Upgraded uprights

[Jack Duha]

I finally upgraded my CAV gt #67 with Ian Clark's new front and rear uprights.
I had already installed his new lower arms so it made it complete.
The car sees some track use, so safety is of major consideration.
My confidence in the car is better, and I recommend it for peace of mind.
Even when I'm driving on the road with my 8 year old son (or my wife!) I just want to share a great experience, not trouble.
Give Ian a call if you have any questions as he is very helpful and supportive. He also has other upgrades for the first series of CAVs.
I consider my car a serious investment, and feel updating the car adds value.

Thanks again for supporting the CAV forum

Jack Duha

 

[tom pritchett]

Thanks for that. I track my car, #66 and have been thinking about it for some time. Does it help with the stability at higher speeds? Ian has been very helpful to me and appreciate his advice.

 

[Pat Buckley]

On what basis are you saying the stock uprights are trouble?

 

[Jack Duha]

Hi,
After a track day, my car suffered a burnt outer CV joint.
I figured it suffered from heat transfer at the very least. The idea of Ian Clark's steel uprights with additional coolng holes appealed to me aside from the safety aspects.
I understand some of the original castings were suspect. Don't get me started on how long it took to dial in my ZF bellhousing.
Over all I am happy with my experiences with this car as it is hand built.
And getting to know it better is part of the fun.
The car's handling seems more responsive now.
The guys with more track experience with their cars my be able to shed more light on these improvements.

Jack Duha

 

[Pat]

Pat, on some of the early cars CAV (pre-Autofutura) put the wrong hardware on the front uprights and there were some problems. Autofutura posted an advisory about it and a fix (which I thought was a classy move since the issue predated their ownership). It would be prudent for anyone with an early car to check. I've attached it.
I've got over 5K miles logged and my rears are just fine.

 

I have installed the new lower rear arms on my CAv #51 and noticed marked improvent in handling. The rear seems more planted around corners. I do some track days and have been using Silverstone South circuit for "testing" my car. The circuit is about 2 miles long and fast. With stock rear arms my best lap time was 1 min 34s. With the new lower arms I have knocked off 6 seconds and lap times are now comparable to the fast machinery such as porsche GT3s and Lotus exiges.

 

[Pat Buckley]

Thanks Veek - I did that.

 

[Bob Childress]

Like all car buffs, having a GT40 means there is always something more that you would like to do to your car. And, I have to admit that all the upgrade parts available from Ian at CAV-Canada are a great temptation.

Although my CAV already has quite a few significant changes, this next go round should be a whole new level. I just bought a complete 4-set of his uprights with their improved strength and geometry. His big 13” brake rotor upgrade is also being added. These are important piece-of-mind additions and I know they should have been my first.

Ian worked long and hard to make the new uprights incorporate improved geometry which eliminates the inherent compromises in the original design. It is fortunate for us that so much time and effort was invested in a product that admittedly has a very small pool of potential buyers. I realized that it was very important to buy these parts now while they were still in production.

I will bet that 99% of all replica GT40s will eventually make it to the race track either in the hands of their current or future owners. It is kind of cool to think that 500 years in the future some collector may appreciate our cars the same as we do now.

 

[Ian Clark]

Wow, thanks for jumping in on the uprights guys! The parts perform on all counts and the peace of mind is priceless.

What motivated the new parts developement in the first place was performance - reduced unsprung weight, improved geometry and control of the contact patch, dial-in alignment instead of shims, reduced heat soak in the bearings and CV joints, plus the parts just look "right".

The safety aspect arose from cars experiencing cracked or broken castings (can happen to any make of car), bent or broken lower clevis pins, binding in the rubber bushes causing the rear in particular to be twichty when pushed. Doesn't matter if the part breaks and you're off the road or you loose it to unpredictable handling, changes had to be made.

Our steel uprights are lighter AND stronger than the aluminum parts they replace. All verticle loads have been removed from the lower clevis pins as well. Some of my previous postings discuss the design advantages in more detail.

Certainly in the post 100 cars Autofutura has made tremendous improvements in the strength of the uprights. As the original CAV company was wound down, they did not have the opportunity to address the issues which only became apparent as more cars were completed, particularily with more motor and rubber than intended.

There's 48 uprights out the door so far, zero failures and 100% delivery on performance expectations. Even Dave Briggs car which went into a tree at 55mph did not break our upright even though it was in the line of fire.

Thanks again guys, developing parts for a niche market has it's challenges but it's really rewarding to have the customer feedback on how well the parts worked.

Six seconds at Siverstone! brilliant, can I quote that Sibbat?

Cheers

PS: There's a sale on right now in the Manufacturers Anouncements sub forum