mikeb75's build thread

[Frank818]

All done without bonding the doors to the side pods?

I wanted a strap like that! Just didn't have time to implement it so I didn't buy any.
Where did you get yours?

The door pull is useless, too much fwd on a door, it's... oh, you have windows, so no choice for a pull, ok sorry!!

The window seems to seal pretty tight on the rubber seam, nice job!
Is it normal it doesn't go fully down?

[mikeb75]

strapworks.com (paid via amazon services, so it keeps to the theme).

That's the limit I set for the window going down, it might have another inch or two of travel, but originally I was having a lot of difficulty keeping the window properly located.

[mikeb75]

Got the call back from furlough a few weeks ago, so time has been tight; but I’ve managed to finish up the drivers side this weekend. The mold for this side wasn’t as good so I needed to do some additional body filler work – 1 step up from duct tape, but for now it will do.
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Put the door back together, its better than it was, but the door latch is about 1/8” too low. Fixing that was going to be a bigger undertaking than I was prepared to commit to until the season’s done. I have a very few items to finish up, but the car is on its wheels and ready to go; just need to manage to sign up for some track time.

Cleaned up the car a bit and took some ‘glamour’ shots (as close as this car’s going to get anyway). Happy Birthday America!
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[Frank818]

Doors doors... this is the last time you ever write the word "door", right?
I really liked what you did on the door to hold up the mirrors. That is a nice OEM touch. Or a nice mikeb touch, whichever's best!

Now on pic #4, is it me or the junction or the bottom front of fender and backward section of front splitter is cracked?

[mikeb75]

Now on pic #4, is it me or the junction or the bottom front of fender and backward section of front splitter is cracked?

Sharp eyes Frank! I cut a small relief in the fender so I wouldn't cut the splitter - I wanted more front end stick out to balance the rear wing & diffuser, but didn't want to screw up the carbon fiber.

[Frank818]

Yeah I pushed it fwd mine too, but I did screw up the CF by cutting those upwards edges, just the amount required. It was a planned screw up. I guess for street driving it won't change much.

[AZPete]

Now that it's finished, I really like your idea of making the triangle part of the door and wish I had thought of that. Very creative.

[Straversi]

Persistence pays off. Nice work.
-Steve

[mikeb75]

rain.
https://youtu.be/sN_BCOY8XhU

[Frank818]

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!! Finally!!! A video! I love your vids man, the interior perspective is absolutely perfect, the interior is great, the sound is great and the digital OSD gauges are awesome! I wish I could do the same. May not be exciting vid for you but it sure is for me! Have you checked my vids? They suck compared to yours. lolll

Rain... I guess that's why you got a top and wipers! But that sucks anyway. Why don't you wanna drive in rain?

Did I ask before how come you run 70psi oil at idl and steady 90 at any other rpm? Dry sump? I think I've asked in the past, this question reminds me something...

[mikeb75]

Hey Frank, I always enjoy your vids, especially the ones where you express your joy!

Drove the car back from an auto-x in the rain... was not fun. And bailing out the car afterwards was not fun either

Did I ask before how come you run 70psi oil at idl and steady 90 at any other rpm? Dry sump? I think I've asked in the past, this question reminds me something...

Actually, I have no idea. I don't think it used to read that high. Might be the pressure sensor going bad... I did remove the entire remote filter block recently to re-do the pressure and temp sensors. I need to look at old data and see if this is a recent thing; I think it might be. Oiling system is all normal except for the remote filter block and cooler.

[Frank818]

Why is it I always find those little things no one cares to look at... lolll If you ever find out why (about the oil, not about why I always find those things lol) I'm interested to understand!

[Frank818]

Love that vid. lolll Checked it again.

What camera solution you got?
How do you OSD display those gauges and GPS location too (top left)?

I think I'll buy that solution, this would help me a lot if I could watch my runs with a bunch of OSD it would be easier for me and everyone could see runs of 30mins (one day more) instead of 10sec!

[mikeb75]

That video was at 1080 from a GoPro.
I use racerender to combine the video and data from log file.
Generating the log file - that's a bit more work; the car has a RaceCapture/PRO MK2 data logger reading data from some (add-on) analogue sensors, GPS data (internal to the logger), and RPM, throttle position from the ECU through modifications to the wiring harness. I'm sure if you could poll data out of your OBD2 to a file you could add it. I remember there were some apps that would log to your phone. I also believe Autosport Labs (who makes the racecapture) has a simpler/cheaper solution RaceCapture/Track (it's not that much cheaper) to get some data.

[mikeb75]

Didn't have to deal with rain this time
https://youtu.be/xHu1aSeWF_8

About a 20 minute loop, some brainless drivers, but no real issues. I have some parts in the mail to add bumpsteer offsets to the front, and I'll raise the front ride height when I'm in there (kinda tired of dragging on the ground). The temp sensor I installed is junk, so I'm looking for a replacement.

The floating ground cable issue is resolved, so I'm happy about that.

The car definitely hooks up on corners, can't wait to play more. Everything is looking good for the track day I have scheduled on for the end of August.

[Frank818]

I have ODB1, but I've got tons of logs in a simple text file, csv I believe. It's raw data and that's it.

I see you had fun modifying your OSD on the latest vid!

How well do you see your 3 gauges in the center dash? Especially when the sun hit em.

Ha! Just realized you got a tablet right in front of your cluster? Making the cluster useless but I guess all your data is on that tablet. Or you are playing video games on it (3:00:00). lolll

[mikeb75]

3rd time must be the charm. The original wheel studs were too short once I put spacers on the wheels... I went cheap and got 40mm studs from ebay which were slightly longer and still relatively easy to install. Well, looking at the thread engagement - not thrilled! Don't think I had enough to be safe in high stress situations.

I know the ARP 3" studs are the gold standard, but installation can be a PITA if you aren't committed to disassembling the rear hubs.

Enter the Vorshlag 65mm wheel studs. They're about 90% the length of the threaded part of the ARP studs, can be installed without disassembly, and are slightly cheaper.

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It's tight, but remove the wheel speed sensor and detach the tone ring (I removed them a long time ago), then push the stud through the sensor hole and pound it through - I used a socket extension. (didn't even need to remove parking brake, but was figuring things out and went kinda nuts)

Voila; replaced wheel studs:
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On to the next detail...

[Bob_n_Cincy]

I use a tie rod tool to pop out the original studs. tie rod tool.jpg Then stack a washer and a quality nut to pull in the new ARP studs. No hammer needed. Between wrx's and 818's we have done a dozen hubs.

[Frank818]

Wow I never thought it was possible to install studs without removing the hub, I had to remove it twice cuz I changed studs and then needed longer ones.

[mikeb75]

Wow I never thought it was possible to install studs without removing the hub, I had to remove it twice cuz I changed studs and then needed longer ones.

Yea, I was convinced I'd have to remove them. Luckily, I had used Vorshlag camber plates when I installed coilovers on my STI, so I had them in my bookmarks and an idle day of websurfing turned them up.

[TheHelixx]

Got the call back from furlough a few weeks ago, so time has been tight; but I’ve managed to finish up the drivers side this weekend. The mold for this side wasn’t as good so I needed to do some additional body filler work – 1 step up from duct tape, but for now it will do.
20200608_134318.jpg
20200629_184356.jpg
20200705_135159.jpg

Put the door back together, its better than it was, but the door latch is about 1/8” too low. Fixing that was going to be a bigger undertaking than I was prepared to commit to until the season’s done. I have a very few items to finish up, but the car is on its wheels and ready to go; just need to manage to sign up for some track time.

Nice work. I give you credit man.... the windows have almost broken me lol. It made me wish I went with the roadster. I have adjusted the tracks to the point where the locknuts no longer lock and have already swapped out shredded bulb seal 1x. My passenger side window track is all blown out and sloppy from it getting tweaked trying to close. Final result using the FF equip left me with a 1/4-3/8 gap at the bottom rear of the seal and a squished upper. To add insult to injury the stupid door card they give you doesn’t even fit since it’s hitting the window motor lol..

Good times... you have inspired me to keep trying though.

[mikeb75]

The Helixx, I feel your pain! This was my 3rd try to get the windows less than awful.

I think it was posted above by Lance Corsi that a 2003 S10 window track can be swapped in for the FFR supplied ones with good results. If I was to do it again, I'd go that route. Keep at it!

[lance corsi]

I probably have 40 hours into each door, window mechanisms and door poppers. I threw away the shower door rollers and installed a track from the s-10 on both ends of the window. The rearmost track isn’t much more than 6” long due to potential interference with latch mechanism. The forward track is long enough to attach top & bottom to door frame after adding tabs. Both tracks should be long enough to engage with the window at extreme limits of travel if possible. The window is better than an open hole I guess.

[mikeb75]

Almost 7 years ago I started this thread. Tomorrow is the culmination of the goal I set:
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The 818 gets it's maiden outing at the track, Summit Point Raceway. I'm not going there to break any lap time records. I just want the car to work properly, nothing to fall off and to have some fun.

Wish me luck and stay tuned.

[DSR-3]

Awesome! Good luck and have fun!

[Hobby Racer]

Now that is tight fitting trailer!

Great job and have fun!

[mikeb75]

Now that is tight fitting trailer!

Measure 3 time, cut -er buy once. I have just enough clearance to store everything in the garage to keep the neighbors (HOA) happy. But, it's a little tighter than I thought... I think I have 1 foot out back to the gate.

Great job and have fun!

I've been so busy getting everything ready and sweating all the details and little things that could go wrong... I've been forgetting to have fun at this stage.

Thanks for the reminder Hobby Racer, DSR-3!

[AZPete]

Best of Luck!! We're watching.

[Ajzride]

Do you have a go pro? We want video!!

[mikeb75]

The track day was a total success! Car drove great. There was only 1 event - a hesitation on the main straight one time. Not sure I have enough data logged to diagnose it, but I will pull error codes from the ECU when I get everything unloaded.

This was a novice level event without in-car instructors; so we were limited to chasing the instructors cars, so I don't think I came anywhere near the limits of the car: 100 MPH on the main straight and maybe 60 or 70 through the fast corners.

I have 2 videos to process (stupid GoPro didn't capture the 3rd session, but it was a 'passing' drill where the speeds were kind of slow and the other cars weren't confident/properly positioning themselves for passes, so it was pretty boring).

[Frank818]

7 years? Must be the excitement making your calculation off, I say 6 years ago it got delivered to you, 1 month after mine!

Can't wait for those 2 videos, they will be remembered forever!

[mikeb75]

Took most of the day to deal with computer update and video card issues and rendering the videos, but without further ado:

Session 1 (slow poke)
https://youtu.be/abqKXePn-ho

Session 2 (slightly faster slow poke)
https://youtu.be/KV0Rcorcopg

Like I said in the video description, the FATT event is being done differently because of the end of the world we're currently experiencing. So no in-car instructors, instead they broke us up into small groups with a lead and chase instructor car. Because of that we were pretty limited in speed (some first timers in my sub group), but hey, I haven't been on-track in 7 years either (I checked Frank! My first post was in October 2013 when I pre-ordered, that coincided with my last track sessions). So I got to feel out the car, reacquaint myself with the track, the flag stations and how to actually drive.

The good:
- Hit almost every apex! car just tracks where my eyes went
- Rotation & control: coming out of the carousel through the climbing esses was just so much fun! Car rotates with throttle thanks to the LSD
- 7K sound: opening the tap on the EJ207. Still have about 1K till redline.

Things to work on:
- Steering has a dead spot on center. I never welded my quill when I depowered the rack. I need to fix that, the dead zone is not fun through turn 4 the chute (the FAST right hander).
- Can't see the temp gauge! My LCD blocks the temp gauge. You can see me trying to lean to the left to read it on straights, but with the 4 point cinched down and the HANS attached to the helmet I really couldn't see it. The few times I did see it it was right at the cars normal operating temperature.
- Hot foot - late in the session there was some heat coming through the dead pedal. Don't know if that was the coolant loop heat soaking that area or the front rotor warming up, but definitely felt some heat there.
- There was one engine stumble on the main straight during the second session. That was the only time during the day anything like that happened. Need to look at the ECU to see if any error codes were logged, but if I believe the AFR there was a significant lean out right then.
- During the first session I noticed some shake at 100 MPH. Not sure if it was tires, rotors or aero - hood looked like it was quivering.

The back story
So, I would have preferred for this past week to be less crazy... but life doesn't happen that way. My usual rule of thumb is to lock down the car the week before the track session and not turn a wrench during that week. But the week before I had a punch list 15 items long to finish including the wheel studs, a bump steer kit, replacing the extra (data logger) oil temp and manifold pressure gauges, installing track pads and getting a final alignment. Technically, I got everything finished by that Friday, so I should have been able to take the weekend and upcoming week to not work on the car.

But during the brake bed-in I heard a lot of additional noise coming from both the front and rear pads. During drives the noise would abate with just a little brake pressure, so I figured there was some pad knock back, but I really wasn't happy with it. I discovered the rear pads had about 2mm play within the calipers (back to front), the street pads had about the same amount, but I've never heard that much noise from them. I wound up ordering some residual pressure valves for the 2 master cylinders which were delivered Sunday afternoon. I installed them and then had to deal with a horrible leak from the rear master cylinder fittings. Finally, on Tuesday evening I got that fixed (I was about 15 minutes from calling to cancel the session) and was able to bold good line pressure. Bled all 4 corners and took a test drive the next day.

The remining time was spent figuring out how to get the car on/off the trailer I had just bought. I would have preferred a 14ft trailer, but there were no ones anywhere near me in aluminum. So after a lot of tape outlines on my garage floor, phone calls, and second guessing myself I pulled the trigger and picked up the trailer. The 12 foot one fits more easily in my garage (thanks HOA), and is light enough that I can walk it down the hill to behind my house to store under the deck also (hence aluminum single axle). After quite a few attempts with ramps, wood blocks, jacking the front of the trailer up, sweating, cursing, and a neighbor who's been there and done that (he put a LT1 in a 240z) I have the process figured out. But I only drove the loaded trailer Thursday evening right before the event. I didn't especially enjoy driving the loaded trailer on the roads around my home, it felt shaky and weird.

After a very not restful night sleep (Zzzquil be damned, it doesn't work THAT well), I woke up the morning of the event, got dressed, loaded my cooler and helmet, puked, and set off before the sun rose. All that stress was for nothing! My wife's Kia pulled the trailer like a champ, the trailer was perfect on the major roads and highways, I got to the track right on time, the 818 started right up, rolled off the trailer, passed tech and went the day without any issues (except that stumble in session 2). The weather was fine, 80's, some overcast and a few drops of rain between sessions and then lots of sun in the afternoon.

After my last session the 818 went right back on the trailer without any fuss. I was tightening the last strap when the rain came in full bore. Jumped in the Kia, sat in the parking lot for 5 minutes until the worst was over then cruised home feeling quite satisfied.

And that's my story.

[Frank818]

YAAAAAHOOOOO!!


AHAHAH! Ok if you count pre-order, than I ordered 1 month LATER than you and yes 7 years. My god time flies so fast! How old were you back then? Yeah ok, 7 years younger, I get it.

Love your vids!!! I noticed I wasn't a subscriber so I just did.

The quill! Yes yes, I remember about that 6 years ago, it was a suggestion from other members back then as just a few were running 818s, I decided to weld it, I didn't see the harm so why not. I think I'm very happy I did. Having no dead spot at all is AMAZING so yes plz weld that ****.

Is there a reason why you have rpms displayed on both your tablet and cluster? I noticed that even on the street a while back.

What is your flexibility with your ECU? Can you adjust fuel as desired?



It must be a great feeling going back to the track after 7 years. More so the fact all went without major issues, I'd think not even mild issues, just a few small ones.
I'm also happy to see I'm not the only one stressing out that bad just before a major event! lolll


When do you plan on going back to the track?

[mikeb75]

Is there a reason why you have rpms displayed on both your tablet and cluster? I noticed that even on the street a while back.

I can't see a lot of the cluster with the screen being where it is. Can't see temp gauge, can't see speedo, can see part of tacco. But when driving on the track I'm really not looking at any of the gauges except when on the straights (or checking the engine isn't about to blow up). The advantage of having the screen display the RPMs in super large format is they will change color and blink as I approach redline. It's flashy enough to catch it out of my peripheral vision.

What is your flexibility with your ECU? Can you adjust fuel as desired?

I've never actually tuned my ECU - always paid someone else to do it. With Romraider I could probably edit the fueling tables pretty easily; just don't have any experience.

It must be a great feeling going back to the track after 7 years. More so the fact all went without major issues, I'd think not even mild issues, just a few small ones.
I'm also happy to see I'm not the only one stressing out that bad just before a major event! lolll

Once on track and things were working, and I began to remember my driving techniques - just the best, most rewarding feeling. So glad to be back out there... shame it's taken so long. Yea, I definitely have some anxiety issues. We deal.

When do you plan on going back to the track?

As soon as I can. Don't have a lot of vacation time left after my furlough (probably am in negative vacation time right now), but now that I've proven things work: the car, the trailer, everything, I'll be looking to jump into any event I can. I'm on a mailing list now, so if events are coming up without being fully signed up for I may get some short-notice opening notifications. I just have to see what I can make work. Definitely not looking to wait another 7 years!!

[mikeb75]

Per request from Frank:

Front
Camber: -2.5
Caster: 3.6/3.9 (not the best)
Toe: -0.04

Rear
Camber: -2.5
Toe: 0.00

[mikeb75]

Haven't had too much time to work, but likewise, not too many projects I had planned for the winter. Still, some things need servicing before this years events.

The heater core bypass was always suspect, on the EJ207 the separation was too great to be able to use the factory provided U tube. I had just looped a longer length of heater hose, but that always wound up kinked. So replaced with a modded U hose.
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On the original engine I had installed a v1 Crawford AOS. The known limitations didn't (and don't) really bother me since this car won't be used much if at all in colder weather. I had never installed it onthe new engine, but with the increase track duty it's time to get that extra bit of insurance. The EJ207 of that year has a different crank case vent/Y splitter and no solenoid and the location is a bit more cramped because of how the twinscroll turbo sits; but after reusing the original crank/Y splitter everything worked out OK.
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It's nice to have a new helper! Daughter has expressed a lot of interest in the past months about cars, sports cars and racing cars. She's thinking she wants to go into some form of automotive engineering - who am I to say otherwise. The install worked out well, the location just clears the gas struts of the hatch and sits above the engine right above the upper coolant reservoir. I need to do a little bit more finalization of the lines, but this should do.

[Rob T]

Great news on your daughter's involvement. Many times I tried to get mine out in the garage with me for simple things like oil changes and tire rotations. No luck. I am proud of both of them, but now they just call dad when they need car help.....

[jbs72697]

Great news on your daughter's involvement. Many times I tried to get mine out in the garage with me for simple things like oil changes and tire rotations. No luck. I am proud of both of them, but now they just call dad when they need car help.....

It’ll am hoping to get my girls involved with my upcoming build. Haven’t received much positive feedback yet, but hoping that once the kit gets here they may take more of an interest

[mikeb75]

I'm not particularly proud that I've sourced so many things from ebay and Amazon for this build, but sometimes on the cheap, fast, quality matrix cheap wins out.

The pressure transducers I've been using for the brake lines was definitely one of these cases. Initially I was fairly suspicious of the ebay sourced $20 pressure transducer. Not having any idea what kind of line pressures an unpowered brake system sees I ordered 500 PSI sensors... which failed shortly after install. So I installed the highest rated replacement ebay sensors I could find - 2500 PSI. I should have been quite a bit more suspicious since they had exactly the same construction and packaging as the 500 PSI sensors.

During my last test drive I noticed one of the sensors stopped reading data. After checking the wiring to the data logger (which had just been reinstalled) and still not seeing data I went ahead and put my foot on the brake pedal... and got that sinking feeling. Looked under the hood and sure enough, had a nice pool of brake fluid to clean up. Grabbed a flash light and saw that the sensor was leaking.

Now is where the story gets a little interesting. Went back to ebay and did a search for a replacement sensor (the failed one lasted about 4 years, so I was willing to go that route again). For some reason there was absolutely no stock available anywhere for the 2500 PSI sensor. Since there was no quick fix available via that route (world wide shortage of 2500 PSI 5v transducer with 1/8 NPT fitting... strange), I did a little more research of recommended sensors from the vendor of the data logger I use (RaceCapture from autosports labs). Found a vendor (in CA) that had stock of a 2150 PSI 5v transducer with the correct fitting that is recommended for monitoring brake pressure. For the low, low price of $115. Since I'm desperate I go ahead and order it expecting it to be a match for the ebay part I'm replacing...

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Old 'n busted vs New hottness
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...and was pleasantly surprised when I opened the package and found a different, and to my untrained eye much nicer part. Quite a bit more mass and larger, but still uses the exact same connector. So did a quick swap, waiting for the sealant to cure and still need to flush the brake lines and give it a pressure test and drive. But I guess the moral of the story is sometimes more expensive really is better.

But since I run a dual master cylinder setup I need to heed the other immortal words of wisdom: double your pleasure, double the fun...

[Frank818]

I'm not particularly proud that I've sourced so many things from ebay and Amazon for this build, but sometimes on the cheap, fast, quality matrix cheap wins out.

Yeah usually it's a matter of being lucky or not. lolll

But I guess the moral of the story is sometimes more expensive really is better.

Damn right!!!
Me too I sourced a bunch from those places and just like you sometimes I had to turn around and buy the real stuff at 2-3-4-5 times the price, but the quality was awesome and parts not failing, which is in the end what we want right, we don't want our parts to fail.


So how's the car running, now?