The SN65 project car

Hi All,

For the 4th, my wife and I are heading up to the great white north. We have a summer home up near Spooner WI (near the nose).

You all have a great holiday. See you when I get back on Wed.

Bob
Come see this WIP at
Julian's Collision Center
http://www.julianscollisioncenter.com/

this thing is freakin awesome

Hi All,

The 4th of July weekend was pretty much a bust, at least as far as the car goes.

While all of you were busy with barbeques, picnics, parties, family, friends and of course fireworks, I was up in Wisconsin opening up the summer cottage. For those who have never done such a thing, it is often rather eventful. You never know quite what to expect. Past experience has taught me to be prepared anything. For example, I have had to deal with frozen plumbing, trees falling on the driveway and the house, malfunctioning yard equipment, shattered toilets, renegade mice, carpenter ants, wild turkeys, deer, bear and bats.

So… While you were all having a wonderful time I was fixing this year’s problem, namely pier crushed by ice. All I had to do was lift the wet end of the pier a scant 5 feet and slide the pier supports back into place. An easy task if you have any type of jack, which of course, I was sorely lacking. To make a long story short, I finally elevated the pier using tactics that the ancient Egyptians would have been proud of.

We are moving along nicely at this point, but nothing worthy of a photo. After all, how many photos can you show of sanded primer? Also, as we get closer to the completion, we have decided to only show detail shots. We are going to save the long overall shots for the big finish later this month.

With that said, I am off to work. Tomorrow, I will post some detail photos of the velocity tube installation.

Catch ya’ll l8r.

Bob
Come see this WIP at
Julian's Collision Center
http://www.julianscollisioncenter.com/

Hi All,

We are getting down to crunch time here and are looking for additional hands.

So...

If you live in the St Charles, IL area. If you are really into mustangs. If you are mechanically inclined (or have body working skills). If you are not afraid of hard work, etc, etc, etc....

Send me an e-mail at [email protected]

Bob

Hi All,

I am having a real tough time deciding on the seats to use (if you remember, the Cobra seats sat about 2" to high).

I have considered Recaro, Sparco, Flow Fit, Corbeau, etc...

There are so many choices out there that I am having trouble making up my mind. Also, I have never planted my butt in any of these seats. This makes the decision very difficult at best.

As far as requirements go, I want seats that look, feel and fit similar to the 03 Cobra seats. I would really like them to be leather with suede inserts, but all leather will suffice. Electric controls are not mandatory, but they would be nice if I can keep the seat 2” shorter than the originals. The seats must be useable with a 4 point harness. And I also need the seats to fold forward (for access to the rear).

The seats need to be a compromise of performance and comfort (If they are not comfortable, I will never complete the power tour next year). They need to accommodate butts of all sizes (you never know who is going to end up driving or riding).

The Sparco Milano, Recaro LXF, Cobra Misano L, Corbeau legacy, etc... all look pretty good, but all I have to go on are the looks.

So... Your input would be greatly appreciated.

Bob

Hi All,

What a rush. Lately I don't know if I am coming or going.

Anyway....

Wayne has been busy solving body fitment issues. Here are a couple of shots. The first is of Wayne hard at work. He is contemplating the gaps. If you listen closely you can hear the buzz as he thinks about the best way to even out all these inconsistent gaps. He has had to weld extensions on to some panels while trimming back others.

http://www.horsepowered.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=2262

Shush. Be very quiet. We better move on before we disturb him. :-)

Next is a photo of what the gaps look like before Wayne works his magic. Compare that to the 4th shot showing the repaired gaps on the opposite side of the car.

http://www.horsepowered.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=2263

http://www.horsepowered.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=2264

Last we have a shot of the car starting to go together for final bodywork. We are currently fitting / clearancing the hood (stock 65 with a bulge for the massive blown 4.6)

http://www.horsepowered.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=2265

Wish I could go into more detail, but I really have to get back to work.

Catch ya'll later.

Bob

i read through this entire thread in about a day and a half, and i was hoping to find completed car pics at the end. no such luck however. excellent project to take on IMO. you guys are doing a bang up job. keep it up.

Hi All,

Here is our current problem

http://www.horsepowered.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=2262

No the problem isn't Wayne. The problem is the width of the front track.

If we leave things exactly as they are, we will end up with a front wheel flares that stick out about 2 1/4", while the flares on the back stick out about 2". If we do this the car will have a rather strange appearance where the front track looks wider than the rear. To resolve this issue we need to shift the front wheels inboard about 1". This will give us a 2" rear and 1 1/2" front flare, which should look more appealing. We were giving consideration to resolving this issue by using front and rear wheels with different backspacing. We didn't really like this idea because we want the wheels to look identical on all 4 corners and a 1" diff in backspacing would be pretty obvious.

So, we called our friends at Maximum Motorsports and asked them if they could make us a custom lower control arm that would be 1" shorter than stock. They recommended that we use a fox control arm which is 3/4" shorter than the SN95 piece.

Wo Hoo!!!

This will solve a number of issues we were having all across the board.

Well, back to work on the fenders, hood and front end.

Catch ya’ll l8r.

Bob
Come see this WIP at
Julian's Collision Center
http://www.julianscollisioncenter.com/

Hi All,

THE PHOTOS ARE GONE, THE PHOTOS ARE GONE!!!!

I guess it was only a mater of time. I was using the HorsePowered.com database to store the photos of the project and tied to them via a link.

Well....

It appears that HorsePowered is no more. The photos are gone and so is any evidence that their website ever existed.

No worries though. I still have all the photos of the build and I have been working on a website for the project. I will be able (with a little help) to restore all the links.

In the meantime, I have been cross posting all the photos to a local Chicago website. Photos can be viewed at...

http://www.chicagosvt.com/forums/showthread.php3?t=1664&page=11&pp=25

Catch you all later.

Bob

Hi All,

7-25 update part one…

A lot has transpired since our last real update.

Wayne has been meticulously plodding through all the remaining bodywork. He has spent what seams like endless hours working and reworking everything from the cowl to the rear bumper. He constantly has to point out the reasons to me. A little wave here, a little ripple there, this doesn’t line up quite right, changes to the door effect the contour of the quarter, the body lines that run along the edge of the roof to the trunk are not quite symmetrical, and on and on.

http://www.ymrforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=18356

Wayne had to get the doors finished and installed in order to send the car out to the aluminum fabricator. Originally, we were going to have him come to our shop, but he convinced us that he needed the car at his facility to do the job right. The job is to fab up the trim panels that will seal off the top and sides of the dashboard.
I, on the other hand, have been working on mechanical details. The hood latch is almost complete. I am going to remove all the extra material at the back of the bracket after I fit up the front end, grill, hood, etc… I also have located the shock tower brace. I will be able to complete the fabrication of that item after I install the ductwork for the air inlet. I have the welding of the ductwork complete. We just have to have the parts painted to match the blower. We felt that if the paint matches the rest of the engine intake system, it would look like it was supplied by the factory.

http://www.ymrforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=18357

I also replaced the lower control arms with the shorter FOX items. You can see the difference in length in the photo below. This solved all the problems with the front wheel / flare clearance issues. We did have to flip flop the caster plates in order to get the correct front end geometry, but other than that, everything went quite well.

http://www.ymrforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=18358

While the car is out of our shop, Wayne will be working on the hood. Here is the prelim layout for the bulge.

http://www.ymrforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=18359

Here you can see the relief’s we had to cut for under hood clearance.

http://www.ymrforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=18360

Continued in part two....

Bob
Come see this WIP at
Julian's Collision Center
http://www.julianscollisioncenter.com/

Hi All,

7-25 update part two…

Finally, here are some photos of the car as she sits waiting for pick up. Upon return, we should be able to complete the front end and get this baby ready for paint.

http://www.ymrforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=18361

Here is a shot of the rear end with the lower valance in place. Note that the bottom edge of the valance runs parallel to both the gas tank and the ground. Also, in order for us to get the flare contures correct, we had to shift the bottom of the quarters out about and inch or so. In order to get the rear valance to fit up properly we had to segment the panel (add two pie shaped filler strips). If I hadn’t said anything, you probably would not have noticed.

http://www.ymrforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=18362

Here we have two shots of the finished body (at least from the cowl to the rear bumper).

http://www.ymrforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=18363

http://www.ymrforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=18364

And finally, here are some photos of the interior. The door panels are two that we have used for fit up porposes only. Note how the 03 dash meshes up just right with the 65 door panels. We are going to eliminate the vertical ribs in the center of the door panels and fill that area with a simple padded insert. Maybe we can come up with some embroidery with a SN65 emblem. We are going to use the standard door pulls instead of the pony items. I like the way the standard pulls line up with the angle of the 03 dash.

http://www.ymrforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=18365

http://www.ymrforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=18366

That’s all for now.

Catch ya’ll l8r.

Bob
Come see this WIP at
Julian's Collision Center
http://www.julianscollisioncenter.com/

Hi All,

Check out this thread...

http://www.fordforums.com.au/printthread.php?t=10529

Bob

Hi All,

The photos are back, the photos are back.

I guess HP'rd renewed their domain. To bad, another 55 days and I was going to jump all over it. :-)

How can you possibly let your domain name expire??? Must not be tuning in every day.

Bob

Hi All,

While the car is off at the alum fabricator, Wayne has been working on the hood “bulge”.

Here we have photos of the stock hood with the cutout for engine clearance....

http://www.ymrforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=18410

Wayne creating the “bulge” by trimming the 03 Cobra roof to the desired shape....

http://www.ymrforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=18411

the "bulge" in position on the 65 hood....

http://www.ymrforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=18412

and the “bulge” welded in place.

http://www.ymrforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=18413

Wayne still needs to seal off the back edge, but the photos gives you a general idea of the finished hood.

Catch ya’ll l8r.

Bob
Come see this WIP at
Julian's Collision Center
http://www.julianscollisioncenter.com/

One of those teardrop style hood bulges would have looked nice on that car. But I know I know...thats already been done lol.

new pics don't work... *cry*

Hi All,

I just registered the domain SN65.com and am getting ready to download the website. It will have a complete history and photos of the build. The site is currently a work in prosess, but I will be updating and tweaking things (I am sure that I will be getting a lot of input from you all) after I get the site on line and running.

Bob

Hi All,

The site appears to be up and running.

http://sn65.com/

I know that we have a lot of work to get the site complete, but we would be greatful if you could please let us know what you think of the overall site design.

Bob

Hi All,

I am still working on the site (getting things organized and downloaded, etc...)

http://sn65.com/SN65%20chronological%20order%2005-08.htm

But, I have downloaded all my photos to date. If you follow the link above, you will see all the images of the hood (as of 9AM today).

Also, we just got the car back from the shop doing the dash modifications and I am really pumped. It looks great, but you can voice your opinions tomorrow after I post the photos.

After I get things all situated at the site, I will be able to post links to the photos just as I have done in the past.

We are getting closer and closer to completion. I can hardly wait to fire this sucker up.

Catch ya'll l8r.

Bob

Hi All,

First off, let’s take a look at the hood with its first coat of primer.

http://sn65.com/images/SN65%20Images/05-08-05%20(16).jpg

In this photo you can see the 1 1/2" rise at the back of the hood. Note how subtle the "bulge" blends into the hood at the edges. I think this is going to look just fantastic. Everyone in the shop was sitting on a egg crate (behind the hood) looking down its length while they pretended to drive the car. It should look pretty impressive from the cockpit while looking pretty tame from the outside of the car.

I have been watching Wayne work on the hood for the past week (He has over 60 hours in it right now) and I am having trouble believing that it has taken this much time to get it in primer. It looks seamless to me. He spent a lot of time working the transition from the bulge to the hood in an attempt to duplicate the transition from the rear glass to the trunk. Once the car is complete, I imagine that people will only give it a passing glance and say “Nice hood.” While this will probably tick Wayne off (He wishes that people would realize just how much work was involved), I keep telling him that the better he does his job, the less people will notice.

With that said, let’s look at the modified dash.

http://sn65.com/images/SN65%20Images/05-08-05.jpg

http://sn65.com/images/SN65%20Images/05-08-05%20(4).jpg

This is going to look great once we cover the panels in matching vinyl. I really like the way the fabricated panel curves and undulates as it makes its way from one end of the dash to the other. Right now, I could not be happier. I guess we will truly see once it is covered and reinstalled.

Hopefully the pictures will show up just as they always have. For more detailed shots follow the link below.

http://sn65.com/SN65%20chronological%20order%2005-08.htm

This will take you to all the photos for August.

Catch ya'll l8r.

Bob
http://sn65.com/

Hi All,

I have just updated the "Forum" page on the website.

If one of the moderators could write up a little blurb about this site, I will insert the comment under the link to the site.

http://sn65.com/SN65%20forums.htm

Catch ya'll l8r.

Bob
http://sn65.com/

Hi All,

This weekend Wayne blocked the hood. Here you can see a photo of the hood with the guide coat (prior to any sanding).

http://sn65.com/images/SN65%20Images/05-08-08%20004.jpg

I, on the other hand, spent my time sanding interior panels and misc parts so that Wayne could get them in primer.

http://sn65.com/images/SN65%20Images/05-08-08%20010.jpg

I still have a bunch of miscellaneous parts to sand. This has got to be the biggest pain in the butt in regard to the entire project. Just when you finish sanding one part, another has to be sanded. I would much rather prefer assembling, or any other aspect of the project for that matter, than this incessant sanding. WILL IT EVER END??? :-)

With that said, along with sanding our guts out, we plan on finishing up the electrical and plumbing details so that we can fire up the beast by the end of the week. We will be posting a video of the proud event on the website.

Catch ya'll l8r.

Bob
http://sn65.com/

Hi All,

Just got the weight figures from "Competition Fabrication" (the people who fabbed up the dash panels).

A drum roll please.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

2,900 lbs as she sits right now. I am not quite sure exactly how much weight we are going to add, but Wayne says figure right about 500 lbs. That should land us in the 3,400 lbs vicinity. Not to bad.

Also, I was talking to them about valuation. They say that the current cars being fabbed in their shop cost their owner’s approx $250K when complete.

They also said that it was fun watching their customer’s expressions as they viewed the SN65 in their shop. Everyone’s expressions were pretty much the same and it would go something like this....

They would glance at the car as they passed by (just a early mustang). They would get about 10 feet past the car, turn around, walk back and look at the engine bay (cool, a early mustang with a blown engine). They would start to walk away, stop, turn around stare at the car and scratch their heads. They would look over at the guys in the shop and say "What year is this mustang anyway?" The guys in the shop wouldn't say a word. They would just watch the guy as he walked around and around the car. It seams that just as they thought they had it all figured out and started to walk away, they would turn around and go look at another area of the car.

They said that they had more fun watching people as they tried to figure out exactly what they were looking at. I only wish I had been there.

Anyway....

Catch ya'll l8r.

Bob
http://sn65.com/

Hi All,

Today I downloaded some updates to the site. I spent all last night formatting cells and tables. I have reworked the home page so that, hopefully, it will work with all browsers. Also, I have added a page with amusing tidbits. There is nothing that would be considered radical, just things that I found interesting or brought a smile to my face.

We have things organized and ready to install for the big "turning the key for the first time" ceremony. I just have a few remaining items that should be arriving today. If all goes well, we should be ready to fire it up tomorrow.

Wish us luck. We will need it.

Bob

Hi All,

AAAUUUGGGHHHHH!!!!!!

This weekend SUCKED.

All we had to do to get the car fired up was to complete two tasks. First, complete the remote oil filter / cooler plumbing and configure and install the intercooler heat exchanger. No Problem. How hard could those two items be?

First we got all the oil system configured and mounted. We then started to install the hose end fittings. No problem at the engine. Everything is good at the oil cooler. Now, moving on to the remote filter housing. !@#$%^&*() SOAB!!!! The fittings don't fit!!!!

The fittings thread in, but the NPT fitting just does not tighten up. What the???? We look at the housing and can't figure out why. The other housing is NPT, but this housing looks like a straight thread.

A quick call to Maximum Motorsports solves the riddle. Between the time that we received the original kit and the second remote housing (we modified the first housing to fit up to the engine) they had altered the design. The original kit came with a NPT fitting. The newer remote housing came with straight threads designed for use with "O" rings.

The solution??? They are sending me the new fittings ASAP.

With that resolved, we figured we could at least get the heat exchanger fit up and mounted.

WRONG!!!!

We picked up a real slick tubing bender for the project. There are a number of complex bends in the exchanger plumbing and we wanted them all to be just right. Well, we set up the bending station, got the tube ready inserted it in the bender and.... IT DIDN'T FIT!!! The manufacturer had sent us the wrong set of dies and the tube did not fit.

I know what the problem is. It is a giant government conspiracy designed to drive me insane. That’s what it is. The government has decided that our project should be classified. Classified as what, we don't know, but that has to be the answer. What else can it be? I haven’t pissed off any mafia kingpin, well, at least not lately. :-)

Back to the drawing board. We shifted gears and proceeded to mount the fenders and the hood. The hood looks totally killer on the car. It is much nicer than I envisioned with my minds eye. The view from the cockpit is perfect.

I will try to post photos latter today.

Catch ya'll l8r

Bob

Hi All,

Yesterday things went pretty slow. We didn't receive the fittings for the oil cooler / filter relocation kit until the afternoon. That only gave me enough time to mount the oil cooler. I now have to mount the filter relocation housing. I can easily mount the housing, but running the lines is going to be a bit problematic in that the fittings I have to use take up quite a bit of real-estate. I think I have things figured out, but I thought I would review the installation with Wayne and the guys in the shop before I drilled the mounting holes.

Here is a photo of the installed cooler. We were trying to decide if we need a shield to protect it from rocks thrown off the front wheel. We are going to debate this one a bit before we

http://sn65.com/images/SN65%20Images/05-08-16%20018.jpg

Wayne got the fenders and hood mounted. And, as with everything else, he had to do some fine tuning for fit and clearance. The passenger side fender will need some modification to achieve the proper gap at the hood. We also had to modify the caster camber plate setup to gain a little bit more clearance between the strut shaft and hood. Here are some photos of the hood from a couple different angles

http://sn65.com/images/SN65%20Images/05-08-16%20016.jpg

http://sn65.com/images/SN65%20Images/05-08-16%20015.jpg

http://sn65.com/images/SN65%20Images/05-08-16%20013.jpg

http://sn65.com/images/SN65%20Images/05-08-16%20011.jpg

We are still waiting for the correct tube bending dies so that we can fab up the heat exchanger plumbing. Maybe they will come in today. I can only hope.

Catch ya'll l8r

Hi All,

There has been a lot of discussion in regard to the oil cooler installation as far as location goes. Most are concerned with damage and others concerned with air flow. We have reviewed the situation over and over again, but I feel that we have the situation under control. I will be posting photos of the finished installation once complete and then we can all critique it.

Wayne is moving on to the front fenders. He is positioning the flares and working out the design of the leading and trailing edges. Wayne and Dave came into my office yesterday and asked about the lower front valances that were available for the Eleanor kit. They were wondering how that lower valance would look on this car. They said that their jobs would be a whole hell of a lot easier if they could use the molded ends that blended into the front edge of the front fenders.

Well... To make a long story short, we decided not to use the Eleanor front end and to stick with our original plan. Wayne will fab the leading and trailing edges of the flares. We will use the factory front valance (modified with vents for the heat exchanger). Also, to answer a few other questions, we are going to use the factory chrome bumpers front and back. Some argue that a car of this type should have some type of spoiler or a Shelby front valance. I can see their points, but I just can't envision a spoiler that will do the car justice. Also, while I like Shelby clones, I just could not bear to put a Shelby front valance on this car. I know, I know. Using the Shelby "R" style front valance would save me tons of work. No bumper brackets to fab, etc, etc. And we would have plenty of air flow for the radiator and heat exchanger. BUT, I am going to resist the knee jerk reaction to take the easy way out. I think this car should stand on it's own merit. I could not stand it if people walked away from the car thinking It was some altered Shelby clone.

Anyway... It is coming up on 8AM and I have to get to work.

Catch ya'll l8r

Amazing work so far, cant wait to see the finished car, Classic body, Modular supercharged V8, and a very nice modern interior, Wow.

Hi All,

Wayne worked late last night on the drivers side fender flare. Before I left for the night (undedicated part timer that I am :-) ) I helped Wayne set the suspension to get the correct attitude. I also established where I wanted him to position the top of the wheel opening. I had already gone through this exercise once before (when the car was on the frame rack on blocks) so all of the "rough" layout lines were pretty well completed at that time.

In the photos below you can see how we positioned the flare, marked up the panel, segmented it and screwed the flare to the fender with sheet metal screws. The positioning of the flare is quite difficult on the Mustang front fender. The problem area is where the fender intersects the bodyline just above the wheel. The flare has to be trimmed back so that the outside edge of the flare ends up exactly where you want it (in relation to the outside edge of the tire).

http://sn65.com/images/SN65%20Images/05-08-19%20002.jpg

http://sn65.com/images/SN65%20Images/05-08-19%20004.jpg

http://sn65.com/images/SN65%20Images/05-08-19%20012.jpg

http://sn65.com/images/SN65%20Images/05-08-19%20011.jpg

http://sn65.com/images/SN65%20Images/05-08-19%20013.jpg

All Wayne has to do now is form the metal at the leading and trailing ends of the flare. Then we can bond the flare to the fender, finish off the inside surfaces, undercoat the fender, add a layer of fiberglass to the outside edge of the flare, fill and sand and fill and sand and fill and sand....

Catch ya'll l8r

This is a very interesting build.

Are you doing this so that you can say you did it??
I would think it would have been easier to find a Fastback in need of some work, and toss in the motor from the Cobra. Of course, then you can't say you did what you have done.

Good luck with the rest of the build!!

This is a very interesting build.

Are you doing this so that you can say you did it??
I would think it would have been easier to find a Fastback in need of some work, and toss in the motor from the Cobra. Of course, then you can't say you did what you have done.

Good luck with the rest of the build!!
Hi L,

This seames to be a recurring comment lately. I think that people look at this project and see a high priced, over the top, build it just because we can kind of project.

While there is a certain amout of "look what we've done" to it, the project started out exactly as most would have approched the build. We were going to install the Cobra drivetrain into the 65 chassis in exacly the same mannor as everyone else does. We bought the 65 and found a suitable 03 Cobra as a doner car. It was not until we had the cars side by side that we desided it was possible to graft the two structures together.

Some will argue that it is easyer to modify the 65 chassis to accept the Cobra drivetrain. I will argue that this procedure may be a bit more complex on the inital fabrication and engineering side, but is a lot easyer on the mechanical / electrical side.

It is an interesting build on many levels, but I will not be truely happy until we get the car on the road and prove all our theories correct. Until then it is all just a lot of bench racing BS.

Hi L,

This seames to be a recurring comment lately. I think that people look at this project and see a high priced, over the top, build it just because we can kind of project.

While there is a certain amout of "look what we've done" to it, the project started out exactly as most would have approched the build. We were going to install the Cobra drivetrain into the 65 chassis in exacly the same mannor as everyone else does. We bought the 65 and found a suitable 03 Cobra as a doner car. It was not until we had the cars side by side that we desided it was possible to graft the two structures together.

Some will argue that it is easyer to modify the 65 chassis to accept the Cobra drivetrain. I will argue that this procedure may be a bit more complex on the inital fabrication and engineering side, but is a lot easyer on the mechanical / electrical side.

It is an interesting build on many levels, but I will not be truely happy until we get the car on the road and prove all our theories correct. Until then it is all just a lot of bench racing BS.

that is a sweet project dude, i cant wait to see pics of the end result.

Hi All,

Sorry that I haven't updated the site or posted much lately (5 days since the last update), but I have just been buried over the last week. Working on the car. Working on, sigh, work. Rebuilding my new laptop (Corrupted files drove me to the most drastic of measures. Wiping the system clean an reinstalling all the software and systems). Taking time to show my daily driver at a local car show. On and on...

On a positive note, the body shop did get two projects from people who have been following the build on the internet. One is a 67 Mustang convertible and the other is a Honda rice rocket. The 67 vert needs to be restored after a "small" electrical fire (drivers side engine bay). The "rocket" was in a slight fender bender, but needs a total paint job (Another body shop butchered what was supposed to be a high end "custom" paint job. Here is a photo of Wayne scraping the finish off with a razor blade.

http://sn65.com/images/SN65%20Images/Picture%20007.jpg
http://sn65.com/images/SN65%20Images/Picture%20004.jpg

Anyway, I digress...

As far as the car goes, we have been busy little beavers, with Wayne performing a lions share of the work. I have been working on the oil cooler installation, the intercooler mounting, the prop rod installation, etc... Wayne has been working on the drivers side fender and the front grill / valance installation. Following are some photos showing the progress of the past few days. If these aren't enough to keep you satisfied, we have downloaded many more photos at our site.

Prop rod details (Note the installation of the hood bumpers)
http://sn65.com/images/SN65%20Images/05-08-24%20040.jpg[/url]
http://sn65.com/images/SN65%20Images/05-08-24%20042.jpg

Oil filter / cooler details (I still have to install the debris shield). Pay special attention to the lines and fittings used. The lines look like your standard automotive hose, but they are a little bit more industrial than that. These armored hydraulic lines have a burst pressure of 9,000 psi. Also, the internal shielding makes these lines virtually impact resistant.
http://sn65.com/images/SN65%20Images/05-08-24%20002.jpg
http://sn65.com/images/SN65%20Images/05-08-24%20003.jpg
http://sn65.com/images/SN65%20Images/05-08-24%20005.jpg
http://sn65.com/images/SN65%20Images/05-08-24%20038.jpg

Flare details (Note the extractor vent)
http://sn65.com/images/SN65%20Images/05-08-24%20012.jpg
http://sn65.com/images/SN65%20Images/05-08-24%20013.jpg
http://sn65.com/images/SN65%20Images/05-08-24%20034.jpg

Intercooler heat exchanger details
http://sn65.com/images/SN65%20Images/05-08-24%20035.jpg

Catch ya'll l8r

Hi All,

Just talked to Chuck at Maximum Motorsports. They are helping with all the suspension details and setup. They have helped me resolve a number of issues throughout the project and they just helped pull my a$$ out of the fire again....

I modified the caster camber plate arrangement for clearance and ran the idea past them (of course after I had already made the modification). It seamed like a simple mod straight forward to me. They said that they would run it past engineering and get back to me.

Well, they called back just after I left for the day. Wayne said that they wanted me to call them back ASAP.

I called them back the next morning and Chuck told me not to drive the car as altered. Our simple little modification has reduced the strength of the plate assembly by approx 90%. One little bump in the road and BAM the strut will come right through the hood. He said that the engineer actually came running into his office with the calcs. "The modified plates may not even support the weight of the car just sitting there" he said.

I went over all the details with them and they came up with a "safe" workable solution to my clearance issue.

Thanks MM for saving my butt again.

Hi All,

We are pushing hard toward the finish. This is a good thing. We are wanting to have the car painted and ready to start final assembly in two weeks.

In order to make this happen, I am going have to spend more time on the car and less on the internet. :-(

Until the project is completed, I will be checking this forum in order to answer specific questions or comments. For those wishing to view the updates, just go to the SN65 website at SN65.com

Hey everyone, sorry to dig up an old thread, but I saw this car in its completed form today at WFC9 in STL. Holy crap, this thing is absolutely unbelievable! The end result has so many small attentions to detail it is absolutely breath taking as a car. I, like others, walked past the engine bay to see an '03 Cobra powerplant and thought "cool, a Terminator motor in an old restomod. Then I saw the interior, and I had to stick around and listen to the guys talk about what they built. It is an absolutely awesome vehicle.