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Factory Five Roadster Build Part 7: Project Snake CharmerOur project becomes a roller with brakes, wheels, and tires From the December, 2006 issue of Modified Mustangs & Fords By Mark Houlahan Photography by Mark Houlahan
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There comes a time in life when a moment is so memorable you can recite the exact time and place when it happened. Driving by yourself for the first time, your first kiss, your first car accident, the birth of your children, getting your project to the roller phase-er, wait. Yeah, we said it. If you're a passionate car person like we think you are, then getting to a certain point in your project is parallel with that first kiss. It's a moment you'll relish and relive, that's for sure. For us, it was Saturday, August 5, 2006 at 1:17 p.m. It was at that moment the last jackstand was removed and the tires came to rest on terra firma. Getting our Factory Five Racing Roadster to the roller phase hasn't been without its share of waiting-waiting on parts, waiting on the powdercoater, waiting for the weekend to come so we had time to work on it, and so forth. None of these periods were terribly long, but when you're so excited about getting out to the garage to make some progress (not to mention the pressure of our weekly Web diary updates) a couple of days can seem like an eternity. With our suspension recently installed (Aug. '06 issue), all we had to do was assemble the brake system, slide the rear axlehousing into place, and bolt up the wheels and tires. The brake package we're using is from Stainless Steel Brakes Corp. and features the company's Force 10 Tri-Power powdercoated aluminum caliper up front with three 38mm pistons clamping down on a 13-inch rotor. Out back we used SSBC's Force 10 R1 powdercoated aluminum caliper with a single 54mm piston mounted over an 11.25-inch rotor. For wheels and tires, we turned to Mustang Tuning and Nitto Tires, respectively. Mustang Tuning's late-model Mustang wheels are the perfect option when building a Factory Five, offering several popular Mustang styles like the FR500 we are using and coating options. Nitto's line of 555 radials will give us great handling and traction to harness the 500 horses twisting the rear axles. Knock It Off, Will Ya!
Once I rolled the FFR Roadster out in the sun for the first time, the family stood there (along with a few neighbors) just taking in how low the car sits, how wide the rear tires are, and so on. I was explaining to a neighbor why we chose the Mustang Tuning FR500s when he asked, "Didn't the originals use knock-offs?" Well, they sure did, and while real knock-offs are still available, the DOT tends to frown on their use on public streets, hence our five-lug wheels. But the gears between my ears started meshing, and I wondered why can't we have simulated knock-offs on these wheels? After a bit of research, I found BRS Parts, manufacturer of real metal wheel-spinner center caps for late-model Ford wheels. Even though our FR500 center caps were a different size, BRS offered to see if its kit would work with some minor tweaking. After shipping off a center cap assembly to BRS, I got back four chrome tri-bar knock-off center caps and their installation hardware. These replica knock-offs/spinners/center caps (whatever you want to call them) are the perfect touch, and are available for most any late-model Mustang wheel (Bullitt, Cobra R, Mach 1, and so on). Check out the installation details, and if you're running late-model Mustang wheels on your classic Ford, these might be just the addition to give your ride a bit more personality.  Front-Brake Assembly There...  Front-Brake Assembly
There are a few options to fit five-lug wheels and brakes to the FFR, one of them being the use of '94-and-up Mustang spindles, which were five-lugs from the factory. The added benefit of these spindles is their sealed cartridge bearing and "divorced" rotor. The high-quality bearing requires no servicing, and the rotor can be removed without messing with the bearing or dust cap. If you want to maintain the desired front track of the '87-'93 Mustang parts, be sure to use only '94 or '95 spindles. The '96-and-up are a bit wider, though they will work.  Due to the design of the spindle,...  Due to the design of the spindle, the lower ball-joint castle nut ends up being too short to properly engage the cotter pin when installed on '87-'93 Mustang control arms (or the optional FFR tubular arms like we're using). The solution is simple: Use a machined spacer or a stack of washers to allow the castle nut to engage the cotter pin correctly, as shown here. Our spacer is from Stainless Steel Brakes Corp. (SSBC).  After slipping on our directional...  After slipping on our directional ball-milled and zinc-washed 13-inch rotors from our SSBC Force 10 Tri-Power front brake kit (PN A112-11; $1,295) a test fit of the caliper and caliper mounting bracket showed a need for a small amount of caliper shimming. The shims are supplied with the brake kit and installed over the caliper mounting bolt to move the caliper and mounting bracket out just a hair, centering the rotor in the middle of the caliper.  With the shims in place and...  With the shims in place and the caliper centered, the caliper mounting-bracket bolts are tightened to the torque specifications found in the SSBC instructions. We're using the white tie-wraps because our spindle adapter brackets are AWOL for powdercoating.  The SSBC Tri-Power calipers...  The SSBC Tri-Power calipers use a banjo bolt for the braided flex-line attachment. Be sure to use a copper sealing washer on both sides of the flex hose. We opted to simply snug the banjo bolt for now, leaving final tightening for when we can fit a wheel and check for any interference with the brake line.  At the opposite end of the...  At the opposite end of the flex hose, a retaining bracket and U-clip will be riveted to the Roadster's frame. We upgraded to the stainless steel brake-hose brackets and U-clips from Totally Stainless for our project.  Once the spindle-adapter brackets...  Once the spindle-adapter brackets came back from powdercoating, we were ready to continue the front brake installation. These brackets replace the long strut assembly from the late-model Mustang and allow the spindle to bolt to the upper control arm supplied with the FFR kit. The fit is tight, so the use of a lineup bar and rubber mallet is recommended to get these suckers on.  Before sliding the upper ball-joint...  Before sliding the upper ball-joint stud home into the adapter brackets, carefully rotate the stud with a pair of pliers (grasp above the threads) so the cotter-pin hole is parallel with the opening in the adapter bracket, otherwise you'll never get the cotter pin installed.  Seat the upper ball joint...  Seat the upper ball joint into the adapter bracket and install the castle nut and cotter pin. Depending upon the upper ball-joint style, a small shim (supplied with the upper control arm) might be required for proper cotter-pin engagement. That was not the case on our build.  With the front brakes complete,...  With the front brakes complete, a quick fit check of our Mustang Tuning-supplied FR500 replica wheels ensures everything will work together. The FR500s are a popular late-model wheel, but we chose them because we think they have a modern look of the original Cobra wheel. Sized at 17x9, we have P255/40ZR17 Nitto NT555s ordered to wrap around them.  Rear-Brake Assembly The SSBC...  Rear-Brake Assembly
The SSBC Force 10 R1 rear-brake kit (PN A110-11; $1,195) we're using is designed for the Ford late-model 9-inch "Torino" bearing size and is sandwiched between the 9-inch bearing retainer and the axlehousing flange. Here, we removed the lock nuts, bearing retainer, and T-bolts from our axlehousing.  When fitting the SSBC rear-caliper...  When fitting the SSBC rear-caliper adapter bracket, a thin shim is added to take up the space between the bracket and the axle bearing. The kit comes with several, so you'll have to measure and add shims as required. Ours took one shim per side.  The complete caliper adapter...  The complete caliper adapter bracket is shown here installed, along with the original bearing retainer and the actual caliper mounting bracket attached as well. Note the thick spacers offsetting the caliper mounting bracket inboard of the axle flange.  The Force 10 kit uses an 11.25-inch...  The Force 10 kit uses an 11.25-inch vented rotor with ball-milled directional venting on the rotor surface, which is zinc washed for looks and corrosion protection. While our rotors were a hub-centric fit to the rear axles, SSBC provides a machined adapter if your axle's center is smaller than the rotor's inside diameter.  The R1 calipers slide into...  The R1 calipers slide into place on the caliper mounting brackets and are secured by 31/48-inch Allen-head caliper slide bolts. Ensure the caliper slide bolts engage the ends of the brake pads correctly.  One of the cool features of...  One of the cool features of the R1 is the built-in parking-brake setup. There's no need for a separate parking-brake caliper on the SSBC setup. Carefully removing the pivot bolt and reclocking the pivot arm to the proper angle, which is what we are doing here, easily repositions the parking-brake lever for optimum cable routing.  Again, once the rear brakes...  Again, once the rear brakes were completed, we grabbed a rear wheel for a test fit and some impromptu drooling. The Mustang Tuning FR500s we're using out back measure a steam-roller-sized 17x10.5 inches and will be wearing Nitto's NT555R street-legal drag-radial tire in P315/35ZR17 size.  After completing the rear-brake...  After completing the rear-brake installation on our DTS-built axlehousing, it was time to bring it home and install it in our Roadster project. Since we ordered our kit with the three-link rear suspension, FFR preinstalled the three-link brackets and welded them at the factory for us. While this creates a strong assembly, we misjudged the working room and found we had to either pull the caliper and rotor back off or temporarily remove the lower control arm mounting bracket for the housing to pass through the frame opening.  Using some bulk 3/16-inch...  Using some bulk 3/16-inch brake line, we hand-formed the rear's hard lines from each caliper's flex hose to the junction hose in the center. If you make your own brake lines, take your time creating the bends and use a quality double-flaring tool to get a leak-free seal at all junctions.  The Panhard bar had been previously...  The Panhard bar had been previously secured to the frame end on the driver side, so all we had to do was insert the rod end into the passenger-side bracket found on the axlehousing and secure with the supplied hardware. We wrapped the bolt head in painter's tape to signify the bolt still requires final torque application once the chassis' ride height is set.  While the axlehousing was...  While the axlehousing was still being supported by our Powerbuilt floor jack, the upper link assembly for the three-link rear suspension was secured to the axle bracket.  The lower control arms and...  The lower control arms and rear coilover shocks were installed to complete the rearend installation. Pay special attention to the orientation of the lower shock spacers to ensure the coilover spring is not rubbing the axlehousing or brake lines.  Parking-Brake Assembly We...  Parking-Brake Assembly
We used a universal parking-brake kit from SSBC (PN 1228; $119.95) for our rear calipers. The clevis is attached to the parking-brake lever via the pivot pin and cotter pin, and the end of the cable is inserted into the clevis. We crimped the opening in the clevis slightly to prevent the cable from pulling out.  The cable's outer housings...  The cable's outer housings are routed from the rear-caliper mounting bracket to the bracket on the Roadster's frame. The outer housing is a cut-to-fit affair, as are the cables themselves. Once the length is measured, cut the housing with a cut-off wheel or hacksaw, add the included ferrule to the end, and insert it into the frame bracket.  Our one head scratcher came...  Our one head scratcher came when we had to join the universal parking-brake cable to the original Ford-style parking-brake-handle cable that came with our donor parking-brake handle from All Mustang Salvage. The answer came by way of our favorite hangout, the FFR Web forum at www.ffcobra.com.  So here's the idea. We cut...  So here's the idea. We cut the T-bar off the short cable that is attached to the parking brake handle, and then we cut a slot in a 3/8-inch nut and passed the nut over the cable. Then the nut itself was welded to the pivot block the SSBC cables pass through.  The result is this clean installation....  The result is this clean installation. The parking-brake cables run alongside the transmission and have a straight shot to the parking-brake handle for nice leverage and a clean installation.  Once our Nitto tires arrived,...  Once our Nitto tires arrived, we had them mounted to our Mustang Tuning FR500 rims and bolted the rims up to make our Roadster project a roller. This is the first time the chassis has been outside the garage since we took delivery of it in February. We still have to finish routing our brake hard lines and decide on a master cylinder, but for now our project can easily roll in and out for continued work.  The BRS kit uses a special...  The BRS kit uses a special mounting system with a nylon slip-clutch. This allows the tri-bar to be rotated for lug-nut access, cleaning, or positioning the tri-bar for displays. The steel spring and attaching bolt are assembled from the rear of the wheel.  Due to the recessed depth...  Due to the recessed depth of the FR500 center cap area, BRS has to machine a special spacer so the tri-bar won't hit the wheel spokes. They come in a bare machined finish and can be painted, powdercoated, polished, or left bare. We simply polished ours to match the chrome tri-bar and added the O-ring you see here to prevent scratching the wheel.  The base of the spinner assembly,...  The base of the spinner assembly, along with the nylon slip-clutch, is seated over the FR500 specific spacer last, and a nylock nut is installed. Follow the directions carefully so the tri-bar is tight, but not too tight to turn by hand.  The finished front and rear...  The finished front and rear wheels look completely different with the addition of the BRS tri-bar center-cap setup. The tri-bar itself is secured with a hidden Allen-head set screw for theft prevention. The FFR "5" logo center was something that came with our wheels and is not available from BRS, though the company does have several styles of center caps for your own FFR project or classic Ford with late-model wheels.
 | Project Snake Charmer is finished and on the road Check out the diary for more! |  | We'd like to introduce you to Mustang & Fords' new project, Project Snake Charmer |  | We Go Back to School-and Like It! The Factory Five Racing Cobra Roadster Kit Car Buildup Series Continues At The Build School. |  | Our Factory Five Roadster Suspension Finds Its Way to Our Frame |  | Our Factory Five Roadster gets its motivation from a Smeding Performance 427 |  | We install and prepare the aluminum panels for Project Snake Charmer |  | Our Factory Five Roadster gets a Drivetrain Specialtists rear end for Project Snake Charmer |  | Our project becomes a roller with brakes, wheels, and tires |  | Project Snake Charmer receives an EFI based fuel system to feed the snake |  | Our Factory Five Racing Roadster recieves a Smeding Performance 427 Windsor and a Tremec Transmission |  | Our Factory Five Roadster gets a new dash, pedals, and cooling system |  | Installing the Factory Five Racing wiring harness on our Project Snake Charmer Cobra Roadster Replica |  | We finish up the wiring and then turn towards starting the body on our Factory Five Roadster Project Car |  | Installing hydroboost brakes on our Project Snake Charmer Factory Five Roadster before painting |  | Project Snake Charmer Factory Five Roadster heads off for paint |  | Our Factory Five Roadster Begins the Paint Process |  | Our Cobra Replica's Almost Ready For Paint |
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