MKIII #5369 "Refresh" Thread - A bat spit shine!

[David Hodgkins]

No, it's not for sale yet because I'd like to go through it and spruce it up but I thought I'd let you guys know it's coming up soon.

I'm going to make this a "Refresh"/build thread. There are several areas that need attention, and I'll put those down in a moment, but first a little background on the car:

F5R1005369RD was purchased in March 2006 and delivered April 22, after the Knott's show, where it hung from the back of the Stewart Transport truck. I spent a year on the forum doing research before pulling the trigger and it's been an ultra-reliable, fun car since I first got it on the road in 2009 and had it painted in 2011 by Da Bat. However, it's been in a perpetual "98% done" state, and I never really finished it. I was having too much fun DRIVING it!

The Basics:


Pin Drive, with Trigo Wheels
IRS option, featuring Torsen limited slip differential with 3.55 gears
Levy Double Adjustable Koni's
Manual Wilwood Brakes
MKIV trunk
Polished trunk with Russ Thompson expansion box and FFMetal hidden battery box
Custom carpet. It's a bit worn so the original carpet will probably be installed
Quick-change steering wheels, Leather and wood
custom polished cubby behind driver and passenger
I-squared wiring
Billet cut off switch
Custom glove box
Custom Kirket lowback seats with custom seat brackets
Custom .060 dash and lower support panel
Wind Wings, Sun Visors
Wilwood pedal box from Fortes
Hydraulic throwout bearing (Fortes)
FFMetal Firewall expanded driver and passenger footboxes (polished)
Ford Racing BOSS 302 Crate Motor - M-6007-X302B (https://fordperformanceracingparts.com/parts/part_details.asp?PartKeyField=10271) - with Canton road racing pan (345 Rated fwhp)
Massflo EFI
Ceramic coated FMS shorty headers
Ceramic Coated Catalytic converters
Gas'n side pipes
Levy hardened "super" T5 with Midshift due to S10 tail housing
QuikTime Bellhousing
Breeze Louvers and lower Radiator Mount
Overriders and bumpers (boxed quick jacks)
Manual steering rack
Jeff Miller Customs paint job includes stripes on underside of the hood and trunk


As mentioned above, I'm going to do a "refresh" to clean up and coat all the polished panels. I'm also putting in some "build" time to finish off a lot of small details that never got done. Here's a - sorry, very big - shot that shows both what is already very good about this build and where it is clearly not finished. Every time I look at the photos from the LA Arboretum show a few years ago I wince a little, because all I can see now is the missing nose aluminum, lack of splash panels, a big hole in the driver's footbox where a fresh vent hose should be, no side louver and no wipers:
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50593&d=1455296280

Still, it has a classic look and most of the time no one notices that stuff. At the last Serpents in the Garden show. She looked very pretty, enough to get some air time on the local news. Here are some pics and video from that event:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=46350&d=1444021027

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=46326&d=1444020990


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38N3c0N2Loo

And here are a few shots from the HB Cruise-In a few years ago. Again, I see flaws. Weird loose wires in the trunk. No proper trunk prop rod. No block off plate on the trunk lid. No nose aluminum:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=10786&d=1342915656

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=10930&d=1343689398


:)

[Raceral]

That is a very nice looking ride.. it will sell in a hurry.

[Jazzman]

Barrett Jackson starts next weekend here in Scottsdale. It's probably too late to get it into that auction. However in the spirit of this great auto auction, perhaps you want to begin taking bids! It certainly is a great looking car. I'll bet you could get a bidding war going!! Good luck on the sale.

[bcovell]

Great color, are the aluminum panels in the trunk polished?

[David Hodgkins]

Great color, are the aluminum panels in the trunk polished?

Yes they are. They will be getting a fresh polish as part of the prep for sale.

:)

[David Hodgkins]

Last night started the work of assembling all the parts that I had neglected to put on the car originally. Since I never "graduated", I guess this is all part of the original build!

First I rooted around my attic and came up with a box of never-finished and never mocked-up aluminum pieces:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50220&d=1454429975

That's under-door trim, all 4 splash panels, a trunk lid block-off plate and the nose aluminum. I'll be adding nose and upper rad shrouds, and anything else that comes up as the build/rebuild/refresh project progresses.

As I didn't have the energy to start polishing the front splash panels I decided to start with the nose aluminum. I originally used a breeze lower rad support so I thought the rad would need some adjustment before I would be able to add the aluminum but as it turns out the rad was in a perfect position! That was a nice surprise. I had a heck of a time getting the lower AL piece in place though. I eventually ended up taking one of the over-riders off to get it in there. I decided that I needed to enlarge a few of the cut outs so that the piece would rest against the lower rad mount without tension so I measured an cut them out on my band saw. I then cut new radii into the corners with a round-back file. Here's a shot of the mod. I placed the pieces relative to where I cut them out. The result is a nice symmetrical piece that matches the chassis-centered radiator:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50219&d=1454429975

I only had to modify the passenger side piece to follow the contour of the nose. I then marked and drilled all 3 pieces and fit the bulb seal on the side pieces. I then placed it all in the nose and drilled out the frame and cleco'd it all together:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50228&d=1454429981

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50222&d=1454429977

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50225&d=1454429979

When I positioned the pieces, I left enough room the get a wrench in to tighten the over-rider bolts...

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50226&d=1454429979

...but now I realize I'll have to remove the side pieces to remove the bolts if/when I remove the body. I'm not sure if I AM going to remove the body as part of this project so the nose will remain clecko'd for now.

Next I am going to make an upper rad shroud and based on a tip from AZPete I'll head over to Lowes to see if they have some .025 aluminum I can use for a nose shroud. I should have another update soon...

:)

[rcflash]

you covered everything pretty much except what engine is in it?
thanks
ck

[David Hodgkins]

you covered everything pretty much except what engine is in it?
thanks
ck

You're right! I forgot that not-so-minor detail. I've added it above but it is a Ford Racing BOSS 302 Crate Motor - M-6007-X302B (https://fordperformanceracingparts.com/parts/part_details.asp?PartKeyField=10271) - with Canton road racing pan (345 Rated fwhp). It's the same motor as I have in my more recent 15th Anniversary build (see the link in my sig). THAT motor, with a Holley HP EFI pulled 374HP on the dyno.

http://ffroadster.com/images/Engine/IMG_1160M.JPG
http://ffroadster.com/images/Engine/IMG_1159M.JPG
http://ffroadster.com/images/Engine/IMG_1158M.JPG

For those eagle-eyes out there, I changed out to a QuikTime bellhousing after these pics were taken.

:)

[David Hodgkins]

I've been working on the car this week; I started polishing the splash panels until I ran out of Nuvite. Time to order a new batch of F7, C and S! I've tried a few other products and I like this stuff the best.

Here's my latest batch of panels to do:
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50475&d=1455085478

That's 2 splash panels, the upper rad shroud and two 818 door panels that are getting engine turned. Missing is the trunk lid block off plate. After getting the prerequisite "before" shot I got to work doing the rough polish of the splash panels:
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50477&d=1455085480

After a while, they start to take the initial shine, although you can easily still see some big swirl marks:
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50483&d=1455085485

I ran out of the Nuvite F7 compound when I finished the second splash panel, and since I am out of C and S compounds I decided to quit for now and work on another project, fitting the rear splash panels. In order to get good block-off I had to mount them at a slight angle, further back than my MKIV build. I also loosened the gas tank in order to adjust it horizontally to fit between the rear splash guards:
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50506&d=1455118091

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50487&d=1455085488

Since this car is more traditional than the MKIV build I'm leaving the panels raw, to match the rest of the car. I might come back to all the wheel wells at some future point and either coat them with POR15 or some sort of spray-on bed liner. I haven't decided which yet and need to do some research on different products. but for now, they will stay raw.

--------------------------

While I have the car up on the lift I decided to check out the engine area and found a few problems. First, I've got a pretty major leak happening with my remote oil setup. I think it's in the the line-to-remote-oil-filter connection. You don't ever want to see this:
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50499&d=1455118086

I'm going to do an oil change this weekend and will take the opportunity to tear this apart and clean it up before putting some fresh pipe dope on and re-assembling. The whole bottom of the chassis is oil-soaked, and while it's actually kind of embarrassing to post about it, at least I'm doing something about it now.

I found another potential issue in that the lower rad hose actually touches the frame. Not good:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50502&d=1455118088

I'd love to put a new FFR rad in there but don't want to waste the $$$ to replace a perfectly good rad so I'll try to clean up this connection and initial bend to see if I can create a proper gap between the rad hose and the frame.

[David Hodgkins]

I just wanted to add a couple more pics. I thought getting an in-process pic would be pretty cool:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50492&d=1455085492

I really do love this lift! And with the integrated scissor lift I can have a car in the air in literally seconds instead of using a floorjack and jackstands, which you can waste 10 minutes or more futzing with. Plus, I've had the car slip while setting up the jackstands and that just scares the **** outa me! I feel so much safer with a 2200lb car on a 9000 lb lift!:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50491&d=1455085492

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50489&d=1455085490

If you don't have a lift, GET ONE!

:)

[AC Bill]

David, I added a thick rubber piece zip-tied on at the point that it was close to the frame.
It acts as a rub protector, if the engine torque causes any rubbing.

50507

[David Hodgkins]

David, I added a thick rubber piece zip-tied on at the point that it was close to the frame.
It acts as a rub protector, if the engine torque causes any rubbing.

50507

That's a good idea. Certainly couldn't hurt! Even if I can create a gap I'm going to add a piece of rubber there as you suggest.

Thanks!

:)

[mikeinatlanta]

Ok Dave I have to ask. Are you enjoying sprucing up the old ride with that extraordinary new ride sitting nearby?

[David Hodgkins]

Ok Dave I have to ask. Are you enjoying sprucing up the old ride with that extraordinary new ride sitting nearby?

Well, it's different, that's for sure. It's not an empty slate anymore. I'm debating whether to just polish up the panels by hand and then cover with SharkHide or do I pull the body so I can get to the firewall and cubby wall and really go nuts? Taking it all the way down to the frame and powdercoating seems like a real rat-hole. I don't want to go there. I think my best plan is to keep the original minimalist idea and not get into a bunch of upgrades. I'd really like to do some engine turned bits but I'm worried the car won't have total cohesion if for example I engine turn the upper rad shroud and front nose shroud but leave the firewall polished. My thinking right now is to just polish, sharkhide and install.

Speaking of nose shroud, I worked on that last night. The front of this MKIII is very different than the MKIV, even the nose shape. As a result, the template I used on the MKIV was almost totally useless. I didn't have any more flashing material so I just went to town on my last 2'x4' piece of stainless. The "grey" color is actually a thin white plastic covering that is protecting he stainless from scratches. If I end up using this and not keep it as a template all I have to do is peel that covering off and it will be ready to polish. This is where it is as of now:

Sorry for the blurry shot...
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50539&d=1455168698

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50540&d=1455168698

The metal started taking the shape of the opening and as a result the right side is kind of flopped over in this shot:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50538&d=1455168697

I think I'll go to Lowes today and pick up some .025 AL sheet and see if I can get that to work without pulling the rad. If that doesn't work out I'll keep the shroud I made last night as a template and go get some more stainless.

Tonight I'll finish installing the rear splash guards so I can drop the rear back down and then I'll work on the front splashguards. I need to pick up some 3" hose at a local industrial hardware store so I can FINALLY finish up the footbox fresh-air fan project that was never completed before.

:)

[Jeff Kleiner]

Well, it's different, that's for sure. It's not an empty slate anymore. I'm debating whether to just polish up the panels by hand and then cover with SharkHide or do I pull the body so I can get to the firewall and cubby wall and really go nuts? Taking it all the way down to the frame and powdercoating seems like a real rat-hole...

It's a beautiful car as it sits! My opinion (which you didn't ask for ;)) is to finish up the incomplete bits but resist the temptation to go crazy by yanking the body, etc. Keep in mind your return on investment---of both $$$ as well as your time---when the sale finally comes to fruition. If you spend X number of hours to take it all the way down, polish and upgrade what will it actually put in your pocket vs. simply doing a neat and tidy job of wrapping up the loose ends? Unless of course you just need a hobby 'cause we know how you just looooove to make things shiny :) Good luck my friend!

Jeff

[David Hodgkins]

It's a beautiful car as it sits! My opinion (which you didn't ask for ;)) is to finish up the incomplete bits but resist the temptation to go crazy by yanking the body, etc. Keep in mind your return on investment---of both $$$ as well as your time---when the sale finally comes to fruition. If you spend X number of hours to take it all the way down, polish and upgrade what will it actually put in your pocket vs. simply doing a neat and tidy job of wrapping up the loose ends? Unless of course you just need a hobby 'cause we know how you just looooove to make things shiny :) Good luck my friend!

Jeff

I agree. I think I'll keep it the way it is and just add the missing bits. I'll probably tear the dash out so I can add a proper glove box though. As it is now there's no GB structure behind the door. It should be a proper glove BOX. I probably should finish the other rollbar too (single full width). It needs to be chromed and have the LED brake lights added. The car will get new tires too. So there's still quite a bit to do still. I want it to be pristine for HB.

:)

[Carlos C]

This project of yours reminds me of when I restored my '87 Mustang 5.0, back in 2007; not because it needed the work, but because I wanted a new (old) Mustang. Keep up the good work. I love reading your updates.

Carlos

[David Hodgkins]

This project of yours reminds me of when I restored my '87 Mustang 5.0, back in 2007; not because it needed the work, but because I wanted a new (old) Mustang. Keep up the good work. I love reading your updates.

Carlos

I'm with you. If I sell something I want to make sure it's in great shape first. Thanks for following along. If you have any suggestions, let me know!

I finished the rear splash guards last night but not without some minor headaches. I removed the driver's side splash guard to get to a few clecos still holding in the rear harness, one of which ended up being a real bear to replace with a rivet. There was also a wire outside of a loom inside the wheel well. It is for the LED brake light on the large roll bar that hasn't been finished yet. You can see it - and one of the clecos - in the shot below. Also worth noting are the cleckos holding in the brake line chassis bracket. I have to get some POR 15 applied to that bracket before riveting so that'll be another project to do a little later:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50487&d=1455085488

The cleco that gave me fits was in the rear-most corner of the chassis, right above where the rear loom "Y's" in this shot. It took me almost a 1/2 hr. standing in various positions trying to get a ***-**** rivet in there. And yes, I did redo the electrical tape at the end of that loom:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50553&d=1455257509

Here's the finished panel, after applying silicone and riveting. Also note the loose wire is now snaked into the loom:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50580&d=1455289380

By the way, here how I attached the ear to the body, using a padded c-clamp to hold the two together.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50572&d=1455289375

I drilled it with a 1/8" pilot hole first, then the 3/16" bit went through like butter. I spaced it 1/2" from the edge of the body. The finished rivet almost faces straight down and can't be seen normally:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50581&d=1455289381

...and here's the driver's side panel. The green wire is the ground for the lemans gas cap:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50576&d=1455289378

...and another shot at ride height. It feels good to see this FINALLY finished!:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50584&d=1455289383

To those that might be horrified that I put a rivet through the body, I say, "What rivet?"

[David Hodgkins]

More progress...

I evened out the front over riders and installed the front bumper last night. I trimmed the over rider tubes a bit to bring the over riders a bit closer to the body and the bumper hoop is noticeably closer. What do you think?

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50780&d=1455723331

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50770&d=1455723322

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50773&d=1455723325

I also started working on fitting the front splash guards. They needed a lot of "english" to re-bend them to fit properly, They had flattened out considerably over the years being stacked in various boxes. Here's the passenger side just sitting after being worked into position. I think I'm going to put some more bend in the panel before I'm through. I also obviously have to open a hole for the hose that should be connected to the fan for the footbox vents. I still need to purchase the hose for that.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50778&d=1455723329

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50779&d=1455723330


:)

[skullandbones]

More progress...

I evened out the front over riders and installed the front bumper last night. I trimmed the over rider tubes a bit to bring the over riders a bit closer to the body and the bumper hoop is noticeably closer. What do you think?

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50780&d=1455723331

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50770&d=1455723322

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50773&d=1455723325

I also started working on fitting the front splash guards. They needed a lot of "english" to re-bend them to fit properly, They had flattened out considerably over the years being stacked in various boxes. Here's the passenger side just sitting after being worked into position. I think I'm going to put some more bend in the panel before I'm through. I also obviously have to open a hole for the hose that should be connected to the fan for the footbox vents. I still need to purchase the hose for that.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50778&d=1455723329

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50779&d=1455723330


:)

Little adjustments like that will be missed by many people but sure make a difference in the fit and finish. I like moving the bumper and halo in closer. Looks good. Still have some of that stuff to do on mine yet. Driving is so much more fun.

Good luck,

WEK.

[David Hodgkins]

Yesterday I took out the few rivets I had in the F Panels and pulled them off the cars. The only rivets were the brake hardlines and the panels had never had silicone applied so once I pulled the clecos - yes, the panels were still being held on with clecos - they came right off.

This F-Panel as you can see is being "protected" :rolleyes: by a layer of oil, courtesy of the remote oil filter. Can't wait to get to THAT project...

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50807&d=1455809318

I do think once these panels are shined up again they will look quite nice:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50808&d=1455809319

...and it will be nice to finally get rid of the gaping holes that have been behind the front wheels forever:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50802&d=1455809315

Now that I've got the f-panels off the car and drilled to be ready to assemble with the splash guards I've got everything off the car that still needs to be polished by machine. Everything else will be polished by hand. I'm putting all that off for a bit so I can drill the holes for the vent hoses yet to be installed, fix that oil leak and get the wipers installed.

:)

[David Hodgkins]

Whelp, it's been an interesting few weeks. I went to drain my air tank and found out it was dangerously rusted! Everything was put on hold while I fixed it:
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?20352-Air-Compressor-Rehab-Old-tank-almost-rusted-out!

The "F"-panels are cleaning up nicely though...
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=51432&d=1457560773

The air compressor is back on-line and I'm picking up some new footbox vent hose today so we're back on track!

:)

[David Hodgkins]

I guess I forgot to update the thread on another issue: The leaky remote oil filter. I removed the bracket and hoses from the car and worked over the hoses with a wire wheel to clean them up. The hoses went from this:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50499&d=1455118086

...to this:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=51442&d=1457562002

Here are some more shots taken during the cleanup:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=51441&d=1457562001

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=51438&d=1457561998

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=51434&d=1457561995

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=51443&d=1457562003

Here's hoping the oil deluge is a thing of the past!

:)

[David Hodgkins]

The air tank rehab project got it's own thread (http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?20352-Air-Compressor-Rehab-Old-tank-almost-rusted-out!), and I took the advice contained there to replace a section of hardline with softline. Since I work on the car mostly in the evenings and only part time on the weekend that sucked another day from the MKIII project. But I'm finally back on task and making some progress.

The latest task is finally adding the foot box vents. The fans have been wired and working since the initial build, but the hose I installed originally between the front intakes and the fan self-destructed and took one of the front hose intakes with it. (I still have to replace that.) the hose that came with the vent kit was simply too flimsy. I found some robust 3" wire-reinforced hose at a local industrial supply house. Unfortunately the shortest they have is 25' so I'm going to have a ton left over.

I never had the front splash panels installed, and I had to cut out holes for the vent hose. One the driver's side I also have the front harness coming down from the foot box so that would have to be accounted for too. I'm glad I waited because the outer dimension of this hose is bigger than the original hose, at nearly 3-1/2". I first made a template of the hole I wanted, which isn't a perfect circle. Once I had that I traced it onto the splash panel I carefully cut it out with my dremel, using both the small cut off wheel and grinder tip.

Here's the driver's f-panel and splash panel with the harness and vent holes:
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=51603&d=1458141801

The other main thing not installed was the vent waste-gates. The problem there is that on both sides, but the passenger side in particular, the waste gates don't stick up through the sheet metal very far, and getting a hose clamp to grab it is nearly impossible. So I decided to make some extensions that I would screw onto the waste gate collar and give the hose something more stout to be clamped on to. I went to Home Depot and found these 3" vent hose elbows that fit the collar nearly perfectly:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=51557&d=1458049126

I ended up cutting the bottom 2+" off the elbow to use as the collar extension. However, even with the tight fit the extension was too big for the hole in the foot box, which meant I'd have to push the collar through the foot box from the bottom, and then screw the extension on from the top of the foot box. Here's what the passenger side collar looks like with the extension bolted on:
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=51559&d=1458049127

And here is what it looks like mounted and with generous amounts of silicone applied for waterproofing. I actually added a bit more silicone on the front after the pic was taken but the pic came out too blurry to post:
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=51565&d=1458049132

The driver's side was better, and it ended up looking like this:
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=51601&d=1458141800

..and here it is with the hose installed:
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=51604&d=1458141802

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=51605&d=1458141802

continued...

[David Hodgkins]

...I just wanted to add this...

I wish Goodyear would start making the Eagle GTII's again! They are a decent road tire, and their looks! I totally dig them over, say, BFGs...

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=51602&d=1458141800

The car is going to go back together after the vent hoses are finished so I can take it to the CA BAR and get a new sticker put onto the frame instead of the firewall. If I can get that done in a timely manner the plan is to take the body off so I can pull the firewall and give it "the treatment"! Then I can give "the treatment" to the upper fan shroud and front nose shroud like TROJAN has.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=51606&d=1458141803

:)

[Carlos C]

David:

May I suggest for you to invest on a hole saw set? By the tools you described using, I'm sure the holes took you a while to cut, and the job was tedious. The hole saw would have done the job in seconds. I also noticed that the holes have jagged edges. I would recommend using a round file to smooth them out. Otherwise, you may end up damaging your hoses and harness. The hole saw also makes smooth edges. Keep posting. I love reading your updates.

Carlos

[David Hodgkins]

David:

May I suggest for you to invest on a hole saw set? By the tools you described using, I'm sure the holes took you a while to cut, and the job was tedious. The hole saw would have done the job in seconds. I also noticed that the holes have jagged edges. I would recommend using a round file to smooth them out. Otherwise, you may end up damaging your hoses and harness. The hole saw also makes smooth edges. Keep posting. I love reading your updates.

Carlos

Carlos,

Yeah, what I probably should have at least is one of those variable cut bits, you know the one with the adjustable arm that sticks out. These holes are a little oblong too to account for the angle of the splash guard, although it could have been more so, judging from last night's work. That's why I made a pattern before cutting, to match side to side. I do have a set of hole saws, which I've used to make dashes, cut holes in panels, etc.

Thanks for the tip on the round file. I did hit it some more and also bought some plastic trim ring to line the hole with, which you can see in these shots:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=51633&d=1458222560

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=51632&d=1458222560

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=51634&d=1458222561

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=51635&d=1458222562

I need to buy a few more worm clamps but the passenger side is done for now. I still need another front air vent cover to attach the hose to on the driver's side to complete that side. I made some brackets to hold the pull cables for the waste-gate that I need to cover with POR15 before installing.

I got an appointment for MONDAY at the BAR so everything is going to be buttoned up and tested starting today through the weekend. I've decided that after the BAR appointment I'm going to pull the body off to really detail the aluminum and sharkhide it. I'll also pull the firewall to give it some ET racing stripes. Basically try to bring it up to the 2nd build standard.

I'm still on the fence about upgrades for power steering and a radio though...

:)

[David Hodgkins]

I drove the car around a bit this weekend and it seems there is still an oil leak. It looks like it's coming from the main seal (UGH!) so after I take the car to the BAR today to get the sticker changed out I'm not only going to be pulling the body but I might be pulling the motor as well...

:(

[David Hodgkins]

It's a beautiful car as it sits! My opinion (which you didn't ask for ;)) is to finish up the incomplete bits but resist the temptation to go crazy by yanking the body, etc. Keep in mind your return on investment---of both $$$ as well as your time---when the sale finally comes to fruition. If you spend X number of hours to take it all the way down, polish and upgrade what will it actually put in your pocket vs. simply doing a neat and tidy job of wrapping up the loose ends? Unless of course you just need a hobby 'cause we know how you just looooove to make things shiny :) Good luck my friend!

Jeff


I agree. I think I'll keep it the way it is and just add the missing bits. I'll probably tear the dash out so I can add a proper glove box though. As it is now there's no GB structure behind the door. It should be a proper glove BOX. I probably should finish the other rollbar too (single full width). It needs to be chromed and have the LED brake lights added. The car will get new tires too. So there's still quite a bit to do still. I want it to be pristine for HB.

:)


I drove the car around a bit this weekend and it seems there is still an oil leak. It looks like it's coming from the main seal (UGH!) so after I take the car to the BAR today to get the sticker changed out I'm not only going to be pulling the body but I might be pulling the motor as well...

:(

Seems I couldn't help myself.

It started out with "Gee, it's hard to get to the entire firewall to re-polish it. And you know, it would look cool if I engine-turned it..."

A slippery slope? More like:

http://ffroadster.com/images/Misc/giphy2.gif

You may have noticed I went a little dark. I've been busy. I basically decided that if I was really going to sell the car, it deserved to be as right as possible. So I made a list of projects:


A̶l̶l̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶p̶o̶l̶i̶s̶h̶e̶d̶ ̶a̶l̶u̶m̶i̶n̶u̶m̶ ̶s̶h̶o̶u̶l̶d̶ ̶r̶e̶c̶e̶i̶v̶e̶ ̶a̶ ̶g̶o̶o̶d̶ ̶f̶i̶n̶a̶l̶ ̶p̶o̶l̶i̶s̶h̶ and be protected with sharkhide.
F̶r̶o̶n̶t̶ ̶s̶p̶l̶a̶s̶h̶ ̶g̶u̶a̶r̶d̶s̶,̶ ̶u̶p̶p̶e̶r̶ ̶f̶a̶n̶ ̶s̶h̶r̶o̶u̶d̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶n̶o̶s̶e̶ ̶s̶h̶r̶o̶u̶d̶ ̶n̶e̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶p̶o̶l̶i̶s̶h̶e̶d̶.̶
The wheel well aluminum should be sprayed with bedliner paint.
The under body needs more bedliner paint.
The oil leak needs tending to. (oil NOT leaking during rest after tightening oil pan. Will it after running??)
Some detailed pieces, like the hood hinges, needed touch-up paint.
The engine bay wiring was functional, but ugly. I need to go through and clean it up. (90% done, just need to wrap with tape)
Engine turn the f̶i̶r̶e̶w̶a̶l̶l̶, c̶u̶b̶b̶y̶ ̶w̶a̶l̶l̶ ̶(̶b̶o̶t̶h̶ ̶s̶i̶d̶e̶s̶)̶ ̶ upper fan shroud and front nose shroud. All with racing stripes.
New tires. I'm thinking Cooper Cobras. 235/60 R15 front, 295/50 R15's rear.
Chrome plate full width roll bar and add LED brake light wiring.
Power steering? (probably not)
Add access panel to upper driver's footbox panel.
No clecos anywhere! 10 years after kit delivery, there are still clecos on the car.
Wipers were never hooked up. Motor was installed, but the wipers themselves never were...
Replace o-rings on fuel injectors.
Detail clean the ENTIRE car.
A̶d̶d̶ ̶g̶l̶o̶v̶e̶ ̶b̶o̶x̶ ̶w̶a̶l̶l̶s̶ ̶b̶e̶h̶i̶n̶d̶ ̶d̶a̶s̶h̶.̶
Fix carpet.
...


In short, it's looking BAD for HB!

[David Hodgkins]

OK so on 3/21 I drove the car for the last time. Despite my twitching eyelid and increased blood pressure from the trepidation I felt I dug into this new phase of the refresh.

First things first, off with the body!

Good bye roll bar, doors, bumpers, body bolts, trunk, gas tank tube, windshield, hood. Oh, and unplug lights. Thank you weatherpack! ;)

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52226&d=1459530428

Remember all that progress on the nose aluminum? pffft.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52446&d=1459956394

And here is a sight that makes every builder want to cry:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52231&d=1459530432

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52230&d=1459530431

Everyone get wrinkles folks. That's genuine patina right there. Right??

:)

[David Hodgkins]

Next I found out that yes indeed, you can actually remove the body with the splash-guards attached:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52451&d=1459956398

Looking at the go-cart, when I saw the engine bay the gravity of what I was about to do hit me:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52452&d=1459956399

Look at that engine bay. Disgusting. When I built the car I took a lot of pride in polishing up all the engine bay and trunk panels but I never wanted a beauty queen. The car has been an ultra reliable cruiser from day one and has almost 12,000 miles on it. I had polished the panels once between 2012 and 2016, and the road grime was certainly doing it's bit to contribute to the mess.

Two things about this next shot. The SPCN sticker ended up being a bear to get off. And look at that wiring! It really hit me how good the current complete kit wiring is. The EFI harness added another squid to the pod. I had a couple of small looms coming into the engine compartment via the EFI harness, only to exit the other side into the driver's footbox! Lastly, after I loomed all the wiring initially I had to add all the sensor wires (Hey, it was my 1st build!) and that is contained in it's own separate loom that was just tie-wrapped to the bigger main loom. Wiring the thing was the hardest part of my initial build and I was more than happy that it ran! Clearly though, I have to see what I could do about cleaning up that mess:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52459&d=1459956405

Oh, and then there's this:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52454&d=1459956401

Again, the thing is, everything worked! The gauges have issues though. They are very early speedhut gauges that I got through Kirkham racing. (they had them way before FFR). When you turn on the key a little Kirkham logo flashes. It's kinda cool. Well anyway, it uses another early generation external GPS box that I miss-calibrated so the speedo was recording 2 miles for every one. Awesome. The little LED screen on it that shows - among other things - the fuel level isn't backlit and can't be read at night, and finally all the gauges have needles that don't light up so they too are hard to read at night. So I pulled all the gauges and sent them off to speedhut for $126 worth of upgrades.

This is an outline of the access door I'm going to add to the driver's upper footbox. I've never used DZUZ fasteners before and will give it a shot for this project:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52476&d=1459956423

I know the SOMEWHERE beneath all that road grime, a beautiful panel is waiting to shine again! This time, I'll add jeweling and Sharkhide and we'll see how long that can last:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52475&d=1459956422

:)

[Lancaster Lad]

Mr David

Thanks a lot. Now that makes two cars I cannot visually take apart and learn from the "masters ", you and CRZN 427 at HB 2016.
I know there will be others but I "wasted" three years looking at the hot rod until this past winter changed my mind to the
roadster.

On a side note that is an interesting place for the " roll over " switch.

Greetings from the high desert Lancaster, Ca.

Cecil

PS 26 hours till big " Tonka Truck " arrives

[David Hodgkins]

In order to polish and engine-turn the firewall, I had to remove it from the car. Step one drill all the rivets. I hate to admit this, but I put that sucker together with 1/8" rivets. Believe me, the firewall was in there SOLID, but I'll drill those out to 3/16" when I put it back together. I had a few issues getting the firewall out. First, I had 2 hardlines routed through it. The rear brake lines and the clutch line. Luckily, the rear brake line has a union just below the bottom of the firewall so it could just be unhooked. But the hydraulic clutch line was a single piece between the master cylinder and a short soft line connection at the clutch arm:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52511&d=1460061925

OK so there's a union way down next to the 4" tube. The point is it's too big to pull with the firewall and so I cut it out and ordered a new braided softline from Fortes. It's plug and play, a real snap to install. It doesn't route through the firewall, but goes through an existing slot at the top of the footbox. It will occupy a space currently taken by a to-be-rerouted wire loom. Plus with the 90 degree fitting at the clutch the line isn't as exposed as before. It went from this connection:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52513&d=1460061927

To now, roughed in, it looks like this:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52667&d=1460470166

The second obstacle that stumped me initially was the silicone between the firewall and the frame. I ended up using a screwdriver to pry the two apart, but it took some force. I proceeded carefully though and the firewall came out without any bends. It's too bad FFMetal doesn't make these anymore.

Once I had the firewall out I pulled the rear cubby wall, f-panels and front splash guards, and set up the ol' polishing station. They, plus the upper rad shroud and front nose shroud, all needed a ton of additional work to bring them to full shine:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52525&d=1460061936

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52521&d=1460061933

continued...

:)

[David Hodgkins]

Polish.

PolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPo lishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPoli shPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolish PolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPo lishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPoli shPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolish PolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPo lishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPoli shPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolish PolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPo lishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPoli shPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolish PolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPo lishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPoli shPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolish PolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPolishPo lishPolishPolishPolishPolish.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52625&d=1460335939

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52626&d=1460335939

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52620&d=1460335935

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52618&d=1460335934

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52621&d=1460335936

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52624&d=1460335938

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52628&d=1460335941

[David Hodgkins]

...setting down the polisher for a moment, I started on the wiring. The first thing I did was drill out the rivets (and pull a CLECKO - grrr) holding the EFI harness, which had the sensor and wiper harnesses zip tied to it. Then I stripped said harnesses and figured out which wires were going across the engine bay.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52668&d=1460470169

It turned out to be the wires for the MAP sensor and the coil, in two separate looms. The coil wires ran down the front harness to about the f-panel, where they exited the harness to attach to the coil. One of the coil wires was joined to a wire going to the distributor at the rear of the engine so the decision was made that the coil wires would follow the path of the distributor wires and cross to the coil from the front of the engine. I used a small screw driver to disassemble the coil plug and carefully fished the wires out from the front harness loom. I then merged the coil wires into the distributor harness and fed it under the intake to the front of the motor.

Another change I'm making is to shorten both power cables that feed into the cockpit by routing them through the bottom of the firewall instead of following the harness out to the edge of the chassis and back. That saves 2 feet of thick wire (X2) and with those gone I should have enough room in the original harness loom for all the sensor wires. Once I re-loom everything you should see how much difference dropping out that big sensor loom is!

Speaking of looms, when I hooked up the motor originally I laid the looms on the top of the motor along side the fuel rails. By re-routing all those through the valley under the intake the whole motor will look a lot cleaner. Just halfway through the process on the driver's side, you can see the intake below the fuel rails now, a much cleaner look:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52715&d=1460557572

:)

[Georg]

Hi David,
reall cool how you just finish the "missing bits" and the outcome will be nearly a completely rebuild. I'm more than impressed and getting really jealous to see you working on your baby. I'm now just waiting, dreamimg and further investigating...
Great to follow all you guys here...
Georg

[David Hodgkins]

Mr David

Thanks a lot. Now that makes two cars I cannot visually take apart and learn from the "masters ", you and CRZN 427 at HB 2016.
I know there will be others but I "wasted" three years looking at the hot rod until this past winter changed my mind to the
roadster.

On a side note that is an interesting place for the " roll over " switch.

Greetings from the high desert Lancaster, Ca.

Cecil

PS 26 hours till big " Tonka Truck " arrives

Cecil, thanks for chiming in. Did the "Tonka Truck" arrive?

And, is there something wrong with my inertial switch placement?

:)


Hi David,
really cool how you just finish the "missing bits" and the outcome will be nearly a completely rebuild. I'm more than impressed and getting really jealous to see you working on your baby. I'm now just waiting, dreamimg and further investigating...
Great to follow all you guys here...
Georg

Georg!

How are you my friend? Hope everything is good in China... Still thinking about Paris, or the States?

:)

[David Hodgkins]

This past weekend I spent more time working on fixing up the engine harness and also engine turned a few panels.

This is the coil wire, which was one of the wire looms that was spanning the back of the engine bay. It was grouped with the distributor wiring loom and now exits the front of the motor where it will cross over to the coil. You can see in this shot ho much I need to shorten it:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52716&d=1460557574

I re-routed the power cable that is being fed from the alternator from the driver's side footbox and it now is grouped with the othe power cables. There are now NO wires running from the DS footbox to the motor. The wiring has all been routed and gathered on the passenger side, and id now routed under the fuel line:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52819&d=1460754032

Once all the wires were re-routed I put the loom back on. I lost two additional looms on the passenger side and after I wrap it it should look nice and tidy:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52821&d=1460754034

Once I had the harness under control I tied it to the upper hoop to give me full access to the passenger foot box. After a good clean up and some hand-applied polish it started to get that ol' shine back:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52911&d=1460987132

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52910&d=1460987131

Speaking of polishing, I put a final polish on the firewall before engine turning. How's this?

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52918&d=1460987137

:)

continued...

[David Hodgkins]

continued...

Back to engine turning. Yesterday I did the firewall and one side of the cubby wall. They came out really nice! I was able to use a single pad for each section and so they are all really even. I'm feeling much more comfortable with the process now:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52920&d=1460987139

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52922&d=1460987141

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52921&d=1460987140

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52923&d=1460987141

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52927&d=1460987145

Today I'll engine turn the back of the cubby/trunk wall and maybe even finish engine turning the nose shroud. There is still tons to do but I MUST have the body back on THIS WEEK!!

:)

[David Hodgkins]

Just because...

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52974&d=1461090716

I engine turned the cockpit-side of the cubby wall last night, after taping up the trunk side and doing some detail polishing on the cockpit side.

This time I used the first side as a template to set my center stripe and then measured out the rest befor starting on the engine turning. Like the first side, it only took me 3 5/8" disks of the scotch bright to do the whole panel. One for each side and one for the center stripe and pin stripes. I'll let the pics do most of the talking on this one:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52972&d=1461090715

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52971&d=1461090714

Measuring 1/2" offset for the pinstripes...

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52977&d=1461090718

Now stepping 1/4" back in to set up the pinstripe:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52980&d=1461090720

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52979&d=1461090720

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52985&d=1461090724

continued...

[David Hodgkins]

continued...

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52987&d=1461090726

The finished piece:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52990&d=1461090729

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=52991&d=1461090730

Today I'm going to try and make the glove box, using the templates from the TROJAN build. I hope it works on a MKIII!

I ALSO want to engine turn the upper fan shroud AND the nose shroud! I doubt I'll get through it all but here's hoping!

:)

[WIS89]

Dave-

Like everything else, it's looking great! I admire your skills and tenacity.

I appreciate the updates as well, and am jealous of your progress.

Thanks for sharing your hard work, and cool vision.

Regards,

Steve

[David Hodgkins]

Thanks Steve!

As far as updates go, this one is kinda lame.

I spent yesterday making up templates and mocking up the glove box. I was then able to cut out 2 of the 3 pieces on the band saw and will do the 3rd tonight. I had to make some modifications because my wiring loom follows the upper cowl hoop. It's too big to squeeze in behind the glove box. I also had to move the auxiliary fuse panel in my I-squared system. It will now sit on the firewall, not the dash filler panel.

So not a lot of "progress" yesterday, certainly not as much as I needed. I HAVE to finish the box tonight so I can take it and the dash filler panel to the powdercoat place tomorrow. I don't know if I'll get to the engine turning tonight, but not getting to it will put me even further behind!

I'm seriously worried about whether it will be put back together in time for next Saturday.


Maybe I can turn the BBQ into a build party?? (not)

:)

[David Hodgkins]

I forgot to add...

I sent out all of the gauges to speedhut to have them brought up to snuff, as described earlier. I just got an email from them saying that they are delayed because every gauge has to be rebuilt. Probably to add the red sweep light I imagine.

There is now the possibility that they won't be back in time for the HB show...

:(

[David Hodgkins]

I'm making progress, but feel deeper in the hole with each passing day.

Last night was spent finishing the fabrication of the glove box and mocking it up. I didn't get back to polishing as I had hoped. The glove box ended up being a bit too tall, and I had to make more adjustments to the cutouts to accomodate the wiring harness, but I did finish it. It'll be going to the powder coat place today. They are local to me and have good turn-around times so the hope is that I'll get the pieces back tomorrow.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53058&d=1461215640

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53053&d=1461215636

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53048&d=1461215632

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53045&d=1461215630

This hinged bottom dash panel makes up the floor of the glove box and will be powder coated as well...

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53047&d=1461215632

:)

[Carlos C]

Hey David:

Are those home-made hinges on the glovebox door, or did you purchase them somewhere? How are they attached on both sides? Thanks.

Carlos

[WIS89]

Dave-

What is the badge looking thing attached under the dash in front of the shift lever?

It looks like a squadron insignia or similar. It's hard to tell from the picture. Thanks!

Regards,

Steve

[David Hodgkins]

Hey David:

Are those home-made hinges on the glovebox door, or did you purchase them somewhere? How are they attached on both sides? Thanks.

Carlos

Those are from McMaster-Carr. I can look up the ID if you are interested. I roughed up the mounting surfaces of the hinges and dash, and then mounted them with some JB Weld.


Dave-

What is the badge looking thing attached under the dash in front of the shift lever?

It looks like a squadron insignia or similar. It's hard to tell from the picture. Thanks!

Regards,

Steve

It's a fake-out. Just some pseudo patch I found somewhere. I figure if some dumb idiot (non military) saw it they might think twice about messing with the car. It's totally fake so I figure it's not a stolen valor type of thing...


I'm in deep doo-doo. I'm spending the whole weekend working on the house. I don't think there's any way I'll make the show now...

:(

[David Hodgkins]

I spoke with Speedhut gauges on Friday. They ran into a problem. My original gauge had a built in fuel level on the LED screen and for some weird reason they can't put the GPS AND fuel level in at the same time. They have another gauge that has two sweep arms - one for speed, one for fuel - but it's not a reverse speedo(!) I decided that the GPS and fuel level are MUST HAVE'S so I bit the bullet and ordered the non-reverse speedo. It looks like this one:

http://speedhut.s3.amazonaws.com/product/GR4-DUALGPS-SF-03T_1.png

It won't ship until Monday. I paid for overnight shipping, but that's just another in a too-long line of "stuff" to do...

[Carlos C]

Those are from McMaster-Carr. I can look up the ID if you are interested. I roughed up the mounting surfaces of the hinges and dash, and then mounted them with some JB Weld.

That'd be great, if it's not too much trouble and they seem to be working great for you. Thanks!

Carlos

[ehansen007]

Yeah, I had my speedo upgraded to GPS when I went with the S-10 tailshaft. I love the fact that I put it in and it just started working. GPS is the best for these cars.

[David Hodgkins]

Erik I especially like how the GPS is integrated into the speedo itself. My car has always been GPS, but it was an external system that had to be calibrated. Hopefully this system will be more accurate with recording to the odometer than my last one was.

Regarding the thrash to get ready for HB, well, I gave it the ol' college try anyway...

I spent a TON of time on the car last week in an attempt to get it ready. I even took a few days off to try and get her ready. I didn't make it. For a few moments I considered taking the chassis to the show but the rear break line needed to be bled. The clutch line needed to be attached to the frame and bled. The coil was still in need of new wire ends. There were several small electrical issues. In short, I'd have to push the chassis up and on to the trailer. I just didn't have it in me, what with my big pre-cruise BBQ taking up that last Friday, and the general depression that was settling in...

But enough of the negativity. Let get on to what has been done between the 24th and last night, 5/3...

The upper fan shroud received a final polish and then was engine turned. I laid out the stripes a little differently, marking the inner edge of the pinstripe first and then adding the 1/2" to the outer edge. I was then able to turn the outer part of the piece and then just peel off the single piece of tape to expose the area that would receive the pin stripe. This little change allowed for less re-taping and speeded up the layout of the pin stripe. Here are a series of pics showing what I mean:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53069&d=1461340917

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53071&d=1461340918

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53070&d=1461340918

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53073&d=1461340920

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53074&d=1461340920

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53077&d=1461340923

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53081&d=1461340926

continued

[David Hodgkins]

continued...

This piece came out extremely clean and even. As a matter of fact, this piece and the cubby wall that follows were both "perfect", in that each section turned only used a single abrasion disk each, and I really dialed in the consistency, producing nice, even swirls. These pieces are clearly the best I've done so far:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53083&d=1461340930

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53088&d=1461340936

I polished the trunk and coated it with sharkhide, and then mounted the cubby wall:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53084&d=1461340931

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53086&d=1461340934

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53341&d=1461771142

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53343&d=1461771144

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53418&d=1461991257

continued...

[David Hodgkins]

After that I covered the f-panels and front splash guards with sharkhide and coated the backs with rubberized bedliner spray:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53345&d=1461771147

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53347&d=1461771153

I also covered the firewall with sharkhide:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53346&d=1461771150

...and mounted it. I originally mounted this thing with 1/8" rivets, so I drilled the holes out to a proper 3/16" before mounting it the final time. As you can see in this shot, I also wrapped the now-single wire loom. So much cleaner now!:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53409&d=1461991251

I also hand-polished the passenger footbox and coated it with sharkhide as well:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53410&d=1461991252

...and mounted the wiper motor, after cleaning up and sharkhiding the mount:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53412&d=1461991253

When I was putting the car together originally, I nicked one of the harness wires and then used a clamp-on connector to repair the wire. It pulled apart during deconstruction so I used my handy little tool to free the plug connector and replaced the whole wire:
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53414&d=1461991255

[David Hodgkins]

...then I was able to start mounting the dash. Here's the new speedo, with GPS and integrated fuel indicator sweep:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53416&d=1461991256

Frank Maslowski came over on thursday and helped me out by mounting the f-panels and splash guards. As you can tell from this shot, there were still some electrical connections to tend to:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53417&d=1461991257

...and this is the last (blurry) shot before HB. Close, but not good enough:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53419&d=1461991258

continued...

[pavieSD]

Dave keep at it! It's going to look fantastic once you freshen up all the little things. Plus you'll be able to advertise this as a well sorted, twice reviewed sort of build, so should have lots and lots of trouble free miles for the next guy. On that front, I unfortunately wasn't able to make it up this year, as my battery and starter both crapped out. I'm waiting on parts to get delivered this week, so hopefully my car will be back on the road this weekend. Cheers.

Mark

[GoDadGo]

The time taken to do all of this crazy polishing and turning is insane!
Bravo From Those Of Us Who Are Less Dedicated!
Fantastic Work & Attention To The Little Details!

[David Hodgkins]

Thanks guys. I have more to update you on but I'm off to the shop now to make more progress.

Bleeding a few lines, and then doublechecking to see if anything got forgotten before I mount the body!

:)

[rmiller64]

David, My sister In-law loved the Kids portrait in the Formal living room at your place last weekend. My brother and I thought the Guardsman Blue Wimbledon White Cobra hood sitting against the Formal Living room wall was pretty cool also! Lol

Thank you again for having us in your home. Had a great time

[David Hodgkins]

David, My sister In-law loved the Kids portrait in the Formal living room at your place last weekend. My brother and I thought the Guardsman Blue Wimbledon White Cobra hood sitting against the Formal Living room wall was pretty cool also! Lol

Thank you again for having us in your home. Had a great time

You are very welcome. It was great having you over!

re: the hood... That's me, always keeping it classy. I thought a big car part in the living room was a nice touch.

The wife... not so much.

:)

[David Hodgkins]

The HB show was an awesome event. I had a sad feeling when I went back to the shop on Monday; I should have taken the chassis to the show. Oh well...

Getting back to the refresh, I took the vent tubes out of the splash guards to add a protective guard to the opening that I forgot to tell Frank about when he assembled them. You can tell from the following shot that I could hav added more width to the holes. The tubing fits fine as it is, but I has to bend a bit. It's not a big deal, but worth noting for the next build...:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53549&d=1462297655

I then moved back to the dash, which still had a few loose wires for the new speedo and gauge lighting harness to set up. I also needed to install the glove compartment for the last time. Also - and this was important to me - I wanted to rearrange the I-Squared electronics so that they are hanging off the firewall instead of resting on the floor of the dash panel I created. I was able to carefully move the switch box, the 2 heavy gauge fuses and the auxiliary fuse panel onto the back of the firewall without too much trouble. I also relocated the computer to the space behind the glove box:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53553&d=1462297660

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53558&d=1462297668

After playing with the spacing, I added some more industrial velcro to the firewall and "permanently" mounted the gear, and then I installed the glove box walls. I installed the inner side wall and back wall as one unit:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53559&d=1462297669

...and the added the outer side wall:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53562&d=1462297675

Then I added some bulb seal to the back and outer side wall:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53564&d=1462297679

As a result of the rearranging of the electronics, the dash floor is now completely devoid of any gear. This is how it should have been originally. The black powdercoat gives it a nice finished look:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53565&d=1462297681

continued...

[David Hodgkins]

Here's a pic of the floor in the "up" position, forming the completed glove box:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53568&d=1462297686

I'd like to add a small side note here. WIS89 asked about an embroidered piece I had under the dash. I said it was probably a faux military insignia but I did some research and it turns out it's an patch from Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 369 (HMLA-369).

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53570&d=1462297690

You can read about them here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMLA-369

Since this is an actual military patch I've removed it from the car. I'm proud, and respectful of our brave men and women in uniform and as a "civi" I would never wear or show anything military that I didn't earn. I'm gong to mount a small fire extinguisher in it's place.

Moving on, I hooked up the gauge lights and tested them. I found out at this point the speedhut had neglected to add the lights for the sweep needles! grrr! The needles will be hard to see at night with this arrangement so I might have to pull them out - AGAIN - and send them back to speedhut. I'm going to call them today to work on the details.

Another small project I needed to do was to add the pull for the driver's foot box vent. I created the mounting bracket previously and so I was a simple matter of mounting the bracket, cutting the pull to length and then mounting the pull to the blast gate. Here are some pics of the result(sorry about the rotation):

Open position
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53587&d=1462337304
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53589&d=1462337306

continued...

Closed position
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53585&d=1462337302
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53590&d=1462337306

[David Hodgkins]

At this point I now have a working dash:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53595&d=1462337311

...which brings us to last night's exercise, bleeding the rear brake and hydraulic clutch lines:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53628&d=1462455735

Not much to show there. Just attached a vacuum suction tool to the lines and sucked the air out, and then used the ol' "push and hold" pedal technique to purge the last bubbles from the lines.

That brings us up to date. Tonight I plan to go-cart the chassis to check to clutch and brakes, and then I'll be working on spraying the under-body and rear wheel wells with rubberized paint.

I'm still debating adding power steering. I might even post a poll for community opinion on adding it to a car to be sold and if that one option justifies raising the price of the car by $1000 to at least cover the cost...

:)

[David Hodgkins]

I called speedhut yesterday and I'm working out the gauge needle issue. Also, the LED screen isn't backlit so I can't read it in low light. Examples below:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53663&d=1462544759

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53662&d=1462544758

Didn't get too much done yesterday, but I did remove the roll bar grommets to polish and sharkhide, and also started taping off the body so that I can spray undercoating on it this weekend.

I need the following items, and I'll be working to procure or get updates on the following today:

Header / Side pipe spacers
14 x 12 diamond plate for driver's footbox. The carpet is trashed and I think the plate will be easier to maintain going forward. Gonna try to find it in black. Or maybe carpet and placemats? Still deciding...
additional aluminum harness grometts. I only have 2?
Look into chrome platers in the area for my full length rollbar.
Power steering items (thanks for the input)
Roll Bar Pins




:)

[pavieSD]

If you can take the gauges apart, you can buy fluorescent red model safety paint from craft stores, and paint your needles. Then they should have enough "reflectiveness" to work with your current light situation in low light settings.

Mark

[David Hodgkins]

If you can take the gauges apart, you can buy fluorescent red model safety paint from craft stores, and paint your needles. Then they should have enough "reflectiveness" to work with your current light situation in low light settings.

Mark

Good idea mark, but I paid for the upgrade and I'd rather "see the light". I have a feeling they are going to tell me to pull all the gauges and ship them back...

BTW we missed you last weekend!

[David Hodgkins]

Last weekend was all about undercoating the body. Prepping took a long time, but with paint it's all about the prep. I ended up using a combination of light plastic and paper "dropcloths" from home depot to mask off the body openings. Oh, and a ton of tape! You may be asking why I'm bothering to do this. It's because with the polished surfaces, I've always been able to see the underside of the body/ in the trunk, cockpit, and even the engine compartment. Most folks don't have to worry about this, so in most cases this step might not be needed. But there are definitely areas that should be painted on the underbody, like the inside of the wheel wells and on the sides of the body visible from the engine bay, like behind the vents. Jeff miller who painted my body, did the basic areas under the body but this car really needed everything covered. So that's what I did. Well, not EVERYTHING. I didn't paint under the dash. I was almost outa paint anyway...

Here's the masking off.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53709&d=1462678842

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53710&d=1462678843

I hated that you could see this under-body from the reflection of the cubby floor. Especially from certain angles...

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53712&d=1462678845

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53716&d=1462678848

Ahhh, much better...

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53717&d=1462678849

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53733&d=1462678866

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53722&d=1462678854

[David Hodgkins]

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53736&d=1462678870

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53737&d=1462678871

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53738&d=1462678872

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53739&d=1462678873

Here's an angle you can see standing in front of the car, if you don't have the oil cooler or screened opening. No more raw fiberglass...

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53730&d=1462678863

I'm going to mask off and paint the inner rear wheel wells and then this portion of the refresh will be done.

:)

[pavieSD]

Thanks Dave. I was bummed I couldn't make it. The good news is that I got my new starter and installed with minimal issues, and the car starts right up better then when I bought it. While I had it up on jack stands I noticed I had a pretty big oil leak on the passenger valve cover, so now I'm addressing that, plus my seized/galled collector bolts on the 4 into 4 side-pipe that we talked about. Once I have those two issues resolved, I should be back on the road.

Mark

[David Hodgkins]

Thanks Dave. I was bummed I couldn't make it. The good news is that I got my new starter and installed with minimal issues, and the car starts right up better then when I bought it. While I had it up on jack stands I noticed I had a pretty big oil leak on the passenger valve cover, so now I'm addressing that, plus my seized/galled collector bolts on the 4 into 4 side-pipe that we talked about. Once I have those two issues resolved, I should be back on the road.

Mark

Anytime you make it back up my way the shop is yours for add'l inspections. Have the lift makes everything so much easier!

:)

[David Hodgkins]

I think I replaced the last of the "permo" clecos on the build last night. The rear brake hardline-to-softline clips were never done, because the clips themselves were raw steel. I FINALLY POR-15'd them and riveted them to the frame. That's four 3/16" clecos that have been on the car for close to 10 years.

I also started masking off the rear to spray undercoat on:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53796&d=1462886869

I already did the front splash panels and f-panels when they were off the car and the wheel well just looks better blacked out.

I have a question about Roll Bar Pins. I went to West marine and looked at a few different types. The kind with the 2 balls sticking out at the end look like they work but the hole drilled will have to be the EXACT size needed, unless you get at least a 1/4" pin. and they want $15 each for those! I also saw a different type, which I like better:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53795&d=1462886868

They didn't have any with a 2" reach though. If you are using pins, what type do you use? Do you have a suggestion where I can find what I need?

EDIT: Is this all I need?
http://www.mcmaster.com/#standard-quick-release-pins/=12clygo
or this?
http://www.mcmaster.com/#linch-pins/=12clzkp



:)

[David Hodgkins]

That'd be great, if it's not too much trouble and they seem to be working great for you. Thanks!

Carlos

I FINALLY took the time to find these door hinges again for you Carlos! Sorry! I'll need to measure so you can match the exact ones, but here they are on McMaster-Carr:
http://www.mcmaster.com/#catalog/108/2793/=ohq187

:)

[pavieSD]

Anytime you make it back up my way the shop is yours for add'l inspections. Have the lift makes everything so much easier!

:)

Thanks Dave. I'll hit you up on that once things slow down for you. For now, I managed to get 6 of the 8 bolts out. The last two were unfortunately nylock stainless nuts that had welded themselves to the screws after the plastic melted out. I had to cut them off with a dremel, which in that tight space was no fun but it's done now. Glad I got it done so now I can put proper bolts in with anti seize and I'll never have a problem swapping out pipes in the future.

[WIS89]

Dave-

I just read your post from several days ago concerning the Marine Helicopter Attack Squadron, and wanted to share some thoughts with you. First, thanks for letting me know what the patch was, I think it is pretty cool looking.

Secondly, I would like you to reconsider removing it. Just because you are a civilian, doesn't mean you can't display a squadron patch. It is a great way to honor that squadron, or any of the individuals who served in that squadron over the years. This isn't a "stolen valor" issue, and I don't think many would take offense at you honoring the service of others. There might be a few folks that might have an issue, but I don't see if that way. I think there are a number of things that you can do to ensure that people interpret it as a salute to those that served, rather than anything else.

Of course the choice is yours. I just don't want you to feel that it must be removed since you did not serve. I simply don't see it that way. I hope others will agree with me. If you wish to discuss it more privately, feel free to shout at me.

On to other issues, and a question. I really like the undercoating, and am planning the same (similar) to mine. Would you recommend applying the undercoat before or after painting the body? I can see the pros and cons of each approach, and thought I would ask!

The car is looking great, and I like the improvements you are making. While I hate to see you sell it, someone is going to get a very, very fine roadster! Keep up the great work!

Regards,

Steve

[David Hodgkins]

Dave-

I just read your post from several days ago concerning the Marine Helicopter Attack Squadron, and wanted to share some thoughts with you. First, thanks for letting me know what the patch was, I think it is pretty cool looking.

Secondly, I would like you to reconsider removing it. Just because you are a civilian, doesn't mean you can't display a squadron patch. It is a great way to honor that squadron, or any of the individuals who served in that squadron over the years. This isn't a "stolen valor" issue, and I don't think many would take offense at you honoring the service of others. There might be a few folks that might have an issue, but I don't see if that way. I think there are a number of things that you can do to ensure that people interpret it as a salute to those that served, rather than anything else.

Of course the choice is yours. I just don't want you to feel that it must be removed since you did not serve. I simply don't see it that way. I hope others will agree with me. If you wish to discuss it more privately, feel free to shout at me.

On to other issues, and a question. I really like the undercoating, and am planning the same (similar) to mine. Would you recommend applying the undercoat before or after painting the body? I can see the pros and cons of each approach, and thought I would ask!

The car is looking great, and I like the improvements you are making. While I hate to see you sell it, someone is going to get a very, very fine roadster! Keep up the great work!

Regards,

Steve

Steve,

Thanks for insight regarding the patch. Being a civie I only know you don't go around in uniform pretending you were in the service, or wear any insignia you didn't earn. The patch will stay with me and the car gets the extinguisher. I'll put the patch on something in the shop.

Regarding undercoating the body. I really don't know. My first inclination would be to do it first, so any overspray you get you just sand away as part of the upper body prep. I had to be ultra careful about applying it on a finished body; the tape-off had to be PERFECT.

:)

[Carlos C]

David:

Thanks for the info. As far as the pins go, as a retired Coast Guardsman, I feel qualified to weigh in on the subject. Either choice will work, but the pin with the quick release needs to be used in an orifice with a diameter that specifically matches the pin. Otherwise, the pin will not stay in place. A pin with a locking ring or another locking mechanism - such as with your second choice - the orifice diameter is not as critical.

Usually, the West Marine website has more options than you'd find in their stores. Also try Grainger. They have clevis pins which could work for you.
https://www.grainger.com/category/clevis-pins/pins/fasteners/ecatalog/N-8ly

Of course, you could always go with a ring or hitch pin.
https://www.grainger.com/category/hitch-pins/pins/fasteners/ecatalog/N-8m2

Good luck.

Carlos

[David Hodgkins]

Thanks Carlos. I'll surf around tomorrow and make a decision.

I did get to work on the car for just a little while tonight, And I found out that the gauge needle lights issue was - ahem - a user error issue. I can't believe I didn't catch it before. When the speedhut tech told me that the white wire coming out of the gauges was the needle and LED screen power it hit me. I had gathered all of those leads into a block but I could see in my mind that it wasn't attached to power! The gauge light lead comes out of the harness right next to the block but I had hooked it up to the inverter for the gauge background lighting only. I cut that connection and fed the power lead and the inverter lead to the block with all the white wires..:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53864&d=1463024543

...and everything started working correctly. These gauge needles had NEVER worked correctly and it was a simple oversight. I'm such a doofus.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53866&d=1463024544

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53865&d=1463024543

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53863&d=1463024542

:)

[David Hodgkins]

Progress continued last night...

I finished masking off both sides of the rear of the car and shot it with undercoating:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53948&d=1463146976

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53956&d=1463146984

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53949&d=1463146977

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53957&d=1463146985

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53952&d=1463146980

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53959&d=1463146988

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=53961&d=1463146990

Now the rear wheel wells match the front. It's a small detail, and realistically won't be noticed by the vast majority of people but the black should make it so that your eyes are not drawn to the wheel wells in pics and in person.

[David Hodgkins]

More progress to report since my last posting;

I checked the rear end axle bolt torque on each side and they are still seated at 250 ft/lbs. It's worth noting that the pin bolts on the Trigo snouts were manufactored by Kirkham. As a matter of fact they are the 1st set produced, after I sent David Kirkham the snouts to use as prototypes. If you do your research into Trigo pins you'll appreciate this mod. They were really pricey considering they are essentially fancy lug nuts, and last I heard Kirkham no longer offers them. The thing is though, they fit the snout hole geometry perfectly:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54124&d=1463755890

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54123&d=1463755890

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54125&d=1463755891


I also have started polishing up the side pipes. I left the driver's side on but will probably pull it off. The passenger came off today so I can insert the spacers needed to perfectly position it. I've got a pic of the product(s) by Breeze below. It's a WIP...:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54130&d=1463755895

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54131&d=1463755896

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54134&d=1463755899

Current state of the passenger pipe, before removal:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54132&d=1463755897

[David Hodgkins]

Skipped another day yesterday; still recovering from my daughter's 21st birthday celebration.

Here's the stuff I'm using to polish up the side pipes. Works pretty good!

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54249&d=1464100219

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54248&d=1464100219

Pics of the finished pipe later today...

:)

[David Hodgkins]

I got a request to see what the pipes look like after polishing with Compound-302. Here ya go:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54310&d=1464197409

A little bit of gunk left. wash this out with water...

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54309&d=1464197408

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54308&d=1464197407

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54307&d=1464197406

remember, these pipes are 8 years old with 12,000 miles on them. They look mighty good to me!

:)

[rmiller64]

Compound 302 is amazing stuff and glad I found it. Applied with 000 steel wool and Nitrile gloves for protection. Pipes look great for the age David

[David Hodgkins]

Thanks Rick. I think I left the compound on too long in some spots and the finish is dulled so I'll take some Nuvite polishing compound to them and see if I can't restore some of the luster...

Last night I decided to make an air cleaner shroud. When the Mass-Flo originally came out there some reports of stumbling that were diagnosed as turbulent air running by the Mass-Air meter because of the air intake being located right behind the scoop opening. The "fix" involves blocking the air at the front of the air filter. Rather than just cutting a piece of metal and sticking it in there I decided to fancy it up a bit. I cut a piece of .040 aluminum to 2-3/8" x 11-1/2" out on the bandsaw and the filed the sides so it was nice and even...:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54365&d=1464370087

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54366&d=1464370088

Then did the ol' polishing thing. This time I took an interesting selfie to show off the reflection:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54372&d=1464370100

... and then masked off the outer .4":

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54373&d=1464370101

I got really lucky with the size of this piece in that it allowed me to match the pattern on the long edges. I then engine turned the outer edges. Because there is so much "edge work" on this piece I made sure to trim the hot glue with a razor so it wouldn't stick up above the piece and mess up the scotch brite. You can see it in this pic if you look closely at the edges of the piece where it has been glued to the table:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54375&d=1464370105

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54376&d=1464370108

continued...

[David Hodgkins]

continued...

Then I started putting some "english" on the piece to round it into shape to fit the front of the air cleaner. I was able to introduce some bending by hand, but not as much as I wanted:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54379&d=1464370113

As I was looking around for something to help with that I noticed the 4" exhaust pipe... perfect! I didn't want to bend the piece completely to match the air cleaner; I figure a little tension will help hold it in place. After the piece had a good amount of curvature I covered both sides in sharkhide:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54381&d=1464370118

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54383&d=1464370121

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54385&d=1464370125

With a decent amount to bend now in the piece I decided to get a pic of it mocked up in place before calling it a night. It looks pretty good I think!

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54387&d=1464370129

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54389&d=1464370138

I'd like to find a good raised stick-on ford logo for the center, but no hurry though...

Next I'll be creating an access panel for the upper driver's footbox. Then I'll be ready to re-mount the body.

:)

[David Hodgkins]

I hope everyone had a great Memorial Weekend!

I spent the weekend figuring out what to do about the driver's footbox access panel, and then creating it.

I decided to keep a 1" lip on 3 sides and a 2" lip on the back side of the original cover. I cut the hole out with a dremel, with the panel off the car in a vice. Then I cleaned it up with flat files. Cleco'd it back in place and it looked like this:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54447&d=1464657635

This shot shows it later, after I had riveted it in place permanently.:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54462&d=1464657650

I then made a template and cut a new cover, that almost covers the entire existing panel. I pondered several different attachment options but in the end decided on a semi-permanent solution: drill and rivet holes accessible with the body on. If I need to take it off in the future all I have to do is drill the rivets out. A thin coat of silicone will hold the rear of the cover in place.

I polished the new piece and then covered it with tape while I positioned it on the top of the footbox, then I located and marked the holes to be drilled:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54453&d=1464657640

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54450&d=1464657638

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54454&d=1464657641

I'll add a few rivets on the upper ledge after the body is on. I bent the piece just a hair over so that the rear portion will be held down tightly after the whole thing is riveted up. Again, this is semi-permanent: How many times have I had to remove it up till now? Never. but if I ever need to get in there, 2 minutes with a 1/8" drill bit gets me access, instead of taking the whole body off.

I didn't want to mar the newly-sharkhided piece so I just laid it up there with a piece of painter's tape to get this shot:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54464&d=1464657652

You may be wondering how I got such a nice bend in that piece since a don't have a brake. Well, my neighbor does! And I had some good fortune this weekend in that the neighbor, who is going out of the country for 9 months, decided to lend me the brake! I now have it in my shop. This sucker is HEAVY!

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54455&d=1464657641

It's also has a shear and rollers! So I'll be figuring out how that stuff work for sure!

continued...

[David Hodgkins]

Final shot of the cover, just resting on top of the footbox:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54465&d=1464657654

Another thing I did this past weekend was to fix the passenger side pipe spacing with pieces purchased from Breeze. One thing about Georgie's stainless pipes: the passenger side turn-in is too short when paired with shortie headers and either j-pipes or CATs. That's just reality. So in order for the pipes to exit the body correctly spacers need to be added. I think it might be sticking out a bit too far now but I'll wait for the body to be mounted before deciding. You can see in these shot though how much better the passenger side now matches the driver's side:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54461&d=1464657649

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54458&d=1464657645

That's six different spacers added. 3 are even, 1/4" spacers. The other 3 are tapered. You play with the tapered ones to find just the right angle. Again, I'll finalize that when I get the body on.

Lastly, I'm working on the wipers now. MANY THANKS to edwardb (Paul) for his posts on the subject. They are invaluable! I'm following the to the letter (ordered the wheel boxes from ********** this AM) to FINALLY install the wipers. Thanks Paul!:
http://www.ffcars.com/forums/17-factory-five-roadsters/299597-mk4-7750-build-progress-update-4.html#post4216177

:)

[Georg]

David,

your "air cleaner shroud" looks really sweet - with another logo in the center will be even better. Really like all the bling you are adding here...

One question though, since you cover up quite a portion of the air cleaner surface, isn't there the risk the engine gets too less air and you are influence the engine performance? Just curious...

Keep on coming the updates, my daily lecture... :-)

Georg

[David Hodgkins]

David,

your "air cleaner shroud" looks really sweet - with another logo in the center will be even better. Really like all the bling you are adding here...

One question though, since you cover up quite a portion of the air cleaner surface, isn't there the risk the engine gets too less air and you are influence the engine performance? Just curious...

Keep on coming the updates, my daily lecture... :-)

Georg

There certainly is Georg, and if I notice it I'll create a smaller one. It only took ~2 hours to create. It's not just for show though. The mass air meter inside the air cleaner doesn't respond well to turbulent air, which you get at the front of the air filter next to the hood scoop at speed. Forcing the air to come in from the back supposedly makes for "calmer" air. I could probably start it up and rev it a little bit to see if I hear any "'weezing'. Sounds like a good excuse to hear the engine anyway! ;)

[David Hodgkins]

I was working on the wipers over the weekend without much to show for it. My flaring skills are rusty and once the flair was formed the cable wouldn't got through the tube. I'm using 5/16" hardline tubing suggested by edwardb in his build threads. Feeling a little frustrated, I decided to work on my other "last" project, something I really haven't mentioned before:

I made a roof for my cubby.

Why? because with the polished cubby now it reflects the back wall (very cool with the engine turning) and it also reflects the roof. I did a couple of experiments by laying some white cardboard, and then a black rug over the top of the cubby. When I put the white cardboard on, you can very plainly see it in the reflection of the cubby floor. It's a 3-D effect that is very easy to see. When I put the black carpet over the top, the whole cubby becomes very dark and the reflection of the back wall is very muted. I didn't like the look of the black carpet at all. But the whole underside of the body is black now. so what to do?

Well I also have a few extra engine turned panels laying around and when I put those over the top of the cubby you could see the engine turning in the reflection. It's just a bit more subtle than the white but the metallic surface gives the whole cubby a nice reflective "tone". I took a bunch of pics to demonstrate what I'm talking about. Unfortunately I didn't get pics of the black carpet but like I said it just sucked all the light in and the floor of the cubby looked like really dark chrome, which is not the look I'm after on this car.

On to pics, which show what I'm talking about...

This is jumping ahead, but gives you an idea of the concept. In this shot I had already created the piece and wrapped it in blue tape while I worked on the outside edges. You can plainly see the "recessed box" look, which is actually a reflection of the roof off of the cubby floor:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54735&d=1465316867

So the idea is to have that blue area be engine turned. The first thing I did was cut a piece of .040 aluminum. The width across the cubby is 38" but I cut the whole 48" from the sheet. I cut the width so that the roof would rest even with the carpet on the forward edge, and on the outside edge of the rear cubby wall bulb seal. (I forgot the width, will add it later) The raw blank looked like this after I cleaned up the new edge:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54718&d=1465316819

I then polished one side of the piece and engine turned it, using light pressure to allow more shine to show through the piece. This shot will give you a good sense of scale. My jig isn't wide enough to do the whol panel, but luckily it IS big enough to do what I needed. Here's the piece right after I finished it. It doesn't have sharkhide on it yet. I'll do that just before doing the final mounting:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54728&d=1465316855

So like I said, after that was done I covered up the engine turned side and started fitting the panel. I covered up the front edge of the cubby (the cockpit wall) with plastic edging and trimmed the carpet so It wouldn't interfere with the new "roof":

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54730&d=1465316858

I then placed the new roof on and marked it up so I could bend the sides and attach them to the side walls with rivets. I placed some clecos in the new holes while I fitted and cut/bent the ends. This is what the final shape looks like:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54742&d=1465316879

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54739&d=1465316874

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54732&d=1465316862

Continued...

[David Hodgkins]

continued...

And here are a few shots after I engine turned the piece, but before I wrapped it in tape for the fitting. It give you a good idea of what the effect will be when done:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54726&d=1465316852

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54724&d=1465316849

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54722&d=1465316846

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54727&d=1465316853

It's a subtle effect, and looks more dramatic in person. I'm thinking of putting a reversed an inverted factory five logo on the roof, that will reflect as "normal" when you see the reflection off the cubby floor. Kind of like a hidden "easter egg" kind of thing.

Another idea is to do something with the back side of the cockpit wall, since you can see it in the reflection. And this is where I could really jump the shark. I was thinking about an image of some kind, maybe even a little custom scenery painting? It would be visible in this shot. It's the grey streak running through the racing stripe in this shot:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54725&d=1465316851

I don't what to do here exactly. still pondering...

:)

[Jazzman]

Looking great David! I like the FFR reversed logo "easter egg" idea. Nice Ax too!!

[myjones]

continued...


It's a subtle effect, and looks more dramatic in person. I'm thinking of putting a reversed an inverted factory five loco on the roof, that will reflect as "normal" when you see the reflection off the cubby floor. Kind of like a hidden "easter egg" kind of thing.

Another idea is to do something with the back side of the cockpit wall, since you can see it in the reflection. And this is where I could really jump the shark. I was thinking about an image of some kind, maybe even a little custom scenery painting? It would be visible in this shot. It's the grey streak running through the racing stripe in this shot:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54725&d=1465316851

I don't what to do here exactly. still pondering...

:)
The only easter egg that makes sense is to have a Wookie lurking in there
DB

[David Hodgkins]

Thanks guys, I'll keep thinking about what I want to do there (Easter eggs)

I decided to go ahead and cover the outside of the cubby ceiling piece because the sides are bent down to attach to the side walls and can be seen in the wheel well. A few minutes with the rattlecan (the engine turned face was already taped for the panel fitting) took care of that:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54838&d=1465483132

Then I moved on to the wipers, which after 10 year still have never been installed. I took edwardb's advice in his build and copied his design, using 5/16 brake line and 3/4" aluminum square tubing, along with ********** wheelboxes. For the record, the 3/4" square tubing was cut at a 45 degree angle and the long side measures 1.3" from the top of the angle cut to the 90 degree bottom cut. In other words, it's 1.3" tall. I reamed out the tubing just a bit with a 5/8" drill bit before cutting to final size. I then enlarged the factory cut holes on the painted body (why were they cut so small?) using the 5/8" drill bit (BAD IDEA) on one side and a 5/8" grinding dremel tool (MUCH BETTER IDEA) on the other. That was a hair-raising event indeed, and one that will haunt me until I cut my brother's body sometime in the future for his wipers!

I cut and single-flared the tubing to fit between the wheel boxes and mocked them up. I chose to have the tubing closest to the body. I hope that's OK?

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54839&d=1465483133

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54840&d=1465483134

Here's the top of the wheelhouse. Luckily, you can barely notice the big gauge the drill bit took out of the paint because the gromment covers it(almost). In "real life" you'd never notice it but I'll always know it's there. :)

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54841&d=1465483135

Today I'll cover the cubby ceiling with sharkhide and then install it. I'm going to add some foam to the sides of the footboxes and the I'll be ready to mount the body!

:)

[jceckard]

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54728&d=1465316855


So, when are you gonna engine turn a pickguard for that strat?

[David Hodgkins]

So, when are you gonna engine turn a pickguard for that strat?

You know, I hadn't thought of that! Great idea!

:)

[edwardb]

I cut and single-flared the tubing to fit between the wheel boxes and mocked them up. I chose to have the tubing closest to the body. I hope that's OK?

Your wipers will park backwards with the tubing on that side of the wheel boxes. Unless there's a way to reverse the motor or you're not using the park function. You're a brave man for using 5/8-inch drill on a painted body. I was too chicken to even use one on an unpainted body, and did both with a Dremel and some files.

[David Hodgkins]

Your wipers will park backwards with the tubing on that side of the wheel boxes. Unless there's a way to reverse the motor or you're not using the park function. You're a brave man for using 5/8-inch drill on a painted body. I was too chicken to even use one on an unpainted body, and did both with a Dremel and some files.

See, I had a feeling there may be a problem, that's why I asked. Thanks so much AGAIN for your continued oversight! I didn't have any instructions and so was kind of winging it. re: the drill. That was stupid on my part, clearly. I at least didn't try it a second time! Dremel tool and files did the job.

I'll turn the wheel boxes around and set it up correctly. Did you wait until the body was on before cutting the tubing to size between the motor and the first wheel box? And how long of a tube should I make for the far side of the second wheel box? Lastly, is black grease OK for the tubing?

:)

[edwardb]

See, I had a feeling there may be a problem, that's why I asked. Thanks so much AGAIN for your continued oversight! I didn't have any instructions and so was kind of winging it. re: the drill. That was stupid on my part, clearly. I at least didn't try it a second time! Dremel tool and files did the job.

I'll turn the wheel boxes around and set it up correctly. Did you wait until the body was on before cutting the tubing to size between the motor and the first wheel box? And how long of a tube should I make for the far side of the second wheel box? Lastly, is black grease OK for the tubing?

:)

Hey, you're welcome. I've done it both ways. If the firewall location isn't super critical and you haven't drilled the mounting holes yet, you could go ahead and make up the tubing between the motor and first wheel box. Then mount the motor accordingly. I did #7750 that way since there was nothing else on the firewall in that area. For my current build, I've already mounted the wiper motor. So I'll wait until the body is on and the wheelboxes in before making the tubing. For the short piece on the end on the DS, I leave the tube about 6 inches long and pinch the end off. Then just cut the wiper cable inside long enough to stay engaged on the DS wheelbox but short enough to not hit the end. I used regular chassis grease on my cable inside the tubing. Hope that helps!

[David Hodgkins]

Paul, my wiper motor is already attached so I'll wait until the body is on before finishing the last tube between the motor and the first wheel box. Thanks for the tip.

I didn't have much time yesterday but I did manage to turn the boxes around and re-flare the one tube:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54854&d=1465572385

A simple twist of the tube corrects the bend seen in this shot but the pic I took of it was too blurry to post.

I also cut the 6" length of the far tube, flared one side and pinched the other side close with a vise:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54860&d=1465572390

I then removed the whole thing to make sure it doesn't interfere with the body mounting, which should happen this weekend:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54862&d=1465572392

Now about that pic guard idea. I think I'll try it on this bad boy:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54863&d=1465572393

:)

[David Hodgkins]

Yesterday put the body for transport to do some touch-ups at 'Da Bat Cave!

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54893&d=1465685622

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54894&d=1465685623

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54895&d=1465685623

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54896&d=1465685624

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54899&d=1465685627

..and today I got up early and delivered it. Sorry, no pics... :(

There were some small problem areas that needed some touch ups from the master. I had a few nicks on the doors in addition to the basic road rash stuff. It should be ready in a few weeks, and then the body goes on for the last time.

:)

[Jeff Kleiner]

It's all coming back together nicely David! When you get ready to do the wiper cuts on Phil's car try this...I put the jig in place then use a long 3/16" bit to make a series of holes around it's I.D. Lift the jig, "connect the dots" and finish shape the hole with a small sanding drum on a Dremel. Although I always do the cutouts prior to paint this method would not scare me in the least on a painted body. I use white lithium grease on the cables.

Good luck!

Jeff

[David Hodgkins]

It's all coming back together nicely David! When you get ready to do the wiper cuts on Phil's car try this...I put the jig in place then use a long 3/16" bit to make a series of holes around it's I.D. Lift the jig, "connect the dots" and finish shape the hole with a small sanding drum on a Dremel. Although I always do the cutouts prior to paint this method would not scare me in the least on a painted body. I use white lithium grease on the cables.

Good luck!

Jeff

Know what Jeff? I'll do exactly that.

Now if I can only find that dang jig...

:)

[jceckard]

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=54863&d=1465572393


Sweet. Yeah, the Voyager would be a better one to start on. Just the one switch to mount. You'll have to break this out into its own off topic thread. I can't wait to see it.

[2FAST4U]

Incredible work

[David Hodgkins]

Incredible work

That's pretty high praise coming from you Bill, Thanks!

:)

[WIS89]

Dave-

She looks great! I know whoever ends up buying this car will be overjoyed!

If you can't find your jig, let me know; I can let you borrow mine, just say the word. By the way -- nerves of steel to take that drill to a painted body!!

The guitar will look pretty wicked too. Just make sure to make one for both of those guitars though, it would complement them both really well.

Regards,

Steve

[David Hodgkins]

Dave-

She looks great! I know whoever ends up buying this car will be overjoyed!

If you can't find your jig, let me know; I can let you borrow mine, just say the word. By the way -- nerves of steel to take that drill to a painted body!!

The guitar will look pretty wicked too. Just make sure to make one for both of those guitars though, it would complement them both really well.

Regards,

Steve

Yeah, it's just a little sad that I'm taking the time to finally truly finish the build right before I sell it!

Regarding the pick guard, I created it's own thread after jceckard suggested it:
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?21253-Engine-Turning-a-Guitar-Pick-Guard

I'll be working on that this week so check out that thread for updates!

:)

[David Hodgkins]

I didn't have much time to work on the car last night but I did make a small amount of progress. Last night's project was putting the seatbelt grommets from **********:

Sharkhide application:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55035&d=1465925102

Cutting holes in carpet, always fun!:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55034&d=1465925101

Drilling holes, attaching grommets (still need to clean up carpet fibers):

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55033&d=1465925100

A small note about drilling through carpet. When drilling, I actually reverse the drill so that the carpet doesn't grab the drill and pull out. Drilling holes this way is slow going but necessary...

:)

[David Hodgkins]

Work on 5369RD continues. I received a pretty neat FFR themed gift for father's day:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55134&d=1466356618

In California, the state has decided to offer the old 60's style plate (black with yellow-orange lettering) as an option and I was planning on getting the plate with "F5R5369" as the plate ID but I'll take "F5RACNG"! I'll just keep the plates when I sell the car and use them on my NEXT Factory Five. It will be another month before the plates arrive, and the plan is to have the car done by then. Will I make it?!?

Back to the car itself, let me ask this question: What's wrong with this picture?:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55144&d=1466375268

Well for me, it's the unpolished driver's footbox front with all the holes in it. Wouldn't it look better polished, and without all the holes? This is what I came up with:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55143&d=1466375267

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55145&d=1466375269

It's a patch panel, designed to sit on top of the upper portion of the original panel. I measured and cut out a paper template to start from, and then cut a panel from .040 AL. It matches the panel shape underneath, and in fact cleans up the lines just a bit, but the most important thing is it covers all those holes and gives the front of the panel a clean-slate kinda look:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55151&d=1466375275

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55149&d=1466375273

There is still a large narrow hole in one corner, but I'll attempt to camouflage it with some silver silicone. I've already polished it but don't have a pic of that because my phone has decided it doesn't want to charge EVER AGAIN. So no pics until I get it replaced in early July... Grrr.

I'll polish the bottom of the original panel today, which will be tough to do while it's mounted. Then I'll sharkide everything and put it together. Then the entire engine bay will have the same theme of polished aluminum.

:)

[David Hodgkins]

Forgot to add, I also bent the upper rad shroud and drilled the mounting holes. I decided to keep this simple and am using 2" spaced rivets instead of the rivnuts I used in the TROJAN build. I haven't drilled the chassis holes yet; those will come when the body is mounted and I can align the stripes:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55138&d=1466375263

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55139&d=1466375264

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55140&d=1466375265

:)

[myjones]

Forgot to add, I also bent the upper rad shroud and drilled the mounting holes. I decided to keep this simple and am using 2" spaced rivets instead of the rivnuts I used in the TROJAN build. I haven't drilled the chassis holes yet; those will come when the body is mounted and I can align the stripes:

[:)
David
Did you decide on the "easter egg" theme yet ?

[David Hodgkins]

David
Did you decide on the "easter egg" theme yet ?

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55273&d=1466702322

I printed this out and played with it a little...

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55294&d=1466715258

I've got to find a place that will make a sticker, vinyl cling or similar to put in there...

:)

[David Hodgkins]

I started polishing the front of the driver's footbox by hand last night. I'm glad this is finally getting done! The engine bay will be so much more cohesive now...

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55268&d=1466702317

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55266&d=1466702316

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55271&d=1466702320

Oh, and I know this guy who knows a guys who... Just kidding. But I did get a call fromm FFR asking if I could pick up their banner for them that they had created for the HB show this year. It flew over the Pier in the week(s) prior to the big event. I asked FFR if I should ship it out and they told me to just hang onto it for now. Well, it was sitting in my garage for a month so I finally decided to "let it breath" a little...

http://www.factoryfive.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/IMG_8608-1-694x413.jpg

http://www.factoryfive.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/IMG_0395-694x413.jpg

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55272&d=1466702321

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55263&d=1466702314

[frankeeski]

I asked FFR if I should ship it out and they told me to just hang onto it for now. Well, it was sitting in my garage for a month so I finally decided to "let it breath" a little...


http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55263&d=1466702314

That banner would look better in my shop. ;)

[Carlos C]

David:

Your garage looks fairly cluttered already. I can help you make room by hanging on to that banner until you do some "spring cleaning"... Let me know if I can help, since I have a big garage and I can store it for you...

BTW, great work on #5369 so far. I had quite a few set-backs during the last couple of months, but hope to get back in the garage this weekend.

Carlos

[David Hodgkins]

That banner would look better in my shop. ;)

Frank, I agree, it would. Maybe.


David:

Your garage looks fairly cluttered already. I can help you make room by hanging on to that banner until you do some "spring cleaning"... Let me know if I can help, since I have a big garage and I can store it for you...

BTW, great work on #5369 so far. I had quite a few set-backs during the last couple of months, but hope to get back in the garage this weekend.

Carlos

Carlos, someone should come up with a 20' long F5R banner. I bet they'd sell a few...
Any progress to report?

:)

[David Hodgkins]

3-1/2 weeks from my last report. I've posted a ton of pics to my pic album so it should take me a few posts to get up to date. Let's get started.

Here's the final driver's footbox front. You can also see the size of my access hole and the new cover I made:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55354&d=1466805709

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55356&d=1466805712

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55358&d=1466805714

I decided to take a look at my seat brackets to install the 5th point in the seat harness and ended up modifying a few of the mounting holes to make them stronger. The outer holes were tapped into the 3/4" and 2" box tubes and I drilled them out to pass through completely and mount with wide washers and bolts on the bottom. Another problem area: When I mounted the bracket originally I made the holes in the carpet very small and the rubber in the sound deadening was catching the carpet on the nut and pulling thread so I also used my punch to widen the clear area around each hole:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56104&d=1468429754

I'm sending the brackets out this week to be powder coated.

Here's another small problem that will be fixed this week. The lower rad hose is physically touching the driver's side tow hole (obscured by the sway bar in the pic below). I'm thinking if I wrap it in zip-tied rubber at that spot and I'll be good to go:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56101&d=1468429752

:)

continued...

[David Hodgkins]

continued...

Good buddy and Fedderson award winner Frankeeski made a full roll bar (with built-in harness bar) for me a few years ago but I had never installed it. I took it to a good metal prep guy Frank suggested and this is what it looks like now:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56169&d=1468539828

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56167&d=1468539827

I'm ashamed to admit this, but I never installed the pins on my rollbar(s). I took the time this weekend to drill out the pin mounting holes for both roll bars. Here's a shot of the pilot holes going in:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56318&d=1468862670

And here is a shot of the pins. The metal looks to be stage 5 steel. They are 5/16" I believe...

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56166&d=1468539826

Those holes were tough to drill out! I think a new set of bits is in order...

While working on the details of the refresh, there have been a few times where I took one step forward and two steps back...

I was drilling out the holes for the seat belt harness bezels that go on the back cubby wall when disaster struck not once, but twice. I managed to pull a thread that is visible on the rear cockpit wall, and now I have to replace the carpet on the whole upper half of the rear cockpit wall. And then, somehow I ended up leaning against the dash glovebox pretty hard and the JB-Weld that was holding on the hinges gave way! In order to fix the glove box, the whole dash needed to be removed. Grrr. I hit both sides with a flapper wheel and then reset the door:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56177&d=1468539835

One really good byproduct of removing the dash was that I got to fix an issue with the bezel that goes around the 5 gauges. It is the first piece of metal I ever engine turned. After I had turned it and tested coating it in sharkhide, I got the idea to make a bezel out of it. Well, when I drilled the holes for the gauges with a hole saw I ran the drill too fast and the metal heated up, causing the sharkhide to bubble and discolor. I was able to easily remove the sharkhide with Acetone and re-apply it so that the bezel looks brand new again. I'll get a better shot soon, but the car was on the lift all weekend so this is all I have for now:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56326&d=1468862678

I also took the opportunity to wire up the 3rd brake lite, which is a feature of the new rollbar. In this shot you can see the new harness at the top of the wheel well. I have it plugged with a silicone-filled weather pack connector, like the one that will be hanging off the new rollbar. The silicone-filled piece will function as a "cap" when not in use:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56328&d=1468862680

continued...

[David Hodgkins]

continued...

I have two more items to talk about today, the body and the rear wheel wells.

I had called Jeff a while back to see about fixing a crack I had in the hood air scoop and fixing some scratches a friend of my son had put down one side of the car when they were getting a bike out of the garage. There were a few nice gauges in the top of the doors. I also noted that there was a bubble the size of a silver dollar just behind the exhaust hole opening on the passenger side. It was soft to the touch so I was hoping Jeff could fix that as well. I got a call from Jeff a week or so after I dropped off the body and he explained to me that the bubble was created by something he had never seen before! As I've noted previously, I had a leak in my remote oil filter. Oil had stained the passenger header and cat, and oil covered a large part of the chassis on the passenger side. Apparently, oil had found a way under the paint right next to the header. As the oil heated and cooled, it seeped into some of the glass in the body, staining it. Jeff sent me this pic, which I enlarged. Check this out:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56103&d=1468429754

Two things helped contribute to this situation. First is the oil leak, which has been addressed. The second was the pipe itself, which came out of the body very very close to the fiberglass. This is because I run the Gas'N stainless pipes with FFR's catalytic converters. The "problem" is that the passenger side Gas-N pipe needs to be about 2" longer after it turns into the body. The FFR passenger pipes are supposedly longer than the driver's side, but the Gas-N pipes are equal side-to-side. I called up Mark at Breeze automotive and ordered his pipe extenders, and now both pipes sit equidistant from the body and are nice and parallel to the body. This is a detail that many builders miss, but once you point it out it's quite obvious that the pipes don't always match side-to-side. Now they're perfect.

The last thing to talk about today is a set of filler pieces I'm making for the front of the rear wheel well, which spans the space between the frame and the body:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56327&d=1468862679

The outer edge will have bulb seal and the inner side will be rivited to the frame. They will have quite a bit of "english" applied to them to get them into the proper spot, but this is what they look like flat:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56330&d=1468862682

I'll be working on these today and hopefully can post some pics of them mocked up tomorrow.

:)

[WIS89]

Dave-

I see you are using some removeable pins on the roll bar. Are you making the roll bar so it is able to be removed, and the other roll bar(s) used in its place? I like the wide bar, and especially the third brake light! I am sure it is practical as well.

You are doing some heavy lifting on this ride Sir! Keep up the good work.

Regards,

Steve

[Carlos C]

Carlos, someone should come up with a 20' long F5R banner. I bet they'd sell a few...
Any progress to report?

:)

Yes, I've been busy working in the garage lately. Check out the last couple of post on my thread.

Carlos

[David Hodgkins]

Dave-

I see you are using some removeable pins on the roll bar. Are you making the roll bar so it is able to be removed, and the other roll bar(s) used in its place? I like the wide bar, and especially the third brake light! I am sure it is practical as well.

You are doing some heavy lifting on this ride Sir! Keep up the good work.

Regards,

Steve

Yes Sir. I have polished aluminum block off plates for the roll bar body holes so I can run it as a true roadster, with a driver's rollbar or the full width bar. I'm probably going to use Tangent hidden roll bar connectors for all the downtubes at the hoop and pins at the base.

:)

[David Hodgkins]

Carlos your powdercoater cabinet looks great! very inspirational. With the amount of powder coating some of us OCD builders do the cabinet and associated equipment HAS to pay for itself. I think I'm going to take on that project at some point. Thanks for the inspiration!

:)

[David Hodgkins]

Last night I howled at the moon a little bit but still managed to get some stuff done.

I didn't divulge this in my last update but there was a little hiccup on the way to Da' Bat cave to pick up the body. (<-- That last line coulda' come out of a gangster movie, but I digress...) I was driving in the slow lane but still doing a healthy 65 and keeping a close eye on the chassis because all the splash guards were on the car. Sure enough, as I was watching the chassis in the mirror a gust of wind came up, I saw the rear splash guard start to wobble, and it ripped off. I saw it land on the shoulder as I quickly pulled off the freeway and stopped. Well, quickly as in on the other side of a bridge, at least 200 yards away. I hopped out of the truck and jogged back to the splash guard, which had indeed landed off the freeway and, incredibly, was unscathed save a few minor scratches!

So yes, ladies and gentlemen, you can mount the body with the splash guards (and under door aluminum) in place. Just don't drive too fast to the painter with an open trailer or you might not arrive with a complete chassis.

Getting back to the build, the ripped-off splash panel still had all the rivet heads in place so it was easy to drill everything out and re-mount it. Actually having the splash panel off the car made getting the MKIII gas pipe setup re-attached a LOT easier so there you go. ;) I then put some anti seize on the wheel snouts and put the rear wheels back on so I could use the scissor lift to help lower the gas tank.

Then I mounted the rear bumper:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56409&d=1469031025

Like I said though, I didn't work full time on the build but did a bit of just "hanging out at the shop" with some shop neighbors. I was showing off the build and one thing they really dug is the easter egg. If you guys have read the whole thread I'm repeating myself here but the idea is to use the reflection of the polished aluminum to hide an image - the easter egg - that can only be seen from certain angles. As a test, I printed out a reversed Factory Five Logo out, measuring maybe 5" across:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55273&d=1466702322

I then taped it to the engine-turned roof of the cubby. So if you are standing next to the car and you look down at the rear of the cockpit you see this:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56410&d=1469031025

The cool thing is the 3-d reflection makes it look like there's a deep box in the cubby, with a logo on the bottom:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56412&d=1469031027

In the last two shots you can see where I drilled through the roof of the cubby with a 2-1/4" hole saw for the roll bar. The body hole had been elongated a bit and so I had to guess where to drill the hole but I got SUPER lucky and the hole placement is perfect! A perfect 1/8" clearance around the roll bar. I don't need any kind of grommet. So Cool. And NOBODY will ever see it.

Last items to report from yesterday are that I took the nose aluminum and seat brackets in to get powder coated. The shop has a $45 minimum so even though I wasn't planning to do the nose aluminum I threw them in there as well. It'll help out with blacking out the front wheel well so what the heck. I also dropped by the upholstery guy again and made a definite plan to drop the car off Monday morning. At least the car has a body on it now so I won't feel like an idiot driving 2 blocks with just the chassis like I was thinking about doing before...

I'm back at it today with a plan to hit Lows or Home Depot for some expanded aluminum to do the front air intakes and then finish installing the footbox fresh air intake fittings and tubes.

:)

[David Hodgkins]

7/21 update:

I stopped by the local metal supply yesterday to pick up some mesh to use with the front air openings. While there I noticed they also sell the aluminum and plastic NOMEX honeycomb sheets that you can use to protect the radiator. Both the mesh and NOMEX come in a variety of patterns and I ended up getting the hexagon shape for both the mesh and NOMEX.

Here's the mesh:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56451&d=1469117598

The NOMEX is really light and lets a lot of air through. The sheet I got is 1/4" thick and should (hopefully) repel anything up to a decent sized rock:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56448&d=1469117596

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56452&d=1469120555

To give you an idea how much air this stuff lets through at a certain angle...
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56445&d=1469117593
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56446&d=1469117594
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56447&d=1469117595

As far as actual work on the car, the rear bumper was not finalized the day before so I finished that. That ended taking up WAY too much time because one of the bolts was not "stock" and I foolishly went to Home Depot looking for a 8" X 7/16" bolt. Their bolts in that length jump from 3/8" to 1/2" so no go. The bolt in question was simply too long so I threw a few extra washers on it, installed it and called it a day.

Tonight, assuming I get a list of honey-do's done, I'll work on forming the mesh for the openings at the front of the car. Once that's done they will be painted black and installed along with the footbox fresh air tubes.

:)

[David Hodgkins]

7/21 update:

../Tonight, assuming I get a list of honey-do's done, I'll work on forming the mesh for the openings at the front of the car. Once that's done they will be painted black and installed along with the footbox fresh air tubes.


Yeah, so, I didn't get to any of that over the weekend due to other obligations. I only got a few hours on Sunday afternoon to work on the car so my appointment for today (Monday) to take the car to the upholstery shop got delayed until Thursday.

What I did do though was finish and install a set of custom block off panels for the front of the rear wheel well. These bridge the gap between the frame and the body. I shared to flat shape in a pic a couple of posts above. This is an interesting piece because on side is totally straight to rivet onto the frame and the other side is totally curved to match the body. Another small hurtle to clear was the fact that the rear cockpit wall had already been riveted to the frame. So the idea was to bend the straight piece using a vice and manual force. Then apply more english to shape the outer curve to go from a near 90 degree bent to flat in about 8 inches. The first thing I did was trim a few relief points for the spot where the piece would transverse the frame support tube. Then I placed the panel in position and noted where the top rivet (just under the relief cut) contacted the new block off plate and i hit it with a few blows of a ball peen hammer. This allowed the top of the rivet to mark the metal of the block off plate:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56656&d=1469470596

Now I had my first rivet location so I bent the piece progressively in the vice until I could place the piece on the frame, mark and drill the bottom hole. Once those two were done it was easy to mark the relative position where the rest of the rivets were and the hammer the metal so all of the rivet heads marked the new piece. then I drilled out all the holes and all the existing rivets. They all lined up pretty well and I only had to ream one or two holes with the 1/8" drill bit to achieve a perfect fit. Then I painted the panel with a few coats of black undercoating, attached bulb seal and then caulked and riveted the new panel in.

Here are pics to help visualize the project:

You can see where I had tapped the top portion of the new panel with the ball peen hammer to imprint the rivet locations in the metal:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56645&d=1469470587

A few pics showing the metal after being bent:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56651&d=1469470591

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56657&d=1469470597

Here's all the rivets drilled out:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56661&d=1469470601

A really bad pic of the final piece:
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56662&d=1469470602

And installing with silicone and rivets:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56663&d=1469470603

[WIS89]

Dave-

Are you going to use the honeycomb and the metal mesh in the radiator opening? Or, is the metal for the brake and oil cooler, and the honeycomb for the radiator protection? Or, have I got it all wrong, and you have a different plan?

I am interested in what you think of the honeycomb, as I am thinking of using that material as well.

Thanks!

Regards,

Steve

[David Hodgkins]

Hi Steve,

I'll use the metal mesh on the brake and oil cooler openings and the honeycomb over the radiator.

I think I'll have to reshape the radiator shroud to make that work; we'll see...

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50538&d=1455168697

:)

[WIS89]

Thanks for the quick response Dave. I have been trying to think through the honeycomb and shroud interface issue as well. It will be nice to see you do it first; thanks!! :-o)

I appreciate all the info!

Regards,

Steve

[David Hodgkins]

Thanks for the quick response Dave. I have been trying to think through the honeycomb and shroud interface issue as well. It will be nice to see you do it first; thanks!! :-o)

I appreciate all the info!

Regards,

Steve

Steve, I'll be getting to the Honeycomb and shroud within a few days now, so stay tuned.

:)

[David Hodgkins]

OK so I was back at it again last night for a bit and got a few things done. First was putting a final coat of undercoating on the under side of the upper fan shroud. This will be visible if you were to stick your head in the nose of the car and look up. In other words, probably never! But I went through the trouble of undercoating the whole body so this is in keeping with that theme:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56771&d=1469637878

I have a few other things I want to finish first - namely the side body bolts (done) and front air intake screens - before I attach the upper fan shroud but I took a minute to mock it up and get a preview shot or 2 for you:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56780&d=1469637885

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56781&d=1469637886

The next thing I did was to align the passenger side pipe. Earlier in the thread I showed how I added spacers to the passenger side pipe. Well, I didn't set up the hanger underneath the car. Namely because I wanted to wait for the body to come back from Jeff's before I formally set it up. The hanger had been bent from hitting the u-haul trailer previously and wasn't lining up with the pipe so I took it off the car and straightened it. Luckily I didn't have to re-drill any mounting holes and I was able to reassemble it without issue and match the alignment to the driver's side:

Driver's side:
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56772&d=1469637879

Passenger side:
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56773&d=1469637880

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56776&d=1469637882

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56775&d=1469637881

Both pipes are now nicely parallel to both the body and the main frame rails.

continued...

[rickscobra]

Hi Steve,

I'll use the metal mesh on the brake and oil cooler openings and the honeycomb over the radiator.

I think I'll have to reshape the radiator shroud to make that work; we'll see...

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50538&d=1455168697

:)

I have just received my radiator wrap panel from Mike E. How hard is it to install after the body is on? How difficult is it to install and remove the body if the shroud is installed prior to putting the body on?

[David Hodgkins]

continued...

Another thing I did - and this is exciting folks! - was install the wheelhouses for the wipers! I have working, parking wipers! For the first time in a decade, years after the wiper motor was installed, I HAVE WORKING WIPERS!!

Well, the wheelhouses, anyway. I copied edwardb's design and used 5/16 brakeline for the wiper cable shroud. This tubing is a perfect size for the wiper cable and attaches to the wheelhouse via single flare (It's not meant to be air-tight so I went with the easier single-flare):

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56778&d=1469637883

I'm going to cut new rubber gaskets because these don't stretch out uniformly but here they are, mounted:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56779&d=1469637884

... and working!:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxlfSSX5jSM&feature=youtu.be

Oh, and lastly, I reattached the hood scoop to the hood. It had cracked and Da Bat fixed it. (no pic)

:)

PS The car goes in for an upholstery overhaul tomorrow! Awesome!

[David Hodgkins]

I have just received my radiator wrap panel from Mike E. How hard is it to install after the body is on? How difficult is it to install and remove the body if the shroud is installed prior to putting the body on?

Is Mike's panel flat, or in the shape of the opening? If it's flat then you should be able to just curl it up and unfurl it inside the opening, with the body on. If it is formed and stiff, then I imagine you'd have to mount it before the body... Got a pic?

:)

[David Hodgkins]

I stuck my cell phone under the dash and got this pic of the wiper install. The wheelhouses are right up against the firewall. Sorry for the grainy pic:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56819&d=1469726038

Last night I concentrated on the front of the car. I installed the last piece of hose for the fresh air vents but the fun thing I did was making new vent grills. I shaped a piece of wood to fit inside one of the old grills and then flattened out the old grill and used it as a template for the new ones. I few key snips of the mesh helped facilitate molding the new grill mesh over the wood plug and I then covered the mesh in sharkhide and mounted the intakes. Take a look:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56826&d=1469726045

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56825&d=1469726044

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56823&d=1469726042

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56827&d=1469726046

Hoo boy, that flash really makes those spider cracks pop! I didn't even notice them when I took the pic...

I also have the front fan enclosure pieces back from the powdercoater so I install the floor piece last night. I ended up modifying it on the fly to fit better by trimming the sides to fit over the breeze lower radiator mount. I hate to cut stuff after it's been coated but form always follows function!:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56822&d=1469726041

The light spot on the metal is a reflection...

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56821&d=1469726040

This morning I took the roadster down the block to the upholstery guy to fix the carpeting. I still haven't figured out what the plan is for the transmission cover so it stays bare for now but the driver's foot box and the door thresholds are being done and I'm getting the cubby and upper trunk shelf floors carpeted. The latter two pieces will have snaps and they will be remove-able. I'm also carpeting just the floor of the glove box. We'll see how it comes out this afternoon!

[David Hodgkins]

Absolute freaking nightmare. Despite repeatedly telling them what I wanted the carpet guy GLUED THE CARPET TO THE CUBBY FLOOR!

I don't even want to talk about it.

[2FAST4U]

I feel your frustration Dave

[6t8dart]

That sucks, but you can correct it...3M Adhesive remover, the stuff works well, you will need lots of towels though.


56873

[WIS89]

Dave-

I am SO sorry! Outrageously frustrating!!

Hopefully you can get it resolved without too much fuss.

Regards,

Steve

[David Hodgkins]

Thanks guys. We'll see what the overall damage is today. They also did a good job of scratching up the trunk too when they were laying the floor piece. I'll probably have to strip both floors with Acetone to do away with the Sharkhide, then I'll re-polish by hand and re-Sharkhide.

Awesome.

I'm wondering what accommodation he'll offer, if any. If he doesn't offer, I may just go ahead and ask for a discount. I was very, very clear on multiple occasions describing what I wanted and he confirmed what I wanted verbally when we were discussing it. Those instructions obviously weren't relayed to the worker who did the job. I hate doing that and I normally tend to pay the price and just never use that vendor again... We'll see what happens.

[David Hodgkins]

I picked up the roadster from the carpet guy yesterday...

The sharkhide will have to come off and be re-applied. The carpet came out very nice though. It had better considering the price he charged!!

The carpet has a felt back so it doesn't harm the aluminum (any more!)

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56919&d=1469893047

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56918&d=1469893046

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56916&d=1469893044

Door sills nicely finished off... And the seat brackets have been powdercoated:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56920&d=1469893048

The cubby:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56924&d=1469893051

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56925&d=1469893052

I'll be working her all day today. I'd like to finish her up this weekend!

:)

[ehansen007]

Thanks guys. We'll see what the overall damage is today. They also did a good job of scratching up the trunk too when they were laying the floor piece. I'll probably have to strip both floors with Acetone to do away with the Sharkhide, then I'll re-polish by hand and re-Sharkhide.

Awesome.

I'm wondering what accommodation he'll offer, if any. If he doesn't offer, I may just go ahead and ask for a discount. I was very, very clear on multiple occasions describing what I wanted and he confirmed what I wanted verbally when we were discussing it. Those instructions obviously weren't relayed to the worker who did the job. I hate doing that and I normally tend to pay the price and just never use that vendor again... We'll see what happens.

Sorry to hear man. I know how much time you put into that sheemetal. Unbelievable.

[David Hodgkins]

I'm close now, but not quite finished. First off, there is a coolant issue I have to deal with but I did work on her quite a bit this weekend.

Doors are on, seats are in...:
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56978&d=1470065612

Upper fan shroud holes drilled. Mock up:
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56980&d=1470065613

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56984&d=1470065616

Still need to polish and coat fan shroud:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56989&d=1470065621

NOMEX plastic radiator guard painted. Original nose aluminum installed:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56985&d=1470065617

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56982&d=1470065614

Front bumper installed:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56986&d=1470065618

continued...

[David Hodgkins]

continued...

Nose shroud mostly engine turned, finishing tonight:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56988&d=1470065620

Soo CLOSE! I need to finish a few items and then she'll be ready to sell.


I still haven't come up with something I like for a trans cover.
The seats need some repair but I'm going to look for another upholstery shop to do the work.
Have to finish engine turning and then sharkhiding the nose shroud.
New Tires and alignment.
Polish and install roll bar grommets.
Install door pockets.


:)

[David Hodgkins]

Last night I finished engine turning the nose shroud and was able to place it in he opening. I didn't have time to put a few rivets in but MAN, I now have the best looking snout I've ever seen. It's simply gorgeous! It was 10PM when I quit last night so the pics of it installed are TERRIBLE but wait until I get some decent shots in daylight!:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=57061&d=1470246669

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=57060&d=1470246669

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=57063&d=1470246671

With the NOMEX painted black and installed. Surprisingly, I didn't have to change the nose shroud because the NOMEX sits flush with the radiator sides. The shroud is holding it in on the bottom and the upper fan shroud (+ a few zip ties) will hold the top of the NOMEX in place:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=57068&d=1470246675

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=57071&d=1470246678

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=57066&d=1470246674

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=57072&d=1470246679

Like I said the installed pics are terrible. I'll post some new ones tonight or tomorrow.

Tonight I'll install the upper fan shroud and hood. I'll probably hold off putting it up for sale until the seat covers are repaired and I have some sort of fancy trans cover installed...

[WIS89]

Dave-

The combination of the high polish and the engine turning make her beak look outstanding!

I am surprised to hear that the the nomex didn't require you to modify the shroud in any way. It looks great, and the black paint provides a nice contrast.

Looks great brother!!

Regards,

Steve

[ehansen007]

Last night I howled at the moon a little bit but still managed to get some stuff done.

I didn't divulge this in my last update but there was a little hiccup on the way to Da' Bat cave to pick up the body. (<-- That last line coulda' come out of a gangster movie, but I digress...) I was driving in the slow lane but still doing a healthy 65 and keeping a close eye on the chassis because all the splash guards were on the car. Sure enough, as I was watching the chassis in the mirror a gust of wind came up, I saw the rear splash guard start to wobble, and it ripped off. I saw it land on the shoulder as I quickly pulled off the freeway and stopped. Well, quickly as in on the other side of a bridge, at least 200 yards away. I hopped out of the truck and jogged back to the splash guard, which had indeed landed off the freeway and, incredibly, was unscathed save a few minor scratches!

So yes, ladies and gentlemen, you can mount the body with the splash guards (and under door aluminum) in place. Just don't drive too fast to the painter with an open trailer or you might not arrive with a complete chassis.

Getting back to the build, the ripped-off splash panel still had all the rivet heads in place so it was easy to drill everything out and re-mount it. Actually having the splash panel off the car made getting the MKIII gas pipe setup re-attached a LOT easier so there you go. ;) I then put some anti seize on the wheel snouts and put the rear wheels back on so I could use the scissor lift to help lower the gas tank.

Then I mounted the rear bumper:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56409&d=1469031025

Like I said though, I didn't work full time on the build but did a bit of just "hanging out at the shop" with some shop neighbors. I was showing off the build and one thing they really dug is the easter egg. If you guys have read the whole thread I'm repeating myself here but the idea is to use the reflection of the polished aluminum to hide an image - the easter egg - that can only be seen from certain angles. As a test, I printed out a reversed Factory Five Logo out, measuring maybe 5" across:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55273&d=1466702322

I then taped it to the engine-turned roof of the cubby. So if you are standing next to the car and you look down at the rear of the cockpit you see this:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56410&d=1469031025

The cool thing is the 3-d reflection makes it look like there's a deep box in the cubby, with a logo on the bottom:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=56412&d=1469031027

In the last two shots you can see where I drilled through the roof of the cubby with a 2-1/4" hole saw for the roll bar. The body hole had been elongated a bit and so I had to guess where to drill the hole but I got SUPER lucky and the hole placement is perfect! A perfect 1/8" clearance around the roll bar. I don't need any kind of grommet. So Cool. And NOBODY will ever see it.

Last items to report from yesterday are that I took the nose aluminum and seat brackets in to get powder coated. The shop has a $45 minimum so even though I wasn't planning to do the nose aluminum I threw them in there as well. It'll help out with blacking out the front wheel well so what the heck. I also dropped by the upholstery guy again and made a definite plan to drop the car off Monday morning. At least the car has a body on it now so I won't feel like an idiot driving 2 blocks with just the chassis like I was thinking about doing before...

I'm back at it today with a plan to hit Lows or Home Depot for some expanded aluminum to do the front air intakes and then finish installing the footbox fresh air intake fittings and tubes.

:)

That is some serious Harry Potter **** right there Hagrid. Nice work! One of my favorite things I've ever seen on this forum!

[David Hodgkins]

That is some serious Harry Potter **** right there Hagrid. Nice work! One of my favorite things I've ever seen on this forum!

Wow, Thanks Erik!

:)

[David Hodgkins]

Last night I finished the nose shroud and the upper fan shroud installs. I also installed the hood scoop back onto the hood after it was repaired by 'Da Bat. Then I went home and threw out my back while watching TV! So no working on the Cobra tonight...

Pics tell the story...:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=57118&d=1470327503

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=57122&d=1470327507

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=57124&d=1470327509

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=57123&d=1470327508

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=57133&d=1470327517

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=57135&d=1470327519

I also finally got a decent shot of the gauge cluster bezel. This was the very first piece of metal I engine-turned. I'm glad I was able to re-sharkhide it. It looks brand new now:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=57144&d=1470327528

The list gets whittled down just a bit:


I still haven't come up with something I like for a trans cover.
The seats need some repair but I'm going to look for another upholstery shop to do the work.
New Tires and alignment.
Polish and install roll bar grommets.
Install door pockets.

[Carlos C]

David:

Love your radiator shroud. This is the second one I've seen you fabricate. Was there a difference in shape between this one and the MK4? How hard was it to create a paper template considering the location, and how many tries did it take to get it right? I plan to make my own shroud, when it comes time for me to build a Roadster. Thanks in advance for the info.

Carlos

[David Hodgkins]

David:

Love your radiator shroud. This is the second one I've seen you fabricate. Was there a difference in shape between this one and the MK4? How hard was it to create a paper template considering the location, and how many tries did it take to get it right? I plan to make my own shroud, when it comes time for me to build a Roadster. Thanks in advance for the info.

Carlos

Hi Carlos,

Yes, the shape is substantially different between the MKIII and MKIV. I made a paper template for each side (2 revs) and then taped them together to get the base shape and then did a "template" out of cheap galvanized metal. Based on that fit i made a few tweaks and then cut out the final shape from thin stainless steel. I didn't use aluminum for the nose because I needed metal with memory and spring that could curl up to get into the space and then would unfurl once inside the space. The stainless is darker and the result is more subtle but I like it for the exterior of the car. I was kinda lazy and didn't get a "final" template shape to keep for the future. I might at some point pull both shrouds out and make templates off of them, especially if I decide to produce them as a vendor.

:)

[David Hodgkins]

I tool Monday off and went back to work on the car yesterday. It took a lot longer than it should have, but the roll bar grommets are all re-polished, have shark hide applied, have new rubber spacers (made from a rubber cargo mat; I couldn't find rubber sheeting anywhere) and are installed. I also installed the u-shaped trim rubber on the door sills.

If I can chase down my small electrical gremlin with the temperature gauges she'll be fully road ready.

It feels nice to finally have decent door sills!:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=57320&d=1470850380

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=57319&d=1470850379

Grommets all nice and pretty... I considers engine-turning them but then thought that might be too over-the-top:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=57323&d=1470850382


http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=57324&d=1470850383

ALMOST done...:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=57322&d=1470850381

Question: Do you guys think I should polish the wheel trim rings and spinners?

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=57321&d=1470850380

Meanwhile, the list gets whittled down just a bit more, but I'm adding something I forgot:


I still haven't come up with something I like for a trans cover.
The seats need some repair but I'm going to look for another upholstery shop to do the work.
New Tires and alignment.
Install 3rd brake light in full length roll bar.
Install door pockets.

[AC Bill]

Your roll bar cover plates look great David.
Being that your bucket seats seem very low on the backs, have you thought of adding head rests? If so, it might be a good time to look at that while in the upholstery shop.

Any plans for side rear view mirrors? Are they required in your state?

[David Hodgkins]

Your roll bar cover plates look great David.
Being that your bucket seats seem very low on the backs, have you thought of adding head rests? If so, it might be a good time to look at that while in the upholstery shop.

Any plans for side rear view mirrors? Are they required in your state?

Believe it or not the side mirrors are already mounted! they are in the upper corners of the windshield. I might change them out for something else but haven't decided.
re: headrests, those seats were originally the tall-back Kirkey Intermediates that I converted into lowback seats. I saved the original headrests and I had the upholstery guy "finish" them. I have to make a mount for them> I'll post a pic soon to show you what ideas I'm considering...

:)

[Jeff Kleiner]

Question: Do you guys think I should polish the wheel trim rings and spinners?



Question back at ya': If you start polishing them will you be able to resist the temptation to engine turn them while you're at it? You know how you are ;)

BTW, I REALLY like the logo reflection! You are a polishing/turning beast! :)

Jeff

[David Hodgkins]

Question back at ya': If you start polishing them will you be able to resist the temptation to engine turn them while you're at it? You know how you are ;)

BTW, I REALLY like the logo reflection! You are a polishing/turning beast! :)

Jeff

I think I'm DONE engine turning on this project! The logo reflection took a major step backward when the upholstery guy GLUED the cubby carpet down! I have to strip and re-polish the floor this week. I hope there's no permanent damage there...

:)

[David Hodgkins]

MORE work done this weekend; getting pretty dang close to DONE DONE!

Installed the louvers, door pockets and the biggie, the duel roll bar. The down tubes haven't been drilled for the pins yet, but I did install the 3rd brake light and hook it up using a weatherpack connector.

Pics:

Installing the LED "third light" in the rollbar was a tricky proposition!
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=57558&d=1471274851

Made sure the bar was level before I drilled the hole for the light wires:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=57561&d=1471274853

The wiring:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=57564&d=1471274856

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=57565&d=1471274857

It works!:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=57568&d=1471274859

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=57569&d=1471274860

The last thing I did was put 150 miles on it on Saturday! I drove from the beach out to Upland to show the rollbar off to pipe bender extraordinaire Frankeeski.

Then today I drove it to work!:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=57572&d=1471287574

The list grows shorter but further amended...:


I still haven't come up with something I like for a trans cover.
The seats need some repair but I'm going to look for another upholstery shop to do the work.
New tires and alignment.
Fix water and oil temp gauges.
Make grill to cover oil cooler opening.

[David Hodgkins]

No pics today, sorry. I realized I'd forgotten to make the cover plate for the trunk lid so last night was spent fabricating that. I made out from .040 aluminum. Cut out the rough shape, and then the final shape. I then polished it. tonight I'll engine turn it (OK I guess I wasn't done engine turning after all!) and mount it...

:)

EDIT: I found a few shots of a cover plate I made for my brother's build to give you an Idea of what I'm making:
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=48710&d=1450450530

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=48709&d=1450450529

[AC Bill]

You sure do now know how to shine aluminum..!

[Jazzman]

I love the lights in the roll bar. I have been considering doing exactly that, but couldn't figure out how to access that area to install the lights or how in the world you would hold the lights in place. How did you do it? I also wonder how to get all the holes drilled perfectly straight and round. I am actually thinking of doing this on the Breeze traditional roll bars, not on a single bar like you have. I guess this means the holes would be drilled in an arch pattern, but it doesn't make it any easier!! Great work, David!

[frankeeski]

I love the lights in the roll bar. I have been considering doing exactly that, but couldn't figure out how to access that area to install the lights or how in the world you would hold the lights in place. How did you do it? I also wonder how to get all the holes drilled perfectly straight and round. I am actually thinking of doing this on the Breeze traditional roll bars, not on a single bar like you have. I guess this means the holes would be drilled in an arch pattern, but it doesn't make it any easier.

The holes are made on a mill using an end mill bit. That is how the holes are made round vs triangular in shape as you get when using a drill bit.
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa78/frankeeski/rollbarfullwidth_zpsghixoheo.jpg (http://s200.photobucket.com/user/frankeeski/media/rollbarfullwidth_zpsghixoheo.jpg.html)

The single width roll bar holes are milled in a straight line just as with the full width bars, not in an arch. The 1-3/4" bars are done the same way.
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa78/frankeeski/singlerollbar_zps4slt6tea.jpg (http://s200.photobucket.com/user/frankeeski/media/singlerollbar_zps4slt6tea.jpg.html)
We would prefer not to share the manner in which the lights are held in place or the way in which they are installed. We worked a long time perfecting this and prefer not to give away all of our secrets.

[ehansen007]

That is awesome Frank. How'd you do it? ;)

[David Hodgkins]

I love the lights in the roll bar. I have been considering doing exactly that, but couldn't figure out how to access that area to install the lights or how in the world you would hold the lights in place. How did you do it? I also wonder how to get all the holes drilled perfectly straight and round. I am actually thinking of doing this on the Breeze traditional roll bars, not on a single bar like you have. I guess this means the holes would be drilled in an arch pattern, but it doesn't make it any easier!! Great work, David!


.../We would prefer not to share the manner in which the lights are held in place or the way in which they are installed. We worked a long time perfecting this and prefer not to give away all of our secrets.

I'm sorry Kevin, I guess my hands are tied on this one. Frank made the bar and we have this informal agreement not to divulge 3rd light info. It's his technique and if he doesn't want to share I'm going to honor that. If you get in touch with Frank maybe he could mill the holes for you and you could work out a deal for a light?

:)

[David Hodgkins]

My phone is still on the fritz so no pics again today, sorry.

I finished polishing the block off plate last night and engine turned it. Came out great. I ran into a comedy of errors finishing it though.

First I tried applying sharkhide and the piece wasn't glued down so as I dragged the sharkhide-soaked cloth across the piece it kept moving, making it impossible to get a clean swipe. Getting a single, clean swipe with this stuff is imperative because it starts setting up immediately. Each successive swipe is guaranteed to leave more and more streaking. So I aborted to application, cleaned the piece with acetone and started over, gluing the piece down first. One clean swipe. Done.

Wait...

I forgot to bend the piece first! Well, I let it set for 20 minutes and then bent the piece. Unfortunately (as I'm sure you've already guessed by now) the bending marred the finish. Break out the acetone again...

The 3rd time was the charm. Once the sharkhide set up I placed it in the hole, marked and drilled the holes and riveted the piece in. Done (whew)

While the piece was setting up each time from applying the sharkhide I worked on making a grill for the oil cooler opening. No drama here; I just cut to size (opening size + ~5/8" each side), made relief cuts in each corner, and bent the grill to shape over the opening by hand. Once I had shape I wanted I applied a liberal amount of silicone and now the grill is done too. :)

The list further amended...:


I still haven't come up with something I like for a trans cover.
The seats need some repair but I'm going to look for another upholstery shop to do the work.
New tires and alignment.
Fix water and oil temp gauges.
Figure out trunk prop solution.
Make hinged trunk floor storage box cover.
Carpet trunk floor over storage box with cutaway for cover
Get reversed image made for cubby.
Re-polish cubby floor stupid carpet guy ruined with carpet glue.
Cut carpet for glove box floor that the stupid carpet guy forgot to make.
Buy and install hidden rollbar downtube connectors from Tangent.
Detail car and take glamour pics.


:)

[David Hodgkins]

My cell phone drama continues; new parts arrive today and hopefully I'll have a working cell phone sometime this weekend. Yes, I'm fixing my phone rather than getting a new one. I found a place online (ifixit.com) that sells cell phone parts so rather than shelling out big $$$ for a new phone I'm taking the cheap way out and doing the repairs myself. Gee, I wonder where I got the confidence to tackle stuff like that?!?

Anyway, back to the build (no pics obviously... :( )

I wiped a few items off the list yesterday by cutting and installing the glove box carpet and re-polishing the cubby floor. Easter egg restored! I also was messing around and I found several new spots to add easter eggs to. I'm keeping them a secret so folks can find them on their own! I might tell you how many there are, but not now. I'm going to have some graphics made up and after they are installed I'll report back how many I put in. BTW they won't be garish and you will only be able to see them at specific angles so you will somewhat have to hunt for them. Part of the fun! ;)

Status List:


I still haven't come up with something I like for a trans cover.
The seats need some repair but I'm going to look for another upholstery shop to do the work.
New tires and alignment.
Fix water and oil temp gauges.
Figure out trunk prop solution.
Make hinged trunk floor storage box cover.
Carpet trunk floor over storage box with cutaway for cover
Get reversed image made for cubby.
Buy and install hidden rollbar downtube connectors from Tangent.
Detail car and take glamour pics.


:)

[David Hodgkins]

I got my phone parts on Friday and my awesome son replaced the screen and charge port so I'm back with pics!

This weekend was mostly spent making as cover for my trunk box. It has 2 piano hinges and folds up accordion style so you have full access to the storage box.

Check it out:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=57742&d=1471886252

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=57738&d=1471886249

I also traced every wire of my water and oil temp gauges and they all tone out so I'll be calling Speedhut this AM to see what they recommend. (If you remeber, I had all the gauges sent back for "upgrades".)

The list gets smaller...


I still haven't come up with something I like for a trans cover.
The seats need some repair but I'm going to look for another upholstery shop to do the work.
New tires and alignment.
Fix water and oil temp gauges.
Figure out trunk prop solution.
Carpet trunk floor over storage box with cutaway for cover
Get reversed image made for cubby.
Buy and install hidden rollbar downtube connectors from Tangent.
Detail car and take glamour pics.


Getting closer...

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=57736&d=1471886247

:)

[carlewms]

David,

Very nice looking ... I just finished my bifold door for the trunk compartment but it looks no where anything as nice as yours.

Did you treat the polished aluminum with SharkHide?

[David Hodgkins]

David,

Very nice looking ... I just finished my bifold door for the trunk compartment but it looks no where anything as nice as yours.

Did you treat the polished aluminum with SharkHide?

Yes, I did.

The cover was a little tricky to make, in that I was pretty much guessing where to make the split, and I didn't take into account the piano hinge offset. For a first cut though I think it came out really good!

:)

[David Hodgkins]

The past 2 days have been spent in coordination with Speedhut trying to diagnose why my water and oil temp gauges are not working.

The lines all tone out (have continuity)
The gauge lights work
The sender wires have 4.85 volts between leads
If I short (connect) the two leads, the gauge needle pins at 100%

All of this is expected.

I'll be testing the sensors today by bringing the engine up to temp and then testing the resistanc between the wires. At 180 degrees the oil should show 125 ohms and at 220 it should show 71.
For the water I should be showing 180 ohms at 190 degrees.

I can't help but feel something else is out of whack. How could 2 sensor go south at the same time? I HAS to be something else I've overlooked...

:confused:

[6t8dart]

The past 2 days have been spent in coordination with Speedhut trying to diagnose why my water and oil temp gauges are not working.

The lines all tone out (have continuity)
The gauge lights work
The sender wires have 4.85 volts between leads
If I short (connect) the two leads, the gauge needle pins at 100%

All of this is expected.

I'll be testing the sensors today by bringing the engine up to temp and then testing the resistanc between the wires. At 180 degrees the oil should show 125 ohms and at 220 it should show 71.
For the water I should be showing 180 ohms at 190 degrees.

I can't help but feel something else is out of whack. How could 2 sensor go south at the same time? I HAS to be something else I've overlooked...

:confused:

Do the gauges have power and ground? The gauge lights are on a separate circuit and will operate independently.

[David Hodgkins]

Do the gauges have power and ground? The gauge lights are on a separate circuit and will operate independently.

Yes. the gauges have power and ground. I toned all the wires...

:)

[grluisi150]

Do the gauges sweep the dial when you start the car? If they don't the red wire is probably not getting 12V.

[David Hodgkins]

Do the gauges sweep the dial when you start the car? If they don't the red wire is probably not getting 12V.

They do not sweep. I'll double check the voltage. Thanks!

:)

[carlewms]

This is probably a long shot ... could it be a bad connector? I have tested a molex type connector with a meter and continuity was good but when I connected it to the instrument input I had nothing on the gage. It turned out the male pin was not mating up with the female pin, the pin slipped out of the plastic housing after making the connection or I had installed the wrong pins (like 2 males instead of a male and female. This is a long shot but ... If the 12V is confirmed I am not sure what else it could be.

[David Hodgkins]

And now, back to the latest episode of "As the impedance falls"...

If you all recall, I earlier sent all my gauges back to SpeedHut due to a lighting issue I had. While they were there Speedhut rebuilt ALL of the gauges...

I was told by them this week that the impedance from the sensors starts moving the needle around 200 ohms and should top out (reach full running temp) ~ 170 ohms. I took a reading at operating temperature and the results were illuminating. The water fan kicked on at 830 and when the fan stopped the impedance was 860! I tested the oil temp sensor 2 minutes after stopping the engine and it was at 890!

Obviously the sensors no longer match the gauges (probably changed the impedance level when they rebuilt the gauges). I did NOT receive new sensors when I got the gauges back. I'll call them on Monday to confirm and get new sensors ordered.

I believe I've solved the riddle of the non-responsive gauges.

:)

[WIS89]

Dave-

I never even thought of the sensors matching the hauges. I just figured they would simply match what they took out.

Well, glad that mystery is solved. That could have driven you crazy!

Not much left now; she looks great! I look forward to trying to find your easter eggs.

Regards,

Steve

[Polecat]

The polishing work is amazing. I was considering doing the same for the engine compartment aluminum. I have have never done it before, how difficult is it to do?

[David Hodgkins]

Well guess what folks? You take enough guesses and dig deep enough and every once in a while the improbable conclusion is right.

After some initial disbelief from Tech support, I do indeed - correct that, I DID indeed - have extremely early gauges (2006 vintage )from speedhut with sensors of different impedance. The sensors pictured below were what convinced them. So I have to buy 2 new sensors which by the way do not have pigtails. So now my sensor harness wires are short. Which means I have to splice in two new harness end caps that will plug directly into the sensors because they don't make those sensors with pigtails anymore.

Here are the original sensors I have currently:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=58027&d=1472660250

Here's what they sell now:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=58028&d=1472661022

On the bright side, I have the newest tech in the gauges now. It cost me $200 to do the upgrade. ALL the gauges were rebuilt with new circuitry (obviously). The speedo isn't reverse reading anymore, but the integrated fuel level gauge is nice to have, instead of a very small and hard to read LED bar. Plus this GPS is accurate from the get go whereas the old gauge GPS had to be calibrated manually. If the new sensors ever go bad, they make replacements. And finally, the new speedo has a ton of fun stuff like recording 0-to-60, 1/4 mile time, programmable low fuel warning light, and some other features that escape me at the moment.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=77835&d=1513388895

I'm ordering the new sensors today.

:)

[David Hodgkins]

A few cuts here...

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=58141&d=1472921895

And some connectors and shrink wrap...

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=58143&d=1472921897

Put the original harness sheath back on...

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=58144&d=1472921898

And soon you can't even tell there was a fix. Do you see the new sensor?

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=58146&d=1472921899

Here's the oil temp sensor fixed...

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=58148&d=1472921901

And installed.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=58149&d=1472921901

End Result? Working gauges!!

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=58150&d=1472921902

The list gets smaller...


I still haven't come up with something I like for a trans cover.
The seats need some repair but I'm going to look for another upholstery shop to do the work.
New tires and alignment.
Figure out trunk prop solution.
Carpet trunk floor over storage box with cutaway for cover
Get reversed image made for cubby.
Buy and install hidden rollbar downtube connectors from Tangent.
Detail car and take glamour pics.

[David Hodgkins]

I got my custom plate arrival notification! All I gotta do is bring my registration and current plates to the DMV and they will exchange them for the custom plates. Waiting in line at the DMV is NEVER fun but rather than wait almost a full month for an appointment I think I'll get it done this week.

Can't wait!
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=55134&d=1466356618

:)

[AC Bill]

Cool!
So for your part in advertising FFR, do they pay the additional cost for your personal plates? :)

[ehansen007]

Let me know if you want to get to the front of the line at the DMV.

[David Hodgkins]

Let me know if you want to get to the front of the line at the DMV.

Duh, yeah! But it has to be 19th st Costa Mesa.

:)

[David Hodgkins]

SO for today's update I want to show you this:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=58313&d=1473287134

Mostly because it's cool. ;) Also, I cut out a new oil cooler grill, coated it with sharkhide this time, and installed it. But mostly, I just wanted to post this cool shot.

Also, guess what? I went to the DMV today and picked THIS up!!:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=58316&d=1473287136

Woop WOOP!!

I'm going to notch it and then mount it today. CAN'T WAIT!

:)

[David Hodgkins]

The louvers are mounted. I used silicone to secure them because if I had used the post/HSRF method they would not be able to mount flush with the body. The tabs mounted previously were flush with the edge of the louver. They came out perfect and feel sturdy when I tested them:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=58341&d=1473351120

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=58342&d=1473351121

And, Finally, the new licence plate mounted. Remember, this is a MKIV trunk so license plate space is less than optimal. As I did previously with the old plate, I cut a small half moon into the plate instead of cutting the light. I then put some foam behind it so that the plate would stand off the body. Of course, there is curvature in the trunk lid so in order to get the plate to "sit down" against the trunk lid I applied a little english to the plate so that it follows the shape of the trunk lid.
Here is the result:

Notched, with foam attached:
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=58343&d=1473351121

Mounted:
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=58344&d=1473351122

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=58346&d=1473351123

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=58347&d=1473351124

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=58348&d=1473351125

Putting the louvers in and setting up the new plate weren't on the list so it remains the same:


I still haven't come up with something I like for a trans cover.
The seats need some repair but I'm going to look for another upholstery shop to do the work.
New tires and alignment.
Figure out trunk prop solution.
Carpet trunk floor over storage box with cutaway for cover
Get reversed image made for cubby.
Buy and install hidden rollbar downtube connectors from Tangent. (I might delete this and just drill the bars)
Detail car and take glamour pics.

[KDubU]

David looks great as always. Love the plate and even your trimming of it is perfect. Smart move on the foam strip as I noticed that the plate will rub but I am still in gel coat.

That's Guardsman blue right? The pics with the lovers really shows the colour, I like!

[David Hodgkins]

David looks great as always. Love the plate and even your trimming of it is perfect. Smart move on the foam strip as I noticed that the plate will rub but I am still in gel coat.

That's Guardsman blue right? The pics with the lovers really shows the colour, I like!

Yes, the 'ol classic colors of Guardsman Blue / Wimbleton White.

:)

[David Hodgkins]

Wow, I can't believe it's been 2 YEARS since I've posted in this thread!

As many of you know I got sidetracked this year after HB when I encountered a wiring issue. That looks to be resolved. (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29088-ol-5369-has-been-down-since-HB-(-On-the-road-again!)

My wife's work is having a family day and the event is car themed so she was asked if I would like to have my roadster on display. Well, 'ol 5369 STILL needed a new trans cover, and I want to FINALLY install my Boig cooling tubes so last weekend I cracked open the shop for the first time in a while and manufactured a new trans cover from .060 aluminum.

Here are some pics:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=91694&d=1534793445

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=91695&d=1534793454

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=91696&d=1534793468

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=91697&d=1534793481

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=91698&d=1534793496

I still need to make a boot for the e-brake and those seats are looking kinda beat! But other than that, and a piece of carpet I need for the trunk, there are no more "unfinished" areas of the build.

:)

[David Hodgkins]

Yesterday I installed the upper and lower Radiator hoses from Boig. The ONLY thing I hate about opening my hood is the upper rad hose. It just looks hokey:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=91929&d=1535261762

Down below, the lower rad hose was making contact with the tow hook:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=91931&d=1535261812

I used a clamp from breeze to pin the hose to the bottom of the x-member and was concerned that I'd have to relocate it. Both issues were neatly addressed with the new mandrel-bent hardline. The hose pieces have enough extra length to allow a good amount of adjustment and I was VERY happy when I got the new line lined up with the original clamp holes!:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=91932&d=1535261843

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=91933&d=1535261897

Up Top, the new upper hose is a really nice piece and cleans up the engine bay nicely:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=91934&d=1535261930

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=91936&d=1535261958

Boig make high-quality parts! I'd recommend his parts to clean up your engine bay hoses.

:)

[David Hodgkins]

I have a small electrical issue with the oil gauges that I'll try to remedy today.

Then I'm going to do a top-to-bottom detail and declare my roadster OFFICIALLY graduated!! (And Refreshed!)

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=91937&d=1535261969


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMGQodVfG4A

:)

[slpro1207]

Congratulations David. Looking Awesome as always.

[Straversi]

Congratulations. Sitting in that “big man modified” car is what got me hooked into this madness. Glad to see it wrapped up.
-Steve

[David Hodgkins]

Thanks guys.

I spent the whole weekend cleaning! She's still not perfect. I need to do a good "Bat Spit" polish and I found 2 more clecos on the radiator overflow tank!

I also found this on my lower rad hose:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=92064&d=1535406255

Told 'ya it was touching!

:)

[David Hodgkins]

I spent the last few days cleaning ol' 5369, including the application of a very special polish from Da Bat called BAT SPIT in order to be ready for a little show at my wife's work. (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29638-Star-of-a-small-car-show) And as I was finishing up my daughter came home from school so I asked her to model for me:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=92414&d=1535841454

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=92413&d=1535841443

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=92412&d=1535841435

So what do you think?

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=92405&d=1535841285

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=92416&d=1535842673

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=92415&d=1535842053

I think I'm done?

:)

[Fixit]

There's a car in the picture?? (pretty gal!)
Looks great - the polished and engine-turned aluminum is just awesome - and the way it ties through with the paint stripes!

[Stork]

I think I'm done?

:)

And ...

Your old friend Stork felt there was a phenomenal event occurring in the universe and returned to the forum after some time away. Now I know why!

That beauty that I had the privilege to drive in it's 98% done stage, is finally approaching the market. Not sure if I can afford all your handy work and special touches, but it looks so much cleaner than when I last saw it.

Great job and congrats to whomever ends up with David's MKIII!

[mburger]

Looks great!

[David Hodgkins]

Bump for someone researching big-guy builds...

:)

PS Thanks Mark!

[cgundermann]

The louvers are mounted. I used silicone to secure them because if I had used the post/HSRF method they would not be able to mount flush with the body. The tabs mounted previously were flush with the edge of the louver. They came out perfect and feel sturdy when I tested them:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=58341&d=1473351120

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=58342&d=1473351121

And, Finally, the new licence plate mounted. Remember, this is a MKIV trunk so license plate space is less than optimal. As I did previously with the old plate, I cut a small half moon into the plate instead of cutting the light. I then put some foam behind it so that the plate would stand off the body. Of course, there is curvature in the trunk lid so in order to get the plate to "sit down" against the trunk lid I applied a little english to the plate so that it follows the shape of the trunk lid.
Here is the result:

Notched, with foam attached:
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=58343&d=1473351121

Mounted:
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=58344&d=1473351122

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=58346&d=1473351123

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=58347&d=1473351124

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=58348&d=1473351125

Putting the louvers in and setting up the new plate weren't on the list so it remains the same:


I still haven't come up with something I like for a trans cover.
The seats need some repair but I'm going to look for another upholstery shop to do the work.
New tires and alignment.
Figure out trunk prop solution.
Carpet trunk floor over storage box with cutaway for cover
Get reversed image made for cubby.
Buy and install hidden rollbar downtube connectors from Tangent. (I might delete this and just drill the bars)
Detail car and take glamour pics.


I did the exact same thing - notching the plate and used a little of the plastic edge protector used at the seatbelt openings for the half moon edge.

Chris

[TTimmy]

I just went through this entire rebuild thread. Obviously the polishing work is outstanding and one of a kind. I’ve not seen it’s equal! I really like the rebuild component. I recently took over someone’s Mk3 project so it’s of particular interest to me.