wantscobra
03-17-2025, 03:44 PM
I'm really sorry if this post ends up being half a book...
Sometime around 2004, I was in my 20s and found out about FFR. Since that time, I've been trying to figure out how I could build one. I'm not completely hopeless, I've wrenched on several of my own cars (changed oil, brakes, tie rods, sway bars, struts/shocks, sparkplugs), helped with a few motor swaps, and helped a friend finish rebuilding a 350 each for his jeep and for a ridiculous sand rail. I grew up on a farm with a handful of tractors, I've ridden atvs and worked on them when required. All that to say, I have some idea how most systems for a car are meant to work.
My FFR MK IV kit arrived last April (2024). I promptly got to work inventorying. I was only missing a few bits from my order.
Prior to ordering my kit, my engine friend found a rebuilt 302 for a good price. It had been rebuilt several years prior, but never put in the project (owner wanted more power). It was/is still in the plastic wrap from the engine shop. I also ordered around that time a Holley Sniper 2 efi, the hyperspark distributor to match it (engine didn't have a dist. in). From a used parts place, I ordered a 3.55 IRS with torsen diff, for just barely more than the cost of the diff alone. I also ordered the rear knuckles and 2015+ gt brake calipers from this place. I'm happy to say that all seems to have arrived in good condition, except for one bad wheel bearing. I'm still happy with what I received.
After my kit arrival and inventory, I started with the beginning of the build manual. I got basically all of the suspension together and test fitted. I had some issues with my shocks leaking (red body). I am happy to report FFR and Koni agreed there was a problem and took care of that very quickly.
I tend to worry a lot about my vehicles. My wife calls it 'mechanical hypochondria'. I like to keep things 'like new'. I'm really trying to remind myself that my build will never be 'perfect' but it will be 'perfect for me'. Even that seems ambitious. So, this is where the story gets less fun.
I waited to install my f-panels until after I had the front suspension hanging from the car. I agonized over the fitment of these panels for weeks. Then I decided where I thought they should be. Then I trimmed them to make them fit how I wanted. And then, I read a forum post that stated that they shouldn't need to be trimmed. This started my downward spiral. From April to June, basically all I accomplished was getting the front suspension on (still not fully to torque spec), cleaning up my rear end, building the rear suspension parts and mounting my trimmed f-panels, despite spending several weekends 'working' on the car. Most of my working time was actually spent worrying about 'doing it wrong'. At this point, I decided that while for 75-90% of the mechanical build of this car I was confident that either I or someone I know would be able to work out exactly what we needed, for the rest of the build, I was going to need guidance. So, I signed up for build school, and attended in August.
Build school was incredibly informative. I was able to use that as a way to get my hands on things that I was worried about and take a lot of notes in my manual for questions and tips. It was incredibly helpful, and I'm glad I did it. I came away thinking 'If we can build a functional car in 3 days, I should be able to get this done.' I definitely was guilty of hanging back and letting others who seemed to have less experience with cars do more of the work, but I hope they got the same benefit from that that I did, and I definitely jumped in when needed.
Since build school, I've had some home projects and family health things get in the way of my build, but I'm hoping to get those things done soon so I can get back to my build. It's still sitting exactly as I left it last June.
1. My f-panels are mounted and riveted now. I believe that they are in an ok position, and having trimmed them, I was worried. I think they are fine, but are people really able to get them to fit well without trimming? And, have I 'done it wrong'?
2. Last fall, during a holley sale, I knew I needed a fuel pump. The manual for the sniper 2 recommends using 3/8 fuel lines, and the 12-345 pump and hanger came up as a recommendation somewhere as I was searching. This is a 340 lph pump. So, I ordered it. After the fact, I started questioning how wise it is to use this pump in my application. I'm going to be running a 302 with performer rpm heads, an off the shelf (most likely alphabet e or b) cam, and probably an rpm airgap intake (engine currently has a victor jr intake, but that is meant for rpm well above what I intend to see). I have looked at a fuel pump calculator, and that says at most I would need 150lph for about 350 hp at 60 psi. So, how bad is it to run a fuel pump that will move twice the required fuel? The engine would never starve for fuel (the sniper 2 is practically going to be drowning :) ). I don't love the idea of pumping so much fuel around the whole system loop for no reason, but I don't know how 'bad' it actually is.
3. I saw a post about IRS bushings and grease that really got my mechanical hypochondria in overdrive. The post was about using lithium or silicone grease in the suspension components because the poly bushings would degrade with a 'regular' grease. I hadn't even thought about this when I started building out my IRS parts, I didn't see it mentioned in the build manual, though I could absolutely have missed it if it is, and I used the grease gun my dad and I always used for most things, which had a red grease in it that, looking back I would say is probably wheel bearing grease, or something equivalent. It is probably not silicone and definitely not lithium. Do I need to take all of my greased parts apart and clean this grease out and use lithium/silicone? Have I already damaged the poly bushings since they've been sitting it in for over 6 months?
Current build plans for those interested-
Car will be driven mostly around my rural home. Virtually no expressway, a fair bit of 55-65. Maybe a track day someday, though I currently have no plans.
1992 Mustang 302 +.030, performer rpm heads, stamped rockers, victor junior intake (to be replaced by rpm air gap), off the shelf cam of unknown spec (most likely b or e)
Tremec TKX 5 speed - 3.27 1st - .72 5th
centerforce 2 clutch
IRS - 3.55 with torsen
FR500 17" wheels from a relatively well known mustang parts supplier
Nitto tires - 275 front / 315 rear
jpipes and gas-n touring pipes (gas-n already ordered and arrived)
double roll bar
Current paint plan - either brittany or viking blue with white (unknown paint code) stripe. roll bars, quick jacks and other hardware painted/powder coated to match stripe
Thanks for letting me ramble a bunch of nonsense. I actually had to retype a lot because I got logged out somehow. This has been a dream of mine for over 20 years, and as much as I want to build and especially drive my MK IV, there are a lot of days where I feel like I will never actually finish.
-m
Sometime around 2004, I was in my 20s and found out about FFR. Since that time, I've been trying to figure out how I could build one. I'm not completely hopeless, I've wrenched on several of my own cars (changed oil, brakes, tie rods, sway bars, struts/shocks, sparkplugs), helped with a few motor swaps, and helped a friend finish rebuilding a 350 each for his jeep and for a ridiculous sand rail. I grew up on a farm with a handful of tractors, I've ridden atvs and worked on them when required. All that to say, I have some idea how most systems for a car are meant to work.
My FFR MK IV kit arrived last April (2024). I promptly got to work inventorying. I was only missing a few bits from my order.
Prior to ordering my kit, my engine friend found a rebuilt 302 for a good price. It had been rebuilt several years prior, but never put in the project (owner wanted more power). It was/is still in the plastic wrap from the engine shop. I also ordered around that time a Holley Sniper 2 efi, the hyperspark distributor to match it (engine didn't have a dist. in). From a used parts place, I ordered a 3.55 IRS with torsen diff, for just barely more than the cost of the diff alone. I also ordered the rear knuckles and 2015+ gt brake calipers from this place. I'm happy to say that all seems to have arrived in good condition, except for one bad wheel bearing. I'm still happy with what I received.
After my kit arrival and inventory, I started with the beginning of the build manual. I got basically all of the suspension together and test fitted. I had some issues with my shocks leaking (red body). I am happy to report FFR and Koni agreed there was a problem and took care of that very quickly.
I tend to worry a lot about my vehicles. My wife calls it 'mechanical hypochondria'. I like to keep things 'like new'. I'm really trying to remind myself that my build will never be 'perfect' but it will be 'perfect for me'. Even that seems ambitious. So, this is where the story gets less fun.
I waited to install my f-panels until after I had the front suspension hanging from the car. I agonized over the fitment of these panels for weeks. Then I decided where I thought they should be. Then I trimmed them to make them fit how I wanted. And then, I read a forum post that stated that they shouldn't need to be trimmed. This started my downward spiral. From April to June, basically all I accomplished was getting the front suspension on (still not fully to torque spec), cleaning up my rear end, building the rear suspension parts and mounting my trimmed f-panels, despite spending several weekends 'working' on the car. Most of my working time was actually spent worrying about 'doing it wrong'. At this point, I decided that while for 75-90% of the mechanical build of this car I was confident that either I or someone I know would be able to work out exactly what we needed, for the rest of the build, I was going to need guidance. So, I signed up for build school, and attended in August.
Build school was incredibly informative. I was able to use that as a way to get my hands on things that I was worried about and take a lot of notes in my manual for questions and tips. It was incredibly helpful, and I'm glad I did it. I came away thinking 'If we can build a functional car in 3 days, I should be able to get this done.' I definitely was guilty of hanging back and letting others who seemed to have less experience with cars do more of the work, but I hope they got the same benefit from that that I did, and I definitely jumped in when needed.
Since build school, I've had some home projects and family health things get in the way of my build, but I'm hoping to get those things done soon so I can get back to my build. It's still sitting exactly as I left it last June.
1. My f-panels are mounted and riveted now. I believe that they are in an ok position, and having trimmed them, I was worried. I think they are fine, but are people really able to get them to fit well without trimming? And, have I 'done it wrong'?
2. Last fall, during a holley sale, I knew I needed a fuel pump. The manual for the sniper 2 recommends using 3/8 fuel lines, and the 12-345 pump and hanger came up as a recommendation somewhere as I was searching. This is a 340 lph pump. So, I ordered it. After the fact, I started questioning how wise it is to use this pump in my application. I'm going to be running a 302 with performer rpm heads, an off the shelf (most likely alphabet e or b) cam, and probably an rpm airgap intake (engine currently has a victor jr intake, but that is meant for rpm well above what I intend to see). I have looked at a fuel pump calculator, and that says at most I would need 150lph for about 350 hp at 60 psi. So, how bad is it to run a fuel pump that will move twice the required fuel? The engine would never starve for fuel (the sniper 2 is practically going to be drowning :) ). I don't love the idea of pumping so much fuel around the whole system loop for no reason, but I don't know how 'bad' it actually is.
3. I saw a post about IRS bushings and grease that really got my mechanical hypochondria in overdrive. The post was about using lithium or silicone grease in the suspension components because the poly bushings would degrade with a 'regular' grease. I hadn't even thought about this when I started building out my IRS parts, I didn't see it mentioned in the build manual, though I could absolutely have missed it if it is, and I used the grease gun my dad and I always used for most things, which had a red grease in it that, looking back I would say is probably wheel bearing grease, or something equivalent. It is probably not silicone and definitely not lithium. Do I need to take all of my greased parts apart and clean this grease out and use lithium/silicone? Have I already damaged the poly bushings since they've been sitting it in for over 6 months?
Current build plans for those interested-
Car will be driven mostly around my rural home. Virtually no expressway, a fair bit of 55-65. Maybe a track day someday, though I currently have no plans.
1992 Mustang 302 +.030, performer rpm heads, stamped rockers, victor junior intake (to be replaced by rpm air gap), off the shelf cam of unknown spec (most likely b or e)
Tremec TKX 5 speed - 3.27 1st - .72 5th
centerforce 2 clutch
IRS - 3.55 with torsen
FR500 17" wheels from a relatively well known mustang parts supplier
Nitto tires - 275 front / 315 rear
jpipes and gas-n touring pipes (gas-n already ordered and arrived)
double roll bar
Current paint plan - either brittany or viking blue with white (unknown paint code) stripe. roll bars, quick jacks and other hardware painted/powder coated to match stripe
Thanks for letting me ramble a bunch of nonsense. I actually had to retype a lot because I got logged out somehow. This has been a dream of mine for over 20 years, and as much as I want to build and especially drive my MK IV, there are a lot of days where I feel like I will never actually finish.
-m