Dean's new RCR40 build thread

[Dean Lampe]

I wanted to give you a quick look at the engine. We are still waiting on the Weber intake for the 8.7 deck height Yates head motor. Check out those Headers! The rear suspension actually runs through the exhaust. The tubes are 1 7/8 to handle the high flow engine. I am not going to coat them. I am just going to spray them with WD40 and let them yellow out naturally.

[Big-Foot]

Dean - I like the idea behind the 2" flares and think they'll look great on your car.
That said - I have always ground / sanded away the Gel-coat when adding fiberglass.. Not sure how good the bond will be here.
Maybe Bill H or Fran or someone else more knowledgable than I will chime in.

[Chris_K]

I've heard the same thing- grind through the gelcoat before glassing or glass to the backside of the part.

I am a real rookie though- others will hopefully confirm.

[Dean Lampe]

I made sure they ground through the gel coat on the otherside. They did scuff that side pretty well. I am not to concerned. It will all be glassed from the back after all the extra material is ground out from the under side. I have some more pictures but I haven't down loaded them yet.

[FRPGUY]

Dean, You don't have to grind through the gelcoat, but it's better to. If you leave the gel, rough it up with #36 grit dry and all you need is a 4" wide strip of mat on the outside with as wide as you want on the underside. It's best to tear the mat than cut it. I should have the ducts done this week for you.

[Pete K.]

Dean - 'bout time for an update!

[Dean Lampe]

Pete you are right, I have a lot so share. The body shop has been busy but hey work slow. I am always amazed at how much longer it takes to get from 90% to 100%. They have finished up the flares. They turned out great. The 2 inch wider hips are really cool. I actually thought I had better pictures but here it is....





The under side looks like it was built this way after the extra material was removed.

[Dean Lampe]

They have also been hard at work on the gurney bubble. I was going to just pop rivot the thing on but I didn't like the look so we ended up glassing it in. I really like the smooth lines.








Here is a look at how my oil tank will fit. I thought i would just through that in!

[Dean Lampe]

I didn't like the way the front brake duct holes looked when i bent down and looked inside. The fiberglass panel inside seemed to "split" the brake duct hole. I thought it would look beeter if it was over to one side and defininately work better if it was sealed so we did that too.


These were the after shots.






Now it will better funnel the air to the brake vent tubing.

[Dean Lampe]

At this point I am very happy with the progress we are making. As you look at the last pictures i posted you can see that the panels fit VERY well together with out trimming them. I had 2 guys messing with the panel alignment for 2 days. I think we have had every panel off and on countless times but they do fit. It just takes patients (or 2 body men paid by the hour!) I hope to finish up the engine tommorrow. I will post some more pictures then.

[Big-Foot]

Looking like great progress Dean.. I guess I never noticed the panel that "split" the brake cooler duct in the front before. I'll have to consider a similar mod..

Judging from the lack of plastic filler elsewhere, they are finding the molding to be of pretty high quality!

Are you going to be doing anything to the bottom side of the spider or leaving it alone?

[Fran Hall RCR]

Randy,

the spider has an innner roof panel and is already smooth....ready and waiting for your finish of choice..

[Big-Foot]

Originally Posted by gt40fran

Randy,

the spider has an innner roof panel and is already smooth....ready and waiting for your finish of choice..

I like that!!!

Thanks Fran!

[FRPGUY]

Dean, I can see by the pics, that the original brake ducts that I make you asked about, probably won't fit in the nose. The inner panel splitting the duct opening in the nose will not allow the duct to fit up to the opening.

[Pete K.]

Looking great Dean! Is the Gurney bubble for appearance sake or necessary when you are wearing a helmet?

[Dean Lampe]

I actually had plenty of room with out the bubble but I like the way it looks.

[Dean Lampe]

We finished filling all those odd little openings in the rear bonnet, some of which I created! There where a couple of holes where the panels where joined and one I created to clear the oil tank. We finished changing over the wiper to the left side too.
Part of the car was in primer when I left the shop today!

[Doug Sainlar]

Originally Posted by Dlampe

I actually had plenty of room with out t