TXeverydayDad's #11001 Roadster Coyote build - End of the Road

[TXeverydayDad]

The time has finally come to start my own build thread! The intent is to use it as documentation for myself as well as provide an opportunity for family and friends to be a part of the build.

This roadster will be my first build and an opportunity for me to learn as I go, together with my family. The goal is to have a good time together as a family in building the roadster but also an opportunity for the kids (ages 10, 12, 14) to learn practical engineering skills, fabrication and basic tool handling etc. It’ll be a non-donor street cruiser and I have lots of plans and ideas from reading the forums over the past 8 years or so. Exactly which of those plans and ideas that materialize and actually make it on the build remains to be seen.

I’ve been planning for this build on and off for the past 10-15 years and in January I took the plunge and placed the order on Factory Five:


Complete Roadster Mk4 kit
IRS + 3.55 rear end
Power steering kit
Hydraulic clutch kit
Vintage gauges
Dual chrome roll bars
18” Halibrands
Black Wilwood brakes
Front and rear sway bars
Carbon Fiber Dash
Black leather seats
And a few other options as well


It will be a Coyote build. The plan was going with a gen 3 but given the current circumstances, it’ll likely be a gen 4. A little more intimidating, but probably not too different in the end. It’ll be mated to a TKX, with a hydraulic TOB.

This will be the first time I’m doing anything like this so I’m grateful for any and all input, comments and suggestions, especially when I mount things upside down and inside out...

The completion date was March 23
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=198422&d=1713494544

Stewart Transport picked it up on April 3 and Mark with Stewart Transport showed up in TX on April 11. It was a perfect day!
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=198423&d=1713494547

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=198424&d=1713494555

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=198425&d=1713494555

#11001 is now in the garage and we’ll spend the next few days doing inventory, prepping the body buck and getting to know the roadster. It’ll be exciting to see how everything goes together and get a feel for all the parts.
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=198426&d=1713494555

So the journey begins! 😊

[JayOH]

Congratulations! Looking forward to following along.

[dbo_texas]

Congrats! Looking forward to following along. I'm working on a MK4 in Austin,TX currently. Somewhat similar build as you, just using a T56 instead of TKX but otherwise most of the same stuff (power steering, hydraulic clutch, 18s, CF dash, etc). Good luck on the build.

[Its Bruce]

I recently completed my build in Cypress. Feel free to PM with anything.

[GoDadGo]

Man I Miss The Build Process!

...With that said, Welcome Aboard!

[ydousurf]

I still remember the joy and permanent smile that one gets when they see that beautiful 18 wheeler pull up to your house with your dream inside. Like a child on Christmas Day and getting that “One special gift” from Santa. I still have that feeling forever burned in the ol’ brain pan. I guess it only gets topped when you eventually drive-it for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, count to infinity… times. Anyway, lots of knowledgeable and helpful family out here to help. Enjoy your build TXeverydayDad! We’ll all be following along!

Doug

[460.465USMC]

Welcome aboard, TX! Sounds like you've done a great deal of planning (and dreaming!) for your build. Congrats on the delivery. I hope it's a great family project for you all.

I'm also going with a Coyote on my Coupe build--love the Gen 3 in my Roadster--but a ways out from ordering the motor. I will be closely watching what is available (Gen 4?) once I'm ready to order. I'll stay tuned to see what you come up with.

[TXeverydayDad]

Thanks for the welcome! I really appreciate this community!

Seeing the 18-wheeler pull up really does make you smile. :D

Regarding the Coyote, it'll be interesting to see what happens, if the gen 3 comes back or if Ford just launches the gen 4 crate. I have no insight or connections at Ford so I'll just have to wait patiently.

/Sam

[TXeverydayDad]

We’ve spent the past few days going over inventory and finding storage spaces for all the boxes in the garage. The rollbars are the only backordered items, and there were a few minor items missing, so it’s all good. It was actually a fun experience to go through all the pieces and both see and handle them first hand.

A heads-up to first time roadster builders and something I wasn’t aware of or had seen in any other posts earlier. One corner on the fuel tank is bent up for tire clearance, and is not due to transport damage. Just an FYI that I haven’t seen mentioned before.
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=198482&d=1713658572

We also built a body buck with a shelf for holding the carpet pieces flat and store the trunk, doors and hood. The plan is to hoist it up in the garage and get it out of the way. The buck sits on the frame dolly so I can move it around easily, and the design is based on edwardb’s.
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=198483&d=1713658572

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=198484&d=1713658572

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=198485&d=1713658609

A few surprises – this was the first time handling the body and lifting it off the frame was an experience. The body is both firmer, yet more flexible than what I was expecting. The headers were smaller than I expected while the rims were both wider and lighter.
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=198481&d=1713658572

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=198480&d=1713658572

[Ashaw65]

The blog and pictures are very helpful. Thanks for posting.

[TXeverydayDad]

My pleasure Ashaw65. This forum and its very detailed build threads have been very helpful for my planning and now act as great references as I build my own, so just glad to pass it forward. I expect this build thread will also be helpful to myself as I progress and forget what I've done in earlier steps...

[gbranham]

Congrats! I have that exact same white folding table, and used it to lay out the dozens and dozens of nuts, bolts and screwbags, in numerical order. Helped a lot!

Greg

[TXeverydayDad]

We’ve spent the past 2 weekends drilling holes. I’m taking a page out of wareaglescott’s playbook, fitting and drilling all the panels as I remove them, in preparation for powder coating. The panels are generally well cut and fit well apart from a few ‘transport’ screws that were quite poorly placed, especially on the firewall.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=198992&d=1714858513

I followed the manual for installation order, starting with F-panels, firewall and passenger footbox. Took a lot longer than expected. A combination of the kids and I getting used to the process, finding the optimum speed for proper drilling and aligning the holes for both access and aesthetics. Moved on to the driver’s footbox and then the rest of the cockpit which went a lot faster. Now only the 2 large trunk pieces remain to be completed. I can highly recommend boelube lubricant. Makes a significant difference when cutting through the steel.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=198993&d=1714858513

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=198994&d=1714858513

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=198995&d=1714858513

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=198996&d=1714858513

I will be adding a drop trunk. I lifted the tank in place to get an idea of the dimensions and settled on 24”x14.5”x5”. Got a 2’x4’ aluminum sheet and will fabricate the box out of that. Planning to put my basic sheet metal brake to use and we’ll see how it turns out.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=198997&d=1714858538

A question that I had and that has come up a few times is how many clecos you 'need' for the build. If you’re fitting all the panels and want all of them mounted at the same time, you’ll need more than 50. With 50, as I have, you just need to disassemble finished sections as you go.

[TXeverydayDad]

The past two weeks have been focused on completing the panel drilling and dry fitting the drop trunk. So far so good but it's a lot of panels...
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=199452&d=1715824819

My design for the drop trunk made installation a little more difficult than what it needed to be, but it goes in and fits.
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=199451&d=1715824819

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=199453&d=1715824819

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=199455&d=1715824819

We also had some family help to lift the body buck into its storage location, until it’s needed again. A little cumbersome but it’s tucked away and secured now.
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=199454&d=1715824819

Next is prepping/deburring the panels for powder coat and taking them in to be coated. Then we can finally start building the car, and not just removing stuff.

[TXeverydayDad]

Well, it’s been about a 2 month break in the building, dealing with a death in the family overseas and then some vacation, but now we’re back at it. The time away prompted a tweak to my drop trunk design to make assembly and access easier. All the panels are now completed and have been dropped off for powder coat along with a few extra pieces, making it 68 pieces in total. I was considering either satin black to match the frame or a darker grey and I ended up going with Black Wrinkle, which is a structured black that almost looks grey in the sunlight. Not that many panels will see any light, but that’s besides the point. We’ll see how it turns out.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=202501&d=1722812136

While waiting for the panels to return, we started preparing the rear diff and control arms. My diff came coated from F5 and filled with fluid. F5 support said it’s only a small amount of transport fluid and that it needs to be filled, but it’s filled to just below the top fill screw. I’ll put a call into Ford Racing to see what they say. It’s a small cost to drain/re-fill, but I hate wasting perfectly good fluids, if it can be avoided.

The holes were drilled out as required and I’m very grateful for the tip to use a cordless drill set at #1 so when the bit catches, it doesn’t twist your arm off. It was quick work with some cutting fluid. We greased and installed the bushings/sleeves and then my son, brother and brother-in-law helped out in getting the center section installed. I had expected this install to be hard, but it was in and torqued in less than 5 minutes. Almost a little anti-climactic, but the center section is now officially the first part mounted to the car - progress! The breather tube has also been installed after the picture was taken.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=202502&d=1722812136

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=202506&d=1722812184

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=202507&d=1722812184

After this, the metric studs from the rear hub were replaced with SAE studs. A smooth process with an impact gun, but I stripped the threads off one stud because I used the same nut for too many studs. Easy fix. There was no chance I would be able to torque the studs to 100ft-lbs, so that's on my list of items to complete later, but they are pulled tight enough at the moment.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=202504&d=1722812136

Cutting off the spindle ‘ear’ was something I hadn’t been looking forward to. Chopping up a brand new cast aluminum piece just feels wrong. Anyway, I used an airsaw and then cleaned the cut with a bench sander. Turned out well. Then drilled out the holes with the same process as the center section.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=202505&d=1722812136

It's fun to be back at building!

[TXeverydayDad]

Continuing the prep work in anticipation of the powder coating being done. Started with the Toe arms. Spent some time looking at the mix of strangely labeled bolts and nuts that came in box 2. Everything was accounted for during inventory, but the labels on the bags (hand-written from F5) in which they were placed made little sense and caused more confusion than help. But just disregard the labels and measure the bolts and all is fine. The toe arms and control arms went together quickly. Used a threaded rod with washers/nuts to spread the flanges to fit as well.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=202510&d=1722813828

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=202511&d=1722813828

Then we tackled the front upper control arms. I had to shorten the rear to be able to reach the general measurements. I took off about 1/8” from both the screws and adjusting sleeve and now have a little more room for adjustments. It took a long time to saw through the hardened screws with a hacksaw and carbide blade, and especially disheartening as the first 3 screws are hollow, while the 4th, attached to the balljoint plate, is solid. Took as long as the other 3 combined, but it’s done now. Squared everything off with the bench sander and calling it done.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=202512&d=1722813828

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=202513&d=1722813828

We then spent some time with the Wilwood brakes. Attached and safety wired the hats/rotors. This was my first time doing safety wire and it went surprisingly well. It could probably look better but they’ll function as intended.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=202514&d=1722813828

The powder coated panels should be ready any day now. I got some black rivets from McMaster for the engine bay, which I hope will look good with the panels, as it might be too much of a contrast with the regular rivets. We'll see.

[TXeverydayDad]

It’s been a busy couple of weeks, but exciting progress! The powder coated panels came back and look great. I really like the wrinkled look. It has a nice sparkle in the sun but looks almost matt in regular light. I added rivnuts to the F-panels, siliconed and riveted them in place with black rivets. Looks good.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=203304&d=1724896289

The control arms installed quite easily. I had to spread the tabs with a spreader rod and add a little gentle persuasion with a rubber mallet but everything went together well.

I’d seen a question about the snap rings included with the front control arms and where they go, so I took a picture of it. I believe it goes below the ball joint on the front lower control arm. The UCA ball joints went in smoothly as well. No issues with the supplied parts.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=203296&d=1724896253

The front spindles and springs went in without drama. However, no matter how much I prepared and read up on the orientation of the steering arms, I still managed to install them in the wrong direction. Of course I didn’t notice this until later when I went to install the steering rack, after I had torqued the axle nut. Amazon to the rescue and delivered the one-time use axle nuts 12 hours later. Living close to an Amazon distribution center sometimes has its privileges. I switched them around and now everything fits together. For those that have a mind that works like mine, the steering arms need to be pointed up and out.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=203301&d=1724896289

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=203302&d=1724896289

I centered the steering rack, turned the tie rod ends to equal threads on both sides, and attached to the arms, everything at the lengths specified in the manual and the front seems to be relatively straight/parallel. This should be good until alignment later down the road. An interesting side note, when I first installed the tie rod ends I couldn’t reach the specified length, but when I switched them left to right, it magically screwed further in, with movement to spare, so I didn’t have to shorten the rods.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=203303&d=1724896289

The rear CV axles, spindles, hubs and springs mounted up quite easily. The CV axles went in with a satisfying sound and feel and is seated with the correct gaps on both sides. The rear end is beefy! I like it! I also installed the front and rear swaybars. They took longer than expected but they are in.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=203299&d=1724896253

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=203300&d=1724896253

[RogerRoger88]

It’s been a busy couple of weeks, but exciting progress! The powder coated panels came back and look great. I really like the wrinkled look. It has a nice sparkle in the sun but looks almost matt in regular light. I added rivnuts to the F-panels, siliconed and riveted them in place with black rivets. Looks good.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=203304&d=1724896289

The control arms installed quite easily. I had to spread the tabs with a spreader rod and add a little gentle persuasion with a rubber mallet but everything went together well.

I’d seen a question about the snap rings included with the front control arms and where they go, so I took a picture of it. I believe it goes below the ball joint on the front lower control arm. The UCA ball joints went in smoothly as well. No issues with the supplied parts.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=203296&d=1724896253

The front spindles and springs went in without drama. However, no matter how much I prepared and read up on the orientation of the steering arms, I still managed to install them in the wrong direction. Of course I didn’t notice this until later when I went to install the steering rack, after I had torqued the axle nut. Amazon to the rescue and delivered the one-time use axle nuts 12 hours later. Living close to an Amazon distribution center sometimes has its privileges. I switched them around and now everything fits together. For those that have a mind that works like mine, the steering arms need to be pointed up and out.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=203301&d=1724896289

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=203302&d=1724896289

I centered the steering rack, turned the tie rod ends to equal threads on both sides, and attached to the arms, everything at the lengths specified in the manual and the front seems to be relatively straight/parallel. This should be good until alignment later down the road. An interesting side note, when I first installed the tie rod ends I couldn’t reach the specified length, but when I switched them left to right, it magically screwed further in, with movement to spare, so I didn’t have to shorten the rods.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=203303&d=1724896289

The rear CV axles, spindles, hubs and springs mounted up quite easily. The CV axles went in with a satisfying sound and feel and is seated with the correct gaps on both sides. The rear end is beefy! I like it! I also installed the front and rear swaybars. They took longer than expected but they are in.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=203299&d=1724896253

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=203300&d=1724896253

Congrats on your build! Yet another build thread for me to follow and learn from.

One question. You put rivnuts on the vertical flange of the F-panels. What was the purpose of this? Not questioning, just trying to learn.

Thanks,
Jesse

[RogerRoger88]

Nevermind about the rivnuts. Found the answer on EdwardB's build thread (post #9).

[TXeverydayDad]

Yeah, that’s where I got my inspiration from, making the splash guards removable.

[TXeverydayDad]

It’s been quite a while since my previous update. We’ve been spending all available time progressing on the build instead of updating the build thread…but here goes. We mounted the brakes and the Wilwoods went on smoothly and look really good. No hick-ups during installation, which was great.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=205172&d=1728685208

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=205173&d=1728685208

We then started assembling the pedal box and the handbrake handle while I’m mentally preparing to install the brake and fuel lines. The plan is to use the provided brake lines but I’m going with 3/8” NiCopp for the hard fuel lines. Don’t know why the task seems daunting but it does. The pedal box came pretty much assembled, I just added the brake and clutch switches, shortened the brake m/c rods and everything went together well. This is the first time I see a balance bar so played around with that a little and it seems good to go. I still have to install the upper clutch switch but will do that when I get the clutch m/c. I’ll be using a hydraulic release bearing and needed a 13/16” master cylinder. I’ve just added the part to my engine order with Mike Forte to be delivered as soon as the control packs and Moroso oil pickup is ready.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=205176&d=1728685208

I was a little concerned about the brake and clutch pedals having some side to side play, but that seems to be within tolerances and not an issue.

We also installed the flexlines to the brakes. We fastened the brackets and got the adaptors set up quickly. We followed Wilwood’s instructions for installing the caliper inlet fitting, and they mention using PTFE tape. Turns out that’s not a good idea. After tightening the fitting to finger-tight we then tried to clock the fitting in the desired orientation, while turning the fitting between 1.5 to 3 turns. I got just past 2 turns, needing to go another ¼ turn for the right alignment and ended up rounding the fitting. Most here on the forum recommend liquid thread sealant instead. I tried that on the other calipers and that worked like a charm. I used vice grips to get the rounded fitting out and summit delivered a new fitting a few days later. All installed, clearance checked and all is good. But don’t use tape!

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=205174&d=1728685208

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=205175&d=1728685208

[TXeverydayDad]

Next up was installing the steering column/shaft. After some test fitting, we mounted the bearing on the inside of the footbox, with the set screws on the inside as well. It gave the best clearance and enabled us to disconnect the lower steering rods without removing the upper. It may or may not be needed but feels good to have the option to do it. At this point we just had to loosely mount the steering wheel and put the seat in, just to get a feel of what’s come. We took turns sitting behind the wheel making engine sounds… 😊 Good times!

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=205652&d=1729738233


I was pleasantly surprised that the foot box feels bigger than what I expected. At 6’2” with size 12 feet, I was a little concerned about space, but I think it’ll be good. Still deciding on whether to have a dead pedal or not. I like the idea of a dead pedal but it’s also nice to be able to stretch out my left leg once you’re cruising. Another idea is to put in a ‘heel’ rest to provide a solid pivot point in front of the pedals. Not sure if it’s a good idea and will experiment with this later on.

We used the provided firewall and fabricated a firewall support bracket to stiffen it up some. Since we purchased a brake to make the drop trunk, I figured we’d get as much out of it as possible. And it’s a really simple piece for the kids to learn on as well.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=205653&d=1729738233

Then onto the fuel and brake lines. My first attempts at bending the lines turned out to be a lot more fun and satisfying than expected. I started with the 3/8 NiCopp fuel lines. I bought 3 x 60” sections and installed the two main feed/return runs along the 4” tube and up into the engine bay, then cut the 3rd in half to extend towards the tank/filter. I’ll add braided lines for the remaining distances once I have the tank/hanger/filter/regulator in place. All coming along with my engine package hopefully in the not too distant future.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=205654&d=1729738233

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=205662&d=1729738311

[TXeverydayDad]

With boosted confidence, I moved on to the brake lines and they went in easier than expected. A good sense of accomplishment when I managed to get some nice loops. I didn’t want to cut and flare so I just used the kit provided lines, with some creative loops/shapes. As for routing, I pulled the rear lines along the 4” tube to the front, up by the front control arm under the F-panel and then back to join the front brake line into the foot-box. I had originally thought about running the rear brake line up and inside the footbox but with the added coyote gas pedal bracket and the line probably about 2-3” too short for my planned run, I figured I’d just go the long way around. I purchased an identical 60” line at Advanced Auto and it turned out ok, and I’m happy with it. I saw a tip about starting with the rear lines since they'll be the least visible on the finished build, so that's what I did.

Rear left to right
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=205661&d=1729738273

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=205660&d=1729738273

Rear driver side
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=205655&d=1729738233

Rear to front, driver side
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=205656&d=1729738233

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=205657&d=1729738273

Up behind the F-panel on driver's side
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=205663&d=1729738311

Then back along the 3/4 tube together with the front brake lines into the footbox
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=205664&d=1729738311

[TXeverydayDad]

The front brake lines are routed as most others. Since I have the Breeze battery box, I routed the line in front of the X-brace. I’ve seen some posts about exhaust header hangers, which would be mounted where the front brake line runs along the ¾ tube. If I decide to put the hangers in, I’ll figure out a way to mount them then. Still need to rivet the clamps in place, but want to bleed the brakes and ensure no leaks/cracked lines etc first.

Passenger front
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=205658&d=1729738273

Across X-brace
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=205659&d=1729738273

Around and connect into the driver side T, then back to the footbox.
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=205664&d=1729738311

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=205665&d=1729738311

And connect to the master cylinders
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=205666&d=1729738311

[TXeverydayDad]

This weekend we mounted the reservoirs, with the intention of using a single reservoir for both m/c as described in the manual. I’ve since managed to get a hold of extra reservoirs and will probably add another so I have separate reservoirs for each m/c. With the balance bar brake set-up, it will not make any difference in redundancy/safety (as has been discussed in many different threads on the forum) but it actually comes down to aesthetics for me. I think having 3 reservoirs looks better than having only 2, especially at the spacing the provided bracket has. I’ll just need to make a new bracket and offset the brackets and it should look better.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=205667&d=1729738342

I used the supplied plastic bulkhead fitting for going into the footbox. I tried drilling holes for the lines in the small cover plate for the clutch opening but couldn't get grommets on with enough material left to have a secure pass-through. Hopefully these plastic pieces will hold up.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=205668&d=1729738342

The lines had not been tightened down when the picture was taken.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=205669&d=1729738342

I then attempted to bleed the brakes with a power bleeder. Pro tip…tighten all your fittings before trying to bleed the system. Ask me how I know...After that, it didn't take long to get a solid pedal. Fluid quickly got to all corners, and I bled each corner a few times. Feels good. I then pushed as hard as I could on the pedal for 1 minute to check for any strange pedal movements or leaks and then repeated the test 24hours later. Pedal is good and I’m satisfied with the outcome. This milestone also made it possible to torque the rear axle nuts. I believe it was 98ft-lb + 45* turn. Ended up being a little more than 400ft-lbs, according to my torque wrench. I put witness marks on the axle/nuts so any movement should be easy to see.

It seems that the Moroso oil pick-up is now available for the Gen 4X Coyote, so I'm expecting my engine, control pack, transmission, clutch m/c and TOB to be shipped in the next week or two. Exciting progress! Still need to figure out a solution to the gen 3 Coyote headers that I have, but there's plenty more to do before that becomes an issue.

[TXeverydayDad]

It’s been a long time since the last post. Lots of things going on in the background and we’re making steady progress.

We managed to get a hold of some extra reservoirs from another member and decided to modify our brake set-up to have individual reservoirs for each master cylinder. Trying to keep the total distance from the firewall to the furthest reservoir to less than 12” meant a new bracket was needed. We staggered the clamps to get equal spacing and I’m happy with the end result. I added a third bulkhead fitting and re-routed the lines, trying to not make a mess with the brake fluid. Worked out pretty well and the brakes are now re-bled and ready to go. I’m still missing my clutch m/c, which will be delivered with my engine package, so I hope to get that delivered soon.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=207233&d=1733592124

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=207238&d=1733592321

Next to tackle was the fuel tank. I’m waiting on the hanger and pump so can’t finish anything, but we test-mounted the tank. Straightened the bent seams and then massaged the ¾” vertical tubes with a dead blow hammer to get enough clearance for the tank to fit flush. The straps connect up and I’m happy with the fitment. The tank is now removed until the parts show up.

We finished up some other pending tasks as well. Added the drive shaft adapter to the IRS, test-mounted the radiator, attached the fan and Breeze shroud.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=207237&d=1733592321

I’m starting to think about the chassis wiring and dashboard layout and desired functionality. We haven’t made any final decisions yet so I’m gleaning the forum for ideas. The main plan is a competition layout with some/all of the below:


Vintage gauges and switches
IE427 turn signal
Seat heaters switches
Wiper switch
Undecided on key or start button (or both)
Undecided on Master disconnect (under the dash – into engine bay)
Potential extra toggle on clutch switch (as security measure)
12V and USB outlets under the dash
Maybe a magnetic phone holder (magnet behind dash)?


Lots of questions and not many answers yet. I’m very much in the camp of keeping it simple, but having a few steps for extra safety could be good. I’ll let the process take a little time and we’ll see where we land.

[PNWTim]

Looks like you are doing good work. I wanted to comment on your last bullet regarding the magnetic phone holder. I have been musing on this as well but looking to integrate a charger. Thinking about installing in the transmission tunnel (totally unclear as to how) but it would be nice to eliminate cords and have holding/charging capability bundled into one. Maybe something like this depending on the thickness of upholstery:

https://www.amazon.com/LISEN-Magsafe-Charging-Wireless-Dashboard/dp/B0CCRZ7TS8?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&smid=A3ISN3IGK0NJQ9&th=1

Eliminate the actual holder and figure out a way to mount directly to sheet metal for a super low profile?

[TXeverydayDad]

Thanks! That’s an interesting idea. I’ve been considering a similar approach with magnetic cupholders as well. Will require some more thinking.

[TXeverydayDad]

I spent several hours with the carbon dash, trying to mount the glove box. It seems that the factory drilled holes for mounting the hinges are off by about ¼”.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=207235&d=1733592124

On top of that, one hinge bracket was not bent well and was about ¼” longer/higher than the other. I made new holes in the plastic glove box bucket to match the holes in the carbon fiber dash and then re-worked the hinges to match. Once the hinges were in, the slots in the aluminum backing turned out to be too short and had to be elongated as well.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=207239&d=1733592321

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=207240&d=1733592321

I painted the parts, glued it all together and installed the lock and hinges. Nothing difficult, but more work than expected to just assemble the glovebox. I’ve informed F5, so they are aware of the hole mis-alignments etc as I heard someone else have a similar problem, incase it’s a batch issue, and not just a one-off.

We then clamped the dash into place and mocked it up for the first time. This is just a quick layout by hand to get an idea of where the gauges and switches could intuitively go for us. With this basic layout, I’ll start measuring and aligning everything.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=207241&d=1733592321

I’ve just received my i.e.427 turn signal unit as well as some Black Friday deals (wwk-2 universal wiper kit, UPR expansion tank and lizard skin). I’ll be changing out the stalk on the turn signal and then figure out what functions I want on the stalk vs on the dash. I’m finding this creative layout part of the process surprisingly hard. The fact that I have a blank dash, with unlimited options for switches/dials/controls and the ability to add any functionality I want is almost leading to decision fatigue. I’m trying to keep it simple, but then I have (or see on this forum) good ideas that could be added. I’ll just allow it to take some time.

[TXeverydayDad]

It’s been a while since the last update as we have enjoyed Christmas and New Years with family, while making steady progress on the build.

We changed out the turn signal stalk according to Frank’s video and it turned out great. Feels and looks much better than the standard VW plastic stalk and I’m happy with it. The stalk horn switch will be changed to the high-beams, through a relay, to get a flash-to-pass function, in order to keep the main controls as similar to a daily driver as possible.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=209465&d=1737593398

I loosely mounted the steering wheel to continue trying out the dash layout. Minor changes here and there, and I think I’m happy with it now. Just need to measure and confirm placements and distances between switches etc, so they all fit behind the dash. The headlight switch is especially large, so I had to increase the distance between the headlight and wiper switches. Glad I caught it now before I started drilling the carbon fiber dash. We also installed a grab bar, a basic 12” chrome bar from Summit (Eddie Marine). It fits well. Now I just need to fabricate a bracket to hold it. Some good ideas on the forum, just need to decide what direction I want to go in and if I want to do some welding. It’s been 18 years since my last weld…

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=209466&d=1737593398

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=209467&d=1737593398

Next up was the radiator, which was easy to mount. We have the Breeze lower mount, but used the original upper mounts, with the addition of some rubber/vibration absorbent spacers (ie. simply a cut fuel hose). I’ve seen some concerns with tank leaks probably derived from the radiator being too tightly fastened to the frame. Hopefully the rubber isolators will take up some of the twisting momentum but that theory remains to be seen. As seen in the picture, I had originally mounted it with 2 bolts on each top mount in an effort to spread the load a bit more, but that probably counteracts the function of the rubber isolators, so I will only use 1 bolt for final assembly.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=209464&d=1737593398

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=209463&d=1737593398

Wiring continues to be on my mind. I’ll be adding a reverse light, 3rd brake lights, trunk light, seat heaters, wipers, separate ignition and fuel pump covered toggle switches and a start button. I’ll wire the start button in parallel with the regular key so it should work either way. It’ll add a few extra potential failure points, but the kids really wanted a start button, so that’s what we’ll do.

I then got a call from Mike Forte...exciting times ahead!

[TXeverydayDad]

Look what showed up! My Coyote 4x, TKX, Centerforce clutch, Quicktime bellhousing, Moroso oil pan, Tilton HRB and 13/16 master cylinder, Holley Sniper hanger and 340lph fuel pump all neatly packaged in a large crate! With the help of a friend, the kids and the engine lift, we unloaded the engine from the truck and unboxed everything.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=209993&d=1738542641

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=209994&d=1738542641

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=209995&d=1738542641

It went faster than expected so we couldn’t just leave it on the stand on the floor. The motor mounts went on and we just dropped it in. It’s a tight fit for sure, but it went in pretty easy (without transmission, headers, alternator etc), even with the radiator mounted. I’ll remove the radiator for future engine installs to prevent any unnecessary accidents.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=209996&d=1738542641

I took some measurements and photos, laid out the wire harness and got a rough estimate of where I wanted to mount the fusebox and computer. As well documented, there’s lots of space behind the motor.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=209997&d=1738542641

We then pulled the engine out again and called it a night. I’ve since spent time just getting to know the motor, the wiring and parts that came with the control pack, figuring out a plan of attack for mounting everything together. This will also be the first time I assemble a motor/transmission, so thinking through and learning with each step as I go.

[TXeverydayDad]

A short update. I got the 13/16 master cylinder as part of my engine delivery, so decided it would be good to complete the pedal box before tackling the engine. The Coyote DBW accelerator is very big! I followed the instructions to shorten the pedal, turn the pedal face 180 degrees and remove/reshape the existing mounting points. I had to sand off more than I expected in order to get it to fit with the F5 mount. It a snug fit, but feels solid when mounted and matches the other pedals pretty good. The pictures are from early in the process and I had to take off significantly more than what is seen here, and it required some shaping to get it to clear the steering column.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=210003&d=1738545007

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=210004&d=1738545007

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=210005&d=1738545007

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=210006&d=1738545007

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=210007&d=1738545007

Then I buttoned up the clutch, cut off 5/8” of the m/c rod, mounted it and coyote clutch switch. Seems to be good and I will make final adjustments when I get the transmission installed and the clutch bled.

[TXeverydayDad]

We started preparing the fuel tank for installation. The Coyote 4x requires fuel at 175l/hr at 65psi, so we went with a Holley 345l/hr pump and hanger from Forte. Probably overkill but recommended by Mike so I’m comfortable with that. The hanger/pump went in easily and fits well.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=210708&d=1740280633

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=210709&d=1740280633

The bent tank edges were straightened, the carrying straps bolt loop widened to fit the bolts, the tank supports bent/straightened and the tank was mounted. I changed out the filler neck grommet to a Ford OEM grommet (F4ZZ-9072-DA) as recommended and installed the filler neck. I also did the mandatory Kleiner mod.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=210710&d=1740280633

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=210711&d=1740280633

We installed the fuel filter and then moved on to fuel line connectors and installed the regulator. I made a new bracket for the regulator, attached it to the underside of the 4x4 tube and spaced it out with room for the wiring harness to run behind it. I decided to go with Dorman nylon lines (800-075), quick disconnect fittings (800-082) and compression fittings on the hardlines (800-035). It’s good enough for OEMs so it’ll be good enough for me.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=210712&d=1740280633

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=210714&d=1740280670

[TXeverydayDad]

I measured out the lines, clamped them down using the flare tube holder in a vice, and pressed the fitting into the line with a caulking gun. I then gently shaped the lines as required, heating them using steam from a kettle. I’m happy with the outcome and it feels very solid. I’ll test the fuel system before dropping the engine in, to check for leaks and line integrity.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=210713&d=1740280670

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=210715&d=1740280670

We finally made our own fuel tank breather, using an extra brake reservoir. Drilled the lid, and used an aquarium charcoal filter ($6 for a pack of 3) from a local pet store as the medium. It comes ready in a pouch, so just stuff it in and you’re good to go. The pouches we bought were a little too big so had to open and pour out some charcoal, but zip tied it back together and all is well. We’ll mount it once we get the trunk aluminum installed.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=210716&d=1740280670

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=210717&d=1740280670

[TXeverydayDad]

We finally started dressing the engine, but ran into some issues with the KRC power steering. The kit delivered from F5 were missing some hardware and the Gen 4x is also slightly different from previous versions. One of the spacers also needed to be shortened to 5/8”. KRC were quick to support with new hardware to get it properly installed.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=210953&d=1740712322

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=210952&d=1740712322

I also ran into an interesting issue when mounting the pulley – the pulley would wobble, moving about 0.025” side to side when spinning. Very strange for a machined piece of aluminum. Turns out that even with the centering ring, I still managed to get all the tolerances stacked up in one direction, which led to the wobble. With some wiggling, the pulley now rotates with a 0.008” difference from center, which should be acceptable. One hole is also elongated to handle 4 bolt patterns instead of 3. Don’t start with that hole, when mounting the pulley.

With the pulley in place, we got the alternator, pump/reservoir and belts installed. KRC confirmed that it’s ok if the reservoir ‘leans’ a little to the left (towards the line port), as long as the reservoir is fully topped up, ie the fluid level a finger tip below the cap.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=210954&d=1740712322

Next we changed out the oil pan. The crate engine came filled with oil so we drained that in clean containers. It is perfectly clean oil so we’ll re-use that oil. I also have break-in oil so I’ll probably use that for the first few miles. The stock pan came off easily. The pick-up was attached with 2 screws, with an o-ring to seal, instead of the push-in seal mentioned in the manual. The cap bolt on the engine is the same size as the parts provided by Moroso so I just attached the new pick-up and confirmed that the pick-up is within the tolerance distance (1/8”- 3/16”) to the bottom of the pan. The OEM sealant held the original gasket in place after the pan was removed so I just mounted the Moroso pan with the existing gasket. I torqued the accessible bolts and tightened the others to a similar ‘feel’. The torque turned out to be pretty much as tight as I could pull with a small 10mm wrench. The question is whether to fill the engine with oil now or wait until it’s installed.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=210950&d=1740712322

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=210956&d=1740712357

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=210955&d=1740712357

[TXeverydayDad]

This will be a bit of a summary post of the past several weeks/months of wiring work, thinking, planning and executing.

I’ve dropped the engine in twice to measure and try different routing options and have decided on a path forward. I don’t have everything figured out completely yet, like the O2 sensors, but will find good path for them when I have the headers in. I’m still waiting on a solution for the new header pattern for the Gen 4x Coyote.

My goal was to make the wiring as clean as possible while maintaining simplicity, both for install and troubleshooting. I also wanted to minimize the number of fire wall run-throughs. I started with installing a master disconnect switch (RF MS-1) and then ran the main Ford harness through the center of the firewall. The Ford fusebox is mounted engine side, next to the opening on the driver’s side, tapped into the 4x4 tube, with the harness running behind the fuel regulator on the opposite side to the Ford PCM. The PCM is mounted on the passenger side, just infront of the passenger footbox.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=211327&d=1741616091

The battery power cable runs straight to the disconnect switch. I broke into the Ford harness, cut and sealed the CAN bus wires and pulled the orange fan wire and blue start wire all the way back to the master disconnect/Coyote ground wire and ran them all together with the starter power wire (from the switched side) going forward on the passenger side of the engine bay.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=211329&d=1741616091

The blue start wire and starter power cable terminate just before the engine mount while the ground wire continues to the main battery negative terminal and common ground connection. The fan wire continues all the way to the fan directly on the passenger side. Exact routing to be decided. I added split loom and wrapped it in non-adhesive harness tape, which was surprisingly pleasant to work with.

Moving on to the RF harness, I completely removed the alternator wire from the RF harness, and ran it directly through a 100A fuse to the alternator from the switched side of the master disconnect. The 100A fuse might be too small for the alternator, but I’ll give it a try and see how it goes. Easy to swap out if it pops. I re-used the braided shield from the Coyote start wire for the alternator wire. I also pulled the switched +12V through the driver top footbox, at the same place as the clutch hydraulic line, to a future power block inside the firewall and will connect all the power for the RF harness there.

From the non-switched (HAAT) side of the master disconnect, I crimped short 4awg cables to the Coyote fusebox, through the provided 250A fuse, according to the Ford instructions.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=211328&d=1741616091

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=211330&d=1741616091

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=211331&d=1741616091

[TXeverydayDad]

For the rear harness, I cut a hole in the firewall between the driver foot box and the fuse box. I’ve seen others go into the cockpit just below the 4x4 but I was concerned that it would affect leg/knee space so chose to go through the firewall instead. I’ll add a few more wires into the rear harness for a reverse light (from ign), trunk light (from batt) and 3rd brake lights. My plan is to integrate the sending unit harness through the same firewall opening as the rear harness as well as it would align very well with the engine that way. Remains to be seen.

I routed the rear harness along the top driver side of the transmission tunnel, and up along the bottom of the trunk.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=211336&d=1741617798

I’m planning on integrating the reverse lights and 3rd brake lights into the roll bars, so I split the harness into 3 legs; left, right and continuing straight towards the rear. I planned to re-route the license plate light wires together with the right leg but the existing wire junction in the RF harness from the tail-lights leg to the license plate was further down the harness. I didn’t want to redo the RF split so just pulled it as far ‘up’ as possible and routed it separately to the passenger rollbar. I’ll pull the wires through the trunk floor just behind the roll-bar leg.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=211332&d=1741616146

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=211334&d=1741616146

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=211335&d=1741616146

I also shortened the fuel sender and fuel pump legs some, but kept them long enough to be able to leave them connected and still drop the tank all the way to the ground. The Holley pump didn’t have a connector so I used shrink-wrapped spade connectors. I then wrapped the entire rear harness in non-adhesive tape, added clamps as needed and consider the rear harness done.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=211333&d=1741616146

A question: Has anyone had issues with the rear harness vibrating against the fuel tank?

[chipo100@gmail.com]

Looking good! following

[Blitzboy54]

A question: Has anyone had issues with the rear harness vibrating against the fuel tank?

No, mine lays on the tank and never had an issue. I secured things generally with zip ties but I have never heard of this being a problem.

[Nigel Allen]

Most of these cars do not do high enough mileage to result in rub-throughs on poorly secured wiring, but why find out? Secure the wiring to a smooth surface so that it can't move around or vibrate. If there is nothing close by to fasten the loom to, create a 'tie rail' or similar, to cable tie the loom to.

Cut a piece of 10mm aluminium tube to length.
Squash each end flat, and drill a hole in the flattened ends. Secure to chassis with fasteners in the recently drilled holes. A quick and easy way to fashion a tie rail.


HTH,

Nige.

[TXeverydayDad]

Most of these cars do not do high enough mileage to result in rub-throughs on poorly secured wiring, but why find out? Secure the wiring to a smooth surface so that it can't move around or vibrate. If there is nothing close by to fasten the loom to, create a 'tie rail' or similar, to cable tie the loom to.

Cut a piece of 10mm aluminium tube to length.
Squash each end flat, and drill a hole in the flattened ends. Secure to chassis with fasteners in the recently drilled holes. A quick and easy way to fashion a tie rail.


HTH,

Nige.

Thanks Nige! I came to the same conclusion and have secured the loom now.

/Sam

[TXeverydayDad]

Before permanently attaching the aluminum panels, I wanted to test the fuel system for leaks. I capped the fuel regulator, filled the fuel tank with 5 gals of ethanol-free 93 octane (Thank you Buc-ees) and attached a power supply to the pump. I re-checked all the fittings, had a fire extinguisher and fire blanket readily at hand, and turned on the pump. Within a few seconds I hear fuel spraying out in the engine bay. Turns out that the only equipment I hadn’t assembled and checked myself were the screws holding the top of the Aeromotive regulator to the base. One screw was not sufficiently tightened to properly compress the gasket, causing the leak. I’m really glad I decided to test the fuel system before I had the engine installed, as it would have been an even bigger mess. I checked and tightened all the screws and re-tested the system, gradually building pressure up to the regulator max. No leaks! A good reminder – always check everything!

I also drilled the roll bar base mounts, as it feels like access will be limited once the aluminum is installed. I stepped up the drill diameter in 3 steps to get to the correct size. It was surprisingly easy to drill, but after 4 holes, the drill bits had taken quite a beating. A drill doctor to the rescue. I had read about the drill doctor on this site, but thought I’d be fine without it. In hindsight, I should have purchased one earlier in the process as it would have saved me some grief and time. It’s a joy to drill with newly sharpened bits.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=211668&d=1742429605

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=211667&d=1742429605

I then spent the better part of a day mounting all the panels together. It was a good time with all the kids helping out. We followed the order in the manual, starting with the footboxes, cockpit floor and sides and then moved back to our fabricated drop-trunk, and started working our way forward, finishing off with the rear cockpit wall. Since the panels are powder coated, we had to clean out/re-drill most holes to make the rivets fit, but the panels went together quite well. I made sure to cover every hole in the frame with silicone and cleaned up any little excess that got squeezed out.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=211666&d=1742429605

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=211669&d=1742429605

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https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=211672&d=1742429637

I’m glad I had a pneumatic riveter, because it would have been painful trying to pull each of those rivets by hand. Maybe we went a little overboard, but it ended up being almost 1000 rivets. But many hands made light (or at least fun) work. There was one rivet that couldn’t be pulled because it was blocked by the coyote accelerator pedal mount, so we just siliconed the rivet head in place to make it look uniform. Happy with how it turned out. It's now starting to look like an actual car!

[Mike.Bray]

I’m glad I had a pneumatic riveter, because it would have been painful trying to pull each of those rivets by hand.

I hear you on that. I used an automatic riveter and it sure saved my forearms:D

https://www.imagecoast.com/images/MichaelBray1/20220811163636mediumrotated.jpg

[TXeverydayDad]

I hear you on that. I used an automatic riveter and it sure saved my forearms:D

https://www.imagecoast.com/images/MichaelBray1/20220811163636mediumrotated.jpg

That’s true love right there!

[Mike.Bray]

That’s true love right there!

I like to think but she's a big gearhead and loves it the same as I do.

[gbranham]

I tested my fuel system with air to avoid the issue you had. Fragola makes a nice test kit for 6AN systems, and you just pressurize with an air compressor.

[TXeverydayDad]

I tested my fuel system with air to avoid the issue you had. Fragola makes a nice test kit for 6AN systems, and you just pressurize with an air compressor.

In hindsight that would probably have been a better approach. Although I was confident in my lines and fittings, had I just checked the regulator as well, it would have been good. Overall, I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the Dorman quick connect solution. Not as pretty as braided lines, but they don’t look out of place with the Coyote

[TXeverydayDad]

Next steps was to prepare for spraying Lizardskin. This is the only part of the build where I have a dead-line since I purchased the Lizardskin during the black Friday sale, and received product that has an expiration date in June. Shouldn’t be an issue, but want to get it done sooner rather than later. The weather is at least back to mid-70s to 80s here so within their temperature band.

With the panels mounted, the to-do list is simple: seal, mask, scuff and clean, before spraying. Simple enough, but time-consuming work. I used Dynatron Seam Sealer to seal all gaps. I used tape on the outside to create a barrier to squeeze the sealer against and it generally worked ok. Since my powder coated panels have texture (black wrinkle), any sealer that got where it didn’t belong didn’t clean up as nicely as I would have hoped, but it’s good enough.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=211785&d=1742769932

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=211784&d=1742769932

Nothing exciting about masking and scuffing. I used regular masking tape and some paper/plastic to cover most, and finally some aluminum foil for the more difficult shapes. I scuffed with 120 grit sandpaper, which went quite quick. I was wondering whether I would need to scuff given the texture in my power coat, and have tried to contact LizardSkin support to ask them, but they have been unavailable for the past 10 days. I’ve called, left messages, but haven’t gotten ahold of them. Surprising, since many have said their support is great. Don’t know what’s going on there. So I scuffed everything anyway. Then used air to remove any debris, and a final pass with a microfiber cloth with denatured alcohol to degrease. Since I will have the seat heater switches in the dash, I glued the wires running from the seat up to the 4x4.

My plan was to spray the lizardskin outside of the garage so that meant I had to order tires to be able to roll the car out. I decided to go with Falken Azenis RT615k+. 315/30r18 rear and 265/35r18 front. Ordered, mounted and now in my garage. They look great!

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=211783&d=1742769932

The actual lizardskin application was quick and satisfying and it feels good that it’s done. This is also a bit of a milestone, having the car on the ground under its own weight, rolling for the first time!

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=211787&d=1742769932

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[TXeverydayDad]

Haven't updated the build thread for a while but wanted to share a quick snapshot of our progress - 1 year since delivery!

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=212621&d=1744587713

[TXeverydayDad]

It’s been a while since my last update but we’ve had too much fun building to spend time in front of a computer. We’ve made good progress with several small projects being finished off, so I will add a few separate updates to catch-up.

We wanted heated seats, so I ordered the WarmSeats from Mike Forte. He only had the water-proof versions so that’s what I went with. It was surprisingly easy to install the heating pads in the seats. Took less than 30minutes per seat, including testing. For the seat back, I simply disconnected the plastic channel locks, slid the pad all the way in and closed it up again. With the seat cushion, I had to tear the covering of the cushion where it was glued, install the pad, and then glue the seat cover back in place. If there was a lack of glue used by F5 previously, that is not the case any more, but it wasn’t difficult to get the seat cover off. I then used 3M 77 adhesive spray to re-attach. The seats have been tested and they get hot. I’ll also need to figure out the best way to route the wires, depending on how I mount the seats, if I use spacers etc, but that will be tackled later. I’ve been considering different approaches, since I’m 6’2” and my wife 5’6”. She’ll probably not want to drive it very often, but when she does, I want to make sure she’s in comfortable reach of all controls, to make the experience as pleasant and safe as possible.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=212910&d=1745280643

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=212907&d=1745280643

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=212911&d=1745280643

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=212913&d=1745281019

I was considering engine grounds and wanted to heed the advice of having at least two engine to ground connections. I tapped the 3/8-16 hole in the engine mount for the engine strap and then I drilled and tapped a second 3/8-16 hole in the engine mount for a ground cable going to a starter bolt. That will enable me to use parts/cables that I already have. I also added a direct jumper from the engine ground strap back to the ‘main’ ground bolt/stud with the battery negative, to ensure a strong route back to the battery. Overkill, but why not? This stud has connections to the battery, Coyote PCM, fan and now engine block as well.

We then installed the fuel breather tube holder. I used an extra brake reservoir and holder I had on hand and it worked out well. I’m not sure exactly how hard/easy it’ll be to access this when the body is on, but it should be ok. I’ve angled it in such a way to simplify changing out the carbon pack when/if needed. One bolt is tapped into the 3/4” tube and the other if held with a nut.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=212909&d=1745280643

Finally, we also installed the wiper base to the firewall. We used small rubber spacers and ran the bolts from the firewall side, which should make installation/maintenance easier when we get to that. This is the Specialty Power Windows - WWK2 standard wiper kit.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=212908&d=1745280643

[Blitzboy54]

This all looks really nice. The dash pulls it together

[TXeverydayDad]

This was a major milestone and one that I was a little hesitant about! Cutting the carbon fiber dash-board. But once I got started, it went pretty well and I’m happy with the outcome. As mentioned by many others – wear a mask/respirator, gloves and long sleeves, to avoid CF dust. I found that when drilling, I got better results with high speed and low pressure. Taking the time to step up in drill size minimized fiber tearing and using a reamer bit was extremely effective. For the larger circle cuts, again, high-speed worked well and I cut about 1/2” smaller and opened the hole up with a drill-mounted sanding drum.

I spent a lot of time measuring and making sure everything was straight, in-line and would fit together, both in-front and behind the dash. I also test-mounted my switches in some cardboard to make sure my design would actually work in real life, ie that I could comfortable operate the switch as intended.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=212989&d=1745515467

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=212985&d=1745515226

I then mounted all the gauges, switches and LEDs and I’m happy with the outcome. I’m switching out some knobs etc so it’s not fully complete in the pictures, but it’s 95% there.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=212986&d=1745515226

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[Mike.Bray]

IMO the oil pressure gauge is in a bad spot. When driving it's difficult to see a gauge there because of the steering wheel and oil pressure is one gauge you want to be able to see. I would swap it for a less critical gauge like the clock.

[TXeverydayDad]

IMO the oil pressure gauge is in a bad spot. When driving it's difficult to see a gauge there because of the steering wheel and oil pressure is one gauge you want to be able to see. I would swap it for a less critical gauge like the clock.

Thanks Mike! I appreciate the feedback.

[danmas]

The dash looks sweet! Well done…

[TXeverydayDad]

The dash looks sweet! Well done…

Thanks! I’m happy with how it turned out. The kids wanted a start button and I was worried the ‘tractor’ start button would be too out of place but it actually works. The covered switches were a gamble as well, but turned out well. Now I just have to wire it all… Found a mistake in the RF main harness as well, so need that sorted out before continuing.

[TXeverydayDad]

The time has come to assemble the engine. We started by cutting down the engine pallet to be able to fit between the legs of the engine lift and rested the engine on the oil pan, as described in the manual. I added some support under the front of the oil pan for stability and will have the engine connected to the hoist the entire time. You can never be too safe.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=213338&d=1746315658

First up was measuring the bellhousing run-out. I initially only attached it with a few bolts, which wasn’t enough because I couldn’t get repeatable results. Once the bellhousing was properly bolted down, the run-out was repeatable and within spec.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=213339&d=1746315658

I also noticed that the RM-6081 bellhousing was about 1.25” lower than the oil pan. I had a friend with access to a large bandsaw and he made the cuts for me, which I touched it up with some rattle-can paint.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=213329&d=1746315567

With the back-plate, roller-bearing, tone-ring and flywheel with new bolts mounted we installed the clutch and pressure plate. No drama. I had put the dowel pins in the freezer for a few hours before installing them. Not sure it made much difference.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=213330&d=1746315567

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[TXeverydayDad]

We confirmed all torque values and then mounted the bellhousing.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=213334&d=1746315612

We’ll be using a hydraulic release bearing for the clutch (Tilton 60-6102) so we made the necessary measurements and mounted it on the transmission. The threads on the HRB sleeve were really sharp so it drew some blood while I was making final adjustments, so just a good reminder to wear gloves.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=213335&d=1746315612

The TKX transmission was strapped to a small dolly, which was the perfect height to just slide the transmission straight in. I was almost surprised how easily it all went together. We torqued the transmission to the bellhousing, and again checked the gap between the HRB face and clutch plate fingers.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=213336&d=1746315612

We connected the drive shaft, turned the engine over manually and everything spins as expected in gear and neutral. It’s a good feeling!

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=213337&d=1746315612

[TXeverydayDad]

Continuing with engine preparation, we installed the water and oil sensors, using thread sealant instead of tape. Lots of connections/junctions and I don’t want them leaking. I checked that the wiring didn't interfere with the motor mounts. Given my experience with my fuel regulator not having all screws tight from the manufacturer, we went over all the oil pan plugs and sealed them as well. We then installed the starter motor and motor mounts with ground straps.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=213474&d=1746573373

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Since I will be using a GPS speedo, I had read that for some transmissions, a cover was needed over the mechanical speed signal port. The TKX has what seems to be a plastic plug in the port when delivered. I wasn’t sure if anything else was needed so I called Tremec. They answered the phone immediately and I had my answer in less than 1 minute. Not what I had expected, but I’m impressed. The answer was that nothing else is required for the TKX. The installed plug is enough.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=213467&d=1746573316

I removed the powder coating where the ground straps will attach and removed the radiator for easier access. The car is on wheel dollies as well. The only thing missing before dropping the engine in was the headers, as I wanted to attach them before dropping the engine all the way down. Don’t know how much difference it will make, but that’s the plan at least.

And luckily, the new Gen 4X Coyote headers just came in from F5. I had ordered my kit with the Coyote headers just as the switch between the Gen 3 and Gen 4X happened, so F5 were very supportive in exchanging the Gen 3 headers that didn’t fit due to the changed bolt pattern. With their new flange design, the headers will now fit all Coyotes. A seemingly good solution. We test mounted them and all is good. I removed all but 2 header studs on both sides, with the thinking it will be easier to hang and align the headers and gaskets on the studs.

I then cleaned up the garage a bit and I think we’re good to drop the engine in…

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=213466&d=1746573316

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[gbranham]

Looking good! Drop that sucker in there!

Greg

[Blitzboy54]

Just staring each other down.

I noticed this with my build but the transmission to engine size is almost comically out of balance on a coyote. I realize it's all top end bulk but the proportions are funny to me.

Car looks great by the way. Very clean build so far.

[TXeverydayDad]

Haha, yeah, the transmission looks really small. Although the Coyote is also ridiculously large.

[M22_COBRA]

Maybe I'm missing the focal point of the tkx photo but isn't this the plug they refer to in the instructions, not that nylon filled hole next to the bolt?
213501

[Presdough]

Peel and stick wire clips from Amazon...

[Presdough]

Peel and stick wire clips from Amazon...

[TXeverydayDad]

Maybe I'm missing the focal point of the tkx photo but isn't this the plug they refer to in the instructions, not that nylon filled hole next to the bolt?
213501

Interesting. I’m not sure. My instructions look like below. Either way, there’s a plug there so no further actions needed but your picture makes more sense.

213503

[gbranham]

FWIW, I installed my TKX as delivered, and haven't had any leaks or drips. I connected nothing to my tranny.

Greg

[TXeverydayDad]

FWIW, I installed my TKX as delivered, and haven't had any leaks or drips. I connected nothing to my tranny.

Greg

Thanks Greg! I’ll only be connecting the reverse lights connector. What did you do with the other connectors? Did you cut them off or ziptie them to the trans? Or just leave them loose?

[gbranham]

Thanks Greg! I’ll only be connecting the reverse lights connector. What did you do with the other connectors? Did you cut them off or ziptie them to the trans? Or just leave them loose?

If memory serves, there was only one pigtail connection as-shipped, toward the rear of the tranny on the passenger side. I ziptied it to something, out of the way.

[TXeverydayDad]

The time has finally come to drop in the engine and transmission! I had help from my son, brother, dad, and a good friend and the engine pretty much just dropped straight in! It took about 10 minutes, using a combination of recommendations from this site, with a strap to get the transmission tail down, the engine was in! It’s a tight fit, but looks to be right at home once it’s in. We had removed the shifter from the transmission and the steering shaft from the car, but the engine was fully dressed. It was also a relief that the TDMotion lift brackets could be removed without any difficulty once the engine was in. No interference with headers or footboxes etc.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=213807&d=1747359187

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https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=213802&d=1747359154

The headers took a little over an hour to get mounted. My plan of mounting them before seating the engine changed as we didn’t want to be under a suspended engine, and the difference in access wasn’t significant. The passenger side header, as expected, was not very difficult, although one bolt needed to be turned a quarter turn at a time. It would have been good to have some racheting box wrenches for this, but good ol’ wrenches still work. The 2 studs did make it easier to align and mount the gasket and header here.

On the driver side, the studs, which had not been cut down, made it impossible to seat the header. Couldn’t get the header in at all. So we removed all the studs and just used bolts. The Gen 4x Coyote bolt pattern on the driver’s side makes especially 1 bolt really annoying, both to get started and to tighten. It's practically right over one of the tubes (the rearward bolt in the photo). It was a strange angle to get to and the tubes made it very difficult to turn your hand when holding the screw. We also used Permatex Ultra Copper 81878 for the bolts which added extra resistance when trying to spin it in. Anyway, that bolt took probably 15 minutes. But it’s in and tight now. The other bolts, although space constrained, were easier.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=213804&d=1747359154

Once everything was in, we attached the driveshaft and mounted the shifter. The motion and position feels good! I hadn’t noticed before that the IRS has a slight positive pinion, whereas the transmission is negative. A couple of shims should get them more parallel, and the drive shaft angle should still be ok but that remains to be confirmed. I have about 1” of yoke showing which is in line with expectations.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=213803&d=1747359154

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=213806&d=1747359154

Overall, a very successful day! The Coyote looks really good in there!

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=213805&d=1747359154

[Blitzboy54]

Literally nobody drops a Coyote in a roadster in 10 minutes.

TX dad - "hold my beer"


Nice work, this where the build gets really fun IMO.

[TXeverydayDad]

Literally nobody drops a Coyote in a roadster in 10 minutes.

TX dad - "hold my beer"


Nice work, this where the build gets really fun IMO.

Haha, it’s only due to all the great tips and tricks on this forum. I just listen to wise people and learn from them. Together with my friend who has dropped in a few engines in his life, it just worked.

If this is where the build gets fun, then I’m in for a blast. It’s been really fun up until this point! But it does feel significantly more real now, seeing the engine in.

[TXeverydayDad]

It’s been a long time since my last update. Life, vacation and other fun things that took priority. We took a road trip around New England after the kids finished the school year and had the opportunity to stop by factory five to do a factory tour. Couldn’t time it with the Open House, but we had a great time. My eldest son now has his own plans to build a 65 coupe… It was also a good opportunity for me to really look at the other builds that were on display.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=215427&d=1750695757

Once we were back home, the first order of business was to check the pinion angle. Lots of discussion around that on the forum, with some claiming it’s extremely important, others that it’s not worth the worry. In the end, my pinion angle is less than 2* and I’m happy with that. I have the 0.4” spacers from the kit already installed and I added another 3/4” spacer under the transmission mount, which is pretty much as high as the transmission will go in the tunnel. Seems to be in the ball park of what others with a Coyote and TKX have added.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=215428&d=1750695757

I found that using a digital angle finder app on my phone worked better than a magnetic digital level, since the magnetic digital level only showed 0-90* with an arrow up or down and since my measurements were all around 90*, it’s frustrating looking for that little arrow. The phone app measured 0-180*, which made it a lot easier. YMMV, but it worked well for me.

I then test fitted the Metco driveshaft hoop and will be adding the same 3/4” spacers to that as well, to get good clearance around the drive shaft. With the spacers fabricated, painted and installed, the drive train is complete, aligned and bolted down.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=215429&d=1750695757

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=215430&d=1750695757

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On to the plumbing…

[TXeverydayDad]

For the cooling system, I decided to deviate from the kit and go with the original Coyote set-up with an expansion tank. It just makes sense to the engineer in me. It does require a few extra parts which have been documented in many other threads and I used the UPR expansion tank and the Mishimoto Radiator overflow hoses (MMHOSE-MUS8-15ANC). The rest of the hoses were included in the kit and just needed slight modifications to fit well.

I test-fitted the hoses and determined a good location for the expansion tank was 4 inches from the passenger side frame. Based on input from others on the forum, I made the mount slightly lower than the cross bar and it should not have any clearance issues.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=216492&d=1752841590

Before mounting all the hoses, we installed the power steering lines, added fluid and did an initial burping by turning the wheel slowly back and forth a few times. We found that we got the best line route by having both 90* fittings on the pump side and then the straight fittings to the rack.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=216493&d=1752841590

With that done, the coolant hoses connected up easily. I slightly clocked the Coyote fitting on the upper radiator hose to clear the power steering pump and routed the lower radiator hose over the X-frame and under the power steering lines. It seems to fit well, clears everything essential and no need for any other junctions or extra connections. I replaced the top radiator bleed valve with a 90* elbow 3/8” barb x ¼”NPT fitting to connect the hose to the expansion tank, and added the remaining hoses to the system.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=216494&d=1752841590

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https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=216495&d=1752841590

Then it was back to the manual to complete the rest of the plumbing connections. I added the heater core bypass hose, plugged the vacuum ports on the intake manifold and just behind the throttle body and connected the 2 valve cover hoses as described there. As some might notice, the MAF sensor is clocked incorrectly in the picture.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=216496&d=1752841657

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=216497&d=1752841657

I also connected the vacuum line to the fuel regulator. There’s conflicting information as to whether it’s needed but that will be decided in discussion with the tuner at a later stage. It’s easy to remove.

This should wrap up the plumbing for the Coyote, apart from adding fluids.

[TXeverydayDad]

With the plumbing done, it’s time to move on to wiring. Fun! Or not, we’ll see. I figured we’d take it one step at a time, starting with the engine bay.

We started by connecting the wiring that was already laid out and ready. Making our way around counter clockwise on the low side of the engine, we connected the starter power, signal and ground, the engine ground and battery/chassis ground. Then the Coyote fan wire and ground and alternator power wire.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=216788&d=1753476671

Moving to the high side of the engine, we connected all the harnesses to the Coyote Computer, routed the sensor harness leg around the back of the engine and connected the MAF sensor, alternator and oil pressure gauge for the engine. We have the vintage gauges and ran the gauge wires for oil pressure and water temperature along the frame, next to the alternator power wire (hope I don’t get interference) back to the firewall and through the grommet for the rear harness, ready to connect to the dash.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=216791&d=1753476671

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https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=216793&d=1753476702

We dieted out the O2 sensor harness, removing the unnecessary wires and routed the harness across the front of the engine. That way the harness could reach the sensors without needing any extensions. The connectors are also forward of the headers, minimizing the concern about heat. I’m happy with how it turned out.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=216790&d=1753476671

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=216789&d=1753476671

The final engine bay wire to be added was the tachometer pulse wire, connected to one of the coils.

On to the main wiring!

[TXeverydayDad]

Wiring – what can I say. This is the part of the build that I have been most worried about, just because it has felt overwhelming. But then you just start wiring up one item, move on to the next and many hours later, you’re done! We mainly used the RF harness as provided, but dieted out some wires, and re-routed some.

The main changes are:



Coyote Fuel Pump – cut and joined the orange and tan fuel pump wires together to be controlled by the Coyote PDM (thick green wire from 6-pin connector)
Ignition protected toggle switch wired from the IGN on the ignition switch (keyed), going to the Coyote green pigtail
Fuel Pump protected toggle switch – in series with the inertia switch
Start button – Powered by the protected ignition toggle switch, going back to the start terminal on the ignition switch, connected to the Coyote SMR pigtail. The car can be started with either the key or the start button. (Ford confirmed that the wires are fused on the Coyote side, so no need to run through a RF fuse).
Heated seats – Powered by the RF Heater wire.
All Vintage gauges are powered by the Brown gauge feed wire, except the clock, which is powered by the Coyote HAAT A from the C8 PATS connector/module.
IE427 turn signal – stalk controls turn signals and High beams. Used the RF Fan relay to power the high-beams through the stalk (only flash-to-pass). Wired in parallel to the standard RF hi/lo-beam switch.
MIL light – used a relay (thanks Blitzboy54) to only illuminate when active, and not have a permanent 'glow'
Seat Heaters – used the RF Heater circuit.
Reverse lights – Brown Radio power from ACC to transmission switch to LEDs to ground.
3rd brake lights – left the purple brake wire intact and spliced the trailer controller behind the dash. Purple wire provides 3rd brake lights according to RF layout, while the trailer controller supplies brake signal to the rear rectangular lights.
Trunk light – 12V from BATT courtesy light, with a ball switch/tilt switch to ground in the trunk
EFI Coil circuit for both a USB and 12V outlet.


I tested each circuit for continuity with a voltmeter. Once I was satisfied, I connected a power supply to the main power bus/stud on the switched side of the master disconnect and did a complete system test. I could power almost everything, except for high-beams and horns. The only thing remaining to test is the fuel pump, which I will do as part of the first start process. I did have an issue with a faulty ignition switch, where the switch would not reliably make a connection to ACC. F5 was quick to support and the new switch is working.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=217256&d=1754422799

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I then went back and cleaned up the wiring, making sure everything was cut to length, labelled, zip-tied and wrapped to make it as neat as possible. I also calibrated/set-up the vintage gauges as required. I’ve spent many hours on wiring, but it’s now done, apart from the final headlights/taillights and courtesy lights. It took a lot of time, but ultimately not very difficult, as long as you follow your schematics/designs one circuit at a time.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=217261&d=1754422838

[TXeverydayDad]

With the wiring done, we started prepping for first start. I went over the coyote installation procedure again, added all engine, cooling and transmission fluids and did a final electrical check. Everything checked out, so I powered the fuel pump to fill the engine rail with fuel as well as set the fuel pressure to 65psi. It took a good 10-15 seconds to hear the rail fill up completely and for pressure to build. I’ll check the pressure again when the engine is running. With that done, I connected the battery and attached the side pipes…and then I was out of excuses.

The video tells the rest of the story!


https://youtu.be/MKmZ1vnk4qY

It’s a great feeling to hear it come alive for the first time!

I started the car several more times, got it up to temperature and had the fan kick in and turn off when the temperature got low again, so we have confirmed that the fan control is working. We didn’t find any leaks either! We lifted the front wheels off the ground, turned the steering wheel slowly to the right and left several times to make sure the PS was bled, and then lifted the rear wheels off the ground to check the transmission/driveline.

A few observations:



The fan kicks on at 205* and quite quickly brings the temperature down to 200* when it switches off again. From what I have understood from this forum, at least for previous gen Coyotes, the fan kicks in at a lower temp and that the running temperature is pretty much 180*. Could be a change in the Gen 4x, so interested in hearing about others’ experience. But since the fan is controlled by the Coyote, and it both starts and shuts off automatically, I’m certain it works as intended. It’s just interesting that it’s at a higher than expected temperature. Granted, this was a first start, standing still, in 104F weather.
I heard an intermittent metal on metal sound (ping) from the left rear wheel area when the wheels were turning, both in forward and reverse. I couldn’t feel any vibration, movement or impact in the axle. Didn’t hear anything from the diff or transmission. When I took off the tire, the intermittent sound wasn’t heard. My best guess is that it could be a bad wheel bearing since it’s only heard when there’s weight on the bearing. I drove the car back and forth on my driveway and could hear it every now and again when moving as well. I’ll post a separate post with the video of the sound to get input there. Any thoughts?


In the end, I took the car on a short go-kart ride as well. It is such a surreal feeling to have built this in my garage!

[Mike.Bray]

YooHoo! Congratulations! That's a big moment.

[cv2065]

Congrats! Sounds great!

[TXeverydayDad]

Thanks! Yes, it’s a great feeling that everything just started as expected without leaks!

I agree - it sounds really good!

[BUDFIVE]

Txevery…
Very cool and congrats! Seems like you really got the coyote in and running quickly.

On the intermittent sound from the left rear wheel area…only heard when weight on the bearing? Do you mean you heard it with the wheel mounted but the rear tires off the ground? Ie only the weight of the,wheel and tire, not the left rear corner of the car? If so, did you eliminate interference with that caliper or brackets with the wheel inside as the cause? Or a wheel weight?
It seems your plan was 18” wheels so probably a long shot,

[danmas]

Feels great doesn’t it? Well done!

[Blitzboy54]

I’m not sure what to make of the noise yet.


The Coyote is alive! Congrats on a big milestone.

[TXeverydayDad]

Txevery…
Very cool and congrats! Seems like you really got the coyote in and running quickly.

On the intermittent sound from the left rear wheel area…only heard when weight on the bearing? Do you mean you heard it with the wheel mounted but the rear tires off the ground? Ie only the weight of the,wheel and tire, not the left rear corner of the car? If so, did you eliminate interference with that caliper or brackets with the wheel inside as the cause? Or a wheel weight?
It seems your plan was 18” wheels so probably a long shot,

Thanks! Yeah, it came together pretty quickly. The wiring took quite a few hours however. Probably spent 15hrs just doing the wiring…

I’ve checked for interference with calipers, weights, brake lines, everything. I could only hear it with the wheel mounted and spinning off the ground. Someone suggested that it could actually be the wilwood parking brake pad hitting its mounting pin which seems like the most likely scenario. I’ll test some more this weekend.

[TXeverydayDad]

It’s been a while since the last update but I’ve sorted through a few issues.

First up is the noise described earlier. I posted a video of the noise in a separate post on the forum and had a suggestion that it could be the parking brake pad that is moving and hitting its mounting pin. I played around with it and it seems like the most likely situation. I’ve not taken the roadster out of the garage since I noticed the noise and I do not want to have it running very long in the garage to thoroughly test the solution, but the sound of the pad moving/hitting its own pin sounds very much like what I heard so it’s likely the issue. I’ll tighten the parking brake a click or two next time I take it out to test if the noise continues. So I’ve put a pin in that issue for now.

A friend of mine brought his FLIR equipment and we’ve gone over the whole car to confirm that there’s heat and cooling where it needs to be and no heat in strange places, which is a nice confirmation of the work done. I did tighten all the cooling hose clamps while they were still warm but I also found a small bead forming at a fuel line connection, which just needed an extra quarter turn to seal.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=217944&d=1756069001

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=217943&d=1756069001

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=217942&d=1756069001

Next up was working on the rollbars. I wanted to have 3rd brake lights and reverse lights in the rollbars for visibility, especially on TX roads, and decided the most aesthetic place was in the supporting leg. I got 4 red and 1 white LEDs from Oznium for each leg. They are quite expensive for LEDs but seem to emit a lot of light. I drilled through the bar and had all leds lined up and used some silicone to mount them in the holes. I’m satisfied with the outcome and hope it will hold up well long-term. And yes, the gear is in reverse on in the 2nd picture.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=217939&d=1756068966

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=217938&d=1756068966

My parents came by for a visit and my 72yo mother was very keen on getting in the car. As she was trying everything out, the left turn signal all of a sudden made both rear lights flash (although only 1 indicator light on the dash was blinking). They had been working correctly previously so I wriggled around in the harnesses behind the dash and it went back to working normally again. I figured I had a loose connection somewhere but I left it for the night and decided to look into it the following day. So when I got to it the following day, I re-checked and pulled on every wire but couldn’t find anything strange. When I tried the turn signal again, the problem was back and this time, all the gauges would light up with the indicator. The same also happened when I pressed the brake pedal as well. Looking over the schematics, it seems that the trailer converter that I have mounted behind the dash is the culprit. It seems it’s back-feeding voltage on the tan tail lights wire to the light-switch when the brake or left turn signal activates, which causes the gauge lights to engage, since it’s on the same switch as the tail lights. I’ve informed F5 just to make sure they have a record of the included trailer converter failure.


https://youtu.be/R1B0Vvu62NY

I bought and installed the recommended Tekonsha 119130 converter and everything is working as designed. I just hope it lasts longer than 2 weeks…

I’m preparing to mount the body on for the first time to confirm where the seats will go, so I added the bulb seal. I’ve seen the concerns about the bulb seal ripping when installing/removing the body so I’ll either use tape or trashbags to cover them for the first installation. I’ve also started looking into the process for getting the car registered here in TX. Lots of good information on the forum, which is great!

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=217940&d=1756068966

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=217941&d=1756068966

[F500guy]

Nice way to do the brake/backup lights. I have all the wiring in my trunk for future attempt, but I was concerned with the chrome plating, it seemed to not be adhered well when I drilled the bolt hole and was afraid I would end up with a bunch of holes that would rust around them. Yours looks pretty clean, how did the Chrome hold up?

[Blitzboy54]

If I had to do a 3rd brake light that's where I would put it for sure. I think your setup looks sleek. Bummer about the trailer converter, makes me wish I had maybe put mine somewhere a little more accessible.

[TXeverydayDad]

Nice way to do the brake/backup lights. I have all the wiring in my trunk for future attempt, but I was concerned with the chrome plating, it seemed to not be adhered well when I drilled the bolt hole and was afraid I would end up with a bunch of holes that would rust around them. Yours looks pretty clean, how did the Chrome hold up?

The chrome held up well, but I stepped through 3 smaller drills before getting to the final 6mm size. And freshly sharpened drill bits as well. I siliconed the lights in place so I hope that prevents the holes from rusting but time will tell.

[TXeverydayDad]

If I had to do a 3rd brake light that's where I would put it for sure. I think your setup looks sleek. Bummer about the trailer converter, makes me wish I had maybe put mine somewhere a little more accessible.

Thanks! Saw a similar setup on the forum a few years ago and thought it look good. That was with blacked out rollbars and black bezel leds, so I was a little concerned about how it would look in chrome, but I think it turned out well.

The trailer converter is just annoying. I’ve seen posts suggesting to just throw it out without opening the box, and I can see why. Mine is installed behind the dash and it’s easy to get to now, but once the body is on, that’ll be a different story. Hopefully this new converter is solid.

[cv2065]

If I had to do a 3rd brake light that's where I would put it for sure. I think your setup looks sleek. Bummer about the trailer converter, makes me wish I had maybe put mine somewhere a little more accessible.

I put mine in the tunnel right under the cover tucked away under the harness. If it goes out should be easy to swap out.

[TXeverydayDad]

It continues to be long intervals between my updates. Although it doesn’t really feel like it, there’s been some progress but it’s mainly been around me wrapping my head around how everything with the body work goes together.

In my color scheme, I want to have polished hinges for the trunk and hood. Turns out it’s quite labor intensive to get a good shine on stainless, especially smaller pieces. I used a pad on a drill and worked my way up from 400 grit to 1000 and then some light 2000 wet by hand and chrome polish to finish it off. It turned out ok, but will require some more elbow grease before I’m completely satisfied. However, I’ve decided to get the car registered as soon as possible and will leave some of the details to be dealt with after registration is done.

Next I installed the body for the first time, and it went on relatively easy. I think I’ve managed to get it centered (equal distance between strut tower and wheel well lip) and far enough forward (1/4” – 3/8” forward of the striker plate). I didn’t have to move the front 3/4” outriggers as some have had to do to center the nose. I pulled off the bulb seal from the rear to get the body to pull around the aluminum and once the body is in place, there’s space for the bulb seal but it seems it’ll likely tear if it try to leave it on while I position the body.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=219297&d=1758679492

The hood fit pretty well and didn’t really need initial any trimming at this point. The trunk is too big, seemingly too much material on the forward edge as it interferes with opening the trunk, but again, holding off on trimming anything yet, until I have an idea for how the entire car goes together. The doors don’t fit at all and need to be trimmed. However, the hinges are interfering with the CF dash, which I need to address first. I’ll need to trim the underside of the ‘wings’ on the dash to have free hinge movement. It also seems that the body is rubbing the top of the dash ‘wing’ on the driver side as well. The body clears the 3/4” tube and moves when I push down on it, but it still rubs on the dash somehow. I’ll be doublechecking the bulb seal and also the ¾” tube padding to see if it changes anything. I’ve also added some temporary 5/8” spacers on the front of the ¾” tube and the front of the body sits well.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=219298&d=1758679492

I also tried to install the windshield. The windshield legs installed ok but need to be tweaked a little. The radius at the top doesn’t match well with the curvature of the windshield and the legs need to be twisted to be made parallel. I opened up the body cut-outs but I’m getting interference with the aluminum filler plate on the PS. From what I’ve read on the forum, the hole in the aluminum panel should be cut about 0.5” deeper for easier fitment. I’ll do that when I remove the body.

Another thing to check with the body on was exactly where I wanted the seats to be. I installed some spacer bars under the seats to get a good seat angle for me. I riveted the bars to the seat frame and got some longer screws to fit and the seat is securely fastened. A caution is to measure exactly where the bolts go through the seat pan so you don’t get too close to the 4” tube. I can just barely get the nut on the bolt.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=219299&d=1758679492

Finally, before pulling the body off, I measured and drilled the holes to position the headlight buckets. The cut-outs from F5 were decent but not great and needed to be moved a little. The same with the turn lights. The holes for the rear lights were correct however. The trunk latch and license plate were off about 3/8” so I’ll be using the license plate light as the center of the trunk. Worst of all was the hood, where the hinge holes on one side were off in relation to the hinge and on the other side, only 1 hole was drilled (which was actually better). The 3 holes for the strut were completely off on one side as well.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=219300&d=1758679492

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=219303&d=1758679529

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=219301&d=1758679492

A couple of questions:


Is it normal to have to trim the rear aluminum panels (lower lip, rear quarter pieces) for a proper fit?
The manual mentions to rivet the body to the 3/4" frame rail with the hood spacers/bumpers. Is this still the recommended procedure?

[Blitzboy54]

The hood fit pretty well and didn’t really need initial any trimming at this point. The trunk is too big, seemingly too much material on the forward edge as it interferes with opening the trunk, but again, holding off on trimming anything yet, until I have an idea for how the entire car goes together. The doors don’t fit at all and need to be trimmed. However, the hinges are interfering with the CF dash, which I need to address first. I’ll need to trim the underside of the ‘wings’ on the dash to have free hinge movement. It also seems that the body is rubbing the top of the dash ‘wing’ on the driver side as well. The body clears the 3/4” tube and moves when I push down on it, but it still rubs on the dash somehow. I’ll be doublechecking the bulb seal and also the ¾” tube padding to see if it changes anything. I’ve also added some temporary 5/8” spacers on the front of the ¾” tube and the front of the body sits well.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=219298&d=1758679492


This is a relief in a weird way for me. I have the exact same issue and was convinced I had installed something wrong. I think if I was going to install the CF dash again I would put the body on first, set the dash then make it permanent. As you can see I had to remove quite a bit of material to make the door fit right.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=215674&d=1751225426

[TXeverydayDad]

This is a relief in a weird way for me. I have the exact same issue and was convinced I had installed something wrong. I think if I was going to install the CF dash again I would put the body on first, set the dash then make it permanent. As you can see I had to remove quite a bit of material to make the door fit right.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=215674&d=1751225426

Yeah, I had a similar feeling when I saw your pictures as it looks very similar to the amount I’ll have to take off. My dash is also slightly below the 3/4” hoop and when I put the body on, it’s borderline that I can see the top of the dash and the 3/4” tube under the cowl. Just a slight bit lower and it would have been visible so I agree with your idea to put the body on and then determine the dash placement.

[cv2065]

I installed the body, positioned it correctly then pushed the dash up as far as it would go while remaining level from side to side. Seemed to get it right but we’ll see on final body install. Things like to move around all on their own. :p

[TXeverydayDad]

I installed the body, positioned it correctly then pushed the dash up as far as it would go while remaining level from side to side. Seemed to get it right but we’ll see on final body install. Things like to move around all on their own. :p

An enigma no doubt! :)

[TXeverydayDad]

The work continues with lots of small items being addressed.

Before taking the body off to make adjustments, I fully installed the headlights and the turn indicators/park lights and wired them up. I did a full light system test and it all works as intended. The lap seat belts were also installed.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=220219&d=1760546185

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=220220&d=1760546185

I installed the hood on its’ hinges and it works decent. The opening mechanism works well, and the hood fits fairly well in the opening. I don’t have the latches on yet but with some minor trimming and added bumpers, it looks like it will sit well. I’m debating the spacing to use for the latches. 12” from center like the manual or 14” from center as according to Kleiner. Or compromise on 13”? I’ll make that decision once I see how well the hood fits when the body is better aligned. The hood seems to be a little high in the nose in comparison to the body, even with the hinges all the way down, which probably means that the body is not sitting high enough. The temporary 5/8” spacers have compressed quite a bit so I probably just need a firmer spacer. I’m not sold on the spring washers in the hinge assembly either, as they give the hood too much free movement. I’ll replace them with regular washers and test out the movement then.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=220218&d=1760546185

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=220221&d=1760546185

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=220222&d=1760546185

We then took the body off and started working through the list of items to be addressed.

First off was trimming the CF dash wings to clear the door hinges. I had marked the areas that needed addressing and it was quick work with a drum sander. The CF is actually quite a pleasant material to work with (with the correct PPE). I also took this time to align a switch in the dashboard to make everything symmetrical.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=220224&d=1760546219

I trimmed the aluminum around the rear quarters and bottom lip just a little bit. Probably not enough but I’ll take off a little at a time to get as good a fit as possible.

I then drilled and cleco’d the transmission tunnel cover. I’m not doing a removable cover so I will rivet the cover in place and cover with carpet. My goal is to register the car and get some shakedown miles on it before I button everything up and cover with carpet, so I’m not too concerned with the cover not being removable. The flanges on the cover were bent to fit flush with the side. I’m riveting the top of the panel into the ¾ tubes from the top to minimize any movement/flexing.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=220223&d=1760546219

The windshield is interesting. The legs need to be twisted and bent to fit both the glass and the frame. The brass is easy to work with and the chrome plating seems to hold up well, but it’s a lot of iteration work to get it to fit fairly well. Since I couldn’t get the windshield to seat with the body on, I’ve been adjusting the fit with the body off, to get it parallel with the frame. I’ll drill the holes in the legs and do final adjustments once the body is on, but the starting position is better now. I’ll add spacers to fill any distances I can’t twist or bend out, as needed.

With all this done, I mounted the 5/8” spacers as body support in the front using the large and small included bumpers stacked on eachother and a long rivet. I hope they hold up better than my temporary spacer.

[TXeverydayDad]

The prep work with the body off continues. Since it’s significantly easier with the body off, I re-checked and adjusted the ride heights. I expect it to settle some but have decided on 4” in the front and 4.5” in the rear. I made some spacers that slide in under the frame and it gives a rough estimate. Then I adjust the coilovers so they are the same length/number of turns on both sides. My garage floor is not perfectly flat so the ride height is not perfect, but atleast the shocks are the same side to side. My wheel alignment seems to be decent as well. I used the string method and a combination of the arm measurements indicated by the manual and Kleiner. From the short test drives I’ve done, it tracks well and is very drivable. I’ll get it laser aligned at a shop nearby as my first stop.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=220529&d=1761100655

In order to prepare for registration here in TX, I need to get an ASE Master Technician to do a safety inspection and a weight certificate. Match that together with some other forms and it should be good to register. I figured I’d try to get a temporary tag so I could drive it to the inspection and weigh station, so I dropped by the Texas DPS office to give it a try. I filled in a temporary tag form, brought my insurance and the F5 MCO with me and walked out 30 minutes later with a plate! I set the start date for the 30 day period a few weeks down the road so I can get everything finished before the timer starts. So now I just need to get the car done!

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=220534&d=1761101020

I had held off on installing the driver foot box tops just to maintain easy access to the brake/clutch mc’s, incase I had a leak, but it’s now buttoned up and the engine bay looks pretty complete. I’ll be driving the car in gelcoat some before I finish everything so if I have a leak, it’s still easy to remove the aluminum if required. I added the weather strips on top of the 3/4” tube along the engine, attached the fuel filler ground strap to the frame and installed the shoulder harness belts.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=220532&d=1761100792

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=220533&d=1761100792

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=220530&d=1761100792

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=220531&d=1761100792

We then put the body back on to prepare for the registration process. It turns out that the minimal trimming I did on the rear quarter panels was exactly what was needed to get the body on easily, without ripping the weatherstrips. I’m glad I didn’t remove more material.

[TXeverydayDad]

Just catching up the build thread, as it's been falling behind a little. Turns out it's really fun to drive the car, but will get to that part soon. Now back to the process that got me there...

With the body back on, I started with fastening the rear bolts (Kleiner mod). I used the large spacer that came with the original bolts to set the approximate distance to the body. I expect I’ll need to tweak the distance depending on how the trunk fits. I then moved to the front and attached the front with the supplied bolts. I will add the metco grommets later when I do the body work. I measured to confirm that the body is centered on the frame by measuring from the shock tower to the wheel well lip and it looks good, within 1/16". The front bolts lift the body up quite a bit when tightened and the 5/8” spacers on the frame seem to fit quite well.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=221562&d=1763216173

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=221563&d=1763216173

I then installed the hood and I got it to fit quite well. With the body a little higher, the front of the hood is better aligned with the body, but it's not perfect. The marked/F5 drilled placement holes for the hinge attachment on the hood don’t seem to be ideal, as I feel I’m running out of lateral movement. I’ll try to align it some more and see how it looks after I’ve installed the latches. Using regular washers instead of the spring washers included makes the hinges very stable, but seemingly more difficult to adjust. I might want to have some movement to get a good fit so the spring washers might be going back in. We’ll see.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=221564&d=1763216173

With the adjustment that I made to the dash wings, the door hinges work unobstructed and the passenger door fit quite well. I’ll need to trim the excess around the edges but the overall fit is not too bad. The driver door (as expected) does not fit as well into the body. I’ll be following the recommendations on the forum to get the door/door opening aligned as well as possible. Once it fits decently, I’ll install the latches.

I installed the weather strip around the trunk opening and trimmed the front edge of the trunk lid to get it to fit and open without scraping the body. The curve of the trunk matches the rear of the body fairly well. I’ll need to trim the sides somewhat but will do that after I’ve installed the latch and license plate holder.

With all the panels mounted, I had some help to start the work with the windshield. After much work trying to get the angle and distance correct, I marked the “depth” of the holes with the windshield resting on the body, then removed the windshield glass and centered the holes on the leg. I tapped the driver side holes but made the passenger side holes a little oversized to have some wriggle room. I then installed the legs, opening up the body cut-outs as needed to get the correct angle and bolted them down. With the legs in place, I used a large pipewrench wrapped in a towel to twist the legs to fit the windshield. This way I don’t have to use spacers and it was quite easy to get them to align with the windshield. I’m happy with the outcome. There doesn’t seem to be any stress on the glass or frame either.

With the windshield in place, I made a quick mount for the rear view mirror. I’ll polish the mount later, but it works well. I’ll install the side view mirrors (convex 4” peep mirrors from speedway), visors and wind wings later, as I’ll probably just bump into them as I move around the car.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=221560&d=1763216173

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=221561&d=1763216173

The roll bar openings were next and using a drum sander, I opened up the cut-outs to get a good fit without any rubbing. With the rollbars installed, it’s looking more and more like a finished car. Exciting!

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=221565&d=1763216209

[TXeverydayDad]

Getting the car ready for registration continues.

We connected all the lights and installed and connected the fuel filler cap. I also trimmed the doors and trunk a little further to get a good fit. They all open and close unobstructed now. The trunk latch and license plate holder were also installed. The screws that come with the kit to install the license plate on the holder are too long and touch the body, so it’ll be important to trim those.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=221704&d=1763432118

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=221706&d=1763432118

Fitting the side exhausts was relatively easy, since I have the ball flange headers. The body opening required a little trimming on the driver side and the pipe was easy to align along the body. I initially measured the body openings on both sides and marked them to be identical, but that turned out to not be the ideal approach. The passenger side header was in quite a different position than the driver’s side and the body opening needed more work. I’m glad I didn’t start cutting until I had fitted both pipes, as the holes won’t be identical side to side. I doubt it’ll be noticeable on a finished car, but it feels strange when you’re working on it and you know the measurements are not the same. I think I remember Jeff K encouraging another member to put the tape measure away and just make sure it looks good – sage advice!

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=221705&d=1763432118

With the pipes angled and aligned to my satisfaction, I installed the exhaust hangers. I’m using the F5 uncoated exhaust pipes at the moment but will change them out to polished pipes later, as I wanted to get a feel for the sound and look before deciding on which direction to go in for the polished pipes.

It’s unclear whether Texas requires wipers or not for registration, and it would come down to the individual tech doing the inspection, but I’ve decided to install them. Whether they get used on not doesn’t matter, I think it just gives the car a more complete and polished look, since it’ll not be a racer (yet?). I have the kit from Specialty Power Windows (WWK-2) with their bent right arms and 10” flex blades for curved glass. Installation is pretty straightforward using the F5 instructions. I made an angled spacer to get the angle correct and a solid mounting under the body. I also had to cut the included steel spacer to fit above the body. This will need to be polished for final installation, but it works as expected. I’m happy with the result.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=221703&d=1763432118

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=221702&d=1763432118


https://youtu.be/t6OWoh9yTfs?si=3Pnc8kMAr59-mS58

The hood latches were next on the list and I decided to mount them at 13” from center. I’m happy with the look and function. The door latches were also installed, although I used 2 rivets instead of the rivnuts at this stage. I’m not confident of how much the doors/body might move as I fit them properly later and figured it’d be easier to remove a smaller rivet than rivnuts. The goal now is to get the car registered.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=221707&d=1763432150

The final remaining parts needed to be mounted on the car for inspection are the mirrors, so I mounted them. I have the United Pacific 4” convex peep mirrors and they mount easily to the windshield frame. I haven’t mounted the wind wings or visors yet, but it looks like it should be possible to use these mirrors with them as well.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=221708&d=1763432150

[tundra2050]

I like your wiper solution. Probably saved some money on the vintage route. How did you make your angled spacer and what angle did you cut the above body spacer? It'll probably add retail value or maybe easier to sell if needed.

[TXeverydayDad]

I like your wiper solution. Probably saved some money on the vintage route. How did you make your angled spacer and what angle did you cut the above body spacer? It'll probably add retail value or maybe easier to sell if needed.

Thanks! Yes, the solution is slightly cheaper than the F5 kit and from what others on the forum have said, it’s a better construction as well, but I don’t have anything to compare it to.

I chose to do the angles at 45 degrees, matching the angle of the hole I cut. I just used a good ol’ hacksaw and elbow grease and then cleaned up a little with a belt sander. The belt/disk combo sander I have is probably the most used tool during this build.

[TXeverydayDad]

With the car mechanically completed, I took my daughter out for the first ride. It just had a basic string alignment but drove ok and everything seemed to be working well. 5 miles in, we were standing at a traffic light and the engine just died. There was no crank, I cycled the ignition, fuel pump, master disconnect, nothing. Just completely dead. My daughter got in the driver’s seat and I started pushing it out of the way, to a parking lot close by. Before we had made it across the intersection, there were 4 other people helping me push and 2 cars blocking the road behind us to keep us safe. Gotta love Texas!

At the parking lot, I continued to check everything I could think of. Ground was good, no loose connections to the fuel pump, the inertia switch was fine. So I called my wife to come tow us the last 1 mile home. 10 minutes later, just as my wife showed up, the car just started as normal, so I drove it home without any further issues. I started it up a few hours later and drove another 5 miles and had no issues.

I have a separate post with support from the forum in working out the issue. It seems heat related but it’s unclear what’s actually happening. More info in the other thread (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?52493-Coyote-4x-died-at-traffic-light).

The following day, my son and I took a drive to the nearest CAT Scales to get a weight certificate. It was a 14 mile return journey and we were prepared with tow ropes etc but we made it there and back with no issues. The car weighed in at 2380lbs. We also had our first encounter with admirers, which was fun. In hindsight I should have prepared my son better on some of the details, but he did well talking about it while I was getting the paperwork/certificate in order.

The only thing remaining in preparation for TX registration was getting the car ASE Master Tech safety inspected. It’s been a struggle to find an ASE Master Tech, with current certifications, willing to do the inspection. Not wanting to take on the liability was the main concern. I’d been actively looking for probably 6 weeks until I finally found a guy willing and eager to do it. The inspection itself was pretty simple. He was very impressed with the quality of the work which I’ll take as a badge of honor.

Armed with all the paperwork and the experiences from other TX registration threads on here, I got an appointment with the DPS (TX DMV) and took the plunge. I spent an hour at the Regional Center to get ‘a letter’ saying the car was eligible for registration and then headed to the local tax office for the registration process. It took another hour there, but I walked out with my cobra registered as a custom vehicle. It would have taken at least another visit or 2 had it not been for the knowledge and information shared on the forum, do lots of thanks for that! I now have paper plates and I’m legal! I should have my real plates in about 2 weeks.

I set the ride height to 4” in the front and 4.5” in the rear and took the car to a local Christian Brothers and spent 2 hours there getting a wheel alignment. They were all very interested in checking out the car while their alignment guru worked on it. The base measurements and string alignment got me in a pretty good spot, but the difference in driving after getting the alignment properly set up is still significant. It feels very planted now.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=222010&d=1763907818

Let the shake down tests begin… 😊

[Mike.Bray]

Congratulations! I know when I walked out of the DMV with my paper plates I had a spring in my step.

Did they try to charge you any tax?

[TXeverydayDad]

Congratulations! I know when I walked out of the DMV with my paper plates I had a spring in my step.

Did they try to charge you any tax?

They initially tried. The person I spoke to remembered a kit vehicle she did the registration on back in 2013 (the last time she did this), turned around and pulled out a folder and 15 seconds later had found the physical copy of that registration and saw she had charged him tax (pretty impressive organizing skills). I showed her the comptroller website, she read through it and said, yep, no tax. I paid a grand total of $103.75, including credit card fees…

It was almost a surreal feeling walking out with a paper plate.

[2nd2none]

The belt/disk combo sander I have is probably the most used tool during this build.
Actually shopping for one of these right now as I get my garage ready for kit delivery. May I ask which you have and do you recommend it?

[TXeverydayDad]

Actually shopping for one of these right now as I get my garage ready for kit delivery. May I ask which you have and do you recommend it?

I have the cheapest (<$100) HF belt/disk combo with a vacuum port. It’s been good enough for my needs.

[TXeverydayDad]

Since the last update, we’ve spent a good amount of time driving around, getting to know the car and doing a proper shake-down. I got my real plates and it’s been a blast driving around, both in daylight and dusk/evening.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=224710&d=1769382646

The previous issue we had with the car stalling at a traffic light turned out to be a loose connection to the coyote fuse box. After the initial stall, I couldn’t replicate the issue. Then 100 miles later, the car just died randomly as I pulled up on my driveway. After it started again, I shook all parts of the wire loom I could reach and found one section which would kill the engine, and traced it down to a loose connection. Glad it was a simple solution.

After about 200miles, I found a small fuel leak/seepage on the fuel line between the fuel filter and the hard line. Fuel was leaking past the barbs on the hard fuel line connector. I made a new line and the issue was resolved. However, 30 miles later, I had the exact same issue with the fuel line between the hard line and fuel regulator in the engine bay. Fuel was seeping past the barbs on the fitting. I added a hose clamp and no more leaks, so I added a hose clamp to the other line as well and will be keeping an eye on them going forward.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=224714&d=1769382646

I initially had break-in oil in the engine. For the break in procedure I’ve been varying the load, reving up to about 4000rpm and then engine braking to bring the revs down again as often as possible to seat the rings properly. After several complete heat cycles, I changed the oil and filter and added approx. 9.5qts of 5W-30. I did find a little oil seepage by the oil pressure sender and tightened that a little further. Otherwise everything looked good.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=224711&d=1769382646

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=224712&d=1769382646

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=224713&d=1769382646

We haven’t tuned the engine yet, so that is next on the agenda, but it’s been running decently without it.

In total, we’ve driven about 350miles so far at it’s been great. It’ll be even better when it’s completed, as the driver side footbox is still open which makes it quite toasty on drives.

[TXeverydayDad]

While we’ve been busy driving, we’ve also worked on a few items that needed to be added.

First off was a front license plate holder, since it’s required here in TX. I know many who don’t bother but I just can’t do it. I was inspired by another forum member and went with a similar design and I’m happy with the outcome. I’m just not sure if I like it better on the left or right side of the car.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=225445&d=1770776460

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=225444&d=1770776460

We installed the over riders in the front and rear. Something to keep in mind is that they are different, with the fronts being mounted at an angle to match the front opening. The fronts installed very easily, as they just screwed right in. For the rear, since I’ve used the Kleiner mod, I drilled out the threads to fit the larger diameter threaded rod, and put a nut on either side and tightened the over rider between them. It was a little fiddly to get the nuts on the rod inside the over rider. I believe Jeff recommends putting some tape across the bottom of the overrider to save you from chasing run-away nuts all the time as you drop them…good advice!

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=225443&d=1770776460

We then continued with installing the visors. Given all the times I’ve read about fellow builders cracking their windshields with the screws, I again followed Kleiner’s advice and installed the visor bases with 6-32 screws and square nuts in the windscreen channel. Worked like a charm. To finish it off, I added 7/64” vacuum hose (1/4” OD) in the remaining channel to give a more finished look. I’m happy with the outcome.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=225446&d=1770776460

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=225447&d=1770776460

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=225449&d=1770776495

Finally, I installed a phone holder on an articulating arm. I attached the base to the grab handle supports under the dash, which enables the holder to be completely hidden if needed, while at the same time be very stable.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=225448&d=1770776495

[TXeverydayDad]

It’s been an exciting few weeks as I’ve been working on getting the Coyote Gen 4x tuned. Out of the crate, the Coyote ran ok. I’ve driven it about 350 miles on the pre-loaded tune, while breaking in the engine (with break-in oil). Basically drove the car with varying load, up to a max of 4500 and lots of engine braking. It felt easy to drive, but lacked real power.

In order to data log and tune, I got the HPTuners MPVI-4 unit. Basically the OBDII unit and then 4 licenses (don’t know why it needs 4 – it just does) to write to the Coyote. Reading and data logging didn’t require a license, with the software. I read the ECU, looked through the various settings and tables. Interestingly, the Coyote base map came with a standard parameter table to enable exhaust burble. Apparently all I would have to do is enable the function, and from what I understand, every time I lift off the throttle over 3500rpm, it’ll crackle and burble until I give some more throttle again. But I didn’t feel like playing around too much yet, so will experiment with that later on. I did go for a drive and do a datalog, just to get a base-line. Turns out that even when I gave full throttle, the TPS% signal (Throttle Position Signal) topped out at 50%. No wonder it lacked real power!

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=225498&d=1770930053

I looked into a local alternative to have it dyno-tuned but they recommended I wait until the engine has a couple of thousand miles on it before doing a full dyno-tune. They’d do a basic street tune for me to get me going for these first few thousand miles, but I’d have to leave the car with them overnight – not something I was eager to do.

So I started looking into other alternatives for remote tuning. Lund racing has been mentioned here on the site several times, so I reached out to them, but they wouldn’t work with the HPTuners device that I had. Blitzboy54 had used a company called Juggernaut Performance Tuning for his gen4x, so I reached out to them with some questions. They were very responsive, and Jon, the senior calibrator, was excellent to work with. I sent them the stock file, and got a first iteration performance tune back later that same day.

I wrote the new file to the ECU, started the data logger and turned the key. Wow – what a difference! I took it on a drive, got it up to working temperature and carefully revved up in first. It just felt so much lighter, less constrained and sounded great. Logged about 10miles of driving and sent the log back to Jon. He came back with a different data-log configuration and asked that I try WOT during this run.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=225499&d=1770930053

Since I had driven the car for 350miles already, including trying WOT with the base map, I thought I knew what to expect… I have a good, one way, 2 lane frontage road along I-10 close to my house, so drove there to do the logging. At first, I didn’t really get what was happening, as I didn’t hear any tire squeal, but the engine just revved up fast and I was moving forward, but not as fast as I expected. So I shifted into 2nd and continued with WOT and now I felt the rear end floating. The tires were just spinning. I pressed the clutch and felt the tires grip, but no other drama. It was tracking straight and didn’t feel out-of-control, just unable to grip. Armed with this experience, I went back for another run, and realized that any WOT in 1st or 2nd would just spin the tires, no matter how gently I pressed the accelerator. Just as a frame of reference, I tried the 0-60 timer on the speedometer and did a soft start. Balancing the throttle against traction ended up with a 5.3s run 0-60, but still way too much wheel spin.

I sent the new log back to Jon, along with some subjective driving experience notes and a day later, he came back with a new log. I took it out to the same straight, and did a first soft start 0-60, trying to get to WOT as soon as possible – and this time, I could hear the tires chirp a little but it didn’t spin as much as previously – and the time came back at 4.3s 0-60. It felt a lot more controlled, not quite as raw, but significantly faster. For my second run, with a little more aggressive approach, I timed 0-60 in 3.97s, while short-shifting and still not quite WOT. It revs to 7600rpm and sounds great!

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=225500&d=1770930053


https://youtu.be/7U025omuAp0?si=9Nau5JLbdel2NCcD

I’m still continuing to data log and tune the engine with Jon’s help, but if you have a crate Coyote, I highly recommend Jon with jptunes.com. Great to work with, quick turn-around and works magic on the Coyote!

[Mike.Bray]

Love the video!

Just FYI, I've lived in Texas my entire life and haven't run a front license plate on any of my cars or trucks for over 40 years now. Never been asked about it. Not once.

[TXeverydayDad]

Love the video!

Just FYI, I've lived in Texas my entire life and haven't run a front license plate on any of my cars or trucks for over 40 years now. Never been asked about it. Not once.

Thanks! My daughter didn’t like that the camera moved so much when she was filming. I think it just adds to the feel of the experience.

Pretty much everyone I’ve talked to have said the exact same thing about the front plate. I just can’t bring myself to not have it…

[460.465USMC]

Great video! The Coyote sounds fantastic! That brings back good memories of my MK4 with the Gen3.

Appreciate the review of your experience with JPtunes.com. I'm a long ways away from tuning, but will keep them in mind. Can't beat their response time. Nice!

[TXeverydayDad]

The snake bit me.

On a drive, I lost control, hit and jumped the curb, and came to rest on a grassy median strip. It all happened very quickly, but luckily no injury or damage to anything but the car.
Unfortunately, the impact both fractured and bent the frame, which brings the journey with #11001 to an end.

Special thanks to Jeff Kleiner and Ken Pike for their input and support through this.

Let me emphasize what has been repeated over and over again on this forum – Respect these vehicles!

Be safe out there!

[cv2065]

The snake bit me.

On a drive, I lost control, hit and jumped the curb, and came to rest on a grassy median strip. It all happened very quickly, but luckily no injury or damage to anything but the car.
Unfortunately, the impact both fractured and bent the frame, which brings the journey with #11001 to an end.

Special thanks to Jeff Kleiner and Ken Pike for their input and support through this.

Let me emphasize what has been repeated over and over again on this forum – Respect these vehicles!

Be safe out there!

Really sorry to hear that. Good news is that no one was hurt as I've read about a few instances where the outcome was not as favorable. Is insurance going to be able to fund a new project?

[Mike.Bray]

Oh no! So sorry to hear about this. The important thing if you're okay to drive another day.

[PNWTim]

That's a bummer. It's very fortunate in the case of a total loss you can walk away to drive another day!

[460.465USMC]

Oh, no! So sorry to read about this. An ending way too soon! Glad to hear you're okay.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Depending on your insurance status you can buy a chassis and swap parts…

Jeff

[OB6]

Sorry to hear this, but very glad you’re ok.

[jfrissora]

Awesome that you were able to get the kids involved. I was always hoping too, but it just wasn't there.

[TXeverydayDad]

Thanks all! Yes, I'm very glad that it was only damage to the car, which is the absolute best case scenario for any accident.

Next steps - either swap frames or build new. Leaning towards just starting over on a new kit.

For those who've asked how long it takes to build a F5 roadster - up to this point, I'm at 399.5hrs. First time builder with some modifications. That's a long time to work on something that is wiped out in the blink of an eye...

[TrackDay17]

I'm really sorry to hear about this, I hope you get a new frame and finish it out.
A painful lesson but one everyone on this forum can learn from, it could happen to any one of us no matter how much experience we have.
Not sure what a frame cost vs a kit but seems like it should be quite a bit cheaper than an entire kit.

No one was hurt which is the important thing.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Unless you want to step up to a mk5 I'd just buy a Mk4 chassis (and maybe aluminum) and start swapping parts.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Jeff

[dbo_texas]

Just catching up on your build thread and super glad you are OK, but man I'm sure you are feeling really bummed. You did an amazing job on the build and we all hate to see it end like this. Good luck on whatever comes next.

[TXeverydayDad]

Thanks!

It’s not quite the end I was expecting or an experience I would wish on anyone, but I’ve learnt a lot in the process, and…the journey will continue in the form of an Mk5.

F5 had a late cancellation and I was able to get that spot. Completion date is tomorrow and I expect delivery probably mid April. So it’s progressing fast. I’ll be starting a new build thread for that build.

Thanks to all that have followed along in this adventure!

[BUDFIVE]

Great! Glad to see you able to move forward without delay. I’ll be reading along.

[CW_MI]

The snake bit me.

On a drive, I lost control, hit and jumped the curb, and came to rest on a grassy median strip. It all happened very quickly, but luckily no injury or damage to anything but the car.
Unfortunately, the impact both fractured and bent the frame, which brings the journey with #11001 to an end.

Special thanks to Jeff Kleiner and Ken Pike for their input and support through this.

Let me emphasize what has been repeated over and over again on this forum – Respect these vehicles!

Be safe out there!

Oh no....so sorry to hear this. Glad everyone is okay. I can't imagine how you feel. All the time and work. Again, I'm very sorry.