Keith's RCR GT40 Mk I Build

Dwight

RCR GT 40 Gulf Livery 347 Eight Stack injection
Keith drove over to my shop and helped work on body alignment a couple of days for three weeks. The last day he was over I told him I was going to go to work for a month so he could use that month to work on his cars. LOL
Keith is a great friend and has been a lot of help getting my car back into the body shop.
Thanks Keith!
We think a couple days of work will be ready for paint.
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and it
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Keith

Lifetime Supporter
Thought I would go ahead and give the front a good polish before I put the front clip back on. Two very tired arms four old tee shirts, a quarter jar of Mothers and an entire afternoon destroyed. But, it looks like it did 10 years ago.
Keith
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Dwight

RCR GT 40 Gulf Livery 347 Eight Stack injection
that is why I had mine sprayed in bedliner. I hate to polish anything!
 

Keith

Lifetime Supporter
Another item I wanted to address was the insulation in the inside of the rear clip. Ten years had made it a little worn looking, and the truth be known, I was not all that happy with it when I installed it. Using a pattern I got from Dwight I cut a piece of .025" polished on one side piece of aluminum to make a radiant heat shield. I then installed nine elevator bolts (stainless 1/4-20 x 3/4" length with 1 1/4 diameter heads) so that the gap was approximately .250" between the clip and the heat shield. I bonded the elevator bolt heads to the clip with 3m panel bond.
Pretty happy with how it looks.
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Keith

Lifetime Supporter
Took it on a 30 plus mile test drive today to test out the new heat shield. I have about an index finger gap between the heat shield and the top pipe. After the 30 mile drive on a 90 degree day I could still lay my hand on top of the clip over the exhaust pipe area.IMG_2676.jpg
 

Randy V

Moderator-Admin
Staff member
Admin
Lifetime Supporter
Took it on a 30 plus mile test drive today to test out the new heat shield. I have about an index finger gap between the heat shield and the top pipe. After the 30 mile drive on a 90 degree day I could still lay my hand on top of the clip over the exhaust pipe area.View attachment 107381
Effective and looks bloody awesome! I had also copied Dwight in much of that process...
 

Dwight

RCR GT 40 Gulf Livery 347 Eight Stack injection
The big question. Did the AC work? Black car, 90 degrees in North Alabama probably 75 % humidity.

And tell us about the new wiper assembly.
 

Keith

Lifetime Supporter
Yes, the AC worked great. I was a little surprised as the AC unit was originally charged over 10 years ago but it worked fine and there were no bubbles in the sight glass so I never put the gauges on it.

The new wiper system works great. I had to order a new wiper arm as the wiper motor has a 1/2" drive which is not common for automotive applications but the arm is available from Amazon. The motor is very powerful so I decided to increase the wiper blade length from 16" to 18", the motor easily drives the 18" blade on a dry window with no problem.

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Chet Zerlin

Supporter
Nicely done Keith! I look forward to being able to imitate a number of your build suggestions and improvements when I actually get my RCR40 delivered....it's been a whole two weeks now since I put my deposit down so it should be here soon....right?;)

Seriously, beautiful car!
 

Keith

Lifetime Supporter
This is not necessarily related to my GT40 build however it is applicable to any build.
I have been working on a SPF Slabside Mk II for a friend getting it road worthy and correcting some "dealer installed" issues. One of the cosmetic changes the owner wanted was to change out the cobra emblem on the steering wheel to match the "AC" emblems I am installing on the body. The new AC emblem was slightly smaller in diameter and about half the thickness of the cobra emblem. That paired with not being able to figure out how to take the emblem out without destroying it, drove me to making a new steering wheel center to match the new AC emblem.
I think the one I machined looks better than the one that came with it.IMG_2717.jpgIMG_2715.jpgIMG_2716.jpg
 

Keith

Lifetime Supporter
Another one of those things that I have been wrestling with has been a way to label the dash switches. Ten years ago it seemed so simple, I laid out and installed every one of them so of course I knew what each one did and where to reach and which way to flip it.
That was then, now I need help......
My first attempt was individual labels engraved with the names of the switches, as some had up to twelve letters and others had as few as four the engraved labels did not look good. I finally 1/2" wide an 1/16" thick bar engraved with the name under the switch. Lots of trial and error selecting a good readable font and getting the size right so it could fit in the space available. This is my first attempt at engraving the two label bars (one for the left side of the steering column and one for the right). I will mock them up on the dash tomorrow and see if they will work.
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Neil

Supporter
Your engraved panel looks great. My approach was to use a clear adhesive-backed film that I could run through my printer. I probably should have labeled the starter button but it is pretty obvious.
 

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Keith

Lifetime Supporter
I finally got the GT40 back in the shop to install the switch label plates I made.
The installed look is not bad and they are very readable from the drivers seat in the daylight, probably not so much at night.
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Dwight

RCR GT 40 Gulf Livery 347 Eight Stack injection
I'm swapping a T-5 for a Tremec 3550 tranny in my Fairlane. I can buy a shorten input shaft for the 3550 for $300 or a QuickTime bell housing for over $700 or Keith can grind down the shaft a 1/4". I took the shaft to him and in an hour he ground a 1/4" of the shaft and the bearing retainer. He took a 1/4" off the splines and kept the factory angle.
It looks like the factory did it.
Keith is the "Man"

I tried to post a video of him grinding the shaft but could not
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Dwight

RCR GT 40 Gulf Livery 347 Eight Stack injection
Installed the input shaft Thursday and finished installing the tranny Saturday. Took it for a long test drive. No problems, works perfectly. Speed-o dead on so I don't have to change any gears.
 

Keith

Lifetime Supporter
Sounds good. Still trying to find a way to post the video you took of the tool post grinder setup on my lathe.
 
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