Herman's Factory Five Racing 65' Roadster Build Site

January 2007

1/4/2007 - Happy New Year to everyone. This entry is a far cry from years past. There's not much to report this week. With the holidays done with, it's back to work as usual. But last Friday of 2006, I took SNKVNNM to work and treated everyone that came to lunch. Fed probably 10-12 guys. I was just happy because 2006 was a banner year where 70% of the assembly occurred and the car was legal and registrered.

The major highlights of 2006 included:

Purchase of the I-Squared System - simply one of the simplest and best wiring systems I've seen.
Installing the engine/tranny - prepping for body installation and sending it to Street Rod Painter, Ken Pike.
Body off to SRP for paint - got lost coming home but the fate of the body is now in his hands.
First fire up/go-kart - a highligt to be sure, but dampened by the fact it was vibrating just way too much. The "331" was not that and was not "netural balanced" at the crank. While I could have "guessed" at a 28oz. imbalance, I didn't want any more headaches trying to find out.
Ordered a CHP 347 "Street Fighter Pro" - a fully forged short block, this thing cranked up on the first shot; so much smoother and the extra cubes were noticable!. More go-karting!
Newly Painted Body! - just about the 2nd best day of the projects life (the first was initial delivery). Got it mounted and took her back home. A most beautiful and sexy looking body - and it's all mine!
Street trim body - everything now installed (windshield, illuminations, rearview mirror, etc.) and ready for the CHP, BAR, Brake & Lamp, and DMV. Driving around all the relatives was the best treat for everyone this year.
Registration Completed - virtually by the last week of the year, the registration was all ironed out. Received plates, and insured!

There is still much to do in 2007 and I can't wait to get started. Here's the list:

Replace FFR quickjacks with Finishline Chromed brass over-riders.
Install rubber grommets for front quick-jack tubes.
Install door seals
Install jamb-tac for rear license plate illumination
Order and install polised SS roll bars
Install aluminum roll bar trim rings from Mike Everson
Install 2nd windshield wiper and make both operational
Finish forward nose aluminum for the radiator.

And in the months ahead, I hope to make it to some events. Not sure quite yet; the "Western States Cobra Bash" in Reno/Spark in May is a possibility.

1/7/2007 - I finished installing the front overriders this weekend. Was rather busy to get to the rears so that'll happen sometime in the comming week. Yesterday (Saturday) I took SNKVNNM to Baji's in Mountain View, CA to have breakfast with some of the local "Cobra" owners. About 7 or 8 were in attendance. Met up with a bunch of new faces ( as opposed to the Athen's crowd in Dublin, CA). Much like my first Athen's breakfast, I felt more comfortable talking with others, now that I finally have something to show, instead of bugging people about various aspects of my build. I did get a few comments of how well the engine bay was built which made me feel pretty good. I even discovered there are 3 more Cobra owners in Sunnyvale now ( George, Ryan, Scott ) which makes it a total of 5 in my city that I know of so far. I'll probably try to make this breakfast a regular thing, with weather permitting.

1/13/2007 - with a little spare time this Saturday, I finished installing the rear overriders. Since I cut the threaded rods the same length as the fronts ( 7.5" ), the overriders initially looked like they were too close but after reviewing the final product, I do like the distance; they don't stick out like a sore thumb as some others I've seen and since I'm not considering the nudge bars, they will stay where they are.

1/26/2007 - I have received a set of polished aluminum spats from Brian Alvarez (B+L FFR 1686) and these are gorgeous looking pieces. I set aside this Saturday to have a go at trying to get them installed. Upon some initial positioning on Friday, it appeared I had too much of a gap but after receiving a PM from Brian and a couple of other satisfied customers, I figured that due to each body being slightly different, I simply have to keep repositioning the spats until I came up with what I felt was a satisfactory position. In the end, I found what I considered the best position possible given what I have to work with . I think I did OK.

Just out of the box:

Initial positioning:

Hmmm.....

After a little work (ok, 3 hours!)

One of the things I discovered during this installation was the center/top tended to bulge up despite my attempts to flatten the spats and align the original holes to their final positions. So I made the decision to add one more bolt in the middle as you can see in the photos. This really helped pull in the gap up top. Yes, I used a generous amount of silicone. The very edge of the spats also bulges upwards a bit but I didnt' want to put another bolt through the mid-point so for now, I did a second pass with some black silicone caulk and ran my finger along the seam to seal up the edge.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the results. I'd like to thank Brian for the wonderful looking spats and feel a lot better hitting the road now and not worrying about chipping the paint here.

1/31/2007 - Here are some outside shots with the spats: