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Thread: Greek Guys' Garage Roadster Build #9509 (Nice shoutout on Insta about my build)

  1. #1
    JohnK's Avatar
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    Greek Guys' Garage Roadster Build #9509 (Nice shoutout on Insta about my build)

    Hey everyone. I've been posting a little and lurking a lot on the forum for many months now. After much deliberation, I ordered a complete roadster kit back in late October and it is finally scheduled to arrive tomorrow so I figured it was about time that I properly introduce myself and kick off a build thread. My name is John (perhaps you gathered that already from my username). My wife and I have a son and a daughter. Building something like this has been a dream of mine for a long time, but now that my kids are both in high school I figured this was the perfect time for a father-daughter-son project, so here we go! We're located in Los Gatos, CA (~1hr. south of San Francisco). I see that there are quite a few active forum members in the Bay Area. It would be fantastic to meet some of you. I've already met a few folks here around town with roadsters.

    My order consists of the following:

    MkIV complete kit:
    - Drivetrain will be Coyote, IRS and TKO600
    - Gen 2 vs. 3 Coyote still up for debate
    - IRS already ordered and received from Forte's (3.55)
    - TKO600 likely to be the modded Liberty's Gears version.

    Other items of note in the FFR order:
    - Chassis is uncoated. Will be powdercoated locally.
    - leather seats and leather steering wheel
    - 18" wheels
    - Wilwood brakes with red calipers front and rear
    - double-adjustable Koni shocks front and rear
    - wind wings, sun visors, wipers
    - sway bars front and rear
    - dual black rollbars
    - deleted side exhaust and PS rack

    I ordered the factory dash with glovebox, but I see that as a sort of backup plan. My first choice is to go with a custom competition layout dash with glovebox (I've also ordered Alex's glovebox kit). Complicating matters a little is that I also plan to install a heater, so I may also go with the FFMetal 'firewall forward' piece to get everything to fit (or fab a box to space the heater forward into the engine bay). Lots of options here, and I'm excited to get to that portion of the build and sort through all that stuff.

    I've already ordered and received a PS rack from Unisteer, and plan to go with GP headers with catalytic converters and Gas-N side pipes for this build.

    My kids and I have already built the frame dolly and body buck, and there has been TONS of garage and shop prep in preparation for the build, including installation of a 4 post lift, compressor and air distribution system. Here are a couple of quick pictures of the "baby in the nursery" before it was picked up, as well as the baby's new nursery when it arrives tomorrow.

    Let me finish this introduction by saying thank you to everyone on the forum for the incredible wealth of knowledge here. I would never have had the courage to undertake something like this if this resource wasn't available. Also, thanks in advance for patiently taking the time to answer all the stupid questions I’ll be asking ;-)

    -John



    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by JohnK; 05-16-2023 at 11:03 PM.

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  3. #2
    Straversi's Avatar
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    Congratulations. You have a great space to work in and a solid build plan. Look forward to following along with you and your kid’s on this adventure.
    -Steve.
    Mk IV #8901 - Complete kit, Coyote, TKO-600, IRS. Ordered 5/23/16, Delivered 7/14/16, First Start 8/13/17, First Go-Kart 10/22/17, Registered and Completed 10/18/18. Build Thread: http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showt...V-Coyote-Build Graduation Thread: https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...-Roadster-8901

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    JohnK's Avatar
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    Thanks Steve!

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    Here are a few quick notes on some of the prep work I’ve done in advance of the kit arriving. As I mentioned, I ordered the IRS center section, hubs and knuckles from Forte’s when I ordered the kit back in late October. I did this mostly to have something to work on in advance of the kit arriving, so I wouldn’t go crazy with anticipation. I’ve done the usual prep of the knuckles (drilling out holes as required and cutting off the one leg). In addition, I cleaned up casting lines and surfaces with a die grinder and some Scotchbrite roloc pads, before painting the hubs and knuckles with POR15. This was a bit of a learning experience. I messed up the timing of the 2nd coat, and the first coat had cured too hard, resulting in the 2nd coat not laying out as smoothly as it should have. If you look closely at the knuckles, you can see the surface imperfections, but I’ll chalk it up to a learning experience. I’m glad I did the knuckles before tackling the center section.

    I also went ahead and replaced the lugs on the rear hubs so I could get them prepped and painted. Pounding out the old lugs in the vice with padded jaws and driving in the new ones with the impact gun was a pretty painless process. I took the new lugs to the bench sander and put a little flat on each head to give them a bit more space from the bearing seal.



    In Paul’s (Edwardb) roadster build thread, he mentions making a cover for the ABS sensor mount on the knuckles. I thought this was a great idea, as water getting in there doesn’t sound like it would be good. When I inspected the hubs, I realized that the mounting holes (smaller of the two holes) weren’t tapped for a fastener. I figured if I was going to tap one hole, I might as well tap both and skip having to fabricate a cover. So I measured the two holes with the digital calipers and determined that the smaller holes are the perfect size for a ¼-20 tap and the larger holes are the perfect size for a 7/16-20 tap. I ordered some ¾” long set screws in both sizes from McMaster and liberally coated them with red Loctite, and both holes are now plugged up nicely.



    Lastly, the kids and I built a frame dolly and body buck. I found some excellent templates on the forum for the body buck but was stumped for a bit on how to scale up the drawing to actual size. I know it doesn’t have to be exact, but the OCD part of me wanted it to be as close as possible, given that someone had gone to the trouble to make accurate templates. We have a projector for watching outdoor movies on our deck in the summer, and it occurred to me to hook up the laptop to the projector and project the template onto the OSB panel and trace out the shape with a Sharpie. Voila! Perfect scaling of the template.

    Last edited by JohnK; 01-29-2019 at 11:47 AM.

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    looks like a interesting build so I got something to follow, too cold to leave house in minnethota

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    JohnK's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Houdini View Post
    looks like a interesting build so I got something to follow, too cold to leave house in minnethota
    Yeah, from the looks of it on the news you all are getting hammered with some bad weather right now. It's been pretty cold here too. Only got up to 67 today.
    MkIV Roadster build: Gen 2 Coyote, IRS, TKO600. Ordered 10/24/18. Delivered 1/29/19. Engine installed 8/8/21. First start 9/12/21. First go-kart 9/17/21. Off to paint 4/11/22. Back from paint 12/30/22. Build thread here.

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    Hello John and welcome to the forum,
    Building your car will be a great experience, especially if you can get your kids involved.
    I am on the finishing stages with mine which I received May of 2018. My build plans are identical to yours except for the side exhaust delete. I am currently working through the DMV registration process and have learned a lot about said process. I am in Half Moon Bay so it's only a short drive to Los Gatos and I actually grew up in Campbell. Let me know if you want to get together sometime.
    Thanks
    Greg

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    Hey Greg! Wow - you really moved fast on your build! Thanks so much for the note. I'd love to get together sometime and see your roadster and hear about your build and the registration process.

    -John
    MkIV Roadster build: Gen 2 Coyote, IRS, TKO600. Ordered 10/24/18. Delivered 1/29/19. Engine installed 8/8/21. First start 9/12/21. First go-kart 9/17/21. Off to paint 4/11/22. Back from paint 12/30/22. Build thread here.

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    Today was D-Day (Delivery Day)! It's important to note that Los Gatos is a pretty small town that's tucked into the foothills of the Santa Cruz mountains. Why is this important? Well, because in practical terms this means that there are many hilly neighborhoods with narrow, windy streets. Our house sits atop a small hill, and the last half-mile consists of tight tree-lined hairpin turns. In short, there's zero chance that Stewart Transport could get their massive truck up the street to my house. I had already forewarned them of this and had made arrangements with a local towing company with a flatbed tow truck to meet the driver somewhere more convenient. The tow truck driver came by my house to pick up the frame dolly, and we then went together to meet Scott from Stewart Transport. He had found a nice spot right off the freeway, and we were able to offload the chassis directly from the Stewart truck onto the frame dolly on the tow truck. We managed to squeeze in all the boxes alongside the chassis, and we were on our way pretty quickly. This was all happening on the main road through town in the middle of the afternoon rush, so it was quite the spectacle, but it all went off without a hitch. We were soon back at the house and had all the boxes unloaded and the chassis onto the four post lift.


    I glanced through the POL list and had to laugh. The very first item noted on the POL list is the assembly manual. Not likely to get too far without that! OK, in reality, I have a PDF copy of the manual already, so it's not going to hold anything up, but it's pretty funny nonetheless. The only other items of note on the POL list are the front lower control arms. Hopefully, those show up soon. Everything else on the list is minor, and not anything I'll need any time soon. All in all, far better than I expected given that I ordered during the winter sale.


    Next up - inventory!

    MkIV Roadster build: Gen 2 Coyote, IRS, TKO600. Ordered 10/24/18. Delivered 1/29/19. Engine installed 8/8/21. First start 9/12/21. First go-kart 9/17/21. Off to paint 4/11/22. Back from paint 12/30/22. Build thread here.

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    John,
    Congratulations on your new delivery. Like Chrismas in January!
    Anytime you want to get together just let me know and we can work something out.
    Greg

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    Looking Good John!
    Funny story, I was the delivery after yours that day, and I'm also Greek, and my wife's family calls me Greek Guy or GG for short...
    Wife says I need to finish some house projects before I start, so I'll be following your thread closely since you'll be a few steps ahead of me.
    Preston

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    Hey Preston. How funny! Thanks for the note, and welcome to the forum. My wife saw your post and said, "Oh, was that an option... having you do more stuff around the house before starting the build?" I said, "No, not really." ;-). Good luck with your build. I don't know how far ahead of you I'll be. I managed to throw my back out the day after the kit was delivered so not a whole lot of progress. I'm 3/4 of the way through the inventory and I'm hoping to wrap that up tomorrow.

    -John
    MkIV Roadster build: Gen 2 Coyote, IRS, TKO600. Ordered 10/24/18. Delivered 1/29/19. Engine installed 8/8/21. First start 9/12/21. First go-kart 9/17/21. Off to paint 4/11/22. Back from paint 12/30/22. Build thread here.

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    Senior Member Yama-Bro's Avatar
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    Congrats! And welcome!
    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

  17. #14
    Senior Member Fixit's Avatar
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    Welcome to the asylum!
    It is ironic that the kit shows up, and there's no book... Looking good on your work in preparation.

    My first choice is to go with a custom competition layout dash with glovebox (I've also ordered Alex's glovebox kit). Complicating matters a little is that I also plan to install a heater, so I may also go with the FFMetal 'firewall forward' piece to get everything to fit (or fab a box to space the heater forward into the engine bay)
    #9365 is also running a Coyote, with a heater, and a glovebox. I didn't do the "firewall forward" or an extender box... I made my own glovebox from fiberglass. Here's where that saga starts. The other thing to consider with the heater is clearance to the Coyote - that thing is all cylinder head. Take a look here for pics on my install of the heater control valve. Things are tight without the extension or firewall forward option.
    John D. - Minneapolis 'Burbs

    1965 El Camino - LT-1, 4L60e, 4wh discs, SC&C susp.
    2013 F-150 Platinum - Twin Turbo 3.5
    2018 Mk4 Roadster w/ Coyote - #9365 - Build Thread Delivery 7/3/18, 1st Start 1/4/19, 1st Road Mile 5/5/19, Legal 6/18/19, In Paint 2/25/21, Done (?) 4/2021

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    JohnK's Avatar
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    Thanks John! Your build thread will be a great reference when I get to that point in my build. I appreciate it.
    MkIV Roadster build: Gen 2 Coyote, IRS, TKO600. Ordered 10/24/18. Delivered 1/29/19. Engine installed 8/8/21. First start 9/12/21. First go-kart 9/17/21. Off to paint 4/11/22. Back from paint 12/30/22. Build thread here.

  19. #16
    JohnK's Avatar
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    I finally finished the inventory of all the boxes yesterday. I found a handful of missing items, but nothing major. Mostly various small fasteners and other assorted things that I won't be needing for a bit. That list has been e-mailed off to Dave and I'm sure it'll be handled quickly. I want to thank VAHokie for asking the "Hey I found this thing and don't know what it is" questions in his build thread. I came across some of those same items and was scratching my head for a moment before remembering that I had seen them in his thread.

    There were a couple of options that I ordered after I finalized my kit order, but before it had shipped, hoping that they could be thrown into the same shipment and save on separate shipping costs. There must have been a mixup somewhere because they didn't make it into the shipment. One is the heater kit, which I won't need for a bit, but the other is the spherical bearing upgrade kits for the front and rear control arms. Those I'll need as soon as I get the chassis back from powder coat. It hasn't yet been sent off for PC, so it'll be a few weeks before I need them. Hopefully, I'll have those, plus my POL front lower control arms, by then. Many of the items on my POL list, including the assembly manual, must have shown up at the 11th hour, as they were thrown into a 'catchall' box #23. It was good to see that ~75% of the items on my POL list were actually in that box. So now the only thing on the POL list that will hold me up any time soon is those front lower control arms. I spoke with the folks at FFR today, and those should hopefully be headed my way in the next couple of weeks so all should be well.

    I haven't yet done the inventory of all the 'mounted' components but I should have the body off in the next few days and I'll be able to wrap up that final part of the inventory. Now I get to sort the boxes into the "need sooner" and "need later" piles and stack the former in the garage cabinets and take the latter down to the basement. I have to tell you, I'm glad that I'm done counting fasteners.



    One other notable item is that my tires showed up the other day. I went with what seems like one of the consensus favorite solutions here - the BF Goodrich G-Force Rival S. 245/40R18 and 315/30R18. It took a bit of hunting and searching and sleuthing before I figured out what was going on, as every time I searched for that model in those sizes I would come up empty. Apparently, in the 245/40 front, the Rival-S has been replaced by the Rival-S 1.5, while the Rival-S is still the current offering for the rear. Once I realized that, Tirerack.com had both in stock and at my house in a couple of days.



    I think I'll need to play with ride height a bit.

    I'm planning to powder coat the wheels gloss black and leave the spinners and spinner adapters aluminum, but before I send the wheels off for PC I'm going to drill and tap them for set screws to lock in the spinner adapters, per Edwardb's excellent guidance. I just need to come up with a good way to figure out which adapters go back to which wheels once I get them back from PC.
    Last edited by JohnK; 02-07-2019 at 08:34 PM.
    MkIV Roadster build: Gen 2 Coyote, IRS, TKO600. Ordered 10/24/18. Delivered 1/29/19. Engine installed 8/8/21. First start 9/12/21. First go-kart 9/17/21. Off to paint 4/11/22. Back from paint 12/30/22. Build thread here.

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    JohnK's Avatar
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    Quick update: We've been busy with other stuff the last few days and hit with back-to-back severe rainstorms and power outages, but we did manage to get the body off the chassis and onto the body buck. I also got the wheels back from powder coat and had the tires mounted and balanced today. Those are some pretty sinister-looking wheels!





    MkIV Roadster build: Gen 2 Coyote, IRS, TKO600. Ordered 10/24/18. Delivered 1/29/19. Engine installed 8/8/21. First start 9/12/21. First go-kart 9/17/21. Off to paint 4/11/22. Back from paint 12/30/22. Build thread here.

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    My son and I made some good progress today. We labeled, photographed and removed all the sheet metal and we got started on cleaning up the frame in preparation for powder coat.



    Here's Nik cleaning up a weld:



    I also made a few last-minute upgrades to the body buck in preparation for moving it to an offsite storage unit. I added a rib running between the front and back scribed pieces, and then made a support for the body using a piece of foam roller. This stops the body from bouncing and flexing as the cart is moved around. Since it'll be traveling on the back of a flatbed tow truck there was some concern about it not bouncing around too much and also keeping it on the body buck, so I shrink-wrapped the entire body onto the buck.



    Also a few logistical updates. I sent my steering hub to Russ Thomspon and had a complete turn signal assembly back in my hands two days later. That's some impressive service! Looks like a very nice piece and a nice upgrade. I also called and placed my deposit for an upgraded/syncronized TKO 600 with Pro 5.0 shifter from Liberty's Gears. They're currently running at 12 weeks lead-time, so I'm glad I got my order in now. Lastly, I received three boxes from Factory Five yesterday. I now have all my missing and POL items except for two, and those I won't need until much later (3 prong flasher and license plate bracket). Most importantly, I now have my lower control arms and spherical bearing upgrade material so I'm good to go on suspension assembly. All in all, I'm thrilled with how quickly they resolved all the backordered items.
    Last edited by JohnK; 02-17-2019 at 10:21 PM.
    MkIV Roadster build: Gen 2 Coyote, IRS, TKO600. Ordered 10/24/18. Delivered 1/29/19. Engine installed 8/8/21. First start 9/12/21. First go-kart 9/17/21. Off to paint 4/11/22. Back from paint 12/30/22. Build thread here.

  23. #19
    Senior Member Fixit's Avatar
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    Looks Good!!

    It appears that you're addressing some of the issues that I wish FFR would pay more attention to pre-powder coat... some of the weld beads where the aluminum panels rest. There are several locations where trimming/notching the panels is required for them to clear a weld bead and lay flat.
    You on the other hand can just grind off the offending material!
    Check your "tins" where they lay against the frame members and mark the frame for interference.

    (PS... get your kid/helper/Nik to wear proper shoes in the shop...)
    John D. - Minneapolis 'Burbs

    1965 El Camino - LT-1, 4L60e, 4wh discs, SC&C susp.
    2013 F-150 Platinum - Twin Turbo 3.5
    2018 Mk4 Roadster w/ Coyote - #9365 - Build Thread Delivery 7/3/18, 1st Start 1/4/19, 1st Road Mile 5/5/19, Legal 6/18/19, In Paint 2/25/21, Done (?) 4/2021

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    The last few days have been an exercise in seeing how many different ways I can be a dumbass.

    Exhibit 1: I was assembling the upper control arms, and was feeling pretty proud of myself for not falling victim to the "they're assembled backward" pitfall. I got them all turned around and everything was oriented the proper way and I put in the first Howe Racing ball joint. The instructions say to put some blue Loctite on the ball joint and put it in a vice and give it a little tug to snug it up. Now, being the smart guy that I am, I notice that there's a nice little feature on the top that I can get a wrench onto, so why mess with the vulgarity of putting it in a vice, right? I put a wrench to that little hex feature on the top and crank it down nice and tight! Oh hey... what?! What's that grease puking out of the ball joint, and why is it locked up now? Oh, that's for lash adjustment, you say? Ah well, there goes $75. Oh, and yes... blue Loctite does set up pretty quickly so getting the trashed ball joint back out was fun.

    91722412S_L_a705fc3d-a542-46ae-949f-91e6d42d44d0.jpg

    I managed to get the second ball joint in without destroying it and got the arms adjusted and got the pivot endplay set, so as soon as my new ball joint arrives from Summit tomorrow I'll have the UCA's assembled and ready to go.

    Exhibit 2: Rotor assembly and lock wiring. I have several torque wrenches for different torque ranges, so I got out my handy-dandy inch-pound torque wrench and set out to bolt together the hats to the rotors. The first rotor went together nicely. Red Loctite on all the bolts and then tightened them down to 155 inch-pounds in an alternating pattern. Yay for me! On to the second one. I put in all the bolts hand-tight with red Loctite and then pick up my torque wrench to tighten everything down, at which point it decided it had had enough and literally fell apart in my hands. The only question that then ran through my mind - over and over again - was how long does it take for red loctite to set up? Scrambling around furiously, I started grabbing other torque wrenches hoping I could find one that would work. My other inch-pound wrench is for carbon fiber bicycles, so only goes up to ~50 inch-pounds. That's no help. The next best was my smallest foot-pound wrench, which started at 20 foot-pounds. I fudged it down off the bottom of the scale to 13 foot-pounds and tightened everything up. Felt about right and nothing broke.

    Now onto lock wiring. It looks so easy on Youtube, doesn't it? I spent about an hour and a half lock wiring today and managed to complete one rotor. I'm batting about 25% on successful attempts, but I figure it'll get better going forward. I also now have a pretty good sense for what acupuncture in one's fingertips feels like. That wire is just evil stuff.


    Oof. At this pace, this is going to take longer (and be a bit more expensive) than I'd planned. Still having fun though...
    MkIV Roadster build: Gen 2 Coyote, IRS, TKO600. Ordered 10/24/18. Delivered 1/29/19. Engine installed 8/8/21. First start 9/12/21. First go-kart 9/17/21. Off to paint 4/11/22. Back from paint 12/30/22. Build thread here.

  26. #21
    BadAsp427's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JohnK View Post
    The last few days have been an exercise in seeing how many different ways I can be a dumbass.

    Now onto lock wiring. It looks so easy on Youtube, doesn't it? I spent about an hour and a half lock wiring today and managed to complete one rotor. I'm batting about 25% on successful attempts, but I figure it'll get better going forward. I also now have a pretty good sense for what acupuncture in one's fingertips feels like. That wire is just evil stuff.
    Your Cracking me up..... so your lock wire did not look like this when done????
    IMG_1383.jpg

    Hang in there, you are going to learn so many new things. It's all a part of the process.

    Mk4 20th Anniversary #8690 (#8 of 20) Purchased 8/18/18----Build Started 8/19/18
    Build Thread Click Here / Registry Entry Click Here / BluePrint Engines 347ci / TKO600
    Carb/Heater/Heated Seats/Cruise Control/Drop Trunk & Battery/Custom Cubby

  27. #22
    JohnK's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BadAsp427 View Post
    Your Cracking me up..... so your lock wire did not look like this when done????
    IMG_1383.jpg

    Hang in there, you are going to learn so many new things. It's all a part of the process.
    Hahaha, no mine didn't look like that. I was having a hard enough time just wiring pairs of bolts together. Mine looked like this:



    I'm actually quite proud of the end result. I did learn a ton and had fun, even though I took ~4 attempts at each pair before getting a result I was satisfied with.
    MkIV Roadster build: Gen 2 Coyote, IRS, TKO600. Ordered 10/24/18. Delivered 1/29/19. Engine installed 8/8/21. First start 9/12/21. First go-kart 9/17/21. Off to paint 4/11/22. Back from paint 12/30/22. Build thread here.

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  29. #23
    Boydster's Avatar
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    Thats not bad, not bad at all. Good work.
    ---Boyd---
    MkIV #9042 build thread
    www.boss427.us
    427W, TKO600, Moser 3.55 rear.
    Delivered Feb 2017, Graduated Nov 4, 2019

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  31. #24
    Senior Member Fixit's Avatar
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    I also now have a pretty good sense for what acupuncture in one's fingertips feels like. That wire is just evil stuff.
    tiphat.gif
    John D. - Minneapolis 'Burbs

    1965 El Camino - LT-1, 4L60e, 4wh discs, SC&C susp.
    2013 F-150 Platinum - Twin Turbo 3.5
    2018 Mk4 Roadster w/ Coyote - #9365 - Build Thread Delivery 7/3/18, 1st Start 1/4/19, 1st Road Mile 5/5/19, Legal 6/18/19, In Paint 2/25/21, Done (?) 4/2021

  32. #25
    BadAsp427's Avatar
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    Those actually look really good... Nice work...

    Mk4 20th Anniversary #8690 (#8 of 20) Purchased 8/18/18----Build Started 8/19/18
    Build Thread Click Here / Registry Entry Click Here / BluePrint Engines 347ci / TKO600
    Carb/Heater/Heated Seats/Cruise Control/Drop Trunk & Battery/Custom Cubby

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  34. #26
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    G3 (Greek Guys' Garage) Roadster Build #9509 (UCA mods)

    The chassis is off to powder coat and should be back early next week. The guys at the shop were all awesome when I dropped it off. They helped me unload it from the U-Haul and owner of the shop gave me a tour of the whole operation and was very excited to be working on something as cool as this.

    In the meantime, I've been doing some final prep on all the control arms so they'll be ready to install when the chassis is back. This mostly involved disassembling and re-assembling everything with anti-seize in all the appropriate locations. Let me just say that anti-seize is the devil's work. Once that jar is opened, it spreads like Ebola throughout the entire shop, regardless of how many times I change gloves, wipe things down, etc. Ugh.

    When I did the initial assembly and test fit of the front UCA's I noticed that I wasn't able to get the shorter of the two couplers to the distance indicated in the manual to get the 7* caster for PS setups, but I didn't think much of it at the time as it was a rough setup.



    However, it bugged me enough that I did some research and discovered that this is a somewhat common issue and several others have cut the coupler sleeves and threaded arms down a bit to have enough adjustment range to get the alignment in spec. I figured that it was better to do this now, rather than discovering later on that I couldn't get alignment in spec and having to disassemble the front suspension to mod the UCA's. Overall the mod is fairly straightforward. I cut the tapered ends of the first coupler off on my bandsaw and dressed the ends on my bench disc sander. They came out looking very nice and clean. I then tried to cut the first threaded arm on the bandsaw. Hahahaha. That is some HARD steel. It completely destroyed my bandsaw blade and barely put a scratch on the threaded arm. Oh well, new blades on order from Amazon. I clamped the threaded arm in my padded jaws in the vice and cut it down with the cutoff tool, and then also dressed the end of it on the disc sander and it was good to go. Fun fact: cutting the arm got it so hot that it actually melted the padded vice jaws.



    I got everything re-assembled, adjusted to spec, and torqued down and the first arm is now good to go. I was able to get it aligned to the manual specs with some threads still showing on the shorter arm, so I still have room to adjust. It's nice peace of mind knowing that this has been dealt with. As soon as my new bandsaw blade shows up I'll get the second arm finished.

    MkIV Roadster build: Gen 2 Coyote, IRS, TKO600. Ordered 10/24/18. Delivered 1/29/19. Engine installed 8/8/21. First start 9/12/21. First go-kart 9/17/21. Off to paint 4/11/22. Back from paint 12/30/22. Build thread here.

  35. #27
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    Good choice on making the modification to the sleeves now. Make sure when you reinstall them that the short side is towards the rear, grease fittings are pointed up, and the pivot bolts are bolt head up.
    MKIV #9542 Complete Kit, Coyote, IRS - Delivered - 2/19/19, First start - 9/8/19, Go Cart - 9/14/19
    1965 Mustang Convertible 4v 289
    Build Thread HERE

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  37. #28
    JohnK's Avatar
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    Thanks! Yes, here's the driver's side ready to go, exactly as you've described. I still need to grease the poly bushings, but I'll do that after they're on the chassis.

    MkIV Roadster build: Gen 2 Coyote, IRS, TKO600. Ordered 10/24/18. Delivered 1/29/19. Engine installed 8/8/21. First start 9/12/21. First go-kart 9/17/21. Off to paint 4/11/22. Back from paint 12/30/22. Build thread here.

  38. #29
    JohnK's Avatar
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    Still waiting for the chassis to come back from powder coat. I got antsy and called today, and was advised that it'll be a few more days before its ready. They're killin' me!

    In the meantime, I've been doing a little more component prep. I finally installed my new bandsaw blade and was able to finish the UCA mods and complete the second front UCA, so all the front and rear control arms are now ready to go. I also finally got around to prepping and painting/clear coating the IRS center section. I'm really happy with how the POR15 turned out compared to my first attempt on the rear knuckles.



    In other news... my Coyote arrived today! Coincidentally, we have some landscaping work going on right now. When the landscapers saw the truck roll up they asked if they could help unload it with their bobcat. Uh... yeah!! They had the whole pallet off the truck and into the garage in a couple of minutes. It'll be a bit before we're ready for it, but it's cool to have it sitting in the garage nonetheless.





    We'll probably assemble shocks/springs over the weekend, as well as prep/POR15 the front hubs. Hopefully the chassis will be back soon so we can start installing some of these things.
    MkIV Roadster build: Gen 2 Coyote, IRS, TKO600. Ordered 10/24/18. Delivered 1/29/19. Engine installed 8/8/21. First start 9/12/21. First go-kart 9/17/21. Off to paint 4/11/22. Back from paint 12/30/22. Build thread here.

  39. #30
    Senior Member Fixit's Avatar
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    Did you luck out with the Bobcat being there or what!! I had to roll mine up the drive with a pallet jack and a truck driver that was willing, but grumpy.

    Good call on modifying the UCA sleeves now, and becoming a charter member of the "anti-seize everywhere" club.

    antiseize.png
    John D. - Minneapolis 'Burbs

    1965 El Camino - LT-1, 4L60e, 4wh discs, SC&C susp.
    2013 F-150 Platinum - Twin Turbo 3.5
    2018 Mk4 Roadster w/ Coyote - #9365 - Build Thread Delivery 7/3/18, 1st Start 1/4/19, 1st Road Mile 5/5/19, Legal 6/18/19, In Paint 2/25/21, Done (?) 4/2021

  40. #31
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    G3 (Greek Guys' Garage) Roadster Build #9509 (One step backwards)

    Do you know when things have gone sideways on you? When you get this in the mail...



    (rewind several days)

    I'm running some errands and my phone rings. I see that it's the powder coating company calling. I can't pick up, but I've been expecting the call that the chassis is complete, so I'm pretty excited nonetheless. Several minutes later I retrieve the voicemail they've left, and my heart sinks. They're calling to tell me that while they were sandblasting the chassis they accidentally bent the rear section.



    It actually looks worse in person. They felt extremely bad and offered to do whatever it took to make it right, but it was a bummer nonetheless. After several phone calls and e-mail exchanges with them and with Dave B. at FFR who consulted with the design engineers, we collectively concluded that the best course of action was to replace the rear frame section. FFR fabbed the frame for me in a day, and after 2-day expedited shipping, I have it in my hot little hands at the moment. There's an excellent metal fab/welding shop a couple of doors down from the powder coaters that will handle the surgery, so I'm not concerned about that part. Hopefully, I can put this behind me and have a chassis back in the garage in the next several days.

    On the bright side, this little delay has given me the opportunity to take care of some housecleaning in the shop. I cleaned out an old rolling tool chest, cut a piece of plywood for a top and bolted my old HF drill press to it. I added a Wen drill press table and a Wixey drill press laser to it, and I'm ready to start drilling aluminum panels. I can roll the entire cart out into the driveway to work in order to minimize the mess in the garage. It also gave me a place to put the myriad stickers I've already accumulated.



    I also uncrated the coyote with my son, and we mounted it onto a nice little cradle I picked up from Stumpy's Fabworks.





    It's on casters so I can move the engine around the shop pretty easily. I'm still waiting for my Quicktime bellhousing which should be here tomorrow, but we have a bunch of stuff we can do to the engine, such as the Moroso oil pan/pickup, replacing the flywheel (I picked up the Ford billet flywheel) and installing the clutch and pressure plate, alternator, power steering pump, etc. So there's no shortage of tasks to keep us busy despite the little snafu with the chassis. Onward!
    MkIV Roadster build: Gen 2 Coyote, IRS, TKO600. Ordered 10/24/18. Delivered 1/29/19. Engine installed 8/8/21. First start 9/12/21. First go-kart 9/17/21. Off to paint 4/11/22. Back from paint 12/30/22. Build thread here.

  41. #32
    Senior Member edwardb's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JohnK View Post
    I also uncrated the coyote with my son, and we mounted it onto a nice little cradle I picked up from Stumpy's Fabworks.



    It's on casters so I can move the engine around the shop pretty easily. I'm still waiting for my Quicktime bellhousing which should be here tomorrow, but we have a bunch of stuff we can do to the engine, such as the Moroso oil pan/pickup, replacing the flywheel (I picked up the Ford billet flywheel) and installing the clutch and pressure plate, alternator, power steering pump, etc. So there's no shortage of tasks to keep us busy despite the little snafu with the chassis. Onward!
    That's a nice looking cart. Assume you know that oil cooler won't fit and has to be removed. With the filter off, there's a hex in the end of the oil filter adapter. Turn that out and the oil cooler comes off. Then replace the long adapter with an AL3Z-6890-A short adapter, and your oil filter will mount directly to the block. Also, save the oil that's in the engine. Catch it in a clean container and put it back in after the engine is installed. Nine quarts of synthetic oil is worth the effort.
    Last edited by edwardb; 03-26-2019 at 08:35 AM.
    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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  43. #33
    JohnK's Avatar
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    Thanks so much. Yes, I had read about removing the cooler in your build thread but thanks for the P/N for the short adapter. I picked up a 5 gal. bucket with an o-ring seal on the lid and I'll definitely be saving the oil when I drain it.
    MkIV Roadster build: Gen 2 Coyote, IRS, TKO600. Ordered 10/24/18. Delivered 1/29/19. Engine installed 8/8/21. First start 9/12/21. First go-kart 9/17/21. Off to paint 4/11/22. Back from paint 12/30/22. Build thread here.

  44. #34
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    John-

    Thanks for the tip on the drill press laser. I have an aftermarket piece on my miter saw, but didn't realize one was made for the drill press. Thanks to Amazon and you, I have one on the way!

    Sorry about the frame trouble, but it looks like a decent resolution is in place. A couple of places I know would have tried to hide that from me, hoping I wouldn't notice.

    I look forward to watching your progress. I hope your son enjoys it as much as mine have!

    Regards,

    Steve

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  46. #35
    JohnK's Avatar
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    Haha - happy to spend other people's money!

    I dropped off the rear frame section this morning at the powder coaters, and they were wheeling the chassis over to the welding shop down the street as I left. They were pretty sure they'd have it complete by the end of the week. It works out OK for me, as we've been very busy planning a large family event anyway, so I haven't had a ton of time to work on the car.

    Yes, so far my son is really enjoying it though he's already caused me a few heart attacks. We had the engine on the hoist the other day and had bolted the cradle to it. I decided to let him lower it down, and instructed him to open the valve on the jack *A TINY AMOUNT* to let the engine down slowly. Well, you can imagine what happened next - it was basically a freefall from a foot off the ground. I can confirm that the cradle and the mounting points on the engine are pretty stout.
    MkIV Roadster build: Gen 2 Coyote, IRS, TKO600. Ordered 10/24/18. Delivered 1/29/19. Engine installed 8/8/21. First start 9/12/21. First go-kart 9/17/21. Off to paint 4/11/22. Back from paint 12/30/22. Build thread here.

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  48. #36
    Senior Member Fixit's Avatar
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    Another tip on the oil cooler...
    The hex inside the nipple is (I think) a 14mm or something. I didn't have a 14mm-something Allen wrench around. However, the head of a 3/8" bolt fits perfectly.

    I took one of the kit bolts that was about 3" long, threaded two nuts on it, jammed them together near the end of the bolt, then slid the bolt head into the adapter. A 9/16 wrench on the inboard nut will crack loose the adapter and spin it out. Spin in the new adapter, and use the outboard nut to snug it down. (Shadetree tools...)
    John D. - Minneapolis 'Burbs

    1965 El Camino - LT-1, 4L60e, 4wh discs, SC&C susp.
    2013 F-150 Platinum - Twin Turbo 3.5
    2018 Mk4 Roadster w/ Coyote - #9365 - Build Thread Delivery 7/3/18, 1st Start 1/4/19, 1st Road Mile 5/5/19, Legal 6/18/19, In Paint 2/25/21, Done (?) 4/2021

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  50. #37
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    G3 (Greek Guys' Garage) Roadster Build #9509 (Oil pan mods)

    So, in another thread, I asked about possible mods to the Moroso oil pan for the coyote and received some very good advice to bolt up the pan and check for any interference by the dipstick before making any mods. Sure enough, when I installed the pan I could hear the dipstick making contact with metal before seating all the way. I pushed it in a dozen or so times and then pulled the pan to look for any marks the tip of the dipstick left in order to know where to drill my hole. Or so I thought...



    You know what sucks worse than spending a half hour fastidiously cleaning out metal shavings from your oil pan? Realizing that the hole you drilled didn't solve the problem. It was then (and unfortunately only then) that I remembered that I have one of those little endoscope doodads that I had bought a long time ago. I stuffed it through the threaded hole at the front of the oil pan, and immediately saw the problem.



    The dipstick was literally making contact ~1mm from the edge of the hole I'd drilled. Armed with that information, I was able to enlarge the hole, clean out the oil pan *again*, and finally assemble everything and call it a night. Phew! That was a bit nervewracking.



    In other news, I got the call today that I've been anticipating for a very long time now... my chassis is powder coated and ready for pickup. With any luck, my next update should be with the chassis back in the shop and finally starting some assembly work.
    MkIV Roadster build: Gen 2 Coyote, IRS, TKO600. Ordered 10/24/18. Delivered 1/29/19. Engine installed 8/8/21. First start 9/12/21. First go-kart 9/17/21. Off to paint 4/11/22. Back from paint 12/30/22. Build thread here.

  51. #38
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    G3 (Greek Guys' Garage) Roadster Build #9509 (PS rack install question)

    I was a bit frustrated after struggling with the front lower control arms yesterday, so I decided I needed a mental change of scenery and worked on mounting the power steering rack this morning. I'm using a Unisteer 3-turn rack along with the Breeze offset rack mount bushings. Breeze no longer sells PS racks but Mark directed me to Unisteer and they provided the same exact rack that Mark used to sell. Three turns lock-to-lock with 1" extensions. My first observation was that this was supposed to be a 3-turn rack but when I turned it from lock to lock I was only getting 2-3/4 turns. Hmmm... did Unisteer provide the wrong rack? I discovered later when I pulled the boots back that there was one plastic steering stop installed on the PS (and none on the DS). When I removed that, I had a 3-turn rack. Odd, but whatever.

    I started to mount the rack and immediately ran into an interference problem where the rack boots were hitting the frame tab and not allowing the rack to sit low enough to get the bolts installed (see top two pictures below). I had read about other folks having to relieve the frame tabs in this area to provide clearance for the rack. Not thrilled about doing this, I decided that I'd try to get the rack centered first and see where it ended up. Since the offset bushings rotate, spinning them to move the rack side to side also moves the rack up. Perhaps this would give me the required clearance I needed. I cut the zipties off the inner ends of the boots and pulled them back (and discovered the steering stop) and immediately realized it doesn't appear that there's a specific reason that they need to be where they are. If I rotate them around so that the vent tube is running along the top of the rack rather than the front of the rack the boots are completely out of the way and the rack mounts up with no interference (see bottom two pictures).



    So here's my question - is there any reason to not mount the boots with the vent tube running along the top of the rack? I don't want to discover 10 steps down the road that this is causing me some sort of interference problem, so I'd love some input on whether this is OK.

    Centering the rack went pretty smoothly thanks to some very detailed threads I found here, so thanks to everyone that contributed to those. I just need to go pick up some beefy zip ties, and the rack will be all done.
    MkIV Roadster build: Gen 2 Coyote, IRS, TKO600. Ordered 10/24/18. Delivered 1/29/19. Engine installed 8/8/21. First start 9/12/21. First go-kart 9/17/21. Off to paint 4/11/22. Back from paint 12/30/22. Build thread here.

  52. #39
    JohnK's Avatar
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    Quick update: I called Unisteer this morning and they confirmed that rotating the boots up like that will not affect the function of the rack. So, I'm going to go with it like this for now. If I run into an interference problem later on, I can always rotate the boots around to a better position if needed.
    MkIV Roadster build: Gen 2 Coyote, IRS, TKO600. Ordered 10/24/18. Delivered 1/29/19. Engine installed 8/8/21. First start 9/12/21. First go-kart 9/17/21. Off to paint 4/11/22. Back from paint 12/30/22. Build thread here.

  53. #40
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    G3 (Greek Guys' Garage) Roadster Build #9509 (front suspension sanity check)

    The crowsfoot wrench set that I ordered finally arrived today, so I was finally able to get the castle nuts torqued down and get the front suspension mostly buttoned up. Before I progress any further, I wanted to see if you all wouldn't mind sanity-checking my front suspension to make sure I haven't missed something or done something stupid.

    Thanks,
    John







    MkIV Roadster build: Gen 2 Coyote, IRS, TKO600. Ordered 10/24/18. Delivered 1/29/19. Engine installed 8/8/21. First start 9/12/21. First go-kart 9/17/21. Off to paint 4/11/22. Back from paint 12/30/22. Build thread here.

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