RoRi's 818S Build Thread

[rori]

I've been keeping a build log on another forum for the last 3 months and now I'm going to transfer it all over here. So you are going to get a flood of updates, but then things are going to trail off as I have a 4 year old son and 7 month daughter at home and opportunities to sneak out to the garage are few and far between.

I ordered my 818 in November of 2012 while at SEMA.

Finally took delivery in December of 2013:





Planned Build:

Primary Donor will be a 2005 Saabaru

Engine:
ej205
V.8 JDM long-runner intake manifold
V.9 TMIC
VF48
JDM pinks
Spec C turbo inlet

Transmission:
Quaife LSD

Suspension/Brakes:
STI Brembo's
STI front aluminum LCA
Aluminum rear lateral links
GTSpec trailing arms

Interior:
EVO IX seats
Zero/Sports gauge cluster
S202 Steering wheel

[rori]

Got all of the body panels off and the frame up on my chassis dollie.



Made a custom set of wagon length aluminum lateral links. Had to press the camber bushings out of a pair of rear steel arms and press them into a pair of forward aluminum arms.



I shipped the transmission off to Andrewtech for a rebuild and to install the quaife lsd. Once they get it open we will discuss the possibility of installing upgraded gears if they are needed.

[rori]

No pictures of the disassembly of the 4 donor axles, way to messy to touch my phone, but after lots and lots of cleanup we have this: rear outer joints, FFR supplied half-shafts, front inner joints.



Finished axles with bonus pic of depowered rack in the back ground; all lines removed and plugged, inner piston removed also.

[rori]

GTspec trailing arms:

[rori]

Firewall is installed. Mounted the coil over brackets onto the aluminum LCA's and installed. Steering rack is mounted. My upper control arms are scheduled for delivery on Friday and I can finish the front suspension.



I made some ABS sensor delete plates:



Upright adapters installed and painted. ARP studs installed:



06-07 backing plates installed, Godspeed Adapter Brake Shoes, and ARP studs:

[rori]

I've been playing with the steering columns too. I have an 02 sedan and the 05 Saabaru columns. I want to use this S202 steering wheel, but because the S202 didn't come with airbags, it didn't use a clock spring and I will loose the use of the horn and turn signal cancelation. I was poking around on japanparts.com and I think I found the part I need. I ordered it today. Hopefully it will work and I'll have OEM functionality.



Got my transmission back from Andrewtech:



One of the issues people are running into is the left LCA is rubbing on the firewall. Most people are cutting the end of this thread off to gain clearance, but that doesn't solve the issue that you can't put a torque wrench on the nut once you have set the ride height. There are some 40mm hole plugs in the firewall of the donor cars. I chose to cut 40mm holes in the firewall where I needed them. This will allow me to properly torque the nut once I set the car down and it stops the thread from contacting the firewall. You can't tell from the pic, but because of the concave shape of the hole plugs the LCA no longer contacts anything during it's rotation. The passenger side shows the shape more clearly, but on that side there is plenty of room due to the location of the firewall.

[rori]

Front suspension is hung and master cylinder is mounted.



Clutch and brake pedals mounted. Steering column temporarily hung; I'm going to be shortening it to get rid of an ugly gap between the 818 dash and the column. Working on drilling and riveting the drivers side aluminum panels.



Brought my engine to the house also. Time to clean this up and install some goodies.

[rori]

Shortened the steering column. I took advantage of the fact that we have a collapsable steering column and put it in a press to take 1.75" out of it. I added another notch in the splines also to add adjustability. It started out 32.5":



This is what it looks like in the stock location (big ugly gap between the dash):



Here is what it will look like when it's done; I designed and ordered my mounting plate through emachineshop.com, just waiting for it to get here:



STI steering joint mounted through the new notch on the splined section:

[rori]

SPT mounts and a titanium key:



Nose mounted with radiator set in place:



Drivers and Passenger aluminum riveted in place and Boyd Welding Aluminum fuel tank set in place:



Exposed shifter assembly from K-tuned:



Was to cold yesterday to work in the garage so I mounted the taillights and played around with the LED bulbs that I picked up for them:

[rori]

My S202 combination switch and column cover arrived yesterday. Now I will have an OEM functioning horn and turn signal cancelation.



Our USDM light and wiper stalks bolted right on and our wiper stalk has the circuit for the horn already.

[rori]

New clutch and flywheels installed:



Engine all cleaned up. JDM V8 intake manifold, Spec C Turbo Inlet, Beatrush Pully



And it's in!

[rori]

Matching Beatrush Alternator Pulley and turnbuckle tensionser:



JDM V.9 Top Mount:



Axles are in:



And rear brakes:

[rori]

Front Brakes:

[rori]

Finally for my parts in from emachineshop.

Steering column spacer:



Bolted to the steering column:



No ugly gap between the dash:

[rori]

Added dead pedals to both sides and picked up these heel pads on ebay:

[rori]

Shift rod arm, I'm going to make a new bracket for the push/pull cable next that will account for the shorter throw and correct the geometry:





This is how much space is saved over the stock hardware:

[rori]

So the FFR supplied throttle cable mounts using a 1/4" stud in a 1/4" hole, but you can't pass the cable end through a 1/4" hole and FFR provides no solution for this. People on the forums have been finding different ways to mount it using slotted fender washers, c-clips or a combination of the above. This is my solution:

A 1/4" hole to mount the cable, a 9/16" hole to pass the cable end through, and a slot to join the two.



This way I can pass the cable end through the larger hole and then slide the cable over to the smaller hole and pass the 1/4" mounting stud through the smaller hole.

This is the finished product with a plug installed in the 9/16" hole:

[metalmaker12]

Wicked nice job man!!! I really like those Sti plates, I was looking at them earlier on ebay, prob going to copy since I am running an Sti and Sti bits.

[Mechie3]

Lots of nice work!

[RM1SepEx]

excellent job!
Very clean and some elegant mods/solns

[Frank818]

Shortened the steering column. I took advantage of the fact that we have a collapsable steering column and put it in a press to take 1.75" out of it. I added another notch in the splines also to add adjustability.

This is what it looks like in the stock location (big ugly gap between the dash):

It's funny I didn't see this in any other thread.

[rori]

It's funny I didn't see this in any other thread.

Most have been making covers for the gap; eg: (http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showt...l=1#post123516)

Some have gone as far as cutting and welding the u-joint, but all you really have to do is put the column in a press and you can make it any length you want. I am going to be doing it again actually as I have sourced an S202 steering column now. I won't bother with notching the splined section this time, I'll just press it a little shorter.

[gwarden]

Very nice work
Who has the plans for the cable adapter on the tranny I like that piece

[Xusia]

Does pressing it do any damage?

[gwarden]

Also like your abs delete tabs are you going to sell any of this stuff?

[Slatt]

Subscribed, so to speak. Beautiful work. I've no specific questions right now, but please make good notes about that steering column work for when I get my kit in. And what does "Spec-C Turbo Inlet" mean for us EJ207 V8 owners?

[K3LAG]

I also would be interested in tranny cable adapter if you are interested in selling them.

Larry

[AZPete]

rori, can you explain more on pressing the steering column shorter? Mine has a steel tube on the outside and I don't see how it would compress.

[Goldwing]

Some great looking fixes here. I'm a fan of the shift selector arm mod for sure.

[rori]

Does pressing it do any damage?

rori, can you explain more on pressing the steering column shorter? Mine has a steel tube on the outside and I don't see how it would compress.

No, no damage.

The outer sleeve should be two metal tubes. You can press the actual steering shaft into the outer tubes first. I think that gains you about 1.5". If you need/want more you can press the two outer sleeves together and then press the inner shaft in again. I've done 2 columns so far just playing around and will do a third once my S202 column gets here. No problems so far.

[rori]

And what does "Spec-C Turbo Inlet" mean for us EJ207 V8 owners?

You may already have one then:

[Frank818]

Made a custom set of wagon length aluminum lateral links. Had to press the camber bushings out of a pair of rear steel arms and press them into a pair of forward aluminum arms.

Do you sell these?
I may need new ones, they look superb!

[rori]

Do you sell these?
I may need new ones, they look superb!

No, You just need two sets of forward lateral links from a wagon and a pair of the camber bushings from your steel rearward arms

[Frank818]

And you bought the 2 sets on ebay?

[Mitch Wright]

Nice work and beautiful Shift linkage.

[metalmaker12]

On the links, I did the same thing, but you need adjustable ones for the rearward set to get proper alignment, unless FFR change something.

[Bob_n_Cincy]

Shortened the steering column. I took advantage of the fact that we have a collapsable steering column and put it in a press to take 1.75" out of it. I added another notch in the splines also to add adjustability. It started out 32.5":

I suspect like others, I was surprised the steering column could be shortened.
Shortening my column is on my list, but I didn't know how.
I found this page in the service manual.
Now I will Have room for a quick release hub.
Bob

[wleehendrick]

I suspect like others, I was surprised the steering column could be shortened.

Just to play devil's advocate, I'll point out that the collapsible steering column is a safety feature. A small amount of shortening may be acceptable, but compressing most of the range of motion would be risky. Since I doubt anyone will be using airbags in their 818, if you do shorten the column, I hope you have a harness. In the case of a front-end collision, the combination of no airbag, rigid column and three-point belt is a recipe for a fractured sternum.

[Frank818]

Since I doubt anyone will be using airbags in their 818, if you do shorten the column, I hope you have a harness. In the case of a front-end collision, the combination of no airbag, rigid column and three-point belt is a recipe for a fractured sternum.

That's sort of what I thought. I personally gotta be careful if I use that method, as I don't plan on using a harness, at the moment. Of course no air bag!!

[Pearldrummer7]

Wow! Looks really good! What belt did you use for the alternator?