Part 2/1

In last months report, our Hudson Kindred Spirit had reached the rolling chassis stage. It's an encouraging milestone when you can wheel a kit car around the drive and put it under cover at night. Meantime, the last vestige of a rusty Renault 5 had finally been taken to a Council Compound skip and dirty days of destruction had given way to cleaner creativity Rescued running gear had been cleaned, painted and parts replaced. Rust and dust had been caked under the fingernails, encrusted arouna me nostrils, or merely trodden into the lounge carpet.

Last month we reported on the ease of building-up to date, especially fitting the repainted front wishbones to a Hudson pre-drilled chassis. Both the single seated Free Spirit and the tandem seated Kindred Spirit are excellent kits for first timers. With no doors to fit and bolt together body panels.easy building on a budget.

We also described how a torsion bar sprung swinging arm at the back had been converted into a coil-over-shocker rear suspension arrangement at the Norwich factory. Modifications had also been done to the steering column - all of which are included in the kit price of £1,450. (plus VAT). Incidentally, this outlay brings you nearly forty components as we've shown in the fact file at the end. It all adds up to a mighty cheap fun car offering performance at a premium.

Last month we connected the steering rack loosely so that the Kindred Spirit chassis could be wheeled into a garage at night. However, it's got to be removed later to provide unhindered access when the engine and gear box are lowered into place.

Before transplanting the engine, you should install the Hudson modified steering column and fit a support bracket and bush to the fire wall. Inevitably the steering sections follow a tortuous route between the wheel and the rack, and the kit includes a new section of Allegro this is componentry which was dutifully painted black to match the powder coated chassis.

Right: the steering rack is finally reinstated once the gearbox is In place

At this point we had to make a slight alteration to the angle of this support bra&et in order to match the sloping face of the fire wall. This was the first part which didn't fit exactly, although it's resolved in later kits. For the record, the Kinired Spirit shown here was the twenty fifth; but since its 1990 debut over fifty have already been supplied to UK buyers, and a dozen have gone to Germany.

It should be pointed out that a second point of support from the pedal box is lost during modifications because the steering column on a Hudson is (continued in part 2/2)