This FZ12 project is a massive leap forward from anything I’ve ever done before as it’s as close to a scratch build as I think was practical for us to attempt.  The reality is that the design and construction of the chassis we ended up purchasing is something we could have done ourselves,  same with the bodywork, however it would have cost quite a bit more and would have taken longer, so given the fact that we only really wanted a “base” to start with, something that we could develop into what we needed, this option was the most sensible choice.

One thing I never want our car to be called is a “kitcar” as it’s simply not a kitcar.   DDR do make what you could call a kitcar that looks the same as the GT8 base that we purchased, however it’s totally different under the skin, different chassis and uses either a Honda Integra or Toyota MR2 as the donor car.  There are a few completed MR2 based examples around including this one from my friend James in the UK if you want a comparison take a look here (http://miamigt4kitcar.blogspot.co.nz)

That said, our GT8 is supplied as literally nothing more than a chassis, windscreen and body.   It doesn’t even come with suspension arms, brakes etc. that was all purchased separately, it certainly doesn’t come with any instructions so I don’t even consider it a “kit”.

As mentioned, the suspension arms and drive hubs we’ve settled on are from a Corvette C5, as are the brakes.  Well the brakes are actually for a C5 Z06 model which is a big jump from the stock items, but for the C5 none the less.   The main reason to go with those is that they’re an easy fit to the existing chassis, are very light and there are plenty of options out there already to suit them as they’re a popular option when people are building scratch built cars.  We’ve also sourced all of the ABS pumps, electronics and wiring to match it as well as this helps with the LVVTA process to get the vehicle legal once we’re finished.   Since the brakes, suspension arms, ABS etc all come from the same model it means that it’s easier for them to certify and that makes our life easier too !

Over the coming posts we will modify both the chassis and the body to get us closer to what we need from the FZ12.   We’ll document all of that of course so you can follow our struggles and our successes.

There’s a newer entry in this story, please click here – FZ12 – Part 5

If you’ve missed the last part of our story then click here FZ12 – Part 3

or if you want to go right to the beginning then click here FZ12 – Part 1

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