Dagwood's Build and Pain Thread

[Dagwoods]

I had been putting off building a roadster for some time now. Always found a reason to talk myself out of it; not enough time, not enough money, not enough room, not enough beer, etc. Most of those times I was absolutely correct and would have never been able to finish it. That all changed when I happened to be on the FFR website the morning of black Friday last year. Just another morning, drinking coffee, configuring a kit for fun and then I saw that they were having a pretty decent sale on the first ten base kits ordered. I called my wife over and showed her and her response (probably due to lack of sleep or feeling guilty for her own shopping spree that she was planning for the day), said, "Why not? Let's do it." Game on.

So, ordered up a base kit with the following options:
holes cut
powder coat
3 link rear suspension
mark IV spindles
power steering rack
front sway bar

Also ordered some parts separately to take advantage of a 25% off parts sale:
Heater
GPS vintage gauges
RF wire harness
351 headers

Had a completion date of 1/13/2018 and Stewart delivered on 1/29
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Lets get building...or building, figuring out I did it wrong, tearing it apart and building it again.

[Dagwoods]

Most of my threads could probably start with, "thanks to <insert name here> for documenting this..." as I try to recreate what others have already done. I will try and give credit where I can, but if I forget to give you credit, its not my fault, I was having a beer when I read your post and forgot who wrote it...

So inventory took a couple of days, but didn't find anything that was missing. So far, so good. A couple of back-ordered parts like carpet and and lower control arms but nothing too bad.

Onto the body buck! Thanks to the plans I saw from Jazzman (modified to be a little shorter), I was able to use some wood I had lying around and created a decent-looking buck:
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The "F" on the buck was for front, but it also was what the word I shouted started with when I remembered that I never measured my lift ramps width before building it. The casters were put on 10 inches too wide to fit. So..what now? Luckily, I figured this out before the wood glue dried and I was able to disassemble most of it and and create this train-wreck
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Actually, it worked pretty good and for what I need it for, is probably at a better height anyway. I don't need to store my car under it, so the added height was not really needed. Whats kind of funny, is that I did check to make sure I had enough height from lift to ceiling for the raised buck, but didn't even think to measure lift track width. Oh well, problem solved.

Had a friend and his son come over today to help get the body off and put away. No issues at all with that
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[Dagwoods]

So besides getting the body off this weekend, I went ahead and put together the coilovers. Assembled the front and then started on the rear ones when I noticed something. The instructions say to ensure the jam nut is tight at the top of the mount. On the rears, the jam nut was already tight to the removable threaded mount, however, i remember being able to see about a 1/4 inch of threads between the jam nut and mount on the fronts. In my defense the jam nut was tight, just not tight against what it was supposed to be. Luckily, these things take like 5 minutes to redo, so was able to dissemble and tighten the jamnut before assembling again. So make sure you double check that Jam nut (like the instructions say).
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The last thing I did today was to go ahead and label all the panels and throw some tape on the frame parts that I will soon be swinging wrenches around.
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That's it for now...will update when I can.

cheers!

[jrcuz]

Looking good. My first try at building my body buck was a disaster. It collapsed like a house of cards. Fortunately it was in the middle of the day and no neighbors around to see it. Good start Andrew
JR

[Yama-Bro]

Congrats! Welcome to the club!

[scottiec]

Looking good man!

[BluePrintEngines]

Very Nice! Keep us in mind when you start lookin at powertrain options :)

[Jeff Kleiner]

So besides getting the body off this weekend, I went ahead and put together the coilovers.




Did you happen to check that the adjustable rebound was set the same on all before assembling them? I've pulled them out of the box and found them in different settings. I generally recommend full soft rebound with the FFR supplied spring rates to begin with.

Jeff

[boat737]

Did you happen to check that the adjustable rebound was set the same on all before assembling them? I've pulled them out of the box and found them in different settings. I generally recommend full soft rebound with the FFR supplied spring rates to begin with.

Jeff

Not familiar with this. Do you have any pics to show the adjustment points?

[Dagwoods]

Did you happen to check that the adjustable rebound was set the same on all before assembling them? I've pulled them out of the box and found them in different settings. I generally recommend full soft rebound

I did not. Thanks for the info. I know koni has a couple different ways to adjust rebound depending on model. I used to have ones you could remote adjust from inside. Some I think you just twist the tubes. I'll figure it out when I get done doing night flights this week.

Build thread already helping me out. Thanks,

-Andrew

[edwardb]

Not familiar with this. Do you have any pics to show the adjustment points?


I did not. Thanks for the info. I know koni has a couple different ways to adjust rebound depending on model. I used to have ones you could remote adjust from inside. Some I think you just twist the tubes. I'll figure it out when I get done doing night flights this week.

Build thread already helping me out. Thanks,

-Andrew

Here are the instructions from Koni showing how their shocks are adjusted. The red Koni shocks are 30 Series, the first instructions in the link.

Edit: Guess I should actually include the link if I mention it. http://www.koni-na.com/en-US/NorthAmerica/Technology/Adjustment-Guides/

[Jdav]

Here are the instructions from Koni showing how their shocks are adjusted. The red Koni shocks are 30 Series, the first instructions in the link.

I never did this either. Any easy way to check on a completed car?

[edwardb]

I never did this either. Any easy way to check on a completed car?

Not that I'm aware of. If you're careful, I think you could check by only detaching the piston rod end (as opposed to the body end). Then push the button and rotate the piston rod as described. Based on how it's shown in the directions, no sure it matters whether the body is up or down.

I've done two sets of the red Konis, and found all eight at the softest setting. But I believe Jeff. He's done way more. I must have been lucky.

[Jeff Kleiner]

...
I've done two sets of the red Konis, and found all eight at the softest setting. But I believe Jeff. He's done way more. I must have been lucky.

Most times (probably 80%) they're on soft but I have found a few that were not set that way as delivered and have heard the same from others. Easy to check while assembling and before installed; afterwards not so much. One of those things you won't find in the manual---kind of like how they don't tell you that the UCAs are not delivered in the intended orientation. Sorry...

Jeff

[Dagwoods]

I had a few minutes this afternoon before I head into work and was able to check the rebound adjustment on my Konis. They were all set to full soft, but it was good to check and see how they were adjusted. I and previously only used one with the top adjuster screw that you could adjust when they are installed. These may be possible to adjust after disconnecting one end on the car, but probably not very easy to do. I ended up disassembling them again. The instructions included on the link above are good and its a simple thing to do. I did not use a vice like they recommended. They were easy to adjust just by holding onto the shock body and rotating the piston with button depressed. The four positions are easy to feel as you rotate the piston. A couple of photos if anyone is interested:

Dust cover removal using appropriate flathead screwdriver:
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Adjustment Button closeup:
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[Dagwoods]

Started panel prep and drilling. Nothing to major to report, but thought I would point out a few areas that I wish I had done differently for those of us doing this for the first time. So far, not much fitting has had to be done. Minor fitting of f-panel and upper trunk floor was accomplished with a file and/or grinding a weld or two down a little bit. So far so good, all panels drilled and cleko'd in place except for DS foot box. I have decided to break down and order the Willwood pedal box, so will wait until I have the modified front panel before mocking that area up and then send all panels off to Powder coat.

So up first, some areas I would do a little differently starting with the f-panel:

Pay attention to where the upper control arm mount is. I marked my panels and then drilled them while not installed, so I did not pay attention to interference that one hole will have that will prevent me from drilling. I will call it a speed hole done for weight reduction.
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Next up was the upper trunk floor. A couple of areas here I would do a little differently. First, I should have moved the line of holes on the front of the trunk floor forward more. the trunk hoop prevented me from using my regular drill, so I had to use my 90 degree cordless, which is just not as good. Also, I think it would look better, as now I am contemplating adding a second row further forward, which may be overkill. The second area for improvement would be to ensure the holes are spaced far enough from the roll bar attachment tubes to allow you to get a drill on them. There is one hole in the panel that I will not be able to get a drill though. None of these really concern me as they will be covered.
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On the PS foot box, I added a couple of speed holes in the frame. The floor panel will be riveted to the frame tube (red arrow), but the side panel will only be mounted to the floor panel (green arrow), not the tube. I drilled the first couple of hole here through both panels and frame before realizing that the gap between panels and frame is a little too large to use a rivet. Plugged those extra holes with some JB weld and moved on.
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Last, I should have spaced my rivet holes evenly on the lower trunk floor step. Don't even know if both the horizontal and vertical holes are even needed, but I should have at least spaced them apart evenly. Oh well, carpet will cover.
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So I think bottom line is that if I had to do it again, I would have drilled the panels while they were on the car. It may have prevented some of my mistakes. Using the drill press after marking the panels was nice, but I probably should have just drilled while mounted to see some of these preventable issues. Hopefully this helps others think a little more than I did about drilling

[Dagwoods]

Not a major update, but managed to mock up my front suspension minus the lower control arms and spindles, etc. Those were on back order, but I just received notification that my last couple of boxes from factory five should be here in four days. Hopefully can finish it up by this weekend and tighten everything down.
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I did have a couple of minor questions about the mounting hardware and the zerk fittings.

1. Do the zerk fittings need to be tightened down on the upper control arm pivot bushings? They came installed tight, but with some thread still visible. I could crank down on them to seat them all the way, but don't think I should. Thoughts?

2. I am pretty sure I used the correct UCA mounting hardware, but since it was very different than what was shown in my manual, I thought I would double check. The picture below shows what I used to mount them. I also used a washer in the forward mounting hole on each side. Not enough room to use one on the rear mount. I used the horizontal mounting location since I will be suing the FFR spindles.
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Really enjoying the build so far...my rear axle assembly should be here next week. Still need to decide what I want to do for front brakes. Doing 2004 cobra brakes and rotors in the rear, so I am looking for a good kit to order for the fronts to match. (or may piece a kit together from OEM components).

[Dagwoods]

Decided to stay with the trunk mounted battery, but wanted to gain some space back there. Went with FFmetal drop battery mount and am very happy with it. Also ordered up the breeze trunk mount battery wiring kit with the red switch.

Installation of the battery box was very easy and instructions were clear. The fit of the front brace was excellent.
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After mounting and cutting a rough hole, a file was used to start to clear up an rough edges.
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The one tip I would add to the instructions is for marking the 1/2 inch mounting hole location in the trunk floor. The instructions say to tap on the bolts when it is in place (after hole is drilled through frame) to mark their location on the floor that need to be drilled. While this did leave a mark, it was not exact, since the aluminum floor moved a round a little and got marked up. I should have used a sharpie or something. No big deal, just had to bore out one of the holes a little bit to make it sit flush.

Very happy with this mod so far. Next, I really want to do the trunk box drop mod. Do any of the vendors still offer a kit for this? I know darkwater has one that is currently out of stock, but that one also includes a lid that I don't want ( I could leave it off). I will not cut the frame, but will leave it installed like Edwardb did. Just want to make some extra space for tools etc.

[edwardb]

Russ Thompson (http://www.norcal-cobras.com/store/russ_garage/index.html) sells the trunk box without a lid. Not on his website. But call or email and he'll work with you on it. That's the one I used for #8674.

For your questions: 1. Wouldn't hurt to put a small wrench on the UCA zerks and make sure they're tight. But probably they are and no problem if threads are showing. Don't be cranking on them. They'll break off pretty easily (not that I would know that...). (2) Yes that appears to be the right hardware for the UCA mounting. Normal you can only get a washer in one side. Tight even for a wrench on that other side.

Your build is looking good!

[SelectivePC]

Started panel prep and drilling. Nothing to major to report, but thought I would point out a few areas that I wish I had done differently for those of us doing this for the first time. So far, not much fitting has had to be done. Minor fitting of f-panel and upper trunk floor was accomplished with a file and/or grinding a weld or two down a little bit. So far so good, all panels drilled and cleko'd in place except for DS foot box. I have decided to break down and order the Willwood pedal box, so will wait until I have the modified front panel before mocking that area up and then send all panels off to Powder coat.

So up first, some areas I would do a little differently starting with the f-panel:

Pay attention to where the upper control arm mount is. I marked my panels and then drilled them while not installed, so I did not pay attention to interference that one hole will have that will prevent me from drilling. I will call it a speed hole done for weight reduction.
81189

Next up was the upper trunk floor. A couple of areas here I would do a little differently. First, I should have moved the line of holes on the front of the trunk floor forward more. the trunk hoop prevented me from using my regular drill, so I had to use my 90 degree cordless, which is just not as good. Also, I think it would look better, as now I am contemplating adding a second row further forward, which may be overkill. The second area for improvement would be to ensure the holes are spaced far enough from the roll bar attachment tubes to allow you to get a drill on them. There is one hole in the panel that I will not be able to get a drill though. None of these really concern me as they will be covered.
81190

81191

On the PS foot box, I added a couple of speed holes in the frame. The floor panel will be riveted to the frame tube (red arrow), but the side panel will only be mounted to the floor panel (green arrow), not the tube. I drilled the first couple of hole here through both panels and frame before realizing that the gap between panels and frame is a little too large to use a rivet. Plugged those extra holes with some JB weld and moved on.
81193

Last, I should have spaced my rivet holes evenly on the lower trunk floor step. Don't even know if both the horizontal and vertical holes are even needed, but I should have at least spaced them apart evenly. Oh well, carpet will cover.
81192

So I think bottom line is that if I had to do it again, I would have drilled the panels while they were on the car. It may have prevented some of my mistakes. Using the drill press after marking the panels was nice, but I probably should have just drilled while mounted to see some of these preventable issues. Hopefully this helps others think a little more than I did about drilling

I ran into this also, pre-drilled the holes and then installed the control arms. I'm sure the suspension will come apart at least once, so ill just made a note of it. Looking good though. That lift looks like a bit of a tight fit in that area, but I like it.

[Dagwoods]

Minor updates. Received all but one of my back ordered parts this week, so was able to finish the front suspension. Also wanted to mock up the power steering rack using the breeze offset rack mounts. At first they would not fit. First tried bending the mounting tabs to better align them, but with no luck. I was still off by about an 1/8 inch:
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After consulting the forum and also calling Mark at breeze, he confirmed that almost all will have to open up the passenger side mounting holes to get it to fit. Used a round file to open up the front mounting tab:

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Then finished it up with some gloss paint to hide any scratches I made trying to get it to fit:
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Will post more pics once everything is buttoned down, but so far, so good. Rack is in and fits great. Adjustment is easy and it centered it up perfectly.

[Dagwoods]

So after suddenly having to put my build on hold due to a deployment for work and a transfer across country to Texas, I finally have started up on my build again. First, I had to get my roadster and all my parts across country because my company movers do not move vehicles under restoration or car parts. After looking at how much it would cost to rent a car hauler, I finally broke down and got a 8.5' x 20' enclosed with upgraded 5500# axles. Honestly, it was not that much more than renting costs and I figured I could always sell it down the road to recoup costs. Besides the mileage hit, it towed very easy.

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Before I left Virginia I did receive my rear end from Forte's. 3:55 and 31 spline axles and cobra brakes/rotors. I liked that the axle tubes were fully welded and he also welded on the banana bracket for me.
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I opened up the diff cover to replace it with a Ford racing one and checked out the gear alignment.

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I even managed to get it installed with a single jack, but I would recommend having a friend help. A couple of sketchy moments getting it to bolt up.

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[Dagwoods]

Decided to powder coat all my panels and now that I have them back, I have been continuing on.

First up was F-panels:
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I also installed my flex lines brackets on all four corners. Pretty confident on the front location, as it is pretty standard (seen in pics above), but wanted some advice on the rear tab placement. After putting them on, I think I should have plced them so they are facing inside. I am concerned that the lines will rub on the axle in their current location. Thoughts?

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[Dagwoods]

Pedal box went together fairly easy. The only issue I had was with the master cylinders. Ended up cutting approx 1/2" off both push rods to make them work correctly and position the brake pedal off the frame. The one on the let has been cut, the right one was just marked:

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Other than that, I also got my ffmetal firewall mounted. Its nice starting to finally put stuff on for good.

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As you can probably see in some of the pics. Some of the silicone between the frame and panels seeped out. Is acetone and maybe a razor a good way to clean this up?

One more shot of the rear end in pace with all links attached:

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One last word of advice. I initially did not think i needed a pneumatic rivet gun. I spent $29 bucks on one from HF. Best money spent on the build so far:cool:

[cv2065]

Looking good Dagwood! I like that forward FFMetals firewall. I have the thicker gauge as well. Well worth the money. Regarding the silicone, I'd just stick with a razor and maybe not put so much on where it squeezes out moving forward. I did the exact same thing and cleaned up with alcohol. I thought it would be mild enough but it actually deglosses the powder coat just slightly. Not sure what acetone would do, but I'd test it on something before wiping down.

[Fixit]

I initially did not think i needed a pneumatic rivet gun. I spent $29 bucks on one from HF. Best money spent on the build so far

What... You didn't want forearms like Popeye and Carpal Tunnel??
Regarding silicone "squeeze-out"... minor amount I'd just wipe it off dry, larger amount I'd let it set up and carefully slice it off with a sharp razor blade.


Not sure what acetone would do, but I'd test it on something before wiping down.
Acetone is a pretty aggressive solvent... absolutely test it on a unseen area before trying on a finished piece

[edwardb]

Completely agree acetone is pretty aggressive solvent and can easily dull power coat. Also agree don't use so much silicone that's is squeezing out all over the place. But a little is normal, and confirms you're getting good coverage in the joint. I clean it up before curing by first passing a small straightedge, like a 6-inch steel rule, to get the majority off. Then wipe using Goo-Gone Gel. Seems to cut the silicone really well and it won't harm your powder coat. Works great. Widely available. I get it at Home Depot. Use it a lot in my shop.

You're using plenty of rivets there. I can see why you bought the pneumatic rivet gun. :p For the record, I have one too and use whenever I can.

[Dagwoods]

Thanks for the replies. I guess Powder coat is a bit more sensitive than I realized. Good to know that Goo gone seems to work. I have plenty of that.

Just a couple of things done today:

Installed the Ford performance clutch cable adjuster. Pretty basic. Drill and bolt to firewall. Now I just need to find a grommet to route the brake hoses through.

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Also, mocked up the passenger foot box in preparation for riveting. I decided to wait until I ordered some sound/heat shielding so I could pre-cut the pieces before attaching them.

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New 1" bearing for steering shaft shipped today from Factor Five. So hopefully can get that installed soon.

Cheers!

[cgundermann]

I never did this either. Any easy way to check on a completed car?

Add me to the mix, did not know that...hope I’m in that 80% lot...

Chris

[Dagwoods]

Finished up the Breeze radiator shroud assembly today. Nothing to difficult. Used two existing holes in radiator flange and made one additional 1/4" hole on each end. Drilled 6 1/4 holes in shroud lip and attached with included screws and locknuts. Finished up by setting four Rivnuts to attach fan with 8/32 x 3/4" machine screws.

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This was an old style radiator with the older breeze shroud that you had to cut yourself. No clearance or fitment issues at all.

In other news, I may need to update my signature line. Finally decided on an engine and builder and should have it around January. Probably overkill, but wanted to go big...FordStrokers 427 liberator long block. Having it basically finished out to turnkey.

[Dagwoods]

Been a little while since I've had a couple moments to spare on the build but I managed to get a few more things done.

First off thanks to Factory Five for getting me the correct lower steering shaft bearing so quickly. The new one went on with no issue. Also installed the upper steering shaft and after looking at the very small clearance that the shaft had, decided (like many of you already) that it wouldn't hurt to add a washer under the pillow bearing. The clearance is much better now.

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Second thanks goes to Yama-Bro for sending me out a couple of his spare grommets for routing the brake hoses through the DS front wall. I used a step bit to 11/16 and then cleaned the backside of the hole with a die grinder. I know, I know, not perfectly centered, but I can live with it. I drilled three holes even though right now, I am going with a clutch cable. I may change my mind and already have the triple CNC reservoir, so I figured I would run three for now. The third line may just end up for looks.

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Lastly, got my passenger side foot box riveted in place.

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A couple of pointers to watch out for here. I had already attached the FFmetal firewall forward, but had marked and drilled panels without it on. I found that one hole in the top panel was inaccessible from the top. Put a rivet through from inside and called it a day. Not pretty, but I don't suffer from OCD, so I can live with it. Also the inside panel front lower corner was inaccessible with a rivet gun, so I had to shoot that one from the inside as well. Just wanted to mention those two so that people can watch out for those two spots when marking up their panels.

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Waiting on my fuel tank/system that will hopefully be here at the end of the month. Will be working on finishing up hard brake lines this week.