Greetings from New Jersey!

[CB_83]

Hi all, I'm Chris and as the title indicates, I live in the Great Garden State, about 10 minutes east of Philadelphia PA.
I joined this forum because I've long been a fan of Factory Five Racing and dreamt of one day building my own car, specifically a Type 65 Coupe.

I'm not quite at that point financially to start as I've still got to finish refurbishing my house and a few other projects that gobble up time and money, but I figured it would be nice to learn as much as I can about what other people have done, things to watch out for, and just generally to meet some new like minded people. That way in a few years when I am in a position to pull the trigger, I'll hopefully be better prepared.

I've never built/assembled a car from scratch like this, but I have done some pretty extensive automotive modifications in the past. I'm originally a fabricator/welder/fitter by trade and training, but over the years have moved up the ladder to become plant manager at the fabrication company I work for. I design with CAD a lot of the custom products we build, and often still personally fabricate new/R&D units before they enter our main production line. So although I've never built a car like a Factory Five, I know that I have all the rough skills to make it happen. And what I don't know, hopefully people on here can help guide me through!

Just curious, are there any members here from the South Jersey/Philly area?
If so, what's your story and what do you drive? I'm definitely curious about any road-legal cars and how difficult it was to title and register in NJ as we're not always known to be the easiest state in that department.
My goal would be a road legal car, so if that was not possible in NJ I might have to reformulate my plans, lol...

Thanks in advance!
-Chris

[jts359]

Hi' I am from the Toms River area But last Sunday there were 4 FFR cars 3 roadsters and 1 Daytona attending Main line cars and coffee at the Simione Museum and I got the impression some of the others attend the other Main line events often, Maybe you could meet them at their events, I had my roadster there , My car is a MKII and I bought in V.A. last June and I had no problem getting it registered in NJ. There are a couple of posts here about new builds here in N.J. and getting them inspected and titled in N,J, Good luck , Ed

[CB_83]

Hi Ed, thanks for the info! Yeah I know car show / meet season is kinda wrapped up by now for the year, but I will keep an eye out for meets. Doesn't Simeone have one of the original Daytona Coupes?
Good to know you were able to get your MKII registered here in NJ. I've previously read that NJ lets you register a kit car as the year/make/model that it's supposed to represent, which would let us in NJ register with "QQ" tags and that eliminates inspection, though I know mileage and usage is restricted somewhat. I'll try yo hunt around for those posts you mentioned.

-Chris

[jts359]

Hi Yes they have one of the original coupes , Its pretty cool being being unrestored, In N.J. now almost any car built before 1996 does not have to be inspected , I put regular plates on mine for no particular reason , Ed

[Jkviper]

Hi Chris,

Here are a couple good links about NJ Home Built car process. NJ has no replica laws so the year of completion is the year of your vehicle. From an emissions standpoint it’s a little gray, but basically the date of the engine block determines what emissions requirements you have, but there are nuances. There is a document you can request from Trenton which describes most of the rules.

https://factory5roadster.wordpress.com/2011/11/04/11-4-11-nj-state-legal/

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?11736-New-Jersey-Builders-Inspection

[CB_83]

Jkviper - Thank you for those links, they were extremely helpful. So I guess for instance if a person wanted to use a brand new Coyote 5.0 then they'd need to comply to 2021 (or whatever year that block was) emissions. I wonder what the requirements would be if I bought a 302 small block that was all new but old design. Would it need to comply with emission for the year it was built or the year that layout was designed? I sent a message to Blue Print Engines to see what they had to say.
Again thanks for the info, I will check the NJ MVC page too.

[Rockman]

I am near Toms River and I am building a Mark 4 with a BPE 347. I am close to completion, in fact, the car is now in the paint shop. If you call NJ DOT Foreign Titles Unit in Trenton, 609 777 1412 you can request the packet for Reconstructed/Specially Constructed Vehicles. If provides the necessary instructions, addresses for the Specialty Sites for inspection (Asbury Park, Westfied, and Winslow), forms and applicable regulations, etc. As for emissions, it is my understanding that if the year of the engine block is 1995 or older, no emissions testing is required, not even on the initial construction inspection. However, the emissions controls that were on the engine when new, must be on the engine. Essentially, if the engine had catalytic converters when new, you must have catalytic converters installed. To comply with this requirement for my 1987 block engine, I bought catalytic converters and had them welded into the J-Pipes. NJ requires a defroster and windshield wipers, among other items. So if you order a kit, make sure you order those items. If you get a Blueprint (BPE) engine, BPE has engine blocks from many years and you can specify that you want a 1995 block or older when ordering the engine.

The second Sunday of each month (except in the winter) there is an informal breakfast that usually has several FFR cars and others. The last few months it has been at 9:00 AM at the Spinning Wheel Diner at 283 US-22 East Lebanon, New Jersey. Check the other forum - Regional Sections/ Northeast -- for reminders and posts.

When I have the car inspected, I will post a full explanation of the process.

[CB_83]

Rockman – Sounds like a really nice build you’ve got going on!

I believe your understanding of the engine block year of manufacture / emissions equipment requirements are correct. I guess the only way to be free of any emissions equipment and road-legal would be to build an engine with a block from the '60s before cats and smog pumps and all that were a thing, but those blocks are probably harder to come by? It's a shame because even a de-catted LS or Coyote would probably run cleaner and more efficiently than a classic small block, but I really appreciate all the info on the rules and regs. I can’t change the rules, so I’d rather just know what they are so I can build and plan accordingly instead of getting blindsided when I’m trying to put the thing on the road one day.

Also thanks for the info on the meets!
That diner is about 1hr 20min north of me by Round Valley where I’ve camped before. A little bit of a hike, but definitely within range once meet season starts up again.

I’ll definitely be looking forward to hearing about your inspection story, ;)