RM1Sepex Build Thread

[RM1SepEx]

It looks to me like they need to be installed between the frame and the latch bracket, its the only way it makes any sense part number 80177, shown in exploded view as # 41

[Frank818]

Dan, I can't stop admire you courage with all the body issues and work. It's just mind-blowing or mind-boggling, whichever you want, to me.
I wish I could help somehow but unfortunately, I know nothing about FB and you are WAY WAY WAY WAY ahead of me in your build. The light is coming out of the tunnel for you, though! And no, it's not a train heading on to you. You are the train.

[RM1SepEx]

Thanks Frank, I'll just keep plodding through. I could get more help from friends but it would reduce the satisfaction of doing everything myself, wouldn't it!

[RM1SepEx]

Bad news from my Neurologist, I'm experiencing my first MS attack in 20 years. Time to test, poke, probe MRI, pump with steriods... UGH

I had to cancel my annual trip to Loring AFB for an awesome high speed autocross... I'm sad!

I do get to stay home and plod along on the 818 tho, life is still damn good!

so... onto the inner fenders in the rear...

How much of the outside edge should we expect to trim? How well did your fender liners line up vs the frame and body? The tab that mounts above the wheel is very critical... I have to position mine so that it doesn't line up with the frame tube for best fit... is this typical or do I need to do more body tweaking? And did anyone else find that the fender liner is a bit too short to line up with the fiberglass in the rear?

P1120091.JPG P1120098.JPG P1120097.JPG

P1120096.JPG P1120095.JPG P1120094.JPG

P1120093.JPG P1120092.JPG

A teaser, my new IC with its 10 inch fan P1120099.JPG

[wallace18]

Sorry to hear about the MS stuff. Marsha and I will pray for a quick recovery. Glad you can at least work on the 818 some. It is looking good. Nice intercooler.

[Aloha818]

Bad news from my Neurologist, I'm experiencing my first MS attack in 20 years. Time to test, poke, probe MRI, pump with steriods... UGH

I had to cancel my annual trip to Loring AFB for an awesome high speed autocross... I'm sad!

I do get to stay home and plod along on the 818 tho, life is still damn good!

so... onto the inner fenders in the rear...

How much of the outside edge should we expect to trim? How well did your fender liners line up vs the frame and body? The tab that mounts above the wheel is very critical... I have to position mine so that it doesn't line up with the frame tube for best fit... is this typical or do I need to do more body tweaking? And did anyone else find that the fender liner is a bit too short to line up with the fiberglass in the rear?

P1120091.JPG P1120098.JPG P1120097.JPG

P1120096.JPG P1120095.JPG P1120094.JPG

P1120093.JPG P1120092.JPG

A teaser, my new IC with its 10 inch fan P1120099.JPG

Sorry for your attack and related missed auto cross.

I just worked on my fender wells this week also. I had been kind of procrastinating as by the FFR manual and the flimsy aluminum I thought this was going to be a little cheesy. But I was really surprised at how well it actually all went together and looked at the end. On mine I had to scribe/cut the radius of the aluminum to the lower fender, from about 0" up 6" from the bottom up to a max of about 5/8" +/- at the turn in at the bottom. Your fourth pic shows about the same as mine before I whittled on it some. I left about 1/2" of the very bottom of the fiberglass showing. I also had to cut the notch for the fender/bumper joint on the bottom by about 1/2" to get a good fit. Then after to add the rubber edge trim it really looks good and seals well.

[RM1SepEx]

how does that triangle at the bottom line up with the fiberglass,? 1st photo

Mine is short by a bit... I may need to add some material. I included a photo showing how short it is if I align the top tab

How well does the top tab align with the tube? I had to offset mine about .2 for best fit, front and back as you can see in the top row 3rd photo

I'll cut some moore and try it with the rubber... as usual the manual says slide on the rubber and rivet in place! LOL

The good news is that there is plenty of room for my 3 " exhaust including a high flow cat and a high flow muffler

[AZPete]

Dan, I'm sorry to hear of your recent MS attack and will keep you in my thoughts. I'm amazed at all that you do considering your physical challenges.
I'm studying all your posts about the body and it will all be useful when I start hanging body pieces. Thanks!
Did you get your steering wheel and cruise control finished? I have not been able to test my cruise yet because I need to go at least 30 mph somewhere in the neighborhood . . . soon.
That new IC looks good but to be sure it's the right size, send it to me!
Pete

[RM1SepEx]

Funny Pete...

I have all my steering wheel stuff done but I have not tested the cruise. I made my 1 1/4 spacer out of aluminum last week but I need to PC before install and I need some looong 5 mm screws, locally they are not stocked... Now I need to make my PBV adaptor. A plate with a 1 1/4 od aluminum tube, and a 1 1/4 aluminum tube welded to the 2 3/4 tube into the throttle body.

That IC is about 40% bigger

[Frank818]

Ugh, sorry about that MS crap, Dan.

[RM1SepEx]

S*** happens Frank, could be worse... the drugs typically reduce attacks 30-40%. I was having massive attacks every 6 months in the early 90's... numb from the waist down July 91, December 91 from the chest down. That's two big time MS plaques in very bad areas, the spinal cord. 20 years without an attack using the first drug developed for MS is close to a miracle.

Slow and steady, J Lo will have her curvy behind out there soon enough! It's not like I have nothing to drive!

[Frank818]

Numb from the waist down, that's bad for... oops I won't say. lolll
Is that disease reducing life time? Or just making it harder to live? (I read wikipedia but YMMV) I know that's way off topic, but it's about you on your own thread.
I guess 20years without an attack (thumbs up man!!!) means it's not affecting your life time much, which is perfect. I hope you can deeply taste every second driving your 818, once all the body issues are fixed, obviously. Speaking of which, any date you think it's possible all will be done, license plate and ready to drive?

[Aloha818]

how does that triangle at the bottom line up with the fiberglass,? 1st photo

Mine is short by a bit... I may need to add some material. I included a photo showing how short it is if I align the top tab

How well does the top tab align with the tube? I had to offset mine about .2 for best fit, front and back as you can see in the top row 3rd photo

I'll cut some moore and try it with the rubber... as usual the manual says slide on the rubber and rivet in place! LOL

The good news is that there is plenty of room for my 3 " exhaust including a high flow cat and a high flow muffler

Mine is the same, but as you scribe/cut to better match the fender it moves the aluminum in to get more coverage on the fiberglass below, also I pushed the aluminum back so I had about 1/2"-3/4" of the fiberglass showing on the bottom in front of the aluminum, this front and rear of the rear wheel openings. This gave me plenty of room for 3 rivets for attachment.

I centered my top tab on the frame, I think a little lower than what your showing.

[RM1SepEx]

Interesting day, all of a sudden my alarm system started going off! I had to remove the keyless entry unit box to turn it off! Any ideas on what happened?

[metalmaker12]

Mine did that when I had my headlights wired wrong.

[RM1SepEx]

I didn't finish wiring them yet... No wiring changes have been made lately

[RM1SepEx]

Chomping at the bit to do more, it's hard to rest and recover / follow doctors orders!

Thanks to Wleehendricks I received the stickers to hide Impreza on my gauges, you can also see the nice CF trim and zeros across the ODO (sorry for the crappy photo! BTW I used a headlight repair kit to buff out the gauge pod plastic, it had tons of scratches, polished up nicely!

Dash.JPG

I fabricated my 1 1/4 spacer for the steering wheel, had to order 50 mm long 5MM x .8 pitch stainless button heads to assemble, my center hub has been powder coated orange since this photo, matching my vinyl graphics, it is getting the FFR logo lasered on it, I may adapt the FFR, boxer logo for it, the spacer will be black as soon as I hit the blast cabinet and PC equipment next week

P1120102.JPG steering wheel.JPG

started inserting the nutserts to attach all the body panels... struggling with drilling those damn holes under the car, one of the more severe issues with my disability I need to eat more spinache

My IC relocation parts have arrived, brackets designed, I've made up an adapter for the stock BPV, waiting for a friend to tig the aluminum together. 1 1/4 tubing to connect the BPV, 2.5 inch IC piping, 40% more IC area, the total piping length is only about 7 feet. 10 inch fan, air from the side vent, I need to get creative with the side "scoop"

P1120099.JPG

[Goldwing]

I have trouble with under car work too. My disability doesn't have a name yet, but lying on my back or awkward neck positions trigger problems that flare for a couple weeks. I'm not looking forward to the hole drilling underneath either.

[RM1SepEx]

I'm finding the key is to be as fully supported as possible. The lift helps to position everything at the exact distance so I don't reach. There are so many things to do I'm just bouncing around. 5-6 holes is my limit at one time, overhead work just kills me.

I did have to spend a couple hrs on lawn tractor work today tho...

My son is home for a couple days... we had lobster rolls twice today! YUM

[Frank818]

Nice s/w spacer, I can clearly see that my NRG QR is quite thicker than that.

Dan what is your product to repair and polish headlight (lexan and stuff like probably)?

[RM1SepEx]

Frank, I used some pads I bought on sale... doesn't really matter any of the stuff to clean up/polish headlights should work in 5 minutes or so. I had some mean and ugly scratches!

[Frank818]

The product I used 10 years ago was not working at all. I hope technology changed since.

[Mechie3]

I used a 3 or 4 piece set from 3M. Several sanding pads and a final buff pad. You need to recoat it with a UV resistant coating or it will likely yellow again (headlights will, that is).

[RM1SepEx]

Made in USA, CCP 5 min headlight lens restorer, comes with backing pad, 6 foam pads, just spray with water, run under max rpm of 1200

www.customchemicalpkg.com

[RM1SepEx]

Creeping along...

Got my steering wheel parts and oil cap back from laser engraving, my camera doesn't do the orange PC justice...

P1120104.JPG P1120105.JPG

Also working on the final positioning of my new, relocated IC, I'll be needing a fairly large side scoop...

P1120107.JPG

[wallace18]

Very cool Dan!

[AZPete]

I agree: Very Cool, Dan.
I am admiring a lot of your upgrades and I recall how I intended to build my 818 close to stock but then you and other guys keep coming up with very cool parts (that could be a brand name!). Now I've got upgrades all over the place and the biggest weight-saving is in my wallet. Oh well, it's fun.

Oh, wait.
I'm not the only guy who was trying to stay close to stock:
Dan in Post #1: "I'll attempt to build a close to stock example so others have a baseline."

[metalmaker12]

I doubled my budget!!!

[RM1SepEx]

It's a long story but I'll shorten it...

Delays of BO parts made the build meander

I keep seeing areas that I'm not very happy with the FFR solution and there is a better way... Attitudes change as you go. Hell the first panel that their manual has you install makes you drill a hole in the wrong place... It just keeps going from there.

My health's been a real PITA... I'm pretty sure I just can't do all those things twice

The stock IC location is horrible, just can't work, The wipers, an afterthought

BTW Craig may be packaging an IC kit so you won't have to custom fabricate anything to do an air to air on the side...

I wish I was comfortable doing the composite stuff, a CF side scoop would be AWESOME... my capabilities are more towards aluminum.

The good news is I finally started some PT to work on my latest issues... I also have an MRI coming up next week, hopefully the pictures won't show much degradation

I'm struggling a bit after my first MS attack in 20+ years, can't complain, just attempting to readjust.

Took 3 tries to get my hot tub fixed! Every time I fixed a leak another showed up downstream. I had to dig out 10 cubic feet of foam to get to the flexible PVC piping and fittings. What fun!

Wife's gone for a week! Perhaps my last "bonding" with Danielle.... To Simmons in Boston the end of the month! Whew!!!

Pete, what goes around comes around... I seem to remember someone helping me with the wiring and physical operation in the steering column!

I wish I wasn't so slow...

Chris, I don't do budgets... BUT I'm up to.... drum roll as I dig up the spreadsheet

$6300 plus the kit

Tom, I struggled to NOT buy your car... It was such a STEAL

[Frank818]

Dan, any pic of most if not all the car with the IC relocation? I find this one too close up for a good picture in my head.

[RM1SepEx]

just look at your right side vent, I chopped out about a 1 ft x 1 ft area. Believe me cutting stuff away is a difficult process. As you cut everything slides around, I could have cut less in the rearmost top area, but I did need clearance for the inlet tube. I can't do much re a wider view, its up on jackstands and my garage is a MESS... (understatement to the MAX)

My Bar and Plate IC is 40% bigger than stock and has a 10 inch fan attached to it. It takes about 7 feet of 2.5 pipe to run from the Turbo to the IC and back to the throttle body. I'm using my stock BPV and making an adapter to port it through a 1.25 tube into the tube going into the throttle body. Since my goal is 240 or so at the wheels, it should be more than enough.

As Chris indicated in his thread just today... POO is not a strong enough description for the stock location in a mid engined car. There is no airflow in that area and the stock IC has 30% of its area covered by that Y pipe contraption.

Once I put a nice scoop on the side and redirect the air from the little top IC vents to my intake... I should get pretty good airflow and be able to keep it cool

I just thought to myself in the shower (where all great minds wander, unless you are showering with a friend to save water) Chris hit the nail on the head months ago! The manual is not much more than a reference guide, you can't really follow it to build the car. It's incomplete, and not all in the correct order.

Example... check out where they put the puke bottle... there is an aluminum panel that goes over that frame rail... can't be put there! I'll be using those nutserts for my engine side firewall pieces... Which should have been done before my engine was installed. There must be 40 -50 examples... We just need to accept that fact and deal with it.

i'm REALLY worried about engine movement. Every video that I've seen makes me want stiffer engine and trans mounts AND reworking the torque arm setup on the transaxle....

[Mechie3]

I have cusco knock off engine mounts. They're pretty solid.

[Erik W. Treves]

Dan, I put the torque arm on the rear of the transaxle and my engine was rock solid

[RM1SepEx]

That's my first step... you did it on the rear of the transaxle... hum... creative and provides the most leverage too! very nice. I bet a simple torque are arm going towards the side off the engine might really help with the engine's rocking force control

[GUNS]

I just ordered some Group-N trans and engine mounts. I'll let you know how much of a difference it makes.

[RM1SepEx]

I didn't like the way they finished above the door latch inside the car. The photos that I have seen have carpet stretched over the two bolts. I made an aluminum cover...

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Now to seal up the space and attach it with a couple screws and nutserts. It will be covered with black vinyl.

I'm also making a new aluminum panel for the sides of the foot wells, above where the water tubes pass through, the black vinyl will be easier and it will hold my 6 1/2 speakers.

[Frank818]

Is there a reason why you didn't put your fatmat inside the fuel tank's alu panel instead of outside in the cockpit, like you do?

[RM1SepEx]

nope... could easily have been installed on the other side, will be covered with vinyl anyway

My reverse trike had nothing on the aluminum, between just an electric hum and the rocks bouncing off it was enough to drive you crazy... So I'm putting it everywhere that I can. I did get carried away though, it doesn't need to cover perfectly to dampen the majority of the sound!

I need to make my new, higher aluminum center console soon too. I wish I had the newer aluminum pieces to use as a starting point.

[Frank818]

I asked cuz I wonder if vinyl will reveal the waves on the fatmat material. Fatmat is not perfectly smooth, as per the picture, so I guess the vinyl will follow the waves.

[RM1SepEx]

the vinyl is pretty heavy, worst case use 1/16 foam to pad it up a bit, won't be glued everywhere...