I thought I would share what I ending up buying from RCR and which powertrain components I opted for. Hoping there will be no regrets. My build is intended to look period correct, but I am not going to sweat the details. It will primarily be driven on the street, with occasional track days. I live about 45 minutes from the Circuit of the Americas here in Austin Texas, so hope to have some fun there. I will also likely get stuck in traffic on a hot summer day, so I have to take that into account.
From RCR I have ordered the following:
Deluxe Plus Kit
MkI Tail
+2 Flares (Installed). Comes with 2" longer control arms which should improve handling and I like the curvaceous look.
Both a Dual and Single Nostril Panel. I like the look of the Dual, but the Single is supposed to help keep the front end planted at high speed and provide better cooling.
Door Boxes. Not sure how these will work with the intrusion protection cross members I intend to put in the doors.
6-Point Track Day Cage. No track days without it and it provides a grab handle when entering/exiting the car.
Window Hardware
Hartwell Style Latches. RCR recently started making these inhouse. They are gorgeous (and not inexpensive)
Adjustable Pedal Slider.
Front Air Lift Kit. There are speed bumps in my neighborhood. I will also be visiting my daughter in Houston (the streets there are horrible).
Polished Headers (Bundle of Snakes).
I did not opt for RCR to set the body. After reading
Tom's build log, I feel up to the challenge of fitting the body. I may come to regret this decision.
I opted not to get the Gurney Bubble as I am 5'8". If I partner up with someone tall for a rally, I will do like Chuck and make it so the
seatback toggles back and down.
I also opted not to get the eyebrows. Instead I plan to install
door keepers like the ones Tom fashioned.
I sent Fran an email asking how much a second set of doors costs. I might cut the window frames off so I have the option for a Targa / T-Top on nice days.
For the powertrain, as noted back in July, I am going with the Quaife Transaxle, Safir Clutch Package, and a Prestige Motors engine. For the engine, I originally planned on getting a 302 stroked to 347, but then after chatting with Howard John, I decided on an internally balanced engine. Prestige only offers the internally balanced option on 302s that are stroked to 363. The 363 also has 4-bolt mains (in my case a Dart block). The rational for the internally balanced engine is that they do much better on track because they can handle extended periods of high RPMs better than externally balanced engines. The Quaife is rated to 500 HP, and my engine dynoed at 533 HP, but it is my understanding that the half shafts and stub axles are likely to fail before the transaxle so no worries. The torque curve is also more robust on the 363 than the 347, so if/when I upgrade to an 8-stack, the dreaded drop off at 2,900 to 3,000 rpm will be minimized.
For those not familiar with the Quaife, they have an ATB differential, which from what I understand is better than an LSD. BTW, Quaife sells the ATB for installation in other transaxles. The Quaife costs about the same as Porsche or Audi options and has some significant benefits such as looking very much like the original ZF boxes, it is shorter so fits without having to move the engine forward and the stub axle outputs are lower so that they are more inline with the wheels. It also has more desirable gearing, at least for how I plan to drive the car. The table below shows the MPH for each gear at a given RPM with a 3.5 final drive ratio and 26.6" diameter Avons. Note that 2,500 RPM results in about 76 MPH, just right for hiqhway cruising. Quaife also offers a 3.75 final drive for higher reving engines. I used the gear ratio calculator on
Dragtimes.com to generate this table.
RPM | 1st Gear | 2nd Gear | 3rd Gear | 4th Gear | 5th Gear |
1000 | 8.93 | 13.97 | 18.85 | 24.35 | 30.49 |
1500 | 13.4 | 20.96 | 28.28 | 36.53 | 45.73 |
2000 | 17.86 | 27.95 | 37.7 | 48.7 | 60.98 |
2500 | 22.33 | 34.93 | 47.13 | 60.88 | 76.22 |
3000 | 26.79 | 41.92 | 56.55 | 73.05 | 91.46 |
3500 | 31.26 | 48.9 | 65.98 | 85.23 | 106.71 |
4000 | 35.72 | 55.89 | 75.41 | 97.4 | 121.95 |
4500 | 40.19 | 62.88 | 84.83 | 109.58 | 137.2 |
5000 | 44.65 | 69.86 | 94.26 | 121.75 | 152.44 |
5500 | 49.12 | 76.85 | 103.68 | 133.93 | 167.68 |
6000 | 53.59 | 83.84 | 113.11 | 146.11 | 182.93 |
6500 | 58.05 | 90.82 | 122.54 | 158.28 | 198.17 |
The 363 will be connected to the Quaife via a
Safir clutch package. This package has some great features such as a compact starter and a reduced diameter fly wheel with a smaller bell housing. The result is that nothing hangs out below the chassis floor and the engine will rev quicker.
Prestige does not sell a front end package that fits the alternator and A/C within the confines of the RCR40's engine bay. They recommended that I contact CVF so this is probably the package I will get:
https://www.cvfracing.com/ford-289-302-351w-v-belt-system-ac-alternator/.