mach'er Mk4 #9146 Roadster Build (Complete Kit, 363W, TKO, IRS)

[mach'er]

A bit of background, which will repeat some of what I’ve posted previously, but some is new. I’m putting the repeat material here as a central repository of my build story.

I started looking at Factory Five kits back in 2011. Originally, I had planned for a Coupe build, with so much enthusiasm that my gmail e-mail address (DaytonaCoupeBuilder) references that planned build. That all changed when a friend bought a Porsche Boxster S, and took me for a spin. Roofs are overrated! My Coupe build became a Roadster build that day.

In May, 2016, my brother was diagnosed with brain cancer. He had a craniotomy, and the final diagnosis was Glioblastoma (GBM). Shortly after the surgery, he had a stroke – so in addition to fighting the cancer, he was fighting to walk, talk, and more. Radiation followed, along with physical therapy for the stroke. It was bad times. I spent a lot of last summer in Wisconsin doing what I could, but it sure puts lots of different things in perspective. In March of this year, he had a recurrence of the GBM, and he was initially put into a hospice. I travelled back to Wisconsin the day he entered, and my mother died unexpectedly that night while I was sleeping at her house. Yes, really. Now, my brother is out of hospice, as it wasn’t really the right kind of care, and is currently in a 'memory care' facility, as he has virtually no short term memory. As hard as it is to accept, the reality is he, too, is dying. So, after all this, my wife and I decided this Factory Five project shouldn’t be put off any longer. Because, you never know what tomorrow might bring. Live life like you were dying, not really intending to quote a country song.

So, now, I’ve now officially pulled the trigger, and submitted my Roadster order on 5/19/17. I’m order # 122199, with an expected completion date of 7/1/17. Stewart Transportation will be delivering my kit, although the delivery timing is sort of a letdown. They're planning pick-up of the kit the week of 7/17, and we'll see what my delivery date is later. However, I'll be out of town again for work on 7/24 for a while, so I might be sort of screwed.

My goal is a Roadster build that will be used primarily for cruising, occasional auto crossing and track days – but only for fun rather than hardcore competition, and hopefully some car shows – but again, mostly for the social experience rather than going for trophies (although I wouldn’t turn them down). Oh, and if either of my daughters get named homecoming queen or anything of the sort – definitely parade use. Can the body support someone sitting on the deck between the seats? Seriously asking. Can it?

Here is what I have planned for the build:
A complete kit Roadster with IRS, power steering, leather seats, Halibrand replicas, a passenger roll bar to meet my wife’s request, and a few other things. I’m in Michigan, so it will also require wipers, windshield washers, and over-riders (I plan to only install the bumpers if I have an issue with the state required inspection). I included wind wings, visors (although I’m not sure that I’m going to use them), a powder coated chassis, glovebox dash, vintage gauges, SS side pipes, and front and rear sway bars. I'm planning on manual brakes.

For the engine, I'm an engine guy, so it has to be absolutely beautiful. No engine beauty covers here, the engine itself will have to be a work of art. I have a Dart block based 363 build planned. Holbrook will be building my long block. In addition to many other components, I already have purchased a Jim Inglese 48 IDA system. The engine should be ready for pick-up on 7/3/17, at which time I’ll have to finish it’s build. I’ve already purchased nearly all the required components for that build. The block will be painted red engine enamel, and there will be a significant amount of chrome and polished stuff underhood.

The transmission will be a Tremec TKO-600 (TCET5008, with the 0.64 ratio 5th gear), which I purchased from Mike Forte, along with the flywheel, bellhousing, and hydraulic clutch set-up. It is all in hand, and should be ready for assembly.

Body: Red with White racing stripes. I do plan on gumballs on the hood and decklid, but not on the sides, with the number 5 in the gumball. Not because it’s a Factory Five, but due to all my homebuilt guitars, amps, and effects pedals having my 'Mach5' logo on them - sort of my brand for my builds, so I want to use it on the car as well. Hence my mach’er user name, although there is more to that story (but we’ll save that for another day). I plan on powder coating the aluminum panels, but have abandoned the plan to powder coat the chassis red. Red, white, and chrome, with a black interior.

I now plan on doing the bodywork myself, but having the paint done professionally by an experienced FF painter. I do have some recommended shops for the paint, but as it is still a ways off, I’m always open for suggestions on this one.

As a final touch, I have a customized license plate planned. But I'm holding that close to the vest...

I’ve lurked for years, and now am jumping without a net. Well, not really without a net. My plan and this website are my net. This site is a great resource, and as I go through this process I know help is only a post away. You guys rock! And along those lines, I plan on keeping a thorough build thread. Maybe someone else can use it someday, the same way I’m using the build threads of those that came before me.

While I was lurking, I ended up purchasing some things that I’m ultimately not going to use. I’ll eventually be putting these things in the Classified section. Some might be pay-it-forward, as I don’t know that there is still a market for things like knuckles/hubs for the old IRS system.

I look forward to July, and really kicking off this build. In the meantime, I’m moving forward with prep work. More on that shortly.

[wareaglescott]

Look forward to following along. Congrats again on the order.
Sorry to hear the news of your Mother's passing and of your Brother's health. God Bless!

Sounds like a great build plan!

[rx7922]

Im so sorry to hear about your mother, its been 6 years since i lost my mother and it still hard. Congrats on your kit

[mach'er]

Parts are piling up, waiting to be used. I have an Excel document that outlines all the components I've identified as required, but don't think I can upload an Excel file. It includes a scratch built engine, transmission system, IRS set-up, tools, and the complete kit as I've spec'd it out. I kinda wish I could share it, both for fresh eyes review (to see what I've missed) and because I think it would be useful reference for others just starting up.

Here are my main piles:
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In that pile are most of the engine parts, other than the long block components, which are now at my chosen engine builder.

I had purchased one set of valve covers when I was planning a coupe build, but my build plan has sort of changed. I didn't think the black wrinkle valve covers fit the red/chrome/polished look I'm looking for in my new plan. Here is the old and new valve covers. The black CS Shelby ones will be hitting the classified section eventually.
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I'd say the biggest, most exciting, box in that pile is this:
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I'll be building my Chassis Dolly soon, and a body buck. In addition, a lot of reorganizing and cleaning is required in my garage.

The kit will be complete on 7/1/17; however, it doesn't appear delivery will occur till early August. I'm trying to coordinate a known business trip with the Stewart schedule. Its coming... I just don't really know when, yet.

[carlewms]

It seems strange to write condolences and congratulations in the same sentence ... Condolences on the loss of you mother and the difficult times your brother is facing and congratulations building your dream.

The components and plan look great ...

Sincerely,

Carl

[David Hodgkins]

mach'er,

Your story is an alternate universe to my story. My Brother-In-Law was struck with Glioblastoma. My own brother had a near-fatal accident that left him in a coma and came THIS CLOSE to dying. My decision to pull the trigger was the same as yours. Don't let the days slip away. Don't put off your dream for another day. We have so precious few to begin with!

My hope is that you have as great experience as I had, and continue to have. Sure looks like you've done your homework on the build; that drive-train looks GREAT! I'm jealous already! Stacks rock. Looks like a quiktime bellhousing and TKO, nice. Clutch? BTW I highly recommend Forte's hydraulic clutch setup. Did you get the 2015 IRS option? What brakes?

My build thread shows some stuff like routing brakes and fuel lines. They are in my sig below. There are also a TON of good build threads showing a BAZILLION mods and tips (http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/forumdisplay.php?103-Roadster-Build-Threads&sort=views&order=desc) so I'd check those out.

I have some basic links that might help, especially if you'd like to show your images in line instead of as attachments. Also, you might want to change the title of the thread to put in your latest news. I have a link for that too.

Here are some links with tips...

...about managing a build thread title:
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?19402-Changing-The-Thread-Title-Guidelines

Embedding pics using our gallery:
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?18962-How-to-use-the-Image-Gallery-to-embed-pictures-in-posts

More about offsite pics:
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?1420-How-to-post-pictures


Finally, not to leave my Saint mother out of this, she wasn't taken suddenly, she went to hospice. But when they put her in that ambulance she was coherent. When she came out she was virtually in a coma. Hospice drugged her so hard she was gone in a day. That left me a feeling like I still had things still to say. I have regret about that. I'm very sorry about your loss, and in addition my thoughts go out to your brother. If you've read up on GBM, you know the path he's on. I don't mean to sound like a pastor, but if you have anything you want to say to him I'd do it soon.

Wow that got heavy. Life is like that some times though...

Looking forward to your build. We're here to help if you need it!

:)

PS I noticed the "W". logo. Are you are Badger? There's another Badger you might know. He owns a little company called FFR.

[mach'er]

Thanks for all the condolences. This car has been a dream for some time, and moving forward with it is going to help me move forward.

David, it is amazing to hear stories like yours, and how "not rare" Glioblastoma really is. After my brother's experiences, I feel for anyone that has had to deal with a loved one going through this.

Yes, I am a Badger alumni. I grew up in Wisconsin, and then went back to go to UW-Madison after serving in the Army. And yes, I had noticed that Mr. Smith is a fellow Badger alum. Which is cool! We are everywhere. I think I'll wear a Badger shirt to the Open House in June.

I will read your links about build threads, and try not to break any rules.

[aduarte]

I, too lost my beautiful wife of 25 years to that dreaded Glioblastoma last June. I am currently on the outside looking in on the forums and planning to pull the trigger on placing an order for a Mark IV complete kit. I currently have a Porsche Speedster replica that I have owned for almost 20 years. With the outstanding support that I received from my wife as my crew chief on my Speedster build, I am driven to build a FFR Cobra in her memory. I have always wanted to own a Cobra replica and she has always supported my desire, but with family obligations and the normal distractions in life, I picked up the Speedster kit was was more affordable at the time. Now that the kids are grown and after reading your story, this might the push I need to make my Cobra dream happen. The icing on the cake would be that my wife was born in 1965, the year of the Cobra. Condolences to you on the loss of your mom and my thoughts and prayers for your brother.

[mach'er]

So, I've built my chassis dolly, and a body buck.
69195

I don't have a picture of the body buck ready to upload, but I do have a question. I used the pipe insulation on the front and rear end boards; however, they are not staying put on either radius for the rear fender arches. Gorilla Glue? Some staples? Or just let it be, and let the body hold it down once I place it on there?

And, when will I be placing a body on that buck? Well, my completion date is 7/1/17. However, I have to go on a couple work trips in July, so it looks like Stewart Transportation will be delivering my kit the week of 7/31/17, according to Jolene. I have the week of 7/3/17 earmarked to clean out my garage and get it all prepped, before I fly off on 7/9. But when I get home on 7/28 - I'll be bouncing off the walls waiting for that phone call before a semi to rolls up to my house.

In the meantime... I did the wire transfer for my final payment a few days ago. I just got an e-mail today stating that my Wilwood brake kits have shipped, with a planned FedEx delivery date of 6/23. So, I can mount the rotors to the hats, and practice my safety wire technique, before my trip. I purchased my tires, and now have them in my garage waiting for wheels (Nitto NT555 G2 tires, 315/35ZR17 for the rears and 245/45ZR17 for the front). I ordered an Aviaid oil pan a while ago, and it has now arrived as well. These, and a few other things, have been added to my pile 'o parts in the garage.

Another big part of my meantime is reading all the other build threads. Man, I think I can do this - which is a good thing, since I'm pretty well all in at this point.

I might update once or twice between now and kit delivery, but for the most part, I am idling. Treading water. Stalling. No, not stalling, that's never a good thing to say in relation to a car project. I do have a 5e3 amp clone project built that I need to go power-up for the first time. I guess I'll go do that.

Enjoy your projects, guys. My countdown to joining you is nearing completion.

[Paul2STL]

[QUOTE=mach'er;284063]So, I've built my chassis dolly, and a body buck.
69195

I don't have a picture of the body buck ready to upload, but I do have a question. I used the pipe insulation on the front and rear end boards; however, they are not staying put on either radius for the rear fender arches. Gorilla Glue? Some staples? Or just let it be, and let the body hold it down once I place it on there?

If you drill holes just below the insulation you can run zip ties threw the board and wrap around the insulation. I am also building up a pile of parts my kit will be done on the 8th of July. I will have one of those fancy engine covers on mine though LOL. Did you get the 50/50 sale? It seems they changed it after about a week to 40% off after I ordered mine.

[wareaglescott]

The weight of the body will hold the pipe insulation in place once it is on there. I had the same issue and just waited to put the body on for it to take care of itself. The zip tie solution Paul offered sounds like a good idea though.

[edwardb]

I also use zip ties to hold the pipe insulation on the body buck. A handful on the front and back hold the insulation in place until the body is placed. Just be careful to not slide the body back and forth too much while it's on the buck. The rough underside of the body tears up the relatively fragile insulation pretty easily. Good luck with your delivery. The time will be here soon.

[WIS89]

Hey Mach-

I too will add my condolences on your Mom and well wishes for your brother. You have already gotten some good advice, so I will not add any additional thoughts on that. I wish you didn't have these types of issues to deal with, but I haven't found a way to avoid them. So, I will just wish you well as you navigate through the challenges.

As far as your build, I think you have a great plan! You have clearly done your homework, and have set yourself up pretty well for a great build. It is all very exciting, and I remember all too well that long wait before she finally gets in the garage. Maybe you can pass a little time by throwing up a thread with some of your other projects (your amps and such). They sound pretty interesting...

Best of luck as you get started. Don't be afraid to ask questions. There are some truly awesome people here who are generous with their time, advice and guidance for all things during the build. I have never been disappointed in the community here, and their willingness to provide candid advice!

I look forward to following your build thread, and seeing your build plan come to life!

Regards,

Steve

[Yama-Bro]

Sweet valve covers. Where did you get those?

[mach'er]

Thanks guys.

Paul2STL: Cool on your kit order, and your pile o' parts. Coyote engines are awesome, and I'm sure you'll like it a lot. Yes, I did get the 50/50 sale, which was nice. I saw that it got changed, and wondered how they'd handle changes/additions after they changed the terms. They, of course, were awesome about it. So, I was happy.

Scott and edwardb (Paul, right? I'm horrible with names.): I know this one was a softball, but you guys are always so willing to chime in. And good tip about moving the body around on the buck, I'll watch for that.

Steve: Thanks, and I'll get something up eventually in the off topic thread about my music projects. Here's a teaser:
69213

Yama-Bro: The polished open letter Cobra ones were from cobranda.com, ordered the same day I ordered my kit. The Shelby black wrinkle ones were purchased long ago (when I was planning a Coupe build), but I don't remember from where. They are Scott Drake valve covers, and I'm guessing not too hard to find (although mine will be for sale at some point).

Again, thanks. I'm going the zip ties route, and I am more than certain this will not be my last stupid question.

--Curt

[mach'er]

Steve, one more question. What's the WIS89?

<---- You might notice a little flying W over there. I've been looking at your user name for a long time lurking, wondering what the chances were that WIS was in any way related.

[mach'er]

So, this will be my last and final update prior to starting my actual build. On Sunday, 7/9/17, I'll be flying away for three weeks on the road (two weeks in Europe, then a week in Arizona). I'll be home on 7/28/17, and Stewart Transportation has stated that my kit will be delivered during that first week that I'm back.

I've been spending my time prepping my garage for the build. And, as of now, I think I'm prepped. Here is a picture of my space.

69825

I have about 2.5 cars worth of a 3 car garage until winter comes. Then, I'll have to figure out how to get that down to 2 cars worth of the space, as my wife will need to park her vehicle in the garage during the winter months.

My engine, well, I don't know. They were apparently closed on 7/3 as part of Independence Day. My wife has our whole family committed to boating tomorrow (7/5). I'll be calling tomorrow to find out the status, but won't be able to pick it up until 7/6 at the earliest, if the weather is nice (I need to drive about 45 minutes with it in the bed of my pick-up, and would rather not drive my brand new engine home in the rain). I'm hopeful that I'll get the long block build into the garage prior to my departure for Europe. I had kind of thought I'd be doing some of the engine finish build work prior to my trip. Now, I just hope I have the chance to lay some primer and chassis black on the trans and diff housing this coming weekend.

I'm going to be reading my build manual on the plane, and while I'm on the road. Any suggestions on other reads for the next three and a half weeks?

I surely hope my next update documents the delivery process and how awesome Stewart Transportation is at their specialty. Once these trips are over, I'll be putting a couple things in the classified as well. I want to hold off till I'm able to get the stuff shipped quickly after any deals are made, so I'm holding off.

Tonight, I'll be blowing a whole bunch of stuff up (most fireworks are legal in Michigan, and we've got some serious stuff ready to go). Enjoy your 4th of July, and the upcoming weekend. Next Update... Delivery! Whooo Hooooo!

[GoDadGo]

The day your car arrives will feel like Christmas morning.

Get Your Camera Ready!

[mach'er]

I haven't posted in a long time. My brother died on 7/12/17, and I spent quite a bit of time just doing nothing. Not to sound like Forrest Gump, but that's all I'm going to say about that.

Anyway, I've got some catching up to do on this build thread, so while I await my powder coater's turnaround of my first 32 panels, I'll work on getting that remedied.

First, I got my garage space in order. Long ago, it looked like this:
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After a good bit of organization and work, it looked like this - ready to receive this awesome project:
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Yup, that's me. I added four overhead lights in the bay I plan on doing the majority of the work, and just added one more above my main work bench. Let there be light, and it makes a huge difference. A clean, well lit space seems like a great idea, and I got there before my kit was delivered.

The kit delivery... Yeah, that got delayed a couple of times. Work trips, and family issues caused a few self inflicted delays; however, it did occur on 8/18. But, I still have a bit of catch up to do before I get to that.

Up next, engine build up and my rivet experiment.

[mach'er]

So, I picked my long block up from my chosen engine builder on 7/31. I was really happy to get it home.
75070

I found that the skis I bought would not work on the Dart block without some significant grinding/modification. So, the builder let me borrow this engine cradle, which worked for getting it home. I bought Stumpy's engine cradle (skis) for a road race/T oil pan. The Dart block has casted webs that interfere with the fit. I'm going to assume that the engine mounts are going to have the same problem. However, I'd much rather grind the skis and engine mounts than start grinding away at a block that cost around $2000.

Anyway, after getting the engine home, I finished off the assembly of the engine. I had some difficulties with the rocker arm geometry, and somehow ordered the wrong length rocker arm studs. But, long story short, in the end, I got it right, and had the contact at the right place on the valve tips.
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Then, the oil pan, valve covers, intake assembly and a good portion of the FEAD went on.
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In the end, the engine is on the engine stand - ready and waiting for it's next steps.

I had problems in the following areas:
1. Oil Pan Fit. I ordered an AVIAID replica pan. It is a thing of beauty. However, the rails were really tight to the bottom flanges of the block. I had to spread it a bit with brute force, and am more than slightly worried that I'm going to be fighting oil leaks right off the bat once I get to first start.

2. Piston Stop. I installed a piston stop to find TDC when indexing the adjustable timing pointer. After completing this process, I forgot the piston stop was still in the engine and turned the motor with a breaker bar on the crank nose. The threads of the piston stop kissed the top of the piston quite well. A passionate kiss. I've decided to leave it be, as a bore scope shows it happened - but ultimately I just don't want to go there. So, I don't feel like tearing down the motor to replace a piston and I'm going to live with the consequences. A case of, "Umm, carbon will probably just fill those spots" which ultimately I'll might just live to regret. But, I'm moving on.

3. Valve cover gaskets. I am using Dart Pro1 heads. The rails that the valve cover gasket ride on must be slightly differently dimensioned than stock Ford heads, as the first set of awesome valve cover gaskets I bought didn't fit. They hung over the intake manifold side slightly, and didn't create a seal. Therefore, I changed them out to the cork part number recommended by Dart. I guess there's probably a reason they recommend them, and fitting might just be involved.

4. Valve cover to Jim Inglese throttle linkage bracket interference. I had to grind down the fins(?)/ribs(?) on the top of the valve cover on the driver's side to allow clearance for the linkage included in Jim's set-up. Not a big deal. Just pulled out the die grinder and took care of it.

Oh, and that picture of me unloading the engine from the bed of my old truck... Yeah, that's about the last thing that truck did. It was long in the tooth, and didn't make it much past that job. So, out with the old, and in with the new...
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(I screwed that up while typing. I hope it posts correctly.)

Up next, showing my rivet experiment...

[mach'er]

So, I have decided that I really like the appearance of a scheme where the rivet heads contrast with the panel. So, I'm going with silver panels in some places and want red rivets. I had read Paul's tale of painting rivets, so thought I'd give it a shot.

I made a panel with appropriately sized holes for 1/8" and 3/16" rivets:
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Then used self etching primer, a red color coat, and a clear coat:
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I didn't really like the way they turned out, as the clear coat resulted in a wrinkle finish. So, I read the rattle cans. Sure enough, the clear said not to use on the type of paint I used for the color coat. Therefore, I repeated the whole process with different paint, that would supposedly play well together.

Also, at that point, I ordered a box of McMaster-Carr colored rivets.

After giving my home job adequate time to dry, I pulled a few. Here is what I found:
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My home painted rivets (one on the left) didn't fare too well when pulled, either with a hand riveter or a pneumatic riveter. The commercially available did better (one on the right. Not perfect, but better).

Based on these findings, I went ahead and ordered a bunch of red rivets from McMaster-Carr. They weren't too expensive, and I'm hoping that they continue to fare as well during the build. I'm hoping I can get the look I'm going after, but will default to just bare rivets if it doesn't go well.

If you're going for painted rivets, give it a trial beforehand. I don't know that it's any cheaper to not just buy them, if you can get the color you want. Based on Paul's results, home painting rivets can certainly be done - but I sure didn't have much luck.

Anyway, that's about all I did prior to delivery. I'm going to hold off a few days before posting my delivery stories, sharing my mad inventory skills, and catching up the thread to my current status.

Enjoy the day. I guarantee it's better than someone else's, no matter how bad it's going. And we're building cars, so it can't be all bad.

[Itchief]

Sorry to hear about your brother

The motor looks sweet nice job

Rick

[mach'er]

I used Stewart Transportation for delivery of my kit. My completion date was 7/1/17, and my delivery finally occurred on 8/18/17. My delivery date was delayed 3 times. Once because of my own work trips (three weeks worth of business travel), once because of my own family situation, and once because of someone else's family emergency. But, all that is in the rear view mirror, as it finally did come.

And, just to be absolutely clear, I am NOT blaming Stewart Transportation in any way for the seven weeks it took to get my completed kit. The first two delays were my own fault, and the third one - well, things happen. Believe me, I know that things like that happen. I'm only telling the story, the way it happened. If I was pointing fingers, it'd be at me, in the mirror. If anyone tells you an estimate of delivery timing when you're ordering your kit, keep in mind that stuff happens.

I did have one actual false alarm, where I was fully expecting something to happen - and it didn't. Bottom line, Jolene or the driver are the contacts for information. Anything that anyone else tells you may or may not have some sort of minimal connection to reality. At one point, I called Factory Five, and asked if my kit was still up on the rack awaiting pick-up by Stewart. When told that it was, I asked for a picture (and they happily took one and sent it to me). Even though I was disappointed it was still on the rack at Wareham, I was pretty excited to have a picture of my car (Here's the pic they sent me).
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After several conversations with Jolene at Stewart Transportation over the weeks of delays, I received a call on 8/14 to tell me that my kit had been loaded in the truck, and that Jerry would be hitting the road, with three deliveries prior to mine. My expected date would be 8/18 - but that Jerry would call me the day of my delivery with an estimate of his arrival time.

As promised, Jerry called me on 8/18, and told me where he was, and asked for confirmation of my address - along with basic information about my street and such. He told me that traffic and construction were playing havoc on his progress, but gave me an estimate on his arrival time. He called 2 additional times to update me on his progress as he worked through the nightmare of construction that was going on near Toledo, and his final update's ETA was dead on the money.

I had taken the day off work, based on the expectation of the kit arriving, and when I saw the truck coming up the street, it very well may have been the best vacation day I've taken in the 22 years I've worked at my company. I was giddy. My wife (a teacher) and kids were all still on summer vacation, so we were all home on that Friday, and all went out to greet Jerry.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75369&d=1508113088

I had built my chassis dolly beforehand (based on Jazzman's details (http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?24433-Frame-Dolly-Plan-for-the-FFR-MkIV-Roadster)), as I've shown in prior posts, and I had gone out and purchased a hand truck to help with moving boxes and whatever. When Jerry lowered the frame down onto the chassis dolly, it fit absolutely perfectly. And, not that I was worried, but once we pushed/rolled it up the driveway, and into the garage, without the chassis dolly collapsing, I did let out a sigh of relief. So, thanks Jazzman, and all those who contributed to the genesis and evolution of the chassis dolly plan he detailed so thoroughly.

Okay, I guess I was worried a little bit. But, not anymore.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75367&d=1508113088

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75366&d=1508113088

I had my wife, and one daughter helping Jerry and me push the car (on the chassis dolly) from the street up to the garage. My other daughter was assigned the task of keeping track of what had been offloaded vs. what was expected (I can't figure out how to rotate this pic).

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75368&d=1508113088

I did not use the my hand truck at all. Jerry had a large platform type furniture dolly which we used for getting the many boxes from the truck to the garage. It took only about three loads (if I recall correctly), versus the 15 or more it would have taken using only my hand truck.

Once everything was offloaded from the truck, Jerry packed his trailer back down and said he had one more delivery to make that afternoon, about 300 miles away back into Ohio. I think he left my house at about 2 PM. I had the passing thought that, man, that kind of sucks for Jerry - but someone in Ohio is going to be as excited as I was.

Yup. It was cool. Obligatory picture, with me holding imaginary steering wheel.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75365&d=1508113048

I did have something go awry during the delivery, but since I didn't know about it until inventory day, I'm not going to tell that tale until my inventory post.

Car's in the garage, and everything is awesome.

[Yama-Bro]

Looks like a darn good day!

[mach'er]

My delivery day was a Friday, and we spent a large portion of Saturday and Sunday out in the garage doing inventory. I'm sure it's a method done by others before me, but while it probably isn't as efficient as some of the other methods discussed in the many build threads, here's a description of what we did.

I had my wife helping me through the entire process. We decided to do the boxes in order, so we started with Box 1, and work our way up numerically. As for method, we started with the "create an Excel spreadsheet with imbedded pictures for each box to use for future reference" method while inventorying each box's contents, taking a picture of each part to put into the Excel file next to each part description. This method lasted halfway through the start of box 2, at which point we decided that the time required for this process was a nightmare. We then transitioned to the "keep going on the spreadsheet of each box for future reference, but without the imbedded pictures" method. This lasted through the end of box two. I then made the executive decision that all we were doing with the spreadsheet process was recreating the inventory list provided for each box's contents.

So, in the end, we ended up just comparing contents against the provided inventory list by box. I would then re-tape the box, and mark with a Sharpie marker on the side of the box - listing a summary of the box's contents. I then made a copy of the inventory sheets, and have a 3-ring binder in which I am crossing out line items as parts are removed from a given box. We'll see how that works out.

As we inventoried the boxes, every time we came across a bracket or part that was bare metal, I determined how I wanted that given part to be finished. We ended up with a box of parts to be sent to the powder coater to be coated gloss black (to match the chassis), and a box of parts to be sent for chrome. I think we had 23 parts we sent to get chromed, and 31 that went to get powder coated black.

I did get these, which were used to verify each and every bolt/washer/nut provided as we completed inventory.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75525&d=1508274582

I had one bolt that was longer than the length specified on the BOM, and a grand total of four other missing parts after completing the inventory. Given how many parts there are in all these boxes, I thought that was really, really good. That summary does not include my "Box 24 Issue", which I'll get to in a minute.

In the end, I don't know if the bolt/nut gauges shown in the above picture were really necessary to do inventory, but they have been helpful for other reasons (so I'm glad I got them).

As already detailed, my delivery was a bit delayed. One silver lining to that delay was that my POL was significantly shorter when the kit actually shipped, meaning that many of the things listed on my POL ended up just shipping with my kit. My POL, as shipped, was quite short compared to what it would have been if it had shipped close to the completion date.

When the delivery occurred, we got to the end, and two boxes that were supposed to be there hadn't been offloaded from the truck yet. Box 24, and I think Box 17. Jerry found them in the trailer, and we checked them off the list. One problem... The Box 24 which was offloaded turned out to not be my box 24. I opened it expecting to find IRS control arms and links, but instead it had brake rotors, calipers, and other brake stuff. There were 2 kits still on the truck when Stewart Transportation drove away, and I'm guessing that the Box 24 that was left with me belonged to one of those two kits. The label was torn, and it just said "24". Well, enough of the label's number 24 was left to know it said 24. Unfortunately, this was late afternoon on Sunday, 8/20, so it was too late to try and call Jerry about it. I figure he was probably already offloaded and on his way back to Massachusetts for his next load.

On Monday 8/21, I sent my inventory results to Factory Five, and alerted them to the Box 24 issue. They issued me a FedEx label to ship all 65 lbs of brake parts back to Wareham.

We also took the body off, and put it on the body buck, to be able to review the parts attached to the frame. My wife and I were on the front and rear, with my 11 and 13 year old daughters on the sides. It was remarkably easy to lift with the four of us.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75526&d=1508274583

It also allowed some silly behavior (caught in mid-dance moves).

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75527&d=1508274584

As it stands today, I'm only missing one thing from my POL (10627 - Door Latch Set). Everything else from my inventory finds, including my Box 24, and my other POL content, has been received.

[mach'er]

After reading all the great build threads on here, and given that I'm having my aluminum panels powder coated, I decided it best to do as much panel drilling as possible as I did disassembly.

I started with the trunk panels, then went to the front and worked my way back to the bulkhead behind the seats.

I've heard stories about broken drill bits, so I ordered 30 of these (3 10-packs) which really is 60 drill bits - since they are double ended:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75529&d=1508274793


I also ordered some #10 bits of a different type, but haven't used any of those yet.

After drilling all the panel's rivet holes, I still have 2 unopened 10-packs. So, either I'm doing something right, doing something wrong, or these were pretty good drill bits.

I made couple mistakes initially, where I'd mark a panel, remove the panel, drill just the panel, and then mount the panel on the frame - only to find that one of the holes I'd drilled in the panel was in a location that I'd not be able to get the drill to finish the job once the panel was in place. Or, I'd drill a spot on the panel where a weld was right behind the hole. Thankfully, I didn't make the same mistake twice. However, I did find that there were several unique situations where a given mistake could be made once. Drill head clearance, weld placement, panel assembly order, etc.

I didn't get many pictures through this process, but here are a couple:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75530&d=1508274794

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75528&d=1508274792


Holy crap, that was a lot of drilling. I tried to vacuum and sweep often. And I was very careful with eye protection during drilling.

And for the questions regarding what tools are required, this is pretty much the extent of what I used for this part of the process:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75531&d=1508274795


After completing all the drilling for rivets, my frame was completely bare:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75532&d=1508274796


On my build, the firewall and those panels forward of the firewall, and the trunk panels are going to be powder coated a metallic silver color. The remaining passenger compartment panels will be getting a different powder coat color.

I took all the panels that will be coated metallic silver to the powder coater, and expect them to be ready for pick-up this Friday. I'll be dropping the rest off for the other color when I pick up the completed silver ones. He suggested this to ensure that what I wanted one color didn't end up getting the wrong powder coat inadvertently. That sounded fairly safe to me.


I do have a few questions at this point:

1. How difficult is it to drill a hole after an aluminum panel is powder coated? Tape on both sides, center punch, and drill away? And if so, is there a type of tape that has proven to be more successful for this? Or am I just inviting a powder coating disaster if I try to drill a panel that's already been powder coated?

2. All the holes I drilled in the frame rails... Should I be dabbing a bit of POR-15 in there? Or is that overkill?


Thanks
--Curt

[edwardb]

1. Not sure what your concern is about drilling powder coated panels. No big deal. Center punch it like you would normally and drill away. The powder coat isn't going to chip, delaminate, whatever, assuming it was applied properly. It's pretty soft to drill actually.

2. Overkill. I usually try to have the bead of adhesive (I used plain old Home Depot GE silicone caulk) go across the holes. Then when I press in and pull the rivet it's sealed plus the bare metal is coated. But even that is probably not totally necessary.

[mach'er]

Yes, delamination is a good word for what was in my mind.

Thanks for the reply. I'll cross both of those off my worry list.

[TexasAviator]

Nice work, there are quite a few of us at this build stage. Excited got a sweet engine there with the 363. That should make close to 500hp if its running a high power band cam. Good luck with your build and I hope your brother is doing well.

Brandon

[mach'er]

So, while I was killing time, waiting for the powder coater to finish my first batch of panels, I took care of several things: Painting my differential, assembling and safety wiring my brake rotors, and I had the tires mounted/balanced on the wheels.

It was the first time I've done anything with safety wire, and with the right tool - it seemed really easy.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75741&d=1508675952


http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75740&d=1508675951

And my differential. I put the first coat of paint on and wasn't happy with the color, so subsequent coats were with a different color - followed by a clear coat. There is a slightly different color between the housing and the rear cover.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75738&d=1508675949


While I was doing the coats on the diff, I got the text from my powder coater that the first batch of panels was ready for pick-up. So, I picked them up (and dropped off the remaining panels).

The metallic doesn't show up too well in photos, but here's an attempt:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75737&d=1508675948

And finally, I did officially put on the two F-Panels. As discussed earlier, I'm going with red rivets (commercial ones from McMaster-Carr). I think it looks awesome, and is just the look I'm going after. I know that is purely subjective, but I like it.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75739&d=1508675950


I've already put on the lower control arms, but I hope to finish the front suspension today. My upper ball joints are in, and my shocks are assembled.

Should I use the wicking thread locker (green Loctite) between the coil sleeve and the shock housing? I read a recommendation to do that somewhere, but it doesn't seem to be mentioned in very many build threads.

Thanks guys.
--Curt

[edwardb]

Should I use the wicking thread locker (green Loctite) between the coil sleeve and the shock housing? I read a recommendation to do that somewhere, but it doesn't seem to be mentioned in very many build threads.

I would not recommend doing that. Everything is under tension when the car is on the ground. They're not going anywhere.

[WIS89]

Curt-

I LOVE the powder coat and the colored rivets!! They look awesome!! Any chance you are going with big Whisky colors? I think it is going to look great!

I got a kick out of the ladies' dance routine. It is great to have the family involved with the build! I hope they get to join you in the garage frequently.

Making good progress, and I look forward to following along with you. Thanks for sharing your hard work!

Regards,

Steve

[mach'er]

Brandon: Thanks. And, yeah, I see several of us are starting and pretty much at about the same place, progress wise. And that’s pretty cool. We can share tips, like today I found my upper ball joint to spindle joint is going to need a good quarter inch spacer under the castle nut on each side. I’m paused until I get something. I do have a few questions about your build, but I’ll ask them later. Also, thanks for the thought, but my brother died back in early July. It’s okay that you didn’t see my note above, but I’m still working through it, and don’t really want to type about it much.

Paul: Thanks. It sounded like a shortcut to a mess anyway, something about keeping the sleeves from just spinning when you’re adjusting ride height. I’ll skip it. You’re always so willing to provide advice - so again, thanks!

WIS89: Yup, full on Bucky. Red, with white stripes. Thanks for support on the color scheme. I kinda thought the contrasting rivets wouldn’t be a popular choice, but, frankly, I didn’t care. It’s what I want to do, and I think it looks great. I did ask above, but I’ll ask again, is there a story behind the WIS89 user name?

[TexasAviator]

As Edward has already mentioned you don't need lock tite on there. I have a spanner wrench and adjust the shocks as I need for different occasions. You want to have them adjustable. Not sure why anyone would put locker on there?

[mach'er]

Not on the threads the sleeve and the coil stop, but between the sleeve and the shock body. The reason read that it kept the sleeve from just spinning around the shock when using the spanner wrench.

I read it, and wondered if people actually did that.

[TexasAviator]

mine has set screws built in that location. why not just use the set screws.

[Yama-Bro]

I like the rivets. They are going to look really good once you have some red color on the body for them to play off.

[WIS89]

WIS89: Yup, full on Bucky. Red, with white stripes. Thanks for support on the color scheme. I kinda thought the contrasting rivets wouldn’t be a popular choice, but, frankly, I didn’t care. It’s what I want to do, and I think it looks great. I did ask above, but I’ll ask again, is there a story behind the WIS89 user name?

Curt-

I am sorry that I missed your question. I wasn't ignoring you, I just missed it. The WIS is a nickname I picked up as a very young boy, and has stayed with me all my life; it's a play on my last name. The 89 is the year I graduated from the Naval Academy. Nothing too outrageous...

And, to follow-up, I really do like the contrasting colors. and the fact that it is to represent your school colors, makes it even more cool! I think it will be terrific, and likely be a popular choice as well!

Regards,

Steve

[mach'er]

I am sorry that I missed your question. I wasn't ignoring you, I just missed it. The WIS is a nickname I picked up as a very young boy, and has stayed with me all my life; it's a play on my last name. The 89 is the year I graduated from the Naval Academy. Nothing too outrageous...

No problem, Steve. I didn't think you were ignoring me, I just figured it hadn't been seen. The Naval Academy? Cool, and thank you. I was Army, enlisted, for 5 years - '88 through '93 - before going to college. My friend with the Porsche (the one that resulted in my change in plans from a Daytona Coupe to the Roadster) was a submarine nuclear power guy in the navy for several years, including some time in Idaho teaching.

[mach'er]

Well, I didn't get as far as I would have liked over the weekend. I got to this point:

RH
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75782&d=1508759918

LH
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75781&d=1508759917


I ran into a couple minor questions:
1. Parts list calls out a LH and RH steering arm, but I can't tell any difference between the two parts. Therefore, I just mounted them without regard to LH and RH.
Question: Should there be two unique parts with some discernible difference?

2. Upper control arm initial adjustment... I put this question in Yama-Bro's thread (http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?26178-Upper-control-arm-questions-manual-book-and-parts-don-t-jive)on his UCA assembly, and will look to see if an answer gets posted there.

Other issues I dealt with (not really questions, unless someone wants to give input):
3. Castle nuts too far engaged on upper ball joints (similar to this discussion (http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?25522-Castle-nuts-tighten-too-low-for-cotter-pin&highlight=castle+nuts)from a '33 build thread). The spindle seats on the upper ball joint, it's just too far engaged for the height of the castle nuts relative to where the cotter pin hole is located. I've decided to get some spacers to put in place, similar to the lower ball joints. I think a spacer should take care of the problem.

4. Tightening the rear bolt for the upper control arm mount. I had difficulty getting a wrench on the nut behind the mounting flange for the rear nut. I was able to get it torqued to spec, but clearance back there is pretty bad. Just did the best I could, and got creative using a tool wedged between the nut and bracket to prevent the nut from spinning while torqueing the bolt.


I'm using the paint mark method on each fastener as I torque it to spec, both as an indicator that I've torqued a given fastener, but also to provide a visual clue of any movement once the vehicle is in use.

After I get the spacers for the upper control arm ball joints, I hope to get the front hubs and brakes installed this week. I'd like to be working on the rear end this weekend (I hope).

Thanks, guys. Let me know if you think anything looks wonky in the pics of my assemblies so far.
--Curt

[Straversi]

Well, I didn't get as far as I would have liked over the weekend. I got to this point:

RH
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75782&d=1508759918

LH
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75781&d=1508759917


I ran into a couple minor questions:
1. Parts list calls out a LH and RH steering arm, but I can't tell any difference between the two parts. Therefore, I just mounted them without regard to LH and RH.
Question: Should there be two unique parts with some discernible difference?

2. Upper control arm initial adjustment... I put this question in Yama-Bro's thread (http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?26178-Upper-control-arm-questions-manual-book-and-parts-don-t-jive)on his UCA assembly, and will look to see if an answer gets posted there.

Other issues I dealt with (not really questions, unless someone wants to give input):
3. Castle nuts too far engaged on upper ball joints (similar to this discussion (http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?25522-Castle-nuts-tighten-too-low-for-cotter-pin&highlight=castle+nuts)from a '33 build thread). The spindle seats on the upper ball joint, it's just too far engaged for the height of the castle nuts relative to where the cotter pin hole is located. I've decided to get some spacers to put in place, similar to the lower ball joints. I think a spacer should take care of the problem.

4. Tightening the rear bolt for the upper control arm mount. I had difficulty getting a wrench on the nut behind the mounting flange for the rear nut. I was able to get it torqued to spec, but clearance back there is pretty bad. Just did the best I could, and got creative using a tool wedged between the nut and bracket to prevent the nut from spinning while torqueing the bolt.


I'm using the paint mark method on each fastener as I torque it to spec, both as an indicator that I've torqued a given fastener, but also to provide a visual clue of any movement once the vehicle is in use.

After I get the spacers for the upper control arm ball joints, I hope to get the front hubs and brakes installed this week. I'd like to be working on the rear end this weekend (I hope).

Thanks, guys. Let me know if you think anything looks wonky in the pics of my assemblies so far.
--Curt

There is a left and a right steering arm. The tie rod ends have tapered shafts and the the holes in the steering arms are tapered as well. The taper is slight and easy to miss. I did.

My kit had a thick washer between the UCA and the castle nut and a thicker spacer for the lower. I didn't need to change anything on the upper. The thick spacer for the lower has a bevel on the inside hole on one side. The bevel is supposed to be on the bottom. If not the cotter pin will be difficult to align. I missed that one too.

-Steve

[edwardb]

Your assembly looks OK as far as I can tell. For the steering arms, just make sure they are pointed out (as yours are) and the large side of the taper in the tie rod holes is down. All good from there. As I recall, this does end up with them being backwards as marked. But I'm not positive. It's been a couple years since I've assembled those. :o The same spindles are used on the hot rod where they are front steer, which I guess explains the marking difference. The rear bolt for the UCA is fun for everyone. I have a wrench ground down to fit in there.

[dncharo]

We are at a similar stage in our build and just ran into the same issues you brought up. At first I thought that we had 2 of the same steering arms as well and even contacted factory five to try and get the right part. But after looking at them about 100 times, I saw that they were slightly different. Like mentioned above, the hole is tapered and the large side goes down. The other difference I noticed is that there is a slight bevel along the portion of the steering arm that contacts the spindle on the bottom. They should also point out as Paul mentioned. Of course, the book doesn't mention any of this, and I hadn't seen these issues brought up on prior threads.
I can't help in terms of UCA initial adjustment, but can say that the lack of adjustment becomes more apparent once the rotors go on. Have fun with the brakes next, the Wilwood instructions are actually pretty good...
-David

[mach'er]

Steering arms swapped (I had a 50/50 shot, and missed). Spacers in & UCA ball joints fastened, hubs installed, dust cap tapped on.

On to front brakes...

I really appreciate it guys. I would have eventually progressed to installing the outer tie rod ends, and been pulling my hair out about that taper.

[mach'er]

My youngest daughter got her braces put on today. I had to take her to the orthodontist so I took the morning off work, which gave me a couple of hours in the garage before her appointment.

I had previously assembled my rotors/hats and done the safety wire, so it was pretty much just bolting stuff together.

I found the Wilwood instructions quite good, and the installation was rather straightforward. I ended up with two of the 0.035" and one 0.022" shim on each bolt of the RH caliper, and two 0.035" shims for the LH caliper bolts in order to center the rotor in the brake calipers. My vernier calipers showed variation in the 4 thinner shims, from 0.015" to 0.022" - with no two the same. The 8 thicker shims were all within a spread of two thousandths of an inch (0.034 to 0.036"). For the thinner ones that I used on the car, I chose two that were as close as possible, given what I had.

I wish I would have read dncharo's build thread update before doing the front brake assembly. He ended up using the 12-point bolts (http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?26056-dncharo-and-Izzy-s-MK4-9138-Build-Thread&p=298935&viewfull=1#post298935)included in the F5 kit. I used the 6-point bolts from the Wilwood set-up. Using the 6-point bolts resulted in difficult access to the top spindle to bracket bolt on each side, and the bolt extends further past the outside face of the bracket. Tonight, I'll have to look to see how close the end of those bolts are relative to the hat and safety wires.

Here's where I ended up:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75869&d=1508865772

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75870&d=1508865772

I was very excited to mount the wheels, even if it was just temporary. I called my daughter out to the garage to look. Maybe it was the impending orthodontic appointment, but she was not as enthusiastic as I was about seeing the wheel mounted.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75871&d=1508865773

There was significant clearance between the caliper and the weights they used to balance the tires. It wasn't even close - so I didn't measure it.

I was going to start with the rear differential, but braces had to be installed as well - so off to the orthodontists we went.

And finally, a thought for today... It is pretty freaking cool that there are several of us across the country going through this process almost contemporaneously, and having this forum to assist us - leveraging the knowledge of those that walked this path before us, and sharing our own experiences. Its almost cheating in a way. But I'll take it. Happily. Whoever built the first one... Man, I feel sorry for him.

[Straversi]

I was very excited to mount the wheels, even if it was just temporary. I called my daughter out to the garage to look. Maybe it was the impending orthodontic appointment, but she was not as enthusiastic as I was about seeing the wheel mounted.

Well, that's what we are here for. You will get a nod of appreciation from the family for the big milestone moments, but if you want some instant gratification for mounting wheels, flash a photo on the forum and we'll respond. I never get tired of seeing photos of other people's projects. Where else can you describe safety wiring bots together and get enthusiastic responses?
And if you are ever feeling discouraged, just flash a photos of those Webber stacks of yours and know that 50 or more gearheads are saying "DAMN" simultaneously.

-Steve

[mach'er]

Made it out to the garage tonight, with plans to start working on the rear end. Started by drilling out the holes (chasing, per the assembly manual) on the front mounting holes of the differential with the 5/8" drill bit. I used the same drill bit that I used to drill out the rear knuckles. I decided the bit must be dull, because it wanted to do nothing but grab, in a mean spirited attempt to break my wrist or something. So, off to the store I went, and came home with new 9/16" and 5/8" drill bits. Figured I'd step it, and hopefully not have so much grabbage. Only to find out that the hole was just over 9/16" to begin with. So, straight to the 5/8" I went. And low and behold, sharp/new drill bit had no problem. Holes chased.

Next in the manual was the rear hubs, and replacing the wheel studs. I went to town with my hammer, and the original ones came out lickety-split.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75961&d=1509056827

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75962&d=1509056828

Then, pulled out my air gun, a spacer, and a lug nut. Problem...

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75963&d=1509056829

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75964&d=1509056830


Even with my air gun at it's 350 ft-lb setting, its not pulling the wheel lugs on all the way (as you can see above).

Do I dare apply greater than 350 ft-lbs of torque to those threads? I think I'm already cooking with gas, relative to what they should see. So, in my mind, that is out.

Therefore, I think I'm going to have to relent, and take them in somewhere that has a press, who is equipped to push these suckers in the rest of the way.

My local tire store, Belle Tire, is open till 8 tonight. I think I'll pack up and head there, and see if they can get it done (it is a first come-first serve type place). However, I'd love to hear what I'm doing wrong, if I'm doing anything wrong. In case they can't get to me before closing time. Or, so I know for next time.

[edwardb]

I was able to get mine to pull in with my impact driver that is considerably less than 350 ft/lbs rated. Couple of recommendations. Get a couple of large grade 8 washers and a hardened nut. Don't use the lug nut. At the very least you'll chew it up in the process. Put plenty of grease on the washers and hardened nut, and try again. I just had mine on the workbench, not even in a vise. The impact action of the wrench pulled them into place, but it took a little while for each. If that doesn't work, I'd find a place to have them pressed in.

[RickP]

Put the whole hub in your freezer overnight and try again using EdwardB’s method. I bet they pull right in.

[Ducky2009]

Put the whole hub in your freezer overnight and try again using EdwardB’s method. I bet they pull right in.

Chilling it will shrink it. Need to heat it, except you have bearings to consider! I wouldn't do it.

[2bking]

There was significant clearance between the caliper and the weights they used to balance the tires. It wasn't even close - so I didn't measure it.

The first time I had mine balanced, they put the flat weights with adhesive backing on the wheels for both inner and outer rims. In the process of removing and reattaching the wheels, several of the inner rim weights were scraped off by the calipers so I had to have them rebalanced. The tire place suggested they use the clip-on weights for the inside rim which I agreed to. Since then, no more weight problems and no one can see them being on the inside rim.

[mach'er]

The tire place wouldn't do it. They said they couldn't perform work on customer parts. And then, they proceeded to tell me that the wheel studs were the wrong size anyway, and that I should buy the right parts. So, home I went.

Paul: Once I got home, I saw your post. Using greased washers & a nut worked great - and at a lower torque setting on my air wrench. Thanks! I have 3 lug nuts that I'd like to replace before using them (live and learn).

King: Yes, they used those adhesive backed weights on my wheels. I'll have to keep an eye on them to make sure I don't have a similar problem. Thanks for the tip.


My weekend goal: Complete IRS and rear brake installation, get the firewall & drivers side footbox front installed, and get at least a bit of a start on the pedal box. I hope to pick-up my second batch of aluminum panels from the powder coater - although he hasn't told me he's done yet. I think I'll also be ordering the Koolmat kits from Breeze, to be ready as for that footbox panel. We'll see how far I get relative to that plan.

Have a great weekend.

-Curt

[Yama-Bro]

And finally, a thought for today... It is pretty freaking cool that there are several of us across the country going through this process almost contemporaneously, and having this forum to assist us - leveraging the knowledge of those that walked this path before us, and sharing our own experiences. Its almost cheating in a way. But I'll take it. Happily. Whoever built the first one... Man, I feel sorry for him.

I totally agree. I've taken advantage of the others' questions a few times already.

[mach'er]

Well, I didn't get as far as I planned. Looks like I need to be more realistic in my planning.

I did get my differential installed. I used the single person, engine hoist method, stolen from Paul's build thread. I ended up using three ratchet straps. One around the rear mounting ears, one around the front mounting ears, and one around the differential housing near the pinion flange. After lifting the differential, and having it hanging parallel to the ground (similar to final installed angle), I used the front strap (near the pinion flange) to tilt the diff up. Then, using the ratchet straps, pretty much just followed the manual's directions to get it into place - gradually playing with the ratchet of the front ratchet strap, the hydraulics of the engine hoist, and muscling the hoist forward - instead of having more than one set of hands.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=76097&d=1509375123

(Yes, that is still the yellow plastic plug. I haven't installed the vent fitting yet.)

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=76098&d=1509375124


Then, I moved on to the IRS control arms. I have an e-mail into the FFR customer service team, because my LH IRS UCA and one of the IRS Toe Arms seem to have problems. I'm waiting to hear back from them, and am going to reserve any comment on my issue with those two parts until I hear something back from FFR.

I figured I still could do the RH side, since it's UCA and one Toe Arm was fine. So, forward I pushed, trying to get the RH half done.

However, I'm having a problem aligning the RH IRS lower control arm, and stopped when my frustration level was high. I currently have the forward bolt fully through, with the nut loosely installed - but the rear bolt is through the first flange and through the bushing, but does not align with the second flange. I've had some thoughts over the past 24+ hours, and will attack it again tonight. I'll throw up some pictures of this, if I still get nowhere.

However, figured I'd preemptively ask... Does the sequence of which bolt you put through first matter when attaching the IRS lower control arm? Has anyone else had a problem with alignment of the LCA to chassis mounting holes?

Thanks.
--Curt

[mach'er]

I mirrored the assembly manual illustration, to make it look like the RH side. Here's my problem:
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=76106&d=1509377498

That rear bolt is at an angle to the axis of the two chassis mounting bracket holes. Rotating the LCA moves it (grey is front face of bolt, black circle is through hole on bracket), but not to a position that goes through the hole (blue arrow). Here's my best word art drawing of what's going on.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=76107&d=1509377814


Anyway, any thoughts would be appreciated. But, I'll be back out in the garage tonight trying to muscle it some more.

Thanks.

[Straversi]

It has been a while but I had similar frustrations. I measured and realized my flanges were not parallel. Just slightly off but enough to keep the assembly from going together. I slid a large crescent wrench over the flanges a gave a little tug and they were easily manipulated into place. Talk to FFR first and maybe others will chime in but that was my experience.
-Steve

[aks801]

So. The Jim Inglese system. I would like to hear more about your experience so far: ordering, configuring, so on. That system is the one I have coveted for a long time, and I waffle between that and dual quads. But the Webers are my ultimate, and for me they would go on a Dart block-based 331. And I do realize you will have more so say once you actually get the engine running and whatnot.

Thanks.

[2bking]

Have you tried to install the outer one first. The rubber in the outer one may be forgiving enough that the inner one can be muscled into place since the bolt lines up there.

[mach'er]

RH LCA is on. I ended up taking it off, putting on the rear bolt first, then the front. Gave the UCA a quick shot, but it looks like it is going to need some patience as well. So, I think it will wait a day or two. Cause I’m about out of IRS patience for tonight. I’m going to need to do some repairs with POR-15 in a few spots.

Trick or treating is tomorrow with my youngest. So, that’ll give me a night off of busted knuckles on this IRS linkage stuff. Then back to it on Wednesday. I’m going as Waldo (of Where’s Waldo fame). Good Dad. With a skull mask. Bad Dad.

[Mark Eaton]

I mirrored the assembly manual illustration, to make it look like the RH side. Here's my problem:
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=76106&d=1509377498

That rear bolt is at an angle to the axis of the two chassis mounting bracket holes. Rotating the LCA moves it (grey is front face of bolt, black circle is through hole on bracket), but not to a position that goes through the hole (blue arrow). Here's my best word art drawing of what's going on.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=76107&d=1509377814


Anyway, any thoughts would be appreciated. But, I'll be back out in the garage tonight trying to muscle it some more.

Thanks.

Curt,

The rear UCA and LCA were really difficult. I fought with those things for hours! These helped

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=74056&d=1506208860

I think they were 5/8" or M12, I have several which I ground down. When you get the bushings and mounting brackets somwhere in the neighborhood like your images that you are showing hammer these mothers in all the way. They will help align the control arms with the brackets, then hammer them out and hammer in the bolts. It worked for me.

Goodluck,

Mark

[wareaglescott]

Hang in there. I feel like I had won a battle once I got that IRS completely installed! The center section went in like butter and then every other piece fought me hard! Enjoy the night off.

[mach'er]

So. The Jim Inglese system. I would like to hear more about your experience so far: ordering, configuring, so on. That system is the one I have coveted for a long time, and I waffle between that and dual quads. But the Webers are my ultimate, and for me they would go on a Dart block-based 331. And I do realize you will have more so say once you actually get the engine running and whatnot.

Thanks.

Jim's induction system has been super easy so far - probably because all the hard stuff is still to come. Ordering and configuring was a breeze. When calling, Jim answers his own phone, and seems super friendly and willing to be as helpful as required. After I told him it was for a FFR MkIV, he asked for several details regarding my engine (heads & valves, CR, displacement, valve covers, trans, FDR, etc.). I called him back a couple times before ordering, then again before he shipped - including a call after I changed my engine's displacement from 347 to 363 ci.

I didn't classify my valve covers as "tall", which was apparently a mistake, as the throttle linkage on his set-up interfered with the valve covers - but nothing that a couple of spacers and a die grinder couldn't fix.

I have thought about putting the engine on a dyno for tuning prior to installing it in the vehicle, but haven't made up my mind about that yet. I'll definitely include my experiences completing any set-up work required once the engine is fired up and running - as well as my thoughts about how they perform.



Have you tried to install the outer one first. The rubber in the outer one may be forgiving enough that the inner one can be muscled into place since the bolt lines up there.

King, I didn't interpret them as being an outer and inner - but a front and rear. It does turn out that the rear is slightly outboard, I think (when I do the LH side, I'll pull out the laser and check alignment more thoroughly before assembly). Your suggestion is ultimately what I ended up doing - and it worked. It still wasn't easy, but it is together now.



Curt,
The rear UCA and LCA were really difficult. I fought with those things for hours!
Goodluck,
Mark


Hang in there. I feel like I had won a battle once I got that IRS completely installed! The center section went in like butter and then every other piece fought me hard! Enjoy the night off.

Mark & Scott... Hearing that others had a bit of difficulty is relieving, and makes me think that I'm not completely incompetent. Only partly! I'm sure more difficult things are coming, and that ultimately this is only a minor bump in the road - and I'm definitely not getting discouraged (only a bit frustrated). Venting helps, but tips like the ground down tapered bolts helps more. I was using an aligning pry bar (lady foot pry bar?), but it was too long for the available space to be completely useful. Those modified bolts look like a good answer to that problem.

Thanks!
-Curt

[mach'er]

I should have a box waiting for me when I get home this evening. I mentioned earlier that I ran into an issue with my LH IRS Upper Control Arm and one of the Toe Adjuster Arms. I had what I would describe as weld spatter on the inside threads of these two link arms, right were the UCA's 7/8"-1.25" Adjuster Bung and toe arm's linkage adjuster need to thread into these suspension pieces.

I tried to clean the threads on the one toe adjustment arm that had the spatter, and then tried to muscle the linkage adjuster in - but that was a mistake. After chewing up the threads on the linkage adjuster, I did not try to do anything with the LH UCA. I did look at buying a tap for a 1.25" thread, but it was almost $100, so I contacted FFR.

Like always (it seems, so far), they were great. They asked for pictures, and then shipped replacement parts (which, like I said, should be delivered today), and I am shipping the originals back to them.

So, my LH side is still waiting for those parts, but my RH side is done.

I ran into the fitment issues outlined earlier. But, after a little work with "spreader" and a die grinder, the RH side is complete.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=76492&d=1510071811

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=76491&d=1510071810

I tried to do a rough initial alignment using a piece of angle iron, clamped against the wheel hub, and measuring from the 4" frame rail to the angle iron (knowing full well that I'll have to do the actual alignment later).

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=76493&d=1510071812

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=76494&d=1510071813

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=76495&d=1510071814

I'll be repeating all of this on the LH side, and then installing the rear brakes and rear sway arm. I'm probably going to post a couple pics of the process while doing the LH side, now that I've figured out how to do it on the RH side.


Also, pretty much unrelated to the IRS Install, but...
I went and visited my powder coater this morning to drop off my sway bar bushing mounts to be done in a gloss black. Somehow, I missed these when I was putting together my three batches of stuff for the powder coating process. I had a batch of chassis parts that were gloss black, a batch of panels that were to be metallic silver (the engine bay and trunk pieces), and a panel batch that is going to be body colored (essentially all the passenger compartment pieces).

The black and silver pieces are all complete. I have them back (except for the sway bar bushing mounts, which I just dropped off), and they all look really good.

The cockpit pieces were still with him though, as I had told him that I was in no hurry - based on my build schedule - and I gave him rough timing for when I thought I'd be needing them. This morning, he had the smaller pieces done, but he said he will be stripping and re-doing them(!), because he wasn't happy with how they turned out. Thankfully, that doesn't impact where I am right now on my build at all. He talked about it being a de-gassing issue, and that he was going to use a chemical stripper instead of blast media because he didn't want to damage the sheet aluminum panels. I told him, well, as long as they turn out okay, he should do what he feels is right.

I'd like to say I'm not worried, but I'd be lying. The metallic silver panels turned out so great, I'm now left to hope these cockpit panels turn out okay.

That's all for now...
--Curt

[wareaglescott]

Interesting about the multiple colors on the panels coating. Sounds cool. Are you planning to cover the interior body colored panels with carpet or leave them visible?

[mach'er]

Yes, I'll be covering the interior of the cockpit with Koolmat and carpet.

As crazy as it sounds, I'm doing the body colored cockpit panels just for how it will look from underneath - the back side of the panels. I figured I had already made the decision to go with powder coating the panels, so decided to do it the way I wanted to. I think it'll give the look I'm going for. I was hoping for more of a chrome look on the engine bay & trunk panels - but the powder coater showed me some samples, and after much discussion, I changed to a metallic silver for those. And I'm really happy with how they turned out.

That's the great thing about this whole project. Almost anything can be customized the way the builder wants to do it. I'm doing a whole bunch of stuff "by the book". I'm unabashedly stealing several ideas that I've seen on other's builds. And, there's a couple of things here and there where I'm just walking my own path - and doing something just because I want to. Hopefully, just enough to make it "mine" by having some details that are unique to my build.

And so far... I'm loving it!

[mach'er]

Okay, so my RH side took like two solid evenings of struggling. My LH side took about an hour. I'm sure the RH side would have been quick too, if I knew what I know now. So, here's what I did.

None of the mounting tabs really fit the tubular arms of the suspension pieces. No amount of prying or deadblow hammer whacks were getting anywhere. I found a post on someone's thread about a "spreader" (sorry, I don't have the reference handy, so I can't give proper credit - but it was someone else's idea). Note, this is done delicately. Only crank the nuts as far as you have to. I'm sure this is stressing the welds and whatnot, but I found that there really was no other option. Here is my "spreader" in action (you can't see it well in the picture, but there are two washers on each side, and I used Paul's suggestion from my wheel stud problem and lightly greased the nuts and washers):

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=76544&d=1510231350

Once the given linkage piece would fit (though still requiring some prying and deadblow hammer action), but with the linkage removed, I ensured that the bolt would pass through the holes on the mounting flanges. It sounds worse than it was, but this required more than just removal of the powder coating:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=76545&d=1510231350

Next, the appropriate linkage piece was re-positioned, and aligned using an aligning crow bar (where it fits) or a tapered bolt (such as Mark Eaton showed in the post above, where the pictured crow bar was too long):

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=76546&d=1510231351

Finally, the bolt was inserted, and in general this still took some persuasion. Torqued to spec, and repeated for each of the three suspension pieces (Toe Adj Arm, LCA, UCA).

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=76547&d=1510231352


I've got my RH spindle on now, and am moving on to brakes and sway bars. But, it's another weekend of no Roadster work. This evening, I'm taking my wife to Boulder, CO for a long weekend to visit her sisters. But I am looking forward to the week of Thanksgiving. I'm taking the whole week off, and hope to crank out quite a bit of work over that week.

Anyway, have a great weekend and thanks for all the tips.
--Curt

[Mark Eaton]

Right on Curt, now thats perseverance! I like that "spreader" you found. That looks much more precise than banging on those tabs with a hammer like I did.

Mark

[Yama-Bro]

I like your spreader method as well. I'll keep that in mind. I had to spread my brackets out on the IFS. I used a very large crescent wrench opened just wide enough for a bracket and a rag to prevent scratches. I bent them just far enough to get the parts started between the brackets. It didn't take much

[mach'er]

I've installed my rear brakes successfully. (EDIT: ARGHH! Installed the brakes more successfully than I can post pictures. Sorry they are all on their side.)

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=76990&d=1511285579

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=76989&d=1511285578

I do have a question on the clearance of the parking brake linkage clearance to the coil over.

Here is my LH Side (which looks good):

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=76988&d=1511285577

Here is my RH Side (which doesn't look so good):

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=76987&d=1511285576

It is not interfering with the coil spring, but it is kinda close. Especially when I compare it to the other side. My thinking is that this will sort itself out when I do the actual alignment.

I don't really see a way to modify it, other than the alignment aspect - or just start bending the sheet steel lever arm (which I'd avoid doing until there was no other option).

What do you experienced guys think? (Next post will have another question regarding pedal box & master cylinder adjustment)

[mach'er]

It is always satisfying to rivet on sheet panels. I love how it looks, and it gives a sense of progress.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=76984&d=1511285175


I also got my pedal box installed. This was satisfying as well:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=76985&d=1511285175

I have ordered KoolMat from Breeze, and know it'll be less than fun to tuck the correct piece up there after the pedals are installed - but I've been chomping at the bit to get some progress, so moved ahead anyway. I also have a Russ Thompson accelerator pedal on order, so will be waiting on that before installing the third (and most rewarding) pedal in the car. I received my Forte mechanical throttle linkage the other day, and that will be going in too.


On to my question, regarding the pedal box install.

I've already cut the linkage from my hydraulic clutch master cylinder to get the clutch pedal in line with the brake pedal. However, I realized that the brake pedal is resting against the frame member. Should I cut my two brake master cylinder linkages (arms, whatever we call the threaded rod that screws into the balance bar) such that the pedal can be adjusted to stop before the frame member - when fully released? They are screwed in as far as they'll go, but the pedal arm is still hitting the frame when released:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=76986&d=1511285176

I might have to cut my clutch one again if so... But, I want to get it right, now, rather than later.

Thanks guys!!

[mach'er]

Sorry, one last question...

Brake lines. Should I be using some sort of thread sealer on any of the threaded joints on the brake lines? And if so, what kind?

I just got home from shopping for Thanksgiving feast groceries. We'll be having a total of 12 people eating here, and I had a massive cart full. But that's out of the way, so I can get back to the garage if I know what I need to do.

Thanks, again.

[GoDadGo]

Sorry, one last question...

Brake lines. Should I be using some sort of thread sealer on any of the threaded joints on the brake lines? And if so, what kind?

I just got home from shopping for Thanksgiving feast groceries. We'll be having a total of 12 people eating here, and I had a massive cart full. But that's out of the way, so I can get back to the garage if I know what I need to do.

Thanks, again.

I didn't use any sealer; however, I had pretty good luck by putting a little WD-40 (Very Minimal) on the fittings and crush washers to allow things to move around a bit as I tightened things up. Just don't over do it because it is easy to over tighten and strip many of the components.

Also, I view the 363 as one of the best options for these cars.

Lots Of Displacement With A Very Minimal Footprint!

Steve

[edwardb]

1. Others have reported that bolt from the Wilwood e-brake is close or interferes with the coil springs. In my experience, and others, it will clear when you complete your alignment. I looked back at your build pictures, and you have the camber adjustment in pretty tight. I think you'll find that gets turned out quite a bit and will allow the bolt to clear. Mine has roughly 1/2-inch of threads showing on each side of the adjusting nuts. Also your tow adjustment could affect it. Mine also has about 1/2-inch of threads showing. Obviously yours will be whatever they are when the alignment is done. But I'd be willing to bet that would help. Having said that, looked at your pictures and compared to mine. Something isn't quite the same, unless it's just the angle of your pictures. My shocks stand nearly straight up. Maybe more than yours. The bolt in question really isn't aligned on my springs. I do have the double action shocks, so maybe there's a difference. But check to make sure you have the right spacers on the shock mounts.

2. Yes, you need to cut the MC threaded rod(s) to get the proper position of the pedals. The brake pedal shouldn't hit the frame cross member.

3. You've got several different joints there. Absolutely no thread sealant on SAE double flare brake lines. The seal is in the flare itself, and that's metal on metal. It is good practice though during assembly to use a little lubrication to help them seat properly. I wet the end of the flare and tube nut with a little brake fluid during assembly. Gives a little lubrication for assembly plus whatever may get inside the joint is compatible with the brake fluid. Also no thread sealant on the small -AN flare fittings on the Wilwood flex lines. Again, a little brake fluid for lube is good to help when tightening. Finally, the small angled fittings that Wilwood provides that go into the calipers are NPT threads. Those do require thread sealant.

[mach'er]

I installed my steering rack, using the Breeze solid bushings. I had the same problem that many have reported with the passenger side bolt not passing through - and addressed it the same way (grinding the hole slightly, till it works).

I skipped the step of putting the lower steering shaft in before mounting the rack. So, I had to take the rack back off, put the shaft on, and then reinstall the rack. Seems like I do that a lot. Maybe I should read the manual more...

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=78633&d=1514993709

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=78634&d=1514993709


Then, the upper steering shaft. I installed it with the "flat" up, so the spring washers would stay in place as I tapped it in. This meant that the other side's flat was towards the frame rail. After tightening down the pillow bearing, I found I also had the common problem of the steering shaft not being able to turn. I used some of the leftover shim washers from the Wilwood brakes to raise the pillow bearing until the shaft was free to turn.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=78635&d=1514993710

This picture shows the clearance I ended up with after re-tightening the bearing's fasteners.

The instruction manual states "tap the upper shaft down until the upper clip just disappears into the lower shaft." I took "upper clip" to mean the upper spring washer. Is that correct?

It's pretty cool to turn the steering shaft and see the front wheels turn.


I think I skipped right past the install of the front and rear sway bars in this build thread. It was pretty uneventful though. Just followed the supplemental instructions, and in they went. I must have been distracted, because I didn't take any pictures of those steps either.

On to the fuel tank!
--Curt

[mach'er]

My fuel tank is in. I had no significant issues to report on the install of the tank. I'm going to keep the supplied sending unit, and just cap off the return line (I'm running a returnless fuel system).

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=78637&d=1514993776


My fuel tank vent is just hanging there in this picture (and in fact, it still is). I've got a vent cap on order for that line, and plan to just route it up and out of the way just under the trunk floor aluminum near a wheel well.


I've decided to use a 3/8" fuel line, so I have a bunch of AN fittings, hose, annealed stainless hardline, and a prettier in-line filter on order. I'll detail that installation once all the parts arrive.

So, that's that, and on to some sheet aluminum install!
--Curt

[mach'er]

The company I work for gives a good holiday break at Christmas. I had two weeks off, and planned on getting a lot done. Mother nature had other ideas (along with a lot of family obligations around the holidays).

It was single digit temperatures and below outside, and my propane and electric heaters in the garage could only pull the ambient temp up to the high 40s. I was able to get the steering rack, fuel tank, and this post's footbox panels installed; however, I eventually said "enough". My wife (teacher) and kids were also off, so the garage door was repeatedly going up and down as they came and went, and I kept wondering about the temperature of my silicone sealant. Not to mention that I was cold.

Anyway, I got the passenger footbox inner top, front tunnel A-panel, pass. footbox inside wall and floor installed. I really love how this is coming together. It is giving me a good foretaste of the look that I'm going to have, and it is exactly what I was hoping for.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=78638&d=1514993776

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=78639&d=1514993777

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=78640&d=1514996259


I'm doing red power coated panels on all of what I would call the cockpit panels, with metallic silver powder coated from the firewall forward and trunk. Red rivets on the silver powder coated panels, and silver rivets on the red panels (and on the black chassis parts). This gives a hint of what it's going to look like, I think.

My main struggle right now is... Man, I like how this is looking. I was planning on doing KoolMat and carpet in the interior, but I'm seriously tempted to leave it out. Tempted. I really think I'm still going to end up putting it all in, but I'm going to hold off until later. Yes, I know how much harder that will make putting the KoolMat in (versus doing pieces now, when it is more accessible). I just want to see it without it. And get some pictures. And continue to tempt myself.

I'm excited. And can't wait for a warm-up (and for the UPS driver).
--Curt

[Straversi]

There was a roadster at the Huntington Bch Cruise-In that had matt black powder coated interior panels. No carpet. I didn't get to talk to the owner but I assumed he just couldn't bear to cover those panels because they looked so good.
Decisions, decisions....
Looking good.
-Steve

[broku518]

I installed my steering rack, using the Breeze solid bushings. I had the same problem that many have reported with the passenger side bolt not passing through - and addressed it the same way (grinding the hole slightly, till it works).

I skipped the step of putting the lower steering shaft in before mounting the rack. So, I had to take the rack back off, put the shaft on, and then reinstall the rack. Seems like I do that a lot. Maybe I should read the manual more...

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=78633&d=1514993709

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=78634&d=1514993709


Then, the upper steering shaft. I installed it with the "flat" up, so the spring washers would stay in place as I tapped it in. This meant that the other side's flat was towards the frame rail. After tightening down the pillow bearing, I found I also had the common problem of the steering shaft not being able to turn. I used some of the leftover shim washers from the Wilwood brakes to raise the pillow bearing until the shaft was free to turn.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=78635&d=1514993710

This picture shows the clearance I ended up with after re-tightening the bearing's fasteners.

The instruction manual states "tap the upper shaft down until the upper clip just disappears into the lower shaft." I took "upper clip" to mean the upper spring washer. Is that correct?

It's pretty cool to turn the steering shaft and see the front wheels turn.


I think I skipped right past the install of the front and rear sway bars in this build thread. It was pretty uneventful though. Just followed the supplemental instructions, and in they went. I must have been distracted, because I didn't take any pictures of those steps either.

On to the fuel tank!
--Curt

Hi mach'er. Great looking build. Very clean :)
I had the same issue with the steering shaft, used couple washers to clear the frame. I will adjust the shaft depth later after I install the dash, to see how far in I can push it.

About the brake lines, see if you can bleed them while you have everything open and easy access. I did it with some bottles and tubes by myself, found some hillbilly youtube video. Very simple and easy process. I found 3 leaks in my brake lines, tighten them easily. And in NO case you use anything one threats.

[mach'er]

Here's what I do when it's too cold out in the garage. Finished this up over the MLK Holiday weekend.

Chassis - Complete and ready for install
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=79348&d=1516109449


Front and Rear shots
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=79349&d=1516109450 http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=79350&d=1516109450


Any guesses regarding the inspiration?

I'm off to a business trip, and hope for warmer weather in a couple weeks when I return. Gotta get back out into the garage!

--Curt

[Yama-Bro]

Sweet Amp! Do you have a guitar to match?

[mach'er]

Thanks Yama-Bro. And to answer your question... It's in the works. I'm currently building an SG looking guitar that will be metallic blue with white stripes (paint scheme similar to a Gibson SG GT in Daytona Blue). It'll match the amp well enough, just not exactly the same blue. The guitar's body work is done, and I'm waiting for temps warm enough to apply finish in my garage. Then electrics, set-up, and first drive.

Too many projects. Temperature allowing, the car takes precedence over all of them.

[mach'er]

The weather warmed up, and I got a little bit of work done on the car. I installed the fuel lines from the tank to the engine compartment, although I haven't completely fastened with clamps everywhere yet.

I used AN fittings, with a mixture of braided lines and annealed stainless hardline.

Tank outlet EFI to AN fitting with braided line to the in-line fuel filter. In this picture, you can see that I just capped off the return line (since I'm not using it):
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=79978&d=1517237487

100 Micron fuel filter, with braided lines for inlet and outlet. In this picture, you can see where I chose to mount it (using a roll bar light clamp). You can also see where my brake line adaptor brackets are mounted for the rear.
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=79979&d=1517237488

Here is the outlet from the filter, running down the frame member to below the passenger side floor panel, where it runs along the passenger side frame rail as a 3/8" hard line:
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=79980&d=1517237489

View from the underside, of the hardline running along the frame rail:
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=79981&d=1517237489

I went just forward of the 4" cross member, bending up and around the frame rail, and then back down - where it will go below the front mounted battery tray:
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=79982&d=1517237490

From there, it runs along the lower front of the 4" cross member, terminating with a transition back to braided line which will go to the engine's mechanical fuel pump on the front driver's side of the engine (I need to order a shorter hose than the one I currently have for that location).

And, it can be seen in that third picture, but I did install a couple more cockpit panels. I'm really liking this look, and am thinking more and more about the pros and cons of leaving it uncovered:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=79983&d=1517237491

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=79984&d=1517237491

I plan to finalize the fuel lines by finishing up the insulated clips that hold it in place. Then, on to the brake lines. Hopefully, I'll start putting in the brake lines this coming weekend.

As always, let me know if you see something that looks like I may be creating problems for myself.

Thanks!
--Curt

[wareaglescott]

I think the red panels look pretty cool! Different and I like it. Good job.

[Straversi]

If you are going to keep those red panels exposed I'd get an adhesive plastic covering and then some cardboard over them right away. Mine are covered with Lizard skin now, and soon carpet but I've noticed I've abused those panels pretty good in the past couple of months. Yours look sharp.
-Steve

[WIS89]

Curt-

Progress is looking good. I like the red panels too. You can't go "full badger," and not have red in the build!

I bet you are looking forward to some warm weather. Spring is on the way, or so I am told. I look forward to seeing more of your work soon!

Regards,

Steve

[mach'er]

After a 5 year hiatus (holy crap, time sure flies), I've just cleared out the garage, cleaned off the work bench, and am going to guess that I'll spend at least this weekend just figuring out what the heck I was doing, and where I was in the process. After a quick once over, it looked like my next step is figuring out how and where to mount the CNC triple reservoir I had staged on my roller cart all that time, and then on to the hard brake lines. But, I'll probably retrace all my steps up to that point before I get started back up.

Time to get back to work. And I have a feeling that I'll be referencing the forums just about every step of the way - or at least as I get back up to speed on this build. Maybe I should read through my own build thread as a Step 1. Lol, but, seriously, I probably should.

[Blitzboy54]

Welcome Back!

[mach'er]

Note to others: Don't abandon your project for years. I swear, it took a solid week+ just to figure out where I was, what I was doing, and finding the parts which were involved in the immediate step where I stopped.

The little clips that capture the brake line adaptor (hard line to the flex line at each wheel)? Fronts were done, but the rears were waiting for me to resume the project. So, I needed two of them. Yeah, no idea where those went - but at least they are inexpensive.

The drivers side inner foot box panel? It took me a second day to realize I wasn't looking for a single piece of sheet metal. Thanks to pictures here, I now know it's two pieces, and my guess is they're in the stack just waiting for me to find them.

Anyway, I'm back in the swing. Over the past couple of weeks, I've inventoried and sorted, checked and arranged, and situated for regular progress. Including mounting a smart TV out in the garage. So, that's nice. But, what about the build? Yeah, got on that as well.

First, I mounted the brake & clutch fluid reservoirs. This is the first time I've used rivnuts, so that was fairly cool too. Any time a new tool or process is involved, it's like a new mountain has been conquered.
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Next, with that done, I tackled the hard brake lines. Bending up the brake lines was a challenge for me. But, I got there. I guess, like everything else, don't expect to be an expert without some experience.
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I did do some sheet metal, the driver's footbox floor and driver's floor... But, then ran into my issue with the inside footbox mentioned above. Once I get this batch of aluminum panels in, I'll get a photo or two up. But, I plan on leaving the outer footbox panel off, until after go-karting a few times - in case I need easy access for adjustments or whatever (a tip I read here, long ago).

Anyway, I'm back on the horse, and the ride has resumed. Thanks all.

[mach'er]

This is not a build update, really. Though I will leave this here...
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So, this post is me, sitting at my younger daughter's softball game, surfing the forums and finding too many good ideas and things to add. Side pipe heat shields, fan shroud and associated hardware (and the shroud would of course need powder coating), better fitting directional indicators, and on and on. Damn. You all are so good at giving me ideas on things to try to add to my budget.

I'll have to figure out how to limit this project creep. But, truthfully, I'm not sure I will. Perhaps I'll be hitting the Breeze website when I get home from this game, and then giving the powder coater guy a call in a week or so when it shows up.

But for now, back to the game, and more temporary wiring harness routing tonight.

[mach'er]

Alright, enough with the getting back up to speed and figuring out where I was, and all of that. I'm back and I'm building.

I've installed all my hard brake lines, and am ready to bleed my brakes - as soon as Summit delivers the brake fluid that I ordered. I went with Wilwood EXP 600 Plus (DOT 4) fluid, and in addition to the Summit order, I also ordered a fitting to go on the bleeder screw, as I wasn't all that thrilled with the fit of the hose off my bleeder bottle. So, that job is now a Memorial Day weekend task. My biggest concern about that job is the potential for leaks.

While I'm waiting for my orders to come in, I went ahead with the wiring harness. I've got the front harness zip tied out to where each branch terminates, and the back harness is zip tied through the trans tunnel, but then I've done actual harness retention in the rear. Here's a couple pictures of how I routed my rear harness, and what I used for harness retention.
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I didn't find the manual to be clear on how/where to route the license plate light's wires. So, that's still dangling, unrestrained. Question on that small harness - Does anyone have a good description of how that gets routed from the under trunk floor area around to the arched hoop, and which surfaces to use for mounting to avoid interference?

Up next back there is all the trunk aluminum panels. I've got my family queued up to help me push the chassis dolly out into the driveway, and I'm going to drain any *whatever* that may currently be in the diff, and then fill with 4 oz of friction modifier, and the appropriate amount of diff fluid. I want to get that done before putting the trunk floor in - as access from the top for the diff will make that so much easier. I'm going to have them help me push it out to the driveway to avoid stinking up the garage, and we'll push it back in after the plug is reinstalled and any spillage is wiped up. That stuff is absolutely rancid. Then - aluminum panels getting installed!

I do have a question on the trunk floor... For the access panels for the fuel level sender and the pick-up tube areas, do people generally just rivet those panels in place; or, is rivnuts a better option. I'd think rivnuts would be better - but then it wouldn't be flush. Thoughts on this one?

I also have moved up front, and have started the install of the Breeze Front Battery kit. Roughing it in, I decided I didn't like how it went together with my hard fuel line's routing. It didn't interfere, but it did seem like a future service nightmare. So, I tore my fuel line out, and have ordered a braided hose that will replace the current hard line, and can be routed to play better with the battery tray. Here's the hard line, taken out, and getting measured for replacement, and the battery tray cleco'd in.
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Lastly, I have a brass coolant expansion tank/reservoir thing that attaches directly to the T-Stat outlet on the intake manifold, which I really wanted to use. But for the life of me I'm not finding alternator and PowerSteering brackets that allow me to run it (alternator blocks where it would go). If anyone has suggestions on FEAD mounting bracketry that's simple and easy (even if it means having to change my water pump), please speak up. As I get closer to installing my engine, I'll probably post this as a stand-alone thread if I'm still stuck. I can't believe this is something that's hard. Here's what I've got now, which I'm not a big fan of. I suppose I could just rotate the alternator, and have it hanging below this current mounting bracket - but I just don't really even like this billet looking stuff.
184789

So, in addition to sharing my progress, there's three questions in this update:
1 - License Plate Wiring & how to route it around?
2 - Rivets or rivnuts for the access panels on the trunk floor?
3 - FEAD bracket sourcing for a small block Ford alternator and power steering?

I might be back in the swing of getting out in the garage, but I'm not back in the swing of doing a build thread. So, bear with me while I recalibrate what I put on here, and how much I share.

Thanks all! Have a great week.
Curt

[mach'er]

There's been a bit of activity in the past 1.5 weeks. I did get the chassis dolly pushed out into the driveway, and we drained the *whatever* out of the diff - and then refilled with the specified Ford friction modifier and diff lube. Turns out that the differential was likely shipped with the right stuff already in there. I didn't know. But now I absolutely know what's in there - so I'm perfectly fine with doing the work and buying the fluids. Here's my baby, out in the driveway, soaking up some sun:
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After that was done, back into the garage it went, and I was able to proceed with silicone and rivets for the trunk sheet metal. I found that apparently I had planned to do this prior to the cockpit's back panels - as I had predrilled holes that I now had no way to get to. But, hey, moving on. It'll be fine, and no one's going to be able to see that anyway, right? More metal, and starting to look slightly more car like:
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Then, I moved on to bleeding the brakes. I had a separate thread about finding an adapter for the CNC reservoirs - and the AGM adapter was perfect. Using the pressure bleed system from Motive Products was pretty slick. I've never bled brakes before, so it was a bit of a learning experience:
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One of the things I learned? Well, apparently you're supposed to bench bleed the master cylinders beforehand. I did not know this. So, after doing the bleed at all four wheels, and thinking I was good, it was a bit odd that the pedal felt the way it did. I talked with a guy at work, who used to be a hobby racer, and who I've talked to previously about the whole balance bar set-up stuff - and the first thing he asked was, "did you bench bleed the masters?" Ah, no. So, I gen'd this up to go back and do that while it was in vehicle:
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That seemed to work really well (other than some spilled brake fluid, which I promptly cleaned up). I'm going to go back and do all four corners again, but the pedal already feels so much better.

My battery box is in, and the ground wires are installed. I'm holding off on the positive cable until I've got the engine in, so I can be sure that the length is perfect before melting that solder slug and finalizing the cable end. Same for my fuel line, as I decided to not just guess at the final mechanical fuel pump location and am holding off before cutting it and installing the final fuel hose fitting.

FEAD stuff is in the works (subject of a standalone thread in the main area), and I feel like I'm making slow but steady progress. Fun to be back at it.

Now, off to look to see if anyone in my general area has an engine run stand for rent or sale. Maybe that would be a good idea, but we'll see. I'm starting to think about dropping the powertrain in, and it is killer exciting.

Thanks, and as always, any feedback is welcome. Have a good night.
-Curt

[GoDadGo]

Keep Wrenching, Riveting & Wiring!
..........You're Getting There!

[Ted G]

License plate wiring: I mounted through the trunk to the access panel. I also ran my reverse light to that area as I may or may not have my reverse lights mounted in the license plate frame. I also ran a wire below the trunk in case I want it there. Still waiting on the body to come back from painter.... so haven't made that decision yet.

Trunk: I went with Rivnuts on the panels to access the fuel tank. Just makes sense for easy access when needed.

[Blitzboy54]

The red powder coated panels look terrific! Are those going to be exposed at all or covered in carpet?

[mach'er]

The red powder coated panels look terrific! Are those going to be exposed at all or covered in carpet?

Thanks for the comment. As for what will come, I've been thinking about that, and thinking about that, and thinking about that... Etc. As much as I love it, and the two tone rivet look on the different panels - I'm pretty solidly on the dynaliner and carpet side of the fence right now. Doing the build, I've got several scratches and some other damage on the powder coat - and I don't want to feel like I'm always walking on egg shells in the car trying not to ruin the finish on the panels.

In fact, I guess as evidence that I perhaps have even made up my mind, I recently asked a neighbor who has a thing for cycling through project 70's era Firebirds if he has an upholstery guy. I'm dead set on red with white stripes for the paint on the exterior. I think a full red interior would be too much red (oh my God, did I really just say that???). But, some red in the interior - now that might just be the ticket. I've been looking at reference examples of cars with some or lots of red on the interior, downloading pictures, staring at them repeatedly, and trying to imagine what level will work with a red exterior. But all red seems too much (for a red car):
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I'm still a ways from there, so there's still time. But it is definitely something I'm actively thinking about.

Always planning about something.
-Curt

[mach'er]

I'm approaching installing my engine, but have hesitancy because I don't want to put it in and take it out, potentially repeatedly, to fix leaks or whatever (which I fully expect, since I did some of the work). Additionally, I'm still biding my time while I wait for the powder coater to get me a few engine parts back that I had dropped off. So, rather than working ahead elsewhere, or doing the DEI floor and tunnel shield on the outside surfaces of the footboxes, I'm going full on side quest.

After unsuccessfully trying to find a decent used one, or even one to rent or borrow, I decided to build my own engine test stand. I plan to put my engine on this thing, and check for leaks, do some break-in, and probably do the synchronization of my carburetors all on the stand.

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I started with this base stand frame from Summit (918015 (https://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-918015)), and have pieced the rest together. I'm getting close to having the stand ready for the engine. I'm sure it will be done by the weekend, and the powder coater had given me an estimate of completion of this week. So, maybe next week I'll have both done? Get it mounted and do a first start on the engine.

I know that's cheating for a first start. But sometimes cheating is a wise choice.

Anyway, when I'm done with this project, I'll have to decide if I keep it for future use, sell it, or what. A car buddy said, "this just means you need more projects". Come on, man. I need to finish one of the ones I already have. First.

Speaking of first. I'll post some first start pics/vids whenever I have them. Hopefully soon. Unless it goes horribly wrong. In that case, you'll see second start (or third, fourth,....) and maybe I'll fess up to it not being the first start.

Hope you're all having a good week.
-Curt

[zarnold]

I know that's cheating for a first start. But sometimes cheating is a wise choice.



Nope, not cheating. Looking forward to seeing first startup.

[mach'er]

While I impatiently wait for the powder coater to finish the parts I dropped off, I'm not making progress on the engine, nor the test stand at this point. The test stand is essentially done, and just waiting for an engine to go on it. But, I'm stuck waiting for the expansion tank to return, as it needs to go on before the water pump, which needs to go on before the CVF accessory brackets, and so on. So, I wait.

There was a fairly major development in the hardware decision realm. I was doing research on these Weber carbs, and kept reading about how running a mechanical pump and depending on a regulator to keep fuel pressure low enough wasn't the best idea. So, I've ditched my mechanical fuel pump, and am replacing it with a Carter Rotary Vane style pump that puts out 4 psi and 50 gph. Seems the way to go. I'm dealing with the change in direction the way I know how... by just sucking it up and doing the work. I wish I had made this decision before riveting on the trunk metal. But, yup, deal with it and do the work.

Also, JohnK had posted his methodology for installing DEI Floor and Tunnel Shield in a thread about heat shields and insulation, and linked to more details about how he did his here (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?31167-Greek-Guys-Garage-Roadster-Build-9509-(Nice-shoutout-on-Insta-about-my-build)&p=464566&viewfull=1#post464566). I thought his pieces looked good, and I also thought it was a method I'd be able to emulate, so I went for it.

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I needed to order one more smaller panel of the insulation because I didn't have room for one of the 7 panels I decided to do - but here's how it turned out otherwise.

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I appreciate running through other build threads, and finding ideas like this, and giving them a shot. Mine isn't turning out perfect, but I'm trying to not let perfect get in the way of the very good. And, I'm pretty happy with it, so that's good enough for me.

Anyway, I'm going to head back out to the garage, and wrap up the routing of the new electric fuel pump wiring, and then add a fuel pump relay to the test stand. Moving on, finding projects, and being thankful for all the help this forum provides.

Enjoy your Father's Day weekends.
-Curt

[mach'er]

Melt down... the solder has melted down. This is so frustrating. I had this coolant expansion tank for a SBF, and had gone to great lengths to get this thing incorporated into my build.

I decided it needed to look better, so I took it for powder coating. The powder coater took 4 weeks (vs his 2 week estimate), which was torqueing me off to begin with - but he finally let me know it was 'done'. But, while it was baking, apparently the solder used to make the tank was a very low temp solder - and flowed to the bottom as it hung in his giant oven, pooling and then cooling. I'll still have to go pick it up and evaluate what happened (and whether it can be saved) - but ARGHHHH!

Crazy. I hadn't even thought that the powder coating process would be hot enough to desolder the thing. And I am finding it hard not to be mad about it, though it's not the powder coater guy's fault that I dropped off a part that would do that. I'm seriously just sitting here facepalming.

:mad:

UPDATE: I went and picked up my stuff, and it might not be so bad. It definitely lost solder, but along with the immortal thought from Dumb and Dumber, there might be a chance. I'm going to attempt to figure out a way to build a test rig to pressure check it. But, if nothing else, it looks good.

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I'll report back as to whether I successfully figure out how to test it - and what the verdict is. I'm trying to be optimistic.

[mach'er]

The bad news is, it was leaking. It was leaking badly around the filler neck base - so badly that I couldn't tell if it was also leaking anywhere else. So, out came the torch, and I finished the job of desoldering the filler neck from the tank. Then, I did my best at cleaning up the metal to prepare to reassemble and resolder it back together.

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I had to order solder, because all I could find locally was lead free stuff - and I wanted to use a decent leaded solder. After it arrived, I went ahead and fluxed, soldered, and moved forward with another leak check.

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You can see I used some PVC fittings, and a Motive Products Power Bleeder to pressurize up to about 15 psi, to see if it would hold. It would not. Bummer. I tried to use a soapy solution to find where it was leaking, but all I did was make a mess. So, I filled a big ol' bucket, submerged the thing, and pumped it up - looking for bubbles. I was pretty happy to find it was leaking at the plate that I used to block the thermostat/inlet flange. After redoing that with some gasket sealer - no leaks. It sure seems like it holds!

Now, on with the build!!

[mach'er]

I spoke too soon. One more leak found at the thermostat housing area, where the pipe passes through the mounting flange. I had to desolder all that, clean it up, and resolder.

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The mounting plate is pretty thick, so it was a lot of heat to get a good solder joint. That means that the powder coat in that area is a bit worse for wear. But, I'm thinking that those surfaces aren't exactly front and center anyway - so it's still fine enough in my mind.

This time, pretty darn sure it's leak free.

I should also say that I did find a vendor that sells these things (for SBF 289/302), but in kit form - so not assembled. If I can fix mine, I think it's a decent do-it-yourself option for anyone with 'build your own' car skills. YouTube and trial and error was enough to get it functional.

EDIT: I also just saw that Mike Forte has them on his site. https://fortesparts.com/product/vintage-brass-degas-fill-tank/ (But I wouldn't recommend having them powder coated! Maybe chromed, or careful rattle can.)

[mach'er]

Today's progress was fun, except for the heat and high humidity. It was a muggy day, and when I broke down my CVF cardboard boxes at the end of the day, they felt damp. I know I was sweating my *** off, but I didn't know cardboard could do that too.

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I went with CVF front end accessory drive (v-belt) to keep room for that expansion tank.

The mid passenger side alternator location meant I needed to take out the four studs holding the alternator's rear housing, and rotate the back 180 degrees to have the positive stud in a favorable position. Then, I set it up so the alternator belt would be on the front groove of the crank & water pump pulleys.

I used the 351C power steering bracket, along with a Saginaw pump (also from CVF). After putting it on, I realized it was destined for the front groove. Argh! Back to the drawing board with spacers, washers, and multiple runs to ACE Hardware for socket head cap screws of different lengths and some other supplemental stuff that didn't come with the kit - but different combinations of aftermarket stuff calls for some level of being accepting of this kind of thing when it happens.

Next up, measure for length and get the actual v-belts - but only install the alternator belt initially. I'll put the PS belt on when the time comes - but certainly not until after I'm done with the test stand.

I also still have to figure out where the pressure dropping insert thingy goes - to run at the right PS pressure for the rack. And I probably should do that before I put it in the car - in case it's easier to get to beforehand.

But, I'm done for a bit, because a family vacation is about to start. But, then on to putting this thing the test stand. I feel it's very close to that.

Have a safe 4th of July!


Edit - I should mention that the para cord worked well for visualizing pulley alignment. Maybe there's some official way to do it - but this worked for me.