Still a few sub-assemblies to tear down like rear axles from rear diff...and it made me think today, has anyone bought the complete axle set from FFR? Are they a decent quality? The labor and mess to tear these apart and insert the kit axles doesn’t seem worth it to not spend the $110 +/- FFR is asking for complete axles with the CV joints ready to go.
Hi Scott
With the caveat that I'm not on the road yet, but since nobody else who is has answered you yet on the topic of the FFR axles, they appear to me to be of good quality and well worth the price to have new parts and avoid the mess of converting them yourself. Since FFR know people will be racing with them, that's another reason for me to think they are up to my needs. You can even recover some of the cost by selling your donor rear axles.
I just started reading this thread, and it sounds like you and your son are a few months ahead of me an my son. He is 14, and our FFR scheduled delivery is 12/19. I will definitely be following and hope you save me a few mis-steps along the way. We purchased our 2004 WRX donor car on a Copart Auction, and I drove from NY to Savannah, GA and back with a trailer to get it. Only thing it didn't have that I needed was a passenger side mirror... None of the rust you are facing as it has never seen salt.
I'm also a pilot and have restored / upgraded my original 1984 Piper Archer, but now own a 2000 Beech A36 Bonanza which I keep at KMGJ. We are actually flying out to Michigan to the 818 Build School the weekend of November 13th. Would be great to get over to Ohio and see your build one of these days!
Our donor is fully stripped, all parts labelled, and the scrap metal fetched me a whopping $45. The engine is on a stand, separated from the transmission, and we are beginning to prep the parts. As many have stated, dieting the wiring harness seems daunting. I'm very good with wiring, and not afraid to tackle it, but definitely looking to the folks who have already done this for advice. My approach is going to be to build a "loom" so I can work on the wires comfortably, and keep them routed in the general direction they need to be until I do the initial diet and get it in the car. You mentioned earlier in this thread that you "got the manual", and I was hoping you could tell me where you got them? I have the AllDataDIY manual, but struggling to get a full shop manual (with wiring schematics) for the car?
I look forward to following your thread, and may have to start my own now that we are finally beginning the "build" phase.
Dave - thanks for replying on the FFR axles. I have already added these to my order a few weeks ago! They look nice.
Rob, nice to hear from another pilot and Father/Son build! You guys will love the build school. Would like to hear your feedback on the 818 class at Mott in Michigan. I attended the school in 2008 prior to receiving and building my roadster. It was very helpful for me then. I had considered taking this class next month with Liam but it would be for him, not me. I’ve done a roadster, and restored several cars now and built an Airplane...so not much I could learn. In the last 2 months he completely tore down the Impreza and learned a lot so I’m not too worried about his skills.
Let’s keep in touch and get together for a fly-in to compare progress!
Speaking of some progress. My contribution is paint. At some point I will teach Liam the art of prep and painting...but for now that’s what he wants me to do.
Steering rack that he tore apart this week to replace the tie rods, is now ready for paint. I’ve done the POR-15 degreasing, Metal prep and it’s ready for the semi gloss topcoat. C330E713-9E04-4827-9641-736E9821DF57.jpeg
The SOHC valve cover are cleaned, primed and painted with VHT.
Goal is to get the transmission and engine block painted this week.
818 "S"pyder delivered 11/27/20, using 2007 Impreza 2.5l NA donor. Work mostly being done by my son Liam...body work and paint being done by dad (that's me)
MK3.1 #6583RD, built from 2008-2019, sold 11/2011
What are you planning to paint the transmission with? Ours is really clean, so was thinking of just bead blasting back to clean and then possibly just clear coating it? Would love your thoughts on what you are planning. Trans1.jpg
818 "S"pyder delivered 11/27/20, using 2007 Impreza 2.5l NA donor. Work mostly being done by my son Liam...body work and paint being done by dad (that's me)
MK3.1 #6583RD, built from 2008-2019, sold 11/2011
One week until F5 is done with our kit, then we get to wait for the big blue Stewart truck. Hopefully before thanksgiving we shall receive our 818S!
In the meantime we’ve been preparing and restoring the donor parts. And building up the non donor new parts. It’s satisfying for me to assemble the all new front steering knuckle, calipers pads and ball joints. Pressing in new bearings and hubs was rather easy with the right tools. Ended up using one of those multi size tool Kits for pressing in bearings and seals that you simply ratchet together (in lieu of hydraulic press).
Both front hubs are done and ready to mount. The only donor part was the drilled and slotted rotors, and the CV drive axle which Liam removed and cleaned up and we painted the inside with POR-15
Last edited by Scott Meyer; 10-31-2020 at 04:54 PM.
818 "S"pyder delivered 11/27/20, using 2007 Impreza 2.5l NA donor. Work mostly being done by my son Liam...body work and paint being done by dad (that's me)
MK3.1 #6583RD, built from 2008-2019, sold 11/2011
Where did you find the best info for depowering the rack. I'm at that point with my kit not coming until December, but after reading this entire thread I'm more confused that when I started! :-o https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...anual+steering
I've been holding off on some things "assuming" the FFR manual would detail the steps.
Just connect the two fittings with a section of tubing. In Scott's picture you can see he used rigid tubing for the 90 degree bends and the flexible tubing to connect them.
Thanks. That part I knew, but maybe I didn't take my rack apart enough yet. I was wondering what I do with the fittings with the three red arrows? From the looks of Scott's, I guess I just remove that entire piece. Steering Rack.jpg
Rob,
Yes, just as sgarret said. We also bought the digital PDF copy of the build manual and have used this for now. My son has been following the tear down and prep directions (as much as they say)...here is a screenshot from the portion on the manual rack. I tried to understand the whole depowering thread and completely tearing apart the rack. Honestly it’s a huge project I didn’t see worth it for now. We may add power steering back in at some point if the effort is too much.
From what we can tell, those ports are left open or could be plugged with RTV, capped, etc. the high pressure lines are removed from that area of the rack.
Last edited by Scott Meyer; 11-01-2020 at 04:59 PM.
818 "S"pyder delivered 11/27/20, using 2007 Impreza 2.5l NA donor. Work mostly being done by my son Liam...body work and paint being done by dad (that's me)
MK3.1 #6583RD, built from 2008-2019, sold 11/2011
Well guys, it’s been a rough week for the Meyer family. In late July we lost my father, and went through the whole grieving process with his loss. I was able to move my mother from St. Louis to Dublin, Ohio so we could spend more time with her and take care of her. She was on hospice with Alzheimer’s but was in good spirits. I woke up Tuesday morning to learn she had passed in her sleep. What a shock.
We just had a simple gathering for her today with my immediate family. I will place my parents in a Unity urn and have them interned at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery in St. Louis. My dad was an honorable discharged Air Force tech sergeant from the Vietnam era.
To take my mind off things...I escaped to the garage a couple of nights to paint the engine short block and transmission.
818 "S"pyder delivered 11/27/20, using 2007 Impreza 2.5l NA donor. Work mostly being done by my son Liam...body work and paint being done by dad (that's me)
MK3.1 #6583RD, built from 2008-2019, sold 11/2011
818S/C : Chassis #25 with 06 WRX 2.5 turbo, ABS, cruise, PS, A/C, Apple CarPlay, rear camera, power windows & locks, leather & other complexities. Sold 10/19 with 5,800 miles.
Mk3 Roadster #6228 4.6L, T45, IRS, PS, PB, ABS, Cruise, Koni's, 17" Halibrands, red w/ silver - 9K miles then sold @ Barrett-Jackson Jan 2011 (got back cash spent).
Appreciate all of the thoughts and well wishes for our family. We are all doing better after taking the week off to grieve and spend time together.
Back to the build. The project gives Liam and I a time to bond and do things totally unrelated to life.
Today he was prepping the engine accessories in hope of getting the heads back from the machine shop. Looks like I need to spend a night spraying some more paint.
My other project is helping Liam get the suspension ready. Dove in and disassembled the right rear hub and parking brake and cable. Remember I’ve forgone the donor parts and have new knuckles, backing plates, brakes and hubs/bearings.
Talked to both Factory 5 and Stewart Transport today. Looks like we might get our 818 on Thanksgiving day!
Last edited by Scott Meyer; 11-09-2020 at 08:31 PM.
818 "S"pyder delivered 11/27/20, using 2007 Impreza 2.5l NA donor. Work mostly being done by my son Liam...body work and paint being done by dad (that's me)
MK3.1 #6583RD, built from 2008-2019, sold 11/2011
Clean, clean, paint and attention to detail. The machine job on our heads looks good so Liam masked them off and we shot them with VHT primer and paint tonight. Also painted the fuel and PCV rails. Intake is getting reassembled with the STI red theme!
818 "S"pyder delivered 11/27/20, using 2007 Impreza 2.5l NA donor. Work mostly being done by my son Liam...body work and paint being done by dad (that's me)
MK3.1 #6583RD, built from 2008-2019, sold 11/2011
Tonight Liam asked me if we could work on installing the heads on the engine...the below is about 3 hours of our combined work, and very happy with the results.
Proud to see my son learning the detail process to put an engine back together. Using our new digital torque wrench.
Last edited by Scott Meyer; 11-12-2020 at 10:50 PM.
818 "S"pyder delivered 11/27/20, using 2007 Impreza 2.5l NA donor. Work mostly being done by my son Liam...body work and paint being done by dad (that's me)
MK3.1 #6583RD, built from 2008-2019, sold 11/2011
Engine is almost completed. Liam is rewrapping the engine wire harness and detailing the final cam solenoids and fuel rails. He got the cam covers back on today, new spark plugs and wires. I had to take the timing belt back off again last night to reinstall the dipstick. Someone was too stoked to get the timing belt done last week (dad),while we were letting the dipstick paint dry. Next morning realized the dipstick tube has to go on before the right cam sprocket and rear belt cover. Oops! Also mocking up some UEL headers we got for 99-05 2.5RS. I think we can make these work...will require a little swapping out of other exhaust components with FFR.
Last edited by Scott Meyer; 11-16-2020 at 08:25 PM.
818 "S"pyder delivered 11/27/20, using 2007 Impreza 2.5l NA donor. Work mostly being done by my son Liam...body work and paint being done by dad (that's me)
MK3.1 #6583RD, built from 2008-2019, sold 11/2011
818 "S"pyder delivered 11/27/20, using 2007 Impreza 2.5l NA donor. Work mostly being done by my son Liam...body work and paint being done by dad (that's me)
MK3.1 #6583RD, built from 2008-2019, sold 11/2011
Kind of exciting and sad to get the garage emptied today. In case anyone is wondering, the shell will not fit into a 6’ x 12’ U Haul trailer without some gymnastics. We had to think on our feet today. Recouperated a whole $32.50 for metal scrap (1060 lbs)
818 "S"pyder delivered 11/27/20, using 2007 Impreza 2.5l NA donor. Work mostly being done by my son Liam...body work and paint being done by dad (that's me)
MK3.1 #6583RD, built from 2008-2019, sold 11/2011
Nice Rob! Yeah the way the Uhaul trailer was designed there was no way it would go in horizontally. We had to use the engine shop crane to lift shell on its side, with moving dollys racket strapped to the side of Impreza... a passerby in our neighborhood helped us lift and push up the ramp. I’ll have to find a way to share Liam’s video! The guy at scrap yard picked and threw the carcass about 50’ to the scrap pile like your picture shows.
Your scrap metal value is better in NY, they were only paying $70/gross ton here. Liam had sold off a few doors, the hood and bumper covers to local Subie freaks...we may net $300-400 on the donor stuff not using.
If I had to do this again, I would go the JDM engine/trans route, stand alone harness and all new suspension pieces like I’ve already bought.
FFR wasn’t too transparent on the “getting completed by 11/7 date”. I asked a few times for the photos they sent yesterday! Not sure what our BOL looks like. Stewart was funny on the phone and they said “yeah we like to give Factory 5 a few weeks after the completion date before we pick up...just so it’s mostly all done!”
In the end, this is a hobby and I’m not too concerned. I’m glad Factory 5 is still this busy and getting lots of orders!
Last edited by Scott Meyer; 11-22-2020 at 11:18 PM.
818 "S"pyder delivered 11/27/20, using 2007 Impreza 2.5l NA donor. Work mostly being done by my son Liam...body work and paint being done by dad (that's me)
MK3.1 #6583RD, built from 2008-2019, sold 11/2011
I know you pressed in your bearings, and I just popped mine out tonight to prep the front knuckles. When you pressed the new ones in, did you have to separate the bearing, or were you able to press it in together? Both my manuals pretty much say "don't do this yourself", and every video on YouTube I've seen shows them pulling the bearing apart so they can press the outer race without putting pressure on the inner race. I was planning on just pressing it with pressure on the outer race only, with the bearing intact.
If you want to PM me your cell # it would be easier to share what I did. The forum is a bit sluggish for typing and sharing pictures.
Scott
818 "S"pyder delivered 11/27/20, using 2007 Impreza 2.5l NA donor. Work mostly being done by my son Liam...body work and paint being done by dad (that's me)
MK3.1 #6583RD, built from 2008-2019, sold 11/2011
If I had to do this again, I would go the JDM engine/trans route, stand alone harness and all new suspension pieces like I’ve already bought.
I think FFR knows that a "complete kit" version of the 818 is desired. The donors are definitely hard to find for a reasonable price in places where salted roads are a thing. I chose the save money route and spent a lot of time cleaning up my spindles/brakes/suspension before putting it on the kit.
Liam and I were able to get a lot done this weekend. He finished up all of the fuel rails and remaining wiring, painting on the engine. We had to undo a few things and remove two broken valve cover bolts. He’s learned to watch his friends when they help...uga duga does not equal the torque required on those bolts...
I was able to help complete the last rear knuckle, parking brake and brake assembly and together we lowered the engine and installed the new flywheel, clutch, slave cylinder and mated the transaxle back to the engine! We have a large stockpile of new/reconditioned “donor” parts ready for the 818.
818 "S"pyder delivered 11/27/20, using 2007 Impreza 2.5l NA donor. Work mostly being done by my son Liam...body work and paint being done by dad (that's me)
MK3.1 #6583RD, built from 2008-2019, sold 11/2011
818 "S"pyder delivered 11/27/20, using 2007 Impreza 2.5l NA donor. Work mostly being done by my son Liam...body work and paint being done by dad (that's me)
MK3.1 #6583RD, built from 2008-2019, sold 11/2011
Thanks for tossing in the roadster pic, fun to see Liam then and now. Which time was he more excited (if not both... And then there is the test seating that has to happen too.
818S/C : Chassis #25 with 06 WRX 2.5 turbo, ABS, cruise, PS, A/C, Apple CarPlay, rear camera, power windows & locks, leather & other complexities. Sold 10/19 with 5,800 miles.
Mk3 Roadster #6228 4.6L, T45, IRS, PS, PB, ABS, Cruise, Koni's, 17" Halibrands, red w/ silver - 9K miles then sold @ Barrett-Jackson Jan 2011 (got back cash spent).
What a week! A lot has been done by Liam with just a little help from myself on painting the aluminum and getting him started on the drilling and proper fitting/riveting of the front firewall. I think it’s turning out great and very happy how easy the engine was to install with just the two of us. And yes, we are building a bit out of sequence from the manual due to the back order part list. We have no aluminum other than the panels pre-fitted to the chassis. Also missing one set of the upper IRS adapter bracket, and rear transmission cover. Brandon Larson has kindly sent one he had but USPS priority mail didn’t make it to our house yet today.
Last edited by Scott Meyer; 12-05-2020 at 05:12 PM.
818 "S"pyder delivered 11/27/20, using 2007 Impreza 2.5l NA donor. Work mostly being done by my son Liam...body work and paint being done by dad (that's me)
MK3.1 #6583RD, built from 2008-2019, sold 11/2011
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