Post by overthinker on Apr 17, 2024 20:37:17 GMT -5
I purchased and absolute junk Bradley GT 2 just for a future project. I am kind of a detail nut and tore into the car just after Thanksgiving of 2023. The pan was shot, the glass was all fogged up, the interior was shot, the engine was blown, no brakes, the wiring was trashed, and what few metal pieces were on the car were completely rusted. All of my grown-up kids said WTF are you doing with this POS. Well, i have been restoring 30's thru 70's cars for MOST of my life and I (and I do mean just me) saw some potential with this car. Being in my 60's now and outliving my siblings by over 20 years (we all have heart and artery disease thanks to genetics) so I am in and out of the hospital frequently and currently have 29 aortic stents and a failed 5 artery bypass in 2012. So taking on projects gets more difficult each year. This one, however I am dumping my engineering brain into, and it has become a MAJOR project car.
I am working on a video, much the same as the video I made for a recent Opel GT restoration. This 73 GT is the very first car that I ever documented the work that goes into one of my restorations.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Rnj1DMdVgk
The FIRST thing was a TOTAL rework of the frame including pans and tube framing for additional safety and support. Then a complete refurb of all the bushings, bearings, springs, seals, brakes and some additional impact support for the front suspension.
The next was off to find a good type 4 engine to rebuild. Ya, that was easy.....NOT. I did finally get a 1700 cc bus motor and with a ton of cash and a lot of patients converted it to a roughly 2100cc with a mild cam and flat top Mallory pistons. NEVER again, will I spend this much for a VW engine !!! but when complete it looks sharp and runs great. I hated the fuss with the dual carbs and settled with a 32/36 progressive Weber setup. (same as I use on Opel GT's) Ya, a little loss in power, but this plastic bastard does not need a lot to get it going.
Next was blasting the rims and some creative painting, with new center caps and lugs.
Now the fun begins....Nope, no way in hell am I paying that for a new windshield. My choice is a glue in easy to obtain and cheap C2 corvette windshield. First I formed a solid sheet of 12G into the original windshield slot and from there welded up a frame to accommodate the C2 glass. Additional steel was overlapped onto the fiberglass frame for strength and safety and glassed in to blend in with the body. The car now accepts a easy to get $250.00 windshield.
Next.....THESE HEADLIGHTS SUCK. Out with the old, and in with Toyota Celica GT headlights. Steel frames made and glassed to the body so the headlights can be removed and replaced if damaged. Was really NOT that difficult to do and really fit the body curves of the front.
Next..I hate the ugly fake hood vents and the little flappy thing with NO access to the tie rods and brake components for maintenance or adjustment. Bye bye fake vents, hello to a full flat hood, with electric operated ventilation inlets now going to the front of the car to the A/C cubby. Also, 12V A/C compressor and system is in the works.
Next, GOD I hate how the fenders "swoop" inward and outward instead of flowing top to bottom. OFF WITH THE FENDERS !!!! I cut out both the rear and front fenders and formed steel frames that have a nice curve from the top of the fender to the top of the tires with 1.5" clearance around the tires. A nice inner fender lip instead of a piece of crap plastic chrome trim. Fiber glassed and blended into the body with more defined curves.
Well nuts, my gallbladder is full of stones and inflamed and my bile tube is completely plugged up and infected. Off to the hospital I go for emergency surgery and recovery time. There went March and most of April. But I made it back to the shop this morning to try to remember where I left off.
Air intake. The engine NEEDS a good source of air for combustion AND cooling......what to do. OFF WITH THE BOTTOM OF THE BODY. LOL, not literally, but I did take out a section just in front of the new rear fenders and have installed air inlets on both sides of the carb. The car is NOW taking on a Farrari appearance. So THAT is the direction I will now take with the front and rear modifications.
I did not like the square tail lights that the Farrari of this time period had, so I went with Lambo style sequential tail lights. Again, steel framing for the light fixtures mounted and fiber glassed to the body. I decided to add some 1/4" steel to the rear section for some protection for the engine from a light impact, no crappy fiberglass rear bumper will be used.
I used a VERY nice and very affordable wiring kit. Each wire is marked where it goes, and it has a modern fuse block. SOO MUCH easier than trying to figure out the PO wiring disaster. God I hate that dash set-up. It's GOTTA GO. Out with the entire dash, next weeks project to fabricate a modern looking dash with NEW gauges, Flat screen radio and modern switches.
The gull wing doors. I AM CLOSTERPHOBIC so NOPE to those puny little windows. The engineer in me came out and the doors will have fully opening glass panels (electric operated) At first I wanted to make the triangle section of the glass swing in, but for structure it was better for that little section of window remain fixed. The glass that goes up and down is a two-piece design since there is no room in the door for single glass movement. (I am trying to do a detailed video of this process) The tempered glass panels should be here soon for the final assembly. The plexi-glass panels on top are junk and now are slightly smaller tempered glass panels that have a modern hinge and latch set up, same goes for the two side rear glass panels, they are now pop out windows with the hinges and latches coming from an Opel GT rear side windows. The gull wing pop out top window can now be removed simply by pulling out 3 spring ball pins. No crappy seals and screws. Much safer if you need to use this to get out of the car in a hurry if the doors won't open.
Much more to come. Please be patient and I will get a notice on here as soon as I post the video's on YouTube. Posting pictures on this site is a PITA and creating URL's involves giving someone access to your PC so I am not comfortable with that.
Other changes include heater blower location, center counsel design, (Yea cup holders !!), shaved door latches, electric heat and vent controls, modern side markers in the fender curves, GPS speedo and combination gauges, wiper motor placement and modification, wireless horn button, electric side- view mirrors and more. Believe it or not, I WILL be using the original seat buckets, but I have mounted them to sliders. Also, for safety, ALL of the compartments on the sides are completely filled with high density foam, so they act like a bumper on a modern car. SAFETY FIRST.
I am working on a video, much the same as the video I made for a recent Opel GT restoration. This 73 GT is the very first car that I ever documented the work that goes into one of my restorations.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Rnj1DMdVgk
The FIRST thing was a TOTAL rework of the frame including pans and tube framing for additional safety and support. Then a complete refurb of all the bushings, bearings, springs, seals, brakes and some additional impact support for the front suspension.
The next was off to find a good type 4 engine to rebuild. Ya, that was easy.....NOT. I did finally get a 1700 cc bus motor and with a ton of cash and a lot of patients converted it to a roughly 2100cc with a mild cam and flat top Mallory pistons. NEVER again, will I spend this much for a VW engine !!! but when complete it looks sharp and runs great. I hated the fuss with the dual carbs and settled with a 32/36 progressive Weber setup. (same as I use on Opel GT's) Ya, a little loss in power, but this plastic bastard does not need a lot to get it going.
Next was blasting the rims and some creative painting, with new center caps and lugs.
Now the fun begins....Nope, no way in hell am I paying that for a new windshield. My choice is a glue in easy to obtain and cheap C2 corvette windshield. First I formed a solid sheet of 12G into the original windshield slot and from there welded up a frame to accommodate the C2 glass. Additional steel was overlapped onto the fiberglass frame for strength and safety and glassed in to blend in with the body. The car now accepts a easy to get $250.00 windshield.
Next.....THESE HEADLIGHTS SUCK. Out with the old, and in with Toyota Celica GT headlights. Steel frames made and glassed to the body so the headlights can be removed and replaced if damaged. Was really NOT that difficult to do and really fit the body curves of the front.
Next..I hate the ugly fake hood vents and the little flappy thing with NO access to the tie rods and brake components for maintenance or adjustment. Bye bye fake vents, hello to a full flat hood, with electric operated ventilation inlets now going to the front of the car to the A/C cubby. Also, 12V A/C compressor and system is in the works.
Next, GOD I hate how the fenders "swoop" inward and outward instead of flowing top to bottom. OFF WITH THE FENDERS !!!! I cut out both the rear and front fenders and formed steel frames that have a nice curve from the top of the fender to the top of the tires with 1.5" clearance around the tires. A nice inner fender lip instead of a piece of crap plastic chrome trim. Fiber glassed and blended into the body with more defined curves.
Well nuts, my gallbladder is full of stones and inflamed and my bile tube is completely plugged up and infected. Off to the hospital I go for emergency surgery and recovery time. There went March and most of April. But I made it back to the shop this morning to try to remember where I left off.
Air intake. The engine NEEDS a good source of air for combustion AND cooling......what to do. OFF WITH THE BOTTOM OF THE BODY. LOL, not literally, but I did take out a section just in front of the new rear fenders and have installed air inlets on both sides of the carb. The car is NOW taking on a Farrari appearance. So THAT is the direction I will now take with the front and rear modifications.
I did not like the square tail lights that the Farrari of this time period had, so I went with Lambo style sequential tail lights. Again, steel framing for the light fixtures mounted and fiber glassed to the body. I decided to add some 1/4" steel to the rear section for some protection for the engine from a light impact, no crappy fiberglass rear bumper will be used.
I used a VERY nice and very affordable wiring kit. Each wire is marked where it goes, and it has a modern fuse block. SOO MUCH easier than trying to figure out the PO wiring disaster. God I hate that dash set-up. It's GOTTA GO. Out with the entire dash, next weeks project to fabricate a modern looking dash with NEW gauges, Flat screen radio and modern switches.
The gull wing doors. I AM CLOSTERPHOBIC so NOPE to those puny little windows. The engineer in me came out and the doors will have fully opening glass panels (electric operated) At first I wanted to make the triangle section of the glass swing in, but for structure it was better for that little section of window remain fixed. The glass that goes up and down is a two-piece design since there is no room in the door for single glass movement. (I am trying to do a detailed video of this process) The tempered glass panels should be here soon for the final assembly. The plexi-glass panels on top are junk and now are slightly smaller tempered glass panels that have a modern hinge and latch set up, same goes for the two side rear glass panels, they are now pop out windows with the hinges and latches coming from an Opel GT rear side windows. The gull wing pop out top window can now be removed simply by pulling out 3 spring ball pins. No crappy seals and screws. Much safer if you need to use this to get out of the car in a hurry if the doors won't open.
Much more to come. Please be patient and I will get a notice on here as soon as I post the video's on YouTube. Posting pictures on this site is a PITA and creating URL's involves giving someone access to your PC so I am not comfortable with that.
Other changes include heater blower location, center counsel design, (Yea cup holders !!), shaved door latches, electric heat and vent controls, modern side markers in the fender curves, GPS speedo and combination gauges, wiper motor placement and modification, wireless horn button, electric side- view mirrors and more. Believe it or not, I WILL be using the original seat buckets, but I have mounted them to sliders. Also, for safety, ALL of the compartments on the sides are completely filled with high density foam, so they act like a bumper on a modern car. SAFETY FIRST.