My AK Build

[JON1D]

My thoughts on tyres from my experience.

15 inch Avons best track and dry( Higher wear rate). Cost might put you off at £2k a set.
15 inch Vitour Galaxy R1 ( Great tyre wet and dry. I have done 5,000 miles on these with no moments and great in the wet) V-rated . Great service and value from North Hants tyres.

15 inch BF Goodrich T/A .These were always tracking in wet and white line tracking. Terrible in the wet. They aged and went very hard in short time. Not a tyre I would recommend 

[KevinW]

Nice work, and good to see a Ford engine going in.

[btw who ever told you there is a problem with 15" tyres doesn't know what they are talking about, plenty of choice ]

[JON1D]

 I am going to use DuPont Nomex

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_DBsf0N8z8

Some have installed it in US and say it only increases radiator temperature a little.
Sprayed black it is not very visible which is the look I wanted.
I will make a frame for it to slide in to and held with fixing or velcro to make it removable to clean.

[GTR_Garner]

Congratulation on your build to date, Nice tidy build.
Always worth making up a radiator protector screen at this point, as it a pig to get at when the body is fitted.
Another tip, run an empty conduit front to back, that you can run additional wires in at later date, if you ever add anything.

Not a bad idea, I'm not sure what else I could add to the car to be honest though, it's going to be pretty comprehensive!  Loom is going to be all custom so hopefully I don't miss anything out!

Radiator screen is a good idea though.  I'll have a think about what would be the least visible method.

[Mike Hamblin]

Congratulation on your build to date, Nice tidy build.
Always worth making up a radiator protector screen at this point, as it a pig to get at when the body is fitted.
Another tip, run an empty conduit front to back, that you can run additional wires in at later date, if you ever add anything.

[GTR_Garner]

Wiped down and tucked away until more goodies arrive so i can get stuck in again.  Next task is to sort out proper shelving and storage for the garage and my workshop.  Really bugging me.

[GTR_Garner]

Started off assembling the hubs:



Then once geo done i installed the suspension:


Then rear diff fitted - what a b#st#rd that was - the holes didnt line up at all on the front mounting plate.  Had to mess around with it for ages and had to drill a hole or two out by a large amount - laser cut brackets and holes my backside.


Then rear arms, hubs and shafts could be fitted - came across another issue there - had been sent the wrong shafts for my hubs.  They were too short.  So back to AK they went for changing.  Quick turnaround and postage credited so cant complain at that.


Rear end complete with suspension, handbrake setup and disks.


Do love the look of the Nitrons, the blue just looks awesome.




Went to fit the ABS sensors to run the traction control and found id been sent two different Hubs - one X300 and one regular XJ40.  They are the same for everything except the orientation of the ABS sensors - typical.
Will not be swapping them, will just have to drill out one to accept the sensor in the correct orientation.



Fitted the brakes after finally getting the correct bolts for them (both HiSpec and AK misadvised me on different occaisions).




Rebuilt the rack with new inner tie rods and track rod ends.  Spacers on the way to extend the rack to the necessary 47.5" for the AK.




Mocked up the rack, electric power steering pump and cooler to work out what lines i need and how to modify the mount:




Ran the -8 feed and -6 PTFE fuel lines.  Would've liked to have kept them on one side howeve the t56 magnum is a sizeable box so not enought space on one side unfortunately.



Measured out and started making up the brake lines.  Took a few attempts to get into the swing of it.  My ebay POS brake flaring tool was useless so borrowed a friends turret flaring tool.  Absolutely worthwhile using.






Then once happy they all fit ok i covered in heat shrink, as much as i love the copper piping they quickly tarnish.  The heat shrink hides them away but makes for a cleaner install i feel.







That brings me up until now. Feel like ive made decent progress considering i didnt start until after Le Mans Classic and i've been doing it in my spare time around a newborn.  Dad of the year award goes to me obviously      

Fuel tank is being made for me currently, baffled, sumped and with central access for internal fuel pump.  I didn't fancy having a big fuel pump right next to the prop.
Once i get the power steering hoses back next week then i can properly finish the mounts and recondition the pump then mount them all up.
I can also measure up and cardboard design a dry sump tank to fit in the available space, i already have a tank but dont think its going to fit unfortunately.

Then its just engine and bits and bobs time - currently being finished off in the US and will be shipped over as soon as done.

Engine spec as follows:
402CI 9.2" Deck 4 bolt mains Small Block Ford (ex nascar engine).
Bored and stroked to shift the power band to something more streetable

3.75" Molnar Crank
6" Lunati Signature I Beam rods
Custom Ross pistons with heavy duty pins.
Race Cnc'd 225cc Trick Flow High Ports, lightweight 8mm valves 2.08/1.60
LGM shaft rockers
Custom Cam circa 260/260ish duration mid .600's lift 112LSA
Dry sump

Induction setup:
EFI hardware Billet Race tapered IDA throttle bodies.  55-53-50mm
Custom 3d printed intake manifold with aluminium plates and centre.
Drive by Wire throttle control.

Electronics:
Link Thunder ecu
Sensors for everything.  Multiple maps, throttle maps, traction control blah blah.

Wheels:
Wide    17 x 8 at the front (slightly bigger if i can fit them) and 17 x 11 at the rear with 335/35 tyres. Rear arches and tub will be modified to suit.
I'd have preferred to have gone 15" for the classic look but unfortunately with the tyre situation being terrible and expensive currently 17's it is.  Also the higher tyre wall of the 15's with this power could have caused some unwanted handling issues.

[RobP]

Looks like you are going to be busy.

Excellent choice in an AK, they are extremely helpful.

If you have any questions, there are a lot of members on the forum that can help.

All the best and enjoy the build.

Rob

[GTR_Garner]

So i took delivey of my AK in June, thought id upload some progress that i've made so far!

Delivey day - thanks to my neighbours and John H for the help unloading!










The fun of sorting the nuts and bolts - a fair few were missing or incorrect which was a bit of a nightmare further down the line.  Would recommend buying M8, M10 and M12 bolts, washers and nylocks ahead of time.  The differing lengths is what makes it a pain.





Unboxing the parts i'd collected :

6 and 4 pots to slow down the powerhouse that is my engine


335mm fronts and 305mm vented rears


Davies Craig electric water pump and various fittings:


AN6 PTFE return lines + fittings:


AN8 PTFE feed, fittings and brake pipe:


1 7/8" to 3.5" merge collectors



New T56 Magnum 'Close Ratio' box + short shifter


Custom CNC ported 225cc Trick Flow High Port heads



Link Thunder ECU


Nitron Suspension from AK


Custom specced 3.27 rear diff, uprated internals - mix of XJ40 and XJ6 with modified ramp rate


Cobra intake manifold that will cut up to fit to the heads - although this now wont work as the casting isnt good enough to port match to the heads