Starting a "New" build

[Scud67]

I will be picking up an unfinished MKII next week. I will be building it for a friend that is unable to build it for himself. After the build is complete, we will be selling it (we think).
Really excited about building the car over this Winter and having it ready in the Spring - hopefully with lots of help (information wise) from the members on here....
Anything I should know before starting?

[rmiller64]

Congrats and yes there are great people here on the forum for help

[CraigS]

Welcome and good luck. Do a search here and the other forum for the 'drop butt mod'. During the build stage this is real easy to do and gets rid of the stock perky butt that the first three marks had. Makes the car look a lot like the MkIV. W/ the butt dropped the pointy trunk lid is almost not noticeable.

[Scud67]

Thanks Craig and Rick. I have been searching the forum, but any MKII stuff must be WAY back in the archives.... tough to find what I am looking for. I will just keep searching. The paperwork that comes with the car also has a bunch of "mods" in the form of links and printouts that the owner was going to do.
What did you guys do with your sidepipes? The original FFR supplied ones are really lacking (plain steel pipes), and at this point are kind of rusty....

[68GT500MAN]

I had mine ceramic coated to match the 4 into 4 headers.
Doug

[seagull81]

Welcome to the madness. Have a great build and be careful, we love to spend other peoples money. Oh, and don't forget the pictures.

[Scud67]

Thanks seagull - and lol @ love to spend other peoples money..... I get that from reading some of these posts! I just have to keep in mind that the car is SUPPOSED to be sold when completed - we will see about that!
I think I would like to have the sidepipes a dull black (not glossy) and not sure about the color of the car yet. Of course there is a TON of body work to do before that happens.
Doug - what did it cost to powder coat them? Has anyone done the powder coating themselves?

[Jeff Kleiner]

...what did it cost to powder coat them?

Scud,
They have to be ceramic coated; powder coating won't take the heat and they'll look like this:

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w220/lex446/055.jpg

You can have them done in a matte finish black ceramic like mine:

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj43/jkleiner/IMG_4535-1.jpg

I can get them done locally in either the black or near chrome for $300-ish.

Jeff

[Scud67]

That's what I am looking for Jeff - thanks. Those look great. Sorry for my mistake about what Doug said - he did say his were ceramic coated, not powder coated like I had said....

Are those the ones provided by FFR, or did you go with another?

[Jeff Kleiner]

The black car is mine and yes, they are FFR pipes. The ones on the blue car look like FFR but I don't know for certain (snagged the pic from Lex on the other forum).

Jeff

[Scud67]

Thanks Jeff. Another question - I have read where some people say that their ceramic coated pipes are not "hot to the touch" after driving, which I find a little hard to believe... but if this is the case, I will go that route. I don't want anyone getting the "snake bite" if it can be avoided.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Anyone who says that has never laid a hand or leg on them. Coated or not they'll bite, and quickly. Amazingly I've never burned myself on my own; it has always been while working on other peoples' cars---shin, calf, hand, head (don't ask :rolleyes:).

Jeff

[Scud67]

That was my thinking... ummm, "head"?! LOL. I won't even ask how the heck that happened!

[Dan Babb]

You mention the pipes are a bit rusty. I would rub them down with some steel wool to see how the surface looks. If it's bumpy at all, then your pipes will have an orange peel look to them. If that's the case, then you might just want to use a flat black bbq paint on them. Why spend more money to have them ceramic coated if it won't look really good.

On my first build, the pipes sat in the box for a few years and I didn't notice that they had gotten rusty. The orange peel didn't bother me, but it was noticeable.

[Scud67]

Thanks Dan. The bbq paint may work - how long will that last?
Here it is when I was picking it up...
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and here it is in it's new "home" .....

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[DaleG]

Thanks Dan. The bbq paint may work - how long will that last?
Here it is when I was picking it up...
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and here it is in it's new "home" .....


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Aaah, I remember that gray gel-coat...fond memories.

You might consider installing hidden trunk hinges; here is one option: http://www.breezeautomotive.com/details.php?prod_id=588

We are here to help you spend $:rolleyes:

What engine, wheels, tires? Plans for color?

[Scud67]

Engine is 5.0 from a '91, not sure what wheels - they are black honeycomb type, as far as color... I really like the FFR FIA car that they have (the gray with yellow), but not sure yet. I need to do the firewall forward mod (I need to find that link) and probably will do the hidden hinges.

[Scud67]

Going over some things and fount that the front upper control arms have some play at the back where the grease fitting is. If I rock the top of the wheel, there is play. I don't think it should have any. They are Pole Position Racing UCA's. Is this normal?
Took the body off today....

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