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.