Rebostar MK4 Build in Gaston Oregon

[Rebostar]

As long as I did the right side of the drivers footbox, why not add a little room to the left side. Pretty simple. Take the 90' tapered peices and cut the short vertical sections off. Starting at the bottom of the vertical cut, cut the aluminum horizontal right along the lower bend line the lenth of the shorter peice of the previously cut tapered peices. So instead of one 90' cut, you'll have a three sided cut. Install the upper, longer taperd piece per FF. Install the shorter one in the cut you just made. Then make a Z panel to close off the open end. Now you have an extra inch on the right side.DSC02884.JPGDSC02885.JPGDSC02887.JPGDSC02889.JPGDSC02890.JPG

[Rebostar]

Happy Sunday folks.
I spent today pre fitting and drilling the trunk side sheet metal and lower trunk floor. I can not finish the drop trunk till I get some more 6061 aluminum. I'll be getting some in the morning. I do have a 4' x 8' sheet of .020 2024T3 that I used to enclose the trunk mounted battery box. That seemed to take forever.

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[Rebostar]

Managed to score a 4x4 sheet of .040 aluminum localy for $81 bucks yesterday. I only needed less than a quarter of it so I'll have plenty left over for other projects. I made the drop trunk today. I bead rolled the bottom to add some stiffeners. Tomorrow I planed to make the cubby and a cover panel for the battery box.

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[Rebostar]

Its been a few days since I've posted anything. But I have been busy. Anyone following AA-ron's "another way to vent the foot box" knows I've been working on a vent system to do just that. First up was fitting the front trunk floor aluminum. Then fabricating a "cubby" that fits in between the roll bars and clears the deck lid gas rods.

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[Rebostar]

I had to raise the duct fan as high as the gas rods would allow. I made a pair of brackets that would support the fans on a pair of 3/4" vibration mounts. While I was at it I welded on the nuts that hold the shoulder belts in, so I could remove and install them with one hand. Also when I get the roll bars delivered I plan to use a close tolerance PiP Pin to secure the inner roll bar, so I can remove it with one hand.

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[Rebostar]

I got the 3" bilge blowers from West Marine. The duct intakes and the 3'' duct adapters I got off amazon. The aluminum ducts and vibration mounts came from McMast Carr. So now I have the cubby and intake sytem mocked up. Next I'll start on the lower duct work.

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[Rebostar]

Its taken me several days to fabricate and install the side ducts and the transition plenums behind the aft cabin wall, but I finaly got everything fabricated and installed. The transition plenums were fun, but time consuming. I had to install two nut plates inside the plenums in order to attach them to the frame.

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[Rebostar]

The ducts that go along the back wall and lower sides were also more complicated that I first thought. But it just goes to show you that " skill and perseverance wins over ignorance and superstion every time!". The cheap thin walled aluminum ducts will be replaced with high quality aircraft fire proof scat heat ducting. I just got the cheap stuff to make sure it would work before I spent the big bucks.

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[Rebostar]

Just finishing up a few last details before I strip the frame down and prime and paint it. I needed to trim a few panels and install the rivnuts for the fuel pump and sender access plates. I also needed to make a panel to enclose the bottom of the battery box. Lastly, I made a cover panel to access the battery compartment. I used aircraft cam-loc fasteners to attach it to the welded on clips and did a quick bead roll to add a little structure.

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[Rebostar]

The last thing to do before breaking everything down was to fit the battery jumper studs. There is a narrow panel on the aft side of the battery box that will accomadate the studs. I also welded in a negative battery strap grounding stud just aft of the battery inside the battery box.

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[Rebostar]

I've spent the last 5 weeks since the kit arrived welding in all the mods and changes. I also needed to fit, trim, and drill all the aluminum panels in order to accomplish all the above changes. So today I fabed up a couple of cross braces to support the front of the frame/chassis while it's on the rotiserie. FFR said they put them on the weling jigs without any bracing but I dont think I want to risk any warping. Then I had to build adapters to mount the front and rear quick jack mounts to my rotiserie. Tomorrow I'll be preping it for primer and paint.

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[Jeff Kleiner]

As long as I did the right side of the drivers footbox, why not add a little room to the left side....

Sorry to have to tell you but this but it's better for you to know now rather than later. This is going to be a problem. The body pushes all the way in at the rocker panel ahead of the door. The protruding lower edge of this box isn't going to allow that. That's why the factory extension tapers to nothing at the bottom.

Jeff

[ggunter]

I thought he knew something I didn't. My body comes right up against the footbox, within a quarter inch or so at the bottom.

[Rebostar]

Before I took the body off I measured how much room there was. There was two inches of empty space at the front of the drivers footbox and taperd back to a half inch or so. The 1" protrusion tapers to nothing 2 inches from the door opening. This panel can be easily changed back if there is any interferance. I had planed to test fit the body once all the aluminum is on as there are a lot of mods and I'll need to make sure it will all fit. As soon as I have all the aluminum on we'll see where we're at. Easy fix if it wont work.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Before I took the body off I measured how much room there was. There was two inches of empty space at the front of the drivers footbox and taperd back to a half inch or so. This panel can be easily changed back if there is any interferance. I had planed to test fit the body once all the aluminum is on as there are a lot of mods and I'll need to make sure it will all fit. As soon as I have all the aluminum on we'll see where we're at. Easy fix if it wont work.

When you test fit the body onto the chassis be sure to also fit the doors. They play together.

Jeff

Jeff

[Rebostar]

Thanks Jeff,
When the kit arrived both the deck lid and hood fit really great. Very little trimming to be done. The doors however will be a pain in the A**, as they din'nt fit at all! With the cubby, new firewall, and battery relocation I know I may need to trim a bit here and there. I've been studying up on the door fitment.

[Rebostar]

I rolled the frame int my "paint booth" and spent a day with a gallon of MEK and a resperator to get it clean then sprayed 2 complete coats of Summit Urathane Primer.

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[Rebostar]

When the primer was dry I mixed up a batch of Dove Grey NAPA Crossfire Urathane single stage and sprayed two coats aft of the fire wall. Then I mixed up Summit Urathane Platnium Silver Metalic and sprayed two coats forward of the fire wall. ( engine bay ).

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[Rebostar]

I finaly got a chance to actualy build something! I found a Ford 9" rear axle assembly being sold through CJ Pony parts. Its a 9" assembly custom modified to be a direct bolt in replacement for the Ford 8.8 in a 1987 to 2004 Mustang. It is made by Quick Performance. Its been narrowed, has 31 spline axles, completely overhauled Trac-Loc differencial, jack pad, drain and fill plugs in the housing. I ordered it with "Explorer" brakes, but they were junk made in china. I got a set of Wilwood brakes for the new style, "Torino" large bearing axle housing.

I have a complete jig for narrowing the 9" housing so I welded on the FFR lower control arm adapters. I'm using after market upper and lower double adjustable control arms so I had to open up all the mounting holes to accept the new larger diameter hardware. Once that was done I cleaned everything up and primed it with Urathane Primer followed by 2 coats of Summit Carbon Fiber Metalic.

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[Rebostar]

After the paint dried it was time for assembly. The housing comes bare and has to be built up. The good news is the axles came with the bearings and locks installed. Once the center section was installed the axles and brakes needed to be installed. As mentioned earlier none of the attach hardware is useable with the aftermarket control arms so I'm using all quality grade #8 and had to drill out the frame mounts to accomadate the larger hardware.

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[Rebostar]

Starting to do all the mundane tasks. They will go quickly now that all the prep work is done. As soon Scatt sends me my harmonic damper I will take a break from car assembly and build up the Windsor. I installed the front suspension today. Had to call FFR and ask about the upper control arms and ask why there are two right side uppers and no left. Did not like what I heard, so I set up the right side as per the manual then adjusted the left to match it. This will get it through "go cart stage" till I can get it in an alignment shop.

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[Jeff Kleiner]

There is no right or left; same arm both sides.

Jeff

[egchewy79]

Starting to do all the mundane tasks. They will go quickly now that all the prep work is done. As soon Scatt sends me my harmonic damper I will take a break from car assembly and build up the Windsor. I installed the front suspension today. Had to call FFR and ask about the upper control arms and ask why there are two right side uppers and no left. Did not like what I heard, so I set up the right side as per the manual then adjusted the left to match it. This will get it through "go cart stage" till I can get it in an alignment shop.

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that's funny, I got sent two left ones

[Rebostar]

There is no right or left; same arm both sides.

Jeff

Jeff, Yea, I figured that out. I would have thought the manual would be a bit clearer. It did mention that the welded adjuster would be in the front when installed on the left side, but did not give any spec's for set up. Thats why I called FFR. It,s now set up exactly like the right side. It would have been simpler for FFR to have a mirrored Left and Right side so they could be set up identicaly per the manual drawings. But cheaper to manufacture just one I guess.

[Jeff Kleiner]

FFR doesn’t manufacture them. They are from SPC.

Jeff

[Rebostar]

Today I got quite a bit done. I installed the front anti sway bar, the steering rack, and the front brakes. Then I bolted up the 9" rear end. I substituted all the suspension hardware for quality Grade #8. Six weeks of prep work really paid off so I got a lot done.

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[Rebostar]

I've done a few superficial searches and could not find any recent Ford 9" rearend installations. I know its been done before. I know I'm not the first.
All my builds have the 9" rearend in them. They are indestructable! Also I'm all tooled up to overhaul, narrow, set up and install them. It's what I know. I've never laid eys on an 8.8. I've never seen a hot rodder install an 8.8 as an upgrade. I assume they are a great rear end as Ford stuck em in everything. However I'll continue to use the 9". Thought I'd share the installation in a MK4.

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[zarnold]

Nice! I've only been hanging around for a little while, but this is the first 9" I've seen installed.

[i.e.427]

After checking out a lot of the different battery locations I decided to go with 520 Speedworks trunk location. Greg was kind enough to supply me with pics.

Nice work opening that dash area up, you will definitely appreciate the extra real estate when you begin wiring! Never seen anyone mount the battery in that location, always something new coming with the build of these cars

Our rear fender mount battery box and drop trunk box predate Greg's iteration........ By almost 15 years. And to be clear, Greg and I are friends.

https://www.ffcars.com/threads/new-b...cation.254427/

"Imitation is the highest form of flattery" and we encourage all builders to take our ideas and run with them. For those that want a short-cut, we also sell kits to help you along if you have limited fabrication skills.

Here's a link to a more recent rear fender mount battery box install.



Frank

[Rebostar]

Frank
Thanks for the tip. A bit late for me, but others might use it. I did not want to use the Breeze front mounted battery as I did not like the small battery that must be used in it. I prefer Optima G34 batteries. I had other plans for the upper trunk deck so the rear fender mount was a great way to go. I found Greg's install on You Tube.

By the way keep up the good work on You Tube. I watch a lot of your vids.

[Rebostar]

I bit more progress to report....the usual suspects! Installed the fuel tank, made easy with the lift. Built up and installed the peddle box. One of the better FFR manual write ups. Installed the previously fitted E-Power Steering System. Also installed the Kliener Mod.....thanks Jeff..(not shown in pics)

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[Rebostar]

This morning I fabricated a relay mount strip. It will be rivited on to the back side of the firewall using the rivits that hold the firewall on. I plan to use the same low amp lighted switches for all the systems in the car so all primary circuits will go through a relay. I currently need 8 relays and I'll add two more as spares. Its made of 2024 T3 alclad with 10 #8 nut plates rivited on.
I'm at the point in the manual to install the firewall so I need to make sure all the widgets I have planned will fit behind the firewall. I want a minimum of holes (none would be best) in the firewall so I'll figure out a way to mount everything without drilling any holes in it.

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[Rebostar]

Early on I decided I was not going to install the FFR heater. Did not seem to make sence in a car with no top. It is afterall a four wheel motorcycle. However I did buy a set of Dorman seat heaters and a small cabin heater with enough power to keep the windshield from fogging up. I used one of these on my 47 Merc build (works great as a defroster). I clamped the dash to the frame, raised it untill the glove box contacted the upper frame, then centered it. I found there was room for the defroster box behind the glove box. It would not have fit had I not moved the firewall forward 1.75 inches. In order to mount it I needed to take it apart and install nut plates that would pick up the lower firewall mount screws, also I had to rewire it. (not useing pop rivits and will be useing a circuit breaker ). I installed the firewall using #10 SS screws and SS lock nuts along the bottom. If I want to mount my fuel pressure regulator or Forte carb linkage I can pick up the lower firewall screws.

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[Rebostar]

I have no intension of useing the Ron Francis FFR wire harness. The car will be wired the way I did my Thunderbolt Tribute, 47 Merc Coupe, and 57 Studebaker Silverhawk. No fueses in the car. All circuit breakers. No critical wiring directly under the brake master cylenders. (they have been known to leak). I'll be using a constant duty Cessna master contactor, an aircraft starter solinoid,and a one wire altinator. I needed to get an aircraft style distribution bar. Rather than wait on Summit for some cheesy crap made in China, I went to my local Ace Hardware picked up some brass strips and brass hardware, then off to the local craft shop for "supplies". I spent a day making a power and a grounding distribution bar. I could have bought them, but this is all about making stuff where ever I can.

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