That was just what I wanted to see. The angle of those arms gets them pretty close to the window when it is rolled down. Too bad the design does not have the arms more parallel to the door beam. Thanks very much.
- Peterh226
35 Hot Rod Truck (Ext) Delivered 11/21/24
That was just what I wanted to see. The angle of those arms gets them pretty close to the window when it is rolled down. Too bad the design does not have the arms more parallel to the door beam. Thanks very much.
In my case it's a non-concern since I went with the rag top w/ zippered side curtains so I have no windows, for most, yes, you are right they would be very close.
Exterior door handles installed and passenger door functional, still working on the driver's side.....these were kind of a PITA given I was working inside the door shell with about 3" of room and chewing my hands up with the rough fiber glass on the inner door. All good though, pleased the way they turned out.
I was in contact with David at FFR today due to the cable travel was about 1.125" too short. I included my photos I used to show him of that here too. David is sending some spacers / links (can't remember what he called them) to connect to the striker assembly which the clevis will then attach to, to give me the additional 1.125" needed but for now I made a bracket which moved the cable mount about 1.25" closer to give me the length I needed. I'll decide on which method (my bracket or David's solution) once I get the parts from FFR.
Next I'll work on the inner door handles. Those "should" be a lot easier.
Here are my measurements I was seeing....keep in mind the overall cable has 2" of travel, with the measure meets here I was figuring I needed 3.125" given how FFR brackets are set up and if I bottomed out the nut on the threaded end.
I found the same issue and I am also using the inside handle. I added a link between the clevis and the bearclaw. See my post at https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...l=1#post438265 for more details. It's about 1.25 in center to center on the holes.
- Peterh226
35 Hot Rod Truck (Ext) Delivered 11/21/24
I found the same issue and I am also using the inside handle. I added a link between the clevis and the bearclaw. See my post at https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...l=1#post438265 for more details. It's about 1.25 in center to center on the holes.
Thanks Peter...on the inside handle, where did you mount the handle? Did you put your inside handle in the removable door panel or into the fiberglass of the door shell above the removal panel. I'm thinking about putting mine in the fiberglass.
Since I don't have to worry about windows I may install some speaker in the door somewhere too.
On to the waterfall next. Also need to install the door striker brackets, but like others mine won't line up to the location on the frame, so I'll just modify them to fit, just need to look at them in a little more in detail verses my initial cursory check to see what I need to modify.
Moved on to the roll bar next. found out that 1-1/4" copper tubing with a 1-1/4" coupler at the end fits in the roll bar hole perfectly. Add a 3/8" threaded rod to a 1-1/4" copper cap and soldered the whole assembly together to use it as a jig to figured out where center of each hole was.
Once I figured out where center was for the roll bar I reinstalled the waterfall and transferred my measurements to the waterfall and drill a pilot hole for the hole saw..
Used my 12" drill bit one the hole saw to to the angle I'd be drilling on the waterfall, the stubby bit on the hole saw would have causes the hole saw to jump everywhere.
Removed the waterfall to clean up the mess behind it, pulled the seat belts forward and ran speaker wires to the back and through the doors. Installed roll bar (had to open the holes up just bit)
I ordered these 5 days ago, got them yesterday, nice pads.
Did you buy rear pads too or just use what FF5 supplied?
Your receiver tubes for the roll bar look to be more forward that the ones in our Gen 1 chassis.
'33 Hotrod, #1047 Gen 1, delivered on 2/27/18, go cart on 9/24/18.
LS3 w/Gearstar Level 3 4L65e Tranny, Yank converter, Lokar shifter, Electric PS, Vintage AC/Heat/Def, 8.8" 3.55
TorqThrust II Wheels w/Toyo Proxy T1 Sport Tires, F 235/45ZR17 R 295/35ZR18
Garage Built, Driveway Painted.
Door handles look like what I ended up with. Drivers side striker bracket needed a space, passenger side for ok. The link extender helped with a little more cable length to avoid the window movement.
- Peterh226
35 Hot Rod Truck (Ext) Delivered 11/21/24
I ordered these 5 days ago, got them yesterday, nice pads.
Did you buy rear pads too or just use what FF5 supplied?
Your receiver tubes for the roll bar look to be more forward that the ones in our Gen 1 chassis.
I only did the front.... I'm used to drums on the back on all our classic mustangs so the 11.65" rear disc/pad combo was a huge improvement already to those.
Ugh...trimmed the hood this morning only to find this on the front edge. looks like delimitation / voids in the fiberglass. The edge appeared to be solid before I started trimming. I contacted FFR to see next steps.
My roof was just as bad, I filled all the voids with short strand fiberglass.
Haven’t got to the hood yet.
'33 Hotrod, #1047 Gen 1, delivered on 2/27/18, go cart on 9/24/18.
LS3 w/Gearstar Level 3 4L65e Tranny, Yank converter, Lokar shifter, Electric PS, Vintage AC/Heat/Def, 8.8" 3.55
TorqThrust II Wheels w/Toyo Proxy T1 Sport Tires, F 235/45ZR17 R 295/35ZR18
Garage Built, Driveway Painted.
My roof was just as bad, I filled all the voids with short strand fiberglass.
Haven’t got to the hood yet.
100% agree with this method, you can get it premixed with the fibers, use a Dremel and then clean out the gap leaving it rough so the strands and the resin can have something to bite in to. A good quality short strand fiber filler like Evercoat 632 Everglass Short Strand Fiber Reinforced Filler will work great and not crack and provide a great bond as well. Whatever you get make sure it has a little fillers as possible.
Black & Copper #1028 ("The Mistress" according to my wife! )
Brought home: Nov. 2017, GoKart: May 2018, will be Plated & on the Road April 2020
Andreas
100% agree with this method, you can get it premixed with the fibers, use a Dremel and then clean out the gap leaving it rough so the strands and the resin can have something to bite in to. A good quality short strand fiber filler like Evercoat 632 Everglass Short Strand Fiber Reinforced Filler will work great and not crack and provide a great bond as well. Whatever you get make sure it has a little fillers as possible.
Just now sure how deep it goes, I can press around that area and about 2-1/2 to 3" in, I'm getting that crackle sound like the void is flexing. How much is too deep for the void to be? I suppose a guy could just grind out the whole surface down to the void and then use the short strand fiber filler to build it back up and smooth it out right?
A new hood isn't going to be much better. If it runs real deep, squirting in some panel bond and then topping off (the outer 1/4") with the filler Andreas mentions is the way I'd go.
Steve
Gen 1 '33 Hot Rod #1104
347 with Holley Sniper & Hyperspark, TKO600, IRS, 245/40R18 & 315/30R18, DRL, Digital Guard Dog keyless Ignition
A new hood isn't going to be much better. If it runs real deep, squirting in some panel bond and then topping off (the outer 1/4") with the filler Andreas mentions is the way I'd go.
Steve
Thanks Steve...okay, that is what I was wondering if I could do. Sounds good...Thanks guys. Jim
Personally, I think the problem with your hood is a rather easy fix. It is nevertheless a fix still but an easy one in my opinion. I would not bother FFR with this issue. I’m very unimpressed with their customer service and you could easily end up with another questionable hood. Maybe even a worse one. Fixing it myself would be a lot less hassle.
I’ve worked on fiberglass cars (Corvettes) and boats (Hobie Cats) for decades and one problem owners of late 70’s and early 80’s Hobies have is delimitation. Thankfully, newer glues etc. have virtually eliminated this problem today. Hobies are constructed as a sandwich with two layers of fiberglass separated by a layer of foam. Properly bonded, it is very strong. However, the early Hobies often suffered from delimitation as they aged where the layers started separating. Hence the crackling sound. A very good fix is to inject a product between the fiberglass layers called Git-Rot. Git-Rot is designed primarily as a fix for rotting wood boats but works very well for delimitation. It is a thinned liquid epoxy with no filler that is designed to flow through out the damage area. And since it is epoxy the resulting bond is quite strong. Much stronger then your typical polyester or vinylester body fillers. Nor is it like a typical panel bond which while also usually epoxy but also has filler in it. Hobie even has an article on their website describing how to fix delimitation with Git-Rot. With a boat we usually drill some holes so the air will escape but with the hood I think orienting the hood so the delimitation faces upward would suffice and allow the Git-Rot to flow throughout the cracks. Any crackling you hear should then be gone and you should have a nice strong rigid hood again. No drilling of holes or grinding would be necessary. After that you can smooth the edges with body filler of your choice. Good luck.
Got hit with a blizzard today so I shared time between the 33, snow-blowing and running kids to work since their cars were buried.
Got the hood installed, still minor gapping to do but over all pretty good. I still need to fix the void on the edge mentioned in the posts above. Also installed the hood latch and the release in the cockpit. Not sure why FFR included a 5 foot long cable, I think I trimmed it down to 24".
Engine side panels installed and hood trimmed to fit the panels. Next up is the lower belly pan, then the full fenders/running boards. The side panels were a little shy on the passenger side so I'll have to do a little glass fill in...no biggie. Also need to glass in the lower edges of the hood (I screwed up on my cut).
3 months ago yesterday (9/25/2020) the kit arrived, so progress has been really good.
Lower belly pan installed....rear section and openings for suspension lined up great. Waaaay short by the grill but I'll just add material. That is the beauty of fiberglass, pretty easy medium to work with.
Wow, great progress. I keep putting off doing the body as much as possible.
I went into the garage today with the intention of doing some body work but ended up starting to make a sheet metal brake.
'33 Hotrod, #1047 Gen 1, delivered on 2/27/18, go cart on 9/24/18.
LS3 w/Gearstar Level 3 4L65e Tranny, Yank converter, Lokar shifter, Electric PS, Vintage AC/Heat/Def, 8.8" 3.55
TorqThrust II Wheels w/Toyo Proxy T1 Sport Tires, F 235/45ZR17 R 295/35ZR18
Garage Built, Driveway Painted.
I think we had this discussion already but you're only going heater and defrost, right?
Are you planning on seat heaters too?
Correct...deforst / heater only, no AC...... I bought the Vintage Air II system from Summit Racing). Even in the 80+% humid 90+ degree days we get here in summer, the top is always down in our other two convertibles and no AC in those either....heat / humidity never really bugged me.
No heated seats either, they make me feel like I wet my pants always I don't even use the heated seats or heated steering wheel in our Lincoln Navigator in winter.
Got most of the pieces of the full fenders / running board kit installed yesterday, finished up the rest this morning. Everything line up really well, and fenders / running boards are tight to the body panels (no gaps).
I didn't use rivnuts, I decided to use 1/4-20 Grade 8 bolts... a little more work, but I won't have to worry about them pulling out of the fiberglass later on in life.
Next I moved onto building support brackets for the running boards. I know my wife for sure will want to step on them verses stepping over them and human nature is for people to try to step on them so I figured I'd just take away the worry and make them functional.
Bolted them to the frame using 5/16-18 grade 8 hardware and then the running boards are shimmed / bolted to the supports using 1/4-20 stainless steel hardware. The bolt are counter sunk and then I'll put a traction strip across them so you won't see them.
I'm 200 lbs and there is no sag when I step on them. I can even rock the car up and down standing on them.
A little learning for folks with Gen2 kits. Sorry if this has been pointed out already.
When I was doing the fenders / running boards this weekend I was grabbing the tops of the doors to pull myself up a lot not thinking twice about it. this morning I ran out to the 33 to check a part I had on the inside and the drivers door opened harder than normal and it shut even worse.....I thought WTH. Tried the passenger door and same thing. I had these adjusted where you barely had to push on them and they latched flawlessly. Very odd.
I started looking at it, and thought perhaps I forgot to tighten one of the bolts so the door shifted / sagged ....I checked and nope, everything was tight. Then I started looking at the long door bar and saw the slots in it where the carriage bolts sit connecting the long door bar and the hinge bracket together, and thought even though the bolts are tight are they pivoting in the slots when weight is applied....That is exactly what is happening. Figured this will really apply to the folks with power windows since it adds extra weight to the door shell so I thought I should make you guys aware of this.
While things seem tight, grab the bottom of your door by the striker latch end and lift up and then on the top of the door push down and you can physically watch the long bar teeter in the slots (moves 1/16 to 1/8" which just compounds the farther out you get). There is enough slop in the slots compared to the square on the carriage bolt where the bar can teeter no matter how tight the hardware is.
I ended up drilling 5/16" holes through the long door bar and hinge bracket, and put in two 5/16-18 3/4" grade 8 bolts in each door and it stiffened everything up and won't allow the long door bar to shift/pivot any longer. With the doors open, I can now lean on them and they no longer sag. I may also just tack weld the two parts together since I don't plan on ever taking them part again (they can stay in for painting, I'll just mask them off), but for now this fixes it too.
A little learning for folks with Gen2 kits. Sorry if this has been pointed out already.
When I was doing the fenders / running boards this weekend I was grabbing the tops of the doors to pull myself up a lot not thinking twice about it. this morning I ran out to the 33 to check a part I had on the inside and the drivers door opened harder than normal and it shut even worse.....I thought WTH. Tried the passenger door and same thing. I had these adjusted where you barely had to push on them and they latched flawlessly. Very odd.
I started looking at it, and thought perhaps I forgot to tighten one of the bolts so the door shifted / sagged ....I checked and nope, everything was tight. Then I started looking at the long door bar and saw the slots in it where the carriage bolts sit connecting the long door bar and the hinge bracket together, and thought even though the bolts are tight are they pivoting in the slots when weight is applied....That is exactly what is happening. Figured this will really apply to the folks with power windows since it adds extra weight to the door shell so I thought I should make you guys aware of this.
While things seem tight, grab the bottom of your door by the striker latch end and lift up and then on the top of the door push down and you can physically watch the long bar teeter in the slots (moves 1/16 to 1/8" which just compounds the farther out you get). There is enough slop in the slots compared to the square on the carriage bolt where the bar can teeter no matter how tight the hardware is.
I ended up drilling 5/16" holes through the long door bar and hinge bracket, and put in two 5/16-18 3/4" grade 8 bolts in each door and it stiffened everything up and won't allow the long door bar to shift/pivot any longer. With the doors open, I can now lean on them and they no longer sag. I may also just tack weld the two parts together since I don't plan on ever taking them part again (they can stay in for painting, I'll just mask them off), but for now this fixes it too.
Beautiful, thanks for the reminder. I had thought about putting even very small bolts through everywhere that has slots (once everything is perfectly aligned) because after that the slots work against us!
James
FFR33 #997 (Gen1 chassis, Gen2 body), license plate DRIVE IT says it all! build thread
My build: 350SBC, TKO600, hardtop, no fenders/hood, 32 grill, 3 link, sway bars, 355/30r19
Previous cars: GTD40, Cobra, tubeframe 55 Chevy, 66 Nova, 56 F100
Beautiful, thanks for the reminder. I had thought about putting even very small bolts through everywhere that has slots (once everything is perfectly aligned) because after that the slots work against us!
Maybe cap screws instead of carriage bolts along with toothed washers at either end would fix the slippage problem.
I'm not sure any hardware keeping just two bolts in that slotted area will fix the issue, it's a weak point in the design IMO, I think the best solution is adding a third (I added a 4th) bolt in that area to eliminate the slip / sag or the guaranteed fix is to weld it but then you lose any future adjustment (which I'm not sure that would matter once everything is aligned). Jim
Installed the rag top today...over all installation went pretty well. I did however discover an issue with the zippered side curtain...I got two passenger side curtains verses one passenger and one driver. Guess who I'm calling tomorrow?
Guess I'll hold off on installing the passenger side until I hear more.
I'm not sure any hardware keeping just two bolts in that slotted area will fix the issue, it's a weak point in the design IMO, I think the best solution is adding a third (I added a 4th) bolt in that area to eliminate the slip / sag or the guaranteed fix is to weld it but then you lose any future adjustment (which I'm not sure that would matter once everything is aligned). Jim
Ya, you're probably right. Fix it once, fix it right, and be done with it.
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Originally Posted by peterh226
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I don't even use the heated seats or heated steering wheel in our Lincoln Navigator in winter. 
