Intro and new purchase help

[Chris]

Hello everyone great to meet all of you. I’m Chris and live in southern Minnesota. I plan to start a SLC build in the next year or so and had a couple of questions. I’m interested in a new build or an existing project that someone hasn’t finished.

I have read a bunch of the build blogs as well as even talked to a couple people who have finished an slc.

If you have any opinions on what to look out for or things that did or didn’t work for you please feel free to reach out. Even if it’s just to talk about cars.

This type of build has many different meanings to me. I have built classic cars in the past (still have my first car I drove in high school) and would like to build something different, custom with incredible performance but yet reliable. I initially looked at Ultma RS but after finding RCR and the SLC I have been super impressed.

I know there is a long lead time but continue to see issues with getting parts or receiving shipments. Is this an anomaly and the squeaky wheel or the norm? I understand the supply chain and totally get that you can’t please everyone but in your minds is this an issue? has it gotten worse? If you all were to order an SLC Tomorrow would you?

I absolutely love the product and don’t expect to next day shipping but I think the only thing that has me hesitant is not knowing.

Any feedback is appreciated, send me a dm or give me a call

Thank you,
Chris

Pic is of my Chevelle I bought at 15

 

[Brian Kissel]

Welcome to GT40S Chris. A buddy of mine bought a new 1970 Berger LS6 Chevelle in the same gold and black. I also owned a 1971 Berger Z28 in the same gold and black. That is a beautiful ride you have.
All I can say, is order early. I have contacted several suppliers for items for my upcoming RCR Lola T70. These parts are not from RCR, but I have been waiting months. One supplier had a billet oil pan and valve cover setup, that really impressed me. I spent about 2-1/2 months trying to contact them and left voicemails and emails. I finally found a different email that they responded to and they finally informed me they were out of business. So my advice is to do lots of research and order early. Things take a long time no matter who you order from. The one exception I have found, is Jones Racing. They custom built some parts for me, and I had them in a few days. Can’t recommend them highly enough. Call Chris Jones if you need any accessories for belt drives.
Regards Brian

 

[Chris]

Awesome thank you! I’ll definitely look them up. I am in the gathering info phase, and I know it’s gonna be a long project just trying to prepare thanks for the info

 

[Randy V]

Welcome to GT40S, Chris! RCR has great products and you’d be hard pressed to find a finer package. They’ve experienced enormous success since the Fast and Furious series and, of course, Ford vs Ferrari. As Brian pointed out, there’s a substantial lead time on the kits and many of the parts sourced from RCR are from other vendors. Covid threw a gigantic spanner into the world and many suppliers are still reeling and trying to recover. I’m not trying to make excuses for them, but I’ve kept my fingers on the pulse of the component car industry since the 90’s and many have just evaporated.
If you have the time and want to take the trip, RCR will be happy to show you their facilities and products.
I can’t think of anyone who has completed an RCR car that was just not happy with it.
Of course there are other manufacturers that offer some really nice cars - but none of them are in the same league as the SL-C in my personal opinion…
Call RCR and leave Fran a message. He will get back to you just as quickly as he’s able.
On a personal note - I’ve owned a number of Chevelle, Camaro and Nova SS cars. I was also a resident of South Eastern MN (Kenyon) until just a couple of years ago.

 

[Chris]

Welcome to GT40S, Chris! RCR has great products and you’d be hard pressed to find a finer package. They’ve experienced enormous success since the Fast and Furious series and, of course, Ford vs Ferrari. As Brian pointed out, there’s a substantial lead time on the kits and many of the parts sourced from RCR are from other vendors. Covid threw a gigantic spanner into the world and many suppliers are still reeling and trying to recover. I’m not trying to make excuses for them, but I’ve kept my fingers on the pulse of the component car industry since the 90’s and many have just evaporated.
If you have the time and want to take the trip, RCR will be happy to show you their facilities and products.
I can’t think of anyone who has completed an RCR car that was just not happy with it.
Of course there are other manufacturers that offer some really nice cars - but none of them are in the same league as the SL-C in my personal opinion…
Call RCR and leave Fran a message. He will get back to you just as quickly as he’s able.
On a personal note - I’ve owned a number of Chevelle, Camaro and Nova SS cars. I was also a resident of South Eastern MN (Kenyon) until just a couple of years ago.

Cool thank you, I’ll give them a call. I’m in the Rochester area nice to meet you.

 

[Jeff W]

I know RCR is stating sub-year production times to buyers, but I’ll mention that many have been waiting more than a year for their orders, I’m at 20 months and waiting for a very basic setup. Maybe once any backlog clears things will get better for people, but just tossing that out there to help with expectations. That said I’d still buy the car again today, there’s nothing else like it out there for the price.

 

[Chris]

I know RCR is stating sub-year production times to buyers, but I’ll mention that many have been waiting more than a year for their orders, I’m at 20 months and waiting for a very basic setup. Maybe once any backlog clears things will get better for people, but just tossing that out there to help with expectations. That said I’d still buy the car again today, there’s nothing else like it out there for the price.

Thank you, appreciate the feedback. I see supply chain issues all the time so totally understand the norm now days. However, I think that’s my basic concern. I love the overall design and product. The ability to create something unique, also “journey” of building something as I’m also a little tired of rust repair lol. I guess I’m just trying to Decide if I should put in an order and then Buy a toy to enjoy for the next two years (then sell it) when the slc arrives. Everyone say it with me “ midlife crisis “ lol

 

[Jeff W]

IMO save your $ for upgrades to the SLC. Good paint, nicer interior, turbocharger, whatever. Make it more enjoyable to drive regularly. Worth it.

 

[Kyle]

It’s almost 2024, supply chain isn’t an excuse anymore. Especially when at RCR most things to my knowledge fabricated in house. If you check into the FFR forums these guys are pumping out two of each car a week.

Don’t get me wrong I like RCR quality when it is done, but at this rate I think there’s more to the story. To my knowledge, at least with my fiberglass parts, they’re even manufactured in canada.

 

[Mark Thornton]

Thank you, appreciate the feedback. I see supply chain issues all the time so totally understand the norm now days. However, I think that’s my basic concern. I love the overall design and product. The ability to create something unique, also “journey” of building something as I’m also a little tired of rust repair lol. I guess I’m just trying to Decide if I should put in an order and then Buy a toy to enjoy for the next two years (then sell it) when the slc arrives. Everyone say it with me “ midlife crisis “ lol

There should be a 12 step program for this automotive addiction

 

[Hector]

please sign me up for the 12 step program. if you find one, LOL

 

[Andres Garcia]

I have heard of other car manufacturers having really long delivery times. Maybe it is a good chance to get your garage set up for the project and save money?

 

[Neil]

I have heard of other car manufacturers having really long delivery times. Maybe it is a good chance to get your garage set up for the project and save money?

It is a good time to acquire needed tools as well.

 

[Howard Jones]

Chris. It's going to take a few years to finish the car. IMHO anything that you cant get because of "supply chain issues" in 3 years never existed in the first place.

Once you have put down your deposit on the kit with RCR you can work on buying a engine and transaxle. The time it takes to get the car from RCR can be used to wait on the engine and transaxle and then mate them up. RCR might, ask, send you the adapter plate early so you can finish out the power train package assembly while you wait.

 

[Hector]

And also a detailed plan of all the little details you do or do not want to do , and the parts you need, a great chunk of time is spent finding those , to give you an example I just went through , the fuel tank vent, ( to decrease the smell) I used the II much, well, it does not come with fittings, my line coming out of the tank is AN 6 , do you want to use an AN fitting or a barb? what thread size is a AN 6 , well it is 9/16-18 O ring type, what is the best barb size for the AN6? you need a double female coupler for the filter at the end , do you want to use a roll over valve ? well you have to make it fit somehow .

I spent at lest 3 hours finding the parts , the female to female 9/16-18 O ring also know as AN- 6 ORB, was an absolute pain to find . Now multiply that times 10s if not hundreds of details and you get the picture. Getting as much of that done ahead of time will be super helpful.

Just my 0.02, there is a ton of work that can be done while you wait . I feel your pain . Hang in there.

I also share the opinion that it is wise to save your money for SLC upgrades instead of doing another project. Good luck

 

[Alex]

And also a detailed plan of all the little details you do or do not want to do , and the parts you need, a great chunk of time is spent finding those , to give you an example I just went through , the fuel tank vent, ( to decrease the smell) I used the II much, well, it does not come with fittings, my line coming out of the tank is AN 6 , do you want to use an AN fitting or a barb? what thread size is a AN 6 , well it is 9/16-18 O ring type, what is the best barb size for the AN6? you need a double female coupler for the filter at the end , do you want to use a roll over valve ? well you have to make it fit somehow .

I spent at lest 3 hours finding the parts , the female to female 9/16-18 O ring also know as AN- 6 ORB, was an absolute pain to find . Now multiply that times 10s if not hundreds of details and you get the picture. Getting as much of that done ahead of time will be super helpful.

Just my 0.02, there is a ton of work that can be done while you wait . I feel your pain . Hang in there.

I also share the opinion that it is wise to save your money for SLC upgrades instead of doing another project. Good luck

you can find -6an o-ring female/female in 5 seconds on summit and other sites you know, right....

 

[Hector]

you can find -6an o-ring female/female in 5 seconds on summit and other sites you know, right....

yes of course, I order from them and every site you can think of, for some reason I could not find that particular one in stock , had to order it from some obscure place