Edwardb’s Gen 3 Type 65 Coyote Coupe #59 Build: 5,000 Mile Report

[edwardb]

Paul-

Skate wheel mod looks great, as with everything else you build... I have to remark on your confidence though (in a good way!!). I noticed that you didn't oval any of the holes where the wheels are mounted to allow for modest adjustments. I have to admire the fact that you were so confident in your measurements and execution, that you felt it unnecessary to allow for any adjustment! I on the other hand, would have allowed for a wide range of adjustment options!! I admire your skill and execution Paul!

As with all of your builds, I have enjoyed following along and look forward to seeing her all finished up! She looks terrific!

Regards,

Steve

Thanks for the generous comments Steve. I'm probably not quite as confident as you make it sound. Yes, I match drilled the mounting holes in the brackets to the holes in the frame U-bolt mounts. That with them adjusted right where I wanted them. But it's very likely they could require some tweaks later after the body has been off again, etc. If so, I'll slot the mounting holes in the roller brackets as needed. Easy to do in the aluminum and the way they're mounted there's room for them go in/out some. There's already some adjustment possible there. Initially I was going to use adjustment slots for the wheels themselves as you suggested. But these particular wheels if you tighten them down enough to where they would stay put in a slotted hole, they start binding up a bit. There's very little clearance between the inner sleeve of the bearings and the bearing surface itself. Not sure how they're installed in in-line skates. But mounted as shown here, you have be careful not to overtighten. So I decided having an exact size hole in the bracket for the wheels was important.

I will steal that design for sure..... nicely executed Sir

Thanks Erik. I borrowed heavily from the Gen 2 version. But steal away with this version.

[edwardb]

One of the remaining tasks for my seemingly never-ending body fit-up was to get the cowl and pontoons lined up the way I wanted them. Seems like a pretty simple thing, but was a little more complicated once I dug into it. There were two issues, both that I’ve mentioned before. First, I had an alignment issue between the bottom of the cowl and top of the pontoon on the right side. OK at the back, but to a hard interference fit at the front behind the wheel. No amount of juggling the body or the cowl eliminated the problem without creating other issues. I could pull the pontoon down a little and anchor to the splash guard. But not nearly enough. So I’ve left it to now to resolve. Second, I found that the gas shocks push the cowl out of alignment when it’s closed. Without anything holding it, moves the entire cowl forward 3/16 to 1/4-inch when you close it. Kind of a big deal, and not good if you want everything to line up nicely and position consistently. Some have solved the problem by removing the gas shocks and using a prop rod arrangement instead. That’s a good solution, but I wanted to stay with the gas shocks if possible

Part of the solution for both issues is alignment pins for the front of the pontoons. The kit provided some receptacle pieces for one side. But the pins provided were much smaller than the 3/8-inch holes in the receptacles. Plus, they were plain pins with no obvious way to mount. Talking to other builders, seems I was probably provided the wrong size pins, as 3/8-inch ones are apparently available. But rather than pursue that, fabricated my own pins and mounts. One of the challenges here is the pins not only need to do the alignment task, but IMO need to be robust enough to catch and hold the cowl against the forward push of the gas struts.

First up though was to fix the alignment issue between the cowl and the pontoon. After a lot of consideration, decided a little glass work was my only option. I cut through the glass at the top corner of the pontoon about 18-inches back from the front corner. Then made another tapered cut starting about 1/4-inch wide at the front down to zero at approximately 18-inches. Then, using the closed cowl and paint stick pieces as spacers, glued the edge back down with HSRF to provide the needed clearance. When that set up, put a healthy filet of HSRF on the inside of the corner where I cut. Then added two layers of 8-ounce glass on the inside with vinyl ester resin. Turned out pretty well with just a little bit of additional HSRF filler. Now I had the clearance and alignment I needed.

Next I made the alignment pins and mounts out of 1/4-inch flat steel stock and cut down 3/8-inch SS bolts. Tapped the hole in the mount for the 3/8 x 16 threaded portion of the pin and used a jam nut on the bottom. Looked like this before installing. The bottom piece is the receptacle provided in the kit. Had to trim one edge slightly to fit where I wanted it. Note this is an early picture. I had to make new longer pins. Slight miscalculation.



Won’t go through all the steps, but got the cowl and pontoons positioned where I wanted them and clamped everything down. Then attached the pontoons to the lower splash guards. Then located the holes for the alignment pins and receptacles. I bonded the pieces in with HSRF, and don’t plan to have anything removable except the pin itself. Since there wasn’t a lot of surface area on the receptacles to bond to, I added a couple 8-32 bolts in each.

Left side pin mounted to the steel plate bonded underneath in the front corner of the pontoon.



Mating receptacle mounted on the inside of the cowl. Ditto everything for the right side.



I’m pleasantly surprised how this turned out. Between the gas struts, the rollers shown in the last update, and now the mostly self-guiding alignment pins, the cowl easily drops down into place and latches in exactly the same place every time. The alignment pins easily manage the push from the struts. There will be some minor body work, but generally the gaps and panel alignment turned out really well. Hopefully my body/paint guy will appreciate all the work here! I did have to sand the profile some where the cowl and pontoons meet at the rear of the front wheel wells. With that, the wheel well outlines match reasonably well. That was one of the areas I was focused on. I’ve noticed on some Coupes that area doesn't align very well. Couple of quick side views. You can see the repair I made on the right side.





Now that I have this part done, I can do some final tweaking on the cowl to body gap and that’s it. Only remaining fiberglass work is to get the rear spoiler fitted and I’m going to cut in a third brake light. I’ll be glad to move on from this part of the build.

[Ltngdrvr]

You really are very meticulous, and seem to have an abundance of patience!

[Alphamacaroon]

@edwardb,

I also ordered the Tilton tri-reservoir for my hydraulic lines and am trying to figure where to mount it. Before I saw your thread I came to the same conclusion you did by mounting it right in front of the left foot box (I don't have my engine yet, so it was the only place that seemed like it would be out of the way no matter what).

My question: are you happy with the placement there? My only concern after looking at it more is that it's right above the header— are you concerned that the emissive heat/IR from a hot header could melt it?

[Ltngdrvr]

@edwardb,

I also ordered the Tilton tri-reservoir for my hydraulic lines and am trying to figure where to mount it. Before I saw your thread I came to the same conclusion you did by mounting it right in front of the left foot box (I don't have my engine yet, so it was the only place that seemed like it would be out of the way no matter what).

My question: are you happy with the placement there? My only concern after looking at it more is that it's right above the header— are you concerned that the emissive heat/IR from a hot header could melt it?

Just cut yourself a little piece of aluminum to mount under it to shield it from the heat.

Also, get your headers coated, cuts way down on the radiated heat from them.

[edwardb]

@edwardb,

I also ordered the Tilton tri-reservoir for my hydraulic lines and am trying to figure where to mount it. Before I saw your thread I came to the same conclusion you did by mounting it right in front of the left foot box (I don't have my engine yet, so it was the only place that seemed like it would be out of the way no matter what).

My question: are you happy with the placement there? My only concern after looking at it more is that it's right above the header— are you concerned that the emissive heat/IR from a hot header could melt it?

No, I'm not worried about that location at all. It's 9 inches from the bottom of the reservoirs mounted in that location to the closest point on the headers and free air around both. I believe there's more than enough air movement that after the first few inches away from the headers, the air temp will be roughly underhood ambient temp. Granted, not cool, but nowhere near hot enough to bother the reservoirs. Per Tilton specs, they're made from fiberglass reinforced nylon which has a melting temp > 400 F (200 C). Reinforced vinyl ester fiberglass (what the body is made from) is in the same range. If the reservoirs are at risk in that location, there are bigger problems to deal with.

One other note. I mounted the reservoirs based on an early check with the cowl mocked up in place. Now that I have the cowl mounted in its final location, I can confirm there is about 1-1/2 inches of clearance from the caps up to the cowl. So they could be mounted slightly higher than what I did. But I wouldn't go too much higher, and not needed anyway IMO.

Just cut yourself a little piece of aluminum to mount under it to shield it from the heat.

Appreciate your interest and response, but not needed per above based on actual details from the build.

[Alphamacaroon]

Much appreciated. I'm probably going to ceramic coat my headers, so I'm sure it will be fine. I was going to ask about the clearance— I assume you mounted the bolts about half-way up through the frame bar? Do you have any measurements front-to-rear or did you mount it about half-way there too?

[edwardb]

Much appreciated. I'm probably going to ceramic coat my headers, so I'm sure it will be fine. I was going to ask about the clearance— I assume you mounted the bolts about half-way up through the frame bar? Do you have any measurements front-to-rear or did you mount it about half-way there too?

I used 1/4-inch heavy duty nutserts and bolts to attach the reservoir to the inner frame rail. Through bolts could work too. I just didn't want them showing on the engine side. I don't remember exactly what the height was on the frame rail for the bolts. Wherever they needed to be to get the height as shown. They're not the same for the front and back since the frame rail is angled down slightly to the front and I wanted the reservoirs level. It gets a little tight to drill holes and install nutserts, especially the front one. But got it done. Mine is 1-1/2 inches from the front of the DS footbox. Far enough away to get decent routing on the hoses. It could be further since there's nothing to interfere with, but the space to work in gets tighter the further forward you go.

As far as headers, my answer is the same with or without ceramic coated headers. I'll be running polished SS headers, same as my Roadster. Ceramic coating does give lower external temps, but again they're far enough away that the reservoir isn't at risk.

[edwardb]

Since the last update, finished glass prep work on the spoiler, got it mounted, and have all the lights mostly mounted. Nothing wired yet. I’ll get the weather packs ordered and wrap this up. The lights are the ones I discussed back in post #106. 100% LED’s.

For the spoiler, trimmed it to a 3/4-inch flange all around, had a couple spots on the edge that needed a little repair, then determined the mounting holes. I’m mounting it with eighteen 8-32 SS button heads evenly spaced around. All pretty straightforward. I’ve mentioned before I wanted to add a third brake light to the spoiler. The light I picked (Maxxima M63319R LED) was too thick to just surface mount. Thought that would look a little clunky. But the space inside the spoiler wasn’t enough to completely flush mount. So took my time to lay out a hole in the spoiler that matched and came up with a mounting method that kind of suspends it in the hole. These pictures give an idea.





With that, laid out the lights for the back. The running/stop/turn lights are the ones from the kit and I put them right where the manual says. Same for the license plate light and bracket. I’m installing back up lights, but not completely decided on this yet. I saw an idea in another build thread somewhere about putting the backup lights under the grilles on the back. Interesting idea. But after trimming the grilles to fit, the lights are too thick. So right now, I’m leaning toward the two smaller LED’s taped in place in the picture. Haven’t committed to drilling the holes yet. I have a single square LED backup light that could inset in the bottom center. But not feeling that look. Note the LED running/stop/turn lights from Factory Five are a bit oversize but are very bright. I like them a lot. The third brake light in the spoiler also has a low intensity running light circuit, which I will use. This thing should be very visible from the back. I don’t know about you, but I’ve done several cruises where the car in front of me had lights I could barely see. It’s a bit unnerving and I’m paying close attention. No telling what the average driver may/may not see. Don’t want to be that guy.



For the front, after some additional trimming to the factory cut openings, have the headlight buckets mounted. I’m using 8-32 SS screws and lock nuts versus the supplied self-tapping screws. Personal preference. Note also it’s necessary to locate and drill a hole in the body directly under the headlight trim retaining screws. No way to install those any other way. Mentioned in the manual but would be easy to miss. The running and turn signal lights mounted per the manual. I had to get a little creative to modify the flat mounts on the KC HiLiTES fog lights I'm using to mount centered in the round buckets. Easy fabrication that I won’t try to explain, but no big deal. Just more time.





That’s it for now. Happy Mother’s Day to all the mom’s out there.

[shark92651]

I like the 3rd brake light, fits in with the car pretty well. I'm searching for a 3rd brake light option for the roadster, but haven't found one I'm crazy about just yet. I liked that Hella unit from NZ/Aus but apparently it is now discontinued. I am considering a bolt LED in each rollbar.

[P100DHG]

I plan to command strip / removable tape my third brake light on to the rear roll bar pass DMV and after I pass go to the next parking lot and rip it off and never look back. Also I’m so far from doing this it’s still only a dream to get to that day.

[edwardb]

I plan to command strip / removable tape my third brake light on to the rear roll bar pass DMV and after I pass go to the next parking lot and rip it off and never look back. Also I’m so far from doing this it’s still only a dream to get to that day.

I didn't install the third brake light for any regulatory reasons. Michigan inspection doesn't require it. I just want the added visibility.

Hang in there. You'll get there.

[edwardb]

While waiting for weather pack connectors to arrive so I can wrap up the exterior lights, decided to tackle the rear glass hatch. The hatch itself is a beautiful piece. I’ve been handling it very carefully. I don’t know how much a replacement would cost, but don’t want to find out. It’s marked as made in the USA, and the DOT code shows it came from Auto Temp, Inc. in Batavia, Ohio. I’m impressed. Additionally, it fits the body opening perfectly. So good job by everyone there. Now to getting it hinged and working.

Some months ago, Factory Five sent a package with several updated aluminum panels, discussed previously. Also in that box were new hatch hinges. Two pieces for each side, and longer than the original ones that come with the kit. No explanation was provided for the new longer pieces. I seem to recall reading in an earlier build thread about the hinges hitting something before the hatch opened all the way. But that’s a vague memory and may not be correct. The manual shows taking a pretty big cut out of the body for the hinges, so also thought maybe that was the reason. But as I found out later still required a small relief cut. Whatever the reason, I'm using them.

The hinges are attached to the roof roll bar along the front of the hatch opening with clamps that have a pivot piece welded to them. I had them powder coated, so had to clean up the powder coat some for them to fit properly. But then fit well and are very robust. I assembled the arms onto the hinge mounts per the instructions, except that I changed out the little plastic bushings with bronze sleeve busings. They’re the same size as used lots of places on these builds (Roadster doors, trunk, etc.) and I had some around. Call me old school. I just like the bronze bushings better than plastic. Followed the instructions to install the hinge pieces, gas strut attachments, and latch onto the glass hatch. All nice quality parts and fit per the instructions.

The kit comes with a special self-adhesive gasket that goes around the hatch opening to seal and hold the perimeter spacing. Obviously, that can’t be installed until after paint. So stacked some wood spacers and taped them into the four corners of the opening so the glass sat up at the proper height. Then set the hatch in place and installed the hinges. It’s a little fiddly to get the roll bar clamp piece at the right place and the hinge arms aligned. But not bad. That’s when I found out I’d needed to cut the body to clear the hinges. Not nearly as much as shown in the manual though. Looked like this when done.



Next up was the gas struts. Here there was a problem. The manual shows additional roll bar clamps along the hatch sides to attach the gas struts. No parts like that in the kit. Instead there were flat gas strut brackets provided. Just like the ones mounted in the front cowl. Looked through a number of build threads, and eventually found several builds that used these parts. Confirmed they were mounted along the side lip of the body hatch opening. Determined the proper location to mount them where the gas strut wouldn’t be bottomed out and attached. Like I’ve done in other places, mounted them permanently with HSRF on the inside. Just used two bolts since they’re bonded plus the third would be very close to the edge. I’m going to change the bolts pictured here and countersink, bury, and eventually paint over.



Finally, dealt with the latch. The kit provides a somewhat small catch and a spacer. Probably would work OK, but looked a little wimpy to me and I didn’t care for the added spacer. So quickly fabbed a new piece out of 1-inch aluminum 90° angle stock. Looks better (IMO…) and has a larger contact surface on the body. I cut a real short piece of the gasket material and used it to set the location. I can adjust further when put on for good. Also need to paint or powder coat the catch and the new hinge arms.





That’s it. Really happy with how this turned out. Opens and closes nicely. The gas struts are just the right weight. Opens high enough that I shouldn't crack my head against it. But we'll see.



Now back to electrical. The box just arrived.

[Ltngdrvr]

Doesn't look like that latch has a lock, does it?

[edwardb]

Doesn't look like that latch has a lock, does it?

Nope. Same with the doors and the hood/cowl. Only lock on the whole car is the ignition key, which in this case is a keyless system using an RFID keyfob. Any could be different if you want.

[JohnK]

Sorry to pull up an old post, but I"m at the point in my build where I need to figure out the coyote bottom clutch switch and I really like the solution you came up with. I do have a couple of questions. First, is there a concern with the bracket you made rotating out of position and possibly jamming the clutch movement? It appears that it's only secured by the jam nut on the clutch MC rod. What's keeping it from pivoting on that rod? Secondly, is it safe/wise to use the coyote clutch switch as the clutch pedal limiter, or should I add a separate clutch pedal travel limiter elsewhere?

Thanks,
John

Another detail with the Coyote installation is the bottom clutch switch. Factory Five provides bracketry for the switch with their Coyote installation kit. But intended for their cable clutch setup. Doesn’t work exactly for a hydraulic clutch like I’m doing. After looking at several options, ended up using the supplied FF bracket for the switch itself. It snaps in nicely and is adjustable. The challenge then is to push the switch when the clutch is pushed down. Thought about modifying the other piece they provided like some have done. But instead made a piece from 3/4-inch wide by 1/8-inch thick steel that bolts between the clevis and nut on the MC, and then wraps around to push the clutch switch. Seems to work just fine.

[edwardb]

Sorry to pull up an old post, but I"m at the point in my build where I need to figure out the coyote bottom clutch switch and I really like the solution you came up with. I do have a couple of questions. First, is there a concern with the bracket you made rotating out of position and possibly jamming the clutch movement? It appears that it's only secured by the jam nut on the clutch MC rod. What's keeping it from pivoting on that rod? Secondly, is it safe/wise to use the coyote clutch switch as the clutch pedal limiter, or should I add a separate clutch pedal travel limiter elsewhere?

Thanks,
John

Yes, that bracket actuating the switch is held in place by the jam nut against the clevis. Anything's possible of course, but no I'm not concerned about it coming loose or pivoting. With the thread size of the pushrod and the hardened nut, it's possible to get a good torque on that connection. Plus a dab of blue Loctite when all is adjusted. It's locked down very well and there's little/no stress on it including to push the switch button. In the extremely unlikely event that it would come loose, it can't rotate as far as you might think. Note that it's tight against the clevis/pedal connection, which would limit how much it could rotate. But bottom line, it's not going anywhere. I have a very similar setup in Roadster #8674 that's now in its third driving season and 4,200+ miles. Going strong and no sign of any issues.

As far as using the Coyote clutch switch for a clutch stop, absolutely not. The switch isn't intended for that and neither is this actuator setup. You can see the word "on" on the switch plunger. I marked that where the switch closes, confirmed via a continuity tester or VOM. I have it adjusted so when the clutch pedal is all the way down, the plunger is in the that range. But the switch isn't completely bottomed out there and you wouldn't want it to be.

Since you asked, here is my experience and opinion about a clutch stop. I know not everyone will agree, but I'll throw it out there anyway. If you're stopping the clutch pedal short of its available throw that means you're trading travel for effort, meaning you might be making the clutch pedal effort harder than it needs to be. I want the clutch pedal effort to be as low as possible. For my builds, I always have the clutch pedal exactly the same level as the brake pedal. That's the starting point. With the exception of my first build, have used hydraulic clutch setups, and matched the master and slave cylinders so that the clutch was fully released and the slave not over-extended with the pedal against the floor. That means sometimes using a different master cylinder. But in the end, you're getting the lowest possible pedal effort by using all available throw. I know it's a subtle difference. But I've found it does matter. Some don't like pushing against the back wall, and if so use a pedal stop. But (a) it's more substantial than you might think (IMO...), and (b) at least for me, it's pretty much at the end of where I can reach with my leg straight out, so whatever push I have left at that point is weak at best. People tend to look at the .040 aluminum and think it's not very strong. By itself, it has limitations for sure. But fully attached around the perimeter and often with additional cross pieces, it's a stressed skin that is surprisingly strong. Add the padding of insulation and carpet, and the back wall works as a stop for me. Again, to emphasize, if that's the appropriate location for your setup. Obviously doesn't work if you need to stop before then.

[JohnK]

Thank you!

[edwardb]

Today I received a question about the plumbing for the Moroso expansion tank. Note this is plumbed exactly the same for the Gen 2 (as in my #8674 Roadster) and the Gen 3 here. Note also, just to confirm, this is different than the Factory Five Coyote instructions which cap the fittings and use a traditional T-filler in the top radiator hose and a manual overflow tank. Not going to debate the merits of the two, other than (1) This setup is duplicating the Ford engineering cooling system setup, and (2) Makes "burping" the system relatively painless.

The Moroso tank has three connections. Two go to the engine, one to the top of the radiator. This previously posted picture shows the two engine connections. "D" is the connection to the bottom of the expansion tank (the large hose), "E" is the connection to the top of the expansion tank pointing back at the engine.



The connection on the front of the Moroso tank goes to the top of the radiator. On the left (driver) side of the FFR provided radiator, the valve needs to be removed. Then replaced with a fitting. I used a Gardner-Westcott J9033 Hose Barb to Pipe Fitting. But anything similar could be used. I used the following parts to complete the installation:

Reservoir Cap DG9Z-8100-A
Reservoir Hose FR3Z-8276-B Top/back of reservoir to engine. Required an extension to reach the engine.
Overflow Hose FR3Z-8075-C Top/front of reservoir to radiator, with check valve (expensive). Required an extension to reach the radiator.
Connector Hose FR3Z-8C289-B Bottom of reservoir to engine. Installed as is.

All from Tasca Parts, but other sources could be used as well. Note for the hoses, one can be used as is. The other two required extensions. You could make your own without the Ford parts I guess, except for the one with the check valve. It's required for the setup to work properly.

One other comment. There was a lot of discussion, which I started, about the height of the tank. Mounted at the location I'm using, after considering several locations and everything that has to fit in front of the engine, mine is lower than a Mustang tank and lower than how it can be installed in a Roadster. The Coupe chassis and the size of the Coyote engine make for limited mounting locations. Here's what I've learned about this location so far: (1) It is necessary to fill the system through the left side heater hose connection. Filling into the tank (the usual method) doesn't work. Fluid doesn't flow uphill. . It's easy enough to do since the heater hose connection is a quick connect. (2) Once the heater connection location is full, I topped the expansion tank to about 3/4 full. (3) After several engine runs and full temperature cycles, as expected the level in the tank did drop as air came out of the system. (4) I topped the expansion tank again to about 3/4 full. It's stable there based on additional engine runs. (5) While not driving yet, the cooling system and engine temps seem to be working perfectly normal based on a number of lengthy engine runs. It's a sealed system, and once full of fluid, is working via pressure not solely by gravity. Just to allay another concern, as concluded in the discussion many pages ago, while lower than usual, the tank is still above the level of the coolant in the heads. Other than the slight inconvenience of the initial fill, I'm convinced it's working OK. But obviously will watch it closely once actual driving begins.

[edwardb]

I am now officially done with electrical! I don’t mind wiring and pretty much understand it. But still a big milestone to be done. And all working. Over the last few days, have all the lights installed, weather pack connectors installed, etc. Tried to be neat about it, as much as possible anyway. Fortunately the rear wiring is all covered once the rear hatch wall is installed. But the front not so much. On full display when you open the cowl. Did my best… Here are pictures of the front. The LED headlights have a small power supply or controller of some sort. I made brackets and mounted them on the back of the buckets. Similar to what I did with #8674, except those were a different brand and also several years ago. So much larger. I used the standard 3-prong headlight connectors since those were on the LED harnesses. Not protected at all outside the headlight bucket. I’ll put a piece of shrink sleeving around the connections at final assembly. The LED fog lights had very nice AMP weatherproof connectors, so left those. I'll add grommets at final assembly for the cables coming out of the fog light buckets. The other small LED’s (turn and running) now have weather packs. I used two single cavity connectors on each rather than a double cavity. The double wouldn’t have fit through the mounting hole. I’ll tidy this up a bit more with tie wraps at final assembly. Note when doing this don’t forget to consider the open and closed cowl positions. The wiring bundle moves a bit.





The instruction manual shows placing the horns in the engine compartment on the lower LH side. Would have fit there I guess. But missed it and already routed the wires when I reconfigured the front harness up to where I’ve normally placed the horns on Roadster builds. Had to place them carefully to stay well clear of the turning tires plus the moving cowl. But they fit here just fine.



One final comment about the wiring. In the past, many of us considered the grounding circuit on the RF harness to be a little marginal. I saw recommended on another build site back on my first Mk3 Roadster to add additional grounds at each of the four corners, e.g. in the vicinity of the lights. Basically, take the ground wire in the harness at each corner, route to a cleaned chassis location, then attach another ground wire to this same location and route to the devices on that corner. Accomplishes two things: Gives a clean and solid ground close to the devices plus provides a redundant ground for the entire chassis harness. All three of my Roadsters are wired this way. When I received the Coupe kit I noted it had a newer revised RF harness. Had seen it discussed in several build threads. Among the changes I noticed is the ground circuits are beefed up over previous versions. Everything is still dependent on a single chassis ground connection near the fuse panel. But the number of ground wires and gauge of the wires in the harness were all improved. So with that, I still added redundant grounds front and back on this build. But only one in the front and one in the back. Same idea as already mentioned. I took the main ground wire from the front and rear harness to a cleaned chassis location at their respective corners, cut the wire, added a ring terminal and grounded that. Then added another ring terminal to the cut wire and stacked onto the other one. In both cases, the chassis tube at that point was thick enough that I could tap and make enough threads. They're held in place with my usual 10-32 flanged head button screws. Once everything was done, covered the connection with electronics grade (non-corrosive) RTV. Conductive grease would be OK, I just prefer the RTV. But has to be the right type. I wouldn't call this modification mandatory. But IMO is cheap insurance to reduce ground circuit issues.

Just for grins, my wife helped me make a couple of quick iPhone videos of the front and rear lights working. Nothing too earth shattering, but decided to share. Note everything front and back is LED. Some from the kit. Others I added. Detailed in an earlier post. Everything is very bright and will be easily seen day or night. No extra charge for the usual nightly racket from the wetlands behind our house.

Front lighting: https://youtu.be/Ji9H-2ejMDw

Rear lighting: https://youtu.be/AAzI1ulTMV8

Finally, also wrapped up the fuel filler and tank vent. I followed the instructions in the manual to cut the SS filler tube and piece together with supplied flex tubing. Worked out pretty well. Two minor issues: The right angle flex connection out of the LeMans cap ended up hard against the edge of the opening in the hatch side wall. So I extended the bottom of the cutout in the side wall to clear. Didn't think it should be dragging directly on the edge. Meant moving the cover that goes inside the hatch area down a bit and leaves an opening at the top. I think it would have been too short anyway. Maybe FF didn’t plan to have that area sealed. But I want it to be. I’ll add some pieces onto the cover to fill the gap. Totally hidden behind the body and under carpet when done.

The other little issue I had was the usual fuel filler retainer ring really didn’t fit the tank or frame location. It’s their standard piece, and should be bent the other direction to fit IMO. Rather than mess with it, I made my own retainer similar to ones I’ve made for two of my Roadster builds. 1/8-inch aluminum, split tubing, and a couple 1/4-inch nutserts. Does what the ring is supposed to do, plus adds a little stability to the filler going into the tank. Finally, also made the usual activated charcoal canister for the vent line out of the tank from ABS plumbing pieces. While not completely necessary, the ALL36125 Allstar Performance tank bracket is a perfect fit to hold it in place. You can also just see the ground wire from the underside of the LeMans cap to the chassis. I made my own out of a piece of 12 gauge insulated wire and ring terminals. The kit provided braided ground is OK, but the ring terminals are quite large, and this worked better for me. All this is all hidden behind the rear splash panel, and with the wraparound of the Coupe body, nearly hidden from the bottom as well.



Made a list today of items yet to complete before going for my paint quote and getting that scheduled. Fit on one page! Making progress.

[edwardb]

Posted a new thread on this, but thought I put in in my build thread as well. Getting down to some final details on my Gen 3 Coupe build before paint. I'm fitting the Factory Five window kit and deciding I'm not happy with the mis-match between the straight windows and the curved edge of the doors. I've seen a couple in person, and seems typical and the solution is to put a cushion or gasket of some kind along the door edge. That would work but there's not a lot of contact area on either the door or the window and seems to me straightening the door edge would be the better choice. Especially since I'm at a stage where that's possible. The max gap is about 1/4-inch on the DS, and 5/16-inch on the PS. I'd like to build up the edge to make the door edge straight and close the gap. I suspect the windows will be left on most of the time, so the edge would be relatively protected. But I don't know that for sure. Either way it needs to be strong and also not picture through to the paint. Looking for suggestions. Don't pretend to be an expert about this at all.

I've done some searching and watched some videos. Seems I need to taper back on the top and bottom so there's something to grip plus reduce the chance of a line showing through. That's easy enough and assume I need to remove the gel coat near the joint anyway. I'm thinking I would put some tape or whatever on the window and use as a mold for the edge. Then some foam or gasket or whatever along the bottom to create a dam. Then fill the edge and coat/recoat/sand as needed to blend. I have some vinyl ester resin and chopped glass. That's one choice although I admit don't particularly like to work with that stuff. I also have 3M HSRF, which I've had great luck with would like to use unless someone has a better suggestion. Worried though this might be too large a gap to fill that way. Looking for some expert opinions here. Thanks in advance.

Driver side. About 1/4-inch max gap.


Passenger side. About 5/16-inch max gap.

[David Williamson]

I had the body shop make the top of the door straight to fit the window exactly like you are showing. Not sure what he used to build it up but it was a fibre glass filler. I have not decided what to use as a gasket yet, will get to it in a few weeks when I get the car back and start the final assembly.
David W

[edwardb]

I had the body shop make the top of the door straight to fit the window exactly like you are showing. Not sure what he used to build it up but it was a fibre glass filler. I have not decided what to use as a gasket yet, will get to it in a few weeks when I get the car back and start the final assembly.
David W

Thanks. Appreciate your response. I saw that in your paint post, and truth be known is one of the reasons I questioned why I should leave mine the way it was. Only thing missing was how they did it and with what. Getting some good answers.

[edwardb]

Thanks for the responses on repairing the glass to fill the gaps between the tops of the doors and the windows. It was kind of a pain, to be totally honest. But it’s done and I think turned out well. With more body work, primer, paint, etc. they will disappear and give a much better appearance than the uneven gaps on both sides. Details make a difference.

I ended up using 3M HSRF. I was able to adjust the windows and get the gaps slightly smaller than I pictured before. I decided the gaps were just too irregular to glue on fill pieces. Resin with filler, chopped glass, etc. potentially would be a little stronger. But I had the HSRF and am familiar with using it. Plus, I do expect the windows will stay on most of the time. So the edge will usually be protected. Not that I think the result is fragile. It isn’t at all. This is the process I used. First sanded a 1/8-inch plus bevel with 80 grit paper on the top of the doors through the gel goat. Plus roughed up the remaining edges plus about 1/2-inch back on the gel coat along the top. Then used clear packing tape to wrap all the parts of the windows that would be in contact with the HSRF, and gave them several coats of car wax so they would release. Then with the windows in place, put wood strip fillers along the bottom edges with double back tape to dam the HSRF when pushed into place. The wood strips had the same clear packing tape and wax treatment.

With everything in place, filled the gaps with HSRF. Did it in two applications. First pushed firmly in to make sure everything was filled. Second to get as straight and even with the top of the door contours as possible. HSRF is not easy to sand if you haven’t heard that before. After a couple hours, popped the windows off and they released relatively easily. Removed the door shells and finished them on the workbench in the basement. There were a couple places to fill and touch up, but generally turned out well. Sanded the top and bottom flush with the doors. There’s a very slight ridge along the top edges. HSRF just doesn’t feather out like Rage Gold or whatever, plus is hard as a rock. But it’s straight and even, and one pass with body filler during paint should blend it completely. This morning put everything back together and it’s a huge improvement. I’ll add a thin piece of self-adhesive gasket or whatever at final assembly and should be good. Couple pictures of the finished product. The pictures are a little shadowy. The final gap is about 1/32-inch plus, and most importantly even all the way across.





I also finished mounting the Peter Brock sourced side mirrors I showed earlier. He provides detailed instructions including the recommended locations. They’re for a Superformance Coupe, but the locations seem to be fine here as well. He provides a backing plate and locknuts. But I decided I wanted the backing plate and nuts to be permanently captured so I didn’t have to reach inside the doors to mount and remove the mirrors. Especially since I’m planning door cards that will close the openings in the doors, and also because the mirrors are pretty wide and I may have to remove if/when using my existing trailer. So I made new backing plates out of 16 gauge steel and captured some flanged nuts with a second piece of aluminum and a 6-32 bolt. No pictures, but a simple fabrication and now bonded in place at the two mirror locations inside the doors. Mirrors are very solid, and easy to take on/off from the outside only with a ball end hex driver.





Two more items off the list! Doesn’t get old seeing this sitting in my garage.



Tomorrow we have a club event that should be pretty amazing. I’ll find out how much I can talk about it after it’s over. Kinda sorta a track day unlike anything I’ve done with the Roadster. Stay tuned.

[GoDadGo]

Great Job As Always!

How Hard Was It To Sand?

Looks Picture Perfect To Me!

[edwardb]

Great Job As Always!

How Hard Was It To Sand?

Looks Picture Perfect To Me!

Thanks! First order of business is to apply the HSRF so that minimal sanding is required. In this case, I did have some squeeze through the bottom in a couple places. One I cut off with a hacksaw. The rest I sanded down with a drum sander on my Dremel. No way I would have tried those with hand sanding. But the balance was hand sanded with 80 grit paper on various sanding blocks. I've found the 80 grit cloth backed sandpaper roll from HF (https://www.harborfreight.com/2-34-i...oll-63334.html) is decent quality and relatively economical for what it is. Of course with obligatory 20% off coupons. One of the keys is you just have to change paper a lot. Once it stops cutting, start another piece. That's a carryover from my woodworking days I guess. I found people all the time that complained something was hard to sand, and the problem was their sandpaper was worn out and not cutting. You also have to realize HSRF will never feather out like regular filler. Partly because of the 80 grit paper but also just the nature of HSRF. 3M even says in their own literature "...for non-fairing applications." I also usually try to sand after curing only an hour or two. Fills the paper a little more, but sands a bit easier.

[Erik W. Treves]

mine is/was the exact same way.... i just put a seal on the window side... course mine was painted.... then I got my windows

[edwardb]

Another one of my to-do items was to address the Gen 3 Coyote engine cover. Dressing up the Coyote is not an easy task, and Ford made the Gen 3 even more difficult with the added plumbing for the Direct Injection (DI) system. With the additions, they gave up on coil covers and extended the intake manifold cover to hover over the heads. For the Mustang, this meant fitting them around the shock towers and other underhood components. So made for a “different” look to say the least.



Mocked up in the Gen 3 Coupe, didn’t look too great either. Plus is too wide for the chassis and too high for the cowl.



Needless to say, something is needed to cover some of this up.



First thing I did was whack off the oddly shaped extensions or wings as they’re affectionally called.



Reasonable start, but decided I wanted some type of extensions that would cover more up but look like they belonged. And fit in the available space. Factory Five put a Gen 3 Coyote in a 33 Hot Rod. Has an aftermarket intake, but they fabricated some extensions that went over the heads a bit, and that was an additional inspiration. Even though mine didn’t turn out anything like theirs.

First thing I did was make some mockups out of cardboard. Played with different shapes, widths, etc. I ended up with them about 4-1/2 inches wide and shaped to sort of follow the lines of the existing intake cover. Wider would have covered up more. But just looked out of proportion to me. Plus started covering things up like the oil filler and dipstick. Then decided needed to do something to dress up the extensions. Considered routing some slots, like Factory Five did, but didn’t care for that look. Plus exposed what I was trying to cover up. Played around with a bead roller borrowed from a build buddy. Haven’t ever used anything like that. Had a little trouble getting straight lines. But in the end didn’t matter. It distorted the aluminum I wanted to use way too much. Plus it was kind of an old school hot rod look that didn’t really fit with the theme of the car or the more modern angular existing cover. What I finalized on was some 1/4-strips glued and riveted to the covers. Sort of matching some similar lines on the existing cover and had a look I was happy with. I don’t pretend to be a designer or particularly artistic, so this was the best I could come up with. Also considering what tools and capabilities I have. I am happy with the result though. Even though as usual it was more work and took longer than I expected.

What I did was trim the existing plastic cover down to where it was straight and had a 1/4-inch wide flat on the underside. Then made filler pieces from 1-inch wide by 1/4-inch thick aluminum. Bonded these to the underside of the cover with JB Weld plastic bonder, available at HD. Probably there is something out there more exotic that is stronger. But I drilled and tapped for some 4-40 flat head screws that add some additional mechanical strength. It’s sitting against a rib on the underside that has a filet of bonder against it. Bottom line, there isn’t a lot of stress and I don’t think it’s going anywhere. Then I made the extensions out of .040 aluminum, held onto the bottom of the 1/4-inch strip with a row of 4-40 screws. Then added the 1/4-inch strips on the top. Used JB Weld to stick down and hold. Then added 1/16-inch flat head rivets.

With the cover in place, found it was unstable in the front. The four balls that plug into grommets in the intake are toward the back of the cover and didn’t provide much support at the front. Ford also obviously saw this, because the Gen 3 cover has two added mounting points on the heads at the front. I made some brackets out of 16-gauge steel that matched up with those and attached to the bottom of the extensions. It’s a little bit of a dexterity test to reach under the extensions and start the nuts. But not something I expect to do too often and gives just the right amount of stability.

Enough talk. Here’s the final product. Just bare metal now. Will paint the body color when the car is painted along with the darker color plastic on the existing cover. The lighter color will stay the way it is. Hard to get a good angle with the cowl in the way, plus it’s a little bright in the shop with the sun shining. But I’ll take that after all the rain we’ve had. First picture from the bottom showing how it's put together. Then the finished side with it installed.







That’s it for a few days. Tomorrow prep for London including installing the new windshield in my Roadster. Assuming FedEx delivers on time. Yep, joined the broken windshield club while sitting in the garage last Monday/Tuesday. Hope to catch up with some of you in London. Looking forward to it as always.

[Jim1855]

Paul,

Looks great, as usual. Body color will accent things.

See you in London.

Jim

[Straversi]

Bravo!
-Steve

[Desert Snake]

Spectacular and innovative. I didn't think there was a way to make that cover look good.

[RodneyArcher]

Paul, amazingly cool like always! Am I correct in the fact that the drive-train is offset in the coupe as it is in the roadster?

[edwardb]

Am I correct in the fact that the drive-train is offset in the coupe as it is in the roadster?

Yes, exactly the same.

[GoDadGo]

Paul,

Regarding the offset of the engine to the passenger side, is the transmission tunnel area centered or is it offset too.
Also, how much room is in the tunnel compared to the MK-4?

Steve

[edwardb]

Paul,

Regarding the offset of the engine to the passenger side, is the transmission tunnel area centered or is it offset too.
Also, how much room is in the tunnel compared to the MK-4?

Steve

Best I can tell the tunnel area is centered. The picture below from an early mock-up is what I have that shows it best. Even though not directly underneath. You can see the engine is to the right, the motor mounts are slightly different side-to-side, the bell and transmission have wider gaps on one side than the other, the transmission mount plate is offset, and the tailshaft at the chassis "X" is offset. All about the same amount. There is significantly more room in the transmission area than in a Roadster. That's a T-56 and fits easily. Would even drop out pretty easily without pulling the engine. Even though I have no plans to do it of course. A T-56 in a Roadster is very tight. Right against the tunnel on both sides and well over the rear chassis cross member.

[shark92651]

Talk about making a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. Great job Paul. I think some matching body paint of even a hydro dip and it’s going to look great.

[GoDadGo]

Thanks Paul!

I still don't think I'd be up to tackling one of these cars.
The MK-4 was so much easier.
Maybe one day.

Steve

[q4stix]

I think you did a really great job with that idea! Having it scuffed, polished, or powder coated can all work well for those pieces.

[edwardb]

It’s been a while since my last update. Have been getting in some good work sessions. So, some progress to report. Did take a 4+ day break to attend the annual London Cobra Show. This was, I think, our tenth year attending. Although the first couple of years were without a car and just looking and learning. Enjoyed the event like always. The new format with a single venue was a nice improvement. The weather didn’t look promising on Thursday. But weather on each following day was great. Friday took a nice cruise and of course the parade and downtown London event on Saturday. I was asked to have my Roadster in the Factory Five display again and enjoyed talking with lots of people and meeting several forum members in person. It was an honor to have Dave greet us personally when we drove in. (Shameless name dropping, sorry.) There was an “incident” on the charity rides as has been reported elsewhere, so won’t go into that. Fortunately, the police allowed things to continue. Just keeping the speeds down. I did three passes in the afternoon and I think my riders got their money’s worth. I’m not sure who had more fun though. For my street driving (and conservative approach) I don’t get to stretch the Roadster and Coyote out very often. I was amazed again what that thing will do when pushed hard. What a rush. The inside banquet on Saturday night was very nice. My wife said she missed the muddy grass floor and bugs biting her ankles from the previous outdoor under the big top venue. I didn’t. Another great contribution to CF and the winner of the raffle car wasn’t in the room or on the phone. That doesn’t ever seem to change. Sunday’s drive home was another nice day and an easy drive. With the Roadster in the SE of course. Already looking forward to next year and taking the Coupe as I’ve promised lots of folks. If you haven’t attended the London show before, you won’t be disappointed. Especially with the latest changes. Back to the build thread…

Continue to work through my punch list before paint. Mostly finished the wiper installation. The Specialty Power Windows setup I described previously is now all hooked up and working with the final tube bent and installed. It took several tries but settled on the 130-degree setting for the sweep. Gives good coverage combined with the 15-inch blades. It’s nice being able to set the sweep and tailor them exactly to the installation. One hint though. I had run them very briefly while wiring some weeks ago. Just to confirm they ran, parked, etc. Not a good idea without being in packed in grease like the instructions show. Didn’t do any permanent damage, but much more and I could have.

Also mostly finished up the washers. Probably something not too many mess around with, and I can kind of see why. But I’ve sweet talked my way through inspection three times without, even though they’re specifically mentioned on the inspection form. Plus, the wiper switch I’m using has the washer function built in. So decided to go for it. The Denso tank and pump I picked out and mounted works great. I had purchased the small Lucas style spray nozzles from **********. However, mounted on the cowl not far from the windshield they didn’t work all that great. Only put out a small stream that either hit right at the base of the windshield, or with the slightest adjustment all the way over the windshield and onto the back hatch glass. Impressive, but not exactly what I was going for. With a lot of looking, settled on these from Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1. For the low price, I wasn’t expecting much. But they had good reviews and actually work perfectly. My next thought was to go to some type of a wet blade setup. But I'm done messing with this.

Another item on my list is door cards. Still a work in progress, but made some patterns out of cardboard, settled on the basic design, and cut from 1/8-inch hardboard. The tape is where the hole is at in the inner door. I want to use that space somehow for a pocket, but still deciding what to do. I also want to add some kind of door pull but looking at options there too. The door cards will be vinyl wrapped, with some portion being the carbon fiber style covering I have in the seats and showed before on the instrument cluster and center switch panel. That plus red stitching like I’ll be using elsewhere. Little bit to go here obviously.





Finally, have spent quite a bit of time working on my headers and side pipes. I’m still a couple weeks at least away from finally explaining further and showing details. But really making some progress and I’m excited about how this is going to turn out. Also excited because I’ll be able to run the engine again, which I haven’t been able to do since the body is on. Also do a couple drives up/down the street. I missed the go-kart stage because that was during the winter. The first start and initial engine runs were with Roadster side pipes that don’t fit now. Anyway, I know you guys like teasers, so here’s mine for today.

[Lou95gts]

Hi,
Thank you for the detailed build story. I'm nearing the finish of my Gen 3 build. You mentioned and pictured a few updated aluminium panels like the ones for the front wheel wells and the small pieces for rear upper wheel wells. Are there any more panel updates that are available and did FFR just ship them to you?
Thanks in advance,
Lou