JJ's 818s Build

[TouchStone]

I received my fuel tank from Boyd welding, design courtesy of Craig at Zero Decibel Motorsports. The assembly looks great and is very sturdy.

[07FIREBLADE]

Looks good. I might have to hit Craig up for the design too. How much was this setup again.

[ssssly]

I'm not saying the welding is bad in fact it looks really good. What I mean to say is that the powdercoat will cover up poorly cleaned metal.

I'm just disappointed at all the little things that have added up related to the powdercoat. On delivery there was a large scuffed area on the roll bar. Welding splatter is sharp and detracts from the look. Now finding rust under the powdercoat.

It basically adds up to the fact that I should have had the powdercoat applied locally.

There was powder coat flaking off my frame when it was delivered.

As of when I went out to FFR, the frames received zero prep before powder and they were not outgassed prior to curing.

The worst spots will be where several tubes come together. The blued areas around the weld outgas during the cure. The resulting bubbles hold gas against the steel and rust builds up under the powder coat flaking it off.

I went without the powder for my second frame and had it done locally. Blasted, outgassed and then coated. Zero problems.

[Mechie3]

Looks good. I might have to hit Craig up for the design too. How much was this setup again.

Josh's has a few additional/different features than mine but I think both of ours started at $375. Where it gets expensive for the non machine shop able people is the tank mounting plates from Boyd are $349 and you need two (with a $110 pump included). You need two of those. I went with Walbro 255 ($75/ea) and made my own plates (probably $75 in materials). If you don't care how pretty the plates are it would be easy to make your own with a band saw and drill press as they're mostly just flat plates.

[TouchStone]

Finally finished my seat mount brackets, paint is drying as I write this. Once the aluminum floor panel is back in place it would have been impossible to bolt in the seats so I welded in some mounting tabs with nuts welded to the underside of each tab. I have to move the firewall back an inch in order to fit the seats I ordered fortunately the new fuel tank has just enough clearance to let everything fit.

[TouchStone]

Made a bit of progress these last two weekends. Adjusted the fuel fill neck. I was able to use FFR fill tube by cutting out a section and shortening one end. Wired up the fuel tank and transfer pump. I switched out the transfer pump from a K&N pump to Airtex E8016S, the noise that the K&N pump made was very loud and obnoxious. Added indicator for low fuel in surge tank. Added wiring for heated seats. Added sound mat and carpet under the seat area. Added vinyl upholstery to the center console.

[Hindsight]

Looking very clean as always. Where did you source the vinyl and are you happy with it? I think it looks really good.

[TouchStone]

Looking very clean as always. Where did you source the vinyl and are you happy with it? I think it looks really good.

I got the vinyl from HobbyLobby, they only had one option for textured vinyl so I went with it. It has a fabric backing which adds strength and prevents it from stretching, also has a small amount of cushion which makes it feel more expensive. I'm using the same vinyl to make a custom boot for the e-brake handle. I'll see how it holds up to the Texas heat.

[Hindsight]

Very cool! Plenty of Hobby Lobbys around here so I may give it a shot for some trim pieces.

[Frank818]

Shortening one end on the filler neck? Yeah that would help but it also needs to be turned on the left side (fwd) in order to face about 3" fwd than what it does originally. How did you fix that? Simply twisting counter clockwise a quarter of a turn or so the upper part after shortening?

[TouchStone]

Shortening one end on the filler neck? Yeah that would help but it also needs to be turned on the left side (fwd) in order to face about 3" fwd than what it does originally. How did you fix that? Simply twisting counter clockwise a quarter of a turn or so the upper part after shortening?

I removed the lower 45 deg. bend which left me with an L piece and a S piece. I cut 1-2 inches off of the longer part of the L so both ends were about the same in length. Then I rotated the 90 deg. part until it fit close enough. The alignment was off by about 3-5 deg. which is close enough for the rubber coupling pieces to compensate for.

[TouchStone]

Center console is in and finished! It's inevitable but I still hope I wont have to take it apart since I spun a rivnut. The center console has switches to control the heated seats and a hidden security switch.

[Hindsight]

Very nice and clean. Looks like a good seal on the e-brake cover to firewall too.

[UnhipPopano]

What caused the Rivnut to spin? Was it not fully seated?

[TouchStone]

What caused the Rivnut to spin? Was it not fully seated?

The rivnut was not centered well and I used a power tool while cross threading the bolt.

[TouchStone]

Done with the interior.

[Bob_n_Cincy]

Done with the interior.

Very Nice,
I really like your shifter, Very cool. What is the functions of the springs?
Bob

[matteo92065]

clean looking!

[TouchStone]

Very Nice,
I really like your shifter, Very cool. What is the functions of the springs?
Bob

They are centering springs.

[AZPete]

Cool outside door handles. What are they?

Edit: I found them in your earlier post. They are Fiat Barchetta handles from Ebay . . . thanks.

For other guys who also like these handles:
Left and Right were sold separately:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/371064017334...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
http://www.ebay.com/itm/271493405643...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

[Frank818]

Love the result. Love the seats. Love the handles.

Pete, your links are destroyed.

[TouchStone]

Thanks guys, I have a few things left to do before I call it complete. Its a bit early but I've started looking for my next build.

[Frank818]

What is your next build?

[Lumpyguy]

how do you like the BOSS bluetooth control? does it just run to an amp? I have been looking at a Kenwood Blutooth amp with remote.

[TouchStone]

how do you like the BOSS bluetooth control? does it just run to an amp? I have been looking at a Kenwood Blutooth amp with remote.

The BOSS does everything I want feature wise. Just not powerful enough for an open top loud engine car.

[TouchStone]

What is your next build?

Haven't decided. GTM or maybe Ecoboost 818C, if FFR releases it.

[TouchStone]

Ran an autocross today. Car performed really well no fuel starvation at 1/4 to half tank. However with good news comes bad, around my fourth run I started getting a large amount of smoke out of the tailpipe every time I applied throttle from idle. I haven't determined the cause yet.

Fastest Run:


All Runs:
https://youtu.be/cm_S2wZfQHU

[Frank818]

Hum that video is blocked at work here but what color was that smoke?

[TouchStone]

Hum that video is blocked at work here but what color was that smoke?

It was white.

[Frank818]

Coolant leak somewhere?

[TouchStone]

Problem is caused by oil in the intake. Pulled off the AWIC and found their was enough oil build up in the AWIC housing to leak into the intake manifold. I highly suspect the Perrin AOS installation to be at fault. I found that the included plastic NPT fittings were all very loose and needed 2-3 more rotations to re-tighten. I'm also raising the height of the AOS about an inch to improve oil drain. This does however interfere with the engine cover gas bar I previously installed. Cleaned out the pooled up oil and drove around the block and it was much better, (no smoke) I'll have to keep an eye on it for awhile as the oil build up is pretty slow.

[TouchStone]

Finally making some decent progress on the body. All the uncured gelcoat and resin has been removed and filled with fiberglass reinforcement or body filler. Corners and edges have been restored. Panel insides have been coated with rubberized under-body paint. I also added a support to the engine cover to reinforce a thin area that had started to crack.

[Hindsight]

Looks great. What kind of underbody spray did you use and does it seem like it will stand up to heat of the engine?

I had to reinforce my engine cover due to cracking in the same area.

[Frank818]

Nice paint. That's the 3M rubberized underbody paint? No asphalt?

[TouchStone]

Nice paint. That's the 3M rubberized underbody paint? No asphalt?

Asphalt??

Rust-Oleum Rubberized Undercoating. According to their tech sheet the main ingredient is SBR rubber which is good up to 212F. There is a PRO version of this paint that cost twice as much I could not tell a difference from the label other than the pro version can have the second coat applied after only 2 mins.

Actually...I just checked the can the cheaper stuff can also be reapplied after just a couple mins. So I have no idea what the difference is.

Rust-Oleum Rubberized Undercoating SKU 248657
Rust-Oleum® Professional Undercoating SKU 248656

[Frank818]

Yeah asphalt, some products are asphalt based but I assumed it was pretty nasty stuff and wanted to stay away.

I currently have some truck bed liner stuff but I'm unsure it's as good as rubberized underbody and rocker panel stuff. Will try to find the rusto or sometihng similar.

tnx!

[Scargo]

Perhaps TMI? "Professional", Alkyd: DRY & RECOAT TIMES... Dry and recoat times are based on 70°F and 50% relative humidity. Dries to touch in 10 minutes. Allow more time in cooler temperatures. The surface can be recoated within 1 hour or after 24 hours. Allow 72 hours for full cure. Has temp rating of 200°F/93°C.
The "non-professional" SBR (styrene-butadiene rubber) coating does not list a service temperature but I've seen some listed as low as 180°F. Polystyrene can be thermoformed as low as 260°F. Realistically, there might not be much difference in the two, performance-wise. SBR might be less chemical/fuel resistant.
I found this discussion on undercoats. There is asphalt undercoater. I think it's very old technology, can be hard and brittle and melts with low VOC solvents (including gasoline or kerosene).
With either product be sure and have really good ventilation and/or painter's mask.

[Frank818]

Tnx for the info Scargo. I really hope you find a way to get your health back.

[TouchStone]

Wrap in progress. This is not easy.







6 hours earlier:

[Scargo]

But it's looking great and you will pick up speed. Have you watched how easy it is on YouTube?? I am still on the fence. I have painting equipment and know how to do that.