brumster

I'd agree, it just looks like an earth tab for if you're using a backlight and the clock isn't mounted into something conductive (say a plastic/grp dashboard). Not essential for it functioning as a speedo.

I made mine, measured and planned the system out, ordered the various sections from https://www.304stainlessexhaustparts.com who cut and swaged everything to order (very helpful). I handled the kink in the body at the scuttle by just cutting and welding the section between the cat and the silencer at an angle. What I would say is, just get someone to weld it for you - my welding isn't up to the standard I'd want for an exhaust (and I don't have any stainless wire either!) so I tacked it up with mild on the car, then took the entire thing to a mate who did it for me and spotted him some beer tokens. I'm sure you can find somewhere that would do that for you. No-one would make me an exhaust off design, they all wanted the car (even if I said I absolve them of blame if it doesn't fit!) and on top of that they wanted stupid £££ for the task so in the end I did it myself and am very happy with the result.

Yes, I have a very specific gearbox oil and it's different to diff *but* that's for a type 9, not an MT75. MT75 might be the same but I can't speak from experience...

Cool, ok, so you're getting lights, a wiring loom, a radiator, shocks/springs, a dashboard and a set of suspension bolts in addition to the base kit. If you're happy with all of those it works, obviously the wiring loom is specific to the car so provided you had no plans to do anything weird and wonderful (different engine, different switchgear and so forth) it shouldn't be a problem - at most you might me modifying it slightly if you decided to do something different, it's not the end of the world. There are some options you can look at and decide whether you can source them separately (seat belts, seats, gauges, fuel tank, handbrake, exhaust, carpets), windscreen and all associated bracketry, wipers, etc or source them from GBS/Kitspares while you're at it. Nelmo's spreadsheet is a good reminder of all the consumable and "gotchas" that you need to buy... I think the main thing I was trying to get out was, it's easy to think about the large items like seats, engine, wheels, tyres but don't forget - consumable like rivets, nuts, bolts, clips, cable ties, jubillee clips, exhaust clamps, hose (custom water hoses aren't cheap), fluids - services (reconditioning, painting, or whatever) - route replacement items (clutch, brake pads, discs, you might decide you don't trust the donor calipers for example) You'll not want the default fuel tank solution from GBS so you'll need to factor in either the costs of a separate swirl pot, or else modifying the tank to take a better combined pump+swirl pot. Personally, in hindsight, I would just get a custom tank fabricated. Also don't forget to factor in the IVA costs and all that shizzle !

Just for the avoidance of doubt, which offering are you looking at from GBS? The Starter self-build kit or the Upgrade Plus kit? Are you just going off their website, I take it?

I think you're right, I have every single receipt for the build of mine and a partial spreadsheet but I'm not necessarily willing to share it - but also, there are so many aspects specific to a how a builder does his/her car that some of it would be irrelevant. For example, to take one part, I spent £800-odd on a high-end instrument cluster but some people might be perfectly happy with the Sierra jobbies... so many aspects come down to how much someone is willing to spend, gives you that massive variance in price. I also did some stuff around engine building that would have cost thousands of pounds with a reputable engine builder, and all it cost me was my time and a few beer tokens. So it's hard to draw direct comparisons, I think. Every build is unique (which is stating the obvious, I know). Builder skill levels can also be a factor - some people might be able to do one aspect themselves where someone else needs to pay a 3rd party to do something for them... more £££ spent There's then stuff like tools you might buy to do the job. Consumables like nuts, bolts, washers, wiring, connectors, clips, flatting wheels, cutting discs, paint, yada yada. One thing I will say is you'd be surprised how the costs build up for even the small things like replacement parts (bearings, fluids, hoses, etc).... GBS are basically saying 9k to 14k for a build, including everything, which sounds about right to me. To make a budget car with the bare essentials, not splashing out on anything fancy, 9k sounds about right (without making an absolute snotter). If you're splashing out for a high-end build - fancy wheels, tyres, tuned engine, uprated brakes, fancy gearbox, fancy LED lights, painted/wrapped panels, fancy suspension - then you're more up to the 14k mark. You could break that too if you're going for something really special

Pink Sunshine - (We've got a) Fuzzbox (and we're gonna use it)

Agreed, if it happens without the car moving it might be that the hose has perished where it connects onto the sender/pickup/return and is just leaking...

Same here - WfH before this whole business so no bloody change for me

I've only used ones you can't get any more so I'll bow out of this conversation well, except R888's, but I wouldn't really rate them for the road. Ok for perfectly dry conditions but need a bit of heat in them, you have to be sensible with them.

Are you after road legal?

I'm not sure, but I'd have thought holding the release plate in that position for a long time would/could deform the fingers (take the 'spring' out of them)?

Next time I get a Type 9 to rebuild I think I'm going to video the whole process and upload it, suspect it would be useful!

FWIW, Halfords have a 20% sale on most of their Advanced range at the moment...

Oh wait a minute... <laughs> are you just trying to pull the input shaft out without taking the rest of the gearbox apart? That's not possible I'm afraid, it'll be meshed in with the layshaft and I suspect you'll most likely will need to drop the layshaft to get the input shaft out. Take the top cover off and you should be able to verify. If you're just after swapping the bearing, and I've not done or tried this, so I'm unsure - but I guess you could try and slide it off the input shaft and out of the casing with the input shaft still in situ, but I bet that's going to be fun to do :). I just can't see you having enough room to get a puller in on the back of it, or tap it out, or anything really you'd probably still need most of the selector mechanism out of the way to get at it, wouldn't you? You might be better/safer just disassembling the selector mechanism and gearbox and doing it with it all out. For gawds sake just don't lose all the roller pins at the front when you pull out the layshaft

Yes, there's a circlip on the front if I remember rightly <in fact, I just looked in the Haynes, yes there is>. I seem to recall once removed, the bearing comes out pretty easily to be honest, I don't think you'll need a press, maybe at most just a tap from a soft-faced hammer...

The one inside the input shaft or the one on the end of the layshaft, that sits in the front of the gearbox casing? Unfortunately I never upload them. I could root around and see if I can find them but I've since moved to a house where the broadband is very *bleep* (1Mbps upload), so it might take some time to get them uploaded (maybe trip to somewhere with a decent wifi hotspot and I'll upload from there).

It's nothing special, as Stu says you've still got that manically short 1st... mind you, it does have much better spaced gears from there on up the box... so if you like stirring gears, it's an option, given how expensive Type 9's are getting these days (£200 for a snotter!). If you look in my attachments, there's a spreadsheet you can use to map gearbox options and ratios/etc.

It might be BGH Geartech? They do uprated gearsets for the Type 9 that address ratios and improve lubrication on 1st/2nd gears, along with an uprated front layshaft bearing - just good durability improvements as well as performance. Gareth, that's probably your first and cheapest port of call. Or look for a Caterham 6-speed but they're a bit like hen's teeth. After that I think you'd be looking at one-off adapter kits to get alternative gearboxes onto your Vauxhall (Mazda?), or else expensive aftermarket gearboxes from Quaife, Sadev, 3MO, Elite, yada yada...

I can't really vote as to give it fair judgement would mean I'd tried them all, or at least a fairbunch of them! I would guess maybe Snap-On as that's what you see a lot of mechanics use? Me, personally, I'm fine with my Halfords Pro stuff. Had it for years and it's as good as new, all the ratchets function perfect, and they honoured warranty for me once (on the bloody box of all things, not a tool), and it's sensibly priced. Certainly for a home enthusiast... Sealey stuff seems overpriced to me, what bits I've had (inspection lamp/etc) didn't last well.

Totally agree. The reality is I'd probably be more likely to choose a more 'retro' classic car than anything the manufacturers punt out these days. Modern new cars great for doing the job of being a car, that's fine, but very little floats my boat too apart from the uber-expensive silly stuff. Even then, give me an old F40 , or a Lotus Carlton, or an air-cooled 911 Turbo any day of the week

Good choice. M5 was a close contender for me for the same reasons - what a do-it-all car - but they don't make them any more in the touring so I dropped it. Only a 540i these days (straight 6), no more V10s boooo!

Keeping it to just one car is tough but I'll honour the OP, otherwise we can all list cars until the cows come home I'll go with a (genuine) works-spec Peugeot 306 Maxi rally car please. If I can be cheeky and take an extra half a 'mil to keep it running for 20 years that'd be cool too, thanks

You lie like a cheap watch, sir...

So explain NOS to me, does it only fire at WOT so you get 55bhp (or whatever) in a very 'binary' fashion or can it progressively add more NOS into the engine based on throttle position, so you can 'feed it in', if you see what I mean? A brief google seems to suggest you can get some quite smart systems now so it's not just about drag-racing and instant power IF you don't want it to be (for a road car, for example, or a circuit racer)?