Richard's SPF 2197 Build

[Richard]

Where to start, I ask myself because the car is built and I've shared some of my build on other thread's. I'm doing it because there is so much I haven't shared (don't think for a moment I didn't hear you screams of NO!! in the background) and I would like to put it in all in one place. Much will be new and some old but expanded. I'm sure I'll bore many to death but I hope some will find it interesting.

In the beginning (no this is not the Bible) I started by taking much of the car apart trying to understand how it went together. I spent a couple of weeks taking pictures of everything and felling like a proctologist sticking a borescope in places I maybe shouldn't have but I learned a lot.

I'm going to start with sound and heat insulation which has been a topic of conversation on a few other threads. As my goal has always been to build a road car I felt adding 100+ pounds to the car to make it more streetable was well worth it.

To prove my point I recently took the car on a two week 3000+ mile trip from Northern Idaho to Monterey, L.A., San Diego and back. As many of you know the worst thing that happened was running over a dead dear.

The car is very comfortable to drive on a long trip, I did however miss cruise control as there isn't much room to move your legs around and keep the blood flowing. And then the Butler killed the woman with the candlestick in the bedroom. Good to know you're still with me.

The first picture is the car the day I picked it up at the dealership. the other pictures are of me before and after the build.

 

[Richard]

Genesis 1,1

In the beginning (maybe this is the bible) I did a lot of research on sound and heat insulation. I picked products from Second Skin. Not sure it's the best but it seems to works for me.

After removing the carpet from the bulkhead I add a layer of their Damplifer Pro (like DynaMat) to most surfaces on the interior side of the car, I then made a template of the bulkhead and if you think the two sides are the same just look when I overlaid the right side template over the left side. I then cut out and glued their Luxury Liner Pro. The luxury Liner Pro is a multidensity product the first layer is very dense and the top layer is like a wet suit material.

One of the details I wanted to keep was the kidney shaped depressions (bad idea) so the material I removed from the top layer got inverted and filling the space in the original bulkhead. Also I didn't remove the top black layer of the engine cover I put the Damplifer Pro on its back side. I did the same for the two small access panels.

 

[Richard]

Now a trip to the heat side of things. I started by cutting out a piece of their heat shield material which when folded would insulate the area under the small access panels. I also made covers for the holes made for the shift rod to go through out of thin aluminum and covered on the back side with the heat insulator and on the front side with the same material I used on the inside.

I also made a small triangular piece which blocks hot air and fumes from entering that same area from the engine side (see pictures). I added a layer of the heat insulation material painted black to the engine side of the engine cover. Its other side is covered with the sound deadening and carpet. I happen to think that the engine cover is a key element in controlling both heat and sound.

The access panels were treated in the same way a the engine cover.

 

[Jack Houpe]

Richards car is the quietest GT40 I've rode in as of yet on the inside, I think all his work and that double window have paid off. We could be on the freeway at 65 MPH and talk normal without shouting or reading lips.

 

[Richard]

I guess it's time for a little more. As you'll see from the pictures I basically covered everything with dynamat. Next I made a template of both sides (left/right) of the bulkhead which by the way is not symmetrical so I could cover it with the foam layer and carpet. One of the details I wanted to keep was the kidney shaped depressions which in the end made things much more difficult. I used the kidney shaped part I cut out of the foam material to fill in the that part of the bulkhead then added the foam.

The small rectangle to the left of the window is a 3/8" piece of ABS that gives a firm backing to the VIN plate. I lined the corner holes in the ABS with 1/8 ID stainless tubing so the pop rivet wouldn't break out the holes as it would be really hard to fix afterwards.

Next came the fun part as I knew nothing about how carpet is made to conform to the contours of a cars interior. I knew it must have something to do with heat so I ended up making a buck for each side of the cars bulkhead to mold the carpet around.

As you can see from the rest of the pictures it was a lot more work than I had planed but the results were rewarding. I had to shave the carpet under the VIN plate so it would sit flat.

More later.....Hint. Yes the whole carpet ended up in the oven.

 

[Jack Houpe]

Thumbs up!

 

[Seymour Snerd]

That's amazing. Standing Ovation!

 

[DaveM]

You have got to have the most quiet SPF around. Nice work! Seeing some of your workspace reminds me of a Satch Carlson column years ago about kitchen people vs garage people. Obviously you don't have that problem!