1960s Cox GTM resto project

[tintoptom]

This is a very nice project - looking forward to seeing it progress!

[Minisprint!]

Looking good watching this ! I've got a late 60s gtm as a project starting soon. Would be interested in a screen or two

[AndyB72]

After DropBox changed the access to my 'Public' folder all my old images now have broken links so here goes with another server. Below is the project...




This is the tub at the moment after a few weeks down at whights.co.uk




And here are some snaps from last week after a winter of buying, powder coating, machining, cleaning, rebuilding...

Front subframe with CVs machined flush...



Rear subframe using hubs from the front and rear backplates opened out to fit the hubs. The extended gear selector kit is from Rossabitz along with the steering arm locking kit...



Original welding on the pedals...



Rear setup on the left. Front cones on the right machined/drilled to try and soften the front suspension along with the top of the Hi-Low rounded off...


Finally got the engine built up after having the short motor done a year or two ago and the gearbox in January..

[rich@minispares.com]

looking good andy

getting rid of the stupid a frame lower arms and fitting the superior rossa bits steering kit was one of the best things I did to my gtm. it makes setting the rear suspension up a pleasure

[turbocox]

Awesome job andy

Looking really good.

Regaurds to the rear suspension, I'm glad you didn't stick with the lower standard COX items, they are even worse than your friends yellow coupe. That car had an interim fix on them and you know how that felt round the track.
The Rossabitz parts are slightly err um... Clunky, but they work and as you say Rich it really transforms the car.

[mk1]

Bloody hell Andy!

You have been busy haven't you.

Should be all done for Blyton

[GTM71]

Nice work! I have a 71 Heerey GTM that I am building into a racer, I have to say the lower reverse wishbone is not a bad idea in itself it was the design of the hub carrier that lets it down.
I have redesigned it on mine to rectify this





It now bolts directly to the back of the hub and is thicker (10mm instead of 8mm), there will also be an adjustable bush to the inside of the wishbone where it meets the subframe so it can be set up correctly.

[rich@minispares.com]

so basically you have redesigned it so that it works ok................

the big problem with the standard design was the two bolts used to set the rear toe, it was virtually impossible to use them to set as they where so close to the centre of the hub, plus the size of the heads and the lock nuts made it a horrible job to get a spanner on to them to either adjust, or lock of the locking nuts.

my car was lethal with them, fitting the much more sensible mini set up and rossa bits steering lock of kit made it far more easy to adjust the toe - you can leave the car on some turntables and just adjust it with no grovelling around, or having to fit and remove the wheels

[AndyB72]

Yes getting there very slowly.

Please note the white cutlery trays from IKEA, only a few quid and great for keeping parts in one place rather than scattered over the garage floor/bench. STÖDJA

[rich@minispares.com]

Please note the white cutlery trays from IKEA, only a few quid

me and mark have a box full of old minispares bags - FREE!!!!!

[AndyB72]

Are they like the ones that dog walkers use?

[rich@minispares.com]

Are they like the ones that dog walkers use?

a lot of them are certainly full of shite

or bits of Austin 1100 as I like to call it

[mk1]

Even when they are full, we don't hang them in trees though!

I just hide them in the skip & hope Rich doesn't notice.

[Pandora]

I just hide them in the skip & hope Rich doesn't notice.

By skip, do you mean Corvair?

Oh no, they'd fall out the bottom.

Al

[rich@minispares.com]

By skip, do you mean Corvair?

Oh no, they'd fall out the bottom.

Al

mark found a dead rat under it last week,

[Pandora]

Died laughing?

Al

[GTM71]

so basically you have redesigned it so that it works ok................

the big problem with the standard design was the two bolts used to set the rear toe, it was virtually impossible to use them to set as they where so close to the centre of the hub, plus the size of the heads and the lock nuts made it a horrible job to get a spanner on to them to either adjust, or lock of the locking nuts.

my car was lethal with them, fitting the much more sensible mini set up and rossa bits steering lock of kit made it far more easy to adjust the toe - you can leave the car on some turntables and just adjust it with no grovelling around, or having to fit and remove the wheels

yes exactly, it's not particularly difficult to work out that the adjustable hub carrier was a bad idea, with the addition of an adjustable tie rod and a adjustable inner bush (like the one you get on an adjustable lower arm from a mini) you can set everything up accurately. BTW, I will not be using the rose joints in the picture but reverting to the original bushes as I don't particularly like the idea of rose joints on a road/race car. The car will be used in HSCC Roadsports so needs to be driven on the road.

Road dirt + rose joints = heavy wear!

[Pandora]

You can get rose joint boots to protect them (or do they just hold the dirt in there once it's in?)

Al

[GTM71]

You can get rose joint boots to protect them (or do they just hold the dirt in there once it's in?)

Al

My feeling is the latter! Plenty of cars race in Historics with rubber bushes, there are loads of other things that can be improved that will make a bigger difference. The driver for a start!

[AndyB72]

Bit of an update. The tub and shell have been split between two garages for the last year or so, a few weeks ago they were finally reunited for a test fit before we started work spraying the the tub. The plan is to paint the tub grey and outer a different colour, a bit like the CCC Cox. By the end of this month the tub should be painted and back in my garage ready for the subframes fitting and a steady fit-up of the handbrake, gear lever and most of the pipe work. The outer will stay at my dads where we'll start work on the holes/cracks in the fibreglass before grafting it back on the tub, masking everything off and giving it a final topcoat... well thats the plan so far.





Inbetween jobs at work I've been replicating the original reg plate ready to be cut out of vinyl...