Massachusetts 818C build

[sgarrett]

I would just tap the frame rather than using the inserts. The inserts will stick up and and not fit flush with the frame, but the metal is plenty thick enough to tap.

Great advice. Thanks.

[sgarrett]

Well....it has been a while. Job and family taking over my time. But I have been able to make a little progress.

I can now officially say I believe aligning the doors is worse than the wiring harness. Good grief. I kept thinking I could make the passenger door a little bit better, so I just kept fiddling. After many hours of tightening and loosening you truly get a good feel for how the door can be moved around. I finally got it into a position where I think it is as good as it can be. I will need to put a 1/8" spacer between the top and the side sail behind the passenger door to make sure I have clearance for the back edge of the door. Since there is a bracket there that attaches the two together that should be easy.

Although I am not designing my own taillights, I did get the rear all assembled and illuminated. I added a high-mount brake light (I 3D printed the bezel for it) and got some smaller LEDs to illuminate the license plate. I also have the rear view camera wired and working.

Rear lights.jpg

I grew up in Wyoming so used one of my old plates for now....

I also finished getting all of the body panels mounted and attached. For the front, I followed the approach in the manual (started with the grill and the fenders) but then struggled getting everything centered and still having the hood fit. When the fenders and grill are centered, the top corners of the hood don't meet the top rear of the fenders in the same spots. When I shifted the grill towards the drivers side then I could get the hood aligned....but it was obvious the front of the car was twisted. I vaguely remembered others posting that the two front fenders aren't the same size so I started measuring. Yep, drivers side is about 3/4" longer. That is exactly the difference in where the top two corners of the hood sit. So I centered everything back up and am going to celebrate a non-symmetric hood.

Hood in place.jpgFront view.jpgGrille alignmnet.jpg

I really like how the nose turned out. Much better than I was expecting. Once I trim down the side edge of the hood it will sit lower and the lower edge of the hood nose will align better with the fenders.

I did finally get around to installing the Micro Latches and the springs. They worked really well.

Hood Pin.jpg

Definitely happy with those.

Need to install the Micro Latches for the top next and put in the door strikes.

[sgarrett]

It was a satisfying moment for me this weekend! I was able to get the car off the jacks and out of the garage under its own power with the body panels all attached.



It was surprising just how low the nose is once its off those jack stands! And in the video it kind of looks like a go-kart with some fiberglass panels on it. Then I realized it is basically a go-kart with some fiberglass panels on it! But what is satisfying is that I was the one who did it.

Hope to keep making progress.....I think I am going to order the tires finally and rent a trailer to go get it aligned and tuned before winter.

[AZPete]

Congrats! Sounds good, moves on its own, and no lost parts in the driveway means you did hundreds of things right. I like your description about it being a go-kart with panels because that's how it will drive when you get finished. At shows, many guys asked me, "how's it drive?" and I'd tell the truth: like a go-kart - quick and responsive..

[aquillen]

Ahhh but you can't go anywhere you want on a go-kart. Looking great even with light shining through the door

[Ajzride]

I'm so jealous, congrats.

[sgarrett]

Looking great even with light shining through the door

LOL...Yes....that looked very silly in hindsight. I do plan on coating the inside of the doors and then adding a square of sound mat. But it certainly is lighter this way!

I'm using Boig's exhaust on it with just the cat (no muffler). Although I still pefer the sound of a big V8, this sounds pretty good and I like how I can hear the turbo spin up.

[aquillen]

I keep reading about new sports cars where interior sound of the exhaust is enhanced using the audio system. Maybe we can come up with a Ferrari sound (inside the car)...

[FFRWRX]

Not only interior sound. I was watching a video review on the BMW i8 and it has dual exhaust. One pipe is exhaust and one is a speaker for everyone outside the car to enjoy the sporty sound.....which the 3 cylinder engine certainly isn’t making. So don’t limit yourself to the Ferrari sound just inside the car!

[Ajzride]

My F150 Ecoboost had that feature, it sounded like a V8, which I knew wasn't right. I disabled it with a programmer and bought new exhaust.

[jbs72697]

Looks and sounds great! Nice work

[sgarrett]

I'm still here! Like everyone, life sometimes slows down the builds...or at least the updates.

I will post more soon. I did get the car aligned and have all of the body panels properly fitted (for better or worse). The #$&@#%!! windows really slowed me down. I did get the passenger side done, but now have some fiberglass work to do since I made the opening on top too big...I had a feeling I was going to do that!

I have been tying up the loose ends that I sort of skipped over during the build while I build up motivation again after the darn window frustration....so I dove into the headlight wiring. Great, that isn't exactly easy either!

I did figure out how to get everything working with a relay and a diode (I will summarize that for future builders) and huge thanks to everyone who had posted about that previously. Very helpful to me.

But something I am struggling with now is the parking/clearance lights. They light up fine, and when I use the original incandescent bulbs they are fine. But the LED lights for the kit start out bright and then get very dim when the headlights are on. I still have full voltage going into them, but they just don't want to light up after about 5 minutes. Once I turn off the headlights they start to come back to their 'normal' brightness. Has anyone else dealt with this issue yet?

[Frank818]

"Welcome back"! loll

'bout those LEDs... I have dealt with a few super super weird issues with the rear turn signals/backup lights in the past. Turns out it was just a matter of swapping out the bulbs with some that decided to work. I had to try about 5 or 6 different sets but eventually it worked. Never understood why, probably related to how the bulbs are designed internally, or how they fit when you screw them in the sockets or something super fishy like that.

If you have other sets of bulbs, or if you are willing to spend a few bucks or a few 10s of bucks to source in other sets, I'd try that first. If after 3-4 sets they ALL behave the same then it's probably somewhere else.

Mine were extremely sensitive, some sets never worked and others were even intermittent: they worked when I was looking at them, but they stopped working when I was not or when driving. Very funny.... after a while I found some good quality bulbs (USA made btw, how interesting) and NEVER had the issues again. 1.5 years later and still perfect.


There are a few people very very knowledgeable in electronics here, maybe they will suggest something else to try before spending money, but on the other hand it's not "that" much money to try different sets of bulbs.

[RPGs818SNA]

Sgarrett, A marginal ground for the headlights and parking lights would cause those symptoms. I would compare the voltage on the headlights and parking light ground wires to battery ground when both are turned on. If you see more than a few tenths of a volt, I'd follow the grounds back through the switches to the frame and battery ground. If less than that, the bulbs may be sensitive to heat. I'd go with Frank's suggestion to try different (better) bulbs.
Good luck,
RPG

[sgarrett]

I am becoming a bit obsessed over this. got out of bed to measure the ground voltage....that is fine. Then I discovered that the relay wasn't needed anymore for the high beam shutter (what?!), and the LEDs wouldn't come on AT ALL. Of course the incandescent bulb still works in place of the LEDs.

Then I discovered that I had the fog light switch in the 'off' position. In the 'on' position it makes the high beam shutter latch open and I need the relay. I also discovered I had drained my battery down to less than 10 volts. The LEDs won't come on with that low a voltage.

So...need to back burner this till next week now, but it looks like the root of my problem lies somewhere in the fog light circuit....maybe I will just go back to the windows....

[RPGs818SNA]

Great job finding the low battery. That would cause the same symptoms. Now the "fog light turned on makes the high beam shutter latch open" doesn't seem right. How is your high beam shutter wired?
Thanks for all your body panel postings. I'm about to get started on them. I hope they aren't as hard as the wiring was.
RPG

[sgarrett]

I didn't think the panels were as hard as the wiring.....but the windows seem to have been the toughest for me so far. Of course, now I am finding wiring issues so perhaps that moves back to the top of the list!

Definitely dumb of me to have tried to debug all of this with a bad battery and ineffective charger. With the car running the wiring that I started with many many many hours ago works fine. I hooked one side of the low beams to ground (my yellow with red wires) and the blue with white wires to the other side of the low beam and also to the high beam shutter. Hook the red wire to the other wire on the high beam shutter. Everything works perfectly. No need for relays or diodes apparently. But at too low a voltage the shutters seem to stick open.

But what was killing me was the fog light switch. I didn't realize it was on. If it is off everything is fine. If it is on the high beam shutter locks open. That is what I have been chasing for a few weeks elapsed time. I am measuring 2volts across the fog light ground to the battery ground when it is on. That seems to prevent the high beam from going off. Need to trace it now and find the issue. Time to take the interior out again!

[RPGs818SNA]

Wow, that was fun. After pouring over the schematics from the 06 model (couldn’t find the 02 schematics), I think I know what’s going on. The fog light relay and switch lamp pull their power through the high beam lamp when it is off, and get no power when the high beam is on, as the red green wire is grounded through the dimmer switch. That keeps the high beams and fog lights from being on at the same time. I don’t know if that’s to limit the light toward other drivers or to limit the current draw. However, with the new shutter design, when the fog light relay and switch lamp pulls current through the shutter relay, the shutter opens!

Since the headlights draw the same power whether on high or low, and the high beams shouldn’t be on with other cars approaching, I think it’s OK to defeat that mechanism. I suggest disconnecting the red green wires to the fog light relay and switch from the high beam relay pin 4 (also red green) and connecting them instead to pin 2 (green black) or any other convenient low current source from the ignition switch. Here's a schematic.

Projector headlight schematic 2.jpg

The 2 volts on the fog light ground is probably an independent problem that should be easier to track. I hope you can get to it without much disassembly.

Thanks for catching this problem before it caught me. I can fix mine pretty easily at this stage.
RPG

[sgarrett]

Wow! Thanks for putting the time in to look at this! Huge help. I am away from the car until Sunday morning. The first thing I am going to do when I get back to it is to try this.

[sgarrett]

OK....so it seems like the errors were all on my side. My continuous lesson-learned so far has been "it really should work". In this case, I thought I was at wits end trying to figure this out, but it turns out I was simply witless!

The issues were:

1. My battery is hurting. I have drained it too many times and it just doesn't hold a charge, so it isn't good for testing. Even with a battery charger on it, and reading about 11V, that is not the same as having a fully functioning electrical system in the car. When the voltage is low, the LED lights used for the parking lights will not turn on. And as the battery drops they start getting dimmer and dimmer. I thought I was wiring them wrong, so wasted a ton of time coming up with different approaches. Of course, none of them worked. Supplying them with at least 12V (as intended) is a smart thing to do.

2. RPG's wiring diagram above is good. It is similar to Art's. But one thing to remember, if you don't delete the daytime running lights, then the low beams come on when the parking brake is not engaged. Yes, I have been doing all of my testing with the parking brake in random positions. When engaged, the parking lights don't come on but the headlights are always on. That messed me up since it wasn't expected behavior. Do the testing with the parking brake off!

3. RPG, you need to make a change to the diagram. You need to put one side of the low beam directly to ground instead of the the YR wire. My YR wire is now just floating around and not used.

4. In the process of shoving all my wires behind my center console, something got shorted. After entirely removing my center console, and jostling all the wires around, EVERYTHING works perfectly. The fog lights come on and off as expected when pushing the switch and also when activating the high beams. The high beam shutter opens and closes as expected, and I now measure about 0.1 volts across its ground to the battery. Unfortunately, I don't know exactly what got fixed when I jostled everything around, so when I pull it out again to paint and wrap it I'll track down the culprit more carefully.

5. But wait! With the engine running (and brake off), the fog light is keeping the high beam shutter engaged! I still need to go back and look at doing the fog light mod on RPG's diagram now.

6. It is REALLY important to make fuse boxes and relays easily accessible. I did a good job with the fuse boxes but not the relays. It has been a pain to get to them.

I can finally wrap up the front end wiring now and mount the fenders/headlights (after doing the fog light mod...).

[RPGs818SNA]

Thanks for sharing so many good lessons learned with such thorough explanations.

1. My battery is hurting. I have drained it too many times and it just doesn't hold a charge, so it isn't good for testing. Even with a battery charger on it, and reading about 11V, that is not the same as having a fully functioning electrical system in the car. When the voltage is low, the LED lights used for the parking lights will not turn on. And as the battery drops they start getting dimmer and dimmer. I thought I was wiring them wrong, so wasted a ton of time coming up with different approaches. Of course, none of them worked. Supplying them with at least 12V (as intended) is a smart thing to do.

I had a similar experience with those LEDs. I tried every which way to figure out how to wire them using a voltmeter. Nothing worked until, in desperation, I connected one to the battery. Then there was light!

2. RPG's wiring diagram above is good. It is similar to Art's. But one thing to remember, if you don't delete the daytime running lights, then the low beams come on when the parking brake is not engaged. Yes, I have been doing all of my testing with the parking brake in random positions. When engaged, the parking lights don't come on but the headlights are always on. That messed me up since it wasn't expected behavior. Do the testing with the parking brake off!

I just found Art’s schematics at https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...highlight=ez30
They are terrific. Although focused on an 02, there’s a lot there that’s applicable to my 06. As for the daytime running lights, the 06 owner’s manual says:
Daytime running light system
WRX-STI:
The low beam headlights, tail lights, parking lights, and license plate lights will automatically come on when the engine has started, under the following conditions:
The parking brake is fully released.
The light switch is in the .OFF. or position 1 (Parking lights).
The automatic transmission selector lever is set at other than the Park position.

For Imprezas that are not WRX-STI:
The low beam headlights will automatically come on at reduced brightness when the engine has started, under the following conditions:
The parking brake is fully released.
The light switch is in the .OFF. or position 1 (Parking lights).
The automatic transmission selector lever is set at other than the Park position.

So if you don’t want the Daytime Running Light functionality, it’s fine to simplify things by grounding one side of the projector lamps. If so, the DRL relay can be removed as well. I’m keeping the DRF feature to help others see me and maybe reduce my insurance rate.

3. RPG, you need to make a change to the diagram. You need to put one side of the low beam directly to ground instead of the YR wire. My YR wire is now just floating around and not used.

That’s a good option if deleting the DRL feature.

4. In the process of shoving all my wires behind my center console, something got shorted. After entirely removing my center console, and jostling all the wires around, EVERYTHING works perfectly. The fog lights come on and off as expected when pushing the switch and also when activating the high beams. The high beam shutter opens and closes as expected, and I now measure about 0.1 volts across its ground to the battery. Unfortunately, I don't know exactly what got fixed when I jostled everything around, so when I pull it out again to paint and wrap it I'll track down the culprit more carefully.

That’s a pain. I hope you can find it or it just doesn’t show up again. I would go ahead and trace the fog light ground wire to the frame to make sure it’s solid.

5. But wait! With the engine running (and brake off), the fog light is keeping the high beam shutter engaged! I still need to go back and look at doing the fog light mod on RPG's diagram now.

Wow, that’s odd. Perhaps the 14 volts with the engine running causes just enough extra current to go through the fog light relay coil and fog light ON lamp to keep the headlight shield open. The mod should fix that.

6. It is REALLY important to make fuse boxes and relays easily accessible. I did a good job with the fuse boxes but not the relays. It has been a pain to get to them.

That’s really good advice. Hope everything goes smoothly from here on.
RPG

[sgarrett]

Success! Spent about 5 hours pulling my seats and center console out again to find the wiring issue (about 8 various wires had gotten pinched between a couple of pieces of the aluminum center console. It cut thru the insulation....but it was a very easy fix) and also to trace the wires from my high beam relay. It was worth it. I implemented RPG's mod and voila! Everything works exactly as expected. Thank you very much for suggesting the green wiring mod on your diagram.

However....maybe it is different for '02 versus '06, but I do have to put one side of the low beam to ground. If I don't it turns off when the high beams go on. I did not delete the DRL feature (I agree with you...I like the increased visibility to other drivers). So I basically implemented your diagram without the red modifications and I put one side of the low beam to ground, leaving the YR wire unconnected.

[RPGs818SNA]

Congratulations on getting it all working! Well done.

However....maybe it is different for '02 versus '06, but I do have to put one side of the low beam to ground. If I don't it turns off when the high beams go on. I did not delete the DRL feature (I agree with you...I like the increased visibility to other drivers). So I basically implemented your diagram without the red modifications and I put one side of the low beam to ground, leaving the YR wire unconnected.

You’re right, I found the ’02 schematic and it is slightly different from the ’06. The ’06 runs the low beam YR wire through the DRL relay and either through the DRL resistor when the headlights are off or straight to ground when they are on. The ’02, however, runs the YR wire through the DRL relay and to the dimmer switch when the headlights are on. If the dimmer switch is set to low beams, YR is not grounded and the 818 projection lights won’t come on. See the schematics below.
2002 headlight mod for DRL.jpg

If the YR side of the headlight is wired straight to ground, the daytime running light function will work, but the lamps will burn at full intensity. If instead the orange mod shown above is implemented, the YR current will run through the DRL resistor and reduce the intensity of the headlight and current consumption. Either way will fix the ’02 high beam problem.

Thanks again for finding and sharing this issue. Now my fog light install will be easy.
RPG

[sgarrett]

RPG!!! You are awesome. Implemented the orange fix and it is perfect. Thanks for tracking that down.

And advice to future builders: figure all of this out before you tuck away your wiring harness!!! I had just assumed the wiring at the lights themselves was the same as the donor car.

Pictures coming soon....