Howard B's RCR 40

[Howard Beck]

Bill,

I guess you better save it for the next time the three of us meet up! :cool2:

I still have a smile on my face from Road America! LOL

 

[Howard Beck]

Okay, okay it's been a while, but I haven't quite been Rip Van Winkle. I have been chipping away at putting this car together, and there is always just one more thing that seems to get in the way, or is missing, or something doesn't fit, or is the wrong part...you guys know. I have remained patient and with the help of friends I have been making steady progress as of late.

I have made a couple of changes I think will be cool. It's personal taste move here that I purchased an ISIS power wiring harness. It was demoed at SEMA last year. I think it is pretty slick so I bought the kit. Now I am hiding it the best I can in the car. I have placed the Master Cell far forward in the foot well with access from under the spare tire plate. The front Power Cell is not easy to hide so it is hanging on the front fire wall on the passenger side. The other Power Cell is hidden behind the drivers seat in the chassis. The Maxi Fuse is adjacent to the battery in the box behind the right fuel tank.

The system allows you to use just about any switches you want or none at all with a touch screen pad that can be mounted on your console. The switches send a ground signal to the Master Cell which in turn sends a message to the Power Cells to turn on or off whatever accessory, lights, horns, well anything...I'll let you know how this works out in a kit 40.

Here's what they look like:

 

[Howard Beck]

Another up grade. My friend John Schriver at Design Enterprises in Westminster MD, built some interior door handles for me. They are very nicely done. I mounted them with spring returns which work quite nicely. Mounting the handles in the door was quite an easy job. The hook-ups to the latches took a little longer than installing the handles. The pictures tell the story here.

Thanks John, you do the finest work!

 

[J. Salmon]

Great minds think alike! I spent the weekend looking for suitable mounting points for my mastercell and powercells. I am going to use the same rear powercell location. I have not figured out the best spot to put my mastercell or front powercell, but I really like what you have done and may copy it 100%. I am putting the battery in the passenger footwell, so that makes it more difficult for me to find a spot, but I think I can tweak it just as you have.

BTW, is it possible for me to get a set of the door latches? They look really sweet.

Hopefully it won't be long before we can have a little RCR rally in VA!

Best regards, -J.

 

[Jack]

Very nice Howard! An inspiration as always..

 

[Howard Beck]

Thanks guys,

For the handles email John at [email protected]. Let him know I sent you. John will probably spot this post the next time he pulls up GT40s.

If I could just make some really good progress, I would feel a whole lot happier, oh yeah I am pretty happy! I have a 40 in the garage! :laugh:

Thanks again John.

 

[Howard Beck]

J-

I did not like the idea of punching holes and bolts into the spine. So I took two pieces of 1 inch square tubing cut about 9 inches long (I can't remember exactly) that lay on top of the spin in the same direction as the spine then attached two 1 inch aluminum stock tapped cross members as the mounting brackets. Finally, my friend Will welded on a flat ali stock end so I could attach the entire mount to the fire wall. I put tape under the mount on the spine to avoid chafing and electrolysis.

Heck, I am not sure I know what I am talking about, but it sounds good when I read it out loud to myself. :laugh:

 

[John]

Hey Howard,

Glad to hear progress is being made. Looks great!

Jay -
Actually, the door handles that I sold Howard has were my last pair I saved for my car. But all is not lost, Dennis Olthoff (Olthoff Racing 704-647-9924) has them for sale. I made him a bunch of sets. I'm sure he would be more than happy to help you out. His are designed to be used with button head screws as opposed to the oval head screws Howard's has. Howard requested that so, I fixed him up. If I can be of any further assistance feel free to contact me directly @ [email protected].

Keep up the good work.
John

 

[Bill Musarra]

Howard,
Progress in any form or fashion is progress!!! If you don't get it done now, you will have to later on. That is where I am now. Trying to get new masters for the clutch gives me time to do "some " of the many other things that have been put off or wanted to do anyway.
So keep plugging away. "Soon" you will be in the driver's seat making the Zoom Zoom sounds!!

Bill

 

[Ron McCall]

Thanks guys,

For the handles email John at [email protected]. Let him know I sent you. John will probably spot this post the next time he pulls up GT40s.

If I could just make some really good progress, I would feel a whole lot happier, oh yeah I am pretty happy! I have a 40 in the garage! :laugh:

Thanks again John.

Howard, Your car is progressing nicely! I love that wiring harness!
You are absolutely right about John at Design Ent.! Just wait till you see the console/shift plate/reverse lock-out he made for me!!!
I will post pictures in my build thread as soon as I get a chance. It totally transformed the interior of my car in both driver comfort ( elbow room ) and cosmetics as well!
John is very passionate about GT40s and refuses to do anything halfway.

 

[Howard Beck]

I was visiting my SLC friend Will who happened to show me his marine wiper motor ,a two speed compact unit which comes with arm and blade. I thought it was a great little wiper motor. After borrowing Will's to see if it would fit nicely under the RCR 40 dash and a credit card order and a small bracket and spacer from John at Design Enterprises I have new wiper. Okay, I didn't need it but it takes up about one quarter of the room the monster wiper it replaced. Very clean. It is held in place with two small round head cap screws and the retaining nut and spacer. The arm could be a tad longer, but another rubber bushing and retaining nut should prevent any leaks. The wiper arm is too long but can be shortened. Note to self: "Stop looking at Will's stuff, or take on a second job."

 

[Howard Beck]

And finally after many little nagging problems with wrong parts and poor parts,
:shocked::furious::furious:
I have gotten my motor in this weekend. If that's not good head food, I don't know what is. :happy::happy:

 

[J. Salmon]

NICE!!!!!!

 

[Rob]

Cool Howard. Looks fantastic. Yep....good mental health accomplishment.

 

[Howard Beck]

Waking up after a long winters nap...

no not really but it feels like it since I haven't posted squat since November... but stuff has been getting done. Actually a couple of cool things I really want to show off and to thank by buddy Bill Tuttle (an RF40 owner, and all around nice guy) for helping me out on these. First of all Bill machined door catch post mounting bases for my doors. They allow vertical and horizontal adjustments, and they don't look out of place on the car. See for yourself....

 

[Howard Beck]

But wait there's more,

Bill is also designing an early style rear sway bar to go on an RCR40. He has bent the bars to pretty much match the original style sway bar. Next he has machined connector links for the lower control arms and mounted them into the arms after machining some grooves in the arms. We have an idea or two on mounting brackets to mount the bars, but more on that later. I have attached some pictures of the completed parts.

 

[Jack]

Very nice indeed! Beautiful work..

 

[Howard Beck]

Oh yeah,
How about a picture of the stabilizer bar, I guess I should throw that in as well.

 

[Howard Beck]

Another cool item Bill pulled together is an original style (MKI) surge tank. Now this is pretty slick...

 

[Chuck]

Howard:

Beautiful machine work!!

When I mounted the door catch mounting posts they were slightly angled in relation to the fire wall to properly fit the door latch. When mounted flat they did not work well. Attached are pics of the hardware we used. Note the slight angle on the spacer blocks.

I appears that yours set flat perpendicular to the firewall.

Have you tried yours with the doors in place? Hopefully this won't be an issue for you.