351W Motor arrived from Engine Factory today

This thing is a piece of art.  The team at Engine Factory did a fantastic job putting it together.  I originally planned on just using the bracket supplied by FFR for the AC compressor but after talking to Chris at EF I am glad I went with their March billet pulley mount.  I compressed the picture above but it is awesome.  They ship all the boxes for the parts they use with the motor and put handy explanatory tags on everything to show where stuff goes.  I flattened all the boxes but cut off any part numbers or descriptions in case I damage something later on and need to replace it.

I went with a 351 Windsor motor with a carb instead of EFI.  EFI is a lot more expensive and complicated and given I don't plan on modifying this engine, or trying to squeeze out more HP (400 rated already in a 2500lb car) a carb is fine.  I also understand old-school carbs.  This does have electronic choke so it will still be very reliable to use.  They also install a custom air cleaner designed specifically to fit under the deck hood of the coupe.  From what I understand the 351W fits okay but not with a lot of room to spare so every little bit helps.  And as I said before I'm building my car, not someone else's interpretation of a Cobra Coupe so not having the Cobra stamped air intake doesn't bother me.  And this one looks really good anyway.

No seriously, just look at this thing.  It is bee-you-tee-full.  Some day I will actually hear it run.  I mean in the car.  EF also sends you a video of it running before they ship it.

Panels, electrical, steering block, battery box

I stopped posting for a while, but I didn't stop working on the car.  I ran into a problem with the steering block mount location and moved along to some other work.  Since I haven't really completed anything since then I've been going back and forth cleaning up work already done.

Steering block: FFR confirmed the upper steering block was welded in the wrong position.  I found mine was about 7/8 inch right of where it needed to be. FFR sent me a knew bracket so I ground off the old one, built a bracket to hold the new one in place and riveted it to the main cross member the old one was welded onto.  I don't know how to weld and didn't feel like paying someone a few hundred to fix it.  The bracket and rivets seem more than strong enough to hold it in place.  I painted it all with appliance paint and it matches the powder coating quite well.  Everything lines up nicely now.

Battery box: The two main locations for the stock battery mounts don't seem to work with the three link suspension so I did what most people do and built a battery box.  The hole in left side of the rear deck above is where it is.  I riveted the pieces together after painting them all with appliance paint, then I painted the whole exterior with under body coating in a can.  It looks pretty good.  I do need to move the battery cable hole to the side vice the front of the box but that is minor as it still needs holes for ventilation.  I will cover this up with an access panel rivnutted to the rear deck floor.

Fuel filter access panel: I installed a hinged access panel (right side hole in rear deck photo above) to change the canister fuel filter when needed.  It turned out pretty well and actually works given the jigsaw is not the steadiest tool in the world for straight cuts.

Rear deck panels: the rear deck ships as a single piece but getting it in and out results in numerous scratches to the powder coating and lots of cursing.  Given I was going to cut the access holes I figured cutting it in half and riveting the two halves together made the most sense.  The long double line of clecos in the picture above shows the seam.  I used 1.5 inch wide flat AL bar stock as the doubler to hold the two pieces together.  I've mentioned the number of clecos I've purchased before.  The photo above took all of them.

AL panel corrosion: I treated all of the AL panels with a combination of Alumiprep and Alodyne to combat corrosion.  Given I will dynamat, paint, undercoat, or carpet all exposed panels I don't care about the blue-gold discoloration the Alodyne leaves.

Electrical wiring: I ordered the complete kit with the Ron Francis wiring harness and loosely installed all of it.  I wanted to rough it in for dash layout and I am about ready to install the motor.  I also added in a push-button switch to remind myself to engage the clutch before starting.  Although not a true clutch safety switch it won't allow me to start the car without pushing the button which will hopefully remind the monkey behind the wheel to push in the clutch pedal.  I will also hide the button so it will sort of act like an anti-theft device.  Because I am a time freak I also ordered a clock from Autometer to go in the middle of the center console panel.

Drilling holes: I drilled a pile of holes in all the panels for final installation.  I will also undercoat all the panels not in high heat zones before I install them.  I keep chickening out on installing the panels permanently as I know I will goon something up.  Within the next couple of weeks I need to permanently install at least the front panel on the drivers foot box.  Given the electrical wiring, cables, steering shaft, etc. travelling through it I can't keep removing all of them every time I need to do something in that area.  Time to fish or cut bait -- soon anyway, maybe.

Tires: I bought Kumho Ecsta XS tires.  They look fantastic on the wheels. There aren't a lot of companies making the tire sizes needed for these and the Kumho's had great reviews plus I got all four mounted and balanced through Tire Rack and Tire Kingdom for less than $950.

Engine and Trans: I ordered both from The Engine Factory and they will be here tomorrow.  The EF guys are superb and keep you interested by sending photos and videos as they go.  I went with their AC bracket instead of the one supplied with the Vintage Air system as it just looks better.  I'm not going for any "look" with my car other than it be mine so purism is not my goal.