Some of you already know about this book that I've recently written. My Dad and I built a FFR Mk4 C.-car replica, and I wrote a how-to book on the process for CarTech Books. Factory Five Racing posted a blog about the book and the company's upcoming Huntington Beach Cruise-in on their website yesterday. Check it out: Factory Five Hits the Books | Factory Five Racing.
My car is done, but for some reason I still want to buy the book.
Jeff
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Mark III complete kit ordered 12/03/2007, received #6351 1/22/2008 Homemade mods: driver footbox extension with deadpedal and dimmer switch, widened passenger footbox, brake reservoir mounting bracket, under trunk storage box, custom dash and dash extension, heater forward box, custom glove box, under dash switch panel, Explorer motor carb conversion, first start 7/10/2010, paint by Performance Automotive 11/20/2010-5/7/2011, Graduated 11/22/2011
Location: Blackberry Township, IL (west of Geneva)
Posts: 1,641
Ummmm... isn't that what this and the other forum are for? Sounds like a fun project, but I guess I don't get the value proposition for someone that can tap into the wealth of available websites and on-line build blogs and manuals.
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Later,
Chris
Mk3.1 #7074
Picked-up at FFR - 10/10/09
First start and go-kart - 9/19/12
"As smoke is blown away; so blow them away." Psalm 68:2
Chris I get your point but am thinking it would be a good thing for the guy thats not sure if he could handle building one of these cars. It would give him a little easier source of info than the amount of time it takes to hang out here and do alot of searches.
On the other side, depending on how thorough the book is, it may vary well be a better build manual than FFR supplies. I haven't seen any new ones but I know my MKIII manual was badly lacking in some areas.
Dave
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MK3#5902 picked up 1/13/07, 88 donor 306 w/b303 EFI purchased 3/31/07,first start and gocart ride 9/20/07 color- Ford Performance White w/ True Blue Metalic stripes. Inspected and registered 7/31/08
There's a big difference between a conversation about a build, and a manual/book. IMHO, they both serve important purposes - even if the same bit of information is in both places.
...the book...may vary well be a better build manual than FFR supplies. I haven't seen any new ones but I know my MKIII manual was badly lacking in some areas.
I hear you on this -- when I saw this thread, my first question was whether FFR will finally give up on what they call the build manual and just tell people to buy the new book and go to the (other) forum. I haven't seen a build manual since the very first MKIII version.
Cheers, John
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FFR1004105RD - world's first twin-turbo BMW V12-powered FFR Roadster
2011 Dodge 2500 Cummins 6.7L - biodiesel-fueled daily driver JHETTO: 2001 VW Jetta TDI, intended as G3F donor, FOR SALE
Last edited by dukegrad98; 03-30-2012 at 10:37 PM..
I look forward to picking up a copy and seeing you again at LCS this year Brian, this time with the car (which looks great by the way).
Quote:
Originally Posted by dukegrad98
...my first question was whether FFR will finally give up on what they call the build manual and just tell people to buy the new book and go to the (other) forum.
John, if you actually looked at a Mk4 manual I believe you might have to admit that much has changed since you formed your opinions 8 years ago.
That would be great to drive the car from CA to London!
Quote:
Originally Posted by JKleiner
I look forward to picking up a copy and seeing you again at LCS this year Brian, this time with the car (which looks great by the way).
John, if you actually looked at a Mk4 manual I believe you might have to admit that much has changed since you formed your opinions 8 years ago.
Jeff
Hi Jeff,
Thanks for the kind words about the car. I look forward to seeing you at LCS 2012, too! Thanks also for being desirous of buying a book. Dad and I put our best effort into building the Mk4, and I worked very hard on the book. All good wishes, Brian
John, if you actually looked at a Mk4 manual I believe you might have to admit that much has changed since you formed your opinions 8 years ago.
Very fair and probably correct -- I edited my post above to clarify. It wasn't clear that when I was "with" the prior poster, it was sharing his standpoint of not having seen a build manual in a very long time. (Randomly, I found mine in the secondary toolbox just last weekend -- brought back some good memories of the build and all the friends I made working on the car.)
This conversation also demonstrates one of the challenges of documentation: there are SO MANY ways to build one of these things. FFR has long struggled with that, and it will be interesting to see how Brian addresses that issue in his book. Kudos on the private effort, by the way; I think it's great and hope that it sells like mad. In my world of analysis paralysis, there's no such thing as too much information.
Cheers, John
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FFR1004105RD - world's first twin-turbo BMW V12-powered FFR Roadster
2011 Dodge 2500 Cummins 6.7L - biodiesel-fueled daily driver JHETTO: 2001 VW Jetta TDI, intended as G3F donor, FOR SALE
I talked to Dave once about the manual and he told me that it was a bone of contention with Mark. Mark insisted that if you needed a manual you shouldn't be building a car so the 'bare bones' thing was sort of a compromise.
Later on I think this site sorta of made the need to re-vamp it a moot point.
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I'd have finished a long time ago if I knew they were this fun!
FFR 4888: Street Cobra: No Scoop, No Pipes, No Rollbar.
looks interesting. I am game for anything about our cars. I think the manual that came with our MK4 covers the basic build really good. Hope this one makes a nice suplemental. Although, we will be done with ours by then...
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MK4 delivery 12/17/11
Build thread: HERE
Epic First start video HERE
427w ford racing, stainless headers, 3link, tko600, 3.55 gears, Jim Inglese weber intake system and a custom paint job from Jeff Miller!
Type 65 Coupe Ordered 01/17/13
Build thread: HERE
347 w. stack injection, IRS, Levy arms, Levy front and rear brakes
Congrats on getting the book done Brian! What a load off your back huh? I rememeber when I did my Fox Mustang book for HP...
I hope the book does well for you and glad to see you've "joined" the brotherhood of FFR ownership.
And for those of you commenting on the need for a build book, remember, this title isn't just about building an FFR, but also the ins and outs of buying used, ownership, etc.
2006: 2/14 Delivery by Stewart Transport, 8/15 becomes a roller, 8/26 drivetrain installed, 10/15 first engine start, 12/23 wiring completed, 12/31 body test fit
2007: 2/25 first go-cart, 4/15 leaves for paint, 8/24 paint prep begins, 12/10 paint work completed
2008: 1/7 home from paint, 2/1 titled, tagged, and insured, 3/15 interior complete, 6/2 alignment, 6/4 Graduation
Congrats on getting the book done Brian! What a load off your back huh? I rememeber when I did my Fox Mustang book for HP...
I hope the book does well for you and glad to see you've "joined" the brotherhood of FFR ownership.
And for those of you commenting on the need for a build book, remember, this title isn't just about building an FFR, but also the ins and outs of buying used, ownership, etc.
Best of luck Brian!
Mark
Mark,
Thank you so much for all the kind words. We greatly enjoyed building the FFR Mk4. There's a real sense of accomplishment in building one of these cars. Writing the book was also a challenge. I'm so excited to have all the heavy lifting done, but I know the time will come when Dad and I look back on the project and long to still be building her.
Mario, thanks so much for putting in an order for the book. I did my absolute best on this project, so I hope the book proves informative, entertaining and inspiring! All good wishes, Brian
Great addition to the library and supplement to the existing manual and the forums for current builders. The pictures are excellent and even though I have a completed Mk3 roadster and coupe, this will help in the ongoing upgrades and changes. Both of my builds were done with donors (bought roadster as a nearly complete car and built the coupe from scratch) so this book will help me determine what directions to go in the future in making decisions where to spend time and money.
Seeing a lot of the work being done in such detail by others (like you) provides a lot of the confidence that many less experienced builders (like me)don't have. Highly recommended!!!!
More in depth build manual, how to do certain things right, both, neither?
If you can wait a few days, I just ordered one, after reading I will post a review on that book. I'm very curios how material/tool handling and safety is approached.
I bought a copy at Barnes & Noble a couple weeks ago. It's a decent read, good info if you're doing a straight-up build without many mods. Too bad all the books these days are printed in China.
I received my copy in very timely fashion - just before I boarded a flight to Frankfurt. Really enjoyed spending time going through it and learned a lot. I also read the FF build manual which is a nice compliment. I haven't ordered my kit yet, but I'm starting to formulate a very good idea of how I want to do it with all the information in this book, the FF manual and these forums. Just fantastic resources for those of us in the nascent stages of this process.
I'm not sure if you would ever consider doing a 2nd edition of the book, but I found myself looking for a couple of things as I finished reading it:
1. What would you do differently? would you have made any different choices?
2. More on the post-build experience. Tuning it, tweaking it, driving it, performance numbers (1/4 ET), etc...
3. How much time did you budget for each portion of the build vs. hours actually spent?
Still, a great read and really appreciate the efforts. Kudos!
My son and I relied HEAVILY on Kriss' Motors blog - a very detailed manual. We didn't build ours exactly like his, but the ideas, steps (order) and warnings were invaluable. Eric has an updated version for Mk4 now.
I received the book and more than half read now...
Here is my take. I hope I don't offend anyone as this is meant as a book review and feedback for Brian.
I fully understand that they have finished their car and I have not. One man show for me so far...I don't mean to be harsh in my review and I think a second edition would be a great idea. After all much of the work has already been done and if I were them I would do it for sure.
A project like this is a huge undertaking and I congratulate the authors for taking the challenge on. I think it is a great permanent record of THEIR build that can be shared with others. However, as a build manual for others to use, I'm not so sure. Call me crazy but I think I get more out of the FFR manual. What I found most interesting was the information they included that isn't related to the build itself.
Specific comments:
While trying to make it appealing to other kit car manufacturers, this is really a FFR manual and I would just call it that.
What is in the book is good information but there could have been more.
Lots of pictures for sure but many are worth less than a thousand words. I think some of the key pictures could have been clearer. I can't imagine building something AND at the SAME time trying to think about what pictures are needed to describe what I did...so I understand the complexity of the task.
Unless you plan the exact same build using the same options it likely wouldn't be very useful. Perhaps the next edition should include subsections on other build options (3-link, 5-Link, SAI mod, Pin drive, fuel tank alternatives, alternate battery placement....) There are many great builds that have been documented along the way and perhaps those builders could offer their pictures and contribute to the manual to make it more comprehensive. It still would never address all options but would broaden the scope a little more and appeal to more potential builders.
Having input from those who have built several cars would also have been useful...I can think of one in particular! I suspect the kits all come together just a little differently.
I found some of their descriptions difficult to follow despite having actually done it myself. Some areas just seemed to lack depth and leave me hanging...like a thriller?
Inserting "TIP" boxes throughout would be a nice touch. We all know how many tips their could be.
Conclusion
I did pick up a few important points and it confirmed to me that I had done things well to date.
It was a nice review of their build and the book is reasonably priced. If I were a fence sitter (which I was), would it sway me into going ahead and building one? I don't think so. I think some of the ambiguity made it more intimidating.
I would really like to see a second edition.
Marc
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It's just a matter of time.
FFR Coupe # 434. Power Brakes, 347ci, Carb, 15 inch Hallibrand pin drive, SAI, 3-link
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