Building a roadster (10335) w/ wife and step son. DS foot box and starting fuel sys

[Springsyeti]

The Wilwood e-brake cables don't include or need a circlip at the caliper. They stay in just fine. Have installed those brakes on a couple builds and driven them a lot of miles over several years each. No issues.

Your Wilwood flex line kits included with you select the Wilwood option should have included the angled Wilwood 220-6412 1/8-27 NPT fittings. As in your info from Wilwood's site. Mine did every time I've used the optional Wilwood brakes. If missing, that's on Wilwood. I know it's maybe no intuitive, and of course hindsight is 20-20, but with the optional Wilwood brakes you don't use the standard fittings from the kit.

Looks like you have the Forte front sway bar sorted out. A little unfortunate design and timing though. For a number of years now Factory Five has been installing a bracket on the Roadster chassis for a front sway bar. That's what the two holes are behind the tie-down. Their version bolts right up. Looks like the Forte one is designed for the past when there wasn't a mounting bracket from the factory.

Thank you! Yes, the brake line kits received did not have the angled fittings. Wilwood sent me the correct fitting and they bolted right in, thankfully.

[Springsyeti]

One would think being retired this project would move along. Looking at threads of other builds, sourcing parts and cat videos on YouTube can be a time suck! Plus, life happens..

Progress:

Fitted the PS footbox, drilled, silicone and riveted it in. Lesson learned is that metal work should fit and any tension to get it all aligned will lead to silicone everywhere as the parts are pushed back into place.

Max getting the rivets in.



Finished



Inside of the footbox and ready for sound proofing. Fabrication of metal work to seal frame tube is on the list.



I also marked up and drilled the floor of the PS but didn't install at this time. I wasted a bit of time trying to locate the Lokar clevis for the E-brake modification before I looked up the Lokar company and contacted them. The brake mod parts are no all here and should finish it up tomorrow. Other threads mentioned home powder coating. What!? I never knew. Another rabbit hole of investigation and YouTube videos. Plus setting it up. Off to HarborFreight and I am now a powdercoater. It would be nice to have a larger oven but this little toaster oven we have for heat treating blades works. Add a larger oven to the list of future shop upgrades.



The fittings for the brakes came in and ran the hardlines for the front brakes. Factory Five made it look easy on their YouTube video. I did use thread sealant on all the fittings.



I also worked on the DS footbox and the origami of parts.



My riveting was overzealous when I installed the footbox front panel and I had to drill out the rivets on the motor facing edge and scrape the silicone. I was weighing putting the engine side of the footbox together or waiting until brake lines were run. Will probably fit it all and cleco it together for now. Same with the flooring, transmission tunnel and sides. Wait until I have run the fuel/brake lines, wiring, etc.. Listen to what others have done. The suggestions of others was also followed and the rear sway bar was ordered from Factory Five and should be here any day now. Also weighing the location of the brake and clutch reservoirs and fabricating a bracket for the firewall. Running out of excuses and I need to dedicate some time for this baby. Especially after seeing this baby sitting outside of a warehouse here in Colorado Springs next to Mod Finishes to pick up some larger parts I had powder coated.



As always. If you see anything I should change or have suggestions let me know. I also just saw the truck kit... Take my money. Also, I have looked for the Cobraheat seat heaters and can't seem to find them. Anyone have a link or suggestion to what they are using?

[Springsyeti]

Forward on onwards. Sorted out fitting the driver side foot box metal together. The engine side of the footbox seems a bit flimsy and bit of a gap between the metal and frame tube. After looking at other threads I see how others have fabricated supports or a filler piece. Add that to the list. After getting it all fitted I am also going to use some metal flashing tape and grey silicone caulk to fill gaps between panels and frame members.



Finished up the brake lines with the rear hard lines.



The rear swaybar was also installed. Pretty straight forward install. I forgot to powdercoat the bolts with the brackets and found out that Yoder Smoker touch up paint looks close to the same as the flat powdercoating.



The Lokar e-brake mod was also completed.



Spoke to Mike Forte and the engine should arrive around the end of December. Installed in tank sniper fuel pump and filter then put the tank in place to start running fuel lines.



Mike mentioned poly lines being popular and to call him back with measurements for the lines but I am thinking of using braided lines. Does anyone have experience with the ones off Amazon or from Hot Rod fuel lines?

Since I am getting the trunk/fuel tank placed I started getting the drop tank put together.



As always. Please chime in with suggestions and recommendations. Stay warm and have a Happy Thanksgiving out there!

[Nigel Allen]

Your build is coming along well. Brake lines look great, except that I can see that you used some sort of thread sealant on the fittings. This serves no purpose as the seal is provided by the taper. If you get a poor seal on the tapered seat, the fluid will work it's way out between the brake line and the tube nut. Not sure if the sealant might react with the brake fluid hopefully none got into the pipework. Maybe someone else on the forum can give advice on sealant / brake fluid compatibility?

Cheers, Nige

[edwardb]

Your build is coming along well. Brake lines look great, except that I can see that you used some sort of thread sealant on the fittings. This serves no purpose as the seal is provided by the taper. If you get a poor seal on the tapered seat, the fluid will work it's way out between the brake line and the tube nut. Not sure if the sealant might react with the brake fluid hopefully none got into the pipework. Maybe someone else on the forum can give advice on sealant / brake fluid compatibility?

Cheers, Nige

Good catch. Missed that. Depending on how much sealant was put on the fittings during assembly, I'd be a little concerned about contamination. Painful, but maybe before filling and bleeding the system it would be best to take apart and clean the sealant off the threads and any on the sealing surfaces? Brakes are just too important to mess around with. (Today's understatement...) Thread sealant is never used on fittings with tapered metal-to-metal sealing surfaces. That includes the most common brake fittings, and -AN style fittings. Also not on fittings with crush washers like banjo bolts, drain plugs, etc. Thread sealant is only required where the threads themselves are actually doing the sealing. Most common is NPT (National Pipe Taper) style threads.

[Springsyeti]

Thank you @Nigel and @edwardb. I used the high temp thread sealant I have seen in a few threads and I must have misunderstood where they were using it. It is liquid teflon tape and I took care to only put it on the threads. I will get the fittings apart and threads cleaned. Thank you for the catch.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Good advice from Nigel and edward however for clarification there is one exception to the "no sealant on brake fittings" rule, that being the (usually angled) adapters that go into the Wilwood calipers which are NPT on the end that mates with the caliper and AN on the end that the flex line attaches to. Sealant is needed on the NPT end.

Jeff

[Mike.Bray]

I've used Hot Rod Fuel Hose, nice stuff at a fair price. Good company to deal with also, would highly recommend them.

[edwardb]

Good advice from Nigel and edward however for clarification there is one exception to the "no sealant on brake fittings" rule, that being the (usually angled) adapters that go into the Wilwood calipers which are NPT on the end that mates with the caliper and AN on the end that the flex line attaches to. Sealant is needed on the NPT end.

Jeff

Good clarification Jeff. My "no sealant on brake fittings" was specifically meant to refer to the usual 45 degree double flare metal-to-metal fittings, but was a little too broad. You're right. The Wilwood calipers do have NPT fittings into the caliper. They come with a sticker over the opening indicating they're 1/8-27 NPT and the instructions say to use PTFE sealant. Hopefully builders, including newcomers, follow accordingly.

[460.465USMC]

Other threads mentioned home powder coating. What!? I never knew. Another rabbit hole of investigation and YouTube videos. Plus setting it up. Off to HarborFreight and I am now a powdercoater. It would be nice to have a larger oven but this little toaster oven we have for heat treating blades works. Add a larger oven to the list of future shop upgrades.

Also, I have looked for the Cobraheat seat heaters and can't seem to find them. Anyone have a link or suggestion to what they are using?

Hi SpringsYeti. Here's the website for the Cobraheat seat heaters: www.cobraheat.com. I worked with Mike (sales@cobraheat.com). I recently just finished installing mine. They work!

Doing my own powder coating has been one of the favorite parts of my build. I, too, only have a toaster oven, but have been surprised how many smaller parts there are that need to be coated with something. If I have a choice to powder coat (and it will fit in my oven) or spray paint, powder coat wins pretty much every time.

[John Ibele]

Good progress. One more comment on the brake lines - looks like you have your line to the rear go down the outside front of the DS foot box. Lots of folks including me have run this down the inside of the footbox, exiting the bottom right next to the 4” frame member. This way it’s either inside the footbox or tucked up against the 4” tube for the entire run to the rear, giving it a bit more protection. It’s a judgement call, but wanted to point it out when it’s still easy to change if you choose to.

[Springsyeti]

Not going to finish and up for sale. Make an offer. It is listed in the for sale section of the forum.