Any Gordon Keeble Owners Out There?
Discussion
Come on, I know there are at least three of you registered.
I'm currently lokking for a GK and was hoping to get some advice. The club have been incredibly helpful but I feel I'm taking up rather a lot of one persons time with my questions, so hoping to get some help here.
Woudl be interested to know whetehr it's possible to get hold of replacement glass, body panels and if anyone has fitted front and/or rear seat belts.
I'm currently lokking for a GK and was hoping to get some advice. The club have been incredibly helpful but I feel I'm taking up rather a lot of one persons time with my questions, so hoping to get some help here.
Woudl be interested to know whetehr it's possible to get hold of replacement glass, body panels and if anyone has fitted front and/or rear seat belts.
It's going well but no photos other than the one on my profile, I'm keeping the garage blog updated too. I've now done around 330 miles since purchase, not bad considering the car had only done 75 since 2004, when I first viewed it. Only real issue is it's leaking transimission fluid, not badly but having it looked at to see if I can keep my hopes of taking it to the Le Mans classic alive.
All in all I'm very pleased with my purchase
All in all I'm very pleased with my purchase
I think that brings the total to 7 of us on here altogether, There's keeble-kid, soaringace and oneof99 too. Good to see another in the South East.
I did view 81 just before I bought 76, IMHO there wasn't much between them, 81 was better mechanically and tidier, 76 had the better chassis. At the time 76 had been on the market almost a month and there was a deal to be done if I could move quickly, 81 hadn't even been advertised. I'm hoping to take 76 to Le Mans for the classic in July but it's looking like I may have to take the reserve now, had I gone for 81 I suspect this wouldn't be the case! My auto box is leaking oil from every orifice, I was planning on converting to a manual at some time, given this it makes no sense to throw money at the auto box.
I couldn't agree more with your profile comment, I've never come accross anything that attracts petrolheads faster than the GK. The other week a chap pulled into the space next to me at B&Q, jumped out and told me he wasn't even going there, just saw the car and followed me to find out what it was!
Anyone planning on taking their GK to the Rule Britannia Goodwood Breakfast club in a fortnight?
I did view 81 just before I bought 76, IMHO there wasn't much between them, 81 was better mechanically and tidier, 76 had the better chassis. At the time 76 had been on the market almost a month and there was a deal to be done if I could move quickly, 81 hadn't even been advertised. I'm hoping to take 76 to Le Mans for the classic in July but it's looking like I may have to take the reserve now, had I gone for 81 I suspect this wouldn't be the case! My auto box is leaking oil from every orifice, I was planning on converting to a manual at some time, given this it makes no sense to throw money at the auto box.
I couldn't agree more with your profile comment, I've never come accross anything that attracts petrolheads faster than the GK. The other week a chap pulled into the space next to me at B&Q, jumped out and told me he wasn't even going there, just saw the car and followed me to find out what it was!
Anyone planning on taking their GK to the Rule Britannia Goodwood Breakfast club in a fortnight?
Huntsman said:
Take it to Le Mans with a big can of ATF!
That was the plan until my mate mentioned a similar problem that suddenly went from a drip to a torrent before depositing the entire contents accross a carpark....and it's getting gradually worse.Reserve is a Rover P5B, lacking a few CCs but it does have teh right number of cylinders
"Rule Britannia" is on Sunday 3rd June at Goodwood motor circuit 8am -12pm, it's FOC and if you've not been to a breakfast club meet before they're well worh a visit. Themed vehicles (anything British) have access to parking within the circuit (on track or in the paddock). If the weather is good it will be very busy, expect hundreds of cars, I'd suggest arriving as early as you can.
http://www.goodwood.co.uk/breakfast-club/whats-on/...
Interesting selection of attendees from PH members:
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&...
http://www.goodwood.co.uk/breakfast-club/whats-on/...
Interesting selection of attendees from PH members:
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&...
In the interst of getting some banter going on this thread, here's an update:
Well, Ch76 is currently with Terry Harris in Kilburn undergoing a transformation back to 4 speed T10 manual. I was hoping to take the car to the Le Mans classic in July but the gearbox leak was getting worse and I didn't want to end up marooned with it in France so I had a local classic specialist give it the once over. It wasn't good news, "leaking from everywhere", I was advised that the box would have to come out and be rebuilt. Given that the car had a gearbox rebuild in around 2004 and had covered only a few thousand miles (at most) since, I can only presume the seals had perished through lack of use! It had always been my intention to convert the car back to manual at some time but it'd been low on my list of priorites. However, there was no point in spending money on an auto box I didn't want so I decided to bite the bullet and go ahead with the conversion.
My plan was to go for a 5 speed box, I knew there were two cars running 5 speeds so went about doing some research with no small of help from the club sec. One of the 5 speed cars is fitted with the Borg Warner/Tremec T5 box, the same box my Griffith has, but I was informed the conversion hadn't exactly been straight forward. I spoke to the owner of the other 5 speed, which he thought was a the LT77 SD1/Jag unit, he was very pleased with it. This left me in a bit of a quandry as I had a TVR 350i with the LT77 box and I much prefer the T5.
I managed to speak to the Corvette specialist who carried out the T5 conversion and it was the deal breaker. They'd been specifically asked to fit the T5 box by the owner, it had required chassis modification to make it fit and had been a very costly job. Their advice was to go back to the T10 4 speed instead and save myself a small fortune as the benefits of the 5 speed did not justify the cost. I'd probably have still been prepared to go with the LT77 box, but there's almost know knowledge of what was it involved so I'd have been funding research into unchartered territory, something I didn't really fancy doing.
My local classic specialist wasn't to confident about carrying out the conversion so I followed the advice of a local GK owner and took the car to Terry, who's done two nut and bolt restorations and probably knows these cars as well as anyone. His garage is also littered with chevy V8s which inspires confidence. Tom of Claremont Corvette is supplying the box and bits, he has a wealth of knowledge on anything Corvette and seems to know quite a bit about GKs too.
I'm not expecting it to be ready for the Classic but it's not completely out of the question, fingers crossed.
Well, Ch76 is currently with Terry Harris in Kilburn undergoing a transformation back to 4 speed T10 manual. I was hoping to take the car to the Le Mans classic in July but the gearbox leak was getting worse and I didn't want to end up marooned with it in France so I had a local classic specialist give it the once over. It wasn't good news, "leaking from everywhere", I was advised that the box would have to come out and be rebuilt. Given that the car had a gearbox rebuild in around 2004 and had covered only a few thousand miles (at most) since, I can only presume the seals had perished through lack of use! It had always been my intention to convert the car back to manual at some time but it'd been low on my list of priorites. However, there was no point in spending money on an auto box I didn't want so I decided to bite the bullet and go ahead with the conversion.
My plan was to go for a 5 speed box, I knew there were two cars running 5 speeds so went about doing some research with no small of help from the club sec. One of the 5 speed cars is fitted with the Borg Warner/Tremec T5 box, the same box my Griffith has, but I was informed the conversion hadn't exactly been straight forward. I spoke to the owner of the other 5 speed, which he thought was a the LT77 SD1/Jag unit, he was very pleased with it. This left me in a bit of a quandry as I had a TVR 350i with the LT77 box and I much prefer the T5.
I managed to speak to the Corvette specialist who carried out the T5 conversion and it was the deal breaker. They'd been specifically asked to fit the T5 box by the owner, it had required chassis modification to make it fit and had been a very costly job. Their advice was to go back to the T10 4 speed instead and save myself a small fortune as the benefits of the 5 speed did not justify the cost. I'd probably have still been prepared to go with the LT77 box, but there's almost know knowledge of what was it involved so I'd have been funding research into unchartered territory, something I didn't really fancy doing.
My local classic specialist wasn't to confident about carrying out the conversion so I followed the advice of a local GK owner and took the car to Terry, who's done two nut and bolt restorations and probably knows these cars as well as anyone. His garage is also littered with chevy V8s which inspires confidence. Tom of Claremont Corvette is supplying the box and bits, he has a wealth of knowledge on anything Corvette and seems to know quite a bit about GKs too.
I'm not expecting it to be ready for the Classic but it's not completely out of the question, fingers crossed.
I was at Rule Britannia but had to tak the Griff instead, left around 9-9:15 so you mast have arrived later.
Ch76 has been fitted with a Holley with manual choke, apparently it's nigh on impossible to get parts for the Carter. The owner of 88 has converted to an Edelbrock ("It is Edelbrock 1406 600 cfm E/C (part BY1406 at Real Steel at Uxbridge) and cost only £205 new in 1998. It is auto choke."), his email is in the Club directory and he's happy to chat, also in Sussex. However, you might want to wait and see how Hunstmans EFi conversions goes, I spoke to Mike the other night and he's also considering EFi.
I'm facing a similar colour dilema with Ch76, do I stick with "hi viz" yellow, return it to the originally metalic burghundy or go for something with broader appeal? There's a patch of the original colour under the bonnet and it's quite a redish burghundy, not bad. However, the yellow has grown on me, it's well known in GK circles for being Quentin Keynes car because of the colour so I'm becoming more inclided to stick with it. It's also the only yellow one, comments also welcome.... I'm not a great fan of red but Ch81 is a really nice red and looks good in it, I'd stick with it.
I'm gutted to see Ch21 has just come on the market, it's one of my favourites based on the website pics, given that it's had a chassis rebuild and a recent glass out re-spray, it seems good value. If Ch76 wasn't already in bits I'd be seriously considering trading up. The custodian of Ch7 was also in touch just over a week ago, looking to sell (I placed a wanted ad when I was looking), I don't think the car was on the road but, again, good value.
Ch76 has been fitted with a Holley with manual choke, apparently it's nigh on impossible to get parts for the Carter. The owner of 88 has converted to an Edelbrock ("It is Edelbrock 1406 600 cfm E/C (part BY1406 at Real Steel at Uxbridge) and cost only £205 new in 1998. It is auto choke."), his email is in the Club directory and he's happy to chat, also in Sussex. However, you might want to wait and see how Hunstmans EFi conversions goes, I spoke to Mike the other night and he's also considering EFi.
I'm facing a similar colour dilema with Ch76, do I stick with "hi viz" yellow, return it to the originally metalic burghundy or go for something with broader appeal? There's a patch of the original colour under the bonnet and it's quite a redish burghundy, not bad. However, the yellow has grown on me, it's well known in GK circles for being Quentin Keynes car because of the colour so I'm becoming more inclided to stick with it. It's also the only yellow one, comments also welcome.... I'm not a great fan of red but Ch81 is a really nice red and looks good in it, I'd stick with it.
I'm gutted to see Ch21 has just come on the market, it's one of my favourites based on the website pics, given that it's had a chassis rebuild and a recent glass out re-spray, it seems good value. If Ch76 wasn't already in bits I'd be seriously considering trading up. The custodian of Ch7 was also in touch just over a week ago, looking to sell (I placed a wanted ad when I was looking), I don't think the car was on the road but, again, good value.
Two up for sale on the carandclassic site at the moment, as well as 21 (for £33k), 68 is for sale too (£37.5k). Would provide links bit I think the forum police might not approve.
Mike, I wholeheartedly agree that it's cheaper to buy a car that some other mug has done the work on, unfortunately I’m pretty committed now. It was also all part of a cunning plan, Mrs Yellow would never have released sufficient funds for a GK anything near pristine condition but now I have a “shabby chic” model I can enjoy. It should also be easier to prise out additional funds to turn the slightly tatty old car sitting in the garage into something nice and shiny with an interior she’s not afraid of touching
It’s easy for me to look at Ch21 through rose tinted specs, of course, the car you never go to view is always immaculate! I know 76 and 81 looked pretty good in the photos but weren’t quite so tidy on inspection.
Mike, I wholeheartedly agree that it's cheaper to buy a car that some other mug has done the work on, unfortunately I’m pretty committed now. It was also all part of a cunning plan, Mrs Yellow would never have released sufficient funds for a GK anything near pristine condition but now I have a “shabby chic” model I can enjoy. It should also be easier to prise out additional funds to turn the slightly tatty old car sitting in the garage into something nice and shiny with an interior she’s not afraid of touching
It’s easy for me to look at Ch21 through rose tinted specs, of course, the car you never go to view is always immaculate! I know 76 and 81 looked pretty good in the photos but weren’t quite so tidy on inspection.
As predicted, the GK was not ready for Le Mans classic this year, see below:
My thoughtful travelling companions did, however, apply some graffiti to the Volvo to make it feel a bit more Keeblish:
We also took this:
Not a Keeble to be seen at the classic but there was Keeble DNA to be found, one Peerless competing and despite a last minute quest for a replacement dynamo he did
complete all three stints:
Expecting the replacement gearbox to be with Terry later this week, it's not proving to be a cheap job but I didn't expect it to be. The gearbox side of things is probably not going to be too far over budget but there are a lot of other things that've turned up. None of them are big in themselves but they all add up. One of the suspension turrets had rusted through from the inside yet the other is fine, similar story with the trailing arms so all being replaced. At least once it's all done I'll be confident of having a solid vehicle, I think some photos will be appearing in the club mag. Ch76 is one of the cars that had an Ernie Knott body off chassis restoration and most of the chassis is in excellent condition, just seems to be a few points that have suffered. Well worth poking around with a screw driver for those new owners.
My thoughtful travelling companions did, however, apply some graffiti to the Volvo to make it feel a bit more Keeblish:
We also took this:
Not a Keeble to be seen at the classic but there was Keeble DNA to be found, one Peerless competing and despite a last minute quest for a replacement dynamo he did
complete all three stints:
Expecting the replacement gearbox to be with Terry later this week, it's not proving to be a cheap job but I didn't expect it to be. The gearbox side of things is probably not going to be too far over budget but there are a lot of other things that've turned up. None of them are big in themselves but they all add up. One of the suspension turrets had rusted through from the inside yet the other is fine, similar story with the trailing arms so all being replaced. At least once it's all done I'll be confident of having a solid vehicle, I think some photos will be appearing in the club mag. Ch76 is one of the cars that had an Ernie Knott body off chassis restoration and most of the chassis is in excellent condition, just seems to be a few points that have suffered. Well worth poking around with a screw driver for those new owners.
RoyD said:
Correction! I added one to the wrong total. Doh! So now there seem to be 11.....
You missed Phj sneaking in there, we're 12:V10Mike
Mellow Yellow*
Huntsman*
Keeble Kid
Soaringace*
1of99
B7trr*
Jeffery B
Vette Number
Derbyman
Phj
RoyD*
- - Attending JSW visit on 2-Aug. Be good to put faces to names and see a few more GKs.
Huntsman said:
Any more updates? Ready for Thursday?
Won't be ready for Thursday, hoping to have it back for GRRC members open day on 12th Aug, failing that, Capel Car show the following Saturday. Gearbox arrived last Thursday and all seems well with it, aiming to pop in to see Terry and get a few more pics this week.Have the bumpers arrived yet B7trr? happy with them?
I see you got snapped on Sunday along with Ch88:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
I've some more snaps of Ch76, progress update long overdue, will try and drag myself away from the olympics this week and do a proper post. Another hitch, Goodwood Revival now looking like the only outing i'll make.
I see you got snapped on Sunday along with Ch88:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
I've some more snaps of Ch76, progress update long overdue, will try and drag myself away from the olympics this week and do a proper post. Another hitch, Goodwood Revival now looking like the only outing i'll make.
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