Daytona Coupe - Blue for You

When anyone gets into building a car from a kit, they are bound to learn things as they go along, especially if it is their first time. If you've built more than a dozen Cobra roadsters from the ground up, like Ken Seybert of CVR Automotive (Gaines, Michigan) has, you might think building any car would be a breeze, but it doesn't always work out the way the instruction book shows it.

Plus, if you're the type who likes to modify things along the way, then the build time can double, or even triple, when you're working "outside the box." When Seybert, who has owned CVR Automotive since the early '90s, first decided to build a Factory Five Racing Type 65 (Daytona style) coupe, it was during a time when he wasn't building the type of cars he'd become accustomed to building and selling: Everett-Morrison roadsters. Everett-Morrison had taken some time to reformulate and improve their roadster molds, and it was during this downtime when Ken went looking for something else to build, hence the Daytona. But even if he were to follow the hefty instruction book supplied with the car by the FFR factory, Ken's vision of what the car could be eventually took him down a different path that would not only add time to the build, but would create a vehicle with an exceptionally high level of detail.

Though it took a few months to get the entire kit together, Ken had a master plan from the get-go. Intending to sell the car when it was completed, he would build the car to his personal high standards-but only to a level where the new owner could still make some choices in finishing the car. Ken was aware of the kit's strength of design, especially with the frame, but saw where he could improve on the original design without compromising its integrity. His idea would be to keep the car as light as possible, which would also garner better power-to-weight ratios.

Looking at the stout FFR chassis (4-inch round tube, .120-inch-wall 1020 tubing), which was set up on a 95-inch wheelbase, Ken made only one change to it: He added a new transmission crossmember for the Tremec T56 six-speed box he was going to install. For suspension he used a fully independent system (not a Mustang II) up front that utilized unequal-length control arms and adjustable Bilstein coilover shocks. In the rear, an 8.8-inch Ford center section with Traction-Loc (with a 3.27:1 gear ratio) went in, as did a four-link suspension with another set of adjustable Bilstein coilovers.

Not wanting to use the recommended brake system, Ken opted to fab the necessary brackets to install a Wilwood disc brake system on all four corners (10.5-inch discs in the rear, 11-inch fronts), changing the bolt pattern from four- to five-lug in the process. To get the steering wheel where he wanted it, Ken also fab'd brackets to support the ididit tilt steering column. To make the ride a roller, Team III wheels (15 x 8 and 15 x 10) were wrapped with BFGoodrich Radial T/A rubber (245/60R15 and 295/50R15) and installed with Team III's nifty lug-nut covers (which make the wheels look more like real knock-offs).

The drivetrain is based on a simple 302 Ford Racing crate engine, topped with some quality performance goodies. Sporting a hydraulic roller camshaft, the block was outfitted with aluminum GT-40 heads (with a 9:1 compression ratio), an Edelbrock Performer RPM intake manifold, carb, and air cleaner, and an MSD 6AL ignition box with a built-in rev limiter. A one-wire, 100-amp alternator was also used in the build-up, as was an aluminum Griffin radiator. Exhaust exits through headers coated by Jet-Hot and out the FFR side pipes. Backed to a Tremec T56 six-speed trans, the small-block engine is rated at 345hp.

There is obviously more body to a coupe than is found on a roadster, and Ken did a lot of extra work to make things fit just the way he wanted them to. The FFR Type 65 kit arrived with many of the pieces (i.e., doors, window frames, headlight covers, rear hatch) in need of trimming to fit correctly, so Ken diligently took care of those items. While he was at it, he also assessed the aluminum pieces supplied with the kit and opted to fabricate many of his own so it would have its own look. Plus he never intended to finish the interior with any sort of material, preferring to let the next owner decide what type of interior (carpet, heat and sound deadener) the car should have.

Allowances were also made for the addition of an ATL 22-gallon fuel cell under the rear hatch, while other pieces, such as the Wilwood brake/clutch- pedal assembly and the wiper motor, could be hidden by freshly-made aluminum boxes. Hiding some of the engine's lines, like the ones for the Vintage Air HVAC system, is another trick Ken employed to clean up the look of the engine compartment. Seybert also installed an American Autowire Highway 15 wiring kit in the coupe, adding a set of seven Auto Meter gauges to the dash.

Leather was used in covering the FFR racing bucket seats (the coupe uses the FFR interior package supplied with the kit), which were fitted with four-point Simpson safety belts, and leather also covers the Lecarra three-spoke steering wheel.

After trimming all the areas needed to make the parts fit together with the proper amount of gap and then prepping the car for paint, Ken, along with Ron Nelson, squirted the coupe with multiple coats of PPG Guardsman Blue, capping off the job with a set of Wimbledon White stripes that run down the middle of the car, ending at the rear spoiler. The paint job doesn't include the obligatory meatballs, instead going just far enough to get the idea across without going overboard (a sure sign of restraint and subtlety on Ken's part).

The final product weighs in at 2,300 pounds, and that's with 10 gallons of fuel onboard. Seybert figured the 50/50 front-to-rear weight bias perfectly, and the side-to-side bias is less than 10 pounds! Sometimes you get lucky when the specs work in your favor, but we suspect there is a whole lot of build experience that went into achieving those perfect numbers. With his high attention to detail and more than 15 years of kit building know-how under his belt, we wouldn't expect anything less of Ken Seybert or CVR Automotive. KC

For Ken, a Ford Motorsports...        read full caption For Ken, a Ford Motorsports 302 crate engine was the way to go, and it was dialed in with 345 hp with 9:1 compression. Internally the 302 is stock, but GT-40 aluminum heads are fed by an Edelbrock Performer carb atop an Edelbrock Performer RPM intake and air cleaner.

Spark is delivered by an MSD...        read full caption Spark is delivered by an MSD 6AL unit (with rev limiter) and Jet-Hot coated FFR headers help remove the spent gasses. Gears are selected through a Tremec T56 six-speed box. The level of the attention to detail is high on this car-everywhere you look you can see the quality in the build.

Of course it's aluminum--it's...        read full caption Of course it's aluminum--it's a race car.

But that doesn't mean it can't...        read full caption But that doesn't mean it can't be comfortable. FFR racing bucket seats are covered in leather, and four-point Simpson safety belts keep both driver and passenger snug and safe.

To get the leather-wrapped...        read full caption To get the leather-wrapped Lecarra steering wheel pointed where he wanted the car to go, Ken used an ididit tilt steering column. Auto Meter gauges tell the story, and a Vintage Air climate-control system keeps pilot and co-pilot both cool and collected.

Aerodynamics was the name...        read full caption Aerodynamics was the name of the game when designer Peter Brock first developed the basic Daytona shape back in 1964-anything to make the car more slippery at high speeds.

And away we go! Hard to imagine...        read full caption And away we go! Hard to imagine when you are staring at your project in your garage when it's in this stage that it will eventually become a shining example of stunning automotive design and workmanship in just a short period of time.