818S Project For Sale

[John H]

399793998039981
Hi All-
SOLD for $14K on 6/24//15
Must part with in progress 818S (page 260 of manual).
Planned as completely stock.
FFR serial # F5R10000123ES.
3rd 1. Asking $15,000 OBO.
2. Located 35 miles S of Denver CO.
3. Powder coated.
4. Donor car from Copart, 2006 WRX wagon from CA. Started easily on delivery.
5, CA salvage certificate.
6. 91,167 actual miles, vin JF1GG79626G814022.
7. Installed new timing belt and water pump.
8. New Koyorad radiator.
9. Nose installed since photos taken.
3rd 10. Engine turned over.
John H
pqrlbzt@yahoo.com
C-720-209-2076
Deposit received deal pending

[Tamra]

Why are you selling? It looks like you've made a lot of progress!

[John H]

Hi Tamra-

Frustration with the manual, wiring harness and lack of general knowledge of the WRX. Didn't give this project proper thought (ie moving engine to back and associated issues)

John H

[David Hodgkins]

John,

I notice you have only 17 posts. I've seen builders who had VERY limited mechanical skills finish builds with the help of the forum. We can literally walk you through every step if needed. Plus there is a build school now where you completely build an 818 over 3 days with supervised instruction and help.

Lastly, if there are other builders in the Denver area you can always throw a build party to help you get over any hurtles you may be facing.

I don't want to discourage you from selling if that's really what you want to do but if you are just frustrated with the build I'm SURE there's "a way out of the woods", so to speak.

:)

[John H]

David-
At this stage:
1. Lump of OEM wiring harness in transmission tunnel.
2. Motor turned over when I turned the key
3. Horn will not sound
4. Have not ID'd the wiper connection
5. Have tried to reduce the harness and made 50+ solders & shrinks. (many not detailed in the manual)
6. There looks to be no way to mount the fuse boxes reasonably (tie wrap them to the frame??) with the play in the wiring available.
7. What to do with the multitude of ground wires in the tunnel.
The only way out of the woods I see is an Iwire harness for $2,200 (I have a 2006).
I would rather sell than spend at this stage.
John H

[matteo92065]

I'm just giving an option/opinion
For wiring harness on 2006, you can eliminate both fuse boxes and add in a Busmann replacement box. Not too hard.
The horn is a super simple circuit. Look at the FSM for the wire colors and connectors. It grounds out the relay coil when horn button is pressed.
Label every connector. Have the FSM as a PDF on a computer near by so you can do searches for connectors.
Make all the grounds go to one wire and put somewhere convenient.
Yes the build Manual should be a rough guild. Use your areas of expertise and interest to expand on the task at hand.
It took me several weeks of putzing around with the wiring to get it finished. I took it much farther than the manual, but only because I wanted to. The whole car is that way.
Since I am also building a 2006 wrx I can give you all my notes, especially electric, if needed.
I have pictures and desriptions of most of the connectors including the wipers if needed. And they are on this forum too.
This project is way harder than I thought it would be, but I've enjoyed it for the most part. I can understand why you would want to sell it, but not for the reasons you listed above.

--I'm just say'in

[Tamra]

My responses in red:


David-
At this stage:
1. Lump of OEM wiring harness in transmission tunnel. We have a lot of wires in the transmission tunnel too. It gets covered by the center console and you will never see it again. Unless you are trying to get every ounce of weight down, then don't worry about it and just shove it in like it is in most other cars.
2. Motor turned over when I turned the key
3. Horn will not sound Agree with Matteo. Also, if you don't have all of your grounds attached to the frame, a lot of things will not work. The horn also needs to be grounded too
4. Have not ID'd the wiper connection We'd be happy to take some pictures of the wiper connections if you need them
5. Have tried to reduce the harness and made 50+ solders & shrinks. (many not detailed in the manual) Since it seems like the wiring harness is the main reason you are wanting to quit on the build, why don't you just keep it simple? You don't have to go crazy and diet the harness for any functional reason. OCD and losing a few lbs, sure, but otherwise, just keep it to the minimum and only extend the necessary wires and don't worry about shortening the others. We deleted the big things, but didn't really go to the time to shorten many wires
6. There looks to be no way to mount the fuse boxes reasonably (tie wrap them to the frame??) with the play in the wiring available. Some people have mounted them to the firewall, we got ours to the chassis bars behind the firewall and one up by the dash. Others have mounted them closer to the dash. You can pick whichever area is most convenient.
7. What to do with the multitude of ground wires in the tunnel. We bundled all of ours together in the tunnel, sanded down a spot on the frame, and bolted them all in the same location
The only way out of the woods I see is an Iwire harness for $2,200 (I have a 2006).
I would rather sell than spend at this stage.
John H

[Harley818]

John,
You've done alot already.
If you really want to stop, then all our input won't help you.
If you just take it easy, do a little at a time, you'll get there. Get stuck on something, do something else for a while and you'll figure it out.

I'm a mechanical engineer - I just took my time and was methodical about the wiring harness. I decided I didnt want the mess in the tunnel so I spent about 40 - 50 hours to get it cleaned up. Started right up and I haven't had any miswiring (yet!).
There are about 20 different methods of mounting the fusebox and relays that I have seen so far. Many of us post pictures so guys like you and me can benefit from deciding what alternative you like best.
I have found that the people on this forum are helpful and encouraging, and i have seen many times when someone is stuck, that others will help sort it out.

We can't convince you to do something you don't want to do, but we can help if you do want to stick with it.
Best of luck with whatever you decide.

[nkw8181]

This is my first kit car build and I really have no idea what I'm doing but I'm getting there thanks to the help of the people on here. I. E. My most recent blunder was to install the brake calipers backwards which I learned makes it near impossible to bleed. When I seeked guidance here my mistake was pointed out. I can't remember who has it here but someone went through and posted what to remove /keep with pics for an 06 donor wiring harness.

I just hate to see you give up if we can help you get through your hiccups. ��