So I started a basic kit build a couple of months ago. Ordered it on 6/21/2018, it was delivered on 8/21/2018. I am still waiting on a single POL item, the steering wheel. Other than that, I think I have it all. Haven't had a minute to create a build thread so here we go.
What I am shooting for:
408w
TKO600
IRS
hydroboost brakes
13" PBR front brakes
13" IRS brake kit
Lots of other decisions to be made, but right now I'm just enjoying the exquisite detail of it all. Probably won't be quite as picky though once spring rolls around
I'll add some pics of the progress. I have always enjoyed looking at everyone builds, maybe someday someone will find my information useful. I'd appreciate some feedback if you see things going sideways!
Next, I rebuilt the 2004 donor pedal box. Pretty fun.
1) Nice coat of paint
2) Added some welds to stiffen it up
3) Added Steeda clutch quadrant and cable adjuster. I added a set screw to the rear eye of the quadrant. Too much play for my liking. Once it was mounted, I also adjusted it to rotate within 4 thou parallelism with the pedal box. Made sure it was dead cented lined up with the clutch cable.
4) Replaced all bushings
5) Replaced the clutch switch
Installed front suspension. Used the tubular LCA's, and 2004 PBR 13" mustang front calipers. Ended up using red POR-15 caliper paint. Strange stuff, but once you get used to it, its pretty nice. Id use it again.
Next, installed the IRS. That thing is heavy. Went with 3.55 gears, and the swaybar kit. I had to "adjust" some of the bracket mounts, as they were too tight. Used a piece of 1/2-13 all-thread, a couple of washers and nuts. Placed properly, and expanded with great care, I was able to open up some of the brackets without banging on them.
I have a question on this. That booster mounted up okay, but the adapter does not seat fully against the steel. Its partially on the aluminum, so it can rock. Are you guys just cutting out the adapter shape in the aluminum so it seats against the steel? Also, don't know what the part looks like that actually transfers the force from the booster to the MC. Looks like it should be a rod of some type, but I don't have one, and cannot find an example. Any help, pictures or ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Venom, no. I sourced it from a 2004 Mach1 (reman), to ensure it matched the pedal box.
Scratch that. The reman's dont come with the output rod. Had to order a new one from Motorcraft, its got the output rod. Hopefully ill mock it all up this weekend. Pics coming.
I had the same problem with my 1996 Ford Master Cylinder......I purchased the Wildwood Universal Brake Pedal Pushrod Kit...from Summit Racing...…...included several adapters + [2] different length pushrods....! worked perfect..!
Happy new year all! Made a little progress over the holiday break.
First, spent Christmas eve yanking this 5.8 from a 1994 F150 with my family. Great times Just waiting on the stand to come in, and ill see if all the work was worth it. Still mulling over some options here, but intending to punch it out, and stroke to a 408: IMG_4780.jpgIMG_4763.jpg
Got the steering rack extended, and the inner tie rods shortened: IMG_4738.jpg
Mocked up the front footbox a little more. Waiting on a brake light switch, and steering rack bushings from Breeze. IMG_4838.jpg
Next, I rebuilt the 2004 donor pedal box. Pretty fun.
1) Nice coat of paint
2) Added some welds to stiffen it up
3) Added Steeda clutch quadrant and cable adjuster. I added a set screw to the rear eye of the quadrant. Too much play for my liking. Once it was mounted, I also adjusted it to rotate within 4 thou parallelism with the pedal box. Made sure it was dead cented lined up with the clutch cable.
4) Replaced all bushings
5) Replaced the clutch switch
Nicely done! Seems like so few of these are used now (I used a refurbished one)...
Chris
Last edited by cgundermann; 01-02-2019 at 09:45 PM.
Generation 3 Type 65 Daytona Coupe Complete Kit #151885 received May 6, 2022. Gen 3 Coyote, IRS, Tremec TKX, American Powertrain hydraulic throwout bearing & Wilwood brakes.
MK4 Basic Kit #7404, 347 EFI - Pro M Racing ECM, 30# injectors, 70 mm throttle body, 80 mm MAF, Edelbrock Performer aluminum heads & RPM II intake, all new G-Force T5, 3:55 gears, Pro 5.0 shifter, 3-link, carbon fiber dash/custom Speedhut gauges and paint by Da Bat.
Installed the 1993 power rack with the extensions supplied by FFR, Breeze solid bushings, and Moog tie rod ends. I had to clearance the frame a bit to get the rack and bellows to clear, but it wasn't much, and looks pretty good. The Breeze solid mounts are very nice. I'd use them again. IMG_4859.jpgIMG_4862.jpgIMG_4867.jpg
Also started stripping the 351w. Bit of a mess, but so far no indications of trouble. IMG_4863.jpgIMG_4866.jpg
So I broke down the F4TE, it looks pretty good, other than being totally dirty. Its got a 4" bore (not rebuilt), and I was able to remove a broken water pump bolt. From my perspective, its looking good. Now I need to find a good machine shop in the area to clean it and check for cracks. Fingers crossed. The crank looks perfect, and all the valve train is in great shape. Almost a shame to not re-use it. Decisions! The plan is to get the cylinders bored to 4.030" and get a good stroker kit with a 4" throw steel crank, forged rods, and possibly forged pistons. I need to figure out which head/piston combo I will be using so I'd love some suggestions in that department. I'm looking for 450+ HP, but would like to run pump gas. I do intend to use aluminum heads. Lots more research in my future to get this all matched up properly. IMG_4885.jpgIMG_4874.jpg
Meanwhile, I'm drilling holes and using up all my cleco's. Had to order some more. It really is pretty awesome how FF put so much work into the aluminum. It fits together quite well. I also decided to go the raw aluminum look, and using sharkhide. That is some weird stuff, but it looks great. IMG_4936.jpg
One thing I have noticed is that when I switched from the poly clutch quadrant to an aluminum steeda piece, is that the clutch pedal throw is enormous. I am assuming that I will have to add limiters on both ends, but I am hesitant to do that until I have a clutch. I'd hate to limit the throw in such a way that the clutch isn't fully disengaged/engaged. You can kind of see it in the pic below. The throw is also so deep that I had to temporarily take that plastic clip off of the clutch safety switch so I wouldn't accidentally break it off. IMG_4723.jpg
Not a huge fan of the lines on the power steering rack. Not kinked, but not exactly free flowing either. I am going to try and bend some new lines, so we will see how that goes. Looks like its using just a simple bubble flair. Took a few measurements to ensure I get the right parts. IMG_4840.jpgIMG_4842.jpgIMG_4843.jpg
I enjoy seeing this type of build, and reminds me of mine.
You may be able to get a different steering line that's not kinked from the local "pick a part" that's both OEM and fits your liking. No bending or flaring required.
Rock On!
Dave
Mk 3.1 - #6882 - 5.0L 302 - FiTech EFI - 3-Link - 3.08 Ratio - 15" Wheels
Greenhorn and doing the best I can
My photos are at: My Flickr acct
Videos are at: YouTube Videos
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
So I took the 351w roller block to a machine shop (Pro Machine) yesterday, they are going to check it out and get ready to punch it out to a 408. The machinist just needs to know the heads I'm using so he can order the proper pistons for the eagle rotating assembly. Still trying to figure that out, so I need to call Mr. Levy later today and chat about the top end.
I got the block to David at Pro Machine, he has the rotating assembly on the way and a mess of ARP hardware. He is going to do all the machining and also clearance the block for me. It cleaned up nice, and there aren't any issues. I also have a 408 top end kit coming from Mr. Levy. Super excited to put this thing together!
In the mean time, I put together the fuel tank and got it installed. Used an in tank Walbro 255 pump, and a Breeze big bore vent kit. Breezes stuff has been awesome so far. Great customer service too! I drilled out the ends of the hanger as suggested in the build manual. Everything went together well, other than having to bend the vertical tank support out so the tank would fit in. I do wonder if the fuel lines on the stock 1993 hanger are able to support a 255 Walbro. They just seem undersized, but apparently a lot of folks run this way. IMG_4952.jpgIMG_4951.jpgIMG_4950.jpgIMG_4949.jpgIMG_4947.jpg
Spent some time fitting up the floor pans and the driver side aluminum. Its coming together well. Just waiting for all the engine parts to start coming in. Hard to be patient!
Got the block back from Pro Machine. It turned out well. This is what I had done:
1) Bore 4.030
2) Square the decks based on the main
3) Crack check, hot tank
4) Align hone the main
5) All new core and oil gallery plugs
6) Cylinder hone
7) New cam bearings
8) Balancing of new Eagle steel crank, balancer and flywheel
Build School: July 14-16, 2017
Kit purchased: July 25, 2017
Kit delivered: September 13, 2017
First Start: December 22, 2018
Body painted and kit completed and drivable: July 2019 (but still not done)
CA SB100 Registration: January 2020
Mk4 - 289 USRRC Roadster kit, Roush 427SR with Schneider Racing custom camshaft, Fitech EFI, TKO600 (.64-5th gear), 15" wheels, stock brake calipers, under car exhaust with Spintech 7000 muffler, no roll bar, Russ Thompson turn signal, removable steering wheel, and many other small upgrades and modifications
So, I have seen a few builds that have an e brake mounted on top of the tunnel, as opposed to the intended side mount. Id like to find some details on that setup. Could someone point me in the right direction?
Boydster, thanks for the info! That looks really nice... I like the top mount better I think. Probably a complication on my side will be using the 2018 mustang brakes. Ill have to weed through that.
So, back to the engine. Working on the cam now. Not as simple as lubing it up and stuffing it in the tunnel. I opted for a Comp timing set PN# 7138, as recommended by Comp. Here is the timing set and cam card. IMG_5485.jpg
Its a nice billet set that uses a torrington bearing. I installed the cam, which was simple and rotates really well. No issues there.
Then it came to the ford cam thrust plate. It needed to be countersunk, so the torrington bearing could lay flat. Here I am centering up on the existing holes to ensure an accurate countersink. IMG_5482.jpgIMG_5481.jpgIMG_5480.jpg
And then there was the timing sprocket. After just hand tightening the cam bolt, I could immediately feel drag. Too much drag for hand tightening. After a lot of measuring and an incredibly worthless call to Comp tech support, I determined it was the thrust plate. It was too thick, and was applying too much pressure on the thrust plate. The only way to fix this was to either have it professionally ground, or to lap it to thickness. I chose the later, as I have a pretty good inspection plate I use for lapping parts. This what I ended up with, pretty flat and consistent. IMG_5495.jpg
It also ended up with about 0.002" backlash in the set (tough too see in this pic), which I *think* is good for this setup. Pretty tough to find good info on this, even from Comp. IMG_5492.jpg
So after thinking (worrying) more about the cam install, and that torrington bearing, I decided to call comp again. I got someone that knew their stuff this time. They stated that the cam end play with an 7138 timing set, and a hydraulic roller cam should be between 0.002 and 0.005. Ill have to go back in and take out another thousandth from the thrust plate, but other than that, Case closed!
Also got the crank dropped in. Its an Eagle cast steel crank with a 4" throw. Nice piece but it was super tight. End play was 0.001". Way too tight. Had to lap the thrust bearing to bring it into spec. The process was quick and it turned out really well. IMG_5507.jpgIMG_5510.jpgIMG_5513.jpgIMG_5514.jpg
After the crank was set, the timing set finally went in. Went with a straight up configuration at the recommendation of the Comp techs. IMG_5517.jpgIMG_5518.jpg
While waiting on some connecting rod bearings to come in, I spent some time on the fuel system. I switched over to a higher flow pump hanger that has -6AN input and output from Pro-M Racing. I also went with the summit billet post filter setup, also with -6AN fittings. IMG_5523.jpg
Had to modify the tank a little, but it was pretty painless. IMG_5522.jpg
Got the new hanger and pump installed, along with the new pre-filter. It fit so much better than the previous one I had. I always wondered if it would just fall off in the tank. The one the Pro-M supplied fits really nice, and had a positive feel to it when you slip it on the end of the pump. You can faintly see it, but I stamped "I" and "O" on the AN fitting flats, so I dont get them mixed up like Boydster mentioned previously. IMG_5538.jpgIMG_5536.jpgIMG_5535.jpg
So, spent some serious time in the shop on Saturday. I was able to get the rotating assembly in. I file fit all the rings (Hastings Race Rings 2m8542035) , 0.026 on the top ring and 0.016 on the second ring. Cleaned up the bores about 20 times with ATF, and oiled them up. Everything seems to be in just fine. It would be great to know how much drag there should be at this point. Seems like a lot, but thats a lot of rings increasing the friction too
Getting some 3/8 NiCopp fuel lines put together. This flaring tool takes all the fight right out of it. Using fragola -6AN hardware, which has been really nice so far. IMG_5629.jpgIMG_5626.jpg
So, I was able to work on the engine a bit more. I spent a day fitting the different parts, like the water pump, timing cover, PS bracket, alternator bracket, harmonic damper, and the oiling system.
Everything fit up nice, very little grinding required. So I went to install the oil pump (Melling M83HV) and ran into an issue. I was using an ARP oil pump bolt kit so I used their lube on everything. Loosely mounted the pump to the block, and then started fitting the pickup tube. Hand tightened the two bolts for the pickup, and then started sneaking up on the torque spec. Bam. Cracked the housing.
Contacted Summit this morning. Was worried because I bought the pump back in April. They set me up with a replacement and it will be here tomorrow. Really enjoy working with Summit. They have been very good to make things right.