Coupe-R build in Seattle

[Jphoenix]

OK, completion date is getting close, 7/20, so I'm going to start my build thread with the list of stuff. I plan to race the Coupe-R in both SOVREN (vintage racing) and ICSCC, aka "Conference" which is a consortium of five racing clubs in the Pacific Northwest. I'll be road racing - typically 30 minute races at the 5 tracks up here, Pacific Raceways, The Ridge, Portland International, Spokane County (now Qlispe Raceway) and Mission up in B.C. I don't autocross or track day. I currently race a Formula Ford - which I shall continue as it keeps me very honest and there is a lot of competition in the FF class up here.

I do not plan to drive on the street, so it will be race-height, dry-sumped, big brakes and as light as possible. The engine and trans is coming from Mike Forte as soon as end of this month.

Engine is a Ford Performance 363 with a TKX.
Probably AVIAID or Peterson dry sump parts, GT1 folks up here lean towards AVIAD, but they all work. Vipers use a very nice Dailey dry sump pan - but pricey!
FuelSafe 15 gallon cell.
Firebottle, Lifeline or similar fire system.
Accusump for pre-oiling.
Some kinda race wheels with 295 up front and 315/30r18's in back. Likely Hoosier R7's, but some of the guys like the Michelins and some like Avons (that are scarce now that AVON is converting to NOVA and out of production temporarily).
FFR doesn't have the 900/700 lb. spring combo they discuss on their race setup page, so I'll start with whatever it comes with, do corner weights and see how it sits. There are a couple of really smart GT1 setup guys here that can help me get set up. All my experience is with Formula Mazda and Formula Ford, so this is a new adventure with regard to setup. It's more than double the weight of the Formula Ford, so going through the corners will be interesting at first.

AIM data logging dash with all the inputs from the engine and chassis going into it. Smarty Cam input to the data logger.
Heater for defrost on those cool, rainy spring days - but no AC, I will run a cool shirt and helmet blower, it gets hot in Portland in August.
IRS, QA1 DD401 shocks, Aero6 Wilwoods, I like a hard, modulating brake pedal and have lots of old master cylinders to try and find the right feel and balance.
Gas-N headers - and I'll fabricate my own side pipes to meet sound limits. I've ordered all the aero bits from FFR and will fabricate a diffuser for it as well. Still trying to decide on which wing, rules limit width to 72", but that's not a problem.

SCCA rules have the FF Coupe-R listed as GTX with a minimum weight of 2600 - that seems kind of low for the engine size - especially since the 363 does not require a restrictor plate (366 and up - so got in just under the wire), there's a Porsche GT3 running here with a min. weight of 3200, same with the local Vipers, 3200 lbs, so maybe I have a chance :cool: I would like to get the car's empty weight down to 2400 so I can get close to the 2600 lb. min. weight, that may be a challenge, but I'll leave off anything cosmetic or unnecessary for racing.

I'll run in ITE class in Conference and in the Big Bore class in SOVREN. There's another Coupe racing in SOVREN, but I haven't seen him out yet this year.

So, that's it for now, Stewart might take a couple of weeks or so to get it here, so likely August before I start work on it. Also Stewart is bring my wife a 289 USRRC kit at the same time because she wants to build her own toy. She wants it to be as close as possible to an original, with a 302 that looks a lot like a 289, FIA pin drive wheels, rear exhaust etc. I'm glad she can weld!

[Jphoenix]

Got the body off and started on the front steering, suspension and brakes.

[Sdonnel]

Nice plan. Does your wife have a sister? Asking for a friend.

[q4stix]

Welcome to the mix! I'm up in Marysville.
Those are some big calipers for sure; are they the Cadillac ones many are using in conversions these days?

-Matt

[Jphoenix]

"Nice plan. Does your wife have a sister? Asking for a friend."

LOL - no, but she does have a sister-in-law (my sister) who owns a body shop in Missoula where we will get the paint done at the special special sibling rate, we do the filling, sanding, blocking and she sprays, then we get to cut and polish.

[Jphoenix]

Welcome to the mix! I'm up in Marysville.
Those are some big calipers for sure; are they the Cadillac ones many are using in conversions these days?

-Matt

They're the Aero 6 race brakes, bolt right up to the FFR spindles - with the usual clearance grinding well documented in this forum. The 18" Halibrands clear them just barely, but well enough.

https://www.wilwood.com/BrakeKits/BrakeKitsProdFront?itemno=140-16859

Rears are the typical Aero4 with parking brake, but might not use the parking brake, trying to keep the car as light as possible.

[Jphoenix]

Front brakes done, clearances adjusted, everything torqued except the camber adjusters. Suspension done except the Moog tie-rod ends recommended by EdwardB - just POR'd them and they're drying. I'm also using the Howe UBJ's he recommended, they are nice parts.

On to the rear end now. My IRS diff came painted already, so just have to modify the spindles and bolt it all up.

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[Jphoenix]

Engine arrived - Ford Performance 363 with TKX from Mike Forte. Just need some headers from Gas'N.

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[Jphoenix]

Modified the IRS spindles and painted them, gathered up all the IRS parts and assemble the LCA's. Punched out the metric studs in the hubs and installed the 1/2-20 studs. Ready for the pumpkin installation.

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[Jphoenix]

Renee and I spent 3 hours coaxing the diff into place, bit of a struggle but we got it in. Then control arms, axles, spindle assemblies and brakes.

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[Rsnake]

Hello Jim,
I see you are using the supplied CV boots. Since you plan on some serious driving I would replace those as they will fail and make a mess. We have had multiple fail among our group of Type 65 owners and we push the cars hard to speeds of 150+
as I think you will be doing. Easier to do it now as the mess is not fun. We also switched out to redline cv grease as it has a high drop point. I will let you know how the new boots and grease hold up after the Silver State Classic as I will be at 160+ for almost 90 miles.

[Jphoenix]

Thanks, I read the posts about the boots failing (saw your photos - ugly mess). Which boots did you buy? I run redline grease in my Formula Ford CV’s, so have plenty of the red goo.

[Jphoenix]

Another question - are you using the QA1 DD401 shocks? I want to replace the FFR single adjustable shock with DA’s.

[Rsnake]

Jim,

I went with the Ford Motorcraft boots for a modern mustang and drilled a small hole in them to vent out pressure. I will report the success or failure in a few weeks. The original FF ones are neoprene and really flexible. The motorcraft units are a harder plastic and I cannot image them expanding and getting shredded on the suspension.
I am using the QA1 DD401 dampers and really like them.

[Jphoenix]

Jim,

I went with the Ford Motorcraft boots for a modern mustang and drilled a small hole in them to vent out pressure. I will report the success or failure in a few weeks. The original FF ones are neoprene and really flexible. The motorcraft units are a harder plastic and I cannot image them expanding and getting shredded on the suspension.
I am using the QA1 DD401 dampers and really like them.

Thanks, I'll go with the DD401's. Let me know how it goes with the boots during the Silver State run, sounds like a great time! Enjoyed the videos from last year.

[Jphoenix]

Got the wheel spacers last night from Summit, 1.25" all around, primarily to clear the front brakes, but also in back as I plan to run a 335 width tire, so this will be a starting point. Halibrands fit fine, plenty of clearance. Now working on fitting the fuel cell, glad I went with the 15 gallon cell, the 22 gallon may not have fit. I may raise it up a few more inches after I check the aft body location. This fuel cell has a 4-way check valve surge box, foam and in-tank pump.

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[Jphoenix]

Positioned the fuel cell in a good location, plenty of clearance all around. I fabricated a couple of angles to mount the tank using 1/4" bolts, welded mounting tabs on to the support angles to give it plenty of strength.

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[Jphoenix]

Fuel cell is in for the last time. Finished up the steering and foot pedal box after riveting the aluminum pieces in that area. Also finished up the e-brake installation - cables were about .75" too short, the Wildwood extender brackets were not included in my kit. Also put the Kirkey race seat in place temporarily to check the pedal and steering wheel locations - I'm surprised at how much room there is in this car - compared to my Formula ford!202893202892202891202890

[Jphoenix]

The small square tube that runs across the cockpit, that supports the dash seems too far aft for me. I'm thinking about relocations it farther forward and lower as I would like the steering wheel to be 2 or 3" farther forward. I plan to fabricate a custom dash anyhow, anyone see any reason not to move it?

[Jphoenix]

On the ground, mounted the seat and finished brake plumbing. Going to put some cockpit tin in and run the wiring harness. Waiting on some engine parts from Forte, if I get those soon I can put the engine/trans in.

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[Jphoenix]

The Coupe build manual directs us to cut off a big chunk of the IRS spindle - and I did so, but was wondering why this was necessary. Now I know - the e-brake cable on the Wilwoods run down from the cable ferrule right where the piece I cut off would be. I mean I guess this is why we cut this off - I haven't found any text to support this, but can think of no other reason, except maybe to lighten the spindle. In any case, the instruction manual says cut it off between the two drilled holes, down to the boss shown in the manual, so I did that but now I see others have cut it along a line inboard of the second hole. Not sure if it makes a big difference as the tear-out on that part is likely pretty high. Guess I'll find out.

Continued with tidying up fuel and brake lines and wiring to the fuel tank so I could install clamps for the fuel line, wiring and brake lines through the transmission tunnel. Working on a seat back mounting bracket to the transverse bar behind the seat. Still waiting on engine parts from Forte before I can install the engine/trans. Curious to see where the shifter ends up. Going to modify the dash arrangement quite a bit to accommodate a logger dash.

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[Jphoenix]

I installed the seat in the correct location, then fabricated a bracket to attach the seat back to the cage and welded it in. White POR on the bare metal, and also sanded the powder coat off where it was flaking off due to poor prep prior to powder coating and applied white POR to this areas.

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[Jphoenix]

Drilled about a million holes today fitting tins to the frame. Going to make an access panel for the fuel cell.

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[Jphoenix]

I dropped the engine/trans in this morning so I could finish the fuel line plumbing, some wiring and determine where the shifter ends up. I need to order a front shift kit. Still waiting on engine accessories from Forte and a dry sump, so the engine will come back out.

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In the meantime, I'll bring the Cobra in and start on it - the shortened axle for the pin drives arrived from Moser, just need the shorter front LCA's, expected Thursday from FFR.

[Jphoenix]

Started making fuel lines to go from the bulkhead fitting on the firewall through the Trick Flow inline filter, the regulator and then to the carb - waiting for another 90 degree fitting to finish that. Driveshaft is a perfect fit. Headers coming from GAS'N sometime next month.

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[Jphoenix]

Still waiting for clutch kit, power steering pump and water pump from Forte, so in the meantime I continue to work on aluminum, radiator installation, accelerator pedal and steering wheel quick disconnect. Got the shifter front relocation kit from SST through Summit (use LABORDAY code for money off) That steering wheel is from my Formula Ford, I'll get an 11.5" wheel for the Coupe. Put the body on so I can start to arrange the dash wiring, MSD box location, heater box and other instrumentation. Shocks relocated to the upper holes, ride height is now about 3" front and a bit more in the rear.

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[Jphoenix]

I'm deviating quite a bit from the normal Coupe dash layout. The tach will be centered in the steering wheel, all other gauges will be in the canted panel to the right along with warning lights for water pressure, oil pressure and alternator. A row of 9 switches for the typical things and the main battery cutoff along with the brake bias knob will be in the center panel as well. Fire handle will be left of the steering wheel, accessible from the window. A second battery cutoff switch will be on the right side of the car somewhere.

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Still waiting for engine parts from Forte, but the shortened LCA's have arrived from FFR for the Cobra, so progress continues.

[JimStone]

That dash certainly is different. Will be interesting to see it come together.

You're definitely making quick work of all this. You'll have this on the race track in no time.

[Jphoenix]

That dash certainly is different. Will be interesting to see it come together.

You're definitely making quick work of all this. You'll have this on the race track in no time.

Yes, it's just going to be gauges and switches, no creature comforts except for a cool suit cooler and blower in the right seat. I plan to put the battery in the right footwell, defroster blower in the upper footwell. Once the wiring/plumbing is done, the engine has to come back out for the power steering pump/dry sump rework that requires a water pump change (reverse rotation) and the TKX mod to forward shift position.

[Jphoenix]

Finalizing the position of the dash structure and riveting the side supports in as well as an additional support channel along the bottom of the dash. Routing wiring, etc. Put some gauges and switches in to check clearance and accessibility. New sealed switches coming from Summit on Friday along with a bunch of LED indicator lights, a water pressure sender and an oil temp gauge. I'm surprised the Coupe-R kit does not include an oil temp gauge.

The center canted portion will be fastened with screws into countersunk rivnuts for easy removal and access to wiring. Data logger goes to the right of the wheel. Waiting for a new 12.5" steering wheel so I can locate the fire handle and starter button, also brake bias control kit coming Friday. so will put that in the center panel. Shift lights are in the data logger display.

Still have to weld in attach brackets for the 6 point harness anti-submarine straps, also have the window net attach brackets to weld in, but getting closer to a point where I can start riveting aluminum in, but I'm going to wait until I get the engine back in.



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[Jphoenix]

Interestingly, I just checked the Coupe-R kit contents on the FFR website:

• Complete set of 7 Autometer brand electronic gauges, with connectors, terminals and installation kit. Includes the following gauges:

• Speedometer
• Tachometer
• Oil Pressure Gauge
• Water Temperature Gauge
• Fuel Level Gauge
• Voltmeter
• Oil Temperature Gauge


So, my memory was correct, but the kit order form does not list the oil temp gauge. I'll send FFR an email asking them to update or clarify their intent.

[Jphoenix]

Working on getting the AVIAID dry sump pump located on the engine. New accessory drive parts arriving soon. Been working on the 289 Cobra while waiting for Coupe-R engine parts.

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[HSS Ben]

Wow!!! Just found this thread! Love your work!! It is REALLY coming together well..!!! Great job!!!

Ben

[Jphoenix]

Still working on the 289 while I wait for Aviaid to build my dry sump kit. Finalizing the layout of the dash and panel on the coupe:

Yellow light under the OP gauge is low oil pressure. Yellow light under water temp is low water pressure - fed by a 2 psi water pressure switch which is the fastest way to discover I have a coolant problem. non-matching oil temp gauge because the Coupe-R complete kit does not include an oil temp gauge. Spare switch will likely be a fresh air blower for those hot August days sitting on pre-grid. I'll have an AIM MXL of some variety in lieu of the tach currently installed.

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[Jphoenix]

Back to work on the Coupe-R, wiring the fuel pump and brake lights. No turn signals because race only.

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[Jphoenix]

Spent the last couple of days re-wiring the electrical system to accommodate all the changes I'm making, such as deleting turn signals, different fuel pump, adding a number of circuits for the water pressure warning light, logger, camera, cool suit, etc. Also adding in the defroster and wipers for those rainy days. Using the FFR fuse panel, but re-purposing the horn relay to the headlights and using a Bosch relay for reliability.

I'm eliminating a lot of wiring and most of the supplied connectors - wiring in new connectors that use the correct number of wires. I still have to arrange the MSD 6AL ignition system wiring scheme, so it will be a few more days to get it all sorted and back in the car.

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[Jphoenix]

Unfortunately, I've discovered the fuse/relay block supplied by FFR (the Ron Francis product) is so sub-standard that it must be replaced. The 3 relays attached to the fuse block do not actually fit the keyways on the block, they are the wrong size and too far apart, but RF screwed the relays onto it anyhow resulting in a skewed assembly that appears to be neither solid, nor a proper method of attaching a part to another part. You can see in one of the photos how they used a sheetmetal screw through the plastic to secure one of the relays, not very impressive.

Then I put power on the system and the fuel pump relay was inoperable. I chased power to the fuseblock wiring connection and no power to the connection coming out of the fuse block and going to the relay. There is power going into that terminal on the fuse block, but nothing coming out of one of the two wires crimped to the output of the terminal. The one wire with no power feeds the fuel pump relay. So, obviously a bad crimping job on the wire coming out of the fuse block. You can see the wires I cut and jumpered with butt connectors to check that the relays actually work, but that's too crude a repair and causes me to question the reliability of the remaining parts in the fuse block.

So strike three, it's out. Ordered a new Blue Sea fuse box with 12 terminations, screw terminal connections and separate relay holders, as well as some more genuine Bosch relays to replace the unknown brand supplied.

Won't delay the wiring program much as I simply need to replace the fuse block and relay, easy job, but gee whiz, it would have disappointing to find no power to the fuel pump after everything was assembled.

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[PNWTim]

Bummer that happened. Ron Francis typically makes pretty good gear so just bad luck I guess.

[Jphoenix]

I hope yours looks better than mine!

[Dave Tabor]

Running a carb - that's cool, so am I!

Dave
Gen III #17
22,500+ miles

[Jphoenix]

Running a carb - that's cool, so am I!

Dave
Gen III #17
22,500+ miles

I like EFI, but not afraid of carbs. I like this brawler, first carb I’ve had with external adjustable float levels. I’ve run webers but, especially on the Formula Mazda, they’re a pain in the butt.

[Jphoenix]

Dash wiring complete, functional test successful, no defects noted. It's not a typical Coupe dash since it just needs to be reliable and functional for racing. Still have to mount and wire up the MSD box, but for now it's all working as planned.

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[PNWTim]

Dash wiring complete, functional test successful, no defects noted. It's not a typical Coupe dash since it just needs to be reliable and functional for racing. Still have to mount and wire up the MSD box, but for now it's all working as planned.

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Looks pretty functional to me!

[Jphoenix]

Good news from AVAIAD this morning, all the dry sump parts are on the way. Spent the day getting the bonnet on, located, but needs trimming.

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[Namrups]

Just a couple of things:

When I mounted my bonnet, I found that even with my body in the location spelled out in the manual, when I went to mount the doors the door hinges hit the body and I had to move the body forward to clear, making the bonnet now not fit. After fixing that I found that when I added the bonnet struts they also caused the bonnet to move. Lastly, the rubber bumpers along the bonnet/body can also cause the sides of the bonnet to flexin/out. It took me a lot of "adjusting" to get it looking good.

[Jphoenix]

Thanks Scott. That’s a good tip, so I’ll do the doors next, before I do any trimming on the hood.

[Jphoenix]

After starting on door hinge cutouts yesterday, I read a few threads here on bonnet fitting and decided to finish the door hinge cutouts, but not fit the doors until after the bonnet is fit. The way the bonnet sits now, it does not appear I'll need to move the main body at all. EdwardB's thread on body fitting was very helpful and I concur with his finding that the main body fit per the manual is pretty darn good.

The door hinge cutouts were pretty straightforward - of course the Coupe-R complicates things with its door bars in the way of the door and its frame, but I see I can simply cut them as GTRich did (and probably others, but I could not find any other threads or photos of how the Coupe-R doors are modified).

Finding the location of the hinge cutouts was easy, using a 12" drill bit to pilot a hole above and below the hinge mounts, squared it up and laid out the cutouts per the manual and int worked out quite well, with just a minimum of additional trimming need on the driver's side, but more trimming needed on the passenger side to get the door hinge to close fully.

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[Jphoenix]

Next, I adjusted the bonnet slightly to move the left side forward .25" and started to trim the aft end of the bonnet 1/8" at a time to get it to sit down. The left side is pretty close to the primary alignment point where the wheel cutout meets the pontoon edge. When those two points align, then I'll have the bonnet in the correct location. The right side need to come aft quite a bit, but needed to trim more on the left side because the bonnet is well oversize - and that's good. But slow and steady wins the race, so I spent the entire day laying out trim line with masking tape, taking a little off on each pass, the adjusting the hinge points and pontoon position and it started to look pretty good after a while. I also read that the struts have an effect, so installed those prior to starting.

I used only two 1/4" bolts to fasten the front hinges on each side of the body mounts so I could adjust the bonnet left and right if required after trimming - or during final trimming. I did notice that my hinge mounts are something like a 110 degree angle, so don't have the problem I've read about where wedges were needed on the bottom. The mounts are different from those shown in early photos in the manual, so maybe FFR fixed that?

After some hours with the sander, I've got it close. At the end of todays work period I believe the right side hinge mount needs to come back .400" to meet the datum point, the left side is within .100" and the entire bonnet needs to move to the left about a half inch, give or take. So that I'll do tomorrow and proceed with final trimming, probably install the latches to see how they pull the bonnet in at the top of the quarter panel. Also install the bumpers now that the hood just barely fits down into the recess. This is really not nearly as bad as I expected, so by this time tomorrow, I should have a nicely fit bonnet.

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I found EdwardB's body fitting posts to be very helpful - after installing the hinge point rod ends, I had not thought about adjusting them to get the bonnet level with the pontoons, but soon realized that have a decent effect on the body fit. Also I read his comment about cutting out the lower bonnet valence to clear the radiator and side tunnels, I was wondering why I kept seeing photos of that parts being trimmed so far back - I removed my radiator and sheetmetal so I did not run into that problem, so glad I read about it now and can trim that part before I put the rest of the engine bay together, much easier to access now! As EdwardB said, there is not mention of this need to trim the lower valence in the manual.

Thanks to everyone who posts here to help us all along with the mysteries of putting these cars together.

[Jphoenix]

More sanding on the bonnet today. I moved the entire bonnet to the right about a half inch on the front mounts to try to cure a bulge on the left side and the bonnet aft edge bowed in on the right side. Then I adjusted the rod end horizontal location a bit more aft to get the wheel cutout and pontoon datum set. Got it pretty close now.

Next I need to decide where the end of the pontoon will be located. I'll use the inner fender panels per the threads here and mount it on the forward side of the pontoon as suggested by Erik T.

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[Jphoenix]

Finally getting the bonnet close to where it should be, going to install the pontoon wheel arch pieces to help solidify the position, then work on gaps after I mount and trim the doors. Erik T's video on how he did the doors on Logan's Coupe-R was very informative, so I started by lining up the doors best I could and marking the cutouts for the side-intrusion bars and cut them out. The doors fit nicely in the door cutouts now, but still have to trim to fit - after I cut the door frames and put them back on. Following EdwardB's tips, I'll make sure the bonnet is closed and locked prior to trimming the doors.

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In other news - the dry sump parts from AVIAD arrived this morning, so I can get the engine back together, new TKX from Summit delivered yesterday - so no further obstacles to finishing the car.

[Jphoenix]

Spent all day yesterday fitting the driver's door. Complicated by the side intrusion bars, but mostly the door fitting in the hole. I had it quite good - then I un-latched and opened the bonnet causing a big gap to appear in the front of the door. I was warned about this and is why I was working with the bonnet latched. Now I have it close to fitting again, but obviously need to finalize the bonnet and body fit and lock them down, then go back to the driver door. I put spacers on the inside as shown in EdwardB's thread and that helped pull the door in - I also ran out of adjustment on the door hinge mount as he did, until the spacer was installed.

After sleeping on it, I need to get the body centered left to right and bolted down, then make sure the bonnet is good, then finish the doors. As has been said by the folks having done this before - all the body parts have relationships to each other that must be negotiated.

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[Jphoenix]

Another day on the driver door, getting much better now with the spacers in the frame and the hood trimmed even more. When I close and latch the hood, I can see it moving the body, so trimming the hood to relieve the stress is helping. Takes a long time because just want to trim off a very little bit each time, then latch it down, adjust the door again, open the hood, check the door, latch the hood again, check the door. Also learned I need to latch both sides, so slowly but surely.

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[Jphoenix]

The driver door opens - and it closes and latches. Calling it good, but need to do more work on the bonnet fit on the left side, then I suspect 2 more days to fit the right side of the body (including cutouts for the 1.5" frame tubes on the bottom that I see is required for this fit) the right side of the bonnet - which is close, and the right side door which also appears to fit pretty well after an initial trial.

Patience is a virtue :rolleyes:

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[Namrups]

Looking good Jim! It is a process for sure. Keep working at it and it will all work out.

Scott

[Jphoenix]

Thanks Scott, I’m enjoying the process. Got the inner fender well installed to locate the left pontoon. Then threw the passenger door on from across the room and it fits pretty good in the initial stage.

Taking Erik T’s advice to mount the inner panel on the front side of the pontoon.

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[Jphoenix]

Doors are done, they close and latch and the latches are installed, eventually will do final gaps after I get the bonnet finished. The bonnet needs more adjustment of course, move a little here, adjust up a bit, then to the side - never-ending it seems.

Took a page from Dave Tabor and got a wing from WingLogic, 72" wide. Gotta get the engine buttoned up and the TKX modified for mid shift and get it in. Plenty to do yet.

I put the suspension in the street ride height so I can easily move it on and off the quickjacks.

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[Jphoenix]

Fire system going in.

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[Jphoenix]

Lines run to the cockpit and engine compartment. Two fire pull handles, one on the center console above the brake bias knob, the other on the outside left front for course worker access. Close to the main power shutoff.

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Next up is the AVIAID dry sump oil tank, I'll put it in front of the engine, aft of the steering rack, I recall that's where John George located his.

[kabacj]

Lines run to the cockpit and engine compartment. Two fire pull handles, one on the center console above the brake bias knob, the other on the outside left front for course worker access. Close to the main power shutoff.

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Next up is the AVIAID dry sump oil tank, I'll put it in front of the engine, aft of the steering rack, I recall that's where John George located his.

Looking good Jim!

That's going to be a very fun track car.

John

[Jphoenix]

Thanks John!

Fabricating mounts for the dry sump oil tank now.

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[PNWTim]

Pretty sweet. Do think you will run it at PIR sometime in the future?

[Jphoenix]

Pretty sweet. Do think you will run it at PIR sometime in the future?

Yes we do 3 races per season at PIR.

https://www.icscc.com/season.php

[Jphoenix]

Welded up the oil tank mounting brackets. Painted them with white POR-15.


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I’ve sent my fuel tank plate back to FuelSafe so they can fix the mis-wired cannon plug, so I decided to have them install a 45 degree fill fitting and a fuel level sender as I may do some enduros. ICSCC has an enduro each race weekend and it’s a good way to get lots of race time - which I’m going to need as driving this car will be significantly different from the Formula Ford. So I’ll use the fuel filler in the rear fender, but plumbing it with the Coupe-R cage will be a challenge.

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[Dave Tabor]

PIR a few years ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CyGqwHzb_I

I had moved my daughter into the University of Oregon the day before - brought all her stuff and my car from California...and then spent the the remainder of the week touring the Columbia River Gorge area in the Type 65...

Dave
Gen III #17
23,000+ miles

[Jphoenix]

PIR a few years ago:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CyGqwHzb_I

I had moved my daughter into the University of Oregon the day before - brought all her stuff and my car from California...and then spent the the remainder of the week touring the Columbia River Gorge area in the Type 65...

Dave
Gen III #17
23,000+ miles

Nice run! Our first race of the season there is without the chicane, so going into turn 1 (actually 4 with chicane?) is always interesting with no chicane.

[Jphoenix]

In preparation for installing the engine and transmission into the car, I need to modify the TKX 18084 to a mid shift configuration. I bought the mid shift kit from Summit, made by Silver Sport Transmissions. At first it seems disassembling the box and cutting off the ends of the outer shift rods appears to be a daunting task, in fact, it's pretty simple. Knock out three roll pins, remove the tail shaft housing, cut off the shift rod ends using the included spacer as a guide and slap it all back together with the new shift blocks. The last photo shows all the parts removed lying on the paper towel - replaced by the mid shift assembly.

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[Jphoenix]

Ready to go in. I'm using a Hays hydraulic throwout bearing.

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[Jphoenix]

Engine goes in for the last time. I wanted to try and install it with the dry sump oil tank in the chassis and it turns out I have plenty of room. The transmission rear mount was a bit of a puzzle at first, but I figured it out and it's all settled in now. Time for reassembly to start in earnest.

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[Jphoenix]

Got the driveshaft collar installed, then decided to modify the driver's side outer aluminum panel so I can remove it to gain access to the brake and clutch cylinders, so I cut it similar (but larger) to the cutout on the passenger side. Now I can install the body (for the last time - sigh) and still gain good access to that brake/clutch area. Also will do the typical threaded screw attachment scheme to the upper panel as most have done.

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I've also been sanding off the white powder coat where it's flaking off. Interestingly, it just falls off in some spots and is well adhered in others, so I just sand off the flakiness and paint ti with white POR after proper prep. I suppose I should tell FFR and maybe they'll give me a $699 credit towards a MK V? :cool:

[JimStone]

It's really too bad your powder coat is flaking off. The frame must not have been prepped for powder sufficiently, whether not cleaned or etched correctly. I'd be pissed.

Knowing FFR's customer service, I'm sure they'd make it right.

[Jphoenix]

Yes, definitely a prep issue. But only in certain spots, some areas are good. FFR has always been very responsive - and very accommodating when I change things last minute, so no doubt their customer service is probably the best I've experienced in a very long time.



I was always going to have to touch up paint anyhow with all the welding needed for things like seat back mount, window net brackets, dry sump bits, etc. The white POR is a perfect match for the powder coat they use. In any case - it's a race car, it won't be pretty for long :p

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[Jphoenix]

I decided to complete installation of the cockpit aluminum prior to installing the body. I'm using screws to attach the center console top plate and the diagonal plate aft of the console so I can have access to all the fluid and electrical lines running through the top of the tunnel.

In addition, I wanted easy access to the transmission fill port, so I fabricated an access panel using screws and rivnuts. For the screws holding the console panels in place, I used a combo drill bit/10-32 tap I found on Amazon and it works a treat to make drilling and tapping all those holes - took about 10 minutes to tap them all. Here's the bit: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GWSYQ4E?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

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[Jphoenix]

Fabricated oil cooler mounting angles, located and installed radiator ducts. Setrab oil cooler with AN12 fittings. Still have to locate and install the oil thermostat and remote filter mount.

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[Jphoenix]

Fabricated brackets for the side pipes using FFR roadster side pipes connected to Georgie’s headers. They fit great and should be a bit quieter than the normal side pipes.

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[Jphoenix]

Still waiting for my dry sump pump from AVIAID, they say two more weeks - so I decided to start on wrapping the body since there's not much left to do.

First off - wrapping the Coupe is not difficult, but it will not result in a show-quality finish - unless the car is already show quality and you take it to a professional - which I am not. Any tiny imperfections or dust on the body will show right through the wrap. I've been wrapping my race cars for a couple years now, so I know what it will take and my expectations are for a nice looking car from 10 feet and 140 mph. :cool:

Second, the wrap is temporary while I sort the car this season and I will likely replace it (or the body entirely) for next season. The car finish gets beat up pretty well on track with tire rubber marks, rock dings, and in a couple cases, large tire marks from getting hit in the side, so again, I'm not worried about perfection - and it's easier than trying to paint it here in my garage which I've done and it's not fun at all.

Third - it doesn't get me out of body work, knocking down the parting lines, filling with Duraglass, lightweight filler and sanding all the way through 1500 wet. Like I said, any imperfections will show through, and I can't clear it, sand and polish the imperfections away - but I do have a nice collection of racing stickers as a time-honored method of hiding the worst bits.

Finally, I bought 50' of 5' wide VVIVID high gloss red metallic vinyl with a clear cap that wraps real nice and is much easier to use and glossier than the 3M stuff. Also some white for the stripes and back. I'm using 3M knifeless tape for edges and stripes, works very well. I was pleased to find that one piece of the 60" wide wrap, 86" long covers the entire half side of the car body. I'm splitting the wrap down the middle with the stripes forming the butt joint. Gets kinda tricky around the lower rear quarter panel, but I think it can be done with enough patience and pulling. I'm lucky that I have wheel vent cutouts that allow me to cut out that compound curved area.

I wrapped the door jams first to minimize the visible seams, but not sure it makes any difference. You can see that with patience (lots of patience) the wrap will form around difficult monuments like the wiper mounts, etc.

So, if you're waiting for your spot in line at the paint shop and don't want to drive around in gelcoat (nothing wrong with that) give it a try and if nothing else it will re-kindle your long lost patience ;) Also - the folks on Youtube showing how to wrap where they throw it on from across the room, swipe it three times with their squeegee and it's perfect is just complete BS. I watched a lot of wrap videos over the years and no one wraps anything as complex as a Cobra - and formula cars are even worse because if you pull hard enough to get the wrap to conform, it falls off the jacks.

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[jbs72697]

That looks great. I’m planning on wrapping my 818, and with the same brand and what looks like the same color. I figured if I muck up the wrap, I can just rip it off and try again. If I mucked up painting it’s be a lot more trouble to correct

[Jphoenix]

I'm adding a couple more photos here to show the progression of wrapping around the curves - which can be very frustrating. Getting the wrinkles out takes a lot of patience and working with fingers, squeegee and heat gun - but persistence pays off.

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[Jphoenix]

That looks great. I’m planning on wrapping my 818, and with the same brand and what looks like the same color. I figured if I muck up the wrap, I can just rip it off and try again. If I mucked up painting it’s be a lot more trouble to correct

Yup, rip it off and try again - been there done that. The youtuber CK Wraps is pretty good to watch. The Rapid Tac II tack fluid really helps with cleaning just prior to wrapping and helps it stick very well. I wait as long as possible to remove the clear cap.

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[jbs72697]

Yes, I’ve spent a lot of time watching CK Wraps. I’m sure I’ll find it challenging when the time comes.
That color looks awesome. What’s the name of it? I’m trying to decide between Vivid Liquid Metal and ultra gloss candy red

[rdcyclist]

[snippage] - and formula cars are even worse because if you pull hard enough to get the wrap to conform, it falls off the jacks.

LOL. Exactly so. Gotta have tiedown points on the shop floor. Nothin' worse than throwing an 1000 pound race car on the ground without wheels...

[Jphoenix]

Yes, I’ve spent a lot of time watching CK Wraps. I’m sure I’ll find it challenging when the time comes.
That color looks awesome. What’s the name of it? I’m trying to decide between Vivid Liquid Metal and ultra gloss candy red

Ultra Gloss Candy Red - it has a lot of metallic in it, the photos don't show that very well.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08MWQ7GS8

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[jbs72697]

The pictures look awesome! I’ll bet it’s even better in person.
I ordered a few sample rolls of what films I was thinking of and then I even bought vivid ‘s sample booklet to help me decide. You helped me settle on that color ��

[PNWTim]

Ultra Gloss Candy Red - it has a lot of metallic in it, the photos don't show that very well.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08MWQ7GS8

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That's a color you can see on the track! I know virtually nothing about applying film like this - is it difficult or simply fiddly (for want of a more technical term)?

[Jphoenix]

Yes, it's fiddly, and it's not perfect because every tiny dust mote shows through the wrap. My garage is not antiseptically clean so just the process of unrolling the wrap, etc and you get some dust. So, it's a ten footer, but easier, faster and less smelly than painting in this uncontrolled and cold environment.

[Jphoenix]

Progress on the right side. 3 days into this. Doors go back on next.

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[PNWTim]

Yes, it's fiddly, and it's not perfect because every tiny dust mote shows through the wrap. My garage is not antiseptically clean so just the process of unrolling the wrap, etc and you get some dust. So, it's a ten footer, but easier, faster and less smelly than painting in this uncontrolled and cold environment.

C'mon now, painting in your driveway, in the winter, in the PNW, makes for ideal conditions! I can see how it would be tough to make ultra smooth with particulate buzzing around but between ease and cost seems like a great option, especially for your application.

[Jphoenix]

Going back together. The side pipes are MK4 pipes from FFR that mate up very nicely to the Gas'n 302 headers from Georgie.

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[Jphoenix]

Made a bracket for the transponder and finished wiring for the logger, Smartycam (camera controller) and transponder, so cockpit is almost finished. Got a wide angle mirror to install yet - and the doors of course. Still waiting on the oil pump from AVIAID, maybe this week.

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[PNWTim]

Made a bracket for the transponder and finished wiring for the logger, Smartycam (camera controller) and transponder, so cockpit is almost finished. Got a wide angle mirror to install yet - and the doors of course. Still waiting on the oil pump from AVIAID, maybe this week.

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Looks like you mean business. I like how clean and accessible everything is.

[Jphoenix]

Started making oil lines in anticipation of receiving the AVIAID dry sump pump soon. They told me this morning it will ship Friday :)

The SETRAB remote filter mount has an oil temp regulator within, the aluminum filter housing is expensive but allows full flow and cleanable element. The dry sump system uses about 20 feet of -12 line and 20 hose and AN fittings.

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[Jphoenix]

Sprayed Upol raptor on the hood and mounted it back on the car. Gotta do some bodywork on the hood, then wrap it.

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[Jphoenix]

Cut holes for the side wheel vents in the bonnet.They fit pretty good. I thought they would be carbon fiber when I ordered them because the photos in the FFR gallery show them with a black carbon fiber finish - maybe they used a wrap?

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[Dave Tabor]

What's the ETA on firing up, driving and first track event?

Will you get it street legal?

Any interest in doing the Nevada Open Road/Silver State Challenge (May and September)?

Dave
Gen III #17

[Jphoenix]

What's the ETA on firing up, driving and first track event?

Will you get it street legal?

Any interest in doing the Nevada Open Road/Silver State Challenge (May and September)?

Dave
Gen III #17

Dry sump pump finally shipped from AVIAID yesterday, so first start likely next week. Then it's over to my friends house for roll cage certification and corner weights. First race is May 2/3 SOVREN at Pacific Raceways, so plenty of time to set the engine idle speed and fix leaks. There's a conference race in Portland end of April, might do that one - but if I don't - I still have 8 race weekends this summer - I expect I'll be doing a lot of sorting/modifying/learning this season.

It will not be street legal because of the race height and splitter, etc. Also, I have the 289 for getting the groceries.

I've thought about doing the SSC, but I really only do wheel to wheel racing because its fun and addictive. I haven't done any track days, but I do run test and tunes on the day before the race weekend to fix all the broken or nagging things.

Oh yeah, also have to weld the wing mounts onto the wing yet, so there's that.

[Jphoenix]

The -R front air dam fits pretty good, it's not carbon fiber, just black gelcoat. The splitter (not shown) is carbon fiber and is very nicely done.

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[Jphoenix]

Filling the bonnet parting lines with Duraglass, lightweight filler then hi-build primer and sanding it all off. Prepping the. body for wrapping is a little less work than painting - it still must be smooth - any imperfections show through along with all the dust of course.

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[Shakey]

Jim,

Awesome build! It has been fun following along. What category/class are you planning to race in with SOVREN? I have a Coupe up in Mount Vernon, WA that is road legal but still a work in progress. I have been looking at racing with SOVREN next year maybe.

V/R

Shakey

[Jphoenix]

SONREN will put me in the big bore run group. In Conference I’ll run GTX, SPO, maybe ST something depending on tires and dyno. I still plan to run my Van Diemen CF in SOVREN with the Emerald Cup group - when the Coupe is broken and vice versa when the CF is broken ��

[Jphoenix]

Jim,

Awesome build! It has been fun following along. What category/class are you planning to race in with SOVREN? I have a Coupe up in Mount Vernon, WA that is road legal but still a work in progress. I have been looking at racing with SOVREN next year maybe.

V/R

Shakey

Shakey, do you plan to run your Coupe in SOVREN? Is it caged per SCCA IT rules? If so, it's a lot less expensive to run in ICSCC.

[Jphoenix]

Oil pump came today from AVIAID, took a while and lots of dry-fitting with a mock-up pump, but it fits perfectly. Just have to finish making the rest of the oil lines and mount the breather tank.

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[Jphoenix]

Installing and plumbing a dry sump system is not for the faint of heart. While the Coupe-R provides plenty of room for the pump, tanks, remote filter, regulator, oil cooler and breather tank, it still needs almost 20' of -12AN hose and 24 -12AN fittings, not counting the tanks, pump, etc. fittings. It's taken a couple days of building hose assemblies, installing, removing, adjusting the hose length and installing again to get it all plumbed.

Still have to clamp all the hoses in place, probably another day at least for that activity.

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[Jphoenix]

More photos of the dry sump system. Everything fits nicely under the hood, seen through the wheel vent cutout.

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I think FFR did a great job of engineering the Coupe-R to allow plenty of space for all the extra stuff needed for road racing this car, like the dry sump system, oil cooler, etc. Working on the mechanicals of this car will be significantly easier than my Formula Ford! It's not absolutely necessary to have a dry sump for road racing, indeed some of the guys I race with get by just fine with a large wet sump properly baffled for a road course, but I wanted the extra peace of mind that a dry sump provides. That said, the cost of a dry sump installation has gone up (like everything else) and I think I have over $5k into this one, with $4k of that being the AVIAID parts. Add in the oil cooler, fittings, hoses and all the little bits and pieces and it's much more expensive than a wet sump. Also, I have 2.5 gallons of oil and a wet sump that large likely won't fit in the Coupe with a 3" ride height.

[PNWTim]

It all looks pretty trick to me.

[Jphoenix]

Took a break from wrapping the hood, installed my new starter and started the 363 for the first time. Started right up, no leaks noted. Tested the clutch and trans shifting, perfect. I need to adjust the power steering pump forward a bit as the belt is rifing about a half inch forward, otherwise it's mechanically ready to go. Oil pump and thermostat working perfectly, alternator output is good, fan comes on as set, so pretty happy with all that!

Now that the fun is over, back to wrapping :(

https://youtu.be/fSSG0Cq9PSA?si=kfD-qXj_YFKWxoVM

[burchfieldb]

Congrats, it looks and sounds great!

[Shakey]

Shakey, do you plan to run your Coupe in SOVREN? Is it caged per SCCA IT rules? If so, it's a lot less expensive to run in ICSCC.

I have been looking at racing with SOVREN. I have zero racing experience so it will take me a while to get up to speed. The car is not caged. Just the standard gen 3 coupe frame. I have been looking at the rulebooks a lot to see what I need to do to get the roll cage up to spec for SOVREN and right now all I can come up with is that I need to add door bars. I'll keep researching though and reach out to the SOVREN tech folks. I'm planning to watch the spring sprints at Pacific Raceways. Hopefully I'll see you there. Congrats on getting it fired up! Looks and sounds great!

V/R

Shakey

[Jphoenix]

Shakey, I sent you a link in your build thread. I’ll likely be running the Van Diemen at the spring sprints - Emerald Cup race. First Coupe race will be with Conference- either Portland end of April or at Pacific in May. Need to get the Coupe cage stamped and logbook issued by Conference.

[Jphoenix]

Body wrap mostly done, gotta do some minor trimming. On to the front air dam and splitter - I'm going with 3.5" protrusion to start with.

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[Steve Powell]

Body wrap mostly done, gotta do some minor trimming. On to the front air dam and splitter - I'm going with 3.5" protrusion to start with.

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Jim, Great job on your build. Well done. I will be running the Rose City Opener with my ex-spec racer (FFR4662SP yellow #133). Would be cool to see you there. If you have interest, we (Cascade) will be having a tech day on March 22nd at PIR. You could get the car "teched" and a Conference Logbook. The 2025 Conference Steward will be there and can stamp your cage and such. We're doing this to try to relieve the Friday night madhouse at the first race of the season. Everybody is trying to get their "annual" tech done for the season. It's tough when we try to get 100 plus cars done before racing starts Saturday morning. Hopefully we can get a head start by doing this tech day. I ran ITE for a bunch of years. That was the best fit for my car. I've just been running the Cascade Nostalgia group for the past 3 seasons. I'm old and fat and slow so the Nostalgia Group works out better for me now. I also run Vintage (VP3) at the Rose Cup Race which is fun. Hope to see you around the track.

[Jphoenix]

Hi Steve, I remember your yellow Cobra, I've been running FM and CF lately. I'm chief of tech for IRDC so fully understand the tech madhouse on Fridays! I do plan to do the Rose City Opener, and the RATS meeting this Saturday as well. Might be a good idea to do the Tech day at PIR as you suggest, I wasn't aware that was happening. I do plan to run ITE, doesn't really fit any other class in conference.

What tires are you running? You get them from Garth?

[Steve Powell]

I've been running 275-40-17 Toyo "RR's". Mostly because that's what the old spec racer guys ran. There are no doubt better choices, but these last a long time and seem to be pretty uniform throughout their lifetime. I'm not exactly running at the "pointy end of the spear" so they are fine for me. Yes I do buy them from Garth at AnT Tire. I try to support the people who support us. I even buy my daily driver stuff from him.

[Jphoenix]

Glass installed. Windshield was easier than I thought, even single-handed it sets in nicely. Gotta clean up some adhesive squeeze-out on the inside.

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[JimStone]

Looks awesome!

[PNWTim]

Looks really nice. You powered right through it. Hopefully see you are PIR this year.

[burchfieldb]

Looks great! This is one of the items that I have no experience with and was kind of dreading.

[Jphoenix]

Mostly finished now, waiting for FFR to send me the correct rear swaybar bracket - I received two LH brackets, but did not detect that until I attempted to install the swaybar - last item on the list of course. Mounted the rear wing and fabricated a support rod for the wing mounts. This is the WingLogic wing that Dave Tabor is using.

The car looks better without the wing in my opinion, but gotta have a wing so here we go. The front air dam is finished and sitting in the trailer, easier to load/unload with the air dam off.

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[JimStone]

The 25% adult in me cringes seeing wings on classic cars.

The 75% kid in me says "HELL YEAH that's AWESOME!

[Jphoenix]

I modified the wheel well liners to accommodate the wheel vents that come with the -R. A real pain to do, but I wanted to protect the stuff inside the wheel well from all the tire rubber they throw off. I made a bulkhead for the front of the wheel well also.

I did the same for the front splash shields, fabricating a shroud around the wheel vents - very time consuming to get it cut properly and all sealed up. Not covered by the build manual, so just had to make it up as I went along. Didn't take any photos of the front, might do that later if anyone wants to see how I did it. I think I know now why some Coupe-R builders omit the wheel vents - which are not carbon fiber by the way, so don't be fooled by the pretty photos on the FFR site.

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[Jphoenix]

Finally ready to go racing. Loading up for Pacific Raceways this weekend. Rain is forecasted, as I expected, so this will be fun!

https://youtu.be/MzePxDPjILs

[Rsnake]

Car looks amazing! Have fun this weekend.

[Jphoenix]

Hey Greg, congrats on our Open Road win!! I posted my race update on the old Racing your Type 65 thread: https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?26985-Racing-Your-Type-65

[Rsnake]

Thank You Jim! The type 65's had a 1,2 sweep in the 140 group as Dave was just off my average by .2 seconds.
Mark from San Diego brought his beautiful Type 65 but a scheduling/weather issue cheated him from getting results but he said he's coming back for the September run.

Congratulations on your testing. I would love to chat some more on the phone as I hate typing. I will DM you.

[Jphoenix]

Short video of the Coupe-R in Saturday’s race.


https://youtu.be/ps_PxrC6Vhs?si=eDjPFQ6zV9QZ8M7V

[Dmac800]

What spring rate are you running on your shocks?

[Jphoenix]

What spring rate are you running on your shocks?

I’m using the standard springs FFR ships with the Coupe-R, 750 front, 500 rear.

After this past weekend, I thought I would go stiffer, but wiser and more experienced colleagues recommend going a bit stiffer on the rear sway bar, increase rear compression a couple clicks and increase front rebound, just small changes to stiffen it up just a bit. I’m told setting this car up soft helps with any oversteer out of slow corners. It doesn’t push at all, so I’m leaving the front alone except the rebound so the car will come up in front and put more weight on the rear tires for turn exit traction. Small changes at a time, makes sense to me.

[Jphoenix]

After a season of jacking up the front of the car so I can open the hood with the splitter and air dam installed (and occasionally forgetting to lower the hood before lowering the car!), I bought a set of Allstar Performance air jacks so I can quickly put the air to it and jack it up without having to get out the very low profile floor jack and jack stands at the track. This is only a problem for Coupe with the front air dam and splitter, in race suspension upper holes and a low 3" or less ground clearance. I bought the 11" long cylinders, they have 15" as well, but I measured and the 11" should work: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/AAF-ALL11302

The AP jacks are nice, I believe Logan did them on his car and I know Factory Five did them on the Logano car, but there is very little info on how the did it, so Logan's photos are helpful. See his post here: https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?34792-Logan-s-Gen-3-Coupe-R-Build&p=396781&viewfull=1#post396781

Since my car is fully assembled, this will be an adventure, and as my wife likes to say - "it's not an adventure until something goes wrong". I'll post my progress as I go along figuring out how to do this without setting the garage on fire.

First step, do the fronts first, they're easier to get to, so I made some brackets out of angle steel as Logan did, welded the mount rings to the brackets. The mount rings come with the jack kit and surprisingly remained round after welding.

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[Jphoenix]

I fabricated mounts for the jacks from angle steel and welded them to the supplied jack mounting rings. Locating them and drilling for bolts. Added backup angles to prevent crushing the square tubes. Need to go down the hill to McClendon's and get more grade 8 5/16" did. bolts and nuts - my grade 8 bolt and nut collection is in Montana with the 289 - still getting painted.

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https://youtu.be/BCaz5Vxg0Gg

Edit: Still have to weld gussets on the ends of the angles and turn the upper backing plate angle upside down so the jack mounting angle is lifting up against the frame tube instead of all the lifting force being on the bolts, they can handle it as they are very strong in shear - but paraphrasing Logan, overkill is the way to go. "OverKill is OK".

[PNWTim]

Looking good. I suspect this will be a really nice upgrade to the jack/jackstand boogie you have to do at the track.

[Jphoenix]

Moving over to the right front now, the upper mount is problematic because it bolts to the angled frame tube, so I welded the mount ring to the angle at an angle and I drill the holes through the frame tube so they are close to centered. Looks weird, but it's strong with the backing angle and the 5/16 dia. bolts. Fronts should be done and painted by end of the day - if I'm not interrupted by the garage cat for feeding time.

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[Jphoenix]

Got the front mounts all welded up and gusseted, drilled, got some more bolts. Now painting with POR15.

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[Jphoenix]

The mounts for the rear air jacks are more complicated, of course. Because there is no frame structure as low as the bottom of the chassis, I have to fabricate a mount that bolts to the frame structure higher up. So some more steel angle, lots of measuring and I think I have a plan. Had to remove the aluminum panels in the back to gain access to the structure - and to run the hoses and install the air jack lance receptacle.

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[Jphoenix]

Slowly working on the rear jack mounts, lots of measuring and leveling and adjusting. Finished fabricating the rear mounts, drilled them up and painted. After installing them, I plumbed the air lines from the rear nitrogen receptacle to each of the jacks. Testing reveals they work perfectly. Gotta disassemble the center console (again!) to run the air line from rear to the front jacks.

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[Jphoenix]

Ran the air line forward from the rear to the front through the trans tunnel. I installed fire sleeve over the lines in the engine compartment, especially since they pass directly over the headers.

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Video of the jacks going up and down: https://youtu.be/xN6cLOz_81g

[Jphoenix]

The air jacks are a huge improvement over the low profile floor jack I was using to raise the car up enough to fully open the hood. After warming it up and draining the oil from the dry sump tank, I removed the tank so I can re-seal it so it doesn't seep oil - a known issue with the AVIAID tanks.

This was first run after electrical system overhaul - everything working as it should, no smoke was generated.

https://youtu.be/c2DcHwnZt4w

[PNWTim]

That's pretty trick. And always a good thing when none of the magic smoke comes out.

[Jphoenix]

New wing from APR, it's a GTC-500. Much lighter than the aluminum Winglogic wing, plus a bit more downforce and less drag.

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[Jphoenix]

I never liked the method of screwing the wheel well vents into the Coupe body, so with some winter time on my hands, I decided to fair them in so they look better. This is also another reason why I wrapped the body initially - knowing many changes would be made and when I get done changing everything, I'll remove the wrap and paint it, probably after next racing season.

So, I removed the wrap around the front wheel well vents and proceeded to cut the vents and glass them in with some fiberglass on the inside and Duraglas on the outside, Ran out of Duraglas, so continued on the right side with HSRF because I had it in the composite drawer and it works pretty well for fairing the vents into the body. To finish it off, I tossed on a section of new wrap.

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Now I can move on to the rear wheel well vents.

[Power Surge]

Damn Jim, that looks a million times better!

[Jphoenix]

Starting on the rear vents.

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[Jphoenix]

Finished the rear wheel well vents.

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[Jphoenix]

I decided to fabricate new wing mounts, replacing the heavy aluminum mounts from FFR. I had a roll of carbon fiber left over from another project, so I rolled it out, cut it to size and laminated 8 layers in alternating directions. I applied the epoxy resin into the CF with it lying on a sheet of polycarbonate, then another sheet on top to give it a mirror finish. I weighed down the top sheet with 9 gallons of Delo 100 40 wt. low ash oil I have waiting for an oil change in the bus. After it set up, I drew the outline of the mounts and cut them out with my jigsaw.

I added additional thickness in the mounting bolt area to fill the .220" space between the frame mounts, these new mounts are thinner than the old aluminum parts. I then poured more epoxy on both sides (ruining the mirror finish) so I can sand them down with 800, 1000 and 3000 then polish them.

The new CF mounts weigh one third of the old aluminum mounts. These new mounts are very stiff - and they look like proper race car bits. :cool:

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[Dmac800]

Looks great!

[AaronR]

That is awesome! love it.

[Fat Larrys Garage]

Jim when you installed the front Aero Bumper did you need to sand down the front air opening in order for it to slide into the original opening

[Jphoenix]

Jim when you installed the front Aero Bumper did you need to sand down the front air opening in order for it to slide into the original opening

Yes, on both the hood and the outside of the bumper opening, it's a very snug fit - which is good because it takes some of the downward load, this way the load doesn't go through only the mounting bolts/screws/Dzus fasteners or whatever you're using to attach it.

[Jphoenix]

New head lights, turn signals, hazard flashers and switch plate. Plus new carbon fiber wing and carbon fiber wing mounts and some other stuff. I've never liked the turn signals that came with the kit, so I bought the halo headlights with integrated DRL and turn signals for a cleaner look. I may get it registered, but before I can do that I have to install a speedometer with an odometer and a horn. Also pay 9.9% Washington state tax :(

https://youtu.be/IF2myeo6Y8o


Ready for racing season soon!

[Stangrob]

She looks and sounds great!!!

Rob

[JimStone]

Awesome job Jim! Best looking car on the track, bar none

[PNWTim]

You've done a great job. Looks like it's ready to win!

[JTG]

That is a beautiful build! Wish I was still in the Seattle area to see that in person.
Happy racing!!

[Jphoenix]

I wanted to get rid of the crappy plastic brake light switch and decided I would install a brake light pressure switch like I had in my other race cars - very reliable and no need to adjust the crappy plastic switch when I want to adjust pedal height.

So, while I'm in there, I installed a set of brake pressure gauges to provide better control over the brake bias pressures. I used this calculator (https://www.tceperformanceproducts.com/dual-bias-calc/) to determine weights, weight balance and the desired bias setting that gave me rear pressure of 630 psi and front of 550 with neutral bias as it sits with me, full fuel, etc. in the car. All up weight going on track is 3,017 lbs. The Coupe-R is heavier than the standard Coupe, then you throw all the safety gear, cool suit ice water, driver, etc. and some optional extras like air jacks, turn signals :rolleyes: and it's all OK because 530+ hp :cool:

I run the bias back and forth in the video so you can see how the pressures change. The front pressure is lower than the rear because of the .75 front master (vs. the .625 rear) and the front brakes are much larger - so less pressure gives more braking force. You can see that when I run the bias all the way front, the pressure are almost equal - but the front brakes are doing most of the work at that point.

Going to be interesting to see what the pressures look like on a dry track - and will be very handy in the wet when I need to get the braking torques very even with just a slight bias to the front.

https://youtu.be/fRXTJYMpOP0


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[Dave Tabor]

Are the additional nuts and washers on the master cylinder side to limit overtravel in case one cylinder fails?

Thanks,
Dave
Gen III #17

[Jphoenix]

Are the additional nuts and washers on the master cylinder side to limit overtravel in case one cylinder fails?

Thanks,
Dave
Gen III #17

Yes, but they do not work if one of the threaded rods fails or backs out of the clevis - the washer has to push against the bellows of the failed master. Testing shows the rear brake sees about 300 - 400 psi with front master open (not bled, open brake line). So, 300 psi should be enough to keep m from hitting the Armco too hard.

[Dave Tabor]

Seems good to me.

You've seen this thread?:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?53104-Wilwood-master-cylinder-failure-and-safety-concerns&p=602616#post602616

Dave
Gen III #17

[Jphoenix]

Interesting thread - I've always put the spacer/washers on my race cars, starting with the Formula Mazda. Some old race car driver pointed it out to me - but also said not many people do it. I did have a brake master fail (slowly) on my Formula Ford, but not enough to go completely flat, just noticed a longer pedal over a couple of races.