Start Here To Read The Build Experience
Welcome to my FFR MKIII Roadster build site. The purpose of this site is to...
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Another view from the rear
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A Car With A Full Rollbar
My rollbar is like this full chrome style. I will make it removable...
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This is what started the Cobra bug
My dad had a 1965 Sunbeam Tiger (also a Shelby modified British car)...
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I can't help it. I Like Sunbeam Tigers
I just had to include one more pic of the Tiger. Even after seeing the...
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Here's how most other replicas are built
I wanted to show why I purchased my replica from Factory Five Racing. Take a...
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The 427 AC Cobra frame (FFR)
The Factory Five 427 Shelby AC Cobra tubular steel space frame. It...
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A real Shelby AC Cobra frame
The FFR frame started like this original Cobra frame and includes...
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The floor of most other replicas
With most of the other replicas, you get "dune buggy"...
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Factory Five replica - body off
Here's a completed FFR replica in go-cart stage. It's a...
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The dash of the other replicas
Fiberglass everywhere. Take a look at the floor, dash, transmission...
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Other replica's interior
It looks OK but the dash just sets in a fiberglass frame. Looks...
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The Cobra Den on 10/11/04
Enough of the history lesson let the fun begin! The day of the new arrival. I...
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Day-1 of build
The car arrived at midnight so I didn't get much sleep. I'm looking a...
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Polishing all visible aluminum panels
12/04, I made the decision early on to polish all the alumunim panels...
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Polished trunk after rough polishing
Directional buff marks visible. Will be removed on final buff with...
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Polishing firewall off the car
Polishing the firewall in the foreground, see the difference between how the...
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Polished footbox with side extension
My homemade aluminum footbox extension was added to get a little more...
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Footbox as received before mod or polish
Footbox and aluminim panels as shipped from FFR.
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Footbox after Mod - Version1.0
11/04, Gained myself 1.25" to the right side of the loud pedal....
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Footbox Mod Version-2.0
01/05, Got snake bit on this one. Had to cut off the corner of the newly...
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Drivers footbox corner finished
Footbox extension finished after cutting off the corner that was part of the...
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Front Suspension-left
Adjustable upper control arm, tubular lower control arm, Bilstein coil-over...
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Gotcha-1, front lower control arm mount
The FFR front lower control arms need the washer shown of the left...
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Adjustable Upper Control Arm-left
Makes setting the caster and camber easier. NOTE: Later, when setting up the...
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'94 - '95 SN95 Spindle Is The Favorite
Only the '94 - '95 Mustang front spindle maintains the same Fox width...
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PBR brake and tubular lower control arm
PBR dual piston front brakes with stainless braided soft line. The '94 -...
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3-link Rear Suspension Upgrade
1991 Mustang GT 8.8" limited slip rearend, 11" disc brakes, Bilstein...
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Rear Brake Line Connector
That little $4 brass fitting on the left is the discontinued Ford...
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Home Fabricated BatteryBox and TrunkBox
01/05, Underfloor trunk box fabricated from 0.060 plate aluminum. Adds...
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Top View of Recessed Home Fabricated Box
I fabricated this box from .060" aluminum plate with a billet hold...
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Storage Compartment Thumbscrew Mounting
Opening to underfloor trunk storage. Detail of mounting block for stud...
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Battery Box Hold Down Detail
I made a billet aluminum bar that holds the battery down and captures...
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Side View Of Home Fabricated Battery Box
Lots of rivets and adhesive bonding make the box super rigid. Polished...
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Underside Of Home Fabricated Battery Box
From underneath, you can see the two 1/4 20 stainless hold down rods poking...
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EFI converted for carb - SEE NOTE
01/05, I removed the old EFI fuel pump and fabricated a 3/8" metal...
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Top view - electrical connector removed
I removed the plug and soldered the holes closed. I also removed the...
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Front end with rough polished aluminum
2/07/05, a nice day. Rolled the chassis out and took a few pics of the...
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Front suspension, clutch & brake pedals
Pedal box from 2002 donor Mustang GT. I heated and bent the Mustang...
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Master cylinder and brake lines
A view of the hard break line routing. Ford Racing proportioning valve is...
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Front brake hard lines bent & installed
Started with a roll of 3/16" steel brake line. Cut, bent, double...
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Mallory Comp 110 electric fuel pump
Home fabricated 1/8" thick aluminum mounting bracket and 3/8"...
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Fuel pump and brass plumbing
I built an aluminum bracket and riveted it to the 2" downtube to...
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Fram fuel filter and fuel line
2/12/05, I fabricated a bracket to hold the fuel filter from 1/8"...
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Fuel tank from a '91 Mustang GT
Fuel tank is installed to check for fit. Tank was from a '91...
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Final polishing a week before coating
03/12/05 - Here's the labor of love. Many hours of polishing left...
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A close up of polished finish
About as shiny as you can get. I will compare the shine now and after clear...
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Pedals including my home made gas pedal
My center-to-center pedal spacing is 4.25" between the clutch and...
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Home Fabricated Gas Pedal Close Up
Here's a better view of the gas pedal. What you are looking at here is a...
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FMS GT40 E-cam crate engine
The Ford Racing crate GT40 302 V8 (220 duration - 0.498" lift) with X303...
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Pulleys and Accessories
05/02/05 - Finally obtained all the pulleys, mounts/tensioner, and...
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SVO Roller Rockers and Crane distributor
A nice view of what's under those polished valve covers. X303...
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The Same Engine As Mine On A Dyno
Here's a rear wheel dyno plot of the same engine, cam, carb and...
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Power With The Ford E-Cam (Crane2040)
I copied this flywheel horsepower dyno chart from a magazine that...
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Aluminum Polish before anodizing
03/21/05, I found this stuff works better for polishing aluminum if YOU DRINK...
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Same panel after clear coat anodizing
Here's the results of soaking 15 minutes with 12V connected in a tub of...
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All of the polished aluminum panels
Here are the 30+ panels all highly polished along with 13 other misc...
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A/C, heater, defroster, behind dashboard
Quality Roadsters climate control setup. I added an extra aluminum panel to...
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Fabricated Cover for Q.R. A/C System
Here is the exterior of the Quality Roadsters unit. I fabricated the polished...
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Lucas Wiper Motor from a '60's MG
I picked this up from an MG salvage yard along with a 37" drive...
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Riveting polished and coated aluminum
5/15/2005, first day of riveting newly coated and polished aluminum panels;...
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Engine bay on Memorial Day weekend 2005
Polished and coated aluminum panels were riverted on the firewall,...
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Memorial Day weekend 2005
Started the wiring and filled/bled the power brakes.
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Memorial Day
Installed and wired the starter solenoid to the homemade polished...
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Memorial Day 2005
Homemade engine bay filler panel and polished passenger side footbox.
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Memorial Day 2005
A photo of the mocked up radiator. A shot of the modification to the...
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Memorial Day 2005
A shot of the completed steering shaft, rear brake proportioning valve, brake...
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Memorial Day 2005
Mocked up the AFCO dual core aluminum racing radiator and completed...
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Memorial Day 2005
A shot of the homemade aluminum panel for mounting the solenoid. A...
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Memorial Day 2005
That mess will someday be a nicely bundled wiring harness.
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Memorial Day 2005
Radiator position is mocked up and work to fabricate an alumunium...
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Memorial Day 2005
Fuse panel installed under dash on a homemade alumunim mounting plate....
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Memorial Day 2005
The battery cut-off switch is installed and wired up between what will be the...
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Memorial Day 2005
A shot of the rear and the body on the buck. Body work to start soon.
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Memorial Day 2005
Wiring the rear of the car. Main power cables run inside the...
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06/05/2005 - The engine went in today
GKCobra (Gregg) and I installed the engine. It took about 3 hours from...
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Engine raised to the ceiling
Almost ran out of room and hit the rafters.
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Getting her lined up
It's amazing that whole load is supported by a plate bolted to the carb...
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Engine is in + one week
6/12/05 One week after I dropped the engine in. To make use of the...
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Homemade upper radiator support
6/12/05 completed the homemade upper radiator support. It's...
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Homemade radiator fan mounting bracket
The supplied FFR fan was inadequate for a car with A/C so I had to replace it...
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Homemade lower radiator support
6/12/05 completed the homemade lower radiator support. The mount is made from...
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6/26/05 pedal box - flexing resolved
After setting up the clutch, I noticed the pedal box torques to the...
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6/26/05 Lucas wiper motor installed
Wiper motor installed nicely next to the A/C unit.
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Fabricated Expansion Tank Bracket
6/26/05 - Since I'm using the serpentine belt drive and spring...
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Expansion Tank Bracket-top view
Antother view.
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Engine bay 7/15/05 A/C & Expansion tank
Finished the custom modifications to the mid '60's big block Ford...
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Expansion Tank Mods - Underside
7/15/05 - I fabricated a collar to reinforce the joint where the lower pipe...
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7/15/05 Expansion Tank and Headers
A shot of the clearances in the area of the tank.
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7/15/05 Engine bay
Mounted the power steering fluid resorvoir with a custom made polished...
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7/15/05 Engine bay and A/C compressor
Napa crimped all the A/C hoses for $10. The coolant hose from the water...
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Ignition Wires Left Side
I purchased the 9mm spiral core ignition wires from Ford Racing. I...
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Ignition Wires Right Side
A view of how the wires run on the right side. The same 3.25" spacing is...
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7/22/05 Throttle Cable Bracket
I fabricated a polished aluminum bracket to mount the stock EFI...
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7/22/05 Detail of Throttle Return Spring
The throttle return spring mounts under the bracket. The cable slack is...
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Fords Hydroboost Layout
I followed this when designing the custom hose routing for the Hydroboost PS/PB.
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Installing the Hydroboost hoses
8/8/05 - I had the hard sections of the stock power steering/brake...
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Hydroboost hoses - another view
The hoses will be secured to the frame with aluminum clips. I'm using an...
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Detail of Hoses at Rack and T-fitting
A view of the home fabricated bracket that holds the power steering hose from...
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8/13 - Preliminary Dash Layout
I began working the dash layout to make sure all instruments and...
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Behind The Dash
8-13-05 A shot of what's going on behind the dashboard. The Quality...
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Hidden AC controls -behind glovebox door
8-13-05 AC Cobras didn't have A/C so I didn't want mine to...
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Hidden AC controls - rear view
A view of the rear of the panel and how the 3 controls were squeezed into the...
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8/13/05 - Radiator, Hoses and Wiring
I mocked up the radiator again to check the fit of the home fabricated upper...
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8/13 PVC Lower Radiator Hose Mock-up
I worked out a clean design for the lower radiator hose that combines...
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8/13 - Wiring Diet on Supplied harness
The supplied harness was designed for a much longer vehicle so I...
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Halibrand Chrome Cobra III Wheels
9/5/05 The 17 X 9 front and 17 X 10.5 rear Halibrand Cobra III...
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Front Halibrand With Flat Center Cap
Here is the front wheel before the knock-off was added. Note the PBR...
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Rear Halibrand
The rear wheel-no issues with brake clearence either. All the lugs are...
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Wheels After Knockoffs and Tires Fitted
9/6/05 - Mounted the Sumitomo tires and installed the spinners...
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9-07-05 The Body Work Begins
Actually last weekend (all weekend!) I rolled the fender lips over nice and...
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Grinding The Mold Parting Lines Down
I used an angle grinder to knock down the mold parting lines on the...
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Black Leather Hide - For Dash and Doors
09/23/05, I purchased a full cow hide to cover the dash and make door panels...
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Mold For Rolled Rear Cockpit Edges
09/25/05. I made a mold to apply large sections of Rage Gold by...
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Mold Removed
I pulled off the mold and removed the tape. It makes a very uniform radius.
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Rolling The Rear Cockpit Edges
Here is the process: Sand the gelcoat with 40 grit paper and clean...
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Dipsticks-not elegant but neccessary
10/01/05 - I fabricated a new dipstick and tube because the one that...
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Cutting the Aluminum Dash
10/16/05 The car is a year old now. This fall morning was too cool to...
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Dash Layout - Final Design
10/16/05 - Completed the final dash design layout. The aluminum dash and home...
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Dash Covered By 2 Layers of Leather
11/2/05 - Covered the dash with 2-layers of leather and installed the...
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Home Fabricated Glove Box Door
11/3/05 - I custom fabricated a glovebox door because I think the dash needs...
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Door Viewed From Inside of Dash
That red stuff on the left side isn't paint! Exacto knives are sharp. The...
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Wired and Connectorized The Dash
11/10/05 - Completed the wiring of the dash and placed 2 connectors near the...
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Detail of Lock and Stainless Pull
The lock and pull are from an RV store. I polished the pull on the...
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Detail Of Washer Under Switch
This photo illustrates how the two layers of leather compress. It also...
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Thanksgiving Day 2005 Progress pic
11/24/05 - Finished installing the wiring, tested all the circuits,...
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Main Wiring Behind The Dash
11/24/05 Completed the wiring and testing. To the left you can see the 3...
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Top View of Relays and Wiring
11/24/05 - A top view. The blinker assembly fits on the steering...
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Wiring In The Footbox With The MSD Box
11/24/05 - A view of the wiring inside the footbox and the top of the fuseblock.
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Wiper 2-speed And Parking Diagram
Here's the electrical diagram I used to make the wiper system run in 2...
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Dash Support Tubes
12/10/05 - Fabricated a pair of brackets and dash support tubes. The FFR does...
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Dash Support Tubes
A close up view of the home fabricated brackets and how they attach to the...
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Dash Support Tubes and Speedo Input
A shot of how the tube lines up with the input to the reverser gear on the...
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Fabricated New Emergency Brake Bracket
1/21/06 - The worst thing about the FFR replica is the location and...
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Ebrake Bracket With Lever
1/21/06 - Note how the ebrake lever is accessible even when it's...
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Modifications To The Lever
I found this information on another builder's site but it was...
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Ebrake Clearance With Seat Installed
Here's a shot of the ebrake with the seat installed. It fits...
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Ebrake - Top View
An overhead shot here. I will fabricate a leather boot to dress the...
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Ebrake Cable Installed
I cut the stock balance T-bar down reducing it's spread and...
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Top View Of the Ebrake cables
There is plenty of clearance between the cables and the driveshaft and each...
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New Style FFR Ebrake Boot Installed
Since I relocated the ebrake lever to the side of the transmission tunnel, I...
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Finished The Cockpit Aluminum
2/3/05 - Completed riveting all of the cockpit aluminum panels. Test...
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Cockpit and Dash Layout - ALUMINUM!
These cockpit shots illustrate just how well built the Factory Five...
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Hidden A/C Controls & Fire Extinguisher
The A/C controls are hidden inside the glovebox on their own leather panel. I...
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Rear of The Cockpit
A shot of the rear aluminum wall and the home fabricated storage compartment....
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Rear of The Cockpit
A view from the other side.
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Paint Scheme Inspired By Nature
2/09/06 - Our first snowfall of the season inspired a paint scheme. On a side...
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Adding Bump Stops To Bilstein Shocks
3/03/06 - There has been some evidence that these shock can fail if...
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Bump Stop Installed On the Shaft
The rubber part fits very tightly on the shaft. There is no way it will ever...
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Unmodified VS Modified Rubber Part
The modified piece is on the right.
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Re-Assembled Shock
A view with the shock re-assembled.
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Shock Fully Compressed Against Stop
I removed the coil spring and jacked up the lower control arm to check for...
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Body Mounted Back On The Frame
3/5/05 - I mounted the body back on the frame after being off for the last 16...
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Hood Trimmed and Centered To Body
3/11/06 I trimmed the hood edges to set the required 3/16" gap. The hoop...
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Trunk Fitted and Centered
3/18/06 - Fitted trunk lid and set 3/16" gaps. The trunk was off...
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Drivers Door - Test Fit
I test fit the door and I was very surprised to see it acually lined...
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Molded a Trunk Lid Seal To The Body
4/1/06 - I needed to place spacers under the trunk lid to adjust the...
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Close-up Of The Molded Trunk Edge Seal
Here's another view. The seal is 1/4" away from the body, is...
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Making The Seal With Rage Gold
I used some 1/4" wide foam weatherstrip to set the distance from...
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Making A Perfect 3/16" gap , Step - 1
4/15/06 - The first step is to clearance the hood edges to about...
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Step -2
Apply 3/16" self adhesive foam weather stripping to the hood opening.
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Step - 3
Place the hood back on being carefull to keep the proper alignment.
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Step - 4
Force body filler into the gap between the hood edge and the weather...
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Step - 5
Remove the weather stripping and sand the ridge off the hood edge. You should...
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Molded A Fiberglass Scoop Extension
5/1/06 - I'm extending the hood 1.5" under the scoop. This mess is a...
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Re-do Of The Rolled Dash Cowl Edge
I rolled the cowl edge on the buck and may have molded in a curve that was a...
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Installed All The Fender Splash Panels
5/2/06 - Trimmed and fitted all of the inner fender splash panels....
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Fitted The Doors And Hood
I fitted the doors and hood. It took several days to accomplish this....
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Finally A Roller
5/08/06 - For the first time in 18 months the car is sitting on the...
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Side View
The doors need to be fared into the body sides and the gaps set. Exhaust and...
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Side View-2
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Front View
I spent days aligning the hood and scoop. And days getting the hood to close...
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Hood Alignment OR "Misalignment"
An Overhead shot of the hood fit and how close I got the hood scoop to being...
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Placement Of Wiper Boxes On Body
I used this layout to drill the holes for the windhield wiper boxes....
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The Ralph Nader Bumper Installed
05/11/06 - Installed a bumper inspired by Ralph Nader. Actually...
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Rolled The Door Into the Dash Cowl
06/04/06 - Completed rolling and fitting both doors, the rear cowl and...
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Rolled The Door Into The Rear Cowl
Here's the rolled edge transition from the driver's door into...
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Body Filler On Driver's Door
Here's what it took to blend the driver's side door edges into...
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Passenger Door Body Filler
Here's the passenger door. It fit better than the driver's side.
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Home Fabricated Billet Door Strike Mount
6/11/06 - The FFR supplied tab on the door frame did not line up with...
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Cut Off The Original Hood Scoop
6/17/06 - I cut off the hood scoop in preparation for installing a new...
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Added The New Bolt-on FFR Scoop
6/22/06 - Here's the new FFR scoop trimmed and aligned within...
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Close Up Of The New Scoop
I will be extending the hood by 1.5" into and under the scoop for a more...
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Hood Centering Pin And Bracket
06/25/06 - The hood had a tendancy to move from side-to-side near the...
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Hood Centering Pin
Here's the adjustable hood pin mount.
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Pin and Bracket Engagement
Closing the hood shows how the parts align.
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Rolled Fender Edges
I did these a few months ago but wanted to include a photo of the...
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Rolled Fender Edges
Here's a shot of the lower end of the rear passenger fender. I...
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Home Fabricated Lower Radiator Hose
7/23/06 - I took a break from the body work and prepared for the first...
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Lower Radiator Hose
Another shot showing the hose as it turns toward the radiator. I built...
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Lower Radiator Hose
And yet another view. The power steering line is temporarily pieced...
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Upper Radiator Hose
In this shot you can see the home fabricated aluminum tube and hose....
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Oversized Cooling Fan
I tossed the wimpy FFR supplied fan for a larger temperature...
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A/C Condensor And New Body Support Bar
Another shot of the home fabricated billet body support bar. I bonded...
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The Dash Cowl Is Crooked As Supplied
8/1/06 - This is not my car but mine was exactly like this one. Notice the...
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Oak Dash Cowl Shim Blocks
I made three blocks from oak and screwed them to the dash hoop. I then ground...
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My Dash Cowl Is Even Now
Notice the driver's side now looks almost exactly like the...
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Extended The Hood Back Under The Scoop
8/11/06 - I had an earler photo of a fiberglass part I made to extend...
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Fuel Filler Neck
08/15/06 - Here's my setup for the fuel neck. The small tube and...
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Front Nose Oil Cooler
I installed a Mocal oil cooler for cooling the power steering fluid....
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Home Fabricated Seat Mounts
08/16/06 - I experimented with various seating positions and settled...
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View Of The Completed Seat Installation
Here's a view of the seat mount covered in the FFR supplied door...
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First Start And First Ride!!!!
On 8/16/06, I started the engine and it ran amazingly well. There were...
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Cobra Laundry - Parts After Featherfill
9/10/06 - Primed the hood, doors, trunk, and hood scoop with...
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Radiator Cover and Splash Pan
10/01/06 - It was rainy all weekend. I spent time in the garage...
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Engine Radiator Cover & Brake Cover
A shot of the radiator cover and to the left, a shot of the polished aluminum...
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Hydroboost Brake Shield
Another view of the shield.
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Shield - Drivers Side View
I fastened the shield with screws so that in the event of a master cylinder...
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Body Ready For Featherfill G2 Priming
10/8/06 - The body work is done and it's ready for the first coat of high...
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The Body Is Primed
Here it is with 3 coats of FFG2. Attention to detail payed off. I...
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Spraying The Guide Coat On FFG2
10/15/06 - Sprayed the second application (3 coats) of FFG2. This photo was...
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Block Sanding Tools - Purchased/homemade
Here's the complement or tools I used to block the body. Some were...
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Cobra Work In Fall 06
10/29/06 - I spent the day block sanding the passenger side of the body and...
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Fall 06 And Some Shiny Aluminum Parts
Man that aluminum sure does shine! I fabricated an extension on the...
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Waiting For A Go-cart Ride (with videos)
I've been registered with the DMV for a 2 months now. I take her...
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Dead Pedal Modification To Footbox
11/11/06 - Fabricated a box to extend the drivers footbox for a dead pedal....
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Dead Pedal And Pedal Spacing
Here's an inside view of the pedals. I counter sunk stainless flat head...
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Completed The Cockpit Insulation
11/19/06 - This is a shot of the insulated cockpit. I used a closed cell foam...
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Another Shot Of The Insulation
I'm making the transmission cover removable so there's a seam in the...
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An Overhead View
So nice and shiny, it's almos |
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