Sponsons length 1610mm, 257mm height, 325mm width. 290mm from top of sponson to roof structure. Rear firewall 16 degrees lean. Coolant pipe tunnel 80mm width, 175mm height. Dont ask me how i know. 😉
For someone who is interested in doing this and doesn’t want read technically dense engineering books , I have never seen videos that are so comprehensive and easy to understand . These are literally invaluable thank you so much
I love the general dimension sketches. The fact that you completed the car is commendable, as just finishing, is a giant accomplishment in the "kit car"/custom car space.
Hi Ben, great videos. I am a few years into a GT40 scratch build. I can agree and sympathise with a lot of what you have said, especially the bit about not stepping on the toes of the existing companies that supply parts. It takes a very long time to collect all the parts. There is so many little bespoke parts that go into these cars. If your trying to make it close to original specifications it takes even longer. Keep up the great work with the Videos. Cheers. Ryan, Melbourne Australia.
You should talk to Leno (or someone connected to him). He would absolutely love what you've accomplished and would love to showcase it on his channel, which would bring more people back your channel for the longer more detailed story.
I have turned 40 this year and for some weird reason sold my Porsche and have been looking at Corvettes. I resist the urge and I’ve been focusing on Factory five kits. But building a GT 40 would be fabulous. Thank you for all your videos
Inspiring stuff! I can’t get enough of your videos. They are very well put together. I had made a GT40 body for myself years ago, while working at a shop with the molds… and your videos pushed me over the edge and started learning cad and drawing the tube chassis out. I’d like to use an LS block since I have one, and some cheap C4 corvette suspension parts, so I want to map it all out to see what sort of problems arise.
This is the best comment! Great to hear you’re building your own and building it the way you want! I need to step up to using an LS engine. I just have so much experience with small block fords that I get lazy and keep coming back to it.
@@benbeames I’m the same way with the LS series. I have 3 of them… I’m dug in and I’ll never change 😁 I know the purists will throw a fit, but I just want something smooth and trouble free to cruise around in. I’m more of a style over function guy, so I tend not to romanticize engines much. I haven’t even seen an LS in a GT40 yet, which was a little surprising. Anyway, thanks for the reply, and keep it up. Any other projects on the horizon or just focusing on what you have built?
@@GarageSpaceship The GT40's used in the making of Ford vs Ferrari had LS engines. So did the 330 P3 Ferrari. The production team asked RCR to make them for them so all the cars had the same trouble free running gear. AS for projects, I have more developing to do on both cars. I'd really like to build a Jaguar D-Type. But I need money and space and I'm short on both.
@@benbeames Awesome, I had no idea those were LS based. I’ll have to try and find some behind the scenes coverage of those cars. I hear you on space and funds. One project alone can be overwhelming at times. A D-type is definitely on my short list. I’ve always fantasized about cruising out in it with a helmet on 😁Though I’d be enjoying your two builds a while before I thought about starting another.
Ben, incredible work and ingenuity!! What a great way to pay homage to one of the great cars to ever compete on the world stage. So cool. Keep posting great content!!
I wanted a body from Bill Hough originally. I emailed him but never heard back. Figured he’d retired from it. Glad to hear he’s still out there doing good work.
This video (and series) are super awesome - thanks for uploading. Great tips as well! I seriously wish more builds had these kind of 'break down' videos with imagery to discuss construction, etc. THIS is FAR superior to anything else I've seen on YT. THANK YOU for putting the time/effort in!!
Love your CAD ("Cardboard Assisted Design") approach ... and in your best interest as being too specific has legal ramifications. Can't wait for your first Track Day with your GT40 next month ... and don't forget to bring along a roll of Aerospace "Speed Tape" if you don't have time to bring your door gaps into spec ... gaps and forward facing mismatch of .005 -.010" cause drag you don't need. Great video.
BAM !!! My favorite YT Channel now... been thinking for a while of building a GT40 Kit Car after several Classic Car Restorations (and Mods). So the Algorithm knew I would like your Channel. LOVE you approach not using Scanners, CAD Computer Bullcrap like several other RUclipsrs (which have help from others behind the Scenes)... just the old fashioned way they did in the day when the car was originally made. Your reverse Engineering is amazing and your learning curve exactly what I discovered multiple times during a car rebuild. Even when "it's done" - you always need to go back to parts of it and fiddle around, improve stuff you didn't make so well. Life long learning... Love your entire Series, cause it's not about showing off on YT like other Creators, it more educational and spiced up with fun, irony and reflecting own imperfections. Would love to meet you in Person and have a chat. btw. Your Son is cute, wish I would have had a dad LIKE YOU !!! Tell him he needs to appreciate this fact more as not everyone is so lucky. btw.2 - Ferraris are crap ! (I owned one) nice, but crap !
Interesting comment about the body dimensions. Back in the early '80s I purchased a replica fiberglass 427SC Cobra kit. The body was supposedly taken off of an original. When I began to assemble it, it drove me crazy because it wasn't square. It was off more than your GT40. Given the originals were hand built using an English wheel, I guess it makes sense. Still, quite a surprise.
Thank you for your videos!! I just bought Racing and Sports Car chassis design and Racing Car design and development. Im excited to dive in and learn. I want to build a 289 slab side cobra and learn metal shaping to build the body. Last Friday i went to the Volo auto museum in Illinois. I didnt know they had a Ford Vs Ferrari exhibit there. That was my first time seeing a gt40 in person and wow they have an awesome presence. Ive already decided to do a build. Definitely cant afford to make it pure but it will be fun making it all work for me. Thanks again for your build videos and your in depth explanations.
In your first four videos, you talked a lot about rivets. I was wondering about bonding (aka aircraft glues). In this video you make a passing reference to bonding. Did you bond/glue your non-GT40's tub as well as rivet it?
I intended to use adhesive on the Lotus but then got cold feet as I figured, being my first attempt I’d probably have to undo large portions of it and redo them having learned some new lesson. But in the end it’s been holding up fine. So on the GT40 I planned to use adhesive but the adhesive I had been recommended was now unavailable and I couldn’t find a suitable replacement with a long working time, resistance to heat and overall strength. So I only bonded stuff around the front subframe where I figured heat wasn’t an issue (as opposed to the engine bay). I definitely recommend using adhesive but the car won’t suddenly explode without it. And sometimes that’s all I can ask.
I love this. Great information! I wonder how stiff an aluminium chassis would be in comparison to steel. The weight difference and riveting instead of welding is appealing. Just wondering how a bolt on front and rear clip system would work?
It won't be as stiff but I would think more of that would come from the design, in my case, not having a structural roof and other detail work. But consider CAN-AM cars. They were simple, and aluminum, and some of them had a decent amount of downforce (for the time). They weren't as rigid, but they were lighter and faster.
I've been thinking of an "open source" car design. The thing that always deterred me from mid engine cars was the lack of a proper transaxle (that wasn't low production, super expensive). In the future I would assume the mid engine Corvette will become the donor car of choice, once the computers are "opened up".
Great advice - buy a kit - even better just buy a car already made - both are FAR easier & probably cheaper that a full home design & build. But there are certain people in life, I think we are both in this sector, who like to do things themselves for the challenge. One of my favourite parts of my ExoBusa (kit car) is the sticker that says "Built Not Bought." When there is a load of petrol heads looking at it, or people taking photos or even little kids pointing & waving I am very proud to say to myself "I built this." Not sure what sticker to have on my PX200 car, if it ever goes.
Can you let us know what adhesive you're using? The adhesive I was recommended years ago isn't available anymore and I haven't found a replacement yet.
@@benbeames im from the Philippines, the best adhesive so far for metal to metal bonding is pioneer, thats whats readily available here. Very hard or impossible to get the special stuff.
3M do a heap of different two part epoxy adhesives that’s most chassis builders use. For the Lola I’m building, I think I’ll use Fusor, which is a two part epoxy that comes in a tube with a mixing nozzle.
There’s a few ways you could do that. The simplest way would probably be to take a couple inches off the inside of each sill/sponson. Then the inside edge of the sill would line up with the inside of the door. The downsides would be loosing some chassis stiffness and having less fuel capacity.
The drivers side edge of the tunnel is located on the vehicle centre line. Both seats are the same width, the extra space on the drivers side is used for the gear shift mechanism which runs down the inside of the sill.
I got different parts from different places. The nose I got on ebay, the roof I got from cushmancompetition.com/GT40.htm, the doors and rear clip I got from a place that was going out of business and the sills and nose insert, I made myself. Roarin' 40's in Australia was willing to sell me just a body, so you might want to look them up.
Tornado's bodies are not the best to start. The English bodies have taken a lot of liberties in a lot of areas such as rear wheel well shape and width to inner paneling. It really depends on what you are looking for. When I had Bill Hough make my body, he even reinforced the front pillars with kevlar to help strengthen the windshields. The issue is getting the Southern chassis to work with an original body as the chassis were made for those English style bodies. it is very frustrating at times.
@@benbeames Spoke with Bill Hough today, he said he was sorry he missed your email. If you need periscopes for rear brakes or the duct for the center of the clam, let him or me know.
Roy Lunn the chief designer from ford on the gt 40 worked with me to design the chassis of my car, the dettling d-1 that is on youtube. This was right after he won lemans. It was funny because he told me he would have liked to have made the gt40 chassis more like the one we designed together. But ford would not let him. So my car is really a continuation of the gt40 in a sense. See the video under dettling car on youtube?
I have the tooling to build my cars for sale if you want to produce a new sports car? The car is very,very easy to produce. Only 7 body panels to the whole car including dashboard!@@benbeames
Sponsons length 1610mm, 257mm height, 325mm width. 290mm from top of sponson to roof structure. Rear firewall 16 degrees lean. Coolant pipe tunnel 80mm width, 175mm height. Dont ask me how i know. 😉
Holy crap!!! This is amazing!!! Thank you!
Thanks!
@@benbeameshola pasa los planos del chasis del Ford porfa soy de México
For someone who is interested in doing this and doesn’t want read technically dense engineering books , I have never seen videos that are so comprehensive and easy to understand . These are literally invaluable thank you so much
And boom, one of my new favorite YT channels.
I love the general dimension sketches. The fact that you completed the car is commendable, as just finishing, is a giant accomplishment in the "kit car"/custom car space.
Hi Ben, great videos. I am a few years into a GT40 scratch build. I can agree and sympathise with a lot of what you have said, especially the bit about not stepping on the toes of the existing companies that supply parts. It takes a very long time to collect all the parts. There is so many little bespoke parts that go into these cars. If your trying to make it close to original specifications it takes even longer. Keep up the great work with the Videos. Cheers. Ryan, Melbourne Australia.
I’m in Bendigo and building a Lola t70 mk3b. Definitely a painful process to get all the right parts!
@Willbeasy2898 good to know. I know of another Lola T70 MK I spyder being built out that way as well.
Hi Ben , you're a excellent story teller and you glued me down for the series , I hope you continue making videos .
The GT40 is my all+time favorite race car closely followed by the Daytona Coupe.
You should talk to Leno (or someone connected to him). He would absolutely love what you've accomplished and would love to showcase it on his channel, which would bring more people back your channel for the longer more detailed story.
I have turned 40 this year and for some weird reason sold my Porsche and have been looking at Corvettes. I resist the urge and I’ve been focusing on Factory five kits. But building a GT 40 would be fabulous. Thank you for all your videos
I had a perfect storm of being 40, Ford v Ferrari coming out and knowing that I might not always have the space to do it so I jumped in. Glad I did!
Tienes para q me pases el plano completo las 14 páginas ?
Thanks for posting this. I’m infatuated with the GT40 idea. As a child I saw two of them at a go karting picnic in Dearborn Michigan
That is so cool!
Excellent seeing how you did it. Looking forward to your suspension setup video.
I watched them all and its one of the best build logs I've seen. You should do one on your lotus too.
Working on it now! Please excuse any "filler" videos that come out while I'm working on it.
Inspiring stuff! I can’t get enough of your videos. They are very well put together. I had made a GT40 body for myself years ago, while working at a shop with the molds… and your videos pushed me over the edge and started learning cad and drawing the tube chassis out. I’d like to use an LS block since I have one, and some cheap C4 corvette suspension parts, so I want to map it all out to see what sort of problems arise.
This is the best comment! Great to hear you’re building your own and building it the way you want! I need to step up to using an LS engine. I just have so much experience with small block fords that I get lazy and keep coming back to it.
@@benbeames I’m the same way with the LS series. I have 3 of them… I’m dug in and I’ll never change 😁 I know the purists will throw a fit, but I just want something smooth and trouble free to cruise around in. I’m more of a style over function guy, so I tend not to romanticize engines much. I haven’t even seen an LS in a GT40 yet, which was a little surprising. Anyway, thanks for the reply, and keep it up. Any other projects on the horizon or just focusing on what you have built?
@@GarageSpaceship The GT40's used in the making of Ford vs Ferrari had LS engines. So did the 330 P3 Ferrari. The production team asked RCR to make them for them so all the cars had the same trouble free running gear. AS for projects, I have more developing to do on both cars. I'd really like to build a Jaguar D-Type. But I need money and space and I'm short on both.
@@benbeames Awesome, I had no idea those were LS based. I’ll have to try and find some behind the scenes coverage of those cars. I hear you on space and funds. One project alone can be overwhelming at times. A D-type is definitely on my short list. I’ve always fantasized about cruising out in it with a helmet on 😁Though I’d be enjoying your two builds a while before I thought about starting another.
Ben, incredible work and ingenuity!! What a great way to pay homage to one of the great cars to ever compete on the world stage. So cool. Keep posting great content!!
Great video mate........you are far too humble, inspiration right here!
Bill Hough makes GT40 bodies from mold taken from original cars. I have one I am putting on my Southern GT chassis out of England.
I wanted a body from Bill Hough originally. I emailed him but never heard back. Figured he’d retired from it. Glad to hear he’s still out there doing good work.
This video (and series) are super awesome - thanks for uploading. Great tips as well!
I seriously wish more builds had these kind of 'break down' videos with imagery to discuss construction, etc. THIS is FAR superior to anything else I've seen on YT.
THANK YOU for putting the time/effort in!!
Thank you for making this video! I’m dreaming about building my own Gt40 and this video is super valuable
Love your CAD ("Cardboard Assisted Design") approach ... and in your best interest as being too specific has legal ramifications. Can't wait for your first Track Day with your GT40 next month ... and don't forget to bring along a roll of Aerospace "Speed Tape" if you don't have time to bring your door gaps into spec ... gaps and forward facing mismatch of .005 -.010" cause drag you don't need. Great video.
That's my "ventilation system"
@@benbeames LOL
BAM !!! My favorite YT Channel now... been thinking for a while of building a GT40 Kit Car after several Classic Car Restorations (and Mods). So the Algorithm knew I would like your Channel.
LOVE you approach not using Scanners, CAD Computer Bullcrap like several other RUclipsrs (which have help from others behind the Scenes)... just the old fashioned way they did in the day when the car was originally made.
Your reverse Engineering is amazing and your learning curve exactly what I discovered multiple times during a car rebuild. Even when "it's done" - you always need to go back to parts of it and fiddle around, improve stuff you didn't make so well.
Life long learning...
Love your entire Series, cause it's not about showing off on YT like other Creators, it more educational and spiced up with fun, irony and reflecting own imperfections. Would love to meet you in Person and have a chat.
btw. Your Son is cute, wish I would have had a dad LIKE YOU !!! Tell him he needs to appreciate this fact more as not everyone is so lucky.
btw.2 - Ferraris are crap ! (I owned one) nice, but crap !
I love these videos Ben. Thank you so much for sharing all of your knowledge and approach.
Interesting comment about the body dimensions. Back in the early '80s I purchased a replica fiberglass 427SC Cobra kit. The body was supposedly taken off of an original. When I began to assemble it, it drove me crazy because it wasn't square. It was off more than your GT40. Given the originals were hand built using an English wheel, I guess it makes sense. Still, quite a surprise.
Glamourous chassis ...... 👍👍😎👍👍
Thank you for your videos!! I just bought Racing and Sports Car chassis design and Racing Car design and development. Im excited to dive in and learn. I want to build a 289 slab side cobra and learn metal shaping to build the body. Last Friday i went to the Volo auto museum in Illinois. I didnt know they had a Ford Vs Ferrari exhibit there. That was my first time seeing a gt40 in person and wow they have an awesome presence. Ive already decided to do a build. Definitely cant afford to make it pure but it will be fun making it all work for me. Thanks again for your build videos and your in depth explanations.
This sounds awesome!
Keep making videos, And definitely keep your sons commentary in the action shots :)
Thanks for the informative video!
In your first four videos, you talked a lot about rivets. I was wondering about bonding (aka aircraft glues). In this video you make a passing reference to bonding. Did you bond/glue your non-GT40's tub as well as rivet it?
I intended to use adhesive on the Lotus but then got cold feet as I figured, being my first attempt I’d probably have to undo large portions of it and redo them having learned some new lesson. But in the end it’s been holding up fine. So on the GT40 I planned to use adhesive but the adhesive I had been recommended was now unavailable and I couldn’t find a suitable replacement with a long working time, resistance to heat and overall strength. So I only bonded stuff around the front subframe where I figured heat wasn’t an issue (as opposed to the engine bay). I definitely recommend using adhesive but the car won’t suddenly explode without it. And sometimes that’s all I can ask.
@@benbeames Yeah, its a race car, after all. Even the chassis is considered a consumable part.
Love your videos mate!
Ben, you’re doing a great job explaining your design and how you’ve made you decisions. Do you bond as well as rivet you monocoque?
Short answer: sometimes. It’s always a good idea. I’ve just been prevent in a few cases by circumstances.
I love this. Great information! I wonder how stiff an aluminium chassis would be in comparison to steel. The weight difference and riveting instead of welding is appealing. Just wondering how a bolt on front and rear clip system would work?
It won't be as stiff but I would think more of that would come from the design, in my case, not having a structural roof and other detail work. But consider CAN-AM cars. They were simple, and aluminum, and some of them had a decent amount of downforce (for the time). They weren't as rigid, but they were lighter and faster.
I've been thinking of an "open source" car design. The thing that always deterred me from mid engine cars was the lack of a proper transaxle (that wasn't low production, super expensive). In the future I would assume the mid engine Corvette will become the donor car of choice, once the computers are "opened up".
That's exactly what I thought when the C8 was announced; FINALY a source for transaxles in the US!
@@benbeames If ONLY they'd do a standard.
Good thoughts on your reasons not to distribute the plans. Makes sense.
We must hear about your front suspension ideas!
Great advice - buy a kit - even better just buy a car already made - both are FAR easier & probably cheaper that a full home design & build. But there are certain people in life, I think we are both in this sector, who like to do things themselves for the challenge.
One of my favourite parts of my ExoBusa (kit car) is the sticker that says "Built Not Bought." When there is a load of petrol heads looking at it, or people taking photos or even little kids pointing & waving I am very proud to say to myself "I built this."
Not sure what sticker to have on my PX200 car, if it ever goes.
No it’s cheaper to do it from scratch. My car cost a quarter the price of a finish car. And was half the price of the average cost of building a kit.
@@benbeames I hope mine comes in that cheap. I think it will have too, or be yet another unfinished project.
Well you explained so I could understand it. Not an engineer or a mechanic. I end up with extra spare parts, go lightness...oh it doesnt work.
Im planning to do the same with my chassis, ill go a little further by bonding the sheet metal to the frame ala lotus, then rivet
Can you let us know what adhesive you're using? The adhesive I was recommended years ago isn't available anymore and I haven't found a replacement yet.
@@benbeames im from the Philippines, the best adhesive so far for metal to metal bonding is pioneer, thats whats readily available here. Very hard or impossible to get the special stuff.
3M do a heap of different two part epoxy adhesives that’s most chassis builders use. For the Lola I’m building, I think I’ll use Fusor, which is a two part epoxy that comes in a tube with a mixing nozzle.
A GT40 is no place for a wind apology, it'll never be accepted, unless you're outside.
Can I purchase a set of new plans
is it possible to widen the car to give in more interior room?
There’s a few ways you could do that. The simplest way would probably be to take a couple inches off the inside of each sill/sponson. Then the inside edge of the sill would line up with the inside of the door. The downsides would be loosing some chassis stiffness and having less fuel capacity.
Ben you’ve got a nack for you tube.
Original cars have the cooling tubes offset from the centre line.
I've long suspected they did. In some pictures it definitely looks offset but in others I wasn't quite sure.
The drivers side edge of the tunnel is located on the vehicle centre line. Both seats are the same width, the extra space on the drivers side is used for the gear shift mechanism which runs down the inside of the sill.
Wise words - don't construct something that already exists for a price/time that you cannot match otherwise you may never finish.
Quien tiene los planos con las medidas, ya que tengo la máquina de soldar la tronzadora y el esmeril y lo puedo hacer..
Where did you get your body?
Do a video on suspension please.
I got different parts from different places. The nose I got on ebay, the roof I got from cushmancompetition.com/GT40.htm, the doors and rear clip I got from a place that was going out of business and the sills and nose insert, I made myself. Roarin' 40's in Australia was willing to sell me just a body, so you might want to look them up.
Tornado's bodies are not the best to start. The English bodies have taken a lot of liberties in a lot of areas such as rear wheel well shape and width to inner paneling. It really depends on what you are looking for. When I had Bill Hough make my body, he even reinforced the front pillars with kevlar to help strengthen the windshields. The issue is getting the Southern chassis to work with an original body as the chassis were made for those English style bodies. it is very frustrating at times.
This!
@@benbeames Spoke with Bill Hough today, he said he was sorry he missed your email. If you need periscopes for rear brakes or the duct for the center of the clam, let him or me know.
Tendras el plano completo
Roy Lunn the chief designer from ford on the gt 40 worked with me to design the chassis of my car, the dettling d-1 that is on youtube. This was right after he won lemans. It was funny because he told me he would have liked to have made the gt40 chassis more like the one we designed together. But ford would not let him. So my car is really a continuation of the gt40 in a sense. See the video under dettling car on youtube?
Wow! I’ve been googling this, it’s an amazing story!
I have the tooling to build my cars for sale if you want to produce a new sports car? The car is very,very easy to produce. Only 7 body panels to the whole car including dashboard!@@benbeames
Thanks but I’m more interested in designing cars than building cars. Also I have no money :)