Mike in Texas FFR Roadster Build - The finish line is in sight!

[Mike.Bray]

Hello FFR forum, thanks for having me. I recently sold a 2008 Viper (very fun car) and decided to build another car instead of buying one. Finally settled on an FFR Roadster, I had a Cobra many years ago and of all my cars it was always the most fun to drive. And my wife really likes them so that helps. So this past September I ordered a kit with a due date of May 7th. During the wait I've cleaned up the garage, convinced the wife to park her Camaro on the other side, installed a new floor, built the engine (will cover in separate posts), and got the rear end ready to go. I'm hoping to test fire the engine in a couple of weeks so fingers crossed.

My plan is to build the car with 100% new parts and do a reasonably high-end build.

MKIV complete kit
Powder coated frame
Pin drive front suspension w/power rack
3-link Ford 8.8" rear end, narrowed for pin drive wheels
351W/TKX drivetrain
Stainless exhaust
Leather seats w/Forte heaters
Wilwood 6 piston front brakes
Wilwood 4 piston rear brakes
Vintage Wheels 17" polished pin drive wheels
Russ Thompson turn signal kit
Breeze LED headlights
And the list goes on and on...

A little about me. My name is Mike Bray and I'm 61 years young with two grown daughters. A little over 5 years ago I was fortunate enough to marry the love of my life Mari. We mark everything with our initials to keep our things straight. Like me she's a gearhead and likes cars and especially fast cars. Between us we have 7 grandsons with my 6 year old being a total and complete car nut. Wonder where he gets it?

My father was into cars and built some of the first quarter midgets here in Texas in the mid fifties for my brother to race.



Later he built some dune buggies and even a couple of rail dragsters. When I was around 15 he started teaching me how to work on cars. He helped me fix up my first first truck, hey this is Texas! Then my first street rod, a T Bucket roadster with a 6-71 blown SBC.

In my 20's and 30's I was working for a large manufacturing company so I had access to a lot of machine tools, a gear department, and a complete fabrication shop. I used these to build my second street rod, a 1928 Ford Tudor sedan.


Later I put together my own shop and built a few more street rods.



And my Cobra


I got tired of all the hours in the garage, got a new job and new wife, and sold most of my shop off. 15 years later I was having a very hard time getting along with my new wife's boyfriend so we went our separate ways. I got into go karts, 120 MPH an inch off the ground will give you a thrill! A few Corvettes, Vipers, and other assorted toys and here I am coming around full circle to build another car instead of buying it. Well, sort of as before I started with a rusty body and a pile of steel plate/tubing/billet aluminum instead of a kit. But I'm really looking forward to building this and of course driving it! And thanks to this forum I've got a treasure trove of great information to pull from.

Currently I'm easing into retirement so I've got some nice time available to work on this kit. I've been with my company for 23 years, I'm the R&D manager which gives me access to some great 3D software and other tools of the trade. My company is based in Sydney Australia and I'm based in our Dallas Office. Yes, I do travel there and no, I do not want to live there. But it's a great company and I really enjoy working for it.

Well that's about it for me. If you've read this far you're better than I am. I do hope you enjoy following along for the next couple of years.