Planning build in Northern Virginia

[dkramer]

Hello there. First time poster to this forum. I am hoping to find some information on how you planned your build prior to starting. What resources did you use to plan out what you were going to do? Magazines, books, this forum? What are the options I should be thinking about prior to purchase? Tools I may want to acquire prior to receipt so I am prepared (besides the obvious of sockets wrenches, torque wrenches, drivers, etc)? The forum has a boat load of great information, but I do not see info on the planning process. I would like to have a set plan prior to jumping in. I'm hoping to be able to attend the build school this year at some point and am sure they will have some great information there. I am also interested in seeing some builds in the Northern Virginia area once it is "safe". Thanks ALL for the information in advance.

[phileas_fogg]

Hello & welcome to the forum!

I'm in Fairfax, and my car is complete, though the body is off for bodywork & paint. You're welcome to come by anytime to talk & look over the car; PM for details.

To prepare for my build, I read pretty much every post on this and the ffcars.com forum for two years before ordering my kit. Along the way, I found a bunch of build logs to be extremely helpful. The standouts are by edwardb:

http://www.ffcars.com/forums/17-factory-five-roadsters/299597-mk4-7750-build-progress-update-4.html
http://www.ffcars.com/forums/17-factory-five-roadsters/518353-edwardb-s-mk4-8674-20th-anniversary-build.html

In addition to edwardb, there are some trusted names you should know (if these guys give you advice, ignore it at your peril): CraigS, Jeff Kleiner (esp. for body work), frankeeski, weendoggy, Frank Messina, wareaglescott (esp. for Coyote), Big Blocker (esp. for electrical), and J.Miller (esp. for body work) to name just a few.

The best advice I can give you is to figure out what you want to do with your car. Do you want to autocross? Track race? Cruise around the farmland & rarely crack 60 mph? Long drives or less than 30 minutes? The answer to this question will drive how you build your machine.

Once you do your homework - you'll know when you're ready - jump into the deep end & start swimming. This community will make sure you not only stay afloat, but also look good as you learn to swim.


John

[VAHokie]

Welcome and feel free to reach out anytime. I'll second everything John said but add that I attended the build school back in the fall of '18 right before I placed my order and would recommend it. For a novice builder like myself, it was great to get some hands-on experience and the tips the instructors passed along were worth the price of admission.

[RJD]

Greetings,

In addition to those build forums mentioned, for $10 you can get a digital copy of the build manual from Factory Five Racing ahead of your actual delivery.

http://www.factoryfiveparts.com/assembly-manual/

You'll also find several build videos there which supplement the instructions.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWvfrZxPoPnbmHRjXTlVS-CVcPoK4x6lB

[jrcuz]

I'm a little behind John and not on the road yet. I'm getting ready to trailer mine to Whitby's in NC for a few finishing touches and body work and paint. This past year slowed my progress way down not having fellow builders help in doing some finish work. I also attended the build school in the summer of '16 and would highly recommend it. Take plenty of notes and pics.
JR

[Hurman]

I am over here in Waldorf and am also planning my build. Its nice to see that there are other builders in the area.

[John Ibele]

A big thumbs up to John's input, "...the best advice I can give you is to figure out what you want to do with your car." I second doing all the reading John suggested, but also spend the right amount of time up front clarifying your own objective before you start building a plan around the objective. I would apply that to what you want to do with the car, but also to what you want to be doing in the garage. You're going to spend many, many hours there. The better you tie the build details and the finished car details to what you know about yourself, the happier you're going to be both building the car and enjoying the end result.

[jrcuz]

Forgot to mention above but I have my body buck available if you would want it free, you would need a pickup truck or trailer to haul it away.
JR

[johnpinetree]

I'm hoping to pull the trigger myself at the end of the month here. Couple things I'll add:

I was able to get a spreadsheet/parts list/BOM from a few different folks on here. Helped me understand the scope of the project, what popular options were for folks, useful vendors, and ultimately how I'd like to do my build. Just how my brain works though, some folks are allergic to excel -- I get it.

Other thing that I'd recommend is finding a buddy in your area. "Papa" was nice enough to invite me over to his garage to check out his build. Incredibly helpful.

Finally, you'll order the kit and then be sitting on your hands for months, so plenty of time to get tools and such in order.

Cheers and good luck!

[Avalanche325]

This forum has everything you need and then some. Factory Five has build videos on Youtube, not sure how far along those are.

The two biggest things to think about are:
1. What is your idea of a Cobra? They range from very accurate replicas, track focused cars, cruisers, show and shine, or custom hot rods. Is there something that just "does it" for you? Maybe you just have to have a 427 side oiler.
2. How will you ACTUALLY use the car? Be as realistic as you can. A 600hp wildly cammed smalblock monster isn't going to make a nice cruiser, etc.

That will lead you to the single biggest decision......what engine?

OK....maybe color is harder. Some lucky guys know right up front. The rest of us go back and forth the whole time.

The good thing about tool lists (there are several threads) is that the list of required tools is pretty basic. Nice to have is of course a longer list. Keep in mind that tools you will use once or twice are often available as loaners from your local parts stores.

Options options options......we are here to help you spend your money. May I suggest a heater, heated seat, soft top, two roll bars, wipers, bumper grommets......on and on.


PS* You already scored a body buck! See how cool this community is? You will make friends along the way. One of the best parts.

[dkramer]

Thanks for all the info!! Looking forward to diving in. I'm sure there will be more questions moving forward.

[Jim Wehr]

I'm in Purcellville. You are welcome to come see mine anytime.

[JB in NOVA]

I'm in McLean, VA. I'm about 9 months into my build. Happy to help if you need any advice or "lessons learned."