Usudno's 4 generation MK IV build

[Usudno]

So it's finally time! After drooling over Shelby Cobras my entire life, I finally have the opportunity to build a roadster.

A little background on myself and my "hired hands". I am a general contractor specializing in insurance restorations. I recently took over the family business and have had the pleasure of working with my father and grandfather on a daily basis for the past 11 years. All of the work on the roadster will be complete in our office warehouse and as you will see in pictures it can get a little crowded with projects at times.

My father is semi retired. He comes In and works 2-3 days a week on smaller projects and tinkers in the woodshop from time to time.

Pop is a retired army mechanic who worked as a texaco mechanic after his service for nearly 30 years. He has wrenched on just about anything you can imagine and has a wealth of knowledge.

My son Collin is a typical 8 year old. He has two passions at his young age. Sports (mainly baseball) and cars.

Myself my father and Pop have restored several cars in the past. Most were minor restorations. The latest was a complete frame off. Previous restorations consisted of a 1966 Ford Mustang gt California special. 1973 Porsche 911, 1969 Volkswagen Super Beatle Convertible, and our most resent, 1956 for thunderbird. The t-bird was my fathers dream car. We started it my senior year in high school and finished it in roughly 5 months or so. I'm hoping there is a lot less researching and finding parts for this build. The t bird was defiantly a challenge finding parts for a 312cid v8.

My build plan is as follows.
Complete kit with the following options
Chrome roll bar (drivers side only)
351w Factory Five headers
Body cut outs
Powder coated frame
Side pipe delete (buying a set of ceramic coated from a member)
Wind wings
Visors
17x9 front and rears halibrands

Drivetrain will consist of the following
351w long block from Tristar engines
T-5 transmission with G force gear set
1994 mustang gt rear end trac lock with 3.27 gearing

Color will be either ford sonic blue or Lexus spectre mica with white stripes.
My build will be straight forward right off of the manual. The only deviations I plan or to paint the engine compartment panels, insulate the cockpit, and undercoat the back side of the panels and body.

Here's to a fun and rewarding journey!!

[KDubU]

Congrats on making the leap. Hold on to your pocket book as we will gladly spend your money.

[Usudno]

KDubU

I'm sure you guys could help with that aspect. Being that as it may, I squeeze budgets and manage projects on a daily basis and I have gotten pretty good and sticking to it. So unless you guys catch me a few whiskey's in I think I will keep to my budget. :)

[wareaglescott]

Sounds like a great family project. Enjoy the build.
Im glad you listed your only planned deviations up front so we can come back and check on that! haha
I am finding more deviations than planned all the time!
Do you still have the 66 Mustang? My first car was a 67 convertible and I am partial to them.

[Usudno]

Today we got the body buck put together. Collin had a blast cutting the 2x4's with the chop saw. He did most of the drilling as well (i figured he should practice for all the holes he will be drilling in the panels!) We followed the how to on the other site and it came out good. Clearance will be a bit tight but I think we have sufficient room. I have some cleaning up to do in order to make room for the boxes. I have an area in mind. Today we also got air to our work station. I have a 80 gallon compressor in the wood shop but we needed to get a line to where the car will be. We simply ran a line from one of the stations in the woodshop by t'ing off of it and now we have all the air we need with the compressor noise hidden away! I only snapped a few pics of the body buck but we also got a delivery of our first specialty tool. The indispensable clecos. My rear end should be arriving via freight Tuesday. We are lucky enough to have a good friend that works in the shipping department of a local electrical supply house. They have graciously allowed us use of one of the many loading docks. This will make for some savings in shipping. It also helps that he is a neighbor of mine and has offered to load them up in his truck in the afternoons and haul them over to us. What would we do without friends??

Onto the pics

[Usudno]

wareaglescott, we do not have it. I have been a mustang fanatic since I was roughly 5 years old. I loved that car. It was affectionaly named We-Bomb. The story goes that I would tell my father when it would backfire that we bomb... It stuck and we still have a license plate that we had made for the front of the car. That was my first experience with cars and at the young age of 5 I was hooked. We will see about those deviations... The only thing that i was hesitant on was the rear end. Going fox width with wider wheels in the back was my original plan but, for ease and time I decided to stick with the SN95 width.

[Usudno]

I am just realizing that the body buck picture is sideways... How does one flip the picture once loaded up?

[Usudno]

So today my rear end came in from prestige mustang. I'll get a picture up in the morning but my question is pretty simple. What besides the brake calipers, e brake cable, and axles will I want to keep? I'm replacing the rotors and boy it's a good thing I planned on it because they are in rough shape.

[Usudno]

So here is the rear end. I plan on taking all of the brackets off. I'll flip the rotors as per Jeff's recommendation and get it all cleaned up and painted. Does anyone have any suggestions for the calipers. Should i replace anything in them besides the brake pads?

Thanks

[DadofThree]

So here is the rear end. I plan on taking all of the brackets off. I'll flip the rotors as per Jeff's recommendation and get it all cleaned up and painted. Does anyone have any suggestions for the calipers. Should i replace anything in them besides the brake pads?

Thanks

I started to redo the rear calipers with new rubber/seals/hardware/pads etc. I repainted them too. But during reassembly, they are a little trickier than the fronts because of the ebrake assy. you need a special tool, and I couldn't get them to actuate smoothly. I ended up purchasing a set of powdercoated NEW calipers for $112 . https://www.summitracing.com/parts/pwr-s4824 By this time, I had already spent $50ish in trying to redo the old ones. I wish I had just spent the extra $67.00 to just buy new.

BTW, I didn't move the calipers to the front because I found out about it after install.

https://c6.staticflickr.com/6/5811/30974102141_69ab1520af.jpg

[Usudno]

What special tool is this that you speak of?? Can it be rented from orielly auto parts? As far as the rebuild, you say seals rubber and hardware, my rubber on the slide pins are actually in good shape. I'm not sure about the seals and the hardware for mounting them will defiantly be replaced. I appreciate the input DadofThree.

[DadofThree]

So today my rear end came in from prestige mustang. I'll get a picture up in the morning but my question is pretty simple. What besides the brake calipers, e brake cable, and axles will I want to keep? I'm replacing the rotors and boy it's a good thing I planned on it because they are in rough shape.

In addition, because you'll be swapping ends with the calipers, to do that you'll need to take out the axles to remove the brackets. So, because You'll have it opened up, go ahead and change out the traction loc kit, axle bearings on the ends of the rear end, oil, and gasket for cover. Paint with POR-15 after pressure washing. I took off the brake line, but kind of wish I had kept it.

Here is a link to my rebuilding the rear end on my build.

Restoring my '95 8.8 Rear (http://buildacobra.blogspot.com/p/1995-ford-88-rear-differential.html)

[DadofThree]

What special tool is this that you speak of?? Can it be rented from orielly auto parts?


Skip to 8:12 in the video. Yes, they can be rented.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5MxG1m7X5U

[Usudno]

That's a perfect video for what I needed. Thanks. Looks like 100$ for a new set of calipers.

[Usudno]

So this afternoon i spent an hour or so tearing down and cleaning up the rear end. It cleaned up pretty good but i ran into a few issues. After struggling for a bit to get this bolt and nut loose, 61183
I cannot for the life of me get the bolt out. These two arms have been shaken, beaten, and PB blasted to kingdom come. If anyone has any ideas, I'm all ears. Collin's idea was "Dad get a bigger hammer"

My next question deals with the E-Brake cables. Do i need these? I left them attached to the calipers. After getting a closer look at the calipers, I'm convinced a rebuild is needed. That being said, I priced a hardware kit for the brackets and a rebuild kit for the calipers. For a few bucks more I can grab new ones. I think i will go that route. Rotors should arrive Wednesday.

Question #3 is do i need the caliper mounting bracket that sits behind the tone ring for the ABS? Do i even need the ABS sensor? I don't plan on running it but I thought it would be good to get an answer before removal. The bracket that I am referring to is in this picture.
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Its the large bracket closest to the pumpkin besides the previously mention arms that won't come off. When watching the assembly videos, Dan removes the axles from the moser rear end and installs a caliper bracket. I'm not sure if this is only with the willwood brakes or if this is something that comes standard with the complete kit. A few members mentioned moving the calipers forward of the rotor and switching sides. If this is done I'm not sure what brackets will be needed.

Here are a few misc. pics Collin took with my phone. He snapped pictures while parts were soaking in rust remover.
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Thanks for the help!

[wareaglescott]

Maybe try some heat on that stuck bolt

[Usudno]

It's actually both. Not just one!

[Jeff Kleiner]

You're gonna' have to sawzall both ends of the bolt on the inside of the mounts. What's happened is that the bolt rusted inside of the bushing sleeve and then when you torqued on it the sleeve broke free of the rubber bushing so now both the bolt and inner sleeve are spinning.

Jeff

[Usudno]

Jeff, sawzall is next. It that bolt does not spin at all!! It's crazy. I was able to remove the nut without holding the head of the bolt. I'll update tommorow but it's comming out!

[Jeff Kleiner]

Jeff, sawzall is next. It that bolt does not spin at all!! It's crazy. I was able to remove the nut without holding the head of the bolt. I'll update tommorow but it's comming out!

Ahhh, I misunderstood and thought it was spinning but would not come out. I think it's the same root cause though---bolt rusted to the bushing sleeve.

Yes, you will reuse the OEM caliper brackets. Remember, if you relocate the calipers you need to swap everything side to side; that bracket, the caliper mounts, calipers and the anti-moan brackets. Tone rings are not used if you don't incorporate ABS but can be left in place. You'll need parking brake cables. I always use new ones and modify them to the proper length but it's your choice whether to do so what you have or replace 'em.

Good luck,
Jeff

[Usudno]

Got an early start this morning! One bolt down before work started. The sawzall worked good. Both of my parking brake cables seem to be in good shape. I will remove the ABS sensor and leave the tone rings as they are. Today i plan to take the differential cover off and putt the axles to finish prepping for paint. Thanks again Jeff.

[Straversi]

Congratulations and welcome aboard. How cool to be able to share the experience with multiple generations. Will seniority determine who gets to drive?

-Steve

[Usudno]

Just an quick update. I got both of those suckers off! I have a few more questions. I snapped a few picks of what looks like a caliper mounting bracket and some sort of backing plate that attacked with a u bolt type of assembly around the axle housing. I'll upload the pictures when I get to the house. I really wanted to get the cover off and finish prepping for paint but my daughter has a dance camp presentation this afternoon and the wife made it clear that if I wanted to take Collin hunting Friday morning and spend Friday afternoon working on the car that I would have to make the dance thing!

Straversi, it's funny that you speak of seniority, Pop hasn't actually been apart of the build yet. He has been under the weather as of late. I guess I will give him a little slack. He does turn 85 December 9th. What an awesome birthday present it would be if Stewart makes it on the 9th rather than the 10th!!

As always thanks guys.

[Jeff Kleiner]

...I snapped a few picks of what looks like a caliper mounting bracket and some sort of backing plate that attacked with a u bolt type of assembly around the axle housing.



These?

http://www.performancepartsinc.com/images/antimoan.jpg

Those are the anti-moan brackets. In this photo you'll see them installed on the axle assembly after I swapped the calipers to the front:

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj43/jkleiner/Mk4%207276/100_1882-1.jpg

Keep them---without 'em the rear brakes can howl like a coon hound under a full moon as you come to a stop :)

Jeff

[Straversi]

Call Stewart and get the driver's number. I couldn't be there on the day he had me scheduled so I called the driver and he dropped a different car on that day and pushed me up two days. Didn't make any difference to him. He might have another car in your area to drop. Can't hurt to ask. Let them know it's Pop's 85th. That's great.
-Steve

[Usudno]

So Jeff, you stole a bit of my post thunder. The anti moan brackets were one of my concerns. Here are the others.
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1. This guy here which I am assuming is a caliper location bracket. Do i need to keep this around? Should i blast it and paint it?

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2. This guy here which I know attached to the brake line previously and to the caliper with a banjo bolt. Should i be keeping this as well? Any ideas on cleanup?

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3. I'm sure this is a vent but I am not sure what goes here. I have been plugging it with random objects to keep rust remover and gunk out.


6126861269
Above you will see evidence of my battle won! Triumph came with sawzall in hand! For the life of me I can't figure out how they got that stuck. As you can tell in one of the photos, the bolt head remained after being cut. Not until several blows with a punch did it come out.

And lastly, A coat of Rustoleum Rust reformer.
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I'm just about done with it. Hopefully tomorrow afternoon i can get it cleaned up more. I'll get the cover off and drain it. Probably pull the axles and blast the cover. I'm thinking of going alumablast on the cover and just a black on the rear end.

An update on Pop. My father and aunt went to see him this afternoon. He wasn't looking to good. The plan is to bring him to his doc tomorrow run some tests. He has been feeling week as of late and his morning visits to Lowes to solve all of the worlds problems with the old men behind the contractors counter have all but ended. Hopefully he can rest up and feel better before the car makes it!

Thanks for the advice as always

Scott

[Usudno]

Just a heads up, the Rust Reformer that i have used to help prep the rear end seems to have done a pretty good job. You can see a bit of the reaction once it has been on a while.
One question I do have is, Can i go back on with a few coats of primer to help smooth it out more before my final coat of paint?? I know that I can prime over the Rust Reformer, I'm just not sure about building up a few coats of primer to smooth things out. Does Por 15 go on thick enough to hide imperfections?

[Jeff Kleiner]

1. Yes, caliper bracket. You will use it for OEM brakes.

2. Although the axle mounted factory flex lines can be used (I'm not sure I would trust that rusty one however) I prefer to run hard lines to the chassis corners and then braided flex lines from chassis to caliper as can be seen in my photo in post #24 above. Mark at Breeze can set you up:

http://www.breezeautomotive.com/_images/products/product1_488.jpg

http://www.breezeautomotive.com/details.php?prod_id=488&cat_id=1

3. That is where the axle vent/breather mounts. Obviously yours is missing. Again Breeze has what you need:

http://www.breezeautomotive.com/_images/products/product1_407.jpg

http://www.breezeautomotive.com/details.php?prod_id=407

If you haven't figured this out already you need to put Breeze on your speed dial. Mark is a wealth of knowledge with a tremendous selection of parts (the RIGHT parts the FIRST time!) and great service.

Hope that helps and good luck!

Jeff

[Usudno]

I have spoken with Mark quite a bit during my planing. I will go with both of your suggestions. I will put a call into him. Monday morning and get them ordered. I purchased new calipers and plan on getting new e brake cables to complete the rear brake setup. My rotors came in today as well. Thanks again Jeff for the help.

[DadofThree]

Subscribing to your build thread.

[Usudno]

Unfortunately my build plan has taken a turn for the worse. Pop was rushed to the hospital early thanksgiving morning and put in ICU. They got him stabilized and he his in good spirits but he experienced major Blood loss. This has been over a week and a half or so. This morning the Doc's ran tests to figure out the cause. He has been diagnosed with colon cancer! They have taken him out of ICU and he is in a regular room. My father and his siblings are meeting with doctors tommorow to discuss his treatment options but the initial outlook is not looking to good. My only hope now is that pop can at least be around for the delivery. The build will go on but my dream was to build my dream car with all 4 of us!

I would greatly appreciate any thoughts and prayers for him.

[wareaglescott]

Sorry to hear of your grandfathers health issues. Prayers sent!

[Straversi]

Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

[Usudno]

Prognosis got a little worse. A scan yesterday revealed that it has spread to his lungs. Docs don't think he can handle treatment for the lungs so the game plan is take care of the lower GI and keep him comfortable for 6mo to a year. He is taking it well. He told Collin yesterday to get started in the car without him and he would " come show us what we did wrong". We all got a kick out of it. Thanks for listening guys. We have decided to try and get the car done so he can see the finished product. I would love to take him for a ride. Any tips on speeding things up would be greatly appreciated!

[Usudno]

I found a little time between visiting pop in the hospital and work today to tear into the rear end and get the axles pulled. I had a couple of surprises. First off when I removed the cover I was presented with this.
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I put a little rust remover on it and it looks much better now. I will be sure to clean it out good before running it. I read up a little and most things I read say run it and change the fluid after 100 miles to make sure any debris is out.

Next up the 8mm bolt holding the pin in had previously been rounded off a bit. I will need a replacement for it. If anyone has any ideas on where i can find just this bolt i would appreciate it.

The was the trouble of getting the C clips out. The plastic knob/pin for the abs stops the axle from being pushed in far enough to grab the C clips. The bolts holding the plastic abs sensors are were nearly rusted through. I decided that i would break the plastic end on the hub side and finish removing it once i get the caliper brackets off.

Once all of this was done (which should have taken what 5 minutes) I pulled the axles to see rust on them as well as what seems to be ruined seals for the axles. Here are a few pics of what I found. What do you guys suggest with the axles??? How about the seals?
615526155361554615556155661557

Thanks for following and any help as always is greatly appreciated.

[DadofThree]

any ideas on where i can find just this bolt...

Once all of this was done (which should have taken 5 minutes) ......



Get use to this. Those two lines describes 80% of my build. :confused:

I'm sorry to read about your grandfather.

With regards to the rear end, try the auto parts store for the bolt or Amazon. I've found all kinds of odd car parts on Amazon. Go ahead and sign up for Prime. :p

Replace the seals and bearings. They're cheap. The axle is the inner race for the bearing. If there is pitting, (which I can't see in the photo), you can either get an offset bearing that just puts the bearing on a new location on the axle, or replace the axle. I'd sand it down the rest of it to try to get that rust off.

With regards to how to speed up your build:

1. If you have helpers, you can get this thing together sooner (captain obvious speaking). If it's just you, keep the mods to a minimum and stick to the task. The mods add the time.

2. switch your order to the complete kit to speed up the build. I'm sorry that you're racing the clock.

3. Another off the wall tactic to save time: When the kit arrives, just stick the donor parts in without rebuilding them. Get that sucker to go cart stage to get your grandfather in it. You can always rebuild them later. I know that isn't the best tactic, and it could be a pain in the arse. But to get the car running and your grandfather in it; it could save you precious time.

[Usudno]

DadofThree I am going with the complete kit. Tomorrow I will attempt to get the rust off of the axles as well as remove the caliper brackets and blast and paint them. I will also heed your advice on the bearings and seals. While it's torn open, I may as well get it knocked out.

Thanks

[Straversi]

Prognosis got a little worse. A scan yesterday revealed that it has spread to his lungs. Docs don't think he can handle treatment for the lungs so the game plan is take care of the lower GI and keep him comfortable for 6mo to a year. He is taking it well. He told Collin yesterday to get started in the car without him and he would " come show us what we did wrong". We all got a kick out of it. Thanks for listening guys. We have decided to try and get the car done so he can see the finished product. I would love to take him for a ride. Any tips on speeding things up would be greatly appreciated!

Build it right out of the box if you want to go faster. Small mods take (me) a lot of time. Might not be the same for guys with better skills and tools. I'm not in a hurry and I'm enjoying th process.

I can't help thinking that racing the clock might take the fun out of the project for you and your family. My brother and I worked on cars together as kids but he lives in Northern California. He is a very talented word worker so he emails me photos of what he is working on and I do the same with the car. Our mom asked that we copy her on our emails because she loves that we are both perusing projects that we are passionate about. It makes her happy to be included when we tease each other or complain about a mishap or brag about a small detail at only a brother would care about. My mom is especially excited if any of our kids are involved. I sent her a photo of my son and I installing the IRS rear end and she said it made her cry because she was so happy to see us smiling and working together. My long winded point is this; finishing the car might not be as important to your dad as you think. I bet he loves watching you and the rest of your family work on the car. Probably enjoys talking about the details with you as much as turning a wrench. I bet there is someone in your area with a FFR roadster that would come by and give your dad a ride, now, while his health is better and he can enjoy it and take the pressure off of you. I just fear that if his health is deteriorating you might not feel like spending 5 hours working on the car to meet a deadline. Without a time frame you might be able to spend an hour or so in the garage to clear your head and keep the project fun (therapeutic) for you and your family. Sorry if I'm overstepping here. God bless.
-Steve

[Usudno]

Straversi, I appreciate the advice and your concern. However you missed that the Ill person is my grandfather. He was going to "help us" and watch over what we did. He has a wealth of knowledge dealing with all things mechanical/automotive but his ability to turn a wrench has long since passed him. The good news is that his surgery went well and I spoke with him this morning. He is looking forward to being able to spend as much time as he feels up to working on the project.

I agree with you that putting a timeline on the build may take some of the fun out of it. I put some thought into it, depending on what we get done before the new year will probably dictate how hard we attack the rest of the project. My goal is to have a roller by new years with the steering and all brake lines done as well as most of the aluminum.

I placed the order for the engine yesterday and was told this time of year, I am looking at 4 weeks, which should be just about right. I got the remainder of the rear end stripped, primed and painted this morning. I will load up some photos this evening. The axles cleaned up nicely and show no more rust. I grabbed two new axle bearings and seals and will attempt to get those changed out. I will probably have to wait to do that until the rear end is on the car. I can't imagine how much fun a slide hammer on a loose rear end would be!! I also got the caliper location brackets off of the car. I went down to a friend of ours and blasted them. I also removed the anti moan brackets and painted them up. I am assuming i will have to swap those towards the front as well as the calipers.

As always thanks for reading.

[Usudno]

One more note... I went by oreilly auto parts for the seals, bearings, and a new differential cover gasket and bolts. Turns out that I can get the Differential cover, bolts, and gasket all for under $50 Chrome plated. I would have spent that on the gasket and bolts separately and it saves me from having the painted cover. I also got a new God forsaken locking pin retainer bolt from the help section at oreilly and a new axle vent from the Ford Stealership.

[Usudno]

Tomorrow is our scheduled delivery day, I have yet to hear back from Jim on specifics. It may be that he is running behind a day or so. That being said bothering him has been the last thing on my mind. Unfortunately Pop never made it out of the hospital. He passed away due to complications from his surgery. I appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers for him. That being said, D day will be a welcomed distraction. I'm not sure if its possible but I would like to change the name of my build thread if possible. If anyone has any idea how to go about it I would appreciate it. I plan to take several D day pictures and I have scheduled the day off tommorow in hopes that Jim makes it. If I don't hear from him by noon time today I may give him a ring. I'd like to spend the day here doing inventory if possible.

Thanks again

Scott

[SteveE]

Scott,

Sorry to hear about your Pop, Never a good time. I am sure that one of the administrator's could change the name of your build thread.

Steve

[Usudno]

I will reach out to one of the. Thank you. I just received a call from Jim with Stewart Transportation. He will be here between 7-8 a.m.

[Usudno]

D-Day has come and gone. Jim was great. We had to adjust our plans on the fly but all went well. My kids had a blast getting it all out of the truck and unpacked. I got a few pics of the unload but unfortunately i didn't have enough man power to get the frame on the jack stands. We will give it a go this afternoon. I will be doing inventory today but as of now I have a few items on back order that may slow things down.

Upper steering shaft
Traction lok bracket set
Driver footbox front wall
LH/RH tubular front lower control arm

The control arms are the big one. I planned on having a roller possibly this weekend. That may not happen now. How do I go about finding ETA's on the back ordered items. I could give them a ring but I'm not sure if there is a procedure to follow or should i just play the waiting game.

Thanks as always

Pictures to follow this afternoon!

[Jeff Kleiner]

Yeah, you won't be able to get it on it's feet without the control arms in front or brackets in the rear. Plenty of time to fit and drill the tin though!

Jeff

[Usudno]

Yessir. We were just discussing that over lunch!!

[edwardb]

I will be doing inventory today but as of now I have a few items on back order that may slow things down.

Upper steering shaft
Traction lok bracket set
Driver footbox front wall
LH/RH tubular front lower control arm

The control arms are the big one. I planned on having a roller possibly this weekend. That may not happen now. How do I go about finding ETA's on the back ordered items. I could give them a ring but I'm not sure if there is a procedure to follow or should i just play the waiting game.

Thanks as always

Congratulations on your delivery! Now the fun really begins. Yes, you need to call to get updates on your backorder items. That's a pretty short list and most/all I think are internally produced at FF. Hopefully this means you should have them relatively soon.

Take your time with the inventory. Make sure everything is accounted for and also appears to be correct and also not damaged. You may have a few items to report in addition to your backorder follow-up.

Personally, I recommend leaving parts in the boxes they came in. Then the box-by-box inventory listing they provided can be used to quickly locate parts when you need them.

[rickscobra]

Happy for your delivery. Not many thrills that surpass that feeling. First start and go kart rank right up there as well. For myself, as a first time builder that is retired, I charged into the project with the thought of getting it done was paramount. One year later, with the chassis just setting there waiting for the painted body to be done this month, I find myself just a little bit sad that the build is over. Take your time and enjoy the process. I now know why Edwardb has built more than one.

Rick in Maine

[Usudno]

I just finished inventory. The only things missing that arnt on the backorders are the shifter boot and e brake boot. Both were supposed to be in the box with carpet, neither were there. I spoke with factory five and I should have the traction loc bracket by the end of the week. They got them back from powder coating yesterday. The front LCAs are a bit of a mystery. I got bounced from Sally to someone in purchasing to someone in shipping. The guy in shipping mentioned that they need to make them. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or bad thing.

Inventory was honestly pretty cool. Seeing the Le Mans has cap in person, the roll bar, and a few other things really peaked my interest. Tommorow I hope to get the body off and on the buck as well as remove the panels. I still have a little grinding to do on the rear end. I may tackle that tommorow too.

I haven't gotten a chance to get to a computer to post picks but I should get them up tommorow!

Thanks for all of the help and support!

[Usudno]

It's a little late but here are some delivery day pictures61880618816188261883

And here is my little buddy Collin with the obligatory steering wheel shot. His sister took one as well but I didn't have that one handy. I am still not sure how to orient the pictures correctly. Sorry if they are upside down or not situated correctly.
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Nestled nicely in its new home.


Inventory complete and organized with boxes labeled!
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[edwardb]

I just finished inventory. The only things missing that arnt on the backorders are the shifter boot and e brake boot. Both were supposed to be in the box with carpet, neither were there. I spoke with factory five and I should have the traction loc bracket by the end of the week. They got them back from powder coating yesterday. The front LCAs are a bit of a mystery. I got bounced from Sally to someone in purchasing to someone in shipping. The guy in shipping mentioned that they need to make them. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or bad thing.

The e-brake boot is usually packed in the carpet box along with the dash vinyl. It would be easy to miss though. It's flattened in a plastic bag and could be mixed in with the carpet. The shifter boot isn't likely in the carpet box. It's usually in the box with the rest of the shifter components, e.g. shift lever, shift ball, trim ring, etc. It's a round rubber piece. Not a traditional leather (or vinyl) type boot.

The backorder process is a little unclear to me as well. Sometimes I was put through to shipping. Other times to purchasing. For in house production parts (like the LCA's) the shipping guys usually know what's happening in the shop.

[Usudno]

Edwardb, I removed all of the carpet and laid it out flat in our wood shop. Both boots were supposed to be with it in the same box. Neither were. Courtney got it all straight for me this morning. She wasn't able to elaborate on the LCAs but she did tell me that the traction lok bracket would be going out today. The upper steering shaft would be the next item of importance but I can turn the wheels manually if need be for now.

[wareaglescott]

When it comes down to finding the best info about back ordered items I found Jay Kravitz to be the man with the best info! It worked best to just email him directly. jay@factoryfive.com

[Usudno]

Thanks wareaglescott.

[MPTech]

So sorry for your loss.
When I started my roadster, my father was in Florida for the winter and my son had just moved to Texas. I wish I had started it sooner to engage them too, but I was able to target when they were in-town so they could help me a little.
Once it was completed though, my dad and I took 2 trips to London, OH for the big Cobra event, 900+ miles round-trip, once in gel-coat and the next year after it was painted. We both had a great time.
Currently planning to trailer it to San Marcos in March to meet up with my son for a few days of cruising the Texas backroads.

I do miss the build, BUT driving it is even BETTER!

Good luck with your build! It starts getting exciting when you begin throwing away the empty FFR boxes! That's progress!

[Usudno]

Boxes.. hell I threw away two trash cans worth of packing paper just doing inventory lol!!

[Usudno]

An update on today... I put all 4 koni coil overs together today, mainly because I wanted to work on the car but had nobody available to remove the body with me and I knew exactly which boxes they were in. I also started getting all of the parts together that will need to be finished. I will be out of town this weekend but I plan on spending the better part of Friday prepping the parts that need painting as well as the alluminum panels.

As my contribution to this great place, I plan on creating a table of sorts as a guide to show prospective builders a list of which alluminum panels show in the engine compartment and which show on the outside of the car/wheel well areas. I have been searching for this and have been able to put together a decent list but I thought if one were to reference page 26 of the build manual and correspond the proper treatment (not required of course) to the image provided that it would be a nice tool for people.

For all reading along, I hope to have the body off tommorow as well as most alluminum. Any tips on panel removal?? I will absolutely have gloves for myself and my son!

Thanks as always

[wareaglescott]

I drilled all the panels as I took them off. It took me a long time to get them off but I sure was glad when the majority of the drilling was done up front. Worked out well. Just keep in mind the panel may not be positioned ideally as it sits on the frame with the sheet metal screws they used to hold it in place. You may need to make some slight adjustments for best positioning.
Congrats on getting going on actaul construction. Feels good doesn't it!

[carlewms]

The other two tipd ... take lots of photos pay particular attention to the overlaps between sheet metal components and mark the part number in at least one other location so that if one gets erased you still have another to refer to in the future.

[Usudno]

Wareaglescott. I was contemplating this myself. What did you do about panels that did not fit well?? Redrill and have additional holes?

[Usudno]

Well I got the body off but fatherhood took the rest of my afternoon of cobra time away. The wife got stuck in traffic and I had to grab the kids from school and be daddy chauffeur. Collin to hitting lessons and the little one to dancing. I will probably follow wareaglescott's lead and drill the panels before removal. I will get started with that tommorow. Hopefully I can get it all drilled and removed before next Friday. I plan to begin assembly with Collin and my father by my side on Friday.

On another note, I received a shipping notification today. 34lbs two seperate P.Os from factory five. My fingers are crossed that it's the control arms and traction lok bracket. Based off of my discussions with them, I would bet on the bracket, the 34 lbs leads me to believe the LCAs must be there as well. The only other heavy item on my back orders was the upper steering shaft and I doubt that it's very heavy. Here's to hoping!!!

Thanks as always, I'll put up a picture of the body on the buck. I think I'm going to add an 8' shelf on one side to hold the doors, hood, and trunk. Seems like a good place to keep them out of the way.

[wareaglescott]

Wareaglescott. I was contemplating this myself. What did you do about panels that did not fit well?? Redrill and have additional holes?

They were all very close to begin with. Just slight adjustments and maybe a hole here and there a little bigger but still able to accommodate the rivet. You will see when you get into it.

[Usudno]

This morning I got a lot of the alluminum that came mounted on the car drilled. I took the time to do the engine compartment and firewall areas myself. I marked the entire rear of the car and the cockpit area for Collin. There are a few places that I will probably drill and cleco to make sure they line up before he goes to town. I took a few pictures that I will post up later tonight of the drilling and the much discussed cleco overload picture. It was my first F panel but I got carried away and said what the hell. It was a good picture opportunity. Clecos are a life saver!

Over the weekend we are going on a trip. My wife has agreed to drive which will allow me to take a look at the alluminum panel portion of the manual and start compiling a list of which panels will get which treatments. With any luck by next weeks end, I will be ready to prep and paint my engine compartment panels and possibly some visible exterior panels.

As always thanks for reading along.

[Usudno]

So I've been a bit lazy with the updates... I have gotten the front suspension hung, brakes on and steering rack partially installed. I had both of the kids with me this afternoon and had a blast working with them. I ran into a small issue with the steering rack. I need to put the suspension under a load in order to get the tie rods lined up with the steering arms. That being said, My father has the floor jack with his T-bird. I got as far as I could tonight before the kids got hungry. Its perfect gumbo weather here!! Here are a few pics of my progress.6210562105
Here is the passenger side suspension. It took about 3 times as long as the second drivers side. Guess which one I did first!!

6210662107
Here is Collin having a good time with the cleco pliers and showing off our first true accomplishment on the car!

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I took a break from the car Sunday and worked in the wood shop with my father. I made a little Christmas present for Collin. Here it is before the cushion and cover.

And last but not least, tonight's progress with the kids.

6211062111621126211362114

[GoDadGo]

You Are Off To A Great Start!

You might want to make a copy of your inventory sheet and place a copy of each sheet on each box.

It really helped me find my parts so I know it will help you too.

C_O_N_G_R_A_T_U_L_A_T_I_O_N_S_!

[Usudno]

GoDadGo, already done my man. I also scribbled my own description on most of the boxes. I have another copy of my inventory near the car as well as on my desk!! The boxes are dwendling quickly! I plan on getting all of my panels prepped and painted over the next few days. I'm at a point now we're I need them!

[edwardb]

Uh oh. You just joined the updside down LCA club. Lots of members. :) It's an easy mistake, and probably explains why you had trouble hooking up the tie rods. The upper ball joints should point out, with the thicker side of the ball joint mount on the outside. Like this:

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab234/edwardb123/Factory%20Five%2020th%20Anniversary%20Mark%204%20R oadster/Front%20Suspension/th_IMG_3303_zpsvkdrko3r.jpg (http://s867.photobucket.com/user/edwardb123/media/Factory%20Five%2020th%20Anniversary%20Mark%204%20R oadster/Front%20Suspension/IMG_3303_zpsvkdrko3r.jpg.html)

To fix you can unbolt at the inner connector and flip them over. The inner pivots still need to have the zerk fittings point up. Again, like the pic I posted. Then you'll need to put the ball joint in from the other side.

[Usudno]

I though something was up... to have the zerks pointing up, that's how they had go go but the angle of the ball joint nuckle didn't look like F5R video... so is it as simple as flipping the end with the ball joint and reinstalling??

[edwardb]

I though something was up... to have the zerks pointing up, that's how they had go go but the angle of the ball joint nuckle didn't look like F5R video... so is it as simple as flipping the end with the ball joint and reinstalling??

The only way to flip only the end would be the unscrew the adjusters, flip it, and thread them back in. To be honest, I'm not sure the combination of LH and RH threads used would allow that. Havn't tried. Maybe someone else knows.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Remove the ball joint plates or entire arm, unscrew the ball joints and reinstall them from the other direction. Install the arms to the chassis using the side mounts (the bolts will be horizontal) with the cross bar pivot's grease fittings pointing up. The ball joints will now angle outward. The arm on the driver's side will have the solid link (the one welded to the ball joint plate) at the forward position. On the passenger side the solid link will be at the rear. Regarding the tie rod end issue---ordinarily there is enough rotation at the joint to be able to engage the stud into the steering arm even with the suspension at droop. Your arms are installed to the spindles so that they angle outward which is correct however if they are on the wrong side the big end of the taper will be up rather than down and prevent you from being able to seat the stud. Be aware that the "RH" and "LH" markings on the arms are for the Hot Rod NOT the roadster---it is opposite so check on that.

Good luck,
Jeff

[2FAST4U]

Looks like someone is having a great time. Congrats and enjoy the build

[Usudno]

I am having a great time!! Woke up early and got the arms off. I will make some since if it this afternoon and start getting things prepped and painted.

[Usudno]

So I just finished flipping the ball joints and ball joint mounts on the control arms. As I'm doing them it dawns on me... Why were they shipped assembled incorrectly?? If the ball joint is installed pointing outward in the configuration that they are sent your zerk fittings point down. If the zerk fittings point up, which in my case they did, your ball joint is oriented incorrectly! It was a simple fix but having them assembled correctly would have made a simple error easily avoidable. That being said.. here are my correctly mounted control arms.
62125

If you guys see anything else wrong please feel free to advise me.

As a result of correctly installing them the tie rods look like they will fit much better now! Its amazing how things work!

[edwardb]

So I just finished flipping the ball joints and ball joint mounts on the control arms. As I'm doing them it dawns on me... Why were they shipped assembled incorrectly?? If the ball joint is installed pointing outward in the configuration that they are sent your zerk fittings point down. If the zerk fittings point up, which in my case they did, your ball joint is oriented incorrectly! It was a simple fix but having them assembled correctly would have made a simple error easily avoidable. That being said.. here are my correctly mounted control arms.
62125

If you guys see anything else wrong please feel free to advise me.

As a result of correctly installing them the tie rods look like they will fit much better now! Its amazing how things work!

Looks good from here. You're right. They weren't assembled the right direction from SPC, which is why this trips up so many people. Make sure you have the taper in the right direction on those steering arms. Good point from Jeff (as always). Also you probably want to snug those bolts up a bit. They need to be loosened enough to pivot when doing an alignment. Rest of the time I'd keep them tightened so the suspension doesn't flop around. Best I can see you have the LCA and UCA in the right mounting locations. Rock on!

[Usudno]

Yes sir, will do. Today is torque wrench day! I will be going through everything while Collin pulls off the rest of the aluminium. I plan to mark the torque bolts as I go. I'm still waiting on my upper steering shaft from Factory five. This will give me a chance to tackle the rear end Friday with some help. I have a package coming from factory five tomorrow. Hopefully its the upper steering shaft. If all goes well between my day off Friday, Saturday half a day, and Monday I hope to have a roller! Prep and paint of aluminum will start today. Thanks for the help and tips guys!

[Usudno]

Jeff, as far as the steering arms, I made sure they point towards the outsides of the car. Drivers side is on the passenger side and vice versa.

[Jeff Kleiner]

...As I'm doing them it dawns on me... Why were they shipped assembled incorrectly?

The UCAs are not FFR exclusive parts (they come from SPC) so what is "wrong" for our application may be correct for others in which the same arm is used.

Jeff

[Usudno]

Ahh understood!

Today marked a milestone in my build. It was the first day that my father worked on the build with me. He has been having a tough time with Pops passing. He helped me grind down the rest of the unused bracket on the rear end. It wasn't much but he really enjoyed it and I believe it helped get his mind off of his fathers passing.

Here he is. Hard at work!62134

I have a good bit of help lined up for Friday. Friday's goal will be to get the rear end and 3 link installed, axle bearings and seals changed out, rear brakes installed and possibly get the brake lines run. I will be mounting the engine compartment alluminum tommorow. We got it all cleaned, sanded, and primed this afternoon. I put the first coat on all of the drivers foot box and drivers side engine panels so that I can mount the master cylinders and get the steering installed tommorow afternoon hopefully.

I have pictures but I won't be need a computer for a while and haven't figured it how to post from my phone.

Thanks as always

[Usudno]

So I took advantage of a few days off and got quite a bit done on the Roadster. Rear end is now complete except for one little issue. One of the stop nuts on the pan hard bar is incorrect. I'm short a left handed thread nut and have an extra right hand threaded one. I will call Factory five and see if i can get one sent with my upper steering shaft whenever it comes in. I have the bar bolted in and left the nut off the open side so that i can drop it out and add it in. Today i ran the flexible brake lines front and rear and mounted the wheels for the first time. Wow it feels like an accomplishment. If i had the fuel level sending unit i would have popped in the gas tank and gotten it ready to drop down but its still on my back orders. Goals for this week are

1. Brake line completion
2. Cockpit aluminum fitting/riveting
3. Go over all front and rear suspension bolts once more (third time is a charm)
4. Order Engine (Tomorrow!!) I didn't think i would have been at this point this fast!
5. Layout wiring harness

This is what i have running through my mind, but i plan to read the manual and watch the build vids again tonight.

I do have one question before i post up my pictures. When assembling the pedal box i kept looking for a pin to offset the clutch quadrant until i got online and realized the revision didn't use this piece. The manual and video didn't mention the revision. I got that figured out but i'm lost as to what to do for the clutch quadrant adjuster that is normally mounted onto the aluminum panel. The video shows an adjuster there. The manual doesn't show connecting the clutch cable as far as i read. I will double check tonight.

Thanks for reading along and here are the pics

622796228062281622826228362284622856228662287

and last but not least.. Collins Christmas presents finished up.

He loved them both
62288

[Usudno]

It's been a few since my last post. In the last week or so I have gotten my pedal box together, rear end complete with brakes and all, all brake lines run (except parking brake cables) fuel tank installed, fuel lines run, and I have started working on mounting the panels. I posted up on the main board about my throttle cable issue. If anyone can provide pictures or an explanation on how the cable attaches to the pedal I would appreciate it.

This week I plan on tackling the clutch cable (I was missing the firewall spacer) and alluminum. I am still waiting on my upper steering shaft as well as my fuel level sending unit. I was told that they were expecting to have them in the wharehouse in two weeks. Some aluminum will have to wait.

On another note.. my transmission selection has changed. I'm now going with a TKO 500 that I kind of fell into. I will be sending my driveshaft back to FFR for a swap. The transmission should be here by weeks end. The engine unfourtunaly will be about 4-5 weeks. Had I known I would get this far along this quickly, I would have ordered it at the same time as the kit. I just didn't want it laying around the shop. I will snap some pictures tommorow when I get back to it. It's really beginning to look like a car!

[Usudno]

I got a little help on my accelerator question and got that all figured out. Today I got my firewall spacer and my left hand threaded jamb nut for the panhard bar from FFR. I plan to mount the battery and layout the wiring harness this afternoon. I may opt to add transmission tunnel vents to get some air moving inside of the foot box areas. Seems like a simple mod that works.

[Usudno]

Its been a while since my last post. Don't fret! I have been steadily working on the car. I have hit a couple of road blocks as of late, but with the help of you guys and some of our great vendors, I have pushed through them.

My most recent problem is with my transmission. Pictured here!
62704

Being a contractor has its benefits when doing a project like this. After all, Don't all contractors run into burned mustangs with a 347 and TKO 500 transmission with under 1300 miles on it! It was a customer of mines car that was involved in a house fire. I purchased the entire car from the insurance company for $1894. A plumber that I work with has purchased the engine from me (will need a bit of work, the fire got to it pretty good before being extiguished) for $625. We had agreed on it before i purchased the car. I orignally doubted the homeowner on the milage but once I got it to my shop and opened it up, this is what I saw.
62705

It looks to be almost new! There is a bit of plastic melted onto the bell housing from drippings from lord knows what and one plug missing as well as the covers are rusted from what I assume is from whatever the fire was put out with. The plug is for the reverse light switch. I plan to grab one from forte or someone that can help with this. I am assuming its similar to pigtail pictured here on the rear of the transmission.
62706

Transmission issues aside. I have figured out my clutch cable issues. A long story short, I was convinced that I was missing the clutch cable spacer, Factory Five sent me one, Then i was convinced something was terribly wrong because it didn't fit. Tony at FFR sent me over revised instructions which showed the cable going directly into the far left corner of the firewall (when standing in front of the car). I responded to him that something didn't add up. My quadrant is attached directly to the pedal. After looking at it, i decided to mount the cable straight to the firewall and sent tony this picture.
62707

Apparently that is all that was needed from the get go. A combination of an out of date portion of the build manual and phone conversations made it a bit more confusing than it needed to be, but all is well now. Factory Fives technicians are great and very helpful.

Next order of business was sending off my T-5 driveshaft for a swap. Dan quickly obliged and my new driveshaft should be here shortly. While waiting on the engine i compiled a list of things that I will need in order to finish it off. My list is as follows, (please feel free to chime in if I am missing anything)

Fuel pump (originally figured on a mechanical pump but i am second guessing this now)
Pulley setup/water pump (ordered from Mike Everson)
Alternator (will pick up locally)
Coolant neck (not sure what is recommended here)
Fluids (awaiting a recommendation from the engine builder on break in procedures)

The pulleys have been a trial by fire!! I have tried to come up with a simple cost effective solution by going to auto parts stores requesting pulleys. I have even found a 5.0 out of an explorer that i planned on scavenging the pulley setup but to no avail. Every solution i came up with wouldn't work. Next step, buy from a vendor that has probably done the exact same thing that I was trying to do!!

Between getting those things sorted out and my sons first Baseball tournament of the year I have gotten just about all of the aluminum together. Except for that darn drivers foot box. Still waiting on my upper steering shaft. At least the sending unit made it! My battery has been located and loosely mounted. It will have to come out for carpet. I have been cleaning up and getting it ready for cockpit insulation. The plan is to layout the wiring harness this weekend and insulate. Here she is ready for the Engine!!!
62708

Did I mention that I am having a blast building this thing! Next up is figuring out the fuel pump!

Thanks for following along!

[Usudno]

So back to updating my build thread. My engine made it in friday!!! Still no upper steering shaft tho!!! Anyway, on to the pictures.

63708
Empty space waiting for the motor.

63709
Engine mated to the tko500.

63710
My Father steering it in.

63711
Oh so close!

63712
Making sure there is no interference with the frame to tko fitment.

63713
She's in. Now onto the headers!!!

63714
Passenger side header was a snap.. This drivers side will take a bit of thought. I will have to move my brake reservoir using the included L bracket. That's a simple fix. I'm thinking of pulling the drivers valve cover losening the motor mounts and trying to slide the header in. I'm a bit worried about being able to get to the two rear most bolts. Anyone have any tips on how to get to it??

The goal this week will be to complete the fuel line plumbing, get the cooling system up and running. Go over front and rear suspensions as well as bleed the brakes. I have more help coming this weekend and I'm hoping for a first start! If the steering shaft makes it in, i may take it around the shop yard.

[Usudno]

Ok so the plan was to get a first start this weekend. I had a busy weekend with a birthday party for my sons best friend Saturday at 1 and a birthday party for one of our neighbors children today at 1. Needless to say it wasn't an optimal weekend to get a first start in. That being said, I had wiring expertise lined up for Saturday as well as another set of hands to help tie up loose ends. We got all of the wiring done, double checked fuel and coolant connections and ran short of time to get the alternator and starter wired up. Today I had mechanical expertise and we got an early start at 6 a.m. By noon we had the starter and alternator wired, fluids in, oil pressure, water temp, and tach temporarily wired in and side pipes temporarily installed (I purchased pipes from a member here and need the proper hardware and gaskets) and low and behold after a stubborn fuel pump finally got going, we had the sweet sound of American muscle! It was a huge milestone and one I will remember forever. Collin and my father were both on hand for the start. I wish Pop could have been there with us but I know he was looking down and smiling! Thanks for all the help you guys provide! I will upload the video tommorow morning!

[wareaglescott]

Congrats on the first start. Looking forward to the video.

[WIS89]

Congratulations on the first start! Great milestone, and I know you must be stoked.

I look forward to seeing the video.

Thanks for keeping us updated on your progress.

Regards,

Steve