Donor car vs. Donor pallet kit

[Louisromersh]

OK so I have not been able to find the answer to this on the forum so I thought it needed to be asked.

Now I know this is a loaded question and will depend on the personal capabilities of the builder. So please
remember when answering as I have never built a car in his life but has done all of his own maintenance
on his vehicles. But I'm up for a challenge and a project.

So time for the question witch is the better to build an 818S from a Donor car or a Donor pallet kit. I would
like to know from the builders who used a donor car would you use a donor car again? Or if you were to
do it again would you use a donor pallet kit, and vice versa for the donor pallet builders.

Thanks

[billjr212]

I think the biggest factor that you need to add in is time. What is your time worth and how quickly do you want to complete the car? Factor this against your budget as well. Some people enjoy the journey more, others are looking at the end point (not that building one of these is really every "over"). I went donor route on my Mk3 and am going donor route again this time on the 818S, but I can certainly see the benefit of going with a donor pallet. My work on the donor teardown and part-out has largely consisted of 30-45 minute chunks in the morning or evening when my kids have left for the day or gone to sleep. The remainder of my free time is too valuable, in my opinion, to spend on the donor.

[Jaime]

Another thing to consider is that everyone who orders an 818 has months of downtime with nothing to do because of the order backlog. Sure, a lot of people will decide to use that time for something else, but a pallet donor will not shorten your schedule. If you're building a Roadster, a pallet donor saves you wrenching time and gets you on the road faster. With an 818, it only save wrenching time. Also, a well-chosen donor is free if you are willing to put in the time to sell some parts.

On the other hand, it's very likely that every builder who tore down their own donor has at least one bad memory of a rusted on bolt that took days of soaking in PB Blaster and finding a bigger lever to get off. I see you live in Colorado, I would expect any ten year old local car to have a ton of rusted suspension bolts.

BTW, I used a donor and I would do it again. However, next time I would be more picky about the car I bought.

[AZPete]

I bought a pallet for my FFR roadster and also bought a pallet for my 818, mostly due to space restrictions. I can't leave a car outside overnight (nasty HOA) and have a 3-car garage with 2 daily drivers. Pallets may require less space and time but there's still lots of cleaning/painting/polishing needed. My 818 pallet was from the east coast (AJW) so lots of rust and frozen bolts meant I had to replace backing plates, oil pan and 1 rear hub. OTOH, with a donor you would learn a lot and label all the wiring harness connectors, and sell off parts. Next time I'd call Wayne at VCP for a pallet. If you've got the time and space, look for a nice rust-free Colorado donor and then call Wayne if you can't find one.

[Andrago94]

I bought a donor car, and would probably do it again. My main reason was that I am very new to cars in general, not even doing any of my own maintenance work on personal cars. My thinking was that the donor tear down would be good for building up experience prior to the build. I have also seen a lot of value in just seeing how the car is laid out and how the systems tie together, especially the wiring. I think the ability to label all of the wires as I take them off will save me a lot of time down the road.

[billjr212]

glad the last few people brought up the significant benefit of being able to take apart the wiring yourself and label everything. I used about 100 of these in tearing down the 2004 WRX for my 818 build. http://www.amazon.com/Colorful-Label.../dp/B0094GBIPC

[JeffS]

I actually had a lot of fun taking the donor apart. I learned a lot about how various things go together and function from taking them apart. Take a lot of pictures of how stuff comes apart, use lots of carefully labeled zip-lock bags for the hardware, and as others have said buy a label maker for the electrical connectors.

Don't get discouraged watching the Grassroots Motorsports video of taking apart a donor in one day..... Mine took about 40 - 50 hours spread over 4 weekends, but I was extra careful with my bagging and tagging and really not in a hurry.

Also... You will need a good set of 1/2 inch drive metric 6 point sockets and a beefy breaker bar to get the suspension stuff apart. For the axle nuts I got a 3/4 inch drive sliding breaker bar and 32mm socket (and I still needed to add a hefty length of pipe on the end of the breaker bar to get those nuts off).

I looked a long time (almost a year) for a low mileage unmolested 2006 WRX from a southern state, the theory being that I would save money in the long run by avoiding New England rust, and not needing to replace as many parts with new ones. This theory back-fired a little because as I started working on building up the new chassis, I decided on new stuff anyway... wheel bearings, seals, ball joints, suspension bushings.... my philosophy changed to "why not replace them while I have the chance"? So in the long run a high mileage southern car probably would have been just as good (and cheaper).

Disassembling, derusting, priming, painting, ordering replacement components, and then reassembling each donor part has taken much more time than bolting the part onto the new chassis. But it is satisfying to see how nice the reconditioned parts look when you bolt them on.

[FFRSpec72]

I would also add the "Craigslist" donor option. I went this route, I got all my donor parts except engine and transmission for under $800 off of Craigslist and I did not have to deal with the car being in my driveway and having to spend the time to disassemble.

[pwnoz]

I went with a pallet to save myself the time and space and thought it'd be helpful considering my inexperience. I don't regret it, but part of me wishes I tore a donor apart myself so I'd be able to label and track what every piece does and how they all fit together. I have a massive pile of unlabeled wires/connectors and a big box of bolts that I have no idea what they're from. Either way, I think you'll be happy, but you'll save yourself a good deal of money and gain some extra knowledge by tearing apart a donor.

[xxguitarist]

glad the last few people brought up the significant benefit of being able to take apart the wiring yourself and label everything. I used about 100 of these in tearing down the 2004 WRX for my 818 build. http://www.amazon.com/Colorful-Label.../dp/B0094GBIPC

We went for these: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And have easily used around 150 already.

Can't really speak to which is better, but so far, we haven't regretted doing the donor route. It got us a hybrid motor, upgraded turbo, injectors, etc, and we're under $5k into it after sold parts at this point.

[Jaime]

We went for these: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

And have easily used around 150 already.

I did the same, but I bought red, yellow, and green ones. Red for stuff to delete, yellow for sell, green for keep.

[riptide motorsport]

Other thing to concern yourself with is HOA or town code inspectors....pallets alleviate issues.

[svanlare]

I went to the donor route both to save some time on the project. Didn't turn out that way as the donor palet arrived about a week before the kit and there was a good deal of cleaning and sorting required to actually start building. I've also replaced more than I expected needing to, which has shot the budget out of the water. If I did it again, I'd be taking apart a car as much to know which parts came from where (bolts and wiring) as much as anything else.

[RM1SepEx]

It all comes down to how much you value your labor... Since I have more time than money I disassembled my own donor. I estimate that anyone with wrenches and some tools could do it in 3-4 days with some help. These cars come apart pretty easy, use tags not tape (ask me why I say that!) to label EVERYTHING. Save every bolt, nut and bracket

With a pallet you have to recondition the parts as well so that time isn't changed. If you buy a donor and strip it you can sell off parts, again it takes time but cold hard cash comes back. Before the kit was released 3-4 of us did a working on the donor thread... it is filled with info.

Bottom line for my 70K 05 donor cost me $3500 delivered to my door, it was a roll over so the body panels were toast... I've still recovered $1950 in parts sold on ebay and locally on craigslist. I can see at least $500 more in parts to sell...

[Louisromersh]

Thanks All for the Input, I was leaning towards Donor Car but just needed to make sure I wasn't making a mistake without looking at doing a Pallet Donor instead.

Also this question is related to the possibility of buying one of the two 818S kites w/ donor cars that are avalible for sale on right now on this forum, with one of them here in Colorado & the other being in MA.

Thanks Again
Louis.

[C.Plavan]

I ebayed all my parts- Granted- the 818R does not need alot, but its something worth thinking about. Only buy stuff from the West Coast..... no rust that way.

[Scargo]

I like what Riptide had to say. An interesting slant if you live in a gated community, or a Gestapo run community where they would not allow a whole car to be parked out front if it was not licensed. If you can afford it get a pallet and be very specific about what you want: the quality, year, pedigree, etc.

[shinn497]

I ebayed all my parts- Granted- the 818R does not need alot, but its something worth thinking about. Only buy stuff from the West Coast..... no rust that way.

I'm actually considering this seeing as I want to use a jdm engine. How much would you estimate this to cost?

[tango68ss]

I'm actually considering this seeing as I want to use a jdm engine. How much would you estimate this to cost?

Shinn497, I am going this route since I cannot store a donor on my property... Additionally, this route allows me to go at my own $ pace. Xusia built a GREAT xls sheet that will help you in your endeavor. PM him and he can send it to you. As i see things that I need/want, I add them to my 818xls "dream" sheet... It's averaging around $7K in parts, depending on your "tastes" (V7 engine, Brembos, VCP trailing arms, ECU, etc..) but you'll get the idea.

TC