Wareaglescott's Coyote build thread - INDEX ADDED TO POST #1

[wareaglescott]

When I said I was inexperienced I wasn't joking. I have never riveted anything before. Bought the gun, watched demos on you tube. I cant find a picture of what the back should look like. Front looks good and it seems secure. Does this look correct from the back? I guess I was expecting it to look more compressed or something. Thanks for the responses.

[RoadRacer]

That's what you'd expect

[wareaglescott]

It is small but it feels like the first milestone has been achieved. I finally got all the panels drilled and off the frame. Ready for the buildup to begin. Also took the F panels to the powder coater today to try him out. Decided on going with black for those. Plan to take the rest of the panels next week when I pick up the F panels. I probably pre-drilled about 95% of the holes. Left a few where I thought fit might be tight and will drill those when I am installing.

[wareaglescott]

Learned a good tip from Jazzman.
If you are using a hydraulic clutch you can use the small fill panel to cover the hole on the front of the drivers side footbox prior to powder coating. This area sits flat against the frame metal directly behind it. If you put a rivet in there the back of the rivet will interfere with the panels ability to sit flat. On the piece that causes the interference just drill an oversized hole and allow the rivet back to fit in that and then the panel will sit correctly. 5 of the 6 precut holes will have the interference issue.



Just barely got that complete and work called me to come in so that will be it for today.

[Jazzman]

I also covered the other large hole at the top of this panel. I sure didn't need that much space to run this one set of wires.



I ended up drilling just one hole for all three of the reservoir lines.

[unrealmach1]

Really like the color scheme in your artist concept. Any chance I could pm you to get the contact info? I would appreciate it. Thanks.

[wareaglescott]

Really like the color scheme in your artist concept. Any chance I could pm you to get the contact info? I would appreciate it. Thanks.

yes i will pm you the info

[wareaglescott]

Limited time to work today but I did get the LCAs on. Felt good to actually put a part on the car instead of just taking panels off! No real issues. Like everyone else I had to clear the powder coating out of the bolt holes to get the bolt in. Mine required one washer on each of the aft mounts. The forward mounts had a little extra room but not enough to fit a washer in there. I ended up moving the tabs slightly. From reading other build threads that seemed like the way to handle that. As a complete novice I was really not sure if any space in there was acceptable. I torqued the bolts down to the specified 110 ft/lbs. My F panels are at the powder coater until about Wednesday. Don't think it should be a problem doing this step without them.

(I had previously put some blue tape on the frame rails to prevent me from dinging them up)



Now for my rookie questions if anyone can help please:
1. I have never used a grease gun or fitting. I have the gun. How do you know when you have enough in there? Do you just fill until it starts coming out?
2. When is the appropriate time to put the lubricant in? As you go through the build or wait until the end and do them all then?

Thanks for reading and commenting!

[edwardb]

Now for my rookie questions if anyone can help please:
1. I have never used a grease gun or fitting. I have the gun. How do you know when you have enough in there? Do you just fill until it starts coming out?
2. When is the appropriate time to put the lubricant in? As you go through the build or wait until the end and do them all then?

1. Depends on the kind of joint. For ones like these on your front LCA's yes, you should see it start coming out around the ends. Don't go crazy, but you want to make sure grease has penetrated all the way through. There was a problem in the past with these not accepting grease very well. But there are grooves in the bushings and you should see the grease flow out. You'll have more like this on the IRS arms and similar on the front UCA's. For joints with boots, like the upper and lower ball joints and tie rod ends, pump the grease until you see the boot puff out just a little and stop. You don't want to blow the seal of the boots with too much grease.

2. For the front and rear UCA's and LCA's, I like to grease them up during initial assembly. Makes sure the grease is flowing properly plus makes them a bit easier to install. Just a little more messy.

[wareaglescott]

Didn't get much actual work done on the car today. I did take 52 aluminum panels and 23 other parts to the powder coater. Should have all that back by the end of the week. For 75 pieces I felt good about the price.
I also assembled my engine hoist because the boxes were starting to get in my way. So now I can fold that up and get it out of the way in the corner. Went with the Harbour Freight 2 ton hoist. Only $150 after a 25% off coupon. Hopefully the quality will be good for my limited use.

Has anyone had their brake calipers powder coated an alternate color? I am thinking about doing orange to match my stripe. I also ordered orange seat belts. I think the color accent will look good. I have the front and rear Wilwood brake upgrade. I took a caliper to the powder coater and he indicated it would be about $300 to do the 4 plus the e-brake. That includes the custom order on the powder color. I would have to disassemble them and since they were already powder coated he said he would want to take them all the way down to bare metal and start over so he could ensure top quality. Gonna have to think on that one. Not sure it is worth $300 to me. Also I am not sure how the Wilwood logo is applied so I might end up with just all orange with no writing. Will have to look into that further.

[wareaglescott]

Was quite impressed with my powder coater. He had 75 pieces for a total of 30 hours and called me and said they were done! He did an excellent job. I ended up going with all black. I had to lay them all out for inventory in the basement. Got them cleaned back up before the wife noticed! haha It was about a 2 hour round trip to get them so that ate up most my work time available yesterday.


I was excited to permanently mount the F panels. EdwardB's build thread post #9 had a great tip about cutting the upper corner out of the panel for future wiring and using rivet nuts to mount the front splash guards to the back lip of the F panel thus making them removable. I know it wasn't time to mount the splash guards but being the first time I ever used a rivet nut I decided to go ahead and attach it for a minute just to see how it worked out. That was a great tip. Thanks Paul! Will work more on the front suspension today.

[stack]

Didn't get much actual work done on the car today. I did take 52 aluminum panels and 23 other parts to the powder coater. Should have all that back by the end of the week. For 75 pieces I felt good about the price.
I also assembled my engine hoist because the boxes were starting to get in my way. So now I can fold that up and get it out of the way in the corner. Went with the Harbour Freight 2 ton hoist. Only $150 after a 25% off coupon. Hopefully the quality will be good for my limited use.

Has anyone had their brake calipers powder coated an alternate color? I am thinking about doing orange to match my stripe. I also ordered orange seat belts. I think the color accent will look good. I have the front and rear Wilwood brake upgrade. I took a caliper to the powder coater and he indicated it would be about $300 to do the 4 plus the e-brake. That includes the custom order on the powder color. I would have to disassemble them and since they were already powder coated he said he would want to take them all the way down to bare metal and start over so he could ensure top quality. Gonna have to think on that one. Not sure it is worth $300 to me. Also I am not sure how the Wilwood logo is applied so I might end up with just all orange with no writing. Will have to look into that further.

How much did he charge for the powder coating. Doing the same thing gloss black all panels both sides

stack

[Misterfubar]

Your build sheet looks very similar to what I'm planning. Looks great so far and I love the Artist's concept.

[wareaglescott]

How much did he charge for the powder coating. Doing the same thing gloss black all panels both sides

stack

I paid $800 cash for the 75 pieces. He wanted $1000 but when I balked at that and offered cash I got $200 knocked off. I was pretty pleased with that.

[wareaglescott]

Your build sheet looks very similar to what I'm planning. Looks great so far and I love the Artist's concept.

Thanks. That guy can really draw. I am happy to pass on his contact info if you are interested. I enjoy looking at the framed drawing on my office wall as I sit here spending money ordering parts left and right! haha

[WIS89]

Scott-

Panels look great! I also like Cam's jersey on your wall; does he know you took it? HA

I have to confess, I wasn't expecting your powder coat to be quite that high, but he did nice work, and turned it around quickly.

You are moving along at a nice clip. I have enjoyed following along.

Regards,

Steve

[wareaglescott]

Scott-

Panels look great! I also like Cam's jersey on your wall; does he know you took it? HA

I have to confess, I wasn't expecting your powder coat to be quite that high, but he did nice work, and turned it around quickly.

You are moving along at a nice clip. I have enjoyed following along.

Regards,

Steve

Steve,
I have never had anything powder coated before so I did not know what to expect on price. I had seen other comments about guys paying about 650 for the panels. In addition to the panels I had 23 other pieces listed in the front of the manual that they recommended finishing. Obviously I could have just spray painted them for cheaper. My main obstacle was living in a small town there was one guy that did coating. He had a horrible reputation. The first good review I could find was for a guy 45 minutes away. Other than him I was looking at 1.5-2 hours each way to find someone in Atlanta or Birmingham. Maybe I paid a little high due to lack of options. I was just feeling good I didn't pay the $1000. haha

[edwardb]

Your panels look great! Based on what others have posted, the price you paid (after negotiation...) is about the going rate for a complete set plus other misc stuff. I've had two different local places do my builds, and they were in that range as well. You won't regret having all the panels done. Makes a really nice finished product. Plus hard to beat the long term durability of powder coat.

[wareaglescott]

I continued working on the front end today. Learned a couple of points that may be useful to my fellow newbie. These points will be painfully obvious to the experienced builder. Hopefully someone with limited to no experience like me will benefit from my thread. I think when I am done I should write a book called "Cobra building for dummies"! I could stand to have an instruction manual that spells out every small detail of the build. I would prefer directions that are about 3 times more specific than the build manual! haha

1. You will need multiple torque wrenches and some other wrenches of odd sizes - I had a 50 to 250 lb torque wrench and a small inch/lb torque wrench previously. Figured that would have me covered. Then came across a need for a 40 lb torque. Off to home depot for a 20-100 lb wrench. Shortly after I got home I realized I needed a 1 1/8 wrench to make adjustments on the upper control arms. Back to HD. Good thing it is only 5 minutes away. I have a pretty complete set of tools. I am finding early in this project I am needing a lot of sockets and wrenches in larger sizes than I previously had.

2. Castle nuts on ball joints in front suspension - for the lower ball joint castle nut there is a spacer. As you can see in the first picture there is a rounded inner portion on one side and the other side is completely flat. The rounded edge needs to be on the bottom. I did not realize it was not flat on both sides and unknowingly put it on upside down at first. If you do this it will not seat correctly and there will be a problem getting the cotter pin hole to line up with the castle nut properly. I was cranking down as hard as I could without it lining up and if I backed it up to line up it was totally loose. So watch the orientation when you put it on. I did a lot of reading prior to this project and can't remember hearing this tip.




I have found working on the front suspension the first side takes me about 5 times as long as the second side when I have it all figured out! I did manage to get most of the front suspension done. I have not tightened the lower shock mount bolt yet because I believe the front sway bar will also connect with that bolt and it is still on backorder. I also could not get the leverage to get the 250lb of torque on the hub nut. I think I may need to wait until the car is on the ground for that.



I will probably start on the front brakes tomorrow. I have the wilwood option with the black powder coat. I was hoping to powder coat the calipers orange to mount my stripe. Wilwood will sell a custom color caliper but for the front and back it was going to be about $2000 which I found ridiculous. My other option is to take my black calipers and have them powder coated locally. That was going to be about $300. The problem with that is there is no way to recreate the "wildwood" writing on the caliper and it would just be solid orange. I kind of like the writing so may just end up doing the local powder coating at a later date if I decide I need the color accent.

If anyone sees any other errors in my pictures please point them out!

[unrealmach1]

Your build is looking great! The powder coat looks really nice.

[wareaglescott]

Did the front brakes today. I got the wilwood option.
They went in relatively smoothly.
A couple points:
1. The shims that go to the caliper to center it up on the disk are quite thin. In fact the difference between the two are .019". The directions talk about using various combinations to center up the caliper on the disc. How anyone can accurately eyeball or measure .019" is beyond me. I read other build threads that said they used 2 of the larger ones and I followed suit and did that as well. Best I could tell it was very accurately centered but I am not sure a .019" difference would have mattered much. Maybe somebody that knows more about brakes could comment on that.

2. If you drop the caliper accidentally and it hits your ankle bone before hitting the garage floor it will slow down enough not to damage the powder coat when it does hit the floor!! Ouch! I might be limping for a day or two but the caliper looks nice and shiny.

Guess I will get to start on the IRS the next build session.

[WIS89]

Scott-

I hope you were not offended by my powder coat price comment. I didn't mean to suggest you shouldn't have it done, or that the price was unreasonable; just that I didn't expect it to cost that much. A sticker shock comment, not a criticism! As I mentioned earlier, I think he did a nice job.

On your brake caliper color change. Have you considered trying a Wilwood decal to put on the orange caliper? I don't know if they are available, but a sign shop could likely get you a set for a fair price. It might be a reasonable solution.

Thanks for all your details, I have enjoyed following along.

Regards,

Steve

[wareaglescott]

Scott-

I hope you were not offended by my powder coat price comment. I didn't mean to suggest you shouldn't have it done, or that the price was unreasonable; just that I didn't expect it to cost that much. A sticker shock comment, not a criticism! As I mentioned earlier, I think he did a nice job.

On your brake caliper color change. Have you considered trying a Wilwood decal to put on the orange caliper? I don't know if they are available, but a sign shop could likely get you a set for a fair price. It might be a reasonable solution.

Thanks for all your details, I have enjoyed following along.

Regards,

Steve

No worries Steve. No offense taken.

On the caliper decals I did call Wilwood and see if they had some available. They do not. That led me to discuss with them custom color ordering. When I realized that would be close to $2000 I was suddenly much happier with the black ones!

Good thought about having a sign shop making them locally. If I did that I could have whatever I want made up and could possibly do something custom other than just "wilwood". Another issue is I have not selected the actual colors of the car yet other than gray and orange. Need to fine tune what the actual color of the orange will be. At this point I think I am happy with the black for now. Maybe after completion this will be a good mod to go back and revisit. They always say these cars are never actually done right! Haha

Thanks for reading the thread. I enjoy doing the updates. I have 2 previous builders that have helped me immensely with their build threads and extra communications so if anyone can benefit from anything I write that would be great!

[wareaglescott]

This morning I am going to start work on the IRS center section. I ordered everything for the rear end from factory five. This is how it came. I am going to clean it up and apply a coat of POR-15. It looks to have just a small amount of surface rust forming. While I was thinking about the center section I went ahead and ordered the vent pieces I will need that I learned about in EdwardB and Jazzmans threads.
The part numbers are FR3Z-4A058-A & 2L1Z-4022-BA. I just goggled the part numbers and found multiple places that were selling them. I tried about 3 and found the one that had the cheapest shipping for my location and went with them.



While I was spending money I also decided to go ahead and order the CNC 1483 Triple Master Aluminum Remote Resevoir from Car Shop Inc.
I read that the CNC 1459A pressure bleeder lid is a nice compliment to this and makes bleeding quite simple. They were out of stock on these and I have never bleed any brake/hydraulic clutches before so I think I will just wait on that part and if the time comes I determine it would be beneficial I will look again.

[stack]

This morning I am going to start work on the IRS center section. I ordered everything for the rear end from factory five. This is how it came. I am going to clean it up and apply a coat of POR-15. It looks to have just a small amount of surface rust forming. While I was thinking about the center section I went ahead and ordered the vent pieces I will need that I learned about in EdwardB and Jazzmans threads.
The part numbers are FR3Z-4A058-A & 2L1Z-4022-BA. I just goggled the part numbers and found multiple places that were selling them. I tried about 3 and found the one that had the cheapest shipping for my location and went with them.



While I was spending money I also decided to go ahead and order the CNC 1483 Triple Master Aluminum Remote Resevoir from Car Shop Inc.
I read that the CNC 1459A pressure bleeder lid is a nice compliment to this and makes bleeding quite simple. They were out of stock on these and I have never bleed any brake/hydraulic clutches before so I think I will just wait on that part and if the time comes I determine it would be beneficial I will look again.

just pu my rear diff in last night. make sure you have help. also mount the front bolts first then the rear. when putting in the rear bolts slide the bushing in from the front half way so you have wiggle room with the bolts from the rear and the bushing from the front, the diff is a very tight fit.

stack

[wareaglescott]

Well The Por15 went on the rear differential very nicely. Very pleased how that turned out. I am going to let it dry more overnight and hope to tackle the install next time.


I found a great Por15 starter kit on Amazon. It had small bottles of the cleaner/degreaser and metal prep. Also had a bristle and foam paint brush as well as a pair of gloves and a 4 oz can of POR15. The entire kit was only a couple dollars more than just the 4oz can alone. It was a good deal to get the degreaser and metal prep. After cleaning the small amount of surface rust off the differential I used the cleaner/degreaser and metal prep as suggested. Once that dried I applied the Por 15 in a couple steps to get complete coverage and 2 coats everywhere. I was unsure about only getting a 4 oz can. I would estimate I used about 75% of it and feeling very good about the coverage I got. I have a little left for touch up or another miscellaneous part if something comes along. I read it goes bad quickly. I sealed it up good and stored it in the basement fridge. Hopefully that will help it last.


While I was waiting for the POR to dry I started work on removing the rear wheel studs. I was concerned about beating so hard on a new part but they came out. Getting them in is another issue. The build manual says to use a lug to tighten them in. Well my wheels are on backorder so I don't have my lugs and multiple sources have told me that does not work that well anyways. If anyone has tricks or tips to ease the insertion of the new studs please let me know. I am thinking about using one of the old studs and a sledge hammer to drive the new ones in, but again I am unsure about beating on the new part so hard. Anyone think this is a bad idea?


On a fun side note my orange seat belts showed up today. They will be a nice color accent to my orange stripe. I sure look forward to the mail and packages coming these days. Only day I don't want to see the mail man is when he brings the credit card bill! If anyone is looking I will be posting my black seat belts that came with the complete kit for sale soon.

[wareaglescott]

just pu my rear diff in last night. make sure you have help. also mount the front bolts first then the rear. when putting in the rear bolts slide the bushing in from the front half way so you have wiggle room with the bolts from the rear and the bushing from the front, the diff is a very tight fit.

stack

Thanks Stack. Good tip!
Also I got my hand operated windshield wiper today. Thanks for turning me on to that.

[dmoran]

Well The Por15 went on the rear differential very nicely. Very pleased how that turned out. I am going to let it dry more overnight and hope to tackle the install next time.

I found a great Por15 starter kit on Amazon...

I love POR-15. Never heard of it until this build. It goes on great and looks like powder coat. I think the metal prep on bare metal is important with new steel, stainless and aluminum. I started with the kit you referred to and bought more paint and metal prep.

... I sure look forward to the mail and packages coming these days.

After a couple months of UPS deliveries every couple days, my UPS guy finally asked what I was building. I showed him and it turns out that he's a hot rodder. We talked shop for about 20 mins or so, he showed pictures of his builds and he invited me to use his lift if I ever need it. So now he gets weekly status. Funny who's into this stuff. Better check out your mail guy.

[2bking]

While I was waiting for the POR to dry I started work on removing the rear wheel studs. I was concerned about beating so hard on a new part but they came out. Getting them in is another issue. The build manual says to use a lug to tighten them in. Well my wheels are on backorder so I don't have my lugs and multiple sources have told me that does not work that well anyways. If anyone has tricks or tips to ease the insertion of the new studs please let me know. I am thinking about using one of the old studs and a sledge hammer to drive the new ones in, but again I am unsure about beating on the new part so hard. Anyone think this is a bad idea?

It's a bad idea if you do it with the vice jaws open like in the picture. Close the vice so the flange is supported close to the stud and it will be OK. A better way would be to use a deep socket for the stud side so the flange is supported around the stud and pound away.

[wareaglescott]

It's a bad idea if you do it with the vice jaws open like in the picture. Close the vice so the flange is supported close to the stud and it will be OK. A better way would be to use a deep socket for the stud side so the flange is supported around the stud and pound away.

Thanks King. I ended up getting an impact driver and it was much easier. A good excuse to add a tool to my collection!

[wareaglescott]

Got the differential in today. I used EdwardB's method of using the engine hoist and lifting it from above to get it in place. It actually went in quite easily. The fit was very snug but using a couple tips I read in other build threads I was shocked how easily it went in. I must have lucked out on the chassis mounts because they seemed perfect. No adjustment or washers or any sort of shim needed.

I started working on the rest of the IRS after that. I will be limited with what I can do here because my 7/8" misalignment spacers are on backorder. Also do not have either sway bar yet. I went ahead and sorted all the bolts and preassembled and greased the various IRS components. I did make a nice discovery. I have read in other build threads there is a conflict with a weld on the UCA and the flange on one of the nuts. On my frame FFR has actually left a gap in the weld so the flange nut can fit square and snug against the frame. I was happy to see that and not have to worry about grinding away the interference. Here are a couple pictures below. If you look closely at the one without the nut you can see the gap in the weld. It is on both sides. Nice to see FFR continue to make small improvements to make it more user friendly for the customers.



I will be able to install a few IRS components tomorrow and then will be stopped in that area waiting on the backordered items so I will have to figure out what I will start next.

[edwardb]

Looking good! It's a great feeling to get that center section where it belongs. Glad yours went in pretty easily. You mentioned sway bars. When you assemble the rest of the rear suspension, don't forget the rear sway bar mount brackets. They're held in place by the LCA and toe arm bolts. I've talked to several builders that asked me "Where do I mount the rear sway bar?" and found they missed installing the bracket. Not a big deal, but easier the first time.

[wareaglescott]

Looking good! It's a great feeling to get that center section where it belongs. Glad yours went in pretty easily. You mentioned sway bars. When you assemble the rest of the rear suspension, don't forget the rear sway bar mount brackets. They're held in place by the LCA and toe arm bolts. I've talked to several builders that asked me "Where do I mount the rear sway bar?" and found they missed installing the bracket. Not a big deal, but easier the first time.

Thanks Paul. I found the brackets and realized I wish I would have had them in the powder coat lot. Ended up painting them last night. Hope to get them on today. Appreciate the picture. Some of the build manual pics leave a little something to be desired. This one will help me make sure I have the orientation correct.

[wareaglescott]

Yesterday I anticipated difficulty getting the differential in and it went in quite well. Today I anticipated easily installing the IRS control arms and it was very difficult. Funny how that happens. It was quite difficult getting the bolts through the bushings. I did grease them all ahead of time quite a bit. It was just difficult getting them aligned front to back.

On the lower control arm I first got the rear most bolt through and had absolutely no luck getting the front in. Then I took the rear bolt out and started with the front. This seemed to work. Not sure if that works in general or just for me.


Once I got the front bolt in you had a little more working room to work the back into place. I ended up using a strap and pulling it various angles to line everything up perfectly to get the bolts through.


The upper control arms went a little better after I learned a little better how to align them on the lowers. Torqued all the bolts down and ran out of work time for the day. I will finish the IRS tomorrow as much as able while I wait for my backordered alignment spacers to hook up the hub area.

[wareaglescott]

Since I don't have any background in this I rely heavily on the instruction manual. My rear hubs and spindles came unattached. When I got to that stage in the directions the following picture was included:


It really threw me off that the picture of the bolt shown in the manual was not the actual bolt you use. I found the two bolts pictured. The lower one looked like the one to use but was clearly the wrong size. The upper bolt was the correct size.

Again this is something that an experienced builder probably would not even look to the build manual for. With my inexperience I tend to double and triple check everything before doing anything. The lesson of this one would be not to overthink the simple stuff and sometimes the pictures may not match what you are doing.

[carlewms]

You will find that will happen again as you progress through the build. I found that using the parts inventory list was pretty accurate. The length for most bolts is measured from the shoulder of the head to end of the bolt; you can pick up a thread gage to measure the pitch and a rule (or vernier calipers) to measure the diameter.

There are lots of You Tube videos on the subject.

Carl

[wareaglescott]

I am waiting on the alignment spacer for the rear UCA so I cant quite complete the IRS install. Everything is in place and bolted up (waiting to torque) except the upper control arm. Getting those arms onto the spindle assembly was very tight.

After that I started on the rear brakes. I have the Wilwood option. I found on the bracket the instructions say to start with one shim for each bolt. After further assembly I realized this created an uneven gap on the caliper around the rotor. I ended up taking it all back off and removing the shim and it centered perfectly. So zero shims on these for two bolts for me. (the red paint indicates the bolt has been torqued. Another good tip I learned on the forum)


On the two bolts that hold the caliper on. It said to start with 2 shims on each. I found with 2 shims the caliper was sitting just above the outer edge of the rotor. Took it off and removed one shim. I have one shim on each of the bolts holding the caliper on for perfect alignment.

3 questions please:
1. The rear axle nut - does it not have a dust cover like the front?
2. The instructions call for the CV nut to be torqued to "98lbs and then rotate 45 degrees". The front nut is 220-250 lbs. Why such a difference?
3. I ran out of time so did not get to start the parking brake caliper install yet. Took just a quick look trying to align it on the caliper. It appears the piston is somewhat extended and I cant get the pads around the caliper. How do I get the piston to retract?

Thanks for the help!

[edwardb]

3 questions please:
1. The rear axle nut - does it not have a dust cover like the front?
2. The instructions call for the CV nut to be torqued to "98lbs and then rotate 45 degrees". The front nut is 220-250 lbs. Why such a difference?
3. I ran out of time so did not get to start the parking brake caliper install yet. Took just a quick look trying to align it on the caliper. It appears the piston is somewhat extended and I cant get the pads around the caliper. How do I get the piston to retract?

Thanks for the help!

1. Nope.

2. I've seen those called torque to yield (TTY) or sometimes torque plus angle (TA) nuts. That method (base torque plus angle) is supposed to give a more accurate setting since the affect of friction is minimized. Typically they are also one time use only. I can tell you from installing mine you will end up in the same force range (200+ ft-lbs) as the front spindle nuts. The difference though is these turn with the axle, so you have to have a solid way for it to be kept from turning. I found the e-brake had enough force to hold it. Would also work with the transmission installed and in gear or tires on the ground.

3. That's a mechanical caliper (vs. hydraulic) and spring loaded from what I can tell. Mine came retracted and the pads only moved when the cable lever was pulled. They installed without doing anything special. Unless someone else has seen that, you may need to call Wilwood.

[unrealmach1]

I ordered the CNC 1483 after reading about them in edwardb's build thread. They came in the mail on Saturday and they are Awesome! You will not be disappointed.

[wareaglescott]

I got the rear brakes and suspension pretty much wrapped up. Interesting for a new guy how you learn as you go. The drivers side rear brake and E-brake took me about 3 hours of trial and error, trip to home depot for a measurement caliper and checking the forum to make sure I was doing everything correctly. The second side was about 23 minutes.

I did find the measuring caliper to be nice when figuring out how many shims to use. Wish I would have thought of that on the front! It seems so obvious but I guess for someone that has never done anything like this before it took me a while to figure out.


Everything else went together pretty nicely. My E-brake cables are on back order so I had to stop when I got to those. I need to look over EdwardB's mod for that also. I am getting two fedex boxes tomorrow from FFR so I am hopeful a lot of my backordered parts will be in there. I really like how the black caliper looks on the black rotor. Happy I went that direction. I would have liked the red for a little color pop but felt it may not have looked great with my orange stripe.