This web page is about my 1991 Ginetta G32 sports car.
For those who don’t know too much about the Ginetta G32 its a small mid engine coupe made by Ginetta cars which back then was then based in Scunthorpe, UK
A lot of components used on the car were made by Ford, including the 1.6 litre engine as found in the Escort XR3i
The doors, windscreen and parts of the interior were the same as the Ford Fiesta.
Ginetta also made a 1.9 litre version as well as a rarer turbo and convertible.
My G32 is not in bad condition considering its now 20+ years old but it does need a few jobs doing which I plan to document on this site.
My aim here is not to turn this car into a concourse show winner (I Don’t have the time, the money or to be honest the ability for that!) I just want to make it a reliable and usable sports car.
The photos above were taken in July 2011. It still looks pretty much as it did when I bought it in January. (apart from a bit dirtier)
I’ve now done around 2500 miles in her with no problems. Most of the work so far has been routine servicing and maintenance.
The rear valance could do with a repaint (after a good clean!) and I may fit a more sporty looking tale pipe.
Here is a list of the work I’ve done and plan to do over the summer.
Replace the rear discs and fit greenstuff pads.
Replace the air filter .
Change the Oil.
Fit some working fog and driving lights.
Fit a working Radio!
Fix the central locking.
Replace the timing belt.
Find the cause of the slight steering wheel wobble at around 50 mph.
Replace the front brake pads with greenstuff pads.
Drain and replace the brake fluid, bleed system etc.
Drain and replace the coolent.
Treat the rust starting on the door bottoms.
Fix the slightly slow right headlamp lifter.
Generally tidy up the wiring (especially under the dash) although everything works it looks a bit of a mess... I think all of the previous owners must have fitted 5 different radios each!
Stop water leaking onto the engine when opening the boot.
Repaint some small areas on the front underside of the chassis where the galv has been scratched off.
I’m sure I will add more jobs to the list as I find them!
Engine. Ford 1.6 litre CVH with Bosch K-jetronic mechanical fuel injection.
Its a tight fit but most routine jobs can be done without too many problems.
I think I have found the sauce of the steering wheel vibration - the front nearside wheel bearing was loose!
Tightened the hub nuts and re bashed the end of the nut to stop it moving again..
I had a good look around while under here and can’t see any other problems. The GAZ adjustable shocks have picked up a lot of dirt in the threads and would need to be cleaned before ever being adjusted.
Front nearside hub. Note the 20mm wide spacers needed to fit the Peugeot wheels! The front discs look quite rusty on the edges but are otherwise ok and not badly worn.
I was going to go for a drive to see if this has stopped the steering wheel wobble but then I spotted this...
A big crack in the exhaust!
Looks like I caught it just in time as it fell apart when removing it! I thought it has sounded a bit louder than usual the last few days...
It only took 5 minutes to take off but I will have to take it to work to get it welded back together again.
Got the exhaust welded back together and had a stainless steel bracing bar put in to strengthen it.
While it was off I took the time to paint the mild steel part with some halfords heat resistant paint and convert the end to twin tale pipes.
Update 20/11/11 The ‘heat resistant’ paint has now all melted off the downpipe, oh well...
I had to cut some more of the fibreglass valance away to fit the “new” exhaust.
Now I just need to tidy up the cut-out.
(the exhaust will sit slightly higher when I fit a less worn out rubber hanger)
The steering wheel wobble hasn’t quite gone away all together but its now about 90% better than it was.
I don’t think you would notice while driving now unless you were really trying hard to feel it - so I’m calling to fixed!
The G32s body is mainly fibreglass so of course is it does not rust and on later cars the chassis is galvanized. The main thing to worry about corrosion wise are the steel doors.
Engine bay.
Could do with a bit of a clean and tidy up.
Been busy at work so not done much in the last few weeks....
Apart from take it to get MOT’d.
This was the first MOT test since owning the car so I was not 100% sure it would pass first time..
It failed on the Handbrake efficiency and on the Headlights which “Failed to lift”
It passed the next day after having the handbrake adjusted and showing the tester the separate switch to raise the lights! (I’ll remember to mention it next time!)
The heater control has been stuck on the cold setting for a while now and I really need the heater as I’m going to be using the car through winter.
The first job was to remove the centre console fascia to have a look...
Luckily the cable had come loose from the heater control end rather than the heater its self so it was quite easy to route the whole lot outside of the dashboard.
just pushed the cable back into the plastic mounting and made a small metal wedge to help hold the cable in place.
It may not be a permanent fix but at least I now have nice warm air when needed and if it does go again I know its not a big job.
I was going around a traffic island when my G32 developed rear wheel steering!
The tie rod had come off the lower wishbone but I was (very carefully) able to get the last ½ a mile to work.
The nut must have come loose and the bolt worked its way out of the hole. Luckily the bolt was still in the tie rod so I just had to find a new nut.
I don’t think it did the drive shaft any harm as of course its designed to steer when fitted to the FWD Escort!
its a good thing I wasn’t going very fast!
I’ve now checked the other side to make sure that is tight!
