Eaton's Mk4 #9130 Oregon Build- First Year of Street legal driving

[Mark Eaton]

I arrive to this scene with my two hands, the will to succeed, and a shop! Oh, and a new Harbor Freight memebership. Build experience? Not much, in 1987 my college roommate and I pulled the engine out of my ’69 Chevelle, and rebuilt it. Every part on that rebuild I foraged from local junk yards. Painful. But she ran. I loved that old convertible. I had to sell her to afford medical school. Since then I haven’t had time to look back until now.

As a general and vascular surgeon I love working with my hands and I am good at making thins fit together. I have 100% support from my wife. I have two boys (11 &13) whom are budding young mechanics, that is, when they’re paying attention.

What I know right now is that I want a Cobra to drive around town with my wife on Sundays in nice weather and occasionally take it to the track and drive like a bat out of Hell. I am not interested in building a space shuttle with a steering wheel or a “show quality” car. My purpose for this build thread is to get as much advice as possible from those whom have come before me. I doubt anybody will learn anything of value from my postings.

MK4 Complete Kit

Options:
powder coated chassis
IRS
17” Halibrand style wheel/ tire package
power steering
Front and rear Wilwood brakes
Front and rear sway bars
body cut outs
GPS gauge kit
leather seats
dual powder coated roll bars
heater
windshield wipers
wind wings
battery cut off switch
catalytic converters

DART SHP 347 Stroker engine (EFI) with Tremec TKO 600 from Mike Forte

I haven’t decided on colors for sure but I’m thinking a Maroon/Black/Smoke theme.

Regrets, none. Except I wish I had started reading the Forum like a year ago. I’m so far behind on all these decisions. There are some great threads which I appreciate so much. Modification ideas I have picked up from the threads so far: hydraulic clutch, custom battery box (Either Breeze in front or the FF metals in back), snake skin in the cockpit, bed liner under the body, brake and clutch reservoir from CNC, trunk box, rear quick jack couplers, Upgraded louvres from FFR, leather partial steering wheel wrap.

Stewart Transport showed up 8/10/2017 and we got to work!








My 11yo helping remove panels

[Jazzman]

You have got to be kidding me!! You have an entire Quonset Hut to build in?!! Fantastic!! I envy you the joy of building this car with your sons. The three of you will never forget the time you will spend together. My sons are grown and gone now, and they are not interested in building a car anyway. With all three of you working on this, you may have the project done by Christmas!

You might be very surprised by how much benefit your postings might be to others. We all started somewhere, and I started just about the same lack of background that you are at. Everyone on the forum has something to offer. If we are wise and learn from the mistakes of others, we may perhaps have a smoother build. Or we just have to be more creative to come up with new and different mistakes!! Regardless, Your participation in the forum is valuable and appreciated by all who read it.

If you came here to get advice, you came to the right place! There are lots of us that are both willing to help you and willing to tell you how to spend your money!! If you have questions, just ask. Trust me, you just made one of the best decisions of your life! Now, get the Huntington Beach Cruise In on your busy medical schedule now. You do not want to miss it. It is generally the last weekend in April each year. You will be inspired, impressed, and find a lot of like minded FFR nuts to get to know. I loved it the first time I went 18 months ago. (Missed it this year due to an unexpected medical detour on vacation . . . Long story.) I won't miss it next year. I hope you and the family will be able to come.

Please post often of your progress. We all love to enjoy your build with you. Rest assured that you have ample support. If a Financial Planner like me can do it, surely two smart young men dragging a vascular surgeon along can do it!! Enjoy the insanity! We all look forward to your final product.

[wareaglescott]

Good luck with your build. Look forward to following along. Like Jazzman I am loving your garage space.
Your prior automotive experience tops mine when I started by about 400% and I am proof that any amount of inexperience can be overcome by simply learning from others on the forum and asking questions. No question is to dumb and someone here will have a good answer for all of them!

[Jeff Kleiner]

Have a blast and keep us updated!

Jeff

[GoDadGo]

Congratulations & An Amazing Journey Has Just Begun!

The 347 from Mike Forte is a great power plant that will give you lots of thrills while being somewhat controllable too.

Also, it looks like you've got a great workspace, with an even greater assembly assistant!

Congratulations Again From The Deep South!

[Railroad]

With that great shop, I am sure you are researching which lift to buy. Life is good!

Oops, in the 3rd pic, it looks like a swing arm of a lift. Not that those young boys will need it, but it will save an old man's (mine) back.

[Straversi]

Welcome aboard. With those two boys, I get the feeling this will be the first of many great projects that roll out of that shop. Enjoy.
-Steve

[Yama-Bro]

Congrats! You have a head start on me and my two boys. It will be fun to watch your build, while I'm doing mine! Good luck!

[broku518]

wow, great place to work on your build! Mine is coming around 10/14 or so. Can't wait, feel like a kid in the candy shop...but no candy around LOL
(I am getting the same set up from Mike Forte, only carbureted)

quick question:
- how do plan to insulate your car? I am talking about heat transfer from engine bay over to foot boxes.
- are you thinking about painting those body panels? Or leave them clean? I am thinking black, but not sure what type of paint would fit in hot areas/ engine bay.

Cheers,
Martin

[Mark Eaton]

Martin,

I planning to use Lizard Skin( both heat control and sound control) in the cockpit and trunk and possibly on the fire wall engine compartment side. It is a spray on product which appeals to me. I have seen some threads using Thermotec product (look at Jazzman's #8745 build thread), it looks more substantial but also seems more tedious to place. I am also entertaining the ideal of spraying the entire engine compartment with a truck bed liner like T Rex or UPOL Raptor. Look at them on Amazon, for about $100 you get a kit with a spray gun. In fact, I may just buy the 8 quart kit and line the bed of my truck while I'm at it!

As far at the engine panels. At this point instead of powder coating I'm using this stuff.

[Mark Eaton]

I want to thank everybody for their posts and responses to my build thread. In the six weeks since the arrival of my kit I have pretty much been following the manual and reading threads like madd. Interesting, it seems like everything I put on I have to then take off, alter, and put on again. I am not riveting anything anymore or put the final torque until I am sure I will not need to modify again. We started with the front suspension. I assembled everything, including the hubs and then Wilwood brakes. I couldn't get the tie rod stud to join with the steering arm. It dawned on me I had put them on the wrong sides. Initially they looked like they could go on either side, however, they have a bevelled hole which accepts the tie rod stud and are therefore side specific. So, I took that apart and switched them. It would have been nice if the manual explained that...


Hard to see in this photo



The other problem with this photo is that my grease fittings are not facing up. I stared at that for like an hour, the ball joints are correct. Conclusion, they were put together wrong at the factory? So, once again I took it apart and flipped the anchoring arm of the upper control arm 180 degrees so that the grease fittings are up.



This is better, grease fittings are facing up. You can't see but the steering arms are on the correct sides.

Now I made the mistake of reading more threads and everybody recommends using the safety wires on the Wilwood brakes. The instructions say that it is optional but all the experienced guys are doing it. My wife says "what are you crazy? your life could depend on those brakes!" So, I took off those stupid brakes that took so long to shim properly and put on safety wire. Nobody in town had the 0.032" wire so I had to order it from Summit and go to Harbor Freight to get the special pliers.





It aint perfect, but in Medford Oregon, that's good enough!

[Mark Eaton]

I want to thank everybody for their posts and responses to my build thread. In the six weeks since the arrival of my kit I have pretty much been following the manual and reading threads like madd. Interesting, it seems like everything I put on I have to then take off, alter, and put on again. I am not riveting anything anymore or put the final torque until I am sure I will not need to modify again. We started with the front suspension. I assembled everything, including the hubs and then Wilwood brakes. I couldn't get the tie rod stud to join with the steering arm. It dawned on me I had put them on the wrong sides. Initially they looked like they could go on either side, however, they have a bevelled hole which accepts the tie rod stud and are therefore side specific. So, I took that apart and switched them. It would have been nice if the manual explained that...


Hard to see in this photo



The other problem with this photo is that my grease fittings are not facing up. I stared at that for like an hour, the ball joints are correct. Conclusion, they were put together wrong at the factory? So, once again I took it apart and flipped the anchoring arm of the upper control arm 180 degrees so that the grease fittings are up.



This is better, grease fittings are facing up. You can't see but the steering arms are on the correct sides.

Now I made the mistake of reading more threads and everybody recommends using the safety wires on the Wilwood brakes. The instructions say that it is optional but all the experienced guys are doing it. My wife says "what are you crazy? your life could depend on those brakes!" So, I took off those stupid brakes that took so long to shim properly and put on safety wire. Nobody in town had the 0.032" wire so I had to order it from Summit and go to Harbor Freight to get the special pliers.





It aint perfect, but in Medford Oregon, that's good enough!

[Yama-Bro]

Looks good! Practice makes perfect...or something like that. . Let us know how the rustoleum clear works out. Are you doing any other prep to the panels before spraying?

[Mark Eaton]

I just washed them with soap and water and then scuffed with scotch bright and steel wool.

[Mark Eaton]

Had a pretty productive day and a half. Been working on the rear diff and IRS. I cleaned up the rear differential and spindles and painted them. You can see the aluminum that I painted with this Rust-Oleum product. If anybody thinks this is a bad idea please speak up now.



I used POR 15 on the cast iron part. I did the whole thing with wire brush, sanding, then the degreaser and then the metal prep product. Seemed like it took forever but I tell you this is some stout paint! I think I could send this thing into outer space with this paint on it.



I kind of think that some DHT or Rust -Oleum with enamel and good etched primer would be just as effective but less work. Any thoughts?

[Mark Eaton]

I think I might have something helpful for someone starting a build. I know this isn't earth shattering but I found this bolt measuring device at my Ace Hubbard's and it is so helpful. I wish I had it when I was doing my inventory.



The next is an idea I got from Edwardb's thread. These are just Hex Bolts which I have ground down to use to help line up the control arms and differential. These are 5/8" but I also did it with and M12. They really helped with the rear control arm installation.

[Papa]

Any tool to measure a bolt is handy to have during the build. I bought this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Bolt-Thread-C...thread+checker

It not only helps with the size, but the thread count as well. I've already used it a dozen times or more.

[Mark Eaton]

That one is even better. Super helpful

[Mark Eaton]

I have been dreading the differential install. I had a buddy help and it actually went much easier than I thought. The ground down 5/8" bolts and the lift helped. I had a really difficult time with the control arms. I was able to wrestle in the LCA but the UCA were really giving me a fit. I took the fore spacers out and ground them. Still couldn't get it. I went to the build threads and got out my 3 lb slegde hammer and "adjusted' the aft tabs. Now it went in, though still really tight. then I noticed the the grease fitting weren't easily accessible from above. ugh. nothing I could find in the manual. Back to the build threads, sure enough, looks like everybody puts them in facing downward . So I switched those out and this time I lubbed them. Lucky for the detailed build threads!

This first photo is my friend steadying the differential while I lower the chassis









done for the day...

[Jazzman]

I kind of think that some DHT or Rust -Oleum with enamel and good etched primer would be just as effective but less work. Any thoughts?

I did us a Rust-O-leum product specifically for metal. I now wish I had gone to the effort of using the POR15. You are right, POR 15 does seem like it would survive re-entry! The Rustoleum began scratching off within a week. I don't think it is going to hold up. Sadly, it is far too deep inside to pull out now! You did the right thing using POR15.

[WIS89]

Mark-

Nice progress. I echo Kevin's comments regarding the POR 15. It is worth the extra effort. I also wanted to point out that it is also the right thing to use if you have any of the powder coating separate from the frame. I have used it in a number of places, and it works great, matches well, and is tough as nails.

Keep up the good work.

Regards,

Steve

[Mark Eaton]

I have been thinking a lot about the panels and powder coating. Looked at a lot of threads, talked to a a lot of people. I ordered some POR 15 Detail paint which comes in an aerosol. I will try it on a test panel to see how it looks. If it is as stout as the paint on product that i used on the differential I think it will replace powder coating for the panels.

Had a few hours today after church so my 13 yo and I puttered around, greased all the grease fitting, drilled the rear spindles, and washed the body. It was grimmy from transport as it wound up sitting in storage in Phoenix AZ for 6 weeks.

[Jazzman]

It was grimmy from transport as it wound up sitting in storage in Phoenix AZ for 6 weeks.

Hey, I think I resent that comment. We are not grimmey here in Phoenix! A bit dusty perhaps, but thoroughly warm!!

[Vspeeds]

Mark
Looks like your build is moving right along. My kit arrived a few weeks ago but I havent even started yet. I look forward to seeing your progress.

[Papa]

Hey, I think I resent that comment. We are not grimmey here in Phoenix! A bit dusty perhaps, but thoroughly warm!!

dust-storm.jpg

[Jazzman]

dust-storm.jpg

Ok, so maybe we occasionally get a bit "Grimey"!!

[Mark Eaton]

Thanks Vspeeds,

I will watch for your thread as well. Looking forward to it.

[Mark Eaton]

I spent yesterday morning cleaning and painting the front and rear sway bar mount plates. I used the POR 15 paint. I had to install the rear angle mounts after I had already installed the rear LCAs. It wasn't obvious to me how it all went together until I discovered the angle mounts in a box of "extras". Thats kind of how my build goes. I put something on and then take it all apart because I realize I left something off or put it on backwards.

These are the sway bar mount plates before painting with POR 15



While the paint is drying I cut and assembled the rod ends. I had read in other threads that they were difficult to cut but I used my angle grinder which went through like butter!



The instructions for the front sway bar say to remove the lower shock mounting bolt and replace with the provided 1/2"-13 x 3.25" bolt. The bolt I received from FF is 1/2"-20 x x3.5" (similar but different). I searched all around to see if I had somehow mixed up my inventory but I had not. In my front sway bar packing list that appears to be the correct bolt which they sent me for this purpose. I don't know if this is a change and the instructions have not been updated or what. It seems to fit fine. And I figure I can shorten it later if it looks too long during final assembly.

Finally, I did some more work on the rear spindles. I decided to plug the hole on the top of the spindles where I think the sensors for ABS go. I got the idea to do this from Edwardb's thread. I fabricated two little plates from some 1/8" aluminum and tapped the holes with a 1/4"-20 tap. I was really excited about this. I have never used a tap or die set. I bought one online and it showed up Friday afternoon. It went well and here are the photos.

[Mark Eaton]

Here are my painted sway bar mount plates.

[GoDadGo]

You're Off To One Heck Of A Good Start!

[Mark Eaton]

Today after church was my 11yo's turn to come to the shop. I have been limiting it to one boy at a time in the shop with me. Anyone whom has boys this age will understand. We were able to assemble the spindles and install the CV axles to the spindles and control arms/toe arms. There is a disconnect here between the manual and reality on assembling the wheel hubs to the spindles. You don't have to knock out the old studs as shown in the manual and the bolts to attach the hubs are completely different than the ones pictured. I had read about it on other threads so wasn't a problem, however, a first time builder like myself can really sweat these things. It was not easy, alot of heavy lifting and full on wrestling for myself as well as the little guy. I had to get out the sledge hammer and vise grips again. We kept dropping things on the floor and on our feet. He had flip flops on and hopped around a bit but didn't complain. It took close to two hours which is about his attention limit. To buy time I let him use the pneumatic impact wrench to torque everything down. Note to self: if you want to keep an 11 yo boy interested let him use the pneumatic power tools...













Finally, as promised, a trip to the shooting range on the way home...

[Jazzman]

Finally, as promised, a trip to the shooting range on the way home...

Now that's the way to finish a great day with your son!! My son started shooting IDPA matches when he was just a bit older than your son. Had to get special training and permission, but he was approved. He did pretty well too!

You are really making great progress. Keep up the good work!

[Yama-Bro]

Today after church was my 11yo's turn to come to the shop. I have been limiting it to one boy at a time in the shop with me. Anyone whom has boys this age will understand.

I know what you are talking about my boys are 7 and almost 13. Sometimes, I think they actually enjoy fighting and arguing with each other, they do it so much.

[Mark Eaton]

Steve,

Thankyou sir! And I'm sorry to hear about your engine problems.

[Paul2STL]

Mark just saw you tread for the first time. Nice progress I will be watching your build, I received my kit the day after you, was on the same truck. Mine was build on July 8 so I guess they sat together in the warehouse in Arizona for 6 weeks. Your making good progress I am just a little ahead of you. Looking good so far.

[Mark Eaton]

Mark just saw you tread for the first time. Nice progress I will be watching your build, I received my kit the day after you, was on the same truck. Mine was build on July 8 so I guess they sat together in the warehouse in Arizona for 6 weeks. Your making good progress I am just a little ahead of you. Looking good so far.

Thanks Paul,

I'll keep an eye on you as well. Good luck!

[mach'er]

Wow, great progress. And what a great build space!

You got your kit about a week prior to my delivery. I guess I'll have to get used to being slow. Either that, or I need to get my 11 & 13 year old daughters to join me in the garage to speed things up.

Did anyone give you feedback on the clear you were spraying on the aluminum? Looks like a good idea if it'll hold up.

Keep up the great updates and pictures. I appreciate the details.

[Mark Eaton]

Thanks,
That's funny that you feel slow, I feel like I'm poking along. No feed back on the clear yet. I've been searching around I found some spray on POR15 that I'm going to try. I'll post photos when I do.

Get your girls in there. Like I said earlier I only bring one boy in at a time and I try to have things lined up and ready to go. That keeps them interested.

[Mark Eaton]

So, it turns out you need a vent on the differential and the parts can be hard to find. I am lucky in that I believe the little silver plug which goes in the diff and the vent then attaches to came with my kit. I think these are the parts numbers FR3Z--A & 2L1Z-4022-BA. I haven't actually ordered the vent itself yet, I'm hoping it will turn up in one of my boxes. It looks like a little black rubber hose. Here is the plug thing.



And I think it goes in this top right side hole.



I forgot to take a photo with it in. I'm tempted to tap it in with a hammer. Someone said to use red loctite but I haven't done that yet.
In this next photo I am pointing at a threaded hole which I think is dead ended but I'm not sure what is supposed to thread into it. Does anybody know?

[Mark Eaton]

I think this was pretty straight forward. I had to grind at least an 1/8" off of the 1.09" spacers on the lower shock attachments on both sides. I felt like that was better than bending the tabs. Also, I'm tempted to cut off the excess sway bar holes...











Of course, everything is finger tight. That way when I realize I put together wrong it will be easier to redo...