Brad's build

[car04]

Well... it's finally time to post something after lurking around here for the last 12 months...

First, I want to say thank you to all those who are active on this and other forums dedicated to FFR cars. Your posts, pics and comments have been incredibly helpful. Also thanks to the guys at factory five for their patience and for not laughing out loud at some of the stupid questions I've asked over the last year.

So the back story is I've been wanting a Cobra or Daytona Coup for years. In late 2019 I got the "will you just shut up and go do it" talk with my wife. At the time I was doing a lot of business in Boston so I arranged my schedule for a visit, that was February 21st 2020 (same day as the Porsche Club was doing a visit which was a bit confusing when I pulled into the parking lot). Anyway, the visit was important for me because I'm 6'4" and I was really concerned about fitting, which turns out was a valid concern. It's a tight fit but tolerable -- for me, there is plenty of headroom but a little tight on leg room and in the foot box for my size 13s. I met with Dave Brigham from FFR and we worked through an order for the complete kit that day. I got on a flight home that night and a few weeks later Covid-19 appeared ... Factory Five was great in the beginning of the crisis and over communicated to keep me updated. I was very concerned I wouldn't see the car for many months but I took delivery on May 31 2020 ... I'm guessing mine was one of the last cars shipped before things really shutdown due to Covid.

I thought about detailing my whole build and everything as I went but I could never do as good a job as so many others have done on this forum so I'll leave that stuff to them. I reached a major milestone last weekend in driving the car 8.5 miles in go cart mode, everything went perfectly until I ran it out of gas (don't ask - senior moment). The body is almost ready so I'll be getting that part done in the next few weeks and then it's off to registration and then hammer down.

The original plan was get the complete kit, have a project for a couple years, then end up with a hot rod that would see a track day here and there along with some local auto-cross from time to time. Well, that plan lasted about a month. With the Covid lockdowns I had a lot more time to think about and work on the car. Thank goodness I had something to do during this time but it also meant I had time to browse catalogs and websites resulting some extra spend in a few areas (ok a lot of areas). To sum it up, I ordered everything new and complete: FFR Coupe kit (sans powder coat), Blueprint 427 engine, TKO600 from American Powertrain and Moser 9" rear (3.89) and lot's of odds and ends from various sources. Everything pretty much went together as planned although a few of my upgrades required some finagling, like the radiator. My build plan was to mock up the car nearly 100% then tear it down, go to paint and power and then do final assembly. In hindsight I would take the same basic approach again if I had it to do over because it allows for mistakes and some cutting and welding before powder coating if necessary. Yea, you're basically building the car twice but I think you end up with a better build overall as a result.


10 lessons learned (in no particular order)
1. The manual is helpful and a great reference but some sections are dated or simply inaccurate (i.e. Gen 1 to 3 or Cobra not Coupe)
2. The body is not symmetrical -- this one got me in more than one place but especially when hanging the nose -- measure your fog light / hinge mounts mine were off a ton
3. Inventory is important, there are lot's of little parts (some unrelated) in bags, it can be confusing to figure out what everything is. IMO for some of the smaller things like fasteners, wire, etc. it would be easier if FFR gave a specific list of what to get because most of what you need can be ordered online or obtained at the local hardware store -- take time to organize and label things, you'll appreciate it later on -- I used paper wire tags which worked well
4. Get a plan organized from the beginning -- think through the build and get some semblance of a written plan or list together, it will force you to think through things and allow for organizing parts and prioritizing build and outsourced activities
5. Working with fiberglass sucks
6. Tools -- having the right tool for the job can make a big difference, harbor freight is a great source for cheap single / limited use tools - also good source for bits, scuff / sand pads, saw blades, electrical, etc. At a minimum invest in a quality air compressor, a pneumatic drill and riven gun, a quality set of tin snips, cut off wheel and angle grinder.
7. Clecos are your friend -- buy 200 of them
8. Wiring harness -- if you are deviating from the FFR dash/switch/knob layout you should probably consider building the wiring harness from scratch
9. A few useful websites -- summit racing, jegs, amazon, online metals, bolt depot, breeze automotive, grainger, speedway motors to name a few
10. Resources -- the google machine is a great help but don't trust everything you see on the interweb -- my first stop was always these forums and from time to time an email to FFR to validate what I found or was thinking


All in all it has been a great experience so far, I look forward to completing the project but also have started thinking about the next one and what I'd do differently which I don't think is uncommon...


Here are a couple videos -- I'll post another once the body is on

Walk around....

It's alive!

[James Morse]

When you say "quality air compressor" what did you have in mind? I think I-R has some decent ones arount $1500? I'm thinking of one that could work for painting if I go that route, also, I have another project that I might want to spray paint so when I do get a compressor I want one that will work for everything.

I take it cleco is a temporary rivet holder. I have often wondered what those things were that I see in pictures.

As to wiring, probably not applicable to your build, but some newer setups have no fuses and no relays and all the wiring basically to one place. I hear they really simplify things.

[car04]

Yes - something like IR, Craftsman, Dewalt, etc - 60 gal with proper filtration / water removal

[FF33rod]

Congrats on a major milestone!!!

Would be good to hear what you've done for the instrument cluster

Steve

[car04]

I decided to go with the Holley 12" digital dash - fully customizable - right now I'm setup with tach, speed, temp and pressure for oil and water, fuel level and volts - with idiot lights for fan on/off, low oil pressure and ac kick on/off - it was pretty straightforward install and setup since I have the Holley sniper efi too

[car04]

On the home stretch - can't wait to get registered and on the road...

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0B1M...p1UYWnpSkmiRyw

[David Williamson]

looking good but we need more pictures.
David W

[daxtojeiro]

And the videos links don't work

[car04]

Here a few pics and videos -- I'm almost complete and will take some final ones and post them in another couple weeks ...

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0n5O...b7FE9UZXWhFjoA

[Logan]

Looking good Brad!

1. Specs on the front and rear splined swaybars?? How did you choose the rates?
2. Where do you source the adjustable struts to go in place of the coilovers? Would be handy for doing CG height measurements.

[car04]

Bars sourced from Coleman racing - pretty simple in rate - hollow bar minimum thickness - arm us about 12" - spring rate around 300# front and rear (roughly as I recall) - will need to check notes to be sure - went with minimum to start

Calling them "struts" makes them seem important - it's just an old racers trick - swedged tubes with heims - set ride height, measure, install and go - you can get them at any race supply (summit, jegs, etc) - tubes for mine 11" front 13" rear - nice part is once installed the wheels / chassis are always at ride height

[car04]

This is the basic kit from Coleman Racing -- http://www.colemanracing.com/Sway-Ba...ine-P3795.aspx

I have the .188 bar on the front (263 spring rate) and a .125 on the rear (188 spring rate) - per this calculator https://swayaway.com/tech-room/torsi...te-calculator/

[car04]

Added a few more pics -- https://share.icloud.com/photos/04qT...VJI7OdqmamaVUg

I'm basically done at this point -- awaiting 2 replacement headlight covers, cracked then during the install - word of advise, drill the holes larger than the screws because when you torque the screw it will crack the lenses -- yes, this is called out in the manual but I missed it

I have an registration appointment on Tuesday so hopefully I'll be able to knock that out (appts required now in due to Covid) and I have insurance lined up but they can't insure it until it has a vin. So hopefully by the end of the week I'll be done done, super excited about that. There is a coffee and cars this weekend so may make an appearance there assuming all goes well.