Eastman Kids Cobra Build - Complete Kit

[Qballz]

i think the manual calls for red loctite on the upper BJs. just make sure you put a witness mark on the BJs so you can see if they're backing out or a tack weld if you have that available.
glad to hear that you and the fam are recovered.

Build manual shows a picture of blue loctite being applied to the UBJs.

[egchewy79]

Build manual shows a picture of blue loctite being applied to the UBJs.

interesting, my manual called for red. i only remember b/c I didn't strip the anticorrosive coating off the threads and had to remove it with heat/impact gun. They must have changed it. regardless, put a witness mark with a paint marker so you can see if it starts unthreading over time.

[ggunter]

That is the nicest body buck I've seen. Nobody paints a buck. And with all that help you should be driving by Easter. Great job, I can't think of a better family project.

[Serenity]

Thank you! I thought we were supposed to use the red permanent loctite, too, but here is a picture from the manual showing blue medium strength.
I included the tube that I used - placing it next to their picture in black/ white:
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I did mark ALL bolts with a paint marker so I can check this, too!

[Serenity]

Reagan helped me torque down the front suspension (and mark all torqued bolts) and start drilling the holes in the aluminum for the drivers seat. Kadence & Carter had karate tonight, but afterwards they helped drill holes, too! I finally developed enough courage to cut the rear spindles and they turned out OK. Used my new 20 ton press to press out the wheel studs and insert the new ones. All in all, tonight was good. I'm sure the neighbors are glad when I finally call it a night, too!
Some of the other builders thought I should have used red permanent loctite for the ball joints, but the manual showed blue medium strength. Either way I marked it with a Sakura solid paint pen so I can see if it starts to back out at all.

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[ggunter]

Yea red lock-tite is for stuff you never want to come apart again because it usually take a torch to heat it up to release it.

[Fman]

Serenity, you are making some nice progress!

Are you planning on cutting the rear UCA sleeve? Highly recommend it with or without power steering. Just had a friend complete his mk4 without power steering and had to pay alignment shop $500 to cut them down because they could not properly align front end without them being cut. If you were not aware of this or how to do it reference first page pics of my build thread.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...427-build-9818

[Serenity]

You have no idea how glad I am that you shared this. I had been reading up on this but I was a little confused. I just read your build thread and your pictures were unbelievably helpful! Yes, I will be trimming my sleeves/ bolt this weekend. Thank you again!

[Serenity]

I close friend of mine recently visited the Shelby American Museum and bought me something special

Drilled the rear spindles, mounted the hubs, torqued and marked the bolts. Marcus, Kadence, and Carter all helped mark/ drill holes. Assembled the Emergency Brake handle, but had a few extra parts left over. I'd like to use some of the small washers to shim a gap between the push pin & ratchet teeth, but I'm going to go back to the forums as I know some people had difficulty with this. All in all, a great day!

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[Serenity]

Let's see....trip to AutoZone to pick up some hydraulic fluid for my 20 ton press... I checked the fluid level when I first got it, but apparently didn't snug up the fill port very well. Ok, Carter drilled a few more holes. We trimmed the front upper control arm sleeves/ bolts (back ones) just to make sure I wouldn't have any issues during final alignment. I used a hack saw for the sleeves and a tabletop grinder for the bolts. The bolts should have been coated with anti-seize, but there was little evidence of it, so after cleaning up all the parts, I decided to apply it liberally ��. Ok, I used a lot less for the other bolts. I'm always amazed at how that stuff makes a mess. Disassembled the emergency brake and painted the steel parts with Rust-Oleum. I'm contemplating making some changes during assembly, so doing a bit more homework on that.

Here is what I'll be attempting to follow for the emergency brake:
http://www.sunshinegaragemkiv.com/bu...ification.html

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[Serenity]

1/29/22
Just over a week ago my left eye developed acute iritis and I ended up at urgent care and then saw an opthalmologist at Kaiser hospital the following day. It started exactly 14 days after I felt recovered from Covid. Related? I don't know. Some research suggests there might be a correlation (hhttps://www.scientificamerican.com/article/covid-can-cause-strange-eye-and-ear-symptoms) but hopefully I'll know more this coming week. The steroids help until they wear off, but really hoping this resolve itself soon. I see the opthalmologist next week and he'll be doing more testing.

That being said, I had ordered some parts for the emergency brake and they finally came in so Carter and I spent some time fabbing it up. Here is what we need to do:
http://www.sunshinegaragemkiv.com/co...ncy-brake.html

So far it's coming out ok! Loved spending time with Carter today.

Here are the parts I ordered + a few misc. bolts and spacers that I picked up at Lowes tonight.
---
Lokar S-8070 Parking Brake Connector; QTY: 1ea
https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Lokar...ck,274778.html...
* NOTE: the thread for this is 5/16-24

3434T24 Pulley for Wire Rope for Horizontal Pull, with Bearing, for 1/4" Diameter, 1-3/4" OD; QTY: 2ea
https://www.mcmaster.com/3434T24/

91259A622 Alloy Steel Shoulder Screw, 3/8" Shoulder Diameter, 3/4" Shoulder Length, 5/16"-18 Thread; QTY: 1ea
https://www.mcmaster.com/91259A622/

8910K393 Low-Carbon Steel Bar, 1/8" Thick, 5/8" Wide, 1 Foot Long; QTY: 1ea
https://www.mcmaster.com/8910K393/

I just ordered the below tonight:
92620A616 Zinc Yellow-Chromate Plated Hex Head Screw, Grade 8 Steel, 5/16"-24 Thread Size, 4" Long, Fully Threaded; QTY: 1ea
https://www.mcmaster.com/92620A616/

5/16-24 Stainless Steel Stop Nut (Nylon Insert) (10-Pack); QTY: 1ea
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IAVLBMM

I also picked up some steel at Lowes and heated it with my torch to bend it to make my clevis.

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[Serenity]

Saw the ophthalmologist last week and steroids are helping with inflammation. Will continued steroids for another 3 weeks due to some inflammation as well as to taper offer the steroids. The current consensus is this was a side effect from Covid.

Alright, finished up the emergency brake and I’m overall happy with how it turned out. I received the bushings for the rear differential on Saturday, so I was pretty excited to get this into position, too. I saw that some people needed to trim the metal insert for the forward bushing 1/8”, so I fitted them and realized I needed to trim mine too. My hacksaw made light work of them and then I put them back together. All good! I used my QuickJacks to help lift the rear differential into position. I mounted it PERFECTLY, only to realize I hadn’t chased the forward bolt openings with a larger drill bit yet, so I took it back out, used my drill to chase the bolt mounts, and then lifted it back into position again. Considering I did this part of my own, it really wasn’t to bad. Levi kept me company and held my tools while we started the assembly of the pedal box.

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[Serenity]

I had some concerns when I first assembled the pedal box, so we took a closer look and made a slight modification to hopefully prevent any issues down the road. So far I'm happy with this and then we re-assembled it.

It was a bit of a rough weekend, and due to back-ordered parts, and incorrect mounting hardware, didn't do too much. The bolts for the Steering Bearing hardware were the incorrect bolts (wrong size/ length). I checked almost every bolt/ hardware, when I received the kit, but this was in a sealed plastic pouch, so I partially assumed they would be correct. I've since ordered the correct bolts on mcmaster.com.....25 of them...lol... I only needed 4, but since they come in a pack of 25, I guess I'm getting 25. I do have some stainless steel bolts that would probably work just fine, but I opted to order the exact replacement bolts/ lock nuts.

The Steering Arm "bolts" are back-ordered and I need to mount the Steering Arms before I mount the hubs/ rotors/ brakes, etc.... Factory Fives Specs. for this hardware is 12.9 Grade Bolts, which is the highest grade and generally used for heavy equipment. Since Steering is a critical component, I ordered these from mcmaster.com, too. Mcmaster.com only offers the receptive nuts in a grade 10.9, which is significantly stronger than anything Home Depot might have, so I bought those too, another bag of 25...lol. I had been waiting to order enough hardware to justify the freight costs, but that's been accomplished.

Factory Five provides a single reservoir for brakes and a single reservoir for hydraulic clutch. The brake pedal is attached to 2 master cylinders (front brake & rear brake). They provide a Y pieces to connect both master cylinders to a single reservoir. If there was a failure, then you'd potentially lose front/ rear brakes. Alternatively, if you used a separate reservoir for front brakes and rear breaks, you've built redundancy into the system so in the even of a failure, you'd still have some braking power. While I'd love to have a triple aluminum/ chrome reservoir, I opted for the below plastic one to try and keep within budget:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003TQ0D18

I'll fab up a mounting bracket/ plate for this, but it should work just fine.

I was reading another forum where an aircraft engineer uses Loctite 290 (medium strength wicking grade for bolts up to 1/2") on fighter jet applications AFTER the hardware is torqued down. This is applied afterwards and wicks into the threads. I might try this on bolts that do not have a designated torque spec...we'll see... I don't think it will hurt anything...
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004FCH82C

Loved spending time with Kadence & Carter working on this!

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[John Ibele]

Good updates, glad to see your progress. Tough bounce with the eye problem, hope that's well on the recovery trail. Couple observations - looks like you're on a path you like with emergency brake, and there are a lot of ways to address the limitations of what comes with the stock kit and setup. Some simple tweaks can make it workable, including the Lokar piece and cable pulleys you included. Just remember you lose some of the designed mechanical advantage with any extension of the lever used below the pivot point on the brake lever itself. That's one argument for limiting that extension to the bare minimum you need. Second, glad you went to the dual brake reservoirs - in any form or price point - over the single one. That's a safety item, plain and simple, and probably the first 'upgrade' people should consider. Such a large % of builders do that, its sometimes hard to remember it's not part of the standard build.

[Serenity]

In addition to some prep-work for installing the battery box & radiator, we primarily worked on the Tilton Triple Reservoir Mod. As noted in previous posts, we elected to not use the Factory Five Reservoir and went with the Tilton Triple Reservoir. This presented some initial challenges since the hoses that connect the master cylinder to the reservoir are 1/4" and the attachment to the Tilton Reservoir is I believe 3/8". No problem. Trimmed the attachment points on the Tilton, drilled it out with a 5/16" drill bit, and then tapped it with a 1/8" NPT tap. We then used 2 of the Edelmann 831240 (Fitting, Adapter, NPT to Hose Barb, 90 Degree, Brass, Natural, 1/8 in. NPT, 1/4 in. Hose Barb) and threaded it in (using teflon tape to help seal it. These adapters were included with the Factory Five supplied reservoir, so I just needed 1 more which I purchased from Summit Racing and it will be coming sometime soon... I'm planning to rivet the aluminum bracket with rivets to the chassis, near the footbox.

We then installed the rear axle shafts and mounted the the rear spindles/ hubs. The axle shifts inserted perfectly, no issues. We're still missing a few parts for the rear suspension, so we just did what we could. With the rear spindles installed, we were able to torque down the rear upper/ lower control arms.

Was all of this necessary (reservoir mod) - maybe not. To my family, this project is more than just building a car. It creates teachable moments for my children, so they can learn how to use tools/ build things with their hands. For me, it is a needed outlet for dealing with some health issues (Celiac Disease & some related complications). Some people have purchased the Tilton Brake & Clutch Fluid Hose (74-221) and connected them to the Factory Five supplies lines using an adapter. Had I done it this way, it wouldn't have been as clean of an install, and the brake and clutch lines (where they attach to the reservoir) would have been significantly lower than the master cylinders. It probably would have been ok, but not preferable.
Parts:

Tilton Reservoir (72-576 RESERVOIR, 3-IN-1,Plastic, Push-On)

Edelmann 831240 (need 3ea)
Fitting, Adapter, NPT to Hose Barb, 90 Degree, Brass, Natural, 1/8 in. NPT, 1/4 in. Hose Barb

1/8" NPT Pipe Tap

5/16" Drill Bit, but if you have a High Speed Type R, drill bit, I think it would have been easier.

5/8" Grommet for the 1/4 hoses; 3ea

1/8" Sheet of aluminum trimmed to size; 1ea

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[Nigel Allen]

Nice job adding the right angle barbs. Exactly how I did my reservoirs. Still perfect 10 years later.

[facultyofmusic]

Sir Enity, you are FLYING through your build! Fantastic progress for just a few months. Thanks for the notes on pedal box hardware interference with the master cylinder boot. I'll have to go check mine...

[Serenity]

The kids bought me some coveralls for my birthday and a cobra patch which they'll sew onto it. I almost look like I know what I'm doing. Carter, Kadence , Madison, and Reagan helped me install the battery box. This is one of the mods that I picked up from Breeze Automotive. The benefit is having the battery in the engine compartment vs. in the trunk. It is easier running the power cables and some people have had issues running a long power cable from the trunk to the starter. This frees up much needed space in the trunk compartment, will make it slightly easier to run the power/ ground, and it will be better using a shorter power feed to the starter. To install the battery box, we needed to measure, drill, and tap the 4" main cross beam, so Carter did most of the drilling and Reagan/ Madison helped tapping the threads. We used medium strength Loctite on the 2 bolts going into the 4" beam for added security. Pretty happy with this decision so far.

Started running the brake lines (Carter helped me with this, too!). I'm not entirely happy with how we ran the front brake lines, and I may redo this, but for now it's fine. We'll re-evaluate this as the build goes on. We used Dot 3 brake fluid to coat the threads of the brake lines before tightening. This is supposed to help them seat properly and reduce any chance of them leaking. We'll see! Ran the front brake lines to the master cylinder. We drilled a hole through the aluminum patch (cleco'd in the picture) and used a grommet for stability.

I've never made my own brake lines before so it it was a good learning experience. I need to redo the brake lines on my Jeep at some point, so I'm feeling more confident in tackling that project, too!

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[Railroad]

If you have any issues bleeding the brakes, it might be the loops higher than the master cylinder. Others have said, they had no issues?

[Serenity]

If you have any issues bleeding the brakes, it might be the loops higher than the master cylinder. Others have said, they had no issues?

Thank you, Railroad! I was thinking the same. With the Tilton reservoir, a bike pump needle can fit into the vent on the top of the reservoir and use some pressure to help bleed the brakes. I think that will help. I'm hoping to attempt to bleed them in the next week or so... I'm planning to run the rear brake lines this coming weekend and then start bleeding them.

[Serenity]

Alright, we spent Saturday tying up a bunch of loose ends. Reagan and I took apart the rear brakes and checked the torque setting of all Rear IRS components & rear brake components. I was missing the hardware to attach the rear calipers to the rear spindle, so I ordered those from McMaster on Saturday morning and they were delivered a few hours later....remarkable!

We marked/ drilled the drivers side aluminum and Carter and Reagan applied the brushed look to it. I think it looks great! We also started running the rear brake line and I'm ready for the next section, too!

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[JB in NOVA]

Just caught up with your build. So cool how you've gotten the whole family involved. Looks great, and I love the brushed aluminum look!

[Serenity]

OK, we finished the rear brake lines (running them from the master cylinder, through the footbox, along the chassis, and up to the drivers side to the brakes. It didn't look like it would be that hard, but it took me considerable time and effort to run the brake lines between the rear brakes. Overall it looks pretty good! Yes, I used Dot 3 Brake Fluid to lube all fittings before assembly. I'm going to hold off on adding brake fluid or bleeding the brakes until I get the power steering (I may need to make some adjustments once that is installed), and until I get the rear 400lb springs (back-ordered). You can see my first attempt mock-up followed by the actual lines that I used in some of the pictures. Reagan reminded me that the brass fitting needs to come AFTER the bends....oops...maybe I was working too late into the night for that one.

Erica and Kadence marked the hole cutout for the Breeze Cockpit Storage Cubby (https://www.breezeautomotive.com/sho...-mk4-roadster/), and then Carter cut it out. Reagan helped the whole time, too, and then Carter and Kadence deburred the edges so they weren't as sharp. Since we had everything out, we went ahead and widened the hole in the floor of the trunk to make the fuel pump more accessible. I wanted this to be just big enough to easily change out the fuel pump if needed. The fuel filter will be mounted under the car, so the cutout didn't need to be much larger. We'll fab up a cover for it and rivnut this down so it will be easily accessible.

The older 4 kids tested for their Green Belt (3 1/2 hour test) in karate and passed, so I killed some time working working on the radiator while they were testing. By the time they got back, they were pretty exhausted, and the radiator took a LOT of time, so I just kept on going. I used the following Breeze Products:

Radiator Fan Shroud:
https://www.breezeautomotive.com/sho...or-fan-shroud/

Heavy Duty Hinged Shroud Mounting Kit:
https://www.breezeautomotive.com/sho...d-mounting-kit

Radiator Support Kit:
https://www.breezeautomotive.com/sho...or-support-kit

The materials in the kit probably would have been fine, but these items have a lot of great reviews and there are quite a few benefits to doing these upgrades. Some builders have experienced the radiator mounts breaking after several thousand miles (top), and the Breeze kit eliminates this issue. The radiator is also supposed to be installed at 52 degrees, and it is exactly 52 degrees. Erica Eastman helped me with this, too! I felt like I kept putting everything together and then taking it apart again, but it's finished!.

Part of installing the radiator involved cutting the factory five mounts from the chassis as the Breeze Automotive kit doesn't use them (and they would have been in the way). That was a lot of work removing those mounts, and then cleaning it up and painting it. Overall, I'm happy with how this turned out. I think it looks great! We used the grinder until late at night, and then used the hacksaw to clean it up a bit. I really do have some of the best neighbors and they've been supportive of this project, too!

The Power Steering Rack is on it's way, so next weekend we'll probably get that tackled and start working on the fuel tank. I mocked up the fuel tank, but haven't started putting that together yet.

Another good weekend!

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[Fman]

Looking good, really cool to see all your kids helping you what a great experience for them.

If you want a little more stopping power with Mustang brakes plus add a little bling behind the wheel I have been really happy with the PowerStop kit. Simple to install and they claim it increases braking by 20%. Just something to consider or you can always add them later down the road.

Front:
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/PWR-K1301-26

Rear:
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/PWR-AR-85160XPR

Rear PS pads:
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/PWR-Z26-347

[Serenity]

Hi Fman
I'm glad you shared this! I'm not going to do this yet, but I saved this for reference because I may very well do this down the road. I love it when people share actual links to products so it is easy for me to reference. I really appreciate this.

John Mark

[Serenity]

The power steering rack arrived and I mistakenly thought this would be one of the easier parts of the build, but I may have been mistaken - then again, maybe not. The bushings included with the power steering rack need to be removed and I opted not use the ones from FF5 and to instead use the solid offset Aluminum bushings from Breeze. In looking at the picture of the bushings, the ones on the left are included with the power steering unit, and ones in the middle are provided by FF5, and the ones on the right are from Breeze. The offset bushings lower the rack further reducing any bump steer and improve the alignment of the rack with respect to the front geometry. To start, the Factory Five supplied bolts wouldn't go through the Breeze bushings and the power steering mounts were misaligned on the vehicle. The bolts had an anti-corrosive coating, and once this was sanded off, they fit through the Breeze Bushings. It wasn't quite that simple, but we managed. After spending considerable effort trying to use the mounts as-is, I finally broke out the drill and widened the opening to allow the bolt to slide through. Since the Breeze bushings lower the power steering rack maybe 3/4", this inadvertently caused the boots to come into contact with the bracket (see pictures). It seems most builders don't need to grind down the brackets, but I did since I didn't want the boots rubbings or coming in contact with the bracket. All good now! Oh, remember that radiator I installed the previous weekend - well pulled it off for this project and then put it back on. The end result being that I'm finally very happy with the install of the power steering assembly.

The brake/ clutch reservoir had subtle movement when mounted with 5 rivets, so I ran 2 stainless steel bolts through the mounting plate, and it is now solid. I also trimmed the hoses slightly for a better fit. There was a concern that the subtle movement of the triple reservoir + the engine vibration might cause the fluid to become frothy/ agitated and create problems, hence it was decided to make it more solid.

We hadn't "officially" mounted the front drivers side footbox panel, but it was apparent that I probably should have done this already. Having disassembled the triple reservoir, this seemed like a good time. Took as much apart as possible, and then siliconed and riveted this in place. Was harder than it looks, but glad this is done.

Having installed the Power Steering, it seemed prudent to now install the Steering Shaft. Having mocked it up, we decided to remove 1/4" of the lower steering shaft for a better fit. The kids put the steering shaft brackets on backwards....but it's not entirely their fault. In one of the pictures in the manual, I believe they showed it installed backwards, too. Fixed this and everything else was pretty self explanatory. The steering is completely solid and feels good.
I thought I had received the steering tie rod ends, but searched all boxes 3x, and they weren't there. Ugh.... It's ok, EdwardB (a prominent builder) used MOOG Tie Rod Ends on his last few builds and has been very happy with them. So, I bought the same MOOG ES2150RL Tie Rod Ends (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000C59VR6). When I went to install them, I realized I also didn't have the 9/16 jam nut that was probably included with the Tie Rod ends that I didn't get. Unfortunately, Home Depot, Lowes, and Autozone don't stock anything over 1/2". One the other hand, Home Depot DOES sell specialized and a complete list of hardware on their website in eaches and they ship it directly to your house free freight. So I bought 9/16 nuts for $2.00 + Free Freight. I just need to wait 2 weeks to receive them - that's fine. I'm not in a hurry.
Lastly, we decided to drill/ cleco the large Aluminum Panel that sits behind the driver/ passenger area. Reagan and Kadence were my big helpers this weekend.

In anticipation of installing the fuel tank next weekend, I decided to swap out the 7/16" Coupling Nuts that I had previously picked up at Home Depot which I will be using for the Quick Jacks. I took a picture to show you what I had bought from Home Depot vs. what I picked up from McMasters. The smaller/ stainless steel ones are from McMaster and they fit much better and I also picked up Stainless Steel bolts/ hardware, too! I needed to get this taken care of before I could install the fuel tank.

Loving spending time with the kids working on this! They're learning all sorts of fun skills (and problem solving) as well as using their hands to build/ make things. Also, stainless steel is difficult to cut/ drill/ saw through. I've learned some techniques, but it is just a hard metal.

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[Serenity]

Mounted a few more aluminum panels in the driver/ passenger area, and then focused on the aluminum in the rear of the car (sides/ trunk). I wanted to drill/ clean up these panels before I mount the fuel tank to minimize any metal shavings. I've covered up all important parts (IRS components) with towels before I started drilling in the rear of the car. I used rivnuts for the first time to create an access panel for the fuel sending unit, and they are really cool! How have I gone this long without using rivnuts before? We also drilled and cleco'd the Breeze Cockpit Storage Cubby Kit (https://www.breezeautomotive.com/sho...-mk4-roadster/). I'm really glad we did this mod....it will come in handy with just everyday use of the car.

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[Ted G]

Enjoying watching your progress! I just started mine this weekend. I will surely post some pics with my kids too!

[Serenity]

Enjoying watching your progress! I just started mine this weekend. I will surely post some pics with my kids too!

Hi Ted - That's great! I'm going to look for your build thread and I'd like to follow your build, too! That's great you'll be involving your kids, as well! We have 6 kids and 5 of them are pretty excited about this project and 1 of them wasn't a fan, but he's slowly come around and has spent some time in the garage with me, and that's been fun. He prefers the look/ luxuries of more modern vehicles, but once he's ridden in it with me, I know he'll love it!

[Ted G]

I'm in Temecula about 4 times a year as my company is headquartered there (QuietCool). Looking forward to the rest of your build.

Ted

[ggunter]

You better be careful, you might go to work one day and come home to find your kids riding around the neighborhood in you Cobra. You are making fantastic progress. I only wish my dad would have been cool enough to do a project like this with me when I was a kid. With him it was ALWAYS, don't do that you'll hurt yourself. I'm glad I didn't listen to him that much. Don't get me wrong he was a good dad but really, really overprotective.

[Serenity]

I'm in Temecula about 4 times a year as my company is headquartered there (QuietCool). Looking forward to the rest of your build.

Ted

That's awesome! I'm a big fan of QuietCool! We installed the QC-5400 Classic Whole House Fan almost 2 years ago now and it's fantastic in the Summer. My parents and uncle also installed QuietCool fans. Couldn't be any happier with their products! If you ever want to stop by, let me know. We are right across the street from French Valley Airport and there is another local builder down the street that's been a big help to me.

[Serenity]

You better be careful, you might go to work one day and come home to find your kids riding around the neighborhood in you Cobra. You are making fantastic progress. I only wish my dad would have been cool enough to do a project like this with me when I was a kid. With him it was ALWAYS, don't do that you'll hurt yourself. I'm glad I didn't listen to him that much. Don't get me wrong he was a good dad but really, really overprotective.

Thank you, sir! With 6 kids, it's a fine balance on being protective, but also letting them learn and experience the world in a semi-controlled environment. As a kid, I had a hairline fracture in my wrist from a biking incident, but most of my kids have all had broken bones from climbing, biking, and just playing hard. We've spent more time at the ER or Urgent Care than I'd like to admit, but they're all healthy and active. They recently had a karate tournament at Cal State Fullerton and they LOVE working on the car. I have no doubt my kids are going to want to drive this, even just down the street. I've always wanted to go to the Bonneville Salt Flats, and hopefully we'll make it there and I can let the older ones drive it (once finished).

[nucjd19]

What an awesome family experience. My girls enjoyed the post work results more than the middle of the build work. Now they just love cruising around in it. While I did not have the input that you have had they feel like they are a part of it and have a connection. That is a really special aspect of doing something like this. I have really enjoyed catching up on your build. Great job!

[Serenity]

OK, I was traveling for work but I am now back and still progressing....

We installed the the fuel sending unit and mocked up the fuel tank. Reagan and Cater were my big helpers. I decided to upgrade the gasket for the fuel fill tube to the OEM from Ford. The one from Factory Five would probably have been fine, but I've read some posts where this has leaked, so I decided to purchase this from Ford to minimalize any issues down the road. It looks very similar to the one provided by Factory Five, but the one from Ford is slightly more robust. We also installed the Breeze Big Bore Vent Check Valve, too! I meant to take a picture comparing both check valves, but the Breeze is noticeably larger. This allows the tank to be filled faster by allowing displaced air to escape without backing up the filler neck.
https://www.breezeautomotive.com/sho...heck-valve-kit

Gas Pedal.... I wasn't thrilled with the pedal provided by Factory Five, and Russ Thompson makes an upgraded all aluminum gas pedal. Don't get me wrong, the pedal provided would have worked just fine, but I needed to order the upgraded Turns Signal System from Russ anyways, so it was easy to just add the gas pedal to this order. Russ Thompson has designed a Turn Signal System which allows these vehicles to have a "normal" blinker switch (mounted to the steering column) as opposed to a button to activate the blinkers on the dash. Russ does a great job and we did get this installed...although I'll have to remove it to install the dash once it arrives (still back-ordered). I did need to grind down a weld to make it fit. There is no question that the tolerances are very TIGHT, but we did manage to get this mounted/ installed. While it is not in the manual, if you decided to use the pedal provided in the kit, you should use medium strength loctite on the bolt that secures the 2 pieces together. http://www.norcal-cobras.com/store/r...k3/mk3tss.html

Fuse Box. The Fuse Box is designed to be held into place with a few self-tapping screws, which again, is probably just fine. This is not a structural component and it has little weight, but yeah, I have to do everything overkill. In reading different builds, I didn't see anyone else that needed to trim the fuse box mounting plate, but once I started asking around, it was apparent that others needed to trim it, too. Well, I didn't need too, I suppose. A bolt from the pedal box bracket is in the way, but you could drill a hole in the fuse box mounting plate and use the existing bolt from the pedal box to hold that corner. I slept on it, but decided to trim around the bolt/ washer, and to use 6 rivnuts/ bolts to hold the fuse box. I wanted it to be semi-easily removable if needed, and this is perfect. I'm happy with this install.

Lastly, Carter and I applied FatMat sound/ heat (mostly sound) insulation to the firewall and then we ran a little bit of electrical through the firewall and then we installed a ground for the fuse box.

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[Serenity]

While it doesn't look like I accomplished much since my last update, it's the little stuff that counts, right?

Tie Rod Ends installed although I haven't torqued them down yet or put in the cotter pin. Not ready to torque them down just yet.

Sniper Fuel Pump (12-345) installed. This is what Mike Forte suggested and it is capable of 340 LPH (which is up to 700HP EFI). https://www.holley.com/products/fuel...s/parts/12-345

Does anyone know if I can cut the fuel pump electrical end from the Ron Francis Wire Harness and wire the Black/ Red wires directly to the Sniper Fuel Pump (12-345)?
If you have any suggestions on this, please let me know. I'm thinking about putting a Weatherpack end on the Sniper Fuel Pump & Ron Francis Wiring Harness so I can plug it in/ remove if needed.

Emergency Brake hooked up and functional! This took considerable more time than it looks, but overall I'm very happy with this. It works perfectly and 1-2 clicks pulling up and it locks the read end. Very happy with this mod, but it did take quite awhile to get this 100%.

Put the little plastic plugs in-place near the fuel tank (see picture). I forgot to put these in and dropped the fuel tank to get these in.

Drained and re-filled the rear differential. The good news is that it was FULL of new fluid + additive fresh from Ford, BUT, it did have quite a bit of debris (mostly silicone from the rear differential gasket. I'll post a shot video if I can showing the debris, but glad I drained this and am starting fresh!

Adjusted rear upper control arm. I was reading up on EdwardB's build and he said to have equal thread showing on the rear upper control arm. I don't entirely understand why, but I adjusted this on both sides. Took the bolts out and then retorqued them down. Re-checked rear alignment (made some adjustments) and it looks good now.

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[edwardb]

Does anyone know if I can cut the fuel pump electrical end from the Ron Francis Wire Harness and wire the Black/ Red wires directly to the Sniper Fuel Pump (12-345)?
If you have any suggestions on this, please let me know. I'm thinking about putting a Weatherpack end on the Sniper Fuel Pump & Ron Francis Wiring Harness so I can plug it in/ remove if needed.

With that pump, you’ll want to cut off the Ford style connector on the RF harness. But personally I wouldn’t hard wire it. Obviously would mean cutting the wires if service or replacement required. A Weatherpack might work. But the standard version is only rated for 20 amps max. So probably a little light for a fuel pump. Saying that without knowing first hand what the draw is for that particular pump. I’d pick a connector set with a higher current rating. Lots of choices.

Adjusted rear upper control arm. I was reading up on EdwardB's build and he said to have equal thread showing on the rear upper control arm. I don't entirely understand why, but I adjusted this on both sides. Took the bolts out and then retorqued them down. Re-checked rear alignment (made some adjustments) and it looks good now.

The reason to center those adjusters is so that you get maximum adjustment available each direction. You have a RH thread and LH thread on the adjuster. When the jam nut is loosened, you can turn the adjuster in or out. If you didn’t have equal threads from the start, you would limit how much it could be adjusted in one of the directions. My experience is that connection doesn't need a lot of range to get the right alignment spec. But still would ruin your day if you ran out of adjustment and had to take it all apart to correct.

[JeffP]

While it doesn't look like I accomplished much since my last update, it's the little stuff that counts, right?

Tie Rod Ends installed although I haven't torqued them down yet or put in the cotter pin. Not ready to torque them down just yet.

Sniper Fuel Pump (12-345) installed. This is what Mike Forte suggested and it is capable of 340 LPH (which is up to 700HP EFI). https://www.holley.com/products/fuel...s/parts/12-345

Does anyone know if I can cut the fuel pump electrical end from the Ron Francis Wire Harness and wire the Black/ Red wires directly to the Sniper Fuel Pump (12-345)?
If you have any suggestions on this, please let me know. I'm thinking about putting a Weatherpack end on the Sniper Fuel Pump & Ron Francis Wiring Harness so I can plug it in/ remove if needed.

I have the same pump from mike and did exactly this.. installed a weatherpack. the website has conflicting data - 10amp and 16amp @60psi. either way should be fine and given the gauge of wire on the pigtail it ships with is pretty small it must not be a huge draw.

[edwardb]

I have the same pump from mike and did exactly this.. installed a weatherpack. the website has conflicting data - 10amp and 16amp @60psi. either way should be fine and given the gauge of wire on the pigtail it ships with is pretty small it must not be a huge draw.

That's information I didn't check for and no experience with that pump. Should be fine with a Weatherpack. Unlike my previous response. Interesting they're able to get that much fuel to flow at those currents. Pretty efficient.

[Serenity]

With that pump, you’ll want to cut off the Ford style connector on the RF harness. But personally I wouldn’t hard wire it. Obviously would mean cutting the wires if service or replacement required. A Weatherpack might work. But the standard version is only rated for 20 amps max. So probably a little light for a fuel pump. Saying that without knowing first hand what the draw is for that particular pump. I’d pick a connector set with a higher current rating. Lots of choices.

The reason to center those adjusters is so that you get maximum adjustment available each direction. You have a RH thread and LH thread on the adjuster. When the jam nut is loosened, you can turn the adjuster in or out. If you didn’t have equal threads from the start, you would limit how much it could be adjusted in one of the directions. My experience is that connection doesn't need a lot of range to get the right alignment spec. But still would ruin your day if you ran out of adjustment and had to take it all apart to correct.

Makes perfect sense! Thank you! I'm glad I went back and corrected the adjustment on the rear upper control arms. I reference your build all the time - so thank you! Yes, I'm not going to hard wire the fuel pump. I'm most likely going to use a WeatherPack here. The wiring gauge is identical to the Ron Francis Wiring Harness. I'm going to check the current rating for the pump as well as the WeatherPack. Thank you, again!