Radiator Brackets

Not much progress over the Christmas period other than fitting the radiator brackets fabricated by GBS (apparently the new cars have these fitted).
I have laid out the wiring harness but that causes issues with the routing, bulkhead penatrations etc.

Water Jacket (Raceline)

Having bolted the engine mounts to the chassis the next job was to remove the redundant themostat housing at the back of the engine.

The redundant thermostat was replaved with the Raceline water jacket (which includes the thernostat). The raceline unit moves the thermostat from the rear towards the front of the engine which is more suited to the in-line application a required in the GBS Zero.

Engine fitted

After much preparation I took the plunge and the engine was offered up as for a trial fit .............and it did!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Points to note.
1. Remove the inlet manifold
2. Remove the oil filter
3. Fit the drive shaft as the engine is lowered in.
I must thank my good lady (Diane) for her help guiding the gearbox in and operating the engine crane.

All assembled ready to install.

Well is all bolted up ready to be installed........

I recieved my new starter motor from Rotating Electrix [part no S0707N] via e-bay.


Progress at the weekend was delayed due to an annual comitment - don't worry it was Mrs H sitting on Santa's knee. Ho Ho ho ..... etc.

Engine Mounts

With the gear box installed it was time for the fitting of the engine mounts.

The right hand side (drivers side) was straight forward, however the left side (passenger side) required a lug to be cut off and ground flat -see picture.


This side also required spacers to be made. The right hand side engine mount sits further forward than the left hand, which looks a bit strange, but there are no other bolt holes that could be used.

Fitting the Bell housing to type 9 Gearbox

The modified bell housing is attached to the type 9 gearbox (12mm bolts) the replacement gasket was supplied by BGH Geartech.

The shortened gear lever was fitted (8mm bolts)


The thrust bearing was changed from the standard sierra unit for a capri unit (part no CCT133) based on the information supplied on RHOCAR forum.

Bell Housing Modification

After a couple of weeks riding dirt bikes round the jungles of Cambodia I finally got back to the build.
The amount of metal to be removed was calculated by measuring distance from the gearbox mounting and measuring forward to the bell housing and taking the tunnel widths. Having marked out the dimensions with the dremel, I dedcided to make the cut by hand with a hacksaw rather than using the angle grinder.