Buzz Skyline's 818s

[Buzz Skyline]

They tell me Stewart is picking up my 818s kit today, and it should get to my home in Maryland tomorrow.

I already have a license plate that says FFR 8I8 (FFR 818 was taken, but "I" is just the Roman numeral for 1 anyway), which will be on my daily driver until I transfer it to the 818 in a year or so.

[STiPWRD]

Great to see another local builder, welcome!

[AZPete]

Congrats on the new baby. It's lots of fun.

[K3LAG]

I think the reason FFR 818 is taken in MD is because that was the standard numbering scheme for a long time. 3 letters followed by 3 numbers. Probably got randomly assigned to a Prius or something. I checked and FFR818S is available, but I haven't decided if I'm going to try to take it. I'm not inclined to give MD any more money than they already take from me and the annual fee for a personalized plate is silly. I could see a one time fee for making the plate or something like that, but $50/year extra is silly. Buzz, not calling you silly for getting a custom plate, I think it's fine if it's worth it to you.

Larry

[Hindsight]

They tell me Stewart is picking up my 818s kit today, and it should get to my home in Maryland tomorrow.

Congrats, mine is supposed to be picked up today as well. No idea when I will get it though. What do you have planned for the build?

[Buzz Skyline]

Larry, I was torn over getting the plate for the very reasons you mention. In the end it was one of those impulse things as I sat on the forums waiting and waiting for the kit to arrive. It's about 2 weeks later than I'd expected, and idle hands are dangerous.

[mikeb75]

If Steve does your delivery say hi for me! Congrats on nearly getting yours in and can't wait to follow your build -I'm right around the corner.

[Buzz Skyline]

Congrats, mine is supposed to be picked up today as well. No idea when I will get it though. What do you have planned for the build?

Hi Hindsight, have you heard from the driver yet? Where are you located?

I'm starting with a pretty basic build. 2002 WRX and no extras (splitter, wing, soft top, etc.). The donor used to be my son's car, which we raced in SCCA rallycross in the stock AWD category, so it didn't have any mods to speak of. It'll just have the stock 225 horses to begin with. I have an LSD that I might drop in the trans as my first mod, and a Cobb access port to bump things up once I find out how it feels with the stock horse power.

I like to tinker so I'll be modifying it over time. Although I hope to race it in SCCA autocross next year, so I'll have to check the rules about modifications.

[metros]

Welcome, good to have another builder not too far away.

Hell once we're all done we'll be able to have an 818 meet.

[Hindsight]

Sounds like a good mod strategy. No reason to do it all up front. Enjoy the car and mod it over time. I think the LSD should be considered mandatory on a car this light. It is one of the few mods I am doing up front for sure.

I am in Atlanta. Haven't heard from the driver. My completion date was way back on the 12th. I called them a few times and was told different things each time so I am just going to relax and wait now. Still have some garage work to finish and a donor to strip so I guess there is no rush on the kit arrival.

Do you have a targeted completion date? I am shooting for spring.

[Buzz Skyline]

Just heard from the driver, Don Furr. He's going to drop off a car a little north of me in Columbia, MD on Thursday. Then he'll be here around 11 AM. I imagine he'll be in Atlanta a day or two later.

My completion date was July 14, so it's taken a bit more than 2 weeks to get here. That seems about average, from the other posts I've seen.

I agree, the LSD is the highest priority mod. The traction control system seems like a good idea too. Some of the demo videos I've seen on this forum are pretty promising.

[K3LAG]

Buzz,
You've got my build just north of you in Savage and Westview is in Columbia. we are both ahead of you by different amounts so don't be afraid to yell if you need/want to.

Larry

[Buzz Skyline]

Thanks, Larry. I appreciate it. I've been following your build off and on, and I've been impressed. That motor looks amazing!

[Buzz Skyline]

Hey Hindsight, Don Furr has been trying to reach you to arrange delivery. Can you call him ASAP at 817-565-5552? He says he'll be there Saturday or sooner.

-Buzz

[Hindsight]

Hey Buzz, thanks. I didn't see this until just now. Actually just got off the phone with him. He must have written down my number wrong. Anyway he says he will deliver to me on Saturday. Perfect timing. Can't wait.

[Buzz Skyline]

Man, I hate checking packing lists.

[Hindsight]

Let me know how many items are missing, but show as being included. I haven't even begun digging into mine yet. I only had 6 things on my back order list and they are already on the way to me via Fedex except for the fuel filler neck.

[Buzz Skyline]

I haven't torqued the bolts down yet, but I've loosely hung the front suspension and steering rack in place. The lower brackets where the shocks attach have lots of weld material that keep the bolts from threading all the way down, which leads to some scraping of the shock. I'm going to grind them down before I tighten it all up.

[bompus]

Are you just going to grind down the welds on those lower shock brackets? I have the same issue where there is a decent amount of visible space between the bolt head and spacer due to the welding job on those brackets. I was wondering if it would be a problem once it is at ride height or not. It definitely scrapes paint/metal off of the lower shock with the way it is currently. Has anybody else had this issue?

[Jaime]

I had to grind some of the weld fillet to get my bolts to seat.

[Buzz Skyline]

I'm definitely going to grind them down, as little as possible to get the bolt to seat. I think I only have the issue with one of the bolts on each bracket. I don't like the idea of the scraping when there's no load on the shock. Who knows what would happen once you start driving. I also worry that it's putting the ball joint under stress in a way it's not designed to handle.

[Buzz Skyline]

Grinding down the lower brackets.

IMG_0004_3 (640x427).jpg

They fit fine now.

[Buzz Skyline]

Grinding down the front lower shock brackets.

IMG_0004_3 (640x427).jpg

They fit fine now.

[john g]

Buzz,

I am in Silver Spring. My 818 was delivered by Stewart in mid-July. I am documenting my build at FFR818.Wordpress.com.

John

[Buzz Skyline]

Hi John,

I haven't been on the forum much lately, and just saw your comment. Wow, we're very nearby each other. I'd love to stop by sometime to take a look at your build.

It seems like a good idea to make a build blog. The build threads on this forum are nice to have, but really hard to search and use for help. I may start a blog as well.

My build is a lot grungier than most (and certainly nowhere near as clean as yours). I'm pretty much throwing on pieces straight out of our retired rally car, dirt and all. Mostly it's because I have a one-year-old and a four-year-old, which really limits my time. I'm also thinking of upgrading things in the coming years, including replacing the engine (possibly with a diesel Subaru motor), swapping in aluminum control arms, installing a sequential gear box, and a few other things. So I'm just leaving the current pieces dirty and unpainted.

All the best,

James (aka Buzz Skyline)

[Buzz Skyline]

The WRX coolant overflow bottle is ugly, so I made my own.

20141014_130735.jpg

[Quiny]

The WRX coolant overflow bottle is ugly, so I made my own.

20141014_130735.jpg

I love it, very custom.

[Buzz Skyline]

I haven't been too diligent about updating my build thread, but I've been getting some stuff done. This is me and my oldest daughter going for a go-cart ride. It was cold, but the neighbor kids had to have rides too, and were very disappointed when I put it away.

[Buzz Skyline]

Here's my before and after pics comparing my donor and 818. It's taken me ten months to get this far, and it will likely be registered and on the road in another month or so.

transformed.jpg

[Frank818]

Looks pretty much completed! And the body panels look to fit pretty well!

[Hindsight]

Nice work! What color are you going to paint it?

[Buzz Skyline]

Thanks! The last major thing I have to do before inspection is the windshield wipers, but then that are lots of things I'll be doing soon after it's registered (AWIC, for one).

My daughter wants it painted pink. I think the compromise will be matte black with an STI pink racing stripe running down the passenger side.

[Buzz Skyline]

I wasn't very good at updating my build thread, but now, just about a year after I started building, my 818S is titled, registered, safety inspected and insured.

Thanks to John G for posting so much about the titling and registration process in Maryland. It wasn't nearly as bad as the stories I've heard about some other states. I tried to get the required Maryland safety inspection at my local garage, but they couldn't figure out how to get the lift under the car due to the lack of clearance. So I followed John G's example and went to the great folks at Auto Italia in Rockville, MD. (They did the obvious and used floor jacks to put 2x6 boards under the tires to give the lift arms space.) Here's my car in the air for inspection

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I've put about a hundred miles on it since the inspection at lunch today. What a blast!

Now it's time to get the 818 ready for our town's annual labor day parade. I'll be leading the Greenbelt, MD Makers Space group while my five-year-old daughter rides shotgun and throws candy to the kids along the parade route.

[AZPete]

"while my five-year-old daughter rides shotgun and throws candy to the kids along the parade route"
. . . sounds very cute. We need pictures of that!

[mikeb75]

Congrats on registration!

[Tamra]

Congrats!!

[Frank818]

Another lucky B!