Well, I picked up my Hot Rod on Saturday at Factory Five, we ran into a couple of snow storms on the way but got Lucky as they had the roads cleared by the time we got there. Today it's like Christmas in March, opening the boxes & taking inventory, looks like I won't be starting to build for a couple of days. I am excited to get started & hopefully build a respectable Hot Rod.
I am attempting to attach a couple of pictures.
Thanks for the well wishes guys, I am sure I will need them.
Wallace, you say you used to live in Quakertown, Pa. did you by any chance know John Trumbauer? He owns Trumbauers Lawn & Garden equip. and also Trumbauers Polaris-Victory. We bought a Victory motorcycle from him a few years ago, nice to deal with.
Mine was done Saturday too, but I am now waiting for Stewart to pick it up for shipping! I am worse than a kid waiting for Christmas!
FFR HR #530
Race car theme, Tim Whitaker roll bar, Autometer Autolite Gauges, Satin Black, SBC 383/700R4, 8.8 rear with Cobra Brakes, 3.29 gear, Boyd Tank, QA1 springs and shocks,
Well after a few days of inventory and still working on my garage (getting it cleaned out and organized) we finally got the Hot Rod unloaded from the trailer today.
I noticed that most of the front suspension is raw steel, can someone tell me if I need to mock up the front suspension before sending the pieces out for powder coating?
I had FF powder coat the frame but I guess they don't do front suspensions.
Welcome to the forum Nevin. I think it's personal preference whether to mock it up before hand or not. I sent all my parts and had them powder coated first. Once I got them back, I only had to make minor tweaks to the components to make them fit properly and did not have a problem with chipping the coating. Others may have a different take. Good luck and have fun... I certainly am.
Mostly some stretching required. I did mock up first but in hindsight may not have had to. It is easier to do the second time around though, so less risk of damaging parts.
Nick Sebastian - 33 Hot Rod #495
Factory Five Forums - hdnik
FFCars - lowntubd
I painted my stuff. I did every part that was raw steel right away so no rust moved in. If I had to do it again I would powercoat all the front suspension and paint the rest. The adjustments were so small I did not even nick my paint.
Boy that looks like a real serious drive train you are putting in the 33! That should be awesome together. What gear ratio are you going to run in the rear?
Just a note of warning for anyone who plans on putting a Ford 9 inch rear in the 33HR.
The upper control arms from Factory won't fit without binding & jamming the bushings.
It seems that the tabs/brackets that are welded onto the rear for the upper control arms are bigger than the 8.8 rear, I was able to get the problem resolved by installing stock Ford Mustang upper control arms, they fit fine. I called FFR about it and they told me, that's why they don't offer the 9 in. rear option from Moser.
some pics attached.
Just a note of warning for anyone who plans on putting a Ford 9 inch rear in the 33HR.
The upper control arms from Factory won't fit without binding & jamming the bushings.
It seems that the tabs/brackets that are welded onto the rear for the upper control arms are bigger than the 8.8 rear, I was able to get the problem resolved by installing stock Ford Mustang upper control arms, they fit fine. I called FFR about it and they told me, that's why they don't offer the 9 in. rear option from Moser.
some pics attached.
Nevin
The pinion height from the center of the axle is different too. Since the driveshaft is very close to the frame, you may have to set a different ride height for clearance. The shorter the tranny the more this matters for frame clearance.
DB
I am getting ready to buy a 9 inch rear in a 33 I have on order. Where did you get your housing and axles? Does it work with the Factory five Stock rear brake kit, not the Wilwood piece?
Nevin, what is the reasoning for the inverted rear shocks and external top mounting. I can't see in the picture what you used for a crush spacer where the top mout would have normally been.
Nick Sebastian - 33 Hot Rod #495
Factory Five Forums - hdnik
FFCars - lowntubd
July 2013:
I got the steering rack & pinion along with the associated steering shafts, knuckles, etc. installed and working. Also put together the Grill/radiator/fan assy, added one of Mike's radiator shrouds. My wheels finally arrived from FFR about the 2nd week in July, I put BF Goodrich tires on them. I think it was about this time I got in on the group buy for a Boyd's tank and my grand daughter was visiting from SC. she wants a ride as soon as it's done. One more thing, the E-brake mechanism; I had all of the little pieces powder coated before assembly, putting this together was one of the more enjoyable parts of the build so far.
pictures attached:
August 2013:
I had previously purchased a used Coyote engine/transmission assy. from a guy in Arizona, it came with a Boss 302 intake, after doing a lot of reading and research I decided to replace it with a stock Coyote intake for a couple of reasons; the Boss intake has more HP @8000 rpm but less torque @ low rpm where I will be most likely running it, also it is higher and won't fit under the standard 33HR hood. I was able to pickup a brand new take off from ebay, he got the Mustang from ford & had the dealer install a roush blower/intake, etc. before he drove the car. I think I got a good price also, $300 for intake w/throttle body and injectors included. So I will be selling my Boss 302 intake w/throttle body & injectors soon.
Thanks Tom;
question: when you lived in Quakertown, Pa. did you happen to know John Trumbauer? His family owns the Trumbauers Lawn & Garden supply & also the Victory dealership.
Thanks Tom;
question: when you lived in Quakertown, Pa. did you happen to know John Trumbauer? His family owns the Trumbauers Lawn & Garden supply & also the Victory dealership.
Nevin
I think I went to school with some of his kinfolk.
Your car is going to be awesome. Keep up the good work. Enjoy that venison, good eating.
At my last post is basically how she sits today, I did get a different wiring harness from Art Cuesta at Wire Diet because the Ron Francis harness has only 10 circuits and I need more like 18 or 20 circuits depending on the number of accessories I add. So the next action will be to remove the engine/transmission, get the firewall powder coated, then reinstall the engine/transmission with the FRPP controls pack and start installing the wiring harness.
After reading a lot of threads about how the suspension is super stiff and a lot of guys are going with QA1's, etc. I can't quite justify the cost of the QA1's so I'm going a different route, I picked up this tip from the Roadster forum; I purchased a pair of QA1 250 lb. springs from Breeze Automotive, I put the 250's on the rear of the HotRod, then moved the FFR 350 lb springs from the rear to replace the stock 500 lb springs on the front. A couple of guys on the Roadster forum have done this and say it is a good poor mans way to soften up the ride. I noticed that the rear shock body was rubbing on part of the rear end housing close to the LCA mount point so I used the 2 lb. reforming hammer to fix that problem.
I also adjusted the shocks to the softest of the 4 rebound settings.
pictures attached:
Last edited by H R Lucky; 01-11-2014 at 08:38 PM.
Nevin, AKA H. R. Lucky
33 Hot Rod sn 524 build started 3/18/2013, First Start-5/09/2015, Go Cart-6/01/2015
5.0 Coyote engine, 9in. Ford rear, 4 Link, Wilwood 12in. front brakes
AC, power steering, FFR 17/18in. Hot Rod wheels
Hi Nevin, Im build# 523 Sounds like a great option on the springs I've also been concerned about ride quality even considered air bags but that would blow the budget , im sure you will be go carting before me at the rate I'm going, hope it works out for you. Please keep us posted.
FYI...you may end up having an issue with some slop on the passenger side mount of your steering rack. When you put the car on the ground with the motor in, have some turn the wheel back and forth and check to see if the rack moves around in that sway bar style bushing. Mine moved quite a bit and was throwing everything else out of whack. Hopefully you won't have the same problem. I ended up putting an 1/8" shim between the Delrin spacer block and that bushing. It allowed the bracket to draw the rack in tighter to the frame. It's coming together nicely!
August 2013:
Installed the engine /transmission for mock up, I am using the original MT-82 mustang transmission and FFR don't support this combination, transmission mount has to be modified.
Trying to catch up on my build thread posts; August 2013:
Mocked up the exhaust pipes and muffler, mounted 2 of my 3 MC reservoirs, the 3rd one for the clutch will be mounted later after I figure out where the hood pin receiver goes. mocked up the inside firewall from Mike Everson. Modified the transmission mount, I had to cut most of the FFR mount out of the frame to get my transmission in place, then I had a local guy make me another mount that fit under the frame as this transmission is very tall & long, it turned out pretty well I think.
Sept. 2013:
Installed the fuel lines, filter & fuel pressure regulator. I bought a new double flaring tool as I had to cut some of the fuel lines I got from FFR.
pictures attached;
Sept 2013:
I didn't realize it when I bought the engine /transmission (I'm a little behind on auto technology) but the MT-82 is an external shift mechanism type transmission; so after I got it installed, I attempted to install the shifter but I could see right off that it was way to far back, but I was committed by now so I set of to modify the shifter and mounting points. I also had a custom drive shaft made as this transmission has no spline at the tail shaft, it has a flange type mounting for the drive shaft similar to the 8.8 rear mount for the drive shaft so they incorporated a slip spline into the drive shaft at the rear. After installing the drive shaft I could see that the rear mount point I was going to use (FFR's drive shaft loop) was way too low and the bottom of the shifter was going to hit the drive shaft so I modified the loop, I had to raise it by 2 inches, I also modified the shifter; I basically cut it in half in the middle and took 1.5 inches out, then welded it back together. I now have a shifter mounted and in a position that I can shift comfortably while in the seat. Of course I had to cut the transmission tunnel at the rear to accommodate the raised shifter so I will have some cosmetic fiber glassing to do later. don't mind the silver/copper 3rd piece cover on the tunnel, that was a paint test I was doing earlier and it didn't turn out to my liking so it will just be covered with carpet eventually.
Some of the pictures got loaded out of order, I can't seem to rearrange them, anyway, basically you can see what my problem was and the modifications performed to correct it.
Man, the weather has been brutal around here this winter, eventually I did manage to remove the engine/transmission so I could get the firewall powder coated.
I have been spending just about as much time cutting and gathering firewood to heat my garage that I think my Hot Rod should be qualified to be called a Woodie!
pictures attached:
Nevin, AKA H. R. Lucky
33 Hot Rod sn 524 build started 3/18/2013, First Start-5/09/2015, Go Cart-6/01/2015
5.0 Coyote engine, 9in. Ford rear, 4 Link, Wilwood 12in. front brakes
AC, power steering, FFR 17/18in. Hot Rod wheels
I was researching different insulation materials since everyone says the firewall really transmits the heat into the car, I sprayed the inside of the firewall with both Lizard SC & CI then installed this stuff called Dynaliner, 1/2 inch thickness is supposed to drop the temp from 220 F to 70 F, that's 150 degrees!
I put it 1 inch thick on the inside of the firewall so I should be good for 300 degrees! That means if it is 250 F on the outside of the firewall, it should be -50 F inside the car, man I won't even have to install AC, we'll see how it works this summer.
I also installed the electra-steer, that was like starting all over again with the steering but I eventually got it installed.
pictures attached:
Nevin, AKA H. R. Lucky
33 Hot Rod sn 524 build started 3/18/2013, First Start-5/09/2015, Go Cart-6/01/2015
5.0 Coyote engine, 9in. Ford rear, 4 Link, Wilwood 12in. front brakes
AC, power steering, FFR 17/18in. Hot Rod wheels
Great job Nevin, you'll be so grateful when it's 90+ in the summer. I'd run it all the way down to the bottom of the foot boxes if you haven't already planed on it.
Looks great Nevin! Just be aware that the flange of the body around the firewall goes on the inside and may get in the way of the Dynaliner. Also, what is that extra bracket clamped onto your frame for the steering? Is that a new set up or?
Thanks for the good comments guys. Evan, yes I know I may have to trim some of the insulation at the top of the firewall to bolt the body on. That extra bracket on the steering shaft is part of the Coyote package, the purpose is so the headers can clear the steering shaft.
Nevin, AKA H. R. Lucky
33 Hot Rod sn 524 build started 3/18/2013, First Start-5/09/2015, Go Cart-6/01/2015
5.0 Coyote engine, 9in. Ford rear, 4 Link, Wilwood 12in. front brakes
AC, power steering, FFR 17/18in. Hot Rod wheels