Sean's RCR 40

[Sean T]

Back in December, after completing the running and testing of all of the electrical I got the news that my ZF transaxle was finally ready for pickup. It was a long wait but honestly it was perfect timing for me, because I really didn't need it until I had mocked everything up ahead of time. I finished mocking up the exhaust and modified the firewall to make room for the water pump. I kept it simple and just cut around the water pump, forced the aluminum out for clearance and then fiber glassed the opening I had made. After that I pulled out the motor, and began the long process of getting it all back together. It took a while and there were a few speed bumps along the way but within a couple weeks I fired it up for the first time.

 

[Sean T]

 

[Brian Kissel]

Nice work Sean. Do you have a start up video yet ? Would love to see one .

Regards Brian

 

[Chris Kouba]

Did I correctly interpret your post? You built the exhaust?

Fantastic work!! I may need to pick your brain.

 

[Sean T]

Brian,

Here is the first start video. Sorry for the delay, I had to figure out how to do it.

First Start

 

[Sean T]

Did I correctly interpret your post? You built the exhaust?

Fantastic work!! I may need to pick your brain.

Chris,

No, I didn't build the exhaust I did all of the mock up and measuring and sent it off to be made. I had GP Headers out of Minnesota build it. They do fantastic work to say the least.

 

[Sean T]

Another video...

Engine Rev

 

[Brian Kissel]

Very nice Sean, sounds good !!

Regards Brian

 

[James Shaw]

Great job Sean. Did you start with the Deluxe Plus? Any options? They look like nice quality parts..

 

[Phil G]

Sean
Headers look great as does the rest of your work...what diameter are the primaries?

 

[Sean T]

Great job Sean. Did you start with the Deluxe Plus? Any options? They look like nice quality parts..

James, yes I ordered the deluxe plus.

 

[Sean T]

Sean
Headers look great as does the rest of your work...what diameter are the primaries?

Phil, the primaries are 1 5/8"

 

[Sean T]

Shifter Install and Suspension Alignment

After installing the engine and getting it running I did the install of the shifter. I ordered another set of the parking brake brackets from RCR and modified them to bolt to the shifter housing, so that I could attach the shifter to the floor. It took a while to set the cables correctly and find all of the gears but after some much appreciated help from Chris Kouba, I got everything dialed in.


Over the last couple of weeks I knocked out the alignment on the front and rear suspension. For the time being I have the ride height set at just shy of 4 inches in the front and rear. I went with the RCR recommended specs on Caster, Camber and Toe. I utilized the Quick Trick Extreme kit to dial everything in as well as setting up a string on jack stands to check the front vs. the rear. Overall it wasn't too complicated of a task. I've aligned hundreds of vehicles but the GT was obviously much more time consuming as you have to unbolt the control arms to make adjustments... After everything was adjusted I took it on a little drive around the neighborhood to see how everything felt. It was an awesome experience to finally be shifting gears in the car.

 

[Sean T]

I haven't posted in a while but I've been chipping away at the body fitment. I paid to have the body fitted at RCR so that has given me a good head start. I've gotten the lights in ( as you can see I chose not to run a fog light) Fuel fillers fitted and the front latches on. I have done most of the work on the rear clip as well but I need to take some photos of where it is so I can post them. For the front nostril vent I decided not to use the standard dzus fasteners and instead went with quick latches. I like how they turned out and they should be just as strong.

Also my windshield finally showed up a couple of weeks ago!

 

[Sean T]

I'm still working on getting the body lined up. I reworked the pivot point from where the factory had it so that the rear clam opens all the way up now, rather then just 1/3 of the way. I've gotten a pretty good gap on the rear clip with the spider but I'm still seeing if I can make it better (too much material may have been taken off at the factory). I installed the drivers door (several times) installed the exterior handle, fit the door box, installed the door latch, built an interior handle as well as fabricated a system to make them all work together smoothly. I also stole a page out of Chuck's book and ran a 10 inch bolt through the door hinge rather then using the two short bolts on the top and bottom. I've managed to get a very good fit on the drivers door and only had to clean up a few pinch points. In between working on the drivers door I installed the firewall plexiglass, fit and installed the vent panels and also the rear glass. It was nice to work on something a little more straight forward for a little bit. In the meantime my painter has been knocking out the majority of the body work on the front clip. The plan is to take him the rear next, then the doors, remount everything and bring in the whole car for final bodywork, gapping, and the paint work. This way I can continue to work on the small items while the body work is moving forward as well.

 

[Jim]

Great build log! Can you tell me the part number for your water pump pulley? ... Also, ultimately where did you put your fuse box? Thanks!

 

[Sean T]

Jim,

water pump pulley is from CVF Racing (along with my crank pulley and alternator), part number in the particular pulley is
SBFS2WP.

May fuse box is located under the dash on the passenger side.

 

[Sean T]

It's been quite some time since I've posted an update, so I'd like to fill everyone in on my progress. I've still been chugging along on the build, just slowed down a little. The front end bodywork got finished up, so I gave my painter the rear clip to start body working. Both doors are on the car and I've knocked out the majority of the fitment on them. I've gotten the door boxes installed on both sides and I built some door panels which will be upholstered while the car is in paint. I managed to fit some nice speakers in the door panel and even squeezed a self powered sub woofer behind the passenger seat along with an amplifier. I utilized a blue tooth receiver for the stereo system so that it's out of sight. I've also finished fitting the door windows and the light covers. That's pretty much it. The car in its' entirety will be going to paint any day now so hopefully it will be pretty much done by the summer.

 

[Phil G]

Nice work Sean. So what color are you going with?

 

[Sean T]

Phil,
It's going to be a blue not sure on which one yet. My painter is going to spray out a few samples that I've narrowed it down to.