Hotyacht
08-03-2020, 11:45 PM
Purchased in 2014 the complete kit arrived in October of that year having traveled by sea down the US East Coast, through the Caribbean, Panama Canal, and across the Pacific to New Zealand. A promise to finish the house before starting the kit saw a 12 month delay in starting the project apart from the initial check through all the boxes. The chassis was built up as a left-hand drive car and then converted to right-hand drive and a number of chassis/frame changes to make it NZ legal....drive shaft loop, zero bump steer tolerance here, replace the seatbelt bar behind the cockpit amongst others. Then building new cockpit/footbox aluminium (it isn't simply a case of mirroring things).
A couple of surgeries slowed things down, as well as the usual family things with growing children.......
Body work! there were times I wondered if it would end......sanding, sanding, and more sanding.......followed by sanding...... That paint is straight off the gun, not even wiped clean or polished, painted by a boat painter as a favour, not bad for a freebee!
As the end gets close......the job list just gets longer, and longer, and longer.....wtf??? And then suddenly its all done.
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I have to say that embarking on this project from the other side of the world was quite scary......sending a lot of money offshore was a bit nerve wracking, but it has been a great experience. Factory Five and every vendor I have purchased from have been outstanding in their service and so helpful with knowledge and time, and the real thing that made my car turn out better than I hoped was all of you guys on the Forum - I cannot thank you enough for your collective knowledge and encouragement. Thank you guys, all of you.
For my first car build I am pretty pleased with the outcome. I have had it valued at considerably more than I have spent, which was a pleasant surprise, and 2 days after becoming road legal I took the car to its first Caffeine and Classics show where it drew much attention and I had 4 guys offer to buy the car.........my head too large to get through the door for a while! I suspect this car will remain part of the family. 1500 cars on display - held last Sunday of each month.
132998 132999 133000
It now has 200 miles on the clock.....still running it in and taking it very easy.......I could easily end up with a LOT of speeding fines if i'm not careful........holy hell it uses some gas! But boy does it make everybody smile!
Now what do I build next?? A GT40? A Stratos?
A couple of surgeries slowed things down, as well as the usual family things with growing children.......
Body work! there were times I wondered if it would end......sanding, sanding, and more sanding.......followed by sanding...... That paint is straight off the gun, not even wiped clean or polished, painted by a boat painter as a favour, not bad for a freebee!
As the end gets close......the job list just gets longer, and longer, and longer.....wtf??? And then suddenly its all done.
132985 132986 132988 132991
I have to say that embarking on this project from the other side of the world was quite scary......sending a lot of money offshore was a bit nerve wracking, but it has been a great experience. Factory Five and every vendor I have purchased from have been outstanding in their service and so helpful with knowledge and time, and the real thing that made my car turn out better than I hoped was all of you guys on the Forum - I cannot thank you enough for your collective knowledge and encouragement. Thank you guys, all of you.
For my first car build I am pretty pleased with the outcome. I have had it valued at considerably more than I have spent, which was a pleasant surprise, and 2 days after becoming road legal I took the car to its first Caffeine and Classics show where it drew much attention and I had 4 guys offer to buy the car.........my head too large to get through the door for a while! I suspect this car will remain part of the family. 1500 cars on display - held last Sunday of each month.
132998 132999 133000
It now has 200 miles on the clock.....still running it in and taking it very easy.......I could easily end up with a LOT of speeding fines if i'm not careful........holy hell it uses some gas! But boy does it make everybody smile!
Now what do I build next?? A GT40? A Stratos?