JB in NOVA's MK4 build : First overnight road trip!

[egchewy79]

Gentlemen, thank you for your helpful comments! Today, I received a new CTS and tested it. As expected, it did not work. So, unfortunately, it looks like the problem is internal to the Sniper system. The good news is that Blueprint has been great to work with, and they are in the process of getting a new Sniper shipped to me. So I guess I’ll be learning how to install that soon!

A bit of a bummer, but I’m sure I’ll get it worked out eventually. In the meantime, I fitted up my DS roll bar in preparation for (someday) go-karting.



I drilled the three bottom holes, but I haven’t yet drilled the hole for the so-called “Frankenstein bolt” at the top. I know some folks have installed a hidden fastening system, like this one: https://520speedworks.com/shop/ols/p...ar-kit-15-inch. But at $80 a pop, I’m not sure it’s worth it, so I’m leaning toward just dressing up the Frankenstein bolt with a SS acorn nut and being done with it. Unless, of course, someone talks me out of it .

Progress continues . . .

I have the 520 hidden system. I agree it's a bit expensive, but what's an extra$80 when I've come this far? I like the look without a bolt visible.

[egchewy79]

While I'm waiting for my Sniper replacement, I managed to get a few things done this week. First, I set the ride height. As many on the forum have advised (and as taught in the build school), I used stacks of three 2X4s under the 4-inch frame tubes in the front to set the front ride height at 4.5 inches. I jacked the car up, adjusted both Koni collars so that they just touched the bottom of the coils, then lowered the car toward the stacked 2X4’s and observed the gap. I jacked up the car again and adjusted the collars an equal number of turns on both sides and repeated this process until the frame tubes just barely touched the stacks of 2X4s. In the rear, I did the same except I added a ½” piece of wood for a rear ride height of 5 inches. Once the ride height was set, I tightened the set screws on the Koni collars.

With that completed, I set the pinion angle on the drive shaft. I used the Tremac app, which allows you to use your iphone to measure the three critical angles: (1) transmission angle, (2) drive shaft angle, and (3) rear axle angle. Here’s what I got:



Tremac rewarded me for being “within specification.” So I guess that’s that. I will be sure to revisit this once I have a few miles on the car to make sure I’m still within spec.

Finally, with my dad visiting, I decided to put him to work for a rough front-end alignment. NOTE: My only goal here was to get the front end into the general “ballpark” of a proper alignment. I don’t have the tools or the skills to do an actual alignment.

For toe, we ran a string parallel to the rear tire and measured the gap between the front wheel rim and the string at the front and the rear of the front wheel. We adjusted the tie rod until the rear gap was 1/16” less than the front gap. We did the same on the other side. If I understand correctly, this should represent an overall toe of about 1/8” inward (roughly).

For camber, we used a piece of wood cut to length so that it wedged between the upper and lower ridges of the front rims. We used a level to get this perpendicular. Then we used an angle-finder app on my iphone to measure the camber. I adjusted the upper control arm sleeves to get the camber to about -1 degree on both sides.

For caster, we put the front wheels on folded-over garbage bags to allow them to turn without too much friction. We turned the wheels one direction 20 degrees (we used a straight edge and a protractor to get the angle approximately right) and measured the camber using the same procedure above. Then we turned the wheel until it was 20 degrees in the opposite direction and measured the camber. My understanding is that the difference between these two angles is an approximate estimate of caster. I adjusted the upper control arm sleeves until this value was between +7 and +8 degrees. We repeated the process on both sides.

Finally, we went through and did all the measurements again to make sure everything was still roughly within spec. It was. Good enough to drive, I think.

I also greased all the zerk fittings. I found this thread particularly helpful: https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...ease-points-16
On my MK4, I found 18 zerk fittings in total: 7 on each side of the front suspension, and 2 on each side of the rear control arms. I did not see any grease fittings on the drive shaft U-joint, so I’m assuming I have the sealed variety.

Make sure you run the string parallel to the frame, not the rear tires as they can be slightly off, making your measurements at the fronts way off. I tried skimming a line to barely touch the front and rear of the rear tires only to find out that my solid rear axle is a degree or so off 90*from the thrust line, making my distances from the string to my fronts off by an inch from side to side.

[JB in NOVA]

I received a replacement Sniper EFI from Blueprint. Blueprint was really great to work with, and they sent the replacement Sniper right away.

Papa is right, replacing the Sniper wasn’t hard at all. First, I disconnected all the electrical leads, the fuel hoses, and vacuum hoses:



Next, I disconnected the accelerator throttle linkage. Then I unbolted the Sniper unit from the four studs on top of the engine:



After that, it comes right off:



I reinstalled the new one in reverse order, reconnected everything, crossed my fingers, and cranked the engine. Success! It started right up, and more importantly, my handheld unit showed the correct coolant temperature:



The idle was a bit fast, so I adjusted the idle set screw a bit, and it dialed right into the target idle speed of 900 rpm.

After that, there was nothing left to do but take it for a test drive! Here she is ready to launch:



And here’s her maiden voyage around the neighborhood:

[RJD]

Nice! Congrats.

[TMartinLVNV]

Very good. I'm glad you have solved this issue. I am surprised as to how many Holley Sniper TB units need replacing. I've seen quite a few. Mine has been fine, but it is good to know that Holley/Blue Print takes care of the issue.

[egchewy79]

congrats! nothing like the first go kart experience. I love the family that was congregating on the 2nd lap to see what was going on. your camera has a weird depth perception and I thought you were going to run into something multiple times

[tmlint]

That looks like fun! Seeing how Blueprint took care of the issues with your Sniper makes me glad I went with one of their engines for my build.

[bldr.rob]

Congratulations! What a great day!

[Caddy Dad]

Congratulations on another major milestone! Engine sounds fantastic

[VAHokie]

Congrats and great video!

[BadAsp427]

Congratulations.. That is always a exciting milestone.

[jrcuz]

Great video and good deal that Blue Print took care of your problem.
JR

[460.465USMC]

Very cool, JB! Great success and getting all of the details right!

[jiriza84641]

congrats. I know that was a fun ride!

[Fman]

Just watched you go-kart vid again, engine sounds so healthy and ready to rip! looking forward to seeing your car completed.

[John Ibele]

Sounds fantastic, and thanks for taking all the rest of us along for the ride!

[nucjd19]

Hey JB. Just wanted to say thank you. I am a week into my build and I have already corrected some " gotchas" that you documented very well including those irritating brake anti chatter clips and shims for the brake caliper mounting bracket on the passenger side. Also I mocked up my reservoir bracket and used your helpful link. just wanted you to know I appreciate your documentation

[JB in NOVA]

Well, things have been very busy at work since early November, but I finally had time this week to get back to the Roadster project. I decided to carpet the trunk before putting the body on. Following the advice of many on this forum, I used a non-backed, light-weight trunk liner, which I purchased here: https://jjsupply.com/collections/tru...nkliner-carpet

I believe this is the same material that is used for speaker boxes, etc., but it works well as a trunk liner. First, I inserted rivnuts to hold the fuel-tank access panels:



Then, using 3M Super 77 spray adhesive (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MFA2EEE), I carpeted the trunk area:



And the cubby area:



I’m generally happy with how it turned out, especially considering that most imperfections will be hidden once the body is on. A couple lessons learned:

1. the spray adhesive tends to get everywhere, and it does not dry “clear” – it dries with a milky white color. So be sure to mask areas that you don’t want to get sprayed.
2. Do not attempt to drill a hole through sheet metal once the carpet is glued on. The drill bit will grab and twirl the carpet, essentially ruining it. Don’t ask how I know.

[jrcuz]

Well, things have been very busy at work since early November, but I finally had time this week to get back to the Roadster project. I decided to carpet the trunk before putting the body on. Following the advice of many on this forum, I used a non-backed, light-weight trunk liner, which I purchased here: https://jjsupply.com/collections/tru...nkliner-carpet

I believe this is the same material that is used for speaker boxes, etc., but it works well as a trunk liner. First, I inserted rivnuts to hold the fuel-tank access panels:



Then, using 3M Super 77 spray adhesive (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MFA2EEE), I carpeted the trunk area:



And the cubby area:



I’m generally happy with how it turned out, especially considering that most imperfections will be hidden once the body is on. A couple lessons learned:

1. the spray adhesive tends to get everywhere, and it does not dry “clear” – it dries with a milky white color. So be sure to mask areas that you don’t want to get sprayed.
2. Do not attempt to drill a hole through sheet metal once the carpet is glued on. The drill bit will grab and twirl the carpet, essentially ruining it. Don’t ask how I know.

Thanks for this post JB, I had been undecided on trunk carpet but I think I've decided to carpet it now. Me and another builder/owner put the body bac kon just this past Sat. so I'll plan to do it next time we remove the body. How many yards did it require?
JR

[JB in NOVA]

Once again thank you for posting these. Your build has been the main one I have been watching as I work through mine because they are so close. One question I had was what nutserts did you use? Did you have any issues with it distorting the aluminum? I have never used them before but there is a couple of areas I am thinking of using them.

rthomas98, I bought this rivnut/nutsert tool on amazon, which came with a bunch of rivnuts in different sizes: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BVMBP5P. It is metric, which isn't a particular problem if you have a good hardware store nearby with a good selection of metric machine screws. But in retrospect, I wish I had bought an SAE tool like this one: https://www.amazon.com/Performance-T...dp/B01M08ERVF/

Anyway, for my trunk panels, I used the M5 rivnuts, and they worked fine. I have had no problem with the aluminum buckling. Before I started using the tool, I tested it several times on scrap aluminum until I got the hang of it. Since then, I've had no problems with it at all.

Good luck!

[JB in NOVA]

Thanks for this post JB, I had been undecided on trunk carpet but I think I've decided to carpet it now. Me and another builder/owner put the body bac kon just this past Sat. so I'll plan to do it next time we remove the body. How many yards did it require?
JR

Jrcuz, I don't remember precisely how much I ordered, but I'm pretty sure it was 5 yards. That was enough to do the entire trunk (including the Breeze drop trunk mod) and cubby area with some left over. The material is not terribly expensive ($6.25 per yard), so maybe order a bit extra if you're unsure. Good luck!

[bldr.rob]

Looks awesome! Thanks for the great detail.

[460.465USMC]

Hi JB,

Thanks for sharing what you used for the trunk carpet. I haven't yet run across the forum carpet advice you mentioned. Is there an issue with the supplied trunk carpet, so that's why you bought other carpet? Sorry for the dumb question, but just wanted to make sure I understand any carpet issues I may encounter. Thanks!

[JB in NOVA]

Hi JB,

Thanks for sharing what you used for the trunk carpet. I haven't yet run across the forum carpet advice you mentioned. Is there an issue with the supplied trunk carpet, so that's why you bought other carpet? Sorry for the dumb question, but just wanted to make sure I understand any carpet issues I may encounter. Thanks!

Chris, I honestly hadn't even noticed that my kit included trunk carpeting (so, certainly not a dumb question on your part). But I just checked, and you're right -- it does (not sure that was the case with older kits). Anyway, with my drop trunk mod, cubby mod, and the addition of extended interior trunk sidewalls, I'm not sure the FFR carpeting would have worked for me. But I think it would be a good idea to test fit the FFR-supplied carpeting to see if it will work for you. I will say, though, that the thinner trunk-lining material has a different look and feel than the thicker FFR carpeting, so that's another thing to consider. Just a matter of personal preference.

[jrcuz]

JB, if you're interested in selling your trunk carpeting I'd be interested. I'm in no hurry to to do the trunk since the body is on right now.
Thanks, JR

[JB in NOVA]

After some much needed R&R with the family, I’m finally getting back to the Roadster project. At this point, I’m trying to take care of various odds and ends before I test fit the body. First, I closed up the hole for the shifter in the tunnel top. I found the FFR-supplied plate did not quite fit for some reason, so I fashioned my own and attached with rivets:



I know from others’ threads that these rivets might be problematic if I decide to cover the tunnel with leather, so I’m leaving the top unattached at this point in case I decide to replace the whole thing with a FFMetal version. Of course, that would require me to actually make a decision about color and trim, which I seem totally incapable of doing:



I thought building a car was hard -- choosing exterior and interior colors is impossible!!

Next, I installed the driver’s side exterior footbox panel, pre-insulating it before riveting it on:





I’m going to leave the top pieces unattached until after I test fit the body. Incidentally, the Swiss-cheese look at the bottom of the panel is the result of me pre-drilling holes 8 months ago without realizing that the bottom of the panel tucks inside the floor pan, where those holes are hidden and inaccessible. I created new holes once everything was mated up properly. Not a huge deal, but still a learning experience.

The only other thing I've managed to do is take care of an annoying drip from my coolant reservoir. No amount of tightening the threaded ports at the bottom seemed to be doing the trick, so I removed the reservoir, put it a vice, and tightened the inlet and drain ports with a bit more leverage. Incidentally, I found it helpful to use two pieces of wood on either side of the oval boss at the bottom of the reservoir to hold it in place without scratching the chrome finish:



This did the trick – no more coolant drips on my garage floor!

[jrcuz]

Looks great JB. I initially covered my tunnel top with the same felt/vinyl I covered my dash with then the plate and rivets showed up. I went with the FFMetal piece. I haven't covered it with the felt/vinyl yet having just finished cutting the holes for the shifter, cup holders and seat heater switches.
JR

[JB in NOVA]

My focus this weekend was getting the body prepped and test-fitted on the chassis. First, I flipped the body over and did a light sanding with a 60-grit block to knock off loose molding residue and strings. I also rounded all the sharp edges to minimize damage to the bulb seal. I vacuumed and wiped everything down with acetone. Then I masked the edges and applied two coats of bedliner (three in the wheel wells). I used this product:



This product is very thick and lumpy. The instructions say to stir with a paint stick, but I ended up using a drill-powered paint stirrer. Otherwise, the application was fairly straight-forward. A gallon was much more than I needed. Here is the result:



Because the fiberglass is textured, I did notice a bit of bleed through under the tape, so make sure to leave a good gap if you want to keep the bedliner away from the edges (which I understand is important for body prep and painting):



Next, I pressed bulb seal onto the firewall, trunk sides and rear floor, and the lower portions of the rear bulkhead wall, and covered everything with plastic to avoid scraping:



Finally, with the help of my wife and daughter and a friend, we got the body onto the chassis. I lined it up with the front and rear quick jacks and tightened everything down. The fit looks okay, although I will have to make a few adjustments before the final fit. The location of the horn interfered with the mounting bracket for the left, front quick jack, so that will have to be moved back an inch or so. Also, it looks like I need to cut back some of the bulb seal on the shoulders of the rear cockpit wall to get the rear of the body to sit down a fraction of an inch more. But otherwise, the fit was pretty good.

Here’s #9822 with the body on for the first time in nine months:



Progress continues . . .

[jrcuz]

Looks good JB. I remember flipping mine over in my backyard. IO used the Duplicolor bed liner also. I don't know why I bought 1 gal. and 1 qt. and had quite a bit of the gal. left over. I'll PM you about your trunk carpet.
JR

[egchewy79]

My focus this weekend was getting the body prepped and test-fitted on the chassis. First, I flipped the body over and did a light sanding with a 60-grit block to knock off loose molding residue and strings. I also rounded all the sharp edges to minimize damage to the bulb seal. I vacuumed and wiped everything down with acetone. Then I masked the edges and applied two coats of bedliner (three in the wheel wells). I used this product:



This product is very thick and lumpy. The instructions say to stir with a paint stick, but I ended up using a drill-powered paint stirrer. Otherwise, the application was fairly straight-forward. A gallon was much more than I needed. Here is the result:



Because the fiberglass is textured, I did notice a bit of bleed through under the tape, so make sure to leave a good gap if you want to keep the bedliner away from the edges (which I understand is important for body prep and painting):



Next, I pressed bulb seal onto the firewall, trunk sides and rear floor, and the lower portions of the rear bulkhead wall, and covered everything with plastic to avoid scraping:



Finally, with the help of my wife and daughter and a friend, we got the body onto the chassis. I lined it up with the front and rear quick jacks and tightened everything down. The fit looks okay, although I will have to make a few adjustments before the final fit. The location of the horn interfered with the mounting bracket for the left, front quick jack, so that will have to be moved back an inch or so. Also, it looks like I need to cut back some of the bulb seal on the shoulders of the rear cockpit wall to get the rear of the body to sit down a fraction of an inch more. But otherwise, the fit was pretty good.

Here’s #9822 with the body on for the first time in nine months:



Progress continues . . .

I used the same stuff. It goes on like runny cottage cheese

[460.465USMC]

Great progress, JB! I bet it was great to see it with the body on.

[BadAsp427]

Congrats, Looking good and it always feels so good to stand back and look at a "CAR" vs the go-cart.

[Fman]

Looking good! Did you decide on a painter yet?

[JB in NOVA]

Looking good! Did you decide on a painter yet?

Thanks. Yes, I'm planning to ship the car to Spotlight Custom Cars in Georgia for prep and paint. But first I plan to complete the car in gelcoat, get it registered, and put a few miles on it to shake out any problems.

That's the plan anyway . . .

[John Ibele]

Looks great, JB.

[jrcuz]

Sent you a PM
JR

[Blitzboy54]

Thanks. Yes, I'm planning to ship the car to Spotlight Custom Cars in Georgia for prep and paint. But first I plan to complete the car in gelcoat, get it registered, and put a few miles on it to shake out any problems.

That's the plan anyway . . .

i think that is what i want to do as well. I'm hoping to get a season out of it to enjoy and work out the bugs. Then ship it off for body and paint over the winter.

Your build is great.

[RJD]

Thanks. Yes, I'm planning to ship the car to Spotlight Custom Cars in Georgia for prep and paint. But first I plan to complete the car in gelcoat, get it registered, and put a few miles on it to shake out any problems.

That's the plan anyway . . .

Good call.

[JB in NOVA]

Work has been insane for the past several weeks, but I finally got back in the garage this weekend. After test-fitting the body a few weeks ago, I removed it and trimmed some areas to improve the fit. On the body, I removed about ¼ inch from the front and rear lips of the cockpit:



On the chassis, I trimmed about 5/8” from the rear of the trunk floor so that the body could move forward a bit more.

Next, I completed the driver’s side footbox. I used rivnuts on the access panel, as many have suggested:



I relocated the horns (moved them back about an inch) because they had interfered with the bracket for the driver’s side quick jack. And I secured the wiring for the front PS lights to the bottom of the radiator shroud to keep it up and out of the way:



With all that done, I put the body back on this morning (with some help from my wife and son). And here she is again:



By the way, I am certainly glad I did the “Kleiner mod” for the rear quick jacks. From what I can tell, if you have a dropped trunk like I do, there is no other way to mount the rear quick jacks. Anyway, the mod worked perfectly for me. For the threaded portion, I used 7/16 x 6 inch threaded rods: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1, which seemed to work well:



Next I'll be tackling the hood, trunk, and doors . . .

[jrcuz]

Looks great JB, hope you got the PM I sent you. We got mine down to Whitby Motorcars this past Fri. now the wait begins.
JR