Honolulu 818S Hana (work/build) Thread

[wleehendrick]

I'm sure with some prep and some gel coat patching you could make the body acceptable for track use or a daily driver for fun only. Not going to win any awards at a car show probably though.

Agreed... a fun, reliable daily driver, capable of the occasional track day, has been my plan from the start. I have to keep reminding myself that to keep on budget. I'm not building a race car, so I have to resist most of the pricey go-fast parts I see on the forum. I'm also not building a show car, so I'm forgoing the time and expense of a nice paint job. Maybe eventually... but I'm already close to my $30k total budget, so not right away. I got the gel coat patch and will do the best I can with it. My goal is not a 100pt show car; I want it to look good from 5-10' away; I realize it won't be perfect on close inspection. I will be doing a few things to augment the white panels, so I'm hoping to pull off the 'storm trooper' look. I will look on with envy on those, like you, who have poured far more time and/or money into their 818s!

[Aloha818]

Agreed... a fun, reliable daily driver, capable of the occasional track day, has been my plan from the start. I have to keep reminding myself that to keep on budget. I'm not building a race car, so I have to resist most of the pricey go-fast parts I see on the forum. I'm also not building a show car, so I'm forgoing the time and expense of a nice paint job. Maybe eventually... but I'm already close to my $30k total budget, so not right away. I got the gel coat patch and will do the best I can with it. My goal is not a 100pt show car; I want it to look good from 5-10' away; I realize it won't be perfect on close inspection. I will be doing a few things to augment the white panels, so I'm hoping to pull off the 'storm trooper' look. I will look on with envy on those, like you, who have poured far more time and/or money into their 818s!

Perfect! I am glad that my comments about the finish did not come across as disrespectful. The lines on the body look great and draw attention alone. In my posts I am trying to be as open and honest as possible. The kit is what the kit is and anyone ordering and buying should know what to expect. I could see with some prep, some gel coat work, and polish, the car can look amazing! But your not going to bolt it together and be 100%.

[wleehendrick]

Perfect! I am glad that my comments about the finish did not come across as disrespectful.

No, not at all. As you say, the panels are what they are. Not as pristine as I was hoping for, but with a little work, they'll be more than presentable. I've wet-sanded and compounded a few scratches out and polished/waxed about half of them, and they look pretty good. The surface finish over the large sections is actually smoother (less orange peel, etc...) than our new BMW! Once I have them mounted, I'll do the the gel-coat touch-up. I can see why FFR went for white, though... it does hide defects; this level of surface quality on a dark color would require much more work to look good.