svl 818

[svanlare]

The build has started in San Jose!
http://i.imgur.com/CD6xc3f.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/CD6xc3f.jpg)

I put my order in back in Sep and jumped on the hot list shortly thereafter. I also put a deposit on a donor from AJW thinking I would get the donor long before the kit showed up.

Early this year I got the call from FFR that I could have a build date of March 1 if I wanted it. I leapt at the chance even though there had been no progress on the donor front, nor had I cleaned enough of the garage for the project. So much for time to prep.

With the kit’s date fast approaching I took the first donor that became available. I have a 2007 WRX Sedan with 87K miles, pretty much stock except it looks like it got some major work just before it became a donor as the motor and transmission were very clean even though the suspension looks every bit an east coast 4WD used in winter.
http://i.imgur.com/YQ6KXwQ.jpg (http://imgur.com/YQ6KXwQ)

In terms of build, this is intended as a fun driver that I’ll use frequently. It is replacing a 1988 911 Targa that I used heavily as a daily driver for 13 years with lots of auto-x and the occasional track day. A couple years ago it was totaled in the morning commute when the guy behind me didn’t stop on the freeway when the rest of us did. Since I have two sons who were 15 and 12 at the time, I picked up a Mazda 3 to teach them to drive and figured I’d pick up something in a couple of years for me.
http://i.imgur.com/gYr7Saz.jpg (http://imgur.com/gYr7Saz)

I’ve looked at several kits as this is a project I’ve contemplated for a long time. I’m primarily looking for a 4-wheel motorcycle, and I’ve been close to starting a 7 clone on several occasions. When I saw the 818 however, I thought that was much closer to something that could be used frequently; and in northern California perhaps even as a 9-month car.

I have no experience with this level of garage project. I very much appreciate in advance all the answers to the rookie questions I’m likely to pose. This forum has already been an incredible resource.

My plan is to use evenings primarily as research and prep. I travel frequently for work during the week so 1 or 2 solid weekends a month is all I really have available. While I’m thinking this is a two-year project, my soon-to-be-15 son is planning on it taking less than a year. I guess I’ll have to take some time off this summer when he is free to make some serious progress.

[svanlare]

As far as progress to date:

The donor arrived March 7th. We got it moved from crates to bins, inventoried all the parts and got everything stored to keep it out of the rain.
http://i.imgur.com/5kAfwrs.jpg (http://imgur.com/5kAfwrs)
http://i.imgur.com/ufW78PE.jpg (http://imgur.com/ufW78PE)

After a couple of false alarms, the kit arrived March 29th. Same routine, we got everything out of the rain, unpacked, inventoried, and ready to get started. Since the neighbors were having a party at the time, Stewart had to park the truck down the street and my 818 had it’s first drive down the road!
http://i.imgur.com/JH7rNJj.jpg (http://imgur.com/JH7rNJj)
http://i.imgur.com/LhEwv8P.jpg (http://imgur.com/LhEwv8P)
http://i.imgur.com/ZdEPH1o.jpg (http://imgur.com/ZdEPH1o)

We even built the front shocks at it seemed too easy a task to pass up while unpacking the first box.
http://i.imgur.com/Z5oeOMd.jpg (http://imgur.com/Z5oeOMd)

Since one of the backordered parts is the box of rivets, we are back to prepping parts. The Spindles are probably the worst parts we have. I’m looking to borrow a press to get the bearings out, and then off to the bucket-o-doom the parts go.
http://i.imgur.com/kzkx6xc.jpg (http://imgur.com/kzkx6xc)

[Frank818]

Sad to hear about the Porsche. :( These cars deserve a total respect, but hey, some people don't think way (like that guy from behind).

Let's see how you BOD works out!!! :)

[STiPWRD]

Good luck with your build!

[Bob_n_Cincy]

Congratulations.
Another father and son(s) project. I am having a blast, I'm sure you will too.
I live in Ohio but do work for Lightning Motorcycles in San Carlos. So I get out there 4-5 times a year.
I give you a call before my next trip.
Bob

[68GT500MAN]

Congratulations on the delivery. You and your sons should have a great time building. If you need some rivets to get started, let me know which ones and I can send you some. Also, come on down to Huntington Beach the weekend of April 26th and get to know some other builders.
Doug

[Mechie3]

2007 is a good donor for the first one to pop up!

[svanlare]

Thanks all for the good-luck wishes, I'm sure I'll need it. The father-and-son project has already been a blast and I can see that continuing.


Sad to hear about the Porsche.
It was rough, we spent 2 months arguing about the value of an old Porsche and how to repair it. Happy to be building the 818 and I'm hoping some of my salvaged parts will make it into the build :)


I give you a call before my next trip.
Just send me a message and we'll have you over. I'm very excited about your electric build, and it would be fun to connect.


Also, come on down to Huntington Beach the weekend of April 26th
That coincides with spring break for my boys and my parents live in Corona-Del-Mar so it works out pretty well. I'll have the whole family there and really hoping to see a complete 818 there.

As for rivets, I'll keep working on donor prep for now as all that work needs to get done, but if I get stuck I may give you a call.

[svanlare]

The 2007 was more than I wanted to spend, but I hesitated all of about 30 min before deciding it was too good to pass up. The last motor I swapped was a greasy mess (a '72 VW Squareback), so I feel very fortunate that the first donor that showed up requires so little work before I can put it into a car.

[wleehendrick]

The build has started in San Jose!

Welcome! I actually got my donor from up there last year.


My plan is to use evenings primarily as research and prep. I travel frequently for work during the week so 1 or 2 solid weekends a month is all I really have available. While I’m thinking this is a two-year project, my soon-to-be-15 son is planning on it taking less than a year. I guess I’ll have to take some time off this summer when he is free to make some serious progress.

I'm in a similar situation (in terms of travel and time I can put in) plus I'm building off-site... I'm still making good progress. If you can get a few hours in evenings, and a couple weekends a month, it won't take as long as you think!

[wleehendrick]

That coincides with spring break for my boys and my parents live in Corona-Del-Mar so it works out pretty well. I'll have the whole family there and really hoping to see a complete 818 there.

I'll be at H.B. later this month. The original plan was to have my 818 there, but not gonna happen. FFR will bring at least one, Erik's electric will be there, and Brandon may have his R ready, so there should be at least a few!

[AZPete]

Congrats on the arrival! Your donor engine looks much better than mine did before I cleaned it up - and both from AJW. As I said when you were here, I'm envious that you can do a father-son build. Rivets holding you up? Just buy some at Ace and get working.
Pete

[svanlare]

I was pretty excited how the engine looked when it showed up. The spindles, not so much. How is your car coming along, did you get through the wiring?

I won't let rivets hold me back. The next two weekends are booked so I won't be able to work on the car, and since I knocked over my compressor and it is out for repairs I can't really rivet anyways, so I'm cleaning for a bit before we get to real construction.

[Xusia]

Welcome & congrats! I'll be down in Mountain View April 22. Will you be around?

[wleehendrick]

since I knocked over my compressor and it is out for repairs I can't really rivet anyways

I've installed every rivet in my 818 by hand with a $20 Stanley riveter from Amazon. The 1/8" are easy... but the 3/16" really work you forearms!

[longislandwrx]

I've installed every rivet in my 818 by hand with a $20 Stanley riveter from Amazon. The 1/8" are easy... but the 3/16" really work you forearms!

Agreed, there are a lot less rivets than I anticipated and a lot more rivnuts.

[svanlare]

I've installed every rivet in my 818 by hand
I was hoping to be lazy :-)

In any case, I'm hoping to borrow a press this weekend to get the bearings out of the hubs which should leave next week to start drilling and fitting panels.

I've only thought through using rivnuts for the engine firewall (still need to get some panels cut) and the body and then using rivets pretty much everywhere else. However, I imagine with each "sub-job" I'll end up re-evaluating.

[Kalstar]

Great bonding and memories that will last a lifetime. Will be fun to watch what the two of you create.

BTW Harbor Freight sells a cheap air rivet gun, just do it. Works great!

[EODTech87]

BTW Harbor Freight sells a cheap air rivet gun, just do it. Works great!

I second this. I can't imagine how sore my arms would be after installing over 200 rivets in just a couple of days.

[TahoeTim]

Lol - I did 6000 rivets on my airplane.

Get the air riveter... it's man code to NEVER pass up the chance to buy a new tool ;)

[svanlare]

TahoeTim: I completely agree, I have a cabin in the sierras and for a while I was buying 2 of each tool, one for each garage!

[svanlare]

I’ve not had any weekends since the donor or the kit have arrived, but I have squeezed in a couple of weeknights around travel. Since my donor showed up shortly before the kit I really didn’t have time to clean or get ready for the kit to appear so I have been focused on dealing with cleaning the suspension parts.

So I thought I would start by removing the bearings, and then cleaning up the hubs and spindles. Good plan, except the hubs were rusted into the bearings. After a couple of trips to Harbor Freight and several evenings with no progress to show, I hauled all the parts up to my brother’s house where I thought he had a press. Turns out he doesn’t, but he does have a ten pound sledgehammer.

With everything secured, and with appropriate sized socket for a punch, we were able to separate all the hubs. For the most part we killed the bearings at the same time and ended up with just the races left in the spindles. I thought the HF tools could take care of that, so I packed up everything and took it home.

Several evenings later, I gave up on the HF front-end tool set and purchased a press. The rear bearings came out with no problem (2 down) and I was thinking with the right tool every job is easy.

http://i.imgur.com/5TJdFh4.jpg (http://imgur.com/5TJdFh4)
http://i.imgur.com/NQVqCwb.jpg (http://imgur.com/NQVqCwb)

The fronts however still would not budge. All I managed to do with the 12-ton press is bend the press frame, while the bearings stayed fixed. I’m pretty sure I figured out my mistake however. I pulled the retaining clip before we punched out the hubs, and I think the bearings moved a little, but ended up wedged in the spindle. I started cut out the bearing race, but after grinding away for a while thought better of this plan. Click-click-click on the Internet and I have new bearings on their way and a pair of front spindles. I’m sure this won’t be the last mistake I make.

After a number of frustrating evenings, I feel like I’m finally making forward progress. I have a pile of parts now working their way through the bucket-o-doom and I’m very impressed with how well it works. I’m snowboarding with my boys this weekend, and Huntington Beach next, so I’m hoping with two weeks of cleaning parts, I can move into assembly mode.

http://i.imgur.com/5pBudl6.jpg (http://imgur.com/5pBudl6)
http://i.imgur.com/KigrIfY.jpg (http://imgur.com/KigrIfY)
http://i.imgur.com/52fuHtY.jpg (http://imgur.com/52fuHtY)

[svanlare]

Things will stay busy here through May, but I have been able to grab some evenings to make progress.

I’ve worked my way through most of the rusty parts. I’ve cleaned up the donor parts with either the wire brush or the bucket-o-doom depending on what I’m dealing with. Overall, I’ve been able to make steady progress and now have a table worth of parts painted, prepped and ready to go.

http://i.imgur.com/4wLweQA.jpg (http://imgur.com/4wLweQA)

This weekend we took a crack at something other than cleanup. We started to panel the front firewall. I’ll be cleaning the aluminum next and then spraying with bed-liner. Hoping this month to have enough evenings to get that done as well as riveting the panels in place so we can start hanging the suspension.

http://i.imgur.com/12joLPT.jpg (http://imgur.com/12joLPT)
http://i.imgur.com/MFALyRC.jpg (http://imgur.com/MFALyRC)

Couple of questions however at this stage.

All of the loose hardware came in a box with my donor. Some of it is easy enough to figure out, but for the rest I don’t have a clue. I’ve been using the opposedForces website for looking up parts, but for many of the hardware descriptions it is just something like: “Nut” or “Bolt-washer assembly”. Does anyone have a source that I can actually figure out the bolt sizes (M8-95mm grade 8) or do I just use my best guess as I go along?

http://i.imgur.com/nDnaYRi.jpg (http://imgur.com/nDnaYRi)

Most of the rusty bolts, I’m going to attempt to throw in the vibrating/tumbler to clean up. Any suggestions on how to treat the parts when they come out so that they don’t just rust away when I’m done?

[K3LAG]

Most of the rusty bolts, I’m going to attempt to throw in the vibrating/tumbler to clean up. Any suggestions on how to treat the parts when they come out so that they don’t just rust away when I’m done?

I threw mine in a zip lock bag with some Breakfree CLP, gave the bag a good shake and let them sit for a while. Wipe the excess CLP off before you use them.

Larry

[Frank818]

One thing I can tell, do NOT use this product on the threads or if you want to keep the zinc plating on the bolts/nuts:

http://www.jelmar.com/CLRbasic.htm

This product removes rust very good by leaving the parts in for a couple of hours and then if it's not all good you just brush and clean. But it removes the zinc plating too, so your bolt is now fully exposed to rust in the threads and you have to apply something to prevents them from rusting. Too much time consuming, so I manually clean only the heads of the bolts and nuts and I don't touch the threads with that product. I use other products to remove dirt and then I apply some spark plug copper grease when I install them.

[svanlare]

K3LAG and Frank818 - Thanks for the suggestions.

Frank, rusted threads is exactly what I'm worried about. Once the bolts are cleaned, if I do nothing to the threads, I'll have a rusty mess on my hands again in no time.

[Frank818]

You can zinc plate the threads. I tried that, it works great, it looks cool, it seems to stay on the threads after you screw and unscrew it, so it serves the purpose, but... it's hell of a long process for just a small item at a time!! I gave up just cuz of that. You need to use warm water to make the process more efficient, but that isn't a prob as the water warms up the more time the process runs. You also need to keep the water swirling, as steady waters tend to prevent mixture from being balanced. And since it's also a direct-line process (anode sees cathode in straight line), you have to turn around the part at some point. And if you leave it in for say 30mins, turn around and leave it in 10mins, you won't have the same thickness of zinc on each side.

You need a lot of zinc sulfate (the heptahydrate, most common and cheapest, ZnSO4+7H2O), about 30ml per 100ml of water and you need a pure zinc plate.

I gave up on all that, way too long.

So if you don't have rust on the threads, I suggest a good clean and then use some copper thread grease (also called copper grease for spark plugs, available at Summit Racing and many other places) to prevent further rusting.
If you have rust, you can put it in your bucket-o-doom to de-rust and then put the copper grease. If there is any zinc plating left, it will keep it. If there is no OEM zinc plating left, then you can use anything you want to derust and still I suggest that copper grease to prevent rusting again. Not too much of it, though.

[STiPWRD]

Spraying the bolts with some WD40 should inhibit the rust (someone correct me here if I'm wrong). This is what I usually do. Also, you may want to buy a bin with some compartments to better organize that big box of bolts. I took my 02 donor apart and labeled all the hardware in bags so if you get stuck, let me know and I can check what I have.

[Doowop]

I've been looking at different solutions. When I was doing for restoration, we use to juste wire brush them, which can be dangerous! :), andthen paint them. It is very time consuming and paint chips once you tighten them etc....
It looks like easwood as a kit that is this: http://www.eastwood.com/metal-blackening-system-set.html
looks ok but you still have to coat it with clear coat.
I want something simpler.
It seems that parkerizing/Phosphating is a good way to go.
You just need to throw your clean parts in a solution and get it to temperature. you could just put a hot plate in the garage for that purpose. Here is some info:
http://www.palmettoenterprises.net/Palmetto_Enterprises/-FAQ-.html
http://www.calvan.com/

I think I will be doing this for all my nuts and bolts and misc brackets, etc...

[svanlare]

I'm going to give the Eastwood system a try and see how it works.

[svanlare]

STiPWRD,
I bought a donor kit, and the hardware just came in a box. I moved it to the plastic container to organize the garage so I had something other than a shelf full of cardboard boxes. I keep planning to sort the parts one evening, but so far that has been a low priority task compared to de-rusting and working on the firewall...

[RM1SepEx]

I used eastwood fast etch on mine, then a wire brush to polish them up... didn't stop them from re-rusting tho

My brother is going to setup Parkerizing for his gun work. That would be a good soln

[svanlare]

I have one more week of travel before I settle down a little. This weekend was my older son’s high school graduation and my wedding anniversary. We celebrated the graduation and will do the anniversary next month somewhere. From here I’m hoping for 1 good weekend a month and continuing to read the forum and take care of smaller jobs in the evenings.

The good news, is all the evenings of cleaning, drilling, painting did have us set up to get the front firewall attached today pretty quickly which brings us to a nice milestone of checking off the first section of the assembly manual. I used a bed-liner finish for the front side and a glossy finish for the interior. I’m planning on mounting some sort of sound deadening and figured it would stick best to the glossy.

http://i.imgur.com/s1M9aAn.jpg (http://imgur.com/s1M9aAn)
http://i.imgur.com/ooT2g8h.jpg (http://imgur.com/ooT2g8h)

As for next steps, most of the suspension parts have been cleaned up. The lower control arms are modified. The shock mount brackets are installed, and I have Wayne’s trailing arms ready to go. I was very thankful for the impact wrench when I took the rear bushings apart and swapped the mounts. Now know why you cannot torque them until they are at ride height.

I have axel disassembly and rebuild as well as steering rack cleanup to go before I can hang all of the suspension.

[AZPete]

Your front firewall looks good. And, it's fun to start building rather than cleaning. I've been learning from your fastener treatment talk but my AJW crate did not have all the fasteners heaped into a box. Many bolts & nuts were threaded back in their original places, which was nice, but all others were missing, which means I got to know the people at Ace very well ($).

[RM1SepEx]

Bummer Pete, since i did my own donor disassembly I have EVERY nut, bolt, clip etc... I have a whole drawer full of unused bolts etc... in my garage

[svanlare]

Thanks! It does feel good to have something built beyond sticking the plastic end caps in the frame.

The eastwood system has arrived, but I haven't started on the bolts yet. I'll make sure to update how that works when I try it. Not being familiar with subaru's, I'm struggling a bit to figure out what nuts and bolts I have vs. which I need. I'm hoping it will be "mostly" obvious once I start trying to put things on the car.

[svanlare]

Had a little time yesterday and so thought we would hang the pedals. Seemed like an easy job that could be pulled off before a dinner party.

Well, on the cars with the with the separate "pedal-box-front-plate", the plate needs to be attached (pg 140) before the aluminum panels (page 60). I got that done right, and then went on to clamp, measure, drill, debut, unclamp, prep, prime, paint, caulk, hang, and rivet the panels in place. Felt good.

Then yesterday when I went to hang the pedals, nothing fit. My guess is the dimensions between the chassis where the pedals attach and how the plate need to be bolted in place to the chassis is critical and I didn't check that before I attached the plate. I think the plate needs to move down 1/8 to 1/4 inch so that the pedals can attach flush to the plate AND attach the to the chassis from the top.

I've drilled out the rivets on 2 of the aluminum panels and today I'll attach the pedals, then finalize the position of the plate then reattach the aluminum. Hopefully I can reuse the holes even if I have to drill new ones into the chassis. That's the plan anyways. If this works, I'll have to add to the assembly suggestions, that completing page 140, and then test fitting the pedals (continue on to page 145) before tightening the pedal plate (page 141), and the doing the aluminum panels (page 60) would make this part of the process a bit less error prone.

[Frank818]

I have that pedal box plate with 5 bolts/nuts M8 in a small ziploc. I have installed the plate and the alu panels and now I pray all the Gods in the Universe I won't need to remove the panel! lolll Darn :(

[Joseph]

I also bought a kit from AJW. I did not request him to put in a limited slip kit in the differential. Did you get this option? Now I read about many people putting this item in the transmission as part of their build. I am thinking I may wait until I complete the car then find out if I really need this item. I will be using the car only on the street (no racing.) What is your opinion. I noticed that you rolled the car kit into your garage when it was delivered. Did you build a dolly in anticipation of the delivery or does Stewart have a dolly on the truck.

[svanlare]

Frank,
I can now add to the skills I've learned on this project, drilling out rivets. I'm pretty sure you'll have to take off the two panels that the clutch and brake master cylinders go through as the panel attaches from the outside and the aluminum goes over the top. Drilling out the rivets was easy, all of the caulk was a pain. I guess I did a good job there. I'll add a bit more of an update later; but once I got everything lined up, it went together well.

Joseph,
I did not get a limited slip when I ordered the donor. At the time I was worried about budget more than anything else, but now that all the checks have cleared for the kit and the donor, the extra money could be found. I'm on the fence about wether to do this or not, but I'm leaning towards getting one as I race an old 300zx and a Miata and adding the limited slip was the single best addition to both of those cars.

[svanlare]

Joseph,
For the dolly, I copied AZPete's design

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?11458-Chassis-Dolly&highlight=dolly

It has worked really well so far. For starters, my neighbors were having a party when the kit was delivered and Stewart helped me roll the car down the street. Then since my garage is a bit tight, it has been nice to move things around.

[svanlare]

Indeed, the order I put things together got me in trouble. The critical thing is get the chassis and the pedals to line up right. I got the pedal plate and the aluminum to line up right, not quite the right combo.

Once I took the aluminum off, it was easy to get the pedals to line up right. I loosened all the screws on the panel, attached the pedals, and tightened the bolts. I got some none locking nuts since I knew I would be taking them on and off again a number of times at this stage.

I then ran into the same problem that others have had where the bolts aren’t quite long enough and there is no room to attach the nuts on the pedal assembly after drilling the mounting holes. I decided to turn the bolts around and I’ll switch to M8-1.25 bolts so the clutch and the brake master cylinders will use the same hardware and attach the same way.

http://i.imgur.com/gbgrI1O.jpg (http://imgur.com/gbgrI1O)
http://i.imgur.com/vJZdF6q.jpg (http://imgur.com/vJZdF6q)

The grinder wouldn’t quite reach on both sides. I had to drill out part of the housing, then file away with the dremel to clean it up. Not the best looking cutouts, but once i cleaned it up and painted it turned out ok.

http://i.imgur.com/vOJ8o7p.jpg (http://imgur.com/vOJ8o7p)
http://i.imgur.com/MVrdhlI.jpg (http://imgur.com/MVrdhlI)

The hex bolts sit flat, and test fitting the brake master cylinder I’m happy with how it all turned out. Now I need to re-caulk and rivet the two panels, and then I can bolt it all into place.

http://i.imgur.com/mATWmyG.jpg (http://imgur.com/mATWmyG)

While I was at it, I had did the bracket for the accelerator. It was easier while the pedals were out.

Does anyone know what size hardware for the accelerator pedal?

[Bob_n_Cincy]

svanlare,
there is a thin aluminum cover that goes between the master cylinder and the fire wall.
Bob

29667

[svanlare]

Good catch. I forgot to install it when I did the test fit. I still have to take it all apart one last time so I can caulk and rivet the aluminum panels in place again. But this is a good reminder for next weekend's work.

[07FIREBLADE]

I had the same problem as you. Didn't install the plate until after the aluminum was drilled, coated and installed. I had to take 3 panels off to fix the mistake. But the worst part was that I didn't even get the plate, It went missing during transit from Stewart, luckly FFR was able to send one out next day air, so that helped but still.

[Frank818]

What page of the manual mentions the installation of that thin alu cover between the master and FW?

P143 of the revF full manual.
Now where is that part in my boxes...

[Jaime]

What does that part do? I'm using Michael Everson's bracket and everything seems to sit well without it.

[svanlare]

Frank, Page 144 in the Rev-i manual.

Jaime, I think it just covers the hole, it is very thin metal.

-Steve

[svanlare]

Got the final hardware and installed the master cylinder correctly this time with the cover plate.

http://i.imgur.com/gG8s81q.jpg (http://imgur.com/gG8s81q)

[svanlare]

Brakes arrived this week and my plan was to hang the suspension this weekend.

This is the before and after shots of how the brakes cleaned up. Pretty happy with the results.

http://i.imgur.com/bacQjRY.jpg (http://imgur.com/bacQjRY)
http://i.imgur.com/2YWcQA1.jpg (http://imgur.com/2YWcQA1)

[svanlare]

Things were going fine on the suspension (drilling the LCA, swapping the mounts, adding the shock mount) until I got to the upper ball joints.

The picture in the manual makes it look like these will spin on and loctight is needed to keep them in place. I was using a VERY large wrench and wasn't able to get them to seat. I gave up and backed them out. I’ve ordered a ball joint socket and plan to hit them with the impact wrench next weekend.

Between now and then I'm hoping someone will let me know if there there is an easier way or if force is the right way to win this one.

http://i.imgur.com/zUvd73T.jpg (http://imgur.com/zUvd73T)
http://i.imgur.com/79lqdeR.jpg (http://imgur.com/79lqdeR)

[svanlare]

So I decided to work on the axles instead. The manual was spot on, easy, but VERY messy. I made it through most of the CV joints until I gave up in the 100 degree garage. I have one more to go before I can build up the new axles. The Fronts came apart easy and everything looked nice in them.

http://i.imgur.com/4OFTJMN.jpg (http://imgur.com/4OFTJMN)

The inboard parts were more beat up than I expected. When I opened the CV joint, the grease poured out like water. When I cleaned up the mess and the parts, there is plenty of scoring to the tri-lobe. How do I tell if these are “good enough” or if I should head to subaru and pick up new ones?

http://i.imgur.com/A41JHZL.jpg (http://imgur.com/A41JHZL)

[CptTripps]

The inboard parts were more beat up than I expected. When I opened the CV joint, the grease poured out like water. When I cleaned up the mess and the parts, there is plenty of scoring to the tri-lobe. How do I tell if these are “good enough” or if I should head to subaru and pick up new ones?


For the amount of work you're going to put into the rest of the car...and how important these are...I'd get new ones. You'll always be thinking about it as a point of failure if you don't do it now.

This is one of those things that you get with a high milage donor car. (I'm in the same boat, so I'm not throwing stones at a glass house.)

[Frank818]

Things were going fine on the suspension (drilling the LCA, swapping the mounts, adding the shock mount) until I got to the upper ball joints.

The picture in the manual makes it look like these will spin on and loctight is needed to keep them in place. I was using a VERY large wrench and wasn't able to get them to seat. I gave up and backed them out. I’ve order a ball joint socket and plan to hit them with the impact wrench next weekend.

Between now and then I'm hoping someone will let me know if there there is an easier way or if force is the right way to win this one.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/svanlare/BallJointFFR_zps762b34df.jpg (http://s66.photobucket.com/user/svanlare/media/BallJointFFR_zps762b34df.jpg.html)
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/svanlare/BallJoint2014-06-08SVLDSC_0055_zps3855df10.jpg (http://s66.photobucket.com/user/svanlare/media/BallJoint2014-06-08SVLDSC_0055_zps3855df10.jpg.html)

Force worked for me. A lot of it. They do spin in but after a few turns it's super hard. Even without loctite I can't imagine the joint to loosen up!
I did not get them fully seated, I stopped where the threads stop, which is just a few mm from the top of the joint. I hope that won't affect suspension installation, probably the joint bolt will just look shorter after it's installed on the FFR bracket but that's nothing.

[svanlare]

CptTripps,
I'm already thinking that I'll be worried about these and was hoping someone with more Subaru knowledge would know if they all end up looking like this, or if it really is something to replace now "while I'm there". I'll figure out if I can just buy parts or if I have to buy complete half-shafts and go from there.

Frank,
A lot of force got me to where I was in the picture, and they wouldn't budge past that. A little bit of searching and i found a ball joint socket for an impact wrench designed for these ball joints. It was cheaper than the big wrench so I'm giving that a try if force is the right answer.

[Frank818]

Frank,
A lot of force got me to where I was in the picture, and they wouldn't budge past that. A little bit of searching and i found a ball joint socket for an impact wrench designed for these ball joints. It was cheaper than the big wrench so I'm giving that a try if force is the right answer.

Must be a huge socket. Let me know what you end up with, as I am at the same place as you are (ref.: your pic of the ball joint).

[svanlare]

The google query "moog ball joint socket" got me a bunch of options.

Here is the one I bought

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003IOEQ1O/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Sunex 10213 1-59/64-Inch Ball Joint Socket

I looked at the photos on your blog and it looks like you got just as far with the ball joints as I did. I'll let you know how this works.

[svanlare]

The right tool makes the job worlds easier. I didn't use the impact wrench, just a long ratchet. The ball joint socket worked very nice (still took a lot of force) and I was able have the ball joints snug right up to the control arms. Highly recommended.

http://i.imgur.com/mNccjnO.jpg (http://imgur.com/mNccjnO)

[Frank818]

You got a ratchet that big?

[nuisance]

I did this as the manual suggests, with the ball joint in a vise, and a pipe on the welded arm. I ran out of steam using a two foot pipe, so rather than use force, I used a 5 foot pipe. Then it was easy. I confess I skipped the locktite.

[svanlare]

I have a fairly long ratchet but the drive end wasn't big enough to fit this socket. I had to go buy a 3/4 to 1/2 drive adapter. I had about a 2 foot length and thought about adding a cheater pipe, but didn't need it after all.

[Frank818]

I have loctite on for 1 week now. I guess it's gonna be harder to loosen up and then put loctite again and tighten it up again (with a long pipe, didn't think about that). I believe I can leave it that way. What are the odds it would loosen up after a while or break. I guess...

[D Clary]

I bought a 3/4 drive socket from snapon a long time ago. I have used these ball joint on a lot of race cars. I always put them together with antisieze. They will never loosen up, with locktite they may be extremely difficult to remove.

[Frank818]

Ok so you went the other way around compared to FFR, instead of seizing them with loctite, you use anti-seize cuz they are not prone to loosen up, I guess. Like we do with lug nuts, never loctite there. lolll I should have done that. Anyway, if I break a ball joint, I'll buy a full a-arm from FFR and a new ball joint, I think for that type of part I can take the risk without any issues.

tnx for sharing though, it helps understanding!

[svanlare]

Since mine have loctite on them as well, I'll run with the same plan - it would be time for a new upper A-arm.

[D Clary]

You can loosen the Loctite with heat. Map gas or oxy acetylene. not to much heat is needed just till it starts smoking.

[svanlare]

Progress on the 818 has been slow of late. The 24hrs of Lemons team I race with is building a new car after we killed the last one. As the electrician on the team I thought I was going to have this build easy, but after moving the fuse box to make room for the roll cage, the car no longer starts or runs. After a weekend of debugging a 24 year old wiring harness I've given up (chasing too many broken connectors and wires) and so I am building a new harness for the car. While 818 progress will be slow, at least I'm practicing the wiring on someone else's car :-)

I could use some advise here however. I'm feeling fortunate as the bolts holes on the front suspension lined up well. But, the brackets that hold the LCAs are wider than the bushing by a good bit. Any opinions on the options of putting a nut on and cranking it down vs. adding a washer vs. just leaving a gap?

http://i.imgur.com/cWhAiY8.jpg (http://imgur.com/cWhAiY8)

[Frank818]

Try to bolt it on tight, the brackets should move and squeeze on your bushing, that metal does bend.

[svanlare]

After watching updates on the 818 at UTCC today, I decided it was time to stop working on the race car for a night and do some 818 work instead. I purchased the odometer chip from KLAG3 for my 2007 dash and swapped the chip out. The instructions (here: The-Savage-build-thread-post-#88 (http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?12055-The-Savage-build-thread&p=151484&highlight=EEPROM#post151484)) were very simple and even though it has been a while since I've de-soldered a chip it went quick and smooth. Once back together, presto - 0 miles on the clock. Quick and easy unfortunately so I'm back to the wiring harness on the race car for the rest of the evening.

Before:
http://i.imgur.com/syyzIn5.jpg (http://imgur.com/syyzIn5)

After:
http://i.imgur.com/ow2e3wQ.jpg (http://imgur.com/ow2e3wQ)

[Erik W. Treves]

Things were going fine on the suspension (drilling the LCA, swapping the mounts, adding the shock mount) until I got to the upper ball joints.

The picture in the manual makes it look like these will spin on and loctight is needed to keep them in place. I was using a VERY large wrench and wasn't able to get them to seat. I gave up and backed them out. I’ve ordered a ball joint socket and plan to hit them with the impact wrench next weekend.

Between now and then I'm hoping someone will let me know if there there is an easier way or if force is the right way to win this one.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/svanlare/BallJointFFR_zps762b34df.jpg (http://s66.photobucket.com/user/svanlare/media/BallJointFFR_zps762b34df.jpg.html)
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/svanlare/BallJoint2014-06-08SVLDSC_0055_zps3855df10.jpg (http://s66.photobucket.com/user/svanlare/media/BallJoint2014-06-08SVLDSC_0055_zps3855df10.jpg.html)

if you put those ball joints in the freezer for an hour or two and then heat the arm for about 30 seconds before you put the ball joint in there, it will go right in...with moderate effort.

[svanlare]

Great advice on the ball joints. I did that for the bearings and they pretty much just slipped into the spindles, but I didn't think about that for the ball joints.

[svanlare]

It has been said before that the build threads go dark during the wiring phase. Well, I've been wiring a Lemons Race car for a while now and reached that lovely moment when it starts! It has since been shipped off to it the next owners house, I've had a vacation to Hawaii (Aloha818, I would have sent a text if on the right island) and now finally gotten back to the mainland and back to work on the 818.

Steering rack and wheel are installed. I haven't worried about torquing anything down yet in case I have to undo anything while I work on brakes etc. Time to post pictures again once I have daylight. Getting all the parts together was a four handed operation so happy my son was there to make it all work. He worked one side of the firewall while I took care of the other side.

I'd like to get the sway bar installed tomorrow then turn the car around in the garage and start on the rear suspension.

What pads are folks planning to run on the street? I had the brakes reconditioned and have no pads for the brakes and need to get some on order. I'm beginning to research brake pads, clutch and flywheel options.

[wleehendrick]

What pads are folks planning to run on the street? I had the brakes reconditioned and have no pads for the brakes and need to get some on order. I'm beginning to research brake pads, clutch and flywheel options.

I turned my stock rotors and got a set of StepTech 'Street Performance' pads based on reviews; haven't driven them yet. I wanted something safe for the street (that will bite when cold) but offer better fade resistance than stock. I'm hoping they'll be a good compromise. Along the same lines of the Hawk HPS pads I have on my Z which are no better, or perhaps worse, than stock, IMHO. :(

[Boog]

I'm kinda disappointed with Hawk HPS on my G. I agree that they equal or worse to stock.

I loved the EBC yellow (with DBA rotors) I was running for a while until one of the rears delaminated after a track day. Not crazy unsafe, since I was driving around for a week without really feeling the difference, but needed to be resolved ASAP. They aren't for everyone since they feel different for the first initial bite on a cool day, but after learning to brake once before heading out they were good for the rest of a trip. The feel and stopping power was awesome and I plan on running them on the 818 and again on my G once the HPS need to be replaced.

[svanlare]

Wleehendrick and Boog, thanks for the feedback.

I had been looking at the Hawk and StopTech as well.

[Boog]

I just realized that it sounds really bad that the EBC yellows delaminated, but its worth noting that I was pushing them very hard. The track day was in the daytona infield on a warm florida day and had a 110mph straight into a 20-25mph hairpin which was hard on my fat, 3400lb G. When i got back to the paddock my infrared thermometer was reading 600+ degrees.

Long story short, I don't blame the brakes/manufacturer. For the conditions I should have been running a higher temp pad.

[svanlare]

Boog - I didn't take it negative and it sounds like a fun track day. As an engineer one of the things I like about racing, is when we find one limit on the car and improve it, we get to move onto the next one. We upgraded tire sizes at Sears Point one race with an 88 Z and were able to get much higher speeds than we had in the past, but then had brake problems where we have never had them before. The Hawk race pads worked just fine, but we cracked 4 rotors that weekend (ended up swapping rotors every 4 hours after buying everything we could in the area). Next race we had upgraded to brakes from a 2007 Z and the problem has been solved ever since.

The gear can only be expected to work as designed, and knowing what real world experience folks are having with it in the context of Subarus and the 818 helps make the build smoother and the results better. The content on this site has been invaluable to me as I work on the car; each step in the process I have to read the manual, read the internet, plan, then give it a shot. I'm completely new to most of this and appreciate all the input I can get so I don't make as many stupid mistakes as I otherwise would, what seems small to some folks has been hugely valuable as I research what I need to make this project a success.

[RM1SepEx]

Excellent post, very accurate description of racing... improve power, drop weight, go faster, find the weak link, repeat.

This forum is extremely valuable to all of use due to the diverse expertise, you can find answers or alternative approaches for virtually anything here!

[svanlare]

I feel like I'm missing a part. The sway bar mounts that came with the donor do not have a flat bottom, yet the mount on the frame does. I'm thinking that since I bought a disassembled donor I may not have gotten all the brackets I needed (missing a base?) and that I need to hit the salvage yard this weekend. I've searched a bit on the threads to find a good photo of the bracket mounts and can't find one.

The other option is to bend these flat, but I'm pretty sure I could have found that in one of the other build logs I've searched.

Any thoughts?

Thanks
-Steve

http://i.imgur.com/8EdYPJW.jpg (http://imgur.com/8EdYPJW)

[Jaime]

Bend them flat or buy these:


32617 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003870QGU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

[svanlare]

Gratuitous suspension shots now that it is together minus being torqued down. Also included the hole cover for tightening the control arm. Time to start on the back end of the car.

http://i.imgur.com/O3sTzzD.jpg (http://imgur.com/O3sTzzD)

http://i.imgur.com/g65lmsb.jpg (http://imgur.com/g65lmsb)

http://i.imgur.com/lb3imyS.jpg (http://imgur.com/lb3imyS)

[svanlare]

Jaime, Thanks, on order...done.


Bend them flat or buy these:


32617 (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003870QGU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

[svanlare]

Race weekend is done, and I'm not traveling for work for a couple weeks, so I'm excited to start working on the car again.

I had a problem where the rear control arms wouldn't fit the frame.
http://i.imgur.com/IZrubOA.jpg (http://imgur.com/IZrubOA)
http://i.imgur.com/RULoA8W.jpg (http://imgur.com/RULoA8W)

After asking here, it seems that this is a standard problem using the aftermarket control arms, and the equally standard answer was grind them down. Tonight I was able to grind two of the arms, hopefully I'll get the next two tomorrow and then I'll be able to hang the rear suspension, as the axels, shocks, spindles and parking brakes are all assembled and ready to go.

http://i.imgur.com/838em8p.jpg (http://imgur.com/838em8p)
http://i.imgur.com/em6DJUB.jpg (http://imgur.com/em6DJUB)

[svanlare]

I had some time this weekend and got all of the rear suspension on the car. If I had wheels and tires, it would be a roller. I know some folks make it here in the first weekend, but this was a big milestone for us! I didn't get any photos, so I'll probably have to wait until next weekend so that I can grab a photo or two with the light. I was hoping to be go-karting by Christmas, but that seems a stretch at the pace we are going unless I take some time off from work.

With the end of the suspension work, it was time to start getting some of the next wave of parts prepped and ready to go. I had a sheet of aluminum that we are crafting into a rear firewall (before the engine goes in). I'm hoping to copy Bob's design for the ECU mount and cabling. Panels have been cut and fit, now we need to get drilling and installing rivets. I have a center triangle section that I plan to be removable with 10-32 sized riv-nuts. The rest will get permanently installed and the whole thing will have a thermal sheet over it.

The most important task I completed was I finally got off the fence and made some decisions about a few of the components I've been waffling on. In short, the UPS guy will be busy soon as I get some early x-mas presents; I've let my fingers do some walking today.

I decided to give up on AC (for now?), so I pulled the AC compressor and the PS pump off the engine. I used Mike Everson's alternator bracket kit and that went together very easy. Ordered his clutch kit and the radiator tubes while I was at it :-) I've been waiting and calling about the revised FF gas tank about monthly. Gave up waiting on the revised tank and ordered the Boyd tank.

I think the only mandatory decisions I need to make still is to finally decide on wheels, tires as well as seats. I keep thinking about the k-tuned shifter as well. Maybe I need to visit Pete again for inspiration there. I guess it is time to stop "researching" and just click buy on those too.

[svanlare]

And now with photos. Please let me know if there is anything I need to "fix". The orange is just pool-noodles that I've been using to keep from bumping into the frame.

http://i.imgur.com/TPMqw51.jpg (http://imgur.com/TPMqw51)
http://i.imgur.com/bb8pU6e.jpg (http://imgur.com/bb8pU6e)
http://i.imgur.com/28XuQZ8.jpg (http://imgur.com/28XuQZ8)
http://i.imgur.com/sUmftg6.jpg (http://imgur.com/sUmftg6)

[svanlare]

I've seen this in a couple other blogs, but I was surprised how much I had to twist the spindle mount for the rear trailing arm to get the bolt passed through. Do I just need to crank down the bolts at this point or should I find a spacer? To get this straight would take a massive amount of toe out.

http://i.imgur.com/d8NJ5ZE.jpg (http://imgur.com/d8NJ5ZE)
http://i.imgur.com/4XMzZbv.jpg (http://imgur.com/4XMzZbv)

[Rasmus]

Love me some photos.

I like the pool noodle idea.

Please let me know if there is anything I need to "fix".
I believe your rear most lateral links are on the wrong sides.

The endlink "cups" attachement points go on the lower portion of the bar and the open part faces rear-ward. At least that's the way it's supposed to go on a WRX. 818 Might be configured different.

http://www.hptmotorsports.com/images/detailed/3/AP-GDA-210-2.jpg
http://www.powerlabs.org/images/whitelineendlink.jpg

[svanlare]

Good catch, thanks. I wasn't positive those were for the former anti-roll bar and guessed 50/50 what to do with them. Now is the easiest time to flip them so I'll make that happen.

[Bob_n_Cincy]

Good catch, thanks. I wasn't positive those were for the former anti-roll bar and guessed 50/50 what to do with them. Now is the easiest time to flip them so I'll make that happen.
No need to flip them, the rear sway bar is not used on the 818. I'm surprised Rasmus hasn't cut them off to save a few grams.
Bob

[Rasmus]

I'm surprised Rasmus hasn't cut them off to save a few grams.

http://i.imgur.com/DlbKn7n.jpg
Grams, saved.

[Frank818]

I've seen this in a couple other blogs, but I was surprised how much I had to twist the spindle mount for the rear trailing arm to get the bolt passed through. Do I just need to crank down the bolts at this point or should I find a spacer? To get this straight would take a massive amount of toe out.

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/svanlare/RearSuspension2014-09-23SVLDSC_1226_zpsc71a87ea.jpg (http://s66.photobucket.com/user/svanlare/media/RearSuspension2014-09-23SVLDSC_1226_zpsc71a87ea.jpg.html)
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/svanlare/RearSuspension2014-09-23SVLDSC_1224_zpsc6ed3a3d.jpg (http://s66.photobucket.com/user/svanlare/media/RearSuspension2014-09-23SVLDSC_1224_zpsc6ed3a3d.jpg.html)

I can't see the pix from my work machine, but I had the same issue, the trailing arms would not line up without quite some force with the spindle mount. As of now I have not done more about it, all is in place but nothing is aligned yet, as you know I am working on other issues. loll

EDIT: Now I can see the pix and yeah, I had the same thing. I am not concerned about space between the bracket and bushing as it will crush on it, but the angle I was more concerned about.

[svanlare]

as you know I am working on other issues. loll
I'll have to let you know how this works out so maybe we can take one item off your list.

[svanlare]

Answer was crank-em-down, they are spaced wide to make is easy to install without too much force. I'll complete a rough cut alignment first, then tighten.

[Frank818]

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/svanlare/RearSuspension2014-09-23SVLDSC_1234_zps6ce62002.jpg (http://s66.photobucket.com/user/svanlare/media/RearSuspension2014-09-23SVLDSC_1234_zps6ce62002.jpg.html)

Hey guess what, I installed them the same "wrong" way as you did. :) But like Bob said, I don't give an f about it as we don't use the rear sway bar. I might even cut those squared cups at some point, but not now. :)

[svanlare]

I flipped them anyways, I was drilling rivet holes for the firewall and decided that if I wasn't grinding them off tonight, at least I could flip them. Spent some time getting the wheels pointed mostly in the right direction, and then sent Wayne a paypal for the k-tuned shifter.

Figure while I'm sorting out routing for the brakes and wires, might as well mock up the shifter at the same time. I'm planning on ABS and routing the brake lines down the center, so I want to see everything that is going in and around before I start drilling too many holes in the chassis.

[svanlare]

The K-Tuned Shifter and Boyd tank showed up this week. I haven't done anything with the shifter other than assemble it and mount it temporarily in the car. That, and then sit and make zoom-zoom noise for a bit :-)

This weekend was my wife's college reunion, so I didn't have a lot of time, but I did get the tank mounted. Only 4 bolts, but it sure seemed to be a lot of in-out-repeat for a variety of odds and ends until it was finally bolted home. Stripped a rivnut in the process and that was a pain to clean up, but I won in the end.

http://i.imgur.com/zITiBLb.jpg (http://imgur.com/zITiBLb)

I cut up drawer liner to have a little bit of pad between the tank and the car, and then simply glued it to the frame. I had previously finished a engine firewall, but good thing it was only mounted with cleco's as the fuel filler wouldn't have worked so mod'ed that as well.

http://i.imgur.com/M7Wq7bV.jpg (http://imgur.com/M7Wq7bV)


I picked up the Astro Riv-nut tool in the process. Much better than the HF tool I was using before!
http://i.imgur.com/Q2tlam1.jpg (http://imgur.com/Q2tlam1)

The filler tube was dented in shipping, I have a call into Boyd for recommendations on how to bend it round again. Not a big deal, so I'll solve that one some evening.

[svanlare]

The filler tube is all sorted out. Dave was really helpful in suggestions about what to try as well as options if I fail. It didn't look bad, so very similar to rolling a fender, rolled the tube round again.

[svanlare]

Busy weekend and closed off a couple of things as well as getting stuck elsewhere. Still, 6 months in I feel like I'm learning every week and the progress adds up.

This weekend we did a lot of panel drilling for the interior, finished the firewall between the engine and the tank, followed by prep-ing panels to be installed. We Modified the lower firewall in front of the boyd tank, now I need to decide how close to the tank I want to mount it and then mod the top part.

The transmission got some wire brush action followed by a quick coat of rattle can aluminum. At least it is clean now.
http://i.imgur.com/Joj1vAA.jpg (http://imgur.com/Joj1vAA)

The big task this weekend was we were going to try and put the motor and transmission in place. I don't have a big garage, so so the plan was that we would free up space in front of the car so I could attach the radiator bracket, radiator, etc. Then plumbing could start in ernest (brakes, clutch, radiator, intercooler, wires, fuel), since we would have everything in its home. The whole plan started with the first steps in the 2wd conversion. I was waiting till it was in the car to lock the diff, but we got through the rest easy enough.
http://i.imgur.com/sftf31l.jpg (http://imgur.com/sftf31l)

Then liberating the engine from the stand it has been on.
http://i.imgur.com/aALS3zE.jpg (http://imgur.com/aALS3zE)

Mating the transmission and the engine and then finally putting it all in place.
http://i.imgur.com/3Ba8uxo.jpg (http://imgur.com/3Ba8uxo)

Sadly, it wouldn't fit. When I picked up the engine lift from HF, I bought the 1 ton, figuring heck, that is more than the whole car weighs, lets just do that. Unfortunately, the arm is not long enough the fit the engine in place. With the crane all the way against the frame, I was about 6 inches short of being able to put everything in place. The 2 ton lift has an arm about 10 inches longer. So we dropped the engine and transmission on a couple dollies and closed up shop for the weekend. I'll be selling the first crane on craigslist and buying the larger one, then we'll try again next weekend.

[Bob_n_Cincy]

Hey Svanlare.
I was able to get the engine-transmission assemble in with that engine hoist. Not sure what I did different.
I found it almost impossible to get the engine in with the exhaust and up-pipe on (everything on top hit as I tried to lift it over the motor mounts)
Maybe some others here with their experiences.
Keep up the good work.
Bob

edit: Correction, I have a 2 ton hoist. (I quess I was just added the HF 1/2 factor to it)

[mikeb75]

Same hoist, same problem.

Used nylon straps (instead of chains on leveler) and grabbed the engine/transmission a bit further back, then leveraged it into the frame by pushing while tilting. It didn't go perfectly for me; I lost a bit of powdercoat.

[Quiny]

The filler tube was dented in shipping, I have a call into Boyd for recommendations on how to bend it round again. Not a big deal, so I'll solve that one some evening.

Did a filler tube come with your Boyd tank? or are you talking about just the bung welded on the tank?

[STiPWRD]

Hope you remembered to take out that bearing race out of the back of the trans, otherwise it will be rattling around in there.
34866

[D Clary]

I had the same issue with the lower link. I could not reconcile it to my satisfaction so I made aluminum bushings and used hiem joints. I am not sure that the rubber bushing is a problem, I just didn't like it 34867

[svanlare]

Bob and Mike. Thanks for the validation. My brother-in-law is fond of saying don't buy cheap tools, and yet I've bought a bunch from HF :-) I remember standing in the store figuring out which I was going to buy, and clearly made the wrong call.

I thought about putting some kind of sling together, so decided to get a second opinion (this forum) before I went there.

I also thought about taking the turbo off, mainly since it is in the way when I've mated the engine and transmission. The process I used was to raise the transmission, then lower the engine to it. Provided I had it tilted enough, I could get the turbo past the housing. Would be a lot simpler withe turbo off. If that will help clear the top bars when I install, maybe I'll pull it off some night this week to get ready for next weekend.

STiPWRD, good catch, I did not pull the race, so I'll have to go back in there and get it. I pulled at it and it didn't come loose so I assumed it was pressed in. I'll try harder this time.

D Clary, I haven't tightened them down yet, so you have an interesting option. Have you mounted wheels to see if the trailing link clears?

[svanlare]

Did a filler tube come with your Boyd tank? or are you talking about just the bung welded on the tank?
Quiny - It is just the short bung welded to the tank. I can add photo's tonight of the before and after.

[D Clary]

They have the same clearance as the VCP arms.

[mikeb75]

When I installed the engine we had the turbo and headers and up-pipe removed. Gave some extra space to lean the engine in.

[svanlare]

OK, so turbo is coming off the next time I try this.

Here is what I started with post shipping of my tank.
http://i.imgur.com/0uVDuYe.jpg (http://imgur.com/0uVDuYe)

And the post flare results.
http://i.imgur.com/f1ffNEm.jpg (http://imgur.com/f1ffNEm)

Boyd was great to work with. Took my calls, gave me a bunch of advice, and many options for solving.

[AZPete]

Steve, nice work on the tank inlet. How did you do it? An exhaust pipe expander?
And, how do you like the Astro riv-nut tool? I've got two others that are crap so now I'm using the simple tool included in the kit by FFR.

[svanlare]

Pete,
I should have thought of an pipe expander, that probably would have been the best tool. I started out with a plunger handle and worked it just like rolling a fender. That gave me an oval, but I was putting more force on the bottom of the tube than I liked. After that I wrapped a socket handle with a shop towel and tapped with a rubber mallet. Slow work, but it only applied the force where I wanted it, except the time I caught my thumb :-)

The Astro riv-nut tool is a big improvement over the standard rivet tool I was using. It was recommended somewhere else on the forum and I can add a +1 to that previous recommendation.

On a related note, I am thinking of getting floating nut riv-nuts from McMaster after I cross threaded a screw in one and had to drill it out. The hole in the panel didn't quite line up with the installed riv-nut and the screw bound; more force was apparently the wrong answer.

I know you don't have a build thread going, but I'm sure there are a bunch of us would that like to see a video of your car at the go-kart stage...

[svanlare]

Back to work this weekend. I'm working on finding a place to mount the ABS unit and start the brake line routing. I cut up the original bracket with the intention of mounting the unit just behind the battery. My plan it to run the lines from the master cylinder there, and then the rear lines down the center to the tank and then around to each wheel.

While I was waiting on paint, I started mounting the radiator. Before I go much further, I'm stumped about what these two connectors are from the bottom of the radiator. What are these, and where do they go?
http://i.imgur.com/d1MacVh.jpg (http://imgur.com/d1MacVh)

[JeromeS13]

That's a transmission cooler (typically in auto transmission radiators). You should be able to just plug them.

[svanlare]

I got all of the flex lines for the brakes mounted, but since the metric parts I ordered haven't arrived, the hard lines will have to wait until a future set of evenings or another weekend.

I also finished up the 2wd conversion. As a sanity check, here are the washers, etc that I pulled from the transmission.
http://i.imgur.com/2oMDLVJ.jpg (http://imgur.com/2oMDLVJ)

resulting in the back of the transmission looking like this:
http://i.imgur.com/Rq3Xu7p.jpg (http://imgur.com/Rq3Xu7p)

I put the adapter, 1 washer and the nut back on
http://i.imgur.com/yweEA26.jpg (http://imgur.com/yweEA26)

And had the following parts left over.
http://i.imgur.com/8Nq9ySb.jpg (http://imgur.com/8Nq9ySb)

I've put the transmission cover back on lightly for now and I'll seal it up once I think I've got everything put back together correctly.

[Boog]

Several people have mentioned needing to pull the upper and lower inner bearing race so it doesn't dislodge at some point in the future.

[svanlare]

I got a full day in today, it has been a while. I was a little tentative about starting on the hard lines for the brake and the clutch as I have never dealt with hydraulic lines before so this all wall new to me. Now some 20+ flares later, I'm happy I went all metric, and the ABS didn't end up that much work, even if it was a lot of bending and flaring to get the brake lines in place. The eastman tool worked great, I can HIGHLY recommend it for the flares. I put some fluid in and checked for leaks, so far so good. The pedal is still soft, but I ran the job solo tonight. I'll recruit my son tomorrow to help bleed the brakes for real and see if we cannot sort that out.
http://i.imgur.com/w8bSW9c.jpg (http://imgur.com/w8bSW9c)
http://i.imgur.com/Oao8mNc.jpg (http://imgur.com/Oao8mNc)


Over the last couple of weeks, I got the radiator and tubes installed. Mechie's mounts and the ReplicarParts tubes made both of those tasks very easy.
http://i.imgur.com/u2NVgHx.jpg (http://imgur.com/u2NVgHx)

With the front on the car, it is starting to look car shaped.
http://i.imgur.com/eJkM50H.jpg (http://imgur.com/eJkM50H)

I'm trying to figure out where to route the clutch line.

Very happy to have most of the wiring arrive this week. It took a couple of months from when I ordered the InfinityBox system. I still have the two powercells backorders, but the rest is all here.
http://i.imgur.com/ztb9HTq.jpg (http://imgur.com/ztb9HTq)

[Bob_n_Cincy]

Steve
That's the best job I've seen on the ABS so far.
Bob

[Hindsight]

I agree, love the valve location. I have been wondering where to put mine, until now. Everything else is looking great too! Very clean.

[Frank818]

Me too I got the InfinityBox, let's see what we come up with. Still debating locations to put the mastercell, front and rear cell and not to mention the ECU.

[svanlare]

Thanks very much.

I spent way too long thinking about what to do, and finally just needed to start bending tubes. I'm hoping that the valves will be tucked under the cover when done so they are set and forget. Still nervous about valves on the front brakes. I very much like what you did Bob, moving to bigger brakes in the back and then using the valve in the rear.

I pretty much need to wrap up fuel, then onto wiring. I've hacked too many harnesses in the past so I'm kind-of looking forward to trying the InfinityBox system out to see if it truly makes things easier. A co-worker used it on his coupe and gives it the thumbs up but well see when I start powering things up.

[Harley818]

Steve, just read your build. Nice job so far. I was re-living earlier parts of my own build.... pressing out bearings, lateral links in opposite ( I cut my sway bar brackets off - every gram helps...), cutting out access for the pedal box bolts.....fighting to get the engine in.
Now I'm in the black zone.... head into wiring diet. Thats why I am taking a break to read.
Soon as I get the wiring done, I'm ready to fire it.
Keep up the good work.

[svanlare]

Thanks Harley818. I get a huge amount of input comparing notes on the builds and feel I spend as much time here looking over everyones shoulder as I do working on the car myself. We are having a great time building here, even if it seems to be slower than I would like. At least each time I look back a month forward progress has been made.

[svanlare]

Now that the brakes and the clutch are done, I'm moving onto fuel and wiring. I haven't started on the fuel lines but it seems pretty simple, especially compared to all the bending and flaring that went into the brakes and clutch lines. So I guess I'm procrastinating on the wires and looking at what clean-up the engine needs.

I thought there was a thread that detailed what you need and what you don't from the engine, but sadly I couldn't find it. I'll keep searching and reading.

Currently the top of the engine looks like this.
http://i.imgur.com/wUQbnWf.jpg (http://imgur.com/wUQbnWf)

Whether I try to keep emissions or lose them, I believe I have to figure out what all of this is so I can either rip a bunch of it off and plug the remaining lines, or I have to figure out where all the disconnected hoses connect to and then design some way to get them were they need to be. I think removing for the most part means pulling off (2), (10), (7) below and the related tubing, and then capping of at the engine using the plate (11) from the STI.

I purchases a disassembled donor so I don't know where things went originally, so I'l leaning towards removing and plugging as the easiest answer and then using a charcoal filter on the fuel tank.

If anyone has advice on what to go read next completely open input on where I need to go next.

http://i.imgur.com/enkJMzs.jpg (http://imgur.com/enkJMzs)

[freds]

I thought there was a thread that detailed what you need and what you don't from the engine, but sadly I couldn't find it. I'll keep searching and reading.

If anyone has advise on what to go read next completely open input on where I need to go next.

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?9288-Simplifying-the-EJ&highlight=simplifying

fred

[svanlare]

Thank you, I kept trying emissions, simplifying the EJ pulls it up quick.

[Harley818]

I think the thread you are looking for is the Simplifying the EJ by longislandwrx. Being a non-subie guy, it was really helpful for me. Check under engine and trans threads.

[svanlare]

December was a slow month for progress.

Moving into January, I got a lot on order (Intercooler, seats, air pump covers, and a couple of odds and ends). Since I have the Boyd tank, I found a shop to bend the firewall for me for $40. Got that drilled and held in place. Deciding whether to use rivnuts or just rivets for the top piece, so cleco's it is for now.

http://i.imgur.com/PDXMWc8.jpg (http://imgur.com/PDXMWc8)

The seats arrived while I was out of town last weekend. We Got back from a birthday party at the in-laws midnight Saturday and the seats had been dropped off in the driveway and were sitting there. Of course, my son and I had to open the boxes, put the seats in the car and make zoom-zoom noises.

While shopping, I sat in way more seats and poured over way to many spec sheets than is healthy. Ended up with Corbeau GTS-II's. They are very comfortable, but of the 3 inches of space i saved with the boyd tank, I gave up probably two. Also, while I fit with plenty to space to spare in the red car at Huntington Beach last year, with these seats things are a little tight. The width is great, but the padding places me a little forward and higher than I would like. It works, but we'll see if I keep them. I have another week to make up my mind.

Sorry, no pictures of my son and I, my wife felt we were nuts and so I'll have to get that picture some other night.

http://i.imgur.com/cGlNQrf.jpg (http://imgur.com/cGlNQrf)

I've started pulling the air pump, but to get to the left side of the motor, I've got to clear some more off the top, so that project sits for a few.

I'm partway through the schematic for wiring with infinityBox as well. I'm on the road until feb now, so I have some time in the hotel to work on that.

[svanlare]

When I got home from this trip, I had both the k-tuned shifter and the AWIC kits from Wayne waiting and ready to go.

I thought I would wrap up the Boyd tank work first, and then move onto the shifter. So I completed flipping the float on the boyd tank (http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?11263-Aluminum-Fuel-Tank-by-Boyd-Welding) and making sure the tank didn't leak and thought I was doing great.

Then I tried to route the shifter cables for the k-tuned shifter. Since the cables pass under the intake runners, the decision about what to do with the air pump is academic, the air pump needs to go. I had ordered the Forester block off plates, so that seemed like the next logical project. Well, I cannot find any way to get the air pump pipes out from under the intake without taking the intake off.

I had hoped to not do any work to the engine until after I had started it for the first time. It has been 20+ years since I last worked on an engine so I figured if I did any work, then then number of unknowns that have to be tested if the motor doesn't start gets to be pretty large. So I dove in with caution seeing if I could only pull the intake runners and then be done. Well, while it looks a lot like my old VW type-4 motor, it seems everything is attached to the runners, and so everything has to be disconnected, so much for this being a small job.

After reading and re-reading the "simplifying the EJ" (http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?9288-Simplifying-the-EJ) thread and watching a bunch of youTube videos on how to take the intake off, I realize I'm likely to get in over my head here. I'm now thinking I'll pull the engine this weekend to work on it and view this as an "opportunity" instead of a setback. Since I have to take off the runners, and the fuel lines, and the wires to take the intake off, I'm thinking... while I'm there I might as well take care of some nice-to-haves....

Please feel free to comment on any of my thinking here, as I said, I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing other that the fact I read it on the internet.


New cold air intake seems simple enough, my subaru one had a broken tap anyways and needed to be replaced. Check, Perrin Part ordered.
New fuel lines seems like it cleans things up nicely, but haven't done any homework on what setup to buy.
TGV delete, looks ok to do, but I'll re-think once I take things apart.
Totally lost on what to do with all the hoses on top, just going to take lots of photos of what goes where and hope fore the best.
Air-Oil Separator - we have an oil catch can on the race cars, seems like a better solution, but that means figuring out all the hoses...


That's all for now, looking forward to the weekend and a chance to get back to the garage.

[STiPWRD]

Steve, those are all good ideas and in the end you'll gain more knowledge about your motor and be able to put your own custom touch on it. I've also done most of these mods myself. When you say fuel lines, I assume you're also talking about the fuel rails? There are many good options out there for fuel rails and if you're looking to make more power in the future, this is a good supporting mod to make, in addition to larger injectors. This is also a good opportunity to clean out the inside of your intake manifold as it may be covered with a thin layer of oil.

If you get stuck, we're always here to help. A good reference for where hoses go is the car information section of the FSM - it describes each car sub system, such as the intake and evap systems.

[Mechie3]

Is your car an 06? The full air pump setup can be removed. It's a bit of a PITA to do on an OEM car without removing the intake, but I've done it. Should be easier on the 818 with better access. Remove all you can easily with regular sockets and wrenches. The one bolt under the intake manifold is best removed using a universal joint and a crows foot wrench. The port behind the passenger head is the most difficult in an OEM car because the wrench hits the frame rail and it's hit or miss if you can even get a wrench on with the available locations. On the 818 you should be able to remove it. The hard line going across the motor might not be able to come out in one piece, even on the 818. The last car I did I drilled several holes in the middle and pried it apart with a screwdriver making it into two pieces. It then dropped out easily enough.

[wleehendrick]

Like Craig, I removed my air pump without pulling the manifold, but I dremeled the pipe into two pieces to get it out. Not long afterwards, I installed the TGVs, so pulled of off then. Now's the time to do the TGV delete while the manifold's off. I'd also clean or replace the PCV valve. Consider a silicone turbo inlet to replace the corrugated rubber OEM part if that's not part of the Perrin intake you ordered. Also silicone IC hoses.

[svanlare]

Thanks all

@STiPWRD - Yes, what I was calling the fuel lines, was the fuel rails, and searching "subaru fuel rail kit" has turned up lots of options. I hadn't thought about injectors, but that is another good one to put on my list.

@Mechie3 and @wleehendrick - It is an '07 donor. The hardest bolt to take off was the one bolt holding the second pump. I was able to reach under the intake since I had taken the PS and AC off previously. I got the ends where the tubes attach to the heads removed without any trouble, the 818 makes this easy as they are both out in the open. I didn't think about severing the tube to pull it out. I will probably try that first and perhaps go back to my original plan of getting it to start then putting all of these items on the punch list.

[Mechie3]

For the 07 you need to keep the sensor that is embedded in one of the valves. I forget which one, but it's the one with the larger connector. The sensor is in the cap on the top. It can be cut off the valve and then just tucked away somewhere else.

[freds]

For the 07 you need to keep the sensor that is embedded in one of the valves. I forget which one, but it's the one with the larger connector. The sensor is in the cap on the top. It can be cut off the valve and then just tucked away somewhere else.

Certainly "some" 06's also have the sensor (my 06 definitely had it and I cut the the top off to retain it). Mine was the one on the driver's side and has the large connector with four wires. {you and I posted about it on your build thread on 10-11-13. posts
425&426..remember...ha..ha}:)

fred

[svanlare]

I'm pretty sure the sensor is on top here, so planning to chop it off this weekend and save it after pulling the pump.

http://i.imgur.com/U2eDlHt.jpg (http://imgur.com/U2eDlHt)

[freds]

That's it

[svanlare]

I ended up pulling the turbo, which gave me enough room to get all of the air pump parts out. I have orders a few toys however. I'm going to stick with the original plan of getting it to start, then diving in a bit deeper to take care of some of the improvements.

This is the problem I started with, the shifter cables need to run through here.
http://i.imgur.com/O7RmR6a.jpg (http://imgur.com/O7RmR6a)

So with a little saw action and pulling the turbo, everything came out cleanly.
http://i.imgur.com/KTvEjN9.jpg (http://imgur.com/KTvEjN9)
http://i.imgur.com/xu6ride.jpg (http://imgur.com/xu6ride)

And a little hacksaw action to recover the sensor from the top.
http://i.imgur.com/8cNiukM.jpg (http://imgur.com/8cNiukM)

And now there is plenty of room!
http://i.imgur.com/BrTwFGa.jpg (http://imgur.com/BrTwFGa)

I now have the shifter fully installed and adjusted so I feel like it was a good weekend. I'm working on the intercooler now and hoping the rest of my infinityBox parts ship next week so I can start on the wiring.

[svanlare]

Almost done with the intercooler. I have a to finish routing the hoses front to back, and have a few more adjustments to go (like connecting the BPV and deciding where to mount the pump), but baring that I have the intercooler and heat exchanger installed. Happy to check off another task.

I wasn't expecting so much cut to fit, but once I figured out what I needed to do it went pretty quick and Wayne was super responsive when I emailed him. The biggest challenge I faced was the clutch slave mounts on the engine side and it interfered with pipe from the turbo. Hard to see in the photos but I ended up "wrapping" the BPV connection pipe with some extra silicon tubing. When I install the brackets the last time I'll epoxy the silicon to the aluminum pipe and that will solve any metal on metal contact. The clutch line wraps nicely so in the end it all worked out good.

http://i.imgur.com/TroOanQ.jpg (http://imgur.com/TroOanQ)

I ended up building new brackets up front. I'm sure each kit ends up a little different, and in my case the original brackets were hitting the Subaru radiator so I built brackets that wrap around the front of the bar instead of behind the bar. I also followed other's lead and extended the input pipe with a small extension so I could use a right angle and not kink the hose.

http://i.imgur.com/8pvDQMm.jpg (http://imgur.com/8pvDQMm)

With this, I'm almost done with "plumbing" tasks (Radiator, Fuel, Intercooler, Brakes, Clutch). I haven't riveted any of the lines down the chassis yet, as I wanted to make sure everything routed nicely before drilling holes. It is all zip-tied to the chassis for now and I'll probably start it in this condition and then leave the final dressing of the tubes post go-cart phase when I'm happy with how it all working.

So with the end of the plumbing, it is on to wiring. I order the Infinity Box system back in September and I'm still waiting for powerCell parts to arrive. They have sent the rest, so I can get started, but this is definitely getting frustrating calling up once or twice a week.

[svanlare]

I've been on the road for some time now. It has given me a chance to work though the schematics and plan a bit to work through the wiring. This weekend, I got home earlier than expected so had the afternoon to start!

I hadn't looked at the actual wires before today. I purchased a pallet donor and the wires were just wrapped up in a ball and wrapped with plastic, so I just dropped the whole mess into a plastic bin that had been sitting on the shelf.

http://i.imgur.com/ZkjM5yU.jpg (http://imgur.com/ZkjM5yU)

I unwrapped it all and everything was in good order, except I only got the body harness, not the front or rear harness, so that there lights or other accessories. Since I had already purchased the infinityBox kit, I was going to toss most of that anyways, so not a big deal, I'll just have may have to splice some extra connectors.

http://i.imgur.com/HBd69Ym.jpg (http://imgur.com/HBd69Ym)

My plan of attack to start was to label every connector before I open up the loom and start to trim wires and diet what is there. Even with the infinityBox system, that really only takes care of the accessories (lights, switches, etc), but I need the ECU, ABS, Throttle Pedal, etc from the original harness. If you are trying to minimize work, a complete harness from iWire is probably the way to go as this will still be a good bit of work. Since I didn't pull this from the car and nothing was labeled to start with, it was a lot of time back and forth between the schematic and the harness to figure out the puzzle of which connector went were, but I eventually got there. Along the way I ran across this pair of relays. Since I have re-wired a couple of 300Z's, they were very familiar :-)

http://i.imgur.com/9NzdSnS.jpg (http://imgur.com/9NzdSnS)

By the end of the day I had accomplished my first goal, which was knowing exactly what everything was so I can start trimming to just what I need. I'm guessing I'm in for lots of quiet evenings for a bit, but I've got a good starting point now.

http://i.imgur.com/uXWTJbS.jpg (http://imgur.com/uXWTJbS)

[Frank818]

Yeah, the part of knowing what does what is a pain. But once you get through, you know everything and the harnesses don't have any more secrets, so you can do whatever you want then. :)

[svanlare]

Indeed, I feel much better about the next couple of weeks now that this part of the job is done. Today's task was to hit the local junkyard to see if I could get the harnesses that didn't ship with my donor. While the car was on the website, the front had been sawzalled off as had the all the ABS wiring. So much for those connectors. At least I was able to get the instrument harness which was the only critical one.

http://i.imgur.com/Iw5uRSI.jpg (http://imgur.com/Iw5uRSI)

[svanlare]

I'm not sure I have spent more that 4 hours or so in the garage in the last two months. I know things are supposed to slow down once you get to the wiring but this was way more than I expected. Too much work, too much life, not enough garage. I finally got back into the garage today! It took me a while to figure out where I wanted to mount everything. I have a new order into McMaster for some more riv-nuts for the rear modules (fuel control, edu, rear infinity box), but I got the front the Infinity box module installed, and built a relay box for the fans and got it mounted too. It wasn't much, but happy to be making forward progress again even if I'll be in Charleston next week and London the week after that.

http://i.imgur.com/WexsGTt.jpg (http://imgur.com/WexsGTt)

http://i.imgur.com/ZEzDFq3.jpg (http://imgur.com/ZEzDFq3)

[Frank818]

Why would you use relays with the Infinity kit? It can control fans without relays, cuz they are integrated within the cells.

[svanlare]

Frank,
Primary because I've had a lot of time in hotel rooms the last two months to over-think this.

Each fan has a main and sub (which I assume is two speeds), and subaru had a 20 amp fuses for each fan (driver and passenger). InfinityBox had them wired in parallel on a single 25 amp fuse (on for both mains, and one for both subs). That would have been both fans through the same fuse and relays. When I called InfinityBox, they suggested two options, use 4 of the 10 outputs on the powerCell to drive the fans, or have the 2 suggested outputs drive 4 relays re-using parts from the original harness. I was more comfortable doing it the way Subaru had it, and if I dedicated 4 outputs to the fans, I would have used all the outputs on the front powerCell. That would have been cleanest, but I'm still hoping to add a heater or at least vent air and would like to be able to control those fans. Since I didn't want to keep the original fuse/relay panels just for these 4 relays, I built a smaller one.

Sorry, probably too much information, but I've had WAAAY too much time to think about the wiring, happy to actually be doing some of it.

http://i.imgur.com/CEAVEuY.jpg (http://imgur.com/CEAVEuY)

http://i.imgur.com/oKNASqs.jpg (http://imgur.com/oKNASqs)

[Frank818]

That is an example of the limitations of InfinityBox's kit. But on the other end, you can buy many other PowerCells providing 10 outputs each, so that limitation goes off with money. Of course when we want to stick with the 3-cell kit, we have to have alternatives and be creative. I too will use relays, I will actually use 2 relays for one auxiliary coolant pump that must run after engine shut down. Was easier to make it work with these.

[svanlare]

I thought about another powerCell, but felt that was overkill for running the fans (and the relays, box etc was a lot cheaper). I recently discovered the 5 relay box from busman and it is very tidy and nice. I've historically used individual relays with a mounting tab, but this was significantly easier to build and a lot less space.

[svanlare]

Been a long summer and I made almost zero progress :-( I'm hoping to get back at this now that both boys are in school, but we'll see how much the work travel slows things down.

Over the last two months, I made the call that since I was falling so far behind schedule I would change plans on the wiring. I've ordered a harness from iWire and hopefully I'm only a couple weeks away from having it shipped my way. In the end, the InfinityBox system was nice, but it really only simplified the lights. As I got deeper and deeper into the main part of the harness and realized that I needed to keep more that I wanted due to the immobilizer, I figured I was going to have to do a lot to clean up to the body harness and given where I am on making progress I went turn key. I'm sure I'll end up modifying the iWire harness too as I add things later, but it looks very tidy as a nice base to start from.

In the mean time, I started mounting the seats. I spent a couple evenings measuring, cutting, drilling, test installing, and repeating until I ended up with a simple set of brackets that I'll have a friend come over and weld in for me. The bolts that hold the seat in place will be a pain, but I don't expect to be pulling the seats TOO many times throughout the rest of the project.

I followed that up with doing the same with seat belts. I'll probably order shorter straps for the buttons but overall things ended up pretty nice (I have the 6" seat belts buttons now).

With the seats and seat belts ready to weld, I'm moving onto fuel lines.

http://i.imgur.com/HfwaAjT.jpg (http://imgur.com/HfwaAjT)

[Frank818]

Nice belts!

[svanlare]

I felt if the outside is going to be orange, the inside should have some matching orange to go with it. That may the the only trim the inside gets for a while.

[svanlare]

Meanwhile, thinking about how to connect the fuel.
Gas-Tank-Venting (http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?10997-Gas-Tank-Venting&p=213315&viewfull=1#post213315)

[svanlare]

Had my neighbor stop by today and he welded the seat rails into place and also got the seatbelt tabs welded. I'll clean things up during the evenings this week and hope to paint everything with POR-15. The the seats and seatbelts are a simple couple bolts away from complete. With the welding done, I feel like I'm a big step closer to seeing the car move under it's own power. It's also possible I'm just excited to be making progress again.

Most of the fuel system parts I ordered have come in. I went with the boyd tank and realized today that I need fittings to get to/from the gas tank. I hope I have made my last McMaster-Carr purchases for the fuel system as quite a few packages showed up last week and the fittings were the only thing stopping me from trying to plumb it all. I hate the fact that I keep making small orders and eating it on shipping costs, but apparently I'm not smart enough to figure out all the parts beforehand.

I heard from Brian at iWire last week and the harness should complete early this week. I expect I'll just zip-tie the harness into place to start with and see if I can get the car to power up and then start. If so, my hope is the punch list of things to do to take for a drive will be reasonably short.

[Frank818]

Be careful with POR-15, make sure you clean up the cap every time you put it back on. If there is some POR on it, it will glue to the can and the only way to remove the cap will be to destroy it. Once you destroy it, you can't put anything back on again, which means the POR will dry HARD inside the can and will make next uses more complicated. Happened to me.

[svanlare]

Good advice. I didn't know what the problem was, but had heard that you cannot reuse a can once you open it. I purchased a 6 pack of small cans as a consequence as this is expensive stuff, and when I screwed up I wanted to only toss one small can at a time :-)

My plan is to clean everything up in the evenings this week and get a coat of paint on later on before the weekend. Like all amateur welding, some welds turned out nice looking, and other welds turned out, well... less-nice looking. It all passed a healthy banging with the sledge hammer, so hopefully when I sand and clean there aren't any that need to get re-done again.

In case you cannot tell you how happy I am to be making progress again.

[svanlare]

Seat rails were welded in last week, and now the painting is done too. I Installed everything to make sure I could once the bottom is on the car, and then took it apart so I could get the seats out of the way while I worked on fuel and wiring.
http://i.imgur.com/4B7Bjak.jpg (http://imgur.com/4B7Bjak)


Somewhere in the middle of all this wiring, I realized it was time to change plans.
http://i.imgur.com/PqPAafH.jpg (http://imgur.com/PqPAafH)

Yesterday the harness from iWire showed up and I spent the day labeling connectors and getting ready to start installing it. This is much cleaner than where I was going to end up. A few odds and ends I have to sort out and I still have to undo the work that I had done previously, but then I put it all in with zip ties to start with and then start testing to make sure the system is running.
http://i.imgur.com/2KRpauV.jpg (http://imgur.com/2KRpauV)

[Frank818]

Who's white Porsche is that?

[svanlare]

That is my daily driver, a '04 Boxster S. Actually silver, but washed out in the photo. It was my wife's before the 911 was totaled and became mine after that. As you can tell, I like 2 seat convertibles, and think the world needs more.

[svanlare]

Big progress this weekend! :D

I stated by undoing all of the InfinityBox work that I had done. That left lots of speed-holes I'll deal with later as I pulled all the control modules, relay boxes, fuses, etc. Then I got busy and I dropped in the iWire harness and started plugging things in. It went significantly faster than I was expecting. Overall it was pretty much a plug and go experience. I'm going with zip-tie mania for now just to secure everything until the car starts, then I'll permanently mount everything and find nice homes for all the cables and modules.

http://i.imgur.com/6mU9VHW.jpg (http://imgur.com/6mU9VHW)

After getting most of the dash wired up I moved onto power. I added a kill switch solenoid that I plan to have a switch tucked somewhere on the car so that I can kill the power easily when the car sits and to potentially use to make it a little harder for someone to fire-up the car. The solenoid packed up nicely next to the pedals. I have to order some covers for the power leads as I don't want to have +12 exposed under the dash (or pretty much anywhere for that matter).

http://i.imgur.com/uSqfMSP.jpg (http://imgur.com/uSqfMSP)

Finally, I moved into the engine compartment and started hooking up the ECU, Engine, Transmission, Starter, Alternator... That went well, except I couldn't find some of the connectors. The Airflow sensor and intake I had in a box. Once installed on the motor, that was done. No way the stock airbox is going to work, so I'm going to go with the Cobb setup unless anyone has a different idea to consider.
47084

The wastegate control solenoid it turns out I didn't get with the donor (I just got this snazzy red cap on the vacuum line). So I'm now searching for part number and options there.
http://i.imgur.com/sLgd70j.jpg (http://imgur.com/sLgd70j)

Once I made sure the power to the harness was working right I added the Dash, and then later the ECU to the harness and turned it all on! While I fully expected the check engine light (and got it), everything else seems to be working. Fuel pump cycles, gas gauge moved to empty, lights and flashers work. I disconnected the starter for now, but clutch in and key to start kicks on the fuel pump again and the starter relay fires. Over all a very satisfying day.
http://i.imgur.com/7FpjFmK.jpg (http://imgur.com/7FpjFmK)

I do have my list of issues to resolve to move on. I have to figure out what to do with all the misc vacuum hoses that are capped off on the engine. I need to get a control solenoid and a better intake. The throttle valve makes a ton of noise that I don't think is good, so have to check on that, but is does respond to the throttle pedal. Still haven't finished the radiator lines or the coolant tank. All-in-all however, happy to see some life in the car for the first time and looking forward to a push here to try and start the car for the first time.

[AZPete]

Steve, great progress! I feel your pride getting noises and lights. Wiring is a real pain in the rear for me but the good thing about wiring is when something comes alive it's obvious. What a thrill to hear the fuel pump or see a bulb light up! Instant gratification, eh? I'm looking forward to your first start.

[Hindsight]

Nice work. I am using a starter solenoid too.

[Frank818]

Yeah nice work, keep it up!

[svanlare]

Thanks all.

I'm now working through the list of things left to plug in the starter and try to fire it up. Lots of dumb questions ahead... Trying to do my homework first and then then ask when I have some clue as to what I'm asking.

The donor I got has a number of hoses that are connected to the motor, but nothing else. So figuring them out one by one. Hoping to post some photos tomorrow of what I believe are the crankcase ventilations hoses, but there are more of them than I expected.

[svanlare]

With some help (thread?19290-Wastegate-control-Solenoid (http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?19290-Wastegate-control-Solenoid)) the parts are here for the BCS! I'll pick up some line from Napa tomorrow and hopefully Sunday check this one off.

I've also done some homework to figure out what to do with the extra hoses I have with nothing connected to them. thread?19350-Engine-Hoses (http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?19350-Engine-Hoses)

The UPS guy has been good to me as the exhaust parts showed up today as well.

Looking forward to a shorter list come Sunday night.

[svanlare]

Feels like I spent the weekend in reverse. After two weeks on the road, I was excited about getting closer to first start but I'm pretty sure I'm further not closer to that goal. I'm skiing next weekend (happy to have snow for a change) and then racing the weekend after than and a work trip after that. Looks like I'm not going to start it until next year unless I take some time off in December.

When I was putting the engine in the car, I broke off one of the vacuum lines from the cold air intake and purchased the Perrin replacement. Looked like it would be a pain, but it has to be done. Well, after working off my honey-do list getting ready for Thanksgiving, I started in on the project. Getting the old one out went fine (easy when you aren't too concerned about keeping the part intact), but I did have to pull the intercooler plumbing to get at the last couple connections. Putting the new one in is a bit of a struggle. I couldn't get it to seat on the turbo intake. So I've decided to pull the turbo again, get all the lines on the intake plumbed, and then reattach the turbo. I'll be taking a bit more off to get it done, but looks like it will make the job much simpler. So rather than buttoning up the last couple of lines, I've disassembled more than I would have liked and it will sit that way for a couple weeks until I have time again :(
http://i.imgur.com/LPzXVwR.jpg (http://imgur.com/LPzXVwR)

I did complete Wayne's coolant mod (thread.php?18090-VCP-Cooling-System-Mod (http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?18090-VCP-Cooling-System-Mod)) while I had the intake off. With the cold air intake off, it made that job much easier at least. Not sure why I didn't do that while the motor was out, but at least it finally done. I need to pick a coolant overflow tank and then I can finish the coolant system. BTW, I didn't drill through the whole pipe, I had stuffed paper in the intake to catch the debris and below for the same so it just looks that way as you can see the paper after I tapped the hole.
http://i.imgur.com/VU7V15J.jpg (http://imgur.com/VU7V15J)

I also plugged in the Cobb accessport which showed up this week. I have a bunch of check engine codes to figure out, but nice to know what the list is at least and I'll check them off one by one after I get all the intake/vacuum/coolant lines sorted out and put the intercooler back together.

[Frank818]

Feels like I spent the weekend in reverse. After two weeks on the road, I was excited about getting closer to first start but I'm pretty sure I'm further not closer to that goal. I'm skiing next weekend (happy to have snow for a change) and then racing the weekend after than and a work trip after that. Looks like I'm not going to start it until next year unless I take some time off in December.

I feel that feeling often. Want to do a small step ahead and you end up reversing 10 steps. That's one of the least encouraging moment of the build, but you know one day these 10 steps will come back forward and you'll then be 11 steps forward. Until you figure out you have to reverse 13 other steps but let's not talk about that! lolll

Hopefully you get back forward quickly.

[svanlare]

I'll try to carry that optimism even though my punch list at the end of the weekend was longer than the one I started with. Maybe I just need to think that I traded a couple big steps for a lot of little ones as each time I do a job a second (or third, or...) time I get quicker and quicker, so maybe the 11 steps forward really will go faster once I bottom out.

[svanlare]

The intake was a pain. Took a lot of parts off so I could attach it to the turbo, then put everything back on. Whew, now the intake and MAF are complete and the punch list is going in the right direction.

I need to finish the coolant system, plumb the PCV lines, waste-gate vacuum lines and go through the Check-Engine codes.

I haven't played with the Cobb much yet, but I assume I can tell the ECU to ignore certain codes. I'm now down to 4.

P0183 - Fuel Temperature Sensor 'A' Circuit - High Input

The First is the temperature sensor from the fuel tank. The Boyd tank has no provision for the fuel sensor, so I left it out of the harness I'm using. I need to have the system ignore the code as it isn't coming back :-)

P0413 - Secondary Air Injection System - Switching Valve 'A' Circuit open
P0416 - Secondary Air Injection System - Switching Valve 'A' Circuit open
P0418 - Secondary Air Injection System Relay - 'A' Circuit Malfunction

The last 3 are all related to the fact that I didn't keep any of the Secondary Air system relays since I didn't keep the Secondary Air system. I could fake it out by putting a resistor in the circuit, but I would rather just have the ECU ignore the codes just like the fuel temp.

None of the 4 are critical, so the car should start up once I get all the vacuum lines in place and fill with fluids.

[svanlare]

Not much to say other than here was the checklist on the wall.

http://i.imgur.com/GmjWwv8.jpg (http://imgur.com/GmjWwv8)
72022

And while it is really the second start (I took a couple attempts to bring it to life the first time), this is my son firing it up immediately thereafter and certainly counts as a first start!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkU6Pxu2FKc

[AZPete]

Congrats, Steve, on giving life to a bunch of parts! Sounds good especially since there are no fires, floods or paramedics.

[svanlare]

And now I need to draw up the next checklist to the first drive and hitting the karting milestone.

I have a 2 week trip starting this next friday, so I am hughly excited to have the first start done before I head out of town. I got the kit in March, so by the end of this march I'm hoping to get a first drive in. While I originally thought I could get this done in 2 years, I'm going to count it as good progress to be karting by 2 years.


I need to double check all of the coolant lines. I'm sure the system is not bleed right as water wasn't circulating. That is probably top of the list and I'm sure to be reading all the material here and then making sure I've got this right.

I haven't plumbed all the lines for the intercooler radiator coolant overflow tank. Counting this as finishing the plumbing.

I haven't purchased tires (I have the FFR rims) so that is probably the biggest thing after the coolant.

Seats and selt-belts just need to be bolted in place.

Then I'll zip-tie anything that is loose. I'm expecting to make sure I've got everything where I want it and have worked out some of the bugs before I start drilling holes and permanently mounting things. I'm definitely missing the race cars here were zip-ties is usually where I call it good enough. :)

I'll give it some amount of rough alignment to make sure the wheels are pointed in the mostly the same directions.

Time to say goodbye to the dolly and put it on the ground.

[Frank818]

You made it!!!!! :)
Now the easy part is coming. :)

[svanlare]

Thanks Pete!

I had the fire extinguisher ready to go, and filled the radiator only with water in case of flood (there were several minor ones). Bandaids are par for the course however, but thankfully the last time I went to ER for a car injury was the results of a pinewood derby incident ;)

[svanlare]

Thanks Frank!

It is going to kill me to spend two weeks traveling and not getting the car out of the garage.

[svanlare]

And the very first go at it.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6tQLbCI7AY

[Frank818]

Thanks Frank!

It is going to kill me to spend two weeks traveling and not getting the car out of the garage.

That is understandable, but at least you know it runs. :) It's just a matter of time (free of money) and free of headaches to drive it. :)

[svanlare]

Got back last night and decided to start in on the punch-list to first drive today.

I mounted the overflow tanks and plumbed both the main radiator and the AWIC system. Then circulated water and cleaned up all the leaks. I believe the leaks are all done now.

I'm not sure I've got all the air out the of the main system however. I've run the car for a little while, and now have the coolant tank on the engine full, but the return line to the radiator never gets hot. I hooked up the fans today as well and they never turned on, so maybe I didn't give the system enough time to warm up and the thermostat hasn't opened yet. I'll give the engine a longer run somewhere this week and see how it goes. I may wait until l back the car into the driveway since it is sloped enough that the front radiator will be above the rest of the system and I can fill then.

Now onto tightening nuts and bolts, zip-tie'ng anything that is lose, giving the car a rough alignment and mounting tires.

[Hindsight]

Nice, be sure to post a vid. We are at about the same spot..... I should be karting within the next couple weeks.

RE the coolant system, it takes quite a while for it to get hot enough to open the thermostat (especially when just at idle). Did you add the extra bleeder hose some of us have added to the upper coolant manifold pipe? Helps bleed it automatically. Others have done things like jack up the front of the car so its higher than the engine and fill the coolant full from the radiator cap.

[svanlare]

I think I did the same bleed mod. I followed the VCP-Cooling-System-Mod (http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?18090-VCP-Cooling-System-Mod) directions, seemed like a good way to make the system work better.

I only got the temp a little past the first mark on the gauge. I Didn't think about the thermostat until I started reading the Subaru factory manual to make sure I had everything pumped right, and now it is too late in the day to try testing it again.

As for video, I'll have to figure out how to mount my camera or go find a teenager in the neighborhood with a GoPro. Looking forward to seeing yours run as well.

I only have this week and next to work on the car this month, then traveling again. This time looking at colleges in the Boston area with my son, so planning on stopping at Factory Five for a tour!

[Hindsight]

Looking at colleges eh? Sounds like you have two milestones coming up!

If you did the bleeder, I wouldn't worry too much about air in the system. Uncap the radiator and ensure you have coolant all the way to the top of it. If you don't and you leave the cap open, coolant will slowly rise to the top of the radiator and overflow since the engine is higher. Then you can cap the radiator and go back to the engine side and re-top up.

If you only got it to the first mark on the gauge, you probably didn't get it hot enough for the thermostat to open much if at all. I'd let it run longer. Might take like 20+ minutes.

[Bob_n_Cincy]

This time looking at colleges in the Boston area with my son,

If you plug in the green test connector on the ECU. The fans will run.

Good luck on your college search.
Michael just got his scholarship letter from Kettering University (ex GMI).
Now I just have to get the FASFA done to see if I can afford to finish the second car.
Bob

[svanlare]

Thanks for the advice on the test connector, that will make quick work of testing that the fans work.

Congrats to Michael on Kettering. My oldest is at Santa Clara, Nathan is a Jr, so we are just looking this year. Not looking forward to two tuition checks, so I definitely need to finish sooner rather than later.

[Bob_n_Cincy]

Thanks for the advice on the test connector, that will make quick work of testing that the fans work.

Congrats to Michael on Kettering. My oldest is at Santa Clara, Nathan is a Jr, so we are just looking this year. Not looking forward to two tuition checks, so I definitely need to finish sooner rather than later.
My office is in san carlos. I'll stop by the next time I get out that way.
Bob

[RM1SepEx]

Good luck with the FAFSA, when I had two in College it was managable for them my EFC to each was split between the two, now with one in school, the EFC is Bit** slapping me hard. College was much more affordable before the Government started throwing "free" money at it. RIT and Simmons are like expensive day spas compared to my in State land grant College UMO. Danielle can get SUSHI in the cafeteria for God's sake!

[svanlare]

The test connector shows the fans work just fine, so time to give the car a good soak and see if I have the radiators all sorted.

Happy to connect sometime. San Carlos is a bit of a drive to south san jose, but not that bad.

As for college, no way to describe the financial side as anything other than expensive.

[svanlare]

Got everything up to temp yesterday and ran it until the fans kicked on. With the coolant system working right it is very satisfying to know that I can now drive it around without too much worry. I have 2 leaks to sort out and then finish tightening bolts and getting rough alignment done. Then it will be wheels on for a first drive! I have two weeks of travel ahead, so hoping the first weekend in March will have it on the road for the first time.

[Frank818]

You must sleep well since your first start!! :)

[svanlare]

It is a HUGE relief to have gotten to this point, but I'm still anxious to get it on the road for the first time. The end of march is 2 years from when I started and that is my current goal (I gave up on finishing in two years a while back :(), I just need work/travel to let me stay home long enough to get it done.

[Hindsight]

Congrats on sorting all that out. Keep us posted on the first drive!

[svanlare]

The new manual has the great suggestions of drilling the holes in the floor aluminum "before" putting anything else on the car so that you don't have to lay down and drill up into the chassis. While it is a nice suggestions, way too late for this build.

Before putting the car on the tires for the first time, I decided while it was still up in the air to lay on my back and finally take care of this task. Had family in town this weekend, so didn't have a huge amount of time, but I'm almost done, will probably wrap up the drilling tomorrow night.

[Bob_n_Cincy]

The new manual has the great suggestions of drilling the holes in the floor aluminum "before" putting anything else on the car so that you don't have to lay down and drill up into the chassis. While it is a nice suggestions, way too late for this build.
.

Hi Svanlare,
Building an 818, access is everything.
The manual shows you pop riveting the rear bumper on. I've had my rear bumper off a dozen times.
If your a PRO builder, and never have to redo anything. Then thats great.
But if your like me and redo everything 3 time until it is done the way you like. Save the access panel for last.

I saved all my side and bottom aluminum until after go kart mode.
It gave me bottom and side access to mount seat belts, seats, wiring, brake line.
My opinion, I will be doing my second car the same way.

If you look at this picture, I had no floor, no sides walls, and the firewall was held in by clecos.

Bob

50922

[svanlare]

Great advice. Taking 3 tries at each job seems to be the norm for me too. I plan on finishing the drilling, then setting the panel aside for a bit.

[Mechie3]

I riveted in very few things. Cockpit sheet metal sides and front firewall. Everything else is rivet nuts or screws. Even from a maintenance or inspection standpoint (coolant lines and brake lines beneath riveted in side panels) I wouldn't want to rivet them in.

[AZPete]

I agree with not riveting most panels until late in the game but I drilled almost everything, including the bottom panels, and held them on with a few #8 screws like FFR used to ship the kit. Actually, after drilling I sent all the exposed panels out to get powder coated. I emphasize that if you want a back side of the rear firewall, make it and install it before installing the engine. I spent more time (and Band-aids) doing it with the engine in place.

[Hindsight]

I used a lot of self-drilling #8 or #10 screws for things I knew I'd need to take off later.

[svanlare]

I finished drilling the bottom panels and deburred all the holes while the car was still up on the dolly.

My (revised) goal was to drive the car before the end of March (which would have the first drive in 2 years). I have weekend plans for the next couple weekend, so this weekend I made a push to get the car on it's feet for the first time and give it a rudimentary alignment.

After that I torqued everything down, and it was time to say goodbye to the AZPete designed dolly and get the car onto some floor stands.
http://i.imgur.com/sS9OzN5.jpg (http://imgur.com/sS9OzN5)
72023

Once that was done, I couldn't help myself and and put the tires on and made the first drive.
http://i.imgur.com/K5mnj0y.jpg (http://imgur.com/K5mnj0y)
72024


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cr37vDiGSs4

None of the neighbors were impressed by all the zip ties, but short of a parking brake, all systems are working! One neighbor brought out a checkered flag and it was nice to make it around the block and back to the checker without any parts falling off.
http://i.imgur.com/bO89y7n.jpg (http://imgur.com/bO89y7n)
72025

Now we need to work the kinks out, bolt everything in place and give it a body. Could be another year to finish it up, but a happy milestone. So for tonight, I drove it into the garage for the first time and it feels really good.

http://i.imgur.com/WjtZG2M.jpg (http://imgur.com/WjtZG2M)
72026

[Hindsight]

Congrats on the first go-kart! Everything looks really nice.

[AZPete]

I love the big smiles! When you consider how many things have to be done correctly for it to go, turn and stop, there are hundreds of reasons for the smiles. Congratulations on the accomplishment, Steve!

[svanlare]

Thanks. Lots of credit to FFR for the kit and the forum for all the help. I think the smile is still on my face today.

I think the biggest thing to sort out is whether I really have the radiator working right, I think there are still big air bubbles in each end. It also has several leaks that I need to deal with so I see many test drives in my future.

Then I think it is time get rid of the zip ties and start drilling holes in the chassis to mount everything permanently.

[RM1SepEx]

Feel good, doesn't it. How involved is your assistant? I imagine you get great smiles. I loved working on projects with my son. Looking very good.

PS I did have something fall off on my go kart drive. I forgot that I had placed a couple al panels on the side and they tipped down and dragged over bumps! oops :rolleyes:

[Mitch Wright]

It is a great day indeed.

[svanlare]

My younger son and I have had a good time with the project. His older brother was off at college when the car showed up. His freshman year, we spent a lot of time in the garage together, sophomore year was a whole different story. Now that we are in the junior year, there is more involvement, but he wanted to stay a long ways away from wiring.

Funny about panels. In the excitement to pull the car of the jack stands, I almost forgot the celcos that were on the bottom of the car. That would have been pretty exciting dragging them down the street plus whatever panel that was no longer attached.

[Frank818]

Man I envy you about the first drive, well deserved after all the work! :)

How do the tires run? Stickiness, quietness, etc. I got the same. I also got those on my Corrado and loved them.

[AZPete]

". . . he wanted to stay a long ways away from wiring." Yup, college is making him smart!

[svanlare]

Been gone for the better part of March. While I was away, I got a package from Flyin' Miata with alignment tools (not that I waited to do an alignment before the first drive :D)

http://i.imgur.com/TKGAqWh.jpg (http://imgur.com/TKGAqWh)
72027

Before I could do anything in the garage, I had ton of cleaning to do to make room. The problem with working in the garage is that it is the dumping ground whenever the house gets cleaned. I occasionally have to beat back the piles and so dump run was on the schedule for this weekend before I could play. I hate to show the before and after pictures, but here was my pile of misc boxes and parts that had accumulated.

http://i.imgur.com/lagbinp.jpg (http://imgur.com/lagbinp)
72028

And the much better after picture

http://i.imgur.com/eLcISZi.jpg (http://imgur.com/eLcISZi)
72029

With that done I thought I was going to start on the alignment (new tools to play with of course) but instead started working on getting rid of zip-ties and permanently mounting plumbing to the side of the car. I dug out one of the body panels from storage and have to say it was quite satisfying to get all the coolant/intercooler/brake and clutch lines safely tucked away and mounted; and to see the car for the first time since it arrived with a body part in place. So much so I've left it there while i take the next trip. I have a boyd tank, so I'll have to trim the fuel pipe to fit, but most of what is under there is on for good I hope.

http://i.imgur.com/pIkh2FG.jpg (http://imgur.com/pIkh2FG)
72030

I have a lot of blog reading to catch up on to see what progress everyone else has made.

Later this week, I'll post my coolant lines in a separate thread. Still not sure I have them right, so wanting to double check.

[Frank818]

The problem with working in the garage is that it is the dumping ground whenever the house gets cleaned.

Clean the garage and dump everything back in the house? :)

[svanlare]

If I did that it would of course come right back, so off to the real dump I go.

[svanlare]

Looking at my last post, I've been on the road for the better part of a month. Got back to work today. Not sure working 1 day a month is going to get the car done, so I'm thinking it is time to take some time off this summer to make some big progress.

Started the day easy, just cut some holes for speakers and got them mounted.

On the test drive, pretty much all of the joints for the coolant leaked, so I drained the radiator and started taking the coolant system apart to do a better job there. While I'm at it, I'm doing the final mounting of the hoses so it is time to get rid of some of the zip ties!

In bad news, there were some metal filings in the pipes. I'm assuming it is from either the water pump or the turbo, so I'll take a close look at both here shortly. Water pump is the likely culprit as I had a hard time burping the system. Not sure what the typical symptoms there are so I'll be doing some reading on the web this week.

Still need to double check my coolant system and post the lines.

[longislandwrx]

On the test drive, pretty much all of the joints for the coolant leaked

ugh... what do you think the culprit was, I have the breeze tubes as well, fingers crossed for no leaks.

[svanlare]

I assume it was operator error since they pretty much all leaked. The tubes were only zip-tied to the chassis, so they probably flexed a bit too. They didn't leak when I was doing testing in the garage just letting the engine run.

I've switched to a different tube for the connections (bought some gates green line hose based on Carrol Smith recommendation), and am using a shrink-wrap clamp to go with the standard clamp figuring several of the connections will be behind body panels and I want them to be solidly sealed.

Gates-32948-PowerGrip-Hose-Clamp (http://www.amazon.com/Gates-32948-PowerGrip-Hose-Clamp/dp/B000CRHLAS?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00)

The joints I've done so far look really good, but I have to get them all done and the car fired up again to know for sure.

[Bob_n_Cincy]

ugh... what do you think the culprit was, I have the breeze tubes as well, fingers crossed for no leaks.

After 4 or 5 heat cycles I seemed to get a bunch of leaks also. I decided to switch to the OEM style spring type clamps.
No issues since then.
Bob

[svanlare]

Happy to try different clamps, which did you use, the single wire or the wide clamps?

72035

72036

[svanlare]

And here is one of the joints with the shrink wrap clamps
http://i.imgur.com/O8qXiuu.jpg (http://imgur.com/O8qXiuu)
72037

[Bob_n_Cincy]

Happy to try different clamps, which did you use, the single wire or the wide clamps?

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/svanlare/Wide%20Clamp_zpszoxmpenc.png (http://s66.photobucket.com/user/svanlare/media/Wide%20Clamp_zpszoxmpenc.png.html)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/svanlare/Single%20Clamp_zps5efxluuz.png (http://s66.photobucket.com/user/svanlare/media/Single%20Clamp_zps5efxluuz.png.html)

I used the wide ones from amazon

Rotor Clip CTB-42ST FK, Steel, Constant Tension Band Hose Clamp, 1-21/32" Hose OD (Pack of 10)

[svanlare]

Ordered! Now I just need to get back home so I can install them :-)

[Frank818]

Happy to try different clamps, which did you use, the single wire or the wide clamps?

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/svanlare/Wide%20Clamp_zpszoxmpenc.png (http://s66.photobucket.com/user/svanlare/media/Wide%20Clamp_zpszoxmpenc.png.html)

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/svanlare/Single%20Clamp_zps5efxluuz.png (http://s66.photobucket.com/user/svanlare/media/Single%20Clamp_zps5efxluuz.png.html)


Ah that reminds me of my old VW. :) I still use a couple off of the Corrado, hopefully time hadn't affected them too much.
The only prob with these clamps is you can't really adjust how tight you tighten them.

[Bob_n_Cincy]

The only prob with these clamps is you can't really adjust how tight you tighten them.

Frank,
That means that you and I can't screw them up. (pun intended)
As the rubber heat cycles (expands and shrinks) the hose with worm drive clamps tend to leak and require additional tightening.
The spring clamps stays tight. That is why all OEM's use them.
Bob

[Frank818]

You're right again Bob, I forgot about heat thing.

[svanlare]

I got half the car switched over today, while also figuring out brackets etc replace all the zip ties for coolant, intercooler, brake and the clutch line each running down the side of the car. I only ended up with a couple "speed holes" in he process so I feel that isn't too bad. Working hard to make sure there is nothing that will rub.

I didn't use spring clamps originally because I've always felt they were a pain to get on and off. When I ordered the clamps, a reference to the clamp pliers came up. Not that I'm always looking for new tools, but the right tool does make many jobs easier. With these, I found the clamps easier to deal with than the banjo clamps.

Next I have to convert over the passenger side and figure out how to attach the tubes up front to the chassis to keep them from bouncing around. I've got a water pump on order so once all that is done, I'll fire things up again and see if all this worked.

72038

[Frank818]

Attach the tubes to the frame? I use rubber C-clips, works pretty darn well.

[svanlare]

I've got it all mocked up (zip-tied), just need to commit and drill the holes. Off racing this weekend, getting a product shipped the weekend after that, so in June I'm hoping to have all the tubes riveted and the car on the road again for more testing.

[Frank818]

Riveted or rivnuted?

[svanlare]

Some of both.

Brake lines, intercooler lines (no connectors) I'm doing generally doing with rivets. Things that I think I'll have to do maintenance on in the future (coolant line connectors) I'm doing with rivnuts.

I haven't started securing the wiring and I'm debating putting in clips that have a loop for a zip tie, and securing the wiring mostly that way.

[Rasmus]

clips that have a loop for a zip tie, and securing the wiring mostly that way.
That's my plan for securing wiring. Riveting in a base that has loops for zipties. Easy, secure, accommodates most diameters of wire bundles you'd have in a car, and inexpensive.

[svanlare]

Been on the road since mid April. Very happy I made it to karting stage before the trip. Yesterday was work around the house and a birthday party for a friend. Today was back into the garage for the first time in a while.

I finished re-clamping and mounting all of the radiator lines. Very satisfying to have all the zip-ties gone. Once I finished all of that I tried to swap out the water pump with the engine was still in the car, but no go, so it will be coming out soon. I have 1 stripped bolt on the timing belt cover as well (just spins yet I cannot get the bolt to extract).

The only issue I'm worrying about with the plumbing is the top line off the engine. The 90 degree hose is in contact with both the chassis and the timing belt cover. Not sure that there is anything I can do about this, so I'll have to ponder it for a bit and surf the forum here to see if anyone else has the same issue.

[ben1272]

I got a full day in today, it has been a while. I was a little tentative about starting on the hard lines for the brake and the clutch as I have never dealt with hydraulic lines before so this all wall new to me. Now some 20+ flares later, I'm happy I went all metric, and the ABS didn't end up that much work, even if it was a lot of bending and flaring to get the brake lines in place. The eastman tool worked great, I can HIGHLY recommend it for the flares. I put some fluid in and checked for leaks, so far so good. The pedal is still soft, but I ran the job solo tonight. I'll recruit my son tomorrow to help bleed the brakes for real and see if we cannot sort that out.
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/svanlare/BrakeLines2014-11-30SVLDSC_1759_zpsfc65ef5a.jpg (http://s66.photobucket.com/user/svanlare/media/BrakeLines2014-11-30SVLDSC_1759_zpsfc65ef5a.jpg.html)
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/svanlare/IMG_2317_zps7446c3a5.jpg (http://s66.photobucket.com/user/svanlare/media/IMG_2317_zps7446c3a5.jpg.html)


Over the last couple of weeks, I got the radiator and tubes installed. Mechie's mounts and the ReplicarParts tubes made both of those tasks very easy.
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/svanlare/BrakeLines2014-11-30SVLDSC_1762_zpsa4ea751d.jpg (http://s66.photobucket.com/user/svanlare/media/BrakeLines2014-11-30SVLDSC_1762_zpsa4ea751d.jpg.html)

With the front on the car, it is starting to look car shaped.
http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h276/svanlare/IMG_2313_zpsfbd21681.jpg (http://s66.photobucket.com/user/svanlare/media/IMG_2313_zpsfbd21681.jpg.html)

I'm trying to figure out where to route the clutch line.

Very happy to have most of the wiring arrive this week. It took a couple of months from when I ordered the InfinityBox system. I still have the two powercells backorders, but the rest is all here.
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)

Steve,

What is the unused port on your ABS module? Did you not use it? If not why? Or is it plugged and just not routed yet?

Also, do you have any pictures that show how you attached module to the frame? What bracket did you use?

Thanks!

-Ben

[svanlare]

I took the bracket that the ABS mounted to the WRX and just cut it down to fit the rails and then riveted the bracket on. Sorry, I don't have any photos of the bracket, but you can see a little in this photo. The side you can't see is a tab that I bent to match the shape of the rails, and it is riveted in the side as opposed to the top. The ABS unit sits on rubber mounts, and screws into the bracket just like it does in the donor car.

http://i.imgur.com/bHzuYFv.jpg (http://imgur.com/bHzuYFv)
72039

As for the capped line, I just hadn't gotten around to the passenger rear line when I took that photo. Here they are all hooked up.

http://i.imgur.com/jxlD44Q.jpg (http://imgur.com/jxlD44Q)
72040

and

http://i.imgur.com/ulZBDR1.jpg (http://imgur.com/ulZBDR1)
72041

The two facing forward come from the master cylinder. The two outside ones on the top are the right and left fronts, while the two in the middle top are the right and left rear brakes.

While I'm at photos, here is how the cooling lines ended up.

http://i.imgur.com/wZFPt7R.jpg (http://imgur.com/wZFPt7R)
72042

[ben1272]

Nice work. Have you given the ABS any sort of test? I am scratching my head wondering whether I should take the time to plumb ABS into my 818. It is great help to see what you trailblazers have done with your systems. Thanks for sharing!

[svanlare]

No, it isn't plugged in yet. I figured since it was relatively easy to put in the kit, it is nice to have on a very light and fast car so worth the trouble to figure out.

I've been karting just once so far... and now redoing the coolant lines. Once I have that working again, it is my hope to get the car out to start sorting out the next set of issues.

[svanlare]

Yeah! I had some time in the garage today while waiting for my ride to the airport and got more done than I thought I would.

When I pulled the coolant lines to work on them, I found metal filings in the tubes :(

Figured the water pump is the most likely culprit so tried to replace the water pump with the engine was still in the car. No go... There is one stripped bolt on the timing belt cover (I think it is a spinning heli-coil) so I had resigned myself to pulling the engine at this point, but thought I would need a full weekend to take care of it. While I have a bunch of cleanup tasks I wanted to do in the engine bay, and I had planned on pulling the engine at some point, but really wanted to get more test drives done (or even auto crossing) before I went ahead and did that. Oh well, the project dictated that now is the time.

The great news is that today went very smooth. I fired up the compressor, backed out all the tightened suspension bolts, engine mount bolts etc, and pulled the axles. My original plan was to just prep to pull the engine, but since all that that went pretty quick, I figured what the heck and pulled out the hoist.

http://i.imgur.com/u4Downx.jpg (http://imgur.com/u4Downx)
72043

No drama this time and ended up with the engine on the stand and the transmission back on a dolly pretty quickly.

http://i.imgur.com/wcptJtj.jpg (http://imgur.com/wcptJtj)
72052

http://i.imgur.com/0TCrKJm.jpg (http://imgur.com/0TCrKJm)
72053

I tidied up the garage, cleaned myself up, and took off for the airport much happier with this task done as it enabled me to take care of a lot of small tasks. The couple of hours I have here and there over the next couple weeks can be put to good use. I now have dreams of finishing the engine bay while I have the engine out so that when it goes back in, it should be the last time before I call the car finished. How is that for optimism!

[Frank818]

Good pix, clean car, seeing progress!

[ben1272]

Nice! I know I will be taking my engine out once go-cart phase is done, primarily to change the clutch, but likely also some other upgrades like new turbo and oilpan with new pickup. Maybe some other tasks depending how engine runs! (I hope no rebuild is necessary, but you never know!)

I'm glad it went smoothly for you and it gives me hope for my job to come.

[svanlare]

Another weekend at home between trips, and I got some work done on the engine and engine bay!

Question for the group, any recommendations for gold thermal shield? Finalizing the firewall next, and looking for suggestions on what to buy and install.

The most important work this weekend was I pulled the water pump (and timing belt). There was absolutely no metal in the water pump nor the exit tube. So my best guess is the metal in the coolant lines was swarf left over from when the pipes were machined and my fault for not blowing the pipes clear before installing. Calling it good and putting things back together. I put a new water pump on and installed a new timing belt. So much for not touching the engine until after the car was done.

Now that the motor is back I'm trying to finalize the engine bay. Cut holes in the firewall I made for the shift cables and wires. Built brackets for the charcoal canister and finalized the location of the fuel pump filter and installed that bracket too. Installed new motor mounts.

The only real problem I ran into was I realized that there is no way to tighten the seat belt bolts once both firewalls are in place. I thought about cutting an access hole and then installing a plug, but I called my neighbor and we welded the bolts in place.

All-in-all it was a pretty productive day.

Now I'm back on the road, thinking about the next couple steps in the process.

Photos when I get back home and pull the card out of the camera as I forgot to do that before I ran out the door.

[Frank818]

I got Reflect-A-Golf from ebay. Sorry, Reflect-a-Gold! Every time I type that word I made that same mistake. Would have liked a better bond but it's not too bad. It's mostly on rubber that the bond is not as good.

[svanlare]

Today was my first full day back home since August. I think I have 3 weekends in a row coming up without travel, so the long dry spell of not working on the car may be coming to end! Here and there I have done a little work. The gold foil is here, I've finished brackets for everything that mounts to the firewall. I got the parking brake working. And made room for the parking brake cables to route through the firewall.

My planning to working ratio is way off at the moment however, but at least as I've had 15 min here and there, a lot of little jobs got done.

http://i.imgur.com/LHKVfYz.jpg (http://imgur.com/LHKVfYz)
72054

Since I blew my schedule a while ago, these days I'm just trying to make goals at a shorter time horizon to make sure I'm still making forward progress. I'd like to have the car driving again by thanksgiving, so that I can test drive and work out the running bugs. Then I can start working on the body. Should feel like a completely new set of work as opposed going things and finalizing them all.

I'm working backwards from that goal. I have to figure out how to mount the parking brake cables, mount the wires in the engine bay and then seal up the firewall, foil it, install a new clutch and then put the engine back in. Hoping that with 3 weekends and I can pull all of that off and try to start the car again, but this could spill to the end of Oct.

At least I got out of the office on this trip. I was in New Zealand for the first time and took a ride on an old America's Cup yacht. Couple hours in Auckland harbor was a good use of a Saturday since I wasn't in the garage.

http://i.imgur.com/BHvN6KM.jpg (http://imgur.com/BHvN6KM)
72055
http://i.imgur.com/IDT7ex4.jpg (http://imgur.com/IDT7ex4)
72056

[Mechie3]

Is that a coolant overflow tank? Ebay special?

[svanlare]

That is the coolant overflow tank. I picked up two from Amazon, one for the coolant and one for the intercooler.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004E4IBMW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Canadian818]

I have the same one, got it off the shelf locally (that never happens here) nice little piece.

[Frank818]

Steve, did you stop by at DodgyTim's in Auckland? Would have seen his progress on the car and sip some beer... Foster I guess? lolll

[svanlare]

D'oh, I should have pinged him to see if he had time for a visit. I didn't know I was going to have a day in Auckland until just before I left on the trip and got focused on getting out on a boat since the hotel was right on the harbor.

For beer I went local New Zealand instead of Fosters :-)

http://i.imgur.com/mcXRoSW.jpg (http://imgur.com/mcXRoSW)
72057

[Frank818]

Niiiiiiiiiiice that sounds great! Brought back a couple to USA?
Local is always better. Here in QC we have so many small breweries and they make AWESOME beers, I only drink that when I'm here. Which is almost always.
No parts for the 818 in NZ?

[svanlare]

I keep thinking it is time to take some time off and get back to making progress again. It is hard to make a lot of forward motion since at the moment I have 1 or 2 days a month to work on the car.

In good news, last weekend I finished the engine bay prep and rivet in the firewall and started to put the engine back in the car.

http://i.imgur.com/1v2Rgx1.jpg (http://imgur.com/1v2Rgx1)
72058

After this photo, I put the gold foil on and moved to prepping the engine to go back in. I had replaced the water pump and timing belt, so put the cover back on and sealed everything up. Then I replaced the clutch and reintroduced the engine and the transmission. The whole assemble is on the engine hoist about ready to go in. So far, the day is going really well.

Next up was installing new motor mounts (using the N-group ones) and the new transmission mount. I fired up the air compressor and got the engine mounts done no problem, but when doing the transmission mounts I was holding the transmission with one hand to keep it from swinging and getting the bolts on the mount with the other. I slipped and got my fingers caught between the socket on the impact wrench and the transmission. After a fair bit of hoping around, the pain settled and I realized I needed to get everything back in the garage before I could head to urgent care, so I finished the transmission mount, put the engine in the car (much easier now that i have done this before), and packed up.

Just a jammed finger, so I have 2 black and blue finger nails and nothing broken. When I started the project, if someone had told me a bruised fingernail was the worst I would do, I would have signed up in a second, so counting the score pretty good. But no photos as I took off for Arizona after getting the garage and myself cleaned up.

This weekend I picked up starting to connect everything again.

http://i.imgur.com/OpqmOql.jpg (http://imgur.com/OpqmOql)
72060

With the firewall in place, the shifter cables were too short. D'oh. So I drilled a new hole in the firewall lower than the first one, moved the cables and got that all working again. I've patched the old hole, and a little more gold foil and things will be good.

Gas lines are hooked up next, and then working on the coolant and intercooler. I switched to Zero db's mount for the intercooler, and since that moved it relative to what I had done before, I have to build a new bracket and refit the hoses. New hoses are on order, so that will be a later day to finish.

As for the coolant line, the output from the engine, the hose was pressed between the firewall and the engine cover. I've got an assortment of hoses that I'll move the line to drop straight down to clear both the cover than the firewall. More parts on order...

The wiring went smooth today at least, so once the coolant issues are sorted and I've put the axels back in, I can try to fire up again and go for another spin and maybe start on the body.

[Frank818]

Oh god, you got lucky on that socket squeezing moment! Hopefully it won't slow you down too much, although 1-2days a month is already slow, I admit. Any chances of increasing the number of hours soon?

[svanlare]

Very lucky that a black and blue fingernail was all I ended up with. As for days on the car, work has me on the road too much these days. I lost my Scottsdale manager, so I'm doing the job now, so I'm away more weekdays that I am home. We have a pretty busy weekend schedule as well so that means every other Sunday at the moment. As soon as I get someone hired to replace my manager I'm definitely planning on taking some time off.

[svanlare]

As for today's progress, I'm just about down to one amazon shipment away from starting up again! (that and plugging in all the wires again)

The first of the items today was reinstalling the axels, then torquing everything down. Eyeballed the alignment, I'll do a proper alignment after I get the car started again.

Then I took care of the intercooler. Made some new brackets as it was too close to the clutch, I think I'm good now, but I might have ended up too close to the crossbar. I'll leave it like it is until I know for sure.

http://i.imgur.com/GGi92YY.jpg (http://imgur.com/GGi92YY)
72070

Moved the coolant overflow. When I mounted it before I bumped into the intake. I'm not sure what happened as that was where I had put it for the previous test run, but when I built the bracket and attached it to the firewall, apparently I moved it moved it over a little. Opps. It now lives just above the intake on the passenger side of the car. I pulled the engine cover out of storage and everything clears so hoping this one is done for good.

Since the coolant tubes I was using ended up with the coolant line wedged between the timing belt cover and the firewall, I picked up some new tubing and routed the hose straight down where it has plenty of clearance. I'm short a few clamps to button it all up, so placed my amazon order and hopefully that will all go quick when the parts get here.

http://i.imgur.com/MaV3HPl.jpg (http://imgur.com/MaV3HPl)
72071

Since this is the 3rd or 4th time I'm doing many of the jobs, they are getting considerably easier :-)

Finished off the day building a bracket to secure some wires. I'm trying to find the final and best place for them all so I can be done with the engine bay and move on to other projects.

[Frank818]

I get someone hired to replace my manager

How convenient. You hire from bottom-up instead of the traditional top-down.
Then hire someone who will do part of your work so you can spend more time on the car. :)

And yes taking apart 3-4 times the same thing makes it faster and faster, but in the end it's still time consuming. :) If only we knew exactly what to do before the 1st attempt, we would save a lot more time, eh?

[svanlare]

I like the plan of hiring someone to do my job so I can work in the garage. I read somewhere that the key to finishing a project like this is being in the garage 15 min a day. I've at least been good about getting some time every month in the garage. Sucks that I can no longer access the forum from my work laptop, makes even 15 min a day on the site hard sometimes. Trying not to complain, it is the job that pays for this...

So focusing on the positive, with the next start, I'm hoping to call the engine bay DONE!

[Frank818]

it is the job that pays for this...

So true.

After your engine bay done you start off the body?
You might be interested in the fasteners' ideas I used for the doors. Will post that on my thread soon once I finish both doors.

[svanlare]

YES! After the engine bay and of course another alignment and test driving the car again :-) I'll be working on the body. Definitely interested in what you post on doors.

My current thinking is if I have the car running and get the body attached, I can register the car making the shakeout and testing phase much easier. Then I'll sort the liners, interior and whatever bugs the car has before I can reach the point of calling it "done". I'm sure there will be running changes after that...

[svanlare]

Ok, that was an inspirational afternoon!

You know things are going well when this is the ride that shows up.
http://i.imgur.com/QtPjyGf.jpg (http://imgur.com/QtPjyGf)
72072

I spend a good bit of time in Scottsdale and had seen AZPete's car at a much earlier stage of the process (after first explaining to my wife that we were off to meet someone I met on the internet). My car was on order and Pete's was getting close to first start. This time since Pete's car is registered but still in progress he offered to meet me at my work. I guess it is always good to "have" to get the car out and drive it.

As I'm hoping to soon to be back at the go-kart stage and starting on new things (body and interior) it was both a huge shot of motivation to get moving faster so I too can drive as well as a bit eye opening on how much I still need to learn and do.

I'm hoping that my 4-wheel-bike style interior will come together quick, but I must admit, Pete's causes me to think I'll be at this a bit longer. This is turning out great.
http://i.imgur.com/KmUFW7C.jpg (http://imgur.com/KmUFW7C)
72073

The glove box is awesome, has both FFR brochure and a build diary for those long gas station conversations.
http://i.imgur.com/2KWEemS.jpg (http://imgur.com/2KWEemS)
72074

http://i.imgur.com/4pIzsYh.jpg (http://imgur.com/4pIzsYh)
72075

I'm just now thinking about the center stack, I think I'll swap the AC controls for extra gauges, but don't be surprised when mine is shaped a lot like this.
http://i.imgur.com/wFacLS8.jpg (http://imgur.com/wFacLS8)
72076

Still needs door cards, but that is a minor thing. One gauge I have to how close my car is to being ready is how many clecos, duct-tape and zip-ties are still holding it together and am I adding or reducing the number. Pete's count is pretty low, while I'm pretty sure my nick-name on the race team would be zip-tie if I hadn't been previously named sparky due to some exciting electrical issues one day.
http://i.imgur.com/Mc2Cl53.jpg (http://imgur.com/Mc2Cl53)
72077

Without a doubt the best part of my day today. Now I just have to get home and get back to work.
http://i.imgur.com/kJuuggK.jpg (http://imgur.com/kJuuggK)
72078

Thanks Pete!

[turbomacncheese]

My turn tomorrow!!

[svanlare]

Pics or it didn't happen;)

[AZPete]

Hey, Steve, it was fun seeing you again and especially fun talking to a guy who shares my lunacy. Sane guys just ask what it is and seem puzzled. You understand it's about the journey and that I'm stretching the journey. I'm envious that you get to make your journey with your boys.

Oh no. Photos show a gap in the console, chipped steering column cover, and need E-brake boot.