Here's what I've wound up with in my quest to get into building my own car. It's a Ginetta G20 ex race car from the UK that was driven by Stuart Pearson in the Ginetta racing series. It's definitely a basket case and the body needs some significant fiberglass repair, but I've got my first "kit car" project.



I originally wanted to build my own Locost frame from scratch and install a Chrysler Slant 6 "Leaning Tower of Power" in it with the intent of setting some Slant 6 Drag Racing records and having some fun on the autocross. That will eventually happen, but I should probably learn to weld first... :lol:

http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=17937
http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=17938

The Ginetta racing series all had to use the same sealed Ford 1.8 Zetec engines backed by a Type 9 transmission. Some people have installed V6's, but there is no way a Slant 6 will fit.

Back in April my son Michael and I took the ferry from Rotterdam to Hull to go pick up a small car trailer and the Ginetta. The guy I bought the trailer from (Jon Ison) had a sweet Locost he had built many years earlier powered by a wicked Hyabusa engine. It was my first time seeing a Locost up close. Sitting in it and hearing the engine rev up to its 8,000 RPM redline made me question my decision to go with the much milder and heavier Ginetta, but I had already paid for it and was on my way, so I reluctantly left Skegness on the way to Huddersfield to get the car. This is the trailer and the Locost with the Hyabusa engine.




Our trip went pretty smoothly, but there were a couple moments of mild panic along the way.

For those of you not familiar with the wonderful German Autobahn, it is a great highway system with certain areas that, in fact, do not have a speed limit... The other term you may not be familiar with in regards to the Autobahn is "Stau"!! That's German for "You ain't goin' nowhere fast for a really, really long time traffic jam". Knowing that ahead of time we left ourselves about 2 hours of wiggle room to get to Rotterdam... We used every single minute of it and then some in various Staus along the way. Those No Speed Limit zones between staus saved my bacon, because we were the very last car on the ferry as they were getting ready to close the gate! I have now tested the top speed of a Honda CRV if anyone is interested. LOL

The other little hiccup had to do with the difference between American automotive lighting and the rest of the world... In the US vehicle brake and turn lights are the same bulb with two filaments. We are the only country in the world that does this... Anyway, long story short, I wasn't comfortable trying to hack into my wife's CRV wiring, so I bit the bullet and took it to a German garage to have them figure out how to make my US vehicle trailer wiring mate up to the European system. All good so far,... Until I went to hook up the trailer to the CRV:

Trailer standard 7 pin:


New CRV standard 13 pin :BH: :


CRV 4 flat I had installed before we left the US :wink: :


A little American Ingenuity and a couple wiring diagrams:


And,... I wound up doing the same thing I was trying to avoid in the first place:


It wasn't perfect, but we had brake, turn and running lights. They just weren't exactly to European standards... ops:

When we got back I checked back in with the garage that installed the wiring... They had just forgotten to give me the 13 to 7 pin adaptor... :roll:
I'll re-wire the trailer back to the standard 7 pin and see if it works...

The next series of photos show the mess I've gotten myself into with this project. It came with the chassis, roll cage, bonnet (hood) and tub (body) along with most of the suspension pieces to make it a roller. I just need to figure out how it all goes back together and buy about 1,527,639 little parts along the way.

The good thing is that these cars have been around and competing in the Ginetta racing series since about 2001 and the chassis and cage are FIA approved.

The body had some pretty bad repairs done and there is a major crack at the cowl, so Stuart gave me several pieces of other former race cars to use in my efforts to repair it. We looked like Sanford & Son (Google it :wink: ) on the way home, but we made it.

















Tucked into its new storage unit:


Last weekend we got up the nerve to drag the chassis out of storage and bring it home to start the arduous reassembly process. It came with an assembly manual... We'll see how it goes.

This is my son Chase home from college for the summer. He will probably be working on it more than I will.



MTF (More To Follow)...

Rob

This might save you a lot of bodywork woes!

http://www.motorsportads.com/race-cars/gt-sports-cars/23208.html

In at the deep end
good luck and remember....steering wheel is on the right side

Thanks for that link scootz! I may have to consider that. It would save a lot of headaches!!

Steering wheel on the right side. Got it! :-)

[Edited on 9/6/16 by Dudefladge]

That's looking from the back of the car

Honestly, having the car as a RHD is part of the fun for me. Especially since I plan to take it back to the US with me eventually.

Not only will a Ginetta stand out in a crown over there, but a RHD Ginetta even better!

[Edited on 11/6/16 by Dudefladge]

I knew this was a hoakie way of doing things, but I want to start work on this thing... And I'm a pretty hoakie kinda guy anyway...

I don't think this is going to work well after all... LOL






[Edited on 12/6/16 by Dudefladge]

[Edited on 12/6/16 by Dudefladge]

I have a Sierra diff for the Ginetta now.

Thanks to Nickp for bringing it to Germany with him on his family vacation!

Now I just need to just make the time to get some nuts and bolts and try putting this thing back together... :-)

I ahve built three G20s in the past, they go together quite well. I have an upper diff mount and bushes new somewhere if you need them.

I actually do need the bushes. That is one of the very first things I need and wasn't sure where to get them. It's those small specific parts that are going to be the most difficult I think.
If you're able to find them I am definitely interested in buying them. Thanks!

I know where they are. Have a few other bits too I think. Will dig them out for you.

That's awesome! Thank you!!

I pulled out the Assembly manual last night and started a list of the nuts and bolts I will need.

There are several Sierra parts I will need to source or come up with alternatives. I should probably source the parts before I have to move back to the U.S.

Plenty of work ahead...

I actually made the time to drag the parts out of the shed yesterday...

I need a LOT of parts...

I went to the local hardware store for just the basic nuts and bolts to get things started, but even that was not very successful.

This is going to take awhile... LOL

If you run into problems let us know & I can take a pic, measurements or whatever off my G20.

I found trusted ebay suppliers a good source of the various imperial nuts & bolts required. Of all things they might be what you have more success in finding in the stores back home!

quote:

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Originally posted by colin99999


I found trusted ebay suppliers a good source of the various imperial nuts & bolts required. Of all things they might be what you have more success in finding in the stores back home!

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Thanks for the feedback. I will poke around on Ebay for some things.

I did find a couple Sierras in Germany, but not many. For the various Sierra specific parts, can anyone tell me what year range I need to be looking for?

Also, I'm missing a lower ball joint. I remember seeing a post that said they were a Saab part (?) Does anyone have an application or part #...?

You can see the magnitude of my task... LOL

Photos of the suspension set up with track bars (also missing), etc. would really help.

For Sierra parts have a look on German and UK ebay and filter location to Poland. There's a few Polish sellers that sell Sierra parts to UK and Germany.
Probably best to sort out all the parts you need and then inquire for all the parts for better bits and transport price.

"Probably best to sort out all the parts you need and then inquire for all the parts for better bits and transport price."

The problem with that is the Ginetta assembly manual just says, "Use Sierra parts here..." LOL

I'll get there eventually, it's just going to take some time along with some trial and error...

Front lower ball joint is from a Saab 99, also common to the 900 too I believe. That's the one part a google search for 'G20 front lower ball joint' actually throws up as it had been discussed a few times over on Pistonheads.

Thanks Colin! I appreciate that. I'm putting together an actual list of parts I need.
I am now in contact with Del at Reflex Racing. He is another source for G20 parts and was happy to have me share his contact information here.

Reflex Racing gb ltd
E Mail polepositionltd@aol.com
Phone/Fax 01233822500
Mob 07771522217
www.reflexgb.co.uk

I'll post updates if/when I get some parts installed. ;-)

[Edited on 31/8/16 by Dudefladge]

any chance to get a copy of the built manual? do you have it as pdf?

Sorry alfas, the digital copy I received was for the G40, not the G20.

Quick update: I've been getting a lot of help from some other G20 owners finding many of the critical parts I need.
I'm planning a trip 12 May to meet one of them and pick up several parts. Just in time to pack everything up and ship it back to the states.

Hopefully much more to follow, but it will be awhile before I get settled back in and start turning wrenches.

Well,... We made it!
Plenty of drama along the way getting things packed up in Germany, but all (most?) of the pieces and parts made it to Kentucky.

Mark Pedro DeSpong really helped us out with parts and even let me drive his rent a racer car around the parking lot.

I had to cut the trailer I got from Jon Ison in half at the last minute,... with a hacksaw! But they got it crated up and on a ship.

The G20 is in the garage on saw horses next to another Locost project I bought in Arizona. Competing demands and too many projects will make progress fairly (extremely...) slow, but we’ll get there.

Rob
In Brandenburg, KY