Printable View
Had the car about three years now. Initially put it on the road as a roadster. This winter we decided to add the roof, hood, side skirts and front fenders. Also going to break down and have someone that knows what they are doing paint it. Hope to add more as it progresses.
Attachment 69040Attachment 69038Attachment 69039
That looks great, when you add a roof, is it mostly a direct fit or is there a lot cutting? What are you using for a drive line and are those cars in the background yours also?
The roof is a direct fit. Factory Five Racing designs and builds it as part of their kit, though an option. Their 33 Ford is channeled and chopped so the fitment is specific to the vehicle. We will do some fiberglass work to ensure really tight fitting but I also intend to maintain the ability to shift it back to Roadster mode by removing the top, hood and side skirts. We think it will take about 30 minutes to remove/install the top. I was surprised that adding the roof, hood, and side skirts changed the appearance so much. Really makes the whole car look smaller oddly enough. Currently I have a mild Chevy 350 in it with a flat tappet cam. Dynos 300/323. I have a 6.0 liter LS standing by but have considered a roots style blower, forged internals, and a roller cam plus aluminum heads to bring it up. the Car weighs about 2500 lbs with me in it. I am guessing 500-600 wheel horsepower is about all it is going to handle well. Currently I have a TK-45 5 speed manual with a hydraulic clutch and a Ford 8.8 rear with a 4 link and a 3.73 gear. I have double adjustable QA1's all around it.
I'm sure those front fenders are appreciated when the road is wet!
I figured that if I was going to invest in paint, they would definitely provide a return on the investment. I did respond to the earlier question with more pics and some descriptive. SBC 350 mild flat tappet cam, TK45 5 speed, hydraulic clutch, and a Ford 8.8 with a 3.73 gear
Attachment 69048Attachment 69049Attachment 69050Attachment 69051
Here is a look at the exhaust and drivetrain
And here she is on the move.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJtyjoXQ7xA
Very nice rod and welcome to CHR!
And welcome from the east coast. A friend of mine is doing a FFR 33 build.
Are you sure that was your car in the video? Went by so quick I couldn't tell.... Maybe you need to do another one?!?! LOL..
Thanks for sharing the build with us.
I have a quick question. Do those cars get the sort of dis-respect down there in Texas as they do up north? A lot of folks look down their noses at them, but the darn things can out handle a Cobra!
I have to admit, I would go to shows and say, oh that is a kit car as if I had some real basis to have a judgement one way or the other. When I got to studying them I began to appreciate the thought that went into them. When I began to build them I began to understand and appreciate the talent it takes to make things work as they are supposed to, even if in a kit. Since I do not have welding talent a frame off steel body restore would have been hard to justify. In all honesty though, I have never had more positive comments and genuine interest in any car I have owned. I park right on the front row with $100,000 restored steel bodied cars and the guys that did that work wind up climbing all over the car checking out the Factory Five solution or how I changed the factory five solution. Now when I am at a show and someone comments while walking by, oh that is a kit car, I am reasonably certain that he will continue to walk to his four door Honda and drive home. I never get any grief off of chicks. This car draws them like magnets. I have never had anything that actually seemed to provoke women to wave and even speak. They follow me into gas stations, yell at me at relights, it is amazing. BTW, Factory five offers a steel body for these now. The shop that is finishing it for me has several Detroit and Dallas Autorama show first places and the owner has expressed nothing but excitement over the kit. The video clip was really for the sound, I have some clips if you guys are interested.
Q: You pick up a lot of women with that car?
A: Boss won't let me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9dSfyyYu00
Hey ole school
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIFDPq5_wKw
Plano Saturday
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQv27U4iDXc
Dyno 12212016
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eH9T9D-RD0M
Zoomies
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnnOtRbLJGI
Nice car. I know a guy in Arkansas that has one with an LS. I've ridden in it and you are right in that they are well thought out, but definitely are not something that just falls together.
I do have a question. Who made the brake/clutch reservoir? It won't be long before I need one for my project.
Kugel Komponents has a triple reservoir kit. We have a 6.0 liter with twin 35 DBB turbos ready to go once the car is finished
You're going to need wider rear fenders and a lot better tires. :LOL:
We are going to limit it to about 600-650 to the rear wheels. That is about all I think it will handle
Welcome to Club Hot Rod. That is is awesome how you can just swap it between a roadster and a coupe.
Well at first it was just too hard to do. I have to admit I love having that ability. Today we got the gas shocks and the trunk braces installed
Attachment 69058
Hey. Thanks for all the entertainment!!!
I live about 20 minutes from the FFR factory here in Mass. - they have an open house a couple times a year. 1 week will be all Cobras, another week will be the 33's etc. etc. etc... Last year we went with the local Model A club. It was killing me 'cause the "A" drivers, drive like old ladies.. we were on a road posted 45 MPH and those guys were putzin' along at 20 to 25! Needless to say I didn't stay inline to long! LOL.. Somewhere on here I posted some pics of that visit..
We test pretty hard to find the weak spots
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ME1x_Y-Tuk&t=49s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnUOUeXF8QU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YomtnelJwSY
Interesting perspective on that middle vid.. Thanks Again for sharing.
That polished firewall is a hoot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYztkoBQCHA
BTW we do work on it some too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClffREDI4IM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkBrUZN8aQo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ec8yiEM41jI
Attachment 69085
On the other hand, this was my real car. The top end of the track there is around 155. The pass was 9.29
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EB8DGmtPtog
The "real" car looked like a lot of fun too!
Very nice!
Thanks, it was putting 1256/1503 through a TH400 unlocked convertor, nine inch Ford Rear end and 29 inch tires. The 9.29 pass was at 4050 lbs. Had a twin 62 mm turbo on a 434 Ci LSx with ETP 245 Cathedral port heads. FI Camshaft, Leash II Boost Controller and 3.53 gears. Car was tubbed.Conservatively would guess well over 1500 to the flywheel. Upped the Turbo to 67 mm DBB Comps but totaled the car before we got to the track. Last really decently performing car I will ever own. Story of the car was the different things we tried with it.
Twin Turbo
Attachment 69089
4.0 Liter Whipple
Attachment 69087
Harrop 2300 twin helix
Attachment 69088
Dang, that "was" an amazing package you put together. Way cool! Thanks for the pics.
Wow, sorry to hear you totaled it. That's a bad deal. Those turbo cars sure get with the program! Those super chargers are sweet too.
That was one car, three different approaches
So today we got the fenders started, worked on the trunk lid bracing, got a good bit of the body prep started.
Attachment 69096
Attachment 69097
Attachment 69094
Attachment 69098
Attachment 69095
Also Worked on the Front Fenders, narrowed them and centered them on the Front Tires
Attachment 69102Attachment 69099Attachment 69103Attachment 69100Attachment 69101Also worked on the Fenders
I'd love to win the coin toss for that job :LOL:Quote:
Originally Posted by wrp
Come on down, we will take her out and flog her
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhM_tC_8KDw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtAnVZCcblE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WI_yeYZPhUs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnBFqUVtHdc
This week we are getting closer to finishing the body prep. We cut in the engine compartment skirts so we can remove them without having to remove the headlights. We also bobbed the fenders.
Attachment 69114Attachment 69115
Shot of the hood popped.
Attachment 69136
Was it a requirement to run fenders there?
No, I felt investing in a decent paint job mandated running fenders to protect it. I tend to drive a lot
Attachment 69144Attachment 69145Attachment 69146
Lots of guys and gals using 8.8 rear ends for their rides. It is a great rear end, perhaps a little difficult to find truly beefed up versions but I do have an observation having become very intimate with mine. I'd say they are generally rock solid however, most of the time we get them from wrecked cars and we never really know what sorts of force and pressure have been exerted on the axle tubes. I had never heard of a tube twisting though I've heard from some Mustang owners that it is not an unheard of event. When a tube twists, it actually rotates in the differential housing, normally towards the rotation of the tire. Generally it bends the tube and pushes the tire into the body or inner fender well. I've seen a few crashes where it was said the four link failed. After experiencing this firsthand I am of the opinion that it was an axle tube twisting that induced the four link failure. Hold my beer and watch this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRiuaRRpCmU
Had this failure occurred on the 2-3 or 3-4 shift in something more powerful than a 290 horsepower Chevy small block there would still be pieces of plastic and my butt all over the road there. The driver side tube twisted and the car executed a hard left. Had I not been in control it would have adorned the concrete wall and everyone would be blaming the four link. The four link I had was not adjustable, we assumed it was true. Some binding occurred but I was not familiar and didn't know what to look for. So after a few hard miles she gave her all. The 8.8 tube is affixed to the differential housing with two substantial spot welds on each side, total four. On my driver side, the spot welds were twisted over and sheared off.
I've heard of that problem with the 8.8's as well. I've seen guys weld the tube to the pumpkin, although I doubt it would help much cause it's welding steel to cast. My bil drove his Dodge bros from Iowa to Cali and when he got back he noticed his rear tires were wearing funny. Turns out his 9 inch had a bent tube also.
OUCH! Guess that is what happens when you've exceeded the design spec.
Cast can be welded using the right welding rods and procedure. I tig welded my tubes in with nickle filler rods and preheat. It welded fine with no visible cracking. I've had good luck tig welding cast over the years. Tigging seems to help prevent cracking.Quote:
Originally Posted by 53 Chevy5
The housing is most likely nodular iron (which is made with scrap steel and iron, cheaper than pure cast iron and stronger), but nothing I've found proves that. I will say that it grinds (sparks) like nodular iron or what we used to call in the machine shop "semi steel".
I've had a 9" with a bent tube also. It caused a bearing and axle failure in less than 10,000 miles. I learned to check every junk yard rearend for straightness after that.
