GUNS' 818SR Build Thread

[GUNS]

Hey guys,

I've been apart of this community ever since the 818 was announced and I'm proud to say that as of today I have officially begun my 818 build. I bought my 2002 WRX the summer after the 818 was announced with the intent to daily drive/track it until it was time to turn it into an 818. Well that time has come and today I cancelled my insurance and began tearing it apart.

I am happy to say that I am as excited about the 818 as I was when I first heard about it. I have about 10 years of HPDE experience in a variety of cars and sort of found myself in a conundrum. I tried to make the DD/track car thing work, but that proved to be too difficult to me. I found it hard to balance the track/street performance aspect. To solve the problem, I looked towards a track focused platform. The problem with this is I found that any platform that was desirable for me was far too expensive for a track toy. I found myself wondering why no one could offer a performance based/track oriented car that was still street able for under $30k. Then along came the 818 and filled that gap perfectly, so to speak.

My goals are to build an 818SR. I will start with an 818S and build it to suit the track more than the street. The R seems to be a little too extreme for me right now as I still want a somewhat street able car. I'm planning on keeping the engine stock for now with a good tune to get comfortable with the car. Eventually I'd like to end up with about 300 whp.


So on to the build. To start, I am by no means an experienced mechanic. I have done basic tasks like exhaust, suspension, brakes, wheel bearings, and minor electrical. This is going to be a learning experience for sure and that's part of the fun. So for anyone that is not sure if they have the skills to build one of these, follow my thread because I am the poster child for this. I'm going to start with the tear down of the WRX and continue on into the 818 build. I'm starting the tear down about 6 months prior to approx kit delivery date to give myself ample time to remove and refurbish the parts. I'd rather have everything sitting in my garage waiting to go then be rushed to get the parts ready.

I'm going to remove the engine/trans first so Day 1 began with the removal of necessary items to allow for engine removal. I removed the IC, Radiator (coolant shower was awesome), reservoirs, electrical connections, and hoses. I made sure to label everything! I know that 6-9 months from I'll be looking at a hose and wonder "where the hell does that thing go?"

I have a pretty busy schedule, so I'll be working on the car/updating this thread when I have time. I'm sure I'll be asking a lot of questions throughout, so thanks in advance. I look forward to the adventure!





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