GlenH's MK4 Build

[GlenH]

Well after a lot of years I am finally going to get to do it. I ordered a complete MK4 in mid March. My completion date in April 15th. Stewart has informed me that they intend to load the week of the 17th.

I have spent the last few weeks getting the body buck built along with a temporary frame dolly. I had to make the frame dolly taller than I wanted to allow me to use my trailer to meet Stewart(No way for him to get to the house). It is setup for motorcycles and the dolly will need to clear the wheel chocks. Once I get everything home I will cut down the legs to allow it to fit under the body buck.

Spent this weekend rearranging the garage to get everything in. I have two garages, but one of my lovely wifes requests was that this project does not wind up taking up space in "her" garage. Of course I agreed. Now I'm thinking that I never agreed that other things (like motorcycles) would not migrate over to her garage. I don't think that will fly so things are going to be a little tight.


http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/Garage_zpsearufs6d.jpg


I have three sons ranging from 18 to 25 so I hope to turn this into a family project that all of us can work together on. None of us have done anything like this before, but have spent a lot of time building and rebuilding motorcycle, so hopefully we can manage.



Now on to the kit.

MKIV Complete kit
Powder coated chassis
Body cut outs
3-link year suspension
Power Steering
17" Halibrand Wheel/tire package
Wilwod Brakes
Stainless Side exhaust
Chrome Driver and Passenger Roll Bar
Heater Defroster
Wipers

Going to go with a fuel injected 347 and a TKO600.


I plan to do a couple of the mods I have seen from others as well.
Breeze engine compartment battery mount
Drop Trunk
Russ Thompson Turn Signal

I have not decided on a color combo yet, but I'm leaning toward black with smoke gray stripes.

Glen
Powhatan, VA

[David Hodgkins]

Congrats Glen!

I upgraded your account to full access but just be aware that until you reach 10 posts anything you post with links in it will probably route to moderation (it's a spam control thing). I clear them out several times a day but just be aware there may be delays in folks seeing your first few posts. Sorry about that.

Congrats again, and welcome to the forum!

:)

[Yama-Bro]

Congrats and Good luck! Nice looking work space!

[Boydster]

Congratulations, Glen. What an exciting time. I'm about 2 months in and still have to slow myself down.

[wareaglescott]

Congrats and welcome to the forum. Look forward to following along!

[GlenH]

The wait is tough. Came home today to find a few goodies. Spent the evening getting the front rotors and rotor hats put together and torqued. Still have not decided if I am going to safety wire them. I will probably give it a try and see how it goes. The hardest part was finding a 12 point socket that was the correct size. I have a boatload of socket sets, but none of them had a 12 point small enough. Checked at a bunch of home supply and auto parts places with no luck. Finally found one at tractor supply. It was in a clearance bin as they were no longer going to carry it. Good news is it cost me a quarter. I knew based on others build threads that I could expect to need some more tools. I did not expect it to be something so simple.

66141

[Straversi]

It is fun when the boxes arrive and more fun when you start throwing them away as the build progresses. Have fun.
-Steve

[GoDadGo]

Congratulations!

Having Three (3) Sons To Help Will Make This Build Three (3) Times As Much Fun!

[GlenH]

Congratulations!

Having Three (3) Sons To Help Will Make This Build Three (3) Times As Much Fun!

It should be a great way to get them to spend more time around our house. The flip side is when we get it done and I get the in inevitable "dad can I borrower the car".

[GoDadGo]

Spent the evening getting the front rotors and rotor hats put together and torqued. Still have not decided if I am going to safety wire them.

66141

Please Install The Safety Wire Because It Is Necessary!

[GlenH]

Please Install The Safety Wire Because It Is Necessary!

The instructions from Wilwood state they are optional. From other posts I have read it was my impression that for a non race application it was not needed. I intended to give it a try to get them wired.

[mcwho]

GlenH

Congratulations and welcome. Your garage looks similar to mine, but my bikes area Yanaha and a Victory,

alos my Garage floor has black and white checkerd tile. Keeps the garage much cleaner

[Jacob]

Congrats and you will find lots of help on this forum. Also a lot of lessons learned the hard way that are so helpful.

[GlenH]

GlenH

Congratulations and welcome. Your garage looks similar to mine, but my bikes area Yanaha and a Victory,

alos my Garage floor has black and white checkerd tile. Keeps the garage much cleaner



I actually went to buy a Victory but once I saw the Indian I liked the leather too much so I brought it home instead. I did look at getting rid of the Sportster and buying a Victory Octane last year, but decided to put that money into this project instead. I looked at the tile for our garage, but was worried it would absorb any oil that was spilled and also that it would be too slick when wet. Didn't know anyone at the time that had it to ask. We have been happy with the epoxy so far.

[GlenH]

Congrats and you will find lots of help on this forum. Also a lot of lessons learned the hard way that are so helpful.


Thanks, I have spent the last few weeks reading a lot of the other builds. There is a lot of knowledge here that is going to be invaluable to get this done.

[GlenH]

Well It's about time for an update.

Managed to safety wire the front rotors. It was not as tough as I expected and they turned out great.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/FrontRotors_zps3emstrrj.jpg


Stewart called me on Thursday to let me know they would be delivering on Friday. We met at the nearby Food Lion since he could not get to my house. All went great with the exception of a Food Lion truck driver letting him know he had to move his truck so that they could drop their trailer where it was parked. No big deal we moved to the other end of the parking lot and got it done. I've got to say the driver was great.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/Stewart_zpslfyok0d4.jpg


Got everything home and into the garage.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/InGarage_zpsih6fjzcc.jpg

With a lot of help from my lovely wife and youngest son we managed to get the body off and on the buck. Things are a little crowded in the garage at the moment. I need to do a little organizing. Moved a couple of the bikes over to the other garage in the mean time.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/BodyOff_zps7rdzsm2q.jpg

I managed to do most of the inventory Friday night and Saturday morning. I need to do a couple of more boxes that were stacked in a corner. That will get done tonight. I also want to go back through two boxes with a fresh set of eyes to make sure that the two items that were missing are not there and I just missed them.

I wanted to feel like I got something done this weekend so I started working on the front suspension. I was able to get it all installed. I was confused initially as the manual says to mount the FFR upper control arm to the top of the mount. It just did not look right once complete. I decided to take a break and look at the forum. After reviewing a bunch of the other build threads I determined that either I misread the manual or it was wrong. I went ahead and moved it down and everything seemed to line up better. The second side took no time at all once I finished the first.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/FrontSuspension_zps5it4e1qw.jpg

I also got the rear assembly completed. I was not able to install it because one of my back order parts is the traction brackets. Hopefully those will come in soon.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/RearEnd_zpsz8to8rqy.jpg

I was also able to get all of the aluminum mocked up that needed to go for powder coat. I am dropping that off today and expect it to take a week or so to complete.

[edwardb]

I wanted to feel like I got something done this weekend so I started working on the front suspension. I was able to get it all installed. I was confused initially as the manual says to mount the FFR upper control arm to the top of the mount. It just did not look right once complete. I decided to take a break and look at the forum. After reviewing a bunch of the other build threads I determined that either I misread the manual or it was wrong. I went ahead and moved it down and everything seemed to line up better. The second side took no time at all once I finished the first.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/FrontSuspension_zps5it4e1qw.jpg

Just posted this on the other forum, but will post here as well.

Congrats on your delivery and welcome to the fun! Yes for the side mounts (vs. the top ones) for the front UCA's if you're using the FF 2-piece spindles as I think I can see in your picture. But also looking at your picture it looks like you're in the upside down upper ball joint plate club. Very common mistake since you need to take the UCA apart and reassemble. The angle on the upper ball joints should look like this:

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab234/edwardb123/Factory%20Five%2020th%20Anniversary%20Mark%204%20R oadster/Front%20Suspension/IMG_3381_zpskpel3ybs.jpg (http://s867.photobucket.com/user/edwardb123/media/Factory%20Five%2020th%20Anniversary%20Mark%204%20R oadster/Front%20Suspension/IMG_3381_zpskpel3ybs.jpg.html)

For the inner joints, the zerks need to point up and the attachment on the upper half of the pivot. Means you need to take it apart, flip the ball joint mount plate, and put it back together. You'll end up with the bolted attachment on the front on one side, and the on the back on the other side. But not a problem.

[GlenH]

Just posted this on the other forum, but will post here as well.

Congrats on your delivery and welcome to the fun! Yes for the side mounts (vs. the top ones) for the front UCA's if you're using the FF 2-piece spindles as I think I can see in your picture. But also looking at your picture it looks like you're in the upside down upper ball joint plate club. Very common mistake since you need to take the UCA apart and reassemble. The angle on the upper ball joints should look like this:

http://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab234/edwardb123/Factory%20Five%2020th%20Anniversary%20Mark%204%20R oadster/Front%20Suspension/IMG_3381_zpskpel3ybs.jpg (http://s867.photobucket.com/user/edwardb123/media/Factory%20Five%2020th%20Anniversary%20Mark%204%20R oadster/Front%20Suspension/IMG_3381_zpskpel3ybs.jpg.html)

For the inner joints, the zerks need to point up and the attachment on the upper half of the pivot. Means you need to take it apart, flip the ball joint mount plate, and put it back together. You'll end up with the bolted attachment on the front on one side, and the on the back on the other side. But not a problem.



Thanks EdwardB. I saw your post on the other forum. I doubled checked and it is indeed upside down. I was focused on making sure the grease fittings were facing up and didn't even think to check which way the plate was facing.

[GlenH]

Well I'm two weekends in to the build. I had a charity motorcycle even on Saturday so I didn't managed to spend as much time as I wanted to, but I managed to get a lot done.

I picked up my powder coated panels.

Went ahead and put on the DS footbox, but forgot to take a picture of that.

Installed the PS footbox.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/PSFootbox_zpsi5kmxpce.jpg

Installed the heater in the firewall and then mounted the firewall.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/Firewall_zpsjrmxh9cu.jpg

Installed the F-Panels and installed the brake flex lines. Thanks to EdwardB for pointing out that my upper control arm ball joint plates were on upside down. I managed to flip them over. Unfortunately I had to go buy a new dust boot for the passenger side as I ripped it open trying to get the ball joint out of the spindle.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/FrontSuspensionComplete_zpsnfdu9nyo.jpg

Installed the power steering rack using the Breeze offset bushings. It took a little "adjusting" on the mounts to get the bolts to go through. A drill, dremel and some POR15 and it's done.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/SteeringRack_zpshqqjzoib.jpg

Installed the pedal box. I had to trim off a little on the master cylinder shafts as they were too long. I still need to figure out where the brake reservoir is going and the hoses routed, so for now the hoses are just stuck on with no clamps. Also went ahead and installed the gas pedal.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/PedalBox_zpsqrpnhwwm.jpg

Moved on to the rear of the car and since I received my back ordered traction lock brackets, installed the rear end and flexible brake lines. This took quite a while as I had to grind down quite a few of the spacers to get everything in place. My emergency brake cables are still on back order so I will have to come back to that.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/RearSuspension2_zpsion18fkn.jpg

Got the fuel tank installed. Still need to figure out where to mount the fuel filter. While I was at it, I went ahead and took everyone's advice and did the quick jack bolt mod.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/FuelTank_zpsx6gprmmq.jpg

My goal this week is to get the brake hard lines in place and start on the wiring. Honestly the wiring is the thing that worries me the most.

The engine and transmission are ordered and should be here in less than month.

[GoDadGo]

Looking Good!

[wareaglescott]

Nice progress! That rear differential cover looks sharp!!

[GlenH]

Nice progress! That rear differential cover looks sharp!!


I was actually surprised by that cover. I ordered the rear end through FFR when I ordered the kit. The other advantage was the upper link bracket came welded to the axle already.

[Eespensen]

Congrats! I'm haunting the forum until I make my order. Love the process that you are detailing. Thank you! You are inspiring my confidence!

[GlenH]

Had a little time to spend over the last couple of night and was able to get the brake lines run. This was a lesson in frustration trying to get the bends right. I wound up having to buy a couple of extra lines to replace the two that I really messed up on.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/Brakes-PSRear_zpspg1ct2su.jpg
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/Brakes-DSRear_zpspyri92x4.jpg
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/Brakes-MC_zpssxoqflvm.jpg
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/Brakes-Rear_zpsdh0sxwvg.jpg
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/Brakes-DS-Front_zpsbrbmilz6.jpg
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/Brakes-Footbox_zpsw11k1lmk.jpg

[GlenH]

Congrats! I'm haunting the forum until I make my order. Love the process that you are detailing. Thank you! You are inspiring my confidence!


I would not have to attempted this without all of the time I have spent reviewing other build threads. I was able to learn a ton of information before embarking on this journey. I have only been at it for a couple of weeks, but so far it has been a lot of fun. I will say that there have been moments when I have had to take a step back and work on something else to keep from losing my mind. The simple mistakes are the ones that I just shake my head and wonder if I should be doing this. I then proceed to undo whatever I screwed up and put it back together the right way. The upside is the second or third time around it pretty quick since I have done it before.

[GlenH]

Had to pick the youngest up from college this weekend so had limited time to work in the garage. I was able to get the wiring harness installed.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/Wiring_zpsc4brq1ch.jpg

Once that was done I finished out on the dropped trunk. A word of advice for those using Dynamat. Wear some type of gloves. The foil will give you a pretty nasty paper cut. My hands look like I got into a fight with a ream of paper and it won.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/DroppedTrunk_zpst2sssfkx.jpg

I am dropping off a couple of pieces to be powder coated today. Somehow I missed them the first time around. Hopefully I will get them back soon. Got an email from Mike Forte that he had posted the video of my motor on the dyno. Hope to have that soon.

GH F363 - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32tOYp3Fcfw)

[GlenH]

Another busy weekend but was able to put some time in on the build.

Installed the Breeze battery box.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/BatteryBox_zpseerbfaol.jpg

Got the fan mounted to the shroud and the shroud mounted to the radiator.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/RadiatorFan_zpsmgk9i3jb.jpg

Temporarily mounted the radiator to get everything lined up and drilled.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/Radiator_zpszs5jne9j.jpg

Mounted the fuel filter and ran the fuel lines.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/FuelFilter_zpshv2mwhiw.jpg
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/FuelLine_zpseem64qy0.jpg

Put riv-nuts in the trunk to attach the covers so they can be removed.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/Covers_zpscruiqqwh.jpg

Mounted the CNC reservoir and went ahead and bled the brakes. Had one section of brake line that just did not want to stop leaking on both ends. It was one that I did not have to flare the ends myself. Turns out that when I picked up the brake line at the auto parts store they gave me one section of pipe that was incorrect. It was not for a domestic. It would thread into the fitting, but it was not tightening down all of the way. I re-bent a new piece and put it on and problem solved.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/CNC_zpsxqbe2bfj.jpg

Received my back-ordered roll bars and of course had to try them out on the car. That brings my back-order list down to E-brake cable, wheels and vinyl for the dash.

[GlenH]

This weekend I was able to get the battery installed.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/Battery_zpsbvxt2rmx.jpg

Emergency brake handle mounted. The cables are still back-ordered so I will have to come back to that.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/EBrake_zps4lemcdlv.jpg

Trunk and cockpit aluminum all installed and Dynomat in place with the exception of the transmission tunnel. I still need to make two additional panels for the upper trunk.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/Trunk_zpsflsjvtl8.jpg
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/Trunk2_zpsdcsk6bq0.jpg
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/Cockpit_zpsnbl6ojjp.jpg


Received my back-ordered dash vinyl so I can start working on the dash and the motor and transmission are being delivered today.

[GlenH]

Got a delivery today. I am not ready to put it in yet, so I will leave it wrapped up for now.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/Motor_zpsjo0awexs.jpg

[GoDadGo]

Congratulations On Hitting This Major Milestone!

[GlenH]

Went out of town last weekend so did not get anything done on the car. This weekend I had all three of the boys at the house. Since I had a bunch of help, we put the motor in.


Got the transmission mounted along with the clutch slave cylinder.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/MotorInstall1_zpsfpeppe2w.jpg

Now for the fun part. We had to trim some tabs off the block to get the motor mounts to sit correctly. Other than that it went in fairly easy. Having a lot of hands and eyes was a big help.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/MotorInstall2_zpslcqvgq5h.jpg
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/MotorInstall3_zpsabvrfiiu.jpg

Once it was in we put the headers on, mounted the radiator and installed the upper and lower radiator hose and tube kits from Breeze. Started to put the power steering lines in place, but one end has the wrong fitting to fit the pump. I will have to get that figured out.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/MotorInstall4_zpsy1urghih.jpg

[carlewms]

Congratulations and nice to make it a family affair. Looks great!

[GlenH]

This week was all about getting the motor wired and completing all of the connections.


Started off by running all of the wiring to the engine compartment. Moved a couple of wires from one loom to the other. and then ran one down the right for the electric choke, fan temp sensor, alternator.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/Wiring4_zpsl1447vsr.jpg
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/Wiring3_zps1cwlbyvj.jpg

I then ran the left side for the temp sending unit, coil, oil pressure and oil temp sensors.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/Wiring1_zpsrktloiig.jpg
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/Witing2_zpslaae0bqb.jpg

Ran the ground to the battery and the positive side to the solenoid. For now the plastic caps are still in place until the rest of the wiring is completed.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/Wiring5_zpsdnd87uig.jpg

Ran the throttle cable and made the connections.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/ThrottleCable_zps22tfulg0.jpg

And finally made the power steering lines and connected them up.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/PowerSteeringLines_zpsqzah721e.jpg


Still waiting on the wheels and tires and e-brake cable which are still on backorder. Now on to wiring up the dash. Not looking forward to that challenge at all. I did receive my Russ Thompson turn signal over the weekend so that will go into the wiring mix.

[jrcuz]

Nice work Glen, looking very good.
JR

[Boydster]

Looks really good. I'm still working wiring, too. Waiting on my Speedhut gauges with the senders to start wiring the engine.

[awd-turbo]

Glen,
How did you mount the fan temp senor on to the intake on the passenger side? My sensor is to small for the hole on that side. Did you use a bigger adapter? and if so what size and where did you get it from?

[GlenH]

Glen,
How did you mount the fan temp senor on to the intake on the passenger side? My sensor is to small for the hole on that side. Did you use a bigger adapter? and if so what size and where did you get it from?

I don't remember the size off the top of my head. I took the plug from the hole and ran to home depot along with the sensor and found an adapter that the male side matched the plug and the female side matched the sensor. It's a standard size so you should not have any trouble finding it.

[awd-turbo]

Ok cool thanks... I wasn't sure if you ordered it off line or not. I'll check out home depot

[GlenH]

Not a real productive weekend at least on the car. Had a list of honey-do's to work on Saturday and all of the kids came over on Sunday. I did manage to start on the dash. I covered the dash with the FF provided vinyl and was not real happy with the result. It just seemed to me to be too "puffy". I went ahead and took it back off and cleaned the dash back up. Let me tell you that Landau top and trim adhesive is some good stuff. Took quite a while to get it cleaned back off. I made a trip to Joann's and bought some pool table felt and marine grade vinyl and started over. I like the look a lot better this time around. I got the gauges installed and wired. Now for the switches.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/Dash_zpsw5sdmb7d.jpg


I happened to look under the rear end of the car yesterday and noticed oil on the floor. Checked and it seems the brand new rear end is leaking. Checked the bolts and all of them are torqued correctly. Looks like I am going to have to do some work on that. Not looking forward to that at all.

[GlenH]

Managed to finish wiring the dash and the RT turn signal last week. Left for vacation on Thursday so did not get anything done over the weekend.

I checked on my wheels and tires today as I was hoping to do the first start this coming weekend and if all went well to go-cart. Probably not going to happen. The wheels were back-ordered and finally came in to FF, but they had to be sent out for tires, which as it turns out were not in stock. The folks at FF have been great through this whole process. This has been my one and only frustration (other than self created ones). Ordered the kit 4 months ago and still have no idea when I may get them. I have plenty of other things I can work on in the interim.

[GlenH]

Got a full day to work on the car yesterday. Started out by installing the driveshaft and then filling the transmission with oil. Added a pair of wires to the front wiring harness for future use. Installed the horns and wired them. Wired up the fan. Went ahead and temporarily hooked up the turns signals on each corner for testing my wiring of the RT turn signals. All tested out fine including the hazard switch, which was a big relief. Still need to check the headlights to make sure my high beam switch is correct.

Went ahead and installed the wiper motor so I can go ahead and wire it and the heater.
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/WiperMotor_zpsfky7zskd.jpg

Ran the line from the clutch master cylinder to the slave cylinder.
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/ClutchLine_zpswii1ymyc.jpg

Temporarily installed the exhaust
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/Exhaust_zpsyeehcv4l.jpg

Fabricated some brackets to mount the cooling overflow tank and in went ahead and mounted and ran the hoses. Need to clean up the routing of the hoses, but went ahead and filled the cooling system. I decided that it needed a little more support so I added an additional bracket at the bottom.
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/CollantOverflow_zpsoa227u8l.jpg

Also filled the power steering. May have an issue with the rack as once the air was out of the system it will not turn to the right the way I think it should. It turns left fine.



Walking from the garage to the house I came across this guy strolling across the driveway. To give you an idea of the size that is a two gallon watering can.
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/Turtle_zpsbhuwrqv0.jpg

[GlenH]

OK folks I need some help. I attempted to do my first start today and no luck. It appears I am not getting any spark. What I have done so far.

Pulled a plug wire and used a spare plug to see if I am getting any spark. I am not.
Pulled the wire from the distributor coming from the coil and used the plug and still no spark.
Tested the wire itself to make sure it was not bad and it appears fine.

Checked the voltage on the orange wire coming from the ignition that is connected to the positive side of the coil and it's showing fine.

My assumption was that the coil was bad. Went and picked up a new coil and still not getting any spark.

I am obviously missing something. Anybody have any ideas?

[GlenH]

I spoke to Mike Forte last week and he sent me out a new distributor since we had eliminated the coil as the issue. I started pulling the old distributor off yesterday and found the problem. When I disconnected the two wires going to the coil and tried to remove them I discovered that the wire going to the negative side of the coil was crushed between one of the power steering bracket mounts and the head. I did not notice it because the it was on the bottom side that was not visible when I replaced the coil. Rather than changing out the distributor I got the wire loose and went ahead and cut off the crushed part and put a new end on what was left. Hooked everything back up and it started right up.

First Start Video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKMvcX-KLUU)

Got my wheels and tires last weekend and got those on the car. Went ahead and double checked the torque on all of the suspension bolts and greased everything.

Ran into a problem with the power steering. It appears that unless I have hooked something up wrong, that I have a bad power steering rack.

[Jdav]

Congrats!

[GlenH]

It's been a slow couple of weeks as far as progress. Find and fix one problem and another one pops up.

Managed to get my first start behind me. Figured out that I had reversed my power steering hoses. Only time will tell if I have blown the seals as a result. So far nothing is leaking. Likely an expensive lesson to double check everything if I have to replace the rack.

Got that corrected and the power steering is working like it should. However, I had power steering lines made because I just did not feel comfortable with making my own and having them hold up to the pressure. I may as well have made my own. The pressure side did not hold and I spent hours cleaning up the mess. Let me tell you with that kind of pressure the fluid goes EVERYWHERE. A week later and I am still finding it in places all over the garage. Got a pressure tested replacement hose and it is holding up.

Had a fuel leak in the coupling where two hard lines came together midway the car. Pulled both pieces and cut and re-flared the ends. Still could not get it to stop leaking. I went ahead and replaced the coupling and that seems to have corrected the problem. I will check it again in a day or two. If it still leaks I will take a step back and possibly start over.

Reworked the plumbing on the coolant overflow after several on the other forum pointed out I might have an issue.

Got the wheels and tires on the car and dropped the seats in temporarily. Dropped it off the jack stands for the first time.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/20170730_184357_resized_zpsssym68ky.jpg


I discovered that a couple of my soft brake lines needed to be adjusted so they would clear everything at full suspension travel as well as full left and right turning. Went ahead and adjusted them to a better position. Of course with having to loosen them I wound up having to re-bleed the brakes. On the right rear the adjusting caused the hard line to start leaking. Went back and tightened it back up and had to bleed that side again.

If all of the gremlins stay away I will go-cart this weekend.

[GoDadGo]

Congratulations On Getting To This Point In Your Build!

Excellent Work I Might Add, Excellent To Say The Least!

[GKindle]

Looks great Glen. I have been following your build with much interest. I pick my kit up in about a month and am looking forward to getting started. Your posts have been very helpful!!!

[pierreb]

I'm in love with the sound of that 347. Can't get enough of your first start video :)

[GlenH]

I couldn't wait until the weekend since the forecast is calling for rain. Decided to go ahead and go-cart last night. First was a little argument with my wife who insisted she get to ride with me on the first run. I wasn't real happy about it as the passenger side seat is not bolted in and there was not a seat belt on that side. Oh well. I have learned it's better to just say yes dear and move on.

Everything went great. I took it to the end of our driveway which is about 1000 feet and back a couple of times. No issues. The second time I did give it a little extra throttle going up the hill to the street. WOW. I can see how quickly it could get out of hand if you aren't careful.

Once back in the garage I looked for leaks. Apparently the fuel leak that I worked on has been resolved however now I have a new one. There was a small dime sized spot after it sat for a couple of hours. It is coming from the line from the fuel pump to the carb. I will try tightening a little this weekend and see if that takes care of the problem. I also have a power steering leak that appears to be coming from the low pressure hose where it meets the rack. This is another hose that I bought after I decided not to trust my own ability to make hoses and replaced the ones I had made. That one is a little more substantial. A spot about the size of my hand. I will dig into that this weekend. It is possible that it is actually the seals on the rack that are leaking because of my error in hooking the hoses up. If so I guess a new rack is in my future.

Overall I was starting to get a little discouraged due to all of the small problems over the last month or so. That first start and now the go-cart have cured that problem. Now I am as excited as I was the day the kit arrived.

Go Cart Part 1 (https://youtu.be/1dsmj4p4va0)
Go Cart Part 2 (https://youtu.be/HVnvrQyuPJ4)

[GlenH]

I'm in love with the sound of that 347. Can't get enough of your first start video :)

I actually wound up going a little different than I had initially planned. I wound up going with a Dart 363 from Mike Forte. It does sound great though.

[Yama-Bro]

Congrats on the go kart! Looks exciting.

[GlenH]

With the help of my youngest we managed to get the body on for the first time to do some test fitting.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/20170815_192845_1502881759628_resized_zpsvzknjhci. jpg

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/20170815_192908_1502881756860_resized_zps33syclhh. jpg

I will need to do some adjusting on the exhaust and roll bar cutouts. I will also need to knock back the lip at the dash just a bit. I am sure once I get into it more there will be a lot more to be adjusted. Also need to do some trimming on some of the aluminum.

For now I can go ahead and wire up all of the lights with weather pack connectors and finalize seat position.

[jrcuz]

Hi Glen, I'm very encouraged with your progress. I'm wondering how you ran the heater hose from just under the alternator. I got a right angle heater hose fro Mike Forte but haven't tried to fit it yet.
Thanks and keep up the good work!
JR

[GlenH]

Hi Glen, I'm very encouraged with your progress. I'm wondering how you ran the heater hose from just under the alternator. I got a right angle heater hose from Mike Forte but haven't tried to fit it yet.
JR

I actually still have to come back to that. I have stared at it quite a bit, but have not decided yet how to route them.

[GlenH]

This weekend I started on the body fitment and the lights. Started at the rear with the roll bars, tail lights and gas cap. The 4 front holes for the roll bars lined up perfectly. Had to do some sanding on the two rear ones. Didn't take too much to get them to work. Drivers side roll bar went in perfectly. Had a problem with the passenger side. The rear bar would not line up with the hoop. It appeared to me that the hoop was not going down far enough. Pulled it back off and using my dremel sanded the inside of the tube a little. Put it back on and it was still a tight fit but I was able to line it up. I moved on to the taillights and after using the dremel again to expand the holes I was able to get them installed and wired up. Tested them and quickly realized when I connected the weatherpacks I had the drivers side reversed. I swapped those connections and everything worked fine until I got to the hazard and brake lights. For some reason they were not working. I dug around under the dash and found that I managed to blow the fuse. I put a new one in and everything worked perfectly. I then moved on to the filler cap and got that installed. I dropped the truck lid in place to see how it fits. I will need to do a little bit of trimming on it so it won't catch. I will leave the majority of the adjusting for the bodywork phase.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/20170826_191838_1503921116926_resized_zpsespgxkpm. jpg


I moved to the front and started on the lights. I had to do quite a bit of sanding to get the turn signals to fit properly. Got those in place and hooked up. I tested and had a pair of wires reversed in the weatherpack. Pulled them out and reverse them and everything tested fine. I again had to do quite a bit of sanding on the headlight holes to get the headlight buckets to fit. I also had to adjust one of the holes that FF drilled. I was not lining up quite right. Connected the weatherpacks as I went I got everything installed. The first test I had no drivers side headlight. Pulled it back off to check everything and found that I managed to forget to plug the headlight in. Oops. Plugged it in and put that side back on and everything worked that time. I also tested my Russ Thompson high beam switch on the turn signal to make sure it worked. That RT turn signal setup was one of the things I was the most concerned with when I started wiring. The instructions were great and it appears that I managed to get it done correctly.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/20170826_191818_1503921120842_resized_zpskt5ygbrj. jpg

I dropped the hood in place to see how much trimming will need to be done. That will take quite a bit as it won't even sit down all the way.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/20170826_191823_1503921119059_resized_zpsqdti1wdm. jpg

Now for the part that has me scratching my head. I looked at the fit of the exhaust and realized that the drivers side hole in the body would need to be adjusted 5/8" more than the passenger side as the drivers side header is that much higher. I made sure the frame was level and measured from the floor. My first thought was that the motor was not sitting level in the mounts. I was correct, but not the way I expected. The drivers side of the oil pan is actually sitting lower than the passenger side. It is actually slightly below the 4 inch tubes, where the passenger side is slightly above them. The total difference is minimal, but I don't want to drop the drivers side any more than it already is and have the oil pan that much more below the frame. Is it normal for the drivers side to be a little higher than the passenger side?

[GlenH]

Well I haven't done very well with keeping up with posts, but not a huge amount to report since the last one. Managed to get the doors, trunk and hood fitted. They will still need some trimming and adjusting, but I will leave that up to the folks doing the paint and body. Drilled the holes in the hood for the latches as well as the holes for the windshield wipers. Finished getting the windshield to fit. Have plans this weekend to rough fit the side pipes and finish mocking up the last few items. The folks doing to paint and body work will be ready for it early next month so I need to get everything finished up. I also had a 4 post lift installed in the garage. I really wish I had it done before I started on the project. It would have made thing a lot easier.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/20180115_165825_1523629862927_resized_zpssbzawp0n. jpg

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/20180115_165817_1523629865720_resized_zpsuhcl46wl. jpg

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/20180115_165749_1523629868521_resized_zpsybg0kl76. jpg

[GlenH]

Well the garage is empty now. Dropped it off for body and paint on Monday. I am going to use the time to get the garage organized again and be ready for the final push.

Dropped by the shop yesterday to take a few parts they needed and saw this sitting there.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/5_3_18_005_sized_zpsoli4l3wk.jpg
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/5_3_18_007_sized_zpsvfpcdxpy.jpg
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/5_3_18_009_sized_zpsjyqduqml.jpg
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/5_3_18_011_sized_zpsaeg20m91.jpg
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/5_3_18_006_sized_zpsbnyuozst.jpg

[GlenH]

A few pictures of the progress. I brought it home last week to go ahead and get the carpet installed and dropped it back off this week. It should be back home in the next week or so.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/5_29_18_005_zpsjfkbrp9x.jpg
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/6_6_18_011_zpsy4shbtq8.jpg

[GlenH]

It's been a while since I have posted an update. I finally got it back from the paint shop and started the final assembly. The first step was to get all of the dust cleaned off of everything. What a mess. It took quite a while with a damp rag or 50. Over the last week or so I have managed to get quite a bit of the assembly done. Paperwork will be going out to the state today, so hopefully I will be on the road before the end of August.

http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/20180722_101911_zps9vzo36gu.jpg
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/20180722_101843_zpsgotdpxp9.jpg
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/20180722_101759_zpsszm3hcpd.jpg
http://i346.photobucket.com/albums/p417/glenhaddock/20180722_101749_zpslhndrtcb.jpg

[cv2065]

Looks great Glenn! Not bad on the paint timing. Looks like you waited about 2.5 months.

[jrcuz]

Very nice Glen! I'd say I'm still a long way from finishing up on mine. I did do a first start and go-cart back on 4/11. Do you mind sharing in a pm who did your body and paint? I'm impressed. Lets hope you are on the road soon.
JR

[GlenH]

Looks great Glenn! Not bad on the paint timing. Looks like you waited about 2.5 months.

I waited about 3 months for them to get it in and then about 2.5 for them to get it done. It would have been done sooner, but they had a problem that caused a little bit of delay. They had pretty much gotten it finished and put it outside in the sun for the day to make room to work on something else. Whoever moved it outside did not set the parking brake and appears they did not have it in gear. It rolled forward and hit the curb. It wound up breaking a small piece off the bottom of the nose. They stepped up and fixed it. I looked pretty hard at it and you can't tell where the damage was. Overall they did a great job.

[GlenH]

It's been a long time since I posted any updates. I have been working on things off and on since I finally got the car titled in September of 2018. Since then I have put about 2000k miles on it. It was not complete yet at the time. I just finally finished up this past week in getting the final gremlins worked out. The one good thing about being quarantined.

Some pictures of the final build.

128184128185128186128187128188128189

[jrcuz]

Looks great Glen. Good to see you posting again. I'm still building.
JR

[Straversi]

Congratulations. Timeless look, there. Well done!
-Steve