Angelina: Build Story of my 4-wheeled Motorcycle

[cc2Arider]

Today is the day! My MkIV Roadster will be delivered by Eric from Stewart Transport. I've asked my neighbor to help move the boxes and take some pictures -- He's also named Eric, so I shouldn't forget their names in all the excitement:p

I've been working hard to get my garage ready, but I didn't quite make my deadline...

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It's going to be an interesting game of Tetris to finish the garage and start working on Angelina :rolleyes:

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Eric from Stewart Transport gave me a heads up while he was about an hour away and drove up my street right on time! Super cool guy :cool:



While figuring out how to back his trailer a little closer to my house, we caught the attention of my other friendly neighbor, Doug, who also helped me check the boxes as they were being unloaded -- this was just like the stories you hear from other builders...the neighbors are really attracted to this big, colorful truck and what's inside ;)

We got the unloading done in less than 30 minutes and spent another 45 minutes or so just chatting with Eric -- good times!

Delivered!

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I'll go have a cool beverage and start on the inventory next...

Craig C

[460.465USMC]

Congrats, Craig. What a big day to celebrate. Looks like you've done some great work prepping your garage/workspace. The lighting in the photo looks great. Can't have too much light IMHO. Enjoy the inventory.

[zarnold]

Congrats!

[cc2Arider]

Thanks guys -- I truly feel I've finally joined this brotherhood :)

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

The inventory took a little longer than I had planned, but my approach was to be extra critical/observant of any possible mistakes or omissions while I'm motivated to get my hands on every single part :p

It was actually interesting to see & handle each part that I've only seen in pictures up until now. One surprise was the tediousness of the fastener inventory -- geesh...another was how much a puzzle challenge it was to figure out which carpet pieces went where (since they are not individually labelled)...

In the end, I've got some missing parts, but all-in-all, not bad for a kit with this many individual packaged items. ;)

As was previously recommended, I marked the inventory sheets and then fastened to each corresponding box. For now, I just laid them out in numerical order.

Next, removing trunk lid, hood, and doors!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

I next removed the trunk lid, hood, and doors and wrapped them in moving blankets and stored them in my living room :p

I noticed a different drilled hole pattern between left and right sides where the hinge brackets mount to the front of the hood. See below for left side(driver's side):

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The right side (passenger's side) only had 3 holes. Is this correct?

Craig C

[vschmidt]

Hi Craig,
Congratuations ! Looking forward to following the progress!
-Vaughan

[vschmidt]

Just checked my hood - PS has 3 holes and DS has 4. I'm assuming that's correct but a long way from mounting the hood

[cc2Arider]

Thanks Vaughan! I'm far from getting to that point in the build, too. I was feeling extra OCD and thought to ask sooner rather than later!

If it's wrong, we're both in the same boat :)

Craig C

[460.465USMC]

FYI: the hood strut brackets and hood that came with my complete kit (Sept 2020) have three holes. Not sure if something has changed since then?

[cc2Arider]

Hi Chris,

Thanks for the feedback!

I probably should've been more clear in my statement earlier -- the strut bracket and mounting pad(boss?) for it on the hood has 3 holes. What seemed odd was the mounting pad for the hood hinges nearer to the front of the hood. As Vaughan confirmed, the Driver's side and Passenger's side were different. Not sure if this was a new process, or the body prep guy is getting lazy;)

Craig C

PS: The missing hole doesn't bother me since I can locate it well using the 3 other holes, but I get my spidey-sense triggered when something appears out-of-place:D

[cc2Arider]

I got an e-mail today from FFR to confirm shipment of the missing items in my inventory -- awesome Customer Service. What was a really nice surprise was coming home from work and seeing the nice big Wilwood box (front brakes) waiting for me on my front porch :cool:

So, it looks like my missing parts/pieces are just : Aston LeMans fuel filler cap assembly, driveshaft adapter, headlight bucket assemblies, and right chrome roll bar assembly...

I'm also hoping to get my Forte' delivery soon, too:cool:

Craig C

[460.465USMC]

Hi Chris,

Thanks for the feedback!

I probably should've been more clear in my statement earlier -- the strut bracket and mounting pad(boss?) for it on the hood has 3 holes. What seemed odd was the mounting pad for the hood hinges nearer to the front of the hood. As Vaughan confirmed, the Driver's side and Passenger's side were different. Not sure if this was a new process, or the body prep guy is getting lazy;)

Craig C

PS: The missing hole doesn't bother me since I can locate it well using the 3 other holes, but I get my spidey-sense triggered when something appears out-of-place:D

Whoops! Sorry about that. I probably read it too fast. My hood had four holes drilled on both sides. However, the holes didn't line up with the hinge brackets, so I had to adjust the holes in the hood to match.

[cc2Arider]

Hi Chris,

No worries :)

Did you end up enlarging them...and then use rivnuts? Or were the adjusted holes still small diameter enough to use rivets?

Craig C

[460.465USMC]

Craig, I didn't need to open them too much such that a 3/16" rivet wouldn't hold. I used some stainless 3/16" left over from one of my Breeze (forward battery box) mods. Boy, are those hard to pull by hand. Oof!

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'all,

I haven't had too much to report on my build since I'm still trying to finish my garage :rolleyes:, but I have been busy ordering some of the recommended parts (Thanks to EdwardB, FMan, and others!)...

And here is the video of my dyno run from Mike Forte' at Forte's Parts Connection :cool: Enjoy...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RcOiGJRXLo

I'm hoping it gets shipped out this week!

Craig C

[vschmidt]

527 HP. Nice! :cool:

[cc2Arider]

A couple of weeks ago, I faced the dilemma of getting my powertrain from the shipping company at their terminal. I chose to bring my own trailer and then figure out how to unload it in my garage...

Picking up my powertrain:
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Got it home...so far, so good:
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In the garage (and disassembled my trailer box to get access):
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Had to take one trailer wheel off and lower it to get enough angle and lift from my engine hoist (note the ratchet straps):
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On 4 1000lb moving dollies, but otherwise, the engine crate (and the beast within) are still intact:
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:cool:

Craig C

[460.465USMC]

No one was hurt, and the beast is no worse for wear. I call that success! There's just something good about getting the motor in the garage. Congrats, Craig!

[cc2Arider]

I picked up a 20 ton shop press from HF yesterday:
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Assembled:
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Here's why I wanted to use this now. Old OEM IRS studs out:
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FFR-supplied studs in:
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I wanted to attach a short couple of videos to show you how easy it was with the right(ish) tools. I made-do with using long-reach sockets as spacers, but otherwise this was pretty easy to do. I obsessed over supporting the hub properly...minimizing stress on the hub, making sure everything was square and true, etc. I needn't have worried...just used judgement and proceeded carefully :)

If you have been considering a shop press, I'd encourage you to get it if you have the room in your garage and plan to use it for other needs. I'll be able to use mine for installing motorcycle wheel bearings since it is wide enough, and I'm pretty sure I can get transmission shafts in it to change those bearings, too :cool:

Craig C

[danmas]

I have the exact same press and did the exact same thing. Having the right tools is awesome. It makes the build go so much easier.

Dan

[cc2Arider]

It's been a while since I've done anything meaningful on my build, and I'm happy to finally start on it!

A combination of me still finishing my garage and warm/humid weather made this simple project enjoyable in the house...

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Bolted to 155lb-in with red loctite. I'm expecting to get my 0.032" safety wire tomorrow, so that will be done later this week...

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Another quickie inside-the-house project was to assemble my coil-overs:

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Recommended zip-ties...

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Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Whew! The moment I've been getting ready for...finally separating the body from the frame. My garage finishing project took longer than I planned, but now I can begin my build in earnest! :D

My first drill press project wasn't to drill into metal like I thought, but to cut holes into wood. I made this simple cockpit support like I learned about in the build class:

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Next, it was getting ready to lift the body "solo" ... like our more distinguished Members do ;) Note the PVC pipe to spread the sides (Thanks Jeff!)

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Lift-off!

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Next, putting the body on the buck. Note the foam support that I had previously saved. This was another tip I got from the forum :)

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The dreaded moment: will those ceiling lag bolts hold the combined weight of the body and buck? Yup!

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Lastly, it has a temporary home. I'm happy that my shop lighting layout that I planned last December allows enough lighting to still get through to my work areas :)

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Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Another part of the build that caused me some anxiety was drilling out the IRS front mounting boss with a 5/8" twist drill bit. I'd heard others warn about going slow or the drill will twist right out of your hand :eek:

I ended up going another route: I used a hand reamer. I know...it sounds funny, but it is the proper tool to use. This one is adjustable...

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Here it is "in use"

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The finished hole

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and the cool little shavings that resulted

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It only took about 20 minutes, and that was because I went slow and deliberate (never used one before). I just used it like a tap, but didn't rotate backwards. I heard from someone a while back that you don't want to "go against the cutting grain" with an edged cutter, otherwise it prematurely dulls the cutting edge. Taps are different as Mike Bray pointed out. You only do that with some taps to break off the long shavings.

Craig C

[F500guy]

Good call on the reamer...

[Ted G]

Another quickie inside-the-house project was to assemble my coil-overs:

188008

Recommended zip-ties...

188009

Craig C

Hey Craig, just curious when you put your coil overs together, did you check the setting on each shock? I had three set at the #1 setting and one at #2 setting. I changed them all to the #2 setting. Many don't know that the Red Koni's are actually adjustable.

Ted

[cc2Arider]

Thanks for the tip, Ted :)

I didn't...but now I know I should --> Thanks!

Craig C

[460.465USMC]

Congrats on getting the body suspended, Craig. You're off and running now!

Great idea on the hand reamer. I went the drill route on mine, and it wasn't the greatest process as the bit would really grab. Mind sharing info. on the reamer you purchased? You know, just in case I ever have another F5 IRS to assemble. :p That's a tool I'd like to add to my arsenal, and I can see other uses for it as well. Thanks in advance.

[cc2Arider]

Hey Craig, just curious when you put your coil overs together, did you check the setting on each shock? I had three set at the #1 setting and one at #2 setting. I changed them all to the #2 setting. Many don't know that the Red Koni's are actually adjustable.

Ted

Hi Ted,

Per your recommendation, I went back to double-check the damper settings. I actually don't remember what the initial settings were because
I kept confirming the clicks counter clockwise and clock-wise (over and over) :D

I do believe that "one was not the same as the others" :eek:

I heard from others on this forum that it is a stiff ride, so I set mine to least damping for now...

Thanks again for the tip! For those who don't already have the link:https://www.koni-na.com/en-US/NorthAmerica/Technology/Adjustment-Guides/mono/

and the black plastic end-piece needs to be carefully pried out using a flat-blade screwdriver, then you can access the "button" :)

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Congrats on getting the body suspended, Craig. You're off and running now!

Great idea on the hand reamer. I went the drill route on mine, and it wasn't the greatest process as the bit would really grab. Mind sharing info. on the reamer you purchased? You know, just in case I ever have another F5 IRS to assemble. :p That's a tool I'd like to add to my arsenal, and I can see other uses for it as well. Thanks in advance.

Hi Chris,

I tried to take a good picture of the product label, but it is a RAANB 15.25mm to 17mm hand-reamer. I got mine on "gasp" Amazon...there might be more appropriate shopping sites to use, but they had several for sale by different manufacturers....

In hindsight, I think for my next project I'll also get the next size smaller because my hand-drill technique for the IRS spindles was less than precise :rolleyes:

What I liked about the hand-reamer technique was that the tool itself aligns in the workpiece ... thumbs up!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

After my success reaming out the Rear differential mounting ear holes, I got a little cocky for the IRS spindle drilling and just used a twist drill bit like explained in the manual. I used a bench vise, a portable electric drill and a 5/8" twist bit. In hindsight, it turned out OK, but next time would rather use two sets of hand-reamers for a precise job. My drilling was not precisely aligned along the original hole axis :rolleyes:

I think the conical mating surface aligns the upper heim-joint bolt spacer just fine, though...here's a picture

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Next, I tackled the job of cutting off the "ears". Reference page 83 of the manual. Here are my tools:

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I have a sawz-all, but after seeing how imprecise my hand tool technique is, I decided to go the "slow and careful" route with just a hack-saw...the cuts were pretty straight, but you can see here after straightening the surface with a body file, how much it needed to be flattened:

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After filing straight, I knocked down the edges with a set of jeweler's files, then used a simple sanding foam pad to finish out

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Craig C

[cc2Arider]

I had previously loctited the Wilwood hats to the rotors and needed to safety wire them for a complete job...

My 1st effort was "OK", but learned that applying a right-hand twist on the "pig-tail-end" wasn't correct. Instead, I should have twisted left-hand.:eek:

Practice makes perfect (or at least better :rolleyes:), and here is my latest result:

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For those anticipating this task: The reason it gets airplay is because there isn't enough room between the bolt head and the rotor to wrangle the wire thru without mangling it. Ideally, you would use round-tong-needle-nose pliers (made for rolling or twisting, so as to not create hard corners). Also, if you torque with a torque wrench, the available safety wire holes do not align the same every time, so you have to account for varying angles and lengths.

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'all,

I spent time working on suspension arm details this weekend. First up, shortening the upper control arm rods and adjusters. I used my bench grinder with a disc sanding attachment and a miter to get the edges square, then wiped the cleaned surfaces with Shark-hide just because...

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I made sure to dip into water at about a 50%duty cycle to keep the temperatures down.

Next up, I painted a chip in a lower front control arm. I didn't try to hide it by sanding smooth because I want to see how it adheres over time. Instead, I scuffed only. We'll see...:rolleyes:

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Next up, I learned from others on the Forum about the tight fit of the front upper ball joints, so I got a wire wheel for my bench grinder and it worked really well :)

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Later, I used the same satin black rattle-can to touch up the visible surfaces...

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Next up was pre-assembling the rear suspension arms. Upper:

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Toe link:

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Then, I remembered a tip from the Build Class: The suspension poly-urethane bushings have grooves inside to let the grease flow along the internal spacer, but none along the face. You can see these already shaped into the front upper control arm bushings. It was suggested to simply cut grooves using a hacksaw, but I didn't get satisfactory results with that method. Instead, I got an excuse to buy more tools at Harbor Freight ;), a Hot Knife...

Here is my setup since I was planning to do all of them if successful on the 1st one:

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Spacer in the vice, setting the bushing at just enough height to create a groove, using the spacer as a depth stopper. The plan was to follow the existing grooves out to the face surface. Raw result:

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The best part is that I just had to scrape the melted material with my fingernail. No other finishing was necessary :)

Assembled onto control arm :cool:

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I don't think removing this small amount will change any thrust compliance characteristic. I mainly did this for longer-term maintenance concerns, and I felt good about this little detail. Time will tell if it was effective...Comments welcome :D

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

I finally got around to removing all the aluminum panels. Nothing new here, but I did want to share some observations for the new builders:
1) I had to "bow up" the upper trunk floor panel to get it past the various tabs and fixtures on the frame, but in order to do that, I needed to remove the trunk hinges
2) In order to remove the Passenger cockpit floor panel, I had to wedge or pry the handbrake opening past the handbrake frame, then I could lift the panel up from the tunnel area, then I needed to rotate clockwise as I was lifting it out to clear all parts of the frame
3) the Driver's side cockpit floor panel was similar, but I needed to rotate counter-clockwise as I was lifting it out.

I've been dragging my feet to get the F-panels installed since I'm still pricing powder-coating and I'd also like to get some black painted rivets :p

So, in the mean-time, I mocked up the front suspension

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Craig C

[cc2Arider]

As others have posted, I had to get clever with the tools on hand to install my IRS rear end by myself. Here's the setup:

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I made sure to add an old towel on the frame to avoid scratches, and I also used some spare leather gloves on the mounting "ears"

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Installed:

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Onto the suspension arms. Others have observed the lower control arm tabs are not precisely aligned (spaced) for the arms themselves. Here was my remedy:

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I torqued the arms down to spec and everything seemed to line up and move without undue drag...so far, so good! The rear end unit itself I believed needed a thin shim on the passenger side front "ear", so I shimmed it with this
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All the arms are now greased and torqued to spec, and next I'll be adding the rear axles, hub/spindle...

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

I assembled my newly clear-coated IRS hubs onto the prepped spindles today, and wondered how I was going to properly torque the bolts to the recommended 98lb-ft:confused:

I didn't want to mangle the aluminum in my bench vise jaws, but knew it had to be snugged down tight...then I thought to use the brake caliper mounting holes with bolts clamped in the vise instead...

What I ended up doing was to simply pre-fit the assembly onto the already installed suspension arms. I used simple Hardware store extra non-locking nuts and washers and just snugged everything down by hand. Then I had the spindles properly restrained to use the torque wrench. Worked great! Finished result: properly torqued hub/spindle assembly with witness marks...

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Next...putting in the clear-coated axle shafts and final assembly of the hubs/spindles...

[cc2Arider]

I installed my R-side CV axle today...

I used some chassis grease on the machined seal surfaces, splines, and retainers, and carefully slid in to avoid any seal damage. As noted from the Assembly Manual, I had to slightly tap the axle in with a deadblow hammer to properly seat it. Gap looks good:
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Here's how I supported it while working alone...
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Next up was the spindle installation. Again, I used a little chassis grease on the splines.
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Lastly, I installed the coil-over.
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I have some questions, but I'll ask those on the other forum...

Craig C

[460.465USMC]

Congrats on getting the IRS diff installed. It's a heavy bugger, and not easy to install solo IMHO. Nice work.

[cc2Arider]

Thanks Chris!

I have to come clean about my progress...I've been taking my sweet time on the Aluminum panels for a variety of reasons...mostly because I don't want to get ahead in my build only to find that my rivet location gets in the way of something much later in my build :rolleyes: I dread the out-of-place rivet, or an extra hole...It seems that the most straightforward jobs require the most diligence. I noticed this for the panels that already had "Tech Screw" holes. For example, I wanted to space the rivets in my F-panels (jeesh) so that when I rivet the brake line brackets, they don't look like an afterthought
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It was an easy decision to instead install the IRS, fit the suspension arms, try to find the "just right" shim thickness instead of off-the-shelf washers, etc. ;)

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

I installed my front lower suspension arms today. The installation itself wasn't any big deal, but I did manage to shim the gaps to my liking ;)
left 189480 right 189481

The lesson being: Yes, reach out for help and guidance, but do your build your way -- ultimately, you have to feel good about your product!

Since I was feeling good, I decided to install the power steering rack. I was mindful of the lessons learned from other builders, so I made sure the mounting tabs could accept the bushing and spacer width by gently spreading the mounts apart with a simple all-thread spreader...then I taped up the frame where I thought I might scratch it -- good planning! It went in easily, but still had to tilt everything just right...:D
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Craig C

[cc2Arider]

I couldn't help myself ... I just had to install my rear Wilwood rotors, 'cause they just look cool :cool:
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They're also much bigger looking in person after seeing so many previous build threads...

Craig C

next update: installing the rear brake calipers...

[cc2Arider]

Here's the rear Wilwood calipers installed:

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As others have done, I wanted to share my shim settings -- I only needed one set of shims radially, and I used no shims for axial adjustments.

Other observation: the e-brake caliper pads are very snug on the rotors. I suspect this won't be an issue once the rotor coating is burnished off from the overall pad / rotor bedding procedure (with instructions from Wilwood in every box!). :rolleyes:

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'all,

I decided to do other small jobs this weekend, since it's going to be hot again...I started with the pedal switch prep: holes marked, punched, and initial pilot
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Drilled 189638 switch brackets mounted...ooops 189639

This is why I prefer to mock-up the parts into assemblies: there wasn't enough length on the switches to actuate at the preferred pedal position...plus the Build Manual had a picture :D

Correctly mounted 189640 with switches installed 189641

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'all,

More small jobs this weekend...Wilwood Pedal Box and steering shaft mockup...here's the dimples drilled into the lower and mid shafts

189642 so far so good...following the instructions, then I came across the issue I think everyone encounters -- lower shaft is too long and protrudes into the lower u-joint:
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Is the remedy to simply install the spherical bearing flange on the inside of the footbox frame reinforcement ? Here is my installation, per the Build Manual 189644

Feedback appreciated!
Craig C

[cc2Arider]

I suppose the other option is to trim the end of the lower steering shaft to fit...

Anyway, I couldn't help myself to put on the steering wheel so I could sit in the chassis and make vroom-vroom noises :D

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Happy Building!
Craig C

[danmas]

Hey Y'all,

I decided to do other small jobs this weekend, since it's going to be hot again...I started with the pedal switch prep: holes marked, punched, and initial pilot
189637

Drilled 189638 switch brackets mounted...ooops 189639

This is why I prefer to mock-up the parts into assemblies: there wasn't enough length on the switches to actuate at the preferred pedal position...plus the Build Manual had a picture :D

Correctly mounted 189640 with switches installed 189641

Happy Building!

Craig C

Thanks for this. For those that are following along, I decided to do mine tonight as well. If you use the switch brackets to make the hole, be aware that they fit differently on the other side. So, I used my first one as a template and snugged it up nice and tight. Drilled my hole and put it on the other side. It was 1/8th of an inch off (maybe a 1/16th). Regardless, it didnt fit. I ended up grinding the end until the holes lined up and I could snug it up. On the second one, I was not so militant about pushing it all the way to the back and it fit first time through. Anyway, not to hijack your post!~ Thanks for posting, it encouraged me to stop mucking with the DS footbox and actually make some progress!

Dan

[cc2Arider]

Hi Dan,

Thanks for the feedback! I, too, smoothed the tabs a bit with my belt sander. I didn't notice the fitment issues as much because I wanted to smooth those sharp edges on the laser cut parts (noticing that the cast Al parts had a nice radius)...

Craig C

[Railroad]

Do not put the steering wheel hub on too tightly. You will need to take it off and it can get stuck without much effort.

[460.465USMC]

Is the remedy to simply install the spherical bearing flange on the inside of the footbox frame reinforcement ?

Feedback appreciated!
Craig C

Hi Craig. Sounds like you're enjoying this part of the build--I did as well, one of my favorite parts. If you can't get the needed clearance with the bearing on the outside of the FB, I wouldn't hesitate to put it on the inside. You'll likely need to grind the top portion of the flange bearing to provide clearance for the lower right mounting hole of the pedal box rear bracket. I would hesitate, however, before cutting the steering shaft. That should not be needed.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=140122&d=1609461894

[cc2Arider]

Do not put the steering wheel hub on too tightly. You will need to take it off and it can get stuck without much effort.


Thanks Railroad! Yes, it is barely on there at the moment...just barely contacting the flats machined into the shaft. I need to keep that hub pristine so I can send off to TJ for some turn signal treatment :)

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hi Craig. Sounds like you're enjoying this part of the build--I did as well, one of my favorite parts. If you can't get the needed clearance with the bearing on the outside of the FB, I wouldn't hesitate to put it on the inside. You'll likely need to grind the top portion of the flange bearing to provide clearance for the lower right mounting hole of the pedal box rear bracket. I would hesitate, however, before cutting the steering shaft. That should not be needed.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=140122&d=1609461894

Thanks Chris! You saved me the hassle of digging thru lots of build threads :) Not that I mind that too much (kinda neat seeing how others approached their builds), but rather tedious to find the exact thread that I'm searching for...

Appreciate the feedback!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Recommendations enacted:
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Margins achieved:
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Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

For those who have already learned this -- apologies. For those interested in my observations of the heater/defroster installation issues -- read on!

General observation: The heater/defroster unit is pretty simple...after all it seems to be designed for the "Hot Rodder", and we're just adapting this to our Roadsters. Fair enough...it serves its purpose and nothing more. It is because we're adapting it to our builds that reveals the 1st issue --> The unit must be disassembled to "clam-shell" install it on the firewall. It has to sandwich the firewall panel between the core/plenum part, and the motor housing part.

Here is the problem: There is one screw that can't be accessed well to disassemble the unit properly. I had to unscrew both halves of the motor housing to get the motor/fan assembly out-of-the-way, then I had to drill/dremel a couple of access holes in the bottom motor housing to remove it from the core/plenum housing. Here's a picture of my efforts...
189757 Here's an axial view 189758

With the access needed to extract that last screw, the two main housing parts can be separated...then you can install the unit onto your firewall (already cut per the template instructions...which brings me to another observation --> you can print the template from the instructions, but select "real size" and it will print "to-scale" (or very close to it :) )

Installation onto firewall:

1) temporarily hold or affix core/plenum unit in the space normally reserved for the glove box
2) you will then need to affix the lower motor housing, through the firewall screw holes, to the core/plenum unit 189759
3) install the motor, with fan, and the vibration rubber cushion onto the lower motor housing
4) install the other motor rubber cushion onto the top motor housing
5) then mount the top motor housing onto the lower motor housing and affix this to the core/plenum unit 189760
6) lastly screw the two motor housing parts together

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Here's some installed pictures just to give you perspective where this unit fits or "lives" in the Roadster --> for those wondering...you can see why FFR says that this unit does not integrate with the glovebox :p

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In part 3, I'll show you what I had to do to repair the flimsy screw threads on the core/plenum housing :rolleyes:

In the mean-time, Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Since the heater box plastic housing apparently wasn't designed to be taken apart and adapted like our Roadsters require, it's hardly a wonder that the plastic threads failed upon disassembly -- they appear to be one-time-assembly manufacturing...

I decided to make them machine screw capable instead. My 1st attempt was to simply use an 8-32 rivnut -- Fail! There wasn't enough plastic around the perimeter of the rivnut head and there was an overlap thickness issue where I wanted to install it (stock location). I thought of another way. Here's what I did:

189938

The red circled areas show what I think is called a j-nut...it simply sandwiches around the plastic where you want it. This added strength to the backside at the expense of having to perform dremel surgery to install it. I essentially cut installation slots into the plastic. Next, I sealed them up with epoxy compatible with plastic (since the heater box appears to be sealed with the stuff anyway)

For the holes in the top area, I'll try to rivnut those. You can see that I left the undeformed steel ones in there for now, but I ordered "softer" Aluminum rivnuts in an attempt to try again on the plastic. If those don't work, then my last choice is using wellnuts. Those are like a rivnut, but they use a molded rubber sleeve to accomplish the same thing as the rivnuts. They're used on motorcycles to good effect on less sturdy things, like polycarbonate windscreens attached to fiberglass body work ) :cool:

I hope my experience on this helps the next builder who has issues putting in the heater/defroster box :)

Good Luck and Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

While waiting for some Aluminum rivnuts, I decided to jump into actually drilling into the frame -- a task that I've dreaded because I don't want to make a mistake :rolleyes:

In a previous post, I had cut out the firewall panel to initially mock-up the heater/defroster box. This was good practice because...well...I couldn't stand the assembly holes already drilled into the firewall panel from shipment. No matter how many geometric combinations I tried, I couldn't "mask" the fact that they weren't installed for esthetic reasons:p

I decided to provide FFR Metal some business and purchased the thick firewall panel for my "final" install. The quality is excellent. The cut lines exactly match the FFR piece, except for one small area that I needed to trim up. It appears to be 11 gauge -- pretty beefy! I couldn't cut it with my shears or snips, so I used a holesaw on my drill press and bought myself a "burp-saw". This little dynamo is air powered and did the job well. I used a portable belt sander, otherwise known as a power-file, to clean up the edges for the openings I cut. Then I took my time with hand files.

The powdercoater recommended that I scuff the surface with a DA sander in lieu of abrasive blasting, so I did that. Here's what it looked like before actually drilling into the frame:
189939

I drilled two holes on opposite corners to check my work and initially locate the panel. Darn! first mistake...one hole was off a little :(

Ok...no worries, I'll recover by clamping the panel where I want it, and simply drill thru the already drilled panels to serve as a drill guide! So far, so good. You can see the slightly offset hole and the marks where the speedscrew was used on the stock panel (I wanted to see how far off they were from my pattern)
189940

Here's an up-close look at the mistake. Hard to believe an offset of less than 1/16" would cause me grief...oh well...that's me...
189941

Here's the job about halfway done. After obsessing about the proper spacing and geometric symmetry, I was also pleasantly surprised that the rivet holes are "centered" in the chassis, too :)
189942

I was feeling pretty "frisky" at my success, so I decided to take on another "OCD" thing that was bothering me for a while. The short vertical 3/4" tubes that connect to the 2x2" firewall tube are not in the same vertical plane, and this really bothered me. In fact, you can see a picture in the build manual where the panel deforms under the pressure of the installed rivets. I wanted to do something more to my liking...

I had some genuine Boeing Al scrap panel that I had been saving for decades that I finally put to good use. I made shims out of them. Here is the passenger side:
189943

I could just get a drill in there and looks like a rivet gun will fit, too :)
189944

and here's the Driver's side
189945

It's finally been nice weather here...good times in the garage building my Roadster -- it was an excellent weekend!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

I've been trudging along in my engine bay/footbox panel installation with a pattern of: thinking, fitting, thinking, bending, thinking, shaping, etc:rolleyes:

I'm gonna say something nice about the FFR Al panels: They are nicely cut! I even like the small marks left for the person doing the panel bending. :D This is where I need to provide some "constructive" feedback to FFR...

Please bend the panels on the marks intended by the designer -- they will fit better that way!

OK...got that out of my system. Here's some other learning. The A-panel to engine bay inner panels have not fit well for my chassis and I think a part of it is a misunderstanding of the way they are intended to fit together. Case in point, if you examine the pictures in the Build Manual, you'll see that the Passenger and Driver's side inner engine bay panels appear to be installed on the cockpit side of the A-panel flanges. I believe this is not the best fitment considering how difficult it is to put a "z" bend in that A-panel. Here's a picture looking up from the garage floor to that joint: 190407

I decided to put the flange on the other side and am getting much better fitment: 190408 sorry for the bad picture 190409

I drilled into the large main frame tubes and got a good result. Drill went in square and the clecos fastened well. Also note the better panel fitment 190410


While I've complained about the Passenger-side fitment, the real problem was with the Driver's side inner engine bay / footbox panels. They appeared to be bent "too much". I had to soften the bend creases on both panels geometric planes to get a respectable fit. It's getting better! Here's a wider view of the improved fitment: 190411

That's enough on this topic now for sure. Of course feedback is welcome!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

While I was waiting for my F-panels to return from powder-coating (and needing a break from my panel fitment routine). I had the trunk and hood stainless-steel hinges media blasted and then I painted them. They turned out decent. Here's the trunk hinges (note the paint drip near the hinge pivot :( ) 190412

And here's the hood hinges 190413 No drips this time! :D

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

It's been a long time coming, but I finally got my F-panels back from powder-coating, and I like the way they look :cool: 190414

I also had the firewall coated, and I'll put that on later...190415 Since this was a thicker panel, and I wasn't sure how think the finished powder would be, I had the powder coater mask off a 1/4" strip so that the bulb-seal wouldn't deform the metal insert so much (when that time comes to install it) ...

The color is Hilltop Silver from Prismatic Powders. Very similar (almost identical) to my Wilton bench vise finish...unexpected synchronicity :D

Craig C

Next: Finally putting together the front end!!

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'all,

I looked down thru my thread and realized that I never did post an update on my Heater Box thread repair. Bummer...I get "into the zone" and forget to share what I've been up to...

Long-story-short: I waited for the Aluminum rivnuts and they didn't work any better on some similarly drilled and constructed plastic. The heads would deform slightly after being fully seating, and I found out that rivnutting (is that even a word?) into plastic is very dependent on the rivnut being a tight fit into the hole. By then, I realized my holes were already too big for any reasonable-sized rivnuts, so I changed direction to "wellnuts". These are rubber with a brass threaded insert and much easier to work with...perhaps at the expense of not being as tough as the metal rivnuts.

Anyway, here's a picture of the result. Wellnuts on the top and the metal clips on the bottom. I think it'll be a decent compromise...only time will tell.:cool:

190433

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'all,

As promised, I finally got my F-panels ready for installation. My technique: pre-fit panels, note where to protect and add blue tape, silicone the joints (thinly), cleco into place, start exchanging clecos for rivets. Here's mid-progress picture: 190437

This was my attempt to try to minimize scratches caused by the tool 190438 :rolleyes: not sure it was effective, but made me feel better...

Finished panels:
190439 190440

I chose "large head", black painted, multigrip rivets since I wanted a contrast/tie-in to the frame visually. Not everybody's preference, I know, but I like the look :cool:

Next update:
Front suspension

Craig C

[F500guy]

Looks good with the rivets contrast. I had issues with some panels as well, especially inside driver side, but I have the "A" panel on the inside as well, it did fit better.

[cc2Arider]

Thanks for the confirmation Lance :)

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'all,

I've been looking forward to getting my front suspension installed and got it knocked out over the weekend. Here's some pictures...

Installed upper A-arms 190469

Exchanged grease nipple on passenger-side lower A-arm for the Breeze Battery relocation kit :cool: 190470

Installed front coil-overs 190471

Installed front spindles to ball joints 190472

Check out how well the Energy Suspension ball joint polyurethane boot retains its shape :cool: 190473

Fun stuff!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'all,

More fun stuff! Installing the front hubs, rotors, calipers, and steering rod-ends...

After reading the cautionary tales of other's difficulties with the front hubs, I was a bit apprehensive, but mine went on without drama. I simply greased the spindle shaft and hub inner bearing races and wiggled it on with just the heel of my hands :D

Then used a little bit of anti-seize on the deformed threads of the hub nut and torqued with no issues. Yes, it was all 250 lb-ft, but I managed. Then came the rotors with the concentric ring and the Wilwood calipers with a few shims. One thing that I noticed while installing the pads: the 6-piston Wilwoods have a cast "bridge" between the two assembled caliper halves which means that pad replacement must entail caliper removal :( Oh well...

So here's the picture of the results 190474 190475

Today I took great pride in installing the cotter pins properly (after doing a slap-dash job yesterday). Yeah, I know...cherish the little things :p Last thing was to measure the overall length of the steering assembly, make sure the rod-ends were turned out an equal number of times and install those...

One question: Did you use the locknuts already on the FFR power rack or did you use the lock nuts that came with the rod-ends? I just kept the ones on the rack as-delivered...

190476 190477

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'all,

Since learning that the Al panels all seem to fit together like a puzzle, I decided to do some pre-fitting of the cockpit panels. Once again, the passenger-side seemed pretty good, but the driver's side panels have some of the bends slightly out-of-place -- this means thinking thru the tolerance stack-up and adjusting the overall fit, or deciding to take more drastic measures. I may decide to try to re-bend the locating tabs on the driver's side cockpit floor panel. If that doesn't work, then I'll simply cut one tab off and substitute for a new 90deg adapter piece that I'll rivet on...

Here's a picture of the fitting effort 190746

Taking a break from the panel fitment, I decided to try my best at forming the brake lines. I chose seamless, annealed stainless steel tubing (pretty economical at Summit) for aesthetic reasons. I got a good hard-line flaring tool and cut off a 6" piece for testing. Here's my 1st effort at a double-flare 190747

Now...granted, this is just a sample of one, but I couldn't see any flaws, and if I can do it, you can too! ;)

Feeling frisky, I then decided to make back-to-back purposeful 45 deg bends using my new Ridgid tubing bender 190748

If this is representative of what's to come, I'm excited to get on that job! Especially following the drudgery of Al panel fitment -- geez!

Oh well, back to the grind. After finding out that my passenger-side outer footbox panel didn't quite line-up with the outrigger frame tube, I decided to shim it with some spare panel stock. I got it to fit good, then clamped in place to start drilling :rolleyes: Here's a picture before I started to drill into the frame. This is taken inside the footbox looking straight down at the frame outrigger tube... 190749 The edge thickness can be seen because I marked it with a red sharpie.

After drilling carefully with no issues and clecoing into place after each drilling effort, this is the result 190750 Not bad...

Lastly, I decided to modify the FFR-supplied hard-line-to-flex-line brake brackets for the front brakes so that I can rivet to the top of the 3/4" square tubing instead of on the side where the F-panel is located. I marked the inside bend line with slight scoring from a hacksaw, then I used a bench-vise, a large crescent wrench to initiate the bend, and a ball-peen hammer to complete the 90 deg bend. Turned out well with no apparent cracks or issues. I'm pleased with the result 190751


So...the theme of this post is "if you need a change-of-pace, just do it! Find something else useful and keep that motivation going" :)

Craig C

[Mike.Bray]

45 degree double flare on stainless steel tubing??? Stainless tends to fatigue and crack when double flared, it should only be 37 degree single flared for AN fittings. If you want to use 45 degree double flares you're best to use steel or Nicopp tubing.

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'all,

Last week I got my passenger side footbox panels back from the powder coater :)

Here's a picture 190938

It's nice to see the color on the panels after the fitting and fussing. A few of the panels got a little curve to them now :(. I think they'll fit fine, but I'm not sure if it is the heat required for the powder coating or perhaps the effects of media blasting. Either way, I've shared my concerns and hope the next batch is perfect. I think I'll wait to rivet them on for good until after I pre-cut and fit the thermal mat...:rolleyes:

One thing I'm getting more used to now is "two steps forward, and one step back"...it's a challenge for sure.

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'all,

Working on the Driver's side footbox panels a couple hours each worknight and most of the weekend days. The technique that I'm using is frustrating but not sure how else to do it: get a good reference, and fit the next panel. Make adjustments until reasonable, then go to the next panel. Pause and think about the plan ahead. Rinse and repeat. I haven't drilled any holes yet and am relying on lots of different clamps and a few clecos in the factory-drilled holes.

I knew this fitment would be a challenge and it has not disappointed in that regard :rolleyes: but it's getting there slowly...

Here's a few pictures so far 190939 190940 190941

I did realize that this is an opportunity to buy another tool. I think I'll get a protractor next so I'm not eye-balling the adjusted flange bends between fitment and readjustment steps.

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

More progress made this past week/weekend on my Driver's side footbox panels. My starting point of reference is what I'll call the "Driver's side Bulkhead", the thick steel panel for the steering shaft, brake pedal bracketry, etc.

Here's the drilled/cleco'ed front panel. Yeah, I got carried away with the rivet locations :p
191203

That set the alignment for the inner panel, which allowed me to drill/locate that panel to the "A" frame panel
191204 view from the cockpit 191205.

Note the driver's floorpan tab is "on the other side". This just fit better for my panels -- your panels may fit better than mine. I just have to remember to put that floorpan panel in 1st, before the inner-side footbox panel during final assembly...I'll also need to file out some rivethead relief for the lowest rivet on the "A" frame panel, so that it doesn't interfere with the floorpan flange.

Next, I worked on the fitment of the inner panel to the firewall panel. This seems to result in a noticeable "gap" for some of the builders out there. I used a combination of metal forming tools to redo that corner, and I now have an acceptable "reveal" at that edge 191208

After all the fitting/fussing, I'm pleased with the fitment so far :) My methods/OCD may not be for everyone, but my main goal was to fit the panels so that they would fit together without requiring rivets to properly align the panels; i.e., I could just lay them in place and all the panels and flanges would align without the cleco or rivet clamping forces.

Craig C

[egchewy79]

looking good. keep in mind that any small gaps can be filled w/ silicone or a small patch can be made as well for larger gaps. Most of this will be covered by sound mat and carpet anyway, so don't get too worked up about the gaps.

[cc2Arider]

This is the panel that caused me the most grief so far (leading the 2 inner panels by a small margin :) )

You can see that I've already worked this panel some. It had the worst flange bends out of all the panels so far. It still didn't fit to my liking...191209

The front flange protruded down over the "bulkhead" steel plate -- unlike the outer top panel that had plenty of flange material to rivet into. This is identified as the red marks, versus the blue marks. For this reason, and noting that the bulkhead plate is pretty stout, I decided to reshape the bulkhead plate so that the aluminum panels had the same overlap as everywhere else. Here is the raw result
191211, another view 191212

Confident in my work, I applied some satin black touch-up paint to the reshaped edge 191213, and then filed the top panel flange to match.

Here is a picture of the fitment afterwards -- no overlap like before :) 191215, and then final fitment 191216

Next, I moved to drill/cleco the Driver's side outer panel to the front panel 191217. It was nice to work on an easy one :D

Craig C

[egchewy79]

maybe too late at this point, but poor fitting panels are usually a result of misalignment of the panels themselves rather than the frame/bulkhead itself. I'd prefer to adjust the panels over making major modifications to the frame.

[cc2Arider]

Understood .. my brother pointed that out to me also. My reasoning was that I couldn't rivet those two panels together at the "usual" 3/8" distance from the edges without interfering with the bulkhead panel -- I'd either have to avoid that altogether or choose a drilling location that sandwiched both.

Believe it or not, but I wasn't actually worried about my choice...as compared to the first time I drilled into the frame for the F-panels, and then the round main tube frame for the footbox floor panels -- yikes!

Thanks for the feedback :)

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'all,

I spent some time this past week fitting my Driver's side outer footbox panel. Since choosing the front of the footbox as the reference point in 3d space, the outer footbox panel was fitting reasonably well, but I needed to make sure it would still fit well with the footbox floor properly located and fastened. I first aligned and fastened the floor to the front panel tab, and that properly set the outer panel in relation to the front panel and floor panel. With that corner set, I noticed a small gap to the "outrigger" tube (similar to the passenger-side lower outside panel).

My approach to address that gap was to use a spare panel which I cut to use as a shim. It worked well on the Passenger side, so I replicated the approach on the Driver's side. Here's some pictures...my plan 191432 checking the fit (this is looking straight down towards the Driver's side footbox floor. Notice the shim temporarily in place) 191433 picture of the floor joints 191434

So far...so good, so I fastened the floor panel to the main frame tube 191435 then drilled/cleco'ed the outer panel to the floor flange and thru the "outrigger" tube 191436. Here's another picture of the shim (looking down) 191437

Just as on the Passenger side, I noticed that one of the pre-drilled holes for the outer panel "came back" into alignment on the 2x2 vertical frame post -- Nice!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'all,

I still had to make some small adjustments to get everything to fit well on the Driver's side footbox top panels. Here's an adjustment I made to the outer two pre-drilled holes -- note the keyhole notches

191687

The last panel to fit was the top inner panel and that went pretty well. I still had a small gap to the firewall panel, but that was easily corrected with another shim :)

191688

I'll devote some time this week to preparing these panels for powder coating...and on to the next task.

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'all,

Instead of prepping panels for powder coating, I decided today to plan/fit/mockup my hardline brake mounting tabs at each wheelwell. I liked the stainless steel tabs provided by FFR, but I just bent them 90deg and added a combination of washers and locating shims to make them work with the stainless AN-3 bulkhead fittings that I plan to use to connect to the Wilwood flex lines (copied idea from Mike Bray). Here's a couple of pictures

passenger wheelwell looking inboard 191689 and looking outboard 191690

The driver's side will be similar, but will use a bulkhead T fitting (on backorder from Earl's/Holley)

The rear tabs looked like they could be used flat. Here's some mock-up pictures
Driver's side rear 191691 Passenger side rear 191692

I think these will be in a good location considering the arc of the suspension movement, accessibility if I ever need to service them or fix leaks, etc. Did anyone consider these locations and change their mind because of some issue?

Appreciate the feedback!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'all,

I started to worry about the brake lines and fuel lines occupying the same space in the rear of the chassis, so I decided to perform a pre-fitment of the fuel tank and my remote spin-on fuel filter.

I gotta think ahead to trunk panels being installed and accessibility only from below, and I observed that other builders that I admire locate their remote spin-on fuel filter on the passenger side near the tank. I just couldn't remember if they mounted the fuel filter to the 2x3 frame tube or to the thick steel flange underneath it.

Here's a picture of a test fit to the 2x3 frame tube (looking forward) 191693

and to the thick flat flange beneath it (looking to the passenger side)191694

For those builders who have similar filter arrangements (Aeroquip, Trick Flow, or Summit brand), where did you ultimately decide to locate your bracket?

Appreciate the feedback!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'all,

I spent some time this weekend getting my fuel tank prepped. I chose a hanger assembly based on the good reviews of Paul for his builds, with benefits of 3/8" smooth bent tubing with AN compatible male fittings already included. It also has the return tube opening deeper in the sump to prevent frothing. Based on this return tube design, I needed to file some clearance to the pump access hole. Here's a picture: 191897

I purchased an appropriately-sized fuel pump to go with it, and here is the assembly 191899

I needed to file a bevel onto the leading edge of the retaining ring tabs to get it to rotate well, and actually smoothed down the 3 raised "detents", too. After that bit of tweaking, it rotated home quite easily. Here's a picture of it installed onto the tank boss 191898 and an in-tank view 191900

I spun on some teflon tape for the vent, screwed it into the adapter, lubed the grommet with vaseline and installed it next. Then, I installed the fuel level sending unit with the FFR-supplied o-ring and installed that. Here's a picture 191901

Lastly, I purchased a genuine Ford fuel filler tube grommet after hearing about leaks with the non-name-brand part. Here's a picture with numbers in case anyone is interested 191902

Installed onto tank 191903 and after liberally applying some vaseline, I carefully seated the fuel filler tube and attached the retaining ring, which was bolted down to a pre-drilled hole -- nice! :) Here's a picture 191904

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'all,

My rear brake hardlines will be mounted in a location that had me doubt that the flex lines would fit the wheels/tires without rubbing, so I checked it out! No worries after checking...plenty of room. For those who had similar doubts/concerns, here's a picture of the wheel backside (with the Wilwood brakes on IRS knuckles) 191905

I stopped worrying and started marveling at the BEEF of those wide wheels -- Look how far they stick out from the chassis sides! :cool: Definitely a lot wider than the original Ace roadsters -- looks like an additional wheel on the outside of the original Ace track width 191906

Those are some pretty cool-looking wheels -- got me motivated to keep going on the more mundane tasks! 191907

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'all,

Now that my driver's side footbox panels are fitted, prepped, and off to the powder coater, I got to work on my brake hardline brackets :)

As I showed in an earlier post, I decided to bend the FFR-supplied brackets to 90 deg and mount them in the "usual" location in the front, but on the top side of the 3/4" square tube, instead of sandwiching the F-panels.

I thought I did all my homework, but my plan was foiled when I learned that I don't have the grip strength to fully seat 3/16" stainless steel rivets -- I measured the clearance for the manual rivet tool, but there just wasn't the clearance with my Milwaukie powered rivet tool :(

I placed a spare piece of Al panel against my finished F-panels to prevent scratches or dents caused by the rivet tool, and it all worked out, and those stainless rivets really secured those brackets down tight!

Here's some pictures: Passenger-front 192157 Driver-front 192158 As you can see, I used stainless -3AN bulkhead fittings. I liked the look and shamelessly copied from Mike Bray's setup (but adapted the FFR-supplied brackets by sandwiching properly sized washers to locate the smaller diameter AN fittings). I like how they turned out :cool:

I located, drilled, and riveted the brackets in the rear, but kept them flat. I need to buy more bulkhead fittings! Here's the pictures of the rear hardline brackets 192159 192160

Next post: I try my hand at laying out, cutting, and bending the hardlines...

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'all,

I next attempted to design, cut, and bend my annealed stainless brake hardlines for the front brakes (where they join together from the T-fitting)...

I used a Ridgid hardline bender, and while it has great instructions, my bends were not the typical 45deg or 90deg. Nonetheless, the measurements and results worked out just like I wanted!

I tried a simple design (in case I messed up) that only had 3 bends. It fit properly without drama, and of course I'll need to trim the ends for length, install the hardware and then flare for final fitment.

They don't look all that stylish, though :rolleyes: I may try some additional bends to make them fit more aesthetically next....anyway, here's a picture from the driver's side looking towards the passenger side through the F-panel gaps 192161 Parallel !!

and here's the view that makes my effort look lame 192162

My next plan is to source some stand-off brackets from Eastwood, since these will be somewhat protected from the elements and will be held horizontally. I'll probably get some aluminum clamshell-type brackets for the underside of the car, since they'll need to be more robust against the elements.

Happy Building!

Craig C

[Mike.Bray]

You might check out these (https://www.summitracing.com/parts/NTH-1316-6) clamps for your brakelines.

[cc2Arider]

Thanks Mike!

I ended up getting those, but from Eastwood. They kept pestering me with coupons, so I ordered without cross-checking Summit. Oh well...lesson learned :)

Craig C

PS: Did you feel comfortable using them on your build? Did you change your design when the clamp has to be mounted upside-down, or at least less than horizontal (like on the underside of the chassis)?

[Mike.Bray]

For the brake and fuel lines that ran along the 4" frame tubes I used these (http://www.lsbilletworks.com/). They make contoured clamps that fit the round tube perfectly.

[cc2Arider]

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's been a while since I updated my build progress...I decided to get back to fitting panels while waiting for some hardline mounting parts.

I'll re-iterate what other builders have recommended about making sure the panels are not riding on top of frame weld beads (where possible). I needed to file reliefs in the cockpit floor panels on both front and back outside edges, as well as at the rear where it sits on top of the 4"main frame tube. After positioning my floor panels in the horizontal plane for best overall fitment front-to-back and side-to-side, I drilled and cleco'ed at the front frame cross member, then did the same for the outside vertical panels that fit under the door opening, then repeated for the bottom edges of the outside panels. This set the floor panels in x-y space, so I moved on to the rear cockpit panels...

I started with the outside corner pieces since those fit reasonably well against the back corner frame tubes, but I was still aware that other builders had issues getting the top rear edge to all line up properly. Drilled and cleco'ed those, then that set the location for the large rear middle panel. The large middle panel had the bends at the proper marks, but needed to be bent more to fit the frame properly. I clamped some 4' long angle iron to opposite sides of the bend lines and sharpened those bends by hand. Then the middle back panel was drilled and cleco'ed into place. This left only the rear inside corner panels to do, and let me share some pictures...

overall 192649 lots of clamps needed for the inside corner pieces 192650

[cc2Arider]

All was going well, then I had a realization that I didn't confirm that it still fit the front "A" panel :rolleyes:

192651

Sure enough after locking the tunnel sides into place with the "A" panel, I noticed that the carefully measured, drilled, and cleco'ed passenger inside rear corner cockpit panel shifted somehow in all my activity, so I had to slot the holes :( 192652 Bummer!

Lesson learned, so I fit the footbox panels again to make sure everything still lined up, then properly located the driver's side rear inside corner panel 192653

You might've noticed that I didn't start with the small rear piece that covers the driveline u-joint. I want to make this removeable, and since I want the tabs to sit on top, it has to be installed last :)

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'all,

While I had plenty of time this past week to work on my Roadster, things just weren't going as hoped..

I was all motivated to bend and flare my brake hardlines and while the overall effort was good, there were setbacks. I'll start with the picture so far 192654

The "good" news: I can straighten out the coiled hardline pretty well with a specialized hand-tool for this purpose. I got it at Eastwood. (Got a similar one for 3/8" fuel lines at another tool supply)... I'm also able to bend and cut to measurements :)

The "bad" news: it really is challenging to properly flare the SS seamless, annealed lines I got. I guess my 1st test flare was lucky. It's pretty amazing though: The other builders have already gone thru these challenges and have wisdom to impart. It's sometimes a challenge to really hear what they have to share -- like you have to use "feel" to know how far to push that die in before it wants to split. I practiced on about a half-dozen pieces before I got confident to try it "for real".

Now here's the "ugly" part: I flared a beauty, then realized I forgot to put the fastening hardware on. No worries...I'll just cut that one off as close as possible to the end and try again. This time, it split. Arrghhh!


Here's some wisdon I'll impart for those who want to try this with 37 deg single flare on a 3/16" line. The outside diameter of the flare is supposed to be right at 1/4" (plus or minus a few thou)

So, as you're practicing and the flare looks too small...relax and measure it. Chances are that it is correct :)

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey y'all,

This weekend I ended up making a patch panel for my hand-brake panel cut-out, but I'll discuss that more in an upcoming post :)

Instead, I can update the progress on my brake hardlines. Second time's the charm...the rear brake "cross-over" section is cut, bent, flared, and mounted into chassis clamps :cool:

Here's a picture 192863 notice that I finally attached the flex-lines to the calipers, too. I chose straight adapters so that I wouldn't have to worry about "clocking" them. Still plenty of room around the coil-overs and suspension arms...

Feeling pretty "chuffed", I decided to try the fitment of the front hardline "cross-over" next. My strategy was to allow room to install or replace, be aesthetically-pleasing, and not get in the way of the other things (that I could think of so far...). It turned out just like I wanted, then I needed to design the short section from the pedal bulkhead. This was a little more challenging because I locked myself into the design and had to accommodate for flex and misalignment. I'm pretty happy with the results so far. Here's some pictures
192864 192865 192866 192867 [ATTACH=CONFIG]192868

Notice the "wiggle" in the short section along the driver's side 3/4" tube to account for frame flex, installation, and mis-alignment.

Next post: I try to make the rear brake line from the pedal bulkhead :eek:

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'all,

It's been a while since my last post...I've been working on a special project...:cool:

In the meantime, I managed to "mostly" finish the panel fitment of the rear cockpit panel. First, I had to make some shims to fit the short 3/4" vertical tubes. Here's some pictures:
passenger-side 193474 and driver-side 193475

Those set the gaps pretty well and I could finally fit the rear cockpit upper section to the vertical & long horizontal 3/4" tubes. Here's the result 193476

Lastly, I could attach to the rear corner panels 193477

I still need to fit the rear tunnel panel...and then that means fitting the tunnel panel ... I think I'll get an FFR Metal one to tailor-cut the top opening. I'll report back in an upcoming post...

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'all,

I got a drop-trunk kit from TJ, and I like what I got ;) Well-made and simple...just the ticket!

Anyway, I'm figuring out where to best locate it, and I'm thinking to leave enough "flange" room all 'round the perimeter. Here's some mock-up pictures (before cutting anything)...
193478 193479 193480 193481

So for you builders out there who have already installed your drop-trunk ...did you "favor" one side or another, or leave it equidistant to the available space, or locate to "center" it to the cut-out access to the tank sending unit, or choose to locate it to get the best drilling and riveting access or ?

I'd like to hear your considerations/trials/tribulations. Feedback welcomed!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'all,

It's been a while since I posted, so I hope Y'all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I decided to locate my drop trunk where it would restore some of the strength that I'd be losing by cutting a perfectly good lower trunk panel, and cut so that the drop trunk flange would have "just enough" clearance to the 3/4" left and rear horizontal trunk tubes. This located the front flange with enough margin so that I could get a drill and (eventual) rivet gun in place. I also considered maximizing the access hole location and aligning to the fuel tank sending unit. Lots of measuring and cutting and notch filing later, I'm happy with the result. Here's a picture: 193919

These parts just got sent to the powder coaters...and I'll have some more to send this week :)

Happy building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'all,

Not much progress lately...I've been trying to get my tires mounted and my desire to fit the widest tire onto the FFR 18" rims might have bitten me. The 1st tire shop was reluctant to mount them because the stiff sidewalls had to be pinched down to install onto the rims...so off to another tire shop to see if they can do it...in the meantime, I got some trunk panels back from the Powder Coater. Here's a picture:
194275

Happy Building!

Craig C

[F500guy]

Find a shop that handles race tires, not the run of the mill tire shop for best results.

[cc2Arider]

Thanks Lance -- excellent recommendation :)

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'all,

I am getting closer to the final decisions on how I want to fasten the cockpit panels to the trans tunnel top panel. I've known for a long time that I want a clean look, yet still be able to remove the trans tunnel top panel for servicing. I had vacillated about fastening the cockpit panels into the trans top panel flange, but decided against it since the trans tubes appear to be somewhat plumb vertically, yet the cockpit panels are not, and there is space to account for carpet thickness in the top panel flanges.

So I decided to drill, cleco and (ultimately rivet) the cockpit panels by themselves to the tunnel tubes only, and leave the top panel to be fastened another way. Here's some pictures:

Driver's side 194523 Passenger side 194524

I've also decided to consider a hinge for the trans tunnel rear panel mounting. Here's a picture of me just getting an idea of what I want to try 194525 That's a section of small stainless piano hinge that I'm considering...

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Sharp-eyes watchers of my build thread might've noticed a special OCD design element in my last post. Let me explain before zooming in on the detail...

I never liked the pinching of the inside vertical cockpit side panels with the seat belt tabs in the build manual. Originally, I was thinking of an access hole covered by a rubber grommet so that I could securely mount my seatbelts, yet not pinch them with the cockpit panels. However, I like that the standard recommendation is to provide this fastening, so I went with another way to address both the needs of fastening without deforming the panels. So I found wedge-shaped shims at McMaster-Carr and gave them a try. Here's some close-up pictures:

Driver's side: 194526 Passenger side: 194527

Note the angle is nearly perfect :cool: I matched these shims that you see with reversed shims on the backside so that the seat belt bolts will torque down co-axially straight with the nuts(when that time comes). Further, since I'd like to maintain the mocked-up geometry during final installation, I "keyed" the shims with a 1/8" pilot hole to align them to each other and the panel during final assembly torqueing.

Happy Building!

Craig C

[F500guy]

Amazing rivet lines, maybe leave bare aluminum in the driver compartment!:rolleyes: I riveted the sides to the tunnel frame, including the diagonal braces.

[cc2Arider]

Thanks for the compliment Lance! :o

My hangup is that I want the panels to be stressed in the x-y plane only (as much as possible). It could be that my panels were bent different than the other builder's kits. Too much gap on those diagonal tubes for me, so I decided against riveting to those tubes...I gotta be me :rolleyes:

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'all,

It's been awhile since my last update...

I got my tires mounted by a local tire retailer/installer who happened to have some installation tips for the next time I need tires mounted. Apparently with the local cold temperatures and the choice of tire with stiff sidewalls, the tires needed some heat to be pliable enough to be mounted -- totally makes sense to me, and I didn't consider it to be a challenge beforehand. Now I know!

Here's my choice: Falken Azenis 315/30-18 rear and 275/35-18 front 195082

It was a risk to choose a such wide front tire, and sure enough, it looks like it will rub the F-panel at full lock 195083

After agonizing at my prideful choice that will cause me hassle, I decided on a two-pronged solution: 1) get "fat tire" F-panels from FFMetal, 2) add steering rack travel limiters. I'll have to remove my already-installed F-panels and go thru the process of aligning rivet holes, powder-coating, etc. Oh well...others have had to re-do certain parts of their builds -- I'm no different:rolleyes:

The steering rack travel limiters seem to be straightforward to install, although I've never done it. It seems like the toughest challenge will be to re-clamp the boots properly...

Anyway, it sure looks good on the ground, supporting its own weight! 195084

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Chris from FFR came thru for me yesterday by shipping me the Passenger-side Roll Bar. I just had to try it out...195085

Fits well and I think this was the last item that was back-ordered for my build...although on a somewhat related observation, I'm a little confused by the assembly hardware located in the transmission-cross-member box. All the items were accounted for, but the hardware is a little different than the build manual ...

Did anyone else get 3/8" socket head "shoulder" bolts for the cross member?

Appreciate the feedback!

Thanks,
Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

All this activity to get my tires mounted was leading up to this: I needed to trial fit my drivetrain and having the chassis be a "roller" meant my options for installing the drivetrain by myself opened up a bit. Just like for the IRS installation, I used a combination of tools. This time I used jacks, hoists, ramps, and straps:eek:

Here's the setup 195086

I determined that when I do this "for real" next time, I need to keep the trunk area free from the panels because I really needed a hoist for the rear end and the straps (properly routed) looked like this 195087

Three hours later, it looks like this 195088 Whew! I'm glad it's done for now ;)

Some observations: I knew that I needed to protect the radiator support and the firewall, but what surprised me was how tight the fit was for the rectangular tubes that angle up from the main frame to the firewall area. Next time I'll protect those tubes from the get-go! Also, I didn't anticipate that the transmission tail housing might bump into/scratch the main frame tube cross member, so I'll protect that tube from scratches, etc next time...

Happy Building!

Craig C

[460.465USMC]

Hey Y'all,

Here's my choice: Falken Azenis 315/30-18 rear and 275/35-18 front

It was a risk to choose a such wide front tire, and sure enough, it looks like it will rub the F-panel at full lock

After agonizing at my prideful choice that will cause me hassle, I decided on a two-pronged solution: 1) get "fat tire" F-panels from FFMetal, 2) add steering rack travel limiters. I'll have to remove my already-installed F-panels and go thru the process of aligning rivet holes, powder-coating, etc. Oh well...others have had to re-do certain parts of their builds -- I'm no different:rolleyes:

The steering rack travel limiters seem to be straightforward to install, although I've never done it. It seems like the toughest challenge will be to re-clamp the boots properly...
Craig C

Hi Craig. I'm running 275/40/R17 on the front and my tires just kiss the F-panels, but only at full lock. I added travel restrictor, but only to even out the lock-to-lock turns on the steering wheel. After 1,300 miles, I decided I'm okay with an occasional slight rub. Just food for thought.

I was careful when loosening the clamp over the boots, so that I was able to clamp it back in place when done.

Congrats on dropping in your drivetrain. Such an enjoyable milestone that really makes the build feel and look like an actual car. Right on!

[cc2Arider]

Thanks for the wisdom and encouragement Chris!:)

Just curious...did you want maximum contact patch at the front for performance, aesthetics, or for some other reason?

Also...I'll have a look thru your build thread to see some finished pictures ;)

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

My build plan deviation from the norm can be encapsulated in this post -- I've been thinking and designing an alternative to the standard hand brake location and design. Apologies to builders who may have already designed it like I did -- I really thought this out on my own :)

My faith put to the test: the 1st frame cut of the standard handbrake bracket :rolleyes: 195302

No going back now 195303

My cable bracket mocked into place at the usual location. Note the "horizontal" cable pairing versus the standard "vertical" pairing 195304

The cable union block details. This is a Lokar part 195306

Proof-of-Concept picture of "The Craig-Brake" :cool: 195307

I put the chassis on jack-stands, and sat in the cockpit for a trial effort. 3-clicks up and there was definite brake engagement. 4-clicks and it seemed pretty solid. Actuation and release effort seemed reasonable in the ergonomic arrangement that I had for now. I'd say it is worth pursuing and refining.

Next steps: I need to make another lever bracket to fit with the shifter in the rearward option position. Right now it is in the forward shifter position. There is about a 3" difference between the two. Then, I'll need to drill for nut-serts, and finalize the cable bracket layout -- I don't like the downward trajectory of the cables to the union block. Right now I am taking advantage of the strength and location of the standard cable retainer bracket. I think I can shape it and still take advantage of it for a force retainer of my add-on bracket. Once that is finalized, I'll drill for nut-serts or I might decide to drill all the way thru to use nuts and bolts on the tunnel rear cross tube.

This has been challenging and rewarding, and It's good to see it thru -- I wanted to do this since the build school and chatting with my classmates. Shout-out to Vaughan if you're still reading my posts! Also, FFR please contact me if you're interested in the details. I tried to think how you might do this with the parts and tools you already use :cool:

Happy Building!
Craig C

[460.465USMC]

Just curious...did you want maximum contact patch at the front for performance, aesthetics, or for some other reason?

Craig C

Hi Craig. Yep, you got it. My main reason for the wider front wheels/tires was to maximize the contact patch.

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'all,

Part 2 of this endeavor focuses on what I did to the standard FFR cable bracket. I needed to cut and file the standard piece to fit my adapter bracket. Here's a few pictures of my new bracket cleco'ed into position 195584 195585 195586 Fits well after lots of filing -- it was difficult to get tools in there...

Next, the OEM cable ends did not fit all the way thru the part of the bracket that I retained for strength because the approach angle was now shallower -- it doesn't have to dive down under the main frame cross-member anymore. Here's how it fits when I finished filing out the remaining hole 195587 195588

Here's a couple of pictures of the standard bracket after my cutting and filing 195589 195590

Lastly, here's a picture of the cut-out piece 195591

Next update, I'll need to create another handbrake bracket since I chose to orient the TKX shifter in the rearward position, then off to media blast and powder coat...

Happy building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'all,

I've been working on getting the driveline angles acceptable for my IRS chassis, and since I chose an Edelbrock Pro-Flo4-4 system, with a Victor Jr single-plane intake manifold, I decided to lower the engine in the chassis by installing a solid engine mount (like FMan did in his build)...I got the mounts from Gordon Levy.

Here's some pictures of the mock-up 196027 196028

I then temporarily installed the driveshaft (after hoisting the driveline back out a little) and started checking the driveline angles as recommended by the helpful Forum Members (Spicer's driveline calculator). Here's some gratuitous pictures ('cause it looks so cool :cool:) 196029 and one to confirm the air filter seems like it will have clearance (once I mock up the body fitment) 196030

I settled on a stack of washers under the trans mount that were about 3/4" tall (conveniently the dimension of spacer plates that Mike Forte sells ;) ). This gave me acceptable height of the rubber shift boot to my "bespoke" Craig Brake mounting plate, and the driveline angles turned out to be: 0.3deg ~ 0.4deg down transmission, 0.7deg up driveshaft, 1.3deg ~ 1.4deg up IRS. This calculated the working angles of the u-joints to be 1.0 ~ 1.1 front and 0.6 ~ 0.7 back, respectively. This was the best compromise and is within acceptable values.

What I found interesting was that if I added or subtracted a single washer in the stack, the number got worse on either side of the adjustment, so I'm calling this done!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

In the last post, I mentioned about using solid engine mounts. They are simply made and fit the purpose. I did have to grind a notch in the Driver's side mount since my Dart Windsor block has a boss of some kind that protrudes into the mount area. The mounting holes to the block were spot-on, but the holes for the chassis were a little off. I could get them to fit as-is, but this introduced a sideways twist at the tailshaft housing (towards the passenger side as viewed from above). If you've read my previous posts, I don't like to install things pre-stressed, so I set about to make these fit my chassis as best as possible. The overall adjustment wasn't that much...about 1/8" each side, and when I was finished notching the chassis engine mount holes, it fit well...

Then I decided that I didn't like the potential for getting out-of-alignment since I "hogged out" the mounting holes, so here's what I did. I made "insert keys" to provide a little more secure and positive location of the mounting bolts.

Here's some pictures ... Passenger side first since this was the easiest to fabricate 196031 196032 196033

Driver's side was next. This was more challenging since the standard "slot" extends to the mounting "pad". I had to bend my stock and add some "ears" so that any upwards torque forces could be captured correctly by the mounts. Here's a couples of pictures 196034 196035

I'm pretty happy how they turned out. Next, off to the powder-coater!

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I got a little too clever for my own good when I thought I had my brake line architecture all figured out. Since I'm waiting for a bracket to be bent, I went back to resume work on my brake hardlines. It's a good thing I did! I found out that I made my choices without thinking five steps ahead -- silly me :p

Mistake 1) not realizing that my "grid-pattern" rivet locations on the Driver's side front panel did not jive with the brake pedal bracket. This picture shows the red "x" rivet locations that will have to be changed to button-head screws. No biggie, but a setback 196409

Mistake 2) not realizing that the existing bulkhead holes, while VERY tempting to repurpose as brake hardline bulkhead fitting locations, will necessitate me filing out the pedal bracket to allow fitment/access for the front brake hardline inside the footbox area. Area to file out shown in red marker 196410

I'm pretty sure my remedies will work out, but it is frustrating to not be able to think ahead as far as needed...:rolleyes:

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

Since I resumed my work on the brake hardline project, I needed to fit the pedal assembly again, and while I "was in there", I mocked-up the RT-tribute Accel Pedal (Thanks TJ!), and what I'll call the "Jim Clutch Pedal Stop". Here's a picture 196411

My interpretation is a little different than Jim Frahm's, but the essence is the same: clamp design and the use of a threaded rod. I used cut down, filed, and drilled angle iron and all-thread. I cushioned the threaded part with heat-shrink tubing. Here's another angle 196412

This is all-the-way forward. In This position, there's about 3/16" gap to that angled 3/4" engine compartment mid frame tube. I still don't know how much travel I'll need for the Forte' slave cylinder, so I'm hoping I don't have to re-make this piece...but I know how if I have to. What makes this work for me was I filed a groove in one piece and a beveled edge on the other so the two pieces would align themselves together as the bolt was tightened :cool:

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I've been kinda dreading working on my brake hardlines since it seems so difficult to get a good flare on my SS lines. It's frustrating to measure and bend the lines in 3-d space to fit well...only to have the last part of the effort go south because I introduced a small crack in the flare. Today went no different, but I'll consider it a success anyway because I got the line fitting like I want going from the driver's side floor panel all the way to the back where I had already locked-in the location of the flex line junctions. I accommodated for the use of Aluminum brackets, but these were just taped into place temporarily. The big success for me today was fishing the bent contraption into position -- it actually wasn't too bad. I just had to remove the rear wheel (which needed to be done anyway) :) Here's some pictures 196413 196414 196415

Next challenge: since I already decided that I was going to use a bulkhead fitting for the floor panel, and the location was chosen to be right in front of the round bent driver's side floor panel tube, I realized that there might not be enough room to get a wrench into there! :eek: I measured what I could before drilling, and I don't think a flare wrench can get in there and "swing" wide enough. If this is to work, I'll need to get a ratcheting box-end-wrench on that fitting instead. This means that I'll need to tighten the fitting down and then slide out the wrench on the unassembled top part of the line -- this means that whatever line I choose, the other side must allow the wrench to come out. This rules out 90deg fittings at the top -- Darn!
196416

It's funny how easy it is to get into trouble when you deviate from the script! ;)

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

My last posts identified some problems that I created for myself that would have to be solved: 1) a few of the Driver's side front panel rivet holes were right in front of the pedal bracket assembly, 2) I needed to figure out how to finish the rear brake line as it exited out the bottom of the Driver's side floor panel.

Solution 1): drill/tap for 8-32 threads for those rivet holes that are right in front of the pedal bracket assembly. Also drill "relief" holes so that the small screws only thread into the bulkhead. This might also allow for standard rivets to deform on the backside properly in case I change my mind about using the screws ;) Here's some pictures:
Front side 196653, back side 196654, relief holes drilled into the pedal bracket 196655

Solution 2): drill into the inner front corner (as designed), leaving enough room for wrenches, yet still well out of the way of pedals and feet. Ensure that it can be maintained (fittings tightened, or lines replaced) after the car is finished. Make an offset flare nut wrench from a cheapy HoBo box-end wrench. Here's some pictures:
Homemade offset flare nut wrench (using an offset box-end wrench as the starting point) 196656, mocked-up rear brake line bulkhead fitting (with test of new wrench) 196657, and the view from ground level 196658

Next problem to solve: relieving an area on top of the brake pedal bracket for the front brake bulkhead fitting...

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

A few posts back I identified a mistake in using an existing footbox bulkhead hole as a pass-thru for one of my brakelines. The hole was too close to the pedal assembly bracket to be used for that purpose...

Some quality time with a die grinder and files after work resulted in this solution:

looking forward and down at the Driver's side footbox bulkhead plate 196702 and another view looking from the Driver's side towards the engine compartment 196703

I'm happy with the result :)

Next step: off to the powder coater! I've got miscellaneous Satin-black pieces to make a worthwhile "batch"...

Happy building!

Craig C

[craig6990]

Craig,
could you please share the dimensions for the cockpit support you made?
Craig M

[cc2Arider]

PM sent...

[cc2Arider]

Hi Craig M,

It looks like I set mine at 34". It could be shorter by a small amount, too...
196858

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I just got my Forte' TKX spacer kit -- well made and simple (just how I like it), and it matches my planned height of my stacked-up spacer washers (mockup only) :cool:

196859 196860

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

Believe it or not, I used up all of my 25' roll of off-brand Stainless Steel annealed 3/16" tubing while bending and flaring the hardline for my rear brakes. This would've been the final, largest piece. Since my flares split and I had already bent the whole line to shape, I decided to get some more tubing, and keep this piece for scrap extra...

I decided this time to get straight sections from Holley (Earl's branded). After trying my first flare, success! Then I cut that off and tried another -- success! I'm sensing a pattern here :p

It's still early days to celebrate, and since I also decided to change my bulkhead "stick-out" dimension at the bottom of my floorpan, I really don't have much to show this update. Here's a picture of that 1st flare attempt on the Earl's line anyway...
196967

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I got my "production-intent" Craig-Brake bracket cut, bent, filed, and fitted to the trans tunnel frame tubing. Recall that my 1st bracket was set up for the shifter in the forward position. I wanted to try it in the rearward position (about 3" rearward from the forward position), and so far it fits well and I like the layout. There's only so much room for all the stuff so my design (as of right now) is not conducive to a single bracket for both positions. I'll have to think more on that...

I'm planning to use nut-certs on the right-side main tunnel tubing so that the passenger-side cockpit panel isn't affected, and likely thru-bolt holes on the diagonal tubing (since there's room for that).

Here's a picture with the initial hole cut for the shifter 196968

I'm debating whether to simply enlarge the hole or add a dimple-die flare to this hole (since the rubber boot is touching). I'm leaning towards the dimple-die for strength and coolness factor, but am worried that the bending in the shop press might warp the flatness of the bracket bottom. I ordered some dimple-dies from Eastwood since they appeared to be on sale and will experiment on a scrap piece of my 14ga steel sometime this week :cool:

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I went ahead and purchased a dimple-die set from Eastwood and decided to practice on a test panel. The instructions said that the quality of the pilot hole essentially dictates the final result...:rolleyes:

Knowing that I just have big-box-store hole saws that aren't concentric, I decided to cut a slightly smaller hole and file and sand it out to get a good fit into the die. Furthermore, I've seen panels warp from deforming the metal this way, so I wanted to try it out on the practice panel. Here's the setup of the die and panel in the press 197250

Here's right after fully seating the die against the practice panel 197251 and the final result 197252

Looks good! Onto the real thing...

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

Fresh from my scrap panel dimpling success, I prepped the real panel and proceeded to add a dimple to allow for shift boot clearance. The test fit looked good, so the next step was to cut, file, and drill out the slots and holes necessary to mount the Lokar handbrake assembly to my bracket. Here's a picture 197253

Since the shifter was moved to the rearward position, there was slightly less room overall than on my prototype piece. Still have decent clearance to the bracketry and the clevis, but it is close enough to the shifter boot rubber for me to pay attention to it once I start the go-cart phase. I'm pretty glad I used the solid engine mounts too, since any drivetrain torque reaction makes that clearance even smaller. Here's an underside picture 197254

Lastly, here's a picture of it bolted together. 197255 Those extra washers are just temporary spacers. I've got an extra coil-over spacer that I'll probably cut-down to fit at the back two bolts...

Next, drilling and bolting into the frame tubes...

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

Hope you had a Nice Easter weekend! I took advantage of the extra day off from work to measure hole locations for drilling and installing my Craig-Brake bracket panel onto the trans tunnel frame tubes. There's not a lot of room to get the holes drilled correctly -- fortunately, I had a right-angle drill attachment that worked out well. I also made sure to pre-punch for the holes, drilled pilot holes, and used 3 different step-bits to get the final result where I wanted it. I only had to get out the Dremel tool to correct 2 out of the 6 pilot holes...

I also decided to use "low-profile" nutserts, since I wasn't sure the standard ones would fit my bracket (accounting for all the stack-up). The nutserts installed well with a wrench-style tool and look great. Here's a picture 197528. My only other concern was the twist-out torque for these nutserts. There really is a dramatic installed height difference between the low-profile and standard. I hope it'll be OK. I think my design is solid with mostly orthogonal loads on the fasteners, but time will tell. I used 1/4-20 nutserts and bolts with lockwashers.

Here's a picture of the bracket bolted-in 197529 and of the whole assembly before being sent off to the powder coater 197530

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I got my Craig-Brake panels back from the powder-coater and he did a great job (as always). It's a satin finish (not sure the code number) and while it doesn't exactly match the factory finish, it is good enough for me! Here's a picture 197940

Next up...prep for powertrain removal...

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

Now that I know how my Craig-Brake will fit with my powertrain, it's time to remove the engine/transmission to get back to other tasks...

But before I do, I wanted to get some pictures of the headers mocked into place so I can visualize where I'd like to add heat shielding to my engine-bay-side foot-box panels. Here's some pictures so that I can come back to them for visual reference when I build the heat shields later:
197941 197942 197944 197946 197947 197948

Wow! What a pick-me-up seeing the headers in place (even if it is just temporary) :cool:

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

Fresh from my success at installing nut-serts (or riv-nuts) for my Craig-Brake, it was time to get back to other tasks...

This one required planning a little where and how to locate my gas tank and IRS vents. I'd thought about how to do this months ago, but never got around to drilling and installing the nut-serts for this task. Finally did so this weekend.

Here's the installed nut-serts on that lower horizontal 1" tube just in front of the gas tank 197949

Here's the vent assemblies and raw bracket for the charcoal canister installed 197950

And lastly a picture of the installed charcoal canister for the gas tank vent 197951

Sorry, I don't have the part number. If you're interested, it's from a Moto Guzzi V11Sport circa 2000. I liked it because it was a nice cylindrical shape and thus pretty easy to make a bracket for it. I plan to add heat shrink tubing to the large hose clamps to cushion it a bit and give it a finished look. I'll also get the bracket powder-coated later...;)

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I spent the weekend visualizing and measuring where to precisely locate my Breeze battery tray. The instructions mention that the main 4" frame tube in front is not always parallel to the X-tubes for the front suspension. My frame was only off by about an eighth of an inch, so I proceeded to install it per the instructions, but since the fore-aft dimension was pretty tight, I did not use any washer spacers. Here's a pictorial history:

My locating and alignment set-up 198249

And after setting to the proper height -- mostly dictated by the existing holes and where they aligned to the 4" main frame tube. The X-tube tray holes did not align to my frame, but were pretty close. The difference being that this was likely designed for the square x-tubes, but for the round X-tubes, it's pretty close. As you might already know from my build thread, I like a little more precision, so I located new holes (equi-distant side to side and evenly spaced for 5 holes, and aligned to the centerline of the x-tube). Here's what that ended up looking like:

198250 198251 198252

Happy with the holes, I tapped the front ones for 10-24 button heads, and the rear ones were 1/4-20 (per the instructions)...lock-washers and hardware are stainless
198253

Lastly, I bought a 2yr battery and checked the fit...I think it'll work :)
198254 Dead animal view...looks like the tie-down bolts are clear of the scrub line, too ! 198255

Happy building!

Craig C

[JayOH]

Dead animal view...looks like the tie-down bolts are clear of the scrub line, too!

Thanks for the chuckle

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I finally got around to making my rear brake hardline that goes from the footbox floor to the driver's side rear frame area. I had some trepidation (since my early exposure to flaring quality issues), but the job wasn't so bad with good quality hardlines and patience and measuring. I did make a couple of mistakes, but powered thru and I'm happy with the results :)

If I didn't mention in previous posts, I used a Ridgid tubing bender and a flaring tool from Eastwood. The connection hardware is Earl's and I added a stainless steel spiral-wound gravel guard, since I just don't like the low-mount routing (although lots of previous builders don't have road debris issues with this "traditional" routing). I got the hardline mounts from a vendor that Mike B recommended. I really liked the curved back-side surface that fits very well on the 4" main tubes :cool:

Here's the rear views that shows the bend design and routing I chose:
198510 198511 198512 198513

The routing allows for removal (if it comes to that) :rolleyes:

Next, here's some pictures of the main straight section. Of note here is the gravel guard and how the mounts all lined up well even though I had one aligned with the flat outrigger tube, while the rest were on the 4" main tube at a different mounting angle. I also lucked out that I didn't have to drill any new hole under the driver's side footbox floor panel. I simply reamed out the 1/8" rivet hole and tapped for an 8-32 button head :cool: The last picture shows that I did have to approach the bulkhead connector at a slight angle (it was about 7 deg)

198514 198515 198516

Up next, planning my fuel lines...

Happy Building!

Craig C

[Ashaw65]

I’ve enjoyed threading your posts and appreciate the pictures. Thank you.

[cc2Arider]

Ashaw65,

Thanks for looking thru my thread and the compliment :)

I wish I had an update for this past week that included some pictures, but instead, I spent some quality time with my Club Members who put together a nice annual meeting event :cool:

Then, I had to do some chainsaw work on some downed tree limbs. Losing out on garage time has me extra motivated to get back to it this week!

Hopefully, I'll have some worthwhile post this week...

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

Since Spring has "sprung" here, I've had less time to work in the garage as I had gotten accustomed to over the Winter, so this post isn't that inspiring. I've been working on designing and locating several miscellaneous brackets that we all have to deal with...

First up is my plan for the hydraulic reservoirs. I intend to "sandwich" a pair of Al angle pieces around the 3/4" front top tube. My intention is to provide more support than a flat piece while providing some additional heat shielding from the header heat below. Here's some crude mock-up pictures: 199072 and 199073

While I'm figuring that, I still need to locate my spin-on fuel filter. It's a Trick Flow unit that others have used and it came with its own Al angle bracket. It took me a while to play with the geometry, but I got it where I want it and it just took me to add some Al spacers so I could use the bracket that was already designed for it. The arrangement should direct the forces where I want them. Here's some mock-up pictures: 199074 and 199075 and 199076

Lastly, I had heard other Builders mention that a support bracket under the outside front corner of the supplied fuse-panel bracket would be a good idea, so I thought about it and came up with this bent piece of Al sheet (~1/8" thick). Here's a couple of mock-up pictures: looking down from the top 199077 and a better side view here 199078

Hopefully, I'll carve out some more quality time in the garage this upcoming week to wrap these up :)

Until then, Happy Building!

Craig C.

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

It's good to be working in the garage again! This weekend I finalized the location and mounting choices for my canister-style fuel filter. This one's a Trick Flow unit, but there are other similar ones, too (Aeromotive, etc)

As others have done, I chose to locate the filter mounting bracket on the Passenger-side rear horizontal frame tube near the upper coil-over tabs. I stubbornly wanted to use the bracket that came with the filter, but you could easily cut a similar bracket from Al angle stock to use instead. The existing holes in the bracket are 5/16", so I used that same size nut-sert.

Here's the frame drilled out to accept the nut-serts 199571 Here's the nut-serts installed 199574

Here's a gasket/rubber damper I made from an unused riding mower tire tube 199575. Since the nut-serts have a small installed height (that is not flush with the surface), I wanted something that would support the bracket against the frame better and damp any vibrations on the bracket and filter assembly. I used a spare brass plumbing attachment as the hole punch. It worked pretty well ;)

Here's the result 199576 I'll use wavy washers or proper lock washers for the final install.

So here's the proof that I did my homework on the best overall location: easy to access all fittings from underneath the trunk panel, and relatively out-of-the-way of anything else

looking back view 199577 looking forward view 199578 looking from the right rear wheel/tire towards the driver's side view 199579 and finally looking down from the trunk floor 199580

It's rewarding that all my consternation/OCD resulted in solving all the problems I could think of -- I'm happy with the result!

Happy building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I hope your Memorial Day was as reflective as mine was :)

I wrapped up a task that turned into a goal -- get the fuel hardlines designed, routed, and fastened (at least for mock-up) by the end of this weekend. It was an intense goal for me because I ended up using a lot of geometry and Trigonometry and I didn't want to make mistakes! I figured minimum bending distances, critical offsets, coupler dimensions, access, etc. In the end, I got frustrated because I ran out of talent, or patience, or both :rolleyes: I may decide to start over after I examine my work in a few days...

I started in the back near the fuel filter. Here's some pictures 199972. Notice the swoopy bends. I had to do this because the minimum bending distance was a little wider than the 2" rear frame tubing. More views from the right rear wheel area 199973 199974 So far, so good...

Then, I wanted the maximum ground clearance, so I resorted to Trigonometry to calculate offsets. Here's an undercar view 199975

At this point, I was feeling really good about my work...then today, I ran out of talent, or patience, or both when I tried routing the fuel hardlines into the engine bay. I chose to route along the 3/4" diagonal frame tube so that it would be well supported, and reasonably protected from impact and heat sources. Others have done this, too. My hat's off to those who did this well because there's a lot of geometry to think thru!

My 1st attempt turned out pretty well on the feed line. I resorted to practicing on a spare hardline and this was a wise move! The return line was more complex because the angles just weren't computing in my head. Once again, the minimum distance between bends made for a "swoopy" shape. In the end, I resorted to "massaging" the fit a little. It's not my best work, but here's some pictures 199976 199977

Here's a wide view of the whole right side for perspective 199978

I let my desire to complete a goal run headlong into my nit-picks about unapologetic workmanship...this was quite the reflective weekend!

Craig C

[Nigel Allen]

I'd be proud to have them on my car. That's some really nice work.

Cheers,

Nige

[egchewy79]

very nice work. where did you get those line separators that are radiused to the 4" frame? or did you CNC your own?

[cc2Arider]

Many THANKS to my BroBro, Nigel, and Chewy for the compliments and encouragement :) It helped a lot! I went out to look at my work this AM, and it wasn't objectionable...I'll keep it.

Chewy,
The line separators were from a vendor that Mike B recommended. Yes, they are radiused on the back. This was a selling point for me since they're pretty stout for the purpose. I was going to mention this in my post, but had a difficult time getting everything documented before my connection got interrupted (sometimes this happens for my posts). I'll look in my email receipts to get you a contact...

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hi Chewy,

I owed you a response for the special line separators I used. I'm not sure if this violates the Vendor policy or not, but you can contact Rick at Lodestone BilletWorks. As I recall he is a builder, who knows our products well :)

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I tidied up some fuel hardline details this past week...

First up: cut and add gravel guard to the areas that might see that type of thing 200220 200221 200222

Next up, locate, drill, prep for the engine bay separator mount. I used a nutsert on the 1" diagonal support tube. Here's a progression of pictures: 200223 200224


Next up, see if I can install them with the footbox panels in place. No. Too long, but not unexpected. There's only so much maneuvering with such a complicated shape. I ended up installing the feedline into the engine bay 1st, so that meant I needed to trim the area near the filter. I already knew that I needed a minimum of 7" between the filter and the feedline, so that's where I cut it. Next, the return line needed more length near the filter, so I trimmed it back in the engine bay side. Both lines suitably trimmed, I could get them both into place with the passenger-side footbox panels in place :) 200225

Everything fit pretty well, but I did have a tight fit at the trailing edge of the passenger footbox floor, so I'm planning to add an adhesive-backed stainless steel shim (cut to fit), so it doesn't wear on my nice panel powdercoating :) Here's where I'll add that later 200226

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

Since I relocated my handbrake to the top of the transmission tunnel, I had a big panel hole that needed to be covered. I made a simple panel many months ago, but finally decided to make it removable :)

There's probably not much point in it, but I did notice with my transmission mocked into place that the oil fill plug is right there! Also a switch plug is located near there, too. Since the transmission is shifted to the passenger side a little, and has less side clearance to the panel, I figured, "Why not add an access panel?"

The difficult part was that I had already drilled the rivet holes kinda close to the panel's open edge. The "usual" nut serts would be too big in diameter. So I found an alternative in McMaster Carr. I could get some pretty small diameter ones, that would still fit a 6-32 screw size. Not too bad!

These are made for "soft" metals, and don't squish or deform themselves. Instead it has grooves that bite into and slightly deform the holes of the parent panel metal.

Here are the part numbers for the special nutserts and the installation tool 200227

Here's the panel after drilling, adding some silicone, and pressing them into place: top side 200228 bottom side 200229

Next, I needed to align the patch panel and precisely drill holes for the 6-32 stainless button heads (with lock washers). Here's the result: top 200230 back 200231

Here's an edge view so you can see how low-profile they are :cool: 200232

Until next time...Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

After successfully adding those specialized nut-serts to my access panel for the traditional hand-brake cut-out, I decided to apply the same treatment to the Driver's side inner-top panel that has an access panel for the master cylinders.

Here's a picture of the top side (with rubber washers under stainless button-head fasteners 200505 ...and here's the under side 200506

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I got to finishing the final details of my fuel hardlines. I decided that instead of flaring the ends, I'd use AN fittings that use a brass collar as the sealing mechanism. This simply gets compressed around the tube like a similar home plumbing fitting. They are -6 Earls if you're interested...

I also really wanted to try the new Ultra Flex hose and fittings, but they're not available in the -6 size, so I went to another Vendor to get the braided hose. I chose a nylon-braided lightweight hose.

Here's a picture of a short section joining the rear feed hardline from the fuel filter canister. This is a viewpoint looking up from the floor: 200508 I purposefully made the length and approach angles so that slight bends of the hose would keep it in a little compression. Worst case, I figured it better than a little tension! :p

Here's the -6 AN fittings for the engine bay. I forgot to mention that I used Earl's assembly lube since I wasn't sure what to use for the fuel line. General guidance is to use the fluid normally in the lines as the assembly lubricant, but since they're fuel lines, I just used the assembly lube to prevent galling and ensure smooth tightening. 200509 another view 200510

Lastly, I decided to add some shallow bends for the hardline return back to the fuel tank. My initial fitment didn't leave much room for the fittings to be installed (maintained), so here's how that adjustment turned out: 200511 Note the temporary fuel hose to prove the routing is still good :cool:

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I've read many a regret from other Builders that they wished they had mocked up the harness (especially the rear harness) before the final installation of the panels. So, I heeded their advice and started the harness mockup with no panels in place. Truth be told, I've been building like this anyway -- too many things to go wrong which means disassembly/re-assembly multiple times :)

Also, I'm going to stubbornly avoid drilling unnecessary holes in the firewall -- I want a clean look and have some ideas I'd like to try :cool:

I also finished drilling for the fuse panel, so here's that fastened with stainless button-heads 200515

VERY ROUGH mock-up of the main harness 200516

Initial layout of the rear harness: thru the trans tunnel 200517, thru the upper trunk 200518, thru the lower trunk 200520

Initial layout of the front harness. Note that I'm trying to use the outside bulkhead hole (since I want to reserve the inside bulkhead hole for the hydraulic reservoir hoses since it can be made larger) 200521, which leaves the inside hole to be used for the brake reservoir hoses 200522

I'll be "doin' some thinkin'" about where & how to fasten the harnesses for convenience, access, tidy-ness this week...

Until then -- Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

A milestone kinda came and went this past week. It has been a year since I've had a Mk IV Roadster kit in my possession:cool:

Overall thoughts: I'm glad I prepared ahead of time for my build vision, garage space, chassis dolly, and body buck. I'm also glad I decided to make custom touches and not rush thru a me-too build. My overall motivations remain the same and for the same reasons...

Pace of progress: has been slower than I expected. Apparently, I think things thru a bit much (and often is not as effective as I desire anyway) :rolleyes:

Learning skills: I'm very pleased with my skill improvement. I applied myself towards aspects of a typical resto-mod or custom build that will come in handy in the future. I don't have the courage to just charge in and not look back, but I can apply my vision and achieve a desired outcome.

Completion of planned tasks/activities: I "more or less" am following the build Manual, but I've taken liberties ...
- I started to "final assemble" according to the Manual initially, then decided that there are a LOT of interactions with the different subsystems of an Automobile, so I've dedicated my approach towards "mock-up" until I'm pretty sure I don't box myself into a corner with an initial decision on something. I think for most, this won't be an issue if you follow the Manual rigorously. For me, I've decided to make my own deviations from the manual to integrate my own personal choices -- of course built upon the Giants that proceeded me in this endeavor!

- I'm about up to page 250 in the build manual -- major exception being that I haven't permanently mounted panels. This allows me to access parts of the chassis freely for drilling holes, etc. I realize that I still need to think thru what happens when the panels are in the way later :(

Special Attention: has been applied to the fitment of the various parts included in the kit. I'm really motivated to assemble parts and fasten to hold into place -- not force into a shape that is convenient. I also was very motivated to making my own parking brake / handbrake design. This deviates from the heritage of the build, but I wanted something more functional ergonomically-speaking when I'm belted into the seat. I'm also wanting to design a console under the dash panel, and I've got styling elements that I'd like to apply to the dash panel facade , too. I'm also thinking about making heat shield panels for the engine bay.

This post has been a catharsis, and I'm ready to get back into it!

Happy Building...

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I tried my hand at cutting and assembling fuel flex lines, and it wasn't too difficult. I chose the nylon sheathing because I'm not particularly a fan of the SS braided look for everything. I did use Al vise jaws and a Special AN aluminum adjustable wrench, but I suppose you could just apply some protective tape to the jaws of your steel adjustable wrench and/or vise if you had to...

I also used a simple hacksaw to cut thru the flex lines. They had embedded stainless mesh within the synthetic rubber. I believe that kept the cut pretty clean. I suspect if I used Stainless steel braided line (on the outside) I'd probably need to use a cutoff wheel instead...

Assembly was straightforward and used Earl's assembly lube on the swivel ends. I left the lengths long so that I could choose to tighten before I raised the tank into position (and vice-versa if I needed to remove the tank). I like options :) I'm thinking of using some MagDaddys to secure the loops directly onto the top of the tank :cool:

Anyway, here's some pictures: 200697 200698 200699

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I got my RT tribute turn signal assembly from TJ and I'm very happy with it! This past week, I centered the bracket onto the FFR upper steering shaft frame bracket (per the instructions), and I'm happy with my work. Here's a couple of pictures: 200700 200701

I was so excited to get that installed that I didn't notice until later that the assembly shifted towards the center of the cockpit by about a 1/4" or so. I based this observation on the shaft distance from the original FFR steering stem bracket bearing clamp holes. Here's a picture with a ruler to show scale 200702

Am I the first builder to notice this? Can't be...:eek:

Apparently, it's not that big of a deal to sweat this detail. I did post a question in the Roadster forum, but no one has replied...However, if anyone DID observe this with your build, what did you do about it?

I'm thinking about making a new alignment plate since I have some spare 11Ga steel. I might just do this as an experiment anyway...

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

Fresh from being inspired by the cool people and Cobras at the London show this past weekend, I got to finishing my Remote Hydraulic Reservoir Bracket! I'm pretty sure it will fit with the body and hood on, but if not, I can recreate something similar later...

Here's my design: 200957 It sandwiches the existing tube and provides flex support about 2 1/2" down from the tube. I'm not sure it's necessary, but I think it'll be strong for it's purpose. I flipped the "support" side so that the "backing" side has more room to route the rubber hoses to the existing hole in the driver's footbox bulkhead panel. I countersunk the holes so that only the thickness of the support panel extends into the engine bay from the 3/4" top tube. I plan to fasten a bent piece of thin Stainless sheet to the bottom of the backing plate to act as a heat shield :cool:

Here's a couple of pictures after drilling for the three reservoir clamps: 200958 200959 I have enough room to fasten the clamps to my "support" side, and I have some margin to lower the reservoirs about 3/8" more if I need to. I managed to level all of them and have a tidy appearance :cool:

Lastly, I cut/sanded holes for the rubber hoses to go thru the footbox bulkhead panel by making a grommet out of a floorpan body plug. The overall hole diameter is 1.5". Next, I'll have to enlarge the existing hole in the Al panel (which appears to be only about 1" diameter from FFR). The bulkhead hole is much larger anyway, so I just need to make a round/smooth hole. Here's a test-fit picture: 200960

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

Several weeks back, I purchased a fiberglass-backed silicone heat shield from Holley. I intended to use it in my engine bay for the fuel lines running up/back to my pressure regulator...

The trouble was, they only had the 18" long size (for the 2" diameter product), so I got myself some quality shears from a sewing retailer last Friday. I asked for heavy-duty that could be used for upholstery, and I got Husqvarna-branded shears -- this was kinda cool! Anyway, I used them to cut the heat shield down to about a foot long, and it came out great -- nice clean, straight cut!

Here's a picture of the finished product in the engine bay: 200961 It's a wrapped sleeve fastened to itself by strong velcro, so it can be installed/removed at-will...

I still have to finish plumbing the hoses and locate the regulator, but I think it'll work as intended :)

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I decided to make a simple bracket for my RT tribute steering shaft assembly because it appeared to need a left-ward offset of about 1/4"~3/8". I know this sounds OCD, but it made me happy to craft something to achieve a desired outcome :p

Here's a picture of the bracket made from 11Ga steel sheet, cut on a table-top bandsaw, and drilled with both drill-press and hand-drill, and finished off by hand-filing and belt-sanding the edges: 201186 I'll powder-coat this soon...

Here's the mock-up. 201187 Notice the comparison to my earlier posted picture. This aligns very well with the FFR-designed upper shaft mount :cool: Mission accomplished!

Happy building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I learned from previous builders that the main wire loom (simply due to its size and location) gets in the way of or rests on the steering shaft. I don't think it would impede the rotation, but why leave it that way? As other builders have posted, I decided to make a simple bracket to keep it (and other obstructions) free from the steering shaft.

Here's my simple bracket made from 14ga sheet steel, cut with a table-top bandsaw, bent on a bench vise, and drilled using a hand-drill: 201188

Then to mount it to the 2" square cross tube, I drilled and swaged in some low-profile nut-serts 201189

Here it is loosely mocked-up 201190 I'll powder-coat it soon...

Lastly, here are images of the intended purpose 201191 201193 This last one shows it best 201194

Happy building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

Earlier in the year, I posted about my rear brake hardline design, and I just wasn't happy with the level of "stick-out" underneath the footbox floor panel, so this weekend I decided to finally "recess" it :cool:

The combination of the panel overlap caused the 90 deg elbow to stick out too much for my OCD, so I reamed out the hole for the overlapped panel so that the bulkhead fitting recessed by just that amount. Here's the picture of the result 201199 I tested to see if a flare-nut wrench would still work on the flared-end, and it did...

The problem that I just created was a weaker joint of the bulkhead fitting against the footbox floor panel, so I decided to bolster the strength by adding "backing" plates.

Here's a picture of a 14ga steel "plate" or shim, along with a pair of Al panel shims (just because), used on the cabin-side of this panel joint 201200 I plan to powder-coat at least the steel part soon...

I think this arrangement will work just fine and I plan to use a simple 3/8" nut/bolt to squeeze that part of the panel joint during the silicone curing phase. Then I'll simply unbolt and install the bulkhead fitting for real :cool:

Happy building!

Craig C

[danmas]

Your thread is amazing. You clearly have a lot of skill and I admire your vision in terms of access panels and so forth. Thanks for sharing. I really appreciate your craftsmanship.

[egchewy79]

Hey Y'All,

Fresh from being inspired by the cool people and Cobras at the London show this past weekend, I got to finishing my Remote Hydraulic Reservoir Bracket! I'm pretty sure it will fit with the body and hood on, but if not, I can recreate something similar later...

Here's my design: 200957 It sandwiches the existing tube and provides flex support about 2 1/2" down from the tube. I'm not sure it's necessary, but I think it'll be strong for it's purpose. I flipped the "support" side so that the "backing" side has more room to route the rubber hoses to the existing hole in the driver's footbox bulkhead panel. I countersunk the holes so that only the thickness of the support panel extends into the engine bay from the 3/4" top tube. I plan to fasten a bent piece of thin Stainless sheet to the bottom of the backing plate to act as a heat shield :cool:

Here's a couple of pictures after drilling for the three reservoir clamps: 200958 200959 I have enough room to fasten the clamps to my "support" side, and I have some margin to lower the reservoirs about 3/8" more if I need to. I managed to level all of them and have a tidy appearance :cool:

Lastly, I cut/sanded holes for the rubber hoses to go thru the footbox bulkhead panel by making a grommet out of a floorpan body plug. The overall hole diameter is 1.5". Next, I'll have to enlarge the existing hole in the Al panel (which appears to be only about 1" diameter from FFR). The bulkhead hole is much larger anyway, so I just need to make a round/smooth hole. Here's a test-fit picture: 200960

Happy Building!

Craig C

I like all the custom bespoke touches you're doing. You might want to rivet the front panel of your DS footbox in before installing the brake reservoir bracket as it will get in the way of your rivet gun. It'll also interfere w/ trying to get the top riveted to the front panel as well.

[cc2Arider]

Hi Chewy,

Thanks for the post :)

Yeah, I'm still in "mockup" stage at this point, and have been making mental notes of my assembly order. Truth be told, I'm also procrastinating about "final" assembly of my panels because I think about something new that I'll need to add before I get to the riveting. Actually the drilling out of rivets isn't too bad, it's the hope that the panels can be separated from the silicone without too much "avoidable" damage :rolleyes:

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Your thread is amazing. You clearly have a lot of skill and I admire your vision in terms of access panels and so forth. Thanks for sharing. I really appreciate your craftsmanship.

Hi Dan,

Welcome back and thanks for the encouragement! :)

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

Hope you had a nice Independence Day :) I visited Family and it was a good time!

Due to the short week, I didn't get much done but was able to drill out a pass-thru hole for my rear brake flex line by tucking it behind the Accelerator Pedal bracket. This will keep it out of the way (as others have done). I added a rubber grommet to finish the mock-up. Here's a picture (looking down from the top of the Driver's side footbox):
201556

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I decided to make a simple heat shield out of "mirror polished" Stainless sheet I got from McMaster-Carr. It comes polished on one side only...although I suppose if you were so inclined, you could put effort into polishing the other side :p

I figured the shiny finish would have the best chance to reflect the radiated heat from the Driver's side Headers...

Here's some pictures: engine side view 201557 Radiator view 201558 Header collector view 201559

This will stay polished, but I'll powdercoat the aluminum brackets...

Happy Building!

Craig C

[danmas]

Hey Y'All,

After successfully adding those specialized nut-serts to my access panel for the traditional hand-brake cut-out, I decided to apply the same treatment to the Driver's side inner-top panel that has an access panel for the master cylinders.

Here's a picture of the top side (with rubber washers under stainless button-head fasteners 200505 ...and here's the under side 200506

Happy Building!

Craig C

I am going to do this as well. I simply don’t see any other way to get access once the body is on. Thanks for the write up.

[cc2Arider]

Hi Dan,

I only used the specialized nut-serts because the overlap of the two panels was less than what I expect to use for the more traditional nut-serts. Now that I feel more comfortable making my own simple panels, I would do it differently than I did before by making a new access panel with more overlap -- this would permit me to drill the holes with more material on the edges of the access opening.

Good Luck !

Craig C

[AndrewIdaho]

I only used the specialized nut-serts because the overlap of the two panels was less than what I expect to use for the more traditional nut-serts.


Craig
Newbie question - what is a specialized nut-sert?
Thanks, Andrew

[cc2Arider]

Hi Andrew,

This is my own definition :p

The typical nut-serts (or riv-nuts) deform like a blind-pull rivet, whereas these "specialized" ones described previously are machined stainless and instead deform the mounting hole just a little because it is a slight interference fit if you drill properly. The severity of deformation is limited to forming the grooves into the hole from the "knurled" surface of the nut-sert. This helps to limit "twist-out"...

The ones from McMaster-Carr have a data sheet that identifies the proper drill size to use:cool:

I chose these simply because they were small enough diameter and had decent "twist-out" specs. Truth be told, the FFR Aluminum panels are actually on the thin side to use these properly, but I was OK with that because I added Silicone on the back-side upon assembly anyway, and this provided me some comfort that they would be retained onto the panel following any panel disassembly task.

Good Luck!

Craig C

[AndrewIdaho]

Hi Craig,

Thanks for the clarification and the additional insight to your assembly technique. I have follow-up question. Do you use the McMaster-Carr Stainless Steel Twist-Resistant Rivet Nuts or the Stainless Steel Low-Profile Rivet Nuts (or both depending on application)?

Keep up the great work on the build. I enjoy following along.

Best Regards, Andrew

[cc2Arider]

Hi Andrew,

I have used different types...https://www.mcmaster.com/catalog/130/3661/94648A330 and https://www.mcmaster.com/catalog/130/3780/98560A572 as well as well-nuts (rubber with brass inserts) and the "usual" riv-nuts. I even used these https://www.mcmaster.com/catalog/130/3524/94887A112

The factors can vary...sometimes my whim at the time, or serious considerations of long-term viability or maintenance, or to mitigate my own mistakes :rolleyes:

Good Luck!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

This weekend I decided to knock out a project that I was dreading: removal of my F-panels to fit "Fat Tire" panels in their place. You see, I decided last winter to stuff the widest tire that would fit onto the FFR 18" rims, and when I tested for tire rub lock-to-lock, I noticed tire contact with the F-panels...

My short-term solution was to add rack limiters, and those did the job. I believed a more permanent solution might still be needed, so several months back I ordered a set of "Fat Tire" panels from a preferred vendor. My thought was that I might even be able to remove my "short term fix" rack limiters if I could get those new panels installed. Well, the time to do that is sooner rather than later, but I'd like to share my observations in case any of you want to retrofit these on your Roadsters :)

First up: how to make room behind the upper a-arm suspension so that I could get to my rivets and drill them out. With a combination of jack stands and a lawnmower/motorcycle jack, I could keep the wheel and the rest of the front suspension intact and only remove the A arm from the frame. So far, so good 201814

Next: carefully drilling out the rivets and extracting the F-panel without damaging it. It will be more clear why I didn't want to damage it in the next paragraph :) Success! 201815 Truth be told, my original silicone application seemed suspect (perhaps cured in the tube before using it?), and these came out pretty easy...

Here's where careful extraction pays dividends: You can overlay the old panel with the new one to exactly replicate the rivet holes into the new panels :cool: 201816 Notice that in addition to the extra origami shape, the "Fat tire" panels are also 2.25" longer.

Careful measuring, alignment, clamping, and drilling is next. This is the halfway point to make sure the sides are evenly referenced to each other 201817

Here's the results: 201818 They seem to align to each other well 201819

I just have to file the edges a little more and then send off to powder coat...but I think I'll wait to do that until after rough fitment of the body (now that I know I can rivet these at any time without disrupting my front suspension). Ohhhh...I almost forgot one final pointer: I got non-locking 1/2-20 fine pitch nuts so I can assemble/disassemble the upper A-arm bracket to the frame without worry of losing the locking effectiveness for the original lock nuts :p I'll re-install the lock-nuts when I'm doing final assembly...

Happy Building!

Craig C

[gbranham]

Looks nice, but seems like a lot of work and little reward for ~20mm in tread width. Educate me! I'm curious.

[cc2Arider]

I agree about the return on investment :p It wasn't that much though, in the larger build picture perspective...

Mostly, I'm trying to look "down the road" at what this experience will be like in 5, 10, 20 yrs...and from reading other Builder's experiences, they tend to "tinker" for a few more years after build completion. I like having options -- I preach it to my Team at work. So, this represented an option to tackle a possible improvement that I might make in a few yrs. For me, I was concerned I wouldn't be able to do it effectively with the body mounted and finished.

I'm also trying to "hone my craft", and this was a good little project to reinforce some of the typical skills needed for these builds :)

Which reminds me: I'm curious about your powertrain decision...especially since you have the perspective of completing a build many years ago and building another. What were your motivations to go from a Coyote back to a Windsor engine?

Thanks for the feedback!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Sorry...I just re-read your question...and maybe I didn't answer why I chose the tires? Mostly just to look cool :cool: Maybe a slight performance advantage...but that's pure conjecture!

Craig C

PS: also, I stubbornly wanted to use them since I paid for them :rolleyes:

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I didn't get much done on my build this weekend due to long-neglected outside chores :rolleyes:

One thing I did get done was to re-install the body to check for the fitment of various parts. Here's a picture 202095.

One thing that really surprised me was that my aluminum trunk side panels really need to flex/bend just to get the lower tail-end of the body down into place. I had the body as rearward as the front quickjack frame would allow and as per previous guidance, the front part of the body gets lowered into place and then the rear part of the body is pivoted down :confused: Is this normal? I'll also ask on the main forum...

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I've got more pictorial details of the body test fitment. Since the body seemed to fit reasonably well, I decided to check out how the rollbar holes were aligned. The holes need a little adjustment, but didn't seem too far out, nor moved the body appreciably during the installation of the bars. Here's some pictures for motivation :cool:

202469 202470 202471 202472 202473

More good news: Jeff's "mod" works great! I just snugged these up and it worked wonders for the trunk fitment :)

202474 202475

Now the details. I know from previous guidance that a critical dimension is the door openings in relation to the striker post plate on the frame. Here's my initial fore-aft dimension
202476 I vaguely recall Jeff recommending a 1/4" measurement. Is this correct? It seems that the thickness of the flange is about that thick... :confused:

Then I took pictures of the side-to-side offset in the same area. The Passenger-side had no relative gap 202477 but the Driver's side had a small gap, and should be noted that I could move it in and out relatively easily. I suspect this will come into play when I try to fit the doors later ...202478

That's all for now...more later!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

Continuing on this line of temporary body fitment updates, we come to the motivation for this endeavor: Since I decided to try the "Fat Tire" F-panels and noticed that the rearward flange moved back about 2", I needed to see how it would impact the front splashguard panels. Short answer, they don't fit that great, but to be honest, I didn't check the fitment with the standard F-panels...so there's that:rolleyes:

Setup: I located the body up/down by using the front quick jack bolts and collars, then used some plastic shimming of about 3/4" on top of the curved top hood opening tubes. I also located the rear of the body on 1/2" all-thread (Kleiner Mod). No interior Al panels were installed (and no bulb seal was therefore used, either)...

Here's some pictures. First: Underhood looking out towards the Driver's side 202479 Underhood looking out towards the Passenger side 202480

Notice the gaps... :eek: Does the panel with bulb seal get wedged up against the side (with the panel flex keeping it in contact with the body), or is is supposed to fit like the top-part (nearly 90 deg joint)?

Here's some other views. Inside the engine bay looking down to each side (sidepipe view): Driver 202481 Passenger 202482

I think the gap to the sidepipe opening is good. Does this look right?

Here's the wheelwell views: Driver 202483 Passenger 202484

I think these look OK, too. Can someone confirm that this is about right, please?

I think I've got some serious massaging to do on those panels. I might decide to mock-up some chip-board or poster-board to see how far off the stock panels are...

Meanwhile, here's a couple of fun pictures. Here's the clearance to my hydraulic reservoirs I was so worried about...no sweat! 202485

Lastly, underhood view looking forward (engine view) 202486 :p

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I continued on my rough fitment of the body and splash panels. This weekend, it was the rear wheelwell panels...

I just didn't like how the rear inside fender panels (outside trunk panels) fit right at the short vertical 3/4" frame tube. I obsessed about this because the Build Manual instructs us to locate the rear splash panels on this tube. Here's why I took so long to prep these panels. Notice the non-parallel gap!
Driver's side 202487 Passenger side 202488

I just couldn't have that, so I simply decided to locate the rear splash panels slightly rearward from those frame tubes. This made my decision to shim the side panels much easier. I only need 1 small shim per side to mount the side panels securely and on-plane with the different triangulated tubes. This also will allow me to fasten the splash panels thru 2 frame tubes at the top-most and bottom-most dimensions. These will be the strength mounting points. The rest will simply fasten the splashpanel flange to the trunk side panels every 2".

With that decided, I could finally mark out, drill, cleco, etc the side panels, and aesthetically leave room for the fasteners not yet installed for the splash panel flanges. I'm pleased with the outcome so far.

Here's some pictures with measurements:
passenger side: 202489 202490 Driver's side 202491 202492

The Driver's side splashpanel took some persuading to get the flange bend just right and match the distance to the tire from the Passenger side, and then I also had to bend the fuel tank flange on the Driver's side (this is mentioned in the Build Manual). Here's a picture of the new clearance to the fuel tank flange :)
202493

Whew! It's hot ang muggy and I'm ready for a cold one ... Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

It's pleasant weather here and finally got to some outside chores, so not a lot of Roadster build progress :(

I did spend some time thinking about how to choose the location of the dash panel. I know...the Build Manual tells us to locate the dash panel top edge 3/16" above the ends of the curved dash tube. Since this dimension can change depending on the side-to-side location, I took my time to locate it. I still didn't get it perfect, but I heard from the experienced builders to not expect too much precision for the panel and body measurements...

The one thing I couldn't rely on was the steering stem hole since I modified the stem alignment a little in order to fit my RT tribute steering shaft support bracket. So that left me to choose what the "critical" side-to-side measurement reference was. I chose the bottom bent flange as my reference. Maybe this choice could have been different? :confused:

Anyway, half of the width got me a centerline, and I aligned it with the centerline of the horizontal 2" cross tube, then checked for level on the bottom flange. Pretty close. I think I'm a 1/16" off. I think that's good enough, but I'd welcome any feedback! :D Here's the "big" picture
202721

Next came some measurements against the curved dash tube, just to confirm I'm in the right location. I couldn't get the height measurements to agree side-to-side, so I'm looking for some feedback. Did I make the right decision to confirm "level" first? Then confirm "center"?

Does the height from the top of the panel to the top of the curved dash tube need to be per the Build Manual, or "good enough"?

Here's my dimensions against the top of the curved tube (with the panel "level"):
minimum Driver's side = 3/16" 202722

maximum height along the Driver's side to the curved tube = 7/16" 202723

height at the center = 4/16" 202724

maximum height along the passenger side to the curved top tube is about 9/16" 202725

minimum Passenger side = 2/16" 202726

Once again, I'd appreciate some feedback -- let me know if I'm losing the forest for the trees...:p

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

Not a lot of build progress again this week, but I did manage to locate, drill, and cleco the Passenger side firewall extension panel. Here's a picture: 202882

Next, I decided to deviate from the Build Manual again and make some experimental panels. I can't get the rear of the body mounted without really bending the rear outside trunk panels. I think after powder-coating them and adding the bulb-seal, it's not going to get any easier :( I also don't want to trim back the rear under body "roll-pan" because I like how it tucks neat as-is (with the raw cuts from FFR). I'd rather proceed slowly and with confidence for any trimming (either the body or the Al panels).

Sooo...here's my experiment concept. I'm going to make some extra panels just for the rear of the outside trunk panels. Then, I'll use them to locate the body and determine what exactly needs trimming :) If my plan works out like I want, I can easily install (or remove) these panels while the body is "on". If the concept is sound, then I'll proceed to locate the splash guards, and then that will determine where I bend my new panels to accommodate the splash panels. Then I can cut the original outside trunk panels such that it meets the new panels and then I can fasten the splash panels to both trunk panels for strength. It'll be more clear to show when I've bent my new panels :)

The experimental panels are sourced from McMaster-Carr (although you could get them from any reputable metal supply outlet). They are 1'x2'x0.040" 6061-T6 Al.

Anyway, here's some pictures of the panel duplication process. Driver's side: confirming layout 202883 getting ready to locate & drill 202884 finally, cleco'd on the chassis after matching the shape 202885

Then, I duplicated for the Passenger side: 202886 202887

Now, if I can just catch a break from work, I'll have more to show next weekend...Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I got a little quality time in the garage this weekend and pressed on with miscellaneous panel fitment that impact the body fitment. First, I wanted to drill fastener holes into my "big tire" F-panels in a repeatable way so that I can quickly drill the "elephant ears" when that time comes. I made a simple drilling jig out of some scrap Al angle, measured and drilled holes every 2" and clamped it up. Here's the before picture 203129 and here's an after picture 203130

Next, I tried my proof-of-concept rear outside trunk "extension" panels by mounting the body again, but waiting to install the panels until after the body was in-place. I could get to all the clecos, and I checked the measurements again: there isn't enough room to do it the "traditional" way without really yanking on the body and/or trimming up the rear "roll pan". I'm happy with my decision to deviate from the build manual in this regard. Here's a picture: 203131

Happy with the approach, my next objective was to try a trick from the Build School. Here's the tool: 1 1/4" fender washer! 203132 This is used to mark the Al panels so that a consistent bulb-seal gap can be achieved. You simply place the washer on the Al panel to be marked, insert a pen into the center opening, and roll it along the gap! I tried it on the panel recommended by the Build School: the Passenger-side firewall extension. Here's a picture of the trimming needed to get a consistent fit to the cowl/upper fender area 203133

I also tried it on my rear fender splashguards (although the picture quality is sub-standard) 203134 the fit is actually pretty good for the rear splashguards :)

Lastly, I took a bunch of measurements of the rear suspension points as reference to the fender well opening and believe I'm "somewhat" symmetrical with the rough fitment of the rear splashguards. I have a consistent measurement from the bottom of the rear fender "lip" to the splashguard where the tab gets drilled into the underbody. Passenger203135 and Driver203136

Next weekend: front fender splashguard panel fitment :eek:

Until then, Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

Hope you had a nice Labor Day weekend! I got to work on my Roadster :cool:

I'm continuing where I left off from the last post -- more rough fitment of the splashguard panels. A refresher on why I'm doing this: 1) In the rear, I just didn't want to compromise on the outer trunk panel interference "fit" with the rolled under edge of the rear body shape, so I'm making my own panels that I can install after the body is mounted. Since this means cutting the trunk panels in two, I need to make sure my design still fits. 2) In the front, I am using the "fat tire" F-panels. These extend the mounting flange 2" rearward (among other things) and I needed to see how the unmodified splash panels fit with this change.

Rear splash panel: Sketch of my approach 203534

I measured and bent the new "extension" panels where I wanted them and confirmed the splash panels butt up against these new bent mounting flanges and still align where they used to. Some pictures of the Passenger side 203535 203536 203537 The Driver's side turned out the same 203538 203539

With those fitting properly, I proceeded to cut the original outside trunk panels to fit. Here's the method used for marking the panels: sandwich the original and the "extension" together using the clecos 203540

Thusly marked and now cut, then cleco'ed the two panels in place, and clamped the splash guards in-place to confirm overall rough fitment was maintained. Driver's side: 203541 203542 Passenger side fit very nicely, as well :)

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

Having an extra day in the garage really helped me move along this weekend :)

I spent a good part of my time figuring out where the unmodified front splash guard panels needed to be modified to fit my "fat tire" F-panels. Recall that these panels moved the mounting flange 2" rearward...

Just for kicks, I decided to fit my original F-panel with the splash guard panels and the fitment wasn't that good anyway, so I felt a big relief that I could proceed with my modifications :cool:

My overall observation was that the splash panels "were in the ballpark", but seemed to ride "high". Here's where I started to mark 203545 and then trim up the bottom of the panels near the small body-mounting tab 203546 (notice that I flattened the original mounting tab to try to salvage as much material as possible).

Next, trimmed to fit and ready to bend a new mounting tab 203548

Here it is bent 203549 (note the area still needing to be trimmed)

I proceeded to the Driver's side. Here's a detail of the reshaped and re-bent bottom area 203550

Overall rough fitment of Passenger side 203551 Pretty good! The Driver's side didn't fit as well (too much gap still), but I'm not too worried now since that section of body moves a lot! I suspect I won't narrow down the placement until I get much closer to final assembly and fit the doors (for reference). Anyway, here's the Driver's side 203552

Until next time, Happy Building!

Craig C

[Blitzboy54]

Hey Y'All,

It's pleasant weather here and finally got to some outside chores, so not a lot of Roadster build progress :(

I did spend some time thinking about how to choose the location of the dash panel. I know...the Build Manual tells us to locate the dash panel top edge 3/16" above the ends of the curved dash tube. Since this dimension can change depending on the side-to-side location, I took my time to locate it. I still didn't get it perfect, but I heard from the experienced builders to not expect too much precision for the panel and body measurements...

The one thing I couldn't rely on was the steering stem hole since I modified the stem alignment a little in order to fit my RT tribute steering shaft support bracket. So that left me to choose what the "critical" side-to-side measurement reference was. I chose the bottom bent flange as my reference. Maybe this choice could have been different? :confused:

Anyway, half of the width got me a centerline, and I aligned it with the centerline of the horizontal 2" cross tube, then checked for level on the bottom flange. Pretty close. I think I'm a 1/16" off. I think that's good enough, but I'd welcome any feedback! :D Here's the "big" picture
202721

Next came some measurements against the curved dash tube, just to confirm I'm in the right location. I couldn't get the height measurements to agree side-to-side, so I'm looking for some feedback. Did I make the right decision to confirm "level" first? Then confirm "center"?

Does the height from the top of the panel to the top of the curved dash tube need to be per the Build Manual, or "good enough"?

Here's my dimensions against the top of the curved tube (with the panel "level"):
minimum Driver's side = 3/16" 202722

maximum height along the Driver's side to the curved tube = 7/16" 202723

height at the center = 4/16" 202724

maximum height along the passenger side to the curved top tube is about 9/16" 202725

minimum Passenger side = 2/16" 202726

Once again, I'd appreciate some feedback -- let me know if I'm losing the forest for the trees...:p

Happy Building!

Craig C

As long as the corners and steering shaft hole is lined up don't worry about the radius of the frame. That top tube is not concentric or even. The body covers the tope of the dash. Jeff recommends the tip of the frame being just above the frame at the corners.

In general your build looks great. 4 wheel motorcycle is a very accurate way to describe these cars. Accelerates like a bike and corners four times as fast.

[cc2Arider]

Thanks Jesse :)

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I deburred the edges of my "fat tire" F-panels and drilled out the splash guard mounting flange for some 8-32 screws. I'll use these with nutserts crimped on the splash panels themselves (when that time comes for final fitment).

I did the same for the outside trunk panels for the rear. I repurposed 2 of the existing 1/8" rivet holes going thru the 3/4" tubes and drilled those out for nutserts, and after crimping them in, will use as de-facto rivets. Then the splash guards will get screwed into these with 8-32 button heads. I also drilled out my new "extension" panels for nutserts, and I'll install the nutserts directly into the 3/4" tubes and bolt the whole thing with 8-32 button heads. Here's pictures of the Passenger and Driver side mocked into place after the final drilling 203823 203824

I still have to scuff them up with a DA sander and ScotchBrite pads before sending them off to the Powder Coater.

Happy Building :)

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

Since the weather is still pretty warm here lately, I wanted to get some minor frame modifications done so that I could prep for the inevitable painting touch-up that I'll need. One of these projects was the modification needed for the Breeze upper radiator mount. The "extra" short sections of 3/4" tube at the front outside edges of this tube get cut off to make room for the long piano-style hinge that serves as the bracket for the Breeze mount. I used a Dremel tool with a cut-off disc, but you could use other tools suitable as well. Here's a picture of the top two welds cut thru, and the tube just bent out of the way a little bit 203825 I then used a small adjustable wrench on this "extra" tube section and worked it back-n-forth to fatigue the other spot weld joints. These gave way on the small tube (as expected). Then I was left with some "clean-up" (filing, sanding, etc) Here's what it looked like 203826 Notice the factory powder coating can't get between the tubes. I knew this beforehand and planned to paint that whole section anyway.

I used Eastwood's Chassis Black, since it has a satin finish that nearly matches the sheen of the factory-applied powder coating. It has an epoxy formulation, so I used it as the basecoat for a top-coat of a big-box-store satin black product. It has a better sheen match to the factory-applied powder coating. Here's a picture of the result 203827

I'm happy with that :) I'll try to do the same to the various areas on the frame that have already seen some "rash". I'll try to get these done before it gets too cold outside...

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I still had one more session of measuring, marking, and drilling for my new trunk "extension" panels before I send them off to powder coating. Since I expect the rear splash panels to be fit at a much later stage of assembly, I wanted the mounting flange (both edges) to have precisely-located nutsert holes. This is because I'll not have access to mark one of the flange side holes during final fitment. So I dug out a piece of aluminum that I had used 20 yrs ago as a test piece to true a milling machine. Here's a picture of the chunk of aluminum 204151

Since each face is 90deg to the others, I simply lined up one edge to the existing flange holes, and this positioned the other edge precisely on the other flange. Here's after marking the other flange 204152 Here's after drilling 204153 The Driver's side has a better picture 204154

With that done, I cleaned and scuffed the panels for powder coating. These got sent to the powder coater along with my similarly-prepped "fat tire" panels and fuse panel. 204155

While I was at it, I removed all of my pre-made brackets, and those got sent to the powder coater for a satin black finish 204156

Lastly, I took apart all of my hardlines from the frame and removed other pre-assembled parts so that I can touch-up some of the frame "rash" with some paint. It's kinda difficult to take some steps back, but it has to be done while I can do it :) Here's the nearly bare chassis ready for some scuffing, masking, and spot painting 204157

Until next time, Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

This post is not that informative, but rather simply, a date stamped update about what I've been working on...also, the picture quality isn't that great :(

I cleaned, scuffed, and masked some parts of my frame for some touch-up spray painting. I used a combination of Eastwood Chassis Black (with a satin finish) and a "drop" coat of Krylon Satin black (because the sheen is a little better match to the factory powder-coating). Most of this effort last weekend was due to the factory powder-coating peeling off easily on the driver's side main frame tube and the front lower quick jack tube. I'm not sure if anyone else has experienced this or not. I suspect perhaps the metal just wasn't cleaned well enough (or maybe was not scuffed enough)...

The only helpful tip to our community is to roll the masking tape back a little at each masked boundary so that you don't make a "hard" edge. This is commonly known by the painting professionals, but maybe some Novices haven't tried it yet.

Anyway, here's some (admittedly poor quality) pictures: Front quickjack lower frame tube 204434 204435

Driver's side main frame tube 204436 204437 204438 204439

Next update: more of the same :rolleyes:

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I prepped for more engine bay paint touch-ups this weekend. First up is the main cross frame tube. I scuffed it the last time I removed my engine :mad:

I tried an interesting paint masking product: round foam strips with adhesive on one side. They're normally meant for masking door jambs, but I liked that I could snake them around compound curves and they'd leave a soft paint edge. Here's pictures right after paint touch-up. They're the white noodle looking things on the ends.
Looking front204603 Looking back 204604 You can still see some blotchiness in the photos, but they dried pretty well...

Next up, my engine bay top and side 3/4" square tubes. These got some rash after test fitting the body and front splash guards. Here's right after painting 204605 204606

and after removing all the masking 204607 204609

The picture quality is a little better, and if you can't tell where I painted, then that was my goal ;)

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I got some Stainless rivnuts for my rear splashguards, but I thought I'd try them out on my Russ Thompson tribute drop trunk, too :)

I used a screw-type swaging tool, but you could also use the two hand-press style. I'd caution against using the cheap HF single-hand grip style. The seating anvil has a conical shape to it and that easily messes up the front face.:rolleyes:

Obligatory picture 204610

Then I installed some SS rivnuts for my trunk outer side panels. These will be used to fasten my rear splashguards later 204611 My trunk side panel "extensions" will get the same treatment this week...

Until then, Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Yey Y'All,

Since my "touch-up the frame blemishes with paint" task is done, I can focus on getting back to my build plan...but 1st, I need to catch-up to the Build Manual sequence.

Today, I riveted and bonded my "fat tire" F-panels. Then, that allowed me to final torque the front upper A-arm pivots to the frame. Here's some pictures: 204866 204867

This one shows how the panels allow for more steering clearance: 204868

It's nice to see color back on the chassis again! :cool:

Until next time, Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

More catching up to the Build Manual sequence...this time it's page 117. First up, I bonded my Firewall shims to the frame. The Passenger side shim was needed to prevent deforming the panel since most of the rivets are along the 2x2 frame cross-member 204869 The Driver's side shim stack was needed to fit the top of the footbox properly 204870

With the shims pre-bonded, I riveted and bonded the firewall 204871 204872

Until next time, Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

In keeping with my goal of making the body installation/removal easier, I'm experimenting with a way to remove/reattach the rear trunk panel "lip"...

When I cut it off and fabricate a means to reattach it, I'll call it the "trunk floor pan extension". My plan is to simply add a piece of Al "angle" stock (1/16" thick) to the most rearward bend of the trunk floor pan. Then when I'm happy with the fit, I'll cut along that bend line and fasten both sides to the "angle" stock bracket.

Here's me getting started by lining up my existing rivet holes 204942 and here's the bracket mounted with the panel in-place 204943

This is 1" wide on each side...I'm thinking about getting wider stock to reinforce the joint better and possibly space-out the new riv-nut locations to make it accessible once the "Kleiner mod" couplers and the tank are in-place...I'll think about this more this week before making that final lengthwise cut :)

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

Since I need to send my Driver's front footbox panel back to the Powder Coater, I figured I ought to fit the outer patch panel to get that coated, too. My previously measured rivet locations weren't too far off and this allowed me to use the existing holes on the outer edge. I spaced the additional holes 1 & 7/8 " and this prevented any fitment issues with the thick pedal reinforcement plate :)

Here's the status update picture 204955

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

Since I haven't yet fastened my trunk panels, I've been experimenting with different rear harness routings...

I think I settled on routing this harness along the Driver's side trans tunnel (like many others have done) , and up underneath the stock battery location. No real differences so far. Whereas I thought I'd continue towards the Passenger side under the trunk panels, I changed my mind...too much going on near my fuel lines. I'll instead route the harness back towards the Driver's side by locating it underneath the frame tube that triangulates out toward the Driver's side roll bar support tube mount.

Here's some pictures since I didn't explain very well :rolleyes: 205282 205283 205284

I'll try to locate the "trailer harness adapter" in this general area, too. Then I'll route along the perimeter of the fuel tank on the small 3/4" square frame tubes from the Driver's taillight area, back along the rear, finally splitting off for the Fuel tank sending unit and pump and the Passenger side taillights. I think there is enough wire length to get everything routed and connected properly :)

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I continued with my trunk panel "extension" experiment this past weekend. As expected, I just wasn't happy with the narrower angle stock for my prototype design, so I got a piece of 1& 3/4" Al angle in the 1/16" thickness. This fit my needs better :) It had coverage for the other rivets/fastener locations and I think will exhibit more strength in the area where I had to cut out access for the Passenger-side fuel tank strap hanger bracket.

But first, I needed to cut off the "extension" panel carefully from the existing rear trunk floor panel. I used an extra straight edge, some blue painter's tape and a dremel tool with a cut-off wheel. It was slow, but the narrow cut-off wheel allowed me to preserve as much of the original panel as possible. Here's some pictures of the progress:

Bracket fitted
205290 205294

Then I decided to just make a new panel because I wanted to optimize the cut-out area for the tank strap...

New extension panel being shaped
205291 205292

Fitted extension
205293 205295

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

After a weekend of catching up on other chores, it was good to get back in the Garage today (I took the day off) :cool:

Today, I decided where to mount my Tail/Turn signal converter box. This then made the reference location for the rest of the rear harness zip-tie mounting locations...

Since I decided to route the rear harness along the Driver's side of the trunk, here is the result. First, swage the riv-nuts (this time I used Aluminum riv-nuts) 205518

Then mount temporarily with button head 8-32 205519 This location will allow me to route the rear part of the harness without interfering with the trunk floor panel, and will allow me to run the license plate harness up the Driver's side rear Roll Bar.

Next, locate for the zip-tie mount 205520

And temporarily check the zip-tie effectiveness 205521

Up next: more rear harness zip-tie mount layout :)

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

Since I selected the Tail/Turn signal converter box location, this left me a reference to plan out the rest of the rear harness zip-tie mounting locations going back towards the front of the vehicle. This was kinda messy work since the drilling on the bottom of the chassis produced the inevitable metal shavings in the face :p It was good to cross this off the list, though :D

Planning the routing left me with about 9" between zip-tie mounting locations. I also had to consider whether I could get a right-angle drill attachment in the chosen locations and whether I could install the Aluminum riv-nuts properly with the tool. Lastly, I had to imagine if I ever needed to remove/replace these with the panels and drivetrain installed, and plan for that...

Starting at the Driver's Rear trunk 45 deg angled 1" square frame tube on the trunk floor 205522, working forward towards the center of the trunk floor (under the Driver's side of the stock battery tray) 205523, down the short 1" square tube leading to the trans tunnel 205527, rounding the bottom corner back up along the Driver's side trans tunnel (underneath view) 205528, and side view205529

Next post, more of a perspective of the rear harness routing (instead of the details)

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

It's difficult to see the "big" picture from my previous post about the rear harness detailed zip-tie mounting locations, so here's a few perspective views:
205530 205531 205532

Until next time, Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

This weekend I continued the mockup and layout confirmation of the rear harness. First up: locating the zip-tie mounting brackets so that I could tuck away the speedo signal harness (and preserve it for use in the future). Actually, I didn't realize at first that it was not going to be used until I read ahead in the build manual :rolleyes: but since I was planning to use it, I gave enough thought to it (if that need ever came up)... Eventually, this will get the full split-loom treatment 205824

Next up: planning for the zip-tie mounting brackets for the rear lights and fuel tank sub-harness routing. Here's the mock-up results 205825 205826

Next Post will be the details with the fuel tank mocked-up...:cool:

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

As promised, here are some perspective pictures of the rear harness routing with the fuel tank mocked into place: Notice that I mounted the Passenger-side bracket high enough so that it doesn't interfere with the fitment of the fuel tank. Also note the MagDaddy zip-tie mounts for the fuel tank sub harness. These will allow me to loop the extra length to overcome the challenges when mounting the tank itself. 205827

Here's some perspective pictures with the trunk floor temporarily in place 205828 205829 205830

Here's the confirmation that the routing will tuck neatly under the outside trunk side panel. 205831 Note the convenient zip-tie bracket location for the rear lights (same as the nut-sert location for the panel itself) :cool:

Until next time, Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

After months of side projects, it's time to catch back up to the sequence of the Build Manual ;)

Here's the progress I made this weekend to get back to page 156.

First, getting the front Driver's footbox panel 'final' installed 206013

Next, getting the pedal assembly 'final' installed 206014

Then I 'final' installed the lower steering shaft 206015

Next post: catching back up tp page 166... :cool:

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

As promised, this post is all about catching back up to page 166 of the Build Manual...or how I spent my Sunday ;)

Here's the Passenger side footbox installed 206016 Notice that I'm still leaving the outer panel cleco'd temporarily so I can access for thermo-Tech installation later 206017

Next was the Driver's floor panels 206018 side view 206019

Then Passenger side floor panels 206020 another view 206021

and a frontal view (just because) 206022

Until next time, Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I wanted to install all of the rest of the cockpit panels (except the large rear panel), but ran into typical planning issues: I am running out of my favorite multi-grip rivets and I haven't ordered my soundproofing / thermal insulation mats yet...

Here's how far I got: Driver's outer panels. :rolleyes: Anyway, here's some pictures 206295 206296 206297

Not wanting to just leave it at that, I decided to finish the installation of my charcoal canister and breathers. I like how it turned out ;)

view looking toward front of vehicle 206298, view from above ... looking down 206299

Next, I installed my rear brake hardline and brackets to the main frame tubes. I used some black gasket maker to keep the corrosion at bay underneath the brackets (and to hold into place if I need to adjust the lines a little). I had a picture, but the image quality was bad...

Next, I wanted to install the rest of the Driver's footbox panels, then realized that some builder's wished they had added the Cool-Mat before inastalling the inner panels. I checked and decided to heed the advice. Not much room to get insulating mats in there 206300 so I'll pre-fit the insulation before final installing that panel ... which means I'll be waiting on the next Summit delivery this week :p

Until next time, Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

Not too much progress this past weekend due to running other errands and taking care of Fall chores, but I did manage to "final" install the Passenger-side outer cockpit panels. While I was at it, I "semi-final" installed the fuel hardlines (I still need to install the decorative anti-scuff shim between the fuel lines and the Passenger-side floor panel).

Here's the pictures: 206539 206540 206541

I also painted 250 of my favorite-style rivets rattle-can chassis-black since Summit only has bare metal choices left :( No pictures 'cause that's kinda boring, but I just poked holes in some spare cardboard in a matrix pattern and painted top and bottom. Some of you may be thinking that this was a waste of time...perhaps, but one of my goals is to have Angelina look just as dazzling without her pretty red dress on :p

Next time, I think I'll try some wire harness customization...:cool:

Happy Building!

Craig C

[gbranham]

While those rivets look nice, I can't imagine rationalizing painting something that will be totally covered by, say, carpet. But, if it makes you feel better about your project, I suppose it's worth it.

[cc2Arider]

Thanks for following my build :)

It is certainly proceeding slower than planned due to my OCD about trivial details :D

Sometimes getting focused on very small things actually helps me to see the big picture -- as crazy as that sounds!

Craig C

[Justin]

I do like the rivets. Hidden or not. I'm thinking a dark grey metallic with some black rivets for the visible panels will look nice. Thanks for sharing.

[Jeff Kleiner]

While those rivets look nice, I can't imagine rationalizing painting something that will be totally covered by, say, carpet. But, if it makes you feel better about your project, I suppose it's worth it.

Kinda' like my buddy Bart who mirror finish polished every single interior and trunk panel then covered them with carpet! I think mostly it gave him something to do while he was in the garage drinking beer :D

Jeff

[gbranham]

Kinda' like my buddy Bart who mirror finish polished every single interior and trunk panel then covered them with carpet! I think mostly it gave him something to do while he was in the garage drinking beer :D

Jeff

Yep, very much the same. Although I did powdercoat every aluminum panel on my car...only to cover most of it in carpet.

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving :)

I spent part of my time getting the trunk area prepped for the final panel install...

First, I double-checked that my harness with new split loom from WireCare would still fit where the drop trunk goes. I'm glad I checked! the Heavy-Duty split loom that I wanted to use added just a little bit more overall thickness than I had originally planned for. No worries, I just drilled for a new location for that wire clamp and now I have an extra screw location (if I ever needed it) :rolleyes: Here's the result 207001

Next, I made a mini-harness for the taillight converter in case I ever decide (or can't get parts for the standard rectangular taillights) and have to resort to the double bullet-style. My intention was to run all the standard wires in the rear harness (even if they don't get used now) and have the option for the converter "delete". I used "flat" split loom and this was my 1st attempt at making WeatherPack connectors...207002 and here it is installed along the normal loom with zip-ties 207003

Next, I finally decided to "mount" the parking brake cables "somewhere", and decided on magnetic mounts from MagDaddy. I affixed to the top of the differential case. I'm not sure if the installation will help to isolate the steel shavings anymore that the typical drain plug, but I figured it couldn't hurt...207008

I liked how my 1st harness "redesign" came out. I used cloth harness tape to isolate each breakout and then for those critical areas, I also wrapped with self-sticking silicone tape. I ended up relocating the license-plate light wiring a good 10" from stock and created a break-out connector for the previously-mentioned taillight converter. I made a couple of mistakes and had to splice a mistakenly-cut wire and decided to double-up some wires, too, just as was done originally in some of the connectors. Here's a final look 207009

Until next post, Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

More catching up was done to get my trunk and driver's side inside footbox panels ready...

First up: I decided to re-do my front brake hardline to have a better appearance and because I just wasn't sure if the prior attempt had issues with the AN flare...

207127 and a side view 207128

Happy with that result, I pre-assembled my drop-trunk panels: 207129 here's a close-up of properly formed multi-grip rivets. I think the key is to use a #30 drill bit instead of a simple 1/8". It allows the rivet to deform properly like a stack :) 207130

Until next time, Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I finally got the details done to "final" install the Driver's side front footbox panel. It meant I needed to pre-fit some thermal padding and confirm the rear brake hardlines were properly fastened (snugged up w/anti-seize on the junction threads and with threadlocker for the mounting pads).

Here's pre-assembly of the top and bottom inner footbox panels 207131

Then pre-fitment of the thermal pad, including punched rivet hole relief, pre-bent and pre-indented for no interference with the standard AccPed bracket 207132 then attached with the self-adhesive backing 207133

Here's the result 207134 and "road gravel" view of rear brake hardline bulkhead connection 207135

I'm happy with the results :)

Craig C

[danmas]

Really nice looking work.

[cc2Arider]

Thanks Dan!

I appreciate the feedback :)

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I managed to tighten my fuel lines at the junction of the flex lines running to/from the tank and filter to the hardlines running up the Passenger side, and then loctited the hardline mounting blocks to the frame for the final install under the car. This meant that I was (for the most part) finished with the details under the trunk area (until I get the tank mounted...

This meant that I could "button up" the forward trunk floor panel finally :)

Here's some pictures: Top side 207571 and under side 207572 207573 207574

I'm happy with the results :cool:

Next time I'm under there, I'll be installing the drop trunk box, the lower rear trunk panel, and the fuel tank...

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

In my zeal to catch-up to get the cockpit panels installed, I realized that I skipped a step ...

I wanted to add some in-tunnel thermal pads after all. I wish I made up my mind before I installed those panels :rolleyes:

Oh well...in order to properly apply the stick-on pads, I realized that I need to install that very small Driver's side access panel. I measured the distance to the drivetrain that has not been mounted yet, and I didn't see a reason to keep that access panel for any maintenance, so I decided to rivet and bond in-place. I used "normal head" 1/8" rivets since the proportion seems agreeable. Here's a picture: 207575

Then I could carefully measure via paper templates how I wanted the thermal stick-on pad to be laid-out. It was still a little bit of a struggle to position and press on (kinda burnish) the pad into place...then just as challenging was to measure, locate, and place the seam tape. This was the "easy" side. I'll try the Passenger side tomorrow. Anyway, here's a picture of the result: 207576

I didn't actually use a rubber roller for this install. Instead, I actually used some plastic trim removal tools. I used the one that's kinda shaped like a putty knife. I think it worked pretty well :)

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I got the Passenger side in-tunnel thermal pad installed and finished up the edges with the seam tape. Here's some pictures of the progress: 207754 and here's a powertrain perspective of the completed job 207755

Next post: finally catching up to p.169 of the Build Manual...

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I finally got caught up to p.169 of the Build Manual. I decided to use "normal" head 1/8" rivets along the top edge of the trans tunnel so that I'd have adequate room for the trans top panel with all the dimensional stack-up of pads/carpet (or upholstery), etc. The remaining rivets were all "large" head. Here's the pictures: 207756 207757 207758

Until next post, Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

After getting the trans tunnel panels thermally insulated, my next task was to install the remaining trunk panels for the final time :cool:

The order that I chose worked for me, but to be honest, I probably should've installed the side panels later in the sequence. Anyway, here's the inner side panels 207906 207907

Then, I checked the rear frame rails for straightness and decided to add some shims to the rear trunk frame tubes before I installed the rear trunk panel (the reasoning will be more clear in the upcoming pictures) 207908 then installed the rear trunk panel and my "extension" bracket 207909

Finally, I installed the "RT" drop trunk 207910

Here's why I spent time with the shims: ("extension" bracket is nice and straight!) 207911

Next post: final installation of the fuel tank :cool:

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I finally installed the fuel tank today, and it feels like real progress has been made this past week :)

Minor setbacks or concerns just present problems that get to be solved -- one by one :cool:

I'm happy that I spent some thought up-front about the rear harness and fuel line routing, because I suspected that I'd need to connect things before the tank was in the final position. My solution was to simply have more length than needed and simply loop the wires/lines so that they could be connected first, then raise the tank without messing up any geometry or layout. Worked out well...

Here's some detail pictures that might help others (sending unit harness loop w/MagDaddy zip-tie mount) 207912
(fuel pump harness and flex lines w/MagDaddy zip-tie mounts) 207913 207914 207915

Next project: finish plumbing the brake system and bleed it...

Until next time -- Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I hope you had a Merry Christmas! I spent mine with my BroBro and it was a nice visit :)

When I got back to my garage, I really wanted to finish my brake system, but got derailed after I noticed corrosion in my Earl's flexline! Surprised me too :eek: 208264 Sure enough, the fitting itself is only zinc-coated steel...although I'm not exactly sure how it got corroded since it has never seen fluid...fortunately, the same part number was in-stock at Summit...now just have to wait for it.

In the mean-time, there's always some little job that needs doing, so I refocused: first up, install the powder-coated "bridge" bracket that keeps the main harness out-of-the-way of the steering shaft 208265

then, pre-assembled my remote reservoir bracket 208266

next, affixing more thermal pad in the front of the driver's footbox 208267

lastly, installing the unused front footbox access panel 208268

Next post: more panel installations for the trunk...

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I completed the installation of my outside trunk panels. Recall that I modified them to permit easier body installation later (I hope) and to permit more installation flexibility for the rear wheelwell splash panels. In doing so, the installation required rivets and riv-nuts...

But 1st, I prepped for shims to keep the panels flat: DS 208587 PS 208588

Here's the layout right before final installation: DS 208589 PS 208590

Installed! 208591 208592

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I got my replacement Earl's "flex-line" for my front brakes that I wanted to install in the footbox :)

Recall that I chose to use "flex-line" as a way to possibly allow for an easier replacement of the master cylinders (if that were ever needed :rolleyes:), and frankly to avoid the drama of making more stainless hardlines in that tight area. I'm done with all that stress for a while!

So, here's the layout: bulkhead 208599 and a view at the master cylinders 208600

My previous planning for adding a grommet for the rear flex-line (as it passed thru the accped bracket) seemed to be all for naught, as I struggled to get my hands in the tight spaces. I remembered that windshield installers simply use a cord in the weatherstrip to pull it into place, so I tried it for my grommet and it worked great! Here's a picture 208601

Then, I used some slippery "stuff" meant for installing electrical lines in homes for the rubber reservoir lines as they passed thru my special "3-hole" grommet and that worked fine, too 208602 208603

Chewy was right! I designed my remote reservoir bracket such that I must get the panels riveted before the final installation -- otherwise there's no room to get the tools in there...so, that means I must wait to install the remote reservoirs, and instead consider all the other jobs that must be done before adding the top cover for the footbox. With that top panel installed, I just don't have the room for my hands, and would like to avoid the frustrations :p

So...since I've recently read about throttle linkage issues, I figured I'd try a cardboard mockup, and I'm glad I did! My planned layout just doesn't leave enough room for the actuator arms inside the footbox at WOT. I'll have to figure this out some more... 208604

It's just as well...getting hit with winter weather now, and I'll need some time to think :confused:

Until next time, Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I've been "noodling" over the footbox throttle linkage and I just didn't like how the RT "tribute" accel pedal geometry was working for me, so I decided to figure it out as best as I could. I measured the layout and the moving parts in a "free-form" diagram, and then put it on paper. Then used some geometry and Trigonometry to come up with a plan to address the many constraints in the way (limited space for full articulation, pedal orientation at idle and full-travel, and linkage geometry that might impact pedal sensitivity). Here's my thinking pad 209001

Then I cut out some aluminum stock for an experimental accelerator pedal lever arm to try out my ideas 209003

Here's some pictures for mockup: 209002 209004 209005

I can understand why RT designed his the way he did -- lots of compromises to adapt to. I'm still on-the-fence about my new linkage geometry at off-idle position -- I don't want it to be too sensitive at initial AccPed tip-in, but it's nice to know I have an alternative that will bolt-in when that time comes...

I'm hoping that my measurements are reasonable because the real critical factor is the space at the top of the footbox for the Forte' lever arm. I suppose I could make a different set, but they are very nice. I'll keep them for now :)

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

One of the other customizations I had planned for my build was to emulate John Ibele's center console design -- I really liked it and was impressed by his work :cool:

I measured and cut out some construction paper today to mock one into place to visualize and think about it some more...
209024 209025 209026

Granted, it's very rough: sharp creases (whereas I liked the curved side edges of John's design), angles aren't perfect, mounting flanges aren't thought thru...but I like it so far.

My intention is to design a sprung access door with a keyed push-button latch, and have enough room for garage door opener, ear plugs...maybe a power plug...and to hide some of my chassis harnesses :rolleyes:)

Until next time...Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

While my cardboard model of the throttle linkage allowed me to visualize the footbox panel clearance and layout, I wanted an extra confirmation of my work, so I cut/drilled some flat stock and some 3/8" rod to have a better representation of the finished layout.

I confirmed that the cardboard model was pretty accurate and I confirmed that the throttle pivot rod at my preferred mounting location would not get in the way of the steering shaft :)

Here's a picture 209393

Next, I needed to replace some rivets with riv-nuts (or nut-serts) where I needed front wiring harness zip-tie clamps. Here is the result 209394

Then, with the clamps in place 209395

This is just the initial layout. I still would like to re-do some of the splices because they're not where I'd prefer them...and I'll want to wrap with my preferred split loom before the final install :cool:

Until next time, Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I decided to add a couple of reinforcing brackets to the backside of the firewall panel for my Forte' throttle linkage kit. Granted, I wouldn't expect a lot of force on those pivot shafts, but that rod appears to be solid stainless 3/8"...not a trivial amount of mass hanging about an inch and a half from the mounting flange (large stainless fender washers).

So, I decided to reinforce the backside of the firewall panel with some simple Al angle stock 1.5x1.5x1/8"

Here's the layout (since I wanted spacing between my firewall panel offset rivets, and taking into account the overall rod length) 209396 note the 1/8" clecos to hold in place temporarily, and the front view 209397

Then to make sure the brackets didn't move around while drilling out for the fasteners, I enlarged the holes for 3/16" clecos 209398

Lastly, after drilling for final size and adding riv-nuts, here's the result 209399

The icing on the cake is a special spherical support bearing (kinda like a pillow block) that I'll use on the inner footbox panel for support and to keep that hole size small against hot air intrusion into the footbox :cool: 209400

I still would like to powder-coat the new brackets, and I still need to finish the rest of the linkage, but this was a good milestone for me :)

Happy Building!

Craig C

[F500guy]

Coming along very nicely!

[cc2Arider]

Thanks Lance! :)

Although I'll admit my pace of work is not what I had originally planned for...something about single digit temperatures does something to my motivation :rolleyes:

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

My last post left off with me just showing you my spherical bearing support block mocked into place for the Forte' throttle linkage as it passes thru the Driver's side inner footbox panel.

This post shows what I did to install it :)

First up, grinding a point in some spare 3/8" rod so that I could accurately locate the center punch hole location on the panel 209626

Next, I carefully drilled the hole and tried not to have the bit "walk" on me. It actually required me to file a little to re-center the hole. Then I'd enlarge the hole and re-center as needed. At one point, I actually put a long 3/8" drill bit in the mounts just to see where I needed to fit the linkage better for a good fit. Here's the result -- this perspective looked the worst 209627

Then I wrapped some sand paper around my test rod and rotated it to size the hole properly. Next up, locating the spherical bearing support block holes 209628 and drilled 209629

Lastly a test fit. Inside view 209630 Engine compartment view 209631

I'm happy with the result :)

Next post: adding thermal padding...

Craig C

[egchewy79]

Love that spherical bearing idea. I used a rubber grommet and an brass sleeve/bearing inside the grommet.

[cc2Arider]

Thanks Chewy! Your observations have kept me motivated :)

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

For this update, I'll reveal my mistakes in applying stick-on thermal pads...so you don't have to :p

First up, measure out and mark for the cut lines 209975...then realize that your template is upside-down 209976

Then stand back and admire your work 209977

Then...start to second-guess affixing heavy pads to an inverted surface and double check with the manufacturer, who says that's not recommended. Then learn that the adhesive can be regenerated with heat, and put the panel in the oven to try to remove it. Here's the raw result after a lot of effort 209978. It actually cleaned up fine with the right technique and solvents...and the powder-coated surface didn't have a mark on it :) 209979

After that debacle, try again with lighter-weight fiberglass-backed pads 209980

Don't fret about the mistakes...most can be done-over...it just takes a lot of effort that would be better spent elsewhere :)

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

Yet more Driver's footbox Thermo-Tec pad installation.:( It's really tedious, unforgiving work...but the completed result will be worth it.
Here's the top-part of the inner panel 209981

Then the top outer part of the front panel 209982

And a couple of views of the inner panel thermal pad installation 209983 209984

Here's the reason to put the effort into this right now (and a little motivation for me to finish the job).209985 Here, I trimmed the remote hydraulic reservoir rubber hoses so that when the Driver's footbox top panel is finally riveted and bonded into place, I can get my hydraulic system plumbed and bled.:cool:

Until next time, Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

Not much obvious progress on my build this past week...:rolleyes:

I'm trying to stay busy by making cardboard patterns of the thermal padding that I've been installing. These will be used later (as needed) and get me to practice this skill more since I'd like to continue with me doing the rudimentary upholstery on my build. This week, I wanted to change it up a little by applying the fiberglass-backed padding onto the cockpit side panels under the door openings...so, more pattern making. It's probably not going to make a difference, but it was "in my head" when I conceived of my build, and I'm following thru :)

Here's a before picture 210300 and an after picture 210301

Next, I wanted to get a strong visual of the "competition" instrument panel. Since the space is limited, I wanted to see what sort of "wiggle room" I had with the layout. I'd rather locate the most critical parts (the instruments and operator interfaces) before locating the other things that could be moved around later (like the wire harnesses). You guessed it! More pattern making. I'm glad I did this, too. Online pictures from other builders don't show it, but they're not really what your eyes see in real life. The perspective is all wrong. Anyway, here's a picture from directly behind the vehicle's centerline 210309 and here's a representation from the Driver's position in the cockpit -- this was as close as I could get my cellphone camera to reflect what my eyes see 210310

For you builders out there -- try it out to see what actually works!

My next obsession is going to be where to locate the heater/defroster switch and cable since I don't want the cable bend to be sharp (and I'd like for it to follow the heater hose routing in the engine bay as much as possible)...

Until next time, stay motivated and keep at it!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

In the middle of my harness and Dash Panel design & layout, I realized that I really want to get the brakes bled! But in order to do that, I really need to button-up the Driver's side Top footbox panel before I can connect the hydraulic reservoirs...

You see, I designed my reservoir bracket close to the front of the Driver's side front bulkhead, and it needs to be final riveted before I can install the remote reservoir bracket. So the sequence is: make sure I can access everything I need to with only that little access panel, then rivet the top inner Driver's footbox panel, then figure out my front harness layout/design, then attach the remote reservoir brackets...

I riveted/bonded the inner top panel (picture of that in my next post):cool:

My front harness layout takes it thru the clutch cable bulkhead hole, and it needs to fit inside my remote reservoir bracket so that it is protected from the header/sidepipe heat and supported as it goes forward along the top 3/4" square frame tube. In order to fit well inside that bracket, I decided to use some spare flat ribbon cable split loom (some of which I used for the rear harness trailer unit adapter). Here's a picture of the thin-side of that loom 210507 it's about 3/8" wide.

Then, I needed to get the harness from the fusepanel area thru the bulkhead. I decided to separate the harness into 2 looms (1 for each connector). This made the whole thing bend easier in the wheelwell area (pictures of that later). Here's a couple of pictures of the 2 looms and how I'm going to bundle/support them with the hydraulic flex-lines in the top of the footbox (top view) 210508 side view 210509

Next, I prepped the top 3/4" square frame tube for mounting the loom (zip-tie brackets screwed in) 210510 and with the round split loom mounted 210511

Next post: it comes together as planned :)

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

My front harness layout/design is coming along as I had planned...

Here's what makes it for me: 210512 the remote reservoir mount doubles as support and heat shield for the wire loom :cool:

I used some good quality wire loom tape and then decided to add some silicone tape for extra heat protection as it comes out of the bulkhead grommet. This made it a little thicker than I had planned, but it all still fit pretty well the way I wanted it to.

Here's some pictures of the layout and final assembly 210513 210514

Lastly, a picture of the inner top footbox panel and engine-bay view of the remote reservoir bracket 210515

Until next time, Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I spent most of my weekend bleeding the brakes ... and not a lot of progress on other stuff :(

However, despite not having any pictures to share, I did confirm that my lines are not leaking (yet), and while the idea of reverse filling the system sounds like a good idea, I didn't get it to work that well because I couldn't maintain a seal around the bleeders long enough to go over the the vacuum pump and build more vacuum.

So, the next step is to get a Motive adapter (already ordered) and finish that job :) By the way, did I say how relieved I am that my lines aren't leaking? :p

Happy Building!

Craig C

[Nigel Allen]

Hey Y'All,

I spent most of my weekend bleeding the brakes ... and not a lot of progress on other stuff :(

However, despite not having any pictures to share, I did confirm that my lines are not leaking (yet), and while the idea of reverse filling the system sounds like a good idea, I didn't get it to work that well because I couldn't maintain a seal around the bleeders long enough to go over the the vacuum pump and build more vacuum.

So, the next step is to get a Motive adapter (already ordered) and finish that job :) By the way, did I say how relieved I am that my lines aren't leaking? :p

Happy Building!

Craig C

Vacuum bleeding worked really well for me with a firm pedal and all bleeding done in less that 15 minutes. Put a little thread tape on your bleed screw threads (only) to prevent air from being pulled in.

[cc2Arider]

Thanks Nigel!

I tried some brake fluid-compatible grease on the bleeder threads and even only screwed out 1/4 turn, had some inconsistent sealing :confused:

I forgot to mention that I have the "big" calipers from Wilwood...not that it matter now, but someone reading this thread might try Nigel's method instead of mine...

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

After second-guessing my initial plan to fasten/mount my heater/blower unit...I took a different approach after thinking about how to get that sucker out again with the body in place :confused:

I've not been a fan of the screws that cut into the plastic, since in my experience they tend to strip out when least convenient :rolleyes:

My initial plan was to use small button head screws, but I don't think I could get an Allen wrench in there with the body on, so I changed over to small serrated, flange-head, hex screws...

This way, I can choose to mount the bottom separate from the top, or just mount the two halves together and them mount to the firewall. I chose the latter approach, but that meant getting creative with the Dremel tool and a small drum sanding attachment on the plastic motor unit reinforcement webbing.

Here's a picture of the two halves fastened together 211021

and a picture mocked onto the firewall panel 211022

I could get either a 1/4" nutdriver onto the fasteners or a small 1/4" combination wrench :)

With that settled, I started to mock the wiper motor unit into place 211023

There's not a lot of position adjustment space (even by following the heater unit locations per the Build Manual). In the next post, I need your help to confirm this location looks OK...

Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

For those who've installed a wiper motor, or who have worked on a Roadster with one installed, I need your help to check if this location looks OK. I've got several pictures with reference ruler in place: 211024211025211026211027

It appears the limiting factor is how tight to locate the gear unit up under the 3/4" top engine bay frame tube...

These two pictures show the "wiggle room" that I have up-n-down (2.5" ~ 2"): 211028211029

So, what's the verdict? In the ballpark? Close enough?

Appreciate the feedback! :)

Until next time, Happy Building...

Craig C

[F500guy]

Hi Craig, make sure when you tighten the clamp the bolt does not hit your heater. Other than that it seems similar to mine.

[cc2Arider]

Thanks Lance! :cool:

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

Confident with the feedback on my location for the wiper motor, I marked the holes and drilled out for 5/16" hardware. I chose simple hex head bolts so that I could get a wrench in there to remove it with the body on (if it ever came to that :rolleyes:)

Here's a picture of the hole orientation 211046 and with the motor unit installed 211047

Thanks to Lance's recommendation to watch out for the band clamp bolt access, I simply turned it over so that the bolt is at the 8 o'clock position. I can still get a wrench in there and now there's plenty of room next to the heater blower unit :)

Here's a picture of the backside fasteners so you can see that there's room there for tools also...although I'm still not sure of my under-dash-support design...we'll see :cool:211048

Until next time, Happy Building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I reached a dilemma: I'd like to locate my heater/defroster valve cable in the middle of the dash panel for aesthetics ... but this doesn't leave it long enough to permit the valve body to be located far enough towards the Passenger-side foot box top panel to be properly connected via the rubber heater hoses.

Here's a picture (see the red highlighted area) 211303

Did any of you have to figure this out? If so, what did you end up doing? Possible remedies are:
1) cut a short length of the aluminum heater tube off and reform the retention bead (the cheapo tube bead rollers aren't actually small enough :mad:)
2) make my own heater tubes that fit my intended layout better (same issues of fabrication as above)
3) find another off-the-shelf set of tubes (bead on one end and o-ring fitting on the other; 90deg bend
4) change my dash panel location :rolleyes:
5) orient the hoses and valve so it goes towards the centerline of the engine (I've seen some other Roadsters like this...but I've got multi-point injection and it is "busy" in the intake manifold area already)

Any feedback is appreciated :)

To give me time to think about it, I'll move on to my next mini-project :cool: 211306

Happy Building!

Craig C

[Nigel Allen]

I mounted my heater control valve on the vertical panel just below the dashboard and above the transmission tunnel. In practical use either fully open or close the valve. I find the heat is much better regulated by fan speed. It might be better just to replace the mechanical cable with a 12 volt solenoid.

Cheers,

Nige

[cc2Arider]

Thanks for the idea Nigel! :)

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

Since my last post, I decided to make the FFR-supplied radiator fan connector fit my new Flexwave fan (with pigtails). It's the recommended fan from the experienced Builders and I got it from Summit...

I wanted to keep the FFR connector in case I feel like choosing another fan in the future, or go back to the original :rolleyes:

I took a gamble on some 1/4" blade connectors that were long enough and had a retention tab to fit inside the plastic connector. I got them from Amazon (yuck), but it was cheap and easy...

Here's a picture 211493

Happy building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

A couple of posts back I discovered that my preferred heater valve cable location was not long enough to fit with the available heater line fittings and 5/8" hose...

Wow! was I ignorant!:rolleyes: It turns out that the heater line connections are somewhat standard and the fittings themselves are female #10 (or -10) o-ring beaded fittings.

I picked a short straight section and a short 90 section, then got a 2.5" x 2.5" 90 elbow hose (5/8")...combination shown in red section.

I fitted it up and easy-peasy! Here's a picture using the valve that John Ibele had used in his build(shown in green section) 211496

The neat thing about this valve is that it bypasses instead of blocks the flow when closed:cool:

Happy building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

I had purchased a Breeze upper and lower radiator mounting kit a few months back and recently decided to pair it with a Breeze 70813 fan shroud kit. This is the one that is made for the Flexwave fan (pulls more air and is more quiet than FFR-supplied unit)...

I've been pre-occupied with work, so I was just following the instructions and didn't think ahead...by the time I realized that the radiator upper hinge mounting (which called for 14 evenly-spaced holes) didn't line up with the standard holes with the 70813 kit, I had already drilled all of the 14 holes :rolleyes:

Here's a picture that shows that there isn't enough room for a 1/4" hex head next to that hole that is supposed to be filled with a 1/8" rivet...bummer! 211497

What to do...what to do? I slept on it and the next morning it was a simple work-around! Mark had spaced the shroud mounting holes 14" apart. I simply drilled more holes to mount the shroud to the radiator and spaced them 2" apart. Then I simply chose a new "thru" hole per the instructions. The new hole is also very close to the width of the existing holes from the shroud to the fan itself. I'm happy with the decision...plus I like that there are more fastener locations...it is more aesthetic to me...
211498

Next post -- radiator mock-up...

Until next time, Happy building!

Craig C

[cc2Arider]

Hey Y'All,

In the last post, I put together the Breeze upper hinge mount to the radiator and then figured out the hole spacing for the "flexwave" fan shroud so it would all fit together. The hinge required 14 evenly-spaced rivet holes and I chose to space the shroud mounting holes every 2"...

Next, since I remembered that drilling thru the SS hinge was more challenging than drilling thru the aluminum radiator and shroud, I decided to take my time and drill the 4 hinge-to-frame mounting holes with the hinge removed and in my vise so I could use those holes as a guide to drill precisely into the frame tube...

Next, I clamped the assembly to the front 3/4" square frame tube, making sure the hinge was evenly-spaced, the radiator was centered in the frame, and I drilled the remaining 4 holes. Here's a couple of pictures 211499 211500 Note that the frame holes are just for the clecos for now...

Wowsers! What a well-made kit! I like it :) It fits really well at the 58deg angle -- not much room otherwise! This mock-up also proved to me that I could locate my front wiring harness at the top of the radiator (between the "channel") and it will be fine there ... although I'll need to move the fan wiring closer to the centerline of the chassis in order to reach the Flexwave wiring...which means I'll splice that fan ground wire to make it longer to fit :cool:

Until next time, Happy Building!

Craig C