I was certain I started a build thread on here, but for the life of me I can not find it so forgive me if I start again and its old news.

About a year and a half ago my current GT4 failed its yearly inspection (MOT) with rusty sills, they were fixed and it subsequently passed but it set alarm bells ringing in my head that the poor things days were numbered.

I decided that I would buy a shell and swap everything onto it. so I hunted for a reasonable shell to start work on.

While I was looking, I had to extend my garage. I only had a single car garage so not enough space to work or store stuff.

So I decided to extend my garage backwards a bit

Work started.



and after a few weeks, finished ;0





About the same time a shell turned up, well it was sold as a shell, but it was more or less a complete car minus the engine and gearbox.







It was in good condition with no rust, even the interior was in pretty much spot on condition, not that I need much of it





I set to wrok more or less straight away



First job was to strip everything off the car



everything went, all the looms, glass, suspension the works



Next job was to remove the sound deadening material





it then went outside for a thorough jet wash go get rid of all the years of crap





As I was moving the battery to the inside I could remove the battery tray



which I did





Next up I needed to get to the bottom of the car....this was going to require some ingenuity.

I was going to have to make my own rotisserie.

So ack off to the wood yard, a few lengths of 2x4 and I made this



It was about now I realised two things. One I was going to have to learn to weld and two..my plans for this car were changing quite dramatically......a fancied making a cross between a rally car and a GT car...no idea how I was going to achieve this, but the seeds had been set in my mind and for once they stayed there.

So I rushed out and purchased a MIG welder....learning to weld was pretty easy to be honest, by no means as neat as the pros but not bad for a complete novice.

So I made a rotisserie



It fitted like a glove and worked perfectly



A quick look revealed the sills were pretty mangled



so I had to fix them up as best I could



At the same time I started blasting and painting with good old POR15 the subframes and suspension parts



The came out quite nice



did the prop shaft too, started a bit rough



came up well



also cleaned up the steering rack



and the alloy diff end plate....gave it a good polish



Next up I started the worst job I have ever attempted

Tackling the stone guard on the bottom of the car.

I cant count the amount of drill & angle grinder wire brush attachments I have gone through.

it makes alot of dust and takes what seems like forever





slow slow work



this stage took about a month



at last, more or less done





I then painted it with more POR15



More or less at the time I was ready to slit my wrists due to constant wire brushing the roll cage turned up (I still havnt finished under the car....I am going to get the rest sand blasted....i just cant face it any more



A brief test fitting and I was starting to get excited.....I was going to have to break out the welder again

First job was to add some strengthening to the top of the rear suspension tops, so i removed the odd metal bracing off them (i think its used to just hold the rear plastics in place?)



I then made a template



and then a metal top (3mm mild steel)



and one for the other side



Once I had welded these to the car it was time to start getting the roll cage in



I filled the aerial hole whilst I was at it



Anyway, back to the cage, more bits turned up



this was starting to get serious







this ties in the rear sub frame to the cage, helps keep things stiff



nearly there



as you can see my welding isnt great, but as its more or less the seond thing I have ever welded in my life i was mildly pleased with it



Done



i had decided that I didnt want a full cage, at the end of the day it will be just a road car so getting in and out easily is a priority

Next up I decided it was about time to learn how to cast new metal parts, as for what I had in mind the parts do not exist, I was going to have to make them.

I was going to have to make myself a mini blast furnace...and learn how to cast metal

I needed these



I turned the bin into a furnace with the use of some fire cement





fill it with charcol, attach a heat gun, ignite and stand back



I made a vessel from a spare piece of square tube...it gets pretty hot



hot enough to melt alloy



I still needed to learn how to make sand moulds so stopped there for the time being, I will pick that up again later.

Taking a long look at my roll cage, I was not happy with the welds. so i decided to dress them, smooth them out, add a little body filler and make them smooth



started looking much better although I did have to remove the main hoop cross member for access



dont worry its not going to be that colour, thats just filler primer



at the same time I cleaned up the floor and primed that ready for paint



the boot aswell....I also welded the cross member back in





Next up was the seam sealer, so I masked off the areas I was going to apply it to



then applied the U-Pol grey stripe seam sealer (nasty stuff)





and that is about where I am up to today. Just been out into the garage to remove the masking tape. it looks a bit messy, but when its primed over the top you can hardly tell its there. I will add more pictures when I have taken them.

I will update when I get a chance but I work pretty slowly so dont expect much.
hope I havnt bored you to death

more to come

Nial

Great job.
That's a ton of work, impressive.

Not your everyday build, excellent job so far man.

super diy!!

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Quite the contrary. Excellent.

You are unbelievable Nial . You are true faffer

Thanks all, glad you like it


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Cheers. means alot from a fellow faffer I hope the end result looks as nice as your car.

This post has been edited by Nial: Dec 17, 2012 - 6:05 AM

Looks great! It'll be like new!
Just one thing I was wondering about. I don't know much about roll cages, but it is my understanding that if you put in racing seats and harnesses you'll need a horizontal shoulder height beam to attach the harnesses to (the reason being, to avoid spinal compression in the event of an accident). Have you considered this?

>

I will be using normal belts, If I want to use a racing harness I will attach it to the rear strut brace as the Rally Cars did. as they lie within the tollernece angles to avoid such injuries.

Great work so far! I can't wait to see where this goes.

Nice work! Can't wait to see the finished product.

I dont know if you guys like small regular updates, or big updates every yew months?

well here is a little update. I just about finished the seam sealer today but to show you a comparison, one side of the car is finished and the seam sealer has been primed, the other side it has just been applied.



Left side it has just been applied, right side has had two coats of seam sealer and had primer sprayed over the top. I am pleased that you can hardly see anything despite the fact it will all be covered over with sound mat.....just because you cant see it dosent mean it cant be right.

cheeky shot of the cage



This post has been edited by Nial: Dec 18, 2012 - 4:02 PM

>

This is how I know this thread will be good

I have been busy recently, but have found some time to spend on this project.

I stripped down the petrol tank



gave it a good paint



the obligatory walbro fuel pump



all back together with some stainless steel bolts



rejuvenated the fuel tank straps





started rebuilding the rear axels



managed to rescue the rear brake disc backing plates



they came up well



Found a product called Deox C which is great at getting rid of rust, bought the rear hub carriers up a treat



and I got alot of bolts zinc plated





and the door catches chromed



things are starting to go back together now, the rear subframe and suspension parts are all half built, just waiting for the paint on the rear hubs to dry and cure and they can go back together, need some snap rings for the rear axels, then they can go back on. Rear diff can be completed tomorrow if I get time.

absolutely epic Nial, top work.
fancy doing my car when your done with this one?

>


Hahaha...errr no thanks, this one has taken long enough.....if you dont mind loosing your car for about 4 years and costing...well this will probably cost me the thick end of £30,000 by the time I am done.

f**k yeah! I want to reshell into yours!!!

Wow, just wow. I truly admire your attention to detail. I've done some detailed builds over the years but it really falls short of the amount of work you're putting in here. Really looking forward to future updates. I've gotta ask though...what on earth do you want to make that requires you cast your own metal parts??

>

I was going to make an alloy version of the bracket that holds the alternator in place but it prooved too difficult. I kind of knew from the start it would be, I just wanted to make fire and a noise like a jet engine.

The insides have now been completed, all the seam sealing has been done and painted. roll cage is ready for a coat of colour, I think I am going to go for a satin black finish.



This post has been edited by Nial: Feb 26, 2013 - 3:33 AM

Ahhh is that what that was, I was thinking of just grinding off the humps from the radiator and making a flat L bracket, either that or getting some alloy stumps welded on and using brackets from another car. just some ideas.

of all the chinese copy alloy rads out there I'm guessing some line up the brackets others dont, i had to carve out the rubber bush from mine to fit

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I will be building my radiator from scratch so will be doing something similar...TTE used this method so it must be effective.

do you know what the pre-rad thing is on the TTE car, i cant work it out, is it transfering engine heat with oil, or cycling water for the turbo or what




as im sure your well aware of engine bay temps, i think were on the same page when it comes to cooling system design, i tried to follow TTE too

This post has been edited by delusionz: Feb 26, 2013 - 4:51 AM

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Thats an engine oil cooler (it replaces the one on the front of the block). I have one similar to that sat on the shelve in the garage although you can still buy TTE ones, but they cost about £1500

Well, it's been a while, haven't done much on the car really. I have taken the bonnet catch apart which I am going to get chromed, then I have had to have custom stepped rivets made so I can put it all back together again. I have also been working on the interior, a few ideas which have fallen by the wayside and a few new ideas.

I started rebuilding the interior plastics to work around the roll cage, a bit more complex than I bargained for, but its going to challenge my fibreglassing skills.



Now that I have finally taken the other Faff off the road I can start transferring bits over.

After talking to some rally boffins and TTE experts I have decided on two options for the engine rebuild. Initially I am going to use a 185 block and head as these are stronger than the 205 block, the head isn't as good but is more workable...or some am told. Also there are more bits available for the 185 blocks like moroso sumps etc will re using my Link G3 ECU with a brand new engine loom. Plans are afoot for a TTE charge cooler.

Love this thread, your car is going to be epic!