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It all started with a modified phase 1.5 which I bought off fellow RTOC member "Tank"
This was USC 2003 when he told me he was selling it. Here it is in the middle of the three.
I picked up the car and took it to my workshop under Wellington Barracks in London. (Opposite Buckingham Palace)
As soon as the door closed the stripping of the old and no longer needed parts began. I bought the car for £800 and sold the bits I removed for £860! Not a bad start to the project.
Next came the test fitting of the kit which I had bought the moulds for and had made by a boat builder who had some spare time and spare fibreglass.
I had picked up the bonnet and grill cheap as chips from other RTOC members and these also went on.
The wheels came from an Infamous red trophy 5 which was one of the original 3 and appeared on Top Gear with Clarkson taking the micky out of it.
The previous owner wrote it off by hitting a tractor hard enough to put the engine on the passenger seat. Unfortunately his wife was in there and she had substantial injuries. However, his loss was my gain.
Next came the repairs to the shell and cutting out of the rear arches to give plenty of clearance for the wheels.
Bumper mounts rear and front were done.
Sill needed a little loving to make sure it would stay strong as would be covered by the kit.
Then the arches were cut out.
You can see the pen line where the outside of the arch sits.
Next the wheels were test fitted. This pic shows just how far they sit out from the standard car.
Also in the pic is the rear light conversion which I had bought but once fitted didn't like so this was sold on again.
Some more of the high offset wheels. This also shows the de-locked doors I picked up on another cheap donor/breaker car. (There were 6 broken during the making of Phatty)
While the shell was away for paint I set about building the most blinging GT Turbo engine of it's day.
All new Std internals with a reground crank, K-Tec Cam, mildly ported (brand new) head and lightened flywheel went together with every part I could buy chromed (Early days of CGB everything started at 99p on EBay) Many bargains were had.
You can tell how long ago this was as Jay is now 13 and almost as tall as me! Initial heatshield was Kevlar but later I found a phase 1 metal one instead.
Also fitted a brand new wiring loom. I fitted a standard turbo until my second hand BB250 turned up.
This little beauty made a nice 186bhp at 16psi on the rollers.
As soon as the car was back we (Me, and a few GTT Friends, Big Dan C, Emily, Logg and Biggs.) rebuilt the car over a few days to get it ready for RTOC National Day 2005.
This meant fitting the hundreds of parts I had been collecting ready including silicone hoses, alloy hard pipe to intercooler, polished alloy strut brace, etc, etc, etc
This all culminated in 2nd in Show at the RTOC National Day and I was told I was only second as not all of my hoses were brand new and the winners were!
and that is the end of part 1 of the original build.
More to come in part 2.
When I built the car 1st time I was still serving in the REME. I was attached to the Irish Guards who were on Palace duty. We didn't use many Army vehicles so I used the workshop to build Phatty. ☺
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