Finally my Mark IV journey is about to begin

[skijunky]

Hi All,
Newbie here. I placed my order for the Roadster Mark4 after thinking about this for 10 years. I have been reading the build threads for that long and now that I have started the process, I find myself with more questions and feeling overwhelmed with the options.
This will primarily be a car driven around town, some highway cruises and occasional road course laps. I have selected the following and would appreciate any input from this forum.

Complete MK4
Powder coat frame
Blueprint 302 EFI with TKX 5 speed and the .68:1 fifth gear
Hydraulic Clutch Master Cylinder kit
IRS setup
Tour IRS Shocks
IRS 3.55 center and spindles
17" wheels
Power steering
Ultra-Lite Gauges
Chrome Roll bar for driver & Passenger
Black Vinyl seats to be upgraded later
Alum Dash W/Vinyl
Wind wings
Sun visor
Wipers

Lizard Skin
Ebrake installation
firewall forward
expanded footbox
battery moved to front
Gas-N Touring pipes
Seat heaters

Should a front sway bar be included?
Is a Woodford pedal box needed?

Thanks

[edwardb]

Congratulations on joining the fun. Did you consider the Mk5? Looks to me to be a significant upgrade. Right off the bat it has larger footboxes, which maybe takes that off the list (and not much to be gained on a Mk4 anyway). The improved body should make body work and paint a bit cheaper, which could offset the price difference depending on your situation. I'll leave the sway bar decision to drivers with more expertise than me. My last Roadster and now my Coupe has front and rear sway bars and for my driving they're fine. But pushed hard (e.g. AutoX or track) maybe not the best choice. I assume you mean Wilwood (aka Woodford...) pedal box. It's included with the complete kit. Nothing to decide there. Good luck.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Congrats!

Regarding sway bars. If you're going to go with the "touring" coilovers I would suggest adding them (especially given your comment about "occasional road course laps"). The bars will help counteract the increased roll that the soft touring springs will allow. Notice that I'm suggesting BOTH front and rear. With the factory spring rates these cars tend to understeer (push) and if only the front is stiffened, either via higher spring rates or an anti-roll bar, without a corresponding change to the rear that will be exacerbated hence my recommendation to use both a front and rear bar---or none.

As Paul said the Mk4 footboxes are pretty much maximized. There's virtually nothing to be gained on the driver's side and about the only expansion that can be done on the passenger side is to push the front walll forward a couple of inches. Nothing real significant.

Good luck!

Jeff

[Infinitybox]

Exciting and please let us know if we can help design your electrical system.

www.infinitybox.com

We are a new sponsor and enjoy the group.

Thanks,
Anthony

[skijunky]

Thank you everyone for the comments.
I did consider the MK5. I ordered just before the announcement, took advantage of the end of year savings but still question my choice for the MK4. There is such a wealth of knowledge for the MK4 on these forums.
That is helpful information regarding the footboxes on the MK4. Sounds like expansion isn't worth it. I drove a MK4 on a road course and found myself pushing on the accelerator as I was hitting the brakes coming into a corner. Not a great feeling. Hence the thought about the footboxes. Probably just more time in the car.
I think I will add the sway bars front and back.

[OB6]

There's no doubt the MK4 footbox is tight, but with good pedal placement, you shouldn't have interference problems unless you've got huge feet. I went through a couple iterations and landed on a good setup. That said, the MK5 looks like a game changer in this department.

210878

[TXeverydayDad]

Congrats on taking the plunge! You’re embarking on a really fun journey and this forum is a great part of it. Just remember that the kit as provided is excellent as is. There are unlimited changes and ‘upgrades’ that can be done, but build the car the way you want.

[MaxVmo]

Congrats! I’m just in the go-cart phase. I understand the sense of overwhelming! What I have learned (and many thanks to the good folks on this forum) is to concentrate just on one thing at a time. Sometimes I got hung up on something that just got me sideways—switching to something else (there’s always something else) or walking away for a bit would often cause the “light” to come on. Do a bit every day and eventually you have a car!!

[Mike.Bray]

Nice build, I like it and have a couple of thoughts.

Agree, you need front & rear sway bars with those shocks.

You could step the 302 up to a 347 for very little money and have a sweet engine that's just about perfect for these cars.

What EFI system? I'd probably go with the Edelbrock ProFlo for the driving you're going to be doing.

Hydraulic clutch is nice, a Tilton hydraulic throwout bearing is top of the line. Unbelievably smooth actuation. Avoid McLeod.

Now is the time to swap out the Wilwood master cylinders for Tiltons so you don't have to later.

If I was building again I would add hydraboost power brakes.

Happy building!

[ASL67]

I am new here also and like you looking to build a Cobra, doing a lot of research. Ref the peddle box on MK4 check out Random Werks on YouTube, I recently finished his MK4 build videos. He has a video showing what he did to expand the peddle box and gained an inch or two. Sorry I don't recall the video # but its in the series. Good luck to you.

[skijunky]

Hey Mike,
Not sure where the EFI came from. I meant Fuel Injection. I live in Prescott, Arizona @ 5200', drive to Flagstaff @ 7000' or Phoenix @ 1000' I don't want to mess with a carb.
I appreciate the opinion about the 347. I was thinking about that and might change as I get closer.
Question regarding the Hydraulic clutch. So you wouldn't include the Factory Five hydraulic clutch with the order?
Is that the same with the Wilwood master cylinders. Not include those with the Factory Five order?

[gbranham]

Now is the time to swap out the Wilwood master cylinders for Tiltons so you don't have to later.

This is not an either/or thing. I know we've been over this many times on the forum, but the vast preponderance of folks have success with the Wilwoods. Yes, there's been some failures, and they've been reported here, but the thousands of folks who have used the Wilwoods without issue never get reported. I don't like seeing these posts, because the newbies will think they HAVE to replace their Wilwoods at some point. That's just not true.

Greg

[Mike.Bray]

This is not an either/or thing. I know we've been over this many times on the forum, but the vast preponderance of folks have success with the Wilwoods. Yes, there's been some failures, and they've been reported here, but the thousands of folks who have used the Wilwoods without issue never get reported. I don't like seeing these posts, because the newbies will think they HAVE to replace their Wilwoods at some point. That's just not true.

Greg

I stand by my recommendation, the number of outright failures of this critical component is way, way too high. Remember, with the Wilwood pedal box if one MC fails you have NO brakes.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?49560-Swapping-Tilton-MC-for-Wilwood-MC