Update 2:
Well I thought it was about time to give a bit of an update on the new car. Given the job of sorting out the running of the Ford Duratec the build has taken a bit of a back seat.
The chassis has come back from paint and I have started to do some fit up.
The chassis has been painted in Lamborghini Pearl Yellow which is on the current Lamborghini Gallardo. The Lotus stripe is in gloss black and Pearl Yamaha White. Unfortunately because of the light today and it being overcast you dont get a very good idea but the paint work looks exceptional. At present most of the 9 new Birkins built in Adelaide this year have been painted by Mel at Edwardston Crash. I cannot recommend these guys highly enough. Paint is 2 pack Spies Hecker. Birkin carbon fibre gaurds fitted front and back and Newton aero filler has been fitted at the rear.
The factory supplied number plate light was modified slightly to fit in the hole used by the spare wheel carrier which I am not going to put on this car. At the moment the outside is chrome but this will be replaced with carbon to match the gaurds. Diffuser end plates are painted in gloss black.
My last car had the standard black VDO vision series gauges but this time I have opted for Autometer Pro Comp Ultralite gauges in metric which look really nice on the carbon dash. I really like the look of these gauges but I am in two minds about wether or not to fit an aim or race technology digital dash. There is a massive price difference between these and the autometer gauges.
Again the light is not the best here but photo shows scuttle with painted front in gloss black. I have removed the aliminium scuttle top in the engine bay to give me plenty of room to work out the pedal set up for the fly by wire and I will probably replace this and the front scuttle face with carbon fibre as well. Also shown is the Birkin carbon fibre transmission tunnel. I intend to turn up a matching hand brake lever and shift knob on the lathe to match the finish on the autometer gauges.
Pic shows the Birkin Duratec bellhousing and clutch throw out assembly. Quite a nice bit of equipment and well finished. Bellhousing is quite light at just over 4 kilos. I have my Raceline Duratec wet sump and water rail on the way and should be here in the next couple of days.
Last pic depicts inside the rear end of the S3 IRS. Shortly I will connect up the hand brake assembly and fit the body wiring loom. I also intend to make up a full diffuser undertray
