The Start of a Journey - Metros Build Thread

[metros]

It's from dei, called boom mat spray on. It's heat resistant to 300*. Not a ton of heat protection, but there isn't much spray on deadening resistant to heat at all.

[shoeish]

Is it this stuff?

http://www.designengineering.com/cat...boom-mat-spray
050220_boom_mat_spray_on_0_0.jpg

[metros]

Yes, also sold on amazon

[metros]

What kind of gap are you guys getting here between the edge of the dash and the top curve of the windshield frame?

Don't mind the weight I have holding it flat.

[Frank818]

I had quite some. You don't really see it when the glass is on. I used industrial 3M velcro to stretched it tight in place. No prob at all.

[metros]

Got the dash all wrapped up. Having to connect everything under the dash has got me feeling beat up. Also removed the ignition cylinder. Racecars don't need keys.

It's nice to get something checked off and be very happy with the finished appearance.







Still waiting for the new front end to arrive otherwise. FFR is apparently waiting for a specially formed box to ship these in.

[Hindsight]

Looks good! Are you going to run any aftermarket gauges?

[metros]

Thanks! Yes, I have 2 spa dual gauges. Boost/oil pressure and coolant/oil temp. Not sure where I want them yet.considering up on the passenger side dash angled towards the driver or steering column mounted.

[metros]

Got a bit of time today to work in the garage. I modified the fuel filler in order to work with the Boyd tank that I upgraded to. The inlet for the Boyd tank is much higher than the FFR tank. The fuel filler will now have 1 additional coupler to account for the necessary modifications, but I don't see any issue in that.

Looking for input on whether I should get the rolled bead put back on the new set up. There won't be any pressure on the system so I don't anticipate needing the rolled bead. Difference in opinion?

Before:


After:

[Frank818]

The install of the dash looks so clean and OEM perfect.

[STiPWRD]

I did the same thing with the fuel filler neck and found that the coupler was very loose and fuel would probably leak when topped off. I bought a bead roller and put beads on the ends I cut but they aren't as good as the ones that came from FFR. The pipe is SS and harder than aluminum piping so the beads were tough to roll. You can borrow the bead roller if you want. If it still leaks I'll have to find someone to weld it for me since I can't weld stainless.

[metros]

Thanks for the heads up. I'm going to have my brother in law put a bead on them. I'll see how mine goes and then see if he'll do yours too if you'd like.

[STiPWRD]

Thanks, I'll try to take a pic of the bead I rolled.

[metros]

Garage time has been limited lately with a 36" snow storm a couple weekends ago. It has actually almost all melted now. Finding that my snow blower belt was chewed up on the 2nd pass of my driveway was extremely unamusing.

Yesterday I received a big box of parts from Factory Five. These are potentially the first of the new front ends shipped out.

Pics!










Thoughts on the new fenders - they're going to drastically improve the look of the front end, but it's going to take some work to get them in proper shape.

Associated Parts:

[metros]

Hella Headlight upgrade:




The headlight buckets that has been holding everything up: :unamused:








For some reason these are 2 pieces that seem to be plastiwelded together and oddly cut to not interfere with the fenders. The way everything aligns between the two pieces isn't confidence inspiring that the headlights will be aligned correctly or even look reasonable installed. *sigh*

If any of you want specific pictures let me know. I'd be happy to take pics of whatever you'd like.

[Kurk818]

Are the headlight lenses on back order?

Looks great. Looks like my front end is still a month out :/

[Hindsight]

Cool! I will be very interested to see how the headlights align to the road since I know that is a complaint people have had with the camry setup.

Looks like fiberglass body seams are now part of this kit! On the bright side, the cobra guys have been dealing with the seams for many years so there is a wealth of info over in the cobra forum and on the ffcars site too.

[Frank818]

Can the seams on the fenders require only buffering or they need fiberglass too? If it's just buffering it isn't that bad.

I'm also interested to know what lights are in the buckets that could act as side markers, if any? With or without reflectors?

[metros]

The lenses are in front of the buckets on the cardboard box. Just hard to see because they're clear.

I'm not sure on the seams. Hoping they can be wet sanded flush and buffed. But I think they'll require sanding, filler and paint.

[gwarden]

can we see a picture of the buckets laying in the fender?

[Mechie3]

Is there a piece of hardware that the lights mount to before attaching to the bucket?

[C.Plavan]

Just a FYI- Do not throw LED's into those Hella's. The Halogen lenses do not throw LED bulb light right. They ran into the problem on the NP01 at the 25hr race. They replaced with Halogen H9's bulbs and it was a ton better. Hella has a proper LED 90mm now. The BiLED is super pricey. My NP01 will have 4 Hella LED's (High Beam models only-still pricey but not like the others) Hella L4060

[07FIREBLADE]

They will definetly require sanding and filer to get them nice and cleaned up. Currently working on those exact seems for the last few weeks or so.

[Mitch Wright]

I really like the look of front fenders/headlights, not so sure about the front fascia yet.

[metros]

Gwarden - absolutely, I'm surprised I didn't think of that picture. Must've been because I was freezing my *** off.

Craig - I haven't opened all of the parts that were included. The clear zip lock with side markers may have something in it. But I don't believe there is anything that goes between bucket and headlight. The light has 4 studs and the bucket has 4 holes drilled in it around the light hole.

[metros]

Its been a few weeks since I've posted an update. We've had a few nice days sprinkled in where I was able to dedicate the day to the garage and enjoy the spring weather.

I've gotten my e-brake done and situated. I anchored the cables along the heat wall between engine and gas tank. I had to create this aluminum bracket to mount the brake cables to so that they don't pull towards the e-brake when you pull up on it.

Aluminum bracket:


Installed: The bracket also keeps the e-brake cables away from the wiring harness and prevents them from rubbing together.


I've got the center console cover slotted to play nice with the newly installed e-brake.


I've also had the firewall bent an additional 15* to account for the slimmer Boyd fuel tank. This will give passengers several more inches of leg room. I ended up having to cut an additional inch off the top of the firewall because with the adjusted angle it pushed everything upward. That meant re-creating all of the mounting holes 1 inch lower on the top of the firewall. I also drilled the new mounting holes on the floor. As a finishing touch I'm planning on creating an aluminum cover that will take place of the gap in the gas tank mounting location as a result of the slimmer tank. That'll cover the holes from the first gas tank mounting as well as the sound deadening materials.

[metros]

I've also scuffed/sanded the new fenders/grill and sprayed them with DEI Boom Mat Spray - sound deadener. The grill probably didn't need this treatment but it really stiffens the panels up nicely and that would be worthy for doing the grill as well.





With the firewall shifted down I have re-situated the ECU in a better location to keep it happily tucked under the firewall.

My son and I will be taking the firewall and center console panels to powder coat this week. Once we get them back we can do a final install of the firewall. That'll allow me to final install the sides of the center console. That will allow me to sound deaden the footwells with dynomat. Then I can re-install the seats/harnesses. Then I can install the floor pan and finally the center console cover/shifter/e-brake. Many things are waiting on the firewall getting finished up.

Family Update:
It seems my son has moved on from wanting to use Daddy's tools directly into the driver's seat. Evidently I'm not the only one anxious to get this on the road.

[Hindsight]

Love the e-brake setup.... very clean. I'd love to do something similar with a Lokar handle but I have so many wires and two large AWIC hoses running through there - afraid there just isn't room.

Looking forward to seeing that new front-end go on!

[Mechie3]

Is that piece holding the cable ferrules a Subaru part or ffr part? I can't seem to find it.

[RM1SepEx]

Subaru part, he's just using it upside down. It is two pieces that clamp together. I mounted mine the same way, just welded up a bracket from steel vs his sweet aluminum one.

[metros]

^what Dan said. Subaru part straight from the donor.

I was surprised on how easy the aluminum was to work with. A little time with a torch and it was pretty easy to bend and tweak. Obviously I don't have the fab experience some builders here have.

[RM1SepEx]

Did you heat and quench it after to harden it back up to keep its shape?

[metros]

Each time I thought I had it where I wanted it I used water to cool it off. Not sure if doing that repeatedly is good/bad/indifferent to the material.

[metros]

I spent just a few minutes of this beautiful Sunday tweaking body panels. Shifted a few things around and had to hang the Mach V wheels in place to get a better look at this thing.

Well worth the time in mounting them:


Rear wheel to fender relationship: This is with 10mm spacers. Given the inner clearance I now have I could definitely cut down to a 5mm spacer and potentially go without any spacer. That would pull the wheel in just a bit more and prevent rocks from being slung onto the body.




Headlight bucket held in place in fender cut out. There are places where there is a .5" gap between headlight bucket and fender. Awesome job.


Photogenic headlight assistant:


For those that have purchased this part from Mechie - how far from the rear of the quarter did you mount it? I have it positioned 11" up for the rear end of the quarter and it looks good. I just don't want to have to reposition it later on because it interferes with something. BTW - if you haven't picked this up from Zerodecibel Motorsports - I highly recommend it. The threads are opposite which means you twist 1 direction to draw them together and the opposite to push them apart. Really helps with adjustments.


For those that have mounted the new front end - where did you weld on the new front fender supports? How far from the tip of the nose?

[RM1SepEx]

It's impossible to know where it is crystal structure wise...

You typically get it to a certain temp, I'd use acetleyne torch and run no O2 to get it all soot covered, then heat it to burn off the soot with a hot flame using the O2. That anneals (softens) the metal. Then you push and pound until you get it where you want it. After that I'd heat it up again to anneal it and quench in oil, water usually quenches too fast and the grain structure isn't correct... That will get you a strong piece.

I'd reheat the part and re-quench trying to stabilize everything. Sadly it's been too long since my school work to give you a proper/correct answer. Perhaps a more recent grad who hasn't been losing brain cells for 35 years since college and 25 years of dealing with Multiple Sclerosis can give you a better answer. I don't like using aluminum for a stressed part as when it fails it cracks and breaks. Steel yields and distorts if over stressed. At least it is an emergency brake bracket typically used when sitting still.

[RM1SepEx]

Re Craig's brace, add your rear trunk hinges, mine is placed so it goes across inside of Craig's hinges. I also use it as a place to hold down my engine hatch so that I don't need the hood pins. Add screws into 2 x 2 aluminum angle in the front of the engine cover and I have no hood pins there too

P1120854.JPG P1120851.JPG

I did tweak his brackets a bit and make my own...

[metros]

Good idea on the engine cover. I'm not using hinges in the rear because I'll have the r wing to work around.

[STiPWRD]

The new front end is looking great! Can't wait to get mine. Is there really 1/2" gaps between the head light bucket and fender? That seems excessive. Could it be clamped together to help settle the gaps over time?

[metros]

Thanks! Yes, at some points the bucket is perfectly flush against the fender. Other places there is 1/2" of space between the bucket and fender. There isn't really a way to clamp the bucket to the fender as it mounts up underneath the opening. I think a heat gun may be necessary to get them to mate together. Then I worry about deforming the bucket altogether or it affecting the aim of the headlight itself.

I'm off work today and tomorrow because our daycare is closed for the week (for health issues). Today I took the boy to drop off a bunch of things to be powdercoated including the firewall and front fender support structures, which will all be done Friday.

Tomorrow glass is getting installed.

It's an exciting time in my build. I've had getting the firewall bent/refit and glass installed on my 'to do' list for several months. It's a great feeling to get things checked off your list. The glass installer stopped to take a look at it today and make sure he brought the right supplies with him tomorrow. I think he's semi sold on building an 818. After we spoke on the phone this morning he spent awhile learning about them on the FFR website.

[metros]

Updates:

In preparing to work on body fitment, I used Duplicolor trim and bumper paint on the door cards to match the treatment on the dash.

Before:


After: *Dried for several hours*


The previously pictured bracket I made for mounting the e-brake presented an issue. My slot for the e-brake cable to pass through was misplaced and as a result created a weak point right at the tip of the sharpie marker pictured below. As a result the metal there was becoming fatigued and easily bent.



To correct the problem I re-made the bracket and this time positioned the slot in a more accurate position, which left plenty of meat at the stress point to stay strong. I also left 1/4" of the side of the angle strictly to stiffen it up. Bending this one also took far less trial & error, which I think will keep the metal stiffer as well.



The side panels of the center console returned from powdercoat. I applied sound deadening and final installed them.



I also applied sound deadening to the foot wells. I thought this was one of the most important places to apply sound deadening. Most of the aluminum panels (front firewall, interior pieces, etc.) are not only riveted in place but also have silicone applied at meeting places prior to riveting. This is in hopes of preventing a rattle trap. My thought is that the floor panels will magnify any rattles/vibration that the other panels have. Weight is the only downside of this addition but it's at the lowest point of the center of the vehicle (best place to have to add weight) and weight savings have been made in other areas (light wheels, light brakes, etc) to justify this.