Canadian 818 Coupe Build Budgeting

[dirty kurty]

I am finally in a position to start budgeting out an 818C build. I was hoping to get an idea of the additional costs associated with building in Canada. Plan is for a summer daily driver, not a rocket ship.

Here is what I have roughed in so far:

Kit ~13k USD = $18k CAD (including GST?) (I realize i have to do Canadian kit + completion kit.)
Accessories ~$2k-5k
Shipping and paperwork ~$2k (Will driving a rental truck/trailer there and back be any cheaper? It might be more fun?)
02 WRX Donor Max $3k ( I am willing to wait to get the right price on a wreck/high mileage)
Engine/tranny home rebuild $1k-2k (Just worn components, no upgrades this time, assuming turbo is in good enough shape)
Paint $2k (Not show quality, but better than the gel coat)
A/C/Defrost $1k ??
Tools $2k I have a medium size compressor and tools, and access to a welder close by, but not on site.

So ~$30k-35k CAD. Any thing I am missing or unrealistic about?

[mikeb75]

You should consider budgeting different seats. Seats out of a high mileage donor will be iffy... I was swimming in the ones from my donor. A set of Kirkeys ran about 1K with covers and mounts. You can go different styles & costs, but in my experience it's hard to go much cheaper... unless you can score good forum/used deals -Always keep that in mind; I've sourced many parts that way at a pretty good savings.

Depending on where you source the donor from you might have issues with rust on the suspension hardware and components. I needed to budget about $1K USD when all was said and done to replace all the suspension hardware, bearings, and linkages/hubs.

Have you considered looking at the 2.5 RS donors? They're normally cheaper, you can still get good power out of them and it's the less complicated to install/plumb (again, high mileage donor means most of the rubber tubes/pipes need to be addressed or replaced). Also, you should probably do a PM/refresh while it's out of the car (depends on what you get). That will be water pump, oil pump, belt, pulleys ($700 USD for parts/seals, consumables).

Whatever engine you go with (turbo or NA), you will probably need to look at a tuning solution for it.

You should also consider replacement engine & transmission mounts. The OEM ones are way soft and allow too much movement which can cause frame interference issues.

[billjr212]

Your total looks about in line for a driver in gel coat. Your paint cost looks light (unless you are planning to do 100% of the work yourself at home).

Agree with MikeB on most of his comments above - the "refresh" type items have a tendency to add up quickly, but if you budget $3k for the donor, you should be able to cover those costs by selling parts off the donor. At that initial cost, your donor could end up "free" except for the refresh/maintenance items, which will probably bring you back to your $3k starting point. (hopefully that circular logic makes sense)

[Tamra]

We spent about $12k USD in replacement parts, not including our engine build ($5k more). You could take out ~3k for wheels, tires, and harnesses if you planned on just using donor stuff. Also, ~2k in used racing seats, a LSD, cobb accessport, and some gauges. All other parts I would consider necessary, so budget around $7k in assorted replacement parts (clutch, AWIC, rubber hoses, assorted fittings, worn donor parts) for a basic build. Everything adds up quickly. We did sell over $7k of parts off of our $6k donor (lots of aftermarket stuff and lots of time/effort to sell the parts). Also, we used our OEM harness, so budget an additional $2500 if you want the iwire or other type.

[milkman dan]

Tamra- do you feel the AWIC is necessary for everyone? Even those using as a "summer daily driver and not a rocket ship?" Thanks for your input!

[Tamra]

We did the AWIC ourselves, using Frozenboost. It only cost us $600, which seems like cheap insurance considering the cooling issues the 818 has. You might be okay with just gentle driving... but I would never ever bring it to any autox, track day, or other performance driving event without it.

I would recommend that you take it to an autox/HPDE at least once to learn more about how the car handles to make it safer for street driving (know what the car's limit is and what it does when it gets there), and also to have a little fun seeing what the 818 is capable of

[Canada818]

I would suggest going to http://www.westerncanadacobras.com .... a great Canada importing ressource and a 100$ coupons when you purchase your FFR.

Shipping and paperwork shouldn't cost a lot if you pick up yourself. You will also save GST/PST on the first 800$/person if you stay 2 nights in the US.

Other than that, it seems reasonable to me !

[Lumpyguy]

Me and Gary are from Ontario Canada and went and picked up our 818s at factory five. all it cost me at the border was the taxes (GST) as if falls under free trade. just get the paper work done with F5R, and then the cost of a trailer rental and the time to go there. I saved 2 grand by not getting a shipping crate or the shipping! If you want you can come and check out my ride and discuss importation I am 1.5hrs from Kitchener, I am in Strathroy and gary is in Kitchener. Its good to go to Factory five when you pick it up for a tour its a nice place

[Frank818]

Increase your whatever number budgeted for shipping costs of "any needed parts". Whenever you will need a part and will buy it from outside Canada (almost no part from Canada is good as I could see, or the Canadians are hidding and not showing off their shops correctly on the web), shipping will always make you swear. You think you had a great deal on a part and shipping will eat it all up. I did not make precise calculations, but shipping costs are probably overall in average 30-40% of the listed price. In the states you get a 5 bucks shipping but you'll pay 60 for Canada. Many times you will see free shipping in the lower 48s, but Canada will cost you 20, 40, 60...

And there are SO many parts you don't know you'll want/need until you get right down to the point. Those are killas.


Kit at 13kUSD does NOT include GST. So 5% of 18k ($900). You are lucky in ON, I had to pay both taxes in QC!
Shipping and paperwork, I've done it for JUST shy under 1kCAD, I'm sure you can make the same, check out Ryder's rentals, they were cheap as hell.
Accessories, what does it include? That's one place where you may want a lot more once you get down to it.
Donor+rebuild, 5k seems low to me, but not impossible. Cross fingers you get a good donor to start with.
A/C, are you going to reuse some from the donor on the ventilation system and stuff? Otherwise non-donor parts may add up quickly on a custom car.

Under 30kCAD is certainly an aggressive goal to me, so 35 is better.

[CNC_Geek]

I'm just starting my 818 build. Guess I was a bit naive to think the donor and kit would be all I needed (at a minimum). As I move forward I see one motor mount is broken so I better change all 3. All 4 brake rotors were at or below minimum thickness. I live in California and expected to get a California car. I found undercoating sprayed on everything. not only was this a mess to clean up but MANY bolts were rust bonded to the components being held together. In fact the drive shaft could not be pressed out of the spindle without damaging the entire hardware set. Spending more for a better car or patiently waiting for the right deal will save you money and time.

[dirty kurty]

Thanks everyone for the input.

Accessories = CF pieces (road splitter/spoiler/rockers) and rims/tires. Maybe a radio. Maybe accesport and/or racelogic or similar.

Mike I was hoping to go with a 2.0L turbo over a 2.5N/A because I have heard they are more reliable and fuel efficient under DD conditions (less oil thirsty too). Long term I am hoping to put an FA20F in it once wrecks/used engines become cheaper (~5years out). I have one in my 2014 Forester XT currently and I am really happy with it. At that point I will also be looking for a lttle bit more of a "rocket ship" so I would also upgrade the brakes/seats/add harnesses etc.

Tamra, For the AWIC I was hoping to upgrade after a year or two. Is this reasonable? I think by that point taking the body panels off and on should be less difficult because they will have settled into their final shape.

For parting out the donor I wasn't sure what the Canadian market is like? Has anyone had luck with a full part-out in Canada? What about shipping parts to the US, is this even worth it? I have lots of garage space (triple++ with a single car parked in it) so I can store a fair amount while I wait to sell things.

I am also planning to get a donor soon but not even order the kit for another 6 months to a year so I will have lots of time to part out while I work on the engine etc. I am hoping to have the kit arrive in my garage around this time next year.

For paint I will definitely do the prep and primer myself (I may go Aloha's route on the gaps and edges), based on how that turns out I will probably try the colour/clear myself if I can find a paint booth to rent in the area.

Also in Ontario do I need a safety/driveclean to complete the sale transaction at the MTO if I am not registering the car for plates? I just want to take ownership of the donor (for tracebility of the VIN parts) but I have no plans to drive it.

Lastly, I am planning on 2 years once the kit arrives, with the donor parts ready to go at that time.

[FFRWRX]

You will pay GST & PST at the border.

Rick