Camera's 818C

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I thought I would start a build thread since I finally ordered an 818C! I found the 818 while looking to build a Cobra kit car back around 2014. With my first car being a 3000GT VR4 (twin turbo) and at the time owning an RSX Type-S that I supercharged, the 818 was closer to my style than a vintage replica. The allure of a rare, mid-engine car has kept me interested ever since. I've read through a LOT of this forum over the years so thanks to anybody that has contributed.

In 2014 I wasn't that far out of college so I didn't have the money to build a kit car, but I had a 2.5 car garage at my house in Toledo, OH. In 2015, I moved to Columbus, OH for a new job but was living in an apartment so I didn't have a garage. In 2017, I started to build a new house and even had the 2 car garage insulated and finished in anticipation of building an 818 there. I finally moved in the summer of 2018 and installed cabinets, a work bench, and a ceiling fan w/ extra lights in the garage as I settled into the new house. April 2019 (10 months after moving into my new house).... my company asked if I was willing to move to support larger customers. I agreed and moved into an apartment north of Detroit in August 2019. Once again I was without a garage, and it ended up taking until May of 2020 to finally sell my house in Columbus after 3 failed closings due to the financial uncertainty of the banks caused by Covid-19.

Having missed my opportunities to build an 818 over the last 6 years, I decided to be proactive and create the best opportunity I could. After buying 2 houses and leaving shortly, I'm not willing to buy another for awhile. I counted and I've moved 17 times since starting college in 2007! Maybe this should be called the nomad build? I found a few apartments that had garages but only 1 actually allowed car work in the garage and their rental terms were not good. So that was frustrating. I finally found a condo for rent in a nice area with an attached 1 car garage and jumped on a good deal. So after 6 years I finally have the money for the kit, a garage to build in, no house/lawn to maintain, and a long Michigan winter that I'll need to entertain myself. Not to mention the pandemic has given me more time at home and I expect that to continue to some extent over the next year.

Factory Five is expected to complete my kit on 10/10/2020 and I'm having it shipped via Stewart. Since I'm working in a 1 car garage and have limited space I'm getting a donor pallet from Very Cool Parts using a 2006 WRX with ~80,000 miles on it. I originally asked them to find a cheaper donor, but after thinking about it for a week I changed my mind and snatched it up. Now I'm excited about the newer donor and all the updates that brings (bigger 2.5L EJ255, bigger brakes, aluminum LCA's, improved oil pan to name a few). The extra cost seems small for so many improvements and relatively low mileage. Hopefully I'll get the donor pallet this month so I can start doing some maintenance, cleaning, and painting. I look forward to joining the FFR community!


- Mike

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