TNT - MK3 FFR Cobra Build Thread

[tnt_motorsports]

Well folks, it is that time! I brought the chassis and some parts home from storage last weekend (Friday). I have spent Sunday prepping the garage, removing sheet metal, welding on the control arm brackets and painting the 8.8 rear end housing. Today I hope to install the front suspension and begin rebuilding the rear end. I hope you will be patient with me because I'm sure I will have lots of questions. I am beyond excited for this build.

Build details are as follows
FFR Cobra MK3 F5R100 5447 donor kit (I'll be converting to a complete kit where possible)
427 SBF with EFI and a TKX transmission (TBD on build or bought)
11" Stock Mustang brakes
8.8 solid axle rear end with 3.55 gears

Todd

[Justin]

Enjoy the process and share your adventure! Looking forward to it.

[Blitzboy54]

Awesome, I am curious on the back story. Are you the original owner and been on hold for some time or did you purchase someone else’s kit?

[Jeff Kleiner]

Cool! I like seeing the old cars resurrected. I've done full builds for customers on two Mk3s that were 10+ year old barn finds and did body and paint on two others that languished untouched for years until their new owners saved and finished them.

Not that it matters much but based on the F5R1005447 number I'm pretty certain that you have a Mk3, not a 3.1. The only significant differences are that the 3.1 uses different steering shafts, will accept a Wilwood pedal box and has revised engine bay aluminum to allow use of the 4.6 Mod Motors.

Have fun!

Jeff

[tnt_motorsports]

Thank you all for the well wished and feedback. I am very excited to get this going. I had a great day in the garage yesterday working with my oldest son who is 23, rebuilding the 8.8 and prepping for the front control arm installation. I decided to paint the aluminum panels so the control arms are awaiting that.

Thank you Jeff for your insight. I believed it to be an MK3.1 based on feedback, but I wasn't exactly sure.

The back story is we exited the camping hobby last fall by selling our 36' TT. I loved it and enjoyed all the family trips and memories along with attending many Sprint car and SLM racing events across the Midwest. The deal with the boss was if we sold the camper that could be the Cobra fund. I happened to luck out and find this car compliments of @timmil, what a barn find and I'm now on my way!

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?50007-For-Sale-MKIII-Base-Kit-SOLD

Todd

[tnt_motorsports]

Great day / night in the garage yesterday with my oldest son. We mounted the front UCA, LCA, spindles and shocks.

We also tried to rebuild the rear end gear with the 3.55 swap I am doing, but run into some issues with pinion shimming. We will resume the fun today! I'll post some pictures today or tomorrow of the progress.

[tnt_motorsports]

Another good day! Got the rest of the front suspension items installed including the hubs. Also managed to get the rear differential set up with the 3.55 installed. 212556212557212558

[gbranham]

Nice! You should replace those upper control arm dust boots now vs later. Mine cracked before I ever put my wheels and tires on it.

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[tnt_motorsports]

Another productive day in the garage. Rear control arm’s mounted, rear coil overs assembled, fuel tank assembled. I bought a QFS 340LPH pump. It has -6AN fittings. Everything is E85 compatible.


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[tnt_motorsports]

Another productive few hours. Steering rack installed, upper ball joint boots replaced (thanks @gbranham) and tie rod ends installed.

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[Mike.Bray]

Another productive few hours. Steering rack installed, upper ball joint boots replaced (thanks @gbranham) and tie rod ends installed.

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Is that a manual steering rack? Now is the time to convert to power steering. I started out going with manual but the forum convinced me to go PS. It is by far one of the absolute best decisions I made, the car is pure joy to drive with it. And with the increased caster you can run it's much more stable.

[tnt_motorsports]

Hey Mike, it is a manual steering rack. It is what the kit was ordered with. I have contemplated swapping it out, but for now wanted to try and keep moving forward. Thanks for the tip, I will continue to soak on it.

Todd

[Mike.Bray]

Hey Mike, it is a manual steering rack. It is what the kit was ordered with. I have contemplated swapping it out, but for now wanted to try and keep moving forward. Thanks for the tip, I will continue to soak on it.

Todd

There's a lot I love about driving my car. The looks, the insane power, the sound, the handling, the waves and thumbs up from everyone young and old. Two decisions that really add to the enjoyment of driving are power steering and the hydraulic throwout bearing.

[Jeff Kleiner]

It’s a sermon I’ve been preaching for years. Trust me, you wouldn’t regret going with power steering, especially combined with the geometry of the FFR spindles.

Jeff

[gbranham]

I'm only a few dozen miles into my MkIV, with power steering. My MkIII was manual steering. It's a completely different experience. The MIII was fine a cruising speed, but parking lots and slow speeds required some oomph. Totally worth it to do if your budget can take it (it's not terribly expensive), and way easier to do now vs later.

[tnt_motorsports]

Another somewhat productive day in the garage. Front brakes mounted, rear end and fuel tank installed. My wife said it’s actually starting to look like a car.

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[TTimmy]

It’s great to see these abandoned projects rescued; looks like you’re many quick work of this.

I took over someone’s project last year and am really enjoying the rebuild.

Keep up the good work!

[tnt_motorsports]

Ok folks, I need a little help please. I am trying to use an SN95 pedal assembly in the MK3. The Wilwood pedals won't fit per FF, and the brake pedal is hitting the 3/4" tube running across on the foot box. Can someone please help with what I am missing?

Are there any other mods I should be looking at before I paint and mount these pedals? I intend to use manual disc brakes in the car.

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Thanks!
Todd

[michael everson]

Couple of things. First remove the large round spacers (4) on the front of the pedal box. Crush them in a vise or bend the plate enough to get them out. Are you planning on power brakes? If no you need to modify the brake pedal to reduce pedal effort and improve the leverage. I highly recommend power brakes though. Very easy to do at this stage and won't cost much. PM me for my number if you want to discuss further. I do it all the time.
Mike

[tnt_motorsports]

Thanks Mike for your assistance! I will shoot you a text to discuss further.

Thanks
Todd

[Blitzboy54]

Love rehab projects. Following along with great interest.

[tnt_motorsports]

Well a busy couple days in the garage on the Cobra.

Yesterday I test painted a couple panels after buying a new spray gun from HF. It works good but I thinned the paint too much. I fixed that and will repaint the firewall tomorrow maybe.

Today I’ve managed to mount the pedals, brake booster and master cylinder. I’ve installed the steering shaft and bearings. I also played Cobra Tetris with the sheet metal for the foot boxes.

I’ll post some pictures later.

[tnt_motorsports]

Another decent day.

Driver’s side foot box installation almost complete. I broke my last 1/8” drill bit so I ended early.

The passenger side foot box is completely drilled and ready for paint. I removed it to clean and prep the panels.

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[tnt_motorsports]

The in-laws were in town until Thursday so it was a slow week working on the Cobra. I was back at it this weekend. I've fit and drilled the cockpit sheet metal.

Next will be brake and fuel lines along with painting the sheet metal.

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[tnt_motorsports]

Well I took advantage of a nice long weekend to get some work done on the car. I painted several panels and installed the foot boxes. I also completed the brakes by running brake lines and connecting the caliper hoses. I also installed the clutch cable adjuster it’s coming along but still a long way to go.

Happy Memorial Day. All gave some and some gave all. What a great country we live in that we can enjoy things like this because others paid the ultimate sacrifice.



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[timmil]

Todd: Wow! Looks a lot better than it did in my garage! I haven't been able to watch this much as I would like since I added a new race car to the fleet. Have you decided on a color yet?

Tim

[tnt_motorsports]

Thanks Tim! I haven't been able to settle on color with the boss... I wanted to do a blackout version, but she said it would look too much like a buggy (as in a horse and buggy) that is all black. I'm open to suggestions but was thinking like a metallic grey or orange as other options.

Todd

[timmil]

Thanks Tim! I haven't been able to settle on color with the boss... I wanted to do a blackout version, but she said it would look too much like a buggy (as in a horse and buggy) that is all black. I'm open to suggestions but was thinking like a metallic grey or orange as other options.

Todd

It's funny that you mention Orange. I had wanted to do it in Orange with ghost stripes so that it would look cool against my 77' 280z.

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[tnt_motorsports]

I finally made it back to the garage this week / weekend. We were in Alaska for our 25th anniversary the first 2 weeks of June and a wedding in KC last weekend has put a crimp in my work, but I have to keep the boss happy, she is working with me on the car...

It has been tremendously hot here in eastern Iowa, so my work in the garage has been limited. I did manage to get the firewall painted and installed, and started to run some fuel lines.

I also needed to shore up my chassis dolly. The 2x4's and the plywood caster mounts were showing signs of distress. I feel much more confident in the dolly with the modifications I made today. I added a 2x6 to the bottom and a vertical 2x4 on the ends.

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[tnt_motorsports]

I've been plugging away in the garage the last couple nights for a few minutes on fuel lines. I have them completed from the fuel tank to the firewall. I will leave them as is until I figure out engine and the fuel system for the motor.

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[tnt_motorsports]

Another productive weekend in the garage. I managed to paint and install the interior sheetmetal, I routed and clamped the fuel tank vent hose and started on the harness install. I have the fuse box installed and the front harness roughed in. It is coming along nicely.

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[gbranham]

What's going on here? And your gas tank vent hose really doesn't need to be that long and snake all over the place. A foot or less is fine.

Greg


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[tnt_motorsports]

Thanks for the feedback, Greg on the vent line. I wanted to avoid using a charcoal canister if possible, so I thought (maybe incorrectly) that this might help.

As far as the brake lines, you are seeing 3 different lines. One is the caliper hose to the union, then the hard brake line is the one with the funny bends. I was using up extra length and didn't have enough length to do a circle. The last line is the jump from the axle back to the frame.

[gbranham]

Thanks for the feedback, Greg on the vent line. I wanted to avoid using a charcoal canister if possible, so I thought (maybe incorrectly) that this might help.

As far as the brake lines, you are seeing 3 different lines. One is the caliper hose to the union, then the hard brake line is the one with the funny bends. I was using up extra length and didn't have enough length to do a circle. The last line is the jump from the axle back to the frame.

Gotcha. For what it's worth, you don't need coils in your brake line. Not needed on our frames. If you wanted to clean those up have them generally follow the frame, you could simply cut to length, reroute to hug the frame, then reflare. Once the aluminum and body are on the car, you won't really see them, though. But I fear it would be difficult to straighten those lines with all the bends in them. Would be better to start with fresh brake line if you wanted them a little tighter to the frame.

Greg

[gbranham]

Also, these bolts are going to prevent your upper trunk aluminum from sitting flush on the frame.

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[tnt_motorsports]

Yeah, I am aware of that. My thought was to drill out a couple holes for them to pass through. I figured the Kilmat and carpet should cover them up.

[tnt_motorsports]

Yeah, I am not overly excited with how the rear axle brake lines turned out, but they are done for now. You are correct that I could install new ones cut to length and straighter. I have several items I want to get done, but I will likely come back and redo these at some point. I need to find better brake line source than the AutoZone ones. I needed a couple lines to finish my brakes, and those things were awful to bend and flare. The FFR ones were nice and easy to bend and flare if needed.

As always, Greg, thank you for the insight and feedback.

[tnt_motorsports]

What's going on here? And your gas tank vent hose really doesn't need to be that long and snake all over the place. A foot or less is fine.

Greg


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Well Greg you quilted me into fixing this sooner than later. I bought some tubing and fixed it tonight. I've also got the radiator installed. Thanks for keeping me honest!

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[gbranham]

It is somewhat more direct, I'll give you that!

Greg

[tnt_motorsports]

Progress on the Cobra has slowed some. It's been pretty warm in eastern Iowa and the tasks don't show the same level of competition. Front and rear harness run with connectors installed for the FFR lights. Horns installed up front and drop trunk in the rear.


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[gbranham]

Looking good! Cooler weather coming to our part of the country this weekend!

Greg

[tnt_motorsports]

Well I spent some time in the garage the last two days after our summer trip to Canada to see family. I got the firewall support and under dash panel from Mike painted and installed. Today was parking brake handle and cables.


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[tnt_motorsports]

I continue to plug away on the Cobra. I've installed the fuel regulator to the firewall. I've also continued to sort through the dash wiring. I ordered some Billet push buttons tonight and will eagerly await their arrival.

[Mike.Bray]

You can order the Billet pushbuttons with no pigtails and he will ship you loose connectors and pins. Saves you from having to splice all those wires.

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[tnt_motorsports]

You can order the Billet pushbuttons with the no pigtails and he will ship you loose connectors and pins. Saves you from having to splice all those wires.

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Thanks Mike! I have emailed him to ask if he can do that. I appreciate your insight to save all the splices.

[Mike.Bray]

Thanks Mike! I have emailed him to ask if he can do that. I appreciate your insight to save all the splices.

My wife taught me to not be afraid to ask, they can pretty much only say yes or no. Or in her case she says "It's not your birthday"

[cv2065]

Thanks Mike! I have emailed him to ask if he can do that. I appreciate your insight to save all the splices.

I'm sure he will. The owner Nelson from BB is a really good guy. He'll answer any wiring questions that you have as well.

[tnt_motorsports]

Well the UPS man delivered my Speedhut gauges today. I can't wait to get my dashboard and wiring cleaned up.

I debated on the Autometer Ultra Lites but decided on these.

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[Blitzboy54]

I like those a lot.

[tnt_motorsports]

Well I didn't get to the dash this weekend. I decided to finish installing the trunk panels and adding cutouts for the fuel pump and sender. I'll take them back off soon and paint the necessary surfaces then rivet them in.

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[tnt_motorsports]

Great day in the garage today. I glued the vinyl on my dash and installed all the gauges and switches. Since my kit is almost 20 years old the backing had started to peel off the vinyl. I took a risk and pulled it off. I think it turned out pretty good.

Now onto wiring things up.

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[gbranham]

Looking great!

Greg

[tnt_motorsports]

Looking great!

Greg

Thanks Greg. It's coming along but almost time to put it in storage. I want to park my truck in the garage for winter. I'll probably put it away after Thanksgiving.

[tnt_motorsports]

Spent the weekend wiring up my dashboard. Switches, gauges and interior lights are pretty much done. It's coming along very nicely. It certainly is a rats nest of wiring I will need to organize. Next will be electronic power steering from 520 Speedworks and seat heaters.

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[tnt_motorsports]

Spent some time in the garage today working on the Cobra and watching the crazy Lions game. Unbelievable how that game went!

Anyway I got the wiring behind the dash cleaned up. It fits much better against the 3/4" tube. I also got the electric power steering from 520 Speedworks mocked up. I'll spend some time next weekend welding things up. Then I will work on that wiring.




Waiting on Black Friday for a decent parts order. Mostly drivetrain stuff like clutch, flywheel, bellhousing, transmission etc...



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[tnt_motorsports]

Well I had a little help around today so I had the boys and the boss help me organize the storage unit in preparation for the chassis. I ordered lots of Black Friday parts like wheels, bellhousing, flywheel, clutch, TKX transmission and a few other odds and ends. I managed to save about $1,000 today with the sales. That feels good!

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[tnt_motorsports]

Well Santa (FedEx) came early so I have my tires mounted and the car will go into storage tomorrow. I need my garage space back for my truck, 2012 2500 Ram Cummins. These Midwest winters play heck with it. Boy it wasn't happy this morning at 0F even with the block heater plugged in.

I will continue to procure parts for my spring push. My goal is to have a drivable car next summer.


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[TTimmy]

Great seeing the progress on this car! Real bummer that you need to put it away for winter. Maybe you can sneak over and work on it while in storage?!?

I feel like no matter how much space I have it is never quite enough. Lucky for me a friend of a friend just bought an old Kmart building not too far away … I can spread out a bit more.

I hope spring comes early for you!

[tnt_motorsports]

Well the car made it to storage this afternoon. Not too bad of an activity. I will procure parts now for spring after our 3 week trip to Florida at the end of next week.

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[tnt_motorsports]

Great news from Smeding Performance today! My engine was finished up on the dyno and will be headed my way very soon. I'm getting very excited to get this beast and bring my car home.
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https://youtube.com/shorts/txs2EQ0djvI?si=lrGkkq43vjiDCAuR

[Mike.Bray]

Smeding are great! You won't regret going with them.

[tnt_motorsports]

Smeding are great! You won't regret going with them.

Thanks Mike! They were great to work with and the price was better than what I could build my own for. I opted for the expert build with warranty at a better price.

[tnt_motorsports]

Well my engine arrived on Friday. It was nice because I had the day off so I didn't have to run home. The TForce driver was awesome and rolled it right into my garage!

I was busy until today, but got it put on the stands and started the install the Ram flywheel and QT bellhousing. I indicated the transmission mount and its 0.048" to the driverside. I have ordered the 0.021" Lakewood offset dowel pins. It sucks that it is off this far but I guess that is why they make the dowel pins. Now I wait for parts from Summit.

Anyone have advise on how to get the dowel pins out? I tried a punch from the back side and some taps with a ballpeen hammer. I also tried vise grips. I have spreyed them with PB Blaster to see if that frees them up. Tomorrow I will try twisting with vise grips or a pipe wrech.

I will probably bring the car home on Friday if the weather cooperates. If not, I have plenty of drivetrain assembly to do.


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[Mike.Bray]

You might need a dowel pin puller. They're not cheap, maybe you can rent one?

[tnt_motorsports]

You might need a dowel pin puller. They're not cheap, maybe you can rent one?

Thanks Mike! I'm going to check with O'Reilly Auto Parts to see if they have one.

[cv2065]

Thanks Mike! I'm going to check with O'Reilly Auto Parts to see if they have one.

My local didn't have one so I bought this. Worked great.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006LUELJO?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_ti tle_7

[tnt_motorsports]

Thanks! I bought something similar on Amazon. It should be here on Wednesday, the same day the new dowels arrive.

[Mike.Bray]

Now I know where I can rent (borrow) one if I need it:rolleyes:

[tnt_motorsports]

Now I know where I can rent (borrow) one if I need it:rolleyes:

Well Mike the puller worked amazing. Amazon to the rescue for $60!

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[Mike.Bray]

Well Mike the puller worked amazing. Amazon to the rescue for $60!

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Great! I've used dowel pin pullers before and always had good success with them.

[Dash]

I tried everything (c-clamp, hammer, dowel puller, cursing, etc), but one of my dowel pins would not budge. I ended up buying a $10 pneumatic air hammer and it pushed it right out. Sorry I did not see this earlier. But for future reference.....

[Mike.Bray]

Those little tricks like dowel pin pullers can come in so handy. When I was about 14 I was tearing down a small engine and couldn't get the flywheel off. It was on a tapered fit to the crank and wouldn't budge no matter how hard I pried or pulled. My dad came out, probably to see why a 14 year old boy was cussing so much, and told me to hang on while he went to the toolbox. When he returned he had me put pressure with a couple of big screwdrivers and he gave the shaft a good whack with a hammer. Popped right off!. I never forgot that and have used it many, many times since then. Ball joints are a good example. I thought, and still do, that my father was a genius.

[gbranham]

Ah yes, Mike... a good whack with the BFH, a.k.a The Persuader can unstick a lot of things...:)

[Mike.Bray]

Ah yes, Mike... a good whack with the BFH, a.k.a The Persuader can unstick a lot of things...:)

Yes but it really wasn't that big of a hammer. At the time I thought it was witchcraft lol

[tnt_motorsports]

decent afternoon and evening in the garage. I got the offset dowels installed and my bellhousing dialed in to 0.005" which is awesome. It ended up better than I thought it would after my initial measurements and ordering of the offset dowels. Then I got the flywheel, clutch and bellhousing installed. I will take another stab at mounting the TKX tomorrow. I couldn't get it to align by myself, so I'll ask my son for some help.

Nice to have the tv in the garage... I watched the Blue Jays get smacked by the Twins, then Denver beat Wiscosin in the Frozen Four, and now watching #BP32 win the Illini 100 at Farmer City. I guess I'll switch to the WoO Sprints as I enjoy a night cap, Rum Ole Fashioned!

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[tnt_motorsports]

Another good day in the shop, or at least that is what I will tell the group here. Struggled a little bit with hardware and had multiple trips to Menards. Oh well, the transmission and starter are now mounted. Adapters for the oil pressure and water temperature are ordered. My son was a godsent that helped get the transmission mounted.

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[tnt_motorsports]

A somewhat productive weekend.

I started on Friday re-running wires for my fan and fuel pump. I did not realize the Sniper 2.0 PDM controlled those items, so I re-did the wiring for those. It is cleaner and helped eliminate a couple extra relays.

I spent Saturday morning putting the seat heaters in my FFR seats. Unfortunately they are the old fiberglass seats. They will do for now, but I will upgrade at some point to the metal frame seats. Overall the process was simple and didn't take too long. I finished up the passenger seat today after our son left.

Today I welded up the 520 Speedworks steering bracket and then welded it into the frame. I hit it with the vintage high temp black rattle can. I still need to weld the steering shaft. I forgot to do that today. It is currently just tacked.

I also grabbed 4 gallons of 93 octane fuel from the Speedway gas station when I was there filling my sons Jeep up. I'm getting close to dropping in the engine, so I figured it would be incentive to keep moving.

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[tnt_motorsports]

a few more pictures of my seat work

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[tnt_motorsports]

Overall great night in the garage! I got the engine assembly installed. It was great to have the help of my son and wife! Not too far away now from a first start. I had some struggles lining up the transmission bracket. The TKX was sitting on top of the bracket. A little prybar action between the top cover and the 3/4" frame in the driveshaft tunnel fixed it. Eveyrthing is in and tight now.


Tomorrow is some gardening and then my wife said I can play car after I get my chores done, lol!

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[tnt_motorsports]

Had an ok day in the garage today. The yardwork and garden took longer than anticipated so that cut into my time. Oh well, if the boss ain't happy, no body is happy!

Anyway, battery cables are run, secured and ready to connect to the battery. Starter is wired and and ready to connect to the dash wiring. Amazon delivered these new dollies that will help make moving the chassis around easier. Amazon also delivered my Innova timing light.

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[tnt_motorsports]

So we were out running errands on Friday and my wife saw a very dark brown car (Espresso...?) that she liked. I used AI (ChatGPT) this morning to generate a sample image of the car with this color. I think I can make this work. I don't get hung up on car colors so I want her to like it...

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[tnt_motorsports]

More progress again today. I installed the oil filter (FL1A), Breeze lower coolan tube, the thermostat housing and bypass hose. Still working on what the upper radiator hose / tube will be. The parts I bought don't work so I will try again.

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