Firstly i hope all the messages ive sent to all have arrived ok??If ive been gracious enough to send pics then please be as respectful and let me know they have arrived.

My gallardo replica build will be starting in the next few weeks,im going to show pics of the process that turns the mr2 spyder into the gallardo coupe.

What i have been doing is getting everything needed to complete the build before i start,i dont want to be trawling ebay ads looking for bits and bobs and just getting frustrated by the whole thing

My parts are now as follows,my gallardo kit,gallardo wheels,original windshield,oem lights,wheel adapters,some other oem coupe glass,and of course the base car a 02 tiptronic mr2 spyder,there is only one thing im waiting for and thats a set of coilovers ive purchased in the usa,as soon as they arrive i will begin the car strip followed by the re-body conversion,

A few issues i had concerns over,but ive now sorted in my own mind.namely: how to replace a strut in the event its needed,with the coupe roof conversion and using oem windshield the strut top mounts will effectivly be well inside the windshield,a custom dash exstension will cover them but for this im on my own,the kit maker doesnt offer any assistance in cutting the base cars in any way,they will sell you all the coupe grp parts but  fitting them is down to the builder,my plan is a dash exstension with x2 round speaker covers housed directly above the struts.in the event one or both need changing it should be very easy as looking down through the windshield should be an easy enough task to get a socket in there?,at least once the struts are unbolted they drop down and out so nothing will have to come upwards,other issue i have is door glass,for the coupe it has to be custom,i will be cutting my door tops as again per a dna 360/430 build,i have got a uk manufacturer ready to do the job as soon an i provide him with the metal pigs he needs to heat and bend the glass over,the process involves taking out the door glass as having a rigid plastic 3mm foam board template that fits the window mechanism ,once a proper mechanical fit has been sorted its then the roofline and door front and back to get correct,with the plastic window now fitting as it should ,the door templates have to be recreated in steel with the correct shape bent into them,a couple of steel strenthening struts tigged onto the rear of each pig to make sure they dont move or mishape  then off to the glass makers who lets the pre-cut and drilled  laminate glass bend under its own weight in a special furnace  while sittng on my steel pigs,"easy"!!!!!!,i will most probbably offer these for sale to other exactreplicas customers who decide a coupe is for them,there will some fussing to get it sorted but the only problem i see is finding time to get it all done fast enough!!!!!

I have secured a scrap mr-s which is a total non runner,it was a flood damaged car so no structural damage in any way,ive done this as i will use this car for all trial fits and when it comes time to cut the windshield off i will practise the dreaded deed on it first,at the end of the day its totally stripped but well worth the £250 ive paid for it just to get it right on the good car

Before i even start getting into the build i want to make it clear it wont be a full clone of a gallardo in the way experts like murcie-me has created with his amazing murcelago,there will be slight differances to the factory car,in the same way the dna range of cars are created,i make no secret or try to hide that fact,but the one thing i do know is this,it will be a beautiful lamborghini gallardo inspired car that will build very fast,require no stringent pre registration tests,it requires no mechanical expertise to complete,it will be buildable and usable in most countries around the world,so i hope you all like the way it looks!!

I will be uploading pics of my kit and other bits today/evening and will keep you all informed as it goes together.

Sounds impressive Alpina, particularly the door glass . I wouldn't have a clue how to start on that. Let us know how the windscreen cutting goes

BTW - I had the 2nd set of pics [the rear section] many thanks.

John.

You're doing a great job alpina..
Keep up the good work and can't wait to see your build diary.

Greetz,

as can be seen the kits been made to fit well and fast!!!!!!!!

glad to finally see some pics. looking forward to watching this build, good luck.

looks brilliant alpina. really wish i didnt sell my build slot now!

is that the windscreen from the coupe roof section in the background of the pics? can you email me any more pics you may have?

would be interesting to know if the lenses have been moulded and available with the kit, can brian or anyone confirm? and come one, lets see some pics of the coupe and lp parts!

the headlight buckets req the light units to be fitted,im using hella,total cost of 23 pounds for the pair,after all as ive stated my car will be built as cost effectivly as possible,the car will be on the road for well under 14k,any more on a replica of any kind is foolish"IMO"you will never get your money backwhen its time to sell,the clear lens tops for the headlight pods are simply a flat perspex top as per oem ,easy,cheap,and most importantly "affordable"if i get a broken headlight cover i wont be worrying thats another 1500 quid down the drain,thats for sure,
ref the roof yep thats the coupe roof conversion you can see,that will be shown in greater detail soon,the lp parts are really a oem lp front bumper which i own and has been tooled off,as soon as the front wings are sorted to match it and ive got the whole grp thing home i will post pics,dazm1050 thanks for your interest and im sure that your cravings will be answered through this thread,as ive stated in many pm,s to you and others ive made in which ive also included many pics not shown here i will help you all i can, and provide as much info as poss but lifes a two way street fella.
i have the complete standard front end with the rest of the kit at home but theres only so much you can fit into a pic frame,i notice the pic hardy shows the dummy caliper kit i placed infront of the rear lights!!!!
plenty more to come,im in touch with another exact gallardo builder who is doing the spyder but is doing the windshield move to make it right,it looks great but too many unanswered questions for me,i think if you want the spyder version then best leave it as it was designed
by brian and his guys.
Remember noone ever said you cant move or change anything its just not the kitmakers favourite idea

Finally ref the pms on the kit  "yep thats how it comes off the crate,no filler,no sanding and priming done to hide all the nastys,just simple straightforward grp parts,what a re-freshing change".......07707309256

murcie me,the pic of the door returns,

as you will see the part of the kit that actually fits against the car are squeeze moulded,its very strong but obviously compressed to allow for a good clean fit.

ref time taken i will keep you posted,im just waiting for the k sport coilovers i purchased on ebay to arrive from your country then i will start

the pannels i hope speak for themselves,as you see them are how they came off the pallet when delivered to me,

no matt primmer as is usually case with these re-body kits when supplied hiding any filler or nastys or ripples,just a nice set of strong straight ultra shinny pieces,the constrution is i think 3 layers of chop matt-one layer of woven cloth-then final layers of chopp matt ,the sandwich effect makes it very strong

what do you think of my idea of the scrap shell for practise????ref the time to fit the kit i can tell you i can offer the rear body/side skirts to the scrap car get them in position &  ready for bonding/fixing in 10 minuets,yep when the cars stripped and ready 10 mins will see it on and ready to be fixed,it utallises the rear engine bay moulding as one large mounting bracket so it cant misalign or be placed incorrectly,an easy operation by anyones standards,the sills are the same,only one place they can fit as per dna 360 etc

i did have a chat a while ago with brian who indicated you yourself may well take this thing stateside one day???is that correct?

again when built it will never be anything like your fabulous mercie but it will be a very nice affordable/builable/usable car,here in europe the trend towards kits that fit cars,and not making a car fit a kit is obvious "IMO" thats why so many seem to be completed these days

thanks jon