Type 65 tips

[mtifft25]

Just bought my type 65 coupe kit finish date is 11/28 any tips from anyone before I start?

[wallace18]

Read the build threads. Lots of info there.

[John Dol]

Document for others, the way others have done before you!
have fun with it and don't be afraid to ask the most mundane questions. We are all here to help.

John

[Sydney Chris]

Welcome to the sweet taste of HELL.. !! lol... plan, test, trial then build is the best advice I can give you.. but then I changed everything with a RHD Coupe to meet Australian Design Rules.. in the US you guys have it far easier... Most of all, enjoy the process and the learing as you go..

Cheers

Chrsi

[Courtnie Provencher]

Don't be afraid to ask questions on the threads here on the forum, and feel free to call us or email us here at Factory Five in tech support for any help. You're part of a Factory Five Family now! Everyone is here to help

[Hankl]

Raise your right hand and say after me,

"I (State your name), do swear/affirm, that upon acceptance of this "Revered Coupe Jacket", will willingly subject myself to all manner of frustration and abrasion that my FFR Type 65 will provide. I further pledge that any and all fellow Coupe builders will have free reign in using the cash available in my wallet as they see fit to improve my build plan. I will not look down upon our fellow Roadster builders, but rather take pity on those not talented enough to build a race car with a roof, So Help Me God!"



It is my pleasure to present you with the "Revered Coupe Jacket", Here's your sign!!

[CJBergquist]

Here a couple recommendations:

Make the whole top of the foot box removable...no more than 7.5" from the front of the foot box.

Make, at least, the top of the dash removable. I made the front removable too but have never had to do that...yet. Also the cover between the bottom of the dash and the transmission tunnel.

Split the bottom of the rear compartment down the middle and make it removable along with the rear panel.

[S2D2]

Inventory all of the parts, label them, read the assembly manual cover to cover before you start, ask questions either on the forum of tech support, keep cold beer in the fridge, it is an incentive for your buddies to lend a hand in heavy lifting (LOL), take your time and ask questions, measure twice and cut once. Good luck and welcome to the group. Also if you don't have a 90 degree drill invest in one.

[Rodster]

This is a great idea. I hope we get lots of contributions for all the stages of the build. I am building slowly, but here are some things to consider:

1) Many of the hints from the Roadster apply to the Coupe - look at those posts carefully. The best ones have pictures. There is something called "Order of Build" for the Roadster, this would apply to the Coupe as well. I have a copy of that taped to my garage door for reference. But, it is "flexible."

2) As you do inventory, keep the notes on what box the item came in. I re-sorted and re-boxed my parts into logical groups, like having all rear suspension parts in one pile / place, etc. This will help months/years later when you finally need the group of parts.

3) Several parts are NOT powder coated. I painted the raw steel parts with Rustoleum black "high performance BBQ paint." Many parts started to rust, so I thought it would be a good idea to paint them now rather than later. There should be a list for un-painted parts. Here are some of them from the "complete kit" there may be more:

a) Various brake parts and brackets for the brakes
b) Door hinges
c) Hatch hinges
d) Mufflers - if you did not get ceramic coat
e) Door frames
f) Door hinges
g) Hood/front clip hinge assembly
h) A U-shaped radiator mounting strap thing
i) Pedal box frame/mount thing

There may be more. But as you take inventory - you will find them.

Speaking of the pedal box - might be a good idea to get a switch for the clutch - add a clutch depressed before start safety feature. There was a post about this somewhere. Use the same switch as the one for the brake lights. Easy to do when the pedal box is not assembled - impossible to add later. I am still trying to figure out how to add one to my setup.

The instructions for the pedal box are missing from the Coupe book. (It assumes donor pedal box). Use Chris Bergquist's amazing pictures and documentation for this section, or contact FFR and they will refer you to the Roadster book...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/5110304...7624552099415/

4) You will have to make - "fabricate" - things like small brackets, mounting plates, and all kinds of neat and creative stuff to make things work. This is OK, and is a great excuse to buy some new tools.

5) Take lots of pictures of your progress! Start a blog or post over here.

6) Belong to the other forum as well as this one.

7) Have a welcome party/BBQ or some other event and meet the other builders in your area -- this helps a ton!

8) The building process can be very fun and very frustrating. So relax when you are stuck. Work on another section of the car, and move on.

9) **Here is something that continues to bug me -- other than looking at completed cars and the build blogs - there is no advice on what to NOT do, or where to NOT mount something. For example, brake lines. Simple chore. BUT - it wasn't until Fluge (big thanks!) pointed out to me that my mock-up routing would make installing the splash guards impossible, since they would rivet on the sides of the frame tubes. It would be a great idea to know what part will interfere with another before bolting stuff on, if you see what I mean.

I am sure there are more things. Like I said, I am still building - slowly . ..

Welcome to the Madness. I noticed you got your jacket from HankL, so you are in there with the rest of us.

Keep us posted!

[Garry Bopp]

Hi, Morgan,

Great to spend the last 3 days with you and your father at the Build School. Enjoy the build!

Garry

[Cobraphx]

Clecos... My number one tip is clecos. Incredibly handy to temporarily hold the aluminum panels in place as you build.

BFH... If you don't need it to make something fit you can always use it to smash something that frustratingly won't fit.

Air tools... Great excuse to start or add to an air tool collection.

Patience... Some things just won't fit like you expect, see BFH above.

Beer fridge... Self explanatory.

-Matt

[John Dol]

Also as much as you want to get things done, sometimes you just have to walk away from it.
I don't know how many times the solution to a problem that was insurmountable at the time,was all of a sudden crystal clear a few days later!

John

[mmoen]

My number one suggestion is to budget the $ to have Mark Doughtery come out for a visit.
Read the forum, work on it and read the forum some more. Then at some time in your build call Mark D to lay his eyes and hands on your build. At what stage of the build will be upto you. I thought I knew a lot and that I could skate thru a coupe build, minus the body fitment. I'd had built a mk1 15 years ago, when the forums were not as complete as they are today. I built the coupe to go cart and called Mark D to help with the body, door fitment. We ended up working backwards the first day and a half of his visit. We tore back into the suspension to properly set things up. His knowledge base is unbelievable. I can honestly say I have probably read the majority of the posts on the multiple forums for over 15 years. Some of the info he was sharing I don't ever remember reading. And what I did remember reading was so second nature to Mark it makes for large amounts of work getting done in a short amount of time.

Mike M.

[Jacob McCrea]

Welcome. There's not much for me to add at this point, but I will try to post photos of the split trunk mod, as mentioned in post #7, as soon as I can, which will be some time next week.

[CJBergquist]

Here is a photo of the trunk and you can see the split down the middle.

This link has photos of all the trunk mods. https://www.flickr.com/photos/511030...57627412830764

[tfalk]

Hide your wallet somewhere that you will not be able to find it until you are done....