Looking good!
-Steve
Looking good!
-Steve
Thanks Papa!Quote:
Originally Posted by Papa
Great instructions of our elders! I don't mean by age, rather the years of working on these complex machines :)
Cool Thanks DaveQuote:
Originally Posted by Papa
[QUOTE=Papa;316724]Before I start making holes to run the seat heater wires into the trans tunnel, I need to have a good idea where my seats are going to sit with the Breeze seat bracket set. So, I fit the bracket to the seat frame and then primed the metal. Once the primer is completely set, I'll paint them with a satin black enamel. I really like the concept of the Breeze seat mounting system. You get a solid mount without drilling huge holes into the floor of the car. You also get a bit of recline and adjustability of about three inches front to back. It also makes mounting the seat pretty simple with the bolts going through the top of the frame into the mounting system.
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4793/...9a9edc5e_b.jpg
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4797/...fbc105db_b.jpg
I'm not going to mount the bracket to the floor until after the body is on, but with the seat in its approximate location I can drill into the tunnel for the seat heater wires.
Dave
I like the idea of the Breeze seat brackets...
Question...are you picking up leg room with the brackets being canted slightly backward???
I am 6’-2” and looking to pick up leg room.....without shooting my head over the windshield.
I have on order with my kit the #15599 Leather big and tall version seat set from F5.
Also is this the item from Breeze...#70602 Installation Kit for New Steel Frame “Classic” Seats
Thanks for ALL your help
Jimmy
[QUOTE=Scubasommer;319540]Jimmy,Quote:
Originally Posted by Papa
I don't see that these will increase leg room, but they incline ~ 7 degrees to help keep a slight bend at the knee which may help. If your seats have the steel frame, these brackets will work. The bolts that go through the seat frame are 11-1/4" center-to-center (left-to-right).
Dave
It's been several weeks since I last updated my build thread, but there simply hasn't been much real progress to talk about. I've been holding off on making any adjustments to the body of the car while I wait for my final set of headers to arrive.
Today I went out and tried out my new monster torque wrench to check the hub nuts. With my wife applying the brake, I was able to double-check that I had the full 250 ft-lbs. on the nuts.
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/atta...0&d=1524448757
I hope to get back into the build in the next couple of weeks.
Indeed, that is a monster! No need for holding the brakes; that nut acts against the spindle ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Papa
Jeff
Good point! Regardless, it got my wife involved and behind the wheel for the first time.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff Kleiner
When my wife gets involved she likes for me to refer to her as "my lovely assistant" :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Papa
Jeff
The GP Headers are back at the manufacturer getting some modifications made to the flange to allow for the plug wires to go on. In the mean time, things are just sitting in a holding pattern. I did start to remove some of the ridges from the mold process today. I did a small area around the fuel filler opening and down the rear of the quarter panel. It sands off pretty easily and I'm just using a small sanding block on the smooth surfaces and loose paper on the tight spots.
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/atta...4&d=1524950275
Hi Dave. I don't even bother with it. I guess I am outsourcing this to Jeff :) I am scared to venture in body fitting and paint prep area...Quote:
Originally Posted by Papa
I am considering getting some stickers from Amazon - "Under Construction" and "Student Driver." :p
Dave, your build is coming along nicely. I am right behind you in build progress. Are planning to paint yourself?
I'm definitely not going to paint it myself, but figured I could get some of the initial prep done by knocking down the ridges from the mold. I'll leave the real bodywork to the professionals.Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul2STL
I agree, also leaving the paint to the professionals myself.Quote:
Originally Posted by Papa
Progress! I got my headers back from GP Headers with the needed modifications to get my plug wires on. After spending about two hours cleaning off the copper RTV that was used with my first header install, I decided to try some REMFLEX header gaskets along with the Stage-8 header bolts. The headers went on very easily and I remembered to use some anti-seize on the bolts. I tightened them from the center out in three stages with the final torque at ~20 lbs. After I get a couple of heat cycles on them, I'll re-torque and install the locking tabs on the bolts. I also got my O2 sensor installed for the first time and the error codes are gone on the FAST XFI PCM! The side pipes exit very nicely and run parallel to the body with no need for any spacers or wedges. I will need to trim the body where the pipes exit, but that was expected. For now, I'm going to run the raw steel FFR pipes, but have a beautiful set of polished GAS-N pipes ready to install after the car is painted.
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/atta...4&d=1525487658
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/atta...5&d=1525487671
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/atta...6&d=1525487679
Good to hear that you finally have a good fit! Nice work on the hanger fabrication ;)
Jeff
You like that? I didn't want to mount the FFR hangers since I'll be installing the GAS-N pipes eventually.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff Kleiner
Dave-
I like the hangers too. As a bonus, it will give your passenger something to do!
Hitting the home stretch now. Keep up the good work!
Regards,
Steve
Looking good Papa Dave!
Yesterday I spent some time working on body fit. I was able to get the front of the body centered on the hinge mounts. I will need to shave some material to let the body sit naturally around the brake reservoir bracket.
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/atta...8&d=1526226098
Once the body was centered, I used tape to mark the larger openings needed for the side pipes to exit without touching the body. I may still be a bit close on the passenger side, but want to get the splash guards in before removing any more material. I'm using a mini-pneumatic belt sander to sand the material down to my new marks. It works great and provides a lot of control; no wandering saw blades!
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/atta...7&d=1526226091
Next, I checked the body at the door latch plates and think I'm where Jeff described I should be; just in front of the plate with the edge of the body.
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/atta...0&d=1526226112
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/atta...9&d=1526226105
It's nice to finally be making some forward progress again!
Here's a short video walk around with the body on and the car idling right after a cold start.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doBle7rb7hI
Looking and sounding good Dave.
I love the sound Dave!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Clover
Thanks guys! Now that the exhaust is right, the car sounds the way its supposed to.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Eaton
[QUOTE=Papa;325227]Herr's a short video walk around with the body on and the car idling right after a cold start.
That’s Sooooo freakin cool Dave!!!!!
Work continues with body fitment. I'm going very slowly and removing tiny amounts of material as I go then refitting and so on. Today I worked on the area around my CNC brake reservoir to allow the body to settle over the bracket I installed. I still have some additional work to do around the side pipe exits and it looks like I can start fitting the hood. Based on what it looks like right now, I'm just going to trim about 1/16" off all the way around to see if I can get the hood to rest in the opening. Once it is sitting in the opening I can start to work the gap consistency a bit more.
Question for the experts is what I should be thinking about for the front wheel openings. I haven't done any ride height adjustments yet and I don't have any of the weather strip in place right now, but had a very slight rub on the right front after a test drive with the body on. Should I need to trim the wheel well at all?
You should set ride height and alignment. zi have never had to trim a fender in any of my MK4 builds.
Thank you, sir! That's what I would expect, but just wanted to be sure. The car is sitting very low at the moment, probably 1/2 - 3/4" lower than final ride height and I expect the weather strip to raise the body 1/4" or so.Quote:
Originally Posted by wallace18
Dave
Sounds great Dave..........nice to see your progress!!! Great Job!!
Love Those Chevy Inspired Side Pipe Supports!
Congratulations!
"Need" is somewhat dependent on ride height, alignment, spindles used, tire size and wheel specs. Contact at the front is not rare, especially when running in the lower caster ranges but as has been mentioned you really won't know what is absolutely necessary until the body is in it's final position with ride height and alignment reasonably close to their finished settings.Quote:
Originally Posted by Papa
No matter, I always trim the mold flanges back, not only to assure clearance but simply because I think it looks better and more original/authentic---remember the original bodies had the aluminum skin formed and rolled around 3/16" rods in these areas. I take them from this:
http://www.ffcars.com/photopost/data...m/returns1.jpg
To something like this with the lips rolled to approximately 1/4" diameter:
http://www.ffcars.com/photopost/data...m/returns3.jpg
Straight from the molds the forward edge of the front wheel openings have some odd curves, waves and "elbows" (particularly at the nose cap parting line) at the transition from the sides to the lower valance and over the the oil cooler opening that I trim and shape into a smoother more flowing curve like so:
http://www.ffcars.com/photopost/data...m/returns2.jpg
All that said though if you are not planning to do your own body & paint work just do the minimum necessary for clearance and leave it for your body guy to do the finish work.
Cheers,
Jeff
Today I wanted to get the hood trimmed enough to lay in the opening, but first things first. It's nearly 90 degrees and barely a wisp of cloud in the sky; I'm going for a ride!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9k96cfeR7Co&feature=youtu.be
Okay, the fun is over and time to get to the day's task. I started by laying the hood over the opening and running a strip of tape to act as a mark to sand to.
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/atta...2&d=1527281853
Next I used my mini belt sander to sand off the very small amounts of martial up to the tape.
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/atta...4&d=1527281870
I repeated these steps until the hood just barely rested in the opening. I hand sanded the sharp edges just a bit. The gaps will need to be worked, but that I'll leave to the professionals.
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/atta...7&d=1527281901
Once that was done, I dug out all the hood hinge parts and realized that I needed to make a trip to the powder coater. I wish I'd done that six months ago. The parts should be done next week.
Wow, thats a nice hood fit. I have to use the closure to pull the hood down in the corners, even then its not all the way down and my gaps are at least 3 times bigger.
Thanks, David. It's just sitting there under gravity's influence in that picture. I don't even have any rubber sitting under it. I went tediously slow and worked from side to side until it fit. The tape marker I used was really just eyeballed to mirror the body opening. I think overall, I probably removed just under 1/4" or less material from the sides, less than 1/8" from each side, and maybe 1/16 - 3/32 from the front.Quote:
Originally Posted by DavidW
I got approval from my lovely wife to go ahead and order a lift for my shop! I ended up ordering a Bendpak XPR-10AS-LP two-post lift.
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/atta...8&d=1527822040
I found a local installer that I'll have the lift shipped to and then they will bring it to my home and install it. I have an install date of July 10th. In the meantime, I'll need to wire the 220v circuit. Thanks to everyone who provided feedback on their lifts. I was really torn between the Bendpak and Atlas and ultimately decided that I would go with the Bendpak.
I had a request to provide my template that I used to fabricate my floor mounted headlight dimmer switch bracket. I drafted up a quick CAD drawing for anyone that wants to use it.
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/atta...3&d=1527954971
The scale is 1:1, so you can just print the picture without resizing it as a starting point. Keep in mind that you may need to adjust the dimensions to fit your car.
Dave
great news on the lift Dave. I am interested in your CAD drawing for the switch bracket. PM sent
Ugh - Still waiting for the powder coater to finish my brackets I dropped off that were promised in three days ten days ago. Oh well, more time to do yard work.
My powder coating is done on all my hood and trunk brackets. What is the best way to get the coating out of the holes where the bushings need to go without damaging the finish on the bracket? I'm thinking of using an abrasive drum on my die grinder, but I'm open to any recommendations.