Ford GT40 MK2 B-spec

[Phildaupho]

I have started preparation of a model I intend to assemble while on a travel trailer trip later this spring. It is the Fujimi Ford GT40 Mk2- B specification #1047 as it was raced at Daytona 1967 by Dan Gurney and AJ Foyt. The B-specification Mk2s varied in a number of ways from earlier MK2s. One significant upgrade was the fitting of a roll cage likely in response to Ken Miles fatal crash in the J-Car. I could not find any good photos of the complete roll cage so this is what I came up with.

NOTE - As Cliff recommends below please check  Revs Institute MkII-B - scroll down to the bottom for a 360 degree view of the interior. You can see the roll bar configuration there.

Looks  like one central bar running from front to rear and another on outboard passenger side.

1966-67 Ford GT40 MK II-B - Revs Institute 

 The roof section of the passenger door was separated and rigidly attached to the roof so there was an additional longitudinal brace above the passenger seat which can also be seen in Revs Institute photos. Here is a photo of Dan Gurney getting in or out of the car.

Edited February 26 by Phildaupho

[250 Testa Rossa]

That's going to be a cool build. 

[Cliff W]

Good start! 

Here is a link to the Revs Institute MkII-B - scroll down to the bottom for a 360 degree view of the interior. I think you can see the roll bar configuration there.

Looks to me like one central bar running from front to rear.

1966-67 Ford GT40 MK II-B - Revs Institute 

You are correct in that the passenger side roof section was permanently attached - here is a picture with the modified door opened. 

Hope this helps!

 

[Phildaupho]

On 2/22/2024 at 2:28 PM, 250 Testa Rossa said:

That's going to be a cool build. 

Thanks Maxx

20 hours ago, Cliff W said:

Good start! 

Here is a link to the Revs Institute MkII-B - scroll down to the bottom for a 360 degree view of the interior. I think you can see the roll bar configuration there.

Looks to me like one central bar running from front to rear.

1966-67 Ford GT40 MK II-B - Revs Institute 

You are correct in that the passenger side roof section was permanently attached - here is a picture with the modified door opened. 

Hope this helps!

 

Thanks Cliff - I had checked the Revs Institute but totally missed the door photo and did not notice you could do a 360 view of the interior. On closer look I think I do detect another longitudinal bar on the outer side of the passenger side. I also notice the passenger seat has been removed and the upholstery is different on the driver's seat. Funny thing is last night I had a closer look at a diecast GT40 MKII I have and lo and behold it has an accurate roll cage but not the other B-series mods. One of my favorite aspects of working on a model representing a real car is discovering its unique details whether or not I decide to incorporate them in my model. This one is going to be a curbside without opening doors so I will not be going all out for accuracy although I did edit my initial post to include this "new" information.

Edited February 26 by Phildaupho

[Phildaupho]

Here you can see some of the other modifications made to this MK2 for the '67  Daytona 24 Hours - smooth rear deck without snorkel scoops or center vent, taller rear spoiler, repositioned fuel filler and fender flares.

[Pierre Rivard]

Looks very promising. True that the research is a big part of the fun.

[Cliff W]

Looks like you're well on your way, Phil.

Now that your pointed it out, I had never noticed the missing passenger seat on the Revs car.  It also lacks the ventilated driver's seat that is so typical of GT40s.  

This car was given to Ford of France and ran several races after Le Mans.  Most likely the second seat wasn't required at those venues and the French drivers preferred a different type seat. The car itself was acquired in a very original condition and has had minimal restoration. 

By the way, you didn't miss anything on the Revs site, the garage shot was my own.  I do have more detail photos, let me know if you need any particular view and I'll check my files.

Keep up the good work!

Cliff 

 

[vamach1]

I’ll be following.  Here is a few pictures I took in December.

[Phildaupho]

3 hours ago, Pierre Rivard said:

Looks very promising. True that the research is a big part of the fun.

Thanks Pierre

1 hour ago, vamach1 said:

I’ll be following.  Here is a few pictures I took in December.

 

Revs Institute MkII-B - scroll down to the bottom for a 360 degree view of the interior. I think you can see the roll bar configuration there.

Looks to me like one central bar running from front to rear.

1966-67 Ford GT40 MK II-B - Revs Institute 

 

Thanks Rex - Great photos. Have made some changes based on looking closer at Revs Institute photos.

[Phildaupho]

Based on information recommended by Rex and Cliff I could not resist making some changes. I believe my roll cage better represents what was in the GT40 MKII B-series cars which also eliminated the passenger seat. The drivers seat featured much simpler upholstery. I also scribed a new passenger door line to simulate the fixed roof section.

[Cliff W]

Looks Great!

I don't know what you're using for resources on this car but there are ton of period photos here -

The Dave Friedman collection at The Henry Ford Museum.

www.flickr.com/photos/thehenryford/collections/72157628488413505/  

It's organized by year and event but not internally so you'll have to scroll through all the photos to find anything useful.

Be careful!  You could spend hours on this site!!

I found these of your car at Daytona (Screen shots from my phone)

 

 

Looks like raw aluminum for the back panel - definitely no passenger seat.

Cliff 

p.s.  I hope you don't mind my jumping in again.  This is the sort of thing that I love to dig into!

[Phildaupho]

1 hour ago, Cliff W said:

Looks Great!

I don't know what you're using for resources on this car but there are ton of period photos here -

The Dave Friedman collection at The Henry Ford Museum.

www.flickr.com/photos/thehenryford/collections/72157628488413505/  

It's organized by year and event but not internally so you'll have to scroll through all the photos to find anything useful.

Be careful!  You could spend hours on this site!!

I found these of your car at Daytona (Screen shots from my phone)

 

 

Looks like raw aluminum for the back panel - definitely no passenger seat.

Cliff 

p.s.  I hope you don't mind my jumping in again.  This is the sort of thing that I love to dig into!

Thanks again Cliff - I really appreciate any new information. I did notice the lighter shade of the rear bulkhead. You are probably correct that it is bare aluminum. 

[Gramps46]

I want to join the fun.  Olde AJ getting a little sideways dirt track style.

The red pipes are novel as is the Mercury label on the sills.

Gramps

Edited February 27 by Gramps46

[Phildaupho]

On 2/26/2024 at 10:44 AM, Cliff W said:

 

Thanks Cliff - Once I see it, I cannot unsee it. I really like this photo of Foyt in the car which clearly shows the aluminum rear bulkhead. This will likely be my last revision of the interior although I might brighten up the aluminum.

I thoroughly enjoyed looking at Friedman’s ’67 Daytona portfolio. I am very familiar with Friedman’s photography as I have a number of his books but this portfolio is the mother load for the ’67 Daytona race. I especially liked seeing all the Trans-Am cars as I have an on going project of building as many of the body styles I can that competed in that series from ’66 to ’71. So far I have built 4 so have a long way to go. The portfolio also got me thinking of the significance of 1967 in racing in general, in my interest in cars and racing and in the career of Dan Gurney. The Ferrari 1-2-3 finish at the ’67 Daytona race is the reason the 365GTB/4 became known as the Daytona. 1967 was the year I graduated from high school and started university. As a school project I wrote essay on the history of Grand Prix racing. As a fund raiser for our graduation events my buddies and I put on a time/distance car rally. During the summer of ’67 I attended a United States Road Racing Championship race at Pacific Raceways Kent Washington where I saw the Penske Lola and Camaro race against many of the cars similar to the Daytona entry list. Later that summer I went to the very first Canadian Grand Prix at Mosport where the competitiveness of the Ford-Cosworth DFV was so apparent. At university I joined the sports car club and even my parents had cool cars – a ’67 Mustang and a ’67 Peugeot 204 Coupe.

1967 was also an incredible year in the racing career of Dan Gurney my all time favorite driver and one of the reasons I wanted to build this GT40. This will be the seventh Dan Gurney related car I have built a model of. During that year Dan competed in F1, Indycar, Sports Cars, Trans-Am, CanAm and NASCAR. It was one of the only years in the 1960’s he did win the Riverside 500 NASCAR race but he won in all the other categories in which he competed in ’67 except CanAm. He won two F-1 races in his Gurney-Weslake V-12 – the Belgium GP and the non-points Race of Champions at Brands Hatch. And of course he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans where he celebrated the victory with and started the tradition of spraying champagne. In the spring he won the Trans-Am race in Texas driving a Cougar. His last win of the year was the Rexs Mays 300 Indycar race at Riverside driving his Eagle Gurney-Weslake Ford V-8.

[Phildaupho]

6 hours ago, Gramps46 said:

I want to join the fun.  Olde AJ getting a little sideways dirt track style.

 

The red pipes are novel as is the Mercury label on the sills.

Gramps

Thanks Gary for the photos. Interesting that the tow hooks in the top photo are black and in the next photo they are red. Different race I guess. I had seen and really liked the photo with the red exhaust and no luggage boxes. I have done the same with the model. Although the GT40 MK2's raced at the '67 Daytona with the luggage boxes for most of their time at Daytona the boxes were removed due to all the problems with the transmission. Although this model will essentially be a curbside without an opening engine compartment I am going to install a dual quad 427 from a Cobra kit so the view through the rear window and engine cover is more realistic.

[Cliff W]

Hi Phil 

I’m glad you’ve found Friedman’s photos useful.  It is a treasure trove of information from that era. It’s also quite easy to get lost in!!

I wouldn’t jump too hard on the aluminum bulkhead yet. After looking at the picture in your first post it could be plain white. Certainly a light color but maybe not raw metal.  

What ever way you go I look forward to your final results!

Best to you, 

Cliff

 

[Bainford]

Great project, and nice attention to the bespoke details.

On 2/22/2024 at 4:14 PM, Phildaupho said:

The roof section of the passenger door was separated and rigidly attached to the roof so there was an additional longitudinal brace above the passenger seat which can also be seen in Revs Institute photos.

Very interesting. I've been a GT-40 fan my entire life, and I never knew this.

[Randy D]

I too am learning things about the GT40 that I never knew.

Roll bar looks spot on!

Randy

[Phildaupho]

3 hours ago, Randy D said:

I too am learning things about the GT40 that I never knew.

Roll bar looks spot on!

Randy

Thanks Randy. Much appreciated.

[Force]

Interesting build.
On the Mk IIB version they also moved the dry sump oil tank to the back behind the driver, they used dual Holley's on top of the 427 and the spare tire was also moved to the back beside the gearbox and exhaust pipes showing through the rear grille on the left side viewing from behind, and only one bagage box on the other side.

[Phildaupho]

Thanks Hakan for your input - From what I have been able to learn it seems that the B-spec cars had two luggage boxes for the Daytona race but replaced one with the spare tire for Le Mans similar to the MKIV. Previously the GT40's had the spare mounted under the forward body work.

Here are a couple of photos from the Revs Institute showing what you mention.

[Force]

I have saved the same pictures in my files for future references.
You can see the dry sump oil tank to the right in the first picture, on the earlier Mk II spec car the oil tank was in front of the driver under the front hood and the spare tire in front of it.