508's stroker build thread

[508wrx]

My father and I received our 818s kit yesterday!!! Now let the built thread begin. The donor is my old 04' wrx that had 100k miles on it. This is our first factory five build and the whole thing will be a learning experience. I owned my wrx since 07' and auto-crossed it for many of those years. I've met a lot of awesome people thru auto-cross and even ended up running the crew of a rally team of a guy I met thru auto-x. I can say that I know a lot about Subaru's (deff not everything) and both my dad and I are looking forward to learning more about the 818.

picture of said donor
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The list of notable parts going on the car:
- Stroked ej205 to 2.125liter (built by wicked innovations) with a 16g
- built 5 speed with PPG gears and a Modena torsen lsd
- Wilwood BBK

I'm sure there are more and I can't think of them… they'll show up as the thread evolves.

[Frank818]

Kit received yesterday and I see the alu control arms are already installed! loll

So what was the dyno result of that auto-crosser?

[508wrx]

Kit received yesterday and I see the alu control arms are already installed! loll

So what was the dyno result of that auto-crosser?

We were like little kids with a new toy. Had to play with it now!

My old wrx made 287hp/290tq. I'm expecting a bit more with the motor rebuild and less drivetrain loss.

[Frank818]

That's nice numbers. Excellent start! I thought you had 508whp, following the username. lolll
Now I wonder if big tires are going to shed off some of that power... I mean, depending on your rear wheels, but if you go big, you may end up with taller wheels and heavier ones. I wonder how big a difference it makes though.

[riptide motorsport]

Sweet...........let the games begin!!!

[508wrx]

That's nice numbers. Excellent start! I thought you had 508whp, following the username. lolll
Now I wonder if big tires are going to shed off some of that power... I mean, depending on your rear wheels, but if you go big, you may end up with taller wheels and heavier ones. I wonder how big a difference it makes though.

508 is the local area code… I wish I was more creative with usernames.

I plan on using the wheels that were on my wrx which were Enkei RPF-1's with 245's on them. I'm expecting to run into problems with the fronts as everyone else has but i want to use that width in the rear. Even with that i'm still expecting considerable wheel spin. I will just have to learn how to tame it.

[68GT500MAN]

Congratulations on the delivery, now the fun will begin.

[508wrx]

Congratulations on the delivery, now the fun will begin.

thank you sir!

I'll be posting more pictures later as well

[metalmaker12]

Congrats dude.

[508wrx]

On installing the front lower control arms there were several problems. The front of the control arm is smaller than the bracket on the 818 frame, leaving a gap. I put an M12 washer behind control arm to fill the gap (shown in photo).

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The instructions say to use the hardware from the donor car to install the rear of the control arm. My donor car only had M14x1.5 bolts with no nuts as the donor car had threaded mounts rather than nuts. You can either go out and buy four M14x1.5 nuts or as I did, buy 4 M14x2.0x45 bolts with lock nuts and flat washers to install the rear of the control arm.

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The rear of the driver’s side control arm hits right up against the firewall. I had to adjust the firewall to make a gap between the rear of the control arm and the firewall.

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The instructions for the upper control arms aren’t exactly intuitive. After reading through the other posts, I decided that the right way to install the control arm appears to be to install it with the long adjustment and welded arm in the front of the control arm. On one of the control arms, you will likely need to remove the end bolts and swap the control arm upside down over the way it comes. The decision of whether to put the grease zerks on top or bottom appears to be personal preference (I’m hoping that after the body is installed, the zerks are readily accessible by opening the hood – otherwise, I will swap them later). Time will tell if we got all of this right.

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Our kit came without the ball joints and front springs, so we’re stalled on the front suspension and moving on to the rear.

[Frank818]

Interesting to see how different the builds are from FFR's build.

[RM1SepEx]

I had to make a spacer for one LCA mount on the right front

We all had to grind down the length of that left lower LCA threaded area. If you move the right lower foot well aluminum to be in front of the tubing, you need to do that one too.

Ball joints are 79-82 Chrysler New Yorker ball joints, Moog PN K772.

[508wrx]

I had to make a spacer for one LCA mount on the right front

We all had to grind down the length of that left lower LCA threaded area. If you move the right lower foot well aluminum to be in front of the tubing, you need to do that one too.

Ball joints are 79-82 Chrysler New Yorker ball joints, Moog PN K772.

Awesome info! Thank you.

I've probably read right over this info in other threads.

[metalmaker12]

Yeap they get buried, we have a lot of stuff posted

[07FIREBLADE]

Is that the upper ball joint that is in back order for some right now?

[RM1SepEx]

yes, Moog PN K772. The rubber boot is black though

[first time builder]

Heck that ball joint goes back to 1957 Plymouth, fits over 2000 different Chrysler products.

Kenny

[508wrx]

Since I'm being help back by a few odd parts my dad and I decided it was a good day to get the axles done. 2 roles of paper towels and a box of gloves later and they are done.

[riptide motorsport]

You're storming along! Nice work.

[Racebrewer]

Hi 508,

I'm a Subie Newb and I'd like to know more about your stoker engine. What's inside and why did you go this route?

Thanks,
John

[michael everson]

That trailer on your first post looks real familiar. Congrats on a great start neighbor.
Mike

[RandyB]

I am the father referred to by 508wrx in his posts.

We made some really good progress over the weekend. We installed part of the rear suspension until lack of retaining rings for the coilovers stalled progress there. We moved on to installing the side panels and under seat tray on the passenger compartment and installed the pedals, brake master cylinder and steering wheel.

We’re debating whether to permanently attach the under seat tray or leave it temporary in case we need to do some serious work on the interior that may be easier if we install it later. Any opinions by those that installed it early – Did you wish you hadn’t?

Also, all of the drilling on the undertray was into the frame rails. Any opinion on whether we will need to rivet into the floor board or is the silicone sealer enough to avoid wind from hitting the front edge of the aluminum plate and whistling?

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[RM1SepEx]

I would hold off under the seats. You need to mount them and leaving it off makes many options easier!

[Mechie3]

I haven't done my undertray yet, but mounting my seats was much easier with it off.

[508wrx]

thanks for all the answers guys! This should make this process go a lot easier.

[508wrx]

Hi 508,

I'm a Subie Newb and I'd like to know more about your stoker engine. What's inside and why did you go this route?

Thanks,
John

We decided to go this route since my stock internal 2.0 had a hard 100k on it that it was time to freshen it up. Originally I wanted to build a hybrid motor, which would be a 2.5 block and 2.0 heads. Though to get it to work would require some machining of the head. Many of those engines die early. Stroker is the safe way to get a extra bit of torque while still being reliable. The big internal change would be the use of an 08' nitride crankshaft, everything else is 2.0 liter spec but aftermarket. The final displacement will be 2.125 liters.

[Racebrewer]

Cool. Thanks for the engine info.

Trying to get my head around this. I take it you can use the 2.0 liter rods without pistons hitting the heads? Different pistons?

Much appreciated,
John

[508wrx]

Cool. Thanks for the engine info.

Trying to get my head around this. I take it you can use the 2.0 liter rods without pistons hitting the heads? Different pistons?

Much appreciated,
John


The connecting rods are EJ257 length with EJ205 pistons. I don't know the difference in length of the 2 liter and 2.5 liter rods so I can not say weather or not they would hit.

I'm using Manley products for the internals.

[RandyB]

We've been pretty busy since the last post. We have most of the brake and clutch lines run, installed the gas pedal and started the wiring harness on a diet. We've been relying pretty heavily on data provided by mechie3 and rm1SepEx - thank to both of you for the information in your threads and PMs. We're getting stalled by missing parts. We found that if we installed the gas pedal as is indicated in the manual, it doesn't have nearly enough pedal throw nor is the pedal in a comfortable position, so we adapted and installed the pedal directly on the firewall using the plate provided as backing support. I'm including a photos of the finished pedal and a before and during shot of the harness work - which takes more time to de-bundle than it does diet the harness.

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[RandyB]

After trimming the harness, here's the box of debris that was removed. We were conservative, focusing on removal of the door cards and center console controls (air conditioner, radio, etc.) that won't be reused on the 818. The central portion of the harness is about an inch less in circumference.

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We received our Wilwood brakes today and got a hint of what it looks like with the brakes and wheels. I don't know why, but I was expecting the brakes to be a straight bolt on. After removing the shroud and grinding down the mount, the adapters and rear brakes are installed. It wasn't really too bad, special tools are a plus - we used a hand grinder. Here is a picture of one of the rear wheels after install.

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[michael everson]

Are those the front or rear brakes?
Mike

[RandyB]

Those are the rear brakes. The front brakes look like an easier install, but I am awaiting the ball joints before installing the knuckles and brakes on the front.

[RandyB]

We've made some progress. After getting the transmission modified to add a limited slip differential, some more progress was logged today. We have the engine and transmission installed and the rear suspension has been assembled. Variations over the kit include 7 inch control rod instead of the 6 inch rods that come with the kit (Thanks Mike) and we cut and ground off the sway bar brackets from the lower control arms. Attaching a couple of shots with the engine and transmission installed.

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New lesson, the wilwood brakes come without any brake lines and you cannot reuse the stock Subaru brake lines. The Wilwood brakes come with 1/8-27 NPT threads and the Subaru brake lines have metric (M10x1.25 I believe) banjo bolts. We had to separately order brake lines and adapters (1/8-27 NPT to 3/8-24). The Wilwood web site recommended brake lines for the rear of the car calls for 14 inch brake lines. We ordered 14 inch brake lines and found that if you install the mounting brackets on the frame where recommended in the manual, the lines are too short. It looks like we have the option of either getting some 16 inch lines to replace the 14s or move the mounting bracket to the rear of the frame rail instead of the front. We'll probably go for the 16s to assure enough suspension travel without damaging the lines. The photo below shows the 14 inch line partially installed on the rear and also shows the control arm with the sway bar bracket removed. The Wilwood site calls for 18 inch lines in the front. Not sure yet whether they are long enough, but will update once we get the front knuckles installed.

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[metalmaker12]

Looking good, you live near Mike Everson, I am planning on go by there soon.

[RandyB]

Two miles. Love to compare notes if you're in the area.

[RM1SepEx]

We've been pretty busy since the last post. We have most of the brake and clutch lines run, installed the gas pedal and started the wiring harness on a diet. We've been relying pretty heavily on data provided by mechie3 and rm1SepEx - thank to both of you for the information in your threads and PMs.

U R Welcome, I think that Craig and I wanted to be as helpful as possible to future builders. I've seen a bunch of great ideas that we didn't use. It would be real nice to somehow throw them all together as a roadmap for builders. I did the same as you with my pedal after communicating with Erik and Wayne

[RandyB]

We are a set of coil springs and sway bar bushings away from a rolling chassis. As a number of others have learned, the stock sway bar mounting brackets from the rear of the Subaru are significantly different in spacing that the mounting holes on the chassis. We will replace the stock bushings with universal bushings which are specified so the mounting holes will line up. Here’s a photo that shows the difference between the bracket hole spacing and the frame spacing.

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In my last post, I indicated that I hadn’t yet tried the front brake lines, so I was sure about the fit. The 18 inch lines in the front are good. Here’s a photo.

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And now a few photos to show some of the current progress and build status to date.

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[metalmaker12]

Cool stuff, I am looking at next Sat or Sunday to drive up to mikes and pay you a visit if your around. Pm your contact info and I will call you.

[longislandwrx]

Did you order your Wilwoods from FFR or somewhere else? I was under the impression that the WRX kit came with lines as it is marketed as a bolt on kit.

[Brando]

I ordered my Wilwoods from FFR and they did not come with the lines either.
Just to make sure I am understanding this correctly. 18" in the front and 16" in the back and a 1/8-27 NPT to 3/8-24 adapter.
I am about to order these myself, any recommendations outside of this?

[508wrx]

Did you order your Wilwoods from FFR or somewhere else? I was under the impression that the WRX kit came with lines as it is marketed as a bolt on kit.

We did order it from FFR and thats what we thought too. But after calling factory five they told us that the lines are separate. I guess technically it does bolt on, but you just can use them as brakes… just fancy wheel jewelry.

We ordered our line and everything thing else separate. We can post the info if anyone wants the correct lines and other parts needed for the install.

[508wrx]

I ordered my Wilwoods from FFR and they did not come with the lines either. Randy, did you install 16" lines in the front AND back? I am about to order these myself, any recommendations?

16 in the back and 18 in the front. My dad has all the website info and list of things he ordered to get them to work. Ill make sure that info is up tonight and have him PM you.

[RandyB]

We went to Capital Motorsports (cmwraceparts.com) and the following is the setup that worked for us

2 ea XRP402603 -3 to 3/8-24 male to female fittings (packs of 2)
4 ea XRP981603 -3 to 1/8in Pipe Straight Fitting
2 ea SBL318 18in -3 Brake Line
2 ea SBL316 16in -3 Brake Line

The cost is about $90 for everything, though you could save about $17 if you want to use the fittings from the kit and delete the first item in the list above. I purchased them because they allow us to run the brake lines directly into the fittings without using the metric adapters.

[bossman43]

Thanks very much for the parts list! I have the Wilwood 12/12 setup from FFR and was wondering about what to do for the lines. I ordered your list from CMW last night. Your setup looks great!

[michael everson]

its stuff like this that really bothers me. If you are going to sell a bolt on brake kit, it should be complete. Raise the price by $100.00 and include everything needed. Makes everyones life easier.
Mike

[Frank818]

Interesting, the Wilwood kits cannot use the lines and fittings provided with the 818 kit?

I too got the 12/12, so I guess I have to check on that as well.

[RandyB]

To follow up on Mike's sentiment, ... And work with the providers to ensure it includes the right material. On the Wilwood's web site, when selecting the factory five 818 as the car model, it gives the same brake line kit as you would use on a Subaru rather than recognizing that the brake lines on the 818 are 3/8-24 and that the geometry of the rear end is different than the subaru necessitating longer lines.

At a minimum, Factory Five should include a note on the brake kits indicating brake lines are needed and not included. I spoke to them over two weeks ago and still nothing qualifying the brake kit on the purchase page.

[Brando]

2 ea XRP402603 -3 to 3/8-24 male to female fittings (packs of 2)
4 ea XRP981603 -3 to 1/8in Pipe Straight Fitting
2 ea SBL318 18in -3 Brake Line
2 ea SBL316 16in -3 Brake Line

Just purchased, very helpful thank you

[Frank818]

I ordered my Wilwoods from FFR

Which config? 12/12?

[RandyB]

Which config? 12/12?

I believe the 12/12 is a reference to the 4 piston 12 inch brakes on the factory five order form, indicating the size of the brake disks

[Brando]

Which config? 12/12?

4 Piston, 12”, red, drilled/slotted although in hindsight I wonder if I should just gone with slotted.

[Quiny]

My father and I received our 818s kit yesterday!!! Now let the built thread begin. The donor is my old 04' wrx that had 100k miles on it. This is our first factory five build and the whole thing will be a learning experience. I owned my wrx since 07' and auto-crossed it for many of those years. I've met a lot of awesome people thru auto-cross and even ended up running the crew of a rally team of a guy I met thru auto-x. I can say that I know a lot about Subaru's (deff not everything) and both my dad and I are looking forward to learning more about the 818.

picture of said donor
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The list of notable parts going on the car:
- Stroked ej205 to 2.125liter (built by wicked innovations) with a 16g
- built 5 speed with PPG gears and a Modena torsen lsd
- Wilwood BBK

I'm sure there are more and I can't think of them… they'll show up as the thread evolves.

Did everything fit on the trailer or did you have to stuff the car with boxes too? Mike is letting me borrow the same trailer. How many straps and 2x4s should I bring?

[Frank818]

4 Piston, 12”, red, drilled/slotted although in hindsight I wonder if I should just gone with slotted.

I got the same (F12"/R12.18"), except black (better final result for me cuz of wheels and body color) and only slotted.
So I will probably order this chunk of parts too!
tnx

[RandyB]

Did everything fit on the trailer or did you have to stuff the car with boxes too? Mike is letting me borrow the same trailer. How many straps and 2x4s should I bring?

We had the car stuffed full of boxes, 10 in the car, 2 on the trailer. We used Mike's 4 straps only and they put cardboard down on the trailer. You can certainly fit more on the trailer, but will have to bring straps or tape to tie them down.

[Frank818]

I believe the 12/12 is a reference to the 4 piston 12 inch brakes on the factory five order form, indicating the size of the brake disks

Correct. :) Actually 12/12.19 to be precise.

[DruOdil]

My donor came with Wilwood 6 piston 13" front brakes. I will buy the rear Wilwoods to match. So do I double the order?
Dru

[RandyB]

My donor came with Wilwood 6 piston 13" front brakes. I will buy the rear Wilwoods to match. So do I double the order?
Dru

Check on wilwood.com. The six piston appears to come with brake lines in the kit but it comes with the Subaru lines which will likely be too short unless you can get them to substitute 16s for the 14s.

[Santiago]

4 Piston, 12”, red, drilled/slotted although in hindsight I wonder if I should just gone with slotted.

The drilled rotors look great! Unfortunately, they don't hold up well to serious abuse, which is why you won't see them on a track rat's car (they crack too quickly). They're perfectly fine for street duty.

Best,
-j

[RandyB]

I thought I might include a photo of the 16 inch brake line on the rear brake. I included a photo of the 14 inch brake line on my Jan 8 posting. I'm much happier with the 16.


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[Frank818]

That looks pretty neat, Randy. Very clean bend and fitting.

[RandyB]

After a couple of weeks with no real progress, we received the springs this week and were able to complete the front suspension and are back in business. 45 days since we bought the kit and the significant parts we are still missing include the fuel tank and the carbon fiber components. After getting the front end together, we decided the sway bar end links provided by Factory Five were too long. We had to cut them to length. The driver's side were about 1-1/2 inches too long and the passenger side was about 3 inches too long. We cut the links so that we had an inch of thread past the jam nut (matching the depth of the ball thread inside the ball joints that go on each end) and on the other side, we removed 1-1/8 inches of thread. The first three photos show what too long is and the last photo shows the end link after modification.
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There's a lot of traffic on the fuel tank so I'll add what I've learned in the last week here. Factory 5 has redesigned the fuel tank to yield more room on the driver's side. The gentleman I spoke to said the tank was smaller on the driver's side with a "bump out on the passenger side". They said the new fuel tank would be available on 1 March and at 6' tall, I will want the new tank. I'm curious how the new tank with the old plate that installs between the tank and the seats will yield more leg room. I'd love for factory five to post something so we could see how this will work.

[RM1SepEx]

the manual states that the sway links need to be cut to fit
your rear lower control arm bushings are upside down, the wiggle is supposed to be down, swap side to side and flip em over

[RandyB]

We swapped them side to side, but we loosened them up before we put them on so they may have rotated. We will rotate them 180 degrees on the rear of the control arm. Thanks for pointing out the error.

[RandyB]

Here's a photo of the rolling chassis.

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[michael everson]

Looking good.
Mike

[metalmaker12]

Nice, at some point I will be up that way

[RM1SepEx]

what serial # is your chassis? Is the rack centered or still off towards the driver?

[RandyB]

We have chassis number 95. If anything, the steering rack is biased a little more toward the passenger side than it was in the original installation. We had to reduce the number of exposed threads on the passenger side and increase the number of exposed threads on the driver side.

[Doowop]

cool build. it's great that you are building this with your dad. Pretty awesome!

[GUNS]

Great job with your build so far!

Good to hear they are making a new tank. I wish I had a little more leg room at 5' 11" with the current stock setup. I'm curious if they are providing a different firewall as well. I'd be interested in swapping out if able, even though I've already drilled and fitted my fuel tank and firewall.

[RandyB]

We tried to be neat about our brake and clutch line routing and had our lines routed along the outside frame in the front of the car.

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Yesterday, we tried dry fitting some of the aluminum pieces just to make sure we knew where they all went and weren't going to be in trouble later in the build when we tried to add them. We discovered that the lines were run where the "80171 - FRONT WHEEL WELL INSIDE, REAR, LEFT" needed to be, so we removed a portion of the lines, drew a line along the front where the inside of the wheel well rested and modified the routing of the brake and clutch line. We also fixed the rear of the control arm - they just needed to be rotated half a turn on the control arm.

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[Mechie3]

I had the exact same problem. Ended up going under the suspension arm.

[RandyB]

After a several month hiatus (imposed by personal injury and lack of a fuel tank), we are back to working on the car. After waiting 5 months from the time we received the car to receive the hot rod fuel tank, we ultimately ended up ordering the Boyd fuel tank and went back to work. Progress this weekend consisted of getting the fuel tank installed and getting the plumbing completed (except fuel plumbing). We have the radiator and piping installed and finished up rerouting the brake lines. We installed the fuel tank ala the Replica Part's thread (with rubber bulb and spacers). Below are some photos of the current progress.

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[K3LAG]

It looks like Boyd's changed the design of the fuel filler area a bit.

Larry

[RandyB]

Been spending some time getting the wiring in place and placing the firewall. We got the firewall re-bent to 105 degrees at a local sheet metal shop and then with some help from the local Factory5 guru we built some fillers to plug the holes left on the side of the vehicle - Thanks Mike. Here is a photo of the pattern and bent metal used to fill the hole.

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Then we built a custom mounting bracket for the main fuse box using the pattern shown.

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Here is a shot shooting the progress on the electrical so far. We still have some work to do to complete the electrical.

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[Bob_n_Cincy]

Been spending some time getting the wiring in place and placing the firewall. We got the firewall re-bent to 105 degrees at a local sheet metal shop and then with some help from the local Factory5 guru we built some fillers to plug the holes left on the side of the vehicle - Thanks Mike. Here is a photo of the pattern and bent metal used to fill the hole.

http://i994.photobucket.com/albums/af66/Randy508/A9780E3D-55B0-4BDD-A58B-D22E3ACDB1AF_zpsxq9wlcfa.jpg

Hi Randy
Looks good man.
Are you going to put some kind of cover over the ECU connector? Those connectors are not waterproof.
Bob

[RandyB]

The only cover I plan to put over the ECU is the passenger seat. I put the ECU inside the firewall to avoid subjecting it to adverse weather.

[JeromeS13]

The only cover I plan to put over the ECU is the passenger seat. I put the ECU inside the firewall to avoid subjecting it to adverse weather.

I hope you never get rained on....

[Frank818]

We went to Capital Motorsports (cmwraceparts.com) and the following is the setup that worked for us

2 ea XRP402603 -3 to 3/8-24 male to female fittings (packs of 2)
4 ea XRP981603 -3 to 1/8in Pipe Straight Fitting
2 ea SBL318 18in -3 Brake Line
2 ea SBL316 16in -3 Brake Line

The cost is about $90 for everything, though you could save about $17 if you want to use the fittings from the kit and delete the first item in the list above. I purchased them because they allow us to run the brake lines directly into the fittings without using the metric adapters.

Very sadly, Capital does not ship outside the USA. :(
I have to find and source those parts from elsewhere if I find them all.

[Frank818]

Randy, are the brake lines -3 SHST?

[RandyB]

I'm not sure what qualifies a brake line as shst, but they are braided stainless steel hydraulic hoses. I went to the wilwood site to look up the brake line kit that was needed with the brakes. It is listed in enough detail to go to another site and find similar parts.

[Frank818]

Wilwood doesn't say if they are -3 AN or -3 SHST. I don't even know what SHST stands for. That's why I am confused.

[Jaime]

The Wilwood calipers have 1/8 NPT threads in them. No matter what brake lines you get, you'll need nipples. As long as the nipples you buy match the lines you buy, you're good.

The part list you quoted is all -3 AN.

[Frank818]

The brake lines are 3/16" right?

[sponaugle]

The only cover I plan to put over the ECU is the passenger seat. I put the ECU inside the firewall to avoid subjecting it to adverse weather.

I hope you never get rained on....

I was thinking the same thing. I was planning on putting the ECU in the same place so it is inside the cabin.. However since it really isn't a sealed car water is a potential problem. I suppose it would be possible to make an aluminum cover that has a seal on it to protect the ECU.

Jeff

[Frank818]

The brake lines are 3/16" right?

Yes they are.

http://www.wilwood.com/M/techtip/TechFaqAnswer.aspx?id=11&no=1

And from the POL:

13738 BRAKE LINE, 3/16" O.D.x 60" EA 6.00
13740 BRAKE LINE, 3/16" O.D.x 20" EA 1.00
14692 BRAKE LINE, 3/16" O.D.x 8" EA 2.00

This was the last information not on Wilwood flexline's pages, I think I have found another source for the parts for those outside USA. I will post on my thread.


Tnx Randy!

[RandyB]

The day in the garage included installation of the gauge cluster in the dash, bundling the wiring harness and installing the driver side Kirkey seat. The major milestone today was to hook up the battery and validate some of the electrical functions. As we didn't let any smoke out of the wires, we are declaring success.

After using the Boyd fuel tank and bending the firewall to harvest the space saved by the tank, I'm including some photos showing the fit of the seats. Roger, sitting in the seat is 5' 11" tall and is quite comfortable in the seat. His comment was that if he could change the position of the seat he wouldn't.

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[RandyB]

A new milestone today. After getting the motor stroked, reflashing the ECU and getting the wiring run, we got the motor running for the first time. A video is attached.

http://i994.photobucket.com/albums/af66/Randy508/th_FirstRun_zps7d4c89c0.mp4 (http://i994.photobucket.com/albums/af66/Randy508/FirstRun_zps7d4c89c0.mp4)

[Kurk818]

Its an amazing feeling when that happens. Congrats!

Did you slim down the wiring harness in any way? From the previous photos, you still had the OEM shielding on the wiring. Are you mounting the shift on top of the tunnel?

[RandyB]

I did slim down the harness, but not as much as some others. I didn't mess with the elements of the harness that extend outside of the car. I deleted all environmental, radio, door and airbag wiring downsizing the central harness.

We haven't yet installed the shifter.

[RandyB]

We spent the weekend getting a bunch of things tied down, the shifter and cables installed, roughly aligning the wheels and getting the car in condition to take it out for the first drive. I've attached a couple videos of the first time out. We found a number of things that need some tuning and adjustment during the first drive - all part of the fun. Now on to making it look good...

http://i994.photobucket.com/albums/af66/Randy508/th_FirstDrive_zps05b93146.mp4 (http://i994.photobucket.com/albums/af66/Randy508/FirstDrive_zps05b93146.mp4)

http://i994.photobucket.com/albums/af66/Randy508/th_FirstDrive3_zps55e3f3d0.mp4 (http://i994.photobucket.com/albums/af66/Randy508/FirstDrive3_zps55e3f3d0.mp4)

[Quiny]

Thanks for letting me check out your progress today, car looks great and sounds really good, sorry I missed the maiden voyage.

[RandyB]

Thanks for letting me check out your progress today, car looks great and sounds really good, sorry I missed the maiden voyage.

You're welcome. Stop by any time.

[RandyB]

We finished most of the mechanical and electrical work. We took it out for a test drive and heard several some scraping which turned out to be the mounting bolts used with the Wilwood brakes. Added a couple of washers as spacers and the noise was gone. We got the car aligned over the weekend and then started mounting the body. I am attaching a few photos showing the rear mounted and one showing the modifications to the filler tube to work with the Boyd tank. It's starting to look like a car.

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[RandyB]

Prior to finishing up the body and getting the carpet installed, I decided it would be a good idea to finish the rest of the wiring to make sure I didn't have any issues that would cause me to rip it back apart. It was a good thing I did as the wire from pin 13 on the headlight switch to the headlight relays was open. I ran a new wire between the two and got the last of the electrical completed. The remaining issue on the electrical is that the turn signals act like I have a blown bulb - my suspicion is that it is because I ran the wiring to the tail lights without the flasher provided by factory five. I'm still wrestling with how to connect the flasher as they only gave me one. It seems I either need one flasher per side or I need to use the flasher on the source side of the signal switch. The manual doesn't really do a good job of describing where to install the led flasher. Any advice?

Anyway, here's a couple shots with the tails functional.

107201

107202

[Stickshift84]

I had the same problem recently on mine with the bulbs flashing too rapidly. I however had already buried my Subaru flasher underneath the center console and did not want to take things back apart. The Factory 5 supplied relay works in place of the Subaru unit if you have access to it. If not you can wire in LED load resisters (one off of each turn signal bulb) spliced in from load to ground on the turn signal wires. Example of LED load resistors I used (http://www.amazon.com/Resistors-Signal-License-Warning-Cancellor/dp/B004EDF8HY/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1409529582&sr=8-4&keywords=led+load+resistors)

[RandyB]

This is a great option as I too have buried my flasher in the tunnel. Thanks.

[RandyB]

We took our first shot at fitting the front of the body. We had already cut the front clip around the radiator support, but it didn't quite fit right. After visiting Mike, we adjusted the position of the windshield and had to cut the fenders around the windshield pillars to make it close. The specifics on the windshield was to make sure the windshield is all the way to the bottom of the slots on the windshield mount and then we measured approximately 32.5 inches from the front of the roll bar to the top edge of the windshield mount, measured on each side where the top arc of the rollbar begins. We will fine tune the position and screw it down on our next build day.

107220

[Quiny]

Front wheels look centered but how about the rears? Its hard to tell from that angle. I think I read that some people were having an issue with the wheels not being centered when they followed the procedure in the manual.

[RandyB]

Front wheels look centered but how about the rears? Its hard to tell from that angle. I think I read that some people were having an issue with the wheels not being centered when they followed the procedure in the manual.

Both front and rear are very very close (at least by my eye), but I didn't exactly follow the procedure in the manual. Where the manual said to mount the rear quarter panels by gapping them back from the front tube on the side of the frame, I lined the panels up exactly with the same location. Had I followed the manual, the rear wheels didn't look quite centered. Here's a shot of the rear wheel.

107207

[RandyB]

We got the front end tied down (thought the hood pins have yet to be installed). I don't know how many times I took off and put on the front end over the past two days, but it feels good to have that part of the build done. We attempted to move on to the doors and realized we didn't take the hinges off the donor, so we will hunt down a set of hinges. It's probably a blessing as hot and muggy it is outside today. We found the front end took a lot of fine tuning, including cutting of every component in a number of places. We had to trim about half of the height of the hood off to match the height of the fenders. Here are a couple of photos.

107208

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[RandyB]

Doors Hung... For some reason, I found this to be the most stressful part of the job so far.

107200

As others have posted, the first door takes all the time, the second door happens very rapidly. I found the instructions in the manual left some further guidance, so I will explain how we installed the door for future builders. The manual says to use the hinges as they were used on the original car, you cannot use them this way. You have to swap the upper and lower hinge as the hole pattern on the frame will not allow them to be used as on the original car. Also, don't put the rear of the front wheel well in place prior to installing the door as you will need to go through here to tighten the door bolts. As for the door post mount, you will need to either elongate the holes on the car to make the mount lie flush against the body or you will need to put several washers behind the lower screw. None of the original screws worked. The screws needed to mount the door post need to be replaced with countersunk screws that fit completely within the recess of the door mount to avoid interference with the door. We used 1/4x20x1" screws for this purpose. The screws from the door latch are too short to go through the door skin, frame and latch. We ended up buying some 6mmx1x20mm screws to fit the door. We also needed to do a bunch of countersinking to avoid parts rubbing against other body parts.

To position the frame prior to adding the door skin, we found it was easiest to install the door post first using a bright light and drilling the holes as far toward the outside of the car as possible. Once that was done, install the hinges and door latch on the door. Latch the door latch to the door post and put three paint sticks under the lower steel foot of the frame. Adjust the position of the hinges so that all of the bolts can be tightened, making sure that the latch is as far out on the door post as you can possibly get it. (using non-locking nuts makers this easier). Then take a sharpie and mark the position of the center of each bolt on the door frame. Measure the distance from the frame to a fixed point on the inside of the car as you will want to be able to reproduce the exact location on the next step after removing the latch. Open the door frame and remove the latch.

Slide the door skin over the frame and mark the center location of the door post. mark the cutout as indicated in the book and cut it out. While you're at it, mark and arch on the lower front of the door with something about the size of a coffee can and cut that as well. Put the skin back on the frame and get it where you want it's final location and using the measurement you took earlier, put the frame where it was in the measurement you took earlier. Making sure all of the lines are right, you will be able to make all of the holes you need to drill except one (the lower outside hole). Now take the skin and frame off the car to build the door. Drill all the holes you marked. Countersink the decorative latch plate and door so you can use countersunk screws to install the door skin to the latch. We used the 1/4-20 screws provided with the kit for the top of the doors and then mounted the lower door skin. We also countersunk the lower screws, installing one screw and then using a bright light to find where the last hole needs to go, countersinking and screwing in place. Install the door aluminum per the instructions and hang the door.

[Frank818]

I found the instructions in the manual left some further guidance, so I will explain how we installed the door for future builders.

Which version are you referring to? As we got an update on the door installation on Sep 3.

[RandyB]

Which version are you referring to? As we got an update on the door installation on Sep 3.

I received my car with rev f of the manual, but I consulted rev I to find it still didn't clarify where the hinge issue.

[Frank818]

In case you want it, the J version can be found here: https://www.factoryfive.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/818_Manual_rev-1J-update.pdf

[RandyB]

We went off book on a couple of modifications. We installed an E-Stopp emergency brake mechanism and we build an air box for the intercooler. We will feed air into the air box using a couple of marine bilge blowers. I have included some in progress photos of each.

107210

107211

107212

107213

107214

107215

[904svo]

Similar to what I have, except I control the fans off the VSS signal they only run when the car is moving. Try to keep the battery drain low when idling.

[Bob_n_Cincy]

Similar to what I have, except I control the fans off the VSS signal they only run when the car is moving. Try to keep the battery drain low when idling.

You might want to control the fans with a thermostat. When the car is stopped, heat from engine and exhaust will soak the intercooler.
Bob

[508wrx]

You might want to control the fans with a thermostat. When the car is stopped, heat from engine and exhaust will soak the intercooler.
Bob

I don't see why that would be an issue. Heat soak happens at idle with a WRX then cools while moving. Similar to 904svo's set up. The only difference is that we have a box sitting over the top of the IC.

As long as the fans are cooling while the car is moving there should be no issue... assuming that the fans can efficiently cool the IC the same way the moving air does in a WRX.

[Bob_n_Cincy]

I don't see why that would be an issue. Heat soak happens at idle with a WRX then cools while moving. Similar to 904svo's set up. The only difference is that we have a box sitting over the top of the IC.

As long as the fans are cooling while the car is moving there should be no issue... assuming that the fans can efficiently cool the IC the same way the moving air does in a WRX.

I agree with what you are saying.
I just think if the core gets hot while idling. In may take minutes to cool the core. I don't want to remember to take it easy every time I've idled for a while.
That being said. I don't understand why this isn't a problem standard WRX.
Just remember the air circulation through the engine bay is a lot easier on a front mounted engine than on a mid engine car.
Bob

[ncbuilder]

Prior to finishing up the body and getting the carpet installed, I decided it would be a good idea to finish the rest of the wiring to make sure I didn't have any issues that would cause me to rip it back apart. It was a good thing I did as the wire from pin 13 on the headlight switch to the headlight relays was open. I ran a new wire between the two and got the last of the electrical completed. The remaining issue on the electrical is that the turn signals act like I have a blown bulb - my suspicion is that it is because I ran the wiring to the tail lights without the flasher provided by factory five. I'm still wrestling with how to connect the flasher as they only gave me one. It seems I either need one flasher per side or I need to use the flasher on the source side of the signal switch. The manual doesn't really do a good job of describing where to install the led flasher. Any advice?



Anyway, here's a couple shots with the tails functional.

http://i994.photobucket.com/albums/af66/Randy508/0AA81B0A-8237-4EE8-8217-96828D5D7570_zpsbrgvbzy4.jpg (http://s994.photobucket.com/user/Randy508/media/0AA81B0A-8237-4EE8-8217-96828D5D7570_zpsbrgvbzy4.jpg.html)

http://i994.photobucket.com/albums/af66/Randy508/CE46D982-6AD5-4C78-BA27-737C71EFC183_zpsivvldct7.jpg (http://s994.photobucket.com/user/Randy508/media/CE46D982-6AD5-4C78-BA27-737C71EFC183_zpsivvldct7.jpg.html)


Great build thread ! Can you tell me what car the tail light are from originally , or a part number ? I am building a one off car and think those lights are great. Thanks !

[RandyB]

I can't really tell you the part number other than what is printed on the lens. The light and LED bulbs were shipped as part of the kit from Factory Five. Perhaps they will sell them separately or share the MFG and P/N. Below is a photo of the lens with the numbering printed on it.

107216

[ncbuilder]

Hi and thanks, Is the light that you show with the numbers printed on it the large red Tail light ? It looks more like the small clear light that is to the inner side of the tail light .

[RandyB]

You're right. Those are the back-up/signal lights. The taillights are not marked at all and I do not still have the boxes they came in.

[RandyB]

From mid December 2013 until today, almost 2 years later, we finally made it through the salvage inspection and have a VIN assigned to the 818. We now just need to get through the registration and safety inspection and the car is on the road. It has been an exciting day.

107217

[michael everson]

congrats. Now there will be 2 in my neighborhood.
Mike

[mikeb75]

congrats!

[RandyB]

We put the 818 on the dyno today to get it tuned.

107218

We came out with about 300 HP to the wheels.

107219

The power is incredible. Too much foot into the throttle results in the tires breaking loose in both second and third gears. I haven't found a wide open enough space yet to find out if they break loose in 4th.

[Tamra]

That's great - congrats!

[Frank818]

Looks pretty smooth and stable!

[RandyB]

The tuner indicated he had tuned one 818 and later had to detune it to about 300 horsepower for reasonable street handling.

[Hindsight]

That's a great power band. Torque comes on smooth and early. You have a limited slip in that right? And what kind/size tires are you running?

[RandyB]

We do have limited slip and we are running Falken Azenis 235/40R17s.

[metalmaker12]

Mr Miner at it again. Nice

That was my 818. 300whp and 265 wheel torque with no timing advance to control heat and keep the car in control. Over 300whp is really just a waste of power IMO. I could have made like 400plus whp but I decided to keep it in the safe limits all around.

Matt is the very best Subaru tuner you can find on the right coast. He can really tune just about any car perfectly.

[RandyB]

I agree, if you want a Subaru engine tuned and are anywhere near New England, this is your source. His leaning is to provide a safe tune (one that won't blow up your engine), but if your looking for something else, he will give you that as well. He has a nice method of tuning the cars and while the 818 isn't exactly the easiest car to put on the dyno, he spent over an hour tying it down to get is secured.

[bbjones121]

We went off book on a couple of modifications. We installed an E-Stopp emergency brake mechanism and we build an air box for the intercooler. We will feed air into the air box using a couple of marine bilge blowers. I have included some in progress photos of each.

http://i994.photobucket.com/albums/af66/Randy508/3E4FB93C-BEF0-4B4B-8BC2-66C69BE3ACCE_zpsizqxk1hy.jpg (http://s994.photobucket.com/user/Randy508/media/3E4FB93C-BEF0-4B4B-8BC2-66C69BE3ACCE_zpsizqxk1hy.jpg.html)

http://i994.photobucket.com/albums/af66/Randy508/E5ECF4B7-EF27-45F9-8950-59B64FD94175_zps013qao9h.jpg (http://s994.photobucket.com/user/Randy508/media/E5ECF4B7-EF27-45F9-8950-59B64FD94175_zps013qao9h.jpg.html)

http://i994.photobucket.com/albums/af66/Randy508/2761F7D3-519B-41C5-A8B0-C9EE4E438A47_zpsakjmvkax.jpg (http://s994.photobucket.com/user/Randy508/media/2761F7D3-519B-41C5-A8B0-C9EE4E438A47_zpsakjmvkax.jpg.html)

http://i994.photobucket.com/albums/af66/Randy508/151945A3-5A2E-4DCD-ABFE-E090C141B06F_zpsap2tpgzb.jpg (http://s994.photobucket.com/user/Randy508/media/151945A3-5A2E-4DCD-ABFE-E090C141B06F_zpsap2tpgzb.jpg.html)

http://i994.photobucket.com/albums/af66/Randy508/1631B917-003B-46D1-B48F-CA93350BC5D3_zpsikskacvp.jpg (http://s994.photobucket.com/user/Randy508/media/1631B917-003B-46D1-B48F-CA93350BC5D3_zpsikskacvp.jpg.html)

How are these fans working for you?

[508wrx]

How are these fans working for you?

They didn't pass our poor man's R&D. They don't flow nearly enough air. That Plenum was finished better than in those pictures too. We had it sealed very well. Ideally this is how you would want the intercooler sealed but we could not figure out an effect way to move enough air over the IC.

So we went with an air to water and called it a day.

[bbjones121]

They didn't pass our poor man's R&D. They don't flow nearly enough air. That Plenum was finished better than in those pictures too. We had it sealed very well. Ideally this is how you would want the intercooler sealed but we could not figure out an effect way to move enough air over the IC.

So we went with an air to water and called it a day.
I see. Thanks for info. Can I buy the plenum from you?

[508wrx]

I see. Thanks for info. Can I buy the plenum from you?

If I still have it, sure.

Thought I have a feeling I tossed it... I will need to check the garage when I have a chance.

[Hal0mann]

I have a question about the IC.

Is the stock AAIC not enough to keep the engine cool at 300hp and as a street driver?
I'm trying to figure out if I need the AWIC (my build will be set up like yours)

[JeromeS13]

I have a question about the IC.

Is the stock AAIC not enough to keep the engine cool at 300hp and as a street driver?
I'm trying to figure out if I need the AWIC (my build will be set up like yours)

The OEM IC does not get sufficient airflow, IMO.

[508wrx]

I have a question about the IC.

Is the stock AAIC not enough to keep the engine cool at 300hp and as a street driver?
I'm trying to figure out if I need the AWIC (my build will be set up like yours)

I am with Jerome on this one.

Without some body mods or some kind of ducting/plenum to get the air to the IC better, you will be better off with an AWIC.

[RandyB]

To add an update, we got the 818 finished and here is a photo of the car today.

107232

[Frank818]

Stunning with dark blue and gold wheels!

[Sgt.Gator]

To add an update, we got the 818 finished and here is a photo of the car today.

107232

I like the colors too!