Dondero Father Son Mk4 build thread: Cooling System

[Dondero14]

If anyone is interested in countersinking the rear brake brackets, I have 3 extra bolts and the countersink to get the job done. I'd be happy to send it to whomever asks free of charge to help anyone else out there who may need it and to save them a couple bucks with the hopes that it also get paid forward to others as well. Feel free to PM me about it.

[Dondero14]

Hi Dondero, nice to see your progress. I'm slowly chipping away, just got the IRS finished and about to start working on the firewall panels, then pedals and steering. Happy to stay at least a few steps behind you so I can learn!

Jay

Thanks Jay. Glad to hear your moving along as well. Will check out your thread and see your progress so far.

[Dondero14]

Not gonna lie, I got no enjoyment over running brake lines and was satisfied when the job was complete. To those who do a beautiful job running them, I have an enormous amount of respect for you because this is an artform. I stuck with the FFR brakes because I didn't want to spend the money on the Nicopp but if I were to do it all over again I will def go with Nicopp instead. Either way, we muscled through the process and got it all done and were happy with the results. A takeaway I had found with tightening the banjo bolts for the soft brake lines.....*****DON'T TORQUE THEM DOWN PER THE MANUAL*****. The rear banjo bolt calls for 32 ftlb of torque and the damn thing shear in half on me. Luckily Napa had a replacement and was able to get it right away. Ignore the torque requirements and tighten as needed so that it doesn't leak brake fluid and thats it. A few days later my Dad came by and we bled the brakes together. Everything went nice and smooth with the process and all the fittings held great with no leaks. Took a few times to bleed all the air out in the rear but we didn't run into any issues. Definitely a happy experience finally at a point where things were starting to be functional. It was really cool spinning the rotors and having the brakes clamp down on them like they should.

[Dondero14]

The car finally has feet. We went with Nitto 555 G2 tires after seeing alot of guys on the forum recommend those. 255/40/17 for the front and 315/35/17 for the rear. Had them mounted the same day we bled the brakes. After throwing them on it was really cool seeing how much everything has been coming together. Its really starting to look like a car now.

[Dondero14]

Worked on the fuel tank yesterday. We put together the EFI in tank pump along with all the other components that go into it. I saw on the FFR build videos that they recommend using a sealant called Seal-All on the rubber gaskets. I called them about this due to the fact that it hardens in place and sounds like a pain in the *** to deal with if a repair is ever needed to be made. The videos are pretty dated and the tech instructed me that nothing needs to be used on the gaskets. The fuel sender and pickup both come with square o-rings with the parts but FFR tech instructed me to use the round o-rings they included separately in the box. We ended up shooting to Home Depot to grab some heat shrink butt connectors as well as the ones that were included with the in tank pump weren't heat shrink. Maybe its not crucial but they are waterproof and with add a little extra grab for the wiring. We got the fuel tank up in place and strapped it in. The strap on the passenger side seems to need to be finagled to line up with the hole properly when wrapped around the tank. Curious why they have you bend down the lip on the tank because it seems to be more in the way than anything.




Has anyone out there experienced the filler neck retainer ring facing the opposite direction as shown in the manual? We used one of the already provided holes because it somewhat lined up with it and didn't see the need to drill an additional hole. Is this the correct direction we should take.



Next we will install the Charcoal and Fuel filters and run the flexible fuel lines. Any pictures and suggestions would be helpful as to where to run them to best align with the Holly Sniper 2 EFI. The fuel ports to the EFI are on the passenger side but the directions show to run them through the transmission tunnel on the drivers side. In addition, we plan on putting a mechanical throttle linkage in too so some of the space on the driver side firewall will be taken up by that.

[PMD24]

Mark, thanks for the shout out. That's a great solution for the bolt heads being in the way and no longer having to oval the holes in the casting for the cable. That's so much cleaner than the FFR approach. I see that solution came from Mike Everson. He's got so much knowledge about these cars. I see he's got a car for sale on BaT right now. People are raving about the quality of his builds.

Where did you get those clamps for the drill press? They look super handy and versatile. Wouldn't mind having a set.

Pat

[Dondero14]

Mark, thanks for the shout out. That's a great solution for the bolt heads being in the way and no longer having to oval the holes in the casting for the cable. That's so much cleaner than the FFR approach. I see that solution came from Mike Everson. He's got so much knowledge about these cars. I see he's got a car for sale on BaT right now. People are raving about the quality of his builds.

Where did you get those clamps for the drill press? They look super handy and versatile. Wouldn't mind having a set.

Pat

Not a prob Pat. Yeah Mike’s a great resource and extremely helpful. We are going to be having him doing the body prep and gapping for us. That’s an area I know nothing about and feel more comfortable having someone with experience handle that part.

As for the clamp downs for the drill press I’ll have to get back to you. I did that at work and will have to ask one of the guys there where he bought them from. I do gotta say they worked amazing.

[Railroad]

Unless your filler neck grommet came in Ford product bag, I suggest you remove and throw away.
Replace it with a Ford manufactured grommet.
You can verify the necessity for this by googling the issues.
My build took a few years and my original grommet split before I finished the build.
Good luck with your build.

[Dondero14]

Unless your filler neck grommet came in Ford product bag, I suggest you remove and throw away.
Replace it with a Ford manufactured grommet.
You can verify the necessity for this by googling the issues.
My build took a few years and my original grommet split before I finished the build.
Good luck with your build.

Thanks for pointing that out. I've never picked up on that from other threads but when I searched the forum about the issue I was surprised how many people actually went that route. Perfect timing too because I was going to be placing an order for a accelerator pedal at Breeze this week and saw on a thread that they actually carry the OEM Ford filler grommet there too. Killed two birds with one stone.

[mrmustang]

Slow and steady wins the race. Relax, take a deep breath, this is supposed to be enjoyable, not stressful.


Bill S.

[Dondero14]

Slow and steady wins the race. Relax, take a deep breath, this is supposed to be enjoyable, not stressful.


Bill S.

I completely agree. My stress comes from always overthinking things and aiming for perfection, which I'm like with mostly all hobbies and projects haha. I'll usually research and read information until I nearly reach the end of the internet. My father has truly been invaluable with the advise and knowledge he has with this build and has made life a hell of a lot easier doing it.

[Dondero14]

Unless your filler neck grommet came in Ford product bag, I suggest you remove and throw away.
Replace it with a Ford manufactured grommet.
You can verify the necessity for this by googling the issues.
My build took a few years and my original grommet split before I finished the build.
Good luck with your build.

Railroad, I just want to give you another thanks again for you suggestion about the filler neck grommet. I got the ford grommet from Breeze and you can totally tell a difference between the two. Much much tighter fit with the Ford grommet not only around the filler neck but also around the tank. Great bit of advise.

[Dondero14]

Fuel lines have been ran! Used the short run of black flexible fuel line provided with the FFR EFI kit from the tank to the fuel filter. From the fuel filter to the engine bay and the tank return to the engine bay, we used the SS braided fuel lines provided with the Blueprint EFI kit. We liked the SS lines due to them being smaller in diameter and more rigid, but flexible enough to allow us to tuck them up along the frame tube for better protection. I'm holding off on installing the pressure regulator for now until after the engine is dropped in first to be able to have a better idea on placement. We are going with Forte's mechanical throttle linkage so I'd like to install that first before I attach anything to the firewall. After the throttle linkage is in, we will find the best placement for the wiring harness holes to go through, stage and have an idea where the window wiper setup will go, THEN install the fuel reg. The only thing I know for sure is that the fuel regulator will be over on the passenger side since the Holley Sniper 2 fuel ports are on that side. Blueprint provides a ton of length for their SS fuel lines and shouldn't have any issue with needing enough. In addition, they also provide a great amount of AN fittings for various setups, including a couple 45 deg and 90 deg fittings that will work great for the EFI attachment. I still need to install the drivers side inside footbox in the next couple days because our plan is to drop the engine in this Wednesday. Huge milestone both of us are extremely excited for. Its crazy to think back to when this project began and how far its all come along in the past 4 months. This has became a huge highlight of life and I can't even explain how much enjoyment the whole process has been for me and how much I've learned too.

[Dondero14]

My takeaway from tonight’s work on the inside wall for the drivers side foot box…..you cannot trust the self tapping screw hole lineup from factory five from when you first get the car. Line each panel up cautiously and remember, duct tape is your friend. Many pictures from many peoples build threads on this site helped greatly as well. Definitely needed to do some trimming as well where the panel meets the flange on the center A shaped panel above the transmission tunnel.

[Dondero14]

Some photos of the fuel lines we ran last week. Finally getting around to taking some pictures.

[Dondero14]

I finally finished the driver's side inside foot box tonight and I'm glad that task is over. Very pleased with how it came out and took my time working through it. It definitely takes some time and patience. Fitting it in place I once again used a bunch of duct tape to keep it as lined up as possible. Drilled a hole, added a cleco and repeat. I got everything drilled and cleco'd up until the flange that attaches to the firewall. I used the inside top panel for the footbox as a guide as to where to rivet the flange to the firewall. The directions don't say to do this step until much further along in the build, but since I'm adding the mechanical throttle linkage, I wanted the panel to be lined up properly to accurately install the linkage. After I was happy with how everything lined up I loaded the flanges and seams with silicon and cleco'd everything back in place again. Pulled a cleco, added a rivet and repeat. I'm now fully prepared for my father to come by tomorrow so that we can drop the engine and transmission in the car. Extremely excited and have been looking forward to this little milestone.

Prep Work




This end that gets riveted to the A panel in the center definitely needed some trimming to fit properly. I lined up most of the other stuff first, in addition to adding the inside cover too for a more true lineup so that I could scribe a line along the A panel flange and trim the end piece.



Driving her home

[Dondero14]

Any suggestions would be helpful as to what the best material is to fill some of these larger gaps in the drivers side footbox. I'm guessing adding a large layer of just silicon isn't the best approach with the amount of exposure to heat.

[cv2065]

Any suggestions would be helpful as to what the best material is to fill some of these larger gaps in the drivers side footbox. I'm guessing adding a large layer of just silicon isn't the best approach with the amount of exposure to heat.

You could fab up a small metal piece, use seam sealer or both. If using the stick on sound proofing, you could seal with aluminum duct tape and then cover with the sound proofing tile. There are also caulking strips that will conform to the area and seal it up, then just cover with insulation. Lots of options.

[PMD24]

I had a similar gap that seemed just too large for caulk or the 3M strips. I cut a piece of aluminum and riveted it in place. Not pretty but will be covered on the inside anyway. And I tried to make the rivets look decent on the engine bay side. Post 144 in my thread.

The 3M strip caulk is very handy. gbranham put me on to that and I've used it in several places so far.

[Highplainsdakota]

I used metal tape on a lot of that, but for many areas I used JB weld. I roughened up both areas and filled it in. Using the metal tape on one side will help with the amount of weld to use. I have used both the putty and goo. The putty is far easier to shape to larger defects.

[Highplainsdakota]

Also, in the trunk area I used strip caulking from 3M. You can find it at summit racing. It doesn't harden and will melt in hot areas, but it's easy and quick for larger gaps that are hard to fill with silicone. Finally, don't forget to buy some black silicone. The clear was good for most things, but the black blends in well where you might see a bit of it through the carpet, cubby, engine, etc. My aluminum pieces are powdercoated black though.

[Dondero14]

Thanks guys for the response about filling in the gaps in the footbox. I'll be figuring out something soon and tackling that.


Finally getting back to updating my thread. Two Wednesdays ago was a big day for us. The car kissed the ground for the first time and had its first roll in the garage. In addition, dropping the engine into the car was a great success. It all took most of the day start to finish between setting everything up, properly rigging the engine up and getting everything buttoned up in the end, but because of the extra time taken, the whole process went nice and smooth. One of our family friends also came by to lend a hand with everything, which helped out tremendously. My work had a lot of valuable parts I was able to use including eye bolts for hoisting, and some switchgear bus jumpers that worked perfect for solid extension pieces. With the rigging setup that comes with the blueprint engine, they have two lifting brackets opposite each other on the front and back. I got the idea from Pat to move the bracket from the back of the block to the front. Thankfully he told me ahead of time that the bolt holes aren't all the same so I was able to prepare for that. I used eye bolts on the back side with a few washers in place to have a nice tight bite without dinging up the block. In the front of the engine I used the blueprint lifting brackets with those bus bar brackets to extend the pick point above the distributor and alternator. Kind of funny, I noticed the brackets that the engine was attached to the shipping container with would have been perfect bracket extenders but had no way of getting them off unless the engine was picked. None the less I'll hold onto them incase I need them in the future (hopefully not). With the engine in, and the holidays over, we will start putting more pieces to the puzzle together again.



I added those bracket extensions to keep the chains away from everything.



The eye bolt in the block are two different sizes. 3/8" which is what the bracket bolt hole was and 7/16" for the hole on the opposite side.

[Dondero14]

Had Blueprint put the shifter on the midmount position. Checked with FFR and OK to cut the tubing in the tunnel for the shifter and will not impact structural integrity.




***If anyone is in need of extension brackets for the engine hoists I could send a couple of these to whomever. They are nice and sturdy.***

[Dondero14]

Ran into a minor issue with the transmission when getting it bolted to the mounts. It seams like there is some interference against the emergency brake bracket. I emailed James at Blueprint to find out if I can trim a little bit off the transmission where that hole is without it voiding warranty. I tried pulling the e-brake bracket out with a strap to use it like a come along but it didn't budge it that much. In addition, when I went to thread the bolt into the transmission it wouldn't thread in. Upon further inspection of the issue I found that the threads were all buggered up and a chunk was missing from the transmission where the bolt goes. It appears like it was an issue with the forging process through Tremec. James from Blueprint verified this and mentioned that this will not impact the integrity of the transmission being bolted down. I just need to run a tap through the threads and that should fix the problem. Unfortunately I need to pull apart the transmission mount and bracket to get a straight shot at the threads. Just a small speed bump in the process.

Bolt hole issue




E-brake bracket issue

[gbranham]

Yep, trimming those tabs on the tranny is well-documented here on the forum. I knocked mine down with an angle grinder right before installation.

Greg

[gbranham]

Oh, and that one ear isnt a casting issue. They're all like that. Its a relief in case you install a VSS. I confirmed that with SST when I inspected mine and saw the same thing. Look at pics of TKXs online, and you'll see it.

Greg

20241019_134920.jpg

[Dondero14]

Oh, and that one ear isnt a casting issue. They're all like that. Its a relief in case you install a VSS. I confirmed that with SST when I inspected mine and saw the same thing. Look at pics of TKXs online, and you'll see it.

Greg

20241019_134920.jpg

Yeah you’re right it’s almost identical looking. Good to know. I read about the tabs on the tranny a while back but figured I’d be able to pull that ebrake mount out with a little more ease but that wasn’t the case haha.

[PMD24]

Congrats on getting the engine and tranny in. Big milestone. I had the same interference issue at the ebrake and was able to get to that tab by lifting the engine off the mounts, pushing the trans to the drivers side, and I could get in there with my DeWalt 20V one handed recip saw and cut it off. If you don't have one, here's an excuse to get one. I use it all the time. One of my fav tools.

If you haven't already removed the lifting setup, I'd suggest leaving it in place. I lifted mine multiple times, messing with clearance for the oil pan, spacers at the rear mount, getting the tranny mount in, etc.

How's the clearance on your pan?

Pat

[Dondero14]

Congrats on getting the engine and tranny in. Big milestone. I had the same interference issue at the ebrake and was able to get to that tab by lifting the engine off the mounts, pushing the trans to the drivers side, and I could get in there with my DeWalt 20V one handed recip saw and cut it off. If you don't have one, here's an excuse to get one. I use it all the time. One of my fav tools.

If you haven't already removed the lifting setup, I'd suggest leaving it in place. I lifted mine multiple times, messing with clearance for the oil pan, spacers at the rear mount, getting the tranny mount in, etc.

How's the clearance on your pan?

Pat

Thanks Pat! Yeah I saw the tab issue on your thread but had the thought in my head after the fact worrying if I made any type of modifications it would void the warranty. After I heard back from Blueprint that it wasn't an issue I was able to hack off that tab with a sawzall and a long blade. Thank you for the suggestions about the oil pan. I looked into this alot more and see many people with the same issue. Our oil pan sits roughly 1/4" below the tube eyeing it. Either way we are going to shim the front mounts like I've now read. I however did scan your info on the wiring harness and luckily I didn't run into the same issues with the backwards wiring. I did find that the connections to the fuel sender and fuel pump were kinda wonky and two of the rubber seals at the end weren't in all the way so I appreciate you surely mentioning that.

[Dondero14]

I'd like to take a minute to tip my hat to some of the GREAT venders I've dealt with so far.

Drummer Mike - Ended up getting a set of the Drummer Mike heat shields for our sidepipes a while back. I've read nothing but great reviews and talked to a couple guys on the forum here about how they personally thought of them and everyone had nothing but good things to say. Mike was a great guy to talk to and was very responsive with my request. I had a great conversation with him when I spoke to him and was great to work with. Thanks Mike I'm looking forward to slapping the heat shields on when the time comes.

Breeze Automotive - I've known about Breeze Automotive for a while now though a lot of the talks on this forum. I've browsed Mark's site for ideas and possible upgrades. I had a great suggestion to upgrade the fuel filler neck grommet from the one provided in the kit to an OEM Ford grommet. After poking around for a while I saw Mark had some available and was already thinking of upgrading my gas pedal to his Russ Thompson replacement pedal. After giving him a call to make sure he had the items in stock and seeing if it was worth my while picking them up to save on shipping (I'm only about 45 minutes away), I pulled the trigger on both items. Mark was a great guy to talk to and extremely helpful. Both product came right away and were great, especially the gas pedal.

I.E. 427 Garage - Another great guy to work with. Frank has some awesome and informative videos out there that are extremely helpful with the builds. What caught my attention to his products was that he was selling the self cancelling turn signals and the hubs to go along with them. In addition, his custom hubs are designed to connect to two different quick releases for the steering wheels. After watching his videos I ended up going with the motion raceworks quick release and jumped on the turn signal as well. I had a lot of question for Frank and he had a ton of patience with me and was able to answer my question perfectly. He helped me not only understand exactly what I wanted but also how it all went together to properly fit with the application I was hoping to achieve.

[Dondero14]

Forte's Parts Connection - This post is separate because there is a little story that goes along with it. I met Mike Forte back in June during the FFR 30th open house. When my dad introduced me he mentioned that he still has my father's first MK1 chassis that my father crashed up at the track. Originally, what set me on this journey was looking for his second car that he built that I had driven up at Walkins Glen, which was last known to be in Hawaii back in 2012. I ended up calling Mike out of curiosity that he still had my fathers old chassis after not having much luck tracking down the other. I wasn't sure if I wanted to buy a cobra at the time or what I was really thinking but I know I had some bug in my head that I was trying to figure out. After throwing it out to Mike about the possibility of him selling me the old chassis (that was still very incomplete), he mentioned that he had a mk4 that he was completing that he could sell at a lot more cost effective price. My father had no clue about all of this at the time. I had some great conversations with Mike about cobras and some of the stories of my father and him up at the track together in the early days of the Mk1. It was those conversations that I had with him that ultimately made me make the decision to pull the trigger on a cobra and take the leap. I ended up blindsiding my father with this all and in the end with a lot of back and forth and research, we ultimately decided to start fresh and build one from scratch. Like I've said before, I've was never a huge gear head growing up, but I have learned so much along the way with this build and have been loving every minute of it.

Mike has been nothing less than incredible to talk to and work with. We bought his mechanical throttle linkage, heated seats, pedal spacer (for us short goombas), and his custom AC pedals. I highly recommend working with Mike. His knowledge about these vehicles and all the components that go into them is invaluable. We both took the trip out to his shop to pick up the parts and say hi and had a great time hanging with him.

The reason we went with the pedal spacers is because with the limitation of how close we can get the brake pedal and already how much closer the steering wheel is going to be with the turn signal and quick release steering wheel, I was worried it was going to create a funky setup that wouldn't be so comfortable with the steering wheel being so close and a bit of a reach to get to the pedals comfortably. The only way around it was to bring the pedals closer and I wondered if it was possible to put spacers on the pedals. Low and behold Mike already had them thought of. After installing them and sitting in the cockpit with the seat in there, the fit of the pedals with where the steering wheel is couldn't be anymore perfect for both our size. While we were visiting Mike, he gave us a 1 of 1 prototype he made for his mechanical linkage kit. I'm very excited to install his setup and his little addition he made I think is a great idea to add to the kit. Will have pictures of it next week when we get it installed.

[Dondero14]

Been a while since I've posted anything but we've still been working steadily right along. I've taken the free time to seal both foot boxes with some industrial aluminum tape on the insides and industrial HVAC aluminum silicon on the engine bay side of the panels. The aluminum silicon is great cause its rated for up to 400 deg F and the same color as the panels, which blends in nicely.







In addition, we installed the hydraulic clutch line through the footbox inside wall and ran it to the hydraulic throwout bearing connection and bled the system. Neither of us have driven anything with a hydraulic clutch before, let along the use of a hydraulic throwout bearing. We bled all the air out until there were no bubbles and closed the bleed valve per the instructions. After everything was sealed up and the clutch pedal was pressed in, it didn't feel like there was much of a difference from when it didn't have any fluid in the lines. If anyone has any experience with hydraulic throwout bearings and can let me know if this is normal or not or a good way to tell if the bearing is actuating properly I'd appreciate it.

[Dondero14]

Past few days working with my father we installed Forte's mechanical throttle linkage. About a month ago, we swung by his shop to say hi and pick up some stuff we ordered, including the throttle linkage kit. Mike had showed us a little mock up that he created in house of a spherical bearing that gets mounted to the DS footbox inside panel where the rod passes through. I thought it was a great idea and takes away the hassle of using grommets to try and seal up the area the rod passes through. He asked us if we'd mind being the guinea pigs for him and giving him feedback with how well it works. Its a 1 of 1 product he had made so we were pretty psyched to be able to try it out. When we started installing the linkage kit, we installed both rod ends to the firewall like everyones setup shows and then the footbox spherical bearing last. We quickly figured out that the tolerances in all three are so tight that the slightest bit of being off will bind the rod. We ended up removing the rod end closest to the footbox so there were only two spherical bearings for the rod to pass through and it all worked out sooooo much smoother. After talking to Mike a few days later to give him our feedback he mentioned that only one rod end was needed with the footbox bearing and that's how he intended it to be. With everything adjusted and tightened in place, I honestly believe this spherical bearing is a great addition to his mechanical throttle linkage package if he decides to add it. Not only does it seal the pass through on the footbox extremely well, but it adds a degree of rigidity to the setup too. I've noticed guys having to add angle brackets on the back side of the firewall due to the rod ends flexing where they're attached to the firewall. This spherical bearing and its location pretty much take away any bit of flex on the firewall at the rod end. Mike didn't give any hardware with it but I simply used SS 3/8" button heads with some filed down fender washers, lock washers, and nuts. If anyone is interested in utilizing this footbox spherical bearing or for Mike to start including them in his linkage kits, I'm sure Mike would like to hear your requests and feedback as well.

[Dondero14]

Additional photos from the above post that wouldn't fit.

[Mike.Bray]

Hydraulic throwout bearings are typically very easy and smooth to operate. They're self-adjusting so you need to actuate it a few times to get it set.

To test, with the trans tunnel top off just put it in gear, grab the driveshaft and try to turn it while engage the clutch. When the clutch releases you should feel it and be able to easily rotate the driveshaft.

[Dondero14]

Hydraulic throwout bearings are typically very easy and smooth to operate. They're self-adjusting so you need to actuate it a few times to get it set.

To test, with the trans tunnel top off just put it in gear, grab the driveshaft and try to turn it while engage the clutch. When the clutch releases you should feel it and be able to easily rotate the driveshaft.

Awesome thanks for the info Mike. I’ll give that a try when I get the driveshaft in. Hopefully shooting for next to install it.

[Dondero14]

Well I've taken a bit of a hiatus from posting on the forum. No real reason in general, just been busy and haven't gotten around to it. We have been making great headway nonetheless in the past month. My father took off to Florida for the next month and a half so I'll be doing little tweaks and adjustments that have been put on a check list, along with progressing more with the cockpit and trunk aluminum.

Since my last post we have added stiffener brackets to the back of the firewall where the throttle linkage goes, as well as a bracket to that weird tab that sticks down on the RF fuse panel. We wrapped up installing the pressure regulator on the firewall and ran the rest of the fuel lines to and from the EFI. I plan on adding a stiffener bracket to the back of the firewall where the regulator is to give it added rigidity. Installed the driveshaft and loaded the transmission with fluid. Upon testing the hydraulic clutch, it was not actuating properly so we will try bleeding more air out of the line when he gets back from FL. Decided to upgrade to the Breeze battery box and took time to get that installed, along with chipping away with more of the wiring harness. What a great setup that is and I'm extremely impressed with how sturdy it is once in place. Thing is rock solid. Hooked up the 185 deg thermostat switch, water temp sensor, and the oil pressure sender to the engine as well. While I was at Forte's a couple months ago he sold me an extender for the oil pressure sender unit which save a minor bump in the road for us installing it.

Got these brackets for $0.89 each in the decking section of home depot. They worked perfect!



Rivnut the fuse panel to the bracket from the inside for ease of removal if for whatever reason I would ever have to do so.





Absolutely love this setup especially the hardware that's included. The soldered filled battery connector is awesome and I'm waiting on one to come in for the positive terminal as well. Once I receive it I'll be able to run the wires from the starter to the battery inside a loom and fasten them down with clips.




I've been racking my brain about the best placement for the sniper 2 wiring harness. I was thinking this spot would be pretty good, especially in the future we plan on upgrading to the hyper spark setup. My logic was that the red and black battery wires had a short run, the yellow wire can be landed easily on the coil, the blue and pink wires could be ran back into the dash area through the sending unit harness and the unused could be secured in place to the frame. I'm not using the blue wire for the fuel pump but intend to use it for the seat warmers since its setup with a 30A fuse. My other thought is to put the sniper 2 harness over by the passenger footbox and run the pink and blue wires through the grommet I'll use for the wipers. Any input on placement would be appreciated.

[Dondero14]

I took some time the past couple days to readjust the upper steering shaft. I’ve read that it is meant to telescope in incase of an accident and I just haven’t been happy with the setup how I left it last. This is the second time taking it apart. The first time putting it together we hammered it in because the fit was so tight. I later read that was a no no and it should be sanded down to fine tune it to slide in and out smoothly. I did this a while back, reinstalled and left it be. A couple weeks ago I checked to see how easy it would be to slide the upper shaft out when I place to be ready to install my self canceling turn signal when the time came. That resulted in the upper shaft being stuck in place yet again. I removed the Upper shaft and DD shaft and hammered the upper out with a wooden dowel. Gave it a light sanding and this time greasing it with all purpose grease. It was still too tight when I put the spring washers in, which I believe is the biggest problem with the whole setup. Ended up lightly hammering the spring washers until they flattened to a point where it was a very tight fit but still allowed me to move the upper steering shaft. Reinstalled everything and the upper shaft was now getting bound up in the pillow block bearing. Hit it with some emery cloth where the set screws tightened down on it and fixed the issue. Huge difference and much happier with the fitment of everything.

Frank at IE 427 Garage for the win with his turn signal videos, especially the one how to upgrade the turn signal lever to a chrome mustang style version. Worked like a charm and love the look of it.



Upgraded lever. Very simple to retrofit and install. Short money to replace too.

[PMD24]

Hey Mark, don't know if I'm too late with this info but I just saw your 2/21 post regarding info on putting the EFI wiring on the PS footbox. That's the direction I took. It's all documented in recent posts in my thread. Still working behind the dash. Lots of opportunity there for cleanup.

Pat

[Dondero14]

Hey Mark, don't know if I'm too late with this info but I just saw your 2/21 post regarding info on putting the EFI wiring on the PS footbox. That's the direction I took. It's all documented in recent posts in my thread. Still working behind the dash. Lots of opportunity there for cleanup.

Pat

I did see that as well. I staged everything over at the PS footbox and kind of like that setup a bit more. Currently reconfiguring the loom a little bit to better accommodate the location. Only problem with that location I found was the need to add some additional length to the yellow wire to the coil which isn't a huge issue at all.