Back ordered items

[icemanzx7]

Has anyone building the 4.6 MKIII experienced problems with back ordered items? I mean critical items, like the rear-end, hydra- boost adapter and so on. I ordered the full kit and have been waiting three weeks for items that are needed to continue the build. I know three weeks isn't that long, but i'm trying to build this in a years time. Thanks

[Marty Prario]

I also had some items back ordered from FFR. They are very good about getting the missing parts to you asap. I was a little frustrated at first then I realized that there is PLENTY of building that can be done while waiting for the back ordered items.

Since you bought the complete kit you should have no problems building your car in a years time. I tore apart a donor car and built my kit in 7 months less paint.

Have fun and remember when you run into little problems, and you will, walk away for a day. When you go back to the build that little problem gets a whole lot easier.

Marty

[90notchback]

I think almost everyone has faced the dreaded back order. FFR is just trying to get as much out if they can so you can start your build and they can get more space, they are very good at getting things out. Remember you dont have to folow the manuel step by step. If I were to do it again I would run the fuel and brake hard lines as close as I could to there end location. When that suspension goes on it gets alot harder to move that hard line. But that just me..

Good luck Paul

[Five'nJohn]

Yep, similar experience. I had both sets of lower control arms back ordered for about 4 - 6 weeks. The seats were back ordered for 10 weeks. Like others have said, Factory Five was great about sending them out and keeping me posted by email when things were shipped. I started out following the hymnal pretty closely, then realized by reading this forum that there are lots of ways to do this and the order of assembly can vary widely.

Have fun building it. I think the journey of building is the real fun part. It will be over way too soon, and I've been milking mine for over 2 years now.

John

[icemanzx7]

You're right about them being good at getting the parts to me, once they have been made. Brandon has also been a great help. He has gone out of his way to make sure I'm happy and has answered every question I asked. But it is very frustrating waiting on parts. I guess it's the nature of the beast. Hopefully my 03 Cobra donor will live up to it's name. It was actually my car that was the donor. A victim of an unfortunate roll over.

[Five'nJohn]

Yikes. Did you make it out in one piece? Heck of a way to make a donor. Albeit a great donor. What precipitated the roll? Right foot, hydroplane,? These cars are more wicked than a 03 Cobra - any autocross events close by for some safe testing of the car's limits?

[Tails]

I had about 16 items on my backorder sheet when I got it. Mostly small stuff like the leather door limit straps, filler neck, etc... The one major piece was the rearend. I was told it's supposed to ship out next week so we'll see. No biggy cause I'm busy doing other stuff. I just make it a point to call em up once a week or at least every other week and get a status on things. D in the shipping and rec dept usually picks up and takes care of things..

Tails

[icemanzx7]

Originally Posted by Five'nJohn

Yikes. Did you make it out in one piece? Heck of a way to make a donor. Albeit a great donor. What precipitated the roll? Right foot, hydroplane,? These cars are more wicked than a 03 Cobra - any autocross events close by for some safe testing of the car's limits?

Went to pass two cars on a Sunday morning (6:00 am, on the way to work) and it spun up in 4th gear doing 60mph. turns out there was black ice on the road. It was sideways before I knew what hit me. Being only two lanes, I didn't have much room to work. It became a decision on which side of the raod to go off on. The right was a steep embankment, the left, trees and a ditch. It spun around backwards and hit the embankment, flipped over on it's top and landed in the ditch. No glass broken, doors undamaged, roof creased a little. Lucky I was....... The impact bent the frame into the gas tank and tore the drivers fender up pretty good. The frame is was totaled the car. The buy back was pretty cheap too......

[Five'nJohn]

Glad to hear you made it out OK. That black ice can be scary. Get quite a bit of it around here in the mountains. Especially in the shade of trees out on open roads.

[RRRCobraSC281]

I guess while you're waiting on the backorder parts, you could start making mods to the front 4" pipe for clearance of your pulley and harmonic balancer. Sergio and other that have or are in the process of building a terminator Cobra can give better info on what mods are required. That will get your mind off the backordered parts for a week or 2.

[STL-Scott]

Dittos on the backorders...received my complete kit on 5/3/08 - so far received two separate boxes of items from FFR.
I'm down to about 9 items, two of them which are in my critical path:

4 bolts for the front spindle adapters (how hard are these to get locally?)
Rear axle housing - was told this is shipped directly to me. How long has it taken you guys to receive this?

The rest of my items I can wait on - not in my early build stages.

BTW - I'm going to the build school this weekend, so I'm sure I will have a new outlook on this project and can tackle different areas while I wait.

Cheers,
Scotty

[pcolapacker]

My experience on back ordered items is that I received some by FedEx even before the Stewart truck arrived. I don't know how efficient they are in matching parts that come in to back orders. This is because I just called last week because I needed my hydroboost mount adaptor. While I was on the line, the FFR employee shuffled through some papers, confirmed I was due this item and said he'd send it out today.

Hard to believe they are shipping rear ends by FedEx. That must be expensive. I guess they must have to get the frames out of their factory to make room. If I'd have ordered a complete kit and they called and said, "we don't have your rear end in, if we can extend your delivery date by a few weeks you can pick a $100 item out of our catalog," I'd have taken the deal.

Five'nJohn (I'll joke because from your post it looks like you weren't hurt at all) -

When did you make the decision to get your FFR, before or after your driver became a donor? I'm not saying you meant to have the accident. However, is it possible your subconscious mind saw an opportunity and took it?

[STL-Scott]

Same thing happened with me. My first backorder arrived the day before Stewart did. It was actually quite funny. My wife saw the very small box with two front wheel hubs and the starter solenoid, and said "I sure hope this isn't all you got for the money you spent on this kit...are you sure they said it was a full size car?"

See my post below on the local cobra club forum...it was a good laugh.

http://www.gatewaycobraclub.com/foru...hp?t=95&page=3

FFR updated me today on my backorders...doesn't look like any of the items I need are going to be in until the end of May or later. Most of the critical items I asked about are being delayed by their vendors. I am going to get some temporary substitute grade 8 bolts for the spindle adapters. This will allow me to continue with my front end build. I'm not going to drive on this for a long time, so when the parts I need come in from FFR, I will just remove and replace the 4 bolts 1 at a time! Re-torque and be done with it.

[Five'nJohn]

Pcola, I didn't roll my driver to turn it into a donor. Iceman did. Creative way to get a donor. Had to be subliminal. Glad he wasn't hurt.

[nanderson]

Scott,

Call Max at Five Star Ford and have him ship you the bolts and nuts. I ordered mine on Tuesday last week and they arrived on Saturday. Max is awesome.

Take care,

[pcolapacker]

Five'nJohn - Oops! I guess I can blame staying out in the garage until 2:30 a.m. last night switching out flange brackets and installing the rear brakes for my mistake.

[icemanzx7]

I've always wanted an AC Cobra Kit car. Having the rollover just made it happen a lot sooner. I loved that Cobra Mustang. 600hp at the crank, 525 to the wheels made for one fun ride. That's mostly what got me in trouble, along with a very icy road. As for the mods, I have done the steering shaft mod, and the cross tube mod. I also changed the rail arrangment over the axle to allow for a larger battery, (stock Cobra) to be installed. I made my own box also. At this point in time, the brakes are done, front end done, rear-end done. Gas tank and plumbing is next. I'm taking the panels to Manassas to have them powder coated flat black. They gave me a great package price. The name escapes me, something "strippers". But they will work with you. I found wirediet.com through Sergio's site. What a godsend! They will diet my harness and deliver it plug and play for my setup. Going to save me at least a month.

[Five'nJohn]

Great to hear the progress Iceman, but you know the #1 rule. No pictures - it didn't happen. So, post a few pics so we can enjoy your progress.

Cheers,

John