New Member, New Build!!

[juddster]

Well, its time to make it official. I am the proud owner of a Factory Five Roadster! My first. Shout out to G-Pete for selling me his partially built MK4 (#8414). I had originally planned to do a Type 65 but when I saw Pete’s ad for the MK4 I new this was how I would fulfil a long time goal of building one of these beauties. Pete was very generous with his time and quite helpful during the pick-up of the MK4 in early December. Thank you, Pete. And the weather could not have been better during the trip from Salt Lake City to Dallas and back. Quite a bit warmer in Texas than in Utah this time of year.

The build was about 15-20% complete at the time I bought it (I may change that estimate the more I get into it) and was originally delivered as a complete kit.

From Pete’s ad:
Complete MK4 kit, vintage instruments upgrade, Wilwood on all 4 corners, comes with a 460/501 close to 610hp new crate engine, TKO 600 transmission with steel bell and Mcloed hydraulic clutch new (Mike Forty)
American 17 inch wheels on Nitto's and a set of 17" black powder coated F5R Halibrand style rims. (Ended up with stock Halibrand instead of the black powder coat)
Some add-on goodies: Powder coated chassis, body cut outs, vintage GPS gauges, wind wings, sun visors, wiper and heater kit.

Included some pics of the pick-up and the rolling chassis sitting in my garage. Yay!

One decision since bringing it home was to do a custom fox brown leather interior. Have a hide and a half on its way and there is a local guy that does great work for a good price.

[EbourqueIII]

Very nice

[John Ibele]

Congratulations and welcome to the fun! Not sure what your experience level is, but if you're a first-time builder you'll find a wealth of information in the forum and in the forum members. Don't hesitate to make build threads your leisure reading for the next year, and chime in with any questions you have. There's not a more helpful bunch to be found out there.

Cheers,

-- John

[juddster]

Thanks John.

I've been glued to the forum for the last several months. What a great place to find ideas, best practices and instruction.

[FF33rod]

Congrats and welcome! It's a ton of fun, most of us learn a lot and make some new friends!

Steve

[silver_pilate]

Woohoo! Have a blast. I'm sure Pete did a fine job on what he assembled so far, but for your own peace of mind, and mostly your own knowledge, I would go back over every part of the build to date, following along with the manual, especially the suspension assembly.

Sounds like you have all the makings of a mean go kart. Enjoy the ride, and ask your questions here along the way.

--Nathan

[KDubU]

Congrats! Looks like a great buy.

[Straversi]

Congratulations and welcome.
-Steve

[GoDadGo]

Welcome Aboard & It's Good To See #8,414 Has Gone To A Good Home!

...Ironically my chassis is #8,515 so my car has found its Big Brother!

[CFranks]

Welcome to the madness! I also bought an unfinished build, was a great decision. Good luck!

[RaserX]

I bought an unfinished MK1 from a buddy five years ago. The best advice I have been given is " do something to it every day". It won't matter if it drill one hole or pop one rivet, just do one thing everyday. It has made all the difference to me being bitten by the bug. The good Lord willing, I will drive it this summer!

[nucjd19]

Congrats Juddster! It has been an amazing albeit short journey so far for me ( been building out mine for about a month). Good advice above. Keep us up to date on your build.

[D Stand]

congrats, welcome, and enjoy!!

[Kodiak]

Nice enjoy the build and have fun .

[RBachman]

Congratulations!!!!

[CraigS]

Welcome to a fantastic new life. If I am thinking correctly about what fox brown is, that interior would look great w/ a red or green on the outside. Pls show us a pic of the leather when you get it.

[Avalanche325]

Congrats and welcome to the fun!

[ggunter]

You look as happy and proud as I was when I picked mine up at FFR. I like the wheels by the way.

[juddster]

Good advice on going over the build.

[juddster]

Thank you all for the well wishes!

[BadAsp427]

Congratulations and welcome to the fun. Tons of help and information here as I'm sure you've found.

[juddster]

The leather for my interior arrived a few days ago. Fox brown is the color. Very happy with the color and feel. I'll be heading to the upholstery guy in the next day or so to get the seats started. I bought two hides which should be enough for the two seats, dash cover, transmission tunnel, partial coverage behind the seats and hopefully some door cards. I decided to keep the black carpet to provide some contrast. I had considered doing a tan carpet to go with the leather, but think the contrasting colors will be better.

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[CraigS]

I'd look at a tan carpet. Black is such a pain since every teeny tiny spec stands out like it has a spot light on it. I did mine in a real light grey and it was the best decision.

[juddster]

Thanks Craig for the insight, maybe I should take a look at tan carpet then. Have you got pics of yours? I'll take a look at your posts.

[boat737]

Welcome. I also bought a used kit, a little less complete than what you have it looks like. For my own learning and peace of mind (maybe even piece of my mind), I ended up taking apart and re-assembling most of the initial build. It was worth the time as there were a few things not quite right. (i.e. the front calipers were upside down).

When you get to that seemingly insurmountable problem, as most of us do, it's just a small hiccup. It's all doable. Enjoy the challenge.

And take pictures of everything you do. Lots and lots of pictures.

[timwert65]

Where do you all find these kits for sale. I have been scouring this forum, ebay and craigslist for months and have not seen any.

[juddster]

Where do you all find these kits for sale. I have been scouring this forum, ebay and craigslist for months and have not seen any.

I found mine on this forum. Still took 4-5 months of waiting. I was originally looking for a partially built coupe, but when I saw the MK4 I knew I had to get it. Still haven't seen a coupe in the last 9 months come up. I also looked on eBay and Craiglist. Not much ever came up. I even resorted to a general google search.

It will take some patience, but the savings, IMO, are worth it.

If you are serious then be ready and have the funds.

[juddster]

Welcome. I also bought a used kit, a little less complete than what you have it looks like. For my own learning and peace of mind (maybe even piece of my mind), I ended up taking apart and re-assembling most of the initial build. It was worth the time as there were a few things not quite right. (i.e. the front calipers were upside down).

When you get to that seemingly insurmountable problem, as most of us do, it's just a small hiccup. It's all doable. Enjoy the challenge.

And take pictures of everything you do. Lots and lots of pictures.

Thanks for the advice. Going through each bolt connection is a must.

Need to remember to take pictures. I get working and forget.

[phileas_fogg]

I can't begin to tell you how many times I've referred back to the pictures I took during the build to adjust something that wasn't to my liking.

Not to mention the times I've been able to help someone in some small way with their issue.


John

[Vspeeds]

Congratulations. Enjoy your build.

Whereabouts in Utah do you live? I’m planning on moving to the St George area in a few years.

Eddie

[juddster]

I live in the Salt Lake Valley, Herriman to be exact. About 4 hours north of St George. I was just in St George this past weekend for some sporting events with my kids since its relatively warm this time of year in St George. It can get hot there during the summer, but the rest of the year it is great. Plus St George is close to some of the prettiest country in the west.