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View Full Version : Greetings from Dallas



AnthonyS
02-13-2015, 11:49 PM
Yes I'm new to the forum. I'm also new to building my own car. I will be ordering my Roadster kit to be delivered sometime in January 2016. In the meantime I have found my donor and will do work on it that will transfer to the Roadster. It will get fresh brakes, a fresh clutch, a freshened up and massaged 5.0 and a lot of TLC mechanically. I will let the body and interior rot as they will. I will probably even have it dyno tuned before I rip it apart to put in the Roadster.

I'm an engineer. I've been working on cars most of my life. My dad was once a crew chief for a Nascar driver and at the 24 hours of Daytona and LeMans. I'm still mad they didn't take me to LeMans. I've owned 9 different Mustangs over the years all Fox body or newer. So turning a Fox or SN95 into a Roadster doesn't bother me in the least. I'm shooting for a reliable and very driveable 250-300 hp for the first engine. I want to get the car built with all the options I want and my wife wants first before I worry about a higher hp engine.

I was in the nuclear Navy for 10 years. I have a B.S. and M.S.; I also worked in the auto industry designing parts for a large truck manufacturer. I also tinker with firearms, R/C airplanes, model trains and slot cars. I have a very extensive and busy hobby room. I can see the car build will be my primary hobby for the next two years. I now work in the energy business as a consulting engineer for an engineering firm which is how I'm able to afford this new hobby. I got the green light from the wife recently. I was considering buying a Porsche or something silly like that and making monthly payments on it.... no thank you. I'm actually going to downgrade my very sophisticated German sports sedan this year to something less expensive to have more funds for other hobbies. It looks like I can build a kit car using my work bonuses and save our income to get a vacation house in a few years instead (much more fun for everyone than a Porsche).

If anyone has Ford Mustang / 5.0 questions, I can probably help a bit. I'm pretty good at diagnosing Ford EEC IV EFI issues if anyone besides me is silly enough to run that antiquated system. I once diagnosed a fault fuel pressure regulator from 3,000 miles away over the phone, and there is no EEC code for the FPR :). If anyone has advice on how to build a nice Roadster using donor parts, I am all ears too :). That's the main reason I joined. I've been a long time reader, long time dreamer, but now I have the green light and a good enough job to support turning the dream into something that moves.

TouchStone
02-14-2015, 12:10 AM
Welcome, Its good to see a fellow FFR builder in the area.

Gordon Levy
02-14-2015, 12:31 AM
You will have a great time. Please let me know if you have any questions.

2bking
02-14-2015, 12:32 AM
Welcome to the forum. This is a good place to find information and exchange ideas. One of the subjects that is often discussed is donor vs. complete kit. If you search the forums you may find information that is of interest to you. Good luck and keep us posted.

AnthonyS
02-15-2015, 09:27 PM
Touchstone, the 818 is going to be a ton of fun. It's really a small supercar. I'd seriously consider one but I've wanted a Cobra since before I could say it.

Gordon, thank you for the offer. I'm sure I can learn a lot from your experience and when I have questions I will ask them. I enjoy learning from other people and getting ideas from them.

2bking, yes I've already gotten a bit of that feeling about the donor vs. complete kit discussion. For me a donor makes more sense due to my experience with Mustangs and my "cheap" personality. I realize "cheap" is quite relative in the build your own car world. It's going to be expensive.

sbak
02-17-2015, 11:49 AM
I also live in Dallas and I am in the early planning stages of my roadster project (no order date yet). Keep us posted on your progress.

68GT500MAN
02-17-2015, 01:25 PM
Welcome to the forum. You will be treated well here.
Doug

dallas_
02-17-2015, 06:54 PM
Welcome!

i hope you guys can come to the local TCC meetings on the first Saturday each month. A number of FFR's locally if you have questions during your build.

John

AnthonyS
02-17-2015, 08:56 PM
TCC meeting? I have most Saturdays free as long as I fit in some exercise and chores.

skullandbones
02-17-2015, 09:08 PM
Hi Anthony,

One thing I learned is to not stay attached to one donor. I ended up cherry picking until I got all the donor parts I wanted. So I wasted some money on the original donor pallet but lesson learned. Having the experience with various versions of the Mustang will serve you well in the choosing of parts. You can always add hp later.

Good luck and keep us posted,

WEK.

dallas_
02-17-2015, 10:32 PM
TCC meeting? I have most Saturdays free as long as I fit in some exercise and chores.

Yes, Texas Cobra Club.

They usually post on Club Cobra (can I say that here?) under the Texas Cobra Club forum a few days prior to the 1st Saturday as to the where and when. We usually have 15 to 30 cars at any given meeting and some of the guys like to go to Cars & Coffee early since that's the first Saturday also.

Hope to see you around!

gtaroger
02-19-2015, 08:18 PM
Welcome to the forum.I also started my build as a donor build.Over the years I have upgraded many parts.I started with a very low milage 5.0 with home ported heads.Since then it's about 360 hp and a lot more fun.Roger

nkw8181
02-20-2015, 05:01 PM
Welcome to the forum! Glad to see another dallas build!