I have been lurking in these parts for some 15 years, waiting for the right time to jump off the cliff. Well, my son is old enough to help, and work is quiet enough. Throw in a pandemic that caused a little too much time at home and I placed my order back in December. Couldn't be more excited. I have a pretty busy life, so I think progress will be slow, but that's OK, its all about the journey, right? I want a nice looking cruiser that may see an occassional track day at some point down the road, but no serious racing on the track or the strip.
I ordered a complete Kit Roadster with the following options:
Powdercoated Chassis
Body Cut outs
Low Back vintage race seats. (I'm 6'2" and live in Massachussets (for now) so I was lucky enough to visit the factory a couple of years back. The regular seats were definitely a problem for me fitting in the car, but they still had to look right.)
Power Steering
2015 IRS
FFR GPS gauges
17" Staggered Halibrand Replica Wheels
Polished over riders
Wind Wings
Sun Visors
Wipers
Battery Cut off switch
Glovebox
Heater
Dual Chrome Roll Bars
Side Louvers
Center Dash Support
Trunk Gas Strut Kit
My powertrain plan is to have Mike Forte build me a Dart block Fuel Injected 347 with Aluminum heads and a TKX transmission. I haven't ordered it yet, as I don't really want to store that while I'm getting the car built. I'm leaning towards GasN touring pipes. I already have the firewall forward kit from FF Metal so I can do the heater and the glovebox. Not sure where the battery is going yet.
While I was waiting, I spent a little time cleaning out space in the garage and getting organized. I made a frame dolly and collected tools and supplies. I wanted to Go to the build school at Mott, but COVID strikes again and they cancelled everything all winter. Spring and Summer are too busy for me to escape for a long weekend, but maybe if I still want to do it, I'll think about it in the fall.
My Kit was ready April 3rd, and my son and I went to pick it up on April 6th. We are fortunate to be able to store the body in my mom's garage, so we hung it there while we are waiting to be ready for it. My Parts Order List of missing items was very long. I guess COVID has caused unusual supplier issues. Lots of front suspension items on the list, along with things like seats and roll bars that I won't need for a while.
I spent a lot of time inventorying the kit, and keeping things organized. I wasn't expecting so many things to be missing in addition to the long POL list. I had about 20 or 30 items that were supposedly in the kit, but weren't there. I spent a lot of time searching for things I might have missed, but sure enough, they were all missing. Big ticket items like a pedal box and Koni shocks. FFR was good about getting me all those parts reasonably quickly, but I did spend a lot of extra time looking for them during inventory.
Taking all of the aluminum off the frame went pretty quickly, even though I took my time with markings and labelling to stay organized.
I'm really excited to be moving forward with my dream car, and look forward to actually participating in the forums! I'm sure initially I will be mostly learning, but hopefully before too long, I can also be helping others to learn from my experiences.
So I finally got enough parts from my POL to get started on the front suspension. I got the F panels on easily enough. I had to redrill a couple of the factory holes on one side to make it fit right, but not too bad. I'm using a Campbell Hausfeld air riveter, and am very happy I went that route.
I had some trouble getting the first ball joint in the upper control arm. Enough so that I broke my vise!
After a couple hour interlude to buy and install a newer, stronger vise, I was able to get the ball joints in. Only scraped off a little powder coat from one control arm while I was at it. (Should I worry about rust?) I had some trouble getting the UCA's bolted on as well. First blood has been drawn. Time for a beer break when both hands are bleeding.
Finally got all four bolts in for the UCAs. Those rear ones were a bear. I couldn't really get an open ended wrench on them, and there wasn't room to get a socket on them either. I just found on someone else's thread where they stuck a screwdriver between the locknut and the frame to hold the nut still. Doh! Should have thought of that. Might have a little more knuckle skin left.
Now I am sort of on hold again. I don't have spindles or the lower control arms. I've had my kit for over 2 months, and still waiting...
I'd start the rear suspension, but I am getting the diff center section and rear brakes from Mike Forte, and haven't gotten those yet either...
I guess I'll have to find something else to work on.
those upper ball joints can be a bear. I had to take a wire wheel to the anticorrosive coating on the threads to get mine to fit in. Almost ripped my bench vise off the benchtop trying to get them threaded in before reading about removing the coating.
Removing that coating never occurred to me for sure.... No matter how much you look around this forum, you can't see it all! Once I toughened up my vise things went OK. The small clamp on vise didn't stand a chance! I was shaking my whole bench around when I was trying to get the first one on. The next one went much better, but I did manage to scrape off a little bit of powder coating on the control arm with the vise. Do you guys think I should put some paint on that to protect it?
Welcome to the madness! Looks like its going to be a great build. The POL situation is a bit frustrating but you can definitely skip around and keep yourself busy for a while. For the paint we have been hitting any scrapes and scuffs on the frame with some rattle can Rustoleum satin black enamel. I'm sure there are other options as well but its been a pretty good match for us. Also, since you're doing power steering, you should check out all of the posts on here about modifying the upper control arms to get more caster adjustment. I can't personally say that its needed as we don't have spindles either and cant do any alignment, but it seems the consensus is it's needed and we did it. Can't wait to follow along with your build.
Thanks Mike! I appreciate the tip about the rustoleum, and I had also stumbled across the alignment issues. I also had seen your build. What awesome pictures you have! Your build looks great.
Slow couple of weeks on the build. As in nothing done. Busy end of school year and opening up of summer cottage and throw in a couple of funerals. Then there's been the mental block I've had not wanting to dig into certain sections without all of the parts I need. I think I am past that, but I sure would like my front spindles and lower control arms. In the mean time I've decided to make the modification to the front upper control arms in order to make sure I can get enough caster. I figure if I screw up the cuts bad enough that I will have time to get new parts while I wait for spindles and LCAs. I plan to use a hacksaw, perhaps a jigsaw, and if needed, a dremel with a cut off wheel. I am about ready to get started but I did wonder, did you guys put any paint on the parts after cutting them? Do you worry about rust down the road? Both my sleeves and the male threaded rods are all coated black, unlike a lot of the pictures I have seen of other people's builds. Mine look like yours Mike, and Carl and Phil as well.
Well I managed to get in a couple of hours today. After poring through the forums for hours on end, I finally decided to cut the upper control arm sleeves and threaded ends to make sure I have enough caster adjustment. This forum really is amazing. I have known for years that it was a huge reason to go with factory five in the first place, but not until it starts solving problems and giving you ideas do you really understand just how amazing this community is.
So I took apart one UCA and played with it, looking at how I might cut it, and I think I'm to the point where I can get past my fear of cutting into perfectly good parts without the benefit of a machine shop. I'll do that next time I sit down to work. You guys with power steering all cut 3/16" to 1/4" off of each end of the rear sleeves and rod ends, correct?
I also got the front shocks put together and mounted to the frame. Since I'm about to be stuck on the front suspension without spindles or lower control arms, I'll move on to the rear. I'm taking a trip over to Forte's Parts connection for the IRS center section and rear brakes tomorrow.
Made more progress yesterday. Got several hours in and made some major mental headway. I had gone over to Forte's parts connection a couple of days back to pick up my rear knuckles, brakes, and the IRS center section. As always, I had a nice chat with Mike and an updated tour of what he had going on. He's having supply trouble just like everyone else. Coyote computer chips as well as blocks from blueprint, dart, and ford. Current thinking is a Ford Boss 363 with AFR aluminum heads, Holley Sniper FI, and a TKX transmission. That could end up being a Boss 347 or even a 302 with a T5 if I can act like a reasonable adult. (not likely)
Yesterday, I finally had the gumption to take destructive power tools to my shiny new car parts. I spent a little time getting oriented and drawing lines on the rear spindles to cut off the ears. That worked out pretty well, so my confidence increased. I ended up using these 14/18 TPI metal blades.
I started the cut carefully with a hand hacksaw with a metal blade, and then I used the sawzall with these blades. Worked well. Ended up chewing up 2 blades per cut but I was happy with the results.
I then used a dremel to bevel the sharp edges and then an orbital palm sander with 220 grit paper to smooth out the edge. Much happier with the way that looks.
At that point, I realized I did not have the 5/8" drill bit I thought I did. Before heading out to the hardware store, I decided to start with the hubs, anticipating I might run into other problems requiring a trip to Ace hardware. Good call.
My son and I began knocking the mustang studs out of the hubs. That was pretty easy, if not a little scary taking a hammer to my shiny new hubs. Getting the FFR studs into the hubs was another matter completely. Having seen what some other folks have been through, I had anticipated this. I've been watching NYMike's build thread as we are pretty similar with the builds. That lucky guy seems to have very nice tool access.
We first tried the method in the build manual using a washer, a lugnut and a ratchet. Not happening. I was already uncomfortable with the hub squeezed in the vise as hard as it was, and putting a ratchet on the lugnut was yanking the hub out of the vise. Not good. So we tried the impact gun, but with only one washer, it was not aligning properly. We managed to ruin one of the lugnuts trying with one washer. Anyone know the best way to replace one of these?
I don't have access to a press, so we had to come up with a different way to get the studs in.
We ended up getting a stack of washers and a 1/2-20 impact nut from the hardware store. We greased up the threads and the washers and used the air impact gun and went to town.
It took a while but my son got all of the studs installed. It beat up our sacrificial washers and impact nut pretty good, but that was the plan.
I am a little concerned with the lack of clearance between the stud heads and the bearing seal, but I guess that's how its supposed to be...
I guess it will have to wait until these are on the car before I can put enough torque on this to get the 100 ft-lb spec on it.
Once that was all done, I chased out the mounting holes with my new 5/8" drill bit. With a little WD40 that went reasonably well.
After a long time looking for the bolts (they were under the bubble wrap), I bolted the hubs to the spindles, torqued them, and called it a day.
This morning I spent some time on the forums figuring out how to work with pictures better and learned quite a bit. Thank you to Dave Hodgkins and his excellent thread on this. https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...tures-in-posts
I'm feeling like I actually accomplished something this week, and gained a lot of confidence. We even managed to avoid any blood! The weather here in MA sucks this weekend so my son's state baseball tournament got postponed, and I'm on call for work all week so stuck home away from the lake cottage for the 4th, so maybe I'll get some more done! Definitely the bright side peeking through there.
Sohcrates, I very clearly remember late last year when I was completing these steps, and I was also a bit hesitant to cut up new, shiny parts. Looks like everything turned out well. I ground a flat on the head of the new studs before installing them just to ensure no interference with the hub gasket/seal. Here are a couple comparison photos from my build thread:
Thanks Chris! I have been watching your build. I saw your fantastic pictures. I was having such a hard time even getting a stud started, I failed to take the time to file down any of them. Once we got started, we were like a whirlwind, and now they're all in and I don't want to take them back out! I think I'll probably just roll the dice, and assume its OK. Fingers crossed.
Hi Ethan, I will be using the F5 recommendation from the build manual. Here's the excerpt from p. 116 of the build manual (electronic version from Spring 2020). (I've read at least one builder reported receiving his already filled with fluid. I will be double checking mine before purhasing any fluids, as it had enough in it to leak out a small amount during shipment.)
Thanks for the reply, Chris. I did see that in the manual. Mine wasn't dry, but it certainly wasn't full either. I had seen somewhere that someone used AMSoil, and someone else who bought the rear end from Forte had been told to use heavier oil in it. They told me that they use spectro 85-140. There were enough other ideas, that I was confused. It did seem safest to go with F5's Ford spec, so I think unless someone can convince me otherwise very soon, that I will also be using the Ford spec. I think it'll be easier and less messy to drain and refill before I put it in the car.
Long layoff of work on the car. Busy summer at the lake, away from the garage...First world problems. So I finally got to the rear diff. I could tell there was fluid in there, but not how much, and obviously not what type. I picked up the Ford/FFR spec fluid. I emptied out the fluid from the diff, and refilled it with the specified type and amount. I can stick my pinky in the fill hole and can't reach the level of the fluid. Am I better off leaving it with the specified amount from the manual (about 1.5 L plus the friction modifier), or filling it up to the fill hole? Any opinions?
Be sure you are using the right fill plug. There are two. The one you need to use is about the level of the bottom of the axle bore of the housing.
I think recommended level is 5 mm below the plug hole. You might need to verify that. Anyway about 1/4" below the hole, which you should be able to touch.
Hope that clears things up.
20th Anniversary Mk IV, A50XS Coyote, TKO 600, Trunk Drop Box, Trunk Battery Box, Cubby Hole, Seat Heaters, Radiator hanger and shroud.
Now I'm more confused... The pic shows where I drained and filled. After filling from the top hole, as I said, I can't touch the fluid with my pinky. If I loosen the lower plug, it is over the top of that one and wants to come out everywhere. I drained thoroughly and used exactly the specified amount.
You got it right. If that is your rear in the pic, the housing needs to be sitting as it would be when mounted in the frame.
Small angles make big diff in levels of liquids.
If you have everything mounted up and axles in, fill the housing to the bottom on the upper hole.
Sorry about the confusing comment on the second hole. I have seen covers with a hole high on the cover. Others have used it for their fill level and created a mess.
Last edited by Railroad; 08-05-2021 at 07:42 AM.
20th Anniversary Mk IV, A50XS Coyote, TKO 600, Trunk Drop Box, Trunk Battery Box, Cubby Hole, Seat Heaters, Radiator hanger and shroud.
Hey Ethan, I hadn't checked in on your build thread yet and just read through it. Welcome to the fun, and I can tell you about long build experiences You're right, it doesn't matter how long it takes. And I get the summer experience, I slow down on the build in the middle of every short Minnesota summer. You're coming along well despite the interruptions, good to see the progress. Cheers, John
MK4 #7838: IRS 3.55 TrueTrac T5z Dart 347
The drawing is from ~7th grade, mid-1970s
Meandering, leisurely build thread is here
It seems like there are constant and continuous projects that get slotted in ahead of cobra build time, but I guess that is life. Another very slow month on the build, but things are actually happening.
After spending a great deal of time agonizing internally about it, I decided to get over my fears of permanently modifying perfectly good parts with saws. Since I am doing power steering, I took the advice of many forum members, and shortened the rear adjusters on the front upper control arms. The collective knowledge says that it is sometimes difficult to get enough adjustment out of these to get to the desired caster numbers when doing alignment. I studied the following posts, along with many others, over and over to make sure I was doing the right thing. Many thanks to all of these guys, and the forums in general, for sharing your experiences. I hope my experience serves others in the future.
Like these guys, I also took about .25" off of both ends of the adjusters and also off of the threaded rods.
Before cutting anything!, here we go!:
after cutting:
cutting the rod:
after everything is cut:
left side after reassembly:
It all went smoother than I worried it might. I started all of the cuts with a hacksaw, and then finished with a sawzall using a metal blade. These eight cuts went through 2 brand new metal blades. The adjustment tubes went pretty quick, and the hollow rods weren't bad, but the solid rod was much tougher. I used a dremel with sanding attachments to smooth out the rough edges. They didn't all thread quite as nicely as when new, but they all went in OK, and once started were fine. As you can see, I also ended up with a couple of scratches on the adjusters.
After tackling all of that, I happened to have a friend over, and he helped me get the differential in. We used a floor jack and it took some wrestling, but it wasn't too bad. It was a little hard to get wrenches on both sides of the front bolts, but we managed.
On another positive note, Factory five has also been chipping away at my POL. The long awaited front spindles and lower control arms both came in, along with other fun things like seats and the steering wheel. So now I am out of excuses on getting the suspension done. I've just got to keep my wife from inserting too many more projects in ahead of the car!
It seems like there are constant and continuous projects that get slotted in ahead of cobra build time, but I guess that is life. Another very slow month on the build, but things are actually happening.
After spending a great deal of time agonizing internally about it, I decided to get over my fears of permanently modifying perfectly good parts with saws. Since I am doing power steering, I took the advice of many forum members, and shortened the rear adjusters on the front upper control arms. The collective knowledge says that it is sometimes difficult to get enough adjustment out of these to get to the desired caster numbers when doing alignment. I studied the following posts, along with many others, over and over to make sure I was doing the right thing. Many thanks to all of these guys, and the forums in general, for sharing your experiences. I hope my experience serves others in the future.
Like these guys, I also took about .25" off of both ends of the adjusters and also off of the threaded rods.
Before cutting anything!, here we go!:
after cutting:
cutting the rod:
after everything is cut:
left side after reassembly:
It all went smoother than I worried it might. I started all of the cuts with a hacksaw, and then finished with a sawzall using a metal blade. These eight cuts went through 2 brand new metal blades. The adjustment tubes went pretty quick, and the hollow rods weren't bad, but the solid rod was much tougher. I used a dremel with sanding attachments to smooth out the rough edges. They didn't all thread quite as nicely as when new, but they all went in OK, and once started were fine. As you can see, I also ended up with a couple of scratches on the adjusters.
Hey Sohcrates! welcome aboard! just saw your build. Wanted to chime in on the UCA rear cut down. I was very hesitant in doing this ( I have power steering ) and did not initially. I go kart'ed it with the stock length and adjusting the best I could for alignment, caster, and camber). It handled OK but wanted to dart quite a bit. After encouragement from multiple folks on this site I went ahead and did this mod. I dialed in the the caster, did a new alignment and WOW! the handling was night and day IMO. I am really glad I did it before I did my final body fitment. Just may experience but I was glad I did it.
FFR MK4 Roadster (9945) complete kit, delivered 12/4/2020, First start and go kart 5/7/2021. Legal 8/14/2021, Paint finished 7/18/2022 (Viking Blue). 347BPE CI, TKO600, Moser 8.8 3link 3.55, Halibrand 17x9 17x10.5, power steering. Carbon Fiber Dash. Carbon Fiber trans tunnel, adjustable Kirkey Lowback Vintage seats, Vintage gauges, RT drop trunk mod, FFmetal drop battery mod and trans tunnel, Forte front sway bar. Forte mechanical throttle linkage, RT gas pedal. www.covespringsfarm.com
That makes me feel even better about doing it! Glad I did it beforehand so I don't have to take that particular area apart to change something down the road. I'm sure there will be plenty of things I end up taking apart to do over!
After tackling all of that, I happened to have a friend over, and he helped me get the differential in. We used a floor jack and it took some wrestling, but it wasn't too bad. It was a little hard to get wrenches on both sides of the front bolts, but we managed.
Congrats on getting the IRS diff. installed, Ethan! It was a real challenge for me, though I'm a noobie and installed it mostly solo. Easily one of top three accomplishments on my build so far. Great to read about the arrival of your awaited suspension items! Keep up the good work.
Chris Coupe complete kit delivered: 4/22/24. Build Thread. Coyote. T-56. IRS w/3.55. Wilwoods. PS. HVAC. Side windows. MK4 Complete kit. Build Thread Index. Delivered: 10/15/2020. Legal: 7/25/23. Coyote Gen3. TKO600 (0.64 OD). IRS w/3.55. PS. Wilwoods. Sway bars. This build is dedicated to my son, Benjamin. Build Thread.
Thanks Chris!! The encouragement here is unbelieveable. The cliff we have all jumped off of to do this is really daunting and to know other people have had the same experiences and pushed through to triumph really keeps you motivated.
I am sensing that everyone's experiences with fit and finish on some of the parts, like the frame in particular, is not lexus quality. Each one is a little different, and little differences matter. Partially because I had an able helper, partially because I had looked at other people's experiences here, but mostly because my diff and my frame lined up OK, I didn't have a very hard time getting the diff installed. Things lined up OK and the bolts went in fine.
The front lower control arms that I just tackled, however, were a very different story. It seems that some other people had trouble with this, but others very little. The manual says that the spacers are for the rear mount of the LCAs, but I used them in both rears and one front as well. On both sides, I had to do quite a bit of hammering with the dead blow mallet, first to open up the ears on the frame to let the LCA fit, and then to get the bolts in through the arms. Nothing was lining up great, so I was having to bend and pry to get the second bolt in on both sides. Definitely would have been easier with a helper. Didn't have one this time. There was a lot of banging, prying, grunting, and swearing going on. I eventually got it all together, using one spacer on both rear mounts, and one on the front passenger side. This felt like a major accomplishement for me, like your diff did for you, Chris.
While I had a couple of hours on the car, I also worked on a couple of other things. Intending to power through and finish the front suspension, I also took apart the upper control arms, having read that alignment with the car's weight on the suspension is much easier with the adjustment tubes greased. So I greased up the passenger side with white lithium grease that I had lying around (is this appropriate?) and put it back together. I started doing a rough alignment as instructed in the manual, but then I realized I had never tightened the locknuts on the ends of the pivot shaft, so there is too much movement, and the alignment is meaningless. The manual says to tighten those so there is minimal endplay but still allow the pivots to rotate easily. Is there any way to quantify this with a torque number? Or am I overanalyzing it? Just tighten it up, I guess, and then do the rough alignment.
As usual, as I was agonyzing, I ran out of time for the day. I'll have to come back to this on my next session. I certainly hope that as the winter sets in, and I run out of yard work to do, that I will have more time with the car.
Before I started wrestling with the LCAs, I did manage to torque up the bolts for the differential and add the breather tube.
Little by little, progress is made. I figure I should be able to finish up the front suspension next time, and then start with the brakes now that I have spindles. Then I can move on to the rear suspension.
Another very long haul betweeen days working on the car. I can see this is going to be a long road. I'm hoping that I will build momentum at some point and the rest of life can sometimes give way. I got a few solid hours in today, and even had help. Might even get some more time in a couple days down the road. We managed to finish up the front suspension today, which definitely felt like an accomplishment. We started by tightening down the upper control arm pivot bolts, then did the rough alignment on both sides before tightening up the locknuts. As others have recommended, we greased up the threaded shafts so that they might be adjusted more easily when the suspension has weight on it.
We then installed the spindles. The bottom mounts went OK, but the tops were more difficult. The only thing that came up with the bottoms is that the provided spacers are different top and bottom. One side is flat and the other had some taper.
I just sort of guessed and had the flat side against the castle nuts. Anyone know which way these are supposed to go?
Others had recommended energy suspension ball joint dust boots, which I got, but they were just too small to stay on the ball joints when everything went back together, so we just stuck with the provided dust boots. They sure get smooshed up without any weight on the suspension. The next issue we faced was that the castle nuts on the top ball joints don't reach the holes for the cotter pin, so the pin doesn't stop the nut from rotating. We solved this with some automotive grade washers acting as spacers, as were provided for the bottom ball joints. That pushed the castle nuts down enough so the cotter pins could go in the grooves on the castle nuts.
We tried to torque all of the bolts, but had to kind of guess on the upper spindle ball joint castle nuts. Anyone got any tricks for getting a torque wrench on that one? I just did it by feel, which is very scientific. After that, we moved on to the brakes. The biggest issue here is that I still don't have brake pads for these... I'm quite sure I could head down to autozone and grab some, but I won't need them for a while, and I already paid for one set, so why pay for another? Besides, these brakes are looking absolutely puny. I have the 13" brakes for the rear, and those look normal size. I have a feeling I'll be upgrading to the mustang cobra front brakes, or even willwoods at some point...
The other surprise here was how tight it is to get at the top caliper bracket mounting bolt. Those were hard to get at with most of the car not built, and no steering rack installed, so you could turn the hub all the way around to get at them. Those are going to be fun once everything is all put together.
It was great to be working on the car, and to be making some progress, especially having company. Hoping for more time in a couple of days to work on the rear suspension.
The next issue we faced was that the castle nuts on the top ball joints don't reach the holes for the cotter pin, so the pin doesn't stop the nut from rotating. We solved this with some automotive grade washers acting as spacers, as were provided for the bottom ball joints. That pushed the castle nuts down enough so the cotter pins could go in the grooves on the castle nuts.
Nice progress, Ethan!
I also had to add spacer washers to resolve my concern about cotter pin engagement in the castle nut. At the time I emailed F5, and they said it was okay as is. Right or wrong that response didn't give me warm fuzzies, so I used the extra spacer washers on-hand from my Wilwood brake kit.
Last edited by 460.465USMC; 11-13-2021 at 09:40 PM.
Chris Coupe complete kit delivered: 4/22/24. Build Thread. Coyote. T-56. IRS w/3.55. Wilwoods. PS. HVAC. Side windows. MK4 Complete kit. Build Thread Index. Delivered: 10/15/2020. Legal: 7/25/23. Coyote Gen3. TKO600 (0.64 OD). IRS w/3.55. PS. Wilwoods. Sway bars. This build is dedicated to my son, Benjamin. Build Thread.
Thanks for that Chris!! I'm glad I'm not the only one...
If I wasn't having brake inadequacy before, I sure am now. Those things look badass!! I also see you got the energy suspension ball joint dust boots on there. Did yo uhave any trouble getting those on? I couldn't get them to stay on at all, so I gave up. Also were you able to torque those top castle nuts? I couldn't fit my torque wrench in there...
I was able to use the energy suspension boots as well. just adjust them once you start to tighten down the castle nuts and they'll hold in place. I think I needed to use a flathead screwdriver to make sure the lip of the boot wasn't folded over on itself.
I also had trouble torquing the castle nuts as my wrench/socket wouldn't fit. look into crow foot wrenches that will allow you to get in there, but I'm not sure if it renders your torque wrench inaccurate.
I was able to use the energy suspension boots as well. just adjust them once you start to tighten down the castle nuts and they'll hold in place. I think I needed to use a flathead screwdriver to make sure the lip of the boot wasn't folded over on itself.
I also had trouble torquing the castle nuts as my wrench/socket wouldn't fit. look into crow foot wrenches that will allow you to get in there, but I'm not sure if it renders your torque wrench inaccurate.
I also had this problem and got a cheapie set of crow foot wrenches. Good for this application but I haven't found much of a need for them on a regular basis. If you position them at a 90* angle to the torque wrench you should not have to make adjustments to the torque setting. If you can't do 90*, you should at least check to see if you need to adjust the setting to account for the additional lever arm represented by the crow foot - it may be a negligible difference.
MK4 #7838: IRS 3.55 TrueTrac T5z Dart 347
The drawing is from ~7th grade, mid-1970s
Meandering, leisurely build thread is here
Snuck in another half day this week. Actually felt like I was getting somewhere. It feels good to be emptying boxes, getting rid of them, and making more space in the garage for my wife to fill with junk!
I spent about an hour getting all of the parts out to work on the IRS, making parts piles for the control arms, shocks, and toe arms. I ended up with a couple of extra nuts that were with the parts for the toe arms. Not sure where those end up. I assembled the toe arms and control arms, adjusting them for rough alignment while I was at it.
I then bolted on the toe arms. No sweat there.
Then it came to the lower control arms, and I got to revisit my frustration with the pick up points on the frame. It seems like every bushing I have is about 1/16" too long, and won't go in to the pickup points on the frame. Since the toe arms used spacers instead of bushings, it wasn't an issue there, but everywhere there was a bushing was a problem. All three attachment points for both lower control arms, both points for both upper control arms, the pickups for the spindles on the toe arms, all had to be reworked to allow the bushings in. I started trying to bend the ears out with a prybar, which sometimes worked for some of the pickups. I tried banging on the ears with a dead blow mallet, which was a disaster. Not only did it not move the ears enough to fit the bushings, but was taking significant amounts of powdercoat off the frame. I saw that NYMike had this issue at this point as well. Like him, I hit those spots with some black spraypaint, but I'm not happy with that solution. Anyone have any thoughts on that?
What ended up working best for me was grinding down the metal bushings a tidbit until they fit. This was the ticket for the control arms. The spindle pickups on the tie arms and LCAs were more easily bendable. Hopefully I haven't created a new problem by ginding those down. I smoothed the edges off so they weren't too sharp, but my hand grinding wasn't particularly even. Once everything actually fit together, things went pretty smooth. I meant to take some pictures of the damaged frame before I painted it and put everything together, but I was in a frenzy and forgot.
After all of that, I got the driveshafts it. Took more muscle than I anticipated from reading other's experiences, and both had to be banged in with the dead blow mallet.
Even after the banging, when they seemed to bottom out, I ended up with a little more clearance than anticipated between the axles and the pumpkin. Does this look right?
Aside from the aforementioned bending of the attachment ears on the suspension arms, the spindles went in OK. Looks nice all put together. I didn't see any pics in the manual of the bolts from the tie arms to the spindles. Does anyone think it matters whether the bolts are to the front or the nuts are to the front?
I was going to tackle the shocks, but was out of steam for the day, so next time it'll be shocks and brakes, although I'm deciding whether to paint the calipers before installing them. I think I like the look of black calipers for this car, but the mustang cobra front brakes I intend to use in front come unpainted or powdercoated red, so it might make sense to paint the rears red too instead of painting all of them black. Anyone have good experience with particular brands of caliper paint? I see POR15 makes some.
I've used VHT caliper paint that seems to work pretty well after 500mi of driving so far. I did have a caliper that needed to be replaced b/c the piston seal was leaking fluid and it did eat the paint away. I think anything short of powdercoating will erode away with any amount of brake fluid leaking.
regarding the mounting tabs/ears that you needed to pound, I too found some of my some of my spacers/bushings too tight between the ears. Instead of hitting it with a hammer, get yourself a length of threaded rod and some nuts/hardened washers. Get the nuts/washers on the inside of the ears and start expanding the distance between the nuts using an open-ended wrench. As the washers push against the ears, it'll expand your mounting tabs a bit.
Thanks for all of that. I had seen other people using that method, which does make sense. Of course, we determined people often struggle through with the tools at hand instead of saving the time and frustration of the struggle by heading down to the hardware store!!!
Hi Ethan. As a point of reference here's the 1/8" gap on my CV axles:
FWIW: I also inserted the bolts from the front:
Looking at the build manual (p. 105, Rev. 4Z) I see I followed their instructions. Looks same as yours. Nice work!
P.S. I tried the threaded rod method on several of the tabs on my IRS assembly, but didn't find it worked any better than a large adjustable wrench. I used a rag between the jaws of the adjustable wrench to ensure no powder coat was removed or unwanted scratches. I found this method much faster--and cheaper unless you already have the hardened bolts/nuts/washers--and just as effective.
Last edited by 460.465USMC; 11-24-2021 at 11:13 PM.
Chris Coupe complete kit delivered: 4/22/24. Build Thread. Coyote. T-56. IRS w/3.55. Wilwoods. PS. HVAC. Side windows. MK4 Complete kit. Build Thread Index. Delivered: 10/15/2020. Legal: 7/25/23. Coyote Gen3. TKO600 (0.64 OD). IRS w/3.55. PS. Wilwoods. Sway bars. This build is dedicated to my son, Benjamin. Build Thread.
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), I bolted the hubs to the spindles, torqued them, and called it a day. 
You're right, it doesn't matter how long it takes. And I get the summer experience, I slow down on the build in the middle of every short Minnesota summer. You're coming along well despite the interruptions, good to see the progress. Cheers, John
Originally Posted by sohcrates
