Tools for building Factory 5 car?

[BroncoAZ]

My good friend and mentor just received his Factory 5 car. I am going to be helping him quite a bit on this project and will want to put together a decent tool set of my own to keep at his shop for the duration of the project. He will be farming out the body work/paint, we’ll be focused on all the mechanical assembly and powertrain (Coyote/6 speed).

Does anyone know if these cars are all SAE, all Metric, or a mix of both?

I already have a Mac tools MB190UC 3-Drawer Utility Cart to dedicate to the project. I have plenty of tools in my current garage that I can split into the cart to keep at his shop for the duration of the project, and I’ll need to buy some other things. I have recently been buying some of the Carlyle stuff Napa has on sale.

For those wondering why I don’t just use his tools in his shop, most of his tools are basic Craftsman stuff. His tools are in very nice built in boxes, but they are 20’ from the car lift where we’ll be working. My cart will be much handier and gives us a place to work on assembling things while under the car. I know he will end up upgrading most of his tools during this project, but I still want to have my own. The shop is private/secure and all my tools will be marked to avoid mixups (not that I need to worry about this).

Here is what I have already that are duplicates:
Carlyle screwdriver set
Carlyle 3 piece plier set
Carlyle 3 piece electrical plier set
Carlyle SAE and Metric 6 point reversible ratcheting wrench sets
Pittsburg 1/2” deep impact sockets
1/2” breaker bar, 1/2” ratchet
Craftsman prybars (I have 3 sets of these)
Craftsman professional flare nut wrenches
Various specialty automotive tools
Fluke voltmeter
Trusty Cook flat flat stubby dead blow hammer
Torque wrenches in 1/4”, 3/8”, and 1/2”

Here is what I was thinking of buying:
Gearwrench 3/8” and 1/4” chrome socket sets with 120xp ratchets ($100)
3/8” impact socket set (Sunex or Gearwrench)

I plan on carrying my M12 and M18 tools with me as needed. I have enough batteries and chargers to go around. I figure I’ll want my M12 stubby impact, M12 ratchets, and M12 screwdriver at a minimum. He has a basic 5 tool M12 set so I probably don’t need a drill or hackzall. I will be bringing in my engine hoist and stand when the time comes. He has a 4 post lift, floor jacks, and jack stands.

What else do I need, or what don’t I need from the list above? Thanks!

Edit: pictures on page 2, post 28-29.

 

[astroracer]

Between the both of you have enough tools to build a kit car. There will be very little fab work as these kits are very well thought out. Get started putting it together and you will figure what you need or don't need, simple as that.
Mark

 

[metaleltr]

From the build I have seen the first tool I would buy for the project would be a powered rivet gun. Milwaukee has the M12 rivet gun or if compressed air is available you could get a pnuematic one from Astro.

 

[LXCam]

The majority of the work I.E. suspension and drivetrain will all be metric. Personally I moved away from introducing SAE into the mix anymore on my builds just because it becomes a hardware nightmare for someone else down the line. The other problem is most aftermarket stuff comes with SAE bolts and are ill fitting for metric holes, an example being suspension parts and such.

Btw, what did he buy and is he gonna to use a donor car or did he buy everything needed from factory five?

 

[BroncoAZ]

Between the both of you have enough tools to build a kit car. There will be very little fab work as these kits are very well thought out. Get started putting it together and you will figure what you need or don't need, simple as that.
Mark

I have enough tools to build a space shuttle I just don’t plan on bringing all of mine because he lives 2 hours away. If there is anything that needs to be fabricated I will likely take it back to my garage as his is a “clean” shop where other cars are stored. I spend significant time in his city for work most weeks with nothing to do in the evenings.

From the build I have seen the first tool I would buy for the project would be a powered rivet gun. Milwaukee has the M12 rivet gun or if compressed air is available you could get a pnuematic one from Astro.

Thanks for the reminder, he mentioned rivets and I had immediately thought M12 rivet gun. He will be getting a compressor at some point, so I’ll look into the pros and cons of M12 vs Astro and advise him.

The majority of the work I.E. suspension and drivetrain will all be metric. Personally I moved away from introducing SAE into the mix anymore on my builds just because it becomes a hardware nightmare for someone else down the line. The other problem is most aftermarket stuff comes with SAE bolts and are ill fitting for metric holes, an example being suspension parts and such.

Btw, what did he buy and is he gonna to use a donor car or did he buy everything needed from factory five?

He purchased a truck model. Power will be new stuff from Ford Performance, looks like about $13K for brand new engine/trans with 2/24 warranty. I jokingly suggested that he could scavenge the Coyote out of his 2018 Mustang, or the Ecoboost out of his F-150.

Good to know that the base kit is all metric. I can taylor my tool set to be light on SAE. Maybe I’ll only buy some of the specialty wrenches in Metric for that kit.

 

[protegeV]

I just came here to remind you to post pics once the assembling begins

 

[BroncoAZ]

I just came here to remind you to post pics once the assembling begins

It’s not my project, so I will have to ask my buddy before posting any pics. I was going to suggest we setup a time lapse camera in the shop for major assemblies.

He seems to think that this will be a 2 year build, but he’s not the type to let anything sit that long.

 

[GirchyGirchy]

From looking at innumerable build threads, everyone buys a good amount of Clecos.

 

[BroncoAZ]

From looking at innumerable build threads, everyone buys a good amount of Clecos.

I had forgot what they were called, but he had mentioned those for panel assembly.

 

[bluebolt]

Sounds like he is planning on using a Coyote engine and T56, in that case it should be pretty much all metric.

 

[BroncoAZ]

Sounds like he is planning on using a Coyote engine and T56, in that case it should be pretty much all metric.

Correct, although he’s not 100% certain on the T56 vs automatic at this point.

 

[arrowhead]

Hey that's cool! Welcome to the club! (avatar is my FFR '33 hot rod - template for the '35 truck your building).

Yes, there will be a mix of SAE and metric, even on the suspension. A lot of the parts were designed to use Mustang donor components(metric) but some of the parts that FFR builds in house use SAE hardware. You should be able to tell pretty quickly from the inventory sheets what hardware you have as every component is listed right down to nut and bolt and screws and what they are for. You might want to sign up to one or both the Factory Five forums, they are a great resource.

 

[Fedwrench]

Thread chasers-you may need to clean some threads that were painted or powder coated.

A good rolling seat- I'm old and it's easier to move along a chassis if it's not on a lift.

 

[BroncoAZ]

Hey that's cool! Welcome to the club! (avatar is my FFR '33 hot rod - template for the '35 truck your building).

Yes, there will be a mix of SAE and metric, even on the suspension. A lot of the parts were designed to use Mustang donor components(metric) but some of the parts that FFR builds in house use SAE hardware. You should be able to tell pretty quickly from the inventory sheets what hardware you have as every component is listed right down to nut and bolt and screws and what they are for. You might want to sign up to one or both the Factory Five forums, they are a great resource.

Thanks for the tips, I’ll keep some SAE stuff in my box. I’ll probably get on the forums as it’s not his thing to my knowledge. I was doing some reading last night, some great builds on there.

Thread chasers-you may need to clean some threads that were painted or powder coated.

A good rolling seat- I'm old and it's easier to move along a chassis if it's not on a lift.

The chassis came powdercoated, so good call on thread chasers. I purchased him a new rolling seat as a shop warming project last month, I’m sure it’ll get lots of use.

 

[BroncoAZ]

I started assembling my cart. Something I’m missing is combination wrenches. I have Carlyle 6pt ratcheting wrenches, but I’m assuming there will be times I need two wrenches the same size. I was looking at the following:

Tekton wrenches ($85) - low cost, are they decent enough?
SK sets in standard and Metric ($300)
Gearwrench 12pt long pattern ($160), but only if made in Taiwan as I don’t like COO China

I want wrenches that will not damage the fasteners as my buddy is OCD about that sort of thing. Carlyle has some nice sets, but the sets that I would want are $400+ and the anti slip may mar some of the fasteners. If I buy SK or Gearwrench they will eventually replace my Craftsman RP at home. What else should I be looking at in the $100 range?

 

[Lucid Moments]

I use some Tekton wrenches and am fairly pleased. I am a rank amateur though so keep that in mind.

 

[Fedwrench]

I started assembling my cart. Something I’m missing is combination wrenches. I have Carlyle 6pt ratcheting wrenches, but What else should I be looking at in the $100 range?

The Tekton full polish combination wrench sets are made in Taiwan and are probably the best bang for your money. They aren't really a long pattern wrench but, are slightly longer than a standard length wrench,Their 13mm comes in at 7 inches long whereas, a long pattern would be around 8 inches long. You can often find Tekton wrench sets on sale at amazon. Tekton also offers a very wide selection of open stock should you need larger sizes too. They also have nice chrome, fit well, and good balance. You also don't seem to have the problems with Tekton that many people have with Gearwrench.

 

[ScottsGT]

My son is assisting, rather completing one for a guy at his house currently. Unfortunately my son got involved on the back end and the owner was clueless about parts ordering. He bought the kit for the Coyote and purchased a Roush 5.0 (but stroked to a 347) Windsor for it. So they have had to order all kinds of parts to make it work. One area he really didn't plan ahead on was the power steering system. Roush provided some kind of pump that doesn't play well with the rack unit.
Make sure he gets the power steering serpentine system that will work with the rack unit. And don't even think about going manual steering with tires that big on the front.
Another area to really plan ahead on is the clutch pedal system. Some are cable pulled, some are hydraulic. Go hydraulic if you can.

 

[scubadoober]

Hard to beat this set if you want USA COO. You can add larger singles later if needed.

http://www.toolsdelivered.com/Williams-MWS-10A-Hand-Tools-Wrenches-Combination-Metric-Sets

 

[Cobradriver]

It’s not my project, so I will have to ask my buddy before posting any pics. I was going to suggest we setup a time lapse camera in the shop for major assemblies.

He seems to think that this will be a 2 year build, but he’s not the type to let anything sit that long.

2 Years ? Seriously ?

Including the time spent on paint(by me) I built my Unique in ~6 weeks.

I had built the engine and trans assembly the week before I picked the kit up....

Chris

 

[arrowhead]

2 Years ? Seriously ?

Including the time spent on paint(by me) I built my Unique in ~6 weeks.

I had built the engine and trans assembly the week before I picked the kit up....

Chris

Well that's cool and all and not knocking Unique, but it's a completely different build than a FFR as I'm sure you are aware. Looks like there's about an $8000 difference in the base price so with FFR people can choose to put that $8K in their pocket in exchange for sweat equity.

To the OP, I'm sure it can be done in a much shorter time frame. If your friend spends only a moderate amount of time on it I'm sure you can have it running and driving in a few months. The body and paint always seems to take the longest. What actually drags these projects out is the customization and upgrading that inevitably happens with most builds.

 

[ScottsGT]

Just looked at the Unique. It seems to be more of a completed kit than the FF. A lot less assembly from glancing at their website. If money was no object, I'd get the Unique myself. Often thought about one of these kits. Not sure how this fat guy would fit in one though.

 

[BroncoAZ]

I use some Tekton wrenches and am fairly pleased. I am a rank amateur though so keep that in mind.

The Tekton full polish combination wrench sets are made in Taiwan and are probably the best bang for your money. They aren't really a long pattern wrench but, are slightly longer than a standard length wrench,Their 13mm comes in at 7 inches long whereas, a long pattern would be around 8 inches long. You can often find Tekton wrench sets on sale at amazon. Tekton also offers a very wide selection of open stock should you need larger sizes too. They also have nice chrome, fit well, and good balance. You also don't seem to have the problems with Tekton that many people have with Gearwrench.

Cool to see some people pleased with Tekton.

Hard to beat this set if you want USA COO. You can add larger singles later if needed.

http://www.toolsdelivered.com/Williams-MWS-10A-Hand-Tools-Wrenches-Combination-Metric-Sets

These look very nice. I'd want a little broader set to replace my primaries, so the price goes up, but I like everything about those.

 

[BroncoAZ]

My son is assisting, rather completing one for a guy at his house currently. Unfortunately my son got involved on the back end and the owner was clueless about parts ordering. He bought the kit for the Coyote and purchased a Roush 5.0 (but stroked to a 347) Windsor for it. So they have had to order all kinds of parts to make it work. One area he really didn't plan ahead on was the power steering system. Roush provided some kind of pump that doesn't play well with the rack unit.
Make sure he gets the power steering serpentine system that will work with the rack unit. And don't even think about going manual steering with tires that big on the front.
Another area to really plan ahead on is the clutch pedal system. Some are cable pulled, some are hydraulic. Go hydraulic if you can.

It came with some sort of electric power steering assist, I'll find more info on that later, but manual steer is not part of the plan.

2 Years ? Seriously ?

Including the time spent on paint(by me) I built my Unique in ~6 weeks.

I had built the engine and trans assembly the week before I picked the kit up....

Chris

Picture James May from Top Gear/Grand Tour building this car. He might be polishing and naming the spanners as I type.

This is a hobby project for a 60ish guy, not something that needs to be driving next month. He told me his planned timetable of about 2 years. We both work day jobs and I probably can't spend more than probably 6 evenings per month helping him. I don't live in the same city so I doubt I'll be there weekend days. I'm not sure if anyone else will be assisting.

 

[Cobradriver]

It came with some sort of electric power steering assist, I'll find more info on that later, but manual steer is not part of the plan.



Picture James May from Top Gear/Grand Tour building this car. He might be polishing and naming the spanners as I type.

This is a hobby project for a 60ish guy, not something that needs to be driving next month. He told me his planned timetable of about 2 years. We both work day jobs and I probably can't spend more than probably 6 evenings per month helping him. I don't live in the same city so I doubt I'll be there weekend days. I'm not sure if anyone else will be assisting.

Ah...O.K. I'm a single guy who was working second shift at the time so I pretty much spent ~30-40+ hours a week on it.

As an fyi....tell your friend these cars are evil with a 90" wheebase, straight axle rear and high horsepower. I'm hoping he picked the IRS. It'll calm the car down a bunch.

I've had mine for 20 years this year (not a typo). It's still as fun as the first time I did a smokey burnout. How hard do I drive mine? I'm running a faceplated TKO on the street so I can shift at ~7500 without lifting(still use the clutch). I've been told I ain't normal....

 

[bigdav160]

The car I'm working on has a mix of fasteners. I am using a cheap HF rivet gun. Coyote, TKO, Lincoln IRS.

The car went completely underwater during Hurricane Harvey. Surprisingly, after draining many gallons of water out of the engine, transmission, axle, gas tank, and frame; it starts, runs and drives.

 

[BroncoAZ]

As an fyi....tell your friend these cars are evil with a 90" wheebase, straight axle rear and high horsepower. I'm hoping he picked the IRS. It'll calm the car down a bunch.

He got the truck model, so I think the wheelbase is slightly longer. He did purchase the solid axle, I expect it to scare him with 2380# and 435 hp. We were talking about tuning and traction control this afternoon. There may be an issue fitting the MT82 in the tunnel, so he was talking about AOD with a 347 engine. More research to follow, but I hope he goes with the Coyote.

I delivered my tool cart to the shop today, he seemed pleased with the tools I was bringing. For wrenches I brought Carlyle reversible ratcheting in standard and metric, and took my current Gearwrench stubby ratcheting in standard and metric, Gearwrench flexible ratcheting in standard and metric, and Craftsman professional flare nut wrenches in standard and metric.

After much reading and contemplation I ordered a set of the Wrightgrips in metric to replace my Craftsman RP wrenches in my home box. If I really like them I’ll order the SAE set too, but for some reason the SAE was $40 more for 3 less wrenches. My second choice was Williams Supercombos, but for some reason there weren’t any good torture test videos on those like there was for the Wrightgrip.

 

[BroncoAZ]

Toolbox assembled and project in process.

 

[BroncoAZ]

Fortunately we have a nice shop to work in.

 

[Yarpo]

Fortunately we have a nice shop to work in.

Wow, I work in one of the cleanest shops I've ever seen and this place might put it to shame How large is it? I've always thought about opening my own shop and if you could get two lifts in the back and have cars also being worked on in front of them, you could get a shop up and going without a massive footprint. Similar to this! Plus the loft for storage/parts.

 

[LS6 Tommy]

They're based on Mustang GT drivetrains. Standard auto mech tools should be fine.

Tommy

 

[BroncoAZ]

Wow, I work in one of the cleanest shops I've ever seen and this place might put it to shame How large is it? I've always thought about opening my own shop and if you could get two lifts in the back and have cars also being worked on in front of them, you could get a shop up and going without a massive footprint. Similar to this! Plus the loft for storage/parts.

The shop is a private space that my buddy owns in a complex, 25’ w x 50’ d. There could be room for two lifts and two cars in front, the stairs on the right make it tight for the second lift but it could be done. The mezzanine is 12’ deep off the back wall.

 

[ScottsGT]

I see he’s also into RC airplanes. I was once hooked on that drug. I built the big ones like he has.

 

[GirchyGirchy]

Love the wheels on the truck.

How do you like the Wrightgrips? I'm still using my RPs and wonder if they'd be worth an upgrade.

 

[LXCam]

Nice joint, I'd have bought all new **** too just to fit in. Lol