Frank818 -1993 VW VR6 Turbo donor- Build Thread

[longislandwrx]

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.

could have been worse.

driving-off_5.jpg

[flynntuna]

could have been worse.

driving-off_5.jpg

Ha ha ha ha ha ha now that's funny

[Frank818]

TO ALL, post-dated as of Nov 25 2016, I wish you guys a damn great TG!!! No that is not "Top Gear", it's "ThanksGiving".

Take advantage of all the sales, shop online until Monday you might find great parts deals!! Or stuff for your wife, if you got any. I don't, so I'm rich. lolll

[Scargo]

Thanks Frank. We are all rich but seldom realize it. You Canucks... so sentimental.

[Frank818]

Forgot some info for Steve and his body fasteners. I also have a small update on tow hook.

Speaking of hook, I drilled the hole in the middle of the rad frame, which is exactly where I drilled a 10-32 rivnut to bolt the rad floor panel, so I had to drill out the rivnut and will offset it.
Because it's so difficult to drill exactly in the middle of a tube, I of course missed, although my mark was perfectly in the middle. Therefore I felt the top of the tube was too thin and I didn't want it to bend, so I welded an 1/8 flat piece over it.

2016-11-25 06.23.48_1.jpg


I also repaired many gel coat areas (still more to do), including a total blow up of 1" of the front fender lip (driver's side of course!!!). It fell on the hump of the engine cover and 1" of gel coat exploded to pieces. I managed to repair it so great that no one, not even me, will notice it. I start to get the hang of this ****. lolll I found out there's probably void all over the place around the fender lips.

I then again also reformed a big trimming I performed on the passenger's door front. Fiberglass and gel coat, will have pic later on.


Now Steve! On the hood hinges, I wanted to locate the studs at the very bottom of the slots so that the hood's weight would be supported by the brackets and not the clamping force. Was pretty hard to align things right and ensure I would glass the studs in the exact right place. Over 1mm off and the studs wouldn't fit. First try first success, it worked. I used the bracket with its side-to-side bar to get the studs in the right place and I used 3M 8115 bonding panel to bond them at an angle, so they would be flush with the brackets. I filled up underneath each stud with resin and fiberglass and of course all around, over, etc.

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In the end I used Mike's trick (the Mike with a wicked yellow smiley face as avatar) to space out the bracket using washers over the fiberglass that is over the studs. I sanded to make as flush as possible and it works perfect. No pic of that.

[Frank818]

A few weeks ago my father had a broken handle on a drawer. Wood drawer, metal handle fastened by a bolt from the inside. The threads inside the handle were all ****ed and the bolt was slipping through. I told my father I would repair it. He was surprised, as even him did not have a clue on how to (parents don't know I'm building the 818). I re-threaded the handle, used a different bolt and voilà!!! Good as new! This would have NEVER been possible without all I learned with the 818... there are also a few other things I repaired in the past year that without the 818 I would have dumped them.


Hey US guys... what's most important and most partied, 4th of July or Thanksgiving?

[Frank818]

What's wrong with my white gel coat?

Attachment 61251

It turned?

It's dead. I can mix it, it comes back white, as it should, bu very liquid, like more liquid than yogurt, something like white honey. Maybe it needs to be mixed super fast for a long period. Oh well, I know I will not use more than 1 pint, far less from that, and I got 4, so disposing of 1 isn't an issue. I found another pint that was dead too. Not the same color but same problem. I suspect they are from 2.5 years ago. I strongly advise anyone who gets gel coat from FFR to either mix it a couple times a year or use it before it's too late. Some say 1 year, other say 1 year when opened... many say if put in fridge it'll last longer, no one says how long.

Doesn't matter, I'll do all my repairs before next autumn and then if I have an accident or rocks chip off the coat, I'll just buy some more, it's cheap compared to all the other parts I've bought so far. loll

[flynntuna]

Hey US guys... what's most important and most partied, 4th of July or Thanksgiving?[/QUOTE]

Hey Frank, Thanksgiving and the 4th of July are completely different animals, (at least herein southern Ca.). Thanksgiving is more a family thing like Christmas. Were as the 4th has more of a party feel, cause your with friends and neighbors. Although family can be included but not essential. Also since the 4th is in summer it lends itself to more of a " party" atmosphere.

[svanlare]

Funny about the drawer screw, there are many projects that have come up in the past two years that I both have the skill and tools to solve the right way now.

[turbomacncheese]

Hey US guys... what's most important and most partied, 4th of July or Thanksgiving?

Hey Frank, Thanksgiving and the 4th of July are completely different animals, (at least herein southern Ca.). Thanksgiving is more a family thing like Christmas. Were as the 4th has more of a party feel, cause your with friends and neighbors. Although family can be included but not essential. Also since the 4th is in summer it lends itself to more of a " party" atmosphere.[/QUOTE]

Agreed. Thanksgiving, we're proud of our families, subdued, party inside. The 4th, we're proud of America, boisterous, party outside.

[Frank818]

So I take it you get a lot of gifts on Thanksgiving. Therefore all of you got nice car parts for the 818 this w-e?

Let's see how happy about Trump you'll be on the 4th.


Steve do you have any of Craig's louvers? I decided to use the same method and fasteners.

I glue some Rotaloc (from McMaster, Frank shipped them to me) 10-32x1/2 studs using 3M 8115 bonding panel epoxy. The waxed paper is great, you can squeeze on the epoxy and enlarge the bonding surface, then once cured you can remove them without any part sticking. Besides the serious bond from the 3M, I like the fact it has a 90mins working time. Not 15 like resin. And less if you put more hardener.
I will secure the bonds in place with a bit of fiberglass once I have installed all of them (about 28). The bond is more than enough but I'll still glass them up.

2016-11-27 04.57.42_1.jpg

[Frank818]

Relatively huge update. I have been holding on a lot of pix, progress and... DOORS INSTALLATION!!! Will post a couple of posts.

First of, BN (Ben) from QC passed by this Friday. Really nice guy, he's building a C and has a Cobra for about 8 years now. We are both stupid guys cuz we forgot to take pix of ourselves in front of my car!! So I guess none of this happened, right? Cuz as we say "no picture it ain't happened!" Oh well, next time we will take some and it may be with both our cars.

He gave me details on the fuel filler neck, I believe the reason why recent kits have a neck that aligns properly with the cap is the rubber hose at the bottom of the tank, as the neck is the exact same. Old kits have a 2" VERY hard rubber hose with a red stripe. That thing doesn't bend. He said he's got a weird elbow part with a larger end and he cut only the straight portion and fitted at the bottom of tank and then at the cap. That rubber is a LOT softer and can bend easily. Which helps aligning the damn neck. I will mail Courtney and order a piece.


Ok so recently I did a lot of gel coat and fiberglass repairs. Here's one on the engine cover, it was cracked, both fiberglass and gel coat. I thickened it and it added a lot of strength.

2016-11-10 05.46.08_1.jpg

Funny, I don't have pix of the best repair I did. My driver's side (of course that one!) front fender lip has exploded about 1" long. The gel coat was gone and I had to fill it with new one. And sanded a lot. The repair is not noticeable at all, even I have trouble. It is right at the angle, the pointy part of the lip, so I had to gel and sand in a V shape.

Some other repair, the 3-angle edge on the scoop was also exploded, this time by stupid UPS (I hate them since 100 years). I had to refill and reshape the edge. I'm surprised I was able to make it! Good as new, Kurk!

2016-12-02 15.15.28_1.jpg


Now these are my VRaptor's side scoop louvers to direct the airflow better. On the passenger's side I had to remove 5 of the 8 fins to clear out my air filter. Oh well...

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These are Craig's louvers, all of the front ones. They are not fully bolted on the pic so the fenders one sit a little lower than they will be.

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[Frank818]

!!Door Installation Post!!


Ok finally the doors are done and I can post about my entire installation. I wanted all in one single post so that people won't need to search through the thread, since the door installation is better when taken as a whole.


Including their finish and a 10-12h mistake, it took a good 75h per door. There's a lot of details to fit the doors, but nothing that hard.


I used many different fasteners and a new solution to strenghten the cardboard.
I also based my installation on Tamra's Door Installation Guide. Pictures are great and it helps understanding and sorting the steps. My post here does not say in which order to do what.



First off, the striker should be installed, using OEM's bolts, at least 1" from the inner side of the side sail, as per FFR's manual (YES! The dusty manual has served me!). This step is the FIRST to do, otherwise you just don't know where to install your frame and your frame inside the skin. I lost 1h doing nothing until I found out in the manual. Tamra's installation guide did not mention this step.


I found out the frame sits good around 1/2" from the sail.

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M6 flat heads are used to keep the latch mechanism in place (to frame), but I did not use the alu template/bracket provided by FFR (to space between frame and skin), in order to give more clearance door/side sail. I did drill 2 M6 holes like Tamra to secure the skin on the frame behind the latch, using black bolts.


Then I drilled 4 M6 holes in the back and bottom (2 each) and 5 holes for the driver's door which was harder to fit. This is to secure the skin and cardboard together. There is a large gap in some areas that I still need to fill with something I don't know what yet. On the holes I drilled, I used awesome M6 U-clips http://www.ebay.com/itm/131920382444...witem=&vxp=mtr fitted on the cardboard.

2016-11-05 13.46.27_1.jpg


I prefer that to screwing screws through the cardboard, that is ok for a one time use, but removing and re-installing many times it's not as strong and in some areas I needed good strength to pull the cardboard against the skin. Using black bolts all around.


Then at the top of the door I used 8 6-32s per door, yeah those are really small, I wanted to hide as much as possible the bolts there, but I think 8-32s would be better. For some reason I had a hard time rivnutting the rivnuts, they are crushed at the top, all of em, but they are solid. Using M4 black nylon washers with those bolts.


At the top front where some install the mirror bracket I used 2 M6 button head and 2 M6s flat head at the bottom of the frame. All blacks.


I had to trim very very slightly the cardboard to make it flush inside the skin, otherwise the door doesn't close with the proper gaps or not at all. I also trimmed some of the skin's edge on the inner side (mostly rear and rear bottom) so it clears out better the inner side of the sail close to the seats. Gives more play to better adjust the gaps and tuck in the cardboard a little more again for better adjustability.


Then I changed the provided 2" 1/4-20 bolts to secure the opening handle to frame, they're too short. I used 2.5" black bolts and I dropped to 10-32, cuz the rivnut is smaller and the hole is really close to the side of the tube, on the pass door I just couldn't use an 1/4-20 rivnut.


2016-10-30 17.29.42_1.jpg


The installation location of the opening handle is critical, as you need the cardboard and/or the alu center insert piece to act as a hard stopper for the handle to twist when you pull the trigger. Take your time here, too much trimming and you're ****ed.


Unlike Tamra, the rods were easy to bend and not frustrating at all (actually it was cool), the first one took more time but the driver's rod took me 1min and I got it a nice shape and perfect length. Make sure you give it the length required just before it wants to bend the handle. When you pull, if the mechanism has reached its max and you can still pull the handle more, you're too far, it'll twist/bend (doesn't break anything). Shorten the rod a little again.


2016-12-02 05.01.33_1.jpg


To strenghten the cardboard I first checked where it's weaker. Many have installed a long alu bracket on the top of skin to hold the top section of the cardboard, but is it really there that it's weak? Although that long L bar does help a lot, my goal was to see if I could build a smaller bracket and still get rid of all of the weak areas. Yes I can. Since you pull the close handle attached to the cardboard when you close the door, I found out that just above the pull handle is the weakest point, where the cardboard was bowing most. At the bottom it's held tight by my U-clips. Just above the handle, I drilled a 10-32 hole to fit a 2" black flat head (spare bolt I had laying around) and underneath, I welded a support bracket onto the frame and carefully aligned the rivnutted hole to the bolt, using some nylon spacers I bought. In the end you can weld your bracket very close to the cardboard and use washers, it's the same. Then when I pull to close the door it pulls on that bolt which is tightly in place to the frame (not skin) and nothing wobbles. I'm actually pulling the frame and not the door. I'm pretty proud of this one, I don't like a wobbling door.

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I will use double-sided tape to fit the alu insert. I thought of bolting through the alu insert and into my bracket but it would look weird to have just one bolt and would still need tape on the rear section of the insert.

On the closing handle I am using some M6s with weird heads, just for fun. So damn tight on the frame when closing the door, though.


Now installing the door in place. That is the most body alignment critical part I've had so far and it can move in every direction but it's super easy to align. You have a lot of play so there's always a way to make the gaps perfect (hear that Mike? lolll). Make sure you use your door stoppers BEFORE you try to trim the skin!! Don't ask how I know, I had to bring back some of the skin by applying fiberglass and gel coat cuz I just didn't know FFR provided stoppers before I came across the parts stored in my garage or read a post here... haaawwwww-haawww (Mike). The badest part is that I trimmed a lot the fender lip. on the passenger side. Looks thin now. Harder to re-do the fiberglass there, I'll see what I can do.

I did weld some metal to the stoppers to make the doors close just a little less, add clearance and also ensure the stoppers are firmly in place metal to metal, so when you open the door to the max it won't bend the stopper (which would make it opening a little more and hit somewhere).


2016-11-30 04.17.02_1.jpg


My cardboard is wrapped with black faux-suede and my pull handle blue faux-suede. It is very hard to keep the nice holes on the handles, cuz the wrap does not cut like a car wrap, it's more complicated. The black wrap was a ****ing pain to install!!! It is very sticky and once it touches a surface, it can't be dragged, it sticks right away. Really hard to pull cuz by pulling you need a grab on the wrap and when you do that pieces of it stick together and it's very very complex to un-stick. Your fingers stick to is and when you try to press somewhere else to remove your fingers, well it stick in that somewhere else. Very bad wrap, but I admit the look and feel is awesome. I had to do many seams, mostly in the lower "pocket" section, but the seams don't show up unless you take time to really look at it, which no one will. I swore hundreds of time trying to install this 3yo South Korean wrap. 2 hands really aren't enough.

And finally I insulated the inner cardboards and inner skins. Used some scrap pieces of under carpet and EZ-Cool. On the doors I cut full 1-piece EZ-Cool.

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[Frank818]

This is what happens when you don't know you have to install a door stopper first.

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My cardboard and handle. I'll see if I can cut the holes on the handles later.

2016-12-03 08.16.40_1.jpg

[Frank818]

[Canadian818]

Looks great Frank! What really bugs me is I didn't get that aluminum door panel that you wrapped in carbon fibre, and when I inquired about it I was told it was only on the first few kits and isn't included. Seems to me I'm the only one that didn't get them.

I like how the door pull actually pulls the frame, nice touch.

[Frank818]

Hey there you are Adam.

You got the padded door panels or the cheap thin plastic ones?
You're certainly not the only one without the alu inserts if they were intended only on early kits.


One thing to note on the door clearance, you really don't have a lot of play between the cardboard and side sail! So little in my case that I realize I now have to use countersunk bolts on the door pull (need to countersunk) and same on the alu C-shape cover that goes over the big tube between the seat and door.

[Canadian818]

I just have the thin plastic ones, padded wasn't an option when I got my kit.

[idf]

Looks great Frank! What really bugs me is I didn't get that aluminum door panel that you wrapped in carbon fibre, and when I inquired about it I was told it was only on the first few kits and isn't included. Seems to me I'm the only one that didn't get them.

I like how the door pull actually pulls the frame, nice touch.

I have a set of the aluminum inserts that I did not use. Free to good home.

[Canadian818]

I have a set of the aluminum inserts that I did not use. Free to good home.

I'll PM you, thanks!

[svanlare]

Thanks for all the photos. I've been away from both the blog and the garage for a while (but I did get a weekend in at the race track). Hoping to get the car on the street somewhere this month and then will try to catch up on body work.

[Frank818]

This is how I decided to cut the covers around the striker bracket. Will probably wrap with suede or carpet. I don't have time to think of a better solution, this can be done after inspection anyway.

2016-12-04 05.39.29_1.jpg

Worst... solution... ever!! loll My god damn washer fluid. Which is a must for inspection. It's fully removeable and very clumsy. The nozzle bracket is shaky a little bit, but it's adjustable by bending the alu sheet lolll An FFR scrap cut alu sheet I re-used for this stupid required feature. It fits UNDER the hood and does not wet the hood. My intention is to get rid of this **** after inspection. If I ever get pulled over and for some AWESOME reasons the cop tells me I have no fluid and gives me a ticket (theoretically possible), well god damn I'll re-install it permanently then. But until I pay that ticket, **** that! lolll

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Ha, this one... my sunvisor. Note, not sunvisorS, as only one is required. I think I'm the 1st one to fit this part on the 818, haven't seen one yet neither anyone talking about it. Still got a blurry protective film on it but it's basically a tinted acrylic piece. I had to remove one of the 2 visors (had one black and other orange) and modify the big white clip. It doesn't cover a small, very small portion between the top of the visor and bottom of the top surround edge. Not sure if it's illegal or not. No time to spend more on this. Inspection will tell. After inspection, guess what man, yea I'll remove it! Again if a cop tells me I need a sunvisor and gives me a ticket, same thing, I'll permanently install it back. Until then, guess what: **** that! lolll I got a "car" to build, not something to protect a horizon's sun from. Speaking of which, I'll do the same with the wiper. I changed mind compared of a few months ago.

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About this, well it's challenging. This is my boost controller. It has many features, including controlling boost by RPM or SPEED. This is very valuable for me. I need to keep it, until I find something different for a decent price. But as you can see, there is NO mounting point at all. I tried various ways and they were all too weak. Now I have machined a small angled plate onto which I have glued 3M dual-lock velcro and that bracket will be bolted to the center console, just in front of the shifter. I realized I had to slice off some of the countersunk bolts' heads in order to squeeze them with pliers when I want to unbolt the bracket. If not, there is no way to remove the bracket, as the controller sits on the bolts and there's no clearance for an allen key or any other tool. If I remove the controller by un-velcroing the velcro, the controller is too weak and it could break. How on earth could I end up with such a clumsy solution... oh well, I believe it'll work, I'll know tomorrow early morning after installation.

2016-12-07 16.20.05_1.jpg

[Frank818]

While I'm drinking some Scotch after another hard work on the car, let's see how I can explain my stupid wiper system.

It is stupid cuz there's so little space it rubs on my AWIC water tank. I will have to file down thinner the rectangular link on the motor that swipes along with the round link. Everything it up to 1-2mm!!

My guess is I will pass inspections without the water tank. Which means I will need to drain it, cuz I need to fill it up when I'll test the car on the track and go on the dyno. Maybe I can bypass the tank and connect the in and out hoses together, but we'll see about that.

This is my first wiper test ever! I was afraid something would rub on the windshield or the motor's twisting torque would dismantle everything, as it's not fully fixed in place yet. It still wobbles a little.

[Frank818]

It turned out like this:



I think it will wipe at least "80% of the view angle", which is the rule I need to comply to.

This is a 21" blade, the max I can use on my setup.


You can notice something odd, the wiper arm cannot sit at the very far end of the motor's travel. The motor always stops about 3" before the max the blade can reach. Then when I wipe it goes down 3" and than back up and towards driver's side. This sucks cuz the blade is much more visible like this. I tried manually to stop the blade lower but the motor keeps sitting back too far up. If I adjust the arm lower, it then goes lower than the windshield and it stucks there, I almost broke something during testing.

2016-12-13 07.38.01_1.jpg



Apart from that annoying situation, this is how it wipes the area:

2016-12-13 07.37.44_1.jpg

[Frank818]

Happy Holidays!


Bump steer kit installed.


Bought this:

Speedway Motors
http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Precis...lQuery=1750316
http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Steel-...Query=91006126
http://www.speedwaymotors.com/Adjust...Query=91636055 (PINTO VERSION)

Racecraft
http://www.racecraft.com/index.php?m...oducts_id=1697

Summum Performance (a place 200km from mine! A first to find car parts in Quebec at a great price! Almost impossible but I found those PitStop USA spacers from Allstar)
Allstar Performance Bump Steer Kit
Description: ALL18602 0.030" Bump Steer Spacers
Allstar Performance Bump Steer Kit
Description: ALL18603 0.060" Bump Steer Spacers
Allstar Performance Bump Steer Kit
Description: ALL18604 0.100" Bump Steer Spacers
Allstar Performance Bump Steer Kit
Description: ALL18605 0.200" Bump Steer Spacers
Allstar Performance Bump Steer Kit
Description: ALL18606 0.300" Bump Steer Spacers
Allstar Performance Bump Steer Kit
Description: ALL18607 0.400" Bump Steer Spacers
Allstar Performance Bump Steer Kit
Description: ALL18608 0.500" Bump Steer Spacers


Speedway Motors is AWESOME in terms of shipping! I am in Canada and 24h after BUYING the parts I got them at my door!!! For only less than 40 bucks! Crossing the border, traveling 1350miles, that is something impossible unless you pay 100-150 of shipping. DHL Worldwide Express is an awesome shipping method. It even took longer for the parts from 200km away, no border...

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As you can see the PINTO studs are too wide to fit the 7/16 spindle hole, they jam half way through. I don't think that's a prob on the street, even with a wide washer the top lock nut could bolt through all threads. Barely but it did. Torque to OEM Specs, top and bottom nuts (20lbs). I also put a spacer between the spindle and "hex lip" of the stud so it actually squeezes on the spindle too. The length wasn't the same on both sides, THANKS TO JEFF for convincing me to buy a BUNCH of spacers of any sizes. In the end I have the same spacer length as Jeff, although that's probably not what my car wants, I'll know once I drive, but I got more spacers and plenty of stud length left.

The black sleeve has NOT been bolted on yet, it was just there for the picture for you guys. I'm wiring my headlights, I'm sitting HOURS inside the fender with my back on the spindle, I need the space, the rod cannot be installed yet.

BTW what I did on my headlights KICKS ***!!!!! I LOVE IT!!! It's... it's... for another day. lolll Once all works fine I'll post pix and video. I think I found the EXACT styling I wanted my whole life...

[Frank818]

You won't believe my clearance issues but I had to grind a rotational moving part of the OEM wiper motor, otherwise it was rubbing on my AWIC water tank. Incredible but 1mm makes all the difference here.

2016-12-19 05.24.10_1.jpg

[Frank818]

Jesus... took countless hours to wire the damn lights. I admit I have more than suggested by FFR and I had a prob with the passenger's LED strip. For some reason it would not return to DRL after triggering a turn signal. It was actually acting erratic in many ways. Hours of testing and swapping LEDs from one side to another I found out it must be defect. So I ordered 2 more (one spare), need to wait 6 weeks of course... But you get the idea!!

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The LED strips give a great aggressive look and follow the lines of the car. The LEDs, all of them, are extremely bright!!! I could probably drive at night without my FFR Hella projectors on (low beams). The color is so great! The round lights (Eagle eyes) with strips give the look I've always been searching for. I wanted that look so bad... so bad. Money and hard work later I finally made it. I don't need to buy a McLaren, a Lambo or something like that, now.

The low beams are aiming very low, if I can't aim them up enough I'll have to tilt down the back of the headlights' buckets. We'll see.

When I 1st tested my high beams last Spring they were slow to react to a high beam flash (using the steering column arm). But this time they are almost as fast as normal lights, if not as fast. Happy with that too.

I'm happy with EVERYTHING about the lights! Apart from the fact sitting inside the fender, my back on the spindle and LCA is pretty hard on the long term, but it was worth it! So happy, can't wait to drive it and show those lights in people's rear view mirror. lolll


Beware for those buying Chinese lights, they usually have VERY VERY VERY thin wires. So thin you almost don't feel them when you touch them, they are very hard to work with and a feather on 2 twisted wires together could make them separate (too much weight). Damn crap. I'm surprised they can handle 9W. The Eagle eyes are 9W each on the white LEDs. I think 6 or 7 on the amber. 27W actually, cuz I soldered 3 Eagle eyes' wires onto one wire from my switchback driver. But no heat.

Other word of caution: for those wanting switchback LEDs behaving exactly like mine (DRLs totally OFF during the turn signal's cycle), you may not be capable without building a driver of finding a positive (not negative) 12V driver. When I ordered 2 more tubes of those I had drivers with long time ago, they came with smaller drivers. I thought it was nice. But then the LEDs wouldn't lit at all. Took a few hours of fiddling around until I questioned the new drivers. I isolated them and they don't light up ONE SINGLE Eagle eye LED!! Unlike my 2013 or 2014 drivers which can take at least 3 Eagle eyes at the same time. I admit I ordered 80cm tubes in 2013 or 2014 and only 45cm this time. Maybe the drivers are different for 45cm.

I'm just crossing fingers this will be reliable. So far no heat after many mins of work time. And I got the look I wanted.

[Canadian818]

Looks fantastic Frank! Must be nice to be finishing these last few big projects, thanks again for ordering 2 of everything for me for the bumpsteer parts. What's the next thing your tackling?

[redfogo]

Love the lights they look great! Very awesome job on everything

[Frank818]

Yes tnx guy! Doing the build just to get that front look was worth it!

Adam my next and only major tackle left are the front splash guards.
Everything else is just fixing little things around, wrapping, triming and sanding some panels for final installation and installing other little things like carpets and of course reinstalling all my parts but this time for a longer time and for driving. All my parts lay around but they are designed and fitting, I just need to reinstall everything together to make it a car instead of a bunch of parts. loll

[Frank818]

@LongIslandRangersNY (can't recall your name), tnx for showing me the Battery Tender ring terminal connector, I forgot about it and thought I had lost it, but while I was heavily looking through scrap wires in order to find the right gauge and colors for the headlights, I found my Tender ring terminal connector! It's very small, so I like it. I wired it on the battery and will use it to charge the batt without the need to access the posts (not accessible AT ALL with my water tank on top). Only thing is I have to open the hood, but that's ok, I love the look of it and it's cool to open and close.

Tnx for the reminder, man!

[Frank818]

And the mirrors are lit up.

[STiPWRD]

Frank, great job on the headlights, they look very nice! I'm guessing the hella projectors have those LED bulbs you posted a few months ago? Also, do you have links for the LED strips where you got the switchback drivers from (or is any 80cm strip ok)? Did you do the wiring "on the fly" or make any diagrams by any chance? I'd like to replicate what you did. I'm a bit concerned about the LED strips in the insert since they will be nearly at ground level and see lots of debris and rocks. They look great but do they seem sturdy?

[AZPete]

Frank, nice work on the lights. And, your mirrors, too. I'd like to do the same with the LEDs but I need your help, please. You wrote, "Other word of caution: for those wanting switchback LEDs behaving exactly like mine (DRLs totally OFF during the turn signal's cycle), you may not be capable without building a driver of finding a positive (not negative) 12V driver." What do you mean by building a driver? (I'm an electronic idiot) Any idea where can find a positive 12V driver? Or, what do I google?

[Frank818]

Pete and STI are asking pretty much the same thing, here goes:

I'm guessing the hella projectors have those LED bulbs you posted a few months ago?

Yup! Some 35 bucks a pair 4000lumens 40w bulb each.

Also, do you have links for the LED strips where you got the switchback drivers from (or is any 80cm strip ok)?

It's actually 85cm for the tubes. I don't know if they come with the same drivers I got 2-3y ago, that's the thing. I would be in trouble if something breaks cuz I don't know if I can buy replacement parts. BUT! There is an alternative that should well work, although a little more pricey. To me that look is priceless, I'd be ready to invest a lot. More on the alternative below.

The LED strips on the nose insert come with their driver included in the strip itself.

Did you do the wiring "on the fly" or make any diagrams by any chance?

On the fly but I do have a written instruction. I wrote down which wire connects where. But that is specific to my application, so if I change from a color to another along the line for some reason, it means nothing to anyone else. Also I am using Infinity Box, so the colors I start with are certainly different.

That being said, if anyone replicates my setup I'll explain in details what I did and from there one can work out on their own car. It's a very simple installation in terms of diagram's complexity.

I'm a bit concerned about the LED strips in the insert since they will be nearly at ground level and see lots of debris and rocks. They look great but do they seem sturdy?

Totally! They are covered with a translucent rubber on top of the LEDs, I'd bet my ENTIRE CAR that my wrap will get chipped before any of the strip would break due to road debris. The quality to survive debris looks really good.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...m=122032768478

At 7 bucks each (you can buy just one if you search ebay), considering how bright they are and how nice the amber looks like, plus that they have a switchback embedded, it's a damn bargain.



About the Eagle Eyes, to make them switchback like that the alternative to the LED tube's driver is to buy 1 Oznium driver per Eagle Eye you want to switchback and INVERT the NEGATIVE signal to a POSITIVE signal.

https://www.oznium.com/switchback-driver

This driver works on the negative side, but the Eagle Eyes on the positive. So you need to invert the signal. It's well known and there are a few methods of doing it.
I know Infinity Box sells (pricey!) an inverter. http://shop.infinitybox.com/inVERT-Mini-p/infinvtz.htm

But Frankc5r seems to know how to do it by himself. I'll let him jump in if anyone wants more details.

[Frank818]

While installing my front splash guards (god that is boring) and wiring my headlights, I found out this bent fwd end on the top rad support!

2016-12-27 09.17.17_1.jpg

I have cut some portion of it on the top to clear the rad return hose, it certainly weakened the support but I don't know what happened, what stress, that made that happen. I'll have to weld something in place but it's funny I wired my headlights and my connectors and plugs don't slip through the holes of the support, unless I cut the wires. So I'll have to weld the piece hanging with wires in place.



On the splash guard, the rear guard is made to be installed BEFORE the windshield. Since alone I cannot remove the windshield, I had to cut the panel. Honestly if you don't cut it, it means you install it before the windshield and then if you want to remove the panel, you're screwed, you have to remove the windshield. Once cut it's not that bad, shouldn't cause a problem.

2016-12-27 14.16.08_1.jpg


The front guard, new with the new nose, is more complicated to fit, especially with Craig's heat exchanger's brackets, they are exactly in the way! lolll How could he know, he designed before the nose was even built at FFR.

[Frank818]

I love the Holiday season, I can burn 8-10h a day 7days a week on the car and get things moving.

Front pass splash guards installed. The driver's side fits easier, will be done tomorrow.

2016-12-28 10.35.11_1.jpg2016-12-28 10.35.22_1.jpg2016-12-28 10.35.34_1.jpg2016-12-28 10.35.49_1.jpg2016-12-28 10.40.56_1.jpg2016-12-28 10.41.08_1.jpg2016-12-28 10.36.03_1.jpg


There are numerous areas NOT sealed by this design. You can see light on the 2nd pic top left corner, I can still pull out a little the bulb seal but it won't push enough to cover the open area. There are many places between panels where there are gaps, like between the front rear splash guard and 1.5" tube frame or the side sail and tube frame. Little openings where I had to cut for clearance, a huge opening in the center under the A-arm behind the coilover, openings between the inside guards and hood/fenders, under the windshield surround and over the frame, etc. No way this can be tight as a boat, no matter what Bob says he certainly played a lot of magic tricks to make it "water" proof, or he had better fitting than I do.

And no protection on the inside top of fenders, fiberglass exposed totally.


I noticed an important installation problem: for those with the race splitter, there is no way you can bolt it in place without using a rivnut on the back side of the fender support. Once the front splash guard is installed, it is bolted at the bottom using that same bolt that holds both the fender and splitter, close to the wheel. I had to guess that as I didn't see any installation procedure from FFR or someone here on the forum (did I miss them all?). But the race splitter is too far back and too high to reach that bolt, even a kid couldn't. I'll certainly have a pic at some point, I need to order 2x 1/4-20 rivnuts. Also the under rad floor panel will be difficult to install, need to install after the splitter but then the front bolts are very hard to reach, since I have blocked the lower nose opening! Engineering defects... lolll


This is about the distance between the tie-rod and rod ends with the bumpsteer kit. 3.5" sleeves are plenty, although 5.5 should fit as well, maybe 4.5" is the best to thread in as much as possible and still have plenty of adjustment. I won't have a problem with 3.5, though.
Final result looks just great! I like that kit.

2016-12-28 10.43.59_1.jpg2016-12-28 11.01.05_1.jpg


Guys, you got this bulb seal from FFR. not sure if they provide more now, but with the old nose what they provide is JUST enough after switching to the front nose and new guards, IF that makes a difference. According to my calculations, I'll be left with 3-4" of them. Don't waste too many pieces.
I will order some more cuz I have other places to fit them. I did not use any on the 2 IC alu panels (not using the IC), but FFR does. You won't have any left for all alu panels if you do so.

2016-12-28 11.00.24_1.jpg

[Hindsight]

Looking good Frank. I had the same issues with my front splash guards. I didn't even use the front pieces of the front splash guards, and plan on only installing the two rear pieces. Without them, you will get a lot of crap kicked up into the cabin which makes a serious mess and stuff gets in your eyes. I know by experience. I have test-fit the rear-most front splashguard panel and it didn't fit, align, or seal properly so I've had to hack it up pretty good, and also extend it a little in certain areas to make it fit right. It still isn't permanently attached but is on my to-do-ASAP list before I destroy my expensive racing seats with road dirt.

[Frank818]

My intention so far is to use some kind of sealer, foam, rubber or other to cover these small areas. Maybe I'll use caulk too, hoping I won't need to remove any of these panels more than once per 2 years. I'll certainly spend many hours trying to improve this, but it's not required for inspection, it's just for me and this is something I am used to see totally sealed on normal cars. Dirt can't reach the battery from the wheel well, can't reach the hood, the rad, the doors, electrical components, etc. Only the shock and suspension/steering elements. I'm not used to something like the 818, this makes it look more like a kit-car, I must admit. But it's fixable with time and patience...

[Frank818]

Driver's side splash guards installed. Better fitment than passenger's, just a little. Took a bit less than 30h for both sides. I had estimated 30h for this task. After almost 3 years I start to get the hang of how long things take! While installing the guards I found out something to give me a better fitment for the hood/fenders. Interesting. Figured out if the rear of the fenders are set higher on the bracket close to the windshield it helps fitting the rear lower section (close to doors) on the side sails and relieves stress on the panels. I am about 5/8 over the bracket. It also increases clearance between hood and windshield for my wiper. Need more tests on this but there is improvement. However it increases non-sealed area between fender and bulb seal, above the side sails, but that's not a problem I'll find a way to block it off.

Anyway, the last thing was built.

Sooo... uh... what now?

I have a very strange feeling right now. I've built everything on the car!
Need to finish carpeting and stuff inside cockpit and wrapping body. Everything else is just troubleshooting or improving solutions/fitments. I've got no more parts to design or build, they have all been installed at least once (some over 100 times loll).

I do have a list of things to fix/improve though. Probably 2 months of work. loll (that's 200h)

Unless something BIG hits me in the face, I'm really in to start registration process some time in April. I can't before, cuz the 1st step is to get a form attesting my parts are NOT stolen. Once I get that form from the police, I have 60 days to pass an inspection test. There is NO way I will pass a test without tuning the engine and driving it on a track. I need to make sure everything holds up. There is NO way it can be driven on a track until late April (depends from year to year, there could be a few days in March). So you see, clock is ticking once I start the process, I need to jump in the right train at the right time. Will give me time to improve the car.


Dec 29, 2016. I've got to remember that date.