Today my front suspension parts arrived, so my build is finally beginning. I guess that means it is time to start a build thread.


My Factory 5 story starts like so many others here. Growing up outside Detroit, the automotive industry was everywhere. My grandfathers worked for Ford and Michelin, my father GM. Our family was involved in CCM (Corvette Club of Michigan), Detroit Region SCCA, and MSCC (Michigan Sports Car Club.) Every year we took part in various events from each club, and larger events - Road rally, Autocross, everything. My father ran in the One Lap of Michigan, then the family ran course closing for the event after it became the MACA Grand Tour for Children. My father was also very active in SCCA Pro Rally, eventually becoming an event organizer for Sno*Drift and one year being called on to help with the X-Games rally. I have fond memories of family trips with the rally team to the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, among other "smaller" events.

It did not take long after I was able to drive that I started pursuing motorsports on my own, running "TSD" Road Rallies, autocrossing, and many HPDE/Track Days at Gingerman, Grattan, and Waterford Hills.

Eventually, as it often does, life got in the way. Moved away, got married, etc. All my "car stuff" had to be set aside until a time it fit in my life again. One day in 2009 I was in a K-Mart and came across a hot wheels toy that I fell in love with. That toy is pictured above. I had to have it, in fact I had to have it in 1:1 scale. I turned to my wife at that moment and told her I wanted to build a Cobra and I wanted it to look like this car. She replied "Ok" and the dream was born.

Once again life got in the way, but the dream did not die. I did some research and selected Factory 5 for my kit, got the DVD, got on the mailing list, etc. One day I was sitting in Charlotte airport and got an e-mail from Factory 5 announcing a sale. I do not remember their name for the sale, but the gist was that the next 5 base kits sold were going to be rolled back to their original $9,990 price. I did not consider myself ready to purchase, and let the wife know about the sale, commenting that it was too bad we couldn't get in on the deal. Her response was "Why not? call them and order your car." That I did, and on Feb 25 2017 the Stewart truck pulled up and dropped off my kit.

At this point, my kit was as follows:
MK4 Base kit
Powdercoat frame
PS Roll bar (wife required this)
Standard seats

This car will be primarily a driver, as we have roadster weather here in FL 50 weeks of the year (I drove a solstice for 5 years before my son was born and I needed something "more practical"). No doubt it will see a few autocrosses, and it will visit the dragon (I haven't owned a car in 17 years that hasn't at least once, and even a few trucks).
My intent was to not use a donor vehicle and it still is. There are too many parts available from F5 and other vendors that are improvements over the Mustang parts, and I didn't want to build a "new" car with "old, worn out parts." I intended to purchase a complete kit, as it would likely save money in the long run, but the base kit that is in my garage is MUCH closer to fulfilling my dream than the complete kit i was unable to purchase for ~7 years.

The general plan:
Coyote
TKO600
4-link rear (is this possible, I have not noticed any coyote builds that do not use the IRS)
Wilwood brakes (I have wilwoods on "the red car" and would not trade them for anything)
color: similar to above, satin green w/ white or tan stripe. Exact details to be determined. I will probably lose the stars, and stray just far enough from olive drab to avoid the military theme.
If I can get it done, I intend to copper plate everything that would otherwise be chrome. exhaust will be copper colored ceramic coated with plated heat shields. the biggest question in my mind will be the steering wheel and badges. It would be easy enough to skip the badges if I cannot get a set created in copper instead of chrome, but the wheel may require some creativity. IMO, one piece of chrome would ruin the copper "theme" and would mean considering keeping everything chrome instead.
Aluminum panels will be powdercoated (black likely, to match the frame) and after final assembly of the interior, I am thinking lizardskin inside for heat/sound insulation.
I intend to replace visible rivets with either black (on aluminum panels) or copper (elsewhere) following the lack of chrome.

This will be a very slow build, as I obtain parts and build piece by piece. Additionally, I intend to do a full "mock-up" build before tearing everything back down for finishing. This is my "dream car" and I don't want to rush it to completion.

Once the garage is clean of everything that has collected around the car, I can assemble my body buck and begin the aluminum removal and front suspension assembly this weekend. Then I suppose it will be time to select a FD and begin looking for a differential. My neighbor has a spare from his mustang so with a little luck that will be in good shape and have the right gears in it. It will likely need a limited slip of some sort as well, I suppose.





I notice the date on my manual is September 2016 - have there been any major updates since?