Meyer 818 build in Tampa Bay Area

[Scott Meyer]

Palm Harbor, Florida 😎

[Scott Meyer]

We took it upon ourselves to install the windshield glass. Got a set of the suction cup handles and a tube of 3M urethane windshield adhesive sealant. Dry fit and realized it doesn’t sit up high enough to have a even gap. Thanks F5 for that…nothing some windshield edge gasket won’t cover up. Also the glass/screen doesn’t exactly match the contour of the fiberglass frame at the two lower corners. Without stressing the glass we taped it in place and back caulked the inside to fill those gaps and let it cure. Mirror also installed!

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[mcamera]

I decided to randomly check in and I see this beautiful Miami blue 818! This was 1 of 3 colors I was debating and now I see why. It looks great Scott and Liam!

[Scott Meyer]

Moving day is this Saturday…so car is mostly ready to transport on a trailer!

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https://youtube.com/shorts/PiT5w15WXaA?feature=share

[egchewy79]

looks great. you and Liam did a great job on this project. best of luck with your move to FL. hope to run into you again one of these days, maybe at London

[Scott Meyer]

Thanks!

The soft top is definitely a Rube Goldberg process to install. Final three snaps in canvas top and the two on back side of A-pillars are now done and it’s ready to go…

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[Scott Meyer]

Need to update our signature soon…no longer in Dublin, OH

After two days of slower than expected travel…the 818 and soft top are holding up on the highway…on a open trailer.

First night we made it to Knoxville, TN
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Went down the Smoky’s and thru Chattanooga/Atlanta and tonight we stopped in Valdosta,GA
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What a royal PITA it is moving yourself…

Tomorrow we roll into the new HQ in Palm Harbor FL

[FFRWRX]

We took it upon ourselves to install the windshield glass....

Nice job! Any reason not to install it yourself that you can see? If it is just glued in then no fancy moldings needed. I've got the 818C so I suppose I could do the rear and small side ones too. Maybe mask it inside and out to prevent any smears of adhesive.

I'm also wondering about painting the area where the windshield goes. Do you paint it black first to prevent any color showing through? It may sound like a strange concern, but what if you paint it with something that doesn't adhere to the car paint well enough and the windshield is glued basically to the paint.

Rick

[Scott Meyer]

Rick,

I had painted the entire windshield frame and clear coated it before we installed the glass. I have had enough windshields replaced and always seen the tape holding in place for a day until the urethane sets. On the windshield I did have to get some rubber gasket to help cover up the uneven gaps…believe or not, the MR2 windshield does not fit the fiberglass opening correctly. It was a roll of OEM style gasket with 2-way tape from Amazon. We should have dry for the glass before paint … but it’s heavy and awkward and feared cracking it. 4 months and 1000 miles (trailered) and it’s held up no issues!

[Scott Meyer]

Realized it has been 8 months since the last post...and it has been longer than that since we really worked on the 818. Since moving, we have not really gotten back into working on the car at all. We sat down about a month ago and worked for a few hours, and wrote out a punch list of sorts to complete the car...but alas, no energy.

Liam has started a new job at the local Honda Dealership in Express Tech, and started a VoTech program to become a certified ASE mechanic. It's about an 18 month program...school in the morning and work until 7 each night. Needless to say his comment about "after working on other peoples cars all day, I have not energy to work on the 818 when I am home" struck a nerve with me. The car is more disassembled now then ever, so we could properly finish the build before registration.

I am at a crossroads...neither of us really like working on the project anymore, and my wife says sell it. I feel like if I could work on it a few hours a week, it would be done in a month or so. Would it be better to finish it and get the registration in Florida or sell it as is?

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[FFRWRX]

Far better off (financially) to finish it and then sell it; if you still want to sell it after finishing it. Many people, including myself, have bought a partially finished 818 at a huge loss to the original owner/builder. But if it is going to be a real mental chore to work on it, and not something you are going to enjoy at all, then it is a much tougher decision. You car looks great and it would be a shame to sell it as-is.

Rick

[Jeff Kleiner]

Hey Scott! Hope you and the family are all doing well. Sounds like Liam has chosen a different career path; one that should serve him well. I can sure relate to his “After working on other people’s cars all day…” comment! I think you probably already know that the car will have more value completed and registered. If you haven’t been following along, after many years of being kind of the “wild, wild West” and one of the easiest states to register in Florida has become somewhat more difficult and restrictive. As for the Cobra replicas the state titles them as the current year and “assembled from parts”. Makes sense to me because that’s exactly what they are but the owners want them to be 1965 and Cobras. FFR has been working with the state to try to get them to restructure how kits and replicas are dealt with but things don’t seem to be in order yet. The 818 may well be an entirely different can of worms since it doesn’t replicate anything. I suggest that you look into it sooner rather than later if you haven’t already done so.

Cheers,
Jeff

[Jetfuel]

I’ll second Mr Kleiner suggestion
Get that thing registered with whatever minimum requirements are.
After you have a plate placed on the back of that car you two will start to drive it and a new fire will be lit under your feet to do the fine tuning and get it to what you guys envisioned it could be…

Jet…c’mon

[Scott Meyer]

Thanks for the replies guys...I already knew the answer to my quiz, but it's good to hear your feedback. Having already built and sold a Mk. 3 roadster and an Experimental Aircraft...I have found you still loose your arse on these projects, but not as much if they are finished and registered.

Jeff, I have watched some of the other threads on FL registration...it seems to be a mixed bag of results depending on location in the state. Being we are located in one of the most densely populated counties (Pinellas) it may not be that bad. I had great luck with registering the other 4 cars and Jetski's last year plus getting all of our new drivers licenses...we shall see.

Mainly, it's good to get some positive feedback...I still am not sure we will keep the project 818. It was fun, but in the interim my wife acquired a 2007 Porsche Cayman, and I also got my "toy" a new Porsche 718 Boxster. So the 818 feels like a "clone of these two cars" but not the refinement. IMG_9455[1].jpg

[Rob T]

Another idea: I'm not sure you are interested, but the 818(r) makes a pretty decent track vehicle once it is sorted out. It is very easy on brakes and tires. There would be no need to register it AND fit and finish only needs to be track chic. I, too, have a Porsche, and tracked it for a while, but there is definitely "peace of mind" taking a car to the track on a trailer as opposed to driving it there and needing to drive it home. Tires and brakes for the Porsche were crazy expensive. I drove my 818R and my friends Cayman back to back on the track in New Mexico. I was two seconds faster in the 818, with no nannies on my 818. I suspect, if I were a better driver, the 818 would be much faster. To be fair, the Cayman/Boxster is one of the best sports cars on the planet, but not one I would track regularly (too expensive for my risk/reward budget). You and Liam might enjoy the "race reliability" technical challenge more than some of the other aspects. I know I do.

[dpariso]

Hey Scott, just sent you a PM

[Scott Meyer]

Hi all fellow 818 builders…sorry it’s been a long stretch since any posts. We have made “some” progress, still not registered though. Last two times we’ve run the engine it’s either trying to overheat or it’s puking a lot (0.5L) of coolant out of the front overflow tank.

Thought we did a proper vacuum purge and fill process 2-years ago. Don’t see any visible coolant leaks that would be introducing air. Tonight I tried to jack up engine (rear) and lower front as much as possible, and fill from rear port (we have the EJ253 n/a) but after engine got warm enough to kick on electric fan, almost 1L of coolant pushed out into a “fill/purge funnel” I had set up on the radiator cap.

Thoughts? Should I reverse the incline and lower rear and raise the nose and repeat the process?71202168323__BBD7B57E-13BF-4906-B3DD-62DAA341120C.jpg71202169658__BB1FEB2B-8620-476B-A1BC-5C468F1312E9.jpgIMG_0827.jpg71202427623__03D35041-3A54-436C-93B8-A76D2E20D194.jpgIMG_0832.jpg

[Ajzride]

I tried every "trick" on this forum to bleed the system. Vacuum systems, lifting and jacking, standing on my left foot with my right thumb against my 7th vertebra... none of them worked. I finally copied Bob's design and built a blending system that used 1/4" hose tied into several locations and took all of those back to the expansion tank.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...l=1#post412847

[Scott Meyer]

For the last 3 weeks, I’ve been trying to get back into the habit of “do something everyday”…

The interior is on my to do list right now. Here’s what I’ve accomplished this month:
1. Connected all wiring for the vintage air A/C unit, compressor and trinary switch.
2. Connected all speaker, stereo and subwoofer wiring
3. Installed, wired and tested operation of FFR/Forma Cars wiper motor and arm
4. Completed sound deadening
5. Completed all test fit of Subaru radio stack, center console to F5 dash pad
6. Carpeting in progress, using glue on instabind carpet edge binding for a more finished look at the door sills.

Photos attached for proof!

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[Scott Meyer]

Just now realizing it’s been almost 7-months since the last post. Where have we been? What’s been completed?

Well…not much. Just about the time we were getting into the groove…my wife decided we needed a “she shed” at home so we could then do a full blown kitchen and interior remodel of our home …and also redo the exterior pavers, fencing and pool!

Lots a projects nearly finished on the house…very little on the 818…however I began unburying it in the garage this week.

Also got a set of QuickJacks for my birthday last September and the car is stored on those now and got to visit Factory 5 up in MA and see their operation and the poor abandoned 818’s they have in storage.IMG_1030.jpgIMG_1053.jpgIMG_1051.jpgIMG_1119.jpgIMG_1489.jpegIMG_1680.jpegIMG_1387.jpegIMG_1376.jpeg