VMSETHAN

Last update.

Received a call form a potential buyer last week. He came down from Seattle area to look it over and liked the car. A deal was stuck and he is now the owner. I am happy with the purchase price and that it will go to another track enthusiast for enjoyment.

i have a GT40 build thread started here..http://www.gt40s.com/forum/gt40-build-logs/45417-mikes-drb-41-build.html#post464124.

Many thanks to all who commented the last couple years. I will keep comping back to 2002 FAQ to watch other peoples projects. Who knows, maybe when the 40 is done something "new" will bring me back into the fold here????

THX 

So it has been 4 months since putting the car up for sale. As originally stated, i was mostly concerned about shop space for the GT40 along with the Mustang and perpetual plane projects. Car is currently cocooned on the trailer under the carport next to the shop. It is doing well.

I had several phone calls about the car and a couple offers, but not enough to let it go. As track season is only 4 months out, if it does not sell by mid- February i will put it back into the shop and start prepping for summer. The current airplane project (1948 Stinson) should roll out about then.

 After much reading and thought, i am going to supercharge for some more horses. I plant to use a roots blower and emulate the Camden setup as seen here.

Since Camden's are not plentiful and pricey, i am going with a Toyota SC14 unit. Picked one up a few weeks ago for $225 off E bay. Disassembled and inspected, looks good. I see these use a lot on other projects, so there is some confidence there.

I have an second intake manifold, so that is going to be sliced apart as as a starting pint for a custom blower mounting to the head. Also will need to extend the snout a ways to line up with crank pulley.  Digging around the shop i got some materials together, but did have to get some minor lathe work done to match things correctly.

Ultimately i will have the inner shaft centered and supported by the outer bearing. I removed the electric clutch assy and cannibalized the splined coupling to be sleeved and welded to the inner shaft.

Still need to dwell on a number of details, but this gets me started down the path. I really need to get it mounted before determining how long to extend the nose. Also will need to gusset that a bit. I want it durable. 

My initial thought is to boost it 6-8 PSI. Blow off valve will be used as a safety, and I need to decide on boost retard ignition plan. 

As far as the GT40 goes; No GT40 blog yet. I have been picking up engine stuff and interior items. Staring to build a good pile. Pretty much settle don a SB Ford, 347 stroker. The quad Weber setup would be awesome, but also costs a bundle. Likely go with a good Holley setup.

Planning  to paint blue like this.

Updates to follow....

Surprise ending for sure…. For me too.

So a couple months back I took the Mustang to a cruise-in where a GT40 showed up. Very nice replica that I drooled over. Went home a did some internet browsing and came across a GT40 site with projects for sale.

There was an unfinished project for sale for a good price (in my mind) that was within a days driving distance. A few weeks later the seller drooped the price by 5K, so it got serious.

Car was built by a retired aerospace/electrical engineer. Got it driving for about 30 miles when the engine had a crank bearing failure. Change of lifestyles/hobbies followed and car had to go.

Very impressed with build quality of kit and assy. Wiring is NICE.

Stats;

DRB kit from Australia

Set up for SB ford.

Included 5-sp Porsche G50 transaxle(1988 911 Carrera)

Custom driveshafts

“bundle of snakes” exhaust, ceramic coated.

Air conditioning

Factory fit doors and windshield.

Suspension/brake is all C5 Vette with adjustable coilovers

Wheels are Halibrand look-a-likes for Chevy pattern. 17 X 8 and 17 X 10

Tires- Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar

VDO gauges

Lots more……..

Needs Engine, final interior and paint.

Pepping for a 347 Stroker to match all the existing stuff.

Once I get a new build blog started on the GT40 site I will add a link.

A few more pics.

New update,

 car has been a great joy to build and drive, but a new project has arisen which simply could not be passed by. hence the 02 is for sale. Listed on eBay now, going to add other places soon. I will miss  it a lot, but  I needed to free up shop space and could not turn away from this new challenge......pics attached.

A little behind the power curve, but here is video of my PIR track day 2 weeks ago. Was able to get multiple videos including the I-phone app video. Spliced together sections of each and posted. Here is the link...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V20nzLN9-MQ

Again the car performed flawlessly. I dropped the front down a bit more, about an inch. Talked with several people who ran 02's before and they were glad to see one still out living the dream.

Power upgrade this winter... close to a decision.

 Yesterday was my ORP track day. Car performed flawlessly. I was very happy to get 4 solid sessions without any mishaps or breakdowns. This time I got some pics and a decent video. 

Again, i was the only 02, but at least there was an Alfa there of similar vintage and a couple Porsche 914's, so I was not the only old timer.

Lots of Mustangs, 911's, Miatas(as usual) and selected others. A McLaren MP4-12C showed up, so that was cool.

The video is from my JVC Adixxion cam.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLfHSbtXnic&feature=player_detailpage

I also got video with an I-Phone app that overlays the track map and shows speed /G-force. Unfortunately the phone mount was pretty jiggly, so video is not too great. Maybe I will post later......

Thinking about where to drive next. PIR again, maybe The Ridge?? 

 This winter I am giving serious consideration to a power upgrade.... 

I can't say a whole lot about ride firmness changes post coil cuts. Only put about 12 miles on the car during a few "undercover" test drives before cutting them down. It does feel real firm, but definitely not harsh on the track. There was very little body roll as I cranked truogh the corners at PIR thanks to those and the IE swaybars. I think it would be fine on a street toy.

I finally got around to downloading my lap data. A few years back I purchased a G-TECH PRO RR to put into the Mustang, but now is mounted on the 02.

Here is a snapshot......

While watching the playback I noticed that lateral G actually exceeded 1.0 several times. I was pushing real hard at some corners where I felt real good about the line, but not quite sure I beleive 1.0+G. Powered up the G-tech and verified calibration. It wass reading .03 just sitting still, so that explains some, but my peak at one turn read 1.04, so still looking to see if it was real.

ORP is 2 weeks away so looking forward to those numbers:)

Thanks for the complements guys. I want to wring it ut a few days this season before making any changes. Currently have the IE fixed camber plates, but those may get converted to adjustrable as well as lowering a bit more. Probably a winter upgrde project when it happens.....

Long time since an updae, but I finally have something worth posting.

Monday was my PIR track day, first time out for the car. Happy to say it did well over all. Definiteley not the fastest machine there, but it handled real good. A few warm up laps, then let loose.

Track was dry and warm and the Dunlops stuck real well. A few pics below, but I botched my video, so won't post that. Grass Valley is in a few weeks, so will do better then with a video to share.

The IE sway bars arrived last week. They are installed and looking good.

With those done I was finally able to get my front towing eye located and mounted. Fabricated a hardpoint behind the spoiler and bolted it to the frame.

Currently working on the Kirkey seat install. A couple brackets to fab and gusset for mounting to the rails. I had a good set of sliders removed from my Mutsang seats(Summits also)that are in place. I want some adjustability so a couple trusted friends and my son can get a little seat time when ready. Kirkey recommends a mounting point up near the top also. I'm going to fab that with a slider and pin setup to match the lower slide detent spacing.

Will add pics of the upper mount when done...hopefully this weekend.

Watching the weather for a decent day to load onto the trailer for a trip to work. We have a truck scale just down the road so I can weigh the car and check front/rear balance. Curious to see how that maths out.

Planning 2 track days in June. PIR on the 5th with BMW club, then ORP on the 29th. More days in July & August as I can squeeze them into a busy summer.

I removed my undercoating with a wire wheel and an oscillating tool. The oscillating tool worked well, removed the bulk of the mess. I'm gonna finish the bottom off using a Roloc Bristle Disc by 3M. I'm not going for complete bare metal underneath, just down to a smooth well bonded rust free surface like the factory primer. After that, I'm shooting the bottom with epoxy primer, and body schutz.

I second that, pretty much what  I did with my project. If original paint was in good shape then a good scuff and clean is adequate, especially for interior areas. I was a little more enthusiastic prepping the exterior.

Here is my setup.

15 x 6.5   et 35

Dunlop Direzza ZII  195/50-15

No spacer in back, 1/8 spacer in front.

Could go a LITTLE lower but already did some work to drop a bit. Car sat too high with the IE stage 2 springs. Car has been stripped for track days and is light. After mulling it over the decision was made to lower  by cutting coils.

Started conservativly and took off 1/2 coil from the back,  That was mostly the "flat" section of the sping. Afterward while putting them back in that end did not want to sit nice in the pads, eirther to or bottom. There was too much "ramp" and they looked unsecure to say the least. Did some brainstorming and decided a custom upper retainer would be best solution.

 I drew up a quick diagram for an aluminum doughnout to have machined. To capture and retain the spring properly I incorprated an outer lip and put in a sprial cut on the seat face to match the coil ramp angle.  Kind of hard to see in the pics, but a 5/8 ball mill was used to match spring diameter and create a proper seat for the spring. It spirals up(down?) one revolution.

 Located some srcap aluminum from work, aprox 1.75 thick. One of my machining connections through work lives nearby and he has a few CNC mills in his home shop, so a deal was made.......This was more than I could hanlde with a manual machine. These could also be made from Delrin or UHMW plastic. Possibly lighter and quieter? We have the program saved for future use.

Fronts were cut 1/4-1/3 with no problems.

My hood is on and things are wrapping up. IE sway bars are not here yet, getting impatient.........

 After mulling it over the decision was made to lower the car a bit by cutting coils. Going to the one dot pad in back was not going to do enough.

Started conservativly and took off 1/2 coil from the back,  That was mostly the "flat" section of the sping. Afterward while putting them back in that end did not want to sit nice in the pads, eirther to or bottom. There was too much "ramp" and they looked unsecure to say the least. Did some brainstorming and decided a custom upper retainer would be best solution.

 I drew up a quick diagram for an aluminum doughnout to have machined. To capture and retain the spring properly I incorprated an outer lip and put in a sprial cut on the seat face to match the coil ramp angle.  Kind of hard to see in the pics, but a 5/8 ball mill was used to match spring diameter and create a proper seat for the spring. It spirals up(down?) one revolution.

 Located some srcap aluminum from work, aprox 1.75 thick. One of my machining connections through work lives nearby and he has a few CNC mills in his home shop, so a deal was made.......This was more than I could hanlde with a manual machine. These could also be made from Delrin or UHMW plastic. Possibly lighter and quieter? We have the program saved for future use.

Kind of hard to see, but the spiraling ramp feature is visible if you look close.

I had to do a little fine tuning of the ID to slip up snugly, and also placed a 1/8 rubber pad beteween it and the body. Made sure the machined spiral end matched the tail end of the spring.

Since that worked out well the front springs were next. Only took of about 1/4-1/3 coil on those. The existing spring cups are holding those well, so no more parts to fab.

Pretty happy with the stance. I will piggyback some of this into THE STANCE thread.

Lastly, changed my tune a bit on the seat. I have a Kirkey race seat coming from Summit. I will put the existing seat on the passenger side for days when I have a track passeneger. My first trip to ORP I will want a co-pilot or instuctor for peace of mind.

Looking at track day schedules for PIR and ORP.

Weather has cooperated the last few days, some dry weather to get a few test runs in. No big issues, but items to tweak and adjust. Still thinking I need to drop 1/2"-3/4", but handles well (especially considereing my swaybars are not mounted yet). A few more runs in order to dial in my brake bias.

 I got the pedal reworked with a roller bearing and aluminum hinge stock. Hinge pin was TINY, so reamed it up to 5/32" to use a small piece of brass rod I had on the shelf. Hooked a small light tension spring to the arm keeping the pedal from flopping around when not engaged.

During the test runs I was able see how well the inegral shift lights in the tach worked out. Factory settings were a bit low, but I was able to adjsut that easily. Net time I run it up the hill I'll try to get a video of that, pretty sweet.

Things are looking good, so time to get the hood on and aligned.

My tires and wheels are mounted/balanced. Car is finally back on its feet after 2 years   No wheel spacers in back, but fronts will need about 1/8"  to keep comfortable clearance to the strut housing.

 Funny, I got used to it being so tall on the stands, It feels small now. Pretty happy with the stance, maybe a little too much wheel well gap...... but suspension is FIRM. Currently have the 2 dot rear coil insulators. May consider going to the one dot. My quick research shows about a 5MM difference. If anyone has a set please let me know! Happy to buy.  If doing that I should also drop the front a bit, maybe cut 1/4-1/2 coil??? Comments please. Probaly a little ahead of myself there, so I need to toss it around a bit before dropping any.

I am eager to drive, but need to get that distributor shaft swapped. THX to the members helping with donor parts.

Final steps to complete...hood install, front end alignment, wiring TLC, gas pedal hinge...those stock pivot balls suck.

I had to cave to vanity and get the carbon fiber look on the hood emblem to match my "grille"

Really hoping to do couple days in June. Kind of iffy weather-wise for the Portland track, but Grass Valley is east of the Cascades and should have dry days. A Go Pro is in my near future. 

STRUCK out  at the local German wrecking yard for a points distributor to do a shaft swap. Ditto for EBay. Will post an add here and also Google west coast yards.

Anyone have one laying around??????

_{I was able to get the secondary "bullet" muffler to fit behind the axle. It has definitely taken the harshness out ouf the sound. I will run this and see how it goes.....I like it.}

 _{Did some more reading in the forums about the distributor oil leak. It is definitely coming from the upper dist. body. I had noticed the spiral cuts on the lower shaft while apart for cleaning. What I was not aware of is that BMW reversed the rotation of the M10 in 79/80. Evidently the newer style shafts have the spiral cut opposite to drive any seeping oil down. This makes sense since an earlier owner changed over to the  E21/E30 dist. There is a local German auto salvage yard with a few 02's in the back. I will stop by and look around for an earlier points type distibutor and eyebal the spiral cut. Others have exchanged the lower shaft to fix the issue. Wost case I buy a new mech advance unit  form IE, but trying this first.}

So I finally had all needed items set to the point I could fire the engine. Took a little tweaking, but went well. I had primed the flywheel and forgot to spot the timing ball with a visible color. Had to roll it over slowly and find it for a dab of silver paint. Beyond that, nothing MAJOR. A couple small oil leaks, carb settings etc...

 Here it is the other day...

Last leak to deal with was/is distributor oil seep. A quick post to the forums pointed me to the drain hole in the housing. Beyond that, I need to get my tires mounted and ready for a test drive. Have been holding back on sway bars to buy other items, but those are about all that is left. Likely going with the IE set.

Exhaust does not sound bad, but is a little louder than hoped. I think I'll try a small bullet muffer behind the axle to moderate the sound. Jones Exhaust makes a cylyndrical "turbo" style that is pretty small and free flowing. Trying that first, simple and inexpendive.

OK, just ran out to the shop and checked. there was oil about 1/3 way up the housing shaft "well". Fished a wire and found the hole, Felt semi-open, but did get a couple small pieces of gasket material out of it.  Maybe it was partially blocked.Oil drains quiclky now.

 THANKS Preyupy, hope that solves it. Will reinstall the distributor tomorrow. Took it apart some tonight for a good cleaning. Will look through forums for end play info, but any comments are helpfull there too.

I did not use any sealant when reassembling the the dist housing to block. Just a new gasket. Just to be sure of no blockage, is there a way to fish a wire down the housing with dist out?

 I have an oil leak coming from my distributor body. it is dripping out of the  vent holes in the lower surface of the main body. I do not have any leaks coming from the housing bolted to the block. I also replaced the o-ring on the distributor neck and have verified no leaks. Pulled the unit and the LOWER seal at the driven gear is very loose/worn.

 Looking for a source to buy a new seal, but all I have seen so far is a full Bosch rebuild

kit (pn 1237010007).

Any comments/advice on replacing just that lower seal?

BTW... this is an electronic ignition dist from an E21. Runs real well, but the oil drips right onto the header

YES, I know about the fan direction and the motor being reversable. I will do that while having it out for a little paint work.

I had looked at those batteries too. Was not sure about the CCA needs of the motor. 325 ssemend a litle small, but i was not sure. Has that not been a problem?

 I could always put the Optima in the Mustang, it's battery is about due for renewal.

Finally some good progress worth posting.

I was trying to save some cash and reuse the old windshield. It was in pretty nice shape. Unfortunately during install it cracked out. After inspection I noticed a chip in the edge where it started. Either from my removal or original install. Oh well....made some calls around town and Safelight did me good. Came 20 miles to my house, installed new glass and even used my new seal. $294 done. Happy with that.

Finally settled on my wheels. 15 x 6.5. et 35. Will fine tune with some spacers. My trial fits with steel wheel indicate 1/8 or 1/4 spacers should suffice. Once my tires are here I will get it sorted out. My Mustang has been running Dunlop Direzza Z-II's. Very happy with those on track days so planning on them for the 02 also. 195-50's from Tire Rack are my next purchase.

Radiator and fan are installed. Purchased the rad from Top End performance in Calif. It is a Griffen and fits perfect. A 12" fan from Summit is in place. Fabbed a couple aluminum mount brackets. Also took the time to re-fab the engine vent line. Now is is 5/8 daiameter.

Next week my header is ready to pick-up from ceramic coat and the Optima Redtop arrives. Work has an account at a local battery supplier. With that discount the Redtop is only $132. Best I had seen online was $140-ish, and a lot better that $169 from Summint or Jegs. With a litle luck I should be ready to fire it up next weekend. Will try to video it and upload if it sounds good for you Flowmaster fans.

More to follow......

Yes I know there needs to be some provision for vibration and movement. The 2 hangars in the middle do have  rubber flex tabs between the pipe clamp and body mount. Tail pipe mount will have a similar bolt/bushing setup.