Building a RCR GT40

Chet Zerlin

Supporter
Thanks John...those are the “build” wheels they use for assembly. My matching wheels are being stored until the car is ready to ship.

Chuck....you are SO right about that!
 

Chet Zerlin

Supporter
It's been a while since I posted anything here so I thought I would do a short update that...unfortunately there's nothing to update.
I've been calling Chris @ Craft every couple of weeks and each time getting the same sad news that the remaining parts needed to build my engine still haven't arrived. Meanwhile my son and I are planning on a road trip from NY to Road America in June to race our formula cars at the June Sprints. Since RCR in Fraiser, Michigan is "kinda" on the way there we've scheduled a tentative visit with Fran at 9am (since we are planning an overnight stopover near there) on our way to the track. Hopefully that will work out and if it does I'll be sure to post some pictures of his factory and our car.
Chet
 

Rod Dittmar

Supporter
Chet, I'm in the same boat as you regarding an engine from Craft. It's been 15 months since I placed an order. They keep blaming Eagle for the lack of parts. Not sure if this an industry wide problem or just Craft's. I have a friend who builds custom crankshafts. He's been scouting around and has had no difficulty finding other suppliers with parts. I'll be calling Craft tomorrow for an update and to find out exactly what they are short.
Rod
 

Chet Zerlin

Supporter
Car is ready! Shipping company is tentatively scheduled to be at RCR on Monday to pick it up. Unfortunately Craft was not able to get some needed parts (DART block and crank shaft) to build my engine in time to ship it to Fran to be mounted in the chassis. But RCR did install the mounting brackets for me using a dummy block. At any rate - to quote a famous Brit - it looks like it's finally the end of the beginning! :D

Chet
 
Car is ready! Shipping company is tentatively scheduled to be at RCR on Monday to pick it up. Unfortunately Craft was not able to get some needed parts (DART block and crank shaft) to build my engine in time to ship it to Fran to be mounted in the chassis. But RCR did install the mounting brackets for me using a dummy block. At any rate - to quote a famous Brit - it looks like it's finally the end of the beginning! :D

Chet

Awesome, congrats you must be getting besides yourself with excitement!

John
 

Rod Dittmar

Supporter
Chet, I was at RCR this morning to pick up a few nuts & bolts for my 40. Your shiny black car was sitting there all wrapped in plastic. Ready for a new home.!

Still waiting for my engine, too. 17 months and counting........
Rod
 

Chet Zerlin

Supporter
Car picked up at RCR on Monday. Now waiting for it to be delivered :D .
Here's a low res picture sent to me by the shipping company of how it looked before being loaded.
It...is...starting...to...get...REAL!
Chet
tempImagen8fZt0.png
 
It looks amazing, Chet! Congratulations. Get all that sticky tape residue off as soon as you can. Take lots of detail photos as you disassemble things.
 

Chet Zerlin

Supporter
Spent these last two days going through the boxes of parts. Found a few missing but a quick phone call to Bill at RCR resulted in a promise to ship them out quickly. As planned he's also having the shifter, A/C kit and compressor and the axles direct shipped to me from the manufacturers.
Today I began the process of stripping the bodywork off and putting it "somewhere" in my shop for storage. I used to think I had plenty of room! Got a friend coming over tomorrow to help me take the front and rear clips off and carry them up stairs to my "loft" after I discovered that I'm not as strong as I thought I was...;)

I had RCR mount all of the bodywork and I got a little concerned when I noticed that the rear tires protrude past the rear fenders (pictures below).

left side.jpeg
right side.jpeg


RCR just attached the suspension to make the car a roller without regard to any adjustments so I'm hoping that I can shorten the rear track to bring the tires back inside of the bodywork (did anyone else have this issue?). Rear tires are Avon 295/50/15 which should work without any alteration to the body.

Prior to delivery of the car I was going back and forth with my son Adam (who will be involved with this project in the near future) about having the initial (dusty) work done on the body at our local body shop before working on the chassis or holding off until the chassis is finished and then having it done all at once. We've decided not to do anything about the bodywork yet and complete the chassis first.

Still no engine from Craft on the horizon. I know there will come a time when I need that installed to continue to finish the chassis (and certainly to do a set up of the suspension) so I'm keeping my fingers crossed those parts come in soon!

Chet
 

Kyle

Supporter
Chet, as someone from an SLC, on retrospect, sanding out all the molding lines would have been best approach for me. The fiberglass dust get everywhere. Not sure how the gt40 is on the lines.

Also, can you cancel the order from craft, that’s absolutely ridiculous from a professional builder that it should take that long. Covid has long been over for a lot of the country. Especially Arkansas. You could have built an engine for half the cost and time by now.
 

Rick Muck- Mark IV

GT40s Sponsor
Supporter
Chet, as someone from an SLC, on retrospect, sanding out all the molding lines would have been best approach for me. The fiberglass dust get everywhere. Not sure how the gt40 is on the lines.

Also, can you cancel the order from craft, that’s absolutely ridiculous from a professional builder that it should take that long. Covid has long been over for a lot of the country. Especially Arkansas. You could have built an engine for half the cost and time by now.
Most ALL engine suppliers are hamstrung, no cams, no cranks, etc. I am dealing with 3 different builders (including Roush) currently and all are waiting on components. Cam blanks are like gold right now.
 
FYI: I have a Keith Craft 331 Stoker that has only seen dyno time (carb to pan), I just listed in the garage section for sale. Can ship immediately anywhere in the world.
 

Chet Zerlin

Supporter
Kyle,
I’ve had a number of conversations with Lance @Craft over the past several months. I think he’s more frustrated than I am over the backlogged parts. I mean it’s not like they don’t want to complete my engine and get the final 50% payment from me….
Honestly, I just got my kit and I’m sure there are many months ahead of me before I’d need the engine. I’m happy to wait knowing that they will deliver a quality product.
Just my $.02.

Chet
 
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