"Alberta Alloy" - scratch build project

[Francis Lucas]

Greetings to all, first post of many to follow on my scratch-built GT40ish project. A GT40 has always been an unatainable dream, even the kit costs have been out of my budget. This all changed when I came across an advertisment for a "66 Ford GT" From the photos and the price I knew it wasn't the real deal, but what really caught my eye was "handmade aluminum body"





I checked the car out and learned it was originally built by an aircraft sheetmetal tech and was indeed handformed aluminum. The roof, cowl and windshield frame are steel and were sourced from a Ford Pinto so that low cost windshields will be readily available. Supposedly it was partially built and driven sometime in the late seventies or early eighties. It had changed hands a few times and the gentleman I purchased it from bought it in '97 with the hopes of rebuilding it some day. Originally it was powered by a small block Olds with the Toronado/Cadillac automatic transaxle.

The chassis is crude at best and unsafe at any speed at worst! The last owner, while well intentioned, removed the aluminum floor and cut away the rear portion of the chassis and rebuilt it with 2" x 2" x 3/16" tube! (adding more than a few pounds in the process):thumbsdown:

The transaxle was included with the body, but as it took four grown men to load it on the trailer, I knew it was never going back in!

My plans are to build an entirely new chassis (possibly using plans posted on this site). Power will be either a 289 or 302 SBF (I have several spares) backed by the Audi 016. The body will be partially rebuilt as the front and rear clips look quite good but the doors are far to flat and dont transition to the front wheel openings well. In addition I will be raising the rocker line and remaking the doors in a more correct GT40 style.

Looking forward to sharing my experiences with you. Many more pictures to follow once progress starts ( I have a 2 more Mustang projects to complete first )

Francis Lucas
Carstairs, Alberta CANADA

 

[Randy V]

Very interesting car Francis. Enjoy the journey!

 

[Terry Oxandale]

Fascinating project Francis. Looking forward to watching the build!

 

[Francis Lucas]

A few pics supplied by the previous owner (PO)

The first shows the aluminum interior work done by the builder. Sadly the PO removed and dicarded it all :cry:

Next photo is the "improvements" made by the PO. 2" x 2" x 3/16"

Next photo shows why I'm starting with a whole new chassis

Last photo is the original builders rear chassis before it was replaced

 

[Randy V]

Rear suspension looks like it may be Chevrolet Corvair?

 

[Dalton Veitch]

This is a great project, Francis. In the pics, the depth and flatness of the doors stands out, and the transition to front wheel arch, but you've scheduled these for work already. The rear chassis is too heavy, and would benefit from a simple, light, triangulated structure. If you are re-doing the chassis, start with the suspension geometry. The locus of wheel movement at each end, plus roll centre heights to give the correct roll axis and weight transfer are vital for performance. Then add in some angling for anti-dive and anti-squat. Get the geometry right, and it will be wonderful. You can bolt in the engine you want, the Audi 016 will handle medium power, and you can fiddle with the spring and damper rates to suit your style of driving. But get that chassis/suspension right.
Keep us posted, and the pics are really appreciated.

 

[Francis Lucas]

Thanks for the encouragement and advice. Although not the lightest or simplistic design, I'm continuing with my "low-cost" junkyard approach.

Since Ford has a bigger budget and better engineering talent than I do, a slightly modified factory set-up is in the works.

Mid '90s Lincoln Mk VIII with aluminum knuckles and lower "H-arms". I've welded in some temporary supports to retain geometry while I modify the cradle to fit the Audi 016. Next I will build some mounts for the transaxle, upper mounts for a set of coil-overs, and a bridge or two either over or under the transaxle. The next challenge will be half-shafts with the right Audi inners and Ford outers.

The width of this unit is 63.25" hub to hub, the current (Corvair?) set-up is 61.25" but I have plenty of room. :happy:

Francis

 

[Jim Craik]

Francis,

Welcome, it looks like you have a great project there. Thanks for sharing.

 

it looks like a lot of work.
I can remember seeing a chassis once that if it was a normal everyday car you would have sold it for scrap and got a dollar or 2 pounds uk as it was then.
After a few years this old project looked a million dollars .
There's an old saying that you can't polish a turd, but you can if you put enough time and money into it.
I'll keep an eye on you project good luck mate

 

[Francis Lucas]

it looks like a lot of work.
There's an old saying that you can't polish a turd, but you can if you put enough time and money into it.
I'll keep an eye on you project good luck mate

"Polishing Turds" is my hobby, Ive been called the patron saint of lost causes!

Modified the cradle, built the shift linkage and transaxle mounts, and a quick shot of paint to preserve it until I'm ready for the rest of the chassis. Next I'll be working on building/modifying my own adapter/flywheel/clutch set-up. I'm sure I can build it for less than the Kennedy set-up and I get more satidsfaction building rather than just using the VISA

Francis

 

[Francis Lucas]

Well not much to update, but I have been gathering up a few bits and pieces from swap meets, Ebay and private deals.

The Audi 016 reinforcement plate was purchased of Ebay from someone just a few hours away. A real surprise as Alberta is not exactly a hotbed for this type of thing.

 

[Francis Lucas]

Well some progress, picked up the clutch/flywheel package from my machinist today. Since the building is as much fun as the driving, rather than buying a kit from KE, I came up with my own design.

Stock Ford flywheel (smallest ever behind a 302)
Audi Turbo 240mm clutch

Francis

 

[Francis Lucas]

Next step is to build the adapter plate. To make this process easier I ordered an un-cut block plate to match the flywheel I'm using and had them only mark the crank centre. I drilled it to match the Audi input diameter then drilled the holes to fit the bellhousing. Now I have a perfect template for the adapter.



Francis

 

[Simon Willis]

Nice project Francis. What does the Audi gearbox reinforcement plate do?

 

[David]

Simon,

See the link in this post
http://www.gt40s.com/forum/gt40-build-logs/35077-gt-forte-gts40-build-6.html#post350091

 

[Terry Oxandale]

... I ordered an un-cut block plate to match the flywheel I'm using and had them only mark the crank centre. ...

Did they share how they positioned the exact crank centerline onto the plate (determining and then transfering)?

 

[Francis Lucas]

Terry, the gentleman I ordered it from (he sells on Ebay) makes them for various years and transmissions. I believe one of the '80s Mustang 5.0 has just a round hole cut for the crank from the factory (I can't remember if it was for the manual or automatic?) Since the bellhousing bolts are the same on all 302/5.0 he used that block plate pattern to reference the crank centre for mine. He sent it to me with it marked with centre punch.

The flywheel I'm using is from a '76-'78 Mustang as it was made smaller than any other small block to fit the tight transmission tunnel on these cars. Plus it already has the correct balance for the stroker crank I'm using. :thumbsup:

Francis

 

[Arn]

Has there been any progress on this project? I'm interested in seeing how it's coming along.