Casey Family Build Thread (coupe)

[QSL]

Doc, I am holding you to that! LOL

Man, it was a long weekend. Julie will comment soon enough I am sure, but here are a few pics!

[QSL]

And the last few! Thanks to all that came by saturday. Not only was it a great help, but it was a lot of FUN!!!!!

[Garry Bopp]

Wow ... that is one awesome "build in progress"! Coupey will draw a huge crowd at HB!

Garry

[frankeeski]

Great progress, oh and nice hat.

[JJ'snakepit]

Hope your bringing your coupe to HB.. Love to see it. Awesome progress. Mine is not going to be there this year. Since it isn't finished again I thought I would just enjoy the show....I'll see you there or at Dave's party....... JJ

[David Hodgkins]

Hey Mike, GREAT progress!.

As an aside, are you using black rivets? Where did you get them?

[68GT500MAN]

Julie looks to be having too much fun with her new rivet gun! This will look great on the streets of HB Saturday, see you then.
Doug

[MRSQSL]

David - I got the rivets at rivet gallery .com. I couldn't find any 3/16, but they had the 1/8. I got a pack of 1000 and they were fairly inexpensive and delivered via USPS, so cheaper on shipping. Wait, this wasn't a trick to get me to mention a non supporting vendor so I get banned, right?

Thanks for all the compliments. I love these cars. I'll update later this afternoon. Taking a couple hours off this morning to go to the dentist. Oh boy!! Isn't that what everyone wants to do on a Monday morning?

[68GT500MAN]

Julie/David, McMaster-Carr has 3/16" Black rivets (or six other colors) as well as 1/8".
Doug

[John Dol]

That where I got mine too. The manual rivet gun also did no harm to the finish, in case you need to rivet where you can not get the gun in a tight area. All my rivets where done with the hand gun.
BTW the car looks great!!

John

[David Hodgkins]

.../Wait, this wasn't a trick to get me to mention a non supporting vendor so I get banned, right?

Hmmm, Fell right into my trap!!

[Carlos C]

Hey Julie:

Thanks again for the info you provided me with a couple of months ago for a car dolly. I ended up finding a small company instead that makes some very trick and non-intrusive dollies. I purchased and used it to pick up my Coupe from FFR.

Great build so far. I keep checking your thread for ideas to "borrow", although I plan to build an unique interior on mine as well. What seats are you planning to use on your build?

Carlos

[WIS89]

New engine looks great guys!

Nice progress over the weekend. Can't wait to hear the new heart beat.

Regards,

Steve

[MRSQSL]

Carlos - I'd like to see a picture of the dolly you are using. As for the seats, we are using the Kirkey high backs. (My spell check doesn't like the way I spelled that, so sorry if it's wrong.) So far they seem to fit and are comfy enough. We have to put seat tracks in since Mike and I are not exactly the same size and shape and I'm interested to see how that works out.

I still plan to update this afternoon, but let's just say you won't be hearing that "heart beat" anytime soon. The engine will have to come out at least one more time. Sigh. I hate mocking things up.

Thanks for the tip on the 3/16 rivets. I'm not sure if I'll end up using any, but good to know in case I do.

[David Hodgkins]

Hey, how do you like your new status??

[MRSQSL]

Hee, hee. It's much better than just plain "Banned". Thank you! I feel honored to have reached post newbieville status.

[David Hodgkins]

Julie, Carlos wants to send you the link to his build thread but is having issues. Here it is:
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showt...-in-the-making

He may chime in with a post reply number...

[MRSQSL]

Thank you! I found the post on the thread. That is way different than the dolly we used, but I can see how it would allow for easy moving of the car and hardly any interference. That thing is going to be really nice. When I have more time, I'm going to read the whole build thread. It looks really interesting.

[Carlos C]

David:

Thanks for linking my thread. I hate my iPad...

Julie:

Thanks for the compliment. And yes, that dolly is awesome. There are different attachments for it, and it's height-adjustable. I found it at: www.uni-dolly.com

For others who may be interested in looking at a picture of this dolly supporting a Coupe, go to post #25 on my thread "My Daytona Coupe build... Ten years in the making".

Carlos

[Carlos C]

Julie:

The reason I asked about the seats, is because I have the standard low-back Kirkey seats, but the seat tracks won't work in their current configuration, due to the fact that these seats are not flat on the bottom; they have various angles. I would have to fabricate brackets in order to pair the seats to the tracks. How does the bottom aluminum section of your seats look like?

Carlos

[MRSQSL]

I don't know. I never looked at the bottom. That's a good question. I'm hoping Mike is 10 steps ahead of me on this and already knows how to mount the seats and the tracks. I know in Scoopy, we have the low back Kirkey seats and those are mounted on brackets to the floor, but not on tracks. It never occurred to me the high seats would have any issues with mounting. Then again, I had no idea my car needed a torque converter nor do I know (still) exactly where it goes or what it looks like. If it wasn't for Mike, the steering wheel would be glued in and I'd have to use my feet to start and stop like the Flintstones.

[Carlos C]

Well, then I'm glad he's there to "help". Please let me know once you guys take a look at the seats and tracks. Thanks.

Carlos

[David Hodgkins]

As an aside, in Karen's coupe the Kirkeys are on sliders but she still has a formed pad that she uses to raise herself up and forward. It might be worth looking into...

[MRSQSL]

I have that same pad for Scoopy so I can see out the window and not hit my head on the body when Mike applies pressure a little more ferociously than I'd like. I plan to use one in the coupe as well.

Week 60:

I knew going in that this was going to be a tough weekend. Mike worked on the car during the week. I don't know how he does it. He works all day, has at least a two hour commute each way (depending on which branch he's going to) yet he still has oomph to go in the garage after work. Such an amazing man.

We put out a call for help for Saturday afternoon and fortunately several folks came by. First thing Saturday morning, though, I raced out to the garage and marked the holes for the passenger side floor. I drilled the holes through the panel and threw it back in with some silicone and drilled a couple of holes which got riveted. With that done, Steve came out and peeled the tape off my side impact bars. This had been protecting the powder coat from taking that aluminum in and out and in and out for fitment. I then dismantled one section of the passenger footbox at a time and siliconed it all together. Once silicone was oozing from every opening (I'm not so good with that caulking gun), Alyssa handed me rivets (while reading a book for school). Our free labor (I mean guests) began to arrive and it wasn't long before the engine was dangling precariously over the frame. I can't thank these guys enough. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. I am skilled enough to drill some holes and bolt a few things together, but not to mount an engine to a trans and then get everything hoisted and aligned and tilted and tilted some more and maybe tilted a little this way and then bolted in. The legs of the engine hoist were too tall to fit under the frame of Coupey so the car had to be jacked up (always makes me nervous). I guess Mike forgot to grind one little section by the starter and that was a slight issue with installation, but nothing the guys couldn't overcome.

Pizza arrived so we all ate and chatted and then I suspect none of us was thrilled about standing up and finishing the engine bolt in or putting the body on. I know I was eyeballing a shady spot on the rug in the garage. I could rough it and go without a pillow or blankets.

The body actually went on much, much more smoothly than previously. I think part of it was due to the fact that Mike cut out more of the body where the side impact bars are. As with the engine, I opted to stand around scrunching my face in fear, making appropriate "scared" noises and taking pictures. Again, I can't think you all enough and I apologize if I get any names wrong or spelled incorrectly. Thank you Derrick. Thank you Ricky and Monica. Thank you John. Thank you Mike.

After the work was done, people drifted off to return to their regular lives and we got back to work on the car. Mike thought it would look better with the headers on and said it would only take a couple minutes. JINX!!!!!! Of course it didn't take a couple minutes. There were all sorts of issues, but he managed to push through and get those bad boys on. I agree it looks way better. He also put the gauges in (mocked up) and I immediately smiled giantly. He takes such good care of me. The second Mike turned his back, I darted into the car and admired the gauges and engine from inside. I made mental vroom vroom noises, but nothing out loud. When I try, it always sounds like a bumblebee having a seizure.

Sunday was another work day despite the fact that it's a holiday and we should've been celebrating with ham and cheesy potatoes. Mmmmmm...that sounds really good. Alyssa went to brunch with her boyfriend and his family while we forced Steve to wash the Buick. Turns out there are a couple of really deep scratches in the side. It would appear a kid with a scooter or a bike had some issues with the handlebar vs the car. What can you do short of wrapping the car in bubble wrap? Anyway, I finished drilling the passenger footbox holes and riveted. Now that I see the pictures, I'm thinking I'll have to buy Coupey a larger hat and maybe a different color. It was hot. I started out in jeans and ended up in a skirt and flip flops. I know. Safety police don't need to chime in. My feet are fully intact today. I'll wear real shoes in the future. Mike worked on Scoopy most of the day. He changed out some fluids and made the garage smell bad. I think he said it was the friction modifier. I was too busy scrinching my nose up and groaning to properly pay attention. He also finished off the top of the windshield with some black vacuum line. What a difference that makes! I think he changed the valve cover gaskets as well. On my car, I semi bolted down the intake, carbs and valve covers so they wouldn't blow off during the trailer ride next weekend. Our handy dandy new bolt assortment paid off. I felt like a mechanic running over and grabbing the sizes I needed. Then less like a mechanic when I dropped them on the ground and grabbed the wrong wrench size, etc.

So, the car is just about ready for it's debut next weekend, but I need to detail it. I vacuumed the inside yesterday evening, but lots of other stuff needs to be wiped down and spruced up. I'm really sad the engine has to be removed once more. I begged Mike to let me keep it, but he said the torque converter which we haven't bought yet (I'm supposed to be selecting one) has to go between the engine and transmission (I think). I spent a couple minutes trying to decide if there was some way to leave everything in and somehow wedge whatever a "torque converter" is into its proper home, but I gave up when a lizard ran by the open garage door. Mike is going to work on the brake lines in the evenings and I need to drill a few more holes the next time the car is jacked up. Otherwise, I think it's ready to be ogled. Hopefully it arrives entirely intact next Saturday. Looking forward to seeing lots of you there. Just make sure that you use your screen name during introductions (if I don't already know you). I'm bad with real names, but do pretty well with screen names.

[QSL]

Yes it's bottom is like the low backs. I purchased the kirky seat brackets and plan on mounting them to a plate and then the plate to the sliders.

[CJBergquist]

Julie, the car is looking great. Looking forward to seeing it next Saturday and meeting you and Mike...and some of the SoCal FFR family. I would have brought my Coupe but I made a prior commitment to bring my T-Bird to the Ford show at Knotts Berry Farm on Sunday...so it's the T-Bird this year.

[Carlos C]

Mike and Julie:

Here are a couple of photos showing the issue with the tracks.

image.jpg image.jpg
The picture on the right shows how the track would be positioned on the seat for the optimum seat angle and best comfort. Unfortunately, that position makes it even more complicated to mount the sliders. Either position would need fabrication to make them work. When I asked FFR for instructions on this, they referred me to the seat track manual, as it also covers the Coupe. I pointed out to them that the manual only works for the Coupe if the Roadster seats are being used, and not the standard Coupe seats. I have yet to hear back from them on this discrepancy.

Mike, what seat brackets are you referring to? Could you please attach photos and info as to where you got them? They could save me the time of having to fabricate my own, if they work for me. Thanks.

Carlos

[QSL]

http://m.summitracing.com/parts/kir-...FZWSfgodAhsAhQ

These will give you a flat surface and allow you to angle the seat comfortably.

[Carlos C]

Awesome! Thanks, Mike. That's exactly what I need. You'd think that FFR would offer those brackets, especially if a customer orders the sliders.

Carlos

[Rodster]

http://m.summitracing.com/parts/kir-...FZWSfgodAhsAhQ

These will give you a flat surface and allow you to angle the seat comfortably.

Mike -
Thanks for sharing that seat mount bracket. The Complete Kit provides some 1/4-in. bolts.... the bracket should be a better solution. I don't remember - Coupey has the Kirkey high-backs - correct? Those are the ones I got.

Looking forward to seeing you and Julie and Coupey this weekend!

-wayne-

[General Goodtimes]

Mike and Julie:

I stumbled upon your build while researching the FFR Coupe in general. I am honestly blown away by: 1. the quality and vision behind your build (especially the intake and that dash!), and 2. your commitment to the rest of us in the car community by bringing us details of the process. It's impressive to see how strong the bonds among the FFR family members are. In all honesty, seeing what is possible with the kit via your work, and knowing that there are a ton of people eager to help, I'm pretty certain I now know the answer to the "build it, buy it, or restore it?" question that has been nagging at me for a while now, and that I fully intend to answer this year.

Thanks to you guys (and to everyone that has contributed to this thread) from a cat all the way across the country that you don't even know. Keep up the phenomenal work!

[QSL]

Thank you very much for those kind comments...

These cars bring a LOT of great experiences to the table. The cost to build one of these is easily offset by the finished product and the journey that is included throughout the whole process.

From the day you call FF and order your car, to years later when you are done with it and go to others "first start" parties you will be part of something special that just can't be described here. I think to myself daily how lucky I am to own such machines and be involved with such a great company and community.

[rj35pj]

Thank you very much for those kind comments...

These cars bring a LOT of great experiences to the table. The cost to build one of these is easily offset by the finished product and the journey that is included throughout the whole process.

From the day you call FF and order your car, to years later when you are done with it and go to others "first start" parties you will be part of something special that just can't be described here. I think to myself daily how lucky I am to own such machines and be involved with such a great company and community.

I could not have said it better!

[Rodster]

Yes - this is all true - it's exactly what Dave Smith means when he says on the Factory Five Racing video - something about you begin a journey and you will get much more than a great car..... things will happen to you that you will never expect - or something like that.

I am looking forward to seeing "Coupey" tomorrow. Oh. And Julie and Mike, too.....

-wayne

Thank you very much for those kind comments...

These cars bring a LOT of great experiences to the table. The cost to build one of these is easily offset by the finished product and the journey that is included throughout the whole process.

From the day you call FF and order your car, to years later when you are done with it and go to others "first start" parties you will be part of something special that just can't be described here. I think to myself daily how lucky I am to own such machines and be involved with such a great company and community.

[MRSQSL]

Week 61 (HB week):

I may need to break this into two updates to keep from dragging on so long everyone falls asleep.

We worked on the car each night after work (more Mike than me). Thursday night I was supposed to drill the holes under the brake lines for the rivets on the clamps that hold the brake lines firmly to the car. Seemed easy enough. I got all my supplies together and began the process under the driver's side footbox. Wait, these 3/16 rivets don't fit in the rivet gun. Oh yeah. You have to change tips. Miiiiiiiiike! He did it for me since I was laying underneath the car in a rather awkward position. I got things all lined up to try again. Miiiiiiiiiike! The car wasn't high enough to fit the rivet gun straight up and down. He jacked it up higher. Kerplunk. One rivet down. I'm a beast with this thing. Yes!!!!!!! The second rivet didn't go in quite as easily, but I still managed to wrangle it into place. Who's your Daddy...errr...Mommy?

Things intensified as I moved onto the area where the frame and brake lines meet. Mike told me to use the step drill bit so I'd have more stability while drilling and the end happened to be 3/16. Piece of cake. I plopped on the ground and wedged myself between the footbox and the tire. I marked the spots to drill and grabbed the tool. Wait, how do I hold up the brake line so I don't accidentally drill into it and still hold the drill with enough force to make a hole? I ended up using my foot on the back of the drill, but it took only one try to realize I wasn't the contortionist I credited myself to be. I opted, instead, to use my foot to push up the brake line while I pushed on the drill with my hand. This lasted about 2 seconds before I became aware of muscle pain. Yeah, even that basic contortion move was too much for my aging bones. Miiiiiiiike! He drilled all the holes for me. Yay!

With the front brakes fully installed and bled, Mike said we should test them. Oh yeah, huh? Okay. I climbed in and pressed on the pedal while he tried to spin the wheels. No spinning. Yay! He lowered the car to the floor and worked on something else for a tad. About 30 minutes later, I was sitting back inside (can't remember why) when Mike asked if I wanted to go for a ride. Yes please!!!! He rolled the car way back and then shoved really hard so I'd go flying towards the back of the garage. Weeeeeeee! I slammed on the brakes and my foot flopped right to the floor. Milliseconds later I heard a crash as the front of the car rammed into the jack. Uh oh. Mike couldn't figure out why I didn't use the brakes. I was a smidge offended he thought I was dumb enough to forget about the brake pedal. I shrieked at him that the brakes didn't work. I sincerely don't think he believed me for the first several seconds after my proclamation. He had me push on the pedal as he gently rocked the car to and fro. Seeeeee, I bellowed. After a lot of looking, we discovered one of the lines hadn't been tightened completely. Mike made the correction and we rebled the brakes and retested in a more gentle fashion.

I won't go into detail about Friday other than to say we detailed the Cobra and it took a really long time. My least favorite thing about that is discovering all the chips and scratches you didn't notice before. Poor paint job. California is brutal on these cars.

Mike picked up the Uhaul for me Friday on his way home from work and we decided to load the car up that night rather than getting up even earlier than the buttcrack of dawn Saturday morning. It took several tries to get the car lined up with the trailer ramps, but Mike is a champ at pushing the thing and being patient with me. When I sit in there without a seat, I can't see anything but the dash. I can't see the tires. I can't see the front. I can sometimes see the sky. We made sure the brakes still worked before shoving it in any direction. A guy riding by on a bike was kind enough to stop and help Mike shove during the last up the ramp attempt. Victory! No rest for the weary though. I had to put the car cover on the Jeep since rain was threatening. We measured the garage and discovered the trailer was too long to fit in the garage. Crap. Where is my poor little car going to sleep? Certainly you can't suggest outdoors!!!!!!!! Not only was it suggested, it happened. I wrapped the engine and dash in a tarp and then put the Buick car cover over that, weighted with wheel chocks. It was a sad sight, but I couldn't come up with any other options. We packed up the truck with as much as we felt safe leaving in it overnight and finished up our evening.

[MRSQSL]

Huntington Beach:

I think everyone driving to HB knows the answer to "how dark is it at 6 am?" It doesn't matter because I'm too tired and cranky, nervous and a wee bit excited to really care. Mike pulled the truck with trailer out of the driveway for me so I wouldn't accidentally hit any or all of the three cars potentially in harms way. He and Steve hopped in Scoopy and off we zoomed. I was in the lead with the truck, trailer and Coupey and Mike was in the rear with Steve and the Cobra. First stop was the gas station since Mike discovered he gets about 6 miles to the gallon. I waited patiently out on the street.

I think it took us about 1.5 hours to get to HB. It may have only been an hour. It felt like a month. I've never concentrated so long and hard on trying to keep the truck centered in the lane and going 55. Who drives 55 on the freeway? It's hard!!!!!!

We made it safely to registration where Sally told me I couldn't pull in with the truck. Ummmmm...no. I have way too much to unload. She broke the rules and let me park temporarily on a side street. It was a only a matter of seconds before Da Bat and several others were helping roll the car (with me inside) off the trailer and down the road, into our parking space. This is when I realized how much water had actually gotten through the car cover and under the tarp. Sigh. Lots of cleaning was in my future. It rained like 4 days the entire last year in California. Why did Friday night have to be one of them????

As I was busy scrubbing the dirty rain remnants out of the car, I looked up when a shadow blocked my light. Hi Officer. Eep. She explained our truck was parked illegally and needed to be moved. Miiiiiiike! He had parked where he was told, but I guess the police didn't like it. It took forever before Mike returned. He told me it wasn't within walking distance anymore. Poor guy.

HB was amazing as usual. I finally got to meet Big Blocker. Thank you again for the beverages. You truly didn't have to, but we appreciated it. We also were able to put faces to a lot of other names. Steve told me later I sounded like a goober (not his word) when I asked people for their screen names. Sorry! I can remember those much better.

We got lots of compliments on the cars, but I think the mini versions of our cars garnered most of the attention. For anyone that wanted to ask, but didn't (most common question we get). Yes, the engines really do work and no I won't start it so you can see.

Mike stayed with the little cars during the award ceremony so he missed out when his name was called and it was a little awkward that Steve and I went up instead of him. I insist, though, that Scoopy is still mine even though I now have Coupey. We built that car together, so Mike doesn't get to claim it. It is still OURS. Coupey may or may not be OURS. We'll see. Hee, hee. Anyway, we were honored to have received the awards. As usual, there were tons of awesome cars there. I didn't really get to wander around and look at all of them, but the few I was able to "tour" were gorgeous indeed. Lynn's was absolutely beautiful with that brand new blue paint job and yellow side stripes. I was jumping for joy when he won the women's choice award. Yay Lynn!!!!! I also drooled over the engine of that blue car. It was an aluminum block and was breathtaking. I also spent a lot of time ogling the charcoal hot rod parked a couple spots down from us. Don't ever let Pete tell you his car is "worn out" or whatever such nonsense he tries to fill your head with. It looks beautiful. Unfortunately, the guys on that end of the street got the brunt of the wind and sand. It was cold over there too. Shiver.

Anyway, we had a great time and I'm looking forward to driving the coupe next year. I realize this is a lofty goal, but I'm going to try. Pulling a trailer wasn't terrible, but it wasn't as much fun as driving a race car (I assume anyway).

Special thanks to SoCal Mike for following us home and then taking Mike to the airport instead of rushing home to take his wife out for their 23rd wedding anniversary dinner. There are just so many amazing people in this car community and I don't think I've met a bad egg yet. I don't have pics to post, but hopefully Mike will when he gets a chance. I only took one picture on my phone and Mike happened to step to the side just as I took it. I'm also not sure if Mike will post a pic, but for those of you I whined to, Alyssa DID make it to prom, although not exactly on time. Still don't know why the school chose Dana Point as a Prom destination, but it was a long, long day of driving for me. She had a good time and that's all that matters. It's just my biased opinion, but I think she looked extremely beautiful as well.

[xlr8or]

Congrats on the awards Julie.

[Carlos C]

I second that statement. Congratulations to both of you, Julie and Mike! Keep it up.

Carlos

[68GT500MAN]

Julie (and Mike), the coupe looked as awesome as I thought it would from the photos. Congratulations on the awards for the roadster and I look forward to seeing Julie's face when the coupe win knocks Fernando from the top spot!
Doug

[Big Blocker]

Julie -n- Mike,

Glad we finally got to get together, it couldn't have been a more memorable day, HBCI, perfect weather, near the beach in SoCal . . . You guys are amazing people and the "beverages" were "required" because Julie said I should introduce myself in a way that she would remember me - what better way to make an impression? Congratulations on the TWO wins this year, you guys deserve it. The Coupe is coming along perectly and should be a real crowd pleaser next year for sure.

Julie - I was only kidding about my car being all worn out (LOL !), she's been real good to me for 12 years now, real reliable . . . we have an understanding, her and I - She doen't break down when I'm far from home and I'll continue to "tickle her belly" whenever she needs a little attention. Every year (just before HBCI) I do some little thing to improve her, so she is very appreciative. This year she got her "Fiero ebrake mod" and a new steering wheel grip. We put 800+ miles on her this past weekend, to-n-fro SoCal, and she ran flawlessly. She loves to come to the beach . . .

Doc