15 replies to this topic

[benmoffat]

Hi all,

I was wondering if anyone on here would be able to kindly offer some time to help me out please. Im looking for someone who has fitted a kit to a fibreglass shell or knows how to.

Ive got most of the kit assembled and in the car as the photo attached, but a bit stuck on how to get on from here. Ive read loads of builds and asked a few questions on here and can kind of see how it needs to go in but dont think I can do it completely on my own. Im estimating it would take 3 or 4 hours with what I need to do and am willing to pay fairly for any help I can get.

Thanks for reading and look forward to any replies.

Ben

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[Bungle]

you haven't told anyone where you live

the southwest is a large area

[benmoffat]

Sorry, im in Langport which is half an hour from Taunton on the M5 and half an hour from Yeovil if coming from the other side.

Edited by benmoffat, 27 September 2011 - 06:39 PM.

[drayton min man]

Hi Ben

Unfortunately i live in Shropshire and would of been more than happy to spend a few hours helping, is there anything particular you are stuck with? Im sure if you post it on here you will get some sensible answers, if you want you can PM me.

Geoff

[Broomer]

I work in yeovil, and I built my k series mini... never worked with any z cars stuff though.

[Broomer]

Your old man's not called Brian by any chance is he ?

[benmoffat]

Hi Ben

Unfortunately i live in Shropshire and would of been more than happy to spend a few hours helping, is there anything particular you are stuck with? Im sure if you post it on here you will get some sensible answers, if you want you can PM me.

Geoff

Thanks Geoff, that a shame you are so far away. Basically the problem I am having is bolting it all in. I have the kit in as the pic but havent drilled or bolted anything at all yet. I need to line up the bars that come through the bulkhead exactly in the right position then drill all the holes in the shell. What Im worried about is that if its even 5mm out of centre this will surely effect the suspension setup and all the wheels wont be in line or fit under the arches correctly. Im not sure how much adjustment there is in the suspension to correct this. In a steel shell its no problem because there are already mounts and holes for the front tower bolts to go through, but seeing as I have to cut these it could put the whole kit off. May be just me being paranoid but could do with some reassurance from someone that has done it before if you know what I mean. Its daunting doing this stuff on my own with no instructions or experience!

I work in yeovil, and I built my k series mini... never worked with any z cars stuff though.

That sounds great, only 15 mins from Yeovil and go there all the time, would love to come and check out your Mini and have a chat some time.

Your old man's not called Brian by any chance is he ?

No hes not Im afraid, must be someone else.

Edited by benmoffat, 01 October 2011 - 08:48 PM.

[2000lukey]

Hi Ben,

Mine is in a minus, (fibreglass shell) and lines up fine, I had to change the tower bolt fixings as previous owner had screwed up the area pretty bad, using no support plates in the area either.
I made some heavy duty spacers from steel that cup the front subframe and tower bolt washer but also pinch the fibreglass then got them plated, once everything is in place and in line I can then bond the bushes into the shell for better strength, but I did modify the bottom of the zcars front subframe as I did not like the gap I had where it bolts to the floorpan and was not keen on the alloy spacers,
I can supply you the drawings and any other info you might find helpful,
I am in between Swindon and Bristol, Luke.

[drayton min man]

Hi Ben

I would take Luke up on his offer, but i would of thought if you kept everything square and concentrate on the front subframe first and then work your way back i would of thought you would be close.

There is quite a bit of adjustment on the suspension for marginal error.

Have you thought of asking Chris if he has a template?

Geoff

[benmoffat]

Thanks for the replies.

Basically I am on the verge of selling the car now. Every point I have come across has been a problem and nothing has gone to plan. I realise this may be part of building a car. But I hoped with a kit it would be more straight forward than building a one off car and that if I bought all the right bits it would be a case of putting it together.

I cant afford any help from Zcars, the cost of sending it all up there and having them fit it together for me is just not affordable for me. In hindsight I should have scrapped my shell in the beginning and bought a kit from Zcars had it fitted in a shell and everything and delivered here like that in the first place. But as I had just borrowed the amount to pay for the kit I couldnt then pay for all the extra work and figured I could do it myself after reading all the build on here.

So now I am at this state. Its nearly a year on and I still have the kit thats been unbolted and bolted 4 or 5 times now, not on its wheels, not been running and Im stuck.

Does anyone know of a garage or anything that would be able to bolt the kit in for me, put in the all the suspension and get it on its wheels? Normal garages are not interested in this type of work. I need someone who knows what they are doing, either have worked on zcars before or kit cars or something like that.

Alternatively how much do you think I could get for it? I really dont want to sell it and thats my last resort, but if it has to go then thats what I have to do.

Thanks for reading.

Ben

[rustandoil]

Ben,

If you "really don't want to sell it" then don't ! building a car has its ups and downs buying a kit from Z-Cars is no different, you have lost your motivation this happens to us all take a break and i am sure it will return

From the pic you have posted it looks as if you have done pretty well so far.

I estimate i am around 2 and a bit hours away from you

"measure twice cut once" may be a phrase should be remembered

[cptkirk]

Thanks for the replies. Basically I am on the verge of selling the car now. Every point I have come across has been a problem and nothing has gone to plan. I realise this may be part of building a car. But I hoped with a kit it would be more straight forward than building a one off car and that if I bought all the right bits it would be a case of putting it together.

Ben

I totally recognise and sympathise with the emotions you're going through right now, I cant begin to tell you how many times (during the build) I wanted to just sell the F-ing thing.

You now know, as many of the builders that have gone before, that this definitely not a Westfield/Caterham/Ultima type kit where you get pretty much every single part that fits first time and every nut and bolt to do the job. You have to be inventive/creative with the parts supplied and even have to remake things to fit better or because they arent up to your personal level of quality. You also have to fabricate a lot of stuff for yourself, little brackets, pieces to help waterproof and so on. If you dont know an auto-electrician then doing the wiring yourself will be daunting (if you dont have auto electrical experience yourself).

I imagine that the F/G shell is presenting its own unique problems that the majority of other builders would not have any experience with as most are steel shells.

One of the key things that I used to do during the build was if I got to a point and something seemed to hard I would move onto something else and keep the original problem bubbling away in the grey matter, usually you get a eureka moment and are then able to over come the original problem, in the meantime you've made progress with something else. I didnt have my engine running properly until about 1 year into my build so dont get too dis-heartened.

Dont sell it - you'll regret it forever, trust me when I say that the feeling you will have when you've finished it is truly awesome, the feelings that you have right now will be a distant memory, you will have teething problems for a while but you will over come them also in time and then you're left with a the car that you wanted so badly when you started down this road.

If your still no further down the road in a couple of weeks PM me as I am visiting a friend in Taunton and MIGHT be able to stick my head in, I dont have any F/G experience but might be able to spark an idea to overcome your problem.

Andy

Edited by cptkirk, 10 October 2011 - 11:31 AM.

[rustandoil]

^^^ he speaks the truth

[pete]

Ben,

CptKirk is totally correct in what he says.

I've built 3 with a 4th in the garage not touched for 6 months and at some point with every one I have thought about stopping. Even doing the pickup for myself I nearly sold it before finishing it and still regret selling it once I had finished it. The others have been for friends which I have done without charging as I enjoy building them but every so often you think why am I bothering. Luckily for me I have been able to just jump in to one of the others i've built and take it for a blast. Makes you realise why you are building it.
Having done 2 minus's I know what you are going through with it being fibreglass but I would rather build another fibreglass shell version than the steel shell I am doing at the moment. You do have issues such as adding strengthening plates as the kits are designed for steel shells but just keep remembering yours wont rust. I also had the issue of lots of other parts not fitting due to the reduced shell height and spent most of my time working out how to modify things to fit and then redoing them as I later thought of a better way. Even the wireing is different as you can't use the body as an earth . Imagine waiting 6 months for some specially made fibreglass doors to find they still don't fit. You then spend another 2 months modifying them yourself to make them fit. All part of the fun .

I am currently halfway through concreting my garage floor(only taken 6 months so far) so can't offer any help at the moment but if you can wait until i've finished and get the car to me I will happily get it to a rolling/running shell free of charge. All you would need to do is order parts when I needed them.

If you want to persevere yourself but can't work it out just have a break from it but don't sell it. You will regret it.

This is the last one I built and it still makes me smile just to look at it, let alone drive it.


Peter

Edited by pete, 10 October 2011 - 07:44 PM.

[benmoffat]

Thanks guys for the replies. It really does give me some reassurance to know that theres others that have been in the same place as me with the same emotions. I guess, speaking for myself, I read the builds and even though you hear about problems and watch the build progressing, its all condensed into a few pages and you can look through months or years worth of work in just a short space of time on the forum. And theres so much going on in the background that the pictures dont tell. (Not any fault of the authors)

Also in my naivety I was thinking of the caterham and westfield type builds, something that I have wanted to do on and off for years and saw so much of it around and on tv. The Caterham build on Topgear, A Car is Born, American Hot Rod the list goes on... All the time thinking "thats not too bad, I could do that!" I realise these are professionals or edited in a certain way, but this didnt effect my thoughts much!

Also I read about Zcars and they had sold 400 kits, most home built, and thought they must all be the same (albeit with a different engine) and all use the same bits, and this was definately a kit with Everything I would need. I hadnt realised there would be as much that needed fabrication or extras I would need to buy and the costs involved. But I suppose thats where the individuality comes into it. But then I think the fact that I wanted one SO much, even more after the test drive, that I had subconsciously put those issues to the back of my mind.

Anyway the plan was always to keep this car, it was never going to be a project to be sold and then move onto the next one. This is my first and only project and want to have a finished car thats exactly how I want it. And after reading your responses and giving it some more thought Im definately going to stick at it. Ive had a quote back today for some bodywork that Im very happy with and Ive got some sample material cards in the post so Im thinking about other parts of the build for a while. I think youre right Pete and Andy about regretting it if I got rid of it. I would be forever kicking myself as I would not get this chance again.

Pete - If I dont get any further with the build by the time you have finished your garage I would love to take you up on your kind offer thanks. Andy - That would be great if you did have some spare time on your way through the area. If I dont work something out Ill PM you in a week or so and discuss.
Thanks all for reading and taking the time to reply.

Ben