rick8928
07-26-2012, 06:29 PM
Did my first drive two days ago. Was hoping to post a video, but my new Swan has an audio issue. So, vids will have to wait. I'd like to thank the folks who helped me most, in no particular order:
Ron Preston, Don Wood, and PJ Davis (local buddies who helped on the big jobs)
Tom Thompson of AMP performance (donor pallet)
Mike Forte (various bitsas)
Art Cuesta (WireDiet- great wire harness diet and sounding board)
Mark Doughtery (sent by Factory Five to weld on some missing frame tabs, answered several dozen of my prepared questions, removing tons of ambiguity in my mind)
Jeff Kleiner (build threads and ready with answers to PMs)
Gary/gtfireftr (invaluable photobucket build photos and ready with answers to PMs)
Mark Reynolds (I ended up not going with one of his EzePaks, but he graciously spent an hour on the phone with me while I was formulating a build plan).
Jim Jennings from the build school (great instructor, and pointed me in the direction of a donor build when I was getting sticker shock over the crate motor/new parts build approach and about to abandon the dream)
Matt Gardner, instructor at Westminster High School Vocational Body Shop, who's team did bodywork and paint at materials cost, precluding me from going the dreaded rattle can flat black approach.
This forum, without which this newbie to car construction could never have finished the job, and which is so pleasantly free of flame wars.
Factory Five Racing, without whom this wouldn't have been possible
Carroll Shelby, ditto!
Car is a Mark 4, picked up 9/25/2010, using an '04 Mach 1 donor (DOHC 4.6, Tremec 3650), 3 link w/3.55, Kirkey highback seats, heater, seat heaters, front blocked/vented top hood scoop serves as air extractor....
108701086910868
Ron Preston, Don Wood, and PJ Davis (local buddies who helped on the big jobs)
Tom Thompson of AMP performance (donor pallet)
Mike Forte (various bitsas)
Art Cuesta (WireDiet- great wire harness diet and sounding board)
Mark Doughtery (sent by Factory Five to weld on some missing frame tabs, answered several dozen of my prepared questions, removing tons of ambiguity in my mind)
Jeff Kleiner (build threads and ready with answers to PMs)
Gary/gtfireftr (invaluable photobucket build photos and ready with answers to PMs)
Mark Reynolds (I ended up not going with one of his EzePaks, but he graciously spent an hour on the phone with me while I was formulating a build plan).
Jim Jennings from the build school (great instructor, and pointed me in the direction of a donor build when I was getting sticker shock over the crate motor/new parts build approach and about to abandon the dream)
Matt Gardner, instructor at Westminster High School Vocational Body Shop, who's team did bodywork and paint at materials cost, precluding me from going the dreaded rattle can flat black approach.
This forum, without which this newbie to car construction could never have finished the job, and which is so pleasantly free of flame wars.
Factory Five Racing, without whom this wouldn't have been possible
Carroll Shelby, ditto!
Car is a Mark 4, picked up 9/25/2010, using an '04 Mach 1 donor (DOHC 4.6, Tremec 3650), 3 link w/3.55, Kirkey highback seats, heater, seat heaters, front blocked/vented top hood scoop serves as air extractor....
108701086910868