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Thread: David and Izzy's MK4 #9138 Build Thread

  1. #1
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    David and Izzy's MK4 #9138 Build Thread

    Hi all,

    I have finally gotten around to starting this build thread despite taking delivery 2 months ago! I’m building it with my dad (Izzy) and I’m sure my son (who is 4 years old) will enjoy getting his hands dirty once he grows up a bit. We’ve always been into cars and even owned a 1966 Mustang GT convertible when I was in high school. I am very lucky to live less than a mile from my dad and we’ve done many father-son projects over the years. Up until now, these have mostly been related to woodworking and we’ve built many pieces of furniture for his house and mine. He is the one with a woodshop and the MK4 will be built at my house in the middle bay of a 3 car garage. Despite feeling comfortable working with wood, we are newbies when it comes to working on cars. Our experience is limited to fluid changes and the occasional brake job. But we work well together (he is able to calm me down when frustration leads to me to want to throw things) and are eager to learn. We already went to the Build School in August and at that time made a pilgrimage to meet Paul (Edwardb) and see his magnificent 20th Anniversary build. What a thrill that was! I’ve been reading the forum for many months and am in awe of the knowledge and generosity of the members and look forward to becoming part of the community!

    Here is our build plan:
    We are going for a street cruiser that I can occasionally take for auto-cross events. The color will be the classic dark blue with white stripes.

    MK4 Complete Kit
    427w (not yet decided on where to get it)
    EFI
    TKO 600
    IRS
    Wilwood Brakes (red)
    4 port headers with stainless side pipes
    Kirky High-Back seats
    Dual chrome roll bars
    Halibrand Wheels 17x9 and 17x10.5
    Heater
    Front/Rear sway bars

    Planned modifications include:

    Breeze - Power Steering rack and offset mounting kit, front battery kit, radiator shroud and support kit, side view mirrors
    Forte – hydraulic clutch and mechanical throttle linkage
    FFmetal – forward firewall and transmission tunnel top
    Russ Thompson – turn signal and throttle pedal

    Thanks in advance for any comments or suggestions. We need all the help we can get!

    -David and Izzy
    Last edited by dncharo; 11-08-2017 at 12:08 AM.
    MK4 Roadster #9138
    Blueprint 427 with Sniper EFI, TKO600, IRS, complete kit
    https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...8-Build-Thread

  2. #2
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    Delivery Day with my kids Emily and Kevin

    MK4 Roadster #9138
    Blueprint 427 with Sniper EFI, TKO600, IRS, complete kit
    https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...8-Build-Thread

  3. #3
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    We had to rent a trailer and truck to get the car into the garage since the Stewart truck couldn't make it down the one lane road I live on. I'm the one at the front of the car and my dad is by the driver's door.

    MK4 Roadster #9138
    Blueprint 427 with Sniper EFI, TKO600, IRS, complete kit
    https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...8-Build-Thread

  4. #4
    Jazzman's Avatar
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    A three generation build! Good plan. Your son may not be a great help at that tender age, but he will never forget the time he spends with Daddy! I wish I had started my Roadster when my sons were much younger. Good for you. Welcome to the insanity!!
    Jazzman

    MKIV #8745 "Flip Top" Roadster, Custom Tilt front, Coyote Engine, Tremec TKO600, Custom Interior. Best of Show winner, Huntington Beach Cruise In 2018.

    1967 Ford Mustang Coupe build thread updated 1/22/2021

    Roadster Frame Dolly Plan

  5. #5
    Senior Member wareaglescott's Avatar
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    Have a great time. I am sure build school was very beneficial. I started with about the same experience level as you mention on mine. Plenty of help here on the forum whenever you have questions.
    MK4 #8900 - complete kit - Coyote, TKO600, IRS - Delivered 6/28/16 First Start 10/6/16 Go cart - 10/16/16 Build completed - 4/26/17 - 302 days to build my 302 CI Coyote Cobra - Registered and street legal 5/17/17
    Build Thread http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showt...e-build-thread
    PHIL 4:13 INSTAGRAM - @scottsrides

  6. #6
    rrrose's Avatar
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    Hey David and Izzy
    Great to see your build thread and maintain contact with classmates from build school. Our builds are very similar as we discussed at school. I think it is great how you and your dad work so well together and it was obvious you both have been doing it for a long time. It's like you each know what the other is thinking as you work together with not so many words.
    Ron

  7. #7
    Senior Member edwardb's Avatar
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    It was great meeting you in person in August while you were in sunny Michigan for the build school. Congrats on your kit delivery and enjoy the build. I will be very interested to watch your progress.
    Build 1: Mk3 Roadster #5125. Sold 11/08/2014. Build 2: Mk4 Roadster #7750. Sold 04/10/2017. Build Thread
    Build 3: Mk4 Roadster 20th Anniversary #8674. Sold 09/07/2020. Build Thread and Video. Build 4: Gen 3 Type 65 Coupe #59. Gen 3 Coyote. Legal 03/04/2020. Build Thread and Video
    Build 5: 35 Hot Rod Truck #138. LS3 and 4L65E auto. Rcvd 01/05/2021. Legal 04/20/2023. Build Thread. Sold 11/9/2023.

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    Ok, I'm going to try and catch this thread up to where we are in real time. I've been having issues uploading pictures because I don't have enough posts... I guess I need to get more chatty.

    We decided to hang the body from the ceiling so that I could still park my daily driver underneath. Got 4 heavy duty hangers used for swings and 4 hoists with pulleys used for hanging deer heads and screwed them into the ceiling joists. It actually worked out really well.

    MK4 Roadster #9138
    Blueprint 427 with Sniper EFI, TKO600, IRS, complete kit
    https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...8-Build-Thread

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    After inventory, we decided to drill the aluminum panels as we take them off the car. This has certainly slowed us down in the beginning, but we are hoping that it pays off down the road. We will powder coat the panels facing the engine compartment, but will likely end up spray painting the ones towards the back of the car that will never be seen (except from below). The panels that have been powder coated so far look great and I'm really pleased with how they turned out. It was a big moment when we could finally put the F panels back on the car and try out the pneumatic rivet gun. (Go Harbor Freight!)

    Then we went to mount the lower control arms and ran into the typical issues of needing to clear the PC from the holes so that the bolts would go through. But on the driver's front side, the tabs were too narrow to get the bushing to fit. So we figured out how to use a threaded rod with washers and bolts to slowly spread the tabs and then insert the control arm, and then remove the rod while we wiggled it into place. We were pretty proud of ourselves for coming up with this solution, but then I read about it on a few other threads and realized that I need to do more forum reading before attempting the next steps on the build... The build manual doesn't talk about any of this stuff!!

    The upper control arm ball joints were the next adventure. We wanted to try and use what came with the kit, but only 1/2 of them fit. So we contacted factory five and they sent us out another one and even "test fit" it before sending it out to us. But to no avail, that one didn't fit either. We could get it within about 1/2 inch of the bottom, but even with using a vice it wouldn't go smoothly. So back to the forums and we purchased the Howe Racing ball joints which went in beautifully! But we didn't realize that they didn't come with dust boots, so had to figure out which ones to order and back to Amazon. You can see a pattern here emerging: challenge on the build leads to more forum research leads to buying more parts and finally back to the build.

    Here's a pic of the Howe Racing ball joint (not turned all the way in)
    MK4 Roadster #9138
    Blueprint 427 with Sniper EFI, TKO600, IRS, complete kit
    https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...8-Build-Thread

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    Wilwood brakes

    What is supposed to be the easiest part of the build ended up being an expensive adventure for us. We were bolting the hat and the rotor together and ended up snapping off the head of one of the bolts (after we had put red loctite on it). In retrospect, we weren't being particularly gentle and might have even been using our pneumatic wrench to get them started before we torqued them down to 155 inch pounds. Before it snapped, I thought to myself that it looked a bit crooked and didn't back off when I felt some resistance. Lesson learned. My dad posted about this earlier and we received great advice from the forum. Thanks!! We ended up finding a guy to remove the one that snapped off and we used a heat gun to remove the remaining 5-6 other bolts that were all the way in with red loctite. They actually came out pretty smoothly (and we were being super careful by now). We tried to salvage the hat, but the threads were damaged from removing the bolt that snapped off. We bought a tap and tried to fix it, but when we test fit a new bolt, it would screw it but seemed to wiggle back and forth like the hole was now too big. Brakes are kind of important so we bought a new hat and new screws, but managed to save the rotor. We learned another lesson: when using loctite be sure to seat the bolt fully first, and then back it out and apply the loctite and torque to spec.

    Here is a pic of the assembled rotor and hat with the safety wiring.
    MK4 Roadster #9138
    Blueprint 427 with Sniper EFI, TKO600, IRS, complete kit
    https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...8-Build-Thread

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    Things went a bit more smoothly with the rest of the front suspension. The spindle went on easily and the castle nuts seemed to fit on both of the ball joints. The steering arms were a bit of a mystery as I described today on mach'ers build thread. They looked exactly the same to me for the longest time until I saw the slight differences: tapered hole and beveled edge. I searched the forums and found out that the large part of the hole goes down and that they should be angled outwards. Again, nothing in the manual to give us a hint about any of this.

    Finally, torquing down the hub nut to 225-250 ft lbs was quite the challenge. My 4yo son saw the size of the new socket I needed to purchase for this and wanted his chance to try and torque it down.
    Here he is with his older sister using all their weight to try and get the wrench to click.
    MK4 Roadster #9138
    Blueprint 427 with Sniper EFI, TKO600, IRS, complete kit
    https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...8-Build-Thread

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    The Wilwood brakes went on pretty easily. Finally some instructions with details and a nice diagram. The one issue that came up was which bolts to use for the caliper mounting brackets. Wilwood ships bolts for this, but there were also bolts from factory five that were in with the spindles. The Wilwood ones had the hex heads (6 sides) and didn't fit very well on top because I couldn't get a socket on it with the spindle in the way. They also were longer and extended beyond the caliper bracket by about 1/2 inch. Any further and they would be too close to the safety wires for my comfort. So we ended up using the ones from factory five that had the 12 point head. I could then get a socket on there to torque it down and they also seemed like a better length. You can see them here (bolts with the 12 point heads). I'm also using the red dots to indicate when bolts are torqued (daughter's nail polish...)
    MK4 Roadster #9138
    Blueprint 427 with Sniper EFI, TKO600, IRS, complete kit
    https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...8-Build-Thread

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    So that is where we are at so far. Please take a look and let us know if something doesn't look right. We will move to the IRS next but first need to continue taking off aluminum panels (as we drill them) which takes a while...



    MK4 Roadster #9138
    Blueprint 427 with Sniper EFI, TKO600, IRS, complete kit
    https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...8-Build-Thread

  14. #14
    Member rx7922's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dncharo View Post
    im just curious, i have seen people install the shocks with the spring at the top and the spring at the bottom. which way is the correct way?
    Gilroy, Ca
    Dreaming of the MK4
    Purchasing the kit within the next 3 years.

  15. #15
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    My understanding is that the red shocks can be mounted in either direction. That is probably why you've seen people doing it both ways. There is a recent discussion on this in Papa's Build Thread.
    MK4 Roadster #9138
    Blueprint 427 with Sniper EFI, TKO600, IRS, complete kit
    https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...8-Build-Thread

  16. #16
    Member rx7922's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dncharo View Post
    My understanding is that the red shocks can be mounted in either direction. That is probably why you've seen people doing it both ways. There is a recent discussion on this in Papa's Build Thread.
    Yes you are correct, btw great build, im keeping an eye out on your build. looks like the kids are enjoying it!
    Gilroy, Ca
    Dreaming of the MK4
    Purchasing the kit within the next 3 years.

  17. #17
    Senior Member mach'er's Avatar
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    Man, good idea using the 12-point bolts that shipped with the kit. I put my front Wilwoods on this morning, and noted the same about the fit of the Wilwood bolts - but went ahead and used them anyway. I didn't look to see how close they were to the safety wire. And I did already torque & Loctite them down.

    I was so excited about test fitting the wheels/tires up front that nothing was slowing me down (I had no interference between the caliper and the weights used to balance my tires).

    I'll have to go check how close the end of the bolts are to the back of the hat. Thanks for the tip.
    Roadster #9146. Complete Kit, 363 w/Jim Inglese Weber Carbs, Forte TKO600 w/Hydraulic Clutch, IRS, Wilwood Brakes, F & R Sway Bars, 17" Halibrands, Power Steering, Breeze Front Battery Kit, Herb's Door Panels, and who knows what else left to be added.
    Ordered 5/19/17. Delivered 8/18/17. Slowly Building.

  18. #18
    Senior Member Yama-Bro's Avatar
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    Looking good!
    Started dreaming of a Cobra around 1987
    Purchased Complete Kit 6/9/2017, Delivered 9/4/2017, Rolling Chassis 3/30/2018, Engine Dyno'ed 3/4/2022, Engine installed 8/27/2022
    Click here for my build thread
    Serial #9158
    Design Engineer at BluePrint Engines

  19. #19
    Boydster's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by rx7922 View Post
    im just curious, i have seen people install the shocks with the spring at the top and the spring at the bottom. which way is the correct way?
    I eventually mounted all my shocks with the shock body down / springs up. In the front, this put the height adjustment collar in an easy spot to get to. With the shock body up, the collar was in the middle of the upper control arm and not easy to get to. In the rear, I had to mount with the springs up / body down to avoid spring interference with the 3 link shock brackets.

    Red Koni's will go either way.
    ---Boyd---
    MkIV #9042 build thread
    www.boss427.us
    427W, TKO600, Moser 3.55 rear.
    Delivered Feb 2017, Graduated Nov 4, 2019

  20. #20
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    Finally done removing the aluminum and starting the IRS

    Well we are finally done drilling and removing all the aluminum. We thought it made sense to do it all at once to try and save time later, but it sure took a while... But like most things, we got better at it as we progressed (although the panels may have also gotten easier to do moving from the footboxes to the back of the car). We just did the 2 inch spacing for pretty much everything. No major issues other than when we tried to drill into a weld that we didn't notice because it was hidden. Broke a few drill bits doing that. The clecos were extremely helpful and we used them constantly as we were drilling to make sure the panels didn't move around. The panels in the engine bay are powder coated and the rest will be spray painted black since they won't be seen except from underneath.



    And finally done..



    We then turned our attention to the IRS and started with painting POR 15 onto the center section. This went pretty smoothly. It was our first experience with this stuff. It looks amazing and will hopefully be very durable, but sure smells toxic. I didn't wear a mask at first and felt a bit tipsy after putting on the first coat. We tried to keep the paint off the aluminum section, but the tape didn't seem to do a very good job at it. Whatever, we will be the only ones to see it anyway...





    Then the fun started when we tried to "chase" the front mounts. We bought a new 5/8" titanium drill bit. But the only bits we could find had a 1/2 shank which means that we needed to buy a new drill with a 1/2 chuck. Sweet, a new excuse for more tools! We had read about how the bit wants to "catch" so we were somewhat prepared for this to be difficult but hoped that a new bit would do the trick. Unfortunately, as we feared, the bit would very quickly "grab" and rip the drill right out of our hands. It is hard to describe quite how violent and quickly this happens, but it felt like it was trying to break our wrists. This happened about 3 times before we stopped and tried to think about another way to do it. We thought about using my dad's drill press, but the table likely couldn't support the weight of the center section and it would mean transporting it to my dad's house. Then I tried it one more time, this time positioning by body next to the drill so it couldn't spin out of my hands. And that is when the brand new bit broke. I'm not sure what we were doing wrong, but we've decided to take it to a machine shop to do it for us. While we are there, we will also have them press out the mustang studs on the hubs and press in the cobra ones and also cut the spindles (I presume they have a minimum charge). I feel somewhat bad about farming these steps out, but having the right tool for the job makes things much easier and we need to keep moving forward.
    MK4 Roadster #9138
    Blueprint 427 with Sniper EFI, TKO600, IRS, complete kit
    https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...8-Build-Thread

  21. #21
    Brandon #9196 TexasAviator's Avatar
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    awesome build. Love the irs, wish i could have afforded that route but I already had the live axle on hand. Also love the kiddos being in the garage with me. Good luck with your build.

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    IRS Center Section Installed!

    Last week we were finally able to install the IRS center section. We got it back from the machine shop and they were able to chase the front mounts for us. It doesn't sound like they used a drill, more likely a milling machine, but they did a great job! It was so worth it after our initial attempt resulted in breaking a brand new bit and we didn't have to risk further limb injury. We used Edwardb's method of the engine lift and multiple ratcheting straps and it worked really well! It is a very tight fit and you really need to get the driveshaft end in really high and then rotate it down for it to get in the correct position. We then followed suit and ground down the threads on 5/8 inch bolts and used them to align the holes prior to putting the real bolt in. Again, what a great technique!! I don't know how we would do any of this without following in the steps of others!

    Here is my dad with the engine hoist and straps


    My son wanted in on the action too!


    Having fun with another hydraulic lift


    Center section installed!
    MK4 Roadster #9138
    Blueprint 427 with Sniper EFI, TKO600, IRS, complete kit
    https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...8-Build-Thread

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    IRS continued and a couple of questions

    I've had a few days off around Thanksgiving and have been in the garage as much as possible. We've installed the IRS on the left side, but want to make sure it looks correct. Again, there were multiple issues with the frame tabs not precisely aligned and we needed to use a threaded rod with 2 bolts and 2 nuts to spread them in order to fit the bushing in place. But this technique worked very well and we got it all in. We also remembered to install the tabs for the rear sway bar as we were installing the LCAs (another forum save).

    Question 1 - Is this CV axle all the way in? The manual says that there should be a 1/8 inch gap between the inside of the CV joint and the center section. Looking at the picture below, there is a 1/8 inch gap from the CV joint and the silver part, but a larger gap to the black part. This may be correct, but I don't understand how the oil in the differential doesn't just leak out from this gap?




    Question 2 - Is the attachment of the UCA to the spindle correct? The instructions weren't very clear on how the "angled mount adapter" fit into the rod end (which direction). We were also confused by the washer next to the bolt with the "misalignment spacer". We saw this washer in pictures from more recent builds, but I didn't notice it in older builds. Maybe there was a change? Thanks for any advice or comments!



    Last edited by dncharo; 11-24-2017 at 11:56 PM.
    MK4 Roadster #9138
    Blueprint 427 with Sniper EFI, TKO600, IRS, complete kit
    https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...8-Build-Thread

  24. #24
    Jazzman's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dncharo View Post
    Wilwood brakes

    What is supposed to be the easiest part of the build ended up being an expensive adventure for us. We were bolting the hat and the rotor together and ended up snapping off the head of one of the bolts (after we had put red loctite on it). In retrospect, we weren't being particularly gentle and might have even been using our pneumatic wrench to get them started before we torqued them down to 155 inch pounds. Before it snapped, I thought to myself that it looked a bit crooked and didn't back off when I felt some resistance. Lesson learned. My dad posted about this earlier and we received great advice from the forum. Thanks!! We ended up finding a guy to remove the one that snapped off and we used a heat gun to remove the remaining 5-6 other bolts that were all the way in with red loctite. They actually came out pretty smoothly (and we were being super careful by now). We tried to salvage the hat, but the threads were damaged from removing the bolt that snapped off. We bought a tap and tried to fix it, but when we test fit a new bolt, it would screw it but seemed to wiggle back and forth like the hole was now too big. Brakes are kind of important so we bought a new hat and new screws, but managed to save the rotor. We learned another lesson: when using loctite be sure to seat the bolt fully first, and then back it out and apply the loctite and torque to spec.
    Oh, i feel your pain! I did this same thing, with the same resulting expense. Frustrating but educational.
    Jazzman

    MKIV #8745 "Flip Top" Roadster, Custom Tilt front, Coyote Engine, Tremec TKO600, Custom Interior. Best of Show winner, Huntington Beach Cruise In 2018.

    1967 Ford Mustang Coupe build thread updated 1/22/2021

    Roadster Frame Dolly Plan

  25. #25
    Senior Member edwardb's Avatar
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    Nice progress! Good to see. Your CV axle appears to be seated properly. You should have felt a bit of a click as it went to that location. The seal is on the inside. All OK. For the UCA mount, that also appears to be assembled correctly. Yes, Factory Five did make a change. Happened during my build. They sent revised adapters (longer) and added the washers. If you're seeing builds that don't look like that they either didn't get the update or didn't install it.

    Before:


    Update from Factory Five:
    Build 1: Mk3 Roadster #5125. Sold 11/08/2014. Build 2: Mk4 Roadster #7750. Sold 04/10/2017. Build Thread
    Build 3: Mk4 Roadster 20th Anniversary #8674. Sold 09/07/2020. Build Thread and Video. Build 4: Gen 3 Type 65 Coupe #59. Gen 3 Coyote. Legal 03/04/2020. Build Thread and Video
    Build 5: 35 Hot Rod Truck #138. LS3 and 4L65E auto. Rcvd 01/05/2021. Legal 04/20/2023. Build Thread. Sold 11/9/2023.

  26. #26
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    Thanks Paul for that confirmation and for following along with us!! We wanted to be sure we were doing things correctly before moving to the other side. And thanks again for your detailed build thread, it has been incredibly helpful!
    MK4 Roadster #9138
    Blueprint 427 with Sniper EFI, TKO600, IRS, complete kit
    https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...8-Build-Thread

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    IRS completed

    Here are a couple pics of the IRS completed. Need to remember to torque the bolt on the hub once the E brake is on or when it is on the ground with wheels on (if it is accessible).



    MK4 Roadster #9138
    Blueprint 427 with Sniper EFI, TKO600, IRS, complete kit
    https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...8-Build-Thread

  28. #28
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    Front Sway Bar

    Today we tried to install both sway bars, but only had time to do the front one. We cut the rod ends with an angle grinder and a cut off wheel like Eaton described in his build thread. Not exactly "like butter" (especially the female ends) but we got it done and the cut was pretty clean. We had already installed the front shocks, so we needed to remove the shorter bolts and replace them with the longer ones in the sway bar bag. They were 3.5 inches and plenty long enough for our purposes. We had read about others needing to purchase their own bolts, but it appears that factory five has updated these bolts. We did have an issue, however, with the spacers. The ones provided for this purpose were a bit over 1.5 inches and were way too long. The rod ends would have been angled severely out (if we could even get them on at all). I assume that the rod ends should be straight up and down, so I found some spacers left over from the toe adjustment arms (from the IRS) that were about 1 inch and used those instead. (Not sure why they were in the toe arm bag, they were no where near correct for anything we were doing with it). This seemed to work better, although I don't know if suspension being at "full droop" is going to change things. Here are some pics:

    Passenger side


    Driver side


    Spacer provided on top (didn't use) and spacer from tow adjustment arm bag on bottom (one we used)


    Driver side from behind
    MK4 Roadster #9138
    Blueprint 427 with Sniper EFI, TKO600, IRS, complete kit
    https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...8-Build-Thread

  29. #29
    Senior Member wareaglescott's Avatar
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    Looking good. I have one suggestion for you as I have learned it the hard way. I notice your red marking on some of the bolts. I did that as well to indicate which bolts had been torqued to the recommended amount. After a couple thousand miles I have realized it would have been much better had I marked the bolt and the threads so that if it moves any I would be able to tell. Instead I have been going back through and rechecking the torque and marking all the bolts again because while they were originally marked I have no idea if they moved or not. Wish I would have done it that way from the beginning.

    Enjoying following your progress.
    MK4 #8900 - complete kit - Coyote, TKO600, IRS - Delivered 6/28/16 First Start 10/6/16 Go cart - 10/16/16 Build completed - 4/26/17 - 302 days to build my 302 CI Coyote Cobra - Registered and street legal 5/17/17
    Build Thread http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showt...e-build-thread
    PHIL 4:13 INSTAGRAM - @scottsrides

  30. #30
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    That’s great advice, thanks Scott!
    MK4 Roadster #9138
    Blueprint 427 with Sniper EFI, TKO600, IRS, complete kit
    https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...8-Build-Thread

  31. #31
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    Happy New Year everyone! It's been a while since I posted, but we've been plugging along at our own pace. We didn't have as much time to work on the car over the holidays as I would have liked. This is a busy time, especially with young kids who still believe in Santa! Fortunately, Santa was also kind to me this year and I received many "cobra" themed signs for the garage including a custom laser cut sign which I love! I also decided to officially join the "Wilwood Clock Club" and made a clock out of the rotor hat that we couldn't salvage when we broke the bolt. I think it looks pretty good, but maybe not worth the $150 it cost to make it...





    MK4 Roadster #9138
    Blueprint 427 with Sniper EFI, TKO600, IRS, complete kit
    https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...8-Build-Thread

  32. #32
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    Steering

    We then moved on to installing the steering system. We are going with power steering and decided to purchase the rack from Breeze along with the offset bushings. It is just held in with two bolts, but we had a very difficult time getting the one in on the passenger side. The tabs on the chassis didn't seem to be aligned and even when leaving the driver side bolt out, we couldn't get the passenger side bolt through. With the solid offset bushings, there is absolutely no wiggle room to play with. I ended up calling Mark at Breeze who was very kind and helpful and said that we would just need to open up the hole until it fit. So I worked on it with the dremel until we could pass the bolt through. The hole ended up more oval than round, but it is in!






    The flange bearing on the footbox and the pillow block are simple to install, but we are actually having some issues here that I hope we can get some help with.

    1) First of all, what is the correct orientation for the pillow block? Manual says the set screw should be toward the rear of the car (as shown in pictures below). But in the YouTube build videos, Dan says that the "collar faces the firewall" and it looks to be installed in the opposite direction.



    2) Our second issue is that the upper steering shaft is hitting the chassis. As you can see in the picture, we needed to add a couple washers on each side to raise the pillow block to fix this. Is this common? Are we doing something wrong? I don't think the two issues are related because I turned the pillow block around and the upper steering shaft is still hitting the chassis.

    MK4 Roadster #9138
    Blueprint 427 with Sniper EFI, TKO600, IRS, complete kit
    https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...8-Build-Thread

  33. #33
    Mark Eaton's Avatar
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    I had the same problem with the upper steering shaft rubbing on the chassis. I did the same thing you did and didn't think twice about it. I am planning to remove the steering shaft and install set screws to prevent any chance of "wobble" in the shaft.
    MK4 #9130 , complete kit, arrived 8/10/2017, Street Legal 2/14/2020.
    DART SHP 347, EFI, TKO600, IRS
    http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showt...n-Build-Thread

  34. #34

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    Any update on this build?

  35. #35
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    Fuel system

    Ron, thanks for asking! We've made some slow progress, but I've been delinquent in keeping the build thread updated. I'll try and remedy that now...

    We next worked on the fuel system. We followed Edwardb's lead and bought the Pro M Racing fuel pump hanger and will use 3/8 inch hard lines (but we will use nickel/copper instead of SS). The main issue with this hanger is the connectors from the hanger will not directly fit onto the fuel pump (Walbro 255lph). The red connector is fine, but the black one is too small. I had posted a question on the best way to go about this and there was some good discussion about various options. We ended up cutting off the black connector that was too small and crimped on a new one that was the correct size. We then used heat shrink that is supposed to hold up well in gasoline (Raychem DR 25). Then we directly attached the connectors from the hanger to the fuel pump.





    Next we installed the hanger and pump in the fuel tank. The instructions say to cut the opening of the fuel tank, but after much twisting and turning, we were able to install it without making any cuts. Then we installed the fuel sender and vent. We had read that the bolts that attach the straps that hold the tank are prone to rusting, so picked up some that were SS and lifted the tank into place. Easy!




    Then we riveted in the passenger side footbox and are now beginning to work on the 3/8 inch hard lines. As mentioned we are using nickel/copper because they won't rust and are very easy to work with (compared to SS). Again, following Edwardb, we purchased copper tubing at Home Depot to practice. This was extremely easy to bend with just our hands and we made a pattern for where it needed to go. We then tried to match that pattern with our 3/8 inch tubing and learned a few quick lessons. While this is still soft enough to be bend by hand, you can't make a 90 degree bend without kinking the line. So we got a tube bender from Eastwood and are starting to use it to match the pattern from the smaller diameter copper tubing. So far so good, but we were only able to get one line done (mostly) and will need to order more tubing to do the second line. We also purchased the same fuel filter as Edwardb and installed it on the frame. We are in the process of figuring out all the fittings to go from hard line to soft line and to the filter. I think I now know the difference between AN fittings and NPT fittings, etc. I love how there are countless opportunities in this experience to learn new things! This is what it is all about!

    MK4 Roadster #9138
    Blueprint 427 with Sniper EFI, TKO600, IRS, complete kit
    https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...8-Build-Thread

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