My Daytona Coupe Build... Ten Years in the Making

[Carlos C]

And so the project finally begins:

I discovered Factory Five in 2003. I met Dave Smith in 2004, and since then, I've been pestering him to finish, and later to revive the Spyder GT. That was the kit I really wanted to build. Obviously, that never happened. Since then, due to my military career and all the deployments, I was never able to find the right time to build an FFR kit. Finally late last year, after I put in my retirement letter, I found myself with the opportunity I've been patiently waiting for 10 years. Although not the kit I planned to order, the Coupe is the only one that FFR offers, which will accommodate my drivetrain. I ordered the Coupe in late December, and it's ready for pick-up. I'll be traveling up to MA on the first week of April to bring it home. In the meantime, I've started to take apart my donor, with a teary eye, as I've owned this car for over 15 years.

The Donor:

1988 Mustang 5.0 LX, which I bought in stock form in 1998, and converted it to a 10-second, 1/4-mile track car. 358ci supercharged Windsor, Dodge Viper-spec T-56, electromagnetic differential with 31-spline axles and 3.73:1 gears; 5-lug and rear brake disc conversion; tubular k-member and front lower A-arms; fully adjustable coil-over front suspension with camber/caster plates; fully adjustable custom 4-link rear suspension; 8-point roll cage; sub-frame connectors; Aeromotive A-1 fuel pump, 50-lb injectors with mass-air conversion and TwEECer piggy-back chip, etc. Dyno'ed at 603hp and 650lb/ft torque at the rear wheels, with 13lbs of boost and 93 octane.

Coupe Plans:

The exterior will remain basically stock and mostly faithful to the original (then again, FFR's Coupe body is not an exact replica). The interior will be custom, with full carpet, the Spyder GT dashboard (partial victory), hidden stereo and sound system, A/C, heat, (most likely) custom seats, and a custom full center console. Other items I'm considering are: 3-point retractable seat belts and power windows. Three color choices I'm considering: Midnight Blue with Cobalt Blue stripes, Gunmetal Gray with Gloss Black stripes, or my favorite choice so far, Flat Black with Gloss Black stripes. You guys can chime in with your color preference, if you'd like. And of course, I welcome any ideas, suggestions, and opinions. I also hope to get help and support from the knowledgeable minds on this forum.

Carlos

[Fluge]

Congratulations Carlos! The long wait will make this project even sweeter for you. Keep is posted on the progress.

Marc

[bil1024]

Congrats! Post some pics when you can, have a safe trip

[John Dol]

Carlos,

Congrats on the coupe and welcome t the forum. My question is, where in the heck did you get a spyder dash?

John

[68GT500MAN]

Better ten years later than never! Congratulation on finally being able to start your project.

[skullandbones]

Hey Carlos,

Congrats on your retirement and thank you for your service. I have always thought the coupe was one of the most bada** cars on the planet. So that's not such a bad compromise. Sounds like you will have all the power you need and the suspension should transfer nicely over to the couple. I like the black with gloss black stripe but I really like the satin black instead of flat. Any of those choices will look great though. Looking forward to hearing from you on your build.

Good luck,

WEK.

[CobraKai]

Awesome! I can't think of a better way for you to honor your current car than to transform it into a Type 65 Coupe. I look forward to seeing your progress. And I bet you change your mind about the color about 50 times before you get to the paint stage! I've changed my mind about 20 times already!

Jeff

[Carlos C]

Thanks guys. I plan to post plenty of photos and updates during this build.

John, to answer your question, I got in touch with a certain fiberglass guru, who makes GT-40 fiberglass bodies, and who was one of the designers and fabricators of FFR's Coupe body. He recently acquired a Spyder GT dashboard, and decided to make a mold of it. Not sure I should mention his name publicly, since as far as I know, FFR designed the dash, although they decided to discard the mold.

Now, back to the garage, and the not-so-fun process of stripping the donor.

Carlos

[CJBergquist]

Congratulations on your retirement...it comes highly recommended...and welcome to the madness. It sounds like you have a solid plan that's going to result in a great automobile.

[Carlos C]

Thanks, Chris. I'm used to madness. This should be a "walk in the park"...

After six hours in the garage today, this is all I have to show for it. Hopefully, tomorrow will go smoother and be a more productive day.
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Carlos

[riptide motorsport]

Hey Carlos, imhere a half hour south of you if you need assistance . I have built one already. Also, if that's the donor mustang in the picture.....that looks too nice to part!! Steven

[Carlos C]

Hey Carlos, imhere a half hour south of you if you need assistance . I have built one already. Also, if that's the donor mustang in the picture.....that looks too nice to part!! Steven

Steven:

I'm guessing that if you're only a half-hour away from me, that you're not in Ft. Lauderdale. I appreciate the offer. I'll let you know if I require assistance. Of course, people are more than welcome to stop by while I'm working in the garage, even if I don't need any help.

Yes, I know. I've been struggling with the fact that I'm dismantling this car to use as a donor. Unfortunately, I didn't want to fix it again, because that would have put my FFR project on hold for who knows how much longer. I was hoping that someone would buy it, but it seems that no one is interested in a project car. Everyone so far, wants to buy a running car that needs no work. It's hard to part with it after owing it for almost 16 years, and having a lot of fun with it, but it's time for something different. If I can't sell what's left of it as a stripped-down chassis, then I'll take everything off it, sell the individual parts, and have a salvage yard pick up the chassis.

Carlos

Carlos

[John Dol]

Carlos,

Use craigslist etc. I sold my left over parts for more then I paid for the whole car!

John

[Carlos C]

Carlos,

Use craigslist etc. I sold my left over parts for more then I paid for the whole car!

John

John:

Not crazy about Craigslist or eBay, but they will be my last resort, if I can't sell the chassis. I have plenty of new and used Mustang parts, and will strip the car clean, if that's what it comes down to.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

Not much to report today. Worked in the garage for a few hours, and made some marginal progress.
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The accessory drive, including the blower, but sans the water pump and crankshaft pulley, are out.
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Carlos

[Carlos C]

Today, I was able to finish taking the whole front accessory drive off the engine, more wiring, and gutted most of the interior. A lot of this parts have nothing to do with the kit, but I plan to sell them later. Many of these parts are brand-new, or almost new. The weather was beautiful, with temps in the high 70's, and mostly sunny. I was so tempted to go riding instead, but resisted the overwhelming temptation...
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I had to use some of the daylight to travel to Lakeland, FL to look at my friend's utility trailer, which he graciously offered for my journey to Wareham, MA. It's perfect.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be productive. Planning to take out the steering shaft, steering wheel, pedal box, clutch and speedo cables, and the rest of my racing components, such as: brake lock, electro-magnetic differential electrical connections, and the rest of the TwEECer chip connections. Or maybe, I'll just take the exhaust, driveshaft, transmission, and fuel tank off. We'll see how I feel tomorrow, and whether I give in to temptation...

Carlos

[Carlos C]

I was able to put a slight dent on the tear-down. I've come to the conclusion that I won't be done before the kit comes home, so I've made modifications to my plans/schedule to make it all work out.

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The last of the electronic/electric items from the donor (except for the fuel pump).

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More donor parts; some for the kit, and some for sale.

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What's left of the interior after disassembling 90% of the items I want/need to keep.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

I got some more work done this afternoon on the donor. Unfortunately, my back is killing me from twisting and un-torquing bolts underneath the car.

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Most of the exhaust is out, fuel pump, fuel filter, all the fuel lines, fuel rail and injectors, driveshaft loop, fuel tank, fuel regulator, and shifter.

Hopefully, the transmission will have its turn tomorrow.

On another note, I'm looking for old/used Mustang rear springs. Spring rate or year does not matter, since they'll be going on my stripped down roller donor. I can use 4-cylinder car springs. If anyone has them, please PM me. Thanks.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

The transmission is finally out. Not fun doing this by myself, with a bad back, lying on the floor wrestling this heavy pig.

Unfortunately, I suffered the first MISHAP of this project. While persuading the bell housing off the engine plate with a rubber mallet, the heavy steel unit fell on its edge, catching my thumb, nearly crushing it. Thankfully, it's not broken; just slightly swollen, with a small cut.

And before anyone starts preaching about how I should've kept a bolt on, I'll tell you that I tried that; but unfortunately, the dowel pins were longer than the bolts. And no, I didn't feel like looking for a longer bolt and nut. And yes, I learned my lesson. After this incident, I decided to call it a night.

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Tranny, tranny cross member, and bell housing out.

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Look closely. That's the Dodge Viper logo on the tranny. Ten years ago, Tremec only made one six-speed tranny, and it was exclusively for that car. Thankfully, D&D Performance made a conversion kit for the Fox-body Mustang. The kit was not cheap either.

Carlos

[jkrueger]

That does not look long enough to be a six speed. What are the gear ratios?

JC

[Carlos C]

That does not look long enough to be a six speed. What are the gear ratios?

JC

JC:

As the photo shows, the casing was cast with the Viper logo. That car's only choice was this tranny. It may not look long on the photo, but the kit came with a shorter drive shaft, and special tranny crossmember brackets. This tranny is about six inches longer than the TKO it replaced, and those brackets bolted to the frame, aft of the stock ones. According to the spec sheet I got with the kit, the gear ratios are: 2.66, 1.78, 1.3, 1.00, 0.74, and 0.50.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

More progress today, and without any MISHAPs. The engine plate, clutch, pressure plate, flywheel, and engine came out.

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The fire-breathing monster is finally out.

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What's left of the engine compartment.

Rear axle, front and rear brakes, spindles, and the steering rack, are all that remain on the car, which will have to wait until I come back from picking up the kit next week.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

I spent the day today dismantling more non-donor parts off the Mustang, and getting ready for my trip to MA next week. Checked my e-mail, and found a nice surprise:

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My finished Spyder GT dashboard, ready for pick-up.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

It was a long journey to MA, and then back home. It took 24 hours of total driving each way, with each trip taking two days. The only problem I ran into was the trailer lights, which I was able to temporarily fix in a parking lot. It was great meeting everyone who helped me pick up the kit, and for the long chat. It's been a while since my last visit to the factory, and it was well worth it.

Lessons learned:

1. I used an open trailer. A closed trailer is better. Glad I went with option #2: (6' x 16' trailer). Option #1 (6' x 12') would have been too small.
2. There's no such thing as too many straps, especially with an open trailer. Bring at least six of them. The Coupe's nose needs to be strapped down to the frame, if trying to avoid parts getting airborne on the highway.
3. Bring a big roll of duct tape. I didn't, but the good guys at FFR, donated a roll. I found myself using it during fuel stops to keep things from growing wings. Although parts are well-taped, the wind kept ripping the tape off, especially since it was gusty on my way home.
4. If you want to get better gas-mileage (especially on gusty days), drive behind an 18-wheeler (an enclosed one works better). Just find one that is going at least the speed limit.
5. The Coupe's trunk floor aluminum is tricky to put in or take off. Apparently, mother nature had no problem figuring out how it comes out. By the time I got to my first pit stop, that piece of aluminum was half-way ready to become someone else's bad road incident. Some duct tape helped to keep it in place for the rest of the trip.
6. No one knows what this car is... NO ONE! The top guesses were: Corvette, 240 Z, Ferrari, and Jaguar.
7. Glad I brought a car dolly that raised the kit about a foot over the trailer's floor, which allowed me to store quite a few boxes. My truck's six-foot bed was nowhere near enough for the base kit's parts. For a moment I thought that I would have to call UPS to ship the rest home. An enclosed trailer would have been more practical.

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Picking up the kit at the factory.

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Presenting the Coast Guard flag to Factory Five.

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Kit made it home in one piece.

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My custom-made Spyder GT dashboard I had fabricated for this project.

Spent today completely re-wiring my friend's trailer, since it had been spliced so many times, that it seemed like different sections of the wiring had been changed four or five times. It was a mess. I was surprised that the lights still worked, considering how corroded and loose the connections were. Fixing it is the least I could do to show my gratitude to my friend, for letting me take the trailer for a whole week at no charge.

Next, it is the "fun" part of doing a complete inventory of the kit, and making a list of all missing/damaged parts...

Carlos

[Carlos C]

Well, I spent the last week or so doing inventory of all my boxes, right down to the last bolt and nut. Not fun, but not as bad as having to clean, prep, and paint/powder coat all the donor parts, and all the new parts from FFR that came uncoated. Definitely not looking forward to that. In the meantime, I need to concentrate on finishing the removal of the brakes, steering rack, and rear end off the donor. At the same time, I need to deal with missing and damaged items I received, including some small issues with the body.

What I found funny (after the initial disbelieve, that is), was that although the order form and pack list clearly state that I was supposed to get FRONT lower control arms, I received REAR lower control arms. This is even after the packer had checked the box, assuring that I had the right part... I'm sure it was an honest mistake, but still, the red flag should have gone up as soon as taking a look at the box for the control arms. It would be impossible to pack the front arms on that small box. Either way, there are other suspension items on back-order, which are the first things to go on the frame, but I still have plenty to do before I get there.

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Love my new car dolly. It's height-adjustable, it uses different attachments to match whatever you're lifting, very non-intrusive, carries up to 4,800 lbs, and makes it so easy for one person to move a vehicle around.

Carlos

[HCP 65 COUPE]

I love those dolly's, where did they come from?

[Carlos C]

I love those dolly's, where did they come from?

Go to www.uni-dolly.com

Although it is a very small company, they have some good products. So far, the owner has answered the phone every time I've called, and he's been very nice and helpful.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

I haven't been able to work on the project much this week; but at least, I was able to tear down the front right suspension and brake system. Hopefully, I'll be able to finish tearing down the donor this week, and start on prepping all the donor parts. I still have to order a powder coating system, and add a 220V outlet to the garage for the baking oven, which is doing nothing but collecting dust and taking up space right now. Plenty of parts to powder coat and paint.

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Steering rack, front left suspension and brake system, and rear end still awaiting their turn.

Carlos

[John Dol]

Carlos,

I have one for you if you are interested. It's an Eastman, never used with accessories.
$125.00 plus shipping from 04963.
Let me know.

John

[Carlos C]

John:

Could you please PM me pics of your system, and any other specs? Thanks.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

Although I'm sore from my spine epidural shot therapy, I was able to get some work done on the donor, even though I had to help a friend with his motorcycle build-up. Almost done with the tear-down. Hopefully, I'll get it done tomorrow.

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The front brake system is completely off the donor, along with the power steering rack, the emergency brake cables, and the last of the exhaust.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

The final piece of the puzzle is finally out of the Mustang. This stout rear end will find its new home soon, after a little cosmetic upgrade.
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All that's left on the donor that I want to take off is the rear bumper. That way, I'll have the '93 Cobra body kit (with the Cervini's Stalker front bumper cover) for sale later. Once that's off, I will be able to get rid of the carcass, which will be a little hard for me to do, since I've owned this car for over 15 years.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

Finally done stripping the Mustang. The next steps will be to get rid of the chassis, wire up a 220V outlet in the garage for the powder coating oven, and commence the fun project of cleaning, prepping, painting, and coating parts.

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What's left of the Mustang after raiding it for parts.

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Many parts waiting for a new home. Some will be used on the Coupe, but many will be sold.

Carlos

[MRSQSL]

Reading about the dismantling of the donor car makes me really, really glad I didn't go that route. Ugh. So much work and your poor little smushed finger. Hope it has recovered (along with your spine). I can't wait to see how all those pieces and parts are going to fit in the Coupe. I have a roll of duct tape if you'd like me to come by and connect a few where I think they might belong. :)

[Carlos C]

Yes, donor tear-down is not fun, especially when the donor has nostalgic value. My thumb is doing much better. When the incident happened, it felt like I left it somewhere on the garage floor. My spine, on the other hand, will only get worse.

I have plenty of duct tape at home, so I should be alright... Before I can start piecing everything back together, I have to go through the tedious process of cleaning, painting, and powder coating. Not looking forward to that part of the build, although I'm suffering from withdrawals, since I'm out of town this week.

Carlos

[Rodster]

Carlos -
Thanks for posting your progress -- this is going to be another great build thread!

-wayne

[Carlos C]

Thanks, Wayne. I plan to keep posting plenty of pictures, along with progress updates.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

Well, I spent all last week in DC and Baltimore visiting loved ones... and having fun; not to mention that I was having withdrawals from not being able to work in the garage. Therefore, I spent a lot of time on the forum looking at others' postings, and adding my $0.02 here and there.

Loved watching Alter Bridge (my favorite band) live for the first time since 2007.
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Two days later, I saw Lacuna Coil at the same venue.
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And of course, I couldn't miss UFC 172!
28410

Thankfully, by the time I got home last night, I had some goodies from Summit Racing, Eastwood, and Russ Thompson, waiting for me. Thanks Russ!
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Unfortunately, I also came home to a $452 water bill, due to a leaky irrigation valve. While troubleshooting the sprinkler system, I found that I have a dead solenoid valve on another zone. So now, I have two separate problems to fix.

If that wasn't enough distraction from working on the car, my motorcycle decided to develop an electrical issue, where the engine and the rest of the electrical components keep losing power momentarily and repeatedly while I'm riding. Last time I had that issue on a bike, it was the ignition switch. I hope it's either that, or just a loose electrical connection. I really don't feel like spending too much time on this. I'm burned out on this bike after having to rebuild it from the frame up (check out my thread "The Reason Why My FFR Build Was Delayed Before It Even Started" for more details on this), having to fabricate a new horn bracket after I found my horn dragging on the road (broken bracket still attached to it) at Daytona Beach, and having to make cosmetic repairs after the bike fell over.

I still have to install a 240V outlet in the garage for the powder-coating oven, and take care of yard work. In conclusion, I don't think I'll be able to do much with the kit this week.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

It never ends... While tackling one of the two problems with my irrigation system, I found the smoking gun for my high water bill. Besides the zone that seeps by all the time, i found a sprinkler head missing. So while that zone is running for 30 minutes twice a week, I'm losing thousands of gallons of water per week. My irrigation system is off, and the water valve secured, until I replace that head. Hopefully, I'll also be able to overhaul the valve leaking by tomorrow. Ah, the joys of home ownership... I'm just glad that I'm a jack of all trades and a master of none. Otherwise, I'd have to keep contractors on speed dial, and my wallet at the ready.

On a positive note, I picked up everything I need to install a 240V outlet in my garage for the powder-coating oven. I'm still kicking myself for forgetting to tell my general contractor to add these while my house was being built. Oh, well...
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Guess I'll be busy working on the irrigation system tomorrow, so no forward movement on the kit yet.

Carlos

[Tom Mauldin]

That's a cool chassis dolly!

[Carlos C]

Thanks, Tom. I found it by doing a search for car dollies. I love it. It's very simple to set up, and easily breaks down for quick storage. The best part is that it is a modular unit.

Carlos

[aks801]

Carlos, I don't know if your bike has a regulator/rectifier as part of the electrical system, but some of these units can be notorious for breaking down, especially if they are not getting enough breeze to cool them down. Just a thought.

Seeing you tear down your 'stang makes me wish I still had my '90 LX 5.0! Would make a handy donor about now.

Really looking forward to seeing your pics, especially once you actually start on the build-up itself.

Lastly: thank you for your service.

[Carlos C]

Carlos, I don't know if your bike has a regulator/rectifier as part of the electrical system, but some of these units can be notorious for breaking down, especially if they are not getting enough breeze to cool them down. Just a thought.

Seeing you tear down your 'stang makes me wish I still had my '90 LX 5.0! Would make a handy donor about now.

Really looking forward to seeing your pics, especially once you actually start on the build-up itself.

Lastly: thank you for your service.

First off, thanks for the kind words!

It does have a voltage regulator, which coincidentally, I just replaced last month. It's not the problem this time, however. I found the main fuse melted, but not popped. I have a short somewhere in the wiring harness, but couldn't find the source by looking at the readibly accessible sections of the harness. I'm afraid that I'll have to take the bike apart to find and fix the problem. Unfortunately, this and other responsibilities are taking precedence over the build. That's why I haven't posted any photos yet.

I did get a couple of hits on Craigslist about the Mustang. Hopefully, I'll get it out of my garage very soon. I've collected so many Mustang parts throughout the years, that I have almost everything I'd need for another basic kit, which I plan to do sometime after I get done with the Coupe. The advantage next time will be that I can start prepping donor parts before I even order the kit, and won't have to deal with a carcass taking up one bay in my garage, so I'd be able to start the project right away.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

Today, I finally sold my donor Mustang. The guy who bought it, plans to make it a race car again, so I'm happy about that. The last thing I wanted, was to see this car going to a scrap yard. He promised to send me pictures of it while in progress, and give me a ride on it at the track, once it's done. I'm pretty convinced that it's going to a good home. I felt mixed emotions seeing it go, considering that I've owned this car for 16 years; but at the same time, I really needed the garage bay it was occupying so I can continue with the build.
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Spent the rest of the afternoon power washing my garage from all the dirt, grime, oil, grease, and mystery fluids left over from the tear-down. Once I get my bike's electrical issue ironed out, and the 240V outlet installed in the garage, I'll get back to prepping the uncoated FFR parts, and the donor parts. Took some of the donor parts to work this week to dip in the parts washer, media blast, and dip again. It's good to be my rank, I can get away with things others can't...

I also received my back-ordered front lower control arms from FFR today. Unfortunately, the powder coater did a poor job, as the coating on both arms is chipping right out of the box. At this point, I'm not sure that I want to go through the trouble of sending these back, and wait who knows how long for another set, and hope that the powder coater actually properly prepped the parts before coating. I may end up just sanding them down at the problem areas, and coating them in primer and paint. All I have left on back-order are the hatch glass and the chassis electrical harness. I had decided from the moment I sent FFR a spreadsheet of all the missing, incorrect, and damaged parts, that I was not going to constantly harass them about the status of any shipment, including the already back-ordered items. So far, they have been pretty good at sending me what I needed, even though I don't hear from them until the parts ship. At least, I have all the suspension items to start assembly. The glass and electrical harness are not needed until much later in the build. I just hope I get them before I get to that stage.

Carlos

[Tom Mauldin]

Sounds like you are missing the same parts that I am.

[Carlos C]

Sounds like you are missing the same parts that I am.

Tom:

How long have you been waiting for your parts?

Carlos

[Tom Mauldin]

About 3 weeks.

[Carlos C]

Tom:

It's been 2 months so far since my kit was ready for pick-up.

Aks801:

It was the regulator, after all. Ended up doing Ohms and voltage tests on the stator, and it passed. I did Ohms tests on the charging system's wiring harness, and it passed. So with a volt meter on the battery, and an amp meter on the output side of the regulator, I started the engine. Surprise, surprise; the battery had barely 13V, but the regulator was only putting out a mere 8 amps. Not enough to compensate the battery's demand. Swapped my new regulator for a new regulator, and conducted the same test. At first, the battery was at 13.75V, with amp reading at 11.8. Once the battery got to 14V, the amps dropped to 10.9, as it should, since the demand is satisfied. Just to be on the safe side, I also sanded the powder coating around the harness' grounding point. Took the bike on a 30-minute ride, with no loss of power, no warning lights, and no melted main fuse. Hopefully, I'm done with this issue. I'm burned out on my bike. I just want to concentrate on the build.

Carlos

[Timb]

I think it was 3-4 months before I got the hatch glass but that was 3 years ago when they were replacing all the defective units

[Carlos C]

I think it was 3-4 months before I got the hatch glass but that was 3 years ago when they were replacing all the defective units

I'm not really in a hurry to get the glass, but hope to get the chassis harness before I get to that stage. Not sure why the harness would be on back-order for so long, since Ron Francis has them in stock. Maybe FFR forgot that I haven't received it, or are under the assumption that I did? After all, the parts list I got had items checked off by them, which were clearly missing, such as the front lower control arms. Ironically, it is also listed as missing on the back-order list they gave me. So, there is a conflict in validity between the two lists. I'll wait and give them the benefit of the doubt. But I'll definitely call them about it, if I'm close to start the electrical installation and I still don't have it.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

While doing some yard work and pest control today around the house, some kid riding his bicycle who couldn't be any older than 16 years old, stopped in front of my house to take a peek into my garage. He turned to me and asked if that was a Corvette (typical question). I responded that it is a replica of a Daytona Coupe. He then asked: "'65?" My jaw dropped to the floor. This kid knew exactly what this car is, while the older self-proclaimed "car guys" give me a puzzled look, even after I tell them what it is. This kid is definitely a car guy. That was refreshing to see, so I shook his hand before he went on his merry way, and told him that he was welcome to check out the progress.

On another note, i just had another set of epidural injections on my spine yesterday, so I've been taking it easy. Hopefully tomorrow, my back will allow me to crawl into the attic, so I can run the electrical cables for my garage's 240V outlet. If I get this outlet powered up by tomorrow, I can start powder coating next week.

Carlos

[Tom Mauldin]

Good luck with your back Carlos! I have a cheap die cast Daytona in the garage which I have to show most people, so they get an idea of what I'm building. Most people think I'm doing a mustang when I tell them about the Cobras I've built. One thing about the Coupe is that I haven't had anyone say their uncle or neighbor had one back in the day. ;-)

[Carlos C]

Thanks, Tom. Unfortunately, things didn't go well yesterday trying to install the 240V outlet. Apparently, the workers who insulated my house must have thought that there would never be a chance of another breaker being added to the house, so they buried the breaker panel's electrical channel inside the wall with hardened insulated foam. I can't reach the panel from the attic due to the limited space left on the channel, and can't take the panel off the wall without destroying the drywall, since they left no slack on the wires and glued them all together with the spray foam.

I had all the conduit and cable run in the attic and garage wall, but had to take it all apart. My only option now, which doesn't require destroying the wall around the panel, is to get someone to help me feed 30 feet of 6-gauge cable through a small hole in the panel, while I pull it from the attic, if I can even get it through all that insulation.

For now, all I have to show for my hard work, is itchy arms from fiberglass, and a lot of back pain from crawling around the attic, which will render me useless for the next few days.

Carlos

[xatudor]

Carlos
If I've read your post correctly you have the wire almost there, why not get a scrap length of wire (or poly tubing) and feed it through the hole into the attic, twist the wires in the attic onto the wire coming from the panel and then use it as a draw wire, you may still need help but it wont require the full 30 feet of wire to be pulled through the small hole. HTH

[Carlos C]

Carlos
If I've read your post correctly you have the wire almost there, why not get a scrap length of wire (or poly tubing) and feed it through the hole into the attic, twist the wires in the attic onto the wire coming from the panel and then use it as a draw wire, you may still need help but it wont require the full 30 feet of wire to be pulled through the small hole. HTH

I tried that with negative results. The problem is that the cable way is deep but narrow, and filled with hardened foam. I have to dig the foam out, accessing it from the attic first. I won't be able to reach down to the panel, but if I can get enough of it out, I may be able to use hanging wire to draw the cable from the bottom, as long as it can break through whatever foam is left in the cableway. I only have one slot left to run this heavy gauge wire on top of the breaker panel. Since this cable is not pliable, I may be able to force-feed it upwards, breaking through the remaining foam as it goes, if all else fails.

Carlos

[Tom Mauldin]

I hate having days like that! Good luck!

[Carlos C]

Thanks, Tom. I finally was able to run the cable yesterday, with the help of a friend. After that, everything else was a piece of cake. I finally got a working oven in the garage for powder coating.

Unfortunately, distractions don't seem to end. I found yet another geyser in my yard, due to a broken nipple on a sprinkler head. Ended up having to dig out the piping, in order to get to what was left of that nipple. I had to cut it inside the pipe to get it out. Got it fixed.

Speaking of distractions, my girlfriend came down to visit for the next ten days, so I won't be able to spend much time in the garage. I know, I know, you guys want to see progress and lots of pictures. Me too... Hopefully next week I'll be able to start cranking on it. In the meantime, please try not to get too bored with this thread, and decide to unsubscribe. It'll get interesting, I promise.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

Finally made some progress today, despite other home and bike issues that I'm still dealing with. Rear end is dismantled (except for the differential), ready for prepping, priming and painting. I checked the backlash, and tooth pattern, and everything is still within specs, so no need to take it apart. I'll be taking some of the other parts to work tomorrow, to dump into the parts washer, and others will be media-blasted. I also purchased 4 gallons of the very expensive WD-40 Rust Removal Wash. I'll find out tomorrow if I wasted $100+ on this chemical, or if it actually works miracles like I watched on the "Detroit Muscle" tv show.

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I'm hoping to be able to do more donor part preparation the rest of the week. There's way too much to re-paint and powder coat.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

Got home late today from my spinal appointment. My doctor said: "no bending". Yeah, right. If I follow that advice, I would not be able to do anything with my kit.

The overly-priced rust remover actually works, but can only be used a couple of times before it stops removing anymore rust. It's a lot cheaper to just use Ospho and a wire wheel. But unlike Ospho, WD-40's product is non-acidic, safe for the environment, and safe to handle. Otherwise, it's not cost-effective if there are a lot of rusted items.

I'll be taking more parts to work tomorrow, and repeat the process. This is going to be very tedious...

Carlos

[narkosys]

found this method (http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?13816-De-rusting-bucket-removing-rust-from-steel-and-cast-iron-parts-old-school&highlight=rust+bucket) in the 818 forums.

old school and it works!

HTH

P

[Carlos C]

found this method (http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?13816-De-rusting-bucket-removing-rust-from-steel-and-cast-iron-parts-old-school&highlight=rust+bucket) in the 818 forums.

old school and it works!

HTH

P

Thanks for the idea. I had previously tried using the electrolysis method by using water, baking soda, and an aluminum panel at the bottom of a bucket, and got marginal results. I was always apprehensive about using electricity, but it looks like others got the process down to a science. I'll probably try that as a cheap way to de-rust my parts.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

Found out today that a 24-hour soak on the WD-40 de-rusting chemical and a wire brush, will rid your steel product from its annoying protective zinc coating. So, it gets rid of rust AND the coating that protects the material from it. Well, I guess I'll just finish uncoating my rear control arms, and get them ready for powder coating. Gloss black, or chrome? Hmmmm...

More parts went through the media blaster and parts washer, with plenty more to go. When will the fun part begin?

Carlos

[loeffler1]

Carlos

That's the big drawback to using a donor, which is why I did the complete kit. On the other hand think of all the savings in trade for your labor!!

[Carlos C]

Hey Bill:

I usually don't mind the labor involved in prepping and painting parts, but I just want to get on with the build, and can't see the end of this stage in sight. Since I still have many more extra parts that can be used on another kit, the next order will also be for a basic one. The difference will be that by the time I receive the kit, I plan to have all the donor parts ready to drop in.

Carlos

[Tom Mauldin]

I find it more fun assembling the car than cleaning and prepping the parts, but if you don't spend the time doing the prep work the finished product doesn't look a good. For me, with all my Mustang contacts its actually cheaper to go the donor route.

[Carlos C]

Tom:

I agree. Now that I can powder coat in my garage, it's even cheaper for me to go the donor route. My next build will also be using donor parts, so I won't have to buy a complete kit.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

Spent this afternoon running all 10 zones on my irrigation system, making a diagram of where they all are (since neither my builder, nor the contractor who installed the system bothered to do this), recording the spray pattern of the sprayers and the rotational degree of the rotors, and checking for any substancial leaks. Good news: no leaks; bad news: I have to repair/replace two rotors. Then I worked on my bike. By the time I was done, I didn't feel like doing anything else. At least, I still made some progress prepping more of the donor parts at work. Hope to get the rear end and some other parts painted in the next few days.

I found a metal supplier in Clearwater. I'll be buying a sheet of 16-gauge hot-rolled steel next week, to make an oven extension box for powder coating bigger parts.

Carlos

[skullandbones]

That oven idea is great! I like the idea of having your own in house powdercoating because it gives you a lot of control on the quality by taking your time and recoating if needed before cooking. I don't have the room for the extra equipment unfortunately.

Thanks,

WEK.

[Carlos C]

Not to mention all the money I'll save by coating at home all of the donor parts, and the FFR parts that came bare, not to mention the aluminum panels.

Carlos

[Tom Mauldin]

Hey Carlos, have you seen 2bKing's powder coating booth/box? Looks like a great way to keep powder from getting all over when you coat your parts.

[Carlos C]

Hey Tom:

No, I haven't. Do you have a link to that thread? I'd love to take a look at it.

Carlos

[Tom Mauldin]

Here you go.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?11097-King-s-MK4-Coyote-Build&referrerid=3261

From,
Tom Mauldin

[Carlos C]

Thanks, Tom! I like it. Very inexpensive to fabricate. I may make one myself, but would have to be a little stronger and bigger, in order to support heavier and larger items. Thanks for looking out.

Carlos

[loeffler1]

Tom, Carlos

I'm one lucky guy, I have been having my powder coating done by a local company for the past five years while building the coupe. Well for the last three years they have been slipping my items in with commercial jobs because most of my work was either gloss black or wrinkle black. Due to this I have been getting all of my powder coating done for free!!! Don't want to bust your chops but I suspect I have saved a few bucks. Of course I had to promise the crew a ride when finished!

[Tom Mauldin]

Bill, that's one heck of a deal! I will end up spending at least a grand on powder coating for my coupe. That is just doing the big parts, like the frame, rear end housing, and aluminum panels. I will do all of the small stuff myself.

[Carlos C]

What!? Free powder coating!? Ok Bill, you win... That is awesome. Maybe I'll try sweet-talking the owner of my local powder coating shop for freebies, and promise him the ride of his life on the Coupe when it's done.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

While I was getting ready for work this morning, I just happened to look out into my backyard, and found and intruder taking a stroll, which loves meat, and is not very social. I ended up taking the day off work to deal with the situation (who wants to go to work on Mondays anyway). I called Fish & Wildlife, they came out and caught it. The gator was a five-footer, which was about the same as the trapper's height.
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In the meantime, I worked on my irrigation system. I think I finally have everything fixed. I also painted more donor parts. All in all, it was a pretty productive day.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

No distractions today. I was able to concentrate solely on the donor parts. More of the rear suspension and brakes have been cleaned, prepped, and painted; and dismantled the steering rack for a nice cleaning bath, a session in the media blaster box, back to the bath, and then paint tomorrow. After that, it'll be the rear end's turn to get a make-over.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

I finally got my rear hatch glass yesterday. Opened the box, and checked for damage, and test-fitted on the body. It is a very tight fit, which means that I'll have to lightly sand the body edges.

Steering rack was a mess when it came out of the donor. After scraping, disassembling, media blasting, chemical washing, and painting, it looks like a brand-new unit. I'm surprised it wasn't leaking steering fluid, since almost every hose connection had dried-up O-rings.

Rear springs have been coated, as have the axle shafts' flanges, and the rear brakes. Hopefully, I'll have the rear end looking like new by this weekend.

Carlos

[Tom Mauldin]

Sounds like you've been busy! Have you started powder coating yet?

[Carlos C]

Tom:

No powder coating yet. I just bought a 16-gauge hot-rolled steel sheet to make an extension box for the oven. I hope to have the basic box built by tomorrow, and insulate/finish it next week. I plan to paint as much as possible first, and then worry about powder coating, since painting is more time-consuming.

Carlos

[Tom Mauldin]

Sounds like you have a good plan. I just ordered my new mig welder, so hopefully when I get back from Maui next week, it'll be waiting on me.

[Carlos C]

I'm a certified welder, but ironically, I don't have any welding equipment. I'm itching to have a MIG, a TIG, and plasma cutter. Now that I've installed a 240V outlet in the garage, I could get the heavy-duty counter-parts. I really need to build a bigger garage. All I have are electrical and gas soldering equipment. So, I still have to rely on others to get welding jobs done.

Congrats on your purchase. I envy you... Have fun in Maui.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

A throbbing migraine has kept me out of the garage today. I did however, meet Bob (S2D2), who lives only five minutes from me, and built his own Coupe. He also owns a Backdraft Roadster. We spent a couple of hours trading notes, and gave me a heads-up on some of the difficulties he faced during his build. Although his Coupe is drivable, he mentioned that it's not finished. Thanks, Bob!
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During the last few days, I've been able to get some of the prepping done. I've been mentioning this, but have not posted any photos. And you know what they say: it didn't happen if there's no visual proof. I haven't really taken many pictures of the prepping stage, since they are not really interesting to look at, but here are a few of the steering rack.

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Before prepping, during, and after (still disassembled)

I'm also in the process of building a four-sided extension box for my powder coating oven, using 16-gauge hot-rolled steel.

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Marked all lines for cutting and bending

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Using an industrial-size hydraulic shear to cut the pieces

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Used a metal brake to make all the bends. These bends will be used as lips, in which hardware will be used to put the box together, and take it apart for storage.

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The box is coming together nicely, but it's far from done. It will add 6 cubic feet of oven space, so I can use it for powder coating bigger items.

The plan is to insulate the inside of the box with a reflective insulating material, so it'll help reflect heat throughout the box. I will also add a few hooks at the top plate of the box, to hang items to it, and a handle. Depending of how hot the outside of the box gets after the insulation is installed, I'll either paint the outside with high-temp paint, or use insulation there also. I designed the box so I have a choice to remove either, the top or back plate, in order to easily insert and remove the item.

Carlos

[Tom Mauldin]

Looking good Carlos! Must be nice to have access to the big shear and brake! Keep up the good work!

[Carlos C]

Thanks, Tom! Yes, those tools definitely make things easy to fabricate. I only wish I could take one of the welders or plasma cutters home for a few weeks, since I need to do some light custom work on the frame.

Carlos

[John Dol]

If the welder does not come to the frame, maybe the frame can come to the welder!! LOL
Cool idea on the extension of the oven box.

John

[Carlos C]

Thanks, John. Trust me when I tell you that I briefly thought about that, but it's not feasible (although not impossible). If I only needed to weld for a couple of hours, it may not be a problem, but I need a welder for much longer than that. My command would not be very happy if I had my own personal project there for a week or so. Who knows; I could possibly sweet-talk the command...

Carlos

[Carlos C]

I spent all day on the rear end... The donor's differential case, that is. Ground out and sanded to bear metal (and rust); washed, dried, and treated it with rust inhibitor. My air compressor, die grinder, and Dremel tool got a work-out today. Letting the rear end sit overnight for the inhibitor to do its job. Hope to prime and paint it tomorrow, then put it back together later this week. I had no idea how much rust was hidden under the old paint. It should look much better, once I'm done with it. Maybe, I'll also have time to work on the oven box tomorrow.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

RANDOM THOUGHT:
I just realized that my thread is on its third page; yet, I haven't really accomplished much forward progress (yes, I know that was an oxymoron) with my build. It's not like I've had a lot of replies from members compared to others' build threads. So I guess that I must be filling my thread with fluff, like the following:

I had another spine procedure today, so needless to say, I am very sore. The only progress I was able to painfully accomplish, was to paint the rear end. That's it. At least, it looks a lot better than when it came out of the donor. I still have to put it back together.

Once I'm done with that, and the oven box, I'll start taking the engine apart. Just like the rear end, the engine needs grinding, sanding, cleaning, and painting. I also want to replace the oil pump (the current one has dangerously dropped pressure before), change the notoriously leaky rear main seal, and inspect the bottom end.

The Tremec tranny has light oxidation throughout the casing. With all the nooks and crannies it has, it'll be fun (sarcasm) to use a variety of wire and sanding wheel sizes to clean it up. I still need to figure out what method to use to keep it from oxidizing again. Clear paint would be the fastest and easiest, but even the high temp kind tends to yellow and flake with time. Powder coating would require me to completely dismantle the tranny. With only about 3K miles on it, there's absolutely no need to go through that arduous and lengthy process.

But I'm getting ahead of myself here... I first need to re-assemble the rear end.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

Today, I woke up feeling somewhat better in regards to my back. Went to the garage and re-assembled the rear end. It's almost ready for installation.

30024

Painted some odds and ends, and completely disassembled the pedal box for prepping and painting. I've been doing some measuring, and it seems that if I use a brake booster, the master cylinder may interfere with the supercharger, which means that I may have to go with manual brakes. I'll forego painting the brake pedal until I make my final decision, since I may have to cut it and re-weld it. If that's the case, I'll save the booster for my next build.

On another note, I am looking for a plastic or polyurethane 351W mock-up block. If anyone out there has one that they don't need, and would not mind lending / selling, please let me know. Not looking forward spending $400 - $500 for a new mock block that I'd use for only one build, and then shell out more money for a mock 302 block to be used for my next build.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

I'm amazed at how this WD-40 de-rusting wash is still working after all the parts that it has done. After 24 hours, it easy to see the huge difference between the section that was submerged, and the untreated section. Can't complain about the lack of elbow grease I need to use.
30061

Besides that, I wasn't able to get much done today, since I got home late from work today. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a more productive day.

Carlos

[Tom Mauldin]

Keep moving forward Carlos. You can't get it put together until a all the prep work is done. I still can't make any progress, I'm still in Hawaii, but I'm drinking beers for everyone! Aloha!

[Carlos C]

Keep moving forward Carlos. You can't get it put together until a all the prep work is done. I still can't make any progress, I'm still in Hawaii, but I'm drinking beers for everyone! Aloha!

I'm on it! It's tedious work, but I want all my donor parts to look like new. Not planning to cut corners; I want a quality build. I just wish that I was done prepping donor and FFR parts. I'm looking for that light at the end of the tunnel...

Enjoy Hawaii while you're still there.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

Some more progress with prepping parts. Made the required mods to the donor's gas pedal and pedal box. I also cut 1.5" off the brake pedal (now that I made the decision to go with manual brakes), and beveled both remaining sections of the pedal in order to make a strong MIG weld. A superficial weld is not good enough. Imagine the weld breaking while you're driving, and losing your brake pedal. No, thank you...

30079

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to weld the pieces together, as the shop at work ran out of the proper welding wire. There is a race track close to home, and a race car fabricator has his shop on the premises. Since I'm supposed to take my bike to him on Sunday to have an oil tank bracket re-welded in place, I'll take the pedal and have him weld it for a few more $. The gas pedal is currently taking a de-rusting bath. The clutch pedal and pedal box are in the process of being painted. Once the brake pedal is welded, I'll also re-paint it.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

Progress:
Got half of the pedal box re-assembled, more parts painted, more parts de-rusted, while other parts are in the process of being prepped.

Slight deviation:
All I have left to do on the rear end, besides filling it up with fluid, is to run the hard brake lines on it. I'll mock up the rear calipers for this; cut, bend, and flare the lines. The flaring kit I have is fairly cheap. Last time I tried to double-flare steel tubing, the die snapped. So, I've decided to buy the one from Eastwood, since everyone is raving about it, and it does stainless and regular steel. I'll have to wait until I get this tool to finish the rear end. Peace of mind and safety are my main concern here.

Regress:
I have an old-school cast iron (but nice-looking) master cylinder, which came with the SSBC's Mustang conversion kit. Well, I just realized that it's damaged, when I tried to take it apart and get it ready for powder coating. By the looks of the brake fluid when I took the system off the donor, it seemed that moisture got in during the time the car sat unused. It took lots of WD-40, patience, and persuasion, to get the primary plunger out, as it was ceased in the bore. The secondary plunger is in worse shape; I couldn't get it to budge. So, I decided to drown it in WD-40, and let it sit overnight. Hopefully, it'll break free, and I can get a rebuild kit. I don't want to use a plastic reservoir, but the beautiful polished billet aluminum unit from SSBC is in the $600(!!!) range. I wouldn't care about the cheap-looking Mustang unit, if it was going in the Roadster, since it sits under the body. Not the case with the Coupe.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

I've been busy lately. Spent a week at Smoky Mountains in NC, riding the Tail of the Dragon, and visiting the Cherokee town, among others. As soon as I came back home, I got the left side of my spine's nerve endings burned, which rendered me useless for the next week or so. The pain was almost unbearable. As soon as I started to feel better, I went in to get the right side done. Thankfully, I didn't have such a bad reaction the second time around, so it only took me two days to recover.

So I found myself in the garage today for a few hours. The heavy meds I'm on, do not allow me to stay active for long periods of time. I was able to finish off the pedal box, dead pedal, gas pedal, and e-brake handle. The brake and gas pedals have been shortened, as per the manual. Everything received a fresh coat of paint, and was re-assembled. There was a longer gap between the lower brake pedal holes than on the top, but that was easily fixed with a couple of plastic washers.
30858

I received the flaring tool from Eastwood, and it really works as advertised; worth every penny. Mocked up the rear calipers, and by using the old and corroded brake lines as templates, I fabricated new ones, using one of the 60" lines provided with the kit.
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Hopefully, I'll be able to spend a few hours in the garage tomorrow, and get some work done.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

Unrelated to my build, but figured I'd share one of the reasons I haven't been working in my garage. These two shots were taken while I was riding the Tail of the Dragon at the Smoky Mountains in NC. This section of US129 is considered one of the most treacherous roads in the U.S. Using the apex on these curves is a necessity.
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I bet drivers could see me on the road now if I were riding this...
30864

Carlos

[Tom Mauldin]

Looks like fun! Now get back to work! ;-)

[Carlos C]

Looks like fun! Now get back to work! ;-)

I am working... Read the next post.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

Got the spindles cleaned and painted, and are ready for assembly.
30926

The one thing that kept bugging me was that FFR gave me a fill plate for the brake booster/master cylinder that does not work for the master cylinder. The two bolt holes do not match the ones on the master cylinder or the spacer plate they provide, and the plunger hole is offset. I'd imagine that this fill plate may work for the brake booster, although the center hole is not round. But even if it does, this fill plate leaves a significant gap that would need to be sealed. I had called FFR to get the one for the master cylinder without a booster, but I received the same one I already had. This was months ago, and for whatever reason, it kept bothering me, so I decided today to take care of this issue.

30927
I had purchased this tool that cuts metals and other materials like butter, when I was at the Carlisle Replica show in 2011; today was the first time I actually used it. It may not look like much, but it's amazing how well and easily it cuts. Much better and faster than shears, and since it's mounted to a drill, one can cut any shape imaginable. It's called the Biter by Bad Dog (sorry David Hodgkins).

30928
Here, I used the steel spacer, the original fill plate, and the steel foot box plate, to make a template out of thin cardboard, with the plunger and mounting bolt holes in the right locations. I transferred the design to a sheet of T6 6061 .040" aluminum (the same type as what FFR uses). Then, I used my special tool to cut the outer shape, a hole saw for the center hole, a drill bit for the bolt holes, and dressed up the edges with a bench grinder and a file.

30929
Left: the FFR-supplied master cylinder steel spacer; Center: my newly-fabricated fill plate; Right: the FFR-supplied fill plate.

30930 30931
Left: my designed fill plate. It fits perfectly within the front foot box panel, does not leave a gap, and all the holes are in the right locations for the master cylinder.
Right: FFR's fill plate.

I may not have a laser cutter or CNC machine, but with the Biter tool, a bench grinder, a hole saw, a drill, files, and some patience, I can fabricate a part that almost rivals the finished quality of FFR's laser-cut parts.

Unfortunately, that's all the fabrication for now. Tomorrow I'll be back to the tedious process of cleaning, de-rusting, prepping, and painting... Ugh!

Carlos

[Tom Mauldin]

Great job on the filler panel and spindles. That biter tool is great! I bought one at the SEMA Show a couple of years ago. I don't remember I have it til I've already used the shears. Well I have to get back to work. Take care.

[Carlos C]

Thanks, Tom. And yes, get back to work. Stop browsing through the forum, and do something constructive with your car!

Carlos

[Carlos C]

Not much to report today. I ground down the rear sway bar to bare metal, primed and painted it.

I also took care of the FFR front LCAs. I received them finally about a month ago, and the powder coat was chipping at the same spot on both arms. There were also some gouges around the ball joints. This leads me to believe that the powder coat was damaged while the ball joints were being pressed on. FFR offered to replace them, but I figured that I could end up with another damaged set, so I declined their offer. So, today I used my rotary tool with a flap wheel, and sanded down the chipped powder coat at its edges. That way, it wont keep chipping. Then, I primed and painted the damaged areas, and feathered it for a smooth transition from paint to powder coat.

As of now, I have no idea as to what I'll be working on tomorrow. All I know is that I'll be in the garage doing something productive.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

Although I have not posted any updates for the last few days, I have been busy in the garage, mainly stripping and re-painting small parts. Today I finished with two small projects: re-vamping the water pump, and re-building the starter.

The starter worked just fine, but it has many years of faithful service. I decided to go ahead and re-build it while it's off the car, and not wait until it failed. The middle picture was taken after cleaning, stripping, and de-rusting parts, but before paint.
31162

The water pump looked in bad shape, and older than it actually is. De-rusted, stripped, cleaned, and re-painted it.
31163

Another project I'm working on is the alternator re-build. It's an 130-amp unit that was standard on the 1997 and up Mustangs. I'm baffled as to how this thing was still working. The aluminum casing had a lot of scaling, as it was exposed to the environment, so I decided to take it apart to clean and powder coat. What I didn't expect was all the corroded internals. The brushes, contacts, armature, and coils were very rusty and grimy. About the only two items that were in good shape were the shaft and the sealed bearings. Even the regulator had a broken contact on its brushes. Interestingly enough, if I buy the core of the regulator (the brushes and contacts) by itself, it only costs about $9. If I buy it already installed on the plastic connector (the part exposed on the back of the alternator), I have to pay $80. Hmmmm... Needless to say, I purchased the core alone, since there is nothing wrong with my connector.

It took me a couple of days to clean, de-rust, wire brush, de-rust and clean again all the internals. I also media-blasted the casing. Although the alternator is ready to be put back together, it'll have to wait until I powder coat the casing. The bottom shot was taken before I found out how bad this alternator was, although it didn't look very promising after seeing what it looked like with the front casing off.
31164

I'm currently working on overhauling the power steering pump. Once I get that done, I can hopefully start on the engine and transmission.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

Medical issues have kept me out of the garage for a few days. I was also feeling burned out, since I've been going non-stop for weeks in my garage and work, and not getting the much-needed rest. I ended up crashing this week, with nausea, headaches, and lack of energy. I took a couple of days off from the world, and just vegetated in my house, mostly sleeping. This afternoon, I felt rested enough to go back out in the garage to get more work done on the donor parts.

The big ticket item I worked on was the fuel tank. If I would've known ahead of time how many hours I would have to put into this item, just to get it ready for paint, I probably would've just purchased a new tank. Spent hours media-blasting, scraping, wire-brushing, washing inside and out, drying, and dis-assembling this thing. I actually started this sub-project right before my "crash". It's finally ready for paint. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a "before" photo of it, to show how badly abused by the environment it was, but I have previously posted a photo showing the tank, along with other items, on post #18. The remnants of that darn impregnated foam glued to the top of the tank, proved to be a tall order, even for the media-blaster.

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This is how the tank looks like now, after killing myself to get it to this stage. Thankfully, not only is the tank still in good condition, considering that it's almost 30 years old, but the pick-up tube and lever sending unit I installed years ago, were in almost perfect condition. Even the rubber seals look great.

31500
The fuel tank cover had suffered damage in the form of melting, from the massive 3" exhaust pipes which obviously were too close (very tight fit) to it. By the time this photo was taken, I had already ground all the jagged and melted material down to a smooth, but still concave finish. I'll be filling it up with plastic epoxy, along with the visible round holes that I won't be using anymore, and sanding it down, before it gets painted.

31501
After taking apart the aluminum driveshaft (which was no fun due to the oversize U-joints), I ended up having to replace both U-joints, since some of the plastic seals were dry-rotted, and came apart as I was pressing the caps off. Unlike days of old, these seals are not readably available. The driveshaft came from the company who originally sold me the Dodge Viper T-56 conversion kit for the Mustang, and had the oversized yoke U-joint already attached to it. When I went to match it up at the local auto parts store, I was lucky to get the correct one on the first try. I figured that it must have come from a heavy-duty Ford truck, and I was right; straight from a F-350.
LESSON LEARNED: Be careful using a de-rusting wash, such as WD-40's product, on machined surfaces. I found out the hard way that this chemical will take the polished material down to a cast-looking form. Unfortunately, I also forgot to take a photo of it right out of the wash, but trust me when I tell you that it was not pretty. I ended up having to use a wire wheel, an abrasive disc, and a polisher, to bring the yoke shaft, and the yoke and flange cap orifices, back to their original finish. If you look closely at this photo, you'll see that while the yoke is finished, I had not "re-machined" the cap holes on the flange.

I'm still trying to decide if I'll powder coat or just paint these two items. The next step, however, is to prime, paint, and re-assemble the fuel tank.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

Got some minor updates, and want to keep this post somewhat short. So, here it is:

31627
Driveshaft yoke and flange: DONE.

31628
Fuel tank: DONE.

31629
My next sub-project: This massive Aeromotive A1 fuel pump and filter. Basically, I need to clean the pump's housing, as well as the varnish deposits inside. The filter's housing also has varnish deposits, and need to replace the 10 micron element. The pre-filter I had, is not washable, so I threw it away. I'll be purchasing Aeromotive's 100 micron washable pre-filter, which will screw directly into the pump, just like the post-pump filter. These items will be getting a bath on the parts washer, and then I'll finish up cleaning the internals with acetone.

I'll also be cleaning and painting the fuel vapor canister and vacuum cylinder.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

I've gotten fairly acquainted with my grinder and sander during the last few days. I may have not posted anything for the last week, but I've been exercising major elbow grease. First off, I finished cleaning the fuel pump, filter housing, and fuel regulator. Made a diagram of how the new fuel system will run, as opposed to how it did on the Mustang; and made a list of hose sizes, ORB/AN fittings, and other hardware needed to plumb the whole thing. Since it is an external pump, I'll have to fabricate a bracket that will attach to the frame, but will hang the pump low enough to prevent fuel starvation.

Then, I moved to the fuel tank cover. As previously reported, the exhaust pipe had melted one of the corners of the plastic unit. Not to worry; it's nothing that some urethane epoxy and some filler can't fix.
31964 31963

Meanwhile, I gave my die grinder, Dremel, flap wheels, grinding stones, abrasive discs, etc, a good work out.

31966 31968 31967 31965
LEFT: Getting the upper intake manifold ready for some TLC; SECOND: Difference between the freshly ground throttle body and the untouched EGR spacer; THIRD: The EGR before treatment; RIGHT: The EGR after treatment. Now, they are ready for ceramic paint.

This morning I received my newly-acquired urethane 351W mocking block/heads from Chotis Bill (thanks, Bill!).
31969

I'll be able to mock up the Viper-spec T-56, to find out what modifications are needed, and the driveshaft length; where exactly to cut the exhaust reliefs on the body (if I have to move the engine forward), check clearances, mock up the blower to figure out where to build the air filter box and the air tubing for the intercooler, and create brackets for the A/C compressor. I'll be able to quickly install and remove this block, without having to deal with the real 550-lb pig.

Carlos

[Tom Mauldin]

Looks like you've been busy! Great job on the tank cover! That plastic engine will make life easy. I wish they made a plastic Coyote engine. Keep up the good work.

[CHOTIS BILL]

Speedway Motors has a 4.6L plastic block but not the heads. With the that block made I would think a whole Coyote engine may not be too far behind.

Bill Lomenick

[Tom Mauldin]

I'm hoping. I may call today to the manufacturer and see if they have an eta

[Carlos C]

Thanks, Tom. Bodywork is one of my least favorite things to do. So the grinding, filling, and sanding is a necessary evil for me.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

It was a pretty lazy evening for me. Let the paint dry overnight, so I just re-assembled the throttle body and EGR spacer (not sure why the spacer looks like it was painted a different color in the photo, but it's actually as shiny as the throttle body). I haven't decided if I'll even use the spacer, but at least it's ready to go. If I choose not to use it, I'll fabricate a plate out of stainless steel to replace it, so I can still bolt the gas pedal cable bracket to it. Speaking of which, I may also modify the bracket, since most of it is not needed any longer.

I also media-blasted and cleaned the upper intake manifold. Next step is to grind it down smooth, possibly do the same on all the ports (not that I need to extract more power out of this engine), and then ceramic-paint or powder coat it.

32000 32001

Carlos

[CHOTIS BILL]

Carlos, I am not sure what type of media blasting you did but here is a quote from the Ford Racing instructions.

“Bead blasting an EFI intake. You will NEVER get all the blasting media out. When the engine is started, it draws the
blasting media into the cylinders, destroying the engine.”

I will e-mail you a copy of the instruction sheet for the 427W engine but I would think they have a similar document for your engine on the Ford Racing web page.

Bill Lomenick

[Carlos C]

Bill:

Thanks for the heads-up. I use glass beads on the blaster at work. I only media-blasted the exterior of the manifold, after I had taped off every orifice. Just in case any media got inside, I used a heavy-duty shop vac to get any residue that may have gotten in. After that, I circulated the cleaning chemical from my parts washer through the intake for over an hour. Hopefully, there is no media inside the manifold.

I was also thinking about grinding down the intake ports, but I'll probably won't do it. The minimal gain (if any) won't be worth the time and effort, but mainly because of the issue of getting all the material out of the intake.

Carlos

[wallace18]

Every thing is looking great. Your hard work will pay big dividends for your build. Great job!

[MPTech]

Carlos, progress looks great and you are doing an incredible job restoring your Mustang parts.
Your donor looked like a REALLY nicely built and seriously modded Mustang. It will make excellent components for your Coupe. That engine, tranny, and rear-end combo look killer. (btw, what is an electro-magnetic differential??)
My only suggestion is carefully evaluate which donor parts you refurbish and which ones you should replace.
I went with a Base Kit roadster, but installed a new FFR radiator and gas tank, Painless wiring harness, and Speedhut gauges. Just didn't trust some of the 20+ year old components. I also turned in some donor parts are cores and bought new / re-man'd parts (power steering rack, brake calipers, and brake booster). One big lesson learned for me was using the donor Master-cylinder, I ended up replacing it after the body was mounted, NO FUN!

Good luck on the build and the motorcycle looks great too! (didn't you just finish the rebuild recently?)

[Carlos C]

Thanks for the kind words, guys.

MPTech:

The electro-magnetic diff uses a coil, which rides on a ball bearing, installed on the differential case. When electrical power is applied to the coil, it magnetizes itself to the diff, transforming it into a spool. It is expensive, but have yet to find a better product after 10 years. It is as tough as nails, and the best for street/strip use, IMO.

As I was disassembling the donor, I carefully inspected the parts, and decided what could be re-used and what needed to be recycled (master cylinder being a good example). The items that I knew I'd replace without a question, were the chassis and EFI harnesses. Most of the other donor parts only had about 3K miles on them and are still in good condition. Some other parts, such as the fuel tank, are very old, but still in good condition.

I finished re-building the bike in January. It took about three months. The frame was broken in two places. I did most of the work, besides powder coating the frame, and the fabrication of the vinyl stickers (although I had to re-design them from scratch on my computer, and then email them to the vinyl wrapping shop). That project is the reason why I'm still prepping donor and FFR parts, instead of assembling the car.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

I can't believe how much time I've spent on the upper intake manifold. I don't know what kind of coating Trick Flow used on it, but I've tried to mechanically and chemically strip it numerous times, and I still haven't gotten it all. I'll try the media blaster one more time, before I tap out. Hopefully, I'll be able to start grinding it down shortly.

In the meantime, I've been pre-occupying myself with other items, mainly the transmission. But, I also modified the throttle cable bracket by cutting off the section not needed for this build, and re-painted it.
32244

The transmission, ready for some TLC.
32245

Unfortunately, a not-so-pleasant surprise made itself known: the transmission speed sensor's plastic driven gear was chewed up. It seems that at some point, road debris hit the sensor and slightly bent it, creating a drag on the gear shaft. This now means that I have to take the tail section off the transmission, so I can get all the plastic remnants out, and take a look at the drive gear. I'll bet anything that since the drive gear is also plastic, it looks like this driven gear. Definitely, not what I wanted to get into. I was hoping that since the tranny only has about 3K, I wouldn't have to tear into it. This new, unexpected side project will set me back a few days. On the photo, it shows the slight bend on the sensor. I was able to re-assemble it, and the shaft now moves freely, but I will be acquiring a new sensor, along with a driven gear.
32246

I also cleaned up and ground down the aluminum conversion spacer between the bell housing and the tranny, and is ready for paint.

Carlos

[MPTech]

Unfortunately, a not-so-pleasant surprise made itself known: the transmission speed sensor's plastic driven gear was chewed up.


Don't know if you've purchased your gauges yet, but you can save yourself a lot of time and trouble with a Speedhut GPS Speedo.
I love my custom Speedhut gauges. All electronic, dim-able LED lit, easy install/hookup/programable.
I also ordered and installed the Tach with the built-in shift lights.
4" Tachometer Gauge 8K RPM Shift-light (http://www.speedhut.com/gauge/GR4-TACH-02/1/Tachometer-Gauge-8K-RPM-Shift-light)

Here's my original post with questions, options, and pictures of what I selected.
What Speedhut Gauges did you order? (http://www.ffcars.com/forums/17-factory-five-roadsters/287883-what-sppedhut-guages-did-you-order.html)

[Carlos C]

Yes, I already have the Auto Meter gauges. I'll use them this time. So, I see that with the Speedhut gauges, just about everything can be customized. I'll look into the company later. Maybe, I'll use them on my next build. Thanks for letting me know about them.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

Well, there it is. The tail section is off the transmission. Cleaned the sump and magnets, got all the plastic shards out, and inspected the gears, forks, shafts, and bearings. No damage so far. Thankfully, and unlike the T5 tranny, the drive gear is made out of metal and not plastic. This means that there was no visible damage, and I don't need to change it.
32292 32293

Besides that, I ended up painting the clutch fork, bell housing spacer, and speedometer sensor bracket. Also, I fabricated a block plate out of steel, which will cover the opening for the shifter, while I clean the casing.

Carlos

[Tom Mauldin]

Wow! I didn't know the drive gear was steel. That's a win!

[Carlos C]

Wow! I didn't know the drive gear was steel. That's a win!

Yes, I got lucky on that one. Otherwise, I would've ended up with a bigger mess.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

Ok, so I haven't done anything this week, due to being out of town. What I did do was to place a call to Tremec to get some info on my tranny. They were not helpful at all, so I called D&D Performance. Found out that the 23-tooth (white) speedometer driven gear that self-destroyed, is not a Ford unit, as Ford does not make a driven gear with 23 teeth. I also found out that it was unnecessary for me to have it, after calculations revealed that all I needed was the 18-tooth (yellow) counter-part. This explains why it was so hard to get my speedometer calibrated back then. They couldn't explain why they sold me the 23-tooth gear, 10 years ago.

Either way, I'm pretty sure that I already have the yellow gear; I just have to find it. I'm also sure that I have a spare speed sensor somewhere, most likely still attached to the TKO tranny, which is buried under a bunch of other boxes filled with Mustang parts. Once I'm back home, I'll be re-assembling and painting the transmission and scatter shield. The front tranny cover lip was the only part that was a rough cast, so I ground it down smooth, and is ready for paint. The whole transmission has been completely cleaned outside, and recorded the part numbers etched on the main and tail casings, just in case I need them later for troubleshooting or replacement parts, since this version of the tranny is no longer made.

One more thing I'll be testing before re-assembly is the reverse lock-out solenoid. I decided I want to keep it for safety reasons (especially during spirited shifting), so since I never had it hooked up while in the Mustang, I don't know if it even works. I'll have to run wires to it, along with a momentary button switch, which I'll probably mount on the pedal box (unless someone has a better idea). I was going to mount it on the shifter, but I need the room to mount the momentary switch for my brake lock solenoid. As anyone out there who has tried to put this tranny in reverse, while over-powering this solenoid could attest, you basically need both hands on the shifter (and your foot on the door) to do this. Eventually, the forks and/or the shifter can be damaged. Another mod is to replace the very stiff spring in the solenoid with one that's about half of its tension. I'd just have to get a machine shop to test the spring, and then find or have one fabricated to my specs.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

Well, after thinking about it for a while, here's where I am in regards to the reverse lock-out solenoid. If I place the switch on the brake pedal, I could potentially have two issues:
1. The chance of shifting from 6th to reverse will be there, if I do it while applying the brakes, effectively by-passing the actual reason the solenoid is there to begin with; and
2. The constant opening and closing of the circuit, due to repeated use of the brake pedal, would prematurely wear out the solenoid (and/or the relay, if I decide to use one).

There was a company that made an electronic switch that connected to the speed sensor, and closed the circuit when it registered <3 MPH. That product has since then been discontinued (not to mention that it was expensive).

So, I'm leaning towards mounting a switch somewhere under the left side of the dash. Although I plan to use a hidden battery disconnect switch, and the MSD spark disconnect switch, the lock-out switch may also help somewhat as an anti-theft device, in case I leave all others on.

Suggestions?

Carlos

[Carlos C]

No suggestions, I guess.

Well, this is my only progress report this week, and the last one for the next week as well, since my military duties are taking precedence for the time being. This will leave me zero time to work in the garage.

I spent all of last week working on the tranny, bell housing, rear end cover, and upper intake manifold. Inspected the tranny's gears and bearings, tested the sensors and solenoid, and painted the bell housing and other smaller parts.

32797
Tranny ready for paint.

32798
After paint, ready for re-assembly.

32799
Completed transmission, minus shifter.

32800
Completely finished the rear end. Did a two-color paint job on the housing cover, and re-assembled with the electro-magnetic hardware.

Once I come back, I'll finish grinding down the upper intake smooth, and then finally start on the engine.

Carlos

[Tom Mauldin]

Looks like you have brand new parts! Great job!

[Carlos C]

Thanks, Tom. I'm trying to make the kit look like a donor was not used... Not to mention that I'm a perfectionist, so building a car with worn-looking parts, is not in my DNA.

Carlos

[mjazzka]

First, thank you for your service! I have an uncle who was in the Coast Guard, and he tells me all kinds of stories about his time there.

Second, I just wanted to tell you I REALLY appreciate all the pictures and details you are putting in this, and your attention to detail is astonishing. This is making me think that a donor car really is doable with this kit, albeit with some extra work.

Side note: My high school's fight song was "Semper Paratus". Pretty darn catchy tune.

[Carlos C]

Ahh yes, Always Ready. Thank you for the kind words. It wouldn't be so much extra work if I didn't refurbished the donor parts, but I just couldn't see myself doing a kit that way. I still have so many more extra Mustang parts laying around, that my next kit will also be donor-based. Glad that you're enjoying the photos.

Carlos

[Russ Thompson]

Carlos, I have always been a real fan of going the donor route, it's a GREAT way to build the car of your dreams on a budget. I built my roadster in 1998 going that way and it was the best way for me to get what I never thought I'd own, my own cobra. I had great fun doing just what your doing, cleaning and painting what some people called used parts, I called them bullit proof parts and when finished looked brand new, just like yours!
Now 16 years later I'm still driving my roadster and it's been the most dependable car I've ever owned! :-) Not bad for a car built with "a bunch of used parts"

Keep it up, your car will be killer when done!

[Carlos C]

Thanks, Russ! There's a lot more work involved when using a donor, and although I chose to do it this way in order to keep the soul of a car I proudly built and owned for 16 years, I do wish I had started the process of overhauling the used parts much sooner, way before I ordered my kit. I learned my lesson for the next donor-based kit.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

I have not gotten anything done in the last three weeks, until today. Military duty kept me away the first two, and I was under the weather with a cold that turned into a throat infection this last week. Unfortunately, I won't be getting much done for the next two weeks, since my girlfriend will be visiting. The good news is that besides the few parts that need powder coating, and re-polishing the blower, all I have left to overhaul is the engine, which I placed on the stand today, ready to go.

I'll be replacing the oil pump, checking bearings, valves, springs, pistons, and rings. I'll also replace gaskets and the rear main seal. The block and heads will receive a fresh coat of paint. I don't expect doing any major work on it, as it only has about 3K miles on it. Just covering my bases since it has been sitting around for a few years, although it does run.

Today, I was finally able to finish grinding down the upper intake manifold to a smooth finish. One final turn on the parts washer, then an acetone bath, and I'll put it away until I'm ready to powder coat it.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

AND THE ENGINE TEAR-DOWN BEGINS:

33575
In the photo above, the engine is as it came out of the Mustang. Although it only had about 3K miles of use, it had been weathered from sitting around for a few years. The paint has been peeling off all surfaces (except the oil pan), with the iron block and heads exhibiting superficial rust. Even the harmonic balancer has rust on it, and this was supposed to be a stainless steel unit. Yeah, right. I'll submerge it in the rust bath, and if that destroys the finish, then I'll paint it black, and the markings white.

33579
So far, I've removed the lower intake manifold, all the hardware, sensors, and heater line attached to it, thermostat and thermostat housing, valve covers, and distributor. Lifter valley was immaculate, spiders were in excellent shape, rockers and valve springs look great, and all head studs and bolts are properly torqued down. I haven't decided to take the heads off yet. I'll probably borrow a borescope from work and check the cylinder walls and pistons that way. As long as I don't see anything that raises a flag, I'll probably leave the heads in place. The timing chain cover will be coming off to get a fresh coat of paint, and to inspect the chain (not that it needs it). The bottom end will be getting a new oil pump, as the current one has given me a few scares, and the addition of a windage tray. I'll also replace the rear main seal, as it had a small leak.

What most likely take the longest to prep will be the lower intake manifold. Just like the upper counterpart, I'll be grinding it down smooth. Not looking forward to that job, but it will look good once it is powder coated. Still haven't decided if I'll be using the EGR / EGR spacer set-up. If I don't, I'll have to plug the exhaust port on the head, and create a plate to replace the spacer. Many decisions to be made before the engine goes back together...

Carlos

[mjazzka]

I've gotta say, the rust on the header on the right had me just a little bit concerned about your springs and such. Without the valve covers everything looks great under there from here though. That block is black as night, geez.

What did you do to get yours to 358ci, buy it or get that work done? I'm currently deciding what I want to do engine-wise, and my goal right now is 500 hp for as cheap as I can get it. So the choice right now is either 302 stroked or a 351 (also possibly stroked). Since I will probably be getting a donor, I'll already have a 302, but I want it to last as a daily driver too... So many choices. Any advice would be appreciated.

Also, are you going to paint the engine once it's back together, or just the timing chain cover? I see you're powder coating the intake manifold, that'll look good.

[Carlos C]

It is a 351W bored out .030 over to achieve 358 CI. I had the machine shop do it for me. I bought mine stock from a '94 Bronco.

It'd be easier and cheaper to extract 500 hp from a 351W than a 302. With the right parts, you can reach that goal by stroking the 351 to a 427. With a 302, you'll have to use a power adder (blower, turbo, or nitro), even after stroking to a 347.

The whole engine, including brackets and accessories, will be getting painted or powder coated.

Carlos

[loeffler1]

You'll have to modify your hood for clearance on the 351 as the deck height is higher. My air cleaner on my 302 is about 1/4" to 1/2" clearance under the hood.

[Carlos C]

Hey Bill:

On the Mustang, the engine required at least a 3" cowl hood in order to clear. I figure i'd have the same issues with the kit. Thankfully, I have a mocking block, so I should have everything figured out before I ever drop the actual engine in. Most likely, I will have to over-size the hood bubble to make the intake fit. It will be just a little more fiberglass work.

Carlos

[loeffler1]

You could go crazy and do a dual downdraft 4 carb Weber system with short stacks. Does your mockup have heads? I've never seen one, are they plastic? Anyways, if they do you might be able to get the measurements to fit these. I mean it's only money right? You can't take it with you so you might as well enjoy it now. And what a better way than the coupe. That's what I keep telling the wife. LOL

[Carlos C]

Yes, it came with heads; and yes, it's made out of plastic. Well, polyurethane, to be more precise.

Although I'd love to go with a flashy induction set-up that catches your eyes as soon as you open the hood, I'm sticking with the one that my supercharger gets along with just fine, and helps put out an immense amount of power and torque... If it ain't broke...

Carlos

[CHOTIS BILL]

Here is a link to Speedway Motors where the block came from. http://www.speedwaymotors.com/P-Ayr-Products-3024-Ford-351W-Set-Up-Block,7447.html They also have many other types.

Bill Lomenick

[Carlos C]

I'm finally back in the garage this week, after a long hiatus. I've been working on the lower intake manifold for a couple of days, and it'll be a few more days before it's done. Just like the upper intake, this is not fun, but necessary to get a good powder coating finish.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=34174&d=1412131144
Before surgery (rough casting)

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=34175&d=1412131145
Water neck ground down

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=34176&d=1412131147
Partial surgery completed with a die grinder and 80-grit flap wheel.

Once I get done with the intake manifold, I'll continue tearing down the engine.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

The one item I was missing from my T-56 was the pigtail connector for the reverse lock-out solenoid. You see, when I purchased this transmission 10 years ago, I had every intention to add this safety feature to my Mustang, but along with other things, it was omitted due to time constraints while I was building the Mustang. So, during the short time I drove the car, I had to slam it into reverse every time. Well, I decided that I was going to do it right this time around. So after failed attempts to find this unique connector from the dealers and auto part stores, I made one last call to D&D Performance, which is the place I purchased the Viper tranny and Mustang retrofit kit from 10 years ago, before I butchered an universal weather pack.

To my surprise, the owner of D&D still had my invoice on file, and after explaining my situation, he offered to send me this connector (a $40 item) at no charge to me. That was a very nice gesture on his part. All I had to pay for was shipping. Well, I received the part today, and it fits perfectly. It came with about a foot of 16 gauge wire, and since I'll most likely be installing the momentary switch on the shifter handle or knob using 22 gauge wire, that means that I'll be using a relay. I just need to find out how many amps that solenoid needs to run for the fuse.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=34226&d=1412214483
T-56 Reverse lock-out solenoid connector pigtail

Carlos

[wallace18]

Good people like him keep customers coming back as well as add new ones.

[Carlos C]

Although I spent most of the day today making minor repairs to my motorcycle, I was able to get some work done on the engine, and check out some of the goodies I received yesterday while I was out of town. I removed and inspected all the spark plugs. While they were out, I squirted some oil into the cylinders, and hand-turned the engine. I was surprised how effortlessly it turned with just a ratchet. That's a very good sign. The one thing I regret not doing before taking the engine apart was a compression test, but with the small amount of miles it has, I'm not too concerned. Got the timing pointer and crankshaft bolt off, but need to get a puller to get the harmonic balancer off, so I can de-rust it.

The lower intake manifold is completely ground down and ready for powder coating.
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=34344&d=1412565151

Got some cleckos, gaskets, but more importantly, the dual radiator fans with shroud. This unit does fit like a glove to the Coupe's radiator, with the only issue being having to create two mounting tabs. But the dimensions are dead on, for being an Mazda RX-7 unit.
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=34345&d=1412565153

But now I have a dilemma. After I ordered this fan unit, I saw the modification that Fluge made to the Roadster shroud from Breeze Automotive for his Coupe, and I started having second thoughts. Although the one I purchased has dual fans, the shroud is very shallow. The one from Breeze is fairly deep, which helps move more air. Another concern is that I'm using the same 600+ HP engine that was on my Mustang. The Coupe's radiator is considerably smaller than the one on the Mustang, which had dual fans (also with a shallow shroud). This set-up on the Mustang could barely keep up, as the temperature would creep up to almost overheating if it sat in traffic. Although I'm planning to take other measures to help prevent this from happening, the fan set-up is definitely the biggest factor.

I need to make a quick decision as to which set-up to use. If I decide to use the FFR fan with the Breeze Automotive shroud, I need to return the other unit very soon, while I still can. I'll take suggestions.

Carlos

[wallace18]

I bought the Breeze shroud but had to use a different fan. The fan that came with my complete kit was too large for the shroud.

[Carlos C]

Hey Tom:

Here's a photo of Fluge's conversion. According to him, that's the FFR-supplied fan and radiator for the Coupe, and Breeze Automotive's shroud for the Roadster, which he modified to fit. I'm sending him a PM, just to verify everything. I'll post his reply. Thanks for your input.

Carlos

34371

[Fluge]

Here let me save you a step....this was my reply to Carlos....

I did use the FFR supplied fan. I can measure it for you when I get home. I'm trying to recall what I may have had to do to get the fit that I have....which seems perfect after it was all said and done.

I did modify the bottom of the slanted aluminum piece. I think I ended up cutting the horizontal bottom portion off of that piece, pushed the slanted portion back and made a new reinforced bottom piece that tied the vertical portion of the slant with the other (elephant ear) aluminum piece. As I recall I did that so that the bottom of the fan would fit better in front of the slant. I added another more substantial aluminum flat piece under all that and an L shaped piece above it all. I had heard many complain about how flimsy that section was so I basically redid it and created more space for the fan in the process. There was a recent thread on fans and someone used a dual fan set up (summit Racing fans) that seem thinner than the FFR...see if you could use those. The Breeze shroud is very nice and easy to modify to fit the coupe rad. It's a little deeper than some others I have seen and the sides are angled which I would think would help with airflow. Done properly you don't see the cuts in the shroud. I'll have a look at the thread I did and see if I can find pictures to help explain better.... Was it this site or the other Forum?

Here...found these...I made the whole aluminum ducting modular such that I can take it apart if needed...hence the nuts on the back side of the lower piece...the bolts have been trimmed back since the picture was taken. I did tack on a small metal piece at the bottom. I couldn't get the aluminum to sit square and having used calipers to line up the ducting at the top I wanted everything to look as straight as possible... it bugged me enough that I added a little support.

I had to be patient with all this but I am happy with the result.

Hope this helps...

http://i561.photobucket.com/albums/ss56/DDOVERDT/201304063.jpg (http://s561.photobucket.com/user/DDOVERDT/media/201304063.jpg.html)

http://i561.photobucket.com/albums/ss56/DDOVERDT/20130331.jpg (http://s561.photobucket.com/user/DDOVERDT/media/20130331.jpg.html)

http://i561.photobucket.com/albums/ss56/DDOVERDT/2013040623.jpg (http://s561.photobucket.com/user/DDOVERDT/media/2013040623.jpg.html)

http://i561.photobucket.com/albums/ss56/DDOVERDT/2013040626.jpg (http://s561.photobucket.com/user/DDOVERDT/media/2013040626.jpg.html)

Marc

[wallace18]

Looks good!

[Carlos C]

Ok, let's try this for the third time. For some reason, my reply has not been posting.

Marc:

To answer your question, the photo and post I found were on this forum. I measured my fan and it's 16 3/8" in diameter at the round sections, and 16" even at the flat sections. Please let me know if yours has the same measurements.

Did you do all the mods to the aluminum ducting because they were necessary to fit the custom shroud? If you have any photos of what you did to modify the bottom of the shroud, I'd really appreciate it if you could share them. Thanks!

Carlos

[Carlos C]

Took the harmonic balancer off the engine, and with a wire wheel attached to the bench grinder, I gave it some TLC.

Before treatment:
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=34421&d=1412732162

After treatment:
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=34420&d=1412732034

The dilemma I'm facing now with this is that I'd like to keep this so-called "stainless steel", looking as such. Clear coat paint did not work (as reference, see first photo). Can't powder coat it clear due to the liquid inside the balancer. I'd like to somehow apply a durable clear coat, which will last years, and will keep this balancer from rusting. Otherwise, I'll have to prime and paint it black.

Hopefully, tomorrow the oil pan and timing chain cover will be the next to fall victim to my greasy hands. In the meantime, I have some of the hardware bathing on de-rusting formula, including the counter-weight for the harmonic balancer. I want to see what it does to this "stainless steel" surface.

Carlos

[Fluge]

Carlos

My fan is the same dimension as yours.

My car is definitely a one-off kind of build....because I can't remember how I did things!!?

The short answer to your question..."did you make the mods to the ducting to fit the shroud" is.... probably. I had already modified the base of the ducting to add strength to it but as I recall when I mounted the shroud, it was tight and so I redid it with the mod described above. It wasn't that hard to do. The width of the shroud is perfect for the rad so I just had to alter the height. I could have done a better job cutting and splicing the shroud back together....I just cut it into 2 pieces then slid one piece into the other and riveted them together. I should have placed the seam of the splice at the very bottom. Having said that you can't see it when installed in the car. As I recall I used aluminum L brackets to mount the shroud to the rad (with Nutsert fasteners). Once the shroud was riveted together I traced and cut the hole for the fan.

[Carlos C]

Thanks, Marc. I have to mock thing up and take some readings, and then decide what direction to take with the cooling system.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

Dropped the oil pan, and was pleasantly surprised to find no signs of sludge or metal shavings. Clean, clean, clean. Unfortunately, my concerns about the oil pump were right (so far). I placed clay on the pick-up tube and re-installed the oil pan. When I removed it and measured the clay, I had a full 1/2" of clearance. I shouldn't have more than 1/4" to 3/8". It doesn't help that I was using a stock double hump style 5-quart pan. I was losing pressure due to cavitation.

Upgrades will include a new oil pump, a 7-quart performance rear-sump oil pan, and a windage tray. The timing chain looks great. Tomorrow I'll start the bottom end inspection. Hopefully this weekend, I'll start stripping the block and heads off paint.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

After performing a bottom end inspection, I'm very happy to report that everything is in great condition; cylinder walls, pistons, rods, journals, camshaft lobes, and timing chain. I'll be checking some of the journal bearings before I install the windage tray. I bought new front and rear main seals, oil pan gaskets, oil pump, and timing chain cover gasket. The next step is to mechanically and chemically strip the block and heads and then repaint. I will also be ordering the windage tray and new oil pan tomorrow.

Half-way there.
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=34495&d=1412904986

Carlos

[Carlos C]

Today, I worked on the Coupe itself. I decided to check on measurements and potential fitment issues. Well, fitment issues I found, which I expected. I started by dropping in the polyurethane block and heads, and added the real valve covers, lower and upper intake manifolds, and oil pan. It didn't take long to see some of the forthcoming modifications.

Finally pulled the hood off the Coupe for the first time.
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=34535&d=1413074136

The upper intake, as suspected, is taller than the cowl. It is also wider than the hood bubble. This means that I will have to modify the hood to make this engine fit. Additionally, the use of the EGR valve is a big, resounding NO. The upper intake sits so tall, that the EGR actually hits the cowl. No EGR, then the EGR spacer is useless. I'll plug up the exhaust recirculation port from the passenger head, and fabricate a plate to go between the upper intake and throttle body, to accept the throttle cable bracket.
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=34533&d=1413074133

The biggest obstacle I barely averted was clearing the upper intake off the body. I can barely get two sheets of paper between the intake and the cowl, but all I'll need to do there is cut a little off the vertical lip to make some more clearance. That was too close. Otherwise, the cowl would have had to be modified as well.
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=34534&d=1413074135

Another concern is the scatter shield. It seems like it will be a very tight fit within the two 45-degree tubing at the rear of the engine compartment. Before I take the mocking engine back out, I'll test-fit the scatter shield, just to make sure. In the meantime, I'm still searching for the perfect oil pan for my engine. Summit doesn't seem to have it, so the search continues...

Carlos

[CHOTIS BILL]

For the engine height problem have you thought about solid engine mounts that drop the engine lower? For the oil pan try Levy Racing http://levyracing.com/ Give him a call he can set you up with the solid engine mounts and an oil pan that will work. Not all his stuff is on his web page. For a scatter shield won’t a SFI approved bell housing be adequate?

Bill Lomenick

[Carlos C]

Bill:

I thought about the solid mounts, but my problem is that I have a fairly wild cam. The engine vibration may make for an uncomfortable ride. I'll see if I can get them from the local parts store, and if I still have to modify the hood regardless, then there's no point in using them, so I'll just return them. If the engine fits with the solid mounts, I'll wait until the go-cart stage to decide if I'll keep them or not.

I'll try Gordon for the oil pan. I'm probably just being too picky, though. As far as the scatter shield goes, I'm using an SFI-approved steel housing. Considering how much power and torque this engine makes, I wouldn't feel comfortable using an aluminum bell-housing. The housing I have is the same that came with the tranny when I ordered it. I still have to bolt it to the plastic block, and check clearances, but it looks like it will be a very tight.

[Carlos C]

Finished chemically stripping the engine of paint. Next steps are to wash it with soap and water using a scuff pad, clean all the gasket surfaces, spray the whole engine with Ospho to convert all the rust to iron phosphate, wash with acetone, and finally start the paint process.

I still need to find a suitable oil pan, re-furbish the valve covers and timing chain cover.

At least the harmonic balancer is done.
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=34923&d=1413951023

Carlos

[Carlos C]

It's been over 2 months since my last post. Unfortunately, my personal life was turned upside-down. My health took a turn for the worse, and has prevented me from working in the garage. I am slowly recovering, but my physical limitations at this time will probably keep me from working on the kit for a few more weeks. Unfortunately, due to this chronic spine issue, I am now dealing with the reality of being forced out of the military via medical retirement. This situation will also keep me somewhat occupied, but I'm itching to get back to work on the Coupe. It's just too bad that I won't reach my goal of having it completed by summer.

Update:
As of my last post, I had spent a lot of time on the engine. I had completely chemically stripped it of paint and rust, inspected, painted, and re-assembled it. As of now, the engine has new front and rear main seals; the timing chain cover, new oil pump, oil pan, harmonic balancer, and water pump are back on the engine. The valve covers have been sanded and re-polished, and are temporarily installed. The upper and lower intake manifold are basically the only major parts of the engine that need attention. Once I get them powder-coated, they'll be ready for installation. Engine pictures to follow soon.

Carlos

[wallace18]

It's been over 2 months since my last post. Unfortunately, my personal life was turned upside-down. My health took a turn for the worse, and has prevented me from working in the garage. I am slowly recovering, but my physical limitations at this time will probably keep me from working on the kit for a few more weeks. Unfortunately, due to this chronic spine issue, I am now dealing with the reality of being forced out of the military via medical retirement. This situation will also keep me somewhat occupied, but I'm itching to get back to work on the Coupe. It's just too bad that I won't reach my goal of having it completed by summer.

Update:
As of my last post, I had spent a lot of time on the engine. I had completely chemically stripped it of paint and rust, inspected, painted, and re-assembled it. As of now, the engine has new front and rear main seals; the timing chain cover, new oil pump, oil pan, harmonic balancer, and water pump are back on the engine. The valve covers have been sanded and re-polished, and are temporarily installed. The upper and lower intake manifold are basically the major parts of the engine that need attention. Once I get them powder coated, they'll be ready for installation. Engine pictures to follow soon.

Carlos
Best wishes on getting well soon. Hang in there. The kit can wait.

[Carlos C]

Thanks, Tom! Besides being able to getting around and living a "normal" life again, the other thing I'm looking forward to is working on the Coupe, and eventually finishing it.

Carlos

[65 Cobra Dude]

Carlos,

Take care or yourself. I'll be driving down in a week and would love to come up and see the Coupe.

Henry

[Carlos C]

Hey Henry:

Once again, welcome back home! You're more than welcome to come by, although there's not much for you to look at, but we can definitely sit in the garage and talk shop. Send me a PM and let me know when you want to come up and I'll give you my address. If you can, bring your beautiful Roadster. I could definitely use the motivation (and a little envy).

Carlos

[John Dol]

Carlos,

Hope you spring back to normal soon. Want to see more progress and pictures from your garage!! Still toying with my Spyder dash.

John

[Carlos C]

Thanks, John. Me too...

The way I figured, the dash cross bar needs to be moved forward about an inch, to allow the Spyder dash to fit properly. This means that the A/C unit would also need to move forward the same amount. But if you make it work a different way, by all means, please post plenty of photos and details.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

Although I'm not able to do any work in the garage, I did promise to post photos of the engine as it sits at this time.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=37408&d=1420754841
Left: As it came off the Mustang (minus the upper intake, and some other parts), after 10 years of mother nature putting a beating on it. Right: Almost done with the restoration. Next step is to powder coat the upper and lower intake manifolds.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=37409&d=1420754843
This is literally how I left the engine the day before my ill-fated spine procedure, which left me in the physical condition I currently find myself in. It pains me to go out to the garage and look at it, and not being able to finish it. Hopefully soon...

Carlos

[Carlos C]

By the way, do any of you guys have a set of solid engine mounts for 302/351W that you're not using and I could borrow to test the hood clearance? I plan to install my intake manifold on the mock-up engine block. With the regular mounts, I know I'll have to cut the hood. If I clear the hood with the solid mounts, I'd have to decide if I can live with the engine vibration, but at least I'd have a choice. Of course, I'd also have to check oil pan clearance with the solid mounts. Thanks in advance.

Carlos

[CHOTIS BILL]

Carlos,

I know everyone is different but from my experience with back problems, I am preparing for my fifth spinel surgery, do not try and rush getting back to doing normal things like working on your car. There is nothing important enough risk setting back your recovery. Another thing I have found is taking a mussel relaxer helps reduce the pain for me. So get well soon but take your time.

Gordon Levy sells solid mounts and from what others have said the vibrations aren’t that noticeable.

I love fallowing along with your build,

Bill Lomenick

[Carlos C]

Thanks, Bill. I'm done with muscle relaxers. They stopped doing anything for me, besides making me feel like a zombie. I'm back at work now, so I can't drive or work while I'm heavily sedated.

The vibration is dependant on the engine and the camshaft. Mine is fairly lopey, so I'm not sure if I'll like how the car would feel with solid mounts, not to mention I'd need to make sure that the engine will clear the hood with these mounts; otherwise, they'd be useless to me. So before I spend $50 to $100 on a set of solid mounts that may or may not work, I'd like to borrow some, so I can test them with my engine.

Carlos

[Jacob McCrea]

Carlos,

Sorry to hear about the health woes; hopefully this will just be a short interruption in building.

[Carlos C]

I guess I just couldn't help myself. I hope that as long as I'm sitting on a stool I'm alright, and not in danger of injuring my back.

I decided to mock up the accessory drive onto the engine to see if there was any chance to add the A/C compressor to what I already had (the blower takes the whole driver side; the alternator and power steering pump go on the passenger side). I was hoping that I would be able to somehow fit the compressor under the blower, but that's a no-go. The accessory bracket (shown on the first picture below) on the passenger side, holds both, the alternator and steering pump. I cannot use it for the A/C compressor. I can save it for the next build.

This leaves me with only two options, in order to be able to have A/C on this car (keep in mind that I live in FL):
1. Simply manual steering (power muscle steering...) or
2. Get an electrical pump set-up.

The other issue I have to resolve is that the compressor brackets that came with the A/C system don't match the Ford small block heads well. Out of all the holes drilled on these brackets, there's only one way in which two holes align all the way at the bottom, but that leaves the compressor sitting too high on the head, putting too much stress on the bracket, which could lead to failure. I could change the brackets' position by drilling at least one more hole on each one, but that would mean that I have to find or fabricate a bracket for the alternator to mount below it. Bottom line is that I need to mount the A/C compressor and alternator on the passenger side of the engine, and I need to find a company that hopefully makes a bracket that will work with this compressor. Otherwise, fabrication will be in order. And since many companies make this 302/351W bracket set-up with the alternator on top, I assume that I'll have to fabricate a new set of brackets for the compressor, which will have to attach to the alternator bracket.

If anyone out there has done this, or has seen others do this, please direct me to their pages, post photos, attach links, or even let me know of any company you know of that makes a bracket set-up known to work this way. Also, any recommendations for electrical power steering pumps will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=37564&d=1421116702
Blower installed on engine, with the alternator/power steering pump combo bracket attached to the passenger side head.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=37565&d=1421116703
Basically how the engine will look when it's completed (pay no mind to the gutted alternator casing). Unfortunately, this set-up won't allow the use of an A/C compressor; therefore, the OEM power steering pump needs to go, and so will the bracket that attaches it to the alternator.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=37566&d=1421116703
Mocked up the blower on the kit, using the mock-up block, just to make sure that it would clear the frame. It does... by about an inch. So far, the only foreseeable mod to the frame is the dashboard cross member.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

Thank you, Jacob. I feel the same way.

Carlos

[kkcalm5]

Carlos
enjoy watching your build, hope to be building a 33 HR in the near future
in regard to the AC compressor mounting.
you may want to check out the electric AC compressor I saw in Hot Rod Mag.
it is about 8"tall and 7" across and can be mounted where you have space.
i8t is a little pricey at 12-$1500 but may be a solution to the fit
it's by Sean Hyland Motorsports, check it out at:
www.seanhylandmotorsport.com
look under the tab 12V electric AC
Kevin

[Carlos C]

Hey Kevin:

Thanks for your input. Those compressors are basically what you'd find on your refrigerator. What they don't tell you, are the disadvantages. They create huge amperage draw at start-up and while running, that normal car electrical systems are not equipped to handle. Your typical alternator, for example, wouldn't be able to keep up. Fuses and wires on the chassis harness can't handle the power necessary to run the compressor, etc. Besides spending so much money on one of those compressors, you'd have to spend so much more modifying your electrical system, in order to be able to run it without causing a fire.

Besides, car A/C compressors are expensive enough. The way I see it, every time I buy the A/C option for one of the kits, it will come with a compressor. The fact is that although I won't be able to use my steering pump on this build, I can always use it on the next one, and save some money then.

Best case scenario is finding an affordable electrical steering pump, and find a supplier that has brackets that will work with my alternator/compressor combo. Absolute worst case scenario would be going with the manual steering, and having to fabricate a bracket system for the compressor which would work with whatever alternator bracket I end up going with.

Once again, thanks for your input, Kevin. Keep 'em coming.

Carlos

[S2D2]

Carlos, Don't forget I am just around the corner and if you need a third hand let me know. Bob C

[Carlos C]

Bob, don't worry. I haven't forgotten about you.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

I've been messing around with the supercharger for the last few days, and also taking measurements for custom accessory brackets (more on that later). First, although I've never had any problems with it, I decided that my blower was due for an inspection, since it's over 10 years old. Might as well do it now while it's off the engine, and not wait until it's on the vehicle and it starts making noises or developing leaks.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=38233&d=1422661273
The biggest problem I had was trying to separate the front cover from the main body, due to the input shaft seal. It made such a good seal that it took me about 30 minutes to carefully slide the cover off the shaft.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=38234&d=1422661274
All the bearings and gears were in excellent condition. There were no metal shavings in the oil or in the casing. The impeller was very clean and free of any damage. Since there's no need to re-build it, I will just be cleaning the main casing, and then coating the outside with high-temp ceramic paint. The front cover and volute will be lightly blasted, cleaned, and then powder-coated.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=38235&d=1422661274
The input shaft seal had to be removed, as it would not survive the trip to the powder-coating oven. Amazingly, it came out without any fanfare at all. All I had to use to press it out was my bench vise with hardly any pressure at all. It still looks new, but I will be replacing it anyway.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=38236&d=1422661275
The only real issue I ran into was a casting imperfection on the volute. There's a section with a jagged edge (marked with arrows on the photo). Nothing that my Dremel with a grinding stone attachment, a steady hand, and a couple of minutes couldn't fix.

Now, onto the issue with my accessories. The blower kit I purchased came with a relocation bracket for the power steering pump (to the passenger side, under the alternator), and deleted the A/C. Back then, I lived up North, had a Mustang with roll-down windows, and didn't care for A/C. Now I live in FL, and building a Coupe... Well, you do the math. I can't add any accessories on the driver side (the monster brackets for the blower won't allow it). I decided to delete the steering pump and add the A/C compressor in its place. This means that I can no longer use the bracket that came with the blower kit. I thought that I would have to fabricate my own, since the A/C compressor is not the stock Ford unit, but I decided to call March Performance just to take a shot in the dark. Well, I got lucky. It just so happens that they do have a bracket kit for a 351W for the exact A/C compressor that came with Vintage Air kit, and it mounts on the passenger side, under the alternator. It's a fairly new kit, so I have to wait a few weeks to get it from them, but I'm so far away from that stage, that it doesn't matter anyway. I'm just glad that it will be one less thing to fabricate. After taking some measurements with the exhaust header on, the A/C hoses will have plenty of clearance. I may still go with power steering, but it would be of the electric pump kind.

38237
This is basically the set-up, except the power steering pump on the driver side. I was told by March Performance that I'd have to provide my own idler pulley on the driver side. Obviously my blower sits there. My blower kit did come with an idler pulley that attaches to the top of the water pump. The only problem is that the belt tensioning turnbuckle from March attaches to one of the bolts that my pulley also attaches to. I'm sure that once I get the system, I'll come up with a spacer to make it all work out.

I placed an order to Eastwood for some powder-coating supplies, as I just realized that I don't have enough to do everything I'm planning to do in the next few weeks. Hopefully, my back will hold up to the abuse...

Carlos

[Carlos C]

Spent the last few days dealing with the custom engine accessory drive kit I received from March Performance. Unfortunately, there were no instructions, diagrams, and even some of the hardware was incorrect. When I contacted them, I was told that no instructions nor diagrams exist for my kit. I was able to find a diagram from a different set-up that resembles the one I have, but it was basically like putting together a puzzle. Even the parts were not well organized in the box, so it took some guessing and a couple of tries.

After I had everything basically put together, here are the discrepancies I found: The longest bolt in the kit was too long. After a few trips to local hardware and specialty stores with negative results for the exact size I needed, I ended up cutting 3/8" off their bolt to make it fit the way it should. Two other bolts were too short, and so was one of the spacers provided. Instead of arguing with the "know-it-all" I spoke to the first time, I decided to just get these items from the local hardware store. For a company that's been around for so many years, I expected more. At least the kit is pretty to look at.

The only other problem I ran into was the alternator clearance for the brackets, which I wasn't surprised. My alternator is not stock and the kit was not made for this alternator. The top bracket hole, which incorporates the belt tensioning turnbuckle, did not align with the top hole on the alternator. Using my drill press, I opened up the hole on the alternator case, and with a grinding stone, I removed some of the material around the mounting tab; problem solved.

The front alternator casing, interfered with the kit's main bracket, which kept the alternator from swinging further, and prevented a bigger belt adjustment. I proceeded to do some minor surgery on the alternator casing. I marked the spot where it hit the bracket, and with a grinding stone, I removed some material and made it concave. I gained about 5 degrees of swing from that.
38579

The spacer for the A/C compressor rear bracket bolt came 1/2" too short. I had a spare, which I had cut from another spacer mod (see next paragraph) to fill the gap.
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=38569&d=1423452682

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=38570&d=1423452682

The belt tensioning turnbuckle attaches to the water pump at the same location where the blower kit's serpentine belt idler pulley bracket attaches. This bracket uses 1" spacers, and the turnbuckle rod end is 1/2". I cut the spacer in half, and attached the turnbuckle with idler pulley bracket sitting completely straight.
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=38571&d=1423452683

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=38572&d=1423452684

Something else I noticed about this kit was that the A/C compressor is supported only on three out of the four attaching points. It may be overkill, but I decided that I'd rather be safe than sorry. The unused attaching point aligns perfectly with one of the bolts on the timing chain cover which also holds the timing pointer. I fabricated a bracket out of 1/8" steel and painted it, and used stainless steel hardware to attach it to the compressor.
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=38573&d=1423452684

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=38574&d=1423452685

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=38576&d=1423452686


[Continued on next post]

Carlos

[Carlos C]

Finally, I used nylon cord and ran it through the pulleys the same way the belt would, while the adjusting turnbuckle was all the way in; then marked, cut, and measured it. I added about 0.325" to compensate for pulley grooves and lip. Here's the final assembly. I still have to powder-coat the alternator and its pulley, and the water pump pulley; not to mention the blower and all its brackets, plus the upper and lower intake manifolds.
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=38577&d=1423452687

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=38578&d=1423452687

Carlos

[mcwho]

Congrats, I kinda know how you feel as I was Overseas and ordered my kit as a present to myself.

[Carlos C]

Thanks, Bob. I hope to start feeling that way when it's done and I can enjoy driving the wheels off it.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

When it rains, it pours:

Due to my spine issues, I haven't been able to ride my bike since November. Well, I guess it decided to finally show its disapproval by leaking front fork oil all over my floor. If that wasn't annoying and distracting from the project enough, now I'm also dealing with more medical issues. So for the time being, while I'm painfully surviving a kidney stone and infection, there will be no garage time for me.

38837
A not-so-very-pleasant surprise from my motorcycle. Since this happened while the bike was sitting in my garage for a couple of months, my best guess would be dry-rotted, but the seal is constantly submerged in oil... So, the only logical explanation is that my bike just does not like me much right now.

38838
Since the bike was due for a fork oil change anyway, I decided to take both forks off the bike. Unfortunately, I do not have any of the special tooling required to re-build these, so I just took them to my local Harley dealer, who were a little skeptical about re-building these custom forks. My reply to them was: "Hey, you used to sell and work on these custom bikes. At least I did half of the work for you already."

Hopefully, I can recover soon from this health issue, and get back to work on the Coupe (and the bike).

Carlos

[MPTech]

Sorry to hear this when you're down with back problems.
Hope you're better soon and can finish up the coupe, I was enjoying the progress.

[Carlos C]

Was enjoying? Don't give up on me yet. The Coupe will get done, even if it is by my ghost...

Seriously though, thanks for your kind words.

Carlos

[MPTech]

I KNOW you'll finish it! hang in there!

[mjazzka]

Sounds like you need more Icy Hot! Just watch where you put it...

But really, I know back problems can be REALLY bad, and I hope you make a recovery as soon as possible.

I enjoy your posts about your bike, they are kind of like bonus information. I didn't even know motorcycle forks had oil in them! What is that for, exactly...?

[loeffler1]

Hey Carlos C - Got a solution for your back problem, come on up here to Maine and shovel some snow for excercise, we've only got over 90 inches so far. Only kidding, hope you recover from the back problem and able to complete that coupe!!!

[Carlos C]

Michael:

Besides the old-school "springer" type forks, the modern forks have internal springs. The oil works to dampen the bound and re-bound, just like a typical car strut/shock.

Bill:

I used to live up North (MA, MD, VA, AK), and don't miss shoveling snow at all. Once my kidney infection clears up, I'll slowly get back to work on the Coupe, while I rehab my spine.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

Now that I finally passed the stone and the kidney infection has subsided, I decided to go back out to the garage and get something done. Since I will most likely not use the EGR and EGR spacer, I went ahead and fabricated a bracket that will be sandwiched between the intake manifold and the throttle body, and will hold the throttle cable bracket.

39414
Made a template out of cardboard, using the throttle body and the EGR spacer as guides. Then, I transferred it to 14 gauge sheet steel, using a sheet metal shear, a drill press, a hole saw, a grinder, and a vertical band saw.

39415
Test-fitted the bracket on the intake and installed the throttle body. Everything fit perfectly. Now, a little high-temp paint to avoid rust, and it'll be done.

Carlos

[John Dol]

good stuff, keep at it Carlos!

John

[Carlos C]

Thanks, John. I can only do small things for the time being, but at least it's still progress.

For whatever reason, the photos didn't upload before. Hopefully now they did, even if they're just hyperlinks.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

I'm Back... Sort of.

I can't believe that it's been 7 months since the last time I wrote anything on my own thread, but I'd been busy dealing with my health, and lawyers due to my forced retirement from the military for medical reasons. Unfortunately, I lost the battle and I was medically retired three weeks ago, but I won my disability percentage battle with the military. Now, I just have to see how the VA will rate me, once they close my case. Besides that, I'm also now the VP of my community's HOA, so that keeps me fairly busy.

I went to the Emerald Coast Cruizin' car show in Panama City last weekend, and spent a lot of time hanging out with the crew from FFR, especially Tony Zullo. Thanks to him, we were able to iron out some decisions about the exhaust system on my Coupe. Tony, I'll be giving you a call soon. I took some photos from the car show, including one of Wayne's twin-turbo and supercharged Roadster beast, which he sold to a customer who apparently has been lighting up the rear tires.

47784 47785 47786 47787 47788

I also met TV celebrity Courtney Hansen, who's off the Power Nation (Power Block) TV show and supposedly working on her own show, in which she will be turning wrenches.
47789

Of course, my day wouldn't be complete if I didn't catch up with Dave Smith.
47790

In regards to my build, I've started working on a powder coating box. This will be the last piece of the puzzle for me (hopefully). Once I get this done, I can start powder coating the FFR parts which came bare, and some donor parts which I'd rather powder coat than paint. After that, I can start with the actual build. There will be plenty of custom work done, so this is going to take a while. I'll post photos of the powder coating box construction once I get it done.

Carlos

[wallace18]

Glad to hear you are able to get back to working on your build.

[CHOTIS BILL]

Welcome back Carlos,

Very sorry that your back issues forced an unwanted life style change on you and hope your dealings with the VA turns out better that what TV is always reporting. My brother was in the Air Force and had nothing but good things to say about the treatment he received.

Good luck,

Bill Lomenick

[John Dol]

All I want to know is, where is your other hand in the picture with Courtney:cool:
Seriously though good to hear from you. What did you think of that black 818? I think it looks awesome.

John

[Carlos C]

Thanks, guys. I'm hoping that I can pick things back up after the holidays.

Bill:

My case is still open, and was told not to expect a resolution until next summer, so we'll see.

John:

My hand was properly placed...
As for the 818, I never cared for this car when it first came out. I didn't like the front end, or the Subaru engine. As a matter of fact, I kept bugging FFR to put the Eco-Boost in it. Now that it will finally have the Ford engine, a beautiful front-end, and even a hard top, I want to build one. But I still have a full running gear set from a Mustang. So, after I get done with the Coupe, I'll probably build a Roadster next.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

POWDER COATING BOX SIDE PROJECT

Well, it is after the holidays, and I did say that I would get back in the garage. I have spent my time working on the powder coating box. And although I'm not done with it, I've made some progress. I just can't wait to be done with it, so I can start powder coating parts, and then commence with the kit assembly.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=49858&d=1453174459
Laying down measurements and cutting lines to aluminum sheets, which will make up the powder coating box panels.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=49855&d=1453174459
Cutting the aluminum sheets into panels on an industrial-size hydraulic shear.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=49857&d=1453174459
Using a gravity-fed band saw to cut "L"-shaped aluminum stock, which will serve as the framework for the box.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=49854&d=1453174459
Spent hours upon hours using my bench drill press to drill dozens of holes and then insert rivet nuts on the framework.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=49856&d=1453174459
Aluminum sheets cut into panels for the box. They still have to be drilled out.

I still have to bend the panel for the exhaust fan, purchase all the hardware to install everything together, purchase and install caster wheels; and fabricate a couple of "C" channels for the air filter, which will go before the exhaust fan. I also have to buy a rod which will go through the top of the box, to serve as a hanging point for the items to be coated; and a couple of bushings for that rod, in order to isolate it from the rest of the metal from the box.

Carlos

[wallace18]

Nice work! good to see you back at it.

[Carlos C]

Thanks, Tom. I actually ran out of materials, and had to place an order through Grainger. I also stopped by my local Ace hardware store for more bolts and nuts.

I did some more drilling today. This time to corner brackets which will attach the frame pieces together. Although the brackets came with holes, I needed to open them up, in order to accept 1/4" bolts.

Hopefully, my order from Grainger will arrive tomorrow, so I can continue with the box construction.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

I spent the last couple of days working some more on the powder coating box. It's been slow due to all the measuring and drilling, but it's coming along. This is a slight update, but I'm hoping that I can get this box done soon. I am dying to get on with the actual build.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50039&d=1453776481
Completed cutting, drilling, and installing rivet nuts on the frame pieces, and bolted them all together.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50038&d=1453776480
Drilled and bolted the aluminum panels to the frame. The actual measurements are 30" x 30" x 60".

I still have to cut a hole on the back panel for a filter and exhaust fan. I will also fabricate a fan shroud for the exhaust fan. In order to stiffen the frame, I will be fabricating a set of top and bottom aluminum braces. The bottom braces will most likely double as brackets for rollers. I also need to add the hanging rod across the top of the box.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

More progress on the powder coating box. During the last couple of days, I concentrated on the exhaust fan system, and safety features. I had purchased the fan from Home Depot, and is an unit specifically made for home ventilation systems, such as bathroom exhaust vents and general boost fan. The one feature I liked about this particular fan is that it is a plug-in unit, so no hard-wiring or junction box necessary. The down-side is that it didn't come with an on/off switch, so as soon as you plug it in, it comes on. Also, since the fan is made to be installed on ventilation ducting, the fan blades are exposed. Therefore, I had to take care of these safety concerns.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50124&d=1454128269
This is the exhaust fan as it came out of the box. Fan blades are exposed, and no on/off switch.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50125&d=1454128270
I installed the switch in the fan's electrical box. Instead of using the hot wire, I spliced the neutral wire to attach onto the switch. This makes it much safer. If one of the neutral wire leads attached to the switch were to touch the side of the electrical box, the worst case scenario would be that the fan would keep running after I turn the switch off, until I un-plugged it. If I were to use the hot wire, and the same scenario happened, a fire could result.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50128&d=1454128271
Drilled a hole through the fan's electrical box cover and attached the switch to it. Tested the switch; all good.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50123&d=1454128269
Here are the exposed fan blades. According to the air flow, these blades will be facing the outside of the shroud, which is not safe in the current state.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50127&d=1454128271
I have some left-over aluminum mesh, so I cut and formed some of it to use as cover for the fan blades. I used the supplied fan's self-tapping screws to secure the mesh to the fan body.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50126&d=1454128270
I then moved on to the fan shroud. I marked all the holes to be drilled, parts to be cut, and sections to be bent on a 24" x 24" sheet of aluminum.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50129&d=1454128272
Since I don't own a 6" hole saw, I used my Dremel tool with its circle cutter attachment to cut the 6" center hole. I used a big manual pair of shears (and muscles) to cut the rest of the panel, and a drill for the rest of the holes. I incorporated tabs into the design, which will serve to keep everything together with rivets, once I bend all the sections.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

My old military command is gracious enough to still let me use their machinery shop. Unfortunately, I found out the hard way that the dimensions of my fan shroud surpassed the limitations of the metal brake. I had to finish the fabrication by hand, so the box is not as pretty or as straight as I'd like it to be.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50709&d=1455581660
I riveted the shroud together, and then used silicone and foam to seal the shroud. Mounted the fan to the shroud using "L" brackets, screws, and bolts.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50713&d=1455581662
Cut a 10" hole on the back panel of the box using my Dremel tool and the circle cutter. Cut three pieces of aluminum "C" channel stock, drilled a couple of holes on each one, and attached them to the back panel using bolts and nuts.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50712&d=1455581662
The set-up is for a 12" x 12" x 1" air filter, which slides on and off when in need of replacement.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50711&d=1455581661
I then bolted the fan and shroud set-up to the back of the box using a couple of 1/4" x 1" aluminum flat stock cross braces.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50714&d=1455581663
Using the same aluminum flat stock, I cut out eight pieces to use as corner braces, which I attached to the frame. These significantly increased the box's rigidity.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50710&d=1455581661
The bottom corner braces double as mounting brackets for the caster wheels, which explains the center holes on the braces in the photo above.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50715&d=1455581663
Mounted all the caster wheels using 3/8" x 1/2" zinc-plated steel spacers, which help the wheels clear the hardware around them.

This box has taken a lot of time and effort so far, but it's almost done. I'm very close to start powder coating my own parts.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

POWDER COATING BOX IS DONE!

It took a lot of time, effort, and more money than I wanted to spend on this side project, but it's finally done. I could have built a cardboard or wooden box, as others have done, but there are a few reasons why I chose aluminum. First off, I needed a box which I could use repeatedly for many projects. A cardboard box is basically disposable, not to mention that the material would have never been practical for the size I built mine for, or the weight it'll be carrying. A wooden box would have sufficed for the size and weight goals, but not for portability. Since my box is put together by all bolts and nuts without any welds, I'm able to completely take it apart as many times as I want in a matter of minutes (including the frame), and store it in a corner of my garage, without it taking much space at all.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50833&d=1455856870
The final piece of the puzzle is this steel bracket, which bolts on top of the box. It contains the 1/2" aluminum round stock, on which parts will hang from. I added rubber bushings between the rod and the bracket to help prevent the electrical current to pass through from the rod to the rest of the box, so the powder won't stick to the box itself.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50831&d=1455856869
Rear of the box. The exhaust fan has a ready power cord, but the fan is now controlled by the power switch I installed. The fan will also help keep the powder from making a mess in my garage. I can move the box and plug it in anywhere in my garage, thanks to the caster wheels I installed. Due to the lightweight materials used during construction, the box is light but sturdy.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50832&d=1455856869
Front of the box. The box is big enough to coat suspension parts, chassis panels, a whole rear end, and even a motorcycle frame. The filter will help to keep the powder out of the fan, and therefore, off of my garage floor.

I finally get to start powder coating donor and uncoated FFR parts. What I still need to decide is what color to coat the chassis panels. I've been thinking about this for months, and yet, I haven't been able to make up my mind.

Carlos

[MPTech]

Very Nice job Carlos.
Do you have something that large to bake it in, or will you be building something for that too?

[Carlos C]

Thanks! I have a full-size household oven sitting in my garage dedicated for powder coating. I was building an extension box for it out of steel, which I never completed, so I can bake larger parts. Won't take much to finish it. For items such as bike frames and rear ends, Eastwood sells heat lamps with stands, especially made for this purpose.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

For the last month and a half, I've been busy with other commitments, side projects, motorcycles repairs, and especially a major set-back with the VA (which may require the involvement from my lawyer and Congressman, in order to resolve the issue and make things right). Regardless, I have worked on this car somewhat, but finally put my powder coating box to good use this weekend (more on that later).

It dawned on me after looking at the engine compartment for a few minutes, that there may be a few clearance issues with the blower. So, I decided to attach the blower to the mock-up engine block, and I also installed the brake master cylinder, steering rack, steering shaft, and the blower intake hose with filter. Aside the photos below, I also attempted to mock up the air-to-air intercooler and its air ducting. Since the system was designed for a Mustang, and I'll have to wait until the engine compartment is basically completed to figure out where and how to mount the intercooler, I will most likely have to cut and heavily modify most of the air tubing, and even add more. Now, back to the fitment issues:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52319&d=1459729025
The blower sticks outside of the engine compartment frame rails a couple of inches. I can modify the splash guard panels, in order to clear the blower, but the concern here is whether the tire would touch when the car's steering is turned all the way to the left. I won't know for sure until I mount the front suspension, tires/wheels, the rest of the steering system, and set the chassis to the ground. If the clearance issue is minimal, I can always use steering stops.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52318&d=1459729025
Another clearance issue is that the blower bracket hits the steering shaft. It's hard to tell how much clearance I will have with the real engine and its transmission attached, as the engine will tend to lean back, but that also depends on the transmission mount. As far as I can tell, I will have to cut a corner of the bracket, in order to clear the steering shaft. It should not compromise the structural integrity of the bracket. This piece is very hefty at 1/2" thick, and I shouldn't have to cut too much of it. As of now, the blower itself clears the steering shaft. If during actual assembly, the blower doesn't clear the shaft, then my only option will be to modify the steering shaft itself at the point of contact.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52317&d=1459729024
Thankfully, the master cylinder clears the blower and its low-pressure opening. That's one less thing to worry about.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52320&d=1459729026
The other item I need to figure out will be the cold air box. What you see here is the original air duct and filter from the blower kit. I may be able to use some of these parts, but others I would have to modify or delete altogether. The filter is also very big; it may work, but it will be tight. The filter provided by FFR is too small and will not work for my set-up. I plan to build the cold air box around where the filter sits. It will draw air from the top of the hood through the scoop provided with the kit. The blow-off valve return hose will probably be routed directly to the air box, and not to the filter hose (as shown on this photo).

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52321&d=1459729026
As stated earlier, I finally popped the cherry on my powder coating box. It worked like a charm. Connecting the ground on the hanging rod which goes across the top of the box, transferred current very well, which meant that I don't have to ground each part I'm coating. Also, because I used rubber bushings between the rod and the box, the powder did not stick to the box, so clean-up was a breeze. The exhaust fan did a great job as well. By the time I was done, the filter was almost black. I was able to take it out and shake it off to clean it. But what it really did was to keep my garage floor clean, as all the wasted powder stayed within the bottom of the box.

I've read others on this forum criticizing Eastwood's powder coating kit, even stating that it doesn't work. It worked great for me on the first attempt. I can't speak for those who had bad experiences, but I believe that it all comes down to an accurate set-up of your equipment, especially the oven. It took me half a day, but I was able to calibrate my oven, which was way off. The only issue I encountered while powder coating the parts on the photo above (hood latch lock brackets) was the PSI on my air compressor. According to its gauge, it looked like I had it set up at around 8 PSI, which is recommended by the manufacturer (although it is stated to not surpass a max of 10 PSI), but I could barely get any powder out of the gun. Once I increased the pressure to about 12 PSI, powder started coming out at a reasonable rate (according to the instructions). It seems that my air compressor's gauge is off a little, so I made a note of that. I pre-heated the oven to 450 degrees, heated the parts in the oven for about 15 minutes, took them out, let them cool, re-clean them with acetone; powder-coated them, placed the parts in the oven until they started to flow out (about 5 minutes), decreased the temperature to 400 degrees for the next 20 minutes, and then shut off the oven and cracked open the door so the parts would cool off slowly. Although the parts have a slight orange peel, they came out looking good for a first try.

Carlos

[wallace18]

Looking good! Glad you are able to work on car some.

[Tom Mauldin]

Carlos,

Great job on the powdercoating box! I may have to borrow your design. Keep up the good work!

[Carlos C]

Thanks, Tom. Be forewarned, if you plan to fabricate a box like mine, prepare to spend a lot of man-hours and money on it. It's definitely worth it, though.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

Today, I concentrated on powder-coating all my donor's rear suspension parts. I've already coated all my front and rear donor brake parts, which were just a few. I don't have any donor front suspension parts to coat, so I'm moving on to pulleys and a few other miscellaneous donor parts which still need to be coated black. After those are done, I'll be going through the FFR boxes and coating all the bare FFR parts with black powder. Once those are done and I completely clean the gun and equipment from all traces of black powder, I'll switch to chrome / clear, in order to coat the supercharger and alternator casings, supercharger brackets, upper and lower manifolds, brake master cylinder cover, etc. I still haven't decided what color to coat the chassis panels, but I need to finish the oven extension box, so I can bake the panels in it.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52828&d=1460776126
Here are all the rear suspension parts which needed to be coated. This photo was taken after the parts were stripped, cleaned, heated at 450 degrees, re-cleaned, and prepped.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52829&d=1460776126
Putting my home-built powder-coating box to good use. It is worth every dollar and all the work I put into it.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52830&d=1460776127
Having a box this big, allows me to coat multiple parts at once, increasing my productivity.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52827&d=1460776125
After the parts had been baked and cooled, I re-assembled the components and pre-installed the hardware. Now, the rear suspension is ready to go in and it basically looks brand-new.

For those of you wondering why the arms look so different, they are made for racing. These are especially awesome for sanctioning bodies who regulate the rear suspension on a Mustang to be a stock-type 4-link. The features on this set-up are that the pinion angle can be set without removing the upper arms off, the lower arms can be extended in order to set the rear tires further out, there are multiple connecting points for the lower arms to the axle due to the special brackets which come with the kit (this allows for better traction for road or drag racing, depending on which point the arms are connected), the arms are substantially stronger than stock and most after-market, and both upper and lower arms use spherical bearings to help reduce binding. They worked great on my race Mustang; they should work excellently on the Coupe, once I dial them in.

Carlos

[wallace18]

Looking good!

[JC Of NM]

Nice mods.

[Carlos C]

Thank you, guys.

I spent the last few days powder-coating more FFR-supplied parts (not sure why they couldn't powder-coat them), and the last of the donor parts needing to be coated in black. I'm almost out of black powder, so a call to Eastwood is in order. Actually, the only FFR parts left to powder-coat are:
1. Door frames (black)
2. Radiator top bracket (black)
3. Steering rack tie rod extensions (clear)
4. Rear glass latch u-bolt (clear)
5. Hood latch u-bolt (clear)
6. Chassis panels (undecided)

Donor parts still needing to be coated:
1. Alternator casing (chrome)
2. Supercharger casing (chrome)
3. Supercharger brackets (chrome)
4. Upper and lower intake manifolds (chrome)
5. Valve covers (clear)
6. Supercharger air tubing (chrome)
7. Brake master cylinder cap (chrome)

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53004&d=1461112154
Here are the alternator and water pump pulleys, engine's heater by-pass tubing, rear spring perches, hood and suspension parts.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53003&d=1461112149
Here are some of the door frame parts, rear hatch parts, and battery tray (which I may not be using, but figured to coat now just in case).

The main pieces of the door frame and the radiator top bracket are too large for my oven, so that leaves me with three options:
1. Pay someone else hundreds of $$$ to do something I can do at home, due to a technicality.
2. Simply paint the parts instead of powder-coating them.
3. Complete the oven extension box I started many months ago, so I can bake larger parts.

I will have to finish this box eventually, if I want to powder-coat my own chassis panels, so I may go with option #3.

Carlos

[65 Cobra Dude]

Carlos,

Good to see you back at it! Keep up the great work!!

Henry

[mjazzka]

Carlos,

Wow, I hadn't seen what you did for powdercoating, but this is amazing! Your box puts mine to shame, haha. All of it is looking GOOD. Unfortunately I saw some parts on here that I hadn't even thought about yet and now I'm thinking I'll need to powdercoat them... curses

Good to see you back at it and chipping away

[Carlos C]

Henry:

Thanks! Please let me know when you're heading back up to FFR, so I can give you my exhaust to take with you like we talked about when I was at your house back in January. Please call me or PM me when you're free, so we can work out the details.

Michael:

Thanks for the kind words. As I mentioned on an earlier post, the powder-coating box was a challenge to build (read: time-consuming), but very worth it. I love it. I'm trying to powder-coat as many items as possible before I start the actual build. That way, I won't have to halt the build, in order to start coating parts again.

Carlos

[65 Cobra Dude]

Carlos,

I am going back in 4/26 but am flying. I'll be going to the open house as well but not sure how the airlines will take exhaust pipes? I only have carry on though.

Henry

[Carlos C]

No problem. I'll work something out with Tony at FFR. Thanks, anyway.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

Ok, so yes, I'm still alive, and quietly working in my garage. I had to contend with another spinal set-back, side projects, other obligations, finally getting the VA to recognize and rectify -to the best of their ability- their huge mistake (after I got other personnel involved in my case), powder-coating for customers, and other obligations. I've been able to chrome powder-coat the upper and lower intake manifolds, the brake master cylinder lid, and valve covers. I clear powder-coated the steering rack tie rod extensions, the hood and trunk latch u-bolts; and lastly, powder-coated the hatch glass brackets, and the hood / trunk support shock brackets in black.

Although I don't have any photos to show progress, I do have some information to share (all part numbers are from Eastwood):
1. For those already doing it, or considering powder coating, if you want to use chrome, stay away from from "Reflective Chrome" (P/N: 10093). This powder requires to be top-coated with clear. There are two problems with this: a) although this powder looks fairly reflective after it has been baked, it loses most of its reflectiveness after the clear is baked on top of it; b) having to coat a part twice, considerably reduces productivity if you have a lot of items to coat.

2. When I called to place an order today for more powder, I found out that that chrome #10093 is no longer available. In its place, there is "Single-Stage Reflective Chrome" (#11504). It's basically as reflective as #10093, but doesn't require clear to protect it from losing its reflective properties over time. There is also a new, more reflective chrome, called "Extreme Chrome Bonded" (#15999). For what I've seen, this powder bonds to the metal so well, that after curing it, a translucent powder can be applied, cured, and then carefully filed and/or sanded, leaving the chrome intact underneath, for a two-tone effect. I ordered some of this chrome, so once I get to use it, I'll report on the results.

In other news:

I have the same issue with my exhaust as Tom Wallace (wallace18) did on his: the Coupe's headers and side exhaust have the same diameter. Tom and I ordered our Coupes at around the same time-frame, so this might have been a defective batch. One is supposed to fit inside the other, which means that the pipes should be different diameters, and this is further proven by the exhaust clamps included with the exhaust. I spoke with Tony at FFR, sent him an email with photos showing dimensions taken with a digital caliper and the clamps used, and I suggested a solution that would work. The awesome guy that he is, he agreed with my suggestion, so I will be getting a "special" exhaust. It'll need some final fabrication, though.

I've been dwelling on my steering shaft clearance issue (see post #208), and wanting to add power steering. Because of my blower set-up and adding A/C, there'll be no room for a steering pump. I think that I found a solution for both issues with one item (as the saying goes "...two birds with one stone"). I've been doing quite a bit of research, including calling some companies and FFR, but I think I will go with the Unisteer power steering motor and a couple of their u-joints. This will allow me to drop the steering shaft and clear the blower, while gaining power steering. Also, I was going to use my donor's power steering rack, but I may now go with the Unisteer manual rack with the short input pinion shaft. This will allow me more angle for shaft and motor placement. The drawback with this unit is that it doesn't come with the mounting bushings or the outer tie rods, unlike the FFR manual rack. Unfortunately, FFR doesn't sell a manual rack with a short input pinion shaft. Either way, since I still have a power steering pump, I can save the power rack and that pump for the next build.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

Update on my experience with the Eastwood powder-coat order:

1. My order arrived this past Saturday and when I opened the box, I was greeted with two bad surprises;
a. The powders came in bags, not in the typical plastic bottles.
b. There was powder all over the box. Two of the bags had pin holes at the lower corners; a manufacturing defect.
Eastwood is not open on weekends, so I had to wait until today in order to let them know how disappointed I am with them.
2. The new "Extreme Chrome Bonded" (P/n: 15999) seems to work fairly well and is pretty reflective. Just look at the alternator below.

When I called Eastwood this morning, I asked why the powder came in zip-loc bags, instead of the usual bottles. I was told that the company recently changed to bags (I assume to save money). I advised them to put in their notes that their bags have manufacturing defects, which is the reason two of them leaked. I'm sure I'm not the only customer that has, or will experience this issue, and in the long run, the company will lose money. Eastwood will be replacing the powder that I lost in transit. Thankfully, I had enough to keep going.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56354&d=1468901183
I rebuilt, powder-coated, and re-assembled the blower. It is now ready to go.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56353&d=1468901182
Powder-coated and re-assembled the blower mounting bracket.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56355&d=1468901183
Powder-coated the upper and lower intake manifolds. Here is the lower manifold, fresh out of the oven.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56352&d=1468901182
This alternator was a mess. There was so much corrosion on all the contacts, that I was surprised it still worked. I took it apart, cleaned and re-built it, powder-coated and re-assembled it.

Carlos

[wallace18]

Wow, that car is going to be a work of art! Beautiful work so far.

[Carlos C]

Thanks, Tom. It'll be no trailer queen, though...

Carlos

[Carlos C]

Today, I finished re-assembling the upper intake manifold. Since I won't be using any smog equipment, some of the vacuum ports won't be needed, so I went ahead and plugged them. For the same reason, I deleted the EGR and the EGR spacer. I had built a plate for the throttle cable bracket, which would be sandwiched between the throttle body and the intake manifold. I had also modified said bracket, since there would be no provision needed for cruise control. I covered all these modifications on a previous post.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56388&d=1468973293
The upper intake manifold is powder-coated, fully assembled, and ready to be installed on the engine.

The throttle body has the Idle Air Motor and Throttle Position Sensor already installed. Once the engine is in and the ECU wiring is on and hot, I'll calibrate the TPS. I also eliminated the crankcase breather tube which goes on top of the throttle body, and installed a plug in its place. I want no hot, oily air going into the intake. I'll be removing the passenger side head, in order to seal the passage for the exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) back into the intake. Since I'm deleting the EGR, I cannot have the hot exhaust air trapped between the upper and lower intake manifold. I'm running a blower and I'm sure that the engine will make a little more power with cooler, denser air going into the chambers.

I was running a PSI/vacuum gauge on the donor, and plan to re-use it on this build. The hose for this gauge plugged in through the side of the upper intake manifold using a series of fittings. It was not very aesthetically pleasing, and gave it more places to leak air. I have simplified this to one compression fitting, which connects to a port at the bottom of the upper intake manifold, making the hose very hard to spot, and for a much cleaner look.

I'll be out riding my motorcycle in the Smoky Mountains (Tail of the Dragon) the rest of the week, but hope to get back in the garage first thing next week.

Carlos

[Tom Mauldin]

Looking good Carlos!

[Jacob McCrea]

It all looks good to me.

I'm interested in hearing your impressions of the Tail of the Dragon. That was a road I wanted to hit about 15 years ago when I basically did a loop of the U.S. on a 1995 Ducati 900SS. For whatever reason - time, lack of planning, etc., I missed it. Good luck and be safe in those turns!

[Carlos C]

Thanks, Tom!

Jacob:

This was my fifth time at the Tail of the Dragon, and I still enjoy it as much as the first time. I've always called it "a rollercoaster on asphalt". It is inherently dangerous; not only due to its many deceiving corners, but also because of the many ignorant drivers / riders you have to share the road with. There were three fatalities while I was there this last time. It's still one of the most fun 318 turns in 11 miles you can have.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56937&d=1469913532
Here, a photo of myself at the Tail of the Dragron this last time, as taken by a professional photographer. I have horrible internet connectivity where I am. If the photo does not load, please let me know. I'll load it later.

Carlos

[HCP 65 COUPE]

Carlos,

The pic didn't load.

Nice looking powder coating oven. Looks like it does a great job too.

[Carlos C]

Carlos,

The pic didn't load.

Nice looking powder coating oven. Looks like it does a great job too.

I just edited the post, so the photo uploaded now. Thanks for the compliment, but it's not an oven, just a box I built to powder-coat items, so the powder wouldn't make a mess of my garage.


I haven't posted anything lately, since all I've been doing lately is "boring and tedious" work. I went ahead and media-blasted the steel air ducting for the supercharger (after I helped fixing the media blaster), as a couple of those parts had a bit of rust and will need to re-coated after I modify them.

I also received my new, custom exhaust from FFR. I will need to weld and coat them, plus add a couple of pieces to them, but they're exactly what I wanted. This new exhaust will help my engine breathe much better, and they should sound amazing. I had a 3" exhaust with mufflers, H-pipe, two cats, and long-tube headers on this engine when it was on my Mustang; and at idle, you could feel the vibrations coming from the ground, and hear it from a 200 feet away. Considering that with this kit the exhaust will be much shorter with no cats, I can't wait to hear it. Hopefully, it won't be too obnoxious. FFR sent me collectors, but they won't work with the Coupe's headers. I will need to find a skilled fabricator in my area to build them for me.

Carlos

[mjazzka]

I steered away from doing any chrome coating for the reasons you mentioned, but if what I see in those pictures lasts for a while then it looks like you are set! All of it looks dang good, especially the intakes.

I ended up having to get my side exhaust expanded at the local exhaust shop (for free, thankfully). They did not slide over whatsoever, I wish I had called FFR. I also had to cut and reweld them because the passenger side came out of the body at the wrong angle. All of that is done now though, thankfully.

Unfortunately you remind me that I should probably do a big batch of powder coating for door hinges and things too... I'm in a little lull in my build so maybe your post will inspire me to get back at it.

[Carlos C]

I steered away from doing any chrome coating for the reasons you mentioned, but if what I see in those pictures lasts for a while then it looks like you are set! All of it looks dang good, especially the intakes.

I ended up having to get my side exhaust expanded at the local exhaust shop (for free, thankfully). They did not slide over whatsoever, I wish I had called FFR. I also had to cut and reweld them because the passenger side came out of the body at the wrong angle. All of that is done now though, thankfully.

Unfortunately you remind me that I should probably do a big batch of powder coating for door hinges and things too... I'm in a little lull in my build so maybe your post will inspire me to get back at it.

Michael:

I think that no one has complained to FFR about this issue with the exhaust before, and that customers have been dealing with this discrepancy on their own. The problem is that if FFR doesn't know there's an issue, they won't know it needs to be corrected. I hope that other customers start calling FFR, so they understand that this is not just an one-time discrepancy.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

Today, I decided to partially tear down the engine (I know... one step forward, two steps back). I need to do this, in order to seal the orifice for the exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) going back from the passenger side head to the intake manifold. I mentioned this a few posts ago. I took the time and inspected the rockers, pushrods, head bolts, fulcrum bolts, lifters, pistons, cylinder bores, and head gasket. Everything look in excellent condition for having 3,000+ miles, with the only exception being that the head gasket was not sealing properly on #4 cylinder, although there's no damage or visual defect to the gasket. So, besides obviously changing the head gasket on this side, I will be checking the other head and its components as well, and changing its head gasket, just to be on the safe side.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=57259&d=1470628275
This is a Windsor Sr. head with 2.02" intake / 1.6" exhaust valves. Unofficially, I supposedly bought the last set made back in 2003 (but I don't know how true that statement is). The valves and chambers are very clean for their age and mileage with no carbon build-up. In the background, sit the rockers and the pushrods, properly labeled so they go back exactly in the same place where they came out.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=57258&d=1470628273
The photo does not do the pistons and bores justice. They actually do look a lot better in person. No carbon build-up was found on any of the pistons, or any scoring on the cylinder walls.

Once I get the orifice sealed and the other head torn down, inspected, and the engine re-assembled, I will be permanently installing the lower intake manifold.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

Today, I worked on taking the driver side cylinder head off the engine. I inspected the rockers, fulcrums, rocker bolts, head bolts, pushrods, valves, chambers and head surface. Everything looked great, with no carbon build-up or any other issues, so I just concentrated on cleaning the gasket surface and the chambers. On the block side, the piston crowns looked good, with only #7 and #8 having slight carbon build-up. I cleaned them up, and applied oil to all of the cylinder bores to protect them from corrosion. I plan to use E3 spark plugs for the first time on this engine, so hopefully that will help keep the carbon build-up down, since I was already using 93 octane on the street, and 103 on the track.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=57301&d=1470797824
This is all that's left... a short block. Once I had both heads off the engine, I went ahead and inspected the lifters and camshaft. And I'm glad I did, because I found a nasty surprise...

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=57300&d=1470797824
These are hydraulic roller lifters from Comp Cams. I was going through each lifter, inspecting for damage, unusual wear, and proper plunger function, while also checking the camshaft lobes, when I came across this one from #4 cylinder. The plunger was frozen solid, which would explain a slight drivability issue I was having the last few times I ran this engine. I couldn't get it to budge. Since they're not sold individually, and I didn't feel like buying a new set just to replace one, I decided to re-build the culprit. I took some 180 grit emery cloth to the seat and plunger, cleaned all the parts and gave them an oil bath, re-assembled and re-packed the lifter with oil before re-installing in the engine. It works like new again. This lifter only has 3,000+ miles on it. I'm not sure how or why it failed prematurely. There were no foreign materials in it, and the other 15 lifters are working as they should. I'm hoping that it was a manufacturing defect, where there was a slight clearance issue within the machined parts, which is now taken care of.

The machine shop called me today to let me know that the custom work on my head is completed. Unfortunately, my Cometic head gaskets have not come in yet. Another piece of info I found out about this machine shop is that they do have an engine dyno. I'm tempted to take mine to this shop, once I'm done re-assembling it. I'd like to re-tune it, since last time it was done, it was on a chassis dyno and it made 603 RWHP. I'd like to know how much it actually makes at the flywheel. They charge $500 per session w/o time limit.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

Life keeps getting in the way of my build, but still I press on. I kept thinking about the lifter that had malfunctioned, and although I did not find any foreign matter inside, the orifices are so small that there's a possibility that matter could have clogged the orifices and caused hydraulic lock. Either way, they are all re-built and cleaned, so I should not have any problems with them.

Another item off the list was to have the alternator tested. I took it apart months ago to re-build it, as it was very corroded, and one of the regulator's points was broken off. I removed all of the corrosion, powder-coated the fan blades and the casing, installed a new regulator, and re-assembled the unit. The only thing I had not done was to make sure it worked. So, I took it to the nearest auto parts store which had a bench alternator tester, and it passed all the tests with flying colors. This alternator is 13 years old, and should be good for at least another 10 years.

I finally finished off the top end of the engine. It took longer than anticipated to receive my Cometic head gaskets, which was what delayed the re-assembly. Although the sealing surfaces on the heads were straight, as I previously mentioned, #4 cylinder was on the verge of leaking. Not sure if this was caused by the head, the gasket, the deck, torque error, or a combination of any of those; but I had both cylinder heads milled slightly, just to make sure that the issue does not lie on the heads. Since a couple of thousandths were taken off the heads, I made sure that those were made up by the thickness on the head gaskets.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=58055&d=1472766910
Here is a comparison of the heads, before and after milling the surfaces and cleaning the chambers. I also cleaned the decks on the block.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=58056&d=1472766911
After setting the heads down to the block, I applied ARP moly grease to the head bolts and torqued them down in three stages, following the typical sequence of starting from the center and working outward. I also used moly grease on the pushrods and installed the rest of the valvetrain. Using TDC on each cylinder, I applied pre-load on the rocker arms. This is done when using hydraulic lifters with adjustable rocker arms. For those of you reading this, who don't know how to do it, here's a quick run-down:
1. Make sure that all the rocker arms are finger-tightened, so there's a slight tension on the pushrods, even if the valve is closed. Lower intake manifold must be off the engine.
2. Position the cylinder you are about to set at top dead center (TDC) on the compression stroke. Another way of doing this, is to rotate the engine until the EXHAUST valve is opened by the rocker (you can see that by the lifter sitting higher than the intake valve lifter). Now, you can set the INTAKE valve rocker for that same cylinder. When you're done with the intake, rotate the engine again until the INTAKE valve is fully opened by the lifter. Now, you can set the EXHAUST valve rocker. This second method takes longer, but is fool-proof.
3. When you're ready to set the rocker, release all tension from the fulcrum by loosening the rocker's retaining nut. Using your finger tips, rotate the pushrod back and forth while hand-tightening the nut until you slightly feel resistance on the pushrod. This is called "zero lash". Unless your rocker arms instructions call for something different, tighten the nut another 1/2 turn using a wrench or socket/rachet. This gives it .030" of pre-load. If your rocker arms only use nuts on the fulcrums, you're done with that rocker arm.
4. If your rocker arms use a set screw within the nut, hold the nut in place while you tighten the set screw. At this point, you're done with this rocker arm, and you can move on to the next.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=58054&d=1472766909
Here's the engine re-assembled. Unfortunately, the lower intake manifold is not permanently installed on the engine, since I'll need to later install it on the mock engine, which is sitting on the frame, in order to figure out how much of the hood I'll need to cut and re-glass to clear the engine.

Next side project will be to finish the powder-coating oven extension box. I have a few items left to powder-coat, which do not fit in the oven as of now. Not to mention that I will also need this extension box to powder-coat the big aluminum chassis panels.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

It's been yet another month since my last update, but I've been quietly working in my garage whenever I can. I also stopped by Henry's house (65 Cobra Dude) last week, to help him work on his customer's Coupe. I spent the day installing chassis panels, troubleshooting and helping bleed the brakes, and troubleshooting plenty of electrical issues. After all, Henry inherited a partially-assembled Coupe, which needs to be disassembled and re-assembled properly, and to the specs to the new owner.

I also was able to complete what I hope to be the last project outside of my Coupe: the powder-coating oven extension box. I cut and bent these panels about a year and half ago (?), and they sat in my garage ever since.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=59483&d=1475896976
I cut an inspection hole on the back panel, in order to view the items being baked without having to move the box away from the oven.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=59482&d=1475896975
In order to keep the heat in, I created an inspection hole cover. The latch, hinge, and handle are from my local hardware store. The hinge is spring-loaded, so it stays in the open position on its own. I added a spring to the latch to create tension for adjustment via the nut.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=59484&d=1475896976
I attached a couple of lifting handles (for obvious reasons), using some spacers between the handles and the steel plate, in order to be able to easily grab the handles while using heavy-duty gloves. Here, the box is fully assembled and was test-fitted to the oven, then completely taken apart and all panels were painted with high-temp paint (formulated for BBQ grills).

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=59485&d=1475896977
I decided to use steel rivet nuts to attach all the panels together, due to the ease of assembly, and because I didn't want hardware exposed to the radiant heat from the oven, if at all possible.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=59481&d=1475896975
Not only did I use heat insulation on the outside of all the panels - to keep from burning myself and keep the radiant heat inside the box, but also at the edges of the panels where they met with each other, in order to make good seals.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=59480&d=1475896974
I also attached high-temp gasket material to all the edges of the box which come in contact with the oven, with the purpose to make a seal all around. This gasket material is the same type used on furnaces and I got it from Amazon.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=59477&d=1475896972
Here is the complete box after re-assembly.

(To be continued...)

Carlos

[Carlos C]

(Continued)

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=59478&d=1475896973
Here's a comparison of the raw box and the finished product.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=59479&d=1475896973
Final test-fit of the box on the oven. This will give me an additional six cubic feet of space, and will allow me to bake larger items (hopefully... I still need to test its functionality, which I will do very shortly).

I'm glad this project is done, as it was very time-consuming, and it kept me from continuing powder-coating FFR items. Now I should be able to coat and bake the door frames, radiator bracket, and chassis panels.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

Here's a quick update on my powder-coating oven extension box. I performed a test using the radiator top bracket, and here's how it turned out:
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=59528&d=1476063541

It came out perfect, but here are some observations I'd like to share:
1. The oven took much longer to come up to temperature, which I expected, considering that it now has to heat up an additional six cubic feet; but by my calculations, it should have not taken as long as it did. It could be that the heating elements may not be able to put out enough heat, as the oven was not designed for that much cubic footage.
2. Even with the insulation, the box was very hot to the touch. Amazingly, the handles remained cooled to the touch.
3. The heat insulation started melting before the oven even reached 450 degrees. The insulation is advertised to withstand 500 degrees of radiant heat, so I would call that false advertisement. It's still attached to the box, but it's damaged. Regardless, the box is working out just fine. So even if I have to remove the insulation off, the box will still work fine. I'll just wear my welding gear to protect myself from getting burned.
4. The inspection orifice works great, as I'm able to see well inside the oven. Thankfully, my oven is illuminated, and even with the extension box, and the forethought of painting the inside of the box a silver color, is easy to see inside through the hole.

Now that this experiment was a success, I will proceed with coating the door frames.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

Today, I completed powder-coating the door frames, which were the remaining standard items left, besides the chassis panels. There will be some other custom items later on, which will need to be powder-coated.
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=59594&d=1476231999

In the meantime, and before I start with the actual build, I am starting another side project - but this one will be on the car itself: customizing my Spyder GT dashboard to fit the Coupe. Here's a list of some of the major custom work I'm planning to do on my Coupe:
INTERIOR:
1. Install a Spyder GT dashboard
2. Custom-build an overhead console
3. Custom-build a center console with storage compartment
4. Install a sound system (hopefully including two 12" subs with 1000-watt amp)
5. Install overhead, foot box, and door sill lighting
6. Install trunk floor and side storage compartment areas
7. Install retractable 3-point seatbelts (possibly)

EXTERIOR:
1. Install custom LED headlights (possibly)
2. Install third brake/reverse lights on rear spoiler
3. Fabricate rear diffuser
4. Fabricate front air dam
5. Fabricate hood vents
6. Modify hood bubble for engine clearance
7. Cut holes on the body at the rear of the rear qtr. windows and add scoops with hoses, to supply air to the rear brakes

ENGINE COMPARTMENT:
1. Fabricate air filter box
2. Install power steering electric motor
3. Find a place to install the supercharger intercooler and engineer a way to supply air to it
4. Modify the DS wheel well chassis panels, in order to make the blower fit (possibly)


Who knows what else?...

Carlos

[SingleMaltWSKY]

Great looking job on the powder-coat.

Lots of great custom stuff on this build.

[Carlos C]

Jonas:

Thanks for the compliments.

I've been concentrating all my efforts on the custom Spyder GT dashboard I had made for me. In order to get it to fit in the Coupe, it will necessitate quite a bit of modifications, but I should be able to make it work. Here's what I've got done so far:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=60439&d=1478228417
The Spyder GT dashboard is 3 1/4" wider than the Coupe's dash. Some trimming at the ends would need to be done, in order for the dash to fit around the A-pillar tubes from the roll cage.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=60440&d=1478228418
I used the Coupe's dash as a template to mark where the cuts would be made at the end of the Spyder's dash. I also took many measurements prior to this, in order to make sure the steering shaft would end up squarely on the right spot in the Spyder's dash.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=60438&d=1478228417
I also marked for the other cuts needed to clear the roll cage, and also the A/C and heater unit.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=60437&d=1478228416
I installed the A/C unit in place, although further closer to the passenger side than suggested by the instructions. This is so all the gauges will fit on the Spyder's dash. Note that I also fitted the wiper motor. I needed to make sure that the final position of the A/C unit would allow me to mount the wiper motor and still give me enough room for the gauges.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=60436&d=1478228415
Here, I'm making sure that the A/C unit clears the frame, body, and chassis panels at the position I want to mount it. Although this photo shows the A/C unit mounted with clekos, it is now mounted with bolts and rivet nuts on the frame.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=60442&d=1478228419
Since I'm going with Russ' turn signal stalk, I had to do some modifications to it. In order to avoid making a huge hole on the dash to make this stalk fit through it, I drilled out the rivets which hold the mounting bracket to the stalk, and installed rivet nuts. This will allow me to just drill a much smaller hole in the dash for the stalk to insert into the steering shaft straight in, and then I can install the bracket from under the dash.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=60441&d=1478228418
Here's the finished product. I just need to put another coat of paint on it to make it look new again.

The Spyder dash is on the car at this moment. The biggest section I had to remove was for the A/C unit. I will have to do some fiberglass work to fill that back in. Before I do that, I still need to cut the holes for all the gauges. Unfortunately, I did not have the necessary sizes of hole saws. I was at Henry's house last weekend (65 Cobra Dude), helping him work on a customer's Coupe, and he offered to lend me the hole saws, but foolishly I turned his offer down, thinking that I actually had the correct sizes at home. These are odd sizes, but thankfully, I was able to find one of them at a hardware store after quite of bit of searching. I struck out with the other one, so I had to order it online, I'm waiting for it to arrive.

I also ordered some angle rings from Auto Meter, so I can angle the gauges towards the driver seat. For those who have never seen the Spyder GT dash, all the auxiliary gauges get installed in a straight-line format, going towards the passenger side. Hopefully on my next post, I will have photos of the dash installed on the car with the gauges and steering wheel test-fitted in place.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

I received the angle rings, but now I have to deal with a set-back, thanks to bad information from the tech support from Auto Meter and the lack of instructions which came with the product. The gauges supplied from FFR are 2" in diameter, while the angle rings are sold for 2 1/6" and 2 5/8" gauges. Before I ordered the product, I called and spoke with the "technician" to ask him two simple questions:
1. Will the 2 1/6" rings work on the 2" gauges?
2. Since the gauges will be mounted at an angle, will I have to cut the holes at a larger size? I needed this answer ahead of time so I could order the correct hole saw.
His answers were:
1. Yes
2. No.

Well, turns out that he was completely incorrect on question #2, just as I thought, and I had to order another hole saw (2 1/8") for the second time. Thankfully, I did not cut the holes ahead of time with the wrong size hole saw. He also was partially incorrect on question #1. The kit provides aluminum brackets, which need to be cut, and the instructions are very specific as to how they should be cut, depending on the application. The kit also provides templates for marking the brackets for cutting. Unfortunately, the instructions fail to inform or make the distinction between electrical, mechanical, and electronic gauges. They are all set up differently at the rear of the case, and I found out the hard way that the instructions and templates do not work for the gauges FFR provides from Auto Meter. This is because those gauges have three posts, one of them sitting in the way of where the bracket needs to be. That is the ground post. Even if I cut off that post, the bracket would be very close to the other two, both which are positively charged. If the bracket touches those posts, the gauge would short out. See the photo below for an example of the difference between electronic and electric gauges.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=60701&d=1478658773
The bracket in this photo has not been cut yet, but I tested one of the brackets I have already cut with the electronic gauges, and it fits perfectly. Unfortunately, I did not foresee this problem, so I cut the brackets for all five gauges FFR provides, which will not fit now.

Thankfully, I just happen to have 3 of these un-cut aluminum brackets laying around, plus one left from the kit I ordered which I didn't cut; that's 4, but I need 5 for the FFR gauges. I'll probably cut the posts off one of the FFR gauges and use one of the cut aluminum brackets. I have 3 of my electronic/mechanical gauges (which I will also be using on the build), and depending where I place them, if I need to angle them, I can use 3 of the remaining cut aluminum brackets.

Lesson learned: Don't trust the tech reps or the instructions; double check everything yourself. I got burned by March Pulleys and their tech guy, and now by Auto Meter.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=60935&d=1479091092

I had a great time at Panama City Beach's Emerald Coast Cruizin' Car Show. I spent a lot of time hanging out with Wayne Pressley, Erik Treves, and Tony Zullo, just like last year. The only person missing, who was supposed to come with me, was Henry Renaud. Erik and I talked a lot about the Gen 3 Coupe, and he will be getting one in the next few weeks. Henry will also be getting one very soon, and I will help him whenever I can to put it together. Wayne had his beautiful Gen 1 Coupe there for sale. I also picked Tony's brain on some of the new features on the Gen 3. Here are some of my first impressions and info I got:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=60936&d=1479091093

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=60938&d=1479091095

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=60937&d=1479091094
The frame is over-engineered, with so much triangulation that there is not much room for a lot of extra items under the hood, especially if using the Coyote engine. Tony mentioned that Jim Schenck has said that some of this triangulation can be cut out without compromising the rigidity of the frame. The radiator has been updated. For those who are not aware, this Afco radiator gets mounted upside-down on the Coupe, leaving the drain valve at the top of the radiator. Just recently, this was fixed by the manufacturer, which added a second drain valve at the opposite end, albeit on the side of the radiator. So, no matter how you mount the radiator, you will finally have a functioning drain valve. The headers are also updated. Although I forgot to ask, I believe these are straight from Stainless Headers. This company makes headers specifically for the FFR Roadster, including the combination using the Coyote engine, and since FFR was planning to streamline their header product line (use the same headers for both, the Coupe and Roadster), it would make sense to go for these. There were other aftermarket parts on the semi-completed Gen 3 Coupe, so time will tell if these headers will become standard, or even optional items from FFR, or just one-offs for this build (more on one-off items used on this Coupe below).

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=60939&d=1479091099
The wheels on this car are one-offs. They are two-piece aluminum 19" in diameter, and as I was told, the set cost over $12K! Supposedly, FFR got them at a discounted promotional price of below $8K. The side exhaust is larger in diameter than the Gen 2, so it should flow better. I know this much, they definitely sound better. I had heard months ago that FFR was planning to use the Roadster's side exhaust on the Gen 3, but now it seems that they're married to this one. Erik mentioned to me that Jim still wants to tweak where it connects to the header, but that overall, he's happy with the exhaust. Although not seen on this photo, the headlights are beautiful LED aftermarket units... and no, they won't be part of the kit. Due to the extra rear fender bulge on the Gen 3, the Raydot side mirrors are even harder to use than in the previous generations of the Coupe. The passenger side mirror is actually useless; I could barely see the mirror itself, let alone see out of it. Maybe the view would improve somewhat, if the mirrors were located on the doors, instead of the A-pillars.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=60940&d=1479091099

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=60941&d=1479091100
I sat in this car, and I have to say: the difference in head, shoulder, hip, leg and foot room, is night and day compared to the Gen 2. It is easier to get in and out, and I actually felt like I was sitting too low in the car. This car can fit bigger/wider seats, which the previous version could not. Unfortunately, I could tell that the car was put together in a hurry; and even Tony told me that not even the lights work, and they were lucky that the car starts. Although the hood is supposed to have a liner, this one did not due to time constraints.

Overall, it is an amazing car to look at and inspect in person. I can't wait to start working on it, once Henry gets his in a few weeks. In the meantime, I still have my Gen 2 to worry about... And yes, I have Gen 3 envy.

Carlos

[Vette1972]

Carlos, that's a great update from Panama City show. Those of us who are dreaming right now are glad to have first hand info. It is an amazing looking machine. It will be interesting to see the builds get started on these new cars. Thanks, Len

[Carlos C]

Thanks, Len. I'd recommend subscribing to either, Henry Renaud's (65 Cobra Dude) Gen 3 Coupe build thread, Erik Treves' (Erik W. Treves), or both. These guys are amazing builders, who have built numerous quality FFR cars each, and have plenty of knowledge and experience.

Carlos

[Carlos C]

So, here's my update on my Auto Meter angle rings dilemma. As I stated on Post #242, I had three extra aluminum brackets, plus the one from the kit I ordered, which I did not originally need; all of them un-cut. Since I have five gauges, I was short one bracket. After careful measuring, I cut the virgin brackets and they fit just fine with the Auto Meter gauges FFR provides, using the angle rings.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=61008&d=1479173369
I used the first bracket I cut as a template to cut the other three. For the last gauge, all I had left were the brackets which I had cut according to the instructions, which turned out to be too short. I ended up cutting the electrical posts on the gauge, in order to make the bracket fit and clear the posts.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=61007&d=1479173369
This is the end result after all angle rings had been mounted to the gauges and on the dashboard. Now, all the gauges face the driver.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=61010&d=1479173370
I then installed the dashboard into the car, along with the steering shaft, turn signal stalk, and steering wheel. Everything fits just fine and clears the cross bar.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=61009&d=1479173370
Here's a shot of the whole dashboard from the rear of the vehicle. I plan to install all the indicator lights, and maybe even another gauge above the speedo and tach gauges. Next step is to glass in the A/C unit and build an extension to cover the gap between the dash and center console.

Carlos

[Vette1972]

Hi Carlos, I have found Erik's thread and subscribed. I will too for Henry as well. I first saw FFR in Charlotte Auto Fair in 2004 but bought a Harley instead. Getting close to the time to build one of my own I think. I have a 1972 Corvette that I have maintained and learned a bit of skill from over the past 20 years. Rebuilt the rear ends on two from tranny to rear bumper by reading the service manual. I've been reading the Roadster threads as well just to see how suspension and engine items go together. The support from one builder to the other is amazing. Never seen such support. By the way, I have read your thread as well. Thanks for the response and I'll keep watching. Len

[Carlos C]

Len:

As you may have already found out, there's so much to learn from so many on this site. The FFR build manuals only give you the basics. Many here have found alternate and easier ways to build sections of their vehicles, ways to customize their vehicles, and pass that information along. Of course, many of the vendors on this site, sell parts that will help you build your car faster and better. It's a good foundation to have experience tinkering with drivelines. Good luck with your build, once you're ready for it.

Carlos

[ricobrafan]

Thanks for the posts. I especially like the comments about the gen 3, I think their will be some growing pains with the first models out the door. I also liked the photo's about the a/c and wiler.motor. I hope.to.be fit tong these soon and I too was looking at moving them close to the passenger side. Thanks, nice.work and good luck
Chros

[Carlos C]

Thanks for the posts. I especially like the comments about the gen 3, I think their will be some growing pains with the first models out the door. I also liked the photo's about the a/c and wiler.motor. I hope.to.be fit tong these soon and I too was looking at moving them close to the passenger side. Thanks, nice.work and good luck
Chros

You're welcome. Any time I can help someone by giving them an idea or inspiration, I feel that I've paid it forward through posting my build on this site. Thanks for the kind words.

Carlos