CV2065 MKIV Roadster Build Thread #2 - Visors - Heat Shields - Saggy Pipe

[danmas]

That is insanely cool looking. Well done! Well done indeed!

[JMD]

It's so nice I would have a hard time driving it, knowing all those pretty pieces and finishes are going to get all chipped and scuffed up! Very nice work.

[Blitzboy54]

Red and black interior look nasty. I am also looking forward to you getting your tunnel cover.

[cv2065]

red and black interior look nasty. I am also looking forward to you getting your tunnel cover.

lol

[cv2065]

Coming back around for a little update action. So, a couple of weeks ago I was fitting my front splash shields, anticipating putting the body on for the last time, looked over and my nicely ceramic coated headers were flaking. I'm like WTH! This exact same thing happened on the last build. So, the final body install waited and I sent back to the ceramic coaters. Said he switched powders as he had other complaints and shouldn't be an issue this time around. Took 4 days to order the powder, a few days of screwing around and 1.5 weeks later I get them back. They look good but time will tell during the heat cycle.

So, in the mean time, I was working and waiting on some other things. First off I needed to install my body spaces at the front. I ordered 4" x 4" rubber block that is 5/8" thick off of Amazon. Cut it down to 2.5" strips with a fine blade hacksaw and installed on the 3/4" tube. I tapped the 3/4" tube with 8-32 screws and used a little silicone underneath. It's not going anywhere. I used the FFR provided foam stripping for the remainder of the tube. Got the block from here:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09663B56V...sin_title&th=1





I also tweaked my brake balance bar as it was perfectly centered at rest. I wanted a little more bias to the front so adjusted pretty much like they have in the manual and called it good. I also tweaked my accelerator pedal as it was a bit too far forward and my foot was catching it when transitioning to the brake. Hitting your brake and revving the engine at the same time is not cool! Problem averted and we're good to go.

[cv2065]

The first strip of matching tunnel cover fabric I got from Intatrim was not matching up with the cover dimensions. Reached out and they sent me a replacement. Took some time. Roughly 3 weeks to get it cut, then another 2 weeks across the pond. BUT, it was worth the wait. This beauty is coming out EXACTLY as I had envisioned.

Once I got the fabric, I had already put in rivnuts and holes into the cover so immediately took it down to the upholsterer. If anybody cares, it was Tony's in Orlando. This guy did an AWESOME job and he had it done in less than 6 hours. Cost me a mere $120. I made sure to focus his attention on the duck bill in the back as it was a bit of a problem when I had it done before at Kellys, but turned out perfect.

If you are in Orlando, don't go to Bible's or Kellys. Either they do substandard work or it will cost you your first born for simple stuff. Got it back and started to punch screw holes in for my trim rings. Another one of those, don't F it up moments. I fed a tiny drill bit into the reverse side of the rivnut, made my pilot hole and bored it out from there with a hole punch from Harbor Freight. I referenced them earlier in the build thread. Heated up the end and it made a perfect circular hole. Used needle nose pilers to pick out the excess foam from the cover to expose the rivnut threads.





I have a center console stereo BT remote from Wet Sounds, so needed to wire that up next. Not hard, but had to pull the custom harness through from the engine bay then weatherpack it and the harness coming out of the BT module. I glued plastic wire fasteners to the bottom of the panel with JB Weld plastic epoxy and zip tied the wires to the back to keep stress off the master control harness.



Once done there, I fitted the entire thing into the car. Installed the unit and hooked up my wiring harness. Lots going on, especially when you put the e-brake on top, so took a little time and patience to get it all of the wiring snug and secured. Had the 'hood' propped up!

[cv2065]

Once all wired up, I decided to use a couple of 10-32 screws and tapped the 3/4” tube to secure the top. I'll use the same black aluminum finishing washers I used on the dash. They are somewhat invisible and run with the theme of the car. With screws it’s super solid, easy to remove and I thought this would be better than velcro with heat, etc. The trim rings are just sitting in there for now until my black SS socket heads arrive. My custom shifter and e-brake boots are on their way from Redline Goods. They are black soft leather with diamond stitching. Something about tariff delays have added a couple of weeks to their arrival.

I did offset the shifter ring a little inboard to appear somewhat centered once the boot is in place. Cleaned it all up with a little 303 protectant and Ooooh Mama....this is what I'm talking about!

I do need to hook up the bottom end of the e-brake, but will need to do that from underneath so I’m waiting until the boot arrives.









Got the seats back in and installed my fire extinguisher for the final time as well.

[cv2065]

If you are looking for some MKIII or MKIV floor mats as that 'other place' no longer has the Cobra ones, I decided to try Car Cover Planet as they make them specifically for the FFR Roadsters. They fit perfectly and the quality is very similar to OEM that you would get in a production car. Very heavy, come in 8 or so colors and have the rubber spikes (with grommets) on the back to grip the carpet. They are also UV protected. All for about $120 a set with free shipping. Not bad. You have to select 1965 to get the right ‘Cobra’ drop down to come up but for ease of reference, below is the link:

https://www.carcoverplanet.com/1965-...floor-mat.html

[danmas]

That looks so damn good. Holy smokes! Well done!I hope my finish is half as nice as yours! You should feel really good about that.

Edit: Just ordered my mats.

[jengum]

Wow...it's beautiful!

[Blitzboy54]

Absolutely smoked the interior.

I used the same mats. They are very heavy. Well worth the price.

[Higgybulin]

Looks awesome! Going to be another stunner bud!!
Higgy

[JMD]

That looks amazing. I love the consistency of the red & black theme in the interior and interior accessories. Lovely build.

[mrglaeser]

Love what you are doing with the interior. So many similar themes as what I'm trying to do. But you made it look modern where I'm going for an older look. Nicely done.

[Justin]

Looking very well thought out. I dig it!

[cv2065]

My shifter and e brake boots finally arrived from Redline Goods and have to say that the quality is top notch again. The leather is supple, and the stitching is really nice. You'd think it went with the tunnel cover print, but different pattern. They are really detailed when gathering the measurements and can be time consuming but worth it. Here's a shot of the shifter boot and new ball with trim ring all snugged down. Looks great. I'm still working on the e-brake boot. I was adjusting the brake itself and the little metal piece inside shot out of the handle when I removed the pin and has been lost in what is now the garage abyss. I'll have to score another one at some point.

[cv2065]

Finally got to that milestone point where the body goes on for the final time. I started to rush it one weekend as I wanted my son to help with the fitment but pulled back at the last moment just to give it all a once over and delayed a week. Glad I did as there is always something to check. I was getting some puffs of smoke out of the driver's side pipe and decided to investigate before the body went on. Turned out that a couple of my plugs had fouled with all of the idling during initial timing and what not. Much easier of course to change the plugs while the body is off, so I did and everything is running like a champ. No more puffs of smoke and idles more smoothly.

Headers also came back from the ceramic coaters and unfortunately I lost my satin sheen and back to matte. I'd rather have that than peeling headers but it is what it is. Collector remained satin as it doesn't get as hot. Might try to get the pipes back to satin as well. We'll see. Was able to get those back on. Again, the studs are a life saver.





Checked pedal travel again, brake balance bar, nuts, bolts, fittings, MCs.....All set and the outside driver panel was installed with carpeting. Almost too pretty to cover up!

[cv2065]

Finally made it to the final fitting of the body. All bulb seal went on with some being replaced from previous fittings. After it was installed, everything sat just like it did the first couple of times. That wasn't the case on my last build, especially around the dash. Never really figured it out and some things just have a way of moving all by themselves.

The ride height needed to be adjusted again as the rear was riding really low and the front rubs at 1/4 turn. Might need to call the alignment guy out again.





Looked great right off. Measured from the shock towers and was getting the same measurements all the way around...UNTIL I started putting the quick jack tubes in the front. I had drilled out for the larger grommets and tubes and they rubber was getting all wonky because it wasn't straight from the body holes to the frame brackets, horns, outriggers, or whatever you want to call them. With the 5/8" spacer at the top on both sides, the bolts should just slide right through but they didn't and was too much tension. I needed to bring them inboard, so out came the ratchet strap and inward they went about 1/2" or so. I did loosen the radiator mount before I started pulling to avoid any stress on the radiator.



Once I got those done, everything aligned perfectly. Front QJ bolts go in and out with very little effort on all 4 corners. As mentioned, I used the larger tubes and grommets from that other place. I used bronze bearings that reduced the ID to 5/8" to take up any slack, one on each side. You can get them at McMaster Carr.

https://www.mcmaster.com/products/6391k192/

And they look like this:



The rear QJ holes were another story. I'm not sure why but I had a heck of a time aligning with the 4 Kleiner modded couplers that I had put in early on. I had one instance where the SS threaded rod galled into one of my bottom couplers and would not come out. I had to cut it off, order another coupler, and it 'just' squeezed in where I could get it without dropping the tank. Whew! Another reminder to ALWAYS use anti-seize when dealing with SS.

I enlarged the holes just a bit on all four corners and the threaded rod finally installed with ease. Maybe it was the new bulb seal that made the offset or 'that FFR guy' that drilled all of my stuff off center, but not sure. The threaded rod I cut down to 4-3/4". Much shorter than my last build and saves my shins, but I still have managed to whack my head twice while screwing around with the wiring. Another tip is with the undercoating. I wasn't paying attention when applying and clogged up my QJ holes. Don't do that.

Anyway, they look great now, especially with Mike Everson's finishing plates. I'll be adding black chrome acorn nuts after paint to finish it all off.

[cv2065]

I started installing my lighting and got to install my Batman turn signals. Man do these look great. I did use the eyebrow bracket since I had them plus they give me something to help secure the headlight/turn signal harness to underneath to clean things up.





Went to start on my headlights and the harness weatherpacks but realized that I didn't have any 12 gauge weatherpack pins so ordered from Amazon. Of course, Amazon's systems go nutty and it added 3 days on my wait. I've got a car to build Bezos!!

Moved on to the pipes. I really just wanted to install these as is and let the painter deal with the cutout, but the pipes wouldn't even install the cutouts were so small and the corner radius was wild. So mask and dremel to the rescue and I started cutting. Dremel took a dirt nap half way through so needed a replacement. After a few times on and off and cutting a little at a time, I realized that I needed the 1/4" spacers that Mark has from Breeze. Ordered and he sent them in record time! So got one side done but the other will have to wait until the weekend. Still needs a tiny bit of evening out on the top but nothing that 30 seconds with 80 grit sandpaper can resolve. Looks good overall. I added a little headroom at the top to give the engine some room to move. Gas n Pipes brackets will be next here.

[Higgybulin]

Nice work brother!! Keep it up! I am going to make the drive over there the next time I am down for more than a 3 day trip!
Higgy

[Blitzboy54]

Looks super sharp Chad. I now need to build a 3rd one just to catch up to the quality of your 2nd

[cv2065]

Nice work brother!! Keep it up! I am going to make the drive over there the next time I am down for more than a 3 day trip!
Higgy

Anytime Higgy!

[cv2065]

Looks super sharp Chad. I now need to build a 3rd one just to catch up to the quality of your 2nd

Thanks Jessie, but your build is outstanding and doesn’t need any help. ��

[danmas]

Chad. Just wow.

[cv2065]

Fitted the Breeze rollbar. Man, you gotta love this thing. The height, rake and thickness is perfecto! And NO frankenstine bolt.

Time to cut the holes. I had to enlarge about 1/4" on each hole for the Breeze bars. My hole cutting friend at FFR struck again and each hole was about 1/4" off moving outboard. I've got to buy this guy some lunch just on consistency alone!!

Draped the plastic tarp over the car to keep it clean and cut the plastic out around the holes and taped it down. My wife came in while I was going to work with the Dremel and said I looked like a surgeon with my respirator on. Yes!!



Once done, I misjudged the rear leg a bit as I forgot Jeff Kleiner's advice about notching the back leg so that the hole doesn't have to be so big. When done, the trim ring just barely covers the hole but one of my screw holes has nothing to screw into. So I headed down to the local metal shop and they fabricated 3 trim rings that are 3/16" bigger than these that I got from Replica Parts. Charged me $40. Put em on and we are back in the game!

Test fitted the rollbar and had to use some emery cloth on the 3rd leg adaptor as it wasn't sliding in and out like it should. Had a little rust develop on the leg even though I kept it inside. This is key as you can't get the third leg in without the adaptor slid all the way up and you need to be able to get it out once through the hole. I had already drilled my bolt holes and I'll send out for powder coating next week, so I think we can put this one in the win column.

[cv2065]

Well, something finally went right in the fitment department. The hood! I wanted to get the hood done early before the windshield and doors as it's a good barometer as to how centered the body is to the frame. I assembled and installed my brackets.

I did not assemble them right the first time as the hood was about 2" too far towards the back of the car once installed and I had no adjustment. So, I flipped the brackets that the arms screw into around to where the part of the bracket that is pointing farthest forward was at the front. This gave me the adjustment that I needed. I don't think that the instructions make this completely clear and the wife says I did the same thing the last time but I don't remember. Leave it up to the 'foreman' to remember those things for me.

Also, if you don't hold the wavy washer and the regular washer over the shoulder bolt as you tighten the lock nut down, it won't tighten flush and you'll have too much play in the arms. Takes a little patience to get it right the first, second, third time.....





Once arms were fitted right, I riveted the brackets on to the hood. I only put 2 rivets in each one as it will be easier for the painter to remove. Same with the gas strut pivot balls. Which by the way the holes were not symmetrical when drilled from side to side on the hood but didn't seem to make a difference upon installation.

I had my wife help setup up the hood and installed. Why she keeps showing up with oven mitts I don't know, but at least she's ready. I installed all 4 shoulder bolts first, then the gas struts, then tightened the nuts down but just enough to where I could still move the assembly any which way. I then laid the hood all the way down to where it fit the opening. Then slowly pulled it up from the middle at the top of the hood to where the struts caught and I could just barely get my wrench on the two bracket bolts on each side and snugged down. If the hood assembly moves, then you have to start over. I wasn't 'completely sure if I was going to get some interference from the remote PS reservoir, as the last one I had was integrated, but it didn't and was just about a perfect fit!







Over the next couple of days I'll get my pipes completely fitted, support brackets installed and start on the windshield.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Also, if you don't hold the wavy washer and the regular washer over the shoulder bolt as you tighten the lock nut down, it won't tighten flush and you'll have too much play in the arms. Takes a little patience to get it right the first, second, third time.....

Pro Tip:
To get the wavy washers right the first time put them directly into the nearest trash can.

You're welcome,
Jeff

[cv2065]

Pro Tip:
To get the wavy washers right the first time put them directly into the nearest trash can.

You're welcome,
Jeff

Thanks Jeff! Now that I think about it, I think you told me that the last time.

[danmas]

Fitted the Breeze rollbar. Man, you gotta love this thing. The height, rake and thickness is perfecto! And NO frankenstine bolt.

Time to cut the holes. I had to enlarge about 1/4" on each hole for the Breeze bars. My hole cutting friend at FFR struck again and each hole was about 1/4" off moving outboard. I've got to buy this guy some lunch just on consistency alone!!

Draped the plastic tarp over the car to keep it clean and cut the plastic out around the holes and taped it down. My wife came in while I was going to work with the Dremel and said I looked like a surgeon with my respirator on. Yes!!

Once done, I misjudged the rear leg a bit as I forgot Jeff Kleiner's advice about notching the back leg so that the hole doesn't have to be so big.

I searched the forum but no luck. Can you say more about this or maybe Jeff can weigh in? I have to start this soon and I want to get it right.

Thanks@!

Dan

[cv2065]

I searched the forum but no luck. Can you say more about this or maybe Jeff can weigh in? I have to start this soon and I want to get it right.

Thanks@!

Dan

When you fit the back leg, you'll see what I'm talking about. The rear lip of the third leg won't clear unless you expand the hole a bit more rearward. Jeff suggested cutting a 'V' shaped notch in the bottom part of the leg to clear the body a little better so the hole doesn't have to be so large. Once you get the trim rings on you can't tell one from the other but if you go just slightly too large, the stock trim rings might not cover the gap completely.

[Jeff Kleiner]

I searched the forum but no luck. Can you say more about this or maybe Jeff can weigh in? I have to start this soon and I want to get it right.

Thanks@!

Dan

When you fit the back leg, you'll see what I'm talking about. The rear lip of the third leg won't clear unless you expand the hole a bit more rearward. Jeff suggested cutting a 'V' shaped notch in the bottom part of the leg to clear the body a little better so the hole doesn't have to be so large. Once you get the trim rings on you can't tell one from the other but if you go just slightly too large, the stock trim rings might not cover the gap completely.

Dan,
I must have posted it somewhere but who knows where it is.... When I go out to the shop tomorrow I'll grab a roll bar leg, mark it up and and post a picture.

Jeff

[cv2065]

Put these little guys together tonight. Wow, the door latches have come a long way. Very cool!

[Jeff Kleiner]

OK, returning to the rear leg when using Breeze bars and the change I make which Chad alluded to. Once the rear leg is welded to the main hoop when installing the bar assembly it all drops straight down vertically. I make a plumb cut on the end of the rear leg so that the cutout doesn't have to be any larger than necessary for clearance on the bottom side. This photo isn't of a Breeze bar, just a 1 1/2" section that I use for mock up but it will do for illustration. I marked in black to show how I make the cut. As you can see without that portion cut off it would need more removed from the body to allow it to go straight down.



Why not just cut the whole works shorter you ask? Because we need as much of the down leg as possible to remain for the inner sleeve to slide through and to be able to get a through bolt in below the body surface.

Hope that helps explain it!

Jeff

[danmas]

Thanks Jeff!

[cv2065]

I finished up the roll bar drilling and the holes were so off from FFR that I had a new set of trim rings made up locally that are about 3/16" larger than the ones from Replica parts so that I had the ability to get all of my screws into something as there was the third side dangling in the air. They look good but irritated that I needed to do that. I'll get these powdercoated in the coming week.

I also gave the outboard ring a slight bend over the bench grinder housing and it fits the curve of the body perfectly.



Next up was the gas cap. I had it powder coated many months ago and never really looked at it. Upon inspection it had some orange peel where not enough powder was applied to the lip of the top. I normally would have let it go but it was in your face so took it back and had him redo it. My one legged powder coater was NOT happy as he said it was really difficult to prep the piece and reapply the powder as he does lay it on thick. I guess next time he'll inspect a little better.

Last time I clocked the cap to the 1 o'clock position. This time I went 90 degrees. There's no right or wrong. I'm right handed to when I put the gas in it's a natural motion this way. Whatever you like.



Game out great and installed with black 8-32 SS screws from ebay. You can get them here:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/396833631293

Here's a view from underneath. I used some silicone grease to lube up the inside of the rubber tube so everything slipped in and out easily. The cap came with a grounding strap but it was too short so I made my own with some Permaseal connectors. I still need to secure the wire and add some spray paint to the ground area. One thing I did was to be sure that the screw where the grounding wire attached was not painted but bare metal so that it grounded properly. I also cleaned out the cap screw hole with a drill bit to bare metal and painted the top of the screw.

[cv2065]

Pulled the hood and started the drilling. Frank from ie427 has a really great video on how to measure for center. The FFR directions have you measure from the bottom of the hood, but Frank measured from the top. My mid-point was at 19.25". Ironically same as Frank's in the video and a testimony to the small error tolerances when cutting out these pieces at FFR. I then measured 13" (not 12") from the center, marked my spots then straight up 2-1/8" which put it dead square in the center of the ribbing on the bottom.



I went to install my arms and realized that my powder coater forgot to tape off the keyhole and now its frozen so I can't turn them. Thought if I baked them at 400 degrees (same temp as baking in powder coat) that they would unseize but didn't happen. Now I have to get another set and have them redone. FFR had them in stock but it's been almost a week and they still haven't sent them. Not sure why it takes them so long to ship items but guess I need to give them another call. As soon as I receive, I'll finish up there.

You can find Frank's video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7qTZvmNQ4M&t=1034s

[cv2065]

Got these supports drilled out and installed. Relatively uneventful. The ones I have came from GasnPipe and I like these better than what FFR sends. They are a little more stout, fit the pipe bracket better and have some additional rubber damping material at the end. They also seem to clear the body a little better.

The directions tell you to drill straight through the 2" tube all the way to the interior of the cabin. I decided not to do that. I drilled into the 2" tube but tapped it for the screw. Plenty of metal in that tube to hold securely.

[gbranham]

I really like those hangers. More adjustment than the stockers. My brackets hit the body, and I'd like more vertical adjustment. Might have to buy some of these.

Greg

[cv2065]

I installed the passenger door but not the driver's side until I get the windshield installed. During the last build I did my best to shave off material and align the doors, trunk, etc.. This build I came to the realization that I'm not a pro with fiberglass and I'm sure that the painter would rather take what FFR sent and mold it like he would like versus dealing with anything that I've jacked up. So fit it into the opening, tightened up the hinges and moved on. Same with the latch. For what it is, the door fit into the opening pretty nicely, but lots to do.



I did the same with the trunk lid. It will definitely need some material taken off the bottom and sides cleaned up. With my hydraulic struts disconnected, thought I'd try out a new wooden trunk strut. I will add that the bulb seal that FFR includes for the trunk does not fit well. Mine was squashed and once I did open it enough to fit the lip it wouldn't hold. As has been recommended on the forum, I ordered replacement from McMaster Carr which fit really nicely.

https://www.mcmaster.com/catalog/131/3998/1120A411

I also ordered some spare for the hood and door for paint.

https://www.mcmaster.com/catalog/131/3997/93085K14


I'll be drilling for the license plate and light tomorrow.



Bought a trunk electrical cover plate from Frank at i.e. 427 as well. Yeah, I could have made it myself but nice to support the forum vendors as I've certainly watched enough videos there for direction. It will go to the powder coaters as well.

[cv2065]

This is the last major thing that needs to be installed. I measured out the arms to cut a couple of inches off the bottom as its recommended to be 13" from the bottom hole, but then I was lucky enough to run across Da Bat's post about recent version of the arms already cut to that length. I checked and sure enough, they were:



I'll still check fitment of course, but though that was nice. On the first install to the windshield, the passenger side arm was almost perfect at the top, but the driver's side was way off. Spent about an hour trial and error to get it right, going back and forth from the vice and even had to shave a little off the top with my angle grinder to fit it into the groove. If yours looks like this, you've got some work to do.



I did install the Whitby's steel inserts and threw out the brass ones. As much as I've had the arms on and off I'm glad that I did. Although I did have to cut each piece on each side in half, as the holes were not sufficiently aligned with the arms. Just remember that the screws that come with the arms from FFR are a different thread size than what Whitby's sends but they look the same.

I have the Replica parts post trim pieces which are larger than the FFR ones and look nice. I traced the rubber gasket over the hole so I know how much I have to work with when fitting. The first fitment was a no go as the legs were bent too far outboard. I put them in a vice and bent a few degrees the other way as well as opening up the body holes. I will spend most of tomorrow morning getting the rest of it buttoned up.