Rebostar MK4 Build in Gaston Oregon

[Mike.Bray]

Nige is Aussie, by torch he means a flashlight. Not an actual torch. I work for an Australian company so I speak the language.

[Nigel Allen]

Whoops. Mike is right. An Acetylene torch with a #12 tip will certainly light things up, but not in a good way ...

I haven't even managed to come to terms with hood (bonnet), trunk (boot) or transmission (manual gearbox, automatic transmission) yet.

[Mike.Bray]

When I first started with my company we had a tech over from Sydney working on one of our machines in our warehouse. He's buried deep up in the machine and asked one of our techs for a "torch" meaning of course a flashlight. Our guy hands him a propane torch! Thank goodness it wasn't lit!

For a long time when I would be looking for something I would go to our VP who was from Oz and ask him what he would call it. A set screw is a grub screw. A spacer or shim is a packer. A wrench is a spanner. It took me awhile to learn to speak Aussie.

[Rebostar]

The job I had when I retired at the end of 21 had me working on a Navy (Military Sealift Command) AKE Supply/Ammo ship as a helicopetr wrench (mechanic). We had the opertunity to visit Austrailia a couple times as we were working in the southwestern Pacific. Also got to see Singapore (6 times), Guam (lots), Philippines (lots) Guadlecanal, Tarawa, Munda, Kwajalaine(sic) and Thialand twice. Lots of Aussie's in that neck of the woods, so I picked up the lingo. The one "English" language that may as well be Greek to me is whatever that gibberish is they speak in Scotland, cause it sure aint English or sould I say "Merican".
But I digress. To late, for the "air leak" inspection. Though I do have a "torch" that mounts on my head! We set the body on early this morning. Lance and his bro-in-law and my bro-in-law showed up at 10am sharp we made short work of it. Took 5 minutes. Would have been half that, but I had to make the defroster duct connections as we lowered the last couple feet. After everyone left I managed to get the front and rear body mounts set and had all my origonal alignment marks met. I got the 4 lower bolts in their respective "slots" setting the fore and aft alignment. I had moved the front outriggers to the right to get the lateral alignment perfect then attached the over riders on the front. Then I re-installed the oil cooler and its mount plate. So the body is officialy on.

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[Rebostar]

A suggestion. Once you have got the body in position and still have someone in the shop to give you a hand, grab a torch and go looking for leaks in the firewall. Even the smallest gap will make it feel like a furnace on a hot day.

By the way, absolutely love your workshop, it oozes cool. Must be a great place to just hang out.

Cheers,
Nige

Thanks Nigel
Here are some "unclutered pics.

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[Rebostar]

But wait! There's more!!

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[Mike.Bray]

The one "English" language that may as well be Greek to me is whatever that gibberish is they speak in Scotland, cause it sure aint English or should I say "Merican".

I know what you mean, the owner of our company is originally from Scotland so we get a mix of Scottish & Aussie from him.

[Rebostar]

I Know! The front overriders are on upside down! I like the look better. Also they will protect the lower fiberglass around the oil cooler better. I'll have to see how it looks with the rears on. I may flip them back the way they should be if it looks goofy.

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[Rebostar]

Ok, dumb move! After installing the rear over riders the fronts did in fact look goofy. So both front and rear installed per FFR. Also made all the electrical connections for the lights. Tested and all works as advertised.

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[Cobraman]

Looks absolutely beautiful can't wait until I'm at this stage of the my build

[Rebostar]

Looks absolutely beautiful can't wait until I'm at this stage of the my build

Thanks for the kudo's. I'm at the point now where everything I do adds to the appearance. Also since I brought the body home from the painters I only approch the car at half speed. I dont want to drop a wrench on it or fumble a screwdriver and scratch it. So I'm taking my time and every action I do is thought out and deliberate.

Allyn

[Rebostar]

Today was roll bar install day. As you may recall I fitted a set of the Breeze Roll Bars. I got them back from the chrome platers last month. They did a great job with the polishing and the chrome was 1st class. I really like these Breeze Bars they look so much better than the standard MK4 "paper clips". I had to remove the rear wheels to get the outboard Pins in so while they were off I installed the rear wheel well splash shields. Last thing I did today was install all the hardware on the deck lid. I also wired it up with a weather pac connector. Ready to install the deck lid first thing in the morning.

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[Mike.Bray]

I have to admit I'm partial to that candy color and chrome Breeze roll bars!

[Rebostar]

This morning had me installing the deck lid. I left the two axis bolts in place so all I should have had to do was install the 4 Lateral adjustment bolts. HA! Not sure why but I ended up having to pretty much start from scratch in getting the deck lid gaps all even. But its very close now. I can fiddle with the fine tuning later. I ended up with the wire connector tucked neatly out of sight. Here are the deck lid pics.

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[Rebostar]

Lance,(aka F500guy) stopped by early this morning with two of the small hood bumpers I asked him for if he had any left over. Last night he suggested we install the windshield while he was here. So I had everything preped and nicely laid out when he arrived. It took us about 20 minutes to get the windshield installed. I had made up some jigs when I first fit the windshield. They made short work of the whole install. I decided to do the top of the windshield rear view mirror install. The bracket I got from replica parts is chromed aluminum and looks great and the mirror will be where I would always be looking for it! The last thing I did for the day was build up the hood for installation in the morning.

My pile of parts is getting very small!!

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[F500guy]

Great incentive to hit the garage seeing your final assembly!

[Rebostar]

I installed the hood today. I had prefit it while I was doing initial body work. One thing I noticed was that the hood was too small for the opening FFR made for it. Without touching the hood I set it in the hole and measured 3/8" gaps front and rear as well as both left and right sides. I mentioned this here on the forum and was told that was "normal" and with all the primer, sealer, top coat and clearcoat the gaps would fill in to the acceptable 3/16". So all I did was round the corners and trimmed about 1/16" off the front center 6" or so. I ended up with even gaps all around. Well, now after all the primer,sealer, paint and clearcoat I now have 1/4" gaps all around. I bit larger than I expected but I can live with it. I will have to move the bumpers inboard to hide them as they can be seen in the 1/4" gaps. Not a big deal. The hood looks great and the gaps are consistant all around. It's starting to look like a "car"!!

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[Rebostar]

After the hood went on I still had half a day to spend in the shop. So, on with the doors. I first installed the matching FFR leather door cards. All the pre-fitting on the doors paid off as they went on like butter. Two minor adjustments on the pax side lower body bolts and they both fit like a dream. I just had to drill the holes for the check straps which I had dyed black and rivet them on the vertical door support. I can see that I'll need to move the pax seat back as the seat touches the door lever. No big deal. Tomorrow will see the under door sheet metal and carpet done and a start on the exhaust side pipe install.

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[Jeff Kleiner]

Good job on the door to body interfaces Allyn! That's where all the time and money is Oh, and regarding those gaps...set it out in the sun on a hot day and you'll see that they have grown tighter. You have to be especially conscious of this when doing a dark color car.

Jeff

[Rebostar]

As mentioned yesterday I fit the under door aluminum and the carpet this morning. I also installed the "D" seal the JK recommended (Thanks Jeff). Made a big difference in the way the cockpit looks. I ordered the black leather streeing wheel from FFR. I initialy ordered the wooden wheel when I ordered the kit. But after completeing the interior I/we (read; the chief and I) decide the black leather was the way to go.

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I started to mount the side pipes. HA!!
I'm having an issue with the Pax side (right) header to side pipe alignment. First let me reassure you that the engine is sitting square to the frame. Checked and double checked. Engine is level. Both pins 1/16" below the top of the mount groves. So I know the engine is installed correctly and is square and level. The issue is the right header is 1.25" higher than the left (drivers side) measured just inboard of the ball flange. The left side pipe went on just as advertised. No shims, just a gasket. The pipe is level and square to the body and the lower mount aligns as it should. Left side= everything is groovy! Right side not so much. When I did a mock up for the "go cart" I noticed the differance and ordered up two 1/4" and one 1/8" tapered shims from Breeze. I thought that would "fix" the issue. Not so much. I used both the 1/4" tapered shims to direct the pipe downward and used most of the ball flange just to get the side pipe square to the body. Now the issue is the side pipe is 1.25" inches higher than the left. I would not worry about it because you cannot look at both headers and side pipes at the same time so who would ever notice? Except that with the right side pipe that high the rear attach bracket would not fit per FFR. I can however modify it to work, which is my plan in the morning by welding a vertical extension on the bracket.
I called F500guy (Lance) and he measured his headers and the right side is also 1.25" higher than the left. So he has the same issue.

So what are folks doing to remedy this? If I order another header or set of headers from FFR I'll end up with another set that was not welded correctly in the jig. I'm sure the angle of the head base plate to the 4 pipes is off by between 3 and 7 degrees thus accounting for the 1.25" discrepency.

I thought about removing the header and heating the collector pipe up cherry red and bending it downward. That would ruin my $350. Ceramic Coating job.
Or I can leave it as it is.
What other options have you guys come up with?

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[Jeff Kleiner]

The solution to correcting sidepipe alignment is wedges from Breeze. Probably 50%!of the cars I do require them (especially those with other than FFR headers &/or pipes).

https://breezeautomotive.com/

Jeff

[Rebostar]

The solution to correcting sidepipe alignment is wedges from Breeze. Probably 50%!of the cars I do require them (especially those with other than FFR headers &/or pipes).

https://breezeautomotive.com/

Jeff

Jeff
My entire exhaust system is from FFR, Headers and Side pipes. I have a half inch of Breeze wedges on the top of the flange, any more and it will contact the inside of the body. (see pic below) Wedges wont fix it. Any other ideas?

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[Jeff Kleiner]

Jeff
My entire exhaust system is from FFR, Headers and Side pipes. I have a half inch of Breeze wedges on the top of the flange, any more and it will contact the inside of the body. (see pic below) Wedges wont fix it. Any other ideas?

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Cut, modify and weld the intermediate pipe between the ball flange and sidepipe.

Jeff

[Rebostar]

I called FFR this morning and sent them a batch of pics. A couple of the engineers looked things over and really had no solution. They recomended I rock the engine over. But that would have the effect of having both sides a half inch high and niether side bracket would fit without modification and the engine would no longer be level with the frame. In addition to that I'd have to raise the engine, remove the mounts, then add an additional 1/4" to the pin slots in the mount brackets. Right now the pins are maxed at the top of the slots. So having one side correct (Left), the engine level to the frame, and one side (Right) 1 inch higher than the other is preferable to all three being out of spec. So thats what I'll do. Keep the engine level, have the left side correct and modify the right bracket to mount the right side a bit higher.
I'm certain the angle of the cylinder attach plate of the header was welded to the primary pipes at an incorrect angle. Only a few degrees would give you the 1.25" deviation at the end of the header. Another builder with the same engine and headers as I have, measured his headers and found the right side 1.25" higher than the left, exactly like mine. So this is not unique to my installation. The good news is no one can see both headers and side pipes at the same time. But the perfectionist in me is having a hard time with it.

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And the right side completed

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[Rebostar]

I wrapped up the exhaust system. I modified the right side pipe bracket to allow for the 1 inch higher pipe. As the folks on this forum recomend using only one of the two attach bolts, I cut the upper "ear" off of both brackets to use the lower holes. I installed the right bracket to the underside of the car per FFR, except I drilled two 5/16 holes to use 2 through bolts instead of the 3/16 self tapper FFR supplies. Then I slid a bolt through the lower hole of the side pipe and attached my two "ears" and clamped them to the lower bracket. Then weld, trim, polish ,clean, prime and paint. Also primed and painted the left bracket. When dry I assembled everything and all the bolts went in with slight pressure.
Exhaust is officialy done...........................for now!

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[Rebostar]

With the exhaust sytem done the last bit of assembly will be the wind wings and Breeze rear view mirrors, plus a couple of badges I scored from Tony Branda. That will happen tomorrow. On Tuesday my black leather FFR steering wheel arrives and after I paint the spokes Carbon Fiber Metalic to match the other painted pieces in the cockpit I'll replace the wooden steering wheel.. Next week promises dry weather so I should be off to the local DMV come mid week.

My pile of parts grows thin!

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[Rebostar]

I installed the wind wings and Breeze mirrors this morning. It was all pretty straight forward. The instructions called for the bottom DS hinge screw to come up from the bottom. If you do that there is no room to use any screwdriver that I own to hold the screw while tightening it. So I installed all four pointing down with the nuts on the bottom. Everything works fine and I can tighten them in the future.
Next I installed the only piece of "bling" I'll be putting on the car. The Tony Branda 427 side logos. I clipped off two studs, used a die grinder to trim them flush and used thick 3M double sided adhiesive tape to attach them. I decided I will not be using the two Cobra logos that would go on the front and rear of the car. I guess I'm just not a "bling" guy. I left 90% of the trim, logos, and brick-a-brack the manufacturers seem to stick on all over their cars, off my builds. Engine call outs being the exceptions.

Today at 9am I installed the last part (the engine call out badges). So assembly is offiacaly finished! I received the kit March 1st of last year. It took me 11.5 months to build the car and engine. 6 hours a day 6 days a week for 11 months.

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[Mike.Bray]

I have the Breeze mirrors with the windwings and love them. No sunvisors for you? They really deflect a lot of wind up and over your head, assuming you're a little guy like me

[Rebostar]

I have the Breeze mirrors with the windwings and love them. No sunvisors for you? They really deflect a lot of wind up and over your head, assuming you're a little guy like me

Yup, I'm a "short" 6'-2". I thought I'd see what it was like without the visors. If it blows my hat off I'll get a set. Right now its just that the "look" is cleaner without them.

[gbranham]

Yup, I'm a "short" 6'-2". I thought I'd see what it was like without the visors. If it blows my hat off I'll get a set. Right now its just that the "look" is cleaner without them.

Agreed. I had neither on my MkIII

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[Rebostar]

I have 27 mic. FFR kit parts I did not use for the build. I posted them in the 4 sale section. Some have prices, some are "make offer" some are free. Check'em out and PM me if you need anything.

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[Rebostar]

As I mentioned above. Build is done. Now the tinkering begins. First up is a replacement steering wheel. I bought the wooden wheel when I ordered the car. After the interior turned out the way it did. I decided that the black leather wheel was the way to go. It arrived from FFR yesterday. I painted the spokes Carbon Fiber Metalic to match the rest of the painted inerior bits, then installed it. I think its a way better look than the wood wheel.

Next up will be painting the door hinges semi-gloss black as well as the body directly behind them. As they are now your eye is drawn right to them. I want them to be LESS noticable!

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[Rebostar]

Fixing up another anoying detail. I did not like the silver door hinges so I removed the doors and hinges then painted them semi gloos black along with the visible area of the body behind the hinges. So now your eye is not drawn to the hinges. They kinda hide in the background. I know, a small thing, but thats how I roll!

Before:
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After:
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[gbranham]

Definitely a good adjustment. They're not the most attractive part, so letting them hide in plain sight is a good move.

[Rebostar]

BUT WAIT...THERE'S MORE!

Another anoying detail that needed addressing: The Moroso dip stick was too long. It was a "universal" unit, a cut to length affair. Problem was the alen set screw stripped out before the set screw moved. I had to drill the darn thing out. Turns out they filled the set screw threads and the cavity that holds the dip stick handle on with RED loc-tight....morons! So, Drill and tap, then off to Ace to get an oversized set screw. An hour and a half to do what should have been a 10 minute task. But good now.
After reading Lance's thread about his ride hieght changing after a few drives I checked mine and sure enough all were low. re-set fronts to 4" and rear's to 4.5". Also he mentioned his exhaust pipes sagged a bit so I also tiightened up the brass ball joint nuts.
Last up was installing my side pipe heat shields. I'm not sure I like them. I dont know if they'll stay. Maybe they'll "grow" on me. But there on for now.

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[Mike.Bray]

1 heat shield.jpg

I love everything about your car.....except the heat shields. Fully appreciate the usefulness of them but just can't get over the looks.

We noticed a real difference in temperature between the polished stainless sidepipes and the Jet Hot coated ones. They'll still bite you but not nearly as bad. With our last car being a Viper we've learned to be careful getting in and out.

[Rebostar]

I love everything about your car.....except the heat shields. Fully appreciate the usefulness of them but just can't get over the looks.

We noticed a real difference in temperature between the polished stainless sidepipes and the Jet Hot coated ones. They'll still bite you but not nearly as bad. With our last car being a Viper we've learned to be careful getting in and out.

Thanks for the tip Mike. I completely agree with your assessment. Those heat shields look cheey!. Another member turned me onto a very nice looking set. He sent me a PM with the link for them. I think I'll be getting them. First I have to drive over to Lance's house (AKA F500guy) to check out the set he has. I'll leave this set on untill I get a replacement set.

[Rebostar]

Sunday seems like a great day to sit on my butt and watch football. Besides its 35'F outside and the only heater I have in the shop is a aligator diesel fired space heater.

So here is the promised breakdown of the major assembly parts used and costs;

Kit Invoice from FFR=$24,736.
OPTIONS:
351 SS Headers
Body cut out
Carbon Fiber Dash
Wind Wings
Trunk gas rods
Over-Rider kit
Oil Cooler kit
Front sawy bar kit
Seat track kit
Diamond Stiched Door panel kit
Diamond Stiched Leather seats
Assembled side louvers

ENGINE:$8,843
1969 Ford 351W Block machined and bored .060 oversize $500
Scatt 418 Stroker kit $2530
Summit Racing engine parts $5993

DRIVE LINE: $9,876
TKX Transmission $2895
Bellhousing $300
Quick Performance Ford 9" rear end, modified to replace Ford 8.8 w/ 3.50:1 gears $2655
American Racing Polished Halibrand style wheels $2795
Tires, ordered from Summit $830
Custom built drive shaft $401

BREEZE PARTS: $3,227
Roll Bars $582
Roll bars chrome plateing $1620
Radiator installation parts $319
Mirrors, gas peddle, mic $561
Oil Cooler adapter plate $145

MIC:$16,449
Stewart Transportation $2678
Paint (top coat) $8000
CVF Pully/Altinator kit $462
Classic Instruments Moal Bomber Style Gauges $1326
Electronic Power Steering Kit $835
Willwood Front Brake kit $1807
Willood Rear Brake kit $1321

The above listed costs are just the large ticket items. There are too many expences under $500 to list here. However I did add up all my reciepts. To say the least I was shocked! Knowing the kit cost, and a rough idea of the engine parts costs I was thinking someing in the mid to upper 50's. HAH! Silly me.
Total reciepts come to an all in cost of $72,171 not including DMV costs of $239.
I estimate 1500 hours of labor over 10 months at 6 hours a day, 6 days a week.

This is the cost of being a perfectionist. Its who I am! I'll never get out of it what I put into it, but that was never my intention. I just wanted to build the best Cobra Roadster I could.

[Rebostar]

After finishing the Cobra, I went back to restoring the 1957 Studebaker Silverhawk I was in the middle of when I bought the MK4. I've been keeping up with the forum however. In a couple of recent posts I read where people are trimming (shortening) the rear upper A arm sleeves to allow sufficent adjustment to get the 7' castor required. F500guy confirmed the need to do that on a recent visit to his shop. I had set it up using the dimentions in the build manual and used my "FastTrack" alignment tool. I had gotten close to the -.5' camber but ran out of threads. I figured it was close enough to go-kart, and would let the alignment shop deal with it. At the time I was completly unaware of "trimming the sleeve" requirement. In one of the threads J.K. gave some better dimensions which I just used to re-set the alignment. I started from scratch after removing, trimming, and re-installing the sleeves. I was able to get the castor dialed in, in three adjustments with about 1/4" of threads left on each rear sleeve end. The camber took two adjustments. Toe-in took three adjustments to get it right. Tomorrow morning I'll double check all the settings then torque everything.

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[Blitzboy54]

I have never seen chrome hailbrands before. I can't say enough good things about this look. Really really well done.