Jesse builds another Cobra #11,061 - First body work shots

[PNWTim]

If you want to find your allen wrenches, buy another set. The originals will show up once Amazon drops the package on your doorstep.

[Blitzboy54]

If you want to find your allen wrenches, buy another set. The originals will show up once Amazon drops the package on your doorstep.

It's science

[Blitzboy54]

If you want to find your allen wrenches, buy another set. The originals will show up once Amazon drops the package on your doorstep.

Turned out to be pretty reliable science!

[PNWTim]

Turned out to be pretty reliable science!

I'm advocating for it to be added to Newton's Laws.

[Blitzboy54]

Making the chassis ready for the body

A couple small items to check off before installing the body. First is I used seat belt bezels from Shell Valley. My advice is don't do that. They don't fit right. Just too big.




I had to pull the seats out anyhow so I purchased a set of bezels from Mike Everson. These are the real deal. He powder coats them in clear and they really look sharp. I was going to coat them in orange but since they were pre coated in clear I just left them. I think they look great.






I removed the exhaust, side pipes and installed 2 inch air conditioner foam (per Jeff K.) to keep heat from leaking into the cockpit. I glued it in with Super 77.





Lastly taped up the dash and waited for the cavalry to arrive

[Blitzboy54]

I have half the garage back!

Scott and company stopped by and I would say like 10 minutes later the body was on. It was almost anti climactic. I say almost because it looks so GOOD. The spoiler and the wheels came out like I hoped. I will do some more fitting and start rough assembling the rest now. The only possible change is there is a possability I may put spacers in the rear wheels and push them out a little wider. We will see. I am going to mock up a wheel with some washers to see how it looks first.







I put the quick jacks in the front (used 1/4 tubes again per Jeff) to better fill in the grommets and a couple bolts in the back to support the body and get a sense of it. I can now rough in the ride height. I think the whole thing looks great.





Again big thanks to Scott and the local FFR community. An undefeated resource.

[gbranham]

Congrats, Jesse! Looks awesome! I think I also used the word "anticlimactic" when we dropped the body on. It sure transforms the project, though, doesn't it?

[cv2065]

Yes!! Looks awesome!!

[danmas]

Very very nice. Mike Everson gets some more of my money now…

[Namrups]

Glad to help Jesse! You were there for me whenever I need an extra hand. More than happy to return the favor. The car is looking great.

[Blitzboy54]

Lights, Wheels and Roll Bars

Now that the body is on it really starting to feel like a car. I like this part a lot. Body needs a lot of work, even for just rough fitting the doors, hood and trunk but we are on our way.

I started by fitting the head lights and directionals. I thought I was being super clever by using weather pack connections for all the lights. The only issue is I apparently didn't use a high quality enough fitting and some of the pins randomly push themselves out when making connections. I may have to change them. For now though they are in and look really good





One of the elements I am experimenting with is the wheels. I wanted aggressive offsets to push the wheels out of the wells a little. The fronts are a 18x9.5 +10 and the rear are 18x11 +8. You can see it pushes the well. I know this isn't for everyone but it very specifically what I want. It's not a permanent mod, if I really hated it I could simply change the rims. The good news is I love it.



The rears are not that far off from the 18" rears from FFR. I added a 6mm spacer. I am going to stop here for now but I am open to pushing them out further. I would need a hub adapter if I go wider. The recommendation with a spacer is at least 8 turns of the lug nuts. I get 12 so we are good but I wouldn't go any wider without a hub centric spacer.





Last is the roll bars. Like Darryl said I thing they really work with the Intatrim seats. The seats just clear the edge of the body. I have some adjustment in them but I think I will leave them as is until the body is fully set at paint and make one last tweak at that point if they even need it.

[cv2065]

You’re almost there! Lights and rollbars look great. Based on your thread, I reached out to Chris to get that turn signal 3D printed mount. Not sure if I’ll use it yet but the option looks great.

[gbranham]

Looking good, Jesse! Are you at all concerned about the front tires beating up the body with rocks being thrown, since they poke out past the fenders?

And I've got a ton of leftover weatherpack connectors if you need some. I have singles, doubles, triples, quads, and I think one or two 5-holers. Happy to throw them in the mail. Let me know.

Greg

[Blitzboy54]

Looking good, Jesse! Are you at all concerned about the front tires beating up the body with rocks being thrown, since they poke out past the fenders?

And I've got a ton of leftover weatherpack connectors if you need some. I have singles, doubles, triples, quads, and I think one or two 5-holers. Happy to throw them in the mail. Let me know.

Greg

This is a fair question. The answer is I don't know or that is to say I wasn't worried until you asked, lol. The wheels on my last build pushed out just not as far. Also real common for the hot rod pickups to run fat tires with no fenders. I guess we will all learn together. I have also committed to putting 1" spacers on the back. I ordered a pair of hub centric wheel spacers from US Wheel Adaptors for the rear. I going to push them a full inch. It will be a full commitment as I will have to cut down the wheel hub studs to make it all fit. Just like the coupe guys.

As for the weather pack connectors I may be in touch. That's very nice of you.

[Jeff Kleiner]

PERSONAL OPINION ALERT
Don’t care for the tire beyond the body look and it will force you into a high ride height to avoid tire to body contact.

Carry on

Jeff

[Blitzboy54]

PERSONAL OPINION ALERT
Don’t care for the tire beyond the body look and it will force you into a high ride height to avoid tire to body contact.

Carry on

Jeff

Yes sir, I’m aware. I appreciate the disclaimer


People are either going to love or hate this car. Just like it’s builder

[Blitzboy54]

Mod the mod

Probably the most common modification to these cars was originally done by Jeff. It's so popular it's literally named after him. I honestly have no idea how anyone would put their rear quick jacks on without the Kleiner mod. It's so smart compared to the FFR instructions I can't believe it hasn't been formally adopted.

I purchased a 7/16 threaded rod from McMaster Carr. I cut the uppers and lowers to the appropriate lengths.



I didn't have any non locking nuts on hand. What I did have was a 16 extra couplers since it was cheaper to buy 20 online than 4 from the hardware store. I cut 2 of them in half ever so slightly modifying Jeff's original mod. Gives you a little more nut to put a wrench on as a bonus.



On the other side I have my powder coated quick jacks. I also powder coated the washers and short sleeves. Behind the washers I used a rubber washer to pinch on the body. I figured it would look a little cleaner, hold better and protect the paint.



I finished it off with powder coated acorn nuts I purchased on Amazon.



I wired in the rear lights and mounted my backup lights. I guess I should say my gel coat backup lights. Going a different rout post paint. I messed up the powder coat on the quick jacks so I am going to have them re done. It's funny because I have done some difficult pieces, you would think big hunks of steel would be a piece of cake but such is life.



Next is wire up the backup lights and camera.

[chmhasy]

Are you going to have Ron at Metal-Morphous paint this one too or you painting yourself

[Blitzboy54]

Are you going to have Ron at Metal-Morphous paint this one too or you painting yourself

Neither

I contacted Jeff 10 minutes after ordering my kit. I don't need a plan B but if I did I was going to go with Spotlight Customs in GA. I am taking it to Jeff because he's the best. If that didn't work out I would go with Spotlight because if I am going to take the time to trailer it somewhere I mind as well also take it somewhere I can take a vacation at the same time.

I can't see a scenario where I tackled it myself. MAYBE if I had a MKV body. I just don't have the experience or skill set.

I go back to my early drywall work. It was terrible, I got better over time and now it's pretty good. I don't want my car to look like my first try.

[Grubester]

An idea: I've already experimented (slightly) with, is this: I noticed your roll bars are still bare steel... so are mine, as FFR had chrome problems and delays last year.
What I experimented with is polishing the bare steel to a nice finish, including successive Scotch Brite pads on your angle grinder (or some sort of grinder), but then -- after clean-up -- coating them with Sharkhide.
I've always liked the look of bare steel but it's too vulnerable, but sealing them with Sharkhide I thought might be a good look. I was trying to get away from the garish chrome look (most don't consider it garish, I'm sure), but I didn't want to have a painted look either. Well, I've only tried a small section, but I'll do the whole thing when I'm closer to needing them...

[Blitzboy54]

An idea: I've already experimented (slightly) with, is this: I noticed your roll bars are still bare steel... so are mine, as FFR had chrome problems and delays last year.
What I experimented with is polishing the bare steel to a nice finish, including successive Scotch Brite pads on your angle grinder (or some sort of grinder), but then -- after clean-up -- coating them with Sharkhide.
I've always liked the look of bare steel but it's too vulnerable, but sealing them with Sharkhide I thought might be a good look. I was trying to get away from the garish chrome look (most don't consider it garish, I'm sure), but I didn't want to have a painted look either. Well, I've only tried a small section, but I'll do the whole thing when I'm closer to needing them...

I like your thinking here. I am planning to powder coat the roll bars black but if I was to go a little more steam punk I would consider it. If you do it please share. Would love to see it.

[Blitzboy54]

Rear wheel spacers

OK so I finally fully committed to the ride stance. The offsets in the front already push the wheels a little wide but the rear I want even or a little past the fender. So I ordered a 1 inch spacer from US Wheel Adapters.



Test fit and marked the studs for how far I have to trim them.



I trimmed them with my pneumatic die grinder and torqued to 100 lb-ft. I also test fit the elephant ears so I can drill and powder coat them.



This completed the look for me. This is exactly what I saw in my head when I planned it. It also is starting to influence what I am going to paint it. It's hard to explain but the more aggressive look speaks to me as a louder color.

This is before with the 6mm spacer



This is the 1 inch wheel hub adapter



I did an initial test fit of the windshield



Here you can see kind of where this is headed. I have the hood vents flipped upside down just so they sit flush but I plant to put these in as well. I am also considering a CF hood scoop to match the dash.

[Blitzboy54]

Loose odds and ends

One thing that I 100% would do over if I could is my transmission tunnel cover. I didn't mess it up per se but there are elements of it I would like a do over. Top of list was the bend from the back of the tunnel toward the back of the cockpit. There was a giant wrinkle in there that I thought

1. I could live with
2. would get better over time
3. didn't look that stupid

I was wrong on all fronts. So I bit the bullet and pulled the seats and partially pealed the carpet back. It was nerve wracking but I got it done. It's still not perfect but now much improved. I can live with it now.



I noticed on all my pictures from the trunk the silver of the heat mat really sticks out. You don't really see that high in the trunk but it still bothered me so I cut a piece of left over carpet and covered it. Just he back and slightly around the sides. I am not even sure if it's symmetrical but you can't see it unless the body is off so who cares.



Lastly I cleaned up the wiring in the back. I didn't loom the backup light wiring because that's all coming out. I will have a proper connector wired in for the mini backup light when it's time. I also made a bracket for the backup camera. I counter sunk the screw holes and this will be the permanent arrangement.

[TrackDay17]

Loose odds and ends

One thing that I 100% would do over if I could is my transmission tunnel cover. I didn't mess it up per se but there are elements of it I would like a do over. Top of list was the bend from the back of the tunnel toward the back of the cockpit. There was a giant wrinkle in there that I thought

1. I could live with
2. would get better over time
3. didn't look that stupid

I was wrong on all fronts. So I bit the bullet and pulled the seats and partially pealed the carpet back. It was nerve wracking but I got it done. It's still not perfect but now much improved. I can live with it now.



I noticed on all my pictures from the trunk the silver of the heat mat really sticks out. You don't really see that high in the trunk but it still bothered me so I cut a piece of left over carpet and covered it. Just he back and slightly around the sides. I am not even sure if it's symmetrical but you can't see it unless the body is off so who cares.



Lastly I cleaned up the wiring in the back. I didn't loom the backup light wiring because that's all coming out. I will have a proper connector wired in for the mini backup light when it's time. I also made a bracket for the backup camera. I counter sunk the screw holes and this will be the permanent arrangement.

I'm definitely considering a backup camera for my build, I see your screen below the dash, looks good.
I might also try and rig up a front and rear camera system if I can find something unobtrusive.
I was in a wreck in December and the officer wondered if I had one. (I got taken out and the other driver wasn't exactly forthcoming, luckily plenty of witnesses.)

[gbranham]

Not poo pooing your offset...to each their own. But as I've mentioned earlier, I don't envy you the damage your tires will cause to your fenders and quarter panels with that offset.

[Blitzboy54]

Not poo pooing your offset...to each their own. But as I've mentioned earlier, I don't envy you the damage your tires will cause to your fenders and quarter panels with that offset.

Maybe… I think the tires on these protrude more than they get credit for naturally. Particularly in the front

If you look at the Backdrafts RT4’s they pooch out pretty good. At the end of the day I never do anything “risky” without a backout plan. In this case if it ends up not working in simply replace the wheels. Easy Peasy.


For now I’m really pleased with it.

[topherchrisb]

I think the tires look great sticking out of the fender on the 1" spacer. I was trying to figure out how to get a similar look as that just using tires that have more bulge in the sidewall. The available sizes in the tread I want and the dynamic nature of how each tire fits to each wheel a little differently made me just happy I got something that was functional on my first attempt. I could probably be happy with a 1/2" spacer and have a middle ground of keeping the tires under the top portions of the fender but still have a more aggressive look than I've got now.

Eager to see your project come to fruition.

[Blitzboy54]

The Good, the Bad and the Stupid

I have bee working on the back end pretty much non stop. I am trying to stay organized by working along the length of the car so I don't skip anything. I lost about a week to the heat. It was near maximum humidity and just under 100 degrees. I tried to get a few things done and it was overwhelming.

Fist things first, my trunk was bad. it just didn't fit right at all. I started another thread and Dr. Kleiner and I talked and he set me straight. So first thing was to remove the rear bulb seal. It was just too tight. I pulled off the quick jacks and pulled it out. This fixed the "under bite" problem. I was going to lift the body and trim the aluminum but it looks like we will address it at paint instead. So no bulb seal for now. One thing Jeff mentioned was to make sure to align the handle to the license plate bump and not dead center if I am going with stripes. FFR pre drilled some pilot holes so I did a little check and to my suprise they were perfectly aligned. I am not totally sure if FFR fixed the bracket or moved the holes but we were good to go for installation.



Trying to decide if I need to reach out to FFR. This is the bulb seal they sent. I did not trim it. I would prefer it cover the entire opening and then I would notch out for the latch.



I made a few minor adjustments to the lid to optimize the fit but generally leaving it to the pro's for all the final fitment.

I installed a grommet for the wire loom to sit in but I started drilling too close to the latch not realizing there was a metal plate under there (stupid #1). So I moved it up. Zip ties are your friend here for fishing the wires through. I installed the license plate bracket and used spade connectors to make the electrical connections





I moved on the to the cover plate. Decided to use rivnuts because they look nice. Now this is not complicated. I drilled my panel where I wanted the holes. Pressed it up to the opening and marked them. I then drilled and installed the rivnuts. Super easy EXCEPT I somehow screwed that up. Stupid thing #2. I am really annoyed with myself. So the plan here is to flatten the piece back out, use it as a template and make another one. So dumb



So all in all everything looks right. I need to re do the cover but that isn't the end of the world. After I fix that, next is to move forward and work on the doors.






I am undecided if I am going to leave the screws silver or PC them black. Probably the latter. If anyone is curious why I left the plate mount chrome is because once you have a plate you can't see it. In order to PC it I would have to completely take the lamp apart in a way it's not designed to come apart. So just like the last build colored the cover and nut but left the body alone.

I also now realize I centered the backup camera to the body (stupid #3). I will have to move that to line up with the trunk latch. Oy

[TrackDay17]

Blitzboy, how difficult is it to take apart the hood and trunk latches to paint ?
I'm planning on blacking out my trim also as I'm not a big fan of chrome.
I remember reading the fuel cap take some work to do.

[F500guy]

Been there, oversize each hole and it will work!!!

[Grubester]

Completed the Kleiner mod yesterday on my Mk4. I had already installed the drop trunk so could not run a bolt through from the inside into the coupling nuts. I bought 7/16-14 S.S. all-thread and flange nuts and some grade 5 (or 8) coupling nuts. This worked really well and I used the red Locktite. Also noticed very slight slop with the frame's hole size for the 7/16" all-thread, so when I assembled it all, I added JBWeld to the region of the all-thread that is in contact with the 3/16" frame, just to take up the small amount of slack. Further, before I started assembly, I leveled the rear of the car right-to-left and when I tightened the coupling nuts I made sure they were vertical (spirit level) so that the later installation of the quick-jacks or bumper over-rides would be vertical.
JeffKleinerMod1.jpg

[Blitzboy54]

I fixed the trunk cover. Was easy enough I feel a little silly buying one pre made. I'll do my own "next time".



I have a bunch of items now in need of powder coating. My plan is the finish the assembly of the car, take pics for the DMV, then break everything down and get it coated. Now with the trunk done I moved forward to the passenger door. The good news is it needed almost no trimming to get a rough fit. I took no more than 1/8" from a few strategic spots and it looks pretty good.





This is where I have had to do some learning. By learning I mean I made a mistake. So I hung the CF dash the same way I did the aluminum one. I left a small gap at the corners. I also notched the edges to better fit the end where it contacts the frame. I saw another build do this and ran with it. Well either my body sits a bit higher or I set the dash a little too low because with the door in place the hinge contacts the dash.



I am waaaaaaaaaaay past the point of making changes to the dash location so I decided to trim the dash in the corner to clear. It's tucked away and not really noticeable but I think what I learned here is the CF is designed to be mounted higher on the hoop than the aluminum?

This just a rough cut. I need to take some fine sand paper and smooth it out a bit but it works.

[Blitzboy54]

Windshield and door latch

I drilled and tapped the windshield frame. This was mostly uneventful as the brass is pretty soft. Whoever first thought to tap the hole is an actual genius. I can't imagine doing this job any other way. One of Paul's builds was the first time I saw it done. It went in easy enough, getting the bolts tight is a different story. Paid the Iron Price.. lol



All completely worth it as the windshield looks great. One of the things I hated about my last build was I had a tiny air gap on the passenger side. Not this time.





This is my first look at the new latch. The old carriage latches had plenty of well documented issues. A few I had that had that I have not seen mentioned is how flimsy the latch handle was. My passenger door got a little jammed up when the body shifted and the the handle buckled when my wife tried to exit the car. I really didn't like it.

This requires a lot more assembly but the instructions I think are quite good.







Here is a list of the things I don't like about the new latch:

*crickets*

Color me a fan. This latch is a step function improvement over the old one. Just works

[cv2065]

This is where I have had to do some learning. By learning I mean I made a mistake. So I hung the CF dash the same way I did the aluminum one. I left a small gap at the corners. I also notched the edges to better fit the end where it contacts the frame. I saw another build do this and ran with it. Well either my body sits a bit higher or I set the dash a little too low because with the door in place the hinge contacts the dash.



I am waaaaaaaaaaay past the point of making changes to the dash location so I decided to trim the dash in the corner to clear. It's tucked away and not really noticeable but I think what I learned here is the CF is designed to be mounted higher on the hoop than the aluminum?

This just a rough cut. I need to take some fine sand paper and smooth it out a bit but it works.

Looks good to me. I put the body on before I fit the dash and pushed it all the way up and then marked my points for the screws. As you pointed out, it seemed to go higher than my last one, but I chalked it up to the "all cars are different" bucket.

[Blitzboy54]

Blitzboy, how difficult is it to take apart the hood and trunk latches to paint ?
I'm planning on blacking out my trim also as I'm not a big fan of chrome.
I remember reading the fuel cap take some work to do.

Not hard at all. If you want to pursue that DM me. Happy to have a phone call and walk you through it. The only thing I failed at powder coating was the FFR side mirror. No way to separate the glass and it failed during the bake. I use the Breeze side mirror anyhow so not a biggie but everything else was not an issue

[Blitzboy54]

Looks good to me. I put the body on before I fit the dash and pushed it all the way up and then marked my points for the screws. As you pointed out, it seemed to go higher than my last one, but I chalked it up to the "all cars are different" bucket.

This is the way. I should have paid closer attention to your build.

[F500guy]

"Here is a list of the things I don't like about the new latch:"

I have an issue with the latch getting stuck in the channel that runs perpendicular to the slot. Seems most of my passengers push the handle outward, which pushes it into the channel when trying to open the door. At some point I was going to consult with things folks have done to solve that.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Here is a list of the things I don't like about the new latch:

Here's my list: The handle goes the wrong way. After decades of moving the handle forward to unlatch the doors muscle memory is still struggling with getting used to going the other way. And now I have a Mk5 with latches that are totally different yet again

Maybe it's just another reminder of what my wife so often says to me--- "You're living in the past" (To which I reply "But I like it here" ).

Jeff

[Blitzboy54]

On to the drivers side

Stop me if you've heard this one before.

A guy walks into the bar with a duck under his arm. He says to the bartender "the driver door doesn't fit that well"


I installed the door and latch. I had to remove a little more material as FFR left this one more "oversized" than the passenger. I got it sort of ugly close and then put a single metal screw on the underside of the body to hold it into position. This is as close as I will get until it gets shaped at body and paint.

[danmas]

Looks awesome. I just noticed the side pipes were off. Do you need to take them off to fit the body?