Camera's 818C

[mcamera]

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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[FFRWRX]

I built my first Cobra in a single car garage by hanging the body from the ceiling and working on the chassis under it.

Looks like you have your X-mas lights up early!

Rick

[Ajzride]

I'm mostly building my 818 in a single car garage. First thought that jumped into my mind was that there are a lot of sharp corners and cut myself up a bunch of times working around it in a small space. I finally bought some foam edge guard and covered all the sharp parts, and it's much better now.

[Ajzride]

I would also suggest you do a lot of research early and decide if you want to stick with the stock ECU or go aftermarket. If you go aftermarket you can ditch the immobilizer and get OBD2 communications. Both of which have been haunting me.

[mcamera]

I might have to do that with the roof panel. I'll see if I can fit it into my storage closet or spare bedroom closet. The Christmas lights are a little trick I learned from camping. I could either store them or hang them up for extra lighting. I think I made a good choice.

Thanks for the heads up! I'll grab some foam or towels to wrap the corners. I'm pretty set on keeping the engine, ecu, and harness stock for now. I've noticed a few people have had trouble with the immobilizer but as long as you keep the ignition, key, and ecu together that shouldn't be an issue right? Doesn't the stock setup have an OBDII or am I missing something?

[Ajzride]

I've noticed a few people have had trouble with the immobilizer but as long as you keep the ignition, key, and ecu together that shouldn't be an issue right? Doesn't the stock setup have an OBDII or am I missing something?

I have stock ignition, immobilizer module, and ECU (2 sets actually) and I still have random days where the car will not start and the immobilizer light is flashing, even though nothing changed from the day before. The subaru ECU has an OBD2 looking port, but it does not transmit standard OBD2 data. It transmits SSM data, which is a different protocol requiring a special cable to connect with and has very limited software available.

[AZPete]

Welcome, Mike. I've built 2 FFR cars in 1 bay of a 3-car garage which has been tight, but it made me plan ahead and put tools away. You can hang body panels on the ceiling and walls - especially the hard top on the ceiling. I also had some panels under beds. A rental engine hoist saved space and a dolly on wheels was handy to move it side-to-side & front-to-back for work space. Wheels and tires take up a lot of space so I waited as long as possible before buying them and ran the engine, finished brakes, steering and lots of wiring before bolting on wheels. Then it was out to go-kart the neighborhood.

For wiring, I dieted the donor harnesses, which was tedious and never-ending, but everything worked. I used the donor ECU and the OBD2 port worked just fine with my cheapy code reader and the reader my dyno tuner used to add maps and program my Cobb Accessport. As much as possible, I duplicated the donor wiring so I had cruise control, ABS, and the stalks for lights and wipers worked the same as on the donor. I know nothing about electronics so I was scared to make changes and I followed the donor systems with only shortening & lengthening where needed, which resulted in more wires than essential, but it worked.

Again, welcome to our world of fun challenges!

[mcamera]

Sounds almost like a loose connection or dying key transmitter. If it works some days then it has to be setup correctly right?

Thanks Pete! I plan on making a dolly to help myself out. I have room inside my condo to store anything I can carry so that helps. I bought a large shelf last weekend but I might need to buy another 1 or 2 to stay organized. I figure the less stuff on the ground the more space I'll have to move around. The wiring is one of my biggest concerns. I have no interest in doing a full diet or paying $2k to replace a part I just paid for. However, I've seen the pics and if there's a wiring issue after installation I'm going to pull my hair out lol. It might be a game time decision when I start running the wires.

[AZPete]

Don't panic when the boxes with your kit fill up your entire garage. Once you unpack and inventory, you'll be able to consolidate parts and throw out a lot of boxes. It's handy to label your consolidated boxes with the contents, of course, but you'll easily find space.

[mcamera]

I checked in with VCP last week and they're still looking for a matching ECU/security control for my donor pallet. I'm hoping to get my parts within the next month, but no ETA yet. In the meantime I'm starting to collect things for my build. I bought an assortment of things including an air riveter. However, I only have a 3 gallon compressor rated at 0.6 CFM @ 90psi and the riveter says it consumes 3 CFM @ 90psi... but also says 1-6 gallon compressors are good for intermittent work? Any chance my tiny compressor will be able to pull rivets?

I also built my chassis dollies this weekend. Here's the 1st video of my build!

https://youtu.be/JD88oKvD8VE

[mikeb75]

You should be fine with that compressor, unless you're planning on doing every rivet on your car in one session . I've used a 2 gallon POS Campbell Hausfield to do some panels, it had to run a lot to keep the pressure up, but worked with the driver.

[mcamera]

I'll do all the rivets in TWO sessions . That's good to hear, I wasn't sure if it would run out of air mid-rivet or just lack the power. I didn't want to spend money on a barely larger 4 gallon compressor to reach the 3CFM @ 90psi the gun recommends.

[mcamera]

I got my donor pallet a couple weeks ago and have been going through the parts. Of course I've been out of town both weekends since it showed up so I've been mainly cleaning, organizing, and taking notes of things that need replaced and painted. I thought it was a complete donor kit as in donor kit + 818 kit = car, but I'm still missing seats, seatbelts, wheels, sideview mirrors, and the rearview mirror. All things I may upgrade in the future, but I thought I would have a choice. Still excited to start doing some work though!

IMG-5827.jpg Photo Sep 28, 5 51 02 PM.jpg Photo Sep 28, 6 14 14 PM.jpg Photo Sep 28, 7 03 44 PM.jpg

[mcamera]

While the engine was bolted down to the pallet, I thought it would be easy to replace the timing belt and water pump. Right off the bat I noticed a large hole punched in the timing belt cover. Since my kit also came with a Mishimoto radiator I'm thinking this car was in a front end collision at one point in its life. Inside I found the cheaper Chinese made pulleys so somebody had done this job before. I made sure to buy a higher quality Japanese kit. I replaced the pulleys, water pump, thermostat, a broken water pump bolt, the coolant pipe at the bottom that was rusting through, and the timing belt cover w/ new gaskets. It turned into a several day job waiting on parts to arrive and a few extra bucks but I have some piece of mind now.

My 818 kit is being picked up by Stewart late next week and should be delivered ~ Oct 26. Until then I'm going to tear down and paint some suspension/brake parts. The intake manifold and transmission housing are also on my short list.

Photo Oct 11, 6 59 37 PM.jpg Photo Oct 12, 8 00 13 PM.jpg Photo Oct 12, 9 07 30 PM.jpg Photo Oct 14, 7 07 27 PM.jpg

[AZPete]

Nice work on the pulleys, water pump and timing belt. After so many years wishing and planning, it must feel very good to be starting with real parts.

[mcamera]

It's a lot more fun when you have actual parts to play with! Prepping my last caliper tonight and painting them all tomorrow. I talked myself out of black calipers... I'm going with the tried and true red.

[Scott Meyer]

Nice work! Curious when you placed the order for your 818? Ours was ordered around 8/25 and FFR is giving us an 11/7 completion date. Who did you get the pallet from, VCP?

[mcamera]

Nice work! Curious when you placed the order for your 818? Ours was ordered around 8/25 and FFR is giving us an 11/7 completion date. Who did you get the pallet from, VCP?

I ordered mine on 7/22 with a 10 week lead time for about 10/10. Yeah I bought my pallet from VCP. I thought they had pallets in stock since their website lists 3 sets, but they had to piece together a pallet for me after I contacted them. That took about 2.5 months to arrive.

[mcamera]

My caliper paint didn't come in time so I decided to paint my transmission this weekend. I probably spent 10 hours on this thing (lots of corners to clean) but I really like how it turned out. I used the Eastwood self etching primer and Aluma Blast to paint it. The Aluma Blast had a surprising amount of metallic flake in it. Both products sprayed well and I will definitely use them again. I didn't bother cleaning the tail end covered by the grocery bag since it'll be deleted.

When I saw the red clutch I figured it was aftermarket and that was confirmed by a couple of retail stickers still attached lol. How lazy can you be that you won't peel off 2 gooey stickers before installing a clutch on your car? Lol. There's a white one on the outside and a green one just inside the fingers.

I also removed my A/C and P/S pumps to find a nest on top of my engine that I still have to clean up better.


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[mcamera]

Ideas? 818 comes on Monday and tomorrow is my last day to move the engine out of the middle of the garage. Here's my only idea at the moment.

IMG_5963.jpg Hoist Idea 1.jpg

[Ajzride]

Use the hoist to pick up the front edge of the pallet, Slide two blocks of wood under the edge. Go to the back side, lift that edge up, slide two more blocks of wood under. Now the pallet is up high enough to slide the hoist under and get your motor. If you are worried about the motor sliding off while you have it tilted, use a ratchet strap to hold it to the pallet.

[mcamera]

That's a good idea. I'll have to raise the pallet a good 6-7" so I might do it in stages to keep it more level. Thanks!

[grabera7]

You could just put the pallet on a couple furniture dollies or remove it from the pallet.

[mcamera]

I like the furniture dolly idea. I can't remove the engine from the pallet though because I can't get my hoist over the engine to pick it up.

[AZPete]

I put my engine on a furniture dolly so I could store it under some shelves. So, after you use Ajzride's method, lower it onto a furniture dolly with wooden blocks to hold it on the mounts to protect the oil pan. Then, chill a bottle of champagne for the 818 kit delivery.

[Mark Eaton]

I had a similar problem with my 347 DART. Here's what I did

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...l=1#post300522

[mcamera]

Well after some sketchy wood work with a floor jack, I got the pallet up high enough to get my hoist under it. I bought a furniture dolly to set the engine on and screwed a couple wood blocks on the back to rest the engine mounts on. Thanks for all the advice. I used a little bit of everybody's ideas. I'm happy with how little room the engine takes up now on the dolly and I can still move it around easily to work on all 4 sides of the engine. I wouldn't have had that luxury if I set it on a sheet of wood in the corner of my garage like I originally planned.

Can we also talk about how much of a nightmare taking the intake manifold off is? I underestimated how many things were attached to it and that the fuel lines that go through it on the driver's side would block it from just being pulled up and off the block. I think I took a more difficult approach by removing just the intake manifold. I've seen some videos where people pull the intake manifold with the TGV's/fuel lines/wiring harness/turbo inlet hose all still attached to it as 1 big assembly. I need to find a better way to put it back on after I clean/paint it.

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[Bob_n_Cincy]

Can we also talk about how much of a nightmare taking the intake manifold off is? I underestimated how many things were attached to it and that the fuel lines that go through it on the driver's side would block it from just being pulled up and off the block. I think I took a more difficult approach by removing just the intake manifold. I've seen some videos where people pull the intake manifold with the TGV's/fuel lines/wiring harness/turbo inlet hose all still attached to it as 1 big assembly. I need to find a better way to put it back on after I clean/paint it.

I took my intake off as an assembly. I didn't think it was too hard.
I would go this route putting it back together. Do a TVG delete while you got it apart.

intake1.jpg intake2.jpg

[mcamera]

I took my intake off as an assembly. I didn't think it was too hard.
I would go this route putting it back together. Do a TVG delete while you got it apart.

I know the TGV delete is common, but I'm still hesitant to do it. I've always had problems messing with the intake system on my other cars. Even a simple short ram intake on my BMW 335i sent me on a year long search for a stuttering problem. Turned out the oil on the aftermarket intake filter had fouled the MAF sensor, but it would still work when I put the factory airbox back on and turned off my tuner (JB4). I have this gut feeling that it'll mess up the low speed drivability or idle of the car. It also seems like a fair amount of time and work to grind out and seal the TGV's for a small improvement on a stock engine. Have you noticed any ill effects from your TGV delete?

I painted my intake manifold and ordered some new gaskets / silicone hosing to help with the reinstall when I'm ready. I used the Duplicolor Engine Enamel (high heat primer, paint, and clear) which worked well and I like the finish even though it dried a little darker than I expected. I'm glad I read the instructions carefully because their enamel has a 1 hour window for recoating or you have to wait a full week(!!!) for it to fully cure before you can add any more coats or the finish will wrinkle. Now I just hope some of the manifold will still be visible after the intercooler is in place

My 818 is officially in transit after a few delays. It sounds like it should be here tomorrow or Thursday at the latest!


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[Newkitguy]

removing the tgv is very common and very recommended by most tuners. Also allows you to cut down on some uneeded wires I'd highly recommend you reconsider

[mcamera]

My 818 arrived yesterday and I've been taking inventory of the parts. There are a dozen things on backorder but only a few missing parts so far. There are some scratches and chunks missing on the body and the parting line along the A-pillar is obvious, but overall it looks pretty good. This thing is really cool in person. I'm excited to get started.

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[aquillen]

We know the feeling - BIG FUN ahead - enjoy and post please.

[mcamera]

Last weekend I got all of the body panels and aluminum removed from the car. The body panels make the perfect accents for my spare bedroom. I mounted the roof to the ceiling to get it up and out of the way, but man is that a big piece. It's about 9.5' long and barely fits in the corner without out hitting my garage door opener. Since my garage is the bottom level of a 4 story townhome, the ceiling must be concrete. I could not get a drill bit to go through so I used the studs on the side walls instead.

I have my bottom panels fitted and drilled and I'm half way done with my front firewall now. That takes some more trimming and fitting since there are several pieces working together. Then I'm going to do the rear-rear firewall, as many have done, with some thin gauge (0.025") aluminum I got at Lowes and paint all those panels at the same time with Eastwood rust encapsulator and extreme chassis black gloss. The Lowes aluminum is pretty thin but I'm not very concerned about it. I'll eventually put some sound insulation between the rear firewalls to help reduce the cabin noise. That should be effective since it's directly between the largest source of sound (the engine) and the driver. That's the main reason I'm doing it, but it'll also give the back of the engine bay a clean surface that hides the frame rails.


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[roadrashrob]

Love the pictures. Makes me VERY glad we have a 3 car garage that I've moved most things out of to make room for the build.... ;-)

[DSR-3]

Isn't building in a small space great! Accordingly, I'm a big proponent of the "build from the center out" approach. It took me 3 years to install the suspension, even doing the full interior, carpet, wiring etc. first- it just get's in the way otherwise and destroys shorts pockets! While it's on it's side- Bedliner makes for a nice durable finish for the bottom panels and adds some damping.

[mcamera]

Surprisingly I haven't been bothered by the small garage yet. Being able to dolly the car around really helps when you need more space. The frame is small by itself, but as you said once you add suspension, wheels, and body it will take up a lot more space. And rips some pockets on the way lol.

Front firewall is all fitted and drilled. Just waiting to paint it with some other panels.

I'm laying out my rear-rear firewall and nobody stocks rivnuts. I couldn't find them at Autozone, O'Reillys, Walmart, Lowes, Ace Hardware, or Auto Value). Looks like I'll have to order them online which brings up a question since there are several options. Do I want aluminum, steel, zinc plated, or stainless rivnuts? I feel like aluminum will cause galvanic corrosion with a steel bolt. But a steel rivnut will have the same issue since it touches the aluminum panel. I'm guessing the threads are more important so steel rivnut + steel bolt? Last thing I want is the bolt and rivnut to corrode and fuse together in a year.

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[Jetfuel]

I'll do the aluminum rivnut , a dab of white RTV before pulling it and a dab of antizeese on the bolt thread will go a long ways in preventing corrosion.
Wicks aircraft or aircraft spruce are good sources for rivnut

Jet

[Ajzride]

I bought some foam corner guard for the sharp edges on the frame until I put the body on. After a few nasty cuts you realize you just can’t avoid all the places this car will attack you.

[AZPete]

yup, aluminum rivnuts as Jetfuel suggests. I love the decor of your second bedroom and I my wife is a qualified interior designer, not that I've asked her.

[Hobby Racer]

I'm guessing the threads are more important so steel rivnut + steel bolt?

I used plated rivnuts and plated or stainless bolts depending on the location. They are everywhere on my car, I mean like have used about 150 of them thus far. I love them! I use them for many other things than just holding the aluminum panels so steel threads were important to me. I take things off and on my car a lot so I wanted durable threads that can handle a decent load. I usually get them via Amazon.

I have not had a corrosion or wear issue yet.

Just my $0.02