Ray D's 818C Adventure

[RDRP]

So here it goes. After reading many build threads and being caught by wife many times drooling while surfing factoryfive.com, I placed my order on September 6th. I then began dismantling my 2002 WRX donor. The donor was disassembled just in time to get in the truck heading to pick up the kit on October 7th! I was lucky enough to meet Dave Smith and chat for a couple of minutes. What a great guy! As appreciate as can be of his customers. Kit 453 is now sitting in my shop and ready for me to get the assembly on! No matter how much snow we get this winter, I think I will have plenty to do.

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[turbomacncheese]

Sweet! I'm patiently waiting my turn. Good luck!

[Canadian818]

Welcome aboard! What are your intentions with this new girl?

[RM1SepEx]

Nice, Yours is a long way from mine from August of 2013! Plans for the build?

[AZPete]

Welcome Ray, to the madness. It's going to be a fun winter for you!

[Bob_n_Cincy]

Hey Ray
I like your title "Ray D's 818C Adventure" because sometimes it's an Adventure, sometime frustrating, but always rewarding.
Welcome to the party.
Bob

[RDRP]

I am excited to get started. I do not plan on doing anything too crazy. The list of things I plan to do outside of the standard kit are:
-Single wiper without cut out the top of the hood
-Air-conditioning
-Shifter with cables out the back. I am considering starting from scratch. I keep going back to Bob's setup.
-Seats have not been picked out yet. I am looking for as seat that will be mounted solid to the floor and will be comfortable to take a drive will. So I have eliminated the Kirkey seats. I have made many laps in a Kirkey seat with a mod lite but I don't think they are the right fit for this project that I will drive on the street. I need something that I can fit in. 6'2" and 235lbs.
-ABS, I think

My goal is to get the car complete and through the registration process, then the following winter I will start making changes. I like to keep to keep things simple and reliable. Once it is complete, I plan on doing some auto-x when time permits. I have two little girls, so I will do it when time permits.

[AZPete]

Ray, to add to your anticipation, this afternoon I took my 818C out for its first drive with the hard top and windows - and I can't get the smile off my face! I previously drove it as a topless roadster so I'm used to the stunning performance but today I enjoyed the air conditioning with 103 outside temp, the Apple CarPlay audio without pounding wind, the cruise control, long looks by other drivers and the "what is it?" questions at a gas station. I'm also 6"3"/235 lbs and its comfortable once I'm in but getting in and out takes practice. I didn't use the single wiper nor ABS today, but both work well. Get started!!

[Frank818]

Welcome Ray, 435, it keeps increasing!

[RDRP]

I have been making some slow progress. I have really just been focused on getting all the donor parts ready. Thanks to Larry the new EPROM was received and installed for the odometer reset. The knuckles have been cleaned up leaving a bucket of electrified sludge. I then coated all the bare metal parts in the kit and the donor knuckles with two coats POR 15 and a top coat. I am pretty satisfied with the results so far. I am working on reassembling the knuckles with new seals, bearings, ball joints, and backing plates. I found it easiest to use a bearing splitter around the base of the knuckle to press out the bearings rather than resting the on the mounting ears. I was concerned after seeing pictures of a few broke knuckles.
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I am looking forward I was going through the supplied bolts and trying to create a list of required bolts to replace the ones that can be taken from the donor. It is probably not a big deal but looking at old bolts on a new car is bothering me. Especially on the suspension parts. It would be great to have a complete list of bolt needed that not included in the kit.

It was killing me to not see some assembly progress I coated the aluminum panels for the front firewall and bottom panels with bedliner and installed them! Now I can say some assembly has happened.
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[RDRP]

I have cleaned, painted and installed all the suspension parts. Along the way I replaced all the backing plates purchased from Rockauto.com. The rear backing plates did not fit as received and required the mounting holes to be enlarged to fit the hub. I enlarge with a rotary file and life was good.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/QL...i=w497-h662-no

I moved on to depowering the rack from the 2002 WRX donor disassembling, removing the seals, welding the quill, welding and smoothing the no longer required ports. The rack was then assembled with new Moog bellows, inner and outer tie rods. I think the result was worth the added time.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/hc...E=w497-h662-no
Now on to getting the power train readied for installation!

[RDRP]

I was able to get the sway bar installed using prothane universal bushings. My first attempt to install the sway bar I had tried installing the links with the shocks disconnected and then went back to install the shocks. The right front shock would not install without interference. On my second attempt I found that installing the left front shock and link before moving on to both the right front shock and spring provided better results. I removed 1" from the RF link and will adjust when the car is at ride height.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/nf...9=w883-h662-no


Also an update on the previous bolt dilemma. I replaces most of the suspension bolts with 1/2" bolts or 9/16" with locking nuts. The 1/2" bolts are a close fit but require bushing and chassis be drill to 1/2". It really took minimal time to drill the parts with a cordless drill. It sure beet the time needed to clean up the bolts from my donor. My counts so far is 8-1/2"x2-1/2" (front lower control arm, lateraral link inner and front trailing arm mount), 2-9/16" x2"(low control arm mounts) and 4-9/16"x2-1/2" (spindle), 4-5/16"x1" (sway bar mount)
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Lv...n=w883-h662-no
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/8l...C=w883-h662-no
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Jg...T=w497-h662-no
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/69...G=w497-h662-no

I purchased from the bulk bins at TSC.

Unfortunately I am still not able to make pictures appear in post. When I insert as photo I get an message of "invalid file". Any idea?

[RDRP]

It has been a while since I updated. I have been making some good progress. I had my first experience with powder coating. I found an oven on craigslist perfect for the shop with no glass in the front. My first project was to rebuild/powder coat the brake calipers and purchase the HF powder coater. It went much better than expected and I was happy with the results. I spend 4-5 hours cleaning/coating/rebuilding the calipers and purchased the seals and a piston from rockauto.com.
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One of the items I knew I needed to address prior to ordering the kit was the fuel tank. I considered the hydramat, but decided this project has required too little fabrication!! The projects that I have done in the past have been restorations or they began with a delivery of tubing and sheets of aluminum! Factory Five kits are almost TOO complete. In my past fuel pick-ups have been a no brainer. Get a low sump in the right side of the fuel cell. Make sure your pump is a that bottom of the sump and you'll never have an issue. Now you know my past was full of left turns! Piece of cake......

My goal on this was to install a baffle to keep fuel in the pump and avoid cutting the tank open. I think I have done it, but the will not know untill I drive it.

This is the baffle before it was placed in the tank. It fits through the pump opening.
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I installed the baffle with duck tape to check fitment:
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I spent about 1.5 hours adjusting and fitting the fuel sender float to allow fitment inside of the baffled area. I hooked a string on the float to raise and lower it checking for free operation. Once it moved from the tank bottom to the tank top with no obstruction, I made adjustments to make sure the bottom the tank resistance was the same as the float all the way at rest and the top of the tank resistance matched the measure value fully elevated. I think the values were 45Ohm and 0Ohms. The float on the pump sending unit fits outside of the baffled area with no adjustment needed.

I then added a connection for the vent at the top of the tank that will be connected to the filler pipe with a flexible hose:
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I checked fitment of the tank and found I was missing the 1/2 moon weatherstripping for the front of the tank. I will pressure test and get it connected this week. Hopefully I will not experience any fuel pickup issues.

[Hobby Racer]

All the photo links are bad (404 errors).

[RM1SepEx]

Ray to add photos, go advanced

Managed attachments

Add files

select files (find them and click on them from your drive)

insert

done

Note there is a size limit for the photos

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[RDRP]

I hope the photos can be viewed now. I was trying to use Google Photo and had inserted hyperlinks.

[Hobby Racer]

Ray, I just noticed your in Baldwinsville! Small world, I am in Baldwinsville as well. I am building an 818R with and EZ36R flat 6 Subaru motor. We will have to get together at some point and compare notes.

Great to have another builder in the same town.

John

[RDRP]

Ray, I just noticed your in Baldwinsville! Small world, I am in Baldwinsville as well. I am building an 818R with and EZ36R flat 6 Subaru motor. We will have to get together at some point and compare notes.

Great to have another builder in the same town.

John

Small world for sure, I am glad to have another 818 builder close by! It is nice to know there is a growing population of FFR car in our area. My build really began with a trip to FFR last December with a friend to pick up his MKIV. I like the EZ36R twist to your build. What are your plans when the car is complete? I have spent the limited shop time I have had over the last two weeks on dieting the wire harness. I am making progress with 14 hours the wiring so far and it is starting to take shape.

[Hobby Racer]

What are your plans when the car is complete?

My plans are for a track only car to replace my street car that takes a beating when I go to Watkins Glen. Since I will not be driving mine on the road I can eliminate much of the stuff needed for street use.

I started dieting the WRX harness but gave up after deciding to go with the H6. I will be creating a custom harness from scratch and using a standalone ECU.

[RDRP]

Hot dog that was a good time......said no one dieting a 818 harness. I am making my way through the harness diet slowly lengthening and shortening wires were needed. I work on the car 1-1/2 to 2 hours a night so I am 5 weeks into the harness. I am trying to plan ahead for the gauge locations. I like the simplicity of the FFR dash and would like to keep it that way, but also feel oil pressure and temperatures gauges are needed for track days. Anyone up to sharing some photos of their dash with gauges added? Has any one added a pillar pod? Any recommendations would be appreciated.

[mikeb75]

I have some pics in my build thread about adding a 3 gauge pod to the dash. I just cut, epoxied and blended it in, but I also flocked the dash... looks OK. However, I will warn that any gauge pod on the dash needs to be hooded. My LED gauges reflect horribly on the windshield.

[RDRP]

Thanks Mike. I saw the pod in your thread, Great build BTW, and was concerned with glare. I am also concern with the pillar pod taking up some of the visibility. Another thought I had was placing them above the rear view mirror. They would be visible, not add to the simply dash and remain shielded from the sun.

[mikeb75]

Above the mirror may be a really good place for them -hadn't thought of that. I know many other builders have just cut them into the front of the dash or put them on the aluminum panel under the dash in front of the shifter. I think those positions work pretty well also, I was just making things difficult.

[idf]

Hot dog that was a good time......said no one dieting a 818 harness. I am making my way through the harness diet slowly lengthening and shortening wires were needed. I work on the car 1-1/2 to 2 hours a night so I am 5 weeks into the harness. I am trying to plan ahead for the gauge locations. I like the simplicity of the FFR dash and would like to keep it that way, but also feel oil pressure and temperatures gauges are needed for track days. Anyone up to sharing some photos of their dash with gauges added? Has any one added a pillar pod? Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Here is a photo of my dash. To left of steering wheel are mirror controls and volt meter. To right oil pressure and boost. dash.JPG

[Bob_n_Cincy]

Hot dog that was a good time......said no one dieting a 818 harness.

I enjoyed the wiring harness diet phase of the project. Felt proud of that work when it was done.
Bob

[RDRP]

I enjoyed the wiring harness diet phase of the project. Felt proud of that work when it was done.
Bob

I think that feeling will exist once the harness is complete. It is not really that bad, it just takes time and patience to sort everything out and make it work for your build. It is definitely a great learning experience. I always look to try something new if every project. This project will be no different. I have done a few harness in the past for modlites and then another to convert my camaro to fuel injection. My goal with the camaro was to make sure the wiring was not the focal point and it was a success. This is just building from previous projects.

[RDRP]

Here is a photo of my dash. To left of steering wheel are mirror controls and volt meter. To right oil pressure and boost. dash.JPG

Thanks for sharing! That looks awesome!

[Frank818]

Here is a photo of my dash. To left of steering wheel are mirror controls and volt meter. To right oil pressure and boost. dash.JPG

Clean dash!
When you drive does your sw hide the volt meter and oil pressure gauges? I had to push my gauges further in order to see them. I admit I have a 320mm sw, not the std 350.

[idf]

Clean dash!
When you drive does your sw hide the volt meter and oil pressure gauges? I had to push my gauges further in order to see them. I admit I have a 320mm sw, not the std 350.

Haven't had an issue with gauge visibility, but I'll admit I don't spend a lot of time staring at the voltmeter. My steering wheel is also 320 mm.