Getting the Kit on Order, Preparing the Work Space

Monday, February 22, 2016

We are now in and without financial pain, there is no turning back. Hooray! We can stop the back and forth and go forward, a little scary, but really invigorating.

Our kit includes a lot of options, but the website makes it easy to configure the build for the engine, transmission and rear end that we chose. To summarize here is what we are planning on building:

1933 Ford Hot Rod 

From Donor Car: 1997 Lincoln Mark VIII
Engine: 1997 Lincoln Intech Modular 4.6 Liter, 8 Cylinder, DOHC( Dual Overhead CAM shafts), 32 Valve, EFI ( Electronic Fuel Injection), Aluminum Teksid Y-shaped Block Romeo assembled
280 hp and 285 lb·ft torque 

Transmission: 4R70W automatic overdrive 

Rear End: Independent Rear suspension

From Factory Five

Removable Hard Top Coupe 
Full fenders with running boards
Power Windows and door locks
Black Leather seats

For more that comes with the standard kit go to this link
http://www.factoryfive.com/kits/33-hot-rod/what-you-get-complete/ 


Preparing our workspace

To get ready for our shipment from Factory Five, which will include the frame, the body and body parts, as well as 40-50 boxes of parts that need to be inventoried and stored for the build; we set up a seldom used corner of Larry's shop, only a few 100 square feet of the 12,000 he has - so no worries of getting in the way.

We decided to build a work bench so we had a surface for detailed work and a place to refer to the assembly manual and any other paperwork we would need like wiring manuals, repair manuals and a computer for internet searches close at hand.

We also configured the space to use 8-foot racking shelves to support a platform where we could place the fiberglass body parts out of the way to keep them from damage during the build - Larry's forklift will come in handy getting it up and down for test fittings. The shelves will also house and stage our build parts from Factory Five and our donor car. 

We also built a rolling dolly for the frame so we could build the car on it and move it around before we have wheels & tires. The main design choice was to get it high enough so we could get underneath it, as well as high enough to work on it from a rolling chair. There is no need to be bending down during the build. It's a purposely built to be little wide, so we can trim it when the actual frame comes in. We will also see if we need more support on the extended end on the left, and if not we will cut that off as well.

Deconstructing the Donor Car

Started February 21, 2016

It didn't take long from the time Jake pulled the 1997 Mark VIII into the shop until the hood, grill, front quarter panels and wheels were removed; and we were identifying the wiring harness (something we want to keep and use) to determine our electrical plan. 

We first thought we would just take the engine and re-wire everything new, but we soon found out that this vehicle has passive anti-theft protection (PATS) which would make it much more difficult since we would need to get another ECM (Engine Control module) since the ignition, key and engine do not start unless they are all programmed the same. We saw this as a big problem to our plan, and after a bunch of back and forth, we realized this is an opportunity to really get into understanding the full electrical system. We also decided that we should use all the technology that makes this engine and trans run, and meet the emissions standards. Larry has been involved in many hacked systems from customers where they disconnected the emissions control, or the EGR( exhaust gas recycling) and the vehicle never runs as good, breaks down more often and caused him as a mechanic to chase phantom problems. In the end, we did a complete 180 in our plan, but for all the right reasons and a bunch more time to commit to this build. So we are being very careful to remove the what seems like 100 miles of wire in the car undisturbed, so we can make use of everything necessary to get the car running and moving. We will have a secondary electrical system to wire the lights, wipers, radio.....  no need to make it as complicated as the Mark VIII- and wow this car has a lot considering it's 20 yrs old! Power trunk latch, power mirrors, mirror puddle lamps which turn on when the door is opened, heated, lumbar and 6 way controlled seats, air suspension, anti-lock brakes, and an electronic message center (giving time, compass heading, fuel efficiency, engine oil life, and various other vehicle-related warnings and information) it may be one of the first car computers giving drivers more info than a check engine light. A lot of stuff!

We are stealing hours here and there and trying to get as much out as possible. Tomorrow we order the kit - more on that and getting ready for the build in the next post.

New parts, used parts from the scrap yard, or a donor car

Saturday, February 20, 2016

Once we made the decision on the Factory Five Kit and building a Sunday cruiser, and a 4.6L 32V DOHC modular Ford engine - how would we procure the engine, trans and independent rear end. We always thought we would be like Gas Monkee Garage, Overhaulin, all the vehicle amazing transformation TV shows and just order us up a crate engine, trans and rear end and that would be that. So we started there and found out both on the web and at a local racing show that just the engine could range from $10 thousand to as high as $25 thousand, let alone the trans and rear suspension - We saw a really nifty independent rear suspension kit with the brake rotors right next to the pumpkin - $10K

So before we knew it we were well over $50K for a fun project. We took a step back and really questioned what was our motivation to do this, and what were the strengths we brought to the build. It opened our eyes to a few things.  First, we can rebuild engines, we- especially the boys really like and are good at doing it, and when we are done we can understand an engine we have no experience with, a great learning opportunity. This led us to a list of cars which were originally manufactured by Ford with the 4.6L DOHC engine. That along with a Craig's List search led us to donor cars. We found we could get the engine, trans and rear end for less than a few thousand bucks. The more we searched and looked at the donor list of possible cars, we started to find that Mustangs were overpriced and that Lincoln Mark VIIIs were underpriced. Before we knew it we went out that afternoon and bought a 1997 Lincoln Mark VIII. 

Jake drove it back to the shop - it ran great, has an oil leak, but that will be fixed when we rebuild it and we already started to plan out how we could sell a few items and maybe get the engine, trans and rear end for free. We figure the tires and wheels will get us, at least, $400 back and we are finding out that when looking at eBay the sum is much less than the whole - so we have a fighting chance to recapture some budget. That evening and next day Jacob and David started the deconstruction. More on that next post. 

Decision Time

Weekend of February 20, 2016

Decision time:

We settled on our strategy. Here's the order of our decision and the reasons why

1) Factory Five 1933 Hot Rod Kit

First off looking at starting from scratch was just much more expensive and held many paths to failure. Years ago, Larry tried building a 1932 Hot Rod starting from the frame up. He ran into many unsolvable problems - not really unsolvable but financially limiting solutions. We figured we could use the savings to buy up in features. Also, in the kit, we would get a much safer frame and modern technology to deliver better performance at a lower cost. We also could rely on other builders with very similar set ups - many times customs leave you on an island by yourself. We will still be on an island but there will be others with us.

2) We would target a Sunday driver and an occasional outing to a show. No best of show details, customizations or expense. We just don't have enough daylight to chase perfection - not too mention with 5 builders not enough patience and conflict resolution. We are still trying to impress and get some can't believe you did this - just not a 100 point fantasy.

3) Once we decided on the Factory Five Kit. We needed to decide on what engine, trans, and rear suspension. We thought about a Chevy engine and trans, but couldn't pull the trigger on having a Ford Hot Rod with an LS engine - so we narrowed our choices to a Ford engine and drivetrain. After reviewing carburated vs electronic fuel injection, modular, small block, big block and finally looks under the hood. We chose the 4.6L modular 8 cylinder, 32 valve, dual overhead cam, 285 HP EFI (electronic fuel injection)  - Definite Wow factor!

4) Manual trans vs Automatic - Sunday driver drove us to the automatic, it is also easier in the smaller 1933 interior for us big guys.

5) Suspension - Since ride is our priority, we are going IRS ( independent rear suspension)

Next post - new parts, used parts from the scrap yard, or a donor car

A Project Idea Starts to Form

January 20 - February 11, 2016 

Our big project for 2016 is to build a Ford Hot Rod. We (my brother Larry and his triplet 16-year-old boys) started by researching different build approaches. We looked at the traditional Frankenstein approach  - building something from a bunch of different parts from catalogs like Speedway motors. This is the buy a frame, find the body parts and hope they fit the frame, head to the pull it scrap yard for window tracks - you get the idea. So you build a car just like Dr. Frankenstein. We also investigated a kit from Factory Five Racing. This is a kit using the latest engineering techniques to provide a frame, and all the parts except for the engine, trans, rear suspension, wheels and tires.We were so surprised when we compared the two approaches and found the cost was better for the engineered to be built as a kit much cheaper (about 25%). It also comes with a build manual, forums, and telephone support. Of course, you can swap out kit parts for upgrades and customization. So we will have plenty of opportunities to make it our own design and build.

Our initial idea was a 1932 roadster, but after our research, we went with the Factory Five 1933 Coupe.

1932 Ford Roadster

1933 Ford Coupe

link to the Factory Five web site

Even before buying the kit we needed to do some planning. Big questions still needed to be answered.  Will it be for the drag strip, race track, ultra high performance, a Sunday driver or a daily driver? What would be our budget and where should we spend it? What engine and drive chain did we want to go with? New parts, or a donor car?

Excellent discussions, good back and forth, internet investigations, even going one Saturday to a performance race car building show, and certainly our share of flip flopping.

Next post I will summarize our decisions and initial actions.