"Le Belgique" ST build.

[stretch]

Another bespoke job was to make the 3mm ribbed mats that are often found in these lightweight cars. A big thank you to Nigel Mitchell who kindly took the time and trouble to provide me a template from his RS. Cheers Nige.



3 point race harnesses....


A funny story.... When i first found this car and decided i wanted to build an ST i started to research the seat belts / harnesses installed in these factory ST race cars. Once i found out the material was another item that was no longer available, i decided to get this material reproduced. How ironic that the car i decided to replicate was heavily sponsored by Britax, and the Harnesses fitted to the Gaban ST were Britax and not the Factory Repa Harnesses.


Fortunately i managed to source a new old stock pair of these 901 harnesses a long time ago.



IMG-20200325-WA0002 by stretch1985, on Flickr




Another interesting Britax item on nearly all Gaban 911 race cars are the Britax beehive style lights fitted to the passenger sun visor. These were used to inform the pit crew if there were any problems or warning that the car was coming in for fuel etc during the endurance races that they frequently entered. No i won't be fitting them to mine...

Note the 68 Breakaway mirror.






s_17_1970_HDK-4045 by stretch1985, on Flickr

[stretch]

All that was left to do was install the steering wheel. I decided that the existing 380mm wheel was a little to patinated so i gave the wheel to our very own Jonathan Parr to carryout a thick wrap. Wheel is now installed in the car with an original hockey puck centre. Thanks Jonathan.



Interior finished and now looking a little different to this picture taken in 1982 when the car was taken off the road...!


My ST as found. by stretch1985, on Flickr





Now we have something to sit in, let's see if we can get some sort of number plate and get this to drive for the first time in nearly 38 years...!

Dave

[mrg3.6]

Now we have something to sit in, let's see if we can get some sort of number plate and get this to drive for the first time in nearly 38 years...!

Great thread Dave - now the real fun begins

Martin

[yoda]

What a fabulous build Dave, amazing attention to detail. Looking forward to seeing the car soon.

[stretch]

Putting the engine and gearbox in presented a few setbacks. The first one was the R muffler tail pipes hitting the rear bumper . This wasn't to much of a problem as the engine builder had said " it's F****** loud hope you have good neighbours "

The tapered Megaphones were also responsible for some of the missing 15-20 HP so the muffler and megaphones were duly replaced with a more friendly exhaust system.

Another problem that was far more serious was the clutch fork slipping off of the throw out bearing. It was all seated properly on the install but now we couldn't get any pull on the clutch cable. Several hours later and the engine and gearbox were removed and back on the floor.

The culprit which fell apart in my hand was the the tension tab that keeps the fork in the right position. No tension resulted in the fork moving out of position. Fortunately this happened now rather than on a long trip somewhere. With a new tab and washer replaced we had lift off and the engine fired up in the car for the first time..... Sounds bloody fantastic too.


All that was needed now was a registration plate so we could get this thing on the road. Some of you may remember reading about my battle with the DVLA.... ? https://www.ddk-online.com/phpBB2/viewt ... A+NONSENSE

After an 18 month battle the car got an age related plate all be it at my expense. I didn't have the patience for this battle as i kept swearing at the DVLA on the phone. Many thanks to Kersten for getting this resolved.


With plates fitted and engine running, all we need to do is get the suspension set up correctly.


20200227_101938 by stretch1985, on Flickr

20200510_145800 by stretch1985, on Flickr

[stretch]

With the set backs encountered two centre of gravity appointments came and went. In hindsight it probably wasn't the ideal location, some 300 miles away to have your first major "shakedown" drive...! Common sense prevailed and i sourced a local well know Porsche specialist to set up the suspension and set the ride height.

With Classic Le Mans booked and only four or so months away i took my first tentative drive in the car to Carrera performance in Horsham who duly set up the suspension. 24 hours later i returned to collect the car and was presented with a very reasonable £600 bill. This included full alignment, re- indexing the torsion bars and several other snagging job's on the car. A good experience all round. Thanks Jez.

Unfortunately the 10 mile collection drive in February this year as nice as it was, has been the only one i have managed due to an accident that resulted in shoulder ligament damage. I never thought i would be glad that Classic Le Mans has been cancelled

Apart from a paint polish and some decals, the build is finished and the fun can begin. See you all on the road when i can change gear...!

Dave

20200510_145813 by stretch1985, on Flickr

[Bootsy]

Looks wonderful

[Ralph]

Looks Lovely - any decals?

Ah - just re-read it and noticed!

[inaglasshouse]

Looks great Dave, thanks for posting the update.
Does your arm work well enough to take some more photos of the nearly finished article? Including engine bay, luggage compartment, etc? Details, we need details! (not that I'm demanding or anything).
Cheers, Richard.

[stretch]

Thanks for the nice comments lads. Richard, i think i will let someone who's decent with a camera take the final pictures once the decals are fitted.

Did forget the front spare picture though. As i can't lock the front trunk i decided to go with a steel space saver as my spare.

20200507_145425 by stretch1985, on Flickr

[BILLY BEAN]

I have followed this build since I got to know Dave even when he did not post on here we talked regularly about progress or the lack of it.
A brilliant build with so much attention to get the small details aesthetically and historically absolutely spot on: I think you need help with your "problem". Jumbo sausage roll and a mug of tea next time we meet up.
Kirk

[MarkIII]

Great project and fantastic car, what we all want to know is, how is she to drive.... I do know of an excellent test driver who would be more than willing to take her for a ride whilst your out ofaction

[72911E]

Looks great Dave. I might have a Sportmatic box around somewhere u could use while you recover!

[stretch]

I have waited to drive a 911 since i sold my last one 15 years ago. Think i can wait another few weeks lads.

[hot66]

car looks great. Look forward to hearing your first proper driving impressions after all these years