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.
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