OK, I'm not too far into the build, despite that I picked up the kit in March. I keep wanting to document the build but it often comes down to spending a few more minutes working on the car or a few minutes posting. I'm really happy to be working on the project I have long dreamed of. It's nice of FFR to come up with a more affordable kit, too! The plan is to keep the budget as reasonable as I can stand and build it as stock as possible (to simplify MA registration). Plans can change, of course.

  • 818S Chassis #157
  • 2002 WRX Wagon Donor
  • Stock motor
  • Stock brakes
  • Stock computer/ECU
  • Stock wiring, dieted
  • Stock seats, recovered
  • Catalytic converters=Yes
  • ABS=no
  • A/C=no
  • Heat/defrost=Yes
  • Wipers=Yes
  • Radio=Probably


I'm debating CAT delete on the up-pipe. I bought a real nice new up-pipe without it, but I'm uncertain if this will give me a headache during registration.

Mostly, I've spent the past 6 months working on the donor and cleaning up parts. I got a running salvage donor, which seemed like a good way to reduce the troubleshooting. I replaced the timing belt, water pump, and front seals before tearing it apart. This is what it looked like before it's final trip up and down the street as a WRX.
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I picked up the kit on a beautiful March day. Using a come-along, I was able to single handedly unload the U-Haul. This was a bit risky. I can't recommend this technique!
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Despite stashing the entire body in the basement crawl space, I'm a short on space. I decided to use the partially stripped WRX shell for storage until I get further along in using and selling. I cut off the entire front of the car after removing the engine to make a little space. There is currently stuff under, on top of, and inside the body. It works, but just barely.
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So far, I have installed the front firewall aluminum and one lower control arm. I had to grind down some of the weld filler and file some of the aluminum to get the front firewall installed. I had to expand the holes for the front lca bearing bolt a bit in order to get it to fit, grind the end of the rear LCA bolt, and finally cut a whole in the firewall so I can torque the rear bushing. I am quickly learning that building a kit car is no simple bolt-together affair. Most parts need to be modified, some significantly. I'm not really complaining... just observing. I can imagine it was much worse before the laser cut aluminum, custom frame jigs, etc.

Last night, I finished installing the ball joints in the upper control arms. The first one was easy with the freezer + heat gun. The second one required me to disassemble the control arm and slide a 4' pipe over the threaded arm of the ball joint adapter. After I installed it the wrong way, I took it apart and flipped it over and reinstalled it. I verified that there was no cross-threading when I took it apart, so I think some of these are tighter than others. I was relieved that nothing broke when I used the cheater but also a little miffed to chew up the top of the ball joint in the vice. I may clean it up slightly with a file or grinder and repaint it.
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