Hello, my name is Dan, I’m 58 years young and live with my wife and two teen sons in Bradenton, Florida. Well after 2 months of waiting, Stewart Transport finally delivered my 33 Hot Rod kit. Alan, the driver, was great and kit #1070 found its new home in my garage. This has been a dream of mine for the past 15 years. I wanted to do this project with my boys before they head off to college so now’s the time. My plan is to do a roadster with bike fenders, 3-link, Wilwood brakes and a 5.0-liter Coyote with a Tremec TKO600 trans along with a Moser 8.8 rear end. The engine/trans and rear axle was purchased through FFR, so it was a one stop shop. I don’t consider myself a true gearhead and in fact I’ve never done anything like this before, as they say “I know enough to be dangerous”. I’m an Architect by trade and do a lot of construction and wood working. Although I know this will be a challenge, I picked FFR because of you guys. There is an abundance of information out there, so I don’t feel like I’m building this alone. I’m going to shout out a pre-emptive apology to all, so when I ask a dumb question, just humor me. This gives “some assembly required” a whole new meaning…
Dan,
Congratulations on the purchase. I'm the proud owner of #779 33 Hot Rod. I started my project in April of 2015 and working weekends only, finished it in just over 2 years. One caveat is that I am a retired auto mechanic so I have a lot of mechanical experience. With your Architect and construction experience you will be just fine.
Take your time and have fun, there's a TON of experience in this Forum. One thing I will tell you up front - absolutely watch the YouTube video on how to put the doors on. Trust me, it will be the most challenging part of the build. Here's a picture of my finished product. IMG_0833.JPG
Dan, welcome to the '33 club. My Hotrod 1047 arrived the end of this last Feb. I have the chassis almost done, just need to finish some wiring, connect the cooling lines and AC.
I have my body hanging from the garage man cave ceiling too.
Thank you for a great post, your confidence and the community that I’ve been reading about here in the FFR forum has helped me decide to build my own 33 rod. I look forward to following your family build!
Congratulations Dan! Cool that you have some sons to share in the experience. Your one step ahead of me as I will be ordering in the fall. I have build school scheduled for November. Did you go to the build school, what did you think? Look forward to following along!
I received my 33 in August of 2017, should be starting the wiring this weekend. I started my build at the young age of 62 and work on it mostly on weekends.
I live in north Tampa, should you want to see the build in process.
Thanks for all the kind words! To answer a few questions: No, I didn't do the build school, hopefully I don't regret that , Yes, both boys are staking claim for Prom night for the hot rod, I'll have to put a governor on it! Tampa33 we will have to get together, I'd love to see your build.
I got the moser rear end in without any major problems, just had to grind off one the 4 link tabs (i have a 3 link) to fit a bolt in and also noticed the lower control arm is very close to the panhard bar mount so i deleted a washer to get to fit. I'm curious as to when a washer is required and not??? hopefully it doesn't make that connection any weaker. So far so good, F5's inventory list is really great, I just wish they conveyed that in the instructions vs. just saying "connect with bolts and lock nuts" size and length would be helpful. When i go through the hardware packs, most times iIMG_20180806_181602510 (Large).jpgIMG_20180806_181530483 (Large).jpgIMG_20180806_181513721 (Large).jpgIMG_20180806_181602510 (Large).jpgIMG_20180806_181530483 (Large).jpgIMG_20180806_181513721 (Large).jpgt's pretty obvious but sometimes not so much. Rear brakes went on without any issues. Now, off to the front end!Attachment 90822
CVOBill
MK2 #???? Delivered 11/2002, Finished and Titled 6/2003 5.0, T-5, 4-Link, Sold 3/2005
Hot Rod #304 purchased 5/28/2017 from original owner Unassembled . Titled and plated 8/24/2017 Coyote,
TKO, 3-Link, Heat, A/C, Electric Power Steering, Convertible top
MK4 #9524 Picked up 1/18/19 306 Blueprint, T-5, 4-Link, Gas-N Pipes, Heater
It's been 3 years and 11 months since delivery of kit #1070 and I can officially say it's registered in the glorious state of Florida to drive on the road!
The DMV did not make it easy but I survived!
The car is not painted yet but at least I can drive it now and work out the last little bugs and finish it at my leisure.20220429_090517 (Large).jpg20220429_090532 (Large).jpg20220429_090558 (Large).jpg
It's been 3 years and 11 months since delivery of kit #1070 and I can officially say it's registered in the glorious state of Florida to drive on the road!
The DMV did not make it easy but I survived!
The car is not painted yet but at least I can drive it now and work out the last little bugs and finish it at my leisure.20220429_090517 (Large).jpg20220429_090532 (Large).jpg20220429_090558 (Large).jpg
Congratulations!
33 Hot Rod with Deluxe Grill (32) Hood & sides, Bike Fenders, Hard Top, AC, Power Windows, Electric Power Steering, 306 Ford Small Block - roller cam, aluminum heads, Eldenbrock intake & carb, T5, Moser 3 link, Arrived 5/6/20.
It's been 3 years and 11 months since delivery of kit #1070 and I can officially say it's registered in the glorious state of Florida to drive on the road!
The DMV did not make it easy but I survived!
The car is not painted yet but at least I can drive it now and work out the last little bugs and finish it at my leisure.20220429_090517 (Large).jpg20220429_090532 (Large).jpg20220429_090558 (Large).jpg
Took delivery, start build… yada, yada, yada, done!
That’s awesome! Maybe I’ll see you at caffeine and cars up in Clearwater. Hopefully someday with my own build.
Congrats
Jeremie
I did a lap at Sebring!
I went to the SVRA races at sebring last weekend on my birthday and if you enter the carshow on Saterday morning you get to do a parade lap, how cool is that!
I felt just like Ken Miles pushing his Ford GT down the straightaway and hard into the hairpin corner, well.... that's how I'll remember it anyway.
Tsebring.jpghe coyote sounded awesome!
33 Hot Rod Stage 1, Gen.2 ordered 11/11/2021 started June 12, 2022, LS3 E-Rod crate engine, Tremec TKX, 8.8 WITH 3.55 Ratio and limited slip with 31 spline axles.17X8 and18x10 Race Star wheels wrapped in Conti Extreme contact DWS tires, Mustang Cobra brakes all around. Electric PS and AC. Hard top, electric windows and bike fenders. First Start 5/31/2023. Go-Kart 6/2/2023.