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Mechie3
05-22-2013, 02:26 PM
Check your email kiddies!

Big deal: They are launching with white fiberglass gelcoat.

For those of you not on the list, but who still want to know.

May 22, 2013 Update:
These are exciting times at Factory Five as I bring you the final pre-production update on Project 818. It is hard to believe that only two years ago this car was a concept on paper. The development team has been exceptionally disciplined, and I'm proud that everyone has met or exceeded their goals.

Less than a month remains before the newest Factory Five joins our line-up of world class build-it-yourself cars. The 818 will debut in full at our big annual Open House event to be held this year on June 15th. We plan on displaying a variety of 818 production chassis. We will have production examples of our 818S and 818R. We will also have the first 818 kits in various stages of production. If you can't make it to our Open House, we will have full details on our website.

There's still a lot of work to be finished before the June 15th launch. In only a few weeks, Motor Trend magazine will carry the first comprehensive test drive/evaluation, and we're all excited to read what editor Larry Webster will write about the car.

The production crew is slightly ahead of schedule. The welding department has pulled the first production chassis out of the welding jig and chassis production has begun. The composite molding group is also ahead of schedule with completed tools and high-quality parts now in production. The packaging area is almost complete, and in a few days, we will begin packaging sub-assemblies for the 818. By the first week in June, our website should be complete with highly accurate order forms, options lists, and detailed donor parts lists.

We are also developing a line of optional parts to be released concurrently with the chassis kit of June 15th. These options include a premium soft top, upgraded Wilwood brakes, carbon fiber aero parts, upgraded shocks, and custom wheels. Ron Francis is working on a replacement wiring harness and our soft top is being made by the great guys at Rod Tops.

Street car development is complete, and the team is anxious to begin helping customers build their cars. Currently, the guys in R&D are building a brand-new 818S to be displayed at Open House. This car is being built right now to QC the assembly manual and test all production tooling. We are building the car without paint to show the quality of the molded panels and the completed cost will be under $15,000.

Track testing and development continues with wind tunnel testing scheduled shortly after Open House to optimize downforce and rear difusser angles. Also, the guys have entered the 818R into the VERY competitive Ultimate Track Challenge being held at Virginia International Raceway.
Factory Five customer and test driver Wayne Presley has been selected to help build the first 818S kit with the team from Grassroots Motorsports Magazine. GRM is writing a series of articles detailing the build and the testing of the car.

We have completed our initial production plans and the guys from tech support will be contacting you in the next few weeks with updates on your production date, and once the final order forms are online, will review those with you.

Xusia
05-22-2013, 02:41 PM
Yeah, I just read mine. Can't wait. :)

shinn497
05-22-2013, 03:54 PM
I should get a subscription to grassroots motersports.

RM1SepEx
05-22-2013, 03:54 PM
good idea... I re-subscribed last month... :-)

wallace18
05-22-2013, 04:35 PM
A great magazine IMO. I have been getting it for the last 6 months. Already some great tips on WRX stuff. I hope white is not going to be the only color at first. I wish blue will be offered.

longislandwrx
05-22-2013, 04:59 PM
Also, the Wilwoods were installed on kit 1. Very cool. Can't wait for the build/option site to be launched to see how bad the kit options are going to hurt.

17832

Also visible are what seem to be the long front swaybar endlinks, seatbelt tensioners and fuel tank.

AZPete
05-22-2013, 05:11 PM
All looks good, I especially liked that Ron Francis is working on a harness because I've received my crates of donor parts from AJW Performance and the OE harnesses are very intimidating! BTW, all the stuff from AJW is clean, well-packed and beautiful. I'll post more detail later.

The only part of Dave's update that worries me is the white color of the first few sets of body panels. I hope they will have red by the time they ship mine in August. Red is what I've seen all along and even at the top of Dave's update update.
Pete

metalmaker12
05-22-2013, 05:37 PM
Wow,I got a fire going and it is not ever going out, nice, very nice

nucleus
05-24-2013, 05:47 AM
The poster says they are launching in fiberglass rather than the thermoformed plastic, but email doesn't actually specify that.

If they are doing fiberglass, is that a permanent change, or does FFR plan to switch to the thermoformed bodies at some point?

longislandwrx
05-24-2013, 06:08 AM
Dave said they are continuing development on the thermoformed body panels. The quality was just not there yet. There will be a switch.

Wayne Presley
05-24-2013, 07:06 AM
I can't wait, the GRM build is going to be fun!

Mechie3
05-24-2013, 08:09 AM
The poster says they are launching in fiberglass rather than the thermoformed plastic, but email doesn't actually specify that.

If they are doing fiberglass, is that a permanent change, or does FFR plan to switch to the thermoformed bodies at some point?

There were 3 or so pictures attached to the bottom of the email. The caption for one picture says:

Initial 818 composite panels are hand-laid fiberglass with bright gloss white gelcoat. We are still working on thermoform plastic panels, but are launching with these white panels.

RelfF2
05-24-2013, 09:12 AM
nice. I think white is the right color to launch with. I want a blue one, but white opens up a lot of options re graphic schemes etc and the red never did it for me. Looking forward to seeing the completed example.

I'm also surprised that the car they are showing will be built for under 15k. I assumed that a sub-15k build would be one no one would actually want/build (donor wheels etc). I wonder if they are using a 2.5 WRX as opposed to a 2.0, from my limited searching it seems like the newer donors are significantly more than 02-03's, but they've been, up to this point, showing cars built off a 2006.

Mechie3
05-24-2013, 10:45 AM
nice. I think white is the right color to launch with. I want a blue one, but white opens up a lot of options re graphic schemes etc and the red never did it for me. Looking forward to seeing the completed example.

I'm also surprised that the car they are showing will be built for under 15k. I assumed that a sub-15k build would be one no one would actually want/build (donor wheels etc). I wonder if they are using a 2.5 WRX as opposed to a 2.0, from my limited searching it seems like the newer donors are significantly more than 02-03's, but they've been, up to this point, showing cars built off a 2006.

Agree white opens up more options and is more benign than red.

I have a detailed thread somewhere, but the cliffnotes of my car is:

06 Donor:
paid $4095
Profit from sold parts (minus shipping, paypal fees): $2951
Net Cost of Donor: $1143
Purchased parts (upgrades, bearings, seals, etc): $1716

Total cost so far: $2859

Still need to buy seats, harnesses, and a few other bits, but subtracting $10k for the kit, I still have $2,141 left for all the extras and shipping if I had a hard $15k limit.

Turboguy
05-24-2013, 11:00 AM
I can't wait, the GRM build is going to be fun!

Wayne, can you tell us when the build will begin and if there is a schedule for when the articles will appear in their magazine?

RM1SepEx
05-24-2013, 12:07 PM
Agree white opens up more options and is more benign than red.

I have a detailed thread somewhere, but the cliffnotes of my car is:

06 Donor:
paid $4095
Profit from sold parts (minus shipping, paypal fees): $2951
Net Cost of Donor: $1143
Purchased parts (upgrades, bearings, seals, etc): $1716

Total cost so far: $2859

Still need to buy seats, harnesses, and a few other bits, but subtracting $10k for the kit, I still have $2,141 left for all the extras and shipping if I had a hard $15k limit.

quite a bit ahead of my build $ wise! my shipping and copart fees make a big difference vs buying from the insurance co. What other mods are included so far?

Mechie3
05-24-2013, 12:11 PM
quite a bit ahead of my build $ wise! my shipping and copart fees make a big difference vs buying from the insurance co. What other mods are included so far?

Wheels (used)
Header/uppipe combo (used)
The rest was all bolts, bearings, seals, etc.

Xusia
05-24-2013, 01:21 PM
I paid just $1250 for my donor, and I picked it up locally (trailer rental & gas were my only expenses), so I thought I'd have a fair amount to work with from a budget standpoint. HOWEVER, I will definitely need some rear end pieces,as well as wheels & tires (I was previously planning on using the stock wheels & tires). Of course, the wheels & tires I buy will be better than stock, but it's still an added expense over the cost of the donor. Adding just the wheels & tires puts my donor cost to well over $2K - and that's if I go budget on the wheels. I don't yet know what I'll need for the rear end, but I could see my total expenditure climbing to $3K just for parts. Recondition of usable donor parts will add even more.

RelfF2
05-24-2013, 03:03 PM
Agree white opens up more options and is more benign than red.

I have a detailed thread somewhere, but the cliffnotes of my car is:

06 Donor:
paid $4095
Profit from sold parts (minus shipping, paypal fees): $2951
Net Cost of Donor: $1143
Purchased parts (upgrades, bearings, seals, etc): $1716

Total cost so far: $2859

Still need to buy seats, harnesses, and a few other bits, but subtracting $10k for the kit, I still have $2,141 left for all the extras and shipping if I had a hard $15k limit.

Thanks, that helps me a lot. Like i said, my searching has been limited so far, but I was starting to assume that I would have to go over 15k to have a nice wheel and tire combo, aftermarket seats, some sort of graphics/stripe package etc. I will of course source used stuff where i can.

I just have to stay patient with the donor search (which won't be a problem since I'm not ready to drop the hammer on the kit quite yet anyway). I know that the 02 and 03 WRX's that i've seen would make a fine car, but I'm kinda set on using a newer donor for the brakes, displacement, center tach gauges, etc. (i know that last one is semi-silly, but the heart wants what the heart wants, lol).

Mechie3
05-24-2013, 03:14 PM
Having owned an 06 (that got wrecked, and is now my donor) and an 02, I much prefer the red needle center tach of the yellow needle side tach.

Niburu
05-28-2013, 09:57 AM
I should get a subscription to grassroots motersports.

join NASA and get it for free, plus have access to all the NASA track days and autocrosses

PhyrraM
05-28-2013, 11:04 AM
The cluster from an '04 (center tach) is a plug and play 'upgrade' for an '02-'03. WRX for WRX, I'm not sure if the STI cluster will swap without wiring issues.

spaceywilly
05-28-2013, 12:32 PM
It will work but the DCCD warning lights will be on (easy fix with electrical tape). I believe you have to do some modifications to the plug as well. They're also pretty pricey and not worth the money IMO, but definitely lots of bling factor if that's what you're going for.