NYMike's MKIV Build - 500 Miles and Calling it Graduated! [Archive]

NYMike

03-02-2021, 10:00 PM

Hi Everyone! I am a bit overdue on starting this build thread, but here we go. I am building the car with my dad, along with help from my wife and my mom. We picked up our kit at Factory five on February 16th and have been making pretty good progress so far. My goals for this thread are to share our progress with friends and family spread out across the country and also to try to provide a resource to help others like you all have and I'm sure will continue to help us. I'm going to try to be as detailed as possible and plan to spend a few days catching the thread up to where we are now. For now, I figured I should start with an introduction to the build.

I have loved cars my whole life and have been working on my own since I took auto shop in high school. My dad grew up working on his family cars with my grandpa who was a jack of all trades and could tackle pretty much any project. I was a mechanic's assistant at a service station for a few summers during college and was on the University of Maryland Baja and Formula SAE teams while I was there. Now I am a mechanical engineer and I work in manufacturing and CNC machine tool design. Long story short...we have some experience, but this is definitely a step outside of our comfort zones.

I have been interested the idea of building a replica car since I was a kid and saw adds for them in magazines. Last year I finally got sucked down the rabbit hole and spent days going through all of the great info here on the forums. I pitched the idea to my dad as a wouldn't this be cool to do one day, and he jumped in with me. After a bunch of discussion we decided to pull the trigger and sent in the order on November 6th.

Here is what we are working with:
MKIV Complete Kit w/Powder Coated Chassis and Body Cutouts
2015 IRS
Front and Rear Swaybars
Stainless Headers
Hydraulic Clutch
Leather Seats
Power Steering
Vintage GPS Gauges
18" Halibrands
Vinyl Dash w/Glovebox
Heater/Defroster
Wipers
Wind Wings and Visors
Dual Chrome Roll Bars
Roll Bar Grommets
Assembled Side Louvers
Front and Rear Wilwoods
Trunk Strut Kit

We labored for a while over the engine choice, but and after watching the FF Live engine options video a million times the choice became clear. We decided to go with a complete Blueprint setup and ordered their fuel injected base 427 engine and trans package. I still go back to that video every once in a while and it brings a huge smile to my face.

We have a few upgrades planned and I'm sure the list will grow as all of you help suggest ways to spend more money. Right now the list stands as (EDIT: the list grew...):
Russ Thompson: drop trunk and turn signal setup
FF Metal: firewall forward kit
Breeze: Front battery mount, all of the radiator mounting parts, seat mounts, storage cubby panel, hood hinge, wind wing mirrors
Boig: Cool tubes
Gas-N: Touring side pipes
Forte: Brake fluid reservoir, accelerator linkage, seat heaters
Replica Parts: Under dash filler, Thompson trim ring, front plate mount, radiator aluminum panel, windshield trim plates
Factory Five: Soft top

Home Brew Customization:
65 Mustang dash switchgear (Post 121 (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?39009-NYMike-s-MKIV-Build-Off-to-the-Body-Shop!&p=457839&viewfull=1#post457839))
Removable under dash filler and switch mounting panel (Posts 146 (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?39009-NYMike-s-MKIV-Build-Off-to-the-Body-Shop!&p=462513&viewfull=1#post462513) and 174 (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?39009-NYMike-s-MKIV-Build-Off-to-the-Body-Shop!&p=479350&viewfull=1#post479350))
Door for cockpit storage cubby (Post 167 (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?39009-NYMike-s-MKIV-Build-Off-to-the-Body-Shop!&p=479249&viewfull=1#post479249))
Retracting reverse light (Post 188 (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?39009-NYMike-s-MKIV-Build-Off-to-the-Body-Shop!&p=480830&viewfull=1#post480830))

The car is going to be a driver, definitely not a trailer queen. We also try to hit at least a few local autocross events every year, so it will definitely get worked hard every once in a while. So far everyone we have worked with via email and phone (Dave and Brent at FFR, Russ Thompson, Mike Everson, and Mike Forte) have been very responsive to all of our questions and a pleasure to deal with. We are really enjoying the build and I'm looking forward to hearing all of your great words of wisdom as we move along.

-Mike

Post Index

#7: Body Buck and Frame Dolly
#12: Picking up at Factory Five
#13: Inventory
#15 & 16: Front and Rear Suspension
#19: Suspension Continued
#20: Pedal Box
#23: Engine Delivery and Unboxing
#25: Pedal Box Continued
#26: Passenger Side Cockpit Aluminum Drilling
#29: More Cockpit Aluminum Drilling
#32: Russ Thompson Drop Trunk Install
#33: Fuel Tank Assembly and Install
#43: Fuel Pickup Mods and Pump Mounting
#44 & 103: Fuel Lines
#45: Front Brake Lines and Triple Reservoir
#51: Firewall and Heater Cutouts
#52 & 157: Rear Brake Lines
#58: Finalizing Footbox Aluminum
#59: Wiring Harness Routing
#70 & 71: Installing the Engine
#82: Steering System
#84: Breeze Battery Box
#85: Breeze Radiator Mounts and Shroud
#86 & 103: Engine Wiring
#98 & 103: Forte Throttle Linkage
#101: Rear Brakes
#102: Boig Cool Tubes
#107: Brake Reservoir and Power Steering Plumbing
#108: Hydraulic Clutch Plumbing
#109: Heater Installation
#120: Glovebox Door
#121 & 122: Dashboard With 65 Mustang Knobs
#123: Seat Heater Installation
#129: UCA Caster Mod
#131: Wiring
#138, 139, & 140: First Start
#146 & 174: Lower Dash Filler Panel
#148: Front Spindles
#152: Rolling Chassis
#155: Finalizing Trunk Aluminum and Dash Modification for RT Turn Signal Installation
#156: E-Brake Mods
#158: Go Kart Prep
#159: First Go Kart
#165: Breeze Seat Mounting and Sound Deadening Install
#166: Glovebox Customization to Fit With Heater
#167: Custom Cockpit Cubby Door
#171: Trans Tunnel Cover and Carpet
#172: Roll Bars, Trunk Struts, Cubby Divider
#173: Wiper Motor and Tail Light Converter
#174: Footbox Blower Mounting
#183: More Go Karting and Prep for Body Installation
#184: Over Rider Installation
#185: Lights
#186: Side Pipes, Roll Bars, and Windshield Installation
#187: Mike Everson Front Radiator Aluminum
#188: Soft Top and Reverse Light
#189: Off to the Body Shop
#199: Off Topic Toolbox Sink
#201: Choosing Paint Colors with 1:18 Cobra Model
#205, 209, 211, & 215: Paint Updates
#221: Back From Paint
#228: Beginning NY Registration Process
#229: Wiper Installation
#230: Home Brew Padded Visors
#231: Clamp On Reverse Light
#232 & 249: Mirrors
#237: Fender Liners
#241: Street Legal
#242: Steering Wheel Cobra Center Cap
#243: Air Cleaner Lid Mod, Door Latch Mod, Driveshaft Safety Loop, Wind Wings
#249: Radiator Screen, Door Panels, Hood Bumpers, and Radiator Top Trim
#250: Alignment and Some Teething Issues
#256: Holley Retrobright Headlight Upgrade
#257: Valve Covers, Trunk Light, Fixing Sidepipe Sag
#258: Soft Top Review, 500 Mile Update, and Graduation Reflections

John Ibele

03-02-2021, 10:07 PM

Welcome, Mike! It sounds like you've got a great family adventure in store. It'll be great monitoring progress in your build thread.

hineas

03-02-2021, 10:51 PM

What a great build to do with family!

Welcome to the forum and I'm sure I'll enjoy reading about your build.

JB in NOVA

03-02-2021, 11:42 PM

Sounds like a great plan! And very cool that you are involving the whole family. I look forward to following along.

BeePea

03-03-2021, 04:15 PM

Welcome! Sounds like we have some pretty similar builds, I'll be watching!

NYMike

03-03-2021, 09:54 PM

Thanks everyone! So far we are having fun with it. BeePea, I saw your thread and it looks like they will be very similar. You have some interesting upgrades planned that I had not seen. I cant wait to see where you go with it and ill be following yours as well.

NYMike

03-03-2021, 10:45 PM

A few weeks ago we started the build by making the body buck and frame dolly. I wanted to get the body off the floor to keep some extra space in the garage and get it out of the way for a while. I had a 1000lb electric chain hoist laying around that my boss had given me when we were cleaning up our warehouse at work that was perfect for the task. I have 2x6 ceiling joists above the garage, so I got a 10ft 6x6 and ran them across the joists. I wrapped a heavy duty chain around the 6x6 and connected it to the hoist through a 6" can light trim ring I cut into the ceiling. Dad came over to help with the final hanging.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144269&d=1615607566

Next steps were the buck and dolly. We followed the drawing in the build manual for the body buck with some modifications. We measured out and marked the whole pattern on the sheet of plywood and then started cutting everything out. The profile given by Factory Five works just fine.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144270&d=1615608409

We deviated from their plans for the structure because I wanted to include a shelf to store all of the parts of the body that have to be separated before removal. We ended up connecting the two plywood sheets with four 2x4s and attaching a piece of plywood across the bottom for the shelf. We also added 4 2x4s to poke out of the wheel wells of the body to use for lifting with straps. I took some inspiration from the "Up, Up and Away with the Body Buck" thread on the other forum for this. I took a gamble that we would be able to connect the hoist to the straps through the cockpit cutout in the body and it ended up working out pretty well. Once we actually got the body hung, I ended up adding 2 2x4s to add some reinforcement right where the straps pull on the existing 2x4s because the straps were bending 2x4s they were pulling on. Finally, we put some cheap wheels on the bottom so we could roll it around while it is on the ground and added some pipe insulation to cover the edges of the plywood.

For the frame dolly, we were inspired by Jazzman's frame dolly thread (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?24433-Frame-Dolly-Plan-for-the-FFR-MkIV-Roadster). Woodworking is not really my thing and I don't have a lot of tools for it, so we modified the design to use some framing brackets from home depot to connect the 4x4s. It seems pretty strong with the frame on and it fit perfectly. We added some wheels that I had laying around so that we can move the frame around the garage. I had seen someone on here say they wished they had put locking wheels on their dolly, and I can confirm the same. The non locking flavor is definitely not ideal, but I had it and its working for now. We will see how long it lasts before I get creative with it. Last thing we did was cover the frame mounting points with some old carpet to try and keep the powder coat scratch free.

EDIT: See post #71. We had to flip the blocks cradling the frame in the front from the inside to the outside because they were going to hit the engine oil pan. We were still missing some suspension items, so the engine went in before the car was on the ground.
20" spacing should be 28".

That's all I have time for tonight, but hopefully I can get you all caught up the rest of the way tomorrow.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144271&d=1615608422

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144272&d=1615608458

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144273&d=1615608481

egchewy79

03-04-2021, 07:32 AM

good start! welcome to the community. make sure you put a cockpit brace 2x4 between the front and back cowls to prevent the body from sagging/warping over time while it's on the buck.

Blitzboy54

03-04-2021, 02:26 PM

Congratulations and welcome aboard. Did I read in another post your in Niagara Falls? I'm originally from Buffalo

NYMike

03-04-2021, 06:06 PM

Congratulations and welcome aboard. Did I read in another post your in Niagara Falls? I'm originally from Buffalo

Thanks! Must have been someone else. We are on Long Island but last summer we took a road trip up to Niagara Falls and I got to see it for the first time. It was pretty incredible. Congrats on getting your delivery!

NYMike

03-04-2021, 07:52 PM

good start! welcome to the community. make sure you put a cockpit brace 2x4 between the front and back cowls to prevent the body from sagging/warping over time while it's on the buck.

Thanks for the tip! Ill definitely take a look at that and figure something out.

NYMike

03-04-2021, 08:42 PM

Our completion date was 2/13 and we decided that we wanted to pick up the kit at Factory Five. We had to pay sales tax, but it is deducted from the tax that will have to be paid in NY when we register so we saved a few bucks and didn't have to wait for delivery. Even though they are not doing tours, it was still pretty cool to go and drool over all of the cars in the showroom and get a few peeks at the factory. We booked the morning of 2/16 for pickup, borrowed a 20ft car trailer from my boss, and hit the road bright and early. Of course we drove through torrential rain almost the whole way up, but thankfully it stopped as we were passing through Rhode Island.

The kit was ready to go when we got there, and the guys at Factory Five were super helpful in getting everything loaded up. Body and frame assembly went on first and they showed us where the best places are to strap down. Attach to the holes in the tabs at the front of the frame and cross the straps, and wrap straps around the frame in front of the rear end mounting points in the back and cross. Next was a huge pallet of boxes that got dropped on the front of the trailer. I thought it wasn't too bad until they said "hold on for a little bit before you strap things down, there's a lot more coming." That's when the fun began. The boxes just kept coming, 29 in total. The IRS center section and spindles, the 4 rims, and a few boxes of parts that would have been on our POL list were not included on the pallet. Thankfully, they took the time to go through the list while we were there and grabbed whatever had come in since they packaged up our kit. They easily cut more than half of the items off of the list which was awesome. All together we were there for about an hour and a half packing everything into the truck and trailer and tarping it in case it rained again. In hindsight my parent's full size suv might have been a better choice for this trip over my truck. Would have made it easier to fit everything in without having to play Tetris a few times to get the tonneau cover to close in case it rained again.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144304&d=1615609715

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144305&d=1615609803

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144303&d=1615609645

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144302&d=1615609629

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144301&d=1615609596

The trip home was fairly uneventful with a few stops to check the straps, especially before passing through NYC and going over the bridges to get back on Long Island. By the time we got home, the weather was beautiful and we got everything unloaded pretty easily. I didn't want to mess around with the frame dolly on the trip so we put the frame on some wood blocks for the ride home. When we unloaded, we were able to roll the frame dolly half under the trailer, put the front of the frame on some rollers, and lift the back to walk it off the trailer and set it down on the back of the frame dolly. We then lifted up the front and slowly pushed the frame dolly back until we were clear of the trailer. A bit sketchy but it worked. We tucked all of the bits away in their new home and got some rest. Everything is filthy from all of the road salt and grime we drove through, so once the weather warms up a bit everything will get a good wash.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144300&d=1615609579

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144299&d=1615609562

NYMike

03-04-2021, 09:08 PM

The following weekend we did inventory. My wife and mom joined in to help cross things off the list and keep us organized as we went through everything. It was fun to get our hands on all of the parts and see all of the bits and pieces we will be working with during the build. It is important to go through everything down to the nut and bolt if it is itemized because as one of the guys at Factory Five said, "stuff happens and things will be missing".

All together our POL list was 26 items plus 8 that were missing from the kit that they thought we had. Not bad! I was really impressed with how organized everything was, with each box itemized and all of the hardware bags labeled. There were a few things that were tricky to figure out but it wasn't too bad. Most of the POL items unfortunately were suspension parts (front LCAs, all IRS arms, front spindles, and center section bushings). Thankfully last week I got an email from FFR that 2 boxes were on the way. 2 weeks after pickup we are down to about 15 items on the POL and all suspension bits except for the front spindles are here. I think we got pretty lucky.

The only things I see potentially being an issue right now are the steering rack and front spindles. There is another box on the way though so we will see what we get this week! The Wilwoods are on backorder which kinda stinks but we will work around it. I think we have plenty to keep us busy for a while. After we finished with all of the boxes, we pulled the body off the frame and took inventory of all of the chassis mounted items.

All together inventory and body removal was about 5 hours of work. I'm trying to keep track of our hours out of curiosity to see how we are doing. Ready to get building!

BeePea

03-04-2021, 09:27 PM

NYMike

03-04-2021, 09:53 PM

I have been trying to plan and organize the build during the week and Dad has been coming over on weekends to work. I'm trying to prevent us from spinning around in circles trying to find parts and run to stores to grab things during build time so we can actually get things done. So far its going pretty well. Last weekend was our first full weekend of actual build time. Most of the missing suspension bits from the POL arrived last Friday so we had plenty to start off with. We decided to leave all of the aluminum panels on the car for now until they get in the way or its time to drill them. Trying to keep the parts spread to a minimum.

First we drilled the F panels and my wife and mom did the paint prep and painting while we moved on to the suspension. Eventually we are going to go with a silver with white stripe paint scheme similar to the 25th anniversary Factory Five car that they have in a bunch of pictures. That one really jumped out at us when we were looking at all of the cars that are out there. We decided that we are going to paint the aluminum panels to prevent corrosion and decided to go with a hammered finish silver paint from Rustoleum so we wont have to worry too much about scratches and chips since its pretty close to the aluminum color. I also wanted to try and keep the engine bay bright to make it easier to work on. We also got some aluminum primer to make sure it sticks.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144298&d=1615609542

Next we assembled the ball joints into the upper control arms and mocked them up on the car. This is where we ran into our first issue. one of the upper control arm pivot shafts is too long and the holes don't line up with the frame. My guess is that this part is for a different kit, but I emailed Factory Five and they will be shipping out a replacement. They really have been so great to work with. We moved on to the lower control arms and got those mounted on the frame. One side was really tight and the other side was a bit loose. The spacing at the top of the mounting tabs was about 1/8" different between the two sides but the same at the bottom. I think the one side probably just got a little bent and I assume this is normal. It tightened up just fine and everything looks great. Since we are missing the front spindles, we left everything with the nuts just started for now and will come back and tighten and torque everything once we get all of the parts in and get the F panels permanently attached.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144296&d=1615609450

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144295&d=1615609432

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144294&d=1615609412

The next day we assembled the front and rear Koni shocks and mounted the fronts. We then moved on to the rear suspension. This is where the real battle began. Per the instructions you have to cut an ear off of and chase a hole with a 5/8 drill on each of the rear spindles. It took a few times spinning the part around on the table and looking back and forth to the manual to get the orientation right for marking the cut, but we got it figured out. It was tough to get through with the sawzall as suggested in the manual and in hindsight I should have taken it to the office and cut it on the band saw, but oh well... We found that a 14 TPI metal blade at about 1/3 to 1/2 of full speed was about right and it slowly chewed through the spindle without loading up and walking all over. Of course the first one somehow came out better than the second one. After cutting we sanded with an orbital sander and I think it looks pretty good. It could have been better but ill take it. Chasing the hole was also interesting. First Dad had to go run to get a 5/8 drill because we both thought we had one and didn't. Then we had to fight the drill through the hole. It kept wanting to grab and stall the drill but eventually with some WD40 lubricant we got it through.

Next we assembled the rear hubs. We punched out the original lug studs and had to pull in the factory five ones. This is one of my least favorite tasks because I am traumatized by a bad experience changing studs on one of my other cars. I followed the instructions for about 30 seconds trying to run them in with a lug nut and a ratchet before I moved on to the hydraulic press my brother in law conveniently left behind in my garage when he was doing universal joints on his Jeep. We used the lug nut to hold the stud straight, set the stud over a big socket and let it rip with the press. So much better. We bolted the hub assemblies to the spindles and set them aside for later.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144293&d=1615609361

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144292&d=1615609336

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144291&d=1615609322

Finally, we moved on to the center section. Again we had to chase 2 holes with the 5/8 drill, and again with some WD40 and patience, we got through it. We dragged it over to the frame and wrestled it in. We had to fight the wheels on the frame dolly which was a bit annoying. Still have to fix that... It took a bit of persuading with a mallet, some prybars, a floor jack, and a bunch of climbing in and out of the car, but we got the center section hung and called it quits for the weekend. Question for the group...does anyone know if the center section ships from Ford filled with gear oil? Everything inside looked wet when we took of the caps over the axle shaft holes, but I didn't get a chance to crack open the fill plug to check how much was actually in there.

NYMike

03-04-2021, 10:01 PM

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144306&d=1615609885

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144289&d=1615609267

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144288&d=1615609245

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144287&d=1615609230

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144286&d=1615609217

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144285&d=1615609192

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144284&d=1615609178

That is all of the progress on the build so far and we have about 10 hours of work time put in. Next up for this weekend is the rest of the rear suspension and maybe the pedal box. We will see how it goes. Also we have a special delivery coming tomorrow as well as another care package from Factory Five.

NYMike

03-04-2021, 10:29 PM

Fantastic updates! love that you were able to pick up at the factory and bring her home. (jealous really!)

You have a beautiful looking garage! (more jealously...)

You've inspired me to build an elevated body buck next week so I have a place to store the boxes after your story, thank you for that!

Thanks! The trip was a bit stressful but it was a great experience. My wife and I bought a house with no garage with the understanding that we would build one eventually. We made it about a year before we both had enough and made it happen. We got to build exactly what we want and we love it. She has her bay that I promised I wouldn’t invade and the rest is mine.

Glad I could be a bad influence around here for once instead of the other way around! It really is convenient to have the extra storage space for parts. They just end up everywhere in the beginning and every bit helps. Any updates on your delivery date?

BeePea

03-04-2021, 10:42 PM

Thanks! The trip was a bit stressful but it was a great experience. My wife and I bought a house with no garage with the understanding that we would build one eventually. We made it about a year before we both had enough and made it happen. We got to build exactly what we want and we love it. She has her bay that I promised I wouldn’t invade and the rest is mine.

Glad I could be a bad influence around here for once instead of the other way around! It really is convenient to have the extra storage space for parts. They just end up everywhere in the beginning and every bit helps. Any updates on your delivery date?

Our next house will have a custom garage, I can't wait.

No update, still 10-14th. I'm taking all those days off in hope it arrives on the front half but worst case I use it for garage clean, organization and buck building

NYMike

03-08-2021, 09:18 PM

Time for some updates! Mom and Dad came over this weekend and we made some good progress on the build. We started by breaking out the new air rivet tool and making the painted F panels permanent. It fought back for a little while, but once we got used to it, the F panels went on pretty easily. When we drilled our holes, we did not pay attention to the location of the upper shock mount though and ended up with a hole on each F panel that we could not get a rivet into...note taken for future aluminum drilling. Once the panels were installed, we put on the replacement upper control arm that Factory Five sent out right away after I emailed them about the incorrect one. We ran into another issue here. The F panel interfered with the nut for the pivot shaft on the UCA. Of course we didn't do a test fit of the F panel with suspension mounted before we riveted it so it had to be fixed in place.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144283&d=1615609034

We tackled that using a saw blade on an oscillating multitool. Dad sat the rivet tool on top of the frame and I used that as a guide to cut about 1/8" off of the F panel. It worked really well and we got a pretty clean cut.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144282&d=1615609020

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144281&d=1615608998

The nut was still REALLY close to the panel even after the cut once we tightened everything up, but it cleared enough that we should be ok. After the F panel fix we torqued all of the front suspension components and moved on to the rear. We are still missing the front spindles so they will go on as soon as they arrive.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144280&d=1615608979

We moved on to the IRS parts and got all of that put together. We assembled the upper control arms and IRS toe arms which wasn't too bad but Dad wasn't thrilled with the manual in this section. The assembly drawings were a bit small and not easy to read, but we got it figured out. In hindsight, using the digital version and zooming in definitely would have helped out there. Installation on the car was pretty straightforward but required a bit more muscle than I would have liked. We had to really beat on some parts with a dead blow mallet to get the bushings between the frame tabs. I ended up slightly bending a few tabs out a little to make it a bit easier and then sucking them back together with the bolts. The worst offenders were the attachment points to connect the toe arms and LCAs to the spindles. Once all those parts were mounted, we put the shocks on and torqued everything down to finalize the rear suspension.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144279&d=1615608953

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144278&d=1615608932

Here we encountered probably the most disappointing problem in the build so far. In a few spots when we tightened up bolts in the rear, the powder coat completely flaked off around the bolts. It seems like the frame was not prepped properly in these spots because it was so easy to peel off and we could hear it cracking as soon as the bolts started becoming snug. I hit it with a quick shot of spray paint for now but it doesn't look great so we're going to have to figure something out there.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144277&d=1615608910

NYMike

03-08-2021, 09:40 PM

The last thing we started to work on was the front pedal box. We mounted the correct Wilwood front drivers footbox panel with clecos and marked and removed all of the other DS footbox aluminum panels.

Dad put the pedals on the brake and clutch pedal arms and then started mounting the brake light and clutch switch mounts. My wife had painted those for us earlier in the day so they were dry and ready to go. It seemed a bit tricky to drill the holes the way the manual suggests, so I took a quick look at Papa's incredible build thread and confirmed that the easier way to go is to pull the pedals out and drill from that side.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144276&d=1615608825

The pedals are easy to get off but you have to be careful of the washers sandwiching the pedals when you remove the pivot shaft. They like to fall out and roll off the workbench. Once those were mounted and the switches were installed, it was time to mount it to the frame and spot the rear mounting holes. This went pretty quick and without drama. When installing the switches, make sure to thread them down far enough that the back of the switch doesn't interfere with the rear mounting plate.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144275&d=1615608783

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144274&d=1615608764

I think we are going to take it back apart and paint the mounting pieces this week just to make it look nice. We also have to paint the front footbox panel once all of the holes are drilled for the footbox aluminum. Probably going to tackle that real quick next weekend so that we can finalize that panel and be ready to run brake lines and steering components. That was all the time we had this weekend so we had to call it there. We put in about 8 hours over 2 days bringing the total up to about 19 hours so far.

Finally, we were supposed to get the engine delivery on Friday which we were really excited for. Unfortunately there was a mixup with the shipping and the wrong engine was sent. Fortunately we are far from the point of needing it, and the issue was caught before it was delivered. The correct engine is on the way and we will be seeing it sometime this week!

hineas

03-09-2021, 03:13 AM

NYMike

03-09-2021, 11:50 PM

It was a good idea that you removed the pedals to drill the hole. We did it the way that the manual said and it caused issues because I wasn't able to drill the hole square. We fixed that with a grinder and shortened the mount, but it was annoying nonetheless.

We did the exact same thing on the F panels and drilled a hole that we couldn't get to with the riveter. We just put a little silicone in the hole and the hole is hidden.

You are moving right along! Good work!

Thanks!

Can't take the credit for that one. I borrowed that idea from Papa and his thread. It made it really easy.

We actually got as far as drilling those holes into the frame before I realized the rivet gun wouldn't fit. Right now we have a self tapper in each side but I'm thinking we probably will change it out for a nice stainless button head screw to finish it off.

NYMike

03-13-2021, 06:41 PM

Dad and I were working out in the garage today and we got a little care package from Blueprint! They did a great job and the engine looks incredible. Can't wait until its time to install. The dyno sheet is pretty impressive. They guarantee 485 hp and 475 ft-lbs of torque and we got 494 hp and 517 ft-lbs! I think that should be sufficiently scary.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144345&d=1615678255

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144346&d=1615678266

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144348&d=1615678296

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144351&d=1615678395

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144349&d=1615678308

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144352&d=1615678402

More on our weekend adventures later.

BeePea

03-15-2021, 11:59 AM

Congrats on the engine delivery!

NYMike

03-15-2021, 08:43 PM

Last week we finally got a little bit of warm weather and I was able to give the frame and aluminum panels a bit of a cleaning outside to get all of the road salt off of it from the trip home. It took a while to get all of the frame tubes and panels cleaned, but it looks way better now and doesn't feel crusty anymore whenever we touch it. It has officially gotten its first bath!

This past Friday night we made some more progress on the build. We set out to finish off the pedal box assembly and get the accelerator pedal installed. Like I thought last week, I couldn't help myself and before the weekend I took the pedal box back out and handed off the two mounts to my official painter. She did a great job with it and I feel better knowing it looks nice even though I won't ever see it.

We started out by cutting some of the threads off of the master cylinders as instructed in the manual. We clamped it between 2 blocks of wood so we didn't destroy the threads. We used the nut as a guide for the hacksaw to get a straight cut. I then used the orbital sander to clean up the sharp edges left behind.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144489&d=1615856698

Next we threaded in all 3 master cylinders and attempted to do a rough setup on the balance bar and preload of the pedals. The brake and clutch pedals have just a tiny bit of slop in them so they don't leave pressure on the masters.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144480&d=1615856501

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144479&d=1615856486

Finally we moved on to the accelerator pedal assembly. We started by separating the arms on the preassembled accelerator pedal...wow was that stuck on there. Trying to be as nice to it as possible, we wiggled and pried and wiggled and pried, and finally got it apart. We clocked it so that it looked close to the picture shown in the manual and then had to press it back together in the vice.

Once it was assembled, we hung the pedal with the top bolt like they say in the manual. There is a second hole there that lines up with the pedal mount, but it didn't look like it would fit with the footbox side aluminum panel. We dug the panels back out and stuck them on with a few clecos and confirmed that it would not work.

EDIT: Jesse (Blitzboy54) and I went back and forth a few times about this in the PMs and he figured out that we both had the pedal arms reversed. Ugh... The pedal arm should be on the left and the cable arm on the right. No new hole needed.

Since we had to make a new hole, we figured it was time for the first driver test fit so we made up a fake seat and gave it a try.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144481&d=1615856519

We ended up drilling a new bottom hole with the top and bottom of the pedal parallel to the ground. This put the hole right near the edge of the front footbox plate and about as far away from the wall as we could get it. I might bend the pedal arm a little to get some more space if it becomes an issue with the carpet and insulation.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144484&d=1615856582

It is definitely going to be a tight fit between the pedals. We moved the brake and clutch pedals over as far as possible to get some more space for our size 12 feet.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144482&d=1615856545

The last battle for the night was the accelerator cable. This gave us a bit of a tough time and had us a bit frustrated. The manual is definitely lacking a bit of clarity in this area and we had to search the forums to figure out what we were missing. The manual tells us to cut off the cylindrical end of the cable but says nothing about the spherical end. I didn't see that there were 2 of the new cable ends, one with the pedal, and one with the hardware kit, so we were a bit confused until I figured that out. Anyway, long story short cut off both ends and stick the bigger of the two threaded ends through the footbox wall. Seems simple now looking back at it.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144478&d=1615856479

The hardware kit for the pedal box contains a lot of extra bolts, washers, and some pedal spacers that were not called out to be used in the manual. Does anyone know if it is safe to assume that those parts are for the donor pedal box if that is used instead of the Wilwood? I might use some of the washers in places I think they could be needed if they are in fact extra.

Since it is almost time for running brake lines, we got a triple reservoir on order from Mike Forte. The pictures look really nice online and it should be a nice clean look with a little added safety over the single FFR reservoir shared between the front and rear brakes.

NYMike

03-15-2021, 09:11 PM

On Saturday while we were waiting for the engine to show up, Dad and I decided it was time to drill some holes. Our steering rack is still POL so we are going to skip that section and drill all of the cockpit aluminum now so that we can get the parts prepped and painted so they are ready when we need them. We started out with the passenger side as the manual suggests and we were able to get through almost all of it. On the passenger side we got the footbox, floors, front and rear trans tunnel panels, under door panel, rear cockpit corner, and tunnel rear corner all drilled and set in place with clecos. It was satisfying to see all of the panels coming together.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144488&d=1615856637

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144487&d=1615856624

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144486&d=1615856605

We only had to deal with 2 self inflicted issues and one factory five issue which wasn't too bad. We broke one drill bit while drilling the floor pan that we will have to fight a bit to get out (see circled hole above). I also was dumb and without thinking pre drilled holes on the outside edge of the floor pan under the door while drilling all the others. As soon as we dropped the floor back in the car to drill through to the frame I realized some of the holes would be half under the panel that goes under the door opening and some exposed. I should have used the pre drilled holes in the under door panel instead and drilled through the floor. Thankfully the holes are only in the aluminum and will be covered up by carpet. We won't be making that mistake on the driver's side. Other than that it went pretty well.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144505&d=1615860119

The only factory five issue we saw is the side wall of the passenger side floor. The angle doesn't match very well with the trans tunnel even with the floor pushed down all the way. This results in the aluminum sticking up above the frame towards the rear of the tunnel. I think it is going to cause the trans tunnel cover to not mount correctly, so we are probably going to have to trim that before we install it for real.

We put in about 8 hours of work this past weekend bringing our total up to about 27.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144485&d=1615856593

Next up for the build is all of the driver's side panels. Probably going to tackle the trunk panels and the drop trunk kit as well while we are in hole drilling mode.

JB in NOVA

03-17-2021, 10:34 PM

Looking good! I had the same problem with the panels sticking up a tiny bit above the frames of the tunnel. I just trimmed them flush with a Dremel cutter so the tunnel cover fit securely. Keep up the good work!

NYMike

03-18-2021, 08:50 PM

Thanks JB! Good to know its not just us. We are probably going to do something similar.

NYMike

03-18-2021, 09:29 PM

Midweek build updates! Dad and I took the day off on Tuesday and got in an extra full build day. We continued where we left off over the weekend with drilling what seemed like an endless amount of holes. We moved over to the driver's side and started off by drilling in the floor, rear cockpit corner, rear transmission tunnel corner, and then connecting the two sides with the cockpit back wall. Everything lined up pretty well and overall we are pretty happy with how it went together.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144687&d=1616119590

Next we moved on to the driver's side footbox. Everything here seemed to go together pretty well except for the lower engine side panel. It lined up great with the tab on the floor pan, but did not line up at all with the panel at the front of the transmission tunnel.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144690&d=1616119665

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144689&d=1616119655

We spent a long time looking at it trying to figure out what to do. If we pushed in the panel towards the pedals, it would line up ok but eat into pedal space. We were about to make the decision to trim the panel when we realized that if we pushed the upper side panel against the pedal box mounting tube everything lined up pretty well. We decided to drill those holes and attach the panel there before we drilled the rest of the panels. Not sure if that was the right solution but it worked out pretty well.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144692&d=1616119703

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144691&d=1616119678

After we finished the cockpit we decided to move right on to the trunk while we were still in drilling mode. While we were doing that, mom and Mrs. NYMike took off all of the cockpit panels and started prepping them for paint. Overall the trunk went pretty well and was fairly straightforward. We also put the Russ Thompson drop trunk box together with clecos but did not get to actually cut the hole in the trunk floor and drill the holes to attach. That will be one of the tasks for this weekend.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144693&d=1616119714

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144694&d=1616119733

After stripping the cockpit aluminum down, Dad and I both thought it looked like we hadn't done anything despite all of the hours of work. We were able to get in 9 hours of working time bringing the total up to about 36 hours. Next up is finishing the drop trunk mod and then on to brake lines and the fuel system.

BeePea

03-19-2021, 10:12 PM

Excellent progress! I started my drilling adventure today and you are 100% correct, it's a lot of drilling... But once you start you just want to keep going.

I need to buy my drop trunk...

NYMike

03-22-2021, 07:28 PM

Excellent progress! I started my drilling adventure today and you are 100% correct, it's a lot of drilling... But once you start you just want to keep going.

I need to buy my drop trunk...

It's oddly addicting once you get going. Its instant visual progress and really fun to see it come together. Russ is great for the trunk. He responded really quickly and got it to me way faster than I expected.

NYMike

03-22-2021, 08:11 PM

Didn't have too much time for the build this weekend, but we did get a few hours of work in. We started with the Russ Thompson drop trunk kit. All of the panels came marked by Russ and were pretty easy to assemble. As with the rest of the aluminum panels on the car, drill, cleco, repeat.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144981&d=1616460132

Next was marking out the cutout in the trunk floor. The kit comes with a drawing showing how to lay out the cut and results in a hole that is about 3/4" overall smaller than the inner dimensions of the trunk box to give some allowance on alignment and for those who want a hinged cover for that area. We wont be doing that, but the little bit of flexibility was very helpful. After cutting the hole, we held the box underneath the floor and marked out the first tube notch that needed to be made. As is suggested in the instructions, we started with the driver's side front notch. Russ suggests notching it such that the tube is all the way in the corner and doesn't require cutting the front wall panel (except for where the bent flange overlaps the side). The drawing provided worked out perfectly so that the notch was in the right place and the driver's side rear corner lined up with the edges of the floor cutout on both the driver's side and back edges.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144984&d=1616460196

We cut the notch with a combination of jigsaw and small cut off disk on the dremel. After getting that notch done we drilled a hole in each corner and used clecos to hold it up in place while we marked the notches around the two tubes where they come to a V. Again Russ' markings were almost dead on which really helped us be confident that we were on the right path.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144982&d=1616460144

Again we remounted the box and marked and notched around the final tube.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144985&d=1616460209

We then drilled and put everything together with clecos so we could finish cutting the hole to size. We marked the inside walls of the box on the trunk floor, pulled everything apart, and let it rip with the jigsaw. There are lots of lines, but the one on the bottom and on the right side of the hole are the overlap we had remaining to cut out.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144986&d=1616460222

We made the cut and put everything back together for one last time to check and then stand back and admire our work before we pulled it all apart again for paint.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144988&d=1616460260

We can already tell that this is going to be an incredibly useful mod and it will be worth every penny. It was really easy to put together, all of the parts fit really well, and Russ was really great to work with.

NYMike

03-22-2021, 08:44 PM

Next we started working on the fuel system. We unpacked all of the parts and started assembling the fuel tank. While we were working we got a visit from our furry friend who looked around a bit and then lost interest and went right out the garage door to the grass. It was a beautiful day yesterday and she was loving the sun.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144987&d=1616460240

The sender and the vent went in without an issue. I started on modifying the pickup for the Sniper EFI but realized neither Dad or I had the correct size bit to drill the supply side out. We will get one and keep going on that next week. We decided that since we had all of the parts out already we would just mount the tank and call it a day. We did NOT expect the fight that it gave us. The strap on the passenger side did not want to come close to allowing the nut to start threading on the front bolt. We fought and fought with no luck and then Dad had to run. Admittedly we were rushing to try to get it done and our brains weren't working. Lesson learned for next time...don't rush.

As soon as he left and I had some time to think I decided to flip my method upside down and try to start the front side bolt first and then align the rear pivot bolt. I called into the house and got Mrs. NYMike to come out and lend a hand and we made it happen. I found a random pin in my workbench junk drawer that already had a point ground into it and was the perfect size for the bolt. We jacked up the tank with the floor jack and hammered that pin into the hole to force the strap to line up. We pried on it with an adjustable wrench to get the bolt started and then threaded the bolt in and gradually pushed out the pin. It worked great and the end result was an installed fuel tank. Everything is loose for now until we finish the fuel system.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144989&d=1616460277

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=144990&d=1616460294

Today I ordered a 3/8 fuel line kit from Summit along with some other fittings so we can run the lines this weekend. I didn't feel comfortable running the rubber fuel lines provided with the Sniper EFI system the whole length of the frame. It probably would have been fine but it didn't feel right, so we are going to go with hard line down the frame and up to the engine compartment. More on this next week.

We put in 6 hours this weekend bringing our grand total up to a solid 42 hours for the first month of the build. I'm really hoping that we can maintain our current weekly average hours because we are making better progress than I expected heading into the project. Next up is finishing the fuel system, running brake lines, and the one task I have been dreading...trying to figure out how our heater, glovebox, and wiper kit are all going to play nice in the same space on the firewall before we start wiring.

A few questions for the veterans out there...

1) What are all of you doing to tighten down the tank straps. I don't think its possible to get them tightened all the way, so are you just leaving the nylock to hold it or are people making standoffs to go in between so there is something to tighten down to?

2) Anyone have any suggestions on the heater/glovebox/wiper situation? We have the FFmetal firewall forward kit but I don't think that is going to solve all of our problems. I think at one point I saw someone out there shift the heater a little bit to make things work but can't remember who it was or how much it was moved and I couldn't find it again. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

egchewy79

03-22-2021, 10:14 PM

JB in NOVA

03-22-2021, 10:51 PM

hineas

03-23-2021, 08:45 AM

We spent a lot of time getting the rear gas tank strap bolts in. Those two bolts took way too long. We also bought a longer bolt for the passenger front strap attachment. I personally recommend buying the same style of bolt (socket head cap) because you can't get a wrench or ratchet into the hanger. Ask me how I know...

I also did the same where I tightened it until it started bending the strap and lip on the tank was pushed against the plastic caps on the frame.

Blitzboy54

03-23-2021, 08:46 AM

This is good stuff. I’m doing the gas tank next. Lots of helpful information.

BeePea

03-23-2021, 02:22 PM

This is good stuff. I’m doing the gas tank next. Lots of helpful information.

Agreed, great posts from the drop trunk and gas tank, as soon as I get both (hopefully next week) I will be re-reading your posts!

BeePea

03-23-2021, 02:25 PM

Also, were you IRS control arms not on your POL list?

NYMike

03-23-2021, 08:15 PM

I just tightened the tank strap bolts until the square plastic caps started to deform. the nylock nuts should hold them in place.
If you're planning on doing the Kleiner mod (nut coupler mod to make it easier to take body on and off) you'll need to drop the tank again to get the PS lower bolt in place.

Sounds good. Thanks for the heads up! I was thinking it was probably time to look into that, but it completely escaped my mind as we were working. Will probably work on that this weekend.

NYMike

03-23-2021, 08:23 PM

Oh, man! I remember those strap bolts being a total PITA. I guess it's a frequent problem. Glad you got it done. Regarding your questions (and FWIW): (1) I didn't even bother with the FFR supplied bolts for the fuel straps -- they are too short. I went to the hardware store and bought 5/8"x3" stainless steel bolts, and they made installation easy-peasy. I can't take credit for that idea, though -- it's been advised by many others. (2) Here is my heater/glovebox solution: https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?35795/page3 (post #106, also see #190, #196).

By the way, your garage space looks awesome! I'm jealous.

Thanks JB. Ill probably do the same and get some nicer long bolts. Your heater mount looks like a really great solution. I'm definitely going to have to investigate that a bit. Im not sure if it will work with the tall rocker covers we have.

I spent a while looking through your thread earlier. Your build is really looking great!

NYMike

03-23-2021, 08:28 PM

Agreed, great posts from the drop trunk and gas tank, as soon as I get both (hopefully next week) I will be re-reading your posts!

Thanks guys! I'm really enjoying following along with both of your builds and hineas' build as we go along all at the same time.

Yeah, all of the IRS arms were on our POL list but we must have gotten lucky because they sent them out to us a week or two after we picked up the kit. The only big things we are still missing are the front spindles and power steering rack which it seems like everyone is still waiting for.

NYMike

03-29-2021, 08:56 PM

Another weekend and some more good progress on the build. Friday night we picked right up where we left off with finishing off the fuel tank assembly. We took all of your suggestions and got some longer bolts for the fuel tank straps. We went with 2.5" long Stainless bolts and they are perfect. What a difference!

We are running an EFI 427 from blueprint, and they recommend all 6AN fuel lines and fittings, so that is what we went with. We followed the instructions, and drilled out the end of the supply side of the pickup and mounted the return bulkhead elbow that was supplied from blueprint with the Holley Sniper kit. The hole we drilled in the pickup was a little bigger than I would have liked, but I think it should be ok. Hopefully we don't run into any issues there. We connected the return tube (they call it a fuel cuff) to the 6an hose end also supplied with the kit and assembled to the pickup. The only issue we had was the hose clamps supplied with the sniper were all too big and would not clamp tight on the return tube. It probably doesn't need one, but the instructions say to clamp it, so I went on a treasure hunt in the garage and found one that would work.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=145342&d=1617067379

Last week I got hung up on how to connect the bigger fuel hose to the existing pickup from factory five. After doing some research, I found what seems like the perfect fitting. It is a fuel rail quick connect to 6AN fitting by Russell, PN 644123. It is 2 pieces, one with o-rings that slides on the tube, and the other a U shaped threaded nut that fits over the tube and threads in to captivate the fitting on the ridge on the tube.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=145350&d=1617068412

We put a bit of blue loctite on the threads and stuck it together to finish off the pickup assembly.

Next we embarked on our first custom fabricated part, a mount for the fuel pump and filter assembly supplied with the Sniper kit. We debated going with an in tank pump, but figured we might as well give this one a shot first since we have it already. The documentation supplied by Blueprint suggested that customers with IRS can make a bracket to mount to the rear diff/rear lower control arm mounting bracket, so that is what we went for. They say the pump has to be at or below the bottom of the tank so we decided to cut up our original firewall and make a plate to hang off of the rear lower control arm mounting points. We measured everything, marked the panel, and started cutting.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=145345&d=1617067415

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=145346&d=1617067424

We decided to use the filter mounting bracket that came from factory five to mount the bigger of the 2 filters. We cut it down a little and used the dremel to cut some slots in our panel to match so we could run the hose clamp through both parts.

We are pretty happy with how it came out. The pump is not quite below the tank but I think it is close enough.
I didn't want to have the pump be the lowest piece on the car, so we kept it at about the same height as the bottom of the diff and where the rear sway bar will be once we put that in. The panel is a bit thin, but I think it should be ok. I just have to get a clamp to fit the smaller filter so we can lock that one down as well.

NYMike

03-29-2021, 09:24 PM

Saturday was a beautiful day here in NY and we got to spend a bunch of time out in the garage on the build. The paint department (Mrs. NYMike) got set up outside and painted a bunch of aluminum panels, while fertilizing all of the plants between coats. Inside, Dad and I got busy with bending fuel lines. During the week I ordered a kit from Summit (SUM-PUMPKIT6) with 25ft of Al fuel line, a bunch of clips, and some braided hose and fittings that we will use later on in the engine compartment. I also ordered some compression fittings good to 250 PSI (Earl's AT165006ERL) for the ends of the lines to allow us to connect to the the 6AN hose ends provided with the Sniper.

Factory Five suggests running fuel lines down the passenger side of the car, so that is what we did. In the manual they suggest mounting the fuel filter to the main rear frame tube behind the upper mount for the coilover, so we figured that was an ok place to run fuel lines. We started with the supply line and ran it across the tube behind and above the diff so that we could just do a short loop from the fuel filter to the hard line. We then tucked it behind the shock and across to the vertical tube behind the cockpit wall. We took the shock out to run the line and when we put it back in, the line was almost touching it. We did some fine tuning, and now we should have plenty of clearance. From there we followed that tube down to the main 4" round frame tube, up to the front under the passenger side floor, and then bent up and into the engine bay as shown in the FFR manual. We left it long in the engine bay until we get more sorted out up there and we will trim to what we need.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=145344&d=1617067401

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=145343&d=1617067390

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=145349&d=1617067460

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=145348&d=1617067448

For the return line, we followed the inside of that rear main frame tube and then routed the rest of the way along side the supply line. We decided that we didn't want to rivet the line clamps in just in case we had to ever get them off in the future, so I ordered some stainless M4 button head screws and put them in with a bit of blue loctite to make sure they stay in.

Finally, we installed the fittings on the ends of the lines and connected up all of the flexible hoses from the tank and pump assembly. We ended up short one hose fitting and a few line clamps that will have to get ordered this week. We are happy with how it came out, so hopefully all of you experienced builders out there don't tell us we put the lines in all the wrong places and have to start over. Fingers crossed!

NYMike

03-29-2021, 10:01 PM

Last but not least, we bent up the front brake lines. We started with the first line that runs from the master to the driver's side T fitting. We started at the T and worked our way back up to the master. Nothing too interesting to report here other than the coil above the master that was shown in a picture in the FFR manual. I am trying to avoid having to make new flares on the brake lines so we decided to try to coil the extra line above the master. We wrapped the line around a paint can and it worked pretty well.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=145365&d=1617072078

I didn't think of it then, but we are going to have to squish the coil down a bit just to make sure it stays below the top of the fluid level on the reservoir, wherever that ends up.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=145360&d=1617071782

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=145361&d=1617071793

Finally, we routed the line that crosses over to the passenger side. After seeing Hineas' build and then looking at Papa's as well we decided to follow their lead and run the lines on the front of the X tubes rather than behind so that we didn't have to worry about getting in the way of the Breeze battery box. Again, I wanted to avoid cutting and re flaring the line, so we measured the line, marked the center and bent the V to match the frame so we could work from the center out.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=145363&d=1617071816

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=145364&d=1617071828

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=145362&d=1617071804

We wrapped the line around the upper coil over mount and then did a little jog on both sides to take up the little bit of extra line that was left over. We ran out of time to clip the lines in, so that will have to wait until next weekend.

We also took a bit of time to try to figure out where we are going to mount our fluid reservoirs. Not much progress there, but we are thinking we will mount to the tube right in front of the footbox. A single reservoir for brakes just seemed like a bad idea and we need a second for the clutch anyway so few weeks ago I ordered a triple reservoir from Mike Forte(https://fortesparts.com/product/oversized-remote-reservoir-triple-brake-clutch-master-cylinder/). He was great to deal with and got it sent out right away. It is a really nice piece but I couldn't help myself and I had to customize it a bit. I used the laser engraver at work and put some labels on the caps so we know where each one goes. I tried to match the Cobra font on the air cleaner lid as best I could.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=145358&d=1617071762

We got 11 hours of work in this weekend bringing our total to date up to about 53. Of course this does not take into account the time surfing the forums, doing research, ordering parts, and making sure we have everything we are going to need for the weekend which takes almost as much time. Next up is finishing the rear brake lines, finally taking on the firewall/glovebox situation, and starting on the wiring.

BeePea

03-29-2021, 10:09 PM

Brake lines look great, thanks for posting those shots, I will be following suit this week! The reservoir labels look amazing, love that idea.

Blitzboy54

03-29-2021, 10:27 PM

Those reservoir covers are cool as hell. I now wish I had thought to track my hours worked.

NYMike

03-30-2021, 07:21 PM

Those reservoir covers are cool as hell. I now wish I had thought to track my hours worked.

Thanks! Its not too late to start. I got the idea from someone else on here that did a thread but cant remember off hand who it was. Its actually been pretty interesting to keep track of. Sometimes it feels like in the moment we aren't making a lot of progress and then I look back at the hours when I post and realize we did a lot in just a few hours of work.

GT53

04-01-2021, 09:00 AM

NYMike

04-01-2021, 09:50 PM

Mike...First off, thanks for posting your build with the detail that you provide. I'm just in the planning phase and hope to pull the trigger in the next couple of weeks. Your build thread, along with Papa and others are an invaluable resource for those that follow.

Where did you find those reservoir covers?

Greg

Hi Greg. Thanks for the kind words. I am really enjoying documenting everything so I'm glad its helpful. The planning stage is a lot of fun and also really dangerous for the budget. Hopefully you get to pull the trigger soon and move into the agonizing waiting phase.

The reservoir and caps are are really nice and I got them from Mike Forte (picture is from his website).

https://fortesparts.com/product/oversized-remote-reservoir-triple-brake-clutch-master-cylinder/
145527

They come as blank raw aluminum and I designed the labels for them. I used a laser marker that I have access to at work to burn them in.

NYMike

04-05-2021, 08:47 PM

This past weekend we got some more build time in. It was a bit cold, but the paint department got a bunch more aluminum panels finished. We should have everything ready to go on the car this weekend. Right now they are scattered over every surface available in the garage and it is driving me crazy. I can't wait to get them all put on for good.

We started out the weekend by finally working on the firewall installation and heater cutouts. We had already gotten the FFMetal firewall forward which is really nice. The extra thickness on the panel really makes a huge difference from the original. We drilled all of the holes into the frame and stuck it on with clecos. the number of holes might be a bit overkill but they are there so we drilled them.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=145694&d=1617671486

Next, Dad finished up the fuel system. We put the Kleiner body mounting mod into play and then dad put the fuel tank back in. While he was doing that, I did some arts and crafts and cut out the template from the online instructions for the heater. I poked the screws through the marked mounting hole locations, and sure enough like Blitzboy among others have mentioned, the template was WAY off on the holes for the pipes.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=145689&d=1617671444

While in position I eyeballed the center of the tube and made marks on the template. I printed out a new one, transferred the marks over, and cut everything back out.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=145690&d=1617671455

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=145691&d=1617671462

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=145692&d=1617671470

Much better! Next we taped the template up to the firewall based on the measurements in the manual and adjusting for the differences between the dimensions between the FFMetal firewall and the FFR firewall. The end result came out pretty good.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=145693&d=1617671479

We roughly assembled the dash and glovebox, and as expected there is about an inch of interference with the heater blower. I have a few ideas for this, but am going to wait until the engine is installed before we make any decisions.

NYMike

04-05-2021, 09:15 PM

EDIT: See post 157 for new rear brake line routing

Last up for the weekend was bending the rear brake lines and installing all of the clips to hold everything down. We started at the rear master cylinder and worked our way back.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=145700&d=1617674073

As the manual suggested, we followed the front of the footbox down, and then cut across to the main 4 inch tube.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=145701&d=1617674086

From the end of the tube, we followed the angled trunk support up and then hooked around after the upper control arm to bend up to the T fitting at the left rear corner. The line just barely reaches with no real extra to spare.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=145702&d=1617674098

From there, to connect to the passenger's side, we measured and found the center of the next 60" brake line. We bent a U shape, centered on the tube to match the U formed by the two upper rectangular frame tubes and the rectangular tube across the back of the cockpit. There was a little extra line on both sides, so we coiled it around a tube of silicone to get a nice tight loop.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=145696&d=1617674026

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=145695&d=1617674015

After that we wrapped up the front lines by clipping them in and adding a few clips that we were missing on the fuel lines.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=145699&d=1617674062

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=145698&d=1617674050

I learned that I really enjoy bending tubing, but I am glad that we got it all finished.

We got in 9 hours of build time this weekend brining the total up to 62 so far. By the end of next weekend, hopefully we will have all of the allowed cockpit panels permanently installed and a good chunk of the wiring ran. We are getting dangerously close to engine installation and are getting really excited.

JB in NOVA

04-05-2021, 11:07 PM

NYMike

04-06-2021, 07:37 PM

Brake lines look great. On the rear DS brake line, I found that putting the mounting plate on the outside of the 3/4-inch tube as the manual instructs leads to interference problems with tightening the nuts. After some brake fluid weeping, I put the mounting plate on the inside, which solved the clearance problems. (post 125: https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?35795-JB-in-NOVA-s-MK4-build-Some-more-Breeze-upgrades/page4) It looks like you mounted yours entirely differently, which is probably even better in terms of clearance. Nice work!

Thanks JB! We actually put them where the manual showed for the IRS setup, but it took a little while to figure it out from the pictures they gave. Our fuel line was a bit in the way on the passenger side so it is a little lower there, but it should be ok. Not sure if it would work for the solid axle.

BeePea

04-07-2021, 06:07 PM

Mike, where did you find the little screws that are used to mount the brake line clip to the f panel?

BeePea

04-07-2021, 06:24 PM

Nevermind, I "found" them, in my POL.

NYMike

04-07-2021, 09:27 PM

Nevermind, I "found" them, in my POL.

Are you asking about the adapter fitting that the T fitting on one side and flexible line on the other side screws into? If that is what youre asking about, we only had 2 of the 4 that we needed. As far as I can tell from the pictures of the wilwood kit online, the others will be coming with the front brakes. Maybe someone else can correct me if I'm wrong on that. The ones we used to get the lines all bent up we found in the rear brake components package.

NYMike

04-12-2021, 08:48 PM

We got back into the build on Friday and Saturday. First up was finally making some of the aluminum panels permanent. We had already drilled all of the holes, so it was just a matter of applying silicone and mastering the pneumatic riveter. Well...we struggled a bit more than we thought. After a bunch of misfires and drilled out rivets, we finally got the hang of it and got the panels together. Our goal was to get all the panels in around the engine bay in preparation for engine install. We started with the front transmission tunnel A shaped piece and rear U joint cover, then the passenger side footbox, and finally the driver's side inner footbox walls. We also had to make the inner top of the driver's footbox permanent because of the forward firewall. Hopefully we don't regret that.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=146131&d=1618275487

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=146132&d=1618275500

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=146130&d=1618275472

Other than learning the riveter, things went fairly smoothly. The only issue we ran into which I was half expecting was attaching the outer side of the floor pan to the bottom of the outer footbox wall panel on the passenger side. We drilled the holes too low on the outer wall, and they ended up right in front of the frame tube leaving no space in between for the back side of the rivet. We tried to rivet into the frame, but it was too thick. We ended up tapping the holes in the frame and screwing the panels together to the tube. It's not ideal but it works I guess and we probably will have the same issue on the driver's side down the road.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=146134&d=1618275950

We also got some aluminum rivnuts for the driver's side footbox cover and the two trunk floor covers to make the panels easy to remove. I didn't feel like spending the extra $30 to buy the installation tool, so we struggled a bit until we figured out a good way to crush them into the panel. We ended up holding the bottom of the rivnut with a vice grip and running a socket head cap screw in with a 1/4" drive cordless impact. It was pretty painless once we got the hang of it.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=146129&d=1618275463

NYMike

04-12-2021, 09:17 PM

Next up was running the wiring harness. I spent a bunch of time last week studying the wiring manual, the Holley Sniper manual, and the Blueprint FAQ document to wrap my arms around what changes and connections have to be made. We started out with the fuse panel mounting, which like Blitzboy, we had some issues with until we got the relays shifted around a little. We picked up one of the pedal box mounts and drilled and tapped two holes in the main firewall frame tube for mounting. We ground off the paint around the pedal box bolt hole and sandwiched the ground ring between the fuse panel plate and frame.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=146122&d=1618275378

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=146123&d=1618275388

Next up was running the different sub harnesses through the firewall. Since we are going to be having some wiring for the EFI, we drilled all 3 of the suggested holes. We ran the sending unit wires (and will run the EFI Wires as well) through the hole closest to the passenger side, the alternator and starter wiring through the middle, and the rear harness through the hole closest to the driver's side.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=146124&d=1618275399

We shoved all of the engine wiring back through the heater holes to keep them out of the way and then worked on the rear wiring. We ran along the trans tunnel, up above the differential, under the upper trunk floor, down the front gas tank post, and then out to the back.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=146125&d=1618275417

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=146126&d=1618275428

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=146127&d=1618275438

Initially we zip tied everything, but decided to use some of the insulated clips that came with the kit. It ended up working out pretty well, but it was a huge pain to drill all of the holes. I ended up upside down on the frame dolly in the trans tunnel to drill the holes.

Finally we ran the front harness along the driver's side and down to the front quick jack mounting plate. We left the passenger side wiring off for now so that it doesn't get in the way when we put the engine in.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=146128&d=1618275449

We put in about 9 hours of work this weekend brining our total up to 71. We finished a bit earlier than we expected on Saturday so we dug out all of the engine and trans mounting hardware and got our engine rigging figured out. We have an extra set of hands booked for this coming Saturday, so the engine is going in! Its a huge milestone for us and we cant wait.

NYMike

04-12-2021, 09:31 PM

BeePea

04-12-2021, 11:14 PM

Friday afternoon I emailed Factory Five customer service regarding updates for the outstanding items on the POL list. Almost immediately I got an email from Brent in purchasing who said he would get back to me early this week with a complete update and he came through this morning. Here are the updates on the major items:

Wilwood Brakes: 4/26 (tentative)
Power Steering Rack: 4/13 and will start shipping in order of completion date
Front Spindles: June :mad:
Wood Steering Wheel: June
1/2" Rod End - Swaybars: Late June
Rearview Mirror: Next few days
Aston Gas Cap: Late May/Early June

The spindle situation is unfortunate and a bit frustrating, but our current world situation is what it is and we have plenty to keep us busy until they come in. Thanks again to Brent at Factory Five for being so quick with getting us info and laying it all out so we can plan how to move forward.

Interesting and disappointing to see that spindle date, same with steering wheel, wanted to get that all done before then.

Nice work, great progress! The gray panels look great. I know what you mean about all the drilling... Since I'm waiting on my suspension POL I've been doing my panel fitting and painting. Gotta say, doing the cockpit panels really makes it look like a car!

hineas

04-13-2021, 08:47 AM

I finally got caught up on your thread. You have made great progress!!!

I ran into the same thing with the drop tube for the return line in the gas tank and couldn't find the correct sized tube clamp. I ended up emailing Johnny at BluePrint and he said to absolutely put one on, so I'm glad you did. I ended up stealing one from the FFR kit (I think it was for the smaller flexible fuel line that I didn't use).

It is scary that you are taking cues from me! :D I sure hope the brake lines routed along the front of the X tubes works. But it did work for Papa and his build is phenomenal. We will see if we have to tweak anything when the power steering rack arrives.

Thanks for the tip on checking the heater template before drilling. I just realized I haven't done that yet...

Also, thanks for the update on the POL. We are waiting for the power steering rack, spindles, and steering wheel as well. I hope we get them by June because we should be all ready for go-kart by then!!!

Keep up the good work! Your build is looking great!!!

egchewy79

04-13-2021, 09:22 AM

Blitzboy54

04-13-2021, 01:56 PM

Friday afternoon I emailed Factory Five customer service regarding updates for the outstanding items on the POL list. Almost immediately I got an email from Brent in purchasing who said he would get back to me early this week with a complete update and he came through this morning. Here are the updates on the major items:

Wilwood Brakes: 4/26 (tentative)
Power Steering Rack: 4/13 and will start shipping in order of completion date
Front Spindles: June :mad:
Wood Steering Wheel: June
1/2" Rod End - Swaybars: Late June
Rearview Mirror: Next few days
Aston Gas Cap: Late May/Early June

The spindle situation is unfortunate and a bit frustrating, but our current world situation is what it is and we have plenty to keep us busy until they come in. Thanks again to Brent at Factory Five for being so quick with getting us info and laying it all out so we can plan how to move forward.

June for spindles is tough. They lost their vendor then were expecting an order and they canceled. Between spindles, racks and engine mounts I am 30 days from being at a dead stop.

I emailed FFR to ask about aftermarket PN's. If I can find them somewhere else I am going to delete them and purchase on my own.

I got my Wilwoods over the weekend. You should be getting them soon

NYMike

04-13-2021, 08:31 PM

It is scary that you are taking cues from me! :D I sure hope the brake lines routed along the front of the X tubes works. But it did work for Papa and his build is phenomenal. We will see if we have to tweak anything when the power steering rack arrives.

I think we will be alright. I looked at some pictures in the manual to make sure and it looks like it should be ok.

Also, thanks for the update on the POL. We are waiting for the power steering rack, spindles, and steering wheel as well. I hope we get them by June because we should be all ready for go-kart by then!!!

Keep up the good work! Your build is looking great!!!

Thanks! Its frustrating, but at the same time also a good goal. Get everything ready to go for go kart so that when the spindles come in, just bolt on and go.

NYMike

04-13-2021, 08:34 PM

good progress! a couple of suggestions. you might not be able to access some of the DS top panel rivnuts with the body on, especially the ones on top and rear of the hole. try fitting the body to see which ones are not accessible and leave those screws out. also, if you're running 4 into 4 headers, you might have some issues w/ the headers being too close to your brake lines at the front of your footbox. you may need a heat shield of some sort so you don't boil your brake fluid.

Thanks! That's a great suggestion on the heat near the brake line...I didn't even think of that. We will definitely put some heat shield on around it and probably thinking about it now, also on the fuel lines on the other side just in case.

NYMike

04-13-2021, 08:45 PM

June for spindles is tough. They lost there vendor then were expecting an order and they canceled. Between spindles, racks and engine mounts I am 30 days from being at a dead stop.

I emailed FFR to ask about aftermarket PN's. If I can find them somewhere else I am going to delete them and purchase on my own.

I got my Wilwoods over the weekend. You should be getting them soon

That would be nice, although without front spindles the brakes wont get us all that far. I'm hoping that we can keep going and finish everything else needed to go kart and it doesn't slow us down. If we get the steering rack soon at least we can do some of that stuff.

NYMike

04-13-2021, 08:50 PM

Interesting and disappointing to see that spindle date, same with steering wheel, wanted to get that all done before then.

Nice work, great progress! The gray panels look great. I know what you mean about all the drilling... Since I'm waiting on my suspension POL I've been doing my panel fitting and painting. Gotta say, doing the cockpit panels really makes it look like a car!

Thanks! I wasn't sure on the gray as we were painting, but with it all together we are definitely happy with it. It's really nice to get those parts on the car for good and get some good visual progress. Any word on when you are going to get your suspension bits?

BeePea

04-13-2021, 09:46 PM

Thanks! I wasn't sure on the gray as we were painting, but with it all together we are definitely happy with it. It's really nice to get those parts on the car for good and get some good visual progress. Any word on when you are going to get your suspension bits?

Tomorrow is the big day for the suspension bits to be delivered, along with my carpet and random hardware I was missing. I owe a photo update to the group, will try to squeeze a photo session in tomorrow between work and school but I've got a lot done, I've been motivated by our groups progress and speed. My son and I have a "date" planned for Sunday to get in IRS all up and running, would like to get my tank installed this week as well and have the rear "done."

NYMike

04-19-2021, 09:17 PM

This past weekend was a huge milestone for us in the build. The engine officially has a home! We started off the weekend on Friday night unloading the engine hoist that I borrowed from the office (Thanks!). It was a bit sketchy but the the electric chain hoist worked great to pick it out of the back of the truck.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=146574&d=1618881200

We also ran a few extra wires along the rear wiring harness for the fuel pump and a few other things we may add later before the engine and transmission were in the way.

Saturday morning our reinforcement (my cousin, an engineer and another avid DIYer) came by and spent the day with us to help get the engine in position. We started out by getting the chassis off the dolly so we could set up as everyone on here suggests. We got the front as low as possible so the hoist could just barely fit underneath. The back we jacked up as high as we could with the floor jack.

Next we set up the engine leveler and got the engine up in the air so we could attach the motor mounts.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=146575&d=1618881214

Here we ran into our first issue of the day...The motor mounts didn't fit. After about 30 seconds of "hold on, let me check the forums" it was confirmed that, yes this is a known issue with the aftermarket dart blocks. The motor mounts were hitting ribs on the block before they were able to sit correctly on the mounting pads.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=146577&d=1618881235

So out came the Dremel and grinding wheel and we made them fit. While my cousin and I attacked the mounts, Dad took a quick run to grab some lock washers for the engine mount bolts. We also had to drill out the hole in the ground strap so we could bolt it to the motor mount.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=146576&d=1618881224

With the motor mounts attached it was finally time. The engine leveler was a game changer and made the whole thing pretty painless, and angling the chassis definitely helped a lot as well to get the transmission down in the tunnel past the firewall. We hung a bunch of towels in different places to protect the frame and the oil pan and slowly worked the engine in. We got it to a point where everything was really close and used a long 2x4 to persuade the passenger side mount in and then the driver's side.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=146578&d=1618881246

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=146579&d=1618881268

NYMike

04-19-2021, 09:21 PM

With the nuts started on the front engine mounts we got the transmission mount and A frame set in place. We disconnected the front lifting point and used the hoist to pick up only the back of the engine to lift the transmission up high enough to get everything put in. This is where we ran into our second issue. The tail of the transmission was sitting on the frame crossmember instead of the bottom of the transmission mount sitting on the A frame, and the transmission output shaft was nowhere near close to lining up with the differential.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=146581&d=1618881321

Again after quickly searching the forum this issue was also confirmed to be an issue with the TKO transmissions. We used the shipping brackets from the engine crate and made some quick spacers to go between the A frame and the transmission mount to see how much spacer we would need to get the transmission and center section to line up. We put the spacers there because it seemed easier to swap them in and out there than it would be if they were between the transmission and transmission mount.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=146580&d=1618881300

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=146582&d=1618881332

We put two in for a total of 1/2" but looking at it today it looks like we may need 3 or 4 for a total of 3/4 to 1" This is what the alignment looks like with 3/4" of spacer. I have to take some more measurements, but does anyone have any thoughts on how this looks?

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=146583&d=1618881351

With the engine mounts tight and the transmission mount spacers in it was time to put the chassis back on the dolly...3rd issue of the day. The wood blocks that cradled the frame were right in the way of the oil pan. At this point my brother in law (another mechanical engineer) stopped by to check out our progress. We quickly adjusted the blocks to fit outside the frame tubes (28" spacing) and then delved into a bunch of discussion on the best way to attack the glovebox and heater. He has a lot more experience working with plastic than I do and he had some good suggestions.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=146584&d=1618881380

Our last bit of progress was test fitting the headers so we could get the final picture. It looks pretty awesome and we are really excited. We can't wait to get it running and hear the roar. The only disappointment for me is the valve covers. Its not a huge deal but unfortunately for us ford discontinued the 427 cobra valve covers that I really loved, so we ended up with the generic finned ones. If anyone has a lead on some 427 covers for a Windsor with roller rockers that would be greatly appreciated!

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=146585&d=1618881396

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=146586&d=1618881407

All things considered it was a very successful weekend and a huge step forward in the build. We worked for about 9 hours for the weekend bringing us to just about 80 hours in total. Next up is the push towards first start!

Thanks again to my boss for the engine leveler and hoist, and to my cousin and brother in law for their assistance!

Blitzboy54

04-19-2021, 09:47 PM

Man look at you!!!

You guys skipped right passed the salads and went right to the the steak. Lol

Good job, looks great!

BeePea

04-19-2021, 11:23 PM

jiriza84641

04-20-2021, 12:09 PM

Very Nice!

NYMike

04-26-2021, 08:18 PM

Man look at you!!!

You guys skipped right passed the salads and went right to the the steak. Lol

Good job, looks great!

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Congrats on the achievement Mike, that's amazing!!

Thanks Guys! Jesse, I burst out laughing when I read that. I'm going to have to remember that one. Hopefully we didn't miss anything good at the salad bar but we will find out.

NYMike

04-26-2021, 09:35 PM

We didn't get a chance to work on the build last weekend, but do have a few updates.

First on the missing parts, our Wilwood brakes arrived Friday and today! Without spindles we can't use the front yet, but we can install the rears and the parking brake. We also got an email that a care package will be arriving from Factory Five this week. Based on my conversation with Brent this should include the long awaited power steering rack along with some other small bits. Looks like we're starting to see the light at the end of the POL tunnel!

We also had a few discussions on the "essential" upgrades that all of the bad influences that reside here have suggested in various places, and it escalated quickly. I think the most dangerous part of this stuff is almost all of these parts are so reasonably priced individually that it’s hard to say no. We tried to get all of our extra ordering done now so we have the parts when we need them. The mailman has been very busy the past few days as the parts started showing up.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=146998&d=1619488126

Most important for us were all of the various Breeze radiator bits and the front battery box so we can keep moving towards first start. Just quickly looking through the Breeze boxes, the quality and organization of the packaging and directions is pretty impressive.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=146997&d=1619488114

We also got a few things from Mike Everson at Replica Parts which are equally as nice.

Last but not least, we have Russ Thompson's turn signal setup on the way as well as the Gas-N touring side pipes, Boig Cooling Tubes, and a few more things from Mike Forte. I think this is it on the upgrades...

I can't say enough about the vendors on this forum. Everyone has been so nice, helpful, and responsive. The ingenuity and creativity of all of these people really is impressive and I find it so cool that people have been able to turn their skill and passion for these cars into businesses.

Hopefully we will be able to dig into all of these new parts this week and make some good progress.

Blitzboy54

04-27-2021, 07:52 AM

BeePea

04-28-2021, 02:26 PM

Agreed the vendors surrounding this is pretty amazing. I like getting parts although my wife thought I ordered something expensive the last POL shipment and I had to talk her off the ledge.

You hit the nail on the head with parts being "individually" reasonably priced. I'm up to $2500 worth of those. lol

Originally I wanted to track my extra costs, quickly I went away from that and don't want to know where I'm at.

Congrats on the parts Mike!

JB in NOVA

04-28-2021, 10:34 PM

originally i wanted to track my extra costs, quickly i went away from that and don't want to know where i'm at.

Congrats on the parts mike!

lol. X2

egchewy79

04-29-2021, 06:32 AM

I made the mistake of keeping a folder with all my receipts and recently went through all of them, putting the costs in a spreadsheet, to calculate what I should be insuring my car for. Surprisingly, I'm only sitting around $5-6k of "extras" when including mods, hardware, spray paints/bed liners, breeze products, etc. A lot of the $$ was on taxes and shipping costs. I probably could have saved $500 had I consolidated all my orders from Summit/Jegs.
It's death by 1000 papercuts....

jiriza84641

04-29-2021, 11:03 AM

NYMike

05-03-2021, 08:46 PM

Lots of progress last weekend! First exciting news was the steering rack arriving on Tuesday, and that was our first stop. There are quite a few holes in the power steering instructions so we had do do some figuring out for ourselves. We started with pressing out the bushings that came in the rack and installing the bushings and spacers that came in the kit. Next up was installing the rack on the frame. It took a few tries wiggling it around, but once we got it lined up right, it dropped right in. We got the tie rod ends installed roughly to where the manual suggests and moved on to the rest of the steering shaft assembly.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147292&d=1620089434

We prepared all of the shafts and universal joints to make sure everything fit together nicely and prepared the divots for the set screws. We had to lightly sand the ends of the shafts to help with assembly. Once everything fit nicely we installed the first universal joint on the steering rack. Next we installed the lower shaft and the middle universal joint. I had seen on Jesse's build thread that BadAsp427 suggested to mount the footbox wall steering shaft bearing to the inside of the footbox rather than outside as the manual suggests. We tried it initially the way the manual suggests, and there just was not enough space for the universal joint. We decided to move it to the inside and ran into one small issue. The top of the bearing flange interfered with the bottom of the pedal box mount so we had to trim it to fit.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147287&d=1620089379

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147289&d=1620089398

Even with mounting the bearing inside the pedal box, the middle universal joint is slammed right up against the bearing. It's really tight. We tried flipping the bearing around, but the universal joint bound up on the lip of the bearing so that is not an option.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147290&d=1620089411

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147293&d=1620090520

We struggled a little bit but we got the second shaft through the bearing and into the universal joint. Finally, we got the upper pillow block mounted and got the top shaft installed with the spring washers.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147288&d=1620089388

The pillow block is going to have to move now that we received the turn signal setup from Russ Thompson, but at least it is in for now. We also got the fittings installed in the power steering rack and experimented with the hoses that came from Factory Five. It seems like they changed some things with the newer kits because they now come with braided stainless hoses, a bunch of adapter fittings, and a short length of hose for the power steering pump connections. I think we have to order a new fitting for the supply connection on the pump, but more on that later once we get it figured out.

Blitzboy54

05-03-2021, 08:53 PM

Looks great man, still can’t believe you put your motor I already. Lol. Im enjoying your thread.

NYMike

05-03-2021, 08:55 PM

Next up was the breeze front battery box. This put up a bit more of a fight than we anticipated, but we got it in. The instructions say that frame cross tubes might not be square to the 4" tube that connects the frame rails, and that they made the box smaller than the opening to account for the variation in the frames. Well...it seems our frame is extra special, because the space was just a bit too small for the box and definitely not square. We couldn't get the box as far over to the passenger side as the instructions suggest, but with a big rubber mallet we got it close enough. Once we got the position figured out it went in pretty easily.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147294&d=1620092753

We decided not to use the spacers and just deform the box a little bit because we thought it would call less attention to the frame squareness issue. We don't have a battery yet, so we didn't want to make the cables until we know where exactly the posts will end up. We are pretty happy with how it turned out and the quality and instructions were excellent.

NYMike

05-03-2021, 09:25 PM

Next up was installing all of the Breeze radiator mounting bits which was a pretty big project but very satisfying once we got it finished. We started with the upper hinge and cutting off the small 3/4" tubes for the factory five radiator mounting. It took a while but we got them off and the frame touched up. We are pretty happy with how it came out.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147300&d=1620094005

Next we marked out and drilled the holes in the upper flange of the radiator. Then we marked the holes for the hinges through the holes we drilled in the radiator and drilled them offline on the drill press. I really don't like drilling through stainless steel with a hand drill, so the drill press on the lowest speed and some cutting oil really made it pretty easy. Next, we skipped a few steps and marked out and drilled the holes in the upper 3/4 frame tube so we didn't have to fight with holding up the entire radiator to mark it out.

After that we moved on to mounting the fan and shroud to the radiator. We lined up the top of the shroud with the top of the radiator and drilled through the rear upper flange of the radiator. Then we used the spacer tube as a drill guide to make sure we were drilling straight as we went all the way through the front upper flange and the hinge.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147295&d=1620093590

Once drilled all the way through, we riveted the hinge to the radiator and bolted the shroud in. With the shroud bolted in, we marked the bottom shroud flange and trimmed it to fit the radiator. Finally we drilled the two bottom mounting holes for the shroud, installed the bolts, and mounted the top of the hinge to the frame. I didn't feel too warm and fuzzy about threading the thin 3/4 tube so we drilled clearance holes and made a quick run to the hardware store to get bolts that were 1/4" longer so we could put a locknut on the backside. Its nice and secure now, but ill probably regret it down the road if we have to get the radiator out with the body on.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147299&d=1620093630

After that we got the lower mount installed. That was pretty easy compared to the upper. We set the angle at 58 degrees because we have the replicaparts front radiator aluminum and then mocked everything up. We used a bit of carwash to help slide the hoses over the tube, mounted the brackets, and then drilled the locking key hole. Not too much drama. We took everything apart so we could spray the tube black and we put it back together later on.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147296&d=1620093602

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147297&d=1620093610

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147298&d=1620093621

NYMike

05-03-2021, 10:36 PM

Last up for the weekend was getting the engine wiring started. First we installed the sending units that came with the dash gages and the O2 sensor. The Holley Sniper EFI only needs 1 O2 sensor so we installed it on the passenger side since there is more space over there without the steering and driver footbox clutter. We installed the oil pressure sending unit next to the oil filter and the temp sending unit in the extra port in the water neck.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147304&d=1620097628

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147310&d=1620097684

Its not a big deal, but I'm not thrilled that it is on the radiator side of the thermostat. I wish it were on the engine side, but those ports are already taken by the EFI temp sender in one and the heater return in the other.

We decided to use the wires that came with the sending units and dash because the connectors are pre terminated and ready to go. We pulled the Ron Francis sending unit harness back through the dash and will coil it up there in case we need it later. We will also connect the green fan switch wire to the light blue Sniper wire for the fan signal and the tan electric choke wire to the pink Sniper 12v activation wire behind the dash as well. We also ran the orange coil + wire to the coil and the purple tach wire and Sniper yellow wire to the coil -. We ran everything up under the air cleaner and back along the passenger side of the intake so that all of the wiring stays clear of the throttle linkage on the other side.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147305&d=1620097636

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147306&d=1620097645

The blueprint instructions say the yellow wire is supposed to be pre terminated to connect back to the coil but ours is just a bare end and is really short. We found some similar gage yellow wire that came with the gages that we are going to use to extend the Sniper wire.

Finally we dealt with the mess of wire that is included in the Sniper harnesses. All of the wires for the 10 pin connector went through to the back side of the dash and will get cleaned up there.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147308&d=1620097666

We are thinking the 7 pin connector harness will end up on top of the passenger footbox and we might mount the fuel pump relay and the main sniper fuse to the top frame rail right inside the hood opening. We just taped them up there for now to visualize everything. Does anyone see any issues with this mounting location? (ignore the random wire loom running through the heater holes in the firewall)

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147307&d=1620097656

From here we will run the positive and negative wires along the frame and down to the front battery tray. I'm a bit neurotic about organized wiring at work and it is definitely carrying over here. We kept zip tying and cutting and repeating until we were happy with how everything looks. Once we get everything tested and the engine running, we will be wire looming everything in the engine for protection.

I get so caught up in taking pictures of our progress every week and then realize when everyone at work asks how we did over the weekend, I have no new overall progress picture of the whole car. I made sure I took one tonight when I got home, so this is the current state. It's really starting to look like a car!

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147309&d=1620097676

We put in a lot of hours this week (about 13) and our total is up to about 93. We're making progress and are enjoying having a lot of options for things to do now that we are slowly receiving the missing parts from the POL list and have a lot of things to do to get to first start and go kart. Hopefully we can get to first start in the next few weeks.

NYMike

05-03-2021, 10:39 PM

Looks great man, still can’t believe you put your motor I already. Lol. Im enjoying your thread.

Thanks! I'm really enjoying writing it and also enjoying yours as well. I'm jealous of your dash and feeling guilty that we haven't spent nearly enough time planning ours out. I think that is coming up very soon.

D Stand

05-03-2021, 11:15 PM

147313

I would make sure your fuse and relay are mounted to the bottom of the tube in that location due to the rolled lip of the fiberglass that forms the hood opening. This picture also shows my solution to the temp sender not on the radiator side. I drilled and tapped this 90 for the heater hose. I figured I will need to have the heater core always cracked a little for a good reading. At first start it read accurate with the sniper temp.

BeePea

05-03-2021, 11:21 PM

Fantastic work Mike, you are really speeding along! Very jealous of all the work you have completed so far. You're doing an amazing job, and a fantastic job of documenting it all (far better than I, that's for sure)!

Keep up the great work and great updates!

first time builder

05-04-2021, 09:13 AM

Mike I would suggest a set of insulated spark plug wire covers. You will melt those wires ! They aren't
cheap but will save a set of wires and a missfire down the road.
Kenny

JB in NOVA

05-04-2021, 05:55 PM

Mike, I agree with D Stand about potential interference with the body once mounted. If you mount everything to the bottom of frame rail, you should be fine. I ended up tucking the relay and fuse beneath the PS engine mount, and they seem happy there:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=135785&d=1601483733

NYMike

05-04-2021, 07:19 PM

NYMike

05-04-2021, 07:20 PM

Mike I would suggest a set of insulated spark plug wire covers. You will melt those wires ! They aren't
cheap but will save a set of wires and a missfire down the road.
Kenny

Thanks Kenny. That's a great point and I'll definitely look into that. Melted wires would not be fun.

460.465USMC

05-05-2021, 02:31 PM

NYMike

05-05-2021, 09:51 PM

Hi Mike,

I just installed my Breeze battery kit a couple weeks ago, and ran into the same tight fit issues you describe. Definitely not a gap between the rear of the battery tray and the 4" cross tube!

Looking great, and awesome progress by the way! You guys are like a couple of professionals. I'm impressed!

Thanks Chris! We're definitely not professionals, but we're doing our best. I'm following along on your build as well and it's looking great. It's good to know we're not alone in the struggle with the battery box.

hineas

05-07-2021, 11:36 PM

Man you are building a beautiful car!

I still haven't received my steering rack so I'm living vicariously through you. At least now I can look at your installation to figure out how to do it myself!

You are right about the battery box. We put the spacers in but it definitely highlights that the area isn't square. It isn't as noticeable with a battery in the box though. I do like your solution!

Here is mine without the battery. The obvious lack of squareness did slightly bother me.

147510

Once I put the battery in, though, the lack of squareness is hardly noticeable.

147511

147512

NYMike

05-10-2021, 08:13 PM

Man you are building a beautiful car!

I still haven't received my steering rack so I'm living vicariously through you. At least now I can look at your installation to figure out how to do it myself!

You are right about the battery box. We put the spacers in but it definitely highlights that the area isn't square. It isn't as noticeable with a battery in the box though. I do like your solution!

Here is mine without the battery. The obvious lack of squareness did slightly bother me.

147510

Thanks! Hopefully you get your rack soon. It wasn't too bad to go in. That is pretty out of square but it does look great with the battery in. Seems like it would be a fairly easy part to get square and consistent, but I guess for them it doesn't really matter.

NYMike

05-10-2021, 08:52 PM

We didn't have too much time for the build this weekend but we did manage to squeeze in a few hours on Friday night. We started off the night with a detour...removing a giant nail from Dad's tire and plugging it. Once the daily driver was back in action we decided to tackle the accelerator pedal linkage and it went pretty well. There is not much in the way of instructions other than what is posted here by others so it took a bit of thinking. We started off by fixing the mounting of the gas pedal based on Jesse's discovery that the pedal and arm were shipped installed backwards. Once that was reversed the pedal fit perfectly in the footbox.

Next we started mounting the rod ends that came with the kit. We are using the FFMetal firewall forward which is pretty thick and strong so we went without the giant washers that came with the kit and used regular sized washers to sandwich the firewall. We mounted them as low as possible so the bell crank would fit in the footbox. We got one as close as possible to the driver's side footbox wall and the other as close as possible to the wiring grommet that probably should have gotten installed a bit farther towards the passenger side... Then we slid the shaft through both rod ends and marked the hole location in the footbox. We got it pretty close, but we're going to add a grommet to get a nice seal around it. Once the hole was drilled, we reassembled the shaft collars and the bell cranks and started setting up the rods to connect to the pedal and throttle body.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147635&d=1620694864

We started off cutting a decent sized chunk off of each rod so we could get them somewhat close. This is when I realized that as usual we didn't have the right tap to thread the end of the tube...UGH. I'm pretty sure it's a 1/4-28 but will confirm when I tap them at work. We also had to drill out the holes in the factory five throttle pedal to fit the end links provided with the kit. Once we got the rods where we wanted them we zip tied them to the end links to test all of the motions.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147636&d=1620694874

Here and above are pictures of 0 Throttle:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147637&d=1620694882

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147638&d=1620694890

And here is WOT:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147639&d=1620694899

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147641&d=1620694991

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147642&d=1620696038

With the power to weight ratio we have and the 3:55 gears, we tried to get as much throw as possible out of the pedal so its not just a light switch. We also tried to keep the bell cranks as perpendicular to the connecting rods as possible to make sure we have linear throttle response. I think we are pretty close but we will do some final adjustments once we get the rods tapped. After seeing the quality of the kit and how all of it went together, we are very happy with the decision to go with the linkage vs the cable. It was pretty satisfying to be able to sit in our fake "seat" and play with the pedals and pretend to drive. We spent about 3.5 hours on all of this bringing our total up to about 97. The march towards first start continues...

BeePea

05-10-2021, 09:47 PM

BeePea

05-10-2021, 09:52 PM

NYMike

05-17-2021, 08:49 PM

Dad and I got in some good build time this weekend and made some pretty decent progress. We started off by taking a detour from our first start path to install the rear Wilwood brakes. I picked up some .032" safety wire from Grainger and safety wire pliers from Harbor Freight and we got to work. We opened up all of the boxes, got everything organized, and then started assembling the hats and rotors. As the instructions suggested we used the red loctite, torqued, and then safety wired all of the bolts. I had done safety wire for our college racecar, but Dad had never done it before. It took a bit for me to remember and then explain the process through the first two pairs, but we got it figured out. Dad drew the short straw and ended up doing the rest of them while I mounted the caliper brackets and worked on some other things. It was tedious and he got a bit frustrated at times, but he did a great job and it came out really good. I promised him I would take care of the fronts at some point between now and when the spindles show up so he doesn't have to do them.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147982&d=1621300693

Next up was mounting the rotors and calipers to check the alignment. Without shims, the calipers are centered within less than the thickness of a shim so we called it good. For the caliper to bracket mounting we ended up with the recommended 2 shims between the brackets and calipers to get the OD of the pads flush with the OD of the rotor. Ironically Dad and I had just had a conversation about 12pt sockets vs 6pt sockets a few days before we came across the 12pt nuts for the calipers. Fortunately I had a deep 7/16 12pt socket in a tool kit somewhere that I dug out to get those torqued. Finally we installed the pads, parking brake calipers, and flex lines. The instructions mentioned a lock nut for the bolt that secures the pad clips but there were none in the kit so we added a nylock to each one just to give us a warm and fuzzy feeling that the bolt wouldn't back out.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147989&d=1621300813

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147988&d=1621300803

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147987&d=1621300789

The brakes looked so nice that we had to grab a rim from the basement so we could get the full picture of what its going to look like. We can't wait to get it on its wheels!

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147990&d=1621300827

NYMike

05-17-2021, 09:01 PM

Next up was the Boig Cool Tubes, Breeze lower radiator hose mount, and coolant overflow tank. This was a fairly easy installation once we figured out how everything was supposed to route. We struggled to get the hoses to line up initially until we trimmed about an inch off of the lower radiator hose elbow on the radiator side and the upper elbow where it connects to the water neck to get the upper tube more level.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147983&d=1621300751

After the trim, everything fit great! The quality on the cool tubes is top notch.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147995&d=1621300884

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147996&d=1621300894

Next we enlisted some help and set the body back on the frame for a quick test fit so we could check hood clearance and lay out where we wanted the overflow tank and our brake/clutch reservoir to mount. It's been a while since we have seen the body on the frame so it was really cool to get another look at it.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147991&d=1621300836

Side note...it looks like we may have some air filter-cowl interference, but without the bulb seal on the firewall and the body bolted down its hard to tell where it will actually end up. Fingers crossed.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147992&d=1621300852

We marked out where we wanted the reservoirs to mount and then pulled the body back off. Of course I forgot to take a picture of the overflow tank before we took it back apart to paint the bracket. Picture to come later.

NYMike

05-17-2021, 09:22 PM

Last up was cleaning up a few odds and ends that needed some work. While Dad was safety wiring the rotors, I made up some braided stainless fuel lines to go from the hard lines to the throttle body. They came out pretty nice but we still have to pressure test the fuel system with compressed air to check for leaks.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147981&d=1621300685

We also finalized the throttle linkage after I tapped the ends during my lunch break at work.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147984&d=1621300762

Last up was the wiring. We terminated the rest of the EFI wiring connections, mounted the fuel pump relay and fuse away from the hood lip, and moved the inertia relay to the trunk. We decided to mount it there and run the ground for the fuel pump directly through it. We put a ring terminal on the end of the wire and bolted it to a cleaned up area of the frame. We temporarily connected the ground from the fuel pump to the other wire on the switch for first start and will shorten and finalize the routing once the trunk floor is in place.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147994&d=1621300877

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=147993&d=1621300861

We got about 10 hours in this weekend bringing our total up to 107 for the build. Next up is the dash and shortening the pipes on the heater core because they interfere with the valve cover. For the dash we ended up ordering switchgear from a 65 mustang because we were very disappointed with the ignition and key setup that came with the kit and also didn't like the disjointed collection of knobs and switches. It's been discussed elsewhere but it was just a huge letdown seeing the poor finish on the trim ring for the ignition and the really cheap looking key because the old factory five key was pretty nice. The mustang setup should look really nice though.

Question for everyone...Has anyone had an issue with the fan plug not fitting nicely in the plug on the wiring harness? We can make it fit, but it will have to be jammed in. It looks like the connectors are similar but maybe not the same manufacturer as it looks like they are set up for different locking mechanisms. I didn't grab a picture of it unfortunately but maybe someone else has had the same problem.

UPDATE: Tossed this out to the main roadster board and got some really good feedback that its not just us and is a known issue. Ended up buying the connector suggested by Papa and it worked out really well. Much better solution than jamming the original connectors together.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BMVZ94M?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148490&d=1621992520

BeePea

05-18-2021, 11:01 AM

Agreed on the dash finishings, I am working on my dash now and I am sticking with the stock dash layout but doing all custom toggle switches and push button start. The only two stock (for now) switches I will have is heater and wiper.

460.465USMC

05-18-2021, 07:28 PM

You guys do really nice work, Mike! You will be at first start in no time.

Blitzboy54

05-18-2021, 08:16 PM

Looking good Mike. I was struggling with whether to use the EFI pump relay or the RF one. If I used the EFI I wasn't sure what to do with the inertia switch. That seems like a solid solution. I may copy it.

NYMike

05-25-2021, 09:04 PM

First I want to give a shout out to Adam (AdamIsAdam) for spending a bunch of time with us on Sunday while we poked around his car. On one of my many Home Depot runs this weekend (more on that later) I saw a bunch of really nice cars in a parking lot including 2 cobras. When Dad came by we took a ride back over and Adam was still there with his beautiful car. We spent a lot of time looking around, asking questions, and absorbing as much info as we could. It was incredibly helpful and also a great inspiration to keep pushing forward.

We got a bunch of build time this weekend and checked a few items off of our pre first start punch list. We connected the power steering hoses that came in the kit. This was a bit interesting as there was not much info in the build manual, so combining a bunch of resources I think we got it hooked up right with the lower fitting being the supply and the upper being the return. Fingers crossed! We did have to buy a new pump fitting from Breeze because the one supplied with the kit did not fit correctly in the pump on our engine. We still have to clip the hoses so they don't flop around, but they are connected.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148489&d=1621992499

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148488&d=1621992499

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148487&d=1621992499

We also got the brake/clutch fluid reservoir mounted and hooked up. When we test fit the body we took some measurements so we could make a mounting bracket for it. I think we got it about as high as we could without having issues with the hood. We're pretty happy with the location, so hopefully it ends up ok. I ordered a grommet for the hole in the footbox that we will put in once it arrives.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148493&d=1621992536

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148492&d=1621992536

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148491&d=1621992536

NYMike

05-25-2021, 09:18 PM

Next up was the plumbing for the hydraulic clutch throw out bearing. The bearing came with a supply hose with a 4an connection and a second hose with a bleeder on the end. For the bleeder, we used a random clip that was already on the transmission, and just tucked it in so that we could grab it from underneath later on to bleed the clutch.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148494&d=1621992550

For the supply hose, I wanted to use a bulkhead fitting in the footbox wall and 2 hoses, one from the bearing to the wall, and one from the wall to the master cylinder. From Summit we ordered a straight bulkhead fitting and two premade stainless braided hoses with a straight fitting on one end and a 90 degree on the other end. The hose in the engine bay was 18" long and the footbox hose was 12". For the master cylinder we ordered a 1/8 NPT to 4an straight adapter fitting. Drilling through the footbox was a bit tight, but the 90 degree drill just made it. The rest of the install went pretty well. We clipped the hose down near the exit of the bell housing making extra sure the hoses were nowhere near the pressure plate. (Thanks for learning that lesson the hard way for us JB). We also wrapped a small section of heater hose around the lines where they exit the bell housing for a little extra wear protection. Interestingly Blueprint says there is no cover for the hole in the bell housing on the 427s. I'm not sure how I feel about that. We might have to make some kind of cover for it.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148495&d=1621992550

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148496&d=1621992550

NYMike

05-25-2021, 09:51 PM

Last up was the heater. Before we could mount it we had to finalize the firewall. We had left it unfinished because we still had to install the under dash filler panel from Mike Everson. We had to trim the end of the panel so it would fit with the new steering bearing mount as suggested in the instructions. Then we slid the panel under the FF Metal firewall and drilled through the rivet holes so they would all line up. Last step before mounting was our own custom modification. We wanted to be able to remove the panel from underneath for behind the dash service, so we cut it along the whole length about an inch away from the 2" square tube that the firewall mounts to. We mounted the small section together with the firewall to the square tube with rivets and will attach a strip of aluminum to it that we can bolt the other half of the panel onto later on. You can kinda see the short section riveted on it in this picture sticking out from the square tube.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148498&d=1621992588

If anyone had asked me what the most difficult part of the build would be before we started, I definitely would not have picked the heater. It has by far been the biggest challenge for us. I knew we were going to have to fight the glovebox and heater but I did not think it would put up this much of a fight. The issue we had was caused by the FFMetal forward firewall that moved the heater about 1.5" towards the front of the car. This pushed the fittings on the heater core pipes right into the passenger side valve cover with absolutely no space to install the 90 degree hose fittings that came with the kit. I thought I had a picture of it before we cut it but unfortunately I don't. I figured we could just cut off the fitting, de solder it, and then re sweat it on after shortening the pipe. That did not work as planed since the fitting is brazed not soldered... This turned into 5 trips to to the store (3 different Home Depots and a Lowes) and a ton of thinking to get the correct fittings and bits. Neither of us had ever sweat pipe before but we made it happen with just a little mess and a decent burn to Dad's finger. We pressure tested the end result at 40 PSI and had no leaks, so I think we managed to do it. In the end we soldered a 1/2 NPT adapter to the end of the shortened pipe and used a threaded street elbow and a hose barb to make the connection.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148497&d=1621992588

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148502&d=1621992598

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148501&d=1621992588

We used an elbow and a hose barb in the intake as well and ran the hoses together over to the passenger side of the frame and back to the heater.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148499&d=1621992588

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148500&d=1621992588

We still have to set up the valve and finalize the routing, but it sure feels good to have this part of the fight behind us. As Jesse said in his thread when he did the dash, getting the heater mounted and plumbed was for sure our first major "built not bought" moment.

While we were pressure testing the heater core, we also pressure tested the fuel lines. We connected the air compressor to the ends going to the tank and plugged the hoses going to the throttle body. We jacked the pressure up to 100 PSI and found a few small leaks that we fixed pretty quickly and hopefully now we should be able to power up the fuel pump with at least a little bit of confidence that we wont start a fire.

We got about 10 hours of time in for the build and are now up around 116 in total. We're making good progress and hopefully we get to first start soon. Not sure how much time we will have next weekend with the holiday, but we have a plan for the dash and are going to try to get that done at least.

460.465USMC

05-26-2021, 12:13 PM

Mike, what kind of fitting/adapter did you use to connect your air compressor to the fuel line? Did your test pass through the fuel filter as well?

BeePea

05-26-2021, 12:42 PM

Very interesting about the heater being too long, I wonder if I will have the same issue with my build.

egchewy79

05-26-2021, 01:22 PM

fyi, you might want to find a firewall grommet for your brake lines. over time, the metal on rubber might not fare well for the latter.

NYMike

05-26-2021, 05:37 PM

Mike, what kind of fitting/adapter did you use to connect your air compressor to the fuel line? Did your test pass through the fuel filter as well?

I was mainly concerned with my hard line fittings and the braided hose we made so I only tested after the pump and filter. The end of the hard line is a male 6an fitting so I got a female 6an to 1/4 NPT fitting (something like this https://www.summitracing.com/parts/vpe-11369) and then used a 1/4 NPT coupler to a quick connect for the air hose. It was a long blob of fittings but it did the trick.

NYMike

05-26-2021, 05:38 PM

fyi, you might want to find a firewall grommet for your brake lines. over time, the metal on rubber might not fare well for the latter.

Thanks! Yeah we have one on order. We were concerned about that as well.

NYMike

05-26-2021, 05:40 PM

Very interesting about the heater being too long, I wonder if I will have the same issue with my build.

You should be fine if you are using the standard firewall. It was only an issue for us because ours is moved forward 1.5".

JB in NOVA

05-26-2021, 10:42 PM

We clipped the hose down near the exit of the bell housing making extra sure the hoses were nowhere near the pressure plate. (Thanks for learning that lesson the hard way for us JB).

Ha ha! you are welcome. That's what us newbies are for! Your build is looking really nice. And it's so cool that you and your dad are doing it together. I can't wait to see the finished product!

AdamIsAdam

05-29-2021, 09:15 AM

Hey Mike,
Great meeting you last week. Wow, your build is impressive! I'd love to come by and check it out in person. Our little group is usually at the same bagel spot after we hit a cars and coffee or just a drive to Cap Tree most sunny Sundays.

After reading this thread, I understand more about the questions you had about my car. If you need to see anything again on my car, you're welcome to it any time.

Oh, and wow, you really are building a nice, high end car! 427 FI and IRS, this will be some car! I can't wait to hear it run and eventually try keeping up with you on the road! LOL

Final comment: this is an amazing father-son project (and family) that I'm sure you'll all cherish forever. I'm jealous that I didn't build mine, but clearly you both have more skills, patience and garage space than I do, so it's probably just as well.

Enjoy!
Adam

NYMike

05-30-2021, 07:50 PM

NYMike

05-30-2021, 07:56 PM

Ha ha! you are welcome. That's what us newbies are for! Your build is looking really nice. And it's so cool that you and your dad are doing it together. I can't wait to see the finished product!

Thanks JB. Really enjoying following your build. Cant wait to see the finished paint job.

NYMike

05-30-2021, 08:29 PM

Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone. I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday and honoring those who sacrificed so much to give us the opportunity to celebrate. We've spent a bunch of time with the family this weekend, but since the weather has been so horrible here on Long Island and we couldn't do anything outside, the build traveled with us. I brought some tools and a bunch of smaller tasks over to Mom and Dad's and we made some progress while we hung out with the rest of the family. We really needed to get the dash all assembled which is a perfect task to do away from the garage. We started out with the glovebox door and got that assembled and glued. I've stopped expecting even simple tasks to be easy, so the struggle with this task was not surprising.

The first step was trimming the aluminum panel that needs to get glued to the door. It has slots that the hinges slide through which was incredibly frustrating because you cant slide the panel in with the hinges bolted on. With the ends of the slots trimmed, the aluminum panel could be slid in and out for test fitting. Much better.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148779&d=1622423714

Our biggest issue stemmed from the holes in the dash for the hinge mount not being drilled in the right spot from the factory. They were too close to the front of the dash so the hinge was hitting the backside of the dash rather than sitting flush to its mating surface. This made it impossible to get the hinge pads to sit flat against the back of the glovebox door. To fix this we decided to slot the holes in the hinge bracket all the way through rather than drill out new holes in the dash. It's not ideal because the screws are almost on the edge of the bracket, but it should be fine.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148748&d=1622413594

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148778&d=1622423704

Once we got that sorted out and the hinges mounted, we ran into the next issue...the holes were also shifted to one side relative to the slots for the hinges. We didn't want to open up the slots because we're not sure what we are going to do with the backside of the door yet and we didn't want to make the aluminum plate look too ugly if we decide to leave it exposed later on. A little bit of hinge bending on both sides and everything seems to work out pretty well.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148780&d=1622423722

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148781&d=1622423732

Once we were happy with everything we sanded the parts, cleaned with acetone, and used JB Weld plastic bonder to stick it all together. We used about 1.5 of the .85oz packages.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148782&d=1622423742

It came out pretty good but we still don't know what to do with the inside of the door. Anyone have any suggestions?

NYMike

05-30-2021, 09:18 PM

With the glovebox door finished, next up was assembling the dash. This has been a LONG time coming and I have been doing a bunch of work and research offline. It all started weeks ago when I dug through the kit to find all of the supplied switchgear and stumbled across the ignition switch. It's different than the Factory Five logo ignitions previously supplied with the kits and in our opinion really not that nice looking. I stumbled across Jesse's thread on the topic and that's where I went deep down the rabbit hole.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?39076-New-Ignition-Switch&p=448184&viewfull=1#post448184

I saw all of the guys using 65-66 Mustang ignitions and then saw that richtersand used a bunch of Mustang switch gear as well. I couldn't find many details on how people had made them work but we decided that we wanted to give it a shot. We decided that on the dash we wanted 1) Ignition, 2) Headlights, 3) Wipers, and 4) Heater. Horn will be the push button on the Russ Thompson turn signal stalk and high beams will be a Mustang style foot button. Hazard switch, heated seat buttons, and gauge programming buttons will be mounted to the under dash filler panel from Mike Everson.

After all of the research and seeing what richtersand did I ordered a bunch of parts from CJ Pony and crossed my fingers:

65-66 Mustang Dash Bezel and Knob Kit (included ignition, wiper and light trim rings as well as light and wiper knobs)
65-66 Mustang Wiper Switch Knob (extra for the heater)
65-66 Mustang Wiper Switch Retaining Nut
65-66 Mustang Ignition Switch
65-66 Mustang Ignition Switch Spacer
65-66 Mustang Ignition Cylinder and Key Set
66-77 Bronco Heater Control Bezel
66-77 Bronco Heater Bezel Nut

And to replace the wiper toggle switch with a rotary switch, a cheap switch from Speedway Motors.

https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Universal-Windshield-Wiper-Switch-for-Single-Motor,2371.html

The total part cost was only $130 and everything ended up working out really really well.

For the ignition, the standard mustang setup worked pretty well. We struggled a little bit to get everything to work smoothly because the padded dash is thicker than the mustang dash. We had to shorten the spacer a little bit and then everything worked great.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148755&d=1622413637

The headlight switch also worked out pretty well. We couldn't use the knob as shipped with the Mustang set because it was too long. I chose to swap the knobs rather than trim the shaft, so I clamped the shafts in a vice and pulled them out of the knobs. The Factory Five knob gave up pretty easily, but the Mustang one was really well pressed in. After that I had to modify the nut that came with the factory five headlight switch. It would have worked just fine as is, but I wanted a slightly better fit. I trimmed the OD just a little so it fit nicer inside the Mustang light bezel. Then I turned a counterbore into the front of the nut on the lathe so the knob would recess into it a little in the off position. Finally I milled a slot in the counterbore so we could tighten the nut with a screwdriver when installing.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148752&d=1622413624

For the wipers, we replaced the toggle switch with the speedway rotary switch. The knob fit really easily, just had to drill it out a tiny bit. I took a gamble on the wiper switch nut hoping that the thread might be the same because I really liked the look of it. To my surprise it was a perfect fit! The only issue was it was long so we had to trim about 2mm off of the nut and put a spacer between the switch and the back of the dash to allow it to tighten.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148754&d=1622413637

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148757&d=1622413637

Last up was the heater. The Mustangs didn't have a knob to control heat but the Broncos of the same era did. The knobs weren't the same so I ordered an extra Mustang knob and then I ordered the Bronco heat bezel and nut hoping they would be close enough to the Mustang and that the nut would work with the FFR heater switch. The Bronco bezel only has 2 fan speeds while the FFR switch has 3, but we were ok with having an unlabeled fan speed as long as it looked nice. As with the wiper switch, we got incredibly lucky. The Bronco nut threaded onto the FFR switch perfectly and the bezel matched the Mustang ones really well and was actually the same OD as the ignition. The shaft on the FFR switch is a bit long, so we may trim it a little at some point, but the Mustang wiper knob fit perfectly.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148753&d=1622413624

NYMike

05-30-2021, 09:21 PM

The vinyl dash with glovebox comes with 3 holes already in it for switches. We decided to do from left to right, ignition, headlights, wiper, heater. Because of their sizes, we were kinda stuck with the ignition on the left because it was the biggest but after that we had flexibility. We opened up the horn button hole with a dremel sanding drum bit to fit the ignition switch. The headlights fit in the hole for the original ignition, but the hole was big. It tightened up though and it feels pretty solid. We had to open up the hole for the wiper switch nut with the dremel sanding drum, and then we drilled a new hole for the heater.

Here is the end result:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148788&d=1622427823

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148789&d=1622427835

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148749&d=1622413624

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148756&d=1622413637

After all of the work we put into the research and assembly, we couldn't be happier with how it came out. We left it on the table for the whole afternoon and just kept staring at it every time we walked by. Another proud "built not bought" moment.

NYMike

05-30-2021, 09:41 PM

While hanging out and watching some TV with the family, Dad and I finished up the safety wiring on the front brakes. It went faster than the rears did and now we got that task out of the way. Last up for the weekend was installing the heated seat pads in the roadster seats. It was a pretty easy process. To do the seat bottom, the cover at the back of the seat cushion has to be peeled away from the foam to insert the pad. We hung the edge of the pad over the front and ran the cable out the back. We will have to re glue the cover back down with contact cement at some point before we install the seats in the car.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148740&d=1622413546

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148741&d=1622413546

For the back rest, we had to peel away the Velcro where it attaches to the seat frame.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148746&d=1622413563

Then we unclipped the back of the seat back where it attaches to the frame to gain access to the clip for the front of the seat back.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148745&d=1622413563

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148744&d=1622413546

Once that was undone, the leather pulled away from the foam and it was easy to slide the heat pad in. We tried to use the tape that came with the pads, but it didn't really work all that well.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148743&d=1622413546

We put everything back together and then wrapped the seats up for later. We did about 8 hrs of work over 2 days and got a bunch of stuff done despite not being with the rest of the car. We are at about 125 hrs of build time, but the non-building research and prep time is very rapidly adding up to be more than that. Part of me wishes I had kept track of that as well, but I really don't want to know that number. Next weekend we will get the dash installed in the car and hopefully get everything wired.

Blitzboy54

05-31-2021, 06:32 AM

Hell yeah, the dash looks fantastic. I wanted to mount mine in the living room wall when I was done so good move leaving it in the house. The heater switch looks down right amazing.

One question did you have any problems with the heater switch rotating when you actuate the fan?

NYMike

05-31-2021, 07:30 AM

One question did you have any problems with the heater switch rotating when you actuate the fan?

Thanks Jesse! That was another place where we got really lucky. The Bronco bezel has an orientation nub built into the back face that we had to drill another small hole in the dash for and it has almost the same exact D shape as the heater switch so it locks the orientation really well. There is a tiny bit of slop but since there’s no markings on the knob you really don’t notice it.

AdamIsAdam

05-31-2021, 09:28 AM

Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone...

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148782&d=1622423742

It came out pretty good but we still don't know what to do with the inside of the door. Anyone have any suggestions?

The switches look FANTASTIC! Gotta love raiding the OEM parts bin!

Here's what the inside of my glove box looks like. It seems to be a pre-made kit. I can dig through my receipts if you want to see if there's a inner panel you can buy and use.

148804

Oh, BTW, your dash leather came out great. Nice and smooth. As you can see, mine has some material gathering around the curves.

Quick question: what do you use to glue the leather to the under side of the dash? I can feel that mine is peeling up and I'd like to glue it down.

TIA,

AdamIsAdam

05-31-2021, 09:57 AM

NYMike

05-31-2021, 10:52 PM

Thanks Adam. That looks nice. I think we might use a piece of the dash vinyl to cover the inside so it will look similar to that. Ours was the pre made vinyl dash and glovebox so we didn’t have to cover it. It probably wouldn’t have looked as nice if we did it. We will see how the gages work out once we have our steering wheel and adjust accordingly. Unfortunately we are still waiting for that to ship.

NYMike

06-03-2021, 08:12 PM

I've been looking at the upper control arms since we first hung them knowing we would have to shorten the rear portions to get the correct alignment for power steering. This week I decided to tackle the mod. I used the Bridgeport at work during lunch over a few days and chopped all the parts up. The couplers were easy and I took about .25" off of each end. The 3 individual ends were not too bad and I took about .25" off of them as well. The end with the ball joint installed was a bit tougher. I chopped it with a hack saw and then finished it off on the Bridgeport to clean it up. That ended up at .25" shorter as well. I think hopefully we should be good to go now. Just waiting on the spindles.....

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148993&d=1622769075

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148983&d=1622768432

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148984&d=1622768432

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148992&d=1622768609

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=148986&d=1622768432

Blitzboy54

06-03-2021, 08:30 PM

That solid steel portion is a bear to cut through by hand. You’ve got some really cool tools at work. Still think your reservoir covers are brilliant.

NYMike

06-07-2021, 09:02 PM

This weekend had some highs and lows for the build. We were really hoping to get to first start and got really close but didn't quite get there. Highs first...We started out with doing our main power wiring. We went a bit off the reservation here after reading a bunch of build threads and doing some research. I didn't really love the idea of using the starter post as the distribution point for all of the wiring and didn't love that so much of the wiring was not protected by a fuse or circuit breaker. Finally, since we are going to have heated seats, some USB chargers, and maybe some other stuff we also wanted to get another mini fuse panel to clean up the wiring. To accomplish all of this we bought a 120 amp main circuit breaker, a 4 post bus bar for power distribution, and a 6 circuit fuse box all from blue sea systems off of amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00511Q5MU?ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details&th=1

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0051P1L52?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000THQ0CQ?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details

We ran the 4 awg battery cable from the front mounted battery directly to the starter post. From the starter post we ran some more 4 awg wire to the main circuit breaker which is mounted above the passenger footbox, and then from there to the bus bar which is mounted behind the dash to our firewall.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=149201&d=1623113536

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=149200&d=1623113536

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=149199&d=1623113536

We will include a grommet once we attach the cover for that oval opening. Hooked up at the bus bar we have the battery supply from the circuit breaker, the alternator wire, the ignition switch supply, the RF fuse box supply, and our additional fuse box supply. While we were at it, we also deleted the headlight wiring from the ignition switch wiring and wired the headlights into one of the main bus bar posts as well.

To make the 4 awg connections I borrowed a huge crimper from work. We felt like we were trimming hedges.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=149206&d=1623113580

Once we got the main power wiring done, it was on to the dash wiring. We used spade connectors to connect the gages. I am not at all confident in my soldering ability and just felt more comfortable that way. We also wanted to make the gauges easily removable just to make sure that we never have an issue with any of them. We also separated out the three dash connectors and rebundled the wires to match our layout. Our high beam switch is going on the floor, so it didn't make sense to have that tied into the dash harness anymore since the only wire connecting there is for the indicator light. We also bundled the turn signal and horn wiring since they will be going together to the Russ Thompson turn signal. I bundled the wires together a bit as a first pass to clean things up, but it will definitely need some more work.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=149202&d=1623113536

We have a lot of extra wires back there from the chassis harness that Dad keeps leaning on me to thin out. Since the vintage gauges came with sending unit wiring, we are using only 2 wires from that harness. I think we will probably remove that whole section of the harness, leave the connector, and splice the two wires we are using before the connector. Anyone see any issues with that? Also we have a ton of extra wiring from the Sniper EFI that we are not currently using. I'd like to keep them in case we need them in the future, so we will have to bundle them nicely.

We decided to mount the dash using high strength velcro to the top tube since the main support for the dash will be from below with the Mike Everson under dash filler panel. We stuck the dash on, admired our work, and then crossed our fingers and connected the battery. No smoke, no fire, and no burn electronics smell so I think we did an ok job!

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=149203&d=1623113580

NYMike

06-07-2021, 09:03 PM

Now for the lows... With the main power wiring done we were ready to start preparing for first start. Saturday morning I gathered all of the required fluids which was a bit of an adventure. It took 3 parts stores to gather the required amount of the synchromesh gear oil recommended for the TKO 600. We filled the engine oil, trans oil, and power steering reservoir and then moved onto the coolant. That is where the weekend went down hill fast. As dad hit about the 3/4 gallon mark I noticed coolant escaping onto the floor. It looked like it was coming from the lower rad hose connection so I loosened the hose clamp and twisted the hose around a bit to re seat it and then tightened the clamp...No change. We could not tell where it was coming from because we couldn't really get a good view, so we disconnected the hose. I plugged the opening with my palm while dad poured the coolant back in and sure enough... still leaking from somewhere in the V between the welded pipe and radiator.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=149207&d=1623113580

At this point we concluded that we had a radiator issue but were out of time and already almost late for dinner. Sad and disappointed that we wouldn't get to start the engine we dropped everything and called it quits. On Sunday, Dad swung by and we yanked the radiator so we could get a closer look. We discovered that whoever welded the radiator didn't use enough filler and or used too much heat, and blew through the wall of the tube when they were welding it on...nice.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=149205&d=1623113580

Unfortunately we have quite a few hours invested into this radiator with all of the Breeze upgrades already mounted, so it doesn't make sense for us to send it back to Factory Five. Dad dropped it off at a local radiator shop today to get repaired. Needless to say they were NOT impressed with the quality of our brand new radiator with a hole and had quite a few things to say about it. They are going to pressure test it to see if there are any other issues that we didn't find and then weld it back up. Once we get the final report, we will contact Factory Five and hopefully they will work with us to make it right. At the end of the day its really not a big deal and it shouldn't be that expensive, but it is really frustrating. Hopefully we will get it back repaired this week and give first start another go this weekend.

We got 9 hours of work in this weekend bringing our total up to about 134. We did make some really good progress and even very briefly cranked over the engine without the plugs to get the oil flowing a little. It felt great to see some things come to life even though we didn't get the first start milestone. Fingers crossed that we get the radiator back this week.

Blitzboy54

06-07-2021, 10:18 PM

That sucks Mike but not the end of the world. I’ve never built anything that didn’t fall apart at some point. It will be the best part of the “remember when” story’s. I’m sure FFR will make it right.

The really good news is I now know to test my radiator before I install it. :)

So thanks for that

edwardb

06-08-2021, 04:58 AM

NYMike

06-08-2021, 06:19 AM

Looks like a good job on the wiring. Little bit belt and suspenders with that added breaker into the dash area. Hopefully that's a resettable breaker since it's in a not too handy location. Also from a safety standpoint you won't have running lights, brake lights, horn, emergency flashers, etc. if it opens. Also one correction -- if you use the supplied GM Delco style headlight switch, it has in internally resettable breaker. It's not unprotected as you indicated. Don't like to post this kind of thing normally. But for others reading, may need to know. Too bad about the radiator. Poor workmanship is everywhere unfortunately.

Thanks Paul. Feedback and corrections are always welcome. You guys are the masters and it’s good to know you’re keeping an eye on us. Very interesting on the light switch. Makes sense now the way it was wired. We will reroute it to the main bus. The breaker is definitely overkill but made us feel a bit more warm and fuzzy.

NYMike

06-08-2021, 06:41 AM

The really good news is I now know to test my radiator before I install it. :)

So thanks for that

Lol. Happy to help! Definitely recommend giving it a good once over.

460.465USMC

06-09-2021, 10:18 PM

Mike,

Sorry to read about your radiator woes: that stinks! I'm in the middle of installing mine with the Breeze parts as well, so I will definitely give mine an eyeball for any obvious holes.

NYMike

06-15-2021, 09:26 PM

We didn't have too much time this weekend, but we were able to hit the first start milestone. We got the radiator back from the shop all welded up, pressure tested and ready to go.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=149542&d=1623809035

Also heard back from Dan at FFR and they were willing to give us a credit to cover the cost of the repair. Very nice of them and another testament to their great customer service.

We shoved the radiator back in and filled up the coolant. The radiator held, but we do have another small leak in the system...ugh. We have a VERY slow leak coming from the water pump gasket. It wasn't enough to hold us back from giving first start a shot, though we will be contacting blueprint to see what they suggest. I'm guessing we probably will have to pull the pump and replace the gasket and it seems like it's a fairly common issue.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=149543&d=1623809035

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=149544&d=1623809035

Anyway, we connected the battery, pulled the plugs and did the blueprint engine oil prime procedure, reinstalled the plugs, and let it rip. It cranked for a while, but after giving it some throttle, it started up. There was a bit of belt squeal from spilling coolant on the belt while filling.

https://youtu.be/brjhT5vKWu0

It started but wasn't running right. We didn't have time to chase down the issue so it would have to wait for another day. Tonight Dad came back over and we got it figured out. The issue we were having was an unstable idle with surging, and if we revved, it would run fine and then suddenly die. I noticed on one start attempt that the Sniper was not showing the engine RPM during crank and figured that had to be what was causing the issue. We disconnected the fuel pump and played with a bunch of things while cranking and narrowed it down to the connection at the coil - terminal. As soon as we snipped off the ring connector we crimped on and just pinched the wire under the nut we had a nice steady RPM reading during crank. So we reconnected the fuel pump and sure enough it ran perfectly. We shut down, crimped on a new ring connector making extra sure that it was a good connection, and restarted. All is happy now. We got it up to temperature and adjusted the IAC. Now it idles well and starts right up after shutdown. It sounds AMAZING and it feels great to have a running engine. It also feels really good to have been able to troubleshoot it and fix the problems ourselves. Big confidence booster and a huge milestone for us. Now on to preparing for go karting.

NYMike

06-15-2021, 09:26 PM

https://youtu.be/RqIUBJGCy3M

NYMike

06-15-2021, 09:27 PM

https://youtu.be/eDDfmuiwIR4

Blitzboy54

06-15-2021, 10:26 PM

Atta boy Mike!

Sounds great

KDubU

06-16-2021, 10:05 AM

Congrats! Great milestone and sounds awesome.

460.465USMC

06-16-2021, 02:22 PM

Sweeeeeet! Sounds awesome, Mike! Great work getting to this point. Love the sound of the idle. Great motivation for me to keep plugging away at my snail's pace. Thanks for posting the videos.

Fman

06-17-2021, 09:10 AM

Way to go! Nothing better than a pushrod engine idling... congratulations!:cool:

Nice job the build, looking great!

BeePea

06-21-2021, 12:04 PM

Congrats, that's an awesome sound!

NYMike

07-13-2021, 09:41 PM

Wow its been a while. The past month flew by so fast I don't know what happened. It seems like summer hit and all of a sudden life went from 0 to 100. We have had hardly any garage build time and I've had hardly any time to even surf the forums. Anyway...over the past month we have been able to do some tinkering and make a bit of progress. One weekend while I was away from home I decided that I wanted to improve on the looks of the mustang key blank. I took one of them with me and made a model of it in CAD. I made a rough design of a cover to snap together around the key blank and sketched the cobra logo on top of it. My brother in law 3D printed it for me and it came out pretty good. I might refine the design a bit, but the first round came out pretty good.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=150815&d=1626228691

Another thing we've been tinkering with is the lower dash filler panel. Back when we first installed it we cut it in half so that we could have a portion fixed riveted to the frame and the other half removable for working under the dash. I ordered a piece of aluminum from McMaster and made a plate to connect the two pieces with screws.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=150817&d=1626228691

We had decided when we did the dash that we were going to mount switches and other things we didnt want to see to this panel as well. We marked out and drilled the holes for the gage programming buttons (one for the speedo and one for the clock), the hazard switch, and a 12v and dual usb port.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=150818&d=1626228691

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=150819&d=1626228691

I realized after we finished that we forgot to mount the seat heater buttons as well so we will have to do that at some point.

NYMike

07-13-2021, 09:48 PM

Two weeks ago my boss and I had to make a trip out to LA to visit a few customers. Fortunately he is also a huge car guy so we made it a priority to hit the Petersen museum. The last time we were there we did the whole vault tour which is amazing, so this time we only hit the main museum. They have a great supercar exhibit right now with some really amazing cars. One of them was an original 427 Cobra that provided a great opportunity for some research. What a beautiful car and it was from New York.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=150820&d=1626228730

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=150821&d=1626228730

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=150822&d=1626228730

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=150823&d=1626228730

NYMike

07-13-2021, 09:56 PM

Last and most important, WE HAVE SPINDLES!!! Last week the front spindles came in and we wasted no time putting them on the car. We connected and torqued the spindles, attached the hub bearings and steering arms, and mounted the front brakes. We also mounted both the front and rear sway bars. I can't wait until we get to the point where we can drive it hard and tune in the sway bar settings.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=150829&d=1626228827

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=150830&d=1626228827

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=150824&d=1626228784

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=150825&d=1626228784

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=150828&d=1626228804

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=150827&d=1626228804

The only issues we had were with the front sway bar mounts interfering with the welds on the frame, and we had to open up the holes in the sway bar a little bit because there were a few burrs on one side of the hole preventing the bolts from going through.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=150826&d=1626228784

The rims are going to the shop tomorrow to get tires mounted and balanced and this weekend she should be on the ground on her own wheels. Still have a bunch of work before go karting, but it will be very exciting to get it rolling.

Blitzboy54

07-14-2021, 12:02 AM

Awesome! Welcome back Mike!!

460.465USMC

07-14-2021, 01:33 PM

Glad you received your spindles. Will be nice to have a roller. Looking forward to seeing your first go kart!

BeePea

07-14-2021, 03:40 PM

Looks great! I finally got mine as well and installed them and the hubs, brakes when I get back from vaca!

NYMike

07-20-2021, 08:25 PM

This past weekend was an exciting one for the build. Last week our tires came in and we got them mounted and balanced. I've been a big fan of Michelin tires for a while so I was really excited when our tire guy said he could get the Pilot Sport PS2 in our sizes. A while back I had been looking and it seemed like they were either out of stock or out of production, but they are definitely still available. We went with 245/35-18s in the front and 315/30-18s in the rear.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=151075&d=1626826350

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=151076&d=1626826350

I knew that the rear tires were going to be wide, but wow are they wide. Its pretty impressive.
Definitely should help with putting all of our power to the ground.

Friday night Dad came over and we got to work to get it rolling. First up we had to install Russ Thompson's turn signal setup so we could steer once it was on the ground. It was a pretty painless installation and everything was set up great by Russ right out of the box.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=151081&d=1626827849

We're going to have to take it back apart soon to finalize and cut the hole for it in the dash, but we needed it installed so we could roll the car to its new home in the garage. We also had to install our "steering wheel", a nice piece of trim board, since our actual steering wheel is the last remaining item on POL.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=151080&d=1626827849

Next we used our new 36mm socket to torque the front hub nuts and tighten the rears as much as possible before the wheel started spinning. We did the full torque procedure for the rears once the car was on the ground and we could block the wheels.

We installed the tires and set it down on it's own wheels for the first time. It's so exciting to see it start to really look like a car.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=151077&d=1626826350

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=151082&d=1626828614

Last up for the night was to move the build to it's new home. We rearranged the garage and muscled it up onto the lift. The alignment definitely did not help us out in the move and it needs a ton of adjustment before we can go kart.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=151079&d=1626826369

It feels great to have some garage space back and hopefully being able to work on the build from all angles will be helpful.

On Saturday we tackled our leaking water pump. This has been a pretty frustrating saga, finding the issue and getting new parts, that I really don't want to get into, but I will give what appears to be the solution we came to in case anyone else runs into the same problem. It turned out that for some reason the heads of the bolts for the pump backing plate were too tall and were interfering with the front of the timing cover. It was really close to being correct, so the gasket was touching both sides but not getting squeezed. I figured this out when I was unable to fit even a .0015" feeler gage in between the bolt heads and the timing cover. The replacement parts that were sent were even thicker, so we ended up putting the bolts on a lathe and taking off about .030" off of the thickness of the head. This was way more than we needed to remove but I didn't want to have to pull it apart again. We reinstalled with the replacement gaskets we were sent and filled up the coolant and so far so good. Originally it leaked as soon as we started filling, so I think we got it figured out. We wont know for sure until we start the engine again, but for that we have to wait for our headers to come back for ceramic coat, hopefully in the next week or so. Has anyone else had this issue or are we just extra special?

Anyway...we're back on track and pushing towards go karting. We were able to get about 6 hours of work in this weekend and our total is around 153. It's been so hot and humid in the garage lately that it's been hard to be motivated even when we do have the time to work. Hopefully we will get to go karting in a few weeks.

Blitzboy54

07-20-2021, 10:12 PM

Good to see you back at it Mike. It has been the muggiest, wettest most ridiculous summer I can remember.

Those 18’s are sharp

460.465USMC

07-20-2021, 10:32 PM

Congrats on the roller, Mike! Looking really good. I've been really thankful for my Bendpak ever since I hit the roller stage as well. It's a game changer. Not required, of course, but I just don't seem to enjoy rolling around on the cement and getting into those contortions as much as I used to. :p

NYMike

08-24-2021, 08:17 PM

I can't believe its been another month since our last update. Things have been so crazy but we've been able to sneak in some hours here and there to make some good progress. Lots of updates coming. After we hit roller stage Dad and I started pushing towards go karting. At the same time, I ran out of patience with the mess in the garage and started hitting the trunk aluminum hard to get it permanently mounted. I assembled the drop trunk box first and then had to sneak it in between the gas tank and the frame. Once again we had to drop the tank to make that happen. This time though it was way easier. I used the rolling jack on the lift to support the tank and drop it down just enough to slide the box in.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152620&d=1629850679

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152621&d=1629850679

After getting the box in position all it took was a million rivets and some silicone to get all of the aluminum panels nailed down.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152625&d=1629850694

I did make sure to tighten down the nut couplers for the Kleiner mod for the top body mounts before finalizing the outer trunk panels. We're still undecided on whether we are going to fab up some panels for the inner side trunk walls to make the carpeting look cleaner.

As I finished up with the trunk panels, Dad came by and we switched gears and worked on modifying the dash to fit with the RT turn signal kit. We hung the dash and roughly marked out where we had to cut out the existing slot to allow the RT housing to poke through. We have the vinyl padded dash so we used a sanding drum on the Dremel to slowly grind away the plastic and vinyl until it cleared.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152623&d=1629850694

After it fit, we installed the Mike Everson trim ring which really cleaned it up nicely. The top screw had to be installed at a slight upwards angle to avoid the top of the existing slot in the dash, but you can't really tell from outside.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152624&d=1629850694

Finally, we received and installed our last POL part, the steering wheel. I know there is some debate about where to install the tach vs the speedometer, but we are both pretty happy with this layout. From our driving position the wheel obscures the tach a bit, but it is easily visible above about 1500 rpm. The speedometer is pretty easy to see as well. I really love the dash and am still so excited about how it turned out.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152645&d=1629853704

NYMike

08-24-2021, 08:44 PM

The next project was the E-brake. Oh the E-brake... One weekend a few weeks back I spent a little time and assembled the handle after painting all of the parts chassis black.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152626&d=1629850725

While assembling I really did not like how sloppy the ratchet tooth was so we put a washer on each side of it to tighten things up a little bit.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152627&d=1629850725

A few weeks later we attempted to connect everything up. I got some pulleys to route the cables up above the frame tube (bellow just seems completely wrong) and installed everything. When testing it out we really really hated how the cable clevises dragged along the rear handle mounting bolt. We decided to try to get some better geometry by moving the pulley with an extra plate. I mocked one up in cardboard:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152646&d=1629854852

Then made the real thing out of 1/4" aluminum (complete overkill but its what I had) on the Bridgeport at work and installed.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152629&d=1629850725

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152630&d=1629850725

We used the cable stops that Jesse (blitzboy54) used and they seem to work pretty well. They came from Amazon (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000COCQ06?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details) and had to be slightly drilled out to allow the cable through. Even with the pulley relocation it still drags a bit on the handle mount so we ended up flipping the carriage bolt around so the head was on the bottom. I'm still not thrilled with it. It's better but still not where I would like it to be. I'm curious if we're missing something or is this dragging problem something that everyone just deals with?

I know it's been discussed endlessly here so I won't go on and on about it, but this setup is pretty poor out of the box and definitely needs some work.

NYMike

08-24-2021, 08:59 PM

Next up was remaking the rear brake line. After reading and thinking about some of the comments on our original brake line thread and seeing first hand how hot the exhaust gets we decided to reroute the rear brake line. Since we used the stock factory five lines for the front, we decided to keep using it in the rear. I found the same stuff but in 72" length rather than 60 and hoped we would be able to make the run. We started at the back and worked our way forward exactly how we had done it previously. Instead of going up the front of the footbox, we went along the main frame tube up to the front shock mount and then up to the small 3/4 frame tube that runs back to the footbox.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152634&d=1629850775

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152633&d=1629850758

Unfortunately we came up just short and had to add another union and a short section of line. It's not ideal and not what we wanted but it will be ok.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152635&d=1629850775

Next we had to work on the alignment a bit before we would be able to go kart. I went full shade tree mechanic and broke out the string and tape measure. I set up a string on the lift and measured from the frame front and rear to get it straightened out.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152632&d=1629850758

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152631&d=1629850758

It is definitely NOT aligned to spec, but at least it doesn't have crazy toe. We will be towing the car to an alignment shop before we do any serious driving.

NYMike

08-24-2021, 09:11 PM

Before we could go kart we had a few loose ends to tie up. First we had to bleed the brakes and clutch. There were no big surprises here. We had a few leaky joints on the brakes, but they were all just not tight enough. Once we actually tightened all of the joints down they were pretty easy to bleed. The hydraulic clutch TOB fought back on the bleeding until we read the instructions. As soon as we submerged the bleed nipple in brake fluid and followed the bleeding instructions that came with it we instantly had a good clutch pedal. Go figure...it works when you follow directions. We do have a slight persistent leak at one of the fittings for the clutch that we still have to address.

We also installed our freshly ceramic coated headers which came out amazing:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152636&d=1629850775

And we put in the drive shaft. The angle is not too bad with 2 1/4" spacers underneath the transmission mount.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152637&d=1629850775

Finally we put the driver's seat in and we were ready to give go karting a try.

NYMike

08-24-2021, 09:32 PM

Finally it was time to take all of our hard work for it's first ride. After double checking everything we could think of, we fired it up. After sitting for over a month since we briefly did our first start, it came right back to life. I slowly rolled it back off the lift, making sure our shiny new sidepipes from Georgie at Gas-N didn't drag on the lift and took off down the driveway.

https://youtu.be/E9oIj9tfT-s

Dad and I both took turns going up and down the driveway and it was a blast.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152639&d=1629850945

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152640&d=1629850962

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152641&d=1629850962

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=152638&d=1629850945

After our first experience behind the wheel we are really excited. It was really fun to drive and felt surprisingly comfortable. It has a TON of power, the power steering feels great, not too heavy or light, and the brakes feel pretty good as well. We went with the GAS-N touring pipes because we wanted to keep the noise level down and it was definitely well worth it. Georgie's pipes look incredible and the difference in sound between them and the factory pipes were night and day. They still have a great rumble and sound amazing without making your ears ring. It was definitely the right decision.

Next up is some more driving. My boss, also a car guy, has been asking me for months when the car will be coming to the office for show and tell, so we are going to trailer the car there and play with it in the parking lot. We should be able to really give it a decent shakedown and hopefully get some good video as well. Hopefully we will be able get it there in the next week or two, but the way things have been going this summer, who knows. Until then we will keep pushing on with finishing the interior and working towards getting the body on.

We have about 185 hours into the build to get us to the go kart stage and we have been able to make some good progress despite not having a whole lot of time recently. Hopefully we will be able to keep it up, and hopefully I'll be able to keep on top of posting updates now that I'm caught up.

Blitzboy54

08-24-2021, 11:15 PM

Awesome job Mike. Great to see the car coming to life!

Also with no right hand seat it makes the passengers look so tiny.

hineas

08-25-2021, 12:25 AM

I am just smiling watching you pull out for the first time. Go-karting sure makes it feel like a car, doesn't it? The car sounds amazing and it looks great. What a great milestone.

I'm glad your steering wheel came in time for go-karting! We used a pair of vice grips for ours...

JB in NOVA

08-30-2021, 09:50 PM

Love it! The car looks and sounds great.

Christopher

08-30-2021, 10:15 PM

Like your build list. I am currently working on ordering a complete kit myself and keep going back and forth on power plant and also upgrades. Get myself confused at times . Lol.

460.465USMC

09-27-2021, 03:41 PM

NYMike

01-06-2022, 08:18 PM

Hey everyone, we’re back! Thank you all for the kind words on the go karting videos. The last few months have been completely crazy, but we have managed to make some really good progress on the build. We have been so busy that I barely had time to do research here on the forums let alone keep up with the thread. It’s probably going to take a few days, but now that the car is at the body shop it’s time to catch up!

After we go karted, we set off on tackling the interior. For our short first go kart we had the seat temporarily installed, so the first thing we did was test fit the body so we could position the seats. We also loosely hung the doors so we could see how much space we would have. We ended up getting them as close to the trans tunnel and as far back as we could so that we would have some more room between the side of the seat and the doors and a decent amount of leg room. The seats are not facing straight which is a little strange, but we got used to it pretty quickly. The breeze seat mounts were really nice and pretty easy to install. Dad and I were both really pleasantly surprised with how comfortable the driving position is with the slight recline that the mounts give. Both of us are about 6 foot tall and we both have plenty of room.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159794&d=1641516979

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159793&d=1641516979

After the seats were mounted, we decided that we wanted to give the trunk a more finished look, so like others have done, we made some panels to cover the upper side walls so we could cover them with carpet.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159797&d=1641517039

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159796&d=1641517039

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159795&d=1641517039

Next up was installing the sound deadening. We spent a lot of time debating all of the potential options, but in the end, we went with the Thermo Tec Cool It mat. We were really impressed with how much more solid all the interior panels felt after we stuck it on, but the jury is still out on the thermal insulation part of it. We also decided to do the trunk with it as well to make the car feel a bit more solid and try to minimize rattles coming from back there. Although the whole process took us a few weeks to finish and it was a bit of a pain, the end result was worth it, and we don’t regret the choice. Scissors, a box knife, and a small flat scraper blade were the main tools required for laying the mat down. We also bought a roller from home depot that is in this picture that really helped to flatten the mat out after installation.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159799&d=1641517130

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159798&d=1641517130

NYMike

01-06-2022, 08:27 PM

After procrastinating since the beginning of the build, one Saturday the solution to the glovebox issue finally hit us. We measured and realized that we could cut the glovebox in half and end up with a hoop with the flange for the mounting, and the back wall and short sides.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159801&d=1641518446

We used the heat gun to make the soften the hoop and press fit one half into the other. It actually came out better than we expected and the cut edge doesn't really stand out unless you look for it. After everything cooled down it felt like it was in there tight, and it seems like it will hold without any issues.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159802&d=1641518446

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159803&d=1641518446

We ended up having just enough space between the back of the box and the heater and it left plenty of space for us to mount the Sniper display with some Velcro. The picture doesn’t show it, but we ended up gluing a piece of carpet on the back side of the glovebox door to finish it off. We had previously tried some of the dash vinyl that came with the kit but it did not work out well. The carpet worked much better.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159805&d=1641518472

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159806&d=1641518472

NYMike

01-06-2022, 08:39 PM

Another project that has been on our minds since the beginning of the project was how to finish off the opening in the back wall of the cockpit with a door for the Breeze cubby. I did a bunch of research on what other people had done and could not find a solution that I really liked. Dad came over one night, and we spent about 3 hours just standing over the car trying to figure out what to do. We really wanted to do carpet on the door so it would blend in with the back wall and not stand out, but we couldn't figure out how to get a clean edge that looked nice with a regular hinge. We ended the night stumped, so I got frustrated and jumped on Solidworks to try and design my own solution. I found a latch from Southco and designed a custom hinge and mounting brackets that would allow the carpet to be wrapped around both the door and the opening in the back wall to get that clean edge. We mocked everything up and it seemed like it would work, so we went for it and cut the back wall carpet and did the final assembly.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159808&d=1641519258

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159807&d=1641519258

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159809&d=1641519258

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159812&d=1641519288

It was probably our biggest “built not bought” moment of the build when we finished and we are really happy with how it turned out.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159811&d=1641519288

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159810&d=1641519288

More updates to come!

Blitzboy54

01-07-2022, 11:13 AM

Sniper in the glove box is such a good idea

Ray from Long Island

01-07-2022, 12:39 PM

Hi Mike, Also from Long Island and building a FF MKIV. Your build looks great!

Hey everyone, we’re back! Thank you all for the kind words on the go karting videos. The last few months have been completely crazy, but we have managed to make some really good progress on the build. We have been so busy that I barely had time to do research here on the forums let alone keep up with the thread. It’s probably going to take a few days, but now that the car is at the body shop it’s time to catch up!

After we go karted, we set off on tackling the interior. For our short first go kart we had the seat temporarily installed, so the first thing we did was test fit the body so we could position the seats. We also loosely hung the doors so we could see how much space we would have. We ended up getting them as close to the trans tunnel and as far back as we could so that we would have some more room between the side of the seat and the doors and a decent amount of leg room. The seats are not facing straight which is a little strange, but we got used to it pretty quickly. The breeze seat mounts were really nice and pretty easy to install. Dad and I were both really pleasantly surprised with how comfortable the driving position is with the slight recline that the mounts give. Both of us are about 6 foot tall and we both have plenty of room.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159794&d=1641516979

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159793&d=1641516979

After the seats were mounted, we decided that we wanted to give the trunk a more finished look, so like others have done, we made some panels to cover the upper side walls so we could cover them with carpet.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159797&d=1641517039

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159796&d=1641517039

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159795&d=1641517039

Next up was installing the sound deadening. We spent a lot of time debating all of the potential options, but in the end, we went with the Thermo Tec Cool It mat. We were really impressed with how much more solid all the interior panels felt after we stuck it on, but the jury is still out on the thermal insulation part of it. We also decided to do the trunk with it as well to make the car feel a bit more solid and try to minimize rattles coming from back there. Although the whole process took us a few weeks to finish and it was a bit of a pain, the end result was worth it, and we don’t regret the choice. Scissors, a box knife, and a small flat scraper blade were the main tools required for laying the mat down. We also bought a roller from home depot that is in this picture that really helped to flatten the mat out after installation.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159799&d=1641517130

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159798&d=1641517130

mosh1999

01-07-2022, 08:36 PM

Great idea on the Holley screen, should be easy to reach from driver's seat and put back.

NYMike

01-07-2022, 08:56 PM

The next round of interior customization came with the trans tunnel cover. We wanted it to be removable but still be carpeted, and we also wanted to add cupholders. We stuck some tape upside down on the trans tunnel frame tubes and then stuck the cover on top of it. The tape came off stuck to the back side of the tunnel cover so we could measure for the cupholders. We laid it out and decided wanted to stick with something that would fit in a 3” hole. We ended up ordering them from Summit. They were small size spun aluminum drink holders from a company called Eddie Motorsports (MS281-39). They are nice, but they come with a hole in the bottom which is a bit annoying. We are going to probably put some kind of insert in the bottom to cover it up. To install them we cut the hole in the carpet, popped the cupholders in, and then wrapped them with some Thermo Tec from the back side to keep them from coming out, and as an added bonus insulate the drinks from whatever heat may be in the tunnel. There is about an inch or so of space between the bottom of the cupholders and the top of the transmission (TKO 600).

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159854&d=1641605981

To keep the tunnel cover removable, we glued the carpet to the top of the cover except for about two inches from each edge. We tapped 4 holes on each side in the top trans tunnel tube and attached the cover with some button head screws. Finally, to keep the carpet down on the sides of the tunnel, we notched it around the harness mounts and then put a few snaps near the bottom on each side. We got some black snap heads so that they would blend in with the carpet and not stand out too much.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159855&d=1641605981

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159856&d=1641605992

The rest of the carpeting was fairly standard except for the added trunk sides and the drop trunk box. For that, we cut as suggested by many others here with an X from corner to corner and folding down the wall. We trimmed the carpet about an inch down from the bend so we could cut straight sections to finish out the walls. That left a small section in each corner that was not covered, so we cut a few small triangles of carpet and wedged them in to finish it off.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159857&d=1641606479

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159858&d=1641606479

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159860&d=1641606491

After carpeting, we installed the belts, shifter bezel, and parking brake boot. It was really exciting to see the whole interior come together.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159859&d=1641606479

NYMike

01-07-2022, 09:13 PM

Next up was drilling the roll bars. The driver’s side went together really easily, but the passenger’s side was a real struggle. To get the angles right we had to grind almost all of the little nubs off of the mounting tubes to get the p/s hoop to drop down low enough. Once we got them in place, we drilled all of the holes. The car may end up on a track at some point and will definitely autocross, so we went with the Frankenstein bolt rather than one of the boltless clamp options that are out there. The only real issue we had was chipping chrome plating on those two holes. Is this an issue that anyone else has had? Fortunately, 95 percent of it is covered by the head of the bolts but its still a bit frustrating and concerning that it might get worse. We may get them re plated while the car is at the body shop, but have not decided yet.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159861&d=1641607451

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159862&d=1641607451

With the bars installed we got the trunk struts put in. We really did not like the location suggested in the manual for the ball mount for the strut on the cockpit wall. It seemed too close to the belts and we were really worried about the belts chafing on the brackets. We mounted them inboard of the hoop instead. It gives the struts a bit of an angle which has me a bit worried about stress on the trunk hinge, but I feel better about that than I do belt chafing. If we have an issue down the road we will have to figure out a way to brace the hinge mounts.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159863&d=1641607470

We also finalized our Breeze divider for the cockpit cubby. This had been an ongoing point of contention between dad and I. We wanted it to be removable, but every time we added something to the trunk it looked like it would be more and more difficult. Once we got the struts installed, the answer became clear. Instead of notching and doing other crazy things to get the struts through we just chopped the top off so the strut would go over it. The cubby is not completely sealed off from the trunk, but it should still functionally be the same and keep our stuff where we put it. We also added an LED light strip with a switch so we can see what is in the cubby from the cockpit.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159864&d=1641607470

NYMike

01-07-2022, 09:26 PM

Before we did the final body installation, we installed and wired the wiper motor.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159865&d=1641608466

The installation was easy, but the wiring was a bit tricky. We are using a rotary switch from speedway motors that I did not realize at first was not directly compatible with the Lucas style wiper motor. After blowing a few fuses I realized that something needed to change with the park function wiring and I did some research. It turned out we needed to add a relay and do additional wiring to make it all work. I found the answer on this thread from the other forum:
https://www.ffcars.com/threads/preparing-my-wiper-motor-plan-of-attack.470874/

Once that was straightened out the wiper motor worked great. We also wired in the taillight converter for the rectangular headlights before the body went on. We wanted it somewhere accessible in case it had to be serviced in the future, so we wired it in above the fuel tank. We pulled the harness through the access hole for the sender and spliced it in there with some soldered joints. We wrapped everything with heat shrink, electrical tape, and the corrugated wire conduit and then stuffed it back through the hole.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159867&d=1641608501

NYMike

01-07-2022, 09:39 PM

We wanted to add some footbox blowers to get some fresh air into the cockpit. We took most of our inspiration for this from GTBradley’s build (Thanks!) and the install went well. Here is his post if anyone is interested: https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?30668-GTBradley-s-build-Powder-coating-large-items-DIY&p=420321&viewfull=1#post420321. This place is such a great resource. We got some 3” bilge blowers, 3” brake duct hose, and a pair of 3” blast gates to close off the vents.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159868&d=1641608979

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159869&d=1641608979

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159871&d=1641608994

We got some cheap choke cables to actuate the blast gates and installed one in our lower dash panel for the passenger’s side and one above the fuse panel for the driver’s side. It seems to have worked pretty well during our initial testing, but actual heat management remains to be seen. We mounted the switches for the fans under the dash as well.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159870&d=1641608979

While we were wiring up the fans we finished up the rest of our wiring under the dash. We ended up having more mounted under the dash than I expected originally, so I’m glad we ended up getting the filler panel from Mike Everson. In the picture from top to bottom are: speedo menu button, D/S blower toggle switch, D/S heated seat, Hi/Lo beam toggle switch, Hazard toggle switch, Clock set button, USB/12v socket combo, unused button that is just filling an existing hole, P/S heated seat, P/S blower toggle switch, and all the way at the end that you cant really see is the P/S vent choke cable.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=159872&d=1641608994

Having this panel removable was a mod to a mod that we are already very glad we did. Having the bottom of the dash closed off but still accessible has already been very helpful and I'm sure we will need to get in there again in the future.

Still more updates to come.

460.465USMC

01-09-2022, 11:39 PM

Congrats, Mike! You guys are knocking out your build fast. Did you already announce the color, and I just forgot/missed it?

jiriza84641

01-12-2022, 02:21 AM

Man that build is looking gooooooood. keep it up!

JB in NOVA

01-14-2022, 12:02 AM

Sniper in the glove box is such a good idea

Yeah, I really like that.

Real Time

01-16-2022, 11:38 AM

Great job on the build as well and thanks for all your documentation.
I too am from the island.
If I pull this trigger it will likely be in the early spring.

George

GTBradley

01-19-2022, 12:00 PM

NYMike

01-20-2022, 04:44 PM

Yeah, I really like that.

Man that build is looking gooooooood. keep it up!

Thanks guys!

Congrats, Mike! You guys are knocking out your build fast. Did you already announce the color, and I just forgot/missed it?

Thanks Chris! Have not yet revealed the final decision...stay tuned

NYMike

01-20-2022, 04:54 PM

Nice work, Mike. Glad the blower info helped. I think those plastic blast gates are perfect as they are durable, effective, cheap, light-weight and corrosion proof.

You’ve probably seen that I, and others, have discovered the headers and engine bay heat can increase the temperature of the air moving through the tubes. You might consider doing some extra insulation or at least heat deflection near the headers now before the body is on.

Thanks! Those blast gates were a great find. It was a really nice solution and pretty easy to set up.

Yeah I have seen that has been a struggle. We're hoping that the ceramic coating on the headers and collectors will help that out a little bit. If not, I'm thinking about wrapping the ducting with some of the thermo tec stuff. Maybe that will help.

NYMike

01-20-2022, 04:56 PM

Great job on the build as well and thanks for all your documentation.
I too am from the island.
If I pull this trigger it will likely be in the early spring.

George

Thanks George. I may be biased, but I highly recommend it if you can. We have really enjoyed the build so far and I'm really glad we did it. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out.

NYMike

01-21-2022, 04:19 PM

Right before Thanksgiving we borrowed the trailer from work and brought the car to my office to do some shake down go karting in the parking lot. The rumor got out that the car was going to be there, and a few of my colleagues showed up to take a look and get a ride. My boss also took a nice quick walkaround video while it was warming up a little.

https://youtu.be/M91Le4tjj5Q

We spent about an hour or so running the car around and getting some seat time. We didn’t find any major issues which is great, but we did discover that we have a hot start issue with the EFI. It starts up instantly when its cold, but once its warmed up it really does not want to start. It seems like it’s really rich and dumping a ton of fuel in on startup, so we’re going to have to take some data logs and really dig into it to figure out what is causing it.

Since we felt comfortable after our go karting run, at the beginning of the December, it was finally time to install the body for good. We gave everything a good once over one last time, installed the weather stripping and the foam insulation on the outside of the footbox suggested by Jeff Kleiner in Fman’s thread (Ace Hardware A/C Weather stripping), and then dropped the body on.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=160669&d=1642798600

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=160670&d=1642798600

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=160668&d=1642798600

NYMike

01-21-2022, 05:00 PM

We decided to delete the quick jacks and go with just over-riders. We did the Kleiner mod in the back, so we had to drill out the tapped holes in the two rear over-riders so the threaded rod could pass through to nuts on the inside. We covered them with painter's tape so they wouldn't scratch and held them in aluminum vise jaws for drilling. That thick stainless steel plate was NOT fun to drill through, but it worked out pretty well once we started using cutting oil.

We are going to be using bumper grommets in the front after paint so we had to upgrade the tubing to fill the grommets. I forget whose thread I saw it on so I cant give credit, but as suggested we ordered some really nice polished stainless tubing from McMaster (1750T12) and pressed a bushing (6391K192) inside on each end in the front, and only one in the rear.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=160674&d=1642802041

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=160675&d=1642802041

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=160676&d=1642802041

This kept the clearance hole in the tubing the same so we could use the same bolts. The fronts measured 5.5" long, and the rears measured 1.75" long. In the back, we got some washers with rubber backing (94709A518) to sandwich the body and protect the paint in the future.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=160678&d=1642802056

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=160680&d=1642802344

They ended up looking WAY nicer than the ones that came with the kit and well worth the upgrade.

NYMike

01-21-2022, 05:31 PM

Next up was installing and wiring all of the lights. We put weatherpack connectors on all of the lights, which after doing it is really the only way to go. The tails were fairly straightforward and went in without an issue. We just had to open up the hole in the body for the connector to pass through.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=160682&d=1642802920

To get the weatherpack connectors to work for the parking lights we had do open up the hole in the body and the slot in the body mount bracket to let the connector through. For the ground on the parking lights we put a ring terminal that grounds to the body mounting bracket rather than trying to splice into the ground going to the headlight.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=160683&d=1642802920

The headlights were a bit more of a struggle. The holes in the body from FF were quite a bit off and we had to slot the holes a lot. They both got slotted in the counter clockwise direction.
They would have worked as is, but the lettering in the headlights would not have been straight when installed and it just looked a bit funny.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=160685&d=1642802920

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=160684&d=1642802920

We installed the connectors on the headlights and parking lights in opposite directions so there is no possibility of mixing them up when reinstalling.

The license plate light was also pretty straightforward. We put spade connectors in to connect the wires in the trunk lid and then put a weatherpack connector at the trunk hinge to allow easy trunk removal if needed. We also made an aluminum cover plate that is attached to the trunk lid with rivnuts for fiberglass and button head screws to cover the hole on the inside of the lid. It came out pretty nice, but unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of the finished product.

NYMike

01-21-2022, 05:48 PM

The cutouts for the side pipes were a bit of a struggle. It seems that its fairly normal from what I could find, but we had to cut quite a bit forward on the driver’s side, and back and up on the passenger’s side. The motor mounts were pretty much maxed out and there was not much more that we could do to shift the engine around to make it better. Fortunately, you can’t see both sides at the same time, so we are ok with it.

Next we installed the driver’s side roll bar which required a little trimming of the body, but it was pretty close. The passenger side holes we left for the body shop to cut correctly.

Finally, we installed the windshield. We had both anticipated and built it up to be a nightmare, but it actually wasn’t too bad. We had to trim the openings in the body and trim one of the windshield legs to avoid one of the bolts for our main circuit breaker. We are going to be using a soft top, so we measured the 27” dimension for that and marked the holes on the legs for drilling. We drilled and tapped the holes as suggested by a bunch of people on here for easier installation and then added a jam nut to actually secure the windshield. Dropping the fuse box also made the installation significantly easier.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=160703&d=1642804984

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=160702&d=1642804984

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=160701&d=1642804984

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=160704&d=1642805007

NYMike

01-21-2022, 05:54 PM

To clean up the look of the nose, a while back we had ordered the front aluminum shroud from Mike Everson. We were ready to install it but realized that we also have the breeze hood hinge, and the two are not directly compatible. We talked about notching it around the hinge mounting tube, but we realized we could sandwich the shroud between the 3/4" frame tubing and the hood hinge mounting tube. We marked and drilled the holes and it actually worked out pretty well.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=160706&d=1642805531

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=160707&d=1642805531

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=160708&d=1642805531

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=160709&d=1642805531

NYMike

01-21-2022, 06:10 PM

We had a Mid December date scheduled to deliver the car to the body shop, but it ended up raining that day, so it got pushed a week. That gave us some unexpected time to do some last-minute bonus work. First, we got a surprise delivery of our factory five soft top ahead of schedule. After we ordered we also added the quarter windows and the zip down back window. The top is not cheap, but it looks pretty good installed and doesn't require a million holes. We installed and test fit it to make sure the windshield was installed correctly and we put the top mounts in the correct spot. It’s a bit of a process to put the whole thing together and not something we will want to be doing in the rain, but it fit really well and the quality is really impressive.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=160710&d=1642806193

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=160711&d=1642806193

Finally, I got a chance to experiment with my backup light idea. It is required in NY, but we didn’t want to see it in the body. I wanted something that would drop down from behind the body when the car is in reverse and retract out of sight when it isn’t. I had bought a solenoid from McMaster a while back but never got a chance to play with it. I rigged up a quick sketchy bracket to mount the solenoid to the frame and another to mount a light that Jesse (Blitzboy54) was kind enough to send us.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=160713&d=1642806258

It worked pretty well for a little while until the wire got caught and ripped out of the light. Now that I know it works, we will work up a nicer solution while the car is out for bodywork. Here is a quick video we took before it broke.

https://youtu.be/SnVJnSDvdW4

NYMike

01-21-2022, 06:24 PM

Right before Christmas we dropped the car off for bodywork at Metal-Morphous in CT. We had been talking to Ron since the summer and he fit us in for this winter. The hope is the car will be done and registered in time to get on the road for summer. Here are the last shots from before we made the trek.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=160714&d=1642806854

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=160715&d=1642806854

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=160716&d=1642806854

We taped the doors and trunk shut, made a rough shield for the radiator opening to keep rocks away, and loaded it up on the trailer for the journey.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=160717&d=1642807009

We also replicated our picture from when we picked up the kit at factory five. We were wearing the same shirts too, just under the jackets.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=160719&d=1642807140

Coincidentally a few days before we went I was surfing the forums and saw that Jesse(Blitzboy54) had dropped his car off there the week before. His kit and ours were in the same batch that were completed and delivered this past February and March and we have been tracking each other’s progress the whole time. I managed to grab a picture of our cars together there. As I said to him, our journey together continues.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=160720&d=1642807278

NYMike

01-21-2022, 07:15 PM

Chris asked and here it is...We had gone back and forth about the paint scheme during the build. Originally we were going to do the classic blue and white, but after looking at a bunch of options, we decided to go a different route. We decided to go with a look similar to the 25th anniversary car Factory Five showed off when they debuted the kit, silver/gray with white stripes and a black pinstripe outline. We saw the car in the showroom when we picked up the kit and really liked the look of it.

We might go a little bit of a darker shade of gray, but these are some pictures from the website when they announced the kit:

https://www.factoryfive.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/FFR_9662.jpg

https://www.factoryfive.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/FFR_9631-1.jpg

https://www.factoryfive.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/roadster-25yrs-folio-b.jpg

After adding everything up, we ended up right around 350 hours of work time in the garage over the course of about 10 months to get the car to the point where it was ready to go to the body shop. Unfortunately, I didn't keep track of how many hours I spent surfing the forum, doing research, and ordering parts, but I'm sure that was quite a large number as well. Now that the garage is empty and we are anxiously awaiting Ron to work his magic, its time to catch up on all of the adult responsibilities that got left behind while we were focused on the build. I also want to thank both Mrs. NYMike and my Mom for their patience with Dad and I as we spent endless hours in the garage, Dad for jumping in with me on this ride and putting up with me and my perfectionist tendencies, and finally everyone here for all of their wisdom, suggestions, support and creativity. We definitely would not have been able to get to this point without this forum and all of it's great information. Can't wait to post some updates once the bodywork starts taking shape.

Real Time

01-21-2022, 07:50 PM

Once again great work.
I'm looking forward to see her in paint!!!

Chainsaw

01-22-2022, 09:41 AM

Excellent work getting to this point. Cant’ wait to see the finished product.
That color combo really looks good. I love that silver as well (Lambo Titanium) and will likely use that as the primary color for my 289 when I get to that point.

Jeff Kleiner

01-22-2022, 11:16 AM

…I love that silver as well (Lambo Titanium) and will likely use that as the primary color for my 289 when I get to that point.

Just an FYI; the Factory Five 25th Anniversary car in the photos Mike posted is not Lamborghini Titanium. It is Fiat code 647 ”Grigio Steel.”

The 25th Anniversary car that I did for the 2020 London Cobra Show is Lambo Titanium. Similar but different. The Lamborghini color is about the only thing that I’ve found in the silver pallet that really has any depth to it.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=160763&d=1642868067

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=160764&d=1642868178

Jeff

160763
160764

460.465USMC

01-22-2022, 01:28 PM

Thanks for getting us up to date on your build, Mike. You guys made amazing progress between updates! (Pretty sure I've spent 350 hours just on the dash and wiring alone!) :p

I like your color choice. Though, I'm a sucker for colors in the gray family on these Roadsters. It's going to look good!

Congrats!

NYMike

01-22-2022, 03:07 PM

NYMike

01-22-2022, 03:21 PM

Just an FYI; the Factory Five 25th Anniversary car in the photos Mike posted is not Lamborghini Titanium. It is Fiat code 647 ”Grigio Steel.”

The 25th Anniversary car that I did for the 2020 London Cobra Show is Lambo Titanium. Similar but different. The Lamborghini color is about the only thing that I’ve found in the silver pallet that really has any depth to it.

Jeff

160763
160764

Thanks for posting that one Jeff. That's a beautiful color and paint job. Any suggestions on the white? I've seen Toyota white pearl before, but am wondering if you have any thoughts on a metallic or plain white.

Blitzboy54

01-24-2022, 08:45 AM

Twin Brothers from different Mothers.

My man!!!

Also that backup light setup is pretty awesome

NYMike

01-24-2022, 10:34 PM

Twin Brothers from different Mothers.

My man!!!

Also that backup light setup is pretty awesome

Thanks Jesse. I'm glad I could finally put those lights you sent to good use. It had been hanging over my head for months.

NYMike

02-08-2022, 09:45 PM

Time for a few quick updates. First a quick detour from the build. Since there is no build to work on, I finally got around to a project I have had my eye on since we built our garage. I had set up a temporary sink in the corner cut into an old countertop with the idea that I would soon make a decision on a permanent solution. Fast forward almost 6 years and that same temporary sink was still there. I always had a vision of installing a sink in a toolbox, so I decided to give it a shot. I found a Milwaukee workbench/toolbox that looked like it would work and dug in. There were two open drawers and a center divider below the table top that I removed. Then I cut top for the sink and installed it. I had to cut through into the top drawer for the drains with a hole saw. I was able to use a low profile elbow and drain connection to run the drains out the back of the box without eating into too much of the top drawer. I needed to space the box off of the wall to allow some room for the plumbing, so I cut two filler pieces out of the sink cutout to continue the countertop all the way to the wall. I'm really excited about how it came out, and the added benefit is way more space for tool storage. The first thing Dad said when he saw it was "why didn't you do that before we started the build?" I really wish I had.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=162036&d=1644372729

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=162035&d=1644372729

NYMike

02-08-2022, 09:49 PM

When we got our engine from Blueprint, I had gotten a message from Johnny saying the 427 valve covers from Ford had been discontinued and they were unable to source them for our build. We were pretty disappointed and were never a huge fan of the replacement ones. I had set an ebay alert for them at the time, and last week I had a notification pop up that there was a new listing. It turned out that the original manufacturer had some NOS covers they listed, so we grabbed a set. They were delivered this week, and I can't wait to see them on the car!

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=162038&d=1644372729

NYMike

02-08-2022, 10:04 PM

Last up was deciding on paint codes. I wanted to test out some different options, so I ordered a bunch of Duplicolor aerosol touch up cans of both silvers and whites, as well as a can of the Lambo titanium color mentioned by Jeff. I found some speedshapes (apparently that's what they are called...who knew) on amazon and some 3/8 wide masking tape for the stripes and 1mm tape for the pin stripes and got to testing the colors.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=162037&d=1644372729

Lambo titanium with a pearl white stripe was the winner.

Back at the beginning of the build, a few people got me cobra models for my birthday, so I decided to take one of the 1/18 scale ones and try painting it in our scheme to get an even better idea of how it would look. I took it apart and removed all of the small parts.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=162043&d=1644373582

Based on the measurements I found online, the 3/8 tape scales down just about right for the stripe width and the 1mm tape was the thinnest I could find for the pinstripe. I painted black first, taped out the white stripes with the 3/8 tape, taped the pinstripe, then removed the 3/8 tape so I could paint the white.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=162044&d=1644373582

Once the white was dry, I reapplied the 3/8 tape and painted the main body color, and once that was all dry I sprayed clearcoat over everything.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=162039&d=1644372746

I reassembled the model once the body was dry and glued all of the small parts back on. It turned out way better than I ever could have hoped, and we are now even more excited to get it back from paint.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=162040&d=1644372746

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=162041&d=1644372746

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=162042&d=1644372746

Namrups

02-09-2022, 12:05 AM

Nice modeling skills!

hineas

02-09-2022, 05:02 AM

I have the exact same model. Now I want to paint it in the color scheme we are looking at. Thanks for the idea!!!

That turned out exceptionally well. I love the color scheme.

Blitzboy54

02-09-2022, 07:08 AM

I’m embarrassed I didn’t think of this. What a great idea. I’m ordering everything today.

NYMike

05-19-2022, 08:33 PM

Its been a while since the last post, but we are making progress on bodywork and paint and Ron has been sending some pictures along the way.

First the mold seams got knocked down, sanded deeper into a V, and filled with epoxy.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=167017&d=1653008450

Then the seams got body filler and sanding.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=167014&d=1653008450

Then the rest of the body was sanded. You might notice Jesse's body hanging out on the right there.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=167018&d=1653008450

Once all of the sanding was done, the body got a new round of gelcoat.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=167015&d=1653008450

Now that our friend Jesse picked up his beauty last weekend, the booth is ours and things are really getting exciting. The body got primer and we got body color!

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=167019&d=1653008469

Because we picked a pearl white, Ron is painting the stripes on after the body color rather than laying the stripe color first and masking it off. He says its easier to touch up the body color in this case if any of the stripe bleeds through since its only 1 stage rather than the 2 stage pearl. Hopefully tomorrow he will be laying out and spraying the stripes. We are getting so close and are getting really excited. I have had to disconnect myself and pretend the car didn't exist to get myself through the last few months of waiting, but now seeing Jesse's car finished and seeing paint on ours, that ship has sailed. These next few weeks until we get her back are going to seem like an eternity. Hopefully more updates soon!

Blitzboy54

05-20-2022, 07:44 AM

Looks great Mike

Jeff Kleiner

05-20-2022, 10:31 AM

Cool Mike :cool:

I didn't realize that you were going with that combination! You will not be disappointed :)

Here's something to whet your appetite until Ron gets you photos of the real deal!

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=167026&d=1588446471

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=167027&d=1653060461

Cheers,
Jeff

167026
167027

NYMike

05-20-2022, 09:26 PM

Cool Mike :cool:

I didn't realize that you were going with that combination! You will not be disappointed :)

Here's something to whet your appetite until Ron gets you photos of the real deal!

Cheers,
Jeff

Thanks Jeff! Man that looks good. That makes me even more excited to see ours finished.

NYMike

05-20-2022, 09:33 PM

Got another update from Ron tonight! He is really cruising now. The stripes were marked out and masked off today.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=167051&d=1653099344

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=167052&d=1653099344

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=167053&d=1653099344

And the paint was sprayed for the black pin stripes.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=167050&d=1653099344

Hopefully the stripes will be finished early next week and maybe we can see some clear too.

460.465USMC

05-23-2022, 01:50 PM

Good to hear an update. Nice progress! Looking good. I'm excited for you!

NYMike

05-26-2022, 07:51 PM

Got another pair of teaser pictures from Ron yesterday! All coats of paint are complete, and the first three coats of clear have been applied. It looks better than I could have hoped and I'm dying to see it in person.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=167291&d=1653611835

After the third coat, Ron sands the clear and then applies 3 more.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=167292&d=1653611835

The final three coats of clear were planned for today, and then the final sanding and polishing can happen. I have spent the last few days getting all of our paperwork in order, so as soon as we get a pickup date scheduled we can start the registration process. I really hope its soon because I don't think I can handle the waiting much longer.

Badfish

05-26-2022, 08:15 PM

Great build thread, and you’ve added lot of nice upgrades along the way.

Ron’s a good guy, he’ll take care of you.

As I read through your thread, I notice I’m (right now) wearing the same blipshift cobra Tee you guys are wearing the day you picked up the kit! Too funny.

metalmorphous

05-27-2022, 01:22 PM

Mike that was a great idea to do a sample of your colors on a model. I did the same thing for the owner that wanted to see what his cobra would look like aluminum plated. He really wanted something different and the model takes some of the guess work on what the finished product will look like.

167332167333

NYMike

06-05-2022, 09:03 AM

Great build thread, and you’ve added lot of nice upgrades along the way.

Thanks!

As I read through your thread, I notice I’m (right now) wearing the same blipshift cobra Tee you guys are wearing the day you picked up the kit! Too funny.

That's really funny. That shirt came out the same week that we decided to pull the trigger on the kit order. I just couldn't say no to it.

NYMike

06-05-2022, 09:08 AM

Got another paint update Friday night! We got a ton of progress last week.

The clear coat was machine sanded:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=167659&d=1654392469

Then it was wet sanded:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=167664&d=1654392592

And finally it was polished. This was after the first rough polishing pass:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=167658&d=1654392469

After 3 rounds of polishing, 10,002 got its body back! Ron sent us a few teaser pictures:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=167663&d=1654392592

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=167662&d=1654392592

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=167661&d=1654392592

We're almost there and it looks so good! Last week we submitted our paperwork to apply for a NY VIN. Hopefully we will get an inspection appointment sometime at the end of this month or beginning of July. That should give us just enough time to get the car back and get the bare minimum equipment installed to make it look complete before the appointment. We have had a few great weather days here the past 2 weeks and are dying to get it out on the road. Next week we start reassembly and final polishing. Hopefully more updates soon!

Blitzboy54

06-06-2022, 10:41 AM

Love it when it comes back together. So pretty

facultyofmusic

06-06-2022, 01:47 PM

Holy cow Mike I'm just catching up to your build thread now and you've been FLYIN though it! The black lines on the outside for the stripes actually look really good... gives me ideas... :p

NYMike

06-15-2022, 10:24 PM

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=168152&d=1655341841

Well tomorrow is the big day! Paint is finished, the car is reassembled, and the trailer is hooked up and ready to go. We’re picking it up first thing in the morning. I don’t think there’s going to be much sleeping tonight.

In other news, we got our appointment letter from the Department of Field Investigations today. We are scheduled for June 29th to get inspected and have our VIN assigned. Hopefully if all goes well we are looking at the first or second week of July to be street legal. Fingers crossed.

Blitzboy54

06-16-2022, 12:36 PM

Congrats. This is such a fun stage, looking forward to the pics

JB in NOVA

06-16-2022, 06:02 PM

Can't wait to see it!

NYMike

06-16-2022, 08:41 PM

Today was a great day! It started out a little rough but turned out great in the end. Ron is about 2 hours away from us, so we planned on leaving bright and early in the morning so we could beat some of the traffic and get to him around 8:30. Yesterday the weather looked like it was going to be good, but when we woke up this morning, all of a sudden we were expecting rain. We decided to go for it anyway and hope the rain would hold out. It poured almost the whole way there, and stopped about 10 minutes before we arrived. Ron was waiting for us, and when we walked in, number 10002 was waiting for us too with her fresh paint job.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=168194&d=1655427388

We walked around it a bunch and Ron showed us all of the amazing work that him and his son in law Pedro did. We were expecting rain so we chatted for a little while, and when it didn't come, we decided to go for it and load up.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=168195&d=1655427388

It drizzled on and off of course while we strapped her down, but by the time we left the rain was done. We had a dry trip back and only hit a little bit of traffic. We decided that while we had the trailer and some time we would stop and get an official weight for registration. It clocked in at 2320 lbs.

Time for a quick shout out to our friend Jesse for pointing out that all of his gas evaporated while at the body shop. Apparently so did ours. Our tank ran dry right as we were pulling off the scale. Fortunately because of his suggestion I brought a 5 gallon can of gas and we were able to get it back on the trailer. After the weigh in we headed home and got her back in one piece. We took a few beauty shots before tucking her away in the garage.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=168196&d=1655427403

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=168197&d=1655427403

I couldn't help taking a picture with our model.
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=168199&d=1655427418

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=168198&d=1655427418

We asked Ron to do a little bit of extra work and wrap the stripes all the way around the inside of the hood. I'm so glad we did it because it looks really cool with the hood open.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=168201&d=1655427504

We couldn't be happier with how it turned out. Jeff Kleiner is 1000% right about the awesomeness of the Lamborghini Titanium color. The depth is incredible and the change in color depending on the lighting is really cool. We are going to try to get the mirrors and wipers installed this weekend so we can submit our pictures to the DMV and get the ball rolling there. After that we can start checking off the rest of the tasks on our list for graduation. It feels good to finally have it back in the garage!

460.465USMC

06-16-2022, 08:48 PM

Congrats, Mike! It looks fantastic! I admire how you went off the beaten path with your color choice. Two thumbs up!

rthomas98

06-16-2022, 09:31 PM

Congratulations. Looks really good and love the matching die cast car with it.

Blitzboy54

06-16-2022, 11:04 PM

Congratulations on the build. It makes my day to hear you refer to me as a friend. Hopefully one of these days we can get the ol’ girls together. I admire your build and appreciate your family first approach to it.

Well done.

Jeff Kleiner

06-17-2022, 03:17 AM

Looks fantastic Mike (just like I knew it would :) ).

Enjoy lots of miles!

Jeff

wallace18

06-17-2022, 05:17 AM

Super Job!
Enjoy the ride!:cool:

NYMike

07-04-2022, 09:13 AM

Congrats, Mike! It looks fantastic! I admire how you went off the beaten path with your color choice. Two thumbs up!

Congratulations. Looks really good and love the matching die cast car with it.

Looks fantastic Mike (just like I knew it would :) ).

Enjoy lots of miles!

Jeff

Super Job!
Enjoy the ride!:cool:

Thanks guys!

Congratulations on the build. It makes my day to hear you refer to me as a friend. Hopefully one of these days we can get the ol’ girls together. I admire your build and appreciate your family first approach to it.

Well done.

Thanks Jesse! Would love to. Can't wait.

NYMike

07-04-2022, 09:15 AM

Happy July 4th everyone! We have been pushing forward towards registration the last few weeks. We are trying to get as much done as we can while we wait for the state to approve our paperwork. Hopefully once we get the green light the car will be ready to go. It's been described a bunch so I wont go into too much detail, but in NY it's a bit of a process to get the car registered. Essentially it boils down to two different divisions of the DMV that are involved. One is the department of field investigations, and the other is vehicle safety and clean air. Step one is to call vehicle safety and clean air and get the application packet. They send it in the mail and they include all of the paperwork and a checklist of all of the required equipment that needs to be on the car. When the car is ready you can submit the paperwork to both and let the waiting begin.

For the field investigations department, all you have to do is send the VIN number application with a $25 check and copies of all invoices to Albany. After about 2-3 weeks they sent us a letter in the mail with our assigned inspection appointment time and date. You are allowed to reschedule once, so if their assigned appointment doesn't work you can pick a different one. The date ended up being about a month after we initially sent in the paperwork. Thankfully Jesse had pointed this lead time out to us, so we submitted the application about 2 weeks before we picked up the car from paint. At the inspection they are primarily looking for stolen parts. Our inspection was last week and it was pretty easy. We got the complete kit including the rear end from factory five and the engine and transmission new from Blueprint, so those invoices were all they needed to see. We showed up for the appointment about 15 minutes early and signed in. They called our name before we even had the car off of the trailer. We pulled it into the shop, opened the doors and hood, and got kicked out to be out of sight for the inspection. It took about 15 minutes, and once it was finished, we had our VIN! It was a bit intimidating because if they find stolen parts or something they suspect could be stolen, they can confiscate the car. Our inspector was very nice though and she had no problems with any of our paperwork.

The vehicle safety and clean air people want a completed application, the weight of the car from a weigh station, and 4 pictures of the car, one from each side. We also sent in an interior picture. In the application you certify that you have all the required equipment, note the engine information, and all of the DOT/SAE numbers on the lights and windshield. We sent this info in the week after we got the car back from paint as soon as we had all of the required stuff on the car. Unfortunately it took longer than we had hoped to get there in the mail, so we are still waiting on a response from them that everything is ok. Hopefully we hear back this coming week.

NYMike

07-04-2022, 09:17 AM

The major items required by vehicle safety that are not 100% standard are padded visors, a reverse light, wipers, defroster, and a padded dash. The padded dash is taken care of by the vinyl dash option, the defroster is taken care of by the heater option, and we ordered the wiper option as well. We had the heater all ready to go before we sent the car for body work. After the stripes were finished, Ron cut the holes for the defroster vents and connected the hose when he put the body on. It was nice to not have to worry about that part. The wipers were a little bit more of a fight. We had installed the motor and done all of the wiring before paint, but had to do the rest of the install. Ron cut the holes for the wheelboxes so we didn't have to drill through fresh paint. The wheelboxes weren't sitting right on the body so the first thing we had to do was adjust the angle of the little rubber hose wedge spacer so it matched the angle of the trim ring spacer for the top side of the wheelbox.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=168922&d=1656900258

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=168923&d=1656900258

Once they were fitting well it was time to run the tubing for the wiper cable. This was a much bigger battle than I was expecting. For some reason, the flaring tool we were using could not flare the tubing that came with the kit. It was a little too loose and the tubing would just get pushed out of it. We fought with it for a while and then decided to try something else. We had leftover 3/8 aluminum fuel line laying around, the cable fit through it, and our flaring tool could flare it. We decided to try it, and it worked out pretty well.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=168924&d=1656900258

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=168956&d=1656943028

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=168927&d=1656900277

I'm a bit concerned about the wiper cable wearing the inside of the fuel line over time, but we are not going to be using the wipers very much (hopefully) and I haven't entirely given up on installing the stainless tubing once I have some time to figure out why it was fighting back.

NYMike

07-04-2022, 09:18 AM

For the padded visors, I think most people put a cover over the optional sun visors from factory five. While it was away at paint I was feeling the itch for a project so I decided to try making my own. I traced the FF visors onto some 1/8 hardboard and cut them out. The plan was to lay two pieces out next to each other on the extra dash vinyl that came with the kit, wrap them, and then fold and glue the two pieces together.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=168915&d=1656899890

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=168917&d=1656899890

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=168916&d=1656899890

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=168919&d=1656900193

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=168918&d=1656900193

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=168921&d=1656900210

They actually came out better than I expected. Still not sure if they will stay on the car though once its registered.

NYMike

07-04-2022, 09:19 AM

The reverse light was another project I tackled before the car came back from paint. I previously posted HERE about my hidden backup light project, but for registration and inspection, I didnt feel like answering all kinds of questions and having people struggle to figure out what was going on. I found one of the mini cooper backup lights on ebay with the connector for less than $50 and set out to design a temporary mounting bracket for it that I could 3D print. It clamps on the quick jack/bumper bolts and can be easily installed and removed if not needed. Just for fun I painted it with the touch up spray paint I had bought to test out our paint colors.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=168933&d=1656900617

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=168932&d=1656900617

We will eventually finish our hidden reverse lights, but I think this one will get installed every year for inspection.

NYMike

07-04-2022, 09:20 AM

Finally, we decided not to mount our rearview mirror to the dash and went with a windshield mounted one from Speedway. The reviews said the mirror was great but the glue was terrible, so I grabbed some good mirror glue from the auto parts store. I traced the button on a piece of tape and stuck it down on the outside of the window where we wanted it. I centered it on the window, and temporarily put the soft top bow on to make sure the mirror would work with that as well. I followed the directions on the glue package and stuck the button on the inside of the window within the tape outline to make sure it was somewhat straight.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=168934&d=1656900617

We also installed our breeze wind wing mirrors to finish up everything needed for the pictures for the vehicle safety department. From what I read online there are mixed reviews on whether the wind wings are allowed by NYS, they've taken issue with some but not been bothered by others, so we left them off for now for the pictures.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=168930&d=1656900582

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=168928&d=1656900571

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=168929&d=1656900571

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=168931&d=1656900582

Once we hear back from vehicle safety and clean air, we will get a form to take to a regular inspection station to have the car safety inspected, and then finally we will be cleared to register the car. Hopefully we get there in the next week or two. Still a lot more details to wrap up before calling it graduated, but we're getting really close.

Blitzboy54

07-05-2022, 09:38 AM

Super sexy Mike. I actually kind dig your temp reverse light.

John Ibele

07-05-2022, 12:00 PM

Fantastic job, Mike. Man, so many well-done color combos out there. Have fun.

NYMike

07-05-2022, 07:39 PM

Fantastic job, Mike. Man, so many well-done color combos out there. Have fun.

Thanks John! I got caught up on your thread a little while ago. Your build is incredible.

Super sexy Mike. I actually kind dig your temp reverse light.

Thanks Jesse! It came out way better than I expected.

JB in NOVA

07-05-2022, 07:47 PM

Beautiful! Well done.

NYMike

07-05-2022, 07:54 PM

Way back at the beginning of the build we bought a set of plastic fender liners from Shane at VRaptor SpeedWorks. Last weekend we dug them out of the basement and installed them while we were installing our wheel well aluminum panels. In the front we had to notch around our blower hose and will have to notch some more when we install the rest of the hose to the front brake duct opening. Also on the driver's side we had to notch around the horns. To attach them we did 3 nut and bolt fasteners into the aluminum splash panels on one end, and a small angle bracket mounted to the 3/4 frame tube on the other end.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=168936&d=1656900662

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=168935&d=1656900662

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=168937&d=1656900662

In the rear the liners are a hair shorter than they could be so we prioritized the alignment of the back side vs the front. On the front side they came up just a little short but not bad. To attach them we did 2 screws through the rear elephant ear on one end and on the other end 1 into the frame and 1 through the cockpit back wall.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=168941&d=1656900684

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=168940&d=1656900684

We will probably go back in the next time we have the wheels off and replace the small washers with larger fender washers to make sure the screws do not pull through. The liners really add a nice finishing touch to the wheel wells and the installation was pretty easy. We haven't driven with them yet, but from an appearance perspective we highly recommend them.

Nigel Allen

07-06-2022, 05:17 AM

NYMike

07-06-2022, 06:17 AM

Nice Pontiac in the background. These were built in my home town, Adelaide, South Australia. Sold here as Holden Monaro in the 2 door version or Commodore in 4 door sedan, ute or station wagon.

BTW, your Mk4 looks awesome.

Cheers,

Nigel

Thanks Nigel! It’s actually my brother in laws car that he has had since high school. It’s had a ton of work done to it over the years and I think he’s pushing 500hp. It sounds almost as mean as the MK4. It’s a shame they weren’t very popular over here because they’re cool cars and I think they’ve aged pretty well.

Chainsaw

07-09-2022, 04:09 PM

NYMike

07-17-2022, 08:15 PM

This week was a HUGE milestone. In the eyes of the great state of New York our build is officially street legal. The previous week we trailered it to Dad's local mechanic for the NY safety inspection and passed our last test required for the DMV. On Monday, Dad and I went to the local DMV office to get registered. It took about 45 minutes, but we came out with plates in hand. The biggest issue we had actually was sales tax. We had paid Massachusetts sales tax because we picked our kit up at Factory Five, so we had to fill out a form requesting credit for that tax paid and only pay the difference between the NY tax rate and MA tax rate. We broke the DMV office when they tried to figure out the math of how much tax needed to be paid. Anyway, we got home, slammed the plate on the back and took it out for its first shakedown run which was thankfully uneventful. We've got about 70 miles on it now and have not had any big issues.

Here she is out in the wild

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=169511&d=1658104351

A few things we have taken away from this week:

1. The combination of breeze radiator shroud with Mike Everson's front radiator Aluminum is fantastic. When driving, even on a 90-95 degree day like we had last week, the temp stays between 180 and 185 when driving. When stopped at a light it went up to 190, the fan kicked on, and it dropped down to 185 again.

2. As anticipated, our home brew alignment is absolutely horrible. It tracks fairly straight, but is very twitchy. We have an alignment scheduled and will continue to take it easy and only on lower speed roads until then.

3. The rearview mirror we bought from Speedway is garbage. The swivel joints are not strong enough and every time we hit a bump, it ended up pointing to the floor. I tried to fix it but ended up shattering the glass. We bought a new one and hopefully that will work better.

4. The Gas-N touring pipes are fantastic. They are not too quiet, but not too loud, and when cruising do not drone either.

5. The leather low back seats are actually pretty comfortable.

6. The padded visors that I made looked ok, but did NOT work on the car. They ended up right in front of our eyes and I spent the whole time driving either stretching to look over them or slouching to look under them. The F5 ones are now on the car and are MUCH better.

NYMike

07-17-2022, 08:19 PM

Other than getting registered, since our last update we have been slowly chipping away at our remaining list of tasks for graduating the build.

First up was the steering wheel emblem. I liked the shape of the factory five center cap better than the one that came with the cobra emblem, but the cobra emblem was a bit bigger. I put the center cap on a lathe at work and opened up the recess so the cobra emblem would fit. Then I drilled a hole from the inside through to above the o-ring so air could escape during installation.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=168943&d=1656900704

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=168942&d=1656900704

Next up was the aluminum and carpet under the door sill. This was relatively uneventful.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=168946&d=1656900731

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=168944&d=1656900704

NYMike

07-17-2022, 08:22 PM

Next, we had an issue with the edge of our air cleaner rubbing on the hood scoop opening and on the cowl. Our machinist at work took care of that for us in his CNC mill by knocking down the raised rib on the perimeter of the air cleaner. He took it down quite a bit and put a big chamfer around the edge. He was nervous about ruining it, but it came out pretty good.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=169509&d=1658104351

We also did the door latch mod found here:http://www.linger.com/cobra/DoorLatchRepair.htm because that already broke...

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=169510&d=1658104351

We put our Metco driveshaft safety loop on which was super easy.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=169512&d=1658104366

Finally, we put on our heat shields and wind wings.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=169513&d=1658104366

The wrinkles on the spat are from our attempt at doing a temporary protection until we can get paint protection film applied. We got some .007" thick static cling sheets to try. It works, but it isn't really all that pliable so it wrinkled quite a bit.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=169514&d=1658104366

We still have a bunch of small details left before we can call it graduated, but it is really incredibly rewarding to be able to cruise it around now. I updated our time tracker and we are right around 385 hours of actual build time (not including forum surfing and other non garage time) to get to this point. Its really hard to believe how far we've come since last February.

460.465USMC

07-19-2022, 12:34 PM

Congrats, Mike! It's been fun watching you guys build your Roadster. Great timing as I imagine there are a lot of beautiful summer days ahead for you guys to enjoy driving it.

John Ibele

07-19-2022, 01:44 PM

Nice work, Mike, and congratulations. It looks fantastic. One question about the pipes, since my engine will probably be much like yours in sound / cam ... touring pipes or standard length? Thanks.

NYMike

07-19-2022, 09:16 PM

Congrats, Mike! It's been fun watching you guys build your Roadster. Great timing as I imagine there are a lot of beautiful summer days ahead for you guys to enjoy driving it.

Thanks Chris! Definitely have some good days ahead. Looking forward to when it cools off a little bit though. It’s been pretty hot here lately.

Nice work, Mike, and congratulations. It looks fantastic. One question about the pipes, since my engine will probably be much like yours in sound / cam ... touring pipes or standard length? Thanks.

Thanks John! I cant really say much about any other setup but I would absolutely recommend the touring pipes. It still sounds great and has a really nice tone but doesn’t blow your ears out. I’ll try to get a video to post. Fun fact…using an air pod in one ear I’ve actually been able to have a phone conversation with my wife while driving it. I could hear her and she had no problem hearing me. I was really surprised.

Blitzboy54

07-20-2022, 07:10 AM

Welcome aboard Mike! I took driving her very slow and had her back on jacks several times checking linkage and such. I now can't drive it enough. I have about 1000 miles and LOVE to put a little power down.

We kind of did this together. I look forward to getting to meet in person one of these days.

Great Job
Great Car
Good Luck

John Ibele

07-20-2022, 09:48 AM

Thanks John! I cant really say much about any other setup but I would absolutely recommend the touring pipes. It still sounds great and has a really nice tone but doesn’t blow your ears out. I’ll try to get a video to post. Fun fact…using an air pod in one ear I’ve actually been able to have a phone conversation with my wife while driving it. I could hear her and she had no problem hearing me. I was really surprised.

Some less fortunate builders would conclude their pipes are too quiet in that case, but I'm glad you aren't in the camp. My wife and I aren't either. I'm sold on the touring pipes.

NYMike

11-07-2022, 10:19 PM

Since our last update we've been chipping away at our "to do" list. I know the car will never be "finished", but we are working towards finishing up all of the non necessary things we had planned and/or started before we got registered. First up was installing the new rearview mirror we ordered from speedway. We ordered this one: https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Speedway-Ball-Milled-Billet-Aluminum-Interior-Rear-View-Mirror,50695.html.

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It was a little more expensive than the first one but much higher quality. We still had issues with it sagging when we hit bumps, but I was able to take it apart, Loctite all of the threads, and add extra washers inside to increase the friction on the two joints. So far so good.

Next, before we drove too far we installed our radiator guard. We had already ordered the Allstar 19"x26"x1/2" honeycomb screen from amazon while the car was at the body shop and painted it satin black. It took quite a while to get the entire thing coated, but it came out really nice. To install, all we had to do was cut one dimension to length with a ruler and box knife, then stuff it behind our front aluminum shell from Mike Everson. The core of the radiator is recessed below the side tanks, so the screen fits pretty well in between them. After I took the picture I ground down some of the screen with a dremel so the bulb seal around the aluminum shell would fit a little better.

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We also installed our door panels from Herb. They really complete the interior and are so reasonably priced for how nice they are.

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Under the hood, we installed our radiator cowl cover from Breeze and two hood bumpers in the center of the hood. Ron likes to use pieces of weather stripping around the hood which looks nice, but we were having issues with the curvature of the hood not quite matching the curvature of the body. This was causing the hood to rub slightly on the front of the body opening when lifting or lowering the hood. The two bumpers helped force the hood to conform to the body opening better, and over time has completely eliminated the rub.

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NYMike

11-07-2022, 10:34 PM

At the end of July we got an alignment from a local shop that does racing alignments. The guy who owns the shop does some data engineering work for some open wheel racing teams part time and does alignment work and classic car restorations at his place. He confirmed that our makeshift alignment was terrible and he corner weighted the suspension and got the alignment set up according to the manual. What a difference! The car feels incredible now.

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We put about 200 miles on it in August, and then we started having a few teething problems. The first thing we noticed is that we have a leak coming from the power steering rack. Unfortunately we only drove enough to notice it after the alignment which is frustrating because we are going to need to redo the toe alignment again after we change the rack. We are managing with the leak right now and will probably tackle the rack swap this winter. The second and biggest issue we had was slow to develop. It started out soon after we got it on the road as a slight stumble under load when we would step on it a little, and then after a few weeks, all of a sudden one day it progressed to the engine instantly quitting multiple times without warning. If we were on the highway and in gear, it would come back to life, but if we clutched in, it would completely shut off. I thought maybe it was out of gas, so I limped to a gas station but that didn't fix it so we had our first tow of shame. I limped it to the office which was nearby and Mrs. NYMike came with the truck. It ran long enough to get on the trailer and we took it home and parked it in the garage.

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Unfortunately, we were so busy at the time that it just sat in the garage for about a month and a half until we had some time to diagnose a few weeks ago. I had grabbed some logs from the Sniper when the car was cutting out and could see two things happening but couldn't tell which was the cause and which was the effect. The AFR was spiking indicating a lean condition and the engine RPM value was dropping to almost 0. My first thought was the ECU was losing the RPM signal from the coil and cutting fuel. I checked continuity everywhere and couldn't find any issues so I moved on to possibly a fuel delivery problem. I installed a fuel pressure gauge inline and it read fine, so my suspicion became the inertia switch. We wired it into the fuel pump ground in the trunk rather than the stock location because we ran the pump power directly from the Holley Sniper harness. It is only rated for 10 amps and it was warm to the touch after a short drive, so we moved it under the hood and grabbed the 12v switching signal to the Sniper fuel pump relay and wired a new inertia switch in there. A short drive revealed that did NOT fix the problem. I was able to make it home and the car stayed running after I stopped in the driveway, so I opened the hood and started shaking and yanking on wires. Sure enough I grabbed the signal wire from the coil (-) to the Sniper and it stumbled. Turns out my initial hunch was right. I noticed that the wire was laying right on top of one of the spark plug wires and the crimp connection on the ring terminal was a little loose. I replaced the ring terminal and rerouted the wire as far away from the plug wires as possible, and it completely solved the problem. I'm not sure if it was one, the other, or both, but the Sniper is known for being sensitive to electrical noise so I wouldn't be surprised if that played a little bit of a role in the issue. And for those of you keeping score at home...that is the second time we have had an issue with that ring terminal crimp at the coil. At first start we had the same issue.
:mad: Hopefully the third time is a charm since we used a much better crimper this time around that we had bought right after we did the engine bay wiring.

Finally, we fought the notorious Windsor thermostat housing leak. Ours started leaking after about 100 miles and I tried snugging up the bolts to no avail. I had read about the horror stories people had with cheap housings so we took the water neck off and I brought it into work to clean it up. I taped some 600 grit aluminum oxide sandpaper to a flat ground piece of steel and worked the water neck back and forth to flatten it out. It turned out there were a few burrs and nicks in the mating surface that definitely were big enough to cause a sealing issue. We put it back together loosely with a little bit of permatex thermostat housing sealer on both sides of the gasket, let it sit for an hour, tightened it up and let it sit for a full day before refilling. It seems to have done the trick, but we will see how it holds up over time.

We've put about 200 miles on since all of this and its been running pretty well. Chris, you asked for it so here it is. I took it out for a drive last weekend and was able to grab a good picture in a local parking lot.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=174642&d=1667878300

It really is so cool when the "I can't believe we built this" thought pops into our heads when we are driving.