Dwight's RCR GT 40

Randy V

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Persistence pays off... Hang in there Dwight.
Oh and yes, I think a heat shield in the back clip will pay dividends... I had made a template to copy onto ~20g Stainless Steel (to be polished). That steel was to be screwed/bolted in place using the Oak structure we both glassed in place.
 

Dwight

RCR GT 40 Gulf Livery 347 Eight Stack injection
For the last few weeks I have worked on my alignment. Last week I took it to a local alignment shop but after an hour they gave up. I think with so many ways to adjust everything the technician was overwhelmed and gave up. I called the roll back to take the car back to my shop where I used string, protractor and levels to get it close enough to put the body on for body alignment.
Keith Wilson is coming over later this month with his Snap On alignment tools to finish.

I made two stand offs for the front clip using Keith's design. I glassed in 20 holes on the two sills yesterday. That will be the last thing I'll do to the body. Everything else will be done by the painter.

Yesterday I took the front clip and nostril to the paint shop just so I would feel like I'm getting something done.The nostril was high on the corners and low in the middle. I guess he is going to grind and bondo to make it fit better. I think as he looked at this small part of the project the price doubled. We will see. Just as long as it looks great when he finishes.
When we traded, me assembling his paint booth for a paint job we both missed the amount of work involved. We though I could put the booth together in three weeks. It took seven. When he finishes the paint job we see who got the better deal.

The front clip had been sand down in another shop a few years ago. Tommy my new painter told me the red stuff we could see was lacquer primer and would have to be sanded off so it would not bleed through. He did say that the Epoxy primer may cover it but he did want to take a chance.
He said they would work on it this weekend.:thumbsup:

Oh, we talked about fiberglass repairs shrinking under the paint. A problem I had with my Cobra. For the last two summers I have left the body outside in the sun hoping that would help in curing the fiberglass.
So he is going to put the body pieces in the paint booth and bake them at 160 degrees before he primes them.
I like the way he is taking a serious interest in my car. I'm hoping for a great paint job.


Dwight

Just found a box on the front porch with my new side window and headlight / turn signal covers:thumbsup:

Thanks Mark
They look perfect and well boxed.
 
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Randy V

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Progress! Keep chipping away....

Aligning cars like this with all rod-ends is an absolute bugger... I drilled holes in the front of my RCR tub way back in 2007 in order to make it easier to get the front lower control arm bolts out/in during adjustment... Now it appears RCR is delivering them that way as I’ve seen a few others with similar holes.
BTW - We’ve aligned 200 mph race cars with strings and it worked just fine...
 

Dwight

RCR GT 40 Gulf Livery 347 Eight Stack injection
Today Keith Wilson drove over from Huntsville ( about 80 miles from Florence) to help me align my GT 40.
We spend the first half hour looking around my shop, checking out my shooting pit and BS'ing. Next half hour we unloaded his Snap On tools, two 2" x 12" x 10' and set up the car. Then we went to lunch.
After lunch he went to work. An hour and half later he was finished.

He made it look easy. I've spend a lot of hours try to get it close only to get frustrated and quit.

So a big thanks to Keith for his help.
 

Dwight

RCR GT 40 Gulf Livery 347 Eight Stack injection
It's been several months since I posted but I've been working on the 40.
Primed the oil system in the motor. Installed the distributor and plug wires. I bled the brakes and the clutch. Not without problems. What I thought would take a couple of hours took maybe 20 hours. But now they work.
I have installed the battery and check out most of the systems. Next is cranking the motor. I have everything hooked up but I need my buddy to come over with his lap top and check out the run program. I have cranked the motor over with the starter. I have 5 gallons of gas ready to pour into the tank.
I have a dyno shop lined up to do the tuning. Paint shop is waiting on me.
 

Dwight

RCR GT 40 Gulf Livery 347 Eight Stack injection
Oh I forgot about the new picture thing

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Dwight

RCR GT 40 Gulf Livery 347 Eight Stack injection
I'm going to take advantage of the new picture posting.

I glued studs (10/32 x 1" stainless screw with stainless fender washer welded to them) to fiberglass body. Now I have something to hold my aluminum heat shields in place. I will send them off to be ceramic coated before final install.
We have a local mechanical shop that sell me stainless and aluminum cheap. I think I paid $35 for three pieces. I used two on this project.
Allan had to cut the lip off the area that surrounds the carb so the fuel injection system would fit. I reinforced it with a U shaped piece of aluminum. I glued it with 3M Panel Bond.
Several years ago we glassed in pieces of oak to re-enforce the area around grill opening. Now I will use the oak to hold the aluminum heat shield with stainless screws.
The bottom of the body will be sealed with primer and bed liner
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Randy V

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Looking really good Dwight!
I had copied your support system for the rear deck in 1x1” Oak and glassed in place. It made a world of difference in the rigidity of the deck... I had also planned on a reflective panel to keep the heat off the deck..
Really nice execution!!!!
 

Dwight

RCR GT 40 Gulf Livery 347 Eight Stack injection
I had a question about my in tank hi pressure fuel pump. I'll post pictures that will better explain it than I can.
Bosch in tank pump. Very common and used on a lot of cars.
I welded an aluminum angle to a piece of plate. Drilled holes for the electrical. Used brass screws sealed with non conductive two part epoxy to seal it. Bulkhead fuel connectors. One line is for return, one for the low pressure (Holley) fuel pump and the pick up from the in tank pump. Cork gasket with fuel resistant sealer. Fuel tank foam which will have to be replace every 3 to 5 years. Something that I will have to check every year.
As of today this is an untested system on the road. Is does work with the car sitting in the shop. Time will tell.
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Dwight

RCR GT 40 Gulf Livery 347 Eight Stack injection
I'm making a few changes. I'm going to move the fuel filter so it's in front of the regulator.
I had to order a new starter.
I'm sending the ECU back for repairs.
Oil pressure gauge not working. I'm questioning the location of the sending unit or the new sending unit could be bad or the gauge is bad?
We have spend about 20 hours trying to crank the motor. Proved a lot of things work and were wired correctly. Problem with program in the ECU, dead pin, starter, cracked housing, crank speed low, that may be the starter. Boy I'll be glad when I get this thing cranked.
Dwight
 

Dwight

RCR GT 40 Gulf Livery 347 Eight Stack injection
I changed the coil last year but posted a picture above with the old coil.
This is the new set up
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Randy V

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Looking really good Dwight!
Troubleshooting ECM issues can try the patience of a Saint...... Good luck!
 

Dwight

RCR GT 40 Gulf Livery 347 Eight Stack injection
Mailed the ECU to have it repaired and tested. Ordered new starter with high torque rating and had the body shop to pick up my car Wed. Checked today (Friday) and they had blocked out one of the doors and primed it.
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Dwight

RCR GT 40 Gulf Livery 347 Eight Stack injection
The gauge problem turn out to be simple problem. I hooked up the gauges to the dash light circuit in the fuse panel. Well that fuse is not connected to a bus bar in the fuse panel. It's fed from the ignition switch to the fuse then to the gauges. Moved a wire and all the gauges work.
 

Randy V

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Mailed the ECU to have it repaired and tested. Ordered new starter with high torque rating and had the body shop to pick up my car Wed. Checked today (Friday) and they had blocked out one of the doors and primed it.View attachment 93900View attachment 93901

Wow... lotsa blocking to get that baby smooth...
I ran into a lot of uneveness in mine as well. Interesting that both our rear clips had such a problem particularly around the large square vent port on the rear deck. Almost identical!

Glad you found your gauge problem quickly!
 

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Dwight

RCR GT 40 Gulf Livery 347 Eight Stack injection
The owner of the body shop ran his hand over the rear clip and said "oh no". I told him the car had been painted in a guy's garage and he did not spend much time on the body.
It's going to take a lot of filler to make this body ready for paint.

Our body's came from the same mold. All the Cobra body I have worked with need a lot of body work before paint. I guess it's a fiberglass thing. A couple of the Cobra companies did the body work before they sold their kits. Most did not because of labor cost.
I did a lot of fiberglass repair on the body last winter. Tommy has three guys working in his shop and I think they all will get to work on my car. That way they will get to share the pain.
Last month they repainted a fire truck from red to lime green. One of the painters told me that he hoped he never would see another fire truck. I told him to wait till he starts on my project.
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Dwight
 
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