Thought I would do a thread on this car as I'm not far from completion now.

A few years ago I was building an Onyx Mongoose with a ZX10 engine, But lack of funds due to a crap job wasn't doing me any favours so I sold it to a nice guy up in the Scottish borders.

I finally got out of the crap job and started being paid for my what I'm good at but kit cars took a back seat as I wanted to buy a dream car. A Porsche 911.



I owned and did lots of work on this to make sure it was running and driving spot on for the 2 years I owned it. This then went up for sale as I fancied a Vantage but once sold I got cold feet about spending 30+ grand on a weekend car and looking through ebay and autotrader I spotted a nice 997 for sale local. A quick viewing and test drive and it was mine.



This was so much nicer than the 996 i had before it.

After about 6 years of doing my job I decided to leave and go self employed. So the 911 had to go to fund the start up. I really miss that car.

Six months into being self employed and business is doing well and better than expected. I was starting to look at kit cars as I wanted some thing to do in my spare time as my work usually leaves me with about a week and half in the middle of the month where its quiet due to customers budgets and I wanted to keep busy.

After missing out on a Fury on ebay I started looking at new kits. A visit to MNR and I was going to order a Vortx but i was still searching ebay and a Striker popped up in hull. Built in 99/2000 and only ever used as a track day car. Never been on the road and had been sat unused for a long time but started and drove (almost).

Here is the car the day i brought it home



The plan was just to tidy it up and make it good enough to go through IVA but once I started to really look it over I realised it needed to be fully rebuilt. So i just ripped it apart.













Calipers were knackered.



Bare chassis just panels to go



Tie wraps were used a lot on this car, brake lines, fuel lines etc.



All panels off



Started the long process of cleaning and painting parts



All ball joints replaced with new ones



Axle cleaned ready for paint



Chassis almost back to bare metal



Engine and box cleaning up



Chassis cleaned, painted and panels back on.



Front suspension, rack and column back in



Took 3 attempts to get the right track rod ends



Live axle back in





Santa arrived early and brought me a load of new parts, Acewell dash, wiring loom, full gasket kit for the engine, catch tank and lights plus loads of other stuff





Gearbox cleaned and painted.



Then the engine. Due to the car not being as described I was doubting the spec of the engine. steel rods/crank etc was claimed. So i pulled it apart to see what was really in there. It wasn't as described but wasn't too bad either.

Big valve head with a bit of porting, 1300 pistons with machined tops to allow for the kent 244 cam, double valve springs and duplex timing kit. It has twin 40 carbs also.

Block painted and going back together





New calipers





Brake fluid cap to meet IVA requirements



Wheels arrived, 13x6



Engine and box back in



routing the fuel line



Ignore the tie wraps there only to hold in place as i decide on the route. Gear stick had been cut really short so i made this a bit longer with a new thread and a nice new nylon gear knob.



And just one last shot.

as it sits today. I need to finish the fuel line off and secure it. Refit the carbs after i have rebuilt them. Them start on the wiring.



Plan is to have it finished buy the end on this year and try for IVA early 2016.

Nice job, and you did the right thing stripping the car, as it did look a bit untidy
and on the plus side, you know exactly what every bit is and does,

I also believe that when you IVA the car, when its all nice and clean, tidy, (as it is) and lots of new bits, Mr IVA man must
think, the car has been put together with care and attention, this must help in his decision making

oh, and keep the engine, xflows are soo much fun!

steve

the engine will be staying. I think it suits the car. It will be going to a rolling road once finished for setting up.

It wont be anywhere near perfect but it will be a usable fun weekend car.

Nice work, I wish I had time to progress my build this quick but I have to much on so I plod on a few hours at a time.

Few more pics.

Started laying the loom through the car



The helper



Tyres fitted so I got the wheels on and rolled it out and had a good clean up in the garage





The plan is to crack on with the front end wiring this week.

What have others used for securing the wiring around the chassis?

Nice project. I'm rebuilding my Striker and changing from xflow to bike power. Just a couple of questions.
Have you replaced any of the original alloy panels and what did you paint your chassis with
Cheers
Chris.

I reused the same panels as they just need a polish up. They were removed though to paint the chassis. I used a few coats of Hammerite smooth. I was going to get it powder coated but glad I didn't as I keep making changes and mods that require cutting etc so I can just touch up with more paint and it will all blend in.

quote:

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Originally posted by CraigJ
I reused the same panels as they just need a polish up. They were removed though to paint the chassis. I used a few coats of Hammerite smooth. I was going to get it powder coated but glad I didn't as I keep making changes and mods that require cutting etc so I can just touch up with more paint and it will all blend in.

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Used a brush on all the parts that will be covered and used spray cans on the roll bar. Finish isn't too bad. Its never going to look as good as powder coat but will be easier to keep looking tidy over time. Starts looking tatty, rub down and paint over.

Keep up the good work, Always good to read re-build threads



Be aware that sadly the Hammerite will chip very easily

few more bits done.

Spending a lot of time doing the wiring. Fuses and relays mounted.



Picked up a nice little rubber gater for the gearstick and also used some black heat shrink to tidy it up.



Starting running the loom out front for the lights and other bits. nice big ebay grommets to keep it tidy.



Powervamp battery and new throttle cable installed



Random engine bay pic



Started on the dash mock up. Keeping it nice and simple. Still choke cable to mount and immobiliser to fit then it can be covered in some genuine fake leather.



The body work is due back this weekend from the brother in laws so I will be fitting the rear end and getting all the rear lights in and finished off.

Still hoping to have it completed by the end of this year.

few more pics.

not a great deal to see as most of the things i have been doing are all the small bits, wiring ect.

Headlights mounted and wired up. Left the bubble wrap bags over them so i don't scratch them while walking past.



Dash all finished and trimmed up. All wiring complete.





Rear end back from the brother in laws. mounted and all lights in and wired up.





Still need to make a mount for the exhaust, wire in the immobiliser and mount the cycle wings with indicators/side repeaters.

I'm waiting on the seats arriving along with a few other small bits.

all being well it will be finished in the next few weeks.

The only pic that's showing on my iPad is the first one of Porsche,nothing else showing

Must be an apple thing. My pics only show for me on the laptop. If I view the forum on an iPhone or iPad they don't show.

And nobody said anything about the voith turbo oil cooler .....

quote:

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Originally posted by CraigJ
Must be an apple thing. My pics only show for me on the laptop. If I view the forum on an iPhone or iPad they don't show.

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quote:

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Originally posted by Volvorsport
And nobody said anything about the voith turbo oil cooler .....

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Thought so . Do any work for TFL ...?

Sorry never heard of them. unless you are referring to Transport for London?

Voith Cover alot of areas but i only do the Bus side of it.

[Edited on 18/12/15 by CraigJ]

quote:

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Originally posted by CosKev3

quote:

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Originally posted by CraigJ
Must be an apple thing. My pics only show for me on the laptop. If I view the forum on an iPhone or iPad they don't show.

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Yeah must be,working on my Samsung phone.

Car is looking good

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I meant transport for London. I work for eminox . Surely you must have come across one of our brilliant conversions that makes the gearbox a lot harder to access....

Haven't done any work in London for a few years now.

As for access don't get me started lol. Saying that I haven't come across anything that is worse than a Daf DB250 yet. When I used to work for Voith I made a lot of trips to Plaxtons and had to check over a few new builds to see if everything was ok. I would give them notes on how to avoid future issues which they just ignored and they just carry on building them as they want. So I gave up after that.

Do you know a lad called Richard from harrogate ,has a drag car rebuilds voith/ zf boxes ?

I don't no, sorry.

Just a quick observation, does the bottom of the dash meet the IVA requirement of "not less than 19mm"?
See Interior Fittings section, page 2 of 8, item 7
I know the manual changes, so may not be apllicable since i did my IVA 3 years ago.

Nice car and good work

The bottom is a 19mm round tube. The dash panel is mounted slightly above so if you were level you will see the round bar with the bottom of the dash starting above it.

Haven't managed to get a great deal done over Christmas due to the wife making me visit family. The things I do to keep her happy.

My seats arrived from Kitcardirect. I was very unsure if I was going to fit in these seats as the striker is very narrow but I took a gamble and I fit fine.



I then cracked on with getting the new cycle wings mounted. Need sending of for paint once the holes for indicators/side repeaters are cut.









Top hose replaced as the old pipe just wouldn't seal for love nor money so a new piece cut and fitted. No more leaks now.



Also made a mount for the exhaust silencer but need to clean it up and paint it.


Things still to do:

Mount speedo pick up
fit immobiliser
finish bolting dash in place and fit indicator stalk and steering wheel
fit tunnel panels then the seats and harnesses can go in
Just the small odds and sods to do really.


Backed the car up the drive over the last week and drove it up and down while letting it go through a few heat cycles. Decided to wheel spin off and was soon reminded that I need to fit inner wheel arch covers in the rear end as the back of my head got pelted with stones and mud from the drive. lesson learnt.

Yellow dots to the valve.

Watching this with interest! I'm in the process of a striker engine swap from xflow to duratec and number of parts refresh at the moment. Did you find any rust on the chassis when stripped? I've got one bit about 2mm square on the front bar that the rad mounts to where its rusted through. Thankfully other than that it seems fine but i'm not planning on stripping it all back at the moment. Really like the wheels by the way

Few more pics.

Was hoping to have this complete by now but i have been too busy with work. Managed a few days on it over the last week though and I'm nearly there now.

Brother-in-law brought the front end back from his body shop so I chucked it on to see how it looked.



Very happy with the colour choice.


I then had to come to terms with the fact that the small powervamp battery just wasn't up to the job of firing up a high comp Xflow from cold so had to swap it out for a larger standard battery.




Bonding the wiring to the inside of the cycle wings



New HT leads and plugs and heat wrapped the manifold to help protect the newly painted bodywork.



Gave the panels a bit of a polish up with autosol, fitted the tunnel top and sat the seats in to make sure the belts fit ok with out fouling



Caterham wheel fitted. Very happy with it. Dash finished.



Motorbike shock gator cut down to cove the column.




Exhaust silencer will be back on today for good and the seats will be bolted down.
Small cover to make to cover the handbrake.
Tracking to set.
Shocks to swap over once they arrive
mud guards to make and fit in the rear tub
cover to make for the top of the rear tub
edging trim to fit
Few other little bit then time for IVA

The rebuild is pretty much done now. Just IVA trimming mainly now.

While fitting the GRP seats the other day I wasn't in the best of moods and when one of the mounting holes didn't line up I pretty much lost my rag and smashed one of the seats to bits.



So a good clean up of the original bench style seat and they came up ok. Just need to mount some head rests on the roll bar.



Handbrake surround made and fitted and trimmed up with rubber edging and all dash and inside complete.



As it sits




Still need to fit a centre mirror
Make and fit inner rear mud guards
fit a tonneau cover over the rear tub
make and fit head rests
engine and carbs need setting up
suspension needs setting up

then IVA.

Looking nice

LOL at smashing the seat up!!!

Ref IVA,have you got a low brake fluid warning light?

Yep, got a level sensor fitted and a hand brake switch so it can be tested.

Tidy.
Presume it's built into your speedo cluster?

It is yes