Discussion Forum - Northstar Chevelle Club

I have one of those nibblers and used it ONCE for the very same reason...way too many sharp cuttings flying around.

Yeah, I really do know better, and when I use the tool I usually put the sheetstock over the trashcan - then the little buggers just fly into the can, problem solved.
I had to buy a 36x36 sheet to get the long-dimension length I needed, and with all the crap in the shop I had to cut where there was space.

(Anyone looking for a kick-azz sewing/quilting machine? I gotta get this thing outta here.)

John D wrote:

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A few updates coming ...
I really didn't realize how many of you were really following this build, and had interest in it.

 

 

-- Edited by John D on Monday 27th of August 2018 08:12:15 PM

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 I think there are a lot of us that are very interested, I like seeing the progress, the improvements that you have made, the craftsmanship, and, the humor is always good to.

Firewall - Electrics

The wiring for the main harness & engine sending units, then the wipers, heater, & front body lighting all require a path through the firewall. Add in the necessary feeds from the Ford Performance ECU for the Coyote engine and there's a lot of wire that needs to get from the engine bay to the cockpit!!

FFR does provide a detailed description of where to punch the holes for the wiring grommets, but (again) has forgotten about "options". If you punch the holes for the Coyote ECU harness, and mount the underhood fusebox as described - it FOULS the connection to the heater core for the coolant hoses.

(again... measure twice, cut once.)

I had to sneak the Coyote ECU harness hole a bit to the driver's side, and mount the underhood fusebox a bit forward of the prescribed location so there's free-air to the heater core fittings. (If someone was "cookbooking" this thing together pagebypage they'd be in a problem).

** Tip for drilling sheetstock with a holesaw**

Securely clamp the workpiece to the bench with a "sacrificial" block of wood under. Pre-drill through the stock with the diameter of the pilot-bit of the holesaw into the block. Chuck up the holesaw, and touch-off on the workpiece BACKWARDS a few dozen turns! This will start the "groove" the holesaw will cut on. Stop the drill, reverse to the "correct/RH" rotation, and cut the hole. This will help minimize "wander" of the holesaw and give you a clean hole.

Been awhile since the last update.

Took a break from #9365 over Labor Day - put my energies to lake cabin jobs (which I'll never run out of). Back to the 40 Watt...

#9365 is a March-ish 2018 kit.
FFR has done some modifications to the pedal box area in kits of this date or later. The 3/4" frame tube (that previously fouled the Wilwood clutch pedal) has been moved outboard, granting full clearance for the clutch pedal arm, and the pillow block mounting bracket for the upper steering shaft has been reworked.

One of the cool things FFR does is support the "cottage industry" that has sprouted up surrounding these cars. There are dozens of neat little options that guys have come up with, put them into production, and market them. One of those guys is Russ Thompson. 

He has devised a very slick turn signal system using a mid-'60s VW Bug column switch, and mounting tube/bracket of his own design.

(The changes to the frame design necessitated Russ to re-design his mounting system from earlier MkIV's, but he was on top of it and has already re-tooled to meet the needs of the new dash support.)

Here's a breakdown of the installation of the turn signal setup. From unboxing to bolted on the car was less than an hour. I'm sure there will be "final tweaking" once my dashboard panel is in place, but the core of the installation is done.

-- Edited by John D on Sunday 9th of September 2018 06:20:05 AM

I'm adding the Breeze "Cubby" divider panel, and Russ Thompson's dropped trunk floor kit to #9365.
My own additions will include:
- Trunk courtesy light
- Cubby courtesy light
- Backup/Reverse light(s)
- 3rd/High Mount Brake Light (Jury's still out on this - but I'm prepping for it)

The FFR supplied Ron Francis wiring harness does not include circuits to do any of the above. You will have to add them. 18ga. wire is adequate.
- Backup lights need a fused Ign. switched +12v feed to the transmission switch, and the subsequent +12v switched (via the transmission) feed to the rear of the car.
- Trunk courtesy lighting needs a fused "HAAT" (Hot At All Times) +12v feed to the trunk area. (switches to be figured out later)
- 3rd Brake Light needs a feed tapped off of either the L or R brake light circuit in the trunk area, and routed to the accessible upper trunk area.

I am not going to install a radio.
The RF harness has provisions for one - which solves two problems - a fused IGN switched feed, and a fused HAAT feed are provided.
I'll be tapping off of these feeds from the dash harness, near where the rear harness enters the firewall, behind the dash.
The 3rd Brake light feeder will be "T-tapped" off of one of the existing L or R wires, and routed with the license light wiring.

I'm not going to detail a lot of pictures, as this job is simply pushing a wire or two into the rear harness zip-tubing.
The dropped trunk floor necessitated moving the rear harness to the PS a bit. Once above the rear diff, it'll angle over and run between the fuel tank kickup and the box.

I'm not Ty-rapping the harness to the frame tubes. I installed Ty-rap cable clamps with TEK screws to the frame. Looping a Ty-rap around a frame tube creates a hump where the panel won’t sit flat. (Why not rivet? I don't have access to UV-stable clamps. In a few years these will get brittle - as long as you don't pull on them they'll be fine, but if you do - they'll break. I wanted an easy way to replace them.)

At the lower right it shows where I routed the License Light loom along the trunk diagonal, under the cross-tube, and up-n-out near the PS roll-bar outrigger. I’ll punch a hole in the upper trunk floor and install a grommet here. The loom will then go onto the curved trunk hinge support tube to about the middle.

I didn’t punch the prescribed 3 harness holes in the firewall. The Sending Unit loom is small, and leaves plenty of room in the grommet for the Rear Body harness. They both go through the same grommet. (The Coyote harness is the one to the right, not part of a “standard” install). This shows where my “added” +12v switched, and +12 HAAT feeders break out. I’ll install a keyed connector on them, with its mate tapped into the RF radio wires.

This is a good shot of the temporarily installed dropped trunk kit, and where I installed a grommet for the licence, 3rd brake, and trunk courtesy lights.


This shows where I dropped the transmission switched +12v “backup” light wire out. It’s about center in the rear, and I added a ground wire (T-tapped into DS lights ground, and also landed to the steel center support plate).


The reverse gear switch on a Tremec is at the rear of the tailcone. Measuring the length of the driveshaft, and doing a “swag” on it, I dropped the switched +12v feed, and the feed to the rear lamp(s) out of the Rear Harness at this point. (I added the split loom)

Tail/Stop/Turn
Since my backup lights, fuel sender, and fuel pump wiring need to snake between the trunk box and the rearmost frame/bumper mounts, I decided to just punch a hole in each side, install a grommet, and run the Tail/Stop/Turn harnesses out here.

 Panel Installation:

I’ve done all the modifications/additions needed for the rear end of the car. Electrical, Fuel, and Accessory bits have been added or planned for. Time to set some rivets.

FFR suggests using clear silicone adhesive to set the panels. I totally understand this – it’s readily available, does the job intended, but (IMO) has drawbacks:

-          Nothing (but silicone) sticks to silicone

 -          It’s not paintable

 -          It’s a body/paint guys NIGHTMARE

  I decided to use “autobody seam sealer” instead of silicone sealant to set/glue the panels together.

 Pro’s:

 -          Available in common caulk-gun tubes

 -          Available in black, gray, white

 -          Paintable – doesn’t contaminate everything

 -          Used by OEM’s for 50+ years

 Cons:

 -          Expense - $13+ a tube

 -          Tough to clean up – nearly as diabolical as Anti-Seize

Prior to setting the trunk panels into place, I squeezed a 1/16” bead of sealant between “panel to panel” seams, and about a 1/18” bead on “panel to frame” areas.

 -          Lay the panels in place, and Cleco them together.

 -          Let it sit for a bit, and let the sealant “squeeze out” from the joint.

 -          Working from the inside of a rivet “run”, remove the Cleco and rivet working outward.

 -          Manage the “squeeze out” of the sealant as you go, wiping & tooling it to a nice edge.

 (The Cleco’s will be goo’d up with sealant as you remove them. Have a pan of Acetone or solvent and drop them into it to dissolve the goo off of them as you go.)

I "hemmed & haw'd" about what type of goo to use for the panel situation... and I'd asked you guys for advise as well.

I went with the seam sealer as the joints aren't structural - I don't have to "bond" the panels together to maintain an integrity/strength value - just glue them together to prevent rattles and leaks.

Silicone near anything that needs painting raises my hackles and a big red flag.

(In case you were wondering... I stopped counting at 300 with the rivets in the trunk area!)

Yeah... this guy has become my new best friend:

Air Hydraulic Riveter

I’ve been imagineering things in my head for an access door to the cubbyhole, and it kept coming back to some type of sliding door… That’s what I settled on.

-    I’ve had this 1/8”, 4’x4’ sheet of ABS plastic knocking around the shop (Larry )... I’m thinking it’s stiff, easy to work, why not?

-        The ¼ x 1” aluminum bar I used as a saw guide didn’t get nicked up at all, so I still had clean/factory edges on the sides. I ran it through the bandsaw and now have 2) ¼” x ½” lengths, each with a clean edge. These will be the spacers and tracks for the doors.

-        I ripped a few 5/8” wide strips from the ABS sheet to form the guides to keep the doors in place

-        Next was to cut 2) 5-1/2” x 10” doors from the sheet

(I apologize for not taking more pictures of this – when I get “in the zone” with an idea I’m a bull in a china shop.)

These pics are from the DS, front & rear of the cubby. You can see the ¼” aluminum “spacer”, and the ABS guide strip. They are riveted into a sandwich through the rear cockpit wall.

A shot from the PS inside

-          All of the parts (upper & lower) were Cleco’d and trial fitted about two dozen times.

-          The cockpit wall and frame members are not quite square, but my parts are…

-          It took some considerable filing and a session on the benchtop belt/disc sander to “shave off” some of the lower aluminum spacer to tuck it into the tight space left between the access hole and upper trunk floor. (If I was to do it again, I’d consider making the access hole 4-1/2” wide instead of 5”.)

The (almost) finished doors.

-        At top-center of the opening there is a rivet set just on the lip of the opening. This is a stop for the sliding doors to not go over center (a small notch is in the top corner of the door)

-        The guide tracks are ¼” wide, the doors 1/8”. The doors are also about 1/8” less tall than the track to track dimension. This gives me some wiggle room for upholstering.

This wasn’t an easy project… This took the better part of an entire 10hr day to get to this stage. I’ve still got to establish upholstery, handles, possible locking, and a courtesy light switch tripped off the doors.

Dang, lots of meticulous work on the plug. As soon as I read you were using this as a plug for fiberglass, I figured it wasn't going to end well. I wasn't aware there is a resin that won't attack foam. Maybe experiment with wrapping a piece of foam in saran wrap and try the resin on that. I've read the resin won't eat thru the wrap and will protect the foam from dissolving, but then, this information did come from the www.
Might be worth a try before spending big bucks on the epoxy resin.

This is a bit backdated - I finished carpeting the trunk about a week ago.

I ordered the material from Crutchfield. It's speaker box carpet, in black. This is nice stuff - pretty dense, stretchy, and easy to cut. I've used dozens of yards of this stuff in a previous life doing Car-Fi.

Tips:
- Paint the surface being carpeted the same color as the carpet being used.
- Have a stash of single-edge razor blades handy - a LOT of them.
- "Bondo" spreaders work great for smoothing and "jamming" the material into corners and edges
- Have a few cheapo "acid brushes" handy. They're great for daubing glue into an area.
- Use good adhesive. 3M's Super 77 is all you should need.
- Mask off anything you don't want glue on!
- Change razor blades often! This stuff eats blades, and cutting against metal kills the point quickly.

I was able to carpet the entire floor (cockpit wall to bumper), and the upper side-walls with one piece of material.


Measure and pre-cut some slits for any obstructions, and stretch the carpet over them.

The "lower/rear" sidewalls of the trunk are separate pieces. The seam is just aft of the rollbar outrigger posts, where the FFR panel and my upper panels overlap.

This material is stretchy. You can pull & work it into odd shaped areas and it will stick... **However** it will only stretch/conform so far before the "weave" breaks and it gets thin and transparent. (This is why you paint the substrate - some accidental "thin spots" won't show through).
Follow the directions on the adhesive - a light coat on both surfaces, time to flash-off & tack up, then apply.


The material over the dropped trunk was cut, leaving as much as possible hanging down into the hole for the future seam


The trunk floor and L/R trunk sidewalls were done in one piece. The F&R trunk walls were separate pieces.
The seam is about 1" down from the edge. The carpet pieces were overlapped, cut through as one, then separated and the waste removed.
Another application of glue and the seam was worked together.

The Breeze divider panel will get carpeted and final installed after the rear cockpit wall is upholstered (I still need as much room up there as possible)

I'll cover the access hatches, and maybe the diagonals at a later date.

Glovebox Part 3 – Door Hinges

I found a supplier in New Hampshire that would sell in small quantities to an end-user at a reasonable price.
Northeast Hinge Distributors

I ordered 4 hinges. Only needed two, but knowing myself I wanted backups in case of a screw-up!
I knew this going in, they are a bit “sloppy”... but they’re intended for an electrical junction box, not a precision piece of cabinetry. (As I suspected, the inherent mis-alignment that will happen while fabricating the door will take up the slack, and they work beautifully)

I removed the glovebox insert (part 2), and jigged them up on the dash panel using my favorite “all purpose” tape – 3M’s #471


I removed the tape holding the door in place, and verified the action of the hinges. A little fudging around and the hinges were called “good”. A 9/32 hole was drilled through the hinge and door/dash for a 6-32 screw. The dash & door were then countersunk, and the door reassembled for a final check… good again.
The glovebox insert (part 2) was set in place, marked for notching, and the slot for the hinges cut with a Dremel – no real tricks here, just measure twice, cut once.

Now it’s time to lock all the mounting screws in place with good ‘ol JB-Weld, and turn the screws into studs.
I put a piece of tape over the mounting holes of the glovebox & hinges, and pre-punched a hole in it. You don’t want the JB-Weld squeeze-out bonding the glovebox & hinges to the dash panel!

The parts were re-assembled, a sizeable batch of JB-Weld mixed up, and one by one the screws/nuts were removed, goobered up with JB, and reinstalled.
(You’ll also see there’s 4 holes with no screws – I had a senior moment on the 1st attempt at hinge placement – didn’t use tape to test, thought I had it nailed and drilled it – didn’t work. Now I’m filling my mistake holes.)

After letting it dry for a few days (yes days… the “original” JB-Weld takes a LONG time for full cure) the parts were disassembled. Now you’ll see why I put the tape on the glovebox.
The JB-Weld squeezed out as anticipated, but did what I wanted – making a fillet around the screw, and filling the imperfections.


A few more pictures of the finished job

Last weekend was spent upholstering the dash panel.

I opted to use the FFR blank panel, and use a modified S/C layout. In a previous post I detailed the cutting of the gauge & switch holes.

Materials:
Vinyl or Leather of your choice
Padding material of your choice
3M “Super 77” spray adhesive
Weldwood Contact Cement
Good/Sharp scissors (not your wifes!)
Supply of single-edge razor blades
A few #11 X-Acto blades
Heat Gun

Several years ago I redid the floor in the breezeway with Pergo. I still had a length of the underlayment foam padding… hmmm. It’s about 1/8” thick, dense but with some “cush”, and doesn’t shred like other foam. This is what I used for the padding on the dash.
The padding was attached using “77”, allowed to dry, and the holes cut out for the gauges, switches, and mounting screws.

The vinyl is from our local JoAnn Fabrics – I purchased 3 yards.
2 yard length (54” wide) is for the dash, trans tunnel, and rear cockpit wall
1 yard length is on it’s way to Herb Fraser for door panels (He builds & stitches up some beautiful panels with pockets).

A piece was cut with about 2” extra all around for the dash, the dash & vinyl sprayed with “77”, and allowed to tack up. The vinyl placed on the bench, and the dash carefully layed down.

A stripe of contact cement was painted around the entire perimeter on the vinyl & dash, and allowed to dry (15 minutes min).

The vinyl was worked/pulled/stretched and stuck to the dash – making pie cuts as needed, or playing it with a little heat to make it pliable for tight corners.
**Be very careful using a heat gun!**


Flashback… One of the things I did after cutting the holes and JB-Welding the mounting flanges to the aluminum panel was to bond several Ty-Rap cable clamps to the back of the dash. Anticipate possible places for wiring to be bundled, put a pea-sized blob of JB down, and press the clamp into the blob. The JB will squeeze up through the hole, and form a “rivet head”.

Continue working around the perimeter, making cuts as needed, using heat as needed.


The finished panel without holes
 

Each gauge opening was painted with Contact Cement around the perimeter of the hole, and onto the vinyl. Pie-cuts were made, stopping about ¼” from the edge.
The material was pulled/stretched over & around, and stuck to the aluminum.
Each gauge was installed afterward, and snugged down (basically as a clamp).

The switches are a bit tricky. There’s not a lot of room for error or forgiveness here, and you can’t pull the material through the hole like the gauges. The vinyl has to be trimmed just a hair smaller than the actual hole. The only thing holding the vinyl down is the retaining nut, and there’s not much of a flange there!


The glovebox opening was next, and you can see the perimeter stripe of contact cement


The finished product
  

I decided to not use the FFR supplied turn & highbeam indicators or the Ford "MIL" lamp. I didn’t like their appearance, and the speedo has the turn & Highbeam indicators built in.

On one of my scrounging sessions at AxMan, I scored a handful of these really neat “vintage” control panel indicator lamp bezels. They have a glass jewel, and just look period correct.
I made up some housings for LED’s, and will be using these for “headlamp ON” and “MIL” indicators. They are flanking the Oil Pressure gauge.

That is the horn... The FFR column/wheel doesn't have provisions for a "traditional" horn button.

The placement was dictated by having your hands at "10 & 2", and the finger you'd usually use for another announcement can just reach over and press the button...  

Using the Coyote engine & ECU, starting the engine will just be a pulse to the "Start" portion of the switch - like a modern car. It'll take over from there and crank until it fires.

I'm liking the carbon fiber...

I wanted to get started installing the cockpit sheetmetal for good, which (again) caused “project creep” to set in.

In a previous post I detailed my doors for the Breeze Cubby option.
During the thought process for this, the question of upholstery came up. I didn’t want carpeting all the way up the rear cockpit wall – I wanted to transition to same material as the dash & future door panels on the area where the cubby hole is.
(My thought is that this would carry over the “styling” of the interior, the upper ½ in “leather” all the way around the car, the lower ½ in carpet. I bounced this off of the "In House Design Consultant - read that Sheryl - and she agreed)

The project creep is the transition. I needed something to create a nice break between the two materials. Enter the floor tile aisle at Home Depot. I found a stick of tile transition that fit the bill perfectly. Polished aluminum, and only 5/16 high.
I’ll upholster the upper area 1^st, then trap the lower edge of it with the aluminum. When it’s time for carpet, the upper edge of the carpet will just tuck into the rolled opening on the aluminum.

I started on the upholstery of the rear cockpit wall. I found some really nice material at our local Joann Fabric store – outdoor rated, but not too thick, and it’ll stretch & pull a bit without breaking down. It’s 54” wide, I bought 3 yards…
One yard of material is going to Herb Fraser - the "Cobra Door Panel Guy", so my door panels will match the dash & rear wall.
The other 6 foot length will be cut lengthwise into pieces that will cover the dash, rear wall, and trans tunnel top.

Using a combination of 3M Super 77 & Weldwood Contact cement the material was placed and bonded in place.

(I’m not too crazy about how the rivet heads printed through, but 90% of them will be hidden, oh well – I’m not pulling it off and doing it again – the camera doesn’t lie, but in reality they’re not that visible.)

I might have missed it...what size are the rims/tires?

I like the classic look of those rims as seen on other Cobra's.  Plus they kind of look like the ones Bryan and I have.  

After dinner I went out to the shop and jigged up the chains/leveler on the hoist in preparation for a thrash session Saturday getting the engine in. After a few on & off the dolly sessions to get the chains rigged right, I looked at the clock... 7:30. Hmmm, how hard can this be.

At 8:30 it was in and resting on the mounts. This had to be one of the EASIEST engine/trans combinations to slide into place! Of all things to be a hang-up, it was the oil drain plug on the pan... it was snagging on the motor mount frame risers. Just a slow-dance between tilt, lower, in, tilt, lower, repeat. 

To say it's a tight fit is an understatement. It's a TIGHT fit! I think all the cussing will be reserved for getting the driver's side header on!

Unlike GM & Ford of yore... the engine has no lifting provisions supplied.

After I ordered the crate engine back in March, I also purchased these brackets. (I had to have a way to get the dang thing out of the crate!)

I thought about making my own, but the math between time, etc. vs. just buying them answered the question.

(If you get a really mangled up Coyote powered Ford in the shop, and the engine needs to come out, they're yours to borrow!)