New member

[joost van dien]

Hello Gilbern enthusiasts,

I am Joost van Diën from the Netherlands. I am in the process of restoring my dads (Cor van Diën, he is a GOC member) Gilbern Invader MK3, its LH003 (original Dutch left hand drive car). The Gilbern was hit from the side by a driver who wasn't paying much attention on the road. The right side wheel arches were hanging off and the right hand door was cracked. After the incident my dad got the idea to not only repair the car but restore it to former glory.

My dad asked me to do the body and most of the chassis work. I drive a Mini Marcos mk3 semi daily (for local drives, meetings and the like), and have restored another Mini Marcos mk3 nut and bolt, that gave me some Fiberglass and mechanic stills. I hope to get some information about certain technical details.
For instance;
- Is the chassis laminated to the body (like tvr grantura's) or bolted?
- Do I need to grind certain body parts open in order to get the chassis removed?
I like this car more and more and I really like the idea to get the car in perfect condition. And I hope to joint some GOC meetings in the near future.


Best regards,

Joost van Diën

Restored car


Daily run around

[tsetse1986]

Hello Joost,

A warm welcome to the Gilbern Forum. That's a fantastic job you have done on your Marcos. Your Invader is lucky to have you!

I'm afraid I don't know much about Invaders, I have a GT myself. If it's anything like the GT, the body will be riveted to the chassis in sections which are then fibreglassed together making removing the whole body from the chassis difficult. I would advise buying the Gilbern CD compendium of technical information and "Rarebit" magazines that is available from the club. This contains among many other useful things, advice on how to remove the fibreglass floor to expose the chassis for repair of replacement. Phil Ivimey is an expert on this and can be contacted through the club.

Regards,
Tim