My car has arrived
 

Fellow WCCC'ers,

Stewart Transport stopped by our house on Monday evening and delivered my car from FFR. I was awake at 4:15 am Tuesday checking the parts boxes that come with the kit. I'm done with the inventory; now it's time to build the body buck.

http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...lfirstride.jpg

This is soooooooooooooo awesome!

Neil, you can stop by the shop to see some body bucks. I have 4 in use. You can get some idea's for yours.

Neil: I will be attending a ff build school in May. Hopefully I'll be purchasing my FF kit shortly threreafter. any suggestions or lessons learned about your ff build. Dave in Boerne Texas

Congrats Neil. You've got to be excited. I know the next morning I woke up really early and went in the garage to see if I just had a good dream.

It's been all fun ever since.

Can't wait to see her.

Welcome to the club! Now the fun begins.............

I would bet we all have a picture of us doing exactly the same thing.......:)

Congrats and good luck on your purchase...........:)

Good luck Neil... and try to wipe that smile off your face...I still can't.

Thanks guys. I am so looking forward to this build. Jeff, I believe you, I don’t ever think I will be able to wipe the smile off. It’s great to be surrounded by a bunch of friendly and knowledgeable car guys like the WCCC. I can't wait for the summer to get here and get a chance to meet more of the members, see their beautiful rides, and learn about their builds.

Karl: Thank you for the offer. I want to stop by and meet you and see your shop this summer when the weather is nicer. You are only an hour away.

Dave: I’m a novice when it comes to cars so I considered attending the build school at Mott part of the build. I took a video camera, digital camera, and a digital voice recorder. You will learn information at the build school that does not appear in the build manual. Jump on ffcobra.com and read, read, read. There are a ton of FF builders online sharing their build experiences. Check out the top of the main ffcobra.com web site for “Build Sites” as it contains numerous web sites that have a wealth of information. I am putting a 4.6 DOHC from a 2003 Mach 1 in my cobra. What are your plans? Finally, get hooked up with a cobra club near you. I see you are just northeast of Houston. There are bound to be several builders in the Houston area. I have just received the car so my suggestions at this point to you are: 1. Make sure you have four jack stands to put the car on when it arrives. I covered mine with a rubber coated material so as not to scratch the power coating. 2. Take all the tape off the car right away so it does not leave a residue. 3. Build a body buck (Getting Started - FFCobra.com - Factory Five Racing Discussion Forum) 4. Take an inventory of all the parts that were shipped with your kit. 5. Find a web hosting service and post the progress of your build for all to see. I’m still searching for one. 6. While the body is on the frame run a sharpie marker on the under side of the body where the aluminum panels meet the body. The sharpie line represents 3/8” from the body. You want that much of a gap so that the body will rest correctly on the bulb seal that you will eventually put on the top of the aluminum panels. If you do not trim the aluminum then the body will be under stress. Not good. That’s as far as I have gotten.

Take care,

Neil, you look more like a passenger than a driver in your photo. You got to pretend there is a steering wheel and trans and that your going real FASSST. Fun Fun Fun.

Neil,
Send a post out to all WCC members. There may be a body buck, or parts of one, laying around in someone's garage....

Neil: Congrats with the first step of being part of the Cobra maddness. I am sorry to report that a couple of months ago I sawed up my body buck - it's now part of my work bench - so I can't help you out there. I have a FFR MK II, you can stop by any time you want and take a look if you want. There are a bunch of FFR guys in the WCCC, and they are always willing to help - and the WCCC guys without FFR's are equally as enthusiastic to help - you are in good company! Your picture brings back memories, enjoy it.

tim

Neil,
Let the fun begin!It was great to meet you at the dinner.If you need a hand I'll be glad to lelp you get to that "roller" stage.There is a guy who works at Midwest Hot Rod there in plainfield that is building a FFR also.He's doing ALOT of custom stuff and may have some "spare parts that you may be able to use.I may scam his ceramic side pipes and carbon-fiber air dam.
Good luck,
Sten

NICE!!!!
Keep the pictures coming, don’t forget to keep a $ log and you got my # if you need anything. any pictures of the Midwest Hot Rod in plainfield?????
Dave

Neil,
Do NOT keep a $$$$$$$ log!Sometimes that ruins the fun.The FFR forum will do that to you!
Sten

hey dont worry my wife caught me making motor sounds and shifting gears have fun now and just think of that first drive!

Neil...CONGRATS..start saving $$$$$$ for ALL the extra stuff you're going to buy...LOL

Glyn

WOOHOO! Now the real fun begins! We have MANY FFR guys in the chicago area No problem with having another one!

Sid

Neil,
How has the car been coming along?It's been AWFUL cold out, so I haven't even gone out to the garage.I've got to get the power steering done! Then I'll work on the side pipes.Give me a call and I'll find time to give youa hand.
Later,
Sten

progress report
 

Steno,

You are right, it has been terribly cold which has limited the amount of time I have been out in the garage especially without a heater. But, I have made some progress.

Dave Walk was kind enough to stop by and help me lift the body onto the bodybuck last Sunday. Thanks Dave.
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...5/IMG_2494.jpg

Next I began getting better acquainted with my drill and the aluminum panels. My first step in creating fraken cobra. I have the "F" panels mocked up and I made a dent in the driver's side footbox.
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...5/IMG_2511.jpg

Here is a head-on shot of the engine bay. I love cleco's. The firewall turned out okay. I don't plan on adding a second row of rivets.
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...5/IMG_2512.jpg

The inside of the driver's footbox.
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...5/IMG_2513.jpg

Finally, a closeup of the driver's side front coil over. My rear bolts that secure the front tubular lower control arms are too long. Also, I did not add the washer spacers between the frame ears as this is for mockup purposes only. (Read I needed to spend some time away from the drill.) Another matter that appeared is that my lower shock mount spacers did not fit. There was not enough space between the LCA ears to include both spacers and the heim joint of the shock. Again, for mockup purposes I pushed the bolt through the shock and finger tightened the nut.
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/g...5/IMG_2514.jpg

I stopped for the night as I ran out of cleco's on my franken cobra. Both batteries for my drill are without charge also.

Time to rest and hopefully put some more time into the car this weekend as the temps are projected to be slightly higher than what I have been working in.

Take care,

Go Neil, GOOO!!
You can space those cleco's a lot more. Then you can fit more panels!