Rebostar MK4 Build in Gaston Oregon

[Rebostar]

Greetings All,
Im starting this build thread now 16 days prior to my kit completeion date as I have an engine, transmission assembly, and rear axle assembly to build. That is to say, I have a 1969 351W block machined .060 over, and large pile of boxes from Summit. I'm told by Scat that my pistons will arrive there tomorrow, and once they complete the balance they'll ship the 418ci rotating assemly to me. I should have it here in Oregon late next week.
I have another pile of boxes that contain a new TKX 5 speed, SBF bellhousing, clutch pressure plate and throwout bearing and minor parts to bolt to the aformentioned SBF. My other small but growing pile of boxes is my Quick Performance Ford 9 inch rear end assembly set up to install as a direct bolt in replacement for an 8.8.
I'm just wrapping up the last of the metal fab on my 1957 Studebaker Silver Hawk, then its on the back burner for a year or so.
I'll be building the MK4 body buck early next week.
I think I qualify as having officaily started the build as the wife and I (mostly the wife) picked out the eventual paint color at the PPG paint store today. Its a 2020 Ford metalic mix called "Son of a Gun Grey". That will be complimented by Vivid Black stripes.

I'll try to get something posted daily unless the complaints get to loud. I generaly start in the shop at 7 am, then start looking for a soft horizontal surface about 1 or 2pm.
Stay tuned, "more will be revealed".
Rebostar

[F500guy]

Sounds good and I look forward to meeting up with you soon!

lance

[Rebostar]

I see that folks have tended to list the Kit Options. Not knowing what the protocal is I guess I'll do the same. I placed the order on January 15, 2024 for a complete kit with options as follows:
# 351W Mounts
# TKX w/ clutch cable
# 351W Headers
# base 4 into 1 side exhaust
# 4 Link w/ arms
# Manual steering rack
# Vinyl seats
# R & L Chrome roll bar with grommets
# Wood Steering wheel
# Carbon Fiber Dash
# Oil cooler
# Front sway bar
# Inside door pads
# Wind wings
# Trunk gas strut kit
# Over riders
# Seat track kit
# Assembled side louver kit
# Body cut outs

I know the first think folks will want to ask is why I got the 4 link. Answer: I've used the triangutated 4 link in a couple of my builds and they work well and are easy to set up and adjust, in addition the all in cost for the complete Quick Performance Ford 9 inch rear axle assembly including center section with Motive 350 gears, trac-loc,31 pline axles, 11 inch rear brakes with E brake delivered to my door was $2600. It is set up to install as a direct replacement for any 8.8 axle from an 87 to 93 Mustang. And it was 2.5K less than the all in price of the 3 link and 3.5k less than the IRS.
About the cable clutch. The only hydraulic clutch vehicle I've ever driven is my 2018 Mustang GT w/ Roush Stage II 750 HP Supercharger. I've hated the "feel" of the clutch since I drove it off the lot new. I like to feel the clutch engage/disengage with my left foot, not the seat of my pants. So just a personal prefrence. Also the manual rack as opposed to the power rack, Its a feel thing, I know there is a price to pay in the parking lot, but in the twisties I like the feel of the wheel with the manual steering.

I encourage any comments or questions. Please feel free.

Rebostar "more will be revealed"

[Mike.Bray]

You should really reconsider the manual rack. I'm the same, everything I had ever built had manual steering until this car. But the issue here isn't the feel, it's being able to dial in more castor so the car is more stable. Like a lot more stable. If you do a search on this forum you'll find lots of posts on manual vs. power steering with most like me becoming converts and believers.

Adding only a front sway bar is going to really upset the handling, you're better off without it. The 4 link isn't so great either, again there are posts here that detail the downside of 4 links in these cars.

The cable clutch is fine, just use a genuine Ford cable and not the cheap one that comes from FFR. World of difference.

Looking forward to watching your build!

Mike

[Rebostar]

Mike
Thanks for the heads up on the power steering. I did think it over quite a bit and decided it would be an upgradable item. I installed a power rack on my Helix Mustang II front suspension system I installed on my 47 Merc Coupe. The handling was much improved over the mouse trap contraption Mercury installed in 1947. On the Cobra I was concerned about the power steering pump interfering with the steering shaft. I've done a couple CVF front accessory upgrades and the CVF supplied pump hangs quite a bit off to the left side. I may do the swap after driving it awhile if the pump fits. I had to shim out a 29 Chevy Pick up front axle quite a bit to get the thing to track. Had almost no castor to start. Couple of wedges fixed it. I did not know there was no castor adjustment in the MK 4. I read somewhere here that there was ample castor/camber, so did not think it would be an issue. Too late now. The manual rack is on its way. But like I said I can change it later.

On the sway bar I fully intend to install a rear anti-sway bar as well. I'll have to fab up the frame mounts, but I've done it a few times before. (not on a Cobra though!)

Thanks for the heads up on the clutch Cable, I'll check Summit as soon as I finish this post.

Rebostar

[Rebostar]

OK, I'm a believer! Last night I stayed up researching the whole manual vs power steering. I get the need for caster at higher speeds for tracking and stability. The info concerning the two caster settings from the build manual changed my mind. The power steering caster setting is 7* the manual is 3*. The 7* caster will track better the faster you go. If I set the manual steering caster at 7* It will be very hard to steer at low speeds. So I get the theory. I'm wondering why FFR offers the manual rack at all. 3* for a grocery getter would be fine making a run to the auto parts store. If you want to drive 85 to keep up with local interstate traffic you will want the 7*. If you plan to race at all, the 7* would be essential. So again why offer the manual rack?

There will be major issues to address to get a power steering pump installed. There is a cascading series of unintended concequences which I will address in a new post.
Rebostar

[Jeff Kleiner]

Power steering and also add the FFR proprietary spindles. Trust me, these two item will be some of the best money you spend.

Jeff

[Rebostar]

Jeff
I got the FFR spindles that come with the complete kit. Is there another "proprietary spindle I dont know about?

[Rebostar]

First "build" update:

Cleaned all horizontal surfaces in the shop today in antisipation of storing the MK4 parts. Put the large pile of engine parts on the bench ready for engine assembly. Recieved the cam berings today so next up will be installing the cam and oil gallery plugs (threaded). Still waiting on Scat for the rotating assembly. (next week)

Put away all the Studebaker parts till next year.

Built the body buck today.

Off to Pheonix in the morning. See y'all next week.

Rebostar

[Rebostar]

Great news
Stewart Transport called on the 14th to tell me they planed to pick up my kit three days early! Was due to be completed on the 24th. ST says they plan to have it here in Oregon by the end of the month! Two weeks ahead of shcedule!

FR & ST Rock!

Rebostar

[Rebostar]

Great news. I called FFR today and my kit was loaded on the truck. I'm #6 of 8 on the delivery list. I'm near Portland OR so I'll see it at the end of the month! Yea!

[Rebostar]

Did a photo posting search on google and found the "how to" So now we'll see if it works. First up is the body buck 195919

[Rebostar]

It worked!!
So body buck done. next was cleaning and removing all the casting "flash" from the timing cover and installing a new seal 195920

[Rebostar]

As promised I tapped all the oil gallery plugs to install threaded plugs. Installed new brass freeze plugs as well.195922 Then installed the cam bearings. I have to wait for the Scatt Rotating Assy to arrive (next week) to 195921make sure the rod bolts will clear the bottom of the cylinder walls. I've done this exact stroker up grade from Scatt on a 69 351W (C9E) and there was .200 clearance, so I'm figuring the same here, but I can wait a week just in case I need to clearance it.195923

[Rebostar]

Just picked out my avatar. In case anyone is interested this is my 1970 Mercury Cougar.195925 I did a complete rotiserie restoration on it including swapping out the 351W for a 1964 427FE backed by a C6. The real definition of "Fast & Loud".195924

[1969Camaro]

I read in the post from Jeff to Rebostar about getting the power steering and FFR proprietary spindles, is that a different part not included in the kit?

[Rebostar]

I read in the post from Jeff to Rebostar about getting the power steering and FFR proprietary spindles, is that a different part not included in the kit?

1969 Camaro.
I talked with a tech at FFR about the spindles. The discission was concerning the front brake attachments. I was told that the spindles supplied with the complete kit will fit any brakes, bearings, or hubs, that would fit an 86 to 93 Mustang with a 5 lug set up. There may be s slight difference from the Ford produced donor spindles. If you ordered the complete kit like I did you'll get the right stuff!

If you get up towards the Portland area. Give a shout out and swing by the shop here in Gaston.

Rebostar

[Jeff Kleiner]

1969 Camaro.
I talked with a tech at FFR about the spindles. The discission was concerning the front brake attachments. I was told that the spindles supplied with the complete kit will fit any brakes, bearings, or hubs, that would fit an 86 to 93 Mustang with a 5 lug set up.

You were given incorrect information. The FFR proprietary spindles that are part of the complete kit are incompatible with the 1993 and earlier brakes, rotors and bearings. They use sealed 1994 and up bearings and rotors along with 2 piston PBR (actually aftermarket PBR generic) calipers.

Jeff

[Rebostar]

Jeff
That really bums me out. I talked with Dan at FFR specifcly about using Wilwood brakes (P/N 140-11018-DR) on the kit supplied spindles. He told me they would work if they fit the 87 to 93 five lug spindles. The tech at Wilwood said these brakes would work on them as well.

The brakes will be here on Tuesday, The Kit arrives on the 29th so we shall find out soon enough!

[Jeff Kleiner]

Jeff
That really bums me out. I talked with Dan at FFR specifcly about using Wilwood brakes (P/N 140-11018-DR) on the kit supplied spindles. He told me they would work if they fit the 87 to 93 five lug spindles. The tech at Wilwood said these brakes would work on them as well.

The brakes will be here on Tuesday, The Kit arrives on the 29th so we shall find out soon enough!



The Wilwood 140-11018-DR fits Fox Mustang '87-93 spindles.

https://www.wilwood.com/brakekits/BrakeKitsProdFront?itemno=140-11018-DR

You told us earlier:

I got the FFR spindles that come with the complete kit.

As I said in my previous reply the FFR spindles are designed to use 1999 and later Mustang components (hubs, bearings, rotors, calipers). That Wilwood kit is not gonna' work with the FFR complete kit spindles because THEY ARE NOT THE SAME as '87-93 spindles.

Sorry :(

Jeff

[Rebostar]

The Wilwood 140-11018-DR fits Fox Mustang '87-93 spindles.

https://www.wilwood.com/brakekits/BrakeKitsProdFront?itemno=140-11018-DR

You told us earlier:


As I said in my previous reply the FFR spindles are designed to use 1999 and later Mustang components (hubs, bearings, rotors, calipers). That Wilwood kit is not gonna' work with the FFR complete kit spindles because THEY ARE NOT THE SAME as '87-93 spindles.

Sorry :(

Jeff

Jeff
Once again you are correct. Seems I was given bad info. I had an hour long chat with Dan at FFR mostly about manual/power steering. We did however discuss front and rear brakes. My notes confirm the brake packages I could upgrade to would have to fit the earlier 5 lug 87 to 93 Mustangs. After reading your above posts and a bit of research shows the earlier spindles are tapered and have a different hub than the 94 to 04 spindles. This kinda bums me out as I thought I had done my due diligence in asking FFR and Wilwood about fitment. I did not know the spindles changed after 93. Nothing I could find published by FFR states that the base kit 84 to 94 donor car spindles are different than the complete kit 94 to 04 spindles. I guess its just one of those thing you figure out by getting the wrong parts first.

[Rebostar]

Great news, The Fox Body 84-93 Wilwood brakes I ordered are now on their way back to Summit and the correct brakes P/N WIL-140-12048-DR will be shipped to me in the morning. That new P/N was given to me from Dan (who also told me the 84-93's would fit) at FFR for the Wilwood big brake upgrade for the MK4. In addition Summit lists only the Factory Five Cobra as the "application" for this kit and they sell them a bit cheaper than Wilwood. So...disaster averted, Thanks for the heads up Jeff!

On another note, the polished 17" American Racing Halibrands (427) arrived today. They look great. Vintage wheels sells the same wheels as FFR but I wanted the polished wheels not the grey painted ones FFR sells.

Counting down the hours, kit should arrive later this week.

Rebostar

[Rebostar]

Happy Sunday Folks,
The kit arrived at 5:30pm on Friday. Mark had a long day with snow and rain, but he made it.196406 Took us about an hour all in till he left. I spent all day s
Saturday and half of Sunday to complete the invantory. The only thinks missing were as follows:

All of Box 13 containing both Chrome roll bars.
Chrome Side Mirror
Assembled Side Louvers
2 ea. 1/4-20 Button Head Screws

All in all a pretty good job by FFR. Only the side mirror and 2 screws were marked as packed but missing. The Chrome Roll Bars and Louvers were back ordered. I had not planed to use the FFR mirror. Going with the Breeze units. But I paid for it and will use it on another build somewhere down the road.

Tomorrow I'll mark and remove all the chassis aluminum. I'll put the frame on the 2 post lift and get it level and secured the start the mods that will require welding.

I'll post again when I'm done with the mods and have the chassis prepped, primed and painted.

Rebostar

Onn Saturday F500guy (aka Lance) stopped by to help remove the body off the chassis and set it up on the body buck. Thanks and kudo's Lance!

[F500guy]

Great to visit, looking at your fleet of cars, I am sure this will be quite a nice build!

[Rebostar]

Got a lot done in two days.
After checking out a lot of the different battery locations I decided to go with 520 Speedworks trunk location. Greg was kind enough to supply me with pics. Below is the last two days work. 196484 196483 196485196486

[Rebostar]

More battery and drop trunk framework196487196488196489196490196491

[Rebostar]

Having finished the battery box framework, I needed to make a battery box to secure the battery to the framework. That was today's activities. 196574196575196576196577196578

[Rebostar]

Todays activities was to fabricate and install a new .125 thick 2024 T3 Aircraft aluminum firewall. I used a 2"x2" 1/8" steel angle overlaped on the 2" square beam by 3/8". A one inch weld every 4 inches top and bottom. Then installed three 90' supports underneath for added support. I drilled two 1.250 holes to route the two wire harnesses striaght down, rather than coming out of the firewall. 196610196611196612196613

[Fman]

Nice work opening that dash area up, you will definitely appreciate the extra real estate when you begin wiring! Never seen anyone mount the battery in that location, always something new coming with the build of these cars :)

[Rebostar]

Fman
Thanks for the kudos. I have to give credit to Greg at 520 Speedworks for the battery location idea. I made a few improvments but its mostly his idea. In my last two builds (not MK4) I put the battery off to one side in the trunk.196626196627

[Rebostar]

Today's festivities include redesigning the upper radiator attachment. I found this on You Tube and liked the idea. I removed the two 3/4 short FFR mounts, installed a 1.5"x 1/8 peice of steel under the cross tube in the place of the short mount blocks. I drilled 5 holes to accept the McMaster Carr 3/4" x 3/4" shock mounts. Test fitted the radiator and it fits perfect. I ordered an additional Brake Resivior and made and welded on a bracket to mount the pair.
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[Rebostar]

Only a half day today. Its Sunday and I'm gonna watch golf and the race. So todays work accomplished the following: I decided to use the FFR overflow tank because I'm concidering using an FE Expansion tank and I did not want to spend the $$$ on the Canton 2 qt tank and I wont need it if I use the FE Tank. However in order to make sure it would be forward of the altinator I moved it forward from the manual installation and then it blocked off the area where the right brake line clip gets attached. So I fabbed up a weld on clip, welded it to the lower tank mount, then did the same for the left side.
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[Rebostar]

I decided (and the wife agrees) that there should be an "oh crap" handle below the glove box. I had ordered the CF Dash so I mocked it up to see if there was room for steel reinforcement. There is! So now we have a steel plate weled to the 2"x 2" crossmember to attach the grab bar to. Its just got 1/4" pilot holes now. I'll fab up a nice handle that will match the rest of the cockpit down the road. 196704196705196706

I did not want my braided brake lines attached to the chassis with a couple aluminum pop rivets, so I made a couple more clips for the rear brakes so I could weld them on.196707196708 I lowered them from the FFR position as I plan to route a 3" duct hose to cool the footboxes through that space. There will be two duct inlets in the cubbie leading to a pair of 3" bilge blowers ducted down to a 1"x4" duct running alongside the seats to vent the footboxes. Pics will follow when I do the sheetmetal.

[Rebostar]

Today was a good day. After reading some good advice from some of the above posts, I decided to go with a power steering sytem. I have a 351W stroker. I have the CVF Pulley system and the Saginaw pump would interfere with the steering shaft. So I wont be using the CVF power steering. I did not want to use the late model pump converted to vee belt. SOLUTION= Epowersteering.com. Lance showed me his Electronic Power Steering System and I am sold. I aquired the Epowersteering kit for the MK4. I spent today mocking up the steering rack and shaft so I could intigrate the new electric power assist unit. The instructions were pretty easy to follow. I did add an additional support running from the 4" tube to the supplied attach bracket system. I did not want a 15lb motor assembly bouncing up and down being supported by a thin walled 3/4 tube. Then I mounted the brain box within easy reach of the existing electrical pigtail. Then I broke it all down and put it all away leaving only the weled on support brackets.
196795196796196797

[Rebostar]

Been busy getting my 47 Merc Coupe into the Portland Roadster Show. It is up on display so
I have a free day to finish the welding. I see the late model solid axle calls for a cross over line to the right rear brakes. I decided not to route it back by the fuel tank. I crossed it over behind the 2x3 frame. This reqired 4 clips to be welded in.196895196896

[Rebostar]

Next up was to mount the radiator lower mount. I used the breeze system with a 3/8" SS threaded rod inside a 1/2" square tube with six 2" heater hose sections for padding. VERY Importand!!! do not mount horns untill the radiator is mounted! Ask me why I know this! I made a really nice bracket, welded it in the approximate place the pic in the manual shows it. It wont fit there. I had to cut it out, make a new one and install it closer to the front by about 2". All is well now.196897196898196899196900


This should do it for the planned mods that require welding. So next up will be cleaning up all the factory welds and fitting and drilling all the sheet metal panels. All really boring stuff so no pics or posts till that done.
Allyn

[F500guy]

Now you are really making me look like slacker! Nice touches being able to do all that ahead of time.

[Rebostar]

Lance, Thanks for the compliment. I have a lot of catching up to do. I'll be pre drilling and fitting all the aluminum panels for the next few days. That way I can prime them all together. Then the exterior facing panels will get sprayed with tintable "Raptor" undercoating you turned me on to. All the engine bay facing panels will be painted Summit "Platnium Silver Metalic". Then its clean, prime and paint the chassis frame Summit "Carbon Fiber Grey Metalic".
Allyn

[Rebostar]

After reading the post from AA-ron andut a diferent way to vent the foot box I decided to do a similar duct. Rather than put the vent blower behind the seat I'll have the intakes in the cubby.
In the course of pre fitting and drilling all my aluminum panels I decided to see if venting the footbox from air intakes located in the cubby would work. Seems it will. Rather than make 1x4 rectangle ducts, I only need one side and a way to attach it and make the side and back walls the "outside" of the duct. So I spent the day doing origami! First I had to make sure everything would clear the rear end. So I had to mock up the rear axle and place the wheels to see what room there is. I wont have the drivers side and back wall permenently installed for a while. I will unravel my origami ducts and make .025 2024 T3 ducts and have them ready for when I rivit all the panels on. Below are the results.

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[Rebostar]

In continuing to pre-fit and drill all the aluminum panels, when I got to the drivers inner footbox wall it was time to make some changes as long as I was fitting it. Seems it was no big deal, I just made two cuts and bent out the flap. Then made the filler parts out of paper and transfered to aluminum. Then fit it all togeather. Making one of the bends in the long part required the use of a fine tipping die on my bead roller but the part came out great. Also I moved the firewall forward just under two inches. I had to trim and bend the upper footbox peices to accomedate the new firwall position.

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[Rebostar]

As long as I did the right side of the drivers footbox, why not add a little room to the left side. Pretty simple. Take the 90' tapered peices and cut the short vertical sections off. Starting at the bottom of the vertical cut, cut the aluminum horizontal right along the lower bend line the lenth of the shorter peice of the previously cut tapered peices. So instead of one 90' cut, you'll have a three sided cut. Install the upper, longer taperd piece per FF. Install the shorter one in the cut you just made. Then make a Z panel to close off the open end. Now you have an extra inch on the right side.197137197138197139197140197141

[Rebostar]

Happy Sunday folks.
I spent today pre fitting and drilling the trunk side sheet metal and lower trunk floor. I can not finish the drop trunk till I get some more 6061 aluminum. I'll be getting some in the morning. I do have a 4' x 8' sheet of .020 2024T3 that I used to enclose the trunk mounted battery box. That seemed to take forever.

197246197247197248

[Rebostar]

Managed to score a 4x4 sheet of .040 aluminum localy for $81 bucks yesterday. I only needed less than a quarter of it so I'll have plenty left over for other projects. I made the drop trunk today. I bead rolled the bottom to add some stiffeners. Tomorrow I planed to make the cubby and a cover panel for the battery box.

197316197317

[Rebostar]

Its been a few days since I've posted anything. But I have been busy. Anyone following AA-ron's "another way to vent the foot box" knows I've been working on a vent system to do just that. First up was fitting the front trunk floor aluminum. Then fabricating a "cubby" that fits in between the roll bars and clears the deck lid gas rods.

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[Rebostar]

I had to raise the duct fan as high as the gas rods would allow. I made a pair of brackets that would support the fans on a pair of 3/4" vibration mounts. While I was at it I welded on the nuts that hold the shoulder belts in, so I could remove and install them with one hand. Also when I get the roll bars delivered I plan to use a close tolerance PiP Pin to secure the inner roll bar, so I can remove it with one hand.

197447197448197449197450

[Rebostar]

I got the 3" bilge blowers from West Marine. The duct intakes and the 3'' duct adapters I got off amazon. The aluminum ducts and vibration mounts came from McMast Carr. So now I have the cubby and intake sytem mocked up. Next I'll start on the lower duct work.

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[Rebostar]

Its taken me several days to fabricate and install the side ducts and the transition plenums behind the aft cabin wall, but I finaly got everything fabricated and installed. The transition plenums were fun, but time consuming. I had to install two nut plates inside the plenums in order to attach them to the frame.

197616197617197618197619197620

[Rebostar]

The ducts that go along the back wall and lower sides were also more complicated that I first thought. But it just goes to show you that " skill and perseverance wins over ignorance and superstion every time!". The cheap thin walled aluminum ducts will be replaced with high quality aircraft fire proof scat heat ducting. I just got the cheap stuff to make sure it would work before I spent the big bucks.

197621197622197624197623197625

[Rebostar]

Just finishing up a few last details before I strip the frame down and prime and paint it. I needed to trim a few panels and install the rivnuts for the fuel pump and sender access plates. I also needed to make a panel to enclose the bottom of the battery box. Lastly, I made a cover panel to access the battery compartment. I used aircraft cam-loc fasteners to attach it to the welded on clips and did a quick bead roll to add a little structure.

197725

[Rebostar]

The last thing to do before breaking everything down was to fit the battery jumper studs. There is a narrow panel on the aft side of the battery box that will accomadate the studs. I also welded in a negative battery strap grounding stud just aft of the battery inside the battery box.

197975197976

[Rebostar]

I've spent the last 5 weeks since the kit arrived welding in all the mods and changes. I also needed to fit, trim, and drill all the aluminum panels in order to accomplish all the above changes. So today I fabed up a couple of cross braces to support the front of the frame/chassis while it's on the rotiserie. FFR said they put them on the weling jigs without any bracing but I dont think I want to risk any warping. Then I had to build adapters to mount the front and rear quick jack mounts to my rotiserie. Tomorrow I'll be preping it for primer and paint.

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[Jeff Kleiner]

As long as I did the right side of the drivers footbox, why not add a little room to the left side....

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=197140&d=1711150911

Sorry to have to tell you but this but it's better for you to know now rather than later. This is going to be a problem. The body pushes all the way in at the rocker panel ahead of the door. The protruding lower edge of this box isn't going to allow that. That's why the factory extension tapers to nothing at the bottom.

Jeff

[ggunter]

I thought he knew something I didn't. My body comes right up against the footbox, within a quarter inch or so at the bottom.

[Rebostar]

Before I took the body off I measured how much room there was. There was two inches of empty space at the front of the drivers footbox and taperd back to a half inch or so. The 1" protrusion tapers to nothing 2 inches from the door opening. This panel can be easily changed back if there is any interferance. I had planed to test fit the body once all the aluminum is on as there are a lot of mods and I'll need to make sure it will all fit. As soon as I have all the aluminum on we'll see where we're at. Easy fix if it wont work.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Before I took the body off I measured how much room there was. There was two inches of empty space at the front of the drivers footbox and taperd back to a half inch or so. This panel can be easily changed back if there is any interferance. I had planed to test fit the body once all the aluminum is on as there are a lot of mods and I'll need to make sure it will all fit. As soon as I have all the aluminum on we'll see where we're at. Easy fix if it wont work.

When you test fit the body onto the chassis be sure to also fit the doors. They play together.

Jeff

Jeff

[Rebostar]

Thanks Jeff,
When the kit arrived both the deck lid and hood fit really great. Very little trimming to be done. The doors however will be a pain in the A**, as they din'nt fit at all! With the cubby, new firewall, and battery relocation I know I may need to trim a bit here and there. I've been studying up on the door fitment.

[Rebostar]

I rolled the frame int my "paint booth" and spent a day with a gallon of MEK and a resperator to get it clean then sprayed 2 complete coats of Summit Urathane Primer.

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[Rebostar]

When the primer was dry I mixed up a batch of Dove Grey NAPA Crossfire Urathane single stage and sprayed two coats aft of the fire wall. Then I mixed up Summit Urathane Platnium Silver Metalic and sprayed two coats forward of the fire wall. ( engine bay ).

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[Rebostar]

I finaly got a chance to actualy build something! I found a Ford 9" rear axle assembly being sold through CJ Pony parts. Its a 9" assembly custom modified to be a direct bolt in replacement for the Ford 8.8 in a 1987 to 2004 Mustang. It is made by Quick Performance. Its been narrowed, has 31 spline axles, completely overhauled Trac-Loc differencial, jack pad, drain and fill plugs in the housing. I ordered it with "Explorer" brakes, but they were junk made in china. I got a set of Wilwood brakes for the new style, "Torino" large bearing axle housing.

I have a complete jig for narrowing the 9" housing so I welded on the FFR lower control arm adapters. I'm using after market upper and lower double adjustable control arms so I had to open up all the mounting holes to accept the new larger diameter hardware. Once that was done I cleaned everything up and primed it with Urathane Primer followed by 2 coats of Summit Carbon Fiber Metalic.

198278198279198280198281198282

[Rebostar]

After the paint dried it was time for assembly. The housing comes bare and has to be built up. The good news is the axles came with the bearings and locks installed. Once the center section was installed the axles and brakes needed to be installed. As mentioned earlier none of the attach hardware is useable with the aftermarket control arms so I'm using all quality grade #8 and had to drill out the frame mounts to accomadate the larger hardware.

198283198284198285198286198287

[Rebostar]

Starting to do all the mundane tasks. They will go quickly now that all the prep work is done. As soon Scatt sends me my harmonic damper I will take a break from car assembly and build up the Windsor. I installed the front suspension today. Had to call FFR and ask about the upper control arms and ask why there are two right side uppers and no left. Did not like what I heard, so I set up the right side as per the manual then adjusted the left to match it. This will get it through "go cart stage" till I can get it in an alignment shop.

198340198341

[Jeff Kleiner]

There is no right or left; same arm both sides.

Jeff

[egchewy79]

Starting to do all the mundane tasks. They will go quickly now that all the prep work is done. As soon Scatt sends me my harmonic damper I will take a break from car assembly and build up the Windsor. I installed the front suspension today. Had to call FFR and ask about the upper control arms and ask why there are two right side uppers and no left. Did not like what I heard, so I set up the right side as per the manual then adjusted the left to match it. This will get it through "go cart stage" till I can get it in an alignment shop.

198340198341

that's funny, I got sent two left ones :)

[Rebostar]

There is no right or left; same arm both sides.

Jeff

Jeff, Yea, I figured that out. I would have thought the manual would be a bit clearer. It did mention that the welded adjuster would be in the front when installed on the left side, but did not give any spec's for set up. Thats why I called FFR. It,s now set up exactly like the right side. It would have been simpler for FFR to have a mirrored Left and Right side so they could be set up identicaly per the manual drawings. But cheaper to manufacture just one I guess.

[Jeff Kleiner]

FFR doesn’t manufacture them. They are from SPC.

Jeff

[Rebostar]

Today I got quite a bit done. I installed the front anti sway bar, the steering rack, and the front brakes. Then I bolted up the 9" rear end. I substituted all the suspension hardware for quality Grade #8. Six weeks of prep work really paid off so I got a lot done.

198397198398198399198400

[Rebostar]

I've done a few superficial searches and could not find any recent Ford 9" rearend installations. I know its been done before. I know I'm not the first.
All my builds have the 9" rearend in them. They are indestructable! Also I'm all tooled up to overhaul, narrow, set up and install them. It's what I know. I've never laid eys on an 8.8. I've never seen a hot rodder install an 8.8 as an upgrade. I assume they are a great rear end as Ford stuck em in everything. However I'll continue to use the 9". Thought I'd share the installation in a MK4.

198401198402198403198404

[zarnold]

Nice! I've only been hanging around for a little while, but this is the first 9" I've seen installed.

[i.e.427]

After checking out a lot of the different battery locations I decided to go with 520 Speedworks trunk location. Greg was kind enough to supply me with pics.


Nice work opening that dash area up, you will definitely appreciate the extra real estate when you begin wiring! Never seen anyone mount the battery in that location, always something new coming with the build of these cars :)

Our rear fender mount battery box and drop trunk box predate Greg's iteration........ By almost 15 years. And to be clear, Greg and I are friends.

https://www.ffcars.com/threads/new-battery-location.254427/

"Imitation is the highest form of flattery" and we encourage all builders to take our ideas and run with them. For those that want a short-cut, we also sell kits to help you along if you have limited fabrication skills.

Here's a link to a more recent rear fender mount battery box install.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rr_Z2N0ErQk

Frank

[Rebostar]

Frank
Thanks for the tip. A bit late for me, but others might use it. I did not want to use the Breeze front mounted battery as I did not like the small battery that must be used in it. I prefer Optima G34 batteries. I had other plans for the upper trunk deck so the rear fender mount was a great way to go. I found Greg's install on You Tube.

By the way keep up the good work on You Tube. I watch a lot of your vids.

[Rebostar]

I bit more progress to report....the usual suspects! Installed the fuel tank, made easy with the lift. Built up and installed the peddle box. One of the better FFR manual write ups. Installed the previously fitted E-Power Steering System. Also installed the Kliener Mod.....thanks Jeff..(not shown in pics)

198501198502198503198504

[Rebostar]

This morning I fabricated a relay mount strip. It will be rivited on to the back side of the firewall using the rivits that hold the firewall on. I plan to use the same low amp lighted switches for all the systems in the car so all primary circuits will go through a relay. I currently need 8 relays and I'll add two more as spares. Its made of 2024 T3 alclad with 10 #8 nut plates rivited on.
I'm at the point in the manual to install the firewall so I need to make sure all the widgets I have planned will fit behind the firewall. I want a minimum of holes (none would be best) in the firewall so I'll figure out a way to mount everything without drilling any holes in it.

198505198506198507198508

[Rebostar]

Early on I decided I was not going to install the FFR heater. Did not seem to make sence in a car with no top. It is afterall a four wheel motorcycle. However I did buy a set of Dorman seat heaters and a small cabin heater with enough power to keep the windshield from fogging up. I used one of these on my 47 Merc build (works great as a defroster). I clamped the dash to the frame, raised it untill the glove box contacted the upper frame, then centered it. I found there was room for the defroster box behind the glove box. It would not have fit had I not moved the firewall forward 1.75 inches. In order to mount it I needed to take it apart and install nut plates that would pick up the lower firewall mount screws, also I had to rewire it. (not useing pop rivits and will be useing a circuit breaker ). I installed the firewall using #10 SS screws and SS lock nuts along the bottom. If I want to mount my fuel pressure regulator or Forte carb linkage I can pick up the lower firewall screws.

198574198575198576198577

[Rebostar]

I have no intension of useing the Ron Francis FFR wire harness. The car will be wired the way I did my Thunderbolt Tribute, 47 Merc Coupe, and 57 Studebaker Silverhawk. No fueses in the car. All circuit breakers. No critical wiring directly under the brake master cylenders. (they have been known to leak). I'll be using a constant duty Cessna master contactor, an aircraft starter solinoid,and a one wire altinator. I needed to get an aircraft style distribution bar. Rather than wait on Summit for some cheesy crap made in China, I went to my local Ace Hardware picked up some brass strips and brass hardware, then off to the local craft shop for "supplies". I spent a day making a power and a grounding distribution bar. I could have bought them, but this is all about making stuff where ever I can.

198578198582198580198579198581

[Rebostar]

I spent the last few days painting the footbox and cockpit aluminum. I etched, then scotchbrighted everything. Then primed with grey eurathane primer. I painted the engine bay facing panels Silver Metalic. The outward facing panels Raptor Bed Lining tinted grey. The inward facing panels that will have sound/heat proofing and carpet I left in primer. When they were all dry I spent a couple days installing them.

198734198735198736198737

[Rebostar]

I dont plan on using fuel injection so I set up my fuel system for low pressure. I found an aftermarket tank pump hangar that was converted to AN 6 outlets. I capped the return line. I wont be using an in-tank pump. I bought a Holley 34 GPH mini pump I'll use as a Primer. Then a Trick Flow canister filter. I ran -6 braided fuel line from the filter to the front of the drivers side footbox. I wont be able to terminate it till the engine is in. Soon I hope!. I run fuel and brake lines down one side and all wiring down the other. I might also use the center console for additional wiring.

Kudo's to Lance in Aloha for sending a much needed pic of the fuel line termination.

198738198739198740198741

[Rebostar]

Its been a few days since I posted, but I have been busy. I completed the fuel line routing to the engine bay. I put a foot of fire sleeve on the hose thats below the headers. I mounted a fuel presure regulator on the DS F panel to keep the Holly "prime" Pump at 7 psi. I'll wait till the engine is installed to make the final lines to the mechanical pump and carb.

199004199005

[Rebostar]

Next up was the brake hard lines. I made a couple changes from the manual. On the forward hard line I installed a Tee fitting so I did not have a big loop on the DS. I also crossed over on the front X frame rather than the 4" tube.

199010199011199012199013199014

[Rebostar]

On the rear lines, I put the hard line inside the DSFB and routed it next to the fuel line. I crossed over behind the 2x3 frame aft of the cabin wall rather than back by the fuel tank.
I made a pair of AN 4 lines to supply the master cylinders, going through bulkhead connectors, probably overkill, but it looks cool!

199015199016199017199018199019

[Rebostar]

A couple folks mentioned that the mod I made to the outer wall of the DSFB might not clear the body. I did some research here on the forum and found several pics of a similar mod, which I copied. So to save time and effort I modified my modification to allow extra clearance at the bottom of the footbox. I also want the traditional foot operated dimmer switch, so I made a bracket that fits in the "wide area" of the modified footbox outer wall installed with a couple of nut plates. From Summit I ordered 4 Heat shields (12"x12") which I installed with 1/4" spacers.

199020199021199022199023

[Rebostar]

I bled the brakes today. Made much easier with the "power" bleeder. Basicly a pump up weed sprayer with fittings and seals for DOT 3. Made it a one man job. Took about an hour. I also fabed up a starter solinoid mount bracket. It wont get installed untill its painted. That wont happen till I paint the last of the trunk sheetmetal.

One house keeping note:
I started to build up my engine but came to a screaming halt when Scat took 10 weeks to deliver my stroker kit, then another 3 to get me the damper I ordered. I am now at a good stopping point. The wiring is the next step in the manual but I'll be designing my own system based on a 12 vt Cessna or Piper electrical system. So I'll be taking the next several days to a week to build the engine. I'll try to post a few times as it goes together.

[Rebostar]

Sure glad I bought that cam bearing removal and installation tool from Summit. Clevite Cam Bearings installed! Next up was the cam and crankshaft. Last year I got the Trick Flow Degree Wheel. Comp Cam does a great job, the cam was spot on to the card. I had to file all the #1 & #2 rings to .015 a job made much easier with the ring dressing wheel that Summit sells. Next was installing the #1 piston and rod. I put a dab of "playdough" on each valve relief on the #1 Piston. I have a set of Head Gaskets I use for stet up, with one installed I installed the right Edlebrock Head. After installing two lifters and old 351 pushrods and rotated the crank/cam a few turns. Used my adjustable pushrod tool to center the rocker tips and got new Chrome Moly pushrods ordered. The playdough showed I had .175 clearance between the piston and valves. Next up will be installing the remaining 7 piston/rod assemblies, heads and oil pump and pick up.

199096199097199098199099199100

[Rebostar]

Well, I managed to get all 8 piston/rod assemblies installed without breaking a ring. Once you break one and you have to tell the customer why he cant have his airplane for another few days because you had to order another set of rings, You learn to take your time. I installed the Melling Oil Pump and hardened ARP oil pump drive shaft. I took Jeff K's advice on installing the Moroso 20534 rear sump pan with pick up and dip stick. It has a 7.5" deep pan that wont hang below the frame. Then I permanently installed both Edlebrock E-205 Heads.

I forgot to post the cam card on the previous post, so here it is.

199125199126199127199128199129

[Rebostar]

The bottom end is done. I went through all the rod and main bolts, oil pump & pick up and double checked all the torques. Before I mounted the pan I needed to mount the timing cover. When doing that it is essencial to install it loosly with sealent on both sides of the gasket, then install the damper to get the front seal centered before torquing anything. Before all that I fitted all the bolts for size and made a trip to Ace to get all the Stainless Steel bolts I'd need.Then I installed the water pump and only then did I torque the bolts. Theoreticly (sic) the water pump should not leak water and the front seal will not leak oil!! Oh yea, I installed a scookum timing pointer while installing the timing cover.

Then I installed the Moroso Pan. I gotta say its butt ugly but it will get the job done. Very few options for the 351W based engine pans with less than an 8" sump depth and cleared for a 4.1"stroker crank. Seems to be well made though. The other plusses are it comes equiped with a bung for an oil temp probe and has two magnetic drain plugs.

Next up was the Weiand dual plane intake. I've used this intake in my last three engine build and I like the throtle responce and they are very well made. The pushrods will be here in the AM, when they go in it will be time for the Comp Cam Roller Rockers 6:1, then set all the valve lashes. Pretty simple with hydraulic flat tappets. Then I can seal it up and prep for the run stand.

199153199154199155199156199157

[Rebostar]

I'm ready to put the engine on my test stand. First I needed to remove my 331 Stroker from my test stand. Before I did I wanted to run it one more time as It might be a few months before it gets back on the run stand. I also wanted to see if I could make a video and post it here so this is a test run.

Sorry about turning my cell camera 90' during the filming. I wont do that again!


https://youtu.be/BL8hPD-60X4

[Rebostar]

The pushrods showed up this morning. Took about an hour to get everything installed and set up. I'll have to re-set the valves after I break in the cam. As you can see I spent the big bucks on a set of Ansen Pent Roof SBF Valve Covers.

199161199162199163

[Rebostar]

I got the 331 Stroker off my run stand and got the 427 ready for installation. I had to use the set up I had for the 331 as the TKX bellhousing wont fit on my runstand (yet). this required me to use the larger flywheel and matching starter I have set up for the 331. This wont matter as this will only be a test run/leak check and breaking in the cam. Once that's done I'll remove it and install the flywheel, clutch kit, bellhousing, and starter on it and install it in the car. The carb that is on it now is a 4160 Holley 600 CFM for the 331. I forgot to order a dual inlet supply line for the 4150 Brawler 750 CFM carb. It wont be here for a week (Summit in Texas) so I'll do the break in with the smaller carb.

I like my ignition wire harness nice and tidy with a minimum extra wire. Just enough slack to time the distributor. I order all the individual Taylor pieces from Summit and make my own harnesses. The vertical wire loom is from R&M. I had to buy an extra loom just to get the matching 4 wire piece thats closest to the distributor, but the final look is worth it.

199320199321199322199323

[Rebostar]

Well I started the engine only to find a major oil leak from the new Canton Pan. Seems Canton deleted the second hole back from the front that screw into the timing cover, hence the leak). So had to remove it from the run stand, put it back on the work stand and remove the pan and clean everything with MEK the re-seal it. While I was at it I installed the bellhousing that will go on the car. Just had to slightly modify the rear attach point of the run stand. Then all back togeather.

I did a half hour run in for the cam mostly at 1500 rpm, but varied slightly from 800 to 2500. At 180' the oil pressure was 55. Second run in video below. I had to cut it short as I ran out of gas! Reminder to self, gas counts as a fluid to check before starting!


https://youtu.be/UsCFFFW18PY

[Rebostar]

As some may recall in several of the above posts I mentioned that I might be using an origonal FE expansion tank. I bought a couple localy on C-list for $40 each. I modified the best one to fit the Windsor. I'll clean it up and put new hoses on it, install it on the run stand, then run the engine to get up to temp and see if the tank leaks before I spend the $$ to ceramic coat or chrome it.

199447199448199449199450

[Rebostar]

Back a few weeks ago there was a thread asking what folks would do differently if they had it to do over again. One of those was to install all the rear wiring BEFORE installing the rear sheetmetal. Seems like great advice which I've taken. First up was installing the new Optima battery and wiring it up with the jumper posts and running the main power to the front starter solinoid. I crossed over to the right side and ran it down the 4" tube, then up to the solinoid. I put the last bit of fire sleeve I had on the terminal end as it will run close to the right header. I previously welded in a chassis ground stud just below the back side of the jumper lugs aft of the battery. I did not use the FFR supplied battery cables. I've learned the hard way not to use 4 ga. for battery wires. I use either #1 or #2 ga. So now main power is in.

199560199561199562199563

[Rebostar]

One of the first things I do when I aquire any car or truck whether its a daily driver or a classic to be built is to get rid of that black plastic wire loom. I hate that stuff. Having run literaly miles of wire in aircraft I only use quality wire loom, either Painless or aircraft quality loom. I plan to use the rear and front FFR harnesses only. I'll make the main harness and all aux harnesses. So I stripped all that plastic RF loom off the rear harness and replaced it with high quality grey loom from Summit. I got everything clamped in place using insulated clamps with only a few tywraps. I dont have an in-tank fuel pump, but I do have a Holley "primer pump" I'll run with the existing aft harness wires. I ran the aft harness down the right side of the tunnel.
I have two blowers, two trunk lights, a cubby light, and a USB port to wire in. I'll make one harness to run down the left side of the tunnel that will run all those from switches in the cockpit.(tomorrow I hope). With that done I'll be able to prime, paint and install all the rear sheetmetal.

199567199568199569199570

[Rebostar]

With all the wiring in the rear of the car run and clamped in place I could etch, prime and paint all the rear aluminum pieces. All the exterior facing sides were sprayed with "Raptor" undercoating tinted primer grey. This was done yesterday. After drying overnight I started the final install of all the sheetmetal. I got both side panels, the battery box cover and the drop trunk installed today. Hopefully tomorrow sees the upper trunk sheetmetal panel installed.

199738199739199740199741199742

[F500guy]

looking great, You are really cruising along with this and looks nice. i need to make a visit maybe next week when I get some time!

[Rebostar]

As Promised, the upper trunk panel installed. I'm kinda stuck. I can install the cubby after I line it with carpet, which means I have to make a firm decision on trunk carpet color. Leaning to grey, because that is what I have left over from my 47 Merc.

199766199767

On another note, I canceled the back ordered FFR rollbars and ordered a set of Breeze Roll Bars. I can not finnish the trunk and vent mods untill I drill the roll bar mount holes. I've waited 3 months for the FFR bars. FFR says it will be another 6 weeks. Not for me. Mark will have a set to me inside of 2 weeks.

[Rebostar]

looking great, You are really cruising along with this and looks nice. i need to make a visit maybe next week when I get some time!

Any time Lance, just call first in case I'm shagging parts.

[Rebostar]

Before I started the wiring I needed to make the commitment to use circuit breakers and run all my own harnesses. I thought about using the FFR fuse panel mounted below the dash centered over the tunnel cover but thought better of it. So today was another origami day. I needed to make a circuit breaker box. I choose to mount it below the center of the dash with the same slope/ angle so it looks like it should be there. I bought two 5mm x 8" x 12" carbon fiber panels from Amazon. I made the paper mock up then transfered that to the carbon fiber. There will be a hinged door that will open to allow acsess to the breakers. I will copy the glove box door hinge system so the door will be flush with just a .010 gap. I angled the bottom so I can remove the tunnel cover. The outside and the door are 5mm carbon fiber. The circuit breaker mount panel will be recessed in about an inch and made from .040 2024T3 aluminum. It will have space for 12 standard thermal circuit breakers of various amp ratings as nessasary and 2 heavy duty 60 amp breakers. The breakers will feed the bank of relays. I have an aircraft master battery contactor that will feed the breaker box. Below is the mock up. More tomorrow!

199966199967199968199969

[Rebostar]

Origami done! I now have a carbon fiber circuit breaker box. I had some trouble finding an epoxy that will actualy bond the carbon fiber pieces. Sanding with 120 grit a requirement to get anything to bond! I'm pleased with the results. Will most likely mount below the center of the dash but will ask for input from the forum as to final location.

200115200116200117200118200119

[Rebostar]

I'm leaning to installing the circuit breaker box under the center of the dash. The other options are mounted to the top deck of the passenger foot box, leaving room to access the windshield attach bolts, or the upper trunk floor behind the cubby. There may be good reasons for one placement over another that I dont realize. No need to reinvent the wheel so to speak. I would like the forum's opinion as to placement. #1 Dash...#2 Engine Bay...#3...Upper Trunk Deck. Please vote and give a brief reason.
Thanks
Allyn

200120200121200122200123200125200126

[Rebostar]

I've had the wheels and tires since early April. I decided to get them mounted and ballanced and make sure they fit and everything clears the way they should before moving ahead. Everything looks great, no clearance issues......Back to wiring.....ugggg!

200177200178200179200180

[Rebostar]

Well, back to wiring today. I had to line the cubby with sound proofing and the grey carpet I'll be using for the trunk before I could mount the cubby light and USB port. I'll have five internal lights. Two in the trunk, one in the cubby, and two under the dash. They will all have a local ground and will be wired in parallel to one dash switch for aux lights. I wired in the tail light converter and mounted the fuel level converter box for the Classic Instrument fuel gauge. I also started wiring in the master battery contactor and laid out the bank of relays. I stripped that plastic RF conduit off the front harness and replaced it with quality grey wire loom, then installed it. I'll only be using the front and rear harnesses from RF after replacing the loom. I'll rob the connectors off the main harness to interface them.

On the circuit breaker box, a couple of local Cobra builders will be stopping by on Tuesday, I'll chat with them about location before I make a commitment as to final location.

200233200234200235200236200237

[Rebostar]

Took another day off from wiring to fit my FE expansion tank to the the engine. I plan to run it again tomorrow and pressure test the expansion tank. If it holds I'll send it out for either ceramic coating or chroming. It took most of the day to make the added support shown in the below pics. On the orignal FE Tanks the 90' outflow pipe coming from the thermostat housing to the tank was brass and added to the total support of the tank. I replaced that brass pipe with a rubber hose, so I needed to add some extra support. I have three expansion tanks, two of them had cracks in the radius of the soldered on support frame. The extra support should prevent that cracking. I fabed up an upper bracket and there was an unused boss on my water pump directly below the new bracket. I just had to make a link.

200255200256200257200258

One other item: I drilled a 1" hole for the steering shaft so I could plan my dash layout. I needed the steering wheel and dash mocked up to check gage placement. Looks like the we have a winner.
200259

[Rebostar]

There is no point in taking pics of the wiring. I have been busy, just no pics to show except the control panel for the seat heaters and vent blowers. I also took one of the dash where I installed the controller for the electric power steering and finished the primary distribution circuit.

200364200365

[Rebostar]

Sorry no pics on this post. It all looks like multi colored spagetti. But I have not been slacking. I now have all the circuits that are aft of the firewall completed. Vent blowers, USB port, seat heaters, fuel pump, fuel sender, aux lights (2 in trunk 2 in cockpit 1 in cubby), tail lights w/ adapter, liceince plate light are run including all switches, relays, and circuit breakers. The tail lights not terminated untill the body is fitted. Circuits forward of the firewall completed are the E Power Steering and defroster. Front harness is run but not wired in yet. Thats for tomorrow. I need to wire in the flasher relay and the dimmer foot switch as well. I made a dummy center switch panel so I can run the wires without installing the dash. I'll make another one for the left side switches (horn, turn signal, ignition switch)

[egchewy79]

There is no point in taking pics of the wiring. I have been busy, just no pics to show except the control panel for the seat heaters and vent blowers. I also took one of the dash where I installed the controller for the electric power steering and finished the primary distribution circuit.

200364200365

Lookin good
make sure you can reach those switches while harnessed in.
I put my seat heater switches on the top of the tunnel towards the rear and it's a bit of a reach to get to those.

[Rebostar]

I made up a couple of mock up switch panels replicating where they will go on the carbon fiber dash. This allows me to pre wire all the switches. I'm useing Astro Pnumatic canon plugs so I can disconnect the circuit breaker box and the dash and remove them both without taking off the body. This will make future maintenance much easier.

200628200629200630

[StangRacer]

Looks great!!!

Are you running a flat tappet cam?

[Rebostar]

Looks great!!!

Are you running a flat tappet cam?

Yes I am. I don't have the specs off the top of my head, but I posted the cam card somewhere above. Old school, Holley 750 cfm 4150. Its what I know. The block is a 69 and I did not want to do the mods for the roller lifter spider mod. I dont plan to race this thing, so dont need a high rev motor. I build it for torque.

[Rebostar]

Well now! After three weeks of work the car now has a custom electrical system! I finnished wiring up the turn signals, parking lights, horn and ignition switch. I connected the battery for the first time and powered up the electrical system. No bright blue flash, no puffy white smoke and no genie appeared telling me I'm a moron and I should have taken up the banjo instead of auto mechanics. I tested all the lights, turn and brake lights, vent blowers, and defroster. No dash yet so no instruments and no engine so no accesories like the charging system, starter and cooling fan were tested. The primary and seconary busses came on line when the master switch is turned on. I'm gonna call this a win. Tomorrow is a golf day then Sunday is wire clean up day. All the wires are run but not bundled and secured with clamps and tywraps in the dash area.

200674200675200676200677

[Rebostar]

Now that the wire harness is installed I thought I'd install the emergency brake before installing the engine and transmission. After assembling the e-brake handle and running the cables to it, I've decided whoever designed the cables to go UNDER the 4" crosstube and chafe a hole in it did not think things through very well, and that I wont be using the FFR e brake. I'll most likely get the American Shifter Electric E Brake system. Seems the best unit for the price. Right now I just wish I'd have planned to install it from the get go as the most logical place for it is now being occupied by the fuel pump and filter. I can save $175 and get the American Shifter Unit which will only now fit behind the cubby on the upper trunk deck, or get the one from 520 Speedworks which is $575 and will fit on the left side of the lower transmission mount parallel with the TKX.

While I'm pondering that choice I decided to fit the dash. for the lower attachment I have the grab handle below the glove box and I fabricated a bracket off the 2x2 to support/brace the left lower dash. Accross the top of the back side of the dash I've bonded 4 studs that will allow me to use 4 screws and 4 aluminum angle brackets that will attached the upper dash to the bottom of the 3/4" dash mount bow. This way I will be able to remove the dash without removing the body. I can remove the steering U joint, take off the steering wheel, slide the steering shaft down, then remove the grab handle and 2 screws on the feft lower mount, then 4 screws holding the dash to the upper bow. This will keep the dash free of any obvious attachment screws.

200720200721200722200723

[OB6]

You may want to consider this location for your electric e-brake.

200724

[Rebostar]

You may want to consider this location for your electric e-brake.

200724

Thanks Terry
My battery lives there. Looking to see if it can fit on the right side. I think the fuel filler may prevent that.200741

[Rebostar]

I attached the Carbon Fiber dash after the epoxied studs dried over night. This will make for a very clean dash. The two 1/4" bolts below the glove box is where the grab handle will live. Which, by the way took me all day to fabricate. I could not find one I liked, so I made one. I have some Summit Carbon Grey Metalic that will be a good look for the Carbon Fiber dash. I'll post pics when I get the instruments installed. (soon I hope).

200742200743200744

[Rebostar]

I taped up the dash and laid out the instrument pattern and switches. I was lucky in that I had all the Blair Roto Broch sizes needed for the various switches and gauges. I only needed to get a 3.25" hole saw for the Tach and Speedo. I just needed to open those two holes up to 3.38" with a dremel tool. Tomorrow will be installing the glove box. Then I'll install and wire the gauges.

200758200759

[Rebostar]

I started the carbon fiber dash glove box today. I was quite disapionted with the mis-drilled hinge holes. The slots on the long hinge piece that attach it to the dash were over a half inch off from the two mounting holes pre drilled in the dash. It would have been much better if FFR did NOT DRILL the two holes in the dash so a person can mark the slots on the hinge then drill the holes in the dash that actualy align with the hinge. So now I have an extra pair of holes in the dash that do nothing. Thank God they are inside the glove box, but they look like crap. Yes I know....a small thing.......but a quality build is made of many small quality details. And yes, I am a bit picky about this stuff, but thats something you want in your helicopter mechanic!

While the epoxy was drying over night (where the glove box door is epoxied to the hinges and backing plate), I started to mount the Breeze Roll Bars. Just minor (.250" off) adjustments and they slid right on. (butter!) I have the hoops pre-drilled to #10. Tomorrow will be mounting the rear supports and tacking it all together. Once I've welded it up and re-fit I'll do the final 5/16 drilling. Then off to the chrome shop.

Roll Bar Shrinker/Stretcher!!

200804200805200806

[Rebostar]

Another complaint about the FFR glove box. It appears one can not open nor close the glove box door without a key in it. Not thought out very well. So if I'm driving and want my sun glasses I have 2 choices. #1 leave the key in the latch at all times. #2 pull over and stop the car, remove the keys from the ignition, open the glove box door with the key, close and latch said door, then start the car and carry on. What gienus figured this out?

Has anyone found a latching mechanisam that will fit in the glove box door without using a key just to open it? I'm thinking about every American car made between 1946 and 1970.

[Windsor]

Several build threads talk about the VW Beetle latch.

JohnK posted one in TedG's thread asking about it. Not a thread I have bookmarked, just something that came up with a google search.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?44071-Glove-box-latch-gotta-be-a-better-option&p=504091&viewfull=1#post504091

[egchewy79]

I was going to suggest a magnet like one found in the link above ^^
I also keep my sunglasses in my door card pouch. You likely won't be able to reach into your glovebox unless you unbuckle your harness anyway.

[Rebostar]

Ok, back to wiring! I got all the instuments and switches installed in the carbon fiber dash. The instuments are Classic Instuments Moal Bomber Gauges and come with a great installation guide. Everything there was straight forward. Having pre-wired the dash lights, turn signals, high beam indicators, gage power and ground made things easier. I just needed to route everything through connectors. The high beam and turn indicators are aircraft press to test warning lights, as used in landing gear retraction systems and turbine engine bleed valve indicators. Classic Instuments set me up with the appropriate TKX signal generator and harness to run the Speedometer. Overall the dash has a good aircraft vibe. Just what I was looking for.

200962200963200964200965200966

[Rebostar]

I finished up a few minor details before putting away all the wiring and electrical tools and supplies. I ran the Speedometer pick up cable from the trans tunnel up to the Speedo. Then I bundled all the engine sensor wires and installed braided loom. Thats all I can do untill the body is on and the engine and tranny are installed.
200977200978200979

I spent a few hours doing the final 5/16 drilling on the Roll Bar hoops and installed the pip pins. Disassembled everything and deburred all the holes. I lined up the back tubes and tack welded the rear tubes. Then I made and welded a mounting jig to my welding table and welded the rear tubes to the hoops. Tomorrow should see the rear tubes drilled. When thats done its off to the chrome shop with them.

[Mike.Bray]

I spent a few hours doing the final 5/16 drilling on the Roll Bar hoops and installed the pip pins. Disassembled everything and deburred all the holes. I lined up the back tubes and tack welded the rear tubes. Then I made and welded a mounting jig to my welding table and welded the rear tubes to the hoops. Tomorrow should see the rear tubes drilled. When thats done its off to the chrome shop with them.

Not sure I can describe this very well but I'll try. If you leave the end of the diagonal brace as it is you'll need to really enlarge the opening in the body to get the Breeze bar in when it's welded together. Obviously the bar is going to drop straight in. If you look at the weldment from the side, draw a vertical line on the end of the diagonal brace and cut that piece out so when you drop it in you don't need as big of an opening in the body. I might have to do a sketch:)

Mike Everson has trim rings for the Breeze bar.

[Rebostar]

Not sure I can describe this very well but I'll try. If you leave the end of the diagonal brace as it is you'll need to really enlarge the opening in the body to get the Breeze bar in when it's welded together. Obviously the bar is going to drop straight in. If you look at the weldment from the side, draw a vertical line on the end of the diagonal brace and cut that piece out so when you drop it in you don't need as big of an opening in the body. I might have to do a sketch:)

Mike Everson has trim rings for the Breeze bar.

Mike, Thanks for the heads up. I have a pair of Mike Everson's trim rings. On the rear brace,... If I understand you correctly, I should cut the rear bar parallel with the lower section of the hoop. This would make it appear as a 45' cut on the tube. That would allow the roll bar assembly to come straight up once the slider section is up into the rear bar.
Question: How far below the body does the upper slider bolt live once I drill the two slider holes. I'm concerned about that bolt hitting the body or trim rings.

[Mike.Bray]

Mike, Thanks for the heads up. I have a pair of Mike Everson's trim rings. On the rear brace,... If I understand you correctly, I should cut the rear bar parallel with the lower section of the hoop. This would make it appear as a 45' cut on the tube. That would allow the roll bar assembly to come straight up once the slider section is up into the rear bar.
Question: How far below the body does the upper slider bolt live once I drill the two slider holes. I'm concerned about that bolt hitting the body or trim rings.

You are correct on the cut.

As far as the bolt through the diagonal brace/sleeve I put mine pretty close to the bottom of the diagonal. I don't remember how far below the body it's not close to interfering. I would go look for you but my car is at the photo studio right now. You can get a feel for where the body is by looking at the sheet metal behind the seat as the body sits on that.

Hope this helps.

[Rebostar]

You are correct on the cut.

As far as the bolt through the diagonal brace/sleeve I put mine pretty close to the bottom of the diagonal. I don't remember how far below the body it's not close to interfering. I would go look for you but my car is at the photo studio right now. You can get a feel for where the body is by looking at the sheet metal behind the seat as the body sits on that.

Hope this helps.

Mike,
Sure looks good.....I noticed its BLUE!!!!

On the roll bar. Next time you get a chance can you measure the distance between the bottom side of the top of the hoop just in from the fishmouth cut on the rear down tube, to the top of the rear trim ring. I'm having nightmares about cutting mine to short. I measured mine and tried to estimate where on the body it will be, but without installing the body it was a fools errand. I transfered the the angle of the lower hoop to the rear down tube and it still looks like I'm to short and the 45' cut will stick out of the trim ring. Not gonna cut it till I'm 100% sure. I was thinking I'd give Mark a call on Monday.

Allyn
201128201129

[Rebostar]

I finaly have the breeze roll bars mounted except for the cut mentioned above. But the hoop is drilled so I could finish the upper trunk deck with the footbox blowers, the USB port, the cubby, and all the aux lights. I spent $150 for good quality aircraft scatt tube for the ducting but after I installed it I hated it. So I'll use the cheaper aluminum ducts I started with.

201130201131

[Rebostar]

I sorted out the emergency brake situation. Before I spent the $500. for an electronic brake I thought I'd see if I could fabricate something that would work. I bought the Wilwood universal e brake cable kit when I bought my rearend housing. This emergency brake system is the Wilwood drum style so the kit works. What I did not like was the FFR system with the cable rubbing the finish off the 4" cross tube. Someone posted a pic of them using pullies to get the cables routed correctly. I used his idea. I expanded it somewhat as I added 2.5 inches to the bottom of the lever where the cable attaches. This gets everything off and away from the mounting frame with a direct shot to the pully then up to the upper cable sheath attach points. I used the two into one block supplied with the Willwood cable kit. I drilled a 3/8 hole in the 1" diagonal frame to mount the pulley. Works great! Three clicks and its engaged, and the cable doesnt rub on anything!

201132201133201134201135201136201137

[Rebostar]

For anyone following my build, you know I had a small oil leak (seep) possibly coming from the china wall/head interface area. Today I broke the engine down and did not find any smoking gun where I could say "yea I found the leak". So off with the heads!! No smoking gun there either. But I did buy new composite fel-pro head and intake gaskets so I re-sealed everything. Heads and intake back on now. Tomorrow should see a test run to see if all the work pays off. If so engine and transmission go in next!!

[Rebostar]

We have a win!! I ran the engine on the run stand today for about 20 minutes. I thought I took a video, but it turned out to be 2 seconds long! Go figure! So no pics or vids. But the run was bone dry! No oil leaks, no water leaks. I replaced all the run stand senders with the units that came with the Moal Bomber Gauges. I also installed the new Carter fuel pump. Tomorrow should have the engine and transmission mated and ready for install.

[Rebostar]

As promised, engine will go in the car tomorrow morning. Today I got the pilot bearing, clutch, pressure plate, & throw out bearing installed on the engine. Seemed to take forever, I had to make alignment dowles to center the pressuer plate, then had to run to the local Ace to get the correct hardware. On the transmission, getting the fork, throwout bearing and pivot installed was tricky. Good thing I had a 7/8 crows foot to tighten the pivot after the fork and bearing were installed. After that it was just adding the engine and transmission mounts and installing the bonding braid. I'm gonna follow AAron's lead and use the engine hoist, 4 post lift, a floor jack, and a couple of tie down straps and install it myself. I'll give a full report tomorrow if I'm not in the hospital!!

201349201350201351

[Grubester]

Yeah, on June 4th Merle and I and Lance saw that damn leak with you while it was running on your stand (did Lance see it first...?), but I guess I would have felt devastated to have to revisit a disassembly/reassembly job! Wait: that's what we builders sign up for... the occasional "backing up" as we reassess.

[Rebostar]

Well the snake has a heart! Now to get it beating! Engine/TKX install went slick as butter. The only snag was a pesky aluminum boss (unused) that sat on the emergency brake attach bracket not letting the right side come down all the way. Luckily I have a pnumatic mini reciprocating saw and was able to cut the boss off in place. I just cut from the center of the hole outward. The boss overlapped the bracket by 1/4 inch. I cut off 1/2". That allowed the assembly to drop right in place. Lots of clearance now. I forgot to order an output yoke. So I cant set the pinion angle yet. I'm assuming Summit will get it to me early next week. For now the engine/TKX is in. I may have to shim the rear mount for proper pinion angle, we'll see. Kinda bummed the mounts set at the top of the allowable mount slots, I would have liked them near the bottom, thinking about air cleaner clearance down the road.

201407201408201409201410201411

[Rebostar]

The engine install went so smoothly I had lots of time to assemble some of the accessories. I installed the starter, the 750 cfm Brawler carb, ignition wires, FE expansion tank and altinator. I plummed the fuel line from the regulator to the Carter fuel pump. I'm going to route the pump output to the carb behind the engine where it will pick up the right side fuel inlets. This will keep the front of the engine a little less cluttered. That wont happen untill I get my Forte throttle linkage some time next week.

One thing I noticed about that FE expansion tank, the return hose that will come off it to the radiator will have to go right where the top of the FFR overflow tank is now. In addition there is only 3/8" clearance between the tank and altinator pulley. (not enough!). I'm pretty sure I'm gonna loose the overflow tank and keep the FE expansion tank. In 65 they had FE expansion tanks and they did not have coolant overflow tanks. Though now I believe they are required at every track so I may have to re-design the cooland tank installation.....we shall see! "More will be revealed".

201414201415201416201417

[F500guy]

looking good!

[Rebostar]

I removed the coolant overflow tank. I'm not sure I'll replace it. I'll look to see if there is somewhere else to mount it or a smaller one once I have the FE expansion tank plummed to the radiator inlet. Todays festivities included running a fuel line from the Carter pump outlet to the right side carb inlets. I decided that it will not interfere with the Forte throttle linkage. Then I ran the wire bundle that will go to all the engine sensors and inputs. The small size grey conduit I'm using is on back order from Summit, so I wont get those terminated for a couple weeks. I also made a couple standoffs so I could secure the altinator wire to the right engine mount with clamps.

201456201457201458201459201460

[Rebostar]

The exhaust headers are on just to check clearances.
The Stainless FFR Headers will discolor after just a few hours run time. All the Harley pipes I've used in the past turned straw or blue from heat, thats why they all came with chrome covers!. I watched F500guy's headers turn a light straw on the initial startup and about 15 minutes run time. I will be taking them off and then to the local ceramic coating shop along with the side pipes before running the engine with the headers on.

201461201462201463201464201465

[Rebostar]

Its hot!! 102 today near Portland Oregon. Only spent 5 hrs in the shop today.
I did get a shifter made though. I've been saving this cyclic stick handle for 25 years waiting for the right time to use it. As a matter of fact I've built the entire car around this piece (cyclic handle). For those who dont know what a cyclic stick is, its the primary directional contol input lever on all modern helicopters. This one came out of a Sikorsky CH-54 Skycrane rear pilots control station. In a Skycrane there is a second pilot station facing rearward to better see the external load, for presicion picks and sets. The cyclic inputs move the aircraft forward and aft, and side to side around the aircraft Pitch/Roll axis. The collective (operated with the pilots other hand moves the aircraft up and down, increasing and decreasing power input). His feet on the "rudder" peddles increase and decrease the tail rotor blade pitch angle, thus compensating for main rotor torque. This controls the aircraft in the Yaw axis.
But I digress, a friend of mine working for Silver Bay Logging out of Juneau Alaska gave it to me after re-wireing an entire helicopter (CH-54). This is why my dash resembles a
P-51D Mustang instrument pannel. The outside of this car will be as true to the origonal Cobra as I can make it. The cockpit will look and feel like a WWII fighter. I have the carbon fiber sheets on the way to cover the tunnel. And yes, there will be cup holders!! Per the "chief".
The last pic is the FE expansion tank overboard drain hose, in place of the overflow tank that wont fit!

201505201506201507201508201509201510

[Higgybulin]

Very cool!
Higgy

[Rebostar]

While I'm waiting for the transmission yoke to arrive this Thursday, I decided to fit the drivers seat. I read Lance's (F500guy) drivers seat instalation with input from J.K. First thing I did was put the seat in the car and see where it was the most comfortable. I'm 6'2" so its as far back as the footbox blower duct will allow. This puts the seat back a half inch from the rear wall with a 2x2 wedged under the front frame. Then I marked where the seat was on the floor in black. I took J.K.'s advice and positioned the seat adjuster rails parallel with the transmission tunnel in the most rear position then marked those in red. Taking the measurments from the floor I cut a 3/16" 10.5"x13" plate. Then I took a 12" 1x2 1/8" wall rectangle tube and cut two tapered runners and welded them to the plate. Then mounted the seat adjusters to those. This will raise the front of the seat 1.5 inches and when adjusted forward it will follow the tunnel wall while keeping the seat pointed at the steering wheel. Tomorrow I'll mount the seat frame to the sliders, then see how it all works. I'll lay it out on the floor and make sure it fits where I need it to be before drilling though the 3/16 plate and the floor structure. Stay tuned!!

201562201563201564201565201566201567

[Rebostar]

I made the passenger seat attachment frame today. This will not be adjustable. I moved it forward just enough to mount a fire extingusher verticly behind the pax seat close to the tunnel. I made a pair of wedges similar to the drivers seat (see above post) to raise the front of the seat about 1.5 ". I welded nuts to attach the seat to the frame, then just drilled 4 holes to mount the seat assembly to the floor. I primed and painted both seat attachment frames gloss black. These will go on the shelf along with the seats untill I'm ready to go-cart.

201611201612201613201614201615201616

[Rebostar]

Slow day today. Received my Breeze fan shroud, lower hose and support clamp yesterday. Fit, preped, and painted the shroud this morning. (pics when mounted). Spent most of the day dropping off the exaust system at the ceramic coaters and the transmission yoke to the driveshaft shop. I expect to have the exhaust system (less side pipes) ready to install in a couple weeks. The drive shaft will be complete in a week. Then we get to set pinion angles! In the mean time I have lots to do. Tomorrow starts at 7 am in the shop.

[JMD]

Following the build, love the theme...definitely a one of a kind!

[Rebostar]

I got the fan mounted today. All pretty straight forward. I painted the Breeze shroud Summit "carbon fiber grey metalic" the same color as the FE expansion tank. The only difference in the radiator mounting is I used 5ea 3/4" shock mounts to mount the top of the radiator and made my own lower "Breeze" style mount. I clamped the front light wire conduit to the lower mount to cross over to the pax side. The Breeze lower tube was also straight forward. I did test fit the water pump flex line from the Breeze Lower Tube Kit onto the FE expansion tank and it was a perfect fit. So I'll be getting that piece from Mark. I ordered a 2 ft S.S. 1.5" tube for the upper radiator return line. I also ordered a cheap tube beading tool from Bezos. I expect the upper return line to match the lower Breeze line. The line on there now is a test fit. It will not be on long.

I recieved the Forte throttle linkage today and started mounting it. The 3/8 S.S. cross piece is mounted. The carb link is cut and made. Tomorrow should see it done.

201683201684201685201686

[Mike.Bray]

I ordered a 2 ft S.S. 1.5" tube for the upper radiator return line. I also ordered a cheap tube beading tool from Bezos. I expect the upper return line to match the lower Breeze line.

Curious to why stainless steel for a radiator line? Aluminum is more than strong enough, polishes up nicely, and is a lot easier to work than stainless which you know. I have quality tube beaders from Earl's and they work like a champ on aluminum but won't bead stainless.

[Rebostar]

Curious to why stainless steel for a radiator line? Aluminum is more than strong enough, polishes up nicely, and is a lot easier to work than stainless which you know. I have quality tube beaders from Earl's and they work like a champ on aluminum but won't bead stainless.

Mike
I have a nice peice of 1.5" aluminum I bought from Mcmaster Carr to use for the upper hose. I just wanted to have my upper hose match the lower Breeze hose if I can. Purely estetic!

[Rebostar]

I finished up the Forte throttle linkage today.
IMPORTANT NOTE: For those going to install the Forte throttle linkage. After drilling the 1/8" holes through the lever arms and shaft, it might be easier to install the outer (left side) roll pin through the lever and shaft before installing shaft. You'd have to feed the shaft in from the left. Very hard to line up the holes in the lever with the hole in the shaft, and nothing to back up the lever while tapping in the roll pin. I had to use a bucking bar with a 1/8 peice of steel taped together resting on the 3/4 tube in order to drive in the roll pin. I did not have the fuse box/buss bar mounted in the FFR location so I could get my paws in there. If your installing the shaft with the fuse box/ buss bar installed good luck! The inner lever is a no brainer as it will be supported by the inner shaft support. Also, saftey wire the roll pin. I've seen em' back out after a lot of wear and use.

201764201765201771201776201777

For the trans tunnel cover I'm making a carbon fiber cover. I cut the carbon fiber today. Assembly over the weekend.
201778

[Rebostar]

I epoxied the 1" carbon fiber strips to a 3/4x 1/2" aluminum angle. When that set, I epoxied those to the tunnel cover. I made the cover 3/4" wider to allow for the 1/4" Duramat and carpet. I looked for carbon fiber 1" angle 31" long but all I could find was over $300 each. That wont happen, so I'm using aluminum angle stock with the carbon fiber attached. We'll see how it turns out.

I also picked up my custom made drive shaft this morning and painted it "Carbon Fiber Grey Metalic". The same color as the rear end housing.

201885201886201887

[Rebostar]

well...crap! Reading a post concerning engine fitment it was pointed out that a fellow had his brake and clutch resivoirs to far forward to clear the left hood prop rod. So do I!!! J.K. and another poster gave a couple dimensions. 13" fwd of the footbox or 12" aft of the hood mount. So now I get to move the brake resivoirs aft and lower the E-Power Steering control box a couple inches. Not to bad an issue, glad I found out now though. Would have been nice to read that in the build manual! Two steps forward , one step back! If there were two more of me we'd give Larry, Curley, and Moe a run for their money.

201888201889

[Rebostar]

I finnished the console/tunnel cover with the exception of installing cup holders. I had a set that I returned to Summit. They were to deep and to big. I have a smaller 3" diameter and 1.5" depth set coming. I will have to get them powder coated but I'd rather do that than have those giant ones. The cover is made from 3mm matte finnish carbon fiber. I got a 48"x19" sheet from Summit. I used my table saw to cut two 1" strips and cut out the tunnel shape. I could have used a wrap, but decided I've made several other parts with carbon fiber to match the dash, so I'd give it a go. Turned out pretty good. I'll be happy with it.

201943201944

[Rebostar]

But wait! There's more!

I had a driveshaft made localy and painted it the other day. After wrapping up the console cover I attacked the driveshaft. First I set all four corners of the chassis 4" tube to 4 inches off the ground. To get that on the rear I had to move the shocks upper mount to the top hole in order the get the 4". Using the bottom hole I had the adjuster maxed out at the top and still had 4.75". Raising the shock to the top hole put the adjuster in mid range. I put the car square and level car on the ground. Measured engine/trans angle and dif input angle. Put all wheels on ramps. Not level front to rear but does not need to be. Trans angle 2.3' down with 3/4" shim. Diff angle 0.0'. Adjusted upper and lower control arms to get 2.1' down on the diff, this gives me .2' differance from A1 to A2 well within the 1' max. Driveshaft angle 1.4' down, gets me inside 1' operating angles on both ends. So good to go! I now have a complete drive line!

201945201946

[Rebostar]

As I mentioned above, I had to move the front brake resivior behind the rear one and move the E-Powersteering control box down 2" to allow for the left hood gas rod. I had welded the brackets on in the very begining of the build. Today I welded on a new bracket for the brake resivoir to match all the other brackets and made an extention out of .125 aluminum for the control box. The only bummer is the Summit Platinum Silver paint does not match. Different batchs of the same color paint....go figure.

201968201969201970201971201972

[Rebostar]

Another couple of loose ends I wanted to get to got done today.
1st I needed to mount the tach and speedo set-up push buttons. I wanted them out of the way, not visible from the seats, but easily accessible. I have the dash off waiting for two more aircraft press to test lights to arrive. These lights I'll use for my oil pressure warning light and a cooling fan "on" lamp. So, dash off, push buttons mounted to the center dash support.
2nd was the side extension for the right side firewall. I wanted to be able to remove the extension to make it easier to install/remove the right windshield bolts. I just added a couple nut plates and 4 rivnuts. Because I have a 1.5" firewall forward mod, I now have a 1.5" gap between the extension and the firewall. This gap is right in front of my defroster inlet. I'm concidering making some sort of door or flapper valve to allow warm engine compartment air to help feed the defroster, but be able to close it off on hot days. I'll let you know how that turns out.

201973201974201975

[Rebostar]

Hey folks, you'll be happy to know that the $48. Bezos tube bead roller works great on .040 Stainless Steel 1.5" tube. I picked up a couple of 2' pieces of 1.5" thin wall SS tubing from Colorado. I have an aluminum tube as well from Mcmaster Carr in case the cheap beader did not work on the stainless. But no need. My top radiator tube now matches the Breeze bottom tube. I know....a small win, but they add up!!

202035202036202037202038202039202040

[Rebostar]

Now to get really deep in the weeds! In 2 posts back I mentioned that there was a 1.5" gap between the new forward mounted firewall and the origonal RH firewall extension. A sane person would have just rivited in a blanking plate, but my pointed little head dose'nt work that way. The large "air leak" is directly in front of my defroster inlet.....mmmmmm. What to do? If I need a defroster then I dont need to prevent all the warm engine bay air from getting in. So I'll use some of that unwanted warm/hot air to feed the defroster. Ah, a little voice in my head says "a flapper valve is in order my dear boy"! So 6 hours later I have a working valve, complete with a new 1970 Mercury Cougar defroster cable that I found lurking in the dark depths of my shop. push the cable in and warm engine bay air feeds the defroster on cold mornings. After lunch when its 80' I pull out the cable and close off the valve. No more hot engine bay air entering the cockpit. I'll just need to add a few bits of felt to get a good air tight seal. If I get really bored I can design a lever actuated handle complete with a return spring. But thats for later.

202041202042202043202044202045202046

[Rebostar]

Slow day today. I'm still waiting for my last two press to test lights I bought off E-Bay. So far 10 days in the mail from Ill. No joy at the post office this morning. These are for my two idiot lights, one for oil and one for temp. When I get those I can re-install the dash.
I did make an aluminum air shroud for my defroster inlet. Just busy work! I also got my new cup holders from Summit yesterday. So today was off to H.F. for a 3" hole saw. Try as I might I could not find a spot on the console where I could mount the cup holders even with eachother. All the diagonal bracing has them offset. A small price to pay but "the chief" wants cup holders! I'll let her decide if they need to be black or remain clear powder coated over billet aluminum.
I also did some small wiring projects. Wired in the clutch safety switch. Added water tight connectors to the headlight and turn signal pigtails.
I expect my headers and 1 to 4 adapters to be done at the ceramic coaters next week. When those are on it will be time to "light it up"! If all goes well there it will be "go cart" time.
August 17th will be the Wapato Showdown. That's a great car show in my home town. We average 300+ cars. It's accross the street from my shop! I plan to enter my 70 Cougar Eliminator clone with 427FE, My 47 Merc Coupe with 427W, my wifes 29 Chevy Pick Up with 283 and the Cobra as an "under construction".
Tomorrow is a golf day, back in the shop on Monday.

202070202071

[Rebostar]

Another day, and another day our glorious Post Office cant get a 3x8 padded envelope from Portland Oregon to Gaston Oregon, a distance of all of 18 miles. 4 days tracking says the same thing "on its way to the next facility". So, the dashboard remains off waiting for me to drill two 7/16" holes and install 2 warning lights. To add to this fustration, I drove over to the ceramic coaters to drop off my side pipes and pick up the headers. Turns out their burnishing machine has been broke for a week. So the headers wont be done till Friday. So much for running the engine this week!
On a positive note, I did get the Dorman Seat Heaters installed in the seats. So I can install the seats for the "go-cart". I also terminated all the engine sensor and input wires. When I get the headers on Friday I'll be able to put the key in and start it!
Tomorow will be making carbon fiber fuel pump and sender access covers, then installing all the Duramat heat and Sound Insulation in the trunk, while waiting on the Post Office.

202118202119

[Rebostar]

While waiting on the Post Office to put up the mail, I decided to take apart the trunk and finish laying in the Duramat insulation and sound deadner. I also made a couple of carbon fiber access covers. I'll reassemble the trunk till I'm ready to install carpet and that wont happen untill the body is painted and ready for final install.

The press to test lights finaly came in....less blubs! Go figure! I ordered a box from Bezos. I'll mount those and then re-attach the dashboard in the morning. Missing pic from yesterday is below.

202153202154

[Rebostar]

Well now, I was able to put the dash back on with the low oil press light and engine temp warning light wired in and installed next to their respective gauges. I thought about puting them with the high beam and turn indicators, but thought better of it. So the dash and console are done. I painted the cup holders the same color as the grab handle and glove box latch, so it will all match.
Tomorrow will see the Duramat installed on the cockpit floor, the seat attach brackets and seats installed, the trunk area re-assembled, and cup holders mounted. If my headers get done on Friday as I was promised I should be able to run the engine and test all the systems on Saturday.

202176202177

[Rebostar]

Busy day today. I got the trunk re-assembled. The only thing left to do there will be installing the grey carpet, and that wont be done untill just before the body goes on for the last time. I installed the Duramat on the tunnel sides and cockpit floor. I bought the Duramat tape from Summit, and was disappointed in the amount sold for $12. a roll, about 25 feet, three times the price of aluminum tape from Ace Hardware. I wont make that mistake again.
I mounted the seat brackets on the seats, then installed the seats. They wont stay in there. I just want to be able to get a feel for the clutch adjustment and brake peddle feel, then there is the whole "go-cart" thing that might take place next week. After the "go-cart" I'll remove and bag the seats till all the body work is done.
Hopefully the ceramic coating on my headers will be done tomorrow. If so they will get permenently installed in the afternoon. Saturday should see a testing of all systems and firing up the engine if they deliver on the headers as promised.

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[Rebostar]

Well, Horse Feathers! The ceramic coaters called to let me know they will be late on my headers. Most likely on Tuesday, Wednesday at the latest. So today was spent installing Duramat in the footboxes. I thought it would take a couple hours. HA! 7 Hours later both footboxes and the under door areas are done. Tomorrow will see the cockpit rear wall done and that will finish all the insulation.

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[Rebostar]

While awaiting the headers I finished installing the remaining Duraliner insulation and sound deadner on the back wall. I put the seats back in to adjust the clutch cable. I read or saw somewhere that you cant use a firewall aduster with a cable that has a lower end adjustement. Well I needed to make sure, as that is what I have installed. Right now I have 2/3's adjustment remaining on the firewall adjuster and over half on the bottom side. So plenty of future adjustment availible. Clutch peddle throw felt correct. In 1st gear the clutch releases at about 2/3 of the peddle travel. I have the LH side panel off and can depress the clutch from outside the car while rotating the rear tire. With the peddle released I have just a bit of free play on the cable end at the quadrant so the throwout bearing will not stay engaged. Untill I have the engine running and can test the adjustment for full release while shifting through all the gears I'm gonna call this done for now.

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[Rebostar]

Still waiting for the headers so I had a little project I wanted done before the body went on. It seems there have been a few issues on some builds with the Forte throttle linkage LH adjustable lever clearing the top sheetmetal of the LH footbox. Sure enough, after making all the throttle adjustments I wanted, I cleco'ed the top sheet metal in place. The lever sticks out about 1/4 ". My solution was to cut a slot that allowed the lever to move freely full travel plus a scosh extra. (a scosh is somewhere between 1/16" and 3mm depending on if you have both eyes open or just squinting). Then make a nice looking cover for the slot that the lever will passes through. I started with an origami project, translated that to .020 2024 T3 Alclad aluminum. Then made the appropriate bends sealing off the large end. Then just a matter of riviting it on with (460-3) rivits. While I was at it I installed #6 aircraft nut plates on the access panel.

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[Rebostar]

Well, 10 days later than promised, I now have ceramic coated headers. I drove over to Milwaulkie to pick them up today. It only took a hour to install them. I'm very pleased with them. It's the "Endurashine"coating. The three sets I've had them do have held up very well. The collectors and side pipe were promised next week....we shall see.
Tomorrow will be the first start in the car. I've already run it a total of about an hour in test runs and breaking in the cam on the run stand. Hopefuly all my wiring and planing will be rewarded by a loud rude racket tomorrow morning.

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[Mike.Bray]

Remember, without video it didn't happen.

[Wizbangdoodle]

Curious why you went with clutch cable instead of hydraulic.

Nice progress btw.

[Rebostar]

This moring did not start well. Those that follow this thread know I needed to re-bleed the brakes. So as soon as I got things hooked up and pressurised the feed line on the pressure tank developed a leak, which went from a pin hole to a gyser (not quite "Old Faithful" but close) in about 5 seconds. The only good news is that the leak was pointed away from the car. After much lamenting and gnashing of teeth, I cleaned up the mess, cut off the bad section of hose and started again. 15 minutes later I found the smoking gun. A couple bubbles on each rear calipar, but quite a bit on both front calipars. So good peddle now, solid at about 1/4 travel.

Then greased the front end. Then topped off the coolant system. Then Checked the oil, Then Added 5 gal of fuel. Then Primed the Holley "primer pump". Then Fixed 3 fuel leaks. (Loose fittings). When the fuel pressure gauge at the carb showed pressure nothing left to do but turn on the master switch and hit the Ingnition switch..........Then Nothing! 10 minutes of troubleshooting showed me my brand new starter solinoid was not solinoiding! Ah, but I have a good used spare. So out with the new and in with the old. (After first bench testing both to verify my findings). Re-tried the key............successful!! Starter engaged! A quick walk around and puting the fire extinguisher close to hand. Then started the car. Below are the results. I did not run it long as it is inside and I was not interested in having a one on one in person with St Peter at the Pearly gates. So I shut it down after a couple minutes. Tomorrow will see it off the lift and outside where I can let it warm up and get it dialed in. Pardon the sound track...no clue how that got on the vid.

https://youtu.be/46oHZiMn5B0

[Rebostar]

Curious why you went with clutch cable instead of hydraulic.

Nice progress btw.

Some would call me an "old dude". I learned to drive in 1970 at 14 in a 1964 Peugeot staition wagon that had a 4 speed on the column! Since then I've always prefered a manual transmission. 50 years later I bought a new 2018 Mustang GT with the 6 speed manual. It was the first car I'd ever owned (that I know of) that had a hydraulic clutch (rental cars and such). I hated it. I've learned to use it, mostly because I put a Roush Stage II supercharger in it. So when it came time to order the kit the cable clutch seemed the way to go. Its a feel thing, just a personal prefrence.

[Wizbangdoodle]

Some would call me an "old dude". I learned to drive in 1970 at 14 in a 1964 Peugeot staition wagon that had a 4 speed on the column! Since then I've always prefered a manual transmission. 50 years later I bought a new 2018 Mustang GT with the 6 speed manual. It was the first car I'd ever owned (that I know of) that had a hydraulic clutch (rental cars and such). I hated it. I've learned to use it, mostly because I put a Roush Stage II supercharger in it. So when it came time to order the kit the cable clutch seemed the way to go. Its a feel thing, just a personal prefrence.

Totally get it. I learned in a '66 F100 with an FE and 3 on the tree. My Dad let me drive that when I was 12. Went a long way in driving farm equipment too.

[Rebostar]

Slow day today. Had some errands to run. I Have this great tool I bought from Summit. It allows me to check the castor/camber and toe in/out. I checked to see what I have with the FFR set up specs. On the Right I have camber at -2.5' and castor at +4.5'. on the left I have -1.25' camber and +4.75 on the castor. did not check toe in. I have a 6ft piece of steel I know is straight and checked each side against the 4" tube. Looks straight to me. So I'm officaily blessing it to make the few blocks of "go-carting" I plan to do. I will adjust everything to the numbers in the book after the "go-cart", then test drive again. I'm gonna wait till I get my side pipes back from the ceramic coaters, so I can mount them prior to really anoying the nieghbors.
I also moved a few cars around so I could get the Cobra out of the shop and get the timing set to 8' and idle RPM to 800. So I know know it will move forwards and backwards on its own power!

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[Wizbangdoodle]

Got a link for that tool? Can't find it on the Summit site.

[Rebostar]

Got a link for that tool? Can't find it on the Summit site.

Here ya go! You'll want the 91100 Toe Adapter to go with it.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sps-91010

[Wizbangdoodle]

Thanks! Ordered.

[Rebostar]

Well folks I am declaring the rolling chassis done! The last couple items got done today. I closed the top of the drivers footbox and installed the weather stripping. The last item to go on will be the drivers footbox outer panel. That wont go on till near the end of body fitment. The only reason it's not on now, is it will be much easier to carpet the footbox with the panel off.

Sunday is Golf day. Monday will see me in my redneck paint booth sanding the seams.

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[Rebostar]

Body work UUGGH!! I shortened the body buck by a foot and added the H.F. furniture dollies. Then made a center brace. Just filler work because I did not want to sand. But alass, I did the front seam today with 80 grit. Kinda bummed with all the pin holes. That took 2 and a half hours. This will be like eating an elephant!. One bite at a time. Tomorrow will be the left long front seam.

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[Rebostar]

More seam sanding! I got all th seams done except for the rear horizontal seam. That gets done in the morning.....I ran out of 80 grit!

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[Rebostar]

Supprise! No body work today. My side pipes and collectors were finished at the ceramic coaters. This moring I installed them. I made up a temporary support coming off the door hinge mounts going to the top side pipe attach point using the FFR rubber doghnut and a stainless turnbuckle and a bit of chain. I'm fabricating a flex mount per J.K. to support the exhaust at the collector ball joint. I had to make a piece to attach the Stainess Steel turnbuckle to that rubber doghnut. Because that peice is steel, I will need to paint it with high temp exhaust paint so it wont rust. Once I get to the final mock up I'll get a pic then break it down for paint.

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On another note, Lance (F500guy) stopped by to chat about body work and fitment. Spent about a quality hour jaw boning about the cars. He was telling me he was bummed because I passed him on our builds. I told him actualy he is way ahead, as he "has a life", me not so much, I spend 6 hours a day six days a week in the shop.

[Rebostar]

I got the front exhaust supports done and mocked up. I also installed the heat shields. Which let me know I may need to get a couple of those 4 tube shims Breeze sells. I'll wait till the body is on to see what clearance there is between the body and heat shields. I also got the last section of body seam sanded down. So tomorrow should see me with a dremel tool opening up about 100+ pin holes enough to get Evercoat filler in them.

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[Rebostar]

Just a couple of clean up projects today. Sorry, not worth a pic. 1st, some A** Clown wired the coil wire (I) through the clutch safety switch instead of the starter (S) solenoid wire. I'll give you three guesses as to who that was! (hint) I wired the whole car! Glad F500 guy AKA Lance came over and I wanted to show off! OPPS! Easy fix though, with the body and LH foot box wall still off.
2nd was reassembling the two forward exhaust pipe hangars after the high temp paint dried overnight. (couple of hand made fiddly bits). Also replaced all the grade 5 hardware on the exhaust system with grade 8.

[F500guy]

That explains alot!

[Rebostar]

Back to body work. I took my dremel tool and a 1/8" burr and opened up all 10,000 pin holes.... naw, about 50 or 60. I did'nt count. Seemed like alot. There was a fair amount of wax in the seams as well. Some of it below the gelcoat. Used the dremel to clean it all out. Above the RH door hinge right in the door gap flange there were two large air bubbles near where the seam is. They both were about 3/8 long by 1/4 and 1/4 deep side by side. They were covered by a very thin layer of gelcoat and wax. Those I filled with a NAPA fine fiberglass filler after cleaning them out. After that it was clean up time for the rest of the seams. I took a tooth brush and denatured alcohol and cleaned out all the de-burred holes.
Then I took my artist pallet knife and worked in the Evercoat filler. I let that dry over lunch.

Side note: Anyone who plans to do their own body work, let me recomend going to your loacal craft store and getting a couple of qualiy pallet knives. Essential for filling pin holes and small gaps. Also working the filler in the flange/web areas where the seams reach into the door jambs.

After that I sanded everything down again with 80 grit. Repete the cleaning from above. Then layed in a good solid 3" wide layer of the Evercoat filler over all the seam lines.
That will dry overnight....till Monday actually, as tomorrow is golf day! Monday will see block sanding the curves back into the seam lines.

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[Rebostar]

First test drive today. Wife was in charge of the video as I was driving. No videos sorry! The good: lots of power, sounds wonderfull, almost everything worked as it should have. Two issues: One expected, I need to adjust the castor and camber before the next test drive. With the Epowersteering and less than 4' castor it was a bit twitchy! Even with the assist rolled back to minimum. This was expected.
The other issue, which is much more serious is the new TKX wont go into reverse unless the engine is off. 1st through 5th just fine. Normal shifting. Just wants to grind when I try to put it in reverse with the engine running. When I shift it into reverse with the engine off and the clutch depressed and start the car, there is no clutch drag or creep. Very strange. Never seen this before. Any suggestions?

On another note, more body work today. I sanded the filler down on the seams, then added a thin layer of 3M Platinum. I'll sand that down tomorrow after I try to adjust the clutch.

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[BUDFIVE]

Rebostar, I just replied to your specific post on the reverse problem so abbreviation here-maybe you are over driving the clutch.

[Rebostar]

Many thanks to Ron and Jeff K. for their input on the clutch/reverse issue. This morning I put the car on the lift. Sure enough I adjusted the cable 1/4" more and now it goes into reverse easily with the engine running. I tried the quick shift from 2nd to reverse with the engine running and sure enough it went in like butter. Upon initial set up I adjusted the clutch peddle so when the peddle was depressed about 2/3, I could spin the rear tire with my hand with ease. I should have taken it up just a bit more. It was just on the edge. That last 1/4" of adjustment freed the clutch up.

On another note the second rear anti-sway bar came in from Summit. I bought one from them that did not fit, but they have a great return policy. The new one required me to make four spacers and change the angle of the attach legs by 36'. Now it fits between the after-market lower control arm attach points with the addition of the spacers. It was a chore getting the 7/8 bar bent to the correct angle to tuck the bar up close to the 9" housing. But, have torch, will travel. I left one inch of clearance from the bottom of the housing. Clearance remains constant at all rear end travel.

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[Rebostar]

I keep looking for things to do rather than sand filler!
Today I remembered I needed to set the alignment to spec's after the first test drive. I started by putting my 4' level on the rear tires, then marking the floor using a 2' square and soapstone. Once I had two square lines four feet long on the rear tires, I shot a lazer to the front wheels and marked that line on each side of the front tires. This gave me two parallel lines 2" out from all four wheels. Then I marked a line 15' turn in and 15' turn out on the front wheels. Then using the instructions on my castor/camber tool I re-measured the castor, then reset the upper control arm to get 7' castor and -.5' camber first on the LH tire then the RH. There is a slight and equal toe in on both tires. It is where it is. I set the tie rod ends back when I first installed the front suspension. If I turn either the RH or LH in or out one thread, it would be uneven and be out of spec. So based on the threads of the tie rod ends, it is as good as it's going to get till I take it into the aligment shop. I'm not sure that they can get in any better....we'll see.

I also re-installed the rear anti-sway bar with correct new grade 8 hardware after painting. I had some aircraft cargo compartment flooring left over and made some floor protection panels in the foot boxes. This will do till the carpet goes in. Way down the road.

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[Rebostar]

We had a great car show here in Gaston. Over 300 cars. The best of show was a Backdraft Cobra. very nice car. He got my votes. I've been tied up with that since last Thursday.

Well, back to body work and sanding today. I sanded down the second layer of 3M Platinum filler with 80 grit and put the curves and peaks back in the seam areas. I had about a dozen small low areas and defects I had to fill. That will dry overnight tonight. If all looks good after sanding that down with 180 grit, I'll start trimming. Stay tuned!

202955

[Rebostar]

I sanded the last of the seam filler this morning then sprayed 3 coats of polyester primer on the seam areas. I'll let that dry overnight then sand most of it down, then shoot 3 more coats of polyester primer. I also got the wheel wells trimmed. I put 1/4" line tape on the edge of the "peak" of the wheel well. Right side only needed 1/8" trimming. I did that with the 40 grit roloc. The left side needed trimming with my pnumatic recipricating saw, then trimmed with the 80 grit roloc. Followed that with 80 grit sand paper to "round" the edges. Cleaned that up with 180 grit. I'm happy with the wheel wells. They'll do till I'm ready for final detailing of the body after its fit to the chassis, prior to going to paint.
I'll be doing all the body work and will deliver it to the man who painted my award winning (48) Thunderbolt clone. The plan as of now will be HOK Kandy Brandywine over a Gold medium metalflake base, with three coats of clear. The stripes will be the masked off Gold base coat. The only change to that might be a substitute of Silver for the Gold. Still debating that with the "chief".

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[Higgybulin]

I am at the same spot on mine. Just trimmed up the wheel lips today. Starting on the parting seams in the morning. Looks like you are making good progress!
Higgy

[Rebostar]

Today I sanded the primer and discovered a low spot on the left front fender about 2' from the front. I also found about a dozen pin holes. The pin holes I hit with the 1/8" dremel bit, and filled them, then layed in a thin skim coat on the low spot. While that was drying I trimed 3/8" off the rear cockpit flange. To my suprise a 2.5" piece of the flange fell out when I used the dremel tool cut-off wheel to trim the flange. There were also about a dozen pin holes in the gelcoat all along the lower flange above the trim line. Not what I expected. I can see the same will be the case with the front flange as well. There is a very large void just above where the steering wheel is. I had higher expectations on the body. Thats three large voids in the cockpit flange counting the one above the RH door hinge. There was also about an inch long seperation of the fiberglass in the fuel filler well which I opened up with the dremel and filled.
I put some NAPA short strand fiberglass filler in the rear void. That will have to dry overnight. I'll have to do the same for the front flange void tomorrow. Sorry I did not get a pic of the rear void before I filled it. I will get one of the front void in the morning.
I got the seams sanded down again and will paint another coat of primer on them in the morning.

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[Rebostar]

Today I sanded down the filled void on the back flange and filled the giant void on the front flange with the short strand fiberglass filler. I also filled a few pin holes on those flanges with the 3M Platinum. I trimed about 3/8" off the front side of the front flange and hit it with 80 grit to round it off. I trimmed the deck lid opening to leave 3/8" flange for the seal. Thickness removed varied from 1/8" to 3/8", then dressed the lip with 80 grit, then 180 grit. Then I hit the wheel openings again with 80 grit to round off the edges real good. Finnished with 180 grit. Lastly I shot all the sanded areas with the polyester primer.

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[Rebostar]

So now I have finished triming the wheel wells, the front and rear cockpit flanges, and the deck lid seal flange. I have also cleaned up all the seams on the car and restored the shapes and curves. I am now calling the body ready for chassis fitment. Tomorrow should see the body fitted for the first time. Stay tuned!!

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[Rebostar]

I figured out a way to get the body on by myself using my hoist and four ratchet straps. Took some time and worked slowly but I got it on. I learned a couple things. 1st: sand the back end of the body to a nice rounded bevel where it wants to go over the rear side panels with the bulb seal on them. The tight fit wants to chew up the seal. I put tape and a towel on it but it needs more. 2nd: use something to alow the body to slide down the footbox side walls. I used a 3" wide 1/2" thick 18 inch long piece of teflon on each side zip tied to the hinge attach bracket. 3rd: The front needs to be 18" lower than the rear to allow the out riggers to tuck into the nose.
After getting the body on and I put in the four upper quick jack bolts I found several areas that will need to be addressed. 1st: And the biggest, is the lower rear battery box corner prevents the body from being adjusted forward where it belongs. 2nd: The lower radiator Breeze type mounts need to be trimmed about a 1/4 " to allow the body good clearance. 3rd: The body needs to have a cut out where the rear brake line goes through the drivers side footbox. The line is preventing the body from tucking tight to the lower footbox wall.
All in all a pretty successful day.

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[Rebostar]

About that battery box lower rear corner issue. The lower rear corner was hitting the body, stopping the body from moving forward about another half inch. I want the body door lip 1/4" in front of the 3/4 square tube the door striker attach plate is welded to. Right now its 1/4" behind it. So, after inspecting everything and making a list of things to fix, I removed the body. I drilled out the rivits of the side and rear battery box walls. Seperated the seams and removed all the old sealant. Then I cut off the lower corner at 45' on two planes. I then welded in a plate to seal everything. Then it was just a matter of forming the sheetmetal to match. End result is I now have 1.5" of clearance to move that body forward where I need it.
Tomorrow I'll trim the lower radiator attach brackets and open up the body to allow ther rear brake line to clear. Then re-attach the body and see where we're at!

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[Rebostar]

I took off the LH footbox outer panel and changed the geometry of the lower third to taper down to the bottom where it meets the body. (see modification shown on previous page). It was not hitting the body, but the brake line was preventing the body from fully seating against the frame. Better to be safe than have to take the body off one more time just to trim off another 1/4". Then I trimed off 3/4" from the rear side and lower panels to allow the body to move forward 5/8". I bought some smaller bulb seal from McMaster Carr. I swapped out the FFR seal on the firewall to allow the body to sit about 1/4" lower. Recall I have a .125 thick firewall forward mod. Now it makes good contact and sits nicely on the 3/4 square tubes on each side and will allow a 1/8" felt strip to go on the dash bow.
Two days ago, with the first body fitment, I noticed the rear wheels only cleared the tire lip by about 3/4 inch. The fronts have a 2" gap. Ride hight at all 4 corners is exactly 4". So I adjusted the rear coil overs to get the same tire to wheel well gap both front and rear. I may play with that a bit to get the proper gap. 4 inches at all 4 corners will not give me equal tire gap front and rear.
I currently have the body back on and front to rear placement correct. (Body 1/4" forward of striker plate.) Tomorrow will have the Kliner Mod done and the front side clearance set. Also the relief cut for the rear brake line where it goes through the LH footbox floor will be cut. The third pic below is the clearance I gained by modifying the battery box.

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[Rebostar]

I got the J. Kleiner Mod done. I'll take the short stainless tube and cut it to fit between the two jamb nuts on the inside and will do the same for the outside when I put on the rear overiders after paint. (pics 1 & 2). The body is now set front to rear at 1/4" from the rear door jamb lip to the door striker plate. I have about 1/2" from the dash to the front flange lip.

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The body is centered in front as measured from the upper shock mount fitting to the wheel well lip. (17.25" on each side). FFR miss drilled the two front mount holes on the LH side. They are to far rearward (left side) as compared to the right side. I put the grommets on and made an out line. Then made a paper template mimicking the dimensions of the inner ring of the grommet, then drew that on the body. I used my die grinder to open the holes up then installed the grommets. I will have to fill in about 1/4" with fiberglass filler before paint.

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[Rebostar]

I made a relief cut to allow the lower body to fit sung against LH footbox without hitting the brake line.
I also marked the openings for the exhaust. As you can see, the RH side exhaust pipe will be about and inch higher than the left side. When I installed the engine I measured the angle of the engine compared to the angle of the 4" cross tube. The difference was .4'. Both motor mount locating pins were just under 1/16" from the top of the machined slots. They were equal. There is no way to roll the engine to get that .4' angle out. Even if I could it would only lower the RH exhaust and raise the LH about 1/4". I'm going to have to live with less than a half a degree off center. Besides no one will be able to look at the right and left exhaust opening at the same time. :)

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I started to fit the hood. It fits almost perfectly. I'll just have to round off the sharp corners, trim a couple of small narrow areas and fill about 6" to close the gap near the aft part of the RH side channel. I also checked the clearance of the filler cap of the expansion tank useing "play-dough". IMPORTANT NOTE For anyone doing there own body work. DO NOT RIVIT ON THE HOOD BUMPERS PER THE FFR MANUAL! drill to 1/8" then attach with #6 S.S. PK screws. You'll thank me when you go to break the body down for paint.

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[Rebostar]

I finished fitting the hood. It was NOT fun! First, The hood is definitely too small for the hole in the body. So I will have to add fiberglass to at least one side all the way down past both corners. In addition the holes that were pre-drilled into the hood for the hinge brackets were not even close! If I lined one hole up with a 3/16 rivit the other 3 were at least a half hole off and one or more were almost completely off. Must have been drilled by an intern (full time floor sweeper) on Friday late afternoon or first thing Monday morning after a wild weekend. This is the third time a critical part was mis-drilled. It would have been way better to just make a paper template and print it in the appendix. Or better yet use a friggin jig! So I had no choice but to fill the holes and then MOVE the hinge to a spot that would not hit one of the miss-dilled holes which I had to fill with short strand fiberglass filler, then drill acurate holes that matched the frigin hinges!. Which opened up a can of worms when adjusting the hinges. A two hour job took a day and a half, because someone was'nt paying attention at FFR.


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As mentioned above it took a LONG time to get the hood to fit. I had to re-position all the hinge pieces to account for re-positioning the rivited on brackets. But it helped A LOT that I welded on a three foot 2x2 piece of steel to my cherry picker for just this sort of thing. (installing hoods & deck lids by myself) Then using a 2.5' piece of threads-all with some washers and nuts to use as a "spreader", attached to two ratchet straps. It sure made things easier checking the fit after 496 adjustments!

I also got the latch handles mounted and funtioning. The gas strut to hood mounting studs I left off till after paint.

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[Rebostar]

First let me give kudo's to AARon for his You Tube vids on his build. He explained how he made is own scoop and how he installed it. I did not want the FFR screwed/rivited on plastic scoop. I liked the MK2 & 3 scoops built into the hood. So I bought a fiberglass scoop from Tony Branda. Its a very close match and I can fiberglass it in, which you can not do with the plasic one. Seeing AARon's install I was sold.

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The first was to lay out on the hood where the air cleaner is in relation to the hood, top and bottom. Then after finding and marking the centerline, I laid out the placement for the scoop. Then it was just cut out the inner line then use a router to remove the top section. After sanding everything smooth I used the NAPA fiberglass short strand filler to seal the upper and lower skins togeather. This will dry overnight. Then I'll bond the scoop on using the same fibergalss filler and screw it down while it dries overnight.

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[Nigel Allen]

Great skill and determination there. The scoop is going to turn out awesome. Thanks for going to the efforts to share your work.

Cheers,

Nige

[Jeff Kleiner]

Coming along nicely!

Just one question; is your centerline the center of the hood or center of the car? I ask because the hood is not centered on (or straight with) the car the car so if you're planning on stripes and based it on the center of the hood you'll need to do some gymnastics with your lines when laying them out to get them to hit the marks visually.

Jeff

[Rebostar]

Coming along nicely!

Just one question; is your centerline the center of the hood or center of the car? I ask because the hood is not centered on (or straight with) the car the car so if you're planning on stripes and based it on the center of the hood you'll need to do some gymnastics with your lines when laying them out to get them to hit the marks visually.

Jeff

Well fiddle sticks! I measured from the lip of each front wheel well lip to the hood opening and only had a 3/16" differance. Did'nt think it would matter. Yes, I ran the center line of the hood. I know the engine is off set quite a bit. When I get there I'll lay out the stripes with tape. If it looks goofy or I cant get a good look, I'll do without them. Thanks for the heads up Jeff.

[Rebostar]

I got the deck lid mostly fit today. That is, I have a good 3/16" gap all around with the seal on and the trunk latched. I have good matching hieght accross the top and lower edges. the front 2/3 of the side seams are even, but right at the rear bend the lid sticks up. The deck lid bend radius does not match the radius of the body. I dont think I will shave the lid. I'll most likely use filler to get the body radius to match the lid.

If anyone had this issue and found a good fix for this, please feel free to comment.

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[Jeff Kleiner]

If anyone had this issue and found a good fix for this, please feel free to comment.



Adjust to move the lid forward which will mean that you have to reestablish your margin along the forward edge. In turn this may make the valance proud of the lower edge of the lid. When you pull the valance inward to make it flush the curve in the body will change and more closely match the lid’s radius. One of those phenomenons where one action has multiple effects.

Jeff

[Rebostar]

I'm just about done with the hood scoop. I put the first coat of Rage Gold on last night. This moring I sanded that down and put on a secont layer. Tomorrow I'll sand that down and put a final finish layer of 3M Platinum.m And that should do it.

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Recall the previous post about the LH quick Jack holes being mis-drilled from FFR. I was going to just fill the small gap left after the grommets were in, but decided to do it right and start from scratch. I filled in both the LH holes and I'll re-cut them where they belong.

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[Rebostar]

I put on the 3M Platinum around the outside seam last night. This morning I sanded that down. On the bottom side of the scoop it has the same rough finish as the inside of the body. This will show when the hood is open so I sanded that down and put a coat of 3M on it. Tomorrow I'll sand it down and do one more final coat of 3M. Then its on to primer.

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Last night I put on a layer of 3M Platinum over the LH Quick Jack holes and sanded that down this morning.

203494


I also started the windshield install. IMPORTANT NOTE: on both sides of the windshield the second screw down was mis-drilled. I had to file open both the holes in the supports order to start those screws. Also both supports were not bent correctly. I had to increase the curve at the top of both side frames. The RH support required slight trimming at the very top in order to fit the windshield. Both supports are slightly splayed out to the outboard sides as they initially engage the body slots. The RH side was slightly splayed inwards, the LH was cut straight. I had to open up both slots quite a bit in order to start the windshield in the slots. I hope the support fairings will cover the openings if not more fiberglass work.

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[Rebostar]

I have the hood scoop done as much as it will be for now. Only pinor paint prep left to do on it. I also finished the LH Quick Jack hole repair. I found the 3/4" stainless tubes that fit the quick jack grommets at McMaster Carr.

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[Rebostar]

After getting the FFR windshield slots opened up to receive the windshield it was time to fit the windshield. I made two straps that would pick up the upper windshield support attachment screws and lodge into the door jamb corner with 27" spacing. I also made a wood center support for safety.

Lance (aka F500guy) stopped by to help with the installation. (THANK YOU LANCE!) Everything was going fine till we stuck the windshield on and discovered that the windshield support angles dont match the angles of the welded in support brackets. Those brackets were off by 15'. (see pics below). Does FFR actually use a jig to install those brackets or just "wing" it? Fortunately Lance mentioned he read a thread where someone else had this issue and chucked up the supports in a bench vice and twisted the lower supports with an extra large adjustable wrench to the an angle that would match the FFR supports. I did that. Fortunately I have aluminum soft jaws and some brass shim stock so I did not screw up the chrome finish on the supports. Windshield now fits! I removed the windshield and took off the supports for drilling and tapping in the morning.

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[Rebostar]

I got the windshield supports drilled and tapped to 1/2-13. I reinstalled the windshield with the above tools. all four attach point took 2 washers each, 1 thick and one thin on both top holes, and two thick washers on both bottom holes. End result is the windshield is centered and level and has 27 inches from the body rear door corner to the top screw on both sides. Gonna call this a win.
I started fitting the Breeze roll bars. I went accross the street to the fabrication shop and bought 4 feet of 1.75" round stock to make a tool/jig to open up the roll bar pre-drilled holes to take the larger Breeze roll bars. I only needed one section of 1 foot and one section of 2 inches. The rest will be stock for any future needs. I temporarily installed the roll bars to see if I could attach the rear slider tube to the main rear tube with one bolt. There is not enough clearance, so I will be welding in two coupling nuts per side in the front end of the rear slider that can attach a couple 5/16 high strenth steel bolts from underneath. More on that tomorrow.

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[F500guy]

Save those alignment jigs for me! Looks great.

[Blitzboy54]

Everything on this build is first rate. Really enjoying following along.

[Rebostar]

OK! VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: For anyone installing the BREEZE Roll Bars. The rear diagonal bar that Breeze supplies is to long! IT MUST BE CUT TO THE CORRECT LENTH in order to fit inside the Mike Everson Grommets. I know this because I cut the hole to match the stock lenth rear bar, and guess what? Now the hole is too long for the grommet!. So... the fix. I put the grommet on the rear bar then slid the roll bar assembly down till the lip of the rear bar was BELOW the body. I put the grommet in place and marked where it would allow the rear bar to fit, and cover the gap between the body and bar. I marked that. Then I slid in the rear slider almost all the way in and marked that where I wanted to bevel it. Results were that I needed to cut 3/4" off of the rear bars and bevel the slider by 3/8". This will alow the roll bar assembly to drop in place and the grommet to cover the gaps.
Because of the shortning of the rear bar I had to re-drill the front slider rear bar attach hole. I drilled two 5/16 holes where I could access them from the trunk. I installed and pinned both roll bars with the sliders pinned to the rear holes as well. Then marked where the two hole needed to be drilled in the sliders. I removed everything and drilled the 4 holes and welded in two coupling nuts on the front end of each slider tube. Then beveled the rear of the sliders by 3/8. Cleaned up and re-assembled. Everything now fits and the grommets cover the holes. Now I just need to repair/fill in the un-needed large holes in the body I made. One final NOTE: Mike Bray tried to warn me about this, but I'm a bit slow and did not get the whole "grommet" issue. I was just trying to make a hole that would allow the roll bars to fit!......oooooooopps!

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[Rebostar]

I forgot to add the bit about opening up the FFR cut roll bar holes to fit the larger diameter Breeze bars. 1st: I took one of the rear sliders, they are 1.5" diameter and match the 1.5" of the stub fitting that the vertical bars slide over, and set it on each bar mount and shined a flash light down the hole. I opened up the body holes till the 1.5" bars matched. 2nd: I took a 15/16 deep well 1/2 drive socket with 12 inches of extensions on it and put that inside the vertical mount stubs. the socket fits nicely inside the slider. 3rd: I lowered the slider over the socket. Now I had 1.5" extension of the mounting stubs. 4th: I used a 2" section of 1.75" round bar to drop over the 1.5" slider, then marked the area I wanted to cut out. Repeat #4 till I was happy. 5th: remove everything and test fit with a foot long lenth of 1.75" round bar and the Mike Everson grommets.....Happy Trails!

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[Rebostar]

When I opened up the rear roll bar holes I cut them out with a Blair 2" hole saw and my pnumatic 1/4" reciprocating saw. I trimmed the pieces I wanted to re-install and fiberglassed them back in place after beveling all the edges and leaving 1/8 gaps. I used heavy duty aluminum tape to support things where they needed to be. When that dried I applied some NAPA short strand fiberglass filler. When that was dry I sanded it all down and put a coat of 3M Platinum filler on it. I'll sand that down in the morning and spray some polyester primer on it.

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I started mounting the RH door today as well. I have it mostly fit. That is, it fits in the hole nicely. I will still need to fine tune the gaps. I'll also need to fill a bit on the top front of the door and body to get a matching fit. Pretty typical there. Everything else looks pretty good.

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[Rebostar]

I sanded down the 3M Premium I put on last night, Then shot it with primer. So I'm gonna call the roll bars done!

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[Rebostar]

I started the RH door yesterday. I finished the door gaps except for the top front, where I'm going to blend it in with the body lines. I needed to raise the line and taper it into the door. I also extended the point to more closely follow the body lines. I used my heavy duty aluminum tape to make a scaffold while the filler dried. I roughed it out with my die grinder then had to add a bit more on the point. Tomorrow I'll sand off everything that dos'nt look like a door, then add a layer of Rage Gold.

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[Rebostar]

Well, it took two and a half days of work but I have the RH door fit. It took a lot of massaging to get the upper inside corner to match the body, but it's done and I think it will be worth it. The below pics show the new RH door corner and the last two show the un-modified LH door corner that I'll start on tomorrow.
I put a layer of Rage Gold over the corner and the body area where they meet. When thats dry in the morning I'll sand it down and prime it.

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[Rebostar]

I wrapped up the RH door this morning. I just had to sand down the Rage Gold and shoot the worked areas with the polyester primer. So other than installing a latch the RH door is fit!

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[Rebostar]

After wrapping up the RH door I got a good jump on the LH door today. I got the door in the hole with all the gaps very close. I'll fine tune them when the rest of the fitting is done. As far as the fit goes, I started with pulling out the body to the end of the slot I made for the rear lower attach bolt and pushing in the front all the way to the end of that slot. That brought the fit as close as I will get it. I will have two areas to add filler. First, the area directly above the door hinge. I'll need to fill a bit of the body about half way up, then near the top I'll need to fill the door. Second will be the rear directly above the latch. I'll need to extend the inner bead about 3/8 of an inch and add some filler to the body on the top gap. I have the first layer of NAPA short strand filler on the point and front top of the door, and some on the rear seam/gap area. That will dry overnight. I'll post the results after sanding tomorrow.

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[Rebostar]

I decided to go with the FFR new style door latches. They came with the kit and work well and look a bit better than the Breeze units. I mounted the RH door latch today.

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I sanded down the first batch of filler on the LH door and reset the gaps. The area directly above the latch looks pretty good, and I will go with what I have there with a thin layer of Rage Gold added. The front area above the hinge also looks good except for the point. I added another layer of filler to make the LH match the RH point area where it meets the body lip. I'll form/sand that in the morning.

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[Rebostar]

SUPPRIZE ! No work on the Roadster today. We're taking our 47 Merc Coupe to the Wheels and Waves Car Show in Seaside Oregon. Its a three day show, so I'll be gone till Sunday. I'll be back to work on the Roadster on Monday. Below are a few gratuitus pics of the 47 Merc. I did a comlete rotiserie restoration on it in my shop. I even did the paint. (dont look to close!)

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[Higgybulin]

SUPPRIZE ! No work on the Roadster today. We're taking our 47 Merc Coupe to the Wheels and Waves Car Show in Seaside Oregon. Its a three day show, so I'll be gone till Sunday. I'll be back to work on the Roadster on Monday. Below are a few gratuitus pics of the 47 Merc. I did a comlete rotiserie restoration on it in my shop. I even did the paint. (dont look to close!)

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Very cool! My Dad has a '48 Ford coupe with bags and wide fives!
Have fun!
Higgy
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[Rebostar]

Back to work today. Finaly got the point to blend with the body lip on the LH door. Its not perfect yet, but will fine tune with Rage Gold. I had to sand and reaply the filler three times to get it right. I also used AArons method of using packing tape on the body joint painted with liquid wax then applied filler and closed the door! (perfect fit!)

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While waiting for the various filler applications to dry I fitted the head light buckets, gas cap, tail lights, turn lights, & liesence plate bracket. All those will come off tomorrow and boxed up till after paint.

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[Rebostar]

I found another issue with the doors. Seems if you line up the inside rear of the door with the rear body bead, the outside of the door will not come close to matching the step that is cast into the body. If you line the door up with the step there is a 3/8 mis-alignment of the inner door jamb and nothing else on the door lines up. My solution was to make both doors match the rear inside body bead, and feather out that step. This also had the effect of allowing the lower rear of the doors to be adjusted within the slot cut in the lower body to frame mount. Both doors are now fit and gapped. Once I have the deck lid and hood properly set and fine tuned the gaps, I'll start the matching filler for the high and low spots on all four panels.

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[Rebostar]

As mentioned yesterday, today's festivities included filling all the low spots on both doors and the deck lid. I put the first layer of Rage Gold on all the low spots I could find. I should get two layers on tomorrow. Suppriseingly the hood has a great fit and has no low spots, go figure!

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[Rebostar]

After sanding down the Rage Gold I but a second coat of filler (3M Platinum) on the low areas. When that was dry I sanded the panels down, first with 80 grit then a 180 grit finish. I re-attached the doors and deck lid to check the fit. None of the low area's were more that 1/16 off from perfect. I can add that with a couple extra coats of polyester primer so I'm calling these done untill final block sanding.

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[Rebostar]

Today I took off the doors, deck lid, and hood, as I'm done with the fitting. I mocked up the exhaust pipes to get a start on the cut outs. The LH opening was cut just fine, a bit small but exactly centered where is should be. The RH side, not so much. I bought the FFR 351W Headers. Where the header meets the body cut out was not even close. They cut way to much of the body out just behind the wheel lip. I did not trim the forward edge at all. With the exhaust fitted there is almost an inch of clearance between the exhaust and body panel behind the RH wheel lip. I had to trim quite a bit off the rear and top of the opening, but I now have a half inch clearance on the top and back of the RH opening and 1/2 inch all around on the LH. Just a bit anoyed about the one inch gap on the RH side. I'm still considering fiberglassing that gap and re-cuting it to the correct 1/2 inch.

I had to call Mark at Breeze to get a pair of tapered shims ordered. I need 1/8" on the LH rear seam to bring the pipe tip outboard. On the RH side I need a 1/4" shim on the front seam to swing the pipe tip inboard. Mark got right on it and will get the shims and Gaskets out this weekend.

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[Rebostar]

I cleaned up the side vent openings and did the layout for the louver install. Everything looks good. I have 8 bond-on studs that will get bonded to the inside of the body. Then I removed everything that holds the body on and got ready to remove it.
On another build thread from Jim in Texas and a post here from J.K. I double checked the hood scoop alignment and centering. It was time to take the body off and put it back on the buck for sanding, prep and paint. Before I did, I took a close look at J.K.'s pic on Jim's Build thread and followed his instructions. I put the deck lid back on and pulled the windshield off then taped a string to the center of the liecence plate light housing. I found the center of the nose and marked it then pulled the line down and taped it. Seems the front of the scoop is spot on in the center and only off by 1/8 inch on the rear of the scoop! My scoop is 11 inches wide. I have 5.5" on each side of the center line. The battery went dead on my camera as I was taking the LH side pic. But its centered! Thats a win! maybe FFR fixed the off center scoop issue???

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[Rebostar]

Sorry, no pics today. All I did was remove the hood, deck lid, doors and body from the car. I did a few clean up details. I trimmed about 3/16th off the dash right above the glove box as it was extending above the hoop that much. I had to remove the dash to do that but its no big deal now the way I have it mounted. I'm using close tolerance carbon steel pip pins to attach the roll bars, so I added retainer lanyards to them so they will never get miss-placed. I drilled and tapped the four bottom body bolts but have decided to install rivnuts instead for a better grip and easier body removal and installation in the future. I replaced the firewall seal with one that had the correct grip dimensions (.125) after I ordered it from McMaster Carr. I also installed a 3/16" foam seal on the top of the dash hoop. I added an additional layer of rubber hose to the lower radiator mounts to relieve any stress on the 5 upper radiator isolator mounts.
I dont know how much I'll get posted in the next few weeks as I'll be block sanding the entire car. No one will want to hear my complaining about loosing my finger prints or my whining about how sore I am. So I'll buck up and get'er done. I'll post again when I've done something intersting or less boring than sanding.
Allyn

[Rebostar]

I got the doors, deck lid and hood sanded with 180 grit to get everything flat and even prior to primer. While sanding I noticed several pin holes and gaps on th edges of all four panels. After sanding I put some filler on the edges and will get those smooth in the morning. After that I mounted the studs to attach the louvers. I have a carbon fiber battery cover in the trunk and both the fuel sender and pickup covers are carbon fiber so I figured it was a good idea to make the cover for the licence plate light fitting access hole to be carbon fiber as well.
Tomorrow after sanding down the panel edges I'll sand down all the edges on the body. Thats why its setting upside down now. I also plan to do a bit of fibergalss reinforcing in the areas that I sanded down behind the doors and the repair to the LH quick jack holes.

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[Rebostar]

The doors, deck lid, and hood are ready for primer. I raised the body with the lift to get it to a good working hieght then lowered it on my body panel supports. So now its upside down and stable at the perfect hight to get all the edges trimed where required and radiused. I also started the block sanding on the lower nose area. I also fiberglassed a few areas mentioned yesterday.

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[Rebostar]

Slow day today. Golf!
I managed to get all the edges sanded as well as block sanding the lower half of the body. (top as its upside down!) Before I finish the block sanding I'll need to flip the body over. Before I do that I need to paint the inner body shell with Raptor Bed Liner tinted grey. So I masked off all the edges and openings. Hopefully after cleaning with acetone I'll get it sprayed in the morning.

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[Rebostar]

Shot the Raptor Liner today. After a couple hours I unmasked it and fliped the body back over, then put it back on the body buck. I made lower rocker braces to stabilize the sides for sanding. Tomorrow.....more sanding.... Yea!

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[Rebostar]

I started this morning by cutting the openings for the defroster vents. The openings now exactly match the inside dimensions of the outlet vent covers. I had to epoxy the defroster defuser split line in order to shape them to the underside of the cowl. The rest of the day was spent sanding with 180 grit. I got the front of the body done to the front of the door jambs. Tomorrow should see the 180 grit blocking done. Then fill all the pin holes before primer.

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[Jeff Kleiner]

Allyn,
I go to 80 prior to high build polyester. 3 coats will bury the 80 scratch and it gives more “tooth” for it to bite. But there’s more than one way to skin these cats ;) Either way it’s a whole bunch of sanding…and then there’s more of the same after the high build…and then again after the 2K urethane. It seems to never end!

Jeff

[Rebostar]

I finished the primary sanding this morning. In one of the Roadster Forum posts, someone mentioned you get a better "feel" for the low spots if you put a paper towel under your hand. Seemed like B.S. untill I tried it. What a Great idea! That showed me I had to check a couple areas that I used filler on the doors. Using a straight edge and strong flashlight I could see the light so to speak. So I added a bit more filler on the LH forward door edge (extended the ramp) and did the same with the RH rear door top that needed filler. Then I used glazing compound to fill about 50 pin holes, dents and scratches. There were a few areas on the front oil cooler inlet and LH door openings where I found "pockets" that I had to grind out and fill with short strand fiberglass filler. I expect about an hour left to sand then on to primer.

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[Rebostar]

Today I cleaned up all the glazing compound and sanded down the two door areas that I added more filler to. Last night I watched a couple of AAron's older You Tube vids about his paint and prep. I really liked his door, hood, and deck lid paint jig. I copied it with just stuff I had laying around the shop. My paint booth is good enough for primer. I plan to have the car shot with HOK Kandy Brandywine. I have a freind that has a bodyshop with a great paint booth. He'll be doing the top coat. So I made that jig so I could prime it then take it to the painters when I deliver the car to him at the end of the month.

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[Mike.Bray]

That HoK kandy is going to be spectacular, I know my blue is. Everyone, and I mean everyone, comments about our color. One guy said he could hear it before he saw it lol. IMO no one has colors like HoK candy or pigment. The paint shop I used tried to match my HoK color with another brand and never got close. Even the HoK white for the stripes is something else. Depending on the lighting and angle it shifts form white to gray to silver.

From hard experience remember to stick with HoK all the way through, don't try to mix brands like my guy did. It wasn't pretty.

Are you going to put a color under the Brandywine? We did spray outs of our blue over different color primers and it was "okay" but when it went over a silver it really popped. We were amazed at the difference it made.

Can't wait to see it!

[Rebostar]

That HoK kandy is going to be spectacular, I know my blue is. Everyone, and I mean everyone, comments about our color. One guy said he could hear it before he saw it lol. IMO no one has colors like HoK candy or pigment. The paint shop I used tried to match my HoK color with another brand and never got close. Even the HoK white for the stripes is something else. Depending on the lighting and angle it shifts form white to gray to silver.

From hard experience remember to stick with HoK all the way through, don't try to mix brands like my guy did. It wasn't pretty.

Are you going to put a color under the Brandywine? We did spray outs of our blue over different color primers and it was "okay" but when it went over a silver it really popped. We were amazed at the difference it made.

Can't wait to see it!

Mike
I built a 1964 Fairlane into a Thunderbolt. Had all The mods. 427FE, Open Headers, Dual quads, Top Loader, the full deal. In the 6 years I had it, it won 48 awards, eight of which were either peoples choice or best in show. It was HOK Kandy Brandywine over a silver metal flake base. It was stunning! I plan to have it shot by the same painter in the same color with the silver metalflake base as the stripes. He will be over to my shop near the end of the month to "inspect" my body work as he will just be doing Top coat and cut and buff. If he gives me the thumbs up its off to his shop.

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[Rebostar]

This morning I shot the polyester primer on the removable panels. (3 coats) pluss a few extra passes on all the sharp edges and corners. Then it was off to Aloha to help Lance re-install his body on the chassis. All went well. It was nice to jawbone about the Roadster for an hour or so. He always has some cool mods to share. The body is now in the paint booth and the first cleaning (with acetone) is done. I'll wipe it down with prepsol and tack cloth first thing in the morning then shoot the body.
For those keeping score at home I swiped another of AArons's cool ideas. The panel hangar! All made from stuff I had laying around the shop.

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[Rebostar]

Big milestone today. Three coats of Evercoat polyester primer with two or three extra coats on all the edges and high points. Five hours of painting and no runs! Thats a huge win! My philosophy when painting any helicopter or airplane was that if it had no runs I did'nt put enough paint on it. Ha! But that was Imeron, a whole nother animal. All the curves are straight! That is, when you sight down the tops of all four fenders the top radius is in alignment. I was concerned all the seam sanding might throw off those lines, but those are sweet! I'll have a few pin holes to hit with glazing compound in the morning. After that dries I'll shoot some more primer with the touch up gun. Monday morning should see me start to sand in a good finish for the guy who will be painting it.

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[Jeff Kleiner]

Don’t you love how your shoes stick to the floor by the end of the second coat ;)

Jeff

[Rebostar]

Don’t you love how your shoes stick to the floor by the end of the second coat ;)

Jeff

YUP...Another pair of Columbia high tops bites the dust.....I never remember to put on old shoes untill AFTER I destroyed the pair I'm wearing!

[Rebostar]

Two days of sanding has yielded good progress, 180 grit to remove all the orange peel out of the primer, then 220 grit to remove all the 180 scratches. I put extra primer on all the edges but I managed to sand though in about a dozen spots. The large area just forward of the gas cap was a damaged area that came with the body. I did not feel the high spot before primer....ooopps. The yellow area on the left rear above the tail light was about a dozen pin holes in the seam, some of pretty good size that I just used the 3M Platinum to fill. Tomorrow will be 320 till its done. Then 400 wet.

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[Rebostar]

Back up two steps..... After talking with my paint wizard Pedro from Latino's Touch in Salem Oregon and getting some great advice from J.K. I shot an additional 3 coats of Eurathane primer over the entire car. One minor run this time. But that will go away when I sand off the flat black guide coat. Sorry, no pic's....I spaced out the camera!.. Just a grey car anyway!!

[Rebostar]

Well I got both doors sanded. 220 to get through the guide coat, then 320. Got the underside of the deck lid done as well. Several areas where I sanded through the primer. but I'll live with it. Its under the deck lid. So far the outside surfaces look perfect. NOTE TO SELF: Dont buy the $1.98 cheap flat black for the guide coat. You get what you pay for! The nozzel's are crap, thus the blotchy areas. Spend the extra few bucks for a rattle can with a quality spray nozzle.

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[Jeff Kleiner]

Those little burn throughs will cover when your buddy Pedro puts the sealer on. Just be careful with the 600 wet…although it seems counterintuitive because of the finer grit but when combined with water it’ll cut fast! Looking good and probably feeling as smooth as a baby’s butt!

Jeff

[Rebostar]

Feeling a bit under the weather today. The "Chief" is a PA that works at a local clinic and brings me home every bug known to man. This has the effect of making my imune system rather robust. So rather than being down for a week or two with Covid, I've had a raging headache for a couple days. Still working in the shop though. I finished the deck lid and sanded the hood to 320 grit. I'll start the body in the morning and go as long as I can or 2pm which ever comes first.
Happy Trails
Allyn

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[Rebostar]

Been a bit wrung out the last couple days, so I parked my but on the couch. I did sand for 4 hours this morning. I got the left front done and the surround for the hood. Getting fustrated though, seems by the time I get the orange peel off there is hardly any primer left. I sprayed three good coats of eurathane primer on it but burned through the eurathane into the polyurathane primer is several spots. A complete re-do might be in the offing. We'll see what my painter says.

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Thank God for the lift. I dont know how anyone could sand the lower part of the car without doing it from a creeper. If I tried that I would'nt be able to walk after a couple hours. But the lift makes a huge differance. I got the RH front fender, complete nose, and all the way back to the rear wheel wells sanded, first with 220 then 320. Tomorow should see the rest of the car done. Then on to 400 and 600 wet.

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It seems like I've been sanding for 3 years not 3 weeks. I used 180 grit to knock off the bulk of the guide coat, then 220 grit to get all the orange peel off, then 320 grit to remove all the 220 scratches. I had a few burn throughs and after getting everything to 320, I decided to use my touch up gut to cover the burn through areas with 2 coats of eurathane primer. Tomorrow will see 400 (dry) over the entire car. Thursday starts the 600 wet.

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I got the car and panels out of the paint booth and sanded everything down to 400 grit. That leaves the 600 wet left to go. I should be done and ready for paint by Saturday. Yea!!

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Responce to battery box question:
Below are the battery box pic's showing the before , during mods, and after.

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This morning I put the car back into the paint booth to do the wet sanding with 600 grit. Now thats done! After 20 days of sanding and priming and more sanding, starting with 180 grit block sanding of the gel-coat, I'm calling it ready for sealer and paint. I called my friend in Salem about when we can get it in his booth. He'll be hunting this weekend and I'll be bringing it to his shop on Monday. Might be a week or two before he can fit it into his que.

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