MK4 Retirement Project

[Real Time]

So here we are. Where many of you have been, and others still waiting. My car has arrived.
I spent a good portion of the summer digging out a slope for a shed foundation and building the shed. This cleared my garage of everything not needed for building an FFR roadster.
My garage got a makeover as well.
-insulation
-sheet rock
-epoxy floor
-light fixtures came in today
-Still in the finishing stages….lol

I ordered a complete kit.
-Pwdr. coat frame.
-Hydraulic clutch
-IRS
-Gen 3 Coyote (Mike Forte’)
-Pwr. steering
-Pwr brakes (Forte’)
-AC
-18” wheels
-GPS gauge set
-wiper kit

I never considered myself a car guy.
A project like this was never even on my radar.
My wife and I had been talking about a roadster for a number of years. As I was approaching retirement, with time being more of a luxury, the thought of building an FFR seemed to take over. My wife loved the idea.

I lurked around the forums for a bit and pulled the trigger.

I thank all who contribute to this forum. I’ve learned a ton from you guys already.
I’ve been a little apprehensive about doing a build thread because I fear I will be inconsistent.
I do see that many of you take some time off between posts so I should be okay…lol

I’m looking forward to this process.
So far I had a great road trip to Mike forte's to pick up the engine and getting the body off was cool too.
Most of all I was fortunate enough to get my mother in law's seal of approval.
I know I’ll have my share of challenges ahead but, feel confident that with my own perseverance and the help I find here I’ll get through it all.

Perhaps the time will come that I can be of help to some of you.180477180478180479180480180481180482180483

[John Ibele]

Welcome and congratulations! Nice work prepping your build area - it looks like you have a very comfortable space to work in. You are right, as many others can attest: perseverance, reading and taking the advice of the many experts on the forum, an ability to keep safety and reliability in mind, patience and time are all you need. Any minor items that you're not completely satisfied with are not mistakes ... they are called 'features unique to the build'.

Have fun digging in, and it will be fun seeing progress whenever you get around to updating your build thread.

[Al_C]

Isn't it great to see that truck coming down your street! Congratulations on starting your project. The main thing is to stick with it. The folks on the forum will get you through the tough spots, as you've concluded already. Good luck with it!

[Straversi]

Congratulations. It’s not a race so work and post at your own pace. You are going to have a blast and we’d love to follow along
-Steve

[cc2Arider]

You sure look like a Happy Camper unwrapping your engine! :)

Congrats to you and looking forward to your build progress updates...

Craig C

[Ray from Long Island]

I think the garage looks great!
I especially like the very well built, custom stained chassis dolly. Exceptional craftsmanship.
I believe the height is perfect as it will allow you to scoot around the car at the appropriate height on your HF dolly for brakes & suspension.
BTW, HF offering 25% off coupon, not only on roll-around seats....
Ray :)

[460.465USMC]

Welcome aboard! You sure did a nice job preparing a top-notch looking workspace in your garage. I also ordered my Gen3 Coyote from Forte (w/TKO600), though opted for freight transport given the cross-country trip. A couple years later (this past June) I was able to meet him and tour his shop. Lot of automotive history there.

I think you're in for a fantastic adventure. I'm pretty much addicted at this point. Thanks for starting a build thread. Looking forward to seeing your build progress.

[Real Time]

I think the garage looks great!
I especially like the very well built, custom stained chassis dolly. Exceptional craftsmanship.
I believe the height is perfect as it will allow you to scoot around the car at the appropriate height on your HF dolly for brakes & suspension.
BTW, HF offering 25% off coupon, not only on roll-around seats....
Ray :)

I have to agree the build quality of that chassis dolly is outstanding. Even Stewart's driver Thanked me for having such a sturdy means for us to get it up my driveway. I towed it up without a hitch.....ha ha. no pun intended. lol. BTW THANK YOU AGAIN!! for donating it to my project!!!

[Real Time]

I’m probably overthinking this, but being it’s my first hole to drill. I’d like to start off on the right foot. The passenger side “F” panel is great from the factory, but the drivers side raises my eyebrow. The front/top of the “F” is flush with the weld where the 1” tubing makes it’s downturn. This leaves little to grab for a rivet on that down tube as well as a much larger gap than the passenger side near the control arm attachment.
I did some searching and (not surprisingly) I see this has been discussed before. I wasn’t totally satisfied with my findings but after being away from it for a bit, found a happy medium that I felt I could live with.

Moving along to the foot boxes, I took dozens of pics and marked “over” or “under” all over them. I removed them all, drilled holes and replaced with Clecos. I probably spent way more time than necessary but was also surprised at how off things could be.
One issue was with the “A” shaped panel over the front of the tranny tunnel. The inside foot box panel did not sit flush with it. I did some searches and found some similar issues. My solution was to make a brake with my bench vise, and take some of the bend out of it. Although I would approach some of this a little differently if I ever did It again, I’m pretty happy with how it all turned out.

-sorry about the order of the pics. hopefully I'll get better at that in the future.

[John Ibele]

Yep, some panels need some tweaking, and it's usually the first panel or two that causes this issue to come up with a first time builder. Matt in MN just posted on this topic here: F-panel not lining up (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?45448-Manufacturing-tolerances-F-Panel-not-lining-up&p=519353&viewfull=1#post519353)

After awhile you'll get calibrated to what needs tweaking and when something's simply wrong. Very few of my panels needed to be moved much from the locations given by the shipping screws, but some in the cockpit did. I did the same thing you did with recording panel order ... after a bit of working with them, you find it's not a huge deal if you don't have all the documentation in order and it will become clear what overlaps what.

For small adjustments in bend angles on aluminum I'd highly recommend getting a 6" hand seamer.

[Real Time]

Yep, some panels need some tweaking, and it's usually the first panel or two that causes this issue to come up with a first time builder. Matt in MN just posted on this topic here: F-panel not lining up (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?45448-Manufacturing-tolerances-F-Panel-not-lining-up&p=519353&viewfull=1#post519353)

After awhile you'll get calibrated to what needs tweaking and when something's simply wrong. Very few of my panels needed to be moved much from the locations given by the shipping screws, but some in the cockpit did. I did the same thing you did with recording panel order ... after a bit of working with them, you find it's not a huge deal if you don't have all the documentation in order and it will become clear what overlaps what.

For small adjustments in bend angles on aluminum I'd highly recommend getting a 6" hand seamer.

Thanks for the comments John,
By the way, I love your avitar. If I remember correctly I read that you drew it as a kid and didn't yet know what a cobra was. I think that's great!

[John Ibele]

Thanks for the comments John,
By the way, I love your avitar. If I remember correctly I read that you drew it as a kid and didn't yet know what a cobra was. I think that's great!

Pretty much right! I didn't know what a cobra was, but I knew the sound of my brother's TR4, and had already fallen in love with the shape of the Austin Healey 3000.

[Real Time]

I removed everything once again and took pics of all the pieces to be sent out for powder coat.
My biggest struggle so far was deciding on the powder coat color. lol.

[Fman]

Subscribed, looking forward to watching your build come together. I am jealous there is nothing better than playing some tunes in your shop building your car, I sure miss it. Have fun and enjoy the journey...

[Real Time]

like the IRS spindles, the differential had a few holes to be opened up to 5/8”. A drop of cutting oil and a light steady hand made this go rather easily.

[Real Time]

I guess I’ve seen enough posts on the subject because I really had no hesitation in lopping the ears off the spindles. I started the cuts with a hack saw. When I had a groove going, I switched over and finished the job with the trusty sawzall. l cleaned up the rough edges with a file and wire wheel.
I gave the black part of the differential two coats of clear Rust-Oleum. The aluminum cover and spindles got two coats of Aluma Blast.

[Real Time]

The lugs were removed with a few good whacks while the hub was firmly fixed in the bench vice. I don’t think there was any concern of warping the hub.
A friend of mine donated his impact gun. I ordered the ABN wheel stud installer and this part of the project could not have gone any smoother.

[Real Time]

I used my motorcycle jack to raise the center section into place. I put the jack on two small dolly’s with blocks for added height. This enabled me to maneuver things quite easily. I used a couple of tampered pins to help line up the holes.
Moving along to the suspension, one of the upper control arms was not playing nice with the adjuster bung. I emailed FF and they have a replacements on the way.
I installed the control arms and spindle on one side than decided to wait for the other control arm for the other side before I went any further with the rear.

[cc2Arider]

Making good progress! I like the direct simplicity of your photos :)

Craig C

[jimfil61B]

I'm new to this forum and saw your post, I started my roadster in 2012 and finished in 2019, I retired the year previously to finishing the car so I guess it could be considered my retirement project, I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed building this car, what helped me through the build when I had any issues was reading posts on this site and also getting the book how to build Cobra kit cars by Brian Smith, I got his email address and started corresponding with him and he helped me with a few issues, his first word of advice was to replace the factory five clutch system with a hydraulic clutch which I've noticed you ordered with your kit, best thing I could've added to the car, barely any pressure applied to the clutch when I'm going through the gears, anyways good luck with your build and I hope to see your finished product in the near future.

[Real Time]

I will have power steering and have seen several different approaches to a rough allignment set up. I went with A pic/diagram I found from Jeff Kleiner.

I took some measurements and sure enough (like many others) I ended up cutting the barrels and studs.

It appears the 1” tubing that supports the lower portion of the “F” panels was welded too far outward and interferes with the mounting bar for the control arms.
Jeff Kleiner’s solution was a washer as a spacer on between the arm and the frame. I found some past threads where FF said the same. This is what I did….. at first….lol

I realized I still had to remove some of the “F” panel material and during this process revisited my original thought which was to make a small grove in the outermost edge of the NUT. I don’t think I affected It’s integrity by any means.182214182215182323

[Real Time]

I picked up some 7/16 rod and couplings to do Jeff Kliener’s rear support mod.

I assembled the coil overs. I was thrown for a moment when they talked about 400# then 500# because all the shocks were the same. Then I realized they were referring to the springs that were clearly marked…lol
I didn’t like the burrs on the sleeves so I hit the insides with a round file and out sides on the bench grinder.

I did the front with intentions to leave the rears for now.
FF still hadn’t sent my replacement rear upper control arm so I’ve been putting the rear stuff on the back burner.
I determined I could install the UCA after the fact so went ahead and installed them all.182405182406182407182408

[Real Time]

I’ve read about guys getting energy suspension dust covers for the upper ball joints. I ordered them, but they did not seem to fit well at all. So I stuck with the ones supplied with the kit.
The castle nut left a bit to be desired regarding the cotter pin. I had some washers that were a tad small so I used a step bit to open them up. This brought the hole for the cotter pin right into place.

182409182410182411

[Real Time]

I have the power boost system from Mike forte.
It was a bit of a task laying out where to drill the holes for the unit.
I created a paper template utilizing the pedal mount bracket and by taking some measurements.
Not perfect. I ended up having to shave about 1/16” on one side of the large hole, and maybe 1/64 of the smaller with the trusty dremel.
I now need to address a bit of a clearance issue between the brake unit and the steering shaft bearing.182416182417182418