Christmas came unexpectedly late this year

We didn't really need these at this point in the build but it was simply too good a deal to pass up. The coupe will be rolling on these 17" x 9" Halibrand replicas

shout out of thanks

A heartfelt thanks to fellow Georgia coupe builder Ryan for the use of his awesome body buck. I am also including a pic of his finished coupe and I will say pictures don't begin to do it justice

Planning and laying out the brakes

Only got 60 minutes in the garage tonight but was able to mount the proportioning block and lines to the master cylinder and the ABS/Traction Control pump. More to come tomorrow as we begin bending brake lines.

Taking the donor concept too far???

 Up until this point I have been following the manual in a step by step fashion however the next steps are to install all the rear cockpit aluminum. After test fitting these panels it become obvious that it will be much easier to install fuel and brake lines before the panels. After consulting with other builders I am now treating the manual as a list of parts that have to be installed before completion but not necessarily in the order specified.

Now on to fuel lines......Factory Five supplies you with new hard lines to bend but requires that you cut the OEM connectors off each end of the stock line and splice them onto the new ones. Not being entirely comfortable with that idea I wanted to see just what could be done with the complete OEM hard line. It fits the contours surprisingly well requiring only one 45 degree bend and one 90 degree bend to be added.

Stock fuel line contours mirror the coupe frame surprisingly well

45 degree bend added to follow frame up over axle housing

Rosie the riveter back after 71 years

The girls have been diligently working drilling panels on the drill press and riveting them to the frame. Tedious and time consuming to be sure but they really enjoy it. The panels are affixed with 1/8 inch blind rivets and we have used a bead of 3M 5200 to further bond them to the frame. Dad being too cheap to purchase a rivet fan to assure even spacing employed a slightly different though equally effective technique. Cut the waistband out of an old pair of briefs and place a mark every 1" on one side and every 3" on the other with a sharpie pen. Now when you stretch the elastic the marks stay evenly spaced allowing you to mark your panels.

High Tech Rivet Spacing Tool

Passenger foot box and floor complete

Drivers side floor and foot box

Pedal assembly, brake booster and steering shaft



Front suspension and power steering rack complete



October Update

We now have the fuel tank, pedal box, brake booster and steering system installed.

Fuel Tank

Andrea places the steering rack in the brackets.....

Ashleigh persuades it into place........

.....and Meghan installed the mounting bolts

Next we began installing the aluminum paneling however since we are using a slightly larger engine than the car was designed for we felt it prudent to set it in the frame before we began the panels so we could make modifications on the fly.

The engine on the right is the one the car was designed for.....the engine on the left is what we are using

Lowering it in

The mounts line up with the frame fine

Using the drivers side aluminum from a factory five roadster allows enough clearance for the engine however the valve cover is hard against the passenger side

a cut and bend of the inner passenger footbox is all that is required. The front panel remains unaltered

Clearance between the head and exhaust

looking up from underneath

Completed modification

Those in GA know we had a bout of severe weather from the leftovers of tropical storm Lee. Since we were in the basement anyway it seemed like a good time to tinker a little. The rear end is now installed.

Bolt on some front wheels and we have a roller

The stock mustang 4 link control arms and springs are retained



OEM quad shocks painted to match the Koni's up front



It's Home!

The  Homeschool Coupe is home and we are very excited.  With the neatly labeled boxes, clean parts and body intact,  I can’t help but feel as though we are about to embark on an excellent Lego playdate.  Since pictures are worth a thousand words –I’ll spare you the reading time…



The Coupe was shipped via Stewart Transport.  We were extraordinarily impressed with their level of care and service.  This photo was taken from the second story of our home. In the picture the truck is parked at the closest possible location. Scott from Stewart unloaded, brought the parts down our hill and placed them neatly into the garage.  Just excellent. 





Tim and Scott from Stewart Transport unload while the girls watch.





"I can't believe we are actually going to do this."

 

Scott made the entire delivery experience pleasant and never even blinked at the task of getting the car down the two story steep driveway.  Here he stands infront of the body balancing it on the dolly.  I stood behind the car balancing the rear.  Tim strapped the body to my Explorer and we inched it down slowly. 



Meghan unpacks boxes and removes items for inventory.



Ashleigh checks off parts on the inventory list.

 

Let the fun begin!



What Goes Down Must Also Come Up

No. This is not a lesson in reflux.  We are talking about automotive transport -specifically down and up our driveway.  The donor pony, stripped of anything of value to our little automotive academy was picked up and hauled away by a highly efficient tow truck driver.  He appeared only a bit hesitant as he loaded the truck, looked up the hill that is our driveway and announced that he was proud, for the first time ever, to be able to use his first gear.  We were also pleased to be rid of the garage filling heap a full 3 days before the scheduled arrival of the FFR kit.

So THIS is why they have wheels and an engine...getting ready for the tow truck.

Bye donor.  Thanks for the parts.

A Pony's Carcass

Organs and entrails removed, labeled and carefully arranged on the garage floor, the pony is now merely a shell of its former self –an empty lifeless carcass with only the gas tank and rear axle left for us to take.  I am thankful it is made of steel and fiberglass and not flesh lest it fester and stench as it decomposes in the heat of a North Georgia summer. The FFR kit will be ready for pick up in 10 days!

Ready and waiting for the FFR Coupe

Not much left of this pony

The Heart Of The Beast

This weekend we accomplished quite a bit. We removed all front suspension components, brakes and brake lines. Then out came the engine and transmission the way it went in....we lowered it out the bottom onto a dolly I built; this of course led to a factory five tradition pictured below. The next steps will be to strip out the interior and remove the remainder of the wiring harness from the body and behind the dashboard. So far it looks like we are on track to have the donor gone by the time the kit arrives.



Ashleigh ponders how to build a supercharged pogo stick



Cutting away a little crumpeled metal preventing it from dropping



This ones for you John Phillips....how's that for power to weigh ratio



What's left of the engine bay

Donor Tear Down

This past weekend we began harvesting the needed parts from the donor. Factory Five provides you with a nice checklist of things to remove including fasteners however this list is based on using an older mustang with the 5.0 push rod motor. We have opted to use a newer 2002 mustang with the modular 4.6 V-8 and this adds a bit of wiring complexity but should produce a great handling car that will include goodies like traction control and ABS. Our goal is to remove all the necessary parts and haul the carcass away before the kit arrives. As we remove parts we are not only labeling them but laying them out on the shop floor in the approximate positions they were on the car which should help in determining how to best install them.

   Meghan helps remove the drive shaft

It's amazing how easy it is to cut the front end away with a saws all

Front wiring harness, ABS controller etc laid out as they were on the car

Preparing to remove the engine and transmission

It's All Downhill From Here -The Donor Comes Home

"No ma'am." said the tow truck driver, "I ain't takin' this wreck down that driveway. I'll end up in the woods and never get out again."

Looking up the driveway toward the street.

"You can try."

"No ma'am. I won't."

"Just leave it at the top then."

"Ma'am, takin' it down there...that's crazy."

"Yeah, it is.  And after 18 years of marriage I can confidently say so is he... but he will succeed. He always  succeeds at the crazy stuff.

And so he did....again.

Gravity -it can be a good thing.



A jack and some muscle helps too...



And while we are at it, how about a push from behind?

Victory!  

Thanks God, Tim and Lil'Bro Frankie for getting the donor heap down the driveway and into the garage without killing anyone.