From time-to-time, forum members discuss great ideas. Here's some of the highlights!

[TB] "I've got one regarding the oil sending unit. Go down to the local hot-rod shop and get a 45 degree brass fitting with 1/4 thread. It will cost all of a $1.50. Carefully apply teflon tape going the same direction when screwing in. Attach that long-ass sending tube, attach sending unit. Voilla! No more heat on your sending unit. Hot-rod shop or Ford should have a newer, much smaller sending unit that makes it even better."

[MF] "Im using the donor gauge setup and instead of removing the trip odometer stalk like the manual says i drilled a nice clean hole in the lexan face for that gauge and left it in, now i have a resettable odometer that isnt just along for the ride, should come in handy."

[TB] ". Are you tired of having all that engine heat blow on your legs? You know that most of it is coming from between the body and foot boxes, blowing on the door hinge and then on your legs. Easy fix, go get some of that expanding foam stuff from a Home Depot and spray it up in there on the driver and passenger areas between the footbox and body. Also, spray it up where the aluminum meets the body right behind the seats and if you get caught on a real wet street, at least you'll be dry."

[RT] "Another door trick. There's "play" in the hinge pin that allows the door to be moved up and down. To eliminate this slop, I drilled and taped two holes for 1/4-20 set screws in the door hinge pin tube, one at the top, one at the bottom. The set screws make the pin a solid part of the hinge asy, thus eliminating any play between these parts and retains the pin at the same time. Makes for a much smoother operating door. Drill the holes in the long Tube on the door part of the hinge about 1/2" from each end. Use 1/4 inch long set screws so the don't interfere with the door closing."

[JP] "Not a tip but a mindset really: When assembling the components on your car, always imagine where you and your eyes and your hands will be the next time you encounter each fastener or component you install. For instance, Battery: will be removed while you're under the car, so allow lots of extra cable so it can drop down to where you can reach cable clamps with tools; same thing with gas tank, allow extra length on fuel lines and elec. connections in case you ever need to drop it. Control arms: bolts must go in so you can remove them from underneath once the car's done and aluminum interior is installed, else have to cut em out (I'm doing it this week!) Important when routing plumbing, wiring, and fittings attached to each. I'm real happy I did it this way most of the time, and am regretting the lapses in thought now that I'm modifying or repairing stuff. Remember, we'll also be working on our cars AFTER we finish building them."

[SD] "I used a battery with side mounts only, this way if you need to take the battery out you can take the battery leads off first. Then I mounted a set of remote battery jumper terminals in the trunk on the drivers side. The ground was terminated at the frame and the positive line was run with the other wires from the trunk. Behind the drivers seat, on the trans tunnel I mounted a lucas cutoff switch, with a removable key. This works great as a anti-theft and and panic switch in case you see smoke rising from the engine compartment. the remote battery jumpers terminals are available for $21.69 from summit and the cutoff switch is available from finish line for about $20.00"

[WP] "I have a battery cut out switch mounted behind the drivers seat. I ran a fused wire to the radio and the number 1 terminal of the EEC-IV to retain the adaptive memory of the computer when the battery switch is turned off. If you follow the power wire from the fusible link at the solenoid, it goes to the EEC power relay first then to the computer. Cut the wire between the relay and the computer and cap off the one from the relay(leaving the relay powered by the fusible link). Run a wire from the hot side of the cutoff switch with a 15amp fuse to the #1 terminal of the EEC-IV. You can also power a clock or radio memory circut also. The wire color of the power wire on an 88-90 car is black w/orange stripe."

[DD] "I couldn't find an indash mount shift light so I bought the on dash mount shift light from autometer and mounted in the dash. I cut a 1 5/8" Hole above the steering column where the turn signal indicators are suggested to mount. I cut the hole from the back of the dash with a drill type hole cutter. I drilled slowly taking care not to cut into the dash leather. The shift light has grooves in it so I went to the hardware store and bought 1 1/2" O Rings to hold the shift light in place. Cutting the hole at 1 5/8 makes a tight fit so the o-rings and a hose clamp on the inside of the dash are plenty strong enough to keep things in place. I took the light apart so that I could slide it thru from the front of the dash so that the leather would slide into the dash cut hole giving it a finish look visually and making the fit tighter. I then remounted the housing to the shift light. I spun the shift module toward the engine bay so that I could easily replace the increment pills for RPM shift adjustment."

[N] "

Remove the fuse to regain the complete cutoff when racing."

[LD] "Hood hinge pin.

I was driving on a great back road and my hood starting moving atround. The hinge pin worked its way out on one side and was sticking out about 4" on the other.

Here's two easy fixes.
1) Thread both ends of the hinge pin for a locking nut on each end.
2) If you don't want to remove the pin and take your hood off simply cut two 1" pieces of 3/8" rubber hose and squeeze on the pin while in place. This will stop the pin from working its way out."

[H] "Here's a trick for maximizing your workspace. If you're like me, a two-car garage is just barely adequate for efficient assembly and body work (especially when the wife's car insists on sleeping inside at night) I built a body buck that can support the body from underneath or be used (with some attachments) to lift the body off of the chassis.

The attachments:
1. a crossbeam with two hooks that pick the front of the car using the louver openings. This attachment mounts to the outside of the car.
2. An adjustable cockpit brace to eliminate stress along the door panels.
3. A crossbeam which grabs the underside of the trunk opening near the forward root.

With these attachments in place, I use an engine hoist on the trunk beam and a come-along (attached to a roof truss) on the hood beam. I can raise the body incrementally, checking for binds as I go, until it clears the chassis. At this point I suspend the body with hooks and chain from the trusses. Now it's out of the way.

If I'm working on the body, I'll roll the chassis unto the driveway, attach internal supports with casters to the hood and trunk beams, remove the louver hooks and lower the whole business to the floor, where I can roll it around and have full access to all portions of the body.

It's very stable, easy to use and fully supports the body, whether it's hanging from the ceiling or sitting on the floor.

The nice thing about this is that removing or replacing the body becomes a one-person job. (My brew & pizza bill has dropped off dramatically since I no longer need the help of friends when it comes to trial fitting, etc.) Of course, the wisdom of building this thing is suspect - since the friends show up anyway, whether or not there's beer and pizza."

[RB] "Couple of comments from a newer FFR kit builder. I found at a PEP boys rubber grommets, used for Ford PVC mounting on value covers, that fit around the front tubes where they exit out the body. ALso got from Finish Line the large rubber grommet for roll bar but for the support bar used a house roof grommet - kind they use for vent pipes on houses - that fitted perfectly. Also used cut rubber tire tube to make a gasket under the base plate for the windshield - got tired of water dripping on my leg! I also got used a Mercury Capri 1983 light switch to replace the Mustang light switch. The switch for the wipers was causing problems - Lucus quality - I got a switch from HQ that has a rubber covering over it and much more positive feel to it. Got extra ones too so I can replace that multi switch from the Mustang (turn, and hi beams).

a Radiator Hose Filler! It's cast aluminum that fits nicely in the top rad. hose. It helps make sure you have no air lock in the cooling system. It's made by Moroso."

[R] "If you want to include the ammeter gauge in your dash and also want to have a clean wiring harness consider running a pair of 8 gauge wires from the starter solenoid to the center of the dash before you finish with the harness."

[MR] "Here's an idea for installing the rearend, but it only works the first time while there is no trunk aluminum. Slide the rearend under the frame, wrap a chain diagonally around the center section being careful not to damage the brake lines, reach through the frame from the top with your engine hoist and pick up the rearend. Much easier lining up the control arm bushings than balancing on a floor jack."

[DW] "Advance Auto has a "Brake Cable Adjuster" that is ideal if you need to adjust the length of your e-brake cable. It will effectively shorten your cable up to about one inch. Use it on the front cable, and you will only need one. Costs 3 bucks, and is small enough to hide up above the chassis.
Part number: 03006"

[GR] "Brand new to this and in the dreaming stage. Raced SCCA in a Datsun 510 and a Datsun 2000 about 20 years ago. One problem I had with Fiberglass fenders and sticky race tires was the rocks would get flung against the inside of the fenders and cause star cracks in the paint on the outside. I’m sure the fiberglass on most kits ( I am thinking FFR for me at this time) is thicker than the very thin (light!!!) fenders I used, but…. Watching TV the other day (home from back surgery) I saw an add for a kit that had both spray and brush/roll on pickup bedliner material. This seems it might make a wonderful undercoat that would posses many of the same qualities that asphalt undercoat material would, but in a tougher, more attractive way. Also seems this surface could be cleaned to a nice shine with soap and water."

[DW] "That stuff makes very nice undercoating. You can also buy it from NAPA for $30 per quart. Just don't get it on ya', you'll wear it for two weeks. Even gasoline won't touch it. I know from experience!"

[PCC] "Tired of endless measuring and marking of aluminum panels for rivets? Use your 1/8 inch drill bit and drill a hole every two to three inches down the center of a a 3/4 wide roll of masking tape. Then simply lay the tape down the edge of the panel or flap, drill or mark through the tape holes, then pull off the tape and reuse it for the next panel! Sure the holes get closer together toward the end of the roll, but the tape goes pretty far, especially if you reuse it."

[1352] "To prevent annoying finger cuts when working in and around the car I filed any sharp edges on the frame, accessible al panel edges, fiberglass body edges, did not cut the tip off any plastic wire ties, used padded wire and brake line clamps, etc. I wear $.15 nitrile fitted gloves when working on the car and throw them away instead of having to wash my hands!"

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