Day 19

With the help of Lenny and my Mom we put the body on the chassis today. It wasn't too hard to do, but took a bit of wiggling and working to get into place. The front bumper mount bolts went in, but the rear bolts can't be placed because the gas tank is in the way...we have to drop the tank to attach it properly:

We are going to have the body painted off of the chassis, so this is just a "test fit". Trunk still needs carpet and the hanging wire is the lead for the trunk light:

And from another angle:

The interior is pretty much done, except around the door sills and I think it looks awesome:

The tall air filter we just got doesn't fit which was kinda a bummer. The back-top portion of the air filter cover hits the body, so we have no choice but to use the stock one:

A better view of the front:

The red is just the base gel coat and we are still sanding down the welds. Tomorrow we cut holes in the body for the hood scoop, exhaust hangers and various mount points to the chassis. I also need to fabricate a oil cooler scoop from scratch as the kit doesn't come with one. Till later...

Still going...carpet and interior installed

It's been a long time since I posted anything mainly because we are looking for someone to paint the car at this point. We've acquired several quotes, but most shops won't be able to get to our car till next year.
Anyway, Dad has been sanding the welds down on the body:

Sanding takes time as you need to pass over the welds with finer and finer grit paper each time. We started putting primer on as well, but I don't have pictures of that right now.

I finished up the driver foot-box aluminum:

And sealed up the edges:

We then started putting the carpet in. Dad sewed some piping along the visible edges of the carpet to give it that "Euro Look":

We installed the chrome/brushed aluminum trim pieces (acquired from Breeze Automotive) around the seat belt holes. Fancy!

Here is a view of the cubby space behind the seats and between the trunk:

We will be working on the carpet and interior trim pieces until the body gets painted. Till then...

First Rolling Test

We've been tuning the engine and installing the safety equipment for the past few days. We also nailed down the clutch and were able to get it into gear.
Here is the video of it's first roll out of the garage!

Dad was driving and said the steering was more sensitive than he expected. Plenty of torque too.
We couldn't drive it anywhere else as the neighborhood is washed out due to rain over the past few days.
Next up, we tune the brakes and adjust the clutch further, since it's still breaking in.

Fine tuning

We nailed the timing down today, then tweaked the carb. Running very smooth now and sounds mean!
Installed the roll bar, but still need to drill a few more holes and bolt it down. I went through three bits just to get through the roll bar steel!

Dad was really itching to drive it so we gave it a shot, but it wouldn't go into gear. We think the clutch needs adjusting as it doesn't feel like it is disengaging from the flywheel. Every time he tried to put it in gear, the car moved slightly.
Anyway, we still need to get the seatbelts installed, then we can drive it out of the garage!
Till then...

Day 18 "IT'S ALIVE!" Edition

Thanks to a FFR forum member ( thread here ) I removed the ground to the coil and turned it over for kicks...it went "bang!" instead of "pffffft" like it did before, so I was close! Dad came by later this afternoon and we tried it again, so I'm making another note here...HUGE SUCCESS!
Here is the audio of the first start, {break in audio} then after we got the timing down, {break in audio} then after we attached the vacuum advance to the distributor and set the idle a bit lower:

I just had to record it when it revs up and yes, that's me yelling for joy in the background. :)
This weekend we will tune up the suspension, install the seat belts, roll bar and ready it for the first roll out of the garage!

So close...

And yet so far! Dad is having a hard time finding the correct belt...fifth time's a charm I guess. We tested the fuel system today and fixed a few small leaks along the pipes, looks good to go now. I also fixed a slight leak at the thermostat housing, so we are all set there.
Dad sorted out the spark plug wires and installed the distributor seen here:

We also put the exhaust pipes on the passenger side:

And then the driver's side:

Shiny! Now all we need to do is put the tires on, take it off the floor jacks, install belt and air cleaner, then we can start her up for the first time! If Dad can find a belt locally, we may be able to start it tomorrow. Till then...

Day 17

We've been working on the radiator and carb for the past week, so here it is condensed into one post.
Installed the radiator using the Breeze Automotive mount kit (sold separately from the FFR kit):

It uses a heavy steel hinge on top instead of the stock mounting solution, and a thick steel bar across the bottom for extra support. I burned through three drill bits just to get the holes through the steel! It's easily adjustable to compensate for when we put the body on.
Here we have the bottom stainless hose attached:

And here is the upper hose, filler neck and expansion tank in place:

I had to shave a bit of material off the outside of the water pump to get the 90 degree thermostat housing to fit, but otherwise it went together well.
Here is a better view of the expansion tank area:

Dad got the spacers for the carb, but the kit didn't come with longer mounting bolts, so we couldn't finish that today. We need the spacers to make room for the distributor which is VERY close to the bottom of the air filter. We also put some gas in the tank in preparation for the first start and verified that the fuel gauge works...which it does. We also pumped up the oil pressure and verified that the oil PSI gauge works...which it does.
Hopefully we'll have the carb on *permanently* tomorrow, as well as the distributor. Once that is done and all other systems are filled (water, oil, gas) we can start it up for the first time! Till then...

Day 16

The good folks at FFR shipped us the correct drive shaft a few days ago, so I installed it. Slipped it in and had it torqued down in under ten minutes. The one at the top is for the Coupe, which is two inches longer than the Roadster drive shaft:

Here is a shot of the drive shaft looking down the tunnel:

For the past few days Dad has been working on the engine like a crazy man...it's been well over 100F for the past week, so in the garage it's at least 10 degrees hotter. Needless to say, I stayed in.
Anyway, we have the exhaust headers on, clutch cable installed and a good portion of the top-end electrical all done:

I hooked up the windshield wiper motor and tested it (top left side of the engine bay in above photo). Other than the rest of the assembly, wipers are good to go so far. Dad is still working on the carb and needs a few misc screws and bolts before we can secure it to the intake manifold.
I also worked on the radiator assembly putting the aftermarket fan shroud kit and thermo control on. I'll get some pics of that later. Should look super sexy with the stainless hoses and chrome bits attached! Till then...

Engine Install

We got up early today to beat the heat and the install went smooth! Big thanks to Quintin, Bob, Chris and Josh who stopped by to help out. The whole process took less than an hour, so here it is condensed to 4 minutes:

After we were done, everyone got to sit in it. Here is Quintin, looking cunning:

And Josh, with his racing face on:

Chris with his new hat:

And with the hat off, so he could "feel the wind through his hair" (lol):

I missed a picture of Bob behind the wheel, but I'll get that in later, sorry!
Anyway, looking down the tunnel:

And under the car, with the transmission brace in place:

And of course, from the front:

We tried to install the drive shaft, but it wouldn't fit. The one that came with the kit was two inches too long (from the transmission to the diff input) and didn't line up with the splines on the output of the transmission. Looking at related forums, we weren't the only ones to come across this issue. No problem though as the folks at FFR are real friendly and helpful.
Plenty more to do now, but we may be able to fire it up next weekend if the correct water pump pulley come in on time. Until then...

Engine Prep

The engine is almost ready! We got the starter installed (bottom left side of the engine), engine mounts and the crankshaft pulley:

Still waiting on the water pump pulley, but it looks like we are on track for installing the engine this weekend.

Here is a good shot of the whole thing:

It took both of us to align the transmission to the bell housing, but we got it together. I'll probably stream the install of the engine this weekend, if we get to it. Till then...

Great video

Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vVXezFglQk
Thanks shack!

Day 15

We got the proper bolts for the steering wheel, since they went missing, so that's installed now:

We also put the seat belts in, to see how they fit.
For the past few days Dad has been working on the engine assembly. Alternator and sending units are installed. The flywheel, clutch/plates, bearing, fork and bell housing are all set. Dad also tracked down the proper bolts and such to block off the various ports left open by the Ford factory. We also got an engine lift and level, so now we can move the engine around:

We get many parts from Jegs.com and they ship two or three hats with every order. We've started using them for other purposes, as you can see.
The transmission arrived yesterday direct from Ford. Here is the left side with the spedo attached:

Some of the parts were made just a few months ago:

Now we need to lower the car off the jack stands to ready the chassis for the engine install. Also need to finish up the engine compartment area like the paint, wiring and fuel line...then it's engine time. Till next time!

Day 14

I'm making a note here; huge success!
We replaced the front brake lines and banjo bolts, so no more leaks. Brakes are done!
The lower steering shaft arrived, so I put that in. Steering - done.

From another angle:

I've also been sorting out the electrical for the past few days and everything behind the dash is done! I also tested out the system and after a bit of trial/error (error=blown fuses lol) it's good to go.
Dad put the water pump on the block and started on the alternator mounts. I'll get pics once he has that finished.
And one more shot of the car, just for grins:

Dash done

I finished up the dash today, fixed it to the chassis and plugged everything into the main harness:

Here is a view behind the dash:

This is what it looks like from the driver's point of view:

The reverse dials look awesome! Here are the switches and lights explained:

And under the dash, where the gauge selector/programming switch and 5volt USB charger are located:

I did a quick continuity test at the battery to see if anything was shorted, but looks good so far. Tomorrow I'll hookup the lights and sending units, then the battery to see if everything works as intended.

Day 13

A few days ago, we put the intake manifold on the engine. Before:

And after:

I worked on the dash fit, then secured the lower part to the chassis. Here is the dash while temporarily secured:

This is the space we have to work with, behind the firewall:

The holes on the bottom part of the dash don't quite line up the way they were drilled, so I'll correct that tomorrow. From there, I cleaned up the wire behind the gauges from this:

To this:

We put the dash lighting dimmer switch in the glove box, just to keep the look clean. I secured the bundled wire to the dash face with zip tie hold-downs and such. I also replaced the hole where the alternator fail light would go (which turned out to be impossible using a one-wire alternator) with a hazard light switch. So the dash is ready to plug and play.
More parts coming in next week and plenty of time on my hands this weekend...