03
April 2007…
Having
just purchased the GTR, I decided to drive it home circa 300mls, not only to
gain the experience of driving the car, but also to provide the opportunity to
iron out any issues that may arise! It
was very well worth while driving the car home, albeit a bit risky, but we made
it. I have to say, it was a bit of a shock, driving away in the GTR, it
felt like driving what I would call an 'old nail' (very ‘very’ heavy
clutch/steering/suspension etc.) especially after being used to driving very
modern cars on the road e.g. the new Audi TT 3.2 Quattro. Took it very
easy though, (cruised at around 70 - 80 mph with the odd blip to ??? – but did not exceed 4,000 rpm) as this was an ideal
opportunity to test the car and expose any potential issues.
As it happens we did reveal the following issues...
Intermittent belt squeal
– I note there are no idler pulleys – the belt stayed on and seemed tight
enough, so we pressed on! The squeal
kept coming and going in phases for no apparent reason?
Exhaust blow
– this occurred within only an hour or so of driving, I knew it was just a
header gasket and without any tools, I decided to continue. At approximately half way we discovered a
bolt missing from right hand header and the gasket had blown?
Air locks in cooling system
– I could hear the odd bubbling behind my head?
At approximately half way we discovered a slight leak from the
coolant swirl pot tank cap and possible slight leak on the radiator or top hose
and had to add approx 3-4 litres!
Left side rear bodywork catch
not locking – I could hear it rattling, but as I was taking
it easy I would look into this at a latter date, certainly before venturing out
on track?
Speedometer
The drive down, even with the above relatively
minor issues was very enjoyable and gave me the opportunity to get used to
driving the car, which I obviously did after about 5 hours and nearly 300
miles (plus stops to refuel the car and occupants)! Handling is superb on
the twisty bits and the ear plugs provided by the previous owner were a
godsend!
28/29
April 2007…
Exhaust Repairs – Having now owned the GTR for the best part of three
weeks, I had yet to find the time to work on it? All I seemed to be doing was showing it off
to family and friends when they popped in, which is fine just to see their
reaction! But I was now getting anxious
to drive it, so I needed to get on and sort things out. It wasn’t as though I hadn’t done anything, I had at least ordered the necessary parts. Having set this weekend aside, I was
determined to at least sort out the exhaust headers. I had new gaskets, ARP stainless steel header
bolts and even the necessary helical repair kit (just in case). Although with the rear bodywork raised, it
soon became very obvious that it would have to be removed in order to gain
proper access without struggling. So…
off with the rear bodywork, easier said than done… near-side access was
hampered by the dry sump oil tank (removed the rear grill mesh to gain better
access) and the off-side cage thread for the mounting bolt just spun… another
job for later! So I ended up removing
the rose joints from the chassis, a decision I would later regret when
reassembling! The rear body was
considerably heavier than I expected?
The exhaust was fairly easy to remove, although the header bolts were a
little fiddly, which was no surprise to me!
Having cleaned up the header flanges (decided to do both banks),
cylinder head faces and all the bolt threads in the heads, the helical repair
kit was not needed (on this occasion at least).
Interesting how the third thread from the front on both sides (front of
the centre exhaust ports) was out of line, the bolt would screw in at a slight
forwards angle, but if started carefully they would at least screw in nice and
clean! I guess with these race 1 7/8”
primaries, there’s been a few problems fitting them in the past (very little
room around the bolt holes), they’ve obviously previously been cross
threaded? But at least for now, the
threads appear to be fine so with everything cleaned up it was time to refit
the headers.
If
you look closely at the above pictures, you can just see the exhaust header
gaskets… the missing bolt was above the 2nd from the front spark
plug lead connector in the right hand picture (not visible)!
Rear
body off, (note the cramped garage space), exhaust headers back on… silencers
and tail pipes re-fitted, but no header gaskets this time! This is a controversial point, but I chose
not to fit gaskets, with such short header bolts (3/8” unc
x ¾” thread), the more thread in the heads the
better! With gaskets, if a bolt comes
loose, it will blow a gasket very easily.
But without gaskets, if a bolt comes loose it might blow, but it can be
tightened and should seal again. I used
to build performance engines (mostly Rover V8’s) for road and track and never
used header gaskets on free flow headers, gaskets would cause more trouble than
they’re worth! I have however, used RTV
high temperature silicone sealant on the flanges and plenty of Loctite thread lock to help keep them bolts in! With the exhaust completed, it was time to
re-fit the rear bodywork… oh boy this was fun?
I had no end of trouble trying to line it up, got there in the end but
it’ll need re-aligning again because I’m not quite happy with it!
01
May 2007…
Cooling System – On checking the system, I found the swirl pot tank had
been raised and the caps were on the wrong way around? I re-position the swirl pot tank and switched
caps, checked as many hose clips that I could easily access and topped up the
system. Having left the RTV and Loctite to cure over a couple of days, it was time to fire
her up. Despite having not been started
for over two weeks, it cranked briefly and roared into life… sweet!
Road Test – Good excuse to give it a run then, off I went around town about 10
miles. The rear body rattled and
squeaked like hell, so will definitely need re-fitting and possibly more? But it was great to drive it again. The temperature appeared a little high for my
liking, at low speeds just under circa 100 degrees and at speed with air flow
circa 85 degrees and that was keeping the revs down (I wonder just how accurate
the temp gauge is)? I’m definitely going
to install a cooler stat! And that damn
intermittent belt squeal came back again!
On my return, I checked for leaks, none visible but I did notice the
alternator/water pump belt twisted… I wouldn’t believe it if I had not seen
it? So… new belts also required!
Check
out the alternator/water pump belt in the pictures above…Just look how close
the crank pulley bolt is to the baulk head?
06
May 2007…
Belts – Time to remove the belts then… this was much easier said than
done! At first glance all looks very
straight forward, might be a bit tight, but should be okay? Not so!
As it turns out, from the front we have the dry sump oil pump belt, then
the air con belt and finally the alternator/water pump belt! And to make matters a little more
complicated, the air con belt will not fit between the crank pulley bolt and
baulk head with the engine it situ?
Thankfully, the A/C belt is okay and it can stay on, so I will not need
to raise and move the engine and transmission back (this would also mean
disconnecting cables, hoses and wires).
So I had to feed the alternator/water pump belt around the A/C belt in
order to get it off and it only just fits between the crank pulley bolt and
baulk head with a little gentle persuasion!
A few hours later, the belt is off!
Having
attempted to source the alternator/water pump belt locally without much luck, I
called the factory to inquire about the correct sizes! The factory advised that my GTR is pretty
much a one off i.e. just about everything was specially fabricated or
manufactured, seeing as it was the test bed for the new GTR model and suggested
simply matching what I have. Okay, not a
problem, I’m fairly used to this kind of challenge having run race cars that
are no longer being manufactured. After
some investigation, it terns out the alternator/water pump belt is a Gates
6231ESC AVX110 x 1275LA, in short that means it’s 1275mm in length. I eventually managed to source the same
length belt. I would liked to have also
sourced the next size either side e.g. one size under and one size over, but
was unable to do so?
19/20
May 2007…
Belts – Obviously, without any belts fitted, I’ve not been able to run the
car and I was getting itchy again!
Determined to get the belts fitted, I had put this weekend aside. As expected, it was a struggle, but worse
still was that even with what was deemed to be the correct size belt, the
adjustment on the alternator bracket was ‘very’ limited to put it mildly? I had managed to get a smaller belt, a 1243,
but this was far too short, I could not even get it around the pulley’s even by removing the alternator completely! And the 1275 did not appear tight
enough? So, after a bit of head
scratching and lateral thinking, the only option at this time was to extend the
adjusting slot in the alternator adjusting arm.
I took as much out as I dare and it was just as well that I did, because
with the belt fitted and in order to achieve an acceptable level of tension, it
was almost adjusted to it’s new limit. However, interestingly and demonstrating just
how limited the adjustment is, it was possible to go over the maximum
adjustment which would reduce tension… very interesting! No doubt we’ll being doing this job again,
but hopefully not too soon! Anyway,
re-fitted the original A/C and oil pump belts (I did not get around to sourcing
a new oil pump belt, but was more than happy with it’s
condition). Incidentally, in order to
remove the alternator/water pump belt you have to disconnect two coolant hoses,
so I had the opportunity to replace the thermostat. Damn… it was already fitted with 160 degree stat
(72c)? Okay, the cooling issues must be
down to air locks?
02/03
June 2007…
Rear Body – Having sorted the belts and run the engine during the previous two weeks
(I’d even washed the car the previous weekend), along with topping up the
cooling system and replacing the expansion bottle cap, it was now time to have
a go at re-aligning the rear bodywork and try and get the near side rear latch
to work! I had already ordered and been
supplied with a rear body latch set from the factory just in case. After almost two days of struggling,
adjusting/checking over and over, positioning the body and adjusting to suit, I
was finally happy with the shut lines and had managed to get the near side
latch to work after adjusting the pin, latch and cable, replacing the latch,
then finally realising it was the cable sticking that was causing the issue
along with the body being out of alignment!
On my GTR, I have just the one cable to release the body latches which
passes through the first latch via two outer cables,
the same applies to the front body latches.
From what I can tell from the build manual and various build web sites,
the GTR now has two individual cables to operate each latch individually front
and rear. Incidentally, in an effort to
make life a little easier, I had the rear of the car raised on stands and
removed the rear wheels. Just removing
the wheels is easier said than done.
With the wrap around wheel arches, you have to jack up the suspension to
get the wheels off! A quick check of the
rear wheel bearings, pads and clean the inner rear wheel rims, then
re-assembled and re-torque the wheel nuts to just 65 ft lbs which is the
factory recommended setting, but seems rather low?
Note, the
different positions of the rear body mounts in the chassis!
The near side appears slightly out
of line and appears to be a little distorted, I guess down to wear and tear,
age but more likely…heat!
Speedometer
Road Test – With a few more jobs done, it was time to road test. Today, the 3rd of June is my
wedding anniversary, what better excuse could there be for taking the wife out
for a drive, other than to encourage, coerce and bribe her, all of which had to
be done just to get her in the car!
Along with the promises not to exceed the speed limits… of
course!!! Of we went then, very well behaved
though the wife was gripping the shoulder straps of the harness all the way? The result as far as the wife was concerned…
it was okay… just okay! She clearly
lacks any sense of adventure? The air
con actually worked for a change? The
body still squeaks and rattles, but not as much and the speedo
is inaccurate. Based on the Road Angel,
it reads less than you’re actually doing by around 10%? This was a surprise as most production cars
read more than you’re actually doing by around 5%, then the tyres can account
for another 3 to 5%! Oh well, at least I
know and I’ll leave the Road Angel in the car.
Modifications – As you may have read,
I plan to use the car for speed events (Hill Climbs & Sprints) and track
days. In order to comply with the basic
requirements, I need towing eyes. So I
contacted the factory to inquire with regard to availability and price! I was amazed at the prices quoted… £75 front
and £70 rear, plus Vat? In addition, you
have to pay 25% deposit and there’s a four week lead-time? Having seen the factory towing eyes in
pictures of various GTR’s on forums and in the build
manual, I would suggest that they may be over engineered! I’m also not very keen on drilling any more
holes in the chassis. I’d seen some
aluminium towing eyes on various race cars, so I decided to source my own and
went surfing on the net. I found just
what I was looking for at www.gprdirect.com
the web site for GPR Motorsport Equipment. They can supply universal flat towing eyes in
6mm aluminium (and finished in yellow) for just £16.85 plus carriage and Vat
each (part no. OMPEB/572)! Two ordered, I then had to figure out how to fit them? Easy, I would install an extended front body
mounting bolt with a sleeve to mount the eye (not sure about this?), then
design and fabricate a mounting bracket to utilise the gearbox brace mounting
bolt on the rear! I’ll let you know how
I get on, so continue watching the space!
10
June 2007…
Sunday Afternoon Drive – Had lunch, mowed the lawn and it was a really warm and
sunny Sunday afternoon, lets go for a drive in the GTR then! Check levels as you do and off we go for
drive around the outskirts of town and along the seafront deliberately to see
how the cooling system copes. Fumbled
with the bloody air con again so it didn’t work this time and I roasted! Cooling system seemed okay, but the engine
seemed a little hesitant at times… no doubt due to heat soak? Still, despite the heat I thoroughly enjoyed
the drive anyway, even getting the back to step out when pulling out from a junction
turning right a bit quick (not intentionally I might add – but just a heavy
blip on the throttle), quickly feather the throttle to stop sliding and away I
went.