Danny Boy's Mk4 Build - Putting the project on hold for a while...

[JB in NOVA]

Since they were discontinuous and flimsy anyway I decided to order a full length pre-cut dashboard support panel from Mike Everson. It's a quality piece for $35, which is honestly about what I'd spend on the raw aluminum and cutting blades if I were to make a new one. Looks and works great!

+1 on the Mike Everson under-dash support. I think it really helps "solidify" the dash setup. Also, I mounted a lot of things on that under-dash support (4 heater louvers, USB charger port, 2 seat heater switches, high-beam switch, emergency flasher switch, emergency engine cut-off switch, and 3 under-dash lights), which helped keep the visible portion of the dashboard clean and simple:



Although not shown in this picture, I used rivnuts to secure the bottom the dash to the under-dash support, and I used velcro to secure the upper dash to the curved hoop. You can't see any of the "under-dash" controls from a normal vantage point, but they are easy to reach while driving. I am happy with the way it turned out.

[facultyofmusic]

Hey Dan. Got caught up on your build a while ago and it’s really looking good!

The Everson panel is a really nice piece and we love ours. Great place to hide switches and other controls that you don’t want to see in the dash. Just wanted to make sure you know that once you rivet the front part into the frame, it becomes really difficult if not impossible to work behind the dash with the body and dash installed. Our solution was to cut the panel about an inch from the frame tube all the way across and use another piece of aluminum to tie the two pieces together with screws. That allowed us to drop the main portion of it and work behind the dash while it was still installed. It saved us a big headache when we had to do some last minute additions before we sent the car away for body work.





Keep up the good work!

Thanks for stopping by my thread Mike! The advice on ease of access is a great reminder. I've designed my dashboard to be fully detachable with the body on, but without the body on I'm sure I'll trim some wires just a hair too short and it will make removing the dash with the body on a pain. I'll be sure to leave enough wiring to fully "pull out" the dash.

[facultyofmusic]

+1 on the Mike Everson under-dash support. I think it really helps "solidify" the dash setup. Also, I mounted a lot of things on that under-dash support (4 heater louvers, USB charger port, 2 seat heater switches, high-beam switch, emergency flasher switch, emergency engine cut-off switch, and 3 under-dash lights), which helped keep the visible portion of the dashboard clean and simple:



Although not shown in this picture, I used rivnuts to secure the bottom the dash to the under-dash support, and I used velcro to secure the upper dash to the curved hoop. You can't see any of the "under-dash" controls from a normal vantage point, but they are easy to reach while driving. I am happy with the way it turned out.

The lights are a great idea! I might steal that from ya :P I also didn't want to clutter the dash, so I made a little box for ignition control and other toggle switches. Def not period accurate, but I'm loving the look so far.

BTW, how are you liking the FFR dash so far? One of my foreseeable future projects down the line is to upgrade the dash as I've made some mistakes trimming and cutting the dash fabric. Wondering if I should just order the FFR pre-molded dash.

[JB in NOVA]

The lights are a great idea! I might steal that from ya :P I also didn't want to clutter the dash, so I made a little box for ignition control and other toggle switches. Def not period accurate, but I'm loving the look so far.

BTW, how are you liking the FFR dash so far? One of my foreseeable future projects down the line is to upgrade the dash as I've made some mistakes trimming and cutting the dash fabric. Wondering if I should just order the FFR pre-molded dash.

I bought the lights here: https://www.oznium.com/led-bolts-prewired-leds/led-bolt I believe I went with "warm white" with the lens option. I wired them to turn on in the courtesy position of the headlight switch. They work great and really come in handy at night! As for the FFR pre-fab dash, I think it looks nice and was easy to install. Of course, it limits your options in terms of color schemes. I would describe it as a "near black" gray, which goes well with a black interior but perhaps not with other color options. Also, it is vinyl, so it doesn't look exactly like leather, but it's pretty close. Hard to tell unless you really look close.

[facultyofmusic]

In post #272 I documented the oil pressure and water temp senders, and I realized I may have made a mistake by over-tightening to straight-thread m12x1.5 o-ring fittings. The FFR instructions didn't mention a torque value so I just made it as tight as I could with bare hands. After a brief discussion on the power steering fittings, I learned that the o-ring sealed fittings have a super low torque spec. So now I'm debating whether I should remove the fittings now to check for o-ring damage, or just wait and see if it leaks.

[facultyofmusic]

So I talked with a friend of mine who does his own motor stuff and he told me to not worry about it unless it actually leaks. The key here is that even if it does leak, it won't be something catastrophic and easy to detect even at low RPMs. On the first start it should be obvious if it's gonna leak. It if doesn't leak at 2k RPM then it's not gonna leak at 7k RPM. If it does leak upon first start, then replace it. ... or else leave it be.

[facultyofmusic]

The O2 sensor harness is the last engine harness to tackle. It's also the least straightforward one, so here are some tips and pictures to help future builders along. The O2 sensor harness has 4 branches, but we only need two. It wasn't hard to unwrap the harness to trim it all the way back so I definitely recommend doing that. It will also give you some wires to work with when splicing the red power wire.

The O2 sensor harness reaches pretty far, but depending on where you place your ECU it might not reach the driver-side exhaust. I was lucky that I mounted by ECU pretty close to the front of the engine. The FFR manual suggests mounting the ECU on top of the passenger footwell.
ecu_location_ffr.jpg

When I mounted my ECU the coyote install kit was still backordered so I decided to make my own bracket and mounted it closer to the front. I'm not sure if the bracket that comes with FFR coyote install kit will fit there though.
ecu_location.jpg

Because I had my ECU in-line with the front face of the engine, I was able to route the O2 sensor harness almost straight across the top just behind the intake. In the picture below it's the harness with exposed wires.
o2_top.jpg

This allowed me to JUST reach the driver side O2 sensor with some slack for the engine to vibrate.
o2_driver.jpg

The passenger side O2 sensor wires are way longer than they need to be, so I trimmed them short to avoid having a large bundle of unnecessary wires.
o2_passenger.jpg o2_joints.jpg o2_wraped.jpg

With everything wrapped up the harness tucks away neatly along the top with the rest of the engine harness.
o2_done.jpg

[facultyofmusic]

There are threads with very complete documentation on the coyote coolant system. In this post I'll provide links to the ones that helped me the most, updated part numbers, and any extra notes from my own discoveries.

A few knowledge points:

1. The coolant plumbing system routes are identical between gen 1, 2, and 3 coyote engines. I confirmed this with Paul (edwardb). This means if you see a helpful post about plumbing on the gen 2 coyote then you can also apply it to gen3.
2. The Ford coyote install kit provides "everything you need", but a popular approach addition in the incorporation of a de-gas tank. I went with this approach. Explanations of the degas tank can be found here.
3. You don't need water in the system to crank and start your engine for a few mins. I'm mocking up the system to ensure everything fits and routes correctly, but I won't be putting water/coolant in the system until I verify that I don't need to take it off again due to some leak. More on this later.
4. DO lubricate the coolant hoses with dish soap and water when installing them. It makes it easier and also prevents damaging the hoses.
5. I'm not installing a heater and this point will not talk about installing one.

I mostly used Paul (edwardb) and John (JohnK)'s build threads as supplemental guides to the FFR guide. Here's my list of recommended readings:

• From Paul's Type65 with a gen3 coyote: posts #414, #485, #488.
• From Paul's 20th anniversary Mk4 roadster with gen2 coyote: posts #143, #145.
• From John's Mk4 roadster with gen2 coyote: posts #201, #207.

In a conversation with JohnK he graciously provided me a list of ford part numbers of everything I needed. I'll echo them here:

• CL3Z-8260-A: A better upper radiator hose than the one in the coyote install kit. Part is originally for a 2012 F150 upper hose. Advice from both John and I on this one: Be careful how you trim the radiator end. It’s easy to screw up. Checkout John's thread #207 to see how he modified it slightly to be able to rotate it to get more clearance from the PS pulley.
• FR3Z-8C289-C: De-gas tank bottom to engine. An updated version of FR3Z-8C289-B.
• FR3Z-8075-E: De-gas tank top/front to radiator, including one-way check valve. An updated version of FR3Z-8075-C.
• DG9Z-8100-A: Stock Mustang reservoir cap. The de-gas tank I bought didn't come with a cap.
• FR3Z-8276-B: Hose from the overflow tank top/rear to the water neck near the throttle body. Neither Paul, John, or I were able to find this in stock anywhere. The tank side is 3/8” ID hose and the engine side is 5/16” ID. Can be made quite easily with a 3/8" to 5/16" conversion fitting and respective hoses. John had some left over and kindly passed them onto me. I'll probably have some left over afterwards too so if you'd in the area I'll pass it onto you. Glen Davis posted below that part FR3Z-8C362-D maybe a good replacement.
• Boig Motorsports BMS-104: Lower radiator hose. A high quality replacement for the one provided in the coyote install kit.

With the above parts and parts from the FFR provided coyote install kit, you should be able to completely finish routing the coolant system. A few visits to the local hardware store to buy hose clamps maybe required.

Here are some pictures of my coolant system (some hoses aren't clamped down yet):
20220527_175754.jpg 20220602_214819.jpg 20220602_214831.jpg 20220602_214838.jpg 20220602_220455.jpg 20220602_220715.jpg

Now here's perhaps a controversial topic: Filling the system before first start.
I don't plan to fill my system until I've verified the correct operation of systems that are require moving the radiator to access. These systems include engine oil circulation and power steering pump/rack fluid circulation. Leaks on these two systems don't required very long to appear and I don't plan to run the engine for more than a minute or two without coolant and it shouldn't be anywhere close to needing coolant at that stage. If my power steering fittings leak it will be much easier to fix while the radiator can still be easily removed.

Another thing to note is that you can fill the system with distilled water to test the coolant circulation system before adding real coolant. Draining coolant is a PITA compared to just draining water. You can always replace the water with coolant afterwards.

[460.465USMC]

Hi Dan. You're cruising right along. I bookmarked the helpful thread on the EFI fuel pump issue just in case it impacts me. Good info. there.

I really like the bottom bracket you made for your Moroso tank. Well done!

I was able to order all of the special hoses for the Moroso setup from OEM Parts Source. Interestingly, the hose that came for my bottom tank connection is only about 6"-8", and with two right angle connections. I'll dig into it more soon, and see if they sent the wrong one, as it doesn't at all look like the one in your picture. It could be I just need to extend it.

Also, they had the top/rear hose (FR3Z-8276-B). I haven't installed/fitted yet, but a quick look at it and it seems right, or at least close.

Thanks for your pictures. Good points of reference.

[Glen Davis]

Since FR3Z-8276-B has been discontinued by Ford you might look at FR3Z-8C362-D. By the hand drawn picture on a Ford dealer website, it looks the same and seems to have the applications. Ford may not recognize a direct supersession, but it is something to look at.

[facultyofmusic]

Since FR3Z-8276-B has been discontinued by Ford you might look at FR3Z-8C362-D. By the hand drawn picture on a Ford dealer website, it looks the same and seems to have the applications. Ford may not recognize a direct supersession, but it is something to look at.

Thanks for the tip Glen! I've already the tools to make my own, but I'll update my post above to include this info!

[facultyofmusic]

Previous power steering related post: #247

Mark from Breeze set me up with a great kit of fittings and hoses to do exactly what I need. In post #247 I talked about how the way I routed my brake lines meant I couldn't use the FFR provided lines since it will collide with the brake lines. Mark provided me with fittings that re-route the hose downward and away from the brake lines. They work wonderfully. In the pictures below the high pressure send-line is braided stainless steel, while the low pressure return-line is rubber.
20220601_220152.jpg 20220601_220526.jpg

I routed the high-pressure line along the bottom of the X-member at the front of the engine to pop back up from the other side at a 90 degree angle straight to the pump itself.
20220601_220340.jpg 20220601_220440.jpg

I've read somewhere on the forum that these power steering lines can take up to... a few hundred PSI of pressure??! I don't have a way to pump that much pressure into my lines. I did pressure test it, but only to about 200PSI. I've made quite a few of these PTFE stainless steel braided hoses now so I hope my work will hold up to the pressure.
20220601_212224.jpg 20220601_212231.jpg

I did have a slight issue with the o-rings on the rack fittings. I tightened the fittings to about 18fl-lb and no more. The high-pressure fitting's o-ring looked like it's seated properly, but the low-pressure fitting's o-ring looks way too squeezed out to me. I posted about it in this thread. I ended up using the one provided by FFR for the low-pressure line that has a teflon crush-ring on it.
20220601_205259.jpg 20220602_003009.jpg

I also decided to install a power-steering cooler. It's another one of those things that's not too much to install now and will be much harder to do later. The cooler I got didn't have a convenient pointing point, so I cut some aluminum L-beams and riveted it onto the cooler to provide a good mounting point. Turned out pretty good!
20220604_155849.jpg 20220604_172942.jpg

I'll be filling up the power steering reservoir soon. The bleeding procedure seems straight forward. Fingers crossed that nothing leaks on first start!

[JohnK]

Those PS lines look like they're hanging down quite a bit lower than they need to - especially the low pressure rubber line. From the photos it looks like it's hanging below the bottom of the 4" tubes. If that's accurate and not just a trick of the perspective of the photo, you definitely want to get them up a lot higher than that or they'll snag on something and get torn off.

[facultyofmusic]

Those PS lines look like they're hanging down quite a bit lower than they need to - especially the low pressure rubber line. From the photos it looks like it's hanging below the bottom of the 4" tubes. If that's accurate and not just a trick of the perspective of the photo, you definitely want to get them up a lot higher than that or they'll snag on something and get torn off.

Yes! They are hanging because the clips I ordered aren't here yet. Should have clarified that in the post. Thanks for looking out!

[facultyofmusic]

Everyday we get one step closer to that mythical first start. So far I've been mostly worried about the mechanical aspects of the car, but as all that's settling down it's time to put the proper fluids into their respective components. I didn't do this all in one day, but I thought it'd be nicer to put it all in one post for the sake of organization.

Trans fluid:
I have the T56 magnum transmission which has a capacity of 3.75qts. I used 4 bottled of Royal Purple MAX ATF which I've seen recommended from quite a few places. I did this with the transmission already in the car with the drive-shaft pinion inserted. With a funnel it wasn't hard at all. In post #151 I showed how I removed the transmission shifter plate. I did that in reverse to close it up with some Permantex #2 gasket maker.

Powersteering:
The coyote power steering kit supplied by FFR is the KRC coyote power steering kit. After bleeding the power steering rack it used almost exactly 1qt for both the rack and the reservoir. The fluid I used was the KRC power steering fluid I bought together with a #4 restrictor flow valve. IDK what's in it... but I trust KRC enough to not ask too many questions.

IRC center-section/diff:
The IRS center section supplied through FFR comes directly from Ford. I asked FFR about how filled it was because I saw many threads saying it's already filled from Ford. The answer I got was that yes, it's filled, but not full and I should top it off with gear lube. So I purchased some Motorcraft SAE 75W-85 to fill it up.
20220611_220059.jpg 20220611_220128.jpg

If you look at the mounted diff you'd think that you can't just pour fluid into the fill hole using the bottle because there's no way to raise the bottle above the actual fill hole. I thought I had to get some hose to awkwardly route into the hole. Instead, I realized that you can get the bottle JUST horizontal enough to squeeze the fluid out of the nozzle and effectively squirt it into the fill hole. The diff only needed about 1/2qt of lube anyway, so that was more than enough. No need for hoses!
20220611_220118.jpg

Engine oil:
A cursory glance at the coyote threads will convince anyone that priming the engine before first start is a good idea. I bought a garden sprayer and a 3/8NPT fitting that will fit the oil-pressure sensor hole, plugged the sprayer tube with the fitting and used it to pump about 2qts of oil into the engine through the oil pressure sensor hole.
20220611_220507.jpg 20220611_220513.jpg

I then poured in the rest of the oil through the normal fill hole at the top. In total (pre-filling the oil filter, priming, and pouring at the end) the engine took just about 10qts of oil. I did spill a little, so that's a rough estimate. I just kept pouring until it reached the "full" indicator on the oil dipstick.

Beer:
I didn't see it recommended anywhere on the forums nor was it in the FFR provided guide, so I guess this was a bit of a risky maneuver. I first chilled 1 can of beer by leaving it in the fridge for about an hour. I then poured the beer down my mouth. It was pretty easy and straight forward, so I didn't use a funnel. TBH, not using a funnel was probably a good idea since I don't want oil-contaminated beer. I made sure to fill myself with beer now instead of right before a drive since I heard doing so can severely impair the traction/stability control of the vehicle. It felt great!

P.S. The garden sprayer oil primer is effectively useless to me now. If anyone in the area wants it feel free to take it from me.

[Nigel Allen]

Use low viscosity beer, it pours easier. Also highly recommend low detergent content as well. Additives such as whiskey chasers can lead to disaster. Overfilling can lead to high internal pressures.

Somewhere between the low & full is perfect.

[460.465USMC]

Very funny, Dan! Though I don't see a picture of the Beer fluid dispenser.

I added five quarts of oil into the normal fill opening, and (like you) will pump in the additional amount right before I attempt to start, which is hopefully soon. Just mounted my side pipes...what a sweet sight that is.

Looking forward to hearing your Gen 3 rumble to life!

[facultyofmusic]

Very funny, Dan! Though I don't see a picture of the Beer fluid dispenser.

I added five quarts of oil into the normal fill opening, and (like you) will pump in the additional amount right before I attempt to start, which is hopefully soon. Just mounted my side pipes...what a sweet sight that is.

Looking forward to hearing your Gen 3 rumble to life!

I'm right there with you Chris! I'm planning to have the coyote roar to life on my July 4th party with my buddies. Roar to freedom baby!

EDIT: Speaking of which, both of us are waiting on radiator repairs ha! I'm really hoping to get mine fixed soon. Your post on the radiator leak was a good reminder for me to pressure test it before adding fluids in. Man draining coolant must have been a pain!

[460.465USMC]

July 4th would be an excellent day to let those ponies loose!

Coolant drain wasn't bad...so far. Opened the petcock on the lower right hand corner of the radiator and drained out about 2 gallons into a clean 5 gallon bucket. The rest is in the motor. Though I'm not looking forward to cutting off the Gates Powergrip clamps on the lower and upper 2" hoses--I knew it was a good idea to buy their removal/cutting tool!

[facultyofmusic]

Some more knick-knacks to check-off along the way!

On the wiring front, connected the ignition control panel wires to the main harness. It looked neater than I thought it would. Pretty happy with it.
20220529_000534.jpg

After routing my oil pressure and water temp sensor cables, I realized I forgot to tap the sparkplug for my tach-signal. Undid a part of my sensor harness and routed the purple tach-signal wire through it. On the other end I decided to use a single-connector weatherpack connector. I know usually people just solder it in or tap it some other way. Since I had these weatherpack connectors lying around I thought why not make the whole thing unpluggable?
20220608_203854.jpg 20220608_204004.jpg 20220606_223028.jpg 20220608_201647.jpg
Pretty sweet. Looks like it's a part of the engine itself!

In both Paul and John's roadster build they recommended the Treadstone airflow straightener. I purchased one too and inserted it right before the MAF sensor. I secured it with some JB-weld. Not the prettiest thing, but it works.
20220617_185345.jpg

My oil-filler neck has so far been "secured" by a chain of hanging zip-ties. By "secure" I mean they are not secure at all and will definitely swing around if I were to drive the car around. I took some time to trim down the hose in place, made a little wooden "support block" with just the right distance from the aluminum panels, and secured it with metal hose clamps. Now it's super solid and ain't going anywhere.
20220620_120034.jpg 20220620_114324.jpg

Last but not least, the side-pipes! I bolted them on just to see the fit. The passenger-side pipe is pretty okay, but the driver-side is way off. They are both flared outwards enough that the FFR provided mount won't reach far enough, so I'll need the wedges for sure. I ordered some wedges of different sizes from Breeze (you can find theM here). I'll post updates here on how they align when I get them. The car looks real badass with the side-pipes!
20220617_230631.jpg 20220617_230550.jpg

[edwardb]

Nice progress. Always lots of details. Couple suggestions: I'd put some edge protection around that cutout in your underdash panel where the wires are going through. Good practice in all cases with exposed wires like that. Assume you mean fuel filler not oil filler. (Said by one who is the worst self proofreader in history...). If you are putting oil in there, well... I wouldn't spend one minute messing with your pipe alignment until the body is on. As long as you can bolt them on you're good for first start and go-kart. I can almost guarantee any wedges you add will be wrong once the body is installed.

[facultyofmusic]

Nice progress. Always lots of details. Couple suggestions: I'd put some edge protection around that cutout in your underdash panel where the wires are going through. Good practice in all cases with exposed wires like that. Assume you mean fuel filler not oil filler. (Said by one who is the worst self proofreader in history...). If you are putting oil in there, well... I wouldn't spend one minute messing with your pipe alignment until the body is on. As long as you can bolt them on you're good for first start and go-kart. I can almost guarantee any wedges you add will be wrong once the body is installed.

Thanks Paul. I was under the impression that I need the side-pipe hangers to relieve some stress from the thing hanging from just the headers. Will the headers themselves hold up to vibrations of the big heavy side pipes?

[edwardb]

Thanks Paul. I was under the impression that I need the side-pipe hangers to relieve some stress from the thing hanging from just the headers. Will the headers themselves hold up to vibrations of the big heavy side pipes?

For first start and go-kart, no issue with not having the hangers. Although not my personal choice, some guys never put them on. Not something I recommend for several reasons. But does confirm there's strength there. Add to that the location of the hangers will be dictated by the body and pipe alignment. Something you don't have any way to confirm now. Only that wherever you place them will almost for sure be wrong.

[facultyofmusic]

I'll admit that I've been putting off the dashboard for quite a while. Just didn't want to throw myself into the mess of wires until I have to. Now's the time to do it though. I need those gauges for my first start!
20220609_232139.jpg

The Ron Francis FFR harness instructions, although resourceful, wasn't too helpful with its step-by-step instructions. What I did find the most useful was the large wiring diagram that showed where every wire go. I spent quite some time making sure that I understand what every wire was for and where it leads before starting on the harness itself. The vintage-style FFR gauges also came with paper instructions on how to connect them. Putting the two together and you get a very good idea what to do. In the end it only looked scary but once you get started with a good picture in mind it's not bad at all. I wired everything pretty much exactly as shown except the turning signal and indicator lights. I got the Russ Thompson turn signal which had 5 wires coming out of it: 3 for turning signal, 2 for the momentary switch at the end of the stalk. I used weatherpack connectors to split it into plugs of 2+3 for easy assembly.
20220615_224642.jpg 20220614_225000.jpg 20220615_224700.jpg

For my indicators I used a 6-pin molex connector for the 6 indicator lights for easy removal.
20220615_224713.jpg

And that's it really. Everything else was by the book. I made sure that the dash harness could be connected and still be pulled out quite far as in the future I'll need to install/remove the dash without taking off the body or the bottom support panel.
20220615_225201.jpg 20220615_225153.jpg

You may have noticed that I didn't spend too much time trimming the wires to just the right length. That's for a reason, an upsetting one if I may say so: I really like the competition dash layout.

In the beginning I went with the street layout for practicality, just I just can't get the comp dash out of my head. This was especially after seeing JohnK's fantastic dash in person when I visited his shop. (I mean just look at it!) I really do like the look of my indicator lights, but the "olympics symbol" arrangement of the other dials just... look... awkward? Something about the competition dash looks really nice and balanced. I've decided to make the competition dash a "future upgrade". I'll settle with this for now, but I know I want the other one. Grass is greener? Perhaps.

I plugged the dash harness in and turned on the switches. To my surprised stuff actually worked! TBH I was expecting something to be broken or non-responsive and I'll end up spending all night debugging what's wired wrong. I was pretty darn happy. Here's a video of the completed (for now) dash: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOV59Z0-nw8

[facultyofmusic]

7 days until first start. Just churning along with the remaining items on my to-do list for that fateful day.

Found my coil of brake safety wire from my box of parts. Totally forgot that I bought it. Spent a whole afternoon just safety-wiring my rotors all by hand. The youtube instruction videos all use some fancy twisty pliers but I didn't have one of those. It was completely doable without out, but gosh do my hands hurt right now from wrestling with the thin steel wires. Turned out pretty good though.
20220624_203313.jpg 20220624_205644.jpg

The mounting clips for my power steering lines also arrived just in time. Now it no longer dangles dangerously beneath the X brace.
20220620_142453.jpg

Was tidying up my front-harness when I had this thought: How the heck am I supposed to bolt in my windshield? The passenger-side mounting point is uncluttered so I don't see a problem there, but the driver-side is filled with fuse-box wiring and pedal-box hardware. The FFR instructions only show a picture for the passenger side but not the driver side. I'll admit I haven't the time to do any deep-forum-reading on windshield mounting yet, but it was definitely a big "hmmmmm" moment.
20220626_214118.jpg 20220626_214124.jpg 20220626_214129.jpg

[Jeff Kleiner]

I’ve done it about a hundred times and it’s not that bad. First of all life will be easier if you drill and tap the side posts for 1/2-13 so that you don’t have to fumble with a nut. Take the fuse box loose and drop it down. You can then reach over it to install the bolts. Use an air ratchet if you have the ability, otherwise a universal socket and long extension help.

Good luck!

Jeff

[egchewy79]

+1 on what Jeff said about tapping the windshield posts. Hold on tight to the drill. I remember a pretty violent jerking as I was trying to drill that large hole.
Depending on how small your hands are, you might be able to get that bolt in without dropping the fuse box. At least I was able to, and get a standard 3/8" socket wrench in there to tighten stuff.

[Chopper]

+1 on what Jeff said about tapping the windshield posts. Hold on tight to the drill. I remember a pretty violent jerking as I was trying to drill that large hole.

Using a step bit could help to get you there a little more smoothly. I tweaked my wrist a couple of times before a buddy turned me on to this trick.

-Brandon

[facultyofmusic]

Thanks for the tips! I haven't thought about making the fuse panel removable for this purpose. It makes total sense now that I think about it. I'll add that to my list.

[facultyofmusic]

5 days until first start.

Been thinking about the possibility of driving it down the street and back after it starts. I understand that an untuned coyote (especially gen 3) will be quite jerky to drive since nothing's calibrated, but I still want to give it a try. After bleeding and connecting all the pedals I sat in the driver's seat going through the motions, and realized I'm sliding back on the seat a bit every time I depress the clutch. By the 5th time I'm finding it really hard to reach all the day. I asked about temporary seat mounting solutions in this thread and got lots of good suggestions. Some say it's okay to drive without the seat secured while some suggests it's a safety issue to not have a secured seat depending on what "go-kart" means. Go-kart to me means tootin down the local residential area driving strictly under 25mph and away from big streets until I'm ready to put the body on. I imagine I want to do this for at least a month or so while putting together the rest of the car just to see if something leaks or gets loose. Call it mental assurance? I also plan to take it to a tuning shop to get the coyote tuned by an in-person tuner, so before I do that I want to make sure the car isn't going to break down on the dyno. Some go-karting would help with that too.

As for the seats, I don't think I'll secure it after all. I'll put some blankets and what not behind the seat so I won't keep sliding back. I don't plan to take any corners at speed either. If I do I'll be sure to have the seat secured and seat belts installed, but I just don't see that happening.

Another item of preparation is alignment and ride height. There's an excellent thread here discussing initial ride-height adjustment which I read over and helped me decide to not worry too much about it. The koni-shocks will have to "settle-in" a bit. That kinda makes sense to me, but I got no clue how much "settling" it needs. With the collars adjusted to be just snug on the springs, I'm getting ~4 1/2in in the front and 5in in the back. I think that's totally good enough for some initial go-karting before I dive into actually setting the ride height. As for alignment, I don't plan to get it dialed in either since I don't even have the ride-height set. what I will do is to at least make sure the toe, caster, and rear thrust angle aren't horribly off. When everything's settled in I'll take it to a shop and have it properly height-adjusted and aligned.

With that, the only remaining thing is the coolant circulation system, which has been quite the adventure. Stay tuned!

[egchewy79]

good luck w/ your timeline. When I was filling my small block w/ coolant, I was filling it up from one of the heater hoses w/ the help of a buddy. after about 2qts, I start hearing a splashing on the floor. Coolant is pouring out of the block. One of the threaded holes in the block was apparently not a ground site but rather a drain port that accepts a NPT bung. I remember trying to attach my ground cable to this hole but couldn't find the correct sized bolt.

[JeffP]

You may be fine with your coyote. I put close to 500miles on mine with the stock tune with no issues. I have since put a base tune from Lund on it and it certainly seems to be smoother and more linear, but without something to compare it to I probably would have thought the stock tune was just fine. I'm not suggesting don't tune - just that I think you'll be fine for go-kart.

After my base tune Lund says everything looks good, no revisions. So I also guess they have it dialed in pretty well at this point. I still need to do my WOT pull, I missed that on the first datalogging notes but otherwise all is good.

[facultyofmusic]

good luck w/ your timeline. When I was filling my small block w/ coolant, I was filling it up from one of the heater hoses w/ the help of a buddy. after about 2qts, I start hearing a splashing on the floor. Coolant is pouring out of the block. One of the threaded holes in the block was apparently not a ground site but rather a drain port that accepts a NPT bung. I remember trying to attach my ground cable to this hole but couldn't find the correct sized bolt.

haha, not gonna lie that totally sounds like something I'd mess up on too. Can't wait to see what needs "fixing" after I start it up. :P

You may be fine with your coyote. I put close to 500miles on mine with the stock tune with no issues. I have since put a base tune from Lund on it and it certainly seems to be smoother and more linear, but without something to compare it to I probably would have thought the stock tune was just fine. I'm not suggesting don't tune - just that I think you'll be fine for go-kart.

After my base tune Lund says everything looks good, no revisions. So I also guess they have it dialed in pretty well at this point. I still need to do my WOT pull, I missed that on the first datalogging notes but otherwise all is good.

That's good to know. Is your coyote's intake exactly what FFR provided in the install kit?

[JeffP]

Yes, all FFR. (black silicone tube, MAF tube, and air cleaner) also FFR stainless pipes and headers.

[facultyofmusic]

3 days until first start.

some good news and some bad news. I guess I'll start with the bad.

The reputable welder I found in the area wasn't able to completely fix my radiator leak (a full report on the whole journey coming soon) so I'll have to purchase a new one. He tried chasing down the gap but the radiator channels are just so thin that it's extremely difficult to do. I went to go pick it up this morning, but of course, I forgot my wallet. Had to leave him with apologies and that I'll come back to get it next week. Ugh, what a bummer. Regardless, I had a radiator ordered from FFR and it's arriving soon. I'll still be able to fire up the engine. It will just be radiatorless for one more week after that.

After putting on my rear wheels I realized that my driver-side toe-arm's chasses mounting end is a little loose. Upon a close look it appears that the spacers weren't enough to tightly hold the rod-end in place. I'm gonna have to take that part off and add in another washer. It's a PITA to do, but at least I have a solid plan. Once again, just takes time.

The good news is that my car is now roughly aligned. I decided to learn the good'ol string alignment method. Went to ACE hardware, bought two 6ft wood beams and some fishing line. Had a friend over each with a caliper in our hands and we were off. The setup didn't take long at all. It's pretty amazing how simple it really is.
20220630_210436.jpg

I decided to do my alignment using my brake rotors instead of the wheels because that way I can adjust the upper control arm and toe-arms without swapping the wheel on and off every time. I secured the rotor to the hubs using lug nuts and a few thick washers. It did the trick.

Before this I had it "setup" by eyeballing and boy was I off! In the picture below you can see just how far off my driver side thrust angle was:
20220630_210451.jpg

Yikes!

As this is by no means a "final alignment", the specs I went with were quite straightforward. 0 degree camber and toe in the rear. 1/16in total toe-in in the front with FFR suggested UCA specs for power-steered setups. Should be good enough for go-karting.

[Chopper]

After putting on my rear wheels I realized that my driver-side toe-arm's chasses mounting end is a little loose. Upon a close look it appears that the spacers weren't enough to tightly hold the rod-end in place. I'm gonna have to take that part off and add in another washer. It's a PITA to do, but at least I have a solid plan. Once again, just takes time.

Hang in there, one thing I'm sure you've found about building these cars is that you spend a lot of time putting something together to take it apart again.

I decided to do my alignment using my brake rotors instead of the wheels because that way I can adjust the upper control arm and toe-arms without swapping the wheel on and off every time. I secured the rotor to the hubs using lug nuts and a few thick washers. It did the trick.

I remember when I did my first alignment, seems intimidating at first, but kudos for sticking it out and working on it. String method is great, I always seem to trip on the string somewhere half way through =) I can't quiet tell from your pictures, but the suspension needs to be under load to get any kind of accurate alignment. It's an iterative process and takes several passes dial in, as all the elements (toe/camber/caster) interact with each other. to With the body off it's pretty easy to reach all the front adjustments.

-Brandon

[edwardb]

... the suspension needs to be under load to get any kind of accurate alignment. It's an iterative process and takes several passes to dial in, as all the elements (toe/camber/caster) interact with each other. With the body off it's pretty easy to reach all the front adjustments.

-Brandon

Good catch. I missed that when I first read the post. Alignment with the suspension hanging isn't going to be right. Maybe not even close. Needs to be at ride height. You could jack up the suspension I guess without the wheels/tires on. But as said, without the body, all the adjustments are relatively easy to reach even with the wheels/tires on and sitting on the ground. I understand you're just trying to get it in the ballpark. But not sure how much value there is to what you're doing now.

[Jeff Kleiner]

As has been mentioned you can't align the car with the suspension hanging, and I can tell by the placement of your jack stands that is what it's doing.

Jeff

[facultyofmusic]

Huh, I really should have read the guides more carefully then. I guess it makes sense that the wheel geometry changes when it's in mid-air. Should have thought about that... idk what to say lol. Looks like I'll do it after later with the wheels on the ground.

[facultyofmusic]

0 more days until first start. In just a few hours it will have been exactly a year since I got the shipment from stewart transport.

Spent today finishing the coolant circulation system. In post #288 I detailed the part numbers and de-gas tank setup I used. Today I finished installing them onto the car. It should have been done a WHILE ago, but I made a super expensive mistake by having my power drill too close to the radiator while walking around. If only my brain was as sharp as that drill bit...
20220604_170553.jpg

So yeah, that hole is right in the middle of the radiator. I started this thread to ask for advice on how to fix this. Many suggested that I try a local welder or radiator shop. Just about every radiator shop I called told me they can't do anything for me the moment I told them it's an aluminum radiator. The rest didn't pick up. I asked my mechanic (for my daily driver) for a recommendation and he gave me the contact info of John Romanoff, a very experienced and skilled welder up in Redwood City. I took the radiator to him and showed him the damage. He wasn't too confident about it, but he said he'll take it and try his best. A week later he called back and I went to pick up the radiator. John tried his best to chase down the pin hole leaks after welding the row shut, but he just couldn't chase them all. He said he pressure tested it and used soapy water to identify where the leaks were and he knows there are still tiny leaks. I appreciate his efforts and honestly. In the end I decided that it was just not worth it to patch the rest with epoxy so I ordered a new radiator from FFR. It arrived a few days later.

Perhaps it's just my biased memory, but I recall seeing a few threads on radiator leaks and damaged recently. I jerry-rigged a pressure-testing setup using some of the left-over coolant tubes, a PVC cap, and my radiator pressure-testing kit. Pumped 6psi of air into it and left it there overnight. I didn't want to pump a whole bar into it because the setup was pretty janky. The idea was that even the smallest leak would let out that 6psi of pressure overnight. If I come back the next morning and see that the needle has not moved, then I'd be confident that the radiator is good.
20220704_000028.jpg 20220704_000042.jpg

...and sure enough, the next morning the needle didn't move at all. Nice.
20220704_091931.jpg

I then proceeded to plumb the rest of the system. Since I've already done it once it was pretty quick. The network of tubes are pretty kool to look at. I AM a little concerned about how difficult it would be to swap the battery... but I do see a way to do it. I'm sure I'll be fine!
20220704_150902.jpg

After tightening everything down, I pressurized the system with 1 bar of pressure. I'll leave it there overnight to see if the pressure stays the same. If I wake up tomorrow and the needle is still at 1 bar then I'll be able to put coolant in with confidence. Can't wait!
20220704_154057.jpg


Everything else is pretty much ready for the first start. I tried playing around with the seat belt but didn't get anywhere, so it's just for show in the pictures below. Regardless, if everything goes well tomorrow I'll be able to fire it up and perhaps drive it back into the garage from my drive way! Fingers crossed.
20220704_223503.jpg 20220704_223513.jpg 20220704_223520.jpg