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Thread: Brando's Newbie 818R Build Thread

  1. #41
    Senior Member Brando's Avatar
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    Feed me seymour!

    Last edited by Brando; 01-14-2014 at 02:44 PM.

  2. #42
    Senior Member Brando's Avatar
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    Better late than never

    My kit arrived! Needless to say I was pretty excited. Steward has some pretty good looking LONG trucks





    So long in fact it was decided it wont fit through our gate





    Very thoughtful to keep my car all bundled up driving through the east coast, blue blankie





    The moment of the unload. Surreal






    Yard Sale anyone? The wife is included the but the kid has to stay with me






    This was right at the point where school got out, so every neighbor in the community happen to drive by and stop to say hello or inquire. A familiar neighbor actually asked me if it was a factory five 818 which spawned a conversation and new friend. In fact I have 2 people already on the "design board" with a more extensive knowledge set in this arena. Much appreciated





    And we took an afternoon stroll in 85 degree weather. This was a climatic moment in life for me right here...no kidding. Although it 2 weeks it will be trumped


  3. #43
    Senior Member Brando's Avatar
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    And a mere 4 weeks after its build date chassis #102 find its home





    I used my cherry picker to lift the chassis up and get my dolly under it then did some stress testing on the entire setup






    Then removed all the aluminum panels





    And finally I got to install my first cleco





    I realize you don't need one in every hole, I was just curious how far a bag of 50 would go





    It was at this point I was glad to have purchased that $40 rivet gun from Harbor Freight.




    It's now 7am which is my "agreed upon" acceptable build starting hour. Keep you "posted". Puntastick

  4. #44
    Mechie3's Avatar
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    hehe.....


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  5. #45
    fasterer and furiouser longislandwrx's Avatar
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    Time to start explaining muscles...

    creepy dolls.JPG

    LOL congrats on your new and soon to be newer arrival.
    A well stocked beverage fridge is the key to any successful project.

  6. #46
    Senior Member wleehendrick's Avatar
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    Hey Brandon... Congrats!

    Great start, get as much done as you can before the real delivery day.

    Lee

    PS 1/8" rivets are easy by hand... once I started putting the 3/16" in, I wish I had the air riviter!

  7. #47
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    Congrats on both fronts. Another 818 in California. And your so close to me to. Where in Irvine are you? My kits about a month out.

  8. #48
    Senior Member Brando's Avatar
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    Thanks for good wishes on the new minion. By the looks of things an early arrival isn't out of the question.

    I'm located on the Newport Beach/Irvine border just off the 73 freeway and Newport Coast in Turtle Ridge. Your welcome to stop in, PM me.

    The build is going at expected, my goal for the weekend was to finish the suspension before starting this work week. As of this mornings 1hr session I think I have it as far as possible without some outside help from FFR and Wilwood.

    The suspension is coming along










  9. #49
    Senior Member Brando's Avatar
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    Questions/Concerns so far:

    I'm a little confused about the steering rack spacers, rear Wilwood brake bracket tolerance, and the legth of the from LCA forward/inside bolt length.

    The inventory list shows for (2) .925" spacers.




    The manual states to use an undermined amount (assuming 4) of .865" spacers for the steering rack assembly.






    The contents of my kit matched the inventory sheet of (2) .925" spacers. I installed each of the 1 on the backside of the rack and as it stands the front of the rack has no spacers. Can anyone please shed some light on what i'm doing wrong here?






    Also with the rear Wilwood brakes the Wilwood supplied bracket isn't quite tall enough




    Lastly, am i the only one who is creeped out by the fact the front lower LCA bolt only treads on 5 or 6 turns? Wouldn't you feel better about another inch more of thread or am I just being overly cautious?


  10. #50
    Senior Member Brando's Avatar
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    How funny, after proofing my last post I found my missing .43" spacer missing from the front upper shock mount. Can you find it?

    hint: It's on the last picture

  11. #51
    Administrator David Hodgkins's Avatar
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    Hey Brandon,

    Looks like you are getting after it!

    re: that LCA bolt. Looks short to me.

    I'd like to come by and see your progress soon. Have you been in touch with Erik Hansen to check out his build?


    FFR 5369 Pin Drive, IRS, Trigos, Torsen, Wilwoods, FMS BOSS 302 "B" cam , Mass-flo. CA SB100 (SPCN) Registered
    Delivered 4/23/06. "Finished" 4/2012 (still not done!)


  12. #52
    Senior Member Brando's Avatar
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    Heya Dave

    Yes I reached out to Eric but he seemed pretty busy and I haven't heard back from him yet. I don't want to pester so I think I will wait for him to respond, which I hope he does because I really could use some perspective on this build. Lee has been quite open to assistance so perhaps another drive to see him in San Diego is in order.

    Thanks again for meeting with me last week, I still have a smile on my face from the test run in your cobra. You were right, the legroom was more that adequate and wookie approved. Brandi and I really enjoyed meeting your family, and your wife really helped brandi make a few important decisions she was on the fence about ( outside the build of course! )

    Look forward to seeing you here soon

  13. #53
    Mechie3's Avatar
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    Im not sure thats the right bolt you're using. I thought FFR supplied a bolt for there. Can look later when I'm home.
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  14. #54
    Senior Member Goldwing's Avatar
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    I'd be creeped out too with that short looking bolt. That nut should be fully threaded to make me feel better. I'm not that far yet to compare. I might be stating the obvious, but if you source another set of bolts, research and replace with an equal graded bolt.

  15. #55
    Senior Member wleehendrick's Avatar
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    Brandon, great progress! I noticed you're attaching your control arms at street height on a R... is that intentional? Regarding the short bolt, I think I used an oem, cant be sure. Ill be out of gown til friday, so hopefully someone else can confirm. Erik's further along than me, so see if you van check out his build. I know he's down in San Marcos today.

  16. #56
    Senior Member Brando's Avatar
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    Wilwood rear brake issue resolved

    I spoke to Wilwood and they guided me to the following pdf http://www.wilwood.com/PDF/DataSheets/ds411.pdf

    On the bottom right there is a small box instructing you to remove some of the caliper bracket mounting ears. Wilwood reasured me this will not compromise the integrity of the bracket mounting area.

    Using a grinder seems a bit aggressive but i don't know of another way to remove this metal.


  17. #57
    Senior Member Brando's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by wleehendrick View Post
    Brandon, great progress! I noticed you're attaching your control arms at street height on a R... is that intentional?
    Yes, I figure i'm going to do some testing with the car initially. I will drop the car to track height when the time is right.

  18. #58
    Senior Member RM1SepEx's Avatar
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    re steering rack spacers

    I have a new 05 rack with aluminum ears on the pinion end but our speced spacers, bolts and the bracket were wrong too. I ended up making my own and buying my own bolts, even through 2 revisions it was never worked out correctly by FFR. Craig (Mechie3) made his own aluminum saddle for the right side. It took us both several trys to get the rack level, FFR never sent spacers or bolts for us and the specified spacer height didn't work... it is detailed in our build threads
    Dan

    818S #17 Picked up 8/1/13 First start 11/1/13 Go Kart 3/28/14

  19. #59
    818 builder metalmaker12's Avatar
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    Yea I had to make my own spacers also and tweak it etc.

  20. #60
    Senior Member Xusia's Avatar
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    I am familiar with the trouble you guys had. I just installed the steering rack from my 2003 donor, and except for some spacers that are either missing or misplaced, it installed great and seems centered.

  21. #61
    Senior Member C.Plavan's Avatar
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    Yes, you have to grind the rear caliper backing plates. Take your time, grind- check, grind=check. That's what I did with mine.

    Order longer bolts from McMaster Carr for the LCA.

    Also, it looks like you just decided to run the stock height, not the race height?

    You also want to flip the UCA's so that the grease fitting are on top. You have the new (Straight) UCA balljoint mounts, not the early ones.
    Last edited by C.Plavan; 01-21-2014 at 12:49 PM.
    Thanks- Chad
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  22. #62
    Senior Member D Clary's Avatar
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    It looks like your rear trailing arms are switched side to side

  23. #63
    Senior Member Brando's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by C.Plavan View Post
    it looks like you just decided to run the stock height, not the race height?
    I plan on doing some testing with the vehicle prior to taking it to the track. During that time I want the luxury of driving the car out of my driveway, around my neighborhood, and load easily onto a trailer. After a good shakedown I am going to lower the 818 to track height. A few people have mentioned this now, perhaps I am underestimating the work involved with switching the ride height. My guess would be 2-3 hours work, am I way off?



    Quote Originally Posted by C.Plavan View Post
    You also want to flip the UCA's so that the grease fitting are on top. You have the new (Straight) UCA balljoint mounts, not the early ones.
    If i was to disregard the grease fitting location, isn't the UCA positioned this way? I have heard both stories now so I am a bit confused.




    Quote Originally Posted by D Clary View Post
    It looks like your rear trailing arms are switched side to side
    Noted, thank you.

  24. #64
    Senior Member Xusia's Avatar
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    In regards to the UCA, I spoke directly with one of the techs at FFR (I forget who it was specifically) and they said it doesn't make much difference, but the proper orientation is with the grease fittings pointed up.

  25. #65
    Mechie3's Avatar
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    My bolt for the lower front control arm position is 4 inches long including the bolt head. Its not pointed at the front like your bolt is but is squared off. Couldn't measure the thread because my wheels were on and I couldn't get to it. I think you might have used a bolt from the front u frame on the donor. Those are mostly pointed at the end to aid with assembly.
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  26. #66
    Senior Member Brando's Avatar
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    This wraps up my last weekend before becoming a daddy. I made sure to take care of all my "honey do's" and even got to the track to race my 5th scale.

    So far I have been enjoying this build. Although I don't have much to compare to I would say the experience thus far has surpassed my expectations. I am starting to understand what people mean when they say the manual is more of a guide then step by step directions. I'm very thankful we have this forum to fill in the blanks.

    Progress since last post:

    Installed a new flywheel, clutch, fuel rail, fuel regulator, TGV deletes, built axles, radiator, brake/clutch peddles, motor/trans mounts, mated motor/trans and installed the motor a couple of times XD





    So this was my first motor fitting, it went very smoothly. I suppose having the intake/exhaust manifolds off didn't hurt. But I will a little discouraged when I realize something was missing....





    Ahhh fork it! I mean I forgot the clutch fork. So a had to pull the motor again and learn a little lesson. I will be pulling the motor again to install a firewall on the engine bay side as many have done, so i'm not going to put much energy into the exhaust or anything else that would make removing the motor difficult. For now its a great space saver and its positioned nicely to remove the center diff.




    I also tested my grinding skills to make the rear Wilwood calipers fit. Took a bit to get it right but eventually the brakes went on and I happily checked that off my list.





    I am scratching my head on a few things and any guidance would be appreciated.

    I'm not very familiar with how the plumbing flows on a turbo.
    On the next 2 pictures I have a 16g on the left and the stock turbo on the right.
    The stock turbo has both coolant ports utilized while the 16g has one of those 2 plugged.



    If i flip them over the stock turbo has both ports permanently sealed while the 16g has another 2 locations for what i assume is also cooling, one if which is plugged.
    So can I simply move the plug from the first image and throw it on the other side so I can use my existing plumbing?





    Bonus question:
    The plasic TGV delete comes with its own rubber seal. Does this effectively replace the gasket or should i still be using one?





    Hope everyone had a good weekend, wishing you guys on the east coast some warmer weather so you can build more! Its been too quiet in here lately!

  27. #67
    fasterer and furiouser longislandwrx's Avatar
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    Weird, Not sure why it's plugged but you should just need to move that plug transfer the water lines over as well as your oil drain.

    this blouch 16g shows the lines in stock config. I would give the manufacturer a call to verify.

    untitled.png

    You just need the o-ring for the motive tgvs, there's a youtube video showing how to install the rings. that's a perfect shot to illustrate the advantage of porting the intake manifold.



    here's the video:

    Last edited by longislandwrx; 01-27-2014 at 09:44 AM.
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  28. #68
    Senior Member Brando's Avatar
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    Welcome Raquel Showalter! "Rocki"

    Last night 1/28/2014 at 7:26 pacific time I became a proud father of an 8 pound 8 ounce beautiful girl. I couldn't be happier and everyone in our lives is glowing with the new arrival.













    I'm going to be staying with momma bear and baby bear at L&D for the next 3 days so LOTS of idle time holding this bundle of joy.

    Cheers everyone

  29. #69
    Administrator David Hodgkins's Avatar
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    Well big boy, did you cry?

    You will NEVER create anything else more beautiful. Congratulations Daddy!

    Let me know when it's ok to come by and say hello both Brandi and Raquel.


    FFR 5369 Pin Drive, IRS, Trigos, Torsen, Wilwoods, FMS BOSS 302 "B" cam , Mass-flo. CA SB100 (SPCN) Registered
    Delivered 4/23/06. "Finished" 4/2012 (still not done!)


  30. #70
    Mechie3's Avatar
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    Congrats!
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  31. #71
    fasterer and furiouser longislandwrx's Avatar
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    wonderful. congrats man.
    A well stocked beverage fridge is the key to any successful project.

  32. #72
    Senior Member ehansen007's Avatar
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    Congrats man!

  33. #73
    K3LAG's Avatar
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    What a blessing. Congratulations!

  34. #74
    Senior Member wleehendrick's Avatar
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    Congrats Brandon!

    Now you'll have to slow down your build, and I won't look like such a slacker in comparison.

  35. #75
    Senior Member RM1SepEx's Avatar
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    Congrats! Most enjoyable and fulfilling project you will ever undertake... be sure to enjoy all the stages as she evolves!
    Dan

    818S #17 Picked up 8/1/13 First start 11/1/13 Go Kart 3/28/14

  36. #76
    Senior Member Bob_n_Cincy's Avatar
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    Wow, Congratulations

  37. #77
    Senior Member AZPete's Avatar
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    Welcome to the Forum, Raquel! And, congratulations to all. She's beautiful!
    818S/C : Chassis #25 with 06 WRX 2.5 turbo, ABS, cruise, PS, A/C, Apple CarPlay, rear camera, power windows & locks, leather & other complexities. Sold 10/19 with 5,800 miles.
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  38. #78
    Senior Member Canadian818's Avatar
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    Congrats, you life just got turned right side up, there's nothing better!
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  39. #79
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    Quote Originally Posted by RM1SepEx View Post
    ... be sure to enjoy all the stages as she evolves!
    Amen to that! Congratulations, and take the advice - really enjoy all that each different stage has to offer; you'll only see them one time around, so make the most of them, don't lament the loss of any, and look forward to the next.

    Best,
    -j

  40. #80
    Senior Member Xusia's Avatar
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    Serious congrats man!

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