Dean's new RCR40 build thread

[Dean Lampe]

Well the car is finally here! I want to tell you all what my intentions are up front for the car. I am going to try to build the ultimate road race GT40. I will need a lot of advice from all of you along the way. This is going to be a very exciting road to go down. I will try to chronicle all the steps along the way. The car has most of the options Fran offers including the 6 point cage. I am using an all aluminum Ford/Robert Yates racing engine with Weber's and a ZF gear box. I hope to include pictures of the engine build along the way.

This is how the story begins. It is 4 a.m. and my dad and I leave for Detroit. The wind is gusting to 40 miles and hour and seems to be a cross wind from every direction! About the time we hit michigan, it starts to snow and almost immediatly there is an accident. We are stuck on the road for an hour. we finally make it to Fran's shop at 3:00. WOW, what a place! I was like a kid in a candy store. It was incredible! He has some really cool toys! That was my first face to face with Fran. After meeting him, I have all the faith in the world in RCR and their cars. When i went in the door, there was Sandy's car and just to the right was ole number 33. It was love at first sight!

After a quick tour of his 3 warehouses full of cool toys, Fran and the guys pushed the car to the trailer.





It was about 4:30 and we headed for home. By 5:30 we where in some snow. By 6:30 it was a blizzard! I have never seen such horrible conditions. In four wheel drive 30 mph was too fast! You could see the road for a better part of an hour! We finally made it home around 1:45 a.m.

At 6a.m. my boys where up and ready to unload the new toy. I spent the rest of the weekend unpacking boxes, ordering parts and bench racing with my buddies! The journey has just begun.

By Sunday night it was in the body shop. Fran and his team saved me a ton of time by fitting the panels, hanign the doors, cutting the holes and trimming all the plexiglass ahead of time. Here are the first shots of the body shop work. Ther will be many more to come.

[Big-Foot]

Congratulations Dean!!!!

I hope to be starting my own Build Thread soon!

Lets hear more about your car..

Chassis number ?

Are you going to do Club Racing or Vintage or??

What will be your home track?

[Fran Hall RCR]

Holy crap.......in the body shop already....gotta love you guys that have 32 hours in everyday.

Randy...16 weeks and your saga will begin

[Pantera1889]

Congrats Dean!!!! Another left hand drive Yates headed RCR40!!!! Awesome!!!
I need to get my car finished! You will catch me in no time at the rate you are going!

[Scott]

Congrats on the new arrival Dean. After seeing what you did with the Cobra, I'm sure that will be a top notch 40.

[Rob]

Yahooo Dean ...!!!

Congrats.

[Dean Lampe]

Randy, this is chassis number 33. This car will be set up to run the NASA series or just open track. All the tracks are a long way away. If it is within 8 or 9 hours, it is a possibility! That would be Road Atlanta to Road America and Hallet to Mid Ohio. Be patient on the engine. I will post a ton of those pictures next week.

Guys, I hope this doesn't sound bad, but I really want to keep this thread dedicated to the build. I really want your feedback about some of the things I might try to do. Some of the stuff will be a little different. I guess what I am asking of all of my friends on the forum is please chime in and offer your opinions about the build to protect me from myself. I am just trying to keep the thread as clean as possible without the "fluff". Thanks.

I will post more pictures this afternoon. Who knows, it my be painted by then.

[Big-Foot]

Hi Dean - I'll try to keep my thread/conversation focused..

What size tires are on the car right now and are you planning on keeping those sizes / tires ?

I race in the SCCA Cendiv Area-5 / NASA Midwest. Not entirely sure of my plans yet for my GT40 but currently thinking about doing some Vintage / Historic events. I probably will not go full-on Club Racing with it as we have other cars that we use for that.

We race Road America a couple times a year, Blackhawk Farms a few times or so a year, AutoBahn (Joliet), Mid America Motorplex, Brainerd International (Home track), there are new tracks at Milwaukee, Newton IA and a couple of other tracks going in close to the MN/IA border.

Hopefully our paths will cross..

[Dean Lampe]

You are getting ahead of me a little bit but I am going to run the Goodyear Blue Streaks on the track. When the first set is worn, they will become my street tires.

The tires on the car now are 205/60 and 295/50 I think but I'm not sure.

[Sandy]

Dean - Congrats!

I saw the RCR guys cranking on your car when I was up for a visit. Looked excellent! Glad to see another ship. Will be very interested to see how you do more of the race set up. Get the motor back in, I want to see the headers with a motor attached again

Sandy

[I LOVE GT40- Paolo]

un'altra bellissima RCR...

Ed è anche rossa.

[Dean Lampe]

I have been working on the panel fitment today. I was able to ajust the doors within a tolerance that the body shop can finish off. You never know how it is going to go. I spent 4 hours working on one door and 10 minutes on the other! I have been able to adjust the doors to swing in a little high and allow the striker to pull it into postition. That way it will definately not hit the roof as it swings closed.

[Dean Lampe]

Here are a few pictures of how Fran's 6 point cage fits in the car. It is a great addition to any track car. It is definately visable but it is not in the way at all. The side bar is held in place buy a couple of push pins.

[Pantera1889]

Dean,
Am I seeing things right? Did you notch out your chassis at the "battery" recess? Is that for your oil tank?


The cage looks great!

[Big-Foot]

Dean - Did you already relocate the wiper arm boss to the left side? It looks like maybe it has been but the picture's aren't really clear there.

I'm also curious if the coolant tube tunnel is offset to the right a little thereby giving more room the the left-seated driver?

Thanks.

[Dean Lampe]

I did notch the battery tray for my dry sump tank. The Peterson tanks fits right in the hole with minimal trimming of the bonnet. That's why Fran cut the holes the way he did.

Randy, all RCR center tunnels are offset to the passenger side to give the driver a little extra room, regardless of which side the driver sits on. Fran was gracious enough to relocate my wiper arm for me. It was just a few cuts in the spider and front clip. The body shop will finish it off.

I hope that by the end of the week the body will be ready for primer. We still need to add the 2 inch rear flares like Rob but other than that, its just a little fill and a little sanding and we are there!

[Big-Foot]

Thanks Dean - Are you planning on Painting or undercoating the tub?