FormaCars' MKIV #9004 Build

[Doug @ Forma]

It turns out we did have interference and we are redesigning the duct to sit more flush to the rear sheetmetal. Not sure how we missed that analysis, but I'm grateful to King for the heads up. Saved us some headaches down the road.

[Doug @ Forma]

We're pushing ahead toward the open house this weekend, although we've had to dial our plans back a bit. We're shooting for a go cart chassis with a partial interior. We we're just running out of time to get the car done to the level that we wanted it and no one wanted to compromise on anything.

Here's our revised HVAC duct. By using our 3D printer we were able to create a duct that was low profile and durable enough that we won't need the aluminum shields.

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We're nearly done with the wiring, the headers are wrapped, all hoses are run, all fluids are in, the HVAC system is charged, rough alignment is done. We should have first fire and be go karting today or tomorrow.

[Straversi]

That's a slick tool to have. Are those ducts drawing air into the HVAC system or blowing air into the cockpit. Floor vents?

[Doug @ Forma]

Those are the floor vents. They'll run along the outside of the seats to the footwell area.

[Doug @ Forma]

Well, despite good intentions and a lot of hard work by the team, we aren't going to have a running car for the open house. We'll be there, but we'll be pushing our roller off the trailer and into place rather than go karting. Such is life.

Good news is a good chunk of the interior is in place and it's looking great. We've got the dash, console and rear panel in place. The billet shifter surround and driver facing speedo surround are represented by 3D printed parts at this point. Also, our MT82 shifter is in place and it feels great. This should be a great help to those who want a 6 speed in their Roadster. Here are some images.

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We're all loaded and leave bright and early in the morning for FFR.

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Hope to see some of you Saturday.

[boBQuincy]

Also, our MT82 shifter is in place and it feels great. This should be a great help to those who want a 6 speed in their Roadster.

Is there any possibility of getting different gear ratios for the MT82? First gear of 3.66 may be ok for a 3700# car but would it be too much for a 2500# car?

[Doug @ Forma]

Is there any possibility of getting different gear ratios for the MT82? First gear of 3.66 may be ok for a 3700# car but would it be too much for a 2500# car?

That's a great question. Not sure, we'll look into it.

[Jeff Kleiner]

That 3.66 first gear coupled with the 3.73 rear will result in a 13.65:1 overall. It'll be great for yanking stumps or rock crawling on the Rubicon

Great looking go-kart!

Jeff

[Doug @ Forma]

Great looking go-kart!

Thanks, but it's still just a roller. We were close but ran out of time getting the wiring done.

That 3.66 first gear coupled with the 3.73 rear will result in a 13.65:1 overall. It'll be great for yanking stumps or rock crawling on the Rubicon

Or wheelies or turning tires into smoke. The V6 MT82 has a 4.24 first gear, even better! We do have the 3.73 in this car. We have the 3.55 in our Type 65, but we're also adding twin Borg Warner EFR turbos, so...

[Doug @ Forma]

Well, it's been a whirlwind these last few weeks. I've finally got the time to update our thread.

We had a great time at the open house and even took home 'Best In Process Build" for our Mark IV (and best 818 as well!). Our rolling chassis had a full drivetrain and a partial interior.

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We arrived home Sunday afternoon and after an afternoon of rest, hit the ground running on Monday to get done for the London Cobra Show. In that two weeks we completed the chassis wiring, installed the seat tracks and seats (with heaters), mounted the body, hood, trunk and doors, finished the interior including the custom door panels (with door poppers) and carpet, wrapped up the remaining sheet metal, installed the lighting, installed the roll bars, machine and install 4 billet pieces (2 door handles, gauge surround and shifter surround) and what seemed like a hundred of other details.

The team worked their butts off and we had a great looking car for the London Cobra Show (see the write up on our website). Unfortunately, a last minute discovery meant that we still didn't have a runner. As I've mentioned, we are using ECU Master on our build and it turns out that the Coyote has "passive" ignition coils where power to the coils passes through the ECU rather than "active" coils where the ECU simply sends a signal and the power is routed directly to the coil. Well, the ECU Master will only handle up to 6 passive coils and so, out of the box, will not run our Coyote. The good news is that we found the appropriate coil driver chips and we've mocked up a driver module that should do the job, but we just ran out of time to install and test it before the show.

So, while we still have a lot of details we want to improve upon (like getting it running, obviously), the car is largely complete and we're very happy with the results.

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[wareaglescott]

Great looking build. I really like the custom interior. Wish I had the capability to do something like that. Well done!

I'm curious about your accent color body stripes and how they reflect on the windshield. Do you think that will be a distractor when driving? Maybe it's just the pictures but that looks like a pretty strong reflection.

[wirenut]

Man that is awesome! You guys are doing some great stuff, the awards are well deserved.

Are you guys going to sell the parts to duplicate your A/C ducts?

[Doug @ Forma]

Thanks for the kind words guys.

I'm curious about your accent color body stripes and how they reflect on the windshield. Do you think that will be a distractor when driving? Maybe it's just the pictures but that looks like a pretty strong reflection.

We'll have to see once we get her on the road (our inspection is scheduled for the 19th). I doubt it, though. I don't think it's a lot different than a white stripe on a black car

Are you guys going to sell the parts to duplicate your A/C ducts?

Frankly, we did this one thinking it was a solution that wouldn't have a lot of broad interest, but it got a lot of interest at the open house so we're looking at how we can bring it to market.

[WIS89]

Doug-

She looks terrific! I like many of the custom details you all created. I do think you will find a number of folks interested in various pieces. It is very unique and offers some interesting solutions.

I hope you will post lots more pictures when she is all completed. Great work by your team!

Regards,

Steve

[Doug @ Forma]

Doug-

She looks terrific! I like many of the custom details you all created. I do think you will find a number of folks interested in various pieces. It is very unique and offers some interesting solutions.

I hope you will post lots more pictures when she is all completed. Great work by your team!

Regards,

Steve

Thanks Steve, here are a few more interior shots:

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We intend to bring this interior to market. We learned a lot putting this one together, so the design needs some refinement first. The intent is that we'd be able to offer a lot of flexibility in colors & finishes to match to match your car & tastes.

[Wes Brimhall]

Very nice! Earlier you were working on the mechanism for the getrag transmission- wondering if you have any feedback on that or information on an offering for our installs. Thanks!

[Doug @ Forma]

Very nice! Earlier you were working on the mechanism for the getrag transmission- wondering if you have any feedback on that or information on an offering for our installs. Thanks!

This car has the first fully machined prototype of our MT82 shifter (earlier prototypes used 3D printed parts). From just sitting in the seat, shift feel and action are very good. We'll need to get some miles on it before making a final judgement, but initial impressions are that this design is going to work very well.


We've got the coil driver module in the car and testing it today, hope to have first start before the day is done!

[Doug @ Forma]

Hello all, I owe you an update on our Mark IV soon, but we've been at work on getting our interior package ready for release. We're close and would love some feedback on it. I've started a new thread for it here, please let us know what you think.