DaveH
12-15-2017, 01:25 PM
I can't quite believe it is done. What a fantastic experience this has been. I built a car! It is an absolute blast to drive this car, and I am fortunate to have many beautiful roads through the mountains here in south eastern British Columbia Canada.
I started off by going to the Mott's build school in May 2015. I had very limited automotive experience, so enrolled in the build school to see if I could do it. The class was fantastic - it gave me the confidence to build the car, and it also helped me choose running gear and options for the car. Many thanks to Todd and Charles for a great class, and also to Factory Five Racing for providing an amazing product that people can build in their garage!
I placed an order for a MK4 Roadster in June 2015 and after a long wait received approval from Transport Canada to import the kit. The crate arrived at my house on Sept 28, 2015. I worked away over the winter in 2016 with a first start in May and go-cart in July. I was rushing to try and finish before winter, but found I wasn't having fun, so I backed off and took my time over the winter in 2017 to finish the car. The car was finally inspected and licensed in July 2017 and I drove it in gel coat over the summer. A local semi-retired painter did the bodywork in October and did a fantastic job! The Matrix paint colors are Light Blue Metallic (13502L GBW) with Brilliant Silver Metallic (918867 495) stripes.
Here are the main build components:
Mk4 Roadster complete kit
306 ci engine from Fortins Engines in Chilliwack BC. The engine has a custom cam, Edelbrock RPM heads and intake manifold with the Edelbrock E-Street throttle body EFI system. The engine dyno came in at 370 HP at 6000 rpm, with torque about 350. I ordered catalytic converters from FFR and the car sounds great with the FFR side pipes (and also looks great with Drummer Mike heat shields!).
Tremec T5 transmission
3 -link rear suspension with a limited slip differential with 3.55 gears
Nitto NT555 tires, 245/45R17 in front and 315/35R17 in the back
Cobra Clubman high back seats with dual roll bars, and a handmade center console between the seats
I have many people to thank in helping build this car. The FFR and FFcars forums have been incredible sources of information. I would especially like to thank Mark Reynolds at Breeze, EdwardB for his amazing build blogs, JKleiner, Jeff Miller and many others for build ideas and techniques. I'd also like to thank my wife who was very supportive and encouraging throughout the build!
I started off by going to the Mott's build school in May 2015. I had very limited automotive experience, so enrolled in the build school to see if I could do it. The class was fantastic - it gave me the confidence to build the car, and it also helped me choose running gear and options for the car. Many thanks to Todd and Charles for a great class, and also to Factory Five Racing for providing an amazing product that people can build in their garage!
I placed an order for a MK4 Roadster in June 2015 and after a long wait received approval from Transport Canada to import the kit. The crate arrived at my house on Sept 28, 2015. I worked away over the winter in 2016 with a first start in May and go-cart in July. I was rushing to try and finish before winter, but found I wasn't having fun, so I backed off and took my time over the winter in 2017 to finish the car. The car was finally inspected and licensed in July 2017 and I drove it in gel coat over the summer. A local semi-retired painter did the bodywork in October and did a fantastic job! The Matrix paint colors are Light Blue Metallic (13502L GBW) with Brilliant Silver Metallic (918867 495) stripes.
Here are the main build components:
Mk4 Roadster complete kit
306 ci engine from Fortins Engines in Chilliwack BC. The engine has a custom cam, Edelbrock RPM heads and intake manifold with the Edelbrock E-Street throttle body EFI system. The engine dyno came in at 370 HP at 6000 rpm, with torque about 350. I ordered catalytic converters from FFR and the car sounds great with the FFR side pipes (and also looks great with Drummer Mike heat shields!).
Tremec T5 transmission
3 -link rear suspension with a limited slip differential with 3.55 gears
Nitto NT555 tires, 245/45R17 in front and 315/35R17 in the back
Cobra Clubman high back seats with dual roll bars, and a handmade center console between the seats
I have many people to thank in helping build this car. The FFR and FFcars forums have been incredible sources of information. I would especially like to thank Mark Reynolds at Breeze, EdwardB for his amazing build blogs, JKleiner, Jeff Miller and many others for build ideas and techniques. I'd also like to thank my wife who was very supportive and encouraging throughout the build!