Time for a change of author

So it's been a while since the last blog update, mostly because Simon has been on an oil rig somewhere off the coast of Thailand for the last few months. I thought that perhaps I should switch things up once in a while and make an entry. Without further introduction, I bring you: 'Tim's first GT40 blog'. I could use this as an opportunity to sledge Simon (Like he often does to me in previous entries) but instead I am going to get on with the progress. I haven't done a great deal due graduation and associated celebrations but this is where we are up to.

In the last entry the engine was in. Glad to report not a lot has changed and its still there. I added some ancillaries and finished putting it back together. Inlet manifold, water pump, alternator, fuel pump and starter should all be permanent fixtures now.

After getting a bit fed up with that end of the car it was back to the front to start thinking about things down that end. I have been silently been putting together an interim brake upgrade which will be minimal hassle,  adequate for rego and pretty cheap. My plans are thus far consist of a 2 spot BA falcon caliper with 295mm x 28mm discs. Pictured is a BA disc but that probably wont be final due to the centre bore being a little large and not locating on the hub properly. Fortunately I have found a good solution from a c180 merc which has a smaller centrebore that we can machine to suit. The granada / cortina front end is a little tricky in that the disc sits behind the hub instead of over the top like most modern things.

Nothing but the finest cable ties when measuring this up.

Looks like its going to fill out the original 15's pretty well. Hopefully about 3mm between the caliper and rim!

Adapter for the caliper should hopefully be a straight forward affair.

Whilst mucking around down the front I felt it was time to mock up the new radiator. Simon picked this up shortly before he left. Looking forward to doing some modifications to the front frame work (cow catcher as we call it) to give a bit more support. I think we are going to need to put the front body work on soon just to mock it all up properly. Hopefully this radiator should be a bit more adequate that the VW golf one residing there before!

I figured after all this playing around it was time to get some real work done so back to the rear of the car.
Rear suspension arms are back on but are a little limited by the need for some new shocks before it can all be finished off. I pulled out a rear wheel to see how it all looked.

The keen observers will also notice the gearbox has made a re-appearance in this shot. I felt it was time to get the engine off the trolley jack and the only way to do that was put the gearbox back in.

Well that's it for my first (/last?) blog update. Hopefully we can crack on and get a bit more done in the New Year!

Merry Xmas and Happy New Year all!