Driving impressions

[nucjd19]

In honor of Steve ( GoDadGo) I wanted to give my initial impressions of my rig post legal with tags. When I initially drove the roadster in go cart mode it was very unnerving. Lots of bump steer and did not zero back to neutral when I let go. So before putting the body on for final gelcoat driving and getting legal I took Edwardb's advice as well as others and cut down the rear upper control arms, dialed in the distances for the front and rear upper control arms for increased caster. Then I took almost a whole day string aligning the car with toe in specs per Jeff Kleiner.

The driving experience is night and day different. Tracks dead straight with no bump steer. The steering wants to zero when relaxing from turning right or left. I am planning on an official alignment very soon. Question for you guys. Should I wait to get final alignment after paint and body in about a year or go ahead and do it now?

As for the driving itself. This rig is very different from most cars I have driven. It leans more towards my Porsche 997.2 Carrera than I thought it would.....or more of a mid engine feel. Add the wicked short wheel base and I can tell immediately I need a lot of auto cross work in this machine. It is tight and the corners come and go wickedly fast. Add in the power to weight ratio ( the 347 dyno'd at 415hp) and torque; and things could go side ways faster than my cerebellum and brainstem can react at this point.

The look of this rig in gelcoat is a testament to the initial design and Factory Five. I am getting so many compliments in gelcoat than I ever thought I would. You guys are definitely correct get used to discussing your car and build every time you stop LOL!

Just cruising through the ancient hollows of the Appalachian foot hills is so much fun (which was my initial game plan) and I put 100 miles on it today ( some of it with my wife :) ). letting the engine just low RPM cruise and letting the sun and shadows hit my face was what I dreamt of when I decided this is what I wanted to do all of those years ago. I am so stoked!.....That being said I had no idea how much I would enjoy building the roadster. When this is completely finished I might need to look at building something else......

Pictures for your time.....
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=154705&d=1634956174
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=154704&d=1634956174https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=153758&d=1632624590
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=154045&d=1633285630

[GoDadGo]

..........Congratulations & Thanks For The Kind Words!
....................This Is Truly A Great Day To See Your Post!

These Cars Are 100% Amazing Machines That Live Up To All The Hype!
.The Best Thing Is You Did It, With Your Own Hands & A Little Cursing!

[nucjd19]

Thank you Steve for everything. You and so many others have been so kind and helpful. This site was the impetus for me to pull the trigger and take on this project :) Next time you are in my neck of them woods stop by for a little Scotch :)

[hineas]

That sounds amazing!!! I can't wait until ours is finished and registered. We are so close. All we have left is mounting the hood, doors, trunk, windshield, lights, transmission tunnel cover, and roll bars. Then it is registration time!!!

[GoDadGo]

Thank you Steve for everything. You and so many others have been so kind and helpful. This site was the impetus for me to pull the trigger and take on this project :) Next time you are in my neck of them woods stop by for a little Scotch :)

A trip to Birmingham is most definitely in order.

[rich grsc]

There is no reason to wait on alignment, sooner the better. I did an initial alignment on my other car, tracked and handled good so I waited. At about 700 miles I noticed tire wear, so had it aligned, I was surprised at how far out it was and yet drove good.:confused::eek:. Get it done.:)

[CraigS]

You spent the time doing your alignment. I have faith that you did a very careful job. Call it good and forget about paying someone else to check it. Drive it for a couple of months and, if it really bothers you, do it again. The initial alignment, especially after you took the UCAs apart and reassembled them takes a ton of time as you found out. From now on though, checking and making any needed small adjustments, will be more like 1-2 hours.

[egchewy79]

Looking good! I did my own alignment and it seems to be holding up just fine. I'm using manual steering rack, so I have less caster, but seems to be pretty stable up to 75mph.
FWIW, I decided to trim the rear QJ sleeves a bit to get a more tucked-in look. It'll also save my shins in the future I'm guessing.

[TMartinLVNV]

Congrats in getting your Cobra legal and on the road. It was such a sense of accomplishment for me when I did so. This is your car put together by your hands. You know it inside and out. As others have said, get your alignment done now. I thought I had mine close by doing it in my garage. It seemed to drive fine, but was actually measured WAY off when a professional shop was able to put their lasers on it. I brought mine to an alignment specialist shop with the specs from the F5 manual. $125 (I have the solid rear axle) and it was done in less than and hour plus quite a bit of time talking to the employees there about the car.

I absolutely loved the build. The absorbing of information and planning was almost overwhelming. I'm very happy with my car, but wish I could do it again. I would not change many decisions. But, I know that I could do it neater and cleaner than before. I suppose that is called 'learning'.

Enjoy the miles that you will be putting on your car. For me, driving it is far more satisfying than car shows or looking at it in the garage.

[Fman]

Congratulations, nice looking build! FWIW I thought I had my alignment pretty dialed in with a string and after I had it professionally aligned the car was night and day. I also have IRS which makes alignment more complicated. I will also say if you can get out on the track or autocross it highly recommend it, you will really get a feel for the car unlike anything on public streets will allow you. I was quite amazed how well they will handle but I still say my prayer every time I turn the key:D

Enjoy the ride, they are really fun cars to get out on the road with.

[nucjd19]

Looking good! I did my own alignment and it seems to be holding up just fine. I'm using manual steering rack, so I have less caster, but seems to be pretty stable up to 75mph.
FWIW, I decided to trim the rear QJ sleeves a bit to get a more tucked-in look. It'll also save my shins in the future I'm guessing.

Definitely agree about cutting down the quickjacks. On my list of to dos that never end.

[nucjd19]

You spent the time doing your alignment. I have faith that you did a very careful job. Call it good and forget about paying someone else to check it. Drive it for a couple of months and, if it really bothers you, do it again. The initial alignment, especially after you took the UCAs apart and reassembled them takes a ton of time as you found out. From now on though, checking and making any needed small adjustments, will be more like 1-2 hours.
I appreciate your faith in my alignment nun chuck skills :) I just happen to have a buddy who is mechanic that lives right down the road from me that has laser alignment set up and has offered to dial it in for me so I am going to make a trip over to his shop. I would just feel better about knowing how important micro adjustments are with this .

[nucjd19]

Congratulations, nice looking build! FWIW I thought I had my alignment pretty dialed in with a string and after I had it professionally aligned the car was night and day. I also have IRS which makes alignment more complicated. I will also say if you can get out on the track or autocross it highly recommend it, you will really get a feel for the car unlike anything on public streets will allow you. I was quite amazed how well they will handle but I still say my prayer every time I turn the key:D

Enjoy the ride, they are really fun cars to get out on the road with.

Thanks Travis! Autocross is definitely in my future. Just driving at or under the speed limit I could tell that the rear end is just itching to come around and be the front end LOL! My 3 link I am sure is a much easier rig to align than the IRS but I agree going to get it over to my buddy who is a brilliant mechanic and has an alignment machine in his shop. He has done a ton of them and I trust his skill set. While there I plan on getting it corner balanced.

[nucjd19]

Congrats in getting your Cobra legal and on the road. It was such a sense of accomplishment for me when I did so. This is your car put together by your hands. You know it inside and out. As others have said, get your alignment done now. I thought I had mine close by doing it in my garage. It seemed to drive fine, but was actually measured WAY off when a professional shop was able to put their lasers on it. I brought mine to an alignment specialist shop with the specs from the F5 manual. $125 (I have the solid rear axle) and it was done in less than and hour plus quite a bit of time talking to the employees there about the car.

I absolutely loved the build. The absorbing of information and planning was almost overwhelming. I'm very happy with my car, but wish I could do it again. I would not change many decisions. But, I know that I could do it neater and cleaner than before. I suppose that is called 'learning'.

Enjoy the miles that you will be putting on your car. For me, driving it is far more satisfying than car shows or looking at it in the garage.

You are totally correct about the sense of accomplishment. Also I love how if there is an issue I have much more intimate knowledge on what went wring and how to fix it. I also agree about changing build decisions and proficiency. Once I was done with a subassembly I had learned how to do it and could knock it out much quicker. Once this economy and supply chain settles down in the next few years I am planning on another build.

[John Ibele]

Really nice looking build - and man, do you have some gorgeous country to go cruising through!

[nucjd19]

Really nice looking build - and man, do you have some gorgeous country to go cruising through!

Thanks John. I am lucky to live in an area where I can cycle 100 miles on Bike an a Saturday morning in October and then hop into my Roadster on Sunday and cruise around enjoying the foliage. The Appalachian foothills are truly beautiful.

[nucjd19]

So I headed over to my local mechanic who lives down the way from me and is an awesome mechanic with years of experience and a waiting list a mile long. Luckily he is a family friend. While I thought my string alignment was good I was off a bit. He dialed me in :) and as an added bonus we went over my build in detail to check for any build inadequacies that need to be addressed. I told him to hold nothing back and he would not hurt my feelings. I got a very good report other than my wiring of the lights which are temporary at this point with crimped connections with electrical tape and not weather pack connectors. I knew he would bust me on that LOL! He has wanted to build a roadster for years and had a ton of questions and took a bunch of pictures. He said he had zero time to do this but he was dying to see a FFR roadster and has been looking at them for years.
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=155937&d=1636600150
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=155939&d=1636600150
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=155938&d=1636600150

[nick7405]

Thanks for the write up. What were your specs that you used for alignment

[BradCraig]

So I headed over to my local mechanic who lives down the way from me and is an awesome mechanic with years of experience and a waiting list a mile long. Luckily he is a family friend. While I thought my string alignment was good I was off a bit. He dialed me in :) and as an added bonus we went over my build in detail to check for any build inadequacies that need to be addressed. I told him to hold nothing back and he would not hurt my feelings. I got a very good report other than my wiring of the lights which are temporary at this point with crimped connections with electrical tape and not weather pack connectors. I knew he would bust me on that LOL! He has wanted to build a roadster for years and had a ton of questions and took a bunch of pictures. He said he had zero time to do this but he was dying to see a FFR roadster and has been looking at them for years.
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=155937&d=1636600150
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=155939&d=1636600150
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=155938&d=1636600150

Hard to tell from the pics, but did he align with the suspension unloaded?

[GoDadGo]

So, the big question is:

How Does The Sucker Drive Now That It Has Been Zeroed Out & Properly Aligned?

PS:..You may want to do some auto-crossing while the car is still in gelcoat.
.......I'm too chicken to run over cones now that my car has been painted.

[nucjd19]

Hard to tell from the pics, but did he align with the suspension unloaded?

No. The wheels are sitting on stands that are level come up from the ground about 2 feet. they allow the front wheels to rotate so he could sweep right to left to get the caster and camber.

Edit, Oh I see why you asked. My mechanic was done when I took the picture and he was raising the roadster to inspect it for me and to remove the stands and equipment the tires were sitting on.

[nucjd19]

So, the big question is:

How Does The Sucker Drive Now That It Has Been Zeroed Out & Properly Aligned?

PS:..You may want to do some auto-crossing while the car is still in gelcoat.
.......I'm too chicken to run over cones now that my car has been painted.

She tracks dead straight and hunkers down hard in the corner as I used an autocross specs from a member here that tracked a lot with -2 camber and +6 caster and 1/8 total toe. I might have to back off the camber to not eat up the tires but dang it is wild how hard she squats into a corner set up like that. No bump steer and no twitchyness that I had prior. My mechanic said to bring it back in and we can adjust more if needed. I saw where edwardb used more caster and and backed off the camber.

[nucjd19]

So been putting the miles on it and it is settling more and more. I am also getting more used to the overall experience. It has been everything I had hoped for and the best part has been sharing the experience with my daughters who just love getting chauffeured around. I had quite a bit of the camber pulled out of it with increased caster to +8. That has done the trick. As I am getting more comfortable with it I notice that it really is planted in the corners. I need to get it on an empty parking lot and push it until it starts to break loose so I can figure out the seat of the pants feel of the car at the limits. As it stands I have a feeling it is going to hold and hold in a corner until decides it isn't and then things are probably going to go sideways extremely quickly and violently. So I need some solo closed track/ empty parking lot time to find the traction limits of the rig. But it really is so much fun to drive. I am so happy with the power, layout and handling. If I could do it again I still think the IRS would have been the better option for cruising but you live and learn :) Video for your time. As an aside the background song is a song my brother ( who wrote and sang it) and I recorded in an impromptu setting. He is a studio recording engineer and an amazing musician. I am an old session drummer in another life.


https://youtu.be/_16af8uCQa8

[GoDadGo]

Great Video!
Great Song!
Thanks For Sharing It With Us!
Hmmm, Closet Drummer You Say, Hummm!
We all had previous lives so never forget those skills that you learned during that time.

[nucjd19]

Great Video!
Great Song!
Thanks For Sharing It With Us!
Hmmm, Closet Drummer You Say, Hummm!
We all had previous lives so never forget those skills that you learned during that time.

Thank you Steve. Yea it has been something I have kept up over the years. My brother is a studio engineer and an amazing musician so he will send me projects and I will lay down the drum tracks and then send them back. I do it for free because I just really enjoy it. Here are some pictures of my studio. The first is the control room where all of the recording gear is...

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=162571&d=1644894708

This pic is looking through the window from the control room into the tracking room where my drums and mics are ....

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=162570&d=1644894708