Papa's MKIV Roadster Build - #9115 (Post Grad) - One million + views!!!

[Aircontroller]

Lol!

Uhhh - NO!

[h3towel]

I ordered my kit on the 21st of this month and am chomping at the bit to get it in so I can start working on it. Looking at your progress pictures, makes the wait even worse!!

[Papa]

I ordered my kit on the 21st of this month and am chomping at the bit to get it in so I can start working on it. Looking at your progress pictures, makes the wait even worse!!

[Papa]

Today I continued working through my punch list. I got the door limiter straps installed. I tapped the holes on the 2" square tube and used stainless #10-24 screws to secure the strap hardware. Next, I spet some time going over the car with the Wizards glaze that Jeff sent home with the car. This paint is deep!



I love the way the light plays off the color.



Next up -- clear spats.



And for the majority of the day, I spent time getting the driver's side seatbelts installed.



Let's just say I'm not looking forward to doing the passenger side.

It's coming together and really looks like a car now. I have an appointment with an appraiser next Friday to get a value for my insurance company.

[Higgybulin]

It's coming together and really looks like a car now. I have an appointment with an appraiser next Friday to get a value for my insurance company.

I'll save you some time...PRICELESS!!
Higgy

[Papa]

I'll save you some time...PRICELESS!!
Higgy

I thought you were going to give me some secret way to quickly install the Simpsons.

[Papa]

I had an appointment with an appraiser today, so I took the day off to meet with him. He seemed pretty impressed with the car and indicated I would have no problem getting a valuation for my agreed value insurance policy that exceeds my total build cost. That was reassuring and I should have the report in a few days.

After the appraiser left, I got a couple more of my punch list items taken care of. I put the brake duct screen in and worked on an electrical gremlin in the tail lights that took quite a bit of time to resolve. For some reason, I couldn't get a proper Weatherpack connection and kept getting intermittent or shorted connections. At the end of the day, everything is working properly again.

I started on the door sill carpet and I'm not very pleased with the results so far. I think I'm going to look into fabricating some aluminum door sills that I can powder coat black or find an upholstery shop that can make something that looks better.

Hopefully, I'll be able to get the car up on the lift tomorrow and get the side pipe hangers installed.

[RJD]

Just curious to see how others did it - how did you secure your brake duct screen? I went this route:

1830915E-DD27-43D7-A148-1FC8F183806D.jpg

95B8D244-AC53-49D1-8A0C-3CFEA8E1A46F.jpg

Your car is looking good by the way....

Edit: Sorry the pictures posted 90 degrees off.

[Papa]

Just curious to see how others did it - how did you secure your brake duct screen? I went this route:

1830915E-DD27-43D7-A148-1FC8F183806D.jpg

95B8D244-AC53-49D1-8A0C-3CFEA8E1A46F.jpg

Your car is looking good by the way....

Edit: Sorry the pictures posted 90 degrees off.

Well, I like how you did yours, but I went low tech and just siliconed my screens in.

[Papa]

Another beautiful day in Colorado with the temp approaching 70 degrees. I got the car up on the lift today and installed the Gas-N side pipe hangers. Earlier in the day, I jacked up the driver's side of the car and quickly had a puddle of gas forming on the passenger side. I'd put a 5-gallon can in earlier. I lowered the car and sure enough, it's leaking out of the tank at the filler tube. I'd ordered the Ford gasket/seal a while ago, thankfully, and went ahead and replaced it.

Here's what the original looked like:



I still need to do the passenger side seat belts and door sill carpet. Then I'll get the top on it and make sure everything still lines up and fits.

[mad_dr]

It’s funny; almost 2 years since you posted your first start-up video and, having read through the whole thread (and made some notes along the way for my own future project), I’m grinning from ear to ear to see it roar into life! Thanks for sharing your journey so far! Andy

[Cruzzz]

Papa - What is this alternate filler gasket you speak of? Sounds like I might need to consider swapping the original one out while I’m still building. Thanks! : )

[Papa]

It’s funny; almost 2 years since you posted your first start-up video and, having read through the whole thread (and made some notes along the way for my own future project), I’m grinning from ear to ear to see it roar into life! Thanks for sharing your journey so far! Andy

I appreciate the comments and you're welcome. I started this thread to show how a guy with very minimal mechanical experience could build one of these and enjoy the process along the way. The many generous builders on this forum that helped me through the sticky spots are the number one reason that it's possible. The second is the quality of the FFR kit and the engineering that FFR has put into the design, fabrication, and assembly of the parts that come with the kit.

Dave

[Papa]

Papa - What is this alternate filler gasket you speak of? Sounds like I might need to consider swapping the original one out while I’m still building. Thanks! : )

F4ZZ9072DA Fuel Tank Filler Neck Grommet Seal/Gasket -- I got mine form Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[KDubU]

You’re almost there! Good luck with the second belt, I hated having to install those sad well and maybe I was doing it wrong but getting into the trunk and getting them attached right really pushed my patience.

[Papa]

I'm definitely on the home stretch now! Today I got the passenger side seatbelts installed. While I had the seat out, I tackled another nagging item on my to-do list. When I first installed the e-brake boot, I pretty much destroyed it trying to get the screws installed. I'd ordered a replacement from FFR and today I followed my plan B and installed snaps on the cover; much better results and easy to remove if I ever need to.

[GTBradley]

Where is your temp tag post? The Mile Hi Cobra Club is going to the Shelby American Museum in Boulder, then lunch and then the Ford versus Ferrari movie on Saturday. You gotta be there! Evan and I are going in the Cobra, no matter the temperature!

[Papa]

Where is your temp tag post? The Mile Hi Cobra Club is going to the Shelby American Museum in Boulder, then lunch and then the Ford versus Ferrari movie on Saturday. You gotta be there! Evan and I are going in the Cobra, no matter the temperature!

That's not happening any time soon. My work schedule is killing me right now and taking time off to run back and forth to the DMV isn't in the picture. I'll try to get the VIN process started over the two-week holiday break I'm taking, weather permitting.

[GTBradley]

I figured as much. Anyway, what made the gas tank gasket fail? Should I be watching for this?

[Papa]

I figured as much. Anyway, what made the gas tank gasket fail? Should I be watching for this?

I think mine failed as a result of movement of the filler tube during the build as well as the quality of the rubber. The one provided with the kit seemed to become brittle. When I got the car back from paint, it smelled like gas sitting in the garage. I chocked it up to the EFI operating rich. It wasn't until I added more gas in the tank and jacked the car on one side that it revealed the failed seal visually as a puddle of gas on the floor.

[Papa]

Today I finished installing the passenger-side seatbelts, installed the hardware for the top (two post mounts just behind the doors), floor mats, and the hood and trunk emblems. For the hood emblems, I removed the posts and applied a dab of clear silicone and stuck the front 11.5" from the front edge of the nose (**********'s recommendation).



I just eyeballed the rear and stuck it where I felt it looked right. Just one part left to install that I'm waiting on and it'll be done (enough) to start the Colorado VIN process. I still have work to do on the door sills -- more to come on that once I have all the parts and see if what I have in my head will work.

Another milestone achieved today was hitting 250,000 views on my build thread!

[Aircontroller]

Not surprising. Excellent documentation and tremendous looking project!

Today I finished installing the passenger-side seatbelts, installed the hardware for the top (two post mounts just behind the doors), floor mats, and the hood and trunk emblems. For the hood emblems, I removed the posts and applied a dab of clear silicone and stuck the front 11.5" from the front edge of the nose (**********'s recommendation).



I just eyeballed the rear and stuck it where I felt it looked right. Just one part left to install that I'm waiting on and it'll be done (enough) to start the Colorado VIN process. I still have work to do on the door sills -- more to come on that once I have all the parts and see if what I have in my head will work.

Another milestone achieved today was hitting 250,000 views on my build thread!

[Higgybulin]

Congrats on the 1/4 MIL views Dave, great thread from start to finish!! You have the car to prove it!
Higgy

[cv2065]

Man that paint job is incredible. I think I can see the size of the bulbs printed on your overhead lights...

[ydousurf]

Congrats Dave on reaching that milestone! Now, go put that many on the car And I'm sure I'll add couple hundred more to the count before I'm through...

Dj

[Pat427]

Congrats on the 250K views. Although, you should probably know that at least 100K of those views were probably me.

[Papa]

I received the rearview mirror I ordered a couple of weeks ago and attached it to the windshield today using the recommended adhesive.

[Papa]

I was too busy with the holiday and family over the weekend to get the last part of my build wrapped up, but I did get the CoverCraft cover on the car.



Excellent quality product!

[Papa]

I had my car appraised for my agreed value insurance policy by a reputable appraiser. He scored the car a full 100 points! My insurance company accepted his valuation and the car is now fully insured (agreed value). Now I just need to get a VIN and register the car to be legal.

[FF33rod]

Looking fantastic Dave! Which rear view mirror and mount is that?
Steve

[Papa]

Looking fantastic Dave! Which rear view mirror and mount is that?
Steve

Thanks! The mirror is from these guys: https://www.smoothparts.com/products_mirrors.php

I ordered the 1-1/4" glue-on version.

[Snake_Mojo]

As a newbie, this is my first post to the Factory Five Forum. I just wanted to let Papa (Dave) know that I think his build thread is outstanding. The amount of content appears to be just right. There is sufficient questions and answers being posed by both Papa and readers to ensure discussion is productive. You were also very patient when it came to taking time to insure you were doing things right before proceeding.

I've noticed that several of the builders of Factory Five Cars have gone onto build one or more additional cars after their initial build. I would imagine that in each of their successive builds they end up making some process improvements that results in a nicer finished product. I was wondering is you would consider putting together a short lessons learned summary that would illustrate what you would do different if you were going to build another car.

Thanks Again for sharing your build.

Snake_ Mojo
(Craig from Morrison, CO)

[Papa]

Craig,

That's a great idea about describing what I would do differently and why as a wrap up to this thread. We're practically neighbors, so just let me know if would like to come by sometime and chat with the car right in front of us.

By the way, I work right down the road from Morrison in Waterton Canyon.

Dave

[Snake_Mojo]

Dave,

I also worked on two separate occasions in Waterton Canyon from 1984 to 1998, then went to work for a sub-contractor located in Centennial. I primarily worked on the electronics side and was a Quality Engineer. Not sure that our paths ever crossed. I would like to see your car in person, but I can wait until it warms up in the spring or summer. If you are going to be at a car show let me know via an email and I will see if I can make it by.

Craig

[Papa]

I finished the door sills today. The carpet pieces that come with the kit are really goofy to work with, so I bought some matching black carpet and redid them so that they fit better. I also didn't like the way the corner looked with two cut edges being on a likely high-traffic area. To address this, I made some edge guards out of aluminum 1/2 x 3/4 angle stock and bent and installed with rivets. Right now, based on my better half's recommendation, they are bare aluminum with a simple brushed finish created with a Scotch-Brite pad.





At this point, the car is basically finished! I still need to set the final ride height and get the front end aligned. I also want to have a Holley expert tune the car's EFI to get it dialed in better, although it is running pretty smoothly right now; just a little on the rich side still.

I also had the privilege of meeting another forum member and his father today, who came by to check out the car and chat about the build process.

[GoDadGo]

Very Cool Papa Dave!

[Papa]

Okay, I’m declaring my build complete! My parts shelves are empty and the seemingly endless stream of boxes from Breeze, Mike Everson, Boig Motorsports, Gas-N, and lots of other places to spend money on these cars has stopped...mostly.

As a recommendation from a reader of this build thread, I’ll share my thoughts on what I’d do differently if I were to build another one of these.

First, I would have saved up a little more money and done the IRS vs. 3-link. There isn’t anything wrong with the 3-link, but the IRS is just so cool looking. I’m sure it also would provide a smoother ride and is more desirable from a resale perspective.

I would have done powder coating on all the aluminum panels rather than the rattle can bed liner I used. A smoother, more durable finish for not a lot of extra money.

I probably would have done the engine compartment battery mount from Breeze vs. the FFMetal under the trunk floor location. With the car assembled, it looks like it may be interesting to get the battery out when the time comes. I know it will come out, but not fun to do so.

I would have done the drop trunk mod. It’s really small in the trunk, so nothing with any height will fit.

I would have done the Russ Thompson turn signal setup. I eventually installed self-cancelling turn signals in my car, but it’s not the same as a stalk on the column.

I would have ordered the 18” wheels when I ordered the kit instead of the 17” and then buying the 18” wheels later.

The general theme is that if you think you want it and are trying to convince yourself that you can do without, get it! You’ll be much happier in the end.

Last, but certainly not least, I want to thank everyone that helped me along the way or provided needed words of encouragement to get me to this point. There are simply too many to list, but you know who you are. This forum has been the single most valuable tool in my build's tool box. For those that are new to the forum and find it as useful as I do, please consider becoming a supporting member. You can PM David Hodgkins for more information.

Dave

[Aircontroller]

Thank you Dave for your recommendations....and congrats!

[cv2065]

You're at the end Dave. I hope you enjoy the ride and thanks for the help and inspiration along the way. I've referenced your thread more times than I can count. One last question....Where'd ya get the clear spatz...

[RJD]

Congratulations, and thank you for taking us along on your journey via your build thread. You have a beautiful car to be proud of. Well done!