We installed the Cobra IRS knuckles, hubs, bearings, and rear Wilwood brakes tonight.

I ordered Russ Thompson's Turn Signal System, which is based on an old VW system that has been around forever. After much debate I also decided to keep the traditional wood steering wheel, and get the steering wheel boss machines to accept the differing 6-hole bolt pattern of the Sparco wheel. That will give me the ability to swap out whichever steering wheel I feel like. So I shipped Russ the steering wheel boss and both steering wheels to have fitted....

I ended up ordering the Sparco L360 Steering Wheel off of Amazon today. I love the look and feel of this. With Alcantara Ultrasuede, it's flat bottom, and horn button, it is the perfect addition to our build.

I'm on the fence with how the engine compartment will look, but there are a few things I do know: it will have a coyote 5.0, the engine covers will be painted to match the theme, the stripes on the top of the hood will continue to the underside, and the color theme will be a blend of silver/gray, black and red. I'm using this post to collect my ideas until we settle on the colors.

Ford's 2nd gereation Coyote Engine Chosen For This BuildThe Ford Performance all-aluminum 2017 5.0L Coyote crate engine (M-6007-M50A) is a modern 5.0L 32-valve DOHC V-8 that uses advanced features like Twin Independent Variable Camshaft Timing (Ti-VCT) to deliver 435 horsepower @ 6500 rpm and 400 ft.-lb.+ of torque @ 4250 rpm (with premium fuel). The lightweight aluminum cylinder block features cross-bolted main bearing caps and thick main bearing bulkheads for bottom-end strength, optimized oil drainback and windage control to improve...

So excited I got to work on the Cobra last night with my chief mechanic Christine. First time in a looooong time we got to turn a wrench on this car. Went through the front brakes and suspension. Started to pull the rear brakes and spindles apart. Ordering some tools later to finish up the independent rear suspension. Going to get Christine her own mechanics gloves while we're at it.

The IRS CV axles were installed, they fit, and to my surprise the c-clips engaged without issue. Others have reported engagement issue, but that wasn't the case here.

Tonight Brad and I installed the rear ABS tone rings onto the rear IRS axles. It required heating the rings to a near-glow with a MAP torch to expand the inner openings, sliding them onto the axles, wait for them to cool and shrink onto the axle.

Making room in the garage... we sold the front brakes that came with the kit from Factory Five Racing. They're going to another Factory Five Roadster Owner who bought a base kit. The Wilwood Brakes we got are going to be a huge improvement over these.

Tonight we installed the Independent Rear Suspension Lower Control Arms and IRS Tie Down Loop Kit (ordered recently from Breeze Automotive). The tie down loop kit is two laser cut stainless steel loops that mount under the rear lower control arm to chassis bolt or nut. These were recently revised by Breeze to make installation straight forward – no drilling and no painting are required – and there is no right-hand/left-hand to keep track of. Here is the product...