FormaCars' Gen3 Coupe #9 Build

[Kyle @ Forma]

Hello everybody, I’m Kyle McGlone of FormaCars. For anyone who hasn’t seen our intro post yet, we are a sponsoring vendor out of Columbus, Ohio. Currently we are building both a MK4 Roadster and Gen3 Type 65. The plan is to have both cars finished in time to show them at the London Cobra Show. Doug will be keeping everyone updated on the MK4 build thread, which can be found here.


Both cars get the engine, transmission, and rear end from low mileage 2016 Mustang GTs. We decided to go off the beaten path a bit and stick with the MT82 to keep it consistent. We have test fit the combo in the MK4 so far, and have begun developing a shifter solution. Both cars will also be receiving a Titanium Gray paint job, accented with black and our signature lime green. Just picture it: Two matching Cobras with 435hp, six speed manuals, and less weight than a Civic. One roadster, one coupe, both singing their V8 song through side pipes. Could this be the perfect set of twins?


Maybe so, but I'm Kyle, and I have a problem. So I had another idea for "twins"...
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As if 435hp in a ~2300lb car wasn’t enough, the Type 65 will be receiving twin turbos. Not just any turbos either, a pair of Borg Warner EFR7163s.
The oil pump gears will be replaced with billet units to support the high power, but the rest of the engine internals will remain factory. We have a few supporting mods as well, which you’ll see soon.


First, here it is the day we picked it up.
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We inventoried both cars on the same day, and realized just how well Factory Five packages all the parts. Look at that pile!
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Just this afternoon, our painter Marek came by to bring us a test piece. The colors are hard to capture indoors (where this photo was taken), but it sure looks great in the sun!
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[Wes Brimhall]

Kyle- sweet start!
I know this is not directly related to THIS build log, but can you shed any light on the subject of fitting the Getrag MT82 into the Mk4? I was thinking about doing that as well, but have not found any really good information on it so far. What did you guys have to do and or sacrifice in interior room to get it to fit in a Mk4 and can you describe your ideas for the shifter location? Any info as appreciated-
Wes

[Doug @ Forma]

Wes, the Mark IV shifter is in process, but we have a solid concept on how to get it done. We think we can move the shifter tight up against the back of the MT82 by changing the internal shaft at the base of the shifter and then creating an angled shifter arm to push the shift knob forward, much like the original Cobras. We think the Type 65 should be similar. It fits in the tunnel pretty well, no mods required there or sacrificing of interior room, at least none the we see yet. Keep an eye on our Mark IV thread for more as we'll be figuring it out soon.

Here's a picture of the MT82 in the Mark IV chassis with the shifter on top of the tunnel in roughly the front to back position that we think it'll end up in.

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[Wes Brimhall]

Cool! keep the updates going-looking forward to the Mk 4 thread...

[Doug @ Forma]

A small update on the shifter after we reviewed it last night. The original plan isn't going to work, it puts it too close to the drive shaft (meaning, interfering with the driveshaft ), but we've got some alternate ideas. I'll cover our progress in more detail in the other thread.

[Kyle @ Forma]

Progress on the Type 65 is a going a bit slower than we originally anticipated. Our first speed bump has come from getting the body accurately positioned. We developed new rear body mounts and are currently waiting for them to come in from our sheet metal fabricator. Once these parts come in, I'll update with photos. In the meantime, we are getting the sheet metal, suspension, and engine prep taken care of.

We are working on brackets to utilize the OEM 2015+ Mustang GT Brembos. The initial thought was to get Wilwoods for the T65 and give the Mustang brakes to the Roadster; almost like a "budget BBK". However, after seeing the size difference here, I think they may be going on the T65 now! The rotors are 13.9" front and 13" rear, which are too large to fit behind the 17" wheels. However, if we can get them to fit correctly, we will be going with lighter two-piece rotors (these OEM ones are HEAVY) and 18" wheels.
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We have been kicking around the idea of getting a 3D scanner for a while now. Earlier this week we had two different companies come show us their scanners and get some sample scans done. Most of the scanning was done on the Roadster in order to allow us to start developing the interior. However, I was able to get him to scan a turbo for us as well. You know, for science!
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We have also made significant progress on the shifter; a 3D printed prototype can be seen below. It attaches directly to the transmission, meaning that there is no additional mount needed on the frame.
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[Plebeian]

Twin turbos would be awesome and those should be good for 800 rwhp. Can't wait to hear how it turns out and performs. Cheers.

[Wes Brimhall]

Cool job on the shifter...are you guys going to go into production on those adapters? Would love to have that solution for a build....

[Doug @ Forma]

Cool job on the shifter...are you guys going to go into production on those adapters? Would love to have that solution for a build....

Yes, we are going to offer this shifter as part of a kit of everything needed to drop a Coyote & MT82 into a Mark IV.

[Wes Brimhall]

Doug- excellent! any idea of a timeline or when it will be offered?

[Doug @ Forma]

Doug- excellent! any idea of a timeline or when it will be offered?

We're a bit early in the development to be able to say how long it'll take to finish. We've got a functional 3D printed prototype which fits as we expected it to, but it's not strong enough to shift the transmission. The next step is to machine one and test it on the trans.

We plan to keep folks up to date on our progress.

[Wes Brimhall]

Thanks! Steady on...

[Kyle @ Forma]

I previously mentioned that we were waiting on body mounts, which I'll now explain. Instead of using the factory-supplied mounts that bolt through the rear mesh, we decided to go for a stealthier approach. First we designed a factory-style mount, this one with further offset to allow us to attach to the body inboard of the vents. We also used a second studded piece attached inside the body. The combination gives us no exposed fasteners, and allows us to have actual rear vents instead of just mesh.


We attached the mount to the inside of the body using our go-to M1 Structural Adhesive. It feels plenty sturdy, but we may also add a layer of fiberglass inside if we feel that we need some extra strength. After that, the mount installs just like the factory piece.
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Then, we cut out the vents.
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We also cut a hole for the rear spoiler to protrude through. Much like we did on our Roadster hood scoop, we will be blending the spoiler with the body, not using any exposed rivets.
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Other than that, we have had the engine in the car to begin planning our turbo setup, exhausts, and plumbing. We pulled the engine back out (using a forklikft; it's always a funny sight) and the body is now at the body shop for the next few weeks.
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[Plebeian]

Any update?

[Plebeian]

I'll ask again, any update?

[Doug @ Forma]

Sorry for the silence, it's been a busy summer and the Type 65 has taken a backseat to other projects. So much that we want to do, just not enough time to do it all.

We've made progress on lots of other things - getting our Mark IV & 818 to the London Cobra Show & the Columbus Arthritis Foundation show (where 818 took best in class in the kit car category), prepping our 818 for this weekend's Import Face Off drags and development of Mark IV and 818 accessories - but the Type 65 has been neglected.

She'll be getting some love soon.

[Doug @ Forma]

Actually, it's not that it hasn't gotten any attention. Bodywork and paint are done and the body is up on the racking, waiting ...

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[WIS89]

So Doug -- The paint is done, and you aren't going to show us what it looks like? What's up with that? ;-o)

I look forward to seeing how it turned out. I presume that it is following your paint theme on the 818 and Roadster? If so, I am sure it looks awesome!

I have enjoyed seeing what you all are doing. All the builds have looked great.

Regards,

Steve

[q4stix]

Do we get a 9 month update?

[Doug @ Forma]

I guess we are long overdue for an update, sorry!

As it sometimes goes, we've got too many irons in the fire and the Type 65 has gotten put on the back burner a bit. It's still not complete, but a lot of work has been done since my last update.

We had it on display at Barrett Jackson in January and got a lot of great comments.

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Our interior came together well. Still a few improvements we plan on making, but over all we're very pleased with it.

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Up front, we've got these nice hood louvers to vent the heat from the twin Borg-Warner turbos living under hood. They've not yet been fired up, but we're looking for 750-800 WHP.

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Unfortunately, we've had some customer projects come in that have meant the Coupe hasn't really been touched since we got back in January. We intend to have it at the London Cobra Show next weekend (6/23) in its current form. After LCS, it should get the love it needs and should be complete some time in July.

Last shot of our booth space in Scottsdale.

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[GoDadGo]

Impressive, Simply Impressive!

[q4stix]

Can you share any more pictures of the engine bay and turbo setup? Everything looks great, I just want to see more

[cgundermann]

Pretty darn cool!

Chris

[Doug @ Forma]

Thanks for all the kind words. At some point after the LCS I'll post more pictures of the turbo set up. Right now, we're busy finishing another car for tomorrow's show. Literally, right now. It's going to be a late night for us.

Unfortunately, we won't have time to get the 65 buttoned up and cleansed up for the show tomorrow. It needs to get done soon, however, as it has a show commitment in July, so we should have some more to share soon.

[Clover]

You are all crazy busy and I want you guys to be successful, so I am willing to help out. Go ahead and take the turbos and all the plumbing off and send it all to over to me. Then you guys can have it buttoned up quick and I will put the turbos on my car. All better. Please keep in mind that I am only doing this because I care.