Advice on gtm

[jameskean]

hi everyone been looking around the site and cars for a few mths now and gathering every bit of information i can on the gtm , my background in cars spans a few decades building and restoring cars of all ages , after many years im now embarking on building my kit car i have one problem
for as many years as i can remember i have always wanted a gt40 and that never changed till a few mths ago when i came across the gtm which has changed my mind .
for someone who has had nothing in his head but a gt40 for the last decade thats saying something i think its an amazing car , im just hearing so many stories regards the body work and the badly manufactured panels are they as bad as people are saying or is there an exaggeration here
im happy doing bodywork i have no problem spending mths getting it perfect , where i have a problem is whether the car is 25k or 50k there should be a certain quality that is standard throughout ie minimum panels actually fit properly , im hearing stories of doors sealing not well to wheel arches not lining up properly with wheels etc etc list goes on
to me i think the car is worth it im just at a crossroads of either getting a gtm or getting a gt40 from rcr im here as i really want to build the gtm but i need some advice regards the body-fit and has this been improved over the years i dont mind spending my time on it but is it worth the effort in the end as basically both cars in the end will cost about the same but the gt40 will take less of my time on body work and my head is saying why are you spending the same money on both cars but having to spend twice as long doing the body work because the cars manufacturer has not bothered to spend the time getting things to fit properly to at least a minimum standard

[rev2xs]

Hi James and welcome!

With regards to the body work, i think you are probably right in feeling that the GTM is harder than most. I built my Gen 1 GTM in Poland i would have to agree. Although some of the issues were sorted in the Gen 2, its still far from being considered an easy body work job.

My suggestion would be to watch the body work videos under a fellow forum members youtube account, Fastthings:

https://www.youtube.com/user/fastthings

He video documented practically everything he did for his Gen 2 GTM and the bodywork videos particularly, will give you a very good impression for what you'd be in for. He shows the issues he encountered and what he did to fix them. I think his videos are invaluable to anybody who is currently building a GTM let alone interested in buying one.

[jameskean]

hi rev2xs
thanks yes i have pretty much watch all his videos from start to finish and i certainly think the bodywork is an issue funnily enough i actually like doing body work so im not so much hesitant about the work involved just the overall build quality of the body work wish i could see a gtm first hand but i dont think there are any where i stay in Dubai im from Scotland moved over here for business 8 years ago

[rev2xs]

Yes i see what you mean

With regards to the body work finished product quality, it really does depend on the builder and their back pocket. I dont know of anyone really who built a GTM and left the body as delivered from FFR. Unless its a race car and not road registered. But a vast, vast majority of finished cars will have the body tweaked and pampered to get a much better finished product than whats delivered from FFR. So it might give you a false impression. The best thing to do would be to see a raw kit which hasnt been started as yet, then inspect the body.

I havent heard of anybody in Dubai with a GTM, although i could be wrong. Here's a map of GTM owners around the world, not sure if it has been recently updated though

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?m...DY1-lDo4ST25yI

[VRaptor SpeedWorks, LLC]

Not sure if this will make things clearer or less clear?......If you're talking about the quality of the body on the GTM....as in a good gelcoat and fiberglass layup to make a good, strong body....I would say there are not many issues there. The body is well made quality-wise. I will say that it does seem that one of the things that FFR has gotten better at is getting the individual mould pieces to match up.....for example the hood is a 5 piece mould and on the Gen I cars, a lot of times the individual mould pieces were not lined up very well to each other when the hood was made, so all of the mis-matched surfaces had to be bodyworked out. Those issues have improved quite a bit on later kits.

The issues with the body is how all of the body pieces fit together with each other. The doors are sometimes not too bad, and sometimes not that great as far as the B-pillar of the door matching the body. The way the front of the door fits the body is not great at all on the Gen II. The hood does not match the main body very well. The wheel arch of the hood does not match the wheel arch of the body and the rear edge of the hood that should match the area of the body at the front of the doors does not match. The hatch on the Gen II cars ...some seem to fit pretty well while others it seems that no matter what you do, it's difficult to get the rear edge of the hatch to match the contour of the body. The hatch glass does not fit into the opening in the body, so the body needs to be modified to get the glass to fit down into the body without making contact every time you open and close the hatch. If you enjoy cutting and bonding and using fiberglass and resin to "move" things where they need to be to match mating panels, then this shouldn't be a deal-breaker for you.

[rev2xs]

I agree Shane, overall the body is good quality with regards to glass laminate. What i was meaning was exactly what you said, with regards to fitment out of the box.

Having said that, there was a few areas around my kit where the body was paper thin and i had accidently poked my finger through (in my doors and headlights). But again, by no means a deal breaker. Easy fix, simply feather and add glass. 10 min job really..

[jameskean]

thanxs everyone for your input much appreciated i think i will go for the gtm there seems to be a good amount of helpful advice here and genuine enthusiasts whats a few extra hrs of body work when you consider the end result now need to get back to more home work and start getting things together will see all of you soon

[tucker298]

Welcome to the madness jameskean!

[Taz Rules]

I wish I could join you in having a build of my own. Sigh. One day.
Fortunately I am already insane, so the process shouldn't make me any worse for wear.

I helped out with some bodywork on a Gen 1, but unfortunately life has gotten in the way and I haven't been able to go back in about a year. The nice thing about fiberglass is if you cut it too short, you can always add it back on. Have fun, do some cool mods that no one else has, and enjoy the company you will find on this board.