While waiting to get the steel plate fabricated to hold the remote brake fluid reservoirs, I’ve focussed on the footbox aluminum. I drilled out the ‘frame’ of the peddle box access cover so that I can attach nutserts and then secure the cover using 10-32 hex head screws. I covered the outside panel on the DS box with Rustoleum Bedliner. The rivets you can see are securing the pedalbox stepout. I’m still undecided about the finish for the Al panels that will be seen.
I spent quite a bit of time experimenting with Al polish and I’ve come to the conclusion that that the benefit / cost ratio (cost being the amount of effort) isn’t worth it (at least for me). I like the ‘bare’ Al look but 1) it’s a lot of work to get rid of scratches and polish the surface; 2) bare panels are susceptible to scratching even if covered with something like Sharkhide. I’ve toyed with doing nothing to the Al but cleaning the fingerprints off with acetone, after all the original race cars had the Al untouched, but a number of people on the forums who have done that have said that the Al starts to look bad after a while and some have regretted that path. Since there are relatively few panels that can be seen, I’m leaning toward powdercoating in a ‘metal-like’ finish those that will be visible. I’ll put bedliner on those surfaces more exposed to the environment.
Another problem I think I’ve solved is how to route the hoses form the remote brake fluid reservoirs through the DS footbox firewall. There is an opening that you can see between the two red firewall fitting for the bakelines but I think I’ll route the wiring harness through there. I’ll need to add some holes and I’ll put them just above the right hand firewall fitting. The reservoir hose has an O.D. of 1/2” so I finally found a grommet that will work to fit in the holes that I’ll create. They're sold by Grainger. I’ll need a 13/16” drill bit, which is a bit of an odd size (pun intended).
I discovered, however, that the right-side panel of the DS footbox interferess with the F5-supplied accelerator pedal. Apparently Factory Five made the DS footbox smaller on the inboard side to accommodate the Coyote engine option and now the pedal hits the Al. Some remedies include extending the footbox out on that side— I have room because I’ll be using a 351 Windsor block— or buying another pedal, one that doesn’t have the angle of the F5 pedal. I’ll spend part of today looking at the problem and hopefully come up with a solution.
