TONY INGRAM HISTORIC RACING .....Fast7s@yahoo.commailto:fast7s@yahoo.com?subject=Home.htmlshapeimage_1_link_0
 
 

Since starting my own business back in 1983, Ginetta’s have had a part in my life.

I raced a G4 in 1984 and 1985 to drum up business for my newly formed competition engine company “Twincam Techniques” and from then on it seems there has always been a Ginetta around.


The G4 has been a real evergreen, I owned one for 14 years which feels an awful long time when I think about it.  However, there were a number of others G4’s in between, along with a couple of G12 and G15’s 

It appeared for a long time that the G4 was a forgotten car ... most of them relegated  to collecting dust in owners garages.  Over the last few years though they have come out of hiding, and are now pretty popular and pretty expensive too.

The G4 always felt to me like a 7 with a curvy body ... very similar in set up.  How could I resist including a page or two of the Ginetta projects I have done over the years. 

So enjoy a change of scenery within the following Ginetta Chronicles.

Tony

 
GINETTA CHRONICLES

                Tony racing his 1965 G4 at Snetterton Race Circuit, England

1985 Double Championship Winner with HSCC and 750 Motor Club.

From 15 races - 13 wins, one second and one third place.   12 Lap Records.

Tony racing his 1965 G4 in paint for the ’85 season

Snetterton, England

Donnington Park, England

Mallory Park, Leicestershire, England

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PROJECT - G4R RESTORATION click hereG4R_restoration.html

1965 G4 1500

I imported the 1965 G4 pictured below from Europe.  It had been very well restored and was still on it’s original frame.

Although it looked a picture, the handling i have to say, was terrible ...

The first project was to sort out the axle.  I removed the axle and stripped it ready for some major surgery.  Suspension pick-ups were removed and re-engineered as the ones fitted produced some very strange angles. Also i braced the axle, very important as the 3-link suspension system used on G4‘s puts a lot of stress into the axle, always leading to cracks in the housing and serious oil leaks.

The front suspension was still all standard and just needed new spring rates. Spax shock absorbers came on the car, these were cheap and cheerful but worked very well so i left them on. Front callipers were rebuilt and new discs fitted. I also added an anti-roll bar front and rear.

At this point i was very eager to get to the track to see how the new suspension set up worked. For the engine I opted to do the minimum needed as there is no race class here for a 1300cc  car. Eventually a 1500cc was intended to replace the 1300 unit, but for the time being I just needed the engine to be reliable so we could put some test and set up miles on the car.

I changed out the head gasket, and spent some time making accurate adjustments to re-jetting the Weber carbs, rocker adjustment, and ignition timing etc... all of which helped to squeeze out a few extra HP.

Changing to a high quality synthetic oil with lots of zinc is always a good insurance and well worth the extra cost.

Now with the suspension adjusted for a new set of Avon Formula Ford tires we were ready to go.


The following pictures tell the rest of story .....

1965 G4 RACE LOG    click here1965_G4_races.html
G12 RESTORATION STORY click hereG12_RESTORATION.html
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