P100DHG Build Thread - Gen 3 Coupe #138 [Archive]

P100DHG

08-15-2018, 03:06 PM

To make navigating the thread and skipping to relevant parts easier, I have included a Table of Contents. Obviously feel free to read it through to understand the chronological order of how things happened but I am going to organize it by chapter/subject so everyone can easily jump around. Disclaimer: The table of contents is organized by subject & doesn’t necessarily follow the order of the posts.

This thread is best viewed by signing into an account on this forum.

If at any point it sounds like I have all the answers, I don't, I asked my questions HERE (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29191-P100DHG-Build-Questions) & applied what I learned to the posts you see below, along with reading a lot of threads here on the forum. For even more photos and content, follow on Instagram @SixtyFive_Daytona (https://www.instagram.com/sixtyfive_daytona/) & Youtube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnrl_CzLt0w0cLMY5urXVUA).

Table Of Contents:

1. Preface (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread&p=336340&viewfull=1#post336340)
2. Ordering & Build Specs:

2.1 Build Specs 1.0 (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread&p=337335&viewfull=1#post337335)

2.2 Ordering and Prepping the Differencial (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread&p=338421&viewfull=1#post338421)

2.3 Build Spec 2.0 - Thought Process Evolution and Changing the Engine Setup (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread&p=344509&viewfull=1#post344509)

2.4 Ordering Tierod Ends (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread&p=346144&viewfull=1#post346144)

2.5 Ordering and Prepping the Wheel Spacers (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread&p=349967&viewfull=1#post349967)

2.6 Thought Capsule 1 - Design Update (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread&p=351016&viewfull=1#post351016)

2.7 Configuring Custom Roush 427SRE ("e" is for EFI) (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?30642-Will-it-fit-351-Performer-RPM-Intake)

2.8 Ordering the Engine (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread&p=350827&viewfull=1#post350827)

2.9 Final Factory Five Sales Order (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread&p=351713&viewfull=1#post351713)

2.10 Engine on the Dyno (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=360778&viewfull=1#post360778)

3. The Build:

3.1 Coupe 138 Delivery Day (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread&p=357143&viewfull=1#post357143)

3.2 Disc Brake Setup

3.1a Wildwood Rotor Assembly (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread&p=353021&viewfull=1#post353021)

3.2a Safety Wire Wildwood Rotors (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread&p=353233&viewfull=1#post353233)

3.3 Front Suspension (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=358721&viewfull=1#post358721)

3.4 Rear Suspension

3.4a Center Section and Rear Control Arms - Overcoming Obstacles (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=359744&viewfull=1#post359744)

3.4b Spindles, Rear Brakes, Wheel Spacers, Hand Brake & Tire Choice (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=360775&viewfull=1#post360775)

3.5 Sway Bars, Steering, Wheels & Tires (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=361189&viewfull=1#post361189)

3.6 Pinion Flange Adapter, Pedals, Exhaust (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=362781&viewfull=1#post362781)

3.7 Fuel System

3.7a Fuel System Part 1, Installing the Gas Tank, Removing the Body (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=377295&viewfull=1#post377295)

3.7b Fuel System Part 2 (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=378467&viewfull=1#post378467)

3.7c Fuel System Part 3 (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=382901&viewfull=1#post382901)

3.8 Brake System

3.8a Brake System Part 1 (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=378470&viewfull=1#post378470)

3.8b Brake System Part 2 (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=380900&viewfull=1#post380900)

3.8c Brake System Part 3 (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=382901&viewfull=1#post382901)

3.9 Cosmetic Improvements, Sheet Metal Prep and Install

3.9a Seat Fitting Failure & Underhood Panels (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=380900&viewfull=1#post380900)

3.9b Seat Fitting Failure 2.0 & Engine Delivery (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=382901&viewfull=1#post382901)

3.9c Seat Success! (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=383132&viewfull=1#post383132)

3.9d Inner Foot Box Panels 1 (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=385481&viewfull=1#post385481)

3.9e Inner Foot Box Panels 2 (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=385943&viewfull=1#post385943)

3.9f Upholstered Seats (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=387037&viewfull=1#post387037)

3.9g Battery Tray, Lizard Skin & Installing Panels on Foot Boxes (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=388255&viewfull=1#post388255)

3.9h Seat Install 1 of 2 (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=403642&viewfull=1#post403642)

3.9i Seat Install 2 of 2 (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=403643&viewfull=1#post403643)

3.10 Roush Engine Install

3.10a Roush 427SRE Engine + TKO 600 MidShift Installation (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=389574&viewfull=1#post389574)

3.10b Verifying Crankshaft End Play after Transmission Install (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=390207&viewfull=1#post390207)

3.10c TKO Tailshaft Donut (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=390820&viewfull=1#post390820)

3.10d Fixing Big Issues, Modifying the Motor Mounts, Transmission Mounting (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=396461&viewfull=1#post396461)

3.11 Engine Bay Plumbing

3.11a Plumbing Parts on Order (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=390699&viewfull=1#post390699)

3.11b Radiator Filler Neck & Heater Valve (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=391933&viewfull=1#post391933)

3.11c Polishing AC Fittings (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=392105&viewfull=1#post392105)

3.11d Thought Capsule 2.0 & Hose Mock Up (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=393815&viewfull=1#post393815)

3.11e Two Systems Completed,: Fuel System ✓, AC System ✓ (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=402467&viewfull=1#post402467)

3.11f Finished Cooling System (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=405740&viewfull=1#post405740)

P100DHG

08-15-2018, 03:06 PM

Table Of Contents Continued:

3.12 Interior Panels & Dash

3.12a Color Design of Gauges (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=396989&viewfull=1#post396989)

3.12b Floor Board & Throttle Cable Completed (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=405157&viewfull=1#post405157)

3.12c Horn Button -- Wait he said what?!?! (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=405657&viewfull=1#post405657)

3.12d Floormats (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=410066&viewfull=1#post410066)

3.12e The Tale of Two Dashes (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=421719&viewfull=1#post421719)

3.12f Airbar Version 2.0 (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=422113&viewfull=1#post422113)

3.12g First Dash Mock Up (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=424936&viewfull=1#post424936)

3.12h Dash Cutouts & Gauge Layout (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=430514&viewfull=1#post430514)

3.12i Finished Dash (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=431412&viewfull=1#post431412)

3.13 Electrical

3.13a Electrical Layout Started - 1 (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=406988&viewfull=1#post406988)

3.13b Electrical Layout Continued - 2 (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=408564&viewfull=1#post408564)

3.13c Final Engine Electrical & Engine Surround Install (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=409139&viewfull=1#post409139)

3.13d Heater Valve Wiring Fix (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=412590&viewfull=1#post412590)

3.13e Behind Dash Electrical and Other Stuff (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=415549&viewfull=1#post415549)

3.13f Wiper Motor Install (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=429113&viewfull=1#post429113)

3.13g Toggle Switches Explained & Wiper Switch Wiring Diagram (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=431651&viewfull=1#post431651)

3.13h Ford Small Block + EFI + Full Chassis Electrical Overview (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=436786&viewfull=1#post436786)

3.14 First Start Videos

3.14a Epic Video with Action Music (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=410882&viewfull=1#post410882)

3.14b Less Epic but Still Awesome Real Life Version (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=410962&viewfull=1#post410962)

3.15 Exhaust

3.15a Exhaust All Wacky (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=414940&viewfull=1#post414940)

3.15b Off to the Pros (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=416155&viewfull=1#post416155)

3.15c Identifying the Issues (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=417689&viewfull=1#post417689)

3.15d Big Exhaust Improvements (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=419906&viewfull=1#post419906)

3.16 Chassis Completion

3.16a Teaser Photos (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=434272&viewfull=1#post434272)

3.16b Chassis Reveal Video (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=435028&viewfull=1#post435028)

3.16c Chassis Interior Cockpit Photos (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=435597&viewfull=1#post435597)

3.16d Engine Bay Photos (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=435763&viewfull=1#post435763)

3.16e Few Extra Great Photos (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=435927&viewfull=1#post435927)

3.17 First Drive

3.17a First Drive - Awesome Film Quality Version (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=440024&viewfull=1#post440024)

3.17b First Drive Raw Footage (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=440567&viewfull=1#post440567)

3.18 Body, Paint and Upholstery

3.18a Body Fitting (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=438497&viewfull=1#post438497)

3.18b Roll Bar Leather Wrap Starts & Exterior Color Choice (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=445352&viewfull=1#post445352)

3.18c Roll Bar Fully Leather Wrapped (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=446190&viewfull=1#post446190)

3.18d Side Pipes Finished (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=448866&viewfull=1#post448866)

3.18e Body In Primer (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=449597&viewfull=1#post449597)

3.18f Trunk Mat & Dash Pad Done (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=450710&viewfull=1#post450710)

3.19 Final Assembly

3.19a reSTARTing the Build (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=607999&viewfull=1#post607999)

P100DHG

08-15-2018, 03:21 PM

Preface
So yesterday I took the plunge and ordered a 65 Daytona Coupe. Given my work schedule and travel obligations I put my FFR completion date out till December 22nd. Stewart will likely pick it up after the first of the year but I may get a holiday surprise delivery. Lets just say I am a sucker for a sale and the 50% of the options got me. I have never built a car like this. I had a 1964 Volkswagen Bug that I did a lot of work on when I was in my early twenties. I said to myself after that car never again will I do a classic car. I maintain that to this day but the idea of building a factory new car with the feel and look of a vintage car got me to bend the rules 10 years later. I thought about starting with a Cobra but after seeing the resale numbers on those (not that I would sell it but still) I thought it was better to buy a used one or a used kit on this forum and complete it rather than building one from scratch (so this will be my next one). Plus those dual side pipes and stance on the coupe are just too hard to resist. I have frequented Bob's Big Boy a local burger joint down the street from my house that has a classic car night every Friday. I've seen FFR cobras, superperformance cobras, even real cobras there but never a coupe. In fact I've never seen one in person.

I would say my level of DIY is very advanced so I think this is well within my wheel house. Learning the names of all the parts will just have a natural learning curve. I think my biggest challenge with this build is the lack of space I have. I have a 2 car garage but I don't want to displace my Tesla Model S P100D so somehow it's going to have to share the space because that car isn't going outside. My wife is amazing with organization so hopefully she will help me with that. I have most of the tools required and what I don't have (those one time use tools) I'll get from the trusted Harbor Freight. (I'll be clipping those 25% off coupons starting now).

I'm an avid BBQ guy and when I custom fabricated and built my smoker I posted all the plans and pictures of my build on Smoking Meat Forums and it has helped many people with theirs https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/gravity-fed-smoker-build-stumps-clone.232875/. I intend to do the same here. At least give some insight as to how I arrived at my conclusions and processes on the build. I want to start by saying that the threads I have read here are unbelievably helpful and I found many things I really liked on other peoples cars. I hope if I use your designs as inspiration you know that imitation is the highest form of flattery.

In my prebuild thread I explored the thought of a Roush 427 and that is still in my mind but FFR was very concerned about it fitting under the hood. I would have loved a 289 with an 8 stack (original spec of the car) but I am not going to become an engine builder nor am I going to buy a Shelby Engine for $30K. Jeff Miller convinced me to go the Coyote route. His words of advice, "you know it's not a real Daytona right? go with a modern engine." We talked about the carb will come out of adjustment, cams are to aggressive leading to unspent fuel between 1200 and 3000 RPM, and the EFI systems use sensors that monitor the engine only after the fact so they are late to adjust. I plan to track the car a few times per year and I think that the coyote will take the punishment better and with variable timing it will have great street and track performance. My initial exploration of the coyote lead me to the Gen 3 and @edwardb seems to have the latest on that info to date so I am waiting to hear more. My brother, a real car guy is pushing for a 5.2L which lead to the idea of packing in a 5.2L Voodoo engine into this car. Might be insanely excessive so I am going to think on that one, plus there are serious technical issues with installing that engine in a crate type application. For one there is no computer designed to run that engine in the car. All that said I chose a coyote platform (which I would later change in favor of the Roush 427). I hope you enjoy and learn from my successes and failures.

Advice:
I came back to this Preface (almost 2 years after ordering my kit) to add this advice column after spending hundreds and hundreds of hours on my car (might be over 1000 at this point and still going), and experiencing successes and failures in the pursuit of a really high end build knowing basically nothing when I started. My advice to you, the builder whose car just arrived or the potential builder who is about to write the check to Factory Five worried about how to get it done, overwhelmed by the amount of information you have been given and studied, it is this, take it a step at a time. Start at page 1 don't worry about page 250 just start at step 1. Thinking ahead will produce a better product but you don't have to get so far ahead of yourself that you're confused. So just take it a step at a time. The manual doesn't make sense till the parts are in front of you. Even the inventory is difficult when you don't know what you're looking at but it helps familiarize you with what you will be doing. Don't consume too much information at once. Just take it a step at a time. Let your design ideas evolve and it’s okay to let go of an idea you thought might be perfect, a better one is likely to follow. Failure will come and successes will follow. The manual is a guide its got holes in it that this forum will fill and I tried my best to fill lots of them here in my thread. Don't put down the wrench. As you will read I had to pause my build a few times, I moved, I had surgery but nothing stopped me from getting back on the build and picking up the wrench and keep going. Momentum is key.

And with that on to the thread.

edwardb

08-15-2018, 09:13 PM

Congrats on your kit order! Delivery four months away and already a build thread. Nice! Two comments about your order. Have you decided which transmission? TKO (5-speed) or T-56 (6-speed)? Seem to recall you mentioned considering a T-56. I'd be a little cautious about the IRS center section from FFR. Confirm what ratio they'd provide and whether that's the best fit with your intended transmission. The ratios between the TKO and T-56 are different enough IMO that they may require a different diff to be optimal. Not trying to take business away from FFR, but those are pretty easily available elsewhere for the same price (or less). Also TKO and T-56 require a different drive shaft. Similar comment about the wipers. I'd highly recommend the Specialty Power Windows WWK2 Complete Universal Wiper Drive Kit. That's what I found for my Coupe build. It's cheaper and (again IMO) much superior to the Lucas knock-off wiper kit FFR sells. I know the 50% off is attractive in this case. But read the multiple threads about setting up these wipers. Also not sure if they increase the blade and sweep for the much larger Coupe windshield compared to the Roadster. Don't sweat changing your order. You can make multiple changes (and many do) right up to the last couple weeks.

You'll love the Coyote. I sure do. Looks like only a couple more weeks and the Gen 3 Coyote crate will be available from Ford Performance. Confirmed that earlier this week. I suspect you know the flat plane Voodoo will not be available as a crate motor, according to Ford. Guys are making their own by buying the various components. But not a simple or cheap exercise. The roughly 500 hp Gen 3 Coyote will motivate this car pretty aggressively to say the least. Power adders are available to bump it up a bunch more.

P100DHG

08-23-2018, 04:21 PM

Build Specs 1.0:

I carefully chose my options. I might have revised no less than a dozen times. Here is what I ordered. If it looks like basically everything it almost is. The points I am still unsure of is the wilwood brakes (nice for the track) and the IRS vs the 3 link but IRS seems nice and modern.

Complete Coupe Kit
Powder Coating Gen 3 Coupe Chassis
Body Cut Outs
Low back Vintage Race Seats (will change for high backs at some point in build)
IRS
Center Section and Spindles
Gen 3 Carpet Kit
Side Window Components
Coupe Nose Scoops
Front and Rear Sway Bar
Wilwood Front and Rear Brakes
Koni Dual Adjustable Shocks
GPS Gauges
Halibrand 18" wheels
Windshield wipers (might not install, will have to wait and see)
Battery Cut off Switch
Coyote Install Kit
Coyote Headers
Coyote Power Steering

Now the wait and let the reading of the build manual a million times begin. :confused:

UPDATE: BUILD CHANGED AGAIN FROM COYOTE TO 427 SBF SEE POST BELOW:
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread&p=344509&viewfull=1#post344509

Some Thoughts:

The voodoo engine is likely off the table, though I haven’t completely nixed the idea. The flat plane crank is what I’m after. After all we are building a race car why not give it a race style engine. That said it’s very complicated. The software programming on the ECU is going to be in the thousands, money I’d prefer to spend elsewhere.

My plan is to get a Gen 3. I am in fact going to do a T56 magnum. These new gen 3 coyotes can rev quite high so I really want to go with something that can support it.

I tried finding a 3.73 rear end but have failed to find one on the shelf. That's what the Boss 302 had in it. That said I drove the 2018 Mustang GT which has a variant of the Magnum according to Tremec and that is a equipped with a 3.55 and it was snappy. I would still prefer the 3.73 though. Any leads would be excellent!

The wiper blade kit I’ll struggle with it will keep me entertained or frustrated or something. LOL. Again not sure I even intend to use them. In Los Angeles rain is a novelty these days.

I started my build thread because hopefully this preliminary discussion helps someone and ME! LOL. Spoke to Ford the new Gen 3 Coyote part number is M-6007-M50C. MSRP $9500

Any help with that rear diff would be appreciated. Thanks!

edwardb

08-23-2018, 05:43 PM

The voodoo engine is likely off the table, though I haven’t completely nixed the idea. The flat plane crank is what I’m after. After all we are building a race car why not give it a race style engine. That said it’s very complicated. The software programming on the ECU is going to be in the thousands, money I’d prefer to spend elsewhere.

My plan is to get a Gen 3. I am in fact going to do a T56 magnum. These new gen 3 coyotes can rev quite high so I really want to go with something that can support it.

I tried finding a 3.73 rear end but have failed to find one on the shelf. That's what the Boss 302 had in it. That said I drove the 2018 Mustang GT which has a variant of the Magnum according to Tremec and that is a equipped with a 3.55 and it was snappy. I would still prefer the 3.73 though. Any leads would be excellent!

The wiper blade kit I’ll struggle with it will keep me entertained or frustrated or something. LOL. Again not sure I even intend to use them. In Los Angeles rain is a novelty these days.

I started my build thread because hopefully this preliminary discussion helps someone and ME! LOL. Spoke to Ford the new Gen 3 Coyote part number is M-6007-M50C. MSRP $9500

Any help with that rear diff would be appreciated. Thanks!

Good luck with the wipers. Don't say I didn't warn you or offer a better alternative. :rolleyes:

Crunch the numbers on the 3.55 and 3.73 diffs with the T-56. Especially with the several hundred higher redline on the Gen 3 Coyote (not that real world driving in these cars will find a 7,500 redline very often, trust me...). I think you'll find the 3.73 is the much better match, as I mentioned before. Ford Performance discontinued them some months ago and any that were out there on the shelf are gone. They're still routinely available in salvage. Since they're Torsen, they're more expensive than the usual clutch pack versions like all the rest. But that alone is another reason to try to find one. They're out there with low miles and probably for a good value. Just start looking and be ready to buy when you find something that meets your needs.

Yes, that's the retail price of the Gen 3 Coyote. Of course, they aren't sold for for that much. The crate Coyotes are typically discounted approx 15%, control packs approx 25%. The exact details and numbers should be more widely available when it's officially released to the public in the next couple weeks.

P100DHG

09-01-2018, 10:10 AM

I'm convinced the torsen 3.73 is the right rear end ratio. I found one for $385 from LKQ a national used parts distributor with 27,000 miles on it and a 6 month warranty (which seems irrelevant) They transferred it to a closer location for me at no cost. LKQ said they would exchange it at no cost if my rear end shop didn’t approve. LKQ refers to this part as a "carrier assembly" and they have several. Their price points seem completely random to the end consumer. Some are $1200 with more miles and some are $385 with less. According to LKQ it depends on how long they have had it in inventory and where in the country it's located. According to them all are in good drop in condition. Can't seem to go wrong here. I'll clean it up and use Por15 on it, it will be better then new.

92381

I took the rear end to Hoopers Rear End Inc. A very reputable shop in Los Angeles and Anthony gave it his blessing. Said “you got a good one here.” How much did he charge me you might ask $0. He sealed it back up for me and after insisting he charge me he said $20. Lol what a nice guy. Here is his info https://www.yelp.com/biz/hoopers-rear-end-sun-valley

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One major headache is that it was filthy and needed to be washed. Well it’s got two openings for the axles and I didn’t want to get water in them. So I brought in the brains. My wife suggested balloons! They worked great! I inflated the balloons inside the axle holes (that’s the technical term) to make a tight seal and pressure washed it. Surprisingly the balloons didn’t pop and kept a strong seal.

92383

Now for the POR15. It was as simple as following the directions on the kit. Works great. Second coat is weird because the first coat covers so well that the second coat is hard to keep track of where I had applied it because its so black.

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One major item that just drives me nuts about this car is how ugly the interior is. I know it was a race car and intended to be a replica but one thing I intend to do between now and when I receive the kit is to iron out how I want my interior to look. I have looked at many hot rods, and Daytona replicas and come up with an idea of what I want it to look like. I will likely delete my carpet kit, I plan to do button in/ snap down floor mats (keeping them may prove to be better just to have the pattern, we'll see). I deleted the seats and took a $400 credit on my bill. I am in the process of narrowing my interior choices. I am thinking about powder coating every panel silver and use saddle leather for the seat covers I am planning on using Corbeau FX1 Pros for now (I saw someone's on the internet I really liked and will likely just copy them obviously I will give them credit once completed). I spoke with Marx at Lizard Skin he assured me that it can be applied outward facing and it can hold up to road and weather conditions so thats my current plan. My completion date is now Dec 8th so I've got time to start figuring all this out.

Any comments or advice are always welcome and I am happy to answer questions about anything I've completed along the way.

Clover

09-01-2018, 11:13 AM

Awesome find on the center section. I am going to look those guys up this weekend as well. I had been looking and kept coming back to a entire rear end for $1,000 plus shipping. I think you source will save me some effort. Where are you getting the spindles and knuckles from that you will need to go along with the center section? Are you just going to order those new from Ford?

I think your interior will come out awesome if I am picturing it right. I really like the idea of the silver with the saddle leather snapped down. I had been thinking of doing a 33 hot rod and was going to do a similar thing in the hot rod. Good to hear that you can do Lizard skill on the underside of the car. I thought I had seen that done on a car show before but I was not sure it would hold up. I am looking forward to following you build once your kit gets to you.

P100DHG

09-01-2018, 11:45 AM

So FFR sells the whole center section kit for $1499. Since I have my own rear differential now Factory Five is charging me $450 for the remaining required components. Huge savings.

According to my phone conversation with Marx at Lizard Skin he said people use it as exterior application on off-road trucks. He seemed certain it could take the abuse. We’ll see, only time will tell.

One more thing about the POR15 kit for $23 you could paint 5 of these differencials with it. It’s a tiny kit I was not impressed at first until I realized how little it takes and how amazing it covers

edwardb

09-01-2018, 12:10 PM

So FFR sells the whole center section kit for $1499. Since I have my own rear differential now Factory Five is charging me $450 for the remaining required components. Huge savings.

According to my phone conversation with Marx at Lizard Skin he said people use it as exterior application on off-road trucks. He seemed certain it could take the abuse. We’ll see, only time will tell.

Agreed. Great find and price for the center section. Especially since it's the Torsen version which is a more expensive piece than the standard clutch style version Factory Five provides.

Of course Lizard Skin would say that. No surprise. It's a rough finish though. Just depends on what you want.

P100DHG

09-01-2018, 12:52 PM

Speaking of Torsen style. Hoopers told me 2 quarts of synthetic lube and no friction modifier because it doesn’t have clutches. I imagine he knows what he is talking about. Any thoughts here?

edwardb

09-04-2018, 05:45 AM

Speaking of Torsen style. Hoopers told me 2 quarts of synthetic lube and no friction modifier because it doesn’t have clutches. I imagine he knows what he is talking about. Any thoughts here?

I used the exact products from the Ford documentation: 3.2 pt Motorcraft SAE 75W-85 Premium Synthetic Hypoid Gear Lubricant XY-75W85-QL, 4.0 fl oz Motorcraft Additive Friction Modifier XL-3. I too am pretty certain the Torsen version doesn't need the friction modifier. But the Ford info didn't list any difference. Doubt it would hurt anything either way. But I also always worry about any warranty concerns if the instructions aren't followed exactly. In my case, it was a NIB diff, so did what they said.

P100DHG

10-26-2018, 07:05 PM

So after all the coyote discussion. I've scrapped the plan and I am going to do a Small Block Ford (SBF) engine with EFI. FFR was nice enough to make the change. Had a very productive conversation with Blueprint Engines. Made the decision for 2 reasons.

1. Factor #1 came about when I was talking with my brother about cars (we love to talk cars together) he made some comment about a replica with a dated engine and it got me thinking about other peoples perceptions of the coyote platform over time and how they might see this car in 10 years. In my short term thinking the Gen 2 coyote is discontinued. A more advanced engine has come along. The Gen 3 and by all accounts it a major improvement but frankly looking at Edwardb's build the gen 3 is off the table. It is just too much to bite off. I am not capable of taking the time learn how to alter the engine like he is and run my business and wrangle our 2 year old. Thus leaving me with the option of a gen 2 "a dated engine" (as my brother referred to it.) Additionally I felt pressure to buy the Gen 2 engine and transmission now because of supply concerns and didn't want to drop $15k on an engine and transmission and have it sit in my garage for a year while I put the car together, the warranty clock ticking and the money locked up.

2. Factor 2 came about when a gentleman on this forum asked about the value of these cars and I posted my research (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29877-5-2-or-5-4&p=341664&viewfull=1#post341664). In that research I found a Daytona that sold for $30k with an old Mustang 4.6L engine and really there wasn't much of a difference between the cars that sold for $55k and $72k except for the engine. Though I am building the car for me I always think about the value of what I am doing. What will the car be worth once it's done. That's not the objective though to sell it. The objective would be my son takes his prom date to the dance in this car (safely). So, what would be the value of the car in 15 years with a Coyote engine? I don't have a crystal ball but my psychic tells me it's not going to be as valuable as a 427 regardless of the age of the block (just kidding on the psychic, it's intuition).

I want to throw out a disclaimer. My no means do I disagree with anyone's choice of engine this is your car and I just love the fact we are all here talking about it. I am just sharing my thought process in the hopes it helps guide someone because frankly I almost cancelled my build because I got so frustrated by my confusion. Note, none of my decisions where based on what was period correct (though argument 2 might have some relevance to that).

Updated: For continuity I am including the link to the thread regarding ordering the beating heart of this build. The Roush 427SR. I have learned a lot researching the SBF since my first posts and I am working out details on fitment as of right now. Likely will order (put a deposit down) before Christmas to lock in the price on the engine. Roush will hold the engine till I'm ready for it. Warranty starts 90 days after I receive it. I don't anticipate needing it for 6 months.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?30642-Will-it-fit-351-Performer-RPM-Intake

Build on Brothers!

-Danny

edwardb

10-27-2018, 12:58 AM

TheBabyBadger

10-31-2018, 01:44 AM

Not going to argue or question your decisions. You've clearly thought this through and arrived at your decisions. But FWIW, several comments. The Gen 2 Coyote apparently still has about an 8 month supply on hand at Ford Performance. So they're not going to run out real soon. The Gen 3 Coyote installation I'm doing isn't altering the engine. What I'm doing, e.g. changing the oil pan and pickup, wiring, etc. is normally very straightforward and well documented. The main issue I'm having with the different oil pump is supposed to have a plug and play solution soon. I was just too early for it. A year from now, if that's your timeline, the Gen 3 Coyote will have multiple installations and all the details sorted out. Just like the Gen 2 is now. I find it interesting that you're worrying about the Coyote being a dated engine sometime in the future when the engine you're planning to use has its origins back in the 60-70-80's. Although agreed that is closer to the origin of the Coupe in the first place. Having said that, IMO the engine content between a SBF and Coyote is going to be a wash for the future value. Some will see value in a modern computer controlled engine. Some will see value in an engine more in line with the originals. But mainly future value is going to be based on condition of course, but then build quality and attention to detail. A well built car will command the best price. A poorly executed one not so much. Regardless of engine. This I believe was also one of the conclusions of the thread you started. I'd highly recommend taking these aspects into full account as you're thinking about future value and your build. Very difficult to compare sale prices based on content alone.

OK, now carry on and have fun. That's the whole idea, right? :cool:

First off... great progress so far! Way ahead of the ball, that's the way to be! I'm going to chime in and piggy back Paul here... The Gen2 Coyote is powerful and well sorted. The Gen3 is going to be in a similar boat (lol) in the coming year. There are about 5 other Coyote variants (like my Boss, Voodoo, XS, Roush, etc)... the cars may change in value to some degree between these motors, but Gen1/2/3 you're really just splitting hairs. Aside from going from an NA engine to blown to turbo, etc, the differences aren't going to affect value THAT much. The more "plug and play" the engine is, the more likely I can see some one buying it, IMHO.

If you were deciding between a carbureted 427, a 331 stroker and a Coyote... those are major differences. Essentially you're just taking the same cute girl out with a different dress, my friend. By the time the car is done, anything you run will be a few months, a year old, whatever. Don't sweat the petty stuff, and don't pet the sweaty stuff. Also, don't break your back reinventing the wheel. Recipes work for a reason. God speed, no matter what you choose, it's going to be a hoot when it's done!

Lastly, keep in mind your DIY skills. There's a huge difference between building this car and doing something like Paul. While he's incredible humble, understand he has a carnal knowledge of these builds and he's not a DIY guy, he's writing the DIY book.

Most importantly, HAVE FUN! Can't wait to see it begin, hopefully I'm go-karting by then!

Oh and SUBSCRIBED!

P100DHG

11-11-2018, 06:12 PM

Per Edwardb I ordered the Moog ES2150RL Tie Rod End (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000C59VR6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) through amazon $18.39 prime shipping and extended holiday returns (not that I will need this but it's nice to have). I didn't like the idea of cutting the tie rods. This is a great solution. Grateful he is paving the way. Delivery on the Coupe is looking like end of January. My completion date is 1/12/2019. I'm starting to gather necessary tools from Harbor Freight and the internet that I don't have and parts that will be needed in the beginning stages. My goal is to have a well measured pace but not to rush through it. Just steady progress. I love the dash that forcefed1 came up with. Very very nice. Defiantly inspired by that.

P100DHG

12-15-2018, 07:40 PM

Just to clarify something I was confused on and for those waiting for your kits and want to order stuff while you wait, here is some clarification to a problem I was trying to solve. The front wheel studs provided by factory five are 1/2"-20 (length is unknown by me but also irrelevant for the purposes of this discussion). The rear IRS hubs come with metric studs installed. Factory Five provides standard 1/2"-20 studs and 1/2" lug nuts. The manual requires you to press out the metric studs and install the standard 1/2"-20 studs by pressing them back in. If you intend to put wheel spacers on the rear (the style I used anyhow) than the 1/2"-20 studs provided that you will be reinstalling will be too long and make contact with the back of the wheel. Most people thread a bolt onto the stud, cut the stud to length with a grinder and back off the nut (thus cleaning up the threads). I ordered the Eibach Spacers from Speedway. Though the picture and description showed they came with shorter studs, they did not. They have since remove the picture. They were nice enough to give me a $30 credit for the inconvenience. (they offered, I did not ask for it).

https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Eibach-90-4-25-010-3-Pro-Spacer-Kit-25mm-Pair-Ford,324913.html

I called Eibach to try to clear up the discrepancy and spoke to someone (Tanner I believe) who said they'd call me back, never heard anything even after a follow up call back to them.

I really don't want to cut the studs so I went ahead and ordered shorter studs on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Dorman-610-364-Wheel-Stud-1-15/dp/B000CIV2WK/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&ref_=ox_sc_saved_image_1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

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To match the rear Wilwood rotors I bought VHT Satin Black Roll Bar and Chassis Paint

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CPAVI4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

99063

I am going to stick to thumbnail size pictures as much as possible to help condense the thread. My goal is to show the progress of the build and document it as closely as possible, try to document where I deviate from the directions (custom stuff), or where I see people may need clarification.

P100DHG

12-22-2018, 01:20 AM

Engine ordered. Here is my engine build invoice from Roush.

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I think the valve covers were a bit expensive but a nice touch. Mark said he would send me a video of the engine on the dyno once completed, which I will post. I’ll send final payment and they will ship when I’m ready to take delivery (hopefully sometime this summer). Should look very similar to this completed.

99371

Happy Holidays!

Straversi

12-22-2018, 09:07 AM

Congratulations. That’s a beauty.
-Steve

P100DHG

12-23-2018, 08:00 PM

I am posting this as time capsule into my design thought process. My hope is I can reflect back and track my train of thought before I dive head in to the actual building process.

Interior:
I’ve been working on a design board for my interior. I have nailed down the interior seat color to a Saddle leather. It's going to look all race car but keep that high end feel. I am taking inspiration from Mike Dusold’s 67 Camaro. I am leaning toward directly replicating his seats (imitation is the highest form of flattery after all).

99478

Floor mats and door panels will match the seats. All interior panels will be powder coated silver for a high end finished look. The dash I’m still fighting with the design. Once the kit arrives I can make some cardboard templates and work on the arrangement of the vents and gauges. Better to figure this stuff out before I build it than realize I made an error and have to rebuild it.

Exterior:
I am strongly considering the same deep blue with white stripes as the Factory Five #1 car. Should complement the interior. I am definitely cutting out the rear body vents.

99479

My brother is pushing me to replicate this paint job. AMAZING but I am not sure I want a green car. Here is a great article on a green and yellow Daytona (https://www.classicdriver.com/en/article/cars/relive-goodwood-members-meeting-drivers-perspective)

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Engine Bay:
I may have the powder coater do all the panels in satin black. I think this will play off the polished engine and satin black valve covers well. Problem is the frame is gloss black... :confused:. Gloss black is an option Paul B's looks great. I thought about silver for all the engine bay panels... I could use some suggestions here.

Wheels:
I bought the FFR 18” wheels. Might powder coat or paint them a lighter color to pop better or go with a new wheel setup. I spoke to Joey at BBI Autosport (https://www.bbiautosport.com) (they do work on my brother’s car) and he advised just to get the wheels from FFR and do the full suspension setup with them before considering different wheels. I really like this bone white color and am considering painting the wheels this color if I don't replace them all together or paint to match the interior silver powder coat to tie it all together.

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P100DHG

12-29-2018, 03:07 PM

Trying to keep all the major records in one place. Should help those researching buying a kit.

99721

My next post should be in February with pictures of the kit in my garage.

Jeff Kleiner

12-29-2018, 04:05 PM

...Problem is the frame is gloss black...

Actually the frame will be a matte black. They changed from gloss several months ago

Wheels:...I really like this bone white color and am considering painting the wheels this color if I don't replace them all together...

Ever since seeing them on Gary Chaney's Gen1 Coupe way back in 2001 or so I've really like the look of white wheels on a blue Coupe but you need to consider whether you'd be willing to put up with the brake dust that will be on them after every drive.

Good luck with the build!

Jeff

Fisher Lake Hot Rods

12-29-2018, 10:33 PM

P100DHG

12-30-2018, 11:02 PM

Your build thread is great and I’ve been going through it in my efforts to spec my project. My question relates to the IRS and the advantages over the 3 link standard? I’m planning Coyote with T56. Also are the double adjustable Konis worth the extra investment in your opinion? Thanks for any help. Again your thread is great.

I can’t speak to IRS vs 3 link I just assumed that every modern sports car has IRS and this is a 400-500hp car that weighs 2300lbs and no traction control, it could use every technological advantage available.

The Coyote T56 is the right combo. As it turns out there is no 351w/302 + T56 + IRS drive shaft supplied by FFR. According to Dave B. it would have to be custom made. So my final build is going to be and SBF with a TKO600

As for the suspension I can speak to that. Dual adjustable suspension can be dialed in so that you have ride comfort and performance. It’s not a one size fits all like single adjustable suspension. It doesn't have to be rock hard to give you great cornering or a soft and mushy to give you a comfortable ride. The shock can be dialed in to give you comfort and performance. I intend to take my completed car to a suspension expert to dial it in perfectly, and set the alignment up for great performance (not build it but tune it). This is the one expert besides a paint shop I intend to use.

The shocks were not actually $1800 they were a $900 upgrade because I got the 50% options summer sale and I felt like it was worth the money after speaking to experts about how much it would cost if I made the wrong choice and had to buy those from scratch. That said what did sting were those wildwood brakes and they just better be unbelievable because if they aren't I will have really sacrificed the look of the car I wanted see below. Plus on top of the $3k I had to pay for the upgrade I had to pay $130 from them to ship from Wildwood which is 30 min from my house. People familiar with them attest they are worth the money.

This project can snowball for example. The brakes. Experts will say, "gotta have great brakes if you're putting 400hp to the rear wheels of a 2300lb car" so I went with the Wilwoods. I wanted to put the 15" wheels and those awesome radials on the car but when I tried to find tires the shops would ask me about the build. The first thing they would say was "those tires are going to give you horrible performance get bigger wheels so we can put a modern tire on that car. It's a performance car!" not to mention that the wildwood 12.88" brakes can't fit under 15" wheels so I'd have to put on smaller brakes. So if I put smaller brakes on the car, and 15" wheels I would never be able to get the full potential out of it or if I put smaller brakes on my car and 18" wheels and keep a set of 15" as a second set I still would have to settle for smaller brakes. No right answers here it's all personal preference and if you can't tell I got sucked in by "expert" opinions. I tried to make my decisions as educated as possible.

Fisher Lake Hot Rods

12-30-2018, 11:39 PM

Thank you. This is very helpful. I’m reading everything I can on the forum to get ready.

edwardb

12-30-2018, 11:54 PM

Good discussion and feedback. Two follow-up comments. I've had solid axle and IRS. Highly recommend IRS. It rides better and with the 2015+ Mustang version it's also the highest performance. Does add +/- couple thousand to the build cost, which obviously can be a factor. Also depends on how you plan to use the car. A solid axle is generally a better choice for hard launches, like drag passes. But for everything else, the IRS is a great choice. You won't regret it. Nobody likes to talk about it because they think they'll never sell their car. But also adds to the desirability and resale value.

As far as the driveshaft, if Factory Five doesn't offer a length that fits your engine/trans/suspension combination, that doesn't have to steer your decision. A driveshaft shop can easily shorten an existing driveshaft. Or a brand new custom length can be ordered from a place like Denny's Driveshafts.

David Williamson

12-31-2018, 08:40 AM

Another item to think about, the rear body mounts in the vent area so if you cut them out the body mount will have to be modified.
David W

P100DHG

12-31-2018, 10:47 AM

Another item to think about, the rear body mounts in the vent area so if you cut them out the body mount will have to be modified.
David W

Whaaaaaat??? :confused: Missed this one. Anyone got here? What’s the procedure? No wonder FFR won’t cut them out. They didn’t say why though...

Jeff Kleiner

12-31-2018, 12:05 PM

Whaaaaaat??? :confused: Missed this one. Anyone got here? What’s the procedure? No wonder FFR won’t cut them out. They didn’t say why though...

That is correct; the rear body fasteners are in the simulated vents. Paint the indentations and hardware black then install the mesh and they'll appear to be open until you look closely.

Jeff

edwardb

12-31-2018, 12:12 PM

Whaaaaaat??? :confused: Missed this one. Anyone got here? What’s the procedure? No wonder FFR won’t cut them out. They didn’t say why though...

Putting the body mounts under the vent screens is a rather clever way IMO of hiding the rear body mounting bolts. As has already been pointed out, they're not functional. Even if you cut them open, not much is going to happen. There's an aluminum panel on the other side that walls off the hatch area. Carpeted if you're doing that. The Coupe that Factory Five wind tunnel tested had vents behind the rear wheels. But not on the back. https://www.factoryfive.com/whats-new/gen-3-type-65-coupe-r-aero-testing-report/

P100DHG

12-31-2018, 03:53 PM

That is correct; the rear body fasteners are in the simulated vents. Paint the indentations and hardware black then install the mesh and they'll appear to be open until you look closely.

Jeff

Okay got it makes sense thanks guys!! Great clarification.

- Danny

PS just for reference here is what we are talking about for those following along. This is the only reference I could find in the Gen 3 Coupe manual Rev 4F at all, just a picture with no explanation.
99890

P100DHG

01-08-2019, 08:08 PM

Wow a super awesome package arrived on Friday!!

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Guess what!?!? This marks the official start of the build! I wasted no time getting to work. Started by nesting AKA rearranging my garage. Worked all day Saturday on that and then started in on the Wildwood Disc Brakes on Sunday

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I torqued the bolts to spec 155in/lbs and used required locktite and marked each one with a paint pen and a line extending from the top of the bolt to the rotor so if they move it's easy to see on inspection

100332. 100333

I was under the impression that the calipers needed to be assembled but at first glance it looks completely assembled. Check that off the list. Here is one initial hiccup. Wilwood very nicely explains that the .032 safety wire that is required is "cheap" but they also fail to include any of the required "cheap" safety wire... :confused: So that has to be ordered.... So make sure you buy that before you start your build I bought this Malin - MS20995C Stainless Steel Safety Wire / Lockwire | .032" Dia (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005VR49D6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1). There were some other thoughts but I can't remember what they were at the moment so I'll update when they come to mind.

If anyone needs the wildwood instructions for whatever reason I can upload pictures of them. Safety Wire Instructions can be found here: http://www.wilwood.com/pdf/datasheets/ds386.pdf

Once the wire comes and my safety wire pliers I bought arrive I'll get started on that. Kit completion date is this Saturday then the wait for Stewart. Though I am not in a rush to spend another $2,000 for shipping to California so I can be patient. LOL.

Just for reference assembling all 4 took me 1 hour and 15 minutes. I threaded each bolt on half way to confirm alignment of the rotor to the hat before torquing anything down so this technique took a bit longer.

P100DHG

01-10-2019, 04:52 PM

Just as a piece of information installing the safety wire on the first rotor took me 40 minutes to complete. Mind you it was my first one and I am not trying to pump these out but it goes quickly once you get it dialed in. I want to share some tips or instructions since there really isn't a guide to how to do it, just a picture of the completed product. Also if you are exploring buying a kit it's nice to see peoples approach and fill in the gaps of the instruction manual so you know what you're getting yourself into. I like to build everything in my head before putting my hands on it.

Step 1: I took my .032" safety wire and measured out 14". After threading it through the bolt perpendicular to the rotor, I grabbed it and bent it up at an angle with a set of needle nose pliers.

100391

Step 2: It's really hard to pull the wire through with a needle nose. It's simply not going to do the job so I attached my safety wire pliers (these are the one's I bought on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002W2A0MW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) they are great) and pulled it though

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Step 3: This part is tricky. Where to place your pliers so don't over twist or under twist the wire. What I mean by that, is not to twist the wire so far that you have to untwist it to get it into the next bolt or too short and you find that the twist doesn't make it all the way to the second bolt hole. I hope that makes sense. If you line up your pliers like so (see picture below) you will have the perfect amount of twisted wire between bolts. I attached my pliers to the wire just a few millimeters past the bolt hole. This took me a couple attempts to get it perfect but I took a picture to mark my distance past the hole once I got it right and it came out great.

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Step 4: Thread the wire through the second bolt hole and the other wire around that back side as shown in the picture below. Then take both wires and thread them under the twisted wire. If you don't the wire that wraps around the back of the bolt will want to jump up above the bolt and you will find yourself struggling to get it to sit back down.

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Step 5: With the wire perpendicular to the twisted wire as seen in the picture above. Go ahead and twist it in this position. As the wire begins to twist and tighten soften the 90 degree angle (perpendicular angle) to a 45 degree angle and cut the excess with a snip. I cut about 3-4" of excess wire off.

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I thought about doing this without the safety wire pliers. My advice is don't. The pliers make the results so easy and so professional it's well work the money. Here are the tools I used to complete the job

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P100DHG

01-25-2019, 02:46 PM

Things are getting real! Stewart is picking it up on Monday and I should have it around February 8th 2019! Now I just have to think about what I want to name it.

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P100DHG

02-10-2019, 02:39 PM

I know everyone has seen these type of photos but I don't want to buck the trend.

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Here she is in the garage

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It comes with a castle of boxes ;)

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The boxes are numbered and correspond to a parts list. Each box is organized into categories. One box will have the front suspension parts and all the related nuts and bolts and another the gas tank and all the related parts, nuts and bolts and so on. I am impressed with the organization. I had expected a giant box of nuts and bolts and several more with parts scattered throughout and have to sift through and figure out what was what (this is how my son's play structure was), I am throughly impressed. I am going to store most of the boxes in a garage I have down the street so I organized a google sheet this morning that I can search what boxes are where. It came with a written box contents list but I am going to ask FFR for the parts list and box content list in the form of spreadsheet if one exists so I can search it easily. But my Table of Contents as I am calling my google sheet should be fine. Here comes inventory... :eek:

I have to make my first decision which is races vs street height. I want to do race of course but I am concerned the hood won't be able to open all the way without being jacked up. I am waiting on FFR for their answer on this.

Just to throw a huge thank you to the Stewart Transportation Driver who was the nicest guy! What a blast he made it and he was so patient with my little son running about. My son was more excited than I was. LOL

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edwardb

02-10-2019, 08:37 PM

Congratulations on your Coupe delivery! That's awesome and you're in for an interesting and fun build. I think I've offered this advice before, but I'll do it again. Unless you're building a dedicated race version, use the street height. As I recall, Factory Five offered the same advice. Just this week, mine came off the lift and is on the ground for the first time. I've got the ride height set and I'm finishing up the alignment before starting to fit the body. I used the street height, and let me tell you this thing is low. At race height, you'll be catching driveways with even the slightest transitions or angles. Don't even think about speed bumps. Those things are enough of a problem even at the street height. And don't just think of that as an absolute measurement, e.g. the chassis height. It's also the approach angle and the Coupe has a long nose. I've caught the nose on my Roadster a couple times when I didn't expect it, and it's shorter. Doesn't exactly make your day. This picture is from earlier today. Don't know if it helps. But this is street height. It's low.

https://i867.photobucket.com/albums/ab234/edwardb123/Factory%20Five%20Daytona%20Coupe/Misc%20Pics/th_IMG_1142_zpspgud3ahf.jpg (https://s867.photobucket.com/user/edwardb123/media/Factory%20Five%20Daytona%20Coupe/Misc%20Pics/IMG_1142_zpspgud3ahf.jpg.html)

P100DHG

02-23-2019, 12:08 AM

Well what a great start to the project. After delivery and an extreme amount of organization; I stored most of the boxes I wouldn't use in the first 25% of the project in a garage off site. I took the nose off and and loaded everything up.

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So I got building and I quickly realized the the instructions from Factory Five are a guide rather than a hard rule book. So I hope I can do the filling in and help the guide be more precise. So lets begin. First things first. Get out the HAMMER! I was surprised this was the first step, but you've got to pound out the rubber & metal bushings from the rack. One popped right out and the other had difficultly, so I sprayed WD40 on it and it helped it slide out. Didn't want to contaminate the metal so I cleaned off the WD40 and inserted the new bushings supplied by FFR. I decided on street height to avoid future headaches. Insert that power steering rack and bolt it down. But wait... Mine was flawed. Thankfully I had taken a picture before install. One of the pressure lines was kinked. Never the less I installed it and sent the pictures of the before and after install to FFR. New pressure lines are on the way from FFR at some point. I'm far from needing them so no rush. Their promise is good enough for me.

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The lower control arms went on smooth and so did the shocks. The upper control arms were a head scratcher. Following the direction here just isn't the way to go so let me rewrite them. Referencing page 73, the directions say "Remove one of the inner bolts from the upper control arms and wrap the cross shaft of the arm around behind the coil-over." Do yourself a favor here and remove both inner bolts. The way my frame was welded together it is so tight the cross shaft wouldn't go in. By removing both bolts you can work with just the cross shaft and instead of inserting it directly into its mounting holes I had to slide it in close to the frame and work it outward with an orange plastic mallet until the holes lined up. When one mounting bolt hole lines up put the bolt in and work the other side till your other bolt slides in.

Now that the upper control arm is back together I installed the spindles and torqued to spec. After attaching the spindle to the lower control arm I moved to the upper control arm. 2 issues here not covered in the manual. The first is you need a 1/2" hardened washer (https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-1-2-in-Yellow-Zinc-Grade-8-Flat-Washer-3-Piece-807128/204276487) between the castle nut and the spindle (Jeff Kleiner recommended). It's not provided so put it on your Home Depot list and while you’re at it buy some Emery Cloth (https://www.homedepot.com/p/3M-3-66-in-x-9-in-Coarse-Medium-and-Fine-Grit-Emery-Cloth-Sandpaper-3-Sheets-Pack-5931ES/100562118) I'll get to why later. So after you install the washer and the castle nut on the upper control arm attach the spindle and torque to 75 ftlbs. GOTCHA!!! Guess what! Your 1/2" Harbor Freight Torque wrench won't fit!

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The general consensus was when you torqued that lower castle nut affixing the spindle to the lower control arm you felt what 80-110ftlbs feels like. I torqued mine to 95 and 90 respectively because the castle nut has to line up with the cotter pin so it's unlikely you will get the exact same specs on both right and left sides of the car. 95ftlbs in this particular angle felt like my forearm was going to snap in half so I used a regular 3/8" ratchet and I torqued it to what I felt like was 75ftlbs. I'll get a 3/8" torque wrench down the road and confirm it just to be sure but I am confident it's right. Again the castle nut has to line up so it might be 75+ ftlbs but definitely 75ftlbs. Ouch!

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So now that the spindle is attached I felt like this next part was a big milestone. The front hubs. I mean the car is going to have studs which means it starts to really look like a car and things spin! The driver side went on smoothly and I torqued the hub nut to 250ftlb. No issues. Then I did the passenger side. Here is where things went sideways. Also not in the manual. Can you believe that they don't include when **** goes wrong in the manual!!!! ;) Well I started to slide the hub on to the spindle about 3/4 - 1" and it seized up. I am telling you it wouldn't move at all. The manual says on page 78, "The hub is a snug fit on the spindle and may require a light tap with a soft mallet to get in place" DO YOURSELF A HUGE FAVOR AND DON'T TAP IT. I did what I felt was a light tap (I let my 2.5 year old tap it actually so it was a light tap) and it made the situation so much worse! It was clear to me that it wasn't going on at this point so it had to come off. Well 30 minutes of coercing later I got it off. Now what... I called Factory Five and they recommended freezing the spindle in my freezer to contract the metal so the hub would slide on... I was like WHAT?!? :confused: Instead I did what any smart person would do and I asked people here. DUH! We have PAUL, HELLO! LOL. Remember that Emery Cloth I told you about, go get it out and start sanding that spindle! Go through the coarse, medium and fine. Totally worried about the same situation I got some high performance synthetic grease (a recommendation by Sigurd) and I put a light coat on the spindle and on the hub and it slid right on! Disaster averted!

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Just as a side reference I marked with a paint pen the position of each bolt after torquing it, so that I know if they moved (this is common). But what I also did was write the actual torque spec right on the bolt. That way there is no question what it was torqued to. Also for future maintenance it will leave me referring to the manual less often. (Hopefully this won't be coming apart in the next few decades.

So just to give a little back story here. My wife and I were considering moving from our starter home (literally the best home ever!) into something more permanent and larger. We decided to hold off so I bought this kit car to keep me occupied until we were ready to buy a new home. Well as luck would have it we found something and now I have 60 days (the escrow period) to make this a roller (likely without hydraulic brakes, hopefully an E-brake) in some way so I can get it onto a tow truck to move it to the new house (should everything go well with the escrow...) Im not interested in any shortcuts on the build and the timeline seems manageable, but kinda hilarious that this car has to be shipped again only 2 months after getting it. Fingers crossed on the new house. Not counting my ducks until they hatch though.

johnny cobra

02-23-2019, 03:27 AM

Hi I hope your move goes well . and you get the Coupe get rolling ...

John.

P100DHG

03-03-2019, 02:24 PM

So I will admit I didn't fully comprehend the hand built nature of this car. Not so much from my side obviously but from Factory Five's side. This isn't a problem but what I've found is prepare for some home-brew engineering when constructing this car. I'll be honest I thought everything would fit perfectly without any issues and for the most part it does but there are some fitment issues, but all can be over come with some ingenuity.

Rear Center Section / Differential
After finishing the vast majority of the front suspension I turn my attention to the rear suspension. Installing the rear differential was first, I jacked it up into place. I found that once it was up there that a ratchet strap was helpful to create a sling so I could wiggle it into place. When doing so I found that the driver-side front mount was out of alignment. After getting 3 of 4 bolts in (the passenger-side front and both rear bolts) I couldn't line up the driver-side. I put a wood block on my jack and attempted to jack up the ear to no avail. The whole car was lifting up and I was still out of alignment.

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I needed a second set of hands, so I called in reinforcements and my father-in-law came over. We battled with the center section alignment for at least an hour trying to figure out how to get it to align but little was changing the status quo. What we came up with was a strap from the roll bar, down through the transmission tunnel and wrapped it directly around the "ear" of the differential that was out of alignment. We slowly ratcheted the strap tighter and tighter until it came into alignment. What an amazing sense of accomplishment! I unfortunately didn't take a picture of this but if you look at Paul's post here (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?26630-Edwardb%92s-Gen-3-Type-65-Coyote-Coupe-59-Build-Body-Fitting-Continues&p=306939&viewfull=1#post306939)it looked like this.

Rear Control Arms
With a bit of tapping the control arms went in nicely, but when I was ready to mount the rear spindles. I realized something... The control arms were too narrow, they needed to be spread apart about 1/32 of an inch. Factory Five recommended trying to bend them out with a vise grip but that was off the table for me. No way was I going to be able to muscle 1/4" thick steel into place. This is a great lesson, I just stepped away from it. I cleaned up and took a 24 hour break. Last night at 2am I awoke to the solution. I wanted something that would give me precisely what I needed. This morning at 7:30am I went straight to work rummaging through mason jars of bolts. I found one that would barely work. This is what I came up with:

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I ran the bolt through the mount of the lower control arm and placed two jam nuts on it. I slid the bolt through to the other side and moved the nuts opposite one another to the far ends of the bolt. By tightening one and loosening the other it forced the steel to spread apart just enough. It worked like a charm and the spindle slipped right in. I had to do the same for the toe adjustment.

What I realized from these two experiences is that without these small bits of home-brew engineering the project wouldn't be as fun. I mean these little battles make the whole thing more exciting. Now truthfully I wish I didn't feel like I had a time crunch to get this done but that is the nature of the situation I am in right now and getting the wheels on so I can roll this onto a tow truck is my #1 priority. I will inevitably need to go back and really dial it all in. I am writing notes of every bolt left untorqued and every fitting and jam nut left loose but even then it's concerning me I could miss something so tonight I am going to carefully flag with painters tape everything that needs to be addressed.

David Williamson

03-10-2019, 05:35 PM

yes a hand built car .... some adjustment required. I often say if it was easy everyone would have one, all part of the fun. What you did to open up the ears is common.
David W

P100DHG

03-13-2019, 02:59 PM

I finished and torqued all the rear suspension to spec. I have it roughly aligned. The alignment shop can handle the rest. There are some discrepancies on the torque setting of the center section. The center section instructions state 100ftlbs which is what I used but the torque spec page says 129 ftlbs. What’s the consensus? FFR said use the appendix not the instructions. Anyway I’m feeling pretty good right now about where I am sitting.

103725

Looks like the studs I bought off amazon are working well. The downside to them, as is the downside to trimming the stud is that if I choose to swap the wheels at some point down the road I am going to be forced to change them because I’d likely order a wheel with the offset built in, thus negating the need for a spacer and a shorter stud. I’ll be keeping the longer studs that came with the kit. That said, installing them is going to require disassembling the entire rear brakes and hubs, no small task. I am overall impressed with the quality of the spacers, their fit and finish is worth the money. More on how they turned out later.

103726

It’s been a very productive and expensive week. All the parts came back from powder coat and they are a perfect match to the satin frame. All the loose parts and door frames (30 items in total) cost $350. I’ll have another batch as I discover stuff I missed to send out I’m sure. Additionally I got the tires mounted on the wheels and they are awesome. Toyo Proxies R888Rs 315 in the rear and 255 up front. I know a lot of guys are doing 275s in the front but I didn’t want to put too much tire on the front considering how sticky the rubber is on these tires. Sometimes too much front tire can strain the steering system and become darty on roads with ruts especially with tires this sticky. They are so badass. I have 35 x 12.5s on my 2018 GMC Sierra HD Denali with a 4” lift and those 315s are definitely as wide if not wider. The tires cost $1200 (I’ve got a guy) happy to share info if you are in SoCal.

103727

Finishing up the rear brakes I opted to go ahead and install the hand brake and cables. Since our current driveway has a pretty good slope and our new driveway does as well I think having a hand brake would be prudent for loading it on to a tow truck and into the garage for the anticipated house move. I ran into the same problem as Paul. The Dorman cables felt like they were going to be too short to reach the clevis. I over came this without an extension actually. By installing one side only and pulling the hand brake and releasing 3 times and doing the same for the other side I found enough slack to install both cables. With both installed I pulled the hand brake to the third notch and released 3 times. At that point I found enough slack to remove the cables from the clevis and tighten the clevis till I felt it had enough thread to be safe and strong. I found this to set the pads well and the rotors move with relative ease aside from the resistance from the center section.

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I too had an issue with the Dorman cable being too long to fit under the Wilwood brake mounting position and need to trim it slightly. I did find I needed to slightly widen the slot on the Wilwood hand brake cable mounting adapter. I did this using my drill press, an XY table and a milling head/bit.

So items to accomplish before the anticipated house move would be:
1. Install the sway bars (not crucial)
2. Mount the wheels (critical)
3. Install the steering (seems like a good idea)

P100DHG

03-13-2019, 03:04 PM

What a beast! 475hp (off from 510hp, lost 35 hp to that intake, power steering and AC) even more impressive is that 511 lbft of torque it’s putting down

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Here is the Facebook video of it burning some dinosaur fuel :) (that’s what we call it since my wife and I both have electric cars) :p

https://youtu.be/oyf1I9C1XLk

I just want to point out for anyone who is looking to build a 351W to clear the coupe hood. Look how low that intake sits. The EFI barely clears the valve covers and sits low in the valley. Should work perfectly. I got an email from FFR saying the rest of my parts are coming. I am sending out my headers and exhaust to a high end shop locally. He is going to add baffles in the side pipes to quiet them down and a collector for the headers and EFI bung. Stop me here before I commit a $1000 to modifying the exhaust if you think there is a problem with this.

P100DHG

03-16-2019, 10:48 PM

Things progressed surprisingly quickly since my last post. I am at a point in which I can step away or not as the case maybe and feel comfortable that I have a roller. My father-in-law and I have been working together since I needed help with the center section, he's really gotten into it. Some great bonding time. Neither of us have an auto mechanic background but we are both very skilled so his help makes the project just cruise along. He's leaving for 2 weeks and I have a ton of work so I'll be enjoying your posts rather than doing much posting myself. We tackled the last three items on the list, sway bars, steering, and wheels.

Sway Bars:
I am not sure how many have read the FFR directions for the front sway bars and I don't know if I am allowed to post them because of copyright issues, but awful might be an understatement. Fortunately, EXCELLENT is the way I can describe their tech support and their responsiveness and clarification made it all make sense. Plus lets not kid ourselves I looked at previous builds here and copied what I saw and what FFR told me to do. The front sway bar directions make no mention or torque settings but these settings can be found in the rear sway bar instructions which are very clear and well written. The part that says "If necessary the minimum length the rod ends and female rod ends can end up are so the threads are 1⁄2” long.", really intends to say. "Cut the rod ends so they are 1/2" long." I used a hack saw and came out with excellent results.

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I torqued the Allen style bolts used to mount the brackets to the frame to 30 ft-lbs and the 7/16" bolts used to attached the sway bar to the helm joints/ rod end bearing to 40 ft-lbs. The replacement bolt that attaches the lower control arm to the coil over shock I torqued to 40 ft-lbs.

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The threaded Allen style bolts can be seen in the above photo with gold lock nuts on them behind where the radiator would go toward the lower frame rail.

Steering:
The steering went very smoothly. The head scratcher that I ran into was installing the lower shaft. What I discovered was it was necessary to disconnect the spline adapter from the steering shaft that fits onto the power steering rack to make it all fit. Having a second person was actually really helpful to install the system. It comes in handy when aligning and installing the upper and lower shafts and the shaft to the spline adapter. Fortunately it was very quick and easy and really should uninstall smoothly because I need to polish the panels and fit them back later.

Wheels and Tires:
Here is the big news! They look insane. Amazing --- well... that was left back there in the dust. They are incredible looking and those spacers, well, those are just freakin superb. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves except to say, it's hard to judge from pictures how the wheel sits under the fender when talking about spacers, so I used a yardstick and a level to help illustrate the 1/2" - 3/4" recess in from the fender the tire sits.

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The yard stick is touching the top of the fender it just got cutoff from the photo, you'll have to trust me. Also you might notice how high the fender is above the wheel and how badly I need to adjust those coil overs but I'll get to that later. Still plenty of weight to add before addressing that. Just a heads up I torqued my lug nuts to 100lbs. 2015 mustang calls for 150lbs according to the internet (https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&ei=D5qhXIL6F-WMggeRgri4Aw&q=2015+mustang+lug+nut+torque&oq=2015+mustang+lug+nut+torque&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0j0i7i30.31044.32528..32922...0.0..0.125.599 .0j5......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i71.LjnWEyTFUKs) but I am going to do some further research on what I need to be at before cranking anything down that hard. For reference my Tesla Model S is at 129 ft-lbs per factory spec.

Also just let me add this. My 2.5 year old putting the tires on today with my father-in-law (his grandfather). This is why you build stuff like this to make these types of memories.

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Here is where things stand right now

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David Williamson

03-17-2019, 09:13 AM

P100DHG

03-17-2019, 09:22 AM

I would get the engine installed and check the fit of the exhaust before spending any money on them. Hope they fit better than mine did, one of the biggest problems with my build. I ended up selling all the FFR parts and getting Boig quiet pipes.
David W

Hey Dave,

Can you share your experience with the fit of the exhaust? That would be very helpful.

Thanks,
Danny

David Williamson

03-17-2019, 12:12 PM

There are some old posts with detail, long story short. My frame was made with the engine mounts welded on reversed so the engine was located forward and to the left. FFR send me modified mounts to move the engine into the correct location. I tried 3 sets of headers including a 351 set. With a lot of messing around I got them to fit enough to drive but they were not straight. I got some parts sent to me by FFR and with a 4 inch spacer spool I got the passenger side to fit. With a number of shims I got the drivers side installed but it was high and angled down. I am sure with more work I could have made them fit but they were so loud they could not stay. Even with ear plugs my ears were ringing after 30 minutes. So I changed to Boig quiet pipes, they fit well and will not piss off everyone in my area when I drive it. Yours may fit better but I would check to be sure. hope this helps
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David W

P100DHG

03-31-2019, 11:51 PM

So it seems like I have a question at every step and really the answers seem obvious once I get them but hind sight is 20/20 as they say. I want to thank Factory Five for their amazing tech support and obviously you guys for your help so far. It's great because if I decide to build a Roaster then I'll know whats going on before I tackle it.

Pinion Flange Adapter:
So their are many different variants of the pinion adapter apparently. The one that FFR sent to me originally wasn't correct.

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I took a picture and sent it to them and they sent me out a new one which installed easily.

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Pedals
Pedals went in this week. Easy install. I did have a question regarding the balance bar but it sounds like I need to wait till I finish all the brake lines and everything is bled before I can adjust that. You might notice I cheated the pedal pads over to one side. I live in flip flops and occasionally Converse, with the pedal pads centered my flip flops didn't have enough space so I cheated them over. Nice to know I can always adjust them again later if need be but now I feel like I have ample space.

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Placement of the accelerator pedal was tough but was aided by the use of a super magnet to temporarily hold it. Everything went in beautifully, alignment is perfect. I am very pleased with the pedal placement. The picture is deceiving but the accelerator pedal has an ample amount of room between the side wall of the pedal box and the pedal. I couldn't find the 1/4 x 3/4 screws in my kit so I bought a set from Home Depot.

Exhaust
Factory Five was so kind to ship me a set of flanges for free. I am going to send these along with the headers to a high-end exhaust shop here that is going to add collectors and a bung for the EFI system. The issue is that FFR headers for a 351w don't have a collector. They are 4 individual pipes that only combine once they go into the side pipes, additionally when they do enter the side pipes 2 pipes combine into 1. This took a lot of internet scouring and research to find the pictures that show this (I still don't have my side pipes but the 60lb box on it's way to me via Fedex is likely them). So I am posting the pictures here so it's easy for people to see who are researching this issue.

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Now by tapping one tube I can only sample one cylinder and though people have said it will work it's really not the best. But it will work. What I intend to do is to do what you see below and have them re-coated when I get the side pipes done.

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Here is the picture of the flange FFR sent me so I can weld the collectors to.

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Redoing Work:
Well there is a time when you have to just redo something. The back story here is my son and I frequent Santa Monica Airport every weekend to eat at the Spitfire Grill and watch airplanes take off and land. He has an amazing vocabulary for 2 he speaks like a 10 year old honestly and he's a sponge. We've made some friends visiting the airport and there is a gentleman who is known for building airplanes in a hanger there that we've befriended. He builds the Rutan Model 61 Long-EZ. He took us to the hanger and we got to see what its all about and he gave me some pointers that I then further researched when I was thinking about building this car. Bolts point aft and center and torque your bolts from the nut side whenever possible. I have taken that advice and used it on this build. I mean if it makes the difference between falling out of the sky if something comes loose and not, then certainly it can't hurt to use it on this car. Well I had posted some of that wisdom that was imparted on me and Paul came up with a very good point and this is where the "whenever possible" comes into play. The front lower control arm, front bolt and steering rack bolts should face forward and not aft in this case because if it does face aft it will be "captured" by the sheet metal of the radiator shroud. Though Paul is much further along than I it's amazing forethought because I am sure he figured this out before he put that bolt in, unlike myself. :o So I switched mine so I don't have that issue and the serviceability of the car is intact.

A Mistake:
Well I did it, after torquing bolt after bolt at 100 ft-lbs I broke something small and fragile. Well actually it may not be entirely my fault. When I was assembling my pedals I attached the throttle cable ball joint onto the pedal and before is was actually fully tightened down the bolt sheered off. The nut hadn't even touched the pedal arm yet (it wasn't cross threaded, I checked), but better it broke now and not when I was driving. I stole the one from the carb side in the hopes that my EFI system will have the necessary attachments for the throttle cable, but I might be in the market for one down the road if someone has an extra I can buy. The one I stole from the carb side went on without any issue.

104861

So I am am running out of things to do with the body on. I am hesitant to go further, taking the body off, etc. while we are showing our home. It hasn't sold, though an unappealing offer came through today. No rush gotta find the right buyer. Hopefully we will accomplish the move. I have to say this build has provided an amazing amount of stress relief. I love working in my garage, it's my zen place. I am going to grease the ball joints and control arms and fill the differential with fluid, but I think I'm stuck after that. I've noticed that it's a tight fit on greasing those lower control arms so I am looking for a 90° adapter. Any suggestions are welcomed.

P100DHG

04-21-2019, 10:44 AM

Well, 3 weeks have passed since my last update and I’m afraid more time will pass till my next. Since this journal/thread is as much about what happens to the car, as my life around the car, I thought I’d write an update. My wife and I were very lucky to have a stellar buyer come through and buy our house without any compromises. We have to be out by end of day Thursday (4 days from now). Unfortunately our new home doesn’t close escrow for another 2 weeks (termite work needs to be performed). But that’s doesn’t mean I get to start building again. The new house needs wood flooring and 3 new electrical panels. Estimated completion on the work is 2 months. So, we will be living with our parents (should be interesting). In that timeline I am going to squeeze a garage make over in there.

The Garage
I intend to have a garage door installer change the track of the sectional door to follow the roofline of the garage and do a jack shaft opener. You get where I’m going with this! I am going to install full recessed lighting, insulate, drywall and paint. I intend to do a metallic epoxy floor and full cabinets through Costco. A dedicated 125 amp electrical panel for the garage and when that’s all done, the 4 Post Lift is going in. I mentioned it to my wife and she did not seem happy. But she got the house so I’m going for the garage and I’ll ask for forgiveness when it’s done. I’ll do a big reveal and we’ll see who got their way. LOL.

The Car
As for the car, Russ Thompson hooked me up majorly. He modified my steering hub for the turn signal switch, and I got a bunch of other goodies, including a plaque with Daytona inscribed in it. I plan to intergrate it into my dash some how. Maybe a glove box door. I also got door sill plates, pontoon covers and plexiglass slats for the A pillar. He doesn’t have the bracket but he sent me a template that I can make my own. I greased all the joints. I recommend a 90° adapter (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000G76OMA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) for the front lower control arms. Since my differential is used I decided to do a partial flush. I first verified it was drained. I over filled it with 2 full quarts of fluid and then drained off 0.4 quarts leaving the 1.6 left inside. I’m glad I did because the first 0.3 quarts were dirty and the final 0.1 was clear. Leaving me with 1.6 quarts of clean fluid or 3.2 pints. I used the recommended Ford Motorcraft fluid which the dealer totally hosed me on the price. I was concerned about transporting the car in an open trailer with the glass taped in so I built a glass rack out of PVC for my rear and front glass and will store them with the rest of the parts. The owner of the new home is nice enough to let me put the car in the garage till we close escrow.

For now that’s all. I wish everyone a wonderful Easter.

edwardb

04-21-2019, 12:24 PM

Congrats on the new home and the pending garage rehab. Very similar story to what we did during my #8674 Roadster build. Less the living with parents part. :rolleyes: Good luck with everything, and hang in there. Every time we've moved I've been reminded just how much work it is. But it's worth it when done.

Do you by chance have pictures of the plaque, sill plates, and pontoon covers from Russ? I emailed with him right after I received my Coupe kit, and he was thinking about doing some Gen 3 parts, but didn't have anything at the time.

David Williamson

04-21-2019, 12:40 PM

no pictures, I have a set of sill plates and pontoon covers from Russ for my Gen 3. Got them for X-mass so he has them now.
David W

P100DHG

04-21-2019, 01:11 PM

LOL. I should have know better, posting about car candy without pictures. Truthfully I haven’t even opened it. I’ll go tomorrow to my storage and grab a picture. I’m taking the whole week off so it will be a nice break from packing. I was so focused on my steering hub and getting the wheel on so we could move. Also in the midst of all of this I broke ground on my future office for my business and taxes. It’s been an insane 3 weeks.

q4stix

04-22-2019, 04:37 PM

The Garage
I intend to have a garage door installer change the track of the sectional door to follow the roofline of the garage and do a jack shaft opener. You get where I’m going with this! I am going to install full recessed lighting, insulate, drywall and paint. I intend to do a metallic epoxy floor and full cabinets through Costco. A dedicated 125 amp electrical panel for the garage and when that’s all done, the 4 Post Lift is going in. I mentioned it to my wife and she did not seem happy. But she got the house so I’m going for the garage and I’ll ask for forgiveness when it’s done. I’ll do a big reveal and we’ll see who got their way. LOL.

Sounds *very* familiar to me. All that's missing from that in mine is the jackshaft opener and the lift! You'll be super happy with that setup with the lighting and heating/cooling ability.
Also, if the garage has living space above it and already had drywall like mine, an alternative would be using the flat panel LEDs. A friend of mine had some and they work really well without having to punch holes in the ceiling.

P100DHG

04-23-2019, 07:20 PM

Here is some candy for you guys. Now you can blow up Russ’s email with requests. LOL. He’s a really great guy. He gave me a lot of time talking about the coupe and tips and tricks. The first picture is of the plaque that I intend to use as my glove box door

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P100DHG

05-04-2019, 04:31 PM

So it’s a done deal. My house is sold and my new house closed. I loaded up my car on to a trailer

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And put it in the new garage

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I’ve got some space to spare now. :)

Ltngdrvr

05-04-2019, 04:37 PM

That puts a dent in the car building schedule, moving and having to set up a new garage...:(

P100DHG

06-19-2019, 09:22 PM

Sounds *very* familiar to me. All that's missing from that in mine is the jackshaft opener and the lift!.

Well sir, I will be joining the compromise club. We can’t get everything we want. We rewired, insulated, LED lit, drywalled, painted, new upper garage cabinets. I was planning on doing epoxy paint but the guy showed up today and said my garage floor wasn’t a good candidate because the moisture reading was above some threshold. So any recommendations on garage floor tile? I had Costco brand in my last garage and it was just alright. Anyway, it seems like that was a good place to stop spending money and I feel lucky my wonderful wife let me do all of this. So the jack shaft opener and the lift can come at a later date. (I’ll post pictures of my car’s new garage next week)

We’ve got 2 more weeks till the remodel is done and we move in so I’m very very excited to have a place I can call home and get back to work on my car. With summer vacations planned work on it will be sporadic. I think my first task is to review everything I’ve done to date on the car and get caught up and refreshed. I left myself good notes. I foresee the next step in the process to remove the body and mark all the panels and remove them in preparation for the brake lines, fuel lines and gas tank.

I want to give a big thanks to Roush who has been storing my engine without any complaints. They are delivering it in mid September and it’s very exciting to see that shiny jewel. It might be premature but it will be a good motivator.

P100DHG

07-15-2019, 09:51 PM

Did I say I'd post pictures next week? I meant in two or three... LOL. We leave for vacation tomorrow. Gone for 2 weeks but I've set myself up to start back on the build when I get back. One day of setup for parts and inventory and I'm back at it. I have been completely absent from the the forum because truthfully I've been jealous that all you guys are building and I am piecing my house together. But that's what vacation is for I've got 2.5 months of progress to catch up on. I did get to see my first completely finished Daytona this past weekend. Actually it's the only one I've ever seen except for the one sitting in my garage so that was really inspiring. It was a Gen 1 and I loved the simplicity of the dash actually so it's made me rethink how far I want to take modifications. Maybe a glove box, a filler piece between the dash and transmission tunnel and leave the rest somewhat standard but I am sure I will figure it out as I go along. Here are the pictures of the new garage. I think my favorite part is the cabinets and lighting.

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P100DHG

08-09-2019, 01:34 PM

So I took a break from the house remodel (even though we are moved in the details are just monumental), I just couldn't take it anymore. The house is looking incredible but I've been there and done that and I felt like I've lost so much momentum on the car. But now that the house details are becoming fewer and fewer I get to come home from work spend some time with my son and get to my place of serenity (my garage). I put in 4 evenings this week and progress has been steady and I am learning a ton.

Removing the Body:

I couldn't go further comfortably without removing the body. The whole exercise took 15 minutes. My father-in-law, my wife and I removed the body. It was really quite simple (literally even 3 year old with a Black and Decker cordless screwdriver can do it LOL) and frankly removing it sooner just isn't necessary.

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Packed it up on the trailer

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and here she is naked

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Installing the Gas Tank:

After removing the body it's interesting to see the car and appreciate what's under that body. The frame is just beautifully made. I installed the gas tank per the instructions but of course I hit a snag. Really it was the fuel straps that gave me a hard time. I had to drill out the paint on the horizontal holes which wouldn't allow the 3/8" bolt to pass through. I just used my drill in reverse so it was more like filing it than drilling. The screws passed through perfectly. When I went to hang the tank I found that the 3/8" x 2 1/4" provided bolts were too short. A trip to the hardware store and some 3/8" x 3" bolts did the trick. It's nice and snug now. In the picture you'll see the stock fuel pickup but as I learned about the fuel system I decided to go a different route. I'll discuss the fuel pickup later but let's just say it's going to the landfill.

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Fuel System Part 1:

After installing the gas tank, it was time to turn my attention to the fuel system. I am enjoying this part because it's freehand work and isn't just a bolt on type of thing. It leaves some room to make it my own. This might be long so brace yourself but I'll keep it organized so I'm not bouncing around and as a preface, though I am a good fabricator and craftsman I had zero understanding of a fuel system before embarking on this, so hopefully I'll answer some questions in my post for those thinking about building one of these cars.

1. What do I know and what do I need to know?
The first question I asked myself is: What do I know? What I knew was that this fuel system used a supply line and a return line and that's it.
What I needed to know was:

What side of the engine does the fuel go into?
What size fuel line do I need and does the supplied fuel line fit the bill?
Did I need a fuel pump, what type, how strong and all the required specs?
What about a fuel filter?
What types of fitting does it use?
How should I route and plumb my system

2. Answering the questions.
So after about 5+ hours of phone calls, research and the related I gathered my resources and parts to complete most of my fuel system so hopefully this will save you 5 hours of research.

The first thing was I turned to the video of my engine on the dyno to see that my fuel needs to enter on the passenger side
I also discovered through my research that the supplied fuel lines where going to be too small and I needed to upgrade to a 3/8" line so my supply and return at both 3/8", from there it's going to be braided stainless flex lines. My engine puts out 475 HP and is a 7.0L V8 or 427 cubic inches. So this engine is going to need to gulp fuel.
Frankly I still don't know what my engine comes with but I decided I wanted an in tank pump and if my engine did come with one I'd just sell it here or on another site. I ended up buying this Aeromotive Stealth Electric Fuel Pumps 18638 (https://www.summitracing.com/parts/aei-18638). It had good reviews and was drop in ready and FAST (the maker of my EFI system) gave it their blessing. So I don't need the supplied fuel pick up.
The FFR fuel filter looks probably like it performs so I went with a Trickflow filter (https://www.summitracing.com/parts/tfs-23006).
The fittings with the supplied kit and the fittings I am using are not compatible. In scrapping the whole supplied fuel system I decided to use compression and AN fittings.
The last part was a local supplier in North Hollywood who has helped me on other projects, VF Sales (http://www.vfsalesnoho.com) helped me tremendously, by putting together what should be a fantastic system.
Well first is since my fuel enters on the passenger side of the engine and the pickup on the tank is on the passenger side it seemed to make the most sense running it down the passenger side. One thing to contend with is the Parking Brake Handle but if I ran it a few inches below I shouldn't have any interference. I knew I wanted to do the filler panel that Paul did in the center of his car covering the cross brace under the hood, behind the engine. After a trip to my local metal supply, I was able to match up the same aluminum that is on the car now. So I got most of the parts and what's left is the order in which to plumb it all in. FAST has a great diagram they sent me that makes a lot of sense. I think this diagram answered a lot of questions for me. Especially given my specific setup

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What was fascinating to me is that the regulator goes on the return line and it makes sense to me now. I am thinking about it like a dam holding back the reservoir so that the engine can take big gulps of fuel rather than it being on the supply and it being the equivalent of sipping through a small straw. Also interesting is that the fuel's direction across the rail didn't matter. Meaning it could go in the front and come out the back or go in the back and come out the front doesn't make a difference. Huh who would of thunk.

As for putting it all together I got started on that yesterday. The grinder cut through the aluminum like a hot knife through butter. I like to use blue Scotch brand tape to mark out where I want to cut, I draw directly on it and not only is my line clear to see but it seems to help reduce burrs on the edges when cutting. The result so far is great and VF Sales hooked me up with bulkhead fittings so you won't see the hard lines at all in the front of the engine compartment and it will keep the firewall looking clean. I am very happy with the result so far, I plan to take lots of pictures of how I route, fasten and plumb the system so that if anyone has any questions hopefully it will answer them. I should have the hard lines finished before I leave for vacation in 10 days so when I get back I'll do all the steel braided connections from the pickup/ fuel pump, to the filter to the hard lines. More to come next week cause it's back to work on the house this weekend. LOL.

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PS - You might notice I mounted my brake reservoirs but I'll cover that work when I cover the brake system.

P100DHG

08-20-2019, 12:33 PM

Fuel System Part 2:

Refining Work:
Well I was sanding the panel I made that covers the cross brace in firewall and absentmindedly I forgot to remove the bulkhead fittings I installed in it and rather than sanding the edge of the panel I sanded the fittings. A minor mistake (I ruined the fittings) but what I realized was that the real mistake was to use straight bulkhead connectors. If I had used straight bulk head fittings I would have needed to use 90º fittings on the stainless braided lines connecting the bulk head fittings to the fuel rail and it would have definitely interfered with the engine as the 90º fittings from the braided lines are sweeping rather than a hard 90. So I trashed the ruined straight bulkhead connectors and swapped them out for 90º bulk head fittings. Now I can connect with straight AN connectors off my flexible stainless lines and have clearance for the engine.

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Hard Fuel Lines
Just a quick recap. I am using 3/8" stainless steel for my return and supply hardline and for my particular application it requires me to run them down the passenger side. This means I have to avoid the parking brake. So I ran them low. I also used exactly one 10' stick and cut it in half. I used the supplied 5/16" fuel line from FFR to bend the shape I wanted before I touched anything in stainless and followed the pattern I had made with my bender and reproduced the same thing in stainless. A warning if you're going to use stainless. Make sure you bender is up for the task, stainless doesn't want to change shape and if you put too much bend in it, reversing that is quite difficult. My bender was not up to the task and as a result

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Luckily it was on the very last adjustment. I was trying to take a little too much bend out which I did but they failed catastrophically. I am pleased with the end result though and I ordered from Eastwood benders to do the brake lines. Here are some pictures of how I routed my hard lines.

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After installing my hard lines I pressure tested them and did the soapy bubbles test. The test revealed a leak in my testing equipment. LOL I fixed it and I continued the test but I found no leak in stainless lines or fittings. I thought about doing a test by submerging the fittings in water but the test I did worked fine and I am confident in the results. I pressure tested the system at 60psi. I'll do the same again with all my braided lines attached before hooking up to the fuel pump or fuel rail.

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The TrickFlow fuel filter I ordered is on back order till end of the month but the timing is good since I am out of town till then. Once I have that I'll complete the fuel system from the tank to the hard lines.

More on the next post... I hit my picture limit

P100DHG

08-20-2019, 12:44 PM

Continued from the previous post. I broke this up into 2 posts because I hit my picture limit.

Brake System Part 1:

Brake Lines
Since I was waiting on some parts for the fuel system I started mapping out my brake lines and brake system. I am going to just use the provided lines but follow my own routing path so I purchased a double flaring tool that was highly rated on Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XPRVCPV/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) along with the Eastwood bender that will give me nice tight bends. For now my brake reservoirs are set. I really like the provided reservoirs from FFR. Actually they provide one but I ordered an extra. I want my front and rear brakes to be truly independent systems. Two reasons why I like FFRs brake reservoirs. First off they look awesome, that polished look is great and really they are very well made. Secondly, I like the mounting system. They fit into a collar that tightens down so they are adjustable. I can raise or lower the height of them to get the perfect fit. I have chosen to take FFR's directions quite literally and mount them so that the cap is just above the height of the master cylinders knowing I can raise it if I need to, but for now I want a low profile look. I anticipate needing to notch the sheet metal on the driver side foot box to allow the brake lines to pass through. I routed the flexible rubber supply lines nice and tight and in a way that would cause as little interference as possible with the outgoing hard brake lines. When I get back I should have the brake lines done within a week or so.

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Looking Forward
This is very much for me, as it is a look into my thought process. When done with the brake lines I plan to tackle the foot box sheet metal in 3 sections. First section is the driver side section. Disconnect the steering rack, brake reservoir supply lines and mark and drill a place where I want to route the throttle cable. Next up marking and drilling my rivet holes and finish the sheet metal. I plan to polish my sheet metal and if all goes as planned I'll do and extensive explanation of my process. I have spoken to Mother's Polish and a Jeremy Rohrs of Floodwater Customs. Jeremy gave me some great insight into how to get to a mirror finish. I hope I'm capable of it but here is his work on this Facebook Post (https://www.facebook.com/mothersusa/photos/a.129023187151726/2305535876167102/?type=3&theater). Him and I are exchanging text messages. I hope I do him proud. After reassembly of the driver side foot box I'll bleed and test my brakes. From there I plan to move to the second section or the passenger side. Mount my AC and make my holes for the AC bulk head fittings. Once that is done I'll be able to polish and mount those panels. And lastly the third section of this next phase which is the extra sheet metal pieces I plan to make along with the filler piece for the firewall I made, which I still need to work on figuring out how to route my EFI wires through. Once those 3 sections are complete I might be ready to put the engine in and work forward to the radiator sheet metal etc. and then I'll turn my attention to the interior panels. Writing it out it seems like a long road but hey isn't that the point. It wouldn't be fun if it was done in a day.

Sigurd

08-20-2019, 03:01 PM

Looks good!

Do you have a reference to the connectors you use to get the brake supply lines through the footbox?

P100DHG

08-20-2019, 03:36 PM

Looks good!

Do you have a reference to the connectors you use to get the brake supply lines through the footbox?

Thanks for the compliment, they came in the box with the brake reservoirs.

If you still have your parts list from inventory reference the below:

I hope this isn't too specific but it's in box 14C in Bag 34168 - Part #34148 - 1/4" Nylon Bulkhead Adapter & 34149 1/4" Nylon Hex Nut.

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For install directions reference the Coupe Manual Rev 4F Page 233

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I hope that helps.

Sigurd

08-20-2019, 04:07 PM

Thank you. Then I most likely have one somewhere.

P100DHG

09-10-2019, 11:31 AM

Big update so strap in, you know what, go get a cup of coffee and come back cause this is going to be a long one!

Brake System Part 2:

Hardlines Complete- I finished all the hardlines to my brake system using the provided steel brake lines. I gave them a light sand using 320 grit sand paper and painted them black with a high heat 250º paint. My goal, as best as I can accomplish it, is to hide as much plumbing and wiring as I can within reason. I followed Factory Five's routing to the rear brakes but frankly their suggested position for the front is just sloppy. First off I think running the brake line as they suggest down the diagonal tube toward the front brakes is a mistake. It should be kept high and away from the headers. Second is the way they ran it from the drivers side to the passenger side is the part I find to be sloppy. They provide a 60" brake line and a 48" or 42" would be best. But never the less I cut the line with a cutoff wheel to the exact length, reamed it and then double flared it using Titan Tools 51535 3/16-Inch Double Flaring Tool (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XPRVCPV/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1). It's the identical one to the Eastwood I imagine they just label theirs differently and mark it up $20. Anyway it did the job very well. My local store VF Sales was out of the P clamp billet style brake line clamp, I was able to find them on Ali Express through google shopping here (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32861176316.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.8f6b4c4dOdq Y9U). It comes in various colors, I ordered black. They are coming in late month so I'll install and report back on the quality.

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Seat Fitting Part 1:
I decided to start the process of searching for a seat because I figured I might not get it right the first time. Very few seats will fit this car and me, especially a full bucket seat. My initial search started with Corbeau who makes a very affordable seat and I am sure I mentioned them in previous posts but the problem is they don’t offer an FIA rated seat in the US. I figure it’s important to have a seat that’s been crash tested and approved by a sanctioning body. After all these cars don’t have airbags, and that’s not to say other seats aren’t safe but drivers in Los Angeles are distracted and accidents happen frequently. I found the Braum Falcon X seat an FIA rated seat for $400 or so. Braum and their recommended dealer both said with would be too big and that their measurements are on the smaller side and the seats can run over those measurements, so that wasn’t going to work. Next up was Sparco, double the price you get very little more frankly but they have a lot of sizing options. I started with the EVOII US GRP Ultra Light, too big. I tried the QRT-R also too big (the smallest seat that fits me)... The seat sat cocked off to one side and the roll bar prevented me from aligning it. So I am going to try the Tillett B6 Screamer see if that works.

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Underhood Panels:
I have been wrestling with the new chassis design. Frankly I really liked the Gen 2 Coupe design that stayed true to the original Daytona but I can understand why FFR went with the new design. Plus the body looks much better on the Gen 3. What comes next is probably going to be the type of thing you love or hate but since FFR took the liberty of changing the design, I did too. I wanted to find a way to frame that beautiful engine I bought so I made some additional panels to hide the chassis tubes. It’s still a work in progress. I still need to place the radiator overflow and the radiator filler neck and cap. I have an idea of placement but I still need to mount everything see if it will work and make the holes so look forward on updates on that. I used the same aluminum that’s used for all the other panels, I used a Harbor Freight 30” Bending Brake (https://www.harborfreight.com/30-inch-bending-brake-67240.html) I purchased with 25% off coupon and the Eastwood 2.5” punch and flare tool (https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-punch-and-flaring-dies.html?SRCCODE=PLA00020&gclid=CjwKCAjw8NfrBRA7EiwAfiVJpevqmN-QU6lhAA6e3Q8fSx-i8TNJOpMyDuOllgJ3jGSVlJiMQaF9nRoC8vsQAvD_BwE) which was on sale. I first made my templates from Office Depot Poster Board. 10 sheets for $6 not bad.

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Then I transferred the pattern to the aluminum, cut and bent it. I was able to cut it with a sheet metal shears/ scissors. I could have used the grinder but this was quieter. I ordered 10-24 button head bolts from McMaster Carr and Rivnuts to fasten them down. My brother and I played around with different shapes for the panels and arrived at this geometric type design. Should look cool with those button head bolts.

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Panel's need some more refinement but over all I'm pleased with the look.

q4stix

09-10-2019, 01:59 PM

I'm having the same concerns about finding seats for my height and for clearing the transfer case on the side and roll bar on the top. I'm thinking I may cut out the top bar and fab a new one to better fit the bar in the body and clear my head. I'll be watching what you come up with.

Logan

09-11-2019, 08:09 AM

P100DHG - Great progress! I for one actually sort of like how you framed out the engine bay. Reminds me of when old muscle cars get resto-modded and have smooth painted panels in place of the old formed/stamped inner wheel-well tubs up front that you see when looking under the hood.

You also have made some good data points on seat fitment. Did you buy all these seats to test fit in the chassis, and determine they are too big to fit in the car? That must have been a headache buying and returning seat after seat. I think you’re doing the smart thing by choosing an FIA rated seat. Even though there’s no airbags in our car doesn’t mean you can’t have improved safety in other aspects. Nothing against those who have non-FIA approved seats, it’s just all personal preference.

As for seat fitment....when you say the seat sat “Cocked off to one side”, you know the seats don’t face squarely forward relative to the chassis? They follow a slight angle with the transmission tunnel, making them face outward slightly (pointed towards the front tires). Maybe only a couple degrees which would be all but unnoticeable when driving, but could be the difference you need when choosing a seat size that fits with the rollbars. Also, a degree or two of inward lean might keep it from hitting on the rollbar at the top area above the side window. My OCD is screaming at me for even typing this, as I want to mount them 90° square in all three axis, but it seems to be dramatically limiting seat options... food for thought.

P100DHG

09-12-2019, 12:57 AM

So I returned the QTR-R and I was really about to give up on Sparco but the shop owner insisted I retry the EVO. It’s what I would consider to be snug fit for me. I like a roomier seat. Frankly it’s probably a perfect fit and I just like to wiggle around a little more but I don’t think that’s the point with a racing seat. Anyway it’s also a much smaller seat than the QTR-R. I’m 5’10 size 34 waste just for reference. The seat is quite a bit shorter, the head rest shape is much more conducive to the coupe’s frame and narrower in the hips. This solved all the issues. DISCLAIMER: I haven’t tried it with seat brackets yet. But from my initial assessment this seat is made for the Coupe or the Coupe is made for this seat. I can get the seat all the way back and far forward. A guy whose 6’4” could drive the car with this seat. I’m impressed I have a ton of photos so if you need a certain angle I can post it but here is a few. (I might try for a slightly wider seat and push my luck)

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They do have the worlds ugliest fabric but they are getting reupholstered anyway.

In other news I sorted out the radiator overflow and filler cap. (which I later relocated and used the space for my power steering reservoir)

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I also spoke to Dan at FFR about the wheel well design and panels. I like the old style panel so I think I’ll recreate it. The old style wrapped around the headers. It came in coupes 1-30 but was abandoned in favor of the current design for improved airflow. But I might add some sort bottom panels with louvers to draw air in. It was a lengthy discussion things are up in the air but here is a picture for reference of the older style panel.

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P100DHG

09-29-2019, 12:20 AM

Panels

Still plugging away at refining and finishing the underhood panels. Wow it's a lot of rivnuts but man it's looking good.

Fuel System Part 3:

Finished the rear fuel system last bit is to connect it to the engine when that's installed sometime in the future.

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Brakes System Part 3:

I strapped all my brake lines I am very happy with the clamps I got from Ali Express the screws are 8/32 so nice that even though it's not made in the USA it's up to our high standards ;)

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Seats:

First off the EVO that is pictured in my previous post is the 2019 EVO QTR. The seat is lighter and the dimensions are different from the 2018 & previous EVO. Sparco confirmed that they do not have the 2019 EVO QTR dimensions on their website. But I can tell you that the shoulders are substantially smaller and the seat is much lighter than the previous GRP version (these acronyms have something to do with the way the seat is made or the material its made of). I tried the EVO II US, through it's various iterations Sparco has changed the padding and covering but the shell hasn't changed. Sparco did confirm they are discontinuing the seat. I was able to get ahold of the 2019 EVO II US GRP Light 8855 and I can tell you it fits. I can also tell you that it will NOT slide. It would be a fixed position seat. It's too wide to go forward or back. Also if your body is mounted, unless you are building your's with a sunroof, I don't see how its going to wiggle in there. I'm exagerating but I'm sure it's going to be a challenge.

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It will rub on the carpet badly. Not going to lie its tempting to use this seat because I fit in it so comfortably but I think it would be a mistake building a car to fit one height person. I think the 2019 EVO QTR will fit most people and will be able to slide. The GRID-Q is narrower at the front and fits me similarly to the EVO II US so I am very tempted to call that the Goldielocks seat, I am going to try it out. I'll report back.

IN FREAKIN AMAZING NEWS LOOK WHAT SHOWED UP!!!!

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What an inspirational piece to have around. So exciting to have that engine in my garage waiting to be placed in that car. I am going to follow my plan to finish all the front aluminum and then drop it in. I plan to do this before wiring anything in an effort to keep things concealed and get my wire lengths just perfect.

Accelerator Cable:

Okay in other news I solved the accelerator cable position problem and posted about it but I am copying it here so it's all in one place:

So I know there has been a lot of talk about the accelerator pedal in relationship to the throttle cable and the steering column and I’ve reached the point of figuring this out. I think I've come up with a clever idea. This is what I did and it accomplishes many goals, one is a straight back pull on the carb/EFI, second is a clean cable run and finally it causes zero interference with the steering column in fact it avoids the whole issue all together

1. I drilled a 5/16 whole into the pedal mounting bracket a tight bend back toward the steering wheel. I have no issues with the cable’s movement.

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2. I followed the rear brake line and entered the transmission tunnel

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3. I plan to pop out of this panel to make a straight back pull on my carb/EFI

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The end result means I need to move the position of my throttle cable jobby thing on the other side of the pedal. The steering column is never an issue. Game, set, match.

P.S. - If you hadn't noticed I am the worlds worst iPhone photographer. Literally the absolute worst. I apologize for the life of me I couldn't get the camera to focus.

- Danny

P100DHG

09-30-2019, 11:14 PM

I am going with the Sparco Grid-Q I am very happy to put this behind me. It's the Goldielocks seat. Though I fit in the EVO it's tight and it would be uncomfortable on a long drive. Granted it's probably a better fit for a racing situation cause I was locked in and though I intend to track the car I want to be able to cruise comfortably. The Grid Q is made of the QRT material so it is a very light seat. I am using the Sparco 90° aluminum seat mount and Recaro seat sliders. All the padding and stuff won't be there in my scenario as I am reupholstering them in saddle leather. I'll send them out next week for that.

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timsmitaruba

10-01-2019, 06:25 PM

I am going with the Sparco Grid-Q I am very happy to put this behind me. It's the Goldielocks seat. Though I fit in the EVO it's tight and it would be uncomfortable on a long drive. Granted it's probably a better fit for a racing situation cause I was locked in and though I intend to track the car I want to be able to cruise comfortably. The Grid Q is made of the QRT material so it is a very light seat. I am using the Sparco 90° aluminum seat mount and Sparco seat sliders. All the padding and stuff won't be there in my scenario as I am reupholstering them in saddle leather. I'll send them out next week for that.

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Thx for all this info, great help!!

P100DHG

10-20-2019, 11:46 PM

So life has been beyond busy. As we make major headway on our house, I mounted this 12' solid 12/4 walnut mantel above our fire place (we will tile below it).

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My office I'm building is coming along very nicely. I took the liberty of building the front door as a symbolic type of thing. The design is on both sides. It's made of white oak with white oak jabs.

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I know this has nothing to do with my Daytona but it's whats going on in my life around the Daytona/ in addition to it, so I'm sharing it. Life's busy over here LOL.

Seats went out to upholstery, I spent 2 days driving around looking for the leather. Was not easy but I found it. Frankly it's a completely impulsive move, way out of the build order but it's good to have them, to look at and draw inspiration from and it sets a kind of mood board with my engine here and might help guide my creative direction. We are reshaping the foam a little bit. Should have them in the next couple weeks its a very complex job so no reason to rush it.

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Speaking of creative direction it changed, and I'm not polishing the panels under the hood. After seeing my engine in person and looking at it for 3 weeks I decided it would be too much jewelry in the jewelry box, it would have been overwhelming. Its hard to give up an idea I've had for so long but editing creative ideas is always part of the process. But since I bought the equipment and polishes I might just practice on the extra aluminum just for fun. So I'll be sending them out to powder coat. Big change but I think the decision will pay off. Also as I draw inspiration from various sources I decided to make inner foot box panels. Similar to what Singer does to their Porsches. So far I've got my templates made which is the hardest part.

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I leave to Colorado for a week to do some volunteer work at University of Colorado Leeds School of Business as a guest speaker and to visit some family there. So when I get back I should have the dimple die to make those panels, I think I'll use a 1" or 1.5" die (let me know what you think will look better I am open here to some outside feedback) and everything can go off to powder coat. That said I also need to make sure that I don't have interference issues before I spend time making them I plan to recess the driver side panel to avoid interference with the pedals but not the passenger side. Feel free to give me some advise here.

I'm feeling good about the build quality so far and it feels like my engine might go in before the end of the year so this is becoming very exciting.

PS - I updated the previous post I exchanged the Sparco seat sliders for Recaro, doesn't change anything if you ordered on my previous advice but I heard Recaro uses a metal ball bearing and they slide a little nicer.

P100DHG

10-23-2019, 06:44 PM

Since I’ve got time to kill on the plane I thought I’d post. Last couple evenings (that’s when I get time to work on my car after juggling work, the family and our home renovations) I worked on making my foot box kick panels. I made them from 20ga cold rolled steel, and I used a 1.5” punch and flare tool from Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006K8GL6I/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1). The reviews were not favorable but I think that people are trying to punch and flare material far too thick because I made 21 holes and it preformed flawlessly. It was $88 and next day prime shipped, otherwise I would have order the Eastwood one but I am very pleased with it. I spaced them 3” apart on center. On the passenger side the pattern turned out sporadic because of the frame but it turned out to my liking.

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Not shown in the picture is that I later cut out the top left of the panel because it would have interfered with the heater lines but truth be told you can’t see that high with the AC in place. Also just for the record I had to make 4 of the passenger side panels before getting it right. Good thing that steel is super cheap.

The driver side turned out well. I’m pleased with the result.

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I made sure I still had the full throw of my clutch pedal by basing the pattern around where the pedal arm would hit the panel. I placed a punch there so the arm could recess into that hole when pressed all the way down. It might stop short of it but I wanted to be safe. I also recessed the panel 1” leaving 1/2” gap between the outer foot box aluminum. Remember those flares stick out about a 1/4” of that gap and the ceramic coating and sound proofing take up some also so it’s important to leave that space but not too much that the panel interferes with the pedal arms.

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Just to jump back. I went with steel over aluminum because I had initially intended on welding it to the frame and for durability but my brother made a good point about something getting stuck behind there and not being able to get to it in the future so I’m bolting it on. The extra 2 panels delayed powder coating one week but I’m not around anyway so no big deal. I am going to order my lizard skin this week. I plan to coat all the panels off the car, masking off for the frame tubes. Foot box panels get coated on the inside but all other interior panels will get lizard skin exterior facing.

Next update should be AC main unit install, lizard skin application, panel installation and bleeding the brakes which I’ve never done so I’ll be watching YouTube and asking questions I’m sure. I’m excited for this because things can start going together again, rather than coming apart.

P100DHG

11-02-2019, 02:49 PM

Well the seats are done and the panels off to powder coat. I'll make my seat mounting templates this week and drill my floor pans and if necessary add additional support. The Lizard skin came so when my footbox and engine panels get back from powder coat I'll coat and install those.

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This is a short update but I think the the next one will be big. I can taste the engine install in the near future.

Just cause I feel like sharing a major fail, I lost my main AC unit in the move some how. It grew legs and frankly I can't figure out what happened but $440 later I got a new one and it burns.

David Williamson

11-03-2019, 09:20 AM

P100DHG

11-03-2019, 10:01 AM

seats look great. Before you finalize the seat location check the fit with the body on. There is a section of the body just behind the door opening under the quarter window that can interfere with the side of the seat. On my car with the Kirky high back seats we had to modify the body about 3/4 inch for clearance. Worth checking now while it is easy to modify.
David W

You know it’s not a bad idea. There is no rush to get the seats in at this stage I’ll hold off till later and see where the build takes me. Thanks David, solid advise.

jdavis500

11-08-2019, 09:46 AM

Loving those seats. I am starting to think I might need to dress up my Kirkey Highbacks. If I had to do it over, I would not go with them. They are quite narrow even for a guy who isn't wide.

P100DHG

11-08-2019, 12:51 PM

Loving those seats. I am starting to think I might need to dress up my Kirkey Highbacks. If I had to do it over, I would not go with them. They are quite narrow even for a guy who isn't wide.

It sucks to spend the money twice but I am sure someone would buy them from you. I took a $400 credit and deleted my seats from FFR but... those seats were not cheap. It was $1100+ each seat with sliders, and seat brackets so $2200 for both with tax. It took 2 hides to do the seats. And just wait for it. Hang on to something... Get ready! It cost $3000 to upholster them with material and labor. So those two seats are about $5500. It’s more than half of my interior budget just for 2 seats. There isn’t much left frankly, some door cards, shift boot, dash pad and a trunk mat since most of it will be exposed powder coated metal so I might come in under my budget but still very very expensive but it’s a big statement. I appreciate the compliment! I am sure it could have been done cheaper but Los Angeles is just really really expensive for anything nice. I’m sure anywhere else it would have been half the price.

P100DHG

11-13-2019, 04:43 PM

A very exciting time in my garage right now. Things are progressing forward very smoothly but at the cost of hours and hours of labor on the weekends and at night. So many details to take care of and I'll go through my process to get there. I do want to acknowledge how amazing it's been to work alongside my 3 year old son who helped me install the button head screws for the passenger and driver side kick panels and might I add he did a fantastic job. Also just from a builder and fabricator perspective I am very, very pleased with the results so far. Pictures don't capture it but it's looking like this car is going to be incredible.

Rewind to Rework:
So before I hit play I first need to rewind. As I mentioned in a previous post the passenger side inner kick panel (the one with the flared holes), I had to make 4 times before getting it right, the driver side I made once. Well after having it powder coated I realized I made a mistake. Mistakes show up in glaring detail when stuff is finished apparently. One of the holes was placed to close to the other and it was making me crazy so I had to remake and re-powder coat that panel. No one likes rework but everyone likes a clean product so it was a necessary evil.

Hitting Play:

Battery Tray:
Okay so now we can hit play on this build and start making some progress. I might have mentioned about relocating the battery to the back of the car to clean up the engine compartment further, I purchased a Summit Racing Battery Mount (https://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-430022), I took 3 inches out of it to fit the battery I intend to use a Braille Lightweight Racing Battery (https://www.tirerack.com/accessories/detail.jsp?ID=34). It's pricey but it's also AGM and small and very powerful so I think it's a good fit for this car. Nothing too exciting but I Tig welded it together (I'm a proficient Mig welder but this is my first time Tig welding). I powder coated it satin black to match my frame. I found a good spot for it where it won't interfere with anything and it's proximate to the transmission tunnel and far enough away from the gas tank I feel comfortable with it plus it's location means I can keep the wires short. I don't have the battery yet, I went off the spec sheet so hopefully it's a good fit (and it wasn't so I later had to redo it see electrical section). I am going to need to mount the battery on it's side so I emailed Braille to see if that was okay and they gave me this written response, "Sure, any position except upside down." So I'm in the clear and under warranty for when that goes in.

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Fastener Prep:
Among many things, one of my passions is gardening and here is SoCal we have great weather for year round gardening and from gardening I learned that color is one way to make a garden dynamic but another is texture. A plant with a dark green leaf and a plant with a blue green leaf might play nicely next to each other. Leaf shape and texture are equally important to getting the look right. It was here that I applied that concept. I powder coated my panels using Cardinal Powder Coat, Silver 30 Gloss. It is nearly matte for the purposes of silver. To play off of that I polished every button head screw and rivet that might be visible. I bought a polishing pad from Amazon (https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BGV23GK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) for my Ryobi bench grinder and I used Mothers Billet Metal Polish (https://smile.amazon.com/Mothers-05106-Billet-Metal-Polish/dp/B000COU7LG/ref=sxts_sxwds-bia?crid=1CCNVJDT7RVNB&keywords=mothers+billet+metal+polish&pd_rd_i=B000COU7LG&pd_rd_r=b283967b-d414-4109-9ace-5821ba672d81&pd_rd_w=HA3Jj&pd_rd_wg=QQbVo&pf_rd_p=1cb3f32a-ccfd-479b-8a13-b22f56c942c6&pf_rd_r=Y5505HFNC7TMVGH9XY2H&psc=1&qid=1573583292&sprefix=mothers+billet%2Caps%2C192) to polish the rivets and screws. My recommendation is wear gloves and eye protection a few got sucked up into the polishing wheel and fired out like a gun. But the results are fantastic. Impossible to capture the full effect on camera especially at such a tinny scale but you can see your face in each one. In my photo, as a comparison the non-polished is on the left and polished on the right.

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Lizard Skin Prep, Application & Final Results:
I tested fitted all the panels again after powder coating and I noticed two did not come out like I would like them to look and sent them back to get re-coated (no charge just need to get it right). I am waiting on those to be returned to me, should have them any day now. Never the less I pressed forward prepping my panels for Lizard Skin. I spoke to 3 reps at Lizard Skin and all said it will stick directly to the powder coat without surface prep (I can confirm they are correct, everything turned out great as you will see.) While I test fitted the panels again I outlined where and where not to place the Lizard Skin with a Sharpie and then masked off the areas I didn't want it.

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I set up some saw horses and sprayed out the sound insulation first and the ceramic coat next. It was a 2 day process following the prescribed application method. One thing the rep told be to do was to remove the masking tape and reapply between sound and ceramic coats. I found this to be helpful and produced a perfect line. My concern I had is that the Lizard Skin would create a sheet when fully dry that encapsulated the tape and when I tried to remove it, either it wouldn't come off of it would destroy the work. So went through the extra work of masking, removing and masking and removing the tape twice. Might be able to do it in a single step but this worked really well. I used Scotch Blue Tape. I mitigated against over spray but some still found it way onto the wrong side of the panels, it comes right off with a brush of your hand or finger nail but I would still take steps to mitigate. The stuff is super sticky it holds on for dear life so it's a great product.

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I unmasked my parts and here are the finished results

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Very professional results.

Further Panel Prep:
Though the panels I made for the inner foot boxes are removable I decided to back them with leather now because install is easy and I don't need to fight with it later at the risk of scratching something. I used contact cement provided by my upholstery guy and cut out some leather from the hides I had purchased on my 2 day search extravaganza. Worked great. Just one thing to note in the pictures is I used a spacer on my panels but install is not possible without retaining those spacers so I used plastic retention bits from some extra light switch screws I have from remodeling the house. It holds the spacer on firmly so install is easy in blind areas where one's hand can't reach.

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Now truthfully, it will be hard to see these panels and it's an insignificant item on the list but all the small things add up to one huge impression and the level of detail and care is what will separate this car from the pack.

Final Install:
I reamed out the holes a little bit with the 1/8" drill bit where the lizard skin interfered or filled the hole and final install of the panels went very smoothly. I used a sealant from Home Depot that was water based it was very tacky and very easy to clean up, DAP Dynaflex Ultra (https://www.homedepot.com/p/DAP-Dynaflex-Ultra-10-1-oz-Gray-Advanced-Exterior-Window-Door-and-Siding-Sealant-18219/306283633). I really dislike silicone. I just can't stand the smell, the way it cleans up or lack of clean up, it's just a poor product and I think there is just so much better out there. (sorry for the strong opinion). Currently, I have completed the center panel and the driver side panel foot box. The two panels that I need to finish the passenger side are the ones I wanted the powdercoater to redo so I'll have to go through the prep process on those but it's only 2 and I am so pleased with the Lizard Skin I am likely going to do the bottom side of my engine surround panels I made as well when I do the 2 remaining foot box panels but for now this where things stand. I am very pleased with the contrast between the polished rivets and the panels.

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I wish I could have posted a finished product but progress has lent itself to an update. I'll post pictures of everything once it's installed. Next is finishing the foot box panel install and bleeding the brakes. Then on to that Roush 427 sitting in the crate waiting for me.

P100DHG

11-25-2019, 06:23 PM

Let this be your guide to installing a 351W into the Daytona. I say 351W because the Roush 427 is based off a 351 block. Lots of stuff on the coyote but haven't seen a comprehensive write up on a Small Block Ford (SBF) and a Gen 3 Daytona. I wanted to aggregate everything into one place. I hope this helps and if I missed something please add to it!

I am listing my components so that you understand what we are dealing with in my particular installation. Many are doing hydraulic clutch throws but I am opting for the simple cable system. Should encourage me to hit the gym and do some left calf exercises because man is it tight! Anyway here we go and if you know what your doing and just want to get to the eye candy feel free to skip past to the bottom. I want to add we aren't born knowing how to do this and prior to this installation I had ZERO idea of what was going on so thank god for Velocity Channel and the hours of shows I watched and YouTube because between the two I learned everything I needed to know. I also advise that you layout everything in the morning or the day before so you can familiarize yourself with what your about to do. I recall vividly that Friday afternoon I unboxed everything and neatly laid it all out and was confused at what I was looking at but by Sunday afternoon I felt well acquainted with everything.

Components:

Roush 427SRE
QuickTime Bell Housing
Tremec TKO600 - MIDSHIFT CONVERTED (from Roush)
Pivot Ball Fork
Pivot Ball Throw Bearing
(x6) 7/16" x 1 1/4" Grade 8 Bolts allen style
(x6) 7/16" Washers
(x6) 7/16" Lock Washers
(x6) 7/16" x 1 1/4" Grade 8 Bolts HEX style - YOU WILL NEED TO BUY THESE AT HOME DEPOT
(x4) 7/16" Washers - YOU WILL NEED TO BUY THESE AT HOME DEPOT
(x4) 7/16" Lock Washers - YOU WILL NEED TO BUY THESE AT HOME DEPOT
(x4) 7/16" x 3/4" Grade 8 Bolts HEX style - YOU WILL NEED TO BUY THESE AT HOME DEPOT

Bell Housing to Tremec TKO600 Installation
So first things first, I opened my transmission box and bell housing box and laid out my screws and parts. Very few might I add. I separated out the relevant parts needed for the installation of a pivot ball clutch fork and throw bearing (which is what my setup has). Sometimes it's easier to discard what you don't need so it doesn't get confusing. Here is what you can discard/set aside - (1) Pivot Bracket Spacer (1) Pivot Bracket For Clutch Fork (Spring Style) (1) Pivot Bracket For Clutch Fork (Wire Style). You should have left and be looking at the following (1) Bell-Housing (1) Pivot Ball & Jam Nut For Clutch Fork (1) Adapter/Reducer Ring 4.850” ID (1) Adapter/Reducer Ring 4.910” ID. In my particular application the (1) Spacer Plate was installed already by Roush. So, of the final two rings you will just try and see which one fits better. One or the other is the obvious choice, even if I told you which one to use the differences are so slight it would be hard to see with your naked eye so I recommend just trying the fit. So next take an Adapter /Reducer Ring and place it on the bell housing and try the fit on the transmission. The obvious choice presents itself. In terms bell housing to transmission alignment, on my particular build Roush had aligned it for me so I did not have to mess with the dowel pins as they were set in by Roush at the factory.

Figuring out the pivot ball height is next. Install the pivot ball onto the bell housing, great pictures can be found HERE (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?22573-What-is-the-correct-way-to-install-the-clutch-fork-in-a-Quicktime-Bell-Housing) but I'll copy them over to this thread for continuity (but it's important to cite my source).

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Then install the throw bearing onto the clutch fork like so. Note the position of the lobe on the bearing, Video 2 shows it well (I like these two videos in particular, straight and to the point):

VIDEO 1 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKxNr5iYKO8)
VIDEO 2 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OC4vRWQLGdk)

Before you start greasing do a dry fit. Install the fork onto the pivot ball so the spring clips under the pivot ball. At this point you should be looking like this. More pictures to check out from this thread HERE (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?22374-Clutch-Fork-Adjustment-Problem&p=254496&viewfull=1#post254496)

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Next, install the bell housing onto the transmission, use the hardware you bought at Home Depot (just finger tight), don't forget the spacer ring. I spoke with the manufacturer of Quicktime bell housing (part of the Holley group) and asked why they don't provide them and their answer was "that you would use the factory hardware." Well.... It's new so we don't have factory hardware so we need to buy it.

I used a level (or any flat, straight surface) and placed it on the back of the engine's clutch assembly which was already installed for me and measured the distance to the engine Spacer Plate. 3 1/8", then to the splines 1/8" subtracting the two I figured out that my bearing would need to be 3" from the edge of the bell housing. A less complicated way is positioning the throw arm so it's approximately perpendicular to the transmission illustrated here

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So after measuring from the face of the bell housing to the face of the throw bearing. It happened to be 3" already, so I actually didn't need to adjust it, I finger tightened the jamb nut on the pivot ball and removed the bell housing from the transmission, the fork from the pivot ball and tightened the jamb nut on the pivot ball down with a wrench. Now for the greasing! This is controversial. I did a lot of reading on this so I am going to summarize. Everyone agrees, grease the pivot ball. The rest of the grease points talked about in the videos are debated. Quicktime said "only grease the pivot ball and nothing else don't want contamination of the clutch with grease." I can understand that. I can also understand the guy in Video 1 who is describing a thin film of grease. Seems so small it wouldn't affect anything but also seems so small that it will do nothing. LOL. But Video 2 seems like way too much. I opted to follow Quicktime's manufacturer specs. But I can always add a little later through the opening on the side (I can stick my whole hand in there, I checked :) ). Opinions welcomed here!

Go ahead and attached the Quicktime bell housing to the TKO600 I torqued my bolts to 35ft lbs per Quicktime directions

Engine to Transmission
This part is straight forward and is like wrestling a bear so if you have back issues get a friend to help. I got my engine hoisted up and put my transmission and bell housing attached together on a 5 gallon bucket. I wrestled it onto the engine, and came up slightly short, less than 1/2” but enough to place the six 7/16" Allen style screws in. Don't forget your washers and lock nuts. By tightening each bolt little by little, the whole thing came together. I torqued them down to 35ft lbs per Quicktime directions.

Engine & Transmission Mount Install

Install the engine mounts using (x4) 7/16" x 3/4" Grade 8 Bolts HEX style you bought at Home Depot and use the 2 remaining 7/16" x 1 1/4" Grade 8 Bolts HEX style to install the transmission mount to the transmission. I hand torqued these and they aren't going anywhere.

STOP HERE I FOUND AN ISSUE AND IT IS DISCUSSED IN A LATER POST. READ THIS POST BEFORE CONTINUING! THE MOUNT WILL INTERFERE WITH THE BLOCK AND MAKE IT VERY DIFFICULT TO LINE UP THE ENGINE MOUNTS TO THE CAR & ALSO CAUSE ISSUES WITH TRANSMISSION MOUNT ALIGNMENT. READ THIS FIRST! (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=396461&viewfull=1#post396461)

Engine Install

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=810EDVPShJQ

I don't have much to add here except use lots of tape and padding, I even used leather in certain areas to protect against rubbing. I attached my hoist to the cylinder heads using (x3) 7/16" bolts and (x1) 3/8" bolt. I only did them finger tight and made sure none of them bottomed out.

I had a real issue getting the engine mounts to line up, it took hours to get it just right. In fact I stepped away from it Saturday and came back Sunday with a fresh head and strength and got everything seated. My advice here is get the passenger side mount dowel pin and stud seated first. Then work the driver's side.

One take away is you do not need to use the oil filter relocation kit on the 351W which is great cause it's just less stuff in the engine compartment to look at. The final product looks great! Now lets hope the hood fits :confused:

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Mid Shift TKO 600 Shifter location on Gen 3 Coupe Transmission Tunnel:

Here is where the shifter lands with the midshift kit

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I do want to say I am no expert. I just figured I should share what I learned while it's fresh in my head and I hope it helps or at least provides entertainment.

BIG THANK YOU TO MY FATHER-IN-LAW FOR HIS HELP HERE!

Gadsden

11-25-2019, 07:24 PM

Great info. I will be re-vistitng this post and studying it alot in the coming weeks! I have the mid shift kit in my office now and will be installing it and the complete engine/trans combo into my build during the holidays. I will also be installing the Tilton HRB, which is on a UPS truck now heading my way.

P100DHG

12-01-2019, 10:29 PM

I put my build on hold for the last 2 weeks while I digested and sorted this out.

If you want to get to the meat of it and skip this just play the video but here is the back story. Some of it is in the video but this is the full story.

My father-in-law who had helped me on the rear suspension and some heavy lifting really wanted to install the engine with me. After bleeding the brakes with my wife, I called him up and we agreed to install the engine when he was back in town. So on a Friday afternoon, I got off work early and we got together. Roush had represented to me under a salesman that has since retired that it would come with instructions on how to install it. I thought I was going to get the type of manual that Factory Five has made. What I got was Tremec's install sheet (no pictures), Quicktime Bell Housing's install sheet and some engine data about the Dyno. If you've read Tremec & Quicktime's install sheet they are basically worthless.

So I called Roush, got the sales manager Dennis Corn on the phone. Super nice guy who explained that this type of thing is passed down basically with verbal and hands on experience and that no one writes an install guide to these things. But he was so patient and nice and promised me he would teach me. Between what was available on the internet and his explanations we were going to get this engine in. So he left me with some homework. The homework was to lay out everything on the floor and work bench of my garage and get familiar with the parts. Well that's what we did Friday afternoon. I have an older 27" iMac in my garage and that same afternoon started to pull up YouTube videos on how to put the clutch fork on the bell housing, the housing on the transmission and transmission to engine and naturally we started mocking up everything and researching and realizing we were short certain Grade 8 hardware (I talked about in my previous post) which I went out and bought that evening. The next afternoon we met back up and we assembled and installed everything and installed the engine into the car but the engine wouldn't fully seat on the chassis mounts which we resolved Sunday (long story how I got it but if you run into trouble I can explain).

Anyway, Dennis called me Monday morning first thing and we ended up connecting Tuesday morning. I told Dennis about my Extra Credit! He was really excited and happy for me. Very encouraging guy. But what came next really felt like a punch in the gut. I was sick. He said, "did I check to make sure that after I installed the transmission to the engine that the crankshaft still had between 0.005" - 0.010" of endplay in it?" Naturally I asked why and he said, "because in rare instances after installing the transmission, the transmission input shaft can bind on the crankshaft and force the crankshaft forward and press it against the thrust bearing, and if I ran the engine like that I would blow out the thrust bearing and I would be in for a rebuild at my expense." He left me with, "go research it." Even as I type this it makes me sick to think that could happen. It was a real possibility that I could blow thousands of dollars and hundreds of man hours of work.

Now you have to put yourself in my shoes because I've never done any of this so my mind goes to worst case scenario. If something was wrong I'd have to pull my engine out of my car and it wasn't a cake walk getting it in. Well I did a quick google search and then another and another and could not find anything about checking the endplay after the transmission was installed. So I called Factory Five and Dave B. whose been building engines for the last 25 years explained to me how unlikely it would be that such a situation could arise but he couldn't find a reason not to check the endplay. We talked about it for like 30 or 45 minutes, Dave is the BEST. I called 3 other reputable people here in Los Angeles. One guy basically said the same thing as Dave. Another guy said he does the check regularly and another guy said the chances of binding are very small but why not check.

I got the impression no one was going to say, "you're good to go" and have blood on their hands. Unprompted all of them came up with the same method of testing and I was careful not to give anyone any ideas so that way my information was pure. All said get a pry bar, wrap it in padding of some sort and place the pry bar behind the harmonic balancer and see if I could move the crankshaft forward and then backward by putting the pry bar behind the flywheel through the starter hole and pushing the crankshaft backward using the bell housing backplate to leverage off of. They said you can see it. I can tell you my eyes aren't good enough to see it (I have perfect vision but I don't have a microscope for eyeballs). The last guy explained to me how to measure it which I covered in the video. That's something I can get behind, DATA! No one could describe to me how much force it would take but the consensus was "not very much." I can confirm this. It doesn't take much at all. Some said this is a problem in automatic transmission applications others said this is a Chevy issue but everyone said CHECK IT. So I used a micrometer (https://www.harborfreight.com/saemetric-digital-indicator-63613.html) and stand (https://www.harborfreight.com/hand-tools/measuring-marking-layout/multi-position-magnetic-base-with-fine-adjustment-63663.html) from Harbor Freight. So I did the test, and there is endplay, and it's the proper amount. THANK HEAVEN! Learn from me and do this check before you install your engine/transmission into the car it will save yourself the agony of pulling your engine out if there is a problem. Piece of advice, attach the mount for the micrometer to the oil pan. If you've already installed your engine into the car, do not place the mount on the chassis. Luckily there wasn't any issue with endplay in my case and I can continue building!

Sorry for the blinding polished parts on the engine :cool:

https://youtu.be/qJQ5UpHsVc4

edwardb

12-02-2019, 08:13 AM

I personally haven't heard of checking the crankshaft endplay at that stage. While installing the crankshaft and lower end of the engine, yes. The only thing that would hold things up is from the input shaft into the crankshaft pilot bearing. The bell housing wouldn't seat if the input shaft isn't in the bearing. Then a matter of it going in so far it bottoms out or hangs up somehow. I personally do measure the input shaft and make sure it's the proper length for the bell housing, which with a common (and the recommended) parts has never been an issue. There's actually a considerable amount of in/out free play in the input shaft/pilot bearing that would prevent the crankshaft endplay from being affected. At least with the combinations I've had experience with. But now that you've confirmed it's OK, all good I guess. What I am surprised about is no one said anything to you about checking the bellhousing alignment. You said the Quicktime and Tremec instructions were basically worthless. But actually as I recall this is mentioned in both. Tremec even makes a point that if this step isn't followed, it could jeopardize your warranty. Almost makes me wonder if the guy from Roush was maybe thinking of this check versus the one you did. Who knows. But this is a pretty big deal. You'll get lots of guys on here that will agree. Plenty of YouTube videos. This one from Summit gives the idea. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxNn4qk_KlM.

P100DHG

12-02-2019, 10:39 AM

Yup, did all that. Also the dowel pins were already set into engine by Roush. Maybe “worthless” is a dramatized word but if you put it into context and realize what I thought I was getting, an instruction manual with pictures, part lists and a step by step guide and what I got.... You’re right though if I gave the impression don’t read what it has to say or follow the directions and throw it in the trash I didn’t mean that, I was being flippant. So DISCLAIMER: Read everything and follow directions. Thanks for your input here Paul, always love to hear your advice!

-Danny

Dave Tabor

12-03-2019, 09:39 PM

Did I read that you used bolts to pull the trans the last fraction of an inch to mate to the bellhousing?

Dave #17

P100DHG

12-03-2019, 10:46 PM

Did I read that you used bolts to pull the trans the last fraction of an inch to mate to the bellhousing?

Dave #17

Yeah I made sure to use a torque wrench to do it though. It was touching the dowel pins and aligning correctly so it was fractions as you said. If I recall I set it to 15lbs and it never clicked so the force was far less. The idea was to get them to mate without breaking something. My final torque was 35lbs once everything was totally together. I mentioned this to all the experts I spoke to (I’m happy to list everyone if you guys want to cross check with them on you’re own builds.) but to summarize, Dave B. who puts the coyote kits together with Dan at FFR told me that sometimes they slide right together and other times they have to use that technique. I lightly greased my splines on the input shaft and crankshaft to aid in mating. I was careful not to glob it on and contaminate stuff. Not sure if it would. I was just being careful cause this was my first time. I was using an abundance of caution I took about 45 minutes or 1 hour to get it together. The transmission and bell housing are heavy and the engine moves a lot suspended on the crane. Hard to give an accurate description of the feeling or force I used but it felt smooth, not fighting against something. Meaning with little force it went together.

P100DHG

12-05-2019, 12:29 AM

Parts on Order:

So after installing my engine I've been taking some time to just stare at it and understand what I'm up against. Understand the plumbing job to come. I intend to finish out the radiator sheet metal, mount the radiator and AC condenser. Then plumb everything, not sure if I am going to tackle the dashboard or electrical after that but plenty of time to decide.

But now after my engine is installed I see a problem with the location I put my filler neck. It's too low... I will certainly have air in my system. So I looked for a solution, the good news is, the problem has been solved for me, bad news is I might have to remake that engine panel after relocating the filler neck unless I can fit my power steering reservoir in that position. Anyway, my good friend who lives down the street owns a Cobra, it's got a name 427Blur. It's on FFCars. Anyway he wasn't the original builder but he was having some overheating issues with it. He took it to a guy, Penzer Auto Concepts in Monrovia, CA who fixed the issue. The trick is getting the filler neck at its highest possible point. In the case of the Daytona and Cobra that's tough to do with a 351W block. So I looked to my friends car to find the genius solution and luckily I have pictures of his engine at different points in time to reference.

Before the fix
118526

After the fix
118525

What we are looking at is he moved the filler neck to the intake manifold like a Chevy. I googled and googled and googled, hours of googling for 2 nights straight, I thought I would find it and I couldn't. So yesterday I stayed at home with my son who has been sick with a bug, it was nice to take some time to be with the cuddly guy and just hang. During nap I snuck into the garage and it came to me, if anyone knows what this thing is it's going to be Mark from Breeze Automotive and.... Of course he did! He said it was made by Cobra Earl who isn't around anymore but with a little research we were able to find it. Mark doesn't sell it but he knows all things, so lots of praise to him! It's now made by TD Motion and it's called:

Sold as a Kit:
302 – 427W FORD ULTRA THERMOSTAT HOUSING KIT (https://www.tdmotion.com/product/427w-ford-ultra-thermostat-housing-kit/)

Sold as an Adapter:
BILLET FORD / GM THERMOSTAT HOUSING THERMOSTAT HOUSING – 302-351W (https://www.tdmotion.com/product/td-motion-billet-ford-thermostat-housing-302-thermostat-housing-302-351w/)

I opted to buy the adapter and one can buy the Chevy Intake Manifold Filler Neck from Jegs or Summit made by a number of different manufactures (I opted for JEGS Intake Manifold Fill Neck Kit Polished (https://www.jegs.com/i/JEGS/555/53014/10002/-1?trk_msg=F4DEA4K0TBPKT67FKEGNHFHHLC&trk_contact=1IBPQSK1VRRV6IO6J738A9D0C8&trk_module=tra&trk_sid=V0LU2O59ASEFOVQA5CVAUICJ9S&utm_source=listrak&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Product&utm_campaign=Transactional&utm_content=Shipping+Confirmation) and value engineered my purchase as theirs was on super sale for the holidays and I already have a filler cap I like)

Notably I also ordered Vintage Air Gen IV Servo Heater Control Water Valve Kit. (https://www.jegs.com/i/Vintage-Air/960/461171/10002/-1?trk_msg=F4DEA4K0TBPKT67FKEGNHFHHLC&trk_contact=1IBPQSK1VRRV6IO6J738A9D0C8&trk_module=tra&trk_sid=V0LU2O59ASEFOVQA5CVAUICJ9S&utm_source=listrak&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Product&utm_campaign=Transactional&utm_content=Shipping+Confirmation) This is to replace the Thermotion valve supplied by FFR because a 351W doesn't require a bypass style valve like the Coyote does which eliminates more stuff and I intend to put this valve in between the bulkhead and the AC unit so under the dash eliminating clutter in the engine compartment. Question is will it work with the heater control supplied by FFR? Will it fit in the space?.... Stay tuned.

Lastly I am changing out the supplied heater bulkhead connectors with these:

Beduan 5/8'' Hose Barb Thru-Bulk Bulkhead Straight Hex Union Stainless Steel Fitting (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07P1Y5R4T/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1)

Anyway, I'm confident the Filler Neck Manifold Adapter will work, (which is the keywords I kept googling and coming up short on) but before you go on a buying frenzy give me some time to sort out the other parts and see if things work or not but this is the direction I am heading.

P100DHG

12-06-2019, 01:40 AM

I'm pushing these short updates rather than holding back right now because I am hoping it will help someone at a similar point. Also I am aggregating my research findings to this thread so it can be a one stop shop of sorts for these common questions that are spread out over multiple threads and posts. I am finding my answers but it's required searching around.

Tremec TKO600 Tail Shaft Donut
So I posted a question HERE (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29191-P100DHG-Build-Questions&p=389270&viewfull=1#post389270) as it relates to the backend of my transmission where the drive shaft inserts. When I posted the question, I knew the driveshaft went in somewhere but didn't understand what I was looking at. I installed my engine not knowing what was what, figuring I would address it later. This is the part where you probably are like... How the hell is this guy building a car knowing literally nothing about cars?....:confused: The answer is research! and Paul's brilliant explanations :). So here is what we are looking at.

118581

The shipping seal commonly called a donut needs to move out of the way. As I understand it, it needs to come out or get pushed in. Jumping straight to the point, I took mine out. If you notice it is sitting proud of the rear seal and so I could easily grab it with a vise grip from it's inner portion/ inner diameter, staying clear away from the rear seal (that's the outer most piece of rubber). I spoke to Tremec and they said it can be removed or it can be pushed in and they recommend pushing because a lot guys mistake the rear seal for the donut and attempt to rip the rear seal off the transmission.... Or get so crazy about taking the donut out that they damage the rear seal with screwdrivers and pliers and the like. Mine was a perfect candidate for removal so that's what I opted for.

In some cases the donut does not sit proud as it did in mine and is recessed as in this example found HERE (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?17094-Installing-Drive-Shaft-on-TKO500)

118584

It becomes very difficult to remove and thus pushing it in might be the better option but here is where my hands-on knowledge now comes in. It's rubber and it wants to hold onto that tail shaft for dear life. It's stretchy and so when you pull on it, it doesn't really move, it just stretches. Patience here is key cause if you damage that seal it's a sad day. I just took my time with it and it came out working various sides. Now if I understand physics, pushing it in is likely just as difficult as pulling it out so I'm not sure how that would be even possible because it wasn't easy getting it out and not damaging something but I guess it is since it's recommended but the internet is filled with frustrated guys dealing with this issue.

For reference here is it naked, without the donut

118582

Here is the donut

118583

Notice the outer ridge on the donut, well there is an inner ridge on the rear seal so those ridges touch which is another reason why I don't understand how it can be pushed in without damaging something but clearly if they recommend it, it's possible. And just to note the metal thing in the center is the tail shaft, and from what I can tell that hole in the middle isn't for anything. But the driveshaft slides in there and fits over that tail shaft and displaces that donut.

I decided to explain this because I know I am not the only one who has this question or is/was confused so I might as well swallow my pride and admit I could have benefited from this explanation honestly.

jdavis500

12-06-2019, 02:05 PM

Good point. This caused confusion for me as well. The donut was so far in, I had no idea it was not part of the seal. I couldn't understand why the driveshaft wouldn't mate. Hopefully, your post will save novice builders like me time in the future.

P100DHG

12-14-2019, 01:46 PM

TD Motion Filler Neck

This part is my savior, without it I would have had over heating issues for sure. As I said in my previous post, I bought just the adapter rather than the whole kit so I could choose my own GM/Chevy manifold filler neck/ thermostat housing (that’s what a lot of parts distributors call it) and it was a little cheaper to do it that way because of the holiday sales. Some interesting things to note:

1. You will need a new gasket after taking off the old intake manifold water inlet. I ask TD Motion if I could buy one from them and they gave me one at no charge. Don’t reuse the old gasket.
2. Due to a combination of factors I had a small issue. I have AC and Power steering and the working room for the adapter I couldn’t get a wrench on the provided 5/16 x 1” and the 5/16 x 1.5” hex head bolts (particularly the 1.5” one) so I purchased stainless Allen style bolts in the same sizes. Fixed the issue.
3. The hose that came with my engine that connects the water pump to the TD Motion adapter was not compatible so I bought a pre-bent 5/8” heater hose. Total rip off frankly at $15.
4. The 1/4” barb fitting that came with my Jegs filler neck I swapped for an AN fitting so it will match the stainless braided lines in the rest of the car. Also the thermostat housing I bought had 3 ports in the back for a heater connection I presume... I plugged all 3 for now till I tackle that later in the build. Not sure if the heater hose comes off that or off the top of the intake or either. I still need to review the schematics. To be continued...

The install process is straightforward what I didn’t fully grasp was the orientation of the thermostat, I took a picture and sent it to Danny Penzer and of course I had it upside down so he saved me. Thankfully I had the foresight to ask someone. He also gave me a pro tip and said drill 1/8” holes opposite each other so I have a small bypass. Since he fixed my buddies car and it runs great I have no reason to question his judgement here. The correct orientation looks like this:

118918

Final install looks like this:

118925

Vintage Air Heater Valve and 5/8” Barb Bulkhead Fittings

The Stainless 5/8” Barb Bulkhead fittings worked great. It saved a ton of room compared to the FFR provided bulk head fittings. It’s just needed on the heater side for this particular application. Just to note I think the Termotion valve will fit behind the dash with some coercing. The problem is I didn’t have foresight to but it behind the dash. I was drilling holes per the directions and I didn’t think this many steps ahead. The thermotion bypass valve has offset connectors and would require the holes to be drilled in a different places. I didn’t realize all this until after my panels were powered coated and permanently installed. But the Vintage Air valve is the perfect fit. However the particular valve I bought might not be the perfect solution for everyone and here is why. The valve I bought is open or closed it can't be regulated. So it all the way open or all the way closed. They do make one that can be regulated it’s marginally more expensive but like the thermotion valve it requires a control module and dial. I don’t mind buying the other one and returning this one but I’m thinking about how I want my car to look and I want it to be super clean, free of clutter and this might be a blessing in disguise because I can install a simple on-off-on toggle switch for my AC and Heat. Also I live in Southern California and it’s summer here like 360 days out of the year. Also I imagine that 427 is going to be warm despite all the lizard skin insulation I put in. Okay enough with the justification let’s move on. Here is how it looks installed:

118920

Here is how it works. The red wire if for 12v power. The black wire is permanently grounded and this tells the valve to stay closed. The blue wire is going to be on a relay and switched to ground. When the switch is activated the valve opens and hot coolant comes into the heater and begins to flow through. The small block ford does not require a bypass valve so this application is very good. Without the Barb style bulkhead fittings in either the vintage air or thermotion the behind dash application isn’t possible. It wouldn’t have enough room.

On to mounting the AC dryer and power steering reservoir (coming today in the mail). I’ll plumb everything and then on to the radiator sheet metal.

P100DHG

12-16-2019, 05:54 PM

I started on plumbing the AC today. No good way to hide the AC fittings from the bulkhead to the dryer and compressor. So... it’s going to need some elbow grease. The fittings are aluminum, they come scratched, pitted and have machine marks on them from bending or welding. They are dull and well not on par with where I am going with this build. No doubt they do the job they are supposed to, but fit and finish are #1 on this build. I don’t mind the extra work or even rework to get it right. I decided to polish my fittings. I used the following materials and processes, I experimented with different methods but skipping a step or doing something different didn’t yield the desired results.

I am going to break up the fitting/connector into 3 parts. You’ll notice the nut, the tube and the hose fitting. The hose fitting and the nut requires no sanding but the tube does. It’s pitted, dull, and even has machine marks where they bent the fitting. I played around with different grits of sandpaper 400, 320 but I settled on 220 which got out the pitting and machine marks nicely. But now the tube looks worse than when I started, which is good. Gotta start with a good foundation. Next I used Red Scotchbrite and went over the tube with the red Scotchbrite. I didn’t touch the hose fitting or nut those are left alone and not sanded at all (I know I said this already but I’m driving the point home).

After prep is done we can now polish. We need 3 products all made by Mothers. We start with PowerMetal (this is for scratch removing, it will get out our sanding marks), Mag & Aluminum Polish (this will bring a bright shiny luster to our parts), and finally Billet Automotive Metal Polish (which will bring the parts to a mirror like finish). I used the same pad for all 3 polishes and just applied the polish directly to the fitting with my finger. The buffed them with a Ryobi 6” bench grinder and the same polishing pad I used to bring the rivets and screws for my panels to a mirror finish. A reaction occurs between the polish and aluminum, it will begin to leave a black residue. This is a very good sign, this means the polishing is working, if we didn’t see this it wouldn’t be working. In between each product wipe the black residue off and enjoy the fruits of your labor, with each step the fitting will become more and more shiny. Just a note, kept the protective plastic plugs on my fittings while polishing.

The results are remarkable. It’s a total transformation. I honestly can’t believe how good they look. Now, I am not going to do every fitting but the 2 that come off the bulkhead and the 2 that comes off the compressor are getting this treatment the rest I am just leaving alone.

The first picture shows the before and after, the top fitting is not polished and the bottom is polished (pictures don’t do it justice). The second picture shows them installed you can see my reflection in them. The third is the polishes I used. The fourth I mocked up the panels cause I was curious how things are looking and I’d say they are looking quite well. I think they will conceal the plumbing very nicely. I plan to have the upper firewall panel that has not been powder coated behind the engine wrapped in diamond stitched leather. Should be a nice little touch.

119020 119021 119022 119023

P100DHG

01-01-2020, 12:06 AM

Thought Capsule 2.0

Sorry guys not a lot of pictures in this one, more like an entry into my build journal.

So as you might have read I’ve taken some design liberties under the hood and with my seat design. One area of the car I’ve lamented is the dash. The gauge layout is packed in one corner. The gap between the trans tunnel and the dash leaves room for improvement as others have done. Though the FFR supplied GPS gauges are nice they aren’t going to work for this level of build. I would have liked to use them but there are a few problems with them from a design perspective. One is they lack dimension, two is they are back lit and not side lit and lastly they are just too generic for this build, they don’t have enough character. In early December, I visited North Hollywood Speedometer (when I did a restomod '64 VW Bug more than a decade ago I bought my gauges there) and Ralph the owner and I spent an hour talking through my options. What we’ve tentatively decided was, we need to get some original Smith’s Gauges and restore and customize the faces. I love nice watches. My favorite brand is IWC and the way they make and design watches is very inspiring. The watches I love use dimension, raised Arabic numbers, crisp fonts. Their Pilot's chronograph and Portuguese Chronograph are great examples of this. What does this have to do with Smith's gauges? Well, they aren't 1 dimensional like the gauges that come with the kit. They have raised and lowered sections of the dial face, so this should help give some dimension to a very flat and boring dash. Also black gauges aren't going to cut it here, we need something that plays off the seats, interior leather and silver powder coated metal feel. So brown gauge faces are what I am going for and just to pull in the outside color in, maybe a blue clock, could add a nice contrast. There are some other ideas I have to make it more classy and high end but I'll leave those a surprise. We are going to start this mid January and it will take several months to work through, design and fabricate.

Rewinding to November. I began to develop some really great connections through my brother, one is a guy named Dorian Valenzuela he owns a shops called DV Mechanics and he is known for his impeccable Alpha Rameo restorations (he's helped answer some engine and mechanical questions for me) and the other guy is Tim Gregorio. I really like the the dimpled kick panels and floor boards on the Singer Porsche as I mentioned in my preview post. So I was looking at reverse engineering what they had done with theirs and I was having my brother look at pictures of their interior with me and we were talking about the rubber domed pieces in the floor board and my brother says, “let’s ask Tim.” I couldn’t believe he knew someone there. Anyway as it turns out Tim is the head of client relations at Singer and he was there when Singer got its first roots. So my brother connected Tim and I and we talked and as it turns out we actually live very close to each other, so a week or so ago he came over to my house and took a look at my car.

The timing couldn’t have been better. Tim brought so much knowledge to the design process it’s amazing. While I was interested in placing my gauges and laying them out and talking design, Tim was more interested in my seating position. He asked if I was going to use the FFR supplied steering wheel. I told him I wasn’t planning on it. So he said I should get my desired steering wheel on first. Get my seating position dialed in and then layout the gauges so they aren’t obstructed. Absolutely genius! Seems obvious now but it wasn't obvious to me at the time, that's for sure.

It was also nice to bounce ideas off of someone who does this at such a high level. One of their cars starts at $400,000 is my understanding and they have like a 4 year waitlist. But even better than all this was to just talk shop and cars with a guy who knows so much about them. Everything from a Tiguan to a $400,000+ 911. So I just want to thank him for his time and I definitely got a lot out of our meeting and also it was nice to know I am heading in the right direction. Tim was kind enough to offer to come back and we can figure out the gauge layout once I get my gauges set from North Hollywood Speedometer. Also I'm starting to think about AC ducting and vents and how I want that to be laid out.

While all this percolates I’ve gotta finish the plumbing....

I did order my steering wheel. I got the Momo Grand Prix and Russ Thompson is going to modify the hub to match the bolt pattern

119783

Hose Mock Up

So I really don't want to see hoses and wiring everywhere, even a clean plumbing and wiring job it's what I'm after, I'm after concealed. I have been figuring out my hoses and fittings working through the various sizes, styles, etc. But now I've got everything ready to go. I've got my power steering rack converted to AN fittings, my heater fittings installed on my intake, I have my power steering reservoir (https://www.ebay.com/itm/Billet-Power-Steering-Tank-Reservoir-Remote-Expansion-3-4-3-8-6AN-10AN-Polish/192846031653?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649) mounted in the former position of my inline radiator neck. All hoses exit and enter on the passenger side down a single path. I mocked up everything in scrap wire, VF Sales will cut and assemble the hoses for free because I bought the fittings and hose from them. I label the wire, what area of the car it's for, what fittings it goes to and from, and VF Sales will cut the hose to length based on the length of the wire and assemble it to the fittings. If you open the thumbnail you can see the path of travel of the wires. What goes where. Once I get the hoses made I'll get you guys better pictures of the path of travel. I'm just illustrating the process here.

Exposed:

119781

Concealed:

119786

I’ll give an update mid January once all the parts come back in from the various vendors. Happy New Year!

P100DHG

01-16-2020, 11:07 PM

So a quick update. I had a setback. I hadn’t attached my chassis transmission mounting plate to the transmission mount until this past weekend and it wouldn’t align. The problem is that the motor mount interferes with the block, cocking the transmission off in one direction. A common problem according to FFR and Roush on Dart blocks. I have to relieve the excess metal on motor mounts so that means the engine has to get suspended by the crane, motor mounts out, fixed and reinstalled. As Dave B. put it, it’s all part of the journey. I’ll document the process. My wife is out of town and I have my 3 year old solo so probably next weekend it will be done.

Also Ralph at North Hollywood Speedometer had a setback, one of his guys has to take extended personal leave so he can’t take on my project. He referred me to Pete at Nisonger Instruments. He specializes in Smiths gauges and he’s going to take on the project. Sending him the deposit Monday to get going. If someone needs a set of GPS gauges I’ve got some for sale. I’ll make you a good deal.

Power steering is plumbed. I’ll go over that in the next update. Once I get the motor mount issue resolved I’ll finish the radiator and interior sheet metal. From there I think the electrical will go fast and I might if I’m lucky have this this firing by end of April. I’ve got sinus surgery scheduled for early February so that will be a setback for sure. Also major factor is getting my headers modified to have a collector, O2 bung installed and if I can a ball and swivel joint installed. Lots of items to check off the list, no rush but I just need to keep making steady progress.

P100DHG

01-22-2020, 12:42 AM

REWIND!:

I am going to keep this short and to the point.

Remember when I said here (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=389574&viewfull=1#post389574), "I had a real issue getting the engine mounts to line up, it took hours to get it just right. In fact I stepped away from it Saturday and came back Sunday with a fresh head and strength and got everything seated. My advice here is get the passenger side mount dowel pin and stud seated first. Then work the driver's side."

Well here is why!

On the block just below the mounting points is a buttress. It is meant to strengthen this area.

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This buttress interferes with the motor mount causing a 1/8" gap. That gap is enough to cause huge issues. One issues is its going to be extremely difficult to marry the mount to the mounting points on the car. Secondly, the transmission will not align. See picture of gap.

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The solution is to trim the mount in my opinion. FFR said shave the engine block. Roush said modify the mounts. I went with Roush on this one because it's cheaper to replace motor mounts than the block if I screwed up.

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The result after install was night and day. My new philosophy with this build is 1mm might as well be a mile. That's the difference this made. The process was, I suspended the engine in place with the engine hoist and removed the motor mounts, shaved them, tested them, shaved them, tested them and so on until they sat flush, reinstalled them, and the engine glided into place. 3 days of fighting alignment to get my engine in previously, took 3 seconds this time, no exaggeration. Once again I have swallowed my pride and hope you learn from my issues.

Transmission Mounting:

The directions are hard to tell but if you are doing a SBF (289,302,351, blah blah blah) & TKO600 pay attention here. The directions to me and to everyone else that have looked at them show the L shaped flange at the end of the transmission mount facing down.

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WRONG! IT FACES UP!

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When it's down the transmission is cocked off to one side dramatically, when its up it's correctly aligned.

INCORRECT RESULT: - FACING DOWN

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CORRECT RESULT - FACING UP

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I have little dignity left at this point... But I great sense of accomplishment! :D ONWARD! I am glad to put this behind me and moving forward.

This is likely my last update until after my sinus surgery. So look for something middle to end of February. From here I am confident the build will speed up my goal is to have my gauges being made and my sheet metal at powder coat while I recover so that time is productive.

edwardb

01-22-2020, 07:36 AM

Those extra webs on the DART block interfering with the Energy Suspension mounts is talked about quite a bit on here, and happened to me too on my #7750 Roadster build with a DART 347 build. My engine builder also said to notch the mounts, not the block. They ended up looking just like yours and solved the problem. He said the same thing. Why would you cut into a couple thousand dollar block and not a pair of hundred dollar mounts? Agree as well about that rear transmission mount. It's purposely designed to go multiple directions to accommodate different engine/trans combinations. Which I like compare to the A-frame used on Roadsters. But the instructions are confusing and also in my case didn't work. Your final alignment is exactly how it should be.

Nerglhad

01-23-2020, 09:25 PM

Putting the body mounts under the vent screens is a rather clever way IMO of hiding the rear body mounting bolts. As has already been pointed out, they're not functional. Even if you cut them open, not much is going to happen. There's an aluminum panel on the other side that walls off the hatch area. Carpeted if you're doing that. The Coupe that Factory Five wind tunnel tested had vents behind the rear wheels. But not on the back. https://www.factoryfive.com/whats-new/gen-3-type-65-coupe-r-aero-testing-report/

Another possibility and what I have done on my Gen 3 coupe. I cut the fiberglass and fit the screen so it would be able to attach similar to the side screens with a flange behind the back panel. I did not like the fake look of the body behind the screen and having to deal with the sharp edges of the screen against the paint. I used the right hand body mount on the left side and left body mount on the right side relocating the mounting locations to the body. I did not want to have bolts protrude out the back of the body so I fabricated two sheet metal plates and welded studs as appropriate to connect to the body mount brackets. Once positioned I attached the sheet metal plates to the inside of the back panel and then laminated them in place with a couple layers of fiberglass Matt.

P100DHG

01-24-2020, 05:58 PM

Another possibility and what I have done on my Gen 3 coupe. I cut the fiberglass and fit the screen so it would be able to attach similar to the side screens with a flange behind the back panel. I did not like the fake look of the body behind the screen and having to deal with the sharp edges of the screen against the paint. I used the right hand body mount on the left side and left body mount on the right side relocating the mounting locations to the body. I did not want to have bolts protrude out the back of the body so I fabricated two sheet metal plates and welded studs as appropriate to connect to the body mount brackets. Once positioned I attached the sheet metal plates to the inside of the back panel and then laminated them in place with a couple layers of fiberglass Matt.

Great idea. Excellent explanation. I love it. I am going to run it by Jeff Miller who is doing the paint. Get his blessing. He will be doing all the body alignment, door fitment, etc on my build I have no appetite to attach that. I don't want anything to crack so I have to get his blessing. If he green lights it I am going for it.

Nerglhad

01-24-2020, 10:12 PM

Happy you like the idea and I would be happy to send some photos if you have any questions. I think if you hold the reversed brackets in place as described you will see how easy it is. A little tight to get the bracket installed over the stud so don't use a stud any longer than necessary. I am approximately 85% done with my coupe but always enjoy reading about yours and other builds.

P100DHG

01-24-2020, 11:07 PM

Nerglhad

01-25-2020, 11:50 PM

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If it isn’t too much trouble I would love some pictures. Thank you!

Can you send me an email address, I tried but I apparently do not know how to attach photos on the forum :(.
My email address is dahlgrendouglas@gmail.com
Text 308-991-8206
Would love to stay in touch. Enjoying my build very much and 85% done.
Doug Dahlgren
FFR 000069
Holdrege Ne.

Nerglhad

01-25-2020, 11:53 PM

Would you be able to provide your email address? Was not able to send pictures on the forum :(. My email address is dahlgrendouglas@gmail.com
Send me an email and I would be happy to reply with some photos.
Doug Dahlgren
FFR 000069
Holdrege Ne.

P100DHG

01-26-2020, 12:04 AM

Quick update. Radiator tunnel is ready for powder coat, and I picked my gauge colors. Speedo, Tach, volts, fuel, water temp and oil pressure in brown with white writing and adding a clock that’s going to be blue with white writing. I am going with a counter-clockwise speedometer just for fun and mechanical odometer for the vintage look.

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The guys a North Hollywood Speedometer were nice enough to let me use their Pantone book. One of their employees saw pictures of the car and a sample of the leather and his response was, "that makes me want a cigar and a glass of whiskey." which is the exact emotional response I am trying to get when people see the car even though I don't drink or smoke LOL!

The radiator tunnel went surprisingly fast which means when I am recovered from surgery the assembly should be quick, I have a couple plumbing items but I don’t see it taking more than a day or two and I can finish plumbing and head straight into under-hood wiring.

I have my dash layout set but I won’t reveal it till later. Keep you guys on the edge of your seats, LOL

P100DHG

02-02-2020, 02:34 PM

I took my radiator panels to powder coating Thursday, he was doing matte silver for another customer when I walked in so he turned them around in a day.

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I am waiting on parts from various vendors.

Boig Motorsports (https://boigmotorsports.com/product-category/cool-tubes/)

I need to use some corrugated flex hose between the engine and radiator tunnel then I am transitioning to the Coyote Upper Cool Tubes Hose to give a nice clean polished look in the radiator tunnel. I made a block off plate for the hole in the tunnel so I don't have a giant opening there. I thought about remaking the entire panel but I figured that was entering the land of obsessive. I am using the Boig's Lower 351W cool tube for the bottom end. (lower hose back ordered till end of February)

Summit Racing:

3/4-5/8 Molder Heater hose (https://www.summitracing.com/parts/dac-87608) I hope this is the right size But need this to clear the Trutrac system on my engine.
PowerGrip hose clamps
MSD Ignition Coil

Ebay

Vintage Air #8 90 degree AC hose fitting.
Parker #8 AC hose 8ft length

Tire Rack

BRAILLE EXTREME USE BATTERY 21# WITH MOUNT (back ordered till end of February)

So for now I am setup to just wait and recover from surgery on Wednesday but it's really nice to have all the parts in front of me because I swear it takes more time getting parts then actually assembling anything. I am going to start polishing rivets for the radiator tunnel and screws for the upper engine surround once I feel better. Plumbing should be done by end of month. Then on to the dash and electrical in March. I would like to have a full set of gauges installed prior to first start so I can keep things monitored. Also gotta get my headers sorted out before first start too. Big list but I think it will go fast.

I really don't want to rush it cause I've spent so much money and I love working on it so no reason to push any particular timeline. One surprising thing is the box of parts I have of things I am not using. I am amazed at how big it's getting... Lots of wasted money and resources frankly. I'll know next time what to deleted if I decide to do a Roadster. One of my final posts of this build (a long way away) I plan to make a list of what I didn't use and what I substituted and save some future builder some money and shamelessly solicit those who want to buy this stuff from me LOL!

P100DHG

02-08-2020, 07:12 PM

Today marks the 1 year anniversary of the delivery of my car and like any good TV anniversary special, this post is a look back at the last year and a sneak peak into the future of the car. What a year it’s been! I decided early summer of 2018 I’d think about buying a kit car because I was looking for a project my son and I could do that he could be involved in. At the time he had just turned 2 but he loved tools and the plastic play ones wouldn’t do, he wanted the real ones. I had a bunch of wood working tools and spinning blades and kids just didn’t seem compatible. I had also finished a 6 year long journey of remodeling our 1st home, a home I had no plans to leave. The 1600sqft 2 bedroom 1.75 bath house we lived seemed ample for us and our son and we were sure we didn’t want more kiddos. My wife and I bought the home built in 1950 from the original owners and I was very proud to have purchased it from them at the age of 28 and being just the second owner of the home my thinking was that if it was enough to raise their family in it would be good enough for me, I always considered it my forever home and I remodeled the entire house myself over my years of ownership and it was impeccable. So life seemed very stable and a good time to consider taking on a big project and learning something new.

In August of 2018 Factory Five had their summer sale and I was looking at a fully optioned out Coupe and I would qualify for 50% off options. I placed my deposit but I was still on the fence because it was a sizable chunk of money for a bunch of parts. I postponed final delivery twice and but in December of 2018 I felt like I was ready to plop down the dough and fully commit. The order was fulfilled in January 11th 2019 and delivered Sunday, February 8th one year ago. That weekend was quite a turning point because on Friday February 6th my wife and I went to look at preschools for my son and passed by a beautiful home near one of them and we called on the sign just to be nosy... well our curiosity got the better of us cause on February 20th we had opened escrow on that house. The race was on, to sell our house and move. But looming in the garage was my new project delivered by a semi truck with a special crane and 30+ boxes of parts.

I had 60 days to take this car and make it a roller. Something I could steer down my driveway and onto a trailer and fortunately for me that happened and on April 26th we officially sold our home but we hadn’t closed escrow on the new one. But the owners of the home we were purchasing let me put it in the garage ahead of the closing of escrow. 2.5 months of renovation at the new house and we moved in July 5th. We were here a week and then left for 2 weeks on a family vacation with my in laws and back for 3 weeks and then gone again for another 2 weeks with my parents. I had lost the whole summer working on the car. If I wasn’t such a focused person I might have dropped the ball on the Coupe but fortunately I have laser focused type personality and I’m good at multitasking too. In the midst of all of this I had torn down a property (retail store) in a good part of LA to develop a high end retail storefront and the future offices of our family business which I completed on December 23rd.

It was a busy year to say the least but something quite profound came of it because in the time it took me to get where I am today it allowed me to develop my design ideas, edit and come up with new ones. From a frame and a bunch of boxes I have a fully assembled suspension and driveline with my engine in, custom panels, working brakes, a fully plumbed fuel system, steering system, some incredibly upholstered seats and I am very close to done with my cooling, heat and AC systems. There have been some highs and some lows, it’s also been extremely therapeutic to work on and at times stressful but it’s been a great bonding experience to share with my father in law and son. The sense of accomplishment so far is quite high.

Could I have been further along in the build?... sure I could have but I feel like I’ve come along way without taking any short cuts. It’s a lot of money to rush through, better to spread it out and hit all the details. Plus I’ve enjoyed documenting the process and helping other guys with problems I encountered and solved.

I look forward to the next year of building and with that I leave you with a sneak peak, an inspiration photo if you will of what’s to come.

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Thanks for a year of reading through my posts

- Danny

edwardb

02-08-2020, 09:04 PM

Interesting story. Thanks for sharing. We changed houses, and went through some major remodels, in the middle of my 20th Anniversary Roadster build. That build also took about a 6 month sabbatical. So I have an idea of what you went through. Good luck getting going again. These builds take a lot of time and energy. Not always easy with the rest of life going on. And I say that with grown kids and being retired. :eek:

P100DHG

02-25-2020, 01:58 PM

I realize my last real update was almost a month ago. I am fully recovered form surgery so that's great and I am ready to get back on the car. I mounted the powder coated panels for the radiator tunnel and finished plumbing the AC system, just a couple more crimps on some fittings but I’m waiting to fit my headers before I finalize those. I am waiting on parts still. Boig Motorsports is still at least another 2 weeks out on the lower and upper radiator tubes and I imagine Nisonger Instruments is much much further out on the gauges, also my battery is back ordered, I am an A-Z guy and I don't want to skip around but I am going to move on to drilling out the floor pans and interior sheet metal and get the body back on and mount up the seats and mock up the exhaust. I'll have to circle back to plumbing later. Once I have the exhaust sorted out I'll move on to wiring which I haven't even looked at yet. In my unique scenario having EFI on the car, I need to sort out customizing my headers to have a collector and bung for the O2 sensor.

Here is where she sits now with the radiator tunnel completed. I can't wait to show off the finished product on plumbing because it's high end hot rod clean especially considering that I have AC, Heat, Power steering which adds a lot of hoses. If I could make it invisible I would but that's just not possible. (Sorry for the upside down photo I’ve got figure out why that happened because it definitely wasn’t taken like that)

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CTHiker52

02-26-2020, 09:33 AM

Danny, thank you for taking the time and making the effort to share your thought processes and sep by step instructions for your build. I’m in the process of sorting outage details of my Coupe build. I learned a lot. Sometimes it is just as important to learn what you don’t want as it is to learn “WOW that’s a great idea l’m going do that”. I can’t wait to see pictures of the finished product. The journey (build) to me is just as important as the destination (finished car).

Thanks. CTHiker52 (Gary)

P100DHG

02-26-2020, 04:43 PM

Sometimes it is just as important to learn what you don’t want as it is to learn “WOW that’s a great idea l’m going do that”..... The journey (build) to me is just as important as the destination (finished car).

Thanks for your kind words Gary. I completely agree with your post. It's definitely important to know what you don't want as much as what you do. From big ticket items like seats, exhaust, gauges, it's all money I could have saved myself looking back. Then there is the smaller stuff, fuel system hoses and hardlines, even when I added the air conditioning option to the car FFR sent me a compressor and my engine came with one. My engine came with an external fuel pump and wiring harness and fuel lines, I should have deleted all that but I didn't know. On the flip side planning for what you do want is infinitely more fun, creative and rewarding. So I completely relate to that comment. For me the journey is all about the build. I'm sure once it's done I'll keep tinkering and it will never be done.

CTHiker52

02-27-2020, 09:27 PM

Danny, to a true car guy the car is never done. Tinkering is almost as much fun as the driving.

CTHiker52 (Gary)

P100DHG

03-11-2020, 12:33 PM

Last of the Plumbing

I just couldn't wait any longer so I continued on without the parts from Boig but it does sound like they will be shipping imminently. Also there was a miscommunication with Billet Specialties on their AC compressor. There is a manifold that attaches to the compressor that drops the AC lines from the top of the compressor to the bottom. The directions say, don't mount the manifold until the AC system is ready to be charged. I called them because if I waited that long I would have an issue installing it because my radiator hose would interfere. They said it was fine to install now, they just like people to wait because when installing the engine they don't want compressor oil to leak everywhere which makes sense. I had the last two fuel hoses made that go between the bulkhead and the EFI system, so plumbing is almost done, here is my final punch list before filling everything with fluids. It's very clean and I couldn't be happier.

Cooling system - Waiting for Cooltubes

Engine - Waiting on Oil Pressure sender for Smiths Gauges

AC system - Ready for Refrigerant

Fuel system - Ready For Fuel

Transmission - Ready for Fluid

Power Steering - Ready for Fluid

You will likely notice I moved around some of the fittings on the AC system before finalizing everything. I did this to get everything way from the headers. Everything got a nice polish on it and is ready to go. One of the AC lines that runs from the compressor to the condenser was installed and cut to length but the compressor side hadn't been crimped. My vise is mounted on a large chunk steel that I rubberized. The plus side is that I can move it around, down side is it's strong but not as strong as being mounted to a bench. So I moved it over to the car and set it on the frame tubing and crimped the -8 fitting right on the car. I realized after doing that, that I could have just clamped the AC crimper to the frame but hindsight is 20/20 and the job is done.

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I am very pleased with the final product.

Interior Cockpit Sheet metal

I moved on and finished drilling all the floor pans, and cockpit area, the riveting is by far my least favorite part of this project. I put the body back on per David's advise and I am am ready to mount the seats. I should have this done this week and I'll do a write up on that. So by the early next week my interior sheet metal (not including the dash and future custom panels associated with the dash) should be off to powder coat. Then on to the exhaust system and wiring. I am getting so close to first start I can taste it! My goal was by end of March but it's looking like mid summer will be more realistic with all the custom touches (gauges, exhaust, senders, etc)

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You might notice my super slick gear shift knob. My father in law made it. Can you see the reference...

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P100DHG

03-21-2020, 10:00 PM

I hope you find this a break from the news that surrounds us right now and I wish everyone good health and a swift financial recovery from this terrible situation we are all in. Stay home, enjoy your build and if you are thinking about building one just use this time to read and learn.

Installing the Seats
Finally lots of pictures and not much to say except they fit. Just to recap, I tried 4 different Sparco seats, the QTR-R (way too big for the car wouldn't fit at all), EVO II US (too big to slide), 2019 EVO GRP (very snug on me), GRID-Q (the seats I bought). The criteria was I wanted a FIA rated seat. The reason wasn't because I intend to race but because I wanted something that had a certification behind it because I am concerned about my safety and my passengers safety in the event of an accident. I am using the Sparco 90º seat bracket and Recaro seat sliders.

I did the following for each seat. I made fresh templates for each seat, I did not reused my templates, nor did I position the seats in the same way as you will read about.

I first I attached the 90º brackets to the seat sliders. Note that the slider release faces inward. After that I attached them to the seat. I maxed out the recline and they are still very upright. I used the highest setting on the front and the lowest on the back.

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Next I made a poster board template of the bottom of the seat. I measured the width and length and cut it out. I taped the template to the bottom of the seat sliders and made a rubbing of where the holes are and marked forward with an arrow

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Remember that you just made a rubbing of the bottom side and that we need the top side. So detach the template and flip it over to reveal the embossed markings. I next made a rubbing of the top side to reveal the embossed markings

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I placed the seat in the car, mocked up the doors with tape, I checked my clearances

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I then removed the doors and marked the position of the outside corners of the sliders on the floor pan with a Sharpie and climbed in and gave them a test fit, making sure I was aligned with the makings I had made. I then checked the seat position through the front window and back window openings to make sure they looked squared up with the car. The passenger side was great, and so I assumed the driver side was about the same but is was not. In fact, check out how far off center the steering wheel was. I adjusted the seat and remarked it. It's easy to mount the seat in one area and forget about countless other areas of clearance so check, recheck and check a third time.

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Once everything was set, I matched the 4 corners of my templates with the corners marked on the seat pan and drilled my holes. Everything went great 3 of the holes in the passenger side hit steel but only 2 on the driverside did so I'll break out the welder and weld some braces for those areas so they hit steel.

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The bolts I am using to mount the slider to the floor pans are 5/16 x1" bolts, washers and locknuts.

P100DHG

03-21-2020, 10:01 PM

The seat sliding lever bar wouldn't fit and required some blacksmithing. I tried heating it up with a plumbing torch and propane gas but the flame isn't hot enough so I pulled out the Mapp gas and plumbing torch and it worked great. I heated up the joints, straighten the bar and re-bent it.

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They were also way way way too long so I cut them to length and mounted them nicely under the seat, they work great and are concealed. I will have to re-powder coat them but not a big deal.

Fun family photo last week

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Cooling System Update

Got my cool tubes and mocked them up. Top tube works great but the bottom tube isn't right (after talking to Bob there may have been a production issue) so I am sending it back and he's going to fix it. I'll do a whole write up on it once everything is done.

General Update

Since I don't have my gauges or sheet metal I can't start on the dash. My battery came last week so I am going to try to figure that out and get the trunk sheet metal in. That should leave a lot to go out to powder coat once this whole thing is behind us.

I'll spare you the lecture and just say, stay home, stay safe, stay healthy and let's get past this.

P100DHG

03-26-2020, 12:06 AM

There are a lot of small details to iron out so I worked on those the last couple of days. Fortunately everything was a fail, because with each fail I learned something.

Fail #1:
I decided to attach my throttle cable to my EFI. I lined everything up and drilled a hole through my firewall. I made a template and then a bracket, it was very crude and it was never intended to be the final product but merely a stepping stone to a final product. Well I connected everything up and found out that the spring pressure on the EFI wasn’t enough to quickly lift the pedal and shut the throttle. Instead it slowly returned which could be dangerous. What I learned was I'd need to get something with a throttle return spring so I ordered Summit Racing Billet Aluminum Throttle Cable Bracket SUM-210239BLK (https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-210239blk). Additionally I bought what I believe will be the right adapter for the FFR provided throttle cable Summit Racing Billet Aluminum Throttle Cable Bracket Adapter SUM-210243BLK (https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-210243blk). It's going to look a lot better and function better. I did get more practice making templates though. So here is a picture of Fail #1

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Fail #2:
So this is a work in progress that was one fail after another but in the end I think I found my design direction. So I have this vision for my "floor mats" I'm calling them floorboards and I got working on those today. I made a template and assumed I'd be using a 1 1/2" punch and bead die and laid out my spacing for that. The reason I wanted to use a bead die was that it would match the look of the grommet in the seats. Well after doing all that work I punched a hole & bead in a scrap piece of metal and unfortunately I just didn't like how it turned out. I was trying to use a domed piece of rubber and make some unique looking floor boards similar to those that Singer Porsche makes (I posted a picture of those in a previous post). But I did like the contrast between the flare and the domed rubber.

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I still wasn't pleased with the rubber look. It just didn’t strike the right chord for me in person. Looks awesome in photos but in person I just think it missed the mark in terms of looking high end. So I took a scrap piece of leather and wrapped the rubber dome in leather by streching the leather over the dome and the result was awesome. The whole thing just evolved. So I did a full sample with contact cement and glued everything together and it worked great! So the final pick is the flared hole with a leather wrapped rubber dome.

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Now I just need to remeasure the pattern and make the floor boards.

It's all part of the process and it's fun to make progress and let the design vision flow and change, it's part of making something custom and quality.

Straversi

03-26-2020, 01:48 PM

We must have been inspired by the same Singer Porsche. I came home from SEMA in 2017 with a dozen photos of a silver and blue Singer with the stainless/rubber floor matts. The rubber in the dimple holes didn't seem to offer much grip. The grip came from the open heel pad under the pedals. My photo is before carpet and a few adjustments to even out the stainless. I like the look and how simple it is to vacuum out and clean. This might not even be the final piece in the photo. I think I made two or three before I got the look I liked. Gotta love what the scrap pile teaches you.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=80017&d=1517252075

Yours looks a lot more professional. Great work!
-Steve.

P100DHG

04-01-2020, 12:24 AM

Feels good to get it right!

Throttle Cable Complete
So I took a less traditional approach to routing my throttle cable. It’s completely concealed until it couldn’t be. You can reference my previous post here (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=382901&viewfull=1#post382901) on how I routed my throttle cable but to pick up where I left off, I exited the firewall, used a 1/4” x 1/2” grommet, linked up to the Summit bracket. You most definitely need to buy the Lokar cable adapter, it works perfectly and the provided bracket doesn’t work at all. It’s disappointing to spend another $20 on an adapter. I feel like they shouldn’t include any adapters charge $20 less for the bracket and just buy the right one separately. Also someone wrote in their review that the spring tension on the throttle return is too strong. I’d agree. The two springs provided are way too strong and one spring is still a little firm so I ordered new springs from McMaster Carr it’s another $10 to get the right throttle feel. I went with these 3” extension springs (https://www.mcmaster.com/9654k714) and I am running it with two on my setup and I’m very pleased.

This is the adapter it comes with you can see why it wouldn’t work.

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And this is the finished product

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It now has the right pedal feel and quick throttle return response.

These are the grommets I bought from Summit.

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Floor Boards
The floor board metal work is complete. They need to get powder coated silver. The domed rubber pieces are Danchuk 812 body plugs actually. Pricey little pieces. Danchuk is local to me ur no discount. I need 40 at $5 each. Yikes!!!! If you don’t mind flat tops the 810s are $2.50 each. Check them out on Summit Racing. I am imaging that the edge of the floorboard will need a small piece of leather trim just to cover the edge. Also a small leather mat with maybe diamond stitching for a heal pad for drivers and passengers side. Interesting the rubber body plugs are flat on the bottom side and prevent the floor board from sliding so I probably won’t need to fasten them. There is one issue, which is that they can’t be removed without removing the seat... I tried to think of a way but I don’t see a way to do it realistically without scratching the leather seat, so it’s going to be inconvenient to deep clean, having to unbolt the seats and remove them to vacuum under the floor boards but it’s not my daily driver so it’s a compromise I can live with I guess, maybe something will come to me.

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I’m annoyed that it rotates the images I have no idea how to fix that sorry...

I love the metal foot pad that Straversi did to the right of the gas pedal, very cool and original solution. I’m trying to think how I can make that integrate it into my idea of what I want to do with the interior upholstery. I’m going to let it percolate.

I just want to say it’s so much fun working on something other than the engine bay especially the part of the car that I am going to get to interact with regularly. Makes me very very very excited to get my gauges and start mocking up the dash, though who knows what is going to happen with those since Nisonger Instruments is in New York State...

Stay healthy everyone!

P100DHG

04-04-2020, 05:27 PM

This post was updated on 4/10/2021 to reflect a brand new design using 3D printing and a desktop CNC machine

The next series of posts will cover interior updates, cooling system updates and electrical system updates. I'll post them over the next three days. The most significant of the updates I'll post today because why not get good info out there for people to use right away. After all we are all sitting around at home either building or planning anyway.

Horn Button
Well... lets talk about the horn button. Presumably we want it where we know it, center on the steering wheel. Why relearn an item that can prevent an accident. Not much of the stock setup makes it easy to install a horn button so everything here is going to need to be custom.

So here is what you will need:
1. Russ Thompson Turn Signal (http://www.norcal-cobras.com/store/russ_garage/t65/t65tss.html)
2. A steering wheel with a 6x70mm (2 3/4") bolt pattern (includes, MOMO, Sparco, OMP to name a few)
3. Russ Thompson to modify the steering hub for the new bolt pattern (yes you can do this yourself but Russ can do it for you when he modifies your steering hub anyway)
4. a machinists lathe or mill or XY table for your drill press
5. Tinkercad (www.tinkercad.com) - free online software to design in (literally a 7th grader can design in this which is about my limit.)
6. 3D Printer
7. Easel - free CNC software to design in
8. 3018 Pro Desktop CNC
9. Brass Sheet 0.025" Thickness x 6" Width x 12" Length, 22 Gauge (https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006MZOBC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
10. Soldering Iron
11. Some stuff from McMaster Carr described below

This is going to be lengthy so strap in. It took hours and hours to figure this out so this should save you some time. I did ask Russ if he could help me with the machining but he's slammed with orders right now so I was on my own. So I know a lot of machinists will cringe but given the state of affairs in the world right now I am not leaving the safety and comfort of my home so I do not have access to a machinists lathe nor did have access to a large CNC mill or manual mill for that matter. I just couldn't bring myself to spend $700 on a bench lathe to use it once, nor do I want to get sick seeking out a machinist locally. Maybe if the stock market was still at 29,000 but since we are heading to 15,000 better save the money. I have an XY table on my drill press and some milling bits I've used on other projects so that would just have to do. I am also terrible at the Etch-a-Sketch (you'll too find out why that important).

1. You've got Russ's turn signal system, you've got your steering wheel with a 6x70mm bolt pattern and Russ has drilled and tapped the hubs for you. You've installed the turn signal system. Things look good now lets make a mess. So the first issue that is glaringly apparent when you mock up your steering wheel is that the inside diameter of the hub is too small to accept a horn button. It won't seat. I mounted mine up and scribed a line on the hub so I could know how much material I'd needed to remove. I also recommend marking 12 o'lock on the inside of the hub for later reference.

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2. The next part is hard to do but straight forward to say. Remove the material inside the scribe line. I had to do this on an XY table which is exactly like an Etch-a-Sketch. Try making a circle on an Etch-a-Sketch... NOT EASY and in my case not possible but I guess under pressure I did a pretty good job actually. I cleaned up my work with a die grinder. It looks a little rough but the horn button is going to cover it anyway and it's got added grip ;).

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3. Mark and drill a 3/16" hole opposite the cancelling tabs just off center of the hub in the 9 o'clock position. Be sure to remove the drill bit from the hole and clean it several times while drilling because the aluminum clogs the channels of the drill bit. I some how forgot to take a picture of this, though if you look at step 7 you'll see the position you need to drill the hole

4. With the hub finished you can breathe a sigh of relief and remove the turn signal from the mounting adapter on the steering column. There is a screw at the 7 o'clock position that needs to be back off. Don't unscrew it all the way, just loosen it still the turn signal slides off.

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5. I then designed isolators and a horn contact ring to use with the Dorman 49319 Horn Connector. Clipped the spade connector off and replaced the spring with a new Compression Spring, 1" Long, 0.148" OD, 0.112" ID from McMaster Carr. You don't need the black tube it comes with either. I then sanded the wire ferrule down on the Dorman Horn Connector so it would slide freely on the horn contact ring and inside the groove of the horn contact ring isolator. So, I bet you're like. "$8 for a wire and a ferrule are you kidding me?" I bought this connector prior to designing this system I am going to try to figure out what size wire ferrule is best in the future but since I am not mass producing them I think this minor inefficiency is okay. I then 3D printed the isolators.

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6. Drill a hole 7/32 in the nylon spacer inside the ring 180 degrees from the canceling tabs on the Russ Thompson Hub and in the side of the steering column

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7. CNC the horn contact ring from a brass sheet that is 0.025" Thickness x 6" Width x 12" Length, 22 Gauge (https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006MZOBC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1). Unfortunately you can only buy shims that are spring steel or stainless, I tried stainless but unfortunately I wasn't able to solder to stainless so I had to CNC it out of brass.

https://youtu.be/zEZ3B1paHII

8. Solder a scrap piece of wire to contact ring and file down. You'll be feeding this wire through the hub so leave it long, you can trim it later. Just to be clear this is not the Dorman Horn Connector wire, that wire gets lengthened and fed through the 3D printed tubular isolator and the nylon bushing on the column.

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9. Assemble - Everything should slide freely, the canceling tabs do not hit the inner isolating ring. You should be good to go. Make sure you drill a self tapping screw into the new isolator on the column so it doesn't have a tendency to slide or spin or whatever. Also the picture of the hub, the wire needs to go opposite the tabs. The picture is just to show fit.

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10. The head of allen style bolt that normally secures the hub to the steering column is too big. I replaced it with this: https://www.mcmaster.com/91253A622/ for max clearance inside the hub.

11. Now I had an issue with the way my horn button was wired. On the back of my button the center position is meant to go to the horn relay and the outer position grounds to the hub. Actually the outer position can ground the hub OR the spring on the side grounds the hub. It has both because it's a generic button. Anyway I needed to switch those positions to make things fit and it was as easy at taping off the spring on the side of the horn button. But attach wire to the back of the horn button per your application.

12. Install the horn button, go lock to lock on the steering wheel verify everything is good with a multimeter and BOOM! or should I say BEEP BEEP!

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I had asked a while back about getting a horn button to work here (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29191-P100DHG-Build-Questions&p=394781&viewfull=1#post394781) and didn't get a response so I hope this helps someone else. I know this seems complicated but if you want to get into 3D printing and desktop CNC this is a great way to do it.

https://youtu.be/2cNaUiDNZtE

_______________________________________________

WOW that was a mouthful and since you took the time to read this far guess what?

I am giving you the designs. I believe in this community of builders and I believe those who come up with amazing ideas should profit if they want to, but this isn't my day job it's a hobby so I am sharing all my designs to be used for personal use and not commercial purposes and I am going to say explicitly there is a copyright on this design. So to you vendors, this may not be sold or reproduced for commercial purposes. Copyright 2021 - Daniel Goldman.

And because I don't want you to sue me if you botch this install, use at your own risk.

Designs may be updated and subject to improvement so check back to see if there have been revisions I'll post the date here. The latest design is 4/13/2021.

You can download, edit or manipulate the designs for your build here:

- Horn Ring Isolators: https://www.tinkercad.com/things/9hwpsN52xOq
- Horn Contact Ring: https://easel.inventables.com/projects/7etv16w3rqCScuhLb5PRJA

Just to add a note, in Tinkercad you can ungroup objects. That said by grouping objects in a certain order you are able to achieve the shape that you want and then combine it with another shape you want. I’m not sure that Russ has the exact measurement from the nylon bushing to the end of the column this can be adjusted in tinkercad for your specific build by ungrouping the object, taking a measurement of your column adjusting the value in tinkercad and regrouping the objects. I know this might seem overwhelming but if you watch a 10 minute tutorial in tinkercad on YouTube you’ll figure out how to do this and if you’re totally stuck PM and if I have time I’ll try to help.

P100DHG

04-05-2020, 04:17 PM

So my cooling system is finally done. To accomplish what I wanted for my Small Block Ford setup I needed to go full Frankenstein. I opted not to go with Boig's 351W upper hose which has a built in filler neck. Instead I opted for the TD Motion GM manifold filler neck conversion. Additionally I complicated things with the placement of my overflow and power steering reservoir, blocking an easy path from the manifold to the radiator. I still can't see a better place for the reservoirs in hindsight so hopefully I made the right decision and to accomplish the clean look I didn't have any other choice. But I am very pleased how things ended up coming together.

The most straight forward of the two tubes was the lower tube. It's Boig's standard 351W lower tube for the Gen 3 coupe. I opted to match the satin black frame so that it was incognito. No reason to draw attention to it.

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For the upper tube I went with a variation of corrugated tube and cool tube. Starting from the radiator I used Boig's coyote tube. The tube is a straight shot and stops just on the other side of the radiator tunnel allowing me to pick up from there with corrugated tubing. I made a filler piece between the radiator tunnel and engine bay to give a nice clean look. I polished the upper cool tube (I've become proficient at polishing aluminum and stainless) the best part is that if you screw up you just start over. I used a similar process as the AC fittings but took it a step further as I wasn't able to get the desired result with just 220 sand paper and red Scotchbrite, plus polish. I started with sanding, 120, 150, 220, 320, 400, 600, 1000, 1500, 2000 all by hand. Then moved to the polishes all Mother's brand, first the Powermetal Polish, then the Mag & Aluminum Polish and then the Billet Polish. I applied them with a microfiber towel and just rubbed and rubbed and rubbed, all by hand. I tried doing it on a polishing wheel but by the time I'd get everything adjusted and installed I had scratched it and had to start over so I did the whole thing on the car after installation. If you scratch it, you have to start at the beginning, no shortcuts (trust me I tried).

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Past the radiator tunnel I came off the cool tube with a rubber 90º fitting which I then attached to the corrugated hose provided in the kit.

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I ran the hose around the 2 reservoir tanks and up to the TD Motion filler neck. You can see I used a combination of heat shrink clamps and traditional hose clamps depending on where things were and if they were visible. I bought a chrome cover for the corrugated rubber fitting that attaches to the filler neck but opted not to use it because all my other fittings were black and the heat shrink clamps would match more closely.

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On the Boig cool tubes I used 1 3/4 to 2" heat shrink clamps and on the corrugated fittings and on the lower water pump fitting I used 2 - 2 1/4 fittings.

P100DHG

04-06-2020, 05:38 PM

This is the shortest of the 3 updates and probably the most disappointing despite the amount of time it took. I fabricated a battery tray. I bought a generic Summit Battery Tray (https://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-430022) and cut it apart and welded it back together, I figured it was easier than fabricating one from scratch. I wanted a rear mounted battery. I wanted it in a safe location so I mounted it off center over the differential. The fit is very tight. I am using the Braille 21lb Battery (https://www.tirerack.com/accessories/detail.jsp?ID=34&brand=Braille&cat=Batteries) I found Tire Rack to have the best price and they include a hold down. I wanted an AGM battery and this fit the bill. AGMs can be mounted on their side so that saved a lot of space. I wrapped a nylon tie down around it so it can be removed relatively easily. Access is very limited and the tolerances came down to a 1/32" or just a millimeter. Space is at a premium back there. I did this in an effort to keep my engine compartment clean. I am going to have an access hatch in the trunk. I am not carpeting the interior and instead will have a leather diamond stitched trunk mat that can cover any access panels (there are already 2 for the fuel sender and the fuel pump/pickup). From here I can begin the trunk sheet metal and make any necessary cuts now that I have everything in place. I am working front to back if you can tell. I don't plan on making any extra storage compartments in fact I am vacillating about sticking a spare tire back there. Not because I need it but because I like the look. I don't see a car that requires earplugs to have any thing functional about it except going fast. Probably not going to be doing any road trips in it, probably just local shows and vintage track days. Anyway finishing the trunk sheet metal would mean all that's left is the custom dash and by then hopefully the stay at home orders will be lifted and I can go get some sheetmetal and get the interior panels off to the powder coater. I have turned my attention to electrical but I don't see any major updates on that for a while.

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P100DHG

04-12-2020, 10:26 PM

I have been dabbling here and there. But my main focus has been electrical and I'll do a full write up or several on it in the future. I ordered a MSD 6a Ignition Controller and a MSD Blaster SS coil but Ontrac threw them over my fence in the pouring rain and so as you can imagine they went straight back to Summit for an exchange. But in that box was the 2ga wire I ordered for the connection between the starter and the battery and the jumper point which I located in the trunk (I'll post a picture of them later). So that's wired and so is my fuel pump. My main point of posting now was because I located my ignition switch, light controls, AC/Heater control, and fan speed knob (more to go but this is a good start)

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I love the location, it puts everything at my finger tips but in this configuration the knobs just don't look good. I asked my father-in-law to turn me some knobs and with nothing to do the next day he sent me these pictures. I just love them!

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I am doing the same powder coated matte silver for all the interior panels as I did under the hood. I mean whats better than metal, leather, wood and 475hp!

For those of you who don't have a skilled woodworker in the family but like this look, you can go on Etsy and look up wood guitar knobs (huge selection and they look awesome). Anyway the headlight switch I will epoxy the knob onto the triangular shaft, the rotary switch for the fan speed is a 1/4" half moon and I purchased inserts here (https://www.allelectronics.com/item/spr-14/metal-insert-for-1/4-half-moon-shaft/1.html).

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You might ask why I went with a keyed ignition over a push button start and that's because I loved the keys with the FFR logo (it's going to be the only FFR branded thing on the car) and I love the idea of turning a key. Makes it feel vintage LOL. I will have to say filing the hole for the ignition was a massive pain in the rear end.

But more along the lines of placement of electrical components is where to locate the hazards or high beams not sure which one yet but one of those will be activated using the momentary switch on the Russ Thompson turn signal stalk. I am going to use a Standard Motor Products LR35 12V Flip-Flop Latching Relay (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000C83NSG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1). When the momentary switch is pressed it will turn on the flashers and when it is pressed again it will turn them off. It can be used to control anything really as it's a dry contact relay.

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Straversi

04-13-2020, 11:10 AM

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Is this the new FFR snorkel kit? So we have FFRs in electric and 4 wheel drive and now submersible? Kidding. Love the updates.
-Steve

P100DHG

04-15-2020, 10:12 PM

Is this the new FFR snorkel kit? So we have FFRs in electric and 4 wheel drive and now submersible? Kidding. Love the updates.
-Steve
LOL. Don’t give away my secret spy tech.

P100DHG

04-22-2020, 02:21 PM

Fuse Panel:
In the interest of saving space, ease of access and keeping things clean I placed my fuse panel under the dash in the top left hand corner. I warn you if you are planning to put an AC vent here this is not a good spot, also check to make sure that it doesn't interfere with the placement of your gauges. Think 10 steps ahead. I am not planning on putting any AC vents on my dash. I have a special surprise for those (details on AC vents to come). Locating the fuse panel in this position means you have to make sure all the wires clear the top of the dash, so I made a L bracket that extends the mounting panel down 2 1/4" from the top of the dash cross member. I also bent up one side so it will attach to the firewall. These pictures illustrate it better than I can explain it.

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Anyway the electrical fuse panel is in and I can tell you placing it here will mean extending wires. I can already tell the clutch safety switch and the brake switch wires are in need of extending and likely the whole front harness. My alternator wire will need to be extended and if you route your wires low like I am doing then you'll be doing the same. The alternator wire is in fact 8ga. The harness FFR provides is great but for what I need I did some rearranging, very straight forward and simple. I am soldering all my connections and heat shrinking them as well to insure a perfect, tight, clean connection.

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The picture above probably means nothing to those who don't have this in front of them but might be good to compare if you layout your factory harness to see what positions I moved.

Ignition Control Box & Coil:
No clutter and everything hidden. I don't want to see a single box sticking out so I mounted the ignition control box and the coil behind the firewall. It seems like an inaccessible space but I am making 2 of the transmission tunnel side panels on the passenger and driver side removable. I measured things out and made a metal template. I played around with different spacing and by the time I was done my panel looked like Swiss Cheese so I remade it but well worth the effort. Wires should be short and tidy. I have to be honest putting things this close together is a gamble. I am crossing my fingers I don't have some sort of electrical interference but space is very limited. I'll have to learn by doing I guess...

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As the last few pictures illustrate make sure you make access to remove components if need be. Don't block stuff in. A simple blank rubber grommet can plug your access hole but make a world of difference on serviceability. Just a note I foam backed this panel where it touches the frame tube to dampen vibration and eliminate any noise or rattles.

EFI Control Box:
I placed the EFI control behind the dash. I made studs that it could mount on behind the firewall. Should be a clean look.

I'll put a picture here after I mount it up so check back next week for that.

I sent out a good portion of my panels to the powdercoater. I dropped them at his front door, jumped into my truck and called him from outside. Totally contactless. The new normal unfortunately for now. I plan to pick them up the same way. But once those get back it's off to the races to wire the beast. Last item on the list before ignition and fire is my headers. I am hoping to have those by early summer.

Holes and Placement:
I chose to run my wires through the upper section of the transmission tunnel panel. It will be concealed behind the dash. Take good notes and pictures so you know where things are going, you can always refer back to them. Also as you run wires you might find yourself taking apart a connector like I did for my headlight switch (not in the factory position). Take a dozen pictures from different angles so when you put it back you don't miss a position. Worst case you took too many, you can always delete them.

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Erik W. Treves

04-24-2020, 11:12 AM

Looks like you are progressing well... FWIW ... just an observation - the placement of the fuse panel with the dash completely installed may not be that easy to get to... have you put the complete dash in with the side close out panels to see if you still unhampered access?

I assume you are going to carpet the interior? If the coil or better yet the MSD box fails.. maintaining this area post build ... might be a little frustrating?

Looking at your panel... take a look at mine..

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=67856&d=1494810426

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=76393&d=1509809011

the ignition switch with the complete dash is about even with the switch - hard to see the angle but with the key in the ignition the back of my hand is in contact with the bottom of the dash.. then as the dash drops down and tunnel cover comes up .. there is only like 2.5 inches or less to get your hand to reach the top of that panel and it narrows quick after that....

anyway ... my opinion only... not that you were looking for the input :)

looking forward to hearing you hit the start button!!!

P100DHG

04-25-2020, 02:28 PM

I assume you are going to carpet the interior? If the coil or better yet the MSD box fails.. maintaining this area post build ... might be a little frustrating?

You're right, maintaining this build is going to be challenging even frustrating at times. I think it likely extends further then just the MSD box though. I think even getting the battery out will be difficult as the terminals but also the battery posts have to be removed to get it to come out. I tried to think ahead as best I could to make access to each component and not block everything in but likely a 1 or 2 step process will take 10 or more. Nothing is going to be straight forward. As for the fuse panel the side piece will have to be removable or something that allows access to it.

Though I bought a carpet kit I am not going to use it. All my panels will be matte silver powder coated. All my Lizard Skin will be exterior facing. Two of the transmission tunnel sides will be removable giving me access to that MSD box. I drew a diagram of it to illustrate but I'm referring to #13 in the CAD drawing. (I've got time on my hands, can you tell? LOL)

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The walls of the transmission tunnel will be diamond stitched leather so that particular panel will have exposed screws. I'll polish them to match the under hood look which I actually realize I forgot to reveal! So I'll post that later this weekend. It's looking really sharp.

Ultimately you're correct though this is going to be a difficult to maintain. My hope is that it's reliable and drives well. I am thankful you are watching over my build though because I love your car, so any advice is good advice, thank you!

P100DHG

04-26-2020, 09:37 PM

I am shocked how much progress I have gotten done in the last month. I also now realize that at the pace I was going, which was a good pace, there is no way I would have started my engine in March (I was thinking about this in December), in fact I probably wouldn’t have started it till next year LOL. I’m in no rush, frankly it’s not about driving it, it’s about building it. It’s very interesting because the car has been a very therapeutic outlet. Last year when I was selling my house, which was so stressful it provided an outlet and now again in this odd time we are in it’s done the same again.

I finished all my engine wiring and plumbing and I installed the engine surround panels that I made so this is the final product. I think it’s looking really sharp. Over 80 hand polished screws plus all the polished rivets. I am excited to put this same effort into making the interior shine now and make this coupe really a one off.

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I still need to wire up a few more things inside the cockpit before I can start it but I still need to get those headers sorted out with a collector before I can hit that major milestone. Erik's comments have really been in my head the last couple days so I am going to figure out how to make my dash fully removable while looking really polished so I can get access to anything easily.

David Williamson

04-27-2020, 08:10 AM

Some of the older versions were built with a 2 piece dash so it could be removed for access. Check out some of the builds like "Matt 65"
Looking great, show car finish
David W

Erik W. Treves

04-29-2020, 06:39 AM

Sorry to get into your head :) it was only my opinion based on the few cars that I have built... specifically in the coupe I had a ton of wiring with fully integrated helicopter stick shifter... you can see I did like you and put the schematic right on the panel...

Anyway - I meant to tell you I love your engine bay!
I will put it on record that I will be borrowing this design on my next build. :)

John Dol

04-29-2020, 08:51 PM

I guess people are hiding their coupe builds in separate build threads now. Never knew this existed!!
Really like the engine bay treatment you have done, like Eric I’m sure this is going to get a lot of other people copying your idea!

John

P100DHG

04-30-2020, 12:20 PM

Thanks guys! I love the feedback, I welcome it. It's a great opportunity to learn from each other. I have always been of the mindset to be open to ideas. One person can't have all the answers. I can stare at this car for hours and still don't have the best ideas that's for sure. I love sharing the ideas I do come up with and I hope people pick it up and run with it and make it even better. I know there is room for improvement but for my first go at this I am happy with it so far and grateful for the input and help. I am sure anyone who decides to do this look can improve upon what I came up with, I might even do the same as time goes on cause hey, they are fully removable. I say take it and run with it and thank you guys so much for looking out for me.

P100DHG

05-03-2020, 11:03 PM

Electrical Update:
Electrical has been my main focus. I have everything ready to go for first start. Just need oil, coolant, gas and headers. My friend told me I can fire it with the headers I have but I am apprehensive about starting the car without an O2 bung and sensor installed... Better do it the right way. The electrical is all concealed you can't see any wires on the car. A massive pain in the rear end to go this approach as I have to lengthen the front harness and shorten the rear. I'll do a write up on it once I tidy up the dash wiring. I need to get the final upper firewall piece installed but I ran out of lizard skin which arrived today so expect the writeup end of next week or beginning of the following.

Floor mats:
I had time today to work on my floor mats that came back from powder coat with the last batch. I had some contact cement that the upholstery guy gave me from when I made my kick panels. I have the leather here that I bought last year so I was ready to go. Just to recap I made the floor mats out of steel (for extra strength), I made a template and I punched the holes out with a 1.5" punch and flare tool.

It's a 2 part process that took me about 5 hours. It's tedious to say the least. Results well worth it. I used the Danchuk 812 Floor Panel Plugs to achieved the domed look and pressed the leather over the dome. Here is how I did it. In part 1, I cut out squares of leather roughly 3.5" x 3.5". I applied contact cement to the leather patch and contact cement to the rubber dome and let them dry. I centered the leather over the dome and just touched the leather to the top of the dome. I then centered a scrap piece of metal with a flared hole over the center of the dome and pressed down stretching the leather over the dome and getting a nice tight clean domed piece of leather. I repeated this 40 times. :eek: The rubber dome stays with the leather so that's 40 domes at $5 each. :(

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The leather adheres to the dome pretty well but the at the bottom it tends to lose adhesion because of the sharp change of angle. I remedied this in a later step. So as I made by domes I set them under the panel so they would keep their form and the leather relaxed into its new shape while I made more domes.

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In part 2, I glued the leather to the bottom of the panel. This is really time intensive and you have to make sure not to get adhesive on the parts you will see. Same technique, apply glue to the leather, then applied to the panel wait to dry and massage the leather to the panel to make it stick. This connection is very strong.

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But I had to address the issue mentioned above with the delimitation on the sharp change of direction. It didn't happen on all the pieces but on some. It occurred where the arrow is indicating.

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I needed a glue that was very forgiving, something what dried flexible and something that wouldn't damage the end result. So I used a very sophisticated product to get really really good adhesion. In the BBQ world people don't share their recipes as they are closely guarded, a tradition I don't subscribe to, so like my BBQ I'll let you in on my secrets. I used gluten calidum. :confused: Confused? Oh I bet you are! It's Latin for hot glue :p. LOL I've gotta tell you it's so strong you can pick the panel up by holding just one of the plugs from the bottom side (it's weak point). It's remarkable how simple it was to solve. For good measure I put a ring of hot glue around each one.

The finished product is awesome

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If you're wondering, Why are his seats next to his bed? No, I don't sleep next to my seats I am keeping them in a guest room so they don't get damaged. LOL

Anyway, the rubber on the bottom side of the domes will touch the floor pans so they won't slide around.

Extra Credit:
I had some scraps and some grommets from an old project lying around so I made a keychain.... like a 5 minute experiment.

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When I close my eyes I can see things coming together, the wood steering wheel, shift knob, matching headlight and AC knobs, the leather seats and exposed silver metal, brown Smiths gauges, polished screws. I have to be patient. There is still so much work to do but as it comes together it's very exciting.

P100DHG

05-09-2020, 04:49 PM

https://youtu.be/tKuOUQbhSMU

David Williamson

05-09-2020, 05:30 PM

wow and no pipes too. Exciting step when it comes alive
David W

P100DHG

05-10-2020, 03:11 PM

Very Exciting! Thankfully each attempt to start resulted in success, probably because I checked everything obsessively before trying but you can see how surprised I was that it worked the first shot. Though I much prefer the video I posted first above (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=410882&viewfull=1#post410882), this is the uncut footage. I have to say for someone who has no experience building a car it was a good feeling to get it right. Gotta give many thanks to the community of people who gave their time to guide me to this point.

Here is the uncut footage.

First Attempt/Start - Unedited

Angle 1:
https://youtu.be/ZuZ2UZFBFpM

Angle 2:
https://youtu.be/D_vx105aNkE

Second Start, First Roll Out - Unedited

Angle 1:
https://youtu.be/MyOxtgNB-RU

Angle 2:
https://youtu.be/aVWffvDIm6M

In my first roll out and each subsequent roll out I only was releasing the clutch applying no gas. I was really surprised about how little play their was in the friction zone. It’s very precise. Also the engine has just a ridiculous amount of torque that it can roll forward like that up hill without giving it any gas and not stalling. Here is a picture of my driveway.

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Oh! I probably owe an explanation about how I started the car without the right headers or gauges. Roush told me there is absolutely no way they’d ship an engine that didn’t have oil pressure, they said the gauge wasn’t necessary. I figured if I cooked my engine I have a warranty and that they wouldn’t say it if they didn’t know it was okay. Their advice has been spot on to date so I trust them. I spoke to Gordon Levy about starting the car and some other people by safety wiring the O2 sensor end of the header. Everyone said it would run rich but that it will run and the video proved that to be the case. What brought me to this point was that I didn’t want to close up areas of the car with the Cockpit panels that would require me to use a lift to get to later if something was wrong. Now that I know things are good I can move forward with putting the cockpit panels in.

Full electrical system update post to come

UpNorth

05-12-2020, 01:25 PM

This is sooo cool!
Congrats!

Grkmf3

05-14-2020, 03:33 PM

sounds bad ***. hope your keeping it that loud when done

P100DHG

05-16-2020, 01:18 AM

sounds bad ***. hope your keeping it that loud when done

It's ear-bleeding loud. I was wearing ear plugs for those videos. It was tolerable with ear plugs. I took one of my earplugs out in the first start video and had to shove it back in immediately. My iPhone speaker isn't loud enough to replicate the sound, nor the feeling of how intense it is. That said I have considered leaving it ear-bleeding loud because really how often am I going to drive the car and it's just added effect, a real attention getter, for better or worse. Hopefully by end of summer I’ll have the exhaust sorted out in someway.

P100DHG

05-21-2020, 10:15 PM

I’m still trying to compose a full electrical update. Mainly because I am not satisfied with how my behind dash wiring looks. My efforts to keep everything neat and tidy under the hood had upstream consequences. Meaning, I am struggling to keep everything beautiful behind the dash. Mind you it's all hidden, I have managed to keep it organized but it's not the magnificent specimen I wanted. So I am going to keep arranging and rearranging in the hope of getting a good looking product. Where I did succeeded is under the hood and the rest of the car. The wiring is invisible. Also, everything is working very reliably. A few newbie things to note.

Newbie Mistake #1:
In my first start video and subsequent roll out video, my radiator cap wasn't fully tighten down, it was on the bleed setting. I have since figured out how it works and have the system fully bled of air and everything running at pressure. The cap wasn't tightened down all the way but now it is. Seems stupid but hopefully this will make someone feel better about themselves knowing I had now idea how a radiator cap works... The simple things seem to be killing me. But, by the time I'm done with the build I'll be well seasoned, but for now I'm still learning.

Newbie Mistake #2:
I got a little stumped by that heater valve from Vintage Air that I bought to replace the FFR supplied valve and I gave myself a laugh because the solution was so obvious. My issue was, when my switch was off, the Vintage Air valve was open and when the switch was on, the valve was closed. Doing exactly the opposite of what I wanted. I tried trouble shooting it for an hour and couldn't figure it out. The lesson from this is sometimes it’s best to step away. I left the garage and gave up and the next morning at the breakfast table the solution came to me. You see, the heater valve is normally open allowing coolant to flow through. So when the switch is off the heater is actually on because the valve is open. So the solution was to use the normally closed 87a terminal on the relay to hold the valve shut unless the switch was turned on, then the valve is allowed to open, allowing coolant to flow. So now I have 1 toggle switch to operate my AC & Heater. AC - OFF - Heat. Here is how it’s wired.

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Do you like my Doodle?

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Anyway if this helps someone that's using this valve then great. I doubt most guys would. In fact the real takeaway should be that I am fairly sure you can fit the FFR supplied valve behind the firewall but when I was doing this I missed my opportunity because I didn’t have the foresight to offset my holes in the footbox. I talked about that here (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=391933&viewfull=1#post391933). The unintended consequence is that I have one less switch or knob on my dash which is great. Cause if you know me well, which you don't - LOL - you'd know that I like a 1 touch operation for everything. Meaning I don't need 10 switches to turn on my kitchen lights, 1 switch to turn them all on is what I like. That’s why I love my Tesla so much. Foot on the brake pedal, car turns itself on, put it in drive and I don’t have to worry about anything else.

Newbie Advice:
Don't use heat shrink hose clamps on the corrugated hose. I caught what could have been a big issue. After getting my radiator cap locked down I noticed something. As pressure built in the system I could see the corrugated hose slipping out of the rubber coupling. I shut down the engine and changed it out for a nice chrome fitting with 2 band clamps. Could have been a mess. Thankfully disaster averted.

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P100DHG

06-05-2020, 11:07 AM

I’ve entered a stand still...

Electrical standstill:
Without gauges and senders I can’t complete electrical, without the speedometer cable I can’t close up the interior panels because I won’t be able to access that area of the transmission tunnel without a lift to install the speedometer cable. (I'm going analog for the look, I'll use those GPS gauges on another project or sell them).

Alignment Standstill:
I am not capable of aligning the car. I won't even pretend I know what I am doing so I am going to have it professionally done. I have to rent a trailer or more likely have it towed, so first drive isn't happening till the car is aligned. Also my wheels and tires were balanced until the weights fell off... annoying! So that has to get redone.

Exhaust Standstill:
I also can’t do first drive because I will piss off the entire neighborhood running with open headers and without a collector and O2 bung it won't run right. I mocked up my side pipes and they are just all types of screwed up. From dents, to bent tips, to poor alignment. The headers on the driver side appear too long and the passenger side looks slightly too short. I don't know whether to send the car out to a high end exhaust shop or look for aftermarket resources like Gas-N...

Mental Standstill:
I tried to start on the dash but I foresee it just kicking my *** so I’m going to hold off till I have my gauges. Probably the most significant standstill because I am feeling a little burnt out so I am thinking about just waiting for parts instead of start something else I can't complete.

So I just have to wait till I get the senders and speedometer cable and then I can close up the interior. There are a few other things to do but it's kind of a pain to start something and stop and start something and stop so I am just taking a break till I can get my parts.

I realize I might sound like I am complaining, but what I'm doing is trying to document where I'm at so people know these build ebb and flow. They pick up steam and slow down and you've just got to roll with the punches.

A Real Update:

If your looking for some good info I updated my engine configuration thread with some additional and significant findings here (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?30642-Will-it-fit-351-Performer-RPM-Intake&p=414278&viewfull=1#post414278). Also David Williamson made some
really important contributions, so thank you David!

OccamsRazor

06-07-2020, 11:39 PM

I just spent most of the weekend going through your build thread and can only say that it looks amazing!

I did notice a few things that from previous experience, (in another life I was an Airframe & Powerplant Mechanic), that gave me a reason to post.

...

For the upper tube I went with a variation of corrugated tube and cool tube. Starting from the radiator I used Boig's coyote tube. The tube is a straight shot and stops just on the other side of the radiator tunnel allowing me to pick up from there with corrugated tubing. I made a filler piece between the radiator tunnel and engine bay to give a nice clean look. ...

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That looks very nicely done but how much clearance do you have from the edge of the flange of your filler piece and the Cool Tube? The reason I ask is that the Cool Tube is not flexible and with the rubber joint at the front and the corrugated hose at the rear it is going to vibrate, (maybe not much but it will vibrate), against that filler piece and gouge the plate and/or scrape the tube. A bulkhead fitting, more clearance around the tube, (which would still need to be supported, probably at the rear, in some way), or more clearance and a grommet to space and support the tube would probably be desirable.

...

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In this picture you have at least 4, (and probably more than 5), points of contact of stainless steel hose against either other stainless steel hoses, some nicely polished article, (I think that is the power steering reservoir?), and even the pressure line of the power steering rack. Stainless steel hoses look awesome and are extremely tough but when they rub or vibrate against each other they act like a hacksaw and cut through each other quite easily. In that same vein a stainless steel hose scraping against anything else is like taking a fine tooth file to the item that it contacts and will, eventually, damage the item by cutting through it. I saw that on the top side rear of the engine you used spacers to separate the hoses and guide them away from other items. I would suggest you do something similar for these hoses if you cannot route them so they do not touch, (which looks doubtful as they seem to all be coming down right behind the 90 degree radiator hose coupling).

Just my observations...

Completely envious of your incredible project. :cool:

P100DHG

06-08-2020, 11:05 PM

I have to say having never done this before there is going to be plenty of room for improvement. I try to think 10 steps ahead but inevitably I’ll get 9 steps further without issue and that 10th step will be the one where I have to go back and adjust something. I just assume this car will be something I continuously improve. Speaking of room for improvement check out my side pipes that are going to have to be cut into a million pieces to get to look right.

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I think the best way to get these to fit is to send it out to a professional. They might be scrap metal. I am waiting for a date and then I’ll flatbed it there. I also think I want to go glass packs. Still waiting on parts so I can close up the interior. Going to send a batch out to powder coating this week and have something redone. I scratched a panel I intended to stay exposed. Sucks but mistakes happen... and it’s not installed so no big deal.

Thanks for the encouragement and compliments. I hope it helps with others' builds.

David Williamson

06-09-2020, 07:41 AM

First they are far better than mine were but still not OK. I would get the hood on and and fitted with the lower inner fenders, this can move the pontoons. If the fit is still way off contact FFR.
David W

P100DHG

06-13-2020, 05:23 PM

So I took a break from the car and then everything started to come together. Here's what's going on. (Also the pictures are all out of sequence so just to give a full picture of what the car looks like today reference the first picture of "interior panels".)

Electrical & Gauge Senders:
I got my oil pressure sender, my water temp sender and my custom speedometer cable from Nisonger Instruments (http://www.nisonger.com) this week. Quality of the speedometer cable is fantastic. I am using a 21 tooth gear which should yield the correct reading. I had originally ordered the GPS gauge set from Factory Five but as my build was progressing I decided to shelve them and order custom gauges. I felt like analog was more appropriate for this car even though more modern gauges would have been easier. If I do a roadster in the future (which is likely) I'll use the extra gauges I have. I'm still not statified with my behind dash wiring but what I am realizing is that I don't need a lot of the supplied wires since I am not using the FFR gauges or the sending harness so I am going to thin things out. Here is how it looks now. It's not terrible but it's no masterpiece either, it will improve as I narrow down what I don't need. I kept the wires low because I wasn't sure how deep my gauges will be and I didn't want interference. I am not going with the Factory Five layout. I am going to try to keep it more traditional to the original Daytona. You can see the speedometer cable exits center of the transmission tunnel so you can tell where that's going, center of the dash.

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Interior Panels:
Since I got the speedometer cable in, that allowed me to close up the floor pans and interior panels. They are looking good! I placed the seat in and tested the sliders. You'll notice I had to use a piece of 1.5" x 0.75" rectangle tube to boost the seat up to clear the floor mats I made. The seat headrest still clears the roll bar just fine and gives a better line of sight out the front window centering my eyes better on the windshield. So it was an accidental bonus.

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I lizard skinned the underside of my panels so I have nice metal on the inside. Also in areas where I have leather I can add dynamat for super soundproofing.

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This is the order I put the panels in with the transmission tunnel last. I used tape as labels so I could move the order around until I found the best way to install the panels.

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Also to give perspective the top of the transmission tunnel will be bare metal. It will run up into the dash which will be bare metal. The top of the dash will get a leather dash pad, the sides of the transmission tunnel, foot boxes and below the door will get leather. the floor will remain bare metal as will the back. Door cards I am unsure about. The trunk gets a trunk mat but the walls remain bare metal. By bare metal I mean powder coated just not upholstered. Need's to feel like a race car. So bare metal accents will help with that. OH! and the roll bars fully leather wrapped. Ferrari style. WAIT did he say Ferrari... BLASPHEME! You say that until you've sat in one and then it's like oh yeah!

Exhaust:
I got a call from Morse Muffler the exhaust shop that is doing my headers and side pipes. I am on the books for Wednesday morning so the the flatbed is coming at 7am to pick up my car. I am not sure how many days it will take but I heard his work is very good and he is quick. While the car is out of the garage I am going to send it for alignment and then if everything looks well... I get to go on a go kart ride! I have to say I am apprehensive about this next stage. I live in the hills above the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California and if you are familiar with the area it's amazing driving, views and road biking (cycling) up here but isn't going to be forgiving. That might mean I am go karting in my old neighborhood in Burbank immediately after alignment and have it towed home. Not sure on this one but I am excited to get this car in a drivable state.

Dash:
I kind of started messing around with the dash before I threw my hands up and decided to hold off. My idea is make a panel that hides the AC system and hoses or a plenum or something. It would be nice to wrap it in leather with some foam padding so incase one's knees hit it, it's soft. Also I want to make a full panel to transition between the dash and the transmission tunnel. Lastly I want blend the dash into the roll bar and eliminate the traditional angled dash edges. But the dash is going to have to wait cause I tore it all apart for now.

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Side Note:
Total side note but I was watching the FFR video on the new supercar and I noticed they were using the Sparco QTR-R seats and I am frankly amazed that they fit considering how big they are. So there are improvements with that new chassis clearly.

jdavis500

06-15-2020, 09:43 AM

Great job on that wiring! I am shamed into reworking this part of my build!

P100DHG

06-17-2020, 09:54 PM

She’s off to get the exhaust completely redone. Full custom. Sad to give up control but happy it’s in the hands of someone who is well respected in the hot rod community. I told Tim the owner to take careful measurements so he can reproduce them if they turn out to be great (so incase you guys want to take advantage of my experiment). I mean 4 glass packs should reduce the sound quite a bit. I assume... lol.

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Gbeck

06-21-2020, 08:50 AM

I can't wait to get a look at this exhaust system. You're gonna LOVE go kart!

P100DHG

06-29-2020, 05:21 PM

Good update today. So I got a call from Tim Morse (the guy doing my exhaust) last week that my headers and side pipes were all types of wrong and that the glass packs we ordered from Jones are "complete ****" as he put it. He was frustrated to say the least. So we knew that the passenger side was too short and driver’s side was too long. That's about what I could comprehend on my own. Not a big deal because I needed to add collectors on them. Besides the issues with the headers, the side pipes are welded all catawampus. Which we kind of also knew. But additionally the angles of how the side pipes met the headers are wrong on the flange. This I didn't see. He wanted me to see it in person so I went down. But Tim's explanation and approach is what is so great and Factory Five's response.

I am going to explain as best I can in the timeline of how things evolved. Tim's approach was to start on the side pipes and get the glass packs on and laser straight with the body. He would then bring the header to the side pipes. Which is a great way to do it. I wouldn't have approached it from that angle but he's right because the most important thing is to see a great set of side pipes perfectly aligned with the rocker and evenly gapped. So he cut the center section/ quasi muffler out of the side pipes. He took out the Jones glass packs from the box he ordered and that's when he realized they were made like "complete ****." He said they were hollow and as he showed me they rattled like a tin can. He said they would sound awful. He called up Jones and told them we are sending them back. So he started to examine the flange position in relation to the body and header and that’s when he could really see it wasn't just an issue of length, it was an issue of angles too. He mocked up the relationship and the angles for me and they are out of skew. He told me to fix that, things were going to get more time consuming and expensive then I would like and advised me to call Factory Five and he could explain to them the issue.

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So Dave B. from Factory Five & I got on the phone and Dave said just send him the photos, no conference call needed. He said if they are showing what I am describing he'd send me out their new headers with collectors and ball joints built in. So I sent him the photos, a few minutes later I got an email “I just walked a set of headers out to shipping for you. ”IS THAT SERVICE OR WHAT!?! These guys are so awesome they are so supportive and even though their website says no warranty and that might be the case, they get the bigger picture. They want their cars to look and work as well as they claim. Made a life long customer out of me.

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As for the side pipes and the mufflers, we are going full custom mufflers on them, hand made. There won't be any variation in stock from the originals just sound a lot better hopefully. We are going to tis weld everything so the welds will be like art. As to how they will stack up to Paul's from Gas-N, well... when the build is done, maybe Paul will invite me out to Michigan for a burger and we can compare or better yet Paul can come to Los Angeles and we can cruise Huntington Beach! Burgers on me Paul, least I can do for all the advice you've given me.

Care to see what the inside of a stock FFR side pipe muffler looks like?

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So as of right now with the July 4th holiday upon us, we are waiting for parts, but I am optimistic in Tim's quality control and no compromises attitude to get a high end product. I also tracked down a ceramic coater an hour from my house (not an easy find apparently) so when we are done I'll send them out to get coated.

David Williamson

06-29-2020, 05:53 PM

looks far too familiar .... mine were the same. I did get them to fit with a spacer on one side and a stack of shims on the other but in the end i replaced the complete system because it was far too loud.
I now have the Boig quiet pipes, still need ear plugs but reasonable.
David W

P100DHG

07-16-2020, 09:50 PM

One thing you'll always hear from me is nothing is perfect and everything always has room for improvement. For what you get for the money I think Factory Five delivers a really nice product and they stand behind it and they try to improve it. But I do think there is room for improvement when it comes to the exhaust and that seems to be the consensus. This is their Snap On build, the pipes are angled downward the gaps are not even. Obviously this has nothing to do with Performance and the car looks incredible but it's the last 10% that often set something apart.

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As I mentioned Factory Five very graciously sent me new headers at no charge because the originals were quite a bit off. The new ones allow for better alignment and the quality seems really good. Also stainless headers... I can't complain. Unfortunately they still needed some modification to achieve near perfect alignment and spacing off the body. One noticeable issue was that the headers were too short on both the passenger and the drivers side and had to be lengthened. Tim was telling me that the side pipes were hitting the body. I had a VW bug as I mentioned in my preface and the exhaust got so hot under the fender it melted my paint. So the proximity to the body is important because if it touches it's going to be a nightmare forever. Also it will reverberate through the car. So far there is 2.5 days in fabrication. (I imagine the bill is going to be high) but it's all tacked up and ready for finish welding. They are not perfectly equal, one side has to be longer then the other to get the same gapping of the side pipes on both sides equally along the body.

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You can see that he cut the collector/flange and lengthen it. The pipes had to be straightened too as the were a little twisted also. But the finished product looks really sharp. I want to take all the credit but I can't cause none of this is my work.

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The real question is with the internal changes how will it sound.... Tim is guessing a 20db reduction which would be substantial. Loud enough to piss off the neighbors but not loud enough to give me a headache within the first minute. Just one other thing and we'll have to wait till everything is welded. I got to peak at Tim's welds today and they look like a robot did them they are so good. (the second picture of the header shows it). I've got to get my Tig welder going and just practice and practice because seeing his work is just really inspirational.

In other fantastic news Nisonger Instruments confirmed my gauges will be done in two weeks. I should have my car back in my garage by end of next week. Which would be fantastic. First order of business will be the AC system and then the dash. Dash is going to be tricky because even though I have a bunch of guys willing to let me use their large sheetmetal brakes, and want to help fab it out, that was before the apocalypse and as much as I'd love the help, with the way things are I might be building my own.

Good video on how do make a brake with minimal effort

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y84aURyssMQ

Industrial Metal Supply is going curb side pickup. It's actually really awesome you order over the phone. They text you when to come. You show your confirmation number to a person at a tent outside and they load the truck and you never get out of your truck. Super convenient.

edwardb

07-16-2020, 10:51 PM

Pipe alignment looks good. That was a big deal for me too and was happy to get it sorted out with the Gas-N pipes and headers on my build. One question -- not to be a downer -- but you're doing a lot of custom fitting and fabrication there it looks like before your body is fitted? That would concern me a little. I suspect you're going to find it takes some massaging to get the optimal location for the body taking into account the doors, the nose, etc. Hopefully it all works out.

P100DHG

07-16-2020, 11:26 PM

You know, I thought about discussing what you just mentioned and decided to omit it for the sake brevity so I am glad you brought this up. This is a fair point and something I considered and Tim and I talked about. One major hurdle was just getting the Factory Five pipes straight. That was a monumental task for him. The second was getting the custom mufflers built out. The third and easiest component is header length. The good news is with the new design on the headers we can adjust them easily. We can rotate them to bring the pipe tips up or down. If header length is an issue we just need to remove the ball and socket joint and shorten or lengthen them as needed. The main headers themselves never have to come off. It’s a really brilliant design FFR is using. Also we have adjustment in the hanger bracket on the pipes. In fact today we were talking about waiting to send anything to polishing and coating until after the body is fitted completely so we aren’t wasting money if we have to make an adjustment. So in short adjusting once more might be necessary but we are close and by we I mean Tim, LOL, so dialing it in will be easier than starting from where “we” were.

But as I’ve mentioned in past posts I often think 10 steps ahead, get to step 10 and realize it’s step 11 that does me in. LOL

My experience to this point, being completely green at this entire process has been eye opening and really educational. My skills will take me to fabricating the custom dash, but truthfully I don’t think they will take me beyond that. From the dash I think we are looking at some other details and then I turn it over to Jeff Miller to do the fitting and trimming. If this were my second or third build I’d dive a little deeper but with so much invested I’ve got to leave some stuff to the pros. Final suspension setup, and corner balancing has to be done by a race shop. Upholstery by a pro also. Glass another pro. The list of checks that have to be written to get this car over the line is going to be long. My hope is that each one of these guys will teach me a little along the way so I can take what I learn to the next build.

edwardb

07-17-2020, 06:08 AM

You know, I thought about discussing what you just mentioned and decided to omit it for the sake brevity so I am glad you brought this up. This is a fair point and something I considered and Tim and I talked about. One major hurdle was just getting the Factory Five pipes straight. That was a monumental task for him. The second was getting the custom mufflers built out. The third and easiest component is header length. The good news is with the new design on the headers we can adjust them easily. We can rotate them to bring the pipe tips up or down. If header length is an issue we just need to remove the ball and socket joint and shorten or lengthen them as needed. The main headers themselves never have to come off. It’s a really brilliant design FFR is using. Also we have adjustment in the hanger bracket on the pipes. In fact today we were talking about waiting to send anything to polishing and coating until after the body is fitted completely so we aren’t wasting money if we have to make an adjustment. So in short adjusting once more might be necessary but we are close and by we I mean Tim, LOL, so dialing it in will be easier than starting from where “we” were.

Good point about the ball and socket. Haven't done a build with those, so not something I remembered to consider. I personally would probably wait on final polish and coat. But with a custom fabricator on hand you have a better chance at this than I did. I've mentioned in several posts so maybe you've seen it. Really build up the insulation on the chassis along the bottom of the doors where the pipes are. There's plenty of room between the outside of the chassis and the body to have a bunch of insulation and should help cut down the noise and maybe some of the vibration of the exhaust against the interior panels. There are some pretty interesting products on the market that in hindsight I wished I had used. The only regret I have from my build.

P100DHG

07-21-2020, 03:51 PM

See what I did there with the title. Well actually there is a story to it and I'll keep it short. I went to uHaul to get a trailer and the experience was concerning to say the least. So much so I never got out of my truck and I ended up driving away. The safety measures just aren't up to my standards given where Los Angeles County is right now with the pandemic. So rather than going to the alignment shop I called AAA and had the car flatbedded home. I did get to drive the car in Morse Muffler's parking lot and man was it cool to maneuver it around. The clutch has a great feel to it. I like the power steering and the car went where I told it to go and stopped promptly. I even drove it up onto the flatbed without the seats installed so that gives you an idea of the control on the clutch using a standard clutch cable. Low tech and really effective.

So anyway the car is home. The exhaust is done. The side pipes need to go out for polishing to get all the imperfections out, get the welds all cleaned up then they need to get coated but I'll do all that while the car is in paint and upholstery. The whole thing set me back $1200 and frankly, I think I got a deal. I got some fab work that was well beyond my abilities and I got some great install help. I also got side pipes that have mufflers in them. That last part might be the least significant because frankly it had the least amount of impact. It's quieter than straight headers but it's still loud (loud for me a guy who drives an electric car :)). It's probably 20db quieter as Tim promised. The tone is incredible it has a deep rumble but volume wise not a significant enough difference for me to rave about it as "the" solution to our problems. To give you an idea of how loud it is I would compare it to a Harley Davidson. It's bearable at idol but still loud. But when you rev it, it's just obscene, it growls. I mean hey lots of people like that. Harley Davidson guys swear by it. They must because they are always jamming on that throttle. There is no sneaking out of the house in the Daytona that’s for sure. There is nothing like the rumble of a V8. The 427 in particular has a ridiculous rumble.

It's going to get the right type of attention thats for sure.

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https://youtu.be/g_tg5etWFGA

Side note. I am definitely taking Paul's advice and insulating the cavity between the body and the frame next to the sidepipes heavily

PS if you are wondering what all the blue tape is on the body of the car. That's my son's art project.

JohnMac

07-22-2020, 06:50 PM

P100DHG

07-24-2020, 12:56 AM

Just starting on assembling the coupe. Having just finished installing the diff, moved on to the upper and lower control arms. Yes, the flanges are a bit narrower but they were eased apart with a piece of pipe- took about 30 secs. each. Because the kit came from a gentleman who had passed away, not sure we’ve got the latest assy. Manual. Some shots I’ve seen on the forum appear to be cad created. All the instructions in our book are photos and not very clear.

Just for others to reference I think you’re referring to post #39 (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=359744&viewfull=1#post359744). You’re right those flanges are tight. Factory Five probably should have mentioned a solution to a common issue. Also I’ll add a separate but equally common issue of the front spindles and the hubs misfitting and solved by lightly sanding the front spindles with emory paper so the hubs go on easily. I think of the manual as a guide and this forum fills in the blanks. Once you get past a certain point in this build (just about when you install the engine) you’ll find the step by step directions more vague. It does pick back up again in the step by step fashion after this though. When it came to wiring the car I am just using the schematic and ditched the step by step directions. The manual I am using is revision 4f. I think Factory Five has some improvement to do on the manual but what they lack in the manual they make up for 10 fold on support. I wouldn’t hesitate to call them. With the change in circumstances surrounding the pandemic, when I run into an issue Or need advice, like I did with the exhaust, I’ll email them and within a couples hours my phone is ringing and it’s Dave from FFR to the rescue. Keep it up keep and stay resourceful.

P100DHG

07-29-2020, 10:55 PM

So I am on my way to designing my dash. One would think after 2 years I'd have made a decision, and about 6 months ago I had. My idea was to follow the original Daytona gauge layout I posted in my 1 year anniversary post. I was going to do a traditional Daytona dash, no frills and similar gauge placement to the original. Custom real analog Smith's gauges with brown dials to match the seats would be what set it apart. A few well placed polished screws to hold the dash on would tie in the look to the engine panels. The rivets on the car inspired me to think of airplanes. Traditional automobile style air vents wouldn't do, I needed something more unique. So I acquired 5 Wemac AC vents from a Cessna. Then polish the eyeball and powder coat the housing.

They were incredibly difficult thing to find and it took 6 months to get them at a reasonable price of $20 each. Most suppliers want $120 each. Because of how they can be positioned my idea was to hide 4 of them in areas of the car so they would be easily positionable but out of sight.

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The other element is rather than extending a small panel down to the transmission tunnel my idea was to make a secondary panel to mimic the transmission tunnel and bring the transmission tunnel to the dash. Taking inspiration from the original trapezoidal switch panel of the original Daytona.

But then the tale of the second dash came about when Gbeck had to go and screw it up with his awesome dash and make me second guess myself. Hey, he inspired me and really it looks super awesome. The GT40 was a super cool car and the dash is one of the best ever designed. I am torn on this one because one day I want a proper GT40 or 2006 Ford GT and I may get that look I love so much or I may never be able to rationalize spending that type of money on a car ever so this might be my opportunity to introduce some of the flavor of the GT40 into my car.

So one can only decide by making two models. One of the Daytona dash and one that’s inspired by the GT40.

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As the ideas developed my thoughts about the AC aircraft vents changed and were edited out. Conventional vents were still out but I don’t think those Cessna vents are right for the car either. So I redesigned the AC vents which is one theme that both dash designs share. See them? No? That’s because I decided to make an Airbar (that’s the name I’m giving it, and I am happy to license that name to Apple when they come knocking asking to use it). The opening between the dash pad and dash face is 3/4" and extends the entire length of the dash, distributing air evenly across the whole dash. Also the eyebrow continues all the way across the dash to compliment the continuity of the Airbar.

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After giving both models a lot of consideration I decided to go with the more traditional Daytona style dash. I feel like if I take it too far out of the box with custom gauges, an atypical interior design, the GT40 or Gbeck style dash :) will just be too much for my build. So I am editing down ideas.

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I got working on the dash pad and Airbar. I had the metal supply cut 3 times the amount of material I need because I am anticipating mistakes but my first attempt or Version 1.0 might be a keeper. Here is what it looks like right now. The Airbar will get narrowed and further concealed when the leather on the dash pad is wrapped over the eyebrow top and onto the underside of the dash pad. Also the dash face will get a bend in it that goes into the the Airbar making it have a nicer edge (hard to explain but as I progress I’ll capture it in pictures.) Also with this design having the dash pad and dash face separate is I can always alter my dash face design mid stream.

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I should be able to test the concept this weekend and see if my idea works. I suspect it will though. Other details to note is that the dash pad wraps around the roll bars eliminating the gaps in the corners. Everything is made from 16ga cold rolled steel. It’s probably overkill but it’s easy to weld, rigid and easy to work with. Another thing to note is that the 3/4” bar intended to hold the Stock dash needs to get cut out of the car and this dash will get secured in place (somehow). Also my fuse panel is now in the way of the Airbar and will need some minor adjusting.

I still need to do a video on the exhaust and an electrical writeup (I am reserving it till the dash is done) stay tuned.

Straversi

07-30-2020, 08:56 AM

Well, there you go charging ahead without giving it any thought. Just kidding. When it’s done, no one will know the time and effort that went into agonizing over every detail. Keep it up.
-Steve

P100DHG

08-01-2020, 11:30 PM

So after completing version 1.0 I tested it and it delivers even airflow.*

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But even airflow isn’t really what I thought it would be. I was thinking of a strong laminar stream of air. It’s laminar but just not enough CFMs to be strong. Really directed airflow is better in my opinion and so Version 1.5. I tried installing a dividing bar that would direct the air and it worked fairly well. But in the process of welding it in, I put too much heat into the metal and it warped like a potato chip. I worked for 2.5 hours trying to straighten it by heating and cooling areas of the metal and I got it 95% but I realized if I had it powder coated, it would have warped badly in the oven. The metal was just too far gone.

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So on to Version 2.0. Instead of building it from the perimeter in, I worked inside out out toward the edges and used less heat welding. The result is a nice flat product. Rather than trapping expansion I allowed it to travel to areas I would later cutoff. It did take some tweaking but it’s 100%. I also tried to address the issue of getting a more directed airflow and less center support. The result is better. I tried a different angle than version 1.5 (opposite in fact, which gave me more center support) but sacrificed some of Version 1.5’s directed airflow. Now this is where I can obsess about it or leave and let be. Version 2.0 is 95% of what I had hoped it would be.

My obsessing is leading me to build Version 3.0 with bent or curved center support which might give me better or more directed airflow. Or this path is leading me to want to 3D print inserts to direct the airflow exactly where I need it. I can make, tweak and remake them with the click of a mouse rather than metal. Version 2.0 lends itself much better to this new idea because of how the directional center support pieces are placed. Laser cutting something might also be cool but far more expensive. As far as the software I need it idiot proof because CAD is something I don’t know how to do. I also could try for Version 3.0, build an advanced air directing system in but there are pitfalls with this (more welding, more heat, more chances of things warping). Also I used a welding technique on the bottom side I would replicate on the top side by drilling a hole and filling it to tack the center support/ air directors called Plug Welding (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SfE1LEgbsM) which would lend itself to invisible welds. But it’s a black hold in there and you can’t see my welds on the topside because I ground them down anyway but it’s just a point of improvement. Homebrew engineering and fabricating isn’t easy.

My sensible side says unless there is another bigger issue (like an installation issue I overlooked) Version 2.0 is here to stay and it looks awesome and is completely functional and if I want to keep tinkering with it later I can get a 3D printer down the road. Or someone along the way will want to get involved and help me out. Also my sensible side says. Try it with the system charged with freon instead of just with the fan cause it could be perfect.

So I’m going to go with my sensible side and save my energy cause if for some reason there is an installation issue I still have enough material to do Version 3.0. Version 2.0 is 100% of the look and 95% of the airflow I imagined. But overall I’m very pleased with the finished result.

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Now to install it I have to take the body off... Hope it fits perfectly, build the dash face, then powder coat then reinstall for a final time. Argh.

*Disclaimer: the uneven hose length will cause one side to be favored over the other but we are just testing here, not final product and by shortening the hose you get even airflow.

David Ferguson

08-03-2020, 04:29 PM

P100DHG

08-05-2020, 06:53 PM

It is so difficult to keep a largish flat piece of thin sheetmetal looking good. (especially when you view it from the side). Consider covering the dash top with a felt, or other carpet-type fabric -- it will keep the reflections down in the windshield (if you use a dark color), and can hide any slight imperfections in the sheetmetal.

So true. Cause I don't do it everyday I forgot how difficult it can be. I learned it well when I built my smoker. If anyone is into BBQ I am a huge fan of gravity fed smokers and when I built mine I had to do a lot of heat management when welding. I built mine for $1300 because buying them can be between $5-7K. That was 2015 so I was a little rusty when I took a stab at Version 1.0 but 2.0 turned out beautifully. Update coming soon on dash.

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P100DHG

08-10-2020, 01:01 PM

Work has progressed well. My upper dash is done. Airflow is sufficient and actually once installed and located correctly doesn't need any modification I did however press ahead and I played around with Microsoft's 3D modeler a free tool. I combined an already produced design with my own to get this insert. I did research in to 3D printers and it just doesn't sing to me as something I want to spend my time on right now and since it doesn't require modification I can move on.

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I made a custom dash support with a section cutout for my gauges. Not only does this provide the correct position for the Airbar but also it allows the dash face to be secured from the front. I can do a hidden mount from the rear but I think a couple very well placed polished screws will add to the aesthetic. Verdict on this is still out.

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But what I can say is I have my dash shape worked out. And I have the center panel done.

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I am hesitant to start on the dash face until I have my gauges which I am hoping to have in the next week, but while I was on sheet metal and there was metal shards all over my garage floor floor, I decided to fabricate the brackets for the A pillar wind deflectors. Russ Thompson sent me the templates and the plexiglass. He doesn't have the original brackets anymore but he made his out of stainless. I did mine out of aluminum. They will get body worked and painted.

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Update on the reverse light I ordered from ebay, they arrived and I tested them, they do light up white. The have two wires like a standard tail light. One wire delivers insanely bright light and one delivers just bright light. But they don't look right on the car.

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Plan B was to insert them into United Pacifics FTL3701C-R light which matches the tail lights on the car but have a clear lens but red light. I couldn't find them anywhere, I spoke to United Pacific this morning to see if in fact they ever produced part # FTL3701C-R Red LED/Clear Lens, but they never produced it, in fact they don't even have the part number in their system despite being on the back of the packaging that came with the FFR kit. A mystery. So I am going with the Watsons Streetworks L96WCL White LED backup lights. Same one's used on Paul's build. I think back up lights are just a fundamental safety item on a car like this so I am going for it. I think if it where the roadster I'd do without them but I doubt the visibility on this car is that great so better people know which direction I am going.

So while I wait for my gauges I am going to finish up the front end wiring for the headlights and when the gauges come in I'll fab the dash and finish the interior wiring. Then as promised I'll do my full electrical post.

The list is getting shorter till I am ready for body work, paint and interior, so here is what's left.

Front End wiring
Dash fabrication
Dash wiring
Aluminum sheet metal in trunk area and couple other stops (just needs to be installed , Jeff wants it installed before I bring the car to him)
Powdercoat the dash and a few other items

Jeff Miller my painter is going to do all the trimming and fitting. Once that's done (10 days or so), he keeps the body for paint for 12 weeks, that's when I'll have the car aligned, install my seats and get the first go kart going and get any details sorted. Then off to upholstery. Then back to Jeff and I'll be cruising toward completion. I don't have an anticipated completion date but my hope is to be at Huntington Beach next year taking first place.

P100DHG

08-13-2020, 09:43 PM

So unfortunately I'm away from the build temporarily as I self-isolate. I mentioned in post #141 that the street I live on is a favorite of cyclists. We likely get more road bikes then we do cars. Well, on Tuesday, I was driving up the hill to my house and a cyclist coming down the hill hit a bump and fell, slid across the lane and into mine (on coming traffic). I was able to come to a complete stop and he stopped sliding about 50 feet from the front of my truck but it was close. Too close for my comfort. The gentleman had horrible road rash and was banged up, but he was okay. He wasn't in any condition to ride home but not so bad he needed an ambulance. He lives about 30 miles from my house and he looked like he was over 70 years old so my gut felt like he was low risk for covid so I drove him home. As a precaution I am self isolating at my parent's home while they are out of town so my wife and son can continue to go see her parents. I should have self isolated in the garage, but I just thought of that as I type this :( LOL. But Monday I'll get a test, hopefully get cleared and get back to it.

Monday I finished the front end electrical, so my list is now shorter. I only had to extend the drivers side about 8-10" and the passenger side lined up perfectly. I terminated my ends just before the end of the frame tube with Deutsch DT 6-pin Pigtail Kit 14AWG (https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FTDS23L/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1).

I used 6 Pin terminals so I could get:
1. High Beam
2. Low Beam
3. Running/Parking Light
4. Turn Signal
5. Ground/Negative
6. Fog light

Looks clean. Everything just looks perfect to me. Tight to the frame and gets lost in the bigger picture. I'll pick it up on the other side and make a harness for each side of the hood so everything is clean and serviceable.

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I also received my reverse lights from Watson Street Works they look great, I give them my seal of approval. (Rings might need some polishing but that's a snap). So I have to install those, adds an item on the things to do but shouldn't take long.

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So after 7+ months of waiting I got my gauges! and they are wrong... :( They are suppose to be brown with the exception of a blue clock... His artist screwed up (sounds like he is an independent contractor and works off site) and did it reversed, also botched the color, the blue is wildly inconsistent. The brown is the correct color. The blue color on the Volts and Fuel is the correct color blue but the rest isn't. Doesn't matter because they all have to get redone, the color scheme is reversed. People screw up, we are human, nobody's perfect and what's important is that Nisonger Instruments was no BS about it. Pete didn't make any excuses, he said send them back and he's going to redo them. 2.5 week turn around. Not bad! The quality of the gauges, the bezel I picked, the whole thing is just high quality looking and feeling. I'm very happy with the decision.

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Another item is the wipers which I really don't want. So I am vacillating on that. They might be required to get dmv certification I'm not sure... If some knows in CA that would be helpful. The wipers on my VW bug were a joke. Rain-X seems like a better solution. Are the wipers effective or do they just smear the water around?

P100DHG

08-23-2020, 07:13 PM

In self isolation I have succumb to impulses

Gadget 1:
Just a fun note. I think you can see if you watch my embedded videos, I like a little dramatic music, some shots that stir some emotion even. But this is going to go from awesome to Epic! Now I've thrown those videos together in under 30 minutes in a rush to get them up because I was so excited to share but with a little more time and care we can take them to the next level. I mean it's awesome to see milestones but come on action movie style is better. AND there is no better way to get those action movie style shots than from the air. I've never owned a drone because flying around spying on my neighbors doesn't really appeal to me but capturing the moment at full speed, well one in particular does that the best and I can say it's ready just in time for my go kart this fall. I'm pretty confident that this will give that video some dramatic shots so I ordered the Skydio 2. It doesn't ship till October, which will be perfect because I am going to need the next couple months to get ready for that moment but I wanted to share with you guys what's coming. It's fully autonomous and from the torture tests people put this through it's capable of well more than what I want out of it.

Substitute Electric Skateboarder for Daytona
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzzKy_ZpIsQ&t=1s

Not Fast Enough? Substitute Mountain bike at 36mph for Daytona
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqi-yiqYZpQ&t=9s

Can you imagine what the graduation video will look like?!

Gadget 2:
The second gadget which I wasn't going to bother with but had more than enough time on my hands to learn is CAD and 3D printing. What pushed me over the edge wasn't the Daytona but was a present for my son. Though Christmas is a long way away he's been wanting a toy garbage truck that matches the one that drives down our street. A "chain truck" as he calls it. Tonka made one ages ago but no longer makes it and all I could find is broken ones with missing parts. Fixing them is easy replacing missing parts well that's why I decided to use all that time in self-isolation to learn about 3D printing and I pulled the trigger. I was able to successfully print some parts we designed on Tinkercad for another toy he has and I learned the software so now I can pull in that design I made for the are vent and print it out if I want. The "resolution" is very good and for $200 it seems to be a worthy tools in the arsenal. Tinkercad though it's likely made for education 7-12 grade it's perfect for designing parts and frankly I am not sure I would need anything more advanced.

Just a quick rundown on 3D printing. Tinkercad is idiot proof. If you can build with shapes you can build in Tinkercad, it took me 2 hours to learn. Then learning how to convert that file to something the printer can understand takes a bit longer and then I bought the 3D printer which I think is the best out of the box solution for an affordable price and if I can just guide you get the TronXY XY-2 Pro. I did a ton of research, wrote a list of features I wanted and it matched everything I wanted. It’s a very boring subject if you ask me but the results of that research is awesome to watch when you click print.

Most importantly, I am back at home, and all clear thankfully (I wasn't really too concerned given the guys age) I got back on the car. Finished the rear lights and made what is the beginnings of my dash face.

Dash Face:
Call it a blank slate. I decided to do a concealed mounting system that way if I want fasteners showing it can be for aesthetics instead of function or both. When I get my gauges I’ll lay it out and cut it out.

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Tail lights & Turn Signals:
Rear lighting package is complete. Everything works great. Just dash electrical then headlight/fog light harnesses and electrical is done.

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What’s left before sending it out to body shop

Hood Wire Harnesses
Second Half of Dash Fabrication
Dash wiring
Aluminum sheet metal in trunk area and couple other stops (just needs to be installed , Jeff wants it installed before I bring the car to him)
Powder coat misc parts

It all comes down to when I get my gauges at this point because I feel like I’m getting into the home stretch for what I consider the rough build.

P100DHG

09-07-2020, 12:44 AM

Still waiting on my gauges...

Our roof leaked in several places last winter. Thankfully it was minor but it is well beyond repair so we are putting a new roof on before this fall. The roofers have been working 12 hour days for 2 weeks and they have another 2 more weeks to go so we’ve been leaving the house when they are here because of the current crisis. That means work on my car has been basically impossible.

I’ve got the center panel now flush with the dash. I’ve got my Dash layout set more or less. Maybe some minor tweaking. Better pictures to come, sorry about the quality.

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I’ve been screwing around with my 3D printer. I made a Daytona emblem though I don’t intend to use it.

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But for explanation purposes I can tell you that by converting a .Jpeg or .png to .svg using a free online converter you can import images in Tinkercad and create your own emblems. Super easy. 3D printers are cool but the quality is kind of janky but with some bondo and paint these could look great. But this made me think, what if I could cut my own emblems out of aluminum. I could sand them and then polish them.

Since I’ve gotten good at making models and printing them (which didn’t take very long) I figured I’d graduate to CNC milling and Laser engraving. I started with the laser. Since it’s a 2D image and thus 2 axis it’s easier to get a handle on and I’m working my way up to the CNC mill which is 3 axis. This model comes with both a laser and a router. I laser engraved my emblem into some wood.

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Then I figured out how to get the resolution and image reproduction accuracy way up. I started on some leather (very smelly) and it works awesome but my wife stopped me short, we had to leave the house and this isn’t something you want running while you’re gone.

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But the fact is that now that I understand how the machine works more or less with a laser in 2 axis I can try milling emblems out of aluminum. My goal is to make this FFR logo. Probably I’ll try to get it between 2-3mm thickness. I can feasibly make it between 300mm wide x 180mm tall. Way bigger than I would ever want it. Where I would put it on the car I have no idea and I probably won’t. It’s really just for learning purposes and fun. Im still feeling like the only branded product on the entire car is going to be the FFR key.

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But this would be awesome for making custom brackets or parts. Kind of late to the game on this one but hey better late than never. Maybe I’ll use these new skills on a roadster.

Sorry I don’t have more on the car. I think once I get my gauges and make holes in that dash and send stuff off to powder coat it’s going to progress leaps and bounds very quickly and there will be a lot more to share.

P100DHG

09-17-2020, 03:26 PM

Momentum is key in these builds and I have lost a ton of momentum. Call it a forced work stoppage.

The roof probably is going to take another 3 weeks I imagine. My entire front yard is a construction site filled with material. It’s a really big roof because our home is basically 1 story. The heat and fires are not helping here. We are very close the Bobcat fire so progress is super slow. Can't blame the guys they are trying really hard to finish but how can you breathe when the air is filled with smoke. This was our sunset 2 nights ago and a view from the hills of the San Fernando Valley (area known for the “Valley Girl”) this morning. “It’s like so smokey!” Last image is a shot of Mt Wilson can’t see it cause it’s so smokey.

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The gauges are coming end of next week thank heaven. That means I can finish up the dash, the stuff you can't see, and be ready for some huge improvements. That’s predicated on the roofers winding down too. The roof has integrated solar so some wiring had to be done in the garage which means breaking and patching drywall so right now my car looks like this.

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Kind of depressing.

Tonight I am going to move forward with a serious organizational effort, I am going to reorganize and reinventory the remaining parts. My hope is by focusing on organization I won’t be looking for parts but looking at them and thus I’ll make some quick progress once I get my hands on this car. I have 4 bins I got, first bin is for parts for trimming, body work and paint, second for parts for final assembly, third parts for powder coat, and lastly extra parts. I have mentioned before waiting on custom parts probably has caused most of the delays and here we are again trying to fill time and keep momentum going in some way.

A part of the dash I completely forgot to share was a cover for the air ducts. I plan to have this part upholstered to protect the knees or shins of the passenger.

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Lastly if someone has an extra FFR side view mirror I ordered one from them but it’s back ordered. I’d like to use it on the passenger side. Maybe I can buy it off of one of you guys that isn’t using it. PM me.

Anyway momentum is key so getting back on it will have to be a focused effort. Important to note life gets in the way of these builds and don’t let them stall out.

Snowman

09-17-2020, 10:25 PM

I hear you on the smoke. The entire antelope valley looks like your pictures. It's gotten a bit better as the week has gone on, but on Monday evening the sun was just a faint orange disc as I was driving towards it. Kinda reminded me of an eclipse, but with color, lol.

P100DHG

09-27-2020, 09:18 PM

I clawed my way back into my garage after 4 weeks of waiting patiently. I couldn’t wait any longer for the roofers to clear the way and I even took off a day of work too. I was getting antsy.

So I mentioned I absolutely did not want wipers. But practicality seems to have won over. One major reason for not wanting wipers is because I didn’t want to see the wiper motor on the firewall. The second is that the switch that it comes with it wouldn’t match my other switches. Lastly it looks slick without the wiper blades and they are distracting to the overall look. I was willing to give on my third gripe if I could solve my first 2.

Solution to Wiper Motor placement:

The first problem was solved when I mocked up the wiper motor to the firewall. For whatever reason it’s too large. Doesn’t sound like a solution but rather a further barrier. But it prompted the solution. The solution was to put the wiper motor behind the dash.

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By pointing the motor in such a fashion a nice smooth and “easy” (per Factory Five’s instructions) bend can be achieved. I drilled a 1” hole in the dash firewall. This gave me enough play to get the angles correct. By bending the tube slowly over the round section of my vise it came to shape. But I learned this technique after destroying the first set of tubes which I reordered through McMaster Carr. And after destroying another section of tube trying to bend a 5/16” tube in a ¼” ring roll. Who would have thought that wouldn’t work :(?.... Anyway the vise trick worked. Also you can see I spaced the motor off the firewall panel with a piece of 1 ½” square tube which still needs to get painted but that’s going to happen when I take everything apart for paint anyway.

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When I went to flare the stainless tube with my $17 flare tool that said it’s for copper and aluminum wouldn’t you be surprised it didn't work. I bit the bullet, returned the $17 flare tool I bought on Amazon and bought the $180 flare tool that can handle stainless and frankly I should have bought it earlier in the build for the brake lines.

Stainless is tough to work with.

So with a nice clean product we can definitely say everything under the hood is completely done. The final product is clean and free of stuff.

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The 1" hole needs a grommet still but will also get covered. I might have mentioned I want to add a touch of upholstery in that area to tie the interior and engine looks together and do something a little different.

Solution to Wiper Motor Switch:

This leaves my second gripe. What to do about mismatched switches. It’s something that I see on a lot of builds. Rocker switches, toggle switches, knobs, buttons, each one is a little different and consistency is key to a good look. So how do I get a DPDT (Double Pole Double Throw) On - Off - On toggle switch to work in place of the wiper switch provided.

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Some googling led me to a fantastic writeup after struggling to figure this out on my own.

“The MGA with Attitude” https://mgaguru.com/mgtech/electric/et219.htm. Further Info Here https://mgaguru.com/mgtech/electric/et219b.htm

First we have to know how the original switch is intended to work and so I am going to borrow some pictures from this person's post. Again the intent is to consolidate information into one thread, not to take credit for this person’s effort and information.

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The basic idea is that to park the motor the low terminal and the park terminal need to be jumped. By releasing the connection to the park terminal and powering the low terminal the motor begins to move in it’s slowest speed. Then by removing power to the low terminal and the jump between low and park and powering the high speed terminal the motor moves rapidly.

We need to replicate this using relays and here is the setup.

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Great diagrams. But I felt like it wasn’t brainless. Obviously you have to translate this diagram into the positions on the relay. Which I did and I was going to post my diagram until I found this one.

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Executing this just took patience. Don’t have the patience? You can buy it from Watson Streetworks here https://watsons-streetworks.com/product/windshield-wiper-high-low-park-relay-pack/

I used these relays (https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B072QXDZRD/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and I like how the relay holders interlock.

The final product on the bench looks like this

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Obviously wire colors and stuff are going to change depending on what you’ve got or you bought. So don’t pay attention to the wire colors. In fact don’t pay attention to this at all it’s just an example of what the end result looks like. What is most important is the second and third diagrams above.

The final installation can be seen above in the section regarding wiper motor placement.

A further update on how to wire the switch is to come.

Possible Solution to Wiper Arms and Blades:
One possible solution is paint the wiper arms body color or black and black out any chrome. The idea is that it’s not a focal point. But time will help me make these decisions.

So there you have it solutions to problems I didn’t even want in the first place. Kind of rewarding isn’t it? LOL.

TO SEE HOW TO WIRE THE WIPER SWITCH CHECK OUT "DPDT" in post #174 (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=431651&viewfull=1#post431651)

P100DHG

10-03-2020, 10:40 PM

So here is where things are now that I have my entire house back.

1. I have to finish wiring my latching relay for high and low beams. And wire that into the Russ Thompson stalk. Turn signals and everything else works and has been wired using a 6 pin harness. I have the 5 wires plus a the horn for the horn button. I refinished the turn signal in silver to match the dash and exposed panels.

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2. Lizard skin and install the trunk panels

3. Get my gauges (this coming week is looking promising fingers crossed) and cut the holes for the gauge layout in the dash

4. Powder coat the dash and remaining panels

5. Send the car to body and paint.

The process as Jeff explained it to me is that 10 days of trimming and fitting and that I take the chassis home. During that time I’ll install the dash and finish the wiring. Then I’ll do the alignment and go kart. Then send the chassis out to upholstery.

I can’t believe it’s October already! I talked to Jeff about sending him the car mid-October but now that deadline seems impossible. Might need another 4-6 weeks. I don’t want to rush it but I want to complete it too.

I finished printing all my louvers for the airbar so check that off the list too. Here is what one bay looks like. There are 3 bays

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These sit inside the airbar and are fully concealed but they do make a difference so I’m glad I went through with making them

ken33

10-07-2020, 08:43 AM

Air bar, what's it for?
great job on the build!

P100DHG

10-07-2020, 05:10 PM

Air bar, what's it for?
great job on the build!

Traveling back in time to post #154 (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=421719&viewfull=1#post421719) I talked about a new idea for the AC vents. Rather than putting in conventional air vents I opted to build a single long and narrow air vent. I dubbed it the Airbar because it sounds catchy and I really don't know what else to call it. Basically the way it works, is the air is forced into a single long vent that runs the length of the dash (built into the top of the dash) producing an even distribution of air across the entire dash. The idea was to avoid seeing large round air vents. This also enabled me to do a 2 piece dash with the top of the dash fixed but the entire dash face removable and have the whole thing serviceable yet clean. The opening for the airbar is 3/4" but when the dash face is mounted it dives into the inside of the airbar now the opening is only about 5/8 and when the upholstery for the dash pad wraps over the top of the dash and into the Airbar that gap will be further made smaller so the air (by my testing) is forced out evenly and at higher pressure. Also the airbar becomes so thin that it's almost unnoticeable you might look at and say why is there a gap there not realizing it's the air vent.

I designed and 3D printed the louvers because what I realized is that I actually don't want even distribution of air I prefer the air to be directed at me. Ask my wife and she'll say she hates the air blowing on her and I love it directly in my face and though the louvers aren't adjustable I designed them to my liking because it's my car! LOL! :p

I think there are infinite ways to tackle this build. One is to follow the directions and get yourself across the finish line using the provided parts, we paid a crap load of money for those better use em! Second is to get creative and make the car functional and comfortable. I started out the build expecting somewhere between the first and second. But as I have become more confident in the build I've pushed myself to come up with something different. Something that feels like a raw race car, a hot rod but is still comfortable. The idea of a clean and simple interior was to tie in the clean look of the engine compartment. So eliminating the air-vents means one less thing to look at. That means one's attention can be focused on the gauges and seats and other interior details/upholstery.

Thanks for the compliment. I enjoy sharing the process, maybe even oversharing. Hopefully it gives people inspiration and shows it's all doable in your garage having zero car building experience. I have to be honest I am ready to get some major milestones done and stop posting about the mundane processes but it is a process and it's all part of it.

P100DHG

10-10-2020, 05:06 PM

Finally after 9 months of waiting they have arrived.

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I couldn't be happier with them.

I finished fabricating the dash. It was a good thing I waited to get some calipers on these gauges before cutting anything out. I was told they were 100mm which is about 4" but they were solidly like 96mm. Also the other gauges were smaller than quoted which doesn't matter but the hole size does. So the holes saws I bought were too big. I ran out and I got a 3 7/8" hole saw for the tach and speedo, 2 1/16 hole saw for the 4 small gauges and a 2 1/4 for the clock. Fits perfectly. I am very happy because there was no room for do overs on this dash.

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Everything fits perfectly I've tested and retested and triple tested. It's the best I can do, let me just say that. As I tell my son as long as we do our best that all we can ask for.

This is the dash in the rough, with the gauges in, before I fixed all the blemishes

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I think with the silver dash, wood steering wheel, chrome toggle switches and brown leather racing seats I am heading in the right direction. Now off to powder coating and we'll get to see some thing really pretty come together. I'm very very very excited.

Also shoutout to @Snowman. I took my son, wife and in-laws to Tehachapi this week to see the famous loop and man it didn't disappoint and what an absolutely beautiful place to live. Can't wait to return and maybe even stop by and see your progress one day.

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Snowman

10-11-2020, 09:35 PM

Glad to hear you enjoyed the trip up to Tehachapi!

Definitely hit me up if you're ever in the area again. Door is open and the beer is cold!

Same offer stands to anyone else on the forum.

Cheers,
Patrick

P100DHG

10-18-2020, 12:12 AM

I’m going to let the photos speak for themselves. I am just thrilled with the result.

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I keep the finished parts in a guest bedroom. Obviously that bed spread isn’t setting the right mood but to see everything together... well you get the idea. The best pictures will come when everything is put back together.

Couple items on the todo list and I’m ready for Jeff Miller to take over.

Straversi

10-18-2020, 10:13 AM

Nice!
Can’t wait to see it all installed.
-Steve

Snowman

10-18-2020, 09:10 PM

Bravo! That dash is a work of art.

P100DHG

10-20-2020, 01:01 PM

Thanks guys I appreciate the feedback.

In the true spirit of this build nothing can be done once so of course an issue has come up. Apparently aluminum and steel take silver powdercoat differently. The steel is far darker than the aluminum. Yesterday we tried baking the aluminum panels for an additional 30 minutes at 400 degrees to darken them but unfortunately it’s like trying to bake a cookie twice. It just doesn’t work like that.

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So I am going to remake the transmission tunnel in steel. Since most everything else is upholstered the difference won’t matter so much. So of course things need to come apart.

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Also in the spirit of doing things twice, I decided to take this opportunity to address two issues. I noticed in that area.

Headlight Switch Fix

First was my headlight switch. About 50% of the time I would pull on the headlight switch and the rod would come out of the switch. The problem is that the groove on the metal rod and the retaining plate in the switch were mismatched. The groove was too thin and the plate was too thick. I took apart the switch and by sanding the retaining plate thinner and widening the groove I now get a perfect fit. I widened the groove using a hacksaw blade gently sliding the blade in the groove to essentially file it a bit and widen the groove (not make it deeper). I am confident after numerous tests that this is solved for the life of the car.

Toggle Switches

The next issue had to do with mismatched toggle switches. This could get boring so if you’ve got your mind made up and you're using the FFR switches, skip this, but if not I suggest you read this and learn from my experience. Just to preface this. I think the Lucas style toggle switches FFR provides are great quality but were just not right for my build. I wanted chrome. Also there are a couple that are mismatched so that bothered me.

Not all toggle switches are made equally and rather than going into the differences in quality, if you like what I have then I encourage you to buy Carling toggle switches. I bought a zillion before I arrived at this brand. Also Carling offers a Dress Nut that makes it look good. You can search Carling Technologies 380-08810 Dress Face Nut, Knurled Nickel, 15/32" Threads. I’ll just say this. That the toggle switches you’ll find elsewhere are M12 thread so this dress nut wont work. Also they are very snappy where Carling’s are smooth. Blue Sea Systems (https://smile.amazon.com/Blue-Sea-Systems-WeatherDeck-Toggle/dp/B000MMFIZS/ref=sxts_sxwds-bia-wc-p13n1_0?crid=1GRDR1W1S48BC&cv_ct_cx=blue+sea+systems+toggle+switch&dchild=1&keywords=blue+sea+systems+toggle+switch&pd_rd_i=B000MMFIZS&pd_rd_r=ce8d483a-8b7a-4c00-8345-28aeeea4f7d0&pd_rd_w=BF8mV&pd_rd_wg=zYGDJ&pf_rd_p=aa27be45-7294-48a8-8c11-546cebd55a37&pf_rd_r=VTS5944NDHXK0W40H7MT&psc=1&qid=1603213414&sprefix=blue+sea+systems+togg%2Caps%2C228&sr=1-1-a14f3e51-9e3d-4cb5-bc68-d89d95c82244) sells the switches and dress nuts in a complete package. So while I have the transmission tunnel open I am switching out that cheapy toggle switch for a nice Carling one to match the rest.

Now I want to take this time to explain the different types of switches. This would apply to toggle switches, rocker switches or any other style as well.

SPST - Single Pole Single Throw - ON- OFF - This is your basic switch. Great for fog lights or a cooling fan override, seat heaters for example.
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SPDT - Single Pole Dual Throw - ON - OFF -ON - Great for switching between two different loads that share the same line. This would be a good switch for turn signals
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DPST - Dual Pole Single throw - ON - OFF - Used for the hazard lights and great for activating two different things with one switch where you wouldn’t want those things to be able to make contact with each other
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DPDT - Dual Pole Dual Throw - On - OFF - On - This is what I should have used for my AC / Heat switch but the way I did it (with a SPDT and relays) works, it’s just overkill. Necessary for wiper control if you're doing the relay setup I described in a previous post
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Remember each electrical setup is unique. Each person's components are unique to their build. So I encourage you to use this info and diagrams to help assist with what you might need for your build. All this above info would apply if you're not using the FFR provided switches.

Boring...? Yes!

Helpful...? Hopefully.

Did I think I was marching toward paint? Uh, more like dragging a sack of concrete toward paint. LOL. When I complain about having to rework something or remake something, my wife says "it's all part of the fun!" Is it...?

But I enjoy sharing the failures as much as the successes because it's part of the journey.

bkhicks66

10-28-2020, 10:49 AM

Hey P100DHG, What did you do to finish off the metal on the dash? Is that a coating or paint that you did or did you send it out to get coated. I really like the finish

Brian

Sell1

10-28-2020, 12:20 PM

I liked how you made mention of the pattern. I had the same thoughts.

P100DHG

10-28-2020, 02:07 PM

Hey P100DHG, What did you do to finish off the metal on the dash? Is that a coating or paint that you did or did you send it out to get coated. I really like the finish

Brian

It's powder coated. It's professionally done. The company who makes the coating is Cardinal and the color is Silver 30. Which is a satin silver. It's the same powder coating I used on the rest of the car. Obviously the steel took it differently than the aluminum so watch out for that. The other thing to mention about powder coating is you get no help from bondo or other products like you do with paint so anything short of perfect will show sadly. JB Weld shrinks and also comes out darker than the aluminum so JB weld isn't even a great option as I have found out throughout the project. That's the reason I made the dash in steel, because I could correct imperfections with the welder and grind back to a level surface and blend. It's a little more forgiving doing it like that, but not much.

Paint is an option, might look better in fact but my thought was make it durable and I won't have to be worried every time I touch something that I could scratch it. Mind you powder coating isn't scratch proof but it's definitely more durable than paint. Makes final assembly also more forgiving for sure.

JohnMac

10-30-2020, 05:49 AM

Good to see the progress on the coupe. Only being into our build now since summer, I’m happy that we’re as far along as we are. Our engine (based on a Ford Racing 351 small block but displacing 427ci) and trans arrived a couple of weeks ago but when bolting up the bell housing, I could tell the oil pan was going to be a problem. Off came the supplied pan and a new road race pan was ordered. 136925 Earlier this week we checked the alignment of the bell housing to the engine and found it to be with .003”. After attaching the Tipton hydraulic throw out bearing to the trans, we bolted everything together and proceeded to install the powertrain. For the most part, everything lined up. We installed the driveshaft and shimmed the mount by1/4” to level it.

This build has been kind of a impulsive decision for me, being 75, unemployed (luckily my wife still works and is happy to have me out of the house) and retired. My Friend and partner is George Alderman, 87 years old, retired Nissan, Caterham, Lotus dealer as well as a IMSA champion, SCCA member and all around great guy. I doubt that either of us would have undertaken the build had either of us had poo-pooed the idea. I’m sure my coming into the shop almost every day keeps George motivated plus he’s a great fabricator. The shop is filled with old Aeroquip hose and fittings, tons of scrap aluminum, plus a complete machine shop adjacent to the race shop for any jobs we need help on. George’s race shop is jammed full of cars and memories and is the place I spend 3-5 days a week in.

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I’ve read many of the forum posts and have been impressed by the extent others have gone to make their FF5 Coupe special. Ours will probably be rather basic because it’s not going to be used as a “daily driver”. We have Shelby’s original Daytona Coupe living up the road from us at Fred Simeone’s museum. I suspect that because of the headers literally impinging on the inside of the trans tunnel, the heat and noise is going to cancel out any attempt to hear a radio or allow the AC to cool the car enough to be comfortable. Any comments are welcome!

P100DHG

10-31-2020, 01:01 AM

JohnMac I’m glad to hear you’re making progress on your build. Three things you mentioned made me think and reflect.

The first thing is the noise cancelling out the radio. Frankly I think it’s going to cancel out my ability to hear when I get older. Lol. When it’s quiet in my garage at night and I am working I think about the various creaks and things that might come up and try to think about how to make sure the build is substantial and nothing will rattle. My wife keeps reminding me I’d be lucky to hear anything at all. You’re right though a radio would be comical to try to listen to. My plan is actually to use my Bose Soundlink Mini if I ever want some tunes, it’s loud and the quality is great and it’s battery powered.

The second thing you mentioned is the idea of your build being “rather basic”. I think the best part of this process is that you’re building it for you and completing the build at all is a victory. So everything beyond that is just icing on the cake. I think a lot of kits never get completed. I think sometimes we get lost in the details and then life takes us places we didn’t expect and days become years. I’d call my build over the top frankly. I think all the customization leaves me vulnerable to getting lost in the details or way over my head technically. Also it leaves me vulnerable to parts suppliers. On multiple occasions I’ve had to stop work waiting for parts. Really I have only gotten this far because I was able to make such amazing progress in March, April and May. Los Angeles was basically shutdown and all there was to do was to work on my car. I probably would have been a year behind where I am now if that wasn’t the case. It’s not a race to the finish line but it’s risky over complicating things. So keeping it simple, keeping it basic is a wise move.

The last thing and most significant to me and frankly inspiring is that you and your partner at 75 and 87 respectively have started this project. I am 36 and the idea of continuing to learn and bite off challenges when most wouldn’t is just fantastic. I just hope I have that same spirit at that point in my life.

P100DHG

11-03-2020, 09:15 PM

I am excited to report that the build is heading toward its next phase, body and paint. I have some minor assembly work to do and then I get to round that major corner. So the next update I'll have all the details nailed down. As of right now it's still a work in progress but it's very very close. This is where things stand.

Trunk panels are almost all fitted. (since the battery is buried deep in the trunk area I made the jumper points easily accessible.

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The new steel transmission tunnel panels are fitted.

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All the misc sheet metal is out to the powder coater right now and then the body can go back on once I get a few items back. Just a refresher. The trunk wing walls and rear wall is exposed powder coated metal. The trunk floor gets a leather button down mat. The sides of the transmission tunnel get leather but the top of the transmission tunnel is exposed powder coated metal.

I was saying I live in the unique area above the Rose Bowl in Pasadena (actually pictured in the second shot). Makes for amazing driving. I started exploring some areas to gather ideas for shots for future videos with the Daytona and thought I'd share some cool pictures.

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Next update I'll show the whole chassis buttoned up. I'm very excited to see the whole thing come together.

P100DHG

11-06-2020, 11:04 AM

Thought I'd post this this separately from the final chassis button up post.

I took some time to think about how to tackle the voids between the body and the interior by the side pipes. Paul had recommended additional measures to reduce noise. My interior panel has both sound and heat control sprayed on it. It will likely get dynamat under the upholstery. I also added further L brackets made of scrap aluminum to make the panel more rigid.

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However that still doesn't take care of the cavity that can act like drum. No better way to fill a cavity than with foam. There is a special store in Burbank, CA that caters to the movie studios and upholstery shops called Foam Mart. I thought about exploring some rigid foam through them but what I thought was, most people wouldn't have access to such a specialty supplier in some parts of the country. So I decided to go to the hardware store and get some spray foam. Now the results are great but the process looks like a disaster. It's a controlled disaster and a process but I think the experiment paid off. Rigid foam would have been easier for sure but this worked. I'll show you the finished product now so you don't think I'm wasting your time reading this.

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My first attempt was to make a wall of tape. A form if you will and fill the form with foam like you would do with concrete and a form. But there is a problem. This isn't an AB type foam that hardens with a chemical reaction this is something that needs air to dry. Says on the directions, "Not for enclosed spaces" that's cause it won't dry. After 24 hours I removed the tape. I took pictures but for some reason they are missing but you can imagine sounds like a great idea but when I pulled the tape off I had a gooey mess. I left the gooey mess and came back to a cavity filled with foam over flowing... (not sure why this is upside down... I tried fixing it but it's hopeless)

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Not a problem. A hack saw blade make quick work of the excess foam. I found are pockets so I went back for a second coat of foam in those spaces. Removed excess again with the hack saw blade. I then used a surform plane I picked up from Home Depot for $8 and shaped the foam to a flat uniform surface. I used Acetone and a scraper to remove any residue from the frame.

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On one side I taped the frame and the other side I left without tape and I can tell you that the tape does help to keep the frame clean and clean up goes much faster. But final result is good. Does the job.

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Will this work? I don't know... But in true fashion of overkill I am thinking about adding an outer panel and spraying it with with lizardskin sound control and then heat control might make this a bullet proof sure bet solution.

I just want to say this could be a mistake too. I looked at sound control and heat control solutions but nothing would fill the cavity that is 1" thick like foam so this is my best shot at it with something you can get locally that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Proceed at your own risk. I am sure someone will point out 100 ways I could have done better and to you I say. Where were you with such good advice a week ago? LOL

I have a weekend of details to attend to and then I have to decide to I send the car for body and paint prior to or after the holidays.

Bob Brandle

11-06-2020, 04:50 PM

P100DHG

11-06-2020, 05:44 PM

P100DHG, I know it may be too late for you now, but did you see my May 28, 2020 post # 986 in Edwardb's Gen 3 Coupe build thread?
I believe that I presented a good solution to this. While my demonstrated solution doesn't have the full foam fill, it's something that I can easily do most any time in the future via aerosol foam filling the 3 cavities thru small entry and exit holes.
Did you consider this?

Bob

Bob, that’s exactly what I mean by an outer panel! Thank you so much for that reference.

I am going to go ahead and link your post here.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?26630-Edwardb%92s-Gen-3-Type-65-Coyote-Coupe-59-Build-Complete-and-Graduated&p=413454&viewfull=1#post413454

Drilling holes and filling the cavity would likely work but make sure you use a foam that will cure chemically and not by air. The stuff I used probably won’t cure in an enclosed cavity.

It’s not too late for me thankfully and I can still add that panel. I love the finished look it gives it with that outer skin. Adding sound and heat insulation just as you did. I’m going to do the same.

Thanks for the advice!

-Danny

PS- I spoke to Jeff Miller today and the plan is to bring the car in for body and paint after Thanksgiving when his shop has some more space.

P100DHG

11-14-2020, 05:56 PM

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Chassis Reveal is Coming....

David Williamson

11-15-2020, 12:52 PM

I put 2 layers of Dynamat on the aluminum panel. I can't tell if it helps the car is loud even with the Boig quiet pipes.
David W

P100DHG

11-16-2020, 02:18 PM

All my panels have been lizard skinned. Though I won’t have any carpet, I will have upholstery so wherever there is upholstery I am going to dynamat that as well. All this adds weight but frankly I could lose a few so it’s better for me to go on a diet than sacrifice the quality. Frankly in the end it will be loud as hell no matter what I do I just don’t want it to feel like a tin can.

P100DHG

11-20-2020, 12:17 PM

https://youtu.be/fQPyMCdt9zE

Photos coming...

David Williamson

11-20-2020, 01:43 PM

looks great, some cool details
David W

edwardb

11-20-2020, 06:43 PM

Nice video.

Erik W. Treves

11-21-2020, 09:26 AM

That looks really good... the Coupe Chassis is sooooo nice that it's almost a shame to cover it! I am a little "concerned" I guess is the right word.... the gloss dash cover (looks to be in the video) - as nice as it looks here... and I am only making the comparison to what I have found on now my Roadsters, GTM and Coupe - the chrome defrost vents reflect badly on the front glass... in respect to that I think you "may" not like the performance of that dash in application... not at all taking away from how nicely executed the entire build is in the video - been following your build under the radar a bit.... I really like many of your design choices! They may show up in my my next build :) - anyway - give it thought because changing after the body is on will not be fun.... really really nice build...again!

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=68481&d=1496451234

P100DHG

11-21-2020, 10:54 AM

Erik, Dave, Paul, thanks for your kind words. The upper dash section that is black has the internal AC vent / Airbar built in and the cavity needed to be black. Also it’s made of steel so the whole thing needed to be coated. That said the black upper dash will get upholstered. The brown leather will cover the complete upper dash and roll into the Airbar.

I know it says “chassis completion”. That should have an asterisks by it. Still needs alignment, suspension adjustment, and upholstery. Those I consider more in the final assembly portion of the build. Jeff Miller who is painting the car asked I wait on upholstery till he is done with trimming and fitting. So as it stands right now, the front dash section (silver section with gauges) is back out, seats are out, the floor mats are out, the body is back on and the car is awaiting Jeff when he gets an opening.

I completely agree with you the chassis of the Type 65 is so nice. It’s a shame to cover it up with a body. I took the video and some great photos cause I knew I would only get so much time with it in this state and I wanted to preserve it in some way.

P100DHG

11-26-2020, 12:35 AM

Happy Thanksgiving! Over the weekend I'll post several photos of the finished chassis and for even more photos and content, follow on Instagram @SixtyFive_Daytona (https://www.instagram.com/sixtyfive_daytona/)

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There is still more work to do, tweaking panels for perfect alignment, (but this is a preliminary fit and photos get the point across) more upholstery and lots of finishing touches and tweaking to just polish it off a little further.

David Williamson

11-26-2020, 06:27 PM

I think the bar has been raised and there are some very high quality builds out there. Looking forward to seeing it finished
David W

P100DHG

11-28-2020, 12:58 AM

Shots of the engine compartment forward.

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All these great photos were taken with my Canon DSLR and a Tripod so I was able to adjust the aperture, shutter speed/exposure. I took them in my garage with the door closed so I could control the lighting a bit more.

P100DHG

11-29-2020, 04:30 PM

These are the last of the shots of the chassis. The entire dash section has been removed. The body is back on and it stands ready for trimming, fitting and body work. I have color development to do. I am planing a traditional look with #5 on the side as both my wife and son share May as their birth month. I have my blue color selected but the white is still up in the air, I ordered decals from Raceline Digital. As for the interior there is so much more to come with upholstery and developing that. Needs to stay simple, classy and vintage feeling.

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P100DHG

12-06-2020, 03:34 PM

Finally the Full Electrical Update:
You’ve heard me say this before. Strap in cause this is going to be a long post. It’s been months that I’ve promised to do a full electrical update and here we are finally. It took months to think through how to explain & show how I opted to route my wires. Also I’ll be honest there are things I think about now that I could have done better and so I’ll mention those along the way. I am tackling this in the same was I tackled the wiring which was to break it up into sections.

Let’s Begin:
I identified 3 main wiring systems and my battery placement, and I tackled them in this order

1. Battery Placement
2. Ignition System
3. EFI Harness
4. The Factory Five Full Chassis Ron Francis Harness

Battery Placement:
The goal was that awesome hot rod look, when you look down into the engine bay and wonder; Where are all the wires and plumbing? It’s just an engine floating there... It starts with your battery location. Frankly, Factory Five’s placement is fantastic, it can accommodate a big battery, space is ample and it’s convenient to work on. But it would have been right there for all to see, so I opted to place the battery under the trunk. It didn’t want it near the gas tank for fear that Sparks + Gas = BOOM. A smaller, more powerful solution had to be used and only one specific location would work. I used Braille’s 21lb Battery and though it’s cold cranking amps aren’t what you’d want in a Michigan winter, here in Southern California it’s more than enough. Also by placing it under the trunk I could concentrate my home runs in an inconspicuous place. AGM batteries are great because as Braille put it to me they can be mounted in any position except upside down. And they can be heavily discharged and recharged. We have AGM batteries in our boat and we come back to batteries every year that easily take a charge after 15 years of use. So with the placement set I could move on.

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From the battery I would follow the transmission tunnel to the starter using 2ga QuickCar Battery Cable Kits 57-011. I loved this kit and I found it to be perfect for what I needed. Using the same wire I connected it to jumper posts in the trunk.

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Ignition System & EFI Harness:
The second trick to a clean engine compartment is finding a spot for your Ignition Box, ECU, and Coil. Most importantly is the coil you choose. I used an MSD SS series coil because it’s compact and could, just like the battery, be mounted in various different positions. Second most important is your ignition box placement. I found that just above the bell housing, behind the firewall was a great fit and could be accessed via the panel covers on the transmission tunnel wall. Just make sure your carpet or upholstery lends itself to taking these panels off for any maintenance otherwise you’ll be dropping your transmission to change your ignition box. Gotta think 10 steps ahead here. I also engineered my dash face to come off because that would need to happen as well. It has to be acknowledged that the difficulty maintaining components has grown exponentially.

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Now with the ignition system located, the EFI computer needs to be placed. I was extra careful to put this in a central location. I placed it behind the dash. Something important about the EFI system is they want the main power feed to come straight off the battery NOT the fuse panel, even if the wires needed to be lengthened which they did in my case.

Now with the coil, ignition box, & EFI computer located it’s easy to see how the 3 systems are all now hidden and centrally located. Meaning wires can be short and direct. This also means a good ignition signal. I started wiring these components first.

------------------------------

The Factory Five Full Chassis Ron Francis Harness:

Fuse Panel:
It’s from here that you can begin to determine your fuse box location. I will say it right now I prefer EdwardB’s location however, in my case function would have to follow form. I needed something concealed. And so I made life more difficult for myself and after fiddling with the mounting location, I arrived at where I did because it would work for my specific application. If I had to do it all over again, I am not sure what I would do but I don’t see an alternative in my particular instance.

Front Harness:
In a more general sense I think the way I would route my wires for the front harness was the key to the clean look under the hood. But it came at the sacrifice of having much more wiring behind the firewall.

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I followed the frame tubes as shown by the blue lines. I then followed the AC lines on the passenger side and the lower radiator hose on the drivers side and brought the lines up to the hood hinge joint and terminated them with 6 pin connectors. It’s from here that I will connect my front lights.

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I routed the alternator wire, the oil pressure wire, the water temp sensor wire and the distributor signal wires together and routed them behind the alternator and pulley tensioner where I would combine them with the Factory Five front wire harness and follow it back through the transmission tunnel and behind the dash. I added these wires in after I routed and secured the front wire harness. It would have been much better to do this outside the car. I did not use the supplied sensor wire harness.

Ignition Harness:
I made the unusual choice. Of placing my ignition switch, my headlight switch, and AC & Heat controls on the transmission tunnel. I like the idea of having these things at my fingertips and just less clutter on the dash. You don’t have to look down; one can just feel their way around and make any adjustments. This area also highlights how I routed my wires back to the battery and the rear harness through the transmission tunnel.

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Rear Harness:
The photo says it all. I kept things tight to the frame. Made sure I wasn’t having wires crossing over wires. I didn’t do any extra storage areas in the trunk. I feel like I did enough sheet metal mods for one project and frankly this ain’t built to be a grocery getter.

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To keep this short, I used an Aeromotive in tank fuel pump and through multiple miscommunications between, FFR, Roush and myself I bought an Aeromotive fuel pump wire harness as well. Turns out FFRs wire harness has the leads for the fuel pump and so did the kit that came from Roush. I decided to use the Aeromotive harness because it was the most robust. But the lesson is. Don't buy stuff a year in advance of when you need it like I did. Thankfully this was an isolated extra purchase and added to a slightly better wiring setup. In retrospect I should have used the wire leads from FFR but I didn't realize this until I laid out the rear harness which was the last thing I did, coming months after first start. Oh well.

Advice & The Rest:
As I connected each wire I placed a check mark next to it on the wiring diagram. This insured I have no loose wires or wires that were unaccounted for. Also take notes you'll see I made sure to note the AC input wire to tell the ECU to trigger the fan needed to be 12v +.

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Also, map things out before you drill holes to make sure everything has a place & that you don't drill into your ignition box as was my ultimate fear. Which I thankfully didn't do.

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There was a lot of specialty wiring I chose to do like wiper relays and latching relays for high and low beams. I covered these in previous posts and they can be found under the electrical section of the table of contents (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=336336&viewfull=1#post336336).

Last piece of advice, buy extra wire. Buy it in different sizes and colors and be prepared to extend or shorten wires. I had to extend every wire in the front harness and all the wires for the ignition switch. Some wires had to get extended as much as 1-3 feet and others as little as 6".

I hope this helps someone. I know it will help me locate things if maintenance is ever required. So if anything this was a good post to add to the journal.

P100DHG

12-09-2020, 10:30 AM

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Wouldn’t this look good in a Roadster!?

P100DHG

12-13-2020, 01:45 AM

I am so freaking excited to announce my car is in the hands of a legend. It was dropped off yesterday to Jeff Miller. He’s a great guy and I’m not making it easy on him. I had a ton of special requests and he agreed to nearly all of them.

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He and I spent a good while chatting. I’m excited to be working with him. His wisdom and knowledge about these cars are really amazing. I also love his philosophy about building them.

I should have the chassis back shortly. This means the chassis gets put back together, aligned and the first road test is coming! I anticipate it going smoothly. Then off to upholstery. I’ll be honest, it’s in the hands of the experts at this point. I plan to be a good documentarian, photographer and student. Exciting new journey!

P100DHG

12-18-2020, 12:48 AM

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@FactoryFive let’s wrap a MK4 Roadster round this engine! :cool:

When I was researching my Daytona, I stopped into a local dealer known for their custom Fords. In fact they have a dedicated customs shop and their work is pretty good. On their showroom floor sat that Roush 427IR. A fuel injected Borla 8 stack engine producing 560hp with a hefty price tag of $49,148. They said they would cut me a deal but even then it’s was something I really couldn’t afford. Also had no idea of what the parts alone on that engine are worth at the time. Staggering frankly.

Cut to I’m driving past the dealer and I decided to give them a call and see if that engine was still sitting there. Not only was it still there but they were tired of looking at it. I called my contact at Roush and we went over it and basically he gave it his blessing. I had the dealer do a compression and oil pressure check and the numbers are perfect. Mind you it’s brand new but why not do it anyway.

So I bought the engine. BUT I didn’t pay $49,148, I paid $13,500! That is the nature of classic cars as we know, you’re lucky if they are worth half of what you build them for and in the case of this engine, about a 1/5. But I am well positioned for a Roadster. :D

PS - Jeff is making great progress on my Coupe, pictures coming this weekend.
PPS- that engine has an oil pan built for a truck LOL and an AC compressor so some mods are necessary. Or a Roadster with AC :confused:

Straversi

12-18-2020, 10:09 AM

I have a friend with a Superformance roadster with that motor. You are going to love it!
Congratulations.
-Steve

P100DHG

12-20-2020, 12:26 AM

I can take credit for none of this except the part where the engine fits under the hood. :D

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P100DHG

12-24-2020, 05:58 PM

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Merry Christmas!!!

P100DHG

12-28-2020, 02:02 PM

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Picked up the chassis in Temecula, CA and took it down the street to get an alignment. This was just to get everything running straight down the road. One day when I take it to the track I’ll have a race shop do a full tune on the suspension.

Getting on to paint. If you’re following along you’ll know I do careful editing of my design ideas. Also my ideas are particular to my personal taste and specific to this car I’m building. So without further adieu the metallic blue I liked, I’ve ditched. After careful consideration I don’t want my car to look like someone sprayed glitter on it.* It’s a classic race car and it needs to feel like one. So a very extensive color development is underway. I’ve identified 2 solid dark blues I like and PPG is going to formulate them for me. One is an oddball and doesn’t exist in the automotive world and the other is a highly secretive Glasurit color which we have to reverse engineer (luckily I have a really good sample of it). But the cool part is since PPG will formulate the colors and it doesn’t exist in their catalog I get to name them according to PPG so that’s cool. As for what those colors are I am going to let PPG formulate them, do a spray out and then I’ll reveal them in a separate post and give you the background on how I found them.

Now all this seems very proprietary and it is according to PPG but if you’ve read the rest of this build thread I try to share as much as I can so I’ll post whatever I learn in case someone has to have it. I’m very excited about these colors, it’s going to be stunning. A very chic race car. I had not anticipated such an extensive process in picking the color but I think this will be well worth it and help this car separate itself further from the pack.

As for white I am looking for a cream color. Maybe Wimbledon White will be it but it seems very yellow to me at first glance. Cream color suggestions welcomed! So TBD on white.

* Let’s talk glitter! So first off, every car I own has either a pearl paint or metallic paint job. So I’m not disparaging metallic paints. I just don’t think it’s right on this car. When I say this car, I am saying my car. The silver powder coated panels inside have metallic to simulate that metal look so I’m not saying there isn’t a place for metallic colors on my car. I just want to be clear about this so I don’t offend anyone who mistakenly painted their car a metallic color. LOL I’m joking!!! Your metallic paint job is awesome just not right for the look of my car.

P100DHG

01-02-2021, 12:43 AM

So rounding the corner here toward upholstery. So some details to share. I finally got around to mounting my pedal cover for the accelerator. I bought a pedal set for a Honda S2000 (https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01MSLVPLQ/ref=ppx_yo_mob_b_inactive_ship_o1_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1) just used the accelerator pedal cover and mounted it with VHB tape to temporarily hold it in place while I secured it with 4 rivets. The pedal comes polished which doesn’t match the supplied finishes for the brake and clutch pedals so I hit it with some 2000 grit and wet sanded it. At perfect match. Got lucky.

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Well the seat belts are mounted in and I’ve got one seat installed. Might be getting close to the first road test. I did drive it with no seat in the parking lot of the alignment shop (held on to the roll bar for dear life) got going about 10-15 mph. Clutch is very easy I drove it up on the Uhaul trailer with ease and lots of control. It’s not an on off switch, it can be finessed.

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I applied Second Skin (https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B013XBR1DQ?ref=ppx_pt2_mob_b_prod_image) over the interior panels that will get leather for added insulation. Gives a good contrast of how things will likely look with leather. Lizard skin made the panels go from a tanging sound when tapped to a thud. Second Skin plus Lizard Skin has almost no thud at all. What does this mean? Probably nothing. I am sure the car will be so loud it won’t matter.

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I’m not going to lie I get nervous when it comes to finish work and honestly it’s my least favorite part so I’m hoping everything goes smoothly. As you can see the dash is installed hopefully for the last time and all the electrical is basically done and tested. Tentatively I have upholstery scheduled to begin January 9th so fingers crossed everything goes smoothly and I can meet that date.

P100DHG

01-03-2021, 04:46 PM

https://youtu.be/J0lR52J3qLc

Getting the hang of what a good movie should look like and shooting with a drone.

Lancaster Lad

01-03-2021, 06:52 PM

Nice drone footage.
Where else but in Southern California on the 2nd or 3rd of January can you ride around
with no roof and short sleeve shirt.
Angeles Forest Highway?

P100DHG

01-06-2021, 12:16 AM

Nice drone footage.
Where else but in Southern California on the 2nd or 3rd of January can you ride around
with no roof and short sleeve shirt.
Angeles Forest Highway?

That's a SOLID GUESS! Very close to there! I wouldn't be so brazen as to take it up Angeles Forest Highway. I would be too worried CHP would impound my car. I did it up above the Rose Bowl where I live. It's the road that connects Pasadena to La Canada up in the hills. Great stretch of road, nice and wide and I only ever see cyclists.

To get the drone footage on the last two videos I used a DJI Mavic 2. My original intention was to get some aerial footage of the car driving with the drone following me which the DJI can’t do at that speed. The drone I ordered that is capable of doing that, the Skydio came late and arrived Thursday and I filmed the car scene on Sunday so I didn't want to add one more element into it without prior practice with the new drone.

Just to add one other thing is I switched out the stupid latching relay for my high beams with something soooooo much better! I updated the original post but if you're using the Russ Thompson turn signal I encourage you to pair it with this relay if you want a latching circuit (meaning every time you press the button it either switches between two things i.e. high/low beams or turns something on and off. Standard Motor Products LR35 Relay (https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B000C83NSG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1). I am sending Russ the info and link so he's got it also. There is no socket that I could find for this relay so you're left with no socket or designing and 3D printing one, which I don't have the appetite to take on, work is crazy busy.

P100DHG

01-08-2021, 05:07 PM

https://youtu.be/AkgkQSEhaVI

This should give you guys an idea of how close to home these amazing driving roads really are.

Lancaster Lad

01-08-2021, 07:42 PM

Forest and Crest Highways are much busier than where you drive.
Since I am close to downtown Palmdale too dangerous to attempt Forest.
I bet the others on the road (if they are car nuts) must think it is an oversized Ariel Atom.
Is your flip down lid so the cameras will not know who is driving?

Dave Tabor

01-08-2021, 08:30 PM

Love the stickers still on the tires.

P100DHG

01-08-2021, 08:31 PM

Is your flip down lid so the cameras will not know who is driving?

No, it’s cause I was driving an open wheel car and didn’t want to get a rock in my face or pigeon poop. ;) I had the Snell rated helmet from a BMW track day I did with my BMW F80 M3. I figured why not use it just in case something went wrong and the shield would keep rocks from hitting me in the eyes.

I know it doesn’t look it but I stayed on residential streets the whole time. Clocked 2.1 miles on the odometer round trip.

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Trip odometer shows 2.2 because the first 0.1 I clocked by spinning the rear wheels by hand with the car jacked up to make sure it would work before I road tested the car. And the odometer shows 4 miles because the first 2 miles came from the shop that built the speedometer for me (must of been done when they tested it).

P100DHG

01-11-2021, 11:12 AM

https://youtu.be/-OAIabEnhHw

I was able to strip this video from my upholstery guys Instagram. Very fitting time to show this as my car went to the upholstery shop this weekend.

More updates to come but I imagine it’s going to be slow from here as he’s estimating a solid week of work just to wrap the roll bars in leather and he’s got other customers too.

There is a ton of work so I made him a document to guide him which I’ll post here soon.

I think my car will be out for the next 10-12 weeks before the body and chassis meet again.

P100DHG

01-25-2021, 03:04 AM

So my leather embossed horn button needs improvement. The embossing isn’t as deep as I would have hoped. That’s because the leather I am using was from my seats which are upholstered in arm chair leather and embossing upholstery leather doesn’t work so well. After doing some research I have to find the right leather.

But! Recently I saw what might be the most amazing restomod I’ve seen of any car. Totem Automobili took an Alpha Rameo GTV and did some insane stuff to it. I encourage you to look them up. Everything is literally custom made but what really made me think was their steering wheel emblem. Now they didn’t do a horn button but I’m intent on doing one. Worst case scenario it doesn’t work like I planned and I start over. But! What I decided was to try to custom CNC a horn button and I think I did a decent job with my little 3018 CNC machine I bought along side my 3D printer. It took 16 hours to mill not to mention about 100 hours of learning CAD, CNC software and learning about the different types of end mills.

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Once again the forum has turned my creations sideways for no apparent reason... for the right side up version try my Instagram.

Anyway I’m sure with better equipment I could do better but it should be good enough to send to the polishers, I’d like them to clean it up and then have it bead blasted and anodized and see if it will make the final cut on the car. I haven’t given up on the leather horn button either. So we will see.

P100DHG

01-30-2021, 05:26 PM

The roll bar is starting to get wrapped. Everything is going slow but all of this is out of my league so nothing I can do to speed it up.

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You can tell by photo 2 that he foamed the roll bar slightly with special foam prior to wrapping it, though nothing is stitched together and there is a long way to go. Photo 3 I was matching the right color automotive leather to the upholstery leather I used for the seats. “Ferrari, Rolls Royce, Bentley, Aston Martin” it’s beautiful stuff so soft just amazing looking.

I have been messing around just finishing off stuff. I polished the license plate bracket.

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And I started removing the milling marks on the horn button. So it’s ready for bead blasting.

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Great picture of how the interface looks on the computer. Easel (free web based design software) on the left and Candle (free CNC software to control the machine) on the right

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Time lapse can be found at the link below. I don’t think it’s YouTube worthy but fun to see how a hobby grade machine can turn out something.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CKr3-LND-VM/?igshid=14cz5i5w1t0wd

For now that’s all I got. Honestly I miss working on the car. I hope I’m not over sharing but the difference between good, great, excellent and incredible is all in the details.

P100DHG

02-06-2021, 12:10 AM

I got to visit an amazing place last weekend with my son. 1042 Princeton Drive.

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We walked in the footsteps of legends. So amazing to have the history of this car so close to us.

Coupe is underway, paint samples have been made, the side pipes are getting polished and ceramic coated, roll bar is ready to be hand stitched and the new horn button is at the metal finishers.

P100DHG

02-13-2021, 10:09 PM

Big news this week!

Body Work Update
Bodywork is well under way on my car. I popped into Jeff Miller’s place this week and was amazed to see the progress. His body guy told me that usually he just has to sand the seams and fill a little bit and they are fairly ready to go but mine required quite a bit of extra attention. Also, Jeff surprised me. We had originally talked about bonding the spoiler to the back of the car and using polished button head screws similar to those in my engine compartment to simulate the attachment; which is a look I quite like but he went a step further and grafted the spoiler into the body which is a look I love.

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Paint Development Done
So I waited to reveal this before it was completely settled because I really wanted to make 100% sure I was going to love what I chose. Just to recap for those joining the party now, I agonized over metallic colors before I decided to dump all metallic colors and I went for a solid color which in hindsight was a much harder to figure out. I wanted a dark dark blue not black but a deep midnight blue, a dark blue that didn’t read purple, but as dark as I could get it without distorting the color. I wanted a blue that would be dark blue in the sun and flop black.

I first considered Ferrari - Pozzi Blue but decided against it because I was worried about picking a color without actually seeing it in person, but it was a step in the right direction. I started looking at literally everything for the right color not just cars but literally anything blue, and it came down to two colors, Bentley - Pacific Blue and wait for it Essie - After School Boy Blazer Blue. Never heard of it? Bentley Pacific Blue is made by Glasurit and is some sort of closely guarded secret apparently but we reverse engineered it as I was able to get a hold of a color book from a Bentley dealer. As for Essie After School Boy Blazer... well ask your wives or girlfriends about that color cause it’s actually nail polish.

We formulated both and once again Jeff surprised me and did some awesome large spray outs on scrap fiberglass and when we both saw them in the sun it was unanimous that After School Boy Blazer Blue was the clear winner. The Bentley color just had a touch of purple in it that we couldn’t overlook. As for the After School Boy Blazer Blue it doesn’t read purple, it doesn’t read too blue entering into the royal blues, it’s an amazing, amazing color and the guys who formulated it at PPG knocked it clear out of the park with an exact match.

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So After School Boy Blazer it is! But what about the stripes and the rest of the white elements? Well I looked at a ton of whites, many were too white, too silver, too pink, too muddy, too gray but a clear winner stood out in my mind and frankly I didn’t have too look far (even though I did for good measure :o) because it’s a color we know well Wimbledon White.

But actually I kind of revealed all of this in post #214 in the reflection of the polished license plate bracket as an Easter Egg :)

Upholstery
Lastly, the upholstery is coming along. The roll bar is almost done being wrapped, the upholstery shop is moaning about how much work has gone into it. They told me he’s been at it for 4 days already. By my estimate he likely has another couple days on it. Then we are going to have to figure out the other elements. My upholstery guy has strong design opinions so it’s interesting how we are collaborating. So far, so good and clearly we are coming up with good stuff.

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Design Thoughts
Though the color scheme blue on white isn’t so different I think this particular blue against a creamy white, with a beautiful brown leather interior and silver metal accents both matte and polished and discretely placed wood accents will be like a finely tailored power suit. It’s going to command a presence. It’s going to convey a classy, vintage, gentleman’s race car. And though many of you will probably be lapping me on the track at least when you pass me you’ll turn your head just to get one more glance. :)

Unrelated But Important
This week I got one of the most rewarding and absolutely fabulous opportunities that I will cherish for the rest of my life. I think we can all agree, COVID is something that has taken something from all of us in some way, our freedoms, maybe one’s livelihood, for some their health and for others their lives or loved ones lives. It’s been a tragic and negative part of daily life but I got to experience hope, community, human decency and participated in a common mission to rid us of this terrible disease. I volunteered at a COVID vaccine drive thru clinic and the mood was one of hope, one of elation to see us getting past this awful situation. It was also amazing because I saw more people in the first 3 hours than I had seen in 300 days. It was incredible to have that human connection. I encourage anyone who is healthy, willing and able, to find a way to make a difference in their community and I promise the feeling you’ll get for volunteering will be AMAZING.

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TheMole

02-14-2021, 04:20 PM

That rear spoiler grafting is the way to go! The more I see it the more "kit-car" the rivets appear to me...Can't wait to see you finish this!!

P100DHG

02-20-2021, 01:23 PM

Roll Bar Done:

We decided to do the harness bar which is the only thing remaining. My upholstery guy is encouraging me to let him make me a pair of custom seatbelts to match. We’ll see what happens. Finding the right color 3” webbing will be hard. But two options if we decided to proceed and can’t find brown webbing. 1 is to get a Braum harness in white and die it and another is to get silver/grey harness off the shelf and remove the manufactures patches to avoid the branding (I would do that with either option) and have silver belts to match the metal.

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Paint Samples:

In the shade it looks black and in full sun it’s a deep blue to very dark blue and really has some depth depending on the how the sun hits it, which is what you get from metallics but this color is able to do it without.

Shade:
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Sun:
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jdm65

02-25-2021, 01:10 AM

Wow, the leather wrapped rollbar looks fantastic! Love that

P100DHG

02-25-2021, 02:30 PM

That rear spoiler grafting is the way to go! The more I see it the more "kit-car" the rivets appear to me...Can't wait to see you finish this!!

I totally agree, I actually can't believe I didn't ask Jeff to do it, so it was a fantastic surprise. On that same level of detail, I was there yesterday, I brought Jeff the rear vent mesh. We are copying Alphamacaroon's idea to install the rear mesh by leaving tabs on the mesh and slots in the body. Found here https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?38369-Am-I-done&p=440014&viewfull=1#post440014 an awesome, awesome touch that elevates the quality, so big thanks to Alphamacaroon for the great idea!

Wow, the leather wrapped rollbar looks fantastic! Love that

Thank you! I love it, I can't wait to see the pieces of the upholstery come together, I'm so excited and I feel so lucky to work with such talented professionals that can pull that type of stuff off.

At this point I feel like you guys just watching the whole thing come together, I'm along for the ride and just get to enjoy the process.

P100DHG

03-05-2021, 01:00 AM

This week's update is short but a good one. Things are clearly looking different and better now.

Horn Button:
My horn button is back from bead blasting and I think it came out great. Not bad for a newbie. Now to figure out the finish I want to use on it. (Why must it rotate my photos!?!? Face Palm. LOL)

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Body:
The body is in primer and the hood is being body worked.

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Fman

03-10-2021, 09:28 AM

Nice work and vision for a custom one of a kind build, that rollbar looks so well done.

Looking forward to seeing your car finished.

B Campbell

03-11-2021, 07:49 PM

What a great build thread. I`m just at the ordering stage of my Gen 3 Coupe and new to the forum. reading though some of the Gen 3 builds I have gained a lot of good information from those of you that are currently in a build or are on the other side and enjoying all of your hard work. hope to be able to contribute to the forum when My build gets started.

B Campbell

03-11-2021, 08:19 PM

I know right where this is. I used to live in South Pasadena and would bike ride all around the Rose bowl area.

P100DHG

03-11-2021, 11:12 PM

Nice work and vision for a custom one of a kind build, that rollbar looks so well done.

Looking forward to seeing your car finished.

Thank you! I love your roadster what a fantastic car you’ve built with such amazing attention to detail. So many roadsters have been done it’s hard to set one apart like you have. I appreciate your kind words.

What a great build thread. I`m just at the ordering stage of my Gen 3 Coupe and new to the forum. reading though some of the Gen 3 builds I have gained a lot of good information from those of you that are currently in a build or are on the other side and enjoying all of your hard work. hope to be able to contribute to the forum when My build gets started.

I’m glad you’re enjoying it. Please do contribute! It not only documents your work as a journal for yourself but I know I speak for many when I say we enjoy reading these threads for our personal enjoyment, and education. It also gives your car some pedigree and makes it more special in my opinion and certainly elevates the quality with so many experienced builders making sure you don’t misstep.

With my chassis in upholstery and my body 90 miles away and a timeline of 5-8 weeks before they meet again as I learned this week (quality jobs take a long time so I’m not rushing anyone nor am I complaining). I’ve had a lot of spare time to just read and learn and enjoy other people’s journeys and it’s been fantastic. I’ve even been lurking on the Roadster section; might get myself into trouble. :)

Snowman

03-11-2021, 11:29 PM

P100DHG

03-13-2021, 12:23 PM

Danny, can't wait to see this thing in it's full glory. I know a few places up here in the high desert you'll be able stretch it's legs.

Maybe we'll get lucky and Huntington Beach will happen this year!

I can’t wait either. It’s taking tremendous patience. I am going to need a good place to let it rip and a good therapist to help me get over my anxiety of rock chips. LOL

Huntington Beach is on my mind, I am hoping it happen and I hope I will be ready.

P100DHG

03-14-2021, 07:40 PM

I had the pleasure of meeting Patrick today, handle is Snowman. A real great guy. Had I not had my wife and son in the car I probably could have talked for hours; something to look forward to in the future.

My side pipes came back from polishing and ceramic coating. Looks great. I had all the welds ground down and blended so it’s a smooth transition.

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However, go with the Gas-N pipes. By the time I made these look this good the Gas-N pipes would have been less hassle for similar money. Mind you I have a great custom look. But it was a hassle. I still would have gone with ceramic coating over polished stainless but Gas-N offers an unpolished set.

I’ll post more pictures when I unwrap them. They look killer. Highly recommend the ceramic coater he also does polishing for major brands such as Borla so it was a one stop shop.

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P100DHG

03-20-2021, 07:46 PM

Paint Update

Had a great visit over at Jeff Miller's today. Such a generous and nice guy. Love going down there. I brought my 4 year old son (soon to be 5).

Final pictures of the car in primer. There is one roadster ahead of me and then I'm up for paint. Looking like mid to late April completion for paint. If everything goes well I'm looking at a mid to late summer graduation.

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Headliner Saga Solved:

I went through quite a headliner saga. I want a leather headliner to match the roll bars. My upholstery shop in Los Angeles which is 110 miles from Jeff's in Temecula wouldn't go down to do the headliner before the body is on the chassis, he also wouldn't do the headliner after the body was on the chassis so I was stuck. He wanted me to move the whole painted body to him and I was like... NOPE too risky! I made at least a few dozen phone calls, had one guy sign up to do it and then back out (which was a blessing in disguise because he was absurdly expensive) but then I met Oscar a local upholsterer in Temecula who is going to do it for me. He is thinking one piece but I am thinking 5 pieces. Just put the seams on the A and C pillars, roll bars are going to mask them anyway plus there is already enough technical work since all the edges have to be seamed since there is no moldings to tuck things into. Glad that is behind me for sure.

Upholstery Update

The chassis is coming together, progress is slow, he has a ton of jobs and since I'm not in a rush neither is he. He made panels for the foot boxes, which weren't spacious to begin with. Not sure how I feel about them but I am going to let him do his thing. This seems like a lot of brown but remember that the floor mats are silver metal, so are the foot box kick panels, dash, top of transmission tunnel and trunk walls are staying silver powder coated. He also finished the roll bar leather below the dash pad. As I am typing this I am realizing he's getting pretty close to complete. What's left is the dash pad, e-brake and shift boot, transmission tunnel walls, and a trunk mat. Oh!!! and a small touch inside the engine bay. Gonna look spectacular!

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Reconnaissance

I did some reconnaissance on roadsters the last couple times I've been at Jeff's, getting the itch. I think I should scratch it, don't you? :)

John Dol

03-23-2021, 07:44 PM

Reconnaissance

I did some reconnaissance on roadsters the last couple times I've been at Jeff's, getting the itch. I think I should scratch it, don't you? :)

Isn't that funny, not even done with this one yet and already looking at other opportunities. I did the same, mine is a GT40 fix though!

Sweet looking interior so far, glad you got the headliner issue figured out.

John

Rsnake

03-23-2021, 09:00 PM

Beautiful build!
I really like your seat choice and before I order, have you verified that they will clear once the body is on?
Hopefully yes.
Thanks

P100DHG

03-23-2021, 10:49 PM

Isn't that funny, not even done with this one yet and already looking at other opportunities. I did the same, mine is a GT40 fix though!

Sweet looking interior so far, glad you got the headliner issue figured out.

John
Thanks John, your post lit a fire under my *** and rather than worrying about it I decided to put my energy into solving the problem. I appreciate the info you shared, it was really a big help.

What I learned from this build is that doing the leg work ahead of time really pays off, also with parts shortages and demand right now it may never be too soon cause the wait could be really long. I know you’re thinking about selling your Daytona :( But I’d love to see you do a GT40. Make sure if you do you loop us in if you pull the trigger. I want to follow the build!

P100DHG

03-23-2021, 11:23 PM

Beautiful build!
I really like your seat choice and before I order, have you verified that they will clear once the body is on?
Hopefully yes.
Thanks
Thank you! I appreciate the encouragement.

Not only have I verified but I have lots of good photos to make you confident it will work. I did a write up on it, here are some links below.

First there are some good photos of the shoulder bolsters and the door clearances in post #110 titled Seat Install 1 of 2 - skip down to “I placed the seat in the car, mocked up the doors, I checked my clearances” there are 4 great photos.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=403642&viewfull=1#post403642

In post #111 titled Seat Install 2 of 2 - click on the picture under “ Fun family photo last week” has a great picture of my father in law, sitting in the seat with the doors on.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=403643&viewfull=1#post403643

One other picture in post #141 with the door off.
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=415549&viewfull=1#post415549

The Sparco Grid Q seats are pricey but they are surprisingly comfortable especially if you can get them to recline a bit more. I am working on a slim wedge shaped bracket to get them to recline a bit more that would go under each seat slider. My first attempt was a fail as the 1/8” cold rolled flat bar I got is warped from the supplier but it was a good proof of concept, it just takes a ton of time to fabricate. I want to raise the front of the seat 5/8” but something is telling me to just shim the front with washers and keep it simple. That seems to be the consensus on forums like Rennline (Porsche Forum) from my research. Those Porsche guys seem to love the Sparco and Recaro seats, maybe their solution is the best... I’ll work through it. But extra info for you.

I hope this helps.

Rsnake

03-24-2021, 09:05 PM

Thank you for the detailed information.
SOLD. I am ordering now. They look amazing in your car.

P100DHG

03-30-2021, 04:19 PM

I figured why not give the latest news. There maybe more coming later this week. It's all a work in progress so there are some wrinkles to take care of (literally). LOL

Custom Seat Belts:
Got these great seatbelts to match the interior theme from Racer Direct (https://store.racerdirect.net/). They asked me what car it would be going in and when I shared, David over there got creative and instead of putting their logo on the belts, he put a different one that matches the name of a person who shall not be named on this forum :) . I thought that was a cool touch he came up with. Total cost for each harness $90. Execution on the patches. Kind of poor. But I'll have the upholstery shop restitch them. I intentionally did not use the cam lock design to keep that vintage feel even though it's less convenient.

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I'll use the Simpson Seatbelts that came with my kit on a future build.

Upholstery Update:
Upholstery shop finished the removable trunk mat. I just let them have the design freedom to tie in the seat leather and roll bar leather. I think they did a nice job. I like how they played on the existing design of the seats and brought in the design theme of the racing stripes. The theme plays through the seats, the shift knob, and now the trunk mat.

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Dash pad is done. Incredible how he recessed/frenched the defrost vents in.

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Checklist till done:
Engine Compartment Firewall Panel
Transmission Tunnel Walls
Shift Boot
Hand Brake Boot

P100DHG

04-03-2021, 01:51 PM

So yesterday I took a half day off work and went and helped the upholstery guy. I want the leather on the transmission tunnel to wrap up and over making a bolstered edge. I think it will make a nice detail and frame the center/ top of the transmission tunnel nicely. He had a hard time figuring out how to make the extension so I did it for him.

I measured the angles first

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Divided them by 2 where two pieces of the template would meet. Except for where it meets the dash and the rear wall.

So 136° means a 68° cut on each piece. (Might seem obvious but why not explain it.)

He wanted it made in 2 pieces so things are manageable and so I can remove the panels in the future to access the ignition system in the transmission tunnel.

This is how it looked when I was done. I had some scrap metal from the dash I used to make the pieces. I tacked them in temporarily with screws but they will be riveted later. 12v accessory plug and battery cut off can be access from the panels in the trunk and from underneath the car. But once again the pursuit of the right look has made this car harder to maintain.

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kd0wda

04-04-2021, 09:42 AM

P100DHG

04-04-2021, 10:03 AM

I just dropped my engine/trans in yesterday. I too ran into trouble with the trans plate. The holes are just off enough to prevent the screws from working. Did your's line up or did you have to modify the bracket? I'm off by about 1/8-1/4" on the extreme end of the slots. Anyone else have this issue?

Since you posted a sub topic I'll answer the questions over here:
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?39331-Tras-plate-alignment-issue

P100DHG

04-10-2021, 05:00 PM

Anyone else think my horn button wiring was crappy? It's okay, I did too. If you're an engineer you probably tuned out of the build thread at that point from disgust. But if you happen to be around still, I think it was worth the wait because I am going to blow your mind! (Can you tell I am excited?) I have reinvented the design and I think this is going to be every engineers wet dream or a big yawn. I know how you engineers think, "could have done that 100 times better, and out of carbon fiber." Okay, okay settle down. :p :rolleyes:

I encourage you to revisit my post, I have re-written it: #115 - Horn Button -- Wait he said what?!?! (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=405657&viewfull=1#post405657)

To give you the short version I put CAD (for children, LOL), 3D Printing, and CNC all together to make this happen! Here it is in one photo:

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Also if you take the time to read the whole post to the very end, I left you guys a surprise.

P.S. - Roadster guys this will work for you too!

Snowman

04-12-2021, 11:46 AM

Anyone else think my horn button wiring was crappy? It's okay, I did too. If you're an engineer you probably tuned out of the build thread at that point from disgust. But if you happen to be around still, I think it was worth the wait because I am going to blow your mind! (Can you tell I am excited?) I have reinvented the design and I think this is going to be every engineers wet dream or a big yawn. I know how you engineers think, "could have done that 100 times better, and out of carbon fiber." Okay, okay settle down. :p :rolleyes:

I encourage you to revisit my post, I have re-written it: #115 - Horn Button -- Wait he said what?!?! (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?29393-P100DHG-Build-Thread-Gen-3-Coupe-138&p=405657&viewfull=1#post405657)

To give you the short version I put CAD (for children, LOL), 3D Printing, and CNC all together to make this happen! Here it is in one photo:

Also if you take the time to read the whole post to the very end, I left you guys a surprise.

Danny, outstanding work!! I had this execution as idea in my head, but you pulled it off way better than what I would have done. Thanks for being an excellent contributor to the forum. Folks like you are what makes this community such a positive bunch.

Cheers,
Patrick

P100DHG

04-16-2021, 10:57 PM

She is back home and looking real fancy! I definitely can call upholstery (aside from the headliner) done. I had thought about upholstered door cards but now I am almost certain I am going to do something in metal to help balance things out.

Of course the next step is the body, it will really add balance to everything. The trunk will be framed in correctly and the roll bars will be a detail rather than the main feature. The seats and the dash will take center stage for the interior. That’s the hope anyway.

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The shop that did the upholstery including my seats is New Life Auto Upholstery in Reseda, CA (747) 265-6115.

You know what’s next? PAINT!

I got bumped one car (I say this actually with thanks) as I sorted out the headliner (lost the second mobile headliner guy but found a third). So that is coming up in the next few weeks. Jeff Miller is amazing, he has been so patient with me. So don’t count on it when you get there, he might have used all of it up on me. LOL!!!! Just Kidding, he’s a great guy!

So speaking of paint, Jeff doesn’t paint numbers and he told me that from the very beginning. But in my stubborn way I thought I could convince him. But then instead of being stubborn I got creative and I tapped into Los Angeles’ vast resources and car culture. Why spray these numbers on the car when I have access to the best pin stripers in the world. After all we have the low rider scene here that produces some of the best stuff out there. So, I spoke to Danny Alvarado one of the greats and he’s going to hand paint them on. It will give the car an authentic vintage feel and Jeff who has really helped me refine my eye loved the idea. And if it’s cost effective I might have Danny paint on the sponsorship logos possibly. We will see.

So for now I am going to refine a few things, seat position, steering column length and maybe even charge up my AC!