Hi all
Sorry for another delayed update on my Ford GT40 but as you can probably appreciate there is still a lot of work to do on the car.
May saw me continue to panel the car; it’s a big job and looks much easier than it really is. This month I started on the rear bulkhead and first drilled the rear bulkhead side panels into place before marking and cutting the rear bulkhead itself. The rear bulkhead is the largest panel on the car and required several folds to be put into it to sit on the chassis correctly. To do this I used my local fabricators who have done a fantastic job as my sheet folder just wasn’t big enough.
Rear bulkhead side panels drilled into place
Rear Bulkhead folded and drilled into place
Next up was the drivers and passenger compartment panels and another internal panel inside the footwell. These panels were fairly straight forward and are currently all marked and ready to be drilled into place.
Passenger/drivers compartment panels cut and marked
Finally I moved onto the wheel arches, a job I’ve been dreading as the panels have to be folded in much more complex shapes. I’ve started with making cardboard templates again, a method that so far has proved to work really well. I always try to make the templates a tiny bit bigger than I need them to be as it’s much easier to trim the panel after rather than not leaving yourself enough spare and having to remake another.
Ford GT40 wheel arch templates being made
In addition to working on the car I also took some time out to attend the 2010 kit car show at Stoneleigh. Its a great annual show that brings together car builders from all over the country. It was also a good chance to catch up with the GT40 enthusiast club members and have a poke around a few cars for ideas and to compare my build with some finished cars. I’d highly recommend a visit to anyone thinking of building any car as there is a wealth of info available and loads of cars to see from the good, bad and the ugly (yes that means you Dutton’s).
Ford GT40's at the kit car show 2010
Well that’s about it for another month, May was actually one of the most productive months so far with some major panels of the car coming along nicely. As always please check out my Facebook page for more images and up to date news on the GT40 build.
Trev
Trevor Summers is a 27 year old Art Director from Warwickshire in the UK. Trevor is the creator of gt40builder.com which he uses as a diary of his GT40 replica build
The rear bulk head does not appear to have an inspection hatch cut out.If this is intentional you will find it very hard to change the aircon and alternator belts or even get at the thermostat housing.
But you may have thought of this and taken action. In which case ignore my observation.
Hi Desmond
Good spot, however the rear bulkhead does now have the inspection hatch area cut out. I cut and drilled the panel as one complete sheet of aluminium to ensure the panel didn’t bend etc and then removed it and cut the hatch out. You can see this here: bulkhead cutout
Trev