Here we go again! Zuffenhaus MS RSR project...

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Thanks Keith, I have a some left from parting out cars but would be nice to have correct stock available. With the bubble we're in, I have to believe that there's a secret society parts horde somewhere.

[eimkeith]

I think that's likely; little hordes here and there.


keith.

(sent from my rotary dial phone.)

[Luccia at Pelican Parts]

This is great! Would love to highlight this build on our social media outlets. When do you think the project will be finished?

[eimkeith]

that would be fantastic, and appreciated.

looking to complete before the end of the year.

[Luccia at Pelican Parts]

Great! I will keep an eye out for updates here.

[eimkeith]

Working on the trunk latch panel/oil cooler duct today.

The previous iteration of the build was to use a fiberglass 'backdate' hood: a long hood skin on short hood support structure, so as to work with the G chassis front latch panel.

Since the trunk compartment is now a significant detail area for build authenticity, the latch panel must change.

After cutting away the old stuff, jigging on the Celette allows for some straightening, leveling, and correcting of the front of the car



^ In this photo you can see where I've removed the upper G Chassis reinforcements that run roughly horizontal from the strut towers to the front of the car, as these were not found on the long hood cars. (lots of spot weld drill work) You can also see the vacuum-assist delete panel I've cut-in on the bulkhead in front of the driver. Aside from the contours of the vacuum booster sheetmetal being a glaring distraction when trying to pay homage to the original car, the twin RSR MFI fuel pumps must be mounted here - a major visual component of the RSR trunk.

You can also see where I'm cutting in for battery boxes, which will be deleted with blockoff plates per the Mary Stuart RSR.

(In the photo below you can see where I need to finish the upper decking work above the engine rooms - my usual weekend work)



That's enough for Saturday!


keith.

(sent from my rotary dial phone.)

[eimkeith]

Back on the oil cooler ducting today.

This is what we're after (2.8RSR photo from Armando's site):



The cooler duct is lower and wider than our first iteration for this car, and ours was offset to accommodate the battery in the stock location.

The Mary Stuart RSR used the smugglers box for the battery, and ran the oil lines through the trunk compartment as shown above in the 2.8. We need to reproduce that for our trunk also.



^This is where I started this morning. You can see that we previously frenched the oil lines through the corner of the front of the trunk to clear the tight contours of the early RSR bumper. That has to be removed & repaired along with the existing duct to better reproduce the MS trunk.

So everything comes back out.





I did some corner repair (harvested the corner from the donor car, cut it in, and welded it in place - it will need some rust amendment and final trimming just before the duct goes in) and took some measurements for width at rear, centerline, and height and width where the duct crosses the vertical plane created by the trunk sides and my jigging.

I made a quick trip upstairs to the office and sketched up my duct to get dimensions for making a template.



Now that I've worked my way to a clear plan for the duct, I think that's enough for Sunday.




keith.

(sent from my rotary dial phone.)

[eimkeith]

Bent this thing up this morning. Going bigger to give us room to work with on cooler sizing/hose routing.


keith.

(sent from my rotary dial phone.)

[eimkeith]

Oil cooler duct wasn't particularly cooperative; got that thing cut in, positioned, and tacked this afternoon:



Before anything on the front end is finished welded, the hood will be aligned and gapped to double check everything.

We're using a reproduction fiberglass hood with balsa strips, reminiscent of the old Porsche motorsport part. Since I'll be cutting holes in it, I'd be hesitant to use an original hood on this project, even if one were available. This reproduction is probably significantly thicker and heavier than the original, but it should maintain its shape better at speed, and is still a remarkable weight savings over a metal hood!
(I'll weigh it when it is removed.)





Hood adjustment first thing in the morning.



keith.

(sent from my rotary dial phone.)

[jm993rs]

This thread is one big dream !!

[eimkeith]

Thanks!

Setting some panel heights and gaps this morning before anything gets welded.





It's a process with an aftermarket hood; were also using aftermarket fenders, and while the passenger side is pretty good, the drivers' side is a bit shape-challenged.

I'm working toward setting all of the panels before trimming the hood for correct gap.

I'll also be removing the front latch panel bumper seal plate and reattaching it to make it level. :/


keith.

(sent from my rotary dial phone.)

[scootermcrad]

Looking good!

What aftermarket hood is that (if you don't mind sharing)? Interested to see what cooler you use and how you set it up in that duct, as well.

I need to do all of these very same things on my '70... front pan, tank support, front latch panel, cooler duct, fenders, hood, everything! Some great inspiration on even just this page!

[eimkeith]

The hood is Getty (who we recommend if you have to have fiberglass.)

Just finished wrangling the drivers fender and door hinges to get the gaps within factory specification and the 911 contours back in shape where the door/cowl/hood and fender blend into each other.



Back to the front.


keith.

(sent from my rotary dial phone.)

[eimkeith]

Hood roughed in.












Back on oil duct tomorrow.


keith.

(sent from my rotary dial phone.)

[eimkeith]

Still gapping and setting panels this morning; chasing millimeters.

Took a break and made these to speed it up (I was getting too granular with the calipers):



More later.


keith.

(sent from my rotary dial phone.)

[eimkeith]

Remember when I said the driver's side aftermarket fender was shape-challenged? It is set and gapped, needs some additional attention to properly follow the hood contour at the seal edge, but at least the horn grille and turn signal mount is correctly formed.

Unlike the passenger fender.



Off day at the body part factory I guess? I'll be cutting the divider loose and resetting all that stuff tomorrow, along with cutting off the hood seal tab and leveling that.

I've got to get the fenders finalized before I can final trim the hood, have to finalize the hood before I make the front end stuff permanent. Then I can pull all this stuff of and get back to chassis fab.


keith.

(sent from my rotary dial phone.)

[eimkeith]

Quick update for today; worked on the horizontal mounting flanges of fenders today to get them lower in relation to the front bumper seal, then removed the seal flange and reattached it level to the frame jig and fenders.

Started upper oil cooler duct/cooler mounting recess (this deviates from the authentic RSR, but we prefer to pocket the coolers in a bit for bump protection)

Not much to see, but here's where I'm stopping for the evening:





And here is how the hood seal fits after adjusting the seal mounting flange:








keith.

(sent from my rotary dial phone.)

[Crown]

Thanks for the updates Keith! I'm following this thread with great interest from the beginning and you seem to amaze me with almost every update.

[eimkeith]

Thanks! I appreciate the feedback.

Made progress on the oil cooler duct (oil cooler mount recess part) today; had to dust off the panel welder and give it some exercise:



Then I called it a day and went to a local cruise-in. (There were about 5 euro cars in sea of muscle).





keith.

(sent from my rotary dial phone.)

[eimkeith]

Making some progress on the duct this morning.




keith.

(sent from my rotary dial phone.)