Back in the game... GP Spyder
Discussion
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Well, it seems donkeys years since I have had a ( running ) kit car!! 2013 I think it was?
I sold my R1 Phoenix to a friend about 2018 as it really after 15 years of competing and European tours it really needed a chassis up rebuild. I definitely sold it to the right guy..... :-)
This GP Spyder I was first offered in 2011, from a friend, but at the time had no space / time for it. It had been body off restored, new interior, brand new engine, and parked up in a garage 2010. Scroll on 9 years and 10 years parked up, it has somehow ended up as mine...
Not sure what I will do with it yet, many options, but during lockdown I am just re-commissioning it and preparing it for fun use when allowed. I just love staring at it though, cannot say that about many cars!
Needs a little work, the rear suspension looks like it was set too low, so that needs a lift up to give it a little rake. It needs 4 new tyres, new brake shoes and wheel cylinders and the electrical terminals cleaned . Already converted it to Petronix electronic ignition and it sounds way nicer than I even hoped for, it fired 2nd turn of the key after the Petronix hooked up. The engine has only done 542 miles since brand new. cannot wait for a drive.
One thing I have always wanted to do on a car is a custom paint job, of some sort. I am into old Volkswagens too, and have always admired “patina” paintwork, real patina obviously displaying the vehicles history but also the “faked” ones of which some are very very good and to me, automotive art.
Some of the original Porsche 718 RSKs were raced with no paint, just bare aluminium which over time took on a fantastic raw effect, there are some lovely old pictures kicking about. So the patina came not from paint wearing thin but aluminium tarnishing and taking on damage.
Up close my paintwork is decades old so not perfect, so rather than just giving it a pro silver paint job with us what 99% do even to the real ones, I fancy playing around giving it a patina paint job. If it all goes wrong I will just flat it and get a pro silver paint job!
Started playing around with Rustoleum 2111 paint on an old TR7 door, with various black / grey undercoats underneath to rub through to darken the silver . Will be a learning curve, and will leave different effect out in all weathers to see how the paint reacts / dulls over time. Maybe spray the actual car in the autumn.
It could be art, it could go horribly wrong!
Some of the original Porsche 718 RSKs were raced with no paint, just bare aluminium which over time took on a fantastic raw effect, there are some lovely old pictures kicking about. So the patina came not from paint wearing thin but aluminium tarnishing and taking on damage.
Up close my paintwork is decades old so not perfect, so rather than just giving it a pro silver paint job with us what 99% do even to the real ones, I fancy playing around giving it a patina paint job. If it all goes wrong I will just flat it and get a pro silver paint job!
Started playing around with Rustoleum 2111 paint on an old TR7 door, with various black / grey undercoats underneath to rub through to darken the silver . Will be a learning curve, and will leave different effect out in all weathers to see how the paint reacts / dulls over time. Maybe spray the actual car in the autumn.
It could be art, it could go horribly wrong!
Furyblade_Lee said:
One thing I have always wanted to do on a car is a custom paint job, of some sort. I am into old Volkswagens too, and have always admired “patina” paintwork, real patina obviously displaying the vehicles history but also the “faked” ones of which some are very very good and to me, automotive art.
Some of the original Porsche 718 RSKs were raced with no paint, just bare aluminium which over time took on a fantastic raw effect, there are some lovely old pictures kicking about. So the patina came not from paint wearing thin but aluminium tarnishing and taking on damage.
Up close my paintwork is decades old so not perfect, so rather than just giving it a pro silver paint job with us what 99% do even to the real ones, I fancy playing around giving it a patina paint job. If it all goes wrong I will just flat it and get a pro silver paint job!
Started playing around with Rustoleum 2111 paint on an old TR7 door, with various black / grey undercoats underneath to rub through to darken the silver . Will be a learning curve, and will leave different effect out in all weathers to see how the paint reacts / dulls over time. Maybe spray the actual car in the autumn.
It could be art, it could go horribly wrong!
I thought about doing this with the Spyder I'm currently building. I'm incorporating as many features from the original cars as I can, like panel fixings instruments, dash layout, visible parts of the spaceframe, fuel filler etc. A patinated paint finish would add the the authentic look.and covered in dust would look like a barn find. I'm probably going to do it white with blue le Mans stripe like one of the American entered cars that race there in the late 50's and everyone paints them silver.Some of the original Porsche 718 RSKs were raced with no paint, just bare aluminium which over time took on a fantastic raw effect, there are some lovely old pictures kicking about. So the patina came not from paint wearing thin but aluminium tarnishing and taking on damage.
Up close my paintwork is decades old so not perfect, so rather than just giving it a pro silver paint job with us what 99% do even to the real ones, I fancy playing around giving it a patina paint job. If it all goes wrong I will just flat it and get a pro silver paint job!
Started playing around with Rustoleum 2111 paint on an old TR7 door, with various black / grey undercoats underneath to rub through to darken the silver . Will be a learning curve, and will leave different effect out in all weathers to see how the paint reacts / dulls over time. Maybe spray the actual car in the autumn.
It could be art, it could go horribly wrong!
Spydaman said:
Furyblade_Lee said:
One thing I have always wanted to do on a car is a custom paint job, of some sort. I am into old Volkswagens too, and have always admired “patina” paintwork, real patina obviously displaying the vehicles history but also the “faked” ones of which some are very very good and to me, automotive art.
Some of the original Porsche 718 RSKs were raced with no paint, just bare aluminium which over time took on a fantastic raw effect, there are some lovely old pictures kicking about. So the patina came not from paint wearing thin but aluminium tarnishing and taking on damage.
Up close my paintwork is decades old so not perfect, so rather than just giving it a pro silver paint job with us what 99% do even to the real ones, I fancy playing around giving it a patina paint job. If it all goes wrong I will just flat it and get a pro silver paint job!
Started playing around with Rustoleum 2111 paint on an old TR7 door, with various black / grey undercoats underneath to rub through to darken the silver . Will be a learning curve, and will leave different effect out in all weathers to see how the paint reacts / dulls over time. Maybe spray the actual car in the autumn.
It could be art, it could go horribly wrong!
I thought about doing this with the Spyder I'm currently building. I'm incorporating as many features from the original cars as I can, like panel fixings instruments, dash layout, visible parts of the spaceframe, fuel filler etc. A patinated paint finish would add the the authentic look.and covered in dust would look like a barn find. I'm probably going to do it white with blue le Mans stripe like one of the American entered cars that race there in the late 50's and everyone paints them silver.Some of the original Porsche 718 RSKs were raced with no paint, just bare aluminium which over time took on a fantastic raw effect, there are some lovely old pictures kicking about. So the patina came not from paint wearing thin but aluminium tarnishing and taking on damage.
Up close my paintwork is decades old so not perfect, so rather than just giving it a pro silver paint job with us what 99% do even to the real ones, I fancy playing around giving it a patina paint job. If it all goes wrong I will just flat it and get a pro silver paint job!
Started playing around with Rustoleum 2111 paint on an old TR7 door, with various black / grey undercoats underneath to rub through to darken the silver . Will be a learning curve, and will leave different effect out in all weathers to see how the paint reacts / dulls over time. Maybe spray the actual car in the autumn.
It could be art, it could go horribly wrong!
Tempest_5 said:
Lovely car. For a moment I got excited when I thought the title meant they were producing them again.
They never really stopped......https://718-rsk.co.ukSpyders Inc. still produce them, turnkey only. They start at about 35K I think, up to over double that defending on how authentic you want it.....
UPDATE
Finally got the car to my barn. The garage count was new tyres, refurb the rims ( i did them ) , all new brake cylinders, shoes, a stud / nut conversion, rear camber compensator, rear axle oil seals, harnesses fitted, rear ride height raised and the fuse box cleaned up with new fuses and sorted an electrical gremlin! ( phew!) I did 50% of the work at my friends business so kept the costs down...
One thing I found is that I suspect when the car was driven into that garage 10 years ago and parked up, it was not well..... I have found a few bodges to say the least, our of laziness / inexperience I expect. Not the first person, not the last.
I drove it 15 miles home under escort, in the pi$$ing rain with just a t-shirt and sunglasses, the gear selector a bit wafty, engine choking itself up occasionally, brakes spongy, but loved every minute of it!!!
The GRP snapped where the rear clamshell hinges go just as we were leaving, just age / fatigue, so my patina aluminium respray will most likely be bought forward to mask the fibreglass repairs.
Finally got the car to my barn. The garage count was new tyres, refurb the rims ( i did them ) , all new brake cylinders, shoes, a stud / nut conversion, rear camber compensator, rear axle oil seals, harnesses fitted, rear ride height raised and the fuse box cleaned up with new fuses and sorted an electrical gremlin! ( phew!) I did 50% of the work at my friends business so kept the costs down...
One thing I found is that I suspect when the car was driven into that garage 10 years ago and parked up, it was not well..... I have found a few bodges to say the least, our of laziness / inexperience I expect. Not the first person, not the last.
I drove it 15 miles home under escort, in the pi$$ing rain with just a t-shirt and sunglasses, the gear selector a bit wafty, engine choking itself up occasionally, brakes spongy, but loved every minute of it!!!
The GRP snapped where the rear clamshell hinges go just as we were leaving, just age / fatigue, so my patina aluminium respray will most likely be bought forward to mask the fibreglass repairs.
I would like to find out what happened to a GP Spyder I owned many years ago so if anyone has information I’d be grateful. It was in Scotland so may still be there but it has been SORN’d for a while so is probably tucked away in a garage somewhere. The registration number is RSK141.
Chris
Chris
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