GA Limited 818S Build Thread - 07FIREBLADE & The Wizzard

[bompus]

Could you email me some of them. I was so dead tired and forgot to take any photos at all. It's quite disappointing actually. I know I could take photos of my own car but it's not the same. Send them to [email protected] if you could.

Here's a link to a shared album I made - https://goo.gl/photos/edbkmSW6ZMEjrRoq7 - the FFR 818c (black) is first, then 07FIREBLADE 818c (white) is after. You can click the "..." menu up top and Download All or pick and choose what you want. If anybody else has photos they'd like to add for either car, send me a PM and I'll add to it.

[07FIREBLADE]

Thanks greatly appreciate it.

[07FIREBLADE]

Congratulations! It looks very cool and makes me eager to get my hard top & new front end, which should be a month from now. Next year I will be at HB, for sure. And I'll drive from AZ - no trailer needed! My promise to me. How many 818s were at HB?

I can't wait. Hopefully there will be some competition this time. Honestly it was depressing that I was the only one there so I won by default since Dave Smiths 818 was disqualified. It's still an accomplishment to build a car so I'm greatly thankful of the recognition. I'm pretty close to being done outside of body prep for paint and finishing up my interior.

[Hindsight]

You've done very well, and very quickly too!

[flynntuna]

Here are some photos i took.

[07FIREBLADE]

Well schools out and now its time to finish this bad boy up. I've got a hard deadline of July 23rd to get this car finished. Its going to be fun and hopefully I make it.

[Harley818]

Looking good Robert, Congrats.

[eggman]

Great work! How do you like the Cobra Imolas for comfort and fitment in the car? I'm considering those in standard width instead of GT, but if a pair of GTs fit, I might go for those instead.

[07FIREBLADE]

I would go standard. I had to make mine fit by cutting the center tunnel down. Reason for the gt was because the car was initialing being shared with my dad. That's not the case anymore and I wish I went with the standard size. I love the seat just needs tweaks to work that for me was a waste of time.

[eggman]

Thanks for the feedback -- I'll go for a pair of standards, then. Hope you're making good progress toward your July deadline!

[07FIREBLADE]

Haha I wish. Wedding plans have derailed the 818 plans. It's going to be a bit of a challenge but I'll see what I can do. Glad I was able to help.

[eggman]

Ha! It's been a few years since I "helped" with my own wedding plans, but I'm sure you know it's wise to keep up with that and fight some of the temptation to hide out in the garage

[AZPete]

Robert, I received my retrofit hard top yesterday so I've been studying the photos of your 818C from HB, and drooling. Two questions:
Aren't the new door frames included? I didn't get them and don't even see them on the inventory list. I'll call FRR on Monday but I hope not more money.
I see you painted the inside of the hatch white, which looks good. Can you tell me what paint you used that matches the white gel coat?
BTW, speaking from wedding experience, you should just agree to everything she suggests because she has pictured it for years, told her friends about it, and already ordered it.
Pete

[07FIREBLADE]

Good to hear you got your hardtop. Yes it comes with the door frames and should be on the inventory list. Its not an extra expense just call or send Courtnie and email shes be a great help for me. I didn't paint anything white on my car its all gel coat. The only areas that I painted were the window backings because I was going to install the glass. I actually painted the underside black to help eliminate transparency.

[Samiam1017]

1am couldn't sleep work turned into a fun project:




Resulted in me getting one of my doors hung again with the new frame and I was able to cutout the slot for the window. The inside piece that's left over from the cut is very flimsy and ffr window trim aluminum gives little confidence in the door edge. I need to support the edge more and might do this by using some aluminum angle this would also give me something to bolt the door panels into.

what door handle does FFR supply

[UnhipPopano]

Why does the gap/seam between the side sail and the Top by the door look like it is widening just as it approaches the door? It looks this way in all 3 photos.

[07FIREBLADE]

Miata door handle. Not pretty and the function is mediocre IMHO. This gap has something to do with the top not being perfectly centered at its final position. Also shortly after this I added ZDM side sail adjustment bar. The gap gets a bit better towards the back. Maybe different ages panels just don't like to play to well with each other. Time with the panel held in place with some tlc might help a bit.

[07FIREBLADE]

Well my hard deadline came and went. I got maybe 15hrs of work in over the last 2 months. Wedding took charge of all my time since I'm days away now. I did happen to get mechies tail lights installed and working. I'll post some pics once I get the grills back from powder coaters.

I also was able to get my hands on a race logic traction control unit so the car is coming apart again for this install. I might just do abs while I'm in there and add in an electric power steering setup. Over the next 2 months these are the things j want to tackle before doing final bodywork for paint.

[Hindsight]

Traction control - nice! Do you have abs? Let me know if yoyou run into any issues - I spent ages on mine and ran into every problem one could face. Got it working though.

Congrats on the wedding!

[07FIREBLADE]

No abs at this point. I know you were having problems trying to get both working. I'm sure I will be dissecting your build for a while before I get going on this install. And I'm sure I'll be messaging you a bunch.

[Hindsight]

Please do. One thing right off the bat you might consider is ditching the twisted pair brake sensor wires and using some nice new shielded wire. Andrew did that on his and ultimately I did on mine as well. You can tie in the shield wire of all four wires together, and solder it to the ground wire coming out of the traction control computer (on the same connector as the signal wires). That wire is grounded inside the race logic control unit. I wouldn't ground the shield on the ABS sensor-end of the wires.

[07FIREBLADE]

Ok sounds good. Getting some new shield wire isn't a big problem for me and adding it. Just need to get my hands on the unit and look it over. Then figure out my plan of attack.

I might switch out my gas tank while I'm in there and have the body off doing the abs/traction control. I also need to seal off the engine bay completely to get heat and noise down. I've always liked loud cars but this is just annoying at times. I might need to tweak my amp a bit and see if I can crank it up a bit.