Gbranham's MkIV 427/IRS/TKX Build Thread...Spark Plug Shenanigans

[danmas]

Jeff is incredibly talented and I’m sure it will look great when done. That picture with raptor flying over your ride is stunning. What did you use to shoot your glamour shots? I’m kind of a camera nut…

[gbranham]

Jeff is incredibly talented and I’m sure it will look great when done. That picture with raptor flying over your ride is stunning. What did you use to shoot your glamour shots? I’m kind of a camera nut…

Hah! I didn't notice the bird until you mentioned it. I just snapped the pics with my camera phone. Galaxy S23 Ultra, in the Auto everything setting.

[Cobraman]

Congratulations on the the road worthy adventure I'm looking to have mine at this stage August of 2026. My grandson sat in mine yesterday 13 years old able to touch the peddles but not push them. Memories that these things make on the way are priceless. Screenshot_20250622-205058_Gallery.jpg

[cv2065]

Looks great Greg! #1 is my favorite.

[JMD]

Yes sir! Kleiner is my man. I'm going for Patriot Blue, no stripes. It's the color of my Ram.

Attachment 215401

That's going to look great. I'm going no stripes as well...maybe even no hood scoop. I kind of like the classic roadster look without it.

How about your hood scoop? You going body color or with some contrast?

[gbranham]

That's going to look great. I'm going no stripes as well...maybe even no hood scoop. I kind of like the classic roadster look without it.

How about your hood scoop? You going body color or with some contrast?

Thanks, John. Probably body color, but maybe JK can talk me into something different. I'm not really particular about the color or the scheme. Might simply leave it up to him, based on what whim he has at the time. I just enjoy driving it, and I know I don't want any Lamborghini or McLaren Skittles colors. Hah!

Greg

[Jeff Kleiner]

Greg,
I'll only try to talk you into something different if you're about to do something stupid!

I've done Patriot blue and it isn't stupid. It'll look like this:



Cheers,
Jeff

[gbranham]

I dig it!

[kirby]

Can't wait to see it done Greg!!! That blue is nice and dark.

[rickster991]

Congrats! I'm looking for blues and that blue is nice and dark. Looks beautiful!

[gbranham]

Tried my hand at some homebrew door cards. I have 90 minutes and $53 in the project. Pretty easy!

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[Cobraman]

That looks great I was thinking of doing the same thing or should I say my wife she has that talent.

[gbranham]

I took an absolute gem of a drive tonight at dusk. The weather had cooled, so the night drive was just awesome. Long drives in the country with no traffic, passing amongst the corn fields. Don't care that its not painted, and don't care what color it will be. After dark, all that is illuminated is the gauges. Just pure driving ecstasy. This car is so unbelievably fun to just cruise. What a machine!

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[Grubester]

On the door cards -- what materials did you use and how did you "fasten" the card to the door? Thanks!

[gbranham]

I used pegboard and vinyl sheet, with batting under the vinyl. Velcro to hold it the door until the car is painted, then maybe a more permanent solution if velcro proves insufficient.

[Mike.Bray]

I have Cobra Herbs and they attached with some pieces of 2" wide Velcro.

[JMD]

There is some industrial strength velcro that is very strong. I used it for my dash and it's almost too difficult to remove!

[Blitzboy54]

I have Cobra Herbs and they attached with some pieces of 2" wide Velcro.

I had those on my first car. After 2 years of humid summers the adhesive started to give. I am going to do something more rigid on this one.

As an aside Herbs door cards remain one of the better values you'll find around here.


Greg - Those look great. "built not bought"

[gbranham]

Got me a new license plate frame today. Gotta represent! Took a great 20 mile drive this evening...awesome as usual!

Happy safe and fun Fourth of July, everyone! Come back with all your digits!

Greg

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[gbranham]

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[gbranham]

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[danmas]

Dude! So cool. Killing me with envy!

[gbranham]

Dude! So cool. Killing me with envy!

You'll be there soon enough, my brother! I'll drive to CO from KC when you're ready! Happy to assist!

Greg

[gbranham]

After 450 miles, I'm now at the point where I don't watch my gauges like a hawk...I just drive it, like I do my daily drivers. Such a good feeling. Have a fun and safe evening,

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[460.465USMC]

I took an absolute gem of a drive tonight at dusk. The weather had cooled, so the night drive was just awesome. Long drives in the country with no traffic, passing amongst the corn fields. Don't care that its not painted, and don't care what color it will be. After dark, all that is illuminated is the gauges. Just pure driving ecstasy. This car is so unbelievably fun to just cruise. What a machine!

20250628_213015.jpg

Perfect driving conditions, indeed! Such a feeling of satisfaction to get to this point. Congrats! I drove mine in gelcoat as well...didn't bother me one iota either. Smiles the whole time. A motivational post to all of us who're working to get there. Thanks, and enjoy!

[topherchrisb]

After 450 miles, I'm now at the point where I don't watch my gauges like a hawk...I just drive it, like I do my daily drivers. Such a good feeling. Have a fun and safe evening,

20250704_151704.jpg

The GT350 was the car I was trying to get before I decided to build the cobra. I see more c8s now than I ever saw 350s driving around. Still check auto trader once in a while to see how they are aging. Jealous.

[gbranham]

The GT350 was the car I was trying to get before I decided to build the cobra. I see more c8s now than I ever saw 350s driving around. Still check auto trader once in a while to see how they are aging. Jealous.

The low mileage cars have really held their value. I bought this 2017 a couple of months ago. Recaro seats, electronics package, 4700 miles, for right at MSRP. Its a great car, but compared to the Cobra and my previous C7Z, it lacks a lot of grunt down low. But it's a great driver's car. The sound and handling are sublime.

[gbranham]

So, today was alignment day. Ironically, 2 years to the day from when my kit was delivered. My alignment specs I gave him:

Front
Caster 7 degrees
Camber -0.5 degrees
Total Toe 3/32" IN

Rear
Camber -0.5 - -0.75 degrees
Total Toe 3/32" IN

Tires are Toyo Proxes R888R, 25" diameter front, and 25.5" diameter rear.

When he was done, I took this pic of the alignment screen:

Alignment Specs.jpg

Being of a curious mind with a degree in physics, I am no stranger to converting units of measure from one to another, but the .09 degrees for front total toe, and .12 degrees for rear total toe caught my eye. So I asked the alignment guy 'hey, I'm curious...how did you convert 3/32" total toe into degrees, so you could enter into your machine, or did you just enter 3/32", and it converted it for you?". He shrugged and said he doesn't know how to convert it; he just looks at a chart he had on the wall. So I looked at the chart, and it simply converted total toe in fraction form to decimal form...3/32" was converted to .09" on the chart. So, he entered .09 into his alignment software, but the software is in degrees. That's when I thought something wasn't right. So I googled...I had to know how it's converted. I found a formula, calculated it myself, then found an online converter, and both came up with something like .20 degrees. That's when he kind of had a code brown moment, realizing he may have been doing toe wrong for potentially years. Now I know the difference between .09 degrees and .20 degrees is very small, but still...

So what say the experts here on the forum? Was I overthinking this? We ended up at .20 degrees total toe, and sent it down the road. It tracks great, and is much less twitchy, so I think all's well.

Greg

[Jeff Kleiner]

Every 1/32 of an inch of toe is 0.12 degrees. If you have .09 degree that means you have about 75% of 1/32 inch (.020") total toe in rather than 3/32" (.093"). The closer to zero toe in you get the more twitchy and less stable the car becomes.

OOPS,EDIT, never mind!
After rereading your post I see that you ultimately ended up with .20 degrees which is just under 1/16" total toe. In that case run it!

Jeff

[gbranham]

Every 1/32 of an inch of toe is 0.12 degrees. If you have .09 degree that means you have about 75% of 1/32 inch (.020") total toe in rather than 3/32" (.093"). The closer to zero toe in you get the more twitchy and less stable the car becomes.

OOPS,EDIT, never mind!
After rereading your post I see that you ultimately ended up with .20 degrees which is just under 1/16" total toe. In that case run it!

Jeff

Roger that, captain! Thanks!

Greg

[JMD]

Other than the miscalculation it looks like your alignment guy did a great job! I might want to have him double check mine after I’ve put some more miles on. I had it professionally set a while back, but wouldn’t mind getting it tweaked after everything is broken in and settled down.

[460.465USMC]

Being of a curious mind with a degree in physics, I am no stranger to converting units of measure from one to another, but the .09 degrees for front total toe, and .12 degrees for rear total toe caught my eye... So I asked the alignment guy 'hey, I'm curious...how did you convert 3/32" total toe into degrees, so you could enter into your machine, or did you just enter 3/32", and it converted it for you?". He shrugged and said he doesn't know how to convert it; he just looks at a chart he had on the wall. So I looked at the chart, and it simply converted total toe in fraction form to decimal form...3/32" was converted to .09" on the chart. So, he entered .09 into his alignment software, but the software is in degrees. That's when I thought something wasn't right. So I googled...I had to know how it's converted. I found a formula, calculated it myself, then found an online converter, and both came up with something like .20 degrees. That's when he kind of had a code brown moment, realizing he may have been doing toe wrong for potentially years. Now I know the difference between .09 degrees and .20 degrees is very small, but still...

So what say the experts here on the forum? Was I overthinking this? We ended up at .20 degrees total toe, and sent it down the road. It tracks great, and is much less twitchy, so I think all's well.

Greg

Helpful musings. I appreciate sharing how you worked through this, given your math/physics background. Very interesting.

"a code brown moment". That is too funny! Adding that one to my repertoire will full acknowledgement to its source.

[gbranham]

Helpful musings. I appreciate sharing how you worked through this, given your math/physics background. Very interesting.

"a code brown moment". That is too funny! Adding that one to my repertoire will full acknowledgement to its source.

Twas a fun exercise, for sure. At least the car drives really well now!

Ah yes, the Code Brown. I can't claim authorship of that one...I think someone at work used it, and, like you, I immediately added it to my repertoire. Use with impunity!

[gbranham]

Been driving quite a bit, and have almost 700 miles on the car. Running great! The last month or two, I've only driven on the weekends, and I've noticed, come Friday after the car has sat for 5 days, I have a half-dollar sized coolant puddle on the shop floor. Its roughly under the front corner of the passenger cylinder head. I have no leaks while driving or for hours after a drive. I spent some time diagnosing today, and found the leak is from the front corner of the intake manifold gasket. I put a socket on my ARP 12pt stud nuts for the manifold, and low and behold, the entire passenger side nuts were barely better than finger tight. Driver's side was fine. I retorqued them after several heat cycles, but then drove 700 miles without checking them. Guess I should have. Anyway, the leak is gone, and Im glad I used Gasgacinch on those gaskets, or I might have had a real mess on my hands. Folks, don't forget to torque those bolts a few times in the first few hundred miles. I thought I did mine enough, but guess not.

Greg

[JMD]

I'm glad it was an easy fix! I've snugged mine a couple of times. Two bolts driver side middle seemed noticeably loose after a couple hundred miles. Also snugged my valve covers, although I've since read that you really don't want to put more than 8-10 lb/ft on them. I may have done a little bit more, but so far so good.

[BUDFIVE]

Greg, good stuff and thanks for the reminder. I’m at 120 miles and will put that on the list for next checks.

[TrackDay17]

I remember you said you thought you smelled a little coolant but didn't see any leaks, glad it was something simple to fix.
Thanks again for the ride in your car, man that power is intoxicating !

Anyone else reading this Greg and John (JMD) both offered me rides in their cars as I am fairly local to both of them.
I took them up on both offers of course !
It's great to have met such great people and make new friends local to me and encourage me to start my build really soon.

Both of them have built great cars they can definitely be proud of !

[BornWestUSA]

The Ford racing instructions say to re-torque the intake bolts after 10 heat cycles... I will report what I find this week.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Folks, don't forget to torque those bolts a few times in the first few hundred miles. I thought I did mine enough, but guess not.

Greg

Probably 30 years ago I learned that the intake is one of the few "gotchas" on a SBF. The bolts are vertical rather than splayed and the torque is low. If you just torque the bolts once or twice you're gonna' have a problem. My process is to run through the pattern 5,6,7 or more times when assembling then come back to it the next day after the gasket has been compressed and go through it again several times. By using this method I've never had a leak...and now having said that I'm doomed and the next one will leak! Oh, and if using aluminum heads just go with studs right out of the gate.

Jeff

[Mike.Bray]

Amen on studs Jeff! And Gasgacinch on the gaskets so they don't slip down and cause a small vacuum leak from the lifter valley. Or so I've been told