mgibson020
10-31-2023, 02:39 PM
191781Thought i would post a few thoughts from the first 1000 miles and my California Registration Journey.
Registration- many have written about this, but i encountered a couple of new things that i have not seen others write about. the initial journey was the same as others, first visit to DMV, where they gave me two movement forms, one of which i used for the visit to CHP. the officer was very nice, checked for stolen parts, and gave me my VIN number which was the same as my factory five serial number. No problems there, back to the DMV. Here i paid my fees and taxes. i bought the blueprint engine package so i was able to deduct the taxes paid to Blueprint from my fees and taxes in California (watch for this!). i was then told to wait for a letter from Sacramento with my SPCN. WRONG! i don't know if their right hand and the left hand are disconnected, but this wrong now. i waited 7 weeks, nothing, called the DMV. Oh, it is on hold, go see San Clemente DMV again. So i go back, got a great lady who actually knew what she was doing. "You need your brake and light test before we issue the SPCN".
Finding a place to do it wasn't easy, but eventually i found a good garage, who was able to certify. WARNING- when i first showed up for brake and lights they asked if i had a parking brake indicator light, i said no, well that would be a fail they said. So i go and get a $9 switch from O'Reillys and repurposed one of the indicator lights i had not used. About an hour or two to install and test. Went back to test center.
Next challenge, i have the Breeze LED's. Everything works brilliantly except the front indicators, which will not work if the lights are on and the brake is being depressed. Consulted Mark, switched back to incandescent for now, passed the test. At some point I will fix that, but its a small issue, and the incandescent are fine for the indicators- highly recommend the LED's for the driving lights though.
Back to the DMV- found the same lady again, she was great. Applied for and got me my SPCN AND she gave me a 3 month "red tag" driving permit. Now i am on the road (legally!). once i get SPCN in the post from Sacramento i still need the BAR check, and one more visit to the DMV to get my tag.
FIRST 1000 miles-
Biggest thing- i got stopped by the cops. Young guy on a bike. Sheriff rather than highway patrol. he just wanted to look at the car and knew a lot about them. I wasnt speeding and didnt get a ticket. But then he pulls out his decimeter. i have the GasNpipes side pipes, touring edition (very highly recommended, a work of art). i thought, this will be no problem- NOPE! 97 db at idle about 3 feet from the pipe, and 108 db at 3000 revs. Legal limit in California is 96db. Opps. Wrote to Georgie so he is making me up a quieter set of pipes. Sacrilege i know, but the cops here are rabid about exhaust noise because of the motorbikes. i think the touring pipes are perfect, just loud or quiet enough depending on your perspective. But to be legal i need quieter pipes. 8 weeks wait, but Georgie to the rescue none the less. i am careful where i rev my engine now, and drive in fear of being pulled over for noise. In Orange county this is no joke unfortunately.
Heat in the cockpit- ok i knew this might be an issue, but its become and obsession with me. The passenger side is fine. i have head barrier (Thermo-tec) on the footboxes and fire wall (on inside not engine compartment). the drivers side though has more challenges. Two real sources- the heater even though its not running, and around the sides of the drivers side foot box. Did some research on the forum, common issues. the heater is easy to solve- just buy a decent quality shower cap, and put it over the heater box in the engine compartment (no, i am not kidding), works great. cuts out 80 to 90 percent of the air that is forced in over the heater box when the car is moving, and which then finds its way down the vent tubes and out of the vents. i also bought two (Amazon) vent heads that actually close, they help too. Still get a bit of ambient heat down the pipes etc, but no big deal.
Second is the air around the side. i used pipe insulation from home depot. i stuffed it down the sides between the body and the foot box. i have not entirely stopped the airflow. This is Caddyshack to me. i will get this under control. Not bad but, i am obsessed with it now. At night its quite pleasant, during the day in Southern California, less so. And in any case i want to control the heat coming into the cockpit.
i also didn't get all the footbox area with the heat shield during construction (my bad). i have had to retrofit heat shield, which has done my back and wrists no good.
Lessons learned for builders here (and my next build), cover every inch of footbox and all surfaces near the engine compartment with heat shield. Secondly try to put the barrier between the foot box and the body in before putting the body on, and use something better than stuffing pipe insulation. Summit has a bunch of products that would work. Some guesswork required on where to put the insultation etc, but now i know where i would put it. More is better if you want to keep the heat out.
two layers of heat shield on the drivers footbox where it gets close to the headers would also be a good idea.
I think some heat will always come in, it's just - is this controllable and reasonable.
Engine- Blueprint 347 with EFI. works great, 480hp, similar toque. only issue is that it idles at 1000 to 1100 revs, not the 850 i set it at. Vibrates a bit at idle too, which disappears immediately it gets to 1300 revs. i have question into Blueprint on this. Holly Snipper forum has 312 reasons on why this might be happening.
Car drives great after second go with alignment. Fantastic fun, and it looks wonderful in Ford Red/Wimbledon White by Jeff Millar. Lady in a 150k Merc truck pulls up to me last night, winds the window down, "wonderful car, enjoy" she said. No visit to the gas station lasts less than 20 minutes. Brakes are sharp after i re-bled them at 500 miles. Every head turns, every kid smiles. Its just a blast to drive. i go to get milk, it takes an hour. Gas consumption on the other hand, is less exciting at $6 a gallon. i need a new line item on my budget for that. You can actually see the gas gauge moving!
Factory Five Racing Mk4 Roadster
Build school Feb 22
Ordered March 22. Received December 22
Go cart May 23
Blueprint 347 EFI
Gasnpipes side pipes
15 inch wheels
IRS
Bespoke leather interior (light camel)
Paint by Jeff Millar
Power Steering, heater, wipers
Jeff Thompson indicator, trunk drop box
Registration- many have written about this, but i encountered a couple of new things that i have not seen others write about. the initial journey was the same as others, first visit to DMV, where they gave me two movement forms, one of which i used for the visit to CHP. the officer was very nice, checked for stolen parts, and gave me my VIN number which was the same as my factory five serial number. No problems there, back to the DMV. Here i paid my fees and taxes. i bought the blueprint engine package so i was able to deduct the taxes paid to Blueprint from my fees and taxes in California (watch for this!). i was then told to wait for a letter from Sacramento with my SPCN. WRONG! i don't know if their right hand and the left hand are disconnected, but this wrong now. i waited 7 weeks, nothing, called the DMV. Oh, it is on hold, go see San Clemente DMV again. So i go back, got a great lady who actually knew what she was doing. "You need your brake and light test before we issue the SPCN".
Finding a place to do it wasn't easy, but eventually i found a good garage, who was able to certify. WARNING- when i first showed up for brake and lights they asked if i had a parking brake indicator light, i said no, well that would be a fail they said. So i go and get a $9 switch from O'Reillys and repurposed one of the indicator lights i had not used. About an hour or two to install and test. Went back to test center.
Next challenge, i have the Breeze LED's. Everything works brilliantly except the front indicators, which will not work if the lights are on and the brake is being depressed. Consulted Mark, switched back to incandescent for now, passed the test. At some point I will fix that, but its a small issue, and the incandescent are fine for the indicators- highly recommend the LED's for the driving lights though.
Back to the DMV- found the same lady again, she was great. Applied for and got me my SPCN AND she gave me a 3 month "red tag" driving permit. Now i am on the road (legally!). once i get SPCN in the post from Sacramento i still need the BAR check, and one more visit to the DMV to get my tag.
FIRST 1000 miles-
Biggest thing- i got stopped by the cops. Young guy on a bike. Sheriff rather than highway patrol. he just wanted to look at the car and knew a lot about them. I wasnt speeding and didnt get a ticket. But then he pulls out his decimeter. i have the GasNpipes side pipes, touring edition (very highly recommended, a work of art). i thought, this will be no problem- NOPE! 97 db at idle about 3 feet from the pipe, and 108 db at 3000 revs. Legal limit in California is 96db. Opps. Wrote to Georgie so he is making me up a quieter set of pipes. Sacrilege i know, but the cops here are rabid about exhaust noise because of the motorbikes. i think the touring pipes are perfect, just loud or quiet enough depending on your perspective. But to be legal i need quieter pipes. 8 weeks wait, but Georgie to the rescue none the less. i am careful where i rev my engine now, and drive in fear of being pulled over for noise. In Orange county this is no joke unfortunately.
Heat in the cockpit- ok i knew this might be an issue, but its become and obsession with me. The passenger side is fine. i have head barrier (Thermo-tec) on the footboxes and fire wall (on inside not engine compartment). the drivers side though has more challenges. Two real sources- the heater even though its not running, and around the sides of the drivers side foot box. Did some research on the forum, common issues. the heater is easy to solve- just buy a decent quality shower cap, and put it over the heater box in the engine compartment (no, i am not kidding), works great. cuts out 80 to 90 percent of the air that is forced in over the heater box when the car is moving, and which then finds its way down the vent tubes and out of the vents. i also bought two (Amazon) vent heads that actually close, they help too. Still get a bit of ambient heat down the pipes etc, but no big deal.
Second is the air around the side. i used pipe insulation from home depot. i stuffed it down the sides between the body and the foot box. i have not entirely stopped the airflow. This is Caddyshack to me. i will get this under control. Not bad but, i am obsessed with it now. At night its quite pleasant, during the day in Southern California, less so. And in any case i want to control the heat coming into the cockpit.
i also didn't get all the footbox area with the heat shield during construction (my bad). i have had to retrofit heat shield, which has done my back and wrists no good.
Lessons learned for builders here (and my next build), cover every inch of footbox and all surfaces near the engine compartment with heat shield. Secondly try to put the barrier between the foot box and the body in before putting the body on, and use something better than stuffing pipe insulation. Summit has a bunch of products that would work. Some guesswork required on where to put the insultation etc, but now i know where i would put it. More is better if you want to keep the heat out.
two layers of heat shield on the drivers footbox where it gets close to the headers would also be a good idea.
I think some heat will always come in, it's just - is this controllable and reasonable.
Engine- Blueprint 347 with EFI. works great, 480hp, similar toque. only issue is that it idles at 1000 to 1100 revs, not the 850 i set it at. Vibrates a bit at idle too, which disappears immediately it gets to 1300 revs. i have question into Blueprint on this. Holly Snipper forum has 312 reasons on why this might be happening.
Car drives great after second go with alignment. Fantastic fun, and it looks wonderful in Ford Red/Wimbledon White by Jeff Millar. Lady in a 150k Merc truck pulls up to me last night, winds the window down, "wonderful car, enjoy" she said. No visit to the gas station lasts less than 20 minutes. Brakes are sharp after i re-bled them at 500 miles. Every head turns, every kid smiles. Its just a blast to drive. i go to get milk, it takes an hour. Gas consumption on the other hand, is less exciting at $6 a gallon. i need a new line item on my budget for that. You can actually see the gas gauge moving!
Factory Five Racing Mk4 Roadster
Build school Feb 22
Ordered March 22. Received December 22
Go cart May 23
Blueprint 347 EFI
Gasnpipes side pipes
15 inch wheels
IRS
Bespoke leather interior (light camel)
Paint by Jeff Millar
Power Steering, heater, wipers
Jeff Thompson indicator, trunk drop box