5 Steps Forward, 4 Steps Back

Tuesday 22nd November
Today started with me drilling the bulkhead base holes and fixing in place with some self tapers, once this was complete I moved back to the side panels, I needed to finish folding the panel top over the chassis rail, make a couple of brackets for the nose cone and drill the holes for the front flexi brake pipes.

So I have now fitted the floor, side panels, tunnel, seat back panel and the bulkhead base, sounds quite good progress, anyway this is where the build takes 4 steps back, as out came the side panels, seat back tunnel and bulkhead base.


Front brake lines routed

I spent the remainder of the day drilling various holes and clipping in various pieces of fuel or brake pipe and trying to fathom out the loom.

For the front brake pipes I decided to work from the flexi pipes back towards the master cylinder, securing the pipes every 100mm, this proved to be pretty successful, with only a small adjustment required to allow the pipes to reach the master cylinder.

fuel and brake lines routed down the tunnel, loom sprawled across drivers floor

For the rear brake pipes I decided to work from the master cylinder towards the back of the vehicle approaching the tricky bend into the tunnel before running down the inside of the passenger side of the tunnel, again securing the brake pipes every 100mm.

As I am fitting a zetec engine I am running the fuel feed and return lines down the drivers side of the tunnel, again securing every 100mm.

I have decided to run the loom down the passenger side of the tunnel along with the brake line, but before I can clip the loom in place I need to drill and 50mm hole in the tunnel top so feed the loom through, the fuse box will be fitted on the rear of the bulkhead (under the dash) where it is safest from the elements.

Panels Panels Everywhere.....Cont......

Saturday 12th November

Since the last update the car has progressed along, the floor has been fully marked up and drilled with a layer of vinyl applied to the interior facing side. The floor has been riveted to the chassis around 3 sides of the floor (the 4th side will include the side panels) and the chassis turned the right way up.

Vinyled Floor

Riveting Stuff

Monday 21st November
Today my plan was to attack the seat back panel and continue with the fitting of the side panels.

The seat back panel required some fettling before I was happy with its fitment, unfortunately due to the tight fit I have managed to chip the powder coating on the chassis, nothing that can't be fixed though. The seat back panel is currently held in place by a few temporary fixings, the final fit will be much later in the build.

For the side panels I had to remove a section of material as the side panels fit both the aero-screen and classic striker, once the access material was removed attached the side panels (using the previously drilled underside fixings and a couple of clamps and set to work bending over the top of the panel over the chassis, temporarily securing with a couple of self tapping screws.

Seat pack panel, side panels and bulkhead base in place

The final job of the day was trimming and the bulkhead base panel and clamping in place along with a section of angle for the scuttle upright, I will mark up and drill these at a later date.

Panels, Panels Everywhere!

Saturday 29th October
So 1st task, fit the tunnel, this will be fitted temporarily for the time being, as the fuel and brake lines along with the loom need to be secured before the panels can be riveted in place, it is much easier to fit the tunnel while no other panels are fitted to the car.



Floor in Progress, tunnel panel can be seen

After a small bit of fettling of the panels I was happy with the fit of the tunnel, time to mark up and drill, I have held the tunnel in place for the time being with a few self taping screws.

With the tunnel in place the chassis had to be turned upside down so the floor could be fitted, the floor comes in two pieces, passenger and driver side, the floor did not require and trimming, so I held in place with a few clamps and marked it up, drilled and held secured with a few self tapers, I will rivet the floor once I have applied some black vinyl to the interior side of the floor to give it a nice finish.

With 50% of the drivers floor fitted and the passenger floor still to mark an and drill I thought I would take a look at another stage of the build.


Side Panel clamped in place





I decided to line up the side panel to get an idea of how it fits to the car and understand its fixing points and what lies ahead, the panel supplied is designed to fit both the classic striker and the the aeroscreen model (which I have) so a small amount of triming is required but nothing to major, fitting the side will be a task for another day

The Exchange

Saturday 15th October

So the hood has departed (hopefully the new owner is enjoying), some four weeks ago I exchanged the proceeds from the sale for the new project.

Anna and my dad accompanied me on the road trip to Hereford to help me collect the Kit, we set off early doors in our wonderful hire van (no working stereo!!)

Left: Blue Demo Striker. Right: Supercharged Striker

Upon arrival we were greeted by Jeremy and Martin from Raw, I took the opportunity to look further around the cars and gain as many build tips and as much knowledge from Martin as possible.

Striker Dash with fitted Zetec Engine in the background

Jeremy helped us out with the wrapping up of aluminium body panels and loading of the van and in no time at all we were on our way back home.

Once home, van unloaded and returned, I took a few minutes inspecting the various components I had just picked up........roll on the build.

Where the 'Supposed Magic' will happen

Bye Bye Robin Hood

Sunday, 11th September 2011

In order to allow the Striker build to happen, I have had to sell my Robin Hood Sub-K.

 The car took 5 years of blood (lots of) and sweat to build and only 30 mins to go.

Hopefully the new owner will enjoy the car.

Bye Bye Hood

Workshop Visit and Track Day

Friday, 9th September 2011

I made the 125 mile journey to Raw's base in Hereford along with my mate Aidan (who I have managed to convert to the Kit Car Scene) to look around their workshop and take a test drive of the Striker.

The guys at Raw were very welcoming and helpful and most importantly open to questions (no matter how daft) which was good, as I had around 50 of them that I had noted down.

2litre 150bhp zetec powerplant

After a chat and a nose around the workshop I got to take out the Striker Demo Car. This particular car was based on their core Striker kit, with a 2 litre 150bhp zetec under the hood running an Omex 600 ECU system.


I know the Striker is a compact, lightweight Lotus 7 inspired car but it did not dawn on me quite how much smaller it is, especially when compared to my rather roomy Robin Hood Sub-K until I jumped into the Driver's Seat. This is not a problem though, once strapped in I felt very secure and space wasn't an issue. In fact I had to have a pad behind me in order to reach the pedals sufficiently. I took the car for a quick blast down the road, what a joy it was to drive great fun, plenty of power and responsive, shame I was unable to take it out for longer.

Pretty in Pink

Once back at base, Callum from Raw took me out in a 1.6 litre Toyota Powered Striker, but this one was a supercharged machine developing some 220bhp, all I can say is this car is seriously quick.

After a very useful and enjoyable couple of hours we headed on our way.

Saturday, 10th September 2011

Callum from Raw had kindly invited me to a Track Day at Llandow Circuit. After attending a briefing at 9am the Track was opened up for some adrenaline fuelled tyre screeching fun.

High-Speed passenger ride

I was luckily enough to have around 15 high speed laps as a passenger and then after lunch I got to pilot the car around the Track for some not so high speed laps, anyway 10 laps of great fun, I could have easily kept going.

Exiting the pits

Shame I coundn't go on

I managed to hop out the car before the heavens opened and on that note decided to call it a day.

Many Thanks to Callum and Raw for a great couple of days.