unipower gt replica in oz

[roger mcnab]

uni power gt replica
hi guys just working towards my next project of building a replica of the above car it will be a long term job as i need to make a full size shape for the moulds to be made but getting the bits together as i go
well wish me luck and all info is welcome
cheers roger

[mk1]

Good luck Roger, I'm going to enjoy watching this one.

[roger mcnab]

well some progress i have worked out the lengths of the side of the car from theside photo and also some of the other sections soon will have the wind screen frame and then can get the shape over the scuttle soon will get some poly sheets and start on the plug a big jog and will take a while but i can work on all the bits got the rover v8 for it and the gear box so will have some of the bigger items once the plug is done i then can do the molds and the body sections so the chassis can then be made in situ then remove the panels and finish the welding
well cheers roger

[roger mcnab]

trying to find ha viva tail lights is like looking for hens teeth but e bay looks helpful but our exchange rate is woeful but carry on regardless
cheers roger

[roger mcnab]

well some progress made a template for the side of the car at the a pillar and started marking out some ribs for the sill under the door the template needs to be modified for the rear of front wheel arch and the b pillar as the body is slightly tapered but the mods are only minor
working from the pics is not to difficult just have to be exact with measurements getting the curve under the windscreen is a challenge but not hard for an old cabinetmaker /carriage builder so there is plenty of time as i am waiting for parts for the v8 clubman like flywheel and diff gears that are getting made special
but what is being made is also going in the gt except the inlet manifold will be made to suit 4 idf webers
well keep up the good work
cheers roger mcnab

[roger mcnab]

well after searching the net i got 1 nos viva ha tail light lens also i nos viva ha tail light complete and gary is kindly sending me one from his stash so that is the tail lights sorted i also have 3 idf webers for the rover v8 and 1 more carb to follow also have got 3 patterns for the side of the body and working on the pattern for the windscreen the patterns need to be transfered to pine timber and cut out so i can start adding strips of thin wood on them to get the body under way
hard work getting the dimensions right from pics
a long road a head also need to get icv number from rms so i can get it registered
cheers roger

[roger mcnab]

hi well i now find out that the uni gt was fitted with 5.75 inch head lights that were fitted on the jensen cv-8 that i have never heard of how rare will these be to find or do i modify motor bike ones or use bigger 7 inch ones like minis not original help
roger

[morris-miner]

Hello ther Roger,
With regards to the headlight query are you looking for the larger or smaller light units ?
I'm no CV-8 expert but would imagine that the larger of the two would contain main beam and dip while the smaller (lower set) would be main beam only.
I'll do a bit of digging and see what I can come up with as I have boxes and boxes of Lucas lights, somewhere.

Regards, Garry.

[smithyrc30]

5 3/4" head lights are pretty common, Mk3 Cortina GT, GXL, 2000E, Escort RS2000 MK2 etc. etc. all had four units, the outers had the dip and inners the main. However there are many replacement units that take an H4.

Narva offer enclosed and open backed mounts and H4 and H1 units with and without side light bulbs and these can be found easily at Repco or Super Cheap etc. or online.

If you want the original Cibie ones, that is another story....

Although, thinking about it, I think the 2CV had similar units with a P43 type base which is available in a Halogen type bulb.

[morris-miner]

Hope this helps,
MK1 & 2 C-V8s have 7" outer (upper) twin filament headlamps, the inner (lower) single main beam unit is a 5 3/4".
The original Lucas part numbers are, inner 54521805 1A 37.5w and outer 54521806 2A 37.5/50w.
There are by now more modern higher output units available but I guess it depends on how period correct you want to build it.

Regards once more.

[roymck]

It’s not a problem to find 5 3/4 headlights . Cibie do a main dip sidelight unit in this size . Also found on early scimitars , and without sidelights on Triumph 2000,s and some Imps .

What I think is that you need a chrome outer bezel for this headlight and these are rare as very few cars had these , but Jensen,s did have these and I think that is what you have been advised.

[rpb203]

With the Unipower headlights one of the difficult bits to get hold of is the light back bowl.
These may have been used on Renault R8 Gordini and possibly Renault Alpine and Renault 4CV.
The chrome rims are quite difficult to find - if not a purest - the try Cibie Ocsar spot lights - the rims are almost identical to the ones used on the Unipower, may need a little bit of tweaking to fit.
The lamps do turn up occasionally, ideally you want the convex lense, but a few cars have concave ones which see to be easier to locate - then can get the right bulbs to fit in the back.

[roger mcnab]

hi thanks for the above replies i looked on the net last night and one source has the full replacement set of 4 lights with every thing but the dress rims but i only need the big lights not the small ones but its only early days yet so any thing can happen as yet
the r8 renault gordini had 4 big head lights here the scimatar was not here much so i will check it out on the net
thanks roger
if you spot some at a jumble sale let me know as we do not have many here and the ones that are about are a long way away
roger

[roger mcnab]

found a company showing complete 5.75 headlights including the dress rim but when requesting them they replied that i had to buy locally and supplied only the lens and bulb part numbers a lot of help
cheers roger

[roger mcnab]

well i rang a local auto electric shop in taree the nearest and asked and the guy looked and found that a few were available so on monday i will order them so a few more bits for the unipower will be added to the pile next will be the rover v8 then i need to chase up the guy with he austin 1800 gearbox in the mean time i need to get the flywheel for the mini from the engineer and also get some money to the diff maker
well one project at a time is good but when items come up for the next one they can not be passed up as some things are getting scarce
cheers roger

[roger mcnab]

well i followed some advice and trawled the net and a guy had a lot of cibie oscar driving lights for sale on gumtree and a pair looked small enough to be ok so bought them and they arrived yesterday from melbourne and where the right size 5 3/4 inch the rest of the lights were junk so they were binned the bezels will get a chrome job next year and will look great just need to fit some lugs to hold them in place these were not genuine lamps but coppies but dose the job as this is a replica it will have the rear window from mgb gt as it is very close to the size but in polycarbonate [lexan] cheers roger

[roger mcnab]

well spent a few hours making more ribs for the wooden body for the uni gt that i need to make the molds for the grp body so that i will soon be able to start to assemble this part and show some progress also been scouring the net for the relevent bits and pieces needed for the car
cheers roger

[roger mcnab]

well spent some time in the shed puting the side of the uni body together it is starting to look like the side of a boat will look better when i put the slats on the side so i can sand it to shape i will soon get to the hard part with the muliple curves that will take some doing also the flip back is looking hard
should have something to take photos of soon
cheers roger

[roger mcnab]

well its been a while but i finally got the center removed from the old rover v8 manifold so i can get it machined level for the stubs to be welded on to take the mounting plates for the 4 idf weber carbs so that makes 1 more thing sorted also got the 1800 gear box so can start modifying that for the rover v8 to sit on hope to get some pics soon as i found my olympus camera
cheers roger

[andy1071]

Regarding headlights, I remember talking to a guy in '85 ish who had restored a Unipower, and he said the headlights were Renault R4.

- These are the lights I suggested to the Stylists at Lotus when I was there as a contract engineer working on the Elise.
-They thought 5 3/4" lights too small, and 7" too big...

So maybe check out the Elise...?