Well I have made the decision to post my build on this forum as opposed to the FFCars Site. I'm not really sure why. I know many of you are in both places; though maybe under different names (ie here I'm HDNIK, there I'm LOWNTUBD (low 'n tubbed)... I guess I just like this site better for some reason!
To Begin! January 9th, 2013 the Canadian Starter Kit Arrived! 1.jpg
I haven't started the inventory yet... very busy at work. That begins Saturday! Until then it sits tarped in the driveway 2013-01-08 15.16.53.jpg
For those that care; I have started a build site or blog at lowntubd.blogspot.ca
It now only tells the tale of how I got to this point, but will be updated regularly... as will this thread!
Thank you all for your help to date! I'm sure I will be leaning on you all quite a bit!
Wow! In fact let me say that again backwards... Wow!
That is one big box of parts. All went perfectly. If you know my area of the planet (near Niagara Falls) you know the weather can be an issue with most things. Yesterday we had freakishly great weather. 50 degrees and sunny... A perfect day to unpack the crate! Today back to normal... Cold and rain and chance of snow. image.jpg
In the end the body parts are stowed safely up on the hoist using some of the crate plywood as decking, the boxes are stacked in the basement undergoing a thorough inventory, and the chassis is on the dolly awaiting attention. image.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpg
One of the biggest jobs was dismantling the crate and salvaging the best wood. image.jpg
Still waiting on the "Canadian Completer Package" in transit now from Whitby Motorcar (10 more boxes of suspension, brakes and fuel system parts) as well as the rear end from Western Canada Cobras (also en-route).
With the inventory complete only a small backorder list... the hardtop. Not to worry... Won't need that for a while
Very exciting!
Last edited by hdnik; 01-13-2013 at 09:39 PM.
Nick Sebastian - 33 Hot Rod #495
Factory Five Forums - hdnik
FFCars - lowntubd
Good luck from a fellow Canuck. You think the balmy weather in welland is an issue? It was -20C when I got to the unheated garage before Christmas, a big change from where I lived in Sumatra!!. Two portable propane heaters from Canadian Tire took the chill off. The tools stayed cold until the afternoon each day. But a little cold does not slow us down, we just could not do paint or fibreglas work.
Keep the pics coming.
www.33coyote.com
Built with the help of my dad and sons
coyote/TKO 600, Wilwood Brakes,Boyds tank, QA1 shocks
Speedhut Gages, rag top, bike fenders, power steering
"Never let physics or common sense get in the way of a good idea"
Yeah.......I'm originally from Buffalo.........nutty weather. As they say: Don't like the weather...stick around for a couple of hours, it'll change!
Originally Posted by hdnik
Wow! In fact let me say that again backwards... Wow!
That is one big box of parts. All went perfectly. If you know my area of the planet (near Niagara Falls) you know the weather can be an issue with most things. Yesterday we had freakishly great weather. 50 degrees and sunny... A perfect day to unpack the crate! Today back to normal... Cold and rain and chance of snow. image.jpg
In the end the body parts are stowed safely up on the hoist using some of the crate plywood as decking, the boxes are stacked in the basement undergoing a thorough inventory, and the chassis is on the dolly awaiting attention. image.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpg
One of the biggest jobs was dismantling the crate and salvaging the best wood. image.jpg
Still waiting on the "Canadian Completer Package" in transit now from Whitby Motorcar (10 more boxes of suspension, brakes and fuel system parts) as well as the rear end from Western Canada Cobras (also en-route).
With the inventory complete only a small backorder list... the hardtop. Not to worry... Won't need that for a while
Very exciting!
FFR Daytona Type 65 Coupe
67 427 Cobra
57' Belair
72 Pinto Wagon ,306" 1/4 miler
34 5 window coupe Ford
2003 Mustang GT
99' ZX9
85 Goldwing
All toys still in the Scuderia!
Every Saint has a past..................every sinner a future
Don't take yourself so seriously........no one else does.
You never see a motorcycle parked outside a Psychiatrists office.
One of the biggest jobs was dismantling the crate and salvaging the best wood. image.jpg
With a $700 price tag on my crate I wasn't going to throw it out either. I used some of it as a platform for the body but the rest became an outdoor deck in a shady corner of our garden!
Installed the brake brackets and a new cover onto the rear end. This is a typical 8.8 with a Torsen Trac lock diff. Slightly different procedure to remove axles. image.jpg
Once the cover is removed you have to remove the spring clip, retainer and axle spacer to be able to push in axles to pull c-clips. image.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpg
Then just a matter of removing the axles, bolting on the brackets as per instructions and reversing the order. Install a nicer cover and voila!! image.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpg
Mission complete.
Nick Sebastian - 33 Hot Rod #495
Factory Five Forums - hdnik
FFCars - lowntubd
Great job. Did you get the diff cover for a reasonable price? I was going to use the same one but the budget won't allow it at this point. I have too many other key parts to buy. I will probably just paint mine black and think about replacing it in the future.
Today my 12 year old Grandson (and build partner) Kamryn and I set out to get the rear end off the ground. I thought we'd need some manpower. But brains over brawn... With the rear end on 3 stands and the chassis on the dolly we were able to back the car up to the rear end and bolt it in place. Again no news here for anyone I'm sure, but we were pretty proud of ourselves
Looking great so far. I put my rear end in today. I'll post picturesa on Monday. You are doing a good job. It is great to hear the grandson is helping.
Yes he's taking an interest in cars. My own boys not so much when they were young but the oldest is in the car business now too.
My grandson and I are enrolled it the build school in march. Aught to be interesting.
Nick Sebastian - 33 Hot Rod #495
Factory Five Forums - hdnik
FFCars - lowntubd
Just a side post... The car I sold to make this project happen was a 67 chevelle. I had a rendering done by a young graphic design student from Idaho. His name is Sam Ames... Check out his stuff www.AmesCustomDesigns.blogspot.com I came across him surfing the net a couple years ago... And when I did, I commissioned him to do the chevelle from a few pics I emailed him like this image.jpg and he came back with image.jpg
He's been working on another one for me on the 33. He's doing both the front and back.. Only this time I sent him pics of many of the cars on this forum and a wish list of what mine will hopefully look like... Now I know for sure... Here is the low res draft of the rear he just emailed me for my approval image.jpg
Can't wait to see the front view rendering.
This kid is gifted!
Last edited by hdnik; 02-14-2013 at 07:42 AM.
Nick Sebastian - 33 Hot Rod #495
Factory Five Forums - hdnik
FFCars - lowntubd
Just a side post... The car I sold to make this project happen was a 67 chevelle. I had a rendering done by a young graphic design student from Idaho. His name is Sam Ames... Check out his stuff www.AmesCustomDesigns.blogspot.com I came across him surfing the net a couple years ago... And when I did, I commissioned him to do the chevelle from a few pics I emailed him like this image.jpg and he came back with image.jpg
He's been working on another one for me on the 33. He's doing both the front and back.. Only this time I sent him pics of many of the cars on this forum and a wish list of what mine will hopefully look like... Now I know for sure... Here is the low res draft of the rear he just emailed me for my approval image.jpg
Can't wait to see the front view rendering.
This kid is gifted!
The Front View is Done.... Fantastic!! IMG_0149.JPG
Nick Sebastian - 33 Hot Rod #495
Factory Five Forums - hdnik
FFCars - lowntubd
I was amazed that he was able to capture what was in my minds eye. All i did was send hime pics of other cars and parts and a few notes and voila... just as i imagined.
Nick Sebastian - 33 Hot Rod #495
Factory Five Forums - hdnik
FFCars - lowntubd
So it's been a few weeks. I've been kind of in a hold pattern until I get back from the F5 build school next weekend. In the mean time I've got a few decisions made and gone forward with the firewall.
I set the body square and centred as per instruction on the other forum dangerous curves. Then located the firewall. image.jpgimage.jpg
Once the firewall was in place I marked it and removed the body. A few of then welds where the chassis and firewall meet had to be ground away to allow the aluminum to sit flat. will have to touch that up once the pieces go to powdercoating. I got most of the drilling, tapping and screwing done (that came out wrong) but ran out of steam today. Very tedious work but relaxing in a funny sort of way.
I used a few good #21 bits and a #10-32 tap. For now we have some stainless button heads but I will get chrome ones for the firewall once it goes in for good.
Nick Sebastian - 33 Hot Rod #495
Factory Five Forums - hdnik
FFCars - lowntubd
My prints came in from Sam Ames... He did the rendering of what the car will look like done. I also found a 1-24 scale die cast model of the car on eBay that I couldn't resist. image.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpg
I also played around with the renderings of Sam's and photoshop'd both views into an Atlantic City backdrop image.jpg
Last edited by hdnik; 03-17-2013 at 06:53 PM.
Nick Sebastian - 33 Hot Rod #495
Factory Five Forums - hdnik
FFCars - lowntubd
Now the decisions and revisions I will make. After reading numerous threads about the harsh ride, I decided to call Dan Ruth and have ordered his QA1 shocks and springs for both the front and rear. The springs are longer and lighter and the shocks are single adjustable with 18 settings.
As far as tires go, I want to have at least 4.5 inches of tire around the rims... Not really a fan of the rubber band look and again to help cushion the ride a bit. I was ready to go with 17's front and rear to accomplish this and stay within the maximum of 26.5" rear tire height with fenders. After speaking with Dan however, I've decided to replace the lower rear control arms with adjustable ones. I'll pick up an extra 1/2 of wheelbase without having to replace the driveshaft and also be able to dial in the pinion angle by replacing the uppers with adjustables as well.
All of this will allow me to use an 18" rim on the rear (my first choice) with a taller tire. Falken makes RT615K's in 295/40R-18 that are 27.3 inches tall... This should be perfect.
Will post pics etc once the parts arrive.
Last edited by hdnik; 03-17-2013 at 08:42 PM.
Nick Sebastian - 33 Hot Rod #495
Factory Five Forums - hdnik
FFCars - lowntubd
Off to build school tomorrow. Will post pics when I get back unless there is wifi in hotel room..
Got a deal on some seats. The fellow who will be doing my interior had some traded from a guy who wanted a bench in his rod. They've been sitting around in his shop for a while. They are Glide buckets. Frames are 16.25" wide and like new... So is the foam and springs. the tracks and mechanisims are perfect. The seat covers are lame and will be removed and the bolsters will be shaved a bit, but they are just what I was looking for in general shape and style.
At the end of day 2 we can cart it. Here is a video of our first start. Actually it was our second attempt. Seems one of the guys left a ground off on the ECM... But once we found that... Good to go.
Finally able to put some time in on the hot rod.
Got the rack and ps unit installed... Still looking for the right length bolts for ps motor. image.jpgimage.jpg
Next decided to run the brake lines from wheel to wheel. image.jpgimage.jpg
Also refitted the body and drilled all holes in firewall before sending out for powder (and yes... the passenger side still requires an amount of material removed to fit nicely to the body) I wasn't happy with the way the firewall and fiberglass just bolt together. I felt the corners need some support, so I fabbed back supports, tapped and threaded for the 3 screws on each top corner to create a Fiberglass sandwich between them and the firewall.
I have decided to replace the entire fuel system. I had already gone with the boyd tank and a Holley blue external pump and regulator, but I'm not really all that impressed with the barb fittings and rubber lines or the 5/16 fuel line size, so got onto summit and ordered a box of Russell 6 AN fittings. Hose and hose ends as well as 3/8 aluminum fuel line. Also ditching the tuna can fuel filter for a 100 micro pre filter and 40 micron post filter. Nice Holley billet ones. Will post pics when done installation.
Nick Sebastian - 33 Hot Rod #495
Factory Five Forums - hdnik
FFCars - lowntubd
I'm now convinced the batter will go in the trunk. Probably will use a yellow top. With that decision made that allowed me a little more leeway with the fuel system.. Roughed in the back half this afternoon while my darling young bride was out getting her hair cut.. Solice in the garage image.jpg
I'll run 3/8 aluminum hard line up to the front and then back to flex line in the engine bay.q
Last edited by hdnik; 04-21-2013 at 04:09 PM.
Nick Sebastian - 33 Hot Rod #495
Factory Five Forums - hdnik
FFCars - lowntubd
As the winter turns to spring, room has to be made in the garage for the bikes. Seriously the garage is like a rubrics cube or slide puzzle. Everything is on wheels and gets shuffled around from day to day. But then the special delivery.... The arrival of the new motor and trans!