Jonathans RCR 40 Build

[Fran Hall RCR]

I hate to say it but so am I....(waiting for the supplier to ship to RCR.)

 

[Jonathan Strain]

Doors

I have finally gotten back to work on my car. Fran got the hinges to me a couple of weeks ago and I have finished mounting and fitting one door. The other door is mounted but not fitted yet. The gaps are pretty good. It took quite a bit of patience to get the doors properly trimmed but I am happy with the results. Here are a couple of shots:

 

[Jonathan Strain]

Stiker Plate

I had to shim the door striker out 2 inches so I built the shim to allow adjustment. The shim has a vertical slot and the firewall has a horizontal slot for full adjustment. Here are some shots of the striker:

 

[Bill D]

WOW!! Excellent job!! When I get ready to hang my doors, can I send you some PM's asking for help?

Great job!!

Bill D

 

[Jonathan Strain]

Of course Bill. I'd be happy to help.

 

[Ron Earp]

Nice work on those and it looks like some progress is being made. I'm waiting for the 1/2 shafts too, but I know those have been delayed and will be along shortly. They don't hold anything up though. Is your 016 stock?

 

[Jonathan Strain]

No, I got my transaxle from Jerry and it has the limited slip mod done to it.

 

[Dutton]

Nice touch on the striker alignment, Jonathan.

If you don't mind, set aside those notes you pass along to Bill... your coaching will be darn valuable in my garage, too!

T.

 

[Jonathan Strain]

I have not posted for a while but I have been hard at work. I have most of the bodywork done. I should have the car in primer within a week. Here are some photos of my progress on the bodywork.

 

[Ron McCall]

HOly crap!!! I need to get to work or some of you guys are going to beat me done!!!
Looking great so far!!

 

[Jonathan Strain]

I still have a long way to go to catch up with you Ron.

 

[chuck smith]

Jonathan, it was nice meeting you last week at the Dragon run. The car looks good and I am sure it will be one of the nicer ones around given how your cobra turned out. chuck smith

 

[Bill D]

WOW!! Great progress. I feel like I'm moving at a snail's pace compared to you and Ron!! I better get my tail moving!!

Bill

 

[Jonathan Strain]

I decided to modify the rear deck so that the plate would sit flush. Fran supplies a cover cut from plate but the deck is taken from an original car so it is set up for sheet metal. I cut out the lip and reglassed it to get a deeper recess. Here is a shot of the progress:

 

[Jonathan Strain]

I also did the cutouts and fabricated a mount for the fog lights. Here are some pictures (the front clip is upside down in these):

 

[Doug S.]

All the big ticket stuff is included in the deluxe kit except engine, trans, and flywheel. There are a lot of little things to buy though. It will probably be a few months before I have a full list together.

When you do complete this list of "little things to buy", would you mind posting it on the forum? The RCR is at the top of my short list and I can afford to start purchasing some of those things that are not included in the deluxe roller kit now. IMHO, one of the biggest challenges is sourcing parts, so I will purchase the most complete kit available when that day comes, but I don't have the knowledge or experience in this specialized endeavor to know where to get many things. A head start could be very valuable.

Thanks, Jonathan.

Doug

 

[Jonathan Strain]

I finished priming the car. Here are some shots:

 

[Jonathan Strain]

I started painting today. I put down the silver for the stripes. Here are a couple of photos:

 

[Dutton]

It's coming along real well, Jonathan... and especially rewarding to see a fellow RF Mate getting closer to the dream!

When you have a few extra minutes (and you're not in the garage), I'd sure be interested in your take on body prep for your RCR, things to look out for, any special tools you used, etc.

Great progress, man. Can't wait to see the next installment!

Best,

T.

 

[Jonathan Strain]

As far as body prep the panel alignment on this car was incredible. Misalignments were so small that almost no filler was needed for panel alignment. There are a few places where the body gets a little wavy. If you go to my web pages you can see shots of the car with body filler on it. That is a good guide to where my body had waves. The toughest part was getting the back of the spider to match the door and rear clip. This part seems to have gotten a twist to it after it is pulled from the mold.

As far as special tools nothing fancy is required, its just lots of sanding. I only use DA sanders and air files early on. Once I have the gel coat scuffed I go to long boards. I only use the power tools on the primer if I have a lot of orange peel to knock down. The AFS boards are really nice when you are blocking out the car.