Day 35 -2/5/11 On with the Show

Last day of the bank holiday and I had number of questions for Graham and Ben.  The National Kit car show was on at Stoneleigh Warwickshire.  So I took a day trip down to the show and meet up with the lads on their stand.  I had also arranged for Ben to bring the modified parts to the show so I can pick them up.

The show was brilliant. It is the third time I‘ve been and the more you dig talking to the owners, the more you learn.  This time the sun was out, sky was blue, breeze was up and down.  There was an awesome array of cars coming and going.  I wandered round the “paddocks” as the cobra and seven replicas cruised in along with other replicas Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche.  Some seriously looking “the business” some modern, others classic.  There were Vintage replicas, tri-wheelers, 4x4s, a few American hotrods, oh and a Jaguar XJR15 (for sale - if you are interested?).  Then there are the serious light-weight high-power machines Ultima, Cobra replica, Sevens and replicas, Hawks (the Lancia Stratos replica) all running a variety of engines from bike straight 4’s to large V8 muscle with a smattering of superchargers and turbos.  Each car having been lovingly built and cared for.

Bentley nope this is a Toyota Supra + a few £K in body panels

This would have been my second choice after AMS went bust

This is a Genuine Jaguar XJR15 ....and for sale if you have a few quid

This doesn't really look like a Volvo

Awesome Paint job

Not a Genuine Ferrari in sight

Such a pretty car I thought that when the race series was alive and kicking when Mansell and Piquet were fighting for the lead in F1

I spotted what I thought was the midnight Blue Murtaya I had sat in on the Arden stand a couple of years ago but it turned out to be the Gulf car (light blue and orange) that had been resprayed.  

It was up for sale....If you are interested.

The next area was the vendor stands with every conceivable tool you could wish for.  Not to mention the array of car components from clocks to door handles headlights to fuel tank repair kits and consumables.

I entered the first of the two main exhibition halls where the kit-car manufacturers were laid out in a similar array as the previous year with a few changes.  Eventually I spotted a familiar sight the nose of the red race car I test drove last year.  A new stand to the show, Murtaya Sports Cars.

On the stand were Graham, Ben and the Demo car. I’ve been following the build on facebook in its current state, freshly painted in Lamborghini orange pearl mica (a complex colour looking gold in sunlight).  Graham was already chatting to a potential buyer so I waited till Graham introduced me.  Then I introduced myself to Ben and after checking out the demo cars new doors which are now a full door with a lower sill. They have managed it by a complex arrangement of reinforcing the sill and filling it with two part foam.  The stress capabilities of this solution are “off the chart” apparently.  There are a number of other enhancements my car will not have ergo I am a little envious.

I started with the list of questions I had.  Seatbelts – yes they would have to be replaced.  Graham told me where he got the ones for the last two cars he’d built.  The supplier was actually exhibiting outside the hall so I made a note to have a word with them later. Next was the lack of drawings with the dimensions I would need to mark and cut the steering column holes amongst others.  Graham apologised but they had been busy getting the demo car ready for the show and that they would be on the forum very soon.

I also looked at the pads on the feet of the roll bar and they were relatively thin so definitely no lift in the pad would be required.

I looked over the demo car. The engine has had some serious work done on it by Ollie Clarke.  It was now a long stroke engine with modified crank, pistons and con rods increasing the capacity to about 2.1 litre.  So with a larger turbo, and I’m guessing up-rated fuel pump and injectors, new Simtech engine management unit, fly wheel and a host of other modifications should give that motor somewhere near 500 HP.

I was looking at where I could mount the ABS unit on the car and discussed options.  The reality was i would be making a rod for my own back by using the ABS unit.  If I have to relocate it in the engine bay I would’ve had to strip back the electrical harnessing and possibly extend it.  The alternative was to replace the master cylinder and add a brake balance valve for the rear brakes.  The cost was an estimate £30.  The master cylinder would have to be from a version 3 impreza which was the pre ABS version.

I then brought out the mysterious spring that had been mashed up in the rear differential.  Both Ben and Graham looked at it for a moment they hadn’t realised it was so small from the photos I’d sent. Then Graham had a light bulb moment. It turns out it was the spring from inside the oil seal of the drive shaft.  All I would have to do is replace the seal with a new one - that’s a relief.  I wasn’t looking forward to having the differential stripped and rebuilt. A quick check on line when I got home revealed a replacement oil seal was available for about £8.

 

In the first part of the kit there are a number of metal components such as nut plates, mounting points and brackets.  I had managed to work out where most of the metal work went, but there were 3 pieces I couldn’t for the life of me work out where they were suppose to go.  I drew them out on my show program.  One was the exhaust hanger to mount the tailpipes to.  The other two were a matched pair and looked like they mounted on either side of something.  Graham showed me where they went on the red race car.  They actually made up part of the clamshell bonnet hinge where the front end frame meets the bonnets front lip.  As the bonnet and exhaust don’t come with the first part of the kit I’ll store them away for later.

I spent a bit more time with Ben finding out where he came from and his engineering background which was building military vehicles.  We chatted with Graham about the prototype they had in mind. A larger car with a fixed roof based on the Murtaya with a three litre flat 6 engine from a Subaru legacy reworked and boosted with a supercharger.  They want to make it a full production car and at the moment they aren’t sure if they will make a kit option of it.

 

I left the lads on the stand so I could do some shopping round the stands looking at the massive array of tools and parts available.  There were some things I knew I needed.  A set of Holesaws, A heal bar (for aligning holes), a step cutter and a set of fine brushes for detail work.  After I took another turn around the paddock as more cars had arrived.

 

Once I’d saturated myself with all the cars and the infinite variety of colours and styles and had a chatted with a couple of owners I headed back to the Murtaya stand and picked up my shortened prop-shaft from the lads and said my goodbyes.

The Kit car show isn’t like other car shows.  With most car shows the visitors walk away with bags full of brochures and other trinkets.  This show the visitors walk out with rolls of carpet, steering racks, tools, workshop equipment and I was no different with a bag full of tools and a 5ft prop-shaft hung over my shoulder.  One of the car owners I had chatted with earlier walked passed me saying “Now that’s what I call a project!”

Back home I found the oil seal on line, got my seatbelts on order, and at work I finished pressing all the bushes on the trailing arms and the rear sub-frame –That’s the job done.  The suspension arm bolt that still had the inner steelwork of the old bush completely rusted in place got the treatment from an oxy-acetylene torch and some pipe grips.  Easy when you know all the tricks.