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Go Back   Madabout Kitcars Forum > Mad Build Area > Formosa Builds, Ideas and Discussion

Formosa Builds, Ideas and Discussion Formosa 120 GR and related builds

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  #1  
Old 16th March 2018, 21:18
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Default Ray Hutchings Formosa project

A couple of weeks ago , after a few phonecall's , Ray went to see Graham Alexander , who very kindly gave him an hour or two of his time showing him around his car and even took Ray for a little cruise around Melksham outskirts ..
As a result of that viewing , I was asked to try and locate a suitable Vitesse donor for him ...

I asked a couple of guys who I know play with Vitesses and Heralds , ran a wanted advert ...and then one of my phonecall's paid off ....

Andy from Wales dropped this to me end of last week ....



Its a Mk2 2000 with overdrive , rotoflex and has a 6 branch , servo , a couple of other tweaks and sounds great ...

I set about stripping it and now we are at this stage ....



The chassis is very good ....It had a tiny hole on a centre rail , a crack on top of a boot outrigger and a small slice from me cutting through the floor and hitting the outrigger as well as a bit of damage on the passenger side outer rail from seized in bolts holding the rear tub in refusing to budge ...

I welded the hole, crack and slice and then changed both outer rails to boxed in rails using 3mm thick box to add strength and give me enough meat to drill and tap as required ...





Just before I left for the day ...this arrived ...




This is going to be a full build , going down pretty much the same route as Grahams ....I have 3 ongoing builds now , Erics , Barry's and this one ...so I am officially booked up for the forseeable ...

I do have an established builder who can take on a turnkey , if anyone reading this wants one ...but it will be a few months before I can do a full one ....

Ray is coming down Monday and , between us , we will be pulling the engine and box , so I can turn the front turrets around to reverse the engine mounts and lots of cleaning up and paint prep etc...
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  #2  
Old 16th March 2018, 22:10
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Well done Gary, a true open top is not for me, but they are lovely looking cars, and seeing them go from rusty chassis to shiny end product is fascinating.
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  #3  
Old 17th March 2018, 09:33
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Great work mate, I know Ray is really looking forward to the build so hope all goes well and possibly a bit easier than mine as we should have ironed out the first build issues we encountered. The doner car looks great and look forward to watching the progress with interest
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  #4  
Old 19th March 2018, 20:38
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Ray turned up today and is going to spend a couple of days staying in Bournemouth and 'mucking in '

So by lunchtime we were at this stage ....



Engine and gearbox out and chassis cleaned up ...

By the end of play , the rack was off , stripped and cleaned up .....new parts being fitted tomorrow .
The turrets were off , brake pipes etc all stripped off and then Ray put a coat of paint on the rear section of the chassis ...



tomorrow should see turrets re-fitted opposite each other , further cleaning and painting etc. whilst I tackle patching up the bulkhead ..

Last edited by lancelot link; 19th March 2018 at 20:41..
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  #5  
Old 23rd March 2018, 14:48
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Hi everyone, I'm Ray. I saw Gary's eBay advert and responded based on the fact that I had just seen a Miglia sold at Ascot Historics auction.

I am very grateful to Graham (Alex) for showing me around and taking me out for a run in his gorgeous Formosa. I have owned Caterhams for about 20 years and going out in the Formosa was like driving the Caterham for the first time - or like getting a new bike as a kid !

Gary has been kind enough to let me assist in the non technical work to allow him to use his skills more productively. It's a bit daunting at the moment (I didn't build my Caterham) but Gary is leading me through the process and helping all the way. He also appears to be a bit of an eBay Ninja as he somehow finds stuff that I can't.

It's good to start a build thread. The Vitesse is a good quality donor car in the areas that we need it to be. As Gary mentioned, I'm hoping to be assisting weekly and getting thoroughly immersed in the project !
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  #6  
Old 23rd March 2018, 18:28
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  #7  
Old 23rd March 2018, 18:51
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RayHutch

lancelot link What's the advantage of swapping the front suspension turrets?
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  #8  
Old 23rd March 2018, 19:41
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RayHutch - Welcome to the forum Ray.

I like the idea of helping out with the build, I'm sure you will learn a lot.

Good luck, Paul.
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  #9  
Old 23rd March 2018, 19:58
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Quote:
Originally Posted by micky1mo View Post
RayHutch

lancelot link What's the advantage of swapping the front suspension turrets?
Moves the engine mounts further back needed on this car due to the long bonnet
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  #10  
Old 23rd March 2018, 20:39
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Quote:
lancelot link What's the advantage of swapping the front suspension turrets?
Quote:
Originally Posted by redratbike View Post
Moves the engine mounts further back needed on this car due to the long bonnet
Half right REDRATBIKE ... It moves the engine back about 8'' by simply putting the engine mounts at the rear of the turret rather than the front ...its an old racing trick , nothing new or cleverly designed by myself ...on Heralds its pretty straightforward , the Vitesse with overdrive brings a little clearance issue to the table and I have to nibble a little bit to get clearance on the chassis rail .....

Although shifting the weight back is better for weight distribution , with the Formosa , its more about getting the gearstick in a better position ...approx 48'' ( not fixed in stone ) from the centre of the rear axle to the gearstick is what's required for my bodyshell ...
This can also be achieved by leaving the engine where it is in its standard format and fitting an extended shifter to the gearbox ...like the Spartans and Miglia's etc. The bonnet has plenty of clearance with a 6 cyl. in its stock mounting place ...

Obviously different engine options will have different locatory properties ...but 47-49'' approx gearstick to centre rear axle location will be your datum line , so to speak ....
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  #11  
Old 24th March 2018, 19:09
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Pictures to follow.... after several fits and removal of engine and gearbox , its evident that Rays 6 branch exhaust system is fouling the chassis where it goes past the bellhousing , I have , therefore , had to mount the engine on the front of the engine mounts and fit a smallish spacer between engine mount and turret , so we are looking at about a 6.5'' shift backwards now and a 49'' axle to gearstick measurement .... I have had to modify the exhaust slightly to tuck it in to the engine a bit more too ....still good though ..so happy days
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  #12  
Old 27th March 2018, 19:39
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HERE'S THE MOD i DID ON THE EXHAUST... The piece just in front of the bellhousing was reduced in size to an internal fit of the existing tube and welded in place ...these few mm. were crucial , its so tight in that area ...I also tucked the piece behind it in a bit and fitted a joining strap holding the two pipes together and a strap that affixes to a bellhousing bolt so it can't knock against the gearbox ...



I then flipped the chassis over , did the welding that was required underneath and painted the underside to match the rest ...after putting the engine back in and fitting some 'bedrock' temporary shocks and putting the wheels back on, I got it back to a rolling stage ...



I then shortened and refitted the propshaft .....followed by first fit of the frame to enable me to position the bulkhead correctly .
The front floorpans were trimmed back to allow the bulkhead to slide backwards from its stock position ..the frame attaches to the top hinge mount on the original A pillar at this point.
I have got to adjust the frame slightly as Ray has aftermarket shock mounts fitted that change the location of the rear frame mount , also a boot outrigger has been replaced previously and is slightly out of line , so I may slice that and tweak it in a bit too ...



final job today was to make the new bulkhead support pieces , made and roughly located but not fully fitted as I ran out of time ...



tomorrow should see these fitted , fuel tank trial fitted , some seat belt mounts etc...

Last edited by lancelot link; 27th March 2018 at 19:43..
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  #13  
Old 27th March 2018, 19:45
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Looking good Gary, hard to think that a year ago we were going through exactly the same with mine, keep up the good work and hope Ray is enjoying the build
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  #14  
Old 29th March 2018, 19:15
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Great progress Gary, see you on Tuesday for some fun with brake pipes !
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  #15  
Old 30th March 2018, 11:51
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Bit more done .... Pedals refitted with new m/cylinders , servo refitted but centralized a bit more to give room for a battery.



Fuel tank in , Spitfire one , and some extra bracing added to the frame to support it ...

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  #16  
Old 30th March 2018, 13:06
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Don't forget to leave room for the turbo ;-))
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  #17  
Old 6th April 2018, 20:27
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FEW MORE JOBS DONE THIS WEEK ....Nothing particularly exciting , unless you are Ray !!
Rear brakes stripped out , all metalwork cleaned and painted and rebuilt using new cylinders and shoes ...
Anti-roll bar refitted on reversed suspension arms with new bushes fitted ...
Some welding that got missed welded on the frame , seatbelt mounts added and steering column mount made - steering wheel looks to be in a weird position in this picture ...its just the angle !! Its nicely centralized ...



Brake pipes started , new pipes made , main ones run and clipped to the chassis , new flexi's ready to go on .....

Steering sorted out ... I fitted a TR6 U/J in place of the standard Vitesse knuckle at the steering rack , then a second U/J half way up to deal with the change in angle required on the column , between the 2 U/J's on the lower section is a rose joint that will support that section ...



The rose joint is going to be bolted through a section of the front tubework ...I started this today as well , mounting the Lotus Radiator and creating a front section that will tie the bulkhead to the front framework and shock towers to add strength ...all bolted and fully removable to get access to engine if ever required ...



Hopefully get this framework and steering mount finished tomorrow ...

Last edited by lancelot link; 6th April 2018 at 20:31..
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  #18  
Old 11th April 2018, 08:00
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Frame work and steering shaft mount all finished and painted ...



Fully bolted to bulkhead , suspension towers and original rad mounts and fully removable to enable access to engine removal etc.

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  #19  
Old 11th April 2018, 19:22
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Mounted Rays Handbrake today ...Ray bought quite a stylish little handbrake on Ebay and I fitted it and the compensator bracket to the frame this afternoon ...

tomorrow I will make some cable guides to lengthen the rear handbrake cable ...it needs to travel a longer distance to get to the compensator because I don't want to shorten it ...
I will also modify the front cable as well , as we have moved the lever back a bit over its stock location ....

I made the mount a bit heavier duty than probably necessary , braced and boxed etc. ...but it is nice and strong ..which is always good ...

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  #20  
Old 20th April 2018, 19:57
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Ray ''Don't call me Raymondo'' came down yesterday and painted his frame with POR15 ..I have not had any dealings with it before and its a little bit time and preparation critical , but it is quite impressive ..it has the look and feel of a plastic coating finish on the frame ...



I have allowed it to cure today , but tomorrow morning its going back on the car ....body is going to be ready on wednesday morning ...so it's all going to start shaping up quite quickly now ...
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