Nothing much to post yet, but after getting good initial (and ongoing interest) from potential buyers for my Roadster and positive initial results in reviving my donor car, I figured I would get this thread started.
Here is what it looks like now - it's alive (sort of). Won't hold idle (bent valves probably the culprit?) but will hold about 3k rpm no problem and no weird noises. I couldn't slip the driver side timing cover on because the frame is bent over too much. I will be bending the frame back so I can put the cover back on before pulling the motor (just to give myself a tiny bit of comfort that a minor bump in the motor pulling process won't result in major carnage to the pulleys).
I like it Dan. Maybe I will go that route instead. I did find an unreasonable amount of joy in taking a torch (mapp gas) to the body next to the door striker bolts to loosen them up.
Basics for the planned build:
The donor is a 2004 WRX with 98k miles.
I will most likely be sticking with the white and going with a lot of black or carbon fiber accents.
Splitter, side sills, diffuser, and spoiler from FFR.
Stock seats, but I will have the foam shaved down to get a lower seating position (I'm only 5'9", but I like to sit a little lower).
This car will see a lot of time on the street - guessing around 5k miles a year, plus 1 open track day per year, so comfort will be key, but performance won't be ignored. Still kicking around the soft top, but I may try to engineer a "bikini" top much like you see on Jeeps to delay the larger investment there.
I'll post up the full options list when I finalize the order with Factory Five. This summer will be spent on the donor car and the winter on the 818, with the final car hopefully being ready in the Spring 2015.
Hmmm - maybe this is why the engine won't hold idle. Will report back once I've changed out all 4 (pulled the 1 spark plug in the 5 minutes I had available before work this morning).
I'm also trying to track down a used V2 Cobb AccessPort so I can revert back to a stock or Stage 1 map. The donor car had Cobb stickers all over it. I assume he had a stage 2 map on, but can't be sure.
I also thought I would share my solution to the Alternator pulley. It's not pretty, but it's just a turnbuckle from menards with the appropriate spacers to get lined up (fairly) close to the same plane. The belt is 28.5" long from Autozone.
Kit won't arrive until mid-September. I'm trying to breathe life back into the donor in the meantime before I take it completely apart. Good to know that I'll have an extra to hang on my wall later.
BTW I got my Copart donor in a similar situation... I wanted an 06 but kept getting outbid, I saw this 05 roll over with 70,000 miles. The photos looked like I could get the parts that I needed with few exceptions, was almost bone stock and UGLY... Ugliest donor that Ive seen posted. I prebid it up to 1850 and no one bid in the live auction. I've sold $1843 in parts... I should have wsent to pick it up, shipping took forever and raised my cost to $3500. With project creep my parts are up over $6000 plus the kit... You have a great start. Watch out, everything that you see and like on the forum... project creep!
Good luck with the build! Looks like you are off to a good start. Your donor experience is really helpful as I have just been starting to look for one.
That is a seriously ugly donor. Ha. Any really weird parts requests and roughly how long did you take selling parts off before you gave up and started pitching stuff? I've sold off a few big/obvious items (passenger side doors, rear seat, door cards, taillights) but kind of stalled out. I do have someone coming to get the trunk lid this weekend though. Another thing out of my way.
This morning I was able to get my lift up and running, so hooray for that.
Not much to update, but I am trying to make a habit to at least check in every few weeks so I don't get into the opposite habit of letting it flounder.
I have to say thanks again to whoever's idea I stole to use key chain labels to tag every connection (electrical, vacuum, and coolant) as I disassemble this thing. I officially finished off the first box of 50 this morning, so just ordered another from Amazon. I have been trying to color code to the extent reasonably possible (using red for everything that is getting deleted).
Also noticed during disassembly that the stock by-pass valve had 1 completely incorrect (way too short) bolt into the intercooler - 0 threads engaged, so I'm sure that was massively leaking and contributing to the plug fouling and rough idle. Still going to pull the motor apart to check for bent valves.
For those closer to completion, how easy are you thinking a clutch/flywheel change will be xx years/months after fully completing the car? Given the layout, it seems like it would be a cinch (relatively speaking). During my quick drive of the donor, the clutch felt fine, so I'm hoping to delay that expense and make it a future winter project.
Had to put the disassembly on hold for a while there for a much needed vacation. Went to Punta Cana with a group of 14 friends. It was fantastic, but I was ready to get back at it. I've got the donor stripped down to the point that I should be able to pull the motor next time I have a nice stretch of time and an extra set of hands to do it.
After I pulled out the evap canister, I'm fairly certain I'm going to delete it. What a monstrosity. I may do a basic (some used one from a Miata, I think) charcoal canister to cut down on the smell in the garage, but I will have to do some research to delete the remainder of the system and wiring. Also, starting to second guess my plan to keep ABS, but I'm going to at least give myself a chance at it.
Oh, here's me in vacation mode on the 1 day it rained. The panorama mode does something crazy, but the pool and building are a straight line and parallel to each other for reference.
Hmmm - maybe this is why the engine won't hold idle. Will report back once I've changed out all 4 (pulled the 1 spark plug in the 5 minutes I had available before work this morning).
I'm also trying to track down a used V2 Cobb AccessPort so I can revert back to a stock or Stage 1 map. The donor car had Cobb stickers all over it. I assume he had a stage 2 map on, but can't be sure.
I also thought I would share my solution to the Alternator pulley. It's not pretty, but it's just a turnbuckle from menards with the appropriate spacers to get lined up (fairly) close to the same plane. The belt is 28.5" long from Autozone.
Had to put the disassembly on hold for a while there for a much needed vacation. Went to Punta Cana with a group of 14 friends. It was fantastic, but I was ready to get back at it. I've got the donor stripped down to the point that I should be able to pull the motor next time I have a nice stretch of time and an extra set of hands to do it.
After I pulled out the evap canister, I'm fairly certain I'm going to delete it. What a monstrosity. I may do a basic (some used one from a Miata, I think) charcoal canister to cut down on the smell in the garage, but I will have to do some research to delete the remainder of the system and wiring. Also, starting to second guess my plan to keep ABS, but I'm going to at least give myself a chance at it.
The parts sell off is going well. Over $1,100 in parts out the door so far. I have decided NOT to try to implement ABS. Just seemed like it was going to add more complexity than it was worth. My Mk3 was fine without them for the way I use it (generally avoid rain, obviously avoid snow, expect everyone on the road is out to ruin my day at any given moment). I also think I'm going to skip the side sills. I like the look either way so I think I can come up with a better way to spend that $500. I will probably change my mind on that item 2 or 3 more times before the production date arrives in early September.
I'm 1 rear lower control arm bolt away from being done with the tear down. Bolt is frozen up in the bushing. I think another round of pb blaster will do it. Also, my wife's Q7 is on the fritz so that chewed up a lot of time this past week. Finally caved and I'm bringing it to Audi on Friday.
I have hit another random road block too. Nobody seems to want the bare shell plus the Illinois Sec. of State's office won't transfer the salvage title to my name "because I'm not a licensed rebuilder or scrapper." I think I may have just gotten a pair of people that didn't know what they were talking about. Worst case, I'll cut it up and put the steel by the curb for a scrapper but that seems like a huge pain.
Metal - the deletion itself is looking fairly easy, but the code clearing is what I'm a little confused by. I'm probably going to pick up an Accessport, so it looks like I can use the AccessTuner feature to disable those codes, but I haven't seen anything definitive.
Well, shoot on the spark plugs. I already bought the autolites and gapped/installed them before you sent the message. Reviews seem okay and they were cheap, so I'll give them a shot and ditch them later if needed.
My parts sell off is up to $1944 from what I feel is the ugliest donor that I've seen. I think I can squeeze another $500 or so out of it... I got my shell dragged away for nothing but there wasn't much left. I bought a new 3rd gen accessport from AJW, they give us a damn good price.
Those lower control arm bolts are indeed a PITA... keep soaking it, heat too and then use a big poipe on your breaker bar, it will eventually come out!
Dan
818S #17 Picked up 8/1/13 First start 11/1/13 Go Kart 3/28/14
I talked with someone from the currency exchange who took quite a bit of time discussing options with me and seemed very knowledgeable. Turns out, the state definitely would not issue a salvage title in my name since I'm not a licensed rebuilder or scrapper. Good news though - stuck the shell out at the curb - scrapper came by with a tiny trailer within an hour. 5 of us manhandled the thing onto the trailer (on it's side) and off it went. Lots of room in the garage now!
haha. I was wondering how long before somebody saw that in there. I got tired of walking around it, so i just threw it into the cab to free up some floor space. Wife threw away the receipt so the only way I can get my $30 deposit back is to buy another one. Works for me.
I also thought I would share my solution to the Alternator pulley. It's not pretty, but it's just a turnbuckle from menards with the appropriate spacers to get lined up (fairly) close to the same plane. The belt is 28.5" long from Autozone.
I did this exact same thing to another car years ago.. Unfortunately it WILL fail. The aluminum is not strong enough to take the stress. Excellent idea though. With a different, stronger turnbuckle it will work nicely.
Good to know. Thanks for the heads up. I initially figured that since the force on the turnbuckle in this instance is almost entirely in compression it wouldn't be an issue (the eyelets and nuts are steel), but I could see how the vibration and heat cycling will eventually cause it to fracture/shear. Was your previous experience similar in orientation?
Good to know. Thanks for the heads up. I initially figured that since the force on the turnbuckle in this instance is almost entirely in compression it wouldn't be an issue (the eyelets and nuts are steel), but I could see how the vibration and heat cycling will eventually cause it to fracture/shear. Was your previous experience similar in orientation?
it was almost exactly the same, except my belt went crank-waterpump-alternator... The threads inside one end sheered off and it slipped together. Alternator then threw the belt and was lost. I was stuck in the middle of nowhere. Thankfully I was able to limp home by taking the power steering pump belt off, and wedging it mostly on between the crank and waterpump.. Then bumping it on with the starter. While I was proud of my macgyver skills on getting home, I very much remember the disappointment that it broke. It was my first "custom" part on my first car. I think that's why I also instantly realized what it was.
finally got around to doing a compression test this morning. 145-150 in Cylinders 1 and 3. Essentially 0 in 2 and 4.
Anyway, going to call up a specialist today and see about having them handle replacing the valves and going over the motor. With 2 months to go before the kit arrives, I think I'd rather leave this one to the professionals.
It's been a busy several weeks at work, so I haven't gotten a ton done on the car, but I have passed a few "milestones"
-Power steering rack de-powered
Cut out the little orange/brown seal on the piston, left everything else in place
Closed up the ports by welding a bolt into the end of the line fittings
Welded the quill together to eliminate any chance of slop (flux core wire - it wasn't pretty, but seems plenty strong)
Put the whole mess back together after buying a new one of those fancy little lock washers (only needed 1 - I never took the passenger side apart since there is no need to)
-Brakes have been taken apart to get ready for painting the calipers and I ordered the parts for the H6 rear brake upgrade (went through Autozone)
I was just about to paint my calipers this morning (finally cleaned them yesterday) and discovered one of the rear calipers has a frozen piston. Luckily the Autozone near my office shows it has a replacement available. Glad I didn't figure that out after I had already painted them!
First step, first problem. Looks like FFR changed something on the frame but didn't update the aluminum to match. Either that or they forgot to weld in a bracket for me. 1411873993535.jpg
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Originally Posted by billjr212
