Factory Five Roadster Hydroboost Brakes Install - Project Snake Charmer Part 13

With one call and a few details on our drivetrain, Forte's had one of its new driveshafts sent out in no time. The unit costs $249 and comes with new Ford mounting bolts. After a quick shot of chassis-black paint to keep rust at bay, we bolted in the driveshaft.

Since the drivetrain has been installed for a few months, all we needed to make our Roadster move is a driveshaft. Once we could make the connection between the Tremec TKO-600 and the DTS-built 8.8 axle, we'd be one step closer to a testdrive. We thought about picking up a used Mustang driveshaft and having it shortened, installing new U-joints, and balancing the whole thing, but for the prices we were quoted locally for the parts and labor, it wouldn't cost much more to go with a completely new driveshaft assembly from Forte's Parts Connection.

A quick check of our pinion angle and an adjustment of our three-link's upper link, and the driveline was all set.

Moving on to more of the exterior body prep, we next assembled and test-fit the windscreen. Right off the bat, you should do yourself a favor and cut 2 inches off the ends of the windscreen side bars, as they are too long and will interfere with installation of the windscreen itself. While we are shown cutting them straight here (chrome-plated brass, which cuts easily), we ended up putting an angle on the end of the bars for a bit more mounting room. You'll know what the angle is when you start to test-fit everything.

When fitting the side bars to the main windscreen frame, you will be installing some fragile screws into a soft strip of brass. If you're not careful, you can easily strip these threads. There's also a chance the screws might be too long since the countersunk holes found in the side bars are made by hand and can be too deep, causing the mounting screw to bottom. If this happens and you overtighten the screw, you run the chance of cracking the windscreen. Be sure to install each screw and test for proper fit, shortening the screw if necessary. Keep each screw indexed to the hole you test-fit, and use a stubby screwdriver with light finger pressure as shown.

You may have some slight fitment gaps once the side bars are assembled to the windscreen. Because the side bars are brass, they can be carefully bent (dismounted from the windscreen) for a better fit. We used a vise with padded jaws and the nylon handle of a yard tool (the handle had a hole in the end we slipped over the side bar for bending purposes). There was a small gap at the top we couldn't get rid of, so we sealed it with a small amount of 3M strip caulk.

The assembled windscreen is fitted to the body and held at the proper angle as specified in the assembly manual. With a helper applying pressure on the windscreen to seal the rubber strip at the base of the windscreen, the mounting holes are transferred from the frame to the windscreen side bars.

Once you've marked the side bars, transfer your marks to the center of the side bar and drill a 1/2-inch hole at each of the four marks. The instructions state to remove the side bars from the windscreen for fear of a regular drill bit catching in the soft brass. If you use a step drill bit, you can easily drill a small hole and sneak up on the 1/2-inch dimension without having to remove the side bars from the windscreen-one less step and less chance of stripping those small screws you've already installed.

We finished our cooling-system layout last month, but our hoses were mocked-up bare and with no clamps. This month, we finished off our cooling system by installing Mr. Gasket G-sleeve on all visible hoses and using Mr. Gasket hose finishers to secure the hoses. The hose finisher for the water neck required some minor trimming to fit the water neck.

With our cooling system completed, it was time for a 50/50 mix of Peak Long-Life antifreeze and distilled water. Depending upon hose routing and other cooling system options, such as a heater, it may take some time to fully bleed all the air out of the cooling system. Ours bled rather easily with a predrilled bleed hole in the thermostat housing and a bleeder valve in the side of the FFR radiator.

Those of you who keep tabs on this project by checking our online Web diary know we had some delays in acquiring the Hydroboost setup from another vendor before moving on to Hydra-tech. Even though we didn't have a master cylinder installed, we could run most of our brake hard line while waiting on the rest of the brake system to arrive. Shown here installed is Summit's line-lock kit (PN SUM-760000; $68.95), which we are also using as our front brake-line junction point. The red-capped fitting is the inlet from the master cylinder and will be connected later.

For the rear-brake-line routing, we started from the rear of the chassis at the axle flex-line bracket. We used a wire coat hanger to make a template for the brake lines, and then we formed the bulk 3/16-inch line included with the kit to match our template. Believe it or not, every bend we made was formed without the use of a tubing bender. As long as you have something round to bend the line around, it will not collapse.