Eaton's 818C Build - Power Window Modifications

[Mark Eaton]

Last Tuesday the Stewart transport truck showed up with our 818C kit. My son Nick and I were ready to go!

This will be my second FFR build. I took possession of an MK4 Complete kit 8/2017. It was street legal 2/2020, not yet graduated. I have about 3500 miles on it and love the vehicle. The MK4 project is somewhat on hold in order to pursue this 818C project with my 14yo son, Nick. Long story short Nick came to me in August to discuss his options for a car when he turns 16. He asked me if we could restore an old vehicle , specifically a Porsche. We kicked things around a bit but when I showed him the 818 he immediately jumped on the idea.

In September we bought the donor, a 2006 Impreza



Had a good time disassembling it





I think the day Stewart Transport showed up with the kit will live in both our memories forever.





I will say that the experience so far has been very positive for both of us. Every weekend that I don't have to work we head out to the shop and chip away.

[Scott Meyer]

Very cool guys! We just got our 818S last week as well, and already have the engine installed! The previous build experience will help a lot on these projects.

EDIT: Just curious what your POL (back order list) consists of? Did you receive Box 6 which contains all of the aluminum panels?

[MSumners]

Awesome Mark! Looking forward to following along.

[Canadian818]

Love seeing these father son builds! What a great way to connect, teach valuable skills and life lessons along the way. Good luck with the build!

[Vspeeds]

Mark
Thats awesome that you and your son will be building his new car together. Time with the young kids sure seem to fly by way too fast. I’m sure those upcoming memories will forever be cherrished.

Stay safe
Eddie

[cv2065]

This is going to be a great project for you guys. He'll be able to drive that car away to college and beyond with the memories and all. My son is 15 and is going to be looking for his first car soon, as he just earned his restricted license. I asked him about doing the same, and not really interested. Oh well, to each his own. Look forward to watching your build.

[Mark Eaton]

Very cool guys! We just got our 818S last week as well, and already have the engine installed! The previous build experience will help a lot on these projects.

EDIT: Just curious what your POL (back order list) consists of? Did you receive Box 6 which contains all of the aluminum panels?

Box 6 did not make it. We spent almost 4 hours on inventory yesterday and only made it through box 3.
But I'm pretty sure all the other boxes are there. We are going pretty slow but having fun and not rushing. He won't be able to drive it until 3/2021 anyway.

[Mark Eaton]

This is going to be a great project for you guys. He'll be able to drive that car away to college and beyond with the memories and all. My son is 15 and is going to be looking for his first car soon, as he just earned his restricted license. I asked him about doing the same, and not really interested. Oh well, to each his own. Look forward to watching your build.

I have a 17 yo son as well and gave him the option to build an FFR or restore something together but he is not interested.

[roadrashrob]

Welcome to the Father-Son crowd! Our kit is scheduled for pickup 12/19, but oddly enough even though they say that date is still good, it is a Saturday and they do not do pickups on Saturdays. Hoping for that Monday as my company closes for 2 weeks and my son will be off from school, so we can be "full time" builders!

In the mean time, so much to prep in anticipation of the kit arriving! Looking forward to following your progress and sharing lessons learned!

[Mark Eaton]

Thanks Rob, I'll be following your thread as well. Interestingly, a buddy of mine was encouraging me to build my own Power coating oven and your thread has inspired me as well! I'm thinking about the options...

[roadrashrob]

Was actually very easy. I bought a use oven on Craig's list for $100, some square 1" tubing from my local ironworks shop. 20' pieces are $15. Spent a little more on Galvanized" steel, but didn't want to paint it to prevent rust. Made it 2'x2'x4' to minimize waste on the 4'x10' sheet metal. My son got practice with riveting the oven BEFORE he pops them in the car! I also got fancy and modified the window to fit in the 1" tubing, but that wasn't necessary. Just happened to be clean class in the used oven I found!

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I know some of these will display sideways, but you'll get the jist! ;-)

[Mark Eaton]

Well we're off and running on fabricating the new powder coating oven. I'm really excited about this thing, should have done it three years ago. I am using heavier gauge 2" steel square tubing and sheet metal than I had planned simply because it is what my steel supplier had on stock. Not a big deal, it will be fairly heavy and able to withstand a rocket attack.





The right rear spindle/CV axle assembly is giving Nick and I a complete headache. We have been beating on it with a sledge hammer, heated it up with a torch, used an air hammer. I now have it in my press and soaking PB blaster. I think the knuckle will crack before the CV axle releases. Next step will either be a stick of dynamite or I'll just shred it up with my plasma cutter and throw it out in the road in a rant.

[GoDadGo]

You Guys Caught The Build Bug Really Bad!

...................Congratulations!

[fletch]

The right rear spindle/CV axle assembly is giving Nick and I a complete headache. We have been beating on it with a sledge hammer, heated it up with a torch, used an air hammer. I now have it in my press and soaking PB blaster. I think the knuckle will crack before the CV axle releases. Next step will either be a stick of dynamite or I'll just shred it up with my plasma cutter and throw it out in the road in a rant.

One of ours damn near exploded when it came loose. It was crazy. We used a press similar to your setup. When it finally gave, it knocked two of us over who were holding the hub and support steel. And it bent up my buddy's press table support - the C-channel piece that holds your work in place. I replaced it a few weeks later. So, first... be careful - don't get hurt. We were lucky.
Second, continue using the PB Blaster and heat. Do this periodically over a few days. Time makes a difference here, probably due to the PB Blaster penetrating.

[CCK]

Mark -- so excited to follow this build! Also please keep us up to date on your powdercoating oven -- looks great.
Look forward to visiting you again in Medford once I'm further along in my project, i.e. actually order and take delivery
-Chris

[roadrashrob]

We just picked up our kit yesterday, and as for the rear axles I have to say the $110 FFR gets for them pre-built is about the best bargain on the car! No mess, no fuss, like new! Two nice clean boxes just waiting to be installed... :-)

[Fman]

Subscribed, looking forward to watching your build! Have fun with your son, great project for him!

[Mark Eaton]

We did not get as much done over Nick's Christmas break as I had planned. It turns out that he and I had differing priorities when it came to his break, LOL. At any rate, this past weekend we finally completed our inventory, AND, completed the Powder coating oven!



It's internal dimensions are 36"x36"x48" and it takes it an hour to get to 400* F. And we haven't actually powder coated anything yet

We pressed on and started following the manual, first up removing the AC Compressor and PS pump from the engine.



Next up removing the front outer CV housing. We tried "tapping" it with a hammer as per the manual but I could tell right away that wasn't going to work. I had read about the " bang it on the ground with a pipe trick" but our metal supply store was closed and I didn't have a pipe that would fit. I figured if I knicked the ball bearing cage with a cut-off wheel then hit it with an air hammer that high tempered steel should shatter.



worked like a charm.



Overall, it was a good weekend. Today my elective OR schedule was scuppered because our hospital is overrun with Covid patients so I was back in the shop!

I got a parts cleaner tub from Harbor Freight and modified it for the build. I added a oil filter using the remote filter adapter from my MK4 build



Also, following AZPete's lead I made a chassis dolly. It was all scrap wood, the pallet was from my MK4 SBF engine from Forte and the carpet was left over from the MK4, the 2x4's were left over from one of my wife's projects.

[roadrashrob]

Looking good! You'll appreciate the size of the oven on some of the parts. Mine is 24x24x48-outside (tried to minimize sheet metal 4' widths. Wish i made inside 48"), and it took some advanced geometry skills to fit the rear anti-sway bar in it. I put some rivnuts in the ceiling of it so I can screw 1/4" eyebolts in at various locations. For small parts, the racks work, so I have rails for the two of them that came with the oven. How much stuff are you missing that's on the POL? Major items for us, as with others, is box 6 of the packaged aluminum and the IRS brackets.

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[cgundermann]

Another exciting build! Way cool my friend...

Chris

[Mark Eaton]

Looking good! You'll appreciate the size of the oven on some of the parts. Mine is 24x24x48-outside (tried to minimize sheet metal 4' widths. Wish i made inside 48"), and it took some advanced geometry skills to fit the rear anti-sway bar in it. I put some rivnuts in the ceiling of it so I can screw 1/4" eyebolts in at various locations. For small parts, the racks work, so I have rails for the two of them that came with the oven. How much stuff are you missing that's on the POL? Major items for us, as with others, is box 6 of the packaged aluminum and the IRS brackets.

IMG_1786.jpgIMG_1792.jpgIMG_1698.jpg

Yes, we still have quite a bit on the POL list including box #6, but it won't be a problem. As you can see we are not setting any speed records for this build, we have plenty to do while waiting on the parts. I'm sure you can relate that working with a 14yo boy is sometimes like a comedy. We spend half our time looking for tools that he set down in the wrong place, and every time his phone tinkles he practically looses all focus.

Its ok though, for me its more about spending time with him than the build itself.

[roadrashrob]

Yes, we still have quite a bit on the POL list including box #6, but it won't be a problem. As you can see we are not setting any speed records for this build, we have plenty to do while waiting on the parts. I'm sure you can relate that working with a 14yo boy is sometimes like a comedy. We spend half our time looking for tools that he set down in the wrong place, and every time his phone tinkles he practically looses all focus.

Its ok though, for me its more about spending time with him than the build itself.

Ha! I TOTALLY understand... Sounds exactly like my son, and yes, trying to make it more about the time together. Love the phone "tinkle" comment... I have the same issue if I need to just go to the toolbox to grab a different tool. Before I turn around he's whipped that phone out like quick draw McGraw! :-) But he's learning along the way, and we're communicating, so it's all worth it. Keep the posts up!

[Mark Eaton]

We continue to make slow progress over the last couple of weekends. I have a buddy in his twenties, he's an OR nurse and fellow gear head. He and his wife have a newborn but when he's not busy he shows up to the shop and we easily get twice as much done as just Nick and I by ourselves.

This is Andrew helping Nick with the peddle box



they also got the door latch mechanisms out of the rear doors.



We had a good time pushing the control arm bushings out



although, these were really difficult



success!



I posted on another thread that I am planning on replacing the old OEM bushings with polyurethane bushings, and I'm thinking about threading in zero fittings for lube maintenance later on.

[Mark Eaton]

These ball joints put up quit a fight.



Luckily I had a fitting on my slide hammer that enabled me to yank them out.



My 12 ton Harbor Freight press has been really useful. I modified it and added a pneumatic/hydraulic jack



these have to go



I know nothing about wheel hubs and bearings and my Haynes Subaru manual was no help. It literally said that when the bearings need to be replaced it is very difficult and they recommend taking to a professional. I'm not going to do that. Watching youtube. ordering OEM bearings, we got this. More to come...

[roadrashrob]

Installing the new bearings is actually fairly easy. From your pictures, you have a bearing puller, so they literally will just "screw" right in. I didn't have a puller, and pressed them in, but learned the hard way that the OEM bearing is NOT completely "together". It can split apart if you don't hold it together, so on one of mine the bottom half fell out as I was putting it on the press, hit the ground, cracked the plastic that holds the bearings and little greasy pins were everywhere! Was much more careful with the second one, and the THIRD one I had to re-order.. :-( Won't happen with the threaded rod going through the bearing and hub.

[Santiago]

Just did my rear bushings as well - also with the help of a HF press. Not hard to do at all even though this was my first time. I literally lost track of how many times I re-watched YouTube videos on it. I found that writing out my own step-by-step guide helped me: "make a plan, work the plan."

Agreed: you got this! =)

Best,
-j

[Mark Eaton]

Nick had too much homework to go to the shop today so I went solo to continue my personal battle with the right rear outer CV axle/spindle assembly which has been frozen and resistant to all of our attempts of freeing it up. It has turned into my personal nemesis. Well, I bought the "Big Nasty" as it is called on youtube. I spent about 20 minutes beating on that damn CV axle with the "Big Nasty" and it is now my favorite tool. SUCCESS!!!!



I came home and told Nick and we were doing high fives in the kitchen.

[Mark Eaton]

We managed to get the left rear knuckle powder coated this weekend. This is Super Durable Flat Black powder from the Powder Coat Store. It is a polyester powder and should last well.

[roadrashrob]

Looks good! Smart job powder coating the entire knuckle. Do that on the fronts as well. I taped off where they OEM attachments connected and it was bare metal, only to realize the 818 IRS and IFS brackets don't cover "all" those locations. As bearings and seals were already in, just used POR on the exposed metal.

[Mark Eaton]

I know we'll never see them but I like how these hubs came out. I think its Black Chrome from Prismatic...



Same powder on these front CV axle ends that we will never see, lol





We got the bearings, races, and seals pressed in



Rebuilt the parking brakes, ignore that label...



Rear CV, knuckle, hub, rotor sort of assembled



next up will reassemble the brakes

[Shawn818c]

"Big Nasty" is that from south main auto?? That guy is hilarious! Nice progress!

[Mark Eaton]

"Big Nasty" is that from south main auto?? That guy is hilarious! Nice progress!

It is!! And its awesome

[Mark Eaton]

I think these will work

[wallace18]

Looking good! keep up the great work.

[Mark Eaton]

Our floor pans were "oil canning" or "spring boarding" or whatever you call it on both sides. We welded in two 1inch strips of 18 guage on each side. No more "tin canning"!!!





We decided to go with polyurethane bushings because all the "cool guys" on Youtube use them



from what I can figure out from these is that squeaking is a problem so we added zerk fittings for lubrication...



Finally, it felt soooo good to get the front firewall in and start on the from suspension

[Mark Eaton]

This is from end of March.



Then the transaxle 2WD conversion by the book. I took this photo because that upper bearing race had me a little confused.



Installed the engine and started on the rear suspension in April. No real surprises.



Couldn't help putting on the wheels and rolling it around a bit.

[Mark Eaton]

The coolant tube cover, dead pedal, cockpit side took some "working" to get a good fit. I have also been pretty liberal with the GE silicone and rivets. I learned from my MK4 build its worth taking the time to get the cockpit sealed up as well as possible.

[Mark Eaton]

The OEM pedal box went in first without much hassle. There was no way the OEM clutch master from my 2006 Impreza was going to fit without a modification. I looked on Rock Auto for a minute but they all looked similar. We had good momentum going in the shop that day and I didn't want to search around all over the internet figuring out a different Clutch master so we forged ahead and altered the chassis. It gave Nick a chance to work on his welding skills...



The steering column and accelerated pedal were next. In retrospect it would have been easier to put the accelerator pedal before the pedal box.

[Mark Eaton]

The fuel tank and lines seem pretty straight forward. We have the non turbo charged engine so we had to add a vent. Not planning on using the fuel vapor canister. Also, I didn't realize that we were supposed to save the OEM fuel filter and bracket so I purchased a filter from Rock Auto and fabricated a bracket.







Here is the new vent right out of the Edward playbook! Thanks, Paul!!

[Mark Eaton]

We installed the Clutch and Brake lines.















When we get back from vacation next week we will fill and bleed those. Next up will be the wiring harness diet, etc...