nelmo

Mine looked about the same - are you sure the belt is tensioned enough?

Better to take it to IVA with no roof or windscreen and fit them afterwards - saves a lot of hassle.

If it helps, I bought this GPS speedo to replace the Smiths one that died. It has a built-in odometer (and a few other functions; clock, 0-60 timer etc). It was about £250 and came from the US, a company called Speedhut. Very customisable and you get to specify what the starting mileage shows on the odometer: Fitting detail in my blog: https://zerolifebuild.blogspot.com/2019/12/show-me-speed.html

There is a method for the throttle cable- need to cut bits off that plastic piece. Ask GBS, they'll have the details. There is a picture in my blog but it's not very clear and I don't think I explained it too well. Also, you don't need the IACV - mine ran fine without it.

Well, it does sort of - you need to make sure there are no air gaps or you'll never get your engine to run smoothly. I used an instant gasket sealant (red, high temp gunk): https://zerolifebuild.blogspot.com/2016/01/a-furry-distraction.html

When I did mine (also gen 1), I set it to 48mm and it looked like I had too much negative camber, so I actually wound it out to 50mm and even then, my first set of tyres wore slightly unevenly - gawd knows how bad it would be if you set it to 32mm!!

Looking good....possibly too late now but I would recommend leaving the sides off as long as possible. Do all the engine bay stuff first and leave suspension to last - so much more access with the sides off.

Yeah, different strokes. I've sadly sold my kit (last June) and bought an old Porsche. I meet up with Porsche owners and some are seriously loaded. I do miss it so I ocassionally pop along here to relive the old days 😀

That seems very cheap to me - I built my Zero kit in 2015 and it cost me £16k. Like you say, kids don't do manual labour these days. While I was building my kit, my son ocassionally dragged himself away from his Xbox to watch me but he wasn't really interested. He loves his cars now but for £3k, you can buy a Golf GTi that is quicker than most kits and thats what he wants, performance (he currently has a 550bhp C63 AMG which he paid £18k for - a factory built GBS ultimate has less go and is £45k+ ). Back in the heyday of kits, they were a cheap way to have a fast car, I guess? Nowadays, lots of competition 😞

I would recommend the Emerald ECU - expensive but common and so lots of help if you need it. GBS still sell the full wiring loom - again, expensive but if you aren't happy with electrics, worth it to save the hassle. I bought the main loom and then made my own engine and dash loom to save cash. If it helps, my blog has all the details of my 2015 build: https://zerolifebuild.blogspot.com

Apologies for butting in, especially as I don't have my kit any more, but I thought I'd recommend a couple of better meet points: 1. Denbies vineyard 2. Newlands Corner. Both have large, free car parks, toilets and cafes and nice roads in the area.

I had a button on my dash (labelled as a fan) which was a switch in the ignition circuit - car wouldn't start if the switch wasn't pressed.

What they should do is offer to contact the current owner and pass your details on, leaving it up to them whether to reply or not.

You can, although I'm not sure what they can tell you and it looks like you'll need a 'reasonable explanation' - try this: https://www.gov.uk/request-information-from-dvla

I feel your pain, I just sold my kit in June this year and already, the new owner is not replying to any of my texts when I ask how it's going 😞 I'm afraid if it's not had an MOT for 13 years, it's probably gone to that scrapheap in the sky or stuck in someones garage - I doubt it would have lasted as a track car for this long. This is part of the reason I sold mine - I knew the same thing might happen as I got less interested in fixing it and it would be very depressing. At least this way, I can hope someone else is maybe keeping it going...