Factory Five Snow Storm & Moochfest Update

[Dave Smith]

Guys, I am sorry to tell you that we have to cancel this weekend's Moochfest. I thought long and hard about it, and the truth is that we are jammed with snow in the parking lot, and despite our best efforts, I really don't think we will have all of the snow and ice cleared sufficiently to host hundreds of guests. I simply can't take the chance of someone slipping and falling/getting hurt. We MIGHT be able to reschedule it, but I wanted to at least let everyone know that this weekend is cancelled.

We are up and running through the storm. However, we will be shutting down at 2 PM today to allow our crew to get home through the inevitable traffic and heavy snow. Here are some photos from the day.


This is a parking lot of a company that is ready to move snow.


Hot Rod Power Tour sure seems like a long way away.


Derek F. in welding works on a Type 65 Coupe while the storm rages.


Cody and Ryan in molding lay down some Hot Rod trunk panels.


Nate and Aaron review the production schedule while the snow flies.


The warm weather will be here soon enough, and even though it’s snowing outside, our project work is running at full throttle inside. Here is our next demo car (Coyote-powered Mk4) going together.


Nate Johnson is building another Hot Rod (his first Hot Rod he built for his Dad!), and he is running LS-power.

[Dave Smith]

The 818C is going together. Mechanicals separate from body work in the molding bay.


The 818 hard top is nearing completion. This is an older photo. The 818C will be unveiled at our summer open house.



The crew is working hard despite the weather. The only good thing about weather like this is it makes it easy to stay inside, turn up the heat, and build cars.

[billjr212]

stay warm and safe out there!

side note - i see lots of new/custom looking coolant lines on that 818C - much improved from the original version and a lot fewer joints/couplings to leak. Any expectation to offer those as a kit for people to retrofit? (you missed me by about 2 weeks, i'm already knee deep in the burping process for the original version, but curious anyway)

[bil1024]

Darn! Hope I can get hotel refunded

[metalmaker12]

Too bad, was looking forward to it, but I agree the snow is a serious issue.
Dave what radiator is that, like the design and I bet makes burping easier, are you guys going to offer the different rubber lines etc. also is that a Sti tranny I see

[ehansen007]

STi in the coupe eh? That thing is going to be scary.

[FFR-ADV]

Hope we can do it another time, if only this Grrrrr.... snow would stop.

On the subject of things that CAN be controlled albeit with great effort, I Love the progress on the 818C. The new gas tank (similar to the green SEMA car?) and firewall looks great. The new coolant hoses look really clean. STI drive train and other hidden goodies are going to make this a track weapon.

[tirod]

The right decision is usually the hard choice.

Edelbrock EFI on an LS, glad to see that, those have been out for years now and the manifolds don't get the exposure they deserve.

[Jim Schenck]

Radiator hoses are something we are just looking at changing, along with an optional radiator for the 818. Still in the process of finding the right combination of parts and getting it tested so that is still a ways from production, although the radiators could be much sooner.