Keith's RCR GT40 Mk I Build

[Keith]

Door Check Straps:
Before I left the body shop they made agree to install the door check straps as the first order of business when I got it home.
I got them off e-bay and they appear to work well. It should look better when I get the body pillar painted flat black.
I followed Chuck and Ryan's lead and trimmed the door openings with a push on vinyl trim from McMaster Carr. I will carpet the inside of the doors when I do the interior.
Keith

 

[EGLITOM]

Very well done Keith,

Great looking car. As always top quality job.

I can very well imagine you sitting in that chair ( with the yellow blanket) sipping your beer , staring at the car and get nothing done. ( happens to often to me)

TOM

 

[Ron McCall]

Your car is going to be AMAZING when you get it finished!! Nice touch with the locator pins!

 

[Randy V]

The locator pins look like they'll work out quite nicely.. :thumbsup:

I've been tossing around other ideas to accomplish the same thing. I'll take another look at this method out in the shop this weekend - thanks!!

On the door straps - eBay you say... My next mouse click will be.... ((poof!))

 

[Keith]

Carpet:
I trimmed the supplied carpet to fit the bulkhead and the removable engine cover and had the edges bound. As I was not going to carpet over the fuel tanks I used that carpet to do the inside of the doors. I am pleased with the way it looks.
I had a piece of 1/4 inch laminated glass cut for the bulkhead window and bonded it in place with RTV. Fran supplied two window frame pieces so I had the inside one powder coated black and had the one in the engine compartment powder coated with Line-x to match the bulkhead.
The spider will go back on this weekend and all I will have left to complete is the front clip before I can set the seats in place and take my first test run.
Keith

 

[Jack]

Looks fantastic Keith!

 

[EGLITOM]

Keith

outstanding

TOM

 

[Keith]

Carpeting the center spine:
I looked at several ways to cover the center spine and settled on this approach. I took a length of 1 1/2 inch CPVC pipe and cut it length wise so that it would cover the wires and throttle cable. I applied adhesive "cool mat" over the spine and tunnel then had the edges bound on a piece of the carpet and carpeted over the spine and tube. I like the way it turned out.
Keith

 

[Keith]

Windshield install:
I have been putting off the windshield install for much longer than I should have because I really did not like the idea of installing the windshield with black RTV (silicone). After a long search I found a "windshield expert" (actually the husband of one of our employees) who does all the glass work for the high end car restorations in the area. He came to my shop Saturday with a few tools and a lot of glass knowledge and two different trim materials. He selected the trim type in the photos (sorry they are not better photos) then proceeded to trim the glass so it would fit in the spider with the trim. I thought my heart would stop when he took a belt sander with a 50 grit belt to the window taking as much a 1/4 inch of the glass off in some places. A few test fits later he applied a bead of urethane adhesive and in it went. The photos do not do it justice, it is perfect!

Keith

 

[Jack]

Keith, that windscreen trim looks awsome. Great job on the carpet too!

 

[Chuck]

Keith: I wish that windshield guy had been around when I installed mine. That looks SO GOOD. That is a good job to turn over to the professional.

 

[bob peckham]

Keith, your car is coming together great, the way the glass guy took the time to install the windshield makes your car look all the better regards Bob

 

[Randy V]

Very nice!!! Love the windshield installation...

I'm going to try and find that seal that he used...

 

[Allen English]

Wow that car is going to look sooooo hot whan you are finished! Great job... The Black W/Silver stripes looks awesome, I can't qait to see your car finished.

 

[Keith]

Fuel pump system:
I had not posted anything on the fuel pump set-up as I had not tested the system and was not sure how it would work.
I mounted two Carter pumps on an aluminum plate, on the outlet side of each pump I used a 3/8 inch brass check valve (McMaster Carr (sp?)). The check valves have a 1 psi set point so there is very little back pressure but it will keep fuel from being pumped into the opposite tank when the pump is running. Both pumps flow into a common fuel filter. I installed a fuel tank valve from a Ford truck to direct the fuel that will bypass the carbs back into the tank that it was pumped from (for the carb I have on now I am not using this feature but I will use it when I get the Webers). The plate is mounted to the firewall with four rubber isolation mounts so that the vibration from the pumps can be isolated as much as possible.
I primed the pumps with a hand held vacuum pump and tested them this weekend. The flow was much greater than I had expected as it filled a 2.5 gal can in less than one min. so I expect it will be acceptable.
Keith

 

[Jack]

Nicely done Keith. Hope it all works out.

 

[Keith]

Interior:
I got the rest of the interior complete this weekend. The fitting of the seats is really a compromise between getting the seat bottom in the right place to have good control of the steering wheel, having a good feel of the brake and clutch and not having your head rest on the roll bar. In my case I had to make stops for the seat backs to keep them away from the firewall. I made them from 1 and 1/2 inch aluminum tube. They are about six inches long and they are held in place with a very short 3/8 inch bolt threaded into the existing hole in the seat back. I carpeted them with left over carpet scraps.
The "black plastic ball" that came with the shifter just did not look like it went with the car so I machined and polished an aluminum shifter ball. It really adds some "bling" to the interior.
Not all that much left to do before that "first drive"!

Keith

 

[Keith]

I have been away from my build, and the forum, for over five months. But, I am very happy to say that I am back and finishing up the last parts of my build to get ready for the Spring car show season.
During the final assembly, after I brought the car back from the paint shop, I noticed the top exhaust pipe was sitting within a quarter inch of contacting the rear clip. Running the engine with the clip locked down in place resulted in the area above the pipe "humping up". Thankfully there was no damage to the paint and the area that "humped up" returned to the normal shape after it cooled down. I ended up making another pipe for that cylinder that moved it toward the rear of the car about an inch which resulted in an additional inch of clearance. I sent the pipe away for Jet-Hot coating and got it back last week. As the pipe is still only a finger width from the underside of the clip I fabricated a chrome heat shield from a friends discarded Harley exhaust to act as a "radiant shield" between the pipe and the insulation on the rear clip.
If all goes as planned I hope to take a spin around the block this weekend........
Keith

 

[Chuck]

Keith:

Very nice. At Road America saw an original GT that had a plate, about ten inches squard, bolted on top of the collectors as a heat deflector. So there is a prototype for your idea! Nicely done and a good idea.

Anxious to get a 'first spin around the block' report!!

 

[Keith]

Chuck,
I have seen photos several different types of heat deflectors used both on the originals and replicas. My problem was self imposed as I made my own exhaust and did not get the one from RCR. I really hope that the finger width of space between the shield and the insulation on the clip is enough to keep from damaging the rear clip.
Did you have to get a different exhaust system when you changed to the ZF transaxle?
Keith