0624 is finished!

[donshapansky]

Last night after 3 1/2 years my HR is finished here are a few photos:
6882768828688296883068831

[wallace18]

Super Job! Congrats! Now go and enjoy it.

[Svtfreak]

Nice!

How did you do your wipers?

[kraftee]

Gorgeous.

[H R Lucky]

Good job Don, I like your console with the speakers. Is that an LED strip down on your door sill?
you're 100 units behind me but still done way before I will be.

Nevin

[NAZ]

Don, you can be proud of that car -- that's a very good looking coupe. It will turn heads everywhere you take it.

[erlihemi]

Sweet! Looks great Don. Drive it like u built it!

[donshapansky]

The wipers were from Dan Ruth at Innovative Rodding in the Phoenix area, it is tight but possible. I would rough the system in when the under dash is not full of wire harness. They work well.

[donshapansky]

The door sills were made by Dan Ruth at Innovative, I bought LED strips and Lexan, I wired them with the under dash LED's and control them with a micro switch on each upper door hinge.
68933

[Bob-STL]

Now that is Cool!

Great job!

Bob

[donshapansky]

Our town had a car show with over 300 cars attending, I got lots of great comments for the short time I was there on Saturday.
68945

[donshapansky]

6894668947689486894968948

Here are a few more shots

[JOP33]

Don this turned out absolutely amazing! Gentlemen, this is the car that got me hooked as Don was gracious enough to open up his shop to me about 6 months ago. I have seen this vehicle in person and Don has done a phenomenal job at putting this together. Congratulations Don!

[donshapansky]

Thanks Jamie, I have some tips for you as you go along, don't hesitate to call. I finally got the power windows to work pretty well, there are a couple of pics in my album about how to make the window guide much more rigid and keep the window where you need it. I need to talk to you before you place the trans. order about converter specs. Exhaust work that I did calmed down the rasping sound but with the top on it is still too loud, I would work this area over more if you plan to drive it any distance. The A/C is certainly worth it! I have 250 miles on it now and have had it up on the lift to look for anything working loose, the biggest concern I have is the bolts holding the exhaust pipe to the header, after 2 incidents in a couple of days, I used red Loctite on both sides and so far that seems to have fixed the loosening. I'm learning how to reduce squawking fiberglass parts that rub together and now looking for inside leather door straps and a couple of leather pockets/organizers to hold insurance cards, cell phone wallet etc.

[erlihemi]

Our town had a car show with over 300 cars attending, I got lots of great comments for the short time I was there on Saturday.
68945
Nice engine choice on that one!

[donshapansky]

Did you notice the Vertex mag?

[donshapansky]

I wanted to mention that I was concerned about under the hood airflow here Texas, I have found at 90+F that the indicated coolant temp does not exceed 190F and I can actually hear the cooling fan cycle on and off. At 50 mph and up the indicated temp drops to 180F. The louvers and reversed hood scoop help a lot I believe.

[BASmith]

Don,
Great looking car! Thanks for the tips along the way, and here's hoping you stay on the forums!
Bruce

[donshapansky]

I hope to do another one, trying to decide between a Gen 3 coupe or a GT40. The next one I hope to make a touring car I could go on overnight trips, the hill country has a lot of great roads or track it since I live so close to Motorsport Ranch in Cresson it would be fun! I currently run a Boss 302 but I think I need something a little quicker.

[erlihemi]

Did you notice the Vertex mag?

I did! Thinking that's what I need to fix my current issue (pun intended)

BW

[Yama-Bro]

Sweet car!

[Plimpton]

Great looking car. Like the color scheme.

[KW33]

Beautiful!! Now that you’ve had it on the road awhile, have you discovered anything that you’d change or do differently?

[donshapansky]

I have about 900 miles on the car and I'm glad I spent the effort on cooling air flow for the engine, the interior cooling work is also very important. I spent money on Dynamat, DynaLiner and Lizard Skin. Heat shields between the mufflers and the floor work very well. I would say the challenge is exhaust noise, I put a balance pipe in behind the transmission and Borla resonators, the exhaust noise is reduced to where it's fairly quiet from 50 mph up. If I do anything it may be trying a set Super Trapp mufflers in place of the resonators, I have used these on motorcycles with great success.
I highly recommend an automatic transmission with overdrive, the cruise rpm is under 2000 at 70mph and I think a 2,500 - 3,000 rpm stall is better than a stock converter because the tires stay hooked up, my calculation is 0 - 60 @ 3 seconds. The electronics that Performance Automatic offers makes for lots of adjustment on shift quality, shift timing etc. The Coyote has great low rpm driving qualities that I think is far superior to a lumpy, low vacuum idle. With my size 13 sneakers there is no room for a clutch let alone leg room for power shifting.
I would recommend paying attention to weather sealing if you are going with a hardtop, I don't have all the little openings plugged off yet but that's where I would spend more time. Once the top is on I wouldn't recommend pulling it off, unless you are prepared to put up with marks on the body when the top is off. In Texas I don't have much weather that is conducive to an open car. It's still in the high 80's here for another couple of weeks.
75500
75501
75502
75503
75506
The QA-1 shocks with softer springs was certainly worth it, my passengers remark on the ride quality. I have ordered the rear 3-link mod that takes the load off the axle bracket that is bolted to the axle tube. I can see this is worth doing, so this winter my list is going to be working with the rear axle support strength, wind noise sealing and an oil change.

I have been under the car several times checking bolts and looking for leaks, I forgot to tighten the oil pressure sender and got some drips. The coolant surge tank will not hold enough coolant to have any liquid in the tank when the engine is cold, it burps it out. So after a couple of attempts I just let it seek its own level and temps are fine, 180 - 190 in traffic at 100 F

[CVOBill]

Donshapansky,

What spring rate are you running on the front and rear? Looks like 200 on the rear?

Thanks

[donshapansky]

Yes the rears are 200 and the fronts are 325.

[CVOBill]

Thanks

[Foristell]

Very nice. I like your side panel vents.

[donshapansky]

I got the idea for the louvers from my 2013 Boss 302 Mustang hood, they were expensive but I like the way they look, the reversed hood scoop is very effective, you can feel the heat radiating out of it when the car is parked.
7556675567

[mgh]

I was going to ask the same question on the side louvers, "donshapansky" beat me to it.

You did a great build

[Foristell]

Turned out really sharp. Are those Nitto tires? If so how do you like them?

[donshapansky]

I'm sorry for the delayed answer I've been away for a few days and missed the question about tires. So far I'm pleased with the tires and yes they are Nittos. They seem to hook up well when the OAT's are summer like (above 70F). Last Saturday it was 44F and I took JOP33 for a ride in the early am for breakfast, at about 20 mph I nailed it, the tires broke loose big time, I lost the car and did a 180, luckily there was no traffic on our main highway thru town that early in the am. I'm still amazed at how the car reacted, I'm sure Jamie (JOP33) will remember the ride for a while and he probably will be gun shy in the same conditions with his '33.

[JOP33]

Actually Don, I just assumed you had opted for FFR’s 4 wheel steering package:cool:. Don made a great recovery so all is good!

[TDSapp]

I'm sorry for the delayed answer I've been away for a few days and missed the question about tires. So far I'm pleased with the tires and yes they are Nittos. They seem to hook up well when the OAT's are summer like (above 70F). Last Saturday it was 44F and I took JOP33 for a ride in the early am for breakfast, at about 20 mph I nailed it, the tires broke loose big time, I lost the car and did a 180, luckily there was no traffic on our main highway thru town that early in the am. I'm still amazed at how the car reacted, I'm sure Jamie (JOP33) will remember the ride for a while and he probably will be gun shy in the same conditions with his '33.

You know I have Nittos on my 2012 Challenger and I have the same type issues. When it is below 40 degrees I just about can't shift into second without my tires breaking lose some. I have to shift real slow when the weather is cold.

[mkassab]

I have about 900 miles on the car and I'm glad I spent the effort on cooling air flow for the engine, the interior cooling work is also very important. I spent money on Dynamat, DynaLiner and Lizard Skin. Heat shields between the mufflers and the floor work very well. I would say the challenge is exhaust noise, I put a balance pipe in behind the transmission and Borla resonators, the exhaust noise is reduced to where it's fairly quiet from 50 mph up. If I do anything it may be trying a set Super Trapp mufflers in place of the resonators, I have used these on motorcycles with great success.
I highly recommend an automatic transmission with overdrive, the cruise rpm is under 2000 at 70mph and I think a 2,500 - 3,000 rpm stall is better than a stock converter because the tires stay hooked up, my calculation is 0 - 60 @ 3 seconds. The electronics that Performance Automatic offers makes for lots of adjustment on shift quality, shift timing etc. The Coyote has great low rpm driving qualities that I think is far superior to a lumpy, low vacuum idle. With my size 13 sneakers there is no room for a clutch let alone leg room for power shifting.
I would recommend paying attention to weather sealing if you are going with a hardtop, I don't have all the little openings plugged off yet but that's where I would spend more time. Once the top is on I wouldn't recommend pulling it off, unless you are prepared to put up with marks on the body when the top is off. In Texas I don't have much weather that is conducive to an open car. It's still in the high 80's here for another couple of weeks.
75500
75501
75502
75503
75506
The QA-1 shocks with softer springs was certainly worth it, my passengers remark on the ride quality. I have ordered the rear 3-link mod that takes the load off the axle bracket that is bolted to the axle tube. I can see this is worth doing, so this winter my list is going to be working with the rear axle support strength, wind noise sealing and an oil change.

I have been under the car several times checking bolts and looking for leaks, I forgot to tighten the oil pressure sender and got some drips. The coolant surge tank will not hold enough coolant to have any liquid in the tank when the engine is cold, it burps it out. So after a couple of attempts I just let it seek its own level and temps are fine, 180 - 190 in traffic at 100 F

Don, I see a panhard bar that appears to connect to a fixed point on the left side and to the shock plant on the right.... is that correct? Did you fab this or buy as a kit? Any pic's or thread you can point me to?

Thanks Mark

[donshapansky]

I just assembled a 3 link system as per the manual.
80939