JB in NOVA's MK4 build : First overnight road trip!

[Fman]

Lookin' good! That is a really sweet color combo... you will be on the road soon!

[rthomas98]

I have been following the painting on this vendors FB page (being careful as I don't think they are a vendor on this forum). I saw this roadster come up and all the progress and thought it was yours. It is looking fantastic. Really liking the colors.

[NYMike]

Looks great JB! Great choice on the colors.

[Blitzboy54]

Love, love, love the black pin stripe.

It’s subtle but really makes it pop

[JB in NOVA]

Well this is exciting! No. 9822 being loaded up in Dahlonega, Georgia tonight, getting ready for her trip back to northern Virginia. Thanks Mike, and thanks Carl!





God speed, and safe travels!

[jrcuz]

WOW JB, so nice!
JR

[NYMike]

Wow! Looks incredible JB.

[VAHokie]

Congrats, JB! Look forward to seeing it in-person.

[JB in NOVA]

Here’s a picture of me driving the freshly painted Roadster back into my driveway on Saturday afternoon. The whole family (including the dog) came out to watch. That was two days ago, and I still can’t wipe that silly grin off my face!



I smile every time I walk into the garage and see this:



I used the downtime while it was being painted to get all the DMV paperwork completed and processed. So #9822 is now fully titled and registered in Virginia, and street legal!



Today, I took it for an alignment, and boy what a difference that made! My do-it-yourself alignment using strings, a ruler, and a protractor was, to put it mildly, not even close:



Ha ha! Out of eight front-end specs, I only had one in range. But the mechanic at our local performance shop had no problem getting it properly aligned, and it makes all the difference in the world. No more twitchiness – she drives like a dream. Still lots to do (carpeting, upholstery, nose aluminum, etc.). But progress continues . . .

[rthomas98]

that is looking absolutely fantastic.

[RJD]

Looks beautiful. Congrats!

[jrcuz]

Super nice JB, love it.
JR

[John Ibele]

Fantastic, JB. Way to go!

[460.465USMC]

Incredible, JB! Congrats on a beautiful build!

[Blitzboy54]

Looks fantastic. I’m smiling for you

[WIS89]

JB-

She looks A-mazing!! When I saw your picture, I had to smile too! I totally understand how you must feel; how rewarding!!

It's great that you got the paperwork hassle out of the way too, and the plate looks perfect.

Good luck as you wrap things up, and I look forward to your first drive videos after she's all done! Thanks for letting us along for the ride brother!!

Regards,

Steve

[Fman]

Congratulations!!!! You built one sweet looking ride, enjoy the heck out of it... awesome looking build and fun to follow your journey!

Super stoked for you... pretty cool seeing cars that were delivered off "our" same stewart truck being finished up!

[JB in NOVA]

It’s been a fun couple weeks driving the painted roadster around town. I’m constantly asking everyone in my family, “hey, do you need me to pick up anything in town? Anything at all?” Basically looking for any excuse to take the car out. I took my dad out for a cruise, and then my brother who was visiting from California. My brother asked, "when do I get to drive it?" I said, "never." I believe that's the appropriate response.

Anyway, the time has come to put the roadster back on jacks to finish some after-body projects.



First up was mounting the wheel liners. I got these from VRaptor (see post #33 here: https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...eel-well-liner). They are very nice products and fit quite well. For the rears, I left the elephant ears in place (trimming a bit of the bulb seal to make room), then I attached the liners at the rear to the elephant ears and at the front to the frame rail and the back of the rear cockpit sheet metal. This seems to capture the rear liners pretty securely:



For the front liners, I again left the elephant ears in place and secured the rear of the liners to them. In the front, I fabricated a simple L-bracket to attach the liner to the frame rail:



Overall, I am very pleased with these liners, and they will definitely help keep water and dirt away from the interior of the car, as well as protect the undersides of the fenders from flying rocks.

[egchewy79]

those liners look great. I might be hitting shane up for a set...

[Jim Wehr]

JB Your car looks great! I'm a little late to the party but I just read your entire build thread. I am also in NOVA (Hamilton, near Leesburg). We have a fairly active group at www.Capitolareacobraclub.com We have some great events locally. Check us out if you haven't yet. Hope to see you around town.
Jim

[JB in NOVA]

I’m still working my way through the post-paint punch list. This week, I mainly focused on the nose/radiator items. First, I installed a sheet of Nomex material to protect the radiator fins. I got the Nomex sheet from Speedway (https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Nomex...-22,29432.html). The material is easy to work with; a utility knife and a straight edge is all you need. I cut a piece to size then spray painted it with high-temperature aluminum paint https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 It took two full cans because the honeycomb structure creates a lot of surface area to cover.

Next, I followed GTBradley’s advice and used a piece of aluminum Z-bar to mount the Nomex panel over the radiator. Here are GTBradley’s excellent instructions: https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...pproved/page10. (see posts 370-372). I bought the Z-bar from Orange aluminum. One thing I noticed, however, is that a ½ inch height Z-bar is not quite enough to accommodate the ½ inch thick Nomex sheet. It seems the 1/16 thickness of the Z-bar itself results in a “gap” that is only 7/16 wide, instead of the required 1/2 inch. You can see the gap I’m talking about here:



No big deal. This was easy to solve by gluing a strip of aluminum to the inside of the Z-bar to shim it out a bit for a wider gap. But if you decide to use GTBradley’s Z-bar method, I recommend ordering a 5/8” height Z-bar product like this one: https://www.orangealuminum.com/z-bars-oa9242-6m.html. That should work perfectly.
Here’s the Z-bar riveted to the radiator and the Nomex screen in place:



Next, I installed the brake duct screens, which I purchased from Factory Five. Nothing complicated about it, although it is a bit tedious. I trimmed the screens to fit closely because it’s tight in that area. Once I had a good fit, I used the “paint stick” method to hold them in place and then used silicon caulk to adhere them to the inside of the body:



I’m happy with the result. It’s a small detail, but I think it helps provide a more finished look:

[JB in NOVA]

Next, I installed Mike Everson’s nose aluminum panel (http://replicaparts.com/Roadster%20a...nel%20page.htm) . This is a really nice piece, but I must say it took me quite a bit of time and work to get it in place. Let me first say that if you are concerned about being able to safely insert the piece through the radiator opening of a freshly painted car, don’t be. It folds up and fits through the opening just fine. I taped all the painted edges just to be safe, but there really were no problems there.

That said, the installation itself was quite tedious. There are several reasons for this, including: (1) it is a big, wobbly, awkward piece of aluminum with lots of curves and angles; (2) because of this, it isn’t easy to tell where you need to trim to get it to fit properly; (3) every time you trim, you have to remove and then re-install the bulb seal; and (4) when it fits properly it will recess into a body groove moving everything forward ¾ inch, so you have to “imagine” this final fitment as you are trimming and adjusting—it is only at the very end that everything falls into place.

Anyway, I got it done. I can’t really tell you all the trims I made, but this should give you some idea of the process:



Once I got it to fit, I coated the visible surfaces with bed liner:



Once it is trimmed properly, it goes in very easily with just two rivets in the upper corners. Here is the final result:



Overall, I am happy with the product. It provides a nice, finished look to the grill area. But be prepared to spend some “quality time” in your garage to get it installed!

[jrcuz]

Looking good JB. I remember painting my Nomex, just used black rattle cans it does need a lot of paint from all angles.
JR

[jrcuz]

JB your bucket of trimmings looks about like what I took off of mine.
JR

[BadAsp427]

JB, man I thought the car looked fantastic when I dropped it off at your place, but your additional touches are really bringing it all together... Nice work and beautiful car.

[460.465USMC]

My brother asked, "when do I get to drive it?" I said, "never." I believe that's the appropriate response.

JB, I chuckled out loud when I read this. Then, I got to thinking I have four sons....doh!!

[Blitzboy54]

JB, I chuckled out loud when I read this. Then, I got to thinking I have four sons....doh!!

Same, my 14 year old asked when she would be allowed to drive it. "When I'm dead" was my response.

[John Ibele]

Man, what a great phase of the journey, JB ... you get to drive the car AND work on it. Keep those ideas coming, I made two notes on that last post, for whenever I get on the road. Beautiful car.

[JohnK]

Next, I installed Mike Everson’s nose aluminum panel (http://replicaparts.com/Roadster%20a...nel%20page.htm) . This is a really nice piece, but I must say it took me quite a bit of time and work to get it in place. Let me first say that if you are concerned about being able to safely insert the piece through the radiator opening of a freshly painted car, don’t be. It folds up and fits through the opening just fine. I taped all the painted edges just to be safe, but there really were no problems there.

That said, the installation itself was quite tedious. There are several reasons for this, including: (1) it is a big, wobbly, awkward piece of aluminum with lots of curves and angles; (2) because of this, it isn’t easy to tell where you need to trim to get it to fit properly; (3) every time you trim, you have to remove and then re-install the bulb seal; and (4) when it fits properly it will recess into a body groove moving everything forward ¾ inch, so you have to “imagine” this final fitment as you are trimming and adjusting—it is only at the very end that everything falls into place.

Anyway, I got it done. I can’t really tell you all the trims I made, but this should give you some idea of the process:



Once I got it to fit, I coated the visible surfaces with bed liner:



Once it is trimmed properly, it goes in very easily with just two rivets in the upper corners. Here is the final result:



Overall, I am happy with the product. It provides a nice, finished look to the grill area. But be prepared to spend some “quality time” in your garage to get it installed!

Hey JB. Very nice work! The car looks fantastic. Quick question for you on the Nomex cover + Mike Everson nose aluminum. Do you think the nose aluminum would have required trimming if you hadn't also installed the Nomex cover? I already have the aluminum piece but haven't installed it yet. I'm undecided on the Nomex cover vs. a stainless steel mesh screen that others have done. I like the idea of the Nomex cover but if using a SS screen avoids having to trim the nose aluminum that might be something to take into consideration. Do you have any more close-ups of the inside of the nose with the aluminum piece in place?

Thanks,
John

[egchewy79]

If putting the nomex under the nose aluminum, then yes, it needs to be trimmed. I'm planning on cutting the nomex to fit the opening after the aluminum is in place

[john42]

Same, my 14 year old asked when she would be allowed to drive it. "When I'm dead" was my response.

I should have mine by the end of the month and I've already had a neighbor "assume" they could burrow it for a day and take it for a drive along the coast. That is 1000000% never gonna happen.

[JB in NOVA]

Well, I’ve got almost 500 miles on the Roadster, and I’m having a blast! I’m still chipping away on some of the interior items. A couple weeks ago I managed to get the door carpeting in. I followed the suggestion of others on the forum and got those sections edged by a local upholsterer. When the two edges come together on the outside corner of the door sill, I think it makes for a cleaner look:



I was also sure to put lots of insulation in the spaces between the body and the frame in the door area. So far, so good -- I’m not feeling any heat coming into the cockpit in that area. As I mentioned in an earlier post, putting thermal insulation all around the transmission tunnel (including underneath) really helped, too.

This weekend, I got the transmission tunnel upholstered, as well as the shifter and E-brake boots. I went with a contrasting French stitch, which I think looks nice:



Because I had planned on getting the entire tunnel covered in leather, I had the adjacent carpet pieces edged before I installed them. That way, the upholsterer could just tuck the leather under those edges for a cleaner look:



Progress continues:

[jrcuz]

Man JB I like it a lot.
JR

[egchewy79]

looks super clean!

[JB in NOVA]

Not the most exiting event in my build, but I figured I would post this for completeness’s sake. From my first start, I had one symptom that bugged me. The engine ran well at speed, but at idle it would “cycle” between lean and rich. Watching the Sniper handheld, the A/F ratio would cycle between yellow and red, which caused the engine to rev, go lean, and then recover. It wasn’t terrible, but it definitely bothered me while sitting at stop lights. I was hoping the self-learning Sniper EFI computer would eventually cure this, but it didn’t.

A couple weeks ago, while I was driving into town with my wife, the A/F suddenly pegged high and the engine starting flooding with fuel. I was able to limp home with the engine belching black smoke, and my lovely wife was not impressed. I immediately suspected the oxygen sensor. When I forced the Sniper in Open Loop mode, it ran better, which apparently is one of the signs of a bad O2 sensor (i.e., because the sensor is ignored in Open Loop mode). Anyway, just as I was beginning the troubleshooting process, the O2 sensor completely quit, showing an “Unplugd” value on the handheld:



That made it pretty clear what the problem was. I ordered a new sensor from Holley for $119. https://www.holley.com/products/fuel.../parts/554-155. I understand you can get the same (or equivalent) sensor a bit cheaper elsewhere, but I figured I would stick with Holley just in case this didn’t actually fix the problem (i.e., to rule out that problem was from a non-compliant sensor). Long story short, the new sensor arrived from Holley, it was a 15-minute repair (it can be done through the hood opening), and everything is working fine now. The A/F ratio is stable and perfectly in spec, no more cycling at idle, and the system is back in learn mode with no problems. She sounds better than ever!

Again, not a big deal. I just wanted to post this in case someone else has the same symptom with their Sniper EFI.

[Blitzboy54]

Not the most exiting event in my build, but I figured I would post this for completeness’s sake. From my first start, I had one symptom that bugged me. The engine ran well at speed, but at idle it would “cycle” between lean and rich. Watching the Sniper handheld, the A/F ratio would cycle between yellow and red, which caused the engine to rev, go lean, and then recover. It wasn’t terrible, but it definitely bothered me while sitting at stop lights. I was hoping the self-learning Sniper EFI computer would eventually cure this, but it didn’t.

A couple weeks ago, while I was driving into town with my wife, the A/F suddenly pegged high and the engine starting flooding with fuel. I was able to limp home with the engine belching black smoke, and my lovely wife was not impressed. I immediately suspected the oxygen sensor. When I forced the Sniper in Open Loop mode, it ran better, which apparently is one of the signs of a bad O2 sensor (i.e., because the sensor is ignored in Open Loop mode). Anyway, just as I was beginning the troubleshooting process, the O2 sensor completely quit, showing an “Unplugd” value on the handheld:



That made it pretty clear what the problem was. I ordered a new sensor from Holley for $119. https://www.holley.com/products/fuel.../parts/554-155. I understand you can get the same (or equivalent) sensor a bit cheaper elsewhere, but I figured I would stick with Holley just in case this didn’t actually fix the problem (i.e., to rule out that problem was from a non-compliant sensor). Long story short, the new sensor arrived from Holley, it was a 15-minute repair (it can be done through the hood opening), and everything is working fine now. The A/F ratio is stable and perfectly in spec, no more cycling at idle, and the system is back in learn mode with no problems. She sounds better than ever!

Again, not a big deal. I just wanted to post this in case someone else has the same symptom with their Sniper EFI.

Feel like Holley should be replacing that for free. O2 sensor should last longer than a 1000 miles.


Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[460.465USMC]

Well, I’ve got almost 500 miles on the Roadster, and I’m having a blast! I’m still chipping away on some of the interior items. A couple weeks ago I managed to get the door carpeting in. I followed the suggestion of others on the forum and got those sections edged by a local upholsterer. When the two edges come together on the outside corner of the door sill, I think it makes for a cleaner look:

So great to hear you're getting time behind the driver's seat! Very cool. Thanks for keeping us up-to-date on your final touches.

[JB in NOVA]

This weekend I installed my new door panels (Cobra Herb), which I really like:



The oval panel on the back cockpit wall is something I fabricated from plywood covered with leather and a piece of ¾” foam insulation cut to fit snuggly into the Breeze cubby opening:



I used Velcro to keep it in place. This is really just a prototype – I’ve got some other ideas about how to fabricate this piece. But I think it really helps finish the look of the cockpit.

[JB in NOVA]

Today I took #9822 to her first “cars and coffee” in my area, and she got a lot of attention. One of the photographers there was nice enough to share a few pictures:







So much fun!!

[WIS89]

JB-

She looks terrific, and those pics are really a nice treat. Glad you were able to show her off at your C & C. No doubt you received plenty of positive feedback!

Thanks for sharing those pics; I remain impressed by your work!

Regards,

Steve