Considering the A&C

[Roadster2]

Originally Posted by H-Rod

The parts I got from A&C:
Gas Tank
Pedal Box
Headers
Sidepipes
Gas pedal

I got a flaming river steering column, adapter and radiator from Summit. (Considerably cheaper than what A&C sells all that stuff for)
Leather wrap steering wheel off the Factory Five forum.
Transmission slip yoke and nice wiring harness from Autoplicity.com

Keep an eye on the Factory Five forums.
Guys are ALWAYS selling off stuff.

Thanks for the tips. Nice to know that the FR steering wheel will fit. I look at the FFCars forum and the official FF forum almost daily for good deals.

[saltshaker]

I would also get;
Roll bar
Accelerator linkage mounts to firewall
Windshield
Best seats are steel frame ff5 seats but you will need the door panels from A&C. I bought them blanc and had them covered with the matching vinyl from ff5.
Jon

[H-Rod]

Originally Posted by Roadster2

Thanks for the tips. Nice to know that the FR steering wheel will fit. I look at the FFCars forum and the official FF forum almost daily for good deals.

Well...there is a catch.
The bolt pattern on the leather wrapped FF5 steering wheel WILL NOT fit the flaming river adapter.
Luckily, I have access to a machine shop where I work.
I gave the adapter to our machinist and he surfaced (removed) enough of the adapter to wipe out the threads.
He then used a program to drill and tap the new locations to match the FF5 wheel.

I drew up in Pro-Engineer a file that fits the FF5 wheel.

If you go this route, I can e-mail you the file as a .stp or .dxf file.

[Roadster2]

Thank you everyone for the great input and suggestions. I have at this time pretty much decided on a plan. I will go with A&C and order their frame including the third member for the rear end and adjustable links. I will source all of the items to complete the rolling chassis options from other suppliers as I see the possibility for real savings there and being retired I have the time. I will probably search this forum and ask for advice regarding some of these parts.

[olddog]

I am the 3rd owner of an A&C. I believe it was purchased as a roller, base on paperwork that came with it. The pinion angle was hideously, stupid, out of alignment. The U-joint and pinion bearing were shot. I had to rebuild the 3rd member and replace the U-joints at around 10K miles.

The 4 link had no way to adjust it, which explains why no one fixed the wheel hopping bad pinion angle. I had a new set of lower arms built that allows adjustment. I suggest you talk with them on that subject. You might as well build adjustment in, from the start.

Second point. A fellow A&C owner who lives about 30 miles north of me, told me he was in a small fender-bender. He had to paint the whole car to make it look right after a bit of minor glass work. Previous owner painted my car because he didn't like the color and didn't like the look of the gel-coat. He said the good new was that there was little work needed to get it ready to paint, compared to a glass body that requires painting.

3rd issue. My gas tank was a rusty mess on the inside. I acid cleaned it (vinegar and lemon) neutralized it with baking soda and coated the inside. I took measurements and will make an aluminum or stainless steel tank (after some metallurgy advise) some day, if the coating ever fails. I would recommend either coating the tank 1st thing or better yet build one out of aluminum. It has no baffles in it, so the fuel gauge is all over the place from the slopping around. Maybe just buy a good fuel cell.

The car is otherwise fairly well designed and built. I did try to contact A&C several different times for parts. I have been waiting for about 10 years now. I'm sure they will get back with me when they find time.
I do not know if they ignored me because I wasn't the original purchaser or if they treat everyone that way after they have there money. One time I could over look, but three times is a pattern. The good news is there is nothing on these cars that you absolutely have to contact the original builder to get, unless you needed a complete body.

[olddog]

Oh yea one more piece of advice. Many manufacturers will sell you a set of headers and side pipes that slip together. I have heard a few on this site say they sealed them with high temp RTV and never had a problem. Some others said they have to redo it every few years. I expect it has to do with how tight or loose the slip fit is. Mine must have been fairly loose. The RTV helped but never totally seal it up for any meaningful length of time. It leaked enough exhaust fumes you could smell it on your clothes after a ride. I had flanges made and welded them onto the pipes. I recommend you do that before you have the pipes jet hot coated.

I wouldn't put a slip fit system on. It would have been much easier to weld the flanges on during the build, while everything is still bare steel.

[Roadster2]

Originally Posted by olddog

Oh yea one more piece of advice. Many manufacturers will sell you a set of headers and side pipes that slip together. I have heard a few on this site say they sealed them with high temp RTV and never had a problem. Some others said they have to redo it every few years. I expect it has to do with how tight or loose the slip fit is. Mine must have been fairly loose. The RTV helped but never totally seal it up for any meaningful length of time. It leaked enough exhaust fumes you could smell it on your clothes after a ride. I had flanges made and welded them onto the pipes. I recommend you do that before you have the pipes jet hot coated.

I wouldn't put a slip fit system on. It would have been much easier to weld the flanges on during the build, while everything is still bare steel.

I had been pondering that issue. I will certainly address that during the build. I certainly don't want any exhaust leaks. Thanks

[rcobrakit67]

Dont get the side mirrors from A&C i have them and they are not a good quality, i probably wont use them. I bought the tank ,headers, roll bar, sidepipes, and interior from them. Everything else i sorced out myself

[saltshaker]

Get the wing mount mirrors from Breeze you can see everything behind you
Jon

[Roadster2]

Originally Posted by rcobrakit67

Dont get the side mirrors from A&C i have them and they are not a good quality, i probably wont use them. I bought the tank ,headers, roll bar, sidepipes, and interior from them. Everything else i sorced out myself

That is pretty much my conclusion too. With my two FFRs I did all the brake line bending and outsourced brakes in their entirety. I do find that, at least tome, that many of the brackets and installs are a little rougher. The mounting of the pedal box on top of the footbox just cries out for some kind of cover. The roll bar mounting seems a little suspect from a crash protection perspective. Te windshield mounting uses a couple strap metal brackets as opposed to a mount say directly to the cowl hoop. None of these put me off and in fact just challenge me to play and see if I can approve on things.