RRRose (Ron) MK4 9181 Build Thread

[rrrose]

Friday Oct 6th marks the the next stage of my journey to be driving a roadster. Stewart Transport arrived in Parker Colorado (just SE of Denver) about 8am and we unloaded 29 boxes and the frame and body for MK4 9181.

Here is the plan for this build.

MK4 Complete kit
Wilwood brakes (red) front and rear
Halibrand 17x9 fronts 17x10.5 rears
IRS rear suspension
Chrome Roll bars
Kirkey high back seats
Power steering
Front and rear stainless bumpers
Vintage FFR gauges
Gas'n Pipes and headers
Front and rear sway bars
Powder coated frame
Heater / defroster
Wipers
Breeze cockpit cubby
Russ Thompson Trunk drop
Tangents blind roll bar install kits
Seat heaters
Russ Thompson Gas peddle
Russ Thompson turn signal
Breeze Engine bay battery mount
Breeze radiator shroud
52oz stainless radiator overflow
CNC reservoirs with bleeder cap





Engine is coming from Gordon Levy
It will be his stage 5 408 with fuel injection, we worked it all out and it will be turnkey ready to go paired to a tk600 5 speed.

Color is going to be Long Beach Blue (it is a BMW color) with white stripe

I will get the convertible top

This car will replace my 2010 Camaro and motorcycle. So it should see 8,000-10,000 miles a year. Not very likely I will autocross or race etc.

Still on the make a decision list
Hydraulic clutch
Cruise control – I use it on my Camaro all the time, keeps me out of trouble
Radio, yea I know

The summer was spent clearing out 18 years of raising four kids accumulation in the garage. Installing mo-better lighting, painting all the walls and ceiling, installing lots of shelving and putting in a flexible PVC tile garage flooring. I installed a Dannmar MX6 lift as my ceiling is only 9 feet. But that should ease the build a fair amount as well as maintenance down the road.

That about covers most everything. The journey begins :)

Ron

[Papa]

Congrats, Ron! Let me know if you need a couple of extra hands with anything.

Dave

[Straversi]

Congratulations. Sounds like a great build. Looking fwd to seeing your progress.
As a friend of mine told me, that empty nest thing is highly underrated. Enjoy!

-Steve

[wareaglescott]

Congrats. Sounds like a great build. Look forward to following along.
Highly recommend the Hydraulic Clutch. Love my forte unit.
If you want the radio go for it. I hear my small bluetooth speaker riding in my passenger seat just fine. I know if I had actual amp and speakers it would be fine. I believe all the complaints about not being able to hear a radio are overblown. Would think with the top you mentioned it would even be better.

[rrrose]

Inventory went very well today. Just a few little things missing. The POL is pretty short as well, although it was hard waiting from my completion date of Sept 2, the just over 3 weeks sitting waiting for pickup meant just about all the back ordered items came in and shipped with the kit.

Need to spend some time transferring my notes in my 4I April build manual I had been prepping with to the new one that came with the kit. I got revision 4K (August 2017). The one I was doing my prep in got from build school in August.

My IRS center section is going to be a pain to get cleaned up and coated. It is covered in some sort of oily fluid.

A good first full day after delivery.

[alv69]

just like opening presents at christmas

[AC Bill]

Congrats on the arrival of your roadster. Great times ahead for sure.

Forget the radio, unless you wear ear buds. With a 408, you'll never hear it anyway. I've never had cruise control on a standard transmission..Does it gear down for you, when you hit a hill? :p

I am really curious as to what the build manual revisions include? Regardless, you can learn more about how to do things the best way, on this, and the FFCars forums.

[2bking]

Welcome to the madness and we need pictures. I have cruise control and like it. The hills in Texas don't need a down shift with the amount of HP available under the hood from my Coyote even at low RPMs. Your situation may be a little different in CO. I know the Slimline mufflers will let the radio be heard. As for the FFR premium convertible top, it doesn't completely keep the water out of the cockpit. Mine drips all along the top of the windshield in a rain storm but it's a lot better than no top. And the side curtains are a must to keep rain from entering through the sides. So making you roadster a daily driver may need a backup plan.

[rrrose]

Congrats, Ron! Let me know if you need a couple of extra hands with anything.

Dave

Thanks Dave, I will. If my teenagers run off when its time to get the IRS center section in I will be giving you a ring :)
Ron

[rrrose]

Congratulations. Sounds like a great build. Looking fwd to seeing your progress.
As a friend of mine told me, that empty nest thing is highly underrated. Enjoy!

-Steve

Hi Steve
I am enjoying as they move out. 2 are out and 3rd heads off in January. I am enjoying more me time vs always running all over town for some activity. Its a whole other type of rewarding as you watch them spread their wings and venture out on their own without too many stumbles.

[rrrose]

Congrats. Sounds like a great build. Look forward to following along.
Highly recommend the Hydraulic Clutch. Love my forte unit.
If you want the radio go for it. I hear my small bluetooth speaker riding in my passenger seat just fine. I know if I had actual amp and speakers it would be fine. I believe all the complaints about not being able to hear a radio are overblown. Would think with the top you mentioned it would even be better.

The forte one is the one I will get. I was just about 100% I even got the 3 reservoir CNC setup, I just need to give Mike a call and get it ordered.
I have a radio on my motorcycle and that is similar exposure to wind and road noise. I really like listening to music when I am driving and don't want to deal with a speaker lose in the cockpit. So I will most likely get a marine radio and speaks and fit them in somehow.
Thanks so much for your build thread. It was great to follow and so many great tips. I hope I get a few tips to pass along as well all the questions I know I will have.

[rrrose]

Welcome to the madness and we need pictures. I have cruise control and like it. The hills in Texas don't need a down shift with the amount of HP available under the hood from my Coyote even at low RPMs. Your situation may be a little different in CO. I know the Slimline mufflers will let the radio be heard. As for the FFR premium convertible top, it doesn't completely keep the water out of the cockpit. Mine drips all along the top of the windshield in a rain storm but it's a lot better than no top. And the side curtains are a must to keep rain from entering through the sides. So making you roadster a daily driver may need a backup plan.

I have pictures ready to put up as soon as I graduate to that level of member. Right now I dont have access but maybe this comment will get me to level up :)
As for cruise, running around town and with the torque I will have in the engine it will be helpful. Yes driving up in the mountains I wont use it so much but in the flatter front range around Denver it sure helps not getting going too fast. My Camaro is the bright orange indy pace care special edition. I know a few of the county sheriffs through scouts and they used to pull me over just to have a look at my car, buggers. The local town cops seem to follow me when they see the car just to make sure I don't get on it too much.
Colorado weather I think will suite the ragtop well. We get lots of sunshine but the odd storm. I dont mind getting a little damp its the soaked through to the skin I want to try and avoid. Spring and fall driving up in the hills gets chilly quick. Like today 80 in the city 20's at altitude but nice and sunny. Those that live here always tell people oh its crazy snow all the time even in summer, the reality is in the front range we get on average 300 days of sunshine.

[rrrose]

It was a hectic day, with 2inches of snow expected tonight and another 4 inches tomorrow, it was time to do the needed prep for snow around the house today. Got all that done. Then I could work on the car, put my body buck parts together and got the body off the frame today. Storing it in the backyard out of the way.

Took all my pictures of the panels and through the week I will pull them off, drill them and coat them.
Here are some pictures so far

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75038&d=1507515672

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75037&d=1507515662

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75035&d=1507515638

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75034&d=1507515625

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75033&d=1507515613

[2bking]

.....Got all that done. Then I could work on the car, put my body buck parts together and got the body off the frame today. Storing it in the backyard out of the way.

Be careful of storing the body outside especially with a potential snow load. I have seen some pictures of broken fiberglas on bodies stored under a tarp.

You have a nice work space. Hopefully you have a heat source to keep it comfortable this winter.

[Yama-Bro]

Congrats, Good Luck, and Welcome! I like the saying on your cabinet.

[Jazzman]

Nice setup! I am so pleased you will be joining us! It is a great trip. If you need answers, there are many that will be more than happy to help you over the rough patches.

[dncharo]

Ron,
Congrats! My dad and I were at the same build school as you and your thread inspired me to start our own build thread. We're #9138. Like we talked about at build school, we have a very similar build plan so I look forward to following along!
David

[rrrose]

Ron,
Congrats! My dad and I were at the same build school as you and your thread inspired me to start our own build thread. We're #9138. Like we talked about at build school, we have a very similar build plan so I look forward to following along!
David

Hi David & Izzy, I will make sure I follow along with your build. I should have taken a few more videos like you did at build school. This getting old and having CRS (Can't Remember Stuff :) ) is a pain. I did take pretty good notes during class and actually spent many hours right after class reading the manual in detail and making more notes. I need to transfer those notes to the updated manual but I am my battling just getting going heart vs my be prepared brain.

Wonderful to hear from you.
Ron

[rrrose]

Ok so I have my first question. After reading all the different ways folks have put coating on the aluminum panels my brain I think came up with a variation I have not seen discussed.
Wondering if there would be anything about this that I dont know.
So what I came up with was using engine enamel with a ceramic additive. Here is my logic. I wanted a smooth gloss finish to ease keeping the engine bay clean. While I would have prefered a closer match to my exterior color I do have a certain fondness for the Pontiac blue as I latched onto the brand as a kid and always owned Pontiac cars. While I do not have enough engineering knowledge to understand all the thermal dynamics I an thinking a lighter color would be better than a dark color to help with heat in the engine bay and thus transferring to the cockpit.

So before I start rattle can spraying my panels when the weather warms up on Wed, any reasons not to do this?
Ron

[rrrose]

Be careful of storing the body outside especially with a potential snow load. I have seen some pictures of broken fiberglas on bodies stored under a tarp.

You have a nice work space. Hopefully you have a heat source to keep it comfortable this winter.

Thanks for the tip on the tarp. I will make sure I tent enough for the snow to slide off.
I have a kerosene heater I plan using to take the chill out of the air and keep my hands warm enough to work well. My woodworking shop, yea I am really spoiled, is another 3 bay garage dedicated to woodworking. It now has a built in gas furnace and I keep the temp at 55 during the winter. My Canadian blood likes that temp when I am active working on stuff. It isnt shorts and t-shirt working temp but i dont need a dew rage to keep the sweat out of my eyes. :)

[2bking]

You haven't said what your heat barrier plan is but there are plenty of options of coatings and other materials that are placed on the inside of the foot boxes to help stop the heat from getting into the interior. The color on the outside won't make much difference but shinny light colors will absorb less heat into the sheet metal for transmission toward the inside. Some strategically placed heat shields around the exhaust will relieve any heat from radiating from the hot pipes there. Check the build threads and you will see all different panel colors and treatments. I used rattle can clear and automotive clear coat on my panels after RA sanding and Scotch Bright pad buffing. Just make sure you get the aluminum clean. An aluminum primer would be good for the first coat.

The biggest source of heat on the inside is small holes around wiring, air paths between body and frame, and sheet metal joints. After all these are sealed and a thermal barrier is on the foot boxes, you won't have an unwanted heat problem.

[rrrose]

Thanks 2bking
I dont want to have unwanted heat problems so I am hopefully doing all the right planning and build things up front to not have a problem to solve down the road.

I will be using lizard skin for heat and sound barrier. I will also be installing the fresh air vent kit from finish line for air into the foot boxes. That tip on air flowing in through small hole around wiring etc is great. I made a note in my build manual to seal all manor of airflow from engine bay into cockpit really well when the wiring is ready for the final step.
Ron

[rrrose]

Through the week I was able to do what I am going to call a bunch of prep. I got all the aluminum photographed and off the frame. A good amount of drilling done for the foot boxes aluminum and the 'F' panels. Then it as on to wiping the frame down. There was lots of fiberglass dust from when they drilled all the holes in the body at Factory Five. I then put a layer of protective tape on the engine bay area of the frame. I have seen that in a number of build threads and as clumsy as I am, hopefully that will help keep the frame powder coat in tact.

I started cleaning off the rear differential. Note don't use those damn cheap red rags I have red rag fibers all over the cast iron to clean off now, geez.

I also got the 'F' panels prepped and and testing my aluminum finish plan on the small firewall piece RH side. Put some aluminum primer on one side and then put on the engine enamel. The instructions of the engine paint does not say to use a primer which sort of makes sense as it is designed to go directly on the block. The outside temp has cooled down so its kind of a pain to have a ventilated area warm enough to apply the paint.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75320&d=1507996761

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75319&d=1507996748

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75318&d=1507996739

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75321&d=1507996772

[2bking]

Run an open flame torch over the red fibers and they will disappear.

[WIS89]

Ron-

x2 on what King said. They will disappear, and will haunt you no longer!!

You are off to a good start. Don't you love all that packing material?

Be sure to let us know how we can help. Lots of great folks here that are very smart, and willing to help. They have saved me countless times!

Regards,

Steve

[Vspeeds]

Congratulations!
I just saw this thread and am looking forward to seeing your progress.

I have chassis 9180 which was completed at FFR on August 18, 2017. I received the kit on September 13.

[KW33]

Subscribed and looking forward to seeing your progress.

[rrrose]

Congratulations!
I just saw this thread and am looking forward to seeing your progress.

I have chassis 9180 which was completed at FFR on August 18, 2017. I received the kit on September 13.

Hey Vspeeds
cool that your chassis 9180. Mine was completed Sept 2, delivery was Oct 6. It was an agonizing month to wait.
Ron

[mach'er]

Hi rrrose. Looking forward to following your build thread and sharing pointers as we move through this.

I'll be attempting to clean and paint my IRS diff this weekend, and now will not be using any red shop rags. See, you're helping me already!

[rrrose]

This past week didn't see much progress. I had to heed the advise I had seen here and got a build school. When you get frustrated put stuff away and stop.
I got my 'F' panels coated and mounted and the lower control arms on as well.

Put the front coil overs together.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75559&d=1508294273
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75561&d=1508295434

Where I got stuck was screwing the ball joints into the upper control arms. Fact to note. The ball joints are Howe 22320S. One fits great in either control arm and the other wont go in either control arm. Of course I didn't realize this until I had to take it out of the control arm and futz with it. I test fit to make sure it started well, wiped off the threads on the control arm and ball joint put a couple drops of blue thread lock on and proceeded to install the ball joint. Per the manual when things got hard I went out to my workshop and used my vise. At this point my brain disengaged and I proceeded to use all my strength to try and finish tightening down the ball joint until seated. I was never able to get that far. After 45 minutes in this mode my brain decided to activate again after I crushed my thumb between the control arm and the vise and it advised me something isn't right and you need to get this apart and figure out what is wrong.... so 1.25 hours after that I was able to separate the ball joint from the control arm.... blue locktight dries somewhere in all this time.

I cleaned off the locktight from the threads and this is when I learned that one ball joint works well and the one I happen to grab first doesn't seat in either control arm. At this point I put everything away and moved on to other projects around the house.

The next day I grab my steel wool and start on the threads of the ball joint and control arm. I have reached the point where I can get the ball joint to within a 1/16" of seating but it will take a tool to get it any further. I know this isn't right since the other ball joint I can install right to seating by hand no problem. It is progress though without the steel wool treatment it would stop at 1/2"
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75558&d=1508294258

At this point it is going to sit for a little more than a week. Off to Elk camp in a day. Which got me thinking. My spouse is a born and raised Dallas Texas girl. We spent 6 years in Dallas-Fort Worth. What I learned is there is this thing, especially if you had a big Cadillac or Lincoln, about putting a long horn hood ornament on your car, the Canadian from Toronto thought this was pretty cool. Now having lived in Colorado for 19 years and spending 16 years heading into the mountains this time of year to meet up with 8-10 very close friends hiking around at 10,000 feet trying to locate elk. I got to thinking (which is dangerous) and needing to have my head have some fun with the Cobra since I ran into this silly stumbling block I know just the thing for the front of the Cobra. Thoughts ? :)

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=75557&d=1508294130

[Mark Eaton]

I say go for it! I mean, people need to know where your from.

Also, I like your engine enamel paint on the F panels. I started with Rustoleum clear coat but I'm thinking about changing midstream to a POR spray on paint with primer I found online. I'll post it soon on my thread. I'm thinking a lighter color in the engine compartment may make it easier to see spills or leaks or whatever.

Mark

[TexasAviator]

Nice work rrrose. I am impressed with your detail and patience. The tape is smart move. You are doing great. I am 15 chassis numbers behind you. We are going to be building our cars about the same. Good luck my man.

[dncharo]

Ron,
Sorry to hear about the trouble with the UCA ball joints... We tried using the ones that came with the kit, but one fit well and the other not so much. We then asked factory five to send us a new one, but that didn't fit either. At this point (2 weeks later), we just gave in and ordered the Howe ball joints. Fortunately, both of those fit really well. We were able to spin them in by hand almost all the way and then used a vice for the last bit. (don't forget to order the dust boots for those).
For you, it sounds like one of them is good and the other isn't. Maybe you can just exchange it... Hope your Elk camp was fun! Those horns certainly make a statement!
-David

[rrrose]

I got back home from being in the mountains yesterday. After getting hunting clothing washed and put away and gear organized and stored again until next year I puttered around on the build.
First I spent another 15-30 minutes with some steel wool on the ball joint threads. That did the trick and I was then able to screw the Howe joint all the way in. Add some blue thread lock and using one of my woodworking clamps to get the right amount of torque but not too much that task is all done.

Then it was on to setting up my pneumatic rivet gun and getting the F panels on permanently. Another check box done

Then i decided I needed to deal with the red rag mess on the differential. After 15 minutes with my propane torch that mess was done and dusted. A little more cleaning with a quality microfiber cloth and I was ready and prepared the iron surface with the POR metal prep solution. After following those directions and then clean off that solution I placed the differential in the vicinity of the garage heater to get it thoroughly dry as the instructions say. That lead to the wow that diff can sure rust in a hurry observation.

Now that it was all clean it was time to apply the POR 15 and here we get to the title of the post. I am sure those that have used this product are just going to read this with a knowing smile. For those like me where this product was totally new hopefully I have some information you can use. First I don't know how I was supposed to open the dang quart can but obviously using a standard paint can open approach wasn't the way to do it. I carefully worked around and around and around the lid slowly prying it up and off with my standard big box paint can lid opening tool. When that reached the end of its leverage I broke down and got my old back of the drawer big screwdriver that I use for when a screwdriver needs to be a pry bar. Dully broken in my by spouse for such purposes. Again we go around and around gently easing up this lid a little at a time. Now in case anyone has not had this pleasure I can tell you that at this point the lid that is coming off has lost any of its lip that you pry against. It is pretty much a straight walled lid now and I am wondering just how tall the interior lip is I am trying to get this thing up and off of. As I find a few more perches to be able pry up on I see that I am very close to having it off but already know that there is no way I am putting this lid back on as it is in no shape to use again except to permanently seal the can. Eventually I get a spot where I can see into the can and I slip a small screwdriver into the opening to finally break the lid free, a few more spots and off it comes. At this point being careful/gentle had left the garage.

This was the point I learned my next lesson about POR 15. This isn't like normal paint. I was expecting a really thick product based on all the comments on how indestructible the stuff is. How this translated in my woodworkers head was it must have lots of solids so I was expecting a thick solution. Well that it is not. Its runny stuff and splashes. Which is exactly what it did as I popped the lid off with my small screwdriver. Unprepared I am then dashing to the toolbox to get paper towels and remembering as I did this that there was this special comment that you need POR solvent to clean up this stuff which I didn't get get cause I have every other type of solvent you can imagine that I use for all my various woodworking finishing. Luckily lacquer thinner does okay when POR is still wet. Having seen how runny this stuff was I was glad I had pulled out two weapon choices for application. The foam brush was the right tool for applying this stuff to the differential. A light first coat as directed and a few runs to clean up off the aluminum side of the housing and all was not so bad. Keep a handy supply of paper towels for catching these little runs. What ever you do wear gloves. Once this stuff drys it will need to wear off. Had I known how runny the product was I would have taped off the aluminum as best I could. Then again it isn't planned to be a show car. If someone wants to check out my differential and notice a few little paint runs then I probably don't really want to be talking to such a person anyway. Besides they would have to have such a skinny head to fit under the car they probably dont have a high powered brain.:rolleyes:

The real fun came with the second coat. Now have I said this stuff is runny. I was very careful trying not to apply a heavy second coat. Still I was having fits with runs onto the aluminum. I would would be working on a section and look back and see a run. Quickly grab a paper towel and dab that up and go back to application only to see another run start in a slightly different place, repeat. When I had finished the whole second coat I spent 15 minutes dabbing up runs as they formed. What was happening is the higher points and especially the little pockets had too much product from the foam brush and even though I didn't think I had put on too much I must have and it was slowing following gravity and running onto the aluminum. Now in case you haven't caught on I was feeling like one of the three stooges as I was dancing around the table dabbing up these runs, I was also able to, 3 times, rest my forearm on the table to get under the slightly elevated differential and that is just where I had last put my stir stick that promptly stuck to my arm and now I am trying to get that cleaned up by directly wiping my arm with lacquer thinner, not very healthy.
In the end after about 30 minutes I was able to keep the aluminum portion of the differential mostly free of black POR 15. I got some black spots on my arms I didn't catch from touching drips on my paper I had down as a reminder of the hole episode. I expect they will be there for quite a few days.

In the end another task checked and it appears it will look okay. Glad I had a spare unused 1 quart paint can I could pore the POR into.:p

Upper front ball joints in control arms ready to mount
7604776048



Rear Differential (like there might be a front differential in such a car) with POR 15 applied and drying
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=76041&d=1509251935
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=76039&d=1509251933


One unusable lid after being given the removal treatment by Ron
76046

[Papa]

Ron,

I had the same issue with the lid -- not sure how that thing comes off without shredding it. As for the spots on your skin, be prepared to wear it for at least a week before your skin finally gives up and sheds itself along with the POR-15.

Dave

[dncharo]

Ron,
Thanks for your detailed experience with POR 15, we are about to do the same thing so it was very helpful! Is there a particular reason why you (and many others) didn't also paint the aluminum side of the differential? It seems like it is a lot of work to prevent runs and we might as well paint it too.
Thanks, David

[rrrose]

Ron,
Thanks for your detailed experience with POR 15, we are about to do the same thing so it was very helpful! Is there a particular reason why you (and many others) didn't also paint the aluminum side of the differential? It seems like it is a lot of work to prevent runs and we might as well paint it too.
Thanks, David

Glad my including the details helped.

I didn't paint the aluminum half for two reasons.
1) all the access points to the internals of the differential are through the aluminum side. I didn't want to paint over all the bolts and not paint the vent hole, drain and fill plug and temp sensor hole etc
2) Personal preference on cosmetics. I liked the aluminum look and it does not rust the same as the cast iron so didn't need the same level of rust protection.

Ron

[Yama-Bro]

Thanks for the detailed review on POR-15. I'll be ready now. I, like you, was expecting a thicker liquid.

[wareaglescott]

Differential looks nice.
That for-15 is some nasty stuff for sure but it does a great job.
I read somewhere on here someones account of using it and stopping in the middle to take a restroom break! I think you can guess where that story went...
It was pretty funny!

[rrrose]

For the past week plus I have been finishing getting the front suspension together along with the front brake rotors and calipers. With the help of this community I figured out the castle nut head scratch-er and learned a valuable lesson in thinking outside the box or assembly manual as it is. At this point the front suspension is completed. It only took 3 trips into town for the right tools,and parts and tools and parts :)

I have also been working on the parts for the IRS. I have the spindle ears cut off and chased out the holes to 5/8". I put the differential up on my workbench in my woodworking shop to chase out the front holes and decided I wasn't really done to my satisfaction with the POR so added coatings to the area where the axle joins to the differential. I then figured out that I needed the differential on the floor to get the appropriate control and strength to chase out those holes. Slow and easy was the way to go there.

As I started on the rear UCA and tie rods I found that the ends even though they had a protective plastic covering still got some bumps and the threads had some flat spots that made them very difficult to put together. I was obviously in the right frame of mind as all I did was go get my fine files for guitar building and proceed to clean up the threads and take some steel wool to all the nuts and bolts for the IRS and clean up the roughness from the manufacturing process. This is not likely something that someone would do if they were building the car for someone else. It would have been easy to get some wrenches and just push through those flats spots and the less than smooth function of the nuts and bolts. I sat there for 45 minutes just taking my time cleaning up threads, deburring spacers etc.

As I sat at the bench doing my thing it came to me that this pile of parts I am still mostly dealing with, yes they could potentially be of much higher specifications. If they were though I would not likely be living through my dream right now. Doing what I was doing I can tell that Maddog and his team at FFR have struck the right balance between affordability and still have all the components fully adequate for the end purpose long living machine. At the end of this journey I will feel safe to drive her assuming I do my part right. Yes I have plans to change some things but as I can fully see now, every one of these cars is unique even if they come with all the same parts/options, since each builder is unique.

It must have been the psychological and physical move of working on that differential, UCA's, and tie rods in my workshop and not the garage. In that space my mantra is craftsmanship and artistry. On the wall for me to see all the time is the quote "He who works with his hands is a laborer. He works with his hands and his head is a craftsman. He who works with his hands, his head and his heart is an artist." While I do not feel even close to being a craftsman yet in this endeavor, (more like a gorilla just beating around with tools) I am learning with every nut, bolt and rivet. In the end I expect to be damn proud of what I have done and will fully unabashedly take credit for doing it myself, knowing it was the engineering behind it from FFR and the wisdom and support from the folks here and everywhere else that are helping me down the path with some amount of the right stuff in me. Oh and $ in the bank that is helping :)

This is my mood for this Sunday evening and the end of this week. The perspective I will do my damnedest to carry through the rest of the build. I have a couple of weeks of vacation I will be using to work on the car between now and Christmas. Hoping that 80+ hours will move me along well to my goal of driving her next summer.

Ron

[Jazzman]

"He who works with his hands is a laborer. He works with his hands and his head is a craftsman. He who works with his hands, his head and his heart is an artist."

Very profound. I like it. We try never to be just laborers. Sometimes we must accept that we are craftsman. But occasionally we attain the level of artist. It is an amazing feeling. May you have it frequently!

[rrrose]

Progress update.
Finally getting some time not having to work on the honey do list. I got back in the garage for a full day. I had been able to get lots of the sub assembly work done on the rear suspension and yesterday saw it all come together.
At this point I have all the rear suspension on. Most all the front suspension, just need to get the sway bar on.
Next up will be break lines from the calipers and the parking break cable.
I pulled out all the parts from inventory to assemble the peddle box and reservoirs for brakes and clutch.


http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=78902&d=1515476233

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=78903&d=1515476234

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=78900&d=1515476230

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=78901&d=1515476232

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=78904&d=1515476834

[dncharo]

Looking good Ron! Nice progress!

[Papa]

Looking good, Ron!

[Yama-Bro]

Looks awesome! Keep it up.

[rrrose]

Hi all,

Well after an extended absence time for an update.

I received an amazing email from Papa on the forum in mid Feb checking in on me. It was just the jump start I needed after getting stalled on my build. In the past 3 years there were 2 new jobs and then the realization that after 40 years in the IT business I was just burned out so I returned to work in January after taking a couple of weeks off over the holidays and turned in my notice and retired.

It wasn't like I never worked on the car but things just moved slow.

I decided that the rattle can paint on the aluminum wasn't going to hold up the way I wanted. I removed and stripped the panels that where on the car and any that I had painted and took them to get powder coated. That in itself turned into a major fiasco taking 4 months before I got my aluminum back. For anyone local to this area if you are looking to use a powder coat operation in Kiowa, chat with me about my experience first. Needless to say this was a major delay and hit on motivation on the project.
The end result though is what I wanted in look and durability.
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At this point it is almost a completed rolling chassis. The last item to take care of is filling and bleeding the brake lines which means I need to get the connections from the peddle box to the reservoirs. This is mostly ready to complete.

The past month has been going back over the whole build remembering where I was at, what the plans were (this was the hardest part, remembering what I was planning, getting old does have its challenges :) )
Completed the trunk drop and the trunk cubbie but did it a little different. Rather than the whole width of the trunk behind the seats I reshaped the aluminum and fit it to make a box that is between the roll bars. This way I still have access to the harness and rollbar bolts via the trunk vs trying to work through the access hole for the cubbie. I still have the room I wanted for things to store while rolling in the car. I will be installing some power access points in the cubbie for phones.
Here is how it looks before I rivet it all in.


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Where I am trying to get to is. Figuring out the remaining build steps so that I can prep and apply my lizard skin heat and sound insulation. There should be some warm enough weather coming here soon and time to commit and get some aluminum riveted in and coated.

At any rate the build is back in progress finally.

[egchewy79]

welcome back! It's great to see the support we all have for each other and how this can motivate us to keep moving forward. Hopefully retirement will given you some time to relax and get back to working on your car.

[Papa]

I got to go see Ron's build after we chatted. He has done a beautiful job on the car! I hope to get some time to go lend a hand where I can. With all our snow and some other distractions, I haven't had a chance to pony up the support I offered. Good to see you back at it, Ron.

Dave