My Version of a Van Diemen RF83

[Rene Gimenez]

Took me a year and a half from hauling an ex-autocross car from San Diego and creating what you see here. It's a Van Diemen RF83 chassis with one of Gordy Good's Brabham BT-21 bodies. The chassis had been hacked around the dash panel to fit a larger driver, so the decision was made to re-contour the forward roll hoop to match the contours of the body. Always wanted a '60's era formula racer with front rocker suspension. Several Apexers to thank-

Roland Johnson - for a great deal on the car!
Gordy Good - for selling me his last (at the time) brabham body and advice on how to mount it
Todd Strong- That is a Titan Mk 6 radiator!!
Keith Kimberly - Engine
Neil Roberts - the amazing folding trailer
Avik Avesian - Initial alignment a well as making important detail improvements over the initial build

Now the fun begins - the shake down and sorting process!!

[pooch776]

Lovely. What an improvement over the original RF83 bodywork.

Joe

[t walgamuth]

One thing I always wondered about with this era car is does the air exit the radiator directly onto the driver or is there some sort of bulkhead to divert the air out ?

Nice looking car!

[alangbaker]

That looks awesome!

And what is the trailer?

[Jim Nash]

That is sharp! Good work.

Jim

[jrh3]

That is sharp! Good work.

Jim

You should post a picture of what you started with. A remarkable transformation!

[E1pix]

That is just flat-out Awesome!

I hope you get lucky enough to find a real, live sign painter to complete the period-correct concept.

What a beautiful car!

[Rene Gimenez]

That looks awesome!

And what is the trailer?

I purchased the trailer from Neil Roberts. It folds up and fits in the garage, so there are no worries about storage. I believe there was some discussion about this trailer several years ago. It tows really well, and my SUV is actually wider than the trailer itself.

[Rene Gimenez]

You should post a picture of what you started with. A remarkable transformation!

This was the car's condition the day I brought it home. Despite all the dust, it was a complete and solid car and the bare chassis was as straight as a pin. According to Roland, it was an autocross car for some time in San Diego.

[alangbaker]

I purchased the trailer from Neil Roberts. It folds up and fits in the garage, so there are no worries about storage. I believe there was some discussion about this trailer several years ago. It tows really well, and my SUV is actually wider than the trailer itself.

I THOUGHT that might be it!

[Brian Graham]

Best looking RF83 I have seen! Great job.

Brian

[jtaphorn]

Rene, Beautiful work and result!

I assume the car will be raced again. I am curious which racing association it will qualify. Vintage generally wants period correct and it will struggle against a modern series.

[Marty Nygard]

This was the car's condition the day I brought it home. Despite all the dust, it was a complete and solid car and the bare chassis was as straight as a pin. According to Roland, it was an autocross car for some time in San Diego.

Glad to see you corrected the roll bar.
Nice looking car.
M

[jrh3]

Rene, it’s getting time to do the cooling on my conversion.
Any suggestions for a source of the Titan 6 radiator?
thanks

FWIW, I have a RF 81 and RF82. The 81 I have gone through, the 82 is getting the rebody and engine refresh, just to have something different. Not looking for podiums or trophies. I’m and old guy well past my prime who likes to run and work on the cars.
Back to the task at hand, a radiator?

[EricP]

Rene, Beautiful work and result!

I assume the car will be raced again. I am curious which racing association it will qualify. Vintage generally wants period correct and it will struggle against a modern series.

In most vintage groups, my experience suggests it’ll have to run as an RF83 in PCF but it’ll be allowed to run. Maybe not super competitive in PCF but It’ll be fine. And fun. And very cool looking.

In SCCA… I assume FF. Again, maybe not at the pointy end but if it checks the safety boxes, I’d think it can run.

I want to do the same thing…

[Garey Guzman]

....

I want to do the same thing…

Or, you could just buy a Vintage FF! Just throwing that out there as a possibility....

[EricP]

Or, you could just buy a Vintage FF! Just throwing that out there as a possibility....

My wife prefers the somewhat safer later models… I just like the classic cigar bodies…

[Rene Gimenez]

One thing I always wondered about with this era car is does the air exit the radiator directly onto the driver or is there some sort of bulkhead to divert the air out ?

Nice looking car!

Thank you- There is a bulkhead right before the pedal box. Air exits through openings on either side of the nose before the suspension.

[Rene Gimenez]

[QUOTE=jtaphorn;640270]Rene, Beautiful work and result!

I assume the car will be raced again. I am curious which racing association it will qualify. Vintage generally wants period correct and it will struggle against a modern series.[/QUOTE


Thank you. I've raced it in FFN with VARA. It is classified as PCF with SVRA.

[Rene Gimenez]

Rene, it’s getting time to do the cooling on my conversion.
Any suggestions for a source of the Titan 6 radiator?
thanks

FWIW, I have a RF 81 and RF82. The 81 I have gone through, the 82 is getting the rebody and engine refresh, just to have something different. Not looking for podiums or trophies. I’m and old guy well past my prime who likes to run and work on the cars.
Back to the task at hand, a radiator?

I'm so sorry for being so late with this response, I don't remember if we PM'ed on this previously. Fontana Radiator Service built the radiator. (909)822-8737 / Jeff. I gave him an original Titan radiator and he made an aluminum copy.

[Rene Gimenez]

Or, you could just buy a Vintage FF! Just throwing that out there as a possibility....

Hi Garey- Buying a vintage FF was the original plan, but I was also aware of Gordy Good's Brabham BT21 bodies. Roland Johnson mentioned that he had an RF83 available, so I kinda put 2 and 2 together. What sold me was the RF83's frame was as straight as a pin, so we had a good starting point. I knew it was going to come together nicely the very first time we placed the body on the chassis- everything fit so well it was eerie. The front roll hoop was redone to match the contour of the body and the forward facing roll bar supports were restored to their original location, but those were the only modifications to the frame. I knew that the car would be classified with FFN/PCF, but it didn't matter. This is the 7th FF1600 I've owned and the 9th I've raced, but its the very first one where the end result was exactly what I envisioned from the start. It sounds silly to say, but this "Van Brabham" takes me back to that 7 year old kid watching the movie "Grand Prix" on TV back in 1968.

[jrh3]

I'm so sorry for being so late with this response, I don't remember if we PM'ed on this previously. Fontana Radiator Service built the radiator. (909)822-8737 / Jeff. I gave him an original Titan radiator and he made an aluminum copy.

Thank you, certainly appreciate the help

[t walgamuth]

I love the trailer. I have thought about such a design but never got as far as sketching it out.