Discussion Forum - Northstar Chevelle Club

John D wrote:

---

All things on the FFR forum state the headers will fit into the space easily... it's getting the bolts in that's the cuss session.

You have to get your head wrapped around the idea that the collectors are forward on one of these... bassakwards from everything we're used to. 
We'll see!

---

 OK, that makes sense with the sidepipes. It still may help to lift the engine an inch or so, to get your hand in there for the bolts.

Anyone can do the aftermarket chrome and glitter, to make it look like it came from the factory is not always the easy way but usually look much better.

Nice job

(I also post to the FFR discussion forum, usually with more detail than here (over there, there are guys building these things). Rather than re-write everything, I cut n pasted my text on here.)

12/29 Update 1 of 3

I’ll always give credit where it’s due… my mounting system was inspired by the unit(s) offered by Breeze Automotive.
Upper Mount kit
Lower Mount kit
I’m also using the Breeze radiator shroud, and incorporating its mounting with the radiator.

Materials:
3’ section of piano hinge
3’ stick of ½” aluminum “U” channel
3’ stick of 5/16” “All-Thread” rod
2) 1-1/2” x 3” x 1/8” aluminum flat/strip stock
10-32 “NutSerts”
5/16”, 8-32, and 10-32 fasteners as needed
Rattle-can Primer & Paint of your choice

Upper Mount Tips & Pointers:
The small ¾” tubes welded to the upper crossbar of the frame need to be removed.
I used a Dremel type tool with a cut-off wheel to cut the welds, and big channel locks to pry the pieces off.
An angle grinder was used to clean up the rest of the weld beads.
The piano hinge was cut to fit the radiator flange, taking into account using the factory holes, and aligning them to the FFR suggested 5/8” offset.
The 4 mounting points on the upper cross tube are 10-32 “NutSerts”
The 6 mounting points on the radiator flange are 8-32 screws, with serrated flange nuts.
The mounting points for the upper end of the shroud (not in photo) were drilled 3/16”. 8-32 screws, with serrated flange nuts are used to mount the shroud.
Measure twice, cut once.

Lower Mount Tips & Pointers:
The “U” channel was clamped to the frame member and marked/cut for an exact fit to the outside of the ¾” frame tubes.
The elliptical hanger(s) lower holes are slots, for adjustment.
The radiator location is offset to the DS by 5/8”, as recommended by FFR
The shroud, radiator flange, and “U” channel were jigged up, and mounting holes drilled through all three for 8-32 threads, then disassembled.
The shroud & flange holes were opened up to 3/16” to allow for an 8-32 screw.
The “U” channel was tapped to 8-32, and machine screws used to mount the shroud to the “U”, sandwiching the flange.
Final length of the “all-thread” rod was determined after jigging up the assembly.

12-29 Update 3 of 3

While waiting for the paint to dry on the radiator mounting pieces, I tackled a few “odd n ends” in the engine compartment.

Fuel System:
I’m not using the supplied FFR regulator assembly. My engine kit from Forte’s included the GM bypass/regulator fuel filter system. The supplied 3/8” pressure line made it to the center of the firewall. I needed a way to get it to the engine fuel rail.
Parts:
Summit SUM-221330B (3/8”M quick connect to AN-6)
Russell 640730 (3/8”M quick connect to 3/8”F quick connect w/ 1/8” NPT port)
FFR Coyote Install kit
30” 3/8” quick connect to AN-6 braided hose
Fuel Pressure gauge
- I disassembled one end of the hose assembly and shortened it about 6”.
- Using some Teflon tape, thread the pressure gauge into the fuel rail port.
- Snap on the quick connect fittings and it’s done.


Brake/Clutch Reservoir:
I reworked my original mounting bracket for the Tilton 3-chamber reservoir. It was too high, and didn’t have any offset for the hood prop strut to fold into.


Engine Vacuum & PCV:
I got a fitting kit from JLT Performance. It includes the needed quick-connects for the cam vacuum solenoids and the Driver’s side PCV hose.
Using a Uni-bit, I drilled a hole in the Spectre intake elbow, installed the grommet with some sealant, and connected the hose with the quick-connect adapter.


For the vacuum solenoids, a 3/8” quick connect to hose barb fitting (JLT) was used at the stub-end near the intake inlet, a 3/8”- 3/8” hose barb 90 (JLT), and a ½” to 3/8” 90deg. hose barb fitting (hardware store) at the port behind the throttle body.


As I was writing this up, my full-bypass heater control valve showed up… more to come.

Next was fitting the supply/return hoses. Working with the natural curve/set of the hose, I marked and cut to fit the supply/return hoses. (the shrink clamps are not set). The ty-raps are to hold the hoses in relative location.

This is what I was after… nice clean install

I made up a mounting bracket from some scrap, and attached it to one of the unused studs on the intake. It locks the hoses in position, and in combination with the aluminum elbows the control valve doesn’t move during actuation, but has some “give” for engine movement.

12/31 – Exhaust Headers

I was expecting to use up all the cuss words I didn’t vent while installing the engine while doing this… but in all honesty not one naughty word was muttered! This was by far the easiest header install I’ve done in a long time. Not knowing what was in store for me stuffing the Coyote into that little engine bay, I removed all 16 exhaust manifold studs. I didn’t want them getting in the way & snagging on things. In hindsight, they’re tucked well under the head(s), and other “stuff” sticks out farther – they wouldn’t have been an issue – but having them out had its benefits while installing the headers. No lost time, 6 to one, ½ dozen to another.

These are the FFR stainless headers. I’m very impressed by the build/weld quality… save one little thing on one side... Inside the collector on one side there was a chunk of MIG wire stuck near the O2 bung. No big deal, and nothing 2 seconds with a sanding drum on the die grinder didn’t fix.

Hardware:

The Coyote comes from Ford with one manifold installed, and studs for the other side. From the git-go you’re short 8 nuts… and the Ford nuts are the diabolical crunched/crimped self lockers.

FFR supplies 16) 10 x 25mm bolts… no washers... ?

I did save the Ford nuts, but also got 16) 10mm serrated flange nuts, and 16) 10 x 30mm flange-head bolts. This way I could mix-n-match as the situation called.

Passenger side:

Super easy install. I used the Ford studs on every location except the center two. Clearance for a wrench or socket meant going with a flange-head bolt.

Driver’s Side:

This side is a bit tough. Clearances are really tight, but the header does slide in there, however it won’t go in with the full-length Ford studs in place. (This is where removing them was a benefit)

Once in there I got under the car, and determined that the rearmost 3 locations would be better served with studs – trying to get a 25 to 30 mm bolt started and run down would be a pain. The other 5 locations I used the flange-head bolts. I had to cut the Ford studs down approx. ¾” to get clearance to slide the header in (did I say this side was tight?). This left about 3 full threads exposed with the stud installed and the nut run down against the header flange.

With the exception of the forward 3 locations, every other is a PITA to tighten… there’s room for a full-length wrench in there, but several are 1/16^th of a turn for the whole run.

The finished job...

After double-checking everything, fluids, clamps, bolts, whatever... it came down to "sh*t or get off the pot" - turn the key to "Start" and see what happens.
Sheryl & I had dinner, went out to the 40 Watt and clicked the "record" button.

IT'S ALIVE!!!
This is a no BS as happened video. Other than switching the key on/off a few times earlier to "prime" the fuel system, this is an absolutely genuine 1st start of a brand-new build.

This is really a testament as to how well FFR has engineered this kit, and produced something that can be bolted together into a running vehicle. Granted, some mechanical aptitude and machinery "horse sense" really speeds things along, but it can be done. From delivery to now is 186 days.

John as I posted on facebook like Scott P....Impressed, but not surprised.  Your engineering and quality of work are always top notch.  It is always a great feeling on that first successful engine start.  

As Kevin would say...'Now you're running on ship's power!'  

In previous posts I detailed the upholstery of the rear cockpit wall, and the fabrication of the sliding doors for the "cubby hole".

In the months since then, I've been on the search for a set of handles/knobs/whatever for the slider doors. Whenever I was in a hardware store or home center I'd peruse the kitchen sections looking. The search paid off.

I found some handles that closely match the look of my passenger-side grab bar. I want to maintain a "theme" throughout the interior... not a lot of "bling", but just some brightwork where it needs to be - that ties everything together.

I didn't want to screw this up (or foul the upholstery on the doors!). I set the handles in place on the doors and got a "that looks good" measurement for where they needed to be. I transferred those measurements to a piece of scrap and made a drilling template.

After cutting the supplied screws to size, there's now handles on the cubby-hole doors.

Looking good John!

It's going to be so nice you'll need to come up with your crazy "I don't want to sell it" asking price for when the inevitable offers get thrown your way! 

Back to that "Tales of a Toolbox" write-up I did awhile ago...
Dug around in Dads box and pulled out his (now "vintage") J.H. Bender model 400 magnetic camber/caster gauge. I'm guessing he bought this in the mid 50's, before the true alignment racks became the norm in the shops. It's still in great shape, a few combat scars, but the vials and bubbles are intact which is all that matters. This was designed to stick onto the machined surface of the bearing hub, over the dust cap.

That's not possible with the Roadster. The hub is buried in the wheel, and the wheel is aluminum. Had to come up with a way to mount the tool.

I used 2 lengths of of 1 x 1 aluminum angle, with a piece of 3/16 mild-steel plate in the center. The angle is cut to fit inside the outer lip of the wheel, bearing on the "bead" surface. It's held in place with velcro strapping (the stuff voice/data guys use to bundle cables).
A length of mason's string is stretched (between two jackstands), and set parallel to the frame. I don't have "lazy Susan" plates, so I taped a protractor to the rig at the center point. (This is to verify the wheels are turned to the recommended 20 deg's (L & R, 40* total) during adjustment). The tires are sitting on a couple of layers of heavy poly sheet for slipperyness during turning.

Setting up a front suspension from raw "parts in a box" is an exercise in frustration... especially with fully adjustable arms! (Nothing's designed in for a particular car, they fit anything)
FFR supplies some rough center to center measurements for the Upper Control Arms (UCA) to get you in the ballpark, but the front end is still really wonky.

To time-compress about 10 hours work, here's the procedure:

- Devise a way to easily lock/hold and release the steering wheel in the centered position
- Center the steering rack. Full Left, Full Right, split the difference, lock the steering wheel down. (This also confirmed my initial assembly when the steering shaft was mounted to the rack. The steering wheel was dead-nuts centered at the middle of the rack travel) 
- Set a rough toe-in adjustment. (This was nothing more than two tape measures, as close to wheel center as obstructions allow, to repeatable reference points on the front and rear of the tires) Turn each side equally in or out!

Release the steering wheel
- Set a rough camber adjustment for one side (Crank the UCA sleeves equally in or out as needed).
- Set a rough caster adjustment on this side (Crank the UCA sleeves as needed, not looking for final numbers, but close).
Get a good metal machinist ruler, and measure the exposed threads, center to centers, etc. on this side.
Adjust the opposite side to these rough measurements.

The thing to keep in mind is that every adjustment interacts with another... and this early in the game they REALLY mess with each other. Repeat the above steps about 38 times... you will be covering the same ground many times. (Remember to lock the steering wheel when setting Toe.)

Once I got the passenger side dialed in pretty close with the gauge, I moved it to the driver's side, and got it dialed in to the same "close" numbers as the PS (again, the above about 26 times)

Now I've got a car whose wheels are pointed in the right directions, the UCA's look pretty much "mirror images" of each other, and now you're chasing fractions of a degree settings.
Sanity Tip:
At this stage you'll be turning the adjuster sleeves fractions of a turn, and you need to keep track of how many turns.
On the tie-rod extensions I put a blue Sharpie mark on a flat, and a red mark on the opposite/180 side flat.
On the UCA sleeves tape was put on a flat.

Now that things are close:
- Pick a side, and adjust for Caster first. Get it on the nutz.
- Adjust this side for Camber **Use your marks** Adjust each sleeve equally in or out as needed, count flats or peaks - you want to tilt the whole assembly, not change the Caster.
- Run the steering lock to lock a few times, and bounce the suspension.

- Center the steering

- Move to the other side and adjust for Caster, then Camber.

- Run the steering lock to lock a few times, and bounce the suspension.

-Center the Steering

- Set Toe-In **Use your marks** Adjust each side equally in or out as needed, count flats or peaks
- Re-check Caster & Camber on each side. Tweak if needed.
- Re-check Toe. Tweak if needed.
- Once #9365 is on the road, I'll correct any steering wheel centering issues with a turn or two on the tie-rods.

FFR Recommended Suspension settings are:

Caster +7*, Camber -.5*, Toe-In 1/16"

Yup... I'll wait until a trusted shop has one of those "Free Alignment Checks" specials and drop this bomb on them!! 

Banged out the Decatur AL plant migration a full week ahead of schedule - including punchlist items - so I don't have to go back for the 3rd week!
(It is a huge help to me that the plant's security director has "taken ownership" of the system, and tries to keep it in tip-top condition)

Not much to report. After clearing my "honey do" list Saturday I was able to get out in the garage for a few hours.

Managed to get the front wiring harness (headlights, signals, and horn) permanently mounted with ty-rap clips, etc., and the horns jigged up & mounted.

The last couple of days has been spent fitting the lamp housings, fuel filler, and then prepping & coating the underside of the body.

I had FFR cut the body openings. I think it was money well spent, they did a nice job. There is a "however"... the holes for the headlight buckets and lamp assemblies do take a little massaging to get perfect. They are a bit undersize for the buckets & housings to sit nice and flush to the body. Nothing that a carbide burr in the air die grinder didn't handle in a few seconds.

I did a little custom mod to the fuel filler. I wanted the unit to sit in the fender with the hinge at 11:00, latch at 5:00... but this puts the drain hole at about 11:00, on the high-side (nothing will drain!). I went as far as taking the unit apart to try and "reclock" it. No go, the hole never wound up at the low point. Ok, fine - drill another hole.
Here's the custom part. I didn't want any spilled gas just dribbling out inside the fender. I cut the nipple off of an 1/8" hose barb, threaded it 1/4-28, drill the proper hole in the filler and tapped it, and now I can put a length of hose on the filler and direct spills down & out.

I then took all the shiny bits back off the car, got it off the sawhorses & buck, and turtle'd it. The next several hours were spent working on the underside.

Per the advise of a few other builders, I just went pro-active and shaved off about 3/8" of the dash rolled lip, and about 1/4" off the rear cockpit lip. There's still plenty of rolled edge, and it should now just be a matter of sanding for clearance, not surgery.
I knocked all the boogers & stray strands down with some 80 grit, roughed everything up, vacuumed, and wiped it down with some acetone. The better part of a roll of tape, and on went the bedliner. I used the same stuff as the floorpans.
I masked off around any edge that will need attention during finish bodywork. I don't want the product reacting to body & paint products, or getting in the way/causing extra work the painter.

This is the 1st coat. It will get at least one more, probably two.

Sooo, there are like 8 (eight) pieces to create the body shell?
Front and rear caps(2), hood surround(1), trunk surround(1), unisides (2), plus front and rear cockpit extensions (2)
Those are then bonded together to create the shell?
I am not seeing a seam in the door opening, so with the exception of the front and rear caps the whole side (uniside) is one piece, correct?

I am sure they thought the assembly out very well so there should be little problem with finish body work.
I would still try and find someone with lots of fiberglass experience.

Or just have it be your red rat rod!

Looking great!!!!

Karl

Glad you found someone with the knowledge and skills.
It is truly a "specialty" to make it primo!
After all your detail, the final product must match your efforts.

In junior high art class I made a clay model of a Cobra, thought they were cool then, my opinion has not changed.
Still have it, never fired it, wheels fell off, just dried out lump of clay now, but a fond memory.
Proved to myself I had no future as an artist of any kind.
Karl

SidePipes - I am using the FFR supplied stainless sidepipes.
There was zero chance of them fitting back on the header collectors using the FFR cut-outs on the body. As it turned out the cut-outs were OK fore & aft, but about 3/4" too short on the vertical.
Using the FFR template in the assembly manual, I basically just moved the upper radii & fore/aft line up about 1". Using a small air-powered recip saw I carefully cut on the inside of my new lines. Test fit the sidepipes. A little more here, a little more there, and then a final dressing with the Dremel and a sanding drum. I'll leave the final sweetening to Mr. Kleiner. (The driver's side looks good for "Parallelism", the passenger may need a wedge.)



Nose Trim/Mounting:
Do yourself a favor and order the rubber grommets from either Finishline or Metro Moulded. There's really no way to locate the nose of the car without them.
Again, I had FFR do the body cutouts, and the holes for the QuickJacks/Bumpers are spot-on. The nose of the car has to sit about 1/2" to 3/4" "proud" of the frame tubes near the hood hinges. Using the grommets in the holes, and lifting the body up revealed the FFR drilled holes were perfect.
FFR steel "eyebrows"... These things are so far off from working they almost became wall art. I spent a LOT of time altering the supplied holes to get them even in the neighborhood of lining up & fitting. Short story is that I welded on extra material off the side of one (mounting holes), and extended the mount holes on the other. Both sides needed the through-hole for the lamp assembly re-bored.

Rollbar:
The FFR holes again were spot-on. Just a tiny bit of sweetening with the Dremel for a perfect fit with even gap all around. Give careful consideration about the mounting holes for the trim rings & grommets! Think about access from underneath, and from above with a screwdriver. I did have to grind/file/sand down the male stub on the hoop (for the outrigger) a bit so the outrigger would just slide up and slip onto the stub (the alignment wasn't quite perfect. It was close enough to twist it up and on and a thump with a rubber mallet would seat it, but you'd never get it off again.

I couldn't put it off any longer... that totally scary, delicately thin, HEAVY assembly had to go on the car. The big box has been sitting against the cabinets since day 1. I opened it to see if the glass was intact then sealed it up.

The other night I fitted the "side irons/bars" to the windshield frame. Driver's side just fell on - perfect fit. The passenger side was another story.
The curve at the top wasn't quite right. It had a bit of a twist in it, and the radius wasn't correct - it didn't lay down on the curve of the frame, and overhung aft a bit.

I wrapped it in tape, and using the plastic soft-jaws in the vise and a rubber mallet, proceeded to give it a few love taps/thumps. They're brass, and relatively soft, and if you don't go crazy on it there's no worries about cracking the plating. I was just chasing a 1/16th or so.

The side bars are attached to the frame with 5mm oval head machine screws, into a brass strip that's slide into a channel on the side of the frame. At best you'll get about 3 threads of engagement per screw, until they bottom out against the inner wall of the frame. Problem is the supplied screws are too long... they bottom out before the side bars are tight. This is where paying attention to the assembly manual (warnings), and having some "feel" is paramount. (There's about a post per week on FFR's site about "My windshield cracked when I screwed on the side bars!"... and the attached pics show dents on the inner frame. The glass is right behind there)

The side bars are too long out of the box. The consensus is to cut them off 13" down from the lowest mounting screw. This turned out to be a good starting point. 

A lot of time was spent back & forth enlarging the pre-cut slots in the body. Initially just to get the assembly to fit onto the car, then "sweetening" to ensure there was no body contact to the mounting bars when it was in the holes.

The recommended angle is achieved by measuring from the rear door opening to the top screw on the windshield. This distance is 27".
How are you supposed to hold opposite sides of a 30+ pound, fragile, flopping in the hole, 4 foot wide thing at a precise amount while trying to get it to fit!??
My Solution:

These are 1 meter long sticks of aluminum DIN rail (I use it daily to mount PLC's, relays, gizmo's in control cabinets). The channel shape makes it ideal, as they're rigid and won't "bow". A 3/16" hole was drilled 27" from the end, and a too-long 5mm screw threaded into the windshield frame as a locating stud.
With these in place I could (gently) jiggle the frame around and get it to set down on the body.

Again, a lot of back & forth, and on & off. I couldn't get the DS to set down quite right, and by feeling around the mounting holes I found the side-iron was bottomed on the frame tube - so another inch came off the end. It now snuggled down to the body.

The bars were marked through the nearly inaccessible chassis mounting holes, the whole assembly pulled, the bars removed, drilled and tapped for mounting bolts, and back on the car.