25th MKIV #9772 Build NOR*CAL: taking it to paint!

[toadster]

15/16ths are hard to find (especially a thin one) in the local stores; Lowes, Home Depot, etc.
The guy at Home Depot told me about a thinner wrench that was used for plumbing, he technically couldn't 'recommend using it' but winked while he said it...
snagged a new Rigid wrench from Home Depot
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problem averted, nut & bolt removed, and used the open ended side this time - took a little powder coat off, but oh well, it's a reminder... thanks guys for the assist, I've honestly never done that before!

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[railing]

Congrats getting it off. A good lesson. We have all been there and done something that required new tools or asking someone for help.

[SSNK4US]

Wedge a screwdriver under a flat on the nut.

I thought about that too Rich. Not sure if it’s a nylon lock nut or a crushed one. Nylon locknut maybe.... crushed one probably no chance in the double hockey stick place lol Definitely jack up powder coat going that route

I replied to Rich’s post and it put it here on page two a few hours late lol
I’m glad you got handled! Long road ahead.... probably gonna have a few more oppps lol
Don’t ever stop asking questions. Or for help

Kurt

[Railroad]

Through edwardb's post, I found the correct color match for the 20th anniversary frame powder coat in a spray can.
If you call FF, they should be able to give you the color number or name. I think the company name is LVP. Might need to search and make sure on that name. I did find I needed to touch up the frame more than once.
The cost is a little high, but for the perfect color match, it was worth it for me.
I put some bolts in the IRS that would not come out after the sheet metal was installed. My friend pointed it out to me, prior to riveting the panels in.

[rich grsc]

Glad you got it off, sorry if I came off hard on my other post.

[ydousurf]

Hey Toadster, glad you got that solved. I tell ya, if that's the worst you face on your build, I would gladly trade ya poker build hands! Yeah, get a hold of FFR and they'll pass along the color/code info, and that way you can do some touch-up's where and when necessary. I'm hoping to begin to take my first steps and take the body off tomorrow. I was waiting for my son Nick to fly-in and help kick off the build! Stay at it, I'm following your progress here and on your website too!

Dj

[toadster]

Got the ball joints installed and mounted the upper control arms - the seem VERY close to the frame - is this normal?

Also the manual is backwards, the UCA adjustment is AFTER the mount, so the tolerances are super tight when tightening the upper nuts to secure the UCA setup

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[PeteMeindl]

The nuts holding the upper control arms on my car are also quite close to the frame - similar to yours, I'd say. Of course, as you know, as you tighten that nut down, it'll move away from the frame a little bit. Keep up the good progress!

[edwardb]

Through edwardb's post, I found the correct color match for the 20th anniversary frame powder coat in a spray can.
If you call FF, they should be able to give you the color number or name. I think the company name is LVP. Might need to search and make sure on that name. I did find I needed to touch up the frame more than once.
The cost is a little high, but for the perfect color match, it was worth it for me.

Agreed. The company name with matching spray can paint for powder coat touch-up is LVP. https://www.lvppaints.com/. For the 20th Anniversary, Factory Five was able to provide the exact powder coat details for the frame (Tiger Drylac DB 703 Glimmer, 49/84340) so no reason they couldn't provide the same info for the 25th. With that, LVP should be able to provide another perfect match.

[Joynt Venture]

Toadster - I've got the exact floor in our garage. How many times have you put your eyeball on the floor looking for a run away washer?!?

[toadster]

Agreed. The company name with matching spray can paint for powder coat touch-up is LVP. https://www.lvppaints.com/. For the 20th Anniversary, Factory Five was able to provide the exact powder coat details for the frame (Tiger Drylac DB 703 Glimmer, 49/84340) so no reason they couldn't provide the same info for the 25th. With that, LVP should be able to provide another perfect match.

awesome - thx for the update! Will give them a call to see if I can get the color match!

Toadster - I've got the exact floor in our garage. How many times have you put your eyeball on the floor looking for a run away washer?!?

haha - it's better than my buddy who has a grey/blue floor - it's IMPOSSIBLE to find anything silver!

[toadster]

Factory Five responded, this is the powder 'color' - not sure how to match with paint...

SKU: SK44145
Anodized Light Bronze Matte
from Powder buy the Pound

[toadster]

a few days got away from me, busy at work...

before I tighten everything down in the front, I want to check on what types of chassis lube/grease you guys are using?

in the manual, the koni's need white lithium grease on the delrin washers

assuming any white lithium will work...
Lucas Oil 10533 White Lithium Grease
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for the chassis/ball-joints - I see some post about certain grease for the energy suspension bushings, and others for ball-joints
the FFR ball joints come pre-filled with a gray lube (not full) and I hear mixing some types of grease is bad...

any ideas on what type of grease to use?

no mention in the manual on maintenance fluids other than basic stuff

Engine

	Oil Type	Capacity
302	10W-30	5.0 qts.
4.6L/Coyote	5W-20	8.0 qts w/FFR pan

Transmission Oil Type

	T-5	TKO	T56
Mercon/Dexron III Trans. Fluid	2.8 qts.	2.64 qts.	4.0 qts.

2015 IRS

Fluid	Amount
Motorcraft SAE 75W-85 Synthetic Hypoid Gear Lubricant	3.15-3.30 pt.
Friction Modifier	3.0-3.5 oz

[toadster]

Passenger side
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Driver side
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I know the UCAs are flipped side to side - so it looks different side to side - but all is good!

Alignment:
Using the manual measurements, I did some alignment - but need to re-jigger spacing a bit more...
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A few tips - if you connect the spindle to both LCA and UCA and attach the steering arm - you can move the whole assembly UP, swing the steering arm into the center of the LCA, and lower the assembly - this captures the steering arm so things stay put while you tighten things down
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the castle nuts on the LCA ball joint are 1 1/16ths - fortunately I had a socket to fit...
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I pre-attached my bolts and spacers for the shocks - they're on backorder till EOM
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I forgot the hub nuts are HUGE and need 225-250 ft-lbs - i'll have to go to Autozone to rent this...
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best part of the night was this! ONE LESS BOX!
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[toadster]

also, contemplating a disassembly of the UCA to perform the trimming of the UCA bolts and sleeves... seems this is a popular thing to do to give more flexibility in alignment

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https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...-Alignment-Mk4

yay? or nay?

seems MUCH simpler to just do it now...

[Mark Eaton]

do it now

[Jeff Kleiner]

do it now

That's a no brainer!

Jeff

[toadster]

That's a no brainer!

Jeff

on it now...

LOL my skillz are bad with the sawzall...
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wait for it...
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sanded it quite a bit, a lot closer to flat
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[toadster]

ok - 1 step forward, 2 steps back...

posted my progress on 'the other site' and it was determined that I finally got the sleeves trimmed properly and squared up - BUT the steering arms are backwards, AND I have the spindles on the wrong sides...

oh fun, more wrenching later!

but on a more positive note, I got my first bench grinder (used to square up the sleeves that I trimmed poorly with the sawzall) for $42, yeah it's not the greatest - but it did the job! and I got the stand which makes it portable!

It worked great! WEN 4276 2.1-Amp 6-Inch Bench Grinder with Flexible Work Light
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I did get more boxes on Monday, got the catted headers!
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here's the driver side UCA with 9" front setting and 7.375" rear which should place it around 8 degrees caster - pardon the anti-seize smear...
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[Caddy Dad]

BTW if you want to remove the tone ring on the front hubs, check out edwardB post. Easy to do with a dremel and hammer. Cut a slot about 2/3 the way through the ring then insert a screwdriver/chisel. A few taps with a hammer and the ring will split right in two. I don't know what kind of metal it is but its really quite brittle.

Keep making progress! Build is looking good

[toadster]

ok it's been a week since an update, when I posted my last update - the world still had toilet paper on the shelves... LOL

I've been busy, but it's nice working from home - I can take a break and go work on the car

The folks online informed me that I had my spindles on the wrong side of the car, so some disassembly occurred, getting the ball joints separate from the spindle was puzzling me - but @Jeff Kleiner helped show me where to 'hit' the sleeves to release the ball joints, a few good whacks with a "metal" hammer and they popped out...
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As part of disassembly, I accidentally stripped out the rear UCA sleeve last weekend, and ordered a new one
SPC 92045 Build Your Own Control Arm Adjusting Sleeve, and for $25 I wasn't going to complain...

I got the new part, and trimmed it "again" this time used a hacksaw with a fine blade, worked perfectly! re-trimmed the bolt that was galled (see 2nd pic), still plenty of threads - and everything went back together wonderfully!
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Now that I got the UCAs re-aligned, the castle nuts torqued - I was ready for brakes...

The 25th anniversary car comes with Wilwood that are different than what is provided on FFRs website
and the directions are DIFFERENT!

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The directions sent with the brakes were for the top-loading calipers...
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as I finished the installation, I realized I couldn't install the pads, so I had to disassemble, install the pads, and re-mount them...

Here are the correct directions...
https://www.wilwood.com/PDF/DataSheets/ds834.pdf

the results so far
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still waiting for the KONIs, but now I can focus on the rear IRS...

[toadster]

next step was to prep the IRS parts...

removing the rear studs from the hubs was pretty easy, simple mount and hammer out...

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will go visit a buddy to press in the new ones instead of killing myself with a torque wrench and lugnut...

[toadster]

drilling out the rear spindles requires a 5/8" bit, off to Home Depot to nab one...

IRWIN Drill Bit, Silver and Deming, 5/8-Inch (91140) $13
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need some strong wrists for this bit for sure, go slow and use some oil!! I taped a cup underneath the spindle to catch all the aluminum ribbons... worked pretty well and saves from getting aluminum bits on the floor to be picked up by car tires, shoes, doggy feet, etc...

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trimming the ears off the rear spindles - oh man, that was fun LOL

the directions say to use a wood bit with 14TPI or less as the smaller toothed blades will get gummed up with Aluminum...

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so I started with a 6TPI wood blade, shook the living hell out of my arm, my workbench, my vise, and my garage wall - enough to get my wife to come out and as WTF was going on

I figured, I'll switch to a carbide blade... bad thing is they're usually a bit wider - and didn't really help much but it got me through the first spindle

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for the 2nd spindle I decided to switch to starting with a hacksaw - the blade is very thin, and has tons of teeth, surprisingly it bit into the aluminum quickly.
So i opted for a metal blade in the sawzall - 14TPI, nice thin kerf...

i added a few drops of oil - and it was MUCH smoother and about 1/4 the time that the first one took...

wire wheeled the rough edges, and pretty happy with the results!

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last part was to drill the mounting holes on the rear diff... NOT aluminum, and wrists be damned! same lovely 5/8" drill bit - use oil, and patience!

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time to hoof this 93lb beast into the chassis...

[Caddy Dad]

This all sounds way too familiar, bench shaking, wrist hurting etc. LOL. But I found it was easier to drill out the IRS differential rather than the spindles. I sure was glad that part was over with! By the time I got to install the diff, it actually went in fairly easily with the engine lift and ratchet straps as per many posts on here. Good luck!

[Fixit]

This might be of some help when you mount the differential

[toadster]

This might be of some help when you mount the differential

Thanks John - I've been planning my IRS install based on your post

just need to wait for the front sleeves for the front bushings to arrive!

[Kmcallahan]

on it now...

LOL my skillz are bad with the sawzall...
IMG_9729.jpg IMG_9737.jpg IMG_9738.jpg

wait for it...
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sanded it quite a bit, a lot closer to flat
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Toadster
how much you cut off? Just the round part on each sleeve end? I did not do this on mine. I have nothing but time due to this quarantine thing.

[toadster]

Toadster
how much you cut off? Just the round part on each sleeve end? I did not do this on mine. I have nothing but time due to this quarantine thing.

I cut off both circle ends of the UCA rear sleeves, so it's just the hexagonal shape, no circles on either end - trust me, use a hacksaw in the vice or bandsaw
the inner threads need to be cut and they're steel, so takes more persuasion with a long session on the hacksaw

trim.png

just the yellow highlights - probably 1/4-1/3" - you don't need a ton of extra room, but this will allow for more caster

no need to cut the front sleeves as you can get the 9" extension as built

[Kmcallahan]

Thanks for the info, I will take care of this. Good luck with the build.

[toadster]

got a lot prepped to install the IRS - waiting on 6 parts from FFR (shipping them out today!) hooray!

drilled the spindle arms
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cut the ears off...
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drilled the differential (wrist-breaker!)
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mounted the upper control arms
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press-fit the new lugs into the hubs thx to @TMScrogins and @Dave Borden
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protected the half-shafts with some paint to minimize surface rust
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mounted the hubs onto the spindles, and everything pre-assembled - waiting on toe adjuster sleeves, a few spacers, and the front IRS bushing sleeves...

[toadster]

Still waiting on parts while FFR is on leave...

figured I could Pre-assemble the rear sway bar while waiting

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surprised how much I had to massage the LCAs to adapt the spacers...
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[toadster]

more parts are slowly trickling in, still no IRS front sleeves so the 93 pound beast sits on the floor...

I did get the driver footwell panel mounted, and pre-drilled for the FFMetal Firewall Forward (still need to get it powdercoated to match the black enginebay)

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the Koni DA 8212 shock bodies finally arrived, so I got them mounted up as well

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[toadster]

also started on the willwood pedalbox - had to remove the brake pedal arm to install the whitby one for power brakes
I ended up stretching a c-clip and had to get a replacement at Lowe's .89 cents for two 1/2" c-clips, and I splurged for a nice set of Channellock 8" snap ring pliers since my crappy HF ones were worthless!!

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also, when replacing the pedal arm, both shims don't fit - but Jeff at Whitby's said it was ok as long as there's no side-to-side play...
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[Caddy Dad]

I see you went with the FF Metals firewall forward too. So far I really like it. My only surprise was when I went to mount the Forte's mechanical throttle, I had to add a 2" coupler from McMaster Carr to allow the Heim joints to mount to the 2" square tube.

Enjoy the build!

[toadster]

I see you went with the FF Metals firewall forward too. So far I really like it. My only surprise was when I went to mount the Forte's mechanical throttle, I had to add a 2" coupler from McMaster Carr to allow the Heim joints to mount to the 2" square tube.

Enjoy the build!

Thanks! Fortunately I'll be using the Coyote so no throttle cable...

however, I'm curious how much of the firewall (if any) will need to be cut for the heater/ac setup... it's definitely a BEEFY product for sure!

[GTBradley]

Thanks! Fortunately I'll be using the Coyote so no throttle cable...

however, I'm curious how much of the firewall (if any) will need to be cut for the heater/ac setup... it's definitely a BEEFY product for sure!

I can tell you from experience that with the firewall forward a heater and a full-size glovebox can be done. Even with the Coyote, but it is tight. Let me know when you get to that point if you want any input.

Bradley

[toadster]

took my FFMetal firewall and Boyd's Tank to the powdercoater - should be ready this week, then I can mount the firewall...

decided to move forward with the front swaybar installation - reading ahead I could have save a step by not mounting the lower shock bolts, but oh well - onto the installation...

mounting the swaybar is super easy, 4 hex-head bolts and nuts on the front frame

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btw - a T-50 head fits perfectly in a 5/8" hex nut if you don't have a 5/8 allen wrench (mine only went up to 1/2")
trimming the rod ends to 1/2" was the same as the rear swaybar, simple hacksaw job in 5 minutes

remove the lower shock bolts, use a jack to remove some pressure and it will slide right out
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finally the whole front suspension is DONE!
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[Joe D]

I looked thru the thread so far and didn't see that you had fixed this but the front passengers side UCA is upside down.

[Fman]

took my FFMetal firewall and Boyd's Tank to the powdercoater - should be ready this week, then I can mount the firewall...

decided to move forward with the front swaybar installation - reading ahead I could have save a step by not mounting the lower shock bolts, but oh well - onto the installation...

mounting the swaybar is super easy, 4 hex-head bolts and nuts on the front frame

IMG_0079.jpg

btw - a T-50 head fits perfectly in a 5/8" hex nut if you don't have a 5/8 allen wrench (mine only went up to 1/2")

trimming the rod ends to 1/2" was the same as the rear swaybar, simple hacksaw job in 5 minutes

remove the lower shock bolts, use a jack to remove some pressure and it will slide right out
IMG_0078.jpg

finally the whole front suspension is DONE!
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Looking good! If you don't mind me asking, who is doing your powder coating?

[toadster]

used Performance Powder Coating in Orangevale
https://www.performancepowdercoating...dblasting.com/

Jason is a cool dude and does great work!!

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Got the ffmetal firewall mounted too
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