Down, but not out

[Alex Hirsbrunner]

As one of the apparently unfortunate RF customers who had a 50% deposit on a turn key, I decided to give Fran a call yesterday to discuss purchasing a car from him. A couple of questions came to mind after I talked to Fran that I thought some existing RCR customers could comment on rather than taking up more of Fran's time - and thus taking time away from your cars

1. Does anyone know if the fuel tanks are designed to take liners or not? I could not determine this from the chassis photo's on Fran's site.

2. Another RF related investment of mine (that is fortunately not at risk) is a new Audi 01E six speed with Quaife LSD, modified for right hand drive, right hand shift by Jerry Jansing. I'm wondering if anyone has determined that is it not practical to use this transaxles in an RCR chassis, and if anything prevents the use of right hand shift?

3. Last one - Is there a Gulf body option available, and if so, is it a set of flares that you bond on, or are is there a separate mold for Gulf rear clips? (I know, I'm probably kidding myself).

I plan to drive up and meet Fran early next week and hopefully become a future GT40 owner again. I'm sure some of you are thinking, what are you going to do if RF transfers SA orders to Oz, and RF is not insolvent? Well in that case, I will simply have to decide which completed car (and I mean, like in my garage, not completed but in another country!) that I like better and offer the other one up at a bargain basement price /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif to any of my colleages on this forum.

One note you may find interesting. When I told my wife about the likely loss of our deposit, rather than chasing me out of the house with a baseball bat, she was more concerned about why our "pretty blue and orange car" wasn't coming, and who else we could get one from. After all she was the one that picked the gulf scheme (knowing nothing about Gulf Oil, Le Mans and what have you at the time).

Thanks & Best Regards,

Al

 

[Sandy]

Al -

Ask Fran /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif,

Gulf Flares are added to the body work after I think. The fuel tanks don't come with liners, but I think he said he could have them fitted but they would be costly. Talk to him on that issue I think he will put alot of fears on that subject to rest. And yes, please call Fran during the lunch hour or late evenings so he can keep cranking on the cars!

Sandy

 

[Alex Hirsbrunner]

Thanks for the info Sandy!

Regards,

Al

 

[Ron McCall]

Al,
I will try to answer your questions as best as I can.
1) The fuel tanks have baffles welded into them so I would think that adding a blatter would be next to impossible.I really don't see the need for one.The tank is very much like an aluminum racing fuel cell that you woul'd buy from RCI or someone like that.It is just part of the car.

2) I really don't know about that transaxle and how it is mounted.I do know that Fran lists the AUDI 016 as a supported transaxle .That means that he would supply a shifter for that trans as well as mounting provisions.

3)Fran does offer a flair option. Atleast one car has been delivered with this option.Bill D is the owner of that car and it is coming along nicely.With the standard body work on the RCR car,you can fit a 10" wheel very easily. With the flairs,a 15" tire can be fitted!
Bill's car came delivered with the flairs installed but I don't know how much that option was.

BTW:you're a very lucky man to have such a cool wife! My wife is also very excited about the car.

Hope this helps.Any more questions,feel free to ask.
Later,
Ron McCall

 

[Jim S.]

Al,

I talked to Fran about the fuel tanks along with quite a few other questions about 2 weeks ago.
The tanks are made out of 3/16" thick aluminum sheet. Fran's reply on the bladders was if you get hit hard enough to rupture the tanks the bladder will be history also. All of the welded seams for the fuel tanks are on the outside not on the inside of the car. If a welded seam were to crack the gas would leak outside the car not inside. After talking with Fran for a while I was totally convinced that he has a well engineered car. Very nice guy, and willing to answer all questions.

 

[Chris Kouba]

Al-

The flares:

Want to see more? Bill D's build thread.

Warning: The flares make a 10" wheel look small! (That's a 10" wide wheel with 295's on it.)

Chris

 

[Bill D]

Hello Al-

I have Fran's car with the Gulf flares. Normally, he just supplies the flares and the customer has them added. I opted to have his body man do that before the car arrived.
You can see more of my car at mygt40.com

PM me if you have any more questions

Bill D

 

[Fran Hall RCR]

Al and others
The Gulf flares are an available option either as owner installed or factory installation....
See you Monday Al...and look forward to hearing your thoughts.

 

[John B]

Fran!

I will be stopping buy on moday also! I have some personal stuff to take car of and i will be in the area.


Oliver

 

[Fran Hall RCR]

John/Oliver

check your email

Fran

 

[Ron Earp]

Now, the big question - Fran, are you going to do any proper cars? That is, right hand drive? Ron, for some odd reason, only cares to have a right hand drive GT40! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[Fran Hall RCR]

Ron....RHD no problem.......Bill D has a RHD car as does Vintage Venom...both on here.
Left hand shift/right hand shift and center shift available...

 

[Ron Earp]

Good to know, thanks. I probably missed that on your website while scanning through.

 

[Alex Hirsbrunner]

First off, thanks very much for the info everyone posted.

I was in Detroit yesterday afternoon visiting Fran's shop. As a degreed mechanical engineer, all I can say is wow. I was utterly impressed by the design, manufacturing processes, material selection and especially the attention to detail present along with the continuous process and product improvement evident in all of the vehicles being produced in his shop.

I should be clear that I am not making a comparison between RCR and any other manufacture's products (I am not qualified to do so). What I am comparing is what I thought of the RCR product before and after being there in person. The photos on the website simply do not do Fran's work justice.

Basically, I walked into the shop and immediately was struck by the well organized, clean and extremely well stocked assembly facility. After getting a tour of the facility and an in-depth introduction into RCR products by well informed and clearly skilled fabricators, I met Fran.

Even taking into account that (to me) anyone with an English accent automatically sounds authoritive, intellectual and well informed /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif, Fran quickly showed his extensive engineering and design skills as he ran me through the car and it's systems. As a result, I would have been similarly impressed even if he had a Brooklyn, NY accent!

Executive Summary:

Walk in, touch the product, talk to Fran about what I would like and Bob's your Uncle, chassis #24 is mine

I forgot to mention that I sat in Sandy's car for a size check. Plenty of legroom and comfortable seats - of course the rest of his car is also very cool <Sandy, I did not step on your new seats with my dirty shoes, I think Fran used some old GT-40 blueprints as protection, showing his continued concern for the customer

I was also fortunate to meet a great bunch fellow forum members, but that's a story for another day.

16 weeks and counting.

Best Regards,

Al

Below: Fran fires up an open header 383 chevy inside the shop /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[Alex Hirsbrunner]

I also forgot to mention that I just got some photos of my RHS 01E that Jerry Jansing modified. Thankfully, it turns out I will be able to use it in our RCR!

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[Alex Hirsbrunner]

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[Alex Hirsbrunner]

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[Ron McCall]

Congrats Al!! You made a brilliant choice!
So,what are your plans?(engine,wheels,color etc........)

 

[flatchat(Chris)]

Really like that little red car Fran -- might have to come over for a visit and talk 'turkey' /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bandito.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/flehan.gif