Frank's 818R build

[Mechie3]

Now imagine that sitting nice and close to a fuel tank and brake lines.

[flynntuna]

Ran across this photo this morning.

Who's the first to add a rotisserie?

[Pearldrummer7]

Put some temporary wiring in and tried to start it last night. Had a small grounding issue at first but second try it worked great! It sounds fantastic and runs nicely off of idle. Doesn't idle nicely, but it's missing the front O2 right now. We had the fire extinguisher on retainer anyway. So excited!


https://vimeo.com/121585518?utm_sour...B8NzcwMQ%3D%3D

[AZPete]

Congrats! Sounds strong!

[Hindsight]

Congrats on the first start!

[STiPWRD]

great job man

[Tamra]

whoo hoo congrats!

[Pearldrummer7]

Thanks everyone! It was a pretty exciting moment. Now I'll be in Sweden for work for around a week, so progress will slow. I'm not -too- upset

[Frank818]

You are a lucky builder to be there!

[Pearldrummer7]

https://vimeo.com/122595258


She runs now! Found a vacuum leak and now I think we're good to go. Tapping in the fitting for coolant this weekend and driving it down the driveway! So excited

Edit: Sorry for the swinging camera; it's awful. I threw the GoPro on the hook and excitedly ran over to the car. Too excited to remember to stop it from swinging, it seems!

[wleehendrick]

Hey Frank, you also might want to consider a heatshield/insulation between your cooling pipes. With the hot and cold pipes so close, it will reduce efficiency by thermally 'short-circuiting' (It's basically a counter-flow heat exchanger... the returning coolant will get heated by the exiting hot).

818's seem to need all the thermal management they can get, especially for an R!

[Pearldrummer7]

Hey Frank, you also might want to consider a heatshield/insulation between your cooling pipes. With the hot and cold pipes so close, it will reduce efficiency by thermally 'short-circuiting' (It's basically a counter-flow heat exchanger... the returning coolant will get heated by the exiting hot).

818's seem to need all the thermal management they can get, especially for an R!

Huh. That's a really cool point. I think I'm going to wrap it with the same stuff I did my exhaust with- lava header wrap

I agree! Can't have too much cool! Unless you're my iron block truck in the winter that thing takes so long to warm up!

[wleehendrick]

Huh. That's a really cool point. I think I'm going to wrap it with the same stuff I did my exhaust with- lava header wrap

I agree! Can't have too much cool! Unless you're my iron block truck in the winter that thing takes so long to warm up!

Lave wrap would work, but is overkill... the coolant will never get the the temps that exhaust wrap is designed for. A lower temp rated insulator probably work better... and be cheaper!

[Frank818]

Man that's great it runs! Close to a real drive, now!

[Bob_n_Cincy]

Lave wrap would work, but is overkill... the coolant will never get the the temps that exhaust wrap is designed for. A lower temp rated insulator probably work better... and be cheaper!

I think your would be best not to insulate the pipes. You want both pipes to dissipate heat to the atmosphere. Just don't have the pipes touching metal to metal.
Bob

[wleehendrick]

I think your would be best not to insulate the pipes. You want both pipes to dissipate heat to the atmosphere. Just don't have the pipes touching metal to metal.
Bob

No, you might get a bit of extra cooling from a bare hot pipe (how much airflow is there when the body is on anyway?), but if your radiator's working and properly sized, the cold pipe should not be that much above ambient air temp (not enough that the pipe will help). There is a very big Delta-T between the two two pipes, and you do NOT want the hot pipe to dissipate heat to the cold pipe; any heat transfer reduces the efficiency of the cooling system. Wrap the cold pipe, or just put a flat shield/insulator between them, but as is, I have concern about the returning coolant being too warm.

[Pearldrummer7]

First drive! Well, kind of second drive but whatever! It's quick, and just a little throttle sends it all over the road. Nice exhaust note, too! Time to set up an appointment at the tuner....

https://vimeo.com/122920207

[Scargo]

That's great. Get a body on it and some aero to handle all that power.

[Hindsight]

Congrats on the first drive!

[Pearldrummer7]

That's great. Get a body on it and some aero to handle all that power.

Congrats on the first drive!

Thanks guys! Couldn't have done it without the huge support from the FFR community! Hopefully prepping the truck for its first ever tow (scary...) this weekend to get it tuned!

[Tamra]

Congrats and good luck and the tuner! What are you hoping for?

[Pearldrummer7]

Congrats and good luck and the tuner! What are you hoping for?

Thanks! I'm hoping for smooth power delivery. I know this motor made "big power" when it was in the WRX it came out of (at one point Mikey had tuned it, actually), but that's not at all what I want for the 818. I want smoother torque than my WRX, that's for sure!


Your full spool by 3,500 rpm is more like what I'd like to see, I think.

[Pearldrummer7]

So I had a coolant leak coming from this guy:


Stupid thing rusted out at the throttle warmer connection. So I deleted it! Looks way cleaner and doesn't seem to leak (I did get it up to full temperature and romp on it a little bit).

[Pearldrummer7]

Over 60* and sunny in upstate NY? Way too nice of a day to work inside!




Prepping the trailer, truck, and car with hopes that I'll be able to go tune and align suspension soon. What an exciting time! I believe the first event I'll be able to make is an autox at Cherry Valley with SCCA on May 30th. It's a day/night event, so probably 818 by day and either the WRX or a friend's Mk VII GTI by night.

[Pearldrummer7]

PHEW! Back from 2.5 weeks in Europe. Incredible trip, even drove on the Autobahn (slowly...there was traffic).


Landed late Saturday night, caught up on some sleep, and spent all day yesterday doing 'Merican things. Grilled, had some beers, and of course trailered the 818 around! Stress test on the truck. We found some nice hills, did some stops, etc.




Truck LOVED it. Though, I am putting new brakes on it and new shocks/slightly bigger leafs. Now if only the car would leak a touch less oil....

[Pearldrummer7]

Ugh- truck ate a serpentine belt today. Had to limp her home on 2 belt ribs. Guess this weekend is all about diagnosing that issue and general car prep. Tuning is in Lake Placid at Moon Performance next Saturday and the following Saturday is my first autox! Pretty excited.

In the mean time, I made a mount for the intercooler:




How did everyone else mount these? I'm curious.

[Bob_n_Cincy]

How did everyone else mount these? I'm curious.

Pearldrummer,
I believe most doing a TMIC used the factory brackets to mount the intercooler to the engine block.
With a frame mounted TMIC, the engine movement it will be a strain on the IC to TB coupler.
Bob

[mikeb75]

On the drivers side I'm using the stock IC bracket. On the passenger I couldn't use the stock since, like you, I have an STI sized intercooler. I welded a tab to the crossbar, since I have nearly solid engine mounts I'm not as concerned about movement like Bob warns -but I need to verify this with testing.

[Pearldrummer7]

On the drivers side I'm using the stock IC bracket. On the passenger I couldn't use the stock since, like you, I have an STI sized intercooler. I welded a tab to the crossbar, since I have nearly solid engine mounts I'm not as concerned about movement like Bob warns -but I need to verify this with testing.

Pearldrummer,
I believe most doing a TMIC used the factory brackets to mount the intercooler to the engine block.
With a frame mounted TMIC, the engine movement it will be a strain on the IC to TB coupler.
Bob

Mike, I agree with what you were thinking. My engine mounts are very solid and the engine doesn't seem to move a ton. I was hoping the rubber grommit would be sufficient for absorbing the movement relative to frame. That said, mounting to the engine seems like a cleaner solution overall.

[Tamra]

We used the Group N mounts and there is still quite a lot of movement.

[Scargo]

Here's another thought on the intercooler mounting issue. I was at the track yesterday and a Subie guy was tracking his STi for the first time. He did a lot of things right under the hood, but he did not wrap his turbo or downpipe at all. Not even a shielding plate over the turbo. He was cooking his IC.

It seems we have the luxury of added space to play within. Because there's little or no airflow at times why not offset the intercooler where it does not get heatsoaked by the turbo? Why not tilt it more for better air flow?
What about reversing the intake and having the intercooler farther forward? I'm asking questions because I haven't mocked up any of this yet and don't know whether I'm talking out my rear or not.
On engine movement: If you have tubing long enough (how long is long enough?) then you could hard-mount the IC. Radiators are hard-mounted. My FMIC is hard-mounted

[mikeb75]

What Scargo Said! Once the hard-top becomes a reality I will be revisiting the issue of IC mounting. I plan to reposition (vertically) & duct it to take advantage of airflow & add room to keep it away from the turbo.

I actually had to trim down my IC to TB hose (because of fitment issues with the V5 intake manifold), so I have less hose-give in that area, but between having one side of the IC mounted to the engine & the other to the frame with the cushioned IC mounts; I hope it will be OK.

[Scargo]

Seems Jim Pampas is building an 818R but is off-grid as far as the 818 forum it seems. Here's a video of their startup. The point is to bring to everyone's attention the intercooler mounting they are using (high and over the tranny longitudinally). Hopefully they'll get the turbo and exhaust wrapped.

[C.Plavan]

Seems Jim Pampas is building an 818R but is off-grid as far as the 818 forum it seems. Here's a video of their startup. The point is to bring to everyone's attention the intercooler mounting they are using (high and over the tranny longitudinally). Hopefully they'll get the turbo and exhaust wrapped.

That is interesting to say the least. No dry sump either. I hope there is a huge oil cooler also. We do need more 818R's running on the race track, not killing cones . My car could do short sprints all day long. Its the 35+min of beating that is the real test.

[Pearldrummer7]

That is interesting to say the least. No dry sump either. I hope there is a huge oil cooler also. We do need more 818R's running on the race track, not killing cones . My car could do short sprints all day long. Its the 35+min of beating that is the real test.

Huh. Cool idea. AWIC seems cleaner to me, though.


Hopefully mine will be graduating to tracks shortly after its first cone killing session in 2 weeks. I may be at the Glen the weekend after that (if all goes according to plan).

[C.Plavan]

Huh. Cool idea. AWIC seems cleaner to me, though.


Hopefully mine will be graduating to tracks shortly after its first cone killing session in 2 weeks. I may be at the Glen the weekend after that (if all goes according to plan).

Get her done Once you got track, you never go back. Haha

[Pearldrummer7]

Taking her to get tuned at Moon Performance in Lake Placid, NY! So excited. I packed just about every tool I own between the truck bed and the 2 tool boxes. Hopefully all goes well this weekend.

[Tamra]

Good luck!

[Tamra]

Ps just clicked to post 1 to refresh my memory of your build. Nice job on the highlights links!

[flynntuna]

I have To agree, the highlights links are a great idea!