Welding fun and prepping the engine.

 These are the braces that I welded up for the passenger's "Oh, Crap!" bar.

 With the braces installed and painted.  They look like they actually belong there.  It wasn't the prettiest welding, but I pushed and pulled on them with everything I had.  I thought I was going to pull the car off the jack stands and they did not budge.

 This is the spring from the power steering pump piston.  The pump is for a fox body Mustang and puts out a little too much pressure for the lighter roadster.  Cutting the spring lowers the power steering pressure and makes the car easier to drive.

 I welded on a small plate to the clutch pedal stop.  The pedal assembly is from a 2004 Mustang.  With my setup (having to pull out the stock clutch quadrant) the clutch pedal would be about 5 inches above the brake pedal.  This plate lowers the clutch pedal to where I like it.

My engine all dressed up.  I installed all the accessories while out of the car to make sure it all fit correctly and to figure out the belt length.  I pulled all that stuff back off before the engine install.

It's been a while..... BRAKE LINES!!! (The bane of my existance)

 This is a view from the master cylinder.  The silver sleeving over the brake line is thermal insulation.  The header is going to be only a few inches away in this area.  The insulation is supposed to protect up to 2000F radiant heat.  I also went with the highest temperature brake fluid I could find.

 This is the passenger brake line where it will pass below the radiator.

 Brake line running aft.  The larger line is the fuel line.

 Fuel and brake lines where they pass behind the driver's seat.

 Rear brake line passing under the trunk.

 Passenger rear line crossing over.

All of the brake lines before final installation.  It took me almost 2 months to get these lines the way I wanted them.  Most of them I did in one try, but I made a template for EVERY bend I did.  Practicing to see exactly where I needed to make the next bend.  Just like the fuel line, I found that the third dimension was really frustrating for me.  I'm still not 100% sure that they are perfectly leak tight.  If I ever talk about building another car, please remind me about the brake and fuel lines.

Pictures of my engine

I just got some pictures of my engine from the builder.  It looks awesome!!!!  The valve covers he has on it will not be the ones that I have when it is installed.  I will be going with black Cobra valve covers
.

Just longer than a week. I'm getting better.

Since my last post, I have mainly been practicing bending fuel line.  I have made a few attempts with copper, but each one has issues.  I'll be trying the real stuff this weekend.  Trying to get the bends in just the right place is a pain in the butt.  I think I have spent about 15 hours on them.

I "finished" installing the steering rack to the outer tie rod ends.  I may have to cut the inner tie rod ends to be able to get the alignment right after the engine is installed and see where the front suspension rests.

I did replace the fuel filler gasket, but I still need to trim the fuel pickup so I can install it and then remount the gas tank.

My engine should be finished this week and then shipped out next week, so I may have it by Christmas.  Sharon will have to put a big red bow on it.

Speaking of Christmas, it came a little early for me.  I got a bunch of big parts in the mail today.  The biggest being my transmission.  It is a TKO-600.

I also got my Speedhut gauges today.  The speedometer is GPS.  It is a reverse Speedo, which is what came in the original Cobras.

Last but not least, today I received my rear axle half-shafts.  They have been on back order since I got the car in June.  I have been waiting for them for almost 6 months, while Factory Five worked out the bugs of them being too short.  I didn't expect the CV joints to be installed.  That is an awesome bonus, since I was expecting to pay about $450 to have them installed.

 

I also have 3 more boxes of parts being delivered tomorrow.  I know the headers and driveshaft are coming, but I can't remember what else.  It will be a surprise.

It's been a while Part 2

I ordered an engine last week.  It will be delivered in late December to early January.  It is a 351W, with 400 HP and 400 ft-lb of torque.  The engine builder had a sale on his engine so I saved about $300 on it.  I went with the 351 over the 430 HP 347 because I will be able to upgrade the 351 sometime down the road.  The 347 was maxed out.  I can take the 351 and make it into a 408 with about 500 HP.  I also ordered the transmission and clutch components.  The tranny is a TKO-600 with a nice overdrive.

I actually did work on the car a little today.  I reinstalled the F-panels that I picked up yesterday.  I have not put the rest of the front end back together yet.  That will happen next week.  I do have the brake and clutch pedals in with the hydroboost and steering shaft.

Most of the passenger footbox and firewall are installed.  The powdercoat color is Anthracite.  It looks awesome.

I have a rope taped into the rear of the car to help plan where I want the break lines and to help me visualize the bends I need to make in the fuel line.

The new fuel line comes in a coil, so I need to straighten it.  I put groves in some 2X4's to uncoil it into and help me get it straight.  No, I am not using copper for the fuel lines.  I am using it to practice with and figure out all the bends I need to make.

More to come next week.  Hopefully.

 

 

 

 

 

It's been a while.... part 1

Sorry that it has been so long.  I blame my IT staff (Sharon).  I'm making a commitment to update the blog at least once a week now. 

I'll start with the problems I have had since the last post.  The clearcoat on the powdercoating on the F-panels started to peel off.  According to another company the first guys must not have had the oven at the right temperature.  I had to remove the panels, order new ones, match them to the originals (holes and trimming I did) and have them repowdercoated.  To do this I had to disassemble the front upper control arms.  This has delayed the whole front end.

Another problem was the steering rack.  I removed the inner tierod ends, installed new ones and installed the outer tierod ends.  Then, when I went to connect them to the spindles I discovered that I was not going to have enough thread engagement.  I called Factory Five and discovered that they forgot to send me inner tierod extenders.  So, they shipped them but, I had to pull the rack back out and remove the inner tierod ends to put the extenders on.  I put it all back in, but I had to wait for the F-panels.....

When I installed the fuel tank I noticed that the filler neck was hitting part of the frame.  This was something that others have found.  The solution is to pull the neck out, heat it up and then hit it repeatedly with a BFH (Big @*^$%@ Hammer).  The picture shows the neck after I dented it.

My other big hurdle is the fuel and brake lines.  I'm not intalling the brake lines that came with the kit (too small for the engine) and I am not routing them the same way.  The manual says to run them down the passenger side, but I am going with a mechanical fuel pump which is on the driver's side.

 

 

Rear suspension, driver's side.  Had to use a bolt with two nuts to separate the bracket that holds the upper control arm, but it worked beautifully and wasn't difficult at all.



Because the clutch will pull on this piece, I had to weld in a brace to prevent it from flexing.  This is before the weld.

The brace after the weld, but before paint.

 

The brace after paint.  It almost looks like it belongs there.