Midwest Mark IV Roadster Build

[Midwest FFR]

Hello everyone, here to introduce myself and say thank you in advance of any help or thoughts you all might have for me. I actually ordered my kit in December and have received it not quite a moth ago. Super cool to see the semi come in into my cul de sac and watch the driver unload the car, Michael was great and super helpful.
I am recently retired so I have time to devote to the build, I am lucky enough to have one of our two car garages pretty much empty. I took the wait time to clean, organize the space, build chassis dolly and body buck, everything fits in nicely, I can even spin the car 360 degree's(barely) depending what end I am working on(better lighting towards the front)

I raced sports cars all over the the states for almost 20 years, we did most of the car builds, prep, maintenance, etc. ourselves so the build should go pretty smoothly. I can't build a motor or gearbox but have swapped them out more times then I care to remember! I have most of the tools needed still so except for a few specialty tools should be more or less set (although I did purchase a Milwaukee battery powered rivet tool after the first 2 "F" panels, that thing is amazing)
I've been poking around these forums for a few months now and have got a lot of good idea's from you guys, so thank you. My Cobra obsession goes way back to my late 20's, I saved up enough for a kit way back then but ran into a barn find Corvette and put the Cobra idea on the back burner while we redid the Vette, a few Corvettes and 30 plus years later here we are, a Mark IV FFR kit in the garage!.

I did the full MKIV kit
Wheels/tires
Powder coated frame
Moser 3 link solid axle( I think the FFR race cars at the track ran that set up so it'll be more then fine to tool around town)no plans to autocross, track days, etc. been there done that
FFR brakes front and back
No power steering(I know, non of my race cars or fun street cars ever had it)
No AC, heater, radio, etc. just want a good solid cool fun experience.....6 months out of the year
FFR Autometer gauges
I checked a number of usual boxes for some of the options from FFR
Just ordered my motor/ tranny combo from Blueprint, 347 EFI, I did go with the .67 final drive instead of the standard .83

As the car sits now.
Front suspension is all complete
Front brakes, rotors, brake lines installed
Pedal box and master cylinders installed
Steering is all installed
Both front and passenger footbox aluminum along with the cockpit is complete
Rear suspension is hung and ready to be completed once the rear end axle assembly from Moser gets here( I think a bit of confusion on FFR on the ordering of it)
Gas tank is all prepped and ready for install after the rear end is complete

So just going to read through the instruction manual in more detail, keep looking at the FFR build video's along with another guys You Tube step by step build video's the next few days(I'm out of town next week so hopefully axle shows up)The You Tube video is " Kevins Garage", he does a great job talking through each step of his build along with any good tips after he has completed them. My kit, drivetrain and options are identical to his so its a perfect tool to have.


I'll get my pictures uploaded this week as well

Looking forward to the build, it's been great so far

Again, thanks in advance to any helpful tips!

[tnt_motorsports]

Welcome to the site! I'm in Bettendorf IA. What part of the "midwest" are you?

Todd

[Shamilton289]

Welcome, from another Midwesterner. I’m in the Indy suburbs, working on a 289 USRRC complete kit. Building my own 289 engine. Also no power steering, no heat, no a/c. If I can drive my 66 Mustang GT with manual steering and drive a 56 Thunderbird in 30° weather with the top down and no heat, I thin’ I’ll be fine ��

[PMD24]

Welcome. Many people here with tons of experience on the MK4 so if you run into issues or have questions, I've found that folks here go out of their way to help. It's an awesome resource.

Pat

[Jeff Kleiner]

Welcome! Yeah, where in the Midwest are you? I’m in central Indiana (Bloomington).

Jeff

[Midwest FFR]

We moved to the Quad Cities when I was a kid, graduated from Davenport Central so I know the area well Todd, thanks for reaching out. I'm in Des Moines, moved here right after a college try and then trade school. I still have a brother in law in Davenport but don't get back to much anymore as we moved my mother in law here about a year ago. We do have a June trip planned for a family party so maybe we can get together for a bit and check out your build, same thing goes to you if you ever get to Des Moines.

Again, so far so good on the start of my build, a few bolt on bolt off back on scenarios, but not to bad. Its actually probably just as well the axle assembly is not here yet as it'll force me to slow down, read and research more in advance that I was. I will be checking out a lot of the build threads here as well for more specific questions or small issues I run into.

Drivetrain should be here late May, in the meantime it'll give me time to get it at "roller" status along with a lot of small items checked off the list.

I'll get some pictures ready to go as well in the next few days

Thanks guys!

[tnt_motorsports]

We moved to the Quad Cities when I was a kid, graduated from Davenport Central so I know the area well Todd, thanks for reaching out. I'm in Des Moines, moved here right after a college try and then trade school. I still have a brother in law in Davenport but don't get back to much anymore as we moved my mother in law here about a year ago. We do have a June trip planned for a family party so maybe we can get together for a bit and check out your build, same thing goes to you if you ever get to Des Moines.

Again, so far so good on the start of my build, a few bolt on bolt off back on scenarios, but not to bad. Its actually probably just as well the axle assembly is not here yet as it'll force me to slow down, read and research more in advance that I was. I will be checking out a lot of the build threads here as well for more specific questions or small issues I run into.

Drivetrain should be here late May, in the meantime it'll give me time to get it at "roller" status along with a lot of small items checked off the list.

I'll get some pictures ready to go as well in the next few days

Thanks guys!

Sounds good! Hit me up if you are in town. We get to Des Moines ocassionally for our youngest son. He prefers to come here and have Mama's home cooking lol.