Brent's RCR GT MKIV Build Log

[PatBuckley]

Agreed!

That looks like a lot of fun Brent.

[Madmiles442]

Very cool! Great pics!
You will not be sorry with those tires. I love 'em!

[Brent Mills]

Making progress here and there. Have the engine and transaxle mounted, though they will be coming back out for other work. Working on making the side scoops that will lead into mocal oil coolers. Working on the expansion tank per originals. That was kind of fun using a slip roll to take a nice flat piece of aluminum and turn it into a 6" diameter tube. And made a turkey pan. Welding and aluminum work is FUN.

Here's some progress pics:

[trularin]

Brent, I don't mean to pry, but the Romeo 605 runs about $18k. Was Keith's engine less than that?

I have been looking at "possibilities".

[Brent Mills]

Originally Posted by trularin

Brent, I don't mean to pry, but the Romeo 605 runs about $18k. Was Keith's engine less than that?

I have been looking at "possibilities".

The prices are similar...I would love to use a motor such as that at some point in some project. I just couldn't bring myself to using something other than an FE in this kind of car. Now, if you've seen Fran's SLC, that would be a sweet powerplant for that I would think.

[ALLEN ENGLISH]

Wow Brent - That's some great fabrication work! Are you using an english wheel for some the metal bending?

[Brent Mills]

Did a quick startup yesterday!!! Oh my gawd!!!! Ok, there is something extremely sexy about an 600hp KeithCraft FE in a GT. The exhaust note is so different from the cobra with essentially the same engine. Man it is AWESOME!!!!

I started it for a little "added" motivation to get the sucker on the road. I've been making decent progress, but I could be further along by now. Hearing that engine....well....that got me excited! WOW! I'll try to get a youtube video of it this weekend.

As for the engine and getting her going...it started right up without any tinkering. Primed the oil and turned it over....A beautiful noise! Beautiful! Thanks Keith!

By the way, the car is not near road worthy...I still have to pull the motor and build the alt/ac brackets and a bunch of wiring to finish....and a bunch of other stuff.

[froggyman]

Brent,

I have been following your build, wow! Great stuff. Fran builds a good core for you to build on and you are proving it. I think the MKIV is perhaps one of the most beautiful shapes in racing history and in my humble opinion the most beautiful GT40 ever made, and truly American to boot.

I wish I had the time and money for one of them. Oh well, I will watch yours with enthusiasm.

Great job Brent,

Juan

[Brent Mills]

Allen, sorry I missed your post. No english wheel. I have a shear/brake/sliproll combo that I use a lot (harbor freight special). I also have a set of shrinker/stretcher tools that I got several years back that I use here and there. Used the shrinker to make the turkey pan. Outside of that a lot of tinkering.

[Brent Mills]

Juan, I would tend to agree with you on all of what you said...Though I know many who don't like it.

Pat, It sure does! The quick ride through the parking garage in yours was inspiration! Believe me!

[Brent Mills]

The wiring just might be getting the better of me.

[xlr8or]

Not the funnest part of the build is it?

[Brent Mills]

This is my first time wiring anything more than a radio. I have learned a whole hell of a lot after chasing my tail for a hell of a long time. It didn't help that I read somewhere to use a battery charger to test your circuits because it wouldn't burn the fuses....I burnt several with exposed lines floating around here and there and didn't realize it. ALWAYS check the obvious, which I didn't...Thought I was missing something complicated and spent a lot of time redoing things and in the end had to redo them again as I realized my mistakes. What a pain in the ass!

[ALLEN ENGLISH]

Brent - My wiring was the biggest challenge for me on the FFR roadster replica build. Better you than me man

[Brent Mills]

Allen, I'm sure your experience will help you a great deal on your GT. In the end, I think my setup will work out great, but it sure was a pain in the ass getting there.

Andrew, it'll be different, and it's sure does sound good.

[Brent Mills]

Well, I decided that the bracket system that I fabricated would lead to trouble based on some of the feedback here, so I went a little more conventional route. What a pain in the ass, but I'm very happy with the end results.

Wiring is complete sans actual connection to lights, etc. Engine is sitting back in it's special little spot. Cooling system lines and pump routed. Things are starting to look like a car! Still a lot of work to go of course, and it will take about 5x long as I think it will, but...feeling pretty good about my progress recently.

Here are just a few pics of progress.

[ALLEN ENGLISH]

Brent, that new bracket set up looks good. Keep plugging away and you will be looking back and thinking that wasn't so bad...and then you will think to yourself what next

[Brent Mills]

Well, after a bit of time off...lots of summer and family issues, I have been making some reasonable progress with hopes to get the car to the body shop maybe next week.

Here's the dash which is pretty much completed, with the exception of the foux exposed fuse terminal which will be added. Pics don't really do it justice as I hadn't cleaned up after working all day on the thing, and you can't really see the crinkle finish in the pictures.






Here are some pictures of the rear spoiler and side spoilers.....Kinda fun to make and fairly straight forward. The key was making both sides like the same and to get the arch in the rear spoiler looking smooth and right, as it's not flat which would have been much easier.













Body sags to the left a little....need to talk with Fran on how to correct...at least the spoiler is striaght.


Also needed to make up the front shroud thingy coming from the radiator nostril area. Tried making it close to original and it took me several tries and a lot of hours to get it down.

• I first took a flat sheet of metal and put a half inch 90 degree bend on each side of it. The nostril area isn't straight, so I compensated for that with one end down by the radiator being and inch or so narrower than up by the wind shield.
• I then started using a shrinker machine to get the appropriate bends to get the appropriate slope, etc down to the radiator.
• Then I took a relatively thin sheet and made a patter for the sides....This was relatively tricky and time consuming but ended up with a reasonable fit and look. Had to make sure to get both of the fins that stick up out of the hood to look the same.
• Then, from what I can tell by looking at many pictures of orginals, there's a thin strip of aluminum folded over and runs along the top edge of the fins - presumably to make them more ridged. So, I took about a 3/4ths inch wide strip of aluminum, put about a 120 degree bend in it with my brake and then used the clamp on my brake to squeeze it flat (I put a sheet in the crease so it didn't bend it all the way and crack the metal). Then I used my shrinker again and carefully followed the contour of the fins. Once they were good, pried the piece apart with a small screw driver (what a pain in the ass) down the length of the piece so I was able to slide it on the fins. Once on, I used the brake clamp again to squeeze the metal onto the fins and they are secured well.
• Then I made a top shroud from the radiator top to the front of the outlet on the hood....this really firmed up the unit too.
• There was a lot of other little things that went into it, along with some cursing, and many hours, but I think it turned out ok

A little more progress today. Fabbed a little with aluminum and then cut the filler cover accordingly to fit and then mounted. Kinda fun. Still a bit of finish work, but you get the idea.

[*13*]

Lookin' good!

[Brent Mills]

Thanks Hyde...Wish the process was faster, but it's going at the pace I can go.