Crack in the wheel-well lip and a FFR re-designed DS foot box?

[silver_pilate]

Delivery day for my kit was today, and I have a few questions for the guys here on the forum. First, after getting the car on jack stands and getting the boxes organized a bit, I noticed something in passing that I somehow overlooked upon delivery. This crack is in the driver's side rear, and it's all the way through:




Based on the inside picture above, this is from FFR and not a result of the loading/delivery. My assumption is that this can be addressed without too much difficulty in the body work phase by a professional (Jeff...what do you think?)

Also, when looking over the aluminum, I found what appears to be a FFR designed driver's side kick-out:






Is this new from FFR or just something I wasn't aware of? I put up my finish line louvers, and they appear to fit just fine. I also posted the inside driver's side foot box to see if you guys spot any changes there....

Thoughts are welcome!

--Nathan

[Jazzman]

Jeff will have To Lend his expertise on the body crack. Yes FFR has modified the left drivers side foot box panel to provide a bit more foot room. I'm not sure exactly when ey did it but it was sometime between August and November of last year. It is a nice addition. If you got the coyote engine and associated panels, the right panel is a bit different as well. All to add just a bit more space in that cramped box. Enjoy your build. We will watch and enjoy it with you.

[wallace18]

Yes that is a current mod for more room. It would not have caused the crack, IMO. I would send pics to FFR and see what they have to say about the crack if it was my kit.

[Kafka_Esquire]

Mine, too, is cracked, but at the rear portion of the passenger door opening. But I know with absolute certainty that I did it while removing the body (overzealous and excited). My sense is that the cracks are easily fixable, and if worse comes to worse, I can always reach out to Hoofa for help...

[GoDadGo]

Hey Guys,

I'm not an expert on building Factory Five's since this is my first one; however, this crack appears to have been caused by over flexing the body. It likely happened when the body was removed from the mold or when it was placed on or taken off of the car.

Why do I know this, it's because before I became a banker my brother and built fiberglass boats and we still have one of our molds just in case we feel the need to itch and get sticky once more.


Can it be repaired? The answer is yes, but you will need to get past the Gel-Coat and into the glass on both sides. Use Chop-Stran-Mat to do the repair and make sure that you use Vinylester Resin to reduce the chance of de-lamination. Before laminating, clean both sides with acetone so that you soften the glass to improve adhesion. Contact Factory Five about the damage too.

Good Luck & Sorry About The Damaged!

Steve >> aka: GoDadGo

[Duke]

That crack looks like it was patched once and has reopened. Not good. My concern would be that you may fix it, then when installing the body post paint it may crack again.

[Olli]

That crack doesn't surprise me. Something similar but much worse happened to me. When I was ready to remove the body from the chassis after doing all of the panel fitting I had the issue. I was with my son removing the body and once we had it freed up from the front and rear we were snagged on the sides. So we went to either side to spread the body to clear. Once we cleared and raised the body the rear of the body just hinged down as we heard the ugly sounds of cracking. The body simply broke exactly where yours is cracked but on both sides all the way into the door openings. Once on the buck I re-aligned the body and clamped it. Fortunately, I had a fresh gallon of vinylester resin on hand (I do my own body work) and I made the repair.

Once painted, I was scared of the same thing happening when re-installing the body. To prevent the rear of the body from hinging down again I placed the 2x4 within the inside of the cockpit and used a small ratchet strap from the hood opening to the trunk opening.

Olli

[Gumball]

I did my own bodywork on my FFR and had never worked with fiberglass before. I filled numerous holes - side mount holes, trunk hinge holes, etc... - and actually cut slices in the fiberglass and re-glassed (hood scoop recontouring modification). As long as you follow the instructions that Steve mentioned, particularly using compatible resin - vinylester - and do good prep, you shouldn't have any issues. That's the beauty of fiberglass - it's really forgiving of mistakes... and cracks.

[silver_pilate]

Thanks, guys. One of the guys with a ton of FFR experience will be doing the body work/paint on this car, and I've been assured that it isn't a problem. Jeff Miller says he sees about 1 in 8 with similar or worse cracks. I'll be extra careful when removing the body this weekend. I'll use the brace across the cockpit opening to help prevent too much flexing, and see if I can get a guy on each corner.

--Nathan

[Olli]

Nathan,

Do what I did and use both the brace inside the cockpit and the ratchet strap from the hood opening to the trunk opening. The strap will keep the back of the body from hinging downward. Trust me, when the body hinges downward the sound of the body basically cracking into 2 is an ugly sound.

For the record, I've handled more than 1 FFR body in the past but they were all pre-Mark IV. None of them felt the way my Mark IV body felt like. Sort of like a wet noodle.

Olli

[silver_pilate]

Nathan,

Do what I did and use both the brace inside the cockpit and the ratchet strap from the hood opening to the trunk opening. The strap will keep the back of the body from hinging downward. Trust me, when the body hinges downward the sound of the body basically cracking into 2 is an ugly sound.

For the record, I've handled more than 1 FFR body in the past but they were all pre-Mark IV. None of them felt the way my Mark IV body felt like. Sort of like a wet noodle.

Olli

Will do! Thanks for the advice.

--Nathan

[j.miller]

Other side of the fence....I never use the brace. I have seen a lot of damage done by them and would never ever use one after painting. Lifting from the front and rear these cars will flex a lot with no prob....where they have a problem is when they are high centered and the front and rear sag. Takes very little to get the cracks like Olli described at the doors when the ends sag. We go on and off all the time with just two of us, nice to have a third to help with the sides if we can. Cracks in the fender, got pull on or hit something...da Bat

[GoDadGo]

I've not used a brace either, but I have always had 5-6 guys there to remove and/or replace the body.
Also, the entire time I'm YAPPING to make sure that we don't bend the body.
If I can be of assistance regarding the fiberglass repair, then please send me a message via this forum.
An expert builder I am not; however, I am pretty good with fiberglass.