Papa's MKIV Roadster Build - #9115 (Post Grad) - One million + views!!!

[rrrose]

Man that sucks that, that happened. You did well with the repair though.
Ron

[rrrose]

I have not done this before but I know I was the source of the install the transmission frame mount before the engine goes in. This was specifically talked about in the August build school and both Todd and Scott said to put it in first. The reason stated was it was much easier to access the bolts for the mount and get those tightened without having to work around the transmission. When we installed the engine at the school that trans frame mount was already in there and that 302 went in nice and smooth. It wasn't beat up either from the transmission hitting and scraping it.
I cant believe I am 2 weeks in with my kit and have the nerve to say something different than GoDadGo, what am I thinking

Now I am curious. What say those that have experience here, install the transmission frame mount before or after (per the manual)?
Ron

[rrrose]

I have not done this before but I know I was the source of the install the transmission frame mount before the engine goes in. This was specifically talked about in the August build school and both Todd and Scott said to put it in first. The reason stated was it was much easier to access the bolts for the mount and get those tightened without having to work around the transmission. When we installed the engine at the school that trans frame mount was already in there and that 302 went in nice and smooth. It wasn't beat up either from the transmission hitting and scraping it.
I cant believe I am 2 weeks in with my kit and have the nerve to say something different than GoDadGo, what am I thinking

Now I am curious. What say those that have experience here, install the transmission frame mount before or after (per the manual)?
Ron

[Mark Eaton]

I got the same message at the build school and the transmission frame was the first item I put on the chassis when it arrived. That being said, my whole approach to the build has changed since I started from "do it right the first time" to "put things on finger tight, adjust, take them off, put them back on, do it again, etc..."

In fact, I'm planning to put my engine in and take it out at least twice just to be more like edwardb. And if I have to do the same thing with the transmission mount so be it!

Mark

[Jeff Kleiner]

---Trans A frame after
---Position the chassis nose low, tail high as Go Dad stated
---Engine leveler makes it a 10 minute one man job

Cheers,
Jeff

[GoDadGo]

--
---Engine leveler makes it a 10 minute one man job

Cheers,
Jeff

15 if you are installing a Chevy!

[Jeff Kleiner]

15 if you are installing a Chevy!

Jeff

[wareaglescott]

15 if you are installing a Chevy!

30 if its a Coyote with the headers already attached!

FWIW I found it a pain in the rear to get that transmission frame mount in after the motor was in place. Mainly because I was working on jack stands and crawling under the car laying on my back with minimal room to work. Had I been smart enough to think of it beforehand I would have tried that.

[Papa]

Two months ago I bought a 2-ton engine hoist at my local Harbor Freight. When I assembled it, I found that one of the casters was missing. I called the missing parts number in the manual and after waiting eight weeks for the part to arrive I got fed up and went back to the store to discuss options with the store manager. To my surprise, he pulled one out of a another box and gave it to me. I got it bolted on and not ten minutes later, the FedEx truck pulls up with a complete set of casters for my engine hoist. I called the store and explained that my parts arrived and the manager said not to worry about it. I was pleased to receive the great customer service, but wonder if this is why my box was missing parts?

Anyway, after finishing up with the hoist I installed my wiper motor and got it wired up.





Instead of drilling another hole in the padded dash, I decided to mount the wiper switch in the dash brace under the center of the dash. If all goes well, I will rarely ever need to use the wipers.

[AC Bill]

Some poor guy will now buy the hoist, that's missing a caster, thanks to the generous store manager helping you out.. Circle of life..lol

Remember to slide the cable guide nut down the cable, to the motor, before attaching the cable sleeves and wheel-box's...Major PIA otherwise..

I took my wipers off when the car went off for paint, and never put them back on again. I should keep the wipers/arms, in the trunk I suppose, just in case..

[Ray]

---Trans A frame after
---Position the chassis nose low, tail high as Go Dad stated
---Engine leveler makes it a 10 minute one man job

Cheers,
Jeff

How they did it at the factory:Engine install @ the factory.jpg

Ray

[TexasAviator]

Papa,

I too have an electrical engineering background. My enjoyment is power supplies and power amplifiers. I have audio amplifiers, tuned crossover networks for speaker systems, and my best build was a 500 watt HF radio amplifier into an old Sony ES heatsink from the 90's. I miss tinkering but being in the Family and the Air Force has kept me busy.

My wife and I are form Colorado SPrings. My oldest son was born there. My mom and dad live in Black forest right down the road from you on Highway 83. I am going skiing this winter. I would love to come up to parker to say hi.

Good luck with your build. I hope to move back to Colorado or Utah someday. I miss my mountains.

[Papa]

Papa,

I too have an electrical engineering background. My enjoyment is power supplies and power amplifiers. I have audio amplifiers, tuned crossover networks for speaker systems, and my best build was a 500 watt HF radio amplifier into an old Sony ES heatsink from the 90's. I miss tinkering but being in the Family and the Air Force has kept me busy.

My wife and I are form Colorado SPrings. My oldest son was born there. My mom and dad live in Black forest right down the road from you on Highway 83. I am going skiing this winter. I would love to come up to parker to say hi.

Good luck with your build. I hope to move back to Colorado or Utah someday. I miss my mountains.

My EE focus is in Radio Frequency Spectrum and Telecommunications. Just give me a shout when you are in the area. I'd love to have you come by.

Dave

[Papa]

Today was 'prep for engine install' day. I wanted to clean up and attach cushion clips to hold my harnesses neatly within the trans tunnel rather than using zip ties. I drilled, tapped, and installed the cushion clamps along both sides of the tunnel.





I also replaced the original brake reservoir bracket I made out of the thin aluminum. It was very flimsy and I was afraid of frothing the brake fluid. I bought a piece of 1/4" thick aluminum and counter sunk a couple of stainless screws though the upper frame support and attached the reservoir to the plate. It's rock solid now.





While cleaning up the rear harness placement, I snapped off the retaining clip on the fuel sending connector. I posted in the main forum as well, but if anyone can help me locate a replacement for that plug, that would be awesome.

I have several guys, including rrrose (Ron) from the forum, coming over to help me with the engine install tomorrow!

[Papa]

Engine install day is here! I've got the chassis positioned and the engine out of the crate with the motor and trans mounts attached.

[wallace18]

You may have to loosen the 2 bolts on each motor mount to get it in the chassis. Once in you can tighten it all up.

[broku518]

wow, exciting!
Quick question, how hard was to join the transmission and engine/clutch?
M. Forte is shipping them separately, so I will have to join them whenever ready.

Thanks,
Martin

[Paul2STL]

Lookin good Papa, I'm guessing you are tackling it by yourself. Let us know how it went I will be dropping my engine in soon also. Good idea with the ramps to get the rear up higher. I would take the shifter off the trans so it doesn't catch on the tunnel. Also maybe wrap the trans with some rages to protect you firewall and tunnel when going in. Good Luck!

[GoDadGo]

Papa,

Yours is going in while mine is popping out.
Watch your fingers & good luck.

Steve

[Jeff Kleiner]

You're all set with the tail high, nose low and an engine leveler---stab it in there!

Jeff

[Papa]

You may have to loosen the 2 bolts on each motor mount to get it in the chassis. Once in you can tighten it all up.

She went in without any issues! I'll post pictures once they finish uploading to Flickr. My son-in-law was taking pictures during the entire install and I ended up with 130 photos!

[Papa]

wow, exciting!
Quick question, how hard was to join the transmission and engine/clutch?
M. Forte is shipping them separately, so I will have to join them whenever ready.

Thanks,
Martin

Martin,

Mine came assembled as you see it from BluePrint. I'm sure you can get it done with all the YouTube videos out there and the generous experts on this forum.

Dave

[Papa]

Lookin good Papa, I'm guessing you are tackling it by yourself. Let us know how it went I will be dropping my engine in soon also. Good idea with the ramps to get the rear up higher. I would take the shifter off the trans so it doesn't catch on the tunnel. Also maybe wrap the trans with some rages to protect you firewall and tunnel when going in. Good Luck!

It went in without a single scratch! After getting it in I pulled out the drive shaft and realized that I should have pulled the shaft out of the tail housing before installing. It would have been a little shorter that way and I don't need the one BluePrint shipped since the FF drive shaft is complete with the 31 spline shaft.

[Papa]

Papa,

Yours is going in while mine is popping out.
Watch your fingers & good luck.

Steve

Thanks, Steve. Same to you!.

Dave

[Papa]

Okay guys, the engine is in! I had a lot of help and that made things go very smoothly. The only real issue we had was that the engine hoist wouldn't fit under the front end and we had to raise the front a few inches. We had three guys guiding the engine into the car, including Mr. Ron Rose, a fellow MK4 builder! I had one guy under the car guiding the transmission in. I decided to try to do the install with the trans a-frame installed as Ron suggested based on what he learned at the build school. We had no issues getting it in this way and I didn't have to fight with it later. Here are a few pictures.

[Yama-Bro]

Looks awesome! Glad it went well for you.

[rrrose]

It was great to help out. It really went in with zero issues we didn't scratch any part of the frame anywhere. The hardest part was cranking the leveler which has a poorly designed crank handle.
Dave provided all his helpers hot dogs and sodas with adult beverages after the task was complete.

Its just wonderful this community and making new friends.
Ron

[Mikeyc911]

damn I should have called you

[Derald Rice]

The hardest part was cranking the leveler which has a poorly designed crank handle.

Ron

Next time take the handle off and then double nut the end of the load leveler so that you can use a small impact driver.

[Papa]

Next time take the handle off and then double nut the end of the load leveler so that you can use a small impact driver.

The cheap Harbor Freight leveler's handle is welded to the gear shaft. The revolving handle they provide is made out of some sort of plastic and it simply wasn't up to the task once the leveler was past the center point. I suppose I could always weld a tall nut to the thing and use an impact wrench on it. Hopefully I'll never need it again.

[GoDadGo]

That's One Clean Installation!

Keep the wiring tidy and you'll have a show stopping, world class, award winning engine compartment.

[mach'er]

That looks great!!! I bet it feels good to have that thing in there!

[Straversi]

Congratulations. Looks like you had a good crew and I imagine a few laughs. Well done.
-Steve

[Derald Rice]

The cheap Harbor Freight leveler's handle is welded to the gear shaft. The revolving handle they provide is made out of some sort of plastic and it simply wasn't up to the task once the leveler was past the center point. I suppose I could always weld a tall nut to the thing and use an impact wrench on it. Hopefully I'll never need it again.

Got it. My harbor freight leveler , maybe 15 years old, just had a bolted on handle that was easily removed. Another example that new and improved does not mean better.

Congratulations on one of the major milestones of your build.

[wareaglescott]

Its just wonderful this community and making new friends.
Ron

Congrats on getting the motor in. Can't wait to see the first start video when you get to it!

I gotta say as Ron already mentioned but the community of builders on this project has been one of the most pleasantly surprising parts of the entire build. I never expected to make a network of friends all over the country building one of these cars. I will probably never even see most of these people in person yet everyone is always so willing to help out the next guy. I only wish I had more builders in my area!

[Papa]

Thanks to all for the kind words of encouragement! I didn't expect to be this far along in my build for a long time still. It definitely felt like a major milestone getting the engine in and it wouldn't have been possible without the support from the great group of fellow enthusiasts here in this on-line community as well as those, like Ron, who are there in person when you need the help.

Dave

[TexasAviator]

great job. I am not far from getting my drivetrain bolted up and on its way into the car. I see the engine still has many of its tags still on it. I am probably going to try and run the engine before I install it to make sure there are no leaks and anything else i may have to address while its out of the car.
Again, great job. And it looks awesome!

[Papa]

great job. I am not far from getting my drivetrain bolted up and on its way into the car. I see the engine still has many of its tags still on it. I am probably going to try and run the engine before I install it to make sure there are no leaks and anything else i may have to address while its out of the car.
Again, great job. And it looks awesome!

Thanks! My engine was run on the dyno stand at BluePrint just prior to shipping it to me. I know that's not a 100% guarantee, but I feel pretty good about the engine being ready to go once I figure out all the connections, fluids, etc..

[WIS89]

Papa-

She looks great! I have the BluePrint 408, and I can't wait to get it started. It looks so nice in the engine bay.

Congratulations on the awesome milestone, and doing it with a great group of guys helping out!

You are making great time, and I look forward to watching your continued progress.

Regards,

Steve

[Papa]

Today I plumbed in my heater bypass.



I also installed the drive line and filled my transmission with fluid.

I went to my local auto parts store and the guy behind the counter asked what I was looking for. I told him I needed three quarts of GM Synchromesh MTF - 12345349. He got a "what?" look on his face and then proceeded to ask me what it was for. I told him it was for a Tremec TKO 600 transmission. Again with the "what?" look on his face. He then asked, "Is that a bike or what?" I told him it was an after market 5-speed transmission. He then wanted to know what kind of car it was and I told him it was a Cobra replica. He asked, What year?" I started getting annoyed and told him he wasn't going to find it in his computer, but he insisted. "What make?" Factory Five. "What year?" A 2017 Factory Five replica of a 1965 AC Cobra. After staring at his computer, he finally told me what isle the transmission fluid was on. The entire section was full of every type of ATF you could ever want except for the very bottom corner where they had three quarts of what I needed.

To wrap up the day, I installed the water temp sensor, added some line separators to my fuel lines, and connected the positive battery cable to the starter.