this thing down and now it's time to start tidying it up and rebuilding it.

[Willy]

Dad's comment yesterday summed it all up "What have we done?" Hahaha. As you can see from this photo, we carried out some pretty drastic work to the car.


I dunno what Ben is doing with the light here. Starwars light sabres?

So yesterday was quite a productive day. My mate Danny came around to help Dad and I out. We got stuck into removing the body and interior. First up, one door was gone. 4 bolts and that's sorted..



Next up, seats..



It was probably a good thing we removed these. The seat mounts are not in great shape. Of course, it's always interesting to see what random stuff has made it's way under the seats over the years. We discovered a 1/4" socket (I wonder how long the previous owners searched for this?) and 3 South African Rand (about 35c Australian). Why could it not be some gold bar from South Africa?



Anyway, so after pulling out the seats and the doors, we attacked the windscreen. Attacked being the operative word here... inevitably we cracked it, despite being careful. Doesn't matter. It was an SA standard windscreen and needed to be replaced to meet Australian regulations anyway.



Next it was time for the body (commonly referred to as the Spider). Once we unscrewed a whole load of screws, it came off pretty easily.


Danny looks like he's having some serious fun here

These spiders are pretty flexible once they are off the car. We knocked up this rack to hold it firmly. The garage is filling with GT40 stuff again..



So all that's left now is a chassis, floor pan and dash. The random guy in the back is my mate Ben. He arrived from Townsville at about the time we were lifting the Spider off the car. As soon as he arrived he got in his work gear. Thanks Ben





What's going on with the engine?

Yesterday morning we also paid a visit to the machine shop. Before we left, I said to Dad "Do you think we'd better give him a call to make sure it's ready to pick up?". Dad's reply, "Nah, he's had it for months now, he'll be ready". Surprise, surprise, we rocked up and it still wasn't finished. The shop is run by an old guy, who's obviously an engine enthusiast, but not so enthusiastic about job cards, etc. So the cam bearings have arrived, but they haven't got around to pressing them in yet. He said he'd do it Saturday arvo. We told him no hurry. We're certainly not ready for it yet anyway.

Dad also spent a few hours working on the crank journals yesterday. One more job done. Thanks Dad.

So next weekend, we should finish stripping this thing down and now it's time to start tidying it up and rebuilding it.

[peal]

hahaha! love it. Jumping in the deep end now.

[9triton]

good stuff -

sure is a 'kit' car now - hope you kept the airfix instructions to get it back together

[Willy]

Yep, definitely in the deep end. We don't have instructions for it. Although a guy in the US with the same kit said he'd send some to us. I'm not too worried. It's quite a basic design and a lot of it will be redesigned as we go. I've got plenty of photos

[Willy]

Yep, definitely in the deep end. We don't have instructions for it. Although a guy in the US with the same kit said he'd send some to us. I'm not too worried. It's quite a basic design and a lot of it will be redesigned as we go. I've got plenty of photos