Wedel456's Build Thread - Gen3 Coupe - North Carolina

[wedel456]

Delivery:
My complete Coupe kit was completed on June 15th, and Stewart Transport handled the delivery without a hitch - loading the car on the truck on June 21st and Delivery on June 27th. Seeing the truck arrive with my Coupe was an incredible moment. I felt a mixture of anxiousness to see the car and nervousness about what I got myself into. The delivery went off mostly without a hitch, although I had to obtain a trailer the night before due to the busy street I live on, which allowed us to offload the 46 boxes that were delivered. The driver, who was awesome, drove the truck to our driveway to deliver the body/frame and hood. We had to block off a busy country road for 45 minutes. The driver was very helpful and worked with me to offload everything. I could not speak more highly of the delivery process and the driver.

Factory Five Truck.jpg

First Impressions:
When I first saw the Coupe, I was in awe. The car is beautiful, full stop. It looks so much better in person, too. This is the first time I have seen one in person and had only online versions to compare it to, and boy, was I surprised at how sexy it is. I was also impressed by the fit and finish of the frame. The welds across the frame look straight and uniform with little spatter. While I will not know more until much later in the process, the body looks great. I did not see any obvious gouging or fiberglass issues.

Body.jpg

Close Up.jpg

Car Front.jpg

Inventory:
I had to travel with the family over the 4th of July holiday so the inventory process was delayed a week. Had just enough time to get the car into the garage and the dolly built. The inventory process was much easier than I expected and only took about a 1/2 day complete, even with 46 boxes. I went through every box and counted every part, screw, bolt, etc. I already knew there were a few backordered parts (the biggest one being the rims; however, I will not need those for a while). However, during the inventory process, I found a few items that were missing that were supposed to be there. Again, this will not be major for now, as the only major item is the Ron Francis fuse box and wiring. I will have to ping Factory Five about this oversight (I am sure it will not be an issue).

Car Dolly Build:
I do not have a lift so I decided to build a car dolly, which was slow and steady. It was built out of 2x4s with house framing reinforcements. I used four high-weight rollers, two swivel locking casters in the front, and two non-swiveling ones in the rear. The frame is resting on the jack points in the front and back of the car on all four corners and is restrained with plywood blocking. I need to find some mechanism to ensure the frame does not move on the dolly (probably going to use PVC conduit clamps). The build took about half a day as I had to refine the design a few times to ensure the dolly was strong enough to support the car and parts that are installed before I can drop it on tires. I had to add a few cross braces in the back to ensure the dolly stays together and the wheels do not slide out from underneath it.

Dolly.jpg