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Got another one! FFR 3144 in my garage:
Well, my baby is gone. It was a complete blast to build and drive, but gotta focus on other things for now. Fear not, however...I'll be building another one someday (like after all our student loans are paid off). The only tough questions are Roadster or Daytona, or GTM? Small block or big block? Hmmm...time will tell.
She's going to a good home, though. Seems like he's someone who will drive it and enjoy it, and not sit at car shows with it rubbing it with a diaper.
As done as a project like this ever is, anyway. Back on the road and terrorizing the streets, with people ogling at every stoplight. The paint color seemed to lighten up as it cured...I'm very happy with how the color came out. The gapping on the doors could have been better, or I could have been more patient and built the edges back up more. If I waited until everything was absolutely perfect, I'd never be driving the thing. As it happens, as my luck would demand, got a big old ding in the paint as we were bringing the chairs over to re-install them. OUCH! Oh, well If it was a high-dollar pro paint job I could get upset.
Some shots from what could be the last cruise of this summer...Oct. 7, up near Palisades Reservoir/Swan Valley, Idaho:
(Click the photo for a high-res version) 
Finishing 'er off (4/29/05- ) (updated 5/02/05)
Bodywork (2/26/05-4/23/05 ) (updated 4/23/05)
Body-test fit (6/11/04-6/19/04)
Donor teardown/parts prep (9/21/02-11/15/03)
Past overall progress photos:
4/23/05:
She's got paint! I ended up going with Pacific Blue, a color on the '05 Toyota 4Runner. It looks much darker here than it seemed when we were checking out shades of blue in a dealer lot, but I still like how it turned out. The sky was cloudy when I took this shot, so it might look a bit lighter with the sun out. I was after a smokey light blue color. A speck of dust here or there, minor orange peel and a few drips/runs, but you can't see them unless you're closer than 10 feet. All in all, not bad for a cheap paint gun in a redneck paint booth!
4/17/05:
After letting the first coat of Featherfill cure for several days, I blocked 'er down with 220 grit and shot another coat. I've been practicing with the gun, and had much better luck this time, though it's still not perfect.
4/10/05:
After filling more pinholes with the Spotlite filler and working on the hood, trunk and doors, I finally felt safe enough to attempt spraying some Featherfill. Only had a few runs...not. Most of this llayer will get sanded off anyway, but it looks like I'll need to practice on some stuff to get good with the spraygun. On the plus side, there didn't seem to be any obvious waves or ripples, but we'll see once I get some guide coat on there. This'll have to cure for about a week before I can block it, however.
4/03/05:
Sorry no update last week...crappy weather didn't let me get much done. Getting close to spraying the first coat of Featherfill G2 filler primer. I'll have to clean out the garage and get my ventilation fans & filters set up first. Since the last update I've gotten several layers of filler done and started shaping the hood, trunk and doors.
3/21/05:
Updated the cost spreadsheet and started sanding on the body filler to get the contours just right. I'm sure it's taking me twice as much filler and sanding to get to where it is now. I'm getting pretty close to the proper contours. Still a few flattish spots at the highest point of the curve in a few places, but I'm getting better as I go.
3/14/05:
Another fairly good weather weekend to start, then got so-so. Snow's almost completely gone now. I don't have the hinges welded yet, so I went ahead and scuffed 'er up and started with the Rage Gold body filler.
3/06/05:
After a good week of 40+ degree weather, got rid of some more snow. It hit about 50 degrees in the afternoons on the weekend, so I decided to go ahead and apply the first stage of body filler to my ground-down seams and get the hinge bracket mounted to the underside of the body. Used 3M High Strength Repair Filler...it'll need to cure for about a week before I move on.
2/26/05:
No, the project isn't regressing. Got the body back off for bodywork and paint. The chassis has got to go somewhere, so...the redneck solution: tarp it up in the back yard. I'm still not quite as redneck as my neighbors behind my house, but I'm working on it. See the body work section for more detail.
6/19/04:
She's done! Well, 90% done, anyway. Titled, registered, and on the road. Still have the under-door aluminum and the splash panels to put in place, but there's nothing to stop me from enjoying the nice weather. Getting a nice tan already from cruising around. Already put 100 miles on 'er. Paint will have to wait...I need to just enjoy it for a while. Even in just the unfinished gelcoat, she gets all kinds of attention. I think this is the first one on this side of the state. It's been a frantic couple of weeks getting it ready for the summer cruisin' season. We were supposed to have it in a parade with some relatives who have a couple of antique cars, but a last-minute brake gremlin had to get solved.
6/15/04:
Just this pic on the main page for now....more updates later. The body is on, and I'm installing all the little bits...lights, trim, etc. Stay tuned...
6/07/04:
For some odd reason I decided to charge ahead with upholstering this thing before I drop the body on. Rather than use the black lightweight carpet FFR provides, we went with a gray tweed-looking carpet, with foam-and-foil stick-on insulation underneath.
Rena is doing the upholstering while I tie up some loose ends with wiring and finish up the dash, as you can see below. I may actually run into some interference with the body from the two leftmost guages, oil pressure and water temperature. I should have located them just a bit further down, but we'll see.
6/01/04:
Had a nice four-day weekend to work on things. Nasty weather Friday and Saturday, so I didn't get quite as far as I'd hoped. I'm just tying up loose ends at this point, getting little things done so I can put the body on, hopefully this weekend. There's a LOT of loose ends.
5/23/04:
Yet another two weeks slipped by without an update. Things have been so hectic at work I haven't gotten much done. Missed the first autocross of the season this weekend, so now my goal is to have it street legal and driveable so I can head to a street rod show/swap meet in Jackson, Wyoming the weekend of June 13.
Here's the mess I've been working on, off and on, for the last couple of weeks, when I'm not at one of my two job (More detail on the wiring page, of course.)
5/09/04:
Sorry I didn't get things updated last week. Always this or that taking away from build time...things have been frantic at work lately, so I didn't get a whole lot done. Details of what I did get done are in the First Run link.
I got things buttoned down enough, and mounted the seats so we could take a gocart ride tonight and pay attention to how it runs and drives instead of hanging on for dear life. Put a couple of miles on running around the neighborhood drawing odd stares. Lotsa grins and waves, and some looks of bewilderment. Got the speedometer hooked up this time...didn't have a stopwatch, but this thing hits 60 in what seems like a blink! Torque that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up just thinking about it...I'd better get the harnesses in there before we try that again! Still running pretty rich, and hotter than I'd like it to at about 200 degrees. Need more tuning.
5/02/04: Didn't get an actual update done last Sunday, but Rena's sister and her family dropped by. Here's Rani, my niece, in the passenger seat, and Sanju, my brother-in-law, behind the wheel. I took Sanju for a spin around the block, and the serpentine belt started throwing pieces off. The crankshaft pulley was out of alignment enough to make the alternator pulley cut into the first rib of the belt. Had to add a couple of washers to the bolts to line the pulley back up. Need to measure the total thickness and have a nice spacer machined. Dunno if I really care for these BBK pulleys, though....may go with a different brand.
4/25/04:
It's Alive!!!
It was a rough delivery, but we finally pulled 'er through. Check out the First Run link above for some video footage (highly compressed to keep the file size down - sorry). Finally got the coil and ignition in, buttoned down a few more things, corrected a wiring problem and replaced a bad starter solenoid, and she kicked and bucked to life with way-off timing and way-rich fuel mixture. I couldn't get it to idle to save my life, so I enlisted the help of a buddy familiar with the black art of carburetology. Still have a bit more tuning to do, but got 'er going well enough to take a couple of trips around the block while dumbfounded and/or pissed off neighbors gawk.
4/18/04: Found one more obstacle to starting up the motor - but I did get the wiring hooked up enough to get the starter to crank. I had to send my Crane Hi-6S ignition and coil back to get MSD parts that would work with my magnetic pickup distributor. Should be here Monday or Tuesday, I hope. I'll get the fan thermostat wiring done tomorrow, then hopefully start it this week.
4/11/04: Another slow week. Overflow tank installed, spark plugs, wires, coil, and ignition in place. Still no start yet, but hopefully next week. All I need is to install the oil pressure sender unit and hook up the vital guages, then get enough of the wiring done.
4/04/04: Radiator is in and connected.
3/28/04: Working on the motor accessories....waiting on a different bracket for the power steering pump. Dash is clamped in place for now. Got started on the wiring...it's very tedious and isn't going to be very exciting to look at, but I'll keep updating things anyway. Cableone still hasn't gotten their web servers fixed...it's been three weeks now!
3/20/04: Got the dash cut and assembled...gotta start wiring everything up soon. More info in the Cockpit section..
3/07/04: The motor waiting to be dropped in after pulling it to put the tranny on:
Roadster kitThe Factory Five Racing 65 Roadster kit is designed to use a 79-93 Mustang 5.0 as a donor car. The idea is with their kit and a Mustang, you have all the parts you need for a basic build. But then the builds don't stay basic for long.
Donor parts needed:
Engine w/computer and harness, transmission, driveshaft, rearend, brakes, wheels/tires, all suspension control arms, rear springs, guages, and miscellaneous other parts. Any of these parts can be rebuilt or upgraded using the huge Mustang aftermarket to get the performance level you're after. With a stock 225-hp 5.0 V8, FFR claims their 2,000-lb. roadster will do 0-60 in a little over 4 seconds. Not too shabby at all, but who's gonna stay stock? I had originally planned to...but it didn't work out that way. I'll be using a carbed 351 Windsor, stroked out to 395 cubic inches. Should be good for 400hp or so!
