Project RE-DO

[Madfor67]

Hi fellas,

I recently bid and bought a freshly built gen2 Coyote MK4 Roadster on a popular auction site on a whim without any due diligence or doing research... I have bought and sold plenty of cars, and built show cars and race cars in the past, so I should have known better... I blame the pandemic fever and 40ish mid-life crisis... LOL

Sure enough, when all the excitement of getting a toy car settled, I didn't like what I saw both mechanically and aesthetically... I quickly realized I got a MK4 project car that was barely and hastily put together by an amateur. On top of that, the body shop that worked on the body did a terrible job of aligning and gapping the parts. Even the body was off-centered...

Only saving grace of this chunk of metal and fiberglass was that the original owner did not use a single donor part. He bought the MK4 complete kit, other goodies from Breeze, replicaparts, and the crate gen 2 coyote and TKO 600 transmission package from FF.

So now, I am left with the task of identifying and fixing everything that is wrong with the car... I created this thread to chronicle my advanture of fixing my MK4, and modding things to my liking. Stay tuned...
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[tonywy]

It doesn't look so bad... I bought my car the same way except from a car consignment place. Sight unseen but, lots of pic's and a video. Would NEVER do that again. I was very lucky and very pleased with my purchase, but never again.

[GoDadGo]

If you need outside professional help De-Boogering the car, then consider reaching out to 65 Cobra Dude.
Henry is a professional builder and is located down in South Florida.
He straightned out many cars over the years.
His abilities are expectional.

[Madfor67]

It doesn't look so bad... I bought my car the same way except from a car consignment place. Sight unseen but, lots of pic's and a video. Would NEVER do that again. I was very lucky and very pleased with my purchase, but never again.

Dark Indigo color hides things pretty well in the pictures. It's definitely a great looking car from 10~15 feet away. My goal is to make a great looking car from 1 foot away, and mechanically safe and reliable car.

[KDubU]

Hard to say what is wrong with the build with the two pics. It appears the trunk may be out of alignment but that is an easy fix. Are there other obvious issues?

[Madfor67]

If you need outside professional help De-Boogering the car, then consider reaching out to 65 Cobra Dude.
Henry is a professional builder and is located down in South Florida.
He straightned out many cars over the years.
His abilities are expectional.

Thanks for the reference, but I am trying my best to enjoy the "De-Boogering" process, and get to know the car intimately while doing it...

[Madfor67]

Hard to say what is wrong with the build with the two pics. It appears the trunk may be out of alignment but that is an easy fix. Are there other obvious issues?

More pics and stories to come!

[Madfor67]

As soon as I pulled the car out of the transporter, I noticed that the passenger side front wheel camber was way too positive compared to the driver side. So, I got under the car to "roughly" adjust the camber before I take it to a shop to get a proper alignment. I was shocked to find every bolts and nuts on the upper A-arms were barely threaded.
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I move towards the back and noticed that 3-link arm was resting on top of the diagonal cross frame. Crush nuts on the upper control rod for the 3-link axle weren't tightened, and it managed to loosen itself until the rear shocks tilted to the point they rested on the axle's suspension brackets.
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[GoDadGo]

Check the pinion angle and every other Nut & Bolt that you can get to.
This is some crazy stuff you are uncovering.
If you don't have the manual, get a copy.

[Madfor67]

Check the pinion angle and every other Nut & Bolt that you can get to.
This is some crazy stuff you are uncovering.
If you don't have the manual, get a copy.

Yeap. This is how the pinion angle looked with all that mess...
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[GoDadGo]

Yeap. This is how the pinion angle looked with all that mess...
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On a 3-Link the pinion needs to point down between 1 -2 degrees compared to the driveline to preload it.
The manual rack settings are 3 degrees caster, .5 camber, and 1/16" toe-in.
Power racks push the caster to 6-7 degrees.
Hope this helps!

[nucjd19]

Oh wow!!!! Definitely interested to see how this comes along. Sort of like a treasure hunt but not in a good way... I hope you get this sorted quickly.

[Madfor67]

On a 3-Link the pinion needs to point down between 1 -2 degrees compared to the driveline to preload it.
The manual rack settings are 3 degrees caster, .5 camber, and 1/16" toe-in.
Power racks push the caster to 6-7 degrees.
Hope this helps!

I used TREMEC app to measure the angles of the driveline, shaft and the axle using my iPhone numerous times and adjusted the axle angle. It’s not the most accurate method, but I think I found the sweet spot.
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I did get the car aligned by the tech who is well known in the Cobra community here in Houston. I knew the recommended specs from FF, but I tweaked it with my preference.
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[Madfor67]

Enough with depressing posts... I've been hoarding new parts, so it's time for some show-and-tell car parts porn... ;)
I am a firm believer that people like us build/mod cars for the fun of buying and scavenging parts.

1. Boig Quiet side pipes - I live in a very very quiet master-planned community... I am going to experiment and measure the dB level of J-pipe + Boig combo vs. Cat + Boig combo. I want it quiet, but I don't want it to be too quiet... LOL
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I love the tight bend compared to the FF one
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2. FF Catalytic converter. Never used. A guy was selling it from an abandoned MK4 project that he took over. I hope it works with the coyote engine.
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3. Backdraft seats. I kept eyeing the diamond pattern stitched Backdraft seats on Instagram. I liked the shape of the Backdraft seats. So, I put up a "wanted" post on several Cobra related Facebook groups. Almost instantly a well known Backdraft dealer in Houston contacted me, and the very next day I went to his shop to pick up the new take-off seats. Apparently, the gentleman who bought the car needed wider seats. The dealer assured me that these seats will fit FFR since I am not the first FFR owner who bought Backdraft seats and put them on their FFRs. I need to research and buy appropriate seat rails for these seats. Has anyone in this forum done this? I would love to pick your brain.
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I haven't decided whether to dye them black and put race seat rivets similar to GT40 seats, or get it completely reupholstered and put diamond stitching in the middle.
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4. Metco Driveshaft Safty Loop - Reading awesome build theads on this forum always does serious damage to my wallet... I stayed up late reading Papa's build thread, and ended the night by ordering this heavy metal at 3am...
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5. Car audio carpet for the trunk - Once again Papa's build thread inspired me to buy this... Question, what kind of removable bolt can I use to replace the rivets for the fuel tank access hole covers in the trunk?
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6. 3/4" aluminum pipe for the front bumper rods and the ********** rubber grommets for the front body mounting. My “brand new” car had 3 paint/fiberglass cracks near the front bumper rods.
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7. Ford Performance clutch cable and the clutch cable adjuster - Cheap insurance from getting stranded on the road because the FF supplied clutch cable broke.
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8. Driver and passengar Breeze roll bars and roll bar trim rings from replicaparts.com - I heard a local cobra club guy calling the MK4 roll bars as "paper clips" because they are thin (1.5" diameter) and too tall. I gotta admit, they do look a little awkward. I don't plan on taking my FFR to a track, so I am replacing them for a pure asthetic reason.
-- No pictures --

Future buy list:
- 15" Trigo pin drive wheels or Vintage pin drive wheels. I need to research and find out which one of these offer the best offset. I want the 15" wheel that will be fairly flush with the fender, so that the fat 15" tire will fill in the fender without looking too tucked in or stick out from the fender.

[GoDadGo]

Car part hoarding is what we all do.
I still have a flywheel under my bed for a future project and I'm eyeballing a NOS ZF gear box right now.
It is part of our DNA.

[phileas_fogg]

... Question, what kind of removable bolt can I use to replace the rivets for the fuel tank access hole covers in the trunk?


I like #10-32 riv nuts.


John

https://live.staticflickr.com/1759/40666659400_64e199baa9_4k.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/24Xzg31)IMG_4468 (https://flic.kr/p/24Xzg31) by jhsitton (https://www.flickr.com/photos/91016165@N07/), on Flickr

[Madfor67]

I like #10-32 riv nuts.


John


That's perfect! Thanks!

[CraigS]

Be sure to check your front brakes to assure 15 inch wheels will fit. BTW, I think you have a really fun project there. One nice thing is all the parts are new which beats the heck out of old and greasy.

[CobraboyDR]

Future buy list:
- 15" Trigo pin drive wheels or Vintage pin drive wheels. I need to research and find out which one of these offer the best offset. I want the 15" wheel that will be fairly flush with the fender, so that the fat 15" tire will fill in the fender without looking too tucked in or stick out from the fender.Make sure you have the narrowed rear axel and front spindles for the wheels.

[Madfor67]

Be sure to check your front brakes to assure 15 inch wheels will fit. BTW, I think you have a really fun project there. One nice thing is all the parts are new which beats the heck out of old and greasy.

My brakes are mustang brakes that FF sells. I believe they are 10”-11” in diameters. So I’m good with the brakes I think. I wasn’t really looking for a build project when I got the car, because I’m still recovering from the previous frame up race car build 9 years ago. LOL. But it is what it is. My stupidity handed me another “RE”-build project. I might as well enjoy fixing them...

[Madfor67]

Make sure you have the narrowed rear axel and front spindles for the wheels.

Yikes! This is exactly what I was afraid of. I’m not willing to or ready to modify the axles and spindles just to fit the wheels. It should be the other way around! I’ll do some more research to find direct bolt on pin drive 15” wheels.

[alexmak]

My brakes are mustang brakes that FF sells. I believe they are 10”-11” in diameters. So I’m good with the brakes I think. I wasn’t really looking for a build project when I got the car, because I’m still recovering from the previous frame up race car build 9 years ago. LOL. But it is what it is. My stupidity handed me another “RE”-build project. I might as well enjoy fixing them...

I believe the standard front brakes are 11.65

[rich grsc]

Yikes! This is exactly what I was afraid of. I’m not willing to or ready to modify the axles and spindles just to fit the wheels. It should be the other way around! I’ll do some more research to find direct bolt on pin drive 15” wheels.
You have to narrow both front suspension and rear axle width to use pin drive wheels.

[Madfor67]

You have to narrow both front suspension and rear axle width to use pin drive wheels.

For all pin drive wheels or just for the Trigo? Vintage wheel sells pin drive wheels specific for the FF MK4. I assume they figured out the offset for the direct bolt on without major modifications. https://vintagewheelsus.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=59_62_93 I’ll give them a call within next few days and find out.

[Jeff Kleiner]

For all pin drive wheels or just for the Trigo?

All.

Jeff

[Madfor67]

All.

Jeff

OK, just informed myself by reading some old “pin drive” threads. That’s too much major work to covert to pin drive... I guess I’m stuck with FF’s 5-bolt pattern 15” wheels... Thanks cobraboyDR, rich gsc and Jeff for straightening me out.

[Madfor67]

I pretty much decided to redo the body as soon as I received the car from the seller. Dark Indigo color did an excellent job hiding all the "uglies" in the pictures and videos posted on the auction site...

Below is just the shortlist of the exterior problems:

1. Door gaps were 1/2" in some places...
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2. Without the hood latches, hood's contour did not match the body contour at all, and even with the hood latches, the hood was lifting from the body by 1/2" in some areas.
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3. The passenger side wheel/tire stuck out from the fender more than the driver's side. These pictures were taken right after getting the alignment done, so the cambers were the same.
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4. Side pipe openings weren't properly opened up. When the Roadster arrived in a transporter, side pipes damaged the body opening when the car bottomed out pushing the side pipes to the body.
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5. Side vent opening angles didn't match the angle of the side vents
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[Madfor67]

It has been one month since I dropped off the Roadster at the body shop. They made some progress despite running into some unexpected issues.

The body was off center towards the driver side by 1/4". It took about two weeks and 3 attempts to recenter the body because the body shop didn't realize that the quickjack bolt mounts are offcentered. The body kept going off center every time they tightened the quickjack bolts. Thanks to the tip from the body gurus on this forum, the body shop made necessary corrections to the mount. Now, the front wheel/tire sticks out of the fender just about the same on both sides.

Hood's contour was reshaped using sandbags, cinder blocks and the Texas sun... All outer edge of the hood now sits flat on the body without any latches.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50282823996_155226088b_b.jpg


Added fiberglass to the door to replicate the rolled edge of the front dash, and to close the 1/2" gaps.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50283037196_7eeae72415_b.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50283194387_6599f8b693_b.jpg


Replaced FFR rollbars with the Breeze rollbars. Back legs to the rollbars aren't welded to the hoops yet. I still need to decide the optimal height of the rollbars.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50282982957_86b6e6b3c5_b.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50282145843_ba43070605_b.jpg

When the passenger side door was taken off from the door hinge, we found this work of art:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50282824396_efbe0c7902_b.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50282824626_8522c9104f_b.jpg

It's not too clear in the pictures, but the previous shop welded extra metals to the front side of the door hinge. Then, the original holes were filled in with epoxy to create new holes. We believe this hack job had to be done, because the body was off-center towards the driver side, thus pulling the passenger side's fender away from the door hinge. They tried to fix a wrong (body offcenter) with a wrong (hacking the door hinge)... SMH...

I didn't want the bodyshop to waste time fixing this hinge, so I contacted FF and ordered a new passenger side hinge.

Now that the major problems have been identified and corrected, I expect the body work to pick up speed, and soon, I will bring the go-cart home to comb through the mechanical issues.

[GoDadGo]

Good Luck From The Dark Dart Side!

Buying A Newly Finished Factory Five Means It Should Be Finished!

[Madfor67]

Good Luck From The Dark Dart Side!

Buying A Newly Finished Factory Five Means It Should Be Finished!

I’m looking forward to getting down and dirty when the gocart arrives.

[Madfor67]

It has been a while since I updated this thread, so here we go... Since the bodyshop owner is the only one working on my car, progress has been somewhat slow... Driver side door fitment and gapping is about 90% complete. No more 1/2" gaps, and door sticking out from the body!

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50400169271_205fc84c07_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50399475408_f45da7337f_c.jpg

Bodyshop added more fiberglass to the top edge of the door to mimick the rolled edge. Unfortunately, they added bit too much. Space between the steering wheel and the door was less than 2". My left hand knuckles were barely clearing the door. So, I asked them to notch out the door curvature more.

Before:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50343253353_751b7d8da3_c.jpg

After:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50400323667_8cbc7f4ea6_c.jpg

Hood scoop hole cutout was too large. I wanted some overlap between the hood and the scoop, so that the racing stripe doesn't appear to be cutting off abruptly. So, I asked the shop to close off the front side of the hole with fiberglass.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50343253738_969be058d6_c.jpg

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https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50400323537_195f8d7396_c.jpg

[egchewy79]

what a project! i'm sure you'll want to see your next car in person before buying it! you can always have the steering wheel pulled back a bit to get more knuckle clearance as well.

[rich grsc]

Wow, a lot of rework. You're this far along, have them fix the scoop lip as well.:D

[Walt]

Looking good, to bad you are having to go through this but it will be worth it in the end!

[Madfor67]

what a project! i'm sure you'll want to see your next car in person before buying it! you can always have the steering wheel pulled back a bit to get more knuckle clearance as well.

Yeah, I usually hire a car inspection company or do the PPI for out of state purchases, but the year 2020 really screwed with my head... LOL

[Madfor67]

Wow, a lot of rework. You're this far along, have them fix the scoop lip as well.:D

Yes! That's already in the plan to thin out the scoop lip... The previous bodyshop did not touch that scoop lip at all. That's how the scoop came from FFR...

[Madfor67]

Looking good, to bad you are having to go through this but it will be worth it in the end!

I do enjoy modding cars, so I'm trying my best to make lemonade with the lemon... ;)

[CraigS]

You are doing just fine. Yeah, it's more than you expected, but your skills are going to make this a fun project and a fantastic driver when you are done.

[Richard Oben]

Just a thought. Before you finish all the intricacies of the door to body fit. Put windshield back on and verify is doesn't cause any issues. Also NO part of the metal on the windscreen should touch to body. Only the gasket on the bottom and the trim plates around the bars. The bars should not contact the fiberglass.

Someone got in a really hurry. We leave a lot of stuff not tight before the alignment gets done (bright blue tape on anything not tight) but after that we nut and bolt the whole car. Rookie body shop error, the hood opening has NEVER been centered on the car, ever, mk 1-4. We always set it from the shock mounts on the front. And adjusting the front QJ mounts is common. Pipes have had issue for a long time as well, the kink on the pass side always puzzled us. HTH, Richard.

[Madfor67]

Just a thought. Before you finish all the intricacies of the door to body fit. Put windshield back on and verify is doesn't cause any issues. Also NO part of the metal on the windscreen should touch to body. Only the gasket on the bottom and the trim plates around the bars. The bars should not contact the fiberglass.

Someone got in a really hurry. We leave a lot of stuff not tight before the alignment gets done (bright blue tape on anything not tight) but after that we nut and bolt the whole car. Rookie body shop error, the hood opening has NEVER been centered on the car, ever, mk 1-4. We always set it from the shock mounts on the front. And adjusting the front QJ mounts is common. Pipes have had issue for a long time as well, the kink on the pass side always puzzled us. HTH, Richard.

Good call on the front windshield frame... I didn’t think of that. I bet the original holes will no longer work since the front of the body was recentered.

The original builder had it over a year after he finished building it. He had plenty of time to go over and tighten all the nuts and bolts. He chose not to... My guess is that this guy lost interest and didn’t want to spend any more time and money on the car. I’m just going to stop there before I get the urge to talk to a lawyer about my options...

[Madfor67]

You are doing just fine. Yeah, it's more than you expected, but your skills are going to make this a fun project and a fantastic driver when you are done.

Thanks for the encouragement... I’m trying my best to stay positive..

[tony]

Just wondering, are there lemon laws in your state? You mention talking to a lawyer but I’m guessing the bid website had all sorts of legal “jargon”

[Madfor67]

Just wondering, are there lemon laws in your state? You mention talking to a lawyer but I’m guessing the bid website had all sorts of legal “jargon”

I thought about reaching out to my lawyer, but I figured the time and money are better spent rebuilding the car on my own than pursuing a legal action... Bring a Trailer auction site just connects the buyer with the seller. I am sure they built enough legal protection around themselves, so they are probably off the hook...

[chmhasy]

Medfor67, Looks like you are doing great with this project, keep the progress coming.

[Madfor67]

Bringing back this thread from the dead after an almost one-year hiatus. Life got in the way of updating this thread (Start up a new business and had another kid).
I posted some of these pics on the FB FFR group, so, for some of you, this might be a rerun, but for the sake of centrally documenting everything, I'm going to post them here.

Body repair and mods have been the main focus for the majority of the time... My body guy took his sweet time... but, we are very close to being done. We might be painting within the next 2 weeks.. Cross fingers...

After trying to fix the original hood for a few weeks, it was just too off-centered, and the under panel of the hood would touch the hood opening of the body. We gave up and bought a new hood:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51312642475_de52aafc8f_c.jpg

The new hood fit better, but it needed a lot of massaging on the edges and the curvature to make them fit really good:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51312334254_0958f9bef1_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51311811943_a69e303f85_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51310864422_e59cf7da22_c.jpg


I didn't like how straight the FFR hood scoop was, so I replaced it with Tony Brenda's:

FFR's:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51312588380_50b67112cf_c.jpg

Tony's:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51312588365_355d0b9517_c.jpg

The more rounded profile of this hood scoop blends better with the curvy hood and the front fender lines.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51312311869_a954d07349_c.jpg

[Madfor67]

Worked on trunk gaps, too:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51310843367_ef5ae9f7ef_c.jpg


Decided to switch out the round tail lights with the LED rectangular lights. So, the body needed to be reshaped. Reshaping was done properly with fiberglass mesh and resin. Then, with the thin layer of fiberglass-reinforced bondo:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51311561501_df1d5ca446_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51310815407_38ee061643_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51311760228_f61c01bfdf_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51312281989_e05ac77cee_c.jpg

Sprayed high-build primer:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51311760308_ccc0b00527_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51311558636_8e7da87e36_c.jpg

[Madfor67]

Block sanded with 80 and 120 grit sandpapers, and it's almost ready for the medium build primer:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51312558980_ebf6fbf65b_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51310813312_5f4a71f65e_c.jpg

After the medium build primer, the entire body will be wet sanded with 180 or 200 grit sandpaper (I forgot the exact grit #). Body will be finally ready for some colors after that.

[Madfor67]

I had the Go-cart towed to my house, so I can work on mechanical issues. My wife would not let me use the double garage, so I'm stuck with using the single garage...
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51312301054_3af7a3a335_c.jpg

My jack stands and Rhino ramps weren't cutting it... So, I picked up the Quick Jack:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51311771563_9b0ce5e14e_c.jpg


The first small project to work on was replacing the main alternator charge wire that got burned up during my 25-mile drive to the body shop. Original builder routed the alternator wire an inch or two above the entire length of the header... That effectively fried the wire in many spots. The build manual specifically states to route this wire below the header near the engine mount... Obviously, he didn't read the manual...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51312578060_d55726d7e7_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51311576546_045025b822_c.jpg

Alternator contact was all rusted up as well. Cleaned it up with a wire brush and applied dielectric grease:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51312300599_70ff3f760d_c.jpg

Finished work. I plan to add more heat shields once I get the new ball-flanged headers.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51312037903_cc7639397e_c.jpg

[Madfor67]

I installed some goodies that I've been hoarding for a while:

Matco driveshaft safety loop. Great quality. Only took 10 minutes to install it. I'm not sure if I should leave the e-brake cables to pass through the loop, or move them outside of the safety loop. Any feedback would be appreciated.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51310824112_799b5dde01_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51312570405_70163a8e4d_c.jpg

Gordon Levy's adjustable rear lower control arms.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51310824437_acf9733f76_c.jpg

replicaparts' trunk support kit

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51311570221_6b4d817bbd_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51311569741_3fdebaf624_c.jpg

Russ Thompson's turn signal kit:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51311561221_92f82a8012_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51312567840_4d96b8126a_c.jpg

[Madfor67]

Rusted-out brake rotors bothered me, so I cleaned them up:
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51312290359_5b4321117e_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51310821832_b497818ae5_c.jpg

I never liked the flimsy plastic dash panel, so I ordered an aluminum blank dash from FFR.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51311768733_6dc06967a6_c.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51312568080_011bc14386_c.jpg

No fancy tools here... Punched out holes with what I had... Not pretty, but got the job done.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51312155743_1c8a81ccc7_c.jpg

I cut out the glove compartment from the plastic dash and transplanted it. I'm not sure how I'm going to attach it to the aluminum panel though... Either get some flathead screws or find really strong glue...

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51311163572_dd302c3859_c.jpg

[CFranks]

Regarding the e-break cables and the metco loop I believe it’s different for each setup so can’t necessarily use others as a guide. For mine, I made it work on the outside, had to shift the loop slightly at an angle. Also, make sure to test your drive shaft clearance at full movement of the suspension. My driveshaft was actually hitting the top of the loop slightly when I hit big bumps. Had to put some 3/8” spacers to raise the loop and now all is fine.

[Madfor67]

Great point. Thanks!


Regarding the e-break cables and the metco loop I believe it’s different for each setup so can’t necessarily use others as a guide. For mine, I made it work on the outside, had to shift the loop slightly at an angle. Also, make sure to test your drive shaft clearance at full movement of the suspension. My driveshaft was actually hitting the top of the loop slightly when I hit big bumps. Had to put some 3/8” spacers to raise the loop and now all is fine.

[M. Townsend]

I'm not sure how many build threads I've read through, but I find your rebuilding process to be uniquely informative. Thanks for sharing your journey.

[Madfor67]

It's more like a cautionary tale I guess. You'll know what NOT to do from my experience... LOL I'm glad you find it informative.


I'm not sure how many build threads I've read through, but I find your rebuilding process to be uniquely informative. Thanks for sharing your journey.

[egchewy79]

I had to run my ecables through my metco loop as well. I used 3 Forte transmission spacers to get my pinion angle to work which resulted in some spacers/standoffs under my loop, raising it up.

[narly1]

It's more like a cautionary tale I guess.

Your story also speaks to the idea that as sellers of amateur-built cars we should be offering them "as-is, where-is".

Safety and mechanical issues aside,there is a huge variation in "build standard" across the community.


Earl