Fuel, Brakes, Cooling Etc.

I am going to be pioneering a new power brake kit developed by my new pal Jeff Collins at Whitby Motorcars!!

April 12-15, 2013

While we wait for the above power brake package to arrive I decided to run the brake lines between the fronts and between the rears. I’ll leave the last lines until the Master cylinder and booster arrive.

Factory Five supplies steel lines in 5 foot lengths with many union joints…. leak opportunities IMHO… not to mention I screwed up about 20 feet of line trying to get the lines from side to side front and back done (oops).

**The first attempt left me with a mangled, multi-bent mess. This is all that was left from 15 feet of steel line.**

So I bought 25″ of that new Ni-Cop brake line everyone is using… and I must say it’s the best! Easy to flare and bend plus I was able to go from the new master to the front and rear with NO SPLICES.

May 25, 2013

This weekend it became reality. Thanks Jeff Collins at Whitby Motorcar! He created a kit for the car. Here are the installation steps.

First, installed the new brake pedal supplied in the Kit as per the Wilwood instructions using the hardware supplied in the Factory Five Brake Pedal Package as needed. Also install the brake light switch as described in those instructions.

Used a Grade 8 – ½ bolt of the correct length as a pivot rod as bushing is too tight for the Wilwood rod and c-clips. Used some spacers and a copper thrust bearing (From F5 Kit) so that the nut and bolt can be tightened without restricting free movement of the pedal.

Next, installed the brake pedal pad from the Factory Five Kit using its’ supplied hardware. Finally, installed the entire pedal box assembly. Now lots of room for electronics.

I Removed the 6 studs used to hold the Wilwood Brake Master Cylinders as they will not be required.

Only 3 of the 4 holes go all the way through; the 2 top holes and the bottom left hole (the one closest to the center of the car). Only these 3 holes will be drilled completely through the firewall and the frame members. The 4th hole (bottom right or outboard hole) will only go through the firewall and the outer side of the firewall frame member. This is because the chassis ID or Serial Number is engraved on the inside of that frame member right where that hole would come through and you I did not want to disfigure that identification stamping.

I Used a 1/4” bit to open the 4th and final mounting hole up in order to tap it with a 5/16” – 18 tap.

Next, used the mounting template as a guide, and a 7/8” hole saw and a Dremel tool to open the center oval slot. You are able to see the brake lever through that slot when done. Used 3M synthetic double sided tape normally used for attaching emblems to cars. It is weather proof, very sticky and fairly dense.

Finally on goes the booster and master assembly. I bench bled the Master cylinder first.

June 1, 2013

After doing some research it seemed reasonable for me to add a proportioning valve to the system. Word is that the rear brakes tend to lock up early on this very light car so I ordered an SSBC polished knob adjustable one from Summit.

I also added a chrome Master Cylinder Cover for some bling action and an off the shelf stainless Prop. Valve Bracket… in the end it all worked very well. Below are the pics of the process.

Tranny Lines

Next the transmission lines. No way I’m using rubber hose and there are no steel lines available so back to braided lines, this time from Fragola Performance. I got them through my new best friend Paul Hammond at Wheel Class Auto Parts here in Fonthill.

Paul has been able to source just about anything I need at Canadian prices close to the US price at Summit. Why not deal locally if you can! Check out Wheel Class Auto Parts.

Here’s a tid bit of info. The Rad has a built in trans fluid cooler. The fitting needed there as well as at the tranny are 1/4 NPT to AN6.

The the trans fluid goes in… after buttoning up the pan. According to Performance Automatics, the Street Smart AOD should take between 10 and 11 Quarts of Dextron III. I only got 7 in before it was seeping out the splines at the tailstock. Now the car hasn’t been fired yet, so I imagine the pump is gonna suck some up into the converter once I get it running.

Parking Brake

December 27, 2014

Christmas is over for another year so its back to work on the car!!

REAR PARKING BRAKE – Another project I was dreading ended up turning out quite well. To put it mildly… I HATE THE FACTORY FIVE E-BRAKE SET UP. Lets face it there is not a lot of space inside the car and the handle is ugly ugly!

While online on the FFR forum, I saw this idea and will take it to another level with the INFINITY BOX wiring system – It’s an electric parking brake!

Started off by installing the Mustang Parking Brake Cables that came with the car. They were far too long for this application so had to be cut with the Dremel Cutoff blade… measure 10 times and cut once kinda thing!!

I had to find a way to have the bare ends of the cables connect to the clevis. Lotsa option here I suppose but i went with Dune Buggy Cable extenders from an online “Bug Shop”. They clamp on and give me an end to work with.

**These are the ends of the Mustang cables that run to each rear caliper. With the VW cable extenders attached.**

To apply the brake I will install a switch inside the car…. likely one of the power window switches from FFR. It will activate (via the InfintyBox inMotion Cell) a 6″ linear actuator that will tug on the clevises. The tension will be safeguarded with 2 – 3″ springs that will take about 50 pounds of pull before they stretch, which should be enough tug to set the parking brakes.

Push the button the other way and the actuator releases the tension… Bob’s your uncle…. ELECTRIC PARKING BRAKE!!

Then find a tidy way to mount the linear actuator inside the frame rails

Go Pedal + Fuel Lines + A/C

This video is a good overview of these 3 systems

October 9, 2013

OK, I don’t have a section for the gas pedal so plumbing and brakes seemed like a good spot to post it seeing as it’s next to the brake pedal and the carb uses fuel!!

My motor was built with a Holley Street Avenger 670 cfm, Vacuum secondary, electric choke…. tame but reliable. Only problem is that when you look at the instructions it says basically “it will not work with a Ford AOD…. GREAT EH? What is one to do?

Research it and you’ll see the only option is to use the Lokar Hi-Tech Kick down cable and Lokar Throttle cable combo. NICE STUFF. It also means that the mechanical throttle linkage I bought from Tim Whitaker of Kootenai Valley Customs is useless to me. Live and learn.

First the carb goes on.

Then the FFR gas pedal was mounted to the floor. Had to drill through the firewall but the Lokar cable is stainless braided line and billet fittings.

Then the cables hooked to the carb… voila throttle complete.

Next steps are to make the adjustments to the TV cable. You can see how that’s done by clicking HERE which will bring you the entry elsewhere on this site.

May 3-4, 2013

Buttoned up the fuel lines, fittings and pump. Used some heat shield to help protect from muffler.

Not a fan of the stuff sent by F5. Staring with the Tank it has all be replaced with Russell Braided Lines and AN fittings, a holly Blue Pump, Holley billet Filters (Post and Pre-Filters)

October 11, 2013

Time to finish all plumbing so we can get this this fired. We start with the fuel lines. Of course I ditched all of the factory five stuff and used braided 6AN Russell Lines.

The uncovering of the firewall revealed that I scuffed the powder coating when I installed the engine… PISS ME OFF

Below are pics of the process beginning with the installation of the fuel pressure regulator.

Cutting this Russel Fuel Line is easy because the stainless in embedded inside the rubber… no fraying. The exterior braiding is some sort of bullet proof synthetic.

Radiator/Grill

November 16, 2013

A bit of time has passed since I’ve been able to work on the car. Anyway… back to the plumbing… The plan is to start at the front and go to the rear and button everything up so I can fire this thing in the next few weeks.

A job I had not been looking forward to was the rad/condenser/grill. Other than time consuming (took me better part of a Saturday) all went well.

Just took my time and followed instructions trying all the while to remember which way is up and front and left and right.

I had purchased one of Mike Eversons fan shrouds and remembered reading that the fan would fit in front of it. I think it was a post or a note from Dan Ruth… So I thought I’d give it a go to keep the fan tight to the rad core. Used both the stock install bars as well as the parts that came with the shroud and it all fit great.

Once the assembly is assembled 🙂 the whole rad and grill bolts onto the supports as a whole. This will all come apart again once I finish fitting the body parts, hood, side panels etc.

November 23, 2013

Well you get the idea of how the rad and fan go together… only one thing I did wrong… I thought I was being smart by putting the fan inside the shroud… turns out this will hinder cooling rather than help it… so I un wound what you see above and did as advised by Mike Everson and put the fan outside the shroud.

Next up is the overflow reservoir. No room for it where its suppose to go when the A/C condenser is installed and because of the Power Brake set up (a modification to the Factory Five plan) there is no room on the firewall. So i modified the brackets it cam with an mounted it beside the radiator. It clears the suspension’s upper control arm by about 3/4 of an inch at full travel. Good to go!

Then all the hoses and finally in goes the antifreeze – 50/50 mix with distilled water.

Then goes the rear end fluid. No Limited slip friction fluid requires for a Torsen Trac-loc differential, so it to 2.4 quarts of 75/90 before it started to leak back out the hole.