Hello Everyone!
I can't believe it, the build is finally going to happen! This week my dad and I placed an order with Fran for a RCR40 mkI.
Some light background:
This will be a father/son project!
We have built two other cars together... the first one was a 1972 Dodge Dart. The joke was that my dad was afraid I would rot away playing Call of Duty if he didn't push me to find another interest. The deal was that he would help me fix up a cool old car and I could drive it to high school when I turned 16, I just had to give up video games LOL. We bought the heap of rusty metal for $900 near the Ohio river when I was about 14... 2 years later we had replaced the 225 slant six auto with a 318 v8 auto and replaced every body panel and painted it bright red ourselves. Dual black hood scoops. During that project we learned so much, and had a blast doing it. Prior to this my dad only had some wood working tools. We had to teach ourselves everything. No doubt about it we caught the bug.
Shortly after completing the Dart we decided we had so much fun we wanted to try something else, and a local add for a 73 Challenger popped up. Like all old mopars in the rust belt it was in sorry shape but a fun looking project nonetheless. That build took around 10 years. It taught us even more than the dart.
Getting into cars and building them pushed me to try out Mechanical Engineering... I loved it. Obviously college slowed things down in the middle of the build. Once that car was complete it wasn't getting driven like it should. It was a funny realization... we spent 10 years excited to drive the finished car and cherish a shiny Mopar... (way nicer than the Dart is tbh) but it wasn't as much fun as building the thing! This realization started the ball rolling on selling it and starting something new. Another motivator was I moved across town for work after graduating so a new project would be a great excuse to hangout together more! For years a GT40 kit car was on my radar, and finally we sold the Challenger and recently ordered a kit. On to a new chapter... and time to learn how to be pros with fiberglass!
Hours and hours of research have already been completed... and oh my gosh so many questions and open ends still remain. Lots of exciting and fun challenges to be met putting something like this together.
A rough estimate from RCR has the kit being ready around October of this year. Plenty of time to finish initial plans.
The build plan:
The concept of this build is focusing on the joy of driving and not so much attempting to maintain originality. We want a car that is a blast to drive. Something that we aren't afraid to drive hard. We plan on taking the car to open track days across the Midwest, while also showing up to local car shows and autocross events. It would also be a blast to drive to work.
Minor Order Details:
MkI RCR GT40 Kit
Single scoop front end
17" BRM wheels
2" flares
LHD
6-point cage
Drivetrain Plan:
Already acquired. 5.3 LS. LM7 iron block with aluminum 706 cathedral port heads. Out of a 02 Silverado with 120,000 miles.
Already installed a Brain Tooley Racing road racing cam, ultimate RPM valve springs, sealed roller bearing trunnion upgrade, and chromoly pushrods.
This valvetrain should support up to 7500 rpm without floating a valve/hurting itself.
Hoping to squeeze a dry/wet sump oil system into the budget. At a bare minimum will install an accusump.
Still investigating electric water pump options.
Planning on a Holley EFI setup to run the engine and probably many other parts of the car.
I have a good friend that works at a performance shop that looked over my shoulder while I hand ported the heads.
I think asking for 450-480hp from this old LS is reasonable after the aforementioned upgrades.
Porsche G96/01 with a wavetrac LSD.
yes yes yes I know. A CHEVY ENGINE?!? GET THIS GUY OUT OF HERE! Don't get me wrong, the ford V8s I see going in most of these cars are incredible!
However we couldn't say no to the following perks:
Very inexpensive
Small (compared to a coyote)
Huge aftermarket parts support
proven durability even straight out of the junkyard over 100,000 miles of service.
These characteristics make a good case I think for a autocross/track day build that we don't have to worry about too much. Worst case this engine spins a bearing or starts to knock. I can hop online and there will be several similar engines for sale for a few hundred bucks down the road, not to mention every Columbus junkyard has a constant supply of vehicles with LS engines.
One of the tricks with these engines is to NEVER crack open the bottom end. The joke there is that if you do you'll let the magic out!! So we are going to try and get away with not even touching the mains or connecting rods/pistons to begin with.
I considered a 6.0 instead of the 5.3... but I opted for the engine that can spin faster on the big end.
Maybe I rod knock this poor thing after 5 laps at mid ohio... maybe it gives us 3 trouble free seasons. We shall see. I am sure one day far down the road a beautiful ford V8 with ITBs will show up... but for now...
Accessories:
One of the biggest challenges will be building a nice intake system... At least at first we will not be opting for some sort of fuel injected ITB setup. There are a few options out there. I have been following @Peter Umino 's build very closely to see how his works out for him. Instead the current plan is to try to make a traditional cable operated TB work with a custom intake. We have a few ideas going but it will have to wait until the car is in front of us to see just how much space we have (expecting very little room lol).
Fuel System:
I have been reading a lot about the different solutions you guys have come up with to keep fuel injection happy. Currently the plan is to have a low pressure bump feed a swirl pot which will protect a high pressure pump/regulators. What I can't make my mind up on is what to do about 2 separate fuel tanks... I think a transfer pump feeding a primary tank is a good solution... but maybe we will try just tying them together with a well protected hose first...
Exhaust:
Going to be welding up our own. This will be a giant challenger but we are excited to give it a shot. It will be very hard to satisfy the firing order of the LS in a neat package. Also I have to admit I will need to practice my TIG welding a lot first.....
Tires:
We went for the 17" wheels to help fit some more modern tires and increase our options. Currently looking at a nice set of Toyo tires. It is hard to find a 295 set that is reasonable for street and track... might be settling for something a little smaller at first. Would love for some tips on this especially if you do performance driving.
Exterior:
I am partial to red on cars. Certainly my favorite color. Still searching for the perfect shade of racing red. I will top it off with two big fat white stripes up the middle.
I know it is not quite authentic, but I also love the look of the the MKII style brake cooling ducts. The functionality is cool too. Some minor front aero is certainly in order as well. The Alan Mann cars are a good visual for the concept despite the gold stripes and different side scoops. We might be powder coating the wheels a DOW 7 look alike if we can find a color we like.
Follow along... I will be sharing as much detail as I can. This forum is an incredible resource. We have read many of the build threads several times over and we are excited to be joining in the fun. I will probably start by going into detail on the work already completed on the engine.
Cheers!
Nick
I can't believe it, the build is finally going to happen! This week my dad and I placed an order with Fran for a RCR40 mkI.
Some light background:
This will be a father/son project!
We have built two other cars together... the first one was a 1972 Dodge Dart. The joke was that my dad was afraid I would rot away playing Call of Duty if he didn't push me to find another interest. The deal was that he would help me fix up a cool old car and I could drive it to high school when I turned 16, I just had to give up video games LOL. We bought the heap of rusty metal for $900 near the Ohio river when I was about 14... 2 years later we had replaced the 225 slant six auto with a 318 v8 auto and replaced every body panel and painted it bright red ourselves. Dual black hood scoops. During that project we learned so much, and had a blast doing it. Prior to this my dad only had some wood working tools. We had to teach ourselves everything. No doubt about it we caught the bug.
Shortly after completing the Dart we decided we had so much fun we wanted to try something else, and a local add for a 73 Challenger popped up. Like all old mopars in the rust belt it was in sorry shape but a fun looking project nonetheless. That build took around 10 years. It taught us even more than the dart.
Getting into cars and building them pushed me to try out Mechanical Engineering... I loved it. Obviously college slowed things down in the middle of the build. Once that car was complete it wasn't getting driven like it should. It was a funny realization... we spent 10 years excited to drive the finished car and cherish a shiny Mopar... (way nicer than the Dart is tbh) but it wasn't as much fun as building the thing! This realization started the ball rolling on selling it and starting something new. Another motivator was I moved across town for work after graduating so a new project would be a great excuse to hangout together more! For years a GT40 kit car was on my radar, and finally we sold the Challenger and recently ordered a kit. On to a new chapter... and time to learn how to be pros with fiberglass!
Hours and hours of research have already been completed... and oh my gosh so many questions and open ends still remain. Lots of exciting and fun challenges to be met putting something like this together.
A rough estimate from RCR has the kit being ready around October of this year. Plenty of time to finish initial plans.
The build plan:
The concept of this build is focusing on the joy of driving and not so much attempting to maintain originality. We want a car that is a blast to drive. Something that we aren't afraid to drive hard. We plan on taking the car to open track days across the Midwest, while also showing up to local car shows and autocross events. It would also be a blast to drive to work.
Minor Order Details:
MkI RCR GT40 Kit
Single scoop front end
17" BRM wheels
2" flares
LHD
6-point cage
Drivetrain Plan:
Already acquired. 5.3 LS. LM7 iron block with aluminum 706 cathedral port heads. Out of a 02 Silverado with 120,000 miles.
Already installed a Brain Tooley Racing road racing cam, ultimate RPM valve springs, sealed roller bearing trunnion upgrade, and chromoly pushrods.
This valvetrain should support up to 7500 rpm without floating a valve/hurting itself.
Hoping to squeeze a dry/wet sump oil system into the budget. At a bare minimum will install an accusump.
Still investigating electric water pump options.
Planning on a Holley EFI setup to run the engine and probably many other parts of the car.
I have a good friend that works at a performance shop that looked over my shoulder while I hand ported the heads.
I think asking for 450-480hp from this old LS is reasonable after the aforementioned upgrades.
Porsche G96/01 with a wavetrac LSD.
yes yes yes I know. A CHEVY ENGINE?!? GET THIS GUY OUT OF HERE! Don't get me wrong, the ford V8s I see going in most of these cars are incredible!
However we couldn't say no to the following perks:
Very inexpensive
Small (compared to a coyote)
Huge aftermarket parts support
proven durability even straight out of the junkyard over 100,000 miles of service.
These characteristics make a good case I think for a autocross/track day build that we don't have to worry about too much. Worst case this engine spins a bearing or starts to knock. I can hop online and there will be several similar engines for sale for a few hundred bucks down the road, not to mention every Columbus junkyard has a constant supply of vehicles with LS engines.
One of the tricks with these engines is to NEVER crack open the bottom end. The joke there is that if you do you'll let the magic out!! So we are going to try and get away with not even touching the mains or connecting rods/pistons to begin with.
I considered a 6.0 instead of the 5.3... but I opted for the engine that can spin faster on the big end.
Maybe I rod knock this poor thing after 5 laps at mid ohio... maybe it gives us 3 trouble free seasons. We shall see. I am sure one day far down the road a beautiful ford V8 with ITBs will show up... but for now...
Accessories:
One of the biggest challenges will be building a nice intake system... At least at first we will not be opting for some sort of fuel injected ITB setup. There are a few options out there. I have been following @Peter Umino 's build very closely to see how his works out for him. Instead the current plan is to try to make a traditional cable operated TB work with a custom intake. We have a few ideas going but it will have to wait until the car is in front of us to see just how much space we have (expecting very little room lol).
Fuel System:
I have been reading a lot about the different solutions you guys have come up with to keep fuel injection happy. Currently the plan is to have a low pressure bump feed a swirl pot which will protect a high pressure pump/regulators. What I can't make my mind up on is what to do about 2 separate fuel tanks... I think a transfer pump feeding a primary tank is a good solution... but maybe we will try just tying them together with a well protected hose first...
Exhaust:
Going to be welding up our own. This will be a giant challenger but we are excited to give it a shot. It will be very hard to satisfy the firing order of the LS in a neat package. Also I have to admit I will need to practice my TIG welding a lot first.....
Tires:
We went for the 17" wheels to help fit some more modern tires and increase our options. Currently looking at a nice set of Toyo tires. It is hard to find a 295 set that is reasonable for street and track... might be settling for something a little smaller at first. Would love for some tips on this especially if you do performance driving.
Exterior:
I am partial to red on cars. Certainly my favorite color. Still searching for the perfect shade of racing red. I will top it off with two big fat white stripes up the middle.
I know it is not quite authentic, but I also love the look of the the MKII style brake cooling ducts. The functionality is cool too. Some minor front aero is certainly in order as well. The Alan Mann cars are a good visual for the concept despite the gold stripes and different side scoops. We might be powder coating the wheels a DOW 7 look alike if we can find a color we like.
Follow along... I will be sharing as much detail as I can. This forum is an incredible resource. We have read many of the build threads several times over and we are excited to be joining in the fun. I will probably start by going into detail on the work already completed on the engine.
Cheers!
Nick