8secDuster's Type 65 Coupe

[burchfieldb]

Wow, that sounds nice! That should do the job.

[Papa]

Assembled the dash this weekend. I wanted to stick with the uncluttered, racecar vibe, so instead of adding a second set of round A.C. vents to the face of the dash, I bought another set of defrost vents and mounted them on the back side of the dash, pointing downward into the footbox areas. On the passenger side, I mounted a bracket to the lower inside lip of the dash, and on the driver's side, I mounted the vent bracket on the top side of the steering shaft mount bolts. I will use 2 inch hoses for those as well as the windshield defrost vents. Not sure if needed, but I also added a little Kilsmat to the bottom side of the dash to keep it solid, and hopefully prevent any additional vibrations.

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I like the way the dash looks just powder coated like that. Do the screws along to top front edge go into the 1/2" square tube?

[8secDuster]

Thanks Papa.
Yes they do

[PNWTim]

Mike - you have a lot of great custom touches. I have enjoyed reading your updates, keep up the good work.

[8secDuster]

Thanks Tim.
Really appreciate that.

[8secDuster]

Over the weekend I hit one of the build Milestones, I was able to get the Bellhousing indexed to .003 thanks to the worlds most expensive Dowel Pins https://www.summitracing.com/parts/lak-15960lkw, Throw-Out Bearing is installed and shimmed. I had to have a buddy machine a custom 3/4" spacer for behind the TOB, but then, we were able drop in the engine and trans.
I finished installing the Jones front drive last night. I really like their stuff. Great quality and fit perfectly.
Love the Strictly Business look of the Jones products much better then the Bling-y billet look from most of the other front drive manufactures out there.
A few more things to tidy up and install before I'm able to start it in the car.


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From Hero to Zero

Well... after the engine and trans were in, I Tried to install the Drive Shaft.
The distance from the differential flange to the transmissions tail shaft it 13-1/4"
The drive shaft flange to the back of the slip yoke is almost 13-1/2" ???
Not sure what to do here? Engine can only go in one way. The differential lower control are at 17-5/8"?
What sucks is I had the drive shaft balanced, and now I'm not sure if I can even use it, or if I need to have it shortened and re-balanced?


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I'll have to call F5R today to run this past them...

[JimStone]

Sorry to hear about the driveshaft. I went through 3 lengths of driveshaft before getting it right... I've got a spare 12.75" if you need one, ha

Engine looks great!

[Jphoenix]

+1 on the Jones drive! I really like their stuff - and the pulley off the water pump to the alternator is a clever way to avoid a reverse rotation water pump.

[460.465USMC]

Congrats on the drivetrain install! Bummer about the driveshaft. I hope the fix is not too bad.

[Lugnut Mark]

I see those motion raceworks valve cover vents leading back to a catch can …. Is that a 4AN NITROUS LINE I see in there lol congrats on getting the engine and trans installed …once the driveshaft fixed I be yelling DO A BURNOUT…!

[8secDuster]

I see those motion raceworks valve cover vents leading back to a catch can …. Is that a 4AN NITROUS LINE I see in there lol congrats on getting the engine and trans installed …once the driveshaft fixed I be yelling DO A BURNOUT…!

Lol... That's an old Street Racers eye right there

[8secDuster]

Another little milestone checked off of the list. We started the engine from the car this weekend.
My son had the honors of first start, and I think he liked it.
Other than a loose hose clamp and a seeping fuel fitting, everything went very well.

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https://vimeo.com/1135374678?share=copy&fl=sv&fe=ci

[PNWTim]

Sounds great! Congratulations. I let my son do the first start on our Camaro build and he had the same look on his face.

[burchfieldb]

That is awesome, congratulations on the milestone!

[460.465USMC]

Another little milestone checked off of the list. We started the engine from the car this weekend.
My son had the honors of first start, and I think he liked it.
Other than a loose hose clamp and a seeping fuel fitting, everything went very well.

Well, sir, this is a biggie in my garage. Congrats and well done! Love the look on your son's face. Glad you could share the experience together.

[8secDuster]

LOL... Thanks Chris
Wasn't trying to Minimize it, because it was a big one. I went to bed that night with a Perma-Smile!

[Lugnut Mark]

YEEEE HAAAWWWWW SHE’S A RUNNER nice work on getting her fired up

[8secDuster]

Got the first drive in today.

[CW_MI]

I see those motion raceworks valve cover vents leading back to a catch can …. Is that a 4AN NITROUS LINE I see in there lol congrats on getting the engine and trans installed …once the driveshaft fixed I be yelling DO A BURNOUT…!

I think he has something interesting plumbed under the intake...Lol.

[460.465USMC]

Right on! Congrats, Mike! Sounds awesome. What is your first impression(s) driving your Coupe?

[8secDuster]

Right on! Congrats, Mike! Sounds awesome. What is your first impression(s) driving your Coupe?

Thanks Chris. My buddy who built the engine also custom grinds camshafts. I told him what I was looking for, and I think he Nail It. Happiness is a tight Lobe Separation. This one is ground on a 109.

Hmm... hadn't thought about that? I guess my Capt. Obvious first impression would be, Effortless. I know its because of it's weight, but I don't think I ever touched the accelerator when letting the clutch out? It just started rolling. It also turns and rolls effortlessly.
I didn't go far, only around the block and only into 2nd gear, so hoping to have the body back on it this weekend so I can take it out again and run it through the gears on our main street here.
The Gen2 that I drove last year was similar I guess, but it had manual steering, so that made it feel a lot different. Mine will be a cruiser, so glad I did PS.

[8secDuster]

After 4 days of Sanding, Installing, Measuring, Removing - Repeat. I think the hood is about done.

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Like many have mentioned, I also didn't think it was ever going to line up. Drivers side had a Huge gap at the cowl. I re-read Scott and Paul's posts about trusting the process and well finally last night, it came around.

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A little body work is needed on the drivers hinge pillar, and on the passenger side hood to the hinge pillar to bring the panels alignment to each other around, and radius the edges.

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Not sure how much these hoods will move around, so I may have to pull the front hinges back an 1/16" to open up the gap. It's a smidge tight.

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My hinge brackets fit the hood almost perfectly so luckily I didn't have to deal with that.

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Now to mark everything and knock it all apart again for final prep before spraying the underside, then... back to the Doors.

[lewma]

Looks really good!

[Shakey]

Your progress looks great! I'm glad to see you put the gas struts in to do your hood fitting. I didn't do that and it almost bit me. I found that with the gas struts connected it keeps the cowl gap about 1/8-3/16'' wider than without it. I almost trimmed too much off the hood. For my build, I had it so that the cowl gap was almost nothing and then would attach the gas struts and that would hold it open to about 3/16''. Once latched, I don't think the hood moves around at all. I guess a caveat to the gas strut changing the gap is that if you always have a helper around to help you close the hood, they can push from the front to close the cowl gap while you latch the hood and it would stay. I wanted to be able to close it by myself so cut the gap accordingly. Were you seeing any hood movement once the gas struts were attached?

V/r

Shakey

[Papa]

I didn't see any rollers in your pictures. Are you planning to use them? I bought a set from Brent and wonder if they affect the overall fitting process for the hood.

Dave

[8secDuster]

Thanks Shakey.
I didn't have them installed at first doing the rough cuts, but once I got the gaps close, I installed them to finish it up. Read a few post about that, or I would have probably had done the same thing.
Lol.. Hopefully after disassembling everything to spray the underside, it all goes back together the same way!

I pushed and pulled on it to see if there was any movement... didn't notice anything unusual.
I know they are stiff, but I'm sure driving it will be a different story, so don't want the gap too tight.

[8secDuster]

I didn't see any rollers in your pictures. Are you planning to use them? I bought a set from Brent and wonder if they affect the overall fitting process for the hood.

Dave

I have them on Order from Brent as well, Dave. Should have them in a couple of days.
Man... I hope not!
I don't think it will affect the cowl gap? But I imagine it could do something to the sides fitment?
Won't be doing any body work until those are locked down in place.

[Namrups]

The hood clamps, guide rollers and hood bumpers across the cowl area all help to align the hood when closed. I used a hard plastic along the cowl area next to the doors. Some used to push out others used to pull in. Still took some filler/bodywork to make it all line up. Having the gas struts in place during the alignment process is a must. I also attached a support bar between the upper and lower sections of the inner liner on the hood, next to the headlights, to help reduce the flexing of the hood due to the struts. Once locked down my hood does not move. The guide rollers also help in opening and closing the hood by one person.

[8secDuster]

I almost gave you a call Scott. It looked just like yours did. Didn't think it was ever going to come together.
I added Dura-Glass into all of the "L" liner to hood gaps, that really helped stiffen them up. But I saw your added supports and like that idea.
May have to get my chassis builder buddy involved, but thought of using aluminum sheet, if it'll make that bent / contour down there. It can then double as Walls for the radiator opening to help keep air flow directed into the radiator tunnel and out of the wheel wells.

[Namrups]

I almost gave you a call Scott. It looked just like yours did. Didn't think it was ever going to come together.
I added Dura-Glass into all of the "L" liner to hood gaps, that really helped stiffen them up. But I saw your added supports and like that idea.
May have to get my chassis builder buddy involved, but thought of using aluminum sheet, if it'll make that bent / contour down there. It can then double as Walls for the radiator opening to help keep air flow directed into the radiator tunnel and out of the wheel wells.

My original idea was for a more decorative full piece panel instead of just straps. Was'nt sure it was even going to help. Now that I can see it works may put it on the list of "upgrades".

Scott

[8secDuster]

The last few days I have been working on getting the Panel Alignment in shape.
Like many, my drivers side hood to cowl fitment needed some lovin. The hoods height was slightly above the cowl.
Got those areas straightened out relatively quickly. Will work on the top of the hood now to sharpen its fit to the cowl.
I was pleasantly surprised how the doors fit; they were pretty close once I had them gapped.
It didn’t take much to get them aligned with the hinge pillars and quarters.
Both the body and hood have been in 150 for a while now, allowing it to shrink. It will probably go back to my brother’s house this week to start final priming / blocking.

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[Lugnut Mark]

Looks great …. I know what a PITA final panel fitting can be …. But it looks like you have made short work of it …. Nice job ! I was recently rough fitting my hood and thought to myself I’m going to have some work ahead of me to get everything to work properly IMG_0286.jpgIMG_0288.jpg

[8secDuster]

Thanks Mark.
The hood is a drag, no doubt.
Since I waited to start fitting mine until after the engine was installed, and didn't want to grind / sand on it over the engine, there was a lot of on and off for me to get the gaps right.
My son and I got pretty good at it.

[8secDuster]

Meet for the first time last night.

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[PNWTim]

Meet for the first time last night.

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Great picture! But what's all that white stuff on the ground?

[q4stix]

Great picture! But what's all that white stuff on the ground?

That's all the high build primer dust

[8secDuster]

That's all the high build primer dust

Lol... no kidding !
The garage is a mess after blocking that thing in there.

[8secDuster]

Man... This last year has gone by fast.
I have kept track of the hours I have spent in the garage for 2025. Almost 1100. The majority of them were enjoyable, and most were actually spent working on it!
However... some were spent with a drink in my hand, starring at it wondering... WT* have I done!?!?

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For the last couple of weeks, I have been working on block sanding the body. Everything is now blocked in 400 wet, and scheduled to go to paint next week.

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While waiting to go to paint, I started on the carpet. Something I wanted to wait until after paint to do, but also wanted to keep some momentum rolling. Idle hands...

I started with the Foot Boxes and Trans Tunnel. Not too terrible, just lots of on & off trimming to get the seams nice.

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I will be dropping off the rear hatch area carpet and the rocker / sill area pieces this weekend to have an edge Binding sewn in to them.

I'm still on the fence if I'm going to add the Rocker Sill plates or just leave it painted with clear XPEL film protection?

[460.465USMC]

Congrats, Mike! Very exciting to have it going off into paint. Your garage hours are productive. (I spend about the same hours per year, but less than half the output as you).

Regarding the sill plates, I totally forgot about those until I reopened my carpet box last week. They are heavy duty pieces. I guess all the pre-drilled holes are for rivets? I'd like to install mine with a brushed look, but not sure how to do that without destroying the etched F5 logo and lines. Any ideas how that can be done?

[Papa]

She's looking ready for color! Nice wok on the prep ... not something I will tackle myself on my car.