K818S Build Thread

[wallace18]

I am building an 818S Kit for a customer K. It is going to be fairly by the book, but open to changes along the way. The donor is a 2002 WRX just like I used in my build. The owner is going to vinyl wrap the car when completed. It is a #64 serial number so a fairly early kit. I brought the kit and donor stuff back from a trip to MA. Today I unloaded the trailer and started to take the front and rear suspension parts off of the cross members and such. Most likely a NE donor. Lots of rust everywhere. That is what sand blasters and blast cabs are for. Monday I hope to inventory the boxes and donor stuff and make sure I have all I need to get going. Here are some starter pics.

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[Frank818]

Vinyl wrap, excellent I am doing that. Will probably wrap it around spring 2015, so if you get there first (and you will), I will follow very very closely what you did to the body (sand, buff, fill voids, etc.) and how easy/hard it is to wrap this car.

[Kalstar]

New England cars suck!

[wallace18]

Vinyl wrap, excellent I am doing that. Will probably wrap it around spring 2015, so if you get there first (and you will), I will follow very very closely what you did to the body (sand, buff, fill voids, etc.) and how easy/hard it is to wrap this car.

There are 2 things Wayne and I do not do. That is sand and paint. The owner will have that taken care of. He is aware that I do not sand and fill. I do gap the car but that is it. God did not gift me as far as body work painting skills. I know my limitations. LOL.

[Boog]

Was the kit sitting around for a while? I'm just curious about it being #64. The last time I saw one posted on the forum I think they were above #200.

[wallace18]

Was the kit sitting around for a while? I'm just curious about it being #64. The last time I saw one posted on the forum I think they were above #200.

About a year or so.

[Kalstar]

I think they are around kit # 270 shipped.

[RM1SepEx]

They were just starting 3 a week when I got mine # 17 on August 1 last year, so # 60 would have been perhaps late Fall?

Tom, be prepared to have to use gravity to get the panels to sit correctly

[sponaugle]

Vinyl wrap, excellent I am doing that. Will probably wrap it around spring 2015, so if you get there first (and you will), I will follow very very closely what you did to the body (sand, buff, fill voids, etc.) and how easy/hard it is to wrap this car.

I'm also planning on doing a wrap, so I'm looking forward to seeing what you guys come up with!

New England cars suck!

Every time I see or hear about an east coast car it makes me appreciate more how lucky I was to have a west coast (Oregon) donor. 8 years old and not a spot of rust anywhere!

There are 2 things Wayne and I do not do. That is sand and paint. The owner will have that taken care of. He is aware that I do not sand and fill. I do gap the car but that is it. God did not gift me as far as body work painting skills. I know my limitations. LOL.

I feel the same way! Everything about building this car seems straightforward to me except the body work.

Cool that you have an early chassis # for this build.

Jeff

[wallace18]

Did inventory of all the FFR boxes and stuff today. Not too bad. About 8-12 items missing. Hopefully the owner can work something out with FFR since it is long past 45 days. Some stuff is going to hold me up but I'll keep at it as much as I can. There is always a coupe lurking near by. LOL. Here is pics of the frame before and after. The owner wanted Gloss black Rust-Oleum so that is what he got. After degreasing the frame, scuffing, wipe with acetone I painted it best I could. It is a Go-Daddy Driver paint job. (inside joke) This is the last frame I will paint. You can quote me on that. LOL. I miss the black powder coat. LOL.

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[GUNS]

I've been able to get missing parts a year into my build, so I'm sure he'll be fine.

[Kalstar]

Black gold! Looks awesome!

October 15th was the pick up date. I thought it was earlier but that is what the paperwork had said when I looked last night.

[Frank818]

Well, it's not like you are missing space in your yard, hey. That's great, cuz those parts take a lot of space.

[wallace18]

Today I finished painting the bottom of the frame and small touch up work. I also painted 90% of the bare metal stuff from the kit with Gloss black today. I then took apart the front and rear donor suspension parts and welded the front lower shock mounts to the LCA. I started to descale the donor stuff as well. To say this car had rust would be like saying New Zealand has sheep. Bad Joke I know. LOL. I still have to sand blast it in the AM. It hit 93 here and I do not like being in a enclosed suit in that kind of heat. I was surprised the bolts all came loose so easy though. Here is a few before pics. Also here is the 20 buck descaler I got from HF. Best money I ever spent today. LOL.

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[RM1SepEx]

Bucket of Doom time? Those are some nasty, my Michigan car was much better than that!

[mikeb75]

Wow! I think that beats my donor for ugly.

[Frank818]

Usually bolts on a jap car are easy to remove, as they are zinc plated. Same happened on my off the chart rusted donor, I thought all bolts would strip or crack but only one did, for the entire car. All the other ones were easy to remove.

Are you going to re-use the OEM bolts FFR recommends to use or will you change them all for new ones?

[wallace18]

Usually bolts on a jap car are easy to remove, as they are zinc plated. Same happened on my off the chart rusted donor, I thought all bolts would strip or crack but only one did, for the entire car. All the other ones were easy to remove.

Are you going to re-use the OEM bolts FFR recommends to use or will you change them all for new ones?

After I clean them up if they look Ok I'll reuse. If not replace.

[metalmaker12]

Looks familiar, I stripped that junk ,,,j/k actually a decent car.

[Kalstar]

I have seen worse. Ask Everson or Mush. New England area should be avoided.

[metalmaker12]

My donor was pretty bad also, yours is much better.

[wallace18]

Got a fair amount of stuff done today. After descaling , sand blasting and cleaning up with Brake Clean I was able to coat the front and rear donor suspension with rust inhibitor.
Then I spray bombed with Rust-Oleum Gloss black. Looks a lot better than when I started.
I then located and drilled the front and interior alum. Waiting on some special stuff to coat the inside interior stuff before I rivet it all in place. I will mount the rear firewall with S/S button head screws so it can be taken out in the event it needs to be. Tomorrow maybe mount some suspension stuff. It was hot today but I got all the hard stuff done in the AM.

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[Frank818]

Interesting, you still need the manual for your 2nd build.

[Kalstar]

Someone has been busy.

[wallace18]

Had to mow 8 acres of grass today. Only got to work on the 818S about 3 hours. It is serious hot down here today. I got the rear donor suspension bolted in and most of the front suspension. I mounted the gas tank and bolted down the lower firewall. I used S/S button heads from below for the tank area.

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[tango68ss]

Oh quit your whining about heat It was 107 with a heat index of 122 here today!!! And windy (blowing sand...)

[Kalstar]

Trade ya. This nastiness was over my house today. Really pouring now, lots of flashes and booms.

[wallace18]

Trade ya. This nastiness was over my house today. Really pouring now, lots of flashes and booms.

That is a mean looking cloud. But I would trade you. We have not had rain at my home in 3 weeks.

[wallace18]

Well Kalstar, I got your rain today along with the lightning . Lost power for a few hours. I guess I should be careful what I ask for. LOL> I did get the dirty greasy stuff done today. I swapped out the CV's to the FFR axle and mounted the rear suspension brackets to the hub. The CV's were in good shape. I promised the wife to work on her hunting trailer and get her car ready for the Sat. night cruise in. Here is some pics.
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[wallace18]

I surprised myself today. I got a lot done in 5 hours. I stripped the engine of unneeded stuff. I fixed the coolant inlet to allow better air bleeding as per Wayne. I converted it to 2WD. I power washed it and installed in chassis. It is so much easier the second time. Also there is many updates to this #64 chassis vs. my #27. Thanks to Wayne, Eric and others to help FFR with mods that benefited everyone down the road. The trans and engine were very clean inside. I had to get rid of a mouse nest under the turbo. LOL. Here are some before and after photos. I also painted the door frames S/S silver.

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[Kalstar]

Damn, that is a lot for 5 hrs. Good to hear everything was clean inside......hopefully that means it was a well taken care of donor. what's next steering column and rack?

[Frank818]

You build fast. How many hours a day are you spending on average?

[wallace18]

You build fast. How many hours a day are you spending on average?

It varies from 3 - 6. Having air tools and 40 years of automotive experience does not hurt either. LOL.

[wallace18]

Damn, that is a lot for 5 hrs. Good to hear everything was clean inside......hopefully that means it was a well taken care of donor. what's next steering column and rack?

Steering rack is next for sure. Column will have to wait till alum is riveted in and I have pedals. Still plenty to stay busy with.

[wallace18]

I had some prior commitments at church the last 2 days. Did not get much done. Had to buy new nuts for trans and Eng. mounts. Located and drilled floor. Hope to mount steering tomorrow.

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[wallace18]

Got a box in the mail today. Intercooler, hood hinges, 4-way sw. and brk cable brkts showed up. I installed the intercooler and replaced some bad vacuum hoses. I mounted shift brackets to trans and steering stuff after clean up and painting. . Also front radiator frame and rear shock tower brace. Also made bracket for coolant tank so it clears frame. Trying to stay at it as much as I can till other parts come in.

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[Harley818]

Hey Wallace, nice build so far.
I followed your first build. Love the colour. Nice to see you going for the "dream".
Good luck with no. 2. I'm sure the owner is following closely.......KKKKhaha.
I'm from the NW and had alot of rust on my donor parts... I guess we use more salt up here compared to Sponaugle's Oregon.
Nothing a little sand blasting didn't take care of. They all look like new now.
I did the same thing with power washing the engine and trans, but I painted the block and trans.... looks like new now.
I'm sure I'll learn some more on your second build.... thanks for posting.

Harley

[wallace18]

Only had a few hours to work on the 818S today. I located and drilled the lower frt alum under the batt. I mounted the side cooling tubes. I also hooked up the shift cables in the back. I still have to massage the rear shifter cable bracket so it works well. I also installed the loop for the heater pipes from the engine. According to tracking #'s I should have most of my missing stuff sometime Friday. Next week I will be able to get back on track with most stuff.

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[wleehendrick]

Wow, that's fast progress. Tom, want a 'working vacation' in SoCal?

[wallace18]

Today I mocked up the center console and shifter. Also started on the Medusa wiring harness. Nothing like getting rid of useless wires to make the day go by. VCP wiring harness is worth its weight in gold IMO compared to the stock one. But I am glad I am doing one this way. This allows me to compare the 2.

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