From the Ashes a Sprint is Reborn!

[gmsclassics]

Thought you guys might like to see the results of many hours of toil following that reasonably spectacular crash I had back on 24 Jan

New bodysheel - same colour. Only panel salvageable from the old car was the bootlid so that is on the 'new' car to maintain a bit of continuity
New rollcage (somewhat mor extensive than before)
Repaired seat
New belts, new helmet and this time a neckbrace.
Apart from new tyres, running gear, interior, electrics all transferred to the new shell

A slightly new look with the stripes - pinched the idea from one of the Sprint brochures but as the shell isn't white I had to be a bit inventive as red and blue wouldn't look good on a brown body. Red and orange seem to go well and are about as 70s as you can get.

Car is road legal and registered. First time on the track was last Sunday - same track as the crash - so first few laps were a bit hesitant on a certain corner and I found myself tapping the brakes for reassurance about 100metres in advance! By the end of the meeting and thanks to a couple of Escorts to chase / keep ahead of, I managed to beat my previous best time at the circuit by almost a full second.

Good to find that everything worked and all the nuts and bolts were still tight after the day and nothing was falling off.

Looking forward to more.

Geoff

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[mbellinger]

Fantastic Geoff, what a great outcome.

I well appreciate your trepidation at that certain corner. Your subsequent improved performance proves the validity of the theory that it is better to have something/one to chase.

Well done on your hard graft, the car is looking brilliant. The stripe combo is spot on.

[straylight]

agree with martin, the car is a credit to you and looks great. To be out around that track again slicing seconds of the lap times is excellent. Well done.

stu

[Andybrad]

Tht looks great, like the stripes. Looks like a serious cage! Looks like getting into the back will be tricky

[KWM338R]

Great job, the car looks fantastic, glad to hear it drives as well as it looks.

Cheers
Mark

[trackerjack]

Fan bloody tastic. good man.

[SPRINTPARTS]

Hi Geoff,

The car looks good. From personal experience I know the work involved in a rebuild like this is massive, good to see you back racing again. As a matter of interest, although it is the old car into a new body, does the new car feel any different to drive?

Mark

[DavePoth]

Looking good, great colour combo. One question from me though Geoff, since it gets asked from time to time - Did the MGF alloys bolt straight on, or are there some mods that need to be done?

[gmsclassics]

Mark

Mostly the same although we did try some different settings with caster and camber as well as higher rear tyre pressures to try to encourage less understeer into a couple of the tight infield corners. That did seem to work a bit better than before and may have impacted the lap times. With the 4 speed close ratio box I was having difficulty on those corners and needing a gear between first and second.

Rest of the car was just as though nothing had changed.

Dave

Basically they bolt straight on although I have much longer M12 wheel studs and nuts. A lot will depend on suspension stiffness and tyre width you use as to thickness of the spacers you will need. I think mine are about 8-15mm on each corner but I had to experiment to ensure tyres do not rub on the insides at the rear. Also had to roll the edges of the guards at the rear.

Geoff

[2eyes]

looks great,post when you are racing next time,would like to come and see car.

[gmsclassics]

Meetings for this season are:

Sun 12 Dec at Hampton Downs
weekend 15/16 Jan at Taupo
weekend 19/20 Feb at Pukekohe
weekend 19/20 March at Hampton Downs
Sat 7 May again at Hampton Downs

Look forward to meeting any Kiwi Dolomite / Sprint owners

Geoff