DS Foot Box & Steering Column – 6 Hours

The lighter nights and warm weather has improved progress, the key drivers side foot box panels are sealed and riveted in place, these being the foot box lower floor, inner vertical panel and front vertical foot box, this has allowed for the clutch adjusted and steering shaft front bearing to be installed.

In an earlier thread I mentioned that I had decided to use the Breeze steering rack bushings, these are a must. After careful measurement and rotation of the bushing per instructions, I was able to get the steering rack centered to less than 1/16”, and significantly lower than the Factory Five bushings. This should help eliminate bump steer.

Note: Before starting any steering rack alignment, first check that when the rack is centered, and the steering wheel is also centered. I found I had to move the adapter one spline over from center. Much easier to check and alter this alignment prior snuggling everything up.

Stopped by O’Reily Auto Parts and borrowed their 250 ft/lb torque wrench to finish torque the front spindle nuts to 235 ft/lb’s and installed the dust caps. Also I was having concerns with the lateral play in the accelerator play (there are numerous threads on the forum) so turned my own spacer from some spare nylon I had lying around. Significant improvement once this was installed.

Rear Brake Lines – 5 Hours

Considering it was the first day of spring, the unseasonal cold weather and snow meant that I could not roll the body buck outside. Luckily this still gives some access to the rear of the car and so I decided to run the rear brake lines.

First mounted the brackets inboard of the frame, these basically provide the junction between the flexible braded lines from the calipers to the hard lines. Connecting the Tee (two female, one male thread) into the driver's side bracket union meant that only two 60” brake lines were required.

The only decision was do I, or do I not use pigtails. The benefit of pigtails is to provide adjustment for any small variances and provide protection from vibration. Also it does provide additional brake line for maintenance, should a new flair need to be needed. (Hopefully I won’t get any leaks when I start to bleed the system)

I decided to run the passenger to driver’s side brake line across the main cross brace as this only needed a couple of small bends to wiggle around the roll bar mounts. Mounting the brackets internal to the frame provided simple access for the brake line from the tee to the master cylinder. Basically this line runs vertically down the driver’s side frame member to a 90 degree bend, mounting to the outside of the main chassis tube. This terminates in a union underneath the driver’s side foot box.

Cushion clamps were used to hold the brake lines in place.

To some extent procrastination has set in as there are multiple options to the final routing of the hard lines to the master cylinders, as to the eventual location of the reservoirs. It’s the Texas Cobra club annual meeting in San Marcos next weekend; this will be an ideal opportunity to see what others have done.

Rear Calipers & Disk’s – 4 Hours

Simple enough exercise, just time consuming.

Steps are as follows:

1. Remove differential cover, and remember to purchase a new gasket
2. Remover pinion shaft lock bolt, and slide out pinion shaft (picture 1)
3. Push axle towards center of differential and remove C lock washer, axle will now pull straight out
4. Install caliper bracket and reassemble in reverse order.

The issue was when mounting the calipers, the caliper guide casting rubbed on the disks. Quick trip to Home Depot to purchase a few flat washers to use as spacers between the bracket and caliper and the job was done.






Single washers required on the passenger side and double washer’s driver’s side. (See pictures 2 and 3, picture 2 clearly shows the interference and picture 3 the clearance, zinc flat washer can clearly be seen to the right of the bolt head)

Powder Coat Panels are back! – 3 Hours

After asking the local North Texas Cobra club for recommendations for a powder coating company, I decided on Quality Powder Coating over in Carrolton. As it happens they powder coat all of Lone Stars chassis’s and so have some experience with Cobras. The first panels came in cheaper than expected (Quality Powder Coating charge $1.35 per square foot, remember to count both sides) with a 4 day turn around.

Started installing the panels, and decided on GE Silicone II Window & Door as a waterproof and bonding sealant between the panels and the frame. This product has great heat and freeze characteristics plus you can get it in a number of colors, black being my choice on this build.

Quick tip, Silicone had a shelf life when in the tube, always check the expiration date on the tube, old silicone may never dry!

Had already purchased black pot rivets off eBay.

Although I only got a few panels installed today I really like the results.

Taking Stock Finishing Miscellaneous Tasks – 4 Hours

Today was all about completing a number of half finished projects; the first was finishing the installation of the pedal box. Although this is completely installed, I am in two minds about taking it out again. The studs in the Wilwood pedal box to which the master cylinders are bolted are a little short, they appear to have been installed too far into the pedal box casting. Using two jam nuts it was easy enough to screw these out a little but as soon as the nylock nuts start to bight the studs screw back into the casting.

The two options are to remove the studs completely and use medium thread lock or J B Weld then into the casting. Initially I will keep an eye on these to see if they come loose.

Also found that the clutch stop bolt is at full travel and still a little short of the ideal position, will need to pick up a longer bolt from Ace or Lowes.

Completed the installation of the front break line from the passenger side to the T fitting on the driver’s side, the kit comes with 4 x 60” lengths, one length was used for this connection without the need to cut or flare a new joint. All brake lines are 3/16” aluminum; I may or may not polish these were visible.

As I plan on taking the panels fitted thus far to powder coat next week (Black Gloss), there were a couple of area’s that needed finishing, the first was fitting and drilling the driver’s side inner wall to the transmission tunnel front vertical wall, the second was to fabricate an access cover to the brake bias bar.

Before removing the body I had previously marked the hood opening on the top of the driver’s side foot box so that I could better understand the maximum opening possible and still be able to use a screw fastener.

Once powder coated I plan on using rivnuts, 8/32 cap screws and split washers, making a cork gasket to seal the cover.

The cover was made from the replaced driver’s side front foot box panel which is surplus when using the Wilwood pedal box. The bend in this panel is similar to the bend in the roof of the footbox.

Wheels Arrived !

Although there are still a number of items on back order (windshield, side pipes, roll bars, wind wings etc). The long awaited wheels finally arrived today, well worth the wait.

These authentic vintage Halibrand 5 lug nut replica wheels each include a knock-off adapter, spinner, and cosmetic lug cover while maintaining the safety of a modern DOT design.

The wheels are cast aluminum, extremely strong, and lightweight. The centers are painted a beautiful metallic grey and the rims are polished. The entire wheel surface is then clear coated to protect the finish from oxidation.

Technical Specifications:
Front Wheel Size (Diameter x width): 17"x 9"
Rear Wheel Size (Diameter x width): 17"x 10.5"
Front Wheel Backspace: 6.00" (24mm Offset)
Rear Wheel Backspace: 6.7" (27mm
Offset Wheel Lug Pattern: Ford style 5 lug x 4.5" bolt circle
Material: Cast Aluminum
Color: Gun Metal
Weight with adapter, spinner and lug cover
17"x 9": 20.36 lb 17"x 10.5": 22.66 lb

For the first set of tires I intend to run Sumitomo HTR Z 245/45 R17 on the front and 315/35 R17 on the rear.

See video for additional information.

Started Running Brake Lines – 2 Hours

Although it may seem this build is jumping about there is a stage 1 plan and goal. The target is that by the end of April front and rear suspension will be complete (ride height set), steering rack and column will be in and completed (Steering rack centered, Caster, Camber and Toe set, hopefully Bump Steer eliminated), pedal box and master brake cylinders installed, brake lines run and breaking system bleed, fuel tank installed and fuel lines run to the engine compartment, key aluminum panel’s powder coated and installed. Basically by late April it will be a rolling chassis with functional breaks and steering.

That said, decided to start practicing double flaring brake lines, possibly starting with the smallest of the brake lines, that being the pig tail from the flexible DS coupling to the front brake line T connector. From the picture the pig tail looks to be on the high side, however there is method in this madness, if there is a leak when bleeding the brakes there is excess in the line to cut off the current flare and re-flare the ends.

The reason pig tails are used at hard coupling points is that they allow for flex in the lines at this point and absorb vibration without stressing the connection.

Finished IFS / Started Pedal Box – 6 Hours

It was good to get back into the garage today after being sick for a week and seeing an end to the constant cold weather we have had this year in Texas. The warmer weather (needed to be 50 degrees or higher) meant that I was able to start using POR15 (Paint over Rust; this is a great product, sets rock hard and looks like powder coat) on many of the brackets that needed protecting before installation.

Initially started assembling the Wilwood pedal box, which on paper seemed a simple assembly exercise (should have learnt by now!). First issue, the stud which connects the support bracket to the pedal box (required so the clutch quadrant shaft has clearance) needed JB Welding into place as there is no other conceivable way to tighten this, god forbid they make it an interference fit with the pedal box.

Picture shows assemble to date including brake light switch and clutch pedal stop.

Working carefully around the stud, I soon find the extended quadrant shaft (supplied in the Factory Five Kit) has the retaining clip groove slightly out of position. Easily fixed as I have a manual lathe, and so was able to quickly widen the groove. Strike three for this morning was when I found the 2” aluminum spacer to be slightly oversize, again easily fixed by turning down the overall length. At this point I decided to put the pedal box to one side to let the JB Weld cure for 12 hours.

As I had been able to paint the spindle brackets I decided to finish installation of the IFS (Independent Front Suspension) as the spindle, hub, caliper and disks had already been assembled previously. Passenger side was a breeze, spindle bracket bolts torque to 100 ft/lb’s and the upper and lower castellated nuts torque to 70 ft/lb’s with cotter pins inserted. Only thing of note was that the upper spacer was not required as the cotter pin hole lined up perfectly with the castle nut.

Driver’s side was a different story, initially when trying to tighten the lowers ball joint nut, the nut and ball joint stem would rotate as the nut appeared to seat. After thinking about this for some time I realized the spacer ID hole was too small causing the spacer and nut to bind on the stem just before the start of the taper, after opening up the bore of the spacer by 0.03” everything came together just fine.

Steering rod ends need to be painted and the once the driver’s side front foot box is powder coated the steering rack can be fully installed, aligned and centered.

Test Fit Rear Axle – 4 Hours

For those who are not aware of the variety of rear suspension options on the Factory Five roadster, these are as follows: 3 link, 4 link, 5 link (all use a solid axle) and independent rear suspension (IRS), on the Mk3.1 you have to decide on the type of suspension when ordering your kit, after a number of months considering all options I personally decided on the 3 link setup.

Basically until the introduction of a comprehensive non-donor IRS solution, the 3-link represents an excellent suspension alternative, and remains a good choice for a lower cost build.

As I am not using a donor for this build another decision concerned the axle, Ford have basically stopped manufacturing new 79-93 Fox axles with a 59.25” hub to hub spacing (this provides the best flexibility for wheel and brake choice) . The options were to salvage and re-build an axle from a scrap yard, purchase an already re-conditioned rear end or purchase a custom axle. After some consideration, I decided on the later (although the most expensive option).

The Moser Engineering 8.8 rear axle has the following technical specifications:
• The axle housing is stock 79-93 Fox Mustang width: 59.25” hub to hub.
• The axle has the 3-Link mount welded to the axle for increased strength.
• The axle housing is all new parts. The axle tubes are 3.00” OD x ¼” wall thickness DOM tubes that are pressed and welded to the center housing this makes them resist deflection 50% more than the stock 2.75” axle tubes.
• The axle housing is assembled with a 3.31 OEM gear set and a 31-tooth OEM Traction-lok differential.
• The axles are 31-spline Moser axles rated for 7,000 ft lbs., a 40% increase over the 28-spline OEM axles.
• Fox Mustang style Pinion flange
• OEM rear axle cover
• Housing and axles only weight is 120 lbs. This is 10lbs more than stock 87-93 housing and axles.

For me the major decision factor was that the banana bracket is already welded to the Moser axel.
Installation is straight forward, the only word of warning is to remember that the DS (Drivers Side) spindle needs to pass above the ¾” frame, and as such I would strongly recommend not installing the DS disk brakes prior to axle installation.

As you can see the Moser axle is not painted, next job will be a couple of coats of POR15 black gloss, before final assembly.

Breeze Engine Compartment Battery Kit – 3 Hours

Although this modification can be installed anytime, I decided that installing earlier rather than later would provide more room to drill, tap, rivet, and install this option, and after going through the exercise I would strongly recommend anyone who intends to install this modification to do so before installing the F panels, and certainly the engine. Ideally this should be one of the first tasks undertaken.

It just makes sense to have the battery in the engine compartment although the down side is that this kit is for a smaller Exide type 51 (approximately 28lb’s) the additional benefits of this kit are:
- Frees-up trunk space
- Eliminates the need for remote battery terminals (easy under-hood access)
- Allows use of a shorter positive battery cable (closer to your starter solenoid)
- Improves handling performance by lowering the center of gravity of the car by placing the battery only 3/4” above the bottom of the 4” tubes, and by reducing the polar moment of inertia (resistance to turning) because the mass is closer to the center of the car (location is between the axles).

It took longer than anticipated to install this kit mainly because of the super human strength required to install 5 x 3 1/16” stainless steel rivets (that or I am getting weaker in my old age). This is a great and well thought out package from Breeze with clear and concise instructions; you do need to make sure you have a ¼” x 20 tap and #7 drill.