It's not too heavy to lift and turn on its side, plus you gain floor space to work around it! I have a 4 post lift but I still sit it on its side and use the lift to raise and lower to an agreeable (for my back) height.
I’ve used a cart about 28” tall for my entire build. It seems to be a comfortable height. It has 4 hd casters so I can move it about. A fully assembled car isn’t easy to push while on the cart. The center of gravity is just above the drivers head in the center of the car.
Kit #361, arrived 10/2015, still in progress
818C highly modified, corvette suspension
Estimated completion summer 2023!
1989 turbo Supra 5 sp
2017 Tundra
I’ve used a cart about 28” tall for my entire build. It seems to be a comfortable height. It has 4 hd casters so I can move it about. A fully assembled car isn’t easy to push while on the cart. The center of gravity is just above the drivers head in the center of the car.
Lance, you have a very short torso if the center of gravity is above your head. Bob
Bob, I should’ve said the lift point of balance is about where your head is. I’m using a crane, so I put my strap around my roll bars above where my head is. Does that make any sense?
Kit #361, arrived 10/2015, still in progress
818C highly modified, corvette suspension
Estimated completion summer 2023!
1989 turbo Supra 5 sp
2017 Tundra
Bob, I should’ve said the lift point of balance is about where your head is. I’m using a crane, so I put my strap around my roll bars above where my head is. Does that make any sense?
Yes Lance lifting point balance make more sense.
I have been tinking about finding the COG of my finished car. From that point I want to pull sidways on the car at 1.2 G's to make sure all 4 wheels are pependicular to the ground giving me the best traction in corners.
Bob
Hi jbs72697. This is Davis out in Springfield Ma area. I have a first gen 818s, white with the original difficult to work with front end. There is another guy in Monson Ma with a 818s similar to mine and someone else almost done with 818c in red. Anything we can do to help, let me know. Davis
Hi Davis. Thank you very much for the offer. Im really not that far along in the build despite having my kit here for almost two years ��
But I am still doing what I can on it and if I complete a significant step I will post some pictures
My 92 year old dad is in the hospital. He’s been declining a lot lately and is very frail and weak now. It’s possible he may not last a long time (I hope I’m wrong). He was interested and enthusiastic about me building the 818. I even took him down to FFR to see the showroom and take the factory tour when they still held them
It makes me sad that he probably won’t be able to see the finished car in person. Even if I took pictures to show him they wouldn’t be very impressive unfortunately
Sorry to hear about your Dad, Judd. Maybe as Spring arrives in New England he'll rally a bit too. As always I'm available to help with the 818 project.
Ivan
Thank you ivan. I do hope he will do better in the hospital getting the proper treatment and take it from there
Between him and the spring uptick at work the 818 isn’t getting too much attention
I am very sad to say dad passed away peacefully early Wednesday morning. My wife and I were there by his side holding his hand as he took his last breath. Though I’m glad we were with him (and my mom a couple years ago) it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done
He instilled my enjoyment of mechanics and was a great teacher. I’m extremely sorry he won’t see the 818 when it’s done. I guess I’ll have to figure out a frame to display his prayer card, as well as the other family members we’ve lost the past few years
We had Dad’s services on Friday. It all went great. The funeral home was very professional and made the whole process easier. Even though dad won’t see the 818 completed, maybe I can stick his prayer card to his tool chest he passed down to me so he’ll be with me during the process.
Love you dad
Last edited by jbs72697; 04-30-2023 at 08:57 AM.
Reason: Photo orientation
Touch the project every day, if you can. If you can work on it 2 hours a day, it will happen. I like to set out tools and materials for the next step before I leave the shop so I can slot right back in without having to figure out what's next. Momentum
I’m going to make a real effort to stay consistently doing something with it every day, even if I can only last a few minutes at a time. With everything else going on lately I have neglected it big time!
Thanks for the words of encouragement
My nephew wanted to build an airplane but wasn't sure he could so he decided to set aside 2 hours every day starting with cleaning out his garage. It took him a couple few weeks, and he got it done so he ordered a sheetmetal practice kit figuring that if he could stick with that and do it OK, he'd order a tail kit. He got the tail kit and started in on that with the thought that if he could do it and not mess it up, he'd consider ordering wings. Well those are now built and in the den (he's building in a 1 car garage) and he's done with most of the fuselage and working on the finish kit with engine and prop on order. The big takeaway for him has been the joy and satisfaction of not only learning new skills and seeing lots of eye candy grow, but the pride he's taking in his own perseverance. He didn't think he had it in him.
I rebuilt an airplane and built another one. I went flying today after driving the car I built up and down a really fun canyon road. What I have learned is how to be too stubborn to take no for an answer when a project is difficult. Sometimes I have had to drop tools and walk away before I damage something - and that's not easy either - but I always come back and tackle it with a new idea and a fresh attitude. Frustration is a thing for sure, but I think the satisfaction of solving problems and moving ahead is far more powerful. Remember, you aren't building a car, you are building small portions of a car until, one day, the to do list comes down to stuff like filling the fluids and trying to start it up. Then you still have the body to look forward too. ;-)
What helped me maintain motivation and momentum in my build was entering in car shows. First show I brought it to the car hardly had any bodywork on it and no wiring harness at all. We pushed it up onto a trailer and brought it in its current state. People we super curious and supportive. I am taking it back to that same show again this weekend with the car running and most of the body together. Things aren't quite lined up and there are still many things to do, but what I have noticed is that people don't seem to care if it isn't done. They respect that it is a huge undertaking and love seeing it progress. It fills me with joy and motivation to bring it back each time with more work completed. Although towing it there every time is getting annoying. Hopefully next year the car will be road legal and I can just drive it there.
In short, set goals for yourself and make a checklist of things you need to do to get there. Check one box at a time and try to ignore the others if possible. It's very easy to feel overwhelmed and just do nothing. Tackling small tasks may seem somewhat insignificant at the time, but when they add up over time you will wonder how you came so far. When I am done working on the car for the night, I often just stare at it for another 30 minutes in disbelief that I have come this far while simultaneously planning my next project to tackle on it. You'll get there!
Hey I actually finished a step, the front firewall!
Judd: Glad to hear you are back at it. Remember I'm 5 miles away with lots of time on my hands and glad to help. Even if just parking my 818 in your driveway for motivational support. Give me a call when you plan to be out in the garage.
Ivan
Judd: Glad to hear you are back at it. Remember I'm 5 miles away with lots of time on my hands and glad to help. Even if just parking my 818 in your driveway for motivational support. Give me a call when you plan to be out in the garage.
Ivan
Hi Ivan. Thanks for offering, but next task to do is to pack it all away for a while. We’re finally going to replace and expand the garage! Im pretty excited at the prospect of not having to climb over and negotiate through all the stuff in the way to even do any work! My dizziness is still constant but had some tests that may finally give some answers so it can be treated by the time the garage is done
The replacement of the garage has begun! I feel really bad that just about all the work of cleaning out the old is falling on my wife and brother in law. My vertigo is getting worse. I can barely do anything. Thankfully I have a surgery date next month to hopefully fix it. Even though it involves cutting into my head I’d do it tomorrow if I could!
This is one of two storage containers getting delivered to house all the 818 stuff, the donor parts, my Aprilia, all my tools and equipment, plus all the other garage stuff and what was storage in the upstairs attic. It’s way more than we thought it would be! 0EE6B766-C5C0-433E-A3C8-B9E175609F93.jpg
What a week it’s been! Underwent brain surgery on the 19th to plug and resurface my left inner ear superior semicircular canal. Came home from the hospital last night. This is one of those things that gets worse before it gets better cause my brain has to relearn my whole vestibular system. The vertigo and nausea are severe but making little improvements each day. Hopefully by the time the garage is done and spring rolls around I’ll be good as new to build the 818 and ride the Aprilia!
Thank you. The last couple days have been bad lots of nausea, vomiting, and pain. Hard to sleep through that night. If it’s not better in. The morning I may may go back to the hospital
Hi Ivan. Thank you. I won’t lie, it’s been rough but I do see teeny bits of improvements. Unfortunately I wasn’t up to going on our annual trip to Stowe VT this year, so my daughters and brother in law went. I’ve also resigned myself to the fact that skiing is off the table this year too. I’m just hoping to be well by the time spring rolls around
Take care
I hope you get well soon. I have a pretty good idea of what you are going thru.
"Good Judgement comes from Experience. Experience comes from Bad Judgement"
Owner: Colonel Red Racing
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818R ICSCC SPM
Palatov DP4 - ICSCC Sports Racer
Thank you. It has been miserable recovery at times but I do see improvement fairly consistently
I’m just looking forward to get tang back to building the 818 once the new garage is done next year
The garage space will be 24’ wide and 40’ long, but we will be using about half for household storage and get rid of the self-storage unit we’ve had for a while. I’ll be gaining about five feet of width and twenty or so of length. We are going to use the back space as household storage so we can get rid of the self-storage bin we’ve had for a while. The little back slab is going to be for yard equipment, snowblower, lawn mowers, tractor, tools, gasoline, etc so it’s separate from the main garage
Honestly, I’m just happy to have a little more room and mostly a new, flat and level floor
I’m also getting one single wide door. I figure it’ll give me more flexibility how I can bring the 818 and bikes in
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Originally Posted by lance corsi
