Frank818 -1993 VW VR6 Turbo donor- Build Thread

[STiPWRD]

Frank, here's another source for bonding studs:
http://rotaloc.com/products/bonding_...ed-bolt-studs/

They offer lots of different options for materials and base shape/size. I bought a bunch of stainless 1/4-20 threaded studs from them (P/N: M1-T38x15-1/4-20x1.00).

[Frank818]

https://youtu.be/aU8f8pi06Hs

That tube is awesome!!! This guy is sick! And what he said is exactly what I have read textually on other websites, including the same 10% stretching, so it probably is true. I will definately follow his technique.

I think anyone should watch that vid, it's amazing what he explains.

Frank, when you get your 818 on the road he will be taking a pic of you. And drooling.

Damn right!!!!!

Frank, here's another source for bonding studs:
http://rotaloc.com/products/bonding_...ed-bolt-studs/

They offer lots of different options for materials and base shape/size. I bought a bunch of stainless 1/4-20 threaded studs from them (P/N: M1-T38x15-1/4-20x1.00).

I found that website but couldn't order online and didn't wanna bother calling, I prefered the help of my bud Frank. But I kept it in my bookmarks, in case one day I call.

[STiPWRD]

I found that website but couldn't order online and didn't wanna bother calling, I prefered the help of my bud Frank. But I kept it in my bookmarks, in case one day I call.

When I ordered mine, I spoke with someone that helped me select what I needed and checked stock. The studs were on their way 5 min later. I don't even think there was a minimum quantity - they'll pretty much put however many you want in the bag.

[redfogo]

Prep? Now that you mention it, I'm a bit confused as to what really needs to be done here. Some say (no I'm not the Stig) I would need 3M 94 Primer for the sharper edges. Others say for the whole car. More others say no need for a primer on any surface of the car. Almost all agree that removing grease and stuff like that with soap or alcohol propilyc stuff is a good way to go.
How would you prep the body surface for maximum hold?

Tnx for the shipping, Red, I'll keep in mind if need be.

For prep work I mean just get a real nice clean surface. I have never primered or sanded down the surface on a car since most the time the paint is nice and isn't something I wanted to scratch up. I would assume though with sanded down/ primer surface things would stick better. At least that's the rule in the paint and glue world. Long story short in all my uses of wrap and plastidip the most important is just making sure everything is nice and clean. I haven't had any issues just doing that. Sharp edges are hard though with wrap. I still need to get that down better!

[Frank818]

STI, tnx for the info, they seem cool people. Will check if they ship to Canada, for my next order (I'm sure I'll need more fastener!).

RED, ok that's easy to have a clean finish.
Sharp edges, yeah, the 818 doesn't have that many, but I have created a lot of em with the louvers' and ducts' openings. I think I will apply some U channel door guards in those places, that'd take care of it. I found black and blue, that should work.

[Frank818]

Well, I have had the car for 132 weeks now. 32 of those weeks my mech had issues and I couldn't work on the car. 32, man, that's a lot. This is not happening anymore since 1 year ago when I got the car back with drivetrain installed. Since then it's 100% mine.

I have spent 100 weeks with at least 15mins of work on the car.

Total hours = 1950h. I wonder if anyone did more than that on this 818 forum...
That is an average of 19.5h per week!! Stunning! I didn't think I'd do better than 15h but I did. That is serious consistency, discipline and sacrifices.


Still waiting on couple of parts in order to post a lot of pix and 1-2 vids. May take weeks again. But as a teaser:

2016-11-15 15.47.20_1.jpg

[THE FURNACE]

Sorry, I can't tell what the teaser is. I guess I don't have enough hours in yet, to make out what that is. Lucky if we hit 15 hours every two months. Good job!

[flynntuna]

That's hardly a tease... It's obviously a close up pic of Bigfoot as your new helper.

[Hindsight]

Frank, you have dedication for sure. I never tracked hours... no clue where I am but would guess close to you.

[svanlare]

I've stopped tracking hours and dollars. At this point my wife and I have agreed the website says $15K and we are both happy not asking any questions beyond that.

For hours, since I'm sitting at the airport killing time I can take a stab at. I know I haven't spent as many as I would have liked as the car isn't running right now. I do have a spreadsheet that I'm tracking tasks and since I like seeing the burn-down actually go down, I've recorded each day I finish some work. So this doesn't count any of the think days (hanging out on the internet "planning") or how much time went into the days. I just summed up the spreadsheet (sitting at the airport killing time "thinking" about working on the car) and came up with 84 days with progress reported. At a 5-hour average (which I have no idea if it is right) comes out to 420 hours. I sure hope I don't have 1500 hours to catch up

[AZPete]

Stop this! Don't count hours, money, Band-Aids or bought-stuff trashed. All I know is I've spent some hours, some money, some boxes of Band-Aids and enough upholstery material for a school bus.

[Hindsight]

I quit tracking money as well. Too depressing. My buddy built a Cayman with a brand new crate LS3 for about half what I have into my 818.

[Pearldrummer7]

I stopped counting hours once I started driving the car. Now "working" on it often involves testing it, which involves hooning it around on track or the street....lines blur a lot between work and play now.

It gets even more fun

[Frank818]

I like tracking hours. Once it's done I'll be able to tell people how much hard work it was so they can gauge the tremendous amount of efforts put into this. Also it's very satisfactory for me to know I am capable to investing that many hours in so "little" (relative here) time, it makes me appreciate better the build. I didn't say I was tracking money, I still track what parts I put on the car so I know what I needed to use, but that's about it.

[Pearldrummer7]

I like tracking hours. Once it's done I'll be able to tell people how much hard work it was so they can gauge the tremendous amount of efforts put into this. Also it's very satisfactory for me to know I am capable to investing that many hours in so "little" (relative here) time, it makes me appreciate better the build. I didn't say I was tracking money, I still track what parts I put on the car so I know what I needed to use, but that's about it.

Makes total sense! It's a lot of working tracking the hours and I'm glad someone did. A cool metric for sure

[Frank818]

Very easy to track, actually. I check at what time I start working on it and what time I stop, then I open my Scribble app on my phone and punch in the # of hours. I waste less than 1min per "tracking cycle". Which means I lost many hours or work time, then. DOH!!! lolll

[svanlare]

If the goal was the best car for the minimum hours and money, then I think anyone who reads Jalopnik knows the answer is Miata.

I think of the equation more along the lines of a hobby where I want to spend maximum hours (Frank seems to be the winner here) and know that is will consume whatever cash it can (I never monitored my tire budget when I was driving the 911, but realized I had to think of tires as a consumable like gas). I didn't start knowing if I had what it took to get to a running car, so the learning is a huge part of the project and I have zero regrets about it although there a plenty of things I'll do better next time :-)

But maybe boxes of band-aids is the right metric - I have used a bunch!

[Frank818]

Easy to stratch plasti-dip, a smooth rub with a nail and...

2016-11-18 05.43.19_1.jpg



Wost... bracket... EVER!

2016-11-20 14.12.57_1.jpg

But it works nice! Very minimal up-down fan movement, I'll keep it that way. Couldn't find another acceptable solution to fit it in place.

[Frank818]

[Hindsight]

You'll be glad you installed those hood hinges. Every time I open my hood at a car meet, I usually get some "ooooohhhs and aaaaaahhhs!" from the crowd.

[redfogo]

looking awesome frank!

[Frank818]

Which is why I need to strengthen the hood, it wobbles easily while opening/closing and when closing, the quick-latches are not aligned cuz the hood bends. Not a huge prob, in 1 year, it's on my list.

[svanlare]

The front hinges are pretty awesome, but the hood does look wobbly. I'm going to have to learn to do some fiberglass work too it seems. I really like the catches at the corners.

[longislandwrx]

Looks good Frank, Cutout sizes are awesome. What about just adding a third quick latch to the middle, to control flex while driving?

how often are you really going to open the hood?

[Canadian818]

Finally catching up on your thread Frank. The mirrors don't look familiar to me, but they look great! Can't wait for you to post a detailed write up of the wrap install as well, I'll be doing the same. Keep up the good work!

[Frank818]

What about just adding a third quick latch to the middle, to control flex while driving?

Hey not bad! I already fitted a rivnut to support my center hood bracket.
Oh wait, a quick-latch in the top middle of the hood close to the windshield? I need that cleared for the wiper, though.

how often are you really going to open the hood?

I... I don't know! I guess at least once a week to charge the battery after a couple of drives. I always keep it tendered. But I don't care much, the wobblieness will be taken care of after I pass inspection and have some fun with the car, as a winter project. So it's not part of my priorities right now, as long as I keep the middle portion of the hood as high as I can to clear for the no-cut (hopefully) wiper.

The mirrors don't look familiar to me, but they look great! Can't wait for you to post a detailed write up of the wrap install as well, I'll be doing the same. Keep up the good work!

They don't? Oh come on...

pagani_zonda_2001_silver_front2.jpg

Not the same mirrors but same location (although higher).

[Frank818]

Fitted my engine bay fan to extract hot hot hot hot air right from the top of the turbo.

[Frank818]

Oh crap, that's the wrong video with the stupid mistake I made... here's the good one:

[Frank818]

What's wrong with my white gel coat?

2016-11-22 07.29.34_1.jpg

It turned? Thank god I have 4 different pints, the other one I checked was paste. Really cool and easy stuff to work with, it hardens so much once cured!

I fixed some voids, I use a stick and I hammer on the edges of the panels, hard enough. If there is a void something will crack, chip or pop. I found many like that.

[Canadian818]

I guess I've always been to obsessed with the back end of the car to notice the mirrors, lol.

[Kurk818]

What's wrong with my white gel coat?

2016-11-22 07.29.34_1.jpg

It turned? Thank god I have 4 different pints, the other one I checked was paste. Really cool and easy stuff to work with, it hardens so much once cured!

I fixed some voids, I use a stick and I hammer on the edges of the panels, hard enough. If there is a void something will crack, chip or pop. I found many like that.

It looks like it has separated out. Just remix and test a small swatch on a piece of paper to ensure it hardens properly.

[Frank818]

Hey Kurk, yeah my next step is to try to mix it. If it works I'll keep it, if not I'll dispose of it.

BTW I have fixed your broken scoop, the one UPS badly broke on the top rear edge (where 3 different lines/angle meet). I just need to sand off, that gel coat is pretty cool. Of course, it is the driver's side scoop...

[Frank818]

I received my tow hook yesterday and Dan was right. It is a M12 bolt which fits nice on the front rad 3/4 tubing. Many hooks have an M16 bolt which will make quite more difficult to drill right and may weaken more the frame. So be careful if you buy one these, make sure it's 12mm bolt.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/262179649028

[longislandwrx]

Oh wait, a quick-latch in the top middle of the hood close to the windshield? I need that cleared for the wiper, though.

bummer, what about glassing in a piece of flat aluminum that picks up both quick latches.

I... I don't know! I guess at least once a week to charge the battery after a couple of drives. I always keep it tendered.

my battery tenders have all come with the hardwired pigtail that doesn't require the alligator clamps. I run it out the front on my Firebird so I don't even need to pop the hood to connect it. If yours didn't you can buy separately.

hw2954_1.285.jpg

highly recommend. also, if you run the quick disconnect to the drivers compartment, you can get this gem as well.

Battery Tender USB Port (PU38070231)
https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Tende.../dp/B00DJ5KEF4

or this

Battery Tender Quick Disconnect Plug with LCD Voltage Display
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DJ5KE9A?psc=1

[Frank818]

1st, on the tender. Yes I do have those ring terminals. And cool other stuff man I didn't know battery tender was making quick disconnects. A few weeks ago I've ordered some Anderson connectors, does pretty much the same thing:

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=...76bf67638e88H0

Different colors but I do have the plug at the end. It's true I may not need to open the hood anymore, I'd need to place the connector in the cockpit, which I wasn't thinking of doing, no more space to run wires, but I could drill holes through the FW though. I know how to drill holes, right? And doing so would solve a design issue I had for when I'll fab my rad box. Yeah I'll follow your idea! Tnx!


On the hood, yes the alu flat bar glassed side-to-side on the latches or say 1in off of them would certainly help. I just think the alu flat bar I got is not solid enough for 4 feet long. I'll test that. Or I could glass 1/8x3/4 flat steel bar, if need be. It's not a race car so a couple of grams more isn't a problem, as long as I don't say that to myself on all the parts I use.

[RM1SepEx]

I put the battery tender connection behind the little door that I installed to check and add oil in the front of the driver's side hump

[AZPete]

Try to have the Battery Tender connection near the diver's seat where it will be very obvious, like looped over the steering wheel, because you don't want to drive off with it connected. Please don't ask how I learned this.

[Frank818]

How did you learn that? Joking. Sorry you had to learn the hard way.
I was planning pretty much the same place or somewhere obvious.

[RM1SepEx]

Try to have the Battery Tender connection near the diver's seat where it will be very obvious, like looped over the steering wheel, because you don't want to drive off with it connected. Please don't ask how I learned this.

Mine is right behind the driver's seat, can't miss the cord... Pete I'd never do something like drive off plugged in ;-)

[Frank818]

Pete I'd never do something like drive off plugged in ;-)

Yeah it's like cranking the engine without an engine. Who would do that.