FFR 33 Hotrod Resurrection
 

I picked up a Factory Five 33 Hotrod over the Thanksgiving holiday. My plan is to make it an Auto-X and street car. I see where Ridetech built one and I would like to follow what they did with their build.

That's a great project!!!! :thumbsup:

NICE! That will be an awesome ride when you're done. :thumbsup:

SITREP
 

Looks like a great project and has good bones, brakes and appears to just need some final finishing and personal preferences.

What's the back story on the previous owner? Why did the project stall?

What's there now? In the military we called it a Situation Report (SITREP)...

What are your planned changes? Looking forward to updates!

right off the top of my brain, Shocks, Camshaft, EFI, Grill assy, wheels, tires, A/C, maybe a soft top, stereo sound system.... and more i'm sure

Progress has been slow, I did replace the hyd flat tappet with a Howards Hyd Roller, replaced the 32 grill/rad with the FFR 33 grill/rad, added a shroud for the elec fan, bought a Vintage Air kit for it, Ordered Ridetech upper and lower rear control arms for the 4 link with "R" joints on every end and BMR's Sherical bushing kit for the upper mounts on the 8.8 rear end. Added a March serpentine drive which meant having to make new engine mounts and setting the engine back a couple inches so the lower pully would clear the steering rack which required a little grinding on the rack mount to be able to squeeze the belt on. About to pull the trigger on some Schott Accelerator, Black Velvet Rims, damn them things are expensive.
I started drilling out rivets to remove the aluminum panels so I can insulate between the lower panels, frame and upper panels. I got some Mega Block from Second Skin which is supposed to have a pretty good heat barrier. Oh, Almost forgot, also added a Flaming River electric steering kit, electric door poppers, interior pull handles.
Some random pics

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...5129711b_b.jpg20230114_184551 by F G, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f62b9b39_b.jpg20230115_171754 by F G, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...07cba242_b.jpg20230114_184656 by F G, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...07b4ac96_b.jpg20230120_150757 by F G, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...a3388918_b.jpgschott-accelerator-d-concave-polish-and-matte-dark-gray-ceramic-paint-20x10-std-1000_2806 by F G, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...982d69a0_b.jpg20230105_161848 by F G, on Flickr

Nice parts!

That looks like a great starting point!!!

Excellent choice for the wheels. Glad you're making progress.

I am curious to see how you like the Micro Steer electronic steering.

Andrew

Looking good!!

Got the body off today, swapped the carb and got it running better but not good. Need to throw a carb kit at it and try again.
Now that the body is off I can do all the wiring, install the Vintage Air A/C kit, re-do the fuel and brake lines. I need to drill out all the rivets to remove the floor panels so I can add thermal barrier and insulation.
Also got my Ridetech rear links for the 8.8 housing

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...bbeeaa41_b.jpg20230204_160804 by F G, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...261f4b40_b.jpg20230204_160826 by F G, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b9dfce77_b.jpg20230204_160850 by F G, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...9cbd3cb3_b.jpg20230204_165857 by F G, on Flickr

Small updates, re-engineered the trans mount, got rid of whatever mount was on there, went with a factory style GM mount, flipped the FFR bracket, re-drilled it and now have yoke clearance, Clarence.

Got the headers & pipes removed and boxed up, ready to send off to Jet-Hot Coatings to have everything thermal coated to hopefully help reduce heat output. They say it's a 65% reduction so.....

Pulled the valve body out of the 700R4 trans and it's ready to head to TCI to have the constant pressure modification done.

And then did the Second Skin Mega Block thermal insulation in the floor. The stuff isn't cheap so i'm expecting exceptional results. It's only 1/2" thick so I doubled up on it so it's 1" thick. Waiting on some 3M 5200 to seal and finalize it.

my home made vapor system, fuel tank check valve to a Mazda vapor canister to an old fuel filter that has a sintered bronze filter inside. It's crude by y'all's standards but it seems to work.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...d7d6eb6a_b.jpg20230212_161325 by F G, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...7b9f767a_b.jpg20230212_161341 by F G, on Flickr

Nice work, Frank!

Andrew

Would you have any additional images to share of the various parts & pieces?
We were having a similar discussion on another forum (regarding fuel tank venting & vapor collection/reduction).

I'll take an effective low-buck (relatively speaking) option if it's functional. I build drivers not 'showers'.

If I'm not mistaken I thought the end of the vent had to be placed higher than the tank.
https://www.tanksinc.com/index.cfm/p...cat/cat160.htm

Yes, It should be, but that's a s high as mine can go without being outside the body

That's my concern as well and Yes, It's glass and as high as you can go

What would be good is if I could find one that has a top inlet, then I could keep the line up high. Time to do some internet searching

Something like this

I wonder if the one I have would work the other way around? Not sure why I assumed the ports went downward

You wouldn't think something as simple as adjustable seat tracks and seat mounting would kick your ass but, for whatever reason, it sure kicked mine. I had serious brain issues, overthinking it and trying to over engineer it. In the end, I simply mounted the sliders to the seats, which required nutserts in the seat frame then 1/2" spacers for the slide release/locking mechanism to operate. Then marked and drilled through both levels of floor aluminum. Cut and drilled out the 5/16" studs that came swedged in the sliders, replace with grade 8 - 1/4" bolts, grind the side of thick flat washers so they fit in the seat track channel, tack weld the head of the 1/4" bolt to the washer so that it won't spin and you can run a lock nut up on it from underneath without having to hold the head in the seat track yet isn't welded to the seat track incase you need to remove it. I didn't want the aluminum panels to crush down on themselves when I tighten the bolts so I made 1" aluminum spacers, cut the foam/heat barrier to accept the spacers and sealed them with foil tape. Like I said, Simple.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...ca45e930_b.jpg20230225_195549 by F G, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e89ce9ce_b.jpg20230225_195528 by F G, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...8f69e1f5_b.jpg20230225_195729 by F G, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...5ae2bd86_b.jpg20230225_195705 by F G, on Flickr

Very cool project.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Confirmed I have the vapor canister upside down, the tubes should be up top. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

re-did the vapor canister


https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...127813bc_b.jpg20230227_201056 by F G, on Flickr

Chipping away at the "to do" list, A/C unit mounted

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...5ab7f722_b.jpg20230301_190854 by F G, on Flickr

Found a spot for the Elec steering ECU. Had to cut and lengthen all the wire harness' but I think it's good to go now. Utilized the a/c bracket

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3fd5a879_b.jpg20230309_185837 by F G, on Flickr

This is as good as it's going to get. Adding in the heater valve and drier really boogered things up for me in the clean and neat look. Once the body is on and the lower front skirts, it should hide a lot of it. So this is it until I get another brainfart and change it. I'll clean up the sleeving with heatshrink once everything is crimped.
I'm open to constructive criticism and suggested options to do it better.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b80762a5_b.jpg20230315_205358 by F G, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...fa802243_b.jpg20230315_205408 by F G, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...577928b9_b.jpg20230315_205433 by F G, on Flickr

A little battery box fabrication. I wanted the battery tucked somewhere so it wasn't taking up valuable trunk space. Fab'd up a box that will hopefully work out. It'll get enclosed with a boxed front and then upholstered yet removeable. Once i'm satisfied it'll work, i'll get it powder coated.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...abb56036_b.jpg20230324_195038 by F G, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f11e36a9_b.jpg20230324_193837 by F G, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...717c7171_b.jpg20230324_193826 by F G, on Flickr

Back to the A/C hoses.. the 135 degree fitting off the drier is just what I needed.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...cb76a603_b.jpg20230331_125038 by F G, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...ed7e7e62_b.jpg20230331_125021 by F G, on Flickr

I love this build. I’ve always wanted one. Keep up the great work!

If you already have the AC line crimper message me and I will send it to you when you are ready to crimp.

Syborg, That's a great offer and thank you. I purchased one of the hydraulic crimp kits off Amazon so i'm hoping it'll work as advertised.

You're welcome and I did the same and love it.

A little set back with the engine, things just weren't right. The story is that this was a brand new build the original owner bought off E-bay. He never fired it up and ran it. I got it running but not good so, Pulled the valve cover and found a broken rocker arm. Pulled heads and found a stuck valve and evidence that valve kissed the piston. Pulled the lifters and found lots of gunk on the lifter and in the oil galleries. This is all heading to Nye's Racing Engines for a complete rebuild.


https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...63ca7c14_b.jpg339292574_197702616334957_32211705201855085_n by F G, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e6b07a0a_b.jpg339630470_215794244434310_1318717374210817752_n by F G, on Flickr

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...fd90ec06_b.jpg20230402_180522 by F G, on Flickr

Well.... That sux.

Been there done that with the Motor in my car also.

I had it built by a very reputable Engine builder (withholding the name is hard) and let's just say they "F" everything up that they could. From missing the timing chain tensioner, valley cover bolts finger tight, intake manifold bolts loose, head bolts so tight we needed a breaker bar to remove them, and I won't even talk about the main bearings. In the end I had to completely redo the motor including all of the bearings. I had asked them to change the cam bearings and those were also not done.