FFR '65 Roadster Build

March, 2001 

     I received my kit on 3/22/2001 and started to work on the build process.  This first weekend with my kit I managed to get to a point I had hoped to.  My goal was to get all the parts in the kit inventoried, get the kit unassembled from the partly assembled shipping state, and get the chassis sanded, prepped and painted with two coats of POR15 paint.  The chassis was actually not as bad as I had expected it to be.  I spent about 15 hours total on the prepping and painting.  About 8 hours of that time were with two people working.  I guess you could count on about 23 hours if you were doing it by yourself.  The POR15 paint seemed to work ok for the chassis.  I sanded the chassis and wire brushed the weld areas first.  Then I applied the Metal Prep product that is recommended before the application of POR15.  I used regular brushes for the first coat and foam brushes for the second coat.  I think the foam works better.  Overall, I am pleased with the result.  I am mainly concerned with rust prevention and a durable finish.  If you are after a show quality finish you might opt for the powder coating.  It will be two weeks before I get to work on the kit again.  During this two week period I am going to try and round up some of the remaining items I need for this first stage of the build.  The next weekend I work on it I hope to be able to get all the suspension work completed.

April, 2001 

     (4-7-01) I completed the front suspension except for mounting the calipers, installed the Flaming River manual steering rack, and installed the aluminum "F" panels, upper firewall and floor pans this weekend.  Overall, it went pretty good.  The air riviter I picked up from Harbour Freight is a life saver and definatly worth the 27$ I paid for it on sale.  I used GE Silicone II aluminum color silicone between the panels and the chassis.  I am waiting ;-( on the FFR rear control arms to arrive so that I can begin work on the rear diff installation.   I took this opportunity to complete some of the cleaning and painting of the remaining used parts and cutting the rear coil springs.  I think I ended up using about 6 sawzall blades to get them cut.

     (4-14-01) I initially installed the rear diff since the FFR control arms finally came.  Since I didn't go the donor route I had to purchase some bolts from a fastener store.  Lesson learned: grade 8.8 metric is actually comparable to grade 5 in standard.  Now you know why I said "initially installed".  I have to get grade 10.9 bolts and swap them out when they arrive.  I could have just waited but I took the opportunity to fit everything up and make sure it was ok.  I picked up a new Vortex dry cell battery from Advance Auto Parts and installed it also.  Seems like a good battery and can be mounted in any postition.  It is actually made by Optima, whose batteries you will see for sale in Summit Racing and Jeg's catalogs.  I got it installed in the position above the rear center section per FFR directions.  I am not thrilled about the location and the mounting hardware so later I may change or strengthen it.  I will at least make it part of my pre-outing checklist.  I also installed the Mustang fuel tank into the chassis.  Given the way it looks, I think I will have to drop it back out to place the bolts through that hold the quick jack bumpers.  I don't think the manual mentions it but it sure looks that way to me.  To complete the weekend I began to install the front footbox aluminium on both the driver's and passenger sides.  I left the upper footbox open on the driver's side since I still have a lot of work to do on the pedal box.

     (4-21-01) I continued to work on the front aluminium some, ran the fuel and brake lines, removed the rear diff mounting bolts, installed rear shocks, and mounted fuel pump and filter.  The footbox aluminium needed some work to get it to fit.  I made a make-do sheetmetal brake out of a vice.  The bends in the aluminium didn't fit so I had to bend the pieces to get them all to mostly fit.  Hopefully, the aluminium panels will turn out ok in the end and won't be seen under the carpet.  It is almost like the didn't bend the panel edges enough.  It isn't really a big deal but fitting it all does take a lot of time.   I really was dreading the brake and fuel lines but so far I have them all bent and installed onto the chassis without too much trouble.  I haven't put the fittings onto the end of the brake lines yet since I am trying to locate new fittings.

May, 2001 

     (5-5-01) I installed the engine and tranny into the chassis.  I began by bolting the FMS A302 Heavy Duty Clutch to the billit flywheel on the SVO 351W.  I then bolted the World Class T-5 tranny w/bellhousing to the engine.  It took a little pushing, lifting, tilting, and cursing to get the assembly into the chassis.  It is quite a tight fit to bring the engine up high enough to clear the X-member and then have the tail shaft on the tranny low enough to go under the transmission tunnel.  Finally, we got it in though.  I decided to go with the Energy Suspension poly motor and transmission mounts.  A lot of guys are using the solid steel mounts without problems but it just seems a little harsh to me.   The factory convertable Mustang mounts are recommended but the guys using them with this motor say the motor moves too much under load and causes the sidepipes to hit the body.  The poly set is fairly new but quite a few guys are switching over so I though I would give them a shot.  I am not really in a big hurry at this point since it seems it is going to be a few more weeks until my 4-into-4 headers arrive from FFR since they are still on backorder.  I took the opportunity to order remaining parts needed to start the engine like the starter, carb(backordered), throttle cable, etc.  I ordered all these items from Summit Racing since they sent me a 10% off coupon.   Those savings add up quick when you have to order a lot.  Now if they could just send me a coupon every couple of weeks I would be ok ;-).

     (5-12-01) I continued to work on little things still not complete, installed the master cylinder, started work on the pedal box mods, installed the MSD box and coil, and got the tires mounted to the wheels.  Per CobraForum direction, I purchased a master cylinder for an '84 manual brake Mustang.  I installed it with the pedal box in stock form and it had too much preload on the master cylinder.  I consulted the CobraForum again after thinking through the different approaches and they came through.  I had hoped not to have to modify the pedal box significantly since it would require welding, etc but I decided to just go ahead and do it since it impacts the comfort and safety of the car.  I decided to modify the brake pedal as suggested on the NORCAL FFRORG website.  I think it will be better in the end but it will take me a little longer to get it completed.   I had to order a 5/16" heim joint and a long grade 8 bolt to match.  I cut the head off of the bolt and will use it as the brake pushrod.  I drilled a pedal pivot hole in between the factory upper(manual) and lower(power) mounting holes in the pedal box and also located it about 3/4" back in the pedal box.  In addition I had to drill a hole in the brake arm itself, located in line with the pushrod to ensure that it is not pushing at an angle.  The NORCAL site has great directions and pictures to use as a guide.  The real trick to this whole process was getting the factory installed brake pushrod out of the mater cylinder.  It is held in by a rubber bushing that fits really tightly.  I used some oil in the hole and just pulled, wiggled, and pulled some more until finally it came out.  The pedal box mods really eat up the time as you keep fitting and testing.  I opted to install the MSD 6AL ignition box on the firewall, and the SS coil onto the top of the passenger's side footbox.  I think this will be an ok location and not be in the way of anything.   The interior of the car would have been a good choice too.  Some have mounted them behind the dash without problems.  I got the tires mounted and balanced on the wheels.  The tires are Dunlop GT Qualifiers with the sizes being 235/60-15 front and 295/50-15 rear.  The 295/50-15 rears are not recommended due to clearance issues but they look really cool.  Dunlop's are actually about 1/10th of an inch or more narrower in section width than other brands so hopefully that will help a little.  I don't plan on autocrossing with these tires so I don't think the sidewalls will be deflecting enough under normal driving conditions to be a problem but who knows the way my luck is.  I mounted them on the car and can't see any clearance issues yet but I really won't know until I mount the body.
   

     For the end of June, I decided to join up with quite a few other members of the Cobraforum in Columbus, OH for the Double Venom Spring Fling (DVSF).  This started out as a small get together that was mentioned on the forum and by the time it was over it ended up being a rather large affair that raised ~$30,000 for charity.  I was glad I took time off from the build to attend the event.  I got to meet many of the people that I knew from the Cobraforum and check out roughly 120 different Cobra replicas and even 2 real ones.  I got plenty of new ideas.  There is now a DVSF II planned for June 2?, 2002 so I would definitely try to attend if you like these cars.  I hope to be there with mine completed.
Here are 3 groups of pictures that I took at the DVSF.
   

August, 2001 

     Alabama in August.  This is the time of year you wished you could roll the car in to the den where it is cool.  It was a little warm in the garage.  Especially when I fired the ol' hot rod up.  That's right, I finally started it for the first time.  Yep, put 2 and 2 together and you can figure out that FFR finally shipped my headers.  The only good thing about the whole ordeal was that I was forced to spend time on other boring stuff like completing the wiring, flaring the brake lines, and popping more rivets.  I placed an order and received my driveshaft from Denny's Driveshaft Service.  You can find there ad in the back of most car enthusiast magazines.  I purchased the driveshaft for the Nova from them and it seems to be good quality so I stuck with them.  After finishing a few other things this month, I took the go-cart down the driveway for it's first trip under it's own power.  Man, does it sound sweet through those side pipes.  I mounted them up temporarily to check the fit based on some comments that were being posted on the forum about fitment problems.  Guess what, I seem to be fortunate enough to have the same problems that most others are having.  The passenger's side pipe seems to fit ok but the driver's side sags quite a bit.  The fix is to either enlarge the holes or use smaller bolts.  Once I get the body mounted so that I can really judge height correctly, I will probably try to use smaller grade 8 bolts to allow for some adjustment. 
   

September, 2001 

     As with the end of May, the end of August and the first of September was shot due to weddings.  What has gotten into all these people messing up my build.  I guess that happens when you only have the weekends to work on the build.  I did manage to get the body set on the chassis this month.  At least now it looks like a car.  It wasn't too much trouble.  I spent a good bit of time though shifting the body around on the chassis, taking measurements, and shifting some more.  It seems to fit OK but some of the factory drilled mounting holes need to be relocated, header cutouts need to be enlarged, and door fitment is looking like it will need quite a bit of work.  I am also going to have to do a little fine tuning of some of the 3/4inch tubing with a sledge hammer ;-).  Most of this was expected but it is still a pain.

     So I guess this about ends the rolling chassis phase and now I must start the wonderful body work stage.  This will require a lot of fitment, sanding, grinding, filling, sanding, bitching, sanding.  Did I mention sanding?  Yeah this is the stage that isn't very motivating to say the least.  I have never been a fan of bodywork (mainly because I don't have the skill or patience) much less fiberglass work.  I called a few places to price having them do all of the work but it is a little pricey so I hope to do the seam work and fitment myself.  Many people have done this type work on the body buck but I think I am going to try something different.  I intend on covering the chassis with a plastic wrap and then fitting the body back down over it.  I hope that will help to minimize the dust that gets on the completed chassis.  I will also pre-fit all the lights, trim, etc before I hand it off to the painter for final prep work and paint.  I will basically completely construct the car and then take it back apart right before I turn it over to the painter in order to minimize the risk of scratching or cracking the paint while fitting trim items. 
     

     Well, not much of an update here in regards to the build.  It has been a busy few months but the car had to take the back burner for a while.  Well, that and the fact that this stage of the build probably isn't the most motivating of the stages.  Anyway, October was shot because of the implementation of a major project requiring me to work weekends and stay in town.  I took any extra time and looked for a house since I was tired of only working on the car on the weekends and driving 2 hours to get to it.  OK, OK I did sneak a little Vegas trip in the first of October.  Cheap rates! and I like deals.  I was a Vegas virgin and I must say that everyone should see it at least once.  November was an exciting month...I got engaged.  Spent most weekends looking for a house and finally found one.  Yippee, no more driving 2 hours to work on the car.  The garage isn't what I call a shop but it is better than what the apartment had....nothing.  So by now I guess you can figure out that December was spent moving.  Just doesn't seem like 3 months had already flown by and no progress on the build.  I don't like making New Year's resolutions but I got to get this build finished before Spring hits!

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