New Member from Southern Oregon

[Mark Eaton]

Hello everyone,

I recently ordered my MK4 roadster kit and am so excited to get this thing started! Like most of you I have been wanting to do this for years. I have two boys who are almost as excited as me. They are a little young at 11 and 13 but full of enthusiasm. They have been helping get the shop ready, sort of :rolleyes:. I also have two brothers whom are planning to cross the country for extended weekends to take part. We all rebuilt cars but that was 20 years ago. At least this time I have money to do it and don't have to go to the junk yard for my parts!!

I'm planning to purchase the BluePrint Ford 306 c.i. Fuel Injected engine with the TKO 600 Transmission. Our DMV told me we that have to follow California emissions laws and I will have to put in catalytic converter and windshield wipers. Oh well.

I appreciate any advice

Mark

[wareaglescott]

Welcome to the forum. Good luck with your build. When do you expect delivery? What sort of options did you order?
Interesting Oregon says you have to follow California laws.

[AZPete]

Mark, I've built 2 Factory Five cars and it's been years of fun with great rewards, but I'm envious that you will have 2 sons and 2 bothers to join you. They will all remember the garage times forever.

[Just puttering]

Not that cats would be that big of a deal ??? I just brought a CA car up to my nephew and my wife called OR DMV, they told her it needed smoged and safety check to licence. when she called she got ahold of a person in Salem. There is no smog where he lives and went in and got registration with no issues, no snog no safety check. Just saying with DMV you never know what you may get?

[Plebeian]

Mark, welcome to the madness! On a positive note, your DMV contact is mistaken. Lot's of times you will get someone unfamiliar with the process. You are replicating a 1965 car and thus no smog required. Lot's of us here in Oregon have gone thru the process. You will need manuf cert of origin, they will need to see VIN (kit # stamp), application for title filled out, and proof of insurance. http://www.ffcars.com/forums/28-northwest-region/504225-donor-build-ready-registration-oregon-need-tips.html

[Mark Eaton]

Thanks for your responses. My kit finally arrived last week! A little delayed but no worries. I completed the build class at the end of July. Here is a photo of my 11 yo helping remove the panels today.

[GoDadGo]

Congratulations!

[Straversi]

Welcome. You'll find those family work sessions will be a lot more fun than those past weekends spent trying to free up one rusty manifold bold. New parts are so much more fun to work with. Enjoy.
-Steve

[Vspeeds]

Mark
It was good meeting you at the build school. Glad you finally recieved your kit. A few days after our build school I ordered my kit. The kit should have been ready yesterday, August 19. I'll be expecting a phone call from Stewart Transportation hopefully this week. Good luck on your build. I'll check back often to see your progress. Please feel free to call me anytime.
Eddie L.

[Vspeeds]

Mark, also your earlier post of the picture did not show up...I think you need at leadt 20 forum posts before you can have certain priveledges including posting pictures.

[Paul2STL]

Congratulations Mark I received my kit last week also. We must have been on the same truck and probably close build numbers.

[bluse]

Awesome. Looking forward to your build.
I have #9101 up in the Portland area.

Randy

[Mark Eaton]

Must have been same truck. I started working on front suspension yesterday. Turns out that my 500# front springs weren't in the shipment. No prob, called FFR today and they are on the way.

[Mark Eaton]

Eddie,
It was good meeting you too. I have decided on an engine. I am going with Mike Forte and a DART SHP 347 Stroker engine. I'll send photos when I'm allowed. :)

[Just puttering]

Where are you in s oregon?

We run to medford and kfalls every so often.

[Mark Eaton]

I am in Medford

[Mark Eaton]

I have a question about the front upper control arm. Should I put anti-sieze lubricant on the threads around the jam nuts or adjusting sleeve?

[WIS89]

Mark-

Good luck as you get started! The second best decision I made was building my MK IV. The best thing I ever did was building it with my boys! I cannot tell you how much pleasure I have gotten working in the garage with my sons. I suspect you will all look back to the time you spent working together on this project as some of the best time you have shared. I hope you all have nothing but good fortune!

What happened to the BluePrint 306 you were going to use? Just curious...

I am looking forward to following your build thread!

Oh, and I didn't use anti-seize in the jam nuts or adjusting sleeve on the upper control arms.

Best of luck!

Regards,

Steve

[Mark Eaton]

Steve,

Thanks for your message. When I returned from the build class I reached out to Roush Racing (their sales Rep gave a presentation at the class which was very impressive), BluePrint Engines, and Mike Forte (after reading Forum Blogs it sounded like a good idea). At any rate, Mike Forte responded to my email immediately including his cell phone number on a Sunday! We spoke on the phone and I was very impressed. The Roush Rep responded fairly promptly, maybe by Monday or so. BluePrint engines never got back to me, I even sent them a second email, no response.

The good news is that I feel really good about Forte and the 347 Dart engine. He is putting it together as we speak. We are going with fuel injection and a Tremec TKO 600 Transmission with the Quick Time bell housing. Going to paint the engine black. Up until now I have been completely undecided on the color of the car. Last night I woke up thinking it needs to be Maroon with a smoke strip and black running gear.

This whole blog thing is very new to me and I'm not sure how to start a build thread. Further, I have viewed some other build threads and am not sure mine would be worthy! Especially after looking at the Mk4 #7750 build thread by Edwardb from Lake Orion, MI. Compared to his mine will look like a GoKart build!

I must say that we are having fun. today we completed the front suspension and Wilwood brake upgrades.

Mark

[Mark Eaton]

Sorry for my super late response. I'm only now starting to get in tune with this Forum stuff. The kit was due to arrive mid June and it showed up August 10th. Its great, we are having a blast. The options I chose were IRS, front and rear anti sway bars, 17" wheels, Wilwood brakes, power steering, heater, wind wings, windshield wipers(by coercion from my DMV).

[BluePrintEngines]

Mark,

Just seeing this now. I take the blame that we did not get back to you; my apologies. Mike has a solid reputation; you'll be happy with that engine. The 347 is a great configuration for the Roadster; keep us all posted!

Tell those guys in Eugene to take it easy on the Huskers this weekend...I think Saturday might be a good day to work in the garage instead of watching football....

-Pete

Pete