Roaring Forties #36 - Mark Worthington's GT40 - Page 6

Bill Hara · 09-12-06, 10:26 PM

Mark you are making astounding progress, you have taken the bull by the horns....

I seem to be working the other way around to you, body first then mechanical, I do know that I am having to be very careful around the paint surface....

Just a question on your last post, the brake line bleeder for the rear is directly under your adapter plate and like mine faces upwards. Can you tell me if there is enough room to bleed the brakes line or would you consider adding an extension piece that would turn the bleeder through 90 degrees?

Thanks

Bill.

Mark Worthington · 09-13-06, 01:57 AM

Thanks for your kind words, Bill. The top of the bleeder fitting is close to the bottom of the transaxle case, probably 1/4" or less. I still think you could get a rubber hose on there without kinking though. Might make sense to cut the fitting bown to one barb.

**patbarry** · 09-14-06, 11:14 PM

Your plumbing puts mine to shame! Very nice. I had the same problem with my pipes, only mine came from RF. They were not pretty, so I had no problem cutting and welding to get them to fit up. Your work looks fantastic.

Ron Earp · 09-14-06, 11:42 PM

Nice work!!!

I experienced your pain with Custom Metal Werks exhausts too. I had two of them from George, neither were identical, and one much better than the other. Have a look on this thread, maybe some of those pictures might help:

Roaring Forties #44 - Ron Earp's GT40

One set was really tight and nice, the uncoated ones, and those I sold with the car. The other set was okay, but needed some tweaking. I'm pretty sure that:

You + Buddy + Beer + Torch + Iron bar = Aligned pipes

I'd recommend to use two separate mufflers on the crossover exhaust instead of the single - the certain sound works and doesn't get muffled and lost.

Mark Worthington · 09-15-06, 11:58 PM

Thanks, guys. Ron, I have also considered two mufflers (Borlas) but I'll try the Custom Metal Works resonator that I have before I decide to upgrade.

A couple weeks ago I purchased a set of rear drag links from a forum member; these pieces were really nice, made from 4130 with beautiful tig welds on the 4130 threaded tube caps, with the ends having both left- and right-handed threads. So adjustment is a simple matter of loosening two locknuts, and spinning the link one direction or another.

I took these pices, along with some others, to a nearby plating shop where they were electroless nickel plated. I got them home and into a 375 * F oven about an hour after the parts left the plating bath, and I did a full 5-hour embrittlement relief bake on the parts. The other stuff I had plated were the transaxle brackets, the door striker plates, the gear shift linkage bracket that bolts to the transaxle, the rear end of the front shift rod, and the external portion of the modiified transaxle selector shaft. The shaft was somewhat corroded just from sitting around so I figured nickel plating would inhibit corrosion. The reason I did the rear portion of the front shift linkage rod was because that is something Carrol Smith recommends in one of his books - nickel plating on the part of the shift rod that passes through a rod end to minimize corrosion and to allow smooth movement of the linkage without use of oils or other lubricants which would otherwise attract grime and potentially foul the linkage.

Here's a picture after everything came out of the oven. Now I have a bag full of new 5/8" rod ends so I'm going to go out in the garage and play with the suspension.

Dutton · 09-16-06, 01:13 AM

Mark -

That's probably the nicest workbench I've ever seen... that's not granite, is it?

If it takes as many years as you have into your GT to arrive at this level of finish, it's well worth it.

Tremendous work, man.

T.

Mark Worthington · 07-24-07, 01:35 AM

Well, it has been quite a while since I've had much to add, but I have made some progress of late.

First, here's my quick-release steering wheel setup. It is a spline drive, not hex, and it is retained by a ring, not pins. It is well made and cost me about $55. The second photo shows it as viewed from the mounting location for my Moto Lita steering wheel. Obviously, a new adapter was required to make it work.

I enlisted the assistance of forum member CharlieM, who has access to a lathe and who fabricated for me the adapter shown in the third picture. Charlie also measured the taper on my steering column shaft and cut and turned the inside of the Winters spline to match. No need to weld - Charlie found a way to keep the original retaining bolt and simply pin the spline to the column. First-class work by Charlie - it turned out beautifully. Thanks, Charlie!

Mark Worthington · 07-24-07, 01:52 AM

I've also been kicking up some dust.

First I sat in the car and had my brother line up the bubble for my driving position and trace its outline. I made a little jig to transfer that line to the inside to show the cut out area. The next photo shows my youngest son, Luke, laying into the driver's side (right-hand side in my case) door roof to allow cutting out of the Gurney bubble hole. We cut it out with a jigsaw and tested the fit. Then, working on the inside of the door, I scribed the outline of the flange, and used a Dremel and broke several of the fragile little cutoff wheels to relieve the inside fiberglass skin. Finally, I sanded to final shape. Next I need to lay some fiberglass to seal up the gap on the inside. I decided to screw the bubble on from the top, like the originals. It also provides a little more room mounting it this way rather than fiberglassing it in.

Note the foam filler between the inner and outer roof skins. On Hershal Byrd's advice, I got a few cans of Dow "Great Stuff," Doors & Windows variety, drilled a few strategic 7/32" holes in the spider and doors, and injected the foam into the cavity. The reason I did this was to improve the thermal insulating properties of the bodywork, improve their rigidity, and hopefully keep things a tad quieter in the cockpit. Total cost - about $10 and maybe 2 pounds of cured foam.

Much sanding and paint prep work is happening now, and I hope to start spraying primer in August. I'm going to get as much body work and painting done as I can during the remainder of the summer and early fall, and then focus on getting the car wired and the engine started when the cold weather returns.

Chuck · 08-03-07, 11:12 PM

The foam filler is a nice idea, but was there any concern about it separating the fiberglass panels as it expands? Even with a few expansion holes, I would be concerned. I assume you did not have that problem? How close did you place the expansion / access holes and how large were they?

Fran Hall RCR · 08-04-07, 12:28 AM

Mark,
its great to see your youngster taking an active roll in the car...my boy(6) has just started showing a real interest in all things tech...he even wanted me to show him how the CNC mill works ....great job.

Mark Worthington · 08-04-07, 11:38 AM

I used the low-expanding variety of Great Stuff, made for doors and windows. There was no buckling or panel separation on my car. I injected it into the spyder from 3 or 4 locations, and into the doors from 3 locations each. The holes were just big enough to accept the plastic tube that comes with the foam can.