The original GT40 had a front frame made of square tubing that extended from the body tub. The RCR kit comes with three aluminum sheets instead. It is functional but doesn’t evenly closely resemble the original cars. A little design magic and we have a frame to replicate the originals.
The 3D model below shows what I ended up with. (You can drag the image around and zoom to get different views) I owe a big thank you to those that posted to the GT40s site and the late Tom Schwab (Elgitom). It was his posts and ideas that set me on this path.
This front frame mod set the stage for the next step, a pivoting front clip. Original GT40’s had a lift-off clip. It has become common practice in the replica builds, to convert this to a pivot. As I progressed with the changes necessary to accommodate this, I learned the inner panel, passenger side of the clip had been incorrectly positioned when the clip was manufactured. Fortunately, being fiberglass, it was relatively easy to correct, just a pain in the ass that it had to be done.
With the clip pivot, I added a couple gas struts to counterbalane the clip to allow it to be raised and lowered easily. They also limit the forward motion to keep the nose off the ground when tilted forward.
