Honolulu 818S Hana (work/build) Thread

[Aloha818]

With the HIN Honolulu show two weeks away my attention is back to esthetics.

First up is color sanding. I know, boring. Since this step along with all the buffing is about a 40 hour project by itself, I spent a little time reading up on tricks and tips.

As this is the 5th car I've painted I'm not new to the concept, but when you don't do it everyday it's good to read up. Especially since one slip means repainting the panel.

I've typically started with 1000 grit. But in reading some tips from professionals some start with 600. The reasoning being that 1000 grit can ride over some imperfections (nibs) where 600 will cut through the nibs.

600 was scary for me so I tried some 800. So I tried 800 for most of one of the quarters. But I could see that 800 still tried to round over the nibs. So being careful, and not getting close to edges, sanded the next panel with 600 to the point that 80% of imperfections were gone. Then a once over with 800 to the point that 95% of the imperfections were gone. Along with speeding up the process I can tell I'm getting a flatter surface.

One of the other items I read while studying up was the concept of shrinkage. I've noticed a few places where this was happening. It happens around areas that have been patched and filled. As the bodywork/paint heats up in the sun and the carrying agents evaporate some shrinkage occurs. I believe if the paint is baked after shooting this happens sooner than later. When I wet sanded the rear deck a few months back, my first test panel, I could smell the solvents still in the paint. Today the smell is more stale smelling, no solvent smell at all. So now is really a good time to sand as hopefully all the shrinkage has occurred and can be sanded out without popping up again later.

Here is an example. Inside the red circle is where I deleted the hood pin. This was fiberglassed and then smoothed with filler. The surface is after the first pass with 600.

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Then gone after a second pass

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Tomorrow I should finish getting the entire car sanded to 800. The plan is then to go to 1500 and then to 2000, black takes extra work!

And if all goes according to plan, next Saturday I have an appointment with a photographer for some professional shots.

[Hindsight]

I haven't wet sanded a car in over 20 years. I remember it being a LOT of work, and not having any fingerprints when I was finished.

Looking forward to seeing those professional shots!

[Aloha818]

I haven't wet sanded a car in over 20 years. I remember it being a LOT of work, and not having any fingerprints when I was finished.

Looking forward to seeing those professional shots!

After today I have 90% of the car sanded to 600, 800, 1500, 2000. And yes, little left of my fingertips, my phone is having a hard time reading my thumbprint! It's the kind of work no one appreciates unless they have done it themselves.

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I'm meeting with an upholster tomorrow to see about custom carpet and floor mats.

The photographer texted me some head shots of the model he will be using with my car, set for next Sunday at 11:00 am. I think I'll be changing my avatar soon. Still a lot of work to be done to get the car ready.

[Aloha818]

All dressed up but no place to go!

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Rain today so the photo shoot had to be postponed. Date unknown but the photographer covers the HIN event so we are planning a mini shoot during the show..

[Scargo]

It's gorgeous. No doubt. Do you have a cover for it? Seem keeping it pretty might be a chore, but some are into keeping things shiny...
I hope to keep that in focus with my R and think "functional race car". Function over beauty. Lots of gravel dings, etc. Hard to not want it all (and ever finish).

[Aloha818]

It's gorgeous. No doubt. Do you have a cover for it? Seem keeping it pretty might be a chore, but some are into keeping things shiny...
I hope to keep that in focus with my R and think "functional race car". Function over beauty. Lots of gravel dings, etc. Hard to not want it all (and ever finish).

Thanks for your reply and compliment!

One of the interesting things about car restoration, building, and especially with the 818. Using the same "canvas" way different results can be achieved. Since I live in an urban environment and the only outlet for "performance" is the SCCA events, I chose to spend my energy on looks with a minor in performance. (Although I still beat the times of a 911, STI and others, raw time, on my personal first competitive driving experience).

No one persons build choices are the "best" only what is best for them. That is what's great about the 818, so many choices!

I do not have a cover, yet. As the car is always garaged I haven't felt the need, although after sitting for a week or two it does get a little dusty. As a realist I know the car is getting more of my attention now than in the future. Especially through the car show and photo shoot. So a cover will probably be a good investment.

Gravel dings. I have a lot of rash on the lower front of the rear quarter flares. The plan is to make some black stick on skins to cover that area.

[AZPete]

After seeing where you are sanding (post #1043 looks like a parking garage), it looks like you should have covers on all the other cars!
I'm looking forward to your professional photos.

[Aloha818]

After seeing where you are sanding (post #1043 looks like a parking garage), it looks like you should have covers on all the other cars!
I'm looking forward to your professional photos.

Thanks for commenting Pete.

All of this "color sanding" is with water, so no dust. The buffing stage can get a little messy if you sling the compound, so that was done elsewhere.

Monday I dropped Aloha off at Teds Top Shop to install carpet in the footwell and custon floor mats.

They insulated the front firewall in different thicknesses to create a flat surface across it. The floor mat is backed with a thick rubber back to hold its shape and stay in place without any mechanical fasteners. The footwell area is glued and the floor mat is loose for easy removal in case I get them wet in a surprise rain.

I wanted to keep with the black and red trim theme of the seats and steering wheel so I had him use matching red edging on the floor mats. I'm really happy with the results, and it's hard to believe but the carpet makes the car seem more "real" and solid.

The carpet is Black 201N Wilton, wool.

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Do you think the red is too much?

We also discussed my bikini top plans. This will be my next major improvement so Aloha can be more of a daily driver. He has some ideas and we will start mocking some stuff up here in the next few weeks.

[Hindsight]

I think everything looks great. Very clean!

[Mitch Wright]

I like it very nice.

[insurance guy]

omg
your car is beautiful
I wish mine can come out half as nice as yours. I am having trouble trying to get the front hood lined up. How were you able to have room for the wiper? My hood is lying right on the windshield, this is no space for a wiper. Appreciate any help let me know where in your build you might show the hood placement and fitment

thanks
its really pretty

[Aloha818]

I think everything looks great. Very clean!

I like it very nice.

Thanks for you input!

[Aloha818]

omg
your car is beautiful
I wish mine can come out half as nice as yours. I am having trouble trying to get the front hood lined up. How were you able to have room for the wiper? My hood is lying right on the windshield, this is no space for a wiper. Appreciate any help let me know where in your build you might show the hood placement and fitment

thanks
its really pretty

Thanks for the compliment!

Here are a few "tricks" I used.

I opened up the bolting slots in the windshield frame a bit to push the windshield rearward as far as possible.
I pulled the front bumper forward a little where it attaches to the forward frame crossmember. This pulls the hood and the fenders with it.
I use a different mounting concept for the hood. No pins. Part of what I have is a center hood support, located between the hood vents, that is slightly higher than how the hood wants to lay. This gives a little more room between the windshield and the hood.
I trimmed the fiberglass return on the rearside of the hood to just over 1/2" to give more space.
I modified the wiper arm by eliminating the thick, spring loaded part of the arm and replaced with flat plate steel. The pressure applied by the arm against the windshield is all in the mounting of the motor assembly.

Let me know if this helps or if you need any more info.

[insurance guy]

that is great info
can you elaborate or take a pic if available of
1. I trimmed the fiberglass return on the rearside of the hood to just over 1/2" to give more space.
2. I modified the wiper arm by eliminating the thick, spring loaded part of the arm and replaced with flat plate steel. The pressure applied by the arm against the windshield is all in the mounting of the motor assembly.

I have a single arm marine wiper that others have used. I would love to install it without cutting into the hood.
any pics you have on your wiper install would be appreciated. I keep going over your thread finding ideas. Are you an experienced body guy?

[Aloha818]

that is great info
can you elaborate or take a pic if available of
1. I trimmed the fiberglass return on the rearside of the hood to just over 1/2" to give more space.
2. I modified the wiper arm by eliminating the thick, spring loaded part of the arm and replaced with flat plate steel. The pressure applied by the arm against the windshield is all in the mounting of the motor assembly.

I have a single arm marine wiper that others have used. I would love to install it without cutting into the hood.
any pics you have on your wiper install would be appreciated. I keep going over your thread finding ideas. Are you an experienced body guy?

Give me a couple of days to reply further, getting ready for the HIN Honolulu show.

[Oppenheimer]

Do you think the red is too much?

Not at all, it looks great! I have an S2000. Have you seen how much interior red some of them have?

[Aloha818]

Not at all, it looks great! I have an S2000. Have you seen how much interior red some of them have?

Thanks for the input! After the HIN show last night my car is pretty tame, even with the red!

[Aloha818]

Last night was the car show. A little different than most. Show starts at 5:00 pm and goes till 11:00. Almost all the cars are heavily modified. A lot of "talent" walking around with a beauty contest as part of the stage show. Lots of tuner cars, some muscle cars, a few exotics and a couple one off customs. But here are a few pics to give you an idea.

Hula girl was the center of attention, lots of photos taken to make sure she was in the pic.

I'm sure FFR's website got a few extra hits last night!

Suicide Bunny stage show
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Danielle Lo, miss HIN 2016 is second from the right
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Lamborghini
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Bimmer
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There is an RX-7 under there somewhere
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Slingshot
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Bimmer
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Danielle Lo
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You know you did good when hotties are taking pics of your car (see her phone screen)
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Stay tuned for some more pics of Aloha 818

[flynntuna]

Gotta love that neg camber on the silver car next to yours.

[Aloha818]

Gotta love that neg camber on the silver car next to yours.

Yea, there were several cars there that looked like a meteor landed on their roof and squished out the wheels/tires.

Some pretty cool lighting tricks, lots of money spent for sure. As different as the 818 is, it can't compete with lighting and music. But since that wasn't my goal I'm happy with the attention and compliments I still received.

[Aloha818]

One of the traveling HIN models (Seatle) was gracious enough to pose for some pics with Aloha 818. Real cute and funny.

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There was a crowd of about 20 people, including photographers taking pics of her posing with Aloha. That would have been a good pic if I would have thought of taking it!

[Aloha818]

Hula Girl is giving up her ocean view parking and moving to the burbs!

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After just graduating from living in a commercial space during the build (booted out by soon to be Whole Foods), now moving again just a couple of months later, I'm afraid she might get a complex.

So moving to Kahala (4 miles away) where she can enjoy living in a two car garage. And maybe get more attention now that access will be easier.

The bikini top is now high priority, especially since I have an upholster anxious to fabricate the material as soon as I finish the hardware. The move will take me the next couple of weeks but I have ordered a couple of aluminum clamps to connect the rear top bow to the hoops. I'm going to bend 1/2" electrical conduit for the rear bow and fabricate an anchor point inside the engine cover side vent openings to the frame so they will be out of sight, for the rear supports. I was almost done fabricating the windshield support over a year ago, time to finish up.

I'm assuming that everyone has appreciated the photos from the HIN Honolulu car show? I have had 4681 page views in the past two weeks. We were supposed to be doing the real photo shoot yesterday but Lauren (http://teaselifestyle.com/models/lauren-lala/) didn't feel well. So that's delayed another couple weeks till after moving.

[Wayne Presley]

We were supposed to be doing the real photo shoot yesterday but Lauren (http://teaselifestyle.com/models/lauren-lala/) didn't feel well. So that's delayed another couple weeks till after moving.

Wow she's gorgeous!

[Brett33]

It's been a year, I need some updates on the car and transmission

Brett

[BN]

Brett33 are you thinking to put and automatic transmission because I did it but yet driving far Enough to change gears

[Brett33]

yes i am. sent you a pm

[Aloha818]

It's been a year, I need some updates on the car and transmission

Brett

Yea, it's been a while since I last posted, sorry.

Car is running great! No issues with the trans at all. Still loving that I went with an automatic since we have so much traffic here in Honolulu.

I've been busy building up a 1969 Mercedes 230, with a built 6.0 LS engine, so I haven't raced it this season.

But besides weekend "enjoy the sun" days, I drive it to work a lot too. So wicked fast! Clicks past 100 before you know it!(disclaimer; closed course��) So much fun.

Only issue now is we moved to a house in Kahala that has a carport instead of an enclosed garage. Being black it's always dusty, seems like I spend too much time washing it.

Let me know if you need anything.

[Brett33]

Thanks for the update glad things are doing well with the car. Gonna need some more details about the benz with that ls in it. Wow! My questions were about the transmission push button controller. Do you have specifics on which model you used?

Thanks again.

Brett

[Aloha818]

Thanks for the update glad things are doing well with the car. Gonna need some more details about the benz with that ls in it. Wow! My questions were about the transmission push button controller. Do you have specifics on which model you used?

Thanks again.


Brett

The controller is from PCS, Powertrain Control Solutions. This unit only takes the place of the actual gear selector (lever) and cable.

The transmission electronics is still controlled by the Subaru TCU. In my case I installed a Haltech ECU to actually run the engine, kept the Subaru ECU connected for only receiving feedback from the engine and supplying information to the Subaru TCU.

[RM1SepEx]

Progress update on your bikini top? Mine's ongoing...P1130582.JPGP1130585.JPGP1130584.JPGP1130576.JPG

The aluminum on the windshield header also adds a drip channel. I'm using SS snaps to attach at the front and fastek buckles and 1 in straps to attach in the read at the humps. Instead of a hoop between the vents I'm building a targa bar that will remain in place.

What are you using for top material?

[jbs72697]

Hello
I’m new to the group. I live in Massachusetts only 45 minutes from FFR so I’ve been down twice and two tours
I’m realistically a year or two from building my own 818. So I just went through your build thread. May I say that car looks AWESOME!
I’d be happy if I could make mine look even half as good
The main reason I read your thread is because around me the availability of a WRX or Impreza with a a manual shift is slim, so I was hoping to see how you got an automatic to work in your 818. It seemed fairly straightforward, or was it really a pain in the neck?
Thanks and congratulations on finishing up such a nice car!

[bow2091]

jbs72697 I sent you a PM