So I am about 9 months late starting this thread! Better late than never. My plan was to start and keep up a lightweight thread on here and post regular YouTube videos. I have somewhat failed at both! I have posted a total of 6 YouTube videos with a 5 month gap between video 5 and video 6 where I got totally lost in the wiring! I just posted Video 6, and here is a link to my channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsQ...zGAkeqEdYp_8-Q
My kit arrived in March 2023 and I have worked on it regulary since then. I work full time and the time I spend on the build probably averages 5 hours a week. I tell people that I work on it often, but not a lot, meaning that I may go out to the garage and spend 30 minutes on something and call it quits. After hitting the build hard in the first few weeks it started to feel a bit like second job. I then went through some turbelent times at work and spent a bunch of time landscaping my back yard - I find hard manual work is the best cure for stress! And the winter storms out here in Califrornia had really done a lot of damage to our yard. I also found that I liked being outside in the air more than being in the garage for extended periods. Don't get me wrong, I have really enjoyed working on the build, especially when I backed off a little and stopped feeling like it was a race. I now liken it to a fine dinner, which should be savored not rushed. I am definitely not a "foodie" and my favorite food is toast with peanut butter, but I think you get my point. A friend and fellow FFR (Coupe) builder told me you will have more fun once you get to the point where you stop treating the build manual like the bible, and just go your own way, which I did about six months ago. I have really enjoyed working on the wiring, my dash and the rest of the electrical, plus my fire supression system, over the last 5 months!
A summary of my build:
- Complete Kit with IRS, AC, Powersteering
- Ford 302 Crate motor from Ford Performance - the motor is new but was sitting in the back of a friends shop for almost 20 years. Four dual downdraft weber IDFs 48s.
- Tremec T56 Magnum close ratio
- Bunch of stuff from Mike Forte for the front of the motor including Alternator, PS/AC bracket, serpentine belt setup, etc
- Mike Forte's throttle linkage system. Hydraulic clutch. Electronic ignition.
- Diff from Mike Forte
- Boig cool tubes
- Howe Ball Joints
- QA1 shocks and Willwood brakes from Gordon Levy
- 17 inch Halibrands - plan on putting on Toyo 888s
I am very much a novice at this. I've been around and loved cars my entire life but not done any serious wrenching beyond replaced brakes, starter motors, etc. I grew up in England and wanted a Lotus 7 when I was a teenager but ended up with rusty old Minis, MGBs, and that type of thing.
I have many friends who are into old Corvettes and Mustangs and I've worked on their cars a little, so I have a little experience from that. One of my closest friends is a Ferrari mechanic, he grew up in the San Francisco area, went to work at an exotic car dealership and ended up going over and living in Italy for 2 years to be trained as a Ferrari mechanic - he now runs the service department for an Infiniti dealership - he is working on my engine with me and will be showing me how to tune Webers!
I also build and race remote control warbird planes, a scaled down version of the Reno Air races, with planes reaching 160mph. The planes are built from plywood, balsa, fiberglass. The engines are supercharged mixture injected running on Nitro/methanol - they are a combo of 4 stroke and 2 stroke technology - so i am used to building kits, which is why I thought I would be able to handle a car kit!
I am following a similar approach to Hank (Hank's Build) in that I want to build a "trackable street car". I plan to take the car out to tracks in California (Laguna Seca, Sears Point, Thunderhill) and do some autocrossing but this will depend on whether the car I build is really upto the task! I visited Hank last fall and spent a wonderful afternoon in his garage. He has been a lot of help to me as have others including PaulB, Shakey, Gordon Levy, Mike Forte, Dave Tabor, Greg (RSnake). Also, all the guys in the Sacramento Factory Five Builders Group have been tremendously supportive (Kevin, Ron, Ted, Travis, Dave, David, Todd, Ken, Tim, Richard, Stan, Boyd, and others)
I plan on painting the car myself. I've used a 2K clear coat on the aluminum panels (after DA-ing them to 350 grit) which gives a kind of slightly whitish "patina-d" aluminum look that standards up well to oil, fuel etc. I very much like the look - I'm looking for an aged look. By saying I'm looking for an "aged" look this gives me a good excuse to make some mistakes and say "it's good enough"! I also painted the gauge cluster and switch panel along with a custom built fiberglass fuse box - I did these in the light metallic silver-blue paint that I plan to use on the car. If you look at my latest YouTube you will see the results - which are not perfect but I am very happy with the results. Doing this, plus painting the wheels of my VW SUV has given me some experience handling the paint guns and I've learned what a chore it is to keep the guns clean and that preparation is everything.
Last but not least, thank you everyone on the build forums here - I have been reading pages for the last 18 months and they have been tremendously helpful to a novice like me.
John, just catching up on here after Xmas and appreciate building these "together" across the country as it is. I have a pipe dream that once we're all done, bringing mine to CA and running some of those tracks with you guys!
Rsnake - the thought of getting this car built and putting to test at an auto-cross is compelling. My aim for 2024 is to get it built but not painted. I think that is realistic given my time commitment to the build. It gives me an exciting goal that feels achievable. Actually the next big goal is go karting
Hank - I look forward to you arriving out here. 2025?
Today I’m working on more electrical because I received the 3 in 1 reverse lockout/speed sensor/reverse light from MDL. I fitted it to the T56 and its 3 connectors fit fine. It has six wires that come out the other end of the harness that need to be routed and connected. Two are speed sensor which I don’t need because of the gps speedo. It requires the ground go all the way to the battery; guessing it has some sensitive electronics in it. It has blue tooth and you download an app to configure it. So it is the most high tech component in the whole car!
I also started pulling out the flywheel, clutch, bell housing, and slave cylinder so I can figure out how those assemble. The Forte slave cylinder has no instructions or diagram so that is today’s challenge!
Rsnake - the thought of getting this car built and putting to test at an auto-cross is compelling. My aim for 2024 is to get it built but not painted. I think that is realistic given my time commitment to the build. It gives me an exciting goal that feels achievable. Actually the next big goal is go karting
Hank - I look forward to you arriving out here. 2025?
Today I’m working on more electrical because I received the 3 in 1 reverse lockout/speed sensor/reverse light from MDL. I fitted it to the T56 and its 3 connectors fit fine. It has six wires that come out the other end of the harness that need to be routed and connected. Two are speed sensor which I don’t need because of the gps speedo. It requires the ground go all the way to the battery; guessing it has some sensitive electronics in it. It has blue tooth and you download an app to configure it. So it is the most high tech component in the whole car!
I also started pulling out the flywheel, clutch, bell housing, and slave cylinder so I can figure out how those assemble. The Forte slave cylinder has no instructions or diagram so that is today’s challenge!
Yes I will post some pictures - I still need to get the hang of posting pictures here!
I had a successful day on Wednesday and put together the clutch fork, throw out, and slave cylinder. I video’d it and will include it in my next YouTube and will post some pics here. You have to unbolt the domed bolt from the front of the T56 that the end of the clutch fork connects to. The thrust bearing is fairly easy to install but it would be easy to mess up. I can of marvel at the integration of pivot points, sliding bearings that pivot, and hydraulics in the slave cylinder plus the pressure plate and clutch assembly. I have never worked on engines to this degree so it is a brave new world for me. There is some real cleverness in all of this. And a lot that could go wrong. I am glad I have an expert mentor helping me who will be with me for the final assembly, but I am feeling good because I think I have it all figured out. I.e.427’s YouTube also has a good section on how to measure and cut the Forte slave cylinder piston to the correct length. I would have known to do this if I had not seen his video. I think I will wait until I have the master cylinder connected and bled and then do it ; which means after installing the engine in the car.
The whole brake bleeding and pedal adjustment thing is new to me. I did fill the brake reservoirs and bleed the brakes enough to eliminate leaks when I first completed my brake lines. I got them bled to a degree but the pedal is not hard enough so there must still be some air in the system. That was back in May; what is interesting is over the months the pedal has gotten harder; I guess some air has found its way to the reservoirs over the months. The reason I did this immediately after completing the lines was I wanted to see that my double flares were good; I used stainless which many people warned is difficult to work with. I did not find it to be too bad. I also have run stainless fuel lines - I like the idea of stainless!
Two items that I am now focused on before turning attention to getting the motor installed are cut-off switch and Mike Forte throttle linkage. I want to get the pedal installed so that I can rivet in the engine bay panels (actually that is a third thing to do before the engine goes in).
With the cut-off I purchase one from FFR; it has two poles - essentially single throw double pole. I was thinking of putting it in the positive circuit either between the battery and the starter, or the starter and the fuse box. So that would mean running the two wires that supply the switched and un-switched power, or I could put it between the battery and the starter and use the second pole in the alternator-battery so it would cutoff everything, including the motor if it is running. But then I am reading that many prefer to put it on the negative/ground circuit connected to the battery negative terminal. I've been thinking about this for months, on-and-off, and have not made my mind up. I think the location will be on the transmission tunnel in the drivers footwell, so that I can use it when buckled in.
For the throttle linkage I'm going to look at Scott's thread and the pictures on Forte's site and see if I can figure out where to install it. I need to figure out approximately where the throttle linkage will be.
I'm learning how to post images, so please bear with me. This is very much the color scheme that I wantFFR Daytona.PNG I have 17 inch Halibrand wheels that I intend to paint a gold/gun-metal color that some of the GT40's had.
This is a smaller JPG image of the same picture (cropped also).FFR Daytona small.jpg
Post some pics of the Forte slave cylinder if you would, I need to do that as well. I did find these pictures online of an install.
Here are some photos of the clutch fork, throw out bearing, and slave cylinder installed in the T56. The first picture shows the Forte custom piece that has to be bolted onto the T56. The two bolts I am pointing to came with the T56, so you have to unbolt them. They are metric and were torqued down hard.
Here is the outer end of the clutch fork with the Forte slave cylinder bolted to it.
And here is a shot from further back.
I'm thinking that my next step may be to move the transmission up next to the drivers side door way and connect the hydraulic line from the Master Cylinder, put fluid in the reservoir, and see if it works when I push on the pedal. A lot easier to see than when it is installed in the car!
I'm learning how to post images, so please bear with me. This is very much the color scheme that I wantFFR Daytona.PNG I have 17 inch Halibrand wheels that I intend to paint a gold/gun-metal color that some of the GT40's had.
This is a smaller JPG image of the same picture (cropped also).FFR Daytona small.jpg
UpNorth - you have a gorgeous car! I love the wheels and tires - 15s?
I am going with 17s because I want a bit more sidewall partly for improved ride (California roads are terrible) and partly because I prefer the look. But I also want to autocross and do a few track days so having big Wilwood brakes seems like a good idea.
What color is that? Which paint brand and color?
I am going with TCP Globals silver-blue metallic. I've already used it to paint my gauge cluster and switch panel ; so part of my interior will match the body color.
Forte throttle linkage install - overcoming the wobble!
Last night I started working on installed the Mike Forte Throttle linkage. Hank had told me that he met up with Namrups (Scott) and Scott had installed the linkage and had an issue with it. So I PMd Scott and he was very helpful in sharing that the issue he has is a side to side pedal wobble. He says it does not impact the usage of the pedal, which is very good, but it wobbles.
So I started the install last night, drilling and mounting the part that connects the pedal to the aluminum panel between the footwell and the engine bay. Sure enough there is significant pedal wobble. I messed around with it trying to get rid of the wobble but was not able to. It appeared to be that the axle part that connects through the bushing is a bit too small. Hard to explain. Anyway, I gave up and decided to have a beer and sleep on it.
Overnight I was thinking about the fact that even if the axle-part is slightly smaller than the bearing if both sides side totally flush to the bearings, then wobble (side to side) should be eliminated. Over lunch (an advantage of working from home) I went out to the garage and tried various washers and spacers which we too thick. Then I found a bunch of shims I had left over installing the Wilwood brakes. I reamed out the holes to 1/2 inch and used three of those, plus the spring washer that came from Forte, and I appear to have eliminated all the wobble!
The pedal now has some noticable friction that stops it rotating quite as easily. We will see if this is an issue when I actually connect it up to the rest of the linkage, but I think it will be ok. I'll post some pictures here soon.
So thank you Hank for relaying the information about the issue and thanks Scott. What made it easier for me is I did all of this before installing the panels. Had I have installed the panel and then tried this shimming routine it would have been difficult to get sufficient force to press the pedal in place while tightening the bolt that acts like a set screw. But because I had the panel and the pedal assemble out of the car I could put the panel in the vice and use a big c clamp to push the pedal on which compressed the spring washer. Again, this will make more sense when I post some pics; anyway, I wanted to share a minor victory!
Last night I started working on installed the Mike Forte Throttle linkage. Hank had told me that he met up with Namrups (Scott) and Scott had installed the linkage and had an issue with it. So I PMd Scott and he was very helpful in sharing that the issue he has is a side to side pedal wobble. He says it does not impact the usage of the pedal, which is very good, but it wobbles.
So I started the install last night, drilling and mounting the part that connects the pedal to the aluminum panel between the footwell and the engine bay. Sure enough there is significant pedal wobble. I messed around with it trying to get rid of the wobble but was not able to. It appeared to be that the axle part that connects through the bushing is a bit too small. Hard to explain. Anyway, I gave up and decided to have a beer and sleep on it.
Overnight I was thinking about the fact that even if the axle-part is slightly smaller than the bearing if both sides side totally flush to the bearings, then wobble (side to side) should be eliminated. Over lunch (an advantage of working from home) I went out to the garage and tried various washers and spacers which we too thick. Then I found a bunch of shims I had left over installing the Wilwood brakes. I reamed out the holes to 1/2 inch and used three of those, plus the spring washer that came from Forte, and I appear to have eliminated all the wobble!
The pedal now has some noticable friction that stops it rotating quite as easily. We will see if this is an issue when I actually connect it up to the rest of the linkage, but I think it will be ok. I'll post some pictures here soon.
So thank you Hank for relaying the information about the issue and thanks Scott. What made it easier for me is I did all of this before installing the panels. Had I have installed the panel and then tried this shimming routine it would have been difficult to get sufficient force to press the pedal in place while tightening the bolt that acts like a set screw. But because I had the panel and the pedal assemble out of the car I could put the panel in the vice and use a big c clamp to push the pedal on which compressed the spring washer. Again, this will make more sense when I post some pics; anyway, I wanted to share a minor victory!
I had figured that might be a possible answer but mine is already installed and as you noted, trying to push the pedal against the force of the spring washer while it's already in the car is questionable. I'll sleep on that one knowing the solution is more spacers. Thanks for posting your solution!
Last night I started working on installed the Mike Forte Throttle linkage. Hank had told me that he met up with Namrups (Scott) and Scott had installed the linkage and had an issue with it. So I PMd Scott and he was very helpful in sharing that the issue he has is a side to side pedal wobble. He says it does not impact the usage of the pedal, which is very good, but it wobbles.
So I started the install last night, drilling and mounting the part that connects the pedal to the aluminum panel between the footwell and the engine bay. Sure enough there is significant pedal wobble. I messed around with it trying to get rid of the wobble but was not able to. It appeared to be that the axle part that connects through the bushing is a bit too small. Hard to explain. Anyway, I gave up and decided to have a beer and sleep on it.
Overnight I was thinking about the fact that even if the axle-part is slightly smaller than the bearing if both sides side totally flush to the bearings, then wobble (side to side) should be eliminated. Over lunch (an advantage of working from home) I went out to the garage and tried various washers and spacers which we too thick. Then I found a bunch of shims I had left over installing the Wilwood brakes. I reamed out the holes to 1/2 inch and used three of those, plus the spring washer that came from Forte, and I appear to have eliminated all the wobble!
The pedal now has some noticable friction that stops it rotating quite as easily. We will see if this is an issue when I actually connect it up to the rest of the linkage, but I think it will be ok. I'll post some pictures here soon.
So thank you Hank for relaying the information about the issue and thanks Scott. What made it easier for me is I did all of this before installing the panels. Had I have installed the panel and then tried this shimming routine it would have been difficult to get sufficient force to press the pedal in place while tightening the bolt that acts like a set screw. But because I had the panel and the pedal assemble out of the car I could put the panel in the vice and use a big c clamp to push the pedal on which compressed the spring washer. Again, this will make more sense when I post some pics; anyway, I wanted to share a minor victory!
If the friction becomes an issue, you can add an Acetal (Delrin) or PTFE washer between the aluminum mount plate, with the bushing coming through, and the shim washers, McMaster sells a bunch of thicknesses.
Another option, which I will likley do on mine, is to get a bushing with a little smaller ID and ream out the hole to match the shaft OD. This is the ideal case to get it to run smoothly.
You may also want to drill and tap the end of the pivot shaft, so that you can use a bolt to compress the spring washer, if and when you have to pull it apart, once the panels are installed.
I preassembled mine and noticed the same play. FWIW, these are some of my thoughts for solving it.
If the friction becomes an issue, you can add an Acetal (Delrin) or PTFE washer between the aluminum mount plate, with the bushing coming through, and the shim washers, McMaster sells a bunch of thicknesses.
Another option, which I will likley do on mine, is to get a bushing with a little smaller ID and ream out the hole to match the shaft OD. This is the ideal case to get it to run smoothly.
You may also want to drill and tap the end of the pivot shaft, so that you can use a bolt to compress the spring washer, if and when you have to pull it apart, once the panels are installed.
I preassembled mine and noticed the same play. FWIW, these are some of my thoughts for solving it.
Very nice - PTFE, I learned about that back in college many years ago, self lubricating. I need some of those! The issue is if I go on McMaster-Carr I will spend hundreds of dollars!!
And I very much like your "tap and drill" solution; I have to do that.
And my thinking was similar on getting a smaller diameter bushing but I was not sure I am capable of getting one to fit the way that bushing fits into the milled billeted aluminum. So was looking for simpler ways to solve, which I found. But I very much like the drill and tap idea.
In this one the yellow arrow points at where of the shims is located along with the spring washer which is pretty much all the way depressed/compressed:
And here you can see the engine bay side with a thicker shim:
In this one you can see the shims, and one of my favorite bridge reamers - love working with the reamers and using cutting oil (the smell of the oild reminds me of old workshops back in the day)
Note, I have not installed the nylon lock bolts, but am using some 10-28s that I had laying around so that I can assemble/disassemble quickly. I will install the nylon lock bolts next and probably switch them around so the bolts are in the engine bay although I wonder about proximity to the headers and the nylon deteriorating
Very nice - PTFE, I learned about that back in college many years ago, self lubricating. I need some of those! The issue is if I go on McMaster-Carr I will spend hundreds of dollars!!
And I very much like your "tap and drill" solution; I have to do that.
And my thinking was similar on getting a smaller diameter bushing but I was not sure I am capable of getting one to fit the way that bushing fits into the milled billeted aluminum. So was looking for simpler ways to solve, which I found. But I very much like the drill and tap idea.
Drill and tapping will aid in my issue with it already installed! Thanks!
So here is the result of drilling and taping with a 1/4 - 20; washer is oversized but is all I had to hand. The screw is stainless courtesy of McMaster-Carr. The whole approach worked very well - having the screw pull from the center is extremely effective at tightening - versus compressing with a clamp. This also gives me a “belt and suspenders” approach to how this whole set up goes together. I can now tighten it to the point that it has a lot of friction and absolutely no wobble. Ease it back a little and there is still no wobble and little friction. I was a bit alarmed by how soft the metal seemed as I drilled into it - but then I realized it is due to using a decent carbide drill bit.
It is this type of “coming up with a solution” that I get a real kick out of. Scott - I certainly think this is the solution for you.
For me the my stripes and meatballs are painted on. Numbers and Decals are from Raceline. They do have the options to get the stripes and meatballs from them if you do not want them painted on.
for the Wheels.. letters came from Tire Stickers.
So here is the result of drilling and taping with a 1/4 - 20; washer is oversized but is all I had to hand. The screw is stainless courtesy of McMaster-Carr. The whole approach worked very well - having the screw pull from the center is extremely effective at tightening - versus compressing with a clamp. This also gives me a “belt and suspenders” approach to how this whole set up goes together. I can now tighten it to the point that it has a lot of friction and absolutely no wobble. Ease it back a little and there is still no wobble and little friction. I was a bit alarmed by how soft the metal seemed as I drilled into it - but then I realized it is due to using a decent carbide drill bit.
It is this type of “coming up with a solution” that I get a real kick out of. Scott - I certainly think this is the solution for you.
Thank you all for the input!
See my thread here if you want to see how I add the FFR pedal to the Forte arm, post 44.
Guys - been pretty busy at work but great line of posts, I have the Forte throttle pedal as well and will absolutely use it. Saw Scotts and it is safe but have to agree the wobble could be disconcerting.
Doug - gorgeous car.
My question is which Dial Indicator to buy to align my Quicktime bell housing before installing the Tremec T56.
I read the T56 install instructions, which say to use a dial indicator to align the clutch housing. I watched a couple of YouTubes and understand the process. I then started looking to buy a dial indicator. There are "cheap" ones starting around $40 and there are more expensive ones. And there appears to be differences in the magnetic force they generate (to stick to the flywheel) and some have one tube attached to the magnetic base and then the head attached to that while others have two tubes. I'm looking for recommendations on what to buy?
UpNorth - you have a gorgeous car! I love the wheels and tires - 15s?
I am going with 17s because I want a bit more sidewall partly for improved ride (California roads are terrible) and partly because I prefer the look. But I also want to autocross and do a few track days so having big Wilwood brakes seems like a good idea.
What color is that? Which paint brand and color?
I am going with TCP Globals silver-blue metallic. I've already used it to paint my gauge cluster and switch panel ; so part of my interior will match the body color.
Hi jgrey,
Yes, 15 with 295 50R15 at the back and 235 60R15 at the front.
Paint is called Viking Blue in North America and Princess Blue in England.
I had a couple of discussion at the body shop with the painter, and also a few samples were made before final decision.
So I can’t tell you what precise paint number it is.
Quite a satin effect into it though.
Hope it helps.
Cheers!
Hey Brent,
Thanks for the reply. I love the work you had been doing. I was wondering about installing the factory pedal onto the Forte setup. I decided to go with the way it is; it is similar to the pedal I had in my mini cooper back in England in 1981! That was my first car which I inherited from my grandfather - it was a rustbucket and I did a lot of work on it. That was the only other car that I really worked on - so a 42 year gap in my experience! Anyway, the pedal is a link to my history - having said that, if I don’t like the set up it will come out and I will do what you have done. The factory pedal is more similar to the pedal in my C8.
I’m fascinated by the additional aluminum you are adding and am going to take a closer look at your thread today. Thanks for sharing!
First panels riveted in - much harder work than I expected
Here are a some pics of my first aluminum panel install. It went well and I am happy with the result!
Took me 4 hours. The glue I used is Sikaflex-221 Polyurethane Adhesive/Sealant as recommend by PaulB on page 8 or 9 of his thread! It works well - very sticky!
I've actually sanded and sprayed each panel with 3 coats of adhesion promoter and 3 coats of satin catalyzed clear coat. It gives them a slightly patina-d look and protects the aluminum. The catalyzed clear coat is impressive, but nasty to use; it contains isocyanates which will f you up, so mask required. I partly decided to spray paint the panels this way to give me experience with the whole painting process. I will be painting the car myself - really looking forward to it. Weird, I know, but some folks get old and learn pottery I am getting old and learning to weld, build cars, and spray paint!
The clear coat is very tough; I messed up spraying one panel, did not clean it enough before spraying and got gray streaks from the metal dust running. I used a DA to sand it back down and it took some time to cut through the clear coat.
My ocd tells me I did not evenly space the rivets and one is out of line! I drilled and cleecod the panels in my second week of my build, went a little crazy with hundreds of cleekos. But didn’t get it done quite as straight as I would like. But it is strong and “fit for purpose”.
This pic shows the Noico sound deadening with the Siless heat insulation on top. You can see the roller that I used to flatten the Noico sound deadening after installation.
Looking good! I am also planning on finishing and painting mine myself as well. I can't stomach the cost that is being asked these days for places near me. I will be cheating a bit, since I have access to a paint booth at work and a painter who has painted cars for 20 years. I really like the color of your C8, blue is one of my favorite car colors. How thick it your insulation?
Hey Brent,
Thanks for the reply. I love the work you had been doing. I was wondering about installing the factory pedal onto the Forte setup. I decided to go with the way it is; it is similar to the pedal I had in my mini cooper back in England in 1981! That was my first car which I inherited from my grandfather - it was a rustbucket and I did a lot of work on it. That was the only other car that I really worked on - so a 42 year gap in my experience! Anyway, the pedal is a link to my history - having said that, if I don’t like the set up it will come out and I will do what you have done. The factory pedal is more similar to the pedal in my C8.
I’m fascinated by the additional aluminum you are adding and am going to take a closer look at your thread today. Thanks for sharing!
Ahh, that makes sense. I was worried about my foot slipping off of it, so decided to make the switch. No going back now. I managed to close off everything from the transmission tunnel back, including the wheel wells. Some of it is not posted yet, as it has only been rough fit and is still in progress. Once I get the frame powder coated, I will finish the panels out and post some more pics. I was thinking about using the Dynacore between the inside and outside skins, but plan on getting a Flir IR camera for my phone, to determine where I need to eliminate the heat transfer. I have basically built the entire car to get everything fit, then will pull it all apart to paint, and then reassemble. Let me know if I can answer any questions about the sheetmetal work.
So I am recovering from the same cough/cold that many have had and once again I’m awake at 2am! So I thought now is a good time to post some more entries with pics of my build.
This one is a few pics of my Engine along with the story of how I acquired the engine.
It is a Ford 302 crate motor that I bought from Jay Morris the owner
of Ground Control Suspension Systems in Shingle Springs (Northern California). Jay has a De Tomaso Mangusta he has been restoring for 20+ years. The crate motor is a Ford Performance M-6007, which has a 5.0L Production Short block dated from the year 2000. It has SVO GT-40 aluminum heads and SVO roller cam. So it is a crate motor that has been sitting in Jay’s shop for 20 years or so. I found out about it because Donovan, who is Jay’s manager, is a friend of mine. Donovan and his brother Kevin did the resto mod on my business partners 64 vette back in 2018. I was involved in that restoration and got to know Donovan well; he is the one who suggested to me that I should build a FFR Daytona. I’d told him I wanted to work on cars more extensively but old cars don’t interest me so much because they are old! I like the look of old cars but not the engineering. Scott, my business partner chimed in with “I’ve got a 302 that I bought off a guy on craigs list, you can have that. Just put a Sniper on it and you’ll be good.”
Over the next month I talked to my wife, telling her I had a free motor and wanted to build a car! She, being the great person she is, was on board!
So we let it lie there for a few weeks and then Donovan called me and said “Jay’s got this crate motor sitting around that he was going to put in the Mangusta but he found a more original engine”. Donovan also sent me some photos of the Weber IDF 48s that Jay had also purchased for the motor - once i saw those I was hooked.
A week later I owned the engine and carbs, at a very good price. Not quite free but a great deal.
My friend Sergio, who is helping me with the engine, brought his boroscope from work and used it to look into the cylinders to confirm there was no rust.
In the period after ordering the kit and buying the engine I did more research on the engine and what else I would need. I spent a couple of months reading a lot, watching countless YouTubes, but most significantly reading build threads on this forum.
In particular, I connected with Hank and actually visited him in Portland in the fall of 2022. Among other things that Hank shared with me, was his discussions with Mike Forte. Hank is similar to me, in that he has been around cars his whole life, but never done a project like this. Hank told me Mike Forte was very helpful and spent a lot of time talking to him. Hank had similar good things to say about Gordon Levy where Hank had purchased his Wilwoods and QA1s. I bought a very similar package of brakes and QA1s from Gordon and they have worked out very well.
So I called Mike and told him what I thought I needed, but explained that I really didn’t know what I was doing, so I was looking for guidance and would really like to buy everything from one place. It took a couple of months of Mike sending me a bill of materials, me asking a bunch of questions, adding more things to the list before I finally placed my order.
The pallet from Forte arrived about a month after my kit and included alternator, power steering pump, compressor, pulley system, brackets, clutch master and slave, throttle pedal linkage, billeted flywheel, clutch, Tremec T56, distributor, coil, electronic ignition, wires, and even transmission fluid!
In early November, Sergio came over and we took apart the top of the engine taking off the rockers and taking out the roller cam tappets, push rods etc and lubed and oiled the top. We then installed the manifold with gasket and black silicone RTV stuff. We then turned the motor upside down to work on the bottom, oiling up the cylinders etc.
We put the front cover and water pump on but are going to redo that because I had not realized that the Aviaid oil pan, which was intended for the mangusta, needed the dipstick through the front cover. I have since learned how to drill and tap a 1/8th NPT into my front cover to install the dipstick. We then turned the engine back upright to put the studs in for the webers!
And here is a photo of me and the engine at the end of the day. As far as I am concerned this is like a fine oil painting(the engine, not me)
The week after I pulled out the front of engine components and installed them. They all went together very well - Mike Forte’s custom billeted brackets worked great. I have since then found the right length serpentine belt: 71.5. It took me four attempts: 73.5, 71.0, 72.0 and finally 71.5. It took me several hours to figure out how to run the serpentine belt and to realize that it was the wrong size. Mike Forte replied to my email on a Sunday, within a couple of hours, with a picture that confirmed I had it installed right.
Here is a picture with everything installed.
And here is a picture of the front cover with the dipstick installed
Over the last few weeks I have started to install the clutch fork, throw out bearing and slave cylinder. I also test fitted the clutch, pressure plate, back plate, bell housing and test fitted the starter motor. Basically I want to fully know how all of this goes together so the next time Sergio comes over we can make a lot of progress. My next step is to use my recently acquired dial indictor to measure the alignment of the bell housing to the block. Tremec’s instructions say the maximum run out is 0.005”. I will do this to figure out of I need adjustment dowels and what type.
Yeah, that is the 73.5 that was the first attempt! I think that belt came from Forte. It is part of why I spent and hour or so trying different ways of installing the belt, then I sent Mike an email.
Ahh, that makes sense. I was worried about my foot slipping off of it, so decided to make the switch. No going back now. I managed to close off everything from the transmission tunnel back, including the wheel wells. Some of it is not posted yet, as it has only been rough fit and is still in progress. Once I get the frame powder coated, I will finish the panels out and post some more pics. I was thinking about using the Dynacore between the inside and outside skins, but plan on getting a Flir IR camera for my phone, to determine where I need to eliminate the heat transfer. I have basically built the entire car to get everything fit, then will pull it all apart to paint, and then reassemble. Let me know if I can answer any questions about the sheetmetal work.
I was thinking about testing the panels i just installed by pointing a heat gun at them; I did a bit of this last year with some small pieces of aluminum but I did not have a great way to really measure the heat coming off.
The Flir looks interesting. Do you have previous experience with IR cameras?
I was thinking about testing the panels i just installed by pointing a heat gum at them; I did a bit of this last year with some small pieces of aluminum but I did not have a great way to really measure the heat coming off.
The Flir looks interesting. Do you have previous experience with IR cameras?
That engine is looking nice. So jealous of those webbers. I have used the thermal imaging cameras in the past at work when we were designing a grill. I rented it from Home Depot and it worked well. I figured I would give the cell phone one a try to see how it works. I would prefer to throw some science at vs throwing lots of insulation at it. If you have any of those portable propane heaters, that would likely work. I used the double aluminum wall with an air gap trick on the grill and that really reduced the heat on the outer skin. We were using IR burners and could cook a burger in 30 secs, it was well done.
Looking good! I am also planning on finishing and painting mine myself as well. I can't stomach the cost that is being asked these days for places near me. I will be cheating a bit, since I have access to a paint booth at work and a painter who has painted cars for 20 years. I really like the color of your C8, blue is one of my favorite car colors. How thick it your insulation?
I used these two:
Noico 80 mil 10 sqft car Sound deadening mat, Butyl Automotive Sound Deadener, Audio Noise Insulation and dampening
Siless Liner 157 (4 mm) mil 36 sqft Car Sound Deadening Closed Cell Foam & Heat Insulation mat - PE Foam Sound Deadener Material & Heat Barrier
Certainly deadens the panel and it appears to be a good heat barrier
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Originally Posted by jgray
I managed to close off everything from the transmission tunnel back, including the wheel wells. Some of it is not posted yet, as it has only been rough fit and is still in progress. Once I get the frame powder coated, I will finish the panels out and post some more pics. I was thinking about using the Dynacore between the inside and outside skins, but plan on getting a Flir IR camera for my phone, to determine where I need to eliminate the heat transfer. I have basically built the entire car to get everything fit, then will pull it all apart to paint, and then reassemble. Let me know if I can answer any questions about the sheetmetal work.
