My Type 65 kit arrived a few weeks ago to much excitement. I’ve finished the inventory and building the dolly to maneuver the car around the garage which has worked out great. I just started working on the front suspension so I thought I would go ahead and open my build thread.
My complete kit includes:
PC chassis
GPS gauges
Body Cut-Outs
Power steering
A/C
18” Halibrand wheels
IRS
Wilwood brakes
Gen 2 Coyote engine
Tremec T-56 Magnum transmission
I have installed the steering rack, front LCA’s, UCA’s, shocks, spindles and greased the bushings and ball joints. I’ve attached a few pictures of those items. I have not tightened any of the bolts yet as you can see in the pictures. My next step is to torque all the bolts, insert the cotter pins, and then install the hubs and the front brakes.
As a first time builder, I appreciate all of the detailed pictures and information provided in this forum, and the willingness to help other builders. I attended the build school last fall and it was a great experience.
CONGRATS!!! I am excited to follow your build. I have learned something from each person here so I am eager to learn from you as well. I am sure that build school will bring some great experience to this build.
2 items I noticed and one could be an illusion. Your Power Steering ridged line might be kinked. The lower one. Mine was and FFR sent me a new one. It wasn't too difficult to swap. By your picture is could be but it's hard to tell. The second thing is that when possible I would suggest making all your bolts face the rear of the car. If for some reason a nut would come undone it would stay in under acceleration. It's something I think a lot of car builders pick up from the aviation industry. If it isn't tightened down you might want to change that bolt on your lower control arm. It's not imperative but it's good practice.
The second thing is that when possible I would suggest making all your bolts face the rear of the car. If for some reason a nut would come undone it would stay in under acceleration. It's something I think a lot of car builders pick up from the aviation industry. If it isn't tightened down you might want to change that bolt on your lower control arm.
Hadn't heard that one before. I've heard about always trying to put the nut on the bottom so that if it came off the bolt would have a better chance of staying in place. But not front-to-back. Anyway, maintainability also is a consideration. Turn that front LCA bolt around and it will be captured by the radiator tunnel sheet metal. Don't think you want to do that.
I'll be interested to watch another Gen 3 Coupe go together. It's a fun build.
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.
Hadn't heard that one before. I've heard about always trying to put the nut on the bottom so that if it came off the bolt would have a better chance of staying in place. But not front-to-back. Anyway, maintainability also is a consideration. Turn that front LCA bolt around and it will be captured by the radiator tunnel sheet metal. Don't think you want to do that.
I'll be interested to watch another Gen 3 Coupe go together. It's a fun build.
This is a good point about the radiator sheet metal in this particular case.
Here is where I found that info when looking up how to torque and place a bolt when I was building mine.
What chassis number is yours? I don’t know if the Coupe R’s are part of all Coupe chassis numbers or on their own, but I’m curious how many have been built to this point.
What chassis number is yours? I don’t know if the Coupe R’s are part of all Coupe chassis numbers or on their own, but I’m curious how many have been built to this point.
My chassis number is #134. It was completed on 12/22/18 but not delivered until later in January because of the holidays and weather delays.
I finished the front end suspension so I am posting a few pictures and some comments.
My hubs went on with no issues. I went over them very lightly with 2000 grit wet/dry paper, cleaned them up, and installed. It is important as others have stated that you need to be dead on straight when installing.
I needed to replace the hydraulic line on my steering rack because it had a kink. Thanks Danny (P100DHG) for spotting it in my photos! FFR sent me a replacement line and I swapped it out. Steering_Rack_KinkFixed.JPG
No bolt problems with assembling the rotors. I used the methods suggested by others on this forum and it worked out fine. I hand-started all of the bolts, tightened with a small ratchet in a star pattern, removed each bolt one at a time, applied small amount of red loctite, reinstalled bolt, torqued it, and marked it as torqued.
I had never done safety wire before so that was a learning experience on the brakes. Many videos out there, I included a link to the one I liked the best. The guy demonstrates on Cessna brakes. I donated my first couple of attempts to science and the trash can but pretty straight forward after that. Brakes_SafetyWire4.jpeg https://youtu.be/14uMQonp3Do
I was very pleased with the quality of the Wilwood components and instructions.
I am tracking right along with you on my build. I am a few hours ahead, as I have been prepping the IRS components and will start installing this weekend.
My front hub / spindle experiences were similar to yours, I had no issues. I did not sand anything, but I did it during a very cold period here in CO. My garage was in the low 30's and I kept the hubs inside on the heat registers until installation time. As long as i kept them straight, they slid right on.
I would be interested to see where you end up with the tie rod thread engagement once you center your rack. With the same Moog ends, I ended up with the threads just breaking through into the opening on the tie rod.