Darkspeed
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,681
Club RR Member Number: 39
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Aug 10, 2020 13:17:31 GMT
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Is it your chose to have the lawn or the wife's as I bet it's a pain with the cars there when cutting the grass? Well..... Truth is there was never really the intention to have it littered with cars - Plan is to get them off the front lawn entirely as there really should be enough room on the drive alone. Its an inconvenience to move them all around when cutting the grass but not a huge one.
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Darkspeed
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,681
Club RR Member Number: 39
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Finally got around to doing a bit of work on the Gemini doing something I enjoy, drilling holes in bits of metal. Hopefully this layout will work well enough... ... if I have messed up again and it fouls the chassis - it will be going in with a grinder and a welder!
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Darkspeed
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,681
Club RR Member Number: 39
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Aug 18, 2020 11:06:23 GMT
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teaboy
Posted a lot
Make tea, not war.
Posts: 1,925
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Aug 18, 2020 11:10:17 GMT
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I think the crash pad is a good idea, makes it look finished off. We can call it good weight.
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Darkspeed
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,681
Club RR Member Number: 39
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Aug 18, 2020 12:10:56 GMT
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I think the crash pad is a good idea, makes it look finished off. We can call it good weight. Cheers, Also provides a little bit of a more period finish - although the clocks counter that somewhat but they can always be replaced with some Smiths classics if necessary - I will finish the edge of the alloy in some small rubber "U" seal and that will be that for the moment.
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Aug 18, 2020 13:03:02 GMT
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When I built my speakers I rollered the cabinets with rubber roof paint, this one. It's a little tricky to get an even finish, but it looks good and is extremely durable This is the finish when rolled Overall view for scale
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Darkspeed
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,681
Club RR Member Number: 39
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Aug 18, 2020 13:13:11 GMT
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Interesting looking stuff thanks for the suggestion.
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Aug 18, 2020 13:15:39 GMT
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It's very tough, sets no matter how thick you put it on. It's a sort of one shot deal as it sets with moisture so once the tin is opened, what's left will set in the tin. I used little mohair gloss rollers. It tends to create bubbles but they roll out as the paint starts to tack. Would make a nice dash finish imo. Bout £20 a tin iirc.
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Darkspeed
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,681
Club RR Member Number: 39
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Aug 18, 2020 13:30:03 GMT
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Having a look at wraps - I am getting quite taken with Croc skin - LOL Seems you can get 3D style Alcantara and Leather Vinyl wrap - ! - Life was so much easier when there just - paint or leather cloth.
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There's plenty of aerosol textured paints available that would work with a coat of primer? For a crinklish finish without sticking it in the oven.
I know Dulux do one off the top of my head, it's in the paint section next to the chalk wash paints over here..
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Sept 20, 2020 19:14:06 GMT
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Just read this thread from start to finish, great thread and good work. Nice to see some time given to the Gemini which is a very underrated kit car in my opinion. At the time they were a fair bit cheaper to buy when compared with similar full bodied kit such as the Fury and Stylus, and were not a very easy build hence why I think there are a few about now that need a bit of TLC. My Dad built a Gemini over 20 years ago (he still has it in storage) and was the project that got me interested in cars, it was the first "fast" car I drove. He built it the winter before the SVA test was introduced so it was one of the last kits built around the old rules. I was about 18 at the time and helped a bit, holding the torch and passing tools etc! It was built with a 1600 xflow, which got swapped to a 2.0l pinto a couple of years later and although it was a budget build it looked very tidy. We did the shows, a few trackdays and enjoyed driving it before it went into storage about 12 years ago. It went really well, handled superbly (I cant remember anything being significantly faster through the corners at the track days we went to, despite my lack of driving experience) and was fairly mild mannered and comfortable on the road, despite the live axle being right under your bum! Dad has talked about getting it running again, it shouldnt need much, and after reading this thread I think I'll have to help him! A few pics from the scrap book: I think one of the things that annoyed him about the chassis was the complete lack of proper support or mounting points for the body so he made his own which I think were pretty neat:
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Last Edit: Sept 20, 2020 19:46:05 GMT by retroscort
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Darkspeed
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,681
Club RR Member Number: 39
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Sept 20, 2020 19:54:35 GMT
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Looks like your dad made a nice job of the build - especially on the body mounts as they are indeed utterly dreadful from the factory.
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duncanmartin
Club Retro Rides Member
Out of retro ownership
Posts: 1,320
Club RR Member Number: 70
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Darkspeed
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,681
Club RR Member Number: 39
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Yep Bomber is up for sale but not trying to hard to sell it as you may be able to tell from the ad. Price is at the top end of the market for a Gemini project with a lowly 1300 X-flow but its there should someone stumble across and want one - I have had the usual muppet low ball offers and messages but nothing genuine as of yet.
The 1600 is the keeper.
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Darkspeed
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,681
Club RR Member Number: 39
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**Sold**
And then there was one.
Thread will now be concentrated on Gem 2 after I have completed my clearing of the decks task with shifting many hoarded spares and the like.
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duncanmartin
Club Retro Rides Member
Out of retro ownership
Posts: 1,320
Club RR Member Number: 70
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I guess that generates time and funds - does that mean there will be more Stratos coverage? I want to ask before this one has gone too - how does the Gem compare to the Fury? And any idea how they compare to this thing www.ancsportscars.co.uk/ ? There seem to be a lot of this style kitcars around and I'm really curious about how (or if) they have changed over the years.
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Darkspeed
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,681
Club RR Member Number: 39
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I guess that generates time and funds - does that mean there will be more Stratos coverage? I want to ask before this one has gone too - how does the Gem compare to the Fury? And any idea how they compare to this thing www.ancsportscars.co.uk/ ? There seem to be a lot of this style kitcars around and I'm really curious about how (or if) they have changed over the years. I do hope to be getting some work done on the Strato's in the near future - unless of course someone comes along in the mean time and makes me an offer I just cannot refuse..... Funds now being available for the brakes on the Strato's that may mean some shopping prior to Xmas. Although both the Fury and the Gem' are very similar in that they are both race proven chassis designs and have both raced successfully in many different series I cannot draw any comparisons between the two cars that I have had as the Fury was a brand new build of a lightweight race IRS chassis with a 200BHP Duratec on ITB's - Semi slicks, close ratio box - LSD. bias brakes - alloy 4 pots discs all round etc. etc. etc. - It was a £28K build cost. A quick car. Gem 2 is a 20 year old very budget built kit on worn mishapen 165's with a 100BHP crossflow. Its a fun car and should be more fun following the recent improvement program. They don't really compare. Likewise the G27 was a kit directly derived from a single make race car series but with a 4.0L V8 - it was simply a mad thing - the chassis was probably okay for the 1.8 140 BHP Zetec of the race series but not for a tuned V8 - an utter handful. A to B the Fury would be miles ahead - Screaming for dear life thrill factor it would not even register again the G27 as it was an assault on every sense. The MEV repicar AM thing - tubes dropped over an MX5 drivetrain assembly - with a body over the top - It will be quite big compared to the Fury/Ginetta/Gemini which are all Escort MK2 axle width based designs. And be quite heavy in comparison. Drive like a sporty MX5 I would imagine. Fury's, Gemini's and G27's are all competition derived and are still raced sprinted and hillclimbed very successfully. MEV Replicars are more for just appearance than anything else. They an upgrade on the plastic body on a Spitfire chassis type kits that preceded them.
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Darkspeed
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,681
Club RR Member Number: 39
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As it's utterly miserable outside today I thought I would start on the dash wiring on - Cinders - I knew I had a name sorted for Gem-2 could not remember it the other evening when met up with the G15 crew. Anyhoo - after looking at the gauges I needed to try and find a couple of retaining rings for the Speedo and Tach - the smaller 52mm gauges all have them but not the 80mm gauges and I found them on the Demon Tweeks site at a few pounds each, along with suitable electrical connector blocks. I then noticed the prices of the gauges !! After a quick tally up they would have set me back £560! - nice - tempted now to buy an oil temp and boost gauge you know, future proofing.....
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duncanmartin
Club Retro Rides Member
Out of retro ownership
Posts: 1,320
Club RR Member Number: 70
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Spending the proceeds of Bomber already. Makes sense on the differences between the cars. Fury and Gemini are race cars that can be road legal, the other stuff are road cars that look like old racers (and the modern ones are based on modern road cars rather than old road cars).
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Darkspeed
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,681
Club RR Member Number: 39
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Spending the proceeds of Bomber already. Makes sense on the differences between the cars. Fury and Gemini are race cars that can be road legal, the other stuff are road cars that look like old racers (and the modern ones are based on modern road cars rather than old road cars). I spent a grand total of £16 today on connectors and retainers for the gauges that I pulled from the Red Gem Spot on - road legal racers verses race looking road cars.
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