Spent the day fabricating my own oil adapter plate for remote oil filter. Bolted up sway bar Most FE motors used a horizontal oil filter and an adapter that angled up from its mounting location. This adapter fits the motor and the Hurricane frame, but it positions the oil filter outside the engine compartment and into the left wheel well. Not what I was looking for. I had decided to be period correct and had found a remote oil filter adapter and bracket that mounted as the originals. All that was needed was an adapter plate to connect the hoses to the block. I thoughtRead More →

Sway bar

Installed front suspension, modifying lower A Arm to mount sway bar. The Hurricane kit does not include a sway bar in the build, relying on the coil-overs to manage body roll. They do a spectacular job but for additional handling, I decided to add a  swaybar. I wanted a bar that would not require welding the lower arm. My welding isn’t bad but don’t have the confidence in it yet to be welding on the suspension components. The width of the frame rails dictated the distance between the arms. The distance between the coil-over mounts dictate the distance between eyes. I learned a Miata bar isRead More →

Finished indexing bellhousing to  block. Finished modified motormounts. Mounted transmission and installed motor. Kool!!  Installed slave cylinder & clutch As you do your research on the internet, you’ll see kits being built with all kinds of bellhousings. Stock cast iron, aluminum, aftermarket scattershields. If you’ve ever seen a clutch blow, you’ll understand why the scattershield is the only logical answer. I used a Lakewood 15210. It comes with the blockplate and mounting hardware. Be aware, you will need a couple socket head capscrews to mount it properly. The holes are too close to the bend in the housing and standard bolts won’t fit. I wentRead More →

The basic IRS comes with Ford brake calipers from a 93-97 Thunderbird. One of Ford’s better ideas is the way the emergency brake is actuated. Normally, on a bowden cable, the inner flexible cable is pulled to create the movement. The outer cable serves as an anchor. In this application, the inner cable is fixed to the caliper and relies on the movement of the outer cable when the inner cable is shortened by by the movement of the  brake lever. Sounds good on paper but in reality, it sux. If there is any extra movement, it decreases the efficiency of the setup. In this case,Read More →

Running fuel lines and need to have motor in place to know where the clutch lever runs. Time to switch focus to finishing motor. This feature has been changed – see new approach The design of the Hurricane kit requires relocating the fuel tank fittings to the opposite side of the fuel tank. No big deal – till you start to assemble and seal the fittings. Then the fun begins. The fuel filler fitting goes to the rear as close to the rear and top as you can go. But be aware the tank is radiused in this area and you can get into anRead More →

I chose to include the IRS option with my car. Three items entered into the decision 1) I was trying to be period correct –  the original car also carried an independent rear suspension 2) I did not plan to race the car, but was interested in the best ride and handling possible 3) Re-sale value with an IRS is higher As stated earlier, I also chose to have the car provided in an “Un-assembled” condition. This adds a few complexities to the IRS. 1) Handling – it isn’t the lightest piece in the build. I found my floor jack would serve as a make-shiftRead More →

Busy day. Bedliner for the tubs, heatshielding for the footboxes and an original style throttle pedal The stock Hurricane kit comes with a Lokar cable type throttle linkage and pedal. For those wanting to just build a car, it works well and is a quality item. But I am on this “Period correct” kick. Original Throttle Pedal and Footbox bracket Kirkham Footbox and throttle bracket Original Pedal setup Lokar throttle pedal, as supplied with kit Hurricane Footbox, exterior Standard Hurricane Pedal setup I used my friendly Google search and a lot of review of photos on ClubCobra and CSXInfo to determine how to construct anRead More →

The stock latch leaves a little to be desired. The angle and bolt are functional but not much more can be said for them. I added a bracket to the rear of the frame to accommodate the second leg of a square u-bolt. When the final assembly is done, the rear cross member and this bracket will be drilled to accept the u-bolt. I had cause to put the body onto the frame to check another modification. Gave me a chance to photograph the  bracket and body clearance. My bracket is 2½” front to rear. This provides 1/8″ clearance inside of the body.Read More →

My build is going to be on “my side” of a two car garage. I want to leave room for my wife’s car. The logical solution is the body buck to raise the Cobra body over the work area until it is mounted on the frame. I found a very good article on the FactoryFive forum about building a buck.  Bill Haas has done an excellent job on compiling the data for Factory Five buck. It would fit my needs exactly, with one exception – the contours are for a Factory Five, not for a Hurricane. A little layout work and I have generated aRead More →