Ron Earp
Admin
Well as some of you know I had the honor of having Hershal Byrd over at my house for a week to help me get things going on the Roaring Forties GT40. Man, Hershal is a great guy and even better - he can seriously build cars (and planes among other things)!
Having Hershal around for a week was an exceptional learning experience. He has a tremendous amount of experience building cars and it really shows with his depth of knowledge and craftsmanship. He knows what is right and won't quit until it is absolutely right - no corner cutting. Knowing his skill level and attention to detail I would bet that his GT40 is the best RF example in existence.
Plus, this is the third Roaring Forties GT40 he has worked on and he has invaluable insight on the construction of the car along with many improvements that can be performed while building the car. Having Hershal around is like having Roaring Forties in your garage, if you're building an RF I highly recommend you email him if you need some help. The RF manual is good, but there are a lot of things that are impossible to capture in a manual but are very useful to know. I just wish there was a way to get the info out to folks in a good fashion.
During the week we were able to get a lot done, mainly the fitting of the body. As many of you know GT40s are not easy to fit no matter what replica you build. Hershal commented that out of the three he has done mine had the best initial fit and glass quality but it still took many, many hours to get the basic fitting done. However, the net result is that we've got the body on, the doors hung (very time consuming), and I can now finish up all the mechanicals to get the car rolling and off the dolly.
Hershal, thanks for all the help! Julie, Sydney, and I enjoyed having you out and you are welcome anytime! This has really gotten me over a hump and given me re-newed enthusiasm for getting the car finished and on the road! The tips and improvements were invaluable and I hope that you guys doing RF cars will contact Hershal if you get stuck, I wish I would have sooner!
I'll get some "before and after" pictures up here in a day or two so check back!
Best,
Ron
Having Hershal around for a week was an exceptional learning experience. He has a tremendous amount of experience building cars and it really shows with his depth of knowledge and craftsmanship. He knows what is right and won't quit until it is absolutely right - no corner cutting. Knowing his skill level and attention to detail I would bet that his GT40 is the best RF example in existence.
Plus, this is the third Roaring Forties GT40 he has worked on and he has invaluable insight on the construction of the car along with many improvements that can be performed while building the car. Having Hershal around is like having Roaring Forties in your garage, if you're building an RF I highly recommend you email him if you need some help. The RF manual is good, but there are a lot of things that are impossible to capture in a manual but are very useful to know. I just wish there was a way to get the info out to folks in a good fashion.
During the week we were able to get a lot done, mainly the fitting of the body. As many of you know GT40s are not easy to fit no matter what replica you build. Hershal commented that out of the three he has done mine had the best initial fit and glass quality but it still took many, many hours to get the basic fitting done. However, the net result is that we've got the body on, the doors hung (very time consuming), and I can now finish up all the mechanicals to get the car rolling and off the dolly.
Hershal, thanks for all the help! Julie, Sydney, and I enjoyed having you out and you are welcome anytime! This has really gotten me over a hump and given me re-newed enthusiasm for getting the car finished and on the road! The tips and improvements were invaluable and I hope that you guys doing RF cars will contact Hershal if you get stuck, I wish I would have sooner!
I'll get some "before and after" pictures up here in a day or two so check back!
Best,
Ron
