I’d been waiting on some 1.09” spacers to arrive to assemble the independent rear suspension. Today a box arrived and it included the remainder of my back ordered parts, including the spacers. So only 2 months after I first received my kit, everything is here! That’s a better experience than I had anticipated.
Once again, I caught Emmy doing work. She snagged the spacers I’d been waiting for and decided they would better serve as lug nuts.
After inventory, the first step in the build is to separate the body and frame. I did my best to document the arrangement of all the body hardware as I removed it. My neighbor and I were able to easily lift the body off the frame and place it on a body buck that I built in the morning.
With the body free, I hoisted it to the roof of my garage. I didn’t set up any mechanical advantage in the pulley system but was able to easily raise it, one corner at a time, by myself.
With the body on the ceiling, I started removing and inventorying the aluminum panels. I made sure to label their orientation, fitment, and part numbers using a sharpie. When they were all clear of the frame, I wrapped them in packing paper and stored them away.
Before the kit arrived, I purchased an iron 3.55 ratio differential from a wrecked 2018 Mustang with 17k miles. Since I am using the Mustang’s independent rear suspension, this is the required differential. I could have purchased new, but these things are tanks and I saved a few hundred bucks. Becuase it is used (the only used part I will use), I elected to pull and replace the axle seals. With a puller it wasn’t a difficult task.
Before replacing the seals, I prepped the housing for a coating of POR-15 with their Cleaner and Metal Prep products. The POR-15 went on easy with a brush. Wear a mask with this stuff!
Quick tip for POR-15 users: After opening POR-15 it can be hard to reseal and this stuff can rapidly cure in the can during storage. To avoid that, consider never “opening” the can! Use some self tapping roofing screws with the rubber washers to create pour and vent holes. Replace immediatly after filling your paint cup.
My wife Monica’s surgery was successful and she is recoverying well. Over the last few nights, I’ve inventoried all the boxes. I was quite worried that given the high demand for Factory Five products and the status of world supply chains, that I would be short a lot of items. I heard a lot of horror stories this year about back ordered parts. Fortunately, my Part on Order List (POL) wasn’t too lengthy. In fact, I got a bonus box that contained half of the POL! I guess between kit completion and pickup, some of my parts came in. The only significant things I am missing right now are the Wilwood pedal box and the rivets.
I read a lot on the Factory Five Forums about how to best tackle the inventory. I ended up ticking items off my inventory lists and then putting them all back into their boxes. I then attached the inventory sheet to the box. With all the sheets scanned, I will be able to quickly search for the parts I need by number or name. When all was said and done, I was missing about 12 items. All were small pieces of hardware. I sent that list off to Factory Five and had a Missing in Kit order in the system the next day. I was also sent the incorrect driveshaft, but Factory Five sent me a shipping label so I could exchange it.
My boxes are now all neatly organized and accessible. There are a few larger boxes that I won’t use for some time that aren’t pictured (seats, carpet, windshield, etc). I put them in the attic and gym.
