GT 30071 (aka Man-shed)

[Lotus Mike]

Wow looks fantastic .A very rare car .good on you Mike.Hope you will be pleased with it.

[NigelK]

Another visit to LotusBits today. Man-shed is running, and sounds quite fantastic with the new exhaust, which has quietened down the engine at low revs but emits a very pleasing rasp at higher revs. Based on a couple of quick runs up and down the drive to the workshop (MOT has expired, so no running on public roads), there is significantly more torque with the 907/912HC hybrid engine. I was a little worried that the Toyota W58 gearbox ratios would be too tall for the original 3.45:1 cwp rear end, but I had no issues pulling away uphill so perhaps the extra torque will see me through. Longer drives on the motorway and some curvy stuff will provide a definitive answer.

We spent quite a bit of time today fettling the gearstick so that it does not foul the aperture in the transmission tunnel. In the end it proved impossible to make the very wide Toyota gearstick (which incorporates an anti-vibration damper) fit properly, so it'll have to be cut down so it resembles the original thinner gearstick more closely.

The original Smiths RVI tachometer has decided not to work with the Lucas 45DM4 distributor and AB14 ignition amplifier, so Mike has changed the circuitry to voltage-triggered operation and temporarily fitted a VDO tachometer instead. I'll replace this when I get the RVC converted original tachometer back from Spiyda Design. Coincidentally, the AB14 has been fitted on the bulkhead, using exactly the same mounting points that would have been used for the engine damper on JHs. There is no damper on my GT (nor on any other GT, as far as I know). It was amazingly prescient of the JML engineers in the early 1970s to provide mounting points for an electronic component that did not appear until the next decade...

There are various other minor bits and pieces to do before the works are completed. The MOT is scheduled for next week, and the post engine upgrade rolling road session the week after. I will post the numbers, as well as some pictures when I get the car back.

[Han Kamp]

Impressive progress Nigel, can't wait to see the dyno results !

[NigelK]

Dear Forum Users

It's been over a year since I last posted photos of my GT, and quite a lot of work has been done since then. A lot of the work is not visible externally (engine upgrade, gearbox swap) but you can see the results of other works in these March 2016 (top) vs January 2015 (bottom) before and after shots...


This one shows how the rear quarter now sits much lower as a result of installing new rear coil springs. I don't know what was on there before, but they were too tall as well as being uneven height. The wheels have also been properly refurbished so the central two alloy "rings" are visible, and the LotusBits big bore exhaust rear box sits much more snugly beneath the car.


This one shows off the correctly painted headlight nacelles quite nicely. The black squares on the wheels have got quite a lot smaller post refurb - the wheels were heavily corroded and a lot of metal needed to be removed to get down to a non-porous surface.


This one shows the much better fit of the headlight nacelles relative to the wings and the bonnet. Both front wings were new when I bought the car in 2014, but the flange of the n/s wing upon which the nacelle sits was too wide. This was cut down to improve the fit. On the o/s, inserting some spacers between the nacelle flange and the sloping support to which the nacelle is fastened with self tapping screws, raised the nacelle to align much better with the bonnet leading edge.

So what's next? In the next few weeks my GT will return to LotusBits for installation of a new rear axle (from a Vauxhall Magnum 2300) fitted with a Gripper LSD. When it gets a bit warmer I'll fit the black/chrome side mouldings and silver pinstripe (I think only GTs had the latter). Then I'll need to stop for a while and just enjoy driving the car, as funds are beginning to run short, and the next major job is going to be expensive - re-upholstering the seats.

If I'm in the UK and not travelling with work, I will bring my GT to the International. It would be great to see some other GTs there!

Best wishes,
Nigel

[Chris_R]

Very nice. It will be great to see this one there.

[Edgar]

Thx for this update.Looking good!

It reminds me to go to my shed asap!

[NigelK]

Dear Forum Users

After months of faffing around, sourcing the right materials, trying to work out the best way to apply them, and getting the wings and doors resprayed (delayed, hence my non appearance at the International last weekend), I have finally completed the up-blinging of my GT. So it now has all the exterior trims that were fitted when it left the factory.



I know the side mouldings divide opinion, but I'm very pleased with the look. I found a better match for the factory side moulding here (http://www.dawn-ent.com/72426-K-OEM-Pro ... de-Molding" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) which is much better than the ones I posted about here (http://www.joc.org.uk/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=19126" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;).



I also applied a silver pinstripe just below the side mouldings, which was factory fit according to the brochure pictures, but which I have only ever seen on one other GT (one of the Studio 434 examples).



If any is interested in fitting / measuring instructions for the side mouldings, please let me know and I'll write up a summary.

Best wishes,
Nigel

[cannonball]

The side moldings really suit your car, very nice,,

[PaulMcElhinney]

Yes I agree with Duncan, they really add to the car's appearance.

[Mark1Stu]

That's a seriously sharp looking car Nigel. Congratulations on all your hard work.

[NigelK]

Dear All

At the end of last year I took the seats and door cards out of my GT and took them down to Rejen. Their mandate was to replace the seat foam and webbing (which were completely shot), re-upholster the seats and a NOS set of GT door cards with the corduroy material I tracked down in the States, and supply the correct original chromed speaker grilles. I got the seats and door cards back from Rejen a few weeks ago, and have just today finished installing them. The door cards were the fiddly bit.



Here are some before (top) and after (bottom) shots. I am very pleased with the corduroy, which is exactly the same texture as the original and colour-wise matches the original where it had not faded, being slightly more browny-green than the original cloth which had faded to a very pale beige where it was exposed to sunlight. The suppliers, SMS Autofabrics in Oregon, can supply this material in pretty much any colour you want. I think it was used on the headrests in late Interceptor IIIs as well.



The seats are amazingly different to sit in, providing much more support while making me sit much higher in the car. If I hadn't steamed the headlining to re-adhere it to the roof, then my head would be touching the headlining. As it is, my left thigh is now quite a tight fit under the original steering wheel, and I've had to adjust my driving position to fit.



I am also extremely happy with the work of Ash at Rejen. The interior of my GT now looks as classy as it would have done when it left the factory.



Best wishes,
Nigel

[Han Kamp]

Looking fantastic Nigel !. When I restored my GT (30405) about 10 years ago the corduroy (ribcord) could not be found anywhere. I found an alternative solution, using bits that were still good and replacing worn bits with vinyl.

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[Chris_R]

Stunning!

[nrb993]

Hi Nigel,

Looks really special, you have done so well, would love to see it one day, especially now you have the seats done.

My Healey is still in bits, Engine done, waiting for body still to come back together

cheers
Neil (5114)

[NigelK]

Thanks Neil! How is Trevor getting on with the bodywork? Any pictures? Did Mike convince you to add the LotusBits crank-triggered mapped ignition system to your engine? This might be the next engine upgrade on my GT, along with the CNC ported head. I think I might stop there, however, as I don't think the axle will take the additional torque of a 2.5 litre 907/912 engine. Best wishes, Nigel