GT40 Build Tools

[Randy V]

Okay - no REAL GT40 update on my car because I'm still thrashing on the Nova that I promised to have ready for sale before I started on the Forty..

BUT

That doesn't stop me from buying tools..

Today I picked up this Motorcycle Lift from Harbor Freight Tools

Harbor Freight Tools - Quality Tools at the Lowest Prices

Normally priced at $349, it was on-sale for $299 and I had a discount coupon for another 15% off - so for a little over $250 I have basically the same lift that they use at RCR. rockonsmile

I know it will not be sufficient with the Engine and Transaxle installed and may even be a bit on the marginal to overloaded side with the car just being a roller. I plan on beefing up the lift and potentially swapping out a higher capacity air/hydraulic ram.. Also - I plan on bolting a piece of 5/8" plywood to the top of it to make for a more solid fit against the belly of the car...

So - What sort of other "Special Tools" are out there for these cars?

 

[Bill D]

Nice buy Randy.

With the RCR GT, there really isn't a need for "special tools". I made a sheet metal brake to bend some additional panels.

Bill

 

[BigB98]

Definately like the lift idea. Nice price too!

 

[Randy V]

Thanks Guys...

Here's another tool that I think would be handy;

Nutsert / Threadsert / RivNut (choose your favorite name - all the same thing) tool

NF Auto Development - Car Builder Solutions

Available at most home improvement stores and tool suppliers..
I plan on using these to install threads for the side and rear windows on my Forty..

I'm also planning on making my carpets SNAP in/out - anyone have any recommendation for Snap installation tools?

 

[Bill D]

Randy
Why not use industrial strength Velcro from McMaster-Carr instead?

 

[Mark Worthington]

My collection of tools has grown considerably since I started my GT40 build.

• Combination brake/shear/roller for bending the alluminum panels and making small brackets.
• Bosch sheet metal nibbler for cutting out shapes in aluminum sheet.
• Lincoln Electric TIG welder for welding aluminum.
• Grinder/polisher and polishing wheels, buffs and compounds.
• Big-ass Ingersoll Rand compressor because I needed more air.
• Harbor Freight air dryer because I want good quality air for painting.
• HVLP paint gun.
• AFS flexible sanding blocks.
• Bench grinder.
• Makita electric sander for rough-sanding and feathering fiberglass.
• Makita right-angle drill for drilling in tight areas.
• Dewalt cordless and AC-powered drills, because building cars is about drilling holes, and you can always use another drill.
• Helicoil insertion kits with lots of helicoils for common machine screw sizes because I'm attaching my windows and lamp covers with countersunk machine screws.
• Lots of drill bits (a really nice, large set plus laminate bits, oddball sized-bits and countersinking bits).
• A drill Doctor to keep my bits sharp.
• Bifocal safety glasses because it's getting real hard to read the drill bit sizes without magnification.
• Deburring tools to make nice clean holes and edges.
• A 0.500" reamer for removing powder coat from suspension pickup points.
• Rivnut pulling tool and extra sized mandrels.
• Circle gasket cutter for fabricating and cutting cork and neoprene gaskets.
• Set of hole punches to relieve gaskets at rivet or screw heads.
• Self-centering transfer punch for precisely locating the center of existing holes.
• Good-quality file set because my old files were about 50 years old and dull.
• AN fitting wrenches because I was in the mood to waste money at Summit.
• Thread identification kit so I can keep things a little organized.

That's most of the stuff that comes to mind. I do have a few tools on deck that I'm surfing ebay/craigslist looking for a good deal on:

• 110V MIG welder because it's easy and fast and because it can do 80% of the welding I need to do.
• Another, high-quality HVLP gun for shooting color and clear.
• Good-quality Dazor magnifying lamp for detail work and inspection because sometimes those bifocal safety glasses just aren't enough.
• A better drill press.

Stuff that would be awesome to have for fabrication, but just isn't in the cards now includes:

• Mill
• Lathe
• Press

The above is limited to tools, and does not include the supplies of abrasives, fasteners, adhesives and chemicals that I have amassed.

 

[chuck smith]

i have found a 16 speed drill press to be my most handy tool. Drills holes of course , but also used to shape parts with a drum sander, polish on high speed with buffers and 3m abrasive wheels, even do some minor milling with some of the new lateral bits. Harbor freight, 169 bucks on sale for this thing, a steal

 

[Bill Musarra]

I too built brake out of angle iron. Just make sure you have a sturdy bench.
Plasma cutting torch
Long and short hemostats or needle drivers
Be careful which nutsert tool you choose. Some will last 4 or five pulls and the edges of the puller will distort. Go to ACE hardware or suitable handy store and ask which one they rent out. That is the one to get. It will last.
Angle grinder- 4 inch should be O K. Good polisher from Harbour Freight
12 or 18 volt portable drill.
Muti step drill bit set.(at least three bits)
Strong bench vise
2 ton engine hoist
Furniture moving dolly
Mini propane torch for soldering
6-10 amp 12 volt power generator for testing circuits before hooking up the 150
hydraulic rivet puller
Dremel tool set with many cutoff wheels


Bill

 

[Dutton]

Let us not forget the lowly tire dolly...

 

[Ian Anderson]

Black and Decker Power file (mini belt sander)

Brake pipe flare tool

Electrical terminal pliers / crimper

Ian

 

[Mark Worthington]

Brake pipe flare tool

Oh yeah, and don't forget the tubing benders either.

 

[Pete]

The protoplasmic beverage dispenser (wifey)

 

[Neal]

Attack dog to ward off the pesky looky loos. You must preserve the precious build time.

 

[Dalton Veitch]

This is a really interesting thread for those (like me) who have not yet built a GT40. In addition to the tools, and of course fibre-glassing equipment, what are the most used adhesives, sealants, etc.?

Dalton

 

[Sandy]

Here is the most powerful tool you can have, the Meta tool you might say...


For the nut sert tool Aircraft spruce has a really good one. I got one of the pop rivet types and it looks like it is a pain vs. the one from Spruce which is an odd tool that uses an allen bolt to set the nutsert. Also the plasma cutter is a excellent upgrade for the sawzall which by all means is still needed. An one of my favorite tools is the cold saw, which you trade sparks for a liquid mess, but still way better then the chop saw.

Wish list would be a lathe and a mill, maybe the Meta Tool can help

 

[Fran Hall RCR]

What the hell do you need a plasma cutter for on your RCR..... ...Mr Ganz....
unless you dropped your Meta tool into the fuel tank......

 

[Sandy]

I already used it to cut a circle in the Stellings Stainless Flame arrestor. Look in the build thread for the jury rigged up contraption. It also cuts aluminum just as happily as steel

Sandy

 

[Mark Worthington]

In addition to the tools, and of course fibre-glassing equipment, what are the most used adhesives, sealants, etc.?

• By volume, far and away the most used in a GT40 build is body filler (I use Rage Xtreme).
• Polyester resin and catalyst for fiberglass work. Or epoxy (I use West Systems).
• 3M 5200 or Sikaflex for bonding and waterproofing the aluminum panels to the chassis tubes.
• Various flavors of locktite.
• Good quality teflon thread sealant (I use permatex high performance thread sealer with the spray-on activator).
• Deoxit and Deoxit Shield for cleaning and protecting electrical contacts.

 

[joe wirt]

Greetings Gentlemen:
In reference to "threadsert nutsert" the correct nomenclature is Rivnut.
Before jets arrived on the airtransport scene, these tools were used to attach and secure wing leading edge rubber deicer boots on Lockheed constellations "connies"
and other aircraft of that era. Jets use bleed air from the engines for anti icing / deicing.
I know because i am a retired A& P of that era qualified on connies,DC6,Dc8, CL44, 707, 747, and lastly MD11s. Regards J. Wirt

 

[Sandy]

Joe, you can get Rivnuts (Rivitnuts, etc), and Thread-Serts. They are different. The Rivnut is one that looks longer like a rivit, and the Thread-sert is one that looks a little stubbyer (if that helps). Not sure if their are other varients, but in any case these things rock, and have saved me some ugly work...

First one is the Rivnut, second is the Thread-sert