Jeff_J MK4 Build update

[Jeff_J.]

Going to try making my own door cards with pouch

[Jeff_J.]

Lots done over the last month her's my update.
Rad screen. (thanks for this one too Paul) Its inevitable there will be stone/s bouncing into the radiator from time to time so to protect the rad I made the rad screen per Paul’s template. I sandwiched SS mesh screen between layers of 1/8” x ¾” AL. flat stock offset the edges for better support and rivetted it together. I used ½” rivets to encapsulate the layers, then filed the slag ends down a little so they didn’t stick out as far. Fabricated 4 braces from a thicker/ stronger AL. to hold the screen in front of the Radiator by about 1”, used 10 – 24 button head screws and nylock with nuts facing outwards to attach the braces to the screen then attached the braces to the chassis with 10 – 24 button head screws through the side panels into nutserts installed in the downward chassis rails. It will all be installed after the body is back on & easy to remove should it be necessary… I read another post about a honeycomb screen available from Amazon that works well too. This turned out fine.
Rad Screen 2.jpg
Rad Screen 3.jpg
Radiator air dams.jpg

Rubber mounted the Rad to the chassis. I installed the breeze lower rad mount early in the build but didn’t install the upper hinge support – I decided to add another support tab to the top of the Radiator centered between the left and right attachment points on the chassis rail. I took this opportunity to add rubber washers to the attachment points as well. The lower radiator shroud is attached to the Breese SS support rod by screws - I decided to add washers to the screws between the radiator skirt and the SS rod to take up the gap so the radiator skit wouldn’t distort when the screws were tightened.

Dead peddle install. Followed the instructions sent with the part, taped it in place to get a feel for where I’d like to have it then put in two screws to hold it in place and tried it again to confirm. Liked where it was so I installed the remaining two screws and the anti skid tape. For me it felt right located pretty much along the line of the footbox expansion angle. I installed the dead peddle over top of the Thermotech then traced & cut out the carpet. I glued the carpet but left the last 4” at the bottom unattached, the carpet goes inside the footbox floor panel, on final installation I’ll glue this last bit in on final install. The installation was easier because currently I have the DS outer footbox side attached with self tapping screws and could take it off. I plan to drive the car for a couple of months as a shakedown before painting, if I need to make adjustments in the footbox area its a lot easier with the footbox side removable. I’ll rivet it on after shakedown and before paint.
dead peddle 1.jpg
dead peddle 2.jpg
dead peddle 3.jpg

Heater lower vents – I mentioned in an earlier post how I didn’t like the routing for the heater lower vents. The install instructions have the ducting attached to the inside top of the footbox and the eyeball vent attached right where the door strap would be. Moving the eyeball inwards away from the strap starts to interfere with the legs/knees. I fabricated brackets which attaches the eyeballs about 1” away from the 2” chassis rail running parallel to the dash. I tapped 2- 10-32 holes in the bracket and purchased a knob for the outboard side to tighten the bracket in place. (10-32 Black plastic knobs with stud from McMaster Carr) and a 10-32 x ½” button head for the other side. The bracket allows the vent to rotate forward or backwards, I think it adds versatility for airflow and eliminates any interference with legs – knees and door strap It works fine.. I’ll install zip ties to replace the tape on final installation.
Heater lower vent 1.jpg
Heater lower vent 2.jpg
Heater lower vent 3.jpg
Heater lower vent 4.jpg

Still rolling..

[Jeff_J.]

Carpet installation was next: Followed the manual for sequence, kinda. Used Super 77 adhesive, I was a little too thin on my first application, carpet didn’t stick well at all, pulled it off and gave a “thick coat” which worked much better lots of taping and had to watch for overspray onto already laid carpet – I think the troweling of Weldwood glue might have been an easier option. A lot of trimming to get it to fit exactly right on pretty much all pieces, sharp razor knife helped a lot. Cockpit is done, trunk is now complete as well. Purchased an additional yard of carpet from FF for the drop trunk and the trunk side panels I fabricated.
Carpet inst 2.jpg
Carpet inst 3.jpg
Carpet inst 6.jpg

After installing the carpet in the drop trunk I decided to install a trim piece to clean up the drop trunk edges. Used #6 x ¾ self tapping flathead screws and countersunk them into a 1” x 1” black aluminium moulding from HD.
Carpet inst 9.jpg
Carpet inst 10.jpg

Cubby Box. I have a heater so no glovebox. I decided to make a cubby compartment in the trunk with access through the cockpit wall, measured the gap between the seats and made the door a little narrower, started the opening 1.25” above the 2” chassis rail which lines up with the cockpit aluminium bend. I made it 6.5” tall. Cut and rivetted a reinforcement frame on the trunk side, it’s ¼” narrower than the door opening so it acts like a stop. Installed a long throw Cam lock, made, and riveted in a catching piece for the cam lock arm, carpeted the door. I’ll change the cam lock to black later.
I also made a cubby compartment inside the trunk, I haven’t attached it yet and won’t for a while, there’s not a lot of space in the trunk so if the box takes up too much space I’ll take it out.
cubby 1.jpg
cubby 2.jpg
cubby 3.jpg

The journey continues.

[Jeff_J.]

This is the cubby box I fabricated - still not sure if it's a keeper or not.
cubby box 2.jpg
cubby box 3.jpg

Installed lights for the cubby compartment as well as lights for the trunk I have them working off the convenience light circuit as opposed to an actuator switch. The trunk is an ICBEAMER 12” LED light strip, I’ll attach to the bottom of the trunk chassis rail. Inside the cubby I’m going to use the FF supplied tape strip first and if it doesn’t survive, I’ll get a shorter ICBEAMER. These pictures are before final install.

[F500guy]

I think that rear cubby is pretty handy, like the door.

[Jeff_J.]

Theft deterrent.
I read forum posts and thought about this for a while before moving forward. I have a sniper EFI so I installed a sniper cutoff switch as my added theft deterrent. My sniper EFI has a pink wire which needs 12V to close a relay and allow power to the sniper. The wire is attached to the start/run pole of the ignition switch, so I incorporated a push button switch (Amazon $15.00) strategically behind the dash to interrupt the relay essentially killing the sniper and associated fuel pump from pressurising, it doesn’t stop the engine from cranking, but it won’t start. I’m thinking this will keep the kids/joy riders from taking the car, if it won’t start after taking the time & making a lot of noise, they’ll move on, professionals on the other hand will always win... Alarms and the like have been discussed to great length on the forum – and I don’t want to restart that discussion here, I say “to each their own” this was my solution for now. I tested it today and it works perfectly little added piece of mind.
sniper cutoff1.jpg

Rubber block to replace the FF supplied, nose support bracket. FF supplies a bracket that attaches to the chassis via the front bumper attachment plate and then into the fibreglass nose of the car by the two small screws/studs holding the signal lights to the body. There has been comment from builders and bodywork guys noting the small screws have in some cases, created stress fractures, probably from the jolting of the nose over time. Some have discarded the mounting bracket in favor of a 5/8” rubber block mounted to the top of the chassis rail at the front just before where the rail dives down to the flat bumper mounting plate.
I ordered a flat 6” x 6” x 5/8” rubber block from Metro Moulded products – and cut 2 – ¾” x 3” blocks and countersunk 2 – 10-24 x 1 5/8” long flat head tapered screws into the block, then through the chassis and attached it with washers and nylock nuts. This along with the ¾” SS bumper tubes is the support for the nose of the car. (Credit to Mr Kleiner and Miller for this mod. Mr Miller had me concerned about my temporary wooden block - it wasn't treated for termites LOL)
Rubber block.jpg

I made door cards out of Masonite, I plan to have them covered with leather and add a pouch for misc stuff. I should have more on this later.
Still having fun!

[Jeff_J.]

Pinion Angle: When I was reading posts on this it was clear to have output and input as close to parallel as possible. The video explained the problem of not being parallel so that’s how I proceeded. After goofing around and making a wrong measurement I got this figured out. I used the Online “Spicer” calculation tool to get the angles figured out. I have a total of 4 - .25” spacers under the tranny mount totalling a lift of 1” off the “A” bracket. This yields final measurements of tranny down -1.35*, Drive S down .92* and IRS up at 1.05*. Once added into the calculator I have the Operating angle 1 at .43 and Op angle 2 at 1.97 both are within spec.

If I was to raise the tail any further the Tranny and DS numbers get worse, but the Pinion gets better. This is the trade off, I guess.

The IRS is welded to the frame and the centre section is bolted to the IRS (4 bolts – 2 upper 2 lower), it might be possible to change the angle of the centre section (pinion) by inserting a spacer on the upper two bolts thereby changing the angle to be at level or at downward slope it would be better for alignment. I may address this in the future, as for now I’m within spec and I don’t plan to autocross or race the car, if in the future the car is going to be raced, I would have a performance shop review everything just to be sure. This whole process would have been easier and less grief if done when the engine is installed. The manual doesn’t talk about pinion angle I guess it’s something you’re supposed to know… Glad to have this behind me none the less!!


Metco Safety Hoop. This is a good quality piece and fits right in easily. The hoop is a steel oval which goes around the driveshaft between the tranny output and pinion shafts, in case the drive shaft was to fail, its intended to keep the shaft inside the tunnel and guard against it piercing the tunnel and possibly hitting the driver or passenger. The hoop is a frequently installed option by builders regardless of if they are racing the car or not, its just a good idea. I installed this right after the pinion angle was set as the hoop uses two bolts on the tranny “A” bracket support as part of the attachment. I had to buy two longer tranny mount bolts 2.25” long to accommodate the pinion angle spacers and the thickness of the safety hoop.
Drive S Saftey Hoop.jpg

Moving to the next piece to the puzzle.

[cc2Arider]

Looks good Jeff

I've wondered lately (with all the "expected" spacers being added between the transmission "cross-member" and the transmission mounting tabs), why the safety loop isn't designed to go on top of the main frame crossmember tube rather than below it. If I get frisky enough to cut/bend my own 1/4" bracket, I may design mine that way

Craig C

[Jeff_J.]

Hey Craig, Thanks for the comment.
I guess with the variations in builds - motor trans combinations they figured there would be less possibility of interference going underneath?? Going on top would have been easier for me and saved me a spacer. It's a nice piece though 1/4" steel and fits well. I attached the Metco install instructions in case you wanted to look them over. Good luck..
J.
Metco Inst..jpg

[BUDFIVE]

Carpet installation was next: Followed the manual for sequence, kinda. Used Super 77 adhesive, I was a little too thin on my first application, carpet didn’t stick well at all, pulled it off and gave a “thick coat” which worked much better lots of taping and had to watch for overspray onto already laid carpet – I think the troweling of Weldwood glue might have been an easier option. A lot of trimming to get it to fit exactly right on pretty much all pieces, sharp razor knife helped a lot. Cockpit is done, trunk is now complete as well. Purchased an additional yard of carpet from FF for the drop trunk and the trunk side panels I fabricated.
Carpet inst 2.jpg
Carpet inst 3.jpg
Carpet inst 6.jpg

After installing the carpet in the drop trunk I decided to install a trim piece to clean up the drop trunk edges. Used #6 x ¾ self tapping flathead screws and countersunk them into a 1” x 1” black aluminium moulding from HD.
Carpet inst 9.jpg
Carpet inst 10.jpg

Cubby Box. I have a heater so no glovebox. I decided to make a cubby compartment in the trunk with access through the cockpit wall, measured the gap between the seats and made the door a little narrower, started the opening 1.25” above the 2” chassis rail which lines up with the cockpit aluminium bend. I made it 6.5” tall. Cut and rivetted a reinforcement frame on the trunk side, it’s ¼” narrower than the door opening so it acts like a stop. Installed a long throw Cam lock, made, and riveted in a catching piece for the cam lock arm, carpeted the door. I’ll change the cam lock to black later.
I also made a cubby compartment inside the trunk, I haven’t attached it yet and won’t for a while, there’s not a lot of space in the trunk so if the box takes up too much space I’ll take it out.
cubby 1.jpg
cubby 2.jpg
cubby 3.jpg

The journey continues.

I like the rear cubby. You said it is 6.5” tall. What is the length? Depth?

[Jeff_J.]

Thanks for the kind comments. The size changed a little. I have attached pictures with measurements of the door and the box. I haven't attached the box to the trunk or riveted it together in case I want to make any final adjustments to the size when the body goes on, I'll get it powder coated then too. I was thinking it might be a place to put a portable Blue Tooth speaker when cruising at slower speeds or stopped.
Hope this helps.
J.
Cubby box 9.jpg
Cubby box 8.jpg
Cubby box 7.jpg
Cubby box 6.jpg
Cubby box 5.jpg
Cubby box 4.jpg
I added this picture as it makes a difference on fit.
Cubby box 10.jpg
I used my granola box to get the angle then traced it on the aluminium sheet, used my jigsaw to cut it out. I built this before the insulation and carpet was in - it makes a difference on the height of the frame channel location.. Found that out later which is why the gap there is a little larger.
The flat tab at the bottom is 1" wide - used my bending brake to do those.
J.

[Jeff_J.]

Update from earlier post.
“Heater lower vents – I mentioned in an earlier post how I didn’t like the routing for the heater lower vents. The install instructions have the ducting attached to the inside top of the footbox and the eyeball vent attached right where the door strap would be. Moving the eyeball inwards away from the strap starts to interfere with the legs/knees. I fabricated brackets which attaches the eyeballs about 1” away from the 2” chassis rail running parallel to the dash. I tapped 2- 10-32 holes in the bracket and purchased a knob for the outboard side to tighten the bracket in place. (10-32 Black plastic knobs with stud from McMaster Carr) and a 10-32 x ½” button head for the other side. The bracket allows the vent to rotate forward or backwards, I think it adds versatility for airflow and eliminates any interference with legs – knees and door strap It works fine.. I’ll install zip ties to replace the tape on final installation. “

Update: The 7/8” knobs arrived from McMaster, installed and the vents works as intended, the knob tightens and secures the desired rotation of the vent which can direct airflow towards the seats as well as into the foot boxes and are not in the way of the door strap. Still haven’t got the brackets powder coated, it’s on the list with other parts. Ducting is zip tied in its final location. Happy with the way it turned out.
Heater lower vent 6.jpg
Heater lower vent 7.jpg
J.

[phileas_fogg]

Hi Jeff,

Forgive me if you've already thought of this, but how are you going to bolt the roll bar leg to its post? It looks like you're going to have to drill the holes fore/aft rather than left/right, and then go in through the cubby door to secure the hardware? You might want to try fitting the nuts & bolts now while you still have the ability to move the sides.


John

[Theshandman]

Hi Ted,
I see the plate were you suggested it would be - 10359RD.
Thx
J.

Looking good there Jeff! FWIW, my frame delivered 12/15/21 is 10248.

[Jeff_J.]

Hi John, Thanks for the caution on the roll bars. Post for the roll bars and the roll bars where fitted & drilled a while ago. The cubby box is not attached yet I plan to take it out when the body goes on and the roll bars are in just to be sure I have the clearance I need.

Hey Art - my number is 10369 - delivered June /22. Thanks for the kind comment.
J.

[Jonathan D]

Nice work, enjoying the build!

[Jeff_J.]

Thanks Jonathan. Can't wait for spring!!
J.

[Jeff_J.]

Body fit issue PS rear.
I noticed when I put the body back on the car the body is higher at the corner of the PS side cockpit wall than on the DS by about ¾”. I’m seeing this looking in from the trunk. The body doesn’t have full contact with the bulb seal running along the trunk side wall for approximately 6-8 inches but there doesn’t seem to be anything on the PS cockpit corner to keep it from dropping down more. The bulb seal compacts heavily at the gas filler tube then is less compacted as it goes to the back of the car. Just to cover the bases: the body lip is under the chassis, it’s snug but it’s the same on the DS, I removed the rear bumper bolts to make sure that wasn’t the cause, the body is centred on the chassis, all the bulb seal is in place, the body is 3/16” in front of the door striker plate. The only place I can see the PS rear quarter of the body being tight on the chassis rail is where the bulb seal is compacted just across from the gas filler tube, maybe I’m pivoting the body at this point? I know there was only enough Al to get the bulb seal attached along the trunk wall, I didn’t do any trimming on this edge.
I lifted the body removed the bulb seal across the trunk wall, put the body back down, marked and trimmed any spot that was touching the top of the trunk wall and possibly holding the body up. Also took the opportunity to trim the ends of the trunk roll and valance. This task completed and body back down and the whole-body fits/aligns a better.


Trunk lid attachment to body. Not sure about rivnuts in the fibreglass holding the trunk hinges – too much focused pressure for a pressed in fastener I guess, it was starting to slide. I pulled the rivnut used HSFR and pressed it into the hole, redrilled the hole when it was dry and re inserted a rivnut. I added some large thin washers between the hinge and the body to spread the pressure – I have more confidence in it now. I’ll probably fibreglass these hinge plates in during bodywork.

Getting warmer out won't be long!!

[phileas_fogg]

How do the three aluminum panels at the back of the cockpit fit? I created an issue when I made the bends at each tab line up (rather than use the holes drilled by F5 for shipping). That made the back of my cockpit too wide for the body to fit down like it should. In addition to the fitment problem you describe at the side of the trunk, I also had a 3/4"-1" gap between the body and the passenger side rear cockpit wall.


John

[Jeff_J.]

The three panels at the back of the cockpit. I assume you mean the back wall the side piece that wraps the corner and the trunk side wall?
I dry fit and drilled these in the cockpit aluminium stage per manual, when I put the body on I found my corner piece was binding and holding the body up on the PS side only I determined it was higher by following the cockpit wall from the DS to the PS looking through the trunk. I had to trim the sloped side of the corner piece to reduce the interference on the PS only. The corner where the three meet still had a gap, that's when I lifted the body and removed the bulb seal and set the body back down on the trunk wall to see where it was contacting, i trimmed the trunk wall down in a few spots and also removed the metal channel of the bulb seal at the junction where the inner support on the trunk is (by the fuel filler tube & rear post of the PS roll bar) it doesn't mention to do this till you read in the final assembly section. I also trimmed the rear trunk valance a little more at the same time, it seemed tight and could have been restricting the body from moving forward and setting better. All of this helped to get the corner down and the body just seemed to fit better. Its not not perfect but I think additional trimming wasn't the answer. Good luck with this & keep up the great work.

[Jeff_J.]

Had a bit more shop time so time to post.

Rad Cowl: The cowl fills the gap between the top of the radiator and the front edge of the nose of the car, it restricts air from rushing overtop of the radiator and into the engine compartment and I think it finishes the look of the compartment. I took the time to apply the brushed look on the radiator and I wanted the cowl to look the same, so I made my own. I made a template out of my favorite template material (granola box), traced the shape on .40ga Al, cut it out with a jig saw and cleaned the edges then made the slight bent on the brake, to fit the angle of the radiator rail, drilled and installed it with self tappers for now I might tap some SS 10/32 button head screws or maybe SS cap head on final install. I also attached bulb seal on the inside edge against the body to make it snug. I like how it turned out.
Cowl 1.jpg
Picture looking up past the rad and protective screen.
Cowl 2.jpg

Engine level: I found out after the engine was in the chassis that the chassis mount on the drivers side was lower than the PS and even rotating the engine to it’s maximum inside the motor mount I’m still low on the drivers side.
1 engine as high as dowl will allow..jpg
It’s pretty much indistinguishable when looking at the motor in the compartment but translates to a height difference at the header edges of 1.4”. The drivers side being lower. I’m not sure if I can adjust any further without abandoning the mount dowel so I’m going to live with it and see how this affects me downstream.

Side pipes: So here we are downstream. Due to the engine /header level issue noted above I have more of a complicated fit for the side pipes. I needed a little experience, so I spoke to Mark Reynolds at Breeze, a terrific resource. Ball flanges only adjust the pipe angles vertically, wedges correct pipe angles in or away from the body. Due to the Drivers side being low I needed to increase the height of the pipe within the body cutout a little which also brought the Pipe height ½” higher than chassis height. (the target height for most builds). The change in height also rotates the exit angle of the exhaust pipe a little higher, I may have to live with that for now. Passenger side is the opposite; pipe too high, angle pipe lower with ball flange, exhaust exit angle is lower. I’ve lowered the pipe as to a point of compromise. I added wedges to move the PS pipes a little further forward and inward to the body line, the Drivers side had to move back a little so same routine as above just opposite.
I’m pretty sure there’s someone with an idea on how to get the engine more level but I think I have reached a compromise here I can live with without being too creative..

Life is full or compromises...

[Jeff_J.]

Follow up; Windshield wipers install and wiper boxes. The wiper motor is better installed body off, the wiper tubing and boxes must be done body on for; the position for the holes drilled in the body for the boxes as well as the length and bend for the tubing the cable runs in. I tried bending the SS tube FF supplied for the cable but didn’t do a very good job of it so I changed to the Nicop fuel line FF supplied, I wasn’t using it anyways, it’s the same size as the SS tubing and a lot easier to bend, this tubing is pretty much invisible under the body. Hindsight being what it is the instructions should include a spacer on the bolt on the front of the wiper motor to angle it away from the firewall a little, I think it would help the install by decreasing the degree the tube has to bend. I used the FF kit supplied jig to drill the holes in the body, I ran the drill in reverse, it does minimise chipping of the fibreglass on the hole edges. Cut and flared the tubes applied lithium grease to the cable and assembled it all for install. EdwardB had replaced the angled rubber support tubes between the wiper box and inside of the body with 3/4” box tube aluminium to make the boxes more stable. I decided to do this as well, it is more solid for sure.
Wiper box support.jpg
Wiper boxes and linkage installed..jpg
I noticed on install, the angle the stem comes out of the body is important, if the stem is too low the chrome trim piece and gasket doesn’t leave you a lot of thread for the nut. I adjusted the angle on the aluminium box piece a little which adjusted angle the stem came out of the body as opposed to messing with the holes in the body.

It all snugged up great and the nut is flush with the shoulder of the stem.


Roll bar install: Not the most fun. The FF cutouts needed to be enlarged, I expected that, it took a while of removing a bit at a time but got it where it needed to be. The PS chassis post on the other hand was either a little larger or out of alignment, I used a round flapper on my drill to clear some of the spatter on the inside of the roll bar tubes but had to be a little more aggressive on the post to get it all to come together. This would have been a lot easier to deal with earlier in the build.
Roll bars final instal.jpg
Attached and this part completed.

Reading up on balancing the car - corner weights. Going to give this a try soon..

[Jeff_J.]

Vintage Air- Heater/Defrost kit. The lower vent mod I made turned out great. The Defrost vent not so good. I measured and cut the holes in the dash, the DS installed correctly the PS didn’t, the fit is too tight for the supplied metal defrost vent piece. I should have taken more time and read more on the forum about “installation issues” for this kit. It appears the supplied metal defrost vent is too short to get to the cutout overtop of the heater box without heater box interference. Not to be defeated so easy; out came the fabrication tools. I used the supplied metal vent as a guide and drafted and made my own version which I think is better than the kit supplied piece and it fits! The first picture shows the kit supplied vent to the left and my fabricated pieces on the right, mine is about 2.5” longer. I made a scale paper template and traced it onto .20ga aluminium, it’s what I had and is easy to bend, I used snips to cut the AL out and my brake to make crisp bends.
heater vent mod 1.jpg
heater vent mod 6.jpg

Some of the taper cuts pictured are a bit rough I fixed them before assembly. The lower piece is slightly narrower than the top so it fits easily, but the key to making this piece work under dash is the slight bend at the hose connection end, without this bend the piece is too long to clear the PS upper chassis rail, the length helps with the hose connections. With help from my trusted assistant, fit the piece in place, marked the vent slot and screw holes, cut the slot and drilled the front hole. Last picture is the completed piece tappers replaced with rivets; I’ll drill 2nd mounting hole on final assembly.
heater vent mod 2.jpg
heater vent mod 3.jpg
heater vent mod 7.jpg
Another item crossed off the list and it’s getting short, should be ready to get some miles on it later in April.

Setting ride height is next..

[Jeff_J.]

Setting and Ride height
My roadster build is nearing completion, I think, at least I have not added a lot of things to the “to do” list, that’s gotta mean something.

I started reading about Setting the Ride Height, its a preliminary step to alignment, there’s always good info on the forum. These was also a video, the one I watched notes the Red Koni shocks which came with the FF kit are adjustable for rebound??? , it goes on to say, although they’re supposed to be shipped set to the softest setting, Position #1, some arrive set to pos 2 & 3????? The video shows how to check/adjust them so I won’t go into it here, from what I understand position 1 (softest setting) is where they should be if using the FF kit supplied front and rear coilover springs. Ok – wish I’d known this before assembly/installation, maybe the Koni people could include a note “to check” in the box the shock arrived in?
No point starting ride height and alignment till I have peace of mind here so off come the wheels and shocks and disassembly to confirm the rebound setting, hours later, all of them checked out to be setting #1, so that’s a good thing.
Ride Height as 4.5” in the front and 5.25” in the back, the notes say to expect a little sag after driving, I’ll recheck this after a little driving.
One less thing on the list.

[Jeff_J.]

Preliminary Wheel alignments: I plan to have a professional wheel alignment done before driving too far but figured I’d get the wheels as close as I could on my own first.
Started with a rough alignment of the rear wheels on the IRS: Ride height set for now – used the UCA and LCA adjusters to move the wheels as close as I could to the toe and camber specifications. Lots of up and down from the jack to the floor and rolling the car back and forth before remeasuring and repeating. They look pretty good to me for now till properly aligned.

The front is a lot of the same basic process: set UCA arm measurements as recommended in the book to start, set the ride height, then started fine tuning the UCA and tie rod till I achieved as close as I could to the specifications on camber and toe as per the manual.
PS Toe almost zero, Camber Negative .18.
DS Toe almost zero, Camber Negative .25.
It will be important for me to communicate the shop who does the alignment this will be a street and highway car and won’t see the track, I understand it makes a difference as to how it will be set up. I will probably take it to an autocross track in the beginning just to understand the car a little better and what to expect with the setup it has. I watched a Utube on these roadsters, what they can do and what can happen if you are not prepared, I figure a little education/experience is never a bad idea.

Lastly steering wheel to front tire alignment. After making wheel adjustments my steering wheel is now a little off from straight, it looks odd and needs to be straight. Released the jam nuts and set screws of the knuckle joints and there was just enough space to move the threaded joint from the rack – pushed the wheels so the male threaded shaft on the rack rotated a few ribs over re installed the female joint and to my surprise it all lined up correctly – no further adjustment required for now. Tightened it all back up again and called it complete.

Next on the list is finally installing the Window washer nozzle - finally an easy one...

[egchewy79]

any reason you've chosen those ride heights? most run them lower. mine's at 4" front and 4.5" rear.

[Jeff_J.]

I've read height ranges from 4 - 4.5" front and the rear 4.5 to 5". I wonder how much of a difference in ride 1/2" of height will make?? Mine are preliminary so far, I figure there will be some settling of the suspension as I drive it a bit. I'll recheck frequently and see what happens. I'd like it to be settled and set before final alignment from that I understand a change in ride height can affect alignment. I'm sure I'm not the first to wonder about parking lot speed bumps, avoid them when you can of course and take them at an angle regardless, have you had any concerns on ride height at 4"?? I've read posts were some have concern over the oil pan being a little lower than the frame rails, I guess it depends on the engine/ install and depth of the pan. I've left my BP347 as it was delivered - the rear of the pan looks like its about 1/8" lower than the rails. Makes me wonder.