[Themee]

Hello, starting to post the build thread. Recently purchased a stalled project from original owner, he had purchased in 2005! I purchased in June this year. Included 88 302 from donor along w auto trans. I’m not a mechanic…

The rear end, steering rack, front and rear suspension had been installed, however I have gone back through everything to torque to spec.
Items complete to date:
1. Cleaned up body, frame and components
2. Confirmed all pieces and parts in the FFR boxes, will be needing some new foam stripping, the adhesive is shot
3. Driveshaft has been shortened and ready for install
4. Interior aluminum started
5. Body buck put back together

Looking forward to the journey! Thanks for reading.

 

[Brastic]

That is really close to my number. I also have an 89 302 in mine. This will be a fun build for you. Keep us posted on your progess.

 

[5.8Cobra]

Nice score, looks like youre headed in the right direction. Enjoy the build.

Mike

 

[JKleiner]

I did one of those orphan builds for a customer earlier this year. He had the car since 2005 and had progressed to about the same state yours is in. It was kind of a Fred Flintstone mobile when it came to me and could be rolled around but all of the aluminum was unattached, no steering or brakes, fuel system, plumbing or electrical, etc. Many of the parts were still in their original boxes as received from Factory Five 15 years earlier. He did have a freshly rebuilt engine and trans that had been sitting for years. Here how it looked when I finished it up a few months ago to serve as inspiration for you!

Good luck with yours and have fun!

Jeff

 

[SC210Ford]

Sweet project, I’ll be following along,
Your kit is similar to mine.

 

[Themee]

I did one of those orphan builds for a customer earlier this year. He had the car since 2005 and had progressed to about the same state yours is in. It was kind of a Fred Flintstone mobile when it came to me and could be rolled around but all of the aluminum was unattached, no steering or brakes, fuel system, plumbing or electrical, etc. Many of the parts were still in their original boxes as received from Factory Five 15 years earlier. He did have a freshly rebuilt engine and trans that had been sitting for years. Here how it looked when I finished it up a few months ago to serve as inspiration for you!



View attachment 365700

Good luck with yours and have fun!

Jeff

Thanks, that looks amazing.

 

[Themee]

1 Month update
1. Driveshaft install - doesn’t align properly, looks like option is the shim the transmission with washers, any other ideas?

2. Brake hard lines, temp in place, replaced the old flex lines, have to get 2 transition nuts for the fronts as they are newer brakes/lines

3. New fuel pump and filter in the tank and replaced crumbling seal

4. Anyone else seen this done to the frame for the brake booster? It feels solid, however how concerned should I be?

6. On to this mess next!

Thank you
Mark

 

[CraigS]

A few thoughts. 1- it may be the angle but the drive shaft bolt pattern doesn't seem to match the diff. Or did you not tighten the bolts fully yet? 2- Again it may be the angle but the front brake lines look like they won't allow you to steer very far before they hit the upper control arm. 3- The frame mod for the vac booster doesn't look good at all. Phillps head sheet metal screws are not adequate. The better way to do that is to get a solid square steel that fits inside those tubes. One piece is about 5 inches long and goes 1/2 it's length inside one of the tubes and is bolted in place w/ bolts all the way through. The other piece is maybe 3 inches long and goes into the other tube. Longer bolts then pass through the end of that tube, it's steel insert and then through the other steel insert. The solid inserts keep the tube from crushing when you tighten the bolts/nuts. 4- I advise throwing out that harness and buying one from FFR. You can also buy general purpose harness from other sources like these.
wire harness | Speedway Motors, The Racing and Rodding Specialists
The advantage of the FFR harness is that when you run into a question, there are a bunch of people here w/ the same harness. So "What does the blue wire in the connector to the X switch do?" will be much easier to answer.

 

[SC210Ford]

If the rearend is at full droop you won’t be able to bolt up the driveshaft because it will be on too much of an angle.
Jack up the rearend alittle.

On my car I used the factory donor wiring harness for the engine to operate the stock fuel injection, and a universal harness for the chassis. This works much better than trying to use the entire donor harness.

 

[Themee]

A few thoughts. 1- it may be the angle but the drive shaft bolt pattern doesn't seem to match the diff. Or did you not tighten the bolts fully yet? 2- Again it may be the angle but the front brake lines look like they won't allow you to steer very far before they hit the upper control arm. 3- The frame mod for the vac booster doesn't look good at all. Phillps head sheet metal screws are not adequate. The better way to do that is to get a solid square steel that fits inside those tubes. One piece is about 5 inches long and goes 1/2 it's length inside one of the tubes and is bolted in place w/ bolts all the way through. The other piece is maybe 3 inches long and goes into the other tube. Longer bolts then pass through the end of that tube, it's steel insert and then through the other steel insert. The solid inserts keep the tube from crushing when you tighten the bolts/nuts. 4- I advise throwing out that harness and buying one from FFR. You can also buy general purpose harness from other sources like these.
wire harness | Speedway Motors, The Racing and Rodding Specialists
The advantage of the FFR harness is that when you run into a question, there are a bunch of people here w/ the same harness. So "What does the blue wire in the connector to the X switch do?" will be much easier to answer.

1. The bolt pattern matches up, I had tightened them up, however that’s when I noticed the bind and the angle.
2. I turned the wheels back and forth and didn’t see any issue.
3. Thank you for the thought on the aftermarket harness, I’ll check that out. As well as the frame mod item.

 

[Themee]

If the rearend is at full droop you won’t be able to bolt up the driveshaft because it will be on too much of an angle.
Jack up the rearend alittle.

On my car I used the factory donor wiring harness for the engine to operate the stock fuel injection, and a universal harness for the chassis. This works much better than trying to use the entire donor harness.

It is fully dropped, I’ll jack it up a bit and see how it lines up.

Thanks for the second recommendation on an aftermarket harness.

 

[Themee]

Another ? I couldn’t find an answer on, with this rear suspension setup do I need to use the stop cables? There doesn’t seem to be a great mounting location on the axel side.

 

[SC210Ford]

You don’t need the stop cables with the coil overs. Stop cables are only needed when you use the stock springs and shocks.

 

[Joe Campbell]

The end of the hard line on the right needs to be secured to a nearby frame tube, and you might need a longer flex line to reach it. As it looks now the hard line will get pulled and yanked around as the diff moves around while driving, along with the flex line, and the hard line will break in short order.

Congrats on the project. My first FFR was 4760, though it was a Mk II I bought new in 2003. Kinda strange on the sequence.

366114[/ATTACH]
Thank you
Mark

 

[Thumper135]

Well...I would like to welcome you to the madness here. These are some great people here and can keep you on line with your build. They have been a big help to me on my build so far with all the ideas and information. I've been away from here for some time but I'm getting back to it now.
Here's wishing you all the best on your project.
And if you have any questions. Just ask .
J.D.

 

[Themee]

Well...I would like to welcome you to the madness here. These are some great people here and can keep you on line with your build. They have been a big help to me on my build so far with all the ideas and information. I've been away from here for some time but I'm getting back to it now.
Here's wishing you all the best on your project.
And if you have any questions. Just ask .
J.D.

Thank you J.D.

 

[Themee]

It is madness for sure. Learning more than I thought I would need to know about the wiring harness. It’s a bit cold in the garage, so have been cleaning up the wiring harness and picked up the Autometer general gauge harness to tie into the existing harness.

Back to making some progress this month.

I also found the correct brake line adapters for the 3/8” line so I can hook up to the front flex lines.

The foam for the dash cover was shot so I decided to go with a wrap, had seen it on a few other builds, and am happy with the way it turned out.

 

[phileas_fogg]

Be SUPER careful when installing your switches, and only turn the nut at the back of the dash. The wrap is somewhat fragile until it "cures" and you can gack up the wrap if you turn a wrench against it.


John

 

[Themee]

Making better progress now that its a bit warmer in the garage.

1. Remote oil filter mount in place
2. Replaced spark plugs
3. Rear brake line mount tapped and in place
4. New cap and rotor
5. Replaced all radiator hoses
6. Was in the process of swapping valve covers until…

Was torquing down, rookie mistake didn’t notice that the new valve covers weren’t as thick as was on there and broke the head off! Extractor approach failed, broke that off in the stud!, so am trying double nut/weld on top next… all part of the fun.

Still having issues with the MC I got as a replacement, looks to be 7/16-24 and 1/2-24 thread, which appear to be non-standard, or maybe no longer used for the fittings.

Also having a hard time matching the exact size on the foam weatherstripping. Is the exact size required?

 

[SC210Ford]

Rockauto has a good selection of brake line fittings and adapters to make things work.
Look under the Tools and Universal Parts tab on their website