Ohioan race driver, new CAV gt owner

Casey · 01-01-08, 08:46 PM

Hello everyone,

I just bought a CAV GT40 second hand and it is fantastic. I am a 26 year old race driver from Ohio and enjoy vintage racing as my hobby. I bought my GT40 as a fun car and am glad I did. It has an Elliot built 347 that makes 480 hp so the cars does what it should! Currently it has the Audi gearbox. The car has 5,000 miles on it and the gearbox is not broken so I think that is saying alot. I don't impact load trannies so I think it may be OK, but am unsure. I'd prefere better ratios though or at least a lower final drive number.
Unfortunatly it looks like I won't get to enjoy my car much for quite sometime as I am likly moving to Europe in two weeks to race F3 and train for F1. It will have to stay State side for now. An American driving a GT40 through Europe would draw too much attention. Although perhaps I should. With murphy's law, I'd end up getting hired by Ferrari.

Looking forward to chatting,

Casey Putsch
Putsch Racing

chuck smith · 01-01-08, 08:54 PM

enjoy it Casey, it looks a lot like mine.

Casey · 01-02-08, 01:49 PM

Thanks for the reply, your car looks great! What transmission do you have? If it is the Audi, what is your opinion on it and do you trust it?

Casey

chuck smith · 01-02-08, 06:14 PM

I have the RBT ZF Casey ,and to be honest I have never been that impressed with it. No failures or anything, but they are not as smooth as I would expect. I would not worry about the Audi tranny, if it fails ,they are cheap to replace or you might upgrade to a ZF or perhaps one of the new transaxles that are coming out soon that do hold some promise. I have had mine apart since last May when it was dinged in the rear quarter while in the pits at the Walter Mitty at Road Atlanta. I took the opportunity to put on some 48IDA webers, super insulate the interior and upgrade the shifter to a much slicker unit. The car should be really nice soon. chuck

Gary Kadrmas · 01-03-08, 12:25 AM

Casey,

Welcome aboard! I viewed your racing link.....great pictures and information!

You are going to find the folks here are a wealth of knowledge and supportive when you are in the need of technical information. Make sure you visit the thread to add your CAV to the CAV Registry.

Being a new owner to a GT40, it will be interesting to hear your thoughts and opinions on your new ride. I am sure their are more members than just me that would like to hear what you have to say about your car and how it compares to other cars you own or have owned in the past.

Casey · 01-03-08, 10:11 AM

Thanks Gary and Chuck.

This forum is fantastic and am glad it is here. My other fun car is a Can-Am Lola McKee and there are people to talk to about that too. I just ran into a guy online that I met at Watkins Glen just a few months ago as well.

Chuck, thanks for the advice on the Transaxles. I think you are right.

Casey

Canuk40 · 01-03-08, 06:51 PM

Hi Casey,

Welcome aboard, as a racer you'll find lot's of advice and parts here to help extract the maximum performance from the very strong CAV monocoque chassis.

Cheers