Month: December 2016

Sunday 18 December, 2016

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Cardboard Box to Gas Tank

It just takes a fresh set of eyes, open communication that often solves problems. The gas tank was problematic, caused by the entire new chassis with the incorporated roll cage. A quick sketch over morning coffee I showed Scott my thoughts which he was thinking exactly the same concept. So off to the local home centre, buy a cardboard box, and back to the workshop. I never imagined that the box would fit perfectly between the rear roll cage bars, love to say I did! So quick measurements, rapid cutting and tape applied we had a pretty cool mock-up. The tank was also 39 litres which was another bonus along with two very large spaces for assorted luggage space.


Friday 16 December, 2016

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McGregor Workshop

It was great to be met by Scott at the airport then head off on our “to do list” of sub-contractors. I really wanted to use the same people as my first build, staying with them ensured the high quality and continued friendships. The upholstery of a Lotus 7 is always a challenge and given my 30,000km’s of driving I had several major changes that I needed to be made. Brendon Marshall of Canterbury Upholstery was fully on-board with the new changes and certainly enjoys such projects. The plan is to leave the car for a week; this will depend upon the door options. I looked at several cloth samples and settled upon a deep charcoal flat cloth that will add to the new look design.

 

Paint, Wayne is again the painter and now works at UPPER CLASSICS in Christchurch. We were extremely lucky that when we came to look at the paint sample Wayne gave us a tour of the numerous departments of classic car restorations – very jaw dropping seeing the quality of their work and vast array of vehicles in all stages of restoration. The color is exactly what I wanted; the depth is perfect and reacts to sunlight as designed.

http://www.upperclassics.com/

Wednesday 14 December, 2016

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Arrived in Auckland

It is always great to come back to New Zealand and even better that in the morning I am off to Christchurch to see the build progress. I just got these images from Scott showing the side panels fitted……wow!

Friday 9 December, 2016

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Busy week

The week got off to a great start with Scott and Mark catching up on the build schedule. It is not unusual for all projects to plateau and that feeling that no progress is happening. However, it only takes a few key components to be fabricated then attached so an entire part of the build is completed.



From my office in Japan I am continually updated by Scott with photographs and chats on the phone…messenger is great and free! Mark is a valuable mentor, his knowledge is considerable and Scott is proven to be more than capable in assimilating the knowledge effectively.


It was only a week ago that I was looking at file photographs of the “headers mock-up”. This week they were actually being fabricated and great progress made by the team.


In less than a week I will finally be on site at McGregor Motorsport, a “to do list” longer than my arm but a smile wider than the garage.


Scott has been busy measuring and updating the CAD files and now we can see the first body panels being cut…excellent job!