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Old 12-01-2015, 04:51 AM
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Jethrow Jethrow is offline
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Perth, WA
Cobra Make, Engine: FFR Mk4 Roadster, LS3, TR6060, 8 3/4"
Posts: 432
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Thanks for the comments everyone, much appreciated.

Also I am happy to answer any questions if you have them regarding the Factory Five and the build thereof.

Regarding the licencing challenges on the whole there was very little, tho those little things took ages to correct. The main thing was emissions. And to be fair, it was more my fault than anyone elses.

You see, when I was building the kit, it came with catalytic converters designed for a year 2000 vintage 4.6L Ford V8 mod motor. I did not really think about this, and had them installed behind the much more massive 6.2L LS3 mans motor. And they sadly did not cut it.

My first emissions test was a bust, and I could not haggle out of it (and wasted some time trying). So in the end I installed some near new cats from a late model V8 Commodore and that did the trick. In fact the boys at Roadbend said my car gave the cleanest emission results they had ever seen! Not sure if I am proud of that or not

But in real terms I prolly burnt three months with that part of the process in testing, re-test, re-submit paperwork to the Department, etc etc. The paperwork did seem to spend a fair bit of time there.

But once I got it back as approved, the car really went straight thru the inspection. In fact the boys doing the inspection came out to congratulate me on the quality of the build! And I am proud of that.

But really I cannot take all the credit because everyone who sees a Factory Five up close is super impressed with it, especially if they see it on the hoist and can see the underside. It does present as a very high quality product, which of course it is. And I do like that the twin tube main chassis is very much aligned with the original cars.

From the engineering point of view there was no real dramas here either, tho I guess some things are a bit easier in the wild west. We are lucky in that mostly we just have to comply with the ICV checklist document, and we do not get extra add-ons for seat belt timers, or any other silly little things. I was also able to argue against the glare in field of view requirement (ADR 12 I think) because that ADR has actually been repealed.

And we can get permission to run the live sidepipes and seat belt harnesses.

So thanks again for the comments, and also for the assistance provided by all on this forum during my build.
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Tim
FFR Mk4 Roadster
HSV Clubsport R8
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