Which one and why

[John W]

Thanks people, more food for thought.

Mike C, interesting you got a quote of 1.5 years - they quoted me 30 months on Monday !! :-(

I know it will take me a while to build one of these, and agree that the build is as much fun as the finished car, let alone the great friends you make along the way.

I know what you mean Howard about the 'made it myself' feeling. I still would prefer a car correctly designed so I don't have to reengineer bits though. Sure I might redesign the odd bracket here & there, but I don't want to have to do masses of rework.
I recall helping a freind do a cobra some time ago., The company supplied a fuel tank that could not physically be put where it was intended to go as the boot openning was not big enough !


From reading other posts on here I am beginning to realise my view of how to go about one of these was incorrect. I expected to buy the kit and then go looking for the engine/gearbox. Seems I need to get them first really.

Since I was planning on starting on the car around September, and guess doing the engine could take a while in itself, having to wait for the kit for 18 months doesn't seem so bad after all (except what might happen to the exchange rate !).

Mark at MDA tells me his demo car will be back in a few weeks once its new engine is finished. I only considered them as a result of his connection with GTD, and I thought the GTD was a good kit so expected th MDA to be the same.

Rich at RF tells me the RF delivery could see me getting a car in 12 to 16 weeks, so not a problem there.

I still fancy the ERA. I need to resolve what is required to bring the kit to the uk though (import duty / car tax / SVA). Oh, and get used to the price !

Hadn't considered the option of getting Adams/McCall to build a chassis. I gave them a call
27K GBP + vat for a zinc coated mild steel chassis, and 3 months to build it. Now that's not as bad as I expected...
Oh hell ! Now I have another option to think about !
Move over Howard, I feel a mad-cap idea forming ;-)

So assuming I brought a monocoque, are the replica panels close enough to fit to it without major work ?
I guess I could get all interior, dash, steering column, etc, and have suspension made (assuming I could get patterns or measure off an original somewhere - Duncan Hamiltons perhaps).
How about the uprights, windscreen and fittings though ?

Is this such a daft idea ?

Cheers,
John.

 

[John W]

Jim,

Do you mind if I ask what sort of money your bodywork cost you ?
I'd also be interested to hear about the other bits you've sourced.

Mail me if you prefer not to say so on the list.

I used to work next ot a race car workshop, so feel sure they could make me anything - for a price. If not I have a retired engineer in the family who could probably help me fabricate some of the parts if I can get a pattern.

Cheers,
John.

 

[Brett James-McCall]

John,
Chris's prices for body work are posted in the forum here: http://www.gt40s.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/39746/an/0/page/3#39746

Oh and you would also be amazed at what Chris can procure...

Brett

 

[mike_starling]

John_Tiemann,

John, I have an SVO blobk w 4 bolt mains and an external oil pump that made 506 hp on the engine dyno. Am very interested in how your G50/52 is performing and what you used for the starter and the clutch configuration you found successful.

Might give me some pointers on the troubles to expect or things I might ought to redo.

Thanks,

 

[John W]

Thanks for the link Brett.

Really annoyed I can't make the meeting tonight now, you guys have so much information I need to absorb :-((((

 

[Howard Jones]

John, you are correct about picking out a motor and gearbox very early in this process. The gearbox is the heart of the entire project, once you have that in the bank then pick out a motor. DO NOT FORGET to make a early choice about including a LSD in the gearbox. IMHO these cars need LSD diff's. This will more than likely be a 302 or a 351. The difference being mostly in the height of the block. The 351 is about 2 inches taller.

The thing is if you then buy a chassis to fit this combo you will have spoken for the really big enginneering issues. In that changing from a say a renault configured chassis to installing a G50 would be a very big deal. Or making a 351 fit into a car setup for a 302 could also be something to be avoided.

Other issues are;
What type of brakes will bolt up to the hubs that come with a given chassis. Or will the chassis builder option this issue.
Adjustable A arms and suspension links (rose jointed) Note: I have heard several people opine about polycarbon type bushings on the lower A arms and rosejoints on the top A arms and rear top suspension links as a good frequent/street once in a while/track car setup.

AC, there is a BIG difference in the performance requirments of a car driven in Texas and England. Here location and size of condensor can be a issue.

Your body size and size of interior of car.I believe some of the chassis builders will drop the floor for example. Also peddle box options should be studied.

I agree with you that if these major engineering details are configured correctly the first time you will certainly get your car on the road years faster.

The one big issue that can easily get over looked at this stage is body fit/finish. If you don't want to do a lot of engineering I would guess you will REALLY not want to do a lot of bodywork. It is very easy to get into final drive ratios and rosejoints and forget about all that fiberglass sanding if the body doesn't fit well later. I would spend at least as much effort on body fit and finish as drivetrain when picking a car to build. AND I would complete the body pannel fitting before I put on the suspension parts or installed the drivetrain or interior.

 

Mike Starling,
The Dart Block I used is a 4.125 bore and 3.25 stroke, for a 347. The J&E pistons give it 12-1 ratio.as an FYI the torque is 435 at 4800RPM.
Now to the question about the G50/52.
I have not put the car on the track yet , just around the neighborhood. (lots of looks from the neighbors), I will find out in a couple of weeks , we have some test time scheduled at a local road track.
The clutch and gear box were prepared by Power Haus II and the guy to talk to is Roger Brown. The clutch is a single disc semi metalic that seem OK now. we also discussed a 2 disc set up , but it will not work for street use only the track. As anote these guys are very good to work with.
The starter came from Kennedy Engineering in California and the nose piece must be modified to fit the frame rail on the DRB GT 40. I did all of the mods on my mill in about 1 hour.

 

[Tim Kay]

John T,

Could you elaborate a little on the single disc vs 2 disc clutch set up?
Why is the 2 disc good for track and not street?
Why did you opt for the single disc?
Why, specifically, did the nose piece on your starter need to be modified?

Sorry to be a PIA, but I am installing a g50\52 soon and I like to anticipate some of these hurtles /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[Bill Bayard]

Tim,

The starter flange must be rotated a few degrees in order for the solenoid to clear the chassis rail.

John,

Long time, no see!
Please keep us posted on your test drives at the track.
Some photos would be great too.
Keep the shiny side up! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Bill

 

Tim, Bill,
For the starter mod, The flange of the starter must be rotated 15% to allow the starter body to clear the frame rail. This is on the DRB frame and I can not comment on any other frame design.
For the clutch,
The difference in the 1 vs 2 disc clutch is the lining,
The 2 disc assembly uses a metalic lining that will burn if you slip the clutch as in street driving , witha 2 disc assembly every start word be a rapid start as at the track.
We are planning on a trip to dial the car in very soon and I will keep you posted