#1104 (Gen1) Steve's 33 Rod Build - door panels

[Shades]

Congrats! Good to know about the Uhaul pickup and trailer option. I thought I'd need to have someone come flatbed it, but I might just go that route (when the time comes over a year away). And looks like another reason to make the fenders removeable.

[FF33rod]

Congrats! Good to know about the Uhaul pickup and trailer option. I thought I'd need to have someone come flatbed it, but I might just go that route (when the time comes over a year away). And looks like another reason to make the fenders removeable.

I originally had the front fenders attached with bolts and lock nuts. However, I was unhappy with the lack of clearance between the locknut and the wheel/tire and the fact that I had to remove the wheel to get at those nuts. So I had just changed it to T-nuts a couple of days ago and now it is so easy to remove the fender....

[Bgardner]

Steve

Congrats on achieving this big milestone. Certainly one of the concerns when contemplating doing the car in the first place as there are some things you just have no control over. You must have been wondering what else could go wrong on your trip there.

I am fortunate to have you give me all the ins and out of getting this inspection and registration done and hopefully I'm just a few month behind you. I really appreciate all the info you passed onto me.

Enjoy and take some time to celebrate.

Bob

[j33ptj]

Could you have run the straps through the wheels instead of over the tyre? That would have negated the need to remove the fenders....

[FF33rod]

Could you have run the straps through the wheels instead of over the tyre? That would have negated the need to remove the fenders....

Probably could have BUT the angles would have been weird and no way it would have been the same holding power. With the t-nuts embedded in the fender now it's only a matter of 4 screws on each front fender to remove them

Steve

[sethmark]

Steve, congrats on the progress. Let me make a suggestion for you and everyone else. Buy yourself a set of straps that you can use on the car, no matter the reason. Buy excellent quality straps with whatever assortment of goodies it takes to safely control the vehicle on a trailer... then you have control over methods, preventing costly screw ups.

in particular, I recommend these. They make quick tie down a piece of cake and can be mounted low....

https://www.macscustomtiedowns.com/c...-sleeve-121744

[FF33rod]

It's legal!!! Registration, plates and insurance done today. For all you whiners about insurance cost, 3 months was $600. That's the benefit of our government provided insurance system.

As part of the process today I had to get a temporary permit to be able to take the car down to the insurance agent so they could verify that the VIN plate was installed, etc. Today was a dark, rainy fall day and there was a break in the rain thankfully. I only had to 6 blocks but the looks I got were many - not sure if it was because it was a cool car or because I looked like an idiot running around in a roadster when it was about to downpour any second....

Back to the body work...

Steve

[junglejim]

Been keeping up with your build. Looks nice and I can tell you're enjoying the ride. Quick question; I see you're using the Digital Guard Dog keyless ignition. Any comments on it? Ease of installation, performance? I am considering one & would like some input.

[FF33rod]

Been keeping up with your build. Looks nice and I can tell you're enjoying the ride. Quick question; I see you're using the Digital Guard Dog keyless ignition. Any comments on it? Ease of installation, performance? I am considering one & would like some input.

I like it and have no regrets but it's not as intelligent as an OEM keyless system and that frustrates some. The wiring instructions are fine but the description of the operation isn't super complete and takes some experimenting to figure out. Eventually it makes sense.

In a nutshell, the system has a 3 states that it cycles through once you activate it with the fob (which can be a manual process or automatic with proximity detection)
OFF - Accessory - Ignition On - Off

At any point, if you depress the brake and hold the ignition button down for 2 seconds, the engine turns over. At this point, the system assumes the engine is running even if it has stalled for some reason. In any case, you must turn the engine off (whether its running or not) by depressing the brake and holding the ignition button for 2 second. Now you can try to start it again or just walk away and the system times out and shuts off....

Hope that helps

[wallace18]

Congrats!!

[FF33rod]

It's been ages since I've had the hood off and the scoop on the engine. Love it....

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Will be pulling the Sniper and intake manifold off the engine next week. I've got steam in the exhaust and coolant is disappearing from the cooling system. I had issues lining the intake up properly so I'm pretty sure that's the issue. New gaskets on the way and I'm going to change the bolts to studs. Thankfully, the oil is clear so doesn't look like the coolant is leaking in the block. Good fun.

Steve

[FF33rod]

Having tried to fix an engine internal coolant leak twice without any luck I decided I'd do something a lot more fun, back to bodywork!

Earlier in this build thread I've documented that I'm holding the bottom of the side panel to the rocker panels with #10 screws into well nuts. I've split the front of the panels so that I don't have to mess with the headlight mounting when I pull the panels off. The one thing I hadn't yet figured out what how to attach the side panels at the cowl. The issue being that the top mount tabs of the side panel would not fit between the cowl and the hood, I had to grind the tabs off entirely. So what I decided to try was a ball and socket arrangement and it's working out well. In the attached photos you will see the ball portion is mounted to the side panel on a standoff. The length an be easily adjusted to get the side panel to line up with the body properly. The socket is mounted on the firewall. In the second picture, showing the outside of the panel and the alignment to the body, you can see a bit of masking tape sticking out part way down. This tape is attached to a rubber bumper that I placed between the panel and the body to help curve the panel to better match the body shape. Works well I think.

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The mount for the ball is just panel bonded at the moment. I'll glass it in as well once I'm happy with the whole thing.

Steve

[FF33rod]

I have to chuckle looking at back at my 22 October post above, wishful thinking that it was a gasket. A lot of water under the bridge, or burned through the engine, since then. Turned out to be a cracked cyliner #1. https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...ngine-Decision

So pulled the engine out, huge mistake not removing the grill and radiator. Very difficult to remove engine with tranny attached without removing the front bits. Ended up damaging things. Currently waiting for the engine to come back, should be within the next few days. It's back together and will be put on a dyno to break in and check power. Work done - sleeved #1, overbore all cylinders by another ,01 (now 0.04 total - why the additional overbore> because pressing in the sleeve distorts the adjacent cylinder), new pistons and rings, some small work on the crank to clean it up, new gaskets of course. Will be cool to see what it puts out on the dyno.

In the mean time, when I can muster up some motivation, been block sanding the hood and gapping. Might as well due some basic prep before sending it to the shop in February. Hopefully I'm saving a few dollars and not creating more work that will cost me more

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Steve

[FF33rod]

So took the front grill and radiator off in prep for the engine coming back and to repair the damage I did to the grill when I pulled the engine out. Decided to go with the "engine is the jewel" philosophy and change the firewall from brushed aluminum to satin black. Also painting the rad black. Slowly starting to piece this back together so feel like I'm moving forward again....

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Paint used - VHT roll bar and chassis satin black for the radiator, jury is out on how well it matches anything of the other satin black. The pic shows it as pretty glossy but the paint was still wet.

Used SprayMax 2K hot rod satin black for the firewall, matches the chassis perfect, even did some chassis touch ups with it (this is the same as Eastwood 2K rat rod satin black as best as I can tell)

Steve

[peterh226]

Take a picture once the radiator is back on. I like that idea I think!

[FF33rod]

I like how it turned out Peter, think it looks better. Paint match (sheen of the satin) is pretty good too.

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Steve

[peterh226]

Looks good. I was trying to figure out how to keep all that aluminum looking nice anyway.. Thank for the pictures.

[FF33rod]

I guess the engine is back in the car, I ran out of parts to put back...
Starts, comes up to temp and no sign of the "steam engine"!!!

Time to tackle the power windows and get ready to send it for final body prep and paint....

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Steve

[FF33rod]

With the engine back in the car and February fast approaching (my time slot for final body and paint) the last major item to tackle is the Power Windows. This will be at least the third time I've tried to tackle it; the other times ending in frustration and easily finding something else to do Spent time yesterday and today on this and in general I'm actually happy with the progress. The passenger side fits much better than the driver's. The issue with the driver's side is that the window is very forward in the door causing the vertical channel at the front of the assembly to interfere with the front door structure. This has required me to grind away some fiberglass inside the door as well as chamfer the corner of the aluminum channel. Required a lot of fiddling.

If you look back in this build thread you will see that the original doors (gen 1) had issues with the alignment of the inner shell with the outer. FFR replaced them with Gen 2 doors and at the same time sent the gen 2 trim pieces for the power windows. Finishes the window opening a bit nicer than the crude gen 1 trim pieces. I also have sourced better (IMO) window felts from Steel Rubber to go on these trim pieces. The aluminum requires a fair bit of reshaping to fit properly but I think it will turn out fairly well in the end.

Fit of the passenger window to the hard top went quite quick, I clearly lucked out. The driver's side, was a different story of course. Due to forward vertical window channel interfering with the door fiberglass, adjustment ranges were very limited. In the end, following the FFR instructions paid off. Had the window up, most of the adjustment bolts loose, pushed the wind against the hard top felts and tightened up the bolts. Still required a little finessing afterward but its darn close.

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Steve

[wallace18]

Looking Good!

[HotrodMike]

Didn't have confidence to build my own center console and have it turn out half ways decent. Quite a few of you have done an excellent job for sure.

Here is the bare console, naturally it is overly large so it can be custom fit into different vehicles.

Attachment 128631

Starting to get fitted over the tunnel, cutout at rear for power window switches

Attachment 128632

Lovin' the way this is starting to look! The top of the console will need to be trimmed to fit with the bottom of the dash.

Attachment 128633 Attachment 128634 Attachment 128635

Steve

Good morning Steve,
Your build is coming along nicely, just one question. Is that the "Stiletto Series Part #1006 center console? I really love the way it looks!!

[FF33rod]

Good morning Steve,
Your build is coming along nicely, just one question. Is that the "Stiletto Series Part #1006 center console? I really love the way it looks!!

Thanks Mike, It's getting there! The console is the tall stiletto without cup holder. Be careful with seat position, even though it narrows between the seats it takes up some extra room. I may end up modifying the side of the seat slightly to stop rubbing on it.
Also, please please, do your research on that company. BUYER BEWARE. Lots of commentary on the web about poor customer service and non delivery. Use paypal so you have a chance of recovering your money if things go south. Please read about my experience in post 159 of this thread. That said, its very good quality. Good luck!

[FF33rod]

Fitting the trim around the driver's window today. Requires some cutting and grinding but eventually will look pretty good.

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[FF33rod]

The day that started to feel like it would never come and now it's here!
Feels so weird to have an empty garage after more than 2 years. I've been playing with my mistress in the evenings for so long, I have no idea what my wife does in the evening anymore

How the heck am I ever going to decide on a paint colour? spray out samples here we come....

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Steve

[sethmark]

Huge congrats Steve. I think this is the most important milestone. You’ve achieved!!!

[Bgardner]

Steve

Good to see, exciting times. Timing should be good to get rolling about the same time as we see some good weather. I should be off for paint sometime in March.

Bob

[Brastic]

This build is looking great. Good job.
Quick question about your headlights. Where did you get them and how do you like them?

[FF33rod]

They are what FFR has been shipping with the hot rod and truck kits for the past couple of years now. They seem fine but to be honest I havent driven at night yet

Steve

[Brastic]

Thanks for the reply. I live rural and headlights are a big deal for me. I will call Factory Five up and ask which lights they are using now days.

[FF33rod]

The gents at Wicked Customs are doing a great job and I've learned a few things. First, they really favour the Everglass type of product over Rage Gold for any initial filling. So they're replaced some/most of my Rage Gold work even though it was quite thin (e.g.1/16). They feel it really adds to the longevity. Their comment was the body work I did wasn't bad - okay, I know it wasn't great but I can take a hint I guess I'll chalk it up to a learning experience. Here's a few progress shots

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Steve

[33fromSD]

Might have missed it, what color combo are you going with? Jim

[FF33rod]

LOL, we both missed it! No decision yet. I'm trying to find something in the HOK range similar to Brandywine but not Kandy. I'm thinking reddish, bit darker but pops in the sun, maybe even slightly purplish. Many of the HOK kolors look pretty much identical on the computer so it's hard to decide without seeing them in real life. To that end, Wicked is supposed to be doing a couple of sprayouts for me. One of the Kolors I was interested in on the computer was Wine Glow

[33fromSD]

LOL, we both missed it! No decision yet. I'm trying to find something in the HOK range similar to Brandywine but not Kandy. I'm thinking reddish, bit darker but pops in the sun, maybe even slightly purplish. Many of the HOK kolors look pretty much identical on the computer so it's hard to decide without seeing them in real life. To that end, Wicked is supposed to be doing a couple of sprayouts for me. One of the Kolors I was interested in on the computer was Wine Glow

Wine glow sounds cool......

If your into a slight purplish tint, 2017/2018 Vettes had a color called Black Rose Metalic....stunning in the sun.....a really deep / rich color.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Dark...kIFuRUyHRDP3cM

Jim

[HotrodMike]

The black radiator looks *****in, first time I have seen anyone paint the radiator black. I will have to keep that in mind as I plan for my build. Your build is coming along great!!

[FF33rod]

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[FF33rod]

Getting rid of the flat spot (might even be concave) in the roof and bonding square tube to the top of the engine side panels so they don't bulge relative to the hood...

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Steve

[RoadRacer]

Looking awesome

[FF33rod]

These are starting to look very similar but I actually went out and had a boo at the progress in person this afternoon and got all excited Wicked Customs is doing an excellent job, straight as an arrow. Should be ready to shoot some Slick Sand on it at the end of the week.

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Steve

[narly1]

Looks like a lot of work is going into that top!

[FF33rod]

That is true. Inner shell wasn't bonded well to the outer shell in spots, voids in behind the gel coat, some of those voids are right on the edges, top was concave in a large section,.... Their comment on the glass work was it's typical for a fiberglass car but off all the pieces, the doors were the best - the doors are gen 2 while everything else was gen 1.

Steve