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.