Mitch Krause's RCR GT40 Build

Mitch Krause

Supporter
Randy,

I am not sure on the battery cover, it was included when I got the vehicle and parts from Randy, not sure if that was RCR or sourced elsewhere.

Scott,

Thanks for the suggestion, I had thought about shortening it, I think I am OK with the location where it is (I have not drilled it final yet). A little more testing to ensure I am OK with it and I will go with that. I was OK with not having my hand on the top of the shifter knob and actually more comfortable gripping it from the side. With that said, the manual that I drove for the last 15 years was a "pistol grip", where you pretty much always had your hand on the side, so I am not sure if I just got in that location as a habit or what. I figured I might try the longer first (if I don't have to move it closer to the dash) and I can always shorten it if I need to be more over the top of the knob.

I guess one benefit of longer would seem to be more leverage for the cable shift, I might lose that on the side, more similiar to shortening it.
 
Mitch,
You could always throw a Barton pistol grip shifter on it!! (would def be the first 40 I've ever seen with one!!) I have one on my Hellcat, so I get it, S
 

Mitch Krause

Supporter
Shifter and Fuel Tank Holes

OK, time for an update. Shifter installed with fabricated mount and the holes drilled and cables ran. Sharp eyes might also note that the holes for the seats are drilled in the tub. Also, got the holes drilled in the fuel tank and the fuel pickup and fuel senders installed (or not quite yet on the driver side for the sender). This was the most fun, drill, file the edges, tap the bolt holes and all that and then try and clean up the inside of the tank. Not sure how everyone else did that. I used a piece of 5/8 heater hose that I duct taped to my vacuum (it was small enough to get into the holes), and vacuumed what I could and then used a flashlight and some paper towel on the end of a stick (with a rubber band) to "sweep" anything to where I could get it with the vacuum, or if it stuck to the paper towel to take it out.
 

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Rick Merz

Lifetime Supporter
I think that you will have to reroute your shift cables to the lower passenger side of the tunnel. As they are now I think that the bend in the cables would have to be very tight to avoid fouling with the harmonic balancer on the engine. With the cables lower they can run along the side of the oil pan without having to turn right and down rather quickly. Someone else may offer better input since My RCR40 is a right hand side drive/shift and my cables are in a completely different location.

Rick Merz
 
I should be able to produce some pics of that area for you tomorrow...

FWIW, I believe you will soon find out that handbrake doesn't do much to hold the car, it's unsightly, and gets in the way of your elbow. I've decided to pull mine off and use a hydraulic "line lock" solution.

From the looks of it the holes drilled for the seat are not threaded (for studs or countersunk screws from the bottom-side), or have you thought of how to quickly remove the seats? If you have problems on the road or on a trip, you may have to pull the firewall plate off quickly for access to the front of the motor. To do that, you'll need to pull at least one seat out for firewall plate R&R and engine access. I guess you could also pull only the seatback off, but you need to keep that scenario in mind...
 
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Rick Merz

Lifetime Supporter
If it worked for them then is must be good. That is why I was hoping that others would chime in. I took your picture and added circles just above the seat belt anchors to show where I might have ran the shift cables (most likely one on each side of the tunnel) if I had a left hand shift car. I also will not be using the emergency brake (the bracket will be in the way for your car) since I like the line lock solution (I did this on my GTD GT40 in 1995, it worked great and saved weight).

Rick
 

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Thanks for providing that pic, Rick. My interior shots are limited so I'll use yours to help visualize things.

My cables pass through the same location as Mitch's, except they both run inside that emergency brake mounting bracket (not on the outside), then they criss-cross and make a sharp bend outwards and down towards the sponsons. See attached pic...

The reason is the engine damper is almost centered behind that pass-thru (in my case) so you have to clear it immediately then guide the cable down (using Adel clamps) and along the bottom edge (under the motor mounts), then around the rear wishbone, and out and around to the transaxle shift cable adaptors. Hope the cable routing drawing helps. It would be much easier if you had the engine/transaxle mounted so you can route the cable accordingly. As they say, "your mileage may vary", depending on engine/transaxle used.

FWIW, I use a ZF Transaxle so cables are routed on both sides.
 

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Mitch Krause

Supporter
Rick and Tom,

Thanks both of you for the information and the visuals, it helps out. I will certainly have to work on the routing when I get the engine in. I guess for now, I will leave things as they are and see how the routing turns out, knowing that I might have to adjust downwards at sometime.

I did wonder about the location of the parking brake, I was concerned that it seemed like something that would be "in the way" sometimes. Maybe a future improvement will be the line lock after I get irritated enough from bumping it all the time.

Thanks for the notes and advice.
 
Mitch,

Regarding the positioning of your seats prior to drilling, did you have the seat backs and roll bar in place at the time? If not, you may want to put them in place to check that the seat backs clear the cross bar.

Mine are positioned similar to yours and the seat backs contact the cross bar, rather than rest against the bulk head, as they do on every other RCR I've seen. It will also make it difficult to anchor your lap belts, especially if you want to use eyebolts, due to near zero clearance. I'll be repositioning mine in the very near future.

I'm guessing the previous owner of my car never checked before drilling.
 

Mitch Krause

Supporter
Mike,

I at least had the bulkhead in, don't remember if I had the roll bar in place. That is going back soon, so I can check things again then I guess.

Mitch
 

Mitch Krause

Supporter
Vent Windows

OK,

Someone had asked about the vent windows and I took some pictures and sent them to them, as I realized I didn't ever post "final" pictures after all the trials and tribulations that I went through getting things to work. So last night I unwapped them enough to get some images. I think the labels (inside, outside, etc) that are visible help explain things. So here are some pictures that I think show how things laid out and with them working without clearance or binding issues, maybe this helps someone else out in the future.
 

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Mitch Krause

Supporter
Vent windows part two

The last four pictures.
 

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Bill Kearley

Supporter
Is the fuel filler pipe thing getting old? I am building CAV 193 and have a tight r to deal with under filler cap as well, couldn't find flex hose. Have a look at the CAV 90 deg. rubber part that goes under cap casting. I will have to lift the cap about 1/2 inch.
Also looking at using an Optima battery with vent tube in front of pas foot rest. has this been done, Very com. in commercial truck in the north to have them under jump seat.
 

Mitch Krause

Supporter
Bill,

Sorry for the lack of reply, I was on vacation for a while out of the country and not being active on the forums.

Yes, the fuel filler things is getting old, I have tabled that for now, will probably have to revisit it at some point in time. I have a solution that might not be the best, I think it will work, I might revisit it sometime.

I am mounting my battery in the well behind the passenger seat, not sure on mounting it in front of the passenger foot rest (do you mean inside the compartment?). I think I have seen it mounted in the front end, I don't think I have seen one inside the compartment.

My hand brake lever is the one that came with the kit from RCR.

My seats are going to be mounted on the floor, with grade 8 button head bolts that come from beneath the chassis (to avoid anything protruding below the body and catching on something).
 
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