Rick's RCR GT40

Rick Merz

Lifetime Supporter
Chris, Thanks, I try to post an accurate account of my experiences good or bad, I may have been upset at the time but I try to keep focused on the big picture and overall I am happy with my RCR. I made a couple of mistakes during my build as well that cost me more than a few hours to correct and I will post about those in the near future. These builds are a journey with many good days and a few bad days but at the end of the journey we have a beautiful high performance car that we can be proud of.
 

Rick Merz

Lifetime Supporter
Door work...


I made a mistake and trimmed the right door too short by 1/8" so I had to grind the door edge to a shallow bevel to layup the fiberglass on so that I will have a solid door edge that I can cut to the correct shape. After grinding I built a ledge out of 5 layers of aluminum tape and backed it up with cardboard to stiffen it more. The front edge of the door (pic 2205) had a major gap so I cleaned it out and prepped it as well. Six layers of fiberglass mat were laid up and sanded down on the inside so that is looks as if the door was not repaired. Picture 2209 shows the outside repair just after the tape mold was removed.

I wanted door pockets so I purchased a pair from Hough Composites and covered the top edge with plastic insulation tape since bondo will no bond to the tape. I set the pocket in the door so that it would be level and clamped it and a "dam" at the top of the door. I added three layers of bondo and sanded them smooth to the top of the pockets and door. The bondo filled the gap between the pocket flange and the door and when the pocket was removed there was a good impression of the pocket flange. Now the pocket can be installed and removed and there is no noticeable crack between the pocket flange and the door.
 

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Rick Merz

Lifetime Supporter
More Door Work...

I wanted to made the doors feel more solid when they close and I want the inside of the car to be as cool as possible so I insulated the inside of the doors with 1" to 1.5" of structural foam. I first had to make a mold from a cardboard box that was covered with plastic insulation tape so that the expanding foam will not stick to it. The mold is required since I need the area where the door handle and the door latch to be free of foam until after the door handles and latch are installed, after installation I will add foam where I can so that there is complete coverage. I mixed and pored the expanding foam and quickly installed the door pocket (covered with the plastic insulation tape). After removing the pocket and the cardboard mold I sanded the foam to shape, now when the doors close they do not sound like a light weight fiberglass door. My interior has structural foam in the sides of the doors, roof of the doors, spider roof and spider "B" pillars, this not only makes everything stronger and cooler but it also makes the interior a little quieter.
 

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Bill Kearley

Supporter
Hay Ron, I hope you joking, Walt's the nicest American I know, I think he has to proof read what he types. O G I just realized I think Rick Muck is American, that makes 2, sorry Walt.
 

Rick Merz

Lifetime Supporter
I have not done anything to my GT40 since 10/2018 because my job required me to travel internationally once a month for 2 weeks. I was laid off (due to Covid travel restrictions) 5/2020 so I used my time to design and build our new home in Aledo, TX. With all of the 7.5 acre land work, 1.6 acre pond work, house, shop and pavilion construction I have been busy. Just last week my wife asked me, when are you going to finish the GT40? Well if she is starting to nag I better get working on it. :)
 

Rick Merz

Lifetime Supporter
Rick, so glad you are back on course.

Bob Woods
I just bought some fiberglass cloth and resin to finish leveling up the body. I don't like to use bondo so I add fiberglass to build then sand to fit/shape. Just last week I received an offer to manage CAPEX for several plants in the U.S. but I am motivated to get the GT40 finished.
 
Rick, glad to hear you are doing well and back on track to finish up the GT40.

How's the new place coming along?

John
 
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