Tornado GT40 in Texas

I have just received my Super Pro Package from Tornado. Please see my "Introduce Yourself" thread entitled "Bob Woods in Texas" dated 30 December 2013 for details about my motivation and plans for my GT40.

The package was shipped in a large crate holding the frame and body parts, and a large box containing all of the parts. I did not order the engine since I will build one here.

My crate and box were put in a shipping container that arrived at the Charleston port on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, 27 November. Of course nothing was done until the following Monday. Then Customs decided that they needed to perform an X-ray inspection (which took about 5 days). Then they decided that they should visually inspect some of the contents of the container (which took another several days). I don't think they opened my crate or box, but perhaps something else in the container. Since 9/11 Customs tends to inspect most of the containers. After Customs cleared the container, then the warehouse took several days to unpack the container. After that, it took a few days to coordinate an over-the-road trucker to bring the crate and box to Texas. After sitting in Texas for a day or so, it finally arrived at my house on 19 December.

For someone that counts his time by the minute, this 3-week delay almost did me in. Further, I had given my last final on 16 November so I had a lot of flexible time that I intended to devote to the car. I lost a month of potential work time.

Three of us unloaded the body parts and frame by hand from the delivery truck and we were able to use a pallet jack to take the whole box to my garage (which I now call the "GT40 Factory"). Total time was about 30 minutes.

Even though my GT40 Factory is small, I managed to fit everything in it with the exception of the front body parts and doors which I am storing in another one of my garages.
 

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My hat off to you guys that can build from scratch. I don't have the talent. I bought mine finished, I still love the car .i did a bunch of work on my69 mustang but that is eay compaired to what you doing. Keep us posted.
 
Well, congratulations Bob! I've been wondering ... so you've had it for two weeks :thumbsup:

Can we go for a ride now?

Sam
 
Bob,

Go get 'em and good luck on the build. Now that you have the bits and pieces and have seen the task ahead have you set a timeframe for completion?
 
Jimmy,

Well, if I had received it sooner and not lost a month of flex time I was hoping to beat the 6 months record. I still hope to be done by June. If I get some more help, then sooner.

-Bob
 
Hi Bob,
Congratulations on your purchase, I’m sure you’ll have fun building it. Having nearly finished building mine (my build log is Norfolk Tornado), there’s a few useful ideas & mods I’ve added to mine as I’ve built it up. I also modelled the front suspension using our in-house software to look at minimising the bumpsteer, which you may be of interest.

Regards,
Andy

Can’t match a PhD, but a MSc & a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers plus 28yrs at Lotus Cars, must come close…….:thumbsup:
 
Bob:
Welcome to the insanity...You made a great choice..I am looking forward to your build because even with a specific chassis everyone adds their own touches. Any Motor choices yet?
Good luck and feel free to post progress and or questions.
Cheers
Phil
 
Congratulations Bob. I work just south of DFW airport and live in McKinney so if there is anything I can help out with let me know.
 
If you read my "Introduce Yourself" you will know that my first priority is the suspension. I did an mockup installation of the front and rear suspension. I did not press the rubber bushings in but used some plastic spacers to center the A-arms.

I then checked the camber change in heave and the bump steer by experimental measurements. More importantly, I have measured the XYZ positions of all suspension, steering, and ARB points on the car using the Faro Arm as I mentioned in my "Introduce Yourself". I will put this into SolidWorks to determine the coordinates for a suspension analysis program. This will tell me the performance of the suspension in terms of roll center, roll center migration, camber change in heave, camber change in roll, scrub radius, scrub radius migration, Ackerman percentage, and many other important factors. I will then see what I can do to improve the suspension performance and handling.

I haven't decided if I will just build the car the way it is and drive it to have a comparison of the original suspension to a new suspension system that I design or if I will just go ahead and change the suspension before I finish the build. My frame is not yet powder coated for this reason. I will determine this after I run the suspension analysis program.

I have now removed all of the suspension system and will start on the normal process of paneling. My frame has the seat supports at the bottom of the frame members and I have the adjustable seat rails. Before I install the underside panel, I will mount the seat rails with countersink bolts from the bottom and then put the panel over them. I will drill a small access hole in the panel and then cover it with tape so I can remove the seats if necessary. I will build all of the panels and drill them for mounting, but I will not rivet them until I powder coat the frame.

-Bob
 

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Bob:
I can tell you that unless you have rod ends at the rear you will have some bind. The Uprights on all the inverted lower wishbone setups tend to twist the inner mount as it cycles through its travel, and the radius rods rotate slightly...of course this would be at or near the limits of droop and compression but it is there.
Also you are going to find that the rear upright behaves better with some positive caster..I am using 5 deg. and there is some toe change (toe in) , but at extremes of full droop with the shock disconnected so I am going to ignore it.
I set up my chassis with zero ackerman, and if the wheels are put to full lock there is almost no scrub.
Just my 2c
Cheers
Phil
 
Phil,

Interesting observation. I will have my suspension measurements into SolidWorks very soon so I can tell better what to do. I will keep in touch about this.

-Bob
 
I work everyday on my project; however, there are two things that are keeping me from making progress on the actual car: organization and the "Trickle Effect".

I seem to be making daily trips to Harbor Freight to get tools and supplies. I am organizing my "GT40 Factory" by unpacking the parts, finding drawers for new tools, making roll-around stands, etc.

This leads me to the second problem... The Trickle Effect. You might have heard the old story: A guy buys a VCR for $100 (I told you it was an old story) and decides he needs to upgrade his TV to match the VCR. The new TV won't fit in the old cabinet, so he buys a new entertainment center. The carpet doesn't match the color of the entertainment center... the walls get repainted, etc. So now his $100 investment has trickled to several thousand. This applies to shops as well.

I have been test fitting different things and measuring the suspension, so I am doing things out of order. I have started on the paneling and hope to start making good progress on that.

At school we have a shear that will shear 1/4" steel 8 feet long. I just put this photo in to make you envious. A large brake is helpful as well.

-Bob
 

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