Well today the donor arrived! Found this at an auction. It’s an ‘02 Impreza, not a WRX. It’s filthy, ugly, rusty, and doesn’t run. But it was dirt cheap, price of the car, auction fees, and truck to transport it was under 700.00. Not running doesn’t bother me. Whatever I found I planned on going through the engine anyway.
Still a long way off on ordering a kit but at least this is a start
Welcome! Enjoy the 'virtual' ride at least until you get one going! Tons of great people out here to help you along. I started working on mine in the beginning of March 2020 and have already gotten a ton of great ideas and help.
Great news - every added 818 is another party for all of us. My doctor refused tetanus shot unless I came in with bodily damage making it "necessary" (which I didn't have that day). Since then I've probably needed that shot about 10 times and yet to get it. (Tetanus or the shot I'm lucky to say)...
Tear-down and refurb is as much fun as the build IMO.
Thanks everyone. Even though I’m tearing it down I’m going to put on hooded Tyvek suit, gloves and a respirator and deep clean the interior. It smells so bad in there I wouldn’t be able to work. I’m sure progress will be slow. I’m in the boat business and our hectic season is here, plus I have an Aprilia motorcycle that needs some work too, and oh yeah We’re planning on moving in the coming months. It’s a lot but the car was so cheap I had to jump on it. I know I’m going to love this whole process
Thanks again and have a great weekend!
Welcome aboard! We just picked up our 818C yesterday!!!! A piece of advice that I wish I knew as I purchased our donor before ordering our kit was that the build manual also includes the steps to harvest the pieces you need from the donor. I got a WORD list from David, but then when I asked for a .PDF of the manual, I realized there were step by step instructions! You'll figure it out either way, but sure nicer to see "pictures" of exactly what you need...
Yesterday!? Yours was probably the 818c that Dave smith let us peek at in the delivery area to see what a raw kit looks like. May be the facts that I am also a Smith and I was wearing my stylish new Christmas present, an awesome Factory Five jacket had something do with it
Seeing that really helped her appreciate how much goes into building one. It could have also worried her a little that it’ll be more of a project to take on than I figured
One thing I did last spring was buy and download the 818 assembly manual
I think I’ve read it about three times now. That’s been a great motivator and prep for the build and yes it starts with a good guide and how to take the donor down, with pictures
Yesterday!? Yours was probably the 818c that Dave smith let us peek at in the delivery area to see what a raw kit looks like. May be the facts that I am also a Smith and I was wearing my stylish new Christmas present, an awesome Factory Five jacket had something do with it
Seeing that really helped her appreciate how much goes into building one. It could have also worried her a little that it’ll be more of a project to take on than I figured
From meeting him, I think Dave is just a super nice guy and really proud of the company and the product! Glad you got to see ours in the "raw" kit stage.... We're still doing inventory, but extremely excited to actually start the build!
Can't wait for you guys to get these projects going and see what your vision is...
It will be cool if you could update your profiles to show location so that if needed some of the 818 family could come up to speed up or slow down the process...lol
I agree. Dave Smith’s pride and enthusiasm in his company, people, and cars was very evident in the brief moment he stopped over
It was a really good day there. Seeing the 818C and sitting in it again really got me looking forward to my build too!
I might even start tearing parts off the Impreza and getting some shop equipment today
Good luck with the inventory. We closed on our house yesterday so after figuring out what we need to spend on our new place and paying down debts I’ll be ordering a new shock for my Aprilia SL1000 then placing the order for the 818! ����
Are you guys in Mass too? I’m in Braintree
Thanks. I can’t wait either. I’ve spent the last year on this board and YouTube watching others and their projects
It’ll soon be my turn, we’ll in several weeks. That’s what Dave Lindsey estimated their lead time is, which is fine with only because I don’t really have much garage space yet. Going to need a big dumpster and a pitchfork
I don’t really have a specific vision quite yet, other than following the manual. I’m sure that will change once I get started with it though
I looked again at your short video showing your donor engine and heard you ask, "what have I done?" Did the corrosion clean up okay? Do you feel better now?
818S/C : Chassis #25 with 06 WRX 2.5 turbo, ABS, cruise, PS, A/C, Apple CarPlay, rear camera, power windows & locks, leather & other complexities. Sold 10/19 with 5,800 miles.
Mk3 Roadster #6228 4.6L, T45, IRS, PS, PB, ABS, Cruise, Koni's, 17" Halibrands, red w/ silver - 9K miles then sold @ Barrett-Jackson Jan 2011 (got back cash spent).
I’m embarrassed to say I haven’t even touched the Impreza yet. With everything going on this year, selling the house, work demands, etc it’s still sitting on the driveway with a cover over it so it’s not a huge eyesore for the neighbors
I’m really hoping to dig at it soon though
Can't wait for you guys to get these projects going and see what your vision is...
It will be cool if you could update your profiles to show location so that if needed some of the 818 family could come up to speed up or slow down the process...lol
Jet
Thanks for the tip! I just updated my profile. Being somewhat new to the forum, didn't even realize that was an option! ;-)
Can't wait for you guys to get these projects going and see what your vision is...
It will be cool if you could update your profiles to show location so that if needed some of the 818 family could come up to speed up or slow down the process...lol
Jet
At this point I don’t really have a specific vision other than following the manual and trying not to mess it up too badly. I’m sure as I get into the project that’ll change so I’m sure to be posting along the way with updates and for advice (especially advice)
Congrats Judson! Got your order over to one of our techs to review. They'll finish getting everything processed through our system, and we'll follow-up with your updated invoice and a What to Expect letter shortly. Look forward to following along with your build thread!
I didn’t go crazy. I chose powder coated frame, FFR steering wheel and adaptor, carpet set and padded interior. I need to conserve money as much as I can now. I still have to outfit the garage with more equipment too
Congrats Judson! Got your order over to one of our techs to review. They'll finish getting everything processed through our system, and we'll follow-up with your updated invoice and a What to Expect letter shortly. Look forward to following along with your build thread!
Thanks Dave! Was good to meet you the other day. Bringing my wife by was a big step. Once she saw the showroom and 818C she was quite impressed
I’m really psyched to finally pull the trigger!
Well covid has reached our house. Two of us are positive, myself and one daughter are negative
But we all still have to quarantine for a week anyway. So maybe a helpful thing in the battle to get the garage cleared out
I watched all 35 videos from Grassroots Motorsports several times. Wayne Presley who owns Very Cool Parts, has built a number of 818s including being in charge of this one, sells great parts for our 818s and has great advice all over this forum. I can’t figure out how to paste the link in here so just search in YouTube for “project 818 part 1”. You will want to go to Zero Decibel Motorsports and buy other essential parts from Mechie3. His advice here is prodigious and profound. You can’t go wrong with anything you get from anyone who advertises here.
I watched all 35 videos from Grassroots Motorsports several times. Wayne Presley who owns Very Cool Parts, has built a number of 818s including being in charge of this one, sells great parts for our 818s and has great advice all over this forum. I can’t figure out how to paste the link in here so just search in YouTube for “project 818 part 1”. You will want to go to Zero Decibel Motorsports and buy other essential parts from Mechie3. His advice here is prodigious and profound. You can’t go wrong with anything you get from anyone who advertises here.
Thank you! Any new info, videos, etc will be great ways to pass the time and learn
Sorry to hear about the Covid within the household, hope ya'll recover quickly. As for VCP and 0dB, both top notch, bought a few donor parts from Wayne and a bunch from Craig. The hood hinges are a must have as is doing something about the FFR provided shifter.
A little bright spot today, my little powder coating gun arrived today. Can’t do much with it yet, but it’s a bit of a morale booster 811060AC-A8AB-4CA9-83B1-0DF661F7A84C.jpeg
Same powder gun I've been using for years. I did a mod I read about on-line and it helps a lot. Drill a few small holes in the long air tube that goes into the bottle. Helps to aerate the powder better. And I don't use that deflector thing at the end; the blue plastic thing. Maybe that would be good for large things being coated but I do small parts.
I find it very helpful to use that blue deflector and the lower power setting to get into corners and channels that experience the faraday effect. Hit those tight spots first, then take it off and switch to high power for the rest of the part.
I do like FFRWRX's idea to drill small holes. I do find it either packs down, or otherwise needs a gentle shake once and a while. Could you post a picture of the holes you drilled?
Just went down and took a picture. You can see the three holes I added near the top of the tube. Really helps to stir things up. Also, though its been a number of years, I seem to recall the "lid" that came on the gun didn't thread very well onto the plastic bottles. I took the blue tubes off, and the lid thing that came on the gun and used one of the bottle lids instead; obviously drilling holes to suit. Now the bottles thread in nicely. Don't know if that was just an issue with mine or not.
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. That back seat looks like my kids sat there (a few years ago now).
Originally Posted by aquillen
