Frank818 -1993 VW VR6 Turbo donor- Build Thread

[Frank818]

Oh, I also installed the LCA spacers. Pretty easy on one side, the other got me perspiring a lot but I made it. I think 10mm is the max you can try, it pushes the LCA close to the transverse bushing's limit. Hopefully it won't push fwd the front wheel too much in the wheel well, I'd like to keep it centered.

49558


Have you ever seen bent bolts? These 2 are from the LCA ball joint at the bottom of the front spindle. WTF happened here? 10.9 bolts and they bend like this, at 70F?
The left bolt is not OEM, I had lost the OEM bolt so I used that 10.9 bolt, but the result is the same.

49557

[Frank818]

Frank, I have infinity box parts I didn't use if your's haven't shipped yet.

What parts you got?
I'm waiting for inVERTs, inCODE and a black 8-ga wire for the PowerCell (gives constant 12v fused).

[svanlare]

Here are the front hubs I started with.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/svanlare/DonorDelivery2014-03-08NVLNVL_0622_zps15f3e54d.jpg (http://s66.photobucket.com/user/svanlare/media/DonorDelivery2014-03-08NVLNVL_0622_zps15f3e54d.jpg.html)

and I ended up buying new ones - see this photo

Right side is PN: 28313AE020
Left side is PN: 28313AE030
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/svanlare/FrontPanel2014-05-04SVLDSC_98591_zps29432242.jpg (http://s66.photobucket.com/user/svanlare/media/FrontPanel2014-05-04SVLDSC_98591_zps29432242.jpg.html)

I can snap pics of the ones in the garage but they look like the pre-BOD ones in your photo.

As for the infinityBox, I didn't order any inVERT's as I thought I was going to be able to only positive logic, and I never got to the point where I needed to reprogram with the inCode. They did tell me that all of the in's and out's are programmed, so if you just need a follow signal, you shouldn't have to reprogram any.

For the fused 12v, I was going to use the red wires that came with the kit (seen at the top of this picture). I can send them your way if you need. All the black wires in the multi-wire bundles handled the grounds.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/svanlare/Wiring2014-12-11SVLDSC_2109_zps47a477ce.jpg (http://s66.photobucket.com/user/svanlare/media/Wiring2014-12-11SVLDSC_2109_zps47a477ce.jpg.html)

[Hindsight]

Steve, any trick getting the rear hubs out of the spindle without bending the backing plates? I bent mine a small amount pressing the hubs out. There was just not good place on the spindle to act as a support on the press.

Frank - I had the same issue bleeding my clutch. Turns out it was a bad clutch master cylinder. It was fine in the donor car but went bad after sitting for a year and a half. Got a new Centric brand master from Amazon. Bled just great immediately after replacing. Prior to that I was pulling a vacuum at the slave cylinder end of the line and using a power bleeder to pressurize the reservoir. Even with that setup, it still wouldn't bleed.

[svanlare]

Hindsight - I remember it being a pain to figure out. Screwed up the front's until I figured out what I was doing. Here is the only photo I have while the backing plate was still attached. I used a combination of supports from a Harbor Freight kits, stacked everything up and pressed away. Putting it together was much easier.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/svanlare/Remove%20Wheel%20Bearings%202014-04-16%20SVL%20DSC_9571_zps265in1nt.jpg (http://s66.photobucket.com/user/svanlare/media/Remove%20Wheel%20Bearings%202014-04-16%20SVL%20DSC_9571_zps265in1nt.jpg.html)

[Hindsight]

Thanks Steve.... mine are bent enough that I won't get even wear on my rear pads but I don't think they are bent enough to cause any other issues. At some point I'm going to have to buy new backing plates and figure out how to R&R them in such a way that they don't bend. As I recall, I could press in new bearings and hubs without using the backing plate for support, but removing was much more of a challenge.

[Frank818]

EDITED: [Front hubs]
Right side is PN: 28313AE020
Left side is PN: 28313AE030

I can snap pics of the ones in the garage but they look like the pre-BOD ones in your photo.

As for the infinityBox, I didn't order any inVERT's as I thought I was going to be able to only positive logic, and I never got to the point where I needed to reprogram with the inCode. They did tell me that all of the in's and out's are programmed, so if you just need a follow signal, you shouldn't have to reprogram any.

For the fused 12v, I was going to use the red wires that came with the kit (seen at the top of this picture). I can send them your way if you need. All the black wires in the multi-wire bundles handled the grounds.

Tnx man. Those are the same as my rusted ones. I have no idea if the non-compatible ones mess up with camber/caster, but they do mess up with oil seal to CV, too tight. I will change them as well. Changed all 4 corners now. What a stupid step back.

I need inCODE as my parts where bought just before Jay programmed the 818 kit, so I have a standard rear-engine configuration. Besides I have added required functions which require reprogramming too.

I did use an existing left over cable from them for my front constant 12v but for the back I don't want to run a cable all the way or splice my alternator 4-gauge wire.


Frank - I had the same issue bleeding my clutch. Turns out it was a bad clutch master cylinder. It was fine in the donor car but went bad after sitting for a year and a half. Got a new Centric brand master from Amazon. Bled just great immediately after replacing. Prior to that I was pulling a vacuum at the slave cylinder end of the line and using a power bleeder to pressurize the reservoir. Even with that setup, it still wouldn't bleed.

Well that is possible, although I have tried the master using a clear line (about 12" long) and it pushes out and sucks back in the fluid. I have no reason to think it's a bad master unless the liquid should be pushed further but I have no reference to base myself onto. Therefore I cannot know if it's a bad master until I buy another one and try it out for fun.

I have tried gravity, it works with a clear line but not with my hard line, cuz I believe the hard line's upwards direction at the outlet of the master prevents gravity from doing it's job. Unfortunately, the distance before the line goes down is too far for the master to push the fluid into.
I have tried using a compressor and sucking the air/fluid with at the slave bleeder valve but it didn't work.
Not sure how that can relate to a bad master?
But I admit, ANYTHING is possible. :)

I will lower the front of the car (off my candles) and leave the back up in order to let the fluid go further in the line using gravity. Then I'll raise the front again, add fluid and try it out. If that doesn't work, then WTF I'll buy a new master yeah, I have paid so much for multiple mistakes so far, one more isn't the end of the world, isn't it? :)


At some point I'm going to have to buy new backing plates

Backing plates are not too expensive. Maybe the rears are more, though.

[Hindsight]

Frank, I had the same thing happen with my master. I removed the hard line from the SLAVE, put a clear line on it using an adapter, then pumped the clutch pedal. Each time I would pump the clutch pedal, it would push out the same amount of fluid it will pull back in. The issue is that it isn't drawing fluid in from the reservoir.... at least, not fast enough to equal a normal rate of a good master. I know a lot of master cylinders have a check-valve in them that allows a certain amount of fluid to pass through in one direction. I think maybe these valves go bad (maybe from sitting dry-ish for some period of time).

I did another test: I put my hand over the end of the output line from the master. I pushed the clutch pedal down, then lifted my finger. I could feel the pressure in the line escape, which is good that it was building pressure. But then I put my finger on the end of the line again and lifted the pedal up. I felt a vacuum on my finger. But then I left my finger in place for a full 30 seconds. I then removed my finger and there was still the same amount of vacuum on it. So in 30 seconds, despite the clutch pedal being all the way up, and despite there being a vacuum in the system, the master would not re-fill from the reservoir enough to equalize the vacuum. So it had to be something inside the master causing it. I replaced the master and bled the system easily. Only took like 5-10 pumps before the whole system was fully bled using the new master.

[STiPWRD]

Frank, sorry to hear about the bad luck.

Rear axles: I recall you had started another thread about rear axles not fitting and me and Bob sent you pictures of our axles, which did not match up with the ones DSS had. Did you ever get to the bottom of why DSS was using different looking rear outer CV joints? This could be the root cause of why your axles don't fit, perhaps DSS based their design off of improper OEM axles. The best way is to just send them your OEM axles and have them replicate the outer CVs.

Bleeding the clutch: I also found this to be very difficult. The best advice I can give is to troubleshoot the system one step at a time. Start with the master cylinder, remove the output fitting and pump it with your hand to see if it squirts out fluid. This will tell you if the master is good or not. Then reinstall the line to the slave cylinder and see if you can pump fluid through the line. Try disconnecting the master from the pedal linkage and pumping it with your hand as the pedal can limit the travel of the piston. Elevating the slave above the master is a good idea. Also, I used a vacuum bleeder at the slave end, it probably helped a little bit. They are cheap at HF. Finally, try clamping the slave cylinder to prevent the slave piston from moving, this can help remove air from the system as it will not fill the slave cylinder and be forced out.

[Bob_n_Cincy]

Frank,
shorten your clutch rod about 1/8" and try again.
Bob

[Frank818]

If I change clutch MC it'd be my 3rd. :) But I've been through 3 sets of rear bearings, 2 fronts, 2 sets of 4 spindles, 2 MC brake... lolll A clutch MC is not expensive. I'll troubleshoot a little more and if I can't work it out I'll get a new one.

Bob shortening the rod should put less pressure on the fluid then? You really mean the rod in the MC that attaches to the pedal box and pushes onto the diaphragme of the MC?

The MC is pumping fluid through the output hole, but I don't know if it does it as designed.
I cannot pump fluid through the line, cuz it pumps a few inches out and takes it back in, if the hard line is empty (which it is), then the fluid moves a few inches in and then back in the MC.
Pumping by hand is a good idea to test.
The vacuum bleeder didn't help.
The slave is attached at the bottom of the gearbox, say at the same level as the X bars on the rear gearbox support, I'd need to either raise the gearbox and engine by 2 feet or lower by 2 feet the MC. Not sure I follow you I this test?
Maybe I could test by removing the line at the slave and pumping air out?


Axles, DSS does not know why it's different than ours, but they do know it fits on the same spindle assembly as we checked our spindles and they have the same measurements. Since they sold more than 1 sets of their Level 5 CVs to 2002-2007 WRXs and they never complained, I then believe I'm missing something. DSS asked me to try removing the inner seal #2 and see what happens. I wonder the consequences of removing that seal, though. Dust, dirt, etc. And if other owners did that or not. I think the DSS guy doesn't know how the seals are installed on the Subaru. I believe they did it once when they designed the part and since it worked they never retest it. Which makes sense.
If that doesn't work, I may send off my assemby to them to figure out.

[STiPWRD]

The slave is attached at the bottom of the gearbox, say at the same level as the X bars on the rear gearbox support, I'd need to either raise the gearbox and engine by 2 feet or lower by 2 feet the MC. Not sure I follow you I this test?
Maybe I could test by removing the line at the slave and pumping air out?
Unbolt the slave cylinder from the gear box and raise it up as high as it can go (still connected to the clutch line). Use a C-clamp on the slave piston so it cannot move. Then pump the master cylinder until you begin to feel resistance. This is what worked for me.

[Frank818]

Axles
No change at all with the seal removed, which means it works as designed and wraps around the CV without preventing it from going in any further. However the 1st inner seal is stopping the CV from going any further in. I have asked DSS a few Qs and I'll see if I ship them my assembly. Very disappointing.

Clutch
Hey, I think Bob's trick will work! Before I go with longer tests, making the rod shorter (or longer) seems to help. Actually I unscrewed the C clip on the rod that attaches to the pedal box by as much as I could get, which equals 1/2", not 1/8. Now for the the C clip's holes to align with the pedal box's holes I have to push the rod in the MC. Currently the C clip's holes hide about 95% of the pedal box's holes when not pushed in. When I press the pedal, it pushes the rod much further, so much I have to use a stick to prevent the pedal from releasing (except in the first tries, cuz there wasn't enough fluid in the line). That's good.
Then I open the bleeder, it pops a lot of pressure out, 1/3 of it is air, which means it's not bled yet, then I close the bleeder. When pressure drops, the stick drops on the footrest and the pedal goes to the metal. Then the trick is here: I slowly release the pedal by hand, then I disconnect the C clip and let the rod come back another 1/2" to no pressure at all and suck up some more fluid. I wait 1min for air to move up as much as possible, I push 1/2" the rod in and slide my temporary 5/16 screw into the holes so that the rod doesn't move. Then I repeat the sequence until no air comes out the bleeder.

So far I have not have time to complete it, will continue tomorrow.
I have to fill the reservoir every 1-2 shot I do, so it must push the fluid in the line.

49613



On another note, I am ditching the VR6 in favour of one of these (now that you just read this, you are obligated to listen):


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slg6L4gm1aQ

[svanlare]

I guess fitting the VR6 was too easy and you needed another challenge :D

[Frank818]

Yeah true, which also explains why I'm having all sort of issues outside the VR6. :)


CLUTCH
I think Bob worked it out! No air in the system now. I can't tell if it engages, I need to put oil in the gearbox and start the engine to ensure it works, the G50 is a rough gearbox when cold or engine not running. Sad thing cuz in order to fix a small design issue with my shifter bracket I need to engage 1st gear and I never was able to do it. I'll have to wait for the engine to run. Couple of months (bad weather).

Front spindles
I have bought a set of bearings and seals, which comes with 2 hubs, was less expensive than buying 2 sets of bearings/seals. Since I'll get new hubs, I decided to buy longer 50mm studs in case I need spacers.
While I was removing the spindles, I broke the threads of my tie-rod ends, so I found a rebate and bough a new set for $15. Overall $200USD in expenses for the front spindles. I have to win the 1.4B Power Ball. I'll give you all 2MM each!

[svanlare]

What year is the G50 from? The early ones had a shift fork mod that was common because the original design would bind.

[Frank818]

G50/01 1988. Yeah I am building a 2016 (or 2017!) car with 1988 drivetrain. :)

I believe it's the 2nd gen, post-mid 1988, which has a different fork design from the 1st gen. Not too sure how to check on that by the serial number, but I could ask my mech who opened it and checked all parts how the fork is designed.



Update on AXLES
I will ship my assembly to DSS as they have no clue. They sell DAILY that huge CV to people and no one ever complained about it. And believe me, at that price, anyone with a problem would certainly come back to DSS.
I will probably include one of my rear outer CV with that, but which side should I ship? They are quite different looking. I can take a pic and show you.

[svanlare]

Pretty sure you can tell by the bolt/bar the the fork attaches to. PelicanParts might have a serial number breakdown. Been a while since I lost mine :-(

Rocking the wheels might allow you to get it into first so you can do your test.

[Frank818]

Well, according to Pelican this changed starting April 6 1989. So I got the old kit and I am sure the bushings aren't bronze, as my mech ordered from his Porsche OEM provider. However the parts are new, I'm sure they will last long enough for me to change them without having an issue. I'll change that at the same time as I change the gear ratios, which is during the winter after I'll drive the car for a full summer, probably winter 2018.

http://www.pelicanparts.com/More_Info/101518090.htm?pn=10-1518-090-M157&KeepHeader=Y


http://www.pelicanparts.com/techarticles/911_G50_clutch/911_G50_clutch.htm



I wouldn't have known about that without your comment, so tnx for the heads up!


On a side note, I shipping my 23lbs spindle assembly to DSS this morning, along with an OEM CV (the one mirror finish without the thin lip).

[Frank818]

Steps before 1st start:
1- Getting my rear spindles ready
2- Installing axles
3- Completing wiring
4- Plugging wiring
5- Finishing coolant lines (7 weeks already from China, 3 of the 3 shipments had issues, 2 aren't fixed yet)
6- Stiffening throttle cable
7- Upgrading my InfinitiBox with new rules
8- Installing shift cables
9- Fixing shifter brackets
10-Installing tunnel cover and rear ebrake cover
11- Completing AWIC tank support bracket
12- Bleeding brakes
13- Fixing and Bleeding clutch
14- Fixing rear shock tower brace
15- Filling engine with oil
16- Filling trans with oil
17- Filling engine with coolant
18- Filling AWIC with coolant
19- Upgrading ECU to latest software
20- Tuning a few ECU parms
21- Testing wiring
22- Fixing DSS CV issue
23- Replacing front spindles
24- First start!


Well I am still waiting for my barb fittings and 3/8 coolant lines, very long. And still waiting for InfinityBox parts! 2 months now, I can't believe it.

Oh well in the meantime I fixed for REAL my rear shock tower brace. See how close to the mount plates the sides are now? Just the weight of my hand and the FG bends, without bending anywhere on the part, I'm very happy with that. Now clearance compromise, the engine keeps its clearance, it's just the sides that are lower than the middle, so I removed the extended portion on top of the bar seen on my old pix. I am painting it now.

Also painting my 2 front spindles. One of my rear is in NC now. So I can't fit the body! Not even to test fit it, cuz I need the spindles/wheels to be in place, and aligned, so that I ensure they are centered in the wheel well.

What can I do now... I installed the latches on the doors following Tamra's guide. Easy stuff, not long, but I can't install anything else than the latches, cuz for the rest I need the body (side sails) to be on and at their final location.

Well this week I'll try to do some cockpit finish, on the rear alu FW covers, carpets and stuff like that. A little too early but there's not much else I can do.


498074980849809

[Frank818]

The early ones had a shift fork mod that was common because the original design would bind.

After looking with flashlight under the gearbox (on top, if you install it like a Porsche), I was able to see brass bushings and stuff like on the pix I found on internet. I guess I have the update fork parts.

[svanlare]

Good news there at least!

[Frank818]

InfinityBox parts on the way!

AXLES
DSS working on it! I suggested they try both inner seals on their own test spindle.


BRACE
Well after some nice POR-15, here's the final result:

49912


Still waiting on some Chinese parts, got some, one of them was wrong size, lost 5 weeks. Can't finish my cooling lines.

[Frank818]

Updated my list of first start to-do's.

InfinityBox wiring is awesome. That thing is super quick, I press the button on my tablet and it's at least as fast as a rocker switch. So far wiring was very reliable. My cluster functions work! Even the VW MFA using the Subaru column, for those VW geeks who know what I'm talking about.

Fuel level sender not working, need to check on wiring, don't know how to wire that thing.
ECU doesn't seem to trigger the fuel pump but the wiring post-ECU works. I accidentally CRANKED the engine this morning when I triggered the fuel pump, for some reason it triggered the START button of InfinityBox, not sure why, but I don't care much since I bypassed the system. The Porsche race starter has a nice sound.

Made a few wiring mistakes, for example when I press on the brake pedal it triggers the oil cooler fan. loll I fixed that.

All in all so far I tested 80%+ of the wiring and maybe just 5% didn't work. Only fuel sender and fuel pump trigger are not fixed yet.


Refreshed front spindles:

50350


InfinityBox inTOUCH controls when using my phone:

5035150352


Offered myself a gift with this upgraded BOV. These are to me the best and quickest BOVs on the market. They made a new one this Jan and offered a 50% rebate to existing owners. I couldn't resists, especially that now you get a choice of anodized colours! I am one of the first 5 in the world to get the blue version and one of the first 10 to get the new model SB003.

50353


Back on Infinity, that thing is so secured the way I wired it. I had connectivity issues at first to the wifi controls (requires wifi module PW + interface PW) and that's when I found out there's nothing I can electrically test on the car without the wifi control. Someone trying to steal the car by cranking the engine would not be able to, unless he bypasses the entire system and that means powering the ACC, IGN and starter (+ others) with an external source or rebuilding some of the wiring. No matter what, you need to build wiring in order to power that thing bypassing Infinity. Good luck, even I would need many hours to do it and I know where my wires are and what they are for. Only way to steal my car is on a tow truck. Can't do anything about that.

DSS axles! They found the problem, will machine a new CV for me, for free, without losing any torque strength. I am sending back, for free, the axles and they will change the CVs for me. I love that company.

[Frank818]

Some updates for different kinds of people.

Infinity Box--I blew up my Mastercell, the brain of the system. Actually, that thing has a lot of protection, so I blew 2 diodes which then protected the circuit board from frying. So I tested its electrical security features. loll I am sending it back to InfinityBox in Chicago for repairs. I did that cuz I soldered my 1N4001 diodes the wrong way. Son of a...
Besides the fuel pump trigger which I couldn't test, everything else I did and all was working with a charm, a big charm. That system reacts within 10ms and that's not me saying that. For example I changed my rad fan temperature value in order to test the trigger and as soon as I pressed the F4 button (it then updates my map on the ECU), the rad fan kicked in! No time for nothing, it was so quick! And that command went through 2 systems, my ECU and then the Infinity stuff.
The system is very stable. No flicker, no high or low current, no overheats, nothing at all. Everything was flowing voltage so smoothly. I'm impressed about that system. It does deliver for the price. It also means I did a great job on the wire quality, soldering quality and connectivity quality, including so far a good ground. We'll see when I drive the car.


Now on the VR6 side. Those of you stupid enough like me to fit a VR6 will certainly have something to think about regarding the fuel gauge, as VW does not, to my knowledge, support a 0-90ohms sender, and not the other american types as well. There are many solutions to that. Currently my simplest is to add about 275ohms on the line which will use the half bottom portion of the gauge on the cluster. Not super cool, but anyway FFR's solution does not see the level until about half of the tank! So why bother having something super precise when you won't see a change until it's half empty? The good news is when it'll be half empty, my gauge should read half empty too. Whereas it would read full with a Subaru cluster and half on the Subaru cluster would equal 1/4 in the tank.

I am also working with my uncle, a great electrical teacher, to find a solution to convert the 0-90 signal into 50-350ohms. By simulating a different current for the ohms the VW cluster is expected to receive, we could achieve something more precise than the linear 275ohms resistance.

The MK3 reads 50ohms full, about 160 half and 350 empty. YMMV, cuz at 95ohms I am reading 40-45%, wereas I should be over 50% as per the Bentley manual.
The Subaru reads 0 full and 90 empty.

I knew matching VW and Subaru would cause problems somewhere, but it seems it's only on the fuel gauge. I can even use the VW MFA function through the Subaru steering column.

[STiPWRD]

Made a few wiring mistakes, for example when I press on the brake pedal it triggers the oil cooler fan. loll I fixed that.
At least you didn't wire your brake pedal like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOq1S3XxVaA


DSS axles! They found the problem, will machine a new CV for me, for free, without losing any torque strength.
What was the issue?

[Frank818]

Yeah good old prank! :) Luckily my horn isn't installed yet so it wouldn't be as bad as on the video. :)


DSS issue on the CVs, well it's not a full explanation, but physically the CV fits perfect when the first inner seal isn't there. The thickness of the seal, once fitted, pushes the CV inside by the exact distance I was short of. Their test spindle has no seals on, but that doesn't explain why they say it fits with seals on and that they sell a bunch of these CVs daily and never got a problem. That doesn't add up to me.

But they will machine a new CV that will fit with the seals on using my spindle, for free. That's all I need, although my curiosity isn't answered.

[choobs]

I am also working with my uncle, a great electrical teacher, to find a solution to convert the 0-90 signal into 50-350ohms. By simulating a different current for the ohms the VW cluster is expected to receive, we could achieve something more precise than the linear 275ohms resistance.

The MK3 reads 50ohms full, about 160 half and 350 empty. YMMV, cuz at 95ohms I am reading 40-45%, wereas I should be over 50% as per the Bentley manual.
The Subaru reads 0 full and 90 empty.


AH yes, I ran into a similar problem when researching a mk1 TT cluster swap into my mk3 Jetta. The solution in that case was to make a new lever for the float that allowed the fuel level sender to read close to normal. The only way to make it 100% accurate is to use a microprocessor. The conversion program itself wouldn't be too difficult but you'd need to the bench tools to write the EEPROM. However, from the limited knowledge I have on MPs, they mostly work on input/output voltage. I guess ones exist that could have a current controlled output on them. But basically as the resistance value changes on the fuel level sender, the voltage drop across that component also changes unless it is the only electrical load in the circuit. Which if you have the fuel level sender unit and a microprocessor, you could probably monitor voltage drop pretty easily. Seems like an interesting problem to tackle!

[Hindsight]

What's this, a third VW guy on the 818 forums?! ;)

[choobs]

What's this, a third VW guy on the 818 forums?! ;)

:D Guilty as charged! My VW history isn't too extensive but I've learned a lot from owning them! What I have owned:

1996 Jetta 2.slow - turbocharged it a few times before blowing the trans in it.
2006.5 Rabbit 2.5 - the reliable car I bought whilst going back to school to re-career. The 2.5 is a really solid engine, never a problem.
2001 Audi A4 1.8TQ - the car I bought upon finishing school. It was pretty much a debt machine.
1992 Corrado SLC - current project.

How I found this thread was my interest in the 818c and stuffing a 3.6 VR6 into it instead of the 2.8. Thus I found Frank's thread and the rest is history lol

[Hindsight]

Hah, I have similar experiences. I have a 2.5 in a 1993 Eurovan pushing close to 200k and still runs great. The one Audi I owned (04 S4) was also a debt machine. Nicest car I have ever owned while at the same time being the biggest POS.

I'm really looking forward to seeing and hearing Frank's car run. VR6 turbos all sound incredible.

[choobs]

The one Audi I owned (04 S4) was also a debt machine. Nicest car I have ever owned while at the same time being the biggest POS.

The 4.2 V8??? You brave soul lol.

I also cannot wait for Frank's car to start! Seems like he is getting closer!

[Frank818]

3 VW guys only? I thought we were a little more... maybe the others are just hidding hush hush lolll

The RS4 is apparently a bigger debt machine, some model years at least were quite sensitive in terms of reliability. But they kick ***!!! And they sound one of the best I've heard if you fit the right exhaust. One close to where I live has a midnight blue RS4 lowered with some exhaust so deep and rowling! He's the best I've heard. I'd fit his engine in the 818 any time! Once I retire from work, though. :)

Now I am waiting for one last part I ordered in Dec, I ordered from another seller last week cuz it's taking too long, let's see who arrives first, or arrives at all. loll That part, a simple brass fitting I couldn't find around, will close the cooling lines and then all is ok.

I need to get my DSS axles back, install my rear spindles, install my front spindles, get my InfinityBox MasterCell back from repairs and yeah, everything else is in place for a start, maybe not a drive but at least a start and possibly a short roll in the driveway.

3 months. :( I don't expect to get my parts back until then. I expect Infinity and DSS to delay my repairs, for some reason... experience, probably. :)

This is why I really start to need FFR's nose body parts so that I can start on the body in the meantime.

[wleehendrick]

3 VW guys only? I thought we were a little more... maybe the others are just hidding hush hush lolll

I wouldn't call myself a 'VW guy', but I have had a VW AG vehicle in the garage for 20+ years. I drove an 87 GTI 16V for many, many years. That car got me through college in upstate NY, road tripping to Canada and Florida. I drove it out to CA with my dad, and it got me through grad school and road trips to Mexico. I drove it til the wheels fell off, then we got an 05 Audi A4 Avant 1.8T 6MT for my wife; it's now my current DD, and a great car. It's been fairly reliable with one $$$ exception (a cracked cylinder head last year :mad:).

[Hindsight]

My S4 had to have the engine removed, and every/all gasket that touched the cooling system (including head gaskets) had to be replaced due to faulty gasket material used by Audi. It was a known issue with early 04 S4s but Audi opted not to issue a recall for it (surprise). Fortunately I had an extended warranty and the $6k repair bill was covered by that. Other issues I had with it were: Windows wouldn't roll up and stay up (anti pinch kept kicking in), transmission would simply pop out of second gear all the time, glove box door latch failed so glove box wouldn't stay closed ($400 for the new door lol), needed a new ECU (wouldn't pass emissions because readiness codes wouldn't appear).

And now I have a 2013 Passat TDI that is impacted by the Dieselgate scandal. I love the car though. Been perfectly reliable, great power, size, economy. However, the DSG transmission now sounds like a box of steel ball bearings being ground up and the dealer keeps saying "perfectly normal!" That said, it doesn't have any issues shifting.

Sorry we are thread-jacking you to talk about VAG stuff Frank lol.

[Frank818]

Anyone who owned a GTI 16v is definitely a true VW guy. :) And drove across country and to other countries around (hard to drive through more than 3 countries in North America loll).

6k? Crap you could buy 2-3 VR6s for that price! lolll
Yeah your 13 TDI is impacted by the scandal, but so what? It doesn't affect the car per se, it's just that it pollutes more than expected. Unless you bought it for sake of the Earth...

Got my part I ordered on Dec 26. However it's TOTALLY not as described, including that I have ordered 2 and I got 10 of a totally different item. I'll get a refund. Good thing I bought the items earlier this week from another place. Money is not a prob, time is, I have wasted almost 3 months once I'll get the parts... oh well, at least I can read VW/Audi stories! No Porsches around? Come on guys, someone must have had a 911 or 914... or better, a 959? If you did, I wanna see it!!!

[Hindsight]

I WANTED a 16v GTI and a Porsche, does that count? In the early 90's guys were swapping the 16v engines into rabbits, which was always a fun sleeper.

Whats the part you are trying to get?

[choobs]

6k? Crap you could buy 2-3 VR6s for that price! lolll

in the states, you can buy a VR6 complete motor for like $500. Will probably cost you $1500 to get it back to 100% :p

[Frank818]

I WANTED a 16v GTI and a Porsche, does that count? In the early 90's guys were swapping the 16v engines into rabbits, which was always a fun sleeper.

Whats the part you are trying to get?

Yes you're in. :)


3/4BSP male to 19mm hose barb, as stupid as that. (I do have the 10mm barb to 3/4BSP female on the other side)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/171934365021?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Do not buy from ebay seller WONDERFULWORLD2014.

Sure I could have bought many other solutions to connect a 10mm hose (3/8) to 19mm (3/4), but most of them cost US40-50 with shipping, I took the decision to find a solution around US10-15 even though I had to wait 2 months. I didn't realize though this ebay seller was the same who sent me wrong item a few months ago. :) Now I won't forget.

[Hindsight]

Those BSP fittings can be tough to find, IMHO.

[Frank818]

Yes they are, but like I said there are a few other solutions, except they all cost 40-50+ for me, which is why I went with this one as there were sellers selling the fittings (4 fittings in total, 2 males and 2 females). Even the coolant 3/8 hose wasn't easy to find at a low price. Local shops didn't have that small, needed to go on ebay again. I do have the hose right now, though.

I currently have PVC fittings on the car for that 19mm to 10mm, but the solution is too much and somewhat stupid and not clean. I have 2 PVC fittings on each hose (2 hoses), 3/4 to 1/2 and then 1/2 to 3/8. This requires a lot of clamps and it limits the flexibility of the hose cuz the fittings are long, even though I cut them shorter. I am having difficulties trying to route the hoses correctly and keep enough clearance, I need a short fitting straight from 19mm to 10mm in one step. So I went with those BSPs.

On another note, I made a change to my VW cluster for which I need to upload a pic and show those who would use a similar cluster what little trick to do. Once I won't forget to upload it, I'll explain.


Every day I am dreaming about what kind of sound will come out of this monster. Can't wait...

[Frank818]

Many don't get this, I'm sharing.

The 818 manual has recently been updated. Attached is a PDF containing the updates that were made. They include:

- Removing and Preparing the Donor Parts
- Kit Parts Prep
- Chassis Build-Up
- Under Car Aluminum
- Rear CV Axle Assembly
- Shifter Linkage
- Upper Seat Belt Mount
- Side Cooling Tubes
- Seat Mounting
- Body Mounting
- Door Latches/Strikers
- Headlights
- Front Turn Signals and Parking Lights
- Headlight Bucket
- Headlight Lenses
- Windshield/Hardtop

http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=41210546&msgid=416832&act=H2J5&c=1035541&destination=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.factoryfive.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2016%2F02%2F818_Manual_rev-1p-update.pdf%3Futm_source%3DiContact%26utm_medium%3D email%26utm_campaign%3DFactory%20Five%20Racing%2C% 20Inc.%26utm_content%3D818ManualRev1P-Update

[Frank818]

For those who plan on using an old VW cluster, you know the ebrake indicator light is not part of the cluster, it's elsewhere on the dash. On the Corrado is was part of a double indicator light on the dash, ebrake and ABS.

I have seen nothing in the regulation in QC that requires a seat belt warning light, so I used that slot for my ebrake warning light. I printed a parking brake pictograph from google to the right scale and glued it onto the seat belt pictograph! Good old pictographs with a light BESIDES and not those recent clusters that use the pictograph itself as a light! Was pretty easy. In your face, regulation engineer! lolll

50598

[wallace18]

Where there is a will there is a way. Good job Frank. This is certainly a big project that you are doing so well on.

[AZPete]

Nicely done, Frank. Especially the "in your face" yell!

[Frank818]

Important hit (again) earlier this week. While testing my fuel gauge signal in order to get a decent level on the VW cluster, I blew up my cluster's PC board. The fuel gauge is now non-functional, that's very easy to fix by bypassing the board which is virtually unfixable, good luck knowing the specs of that resistance and the small 3-tripod transistor besides. Easy fix on the gauge, but I also blew up my MFA (multifunction display) which displays a lot of things by the press of a button (I was able to reproduce using Subaru's column), including OAT and most importantly, oil temp, which I look at all the time. Finding a compatible board is extremely hard, since it's 23yo and only God knows which other part #s have the same functions and T28 plug specs. I will obviously lose my mileage and it's not easy to reset on the MK3s. That is IF I find a compatible board.

It's really sad, but these things happen when you make a ****ING STUPID MISTAKE! I have to find an acceptable solution, although it will probably never be as cool as it could have been.
So much work on that cluster in the past 10 years and SO MUCH to make it fit with the 818 and specific VW sensors, all gone in fumes...

51128

[Hindsight]

Oh man, sorry to hear that Frank! The good news is that they made a TON of these and a lot of them will be in the junk yards so you should have an easy time finding one. I wouldn't bother searching for a board - just go to eBay and get a whole new cluster. But there are over a dozen listed there now that would be compatible with yours, and probably not very expensive either. Thesamba.com classifieds is also pretty good for this stuff.

[svanlare]

Ouch, I'm bummed to see the roller coaster continues for you, I was so hoping after the axels that things would go on a smooth streak for you.

[Frank818]

Unbelievable updates. You won't believe it.


CLUSTER
After blowing up my fuel gauge I completed my tests and everything else works. I can bypass the cluster no problem and simulate signal to the gauge. Will do.
Tnx guys for supporting me, either here or email.


FRONT SPINDLES
Finally got my spindles assembled. The inner seals I got with the complete bearing kit don't fit! By 1mm OD. What a bad luck eh... I have to order a set, I'm getting used to this ****ing ****.


BRASS FITTINGS
To complete my coolant hoses, 2 BSP brass fittings required, bought Dec 6th then some more again Feb 6th and still no sign!


INFINITYBOX WIRING SYSTEM
While doing my initial tests, I made a mistake and blew up a diode in the Mastercell. I sent it back to the guys, they repaired it for FREE and shipped it back to me for FREE. Hello!!!! I am in Canada they are in US! For FREE! That is awesome.

The guys at IBox are sometimes busy when they get a huge load of parts to setup and ship. But once they are in a normal work day, they respond often and don't hesitate to send an email again if after a week you get nothing. Jay, the owner or co-owner, is often on the road, so be patient or send again. You can also use their Contact Form on their website, the respond to all questions from there.

When you ask for a code update, they test it using YOUR complete config before emailing you the code for update. If you fail to test it properly, chances are you screwed up on something on your end. They do quality assurance on their products. And they challenge you when you need a special function, they do all they have to do to ensure your function won't brake something else in the system, cuz they want to keep it reliable. They work with you and for you.

It's high priced but you get a lot for it and free repair+shipping is very rare these days. Will I get a free repair all the time I don't know, but usually if you blew up something it's when you test your system and usually you test it when you build it and connect your stuff. Once the car works, you don't need much to test again.

I now have all setup. My fuel pump trigger works, my after-run cooling function works (fans and aux pump ON for 5mins after shutdown when I press on the button), all is good there and ready for a start.


DSS AXLES
Oh yeah that saga. A while back I sent out the rear spindle to DSS along with the axles to get the CVs changed. No way they could not machine some that wouldn't fit and I have sent them one of the rear OEM CV too.
They shipped me back the stuff earlier this week, 2 boxes. On the delivery day, 2 trucks were delivering. I saw the first guy driving out of my driveway, he never rang the ****ing bell, stupid ****ing *******!! He left a ****ing UPS notice. I was pissed, called UPS and complained like a mother ****er. The 2nd guy was carrying the axles. He never delivered! At 7h30PM while I was on the phone with UPS to complain again, the status changed on the website to Could not deliver will try again tomorrow. What **** you ****ing *******?? I arranged things so that the next day I would pick up the ****ing boxes myself. I did.

So I test fitted the axles, the CVs are quite different. And they DON'T fit!!! Even worse than the original CVs I got from DSS. What the **** ****ing son of ***** ****? WTF?? What?? I was on the verge of crying, crumbled or tumbled, whichever word in English, on my knees, head down on the ground and hammering the floor with both my fists.

I mailed them, got a reply on Saturday saying I have to fit them without the seals. What the ****?? Dust will wear out the bearings, I need seals. DSS will check on Monday to help.

What did I do to deserve all these ****ing issues? Come on, let me breath for a while, let me start that engine, let me go kart it, plz...

What do you guys think of not using either one of the inner seals in the back? Is it ok, dust-wise, to not use the seal on the bearing and use the one on the CV or not use the one on the CV and use the one on the bearing?

512645126551266

[Hindsight]

Hmmm, I would definitely use the seals. If you don't, your bearings won't explode or anything and if you don't drive it in the dirt and rain much they will simply have a reduced life. Again, would NOT be my choice but you have to weight it against your options. I'm guessing they went bigger on the CVs and now the seals won't fit right? So they may or may not have a smaller CV but it won't be as strong. Are you running the STI rear spindles? I think their housing might be larger in diameter (to fit the larger CVs)... but I could be remembering that wrong. Might be an option for you.

Yeah, this is what happens the further you stray from the typical build :rolleyes: It'll be worth it in the end though.

And yes, signature required delivery is the absolute WORST thing ever! It always happens for stuff you really need and can't be home for. Then they are closed for the weekend or something so you can't get it until Monday.

[Frank818]

Weigh what options? :) I have no option now, I have to accept as is. If DSS cannot build strong enough CVs using the seals, then I have to run without them and change them often. But no one knows how often, of course. Will never see water and dust here isn't bad, we never have South West or CA weather/droughts. But I don't want to change them every 2k miles, it's already extremely difficult to put the axles in place (impossible when spindle is installed), it's not a job I want to do every year. But I will if DSS cannot build proper CVs. That's where I have no choice. For now. I'll see later if STI spindles could solve the issue but at the moment, the faster I get the freakin car on the road and register it, the better. Then after registration, during a winter season, I'll upgrade whatever needs to be upgraded for safety or long term reliability/wear. That's my plan, if I do all the R&D now, in 2-3 years I'll still be at the same point, no body on, no wheels, no registration.

What pisses me is that these black CVs can't make a full turn cuz of the metal clip on the retaining clamp. The other CVs they sent me in November were ok or spindles in need of light grinding, but it was doable. They have regressed with these black CVs and we're 4 months after 1st delivery. That's the frustrating part.


My CV issues would happen to anyone with a Subaru engine in need of stronger CVs. But once I find the workable solution, everyone will know what to order and should not come across these issues.

[STiPWRD]

Frank, from what you're describing, DSS cannot machine outer CV's that are equivalent to the Subaru ones you have. You sent them your donor axles so they could use them as a reference right? So why didn't they machine the new axles to the same dimensions? This isn't rocket science. Another option you have is to take your parts to a local machine shop and have them remove the interfering metal. I wouldn't give up on that second seal, hang in there!

[Frank818]

Yes those are good points.

If DSS builds the same CVs as OEM, I gain nothing in terms of strenght. That is must as I will have too much torque and they will break. Many already prove that on the forum with much less power than me.

I thought of having the DSS CVs re-machined locally, but I don't know how it would affect strenght, comes back to point above.

I'm waiting for the response of the guy at DSS and see what's the catch about the too big metal clip preventing a full turn (that really is not acceptable considering I sent them the spindle to ref to) and then what he can do to keep the seals in. If he says strenght would greatly decrease, then I rather change my bearings often than have a CV break. Yes I do have a little straw to hang onto still, until DSS responds.

[STiPWRD]

Strength depends on both dimensions (i.e. a larger diameter is stronger) but it also depends on the material. For instance, the strength of steel can vary quite a bit depending on temper, heat treatment, constituent alloys, processing (forging, casting), etc. You could have two axles that are the same exact dimensions and one could be 3-4 times stronger than the other because it's heat treated. I don't know what is the strength of the Subaru axle material relative to what DSS uses.

If strength is an issue, you may want to go with sti rear spindles on the next go-around. They use a larger axle diameter.

[Frank818]

Ok I see your point.

In Sep when I ordered the shafts I told DSS to build me the strongest driveshafts possible for this application. I assume they did that. Then, it's fair to think that a smaller CV will not have as much strength as a big one like those they provided to me.


STI spindles might be a way to go at some point, but not in the short term. It's not just a matter of buying STI spindles. I need 5x114 hubs, 5x114 rear wheels (and I would like to keep the style I have, Rota Torque) and of course new CVs. If all goes well, it's probably around 1500 bucks + say 500 for losses of unused parts I have bought already. If not all goes well, well I could have to make compromises + pay 1500-2000 bucks + 500. Also, many many many hours of work. Since now my goal is to build what's required to get that dead weight registered, this is why I'll keep the STI spindles on the back burner. If I knew about that before buying my wheels, I might have gone straight to them, but then again I'm the first with this kit and apparently the first to try to have the strongest driveshafts possible too.

[STiPWRD]

04 (and earlier) sti spindles are 5x100. They switched to 5x114 in 05 and onward. The only mod you'd have to make is your rear outer CV ends on the axles.

[Frank818]

Oh cool! I thought only the 5x114 had a bigger center hole and hub shaft. Then a 02-04 could be a choice. I'll ask DSS how much for 02-04 STI CVs and if they keep seals on. My guess around 250 each. Then I'd need to source spindles, 175 each new (#28411FA010), hubs, bearings and seals, another 250 probably. Backplates seem different (#26704FE010 for one), 115 each, hopefully not the e-brake hardware. Then I have to modify the FFR IFS bracket cuz I think the holes aren't at the same place, or source the FFR part directly from them, another 100. Shipping and whatnot, let's say 1400+ project and 100+ hours.

Quite a few of these parts are hard to get, ebay does not list a lot.

If DSS can build STI CVs and still use seals, I'll put that on my list for the future (1-2 years). But nothing tells me yet they can build it with seals.

[Frank818]

Interesting for anyone in need of stronger CVs.

DSS confirmed they cannot build a strong enough CV if they were to use any of the inner seals on our spindles. Replicating the OEM CV their way may increase slightly the strength, but for something in the territory of 400-500wtq they have to remove the seals and use all that space to inject steroids into the CV.

Interesting note, they say for a non-dirt car (like mine) they believe the bearings' life should not be shorten compared to those with seals. It's true the space in there is so damn tight it helps a bit, but the guy was confident the life of my bearings should be "decent".

I've asked about the STI spindles, will comment when I get an answer.

I am sending back the axles to DSS a second time, they will extent the boot with a cover in order to clear the metal retaining clip that prevents full turn. I don't believe I'll get them back until, hum, say April 15th. I have a few days off at the very end of April, my new target date for 1st start.

I really need my nose upgrade Courtnie, it's the only thing I can work on until then.

[Frank818]

Well I got a second opinion on the bearings without seals. My old time mech told me there shouldn't be any problems as long as I don't put water on the spindles (or drive in water of course). He said no worries about dust on a road car. That's reassuring. I've got 2 main reasons not to drive in water now, no roof and no seals. lol

Sending back the axles on Monday to get the retaining clip cleared out. In the end what you need is a Level 5 02-07 WRX outer CV with a boot cover or something to clear the clip. Should handle 450-500whp. The axles are made of chromoly and should handle about the same or more.

[nkw8181]

Nice to know. Umm now how do you put that kind of power to the ground?? :)

[Frank818]

Lol, good question. Since the Catherham 620R with 550kg or so is able to stretch to 62mph in 2.8s, I believe putting the power on the ground for a light car is possible. I'll have more weight in the back than any Subaru engine, that should help. Maybe larger tires (have 265 now), stickier would be hard since I already got one of the stickiest road legal tire. A good boost controller by either speed or RPM is also handy. Traction control too pricey for now.

Putting the power to the ground will be part of my fine tuning after I get that thing registered.

[nkw8181]

Good luck putting the power down. I have 265 toyo r888's and mine still likes to spin

[choobs]

Did you put a limited slip diff in your g50 box, Frank?

[Frank818]

No luck required Nolan, cuz it will spin in 3rd and possibly in 4th anyway. loll Judging by Wayne's 400whp Subaru engine (smaller) on same tires as I have (except 255s for him and 265s for me), he was spinning in 4th. Now I will have more weight in the back and taller 3rd-4th gears. We'll see about that, but I am 90% sure 3rd will spin. The goal will be to smooth out the kick of torque provided by the turbo.

Hey choobs, oh yeah hell damn yeah! :) I have put Wavetrac diff http://www.wavetrac.net/, I had one on my Corrado, love it. If a wheel doesn't touch the ground or spins freely, that diff transfers 100% of the power on the other wheel instead of no power at all like on some diffs. It's well priced too.

[choobs]

Hey choobs, oh yeah hell damn yeah! :) I have put Wavetrac diff http://www.wavetrac.net/, I had one on my Corrado, love it. If a wheel doesn't touch the ground or spins freely, that diff transfers 100% of the power on the other wheel instead of no power at all like on some diffs. It's well priced too.

Good to hear! I've read very little on Wavetrac but its nice to hear some first hand experience. Most VW guys look at quaife or peloquin. And the daring buy OBX stuff lol

[Frank818]

I had a Peloquin before. Makes noise at idle when not pressing the clutch (they all do), the other brands don't. Overall was happier with Wavetrac.

[Frank818]

Update on Steps before 1st start:
1- Getting my rear spindles ready
2- Installing axles and rear spindles
3- Completing wiring
4- Plugging wiring
5- Finishing coolant lines (Since Dec 6th from China, bought from 3 places in 3 months and still missing pieces)
6- Stiffening throttle cable
7- Upgrading my InfinitiBox with new rules
8- Installing shift cables
9- Fixing shifter brackets
10-Installing tunnel cover and rear ebrake cover
11- Completing AWIC tank support bracket
12- Bleeding brakes
13- Fixing and Bleeding clutch
14- Fixing rear shock tower brace
15- Filling engine with oil
16- Filling trans with oil
17- Filling engine with coolant
18- Filling AWIC with coolant
19- Upgrading ECU to latest software
20- Tuning a few ECU parms
21- Testing wiring
22- Fixing DSS CV issue
23- Replacing front spindles
24- First start!

#22 is preventing me from first start.

[Frank818]

Moving ahead somehow!


AXLES
I should get my axles back tomorrow the 1st. Hopefully that's not an April fool...


COOLANT LINES
FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I got my brass fittings after almost 4 months!!! I am currently installing the lines left over. Not perfect, many fittings are in the way of other things (like O2 sensor) and the line coming off the head will be about 1" from my exhaust pipe and WG. Oh well, it's that or I waste a lot of time designing differently and a lot of money to get different parts that won't arrive until another 2-3 months, so screw that.


CLUSTER
After blowing up my fuel gauge, I fixed it by bypassing the cluster circuit board itself. It will read 5-90ohms from the FFR fuel sender.


5219752198


NOSE UPGRADE
I was sick of waiting since Dec, it seems FFR only has the headlights lenses BOed, so I made a deal with Courtnie, she will ship my nose upgrade without the lenses and once they come in FFR will ship them to me, with or without fees, I told her I don't give a crap to get the lenses in Sept but I need the nose by April 25th.


FRONT SPINDLES
Got some replacement seals (which don't look like OEM ones, although they fit) and installed my spindles. The hubs are harder/stiffer to turn than on the rear spindles, hopefully that'll ease out after a few miles, I don't want to use too much unnecessary hps to drive the wheels.

At the same time I changed my pinch bolts. Damn, my mech torqued those bolts before using an air gun at probably 100-150lbs (saw him doing it 2 years ago)!!! Should be torqued at 37! That explains why my OEM bolts where bent.
This time I bought some socket caps screws, with an A4 washer and some nuts. M10x60x1.25 bolts. Those are grade 12.9 bolts. They fit just fine and torqued at OEM 37lbs.
Around 6 bucks per side for 3 items.


5219952200



I am still on target for first start before April 30th 2016.

[Hindsight]

Nice to see some progress. Got my fingers crossed for you that the axles work out right this time.

[Frank818]

It was an April fool. Axles should have arrived on 31st, got held. Then on 1st, got held again. Customs are looking at my package and no one knows when they will release it. Could take a few days, I've seen 1 month in the past... I can't believe I get all those non-build-related issues, it's frustrating.


I've completed my cooling lines. Check out the stupidest thing ever:

52251

All the space in the world and the small O2 sensor harness is squeezed right on my brass fitting. What are the ****ing odds, hey? :) I designed the cooling lines before I had my exhaust fitted, so I pay the price now. I am using an OEM line that has a T in it which connects to the fitting, hard to fix this. I could buy another T fitting, other hoses and fix it, but by the time I get my T I know it'll be too late, I need to start that engine soon. Will take the risk, if it's bad, I'll flush coolant and take a few months elapsed (waiting most of the time) to fix it.


Second stupidest thing:

5225052257

Had to move back the overflow tank cuz I couldn't fit the humps block-off plate. By pushing backwards, the cap cannot be removed unless I unbolt the overflow from it's bracket. Since I should not remove the cap often, I can live with that compromise. Another one on the list. :) Water level sensor is also on the alu plate, but not squeezed, I can remove it.



I had to tie-wrap the hoses in order to attach them and secure them somehow. Also cuz the U at the bottom was half an inch over my exhaust pipe!

5225552256

On that second pic above is the OEM T hose I mentioned earlier, see what I mean.




And some overall pix of the engine and accessories:


52249522525225352254


NO, the air filter will not remain like this, otherwise it'll heatsoak the engine, it's forward from the side scoop. I have to come up with a design to redirect scooped air into the filter and also protect the filter from turbo's heat and hot coolant lines heat from the bottom. I have not found a solution yet.

[Hindsight]

Looks like the inside of a NASA satellite Frank!

Edit, auto corrected NASA to NASAL.

[Scargo]

I'm sure there's an engine in there, somewhere. Hard to make it out for all the bling.

[Frank818]

Yeah well I need to drive to the moon with this thing, heat management obligation. I must admit I didn't do it for the bling at all, since I don't plan on showing off the engine nor driving without the engine covers on. :) Could have been any other color or colorless I wouldn't care.

I found a solution for my intake filter. I just need to make sure it'll clear out VRaptor's fins on the side scoop, if yes then I approve the solution.
4" filter is freakin tight in there!

[svanlare]

I have to say, I left the FFR script less than you did and I have a similar list of zip-ties and "stupid-things" that all need to be sorted. I'm now describing this part of the build as the fiddly bits. lots of head scratching, building small brackets and moving things an inch here and there. A ton of work to decide where a screw needs to go before I can then put something on for good.

In good news, yours screams NASA, so I think I need to order some gold foil.

[Frank818]

The "fiddly bits", as you say, are a big chunk of the build, yeah, it's amazing (not in the cool way of saying it, though).


Axles still held at customs! Like I said on the New Nose Upgrade thread, if Trump could buy Canada and that way "make America great again", I would be starting my engine by now!!

Anywho, I am pretty stuck at the moment on the car. I have secured everything, waiting for axles to be installed and then I put fluid in, drop it on wheels, adjust alignment (need axles in to install spindles first) and it's a start.

I try to start on making holes on the body, like fuel cap, rear lights, scoops. Maybe I could fit the many 0DB louvers I bought. But that's pretty much it. Very boring at this time I must say. I believe I have all the chances to get my axles before April 25th and also the new nose upgrade. If I get this one first, I will start fitting the front end.

On a side note, thought my 818 could be the fastest no-top car in the world at a theoretical 173ischmph (280kmh) using OEM Porsche ratios (could make 5th taller in a few years), but I guess I am not. And to "try" to be I'd have to buy one of these (probably all sold-out already):


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWy6GiWJxHs

Ok they tricked it a little by blocking some of the front bumper's scoops to increase speed, but hey they did it!

God Bless America (the real America), man, yo!


But seriously (well it was serious!), the Venom GT is truely my favourite car. And it's made in USA on top of that. Who said US couldn't build a non-plastic interior harsh suspension super fast car? And now super fast convertible car... Take THAT, Veyron.

[wleehendrick]

But seriously (well it was serious!), the Venom GT is truely my favourite car. And it's made in USA on top of that. Who said US couldn't build a non-plastic interior harsh suspension super fast car?

Thanks to Lotus! ;)

Manufacturer Hennessey Performance Engineering
Model years 2011 – present
Assembly Hethel, England (chassis components)

[STiPWRD]

Frank, how come you need the axles to start the motor? Couldn't you just put in fluids and start it now? In the meantime, there is plenty of body work that can be had and letting the panels rest on the chassis is a great way for the fiberglass to "learn" its resting shape. You'll see that when you start putting stuff in place, there will be lots of test fitting, trimming, test fitting, trimming... etc. There's also stuff like installing the tail lights into the rear bumper, cutting out the side and top scoops.

[Frank818]

Yeah Lotus Exige, one beautiful car too, but it misses what the Venom has. lolll

STI, yeah I have started on cutting panels and fitting lights (it's boring loll), but since I need the front end to place the panels on the car I have to wait until I get my nose upgrade panels.

I need the axles to start the engine for a couple of reasons. Apparently, according to my mech, it's not good to start the engine without inertia on the gearbox (only that one or all gearboxes, don't know), the weight of the axles and force required to turn the bearings are needed. Maybe I could block the inner CVs from turning at all.

But also cuz I need to move the car. The rear is facing a wall very close in an area where air pressure goes straight to the door and into the inside of the shared spaces of the condo. It would also be very loud in that place in the garage (it was loud on my Corrado facing the other way around, away from the wall).

Those are the reasons. All in all, if I have enough time and I'm really committed to it, I could fit the rear spindles (which I need to remove to fit those axles), put wheels on, push the car outside, close the exterior garage door to prevent fumes coming in, start the car, stop the car, push it back in, remove spindles and that's it.

It is feasible, yes, but then I know I need to do it again, cuz I want to test the clutch engagement, roll in 1-2nd gears, test the brakes, steering, etc. Not sure going through twice is worth it, assuming I get the axles next week. If I don't have the axles on April 22nd, I could try that or start working on the new body panels. Then again I believe my time is better invested in the body rather than doing some job twice on the car (I know I'm already very good at that lolll).

But yes, I could start it without the axles.

[STiPWRD]

If it were me, I'd try to start it and let it run for 5 seconds but to each his own. I've never heard of inertia needing to be on a transmission in order to run the engine - that just doesn't make any sense to me but I'd be curious to know why if there is a real reason. Starting the engine would also be a great way to flush out your wiring.

[wleehendrick]

Apparently, according to my mech, it's not good to start the engine without inertia on the gearbox (only that one or all gearboxes, don't know), the weight of the axles and force required to turn the bearings are needed. Maybe I could block the inner CVs from turning at all.

:confused: Don't you normally start an engine with your foot on the clutch or in neutral? I don't understand how the presence, or lack of, the axles has anything to do with it.

[Frank818]

I know I know.... couldn't have a good explanation yet, something about the gears spinning freely is bad, but I too thought about the clutch thing. I'll make sure to ask this Saturday when I go at the shop to get my pink coolant and oils.

Either way good or bad doesn't matter cuz I can easily prevent them from spinning without the axles in. So far I should get the nose upgrade this Friday which means I will probably start bolting the front nose brackets and stuff like that. If time is with me, I'd check very quickly how my 2yo panels line up to give me an idea of the work ahead.

[Frank818]

Moving ahead!

Still waiting for my axles held at customs, but in the meantime I have completed my gauge cluster repair.

Following the diagram (sorry it's in French) I got the final module to bypass my cluster and give fuel level to the gauge. I can adjust the 0% and 100%, the needle will show wherever I want it to. Of course it won't drop under 100% until half a tank cuz I have FFR's tank but it'll work just like you guys.

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Then I got my nose upgrade. Big box.

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Now started on the nose brackets install and I'm stuck. Measuring the bottom bracket at 9/16 I am unsure if it's from the blue dots/line or the green dots/line and is it really to the outer edge of the bracket or the inner section just besides? I have asked metros he went through that already.

52865


I have all my fluids too, CAD$450 of fluids! I need to mix my coolant and it's ready to pour. I will wait until the last activity prior to start before I fill up all the fluids, just in case I need to remove something!! I have a week off starting April 23rd, the car will be ready then, if I don't have my axles I will start it anyway (for about a good 5-8mins until it warms up a little).

[svanlare]

Glad the fuel gauge is working. Between fluids and axels you should be ready for a start soon!

[JC Of NM]

Looking good, keep making updates for all of to see.

[Frank818]

I don't think I'll get my axles before my week off, still held at customs. This is just stupid.

To answer the Q about the need to have axles if I start the engine, it's if I want to engage gears. There's no problem to start it with foot on clutch and no prob to leave it running at idle. I can even press the clutch and engage 1st, but not remove foot, than put back to neutral and remove foot. I have to test 1st gear engagement since I couldn't make it when engine off, oddly.

I'm planning for a start before May 2nd. Oh crap, I don't have my outer CVs, they are on the axles at Customs. I think those I need in order to drop the car on its wheels. Obviously the OEM CVs don't fit in my bored out hubs...

[Frank818]

Hum, well they released my axles last night (will get it today or tom). I should be happy, but they charged me more than the declared value in Brokerage Fees. Over 100 bucks. This means I paid 100 bucks to have a 17 days delay. Since my taxes are paying the Customs agents' salary, this "service" should be free. How ironic for me to pay them a second time and then get a delay on delivery. I wlil see if I can contest this, after paying and having my axles, don't want to keep them held.

Beware all Canadians, if you build something custom, you will pay many 1000s for no logical reasons, add that in your build budget. + you will have delivery delays, plan well in advance.

Then some might say I should be happy cuz I'll start the car next week. Just saw the weather forecast, we might get a very cold period next week, starting this Sunday. If that's the case, I'll have to find the perfect moment to give it a twist, hopefully I will. God doesn't want me to complete this build, I am sure of that since a few months, now. But in this build, I am more powerful than God, I am my own God, I will decide what happens to my build. :)

[Frank818]

Major updates here.


These are my 3rd gen of axles.

5324953250

They clear perfect the spindle. Fit nice, axle nut no problem too.



In order to install the shorter left axle, the most problematic, I had to completely remove the suspension components or loosen them totally. So after 2.5h trying to install (not fit) the axle, it worked and then I started turning the hub. After a couple of turns, this happened:

53251

Yup, the ****ing boot popped right out! And then the cascade of issues started...



While I was trying to see how to put it back, I saw this:
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Yup, the ****ing shaft rubs hard on the CV boot cup. Due to the different design, the middle hole is much smaller than the CV's diameter, where the clip used to be on the first 2 gens. The shaft hits on the cup and bends it, causing the clip to come off with the help of the wide angle I need. You can see the bends here:

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My axles are so far back this is the angle it's at:

53254


Now after the entire alignment is messed up, I have no idea if these shafts will rub when the car will be on the ground, I don't know where the alignment should be and I don't know where's full extension. The problem is not under compression, it's under extension.

My ground clearance was set at 5in. I decided to lower it 1in, but I can't cuz the black rings onto which the springs sit are too tight due to the spring compression. When I turn the ring, the long black sleeve turns as well. Can't use a vice, the sleeve turns anyway! I'm stuck on that now.

Then I thought I could use the R ride height at the back, the distance between the S and R suspension holes is 1in and I need to raise the entire suspension components to clear the CV cups. I wonder if I can have S ride height at front and R in the back, with ground clearance being the same overall. Not sure.

My other option is to ship back for a 3rd time the axles and ask for the previous CV boot design. Then I need to grind a lot the spindle and maybe cutting an entire portion out of it (the portion with a small curvature on top of the very long lateral links' bolt).

Spent 8.5h today and I removed more than I installed.

One thing's for sure, the car ain't gonna start for a while. :( I knew the axles would be the biggest challenge, but that is now way more than just big... I'm exhausted about this thing.


I can't push the gearbox forward, it would hit on the 1.5in lateral bar (the one you guys have your engine mounts soldered onto).
I can't raise the engine and push it fwd, it will be worse on the CV boot.
I can't lower the gearbox, the starter is already under the frame and the bell housing is maybe 1/16 over the lateral frame bar.

[Hindsight]

Darn Frank, sorry to see so many snags!

That forward angle looks like it will be awfully hard on the CV joints. I'm thinking at this point that you may have to move the engine/transmission forward, and consider whatever frame modifications are required to make that happen.

[Frank818]

Thought about it, I'm ready to break a CV before I move onto major frame modifs. I would break the CV on track while I would test drive the car, so less dangerous than on the street.

Moving fwd I would lose all the FW bars. Even the 1.5in lateral one at the top where we bolt the inner top rear FW alu panel. That is serious as I would also need to modify the top rear FW alu panel and of course the fuel tank. We're talking 3in fwd, the engine would be 0.5in inside the cockpit, plus 2in more for the new bars design.
Then moving fwd may or may not fix the issue, if not, then the gearbox is high. Dropping it requires maybe 2in to get good clearance cuz it doesn't move a lot on the CV side. 2in lower and my starter would be at 2in from the ground. No way that's gonna work. Not mentioning completely re-designing the Subaru engine mount 1.5in lateral bar.

It's a complete re-design of the rear end if I do that, probably the body as well if I decide to lengthen the rear instead of moving the engine fwd. Actually that sounds easier than moving the engine fwd.

I'd rather get the old style CV boot, grind the spindles and see how it drives. With the old style CVs the movement was a little more so I would not bet at full angle.

[wleehendrick]

Wow, that's quite an angle... looks like you almost need a portal axle (rotated horizontal)!

[BN]

This is sad

[Bob_n_Cincy]

Frank
The front axle CV joint can handle greater angle than that. Think about when the steering wheel is at full lock on the inside wheel.

In your picture, does the part that looks yellow cadmium plated. Can the hole be larger?
Also, with the shock installed, will the hub droop that low?
Bob

[Frank818]

Bob, the shaft is now limited by that yellow zinc plated cup, the hole where the boot is clipped is a LOT smaller than the size of the CV end, where the clip used to be. When it was there, it was hitting on the spindle and I couldn't spin the hub. They changed for that small boot and now the shaft hits the cup. Having HARD time trying to align the wheels to see if it's acceptable or not. So far I have 2mm of play at ride height with a so-so alignment. That is very very close.

I can't make the hole larger myself, I'd need a different boot for sure.

No when shock installed the blue lower lateral links are parallel to ground or a little aiming upwards, which is perfect for me. That's where I get 2mm of play.

I try to do my alignment to see exactly what play I'll be left with but it's so hard, I posted on Suspension cuz I wonder how to get the wheels square, same distance front of wheel and back of wheel so that I can do a proper toe adjustment. Toe plays a HUGE role in the shaft's clearance, I need to get it perfect and then see if I can run or not.

[Frank818]

Some more pix when I was able to get 2mm of play, but then I wasn't sure my wheels started off square, cuz my left tire was stuck on the trailing arm, I suspect my wheels where sideways and I adjusted toe based on that.

The blue links in the pix are when the car is at its lowest, which is 3.75in. I raised it up to 4.5 now.


5330153302533035330453305


I'm taking some indigenous Quebec herbs premium dry gin right now, from the bottle, cuz this build is really hard. I still think I can make it, but it's so damn hard. Without this forum help I would fail miserably, though. lolll

[Frank818]

Ok, I'm going with it. It's EXTREME and probably no one on this forum would accept that. I don't, but I need to get this **** registered! It's most probably driveable (nothing tells me it won't), it's F1 extreme precision and clearance/tolerance, but since these parts don't move (other than spin) there's no reason for a problem.

After almost 25h of shaft fitting and wheel alignment, this is the best result I can come up with.


At ride height, lateral links are parallel to ground, although on the second pic it doesn't look much, I can tell yes. I also ensured each side's links are perfectly parallel to each other (at 10.5" from gound, btw). Ride height is set at 4.5" rear, as I can't get the front lower than 4.7" or something, I don't understand why as FFR recommends 4.5" (to frame or to body?).

5337553376


This is my full geek techno 4-corner square system, oh yeah baby.

53377



Surprise!!!! My 10mm front LCA spacers (TNX A LOT CRAIG 0DB, if you read this) gave me camber I wasn't expecting! The most camber at front I can get on driver's side is -0.80deg, which I'm fine with, it's more than what FFR recommends. I don't need to cut those upper A-arms' studs! Passenger's max camber was -1.50deg!!! I lowered it to match -0.80 of course.

53378


Ok my shaft problem. Drive shaft that is. Car drive shaft. Gee, we always need to have no double meaning when we talk to guys. lolll After exhausting alignment, I have 2mm of play at ride height and maybe 0.5mm when the suspension is so high that the wheel is barely touching the ground, which is a little more than what a car should ever see (unless I jump!!!). When I lift the wheel completely, it touches gently the CV boot cup. That's not very good, but since there is clearance when the shaft spins in any normal condition, I'm accepting it. Plus, nothing will blow up if it rubs, the cup will bend, the boot will probably pop off, some dirt might go inside the CV, so what, I'll take a look often at the CV and I'll see!
I may ask DSS to find a different solution even if I need to grind the spindles, but I can't wait now another 2 months before I start that engine. I know I can get the car registered with this and drive it, carefully, so I'm moving ahead as is.

5337953380


I realized TOE has a HUUUUGE effect on the gap between the shaft and CV boot cup, so I went more than FFR's recommendation of 3/16 total, I went to 4/16, which is pretty much the max, more than that and tire wear should be quite noticeable. But driveability should be about the same, compromise accepted. I told ya, this build is a build of compromises, sad but that's how it is. I'll make that VR6 turbo fit, period.

I also set rear camber at -0.20, FFR recommends min of -0.25. The less camber I have the more gap between shaft and cup and since I need maximum tire contact to surface, more camber wasn't an option much.

Now I need to put back the popped-off boot on the CV, could take 5mins or 5hours if I need to remove the suspension to get the axle completely off, buy a clip (3 weeks delivery certainly) and fit it.



And this is the thing that helped me worked in the past 2 days.

53381



I know I'm crazy. Not for the gin but for what's above.

[DSR-3]

Thanks for posting about your efforts. Keep plugging away!
I like the string-buckets! No yelling at the kids when the kick a jack-stand.
At some point, you should safety wire the bolts on your inner CV joints. The can loosen- been there...
*When you wrote about indigenous Quebec herbs- I did NOT think you meant Nordic Juniper!

[Hindsight]

Frank, it looks like you have not made much of a dent in that bottle :cool:

I too like the string bucket idea. Much more stable and less wobbly than jack stands. I'm going to have to borrow that idea!

[choobs]

You just can't catch a break on this build Frank. I'll tip a few sniffer glasses of gin back just for this build. Looks like you are still making progress though and haven't thrown in the towel so that is a plus! :)

[Frank818]

I should have been giving a little more details on the Quebec Herbs, yeah. :)

It's actually my 2nd bottle, there was some left in another one. :) It's gone, now. The 1st bottle I mean, not the second. :)

I failed to prove the strings are very precise, I couldn't re-conciliate the results by other means, but it's precise enough (good enough) for now and I'm pretty sure I won't feel it on the road, so it's fine for registration and then driving to an alignment shop. Maybe driving all the time too, I'll see. Worst case tires will wear faster but do you think I care about tires? That's so easy to get and replace compared to all the issues I'm going through. :)



I have made more progress:

In the end I couldn't put the clip back on the boot. :( The cup is too damaged, can't have it perfectly round again. Plus, the lip is smaller than the rubber where the clip tightens, the clip is 1/4" and the lip is almost 1/8 or 3/16. Therefore not possible to have it on again, it pops off within secs after I put the clip on.

I mailed DSS (we've exchanged 96 emails on that thread since my order in Sept) and asked to ship me 2 normal boots with a set of clips. I will remove the outer boots, remove the yellow cup and fit a standard boot on with pinch-style clips (http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/data/attachments/30/30471-1cb1bf91bace6d0c8898bbd09de887bc.jpg) and crush the metal bit where you pinch so that it will clear, should clear, the spindle. If it doesn't, I'll cut a section off of the spindle, or grind it. Basically going back to my previous CV setup, except I will use a different clip and will do it myself with my mech. Not sending the axles back for a 3rd time.

[Frank818]

Front Camber-Caster-Tire rubbing solved!

I would like to thank VERY MUCH CRAIG from ZERO DB!!!

The LCA spacers I asked him to reproduce based on the design I had solved 3 issues in one easy step, preventing me from spending a lot of time and work on fixing the issues by other means.

He doesn't show those spacers on his website, but it works only with the 2006 alu LCAs.

I have more than the recommended camber. I didn't measure caster yet but to eye I can clearly see the wheel tilting at full lock and I still have adjustment possible on the A-arms. And then my 215/40/17 leave over 5mm of clearance to the frame at full lock. Sure it might be close with the alu panel on, but I can easily use a 2 to 5mm wheel spacer on the hubs if I really need it.

I consider these 3 potential "issues" solved before they could ever happen, all that tnx to Craig, the CNC guy with 3 kids. (oops! It's actually 1 and half kid at the time of writing this, I had it totally wrong)


That's one solution that worked a lot better than expected on this build. :)

[Mechie3]

Whoa whoa whoa! I have the kids now? That explains a lot.

Glad those worked out!

[longislandwrx]

Now I need to put back the popped-off boot on the CV, could take 5mins or 5hours if I need to remove the suspension to get the axle completely off, buy a clip (3 weeks delivery certainly) and fit it.


can you push the inner side of the boot closer to the hub? it would be less likely to pull off if it had some pressure on it.

cant you just pick up a universal boot clamp at the autopart store to get you rolling?

[Frank818]

can you push the inner side of the boot closer to the hub? it would be less likely to pull off if it had some pressure on it.

cant you just pick up a universal boot clamp at the autopart store to get you rolling?

No, the boot doesn't go any further than the small lip, for 2 reasons, any more and it would have so much extension it wouldn't stay with my 4" axle angle stretching even more the boots, and the boot diameter is too small to move over the next section of the cup. It's really a bad design for my setup.

I tried the universal clamps (2) this morning and it doesn't stay on anymore, it slides off after a few secs, the cup is no more perfectly round so the clip doesn't fit perfect. I tried hammering gently on the lip to bring it as round as possible but it's not 100% and now the boot slides off by its own stretching force. Even if I get it on, I'm sure it will come off once I roll, I really need a better solution.

[longislandwrx]

looks like theres a pretty deep channel where the boot goes, did you try using some safety wire and twisting until it pulls the boot into the groove?

[Frank818]

We only tried 3 clips. When tightening the clip, it actually pulls the boot off the cup instead of into the grooves. Probably cuz the lip has rolled and bent. The more I unbend the lip, the less clearance I will have on the shaft, I can't unbend more than what it is now.

On the run it's safer to use a different boot, but it would have been great to roll the car a little then remove all the suspension to remove the shafts and swap to newer boots.

[Frank818]

Hey LongIslanders(Rangers), I tried your trick with safety wires. Same result, the boot pops out by itself.

Contacted DSS, they will ship me boots and clips.


However, I am the happiest man on earth that I still have those axles issues.
Redfogo contacted me about how I wired my alternator with InfinityBox. Couldn't remember, went and checked and I guess what, I wired the 4 or 6-gauge positive wire to... THE FRAME!!!!!!! Yeah, THE FRAME!!!! Sounds like the title of a blockbuster horror movie, but starting up the engine without fixing this would have destroyed my entire build! He just saved my build!!

[Frank818]

While I am again waiting for parts (CV boots), I started working on the body, without rear wheels on (little risk here, to not know where the wheels are centered)

Uh, I'm shocked. Impressed. There's no real challenge. lolll Panels seem to fit pretty well without forcing anything. Just the rear of lower front fenders I have to change shape in order to push them on the side sails. Besides, I have a 1/4" gap challenge on the top-of-door-to-hump-lid section and a little too much clearance around the nose insert and fenders.

All these seem to be pretty easy to fix. I'm used to fight against major challenges every day for the past 2 years and now that I've started the body, it's so easy! I won't complain.


54044540455405154052540485404954050



Anybody could tell me your measurements on these 3?

540415404254043

[Frank818]

The new nose is awesome. The panels quality is a notch above chassis #181, they glassed the inside of the panels, which looks glossy and prevents most fibre from fibreglass to poke through your fingers. The gel coat is also smoother with much less asperities than #181. I wish all my panels were like this, thumbs up FFR (btw my driver vs pass fenders are exactly the same length or not more than 1/4" which is easily adjustable)


54054540555405654057540585405954060540615406254063

[Frank818]

So the gaps are great, easily adjustable. So far besides 2-3 adjustments that require a little more time, there is nothing major. No challenge at all with the body, which is contrasting, I've been fighting every day (and every night when it woke me up) for 2 freakin years trying to fit the VR6 and now the body is like child's play. Not that I'm complaining.

540645406554066


My panels have been sitting on the ground for 2 damn years. Why are they in so good shape? Well maybe FFR built them correctly to start with, but for the rest, I think it's a matter of how they are stored. I put something smooth underneath all panels, something that would take the shape of the panel based on gravity. I re-used paper/bubble wrap from FFR's boxes (god knows we got a LOT of it) and I think it helped. 1st pic is the hood and 2nd is driver's side side sail with the doors on the background. Mind the bike, this is for winter training on a roller. :)

5406754068

[svanlare]

It is about time something went together easy! I only have one panel attached at the moment, and I'm thrilled seeing it look more car shaped. With all of them on, that has to feel great. Love seeing it coming together.

[Frank818]

Tnx Steve, yeah the feeling is a lot different and I think I'm going to enjoy playing around with body panels, on the contrary to what I always thought. How ****ing ironic since most people seemed to have sweared a lot when it came to body fitment.

Let me tell you after fitting one rear wheel in the fender and looking at the look, that felt awesome. The rear looks fat I love it and the 265s are flush-flush with the fender, based on the even gaps between fender and humps lid (that may slightly change). I'd even say the very outside of the sidewall is slightly outside the fender but all the threads are inside, it's pretty cool.

On the front, there is plenty of space to push the wheels to the outside, adding spacers or wider tires or both. I may well use 225/40s instead of 215/40s.


However I suggest not to secure or drill holes on the body until you get a good alignment on all 4 wheels.
Caster could change how the front wheels get centered in the fender and rear lower/upper trailing links can also change that. I realized this morning.

Since my rear wheels are pulled backwards to accomodate the bad CV boot config (clearance required), I am losing about what I need to gain back in order to have the rear wheels centered. I'm hoping my new boots will allow me to push the rear wheels 1/8" to 1/4" fwd, which is what I need to have the lateral links parallel to their frame brackets and then centered in the fenders.

Then on the front I know the caster is not fully adjusted yet I may gain the very small shift backwards I have at the moment. Although leaving them as is probably no one would notice.

But to perform my alignment I need my axles on! For about the 5th time in 7 months my axles are slowing me down. I am expecting the new boots to come in tomorrow and if I'm lucky by Sat 28th my axles would be on the car again and everything will cascade: good wheel alignment, engine starting, fixing leaks (but of course), body alignment, body install, interior finish, etc.

In the meantime I was able to fill the gap between the humps lid and top of side sails where the doors close. Easy as 1-2-3+dremel. :)


2 things are left unknown so far, one will probably be my biggest body challenge:

1- I don't know yet how to know if I get the height of the front panels (fenders and nose insert) right (ground clearance correct and even all around the front);
2- The stupid gas filler tube needs to be pushed a lot fwd and it seems to be too high wrt the hole I drilled for the cap. It was working when I aligned all that a while back but now it doesn't and I wonder what changed. I've seen harder ordeals on this build but it's the fuel tube, it has to be perfectly secured and without much stress I don't want this thing to fail on me. If it fails from the bottom on the tank, you know what happens next.

[Frank818]

Just bought this: http://www.topgear.com/car-news/motorsport/10000bhp-camaro-funny-car-will-do-0-330mph-4s

Now, who thinks I'm saying the truth? loll

[STiPWRD]

On the front, there is plenty of space to push the wheels to the outside, adding spacers or wider tires or both. I may well use 225/40s instead of 215/40s.

You're running 17's in front right? For some reason no one makes 225/40/17 tires (unless you want hoosier slicks). It's either 215/40/17 or 235/40/17.


Just bought this: http://www.topgear.com/car-news/motorsport/10000bhp-camaro-funny-car-will-do-0-330mph-4s

Now, who thinks I'm saying the truth? loll
hah, why do they even bother calling it a camero

[Bob_n_Cincy]

hah, why do they even bother calling it a camero

MONEY, It's a bait and switch when you get to the dealership.

Why does Nascar still call them STOCK cars?

[Frank818]

You're running 17's in front right? For some reason no one makes 225/40/17 tires (unless you want hoosier slicks). It's either 215/40/17 or 235/40/17.

Oh crap you're absolutely right I totally forgot about that possibility. Then 225/40/18 (25" OD) or 235/40/17 (24.3" OD) or 225/45/17 (24.8" OD). Don't like the last option, probably too fatty sidewalls relative to width and first option is probably too tall to fit easily without rubbing (plus I need new rims which are discontinued if I recall). I'll put that aside and come back on tires only if front wheels lock up too often.



Why does Nascar still call them STOCK cars?

Now that's interesting!

[Frank818]

The axles are done. Done, done. If they fail, it's a design problem on my end.

Got my boots and clamps from DSS. I asked for extra clamps. He sent extra BOOTS and clamps along with 2 CV grease cups, the kind you pee in for labo exam, except there wasn't any pee in.

Right. So DSS what great, all that for free + free Canada shipping. And it worked.

I had to crush on the clamp tiny bit you squeeze to tighten it, to make sure it wouldn't rub on the spindle. In fact, I was expecting some grinding but NO, nothing at all! **** all, like we say. I made a dance. Then on the second boot, same thing, no grinding required! Another dance.

I have much more play on the CVs! More than what my angles are at, which is perfect, means I'm not reaching the limits. So far they both spin and the boots don't come off! This thing is over after 7 months of R&D.

Took 6h to re-install both spindles/axles. Left a few cuts on both my hands but hey. Oh, I forgot to attach the e-brake cables. Yes I have to remove the red-loctited-calipers botls for the what 7-8th time. Oh well.

Now I can adjust the wheels to fit centered in the fenders. Need alignment on all 4 wheels again, pour coolant in, oil in and it's ready for a start. Probably around May 29th if weather is good and I don't screw up on something.

542095421654211542125421354215

[mikeb75]

Super anxious for your start-up. Ready to kart it then also?

[svanlare]

great news.

Remember, we need video!

[Rasmus]

I can imagine the R&D nightmare getting those axles correct has been. Good on you.

[Hindsight]

Congrats Frank! Long time coming.

[BN]

great news.

Remember, we need video!

I agree

[Frank818]

Super anxious for your start-up. Ready to kart it then also?

Anxious and nervous I am. I know my hand will shake when I'll press the START button on my tablet.


Remember, we need video!

Oh yeah! I need that too, I have to immortalize the 1st start, even it's not starting or constantly stalling. lolll


I can imagine the R&D nightmare getting those axles correct has been. Good on you.

Tnx. Yeah a nightmarem took 4 generations. I mean not my great-grand-father, grand-father, father and me (succeeding), but rather 4 gens of axles. :)
It's similar to your engine nightmare issues. :( But you too are getting out of it.



Update on Steps before 1st start:
1- Getting my rear spindles ready
2- Installing axles and rear spindles
3- Completing wiring
4- Plugging wiring
5- Finishing coolant lines
6- Stiffening throttle cable
7- Upgrading my InfinitiBox with new rules
8- Installing shift cables
9- Fixing shifter brackets
10- Installing tunnel cover and rear ebrake cover
11- Completing AWIC tank support bracket
12- Bleeding brakes
13- Fixing and Bleeding clutch
14- Fixing rear shock tower brace
15- Filling engine with oil
16- Filling trans with oil
17- Filling engine with coolant
18- Temporary installing dash and console to test all gauges
19- Upgrading ECU to latest software
20- Tuning a few ECU parms
21- Testing wiring
22- Fixing DSS CV issue
23- Replacing front spindles
24- Somehow attaching my phone somewhere on the car so I can use both hands to control my laptop (ECU), tablet (car), shifter and s/w at the same time
25- First start!

Nothing is preventing me from first start. Up to my own time now.

[Frank818]

I forgot to mention.

Found a better trick, more precise, for the alignment. On my floor, as you can see on various pix on this page and previous ones, I have tiles. 1'x1' tiles. They form a perfect line between tiles and all the way front-back of the garage. I put the frame perfectly parallel to these lines and adjusted square all 4 wheels independently, using the lines on each side of the frame. A complete alignment took me 3h, much much faster than the 1st time with strings and 5-gal tanks.

My only challenge is the rear right wheel. It's less than 1/8 clearance to the lower trailing arm. Left one has plenty, not sure why that difference. I need a tad over 3/16 clearance to pass inspection. Wheel spacer won't do the trick, cuz my tire is already a little bit outside the fender after I tested with the rear covers and bumper on. I think a 2mm spacer, which would bring me just over 3/16, would push out the tire too much. I'm not sure if I modify the forward spacers of the trailing arm if it'd help much. I could cut the left spacer and push the arm inside the engine bay but how much do I need to get 2mm, I have to check.
Pushing the wheel out with the lower lateral links doesn't help much, I have to then use the upper link to reduce camber (4-deg of camber at the back! lolll) but I'm close to being out of threads.

[choobs]

Great news, Frank! Can't wait to hear this beast run and see you karting around a bit!

[Frank818]

Ready to kart it then also?

I plan on karting it until it's all stable. I'm not equipped to move the car around I need a towing so the less I do the better, although I'm sure it will be a lot of fun to kart.

[Frank818]

No engine start for another while.

While pouring coolant through the head, after about 5L it started to leak. Badly. At the second worst place: the thermostat housing. It's still leaking as we speak, into an oven pan which I hope will be sufficient.

I estimate an 8-hour job to fix this thing and clean the engine, lateral link, gearbox bell housing, wires, oil coolant hoses, etc.

[Frank818]

Not much. Waiting on better clamps for my coolant hoses.

After the double thermostat housing leak, I removed most parts and re-did the sealing.

5459054591

All my hoses under 1" diameter leaked around the clamps. The worm ones I was using were just ****. Bought some t-bolts from UK instead of China so that I will get them this week instead of in a month.

Poured oil in engine and oil cooler. Seems ok so far.

Installed dash with gauges and everything electric, for my first start. And my fuel gauge fix is working!


While I was there I tested my new 40w 4000lumens (each) LED H9 bulbs. They have a fan that illuminates red. Super White. They seems to work pretty well. Low beam on the 2nd pic below and high beam on the 3rd pic. There were 12000lumens bulbs but I won't drive at night often (maybe once per 5 years?).

54592545935459454595

Had to remove the glass around the bulb to slide it in the hole. It's a bad design cuz the socket is glued on the rubber around the bulb. If you install them and remove them 3-4 times like I did, the glue fails. I fixed it.

High beam shutter is slow. When you flash high beams it's not as quick as non-projector lights.

[Hindsight]

Nice looking lights!

[Frank818]

Yeah, ****, I wanted a simple electric system, one that draws as least as possible. 40w is still less than the std 55w halogen so that's good. And unlike those 25yo VW headlights, it's also 40w as high beams! Tnx to projector headlamps. My upgraded Euro Corrado headlights were 90w/100w!!! Now I got 40w/40w. lolll Technology, technology... can't live without. I remember at first when I was powering those 200w high beams after a few seconds the fuse would blow up and shut all my lights including low beams. lolll Good old modified VWs! :) I miss my Corrado. For now...


Yeah 32 bucks US a set, man. Advice for everyone, when buying LED headlights, you "must" not be fooled by those 7watts bulbs. They are ****ing **** as headlights, even though the description often says "headlights" or "low beams". Those 5 bucks bulbs, ****ing crap as headlights.

A std headlight bulb is about 3000 lumens. Watts as LED vs watts as halogen = not the same at all. On top of that, it's not cuz the LED bulb has 30w that it's gonna be sufficient. You have to look at lumens. I've seen 30w LED bulbs and they claimed 1800 lumens. Not enough to me.

[Aero STI]

Those LED lights look pretty legitimate. Do you have a link?

[Frank818]

Sure thing Andrew.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/272156154495?item=272156154495

That ebay seller (fastandfurious06) really is fast and furious! From HK in about 5-7 business days! Never seen that.

I like those LEDs so much I'm going to buy a set of H1s for my Impreza, which I do use at night once in a while.

[STiPWRD]

Sure thing Andrew.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/272156154495?item=272156154495

That ebay seller (fastandfurious06) really is fast and furious! From HK in about 5-7 business days! Never seen that.

I like those LEDs so much I'm going to buy a set of H1s for my Impreza, which I do use at night once in a while.

Thanks for posting, I'll have to take closer look at these. The light output and color seem similar to the HID bulbs I was looking at but these LED bulbs would save me the trouble of dealing with ballasts.

[Frank818]

1475h later...............


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEPE2dCiMi8&feature=youtu.be

Hummm, no explosion or pop of any kind... That's fuel or spark, cuz I know compression is already fine.
Spark works fine, I can see the sparks off of the plugs when I test them outside their holes. I'm sure it's fuel. The cyls are dry after 10-12 crank attempts! Well, let's try with some gas, just in case I see a difference.


https://youtu.be/HaywmS0HMas


No difference. After all, I swapped the ****ing fuel lines, the IN was in the OUT and OUT in the IN. Grrrrrrrrr



https://youtu.be/kFLoTI-3Am8

Ok now that works! I've ressucitated the engine. It's been totally dry for 2 years so it takes a while to get back to stable, plus I figured out my fuel map needs to be completely redone! I needed to increase by about 40% my fuel at idle! That's a lot. But it ran at idle for 3-4mins, water temps reaching almost 50C.

Then, I saw some fumes coming out, thought it was left over oil burning on the turbo, but... no!!



https://youtu.be/aywhL9jpe98


Ok, time for a shut down.



Sorry I don't have a 30sec+ engine sound video, it wasn't easy with my cell phone taped on the roll bar.


Results of these many engine starts:

Issues and misses found:
- Found 1 major coolant leak and 3 minor ones

- The above major yielded to a bit of coolant inside the starter ring gear and who knows maybe the clutch. This will seize it most probably, which means I'll have to follow a procedure to unseize it (no need to remove trans, thank god!)

- Slightly leaking VW coolant reservoir

- Oil low/high warning light constantly blinking on the cluster after engine start
- Can't engage ANY gear when engine is running

- Very slightly leaking clutch slave (had a major fail on the master last year and now something on the slave. That's 0 on 2)

- One very small oil leak around one oil pan bolt

Other hits and comments:
- Burned a little my hand when I needed to flush my coolant in order to prevent 1-1.5gals to leak from the thermostat housing. Yeah I needed to remove all of the exhaust for that, hence the heat!
- The Porsche racing starter is awesome and really quick. Plus, it makes a really nice sound. You may think I'm dumb, but starter sound is important to me. Listen to those Hondas how crappy the cranking sound is!!! (at least for 90's 00's models) Well that's it.

- After some Neanderthal fuel map adjustments, the engine starts quicker and with more punch than when on my Corrado. Look promising after a real map!
- Even if my fuel map was raw, the idle was damn stable at cold engine start. I've always had issues on the Corrado when cold, it was hard to crank, hard to rev up at cranking and always oscillating up and down on the RPM for a few secs. Nothing like that here, it cranks and increases RPMs as fast as a shooting gun and comes back to stable idle, vrrrrOUUUMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmm like that, perfectly OEM. This engine configuration has a lot of potential!
- Battery can crank and crank and crank and crank without the need to recharge and without losing power (Optima red top)
- Not too much carbon coming out of the exhaust (less than on the Corrado with a MUCH longer exhaust)
- Engine is NOT vibrating/moving at all. The awesome engine mounts are keeping it right in place and I don't really feel the car vibrating either
- No clearance issues around the bottom of the gearbox (about 1/16 in 3-4 places between gearbox and frame)
- Engine sound. hahahahahah really? Well, it's quieter than expected for one! It rumbles, a bit like you guys with your Subaru's. But differently. It's deep too, of course with a 3" all the way. No pops. No unwanted frequencies (just like the muffler claimed). Very stable sound wave prediction, once you hear the pattern, predictable, the engine seems happy (I'm not, yet). On the video you can hear it too close to the lifters so you mostly hear the lifters clicking. Typical cell phone recording of a typical VR6, more higher freqs and less low freqs. More on the sound once I fix my issues.


I've got potential solutions for all issues. Time (again!!) will tell.

I admit that I went through a LOT of issues on this build. And not one simple thing has gone right the first time. That's hard on the will to continue, but I won't stop, I'm unstoppable.

[AZPete]

Congrats, Frank! It's been a long haul and you found a few kinks but remember that a LOT of things were done right to make the engine run. I always look forward to your posts and I've learned a lot from them. Congrats on this milestone! You deserve a cool one.

[mikeb75]

Obligatory congrats on the first start! Actually, more than that- you've earned it!

[STiPWRD]

Great job Frank! It's been a long time coming, but I'm sure it was worth it.

[redfogo]

Great job Frank! Making great progress! Sounding pretty sweet! Your shop looks so clean wish I could say the same!
Have you tried to just do a pressure test on the coolant system? Before I started mine I rented a pressure tester from autozone. It helped me find the small leaks that I know I would not have found without a big mess. Some also only started leaking after 10psi of pressure so it helped find those as well. They also work great for getting coolant into all the right places.

[Frank818]

Tnx guys. It's true there's more positive than negative.

Although one last milestone for left me, the real one: rolling the car with the axles. Because of the angle, this project cannot be a success until I ensure the axles can take the angle. Now it's a matter of fixing my clutch, I hope the Subaru clutch pedal has enough travel to push enough fluid volume into the Porsche C4 slave. That's why I can't engage gears, the clutch isn't fully depressed. I'm now over the max on the C bracket screwed to the clutch pedal rod, I think half the threads aren't threaded. Hopefully that'll work. Lengthening the rod? Yes, but how much more before I bottom the inner piston.

Too late for pressure tester now. lolll After 15psi all leaks have shown up. :) But granted would have been a great idea.

[Canadian818]

Congratulations Frank, it's been quite the journey! Keep at it, I can't wait for your go-cart vid, what's left before you attempt it?

[Harley818]

Hey nice work Frank. The journey is great, but reaching milestones is even better!

[Hindsight]

Congrats Frank!

[svanlare]

Great job and congrats on the first start! As Pete pointed out, a huge amount of things need to be right to get to this point, now you are on to the debugging stage instead of the getting it working stage. The engine sounds great so definitely looking forward to the next video when you have things sorted a bit more.


1475h later...............
I threw out my spreadsheet for both hours and $$$ at some point, I'm much happier not knowing :)

Congrats again on the start!

[Bob_n_Cincy]

Good Job Frank.
Blazing new paths takes time.
Bob

[Mechie3]

I threw out my spreadsheet for both hours and $$$ at some point, I'm much happier not knowing :)

Congrats again on the start!

Ditto! Congrats on the start, and I also threw out my spreadsheet, and the video camera. Haha!

Person A: "how much have you spent on your car?"
Me: "I stopped counting around $20k"
Person A: "oh, so I can build one for $20k?"
Person B: "No, that's just when he stopped counting"

:D

[Frank818]

Tnx guys. I don't mind counting the time, I want to know how long it'll take for such R&D. I stopped on the money, although I still invest bits and pieces every month but it's never a lot. There's WAY too much R&D involved to give me a max $ on the build. Speaking of which, I now found 2 weird issues I'm out of ideas for and was wondering if you guys know more than me on that.

But first, a video!!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gN4lamBI79Q&feature=youtu.be

What's left, Adam?
Well, who knows! Once I fix something, I found another problem, so I can't tell what's next cuz I can't guess what other issues I'll hit before go-kart.

Here are some. Now that the coolant is fixed, the oil is fixed and I can idle the engine no problem (although it runs at 1200rpm with 70C temps, still requires adjustments but doesn't prevent me from starting), I found 2 issues I am not really happy about.

1- My flex bellow leaks! In the video on the far left you can see the fumes, it's almost like someone smoking cigarette. Why would a new bellow leak like that and what can I do to fix it without re-doing the exhaust or removing the bellow? Wrap with lava wrap?

2- I think the Subaru clutch is incompatible with the Porsche gearbox. I am now bottoming out the piston and I still need more pressure on the slave to engage gears. I was able to engage 2-3-4th (didn't try 5th) and roll the car fwd ONE inch, but in R when I try to roll the shifter shakes, the gear's not in fully. 1st doesn't exist, that may be a different problem. I need to get more pressure on the slave. Maybe my small leak on the slave reduces pressure? And maybe I still got air in the system?


I also realized how HOT my coolant hoses above the muffler get. The car is just at idle, not even at operating temps, and the hoses are super hot. I reckon some parts of them are less than 1" from the muffler but I'll have to find a solution to get them away and protect them better. I knew going overkill on the heat protection wasn't an option. I need to go double overkill now.

Engine makes a lot of constant grey smoke, probably fuel adjustments required.

[Hindsight]

Very cool Frank - you are getting closer. You will definitely have one of the most uniquely powered 818s out there when finished, and the sound..... oh the sound. Not sure why but the VR6 has always been a favorite of mine when it comes to sound. I remember when they first came out, I was in my early 20's driving various 4 cylinder VWs... 16v, 8v, 1.8, 2.0 liters etc, in MK1s and MK2s. A friend of mine had a 1995 OBDI VR6 GTI. With just a chip, removing passenger seat, and removing the headlight in front of the air filter, he ran a 14.7 in the 1/4 which was real fast for back then. Another friend put a VF Engineering supercharger kit on his and was basically the fastest thing on the road at the time. I have a lot of love for the VW VR6 engine, though I only had two cars car with one: First a '97 Jetta GLX which I had a few years and then traded for a 20v VR6 in a 2003 GLI. I still miss that GLI. The best all-around car I have owned and the first car I bought new.

http://i.imgur.com/7Zekuk6h.jpg


So do you have a goal date for first go-kart? I quite setting date goals because I never made them and would just get angry lol.

[RM1SepEx]

Frank, I can relate, I've done everything at least 2 times. Feels great to get that first breath of life! Nice gob, congrats!

[Canadian818]

It's a long journey, but it'll be worth it. It can be a real kick in the pants though seeing how seemingly easy others would appear to have it. I've spent a few full days now in the garage trying to finish up the brakes, and in the meantime Wayne has built an entire car!

[Frank818]

I flushed my coolant 5 times, ****. 5 times a mess. lolll

Yeah there's something about not using a Subaru engine that makes builds very hard to complete. And the poor Dan did the entire body twice! The more I think about it, the more you have to be crazy to fit a totally different engine that has yet no recipe for completion.

I was so stubborn I wanted SOUND, cuz it's open top and it's a toy. Not much can beat the VR6 on the sound/price ratio and it's also relatively compact, now I understand how VW fitted a V6 into the engine bay of 4cyls!

I think you meant 24v VR6 into your 2003 GLI? :) And for some reason, the VR never sounded the same into a Golf, Jetta or Passat than Corrado. There was something about that exhaust in the Corrado... or was it just me. Although the R32 was quite special too.

Goals? Gee... Go-kart goal, I can't have any, cuz I have no idea yet what the hell is going on with the gearbox. If I have to bring the car to my mech's shop, go-kart will be in 2017! And completion in 2018. If he needs to remove the trans, I'll pay him BIG BUCKS to do it in my home garage and leave with the trans in the trunk of his or my car. I have to keep the car here to work on the body, but I don't have the mind to work on the body until we decide what to do with the trans, it's making me very very nervous. This trans is Porsche damn it and my mech has rebuilt a lot of them, the last thing I was expecting not to work is the trans.

These R&D builds are FULL of very bad devils in the details. Meaner than Bart Simpson.

[RM1SepEx]

Frank, I've had my engine out because of a knocking sound from a roll over donor and pulled apart the transaxle 6 times.... it's all just what happens when you start with unknown stuff.

[Hindsight]

Hah, yeah, that's right, 24 valve. Not sure how one would put 20 valves in a 6 cylinder hahah.

[Frank818]

Damn, Dan! 6 times the trans?? Ok well I'll be getting there soon enough. lollll Yeah everything's unknown on my build, I have to accept that.

Mr Atlanta, 20v on a 6cyl is easy, it's 3.33 valves per cyl, basically you get 4 cyls with 4 valves and 2 cyls with 2. That would be a freakin weird head/cam combo, eh? lolll


Right so on the flex bellow leak, probably just some chemical product burning, as I didn't have that smoke on my previous 60C engine warm up and now at 71C I do (and I had coolant leak on the exhaust previously). Plus, the fumes go straight up, slowly, without any velocity, which is really not what's happening 4in after the turbo. I think I'm ok.

On the trans and clutch. Well, I'm rebuilding my ****ing clutch line and re-bleeding the entire ****ing system. Buying a new 5ft line to get rid of the twist in the line which may cause less fluid to flow. Then I have bought this thing:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdf--suwqw0

http://www.bmpdesign.com/product-exec/product_id/8577

Should help me bleeding. Apparently the Porsche stuff is hard to bleed and if not perfect gears may be hard to engage. Since I did it by hand with the normal downhill-air-exit and it was the 1st time in my ****ing life, there's not ****ing way I could have done it right.

Texas product, viva USA!

[Frank818]

Why is it the above link shows up a thumbnail but my personal videos don't? That's not fair, FFR forum! :(

[choobs]

its always 1 thing going well with this project and 4 things going wrong! But it starts, it didn't catch fire yet...so there is light at the end of the tunnel once the clutch/gearbox situation is taken care of! I think if I were to do a similar build, I'd find a way to mate the STI box with the VR6 and deal with figuring out a clutch solution over the axle/trans issues you are having here. But still, big accomplishment to have the car this far Frank!


I flushed my coolant 5 times, ****. 5 times a mess. lolll

That is just the VW ownership experience!


And for some reason, the VR never sounded the same into a Golf, Jetta or Passat than Corrado. There was something about that exhaust in the Corrado... or was it just me.

the VR6 was also in the Passat of Corrado vintage, probably sounded just as good! I think the Corrado just has much less sound reducing material and the light tossable body certainly helps too ;) On a serious note, the 12v just seems to sound better overall when compared to the 24v even though I know that, mechanically, the 24v is superior.

[Frank818]

Hey choobs! Where's your build at? And Corrado?

After reading, I wasn't convinced the STI trans could handle 400wtq on RWD (which is about 800 on AWD, not too many Subarus with that). Besides, the gears are too short and it was a series of compromises to get different gears and not necessarily the ratios I would prefer. With the G50, I change whichever gear(s) I want, no compromise other than money. Money comes with time, so that's easy. lolll Plus, the gear ratios on the market are numerous! A lot of choices. Since I put a lot of attention and money on a trans, knowing how much a diff it can do to a car, the G50 was the right choice for me, long term. And I know it can handle 500+, it's not the turbo version but still 500+.

It's true, the 24v had a different sound, less mechanical, less like I prefer. 12v is definately not a technological engine by today's stds, but I didn't want a Grand Turismo 6 engine, I wanted something super simple, not too many parts, easy to run and tune. No EGR, no fog pump, no OBD2, no complex cam variable crap, no electronics, nothing. The more recent 24v have 4 cam sensors! 4! I only got one which I can decide not to use if I want to. Cam sensors are sensitive on VW, it took a looooooong time to stabilize my one and only sensor using my stand alone ECU, imagine 4, I'd get crazy before the end. lolll Don't need at that fuss, it's a toy I'm gonna drive, not a daily driver for which I need to burn less than 5L/100km. lolll

We'll see where this brings me to!

[choobs]

Hey choobs! Where's your build at? And Corrado?

I'm on hold with the 818c 3.6VR until I have MUCH better finances in place loll. It'll probably be a few years before I can even get a kit ORDERED at this point so It'll remain a dream for now.

Corrado has been...a Corrado lol. I had to daily it for over a week not too far back since my Fiesta ST was in the shop for a new trans (stupid crappy Ford gear syncros!) and I started to finally LIVE the Corrado lifestyle. Got out of the car at lunch, locked the door from the outside with the key only to hear something break inside the door. Upon removing the key form the door...the lock cylinder came with it lol. Only place I could get a new/old stock OEM lock cylinder was from Athens, Greece! Recently I discovered some major oil burning and I think its the valve stem seals so that is getting done this weekend as well as bigger brakes, 12.3" Audi A8 front discs/TT caliper carriers, 97 Jetta VR6 front calipers, aluminum mk4 rear calipers with EBC yellow pads & stainless braided lines. Other than this, its been a fun little car! Put maybe 2k miles on it in 6 months.

Here is a recent picture with the BBS RXII wheels and OEM US headlamps back in the car. http://i.imgur.com/LLY4PSV.jpg Also make a custom 2.25" exhaust from some other VW exhaust parts I had lying around and a few magnalfow mufflers. https://youtu.be/fOU61_1hSnY?t=16

I'm sure I'll sell it off in a few years to help fund an 818c project ;) Sorry for the threadjack!

[Hindsight]

Ugh that's my biggest beef with VW. Very poor part interchange and very poor part availability for anything older than like 8 years.

[Frank818]

Ha that pic made me see many flashbacks.... yes I have a slightly leaking coolant reservoir but the OEM VR6 tank is discontinued and have to replace with a round 4cyl model. I put some sealant around the seams and that should take care of it. lolll My reservoir is worth a lot of money since it's discontinued! :)

Here are some pix of my progress on new nose and clutch lines:

I didn't want and couldn't twist that freakin bar so I decided to use some scrap thick alu and made myself a bracket.

55528



Bought a new cheap steel (copper-nickel is better but pointless if I don't change ALL lines) 5ft 3/16 STANDARD (American, not European/metric) brake line to replace my twisted clutch line. And found a way to make perfect bends without the need of a special tool. By using different socket sizes you can make tighter/wider bends, but 11/16 already provides quite tight 90-degs. This is my old line, practising with it.

55529

[Frank818]

Interesting updates.

Whlie I'm crossing fingers Canada Post will not go on strike this week and not deliver my tool to bleed my clutch, I moved on the body work. Quickly. Very quickly. In less than 25h my front end (new nose) was all drilled and installed. I was surprised. Will require slight trimming and sanding of some edges but the way it is now is already very acceptable.

All my body parts but the doors are on the car at the moment. Apart from the rear bumper, they are all aligned and ready for drilling. Who would know... And the wheels fit almost perfect in the center. I thought the front one would look crap with the 10mm spacers on the LCAs but no. And the bottom rear of the fenders fit almost perfect on the side sails.

The most complex part was the nose insert. That part is a little too small overall and requires stretching and fiddling around. Had to re-do/enlarge/dig the holes many times, I need large washers to make sure it won't crack.

Body parts never move the way you want when you move a part. But after trials and errors you find a location that works. The bolts on the nose insert are a pain to drill (don't have the tool to drill from the inside) and to bolt, due to clearance. If you don't drill very close to the edge they won't fit in the fenders, no space.

At this pace the body will be on during my vacations in 2 weeks. I'm sure something will come up and slow me down. Like the rear bumper, which is too far back and doesn't fit flush on the rear of the rear fenders. I foresee a challenge there. But for the the body parts, nothing that complicated. I've seen harder! lolll

I have pix but what's the point, everyone has seen the new nose installed on other cars and I have nothing special in that area. :)

The car looks killa with the body on, and the rear fenders/tires combo look awesome.

Oh! I got my Captain Kurk's side scoops, they will deviate more air in which will make me use NACA ducts on the side of panel to direct the air even better. Tnx Captain.
They came with UPS. And as expected, they charged me 100 bucks (twice a reasonable amount) and broke the edge of one scoop! It's repairable so I'll spend time on that this winter.

[Hindsight]

Pics or it didn't happen!

[choobs]

Pics or it didn't happen!

+1!

[Frank818]

Right.
Some people told me I should upload pix as proof. I have no idea who they are (loll) but but they're not wrong.

55756

Bottom right, the UPS damage. There's no hole, just gel coat it's gonna be ok. The scoops are better quality than FFR's panels, especially the gel coat purity, although I admit FFR's new front fenders have increased quite a lot compared to my #181 panels.


Rear fitted but not 100% aligned yet and not drilled. I don't see any major problems so far.

55757


Front fully fitted and drilled, except for the hood. I need my hood pins, didn't order yet. Now I am ready.
The hood will sit tighter, it just sits there by gravity so the passenger's very front end is bowed a little upwards. Feather weight brings it down tight on the nose insert, so no big deal. I'll also try to raise the rear (closer to doors) of fenders as high as possible in order to raise the hood as high as possible in order to fit my single wiper with the less amount of trimming and modifications.

Apart from the fender seams and a touch on the fenders around the windshield frame, nothing has been sanded/trimmed, so the result is very acceptable already. Which is why things are going extremely fast on this compared to fitting the entire drivetrain and wiring...

55758


I think I have found a solution for the rear bumper, pulling it slightly backwards from the bottom and then tilting it downwards at the top seems to help a lot to mate with the rear fender without stretching and bowing it too much. More trials and errors will tell.


What's that thing I read that the passenger's door panel is not the same shape as the side sail? I have test fitted mine a while back and didn't notice anything major as the door sat on the sail, but maybe I wasn't really looking at it.

Happy 4th for you down south!

[Hindsight]

Looking great Frank! You'll be on the road in no time.

[Frank818]

Absolutely! Trans still won't engage into 1st but the car will be on the "road" (ground)! :)

[Canadian818]

Looking good Frank!

[choobs]

Looking good Frank! Those panels look like they'll align easy peasy.

[Frank818]

Well yeah, the body big panels are almost all secured. Hood, deck lids and a little of the driver side sail are left. I actually am slowed down cuz I'm out of fasteners! Who would think of that... just ordered from my local shop today, in 2-5 bus days I should get my stuff. Oh yeah the doors, those are very picky so I have not started anything yet.

Side sails are long to secure, align holes, etc. First one took a good 15h. My driver front fender fits perfectly on the side sail, passenger a little less, but after sanding it will be better, though not as perfect as the driver's. Aside from that, everything else seems to align properly! ****ing surprised, since this is #181 (ever noticed 181 is reverse of 818? loll) and my panels stayed UNTOUCHED for 2 years, I was expecting a LOT of trouble on the body.

Once you get the hang of how panel flex and bow, you understand what alignment miracles you can do. Sometimes by hand you can't achieve what you are looking for, but once you fasten them together, it's surprising how far you can go.
My rear non-Harley's bumper fits a lot snugger than what I have seen when I test fitted it. Same thing on the fenders, they all turned out better. Clearances are very interesting, just the rear fenders close to the deck lids that it's wider, apparently almost everyone has this thing.

I... I admit... I can't complain on the body so far!

I chipped badly one of my fender on the flare's edge so I was wondering, how the hell are those 3 things working? When do you use which one, how and what are they for?

56007

[Hindsight]

181 is the reverse of 1818 ;)

On the body panels.... pay real close attention to ensuring they measure equally on each side to the frame or you'll have one wheel that's in further than the other. I'm sure that's obvious but thought I would throw it out there.

On the gel coat.... I believe the "paste" is wax. I think you mix the paste and the gel coat in equal amounts, and then you add the hardener. The hardener has a specific ratio you mix it in and you can look it up online because it's mostly universal. The wax rises to the top and prevents air from contacting the gel coat. If air gets to the gel coat before it cures, it will not fully cure. You can pre-mix the wax and gel-coat into a single container if you want - just make sure it's sealed. Obviously only add the hardener right before you apply it to the car.

You must have ordered the gel coat a while back or something? When I called them a week ago they were out of stock.

[Frank818]

I checked this morning and at the top of rear fenders I have 1/16 difference, I believe it can be stretched to make it equal, if need be. At the bottom front of rear fender to frame, I have equal length.

On the gelcoat, we have nothing to glass the fiber? Like the glass you used on your balsa to harden it up, we don't have that?

I got a set of gel coat when I picked up the car 2 years ago and I got a set I never asked for when I got the new nose retrofit in March or April.

[Hindsight]

No, you dont need the fiberglass cloth for some repairs. If all you are doing is filling small holes, gouges, or superficial non-structural stuff, you can just use the gel coat. It basically takes the place of body filler.... basically. And unlike body filler, it blends in.

[mikeb75]

A word of caution, I've found the hardener (catalyst, MEKP) can go bad over time (don't know if it's from light or air). Since yours is 2 years old I'd test it on a small amount of gel coat before making your working batch.

[Frank818]

Note taken, Mike. Since I got 2 MEKs, if the first one is ****ed up the second one should be ok. Will test.

So I can fill mistakenly drilled holes with the gel coat but if it's structural I need cloth. So far I'm ok. I guess once I'll need to stiffen some panels, like the hood, I might need the cloth. But that's a project for after inspection and road driving. No time for that now.

[Frank818]

Good news and other major bad news.

Good news, I am able to throw fire out of the exhaust:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcHhBaME5HI&feature=youtu.be

Another shot without fire. My AFR is leaning when I step on it but idle is fine now and engine doesn't struggle or wants to stall anymore:


https://youtu.be/TmSoJGQDtIg



Bad news? Major step back. I need to change the clutch master. No, not for a Subaru one (which I already did 3 times)! That's the problem! After testing multiple ways, the Impreza master is not strong enough, doesn't push enough fluid and pressure to the slave so the fork doesn't disengage fully. When I try to get 2nd, 3rd, 4th as example, the car moves fwd a little and of course the gears don't engage.

I am more than at the max of the rod's length and the piston is bottoming out, I feel it. Any longer and the clip falls off anyway.

Anyone has a trick so that I could still use the Subaru master?

Otherwise my choices are:

- Tilton
- Porsche 911 1987-1989 (70 bucks US)
- Whatever the GTM guys are using with their big V8s and G50 trans

But all those may well required great modifications to the FW and/or pedal box! I do not know the physical specs of any of the above, but the Impreza has 2x M7 rods about 2-3/4" apart.

Changing the master to a completely different one at THIS STAGE OF THE BUILD is hell. There's no way I will remove my front end and flush coolant, so you can imagine the complexity. Plus, the master must NOT interfere with my AWIC tank, which is already rubbing on the bottom of the Subaru master. You can imagine the pain I'll be going through in the next FEW months.

At least I have not blown up the engine nor the trans (very for Dan, praying his stuff will get better soon!). But I don't think I will go kart until Autumn 2016, if I'm lucky.

[Frank818]

On a different note, those with a K-Tuned shifter (Wayne little help here, if you're following this build with the best transplant after the 13b. loll), do you have a small bolt that slides in the side and sideways in the red circle? I've never had one and the shifter is twisting in that area when I shift into certain gears. Anyone can tell me the bolt's specs?

5635856359

[Hindsight]

Frank, you sure you have the master cyl rod adjusted properly? With the pedal in the full upright position and the pin removed from the clevis, the holes in the clevis should align with the hole you on the clutch pedal. You should have to move the pushrod or pedal to get it to align. Also, there is a stop for the clutch pedal up top.... I think.... Did you check that to ensure it's adjusted right and allowing the maximum possible travel? Could be that the slave cyl on the Porsche is just larger than on the subaru and requires more volume but I'd double check the adjustment first.

[Frank818]

Frank, you sure you have the master cyl rod adjusted properly? With the pedal in the full upright position and the pin removed from the clevis, the holes in the clevis should align with the hole you on the clutch pedal.

Forget that. :( I have to unscrew the clevis a lot more in order to get an almost engagement of clutch. If the holes align, the master pushes even less fluid, the pedal hits the FW and the clutch doesn't engage at all. I bled it a few times and no air is coming out after a full reservoir going down the line.



Also, there is a stop for the clutch pedal up top.... I think.... Did you check that to ensure it's adjusted right and allowing the maximum possible travel?

Yes. I can't have more travel, the push rod is at its max pulling out and I push it down forward at its max too. Can't see how I could get more travel even if I modify something, the piston has a certain travel and I'm doing it fully.


Could be that the slave cyl on the Porsche is just larger than on the subaru and requires more volume but I'd double check the adjustment first.

Possibly, which could be why the Subaru master isn't working. I need more pressure in there, which means more fluid.

[Frank818]

Well there you go.

The 02 WRX clutch master's bore is 11/16" and the Porsche one is 19mm (3/4). More fluid going to the slave with Porsche, which is why I'm missing just a little to fully engage the gears.

Wilwood and Tilton make nice short cylinders with a WIDE variety of bore sizes. The big V8 guys at GTM use the Wilwood one, by default the "manual" says to use 3/4" which works. But many use the 7/8" to shorten the throw, give more adjustment and prevent some kind of weird thing I didn't understand on the trans. Apparently the 7/8 isn't that harder to push than 3/4. Some use an adjustable pedal stop to limit the travel.

Of course, Wilwood and Tilton don't have mounting holes on the sides, they have top-bottom and transverse holes to mount on something that is on either side of the master. I also need a clevis that will fit whatever thread pattern, 5/16, 3/8, others. I have a subie so it's metric and Wilwood and Tilton are not! They probably sell some.

I might need a one hose remote reservoir but Wilwood sells kits for that and probably Tilton too.

I need to measure my stroke and get a master with similar stroke.

I guess the hardest part will be to mount somehow the master. My creativity on this build will have to work hard again, apart from those with the Wilwood pedal kit, I guess I'm the only one with a non-subie master but still using the subie pedal box.

[Bob_n_Cincy]

Forget that. :( I have to unscrew the clevis a lot more in order to get an almost engagement of clutch. If the holes align, the master pushes even less fluid, the pedal hits the FW and the clutch doesn't engage at all. I bled it a few times and no air is coming out after a full reservoir going down the line..

Frank, if you adjust the rod longer, you won't fill the cylinder before shooting.
The rod has to be all the way out of the master cylinder before it opens the passageway for fluid to run from the reservoir to the cylinder.
Bob

[DodgyTim]

Frank, would it be easier to replace the slave cylinder than the master cylinder?
I'm not familiar with Porsche stuff but a smaller diameter slave will provide the same result as a larger diameter master

[Frank818]

Frank, if you adjust the rod longer, you won't fill the cylinder before shooting.

Bob, that's the thing, it is all the way out. Here's why:

It needs to be all the way out anyway in order to bleed properly. Then I push the rod (not screw the clevis!) in order to align the holes with the pedal box. That gives the fitst half an inch or so of travel and fluid, constant small pressure in the system. Then I press on the pedal all the way until the piston bottoms out.

What I did is I put the clevis further in the rod in order to align the holes using the clevis. That reduces stroke, hence fluid, and clutch wasn't disengaging at all.
Then I unscrew the clevis until I only use half of the clevis' threads (not very good). Then I manually push the rod in to align holes and put a 5/16 bolt in to stop it from coming back (easier to remove than the OEM pin, since I remove it 10 times a week).

That is how I use all of the stroke. I'll take pix.

Is that wrong? It might be cuz I'm pressing on the piston all the time, but in order to test the master can I do any better? I haven't found any way to push more fluid in with this master, I don't see how I can use more stroke than the mechanical properties of the master.

[Frank818]

Frank, would it be easier to replace the slave cylinder than the master cylinder?
I'm not familiar with Porsche stuff but a smaller diameter slave will provide the same result as a larger diameter master

Good point. Maybe, not sure. I have to find one that fits easily, it's a VERY tight area in there since the trans is upside down, so the slave is very close to the frame bars. Also I need side ports only and a bleeder on the side or back. Any different and it will not clear the rear diffuser once installed.

It seems masters can be found easily, but slaves are more rare, not sure I'm willing to jump into this one considering I need precise measurements and very specific port orientation. Plus if I need to fab a bracket to fit it in place, I can't drill through the trans and it will lengthen the slave and will it the frame bars. By increasing length it may not push enough on the fork too. A lot of questions... With the master I have more flexibility and mounting flexibility too, although I am space limited but the ports could be anywhere and it should fit. Tiny powerful masters can be found without too much efforts.

I'll keep my eyes open on the slave just in case!

[Frank818]

Guess I'm not that far off on the clutch.

Turns out the subie master I have is weaker than I thought. 10/16 bore! Written on the master, DOH!

56463

Many of the guys at GTM use 14/16 bore, some say the pedal is firmer, some others say no. All say the travel is less. I will use a pedal stop to prevent over stressing the trans.

I comitted to Wilwood, 14/16 (7/8). Maybe I should have gone with 13/16 but if I think I can't drive with 14 I'll buy another one at 13, it's only 110 bucks with shipping, can't have money restriction on such an R&D build. Too many trials and errors cuz no one knows the answers, I have to test.

5646456465

It's 10 bucks cheaper than Tilton and both brands come with TWO different size reservoirs and a REMOTE kit. Not bad, the 818 remote kit is 80 bucks by itself, might as well buy a different and new master, but for a subie engine I admit it's not really necessary. It is for a damn G50. I knew **** all about masters a week ago and now I have learned quite a lot!

So 10/16 OEM subie vs 12/16 OEM Porsche, bought 14/16, I am very confident I found my problem here.


What the hell is Summit Racing doing, I want my master now.

[Canadian818]

Hope this solves your engagement issues Frank. Btw, I somehow was behind on your thread and just seen it shooting flames! Very nice!

[Frank818]

Hope this solves your engagement issues Frank. Btw, I somehow was behind on your thread and just seen it shooting flames! Very nice!

If it doesn't, then I don't think anything will.
Behind? Come on, you are behind on your own build I can't ask you to be on par reading "my" build. :)
But you're coming back nicely lately (your build). :)

[Frank818]

How much grease did you guy pressurized in the upper A-arms' nipples?
And how do I know I have enough in?

56548

[Hindsight]

Keep pumping grease in there until it starts oozing out the bushings. Then wipe the bushings up.

[Frank818]

Ok the car rolls.

Now that I have your attention, my gear pattern is reversed. Yup, 6th gear (I have none anyway) on the shifter is 1st on the box, 2nd on the shifter is 5th on the box, 3rd is 4th, 4th is 3rd, 5th is 2nd and what the hell. I can't believe that but my Porsche mech got hypnotized by the upside down G50 and didn't take that into account. Grrrrrrrr Reversing all my shifting mechanism at this stage of the build is complex. I got welded brackets in the way, shifter cables meant to be at the place there are now (lengths were taken into account for actual location), oil lines around, oil cooler, coolant lines, all filled up of course.

Remember this picture of my original shifting mechanism:

57078


About the clutch. That was it. The Subie clutch at 5/8 bore is way too weak. Here's what I got (7/8 bore):

570795708057081570825708357084

Do you recognize the clevis? Sure you do! It's the subie's! How on earth can this M7 (or M6) clevis went on the 5/16-24 pushrod. Well, fortunately enough, the hole on the clevis was EXACTLY perfect to be re-threaded without drilling or worse being to big. I just re-threaded it and it screws perfectly fine on the rod! Ok that was luck, as these 5/16-24 clevis are cheap at Jeg's for example but the shipping is killing! Free on this one here and about a 5mins job.

Made a plate for the master. Slightly tilted (the holes) cuz the bolts then seat on the front FW alu panels and the bolts' heads are exactly the same thickness as the pedal box round tube inside which the long threaded rods come out on each side. This ensures the master to be seated on 4 spots, plus I kept a small 90-deg on the plate at the bottom so it can reach the inner alu panel.

Only thing is the damn FFR hole in the pedal box bracket is 1-3/8 which is just too small for the rubber boot to fit. It cannot be refitted from inside the car cuz there's no enough metal for it to seat on. Doesn't matter for now, but after inspection I'll take the time to buy a big step drill, enlarge the hole and fit the boot from the inside.

I am using remote reservoir cuz the reservoir is just too big to fit in any direction on the master. Mind the zip ties and 3M velcro on the reservoir, that was temporary (now has a bolt). No leaks anywhere!! Thank you Wilwood and thank you for all that I have learned about bleeding a clutch, installing a clutch and whatnot.

This master pushes a lot of fluid. The pressure at the slave bleeder was a lot more. I tested the clutch and I can overstress the trans if I push the pedal too far. So easy to adjust and will use a stopper too (so far it's gonna be a hockey puck! Another free part).

The clutch is hard. I wouldn't want to drive the car too much in traffic.

[Frank818]

I also moved on on the body. God the under panels take time to fit!!!! I hate those!

570885708957090


Front splitter will be at 2-7/8" out. I aimed for 2-3/4" but while drilling holes things moved I guess. It looks killa.
I have fabed a support to support the center front of the splitter. No pix of it yet but will prevent the center front from bending compared to sides, if I ever get that fast.

Ok what's this?

5709157092

Well, that is the cut off piece of the upper rear bumper, cuz I'm fitting VRaptor's grills. Since I learned, tnx to Bob among others, that I need to block off the lower opening of the nose insert in order to prevent air from flowing above the splitter and reducing its effect, I found out that the cut off piece has the exact curvature of the nose insert! Just need to cut and epoxy glass it on the nose insert and voila, tabarnak (Quebec swear, those aren't censured).

[Hindsight]

Wow looks like you are speeding up the progress Frank. Very nice. Looking forward to seeing a go-kart video soon.

[choobs]

For your reversed gear select pattern the best way to fix this is to add some pivots to the linkage near the attach point at the transmission. This way you don't mess with a bunch of other stuff. This is an idea I had for the side to side: http://i.imgur.com/47tYGex.png and a similar fix for backward and forward movement. Tough to make, but you have a MIG welder and parts laying around :P

[wleehendrick]

my gear pattern is reversed. Yup, 6th gear (I have none anyway) on the shifter is 1st on the box, 2nd on the shifter is 5th on the box, 3rd is 4th, 4th is 3rd, 5th is 2nd and what the hell. I can't believe that but my Porsche mech got hypnotized by the upside down G50 and didn't take that into account. Grrrrrrrr

Bummer... but you can get used to it! Call it a passive theft deterrent feature and see if you get a break on your insurance! :p

[Frank818]

Bummer... but you can get used to it! Call it a passive theft deterrent feature and see if you get a break on your insurance! :p

I thought of that! A few secs later I said no. :)



Wow looks like you are speeding up the progress Frank. Very nice. Looking forward to seeing a go-kart video soon.

Not really. This morning I sat down staring at my trans for 6 hours. And I did nothing. Really nothing at all! I can't come up with a design cuz I don't understand how things move. More on that below.



For your reversed gear select pattern the best way to fix this is to add some pivots to the linkage near the attach point at the transmission. This way you don't mess with a bunch of other stuff. This is an idea I had for the side to side: http://i.imgur.com/47tYGex.png and a similar fix for backward and forward movement. Tough to make, but you have a MIG welder and parts laying around :P

That does not work. Ok explanations:

I thought the GTM guys would need something for them to reverse the pattern. They helped me on the clutch master maybe they have a solution on the gears. They do! Except their shifters are not K-Tuned so the fore-aft movement is reversed already at the shifter. When you push fwd and it pushes out the cable at the trans. That's what I need. But the K-Tuned shifter is the opposite! When I push the lever, it pulls in the cable at the trans!!! I won't sleep for days. This is the 2nd biggest challenge of my entire build.

Why it's a challenge. Well I need not just to reverse the movement in one direction like on choob's picture. I need to take into account the fact the shift rod also moves side-to-side on an axis (the rod itself). This pushes/pulls the so called reversing mechanism left-right and up-down.

On choob's pic, the center hole (pivot) would need to be a ball. Rod ends are balls joints so that would work. But I can't picture how it would function as a whole. I'll explain on next post.

I have a couple of rod ends and tried figuring something out but I couldn't. And it's hard to demonstrate with pictures cuz I have no parts installed.

Also I am space limited so that doesn't help either.

What I'd need is something like CRAIG (MECHIE3) but swapped out on the cables and calculated for my gearbox (the C bracket has a specific angle I believe it might differ from one box type to another).

http://zerodecibelmotorsports.com/products/bell-crank-mechanism-5spd/

57150


I'm desperate. :(

[Frank818]

I think I need ball joints at every end plus a ball joint as the pivot.
But I don't understand if this will be precise when moving the cable or if things will go in many directions which would create play in the shifter. For example instead of pushing the shift rod it would swivel on a joint until it reaches its max and then push on the rod. That's not good.

This is what I've been looking at for 6hours:

571535715457155


My problem is this movement:

57156

I don't know how to absorb the movement on the reversing mechanism.

[UnhipPopano]

I will take a WAG that the motion of the shifter knob front and back is correct and that the problem is with left right motion. If this is correct, then consider changing the shifter you are using. For example, if the shifter works like the one that comes from FFR, then switch to the MR2 shifter. Another option is if the shifter can be rotated 180 degrees, then the lever will be on the other side.

[Frank818]

My problem is with the front-back motion. I need that motion to be reversed.

I thought of changing the shifter, but that's high costs, I built the car around the shifter, if I change that important part, then many many other things need to change, some panels I need to buy again and start from scratch, holes and brackets in the console tubing are for this shifter, etc.

I don't really see how I could turn the shifter 180-deg and still be able to mount the cable mounts. This would also push fwd its plate which will need a major rework on my wiring installation.

http://k-tuned.3dcartstores.com/no-cut-k-swap-shifter_p_285.html

[STiPWRD]

My problem is with the front-back motion. I need that motion to be reversed.
Frank, this can be hard to visualize but it can be done with a bell crank mechanism (as choobs mentioned). For example, Mateo had the normal shifter and then switched over the the K-tuned shifter and had to change his shift linkage on the transmission. Take a look at the one with normal shifter:
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?14720-San-Diego-builds-One-the-easy-way-one-the-hard-way&p=165389&viewfull=1#post165389

And then after the K-tuned shifter was installed:
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?14720-San-Diego-builds-One-the-easy-way-one-the-hard-way&p=217145&viewfull=1#post217145

He had to reverse one of the cable motions by modifying his linkage with a different bell crank.

[Frank818]

Tnx. Yeah I see what he did, but my situation is different, the k-tuned and subie trans are not compatible on the left-right motion and are on the front back, cuz when you push the lever it pushes the shift rod in tje gearbox. My problem is the opposite cables, I am ok left-right but wrong on front-back.

But the concept is pretty much the same and I think I have found how to use a pivot link with rod ends. I just need a bearing to act as a pivot and a bolt that slides through to secure the plate I would use and I think it will work. I'll ask Mechie he's got millions of pivots|

[Frank818]

Found it! You'll all laugh hard at me.

I thought of doing something like this:

57157

Or simply buy half of Craig's bell crank kit parts, especially the C bracket with bearing, bolts and rod ends and sleeves.
But then, while doing my daily off-road jogging I of course constantly thought about this idea. And came up a laugh, one for which I had a thought about before dismantling the linkage.


Bummer... but you can get used to it! Call it a passive theft deterrent feature and see if you get a break on your insurance! :p

Re-read this. Before, no. But now that the left-right motion is reversed, this comment makes a lot more sense!
And I adopted it! I love you man. Well... not that I "love" you, but you know... loll A hilarious (not so!) solution that ended up being the good enough solution for me.

Why I adopted it? Cuz it's gonna be like this (except for R which will be left to 1):

57158

If it's been done at Ferrari, it ain't stupid!

As long as I don't end up with this:

57159

[Bob_n_Cincy]

Ok the car rolls.

Now that I have your attention, my gear pattern is reversed. Yup, 6th gear (I have none anyway) on the shifter is 1st on the box, 2nd on the shifter is 5th on the box, 3rd is 4th, 4th is 3rd, 5th is 2nd and what the hell. .

Frank.
at the transmission, mount the shifter cable jacket to the parts that move. Then mount the cable to a fixed point.
All fixed.
Bob

[Frank818]

Hey Bob,

You mean this in GREEN to a moving point and this in BLUE to a fixed point?

57160

Good idea yeah! I don't have enough space behind the trans (nothing can be longer than the rod itself) but if I fab a kinked L-bracket, layed down on top of the rod and coming back in over the trans I could fix the jacket there and then another L-bracket for the cable end that would fit on a bolt or whatever on the side, that is quite possible! I'll remember that idea, although for now I have to move on this build so I'll keep the Ferrari pattern until I have time to figure out some brackets.

Tnx Bob! I love you too! lolll

[Frank818]

BIG SURPRISE!!

Now oops...

Now that I got your attention (again), today was (is still) a very very special day that probably none of you guys have had (haven't seen on threads).

On April 27th 2014, which is 38,014 years ago, I had a dream. I had a goal of driving my SOB (that's how I call it) on my 40th birthday. After seeing the IMMENSE issues of the gearbox fitting and in need of a complete new drivetrain orientation, I said ok my goal is to at least Go Kart the SOB on my 40th birthday.

Yesterday I was totally depressed after wasting 6h doing nothing but staring at the *** of a gearbox. I new I'd fail. Then came a few ideas from the awesome pals on this forum, a hilarious one and I decided to give it a lot of work this morning. I woke up 30mins late, not to help me, but after spending 6h again working on the car, working very fast, fixing a few clumsy issues cuz working too fast, I decided to do it cuz it was simply ready:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2q1zxZSm7Y


Today really is my 40th birthday and on a 31C (88F, a few off the max we can get here) with 55-60% humidity, I go karted the SOB. I made it.


See next post for 2 more vids and impression of the car.

[Hindsight]

Wow Frank, big congrats! Been a long time coming and hopefully this will add to your motivation to keep at it.

[Frank818]

Actually my shift pattern is not like Ferrari. It's like any normal car but the opposite, so on top I have 2-4-nothing and at bottom I have R-1-3-5. A bit weird to launch at the bottom and then push the lever top to reach 2nd. Seems harder to pull the lever for R than push (R is hard to get on the G50, needed 2 hands a few times). I don't slide it right at all. I will reverse that some day, but it's ok to drive for now and I really don't have time to fix this.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43uENl5zKVA


Adam (ref to your thread), that car is so ****ing low!!! lolll I thought I was buggy rollin'!

57203

A lot of rocks projected into the car and onto me. No body and sticky tires.

The car needs fuel tuning but it sounds promising. It sounds... it sounds ****ing AWESOME!!!!!!!! lolll When I accel the sound is sick! Only the purist can tell it may come from a VR6, otherwise the std deep resonance tone of the VR is less noticeable and makes place to an overall deep tone and hearing every cylinder fire. The resonance waves are mostly killed by the muffler, that's what they claimed. Seems to work. I think it helps making it less loud. I've heard a couple of Golfs here that sound louder than me! And I have no exhaust, just a muffler and almost no pipe.

No fumes, except when I was way off tune. No smell either, except at idle but just a little. At idle I don't mind at all.

I couldn't shift, I didn't trust my fuel tune to increase RPMs more.

The steering... Go kart, really. Heavy in parking maneuverers, man... manwhatever, but not that much. Really precise when rolling. Reminded me of the Corrado!!! Yeah, with proper suspension, tires, stress bar, sway bars and 320mm SW, the Corrado was extraordinarily precise and heavy just enough (thumbs up to old VW engineers, one hell of a steering on the Corrado). The 818 feels similar, except at parking where the 818 really is a lot more heavier.

Clutch is heavy but when you're concentrated on driving you forget about the clutch.

I was VERY impressed at the flywheel. This thing went off without jerking at all. I was driving an OEM Subaru, damn it. Really nice transition of the clutch when lifting pedal. I did a lot of 1st and R and all went as smooth as Melanie Trump's behind. Or her daughter's. I wasn't excepting that at all. With the Corrado, the Autotech flywheel was tricky, not the perfect RPM match and it jerks off on launch. My pick-up point is way too close to the FW right now but my hockey puck was preventing me from pressing any more. I will slice it thinner.

No leaks! No exhaust leaks, no oil, no coolant, no grease, just sweat!

Suspension is bumpy. I have the smoothest setup dialed in. Bumpy but the good way.

Can't wait to see how this SOB drives after a tune.

[Frank818]

Blurry video, don't know why.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVhTkwm47UA

So here's what I did with the shift linkage. Doesn't look show car, but it works. One day after inspections I will fix that for something more beautiful and with the correct shift pattern.

57204572055720657207


This is what I was afraid of on the axles. It may wear out the rubber boots, but since the rubber doesn't slide face to face, it just touches always at the same place, it may last longer than expected. BTW I confirm that with 4" angle on the axles they don't make any sound and nothing prevented the car from rolling. I think they will work.

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I also think my alignment is ok. Ok doesn't mean good enough for driving, but I did not feel any change of direction, weird tremors in the SW or any tendency to go on one side. My caster seems ok as I did not feel any difference from a normal car.

I'm not sure if my speedo works, I forgot to look at it and I can't see it on the videos. The water temp works, I saw it on the video.

Overall, I WANNA DRIVE THIS SOB AGAIN! lollll

[flynntuna]

Hey Frank, congrats glad you didn't have an "oops" moment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wK0o-8LWLFM&list=RDwK0o-8LWLFM

[Frank818]

Tnx Steve!

Flyn, nope, looks like I'm better than Will Smith. All the major oops moments happened before my go kart. Phew.


About the engine, there is a lot of torque at low end. It takes off without effort and without feeling any pressure on the gas pedal. Already I feel it faster than my Corrado and not comparable to my automatic Subie. I think going to a smaller turbo that would full boost at low RPMs is not a good idea on this engine. Unless you have kick *** traction control like Steve.

So far though the power feeling was amazing. I'm running 8.5CR and no boost and it was amazing. What should I expect at 20psi from a GT3582R? No answer plz.


I lost a friend during this trip. A fellow companion who fought with me and won many battles and wars... my tinny pocket LED flashlight. A must for those inaccessible places, which I'm plenty of. Will have to ebay myself another one from China. Oh well...

[svanlare]

Will solved the shift problem just by turning the post-it around - so you did much better without having to back into the garage wall first. Well done!

Huge congrats on the first drive!!!!! Mine no longer has an engine in it so it will be a while before drive 2, but you look like you are solidly into debug mode now with hopefully the big construction issues behind.

On the topic of shift issues, when I bought my current mazda, it had the wrong shift knob on it. On the test drive, everything was great until I went to shift into reverse to park. The car kept rolling forward ???? After getting close to an opps moment myself, I tried the 4 corners of the shifter to see if there was another gear around somewhere and it turns out the car was a 6 speed (not the 5 on the knob) and R was next to 1 and you had to push down to get to it. And that was a production car that couldn't get the shifting right.

Congrats again on driving!

[AZPete]

Frank, I love go-kart vids but yours is the best ever! Best because you came a long, long way and cleared so many hurdles. I really admire the way you have conquered so many challenges making the VW work and now it sounds great. The BEST birthday gift ever! Congrats.

[BN]

Frank, I love go-kart vids but yours is the best ever! Best because you came a long, long way and cleared so many hurdles. I really admire the way you have conquered so many challenges making the VW work and now it sounds great. The BEST birthday gift ever! Congrats.

Congrats Ben

[Canadian818]

Frank, I love go-kart vids but yours is the best ever! Best because you came a long, long way and cleared so many hurdles. I really admire the way you have conquered so many challenges making the VW work and now it sounds great. The BEST birthday gift ever! Congrats.

I was going to try to come up with something to type that acknowledged just how big a deal this is, and I'm not sure I can do better than Pete.

Congrats Frank! I'm so happy for you, often times on the road less traveled you doubt yourself, wonder if it was all a fools errand. But one impossible obstacle at a time you pushed on, determined to succeed. Well Frank, you did it! It's all gravy from here compared to what you've accomplished. It's a shame you're so far away, cause I'd love to buy you a beer!

[Bob_n_Cincy]

great to see it drivable. Your about 1/2 way done.
Bob

[Canadian818]

great to see it drivable. Your about 1/2 way done.
Bob

That's just cruel, lol

[mikeb75]

Quick congrats Frank!

[choobs]

Congrats Frank!

[DodgyTim]

Congratulations Frank
Very few people take on a kit car build, fewer complete them, and even fewer complete something as difficult as what you've done

[Frank818]

Tnx all. Yes it was a huge pressure relief. And again, Pete and Bob are 100% right. loll

I took a very high risk on this kit as no one could tell near the possibility to fit this drivetrain and with which gearbox and how. Was just flipping a coin. I invested a lot of time and money even before I could know if it's driveable. I refused "no" as an answer and yeah it was a very difficult 2 years and 3 months. You're pretty in that too, Adam, but I think you found an easier solution for your drivetrain.

Steve you're right, I was debugging today. Before I move on on installing completely the body and then the finish in the cabin and the doors I wanted to improve a few things I noticed during this short ride.

Not sure I'll go kart it again. Too many rocks on me and everywhere. I even found some in my air filter, I have a double-cone filter like this:

57218

and it's located right over the rear wheel, doh! I need side sails and splash guards. But I think I may go on the dyno in go kart mode and then on a track session with body on in order to push it, see what breaks, fix it and make it more reliable.

Speaking of reliability, what impresses me the most is that all my little issues or weird behaviors I had on the Corrado (electric and mechanic) are all gone. As if I fixed them all in a totally different environment than OEM.

[Frank818]

Steve, what do you mean by the "post-it"?

[svanlare]

In the independence day clip, after Will has his "opps" moment, he pulls the post-it off the dash
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/svanlare/FWD_zpsyabvndgs.jpg (http://s66.photobucket.com/user/svanlare/media/FWD_zpsyabvndgs.jpg.html)

and then mutters about some joker, and flips the post-it to fix the shift pattern.
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/svanlare/Rev_zps6kmvk4uv.jpg (http://s66.photobucket.com/user/svanlare/media/Rev_zps6kmvk4uv.jpg.html)

BTW, my son's first suggestion when I told him about yours was that it would stop thieves.

[Speedy G]

Happy 40th!!! What better bday gift! Congratulations!

[Frank818]

Oh yeah that post-it! Flies by pretty fast on the video. Nah that didn't work, man. lolll

Tnx Speedy, it's definitely a very special gift, yeah. One of a kind that can only happen once in a life time. Hard to beat that.

[Frank818]

Bob,

Tell me something. If the jacket is fixed on the shifter side and moving on the trans side and the cable fixed on the trans side and moving on the shifter, how can any of those 2 move when I shift? Ref to my picture on another post on last page.

[Bob_n_Cincy]

Bob,

Tell me something. If the jacket is fixed on the shifter side and moving on the trans side and the cable fixed on the trans side and moving on the shifter, how can any of those 2 move when I shift? Ref to my picture on another post on last page.

Frank
There has to be an inch or two of slack in the cable path the allows the jacket to move.

Here is a bicycle brake mechanism. You can see how the jacket pushes one shoe while the cable pulls the other shoe.
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Bob

[STiPWRD]

Great job Frank! You've certainly earned it.

[Frank818]

Small updates.

I'll wait for the reverse shift pattern, doesn't prevent me from passing inspections but I got TONS of stuff to do that do prevent me.

Finalized my exhaust with perfectly centered tail pipe. Ran out of 308LSi wire before the end, I'm short about 1-2 meters of wire! Sick.

There is less than a finger of clearance between the pipe and the bumper fiberglass, at the 90-deg right after the muffler. So far the tightest exhaust I've seen on the forum (it's super tight at other places too). I will have to wrap that pipe and put some gold foil on the fiberglass, just in case it may cook from heat. I can't believe how tight things are on this car, pretty much everywhere! I have to make all that street reliable.

I gave it a slight upwards angle to match the grill. Was looking good also when parallel to the ground but it ended up matching the grill's angle.

575755757657577

I think my exhaust is "the" thing I am most proud of on this car. Before that, I knew **** all about welding. Needed to learn welding, then learn SS welding and I had no place for error cuz I didn't have any spare exhaust parts, at the price they cost I had to get things right first time. Turned out great looking and no leaks. I did that WAY better than the so called "exhaust guy" from 2006 who fab'ed my old Corrado DP. He did 4 huge mistakes a turbo car should never ever have. Douch.


Not sure I posted a pic of my shift bracket? Raw material, reversed shift pattern.

57574

[Canadian818]

Looks good Frank! Don't you have a v-raptor top grill? In which case won't it be the only thing you're exhaust will be near?

[Frank818]

I have both VRaptor's grills, top and bottom. Currently drilling holes for the bottom one so I have no pic of the exhaust clearance yet, but you can see on the below pic there is fiberglass above the grill, cuz I fit it from the outside. That's where the elbow at the exit of the muffler is. Then the pipe goes down to the center hole and bends super tightly 90-deg to get out of the engine bay.

57583


It's so tight, believe it or not but on my pix of the pipe in my previous post what makes the tip is the 1/4-1/2 of an inch of pipe from the elbow above the gearbox. Shortest tip I've ever seen. This is why I needed a perfect alignment of all my exhaust pipes before and after welding.

[Frank818]

Here's how tight it is on the exhaust post-muffler:

5768957690


The tip is almost perfectly centered, off by a mm or 2 I think. Since everything there will be black, no one will see.

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How did you guys bolt the turn signals' lenses in place? There's no place to put any tool inside the fiberglass cup/hole.

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[Canadian818]

Are you planning to wrap the exhaust Frank?

[Frank818]

Are you planning to wrap the exhaust Frank?

Hell yeah. Up to the last 90-deg elbow which I won't. I will paint it black with some old DEI exhaust paint I still got. Not sure yet if I wrap the flex bellow and muffler, I can't figure out the consequences (good/bad) of doing it.


Have you tried bolting your turn/reverse signal lenses on? Couldn't find how!! I don't recall reading anyone having trouble on that, so I guess I'm just dumb.

[Canadian818]

Have you tried bolting your turn/reverse signal lenses on? Couldn't find how!! I don't recall reading anyone having trouble on that, so I guess I'm just dumb.

No, not quite there yet, lol. Been away for work, lots of stuff ordered though. Hopefully it'll be waiting for me when I return.

[Frank818]

Darn you slowed down lately, then. loll

[Frank818]

In need of Tail/Brake LED bulbs?

Get those http://www.ebay.com/itm/281762205444?item=281762205444&var=580766164202&viewitem=&vxp=mtr

US SELLER!!! They are a little more expensive than chinese knock-offs but the quality is top. They give a nice red spot in the middle and a kaleidoscope/star like around it, cuz that's how the globe is made inside. Only 7w at full power, they provide a great amount of lumens and the difference between tail and brake is very noticeable.

[longislandwrx]

frank that's super close, I don't know what your egts on the vdub are but i'd be worried about a fire.

[Frank818]

frank that's super close, I don't know what your egts on the vdub are but i'd be worried about a fire.

You're probably talking about the muffler and not the LED bulbs?
Yeah I know it's close, I don't like that either, but that's how it ended up on this build. Before arriving at that last pipe I had to find solutions to comply to other requirements, regulations and constraints. I pushed them all to the acceptable limit. And then I ended up that close.

I could cut the muffler's outlet and bring the pipe inwards, but I then need to weld an extension on the tip which will be hard to cut right and most of all will make the weld very visible, unless I grind it totally perfectly. I believe I have a good 30-50h of work for this change. That may be not much but for me it's a lot cuz every single hour may make me overshoot plating in 2017.

On the other hand, it's possible the inspector will kick me out if I don't fix this. Or heat will cause a problem. I have to try and I'll fix only if I hit a problem.

I will wrap the pipe and use gold foil or an alu sheet with gold foil, then it may touch but it should prevent most of the heat transfer.

I've been living dangerously on this build since day 1, that is a good example. I'll try and see. No I am not happy.

[longislandwrx]

also regarding the shift pattern, cant you just sell the ktuned and get a gtm shifter?

[Frank818]

Yes I could. But I won't, I'm not concerned anymore about the pattern. The whole idea for the K-Tuned was looks. I also worked out the center console around it. Changing the shifter will certainly cost me more and take more time than simply reversing the pattern. At the moment though it's ok to leave it as is, I'll see after inspection if I want to reverse it. Definitely the least of my concerns now. :) Stupid body panels that takes a lot of time to adjust the fine details...

[Frank818]

Right rear splash guard fitted. Took about 10-12h. I still need to do very small details like insulation and caulking/foam/tape to fill the small gaps and prevent dust from entering the engine bay or bumper (+ insulation for rolling sound) but that will be done at the end of the build once it's all good to roll.

I needed small modifications, but the precision is what took at least 8 of the 10-12h of fitting. Always like that.

I used Craig's tab liners so I can remove the entire guard in one big ****ing piece, although it's very tight and there aren't more than 2 ways to do it right.

Jeff, from Atlanta, had a lot of issues, the tire (25.3" tall mines are 25.4") kept rubbing on the liner at over-full compression.
It seems I might be ok up to 1/4" of bump stop compression. I was ok up to the stop but that was before final drilling and fitting, hopefully not much moved, I don't think so.

I can take more pix for those who want to compare but as you see I fitted the liners high and inside, about 1-1.5" inside the fender lip. That gives an extra something for everything above.

5847558476


EDIT: I will have to cut to clear my brake lines, I'm 99% sure. I may have to cut for the upper rear and front links too. But that's so damn easy anyway!


I am working on the rear of the car for the past month. There's a lot to do there, including my engine bay cooling. Once it's all done I will post pix, instead of a few pix during the progression. I think my cooling will give some people ideas.

[Canadian818]

Looking good Frank, can't wait to see what you've come up with for cooling.

[svanlare]

I'm now well behind your progress, but that just means I get to copy what you have been doing when I get to the body! nice work

[Frank818]

Cumulating a lot of pix for the body, but in the meantime, @PETE, could you plz post a pic of your headlight projector bolts solution? I used epoxy on the FFR provided plastic inserts and the epoxy is so damn good the inserts don't stretch anymore so the rounded head bolts don't fit. I have to drill them out (only 2 I tested, phew) and use another solution and you're the only one I've seen with another solution.

Headlights install, CAUTION, do NOT use 3M 8115 panel bond epoxy on the plastic inserts. Will provide picture with other stuff once I make a huge body update.

[svanlare]

When you post the body pictures, can you include how you mounted to the frame, I have that coming up soon (I hope)

[Frank818]

Steve, how I mounted what to the frame? The body panels? All of them? And what about how I mounted them to other panels (panels to panels)?

[Canadian818]

Steve, how I mounted what to the frame? The body panels? All of them? And what about how I mounted them to other panels (panels to panels)?

Might as well post the all Frank, unless you're worried you build thread is getting too long, lol.

[svanlare]

I knew what I was thinking, just that all the words didn't make it down onto the page.

Yes, I was looking for how the body mounts to the frame. I'm at the phase where I know it is the next big job to take on, but I don't have a clear picture of how I'm going to implement. I'm definitely using screws so I can remove the panels, but just starting to surf the forum for what other choices folks have made regarding mounting (washers/sizes/spacing/etc). So I was seeking some inspiration in the photos.

[Frank818]

Might as well post the all Frank, unless you're worried you build thread is getting too long, lol.

Nice try, but it's true it's getting long, cuz the build itself is very long! So the thread goes with it. :)
Anyone thinking of fitting a VR6 in there will need all the détails contained in this build.



Yes, I was looking for how the body mounts to the frame. I'm at the phase where I know it is the next big job to take on, but I don't have a clear picture of how I'm going to implement. I'm definitely using screws so I can remove the panels, but just starting to surf the forum for what other choices folks have made regarding mounting (washers/sizes/spacing/etc). So I was seeking some inspiration in the photos.

Yeah that's no issue I can pic every single bolt on my panels. :) I got a few different solutions wrt to bolts, yes. Depending what panel I fitted where.

[Canadian818]

Anyone thinking of fitting a VR6 in there will need all the détails contained in this build.


Oh I get it, and that's the same reason mine is overly detailed. That and it's good to get others opinions on the changes I've had to make.

[Frank818]

Yeah but in your case a lot of people will now transplant a rotary, cuz you got votes from Wayne whereas my he doesn't read my thread. :) So your build is very important.


Front Splitter subject.

Read an interesting article written by a non-US guy http://www.formula1-dictionary.net/splitter.html

Seems like for a splitter to be effective (and apparently they aren't much UNDER 120km/h) it needs to stick out of the bumper by twice as much as the bumper's ground clearance.
Yeah cool, so I need a splitter that sticks out 9". It's only about 3 right now and it's quite in front already. More than most 818S I've seen here.

Therefore I'll end up with a useless splitter (the very most of the time I am under 120 (75mph)) that will scratch or hit on bumps or something at some point. Only good thing is it looks really nice sticking out by 3", gives the car THE look I wanted. But at what cost...

[Frank818]

Headlights install, CAUTION, do NOT use 3M 8115 panel bond epoxy on the plastic inserts. Will provide picture with other stuff once I make a huge body update.

Revisiting this. Who said movies don't inspire people. After watching the movie Approaching the Unknown (not that great), I saw Mark Strong fixing a bunch of issues in his space capsule. I then said to myself that if he can fix aerospace stuff alone in space with limited tools there's no way I cannot fix a headlight plastic bucket!

So I went in the garage and... fixed my inserts!

They are really well bonded in place with the 3M 8115 (I start to love that stuff, bonds anything to anything) but using pliers and somekind of force I was able to snap off the glue on one end of the insert which then made it possible to pop it out with some other kind of force. After cleaning the epoxy with an exacto it's almost good as new.

I will put again some epoxy but this time I will snap in the round headed bolts before bonding the inserts in place! Plz do the same if you use epoxy.
I know how to increase the bond if I need to so my guess is it will work.

Thanks Mark!

[Canadian818]

Yeah but in your case a lot of people will now transplant a rotary, cuz you got votes from Wayne whereas my he doesn't read my thread. :) So your build is very important.

Yeah you're right, Wayne's endorsement does make my thread more important, haha.


Front Splitter subject.

Read an interesting article written by a non-US guy http://www.formula1-dictionary.net/splitter.html

Seems like for a splitter to be effective (and apparently they aren't much UNDER 120km/h) it needs to stick out of the bumper by twice as much as the bumper's ground clearance.
Yeah cool, so I need a splitter that sticks out 9". It's only about 3 right now and it's quite in front already. More than most 818S I've seen here.

Therefore I'll end up with a useless splitter (the very most of the time I am under 120 (75mph)) that will scratch or hit on bumps or something at some point. Only good thing is it looks really nice sticking out by 3", gives the car THE look I wanted. But at what cost...

I think engineers are often so concerned with what's the perfect or ideal setup that they don't acknowledge that less than ideal setups still work. Doesn't FFR have a warning somewhere not to use their splitter without a rear spoiler because it makes the car unstable. How could that be if it doesn't stick out 9"? Also, didn't they get a measurable amount of downforce when they wind tunnel tested their splitter?

[Frank818]

Good point. Would still work, but maybe takes a faster speed to be noticeable. Not downtown Edmonton. lolll

I think FFR tested at track speeds, not sure they tested under 100km/h. But in the end it's possible no matter the splitter, under 100 it's too slow anyway. And that's ok, cuz downtown you don't need downforce, the car has no lift at those slow speeds.

I have a front RACE splitter and no rear spoiler other than the standard FFR lip. I think I'm the only one using that combo, or if not there aren't too many I believe. Not recommended but I have a lot more weight in the back, so relatively my front is too light and needs more downforce than the rear compared to the proportions FFR designed it for. I took a guess with the race splitter, which I got for free over the street spoiler cuz mine was in bad shape and at the factory they had no street ones available at that time, so they put a race in there. Tnx to FFR, that was appreciated.

Anyway it looks cool sticking out at 3" so mine stays there. :)


Steve, if you ever start your body before my pix are posted, let me know which specific area you may need and I could leak a couple. I mean a couple of pix...