JeffP's MK4 Roadster Coyote/TKX Build - Final Assembly

[JeffP]

Introduction, since I've jumped right in and forgot that post. I'm in my 40's so my first exposure to a cobra was the original Bad Boy's movie where the villian races Will Smith's 911 into the barrier at the airport. From that first time seeing a Cobra I knew one day I had to have one. Fast forward 20 years and I'm ready to go. I've recently remarried and our now blended family has blessed with me with the addition of to amazing boys, 10 and 12, who I hope to make some great memories wrenching on this project. My younger one is the ultimate gear head and it doesn't matter how obscure the car he can name it from a mile away. I'm an IT guy by day, a pilot when time allows, and not afraid to tackle any project.

I've been living vicariously through many of the popular build threads especially EdwardB's, GTBradley, IV_Joe, BadAsp427 just to name a few. I got very spoiled being able to ready EdwardB's masterpieces from start to finish so following his latest Truck thread has been a challenge, can't wait to see it finished! I've decided to do a build thread because I mainly feel like I've known some of you for years just from reading what you've poured into your threads. Everything from your love for the car, the challenge of the build, and in a few cases some very personal losses. I hope to offer a little back to the community with my thread, maybe tackle a few different options that I haven't seen very often on here (I just received an amazing hardtop that will certainly be unique), and ultimately seek the wealth of knowledge so many have brought to this site.

My Build:

MK4 Roadster - Complete Kit
Coyote Crate Motor from Forte
TKX Transmission
3 Link Rear suspension
Powdercoated Chassis
Power Steering
17" Halibrand wheels
Sun Visors
Wind Wings
GPS Guage set
Wiper kit
Heater
Raw steal side pipes
Wilwood Brakes Front & Back
Dash w/Glove box
Diamond stitch seats
Diamond stitch panels
Breeze Battery
Breeze Cubby
Breeze Radiator shroud and mounts
Breeze Black mirrors
FFMetal Firewall forward
Hard Top - Vendor isn't on the list, so feel free to contact me for details.
Paint will be Indigo Ink Blue and an undetermined dark silver for the stripes. I plan on doing it myself, we'll see how that goes!

Ordered 8/24/21, Build Date 2/26/22, Picking it up myself along with my drivetrain from Forte's Parts on 3/3/22

[JeffP]

[Reserving a post for a TOC]

[Ted G]

Congrats and welcome! I am literally two weeks behind you (March 12th). I'll surely follow your thread.

[460.465USMC]

Welcome aboard, Jeff! You have already found some great builders to study. I can't say enough how helpful these seasoned builders/build threads have been for me. I also ordered and received my Coyote Gen 3 and trans (TKO600) from Forte. The TKX wasn't quite yet available.

Your pick up date is just around the corner...you're almost there!

[JeffP]

With a 6month wait for delivery there is plenty of time for preparation and tool procurement. After reading plenty of build threads I've picked up a few choice tools that certainly may not be required, it sounds like plenty of builders have appreciated having them. Some of these include:

• Dewalt 60g 12CFM Air compressor (I plan on doing my own paint/body, so needed something much bigger)
• Milwaukee cordless Rivet gun
• Wheel Dollies
• Few extra sockets to fill in missing ones
• Tubing straightener
• Sanding blocks and paper
• Drill Press
• Sanding Station
• Press Brake

I've also been watching some of the more challenging items to procure during covid and decided to get a jump start on any items I can get ahead of time that may have proven difficult for others including:

• Wilwood Brakes (Forte)
• Tires (Nitto NT05)
• Hard Top (Shipped over from England)
• FFMetal and Breeze parts (not necessarily hard, just ordered ahead)
• RT Turn signal & drop trunk (Got on his radar as soon as I get my kit)
• Coyote Crate motor (Primarily the Control Pack)

The tires were a bit of a gamble in that I didn't want to be stuck without them and at the same time I don't want them to age out. It took me 4mo (the last one just arrived) to finally build a set of 4 and it doesn't look like supplies are improving anytime soon so I'm glad I did it. All 4 are less than a year old and I'm keeping them in a climate controlled area in the hopes it prolongs their life.

I originally was planning a Blueprint 347, but again with reading some horror stories on their delivery times and even their own representatives in the forum unable to provide definitive ship dates, I elected to cancel that order and decided to go with a more modern build. I called Mike in August and at his recommendation placed an immediate order for a Control Pack, this worked out well as it just arrive last week so he's putting my package together and I'll pick it up when I pick up the kit in a few weeks. I can't say enough good things about Mike and his service - He certainly lived up to his outstanding reputation among the community and beyond my expectations.

My better half has been an incredible champion of this project, she knows I can't sit around and do best when I have a project to work on... and one day last summer she casually suggests - you know that car you wanted to build, you should think about ordering it. I think it took me all of 8 hours after that remark to get my order in with FFR. A few months later a fellow builder posted up group buy he was putting together for a custom Hard Top that would be made in England and shipped over. I had seen previous hard tops that I never got excited about the shape (the ones that stop before the trunk). This one was much different and followed the curves of the car much more elegantly and ends at the bumper. I showed her a picture and it quickly became a necessity for my build.



I got on the group buy and began the long wait. It took about 4months for manufacture and shipping and it arrived last week. The builder packed them all up in a large crate and sent it over:


I made the run out to the organizers home town and picked it up from his house. Got it back to the garage and made up some hoist mounts for the ceiling to keep it out of the way until it has a car to sit on and hopefully this will also work once its completed when I'm not using it.



So now just the waiting game - I've decided to save a little shipping/Time and run up to MA myself with a truck and trailer to take delivery of my Kit and then down the road to Forte's Parts and pick up the drivetrain. Should have my next big update on March 3rd!

[Straversi]

Congratulations and welcome. Look forward to following along with your build.
-Steve

[mark@bigstone]

So this is a removable hardtop?

[JeffP]

So this is a removable hardtop?

Yes it is, I live in a mild climate (NC) so I'm hoping this provides an extended driving season or maybe longer trips when rain may be an issue. Normal sunny days i'm sure it'll be stored away.

[Railroad]

Almost did not recognize the roadster, with the top on it. Beautiful!

[460.465USMC]

That's a really cool hard top, Jeff! First of its kind I've seen. And, the fact it's removable is even better.

Great additions to your tool arsenal as well. Nice!

[Blitzboy54]

OMG. I’ve been trying to get one of those tops forever. I don’t know how I missed that thread. I contacted the company and never heard back.

Could you DM me some specifics? I would like to maybe try the same thing. The fastback Look is incredible.


Congrats on the build.

[ydousurf]

Hey Jeff, congrats and welcome to the family! Your planned build looks solid with all kinds of cool stuff, including that top. And speaking of that - Do tell...

Could you DM me some specifics? I would like to maybe try the same thing. The fastback Look is incredible.

@Blitzboy54, put me on your list!

Anyway, all the best on your build journey, Jeff! I think you have many of our attentions and we'll be following along closely.

[JeffP]

Quick Update - Made the 600 mile trip up to Factory five on 3/2 to pick up my kit yesterday morning. It was great to walk through the showroom and meet a few of the guys. They were a great help with the delivery process and loading. Then headed over to Mike Forte's to grab my Coyote/TKX/Moser 8.8. Mike's team was also great in getting me loaded up and on my way back home. To say the 600mi trip down I95 through NYC in rush our was unnerving is an understatement. Arrived home around 1am and passed out. Got everything unloaded first thing this morning so I could return the trailer.

Now for inventory!

[egchewy79]

she's a beaut, clark! take your time with the inventory and keep good notes/records.

[Blitzboy54]

This was my favorite part of the build so far in retrospect. Opening all those boxes, like one giant 2 day Christmas!

[460.465USMC]

X2 on "she's a beaut, Clark"! I also opted for the Gen 1 cover. Much better than the flying saucer IMHO.

I'm envious of your trip to MA to pick up the kit, and then over to Forte (I also bought drivetrain from him). I would love to see the F5 factory and tour it.

Let the inventory fun begin!

[KDubU]

Congrats! That is a long haul with a trailer like that.

[JeffP]

I completed my inventory yesterday. Missing about 30 items on top of the 25 on the POL. I don't think any of them are holding me up as there is always plenty to do. Only ones that I might want sooner rather than later are the front hub nuts, which I'm sure I can source locally with the right specs and missing a few pieces for mounting the 3link. I'd like to get that mounted soon and out of the way.

I hung the body from the garage with Kayak straps and some lumber. It cleared my garage door by 3/4" so I'll take that as an early win on this project. I'm not overly satisfied with the lumber supports, will likely redo it this week with someone that more resembles a traditional body buck... but I had this on hand and it got it out of the way.


I moved the frame back to my "work shop" which is really just a large shed. I've seen some amazing garages on here where you guys are lucky to have all that room but I'm sure mine will do.


I want to get a lot of the visible aluminum powder coated so I decided to focus on getting those mocked up and drilled first so I can get them all over to the powder coater. Here are the drivers and passenger foot boxes:

Drivers side:


Hopefully start working on the IFS tomorrow.

[egchewy79]

are those shed doors in the background the only way in/out? you might want to measure again to make sure you can get the car out once it's a roller. also, with your mower buried in there, are you going to be able to cut your lawn in a month when the weather warms up or are you super optimistic that you'll have a roller by the time cutting season rolls around

[JeffP]

are those shed doors in the background the only way in/out? you might want to measure again to make sure you can get the car out once it's a roller. also, with your mower buried in there, are you going to be able to cut your lawn in a month when the weather warms up or are you super optimistic that you'll have a roller by the time cutting season rolls around

Its funny when I look at the picture it does look incredibly cramped. However, its a 14x24 so theres actually a lot of open space you don't see. Having it on the dolly makes it easy to slide it one way or another depending on which corner I'm working on or when its time to pull out the mower. It has two 6' doors..(one is to the left, out of the frame) I measured a completed car and its about 1/4" shy of 6' with the body on, so even more room just between the tires. I don't think I'll ever have the body on in the shed, or at least not once its painted - final assembly will happen in my regular garage.

[edwardb]

Congrats on your kit receipt. Missing about 30 items in addition to POL items? That's a lot. I haven't had that many missing items combined in the kits I've built. Not to take anything away from what you're doing, but are you positive? What kind of items are missing?

[JeffP]

Congrats on your kit receipt. Missing about 30 items in addition to POL items? That's a lot. I haven't had that many missing items combined in the kits I've built. Not to take anything away from what you're doing, but are you positive? What kind of items are missing?

I felt like it was on the higher side. Given this is my first build, its also very possible my inexperience in properly identifying items has led to the high number. I went through the whole list once and then went back to the boxes with the missing items and did them again while also validating there wasn't anything left over that I could be misidentifying. Granted, 1 of the items is a fastener pack and if you count that as one item it bring the list total down to 18. Currently my POL list is at 34 (down from 50). Here is my MIK list:

PART DESCRIPTION QTY BOX
25507 BRAKE LINE T ADAPTER, 2 FEMALE, 1 MALE 1 2A
16908 8' 16GA BLUE WIRE 1 2A
12470 QUICK JACK BENT LEFT 2 3A
12471 QUICK JACK BENT RIGHT 2 3A
15834 CHROME SIDEVIEW MIRROR 1 3A
14511 HUB NUT 2 14
13964 3/8"-16 NYLON LOCKNUT 2 18
13972 GAS STRUT BRACKET, 90 DEGREE BENT SHORT 2 18
15859 HORNS 1 18
17062 ALUMINUM DEFROSTER VENT 1 22
14949 TRACTION-LOK BRACKET FASTENER PACK 1 11B
10833 4 11B
13706 2 11B
13751 2 11B
10834 4 11B
13976 12 11B
10520 2 11B
13964 2 11B
13877 2 11B
12217 2 11B
12218 2 11B
13210 2 11B
13127 180 DEGREE THERMOSTAT SWITCH 1 19
16460 INLINE FILLER NECK w/CAP 1 19
10834 LOCK NUT, NYLON, 1/2"-13 4 4D
16703 1/2"-13 X 1.50" BOLT 2 4D
15439 T-5/TKO/TKX TRANS MNT PLATE 1 4D
13930 RADIATOR HOSE ADAPTER SET W/CLAMPS 4 4D

[edwardb]

I felt like it was on the higher side. Given this is my first build, its also very possible my inexperience in properly identifying items has led to the high number. I went through the whole list once and then went back to the boxes with the missing items and did them again while also validating there wasn't anything left over that I could be misidentifying. Granted, 1 of the items is a fastener pack and if you count that as one item it bring the list total down to 18. Currently my POL list is at 34 (down from 50). Here is my MIK list:

PART DESCRIPTION QTY BOX
25507 BRAKE LINE T ADAPTER, 2 FEMALE, 1 MALE 1 2A
16908 8' 16GA BLUE WIRE 1 2A
12470 QUICK JACK BENT LEFT 2 3A
12471 QUICK JACK BENT RIGHT 2 3A
15834 CHROME SIDEVIEW MIRROR 1 3A
14511 HUB NUT 2 14
13964 3/8"-16 NYLON LOCKNUT 2 18
13972 GAS STRUT BRACKET, 90 DEGREE BENT SHORT 2 18
15859 HORNS 1 18
17062 ALUMINUM DEFROSTER VENT 1 22
14949 TRACTION-LOK BRACKET FASTENER PACK 1 11B
10833 4 11B
13706 2 11B
13751 2 11B
10834 4 11B
13976 12 11B
10520 2 11B
13964 2 11B
13877 2 11B
12217 2 11B
12218 2 11B
13210 2 11B
13127 180 DEGREE THERMOSTAT SWITCH 1 19
16460 INLINE FILLER NECK w/CAP 1 19
10834 LOCK NUT, NYLON, 1/2"-13 4 4D
16703 1/2"-13 X 1.50" BOLT 2 4D
15439 T-5/TKO/TKX TRANS MNT PLATE 1 4D
13930 RADIATOR HOSE ADAPTER SET W/CLAMPS 4 4D

Yeah, definitely higher than what I've experienced. Just to be clear, the items listed are shown as checked off on the box inventory sheet (e.g. supposedly provided) but not in the box? That's too bad. Some are pretty obvious, like quickjacks, side mirror, horns, filler neck, etc. The goods news is they're usually very accommodating to fill MIK items.

[JeffP]

Yeah, definitely higher than what I've experienced. Just to be clear, the items listed are shown as checked off on the box inventory sheet (e.g. supposedly provided) but not in the box? That's too bad. Some are pretty obvious, like quickjacks, side mirror, horns, filler neck, etc. The goods news is they're usually very accommodating to fill MIK items.

That is correct. And I agree. The quickjacks were the first one I came to and I thought for sure I should be able to recognize those. Even ran out to the car to see if they were mounted on the body and I just didn't notice. I have to say that so far my build consists of reviewing the manual, and then hopping over to my laptop that has your build thread constantly loaded for reference. That one and a few others (who don't have all the anniversary goodies, like mine) have been a godsend on keeping me straight. Really appreciate the time you put into those.

[JeffP]

I took my first batch of aluminum (maybe my last if I got lucky) to the powder coater. It seems inflation has hit that process just as much as everything else these days. I definitely am paying a premium over what I've seen others pay but honestly I feel it could have been much worse.

Back at the house I began working on the IFS. It went pretty smoothly thanks to the pioneers before who figured out all the little details to make it easy. Like many others, a quick wire wheel to the ball joints (sockets) cleaned them up and they screwed right in without issue. I attempted to create the geometry of the upper control arm thats listed in the manual and like others I'm just not able to come close. I assume this means I need to do the mod to the rear link (cut 1/4" off each end and the rods)? I also ran into a similar issue with the upper ball joints castle nut not engaging the cotter pin so I'll need to grab some spacers (washers) to finish that off. I do have the Wilwood front brakes and I've seen others got lucky and their leftover washers fit but mine are too small. I also needed to use the FFR supplied caliper bracket bolts instead of the Wilwoods as the 12pt bolt cleared the spindle where as the hex bolt would have been impossible to get the torque wrench on. I went ahead and torqued everything and marked it. A few bolts on the upper control arm are left loose until I bite the bullet and do the mod. I was shorted the 4 x M12 x 50mm bolts to mount the steering arms so a quick trip to the hardware store fixed that. Tomorrow I'll wrap up the brakes (need to grab a cheep set of lugs to hold them on, wheels are POL) and I'll probably go ahead and get a spindle nut at the auto store as well and just call that done rather than wait.

As always, I welcome any critique of my work on the IFS in case I missed anything. If you see blue tape oddly wrapped around stuff - its just my reminder that assembly needs attention.

Driver's Side IFS:


Passenger Side IFS

[jamminj]

I really like the look did the tops come with side window kits also

[JeffP]

I really like the look did the tops come with side window kits also

Yes they did and some sort of wind wings. I haven’t even had a chance to open the accessory box to see what the look like. The windows attach to the doors, so when you open the door the window flips up.

[jamminj]

cool can't wait to see your kit as it comes along

[JeffP]

Not much to add today. Finished up the Wilwoods on the front and got the upper control arms modified and geometry set to manual specs much easier now. I started mocking up the Pedal box and decided to hit a lot of the brackets with POR15 so letting that dry slowed things up a bit. A bit disappointed but not surprised that FFR still hasn't seemed to figure out the Coyote Pedal bracket. Like many others have already posted about, it just doesn't work. As soon as my pedal box aluminum gets back from the powder coater I can start hitting it to see which way I want to go (butcher the pedal / roll my own bracket like EdwardB). I'm leaning towards my own bracket.

[egchewy79]

I took my first batch of aluminum (maybe my last if I got lucky) to the powder coater. It seems inflation has hit that process just as much as everything else these days. I definitely am paying a premium over what I've seen others pay but honestly I feel it could have been much worse.

Back at the house I began working on the IFS. It went pretty smoothly thanks to the pioneers before who figured out all the little details to make it easy. Like many others, a quick wire wheel to the ball joints (sockets) cleaned them up and they screwed right in without issue. I attempted to create the geometry of the upper control arm thats listed in the manual and like others I'm just not able to come close. I assume this means I need to do the mod to the rear link (cut 1/4" off each end and the rods)? I also ran into a similar issue with the upper ball joints castle nut not engaging the cotter pin so I'll need to grab some spacers (washers) to finish that off. I do have the Wilwood front brakes and I've seen others got lucky and their leftover washers fit but mine are too small. I also needed to use the FFR supplied caliper bracket bolts instead of the Wilwoods as the 12pt bolt cleared the spindle where as the hex bolt would have been impossible to get the torque wrench on. I went ahead and torqued everything and marked it. A few bolts on the upper control arm are left loose until I bite the bullet and do the mod. I was shorted the 4 x M12 x 50mm bolts to mount the steering arms so a quick trip to the hardware store fixed that. Tomorrow I'll wrap up the brakes (need to grab a cheep set of lugs to hold them on, wheels are POL) and I'll probably go ahead and get a spindle nut at the auto store as well and just call that done rather than wait.

As always, I welcome any critique of my work on the IFS in case I missed anything. If you see blue tape oddly wrapped around stuff - its just my reminder that assembly needs attention.

Driver's Side IFS:


Passenger Side IFS

hard to tell in the pic, but make sure your steering arms have the larger end of the taper at the bottom as the outer tie rod attaches from below. Easier to fix now than later.

[JeffP]

hard to tell in the pic, but make sure your steering arms have the larger end of the taper at the bottom as the outer tie rod attaches from below. Easier to fix now than later.

Ahh thanks, I read the note that they attach from the bottom but couldn't figure out any difference in the arms, just to make sure they 'point out'. The taper makes sense now - I'll double check that.

Ugh. Unfortunately you are right... and getting them off isnt going to be easy as the ball joint prevents it from coming off and i can't pull the bolts out with the spindle on. I have my work cut out for me on this one.

[JeffP]

Slow progress today. I had to take a few steps back on the IFS thanks to egchewy79 catching my steering arms were upside down. I got lucky and the ball joints dropped with only minimum persuasion and were completely reusable so I'll take the win. Steering arms reversed. You can also see the trimmed up links in this pic.

Driver's side:


Passenger Side:


Started working on the pedal box today and got that together with no issues. Here is my initial adjustment of the balance bar (they'll get finalized after bleeding and jam nuts set). Wish they would tell you to set the spacing before you bolt the MC's in.



I temporarily installed it to mock up the coyote pedal and figure out my direction there. It turned out I didn't need to adjust much beyond the normal cutting the manual called for. The only additional trimming was about 1/8" of webbing on the side that hits the 3/4" rail and then a little around the top bolt hole where it would interfere with the steering shaft. Once that was cleaned up I was able to use the factory bracket and happy with how the pedal lines up. Thanks to Ethan's build thread I'll need to also trim the bearing flange to clearance the footbox bracket. I didn't catch this in my mock up but its definitely there.

[Springsyeti]

That top is awesome! I need to order some of those cams you have to hold the body in the air also. I saw another build where they did that and yours shows the underside better. It seems pretty light and I wondered about deforming the body since it will be hanging for about a year.

[JeffP]

While waiting on powder coat and POL items, I decided to work on a few extras and the Coyote. Installed the Breeze front battery box:


Removed the OE Coyote Oil Pan:


New pan installed - neglected to grab pics of the pickup install but it went in without issue. I also don't seem to have the interference issue with the dip stick others have reported.


Also removed the oil cooler. If you don't have an M14 hex (wasn't easy to find one locally) you can use a 3/8 bolt and a few jam nuts to remove the old one.

I followed the Coyote install supplement on replacing the flywheel, installing the clutch, pressure plate, and bell housing. I got a little confused on the fork and started looking for some better instructions from Tremec. When I did so, I stumbled upon the whole runout check / dial indicator testing. I was a bit disappointed that I had all this put together and there was no mention of checking this anywhere in the manual. There is also no mention of locktite on the Flywheel bolts or the pressure plate bolts yet it is mentioned in the tremec install info. Needless to say it all came back apart.

I didn't invest in a high dollar dial indicator so I'm hoping the one I picked up from Amazon is sufficient. If anything at least the results I got with it are consistent. Hoping someone with more experience with these can give me a sanity check on my results.

I was able to attach it and run a 360* on the crank shaft and get it back to close to 0 (< .001). I rotated it around making notes at 90* intervals. The zero conveniently ended up right as 12 oclock and the highest at 6. 9 and 3 were relatively consistent. If I'm reading the dial correctly, it notes the hash marks are .0005 | |. I did three runs. 12 averaged 1 on the indicator (two hash marks) which I interpret to be .001. 6 averaged 19 or 38 hash marks which I interpret to be .019. Subtract the two and I get .018 and divide by 2 for .009 which puts me out of spec for Tremec of .005. I ordered offset dowels from Summit: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/QTI-RM-140 which should give me .007 and bring me back to .002 within spec. I understand these will be fun to get out.. I've seen the threads using grease and even saw bread mentioned as an option so my goal will be to do this without damaging the case.



I'm using the Forte hydraulic clutch which came with two transmission bolts, but I don't have the other two so I need to source those.

[JohnK]

You may have seen my thread on dial-indicating a coyote bell housing a while back:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...ignment-please

You're definitely on the right track. Yes, the factory dowels will be fun to get out.

Hang in there - it's all doable.

[JeffP]

You may have seen my thread on dial-indicating a coyote bell housing a while back:

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...ignment-please

You're definitely on the right track. Yes, the factory dowels will be fun to get out.

Hang in there - it's all doable.

Thanks John! I did find your thread the other day when I began going down this path. I’m sure my process looked very familiar and appreciate you finding those dowels saving me search! The new ones will be here tomorrow so I’ll probably get to work on getting the old ones out today.

[JeffP]

I used the plug / grease trick to remove the dowels. For the dowel with a solid chase, I filled the void with grease as best I could trying to keep the air out. Heated the case a little with a heat gun and then tapped in a 3/8 extension. The extension was a snug fit once it got past the square part. As it went in I noticed the dowel pop out about 1/8" and then the extension bottomed out. I put a ratchet on the extension and when I turned it the dowel turned with it and pulled right out. On the other side I filled the chase with grease and then screwed a bolt in from the back side to plug it. Placed the extension in the dowel and repeated the same process. This one took a few attempts but after the 3rd try the dowel popped out with little effort. I was sweating this process and afraid drill bits were going to be involved and risk damaging the case. I got lucky and no damage, I could probably even reuse the dowels if I needed them.

Thanks JohnK for paving the way with this one. Hopefully when the new dowels get here tomorrow that will get me back in spec.

[JohnK]

Nice! Glad to hear they came out so easily.

[JeffP]

I've finally made some nice progress with the panels back from powder coating I can start to move forward in a lot of areas. With POL items and no panels, I've been jumping around quite a bit in the manual doing small steps that won't cause rework down the road. Now that I have the panels, I've gone back to the beginning and starting filling in the gaps. First though, an update on the Bellhousing. I received my QT .007 Indexed Dowels from Summit and installed them and measured the opening. Much better now and well within spec:



Next I decided to mess around with the dash a little bit. I ordered the prefab vinyl dash with glove box in my kit. For some reason FF decided to also send me the vinyl covering that appears to be for the aluminum dash? I'm assuming I don't need this.. I'm sure I can find something useful for it. Anyways, I installed the glove box which was a pain. Getting the door lined up, trying to clamp it so the epoxy sets and not damage the vinyl in the process was a task. Done now and glad I can move on. I did purchase the VW latch as many others have and it didn't come with a strike and the FF one is too short, so I'll need to fabricate one for that. Also mounted the guages to see how they look. The prefab dash is pretty flimsy, no way I'll be able to leave it like this especially 'ears' that bolt behind the hinge. Just no support at all.



With the panels back from PC, it was time to start installing them. I plan on following GTBradley's path with 'wanting it all' and installed a Glove Box and a Heater with Coyote.. I plan on trying to pack a windshield wiper motor in there too. So I'm getting as much installed as I can so I can drop the engine in hopefully this week just to mock things up. Once I have everything figured out it will come back out. I'm using the FFMetal firewall forward to give me a little extra room, but I'll still need to fabricate some brackets like GTBradley.



Passenger Footbox


Drivers Footbox/Floor




My 3link LCA's are POL and I like the set that Breeze offers so I decided to go for an upgrade. Those should be here this week and I'll be able to get the 3link mounted. This will allow me to get brake lines done and also figure out how I'm going to install the E-Stopp.

[Railroad]

Those black hex head bolts on the front of your foot box will rust the first time they get damp. If you have not, might want to Sharkhide or paint them. Nice build.