My car building/restoring philosophy:
1. If you are planning to go, you better make it whoa. There are just too many cell phone talking, large SUV driving, Starbucks drinking, yelling at their kids (all at the same time) soccer moms out there that are in their own worlds while they drive.
2. Build what you like
3. Take the style from yesterday and update it with today's technology.
4. Rebuild or recondition all used parts. Nothing gets bolted on without being fresh.
5. If you can't figure something out, walk away and get a beer. Like I am doing right now.

KIT:
FFR Mark III roadster kit
- 3 link rear suspension
- Fuel Safe fuel cell
- Streetperformer seats
- Wiper kit
- Aftermarket lower control arms, both front and rear
- Coilover shocks on all 4 corners
- 4 into 4 headers
- Single rollbar

Planned driveline:
- 351W/350-380hp, carb'd. The ultimate goal is to go to injected and supercharged and shoot for 450hp, but that depends on bonus budget
- Tremec TKO500
- 8.8" rear, 3.55 gears
- Cobra R disk brakes with 13" fronts and 11.65 rears, power assisted.
- Conversion to 5 lug all around

Used parts:
- SN95 spindles
- Fox body rear end housing
- Fox body pedal box (thanks Tj)
- E-brake assembly (anyone have one they want to get rid of?)

Creature Comforts:
- Wipers
- Heater/defroster
- Footbox vents
- Heated seats (those of you who have driven a convertible at 10,000' elevation will appreciate that)
- Expanded footboxes (Mark III boxes are pretty tight)
- Extended firewall (provide more room between dash and firewall for electronics, wipers, etc.)
- Autometer or Smith Traditional Gauges with reverse sweep speedo
- Lizardskin the cockpit for heat insulation, and Dynamat the inside for noise
- I like the look of the ignition lock set from a 66 Mustang so I am going to order one of those.

Good build ideas:
- Weld in ground studs in strategic locations
- Don't bother powder coating the aluminum panels as no one is going to see them anyway.
- Bed liner stuff on underside of body to prevent starring from rocks through the paint on the top.
- Install spats on the rear wheelhouses for rock chip reasons.
- Roll the edges of the fiberglass so it doesn't look like it came out a mold.
- Electrical cut off reachable from outside the vehicle (NHRA and SCCA)

I am thinking I will be on target completed and registered around $35k. Right now, most parts are acquired and I am well under that. I still need engine, tranny, and probably a host of small parts I will need as I go. I am projecting up to $6k in paint, unless I shoot it myself.

Let me know what you think. I think it's going to be a fun project and should be a kick in the shorts to drive. My 3 year is pretty jazzed up about it and keeps on me to get it done. One that concerns me right now is running vacuum brakes with that kind of horse. Any insight is appreciated.

Cheers,

Rick

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oddly obsessed with big scoops on little Mustangs

- Still looking for a web host that's cheap and easy (if you have ideas, let me know)
- Chassis modifications are complete:
* Driveshaft loop brackets fab'd and welded in
* Modifications made for brake booster
* Ground studs welded in at strategic points
- Chassis has been painted using epoxy based primer and top coats (stuff sticks to everything and is hard as nails). I prepped first with wire wheels on all welds and scotchbrited the whole thing. That was followed up by a coating of Picklex 20 before primer.
- Brake booster spacer has been mocked up in Lexan, will go to machinist this week for construction from aluminum
- Rearend has been mocked up, brackets welded on, waiting for guy to complete the gear install and it will be final installed

Where from here:
- Suspension installation
- Brake installation
- Mock up of interior aluminum panels and begin drilling 500 (not an exageration) holes for rivets

Issues so far:
- Started myself on fire once. I hate welding upside down.
- Broke 1 finger (dropped rear control arm on it)
- Trashed 1 pair of shoes and 1 pair of jeans with epoxy paint
- Finding bushings for the pedal pivots on the clutch and brakes.

Until next time....

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Lonewolf
1968 Coupe in Pieces
99 1/2 F250
FFR MkIII

quote:

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Originally posted by lonewolf:
- Started myself on fire once.

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Been there, done that...several times while grinding in my blacksmith shop.

Epoxy paint on chassis? They offer powder coated chassis for I think about $225.00. Sounded like a pretty good deal.
I'm still researching the kits & looking at finished cars on ebay. Maybe I'll end up with one next year or so.

500 rivets??? I thought the aluminum panels came already attached by FFR?

Thanks for the info.
Keep us posted with progress & pictures.

- I wanted to do a couple of chassis modifications
- On the cobra forums, it was indicated that the coating was of questionable quality.

I am real impressed with the epoxy paint once I figured out how it wanted to spray. I used Eastwood's Extreme Chassis Black. The temps were pretty high (mid 80s) in paint tent so I ended up with a bit a dry spray in a couple of areas. The product comes ready to spray so using a different reducer isn't really an option. I changed fluid tips and technique and that seemed to do the trick. One thing I noticed is due to some of the small areas you are painting (3/4" square tube), you end up with a ton of overspray and alot of product in the air. Using a detail gun with a large cup would have been good had I had one. I ended up changing prefilters in my mask a couple of times during the 1.5 hours I was painting.

If I had to do it over again, I would have had my chassis blasted and then powder coated locally. If I weren't doing any mods or just the booster mod, I might powder coat from the factory.

Keep an eye out for started kits. You see those pop up on occasion where folks either lost interest, funding, etc. and need to unload their kit. Some go at pretty good prices.

Rick