I will be daily driving this truck and it will not be a garage queen.
Kit is ordered as follows....
Hot Rod Truck Kit
Coyote Motor and Trans TKO600 from FFR
Powder coated frame
Wilwood all round from FFR
Engine cover and sides with no fenders
Leather bench seat
Chrome tilt column
Older style Gauges
Retrosound hidden bluetooth stereo
Classic cobra style steering wheel
electric P/S
2- Quicktime performance electric exhaust cut outs
Hot Rod A/C kit
I sourced my own ipe wood bed with the Maxx Trax Series 2000 between each board for tie downs.
Mobsteel artillery wheels
Contential extreme contact sport 315-35ZR-20 tires on all 4
JRi hydraulic ride height coilovers with 3" of Height adjustment.
Wood panel sides on the bed of the truck and a roll top bed cover.
My FFR completion date is at the end of March....then I have to wait for it to me shipped to me over the ocean.
Ive been tooling up are getting ready......it took me 10 years to convince my wife and now she is finally on-board!
enjoy your new truck, I am sure there will be some challenges, I have been working on mein for a month and it looks like a got a few more months to finish, never enough parts, and my old body is slightly worn down
I am going full fendered and 302 roller cam and AODto start with later 347 and fuel injection
Thanks, I will need all the help I can get......with 7 kids, and running an AC company I will try to manage my time to work on it 3-4 days a week during the day. I just finished helping my 12 year old daughter do an engine out head gasket fix on an 07 Subaru. She actually wrenched every bolt...after I loosened them and she will be selling it after she paints it for a 2k profit. Great learning experience. So I am sure to have my little ones there building right with me and just make it part of their home-school curriculum.
enjoy your new truck, I am sure there will be some challenges, I have been working on mein for a month and it looks like a got a few more months to finish, never enough parts, and my old body is slightly worn down
I am going full fendered and 302 roller cam and AODto start with later 347 and fuel injection
Full fenders, small v8 and Aod. The combo I'm thinking of.
Mk4 Roadster 20th Anniversary #8658. 04 of 20. 3.31 IRS.
Forte 427 Dart, TKO 600, Quick Fuel 780 carb. Delivered 9/2/2015, First start/Go Cart 2/18/2017.
Road Legal August 31, 2017
Don't push too hard and get burnt out.
Work on it a little bit each week (more when you have time) but continue to make progress.
If you run into something that frustrates you, stop and walk away for a bit or do something different.
These cars are a challenge to build, but doable!
When your build is complete, driving it is THE BEST experience and you'll be proud of YOUR unique build!
Good luck and keep us posted. We LOVE pictures!
F5R #7446: MK4, 302, T5 midshift, 3.55 Posi IRS, 17" Halibrands
Delivered 4/4/11, First start 9/29/12, Licensed 4/24/13, off to PAINT 2/15/14!! Wahoo!
Planning on doing an Ipe wood bed with ipe wood sides and a roll top cover..... as it will me my daily driver with all my tools in the bed. My truck still hasn't shipped yet so in the mean time my son wanted to build a pinewood derby car and after seeing all my photos he went with the FFR 35 truck. Here is where we are so far.20190322_091151.jpg
Can't you tell I'm itching to get my build started?
Horray!!!!! my ship date has come and I can now expect a delivery in 3 to 4 weeks ( depends on how long the barge across the ocean takes ).
I might have to change my posted name from Hoonatruck because I decided against the Fifteen 52 Wheels as they were 10k. I ended up going with Detroit Steel Wheel Ambassador detroit-steel-wheels-for-sale-st.jpg they were only 2k......went with 20 x 11 with a 5.5 backspace. Also ordered my Toyo Proxies 315 35 R 20's
My truck is still about 2 weeks from delivery so I thought I would work fabing up the exhaust exit which is planned on exiting before the rear tires through the bed.....I purchased from Summit Racing these exhaust exits and once they arrived I did not like how the dual exhaust was basically an illusion 20190424_094229.jpg
I cut off the end and made up a new end cap and made some new holes with my Jig Saw with a metal blade. 20190422_142945.jpg 20190422_152033.jpg20190422_170258.jpg20190424_094238.jpg
This is my first time Tig Welding and I did not have any stainless filler rod so I made due with what I had.....quite ugly but it worked.......experienced tig welder vs me 20190424_094256.jpg
Curious on what everyone thinks.....I have 2 ways I can go with the exit....Flush 20190424_095737.jpg
Or kind of sloped exit... 20190424_094430.jpg.....I can always cut off the sloped exit to be flat.
So I went from a Just for looks ( not quite functional ) on top to a true pipe dual tip 20190424_111918.jpg
Such a range of emotion today........My truck arrived!!!!!! 20190501_083935.jpg20190501_091530.jpg and then the fork lift driver dropped the pallet when he extended out 20190501_092205.jpg, the rear wheel lifted up and the whole thing rolled 15' down my driveway to then crash into my rock wall!!!!
All is OK and Factory Five did an amazing job of packing it so there was no damage.....just a few rocks fell off my rock wall. Luckly my Gradall 20190501_094110.jpg20190501_094946.jpg was just around the corner and I was able to lift the forklift off the wall and back onto the driveway. By the way if anyone is having it crated.....do not allow a 3 wheel forklift unload your FFR truck. I finished doing inventory and am starting on the front suspension. This is exciting.. 20190501_103027.jpg20190501_105538.jpg20190501_111501.jpg some of my helpers.
Yikes! I can't imagine what emotions you went through (all with some expletives). Glad it wasn't damaged! Look forward to seeing more of your build
Steve
Gen 1 '33 Hot Rod #1104
347 with Holley Sniper & Hyperspark, TKO600, IRS, 245/40R18 & 315/30R18, DRL, Digital Guard Dog keyless Ignition
OK well FFR made some changes to the truck from what I have see in other builds, My truck does not have the bar across the back of the seat.... and also under the seats their is not a web of frame to have to snake exhaust pipe through.....I think these are all great improvements. However check out the height of these pedals from the floor. 20190504_164509.jpg they are 7" off the floor board. In my opinion way too high......so I made some changes. First I lowered the pedal box and moved it back by cutting out the top of the mount.... new location held up with my toes. 20190504_164640.jpg I proceeded to cut the top of the medal mount, I used blue tape for my cut lines 20190504_165159.jpg20190504_192724.jpg and welded in some 1.5" angle bar for the now lower pedal box to sit on. I also had to cut out some bars to make room....I will install some gussets in place to reinforce the areas 20190504_165852.jpg. I am also planning on extending the Driver foot well out about 4 inches and had to also remove the diagonal support....I will replace it .
Now that I have the motor mounted.......by the way for anyone installing a coyote....here is a trick...preinstall the motor mounts in the truck and then lower the motor in....it is so tight that I think this is the only way. It took an hour of head scratching to figure that out. So now that the motor is in I am now mocking up the custom exhaust. The plan is to install an H pipe along with exhaust cutouts that exit in the same place as where the muffler exhaust goes out.....I am stealing this idea from another builder on instagram Screenshot_20190506-223245_Samsung Notes.jpg and these will exit with the tips that I made up 20190424_094430.jpg
So after measuring up the bed side for the best place to exit I mocked up the area again with some blue tape 20190506_214139.jpg20190506_214144.jpg you can see in the bed of the truck the spintech muffler hanging from some handy wire twisties to mock up it's location.
In efforts of gaining more leg room, I am 6', and how the truck is factory set up it is TIGHT..... so I placed the seat up on 4 x 4's. With this added height and also moving the pedal box down and back I can now be super comfortable in what is going to be my Daily Driver
I have been out of town all week going to my daughters wedding reception in Utah. I have not finished the pedal box area or the foot well extension, I have the steering mocked up and I did remove the cross member ( I will replace it with a few more cross-members ) 20190504_170039.jpg I removed the one that goes up at a diagonal from the driver side to the dash support. Likely I will box it in with steel this week. Making these changes is a dance with mocking it up and taking it apart multiple times to make sure everything fits.
Now that the Exhaust is done I took out the motor to start working on the Firewall. I previously cut out some small cross-members behind the pedal box and had to reinforce them with a few gussets. 20190521_163417[1].jpg
Marked up to be cut the drivers side firewall to allow the new pedal location to have enough room for the pedals to swing. I am going to Hilo tomorrow to pick up some 1/8" aluminum to make a box to go in this hole behind the pedals 20190521_143406[1].jpg
You have a great ‘35 build going on there!
I tried to open the photos of the pedal box area but there is something wrong with the link.
Would it be possible for you to re-post them?
Cheers,
Pat
The last photo shows how much the pedals come through the fire wall....tomorrows project is to weld up out of aluminum a box and then weld that to the fire wall. First time welding aluminum with my Millermatic Mig aluminum attachment.
Also while I was at the metal supplier I decided to pick up a full sheet of 1/8" alum and make a skid plate to go under the entire truck ( except for behind the cab ). Gave me a chance to break out my plasma cutter....cuts it like butter. 20190523_081327[1].jpg20190523_121447[1].jpg
Now with the remaining few hours I have today I am going to start on the arduous task of drilling and prepping for rivets. This is next because I am going to spray all the panels with lizard Skin prior to mounting.
Nicely done! I have always admired the folks that look at one of the FFR cars and says "I can do better!" Then, they proceed to make modification after modification, and make their car truly unique.
Your work is terrific, and I really admire the vision as well as the craftsmanship to make it all happen!
Keep up the great work, and thanks for letting us all follow along with your hard work!!
Aloha Steve, Thanks for your compliments. I don't know about craftsmanship........the saying that keeps going through my head is " it's not a piano " , when I think of craftsmanship I think of Magicmike on instagram, as a first time car builder and having basically Zero mechanics knowledge ( when it comes to cars )....I am basically doing modifications on the FLY of which I am quite used to in my profession as a high end residential Air-conditioning company. We basically modify all day long until we fit 10 pounds of crap in a 5 pound bag. I am just applying my skills in a different way.....which is sooooo much fun!
Out with the old Diff cover and in with the new one.....that has drain and fill plugs. 20190524_133421[1].jpg Welllllllllll changing this led to a major problem......nothing that a welder and some 5 x 3 square bar can't fix. Notice in that last photo that the 3 link bar is not installed......well the new Diff cover hits it. Here is what I came up with. Hopefully I didn't change all the geometry and now my truck is going to handle like crap. 20190524_163458[1].jpg So I had some thick 3 x 5 galvanized square bar laying around and cut off a 3" section of it. Then cut one end off and notched it.....and bent it a bit. This way I didn't have to cut into the truck and am just adding to it for strength. 20190525_143231[1].jpg I think this is my nicest Tig weld as to date......botching all of that exhaust pipe wasn't for nothing. 20190525_145205[1].jpg Here it is all grinded, and painted......the rear 3 link bar ( I think that's what its called ) now Fits!!!
I also decided I wanted a flat black engine bay so decided to paint the radiator, brackets and bolts flat black and then got to see what it looks like attached to the truck 20190528_120647[1].jpg20190528_120652[1].jpg20190528_120700[1].jpg If you look closely though the grill you can see that I used some alum, diamond plate for the brackets to hold off the AC condenser and the radiator ( FFR never sent the brackets with the kit ) so i made some myself. This only took 2 Home Depot trips today to get that aluminum and also some longer 1/4 x 20 bolts to hold it all together. Please keep in mind that here on the Big Island HD is a 1 way 45 min drive......so doing a 2 trip to HD in one day really sucks......but is a must to keep the momentum moving.
Looks good . I have the same diff cover and wait till you set it on the ground the diagonal bar on the frame from the passenger side panhard to the drivers side upper frame rail will hit the top of the diff cover. Rob
Looks great What TIG machine do you have? I bought the Eastwood 200 Digital and been playing with it. Welds aluminum supper nice but I'm having trouble dialing in setting for thin stainless. I bought some 16GA Stainless corner molding to weld the bed pieces together to make it one piece. Trying to get proficient before the real thing but got a ways to go. Been about 35 years sense Ive tig welded Running out of molding....gonna have to order some more LOL.
Robodent, I had to read your comment to really understand it and then look at my truck a few times......I now see what your are talking about.....looks like I will be modifying that diagonal support bar also once I get it sitting on the ground. Thanks for the heads up.
Bnelson, millermatic 215, has tig, mig, and alum mig. its a sweet machine.
Ok......today I had the motor in and out 5 times......looks like my drivers side foot pedal modification stuck too much into the engine bay.....I swore that I measured twice and cut once but I still managed to make it too big. So in and out it went multiple times today along with chopping up my firewall and adding quite a few geometric shapes to it. I then roughly masked it off and primed and Lizard Skinned sound deadened the affected area......tomorrow it will get the Lizard Skin ceramic coating. 20190529_161442[1].jpg20190529_172149[1].jpg20190528_164441[1].jpg
I also took some time to prime and paint the motor flat black.....along with all the other components in the engine bay. Going for a blacked out look with some highlights of Exhaust wrap. I went with the Krylon Ultra Heat 2000 deg flat black. 20190528_151811[1].jpg20190528_151851[1].jpg
Also I was extremely curious if the Motor and Trans could be removed with the dog house in the truck installed. ( thinking of the future if I ever have to remove the motor and trans and not destroying my interior ) and YES it is possible. So I will hard mounting the transmission cover to the truck.