Ago's scratchbuilt GT40 Mk I

[Agostino]

Hi to everybody!
After some years as reader of this forum I decided to post my first thread to present my GT40 replica project.
But first of all I need to thank this great forum, it is an unvaluable source of inspiration and information!

To introduce myself and my project, I'm that kind of person who loves the journey even more than reaching the destination. So when it came the time to start, I decided for the long route, a scratchbuilt GT40 replica (apart for the fiberglass body).

The first step was the chassis and I decided for a mild steel monocoque inspired to the original one. No intent to do any kind of historically correct copy, I was just amazed by that piece of art that the GT40 monocoque is and I'm getting a lot of fun with sheet metal working.
I spent one year working on the plans and workflow and I finally started to build the chassis one year ago. Quite slow at the beginning, now I'm a bit more skilled and fast progressing, but still a lot of work to do!

Some pictures of the first part of the chassis.

 

[JimmyMac]

It's looking good Agostino.

 

[Randy V]

Very nice!!

 

[JimmyMac]

It's great to see another monocoque in progress on here.
Please keep us in touch.

 

[Gus Richmond]

Very nice Agostino! I'm looking forward to watching this GT40 come together.

 

[Agostino]

Thank you to everybody, it is nice to have some encouragements when a project starts!

Some more details on the project.

Some months ago I bought an almost completed sbf 302 short block. American cars and their components are poorly available in Italy, so I'm quite happy with it. It is based on a 1968 block bored over 40, recently rebuilt with stock pistons and hydraulic cam. I like a lot the idea to stay close to the original but on the other side I have to stay in a sensible budget. So the plan is to use everything I got and to complete it targeting quite mild specs. It is enough for putting my GT40 on the track and test it. And I can always come back to it for improvements later.

About the chassis, I'm currently working on the attaching brackets for the rear upper radius arms. All metal pieces are cut and folded. Next step will be the horseshoe, it is a quite complex part that must be strong. Moreover I have to decide if I want to stay with imperial units for the attachment points or to switch to the metric one for easier sourcing of the components in Italy (but obviously less originality).

 

[Jimmy P]

Agostino, I can already see this is going to be a very special build and project. Continued success.

 

[Agostino]

Winter and spring have passed quickly but progress on my project has not been so fast. In any case I am quite happy with the result. In particular the horseshoe has been more tricky to fabricate than the previous folded panels. Now the goal for the end of this summer is to finish the back of the chassis adding the engine mounts, weld the top rear link attachment and finish a few closure panels near the rear hoop.

 

[Neil]

Nice build! Lots of spot welds!

 

[Jasper]

wow, this is so cool! I always wondered where people found the building plans and drawings for these kind of scratch builds. Did you 3D model everything and get it from there? Or you have access to these drawings somehow?
Would love to see your build sometime when in Italy, which area are you in?

 

[Agostino]

I live in Milan, let me know when you are in Italy, it would be a pleasure to meet you.
About the 3D model, I don't own all the drawings.
For my workflow I started in 2015 to plan the 3D model basically relying on the several pictures available mainly on this forum and in general on internet and taking advantage of the huge capability offered by CAD software.
Main issue in this modeling was to get an absolute reference for the dimensions.
In 2017, after some design iterations, I was quite happy with the results but not sure about the correct measurements, so I planned to buy the body shell before starting the chassis fabrication to finalize the model.
However at that time I saw an offer on eBay of a set of original drawings (I discovered recently a dedicated discussion on this forum on this drawings that however I have missed when it was active) and I decided to bought it (it was much cheaper than buying a body shell and it served better to my purpose).
This set of drawings is quite limited, it is about 10% of the total number, but it was very helpful to me for two reasons: 1) to set the correct overal measurements and to discover that my original model based on chassis pictures had an error lower than one inch 2) to discover the huge amount of fine details in the original drawings that cannot be catch from the pictures.
This is why at the beginning of my buildlog I defined my project just as "inspied" to the original one, because in my opinion a true copy needs to be based on all drawings to reproduce all the fine details.

 

[Ryan L]

How have I missed this thread. Fantastic. Someone else as crazy as me. I am about a year into the process of dissecting the plans as well.

 

[Agostino]

How have I missed this thread. Fantastic. Someone else as crazy as me. I am about a year into the process of dissecting the plans as well.

Hi Ryan, I wish you to complete your project, I’m happy to know that I am not alone on this way. The chassis planning is a very rewarding activity, but the monocoque construction is a very very long way for a GT40 replica.

 

[David mono]

Agostini you are definitely not alone I work on GT40 monocoque construction almost everyday. I am also finding it very rewarding.

 

[David mono]

Just out of curiosity what chassis number do you want your car to resemble or will it be your own paint scheme.

 

[Agostino]

Hi David, not decided yet.
For the paint scheme I like a lot the 1051 orange/dark blue combination (dark Gulf livery), but the rest of my family prefers the Blue with white stripes scheme (similar to the one in Fast&Furious 5).

 

[Randy V]

Hi David, not decided yet.
For the paint scheme I like a lot the 1051 orange/dark blue combination (dark Gulf livery), but the rest of my family prefers the Blue with white stripes scheme (similar to the one in Fast&Furious 5).

Do what pleases *you*.... it is your car and it must please you - else you find yourself compromising only to suit others..

 

[Agostino]

Some new pictures for my progress. The engine mounts construction has been a real pain, the thicker sheet metal was really hard to form compared to the other panels. Now the back of the chassis is finished, so I want to spend some time on the suspension. I just ordered some laser-cut parts for the uprights, they are cut to host Audi hubs. For the moment I want to keep the budget under control and put the car on the road as soon as possible, so the decision to start with a 01E gearbox, CV joints and Audi hubs.

 

[Bryan Koehler]

Some new pictures for my progress. The engine mounts construction has been a real pain, the thicker sheet metal was really hard to form compared to the other panels. Now the back of the chassis is finished, so I want to spend some time on the suspension. I just ordered some laser-cut parts for the uprights, they are cut to host Audi hubs. For the moment I want to keep the budget under control and put the car on the road as soon as possible, so the decision to start with a 01E gearbox, CV joints and Audi hubs.

Where did you order the laser cut upright kit from.? I would be interested in a kit too.

 

[Agostino]

It is my own design, I just sent the file to an on-line laser cut service in Italy to get it done with good precision and shipped to me. On CAD the design looks good to me, but I'm not an expert and I still need to fold and weld in order to prove that it is correct. If you really desire your own design, it is a very rewarding activity. But cost-wise, the available kits for GT40 replicas are very good deals.