Greek Guys' Garage Roadster Build #9509 (Nice shoutout on Insta about my build)

[JohnK]

Hey everyone. I've been posting a little and lurking a lot on the forum for many months now. After much deliberation, I ordered a complete roadster kit back in late October and it is finally scheduled to arrive tomorrow so I figured it was about time that I properly introduce myself and kick off a build thread. My name is John (perhaps you gathered that already from my username). My wife and I have a son and a daughter. Building something like this has been a dream of mine for a long time, but now that my kids are both in high school I figured this was the perfect time for a father-daughter-son project, so here we go! We're located in Los Gatos, CA (~1hr. south of San Francisco). I see that there are quite a few active forum members in the Bay Area. It would be fantastic to meet some of you. I've already met a few folks here around town with roadsters.

My order consists of the following:

MkIV complete kit:
- Drivetrain will be Coyote, IRS and TKO600
- Gen 2 vs. 3 Coyote still up for debate
- IRS already ordered and received from Forte's (3.55)
- TKO600 likely to be the modded Liberty's Gears version.

Other items of note in the FFR order:
- Chassis is uncoated. Will be powdercoated locally.
- leather seats and leather steering wheel
- 18" wheels
- Wilwood brakes with red calipers front and rear
- double-adjustable Koni shocks front and rear
- wind wings, sun visors, wipers
- sway bars front and rear
- dual black rollbars
- deleted side exhaust and PS rack

I ordered the factory dash with glovebox, but I see that as a sort of backup plan. My first choice is to go with a custom competition layout dash with glovebox (I've also ordered Alex's glovebox kit). Complicating matters a little is that I also plan to install a heater, so I may also go with the FFMetal 'firewall forward' piece to get everything to fit (or fab a box to space the heater forward into the engine bay). Lots of options here, and I'm excited to get to that portion of the build and sort through all that stuff.

I've already ordered and received a PS rack from Unisteer, and plan to go with GP headers with catalytic converters and Gas-N side pipes for this build.

My kids and I have already built the frame dolly and body buck, and there has been TONS of garage and shop prep in preparation for the build, including installation of a 4 post lift, compressor and air distribution system. Here are a couple of quick pictures of the "baby in the nursery" before it was picked up, as well as the baby's new nursery when it arrives tomorrow.

Let me finish this introduction by saying thank you to everyone on the forum for the incredible wealth of knowledge here. I would never have had the courage to undertake something like this if this resource wasn't available. Also, thanks in advance for patiently taking the time to answer all the stupid questions I’ll be asking ;-)

-John

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=101396&d=1548740162

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=101397&d=1548740199

[Straversi]

Congratulations. You have a great space to work in and a solid build plan. Look forward to following along with you and your kid’s on this adventure.
-Steve.

[JohnK]

Thanks Steve!

[JohnK]

Here are a few quick notes on some of the prep work I’ve done in advance of the kit arriving. As I mentioned, I ordered the IRS center section, hubs and knuckles from Forte’s when I ordered the kit back in late October. I did this mostly to have something to work on in advance of the kit arriving, so I wouldn’t go crazy with anticipation. I’ve done the usual prep of the knuckles (drilling out holes as required and cutting off the one leg). In addition, I cleaned up casting lines and surfaces with a die grinder and some Scotchbrite roloc pads, before painting the hubs and knuckles with POR15. This was a bit of a learning experience. I messed up the timing of the 2nd coat, and the first coat had cured too hard, resulting in the 2nd coat not laying out as smoothly as it should have. If you look closely at the knuckles, you can see the surface imperfections, but I’ll chalk it up to a learning experience. I’m glad I did the knuckles before tackling the center section.

I also went ahead and replaced the lugs on the rear hubs so I could get them prepped and painted. Pounding out the old lugs in the vice with padded jaws and driving in the new ones with the impact gun was a pretty painless process. I took the new lugs to the bench sander and put a little flat on each head to give them a bit more space from the bearing seal.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=101403&d=1548778083

In Paul’s (Edwardb) roadster build thread, he mentions making a cover for the ABS sensor mount on the knuckles. I thought this was a great idea, as water getting in there doesn’t sound like it would be good. When I inspected the hubs, I realized that the mounting holes (smaller of the two holes) weren’t tapped for a fastener. I figured if I was going to tap one hole, I might as well tap both and skip having to fabricate a cover. So I measured the two holes with the digital calipers and determined that the smaller holes are the perfect size for a ¼-20 tap and the larger holes are the perfect size for a 7/16-20 tap. I ordered some ¾” long set screws in both sizes from McMaster and liberally coated them with red Loctite, and both holes are now plugged up nicely.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=101401&d=1548777974

Lastly, the kids and I built a frame dolly and body buck. I found some excellent templates on the forum for the body buck but was stumped for a bit on how to scale up the drawing to actual size. I know it doesn’t have to be exact, but the OCD part of me wanted it to be as close as possible, given that someone had gone to the trouble to make accurate templates. We have a projector for watching outdoor movies on our deck in the summer, and it occurred to me to hook up the laptop to the projector and project the template onto the OSB panel and trace out the shape with a Sharpie. Voila! Perfect scaling of the template.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=101402&d=1548778043

[Houdini]

looks like a interesting build so I got something to follow, too cold to leave house in minnethota

[JohnK]

looks like a interesting build so I got something to follow, too cold to leave house in minnethota

Yeah, from the looks of it on the news you all are getting hammered with some bad weather right now. It's been pretty cold here too. Only got up to 67 today. :)

[Rsnake]

Hello John and welcome to the forum,
Building your car will be a great experience, especially if you can get your kids involved.
I am on the finishing stages with mine which I received May of 2018. My build plans are identical to yours except for the side exhaust delete. I am currently working through the DMV registration process and have learned a lot about said process. I am in Half Moon Bay so it's only a short drive to Los Gatos and I actually grew up in Campbell. Let me know if you want to get together sometime.
Thanks
Greg

[JohnK]

Hey Greg! Wow - you really moved fast on your build! Thanks so much for the note. I'd love to get together sometime and see your roadster and hear about your build and the registration process.

-John

[JohnK]

Today was D-Day (Delivery Day)! It's important to note that Los Gatos is a pretty small town that's tucked into the foothills of the Santa Cruz mountains. Why is this important? Well, because in practical terms this means that there are many hilly neighborhoods with narrow, windy streets. Our house sits atop a small hill, and the last half-mile consists of tight tree-lined hairpin turns. In short, there's zero chance that Stewart Transport could get their massive truck up the street to my house. I had already forewarned them of this and had made arrangements with a local towing company with a flatbed tow truck to meet the driver somewhere more convenient. The tow truck driver came by my house to pick up the frame dolly, and we then went together to meet Scott from Stewart Transport. He had found a nice spot right off the freeway, and we were able to offload the chassis directly from the Stewart truck onto the frame dolly on the tow truck. We managed to squeeze in all the boxes alongside the chassis, and we were on our way pretty quickly. This was all happening on the main road through town in the middle of the afternoon rush, so it was quite the spectacle, but it all went off without a hitch. We were soon back at the house and had all the boxes unloaded and the chassis onto the four post lift.


I glanced through the POL list and had to laugh. The very first item noted on the POL list is the assembly manual. Not likely to get too far without that! OK, in reality, I have a PDF copy of the manual already, so it's not going to hold anything up, but it's pretty funny nonetheless. The only other items of note on the POL list are the front lower control arms. Hopefully, those show up soon. Everything else on the list is minor, and not anything I'll need any time soon. All in all, far better than I expected given that I ordered during the winter sale.


Next up - inventory!

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=101450&d=1548815641

[Rsnake]

John,
Congratulations on your new delivery. Like Chrismas in January!
Anytime you want to get together just let me know and we can work something out.
Greg

[PrestonT23]

Looking Good John!
Funny story, I was the delivery after yours that day, and I'm also Greek, and my wife's family calls me Greek Guy or GG for short...
Wife says I need to finish some house projects before I start, so I'll be following your thread closely since you'll be a few steps ahead of me.
Preston

[JohnK]

Hey Preston. How funny! Thanks for the note, and welcome to the forum. My wife saw your post and said, "Oh, was that an option... having you do more stuff around the house before starting the build?" I said, "No, not really." ;-). Good luck with your build. I don't know how far ahead of you I'll be. I managed to throw my back out the day after the kit was delivered so not a whole lot of progress. I'm 3/4 of the way through the inventory and I'm hoping to wrap that up tomorrow.

-John

[Yama-Bro]

Congrats! And welcome!

[Fixit]

Welcome to the asylum!
It is ironic that the kit shows up, and there's no book... Looking good on your work in preparation.


My first choice is to go with a custom competition layout dash with glovebox (I've also ordered Alex's glovebox kit). Complicating matters a little is that I also plan to install a heater, so I may also go with the FFMetal 'firewall forward' piece to get everything to fit (or fab a box to space the heater forward into the engine bay)

#9365 is also running a Coyote, with a heater, and a glovebox. I didn't do the "firewall forward" or an extender box... I made my own glovebox from fiberglass. Here's where that saga starts. (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?27544-The-40-Watt-Garage-9365-Stalled-by-Mother-Nature&p=344110&viewfull=1#post344110) The other thing to consider with the heater is clearance to the Coyote - that thing is all cylinder head. Take a look here for pics (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?27544-The-40-Watt-Garage-9365-Stalled-by-Mother-Nature&p=351809&viewfull=1#post351809) on my install of the heater control valve. Things are tight without the extension or firewall forward option.

[JohnK]

Thanks John! Your build thread will be a great reference when I get to that point in my build. I appreciate it.

[JohnK]

I finally finished the inventory of all the boxes yesterday. I found a handful of missing items, but nothing major. Mostly various small fasteners and other assorted things that I won't be needing for a bit. That list has been e-mailed off to Dave and I'm sure it'll be handled quickly. I want to thank VAHokie for asking the "Hey I found this thing and don't know what it is" questions in his build thread. I came across some of those same items and was scratching my head for a moment before remembering that I had seen them in his thread. :D

There were a couple of options that I ordered after I finalized my kit order, but before it had shipped, hoping that they could be thrown into the same shipment and save on separate shipping costs. There must have been a mixup somewhere because they didn't make it into the shipment. One is the heater kit, which I won't need for a bit, but the other is the spherical bearing upgrade kits for the front and rear control arms. Those I'll need as soon as I get the chassis back from powder coat. It hasn't yet been sent off for PC, so it'll be a few weeks before I need them. Hopefully, I'll have those, plus my POL front lower control arms, by then. Many of the items on my POL list, including the assembly manual, must have shown up at the 11th hour, as they were thrown into a 'catchall' box #23. It was good to see that ~75% of the items on my POL list were actually in that box. So now the only thing on the POL list that will hold me up any time soon is those front lower control arms. I spoke with the folks at FFR today, and those should hopefully be headed my way in the next couple of weeks so all should be well.

I haven't yet done the inventory of all the 'mounted' components but I should have the body off in the next few days and I'll be able to wrap up that final part of the inventory. Now I get to sort the boxes into the "need sooner" and "need later" piles and stack the former in the garage cabinets and take the latter down to the basement. I have to tell you, I'm glad that I'm done counting fasteners.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=101864&d=1549587604

One other notable item is that my tires showed up the other day. I went with what seems like one of the consensus favorite solutions here - the BF Goodrich G-Force Rival S. 245/40R18 and 315/30R18. It took a bit of hunting and searching and sleuthing before I figured out what was going on, as every time I searched for that model in those sizes I would come up empty. Apparently, in the 245/40 front, the Rival-S has been replaced by the Rival-S 1.5, while the Rival-S is still the current offering for the rear. Once I realized that, Tirerack.com had both in stock and at my house in a couple of days.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=101866&d=1549587685

I think I'll need to play with ride height a bit. :p

I'm planning to powder coat the wheels gloss black and leave the spinners and spinner adapters aluminum, but before I send the wheels off for PC I'm going to drill and tap them for set screws to lock in the spinner adapters, per Edwardb's excellent guidance. I just need to come up with a good way to figure out which adapters go back to which wheels once I get them back from PC.

[JohnK]

Quick update: We've been busy with other stuff the last few days and hit with back-to-back severe rainstorms and power outages, but we did manage to get the body off the chassis and onto the body buck. I also got the wheels back from powder coat and had the tires mounted and balanced today. Those are some pretty sinister-looking wheels!

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=102174&d=1550193061

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=102172&d=1550192991

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=102173&d=1550193028

[JohnK]

My son and I made some good progress today. We labeled, photographed and removed all the sheet metal and we got started on cleaning up the frame in preparation for powder coat.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=102296&d=1550458692

Here's Nik cleaning up a weld:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=102295&d=1550458478

I also made a few last-minute upgrades to the body buck in preparation for moving it to an offsite storage unit. I added a rib running between the front and back scribed pieces, and then made a support for the body using a piece of foam roller. This stops the body from bouncing and flexing as the cart is moved around. Since it'll be traveling on the back of a flatbed tow truck there was some concern about it not bouncing around too much and also keeping it on the body buck, so I shrink-wrapped the entire body onto the buck.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=102294&d=1550458378

Also a few logistical updates. I sent my steering hub to Russ Thomspon and had a complete turn signal assembly back in my hands two days later. That's some impressive service! Looks like a very nice piece and a nice upgrade. I also called and placed my deposit for an upgraded/syncronized TKO 600 with Pro 5.0 shifter from Liberty's Gears. They're currently running at 12 weeks lead-time, so I'm glad I got my order in now. Lastly, I received three boxes from Factory Five yesterday. I now have all my missing and POL items except for two, and those I won't need until much later (3 prong flasher and license plate bracket). Most importantly, I now have my lower control arms and spherical bearing upgrade material so I'm good to go on suspension assembly. All in all, I'm thrilled with how quickly they resolved all the backordered items.

[Fixit]

Looks Good!!

It appears that you're addressing some of the issues that I wish FFR would pay more attention to pre-powder coat... some of the weld beads where the aluminum panels rest. There are several locations where trimming/notching the panels is required for them to clear a weld bead and lay flat.
You on the other hand can just grind off the offending material!
Check your "tins" where they lay against the frame members and mark the frame for interference.

(PS... get your kid/helper/Nik to wear proper shoes in the shop...)

[JohnK]

The last few days have been an exercise in seeing how many different ways I can be a dumbass.

Exhibit 1: I was assembling the upper control arms, and was feeling pretty proud of myself for not falling victim to the "they're assembled backward" pitfall. I got them all turned around and everything was oriented the proper way and I put in the first Howe Racing ball joint. The instructions say to put some blue Loctite on the ball joint and put it in a vice and give it a little tug to snug it up. Now, being the smart guy that I am, I notice that there's a nice little feature on the top that I can get a wrench onto, so why mess with the vulgarity of putting it in a vice, right? I put a wrench to that little hex feature on the top and crank it down nice and tight! Oh hey... what?! What's that grease puking out of the ball joint, and why is it locked up now? Oh, that's for lash adjustment, you say? Ah well, there goes $75. Oh, and yes... blue Loctite does set up pretty quickly so getting the trashed ball joint back out was fun.

102795

I managed to get the second ball joint in without destroying it and got the arms adjusted and got the pivot endplay set, so as soon as my new ball joint arrives from Summit tomorrow I'll have the UCA's assembled and ready to go.

Exhibit 2: Rotor assembly and lock wiring. I have several torque wrenches for different torque ranges, so I got out my handy-dandy inch-pound torque wrench and set out to bolt together the hats to the rotors. The first rotor went together nicely. Red Loctite on all the bolts and then tightened them down to 155 inch-pounds in an alternating pattern. Yay for me! On to the second one. I put in all the bolts hand-tight with red Loctite and then pick up my torque wrench to tighten everything down, at which point it decided it had had enough and literally fell apart in my hands. The only question that then ran through my mind - over and over again - was how long does it take for red loctite to set up? Scrambling around furiously, I started grabbing other torque wrenches hoping I could find one that would work. My other inch-pound wrench is for carbon fiber bicycles, so only goes up to ~50 inch-pounds. That's no help. The next best was my smallest foot-pound wrench, which started at 20 foot-pounds. I fudged it down off the bottom of the scale to 13 foot-pounds and tightened everything up. Felt about right and nothing broke.

Now onto lock wiring. It looks so easy on Youtube, doesn't it? I spent about an hour and a half lock wiring today and managed to complete one rotor. I'm batting about 25% on successful attempts, but I figure it'll get better going forward. I also now have a pretty good sense for what acupuncture in one's fingertips feels like. That wire is just evil stuff.


Oof. At this pace, this is going to take longer (and be a bit more expensive) than I'd planned. Still having fun though...

[BadAsp427]

The last few days have been an exercise in seeing how many different ways I can be a dumbass.

Now onto lock wiring. It looks so easy on Youtube, doesn't it? I spent about an hour and a half lock wiring today and managed to complete one rotor. I'm batting about 25% on successful attempts, but I figure it'll get better going forward. I also now have a pretty good sense for what acupuncture in one's fingertips feels like. That wire is just evil stuff.


Your Cracking me up..... so your lock wire did not look like this when done????
102807

Hang in there, you are going to learn so many new things. It's all a part of the process.

[JohnK]

Your Cracking me up..... so your lock wire did not look like this when done????
102807

Hang in there, you are going to learn so many new things. It's all a part of the process.

Hahaha, no mine didn't look like that. I was having a hard enough time just wiring pairs of bolts together. Mine looked like this:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=102809&d=1551151581

I'm actually quite proud of the end result. I did learn a ton and had fun, even though I took ~4 attempts at each pair before getting a result I was satisfied with.

[Boydster]

Thats not bad, not bad at all. Good work.

[Fixit]

I also now have a pretty good sense for what acupuncture in one's fingertips feels like. That wire is just evil stuff.


102853

[BadAsp427]

Those actually look really good... Nice work...

[JohnK]

The chassis is off to powder coat and should be back early next week. The guys at the shop were all awesome when I dropped it off. They helped me unload it from the U-Haul and owner of the shop gave me a tour of the whole operation and was very excited to be working on something as cool as this. ;)

In the meantime, I've been doing some final prep on all the control arms so they'll be ready to install when the chassis is back. This mostly involved disassembling and re-assembling everything with anti-seize in all the appropriate locations. Let me just say that anti-seize is the devil's work. Once that jar is opened, it spreads like Ebola throughout the entire shop, regardless of how many times I change gloves, wipe things down, etc. Ugh.

When I did the initial assembly and test fit of the front UCA's I noticed that I wasn't able to get the shorter of the two couplers to the distance indicated in the manual to get the 7* caster for PS setups, but I didn't think much of it at the time as it was a rough setup.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=103716&d=1552489433

However, it bugged me enough that I did some research and discovered that this is a somewhat common issue and several others have cut the coupler sleeves and threaded arms down a bit to have enough adjustment range to get the alignment in spec. I figured that it was better to do this now, rather than discovering later on that I couldn't get alignment in spec and having to disassemble the front suspension to mod the UCA's. Overall the mod is fairly straightforward. I cut the tapered ends of the first coupler off on my bandsaw and dressed the ends on my bench disc sander. They came out looking very nice and clean. I then tried to cut the first threaded arm on the bandsaw. Hahahaha. That is some HARD steel. It completely destroyed my bandsaw blade and barely put a scratch on the threaded arm. Oh well, new blades on order from Amazon. I clamped the threaded arm in my padded jaws in the vice and cut it down with the cutoff tool, and then also dressed the end of it on the disc sander and it was good to go. Fun fact: cutting the arm got it so hot that it actually melted the padded vice jaws. :eek:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=103717&d=1552489471

I got everything re-assembled, adjusted to spec, and torqued down and the first arm is now good to go. I was able to get it aligned to the manual specs with some threads still showing on the shorter arm, so I still have room to adjust. It's nice peace of mind knowing that this has been dealt with. As soon as my new bandsaw blade shows up I'll get the second arm finished.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=103718&d=1552489498

[Cruzzz]

Good choice on making the modification to the sleeves now. Make sure when you reinstall them that the short side is towards the rear, grease fittings are pointed up, and the pivot bolts are bolt head up.

[JohnK]

Thanks! Yes, here's the driver's side ready to go, exactly as you've described. I still need to grease the poly bushings, but I'll do that after they're on the chassis.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=103730&d=1552518477

[JohnK]

Still waiting for the chassis to come back from powder coat. :( I got antsy and called today, and was advised that it'll be a few more days before its ready. They're killin' me!

In the meantime, I've been doing a little more component prep. I finally installed my new bandsaw blade and was able to finish the UCA mods and complete the second front UCA, so all the front and rear control arms are now ready to go. I also finally got around to prepping and painting/clear coating the IRS center section. I'm really happy with how the POR15 turned out compared to my first attempt on the rear knuckles.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=103853&d=1552715002

In other news... my Coyote arrived today! Coincidentally, we have some landscaping work going on right now. When the landscapers saw the truck roll up they asked if they could help unload it with their bobcat. Uh... yeah!! They had the whole pallet off the truck and into the garage in a couple of minutes. It'll be a bit before we're ready for it, but it's cool to have it sitting in the garage nonetheless.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=103852&d=1552714982

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=103854&d=1552715036

We'll probably assemble shocks/springs over the weekend, as well as prep/POR15 the front hubs. Hopefully the chassis will be back soon so we can start installing some of these things.

[Fixit]

Did you luck out with the Bobcat being there or what!! I had to roll mine up the drive with a pallet jack and a truck driver that was willing, but grumpy.

Good call on modifying the UCA sleeves now, and becoming a charter member of the "anti-seize everywhere" club.

104260

[JohnK]

Do you know when things have gone sideways on you? When you get this in the mail...

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=104466&d=1553554963

(rewind several days)

I'm running some errands and my phone rings. I see that it's the powder coating company calling. I can't pick up, but I've been expecting the call that the chassis is complete, so I'm pretty excited nonetheless. Several minutes later I retrieve the voicemail they've left, and my heart sinks. They're calling to tell me that while they were sandblasting the chassis they accidentally bent the rear section.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=104470&d=1553555003

It actually looks worse in person. They felt extremely bad and offered to do whatever it took to make it right, but it was a bummer nonetheless. After several phone calls and e-mail exchanges with them and with Dave B. at FFR who consulted with the design engineers, we collectively concluded that the best course of action was to replace the rear frame section. FFR fabbed the frame for me in a day, and after 2-day expedited shipping, I have it in my hot little hands at the moment. There's an excellent metal fab/welding shop a couple of doors down from the powder coaters that will handle the surgery, so I'm not concerned about that part. Hopefully, I can put this behind me and have a chassis back in the garage in the next several days.

On the bright side, this little delay has given me the opportunity to take care of some housecleaning in the shop. I cleaned out an old rolling tool chest, cut a piece of plywood for a top and bolted my old HF drill press to it. I added a Wen drill press table and a Wixey drill press laser to it, and I'm ready to start drilling aluminum panels. I can roll the entire cart out into the driveway to work in order to minimize the mess in the garage. It also gave me a place to put the myriad stickers I've already accumulated.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=104467&d=1553554978

I also uncrated the coyote with my son, and we mounted it onto a nice little cradle I picked up from Stumpy's Fabworks.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=104469&d=1553554994

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=104468&d=1553554987

It's on casters so I can move the engine around the shop pretty easily. I'm still waiting for my Quicktime bellhousing which should be here tomorrow, but we have a bunch of stuff we can do to the engine, such as the Moroso oil pan/pickup, replacing the flywheel (I picked up the Ford billet flywheel) and installing the clutch and pressure plate, alternator, power steering pump, etc. So there's no shortage of tasks to keep us busy despite the little snafu with the chassis. Onward!

[edwardb]

I also uncrated the coyote with my son, and we mounted it onto a nice little cradle I picked up from Stumpy's Fabworks.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=104468&d=1553554987

It's on casters so I can move the engine around the shop pretty easily. I'm still waiting for my Quicktime bellhousing which should be here tomorrow, but we have a bunch of stuff we can do to the engine, such as the Moroso oil pan/pickup, replacing the flywheel (I picked up the Ford billet flywheel) and installing the clutch and pressure plate, alternator, power steering pump, etc. So there's no shortage of tasks to keep us busy despite the little snafu with the chassis. Onward!

That's a nice looking cart. Assume you know that oil cooler won't fit and has to be removed. With the filter off, there's a hex in the end of the oil filter adapter. Turn that out and the oil cooler comes off. Then replace the long adapter with an AL3Z-6890-A short adapter, and your oil filter will mount directly to the block. Also, save the oil that's in the engine. Catch it in a clean container and put it back in after the engine is installed. Nine quarts of synthetic oil is worth the effort.

[JohnK]

Thanks so much. Yes, I had read about removing the cooler in your build thread but thanks for the P/N for the short adapter. I picked up a 5 gal. bucket with an o-ring seal on the lid and I'll definitely be saving the oil when I drain it.

[WIS89]

John-

Thanks for the tip on the drill press laser. I have an aftermarket piece on my miter saw, but didn't realize one was made for the drill press. Thanks to Amazon and you, I have one on the way!

Sorry about the frame trouble, but it looks like a decent resolution is in place. A couple of places I know would have tried to hide that from me, hoping I wouldn't notice.

I look forward to watching your progress. I hope your son enjoys it as much as mine have!

Regards,

Steve

[JohnK]

Haha - happy to spend other people's money! ;)

I dropped off the rear frame section this morning at the powder coaters, and they were wheeling the chassis over to the welding shop down the street as I left. They were pretty sure they'd have it complete by the end of the week. It works out OK for me, as we've been very busy planning a large family event anyway, so I haven't had a ton of time to work on the car.

Yes, so far my son is really enjoying it though he's already caused me a few heart attacks. We had the engine on the hoist the other day and had bolted the cradle to it. I decided to let him lower it down, and instructed him to open the valve on the jack *A TINY AMOUNT* to let the engine down slowly. Well, you can imagine what happened next - it was basically a freefall from a foot off the ground. I can confirm that the cradle and the mounting points on the engine are pretty stout.

[Fixit]

Another tip on the oil cooler...
The hex inside the nipple is (I think) a 14mm or something. I didn't have a 14mm-something Allen wrench around. However, the head of a 3/8" bolt fits perfectly.

I took one of the kit bolts that was about 3" long, threaded two nuts on it, jammed them together near the end of the bolt, then slid the bolt head into the adapter. A 9/16 wrench on the inboard nut will crack loose the adapter and spin it out. Spin in the new adapter, and use the outboard nut to snug it down. (Shadetree tools...)

[JohnK]

So, in another thread (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?31715-Coyote-Moroso-oil-pan-interference-question), I asked about possible mods to the Moroso oil pan for the coyote and received some very good advice to bolt up the pan and check for any interference by the dipstick before making any mods. Sure enough, when I installed the pan I could hear the dipstick making contact with metal before seating all the way. I pushed it in a dozen or so times and then pulled the pan to look for any marks the tip of the dipstick left in order to know where to drill my hole. Or so I thought...

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=104654&d=1553833456

You know what sucks worse than spending a half hour fastidiously cleaning out metal shavings from your oil pan? Realizing that the hole you drilled didn't solve the problem. It was then (and unfortunately only then) that I remembered that I have one of those little endoscope doodads that I had bought a long time ago. I stuffed it through the threaded hole at the front of the oil pan, and immediately saw the problem.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=104656&d=1553833482

The dipstick was literally making contact ~1mm from the edge of the hole I'd drilled. Armed with that information, I was able to enlarge the hole, clean out the oil pan *again*, and finally assemble everything and call it a night. Phew! That was a bit nervewracking.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=104655&d=1553833468

In other news, I got the call today that I've been anticipating for a very long time now... my chassis is powder coated and ready for pickup. With any luck, my next update should be with the chassis back in the shop and finally starting some assembly work.

[JohnK]

I was a bit frustrated after struggling with the front lower control arms yesterday, so I decided I needed a mental change of scenery and worked on mounting the power steering rack this morning. I'm using a Unisteer 3-turn rack along with the Breeze offset rack mount bushings. Breeze no longer sells PS racks but Mark directed me to Unisteer and they provided the same exact rack that Mark used to sell. Three turns lock-to-lock with 1" extensions. My first observation was that this was supposed to be a 3-turn rack but when I turned it from lock to lock I was only getting 2-3/4 turns. Hmmm... did Unisteer provide the wrong rack? I discovered later when I pulled the boots back that there was one plastic steering stop installed on the PS (and none on the DS). When I removed that, I had a 3-turn rack. Odd, but whatever.

I started to mount the rack and immediately ran into an interference problem where the rack boots were hitting the frame tab and not allowing the rack to sit low enough to get the bolts installed (see top two pictures below). I had read about other folks having to relieve the frame tabs in this area to provide clearance for the rack. Not thrilled about doing this, I decided that I'd try to get the rack centered first and see where it ended up. Since the offset bushings rotate, spinning them to move the rack side to side also moves the rack up. Perhaps this would give me the required clearance I needed. I cut the zipties off the inner ends of the boots and pulled them back (and discovered the steering stop) and immediately realized it doesn't appear that there's a specific reason that they need to be where they are. If I rotate them around so that the vent tube is running along the top of the rack rather than the front of the rack the boots are completely out of the way and the rack mounts up with no interference (see bottom two pictures).

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=105013&d=1554320049

So here's my question - is there any reason to not mount the boots with the vent tube running along the top of the rack? I don't want to discover 10 steps down the road that this is causing me some sort of interference problem, so I'd love some input on whether this is OK.

Centering the rack went pretty smoothly thanks to some very detailed threads I found here, so thanks to everyone that contributed to those. I just need to go pick up some beefy zip ties, and the rack will be all done.

[JohnK]

Quick update: I called Unisteer this morning and they confirmed that rotating the boots up like that will not affect the function of the rack. So, I'm going to go with it like this for now. If I run into an interference problem later on, I can always rotate the boots around to a better position if needed.

[JohnK]

The crowsfoot wrench set that I ordered finally arrived today, so I was finally able to get the castle nuts torqued down and get the front suspension mostly buttoned up. Before I progress any further, I wanted to see if you all wouldn't mind sanity-checking my front suspension to make sure I haven't missed something or done something stupid.

Thanks,
John

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=105465&d=1554939742

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=105464&d=1554939733

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=105463&d=1554939721

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=105462&d=1554939713

[JohnK]

Well, it's been a busy (mostly not in a good way) few weeks, as I've been dealing with a kidney stone and a few other issues but I've finally had some time to get back on the build and have now wrapped up the suspension and brake installation. I threw on a couple of wheels to verify fit and to see what it looks like with wheels on. I'm pretty happy with how it's coming together so far. I'm planning to install the steering components next, and then I'll have a steerable roller and I'll be able to get it off the frame cart.

I've ordered a few sheetmetal items from FFMetal ("Fat tire" F panels, .090 firewall) and those should be here soon, so I'll be tackling drilling all the sheetmetal next, and then brake/fuel lines.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=106843&d=1557182287

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=106842&d=1557182279

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=106841&d=1557182268

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=106844&d=1557182297

[JohnK]

One quick question - the front hubs have dust caps covering the spindle nuts but I didn't see any similar caps for the rear hubs/nuts. Are there supposed to be dust caps on the rear hubs?

[edwardb]

One quick question - the front hubs have dust caps covering the spindle nuts but I didn't see any similar caps for the rear hubs/nuts. Are there supposed to be dust caps on the rear hubs?

Nope.

Your build is looking great BTW. Nice and clean and I really like the silver powder coat.

[JohnK]

Thank you so much! I really like the look of the 20th anniversary roadsters like yours, so I was going for a similar look.

[JohnK]

I've been traveling the last week or so and when I returned yesterday I found that my package from FFMetal had arrived, so I spent some time today installing the "fat tire" F panels. I had already drilled the stock F panels and wasn't thrilled about how much turn radius I'd lose to tire interference with those. I was hoping that these new F panels would allow full lock-to-lock clearance without having to use steering limiters on the PS rack. Short story - yes, they do! FWIW - I'm running 245/40R18 on the front. The new F panels actually provide additional clearance in two ways. First, they have a series of bends that provide extra clearance for the inside edge of the tire. Second, they are a couple of inches longer than the stock F panels, thereby moving the elephant ears back and providing extra clearance for the outside edge of the tire. By my crude estimation I was losing a 1/4 turn in each direction due to interference, so was losing a 1/2 turn on a 3 turn rack with the stock F panels. Now I have full lock-to-lock turning with at least an inch (and more like 2 inches in most areas) of clearance between tire and sheet metal. Things will probably get a little tighter once the car is on the ground and the elephant ears are fitted properly but all in all, I'm very happy with the extra clearance these F panels provide.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=107369&d=1558050143

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=107368&d=1558050134

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=107367&d=1558050124

[JohnK]

While I'm talking about F-panels and elephant ears, let me ask a few questions about attaching the two together. I'm planning to use Nutserts to connect them. Which side should the screw head be on? I'm planning to use Alex's wheel well liners so I believe that the wheel well side won't be visible, so should the screw heads be on the inside (facing the headers? This way, the view from inside the engine compartment is clean? Second, I'm guessing the "safest" way to proceed is to drill the F panel and install the nutserts but not drill the elephant ears until I have the body on and am doing final fitment. Is that right?

Thanks,
John

[JohnK]

I was doing some work on the DS foot box sheet metal last night, and one of the pieces I drilled was the foot box top access panel cover. I actually spent a good deal of time on that little piece, cleaning up the edges with a file, getting the bend angle right, and then getting it positioned and drilled/cleco'd in preparation for installing nutserts to secure it. It wasn't until later that evening, in re-reading through some other build threads, that I made the sad discovery that the body covers several of the mounting holes I'd drilled. I debated all sorts of clever ways to rig up dummy screws in a few holes, but in the end a quick call to FFR and $19 later, I have a new access panel cover in the mail. At least this screw-up was pretty cheap. Hopefully, all my mistakes will be this cheap and easy to fix. At this rate, I'll have a nice little "wall of shame" with all the parts I've managed to screw up in the course of the build.

[JohnK]

I've been working on the Wilwood pedal box today, and I've run into a bit of a surprise that I'd love some input on. The clutch pedal appears to be hitting the 3/4" tube and not able to extend fully to the back of the footbox. I'd read about this issue in many older build threads but was under the impression that this issue had been resolved on the newer frames, so I'm a bit surprised to run into this issue. I don't see how I can adjust anything (or have installed anything incorrectly to have caused this), so I'm a bit confused at the moment. The clutch pedal, when fully depressed to the point that it's hitting the 3/4" frame member, is still ~9/16" away from the footbox back. Is that "close enough" or do I need to do something here to resolve this issue?

Thanks,
John

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=107558&d=1558217347

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=107557&d=1558217336

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=107556&d=1558217323

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=107555&d=1558217313

[edwardb]

Surprised to see. But the previous interference problem was way before that. Insulation and carpet will take up some of that space. And depending on your clutch setup you may need a stop before getting all the way to the back anyway. One of the common solutions was to take a little bite out of the side of the clutch arm where it interferes. It's plenty strong enough. Engineers (which I am not...) have posted detailed data that confirms. You could wait until you see if you really need to trim it. But then it would be a lot harder to get in and out or reach. Or you could put a block of wood on the frame location and a couple bumps with a big hammer would clear it. That's just thinwall tubing there. I cringe when I type that, because not my style. But I do know that was one of the recommended solutions before.

[JohnK]

Thank you. Yes, I was quite surprised to see it too. I'd read about your mods in your build thread but had subsequently read that this issue had gone away, so I was questioning whether it was something I did wrong. I'm more inclined to mod the clutch pedal than to try to massage the tubing. I don't think it would take much material removal from the pedal to clear it, and I guess now would be as good a time as any to do it since the whole car and shop are covered in metal shavings and bits from all the sheet metal drilling.

[Boydster]

Mine is a 2017, and I had to clearance it. I took some off the pedal. It required less than the depth of the flange that was touching, and never approached the web of the clutch leg. I smoothed it all out so there were no sharp edges, painted it up and never looked back.

[Fixit]

My frame is an early 2018, and I had a very similar clearance issue. It would just hit with a fraction of travel left.
Take a look here (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?27544-The-40-Watt-Garage-9365-Windshield&p=336272&viewfull=1#post336272) - I made up a small stop-block. Now that the car is together and running, this fraction of travel isn't noticed/needed for full clutch disengagement, and gives peace of mind that you're pressing against a purpose-built stop, not the frame or footbox tin.

[JohnK]

Thank you both. Boyd, in the end this is exactly what I decided to do also. I took some material off the side of the pedal and it now goes all the way to the back wall. I still need to paint it, but I'm glad to have dealt with it now. John, I like you pedal stop design a lot. I may implement it once I've got the hydraulic clutch set up and bled, and I know where I want to position it.

Thanks,
John

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=107635&d=1558313842

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=107634&d=1558313833

[Mark Eaton]

I did what Fixit did. Plenty of travel to actuate my hydraulic clutch before it hits the chassis

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=105485&d=1554956292

[JohnK]

A bit of work going on on several fronts lately. I'm continuing to work on drilling all the sheetmetal. So far both footboxes and everything forward of the firewall are done, as is the passenger floor. I've also fabbed up a patch panel to cover up the e-brake hole since I'll be installing an E-Stopp instead of an e-brake handle.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=108446&d=1559869106

It's not much to look at as far as sheetmetal fabrication goes, but it's my first attempt at making a panel so I'm proud of it nonetheless. :)

I also received the replacement DS footbox access cover that I ordered after realizing that I drilled a bunch of holes in areas where I won't be able to access screws once the body is on. Question - here's the old cover. I've numbered the holes I drilled 1 - 13. Which of these should I not drill in the new piece? From photos I've seen, I think I should not drill holes 4 - 9. Is that right?

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=108445&d=1559869094

On a separate front, I've been working on some driveline assembly. I had all sorts of fun with dial indicating the bellhousing. I won't go into it here since It's covered ad nauseam in a separate dedicated thread. You can read about it here (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?32370-Double-check-my-bellhousing-alignment-please).

Thankfully, that's behind me now and I did a bit more work re-installing the clutch and pressure plate, getting the clutch arm angle set, and finally bolting on the bellhousing for the (hopefully) last time. I wanted to double-check that this clutch arm angle looks OK?

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=108444&d=1559868988

I have a few leftover parts from Quicktime. I think I know what most of them are, but there are a couple I don't recognize and want to make sure I didn't accidentally leave something out that should have been installed.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=108443&d=1559868978

From the bottom up - one of the two adapter rings will go between the bellhousing and transmission. I'll see which one is the right fit for the TKO600. The assortment of parts in the middle are for other types of clutch release setups, so are truly extra. The two bushings along the top, though, are puzzling me. Can someone tell me what those are for?

Thanks,
John

[JohnK]

I didn't have a lot of time to devote to the build today, but I did manage to get the transmission married up with the engine. I'm pretty happy about this milestone even though I won't be ready to drop it in for a little while. I still have a lot of little engine/trans prep details to address but so far I've installed the big items - Moroso oil pan, alternator, KRC power steering pump, removal of oil cooler.

I'm wondering if it's OK to leave the transmission hanging off the engine like shown or should it be supported while stored like this?

Also, any input on my question above about drilling the DS footbox access cover would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
John

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=108490&d=1559952859

[dncharo]

John,
For the footbox cover, this is what mine looked like when I received the kit. So not drilling holes 4-9 looks about right to me...

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=77129&d=1511718235

[JohnK]

Thank you! I had photographed all the sheetmetal before I pulled it off, but I didn't take any pictures of the sheetmetal before removing the body, so that's very helpful.

[JohnK]

Quick question regarding the installation of Forte's hydraulic clutch. All the photos I've seen of the adapter that goes on the clutch fork show the bolt installed somewhere on the outer pair of holes, and the bracket hanging out past the edge of the clutch fork. There's actually another hole further in, and if I flip the bracket around and install it through that hole the end of the bracket isn't hanging out past the end of the fork. Is there any reason not to install it this way? (I am planning to cut that little bolt shorter once I know where exactly I'm planning to mount the bracket.

Thanks,
John

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=108533&d=1560039258

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=108532&d=1560039250

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=108534&d=1560039270

[buddyb]

Thank you for posting all of the pics. You have helped me to be able to move forward. We have almost identical kits. MKIV with 5.0 Coyote but added the Boss intake, TKO 600, Moser 8.8 with 3.55s i believe, and the Halibrandt 18x9s in front and 18x11s in back........

[JohnK]

It's been a while since I updated this thread, but I'm finally back on the build after a few months off. I'm starting back in with a few small items to get my feet wet, so to speak. First, I worked on getting the gas tank assembled. I put together the Walbro fuel pump on the Pro-M fuel pump hanger, and then went ahead and installed it into the tank. The instructions indicate that you have to cut a couple of notches in the tank opening, but I seemed to recall at least one person mentioning that they were able to get the assembly into the tank without any cutting, so I figured I'd give it a try. Nothing to lose, right? Sure enough, with some very careful maneuvering and some slight flexing of the return tube, I was able to gently coerce the fuel pump/hanger assembly into position without having to make any cuts. That was a huge relief to not have to worry about cleaning out a bunch of metal shavings out of the tank. I then tested the fuel level sender and installed it, along with the Breeze big bore check valve and the filler neck. However, when I went to install the tank I ran into the issue that many others have encountered, namely the front two bolts are not quite long enough to be able to get the tank straps on them. Normally this would be a quick trip to the hardware store but with the current shelter in place a "quick trip to the hardware store" involves standing in a line outside the store (appropriately spaced 6' apart) for an hour waiting to get in. So, I've ordered the bolts (along with some other things) from McMaster and I'll hopefully be able to install the tank on Tuesday.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=127305&d=1587959949

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=127301&d=1587959898

Next I decided I'd work on the mounting bracket for the CNC triple reservoirs. I've spent a fair amount of time looking into the various approaches that others here have used to mount the reservoirs. After some consideration I decided I'd fabricate the bracket out of some 2" x 3" by 1/4" thick aluminum angle stock. I wanted the reservoir to be level with the ground (or at least parallel with the 4" main tubes) so this would require some interesting angling of the reservoir on the bracket.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=127304&d=1587959939

This is where I'm planning to mount it. This position puts the front edge of the reservoir 9.5" forward of the footbox, and the edge of the mounting bracket is 10" from the footbox. Does this sound reasonable? What I'd read is that 12" was the max. distance from the footbox before it interferes with the hood strut, so I think I'm OK here but would love some feedback before drilling the 3/4" tube and mounting the bracket.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=127303&d=1587959925

Here it is, all fabbed up and ready for powder coat and mounting to the 3/4" tube. Shorter bolts are on order from McMaster. These are just some I had laying around for a mockup:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=127302&d=1587959914

-John

[edwardb]

I think that aluminum angle should be able to hold the reservoirs. :p That's a beefy piece. The location should work out fine. Nice work.

[JohnK]

Thanks! Yes, 1/4" thick is definitely overkill, but it was the only thickness that McMaster had available in aluminum angle stock that large. The bracket is not as heavy as it looks, and the thickness provided for a full 5 threads of engagement on the top screws that are tapped into it.

[edwardb]

Thanks! Yes, 1/4" thick is definitely overkill, but it was the only thickness that McMaster had available in aluminum angle stock that large. The bracket is not as heavy as it looks, and the thickness provided for a full 5 threads of engagement on the top screws that are tapped into it.

Just pulling your chain. Looks fine. :)

[JohnK]

I'm continuing work on the seemingly never-ending sheetmetal fitting. I'm going to breathe a big sigh of relief (and then spend 10 hours vacuuming aluminum shavings in the garage) when I'm finished fitting all the sheetmetal. Over the last few days I've been working on the Russ Thompson drop trunk mod, and I'm pleased with how it turned out. I don't have a lot (OK, any) experience with sheetmetal work prior to starting this build, so I deliberated for a looooong time on whether I wanted to tackle the drop trunk mod, but in the end I decided to do it and am so glad I did. I learned a lot along the way. Here's what it looks like at the moment:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=127818&d=1588730148

I'm now working my way through the rest of the trunk aluminum, so the end is in sight, but I have a couple of questions:

1) When I drilled/cleco'ed the rear of the lower trunk floor, it caused the rearmost part that just hangs out there to get really wavy. (see photo below). I'm thinking of sandwiching on another piece of aluminum underneath it to stiffen it up. Is this normal? Do you think sandwiching on another piece of .040 wll straighten it out, or is .090 needed to give enough stiffness?

2) Regarding the little blank-off piece that fills in the hole on the passenger side rear fuel tank strap - if I install it so that it covers the hole (see photo below), it seems that there would be no way to be able to drop the gas tank in the future, as the blank-off plate wouldn't allow the strap to swing or be removed. I'm tempted to install this blank-off with rivnuts so it can be removed in the future if needed. The other options are to set it further back so that the eye of the strap could fit through the hole (but that would leave a big hole) or just drill out the rivets if I ever needed to drop the tank in the future (sounds like a PITA). Thoughts? BTW - the big chunk missing from the powder coat on the tank strap is from pounding on it to try to make it round enough for a bolt to pass through. That'll have to get re-painted prior to final assembly.

Thanks,
John

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=127817&d=1588730138

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=127816&d=1588730126

[Kool AC]

I have a few leftover parts from Quicktime. I think I know what most of them are, but there are a couple I don't recognize and want to make sure I didn't accidentally leave something out that should have been installed.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=108443&d=1559868978

From the bottom up - one of the two adapter rings will go between the bellhousing and transmission. I'll see which one is the right fit for the TKO600. The assortment of parts in the middle are for other types of clutch release setups, so are truly extra. The two bushings along the top, though, are puzzling me. Can someone tell me what those are for?

Thanks,
John[/QUOTE]

The bushings at the top of the photo, the concentric counterbore and offset counterbore are for the bolts that go through the dowel holes into the cylinder block. The offset counterbore piece goes on the right side.127832

[JohnK]

The bushings at the top of the photo, the concentric counterbore and offset counterbore are for the bolts that go through the dowel holes into the cylinder block. The offset counterbore piece goes on the right side.127832

Thanks for that! Any idea what their purpose is? I'm sure some engineer spent a lot of time designing them, but for the life of me I can't figure out what they do. My bell housing seems to have gone together perfectly well without them so I'm wondering if I bother putting them in. I've not seen them in anyone else's Coyote assembly photos either.

[edwardb]

I'm now working my way through the rest of the trunk aluminum, so the end is in sight, but I have a couple of questions:

1) When I drilled/cleco'ed the rear of the lower trunk floor, it caused the rearmost part that just hangs out there to get really wavy. (see photo below). I'm thinking of sandwiching on another piece of aluminum underneath it to stiffen it up. Is this normal? Do you think sandwiching on another piece of .040 wll straighten it out, or is .090 needed to give enough stiffness?

2) Regarding the little blank-off piece that fills in the hole on the passenger side rear fuel tank strap - if I install it so that it covers the hole (see photo below), it seems that there would be no way to be able to drop the gas tank in the future, as the blank-off plate wouldn't allow the strap to swing or be removed. I'm tempted to install this blank-off with rivnuts so it can be removed in the future if needed. The other options are to set it further back so that the eye of the strap could fit through the hole (but that would leave a big hole) or just drill out the rivets if I ever needed to drop the tank in the future (sounds like a PITA). Thoughts? BTW - the big chunk missing from the powder coat on the tank strap is from pounding on it to try to make it round enough for a bolt to pass through. That'll have to get re-painted prior to final assembly.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=127817&d=1588730138

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=127816&d=1588730126

1. I had the same thing happen on one of my Mk4 builds, although not that pronounced. I did add a doubler along the bottom edge from .090 aluminum. Didn't 100% solve it but made it better and when done and carpeted, isn't noticeable. I don't think .040 would do too much. Curious what other suggestions you might get on this one.

2. I would just rivet it. That's what I've done. Yes, you could drill them out if needed. But I've dropped the tanks several times by only taking the front bolts out. Not the back ones. The straps are flexible enough that with the front bolts out, the tank is easy enough to get out. A little gloss black paint will fix that chip. Won't be noticeable and will prevent it from getting rusty.

[Kool AC]

Thanks for that! Any idea what their purpose is? I'm sure some engineer spent a lot of time designing them, but for the life of me I can't figure out what they do. My bell housing seems to have gone together perfectly well without them so I'm wondering if I bother putting them in. I've not seen them in anyone else's Coyote assembly photos either.

The holes in the bell housing that fit over the dowels on the cylinder block are larger than the head of the bolt. The bushings are basically just washers to cover the larger hole.

[JohnK]

Just a quick update on the rear trunk floor issue. One suggestion I received from a forum member was that this issue was a result of the lower part of the rear frame being bowed inward. The thought that this might be the case was bothersome after I'd already been through this issue once (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?31167-Greek-Guys-Garage-Roadster-Build-9509-(drop-trunk-mod-some-sheetmetal-questions)&p=362093&viewfull=1#post362093), but removing the trunk floor sheetmetal and laying a 4' level across the lower 3/4" frame member revealed that this was indeed the case. It wasn't out of straight by much (maybe 3/16") but enough that when the trunk floor sheetmetal was cleco'ed to it, it pulled it out of shape. Cursing about it wasn't going to fix it (trust me, I tried). I also tried "persuading" it back in place by laying a piece of 2x6 against it and striking it as hard as I had the nerve to with a mini-sledge. The last thing I wanted to do was crack a weld, so I decided to just work around it. I ended up creating a 3/4" wide by 22" long shim out of .090 sheetmetal that I put between the sheetmetal and frame roughly between the two rear uprights that the gas tank sits against to fill most of the gap. I also added a 2-1/2" wide strip of .090 aluminum underneath the overhanging part. The combination of filling the gap with the shim and adding the stiffener did the trick. The waviness is now totally gone. I'm not super-happy about that frame member being bent (slightly) again, but it is what it is and I'm moving on.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=128121&d=1589159286

[JohnK]

I've been playing around with solving a few small challenges lately. One of them was how to cleanly pass the hoses from the brake and clutch MC's through the DS footbox front wall to the reservoirs. I've seen where others have made sheetmetal blank-offs with holes for the hoses, but I wanted to see if I could come up with a way to use a rubber grommet in the unused clutch cable hole. After playing around with a few ideas, I've finally come up with a solution I'm happy with. I found a rubber plug (basically a grommet with no inner hole) that fits the existing hole in the sheet metal perfectly. It's McMaster P/N 9600K526 "Push-In Panel Plug for 1-7/8" ID". After doing a bit more research I found a hollow punch set from Harbor Freight that supposedly could drill cleanly through soft materials like rubber or leather. I first tried out the punch on an old panel plug I had laying around. It drilled the holes even more cleanly than I could have hoped for. The photos below are basically a "quick and dirty" proof of concept. The plug fits the hole in the sheet metal perfectly. The punch drills the holes cleanly. I then cut out the little bit of remaining rubber joining the insides of the three holes and am left with a Mickey Mouse-shaped hole that the three hoses can pass through cleanly. The final photo shows how the hoses pass through the Mickey Mouse hole with very little remaining gap. (Note that this was on an old plug I was experimenting with first). I could probably put a little silicone on the inside, but not sure that's even necessary given how tight a fit it is. I've got 4 more of these plugs to play with so I'll get everything nice and centered up on the next one. Overall, I think this will work out very nicely.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=129539&d=1591387202

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=129538&d=1591387193

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=129537&d=1591387182

[JohnK]

I've been working on the install of the E-Stopp electric parking brake for a bit now. I've been throwing around several ideas for places to mount it, and I thought I had finally come up with a pretty good solution that I had asked for feedback on in a separate thread here (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?36126-Feedback-requested-on-potential-location-for-E-Stopp-electric-parking-brake). I had a local shop fab the mounting tray for me out of 1/8" 5052 aluminum. Based on the feedback in that thread, I thought the location in the upper trunk would work OK, but still had some nagging concerns about accessibility of roll bar bolts and harness mounts so I took one more look around to see if there was anywhere else I could mount it that would be out of the way and wouldn't impact accessibility of other items. One other location I'd seen used for the E-Stopp was the area under the trunk floor in front of the fuel tank. After some measuring and checking, it turned out that the mounting tray would fit in there nicely, with only minor modifications to my original design.

- The first photo shows the mounting tray I had fabricated with the E-Stopp and cable guides installed.

- The second photo shows the tray with the E-Stopp temporarily held in place against the upper trunk floor where it will be installed.

- The third photo shows the mounting tabs I installed on the tray. These are made out of .090 aluminum and installed on the tray with 3/16" stainless steel rivets. The tabs sit against the 3/4" frame tubes and are held onto the frame tubes with 10-32 rivet nuts.

- The fourth photo shows the tray in its final position. It's now all ready to be powder coated along with the rest of the sheet metal.

The entire tray can be dropped if the E-Stopp ever needs to be serviced or repaired (though it will likely involve dropping the gas tank). All in all, I like this location much better than mounting it in the trunk as I had previously planned.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=129940&d=1592108002

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=129941&d=1592108024

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=129939&d=1592107977

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=129938&d=1592107951

[toadster]

I've been working on the install of the E-Stopp electric parking brake for a bit now. I've been throwing around several ideas for places to mount it, and I thought I had finally come up with a pretty good solution that I had asked for feedback on in a separate thread here (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?36126-Feedback-requested-on-potential-location-for-E-Stopp-electric-parking-brake). I had a local shop fab the mounting tray for me out of 1/8" 5052 aluminum. Based on the feedback in that thread, I thought the location in the upper trunk would work OK, but still had some nagging concerns about accessibility of roll bar bolts and harness mounts so I took one more look around to see if there was anywhere else I could mount it that would be out of the way and wouldn't impact accessibility of other items. One other location I'd seen used for the E-Stopp was the area under the trunk floor in front of the fuel tank. After some measuring and checking, it turned out that the mounting tray would fit in there nicely, with only minor modifications to my original design.

- The first photo shows the mounting tray I had fabricated with the E-Stopp and cable guides installed.

- The second photo shows the tray with the E-Stopp temporarily held in place against the upper trunk floor where it will be installed.

- The third photo shows the mounting tabs I installed on the tray. These are made out of .090 aluminum and installed on the tray with 3/16" stainless steel rivets. The tabs sit against the 3/4" frame tubes and are held onto the frame tubes with 10-32 rivet nuts.

- The fourth photo shows the tray in its final position. It's now all ready to be powder coated along with the rest of the sheet metal.

The entire tray can be dropped if the E-Stopp ever needs to be serviced or repaired (though it will likely involve dropping the gas tank). All in all, I like this location much better than mounting it in the trunk as I had previously planned.


wow that's a honkin piece of install - looks awesome! assuming you're not going to use the FFR provided cables? seems way too long IMHO

[JohnK]

Thanks! No, I'll be using a set of Wilwood universal trim-to-fit parking brake cables (https://www.wilwood.com/Hardware/HardwareProd?itemno=330-9371). They come 8' long and you trim them to the specific length you need.

[Fman]

I've been playing around with solving a few small challenges lately. One of them was how to cleanly pass the hoses from the brake and clutch MC's through the DS footbox front wall to the reservoirs. I've seen where others have made sheetmetal blank-offs with holes for the hoses, but I wanted to see if I could come up with a way to use a rubber grommet in the unused clutch cable hole. After playing around with a few ideas, I've finally come up with a solution I'm happy with. I found a rubber plug (basically a grommet with no inner hole) that fits the existing hole in the sheet metal perfectly. It's McMaster P/N 9600K526 "Push-In Panel Plug for 1-7/8" ID". After doing a bit more research I found a hollow punch set from Harbor Freight that supposedly could drill cleanly through soft materials like rubber or leather. I first tried out the punch on an old panel plug I had laying around. It drilled the holes even more cleanly than I could have hoped for. The photos below are basically a "quick and dirty" proof of concept. The plug fits the hole in the sheet metal perfectly. The punch drills the holes cleanly. I then cut out the little bit of remaining rubber joining the insides of the three holes and am left with a Mickey Mouse-shaped hole that the three hoses can pass through cleanly. The final photo shows how the hoses pass through the Mickey Mouse hole with very little remaining gap. (Note that this was on an old plug I was experimenting with first). I could probably put a little silicone on the inside, but not sure that's even necessary given how tight a fit it is. I've got 4 more of these plugs to play with so I'll get everything nice and centered up on the next one. Overall, I think this will work out very nicely.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=129539&d=1591387202

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=129538&d=1591387193

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=129537&d=1591387182

Once again John thanks for posting this up! I was just in my garage yesterday looking at my three hoses thinking how I was going to make them fit properly with a grommet in the clutch hole....you just answered my question.

Build looks great!:D

[JohnK]

Thanks Travis. My work time on the car lately has been really sporadic... an hour here, a couple hours there... so I've been mostly tackling small items. I'm almost done with the sheetmetal mods and I'm hoping to be able to drop off the entire batch of sheet metal to the powder coaters soon and move on the brake and fuel lines.

[Fman]

Thanks Travis. My work time on the car lately has been really sporadic... an hour here, a couple hours there... so I've been mostly tackling small items. I'm almost done with the sheetmetal mods and I'm hoping to be able to drop off the entire batch of sheet metal to the powder coaters soon and move on the brake and fuel lines.

I am in the same situation, summer is busy for me with work and family stuff... I try and get some build time in each week, it is definitely therapy for me! Although, I have to be careful too, I want my wife to actually like this car... gotta balance out the time between them both:D

We all appreciate you documenting your build, always nice to pick up some tips during this process! I am also hoping to start my brake lines soon...

[JohnK]

Here's another small update, but another item that I've been working on in the background for several months. I decided pretty early on that I liked the look of a wood steering wheel, but wanted something that was smaller diameter and thicker grip than the FFR wood steering wheel. I had found what seemed like the perfect steering wheel (for me) - a Nardi 330mm "Classic" wood steering wheel. The problem was how to mount it to the Russ Thompson turn signal hub, as it's a different bolt pattern than the FFR Moto-lita bolt pattern. A few months went by and I saw how several folks had added the NRG quick release to their Russ Thompson turn signal hubs, and I decided that I'd like to add that as well. It turns out that this actually solved a big problem for me, as the NRG hub already has bolt patterns for Momo/Sparco and Nardi/personal (70mm and 74mm 6-bolt patterns). I still had to drill and tap the RT hub like the others have done, but I didn't need to drill a new bolt pattern in the steering wheel. Viola' - how to mount the steering wheel had been solved.

Now the last remaining piece to the puzzle was a purely cosmetic one, but I wanted a Shelby Cobra emblem in the center of the steering wheel. It turns out that finding a Shelby Cobra emblem for a Nardi steering wheel is like searching for hens' teeth. However, after a lot of searching I finally found a source online that sells vintage Nardi steering wheels and center emblems for a number of different brands (Aston Martin, Bentley, BMW, Ferrari, etc.). Some of their vintage NOS wheels are just incredible (and incredibly expensive!) But, lo and behold, after some e-mail back and forth with the very nice lady that runs the company, it turns out that they had a vintage Cloissonne' (enameled metal) emblem that would fit my wheel. This is literally the jewel to top off the whole setup. I finally got it all put together today and I'm sooo excited. It'll be many months before I get to drive the car, but being able to cross this off my list of a million little challenges to solve is a biggie.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=130462&d=1593039540

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=130463&d=1593039550

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=130464&d=1593039561

[JB in NOVA]

Very nice! I won't lie, I'm envious.

[KDubU]

That is a nice steering wheel! Good find on the center piece but I noticed you’d did not include the name of said company you got it from? ;)

[JohnK]

Haha - you're right. Sorry about that! Here you go...

https://wood-steering-wheels.com

[JohnK]

A big batch of sheet metal is finally off to powder coat, so now I get to work on a few other items while I'm waiting for those. They should be done by the end of next week. In the meantime, here are a couple of updates.

First, my new seats arrived today. These are the Ultrashield Cobra bucket seats (https://www.ultrashieldrace.com/catalog/product/seats-hot-rod-cobra-bucket/cobra-bucket-seat/). I ordered them with the frames powder coated in semi-gloss black, and they look really sharp. I'm having the Breeze seat bases coated in semi-gloss black to match. I was looking for something that provided a bit more safety than the leather roadster seats that came with my kit, as well as a built-in slot for the anti-sub strap. These definitely fit the bill! The feedback I'd heard on the seats was that the vinyl was *just ok* so I was planning to have the covers re-done in leather as well as adding an inflatable lumbar support and seat heaters. I'm pleasantly surprised that the vinyl is actually much nicer than I was expecting. I will likely still have them re-done in leather so that they match the center console and the dash and door cards, but they're definitely good-looking seats out of the box. At 17" wide, they're a touch wide for me, so I'll probably have the upholsterer add a bit more padding in the sides, but overall I think they'll work out great.

Question - The Breeze angled seat base seems like a pretty stout piece of steel. Would this be an acceptable place to mount the sub strap or do I need to devise a way to attach the sub strap to the frame?

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=131542&d=1594412074

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=131541&d=1594412055

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=131540&d=1594412043

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=131539&d=1594411994

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=131538&d=1594411979

Another little item that I finished up was the IRS vent. I had ordered the Ford pre-bent vent tube, and had tried to find ways to route that but couldn't come up with anything I was happy with. I tried heating and re-bending the tube, but that didn't work out too well. In the end I just took the two ends off the OEM part and bent a short tube out of 5/16" Nicopp. Simple and clean.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=131536&d=1594411943

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=131537&d=1594411956

[JohnK]

I spent the weekend working on a few items in the pedal box. I want to get the pedal box completely sorted before my sheet metal is back from PC. First, I tackled the coyote DBW pedal. I started by trimming the upper module of the pedal per the FFR instructions, and then also trimmed the left-side mounting tabs down. I ended up with this:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=131722&d=1594654043

FFR provides a mounting bracket for the coyote pedal, but I wasn't thrilled with the resulting position, so I decided to copy Paul's (Edwardb) excellent mount. I made it out of 3/16" aluminum. Here's how it turned out (it'll head off to the powder coater today):

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=131721&d=1594654033

I really like the position of the coyote pedal but the pad was way too low. I do like the look of the factory pedal pad and wanted to retain it, so decided to follow the FFR instructions to flip it over and slightly trim the pedal arm. I flipped the pad over, then trimmed the arm down until it fit entirely within the pocket in the back of the pedal pad:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=131717&d=1594653985

I was a little worried that the pad might twist since the original tab that held it in position got cut off, so I filed a notch in the top of the pad and the pedal arm now nests in the notch and prevents the pad from rotating:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=131719&d=1594654004

Here's what the finished pedal looks like now:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=131718&d=1594653993

Next up was the coyote bottom clutch switch. FFR provides a mounting bracket for the switch itself, but does not not provide any way of actuating it if using a hydraulic clutch. Given that this location is impossible to access after the body is on, my goal was to come up with an actuator that didn't rely solely on the jam nut tightness to prevent it from rotating out of position. After trying out a few different concepts, I came up with this u-shaped doohickey. I drilled and tapped for a 1/4-20 set screw in the side of it that tightens against the side of the clutch arm clevis and, along with the jam nut, really locks the actuator in position and prevents if from shifting at all. The clutch arm clevis and clutch switch plunger are not in the same plane, so I put a small twist into the actuator to raise the pad so that the plunger makes contact in the center of the actuator arm:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=131716&d=1594653976

Here it is in position. It activates the bottom switch with the clutch pedal about 1-1/2" from the pedal box wall, and the switch bracket is in the middle of it's adjustment range so plenty of room to adjust if necessary during final assembly. It's now ready to go off for powder coat too:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=131714&d=1594653967

[JohnK]

I picked up a large batch of 74 parts from the powder coater on Monday. After doing an inventory and sorting everything out, I started installing pieces yesterday. I'm thrilled with how the color turned out. It's the same color that I had the frame coated in - Cardinal GR-06 silver metallic. They also gave me a can of spray paint that matches the PC. That was handy for touching up in a few places like where I cut off the radiator mounting tubes.

First up was the bottom clutch switch and actuator:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=132240&d=1595431021

The first piece of sheet metal to go in was the F-panel. I put a strip of 3M VHB tape in the area that I can't rivet. I also had all the brake fitting mounting tabs powder coated so I was finally able to install the SS flex lines on the calipers.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=132239&d=1595431012

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=132238&d=1595431002

Next, I installed the firewall and PS footbox.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=132237&d=1595430991

Everything is coming together nicely so far. Big thanks to everyone for all the helpful tips in this thread (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?36683-Nice-looking-caulk-joints). The combination of windex and Goo-Gone makes cleaning up any silicone that squeezes out very simple, and leaves a really tidy joint. I ended up going with GE Silicone II in metallic grey, which is a perfect match for the powder coat color.

Up to this point I've left the chassis on the frame cart, but it's increasingly getting in the way, so I'll be getting the frame up on stands on the lift, and removing the frame cart so I can keep moving on sheet metal and then move on to brake and fuel lines.

[KDubU]

The powdered coating looks really nice. Can’t answer you on the submarine belt as I was never able to make it work in mine.

[JohnK]

Now that I have the mounting tray for the E-Stopp back from powder coat, I went ahead and finished up the installation and shot a quick video of it in operation. I'm thrilled to finally have all the details and cable routing sorted out and the installation completed. I wanted to get this done before any of the trunk sheet metal went in. The built-in beeper is seriously annoying and unnecessary since the billet LED button blinks red when setting/releasing the brake, so it'll go away when I finalize the electrical side of it. Without further ado, here it is in action:


https://youtu.be/KCW8XMKq4ks

[JohnK]

I was reviewing Paul's (Edwardb's) excellent Coupe build thread recently, and came across his post on wipers here (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?26630-Edwardb%92s-Gen-3-Type-65-Coyote-Coupe-59-Build-Complete-and-Graduated&p=317637&viewfull=1#post317637). I was intrigued by the idea of having a better alternative to the Lucas-style wipers that FFR provides, as I haven't heard too many flattering things about those. I looked into the wipers Paul used on the coupe build, and they look like a much nicer setup. One lingering question I had though, was whether I could use them with a Lucas 2-position toggle switch (Lucas P/N 35927) and preserve the 2-speed plus park features. I wanted the period-correct look of the Lucas toggle for wipers, so I was hoping to avoid having to use the rotary control that comes with the wipers. Nothing wrong with that switch - just not the aesthetic I'm going for.

I called Specialty Power Windows and asked about using the Lucas toggle. They had no idea if it would work but gave me a tantalizing lead by pointing me to a small boutique builder of Cobra replicas in Alabama called Unique Motorcars that use the Specialty Power Windows WWK universal wiper system in their builds. I gave them a call and explained what I was hoping to do and asked if they had any experience with it. They did - sort of. They do use the WWK system with a Lucas toggle, but they only use a simple on/off toggle to run the wipers in single-speed mode. But they said they didn't see any reason why it wouldn't work (famous last words - right?).

The wiper system finally arrived today from Speedway Motors, so I had to wire them up on the workbench and see if I could get them to work with the Lucas toggle. Below are the wiring diagrams for the Lucas Toggle and the wipers. After studying them for a while, I broke out some alligator clip jumpers and wired them up.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=133113&d=1596686211

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=133110&d=1596686183

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=133112&d=1596686202

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=133111&d=1596686192

You can also see the rotary knob that comes with the wipers in the last photo. Nice piece, and I probably would have been OK using it if I couldn't get the toggle to work. However, after holding my breath and flipping the switch (and saying a quick prayer that I don't burn the garage down)... success!!! The wiper motor works with the toggle exactly as intended. I also wired up the rotary switch and the motor behaves exactly the same with either switch. Two speeds + park. Here's a quick video:


https://youtu.be/24regQy7VUE

[edwardb]

Looks very promising! I've been asked that question several times and wasn't sure. Will be interested to see how it goes installing into your Roadster. Have been asked about that numerous times as well. One hint, in case you may have missed it in my Coupe build thread. The gear box (not installed in your video obviously) along with the cable and wheelboxes are packed with grease. Instructions explain this in detail. I don't recommend running them other than very briefly without the lube. Especially in the gear box. I ran mine some when setting it up and it started showing some wear when run dry. Not the smartest thing I've ever done... No permanent damage. But could have been. Good luck.

[JohnK]

Thanks so much for the warning about running it without grease. I did see the page in the instructions about packing everything with bearing grease. It'll be a little while before I do any further work on the wipers (not until I get the Lizard Skin sprayed) but I just had to satisfy my curiosity on whether or not the Lucas switch would work.

[JohnK]

It's been a very productive last few weeks. I have the rear harness mods complete and the harness installed, 3/8" SS fuel hard lines installed (waiting to install tank to fab up the SS PTFE lines), and SS rear brake lines finished. I'm hoping to finish the front brake lines tomorrow so I can bleed the brakes. I'd like to bleed the brakes and know I have a leak-tight system before installing the rest of the sheetmetal as it'll be much easier to get to any lines that need rework (hopefully none).

One small part of the brake system is the reserviors. I decided to get them engraved to make things less confusing down the road. I called a local engraver and described what I needed, and they did an amazing job. It's a husband and wife business. It turns out the husband has built a cobra replica (don't remember the brand) and they also have a '69 Ferrari that they've restored and show, and a Fiat that they're restoring. I love it when I go to run a quick errand and run into "car people" and end up chatting for an hour. I even got a recommendation for an upholstery place from them.

Here's the reservoir now in the car. It'll need to swing out of the way later to install the engine, but I can get it all plumbed up now.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=133667&d=1597544098

Here's a shot of the backside, showing the hose routing, and the grommet I made to pass the three hoses through the footbox wall. I'm very happy with how that turned out.

Question: I'm planning to run catalytic converters, and I'm a little concerned about heat. I'm considering installing heat shields on the hoses like these (https://www.summitracing.com/parts/hsp-274012). Is that a good idea or not necessary?

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=133666&d=1597544088

Here's a shot of the hose routing in the footbox. I wanted to preserve as much serviceability in here as possible, so I've ordered some spring hose clamps for the hose connections to the MC's. I figure this will at least give me a fighting chance to be able to undo those clamps down the road if needed. No way in hell I'd be able to cut off pinch clamps in there, and I'm generally not a huge fan of worm gear clamps so I avoid those whenever I can.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=133665&d=1597544079

[Fman]

John, one comment on brake lines. I have read quite a few build threads and have never seen anyone wrap anything around the hoses coming from CNC reservoirs to M/C's. One item I did notice on a few builds and did do on my hard lines was to run the front hard line going to M/C around the upper channel around backside of the CNC reservoirs. This helps eliminate the brake line being down by the header on the lower section of the channel. I can only assume this would definitely help eliminate some heat on the brake line being away from the header.

Nice work on everything! Always enjoy reading your build thread and watching your progress....

[460.465USMC]

Hello JohnK,


I just found your build thread, and really enjoyed reading it. Great pictures and great job documenting your progress. Very helpful. I especially liked your e-stop install. First one I've seen. Very cool! Your build is coming along very nicely, and getting me excited for when my kit arrives. Keep up the great work and I'll keep following and taking notes of build tips!

[460.465USMC]

P.S. I meant to give you a big THANK YOU for showing that a four-post lift can be used. I've had one for about four years, but couldn't really see a way to do the build (at least not the early part) on my four-post. My back thanks you in advance!!

[JohnK]

Thank you so much! I'm glad to hear you're enjoying it, and finding it helpful. Honestly, I would never have had the nerve to take on a project like this were it not for the incredible build threads that others have posted here. Most of what I do I've copied from what others have done, so I'm very glad to hear that something I've posted can be of use to you or others. I'm really enjoying the build so far, and I'm sure you will too. It sounds like you're spending a bunch of time reading build threads before you start. That's so smart. I revised my plan in my head countless times as a result of seeing what others have done before me. It's definitely easier to change plans before you've done that part of the build. It sometimes entails re-buying parts, but I think that's to be expected, to some extent. The more research you do now, the less part re-purchasing you'll have down the road.

As far as the lift goes, I'm glad that's helpful. I can see that a 2-post lift would be an advantage over a 4-post lift in some situations, but that just wasn't an option for me due to my garage ceiling height. I'm very happy with the 4-post so far. No way my back could have handled building this car on jack stands. FWIW- I have the chassis on jacks and stands now, as I showed in the other thread, but for a long time it was just sitting on the frame cart. It wasn't until recently that the cart got in the way of things like brake and fuel line routing, but you'll be able to just roll the frame cart directly onto the 4 post lift, lock the casters, and get to work.

Edited to add: In the interest of full disclosure, getting the chassis off the frame cart and onto it's wheels (and eventually onto jacks and stands) was a bit of a "three Stooges trying to solve a Rubik's cube" affair. If you decide to go this route, build your frame cart in a way that it can be disassembled from below. What I ended up doing was jacking up one side, unscrewing the center brace from underneath, removing the cross brace from the side that was raised, and then repeating on the other side. Sounds easy but it took a while to get it without crushing myself in the process. You just want to give some thought as to how you're going to get the car off the cart down the road. I suppose I could have rolled the entire thing off the 4-post lift into the driveway and dealt with it there, but I didn't have any helpers around that day.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=103295&d=1551821861

[JohnK]

LOTS of progress to report over the last few weeks. I'll probably do this in a few posts. I've FINALLY finished the stainless steel brake and fuel lines. I can't tell you how relieved and happy I am. This was one of those aspects of the build that I had zero experience doing before this, so I was more than a little nervous about building a brake system from scratch, but I'm thrilled to report that it's finished, bled, and leak-free! First time, no less. I was sure I was going to spring a million leaks but I've got a firm pedal and no leaks at all.

First off the fuel lines. These are 3/8" stainless steel from Inline Tube, with Let-Lok -6 AN compression fittings from Breeze on the ends. I followed the tried-and-true routing that many others have done down the outside of the PS 4" tube. I still need to secure the ends of the lines in the engine compartment.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134202&d=1598303567

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134201&d=1598303558

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134200&d=1598303550


The fuel filter is already in place, so as soon as I put in the fuel tank for the final time I'll start fabricating the braided fuel lines for the final connections to the filter and pump.

[JohnK]

Now the front brake lines. This is 3/16" stainless steel, again from Inline Tube. Again, following the routing that many others have used (no need to re-invent the wheel here when others have done such an amazing job.).

Here's the pedal box. I used some 3/16" ID/3/8" OD rubber tubing as a guard in some locations to protect lines and prevent vibration.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134208&d=1598303643

Out the pedal box along the top 3/4" tube, and then down to the DS wheel (leaving room for clips to attach the front harness to the 3/4" tube down the road):

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134209&d=1598303653

To the distribution block and DS wheel:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134211&d=1598303675

Another shot of the DS connections. In tricky areas like this, I used some Nicopp line to mock everything up first, and then used that as a template to make the SS lines. No way I could have gotten this correct in SS without wasting a LOT of material if I hadn't done that. You can also see the 90 degree fittings I put on the front braided flex lines. These really sorted out the routing and angles of the braided lines nicely.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134210&d=1598303664

Along the front frame member (you can see that I now have the Breeze battery box in place, and the battery on a trickle charger):

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134213&d=1598303694

... and finally over to the DS wheel.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134212&d=1598303684

[JohnK]

Here are the rear brake lines. I went down the 3/4" tube behind where the coyote DBW pedal will mount. I routed the SS line in rubber tubing to isolate it from vibration and held it with one clip at the bottom. I then used another small piece of rubber tubing to protect the line and seal the hole that it passed through in the bottom of the footbox. The bottom section will eventually get buried in Lizard Skin.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134207&d=1598303627

Down the outside of the DS 4" tube. You can see a tiny bit of the rubber tubing peeking out the hole:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134206&d=1598303612

Up the rear frame member:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134205&d=1598303602

... and then over to the distribution block and rear wheels:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134204&d=1598303591

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134203&d=1598303578

[JohnK]

And finally it was time to bleed the brakes. Thankfully I picked up a pressure bleeding cap for the CNC reservoirs before they went out of business. This thing was a godsend. I started by fabbing up a couple of short lines out of Nicopp to "bench bleed" the MC's in the car:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134215&d=1598303727

And then used the pressure cap. I set the pressure regulator to 10 psi, checked and refilled the reservoirs after bleeding each bleeder, went around twice, and then crossed my fingers and prayed.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134214&d=1598303712

...and, success!!!! No leaks. The pedal felt a little spongy so I went around and bled everything a third time and now have a very firm pedal. It's been sitting for a couple of days and no leaks so I'm calling it good!

[JohnK]

One other small item to update was the insulation in the upper DS footbox. I'm planning to spray Lizard Skin sound and heat insulation in most of the cockpit and trunk, so I deliberated for a while whether I wanted to roll on the same material in the upper area of the DS footbox or go with something easier. In the end I decided to go with Dynamat Dynaliner layered over Second Skin Damplifier Pro.

I started by marking out the panels to be coated with masking tape:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134265&d=1598365387

I then laid some parchment paper over the top and traced out the pattern:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134264&d=1598365377

Then cut out the material and applied it. First the Damplifier Pro, which is a foil-backed heavy rubber material:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134263&d=1598365367

And then the Dynaliner, which is a medium-density foam material:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134262&d=1598365358

I did just the upper portions of the footbox, as I plan to spray Lizard Skin on the lower areas of the footbox.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134261&d=1598365349

Not shown is the outer footbox panel. It will get completely lined the same way, and installed much later. I'm not sure if this was easier or harder than rolling on Lizard Skin but it wasn't terribly difficult to do.

[Fman]

Very nice John! Those brake lines look sick... that is a huge task with stainless, well done!;) I also just bled out my brake system, I used the same method but needed to also go old school pump and hold one time around after the power bleed method.

[JohnK]

Thanks Travis! I really appreciate it. Congrats on getting your brakes bled as well. It definitely feels good to get that sorted out.

[JohnK]

I've buttoned up all the details in the trunk area now, and think I'm ready to install the trunk sheet metal and move on with the rest of the sheet metal install. I ended up stripping and re-wrapping most of the rear harness in the trunk area to get the splits where I wanted them, and also shortened the leads going to the fuel pump and fuel level sender. I also wired up the E-Stopp (that's the weatherpak connector at the top of the photo) and confirmed that it works. I added wires for a backup light (not shown) and the coil of wires in the upper trunk will eventually get routed into the trunk for the license place light and trunk light. The Breeze big bore vent is also in, and then lastly I fabbed up and installed the Aeroquip -6 AN braided PTFE lines that connect the tank to the filter and hard lines.

One trick I picked up in a few build threads is to put some large zip ties around the connectors for the fuel pump and fuel level sender. Those don't clip in very securely, but the zip ties really lock them down nicely.


https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134653&d=1599058655

One quick tip - BUY THIS TOOL! This is an Ancor wire and cable cutter, up to 2/0 gauge from Del city (P/N 703005) but you can find similar ones in many other places. In the few weeks that I've had it I've used it to cut hoses, parking brake cable housings, and the Aeroquip braided SS hoses. Especially on the braided hoses it's been a godsend. It makes beautiful clean cuts with no fraying of the braided sleeve. Probably the best $24 I've spent in a long time.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134654&d=1599059256

[GTBradley]

Now you tell me! I could have used that tool a long time ago.:) Clean build, its almost a shame to cover up such pretty work. Good call on the zip ties, those connectors have a history of breaking.

[Fman]

I've buttoned up all the details in the trunk area now, and think I'm ready to install the trunk sheet metal and move on with the rest of the sheet metal install. I ended up stripping and re-wrapping most of the rear harness in the trunk area to get the splits where I wanted them, and also shortened the leads going to the fuel pump and fuel level sender. I also wired up the E-Stopp (that's the weatherpak connector at the top of the photo) and confirmed that it works. I added wires for a backup light (not shown) and the coil of wires in the upper trunk will eventually get routed into the trunk for the license place light and trunk light. The Breeze big bore vent is also in, and then lastly I fabbed up and installed the Aeroquip -6 AN braided PTFE lines that connect the tank to the filter and hard lines.

One trick I picked up in a few build threads is to put some large zip ties around the connectors for the fuel pump and fuel level sender. Those don't clip in very securely, but the zip ties really lock them down nicely.


https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134653&d=1599058655

One quick tip - BUY THIS TOOL! This is an Ancor wire and cable cutter, up to 2/0 gauge from Del city (P/N 703005) but you can find similar ones in many other places. In the few weeks that I've had it I've used it to cut hoses, parking brake cable housings, and the Aeroquip braided SS hoses. Especially on the braided hoses it's been a godsend. It makes beautiful clean cuts with no fraying of the braided sleeve. Probably the best $24 I've spent in a long time.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134654&d=1599059256

Looking great John...

One question for you, are you waiting for first start of engine before you install trunk sheet metal? My thought was leave it off until I go-kart to check for leaks and make sure fuel level sender works because it would be much easier to take care of any issues with that area wide open.

[JohnK]

Hey Travis. I've been debating the sequence of the next few steps. I think I prefer to get the rest of the sheet metal installed and get the Lizard Skin sprayed before I start wiring and prepping for engine install and first start. I'd rather have as little in the way as possible to have to mask off when spraying Lizard Skin, so I've been thinking that I'm going to do a functional test of the fuel system before installing sheet metal. I started another thread with that question here (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?37203-Functional-testing-of-fuel-system-prior-to-installing-trunk-floor). I figure If I can power up the fuel pump and test the whole system up to the final line that will eventually feed the engine, and it's all leak-free, then I'd feel comfortable putting the trunk sheet metal in place. I'm not as worried about the fuel level sender, as I installed the access panel in the RT drop trunk with rivnuts so I could get to the fuel level sender pretty easily down the road if necessary.

[JohnK]

Today I was able to finish up the fuel system and get the entire system pressure-tested. My goal is to finish getting all the sheetmetal installed so I can spray Lizard Skin before starting any electrical/wiring work. But, I didn't want to be surprised by fuel leaks down the road once I'd already riveted in the trunk sheet metal, so I decided I'd get the fuel system finalized and cap off the line from the regulator to the engine so I could power up the pump and check for leaks.

First I had to finish up a couple small brackets. This little block secures the end of the 3/8" hard lines. It's drilled/tapped for 10-32 fasteners and then painted to match the powder coat. I put a couple of strips of 3M VHB tape on the backside to secure it on the PS footbox wall, rather than putting fasteners through the footbox.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134848&d=1599608990

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134847&d=1599608979

Next, I'd read in Paul's (Edwardb) build thread that he had made a new mounting bracket for the fuel pressure regulator to move it away from the firewall an inch so the coyote wiring harness can pass behind it, so I made something similar. The small silver bracket is what came with the regulator originally, and the longer one is the one I made. Again painted to match the PC. It's 1/8" x 1-1/2" steel that I bent using my Eastwood metal bender (https://www.eastwood.com/4-inch-metal-bender.html). I could have put it in a vice and heated it and pounded the ever-loving &*$% out of it, but the metal bender put a nice clean radius-bend on it.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134846&d=1599608970

Here they both are installed, and ready for the flex lines:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134845&d=1599608961

...and here are the lines, including the final line that will eventually run to the engine. I left it 3-4" long and I'll trim it to final length once the engine is in place:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134844&d=1599608954

I put 3-4 gallons of gas in the tank, grabbed a fire extinguisher, and powered up the fuel pump with my Power Probe tester. Success!!! No leaks. I got the pressure dialed in to 58 psi. I'm sure I'll have to fine tune it once the engine is actually drawing fuel, but it's a good first pass. Here's a quick video because... why not.


https://youtu.be/yh4bhwzpEPQ

The only thing I'm not 100% crazy about is the angle of the braided SS supply line into the pressure regulator. It fits OK and is leak-tight, but it just looks "not quite right" to me. I may pick up a 45 deg. fitting for the regulator end of that line, which will also bring it away from the PS footbox wall a little bit and prevent it from rubbing against it.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=134843&d=1599608944

[jiriza84641]

John, so which pressure tester did you go with, I have all my lines in and would like to test the fuel system prior to motor coming in. Thanks

[JohnK]

I used this kit (https://www.summitracing.com/parts/ear-d016-6erl) to test each line individually after I assembled them, but I tested the whole system by powering up the fuel pump (Walbro 255lph electric pump on a Pro-M hanger in the tank) after the system was completed. I used one of the fittings from the test kit to cap off the line going to the engine (you can see it in one of the photos above). This effectively created a loop where fuel circulated from the pump, through the filter, to the pressure regulator and back to the tank so I was able to check all the fittings and their connections to hard lines through the whole system.

[JB in NOVA]

John, amazing job! Are those compression fittings at the end of your hard fuel lines? Any problems getting them tightened onto the hard lines and leak-tight?

[JohnK]

Thank you very much! I appreciate it. Yes, those are Let-Lok compression fittings, Breeze part number 21608 (https://www.breezeautomotive.com/shop/fitting-3-8-od-tube-to-06an-male-316-stainless-steel/). They go onto the bare end of a 3/8" tube. They're extremely easy to tighten, and I had no leak issues. The instructions say to tighten them finger-tight and then another 1-1/4 turns. I did exactly that and had no problems at all. I could have put 37 deg. flares on the ends of the tubes with my Eastood tube flaring tool, but that would have involved spending another $100 on the 37 deg. die set. The compression fittings were far easier and fool-proof.

[VAHokie]

Enjoyed catching up on your thread and progress here. Build is looking great!

[jiriza84641]

I used this kit (https://www.summitracing.com/parts/ear-d016-6erl) to test each line individually after I assembled them, but I tested the whole system by powering up the fuel pump (Walbro 255lph electric pump on a Pro-M hanger in the tank) after the system was completed. I used one of the fittings from the test kit to cap off the line going to the engine (you can see it in one of the photos above). This effectively created a loop where fuel circulated from the pump, through the filter, to the pressure regulator and back to the tank so I was able to check all the fittings and their connections to hard lines through the whole system.

Thanks for the imformation. Ill moew thannlikely get this tester and some fuel to test my system also. All is connected with the SS flexible fuenlines from breeze also. Thanks again.

[jiriza84641]

Thanks for the imformation. Ill moew thannlikely get this tester and some fuel to test my system also. All is connected with the SS flexible fuenlines from breeze also. Thanks again.

did your pressure test and holds steady at 60psi while pumping, had a small leak at the fuel filter but took care of that and good. now, thanks.

[JohnK]

Hey all!

I've been gone for a minute or two, but things have been great and I'm itching to get back to the build. I took a little break to spend some time on other interests like getting back into some more intense triathlon training, as well as getting out and doing a little sailing. I've finally gotten the garage cleaned up and I'm excited to jump back onto the build. I do have a few things to update that I've been working on in the background.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147792&d=1620878467

[JB in NOVA]

Sailing is good for the soul!

[JohnK]

The big thing that I've been working on since my last update is the dash layout. I decided I wanted to go with a custom-fabricated dash so I reached out to Nick and Bonni Acton at Acton Customs. Nick can CNC cut custom dashes to any desired gauge/switch layout. After some back and forth via e-mail and phone and exchange of ideas and specs and detailed measurements we arrived at a dash layout, including a glove box, that we both thought would work nicely. The turnaround time was quicker than I thought for a custom cut and formed dash. Unfortunately, when the box arrived it looked like it had been through the proverbial wringer, and opening the box confirmed my fears that the dash had been pretty seriously damaged in transit. Nick very graciously offered to make a new one and deal with the claim against the shipper on his end. I took the opportunity to test fit all the gauges, switches and indicator lights in the damaged dash, and we discovered a few layout problems and some tweaks we both thought would further improve the layout.

Here's the first version of the dash with gauges and switches in it. You can see where the dash is buckled on the left side where it starts to curve. The damage to the right side (not in the photo) is even more pronounced. The billet switch on the far left is the E-Stopp parking brake switch.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147798&d=1620879685

Here's the first version of the dash in the car:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147797&d=1620879674

Based on the test-fit, we came up with these changes. Not noted in the sketch, we also had to move the oil pressure gauge down so that it wouldn't interfere with the dash hoop, and also deleted one of the LED indicators. We moved the parking brake switch up and moved the headlight switch under it, then moved the horn button over the push-button ignition start button, and moved the four switches on the far right (hazards, wipers, seat heaters) further to the right.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147796&d=1620879662

And here's the second version of the dash, which thankfully arrived without damage:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147794&d=1620879641

One item that still needs tweaking is that the right side of the dash sticks out away from the dash hoop by about an inch. I'll need to trim that leg shorter, and bend a new mounting flange on it, but that should be pretty straightforward:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147793&d=1620879633

Despite the issues we encountered, and the need to fabricate the dash a second time, I'm very happy with how it turned out.

What's not shown clearly in these photos is that the entire dash has a formed lip along its lower edge. I'm planning to install a filler panel that will attach to this lip and close the bottom of the dash back to the 2" square tube. This filler panel will house additional items like the dash gauge programming push-buttons, USB charger ports, OBD2 connector, etc.

[JohnK]

Here are a few small 'bonus' updates :p:

I added some heat shield covers over the rubber brake and clutch lines from the reservoirs. I'm planning to run headers with catalytic converters, so I wanted to put a little extra protection on these lines. I'm not so much worried about the hydraulic fluid boiling as I am about long-term deterioration of the rubber lines from prolonged exposure to high heat. The concern may be unfounded, but it was an easy and relatively inexpensive addition, and provides some added peace of mind:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147795&d=1620879649

I finally got around to installing the 45 degree elbow on the fuel pressure regulator inlet line, which cleaned up the hose routing nicely and got it off the footbox.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147803&d=1620882091

Lastly, I did the first little bit of seam sealing on the tops of the shock mounts. This area gets closed up when the trunk-side sheetmetal gets riveted in place, and I wanted to make sure that moisture can't get into that space and cause corrosion down the road. I blocked off the outside of the gaps with some gorilla tape, and then sealed the seams with Dynatron seam sealer. Now that cavity between the inner and outer sheetmetal is nicely sealed up against moisture intrusion.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147800&d=1620882039

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147799&d=1620882031

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147801&d=1620882047

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147802&d=1620882055

[460.465USMC]

Hey all!

I've been gone for a minute or two, but things have been great and I'm itching to get back to the build. I took a little break to spend some time on other interests like getting back into some more intense triathlon training, as well as getting out and doing a little sailing. I've finally gotten the garage cleaned up and I'm excited to jump back onto the build. I do have a few things to update that I've been working on in the background.

Triathlon!?! Wow! I already have respect for you as a builder. Triathelete? Double respect. Impressive.

Hey John,

Great to see you're back at your build, and updating your thread. I'm looking forward to reading/seeing more of your creative ideas. I'm in the process of implementing your hole plug idea for my 1/4" brake hoses through the DS FB wall.

[Fman]

Looking good John, glad you are back at it...build on!

[JohnK]

Thanks guys! I'm glad to be back at it again.

[VAHokie]

Welcome back, John. Look forward to following along as you get back into it.

[JohnK]

Thanks Tony! I've been able to spend some time working on the car this week, and I'm really happy to see it moving forward again.

[JohnK]

Quick (OK, maybe not so quick) update on the work from the last few days. This will undoubtedly be an overly long-winded post about prepping to spray Lizard Skin heat and sound insulation because... well, I spent an insane amount of time on it compared to how long I thought it would take.

First off, there was a whole lot of this:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148138&d=1621483318

Like, a ridiculous amount of time spent sanding and scotchbrite'ing every little nook and cranny of the cockpit and trunk. This was a combination of 80 grit disks on a pneumatic RO sander, 80 grit paper to sand by hand in all the tight spaces, and scotchbrite pads for in-between and around all the rivets.

Once that was done, and I had vacuumed, blown with compressed air, and then wiped down with acetone all the panels it was time to patch any gaps. I also ran the wires for the heated seats. For the smaller gaps I backed the hole from the outside with gorilla tape, and applied epoxy to the hole. You can see all the dark grey epoxy spots in all the corners.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148131&d=1621483288

For a few of the larger gaps, like the bottom inside of the drivers footbox, I first laid down some foil tape, and then coated that with epoxy.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148137&d=1621483318

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148136&d=1621483318

Once cured, the epoxy really makes this a very rigid joint. I will come back and lay down some Dynatron seam sealer on the outside (engine compartment side) of that joint later on as added insurance, but it's plenty strong now and totally sealed up. I did the same with the round tube coming out of the passenger footbox.

Once that was finished, it was time to start masking everything off.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148132&d=1621483288

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148133&d=1621483288

Once everything was masked off, I came back and sprayed all the remaining exposed foil tape, as well as all the epoxy, with some automotive primer to ensure proper adhesion with the Lizard Skin.

I have some Zip Wall poles from a prior remodel we did, and they came in extremely handy. With some 10' x 20' plastic drop cloths I was able to put up a spray booth of sorts in just a few minutes. Hopefully this will keep overspray off all the garage cabinets, the wife's car, etc.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148134&d=1621483288

Tomorrow I'm out of town but I'm planning to spray the sound insulation on Friday and ceramic heat insulation on Saturday. This will be a big monkey off my back when it's done. It feels funny to spend so much time on something that will eventually be entirely buried under carpet, but I am sure that it will still play a big role in the overall quality of the car when it's finished.

[Fman]

Looking good John, I will be curious how well that lizard skin works on cutting down heat. I get a good amount of heat in my footbox, I used the cool mat. The engine compartment in these cars throw a lot of heat.

[JohnK]

Hey Travis. I'm encouraged by all the research I've done as well as the positive reviews of Lizard Skin by Paul and others here. I've also read from a lot of folks how getting all the gaps sealed up is super-critical to controlling engine compartment heat from entering the cockpit, so I've been paying a lot of attention to that. I have a few other ideas on additional ways to keep the heat under control. I've had my headers with catalytic converters, side pipes and heat shields ceramic coated by Jet Hot Coatings (Ultra Extreme 2500 coating on the headers and Extreme 1300 on the side pipes and heat shields). Fingers crossed that all of this pays off.

[460.465USMC]

I don't know anything about Lizard Skin, but your prep looks top notch to me! Underneath your carpet is going to look better than mine on the outside! You have the patience of a saint. Nice work.

[JohnK]

After finally completing the seemingly never-ending prep to spray Lizard Skin a few days ago, I was finally able to spray the sound insulation on Friday and the ceramic heat insulation on Saturday.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148368&d=1621826281

I spent a lot of time reading Paul's (Edwardb) excellent write up in his roadster build thread (here (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?18591-EdwardBs-Mk4-8674-20th-Anniversary-Build&p=232616&viewfull=1#post232616)) as well as his even more detailed write-up on spraying Lizard Skin in the other forum (link is in the post linked here). These posts, along with the information available on the Lizard Skin website, made the whole process pretty straightforward. I started with the gun settings Paul recommended (60 psi and 1-1/2 turns out on the nozzle for the sound insulation, and 70 psi and 2 turns out on the nozzle for the heat insulation) and they worked out really well for me without need for modification.

My plan for the heat insulation was to spray several lighter coats in the cockpit and trunk in two "sessions" rather than just two thicker coats to avoid having the coating run and sag. My goal was to spray several light coats until I'd used up half the bucket, then wait 1-2 hours for that to set up and then come back and spray several more light coats until I'd used up the rest of the bucket. this worked out well, and ended up working out to be about three light coats in the first session, and then three more light coats plus a fourth coat on key areas in the second session. I let that cure for 24 hours and came back the next day to spray the heat insulation.

The heat insulation is a MUCH thicker product than the sound insulation, so it needed the added air pressure and larger orifice, but it sprayed pretty well once the gun was set up properly. My plan was to use a similar approach as I'd used with the sound insulation (except only spraying the cockpit), but the heat insulation went on a lot thicker. I ended up doing two somewhat-thin coats in the first session and three more coats in the second session. Once it had set up for an hour or so, I started unmasking everything. I managed to get the car fully unmasked by the end of the day, and then spent the entire next day cleaning up the rest of the garage, which was a disaster despite all the drop cloths I'd laid down.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148367&d=1621826281

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148366&d=1621826281

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148365&d=1621826281

The whole process was FAR more work that I expected but in the end I'm very pleased with how it turned out. If I had to guess, I would say it's actually more work than cutting and laying down a stick-on insulation product, but the benefit of the LS product is that it seals up all the gaps and lays down very nicely and evenly.

Now, on to electrical work and engine installation!

[jiriza84641]

Looks outstanding keep up the strong work

[460.465USMC]

Looks like it turned out fabulous, John. I'll be curious to eventually hear your feedback on the performance of the heat insulation. I'm using a stick-on heat/thermal option, Thermo-tec. Great work!

[NYMike]

Looks awesome. All of the hard work definitely shows.

[JohnK]

Thanks everyone! I appreciate the kind words.

I didn't have much time yesterday to work on the car, but I did at least get out to the garage and managed to get the coyote harness stuffed through the firewall and the PDM mounted. Nothing earth-shattering here... pretty much the same spot that many other have mounted it.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148467&d=1621948516

Today I was able to spend a bit more time digging into the wiring. I got the RF front and chassis harnesses installed. Here's the fuse panel mounted in place:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148512&d=1621996657

Next I spent some time "dieting out" some of the wires that are not needed, like the 33 Hot Rod column wiring, clutch safety switch wires, brown alternator sense wire, as well as the cooling fan wires from the front harness. I terminated all the cut wires with double-wall adhesive-lined heat shrink to seal the ends.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148513&d=1621996657

I spent the afternoon stripping back the cockpit side of the coyote harness. I wanted to relocate certain connectors to different areas, and I ended up having to strip the harness almost all the way back to the firewall to do that. For example the OBD2 port, MIL, throttle and clutch bottom connectors are all grouped together on the end of the harness. The throttle and clutch bottom connectors need to go in the DS footbox, the MIL needs to do to the dash, and the OBD2 port is TBD until I work on the layout of the under dash brace. Kudos to whomever wrapped this harness. They clearly put a lot of love (and electrical tape) into it.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148511&d=1621996657

I now have all the coyote harness cockpit-side connectors freed up to move wherever they need to go. It looks pretty ugly at the moment, but I feel like I have a much better handle on things after spending a whole day of "up-close and personal" time with the wiring.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148510&d=1621996657

[460.465USMC]

Thanks for sharing the details and pictures, John. It's like looking into a crystal ball and seeing my future, that is if I can ever get my brake lines finished. Did you go with the Gen 2 or Gen 3 Coyote? When I ordered my drivetrain it was too late to get the Gen 2, so I have the Gen 3.

[JohnK]

Hey Chris, I have a Gen 2 coyote. I started the build a few months after the Gen 3 had started shipping but Gen 2's were still available. It seemed like the more tried-and-true way to go at that time. For example, there was no oil pickup available at that time to work with the Moroso oil pan on the Gen 3. Clearly, I greatly overestimated how fast I was going to progress through the build, so this poor engine has been sitting here for quite a while now, but I'm hopeful that I'm just about ready to (FINALLY) drop it in soon.

I had largely ignored the wiring portions of other people's build threads in the past, as it just made my head explode, but I'm now at the point where I really need to dig in and understand it. I'm taking it in little logical chunks - "OK, let me really dig into and understand the alternator wiring" as an example. Doing it this way helps me better understand each "system" within the overall wiring scheme, which makes it a bit more manageable. Right now I'm just doing some basic teardown and getting rid of the stuff I obviously don't need, but I haven't finished putting my dash together yet, so I'll need to shift gears and do that before I can start putting things where they belong.

What I was really hoping to do was get all the engine compartment power wiring finalized so I could drop the engine in. I placed a large Del City order last week for all the battery terminals, crimp connectors, etc. that I needed for that. I had to laugh when I got the shipment notification and it showed literally EVERYTHING except for one single battery terminal was backordered. I got my one battery terminal in the mail yesterday, but that won't get me very far toward the goal so hopefully the rest of the stuff trickles in sooner than later.

[JohnK]

Here's a quick update on the dash. As previously mentioned, I had a custom dash fabricated that included a glove box opening with a flange formed into it. I've been debating for a while the best way to form the glove box, and how best to attach it to the dash. What I had completely forgotten was that ages ago (back when I was planning to make my own dash from a blank) I had ordered a glove box kit from Alex's custom interiors and it's been sitting down in my basement. Sometimes it pays to be a hoarder.

I was sure there was no way I could be lucky enough to have the molded plastic back of Alex's glove box kit fit the opening of the dash. Well, I must be living right, because, well...

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148533&d=1622056179

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148534&d=1622056179

I honestly can't believe my luck at the moment. It's as if one was designed for the other. I know that they must both be at least loosely based on a real Cobra dash, but the odds of them fitting together that well are slim at best. I'm going to go buy a lottery ticket today.

[jiriza84641]

Still enjoy seeing the updates on your build, though mine is mostly finished.

[v1-vr]

Nice work John
Good to see you have time to get back to your build.
Sent you a private msg.

[v1-vr]

Dont forget the lottery ticket

[JohnK]

Nice work John
Good to see you have time to get back to your build.
Sent you a private msg.

Thanks! Just replied to your PM. Congratulations again on getting the engine installed.

[460.465USMC]

After your hard work on the lizard skin install I think you were due to hit the Easy button on the glove box! That's cool.

[JohnK]

Just a quick update as I continue work on the dash. I wanted to lock down the dash position so I can finalize the dash mounting and the under dash filler panels, so I installed the Russ Thompson turn signal system yesterday. This also gave me a chance to mock up the steering wheel with the NRG quick release. I temporarily set the seat on the Breeze adjustable seat base and was able to sit in the car and get my first real sense of the ergonomics. I was pleased to discover that there's plenty of leg room, in fact I'll likely need to move the seat forward a bit from it max rearward position. I also really like the height, angle distance and size of the steering wheel. I'm glad I went with a smaller wheel. Even with that, having it be removable will clearly make getting in and out easier. A couple of learnings: First, I definitely need to do something about throttle/brake pedal clearance. I'm sure that lower-profile driving shoes will help a lot vs. the running shoes I was wearing, but even the narrower AC Cobra replica brake pedal is still a very night fit. I may go back to the Wilwood pedals and try shifting them to the left and trimming them down a bit. Second, I think I want even a bit more angle than what is built into the Breeze base. But overall I'm really pleased with how everything felt as a first pass.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148922&d=1622583226

[JohnK]

Lots of stuff 'in progress' at the moment but everything seems to be sort of waiting on parts from somewhere so here's a quick update in the meantime. I decided to add some insulation on the outside of the door sills in the area where the side pipes will run. Maybe (probably) not necessary but I figure it can't hurt. I picked up some Second Skin Mega Block (https://www.secondskinaudio.com/heat-insulation/mega-block). It's a 1/2" thick expanded melamine foam sheet with a foil cover, and comes in 2' square sheets. It claims to reflect 98% of radiant heat and can handle 1000 deg. F. It also weighs next to nothing, is easy to cut, and is adhesive-backed so very easy to install.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=149252&d=1623203439

I started by making some cardboard templates:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=149254&d=1623203439

...then cut out the pieces with an exacto knife:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=149253&d=1623203439

... and stuck them in place:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=149251&d=1623203439

It's nice to be able to finish a small project, while I have a bunch of other stuff in the works.

BTW- the minimum order for this stuff was two sheets. Even with messing up one panel and having to re-make it, I still have enough material left over for to do probably two more roadsters. If any locals want to come by for a beer, you're welcome to take some. First come, first served! :D

[JohnK]

Part backorders are unfortunately a fact of life from pretty much every vendor at the moment so I've had to jump around between working on wiring, the dash, and other assorted projects depending on what parts I have on hand. I finally got enough of my Del City and West Marine orders fulfilled to be able to start on some power wiring.

I started by making a small bracket for the 250A master fuse. I spray painted silver with the paint my powder coater provided that matches the PC. It think it turned out pretty nice:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=149447&d=1623561350

Like many things on this build, I feel like I spend a ton of time on parts that will never be seen, but I love the process of fabricating little things so it's all good.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=149445&d=1623561142

The basic layout of the power wiring on this build attempts to replicate what Paul B. did on his roadster build, so I'm not going to go into great detail explaining things that he invariably explains much better in his build threads. Here is a quick "in process" shot of what I've been able to do so far with the parts I have on hand. I have the 2 ga. wire that will run to the battery, as well as the 4 ga. wire that will run to the starter in place (wires running to the left from the top and bottom posts of the master shutoff). I also have the 4 ga. wire from the master shutoff to the 250A master fuse in place, as well as the 8 ga. wire that runs into the footbox and connects to the main bus bar. I also finally got around to finalizing the hole in the DS footbox and routed the rear harness, along with the 8 ga. power wire, through the footbox.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=149443&d=1623561142

Still looking a bit rough, and there's more wiring to do before I start putting things in looms and tidying up, but I'm happy to finally be able to start working on the power wiring.

[460.465USMC]

Looking good, John! I'm looking forward to tackling the wiring. Your install is clean!

[JohnK]

I've been gone for a couple of weeks. We took a family vacation to Greece, and had an amazing time sailing in the Ionian Islands. It was definitely tough to come home after that.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=150674&d=1625974539

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=150675&d=1625974720

I'm mostly un-jetlagged now, and back at work on the roadster wrapping up the power wiring. Here's the battery in the Breeze front-mounted box:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=150673&d=1625974317

Tough to see in the previous photo is the drilled and tapped 3/8-16 bolt for the ground for the battery, along with the ground for the coyote harness. I used fusion battery terminals, and a heavy-duty fusion connector for the other end of the negative cable. It's thick enough that I was able to take it over to the combo bench sander and sand a curve in the bottom of the lug that matches the curve of the 4" frame tube pretty closely. The Dremel and a wire brush made quick work of removing the powder coat under the lug, and a little dielectric grease will keep it from corroding.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=150672&d=1625974317

The rest of the power wiring scheme is a pretty faithful copy of Paul's (EdwardB) roadster power wiring. I've left the starter wires long and unterminated for now, until the engine is in. I've also preliminarily mounted a second ground strap to the engine mounting bracket that will provide another grounding point from the engine to the frame. A third ground will likely be added from one of the starter mounting bolts to the frame:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=150670&d=1625974317

The 2 ga. wire running to the lower post of the master disconnect from the left comes from the battery. The 4 ga. wire running from the top post to the left goes back to the starter. From the top post going right is an 8 ga. wire that runs to the bus bar behind the dash and will feed the RF harness. The 4 ga. wire running from the bottom post to the right goes to the megafuse and then on to the coyote PDB.

If anyone sees anything here that I've screwed up, please let me know. ;)

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=150671&d=1625974317

I'm getting pretty close to being able to drop the engine in now. I want to install the wiper motor first, and have a few items to do on the engine itself before it's ready to install. but it's close now.

Anything else I should be doing in the engine bay before dropping the engine in?

[BadAsp427]

Man, that looks very clean and well done... Nice work!!!

[460.465USMC]

Sounds like a great vacation, John! I saw some happy faces!

Looking forward to seeing you drop in the motor.

[JohnK]

I've been plugging away at some small remaining items that I want to finish before dropping in the engine.

First up was installing the wiper motor. After hearing a lot of less-than-flattering things about the FFR wipers, I was intrigued by Paul's installation of the Specialty Power Windows wiper kit on his coupe. I decided to order a kit (model WWK-2) a while back to check it out. I started off by testing to see if I could control the wiper motor with a Lucas wiper toggle, and had good results with that early test here (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?31167-Greek-Guys-Garage-Roadster-Build-9509-(finishing-power-wiring)&p=422720&viewfull=1#post422720). Now it was time to install the motor on the firewall. The motor unit is quite a bit larger than the FFR unit, and it took a bit of fiddling to find a position that would put the drive cable at the correct angle, but I think that where it landed will work out just fine. Not sure how well it would fit if I'd decided to install a heater, but without a heater in the way I had plenty of room to play around. The motor will have to come off again to grease it, clock it, and do the final assembly, but at least I have the position nailed down now and have the wiring in place for it. I'll also paint the bare galvanized box around the drive housing to match the powder coat when I take it off for final assembly.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=150888&d=1626410239

Next up was some more heat shielding around the footboxes. I'm using DEI "Floor and Tunnel Shield II" on the sides of the footboxes. This is a dimpled aluminum product with a 3/16" adhesive heat barrier under it. It's very easy to cut with a box knife or scissors. I made a template, cut the piece to size, then trimmed back a 1/4" of the heat barrier on all sides. I used my Eastwood VersaBend tool to fold the edges over on themselves so I'd end up with a nice clean rounded edge all around, and then stuck the piece in place. I opted to go with the dimpled aluminum on the sides of the footboxes. It'll likely oxidize over time but they'll never be seen once the body is on so I don't really care. For the more visible parts of the footboxes in the engine compartment DEI makes a similar heat shield with stainless steel rather than aluminum. I have a couple sheets of that material on order, and will be covering the front and insides of the footboxes with that material (using the same technique) once it arrives.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=150892&d=1626410239

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=150891&d=1626410239

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=150890&d=1626410239

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=150889&d=1626410239

[460.465USMC]

That Eastwood metal brake looks like a quality tool. I like how it can be attached to a bench vise as well.

[JohnK]

That Eastwood metal brake looks like a quality tool. I like how it can be attached to a bench vise as well.

Sometimes I wish I had a proper box and pan brake but I don't really have the room for it at the moment. The versa bend gets the job done for small, basic pieces and I can slide it under my toolbox when I'm not using it and it's completely out of the way.

[Fman]

Smart move on heat insulation imo you can't have enough of it. I've been battling it since the warmer summer months have set in. I used sticky shield and it has helped quite a bit.

Build is looking great, looking forward to seeing your first start!

[Nigel Allen]

Hi John,

I used exactly the same heat insulation product on my foot boxes and firewall. It is truly excellent. The company I purchased it from in Australia removed all labelling from the boxes, so I never knew who the OEM was. At least I know now!
The good news I can pass on is that I've never had a problem with heat build up in my foot boxes. We have some pretty hot weather over here and in addition, I made sure I took the time to exclude any air getting from the engine compartment into the cabin. To look for any potential air leaks, I had a friend come over and we darkened the garage. Then he worked from the engine compartment with a torch while I was in the cabin looking for any light penetrating through. Whenever I saw light shining through we kept sealing those areas with various methods until it was completely dark. Job done.

For anyone who is interested, don't underestimate how even the smallest leak can really heat up your foot boxes. A short while back I was doing some modifications to my car which ended up with a 1 inch hole open in the driver side foot box. I took the car for a test run and was amazed at how my legs were getting roasted. The hole was in line with the headers. Even though I run a Coyote which are known to be cool running and my headers are thermally wrapped, I was still amazed how much heat was pumping through.

It is definitely worth taking the time to source and seal off any leaks.

Cheers Nigel

[Jammer369]

For a few of the larger gaps, like the bottom inside of the drivers footbox, I first laid down some foil tape, and then coated that with epoxy.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148137&d=1621483318

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148136&d=1621483318

Once cured, the epoxy really makes this a very rigid joint. I will come back and lay down some Dynatron seam sealer on the outside (engine compartment side) of that joint later on as added insurance, but it's plenty strong now and totally sealed up. I did the same with the round tube coming out of the passenger footbox.



Great looking build!! What Epoxy did you use over the foil tape to fill the gaps?

[JohnK]

Great looking build!! What Epoxy did you use over the foil tape to fill the gaps?

Thank you very much! I really appreciate it.

That's just good ol' JB Weld.

[JohnK]

Some time ago I installed Forte's hydraulic clutch release when I did the engine/trans assembly. Since that time, I've been doing a lot of research and reading. If there's one thing I hate more than having to re-do things I've done before, it's second-guessing things I could have done differently. With that in mind, I made the decision to replace the Forte's hydraulic clutch release with a Tilton 6000-series hydraulic release bearing before installing the engine in the chassis. I wasn't looking forward to tearing down the engine/trans that I'd already assembled, but that's the price of indecision. :D

Overall, the process went smoothly. There's a great video by Tilton on Youtube here (https://youtu.be/0X2JAoHhy0A) that walks you through the process. Between the video and the written instructions it's all pretty straightforward. The only "gotcha" that I've read on the forums is a few folks having issues with the hydraulic lines from the HRB getting damaged by the clutch disk. I really am not looking forward to having to remove the engine/trans to deal with that, so I wanted to make sure I secure the lines in such a way that they don't get damaged. Here's how I've secured them. Does this look like it will keep them out of harm's way?

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=151011&d=1626660606

[JB in NOVA]

The only "gotcha" that I've read on the forums is a few folks having issues with the hydraulic lines from the HRB getting damaged by the clutch disk. I really am not looking forward to having to remove the engine/trans to deal with that, so I wanted to make sure I secure the lines in such a way that they don't get damaged. Here's how I've secured them. Does this look like it will keep them out of harm's way?

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=151011&d=1626660606

As one of the guys who had an internal TOB hydraulic line eaten by the clutch disk, this is the same solution I used (after repairing the hydraulic line). It should work fine. I plan to inspect mine frequently to ensure no slack is migrating into the bell housing, but I don't expect any further problems.

[JohnK]

Great. Thanks JB!

-John

[460.465USMC]

Hi John. I also have the Forte hydraulic setup. I'm curious what caused you to change course?

[JohnK]

Hey Chris, there are pro's and con's to each setup. It was definitely not a clear-cut decision. The external slave is a "tried and true" solution and far simpler to repair in the event of a problem down the road. The internal HRB is self-adjusting as the clutch wears and has a lighter pedal feel (from what I've read). I have an external slave setup on my '67 Mustang and it works fine but is a pretty heavy clutch.

[460.465USMC]

Ah. Got it. I've read comments about clutch pedal heaviness as well. I've sat in a MK4 with TKO600 and no clutch assist, and boy was it a heavy clutch. Heavier than I would like, so when I ordered my kit I went with the Forte hydraulic to lighten (hopefully it's noticeable) the clutch pedal feel. It sounds like the internal HRB will bring you closer or match a modern pedal feel, which is very understandable. Thanks for the explanation.

[JohnK]

I've been wrapping up some final items on the engine before I drop it in. It's basically ready to go at this point, and the only thing holding up engine install is to finish up the footbox heat shielding. That material should be arriving on Monday (fingers crossed.). Here's the last bit of work I did on the engine. If you all could sanity-check me, especially on the CMCV and heater bypass hoses, I'd appreciate it. In no particular order...

I installed the engine lift brackets, fit-tested the headers and then removed all the M10-1.25 studs that came with the engine. This was also my first look at the Jet Hot ceramic coating on the headers. This is the Ultra Extereme 2500 coating. It's a pretty rough surface texture but can supposedly handle up to 2,500 deg. F. The headers are GP Headers with built-in catalytic converters, so they'll be putting out a fair bit of heat.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=151221&d=1627163869

I painted the transmission mount adapter, along with the trans mount spacers, then installed the mount on the trans.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=151222&d=1627163869

I swapped out the oil pressure sender for the Speedhut unit, and also installed the water temp sensor. I cut the factory oil pressure sensor connector off, heat shrinked the wire and wrapped it into the harness. Since that leg of the harness no longer connects to the oil pressure sender, there's no real reason for it to be routed down there, so I unclipped it, removed the odd mishmash of cloth wrap and plastic convolute and assorted clips and then re-wrapped the end of it all in cloth tape. It's now free to be routed as needed for the exhaust O2 sensor.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=151216&d=1627163850

Next up were the CMCV vacuum connection and heater bypass hoses. In this photo you can see the PS PCV hose with the JLT Performance oil separator, and the heater bypass hose with the 5/16" restrictor clamped in place in the middle of the hose.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=151219&d=1627163850

Here's a better look at the CMCV vacuum line, as described in this thread (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?22472-Important-Information-Regarding-2015-2016-Coyote-CMCV-Plumbing). I made a couple of modifications to those instructions. First, I omitted the tee and vacuum line for the fuel pressure regulator, as the consensus seems to be to not connect the fuel pressure regulator to a vacuum source. Secondly, I removed the factory CMCV line and then removed the check valve from that line and installed it in this new line. The check valve is hard to see in this photo, as it's under a zip tie but it's next to the DS PCV connector. You can see the pinch clamps on either side of it. Also visible is the Let-Lok -6 AN compression fitting that was added to the fuel inlet line.


https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=151218&d=1627163850

Here's the check valve in the original line:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=151220&d=1627163850

And finally the rear end of the CMCV line running into the intake manifold where the original line went:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=151217&d=1627163850

That's it for engine prep. Hopefully this heat shield material shows up soon so I can wrap that up and then round up a few guys and some beer and drop this baby in.

If anyone sees anything I've messed up or am missing, I'd love your input.

[460.465USMC]

Wish I could give you some feedback one way or the other, John, but I'm not there yet. Knowing your level of build quality, I'm sure you're well on your way to a successful drop-in, and first start!

[jiriza84641]

Wrap the headers prior to install, I have mine ceramic coated too and still gives an extreme amount off heat to the foot boxes and engine compartment. The DEI header wrap actually helped mitigate some heat.

[egchewy79]

sealing off the engine compartment from the cockpit does a ton to reduce heat. I'm still driving in gelcoat, but with some 1.5" water heater pipe insulation stuffed between the body and footbox, there is a substantial difference in heat transferred to your legs. I don't have any heat wrap, special heat shields other than sound deadener around my feet.

[JohnK]

Thanks everyone. I'm not planning to do any header wrap, but I am planning to add more heat shielding on the engine compartment side of the footboxes - if that material ever shows up. FedEx apparently lost that shipment for a few days. It has now turned up in Sacramento, so I hope that means I have it shortly. I already spent a fair amount of time sealing up all cracks and crevices in the footboxes with a combination of epoxy, seam sealer and Lizard Skin. I'll do one more go-around with a light looking for gaps before carpeting but I think I've got everything pretty tight at this point. The gaps between body and frame/sheetmetal will be dealt with when the body goes on.

[JohnK]

I've been impatiently waiting for my heat shield material to show up. I'm not so good at being patient sometimes. However, I got a call this morning that my dash was finished being upholstered, so I spent the morning fitting the gauges and switches to it. I think it turned out pretty nice.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=151327&d=1627425393

It's got some modern touches (push-button start, electric parking brake button, seat heaters) but it still has the 'almost period correct' look to it. I really like the leather that the shop recommended. It's a matte-sheen leather with a very small grain pattern to it, and it's very UV-resistant. Here's a close-up that shows the texture a bit better:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=151328&d=1627425393

I still need to pull apart the glove box one more time so I can flock the interior of it, so I didn't install the grab handle yet. The holes are there in the sheetmetal dash but they didn't cut them into the leather. It's simple enough to cut them open with an x-acto when I'm ready to do the final assembly of the glove box.

[toadster]

I've been impatiently waiting for my heat shield material to show up. I'm not so good at being patient sometimes. However, I got a call this morning that my dash was finished being upholstered, so I spent the morning fitting the gauges and switches to it. I think it turned out pretty nice.



It's got some modern touches (push-button start, electric parking brake button, seat heaters) but it still has the 'almost period correct' look to it. I really like the leather that the shop recommended. It's a matte-sheen leather with a very small grain pattern to it, and it's very UV-resistant. Here's a close-up that shows the texture a bit better:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=151328&d=1627425393

I still need to pull apart the glove box one more time so I can flock the interior of it, so I didn't install the grab handle yet. The holes are there in the sheetmetal dash but they didn't cut them into the leather. It's simple enough to cut them open with an x-acto when I'm ready to do the final assembly of the glove box.


looks awesome - what's the start/stop button story?

plus your side frame filler is pretty cool, I've always wondered about that!

[JB in NOVA]

Looks great, and very smart layout!

[JohnK]

looks awesome - what's the start/stop button story?

plus your side frame filler is pretty cool, I've always wondered about that!

Thanks! The start/stop button is part of the Digital Guard Dawg PBS-1 (https://www.digitalguarddawg.com/keyless-ignition/automotive/pbs-i/) keyless push-button start system. They have a huge assortment (https://www.digitalguarddawg.com/ikey-start-button-options/) of start/stop buttons to choose from that work with the system. This one is actually from a Ford Raptor.

[toadster]

Thanks! The start/stop button is part of the Digital Guard Dawg PBS-1 (https://www.digitalguarddawg.com/keyless-ignition/automotive/pbs-i/) keyless push-button start system. They have a huge assortment (https://www.digitalguarddawg.com/ikey-start-button-options/) of start/stop buttons to choose from that work with the system. This one is actually from a Ford Raptor.

ok cool, I'll have to check them out as i have the DGD setup as well - I thought it looked like my start button on my Raptor :) LOL

very cool!

[JohnK]

Getting a couple sheets of the heat shield material turned out to be a logistical &*$%show, but it finally arrived a couple of days ago and I got all the footbox heat shielding wrapped up today. I used the same process described a few posts above. Here's the driver's side footbox:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=151521&d=1627956429

...and the passenger side:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=151522&d=1627956454

I'm glad that's wrapped up, as that was the main piece remaining to complete before dropping in the engine.

In parallel, I've been working on dash wiring. After studying the RF and Speedhut instructions (along with many threads here) on how to connect the gauges, I made the decision to use the Speedhut gauge sending unit wiring instead of the RF sending unit harness. There are pro's and con's to both. The Speedhut route has fewer unused wires and is already pre-terminated for the water temp sender. With that decision made, I made a harness that included the oil pressure and water temp senders, the tach signal wire, as well as the 8 gauge alternator lead. I routed those along the DS of the intake manifold down to the alternator and gauge senders, and bundled the harness at the rear of the engine for now, until the engine is in. You can see the new bundle tie-wrapped along with the existing wiring and the CMCV tubing. I test-fitted the engine cover to make sure all of this still fits under the cover, and there was still plenty of room to spare, so all's good.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=151520&d=1627956429

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=151519&d=1627956429

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=151517&d=1627956429

You can see that tach signal lead hanging loose there. I'm waiting for a Posi-Tap that I ordered for that connection to the coil signal wire.

I also added the hole and grommet to the firewall for this new wire bundle.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=151518&d=1627956429

That's all for now. Just plugging away at dash wiring. The next update will hopefully be showing the engine installed.

[JohnK]

I know... I said the next update would be the engine install. I lied. This is a quick update, but a cool one (I think so, anyway).

I needed an extension cable for the billet button for the E-Stopp parking brake. The button is on the far left side of the dash and the control box is behind the glove box, and they're about 2-1/2' short of connecting with each other. I called E-Stopp and asked them if they sold extension cables, and their reply was "yeah, we should totally do that because several people have asked for them... but we don't. Sorry." I could have just butt-spliced on some more wire but I hate butt-splices and avoid them wherever I can. So doing what any good builder does, I took this as an excuse to buy a ridiculously expensive tool. In this case it's a Molex crimper for their Mini Fit Jr. line of connectors. They'll handle wire from 18-24 gauge and up to 9A per pin. Perfect for signal wires, and a good complement to using WeatherPaks for larger wires.

The molex terminals are similar to Weatherpaks, in that there's a primary crimp onto the bare wire, and then a secondary crimp onto the insulation as a strain relief. Unlike my Weatherpak crimper however, the Molex crimper does both crimps at the same time. It's a complicated little crimper, and there was definitely a bit of a learning curve with this crimper, especially with 18 gauge wire. The thinner wires were much easier to crimp. After a little trial-and-error and a few botched crimps, I got the hang of it. I replaced the connectors on either end of the E-Stopp button wire and made an extension, and all's good now. It's nice having this capability in the toolkit (figuratively and literally).

Here's an 18 gauge wire with the terminal crimped on. The secondary crimp onto the insulation was tricky to get right because of the size of the insulation. 18 gauge is definitely overkill for what I was doing here, but it was all I had on hand in multiple colors so I went with it.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=151634&d=1628046145

here's the extension wire all terminated and ready to go.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=151633&d=1628046145

The thinner wires were definitely easier to crimp.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=151632&d=1628046145

... and here's the final product (before wrapping)

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=151631&d=1628046145

[Fman]

Nice work John those molex connectors are pro level... looking forward to seeing the engine dropped in!

One recommendation on heat shield (given to me by HSP) on outside of footbox is to make sure and try and not leave any gaps. Reason being is radiant heat will penetrate the uncovered areas and almost defeat the purpose of having the shield on there. I thought it kind of made sense. Obviously any protection is better than none, they just mentioned to not have any gaps in the sticky shield to allow heat to penetrate. I think the 427 throws out the most engine compartment heat, especially because the headers are so close to the DS footbox. I have a friend with a Coyote and he does not seem to have near as much heat issues as I have been having.

[narly1]

The companion tools that are nice to have are the extractors that allow you to remove the pins from the connector blocks. Basically they are just small tubes which fit over the pin OD and squish down the locking "tangs", with a plunger to push the pin out.

Alternatively you can get away with using fine brass tubing from the hobby/model train shop and gently pulling the pin out by the attached wire.

[JohnK]

Thanks - I bought a connector kit with an assortment of 2-12 wire connectors, and it included the extractor tool. If it's anything like the Weatherpak extractor, it's probably 50/50 on actually getting a pin out undamaged.

[JohnK]

So, the big day finally came. It was time to install the coyote. I rounded up a few friends, and they brought a few friends, and the next thing you knew... we had an engine install party going on. :D

I won't go through a step-by-step instructional because others have covered it far better than I could but I will share a few "gotchas" that we stumbled across.

Here's the 'patient' ready for surgery.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=151879&d=1628520009

I'm now convinced that all the comments from people about how the engine just 'drops right in' and they were done in 10 minutes, and did it on Christmas Day in their pajamas and whatnot... this has to be some sort of elaborate and well-orchestrated forum joke. It took us about 4 hours and lots of cursing and sweating. It's possible that we're all just dumber than average, though. Here are some learnings, in no particular order.

- The clearance between the engine hoist legs and the chassis 4" tubes is TIGHT. Even with the chassis on rolling dollies we still ended up having to take the casters off the engine hoist to get the legs low enough for the chassis to roll over them.

- Use only as much chain as absolutely necessary on the engine leveler. Once we took the wheels off the engine hoist, we realized that we couldn't raise the engine enough to get it over the 3/4" radiator crossbar. We ended up having to put the engine back on its cradle (again) to shorten the chains in order to be able to raise the engine high enough. By the third time, we looked like a Nascar pit crew putting that engine cradle on and taking it off.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=151875&d=1628519989

- All the comments about how tight the space is on the DS when installing the header are right. Holy *&*$% that was a bear getting that thing on.

- I recall someone mentioning in their build thread to remove the 1/2 NPT plug on the PS of the oil pan, as it will get hung up on the engine mount on the frame. I looked at that plug beforehand and thought to myself "that thing?! it's so small... no chance it'll be a problem." That POS caused immense heartache. By the time we realized it was a problem, the engine was so far in (and the DS header was on) that we couldn't raise the engine enough to get a hex wrench on it so it came out very unceremoniously with some vise grips. Trust me - remove that plug before installing the engine.

- After we got that oil pan plug off, we thought we were in the home stretch. We then discovered that it is, in fact, possible to get the engine stuck in four places simultaneously. This look on my face pretty much summarizes the WTF feeling we all had. For a few minutes it appeared to all of us that the engine needed to somehow simultaneously go up, down, left and right in order to get unstuck. So we just decided to give it a giant shove - and it fell in place. :p

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=151876&d=1628519989

- Have some champagne on ice!

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=151877&d=1628519989


All in all, it was a somewhat nerve-racking but fun and rewarding day. Nobody was injured, everyone had fun, and we all learned a lot. None of us had ever installed an engine before so this was a pretty big milestone. Now, on to the first start!

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=151878&d=1628519989

[toadster]

Awesome!!! Love the build! I'll be there soon!!!

[JohnK]

Thanks Todd. We kept joking (much to our wives' chagrin) that it seemed like we were trying to un-birth a baby but it somehow finally went in there.

[460.465USMC]

I'm now convinced that all the comments from people about how the engine just 'drops right in' and they were done in 10 minutes, and did it on Christmas Day in their pajamas and whatnot... this has to be some sort of elaborate and well-orchestrated forum joke. It took us about 4 hours and lots of cursing and sweating.....the third time, we looked like a Nascar pit crew putting that engine cradle on and taking it off.

All in all, it was a somewhat nerve-racking but fun and rewarding day. Nobody was injured, everyone had fun, and we all learned a lot. None of us had ever installed an engine before so this was a pretty big milestone. Now, on to the first start!

Wahoo! Congrats, John!

I have a feeling when I get to drivetrain install I'll see your four hours and raise you one hour! I think our friends in their Christmas PJs have done this a time, or four. Kind of like you were already at NASCAR pit crew efficiency on the engine cradle after three times.

Looking forward to hearing the rumble of that Coyote on your first start.

Thanks for sharing your lessons learned. This first-timer will need ALL THE HELP he can get, and then some!

P.S. Did you have to remove the steering shaft?

[JohnK]

Thanks Chris! Yes, I have a feeling that if I did this a few more times it would go infinitely more smoothly but all in all I'm thrilled with how it turned out for a first effort.

Yes, definitely disconnect the steering shaft at the steering rack and swing it out of the way. You'll probably have to disconnect your brake fluid reservoirs and swing those out of the way too.

[Blitzboy54]

Thanks Chris! Yes, I have a feeling that if I did this a few more times it would go infinitely more smoothly but all in all I'm thrilled with how it turned out for a first effort.

Yes, definitely disconnect the steering shaft at the steering rack and swing it out of the way. You'll probably have to disconnect your brake fluid reservoirs and swing those out of the way too.

You don’t know what you don’t know until you know it. The “next time” will be whole orders of magnitude easier. The important thing is you had a blast and can now tell anyone that asks that you put your 450 HP coyote in your bad*** cobra that you built yourself.

Huge milestone. Congrats and what’s shaping into a beautiful build.

[Fman]

Way to go John, looking forward to seeing the Coyote come to life! Wont be long now, keep at it!!!:cool:

[John Ibele]

Hey John, thanks for sharing the honest 'first time around' experience. I'll probably call it something else when I'm in the middle of it, and taking longer than you did! Great milestone!

Cheers,

-- John

[JohnK]

You'll call it many, many things when you're in the middle of it but just take your time and enjoy the process and it'll all work out fine! :D

[JB in NOVA]

Fantastic! The build is looking great. Love the shrink wrap on the wheels -- you've thought of everything!

[JohnK]

Thanks JB. I appreciate it! I can't take credit for the shrink wrap idea. Like a great many things I've done, I've borrowed ideas from others' build threads. This forum is an incredible resource.

[460.465USMC]

Thanks JB. I appreciate it! I can't take credit for the shrink wrap idea. Like a great many things I've done, I've borrowed ideas from others' build threads. This forum is an incredible resource.

I've been wondering about the shrink wrap on the tires, but was too embarrassed to ask the reason, figuring it was obvious. But have the nerve now...what does it do?

[JohnK]

I've heard some people claim that it keeps tires from drying out and cracking. Not sure I buy that. I did it primarily because my garage floor seemed to be perpetually covered in ridiculously sharp little metal fragments from drilling countless holes in the chassis, and I didn't want all that junk getting embedded in the rubber.

[460.465USMC]

Hi John. I couldn't seem to find the guage (thickness) of your custom dash. I'm considering options to go with a thicker dash, and may hit my local metal shop for a scrap piece. Sorry if you already spelled this out in your thread somewhere, but I can't seem to find it. Thanks!

[JohnK]

Hey Chris. No, I don't think I mentioned it anywhere in my build thread, but it is a thicker gauge aluminum than the FFR dash. IIRC, it's .060 (or 0.63?). I have a scrap piece in the basement if you want an exact measurement, but it somewhere in that ballpark.

[460.465USMC]

No need to go to that trouble. I believe 0.060 is a common thickness, and I think about the right guage. I went with 0.090 on my firewall, which is very sturdy. Thinking that might be overkill for the dash, since I will be installing several under-dash support brackets.

[JohnK]

Yes, I also have the FFMetals thicker firewall. The dash is not as thick as that. It's also a softer aluminum than 6061 that is better suited to being formed with a shrinker/stretcher in case you're thinking of forming a continuous lip along the bottom edge. There were no visible markings on the aluminum so I can't tell you specifically what alloy it was.

[JohnK]

I've been plugging away at various items over the last few days. In no particular order:

With the engine installed I set out to dial in pinion angle. I felt like I had a decent handle on what that meant. Oh, let me count the ways I was wrong! After some very patient mentoring by NAZ in this thread (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?40629-Pinion-angle-I-think-I-ve-got-it-but-please-check-me), I now have pinion angle dialed in, and I was able to install the Metco driveshaft safety loop and tighten down engine mounts, etc.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152416&d=1629478844

Before installing the PS header, I installed and wired the starter and added a couple of 2 ga. ground wires - one wire from one of the starter mounting bolts to the engine mount, and another from the engine mount up to the tapped bolt that the battery negative bolts to.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152418&d=1629478844

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152417&d=1629478844

This is a small item - I completed the tach connection to one of the coil wires. I've read about stripping one of these wires and crimping or soldering (or both) onto them. Frankly, this really gave me a lot of concern as they're really small wires and screwing up and damaging one of them would be a real pain to correct. So I hit the "easy button" and used a Posi-Tap for this connection. I've used these types of connectors in the past on motorcycles, including single-cylinder "thumpers" that will literally shake any fastener loose that's not loctited down, and I've never had one come loose on me. I really like them because they're pretty foolproof to install, and very non-invasive as there's only a small needle-like probe that pierces the wire. It can be removed if needed with hardly a trace that it was there, and there's no risk of damage to the wire when installing. I figure if it were to fail, the worst that would happen would be that I lose the tach signal, so I'm totally OK with that.

Here's the Speedhut tach wire tapped into the coil wire. I left a service loop on the SH wire in case I ever need to do anything down the road:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152420&d=1629478844

And here it is all wrapped up and finished.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152419&d=1629478844

I've got about 5 other things that are "in process" at the moment - most are waiting on some backordered part to move forward, so I'm just bouncing around from task to task right now.

[JohnK]

When I ordered the TKO 600 from Liberty's Gears, I had the option of upgrading the shifter from the stock Tremec shifter to the Pro 5.0 shifter. I'd read a lot of great things about that shifter, so it seemed like a worthwhile upgrade. One of the key features of the shifter is a large ring on the top that has adjustable positive stops for the 3rd and 4th gear shifts. Unfortunately, after installing the shifter I discovered that this ring interfered with one of the diagonal braces in the transmission tunnel. It's not obvious in this photo, but the transmission is angled quite a bit to the passenger side (as far as it can go and still be able to bolt in the transmission mount into the A-frame) and the shifter was still interfering with the diagonal brace.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152490&d=1629588770

So it was pretty clear that if I wanted to use this shifter I would need to modify or remove the diagonal brace. I know that many folks have cut these braces (usually the one further forward to enable a mid-shift setup) and either reinforced them in some way or just left them, and in fact I was advised by more than one person to just cut it out and not worry about it. Not saying that's right or wrong, but it was a bridge too far for me, and not really worth it IMO for the way I plan to use the car to do this just to have positive stops on the 3rd and 4th gear shifts. So in the end I decided to replace the shifter with a quick shifter from Modern Driveline. This one seems like it's built just as robustly, and is also a shorter throw than the stock Tremec shifter - just without the positive stops. Install was very easy: just six bolts and a thin bead of grey RTV and it's good to go, and now the driveline is perfectly straight.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152458&d=1629568344

[460.465USMC]

Really appreciate your documentation and pictures, John! This is so helpful to me. Notes are being taken...links are being bookmarked on your thread.

[JohnK]

I'm inching closer to first start! All the engine bay wiring for the coyote is now finished, other than the cooling fan. I initially installed the O2 sensors in the headers as indicated in the Ford instructions, and discovered that the passenger side wiring was a couple inches too short, while I had a TON of extra wiring on the drivers side. So I swapped the DS and PS O2 sensors and that worked out much better.

Here's the passenger side. It's tough to see in the photo, but there's a clip on the O2 sensor harness that is attached to the underside of the 3/4 tube. The wire was just barely long enough to sneak around the side of the footbox:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152610&d=1629842479

On the driver's side, since I removed the wire and connector for the OEM oil pressure sender, there was no reason for the O2 sensor wire to run down to the oil pan like it was originally routed. I pulled it back and brought it over the lower 3/4 tube and had plenty of extra wire to connect to the O2 sensor:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152617&d=1629842494

Next up was routing the wire bundle that contains the alternator connector as well as the MAF sensor connector. I started by removing the connector for the intercooler wiring and cut back and sealed off those wires and rewrapped the harness. I'll admit that I struggled a bit to find a good route for this harness. The main issue I was having was that I could either get enough wire for the MAF sensor or the alternator, but not both. After many, many attempts at different routes (and countless cut zip ties) I finally gave up and hit the easy button and threw some money at the problem. I ordered one of these (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08FCVMT2N/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) 12" MAF sensor extensions for $24 and now all's well.

Here's a shot of the sort-of final PCM wiring (still need to do the fan wiring):

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152612&d=1629842479

Here's the alternator/MAF harness running under the oil separator then down along the PS of the engine:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152614&d=1629842494

around the back and up the DS of the engine:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152611&d=1629842479

The DS bundle is pretty cramped. It contains the original coil wire harness, the alternator/MAF harness, the sending unit harness and main 8 ga. alternator wire, as well as the CMCV vacuum tubing and the braided steel fuel line. I had to test-fit the cosmetic cover a few times to make sure I was tie-wrapping all of these in a way that it would all fit under the cover, but it all somehow fits under there.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152613&d=1629842494

One area in particular that I spent a lot of time cleaning up was where the gauge sending harness and alternator wiring passed around the steering shaft. At first I had it passing between the engine block and steering shaft at the corner of the cylinder head, but I wasn't comfortable with how tight this was. Any engine movement at all, and that bundle would be rubbing on the steering shaft. I was finally able to get everything to loop over the top of the steering shaft to the F-panel and down to the gauge senders and alternator. I'm much happier with this routing now.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152615&d=1629842494

[JohnK]

(continued)...

And here it is looking pretty with the covers on. I have the chrome Ford Performance valve covers but those will stay tucked away safely until final assembly.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152608&d=1629842479

[BadAsp427]

Wow, that coyote always looks good in there... I really like the way each person does things just a bit different. They sure fill up the engine compartment. It may just be the angle of the last photo, but can you pull out the oil dip stick. It looks like it is blocked by the reservoirs. Either way, very nice and clean looking work.

[JohnK]

Thank you very much. Yes, it is super tight but it all somehow fits. I'm incredibly impressed by, and thankful for those that were the trailblazers in fitting a coyote into this car. I would have looked at that engine compartment and that engine and been convinced there was no way it was going to fit in there. Knowing that it's been done before has gotten me through more than one moment of doubt.

Yes, it's tight around the oil dipstick but I can pull it out. It comes straight up far enough to free the plastic handle, and then I can push it forward to clear the reservoirs and pull it out.

[JohnK]

Continuing on the march toward first start! I've been working on the cooling system the last several days, and wrapped up the installation of the Moroso coolant expansion tank. I started by making a bracket to secure the tank to the 3/4" cross tube. This is just a simple piece of .060 aluminum.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152912&d=1630460579

In order to make it as rigid as possible, I had it span the full width of the two mounting holes. This also allowed me to put four rivets in it. I used 18-8 stainless steel rivets which have a tensile strength more than 3x that of aluminum rivets, so it's in there pretty securely now. Here it is with the tank test-fitted. Note that I used some bolts and nuts initially to test fit, but eventually put 1/4-20 rivet nuts in the mounting bracket for final assembly

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152911&d=1630460579

Next up was fabricating the lower mount where the tank sits against the radiator shroud. I started with a piece of 1"x 1/2" aluminum bar stock that I shaped to fit the pocket in the bottom of the Moroso tank, and cut the bottom to match the angle of the radiator shroud that it would sit against.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152909&d=1630460566

I then drilled and tapped two 6-32 holes in the bottom of the aluminum piece, and made another simple flat bracket that bolted to the bottom of it with some countersunk screws.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152910&d=1630460566

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152908&d=1630460566

And here it is riveted to the radiator shroud with a couple stainless steel rivets. It all looks pretty simple but it took a bit of work to get it all to fit properly.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152907&d=1630460566

And here's the tank in its final position. It's rock-solid now. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152906&d=1630460566

[Railroad]

For some reason, I want to suggest putting some rtv or silicone on the lower block support you made. This would be applied at the time you last mount the tank. Nice work.

[JohnK]

Continuing work on the cooling system, I finished the install of the lower Boig Cool Tube. I initially had some trouble figuring out how to get it aligned correctly. After trading some PM's and having a nice phone conversation with Bob Boig, he explained that he leaves the hoses long intentionally so they can be trimmed to get the best fit. Here's what the engine-side hose looked like at first. That wasn't going to work too well:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152930&d=1630512180

After some judicious trimming, here's how it ended up. I'm happy with the clearance to the steering shaft now:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152925&d=1630512166

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152924&d=1630512166

The radiator-end hose was long on both ends and also needed some trimming to fit well. Here's how it looks now:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152927&d=1630512166

The middle of the tube ran pretty close to the x-brace, so I decided to take a short length of radiator hose and slip it in place and cover it with some of the abrasion guard sleeve that Ford puts on their hoses:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152929&d=1630512180

Here's what the whole assembly looked like after much fitting and trimming, before being installed for good:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152928&d=1630512166

The front bend of the metal tube still runs pretty close to the sway bar. I trimmed the rubber hose at the radiator outlet as much as I could to get the whole assembly to shift forward as much as possible, but there's not a lot of clearance there (maybe 1/16" to 1/8"). I don't think this will be an issue, but for good measure I put a section of abrasion guard sleeve over the metal tube in that area, and will keep an eye on it once I'm driving to make sure I won't have any problems down the road.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152926&d=1630512166

Many thanks to Bob Boig for taking the time to go over it all with me and make sure it all fits properly.

[Grkmf3]

Konstantinos edo ke Harika apo tyn Arizona.
Keep up the great work and Kaloriziko palikari.

[JohnK]

Γεια σου Κωσταντίνο! Ευχαριστώ πολύ. Χάρηκα και εγώ. Χαιρετισμούς από την California.

[egchewy79]

breeze makes a bracket that holds the solid tube to the underside of the x member for additional security.

[JohnK]

Thanks, I will look into that! If I could shift the whole thing forward another 1/8" or so and hold it in place with a bracket, I'd feel much better about the clearance to the sway bar. There's enough movement in the rubber hoses to allow it, but it won't sit there on it's own as it is right now.

[egchewy79]

https://www.breezeautomotive.com/shop/lower-radiator-hose-bracket-for-round-tube-x-brace/

looks like it's on sale!!

[JohnK]

My upper radiator hose finally showed up, so I was able to finish the cooling system today. Mostly pretty standard per many other coyote installations, but a couple of tidbits that might be interesting.

This is the Ford F150 upper radiator hose (CL3Z-8260-A). The engine-side connector has an indexed notch, and when installed it puts the bend in the hose right on the power steering pulley and belt. I recall reading this tip in someone's build thread a while back, but I can't remember who, so thank you to whomever posted this great idea about grinding a new index notch in the fitting with a Dremel to allow the hose to be "clocked" slightly differently, pulling the bend away from the power steering pulley.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=153007&d=1630725009

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=153006&d=1630725009

The radiator installation itself was pretty straightforward, with the Breeze upper and lower radiator mounts, as well as the Breeze radiator shroud. I am planning to install the Maradyne PWM fan controller as some others have done. One complication is that I also installed the Boig cool tube lower radiator hose as shown previously, which made splicing a coolant sensor adapter into the lower radiator hose impossible. I have a friend who has a metal fabrication business, and he was kind enough to TIG weld a 1/8" NPT bung in side of the radiator right at the outlet fitting, so I was able to install the temperature sensor right in the radiator.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=153004&d=1630725009

Next up were the power steering hoses. These are all Aeroquip teflon race hose and fittings as provided by Breeze. It took a bit of playing around to get the correctly angled fittings. This how I ended routing the lines.

From the power steering rack I used 90 degree fittings. The (bottom) high pressure line loops back to the outlet at the pump, while the (top) lower pressure line routes to a small cooler mounted on the radiator shroud.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=153010&d=1630725023

Here's a shot of the cooler and the lines running from the rack and on to the pump.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=153009&d=1630725023

At the pump the return line runs into the top of the reservoir through another 90 degree fitting, while he high pressure line goes to the inlet through a 45 degree fitting. I also replaced the stock orifice with a #4 orifice (smallest available) to reduce the power assist.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=153008&d=1630725009

[nucjd19]

Great build JohnK! What a treat to watch it. Keep on trucking!

[JohnK]

I've been making some good progress on both sides of the firewall to get ready for first start. On the engine side, as I previously mentioned I wrapped up the cooling system and power steering. Both systems are filled and I purged the PS system of air. I made a few small tweaks to the Spectre air intake by adding the PCV connection to it, as well as adding the Treadstone honeycomb airflow straightener (https://www.treadstoneperformance.com/honeycomb-maf-mass-air-meter-airflow-straightener/p103828) in front of the MAF sensor. I also wired up the cooling fan and the Maradyne PWM fan controller. With that, the engine bay is pretty much ready for first start, with the exception of filling the engine with oil. The engine has been sitting for (ahem... ) a bit longer than I'd anticipated so I'm going to pre-lube it using the garden sprayer technique I've read about here. For $20 it's cheap insurance to make sure we get off to a good start, so to speak.

Most of the work this past week was on dash wiring. I've gone from this:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148511&d=1621996657

to this:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=153262&d=1631395636

It's not pretty, but it's tidy. I made the decision at the start of the wiring to unwrap both the RF and coyote harnesses almost entirely so I could lay everything out the way I wanted. At some point I had that "oh $&*%" feeling that I'd made a big mistake doing that, but I kept chipping away at it and finally got everything to lay out in some sort of logical fashion. I moved the OBDII port and inertia switch all the way over to the PS, rearranged a bunch of other wiring, and dieted out a bunch of unnecessary stuff. The version of the coyote harness I received only had 5 wires in the "16-way pigtail". It seemed like a big waste of space to leave that giant connector in there. Additionally, if I did keep that connector I'd have to introduce a bunch of butt splices to connect those 5 wires. I try to avoid using butt splices wherever possible, so it was sort of a no-brainer to eliminate that 16-way pigtail connector and replace it with a Weatherpack 5 pin connector. This both reduced the size of the connector, and also allowed me to crimp pin the necessary wires directly into the connector. Not shown in the photo as it's buried behind the other dash connectors, but I also removed the largest of the three connectors in the dash harness. I ended up using the Speedhut gauge sender wires so most of the wires in that large connector were unnecessary. I only needed four of the wires, so I removed that connector and replaced it with a 4-pin Molex connector and saved a TON of space. The gauge power feed daisy chain wires are a bit of a handful. I must have bundled and unbundled those a dozen times and finally just accepted that they're not going to look pretty. So now I've got all the gauges wired up, and all the coyote wiring connected. I've temporarily installed the FFR-provided ignition cylinder/key for first start to simplify things. I've tied in the coyote fuel pump wire to the RF fuel pump relay, and completed the other power wiring to the bus bar, so I think I'm just about ready for first start. There's still a TON of wiring to do here, but it's all stuff that can be done after first start (keyless ignition, E-stopp, headlights, RT turn signal setup with the Ididit relay for hi/low beams, hazard lights, seat heaters, wipers, on and on...)

Just a few remaining items now. I need to bleed the clutch, install the side pipes, fill the tranny with fluid, pre-lube and fill the engine oil and I should be ready to fire her up.

[toadster]

I've been making some good progress on both sides of the firewall to get ready for first start. On the engine side, as I previously mentioned I wrapped up the cooling system and power steering. Both systems are filled and I purged the PS system of air. I made a few small tweaks to the Spectre air intake by adding the PCV connection to it, as well as adding the Treadstone honeycomb airflow straightener (https://www.treadstoneperformance.com/honeycomb-maf-mass-air-meter-airflow-straightener/p103828) in front of the MAF sensor. I also wired up the cooling fan and the Maradyne PWM fan controller. With that, the engine bay is pretty much ready for first start, with the exception of filling the engine with oil. The engine has been sitting for (ahem... ) a bit longer than I'd anticipated so I'm going to pre-lube it using the garden sprayer technique I've read about here. For $20 it's cheap insurance to make sure we get off to a good start, so to speak.

Most of the work this past week was on dash wiring. I've gone from this:


It's not pretty, but it's tidy. I made the decision at the start of the wiring to unwrap both the RF and coyote harnesses almost entirely so I could lay everything out the way I wanted. At some point I had that "oh $&*%" feeling that I'd made a big mistake doing that, but I kept chipping away at it and finally got everything to lay out in some sort of logical fashion. I moved the OBDII port and inertia switch all the way over to the PS, rearranged a bunch of other wiring, and dieted out a bunch of unnecessary stuff.

The version of the coyote harness I received only had 5 wires in the "16-way pigtail". It seemed like a big waste of space to leave that giant connector in there. Additionally, if I did keep that connector I'd have to introduce a bunch of butt splices to connect those 5 wires. I try to avoid using butt splices wherever possible, so it was sort of a no-brainer to eliminate that 16-way pigtail connector and replace it with a Weatherpack 5 pin connector. This both reduced the size of the connector, and also allowed me to crimp pin the necessary wires directly into the connector.

Not shown in the photo as it's buried behind the other dash connectors, but I also removed the largest of the three connectors in the dash harness. I ended up using the Speedhut gauge sender wires so most of the wires in that large connector were unnecessary. I only needed four of the wires, so I removed that connector and replaced it with a 4-pin Molex connector and saved a TON of space. The gauge power feed daisy chain wires are a bit of a handful. I must have bundled and unbundled those a dozen times and finally just accepted that they're not going to look pretty. So now I've got all the gauges wired up, and all the coyote wiring connected.

I've temporarily installed the FFR-provided ignition cylinder/key for first start to simplify things. I've tied in the coyote fuel pump wire to the RF fuel pump relay, and completed the other power wiring to the bus bar, so I think I'm just about ready for first start. There's still a TON of wiring to do here, but it's all stuff that can be done after first start (keyless ignition, E-stopp, headlights, RT turn signal setup with the Ididit relay for hi/low beams, hazard lights, seat heaters, wipers, on and on...)



nice work!!! do you plan on bypassing the ignition key/cylinder altogether?

[JohnK]

Thanks! Yes, eventually I think I will get rid of the entire key/ignition cylinder and just have the Digital Guard Dawg keyless ignition. I've toyed with the idea of keeping the ignition cylinder wired up as a backup located in the under dash filler, but that seems overly complicated.

[JohnK]

Yesterday I wrapped up a few remaining items I needed to do before being able to start the engine - filled the transmission, put some gas in the tank, connected the battery terminals, and pre-lubed the engine. The build has taken me a bit longer so far than anticipated and I had ordered the engine pretty early on (much earlier than needed, in retrospect) so it's been sitting around for a minute or two. I figured it was cheap insurance to pre-lube it using a garden sprayer as some others have done. I used a $15 1 gallon garden sprayer from the local Ace Hardware. I cut the wand fitting off the end of the hose and replaced it with a 1/8" NPT to 3/16" hose barb fitting, and screwed that into the port that the oil pressure sender normally goes. I pumped 5 quarts of oil through this setup, which filled the oil filter, and pushed oil up through all the oil galleys.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=153313&d=1631545998

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=153314&d=1631545998

After filling the remaining oil, it was finally ready to start! I had previously pre-checked that the fuel pump turns on briefly when the key is turned to the accessory position, and cycled that a few times to fill the lines. I had also disconnected the inertia switch ground wires and cranked the engine a few times without the fuel pump running to make sure the clutch bottom switch was working properly and the engine would crank, so I was pretty confident that everything was ready go. I filled the cooler with beer, called up a few friends, and fired 'er up! What a sweet sound it was to hear the engine come to life for the first time! Unfortunately the videographer (my wife) was so excited that she failed to actually get the first start on video (she had one job, LOL!). Anyway, you've all seen it a hundred times by now... turn the key and it fires right up like a daily driver. We then cracked open a few beers and talked cars for a couple of hours. Can't think of a better way to spend an afternoon. Here's a gratuitous shot of the car with the ceramic-coated side pipes to at least partially make up for no video.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=153315&d=1631545998

As soon as I get the clutch line bled, check to see if I need a clutch pedal stop, and heat cycle it a few times to check for leaks and top off fluids I'll be ready to go-kart for the first time.

[Fman]

Congratulations John!!! Nice work!

[JohnK]

I've been working on getting the clutch dialed in so I can get out there and go kart. I've got a few leaks that I'm chasing, but should get that resolved here shortly. Since I installed a Tilton hydraulic throwout bearing, the other item that needed to be addressed is adding a clutch pedal stop. Tilton recommends limiting clutch pedal travel to 1/4" past the point where the clutch is released, so I first had to find where that point is. I had a big 4x6 laying around that happened to be just the right length to span back to the back wall of the cockpit. I jacked up the rear tires, put a DeWalt spreader/clamp on the end of the 4x6 and gradually pushed the clutch in until I could turn the rear wheels by hand.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=153469&d=1631828536

I had some extra 1/2" x 1" aluminum bar stock laying around, so I came up with a design for a stop that screwed to the footbox with two 10-32 screws and then had the pedal stop on a 1/4-20 stud that I could adjust.

I started by cutting away the sound and heat insulation:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=153468&d=1631828536

This is what the stop looked like after locating it and drilling/tapping the necessary holes:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=153467&d=1631828536

A quick coat of Eastwood chassis black and it was ready to install. Once the stud was cut down to the right length, I shimmed the stop with fender washers that are the same OD as the stop, which gave it a nice, solid feel.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=153466&d=1631828536

And here's the final product. I thought I ordered a black rubber stop so I was a little surprised when I saw the red one in the box from McMaster, but who doesn't like a little bling on their pedal stop, right?! This is the "medium-soft" rubber compound, which has a very nice cushioned yet firm feel.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=153465&d=1631828536

[JohnK]

OK so it turns out that someone did, in fact, get the first start on video! Better late than never... enjoy!


https://youtu.be/oHa0C0hwxoE

[John Ibele]

There we go! Great sound to go with a great milestone. Congrats.

[JB in NOVA]

Very nice! That is one clean machine.

[JohnK]

I finally sorted out the issues with my hydraulic clutch (as detailed here (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?40895-Clutch-hydraulic-leaks-some-answers-and-more-questions)) and was able to get out for a first go-kart this evening. Here's a short video:


https://youtu.be/i8xHmlo0kFU

It's an unbelievable feeling to be able to take 9509 out for a drive, even a short one to the end of the block and back.

[JohnK]

Today I finished up the installation of the Wilwood brake bias adjuster. I wanted to have the ability to adjust brake bias once the car was finished without having to contort myself to get under the dash and loosen jam nuts and whatnot. I wanted the adjuster in a position that was readily accessible but not very visible. I found a good spot under the steering shaft, next to the fuse panel. I made a sheetmetal panel to fill the rectangular frame section, and mounted the knob to that.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=153509&d=1632004883

It's very easy to reach, but the knob us pretty much flush with the 3/4" tube frame so not visible at all unless you stick your head under there and look.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=153507&d=1632004883

The installation was pretty straightforward. a 90 degree fitting goes on the end of the balance bar, and a cable runs from that fitting to the knob. Kinda hard to see in this photo, but I've marked where the cable starts (balance bar) and ends (adjuster knob) with red arrows.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=153508&d=1632004883

The trickiest part of the whole process was figuring out whether turning the knob clockwise increases front or rear bias, so I could figure out which sticker to put on the knob. I figure I have a 50/50 chance that I got it right :D

[Railroad]

Wilwood told me, making the threaded shaft longer toward a master cyl increases bias. I have not verified that.

[JohnK]

That's my understanding as well. The FFR manual says this:

"When the balance bar is centered, it pushes equally on both master cylinders creating equal pressure, given that the master cylinders are the same size bore. When adjusted as far as possible toward one master cylinder it will push approximately twice as hard on that cylinder as the other."

[Fman]

John FWIW I have my 90 Tilton fitting on same side as you and my decal is the same one you are using, so maybe both of us are wrong. If I recall Tilton or Wilwood had some type of directions to what decal to use depending on what side of the bias bar you mounted the 90 degree fitting. I was actually able to adjust my brake bias on the track last week, the bias adjuster definitely comes in handy and I am glad I installed one.

[Blitzboy54]

John FWIW I have my 90 Tilton fitting on same side as you and my decal is the same one you are using, so maybe both of us are wrong. If I recall Tilton or Wilwood had some type of directions to what decal to use depending on what side of the bias bar you mounted the 90 degree fitting. I was actually able to adjust my brake adjusted on the track last week, the bias adjuster definitely comes in handy and I am glad I installed one.

I've been inspired by both of you on the Bias Adjuster. I ordered one last night and get it installed before I get too far along.

[460.465USMC]

Hi John. I've been unplugged from my build and the forum for about a month. Yours is the first thread I'm getting caught up on, and I must admit there was a smile on my face as I saw your progress. I was bummed to read no one recorded your first start, then read on and saw it, as well as your first go-kart. So cool! Was motivating to hear it fire to life! Picked up more ideas from your build--no surprise there. Really cool to see it coming together! Thanks for taking the time to share it.

[JohnK]

Thanks Chris! Thinking of the first start and first go-kart still puts a smile on my face too. :D Glad to see you back. I can't wait to see updates to your build.

-John

[JohnK]

The last few weeks have been pretty busy with non-build activity around the house, but I've been trying to sneak out to the garage and get a little bit of work in every day just to keep moving the ball forward. Today I finally hit a bit milestone (in my mind) in wrapping up the last of the dash wiring. I've temporarily connected all the lights and have been able to test everything now - all lights, turn signals, hazards, gauges, keyless ignition, electric parking brake... Everything is working as intended, and no smoke was released in the process.

I did have one small brain fart on the Russ Thompson turn signal wiring. I added a Molex connector inline in the 5-wire harness from the RT turn signal. In the process, I accidentally swapped the common wire and right turn signal wire in the connector, so only my left turn signal was working. I sent an e-mail to Russ this morning explaining my problem, and he called me back this afternoon while I was out running errands, even though he's currently at SEMA. After discussing for a few minutes, he figured out what the problem was over the phone. Sure enough, when I got back home I found those two wires swapped. I had them switched in a few seconds and everything is now working perfectly. Many thanks to Russ for his expert assistance!

Overall, I'm happy with the wiring. I added a bunch of Molex connectors to make dash removal easier down the road, should that be necessary (hopefully it won't be, but better safe than sorry). It's not the prettiest wiring job by a long shot, but everything is bundled up, heat shrinked, secured, and reasonably organized so I'm OK if it doesn't win any beauty awards. Mostly I'm glad it's finished and that it works, and that I can put the dash in place for (hopefully) the final time and move on to the next step.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=155222&d=1635913126

I thought I'd mention a few items (in no particular order), in case they're of interest to anyone:

Watsons Streetworks turn signal reminder buzzer (https://watsons-streetworks.com/product/reminder-buzzer/): Several people have mentioned that the built-in signal LED's in the Speedhut speedo get washed out in daylight and are hard to see. I didn't want to be "that guy" that's driving down the road cluelessly for miles with their turn signal flashing, so I decided to install a turn signal reminder buzzer. It's a very straightforward installation from a wiring standpoint. I found an unused corner of the fuse panel that was the perfect spot for the buzzer. It emits a somewhat annoying buzzing sound that is loud enough that it's unlikely I'll ever forget my turn signal on.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=155224&d=1635913126

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=155223&d=1635913126

Hazard switch diodes: I wanted to use the Lucas SPST switch in the dash for the hazard lights. To do so requires either a complicated relay setup, or the installation of a couple of diodes inline in the two hazard light wires from the switch. I've never really been good at soldering, but after watching a few YT videos and practicing my tinning techniques and finding the right temperature on the soldering iron, it was actually pretty easy to do. The diodes did get covered in triple-wall adhesive-lined heat shrink prior to installation. You can sort of see them in the first photo.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=155226&d=1635913126

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=155225&d=1635913126


E-Stopp parking brake "safety" wiring: The E-Stopp parking brake control module includes a blue wire that the instructions say to route to the ignition. The idea being that this will prevent the parking brake from being accidentally set while the engine is running. This seemed like a clunky solution to me. I wanted to be able to set the parking brake while driving, if needed, but I also didn't feel entirely comfortable with no safety in place to prevent accidental engagement. What I decided to do was to to tie the blue wire to the brake switch rather than the ignition, so that the brake pedal has to be depressed to set or release the parking brake. This seems like a reasonable safety measure, while still letting me use the parking brake when needed. The brake switch that I have has two pairs of connectors. One pair is normally open and closes when the brake pedal is pressed. These are the connectors that are used to turn on the brake lights. The other pair of connectors are typically used when this type of switch is used as a clutch safety switch. They are normally closed and open when the brake pedal is pressed. Using this circuit for the E-Stopp safety wire means that the blue wire gets +12V any time the brake pedal isn't pressed (thus preventing the E-Stopp from being set) and the power is interrupted when the brake pedal is pressed, allowing the E-Stopp to be set. I'm much happier with this setup.

Digital Guard Dawg keyless ignition: I wired this up pretty much exactly as described in the instructions. It also has a safety wire that goes to the normally open circuit on the brake switch, so that the brake pedal has to be pressed in order to start the engine. This, in combination with the coyote clutch safety switch, means that both the clutch and the brake have to be pressed in order to start the engine. Since both the DGD and E-Stopp control boxes are mounted behind the glove box, I decided to use the Accessory 2 wire from the DGD module to power the E-Stopp through a 10A self-resetting circuit breaker. This means that the parking brake cannot be set or released unless the keyless ignition is first turned on in accessory mode. I like the added little bit of theft prevention this provides. It likely would not stop someone who *really* wants to steal the car but it may at least slow them down a bit.

Underdash filler panels: In the top photo you can sort of make out two under dash filler panels that run nearly the full length of the dash. These started life as Mike Everson's under dash filler. After extensive massaging I ended up with what you see here. They're painted black on the visible side. I also added patches of Second Skin Damplifier Pro from scraps I had left over. This gets rid of the "tinny" sound of the panels and gives them a more solid feel/sound if you tap on them. Aside from closing up the vast majority of the underside of the dash, they also provide a home for all the switches and buttons I didn't want to have on the face of the dash. These include:

- LED footwell lights in both footwells that are turned on/off by twisting the headlight knob. (this will also turn on/off the trunk light).
- Buttons for the speedo display and for setting the clock
- Blue Sea Systems dual USB charging port
- Dimmer knob for Speedhut gauges
- Mounting point for seat heater relays
- DC coax power port (https://www.thewarmingstore.com/warm-n-safe-dc-coax-jack-panel-mount-with-6in-coax-plug-cable.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&adpos=&scid=scplp71478001&sc_intid=71478001&gclid=Cj0KCQjw5oiMBhDtARIsAJi0qk22nod-L1P7sodQ56LalFPb6EDjn6Xn-zSEAcT6xdi5h-iRQfOvI2caAmU8EALw_wcB). This is run off of the 30A cooling fan circuit. I bypassed the relay so that the 30A fan fuse gets power all the time. This allows me to plug in my 12V motorcycle heated gear (jacket and gloves) on really cold days since I didn't install a heater. It's wired directly to the battery so it also allows me to use this port to plug in a battery tender using a coax adapter without having to try to get to the battery itself (which is a bit of a PITA given how low it's mounted).
- ground bus bar. All the extra "toys" amounted to a lot of additional ground wires, so I added a bus bar on the under dash panel to accommodate all the extra ground wires.
- Inertia switch interrupt. On the far right side of the passenger under dash filler panel, I mounted a simple toggle inline in the ground wire running to the inertia switch. This allows me to cut off the fuel pump circuit if needed.
- Mounting point for the OBDII port on the far right side.

OK, that's pretty much it for dash wiring. Glad to be done with it.

[Blitzboy54]

John, the turn signal buzzer is a pure unfettered stroke of genius.


Well done

[JohnK]

John, the turn signal buzzer is a pure unfettered stroke of genius.


Well done

Thank you, but I can't take credit for the idea. Unsurprisingly, the genius is EdwardB. I'm just good at plagiarizing.

[John Ibele]

Looking great, John. Really nice work and nice photos to go with it.

[toadster]

fantastic!!!

[Fman]

I finally sorted out the issues with my hydraulic clutch (as detailed here (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?40895-Clutch-hydraulic-leaks-some-answers-and-more-questions)) and was able to get out for a first go-kart this evening. Here's a short video:


https://youtu.be/i8xHmlo0kFU

It's an unbelievable feeling to be able to take 9509 out for a drive, even a short one to the end of the block and back.

John, I missed this so I am a little late to the party --- congratulations! Sounds awesome! Have you decided on a color yet?

[JohnK]

John, I missed this so I am a little late to the party --- congratulations! Sounds awesome! Have you decided on a color yet?

Thank you very much! Yes, I've decided on a color... about a thousand times now. :p It's become a running joke of sorts in my house. Every time someone walks past I say "hey, come see what color I'm going to paint the roadster!" The whole family now roll their eyes and don't even look anymore. The day I have to make my final choice will likely be the hardest day of my life.

[460.465USMC]

Congrats on the electrical milestone! You brought in some nice extra touches. It’s fun to follow along to see the quality of your build. Inspiring and intimidating all at once!

[JohnK]

A while back I mentioned that I found a set of seats that I really liked. They are the Ultrashield Cobra (https://www.ultrashieldrace.com/catalog/product/seats-hot-rod-cobra-bucket/cobra-bucket-seat/) bucket seats. I loved that they were an aluminum race-style bucket like the Kirkey's and had the slot for the sub strap in them. I thought the looks were "just OK" though, so I decided to have them reupholstered. Here's what they looked like out of the box:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=131539&d=1594411994

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=131538&d=1594411979

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=131541&d=1594412055

Nothing wrong with them, really, but they could be better.

After some searching, I found a local upholstery shop that got good reviews online, so I stopped by for a visit. I was frankly blown away by the cars these guys were working on, and the quality of work they were doing. There was a $30M Bentley brasser, Mercedes 300SL gullwing, Ferrari's and on and on... Yeah, I think they can handle the upholstery on my car. ;)

I had done a lot of research online and had some ideas in my head - some specific and some pretty vague. We chatted for a while and I shared some idea photos and I left the seats with them to think about for a bit. My general ideas were as follows: I liked the seat details from the Mercedes 300SL's that had an embossed basketweave pattern in the center pleats with plain leather on the outer edges, like this:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=155476&d=1636080823

I also liked the scooped stitch detail on the backs of the Backdraft seats, like this:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=155475&d=1636080823

I asked them to custom-fit the foam to my body, add the Cobraheat seat heaters, and add these styling elements to the seats. They're pretty backed up, with a customer backlog of nearly a year, but this was a pretty small job for them so they said they'd try to get to it as quickly as they could. I went back a couple of times to talk details with them, make some design changes, and test-fit the foam inserts in the seats.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=155474&d=1636077027

(cont.)

[JohnK]

(cont...)

Today I finally got the call that I'd been waiting for. My seats were ready! I dropped everything and ran over there. When I arrived, they were sitting on a workbench next to that $30M Bentley. I was absolutely blown away by what I saw. They are completely unrecognizable from what I dropped off. I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=155473&d=1636077027

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=155472&d=1636077027

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=155471&d=1636077027

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=155470&d=1636077027

In case you can't tell, I'm absolutely giddy with how they turned out. The backs of the seats are carpeted in a German wool square-weave carpet in charcoal color. This is the same carpet that these guys will eventually carpet the entire car with for me, once the body is sent off for paint. To my eye, the seats feature pretty prominently in these cars since the interior is pretty small and pretty spartan, so these are definitely a centerpiece of the interior. Just wow...

[JohnK]

A while back I gave a preliminary update on the glove box for my dash here (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?31167-Greek-Guys-Garage-Roadster-Build-9509-(Seats!-multiple-posts)&p=457389&viewfull=1#post457389). I really lucked out in discovering that the Alex's glove box that I had bought a while back fit perfectly on the custom-formed dash glove box opening. That saved me a ton of work forming my own glove box. However, I didn't care for the textured ABS finish on the glove box so I still had to do some work on it. After weighing my options, I decided that I'd try to flock it using a suede-tex kit from Flock it! (https://flockit.com/order/products/suede-tex-flock/suede-tex-mini-flocker-kits/suede-tex-nylon-mini-flock-kit-745) If you're not familiar with flocking, it's a velvety finish that you typically see on the inside of jewelry boxes and whatnot. The process is very simple. Here's what I started with:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=155705&d=1636164658

I began by scuffing the whole box with some 150 grit sandpaper and wiped it down with IPA.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=155704&d=1636164658

The flocking process itself is pretty straightforward and easy. There are a bunch of videos on YT to give you a sense of it. You apply the color-matched adhesive with a brush or roller (you can also spray it if you're working on a larger project). You load up a bunch of the flocking in the applicator tube and then "shoot" it onto the surface. The glue remains tacky for about 15 minutes, so that's how long you have to get it all covered. For a part this size, that was plenty of time.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=155703&d=1636164658

You then have to resist the urge to do anything with it for several days while the glue fully cures. Since the weather here has cooled down quite a bit lately, I left it alone for a week. The glue was still a little soft at the edges but it was cured enough that I could blow off the excess flocking with some compressed air and get on with the assembly of the glove box.

The most time-consuming part of the glove box assembly was the seemingly endless futzing with the latch striker plate to get the latch to work properly, but I eventually got it all dialed in and working well.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=155702&d=1636164658

It's nice to have this all put together and working well. The flocking is exactly the look I was going for, and has a nice finished look vs. the bare ABS plastic.

And here's the whole dash...

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=155706&d=1636166005

[toadster]

wow awesome seats and fantastic dash! I like that flocking box! :D learn something new everyday on here!!!

is this the kit? Inline Tube Black Nylon Flocking Kit (https://amzn.to/3EM12Ya)

[JohnK]

Thanks! I'm really happy with how both turned out. Getting closer and closer to putting the body on for the first time.

That looks very similar to the kit I bought, except I bought direct from Flock It (see my link above).

[460.465USMC]

In case you can't tell, I'm absolutely giddy with how they turned out. The backs of the seats are carpeted in a German wool square-weave carpet in charcoal color. This is the same carpet that these guys will eventually carpet the entire car with for me, once the body is sent off for paint. To my eye, the seats feature pretty prominently in these cars since the interior is pretty small and pretty spartan, so these are definitely a centerpiece of the interior. Just wow...

Very nice upgrade, John! Those will look fantastic in your cockpit.

[JohnK]

I took the car out for a quick go-kart yesterday as I was tweaking steering shaft positioning to center the steering wheel. One of the neighbors was out in his driveway so I stopped and we chatted about the build. After a few minutes, he offered to buy the car when it's finished. I haven't even put the body on yet. :p

[Fman]

Dash sure turned out great! John your getting close to driving on the street soon! and tell your neighbor he can have it for 150k :cool:

[Blitzboy54]

Looks great John, very classy build.

Nice work

[John Ibele]

Yeah, isn't the interior work fun? It's got one of the greatest opportunities for individual expression and also craft. And both your dash and the seats (!!) look fantastic. Nice work.

[facultyofmusic]

Regarding the brake bias adjuster, did you use the "Tilton Engineering 72-561 - Tilton Brake Balance Bar Coupler Fasteners"? listed on Summit Racing for $93.50? I'm really surprised at how much that thing costs... Just want to make sure we're looking at the same part here.

[JohnK]

My purchase log shows the Tilton 72-560, which is the version threaded for 3/8-24 (vs 7/16-20 for the 72-561). Interestingly the one I received was also black, not like the one shown in the photo on the Summit site. I don't have an electronic copy of the Wilwood pedal box documentation handy, but confirm which thread pitch of the Wilwood balance bar. One other thing to note, I had to drill out the end that the cable goes into in order for the Wilwood adjuster cable to fit into the Tilton fitting, but not a big deal. Lastly, someone else mentioned taking that 90 degree fitting apart before installation and packing it with a little more grease. When I opened mine up it was pretty dry so I added a little dab of grease and that seemed to help quite a lot.

[jiriza84641]

I just received the Tilton 72-560 and its black, this one is for the 3/8" thread. The 72-561is for the 7/16" thread.

[facultyofmusic]

Thanks for the swift reply John! Did you leave the 90 degree fitting freely rotating about the axis of the balance bar? I guess it can't really rotate THAT much given the small travel distance of master cylinder actuation.

[JohnK]

Yes, the 90 degree fitting is threaded onto the end of the balance bar and secured with a jam nut and a little blue loctite, and it's free to spin until the cable is installed. Once the cable is installed in the fitting, that will hold it in place. No need to do anything else to secure the 90 degree fitting.

[nucjd19]

I finally sorted out the issues with my hydraulic clutch (as detailed here (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?40895-Clutch-hydraulic-leaks-some-answers-and-more-questions)) and was able to get out for a first go-kart this evening. Here's a short video:


https://youtu.be/i8xHmlo0kFU



It's an unbelievable feeling to be able to take 9509 out for a drive, even a short one to the end of the block and back.
Sorry for the late response but wanted to congratulate you on your go cart!!!! Your build is just beautiful. Almost as beautiful as your Cervelo beside your build.... Hopefully you get out and get some miles on that awesome bike as well :)

I have the same bias adjuster on my rig and I read somewhere that the sticker should point towards which side you have the front and rear MC mounted for the adjustment ( ie if the left the MC goes to the front then the bias sticker should show rotating to the left increases the front bias ).

[460.465USMC]

I painted the transmission mount adapter, along with the trans mount spacers, then installed the mount on the trans.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=151222&d=1627163869

Hi John. Are these the Forte spacers you've mentioned elsewhere? I found the trans mount adapter (as shown above) in my kit supplies, but haven't come across these spacers. If I recall, they were critical to your pinion angle setup?