Granturismo MC Trofeo - Road Registered

[ChrissGT]

Once I receive the clock from @StuartW and identify the connectors used I am going to try a few things to bring it back to full functionality. If successful I will post my findings here.

If anyone else’s clock is dead, erratic or has any other fault please let me know. I was under the impression that it was a fairly common problem.

I had it opened and cleaned. But that is how far as I was comfortable to go. Might be good money in a repair service for sure. Especially when stock starts to run out.

 

[Team GCR]

Thanks. And yes, I saw some photos of the early GT4 cars before they got all of the aero added, the lines looked very clean

What were you racing at the time?

Ginetta G50 GT4 - we had run it in the Ginetta GT Supercup the year before, Ginetta gave us the bits to convert it to GT4 spec as they wanted a couple of quick cars in Europe.

Here it is in the old pit lane at Spa.

 

[safrane]

Is that the same one that lost its bonnet at Castle Combe charity day... almost hit it in my 4200 (stray bonnet that us)

 

[StuartW]

Ginetta G50 GT4 - we had run it in the Ginetta GT Supercup the year before, Ginetta gave us the bits to convert it to GT4 spec as they wanted a couple of quick cars in Europe.

Here it is in the old pit lane at Spa.

View attachment 69974

Fantastic, a lovely looking car.

I went round Blyton Park in my Stradale a couple of years ago and there was no way I was getting even close to the Ginettas that were being tested there!

 

[Team GCR]

Is that the same one that lost its bonnet at Castle Combe charity day... almost hit it in my 4200 (stray bonnet that us)

It is....

If I recall correctly Tom, our driver, had got a bit bored pounding round at passenger lap speed so unknown to us was trying different lines to liven things up, hit a big bump off the normal line and went across the grass which caused the front bumper to move and the bonnet to come off - or at least that was the excuse he plucked from that well known tome "The Racing Driver's Book of Excuses".

I was not amused!

 

[safrane]

"I saw nothing".... except the vision of impending doom as I crested the Avon rise into Quarry corner thinking what should I hit which would;

1. Hurt me less, or
2. Damage the car least

A good day out non the less... even after I span coming out of that same corner on my penultimate lap of the day... went home after that as my luck and skills had run out.

 

[Team GCR]

Fantastic, a lovely looking car.

I went round Blyton Park in my Stradale a couple of years ago and there was no way I was getting even close to the Ginettas that were being tested there!

Yes we ended up having to carry a ridiculous amount of ballast in GT4 as they tried to slow us down, due to the Balance of Performance rules. Ginetta even provided us with thick steel plate rear under tray etc.,.. so we could balance out the extra weight we had to run because of course the Ginetta was a purpose built race car rather than a road car converted to race like most of the others.

Yet they managed to miss the fact one of the Porsches was actually running a GT3 ecu for part of the year.............

 

[StuartW]

Yes we ended up having to carry a ridiculous amount of ballast in GT4 as they tried to slow us down, due to the Balance of Performance rules. Ginetta even provided us with thick steel plate rear under tray etc.,.. so we could balance out the extra weight we had to run because of course the Ginetta was a purpose built race car rather than a road car converted to race like most of the others.

Yet they managed to miss the fact one of the Porsches was actually running a GT3 ecu for part of the year.............

Indeed, mine had plenty of ballast in the footwell and a restricter fitted between the throttle body and air filter - needless to say, both are now absent from my car!

 

[Goodfella]

A few more jobs completed -

Rear plexi window removed and various holes covered up to prevent water ingress and reduce some road noise (!). Window then re-seated onto neoprene seal

View attachment 69811

View attachment 69812

New 6 point Sparco harness fitted to driver's seat

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Further holes in area behind front seat covered

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Driver's harness moved across to the passenger side

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Passenger seat fitted

View attachment 69818

Faulty dashboard clock removed. All fixings for dash trim and clock are secured with nuts from behind the single piece carbon fibre dashboard section. No doubt, everything was fitted prior to the dashboard being installed, so this job required some gymnastic moves on my part to get behind the dash - if only I had done this job before I fitted the seat ...

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New clock fitted & dashboard trim reinstated, I do like things to work properly!

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A passenger windscreen washer jet has now been fitted, there was only a driver's side one installed previously to get through the MOT. A simple cut into the existing hose, branching off with a T piece, and a new section of hose running into an additional washer jet nozzle. Sorry, no photos for this job.


Lots more to do but it's taking shape nicely & looking forward to driving it more than the 5 or 6 miles I managed before lockdown

Glorious.

 

[zagatoes30]

"I saw nothing".... except the vision of impending doom as I crested the Avon rise into Quarry corner thinking what should I hit which would;

1. Hurt me less, or
2. Damage the car least

A good day out non the less... even after I span coming out of that same corner on my penultimate lap of the day... went home after that as my luck and skills had run out.

You won't be the only one to come over Avon rise and think S-H-I-T

 

[philw696]

You won't be the only one to come over Avon rise and think S-H-I-T

Yeah wrote my MK1 Golf GTi off therein 1990 it was a lot safer after they resurfaced the track.

 

[StuartW]

Today's jobs included fitting the horn - I went for the standard GTS twin trumpet horn, but with one disconnected - the current drain on the twin horn was quite high & the cable got a little hot, so I decided to halve the drain and it's much better.

Also, with the windscreen washers & reverse lights fitted earlier, I applied the appropriate stickers to the switch console



Next job will be fitting a carbon canister to the fuel breather hose. There isn't one fitted to the race car and it can get be quite pungent in the garage without one

 

[Oneball]

I’d be looking for fuel leaks before fitting a carbon canister. Never known a car smell of petrol just from the breather.

 

[StuartW]

There are no leaks, it is just from the breather pipe after the roll over valve which vents out to the inside of the rear wheel arch behind the offside wheel. The rest of the fuel cell area & the filler is fine

 

[ChrisQP09]

Epic project @StuartW

 

[Tilum]

I was up late last night when I discovered this thread! So it ended up being a REALLY late night, as I couldn't stop reading the entire thread.
What an epic tale. I think we're all so glad that you had the b*lls to take on such a challenge @StuartW . But all your hard work (and those that have helped along the way) has truly paid off, as you really have something so jaw-dropping and unique. Keep us all posted with how the rest of the conversion goes. I hope I get to see it one day.

 

[StuartW]

I was up late last night when I discovered this thread! So it ended up being a REALLY late night, as I couldn't stop reading the entire thread.
What an epic tale. I think we're all so glad that you had the b*lls to take on such a challenge @StuartW . But all your hard work (and those that have helped along the way) has truly paid off, as you really have something so jaw-dropping and unique. Keep us all posted with how the rest of the conversion. I hope I get to see it one day.

Thank you for your kind words - it's been a real challenge but a great project to get involved in.
There's still plenty to do, a bit like a rolling restoration, and things have slowed down a lot due to the lockdown, but there's no big rush and it won't be long until I'm able to use it a lot more. The next big thing is the fuel tank issue & I am going to replace the bladder bag with a bespoke aluminum tank, this time with a float sender and a gauge so I don't have to guess how much petrol I have!
I have to replace all of the bonnet clips & catches which involves riveting into a composite double skinned panel which will be another challenge.
One of the beauties of this one is that it is firstly a race car, it is never going to be concours so I do not need to be super precious about every imperfection - it has lived a life and will continue to do so

And also, the decal set has been produced and is being shipped to me now ready to be applied once I have improved the panel fit a bit more.
Here's a little preview of what I have chosen and roughly how it will look once applied -



More news to follow as it happens - stay tuned!

 

[Tilum]

Oh I love that livery! It looks soooooo much better than the all blue Abu Dhabi livery, or the blue bonnet on white look!


Regarding not having to make all the mods look 'perfect', I agree. After all, it's a race car, not a 'garage beauty queen!' ....The 'rough & ready' look will suit it.

 

[Andyk]

Are you going to try and get the Maserati racing suits and crash helmet to finish the overall effect. I know that when owners bought the original two seat Stradale the suit, helmet and gloves were offered as an option.

 

[lifes2short]

Thank you for your kind words - it's been a real challenge but a great project to get involved in.
There's still plenty to do, a bit like a rolling restoration, and things have slowed down a lot due to the lockdown, but there's no big rush and it won't be long until I'm able to use it a lot more. The next big thing is the fuel tank issue & I am going to replace the bladder bag with a bespoke aluminum tank, this time with a float sender and a gauge so I don't have to guess how much petrol I have!
I have to replace all of the bonnet clips & catches which involves riveting into a composite double skinned panel which will be another challenge.
One of the beauties of this one is that it is firstly a race car, it is never going to be concours so I do not need to be super precious about every imperfection - it has lived a life and will continue to do so

And also, the decal set has been produced and is being shipped to me now ready to be applied once I have improved the panel fit a bit more.
Here's a little preview of what I have chosen and roughly how it will look once applied -

View attachment 71858

More news to follow as it happens - stay tuned!

how the feck did I miss this fantastic post/thread, just come across it, hats off to you for taking the gamble, you must have big cahonies, loving the story and the machine, the planned livery/decals look superb, keep the photos coming