Ow

"Daddy hurt himself, but I've fixed it for him now." I clearly don't know my own strength!

Differential In & New Parts!

I reached a milestone today with the permanent installation of the first part, the differential. Due to the fact that the MX-5 diff' was never designed to have it's mounting arms hacked off by some muppet in a garage and then forced into a completely different type of chassis, some fabrication was necessary. The diff' is mounted with 3 bolts along the top and 3 more underneath at the front, unfortunately the top is not flat and cannot therefore just be bolted directly to the straight beam it needs to be suspended from. I've seen some solutions to this online; some people have built up the required height with washers (although this looks a bit temporary and is now frowned upon by the IVA testers) and some have mentioned that you can grind the top down enough to sit flat, but I've also heard mention that different models of MX-5 have different differentials which have a different shape to their support bar, some having a more pronounced curve than others. I decided to manufacture some solid spacers and paint them to match the chassis. To meet IVA regs, any spacer must be the same internal diameter as the bolt that is supposed to go through it, so I found some 10mm internal/ 16mm external bar online and used that. Cutting the spacers to match the shape of the diff' required some fettling (alright, a lot of fettling), but I think the results are worth it.

One of the bolt holes on the front of the diff' has a shroud that is mounted right through the body of the unit (this actually stuck out the top originally and needed some "persuading" to sit flush) and the other doesn't, so I used some more spacer bar, sprayed silver, to make another, just so it matched. I think the result looks decent enough.

Some more good news came in the form of the last of the parts I was waiting on from GBS, which included the modified prop shaft and drive shafts, steering wheel and boss, handbrake cable, some wiring looms, seatbelts, the ECU, the shock absorbers and a few other small items.

I've spent the remainder of my time recently inserting suspension bushes into wishbones, which is time consuming (there are 24 of them in the suspension and 3 in the pedals) but satisfying. I'll post something about them when I start assembling the suspension.

"Let's start at the very beginning...

"... a very good place to start. When you read you begin with A-B-C, when you sing [build a kit car] you begin with D'oh!-F**k-Me". I know it doesn't scan very well, but I'm sure Julie Andrews could make it work, should she decide to quit being a nun and become a mechanic instead.

I really didn't know where to start, so I thought that before I actually tackled anything build-wise, I should clean up as much of the donor parts as possible. The engine looked like it had some bits I could comfortably remove, so the project began with the removal of the alternator, that's simple enough, right? Not when the hinge bolt snaps, with half of it still in the bracket on the engine block. Grrr. The easiest way to remove it, I thought, would be to disassemble the outer cover of the alternator, splitting it in half and allowing it to be removed from the engine. This worked, only after snapping two of the rusted bolts that hold the alternator together. Grrr. All these broken bolts have proved impossible to remove completely, so the alternator cover has been scrapped and I'll decide what to do when I next need the alternator.

Further stripping of the engine allowed me to start tarting up the gearbox, which now looks very pretty:

Along with the gearbox, I've been modifying the differential to fit (after a fair amount of head scratching, wondering why it wasn't going to fit - thank you the internet), cleaning it up, trial fitting it, painting it and inserting new seals. All I now need to do is create some spacers to go between the diff' and the chassis and I can permanently install it. One bit of potential good news that I discovered whilst reading up on MX-5 specs is that the "S" variant of the mk2, of which my donor was, originally came fitted with a limited-slip differential, so I'm hoping this is what I have. I need to find a way of confirming this without dismantling the whole thing.

I've also been slowly dismantling all the other donor parts:

I've got a bit stuck stuck on a couple of bits, such as the brake caliper pistons and the main nut holding the front hubs together, but once my new compressor arrives I can tackle them again with manly power attachments!. One thing I have discovered though, is that the brake master cylinder doesn't fit. It would seem that the chassis is primarily designed around a mk1 and my mk2 cylinder is too big for the hole:

I can either try and grind down the cylinder (as I have had to do slightly on the clutch master), open the hole in the chassis further or source a mk1 cylinder from a breakers yard. I don't think I could cut it down enough without compromising it and I don't really want to wreak the powder-coating on the chassis too much, so I think I'll just buy another and hopefully sell the original on eBay.

Collection!

Well, the time has arrived. 16 weeks after placing my order with GBS, the kit was (mostly) ready for collection! One hire van (which was not really as "long-wheelbased" as I had hoped) and a 3+ hour drive later, we arrived at the factory and got straight on with having a cup of tea. You can't rush these things.

A large part of the Zero was sitting, waiting for me.

Whilst we waited for the busy guys from GBS, I wandered around, took some photos and had a look at the sad looking carcass of my donor car. Poor thing, you could almost see the tears pooling in the empty sockets of it's once bright eyes headlights.

Checking off the parts and loading the van took a good few hours (this is an area I think GBS could do with improving), but we were finally loaded. I didn't have everything though. Whilst walking round the factory I noticed that some built Zeros had excellent-looking louvres in their bonnets, which I didn't know was even an option (another area GBS could improve on), so I left mine behind to have them stamped out. I am also missing a few items such as the propshaft and driveshafts (being modified), the ECU, dials, seatbelts, shock absorbers, the steering column stalks and a few smaller bits such as a couple of wiring looms, seat runners and a hand brake cable. Even without these bits, I have plenty to be getting on with.

When we finally got home, it was too dark to unload, so we left it overnight and started again in the morning. The next day we started emptying the van and filling the garage, which took a while as we had to go and borrow a hoist (cheers Nigel/ Steve) to get the engine and gearbox out, but once done, sorting could begin.

And there I was, standing in my garage, looking at my life savings laid out before me and one thing was patently clear: I have absolutely no idea what I am doing.

Money, money, money

Well, the last couple of days have been expensive! Firstly, I've been playing the head gasket lottery with the venerable Polo for a while now, so I decided to upgrade as soon as something better presented itself, which it did a couple of days ago. I've spared no expense and upgraded to... a Golf, and a T-reg Golf at that, luxury. Remote locking, cassette radio, all mod cons. The same day, I had a call from GBS, to discuss how much I wanted to spend on my donor car, which was something I hadn't really thought about in great detail until now. It turns out MX-5s are pretty excellent value, so I pushed the amount up a bit from "it runs" to "not a complete dog". I've never bought two cars in one day before!

The next day I got another call from the factory to discuss all the other cool bits I want to bolt on. I ended up ordering:

• ATR coilover suspension (awesome, nothing but the best!)
• Team Dynamics gloss black wheels (and tyres, might need those)
• Full weather kit (roof, doors etc)
• A windscreen and mirrors (quite useful)
• Smith dials (with a stainless steel surround)
• Roadster seats (with orange seatbelts)
• Quick release steering boss

The ATR suspension might be a little excessive, but hey, it's orange! Also, the seats I've chosen are not available with orange piping which is why I thought the orange seatbelts might look good. There are a few other items yet to choose, like the front grill, but that can be done closer to the collection date.

Whilst I now sit at the end of my drive, day after day, waiting for the car fairies to deliver me boxes of goodness I need something to read, so I printed out the IVA manual.

That's quite a tome!

Floor!

Very excited, my garage floor tiles have arrived!

That is all.

Garage progress

Now that the kit is ordered, rather than twiddle my thumbs, I need to crack on with getting the garage ready as there is still quite a bit to do. I have ripped out the old electrics (which wouldn't have passed any modern test), an old workbench (which I will replace with something bigger) and started painting the walls. To make it more comfortable in the winter I have put up a ceiling (thanks for the help Dad) which I intend to insulate and board over in time, which will give me a great ceiling space to store lightweight parts like body panels. The beams are really close together, so I've had to cut part of one of them and move it over to allow for a decent sized loft hatch.

I've currently got no lights and limited temporary power in there at the moment, so that will be the first thing to sort out. I was going to paint the floor, but after spending some time on my knees painting the walls I've decided to buy some proper rubber tiles instead, as this will be a much nicer surface to work on and should also help with the insulation a bit. There are also plenty of things to throw out or sell to make a bit of room.

Right, I need to get on with it. Anyone want to buy a fridge freezer or a mini moto?

Factory Visit

The only way to order a kit car is to visit the factory, meet the people and go for a spin in a finished car, so that's what I did at the weekend. Myself and a friend had a blat up the M1 to Nottinghamshire and spent a few hours with Keith and the team. First up was a tour of the factory, which was pretty much exactly what I was expecting, being a small industrial unit stuffed with parts. It was a bit messy, as they were in the process of finishing off a new clean room for the manufacture of suspension and other precision parts and also making way for a new milling machine that was being delivered the following week. There were half a dozen or so built and half-built cars (not all of GBS origin) having various things done to them in the workshop.

After that, it was time for a trip out in a company demonstrator. The Mazda Zero was out on a magazine photo shoot, so once all its fluids had been checked the faithful old Ford Zero was fired up. I was always going to buy the Mazda, as it's slightly more cost-effective, but it didn't matter too much as the Ford demonstrator had stainless steel panels and a bigger engine, which made it a bit heavier and meant it had roughly the same power-to-weight ratio as is ultimately possible from the Mazda. Given that this is over 250 BHP per tonne, it doesn't hang about and with Keith being an ex-rally driver, the drive was fantastic.

All that was then required was to specify what I wanted and pay a deposit! In the end I went for:

• Extra front cross bracing (this cannot be added later, so I thought the extra stiffness was worth it from the start)
• Lowered floor (to allow the seats to be mounted on adjustable runners)
• Cobra hoops (rather than the standard roll bar)
• Sport front wings (I think they look a little better that the standard cycle wings)
• Orange GRP panels
• Black dashboard
• Black rear diffuser

Colour-wise, I've always thought some colours work on certain cars and some don't. I liked the yellow, orange, white and red but have already seen lots of yellow and red Sevens on the road. I own a white car (the dreamy 1.4 Polo), so I decided on orange. I think it will contrast very nicely with black wheels, chassis, dashboard and rear diffuser as well as many of the GBS machined parts, which happen to be orange and black. I nearly changed my mind though, when I saw how many orange panels there were ready for delivery in the warehouse!

As others have said, everyone at the factory was really friendly and very enthusiastic, happy to talk through everything in great detail, which helped to reinforced my decision to go with GBS over one of the more established brands.

Seeing as the factory is a good 3 hours away in a van, I intend to go back up and collect everything in one hit, which should be in about 12 to 16 weeks. Can't wait!

A strange thing to do

Let's start at the very beginning (a very good place to start), why try to build a car? Well, I've always wanted to, it's that simple. I've always liked building models, having an extensive Airfix and Lego collection as a kid and always thought building a whole car would be fun, albeit a bit more challenging. A new house now gives me the space to do it and my life savings are ready!

Why choose a Seven-style kit? It's a classic design and everyone knows what it is. I've never really understood the desire to build a car that apes something more expensive, an old MR2 with a Ferrari body stuck on top, for example. I prefer something a bit more original (if you can call one of the most copied car designs ever original!). It's also about ratios: thrust-to-weight and cost-to-fun and a Seven is a whole lot of bang for the buck.

Why a GBS Zero? When I first start looking at kits years ago I thought I would go for a Tiger Cat, it was very cheap and at that time, that was important! More recently I started researching properly and found the Cat was discontinued and nothing else from the Tiger brochure really slapped me in the face. Westfield and Caterham obviously had the pedigree, but that comes at a premium when toting up prices. The Dax Rush has always been lovely to look at, but again it's expensive and Dax have recently sold it off to another manufacturer.

I'm not sure how I originally came across GBS, as they didn't even exist when I first looked years ago, it was probably just a simple kit car manufacturer search on Google. The Zero looked very nice, was very competitively priced and a bit of research online found many happy campers, praising both the quality of the car and the company itself. More investigation was required. The next kit car show was in Exeter, a bit of a trek from Surrey but worth it to chat with Keith from GBS, look over the car and talk to people who had built one. Decision made!

Finally, why write a blog? Well, to start with, the Zero does not come with a build manual! Assembly comes down to knowledge, common sense and help online in the form of forums and blogs. I will be making full use of that community and if I can add to it in any way, great. It's also nice to have a record for my own benefit I suppose.

Now, first things first, what needs doing in the garage?