Seths 33- 1133. Famous guy donut post.

[sethmark]

Since today is my completion date with factory five, I figured I’d go ahead and start a thread. This is my second factory five car, the first being a mark 1/2 from 2001 which I finished in 2013. It was a car that a buddy mine had started and couldn’t get through.


This car is an engineering project for my 12-year-old daughter. She is a math whiz and ultimately wants to go to MIT. I figured we would start a project together so that she can learn all sorts of skills that will translate through the rest of her life.

The basics of this car will not deviate much. We are building a full-bodied roadster with the 32 hood and grill. I tend to like a more traditional line, so to start with we’re going to use piecrust style tires and wheels and I’ll probably do a low profile set later on...

Drivetrain
LQ9 HO 6.0L LS
TKO 600
MPS 8.8 with a 355 gear and limited slip
American racing salt flats

While the car is done today, I don’t have a delivery date from Stewart yet. However, parts have been ordered and are starting to flow.

[FF33rod]

Excellent, welcome back! love father/kid projects, look forward to seeing your build progress...

[Straversi]

Love the plan and the inspiration. Big fan of the pie crust tire look and also favor the new 32 grill. I’ll watch this one closely. Your daughter is already a lock at MIT since no one else will have an application letter like hers.
-Steve

[sethmark]

Thanks. Garage is prepped. $300 window unit rules.... it’s 99 outside and 76 in the garage. Genius.

[sethmark]

I have a delivery window!!! 2 weeks out give or take. That will work out great. Excited to move forward.

[sethmark]

Someday.... this is gonna be a car...

[sethmark]

Another piece of the puzzle. Hopefully the car will arrive shorty. Expecting it in a day or two.

[sethmark]

Stewart called. Tomorrow.

[sethmark]

Hell yeah brother!!

[FF33rod]

Congrats! let the games begin....

[JimLev]

Have fun, enjoy the build.
Good to see your using an LS, lots of potential upgrades can be found everywhere.

[coolair247]

What brand is your lift and where did you purchase it?

[sethmark]

Done! Lol

[sethmark]

What brand is your lift and where did you purchase it?

Bendpak md-6xp. I bought it used but summit will ship for free. Worth every penny. This will be the 4th car that lives on it for months. Plus it’s great for everything else. My suburban will go on it safely.

[sread]

Great choice on the wheels/tires! I'm going for the old school look also. Can you share the specs/sizes of the wheels and tires? and which brakes you are using.

[sethmark]

Great choice on the wheels/tires! I'm going for the old school look also. Can you share the specs/sizes of the wheels and tires? and which brakes you are using.

Theyre coker Firestone 10-16 Cheater slicks with a 5-16 Firestone dirt track front. 16" wheel. I bought the small brake package from an sn95 rear and the standard brake from ffr. Might still need a small spacer to clear. TBD. Wheels and tires were on the steel 33 ffr built for SEMA.

[sethmark]

6 hours later we made it through inventory. Not awful on the POL or missed parts. Good job FFR!

The body is officially in my dining room.

[coolair247]

Thanks!

[sethmark]

Thanks!

You’re most welcome. I’m amazed that guys build cars without a lift. I’ve run the car up and down at least 10 times already.

[sethmark]

In house powder coat is convenient.

[sethmark]

First parts out of oven.

[sethmark]

I’m a pragmatic man and this works for me.

[sethmark]

First assembled parts. SFSG. Kid is engaged and helpful.

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[sethmark]

Decided, perhaps foolishly, to gloss black exposed parts. I’ve prepped the heck out of the powder coat. Hopefully the chassis black will bond nicely. It’s got a ton of ceramic in it...


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[sethmark]

Rear axle made an appearance finally. The front tires are excellent for moving it around!

All the suspension parts have been assembled and prepped. My daughter and I should have the car rolling by the weekend.

[sethmark]

Rear.

Tip: Coil overs fit in slot towards rear of car. Ffr shipped the wrong spacers.

Second tip: Bottom of coil over is 1” spacer, coilover, .125” spacer. Also not as described.

[sethmark]

I hate to do things twice but I really hate doing things wrong. The satin powder coat on the frame was wrong. Needed to be a prismatic gloss black. So. Back to powder.

[duff33]

You will find that is common to "put it together and take it apart" over and over

[sethmark]

You will find that is common to "put it together and take it apart" over and over

Yeah. I know. Three times for everything.

[sethmark]

Waiting for chassis to return from powder.....

[sethmark]

Today I’ll be brutally honest... The hardest part of this whole process is teaching and not fussing.


With the chassis still in powder coat, we moved on to prepping parts for installation. I figured we would learn how to do a little stainless steel polishing. Probably the least likely part for anyone to ever see, but the clutch and brake switches are now mirror.

And she’s gonna be WIDE.

[TxMike64]

I see you left your calipers on the back of the axle housing... Have a plan for the e-brake cables?

[sethmark]

I see you left your calipers on the back of the axle housing... Have a plan for the e-brake cables?

Update on this....
this is the cable to use. Plenty long and works perfectly. No caliper changes.

Raybestos BC95740 Professional Grade Parking Brake Cable

[TxMike64]

...Is there something I’m missing?

I believe the manual says to swap the calipers and brackets left-to-right to put the calipers on the front of the housing. The main reason given is so the e-brake cables reach.

I'm trying to find out for sure what everyone is doing, as I'm refreshing my 8.8 and need to know if I actually do need to swap the brackets and calipers. I don't really want to pull the axles if I don't need to.

[sethmark]

The cables I posted are right.
On another note, I finally got the frame back from powder. Time to assemble in earnest.

[sethmark]

Front and rear suspension is in the books. Spindles, front brakes and hubs are all prepped. Nice and easy.

6EEA0E4D-311D-45D6-B08A-087C30318616.jpg

Tip. Pancake porta power makes opening brackets super easy and scratch free.

D89601EF-3245-497E-A108-A785663CDAA7.jpg058E92BF-067E-46BE-8B76-59DF28406ECD.jpg

[sethmark]

-Getting the toeboard’s in and out without scratching the powder coat is an utter challenge. I have video of both if anyone is interested. I may just post it.


For the GEN two guys that have installed the firewall already, I have some overlap over the door frame. Should I trim this back and flush? Additionally, how good a gap did you get between the toe boards and the firewall itself?

[FF33rod]

overlap with the door frame? Are you referring to your first pic? if so, that extended bit of the firewall is what attaches to the body just forward of the door... so no, you don't trim it flush. (I'm pretty sure the construction in this area hasn't been changed with Gen 2).

Steve

[sethmark]

Thanks, Steve. That’s what I’m referring to. I guess my next step is to try and get the car more level on the lift, and then level the firewall.

[peterh226]

Put a block on the frame at the entrance to the Transmission tunnel. This sets the height of the firewall - its flush that piece or tubing. Everything lined up great from there. Putting the the lower pieces is a test of your problem solving skills. Some ways it drops right in, other ways it will never fit!