Weatherpack Connectors – 2 Hours

The Ron Francis harness uses a single connector for duel light connections, (head light / front indicator, rear indicator / rear brake) this means that once the lights are attached to the body and the connector fitted neither light can be removed independently. The solution is to re-wire this connection with independent weatherpack connectors allowing mounting and removal of any light fitting.

Radiator conundrum – 2 Hours

Looking 3 stages ahead, when temporally mounting the radiator I noticed that the radiator mounting points, vertical nose panels and fount nose floor panel (usually installed after the body is mounted) were offset towards the passenger side.

If you were to mount the radiator centered to the frame you would be required to manufacture new nose panels. After pondering this issue it appears its personal choice as to how much you offset the radiator based on clearance of the inlet and outlet hose.

The correct anger for the radiator is 51 degrees from the horizontal.

Started work on the cooling system – 2 Hours

Living in Texas with 100 degree plus temperatures, engine cooling is of primary concern for any high performance vehicle. The standard Factory Five kit does not maximize the efficiency of the fan / radiator combination. Basically with the standard assemble the fan bolts directly to the radiator assuming vehicle speed to force air through the corners of the radiator.

To improve efficiency I have decided to use the Breeze radiator shroud. The shroud bolts over the whole radiator, a cut out is made to mount the fan, which in turn draws air across the whole surface of the radiator, well at least this is the theory.

Fuel Lines and Filter – 4 Hours

After a couple of weeks absence due to international work commitments, it's time to start getting ready for the engine to arrive (hopefully by late May). As I am using EFI (Electronic Fuel Injection) I had to swap out the standard fuel filter included in the kit with a filter capable of accepting the higher pressure of a fuel injection system.

Earlier I had installed a Ford Racing EFI in-tank pump, the hose from the pump to the filter that came with the pump fitted just fine and as the fuel lines in the trunk area are functional and typically not seen, I decided to stay with all the standard kit hardware, once we get to the engine compartment this will be a different story.

Hard lines were run from front to back along the 4” passenger chassis tube. 5/16” Hard lines are used from the tank to the engine bay, a smaller ¼” line is used for the return. The hard return line was routed approximately halfway along the upper 2” x 3” chassis tube (trunk support) before switching to the nylon fuel line.

Rear wiring harness was also run, and temporally held in place with zip ties.