Cockpit aluminum rough in complete

Over the last couple of weeks I was able to complete the cockpit AL rough-in.  It is a very repetitive process of figuring out how the panel sorta goes, drilling one or two holes to give it a try, then removing it several times to drill holes in the new panel with the drill press then fit in the car.
As the FFR manual is a little sketchy on details here is the process I finally came to as I fit these first 20 panels.  There are at least another 20 to go in the rest of the car.
First of all do not follow the manual explicitly.  It advises to drill, glue, and permanently rivet each panel as you go.  This will most certainly end in tremendous frustration as each subsequent panel must be fit in relation to the previous one.
Loosely fit the first panel.  The manual encourages tracing out the panel locations before initial disassembly.  This is definitely a good idea but must be tempered with the fact they do not fit all panels in the car when they ship it, over half come in another box.  Also they are not in final fit position.  There is some minor adjustment needed for each panel and permanently installing each one as you go will guarantee by the time you come back around to fit the last piece it will be way off from the first one.
Clecos - buy more than you need and then buy some more.  I started with 75 and quickly added another 50.  I still need more for final fitting.  I figure at least another 100 to make it all work right.
Clamp the adjacent pieces in the frame and mark them again with witness marks on the front and back of each panel so you can line them up when they are removed for drilling with the drill press.
Remove the panels, drill one hole, clamp with a cleco and verify the pieces still line up with the marks previously done.  Drill one more hole and install another cleco to hold the pieces together.  Test fit in the car.  If all still lines up, drill all remaining holes in the panels and install them back in the car.
Move to the next piece adjacent and do it again.  I found that I typically installed and removed each panel at least 5-6 times to make it right.
After I fit each major subsection of footboxes, seating panels, and rear wall of the cockpit I pulled the pieces out and assembled them on the floor.  This ensured I had all the holes drilled properly and the pieces would line up.
Finally I removed all pieces and assembled them on the floor in the picture above.  I again found holes I needed to drill out and line up better.  Overall I had to trim only one panel (the rear wall of the cockpit) about 1/4 inch along a two inch seam where it joined the inside panel on the back of the drivers cockpit.  No new pieces were needed.

I also started installing the gas tank and fuel lines.  The instructions largely consist of "install the gas tank and fuel lines" and nothing in the manual explains the fuel hose and clamp parts I received with the complete kit.  From my searches on-line and in the two main forums everyone seems to go with a completely different set-up.  Given my cash on hand is sitting in the garage already I need to make what I have work as best I can.  This week I will call the Engine Factory to see what they recommend for the 351W I plan to buy from them.  I figure they probably know what I need and how to make what I have work.  The basic idea makes sense obviously, push go-fast pedal to floor, throttle opens on carb, gas goes in, magic happens, car goes faster.  I plan to run a carburetor rather than EFI.

Next couple of weeks will be running the fuel and brake lines.  Now that the gas pedal is in I will modify the AL panel for the trunk area to add access panels to the gas tank as well as a small compartment for a tool kit, etc.  Pretty common modification to do and it requires a bunch more clecos and rivets.

Passenger foot box clecupine

After a couple of days at Disney World I got back to the Al panels in the cockpit.  (If you haven't been to see the new Test Track by Chevrolet - drum roll please - DON'T BOTHER!  Spent three hours in line and ended up on the exact same ride with less to entertain your brain while waiting in line.  Pretty obvious Government Motors had a hand in it - overwrought, inefficient line process, ultimately a bore.  This is what happens when Disney partners with the government, er I mean Chevrolet.)
First part is installing the passenger side foot box.  The picture is the standard one every builder has of numerous clecos holding together various Al panels.  To me it looks like a genetically mutated porcupine created by some aircraft manufacturers black programs office.  Thus a "clecupine."
So this weekend I did the first fit on the passenger side foot box Al panels.  The basic process is drill a hole, stick in a cleco, remove the panel, make sure everything lines up and do it again.  I did a rough fit of all panels with only a couple through and through holes drilled in the adjacent panels, then marked the outer panel hole locations, removed everything, drilled the outer panel holes with my bench drill press, attached them all together on my bench, marked the holes on the inner panels and drilled them using the outer holes as a guide for my hand drill.  Probably an easier way to do it but this one worked for me.  Overall the rough fit FFR did to ship the car worked pretty well.  The number in the photo is the FFR part number I wrote on all pieces before initial disassembly so I could refer to my pictures while doing the final fit.  These will be covered by acoustic mat and under body or heat reflective material so I wrote them big.
Best part of the weekend was a friend and shipmate from my time in Bahrain stopped by to take a look.  It was neat showing him what the project looked like given I bored him with my dream while in Bahrain for nearly a year.
Also spent a few hours installing new doors in the Master Bathroom.  One project for me, one for my wife.  Part of the deal to build the car.
Gotta buy more clecos too.  I used all I had and it wasn't enough to complete the job.  Aircraft Tool Supply did me right the last time so they got some more of my money tonight.

Pedal box install, with difficulty

Over the Christmas and New Years' weekends I got to work on the clutch, brake, and gas pedals.  It went swimmingly for about five minutes until I realized I received zero directions for the parts and the build manual assumes you are cobbling together a new car from old parts from a donor car (i.e. junker).  I figured I would go with all new parts straight from FFR to avoid the pitfalls of dealing with donor body problems.  I did find a set of instructions posted online from 2009 but FFR changed the process since then as the clutch pedal was prone to snapping.  If you've ever had a clutch cable break (me, once on a motorcycle in college - NOT FUN) then you know what it might be like to have the whole pedal snap.  So the new version is beefier but installs on the underside of the bracket vice the top.  The stop for the clutch pedal pivot also installs differently.  So the instructions were pretty much useless.  I imagine FFR has a set but they also enjoyed a four day weekend so I could either lose four days of build time and wait to call them or slug it out.  The parts bag I opened up had very few of the bolts and nuts I needed so a trip to Ace got me back on track.  And then the next day I found the bag of pedal box parts I needed with the gas pedal box.  Progress was made but could have been a lot easier with the proper instructions, if only I had them.  The gas pedal itself was pretty easy but the throttle cable will take some figuring as the manual assumes EFI and tells you to not do the throttle cable mods if you are going carburated.  So since I am nowhere near needing to install the throttle cable itself I will wait for that one and add it to the list of questions for FFR.  They did strengthen the gas pedal bracket pivot though as it was also prone to breaking off, usually when a builder was showing off the car.  I also had to use three washers as a shim on the inboard side of the back bracket for the pedal box which supports the brake master cylinders.
Finally I was able to install the steering gear (sorry, nautical term) today.  It went in pretty easily with some minor bushing shortening.  The grinder will become my new favorite tool for this project.  Of course it all comes out again as the next step is to start installing the Al panels in the cockpit area.  I plan to treat all of mine with Alumiprep 33 and Alodine 1201, usually done by aircraft builders.  Then I will lizard skin, undercoat, and Fat Mat all pieces.  Painting or powder coating seem to be popular but I want something I can touch up easily and inexpensively if need be.  The final point of the work this weekend is the steering wheel doesn't line up with the holes cut out in the Al dash panel, not even close.  My guess is so many people customize it they end up building their own dash panel for the steering column and main gauges: Speedo and Tach.  Although I suppose the gas gauge is really the "main" gauge as that is the only one you MUST pay attention to.
The list of things I need to go back and resolve continues to grow and my personal build diary seems to add more TO DOs than DONEs.
BTW, I hope you had a very Merry Christmas and will enjoy a Happy New Year.  Building this car is incredibly rewarding as I get to share my dream with lots of people (not talking about this blog) and I have stolen heavily from others who have gone before and posted their trials and tribulations.  Shout out to Scott too for helping me figure out the upside down pedal bracket installation process.

Rear suspension complete

Just a quick update to the rear suspension.  After doing it the right way it all seemed to go together pretty easily.  The panhard bar went in fairly straightforward and the single hole I had to drill in the drivers side main tube of the frame worked well to support the lower forward end of the panhard bar support bracket.  Final adjustment won't be for a few months, until I install the engine and transmission and align everything.