David S

Only the factory can tell you 100% but I am 99% sure it is steel and not stainless steel for the box section. As a matter of interest, what are you trying to weld? I thought everything that needed to be welded on a Zero chassis was done at the factory before collection.

That's brill, thanks John.

Fortunately I had cleaned up the insides of the wishbone tubes so I won't have to remove the bushes all that was missing was the copperslip and the use of the nut and bolt method to push them into place. Next job is to push in the inserts. Are there any things I should look out for with that? Should the insert tubes be exactly the same length as the wishbone tube and bushes?

The 'never go in dry' comment nearly made me spit out my coffee ... fantastic I must admit to not trying either of those options I'll get some copperslip and also a drill attachment to de-burr the inside. The option of using a long bolt and washers is also one that I never considered. Many thanks for the advice. Happy New Year to you all.

I have just started to try and fit the bushes to the suspension parts on my Zero. To do this I am trying to use a bench vice which has the word 1 tonne on the side, so I assume this is the maximum pressure it can apply. Anyway, a couple of the bushes have gone in fairly easily, not quite ‘hot knife and butter’ but not far off. The others, so far, have been far from easy. I have put a breaker bar on the vice arm to apply more ‘clout’ but they are still not easy and I am bending the vice arm in the process!! Perhaps I need a more manly vice!! I wondered how others who have built Zeros have managed? Am I doing it right and just need to persevere, or am I doing something wrong? When I enquired about this at the factory, Richard told me it was something that could easily be done at home. Are there any tips to help? Any advice would be appreciated.

I wouldn't have thought that Zara was any where near high enough up the food chain for it to be anything other than a private affair. Between Tindal, Zara, 'Mummy' and selling the rights to Hello Magazine, I am sure they have enought money for it not to burden the tax payer. There will also be no bank holiday for it.

2 arials met on a roof, fell in love and eventually married. The service wasn't very good but the reception was brilliant!

Steve I would also be interested in joining you on the tour. I would still be in a tin top as I doubt the Zero will be finished by then. David

I paid by PayPal a couple of days ago before the changes (as we were told we could) so just waiting for my account to be updated to show I am a new paid up member for 2011

Congratulations. A first time pass is impressive, but then so is the build quality. It gives a new builder like me something to aim for.

I have to agree that it just didn't look like a £25K car and as mentioned above, maybe Westfield have just lost their way a bit focusing on profit over functionality. The bottom of the dash being lose was just sloppy on Westfield's part but if the car is a bit of a development hack and is passed around from car mag to car mag, someone else may have broken it and they just didn't get chance to repair it. Further down in the video reviews old "Tiffany Dell" reviewed a caterham RS175 and he was far more complementary about the car and the genre.

Even though I don't know you personally, I am also sorry to hear the news. I have been there and although i didn't lose my job, I was heavily in debt and 13 years ago I had to sell a 3/4 built Westfield to pay off some of the debt. I didn't get back what I put into it but it had to be done. Itis only now that I am really in a position to start another build.

Steve. I pick up my 2468 kit on the 8th December so there won't be much to look at but you would be welcome anyway. I live over in Gloucester.

I don't think I will be able to go on the 4th but seeing as I am picking up my kit on the 8th, perhaps they will save me a drink and a mince pie for then!!

The way Richard explained it to me (and Jim at Tiger Racing said the same), the one major component can be the "drivetrain' and in that they include the gearbox, diff and halfshafts. If you then put in a new Engine and have all the other parts new, you should qualify for a current registration, which is what GBS did with the current 60 plated demonstrator. As for donor cars, GBS do have a large stock of old Sierras and a donor pack is £500. They can even get it all shot blasted and cleaned up for you (for a small price) although it is not "refurbished" as such, but it looks like it is.

I was up there about 3 weeks ago and was equally impressed. I ordered my kit 2 weeks ago and I spoke to Jeremy today and have a provisional date of the 8th December to pick it up (2468 kit + a few extra bits) so it should include all the improvements. The other thing Richard mentioned to me was a slightly narrower centre tunnel so the standard car has a little extra room, not as much as the wide version, obviously, but a little more.

I haven't picked it up yet, but I have ordered a Zero kit and it will be ready to pick up just before Christmas, so it is the best pressie I could hope for, even if I have had to buy it for myself!!

Daz ... Don't give up on the hard drive, the links may be lost but it may still be possible to retrieve the photos. A chap at work had the same thing happen and he sent the hard drive to an expert who saved the pictures for him. He might have taken it in to PC World, I can't remember exactly. Sorry if I am teaching grandma to suck eggs, but I haven't been round here long enough to know what people do for a living or know or what they know, if that makes sense.

Personally, i thought Petrov drove a great race. He was trying to do his best and prove he is worthy of a drive next year, so was Kubica, the Renaults performed well. Alonso and Webber just didn't have the pace on the day and no amount of talent was going to help. I too couldn't believe him shaking his fist at Petrov, it was totally wrong. I would have preferred Webber to win over Vettel, but Vettel had the pace on the day and in qualifying and got the job done.

When I went up to visit the factory I was shown around the stores, and I was impressed by the amount of stock they had. These things take time to put together and a lot of financial investment. A lot of the stuff is fabricated in house and the quality of the parts I was shown was spot on. Richard and the team must be doing something right, just look how many kits are being sold not just in the UK but abroad as well. As for the website, these are horendously time consuming to build right. In the time it takes to put a good web site together (and I don't mean a simple one to show your holiday snaps) with stock ordering systems etc, you could build yourself a Zero. In other words look at several hundred hours of time!!

Femi. I am going the Zetec route as it just seems to make most sense, to me anyway. I have specified a lowered floor and powder coating as, again, it makes sense to me. I am not sure I will get on a quickly as you have, I estimate maybe a year to 18 months is more likely, but I'll have to see how I get on.

Thanks John. As I was looking round the factory a couple of weeks ago, Richard was pointing out all the little tweaks they were making and where the improvements were. It was "we are working on this", "we have just changed that", "this is a work in progress", "we are developing that" and so one. I was impressed by the quality and the overall set up at GBS which helps add a level of confidence to the build.

Cheers Nick. Yours is one of the build pictures I have been looking at. Very impressed with the quality of your build. If I can come anywhere near close, I will be a very happy chappy

I have just joined the forum and thought I would just say hello. I have just placed an order for a GBS Zero 2468 kit and I hope that it will be delivered just in time for Christmas. Probably the best Christmas present I could have hoped for, even if I did have to buy it for myself. I have already spend many an hour looking at some of the build blogs and they have been invaluable already. I am really looking forward to the build process. I have no doubt I will ask a few silly questions, but I suppose the only really silly question is the one that you don't ask!! I am not completely new to the kit car scene as 15 years ago I got about 60% of the way through a Westfield SE but finances got the better of me. My then wife pursuaded me it had to go. There are no sour grapes over it, it was the right thing to do at the time. This time, I am determined to finish the car and enjoy driving it, something I never got to do with the Westfield. This weekend sees stage one. Sort out the garage and get a few new tools and bits and bobs. Roll on Saturday!