Hot Rod Lincoln

[KGB911]

Well, what can I say? Am I surprised. Since the Canadian company bought the "other Forum" the pop ups and banner adds have overwhelmed me and I had to purge daily.Hopefully this community doesn't become so commercial. I field calls and pm's daily from my other builders and I hope my experience with this fine kit will continue to help others.It is GREAT to see Jesper responding to questions.
How do I Start?
Dan Ruth
IRS

[geoffav]

Welcome Dan. Start at the beginning brother.

[Kai-Rod]

Yea, I was also wondering how this will work with two similar forums. Guess time will tell. Looking forward to meeting you in PHX in two weeks and see the HRL live.

... and by the way: who is who on that photo ?

[KGB911]

The picture was taken during the 2010 Street Rodder Magazine Road Tour stop at Rad Rods by Troy. It consists from left to right,Adam Krause- Shop Foreman, Troy Trepanier - Owner and yours truly on the right. We had lunch at Troy's and they were nice enough to let me work on the speedo wiring on the Hot Rod Lincoln in there shop. They are Great Guy's!

[Kai-Rod]

Coool !

[Vman7]

Ok lets see if this place will let me post or not

[geoffav]

Ok lets see if this place will let me post or not

Get some posts under your belt and things will go smoother.

[KGB911]

Dave, Did you get blocked from the other forum for Helping builders?
Dan

[Vman7]

Dan, no I just was having some trouble posting here, once I got past 10 posts everything seems to work fine.

[Dave Smith]

Welcome Dan. The car you built is one of the very nicest and I am humbled by your skills. I can tell you that this site WILL NEVER become commercialized. It is in the charter and the very reason it exists is exactly due to that. This place exists to serve the community. FFR is a big part of that community, but nowhere near the majority. STOKED to have your contributions. Also I would enjoy having a conf call with you and Jesper and Andy at FFR. Andy has been managing the Tasca program (they are building finished 33's) and the number of changes and upgrades are important for you (frankly everyone) to know about. Tascas first customers are pretty heavy hitters (President of DHL company, Ford Racing President, Owner Galpin Ford, etc). The changes required to move the design into an "assembly line" capable car have been significant. Welcome!!!! Love to see more pics of your car.

Dave Smith

[KGB911]

Dave: As I am sure you know, your company is only as good as it's people. In my opinion you have a great staff and they exude pride in you're company.Your Tech Team consisting of Jim, Andy and Jesper are up to their waist's in aligators and still smile on the phone. I know that the Hot Rod will continue to improve with Age and you truely care. Expect a call!
Dan Ruth

[KGB911]

I had only heard about Factory Five when a friend bought a completed Mark I kit in 97 and I went by his house to check it out. The assembly was a little crude by my standards but none the less a neat car to take out on the week ends. Many years past and one afternoon I got a call from my Hot Rod father that he had totaled his beautiful 32 High Boy and had I heard of Factory Five, and all I could remember was my friends Roadster,oh heck, Cobra copy. Dad had the settlement check burning a hole in his pocket and wanted a new Hot Rod FAST!
He called Wareham and 3 weeks later we were headed East to meet the crew and pick up our new project. We were impressed with the well organized facility and quite impressed with the professionalism of the staff. We got the tour of the House by Dave Smith and it was quite obvious he was a very proud Papa.The Hot Rod Lincoln was #76 of the litter and it was to be built with full fenders and running boards and powered by a 96 Lincoln Mark VIII 4.6. That was May 23,2009 and we thought we could have it complete for Hot August Nights in Reno. Boy how wrong were we! I spent the next year and 3300 hours making Dad's Hot Rod a reality.
Dan Ruth

[68GT500MAN]

I knew that this site would become the best place to be. I am now motovated to get back at the build so that I can have something to take to HB in April.
Doug

[KGB911]

You will soon begin to realize that there are more than one way to skin a cat. What a weird saying! None the less everybody seems to beat to a differiant Drummer, ah! that's better!
After unloading the trailer and prepping all the needed shelves we began the inventory process which took three of us 6 Hours!!!! Everyone will have a few back orders and you should keep a log on them and you will find that the staff at Factory Five does a Great Job with there BO! meaning they don't Stink!
Seriously your BO's will for the most part arrive sooner rather than latter.
Even though the assembly manual needs some work I don't suggest you vary much from the sequence of the build and when you have trepidation on a particular task feel free to call the guy's at Factory Five or ask about the task on this Forum.
Jim, Andy and Jesper are great at helping you through the processes.
Dan Ruth
IRS

[KGB911]

As most know the 33 Hot Rod is not designed to be a Donor concept kit like the roadster. The kit comes with everything but an engine,trans and rear end assembly and many kits are assembled using new engines and transmissions. Because the kit is formatted for the use of a Modular Ford or Windsor style pushrod Ford we choose to locate a Four valve Four cam engine package. We got a great deal on a 96 Lincoln Mark VIII Donor car with 100,000 miles on it using Mobil One all it's life. The car was a black on black car with bad air ride only. We drove it into the driveway and tore into it! The car cost us just $800 bucks and we ended up using the following
Engine
Intake system (more on that latter)
PS pump
AC pump
Transmission
Shifter
PCM
IRS (complete w/brakes)
When all was said and done we spent about 200 hours on the drivetrain but since I work for Food it was cheap.
Dan Ruth
HRL

[geoffav]

I've seen a bunch of these mod motors going strong well after 100K. Mine came from a totaled 03 Mach1 that the owner never did an oil change on.

Haha, it's not as bad as it sounds. The car was totaled at 2987 miles!!! When I purchased the engine from the guy who bought it salvage he had misread the BOS and thought it had 29870. It did cost more than $800 but I sold the intake and accessories for enough to bring the investment down to $300. I love these motors.

[smithtlw]

Hey Dan, Is that a rendering of your new hard top?

Todd

I had only heard about Factory Five when a friend bought a completed Mark I kit in 97 and I went by his house to check it out. The assembly was a little crude by my standards but none the less a neat car to take out on the week ends. Many years past and one afternoon I got a call from my Hot Rod father that he had totaled his beautiful 32 High Boy and had I heard of Factory Five, and all I could remember was my friends Roadster,oh heck, Cobra copy. Dad had the settlement check burning a hole in his pocket and wanted a new Hot Rod FAST!
He called Wareham and 3 weeks later we were headed East to meet the crew and pick up our new project. We were impressed with the well organized facility and quite impressed with the professionalism of the staff. We got the tour of the House by Dave Smith and it was quite obvious he was a very proud Papa.The Hot Rod Lincoln was #76 of the litter and it was to be built with full fenders and running boards and powered by a 96 Lincoln Mark VIII 4.6. That was May 23,2009 and we thought we could have it complete for Hot August Nights in Reno. Boy how wrong were we! I spent the next year and 3300 hours making Dad's Hot Rod a reality.
Dan Ruth

[KGB911]

Vman created that rendering and many others for us last year, yes that is the current concept I am working on. I am narrowing the top and removing the false door top and making new side windows.
Dan

[Arm7419]

Dan

My top is waiting for the mod!!!!!

Chuck

[KGB911]

Chuck: Bring it down with your Grill and it will be cheaper if I can do two at the same time.
Dan

[Arm7419]

Dan

I'll bring my top down soon for the chop. I'm not convinced that the grill is lopsided as a savvy machinist friend and i laid the grill on butcher paper and triangulated it to death. To out surprise it's not out more than 1/8 in.

Car goes to Jeff Miller on 3rd April for paint.

chuck

[KGB911]

Dan

I'll bring my top down soon for the chop. I'm not convinced that the grill is lopsided as a savvy machinist friend and i laid the grill on butcher paper and triangulated it to death. To out surprise it's not out more than 1/8 in.

Car goes to Jeff Miller on 3rd April for paint.

chuck

The key is the grill must be symmetrical above the upper mounting brackets in order for the hood to square to the cowl. Remembering from other threads that the passenger side of the body is lower than the drivers side so the grill should naturally be off also, NOT !!!! Just for Giggles lay your hood on a flat surface and check the front crown compared to the rear of the hood.
Dan Ruth
IRS

[KGB911]

I spent days grinding welds and removing dingleballs and found as many have that many of the welds were to big at important areas where the suspension mounts. I also found that the E-brake mount was low which would have pulled down on the floor.
Dan Ruth
IRS