Lobsters GTL - The story so far...

[Lobster]

Back in April I bought this

The general idea was to take it to Thenay but for a great many reasons that didn't happen.

Its a very, very solid GTL thats had all the welding done and really just needs a little bit of work to make it really nice. Its also a very tidy, original car with an immaculate interior so really I couldn't say no to it. But, like any car that has been standing a while, regular use has brought up a few minor issues.

Day 1 -

Its hard to form a bond with a car when it lets you down so early into ownership. Dieing on the M6 in heavy rain really makes you wonder what on earth you have done. Fortunately a slack fanbelt and battery terminals upside down were easily sorted

First jobs were cosmetic ones - paint the wheels, order the correct paint for the bumpers and get polishing!

Hey presto -

Pretty happy with the result if I'm honest. Wheels would stand another do as it was a bit of a quick and dirty job just to tidy them up but then as I have a set of Fergats with new Pirellis sat in the garage then on they went -

 

[Lobster]

Now, as much as I think the fergat wheels look great, with 175 tyres they can rub a bit. This wasn't helped by tired rear dampers so the fergats came off and back on went the standard steels complete with cracked and 1997 dated 135 tyres.

Fortunately eBay.fr sorted out some new deCarbons for €52

In the meantime as we had a quiet day at work, Mrs L and I went to Haworth for a couple of hours and then to the village of Stanbury for lunch

DeCarbons were kind enough to arrive this morning as well, so after a pleasant pub lunch I flung them on.

Only had a short test drive afterwards but they seem ok around corners but a little hard and bouncy over the bumpy stuff. Seem ok though so maybe it's just me?

So what else needs doing? I picked up a new front grill at Thenay and new n/s/f wing to replace the existing slightly frilly one. Also on the agenda are fitting the Hennessey Hot Up Kit that I acquired a few weeks back, an F6 front anti roll bar and probably a new exhaust - current one sits at a few odd angles thus giving the rubber mounts extra work and the occasional clonk as it contacts something it shouldn't.

Most immediately though, I need to sort the rear brakes. They have always been a little prone to locking under moderate / heavy braking so I cleaned them up, checked the cylinders and what have you and everything seemed fine.

But still they are doing it and if anything seemed to have got worse. There is also about 100 miles of handbrake travel so that needs looking at before we go much further.

 

[Firstandbest]

Purvs Corner? LOL (top pic)!

 

[alewis]

Hi,
Any news on the dampers - I'm tempted to get some but am wary from your comment above about ride quality

Many thanks,
Andrew

 

[Lobster]

Hi,
Any news on the dampers - I'm tempted to get some but am wary from your comment above about ride quality

Yep, they are fine - buy with confidence!


Once I refitted them properly then they seem to be working fine. Noticeably better than the old Monroes anyway although that was to be expected. Have to say I'm happy with them so will order some for the front at some point.

With that bit of success I decided to give them a test. I needed to go to deepest, darkest Yorkshire to pick up some stock so rather than getting the Sprinter out I went R4ing. New shocks seemed very happy. Did have a slight rubbing from one tyre but then it does have 175s on...

 

[Rich]

You've done an amazing job on this car, I still have the ebay pics from when it was in the scarp yard, fantastic, well done

 

[Azazello]

On my documents it is written I can wear only 135 and 145 tyres. Here in Italy is definitely illegal to run in a r4 with 175... And the car I think would be less brilliant and the steering wheel hard to turn...
That wheels are beautiful, I am waiting for mine to be done...... Have you used a special mask to paint the black pattern? Just masked with tape (d'oh, it seems a lot of work...)? I was thinking of painting them free hand with a little brush...

 

[Bobble]

Looks in really good condition, you must be very pleased with it.
I to bought one in April nearly the same " coincidence " been standing in a garage for over 5 years but owned by the same person for 18 years, so had been previously well maintained, but as with standing things needed to be replaced so i did all the necessary items for the trip to Thenay, went to Thenay came back then went to Dundee, Plymouth and Bromley " in Kent " total of 3020 miles and not a problem " well noticed a nearly shredded fan belt " what more can you say about reliability, but the wheels really need painting.

 

[Lobster]

On my documents it is written I can wear only 135 and 145 tyres. Here in Italy is definitely illegal to run in a r4 with 175... And the car I think would be less brilliant and the steering wheel hard to turn...
That wheels are beautiful, I am waiting for mine to be done...... Have you used a special mask to paint the black pattern? Just masked with tape (d'oh, it seems a lot of work...)? I was thinking of painting them free hand with a little brush...

175s don't make that much difference to the steering really, certainly no heavier. Didn't paint the wheels myself , bought them off a chap who thought they would fit his R12 and he painted them. All I have done is laquer them to protect the paint.

I painted a set previously and used tape, it does take a while to do!

 

[Lobster]

You've done an amazing job on this car, I still have the ebay pics from when it was in the scarp yard, fantastic, well done

:eek: You've seen something I haven't then! PM on its way...

 

[pepper]

Bobbles car just needs a nice new rear number plate to tidy the back up and of course the wheels painting and it will look fantastic too!

Lobster that really does look good, I really will have to get a set of those wheels for my 4!

 

[Lobster]

Its amazing how much just painting the wheels makes the whole car look better!

I'm pretty chuffed with this one gotta say. The wheels do rub on occasion but then because they look so good they are staying on.

 

[alewis]

On my car and Van I found the fuel breather pipe likes to rub on the wheel, decided it was wise to cable tie it (with a spacer) to the filler pipe!

Just thinking with the bigger tyres its probably worse !

 

[pepper]

Its amazing how much just painting the wheels makes the whole car look better!

I'm pretty chuffed with this one gotta say. The wheels do rub on occasion but then because they look so good they are staying on.

Dagnabbits, I thought you were just about to say I could have them as they were annoying you so much

 

[Bobble]

I think Lobster's looks really good with those wheels and the paintwork is better than mine but maybe after washing and a polish might liven it up a bit " wheels painted, good point about the number plate pepper " will post a picture when done also needs a new offside wing.
Lobster's looks really good under the bonnet to.

 

[Lobster]

Wouldn't be so sure that the paint is better than yours Bobble, just that I've polished it almost to death to make it shine! Theres quite a bit of paint that could be done if I wanted to make it perfect but for the moment a n/s/f wing is the only real issue.

 

[alewis]

As long as the paint is all there it should come up nice !

I had to repaint mine as it had been polished too much in the past leaving just primer !!

(Which had then been painted over with household gloss - not the best of looks)

 

[Rich]

:eek: You've seen something I haven't then! PM on its way...

Replied David, with pics, great car

 

[Lobster]

About time we had an update I think.

Not much happened really. In the build up to Christmas work keeps me extra busy so this has sat in the corner at Castle Lobster under a pile of boxes. Had a bit of spare time so decided that due to the Kangoo eating a turbo and being a car short I'd get the R4 out and use it a bit.

Mechanic kitty gave it a quick once over and pronounced himself satisfied

Aim now is to get a bit of mileage done and then into the bodyshop for a new wing, old one isn't that bad but as I have a new one sat here....

 

[jjad]

Did your mechanic comment on the summer setting for the air intake!?

Or is it warm enough already in sunny Lancashire?

Car looks great by the way