Seymour Snerd
Lifetime Supporter
Such drama... but if you're pissed at me, take out on me not the other SPF owners.
Failed Shock Mount
- Thread starter Jim Craik
- Start date
Such drama... but if you're pissed at me, take out on me not the other SPF owners.
Steve Wood (PANAVIA)
Lifetime Supporter
Will keep the forum advised and in the loop - BTW who has the highest milage GT40 from SPF -- will spawn another form for this .--Steve
I read the post about "wondering which weld will break next".....and had to laugh!
I just put my Mangusta back together last year, which by the way, appears to have been built with the same gauge metal in it's shock towers..., after repairing a broken LH rear tower which was about 75% of the way off along with part of the chassis tube... Design is not "stand alone" but supported by a crossmember so tearing 100% would have been much more difficult.
SO, it is all together, runs fantastic with a new roller cam'ed small block....and on the second big club run event that I take it on in June of this year, I come home to find out that now the RH unit has a small crack starting. (Limited this time by a "later" factory mod to the crossmember, which added one more bolt on either side to limit movement, that I added when I had it all apart!)
HOWEVER, I can directly attribute this crack's beginnings as being due to a HUGE pavement transition out on 580 coming west out of Tracy just before you climb up and over the hill into the Livermore area....... I think we may have bottomed all four corners of the car...... Totally unmarked....!!! Stupid CalTrans....
I hate the roads around here.....except for the "no snow" thing....!
So, now it all comes apart again! At least I'm getting good at it....
It's been a fun read!
Steve
I just put my Mangusta back together last year, which by the way, appears to have been built with the same gauge metal in it's shock towers..., after repairing a broken LH rear tower which was about 75% of the way off along with part of the chassis tube... Design is not "stand alone" but supported by a crossmember so tearing 100% would have been much more difficult.
SO, it is all together, runs fantastic with a new roller cam'ed small block....and on the second big club run event that I take it on in June of this year, I come home to find out that now the RH unit has a small crack starting. (Limited this time by a "later" factory mod to the crossmember, which added one more bolt on either side to limit movement, that I added when I had it all apart!)
HOWEVER, I can directly attribute this crack's beginnings as being due to a HUGE pavement transition out on 580 coming west out of Tracy just before you climb up and over the hill into the Livermore area....... I think we may have bottomed all four corners of the car...... Totally unmarked....!!! Stupid CalTrans....
I hate the roads around here.....except for the "no snow" thing....!
So, now it all comes apart again! At least I'm getting good at it....
It's been a fun read!
Steve
Jim Craik
Lifetime Supporter
Steve,
Good to hear that like me things could have been much worse.
By the way, I just love the Mangusta. Its a very pritty car, I think the front 2/3's may just be the prettiest car ever made.
How about this, a Mangusta front, coupled with a Mura rear..........hard to beat
Good to hear that like me things could have been much worse.
By the way, I just love the Mangusta. Its a very pritty car, I think the front 2/3's may just be the prettiest car ever made.
How about this, a Mangusta front, coupled with a Mura rear..........hard to beat
Last edited:
Ian Anderson
Lifetime Supporter
Jim
How is the repair coming along?
Ian
How is the repair coming along?
Ian
It does appear there are a few area`s on the SPF that could do with an engineering rethink. Extensive mileage should have been covered during the development of the car by SPF and they should not using the customers as guinea pigs. That shock mount failure should have alerted them to recall all the cars for an upgrade rather than a suck it and see approach.
Bob
Bob
Mike
Lifetime Supporter
How does the sway bar mount? It does not look to be attached. I"m not understanding how these plates add torsional strength?
Regarding Superformance recalling all cars. With all due respect, please get real. I have been critical at times at what I perceived as sloppiness in the construction of these cars, but I'd rather take the raw product and polish to my standards than to pound Superformance and Hitech to the point they would suffer or go out of business. I doubt there are many people getting wildly wealthily off selling a few GT40s. If you want a daily driver that you can expect to be perfect then by a GM. Wait... didn't they just suffer a big recall too I did not buy this car for extensive mileage. I bought it because I wanted something as close to the real thing as I could get. Enjoy the cars. Expect to work on them. If that's not your cup of tea then look elsewhere.
Regarding Superformance recalling all cars. With all due respect, please get real. I have been critical at times at what I perceived as sloppiness in the construction of these cars, but I'd rather take the raw product and polish to my standards than to pound Superformance and Hitech to the point they would suffer or go out of business. I doubt there are many people getting wildly wealthily off selling a few GT40s. If you want a daily driver that you can expect to be perfect then by a GM. Wait... didn't they just suffer a big recall too
I did not buy this car for extensive mileage. I bought it because I wanted something as close to the real thing as I could get. Enjoy the cars. Expect to work on them. If that's not your cup of tea then look elsewhere.Mike I can live with niggles like the wheel bearings etc because they give plenty warning prior to failure but a failure of the shock turrets should have the alarm bells ringing. That kind of failure could have a catastrophic outcome, at the end of the day it will only need beefing up but leaving it is not an option. It wont break SPF`s bank to fix this but a law suit filed in the event of a death certainly will.
Bob
Bob
Mike
Lifetime Supporter
How many have failed? My understanding is the one that did had a lot of miles and driven on some chop. I don't think Olthoff's race car has any additional bracing and it's taxed as heavily as anyone could expect. The litigious mentality of people today is why we won't even be able to buy cars like this at some point. Do you own an SPF?
Mike
Lifetime Supporter
What's your thought on the fuel tanks? A moderate side impact could easily cause the car to erupt in flames. Should an unfortunate victim sue? Should a car with such a lack of basic safety measures even be available? A shock tower that may fatigue in time and crack should be the least of your concerns. Why don't you offer an aftermarket solution? I'm sure those concerned would purchase from you.
Mike as I said previously I can live with niggles and even with the thought that a side impact will give you a good toasting but the thought of a suspension failure at speed is something I would lose sleep over. A track cars suspension on a billiard table smooth track may never get the same pounding or see anywhere near the mileage of a road car so its not really a good comparison. Everyone will use their car differently and some may well expect to cover thousands of road miles a year on less than perfect surfaces , for this reason I stand by my original statement and think SPF should look at this as a matter of urgency and deal with it.
Bob
Bob
Mike
Lifetime Supporter
I ask again, how many have failed? Does a single failure under questionable circumstances mean SPF should recall all cars to fix something that may not be a substandard design to begin with? We can agree to disagree but in my opinion you are nit picking something that does none of us owners any benefit.
Should we not all take a little walk around to check our cars I do. They are all hand built. No one enjoyes when they fail but it happens. I also do a major check once a year at the shop. I have broken rear axles in my mustang with no warning. Lost a drive shaft and many more things that have happend with no advance warning . Well that's my 2 cents
Over the years I have drawn the conclusion that ALL the offerings both kit & rollers regardless of who built or supplied them are no better than a collection of parts and the end result depends more on how well you or your chosen installer prepares them prior to having engine etc installed. They all have areas that need more input/thought. Some have had upgrades etc over the years, but in most cases these were only incorporated after owners/builders provided a solution.
Robert S.
GT40s Supporter
Sorry for the delay. I had to look at the photo again to see what you were referencing.
The purpose of the photo was to show the strengthening mod.
There was a small dent in the top middle of the tower. So, I fixed it and sprayed black textured paint on it. Before I sprayed it, I applied masking tape to the right of it, and held a sheet metal shield to the left along the factory joint/bend. The paint matched well when viewed in person, but I see the flash showed the color match and texture to be different. It was not a crack. See prior photo close-up below.
To address another poster's observations, I did take the phone pict when I completed the bracket install, but BEFORE I re-fastened the sway bar.
Robert
Robert S.
GT40s Supporter
The upgrade kit you referenced was sent to me by Dennis at Holman Moody, a company that was Ford's official racing contractor for years. They engineered and manufactured the upgrade.
To install, I purchased a transfer punch and two drift punches (only needed one drift punch but was unsure of size until I began the project).
The shock tower subject is nothing at all when compared with the wheel bearing/hub conundrum. I shall send PMs soon.
Robert
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