punctures

[gtr-gaz]

Hi All,

As you may or may not know I hope to get my GTR on the road by early summer.

I was wondering what happens if I get a puncture.
No spare, no way of getting a jack under. What do I do?

My Honda Accord has no spare either, but it does have a puncture repair kit complete with air compressor.
Any thoughts on something similar for my GTR?

BTW Surely a towing eye is a must in case it breaks down? (Not that it will)!!

Gary

[Stig]

I carry a can of tyre foam, well, 2 in fact.

Other than a roof rack with a spare, there's not alot more you can do!

[chiz]

I take it towing eyes are fitted to the cars as standard? Or do you specify this as an option (was thinking of factory built car here). You see you will need one for recovery on a circuit (think stuck in cat litter and can't drive out).

Also do most people build their Ultima GTR/Can-Ams with a cigarette lighter socket? I would use this for a battery conditioner and also for an Compaq Ipaq GPS system that sticks to the windscreen and is powered from the cigarette lighter socket.

Thanks

[gtr-gaz]

Towing eyes are not fitted as standard.
You would need to specify that.

Cigar lighters, I would definatly fit one. The wiring loom allows for this.

Gary

[BobM]

gtr-gaz said:

My Honda Accord has no spare either, but it does have a puncture repair kit complete with air compressor.

Most use cans of tyre weld although I've heard it doesn't do the tyre much good. Another alternative is a puncture repair kit - I got one from my local motorbike dealer, I gather BMW also produce one for their bikes. This comprises the bits and pieces to fit a rubber plug into the puncture and CO2 canisters to reflate the tyre. Mine was about £20.

gtr-gaz said:

BTW Surely a towing eye is a must in case it breaks down? (Not that it will)!!

This is a worry of mine also, particularly on track. When I spoke to the factory before my build they were fairly discouraging - they'd fitted them to their demonstrator but weren't keen on offering them as an option. The front one needs a hole chopping in your grille and I think the rear one just protrudes beneath the bodywork.

[steve_D]

The tow eyes feature on the build CD but I doubt they are SVA friendly which may be why the factory were not keen. They look OK but I would carry a short strop to loop through the eye so your recovery wagon hook stays clear of the bodywork.
Steve

[gtr-gaz]

I have to say, I don't like the look of the towing eye, I think the front one sticks out like a sore thumb!

I might just see if I can drill a hole in the rad floor pan area, about 1/2 inch dia, sleeve it with a bit of steel pipe and carry a shackle around in the car.

Bob,interesting thought about what you said about rubber plugs for puncture repairs, I thought they were fitted from inside so there's no chance of it popping out.
That's what they do down the tyre place.

Gary

[BobM]

gtr-gaz said:

Bob,interesting thought about what you said about rubber plugs for puncture repairs, I thought they were fitted from inside so there's no chance of it popping out. That's what they do down the tyre place.

The rubber plug has a sort of mushroom end. The kit supplies a tool for cleaning up/slightly enlarging the puncture, and a tool for inserting the plug. The plug is coated in glue before insertion.

[Brian Jackett]

You should make the tow eye removable as they do with the ferrari 355, It is a long bolt like thing that has an eye on one end and a thread on the other.

This may be positioned without needing to drill front fibreglass but if it does its just a neat 15mm round hole that you can put a bung in when not using.

You carry the eye around and only screw in when needed

[BobM]

Brian Jackett said:

You should make the tow eye removable as they do with the ferrari 355, It is a long bolt like thing that has an eye on one end and a thread on the other. This may be positioned without needing to drill front fibreglass but if it does its just a neat 15mm round hole that you can put a bung in when not using.

The trouble may be that the bodywork is positioned such that the front splitter is at just about the level of the chassis floor. The GRP 'floor' of the rad aperture just about rests on the upper surface of the rad pan floor, but it then slopes down towards the front of the splitter, the lower edge of which is roughly level with the under surface of the floor. Hope that makes sense!

It really would be nice to have some form of cosmetically acceptable quick release towing eyes.