Project Sebring GT Spyder
Well gang, it's time it introduce my latest project. I've been looking forward to this for quite some time, but other projects kept getting in the way. This car is a Sebring 5000 kit car from the late 80's. They were copies of the "Big" Austin Healey 3000 sports cars of the 60's.
Before I get started with the actual build stuff here's a little history on me, the car and the "adventure" my son and I had getting it home.
I got to drive my first original Healey 3000 when I was 16 years old (I'm in my 50's now). To a kid that had only driven pickups and large under-powered sedans, that big Healey was a supercar. I've had a soft spot for British sports cars ever since (especially big Healeys). I would have bought one, but just never could seem to find a car that was both affordable and not rusted beyond practical. When I first discovered the Classic Roadsters Sebring back the 80's, I wanted one, but by that time family responsibilities meant no way that was going to happen either. By the time I could afford it in the 90's, I had gotten interested in street rods. I built a 46 Ford coupe so I could haul the kids around and the Sebring was pretty much forgotten. I built a T Bucket that I got on the road in 08.
Fast forward to 2013. After spending 20 years fooling with street rods, I got the itch for something different. I looked at Cobra kits (mainly Factory Five) and while I love the styling, the cars I rode in were just not what I wanted. I was wanting something that my wife and I could travel cross country in. It had to be powerful and drive good. We also wanted to have a reasonable amount of room, for both us and a suitcase or two. The Cobras certainly fit the first requirements, but are sorely lacking in the room department. While we didn't need a true convertible, we wanted a functional top that didn't take 30 minutes to assemble. I looked at several late model convertibles, including Mustangs, Jags, and Mercedes, but they didn't do anything for me. Most of the affordable ones were high mileage and that worried me. Jags and Mercs are not exactly cheap to repair. The FF Cobras would take somewhere around 30 grand or more to finish and I didn't want to spend that much.
I stumbled across a Saxon (cousin to the Sebring) on Craigslist and all those Healey memories came back. The car seemed to fit our requirements, too. Trouble was the seller didn't have a clear title, so I passed on that one. Next came a Sebring 5000 on EBAY. The car was in Florida which was in reasonable driving distance for me. For various reasons, I wasn't able to bid on it. It didn't sell, so I contacted the seller and made an offer. He accepted it and my son and I were off the Florida.
Just a few little repairs were needed
Over the next few weeks, I went over the car closely and drove it as much as I could. I spent a lot of time repairing problems.
The distributor that came on the engine was intended for computer control and had no advance mechanism. I swapped it for another advance type dist. that I had. Getting functioning mechanical and vacuum advance on the engine really woke up it's performance and fuel mileage. I also rebuilt the Quadrajet carb, repaired the electric choke and replaced the stock EGR intake manifold with an Edelbrock Performer that I had stuck under a bench.
The valve seals had hardened over the years and the engine started smoking pretty bad when it was started. I replaced those on the car and fixed the leaking valve covers at the same time.
These few things had the old motor purring like a kitten. I managed to get it up to 20+ MPG. That was up from about 10 to start with.
The engine driven fan wasn't doing much so it went away. There was no fan shroud and it was several inches away from the radiator. The tiny 10" electric fan that was in front of the rad was pretty much useless. I had a cheapo 16" electric puller fan hanging on the wall, so I threw that on. After playing around with the vacuum advance, it would keep the temp under control pretty well.
I also changed the worn out front shocks out for some decent Monroes that I had laying around. Yeah, I collect stuff!
The fuel sender wasn't working, so I pulled the tank and repaired it. Replacement senders for the Chevette tank are not available, but I was able to resolder a connection and get the original unit working.
The original glass type fuse block was badly deteriorated, so I replaced it with a generic blade type piece from the local parts house.
Lastly, I replaced the broken drivers door window and all the felt strips and channels.
OK, so where is this going?
I was lucky to be able to spend several months driving the car. I loved the interior room and the styling. It attracts a lot of attention every where you go, but there were some things I wanted to change. I wanted the original Healey type hood with the scoop and I wanted a chrome grille. Both of these were options when the kits were new.
It drove OK, but I wanted better handling. There was a lot of body roll and understeer. The chassis seems to flex a lot, too. I'll be trying to add some torsional strength, if possible.
I also wanted more power. The last few years I've been driving a 1700 lb T Bucket with about 350 HP at the crank. I've gotten used to that performance and wanted more out of the Sebring. Of course if I add more power, I'm going to have to improve traction. It won't handle what's in it now.
I also hated the wheels that came on the car. I spent months searching for wheels that would fit, but there was no way to fit wheels that I like. I wanted wheels with some lip in the front and there were just none available that fit. The body is just not wide even with the flared fenders. I have a plan to correct that, but it's radical.
I'll be changing the entire rear suspension. Plans are for either a torque arm or a 3 link. I'm also going to redo the front suspension. Coil overs at all 4 corners. It'll be getting 4 wheel discs, too.
There are a few other things, but I'll get into them later. My vision for this car is for what the Europeans would call a GT (Grand Touring)car. That would roughly be a high speed touring car, not a racer and because it's a roadster, I might as well add Spyder to the name.
So let's officially kick off Project Sebring GT Spyder!
I've actually been working on the car for a couple of weeks. I'll be posting more shortly with pics.