RMC #36 420R in PA

[Legs]

Nearly two years have passed and it's finally here! Very much looking forward to the build process. Josh at RMC is amazing!

 

Options added to the base 420R:

4-piston calipers

Battery cutoff

Trackday rollbar

Sidescreen armrests

Carbon seats

Sequential shift lights

Lowered floor

620 nosecone

620 carbon dash (I love those toggles!)

 

 

[slowdude]

This is gonna be a riot. Love the spec and the 620 dash on that fits perfect. Its chefs kiss perfect. 🤌🤌

[captain pabst]

Oh man that color! looks great. Hope to meetup at some point

 

[Timberline]

I really like the mint color! I've got mint stripes on mine

[JohnCh]

@Legs, how is your build progressing?

[Legs]

I've been slow to provide any updates, sorry. But thank you for prompting me to do so!! First couple weeks were busy (wrong kind) with work and covid knocking both of us out, but had a productive past two weekends! First one was all about preparation; bubble wrap and cardboard the body, pool noodles / oil hose cover the cross bars, spraying some dinitrol around the grot traps in the engine bay, confirming components, etc. 

 

This past weekend, we got the gearbox mated to the engine on Saturday along with engine install prep - removing the alternator, starter, serpentine belt, plenum, clearing the engine mount threads, taping wires down, and then protecting the cam headers. Everything takes longer than it will in my head hahaa.

 

Sunday was engine install day! Ultimately it went very smoothly - the hours of researching other blogs and planning paid off. From my friend arriving with his hoist to wrenches down was 4 hours including coffee and lunch breaks! And despite him thinking we would be installing and removing 3 times, we never had to raise the hoist more than a few mill. The only unexpected thing to work around was the gearbox mount holes simply would not align enough for the 4 mount to chassis bolts to seat, so that requires a tiny bit of filing. So all in all, I think it was very good.

 

Big thanks to Josh at RMC for alleviating any and all of my worries about, well everything. You can read about the extremely tight fit of the gearbox over and over, but man, experiencing it is another thing. We managed to only scrape 2 small portions of the reflective insulation, which was an easy, and anticipated, patch job for some aluminum tape I bought ahead of time for just the task.

 

Last night I got the starter and alternator back on, so next up is front suspension! I wish the kit was delivered a few months ago when I was on a planned sabbatical, as my new job started up and thus takes some priority, but I'm still making time to keep the wrenches turning!

[JohnCh]

Glad to hear you're making progress.  And yes, Josh is extremely helpful and knowledgeable.  Definitely one of the good guys.  

[captain pabst]

Looks good keep up the updates.

[Legs]

Front suspension, yea surely I can get the upper and lower wishbones on in a couple hours.

 

Starting with the lower, only 4 bolts, easy! Well 3.5 hours later, the lower wishbones are on. Torqued up, then untorqued, then torqued, aaand untorqued again. I couldn't get them to sit level when torqued as some blogs suggest as it is a not so easy task to tighten them up when on wheels, but I'll follow the manual on this one and figure it out when it comes time to drop it down. 

 

I had a good time getting the last washer in, as seems to be the norm. The holes were 1-2mm off on the LHS, so that took some figuring out, but the threads eventually pulled right on through.

 

I think I've to instill a personal rule: however long I think a task will take, multiply it by 3, and that's how long it will take. Time for a beer.

Edited October 14 by Legs

[Timberline]

Of the whole build so far, the front suspension is the step I am least satisfied with. I can't believe it's the first step in the build manual. The wishbone installation in particular was so difficult and took many sessions to complete. Every bolt was a challenge to install. So keep persevering. The future challenges are much more rewarding to work through.

 

Something I discovered after the fact that made my chassis even more challenging. For the top bolt of the dampener, you need to push the skin out of the way. My skin rides the chassis there (manufacturing flaw) and has no travel inside. I had to push the skin outwards. Literal blood, sweat, and tears later, I got that bolt in. Now that I know this is a flaw, I should have trimmed the skin or frame a little to eliminate the riding clash and popped the skin inwards as designed.

[Legs]

Thank you for the input, @Timberline! I've only just managed to get the upper wishbones on, but I will have your words in my head when the time comes for the dampers. My old man came down from New England for a visit and we were able to do it together, which was a special moment. He had a large part of this whole project in telling me at a young age that sometime, we'd buy an old car and fix it up. Something I've learned his father told him too and never happened haha. Our time has come and gone for that, but my desire to do so never dwindled. When I told my wife that a few years ago, she persisted in making it happen in one form or another, and he we are! It was a good weekend despite having to break out the file to get the bolts to fit through the holes, the hammer to pry the headlight clip open more to align the bolt holes, and scavenging to locate the appropriate unlabeled upper wishbone bolt sleeves. It's about par for the course :-)