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[markrnorton]

I thought I’d start this thread as a few people have asked and secondly a lot of the donor parts for the car are Omega, standard and modified, all V6.
I have always built and modified cars, I don’t do ‘the normal’ , I try and be a bit different, so bear with me on some of what I do.
I also fabricate a lot of parts as well as buy ‘alternatives’ to test, hybrids if you like. Parts machined, laser cut etc etc.
I bought the Ginetta as an unbuilt kit, all the previous owner had done was galvanize the chassis. This G27 came with a 4 cylinder Toyota 1600, which is normally par for the course. Good to give it sub 5 second 0-60. Running gear was based on Triumph spitfire up front and Escort Mk1/2 rear end live axle. I didn’t like the ‘weedy’ Triumph front end and I certainly didn’t want a live axle at the back. It came with what the previous owner described as an Escort axle, he’d welded on all the 5 link set-up as well. What he didn’t check was the ratio, it was a 3.09 – 3.0 Capri. So the axle was 4” to wide anyhow.
Basic spec I wanted was around 200hp with independent rear suspension and meatier front end, still aiming for the 650kgs weight all in.
Moving on, I wanted a v6 manual RWD donor, only 2 candidates really, either S type Jaguar or Omega V6. Jaguar V6 engine is wide and bulky. Vauxhall lump, nice and compact. Sorted.
Bought a nice V6 Omega Estate, MOT and Tax. And am still stripping it ! – got the tax cashed in, sold a few parts already, stripped a lot for donor parts.
So where do I start…

Here’s a few pictures of what I bought to start with….





And this is what it should look like when finished (maybe not blue and maybe with a different bonnet)

[markrnorton]

Stripped out the suspension, front brakes and V6 motor and manual gearbox from the Omega estate. Engine and box took about 3-4 hours with a mate to remove. I was originally going to use the ECU and loom, but have no changed my mind. So I ‘hacked most of the connections out !
I will keep the non standard alloys I think for the moment to roll the car about on for the time being (unless I can pick up a really cheap set, then I’ll get rid of them)

[Omegatoy]

always liked Ginetta,s!!! hmm mark norton, know that name from other forums?posibly rr?

[markrnorton]

First real action (apart from selling the Toyota engine and capri rear axle) was to look at the fron suspension. The car came with the  ‘weedy’ but perfectly adequate (?) Triumph front end, it just looks wrong to me, so I decided to re-engine the front using Omega parts from the estate donor.

Here is a couple of pics of the original Triumph front end.






So after stripping the front hubs and brakes off the Omega, and doing a major clean up, thus:-


I reverse engineered the front suspension. I made a jig, bolted it up to the original parts, then removed. Bolting up the Omega hub to the jig I worked backwards to the chassis, fabricating mock up wishbones.

Pics of mock up, note that all joints on the car will be rose joints.

[markrnorton]

always liked Ginetta,s!!! hmm mark norton, know that name from other forums?posibly rr?

rr ??

[markrnorton]

Once I was happy with the mock up and the angles it produced against the chassis. ( I have digital inclinometer etc) I moved onto final fabrication.
Using CDS (seamless tubing) and drawing up final parts for cutting and welding (I have these laser cut)

Drawing for parts to be cut


Cut parts


Rose joints were used on the front, with some spacers (made from T6087 alloy) and mis-alignment washers to be safe when assembling.

Once i had all the parts back i welded together, cleaned up and then primed and painted

[henryd]

Interesting stuff,keep it coming

[markrnorton]

these are some of the rose joints used.


All are the high performance type and have load capacities far in excess of what i need, but they are light and have zero play, so ideal for accurate suspension and steering.

[albitz]

Very interesting project.Look forward to updates as and when they appear.

[Lazydocker]

Glad you decided to do a write up Mark

[markrnorton]

Final assembly going onto chassis


Offside and nearside upper and lower wishbones. You can see the mechanical upper joint, this is a biggy at ¾”, and the fabrication to attach it to the hub upper. Lower ball joint is standard Omega, it made sense to use one there, less work to do !




Brake disks I will renew closer to the end of the build , but I will use standard V6 ones as they are plenty big enough to stop a 650 kgs car. I will however buy drilled and grooved disks, I have to source some lightweight alloy calipers too.

Next problems was shock absorbers for my new front end

[omega3000]

Very interesting project.Look forward to updates as and when they appear.

+1 nice interesting work 

[markrnorton]

Glad you decided to do a write up Mark

It was about time !

moving on a bit now too

[markrnorton]

The front shocks that came with the kit were shot, big time. Heavy AVO in need of a re-build and rubber bushed. Apart from that they would not fit my new custom front end. So after a bit of measuring and head scratching I decided to have a pair of shocks made.

After a bit of interweb searching, a few shows and a few magazines, I chose to go with Protech shocks, spoke to a very helpful guy there, we ran through exactly what I needed, he made a few comments and we settled on the set-up. He made them up very quick, 3 days. They are coilovers so have adjustable platforms for ride height, light alloy construction with adjustable rebound and compression damping.
Delivered super quick, they are fantastic quality and very very light. Excellent quality too and a very good price with springs.

I had to have an educated guess at the rate as I have no reference point, so went for 325lbs and 7” long.





It appears to have worked out well so far, front suspension action looks good, geometry is spot on (so far).

Now for the steering rack and rear end.

[Lazydocker]

Glad you decided to do a write up Mark

It was about time !

moving on a bit now too

I might need to come and have a proper look at it