[IsaacW]

I sent in an order to F5 for a wiring harness and gauge set, and while I’m waiting on those I decided to test fit the Radiator. I ordered the Breeze lower radiator mount kit, and Mark as usual shipped quickly. I opened the kit and read the instructions and got to work.

Keep in mind, I’m using the freight-damaged radiator until my replacement radiator arrives from F5. They are handling the freight claim directly.

Here’s the empty space.



I had already painted the square metal tube with POR15 to match the frame, so I installed the square tube ends and slid the included rubber tubing over the ends of the square tube using Armor-All as lubricant per the instructions.



Next are the Stainless brackets that slide over the ends, and then the bracket assembly is basically complete.





I drilled the top two holes in the radiator and the frame rail where the mounting areas are.





I am able to set the radiator in place, holding it with the two long screws supplied with the F5 base kit.

Drilling the holes for the bottom bracket is more of an art than a science, and I quickly discovered that my test radiator is not flat. This causes the bottom of the mount to appear to not be square on the frame. Unacceptable. The respectively opposing corners are tweaked in relation to each other. I use a piece of 1x2 under one corner and gently use a rubber mallet on the adjacent corner to make the radiator a flat plane. Once this is done, I gave it another test fit and finally measured an equal 2-1/4” from the end of the frame rail on both sides before making my final mark for drilling.





Holes drilled and ready for bolts.





Lower mount in place and radiator is fitted.





Couple more items in next post.



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[IsaacW]

Last couple of items on the radiator for now. The lower bar has a center screw-and-nut-style support that you predrill for and then thread through. This makes sure the radiator does not bounce around when you go over bumps



The hose that cushions the radiator should be notched as well, where the weld seam sits on the support. I’m not wanting to cut this notch until I get the new radiator and see exactly where the seams on the new one are. They look hand-welded, so they may vary from part to part. I’ll wait on this for now.


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[Alan_C]

You might want to consider the Breeze upper radiator mount too. Rigid mounting has been associated with metal fatigue. The piano hinge that Breeze sells provides some movement resulting in less stress to the radiator mounting flange. If you decide to add the Breeze upper mount, make sure the rod used in the hinge is crimped at both ends. I found that vibration would cause the rod to walk out of the hinge to the passenger side. A pain to reinsert on the car but doable. I modified the ends to prevent the rod from working itself out. This was long ago, he probably modified the upper mount to prevent this from happening.

 

[IsaacW]

You might want to consider the Breeze upper radiator mount too. Rigid mounting has been associated with metal fatigue. The piano hinge that Breeze sells provides some movement resulting in less stress to the radiator mounting flange. If you decide to add the Breeze upper mount, make sure the rod used in the hinge is crimped at both ends. I found that vibration would cause the rod to walk out of the hinge to the passenger side. A pain to reinsert on the car but doable. I modified the ends to prevent the rod from working itself out. This was long ago, he probably modified the upper mount to prevent this from happening.

I follow. Do I recall you used a piece of neoprene there as well? I seem to recall a mention of that on the upper mount?


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[IsaacW]

In the spirit of this box office weekend ......... Spoiler Alert!!




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[IsaacW]

Front Brake Installation time. Just like the rear brakes, the fronts consist of a Caliper Mount, the caliper itself, a two-piece rotor, and fasteners, including shim washers. However, the fronts have a couple pieces that the rears don’t; a rotor centering ring and a wheel spacer. I’m not sure that the hub centering ring is necessary, as the rotor holes center nicely over the flared shoulder of the wheel studs, but I’m sure there is a good reason for them.

So I begin assembly. Gordon mentioned that there will be a little interference to the mounting of the caliper mounting bracket, and I find this to be correct on the upper bolt hole. I start with the lower hole, and only install two .090 spacers between the mount and the spindle per the instructions. As I swing the mount up to the upper bolt hole I find the interference. It keeps the bolt hole from lining up. I end up having to remove a little material from the very edge of the spindle where the contact is occurring so that they will line up enough to mate properly.









With the caliper Mount in place on the Drivers Side, I assemble the two pieces of the rotor together. The front Rotor and Hat are definitely beefier than the rears.







Red Loctite on the rotor bolts, and tightening to 85 in-lbs. This is a higher torque setting than the rears, but still microscopic by torque wrench settings. My torque wrench barely clicks at this setting, and if your not paying attention, you could easily miss it.











Next, the calipers ....


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[IsaacW]

The instructions tell me to assemble the caliper mount, rotor and caliper before applying and Loctite or torquing to spec so that you can adjust the fit with the spacer shims. I found that both sides were different enough that they required different spacer combinations.

First on the Drivers side I applied a light oil to the caliper mounting studs per instructions and installed one spacer shim before sliding the caliper onto the stud. Immediately I see a big disparity on the center-line of the caliper as it aligns with the rotor.





This caused me to step back for a minute and reassess, including re-examining whether I had the caliper mount installed the correct direction or maybe the wheel spacer should be installed in between the hub and the rotor. After thinking it through and a late-night email to Gordon (and an even later-night reply) I tried to install the wheel spacer in between the hub and the wheel.... no luck, the spacer’s holes are too small to fit over the shoulder on the wheel studs.

The other option is to use some of the .035 spacers that are included with the spacer Shim kit. I try two .035 spacers on the caliper bolts in between the .090 spacers top and bottom.... this gets me a lot closer to center.



I go with one more .035 spacer added to the two I already have on there, and this gets me to center. Three .035 spacers top and bottom sandwiched in between the .090 spacers is the correct spacing for this caliper. Now that this is correct, I go ahead and apply Red Loctite to the Caliper Mount Bracket Bolts and tighten them to the required 65 ft-lbs.

In my mind, I would rather the caliper mount bracket mount tight to the spindle without any spacers, but in this case that is not practical nor does it seem to be the design. The shims are so close to the bolt size and broad enough that common sense tells me the mating surface translates well enough. Plus, the torque direction is with the rotation of the rotor, not side-to-side, so I don’t think it will be an issue.

There is a centering ring that sits inside the rotor and centers it on the hub. I’m not sure it is necessary, but I don’t want to not install it and regret it later.







Next spacing decision is the caliper on its mounting studs. To determine this I remove the bridge bolt and go ahead and slide the brake pads into the caliper. Checking the pad top compared to the outer edge of the rotor I slide first one spacer on, then two. After two spacers, the two line up almost perfectly. I am erring slightly toward having the rotor stick up slightly past the edge of the pad because of the tapered edge of the rotor.







After these adjustments, I am comfortable torquing the caliper mounting nuts onto the studs. No Loctite is called for on these, and the light oil applied earlier will serve to make it a little easier to remove the caliper if necessary. These only torque to 30-35, and I go with 34, as my torque wrench only has even-value detents.



Then the Bridge bolt goes back in to lock in the pads.



The 45-degree fittings go into the fitting mount with a little blue Loctite. I talk myself into believing this direct-flow system is much more efficient than a banjo-bolt system and will work much better. Probably just rationalization on my part for having spent so much on brakes.







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[edwardb]

There is a centering ring that sits inside the rotor and centers it on the hub. I’m not sure it is necessary, but I don’t want to not install it and regret it later.

You mention this twice, so will respond. Don't leave the centering rings out. There's a reason they're provided. You want rotors, wheel spacers, etc. to be hub-centric, not stud-centric. This is the most accurate. Often holes for the studs in rotors and wheel spacers are slightly over-sized. The hub and hole in the rotor should match exactly and provide the best centering. Which in turn will prevent vibration and give the smoothest braking. There should be a step around the hole of the rotor for the spacer to fit into, so the thickness of the rotor isn't affected. If you're using the Factory Five wheels, you'll find they also are hub-centric, also desirable. Sometimes not the case with aftermarket wheels.

 

[IsaacW]

You mention this twice, so will respond. Don't leave the centering rings out. There's a reason they're provided. You want rotors, wheel spacers, etc. to be hub-centric, not stud-centric. This is the most accurate. Often holes for the studs in rotors and wheel spacers are slightly over-sized. The hub and hole in the rotor should match exactly and provide the best centering. Which in turn will prevent vibration and give the smoothest braking. There should be a step around the hole of the rotor for the spacer to fit into, so the thickness of the rotor isn't affected. If you're using the Factory Five wheels, you'll find they also are hub-centric, also desirable. Sometimes not the case with aftermarket wheels.

Thanks. I did install them, as you probably saw in the pictures. I figured they were there for more than decoration.

Keep sharing, I enjoy learning as I go.


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[IsaacW]

The passenger side brakes go fairly smoothly, almost exactly like the DS. I say almost because even through it is the same product, the number of shims required are a little different on this one. In addition to the two .090 spacers on the caliper mount-to-spindle bolt, this side required 5ea .035 spacers per bolt to center the caliper to the rotor. I didn’t have enough shim washers in the kit..... and those are not easy washers to find. Additionally, only 1 shim was needed on the top and bottom caliper mounting studs to align the brake pads with the edge of the rotor.



Tightened all the hardware to spec.

Once the rotors and calipers were in place, we slipped on the wheel spacers.



Ok, so I admit at this point I’m psyched up to get the car to Roller status, so I may be a little early with the wheels, but we went ahead and put the wheels on with a few lug nuts per wheel. Without the body on the wheels go on and off pretty easy.

But, it’s sitting on the ground!!










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[IsaacW]

Ok, so having achieved Roller Status (ok, 99%) we need to put it back up on the jack stands. Time to button up the brake lines.

The only remaining portion of the front brakes is the mounting tabs and the flex lines. And of course, brake fluid and line bleeding.

The mounting tabs that come with the kit don’t fit the flex line adaptors. For that matter, they don’t fit the flex adaptors that come with the base kit either. Time for a trip to the Auto Parts Store. There’s a local store here in Vancouver that seems to have a lot more of the parts lines that I seem to be looking for. In this case, they bring in a set of Russell mounting tabs and matching clips that will do the trick. This particular tab set doesn’t have rivet holes, so we pop a couple holes in. Lining them up, squirting some silicone in between and popping rivets in takes us just a few minutes.





Then we install and tighten up the flex lines and check what orientation will work the best for the caliper fitting. Pointed up? Down? One test is worth a thousand expert opinions.

Here’s the fitting pointed down, not too much interference. Just a little bit at a sharp left turn.







And the fitting pointed up.



Clearly the fitting pointed down is the way to go. Pointing it up would rub on the tire the whole time the car is moving and probably end with the line being worn through by the tire. We get the fittings installed on both sides and the lines tightened up.





All right, flex lines tightened up to all four corners, time to put some brake fluid in and bleed the air out.








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[IsaacW]

Shifting gears here for a minute. Received the Ron Francis Wiring Harness kit yesterday, and had to thrown the Rear and Front harnesses in. The rear harness is the only thing keeping me from completing the trunk and cockpit sheet metal.



The harnesses in the kit are very clearly marked and leave almost no room for error. Not only are the ends of the loom bundles marked, but the individual conductors are marked as well.





We loosely installed the rear harness and secured it with some Zip-Ties ... then tightened it up. If the final installation includes insulated bushings, the installation manual only has pictures of those in the front. I’m interested in getting feedback on how I routed the front and rear, as now would be the time to change these.

Ran the Rear Harness down the transmission tunnel and took the ‘Y’ all the way to the Rear per instructions. There is slack enough that if I decide to do so in the future, I can do the drop trunk mod after the fact. The only concern is the license plate wire... it seems short and I can’t see how to stretch it. Not a big deal to extend it, I know how to do that. I just want it to be done right the first time and if it doesn’t fit quite right, I’ve learned it’s usually because I am not doing it right.



Got it to the back...



Tightened it up ....







You can see in this picture there is only a foot or so of slack past centerline on the arched crossmember .... this doesn’t seem to be enough to reach to a low rear license plate location. Maybe I should read ahead to the body finishing part of the manual...




Ran the Front Harness along its path. If only it was about 6” longer in that first stretch ......









Seems to come up a little short, could be my routing.... but seems to make the most sense. On the Front Harness I’ll be using Insulated clips on the part that runs along the frame, as the pictures in the manual show.

Thoughts?


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[edwardb]

Just a hint FWIW -- You may want to mock up the main harness behind the dash and see where your front and rear harness connectors end up. Looks to me like you have more harness length than you need for the front and rear harness legs at the dash area, which translates to less than might be possible at the four corners. Especially for the rear harness. Might also explain why you think the license plate wire is too short. I haven't found that to be the case. You really don't want more than necessary behind the dash anyway. It gets pretty congested in there, and dealing with extra cable makes it worse.

 

[IsaacW]

Just a hint FWIW -- You may want to mock up the main harness behind the dash and see where your front and rear harness connectors end up. Looks to me like you have more harness length than you need for the front and rear harness legs at the dash area, which translates to less than might be possible at the four corners. Especially for the rear harness. Might also explain why you think the license plate wire is too short. I haven't found that to be the case. You really don't want more than necessary behind the dash anyway. It gets pretty congested in there, and dealing with extra cable makes it worse.

Copy that.... I brought my KO punch home with me today to knock those holes in the firewall. Will Do.

Related to that, what’s the best method to support the big loom bundle as is traverses the steering shaft? Not a whole lot of vertical space in between the shaft at the bottom and the firewall edge above it and I’d like a permanent way to ensure the wire loom doesn’t sag and contact the shaft.


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[edwardb]

Related to that, what’s the best method to support the big loom bundle as is traverses the steering shaft? Not a whole lot of vertical space in between the shaft at the bottom and the firewall edge above it and I’d like a permanent way to ensure the wire loom doesn’t sag and contact the shaft.

Nothing special in my experience. I use a padded clamp to support the main leg on the RH side of the steering column. High enough that it lifts and holds the harness above without interference. With it held in place you can curve it some out of the fuse panel and it's fine. FWIW, I prefer padded clamps for the entire harness installation. Front leg, back leg, etc. As opposed to tie wraps.

 

[IsaacW]

To see how The harnesses will interface, I mocked up the Main Harness with the Fuse Block. There was an interference fit between the fuse block mount and the fuse block itself, which had a pretty simple fix, just had to be addressed before it would fit. The two relay blocks on the end of the fuse block were shifted so that they would interfere with the mounting plate.



This was not allowing the mounting plate to mate anywhere close to how it was supposed to, as the side of one relay block was not allowing the plate to move by it. It is also obvious that the relay block needed to move over. It only attached to the fuse block by two screws, so I easily moved the block over a hair and aligned it with the space in the plate where it is supposed to sit. I made sure that I moved the screws only in the relay block, and kept the original placement in the fuse block so as not to run into any internal conductive parts in the fuse block.





After making sure the fuse block lined up, I removed the fuse block plate that came with the base kit, and installed the Ron Francis plate.





Taking a page from edwardb’s book, I made an extra bracket for the fuse block mounting plate to support the previously unsupported corner. Convenient to have the base kit plate to cut this piece out of. I bent it into shape with my Hand Seamer, because, well, I don’t have a Sheet Metal Brake.







Next I lay the Main Harness in there and see how it mates up with the front and rear harnesses.





I see that I can make a small adjustment to the Front Harness, making it forward a couple inches. To lay the Rear Harness in place, I will have to drill the holes in the Firewall.


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[edwardb]

...To lay the Rear Harness in place, I will have to drill the holes in the Firewall.

Don't take the rear harness through the firewall. That's the long way around. Pretty normal practice to take it through the top corner of the inner drivers side footbox panel under the dash 2-inch tube. There's a small cutout there, but will need to be enlarged a bit. You can see it in this picture. Just to the left of the hanging ignition switch.

 

[IsaacW]

Don't take the rear harness through the firewall. That's the long way around. Pretty normal practice to take it through the top corner of the inner drivers side footbox panel under the dash 2-inch tube. There's a small cutout there, but will need to be enlarged a bit. You can see it in this picture. Just to the left of the hanging ignition switch.

It would look at lot cleaner and straighter that way... I’ll take a look tonight after work. No interference with Coyote Fuse box on the other side? I don’t have that in hand yet.


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[IsaacW]

No teacher like experience. I always take good advice into account, and edwardb’s advice has been spot on. Much appreciated.

After adjusting the dash end of the Rear Harness toward the steering column, we pop a hole through and test fit the connection to the dash harness. Looks like we have a winner. (I will say, there was not a starter hole there. I just picked a spot)





Looks like that will more evenly distribute the wiring and harnesses behind the dash.



There’s lots of work to do there, no fooling myself on that one. That will be a task. Even though I am an electrician doesn’t mean I do car electrical. Thank God I can read a wiring diagram. I guess I’ll leave the gloating until after the first start when the car doesn’t blow up.

I took the time to adjust the back of the rear harness toward the right side of the car before installing straps and tidying things up before sheet metal install.



Something I noticed that didn’t look right was the location of the connector for the tranny sender. I pulled up a picture from edwardb’s 20th anniversary install and sure enough, it looked a lot further back than his did with tranny in place. I relocated the leg forward about 12” and put some 3/8” wire loom over the wires, it looks a lot better now.







While we are on the topic of electrical, I mocked up the battery location. I’m probably going to catch some heat for this, but I’m going with the original location in the trunk. I just don’t like the awkwardness of the battery under the coolant reservoir, and it shifts the center-of-mass by about 50 lbs. In theory.

I slid in the trunk deck sheet and marked the locations for drilling. After sliding the Aluminum back out, we popped a couple holes through the marked location, and drilled the positive battery side out to the grommet size. On the ground attachment location, we took the wire wheel to the frame and got down to bare metal on BOTH sides of the attachment point. NEC Code requires that good contact with bare metal is made on both sides, and the more Amps you take through a connection the more important that is. (We’re not dealing with the NEC here, but It’s my trade, what can I say)









After snapping the wire loom over the red battery cable, I secured it in a parallel path beside the rear wiring harness and clamped it on its way to the front. Having a considerable amount of extra and not having the main cutoff in place, I just looped it up, tucked it right by the driver’s side footbox and tied a bag over the end just in case it made accidental contact with the frame at any point. I also did not keep the battery connections both made up at the same time, I don’t need any accidents happening.




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[IsaacW]

While we have the car on the ground, we take the time to tighten up a couple things that we have been waiting to do, the axle nuts, front and back, and the driveshaft adaptor.

The axle nuts we had torqued to 100 ft-lbs, front and back, prior to setting it down. I don’t think we could have safely gotten them much tighter up on the stands. Now that we have the wheels on the ground and have an e-brake to assist, time to tighten them up.

The fronts I tightened to 175, then 250, alternating sides at each step. The rears I followed the guideline of 98 (ok, 100), then 45 degrees. Basically the same as the fronts, and the torque wrench clicked just before the 45 mark, still at the 250 setting from the fronts.





That done, the driveshaft adaptor goes into place. The required bolts get a dab of Red Loctite and torqued to 42 ft-lbs. the manual says 41, but again, my torque wrench only has even value detents.









Once done, we marked them with the paint pen.



We also received the Coolant Temp Sender with the Vintage gauge set and having previously installed the threaded adaptors in the Coyote engine, we slip the Sender into place and tighten it up.



In the spirit of taking care of business and tidying up loose ends, Differential Fluid is next.




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