Dutton's RCR40 Build Thread

Well boys, here we go. I can’t wait!

What you see here is the foundation for a Mk 1 Road carn. No doubt you’ve all read about, if not seen for yourself, the remarkable starting point Fran Hall and his team at RCR has provided for builders. On the off chance you’ve been on a hunting trip for the last year or so, the quality of the body work and chassis are artwork; the chassis welds could bring tears to your eyes they’re so good, and the bodies, well, they’re just plain exceptional. It’s no wonder the backlog of work at RCR continues to grow.

This build thread will be on hold for a few weeks whilst I ensure that my bride is happy in her new home… paint, carpeting, so forth. Once that’s in, we’ll get started. I figure a couple more weeks.

Until then, here’s a couple shots of the arrival (I'll bet you had no idea a lawn mower could pull one of these up a hill) More soon…

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Excellent!! Congrats on the delivery!!

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Look at that thing shine! Paint heck, just throw some wax on it and call it done.

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After all these months, I suppose it’s time for an update. Boy, have things changed.

First, I couldn’t have been more pleased with the delivery of the car last fall. RCR’s Fran Hall and more than a few forum members strongly suggested using Rich’s Classic Transport for the hauling. Several conversations and some weeks later, Rich delivered the car and even helped me get it up the driveway and into the garage as shown in the previous pics. A number of other transport companies I’d contacted were unwilling to commit to delivering to the street in front of our home, let alone be of any more help - Rich and Doug of RCT, on the other hand, were more than helpful getting the car to its new home (they’re definite car-guys, too). I’d highly recommend RCT to anyone needing a car transport.

Donna, wanting a project of her own, dove right into a home renovation which consumed last fall, winter, and every moment I wasn’t at work (with the RCR in the garage, I couldn’t muster the nerve to tell her no…). As time allowed I continued searching for and locating a lot of original-ish parts… while I intend to finish the 40 in road car trim, there are a bunch of little details which, for me, make the difference. Things like door locks, interior mirror, badges, lights, latches, gauges, eyeball vents, demister grille and so forth. I know, I know - this is a replica… but as I only intend to do this once (before retirement, at least), my wish is for the finished car to incorporate as many of those little bits as possible.

Then along comes spring - and a small change in my professional life. This new opportunity is wonderfully challenging but leaves me with not much energy at the end of the day. My choices now are (1) take years to finish the build with fewer hours and typically less energy at the end of the week or (2) finding some truly qualified help to assist with the build, allowing me to drive the car before I retire. This was an easy call - I opted for door number 2. So, pack up the car one more time and move it to the where the skilled hands are. We’ll get more into that later.

Maybe six weeks ago I shipped off the carbs and an oil pan from Armando’s to Keith Craft Racing Engines. I’d heard nothing but good things about them, the quality of the engines and how they stand behind their work. Well, three weeks ahead of schedule and just last Friday, I received a call from Tony at KC announcing that my new 331 is finished, dyno’d and is ready to be shipped. Although I was a little disappointed in the 435 horsepower figure, I was very pleased with the 450 ft-lbs torque which is, by the way, nearly equal to the 427-equipped Corvette I had some years back – and destined for a car weighing at least 1000# less!



More soon,

T.

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Nice one Dutton,

I like your honesty about the time to complete a build. It is scary to hear of the people who take 3 or more years to complete their cars and that 2 years is considered a reasonably quick build. Now there are understandably some people who relish the enjoyment of the build process, but by the sounds of things, you are more looking to relish the enjoyment of driving the car.

Now for the important bit. Just because you are not 100% building the car yourself does not excuse you from providing build updates! Ha.

Cheers

Jack

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Hi Dutton, everything looks terrific. Don't be disappointed at 435 horses, you will find that more than adequate once you get behind the wheel.
Keep the pics coming.

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To true Pete. A approx 100kg car and a lazy 326kw of power should in theory, go like the proverbial clappers.

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JackW said:

To true Pete. A approx 100kg car and a lazy 326kw of power should in theory, go like the proverbial clappers.

Click to expand...

Jack I think you mean 1000Kg. 326kw and 100kg would go into orbit!!

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Good spot Pete, although in fairness, a 100kg car with 326kw of power WOULD go like the clappers. Might have some problems with wheeel spin though. Soory for getting off track Mr Dutton.

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Off topic? Horsepower is NEVER off topic!

Best,

T.

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Here's 345hp YouTube - RCR-40

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Having survived a two and a half year build I appreciate your situation! I'm sure your rookie builder will do a fine job!

Your HP seams a bit low. Any specs on the camshaft in the bling blanger?

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Bill Pinzini said:

Here's 345hp YouTube - RCR-40

Click to expand...

Again Dutton sorry for getting off track but I just watched Bills YouTube footage. I think you have gone a bit far in trying to keep the weight down. To me you seem to have lost the essence of the 40.

JW

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Congrats on new toy...

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Bill - nice video, but a nicer sound! I caught that last nite at home... using the abismally slow dial-up internet which is the penalty for living out in the countryside. Definitely worth the wait!

Allen – thanks. Looks like you’ll have an RCR in the semi-neighborhood if you’d like to have a look at before you head for Detroit

Neal – The cam is Crane roller, #TFS-51402001 (Intake 542 lift / 286°, Exhaust 583 lift / 294°); the heads are AFR 185’s. I’ve since learned that the horsepower ‘issue’ may be more closely related to the 48 IDFs on top - they're not IDA's. When I discussed my preferences with KC prior to placing the engine order, I’d hoped for results a bit closer to your 8-cyl monster. What I didn’t know then was how Webers have a real affect on those horsepower numbers, and what I still don't know is how IDFs match up with IDAs. Had I opted for a 4-bbl carb, I was told this engine would easily make it to 500 horsepower. Oh well. I’ll just have to suffer with this underpowered boat anchor for the time being.

By the way, am looking forward to catching up with you one day soon... by any chance did Kouba make arrangements for this Sunday?

Best,

T.

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Dutton, I like your choice of color.It sounds like your car is going to be a beast! Have fun w/ your Build.

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Boat anchor, now that's funny!

I have a slightly larger comp cam in a 342ci with afr 185 heads and dual 4 barrel carbs. I am expecting around 500 HP. It sounds like from your experience I should be pretty darn close.

Thanks for the tip on RCT for shipping.

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Dutton said;

Allen – thanks. Looks like you’ll have an RCR in the semi-neighborhood if you’d like to have a look at before you head for Detroit

Click to expand...

That would be great... And it would give me a chance to drive my cobra up north again. Thanks

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I am always amazed at how disappointed people are if their engine does not make 500hp, one friend of mine would not pay the engine builder until he had a dyno sheet for 600hp, I watched several dyno sessions and this engine made about 576 pretty consistently with a lot of torque, the engine builder was finally able to come up with a 600 hp pass after he used every trick and device he had, most of them would make the engine very difficult to drive on the street, My friend was happy, he has a sheet with the magic number but I suspect that this engine will produce about 525 hp in the car and I will still be able to run rings around him with my weber equipped 347.
The essence of these cars is hard to capture, some one will always have more horsepower or money and we can all get a lighter. faster car than a 40 (RCR Lola, Penske PC 7 Indy car?), The webers and the 180 degree exhaust are a big part of what makes this car for me and I think that you will find your 331 will easily allow your car to exceed your capabilities (I do not mean that in a negative way, any of us could easily outdrive Dan Gurney or any of the fine drivers from that period!).
Your 40 looks great, enjoy it.
IMHO
Dave

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Wow. Where did a year go? Time to dust this off and bring the story up to date.

Since my last post on this build thread, the honey-do’s are taken care of and the new job, while still mentally exhausting most days, has become far more manageable. The property, though, is still more than I bargained for. I never, ever imagined mowing so much grass.

Earlier I mentioned that I’d gone looking for some help and ultimately found someone who I know will be a great partner with this project… Fran Hall and the RCR team. I’m doubly grateful for their help now. Bear in mind that the RCR business, when Fran committed to helping with this build, was only growing in leaps and bounds… had the RCR business climate then been as robust as it is today, I don’t think Fran would’ve/could’ve committed his team to the task. Thanks Fran, for your help with this. You know how much this means.

Over the summer and fall of '07, Fran and I talked a number of times and at some length about the specific hows and whys of this build. He was a great source of information and offered great feedback along the way. Eventually, we had a plan.

One of the first orders of business was to modify the tail section to the early 4-lamp rear light setup, so Frans bodywork team went to work on it. Having an original tail section hanging in the RCR shop made for easy reference; in no time it was done and the primer was applied.

And then the engines first test fit…