Almost ready to take the plunge

[TXAggie]

I have been doing my research and wanted to say hi... After years of drooling over factory five's website I believe the Type 65 coupe will be the kit for me. Still in savings mode.... so I can do this all at once as I would not like to drag out this project for "to long".

This will mostly be for cruising/racing around town and not really a track car. I have had older cars before from a 1978 F-150 that looked more like a sleeper that could give you tetanus to a 1969 GTO. I have never done a full restoration myself but have had plenty of experience working on cars in general, so onto some questions:

Will this be fairly doable with my level experience?
When taking delivery I assume having a body cart or something of that nature would be a great idea? Or are jack stands enough?
What are some of the methods you guys have used to store the body while putting everything onto the frame?

Right now I am looking at getting the complete kit instead of going the donor route, seems like I have read some problems with donors for this specific kit (or maybe I just read the wrong threads). As for the other parts I am currently looking at utilizing a Coyote w/ the T56 and possibly a 3.73 rear end.. also IRS. I had a TKO 500 in my old goat but felt like the coupe needs to have a six speed. What are some of your guys opinions on solid vs slotted vs drilled/slotted brakes? Will also have AC because of the Texas heat.. Those are my thoughts at random for now but look forward to hearing what everyone has to say. Also want to give a shout out to Mr. Edwardb who seems to be a pretty awesome member and willing to give advice to most of the threads I have read on random topics.

P.S. If anyone is in the DFW area with a Type 65 I would love to see it and pick their brain.

Thanks,
Josh

[Clover]

Welcome Josh! I was in the same boat as you not too long ago and needed to save up for a while. It is natural to wonder at times while you are saving if this is something you can really accomplish. After all, you don't want to find out part way through that it was a bit too much. Based off my research and my experience at a build school, the kits are pretty well designed to go together and could be done by most people if they are willing to put in the work and stick with it. They are not perfect, and there are some things that will be frustrating, but everything is doable. A lot of the builds that end up taking a long time or that encounter major problems are one where people did custom work that was outside the standard build plans. If you stick to the plans or ones well documented by others, I think you would be in good shape.

I have worked on my own cars and helped out friends at times, however, I have never built or restored a car, so I decided to go to the build school before placing my order. They don't have a build school for the Type 65 Coupe, but you can go to another one and get a good feel for what you will be doing and how it all goes together. I think I learned a lot of helpful tips that will save me time and I also learned what options were important to me which saved me money in the long run. The build school gave me a ton of confidence that I could complete a build of my own, which has resulted in me placing an order for a Type 65 Coupe complete kit that is pretty similar to your build plan. I just got my kit delivered yesterday and am still in shock but super excited.

You don't need a body cart, the delivery driver will have a cart to roll it into your garage and will help you put it on your jack stands. As for storing the body, I think you can just set the coupe body on the ground. I don't see any instructions for a body buck like the cobra guys seem to make. I have seen some people build rolling shelves that also hold the nose/hood piece standing up. I thought that looked like a good idea and I was going to try to build something like that myself with some casters that allow it to be wheeled around the garage and out of the way. I have also helped a fellow builder hang his cobra body from the ceiling with some kayak straps. It worked pretty well in my opinion, you just want to make sure you don't put too much stress on anything for a long period of time.

Have fun with your planning and dreaming. Hopefully somebody around you will be able to show you the their kit. I know most of us love to talk about and show off our cool stuff.

[edwardb]

Welcome. Looks like some of your questions were answered. The Stewart delivery guys will get your kit and all the boxes into your garage assuming it's accessible, suitable driveway, etc. The Coupe body is pretty easy to store as Clover mentioned. I have the nose standing up leaning against the wall. The main body section sits flat on the sills and I have the back propped up so it's level. Hoping to only have them that way for another few months, so not doing anything else. I haven't seen any body bucks for any of the builds. If you are planning longer term storage or want to hang it out of the way, something additional might be a good idea IMO. I agree the build school is a great way to learn how these go together and also a reality check on whether this is for you. Even though they don't have a Type 65 Coupe specific class, there are many similarities to the Roadster so it's still very useful. If you do attend the class, I'm about an hour away. I've had multiple students stop over when they were in town to talk shop, check out builds, etc. More than anything, I'd recommend trying to find a Gen 3 Coupe you can see in person. Obviously a major investment, and you should check it out first. I'd even recommend a trip to the factory if you can't find one in your area. Great place and area to visit, and they will treat you like best friends while giving a tour, checking out the different builds and options, etc. Not too many donor builds going on any more. I'd highly recommend the complete kit, and what you've outlined so far would be a great build. For street driving, I don't think the slotted vs. non-slotted, etc. for the brakes is a big deal. Pick the brakes from their available options based on your configuration and budget. They'll all work fine for your intended use. As far as the build itself, I would rate it as slightly more complicated than the Roadster. But not by a lot. The Gen 3 is still pretty new and still being sorted out some. The manual is mostly OK. But don't expect an "insert tab A into slot B" level of detail. You will need to research and figure some things out. The forum is a huge resource. If you haven't already, spend the $10 and download a copy of the build manual. That will give you a much deeper understanding of the work to be done. I assume you've seen my Gen 3 Coupe build thread. But if not, the link is in my sig line below. Six months plus into the build and it's going well. Good luck!

[dallas_]

Josh,
There are a couple of brothers in Fort Worth who have built the previous model FFR coupes.
I didn't build a coupe, but happy to try to answer any questions you may have.

Your level of experience coupled with the amount of help you get on the forums makes this project completely doable for you.

We're having the monthly Cobra club meeting Saturday, July 7th in north Dallas. Hope you can make it. The info is here:
http://www.clubcobra.com/forums/texa...dfw-group.html
The final location and time usually isn't determined until a few days before so check back on that thread next week.

John

[GSides9]

Josh,

Welcome to the craziness. My son was my build partner and has earned some kind of major award for spending three years in the garage with me. I hope unlimited access to the Coupe is enough. I enjoyed stepping back when he knew more than me in many phases of the build. Mark Dougherty, the Travelling Builder, has helped many builds to successful conclusions as well as John George's Gen III Beta "Type R" Coupe. If I were from Texas, I'd take a good look at air conditioning and insulation. You will need more capacity than Edward B and I. I believe there is a different system for the Gen III. I am pleased that we decided to build our car.


Enjoy building your car, Glen

[John Dol]

Go do it!!
Between your knowledge, this and the other forum you will be able to build the car.
As they say be careful because we love to spend your money!!

John

[edwardb]

If I were from Texas, I'd take a good look at air conditioning and insulation. You will need more capacity than Edward B and I. I believe there is a different system for the Gen III.

He does list A/C in his planned build summary in the first post. Not sure what you mean by more capacity. Because of the frame design and overall layout, there isn't a lot of room in the Gen 3 Coupe for a traditionally installed A/C - heat setup. I looked at a number of options for my Gen 3 build (Vintage Air, etc.) and ended up purchasing the Factory Five Gen 3 / Coyote A/C - heat kit. The evaporator (from France) is small enough to fit in the passenger footbox. The kit is very complete and the instructions quite detailed. Talked about all this in more detail in my build thread. Time will tell how much capacity it has and how it works. But I don't think there are any other options unless you were to do a non-traditional installation, e.g. mounting the evaporator somewhere else and routing the air accordingly. It could go in the back hatch area. Or in the rear wheel well as Erik Treves did with his build. But since I've never done an A/C installation before, going to keep mine pretty close to the kit layout.

[TXAggie]

Thank you all for the reply -

Clover - I have been debating going to the build school to get a more in depth look at what it takes. Seems like a good solid investment before purchasing a kit, or running away scared.... I do not plan on going to far of the beaten path and don't plan on any hardcore fab work. Luckily enough I have access to all sorts of tools I can borrow from my company (work for a mechanical company with a massive fab shop). Good to hear about the delivery I can make it work with jack stands, don't see the needed cost yet to get a lift or body cart as of right now. Saw some pics of edwardb's build on his coupe and saw he had the body on wheel dollies, kind of a good "light bulb" moment.

edwardb - If I end up going to the build school I will take you up on your offer if it fits in your schedule, hour away is no time whatsoever in Texas its like a drive to work... My wife is from New England and we usually end up flying into Boston. I have already mentioned to her that I would love to stop by the factory and get a tour, seems to be on board. Will also download a copy of the build manual to get better acclimated for the future.

dallas_ - Will try to make it out there, have a baptism I need to go to for my friends daughter not sure on the time yet. Hopefully I can make it and find someone with a coupe or in the process of building one.

GSides9 - Right now the kiddos are 4 and 1-1/2 (almost 2). Would like to get them involved in the build as well, just more of a show and tell. I think it is important for my boys to be able to take something on and use common sense to complete a task. Heck at age 7 I help pull the heads off an old truck. As for the A/C I don't think I can get a bigger capacity without having a larger condenser for the refrigerant, space seems tight right now just from pictures I have seen. I plan on utilizing lizard skin and dynamat to help with heat/sound deadening and possibly blocking off the area behind the seats so I am cooling less cubic feet (my mechanical engineering brain kicking in). Also planning on having side windows but have not found anyone who is doing a roll-up type yet.

John Dol - Yes!! Still waiting on the "Money Tree" to bear fruit or is it bare fruit.... Funny googled that some interesting results..

[edwardb]

Also planning on having side windows but have not found anyone who is doing a roll-up type yet... I do not plan on going to far of the beaten path and don't plan on any hardcore fab work.

You will find very little on this because it's a huge mod. There was one documented on a previous generation Coupe (I think a Gen 2) and in addition to installing the actual glass and mechanism, involved modifying the door, door frame, hinges, etc. and also required significant changes to the body itself. If you look at a Superformance Coupe, which does have roll-up windows, you'll see the difference in the body and door shape to allow it. Doesn't quite fit into your no hardcore fab work build plan.

[John Dol]

Look for singlemalt on FFcars.com. He's made a roll up set up on a gen 2 which can't be that different for the gen 3.

John

[GSides9]

Here in Pennsylvania, on a sunny day, I can't leave a cooler in the back because it gets so hot. We often open the hatch to let the heat out at shows, I can't imagine how hot it would get with a divider. I felt sure that EdwardB had researched the A/C situation for his Gen III Coupe. Thanks for chiming in Paul. I am having so much fun driving mine that the A/C isn't charged yet, yes there is a message there. Good thing it was painted before it was registered. And the kids are not too young to develop that love for cars and mechanical things.


Have fun, Glen

[TXAggie]

edwardb and John Dol, I took a look at what singlemalt did and it seemed a bit out of my range of abilities. May go with the side window option in the kit to make things a bit easier for myself. Also went ahead and downloaded the build manual, already making written/mental notes for the build. Great advice! Pretty sure this question has been asked but if you purchased the IRS through F5 will you have to do all the mods they show in the build manual?

[edwardb]

Pretty sure this question has been asked but if you purchased the IRS through F5 will you have to do all the mods they show in the build manual?

Do you mean cutting a piece off the spindles and enlarging a couple holes in the spindles and center section? Those are the only things I can think of. Everything else just bolts up. If so, if you buy the parts from Factory Five they will be NIB just like anywhere else and will require those mods. I can think of a whole bunch of assembly steps harder than those. Just saying.

[TXAggie]

Do you mean cutting a piece off the spindles and enlarging a couple holes in the spindles and center section? Those are the only things I can think of. Everything else just bolts up. If so, if you buy the parts from Factory Five they will be NIB just like anywhere else and will require those mods. I can think of a whole bunch of assembly steps harder than those. Just saying.

Yes that is exactly what I am talking about. I have gone through the build manual and was just asking the question to help gauge some of the directions. Seemed like in some areas they ask you to do something but then later on say if you x item then you skip this previous step.

As far as that part being hard or not, I believe it won’t be a problem just surprising, to me, for a part you buy direct. Never built a kit car, just doing my due diligence.

[John Dol]

If you get the side windows just mount them using rivnuts and bolts. That way they are easily detachable.
Won't help you in the toll booth though....

John