Thank You!!!

[suttonb3]

51297

My 818 is on the road and I just want to say thank you to this amazing community for making that possible. I know that I have taken more than I have given up to this point, so I hope make up for that now that I have a little more free time. I am not the smartest guy around and I have zero formal training but with a lot of hard work and even more help from all of you I've been able to make this dream come true. I could name names but that's poor form because I'd inevitably forget someone. Besides, you regular contributors know who you are. Perhaps the only specific thank you (outside of the brilliant minds and craftsmen at Factory Five) should go to Stewart Transport: Their seemingly high charge (I'm sure it's a fair price) made it an easy call to drive up from Florida. For just a little more than the cost of transporting the kit I was able to show my family Washington, D.C. and New York City- and let's not forget meeting Dave and the crew at the Factory! I look forward to buying any of you a frosty beverage when you make it to Florida, or if you're just thinking about building a car and you'd like to see one in person, look me up.

Thanks again,

Ben513075130851309

[AZPete]

Beautiful work, Ben! Tell us about the paint code, please. And, I see you've got the door cards in and the donor seats but how about a photo of the interior? Judging from the outside, the inside is also very nice. Nice job!

[suttonb3]

I didn't include photos of the interior because it's not finished yet. I realized the good driving weather here in Florida wasn't going to last much longer so I'm driving it and will finish the interior when the rain starts. I've got about 1,300 miles on it so far and am having a blast.
The paint is actually Plasti Dip. The body is anthracite grey and the trim is iron man, both from dipyourcar.com. Photos don't do it justice, the grey is a cool matte metallic and the iron man is color shift- it goes from red to orange to gold depending on the viewing angle. I chose Plasti Dip for a few reasons, first is cost. The whole setup was about $450, and that includes equipment. Subsequent jobs can be done for $150-200 depending on colors chosen. Just as important was the ability to do it myself. It's a point of pride that other than mounting the tires I did everything on this car myself. Plasti Dip is very forgiving in my novice hands.

[TX-Lou]

Great job Ben! I hope to be able to make the same kind of post at some point.

- Lou

[flynntuna]

Congratulations! 1300 miles wow. Are you using it as a daily driver? The plasti dip looks great, did you spray the panels on or off the car?

[Loring]

If you decide to rack up some miles out in my direction, let me know. I'd love to take a look at it and if you'll have me, take a ride.

[suttonb3]

Thanks for the compliment on the Plasti Dip, but it's far from perfect. A body or paint guy would rip it apart but for my first attempt I'm more than satisfied. With me building it this was never going to be a show car or a race car, but it looks better and goes faster than it should when you consider my skill level. I'm not using it as a daily driver, it's been road-legal since November. I haven't posted any pics because it took me this long to do bodywork and Plasti Dip, my body was really rough.
Loring- I can definitely make it to Lakeland, we're practically neighbors! I'd be happy to take you for a ride. Just remember that the engine's basically stock. Now that I've seen your build thread and I realize what a monster you're building I'm afraid you'll be underwhelmed by my ride. :-)

[Jerry Arbs]

I didn't include photos of the interior because it's not finished yet. I realized the good driving weather here in Florida wasn't going to last much longer so I'm driving it and will finish the interior when the rain starts. I've got about 1,300 miles on it so far and am having a blast.
The paint is actually Plasti Dip. The body is anthracite grey and the trim is iron man, both from dipyourcar.com. Photos don't do it justice, the grey is a cool matte metallic and the iron man is color shift- it goes from red to orange to gold depending on the viewing angle. I chose Plasti Dip for a few reasons, first is cost. The whole setup was about $450, and that includes equipment. Subsequent jobs can be done for $150-200 depending on colors chosen. Just as important was the ability to do it myself. It's a point of pride that other than mounting the tires I did everything on this car myself. Plasti Dip is very forgiving in my novice hands.


Just a quick tip! Sorry about the title, I had to. :rolleyes: I dipped my '87 BMW E30 with matte white and learned a few things in the peeling process that might help you with your beautiful build. I highly recommend sealing it with a matte clear or something similar. The matte plasti-dip is highly porous, which causes it to dry out over time which can make peeling an absolute nightmare, and also doesn't prevent rust since the rain gets under the dip. After a few tests I had the spray and peeling down to science and did the entire car. When it came to peeling it months later, it was thin and dry which was horrible to peel. (Over an hour to basically SCRAPE or RUB 30% of it off my hood alone). After spending 10+ hours and having only 50% of the car peeled, we had a massive downpour and the next day it had absorbed so much water that it peeled like a dream. Front fender in ONE piece. I had already attempted wetting the car by soaking a towel and leaving it on the car, but it just didn't cut it. If you run into this problem and you know you've sprayed your car thick enough to rule out that being the cause, try soaking the car heavily.

Sorry for the small book, but I feel like you reading that is worth 15 hours of pain and struggle. Note to self: Do not matte spray a car. (I have since had the car painted professionally in matte white :)) I will be uploading a video to my YouTube channel showing this entire process of Dipping/peeling/bodywork/painting. Cheers!

[ETriggs]

Looks fantastic to me! You have done a great job on it, now go put some (s)miles on! :D

[Loring]

Yeah, put some miles on it!! ;)


Loring- I can definitely make it to Lakeland, we're practically neighbors! I'd be happy to take you for a ride. Just remember that the engine's basically stock. Now that I've seen your build thread and I realize what a monster you're building I'm afraid you'll be underwhelmed by my ride. :-)

Well, I haven't built it yet so I have no idea what the monster feels like. Just my 4200lb tank of a daily driver, haha. It'll be nice to experience the handling and nimbleness of the car, regardless of the power level it's at.

[Newkitguy]

I've been dipping cars for a long time, I've had cars dipped for YEARS with no down side to peelability. it sounds like you honestly didn't put enough product on your car Jerry, I think plasti dip is a PERFECT choice for intial application for a kit car. Paint color can really make or break a car and no better product out there to me. Car looks great sutton!

[Courtnie Provencher]

Car looks great! :) I've always been a fan of matte colors.

[suttonb3]

I appreciate the heads up Jerry, but I think Newkitguy might be on to something. This is my first dip but the guys I bought the product from stressed that multiple coats were necessary for durability and peel ability in the future. I did six coats, for the record. Also, I use a product called "Dip Coat" which protects the dip and makes it slick without making it shiny. It's sort of like a spray wax specifically for dip. I love the matte colors too, I think they look mean. Mean is a good thing when all the guys at work are calling this my "midlife crisis Barbie car." I know, they're just jealous. ;-) The great thing is when I get tired of this color, it's not that difficult or expensive to change! None of this matters right now, unfortunately. I think I just developed rod knock. I'm gonna perform a few tests and maybe post something up in the engine forum. I'm a little sick to my stomach right now...

[Niburu]

Hopefully I'll get see this driving around at some point.
I moved to Tampa back in August, in the Fletcher Ave and Rome area.

[suttonb3]

Hopefully I'll get see this driving around at some point.
I moved to Tampa back in August, in the Fletcher Ave and Rome area.

Seriously?! I live around Fletcher and Armenia! I remember talking to you last summer when you were getting ready to move to Tampa, but I had no idea we were going to live within a mile of each other! Get on over here, I'll put you to work. ;-)
I did a compression test and cylinders 1, 2, and 4 were within 3 psi of each other. Cylinder 3 was about 20 psi low. A wet compression test brought that right up with the others, so at the least I have bad rings on cylinder 3. Also, it definitely is rod knock on cylinder 3. My head is spinning, I just rebuilt the engine 1,300 miles ago. The wife is not happy.

[Loring]

She can come hang out with my wife and they can ***** about our cars, haha. Any news on the engine situation?

Edit: Oh look, the forum fixed my potty mouth ^^

[suttonb3]

She can come hang out with my wife and they can ***** about our cars, haha. Any news on the engine situation?

Edit: Oh look, the forum fixed my potty mouth ^^

:)

Thanks for asking, but I genuinely meant this post to show my gratitude to this forum. The unfortunate timing of my engine woes has turned it into something else, so I started this post in the engine forum:

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?20387-Engine-blown-after-1-300-miles-what-now

I invite any of you with the time to check it out and offer your opinion. I'm lost and could really use a hand. Thanks guys!

Ben

[Niburu]

Seriously?! I live around Fletcher and Armenia! I remember talking to you last summer when you were getting ready to move to Tampa, but I had no idea we were going to live within a mile of each other! Get on over here, I'll put you to work. ;-)

I'll have to see what sort free time I can arrange.
Between getting to work at 7am and picking the kids up after school weekdays are shottill the kids get older.
A weekend evening of wrenching is not out of the question.
And when we go buy a house with a garage that I don't have to use as a storage unit, the first project going in it will be an 818C. (unless I do an LS1 on my Miata, but that's a whole other story.)

[Bungoman]

Where are you located in Tampa? I work at Reeves Subaru and would love to check out your car sometime. My wife and I are planning on building an 818 hopefully in the near future. Thansk!

[suttonb3]

Where are you located in Tampa? I work at Reeves Subaru and would love to check out your car sometime. My wife and I are planning on building an 818 hopefully in the near future. Thansk!

I'm 5 minutes from Reeves, I'll pm you with my number!

[Niburu]

Ben you have PM.

[Niburu]

Ben you have more PM, with a line on a whole engine for cheap

[redbudrr]

I am just beginning gathering information before investing in an 818. I was wondering what you had to do to get the car titled and registered here in florida? Any information would be appreciated.

[lsfourwheeler]

I am just beginning gathering information before investing in an 818. I was wondering what you had to do to get the car titled and registered here in florida? Any information would be appreciated.

I would recommend you head over to the registration and emissions category of this forum and look at some of the threads. Lots of people have shared their successes, troubles, and learning moments during their registration process.

[redbudrr]

I appreciate your response. I have been reading everything I can find. It looks like others have gotten it done. I am talking with DMV tomorrow for some more info. Thank s again.