My new toy has arrived

[454]

The first few stages of my GTR kit arrived on Saturday morning

It was bang on time and all the bits and pieces are present and correct so big to Ultima for a 1st class service.

I spent a few hours over the weekend constructing the patented rivet jig and having a bit of a practice on some scrap ali sheet.

Looks like I'm just about ready to start so expect lots of silly question over the next few months

Big thanks also to Stig, Bob and James, your build diaries have been invaluable in getting me started and will be referred to throughout the course of my build

(edited 'cause I can't spell)

>>> Edited by 454 on Monday 22 December 11:49

[steve_D]

Will you be having your Christmas lunch in the garage?
Have fun and ask all the questions you like.
Where in the south are you?
Steve

[454]

SteveD,

I may have to eat it in the garage if the missus doesn't take kindly to me spending too much time out there.

I'm just outside Bournemouth so not far from yourself.
Feel free to come down and inspect / point me in the right direction / poke fun at my workmanship etc

How far have you got with your build ?

[Steve_D]

Am looking at putting the glass etc. in over the holidays. Then the doors need final trim before painting the inside.
Engine is in place to do plumbing and wiring in the bay then it comes back out to go on the dyno again.
Steve

[Graham-P]

Steve, did you get to bottom of your engine problem?

454, if you get the opportunity get yourself over to Steve's, there's nothing like seeing it in the flesh (so to speak), I did and was made very welcome and even got a few build tips!!

Graham

[steve_D]

Graham-P said:

Steve, did you get to bottom of your engine problem? Graham

Found nothing wrong as such when stripped down.
It has head studs that have to be installed using a sealant as quite a number of them are in holes that are open to the water jacket. I used ARP sealant as recommended for use with the ARP studs.

Peter Knight tells me ARP sealant is 'not very good’ (or similar words) and that they use a silicon sealant.
By the time I had received these words of wisdom I had already decided the most likely cause was stud sealing.
I tried to clean a stud and it's hole but the sealant is PTFE based and was proving difficult so I opted for putting a fine ring of PU sealant (moisture cure) around the base of each stud, place gasket, another ring of sealant, fit heads.
We will see if it works.

454
As Graham said you are more than welcome to come and play in my garage. Bring your camera, have a coffee and talk all things cars.
Learn from my mistakes has to be number one priority. So far I have managed to hide them.

Steve

[454]

Cheers guys

Steve,

A garage visit sounds like an excellent idea, it would be a great help for me to see your almost finished car and get an idea of how it should be done.

I'll let you get Christmas out the way and then drop you a mail to arrange something in the new year.
Hopefully by then I'll have a panel or two on my chassis so I can bring some pics along for you to check out

[Steve_D]

454 said:

Cheers guys Steve, A garage visit sounds like an excellent idea, it would be a great help for me to see your almost finished car and get an idea of how it should be done. I'll let you get Christmas out the way and then drop you a mail to arrange something in the new year. Hopefully by then I'll have a panel or two on my chassis so I can bring some pics along for you to check out

Have a think about what you want from you car.
For fast and furious go with the factory panels. If weight is not such an issue and you would like it a little quieter inside then you may want to think about double skinning the whole height of the rear bulkhead.
This is what I have done so you may want to see that before you fit a skin.
I will be at home almost 100% until return to work on the 5th so anytime you want to visit, you (and anyone else) are welcome.
Steve

[454]

Cheers Steve,

I'll take you up on that - just need to check my social calender with the boss

Plenty to think about over Christmas regarding goals for the car etc, I'm still debating the trade off between absolute performance and a little more comfort for the road, i.e insulation, aircon etc