Keith's RCR GT40 Mk I Build

[Keith]

AND SO THE ADVENTURE BEGINS!

Just before the holidays last year I sent Fran a check for a RCR GT 40. This has been a journey that started five years ago when I built an engine, transaxle and exhaust system with the intent of purchasing a RF, a change in my family situation stopped the project so I did not get caught in the RF fiasco; and now the project has been restarted with the delivery of my RCR GT40 on the 2nd of May.
I drove from Huntsville Al to Detroit on May 1st; when I arrived at Fran’s shop the car was there packed full of boxes of parts and waiting to be shrink wrapped so they could roll it on the trailer (see photo). Trust me on this; everything you have read about Fran’s shop is true, I could have spent a week there just looking at all the cars he has in process.
On May 2nd I arrived at the shop at 8:00 AM and Fran’s crew (a great bunch of guys) rolled the car on the trailer while Fran and I went over some of the finer points of the build. They were very patient with all my questions and I believe they would have spent the day answering questions for me if it was required.
I had it home and in my shop by 9:00 that night (see photo) and spent Saturday sorting thru parts and marking boxes. Out of all the parts in the deluxe kit I only had two back ordered parts the door handles and the axle shafts. The only thing missing out of all those parts were the engine mounts and I believe this was probably my fault as Fran and I were discussing the mounts and I think they got put back on the shelf instead of in the box. Fran had the mounts and the door handles at my front door in less than 48 hours.
After I got a look at the RCR sway bars I wrote Fran a check for them on the spot. He assured me that I would have the axles and the sway bars long before I need them.
The car has caused quite a stir here at work. I had two car loads of Engineers and Department Managers come over to my shop to take a look at it during lunch last Monday. We work for one of the largest independent testing laboratories in the world and these guys have worked on and tested virtually every space vehicle and missile system ever conceived so as you might guess they are not easily impressed. They were absolutely blown away with the RCR car. Fran would have blushed listening to all the complements on the workmanship, the welding, the “elegant design” and the suspension components. I got one interesting suggestion that I am actually considering “the chassis looks so good you should polish it”.
Needless to say I am extremely happy with my purchase.
I have worked on the car untill nearly 10:00 every night and I am starting to see some progress (see photo).
Keith

[chuck smith]

congratulations Keith, Fran builds (and delivers) a great product. I am an Alabama boy myself, but now live in SC. My uncle, Lofton Mitchum, started a company called SCI systems back in the sixties in Huntsville and I have fond memories of the area. chuck

[Garry]

Keith,
I am going to do the same as you this year and committ to a GT40 for myself. I will be watching your build with great interest. Congratulations on starting your dream project.
Garry

[Big-Foot]

You've already got the doors hung and the driveline in her!!! Holy cow!!!!

Congratulations!!!

[Pantera1889]

Congrats !! And WELCOME!! Did you fabricate the headers yourself? They look very nicely done.

[EGLITOM]

Keith,
very welcome to the RCR club. Enjoy your build and don´t hesitate to ask whatever you want.

TOM

[Keith]

First, let me thank everyone for their kind words.

I will see if I can answer in the correct order:

Chuck 1, yes I agree Fran delivers a great product. I could not be more happy with my purchase.

Slowhand, hope you get your project underway soon. Once you place your order the wait gets more difficult.

Bigfoot, actually I had Fran hang the doors.....money well spent! I have had the engine in and out four times working the normal clearance issues...thermostat, water pump etc.

Pantera, yes I bullt the exhaust system myself using photos I copied off the forum and U bends that I got from Headers by Ed in Minnesota. The collectors/mufflers were made using a tracing of an RF muffler system that a forum member made for me on a piece of Christmas wrapping paper. It took about 3 to 4 hours to fabricate each pipe. The most remarkable part of this is that they fit the RCR chassis/body with no additional modifications so I will send them off to Jet-Hot next week.

EGLITOM, I have been a "Lurker" of the Forum for several years and consider a great source of information. The folks here are so helpfull and so creative when it comes to problem resolution.

Thanks, Keith

[Bill D]

Welcome aboard and congrats on your RCR purchase

[Keith]

Thanks Bill,
I have been following your build with great interest. If I can only do as well............
Keith

[Wilby]

Congrats on the RCR,will follow your build closely.I too am a lurker here trying to learn all i can about the car i will some day own.Good luck on the build.

Bill

[RICKY GRICE]

hi keith,
are you using the 17inch tyres as supplied by fran as i am.
my front wheels touch front wheelarch on part steering lock. im wondering if
ive something wrong or whether yours touch as well ?

regards

ricky

[EGLITOM]

Originally Posted by RICKY GRICE

hi keith,
are you using the 17inch tyres as supplied by fran as i am.
my front wheels touch front wheelarch on part steering lock. im wondering if
ive something wrong or whether yours touch as well ?

regards

ricky

Ricky,
read this thread, there are a lot of details pointed out.
RCR Body Fitting hints
May be you haven´t moved your rocker panels as far back as possible ( the right hand one is almost touching the chassis on the lower front inner arch). This way you also get the wheel centering correct. Also adjust your suspension roughly first ( check out my build log for how to)

TOM

[MReid]

Keith,

Congratulations and nice job on the headers! I think Dean Lampe polished his chassis, so it is not out of the realm of the possible. Just takes a lot of work! Keep posting pictures as they tell a great story.

Ricky, my 15" wheels touched with the panels set on the car as delivered. Once I moved the rockers and doors as far back as possible and moved all of the lower front control arm chassis spacers to the rear, it was fine.

[Keith]

Ricky: Yes, the wheels are 17" from Fran. I had Goodyear Eagle F1's drop shipped to Fran (215 45 x 17 fronts and 275 40 x 17 rears) the alignment/ride height is not set, however they do appear like they will fit the wheel openings. They will turn lock to lock as they are now without hitting anything.

Mark: I did not know that Dean had polished his chassis, I will have to look at his build page. My plan as it is today is to get everything mocked-up (holes drilled, fasteners in, cables, tubes etc. routed) then do a complete disassembly. I will then have the bottom sprayed with truck bed liner material. Then I will polish the chassis and assemble the car. If the polish does not work out I will go with the brushed aluminum look.
Thanks for the complement on the headers, I plan on fitting the rear clip one more time (measure twice........) before I take them off and send them to Jet Hot.

Keith

[Keith]

It has been a while since I posted an update. I have been spending my time makeing sub assemblies so I thought I would post a few photos..........

I took Chuck and Ryan's lead and made brackets for the fans and a cover for the radiator and AC condenser.

[EGLITOM]

Keith

the polishing looks fantastic

TOM

[Keith]

I have also been working on the other end of the cooling system. Unless I can't make it work I do not plan on using an expansion tank in the system. I plan on using only a coolant recovery tank that will collect the coolant as it expands and flows past the pressure cap and siphon it back into the system as the coolant cools back down.
I have attached photos of the coolant tube I fabricated.

[Chuck]

Keith:

Radiator / fans looks really good. That is a great shine.

Do you plan to add rubber washers / spacers between the radiator and the suport bracket?

Chuck

[Keith]

Tom,
Thank you, it actually looked better before the fingerprints......... I did learn a valuable lesson about buffing outside in the summer in Alabama. The rouge does not stay in it's original bar shape if it sits in the sun.

Chuck,
I did buy rubber washers but elected not to use them after running the fan with my old Harley battery. Running the fans at full speed produced little or no vibration, I did not run them thru the full range of speeds to see if I could find a resonant frequency so I may still have to go back and do some vibration isolation if I see a vibration during actual use. Adding the top cover (as I copied from your build) really added rigidity to the fan structure and made it very robust.

Keith