Keith's RCR GT40 Mk I Build

[Chuck]

Keith:

I am no engineer so may analysis may be flawed, but I believe the rubber spacers securing the radiator are suggested, in part, to accomodate for differing expansion rates between the hot radiator and cooler adjacent metal. If the radiator is secured tightly over time the radiator joints can be compromised leading to leaks. The rubber spacers give a bit of flex to prevent this problem.

Indeed I used rubber spacers on the alumunimum cover plate to radiator connection for the same reason.

If anyone with more expertise can chime in it may be helpful.

Chuck

 

[Keith]

Bill,
Thank you, that is high praise comming someone with such a fine build as yours. We are all really looking forward to the video of your car "on the road".

Chuck,
I have assumed (and maybe incorrectly) that the large "sail pieces" that the radiator bolts too have sufficient flex in them to accomodate the expansion of the radiator.

Keith

 

[Keith]

I have finished up the pedal assembly. The stainless pieces looked so good after I glass bead blasted them that I just left them that way. The throttle cable came from Lokar, it looks great and the service was even better..........I ordered it one day and it arrived the next. I took Chuck's advise and ordered the 9' length and it appears about right.

I replace the clutch master that was supplied with a shorter Tilton unit that will give me an additional two inches of travel on the adjustable pedal assembly.

When I reassembled the pedals I used .003" stainless steel shim stock around the shoulder bolts to tighten them up a bit. The pedal assembly looks good and I believe I am going to really like having the adjustable pedals.

Keith

 

[Keith]

It has been a while since I have posted anything but that does not mean I have not been making progress. My build plan was to "dry fit" everything drilling all the holes making all the cut-outs and fabricating everything I needed so that when I did the assembly it would just be a "bolt it together" process.
After putting it all together I completely stripped the chassis and had the bottom and the driver/passanger compartments sprayed with Line-X.
I attached a photo of the chassis after I got it back from Line-X and I am pleased with the result. The fake ribs are half inch aluminum tube that I cut in half on the band saw and bonded in place. I set the fake access cover I made in place to see what it looks like and I am pleased with the result.

 

[Keith]

At the suggestion of some of my co workers I decided to polish the exposed chassis areas.
This has takes significantly longer that I had planned not to mention the mess that it makes, however, the end result is definately worth the effort.
As you can see in the photos I have completed the final assembly process for the front suspension and I am working on the brake and AC components.

 

[Jack]

Keith,
I too plan on polishing the exposed mono areas. Might consider using "Zoop Seal" to keep it looking that way. This stuff is good, lasted over a year on my alloy Super Seven panels. Prior to using it I had to re-buff & polish almost monthly.

 

[EGLITOM]

Great job

TOM

 

[Fran Hall RCR]

Now thats some shiny bling.......nice job.

There are a couple of partially polished aluminum chassis's out there but I have not seen one done to that extent before...

 

[Dean Lampe]

I thought I had a polished chassis until I saw yours! That is beautiful work!

 

[Randy V]

After putting it all together I completely stripped the chassis and had the bottom and the driver/passanger compartments sprayed with Line-X.

I've been planning on powder coating my chassis and having the bottom done with Line-X. I may just have to re-think that plan...

If you don't mind my asking - how much did the Line-X treatment cost? It looks nice and thick!

I've used the Herculiner bed liner product and it's very thin and difficult to apply evenly...

 

[Keith]

Thank you for all your kind words. Believe it or not the photos do not do it justice, the only real problem now is everything I do puts fingerprints or smudges on it............
My buffing process has been 500 wet paper, grey compound, Mothers polish, red compound (on a softer cotton buffing wheel) then two coats of wenol the first hand applied and removed with an oribtal buffer the second hand applied and removed by hand. I am so sick of polishing (and I am running out of t-shirts) that I dropped the rear belly pan off at the powder coaters today.........my reasoning was the the belly pan will look much better black, but secretly I know if I have to polish one more thing I just may go mad.
The Line-x was done locally here in Huntsville. I had masked the chassis myself but they went back and added more masking as their masking has a wire in it so that it cuts a very nice edge when the masking comes off. I had the bottom coated, the back side of the firewall coated, the back side of the engine access cover coated and the back of the window frame coated plus the interior as you see it in the photos. I brought it to them on a Tuesday and I got it back that same Friday. They called me when they had the bottom masked so I could approve the masking then they called again before they sprayed the inside so that I could approve the masking, they charged me $825. which I thought was pretty reasonable considering the care they took to do it right. They also had a forklift so the load unload was a snap.
Keith

 

[Randy V]

Quite reasonably priced - I was thinking more than $1,000 ....

I bet that your hands are almost permanently black from the polishing!!!

Now you need to get something like that Zoop Seal to keep the polished part shiny!

 

[Keith]

I am more than just a little surprised that I have not had a question about the "heater hoses", so, I will post the reply before I get the question.
Yes, I ran two one half inch copper tubes, one along each side of the coolant pipes for the heater. I made "pipe seperators" from inch and a half CPVC then ran the copper pipe down each side and wraped the assembly with aluminum tape before putting it in the spine. I made hose nipples from 3/4 pipe to 1/2 copper adapters on the lathe and silver soldered the fittings. This way the heater will actually be pulling hot coolant from the top of the intake manifold into the heater and back into the water pump just like Mr. Ford himself would have done it.
Keith

 

[Keith]

Yes, I would agree the Line-x was reasonable but I was really unprepared for the powder coating..............
I brought the roll cage the roll cage brace bars, and every other steel part I could find on the car ( the box must have weighed 20 pounds) plus the radius rods, the cross link rods, the rods that support the rear belly pan and the front steering arms. The did it all for $350. and I had it back in two days! And the workmanship was way beyond what I had expected.
Keith

 

[Jac Mac]

I am more than just a little surprised that I have not had a question about the "heater hoses", so, I will post the reply before I get the question.
Yes, I ran two one half inch copper tubes, one along each side of the coolant pipes for the heater. I made "pipe seperators" from inch and a half CPVC then ran the copper pipe down each side and wraped the assembly with aluminum tape before putting it in the spine. I made hose nipples from 3/4 pipe to 1/2 copper adapters on the lathe and silver soldered the fittings. This way the heater will actually be pulling hot coolant from the top of the intake manifold into the heater and back into the water pump just like Mr. Ford himself would have done it.
Keith

I hope you extended the fitting that you have in the manifold down toward the floor of the coolant jacket and restricted its diameter so that it operates in the manner Mr Ford intended!

 

[Keith]

Yup! going to use the original fitting that Henry supplied with the 289, 3/8 restrictor and all..........

 

[Keith]

I fabricated a bracket for the speedo sensor but I did not like the final product so I machined this one out of 3/4 inch aluminum plate and it looked so good I decided to polish it.
I used 3/8 socket head bolts with heli coils in the existing 7/16 holes in the spindal.

 

[Keith]

The fuel gauge sending units are very well built stainless steel parts. I wanted to use fuel filters/fuel socks on the pickups but the pick up tubes were too large so I had to turn the pick up tubes down to the right diameter in the lathe.
Chuck gave me some excellent advice about powering up and testing the sending units and the gauge to ensure they were assembled correctly before putting them in the tank. It would have been way to easy to put the sender back on the pick up tube upside down had I not tested them.
All in all I like the way it looks.
Keith

 

[Chuck]

Keith:

Really nice work. That machined speedo pick up is a work of art. You wont have to worry about any flexing of the bracket

The in - tank filter is also a good idea since there is inevitably crud to intercept before it reaches the pumps. Will you still use an in line filter between the tank and the pump?

Only suggestion: You might want to use a picture from The Ford That Beat Ferrari as a back drop for you pics instead of a news paper clipping about kidney disease! ! ! :laugh2:

 

[Keith]

Chuck,
Actually the back drop for the photo was quite an after thought. I will try to take more care in the future (I really did not notice....). I attached two photos of my fuel pump system (please don't look at the back drop). It has two carter pumps with check valves and an electric valve to control the fuel return so it goes back into the tank that it came from. There is a single replaceable element type fuel filter mounted to the same plate. The fuel pumps are rubber mounted to the plate and the plate has rubber isolation mounts to the fire wall. I hope this will keep the vibration to a minimum. I added the fuel socks to keep any debris in the tanks from going thru the pumps and damaging them. I have not powered up the pumps and pumped any fuel yet so I would not call this a proven design.
I hope to have the chassis somewhat complete, less the electrical, and under power (an engine that will run) by the end of the month so I can do the alignment. Should be ready to run the engine by that time and maybe go around the block if I get the axles and sway bars.
Keith