G46 No.6 Blackbird
 

7 months and one change of ownership after placing my deposit with Gary in Poole, I how have G46 No6. bodykit sitting on my drive.

Gareth has gone three or four steps beyond what is resonable for a new owner to do satifying existing orders.
The body has been delivered on the date and time (to the minute) by Gareth, who gave up 2 days and 1000 miles to deliver the kit.
All my modifications agreed by Gary at no extra costs have been fulfilled by Gareth at some extra cost to himself and I am very pleased.
If anyone is considering a G46, you will not be disapppointed in the customer service from Gareth.

So blackbird my G46 has round arches, full earo screen and NO hump, great job by tribute automative to blank off the hump and leave a gell coat with no scaring. The even manged to deliver a kit with every panel in the same same dark gel coat colour, am I a luck guy!

So here are some picture for you all

front
http://i1244.photobucket.com/albums/...psf3f273f0.jpg

rear

http://i1244.photobucket.com/albums/...psb3a8a4d7.jpg

side

http://i1244.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7f6c011a.jpg

front angle

http://i1244.photobucket.com/albums/...ps16cb0264.jpg

rear angle

http://i1244.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4a40dd11.jpg

aerial

http://i1244.photobucket.com/albums/...psd2423f49.jpg

with build assistant passing critical eye.

http://i1244.photobucket.com/albums/...ps0583b6d8.jpg

So the next choice is which donor, red or purple?

I am trying a different approach to CT, WCA, Nike and Andrew Hush.I:flypig: i plan to cut away as little as possible from the scimitar body to add strength (weight) and make the bonding of rear inner wheel arches easier. However, it may all change when I can't get the seat in the place I want!

More pics next weekend when I start to take the donor apart and make that first cut.

HM

Looking Good HM. I like the hump-free look on the G46, it seems a better balanced design to me, a bit like a big 550 Spyder. Nice.

Can't wait to see some progress. :dance:

These G46's are really starting to gain momentum now and yours looks like another interesting twist on the model. I wish you all the best with the build and I'm really looking fwd to seeing some of these in the flesh next year!
Dave

That's a really imposing shape - I love it. Looking forward to watching the build.

Red or purple
 

That's easy which ever one lets you down first!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Looking good all one colour gel coat! can't help thinking the moulding looks neater than ours, to be fair to Gary but we did buy a very early development shell on the basis we would have to work out a lot for ourselves.

It good to see the new starts for the G46 have felt a little alone.

Now hop down to the local DIY shop and buy several hundred 1mm cutting discs and wait to see whether Red or Purple get's it!

That does look good....I agree with Toad about the humpless body giving it a totally different vibe...

Reading the original posting , its fairly obvious I am being slated for my initial involvements in this order ..... Fair enough . I accept that.The G46 orders have been a disaster for me....lots of reasons , well documented on here so no need to re-trace old comments ...

The G46 was a massive undertaking that I undertook at a time I shouldn't have ...a case of my artistic hat being worn instead of my business hat.

I have one outstanding order for Adrian in Wales to satisfy....he has been incredibly patient and I have been difficult throughout .

One of the reasons I let Gaz take on the G46's was it was obvious I was sinking fast with them....his approach to sorting out previous orders and working towards new orders with the finish build of number 1 is absolutely first class...

He is definitely the right man to take this car forward....I am lucky to have been able to get him on board...

I did offer to finance the extras on Housemartins car as I offered them free of charge but didn't expect Tribute to be as generous with something that isn't their product , Gaz refused and said he'd cover it as he was aware of the time and financial burdens I was under....Top man again !

I got Tribute involved because I know Chris will offer a first rate service and is very business like ( unlike me ..whos a bit crap at that side of things ! ) His current success with the MX250's reflects this...
Tribute haven't let me down...they are on the money every time...

I would also like to add that I still do about a half day a week , free of charge , collecting bodies from Tribute , organising parts , dealing with customers on collection of kits from me etc etc....this is mostly Spyder and Cordite orders at present but a few G46's have been dealt with as well....not looking for a medal but I want it known I haven't just sold and run leaving a mess behind me to sort out....I am still here acting in a voluntary way to keep things moving for a bit longer yet...

Anyway....thats that out of the way ....As said earlier Housemartin , body looks great ....keep us posted on its progress...

Thank you

Funny how the black makes it looks smaller than the white G46s I've seen.

Good luck with the build, Paul. :)

Thank you very much for the kind comments from both HM and LL, although without the help and guidance of Gary, firstly in the initial take over and later with his continued support, the G46s that have been produced lately would still be nothing more than plans. Any praise for me and especially the product should reflect directly on Gary.

I do very much like the no hump G46 but what I think makes a huge difference is the dark gel coat. It seems to show all of those lovely curves off so much more than the white gel that most of the others have been made in.

Its great to see all of these G46 build threads, Im looking forward to seeing how they all look when they are finished with so many different variations.

To the creator
 

Lancelot, stop beating yourself up.

No slating intended, as you know, I requested that delivery be put back, before Gareth gave you a helping hand.

I just wanted to express how impressed I was with Gareth's kit delivery.
In the same way I am impressed with your creative ability to design and build such a kit by posting my pictures. You make a great team.

My insistance on the dark colour gel coat for all panels was just a way to show your G46 at its best as soon as possible.

Like any business man, had you not been under such pressure to secure orders when I asked for no hump and round arches, I am sure you would have upped the price.

http://i1244.photobucket.com/albums/...psd2d4713c.jpg

Great Job Lancelot, I hope I can deliver now!

HM :popcorn:

Well I took both scimitars for the MOT earlier in the week. The purple one passed with not advisories but the red one failed for a rubbish handbrake and play in the steering rack inner balljoint. So I think I will get the red one gets the facelift.

Unfortunately the wife's Citroen C3 steering rack has gone very notchy and noisy so my weekend on the G46 has been hickjecked by rubbish french engineering. £1900 for a new rack - what a rip off!

The person who invented Torx needs shooting! Yes they enable you to exert a lot more power, but Citroen seem to make bolts a lot smaller as a result.
It is built in obselesence to expect a 12mm stud corroded into an aluminum rack to be removed with a 3mm bit, not to mention bits of plastic securing subframe corroded nuts.

Give me british engineering any day.

Anyway, I have had a few 1/2 hours in the evening this week and been cleaning up the mounding so the boot lid and doors fit. Like WCA and CT I note the two door are over and inch different in length.

Hopefully more photos next weekend.

Blackbird is looking fantastic! Loving the no hump idea aswell, didn't know that removing the hump would still produce a good looking car but wow! :)

Update - no photos yet
 

The G46 body is now hanging from the garage roof and the donor is going to be rolled back underneath.

http://i1244.photobucket.com/albums/...age/g46011.jpg

I have removed all the rear end lights, bumper, numberplate etc.
Eased out the side windows and the unbolted the rear hatch.
Removed all the roof and side trim and drilled out the roof guttering.
removed all the wiring from the interior light, heated rear window and rear lights.

http://i1244.photobucket.com/albums/...age/g46008.jpg

So the donor has lost its trousers, but still has its shirt as the front is still intact.

I have put a few holes through the roof from inside the donor just behind the anti roll bar to act as a guide as i want to leave the roll bar in place to assist centering the body. (or to make life difficult for myself)

I will make the cut at the highest point of the lower edge of the side window to remove the roof

http://i1244.photobucket.com/albums/...age/g46009.jpg

Photos with the roof cut off and the donor under the G46 kit to follow

HM

Flying G46
 

We are currently working on the door cills, nice to see another body so we can compare, its looks as yours is identical to ours where the drivers cill is a lot deeper and tucks under more than the passenger side.

As they have to be cut it gives a lot of scope for modelling them to suit the individual car, we are making a recessed section down each side to take cherry bomb exhausts, proving a little bit of a challenge but getting there.

We found the roll over bar just got in the way and ended up chopping it off so we could line up he body.

If you go to our very first page on our thread we posted a few photo's of the body cutting up which may assist as did WCA or should I say (hop along) WCA was definitely the right handle for him!

It is quite a lot of chopping to be done. Just remember that the frame supplied sits on the plastic door sills of the donor. If you chop those away you end up with the floating frame design of my special 'light weight'. It was a deliberate decision, honest*

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-6...2008.59.05.jpg

*Okay, it was a mistake because I couldn't work out how to get the frame to sit properly but right now I am allow 'lame' excuses


Don't forget to keep your rear seata and door hinges for later re-use. Door shut mechanisms probably useful too.

The first cuts
 

So the ultra thin cutting disks have been put to good use and the GTE is now a pickup.
http://i1244.photobucket.com/albums/...age/g46012.jpg
I was curious to see if there was any stregthening around the rear hatch and Reliant do have a 10mm metal tube enclosed in the fibreglass.
(you can see it in th photo above)
This seems an elegant solution to avoid metal work inside the car and add a significant amount of strength easily.
I wondering if I can do something similar with the supplied metailwork
I have rolled the donor backup under the body and trimmed the side skirts so they are straightish and sqaure
http://i1244.photobucket.com/albums/...age/g46017.jpg
LIke CT says the roll bar is getting the way so that is next for the chop.
However, the door provided are a very tight fit in the body and I was wondering about cutting the body
down the middle of the door aperature to increase the opening slighty and simplify the alignment.
The door trailing edge of the door should be easy enough to extend with bnding paste or this this a no no?
What are your views on this Gary, AH, GWA or CT?
I need to locate the bonnet to keep the garage tidy so i set about cutting the relief for the headlights.
I hope to keep as much as possible of the existing inner wheel arches below
http://i1244.photobucket.com/albums/...age/g46020.jpg
Ever wondered what a G46 with a windscreen might look like?
Well not as striking as the aero screened version Gaz is about to reveil at exeter.
http://i1244.photobucket.com/albums/...age/g46021.jpg
The bonnet still another 6 inches to go before it lines up with the wheel arches,
so I need to figure out how to get the siezed front overridders and indicators off in a saleable condition for ebay
http://i1244.photobucket.com/albums/...age/g46024.jpg
Progress is slow but as long as I get a little done each week I am a happy builder. My plans for this weeks are:
Drain and remove the petrol tank and filler.
Cut away the rear light clusters.
Cut away more of the bonnet and front wings to aline the front wheel arches.
Spend hours on ebay looking for rear lights, steering wheels and guages.
HM

Doors are a tight fit on mine. i haven't had a chance to fit the hinges since twatting my ankle but have trimmed the rear edges off the doors in preparation. They also have a slightly different amount of curve at the moment but that may be down to the straps I have holding the body work in place.

Be aware that sticking a ratchet strap around the body and tightening makes a huge difference to how the body sits. Make sure you have the bonnet lined up with the body before fixing the body otherwise it is possible to pull the body in tighter than the bonnet can curve and you have to cut the bonnet to fit.

Are you planning on keeping your screen?

I am planning on putting a proper screen on mine and have the old Scimi windscreen glass. If it looks okay in your picture I might consider that option.

Even if you are not planning on keeping the screen, please can you take a couple of 'mock up' pictures to help me see what it might look like.

Cheers

WCA

PS Gauges can be V expensive so I have decided to stick with the white on black Smiths that came with the car. Period enough.

The Scimitar screen looks pretty good to me - it has something of the e-type coupe about it. Could be made to work...

Exactly what I thought when I saw it. I think it looks quite good.

It's perhaps a little tall for a 'convertible' but I'm sure you can get screens cut down and aluminium side support posts made, a-la Porsche 356 Speedster.

http://intermeccanica.com/athird.net/head-start-cars

Gary J can probably help you out there with his contacts in the Hot Rod world.

HM you are playing the same game as Charile and I did, first we made a "pick up"
re-profiled the back, the front wings etc, etc, it was a fitting tribute to the old girl when cutting her up.

I love the front clip over the exist bonnet as other had said E Type or my thoughts were Daytona Cobra now's there an idea LL

Are you taking a slightly different route by cutting off lumps and then seeing if the panels fit over? I am pretty sure the rest of us have cut the body off and then place the new body on top of the floor plan and bulk head left.

WCA I am not sure if the body does need to have a ratchet strap around it (like a spyder) it looked to me and only opinion that from the photos you posted that it brings the back wings in to tight almost touching the the old inner wheel arches where as ours and others don't seem to meet them.

100% in agreement with WCA about the re-use of gauges new ones are not cheap and the black smiths are as period as you like.

HM we cut the body shell because of the changes we mad to cut the body heel to make the doors fit better would be a huge amount of work I think I would adjust the length of the doors.

HM if you go the LL link and our early posts and WCA's (apart from removing the cills') they will give a reference to how much of the old car to leave in place, when we did it we only had the LL photos and the photos we took of the fist car in development at his workshop so it really was working in the dark.

For your reference, the frame Gary supplies fits something like this at each side at the back :
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-f...2010.25.31.jpg

The flat angle iron should run parallel with the chassis and sit on the door sill (which you don't need to remove).

The front of the frame sits on the top of the bulkhead and the side of the foot well. Make sure you don't cut too much off or you will have to create a patch to cover the mistake (spotting a pattern?)
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-X...2011.53.58.jpg

You do need to cut the bodywork down quite a bit, look at the fuel filler pipe in the picture below. If you can, I strongly suggest that you cut a bit, offer the body up, cut a bit, offer the body up etc etc etc

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-j...2015.01.43.jpg

Good luck and lots of pictures please. Looks like my ankle is a write off for at least 6 months :-( on the bright side, if i do lose my foot there will be a cheap G46 donor up for sale soon!


Just spotted MrTowed's comment about strapping in the car and how far it pulls the body in. The first photo shows the body with the strap ratchetted around it. The front of the rear wheel arch just touches what remains of the outside of the old rear arch. I actually left the exterior edge of the wheel arch in place. The second photo shows the rear of the rear wheel arch while ratchetted still requiring my toe to push is against the old out aarch.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-V...2018.17.34.jpg
[img]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-yVtEP7vtfvI/UE4spabHnVI/AAAAAAAADBk/hl1nAvwAQ3A/s800/2012-09-
10%252018.18.03.jpg[/img]


For reference to how much wheel arch I left in place look at one of the first photos I posted on the thread and you can see the white body work remaining. I trimmed it a little from that.

Thanks
 

Guys,
Thanks for all the feedback an illustrations with pictures. It helps considerably and reading about and seeing your build just creates a clearer vision of what i have ahead.like WCA advises I will be cutting a little and trial fitting alot.
CT, It is certainly great fun cutting up and taking photos of a classic design.
Yes I am taking the approach of cutting off bits and see if the panels fit over. I may end up with the same shape as everyone else, but it is an experiment I want to try out.
The thinking out cutting the door aperture was that I could slide the rear body on and see what it looks like with the windsreen still in place.
If I cut in the midde of the lower cill, I will be joining again on the lower metal framework shown in WCA pictures so have solid support to help rebonding.
Obviously the lower part of the cill will be alot of work as you say, is it worth it for a few photos when Gaz is getting me an aero screen anyway?
WCA I have printed out your image and will stick it to the boot floor as my guide for the rear end cutting, thanks mate.
Looking at the last couple of picture why has LL not make use of the exiting chasis to attach the new metal work? Is it to keep within the IVA rules, stop possible corrosion or make the removal of the body easier?

e-type - I knew it reminded me of another car. Now how can I get that V12 under the bonnet?

HM

It looks like you have had a Jaguar on top of the bonnet.

Its great to see your progress, keep up the good work!

I am not sure why the frame sits on the sill and not the chassis. I think it is as much to do with the door height as anything. The doors are just stretched 550 ones. If he made the frame reach down to the chassis then the doors would be too deep.

If you look at the flat angle bit there are three holes drilled on each side at the front, middle and back. I am thinking that I will bolt a separate bracket to each of these that will then sit on the chassis.

This should brace the frame nicely and let me run the wiring loom to the back of the car and from the battery (now sited in the rear foot well) in the gap between the exterior body work and under the flat angle frame. I will then fix an access panel to get at the wire if I need it.

At the moment I have the wires all running along the transmission tunnel but that is not ideal when trying to trim the inside.

Don't worry about photos with the screen in place if it is a hassle, the one you have taken shows it well enough. I just need to work out how to build the frame to take the glass and decide how much to either cut off the top or bury in the bodywork at the bottom.

[QUOTE=GazDavies;36236]It looks like you have had a Jaguar on top of the bonnet.QUOTE]
I have 4 cats taking a keen interest in the progress.
They just love the runing their paws over those curves.

If I get to the painting stage they will be confined to their quarters.
HM

Bonnet height
 

Guys, I want to cut up the donors front end this weekend.
Would be be kind enough to get your tape measures out and let me know how far the lower edge of the G46 front intake is from the ground? (When body is on the chasis and the chasis is on its wheels).
I suspect that CT's will be lower given his fixed bonnet.
Cheers
HM

Mine is tucked up in the garage on ramps so raised off the ground with the bonnet resting over the rear humps and I am about go ahead for the weekend so sorry, no.

Heights above
 

HM

On all four wheels with engine and gear box in place and on 14" tyres and the original springs the under side of the front valance at the centre is 150 mm above the ground.

To the open bottom edge of the guppy mouth it measures 240 mm.

It all looks low, but absolutely perfect for the stance of the car, we are going to have shorter springs but large wheels so it will end up about this height.

Remember there is a lot of weight in the body of the old scimitar that won't be there in the end.

We are going to fit softer springs to our car because the height off the ground remains identical whether the engine and gear box plus two people are in or out. It could also be that our engine & box is considerably lighter than the Essex V6 & box.

Someone told us that the nickname for the Essex V6 is a "Boat Anchor"

Trolley jacks are an issue a standard jack only just gets under the 150 mm clearance and you wouldn't want to be pushing one under once it's painted so a LW ali racing jack with shallow end is essential.

Hope that helps.

CT

Hi HM

Sorry, the bonnet is stored away for the moment while the bonding/bulkhead work is going on. Here are a couple of earlier photos with the body propped up over the chassis. The bonnet is resting on the spare wheel (185/80/15) with approx 1/2" packing between the tyre and the underside of the bonnet. The main body tub is positioned so that the join between the bonnet and the body is lined up using the moulding line at the rear of the bonnet and the moulded recess on the body. The body side sills where they curl inwards are just about level with the underside of the chassis side rails.

Hope this helps.

Andrew

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...ps3e344ae7.jpg
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a1...pse30055f3.jpg

Gwa thanks for the reply, have a good weekend and take care of that foot. Hopefully have some photos for you on your return
Cheers
Hm
CT and ah thanks for the info at such short notice

Only half a job
 

Well I manged to cut a little more of the front of the donor.
Cut away the front and removed the front bumpers channel and suporting metal work
http://i1244.photobucket.com/albums/...age/g46044.jpg

Still leaving the front inner wheel arches in place
http://i1244.photobucket.com/albums/...age/g46045.jpg

Cut off the outer lips of the existing wheel arches to help side the bonnet over easier
http://i1244.photobucket.com/albums/...age/g46046.jpg

So now the top of the top edge of the lower lip of air intake is 28cm above grond level 4mm higher than CT's.
The lower edge of the bonnet is now at the same height as lower edge of the original scimitar lower front valance .
The 4cm difference can be due to the car now sitting heigher with no doors, glass, bumpers and other bits and peices
http://i1244.photobucket.com/albums/...age/g46050.jpg

The bonnet was sitting on the top of the water overflow bottle, so it was removed and will have to be repositioned on the final build.
http://i1244.photobucket.com/albums/...age/g46038.jpg







Don't go any further LL!













I could not resist the idea of fitting the rear end while the existing windscreen is still in place. So I know i will regret this in future, but I made the kit into a 3 piece rather than a 2 piece
http://i1244.photobucket.com/albums/...age/g46047.jpg

A litttle bit of proping of the front roof let me remove a section of the roll over bars so I could slide the rear of the kit over the door aperture.
However I ran out of time and daylight to get the back fitted correctly.
It will have to wait until next weekend for the finished view.
http://i1244.photobucket.com/albums/...age/g46052.jpg

I can't wait to see how awful it looks.

HM

Great work HM. You've got some good ideas going on and I'm sure they will pay off. One thing that stands out for me is that, although you are no doubt going to cut it off, the retention of the screen and partial roof shows me that of all the Sammio models, the G46 is one that could stand the proportions of a hard top, possibly only for a 'no hump' shell! :biggrin:

I think even with the cut bodyshell you might need to get a lower fit than in this picture:
http://i1244.photobucket.com/albums/...age/g46047.jpg

Andy - If I ever walk again I will be sticking some kind of roof on a double humper so watch this space...

Slow progress
 

Not much activity on the G46 recently due to a very draughtly garage and lots of rain.
However the wind and rain ceased this weekend so I wrapped up warm,
but kept popong back in the house for warm tea between activity on the car.
i had seen photo of ferrari with a mid mounted wing and wonders if the G46 would suit this addition.

http://i1244.photobucket.com/albums/...-body-wing.png

So I grabbed the old roof to see if it was possible.

http://i1244.photobucket.com/albums/...trespoiler.jpg

Not inspiring!

I had not moved the car since removing the lights and cutting the bonnet and boot on the donar.
As my drive is uphill pushing the G46 out of the garage was not possible so I was keen to see if the engine would still start.
I removed all the fuses to prevent any short circuits, fortunately the starter and coil feed are not fused on the Se5 donar, so I cranked it over a few times.
However the battery gave up turning the engine over as it filled the fuel pipes and carb.
No to be diverted I borrowed the battery from the other scimitar.
And yes it started and drove up the drive, but i suspect i will need a new filter soon given the amount of dust in the engine compartment.

So here are some photos with the old scimitar screen in place.

http://i1244.photobucket.com/albums/...outside3-1.jpghttp://i1244.photobucket.com/albums/...e/outside1.jpg
http://i1244.photobucket.com/albums/...idescreen1.jpghttp://i1244.photobucket.com/albums/...idescreen2.jpg

I still have to drop the rear a little more so the G46 arches side inside the donar arches, about an inch off the top of old body should do it.
That should get the door bottom parallel to the ground.
The rear of the car is setting very high and the raduis arms are point downwards.
I need much shorter springs possible by as much as 2-3inches!

The old windscreen comes off next.

I have found a source for a 356 screen, so really need to know if Gaz will be getting the full aero screens made soon.

Snow forecast tonight so i better get the g46 back under cover

HM

I actually quite like it with the screen. About three inches of the top of the screen and you would have a very usable car!

That picture is the first I have seen where the G46 looks short. I guess it is the break in the bodywork that does it.

Keep up the good work and keep up the pictures

Does anybody else think that with the screen as it is, it looks like an MX5 on steroids?

Yep, that's what I was thinking. It has got to be the photo because the g46 is certainly not short

I was actually thinking Fiat Barchetta

I agree WCA, maybe the high back seats are confusing the eye about the length of the rear body.

You should try to wedge the scimitar screen on your kit with the 2 humps and take a photo.

HM

Mine is all wrapped up at the moment as there is not too much I can do with a crutch in each hand.

I reckon it is the back seats that cause the brain to re-scale the car. You brain assumes hey are front seats and then makes you think the size fits the proportions between the screen and seats.

I thought they were front seats sitting high.