King's MK4 Coyote Build

[2bking]

In between the fiberglass steps I worked on mounting the trusses in the front of the hood. They can be seen in the previous pictures. It was uneventful so I hadn't taken any pictures of the process. Basically I placed the trusses in position with the mounting discs attached to the trusses and tacked the discs to the body with the 3M 08219 SMC/Fiberglass Adhesive. After the adhesive cured I removed the trusses leaving the discs behind and filled the remaining holes in the discs. The adhesive is a two part mixture which requires a special calk gun type tool a mixing nozzle. The gun and nozzle combination provides a good way of dispensing the adhesive. The body is not flat so the voids between the body and discs are filled by injecting the adhesive in several of the disc perforations. After the adhesive cured I reattached the trusses.

In the interest of checking for problems I didn't spend time cleaning up the parting surfaces.The body fit well when it was in one piece but when reattaching the body to the frame, it needed to go forward another 3/4" to match the mounting holes on the bottom of the frame. The sheet metal on the back end was keeping it from moving the final inch so I removed the body and trimmed the sheet metal. Perhaps it needed trimming all along but was masked by the method in installing the one piece body. With that done the body lined up with the mounting holes. I attached the hood to the hinges and took some pictures. It needs some alignment but looked good for the first fit. The contours between the hood and body looks close also so I am pleased so far.
2015-02-07 14.28.12d.jpg 2015-02-07 14.28.26d.jpg 2015-02-07 14.28.47d.jpg 2015-02-07 14.29.26d.jpg 2015-02-07 14.43.40d.jpg 2015-02-07 14.44.36d.jpg 2015-02-07 14.44.52d.jpg

I have a mistake some where in my CAD model because the front is low by about 1.5". I'm not surprised because the body is not symmetrical and differs over an inch from one side to the other. One headlight mounting flange is forward of the other about an inch and the contours around them are different. Finding a centerline is difficult. I may have to remake the hinge mounts.

[dallas_]

Looks like you are coming along nicely. Love the detail on your processes.

[DaleG]

Finally, my fix for the day...

[superjoe]

Sweet!

For some reason I really like the tilt front.

This tilt front is awesome, do you happen to know what is this color in the picture?

[ckrueger]

Very Impressive!!!

[DaleG]

Very Impressive!!!

Understatement!

[dallas_]

This tilt front is awesome, do you happen to know what is this color in the picture?

Thanks for the kind comment. I used the Ford G2 Redfire pearl metallic.

[sbak]

I just finished reading your build from the start up to this point. Amazing work! I admire your commitment to detail and your fabrication. Thank you for posting in such great detail.

[NavyChief]

I like the gauge layout you have on the dash template. Very unique.

[2bking]

I just finished reading your build from the start up to this point. Amazing work! I admire your commitment to detail and your fabrication. Thank you for posting in such great detail.

Thanks sbak, I'm working a little slow but these deviations from the factory build plan take a lot of time. It seems to be two steps forward and one back somewhere else.

I like the gauge layout you have on the dash template. Very unique.

Thanks NavyChief. When I started the build, I wanted a dash layout that put the gauges in front of me and I didn't want to cut the body to do it. The gauges are about one inch thick behind the dash so this arrangement worked out very nice. I got the idea from my daily driver.

[2bking]

I spent most of the week adjusting and readjusting and finally found a good comprise that gets the body parts close to aligning when the front closes.
2015-02-22 17.50.44.jpg 2015-02-22 17.49.27.jpg

My goal is to be able to close the hood standing on one side and have the other side align itself without help. I'm almost there with the addition of the main alignment daggers shown here.
2015-02-25 15.51.17.jpg 2015-02-25 15.51.06.jpg

The mating receptacle located in the rib in the hood looks like this:
2015-02-25 15.51.30.jpg

I also added some braces to the hinge mounting structure shown in this picture but hard to find. The are made from 1/2" tubing with the ends mashed flat. The holes in the flats are slotted for adjustment.
2015-02-22 17.53.31.jpg

At this time nothing is glued in place as I continue to fine tune the parts. I need to add another pair of alignment devices, mount the gas struts, and work out the latching details and the tilt front should be finished from the mechanical aspect. The hinges with the anti-sway mechanism keep the front anchored very well and I am pleased with how that turned out.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Impressive

I really appreciate your methodical approach.

Jeff

[CraigS]

What are the male and female alignment pieces? They look like they could be useful on a stock hood.

[2bking]

Impressive

I really appreciate your methodical approach.

Jeff

I think it is becoming a battle of wills. I'm trying to solve the major problems first and then tackle the annoying ones. So far I have only had to reattach one of the trusses (not from adhesive failure but for better alignment), remake some of the braces and swop the hinge bases left to right to get the fit shown. The biggest problem is my body had a different shape when stretched onto the frame in one piece from what it has now when cut.

What are the male and female alignment pieces? They look like they could be useful on a stock hood.

The upper part (female) is made from 3/4" aluminum plate. I made the lower one (male) from a piece of glass filled plastic (DELRIN-570) which I had laying around. The angles in the parts follow the closing lines of the hood. Perhaps a smaller version would be useful on a regular hood but I have no experience with the problems there. The glass in the DELRIN destroys cutting tools. I finished off one band saw blade and a HSS end mill while making the parts.

[dallas_]

King, it's looking really good. Nice work.

One word of advice, before you do the final alignment, set it up like you will have it when the body is installed after paint. Install the rollbar and all the trim pieces on the aluminum cockpit, trunk pieces and everywhere else. Those will affect the final body position and will impact the hood gaps. Ask me how I know.

[2bking]

King, it's looking really good. Nice work.

One word of advice, before you do the final alignment, set it up like you will have it when the body is installed after paint. Install the rollbar and all the trim pieces on the aluminum cockpit, trunk pieces and everywhere else. Those will affect the final body position and will impact the hood gaps. Ask me how I know.

Thanks for confirming what I have found out while trying to align the parts. Tennessee Tim must of had similar issues. Today I installed the windshield, doors and DS roll bar. The doors don't fit like they did 5 minutes BC (Before Cutting). I'm in the AD (After Dividing) time phase now. There are no body mounts on the rear section except the ones under the frame and rear jack mounting bolts so it somewhat floats around in the upper part, i.e.. it is loose. I need to nail it down with a body mount or two somewhere.

Installing the windshield was very easy with the hood open. I like the ease of getting to everything.

[Jazzman]

Yesterday I went to the local weekly car show and met a very friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable FFR owner. (I know, what a surprise!!). He has a beautiful Type 65 Coupe. He showed me his tilt front, which got me thinking about your build. You certainly have inspired me to do this on my own roadster. This question may be a few dozen days too late, but here goes: since a type 65 coupe is a modified roadster, and since They sort of start with the same basic frame design, could not the hinge and body alignment systems from the 65 coupe be used as the basis of a tilt front system on the Roadster? Has anyone built both of these and can speak to the similarities and differences in the frames?

[2bking]

Yesterday I went to the local weekly car show and met a very friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable FFR owner. (I know, what a surprise!!). He has a beautiful Type 65 Coupe. He showed me his tilt front, which got me thinking about your build. You certainly have inspired me to do this on my own roadster. This question may be a few dozen days too late, but here goes: since a type 65 coupe is a modified roadster, and since They sort of start with the same basic frame design, could not the hinge and body alignment systems from the 65 coupe be used as the basis of a tilt front system on the Roadster? Has anyone built both of these and can speak to the similarities and differences in the frames?

I'm interested in this comparison also. The radiator tilts opposite to the roadster which may make some difference. I considered the latch system used on the coupe but decided on a hidden system for mine. I haven't updated the progress on mine for a while thinking I would wait until the tilt was all sorted out. I have it almost fully complete but found a lot of other details to work on when I remove the body for a tweak here and there. The biggest headache of the tilt is the body changing shape when it is attached as two parts and the non symmetry from left to right. I have added upper body mounts to help keep it secure around the dash and roll bar areas. I have some pictures to post but there isn't much to see for a front that open and closes except some of the details.

[2bking]

I worked out the latch mechanism for locking down the hood once the opening and closing was repeatable. The latch handles are located inside the foot boxes and when in the closed position, the handles are vertical just inside the 2"X2" square tubes that the door hinges attach to. They rotate 90* down to open the latches. The latches are spring loaded when in the closed position with an over center action to keep the handles in the closed position. This is a video of the action but The orientation is sideways.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/xugegdzwtt...09.21.mp4?dl=0

The next picture shows the curved flat stainless fingers (two on each side) that guide the hood and body toward their closed position and the hooks in the video catch the spools located in the stainless legs supported with the vertical fiberglass rib to lock the hood with the body.
2015-04-18 10.04.50md.jpg

This picture is the DS handle in the closed position. I plan to rework it and the PS one into a more slender and graceful form later when the carpet is installed.
2015-03-11 18.34.06d.jpg

Due to the slight variation in the contours between the hood and body, the hood would always move toward the left in the final few inches of closure. I couldn't find an adjustment that would prevent it. The next picture shown the decenter that can be seen in the misalignment of the black lines that were drawn before the parts were cut into.
2015-02-22 17.52.34md.jpg

To make the hood center itself as it closes the final inch I made these parts for the hood and body and attached them with the same adhesive and studs used elsewhere.
2015-04-26 13.07.27md.jpg 2015-04-26 13.08.00md.jpg

This picture shows the alignment achieved with the parts installed.
2015-04-26 12.54.25md.jpg

The hood can be lifted and lowered from either side. I used the gas struts that came with the kit to limit the opening (stops) and help support the hood weight. They also hold the hood open against the wind. They are 20 pound force struts and are a little light. I think a 30 or 40 pound force strut might be more ideal. This picture is the hood in the closed position

[CraigS]

I saw an 'early in the process' shot of the hood being open but the front wheels were on rollers. When you get a chance can you show a side view pic of the hood full open w/ the wheels on the floor?

[2bking]

I saw an 'early in the process' shot of the hood being open but the front wheels were on rollers. When you get a chance can you show a side view pic of the hood full open w/ the wheels on the floor?

Will do but may be awhile. If you are interested in seeing the clearance between the floor and hood, there should be sufficient to allow room for the front bumper and over riders. The bumper is spaced about an inch off the hood so I might have to cheat on that spacing if the clearance isn't as expected. The advantage of the 4 bar hood hinge is it raises the front of the hood as it opens. There should be an inch or so of clearance to the ground with the bumper installed so I will have to be careful of the terrain when opening it.

[2bking]

I have been working on all the body cutouts so this update is the side vents/louvers. If you haven't ordered a kit, don't pay for the cutouts. Except for the roll bar ones, non were centered and all had to be resized. The parking, headlights, and brake lights look like I couldn't figure out where they were supposed to be to be, but it's two sets of holes, the factory's and mine. The side vents were closer but had the wrong angles on the ends. This picture is the opening masked off and located per the directions in the build manual.
2015-03-25 15.33.24d.jpg

I did a little editing on the opening to get the ends parallel to the louver slant and increased the length to get the same opening size for each louver. This kept the louvers from looking like they weren't quite centered. These pictures are the work in progress and the final results.
2015-03-26 11.26.21d.jpg 2015-04-26 13.09.31d.jpg

The back side is attached using the perforated disks with #8 studs and 3M 08219 SMC/Fiberglass Adhesive. I used a bungee (not shown) on the outside to hold the louvers in place while the adhesive cured.
2015-03-26 11.26.38d.jpg 2015-03-26 11.26.49d.jpg

After the these and other attachments were cured and cleaned up, I put a layer of fiberglass over them to smooth out the surface.
2015-04-18 10.04.50d.jpg

I don't plan to do a lot of body work on the inside of the hood but if I change my mind after the rest of the underside is completed with fender wells, it will be a lot easier with the mat smoothing out the rough appearance of the studs.

[2bking]

I think the front view of the car looking into the radiator is not so pleasing with the AC condenser in place.
2015-04-18 10.30.04d.jpg

There are a few posts about radiator damage from small road debris so I purchased this radiator screen from Summit Racing. I placed it over the top of the condenser and made a frame to hold it in place.
2015-04-18 10.37.38d.jpg

I powdered coated the frame parts black and painted the screen silver but the silver appears very dark, almost black in the pictures and in person.
2015-04-20 14.18.17d.jpg 2015-04-20 14.19.07d.jpg

I may get a second screen and try a different color to try to get a silver appearance. I took this picture with the body installed and had to use a flash and another light source to get a contrast between the screen and frame.
2015-04-26 13.04.59d.jpg

It's not the traditional look but is better than the condenser on top of a radiator look. I'm planning on a final body color of red so the picture is close to a final view.

[sbak]

Thanks of posting this 2bking; I was curious why more owners didn't put something in front of the exposed radiator and or ac coils.. just from some dents I see on my cars from stuff that gets through the grill; this was something I have on my build list.

[2bking]

With the tilt front the inner fender shields (elephant ears) could not be mounted to the F panels. One of the few things that worked out very easily was the mounting of the shields inside the hood. The outward slope and rearward rake of the mounting flange on the F panels aligned perfectly with the closing angle of the hood. I marked the location of the shields inside the fender and bonded 3 perforated studs along the mark on each fender.
2015-05-06 15.16.45d.jpg

I installed #8 revnuts in the panels for attaching to brackets and put the bulb seal on the edges that touch the fender and F panel.
2015-05-10 16.54.21d.jpg

I installed the shields in the fender with the brackets and attached the lower tab to the bottom flair.
2015-05-09 10.40.31d.jpg 2015-05-09 10.58.33d.jpg 2015-05-09 10.57.28d.jpg

The following pictures are the interface between the F panel and the shields when the hood is closed. The bulb seal on the shields doesn't touch anything while closing the hood until the last few degrees where the bulb seal contacts the F panel flange.
2015-05-09 10.36.10d.jpg 2015-05-09 10.37.01d.jpg

I have one last mod to make to the front that involves attaching the bumper. I'll post more on that when it finished

[2bking]

I fitted the Breeze roll bars and welded them with the body off the car. I had made some measurements to determine where the bars entered the body and thought the slip joint on the rear leg was below the body line. It really didn't matter because the bars had to be fitted to the frame mount points and I couldn't change the length of the rear leg except to make it shorter. When I put the body on, I discovered the rear leg didn't quite go below the body so the grommet would not seal around the bar.
2015-03-30 11.02.18d.jpg 2015-03-30 11.02.34d.jpg

I called Mark at Breeze and he sent me a couple of pieces of the tube to weld on the ends which seemed to be the simple way to fix the problem. I got the tubes about three days after I contacted him, excellent customer service. The next pictures are of the process of welding on the extensions and filing off the weld. The chrome looking part sticking out is a 1.5" piston pin to keep the tubes well aligned during the welding.
2015-05-04 14.29.33d.jpg 2015-05-04 14.31.39d.jpg 2015-05-04 16.47.11d.jpg 2015-05-04 17.05.40d.jpg

Now they are a little too long but I can fix that.

[chrisarella]

Nice fix on the roll bar. I was going to order these same roll bars soon. Glad I waited. Maybe when I order them I'll ask Mark to make sure the legs have already been extended so I can cut to fit instead of having to break out the torch.

[soaringDude]

Great progress King, looks great. I wish I could say the same thing about my build! Too many other things on the plate and too many stupid little problems I keep hitting! I guess it is all part of the experience

[David Hodgkins]

Here I am trying to figure out simple wiring tasks and you are absolutely KILLING it with this build! How impressive! Your go-kart looks great, and the tilt front? I'm with the others; it's a little above my skill set! I can't wait to see the final solution for the tilt front. Amazing.

[2bking]

Here I am trying to figure out simple wiring tasks and you are absolutely KILLING it with this build! How impressive! Your go-kart looks great, and the tilt front? I'm with the others; it's a little above my skill set! I can't wait to see the final solution for the tilt front. Amazing.

Thanks David! I'm making progress very slowly. My skills are less than what it seems; it takes me about three tries to make a part that's a keeper and the pictures hide a lot of blemishes. I'm excited to see it all together and finished. I think I can see light at the end of the tunnel now.

[Jazzman]

HEY, KING, how's the build going? Reading your thread is addictive!! We haven't had our fix of your progress for almost a month. It is like a great novel: you can't wait for the next chapter. I hope it is progressing smoothly for you. We are all very impressed by your work . . . and I am stealing ideas from you left and right!!

Jazzman

[2bking]

Haven't had an update for a while because of negative progress. I started working on finishing the dash and ran out of talent. The plan is for a burl veneer with leather trimmings. I had planned to have a fake glove box because of limited space behind it but as I was making the fake lid I decided it would be just a little more effort to make it actually open. I needed more hardware so some of the past few weeks was spent waiting on parts. During the mean time I did a couple of other projects on the list. One was a dead pedal but I wanted it adjustable and retractable. The following photos are the parts and assembly.
2015-06-13 16.32.30d.jpg 2015-06-13 17.02.09d.jpg 2015-06-14 14.28.15d.jpg 2015-06-14 14.35.55d.jpg 2015-06-14 14.37.07.jpgd.jpg

The other project was an access cover on the outside top of the DS foot box. The picture is the opening and nutserts installed. The cover was drying so no completed picture yet.
2015-06-14 20.01.39d.jpg

I'll add more detail about the veneer in the next post.

[2bking]

I did some searching for veneer glues for applications on aluminum and found contact cement was widely touted as the product to use. I had the Weldwood brand which also came highly recommended. Three weeks ago I laid out the materials and started work. I ordered the hidden hinges and lock for the glove box lid and started covering the leather wrapped parts. This is the right side dash part before I decided to make the fake glove box lid work.
2015-06-05 17.16.44d.jpg

To make it function I added this assembly to the back of the leather covered aluminum.
2015-06-05 17.17.15d.jpg

I used the 3M 08219 panel adhesive to bond the hinges to the dash panel and the doublers and latch cam. I used the Weldwood Contact Cement to attach the leather. The leather has a layer of felt under it to make a soft feel. The following pictures are the glove box lid construction.
2015-06-06 12.33.39d.jpg 2015-06-06 12.33.54d.jpg 2015-06-06 12.42.16d.jpg 2015-06-06 12.42.35d.jpg 2015-06-10 15.59.29d.jpg 2015-06-10 15.59.47d.jpg

So everything seems to be working just fine but before I can attach the leather covered hood on the left panel I needed to finish coat the burl. The directions on the contact cement say to allow the product 3 days to cure before exposing to sun or high temperatures; it had dried more than the 3 days. To make a long story short, mineral sprits, linseed oil, and polyurethane are solvents of contact cement. The burl is very thin and porous so these materials went through to the adhesive. In less than an hour I had a pile of wood burl on the floor because the contact cement let go and I scraped it all off.

On the bright side I had purchased enough material by accident to cover it twice. Even though it is a big set back, I can recover in about a week if the epoxy method of veneering works. The epoxy is curing as I write this.
2015-06-14 20.03.04d.jpg

[stevenburgess]

Dallas_What lovers on the hood did you use

[DaleG]

Retractable dead-pedal; now, that's neat! Can't wait to see how the access to footbox turns out.

[Lostinidaho]

Hi King,
We are think about a veneer dash, where did you get veneer, and is it really expensive. I read some forum discussions about veneering the dash, and I when I went to the links, the veneer was over over $400 a sheet. We covered our dash in vinyl for now, but Scott was not really happy with the result. We made a pattern on a piece of 1/4 inch MDF so we could try the Tennessee Tim approach, but I have been unable to find inexpensive veneer to experiment with.
I am amazed at all your mods--the dead pedal looks great.
Mark

[2bking]

Hi King,
We are think about a veneer dash, where did you get veneer, and is it really expensive. I read some forum discussions about veneering the dash, and I when I went to the links, the veneer was over over $400 a sheet. We covered our dash in vinyl for now, but Scott was not really happy with the result. We made a pattern on a piece of 1/4 inch MDF so we could try the Tennessee Tim approach, but I have been unable to find inexpensive veneer to experiment with.
I am amazed at all your mods--the dead pedal looks great.
Mark

Hi Mark,
I got the veneer from Rockler for less than $50. My dash parts are smaller than the full dash but even so, I had a couple of joints. The veneer packs can be laid out end to end or side to side and still mirror match at the edges. I redid mine using epoxy and it seems to look a lot better than the contact cement try but I wasn't able to bend it around the edges like I did with the contact cement. I still have some more finishing work to do but this is what they look like now.
2015-06-16 17.53.12d.jpg

[Lostinidaho]

Looks good, what are you using to coat the veneer?
Mark

[2bking]

Looks good, what are you using to coat the veneer?
Mark

I'm using an clear exterior polyurethane thinned with mineral sprits to make it a "wipe on". I use #000 steel wool between coats to make it smooth. Due to the drying time I can only get one coat a day. I have two coats now and thinking I'll quit at four. A wood working forum says to wax it for the final shine but I have no experience with doing that on polyurethane so I'll use a test piece to try it.

[dallas_]

Dallas_What lovers on the hood did you use

Steven, they are the Maier Racing Shelby 500 louvers. The louvers are not listed on their website, but you can call them.

King, looking good! Really nice work as always.