Zee's Widow Maker (10489) - Coolant expansion tank

[zee]

This is not a 'how to' thread. But still follow along, there will be some unique, fun mods along the way.

About Me: I am not mechanically or electrically inclined. I barely know what a vast majority of these parts in my garage are.

Most people are nervous about one or two things. Even drilling gives me anxiety. Thinking about electrical and running lines and building brakes etc makes me lose sleep out of stress.

I am the epiphany of "if Zee can do it, anyone can do it". Let's see if I can actually do it because I might as well be researching the cure for baldness (since I have near-zero competency in both areas).

Aspiration: As reasonably authentic-and-period-correct as the FFR MKIV 427 can be. For interior I am taking inspiration from earlier Superformance Cobras. See the 'plan'.

Goal: More of a daily driver than a show-car. But I plan to customize every aspect of it to my taste. Even for the seats, I only bought the aluminum shell and will get it leather-upholstered myself.

#2 - Basic mods (too many to list)
#3 - The plan
#4 - Some tips and planning

4.1 - Aluminum fitting & tips
4.2 - Powder coating and options
4.3 - Thicker trunk aluminum
4.4 - Toggle switch & internal debate

#5 - Frame mod

5.1 - Matching aluminum mods
5.2 - passenger seat-belt mount

#6 - powder coated!
#7 - so many missing parts
#8 - Front brakes and rear end
#9 - Heater
#10 - Original Cobras
#11 - Under trunk battery mount (custom)
#12 - Fuel tank and lines
#13 - Dash design
#14 - Tire sticker fail
Dash wiring and THE ENGINE IS IN

[zee]

Basic mods (too many to list, but here are some)

Boyd tank
Smiths gauges (with mechanical speedo)
Willwood brakes
Heater / defroster (not FFR)
Wipers and winshield washer (not FFR)
Lokar e-brake
Russ Thompson:
- turn signals & bezel
- gas pedal kit
Replica Parts
- quick jack plates
- under-dash filler
- Radiator aluminum panel
- weather striping kit
Dave Bertalli
- Bemini Top
eBay
- Leather hyde
- period-correct rotary knobs
Holden
- Lucas-style (but better quality) switches
- raydot mirrors
Period-correct
- Wipers
- Triple reservoirs
- dash lights
**********
- air vents
- Raydot mirror side posts
- Headlight stone guard
- Sunvisor / wild wings / emblems / louvers/ AC pads
- Shifter handle
Others
- Push fans with blades and motors
Whitby:
- Tonneau cover
Breeze:
- dead pedal
- radiator mounting kit, shroud, cover
Forte
- mechanical throttle rod
- Brass coolant reservoir tank
Herbs
- Door panel

Custom:
- Exposed roll-bar
- Faux battery behind the passenger seat
- leather upholstered vintage heated seats on slides

Etc. etc.

[zee]

My interior inspiration is from Superformance as well as vintage rally cars:



Here's what the left side will look like (except with more authentic dash lights and no glove box):



Close up:



The exterior inspiration is a variation of this car:



Finally, I plan to have an exposed rollbar (similar to the originals) with a faux battery:

[Higgybulin]

Sounds like you have a plan!! Good luck!
Higgy

[Jeff Kleiner]

Finally, I plan to have …a faux battery:

To pull that off any passengers are gonna’ need to have very short legs

Jeff

[Jim1855]

The rear bulkhead on the SPF cars is much further back than the FFR cars. There's a ledge that is about 3" deep (fore/aft) from the wall behind the seats to the bulkhead, the rear cowl shows this depth as well. This is what allows storage and the exposed rollbars behind the seats. The roll bars mount to a crossbar under the ledge.

Anything is possible, practical is a whole different story.

The SPF dash works well. I always liked the layout and am patterning my new dash after it. I don't intend to use foam under the leather covering if that's what I use, currently exploring options.

Jim

[zee]

To pull that off any passengers are gonna’ need to have very short legs

Jeff

Passengers are over-rated. #Fact!

Jokes aside, this is the plan (not my picture. You just need a quarter of an inch space to create the illusion of the battery):

[460.465USMC]

Welcome aboard, Zee. What an impressive list of options/upgrades! Do you have a shipping date yet?

[zee]

Welcome aboard, Zee. What an impressive list of options/upgrades! Do you have a shipping date yet?

It's ready! Driving down on Nov 11th to pick it up. Need to clear the garage first.

[red.barchetta]

Cant wait to see your progress Zee! Hopefully its faster than mine.....


Braden

[zee]

Ahead of picking the base kit, I needed a way to organize the parts I have. I didn't want to have them in boxes because it'd be a pain to find them. I also did not want to purchase shelves that I won't need as the build is done.

So here's my make-shift shelf built with boxes. I'll tape the boxes together and will make sure they can't trip (will attach them to the wall), but it's working well. I have empty boxes for more parts coming in.

IMG_0559.jpg

[Higgybulin]

Ahead of picking the base kit, I needed a way to organize the parts I have. I didn't want to have them in boxes because it'd be a pain to find them. I also did not want to purchase shelves that I won't need as the build is done.

So here's my make-shift shelf built with boxes. I'll tape the boxes together and will make sure they can't trip (will attach them to the wall), but it's working well. I have empty boxes for more parts coming in.

IMG_0559.jpg

Where did you get your gas tank fill tube?

[zee]

Where did you get your gas tank fill tube?

I am impressed you saw that .

FactoryFive doesn't include the "OEM fuel kit" in the Canadian kit. I got that separately but then I decided to go with Boyd so now I gotta sell all that .

Zee

[Higgybulin]

I am impressed you saw that .

FactoryFive doesn't include the "OEM fuel kit" in the Canadian kit. I got that separately but then I decided to go with Boyd so now I gotta sell all that .

Zee

Pm sent lol

[zee]

Finally!

[Higgybulin]

Congrats!! Always a fun road trip heading to Wareham!!

[Jeff Kleiner]

Congrats Zee! Let the fun begin

Jeff

[Scott L]

Congratulations! I used that same trailer to haul mine home.

[John Ibele]

Congrats, Zee! It’s great you’re able to finally get started.

[zee]

Sorry slow with updates, I need to find time to do proper updates. That does mean that my actual build progress and the build thread updates will be out of sync .

I've been busy drilling and putting aluminum pieces as I try to make up my mind about a few things (including some frame mods I am debating).

Some tips (many are obvious, but I am a super novice so...)

Tip: the magnetic bowl is a lifesaver:




I have a larger one as well.

It's really convenient to stick it wherever you want and have all the screws and clecos stay there.

Tip: invest in good quality cobalt bits.

I couldn't find it so I found a company that had them in their fulfillment warehouse. They allowed me to go get some from there :-).



Tips - make sure all pieces fit well before drilling. If you trust FFR’s temporary screws then you might end up with extra holes (ask me how I know)

I sadly have some extra drill holes on one of my F-panels that I have to fill. There are other pieces where the FFR temporary screw did not hold the piece at the right spot:



It also allows you to figure out how the piece fits and where you're properly able to drill (some parts are deep in the corner where it's hard to drill).

Tip: you might be able to get to the piece from the inside if you can't get to it from the outside!

Another tip: Shine light to see where it "leaks" from. This helped me find a good 1mm gap.



The after video: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/XUCEMDzFq98

I was able to find some areas where I needed to adjust the panel a bit:



Final fit:

[zee]

Powder coating...

I've narrowed my options down.

Grey aluminum for the frame:


Cream for the footbox panels:


And silver vein for the rest of the panels:

[zee]

Another tip, found an old iPad someone was giving away for free. Used a 3D printed stand and now I have a build manual I can keep in the garage and take notes on (since FFR never sent me a paper manual).

(Yes that's an Alexa in the garage for the music)

[zee]

My plan is to leave the aluminum in the trunk uncovered (haven't decided on the treatment yet, but no carpet). I am using the Boyd tank:



Since the access points had to be different, I used this opportunity to get a much thicker piece made. It's solid:

[zee]

I have these switches from Holden. They are solid with 15amp rating and use the Lucas lever. The clunk is very satisfying!

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/bFxDOx-z4Do

However, the front looks different from Lucas ever so slightly. Lucas:



But despite the matching bezel, the holden one looks different:



Thinking about selling them and going with Lucas.

[CaptB]

Like the term "Widow Maker".

My wife nicknamed my car "Dangerous and Unnecessary" The unnecessary part going to the 427 motor!

[zee]

I've been debating doing the exposed roll bar mod for a while. After going back and forth, I finally decided to go with it.

For that, we cut the part of the frame that was ahead of the roll bar:


Angle grinder for the win:



Moved it further back and welded it:


This is what it looks like with the Breeze rollbar:



Now it's time to learn how to do sheet metal work and then do it. Been YouTubing like crazy to get ideas :-).

[Jeff Kleiner]

You realize that by removing the square tube that the shoulder belts went over when you tighten the belts they will compress your spine, right? Got a plan to address that?

Jeff

[zee]

You realize that by removing the square tube that the shoulder belts went over when you tighten the belts they will compress your spine, right? Got a plan to address that?

Jeff

Yup, stay tuned :-).

A friend of mine was involved in restoring an original CSX and does fabrications for race cars. He has a few ideas on how to handle it.

[zee]

Lots of missing items that aren't even on the POL, so it's hard to know exactly what I am missing.

FFR has a different "Canadian base package". You buy the "Canadian completion pack" separately. After I purchased both, FFR moved a list of things from the "Canadian base package" to the "Canadian completion pack". However, by then I had already gotten the old completion pack (with items missing of course) but they gave me the new base package. As a result, I am missing a ton of stuff (steering boss, shafts, a lot of fasteners, nuts, spacers and bolts, springs, etc). Some things are easy to figure out (hey, where is my Wildwood pedal), others not so much (like when you're missing a spacer or a bolt). Since these items aren't on the list of things FFR is "supposed" to send, it's hard to know what's missing. They haven't compiled a list just yet. I was super annoyed about it but I am over it now and am back to having fun .

Metal work

I am using this opportunity to quickly learn and do metal work, along with some aluminum design. I am a software guy, I am new to building things with my hands.

I went ahead and picked a small lithium-ion powersport battery I am going to use (it has high CCA). Here's my battery box design that'll fit under the trunk even with IRS:

6.png

I am also redoing my trunk aluminum because I don't want carpet and therefore, I don't want the holes that FFR premakes. Because I've moved the real bulk back and because I plan to show the extreme end of the roll-bar, I have to fabricate something to cover that opening. The plan is to curve an aluminum piece (I'll use the frame to curve it). Ultimately it'll be covered by vinyl.

This has been a ton of fun. I am fortunate enough to have a friend who designs race cars and was part of the team that restored a $2M original 427. He comes by to take a look and do the welding when necessary, but mostly he gives me tips so I can do things myself. It's been fun and I forgot the annoyance I had because I was still waiting for parts I paid for 11 months ago (I did that to make sure I'd have everything when my kit arrived, but alas). It's not all supply-chain because others who paid much later got these items already. Hopefully FFR's new inventory system will fix this.

The goal is to have everything powder coated as soon as things reopen in the new year and start actually putting things together.

[zee]

Here's my vision for the passenger seat belt mount:



This requires something that's part of the frame high up where the bolts can be mounted. I hope two options I am brainstorming, I'll likely go with the combination of the two, which is this (I plan to sleep on it for a week or so first). The "roll bar" in this isn't a real roll bar in the sense that it's strictly under the body, but it'll have the same strength. Heck, I am not using the FFR roll bar and I might just use that for this, but I'll sleep on it for a few days.



It seems like it should work.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Attachments are invalid.

Jeff

[zee]

Attachments are invalid.

Jeff

Thanks Jeff, not sure what was wrong. I re-did them, they seem to be working now.

[zee]

The progress has been slow due to the holidays and all. I was also trying to make up my mind about how I wanted to design some pieces. Now that that's done, I started drilling:



and cutting:



All to expose the roll bar :



(The back piece is temporary. The real one will be in L shape and without the seat belt holes. I also need to fabricate the sides.

Sadly my welder friend is away, so I need to wait until next week to have the passenger seat-belt mounts welded into the frame before I can send the body to the powder coater. All good because I am missing a lot of parts, including IRS fasteners and the Willwood pedal box. Hopefully they'll arrive by then.

[zee]

Since I changed the rear bulkhead and wanted to leave the roll bar exposed, I had to create a mold that I could take it to a metal fabricator:

[zee]

Alright, so since I made changes to the bulkhead of the cockpit, the original passenger seat belt location was not going to work. That means that I had to device a new secure seat-belt mounting point.



This is where I'll put grade-8 eye bolts. Something like this:



The final product should be similar to this:

DSC01667.jpeg

With this, I am done with frame mods and dropped it off for powder coating.

[zee]

The powder coating is done! The frame looks spectacular. I am so glad I tried something other than black.

I had picked a shiny high-gloss silver, but the coater changed it to duller silver because he said the gloss wouldn't have worked as well. I am so glad he did. Looks much better in person.

[BRRT]

That looks great! It's a shame so little will be visible once you are done....

[zee]

That looks great! It's a shame so little will be visible once you are done....

But I will know :-).

That said, I'll likely 'look' at it every day for like a year before the body goes on...so there's that.

[Blitzboy54]

Looks fantastic. It really pops

[CaptB]

I did a high glass silver, turned out great. What's funny now that I've got the car running and the body on, you hardly see any of it! Of course I would still have it done, but in the end you don't really see it as awesome as when it is a frame all by itself.