GBS October Factory Run Out 2014

The back end of the summer in the UK has been glorious, in fact according to the news report its been the driest September since records began ? So the GBS factory has organised a "Run Out" in the Zero's,
A total of 14 Zero's turned up at the factory early Sunday morning, all polished up ready for the run which would take us on some local country roads for some 70 miles to a pub for Sunday lunch and a stop half way for refreshments. GBS factory Zero at the front leading the way, and another at the rear just in case we got split up.

Parked up at the factory while tea and coffee was served inside.

More Zero's turning up at the factory.

Ready for the off... Alison all wrapped up !

Leaving the factory...

See you at the next stop !...

Travelling through Newark 

A Long line of Zero's... I'm in the line somewhere ?

Enjoying the Bends...

Final destination... The Plough at Cropwell Butler, Nottinghamshire.

Back home just before dusk, shattered but smiles all round !

Many thanks to the GBS team for taking photographs along the way, and also to all the Zero owners and passengers for making a great day out.

10 months on and 2000 miles

Having Fun

The Zero have been performing well, only a couple of issues which I will explain further down the blog page. I managed to get a steering cowl from EBay as second hand Ford ones seem to have disappeared of the face of the Earth. Fitting this retro cowl took a bit of modification, fabrication, and fettling to fit round the switches, key hole, and hazard button but in all looks 100% better than having wires visible.

Our Alex turned 15 and as a treat for all the help building the Zero, I let him have a drive in it ! Not on the road, but there is a local driving school which has use of an old car park at the weekends which they set out with cones and teach 14 to 17 year old's. So before lessons started he had half an hour on his own driving around the course.

An external view...

An internal view...

Petrol consumption

So the mileage has reached 2000 miles and have done calculations.

While on the track at Blyton Park, so giving it a bit of stick ? managed 24 mpg

On a spirited run out 28 mpg

Short local journeys with cold starts 28 mpg

A steady drive down to the Kit Car Show at Donnington via the motorway (sticking to 70 mph), then a steady drive back home via A & B roads with no real hard acceleration   31 mpg

So with a 6,5 gallon tank should get between 120 and 175 miles depending on the style of driving and leaving a reserve in the tank to get me to the next filling station.

Couple of issues

Had a dull rattle sound coming from the bell housing While in neutral ? depressed the clutch and it went away ? No rattle while in gear and driving ? Then after a few miles and when up to temperature the rattle disappeared all together ?  Further investigation led me to one of two things... the clutch arm or the release bearing. A quick trip over to see Richard at GBS confirmed one of my thoughts... the clutch arm.
Basically its a lose (ish) fit around the shaft and release bearing and possibly the clutch arm pin, and when things warm up and expand it can't rattle any more. Its not detrimental to any thing, just an annoying noise.

Next, and more seriously I broke down, and had to call the very nice man from The AA. (for those reading this blog outside of the UK,  The AA is not Alcoholics Anonymous, but the Automobile Association which offer roadside assistance when you have broken down)

What had happened is that the rubber "O" rings holding the gear linkage pins in had perished over the year and had allowed the pins to fall out. Then while selecting a gear the linkage fell apart, leaving me in gear unable to select neutral while in the outside lane of a dual carriageway, and with heavy traffic was unable to pull up in a safe position !

A long story, but to cut it short the roadside assistance turned up, took apart the transmission tunnel, located the problem, stuck a temporary nut and bolt in an got me going within an hour.

  Note to self... Carry some basic tools or at least have your mobile phone charged up to call for help ?

An update from the brake down...

GBS have kindly sorted out replacement pins and "O"rings, however the fix has lasted 200 miles so far, so I am carrying them as an emergency fix if the nut and bolt fail ? Think this will be a winter check and fix, but until then I'll keep driving the Zero and having fun.

Possible more permanent fix's to this issue from other Zero builders are...

High tensile bolts and lock nuts instead of pins ?

Replacement pins with metal clips not rubber ones ?

Use the rubber "O" rings as before but coat them with rubber grease to stop the perishing process ?

Use the rubber "O" rings as before but coat them with rubber grease to stop the perishing process plus cover the whole assembly with heat shrink tubing to seal it all in ?

If anyone reading this has any other ideas, please leave comments ?

Rattling Exhaust

Little annoying problem has arisen since the last blog... a rattle from the exhaust at around 2000 to 3000 rpm. Quick talk to Richard at GBS seems to be a small issue with an internal pipe which slots into the tailpipe section. Recommends a rivet through the tailpipe and the internal pipe which should stop the rattle ?

Well did this on Saturday, and it worked !

1300 miles so far, but horrible weather this Bank Holiday :-(

First Track Day

So after a few nice runs out over the past few weeks I booked myself onto a track day at Blyton Park with some other GBS owners and the factory. The Zero has just covered 700 miles and besides a couple of small hiccups has run very smoothly.

First hiccup was the coolant was disappearing at an alarming rate ! replaced approx. 4.5 lts in 600 miles ? checked all the hose's, connections and radiator for leaks... none ?

After talking to a few other owners and Richard at GBS found that the expansion bottle had been plumbed in the wrong way round, so instead of the coolant returning to the system when cool, it was in fact draining out onto the floor ? Simple fix... swap over the pipes. A note to other builders... the expansion bottle has 2 pipes sticking out of the top, they are different heights and the higher of the two feeds back into the coolant system, and the lower one is the waste. On my bottle the difference between the two pipes is only about 1.5mm so its easily missed, but easily fixed.

Second issue... Possible throttle body icing ? According to GBS it has been reported a few times, in certain conditions that the throttle bodies could ice up ? usual when its cold and damp ? Rather technical series of events but as soon as some warmer air reaches the throttle bodies it all runs sweet again. It did splutter and cough for about a mile and this did get my mind spinning as I had just filled up with fuel the night before and thought of all sorts of possible issues ?

So back to the track day...

The Zero performed all day without any faults ! just over 100 miles on track, (just over 60 laps) and only used 20 litres of fuel ! Had a few "drifting" moments but the tyres really did surprise me how good they where. Is it worth getting some sticky track day tyres next time ?

Roll on the next track day.

Mega grin factor !

Dry winter driving and a couple of modifications

Over the Christmas and New Year break I have clocked up nearly 400 miles on lovely crisp, dry, winter days. Getting to grips with the handling and finding very quickly the limits of grip on slightly damp cold  road surfaces ? Been mainly local driving, visiting friends and family, and a trip out to Derbyshire, an old stomping ground back in my motor biking days.. Matlock Bath ! The Zero got a lot of attention in the car park, that was until a Cobra turned up !.. oh well. ( John Housego... take note !)

Although the days out have been dry, the road surface still holds moisture, and I have found that I am constantly cleaning the rear wheel guards, the sides of the Zero, and the exhaust of dirt thrown up from the front wheels, and finding stone chippings from the road everywhere inside the cockpit ? Solution... Mud guards !

Good old EBay... universal mud guards £5 plus free P&P !
They do need a bit of modification, but that's the fun of kit cars.

Out with the saw and a few minutes later...

A mud flap ready for fitting, drilled 2 holes for the bolts, and tidied up the saw marks.

 Quick test run out and already on wet roads very little spray hitting the rear wheel guards, however still hitting the stainless steel exhaust which looks dirty again ? So a good improvement, and no chippings in the car either !

Next modification... a rattle from the exhaust ?

Talking to Richard from GBS this can be a common issue, not a massive one but still an annoying one, the exhaust can rattle a bit on the rear support bracket. Simple fix... a small length of exhaust wrap to cushion the tail pipe while resting on the bracket.

Wrapped around twice and held in place with a couple of metal tie-wraps.

Once again another quick test ride out ! Some of the rattle has gone, however there is something else giving a rattle noise ? More investigation required I think, however late in the afternoon and lost the light, and a frost is forming ! time for a cuppa.

Nice but cold first drive out and build summary

Couple of photos after fitting the windscreen and number plates. Think this might be the last weekend before some unsettled weather arrives, I've not got any weather gear fitted, and to be honest don't think I'll fit any ? quite like the look as it is, so its just a fair weather car !

Going to enjoy this !

Update...

Had to go out again the day after these photos where taken, got to make the most of the weather ! nearly 100 miles on the clock, and gave the brakes a bit more welly to get them bedded in, seems to be working and have noticed they work better when they are warmer.

Build Summary...

The Stats...

Nearly 300 hours of build time
Picking up kit to on the road Tax and plates... 51 weeks, That's 1 week ahead on my plans !
Cost... a little over budget, not a lot, and not a loan in sight. (forgot about IVA and registration fee's)
400 tea bags
7 large jars of coffee
7 bags of sugar
200 cigs (Duty free trip to France)
1 packet of plasters
Box of 100 paracetamol
Box of 100 Dihydrocodeine


Made just over £10 from the swear box (10 pence per word)

The look on passengers faces...  Priceless !

OK, putting everything aside, it was fun building the Zero, and even more fun driving it. There where days when everything went to plan, and there where days when nothing went to plan. Any one thinking of building a Kit Car, just do it, you'll won't regret it, because everywhere I went in the last 2 days everyone stops and looks, wishing they could build or have one, nothing but compliments. The feeling that a year ago I had boxes of parts, bags of nuts, bolts, and rivets, metal panels etc all in the garage, now assembled sounding fantastic drifting round a corner is overwhelming. (on a private road ? ).

Would like to thank the following...

2 x Steve's for helping lift and unload the van on day 1
Russ for Engine and gearbox installation
Simon for Engine and gearbox installation and lots more; and company on those days when things  did not go to plan ! ( you know those days ! lol )
My 2 boys; Ben and Alex for those fiddly jobs where my stubby short fingers couldn't reach !
All those at GBS for putting up with my constant visits and questions.
And finally Alison for letting me build it in the first place.

I will update this blog from time to time as things may change, but until then... where did I put those keys.....

P.S.

And the total cost, after everything taken into account, and I do mean everything, I have just enough left over for a takeaway for the family from a budget of £14,000.

Bill.

Registration and fixing some issues

Been 3 weeks since it passed its IVA test, and earlier this week got a call from Ruth at GBS to say my registration documents and tax disc had arrived ! YAY ! So a quick drive over to pick them up and get the number plates made up. Not in a hurry but got over to GBS, got the plates made, and fixed to the car in about 90 minutes ?

OK, now for a few issues which raised their heads within the 1st 10 miles...

Near side repeater indicator on the cycle wing not working, a rather simple fix, just a spade connector had come out of its plug holder, a quick adjustment to the spade connector to make sure it fits properly and it works again.

Speedo not working... Not looking forward too this as I can remember it was a pain the 1st time I installed it due to lack of space to get my large hand and stubby fingers into the transmission tunnel. I had to remove the hand brake cable to get reasonable access to the sensor, and quickly noticed the problem. The sensor had moved very slightly backwards, so was picking up more of the prop shaft flange than the bolt heads.
Removing the sensor was surprisingly easy... except... I dropped the nut into the bottom of the transmission tunnel... AARRRR!!!
After over an hour looking, poking, and bending sticks with magnets on trying to savage the nut I gave up and headed down to the local nut and bolt shop for a replacement nut, got home and the nut failed to fit, only about 1 turn and no more, so its not an M6 ? back down and exchanged for a 5/16" UNF and guess what... that didn't fit either... its going to be one of those days ?
So back to the car feeling rather upset ? and then saw a shinny corner of the nut  just under the diff ! managed to get a stick to knock it into the inspection hole and onto the floor of the driveway, then found out its not magnetic !
OK, now back to the problem, I re-drilled the hole in the sensor bracket so the sensor would now be over the bolt heads and nowhere near the prop shaft flange. Refitted the sensor.

Clutch biting point to low to the floor, adjusted the cable, and of coarse adjusted to far, so adjusted again. Seems to be a bit better, we shall see how it goes over the next few miles.

Back to the speedo issue, After re-fitting the sensor all that was needed was the handbrake cable reattaching. Well with the issues of my arm and elbow injury this was just impossible with one arm, think I'll wait for so help later. Help did arrive later on and all fixed within 5 Min's.

Testing the speedo... had to have a ride out, but time had flown, and it was 8pm, dark and cold, but what the hell. Woke the neighbours up !  he he he .

Next day and windscreen fitting.

All seemed rather straight forward, except fitting the windscreen surround to the side uprights ? seen a few different blogs about this, and basically its a mixture of different ideas. Mine would be to mark out the windscreen surround to the uprights, drill and tap to M6 and use short M6 button head bolts x 10mm long to fix together.
Many thanks to " Fairy liquid" for helping me to get the windshield into the rubbers, and then into the frame.
Well it all went together easily, wing mirrors fitted but the mounting holes had to be drilled out, way under sized.

Time for another test drive... big grin !

So still got the wipe motor, gearing, and blades to fit, think I'll leave this for another day, going to have some fun now, see you soon.

Total time for these fixes ... 12 hours

Total build time now... 280 hours