Getting ready to rumble

[deathrull]

I am getting ready to purchase a complete kit roadster and am looking for some advice. I have been building this in my head for years and would like to start off right. It will be a 351w based power plant with ez fast efi with a tko 600 and 3 link suspension. Shooting for around 450ish HP. I will be driving it a lot and it will see some spirited HPDE at various tracks. So here goes:

1- are the low back racing seats comfortable enough for road trips? Having that extra support is awesome.
2-what questions would be good to ask when setting up order to avoid pitfalls down the road?
3-regular power steering set up issues over electric power steering issues? Pros/cons
4-brake upgrade pros/cons (I currently plan on staying with manual brakes) from reading they sound adequate if setup properly? But do I need to go bigger?
5-any tools that you thought saved you a lot of hassle? I do all my own repairs so have a pretty complete tool kit (except body work that will be starting from scratch) i also have air compressor and some air tools.
6-any other advice? once started I hope to finish in about 6 months minus the paint job and body work as that seems to be an entire build by itself from reading here on the forums.

More to follow I'm sure
Thanks in advance

[edwardb]

Welcome to the madness! Sounds like a good combination you're planning. There aren't right answers to your questions, only opinions. I'll give you my responses, based on experience with two builds:

1. If you're referring to the standard Roadster seats supplied by FF, I actually find them pretty comfortable. Size matters though. I am completely average height and weight. Taller, heavier, whatever makes a difference. I don't think I would drive cross country in the car, but it wouldn't be the seats that would limit me. Longest drive I've done at one time was 200 miles. Seat comfort wasn't an issue. Guys change to different seats for lots of reasons, including more comfort, more safety, more room (in some cases).

2. With a complete kit, engine choice, and 3-link option most everything is set for you. You will have a decision to make about the rear axle (FFR supplied or otherwise), wheel size (15 or 17), and exhaust setup (4-into-4's, J-pipes, cats, etc.). Those are the main ones that come to mind.

3. Electric power steering can be added pretty easily to an already completed car, draws a little less power away from the engine, and gives you PS even when the engine is off. Not overwhelming advantages for a new build, and engine driven will be more economical. Can be a bit challenging getting the front dress right and fitting into the engine bay, e.g. not interfering with the steering column.

4. With a complete kit, they supply the Wilwood pedal box. I would pop for the Wilwood brake upgrade. They are manual and will give you excellent braking with good adjustability. These cars need a lot of rear braking, and some don't think the FFR supplied Wilwood rear brake is big enough. Although I'm using it for my Mk4 build. Gordon Levy sells a bigger setup.

5. Get a decent air driven pop rivet gun. Did my first build without one, and my second build with one. Guess which one I found a lot better/easier?

6. I can think of several things. (1) Make sure you know about titling/licensing/inspection requirements for your state up front. It could make a difference in your build plan. (2) Header and side pipe alignment seems to be an occasional issue with all engines, but from what I've seen, the 351 based builds more than others. Do a search, and you will see what I mean. Won't comment any more because I don't know what exhaust setup you're planning. (3) Think about a hydraulic clutch setup. The Wilwood box is made for it, and it's just a better all around setup. The FFR mod to a cable driven setup is a question for some. (4) Have a plan and try to stick to it. (5) It's mandatory that you share your build and experience.

HTH!

[68GT500MAN]

I have the FFR supplied seats in my roadster and they work great for me. I have been on several 200 - 400 mile road trips with-out any problems (remember you WILL be stopping for fuel about every 150 miles depending on your right foot). Get the biggest brakes your pocket book will allow if you plan to take the car on a track.
Doug

[MPTech]

Have you found a local Cobra club? (I can highly recommend you join it, they are a GREAT source of reference and help!)
Have you seen one during the build? another helpful reference

other than that, looks like you have a good plan (I'll share mine, I'm very happy with my results so for, and great input from the forum)
MPTech Build Plan (http://www.ffcars.com/forums/17-factory-five-roadsters/264052-mptech-build-plan-revision-9-counting.html)

yep, lots of decisions and you will probably change your mind a couple times as you go.

I recommend the Speedhut Gauges (I love mine, especially the GPS speedo) :cool:
If you want to customize your gauge layout, FFR substituted a blank dash for the pre-cut one that comes with it.

[Desert Cobra]

My two cents worth are: FFR seats are fine for average build drivers. You must get the adjustable rails for the drivers seat. For HPDE (depending on track) you may need a high-back seat, arm restraints, battery cut off , etc. Check you groups tech inspection list. I would go with hydraulic clutch, no power steering, power brakes, bigger rear brakes than FFRs. As to body work, I tried for a month or more and gave it up to a professional who did it in a week. The paint is the ONLY thing people see. Spend the money on paint.

[CraigS]

Since you mentioned HPDE, the only way to go is the FFR/ Kirkey roadrace seats. Just do it. You will find they are much more comfortable than you expect. If you are a big guy get the 17 inch (I 'think' that is the widest that fits). The good thing is these can be bent. It takes some work, but they can be made wider or narrower within reason. Also plan on two rollbars and two kirkeys so you can have an instructor ride w/ you.
Either PS will work. But getting the hydraulic set up well usually means a GM pump like Breeze sells and a cooler and these get it a lot closer to Freddies electric PS price wise.
Brakes by Wilwood will be great. But since you are going solid axle, talk very carefully to levy about axle end play and his wildwood rear brakes. One advantage to stock type floating calipers is they deal well w/ axle movement. See Nice Guy Eddie on the other forum.
BTW, welcome to a ton of fun!

[Boz1911]

"5. Get a decent air driven pop rivet gun. Did my first build without one, and my second build with one. Guess which one I found a lot better/easier?"

Been wondering about that, thanks.

For me air powered drills are great, they're light and easier to use for the gazillion holes that need to be drilled. Also my new angle air drill is the bomb.

[deathrull]

Wow thanks for all the great feedback. The kirkey race seats are the ones I was gonna get just didn't know which, high back with head restraint or low back. Definitely gonna get both roll bars. Air tools on list for sure. Any reliability issues with the electric power steering units that has been noticed? 17 inch wheels for this one. Bigger brakes on list. And now more thinking and researching:) I hadn't thought about hydraulic clutch. Gonna be fun.

[CHOTIS BILL]

With hydraulic clutches there are two basic setups. One uses an annular slave cylinder inside the bell housing and they work great and would be my choice except there are a lot of reports of them starting to leak after a fairly short time and are a pain to fix. The other uses a slave cylinder mounted outside the bell housing and has a pushrod / pullrod moving the standard clutch fork. These are rebuildable without much trouble. Mike Forte has a kit that is a bolt on.

One cool thing about an air drill is they get colder the more you use it not hotter and they usually spin faster also so they drill faster.

Bill

[edwardb]

Any reliability issues with the electric power steering units that has been noticed?

The electric power steering kit that most use, including me for my Mk4 build, is from Fast Freddie. It uses a Denso electric pump that was originally designed for the Toyota MR2. It's a very high quality unit, and I've personally seen zero reports of any issues with it. Some have reported that it's noisy. To me it sounds like a slightly loud fuel pump, and is completely hidden once the car is running. It does draw some current, so make sure you have a decent capacity alternator.

[deathrull]

3link vs IRS setup? I have gone back and forth on this but decided 3 link in end because it was a track proven setup and what they use in the challenge cars. Is there an advantage to the IRS that I have missed other than comfort? I have the 04 Cobra bumped to about 550HP and have tracked it multiple times with no issues but always worry about breaking a halfshaft because that is the Achilles heel. Most of the posts I have found based the decision on comfort over performance.