Gbranham's MkIV Build Thread

[gbranham]

Okay...first post on my new build! I took delivery last Tuesday, July 11th, 2023. I'll keep my build progress updated here. Looking forward to the journey and help from the wise folks on this forum.

Details:
MkIV Complete Kit
Coyote Crate Engine from Factory Five
Wilwood Brakes
Front and Rear Sway Bars
IRS
Lots of other enhancements along the way to be determined (think lots of Breeze and Forte's parts, among others)

In the past week, I've taken inventory, removed the body, and removed the aluminum panels. First step is to drill all the aluminum that will be exposed, so I can send it off to powdercoat. Only a short POL list, and bits are already trickling in. The first POL to arrive was the sidepipes. I was disappointed to see they're not packaged very well (no padding), and the UPS driver sat the box down heavy on it's end and bent the outlet of one of the pipes. Easy enough to straighten, and they're uncoated, so no big deal. I'm likely going with the Gas'N pipes, anyway.

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I've ordered a new press to press in the rear hub wheel studs, and other various bits have been ordered to get started...drill bits, silicon, clecos, etc. Looking forward to next steps!

Greg

[egchewy79]

welcome to the party. it looks like you have a nice clean space for all your toys

[gbranham]

welcome to the party. it looks like you have a nice clean space for all your toys

Thanks, and yes sir! I moved out to the country a few years ago, and finally have a proper shop to build one of these things. I built my first in a 2-car garage, and it was a bit cramped. I insulated the 30x30 shop last year, and put in a mini-split, which helps tremendously!

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[egchewy79]

open up the trusses in the middle and you can fit a lift in there!!

[gbranham]

open up the trusses in the middle and you can fit a lift in there!!

I've thought about it. I had a 4-post lift at my first house, and it sure was handy.

[gbranham]

Made some progress today. Spent time doing the drill and cleco dance. Once I have everything drilled, I'll take it all back off and turn the panels over to a friend of mine who will powdercoat them for me. Thinking a silver-ish color.

Also had that same buddy stop by today in his 2020 Huracan Performante. Sheesh, what a car!

Footbox3.jpgHuracan.jpgFootbox.jpgFootbox2.jpg

[gbranham]

Got all the exposed aluminum bits off to the powdercoater. I'm going with Prismatic Powder, "Hilltop Silver". It's sort of a textured dark silver with lighter blacks mixed in. Should look good. Spent today drilling cockpit and trunk aluminum, and painted the kit-supplied calipers. I'll go with the standard Mustang brakes for now (manual brakes), and if I feel like I need the pricey Wilwoods after I get it on the road, I'll do that.

Having fun...

Calipers.jpgCockpit.jpgTrunk Wings.jpgTrunk.jpg

[460.465USMC]

Hi Greg. I'll dispense with the Welcome aboard and say Welcome back! Will be interesting to get your take on the differences between the MK III and MK IV. Great workspace. Plenty of room with temperature control. Very nice!

P.S. how cool to have a friend with a Lamborghini. What fun.

[gbranham]

Got my aluminum bits back from the powdercoater today. Riveted up the F-Panels, and bolted up the front suspension. Roughly set the UCAs according to many posts here on the forum, and I'm waiting for my Amazon peeps to bring me a 36mm socket to finish up. Please check my work. I'm not excited about the cotter pin engagement on the upper ball join castle nut; before I had it fully torqued, the nut was far past the cotter pin hole in the ball joint stud. Not sure if others have had this issue, but thinking the upper needs a spacer like the bottom. Thoughts?

Anyway, having fun!

The driver's side:

Driver's Front Suspension 1.jpgDriver's Front Suspension 2.jpgDriver's Front Suspension 3.jpgDriver's Front Suspension 4.jpg

And the passenger side:

Pass Front Suspension 1.jpgPass Front Suspension 2.jpgPass Front Suspension 3.jpg

I also got into the habit of laying out out the hardware for each subassembly like this. Pretty handy!

Hardware Layout.jpg

[Jeff Kleiner]

All looks good Greg but yes, if you add a hard washer under the UCA nut the cotter pin will better align with the reliefs in the castle nut.

Jeff

[gbranham]

Thanks for the eyeballs, Jeff, and the tip.

[gbranham]

Had some time in the shop today to prep some IRS bits. I got the pumpkin in by myself...that sum***** was tough by myself! Ratchet straps were my friend! Anyway, take a look and let me know if I whiffed on anything. The build manual does not show washers under the front diff bolt heads, but that seemed like a no-brainer!

Was getting ready to install arms, but then I realized I needed to prep and paint the rear swaybar mounts first. Cleaned up the welds, primed and painted them. Should be able to button up the IRS setup next weekend. Labor Day, y'all!!!

Rear IRS Bits.jpgPumpkin 4.jpgPumpkin 5.jpgPumpkin 6.jpgPumpkin 3.jpg

[gbranham]

Got all the IRS and swaybar bits bolted up Friday night. I'm disappointed in the build manual for this assembly...missing part numbers, wrong part numbers, etc. And nearly every mount tab for control arms, toe arms sway bar mounts had to be widened and/or spacers had to be ground down. I'm chassis number 10,000 something or other; you'd think by now FFR's welding jigs would be dialed in. Oh well...it was good shop therapy!

Anyway, if you pros could check my work, I'd appreciate it.

Greg

IRS 1.jpgIRS 2.jpgIRS 3.jpgIRS 4.jpgIRS 5.jpgIRS 6.jpgIRS 7.jpg

[kirby]

Your moving right along. You will catch me before long

[gbranham]

Your moving right along. You will catch me before long

Long way to go to catch you! Hope you're healing well from your surgery! If you're up for a visit soon, let me know. Would love to hear your beast fired up!

[F500guy]

looking at the upper A arm on the rear, looks like you could benefit from centering the adjustment, there is is a bunch of threads visible for the rod end, but not much on the threads into the tube.

[kirby]

Long way to go to catch you! Hope you're healing well from your surgery! If you're up for a visit soon, let me know. Would love to hear your beast fired up!

I just tore the cooling system out to start over otherwise I would love to have you stop by.

[gbranham]

I worked on the pedal box today. I'm going to go with the Gen3 Coyote Crate from FFR or Forte, and what was lost on me is that the clutch switch and accelerator pedal are part of the control pack that comes with that package. Not sure why I didn't know that. So, after hours of scratching my head and visiting a local FFR builder with the same setup (thanks, Don!), I am on the right track. I do think FFR sent me the clutch switch mount for a hydraulic clutch setup, because a) my inventory list says that what they sent me and b) the Gen3 Coyote Installation Instructions tell the same story. Oh well, I'll get it swapped out for the cable-driven clutch setup.

I did notice the brake pedal arm hits the 3/4" cross tube and stops there while 'at rest' with the master cylinders installed. That doesn't seem right, but I don't see any other way to install it. I did thread the master cylinder threaded arms into the two clevises (clevii?) just far enough that I could see the end of the threaded rod starting to protrude into the inside hollow area of each clevis, so I think I did it per the instructions. Also cut off 5/8" from the end of each master cylinder threaded rod, per the instructions. Any advice would be appreciated.

Pedalbox 3.jpgPedalbox 7.jpgPedalbox 8.jpgPedalbox 9.jpg

[edwardb]

Got all the IRS and swaybar bits bolted up Friday night. I'm disappointed in the build manual for this assembly...missing part numbers, wrong part numbers, etc. And nearly every mount tab for control arms, toe arms sway bar mounts had to be widened and/or spacers had to be ground down. I'm chassis number 10,000 something or other; you'd think by now FFR's welding jigs would be dialed in. Oh well...it was good shop therapy!

Anyway, if you pros could check my work, I'd appreciate it.

Greg

I've done several IRS builds and can't say I found any big issues with the instructions. Adjusting the tabs is pretty much the norm. Nothing wrong with the fixtures. The tabs are mild steel and relatively small. The locations are correct and tacked into place while in the frame fixture. Then removed and put on a rotisserie for the complete welds. The tabs will distort some when welded. Hopefully you used the threaded rod with nuts and washers trick (shown on multiple build threads) to spread them. It's easy and quick. Also spread vs. grinding spacers.

Regarding your pictures, something (unfortunately...) not mentioned in the instructions is the need to center the adjustments. That gives you the most flexibility when doing the alignment and insures you don't run out of threads. They should be centered like this with the same amount of threads exposed on each side:

[gbranham]

Thanks, edwardb! I've adjusted all of my IRS arms to have equal threads at both ends. Just finished up.

[gbranham]

Got the steering rack and shaft installed...easy peasie. Also assembled the Wilwood rotors. Safety wire is tedious, and my fingers are now sore!

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[gbranham]

Got my Wilwoods installed today. Easy peasie...took maybe an hour and a half. Didn't need any shims in the back, and started with two on each caliper bolt on the front. That did the trick. So glad I ditched the stock rotors and calipers at this point, rather than letting it bug me for years. Big expense for sure, but I'm glad I did it.

Brakes1.jpgBrakes2.jpgBrakes3.jpgBrakes6.jpgBrakes4.jpgBrakes5.jpgBrakes7.jpgBrakes8.jpg

[gbranham]

Got my Mountain Metalworks dropped trunk installed today. Pretty easy, and should look great once it's all carpeted.

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[cv2065]

Got my Mountain Metalworks dropped trunk installed today. Pretty easy, and should look great once it's all carpeted.

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Looks great. I've got mine sitting here in a box waiting for installation.

[gbranham]

Got the rear harness roughed in, and installed the gas tank, dropped trunk mod, Kleiner mod, and lower trunk floor. I widened up the lower trunk aluminum around the passenger side rear tank strap bolt. Makes it easy to take out the lower trunk floor. So far, so good!

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[gbranham]

Roughed in the front brake lines today. I was planning on using the kit-supplied lines as templates, and was going to use NiCopp, but my mock-ups seemed pretty decent, so I left them alone.

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[gbranham]

Plumbed the fuel lines today. 3/8" feed and return lines. Also have a Walbro 255lph pump. Next purchase is the Pro-M Racing fuel pump hanger for 87-93 Fox Mustang, and Aeromotive pressure regulator and gauge with 3 fittings. Also will purchase Aeroquip PTFE SS braided line (10 feet), ~12 PTFE -6AN connectors, and a nice fuel line cutter. Getting closer to completing the fuel delivery system. My lines aren't super pretty, but I think they'll get the job done. Lots of fun!

Fuel System 2.jpgFuel System 4.jpgFuel System 3.jpgFuel System 1.jpg

[nashuanuke]

Got my Mountain Metalworks dropped trunk installed today. Pretty easy, and should look great once it's all carpeted.

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How'd you order this? Email them?

[gbranham]

I emailed TJ Jones at [email protected], after I saw his post on Facebook on the Factory Five Buy/Sell page, where he mentioned his drop-trunk mod was ready to ship. I suggest you email him and ask to purchase it. He'll send you an invoice via email. Great product.

[kirby]

Plumbed the fuel lines today. 3/8" feed and return lines. Also have a Walbro 255lph pump. Next purchase is the Pro-M Racing fuel pump hanger for 87-93 Fox Mustang, and Aeromotive pressure regulator and gauge with 3 fittings. Also will purchase Aeroquip PTFE SS braided line (10 feet), ~12 PTFE -6AN connectors, and a nice fuel line cutter. Getting closer to completing the fuel delivery system. My lines aren't super pretty, but I think they'll get the job done. Lots of fun!

Fuel System 2.jpgFuel System 4.jpgFuel System 3.jpgFuel System 1.jpg

Greg I have a nice unused aeromotive fuel pressure regulator if you are interested

[gbranham]

Greg I have a nice unused aeromotive fuel pressure regulator if you are interested

Interested, indeed! What's the max PSI of it?

[gbranham]

Got my fuel delivery mostly plumbed. Waiting on the Pro-M pump hanger with both 3/8" feed and return. Everything is 3/8" line with -6AN fittings. PTFE braided stainless flex hose, Aeromotive regulator (thanks Don Kirby!), Summit fuel filter, and 255lph pump from Walbro. Should be good to go for the Gen3 Coyote! Thanks to everyone who answered all my questionson fuel delivery. I don't know why it had me so confused. Looking at the system now, it's pretty darn straightforward.

Anyway...if folks could put eyeballs on what I've done and let me know if I have messed up somewhere, I'd appreciate it. I'll need to shorten the hoses where they connect to the hanger at the tank, but I'll do that when the hanger gets here this week and I get it installed.

Thanks!

Fuel1.jpgFuel2.jpgFuel3.jpgFuel4.jpgFuel5.jpg

[Railroad]

Nice job! Remember you need access to connections after the body and sheet metal is on. Filter location should be easy too.

[gbranham]

Nice job! Remember you need access to connections after the body and sheet metal is on. Filter location should be easy too.

Yep, thanks. The filter is accessible from below and just in front of the gas tank, so should be okay with the body on.

[gbranham]

Got some wiring roughed in today. Cold outside in KC, but nice and warm in the shop!

Wiring1.jpgWiring2.jpgWiring3.jpgWiring4.jpg

[cv2065]

Got some wiring roughed in today. Cold outside in KC, but nice and warm in the shop!

Wiring1.jpgWiring2.jpgWiring3.jpgWiring4.jpg

Great progress so far! Hopefully I'll be catching up to you soon! Just an observation. I see that you have the rear brake line going down the front of the footbox. The headers are there and not sure if you want that line directly exposed to the heat? If you had it come out of the bottom of the footbox you could avoid the exposure. Just a thought.

[Mike.Bray]

Just an observation. I see that you have the rear brake line going down the front of the footbox. The headers are there and not sure if you want that line directly exposed to the heat? If you had it come out of the bottom of the footbox you could avoid the exposure. Just a thought.

I wasn't comfortable exposing a brake line to the header heat so I ran my clutch and rear brake line on the inside of the foorbox.

[gbranham]

Thanks, guys. This gives me something to ponder. Easy enough to move that line inside the footbox.

[Jeff Kleiner]

I have to agree. I got one in for paint that had the line run there and it was less than 2" from the header. I suggested to the owner that he let me move it inside but he declined since the footbox was already insulated and carpeted so we compromised and I insulated it with 2 layers of DEI heat sleeves. As far as I know he's had no problems...but at this point moving yours to the inside would be a simple change.

Jeff

[BlueSilver]

I am just wondering when you buy the complete kit do the brake lines come precut to the proper lengths and pre flared with all the appropriate fittings on the lines? I never see anyone talking about cutting the lines to length putting on fittings and double flaring the ends. Another question some will have a loop in the line next to the end. What is the reason for the loop?