Lotus 38 ish Replica

Work on the nose. Generally I should preface this by saying I don't have the patience or perfectionism to do paint/cosmetic work. But not having much money either means I do it anyway. This actually came out smother than it looks in the pictures which was kind of a nice surprise though its still clearly a product of my non professional work. What I did here was cover it in light filler, sand, repeat, spray an epoxy sealer, sand, touch up, sand. Then mask off where the stripe would be,base coat, pull the masking tape off and then clear coat. But even with my slightly shoddy work, seeing it on the car just about floored me.
 

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No, I didn't. The thought crossed my mind, but those are used 1983 Reynard formula ford arms I found for about the price of the material used in them.
 
The main thing I've been working on lately is the shifter. Since I switched my plan from the renault transaxle to the Audi, I was left with a shifting rod that went to the wrong side of the engine (and down low). Years back, I fabricated a cable shifter for a Lotus Europa I used to won, so I decided to go that route again and create a sort of hybrid system that used the rod to get to the engine compartment and then the cables to get to the transaxle and have it make the pattern be in the right direction. I need to move the attaching points on the back out another 1/4" to be perfectly lined up, but it works as it is here.

I also started assembling my engine. Another racer here in the SFR SCCA region gave me the 5.0 short block that he was running in his Cobra replica as he was moving up to a stroker. So I'm going to put aluminum heads on it and what not, but this weekend I put on the pan (I can't figure out why I didn't paint the pan first... I meant to, but there it is not painted) timing gears/chain, cover, damper, and an electric water pump. Because the car is for autocross use I want to be able to run the fan and pump while the engine is off as the car sits at an event more than it runs. This is what a lot of the formula ford guys who run autocross do to cool down the car between runs.

Oh and I hate oil leaks so I tend to wipe excess sealent to the outer edge of a gasket and then smear it back over the outer edge once the part is installed (keeping excess away from the inside). But I usually use black stuff which looks fine. This looks terrible in orange. Thankfully it'll be right up against the firewall. . ..
 

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More paint work. It looks better in the pictures than it does in real life . . . the clear coat didn't come out well. Its fine in some places, has orange peel in other places and a couple spots where it was on the verge of running. Some wet sanding and buffing could fix it. But right now I'm too tired to think about that. When I run out of other things to do I may return to touch up the paint. . . or cover it in stickers :)
 

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Well done Ben.

Your top gear cable bracket you will bend that over time.
If you weld a 45 deg piece in the corners it will be light but strong.
Even if they are just fused in if you have a tig.

Doing a great job.

Jim
 
Really? You've had one bend? I had these same brackets on my Europa, drove it as my my daily driver and raced it for 6 years and didn't have one bend.

But from an engineering point, and "better safe than sorry," I see your point. I could cut some steel triangles pretty easily to weld in there.
 
Hey Ben,
The first Canepa's C/C is this Saturday, come on out and meet some of your fellow afflicted. Jim Craik will probably be there with his black GT40 (usually the only 40 there) so he/we will be easy to find.

Car looks great, I want one. Just make mine a 49.
 
Okay! Do you know what time you guys might be there? I've got my 3 year old son this weekend. He'll love it though he doesn't have the longest attention span for anything that isn't trains.

Also, FYI its supposed to rain Saturday morning here (though that wouldn't stop us coming). I should be easy to spot. I have a dark red Laguna Seca cap and will be chasing a little blonde 3 year everywhere.

On the 49, you supply the cosworth and transalxe and we'll talk :)
 
That would have been a trip I wouldn't have minded doing, but I am not available this weekend. It would have been a nice drive down from SF. I will have to look to one of the future events.

Karl
 
Usually about 8-8:30 for me, but I don't display. Jim gets there earlier.

ZF for the gearbox, the Cossie might be a bit more challenging.
 
Well we came looking for a GT40 but didn't find any. But I was very surprised to an AAR Eagle there of a similar vintage to the ones I based my design on. Ahh there's nothing like seeing an immaculately restored car (better than new) to let me know just how much better my car COULD be. . . .
 

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Cute kid make'3 me miss my Grandson (also a blondie) who's also 3. Nice car too. What's the white partial car in the background? A Porsche?
 
Probably, Canepa sort of specializes in Porsches. I didn't get over to see what that particular one was, there were a lot and I had to keep my son from touching cars.
 
Sorry Ben.
Jim's 40 was victim to a little garage mishap that I was unaware of. He was there but the car was not. I did keep my eyes peeled for the ''little blonde kid'' but only saw the female variety of starter humanoids.

That place was packed, I've never seen so many people there. The Eagle tub on the fabrication jig was interesting, reminded me of your project. Did you see that or the Eagle nose cone formed from sheet ally?

Three 917/30s and three 917/10s in one building, I would never have dreamed it.

BTW Yes that was a Porsche, a 907 or a 908, I didn't look to see as I was drooling over the yellow 917/10 also in the same picture.
 
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