Parts Score!

We hit the junkyard last weekend. I scored a Fiero emergency brake handle and a right-angle oil filter adapter.

The e-brake handle will let me mount it next to the drivers seat on the floor, rather than putting it on the center transmission hump.

And the oil filter adapter means I don't have to run the (typically leaky) remote oil filter.

All for less than $20!

I love junkyarding.

Brake lines finished.

All of the brake - both hard and flexible - lines are now in place. The connections were tightened, brake fluid added, and brake bleeding commenced. Several connections were then RE-tightened to stem the dripping brake fluid. Overall it was a success though - nothing had to be reflared. I did have to remount the front flexible line mounts though - the original orientation would have caused too much bind when the wheels were at full up-travel.





So now the car will stop! It won't go yet, but that's a minor point.

I also got the fuel lines run. I'm really happy with the way they turned out by the fuel tank. I HATE the FFR clamps though - they're really cheap and the rubber peels off of them too easily.



But those are also in place for now. I have to figure out where they'll go in the engine bay but I can't do that until I drop in the engine and see where they have to connect.

Cindy riveted in both floorpans and then I put the modified passenger footbox together. I have one panel left to go but I want to add some rivets to the foot pan first and it's easier to do without the outer panel in place.

Passenger footbox expanded

One major complaint that many FFR owners share is that the passenger footbox is too small. It's substantially smaller than the drivers footbox for no (to me and many others) apparent reason. When I rode in the passenger side of an FFR at the London Cobra Show recently, this fact was reinforced. I had to twist my feet uncomfortably to make them fit.

There are a couple of commercial solutions available, but with some new jigsaw blades and a brand new Harbor Freight metal break in my possession, I wanted to try my hand at building my own.

The stock box looks like this.



See how the inside wall angles in? That really cuts into the available footroom. Here's an overhead shot of the same box.



And here's an inside shot.



I used my best quality high-end modeling materials (pizza and cereal boxes) to redesign the footbox panels.





And this is what I ended up with.



Notice how much larger the front of the footbox is compared to the stock one. This equates to a tremendous increase in footroom.



And an inside shot.



I'm happy with how it turned out. The panels could fit together a bit better but I'm going to seal the gaps with aluminum tape and silicone to weatherproof them.

And my wife is much happier now that her feet will fit more comfortably.