20th Anniversary MK4 Build Thread - #10 of 20 - #8697

[RRussellTx]

I finished up the Stainless Steel 3/8" fuel lines today. I used the same Breeze fittings that Edwardb listed in his build thread. They are very nice quality and easy to install.

Here is a shot coming up the engine compartment:


And one coming up the rear post on the PS behind the cockpit:


Underneath the trunk going into the fuel filter:



I also mounted the Breeze Battery Box and the Breeze Gas Pedal today. I still need to hook them up but they are at least mounted to the chassis.

Next, I have a little bit of work left on the panels before they go to the powder coaters and then I'll focus on the engine and the electrical. Spring time is coming so I need to make all the progress I can before the heavy yard work starts!

[RRussellTx]

I finally got time to break down the engine to find the Oil Leak. It had stopped leaking shortly after setting it on the jet ski stand but I was still worried that there was a problem. My thought was that maybe the leak was higher than the oil level so I raised one end of the engine about 20 degrees to match the angle that it was at when I pulled it out of the crate. Sure enough, overnight there was a considerable puddle under the rear main seal. I had removed the clutch and flywheel and dried everything off so I could see the leak. It turned out to be the oil pan gasket in multiple places. The Canton oil pan had a very nice FelPro gasket and was tightened appropriately so I was not sure how there could be a problem so I pulled the pan to see. I did notice that the pan was offset from the rear main seal but it was more apparent once the gasket was removed:



The bolts also did not line up AT ALL! If you line up one side then the other side is way off. Here are the image of each side without moving the pan:





I honestly don't know how Forte ever got the bolts in the first time. Another issue was from when Mike machined the rear main to make room for the Canton oil pan. There was about a 3/32 burr sticking out into the channel where the gasket seats. This image was taken after the burr was removed but you can see the channel I'm referring to:



Has anyone dealt with an oil pan this out of whack? Any suggestions on a replacement or repair?

[ThickCobra]

RRussellTx, as it appears you purchased an engine similar to mine from Mike, I have a few questions for you. I also have an engine leak coming from near the oil pan drain. I keep watching it and have tightened it a few times. It seems to have stopped, however, you make me wonder whether I need to look further. But, to my questions. I plan to use the ss hose lines provided by FFR but find the connection to the water pump, for the lower radiator hose, almost impossible to connect. The short adapter fitting appears too small for the neck of the water pump even with all the inserts removed. Did you find the same issue?

Second, Breeze sells an "Adjustable Thermostat Fan Switch Kit" to apparently supplement the automatic coolant temperature set up provided with the kit. Have you or anyone with our old school engines found the need to install this kit - #70635?

[RRussellTx]

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RRussellTx, as it appears you purchased an engine similar to mine from Mike, I have a few questions for you. I also have an engine leak coming from near the oil pan drain. I keep watching it and have tightened it a few times. It seems to have stopped, however, you make me wonder whether I need to look further. But, to my questions. I plan to use the ss hose lines provided by FFR but find the connection to the water pump, for the lower radiator hose, almost impossible to connect. The short adapter fitting appears too small for the neck of the water pump even with all the inserts removed. Did you find the same issue?

Second, Breeze sells an "Adjustable Thermostat Fan Switch Kit" to apparently supplement the automatic coolant temperature set up provided with the kit. Have you or anyone with our old school engines found the need to install this kit - #70635?

ThickCobra,
From your description, it sounds like you just needed to tighten the drain plug. Mine leaked there as well (that was Mikes first response too). My main leak was coming down the front of the block plate. I would tilt the engine back about 20 degrees to get the oil level high enough if you want to check the pan. It took several hours to get a good puddle on the floor at that angle.

I called Canton Racing directly and they gave me an AGR to send it to them 'under warranty' to check to see if the pan was out of shape and then to correct it if it was. They received it last Friday and had it straightened out and in the mail today. They said that the pan was indeed badly shaped but that they were able to straighten it out without any problem. They also only recommend a 4 piece oil pan gasket for their pan and Mike uses a one piece gasket. They did say that some engine builders have good luck with the Ford Racing one piece Gasket (which is what Mike uses) but they don't really recommend it.

Since I am still having issues with the engine, I have not installed it yet so I have not encountered any issues with the hoses yet. I will also be using the Breeze Automitive Radiator hose kits 70688 and 70690 so hopefully they will fit correctly.

I won't get the oil pan back until Monday and I'll be at the TCC meet in San Marcos this weekend so it will be a few weeks before I can give more feedback.

Hopefully others can be more helpful in the meantime.

[ThickCobra]

RRussellTx, I hope your oil pan issue is solved quickly. I will take a look at tilting the engine and hopefully don't have any other leaks lurking. Better to discover and address an issue early on. If you have other engine issues, please feel free to share. I'm following your build so 2 thumbs up. Also, would the Breeze kits you are intending to use include 70635?

[edwardb]

Breeze sells an "Adjustable Thermostat Fan Switch Kit" to apparently supplement the automatic coolant temperature set up provided with the kit. Have you or anyone with our old school engines found the need to install this kit - #70635?

The Breeze kit replaces what's in the kit. The kit uses a sensor in the engine measuring coolant temp -- typically in the manifold or water neck -- and uses the temp to trigger the cooling fan on/off. The Breeze setup uses a probe into the fins of the radiator. I've only used the coolant temp version with the two SBF builds I've completed, and it works OK. Probably the main advantage of the Breeze unit with the pretty well known Flex-O-Lite controller is that the set points are adjustable. The engine mounted ones are fixed, although several different temp range sensors are available.

[RRussellTx]

RRussellTx, I hope your oil pan issue is solved quickly. I will take a look at tilting the engine and hopefully don't have any other leaks lurking. Better to discover and address an issue early on. If you have other engine issues, please feel free to share. I'm following your build so 2 thumbs up. Also, would the Breeze kits you are intending to use include 70635?

I have the Holley Terminator EFI with my build so I may see if I can use that cooling sensor as part of my plan but I have not started researching that yet. I've pretty much stopped moving forward until I get the engine/tranny in place. My original plan only got me to that point and then I planned on going through all of the remaining build (and remaining parts/budget) to develop another plan to get me to a crude go-kart stage without much interior. This next phase is mostly electrical and engine compartment layout so I'll figure out the cooling sensor/fan switch at that time.

I'll follow your research on this one!

[ThickCobra]

Back in September, while waiting for my roadster delivery, I purchased quite a few of Breeze kits and have worked thru most of them. The adjustable thermostatic fan switch kit caused me to pause as I don't like going with an alternative system just for the sake of modification. But, looking back at high school times, it was always a headache replacing the coolant temp sensor. So..., based on your excellent yet simple feedback, I guess I'll move forward with the adjustable Breeze set up. Thanks!

I am also hoping to achieve crude go cart stage by June/July. And, although I am moving along well, I seem to get hung up on certain areas. I have to step back, which means "stop moving forward" until I miraculously gain clarity on how to proceed. And, as good as the forum is for sharing, I have come to appreciate the fact that some things I need to just work thru on my own. That doesn't mean I'll stop asking or stop sharing.

What an adventure!

[RRussellTx]

Well, I'm still fighting the Oil Pan issues.

As a recap, my Forte 427w leaked oil upon arrival and I have been chasing the issue off and on for several weeks.

- Oil in bottom of crate upon arrival
- Lifted engine and move to rolling dolly and let it set for a couple of weeks - it leaked for first few days then stopped...
- The leak was from in front of the Block Plate so it could have been several types of leaks
- Pulled the clutch and flywheel and cleaned up all of the oil from the engine
- Tilted the front of the engine up about 20 degrees - noticeable oil puddle after about 6 hours
- leak was clearly from the Oil Pan but looked like is was up and down the gasket and not from a clear location
- Pulled the Pan and noticed that it was not shaped correctly and that there was a bur in the rear main gasket channel
- Shipped the Pan to Canton Racing and they confirmed that is was badly shaped and they fixed it and returned it at no charge (I only had to pay for one way shipping and the packaging to get it up there)
- Canton recommends a 4 piece Gasket for the 15-680s Oil Pan that came on the Forte 427w so I replaced the gasket with a new Canton 88-650 Oil Pan Gasket:
https://www.cantonracingproducts.com...IL-PAN-GASKET/
- The Oil Pan came back early (Last Friday) so I left the Texas Cobra Meet early so I could get back and get it installed


Now the latest, updates:

1. The Oil Pan fits perfectly now on all of the bolt holes and does not hit the #4 main cap anymore. Not sure how they do it...
2. The front seal looks like it might be tight at the very bottom of the front lip but I think it's going to be fine.
3. Now I'm afraid the bolts that Mike used are too long for the application. They are 3/4" long and if I tighten them firmly to the bottom of the holes, they probably don't go deep enough the compress the gasket. Here are a couple of shots of the bolts he used and one shot with it tightened firmly to the bottom of the hole. I'm going to guess that he used bolts for a pan with a side rails but mine does not have a side rail. I actually cut a 6" section of the Ford Racing Gasket that he used and bolted it in sideways to see if I could get it tight enough to squeeze the gasket. It did squeeze the gasket but it was not firmly compressed and I could spin the gasket fairly easily while underneath a very snug Oil Pan bolt. Right now, I'm pretty sure I could have just left the pan in place and replaced the bolts with shorter ones and that would have resolved the issue. That said, I'm glad I got the bur out of the gasket channel and that I got the pan straightened out.

Now I need to order a proper set of oil pan bolts (or maybe some studs) so progress is again stopped. Once I get the Oil Pan re-installed, I want to clean up some rust on the block and finish the painting that Forte started.







Does anyone know what length a 351w Oil Pan Bolt should be?

Also, any votes for Studs vs Bolts? Any favorite brands?
I need to order a set of some kind and hopefully get the engine back together next weekend.

[edwardb]

You can't go wrong with anything from ARP for the pan bolts. Their part number 254-1804 is shown for a 351 block. But not sure if they're the right length for your aftermarket pan.

[RRussellTx]

The oil pan issues are finally resolved. I went with the ARP Studs and they worked very well. The straightened oil pan was pretty tight on the front and rear seals so I figure the studs would make sure they came down straight as I tightened everything down. I was worried that this might have been why the pan was bent up in the first place so I figured the studs were the safe route. They made the install super easy and allowed me to work the pan into place slowly by tightening each nut a little at a time using the criss cross pattern from the inside out. I also used a thin bead of gasket sealer to both lube the rubber ends up and add a little insurance.




I was then able to get the rest of the Engine/Transmission together and also get the Hydraulic Clutch Kit installed except for finalizing the fittings and hose routings. Hopefully, I'll get the engine installed next weekend and then I need to focus on some spring cleaning around the house. We have our annual crawfish boil at the end of the month and its quite the production. I'll start the electrical after I clean up the mess from the party in early May.

[DaleG]

Remove the "gold" square cover on top of the tranny; clean mating surfaces well and seal with Permatex Super Blue silicone gasket maker. Follow the tube directions. I had a pesky leak from that joint that was a bear to fix on the finished car. Lookin' good!

[RRussellTx]

Remove the "gold" square cover on top of the tranny; clean mating surfaces well and seal with Permatex Super Blue silicone gasket maker. Follow the tube directions. I had a pesky leak from that joint that was a bear to fix on the finished car. Lookin' good!

Thanks Dale, I think I'm going to make the cover to the Transmission Tunnel cover removable for that very reason.

[RRussellTx]

Mom is working very hard to be retired and one of her hobbies includes a sewing machine that stitches patterns from computer images. She contacted Factory Five and obtained the 20th Anniversary Logo image (and a copyright release) and then made me this bag. Pretty cool Mom!

[RRussellTx]

Well, I'm sure there is a trick to getting the engine mounts to line up more easily than i was able to make it work - but i eventually coaxed them in there. They sit very high on the chassis mounts and getting the index tab on the mounts to fit in the slot on the chassis was very difficult. I basically had to loosen every part of the engine mount and then work it into the chassis slots and then tighten them back up as I lowered the engine. The engine mount index buttons are at the very top chassis slots but i think it will be fine.

I also learned that i will need about a 1" spacer for my TKO600 Transmission and that my Driveshaft is too long... Should my Drive shaft from FFR have fit or do most people end up needing to get a custom drive shaft? I would think a 351w with a TKO600 would be pretty standard.

[edwardb]

OK, you're going to have one of those 20th Anniversary bags made for all the 20th Anniversary owners, right? Seems like the right thing to do. Seriously though, very cool.

Having to loosen the motor mounts and rock the engine onto the mounts isn't unusual. Just when you think it's not going to go it drops in. At least that's been my experience with SBF's. I'm not following your observation that the drive shaft is too short. Looks like it may be too long. But hard to tell from the angles. The short answer though is you should have a driveshaft that fits without modification. You're right, you have a pretty standard configuration. Assuming that engine/trans combination was specified on your order, FF should have supplied a driveshaft of the right length for the IRS suspension. They list an 8.375 or 10.625 inch as the two available lengths for the 2015 IRS and your 31 spline TKO output.

[RR20AC]

I'm looking at mine as I read this and mine is the short one. I have all the parts the same as yours. Jim

[RRussellTx]

Thanks Jim and Paul,

Paul - My bad on the description, I did mean too long. Thanks for the SBF engine mount confirmation (but I gotta believe mine was on the extreme end of the spectrum)
Jim - thanks for the confirmation on the parts.

I have an email exchange with Factory Five at the time of my order specifically asking about the correct driveshaft for my application and they confirmed the one on my order was correct (the long one). Hopefully they will confirm I need the short one and let me trade it out.

[carlewms]

Well, I'm sure there is a trick to getting the engine mounts to line up more easily than i was able to make it work - but i eventually coaxed them in there. They sit very high on the chassis mounts and getting the index tab on the mounts to fit in the slot on the chassis was very difficult. I basically had to loosen every part of the engine mount and then work it into the chassis slots and then tighten them back up as I lowered the engine. The engine mount index buttons are at the very top chassis slots but i think it will be fine.

When we installed my SBF we had to persuaded it a bit as well; the index buttons are also at the very top chassis slots.

Carl

[JC Of NM]

Keep the updates coming, this is great.

[Jeff Kleiner]

I leave the mounts a bit loose on the block by about 2 threads while dropping the engine in. This allows a little of extra "wiggle room" while getting it into place then once it has dropped into the chassis pedestals you tighten these and the big mount nuts.

Jeff

[WIS89]

Mom is working very hard to be retired and one of her hobbies includes a sewing machine that stitches patterns from computer images. She contacted Factory Five and obtained the 20th Anniversary Logo image (and a copyright release) and then made me this bag. Pretty cool Mom!

You need to tell Mom she did an awesome job! That tool bag looks terrific, and I know there's going to be a lot of jealous Anniversary Builders!

However, I think she could have quite a few interested folks with the standard logo too!

Looking good!!

Regards,

Steve

[RRussellTx]

You need to tell Mom she did an awesome job! That tool bag looks terrific, and I know there's going to be a lot of jealous Anniversary Builders!

However, I think she could have quite a few interested folks with the standard logo too!

Looking good!!

Regards,

Steve

Thanks Steve - I'll pass it along. I know she will appreciate the kind words.

[JC Of NM]

Looking good.

[ThickCobra]

RRussellTx, I also use the Breeze upper and lower radiator mounts which make it very easy to adjust the angle to 51° and reduces the stress on the radiator channels. I plan to set some time asside to practice attaching pics which helps with describing items and to share.

I do have 2 wiring questions for you electrical gurus. Cut off switch: there are 4 wires in a loom from the fuse panel to be connected to the starter solenoid, 3 red and 1 blue wire as a clutch safety switch. The 3 red wires, battery fd, alternator fd and ignition switch will be trimmed and attached to one side of the cut off switch. As for the blue wire for the clutch safety switch, do I still need to run this wire directly to the starter solenoid?

Second question. Alternator indicator light. I am running a carburated engine with a 1 wire alternator from Forte. The Ron Francis wiring guide indicated that I could add an alternator dash light by inserting a 510 ohm 1 watt resistor in line and run a wire to the alternator smaller plug. There is a rubber plug on the alternator and underneath 2 male leads. One lead labeled 1 R and the other marked 2 F. Can I use the brown wire that is in the alternator wiring loom and if so, which lead would I connect it to?

[edwardb]

RRussellTx, I also use the Breeze upper and lower radiator mounts which make it very easy to adjust the angle to 51° and reduces the stress on the radiator channels. I plan to set some time asside to practice attaching pics which helps with describing items and to share.

I do have 2 wiring questions for you electrical gurus. Cut off switch: there are 4 wires in a loom from the fuse panel to be connected to the starter solenoid, 3 red and 1 blue wire as a clutch safety switch. The 3 red wires, battery fd, alternator fd and ignition switch will be trimmed and attached to one side of the cut off switch. As for the blue wire for the clutch safety switch, do I still need to run this wire directly to the starter solenoid?

Second question. Alternator indicator light. I am running a carburated engine with a 1 wire alternator from Forte. The Ron Francis wiring guide indicated that I could add an alternator dash light by inserting a 510 ohm 1 watt resistor in line and run a wire to the alternator smaller plug. There is a rubber plug on the alternator and underneath 2 male leads. One lead labeled 1 R and the other marked 2 F. Can I use the brown wire that is in the alternator wiring loom and if so, which lead would I connect it to?

Hardly a wiring guru, but after doing a few you kind of get the hang of it. I'll go ahead and take a shot at answers, even though in RRussellTx's build thread.

Cut off switch: I think I read correctly you aren't planning a firewall solenoid. If that's correct, the way I would wire with a disconnect is (1) large positive cable from battery to one side of the disconnect, (2) large cable from other side of disconnect to large lug on starter solenoid, (3) three smaller red wires from RF harness also on switch terminal with cable going to starter. Includes battery feed, alternator feed, and ignition switch feed. (4) The blue wire is the start wire (not a clutch safety switch) and goes to the smaller terminal on the starter. That's its purpose. The clutch safety switch just happens to be in the circuit, e.g. open and the +12V from the ignition switch doesn't go to the starter. Closed (e.g. clutch pushed in) and the starter gets the +12V.

Alternator indicator light: First, to wire your one-wire alternator, you can either attach both wires with large lugs to the alternator as described in the manual, or you can strip back the convolute and remove the shorter cable. You'll see those two wires are tied together not far back from the end. The brown wire and plug is also hard wired to the alternator feed, just further back on the harness. You can cut it off too. I personally don't have experience with an indicator light on a one-wire and the instructions in the manual for a light don't apply to a one-wire. A quick search indicates it depends on your specific one-wire alternator. Some, e.g. Powermaster, have a terminal that can be used for an indicator. Many however don't seem to. Personally, if you have a voltage gauge, I'm not sure the point. BTW, be prepared to get some flak about using a one-wire. Some will suggest otherwise. Personally, I've used them on my first two builds. First one just a generic one. Second a Tuff Stuff Performance brand. There are no doubt better performing alternators (i.e. 2G, 3G, 4G) but both have worked fine.

[karlos]

This is a good option for one-wire alternator setups - an auto-dimming LED voltmeter. Two-wire hookup and comes with its own bezel for easy installation in the dash. Comes from the UK so a little patience will be required to get one, but well worth the wait.

http://www.sparkbright.co.uk/sparkri...ge-monitor.php

[KDubU]

Glad to see you finally got your engine and it's installed. That sucks about the oil pan leak and fit but all is good now.

[ThickCobra]

Hardly a wiring guru, but after doing a few you kind of get the hang of it. I'll go ahead and take a shot at answers, even though in RRussellTx's build thread.

Cut off switch: I think I read correctly you aren't planning a firewall solenoid. If that's correct, the way I would wire with a disconnect is (1) large positive cable from battery to one side of the disconnect, (2) large cable from other side of disconnect to large lug on starter solenoid, (3) three smaller red wires from RF harness also on switch terminal with cable going to starter. Includes battery feed, alternator feed, and ignition switch feed. (4) The blue wire is the start wire (not a clutch safety switch) and goes to the smaller terminal on the starter. That's its purpose. The clutch safety switch just happens to be in the circuit, e.g. open and the +12V from the ignition switch doesn't go to the starter. Closed (e.g. clutch pushed in) and the starter gets the +12V.

Alternator indicator light: First, to wire your one-wire alternator, you can either attach both wires with large lugs to the alternator as described in the manual, or you can strip back the convolute and remove the shorter cable. You'll see those two wires are tied together not far back from the end. The brown wire and plug is also hard wired to the alternator feed, just further back on the harness. You can cut it off too. I personally don't have experience with an indicator light on a one-wire and the instructions in the manual for a light don't apply to a one-wire. A quick search indicates it depends on your specific one-wire alternator. Some, e.g. Powermaster, have a terminal that can be used for an indicator. Many however don't seem to. Personally, if you have a voltage gauge, I'm not sure the point. BTW, be prepared to get some flak about using a one-wire. Some will suggest otherwise. Personally, I've used them on my first two builds. First one just a generic one. Second a Tuff Stuff Performance brand. There are no doubt better performing alternators (i.e. 2G, 3G, 4G) but both have worked fine.

Edwardb, as usual, spot on and easy to follow your response. And yes, the clutch safety switch happens to be in the ignition switch circuit. Now I need to find a nice tidy way to route the blue wire to the solenoid. As for the alternator, I do want to stick with the one wire I purchased. And, as you know, the anniversary roadster has a volt meter gauge so I won't be needing an alternator indicator light. Many thanks.

RRussellTx, sorry for inserting my electrical question in your thread. But the title, 20th Anniversary probably gets a lot of viewing and your build seems to be all encompassing. I thought I would share something we all need to address but I'll be selective going forward.

Jay

[RRussellTx]

RRussellTx, sorry for inserting my electrical question in your thread. But the title, 20th Anniversary probably gets a lot of viewing and your build seems to be all encompassing. I thought I would share something we all need to address but I'll be selective going forward.

Jay

No worries, I am just starting to think about the electrical for my build so it's great timing. I'm researching the different types of connectors right now. I need to start clearing out my garage for an annual event at the house so the build is on hold for a few weeks but I'll be deep in these questions after that.

[RRussellTx]

Glad to see you finally got your engine and it's installed. That sucks about the oil pan leak and fit but all is good now.

Thanks!
I heard back from Factory Five about the driveshaft that was too long. He said it looked like engineering changed the spec on my driveshaft since my order and they are sending me the correct driveshaft. I'll send the dimensions of the new driveshaft when it gets here so others with the 2015 IRS/351w/TKO600 will know what they might need.

After that, I'll be back on track!

[RRussellTx]

There has been quite a bit going on around our house over the past month with Birthdays, Mothers Day, Daughters confirmation, our annual crawfish boil and multiple hail storms. We were actually supposed to be at a family reunion this weekend but heavy rains washed out the road to my uncles place where we were all going to meet. That meant that I got a nice quiet 3 day weekend to spend in the garage - yeah! I mostly worked on electrical and a few odds and ends. I have had some time to do a little work over the past month here and there so I'll try to get caught up on the progress tonight.

First, the new driveshaft came in soon after my last post. The new driveshaft is much shorter than the last one I had (the actual shaft portion is less than 2" long).


I was easily able to get the driveshaft installed (amazing how much the correct part helps) and I also fabricated the spacer for the TKO600 to raise the tail. I used 1" aluminum stock from McMaster Carr:


Next, I powder coated and mounted the Fuse Box and bracket. I used a piece of one of the unused brackets to make a strap for the back side of the panel.


Here it is in my little powder coating oven - Love It!

[RRussellTx]

I have spent quite a bit of time on the electrical portion of the build without too much to show for it. I was worried about this part of the build but I think I'm over the hump with the routing phase outside of the cockpit. Now I have a semi organized 'collections' of wiring ready to be organized behind the dash. I wound up stripping out quite a bit of the unused wiring even though I told myself not to. It was like pulling a thread on a old sock. Once I got started, there was no good place to stop...

I wound up pulling out the wire from the Alternator to the Starter out of the harness (it was 11 feet long) and just routing it directly with less than 24". I pulled out the Hot Rod harness and most of the Ron Francis wiring for the guages since the 20th Anniversary Guage Set includes most of the wiring necessary.
I added a new Coolant Temp Sensor for the Guages in the Intake Manifold Heater Port in addition to the CTS for the Holley Terminator EFI. I also added the circuit for the Backup light - I found the correct connector on eBay and used the weatherpack to connect it to the harness.



I also completed the Fuel System routing including a Holley 554-102 Fuel Pressure Transducer. I used the same Aeroquip fittings that I used near the tank in the rear.



Next up was the Radiator. I used the Breeze Fan shroud that I had prepared earlier in my thread. I wound up just putting a moderate polish on it and then some sharkhide. I could not decide what color to powder coat it so I just opted for a light polish and I think it turned out well. I also used the Breeze Upper and Lower Radiator hoses for the 351W. I will probably clean up some of the rubber hoses but overall i think it turned out great.






It sure is nice to throw away empty boxes as the parts go on the car. I'm running out of boxes that don't go in the cockpit or on the body. I'll be ordering the custom jig from StainlessHeaders after we get back from vacation so I can get them fitted and fabricated. After I get those in I'll button up the inside footbox panel on the drivers side and then I can route the wiring into the cabin for the last time.
I'm also looking at Power Steering Pump Options along with a slick pulley system - let me know if you have any sugestions on those.

We have a vacation coming up that is going to take up a couple of weekends so it may be a while before my next update. Taking the kids to see the Grand Canyon and then out to Disneyland and then San Diego for a few days at the Coronado for my wife.

[ThickCobra]

RRussellTx,

Nice to see the progress you're making. After debating whether to use the corrugated ss water lines, I ordered Breeze's upper and lower radiator hoses. Can't wait to get them.

Jay

[RRussellTx]

I just called up Speedhut to see if they could provide a matching Oil Temp Gauge including the 20th Anniversary MK4-010 markings. They said I just needed to make the notations on the order and they could take care of it. I just placed the order so we'll see how it turns out...

I'll post pictures in a few weeks when they come in.

RRussellTx,
I ordered Breeze's upper and lower radiator hoses. Can't wait to get them.

Jay, I think you will like the Breeze kits. They are clean and simple.

[edwardb]

I just called up Speedhut to see if they could provide a matching Oil Temp Gauge including the 20th Anniversary MK4-010 markings. They said I just needed to make the notations on the order and they could take care of it. I just placed the order so we'll see how it turns out...

I'll post pictures in a few weeks when they come in.

OK... I contacted Speedhut through email and phone not long after I picked up my Anniversary kit and said they would only provide an oil temp gauge (or any other for that matter) without the 20th Anniversary markings. Said it was a copyright issue and I would have to work directly through Factory Five. I was in the middle of sorting backordered parts, etc. and just didn't want to complicate things and didn't want one of the gauges without the special marking. So dropped it. I guess something changed. I have an oil temp gauge on #7750 and it's interesting to see what it's doing. But for my street driving nothing that seems very important. With the Coyote in the new build, just not something I expect is very important either. But I still would have liked to have it. Too late now. Oh well.

[Paul Mischenko]

Hey Russell, I'm going with a similar set up to you, Roush 427 SR, so a 351 W, but I'm going carb which has a mechanical fuel pump. I also have the PS rack from Breeze, KRC has some really nice PS stuff I think Edward went with them, I called and was speaking with Norm Frame, really nice guy, however we weren't sure if it would clear the mechanical fuel pump. I would have gone with KRC but Roush is soon offering this as an option so going with their setup from Turn One to ensure it all fits, I also spoke with Jones and March. I also have to install a reverse light to pass NYS inspection, have you decided what you are going to do? I looked at the mini option but didn't want to add something permanent or change the body. I bought a pair of white lens tail lights, perfect match to our red ones, that I was thinking to swap just for inspection or was trying to find something on the license plate.

[RRussellTx]

I also have to install a reverse light to pass NYS inspection, have you decided what you are going to do? I looked at the mini option but didn't want to add something permanent or change the body. I bought a pair of white lens tail lights, perfect match to our red ones, that I was thinking to swap just for inspection or was trying to find something on the license plate.

I have not done the research and figured out the reverse light yet but I did wire it to the license plate leg of the rear harness (the longest leg - just in case).
Also, thanks for the input on the PS pump, I'll check out the KRC stuff.
Really jealous about your Roush motor - That's going to be pretty sweet! I saw the Roush Coyote 5.0 SR engine in 001 of 20 at the Texas Cobra Club meet in San Marcos last month and bought a fist full of raffle tickets. They actually painted the engine cover to match the car colors which came out very nice.

[RRussellTx]

OK... I contact Speedhut through email and phone not long after I picked up my Anniversary kit and said they would only provide an oil temp gauge (or any other for that matter) without the 20th Anniversary markings.

That's a bummer! I'm not sure what changed but it was a much quicker conversation than what I had anticipated. It lead me to believe that it might have been done before but it was such a short conversation I can't say for sure. Maybe someone else worked through the conversation with Factory Five and opened the door. The custom items I paid for were the MK4-010 on the face and also for the 'custom Factory Five Font' they used.

[RRussellTx]

My oil temp sensor came in from Speedhut. Looks good but I need a 1/2 male x 1/8 female npt adapter to get it mounted in my Canton oil pan.

I may just swap it out for the clock since the arms don't light up on the clock and I usually have a phone or watch to tell time. Maybe I can make a desk clock for my office...