Ron Earp
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Ron Earp Build Diary - RCR Lola T70 Spider
Well the Lola arrived this morning at about 645am - mighty early! Fran from RCR hooked me up with Rich's Classic Transport to bring the Lola from Detroit to Raleigh NC. These guys are fantastic, and do nice work. I've worked with two transport companies in the past, both good, but these fellows are my favorite now. Rich and Doug Lacy are the owners, and drivers, and use enclosed trailers to move their cars around. Super nice, good to work with, and prompt as well as on time. www.rct1966.com or 402-366-1848.
We off-loaded the jacked up Lola and moved in into my driveway where I spent a couple of hours going over the car and sorting through the included pieces. The car I purchased from RCR is the Deluxe Track Spec car which essentially means it'll have everything you need to build it up, sans engine, transaxle, clutch, pressure plate, and half shafts. The Track Spec does not have some options like AC, leather seats, etc. but it is very complete. The package has wiring harness, brakes, lines (pre-bent and ready to go I might add), pedals, master cylinders, seats, steering gear, radiator, etc. You can check it out on the RCR site, basically add the big items, apply elbow grease, and go to it.
This is the first Lola that RCR has put out in the public sector. The chassis is very similar to the GT40 chassis, so it is an aluminum monocoque that is TIG welded, with all billet uprights and control arms. The chassis and suspension components are top rate, I really like the entire design and wrote about that somewhere else on the forum. Everything I've inspected looks to be assembled with high quality bits - rods ends, shocks, springs, etc. and I think it'll work out very well.
The Lola T70 Spider body is very nice. The glass is very well done, in a dark blue gel coat, and is a nice weight. It isn't too heavy, and, it isn't too light. The Track Spec bodies are a little lighter than the road versions, but I still think it is plenty stiff for whatever you want to do. I'll get some weights on the stuff at some point and put some info out there for folks.
The fit of the body is quite good, very good. RCR fitted the body to the car before shipping and it appears that all that really needs to happen is the edges need finishing and the surfaces prepped. Cut out lights, and vents, make sure the cuts are symmetric, and it should be paintable. Part lines were already ground down and came out very nicely. The complete body package is every bit as good as my old RF GT40 body with respect to glass quality, actually better, but this body needs no additions or detraction to make it fit, it fits already. I'm quite pleased with it and as a lot of you know I'm not a body man. But, I think I can get through this one since it isn't going to take a lot of "fixing" to make it work. No doubt you could sand it up, as is, paint it with a spray bomb, and it'd look as good as most Sports Racers out on the track now. Not my goal, but if someone was in a hurry they could do it and it'd look fine.
Wilwood 6 pot front, 4 pot rear, caliper sets are a nice standard feature. Good wiring harness that is complete for road use, ally radiator and supports, aluminum rear undertray, motor plate, full gauge set, and lots of other goodies round out the package. A couple of items are on back order, like the pedal assembly, windshield, and a few others but they'll be along shortly. I'm quite happy with all of the bits and pleased with the fit and finish of the starting point.
Last thing I'll mention is weight, or lack thereof. I don't know what this weighs, neither does RCR, but it isn't much at all. Doug and I were able to roll it down a steep incline to my place and I was amazed at how easy it is to handle. I will get some corner weight scales from my buddy but I think we'll be under 2000 lbs for a complete car with iron block, ally heads. Wow.
Building will probably have to wait at least a week so I can clear out a couple of projects and vacation time, but I'm anxious to get started!
Ron
Well the Lola arrived this morning at about 645am - mighty early! Fran from RCR hooked me up with Rich's Classic Transport to bring the Lola from Detroit to Raleigh NC. These guys are fantastic, and do nice work. I've worked with two transport companies in the past, both good, but these fellows are my favorite now. Rich and Doug Lacy are the owners, and drivers, and use enclosed trailers to move their cars around. Super nice, good to work with, and prompt as well as on time. www.rct1966.com or 402-366-1848.
We off-loaded the jacked up Lola and moved in into my driveway where I spent a couple of hours going over the car and sorting through the included pieces. The car I purchased from RCR is the Deluxe Track Spec car which essentially means it'll have everything you need to build it up, sans engine, transaxle, clutch, pressure plate, and half shafts. The Track Spec does not have some options like AC, leather seats, etc. but it is very complete. The package has wiring harness, brakes, lines (pre-bent and ready to go I might add), pedals, master cylinders, seats, steering gear, radiator, etc. You can check it out on the RCR site, basically add the big items, apply elbow grease, and go to it.
This is the first Lola that RCR has put out in the public sector. The chassis is very similar to the GT40 chassis, so it is an aluminum monocoque that is TIG welded, with all billet uprights and control arms. The chassis and suspension components are top rate, I really like the entire design and wrote about that somewhere else on the forum. Everything I've inspected looks to be assembled with high quality bits - rods ends, shocks, springs, etc. and I think it'll work out very well.
The Lola T70 Spider body is very nice. The glass is very well done, in a dark blue gel coat, and is a nice weight. It isn't too heavy, and, it isn't too light. The Track Spec bodies are a little lighter than the road versions, but I still think it is plenty stiff for whatever you want to do. I'll get some weights on the stuff at some point and put some info out there for folks.
The fit of the body is quite good, very good. RCR fitted the body to the car before shipping and it appears that all that really needs to happen is the edges need finishing and the surfaces prepped. Cut out lights, and vents, make sure the cuts are symmetric, and it should be paintable. Part lines were already ground down and came out very nicely. The complete body package is every bit as good as my old RF GT40 body with respect to glass quality, actually better, but this body needs no additions or detraction to make it fit, it fits already. I'm quite pleased with it and as a lot of you know I'm not a body man. But, I think I can get through this one since it isn't going to take a lot of "fixing" to make it work. No doubt you could sand it up, as is, paint it with a spray bomb, and it'd look as good as most Sports Racers out on the track now. Not my goal, but if someone was in a hurry they could do it and it'd look fine.
Wilwood 6 pot front, 4 pot rear, caliper sets are a nice standard feature. Good wiring harness that is complete for road use, ally radiator and supports, aluminum rear undertray, motor plate, full gauge set, and lots of other goodies round out the package. A couple of items are on back order, like the pedal assembly, windshield, and a few others but they'll be along shortly. I'm quite happy with all of the bits and pleased with the fit and finish of the starting point.
Last thing I'll mention is weight, or lack thereof. I don't know what this weighs, neither does RCR, but it isn't much at all. Doug and I were able to roll it down a steep incline to my place and I was amazed at how easy it is to handle. I will get some corner weight scales from my buddy but I think we'll be under 2000 lbs for a complete car with iron block, ally heads. Wow.
Building will probably have to wait at least a week so I can clear out a couple of projects and vacation time, but I'm anxious to get started!
Ron
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