going to be restoring a GT40

[Barry]

as the title says in the next year i'll be restoring/project manager on a rather special GT40. i can't say too much at this stage until i get permission from the owner. i doubt it'll be a problem but i still need permision first.

the owner is still deliberating on which way to go with the car which hasn't turned a wheel for at least 15 years. (last oil change done in 1996 shows 1 mile less than the odometer does) but more on that later

the reason for joining this forum is for reasearch and iv'e already seen plenty of pictures of the actual car (which is now sat in our workshop :happy: ) i'm very sure some of you will be a great help.

this'll be the second GT40 i get to play with as i have already had dealings with a very early ex Ford France race car. it was privatly owned for 31 years before being sold on. we still look after the car which is also in our workshops and raced for the first time in nearly 40 years at last years revival

i must say when i first drove it on the road i was gobsmacked on how nice a drive it was. such a pussycat to drive. smooth, quiet unstressed, it coped with trafic amazingly well and is quite quick to boot. i'm 6ft2 and fit in this one no problem at all. (it's a bit more of a squeeze in the one we'll restore this winter)

the main bulk of our cars are Jaguars. we look after quite a few D types as well as C Types, we look after E Types and many of the lightweight E Types. we look after many an XK as well. so quite a interesting job and we get to play with all the cars on the road.

anyway hopefully i'll be posting a few pictures of the restoration and probably asking many a question for many months to come


leased:

 

[Frank Catt]

Hi Barry, good you get to do another one, I will be watching with interest, Frank

 

[Jimmy P]

Barry, Sounds intriguing. Can't wait to hear more. You'll find this group will certainly have answers to many of your questions. Good Luck and POST LOTS OF PICS!

 

[Barry]

Hi Barry, good you get to do another one, I will be watching with interest, Frank

hi Frank. long time no see

you'll have to pop by and see our new amazing workshop.

 

[Frank Catt]

Yes Barry, I keep meaning to, but like you we are inundated with work that gets in the way of socialising, will take a few hours and come and see what your up to, Frank

 

[Barry]

1003. i had the carbs off to clean because they get a little sooted up where it used to spit all the time.

i ran some drill bits through all the drillings enlarging them ever so slightly and increased the size of the small drilling in the butterfly*

*this made the low end run leaner so i could fit larger idle jets to increase fueling on progression. i fitted larger pump spills to lean off the pump jets as they dumped too much fuel in for too long.

at that time the customer who owned the cad had had it for 31 years. after the carb mod he said it was the best it had ever been in that 31 years :thumbsup:. then he sold it.

note the original sand bent manifolds with not a weld in sight. a master piece of tube bending. we changed the colour from red to white.

 

[Mark]

I look forward to seeing more as the restoratiojn progresses. Thanks for dropping by GT40s.com to let us know about it.

 

[Dalton Veitch]

Barry, I LOVE sand bent, smooth, weld-free manifolds. These are such a part of these cars, like the door cut into the roof, and the dashboard with end speedo. Very few of the replicas, even quite accurate ones, have such exhaust pipes. Please keep posting pics when you get the time during the work. We shall all be grateful.

 

[Pete McCluskey.]

Welcome Barry, thanks for including us in your restoration. I look forward to following your progress.

 

[Barry]

the owner has decided what to do with the GT40 and it'll be back to as it was when new. i'll start a thread in the appropriate section.

after the Revival :thumbsup: