MadaboutKitcars

I was lucky enough to get a good look around the GTO Engineering workshop facility earlier this year. If I had a big enough check book I could have come away with lots of goodies !

A letter came in the post today. A confirmation letter from the friendly DVLA people saying my application has been authorised and my V5c will follow shortly !!

They were happy with everything I sent them , even the hand written receipt from the seller. Using an already correctly registered car as the base for this project has caused no problems at all.

Result ! V5c came back today. Make now shows Giordanengo 250 TR, there is no reference to the "7" base car. As before the model is still blank, I'm really happy with the outcome.

Managed to get onto the doors and made up some hinge supports. Not the easiest task as I've had to work from scratch. The back edge of the front wings were reinforced with a steel supporting structure bolted to the chassis. Part of the hinge assembly is welded to the structure forming a solid base to work from. I've got the near side done and the door is mounted up. Soon as I'm totally happy with it I'll post some photos.

I've been to the trimmers with my seats, I'm waiting on a quote. It shouldn't be too much as I'm supplying the leather and the seat frames. I had a go myself but I wasn't 100% happy with the results so I'll let the professionals do it ! The interior is sparse on these cars anyway, the seats are the first thing you look at, they need to be right.

Photos below show the first fix attempt with the hinged door sitting in place. Not too bad and there is a little adjustment.
Other photos show one option for the front indicators. These are side repeaters from a Ford, KA I think. Another option is to fit a brass bulb holder with an amber bulb, but it does look like an after thought borrowed from a bed side lamp ! When the car is painted the Ford ones will blend in and not look so obvious.

I'm happy with the door hinges now. That was the last job before lifting off the front end off again to finish various jobs. Those include welding all the supporting structure in place as its all just tacked into position at the moment. I need to make up the exhaust manifolds and down pipes, make some ali infill panels and radiator mounts. Might run the wiring loom in as well whilst access is easy. Probably find some other jobs to do so that lot will keep me busy for a week or two. After that the front end can go back on and be bolted up for the final time. Getting there !

The re body way of building a car or replica brings lots of options when you realise you can re body any suitable vehicle to suit your needs as long as its correctly registered in the first place. You could build a bespoke chassis the same as the original car but it could well run into problems with the IVA inspectors. What was acceptable in the 1950's won't be these days !


Regards my indicator choice I think it will look fine against the dark red paint. Not sure what to do at the rear, I could use this style, not sure at the moment. I could cast a pair of rear lenses with a red and a clear section the same size and shape of the originals, just a thought.

I've got the originals but they are all red so no provision for indicators.

The side indicators on the white car aren't really MOT acceptable mounted where they are. They could be brought forward a bit to be more compliant but I don't think they look right. I do like the rear indicators in the vents, that works quite well.

Aluminium cars are the best with this style of car. There are one or two fibre glass cars out there but they're not so convincing. I was really lucky to be able buy this example. I some times ask myself what I could have bought instead !


Done some mods to the steering column. A couple of inches shorter and a couple of inches higher. That should be about right, I've now made new brackets to support it. I've done away with the Ford column ignition switch and steering locking mechanism. The whole lot is bulky and nothing like a 250 TR. All the main switch gear will be on the dash.

Working around the front end I've made up some mountings for the radiator. Supplied with the body was a genuine F***** radiator. Its huge compared to what is required but I thought I'd make use of it anyway. I've fitted an electric fan so that's all ready to go on the car now.
The seats are booked in with the trimmers, the price was good and they quoted just a week turn around.

Finished the radiator mounts , all welded to the chassis and primed in red oxide. I've been looking for the correct water pump pulley for my engine but I haven't found one so I went with plan B. I did get hold of a 2.8 injection Capri pulley which differs as it is a twin belt pulley and the centre hole is larger. Decided to turn an aluminium adaptor to allow it to be used. Whilst looking at this and fan belts etc I've had to go with a much smaller alternator. The standard Cologne V6 arrangement features the alternator mounted off the side of the engine which is no good on a 7 chassis. The smallest one I could find was from a Daihatsu Cuore and is about the size of a Coke can, rated at around 40 Amps. I'll be able to fit that on the top of the engine between the rocker covers, small and neat.

A little progress over the weekend. I've got the alternator brackets made up which took longer than expected. I'll be able to fit that along with the adapted water pump pulley and get the fan belt on. Also sorting out water pipes for the radiator and bypass hoses. I really need to crack on with the exhaust manifolds and system before the front end goes back on. Trying to find some
1 1/4" tight mandrel bends in mild steel, any ideas ? Can only find stainless at the moment.

I've got my pulley adaptor back now so that can go on and complete the installation of the water pump, alternator etc etc.
Whilst the front end is off I've also lowered the floor section under the pedals to allow for my size 12's ! Dropped it by 50mm so the toe of even my biggest boots don't snag on the underside of the peddle box !
Whilst doing that little job I noticed that one of the master cylinders was leaking brake fluid so I've whipped that out and ordered a new one.
The photos below show the over size radiator and mountings attached to the chassis along with the front clip lower mountings. That's all good now and ready for final fit. See also the extra small Coke can size alternator, really useful when you are stuck for space.
Custom Chrome helped me out with all the tight mandrel bends in mild steel that I was after. Highly recommended.

Its only got to power the lights and charge the battery, 40amps is plenty ! I mentioned in an earlier post that I'm making a new loom that has a lot less wiring in it than even the donor 7 had. ie no wipers, no screen wash, no electric fuel pumps etc.

Finalising a few details at the front of the car then the front body section can go back on for the final time. It should be pretty straight forward to get the car to a running stage after that ! Probably a few weeks away yet but I want it driving / ready for paint by the end of the Christmas holidays.

I'm still un decided about the final finish on the car. The plan was to go with a fully restored look to make it like new. I've seen several TR's now, mostly online and one in the flesh. There's one for sale in Classic & Sports Car magazine and that one has been on the market a while. They all have the same theme, immaculate and mint condition. I would say most are over done and too blingy, the one in C & SC is a good case, bright red with bright red trim, it looks too much. My car was always going to be bling free but I think I can go one better and give it a more authentic weathered look. Something that has done 24 hours at LeMans and a few races at Spa back in the 50's then left in a barn for 60 years. There seems to be a thing for barn finds and un restored cars at the moment, perhaps that's the way to go ?

It would be good to see that one and how they approach the idea, is the builder on here ? Back in the day I was into model making and RC aeroplanes, the scale stuff mostly. The experienced modellers in our club would spend a lot of time "weathering" the finish with oil stains and dirt effects etc. The results on some looked stunning, much better than a shiny new finish.

There is a balance to be had, that sounds about right. The interior on my car is going to be satin black painted aluminium which is pretty much like the original cars. They were never fitted with plush interiors the so called restored examples feature today!

Whilst the body is off and access is good I've done some interior ali panel work. The donor car had a flat tunnel top which is fine when covered with carpet but no good when the ali is the final finish. I've remade it with a radiused top which looks loads better. The bulkhead isn't finished yet, there are fillets to add to the top and sides to meet up with the scuttle panel and body sides. Some of the bulk head is visible when the body is on, especially on the passenger side because there is no dash board. One reason why I wanted a neat job.

Nice one ! At least the panels on my car were straight even though there were a few bits missing.

Also made a start on the manifolds tonight, got one side done. Need to buy a couple more tube bends for the other side as I used several along the way and had to rework a couple of tubes. Tube fabrication is a bit of an art but I'm happy with whats done so far !