Dean's First drive RCR33

D

Dean Lampe

Well, I spent Sunday driving around sorting things out. It was really the first time I spent Quality time in the car after it was "finished". I would like to share a few observations. Just a note. The car weighs 2740 lbs with My 210 lb rear end in the seat and 10 gallons in each tank (20gal x 8 lbs per gal = 160 lbs). My total ballast was 370 lbs. That leaves a wet car at 2370lbs. This with 3.5 gals of oil, full roll cage and AC! :pepper: Let me say that with 600+ hp this is quite a ride. The car felt very stable and I did not experience any bump steer issues, which I had expected based on conversations on the forum. I installed a bump steer kit from Steeda for a 94-2004 mustang. Apparently it worked. The car felt really stable. My brakes work exceptionally well. They do drag as I am taking off and with race pads, it squeals. Fran gave me some advice to address this problem but I am open to suggestions. My AC was not working well. I am going to have it check to make sure it was filled properly. It held a good vacuum but we will see. The car ran around 180 deg with the oil around 200 deg. I really wasn't running to hard so I hope the oil doesn't run hot later on the track. I could always add a cooler. I had no leaks. The speedometer doesn't work but I haven't added the extra parts sent by Classic Instruments. The fuel gauge reads back wards and the fuel pressure gauge is not accurate. The engine was not running well. My "expert" had the wrong idle jets installed. I fixed that but I have not ran the engine on my A/F meter to check. It feels a lot better now. I am sure there will be more tuning needed. Finally, there is an annoying squeak in the front somewhere that is going to drive me nuts!:dead:I am going to start taking things off this weekend to find the little noise maker.

Overall the car was incredible. For a first experience I would give it an A+. The car is actually quite roomy on the inside. I am 6'3'' and it fits me very well. It is rough riding and loud and hard to see out of. Thats all good.;) I have taken first drives in a couple other cars and not made it back so with that as a yard stick, this day was a roaring success. It is really nice to report that the car is done and I am moving on to the tuning stage. I am very happy with the car, and RCR. Thanks to everyone that helped on this, I really appreciate all your help. This forum is fantastic.
 
B

Craig

Dean, Thanks for the report. Very exciting. Please keep us updated on your progress as you fine tune the beast.
 
J

JackW

People should be banned from posting about the drives in their cars unless they supply a YouTube link for us to watch. It is just cruel and unusual punishment (which their is a time and place for, just not when talking about GT40's). None the less now that the hard yards are done it is time for the fun and games for you Dean.

Enjoy

JW
 
D

Dean Lampe

I will confess, I have never shot a you tube video. Maybe with a little help I could give it a try later this week. It sounds really mean, not loud, just sinister! I am going to give a set of open pipes a try this weekend.
 
C

Chuck

Dean:

Actually your car weighs exactly 2700 pounds, not 2740. A gallon of gas weighs 6 pounds. A gallon of water weighs 8 pounds (give or take a few ounces).

Can't wait to see you car at Run N Gun in October

Chuck
 
Sandy

Sandy

Gulf GT40
Lifetime Supporter
Nice Dean, now as Fran said I'm a big fan of the smoky bleach burnout, get on with it :D

What type of pads are you running (compound) on the brakes? I am running the Wilwood 'J' compounds on the mustang with similar rotors. They only squeal a bit when hot coming off the track, nature of the beast.

Dean, to put up a video on youtube or yahoo video's you need to get it on a computer first, and then compress the video to fit a maximum file size of usually about 100meg. If you have Microsoft Movie Maker (or other video software that may have come with your computer) they have options to do that an can even import directly from many video cameras (if digital like MiniDV, etc). The after the compression you can do the long painful down load. Add some info about what the video is and your all done. If you have a yahoo account you don't have to do much, you may have to sign up your YouTube, not sure. If you need any help give a holler here, many folks have done it. Not too bad once you figure it all out...

Car looks great, get us some video :-)

Sandy
 
D

Dean Lampe

Sandy, I am running the Hawk Blue pads. They are a very popular SCCA pad. It seems like it is only squeaking in the back. When I get the video shot, I will ask for some help from all of you.
 
gt40fran

Fran Hall RCR

Dean , by his own admission is a "tinkerer" and he wants to play with the track tuning on his car....

It replaces the outer tie rod with a rod end , you can install or remove spacers to change the angle of your steering tie rod arm in relationship to the rack/suspension/steering arm.
Same as raising or lowering the steering rack.
Kits are available for all performance cars from Vipers to Mustangs and are standard tuning fare...
Rob...the SLC Coupe has it as standard...
 
D

Dean Lampe

I didn't mean to open a can of worms here. I have been reading other post on this from people with cars from varying manufactures that have discussed their bumpsteer problems. My Kirkham cobra had about 1/2 in of bumpsteer when I got it. After weeks of tinkering with it I reduced it to .003 per inch. All cars have bumpsteer to some degree. Most of us would never notice. I don't like that so I added the kit. If you put the tie rod in the hole on your RCR spindle that gives you the most responsive steering, you will create bumpsteer outside of my comfort level. If you use the outer hole you will be fine, not perfect but good enough, as good as any other car. The RCR is the most adjustable car I have ever seen with one exception, the tie rod. That is why I switched to the hiem joint kit.

Listen, I tinker, thats just the way I am wired. Thats why the car is already back at the body shop for panel adjustment and more sanding! If someone says they don't have bumpsteer with their kit, ask to see the bounce and droop numbers for each corner. If you have more than .002 per inch of travel, then you have bumpsteer. Until you see the numbers, you should believe that it is there. period. The RCR rear end is great, the front needed some adjustment. Now they are both great! It is not a design flaw, it is an adjustment like toe and camber. It needs to be checked. If you take the time to go through all of this kind of stuff, you will be much happier with the way the car performs.
 
M

Mesa

Cool,
Thanks Dean, great explanation of cause and effect and solution. That's the kind of information tinkerers can provide to this forum! :-)

Looks like Fran will be providing me with the parts to tinker as well, "trail - offset - rake -bump steer ...... wait, there's no bump steer an a motorcycle"
 
M

Mesa

Pat wrote: "Are you sure?" - I think Pat was asking about my comment regarding bumpsteer on motorcycle (?)

Well..... there's no bump steer due to the front suspension on a modern sportbike fork set up. If the thing is 'steering' over a bump it's because of some severe geometry/damping/spring disagreement between the front AND rear suspension, or a (not so common these days) flexy frame issue.

All of which can very easily lead to a underwear staining tank slapper, aye Fran?
 
Last edited:
VintageVenom

Rob

Lifetime Supporter
Congradulations Dean.......
Great build..... still haven't heard the plan for when you will catch up on the last 6 months of sleep....:D:D

Thanks for the udpate..........
 
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