grabera7's 818R

[grabera7]

Hello! My name is Anthony and I live in Harford County, Maryland. It took me a little while to get a space for my build, find a donor, and purchase my kit. I've known about the 818 for many years and I've always been interested. I've previously owned a 2011 STI hatch and a 2013 STI sedan.

Garage:
I had a 24x32x14 garage built for this project and future projects. It was unfortunately the largest I could build due to restrictions by the county. Pictures below.

Donor:
I started casually bidding on Copart auctions and put a low bid on a 2006 STI... and won. I say I accidentally won since I was not prepared to receive a donor. Donor pictures below.

I'm planning to use the engine, transmission, front and rear hubs, brembo brake calipers. Replacing and refurbishing things as I go along.

Kit details:
818R with white powdercoated frame
818S windshield and mount
06-07 6 speed transmission conversion kit
Wilwood pedal assembly
818 side scoop air ducts

I was able to take advantage of last years fall sale for a parts credit.

Special thanks to @Newkitguy for picking up my kit for me! We got to check this out while getting the kit.
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Project:
Build a street legal 818R with around 350whp
Radiator - need something
Momo Daytona seat with Momo side mount - need
ZDB AWIC - need
ZDB 6 speed bell crank
ZDB shifter
ZDB ABS delete plates
ZDB steering rack cradle
iWire harness was planned… but I waited too long.

My plan is to get everything running with the mostly stock motor and then upgrade the motor/turbo.

[grabera7]

This is a picture of the shop after the driveway was redone and a patio was added to connect to the existing attached garage.
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Received donor at the top of my street since the delivery driver didn't think he could turn around.
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Picture of the donor in my shop before I finished the inside.
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I ordered a large New Age cabinet set through Lowe's during a Black Friday sale.
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The only remaining pieces of my donor are one door and the gas tank.
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[grabera7]

I mounted the steering rack to a 2x10 to provide leverage for disassembly. Worked perfectly. I removed the rack and used a cutoff wheel to remove the seal.
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I ended up cutting the existing lines off and filling the tops with JB weld. I reassembled with the stock fittings and JB welded those too. Sanded the tops smooth and painted them hammered gray.
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Cleaned up the steering rack, painted the black part, lubed up the rack, and reassembled. I tried following the manual to torque/adjust the adjustment bolt... I ended up tightening until it made the rack hard to move by hand and then backed off a little.
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I ordered new inner tie rod ends, bellows kit, and baer bump steer kit.

[grabera7]

My front knuckles were in sorry shape so I ordered new knuckles, new wheel bearings, ARP extended wheel studs, new balljoints, new hardware... everything. I'll reuse the balljoint cone and the brake dust shield which was in surprisingly ok shape compared to the rest. I had 1 bolt in my brembo calipers break and 3 more stripped out the mounting holes out of the 8 total holes... I drilled out the bolt and then had a machine shop run helicoils into every caliper to avoid this in the future.

I cleaned up the aluminum lower control arms with simple green and a scotchbrite pad. I used a grinder to widen the area a little to allow the shock mount to sit flush.
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More issues with aluminum.. flipping the rear mount 180 and one of the bolts ripped out all of the threads. Machine shop put in a helicoil for me. Ordered two new bolts.
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Ordered these brackets from @bds818dwk to modify the uprights for the STI knuckle. Had a neighbor weld them for me. I still need to drill out the top 17mm hole and powdercoat. I'll use the top OEM camber bolt but will need a longer bolt for the bottom hole.
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[grabera7]

Painted the Wilwood master cylinder plate hammered gray and mocked up the firewall panels for marking.
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I drilled the panels and used scotchbrite pads to give them a brushed appearance. Sealed with Sharkhide metal protectant. Supposed to maintain this appearance.. we will see. Attached with rivets and GE clear silicone.
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Also mounted this lower panel.
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[AZPete]

Very nice work. And, very nice posts. I'm looking forward to following you build.

[Ajzride]

I see you have painted several things hammered grey which looks great. i can say for certain the best money I've spent on this project was an Eastwood powder coating kit and a $50 craigslist oven. Powder coating is so much nicer and more durable for most of this stuff.

[grabera7]

I see you have painted several things hammered grey which looks great. i can say for certain the best money I've spent on this project was an Eastwood powder coating kit and a $50 craigslist oven. Powder coating is so much nicer and more durable for most of this stuff.

I have plans to get everything needed to powdercoat I just haven't yet. The paint is not going to hold up well. My issue right now is power for an oven so I've been looking into alternatives like an electric BBQ, large desk top oven, and propane ovens.

[Ajzride]

I'm guessing you didn't install a 220V outlet when you built the shop?

[grabera7]

Nope. My service line to the garage is small too. I didn’t anticipate wanting to powdercoat. I might be able to run an oven off my basement. Exploring that idea for the future.

[jforand]

Hey Grabera,

Looks like you are off to a good start. Love the shop. I started my R about a month and a half ago and kicked my wife's like BMW Z3 out of the garage

I am curious about the steering rack. I have not found any real decent instructions on the de-powering except that one pdf that shows connecting the opposite sides of the cylinder together. If I understand your post correctly, you pulled all that out, cut the piston/seal out and just greased it all up and reassembled? So you are running with zero fluid in there. I ended up buying a refurbished rack as my donor's felt like crap. I was thinking about plumbing the sides together and running with fluid in there for lubrication. I had not come up with a good way to do this yet as the fittings are not the typical flare or double flare we can make. They have a 90 degree step and an o ring. I think I might just cut the two tube and turn them to face each other and connect with a small piece of hose.

[grabera7]

The only reason for looping the two sides is to allow air between the two sides of the seal to go back and forth. Many people have created custom lines or simply connected them with a small piece of hose. Turns out it was pretty simple to remove the rack, cut the seal, and just close off those two holes. No fluid necessary as far as I know, just lubrication/grease. The hardest part was banging the pinion out. You need to either press out the rack or use some kind of a tube against the rack and bang on it with a heavy hammer. I used a handle from a jack and a 5lb hammer. Took about 20 good whacks and it’ll pop out.

I did not completely de power since I didn’t weld the quill on the pinion

[biknman]

Welcome to the club! Nice to have another 818r especially from MD. I’m just down the road from you in Parkville.

[Pearldrummer7]

The only reason for looping the two sides is to allow air between the two sides of the seal to go back and forth. Many people have created custom lines or simply connected them with a small piece of hose. Turns out it was pretty simple to remove the rack, cut the seal, and just close off those two holes. No fluid necessary as far as I know, just lubrication/grease. The hardest part was banging the pinion out. You need to either press out the rack or use some kind of a tube against the rack and bang on it with a heavy hammer. I used a handle from a jack and a 5lb hammer. Took about 20 good whacks and it’ll pop out.

I did not completely de power since I didn’t weld the quill on the pinion

Hey Grabera,

Looks like you are off to a good start. Love the shop. I started my R about a month and a half ago and kicked my wife's like BMW Z3 out of the garage

I am curious about the steering rack. I have not found any real decent instructions on the de-powering except that one pdf that shows connecting the opposite sides of the cylinder together. If I understand your post correctly, you pulled all that out, cut the piston/seal out and just greased it all up and reassembled? So you are running with zero fluid in there. I ended up buying a refurbished rack as my donor's felt like crap. I was thinking about plumbing the sides together and running with fluid in there for lubrication. I had not come up with a good way to do this yet as the fittings are not the typical flare or double flare we can make. They have a 90 degree step and an o ring. I think I might just cut the two tube and turn them to face each other and connect with a small piece of hose.

Welcome to the R club, both of you!

I welded the pinion/quill together and it feels FANTASTIC. I recommend it if you can find the time/equipment. I also just have grease in it.

https://imgur.com/a/oqAkQ

[jforand]

Thanks for that posting Pearl. I have noticed a bit of that play, though I was thinking most of it was that I not nothing installed more than finger tight. I'll have to consider hacking up a newly rebuild rack.....yikes I was wondering what the 'quill' actually was, had it on the list to investigate.

[Pearldrummer7]

Thanks for that posting Pearl. I have noticed a bit of that play, though I was thinking most of it was that I not nothing installed more than finger tight. I'll have to consider hacking up a newly rebuild rack.....yikes I was wondering what the 'quill' actually was, had it on the list to investigate.

It doesn't have a LOT of play, but enough backlash where you can't reliably adjust mid corner. I coached at a track for a while, and my opinion is that if you get good enough (intermediate to lower advanced level) that's a pretty nice thing to be able to do to improve skills. It's a fairly easy thing to pull out; happy to provide more pics or details if you'd like anything specific

[grabera7]

Any R builders know the color of the frame? I see prismatic soft satin white mentioned in the roadster section. I dropped off all the remaining brackets and spacers with a local powder shop. Otherwise I’m getting them done alloy silver.

[jforand]

Sorry, I do not other than white. I assume you’re looking for an exact color match? You might have to go to FFR for that. I just went straight up white on mine.

[grabera7]

Sorry, I do not other than white. I assume you’re looking for an exact color match? You might have to go to FFR for that. I just went straight up white on mine.

I was looking for exact or close match to the chassis white. FFR wasn't sure of the color either.

[grabera7]

Used a bench vise (not on a bench yet) to press in my ARP extended wheel studs. Coat of primer and paint on the dust shields. Installed my inner tie rod ends, bellows, and upper control arms. Everything is ready to be installed on the front suspension just waiting on the uprights from powdercoat.
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I still need to take my calipers apart, powdercoat, and rebuild.
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[grabera7]

The rear spindles are in rough shape. The brake dust shield is rusted through.. The backing plate was rusted and bulging in places beneath the parking brake components too. I am replacing both backing plates, wheel bearings, parking brake shoes, and parking brake hardware. Removed the hub and inner race. An old axle nut works perfectly with a piece of metal to pull the inner race. Removed the backing plates. Took a wire wheel to the spindles and added two coats of POR15. I am not replacing the bushing. Added a thin coat of paint to the hubs.
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Waiting on a bearing press from Amazon to remove and reinstall the rear bearings and hubs. Ordered and waiting on rear lateral links and trailing arms from VCP.
I found these instructions for the rear wheel bearings. https://www.ludicrous-speed.com/auto...on%20Guide.pdf

[Shawn818c]

Are you sure iWire no longer offers a 818 harness? It is still shown under the "what I need to send it" page

https://www.iwireservices.com/what-do-i-need-to-send

[grabera7]

Are you sure iWire no longer offers a 818 harness? It is still shown under the "what I need to send it" page

https://www.iwireservices.com/what-do-i-need-to-send

You're correct and I updated my first post. They are offering the harnesses with a different pricing model. I've been trying to locate additional folks for a group buy they're running right now. I need 2 more people.

[grabera7]

Finished reassembling and rebuilding the rear spindles. New backing plates, new wheel bearings and seals, and painted spindles. I did have to grind down the rear spindle a little for the brackets to line up correctly. Not sure if this is common.
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Had some issues with spacing on the front suspension and wanted to put washers to fill this spacing. Of course that meant I needed longer bolts. Thanks @Bob n Cincy for recommending Belmetric. They have a great selection! I also had some issues with the hurricane bracket seeming to compress when I tried to torque down the bolts. I ended up ordering new hardware with fender washers to replace them. No problems now. Front suspension is mostly finished. Bump steer measurements aren't finished and not torqued. I used M10 metal lock nuts with blue thread lock under the LCA to hold the strut mount.
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Received a used tank with fuel pump from @Jonathan Preston.
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I need to remove the outside CV joint still for the front knuckles. I will try to use a piece of wood to remove this and same with the rear axles. Pictures to follow. I don't plan to remove the inner CV joint since I'll be using the stock STI axles and the boots look good.
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[grabera7]

I probably should've used a slightly longer 2x4 for the side that broke... but it worked well! About 3 whacks per side and the stub popped off. I drilled a 1.2" hole in the center after securing the 2 pieces of wood together. I removed the top piece of wood, slid the axle inside, and bolted it back together.

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[jforand]

I had the same interference fit on the rear knuckle brackets as well. I ground on the FFR part versus the knuckle, but I think it will all work the same in the end without issue.

[grabera7]

I cut down my front axle stubs for weight savings and appearance. I secured the axle stub in my bench vise and went to town. I only had my 4.5" angle grinder and my first pass at cutting didn't remove as much material as I wanted. I took another pass and removed to the second lip. Sprayed some primer and paint and mounted. Looks great! The second side I did went a little better.
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[grabera7]

Installed my Wilwood pedals and master cylinders. Just like others have done... I'll probably need to remove some material from the rods. They sit pretty far out.

Any clue why some of my pictures are uploading sideways? They appear fine on my end until I upload.

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[Ajzride]

Any clue why some of my pictures are uploading sideways? They appear fine on my end until I upload.

If you took them with an iPhone, you need to open them in non-apple software such as Microsoft Paint or Paintbrush.app and rotate them and save them. Apple handles metadata oddly.

[DSR-3]

I sure like the white PC on the chassis.
You have reminded/inspired me to pull and trim my front axles- thanks!
While you have good access, figure out/make an adjustable stop for the clutch pedal. 'wish I had...

[FFRWRX]

I noticed in your picture of the cut-down axle that the nut on the tie-rod has no thread sticking out. I haven't checked my car, but to assure proper locking there should be thread sticking out past any self-locking nut. Maybe that is just temporary?

[grabera7]

I noticed in your picture of the cut-down axle that the nut on the tie-rod has no thread sticking out. I haven't checked my car, but to assure proper locking there should be thread sticking out past any self-locking nut. Maybe that is just temporary?

I haven't tightened or adjusted the tie rod ends down yet. I probably should've noted that on the entry. Thank you for making sure I'm being safe!

[jforand]

I struggled with the picture rotation thing as well with an Apple phone. I find the easiest thing to do is always shoot the pic in the landscape orientation with the button on the glass to the right. I have no interest in spending time modifying pics all the time. They seem to upload fine.

Looking good!

[Ajzride]

I find the easiest thing to do is always shoot the pic in the landscape orientation with the button on the glass to the right.

Looking good!

Which is stupid on Apple's part, because they allow you to use the volume button to take a picture. If you do that (I do because I'm usually wearing gloves), then the button is on the left.

[grabera7]

Ahhh! That explains it. I generally hate portrait photos anyway. I'll switch to landscape button on the right.

[grabera7]

If anyone is interested in picking up where I've left off I would let go everything for $16k. Includes a bunch of spare parts from my donor. Complete parts list and receipts available if interested.

[jforand]

If anyone is interested in picking up where I've left off I would let go everything for $16k. Includes a bunch of spare parts from my donor. Complete parts list and receipts available if interested.

Ah, BUMMER to hear, but I struggled with it at times myself so can understand. I struggled with the idea again just this past weekend when I actually caught fire in the first 3 laps of the first track outing (on the build page should you care to read about it).

Hope things work out for you. Make sure to put it on the classifieds section.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/foru...hp?39-For-Sale

[grabera7]

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