Schools out for Summer....

May 25, 2016


We are a little worried that even though we have seen our engine fit ( just barely) into the engine compartment in internet pictures, we needed to try it ourselves. So after a few attempts  needing to take off the power steering pump, the oil filter bracket, and the air conditioning compressor lines, we got it to fit. It is tight! We will be taking it out so we can heat shield the firewall and get the engine cleaned up before we do the final install.

You may have noticed that the Firewall looks bad with the grinding marks around every rivet, not to worry we will be adhering a heat shield that will keep as much heat as possible from entering the passenger cabin. It's rated to reflect over 2000F degrees. We will also be putting some fire resistant insulation in as well for heat resistance and sound dampening.


Other things that have been completed.
Rear end - IRS ( Independent rear suspension)
Front brakes
Brake pedal

A Frequent Question

May 16, 2016

It's my brothers 54th birthday today - Happy Birthday Larry!

One of the tricky bits of building a car from the frame up is how to get it street legal. It's fun to build, but we also hope to have some fun outings just cruising on a hot summer night.  

In doing some investigation, I think we will be OK as we will have three of the issues tackled.

1st - the frame has a serial number tied to a COO ( Certificate of Origin)

We are building the 895th kit Hot Rod

This is located on the frame on the drivers side, between the window and the steering column.

2nd - the COO and the receipt for the kit

3rd - the title from the donor car, so we can prove the engine and transmission were not from a stolen vehicle.


We these three documents and our pile of receipts we will be able to get a title, license and pay the new or used car tax to get it street legal.


Now our only obstacle is completing the build :)

Schools out in 3 weeks

May 10, 2016

We have put the build on hold! It makes more sense to wait until schools out than to try to do work on it alone or with limited participation as finals are approaching. Everything is in storage now.

So over the next 3 weeks, I will catch up on non-build related topics. 

Lefty Loosey....

May 1, 2016

Finally starting to assemble and getting parts tightened down to the frame. Job 1 is to get the front and rear suspension on to the frame. We are using the Factory Five kit manual to order our work until we ran into a supply chain issue and we are missing parts that are on our back order list. After painting the front upper and lower control arms cast aluminum color, we started assembling the coil spring over shock front suspension and attaching all the front end control arms. 

After those were installed we were able to mount the front spindles and hubs. David took charge and we were able to get the front suspension and brakes almost done until we ran into an issue. It seems we were sent rear brake rotors which are 11.65" in diameter vs the 11.0" ones which will fit the front hub, spindle brake caliper set up we have. We contacted Factory Five and they are sending out the correct rotors so we can button up the front suspension. 

While we were up front, we also mounted the steering rack, it's what transfers the steering wheel rotation to left and right turns of the front wheels.  We then had all three boys help out getting the rear differential installed. It weighs about 100 pounds and is hard to maneuver into place so David, Jacob, and even Isaac were helping out, after a getting it close and a few well-placed hammer blows, it is in place. 

We were able to get the lower control arms installed, but for the uppers, we are waiting on a few extra long bolts on back order to arrive. So progress on the rear suspension is stopped as well.

Finally, we are also installing the firewall. At one time we considered doing a metal swirl pattern on the aluminum firewall so any scratches would be hard to see, but doing some reading about issues owners are having with the car, heat transfer from the engine and exhaust systems is one big issue. So instead of making the firewall shine, we will add some heat reflection material so it can reflect some of the heat keeping the interior cooler.