Dan's 818C (Lightweight818) [Archive]

BigDanSubaru

11-23-2022, 02:54 PM

Hello everyone, my name is Dan and I am building an 818C with my father, son and friends. Some of you may recognize me from the 818 Builders and Dreamers Facebook group. I also have an Instagram account dedicated to this build. I decided to name the project "Lightweight 818" not because I aim to make mine lighter than anyone else's, I just thought it worked well as a name. Link here: https://www.instagram.com/lightweight818/

I decided to track my progress on here as I journey along the build process because I have seen great ideas and inspiration come from these threads. I have been dreaming/planning this build for over 5 years and I still feel so unprepared. I have been working on Subarus since I was 15 (I'm 30 now). I have swapped engines in my 03 and 05 wrxs when they needed work. But I am by no means a fabricator. I have no idea how to weld (I did it once in college) so I'll be avoiding that if at all possible in my build. Or I will outsource the weld work to my uncle who welds scrap to make artwork on the side.

Anyway, when the thought of building this car first sparked, a few hurdles presented themselves.

1. I need a garage
Long story shot, I tackled the first hurdle after drawing my own site plan, buying a custom pre-engineered metal building, submitting a building permit request, being denied, applying for a variance, attending the variance hearing, getting approval, having the slab poured, waiting a year for the carport company to get their **** together, having the metal building installed, getting the permit inspection approved then filling the garage with the necessary tools and equipment to get the job done.

2. I need more tools
I obtained most of my tools as Christmas or Birthday gifts from relatives. Every year my list was packed with tools that were on the list of required/recommended tools in the FFR build manual. This is a seemingly endless endeavor when you are just starting out collecting tools.

3. I need a donor
I took my time in trying to find a donor that wasn't completely trashed. Finding a low-milage donor with little to no modifications and being outside of the rust belt was extremely difficult. So...something had to give. I found my donor on CoPart. It's a 2007 WRX, 1 owner, 57k miles that was in a light t-bone accident on the passenger side. The car ran and drove as listed. I bought it site-unseen as it was located in Wisconsin (basically Hell for cars), and I am located in PA (a slightly less intense circle of Hell for cars). One owner and low milage is great but MAN was this thing rusted all to **** underneath. I had no idea because the pictures did not show this (of course). You'll see in the pics just what I am talking about.

4. I need a kit
I ordered my kit December 8th 2021 on a hunch that prices were going to increase soon. I am glad that I ordered when I did, because no more than a month later the kits actually did go up in price (thanks Covid). My kit was delivered by Stewart Transportation on May 26th 2022. This was one of the most exciting days of my life. I had been looking forward to this for SO long!

5. I need free time
I am still in college, but will be graduating in Spring 2023. I have been going for 8 years part time to get my BS in mechanical engineering. I also have a 2.5 year old son (Cameron) along with my wife (Marina) that I balance my limited free time with. Once I am through with school, I think my build will progress much faster.

When you want something this badly, you find ways to start making your dream into your reality. I am a Subaru Ambassador (have been for 5 years) and most of my life revolves around the brand. People refer to me as "Subaru Dan" at school. As much as I thought I knew about these cars, I am diving into an 07 Wrx donor which I have never owned or worked on. Nor have I ever disassembled one to this extent. I am learning so much about these cars and am really enjoying the build. This thread should have been started a long time ago, and I am very behind on posting pictures. I won't post them all here (see the full album on Instagram), but I'll post some of the main milestones up to where I am now.

Thanks for taking the time to read about my story and what my build is about. There are a lot of very talented builders here and I am looking forward to interacting with you. Here are some donor car arrival day pics to start things off!

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BigDanSubaru

11-23-2022, 03:29 PM

The first thing I did was start taking off the body panels of the donor car. Most of them were in pretty good shape and sold for a fair price online. These parts are a rare find with only 58k miles on them. Even though some fell victim to the Wisconsin rust, and some were damaged in the accident. Thankfully, my metal building got installed just after I had found buyers for the hood, trunk lid and driver side doors. I made sure to label all of the connectors with blue tape as I disconnected them. It was a shame having to dismantle the car. I made sure to take her for one last spin around the block and say my goodbyes.

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BigDanSubaru

11-23-2022, 03:47 PM

The passenger side doors were more of a challenge due to the collision. The door hardware was hard or impossible to get to without using a pry bar to bend metal out of the way. The door had pinched the wiring harness, making it impossible to remove without cutting the door and bending it open to fit the connector(s) through. Once I got the wiring free of the bent up door, I decided that I needed to establish dominance (as shown in the pic). A lot of parts that I removed received a similar solute for being stubborn and dragging out a task that should have taken a fifth of the time that they took. I removed all of the seats and other interior items and continued to label the connectors as I went. I probably missed a few along the way and there were some that I didn't know what they were. I am sure that will be fun later when I go to do the wiring.

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BigDanSubaru

11-23-2022, 03:52 PM

More interior teardown. Got the car on stands and removed the exhaust. I was going to try to sell it used, but Wisconsin rust basically ate half of it. That explains why it was louder than I expected when I test drove it. I also removed the intercooler and some other engine bay items. The floor is a rusty dirty mess and the whole garage smells like PB Blaster.

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FFRWRX

11-23-2022, 08:19 PM

Hey there Subaru Dan!

Nice to have you join the party. There doesn't seem to be a lot of new posting lately, but there is certainly a ton of information here. Pretty much any issue you run into, someone here has been there before. And please feel free to ask anything; the search function is pretty good, but if in doubt, just ask.

And of course it is nice to have someone with a great deal of knowledge on the Subaru itself. I was saved the work of tearing down a donor by buying mine from someone else that did that, but I have torn down 2 cars in the past to build Cobra replicas. The wiring harness is maybe the number 1 challenge.

Rick

jbs72697

11-23-2022, 08:57 PM

Welcome Dan
Congrats on getting your project off the ground and your shop approved and built. Looks like a nice space to work
I took delivery of my 818S kit way back in May of 2021 and I’m embarrassed to say I haven’t made too much progress building. I’ve only really been taking the donor apart and getting the two underside panels installed. With the long thanksgiving weekend I’m hoping to get the donor completely apart
One thing I found being pat of this group of FFR owners is that they are a great bunch of people that happily offer advice, help, and encouragement. I even met a few of them at FFR’s open house on June
All the best!

BigDanSubaru

11-23-2022, 09:44 PM

With the wheels removed and sold, the horror show was revealed. Even with the low mileage, the years of salty wet Wisconsin roads took their tool on basically everything metal under the car. I expected there to be rust, but not nearly as bad as this. Copart didn't mention anything about it, nor did they take any pictures of the underside of the vehicle. I guess that is the risk you take when you bid on a donor site-unseen. The hydraulic jack handle made for a great pry bar for the really stubborn ones. Twisted a few bolts off in the process but no amount of penetrating fluid was helping us. I also didn't have my air compressor up and running yet so this was all done by hand up to this point. Let's not even talk about that long bolt that goes through the rear knuckle and the trailing arms. F*** that bolt.

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BigDanSubaru

11-23-2022, 09:48 PM

jbs72697

11-23-2022, 10:28 PM

Hey, thank you for the kind words. This certainly isn't the dream garage I had in mind. But hey, it's still a dream garage if you're building your dream IN the garage...right?

I would have loved to have come to the open house, but that is difficult given my schedule being so tight. Maybe next year!

That’s true about a garage. Believe it or not, this is my “dream garage”. I have very little room to work. And I actually gave in and did what i swore I’d not do, use the 818 itself as a place to store parts and boxes
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BigDanSubaru

11-23-2022, 10:47 PM

That’s true about a garage. Believe it or not, this is my “dream garage”. I have very little room to work. And I actually gave in and did what i swore I’d not do, use the 818 itself as a place to store parts and boxes
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I totally understand that. I slid boxes underneath my 818 since it is also up on jack stands. Great place for them because there really isn't any under car work to do on the 818 right now.

rjp

11-23-2022, 10:51 PM

1. I need a garage
2. I need more tools
3. I need a donor
4. I need a kit
5. I need free time

This is basically my list, too. Back in 2018 I did a factory tour which sealed the deal on wanting to build an 818. I had a 1 car garage and planned to eventually buy a house, so, of course, the first thing I did was buy a donor. I've lugged that to temporary housing and now to my house, with a nicely sized garage for working on the kit. Unfortunately, I was a few months slower than you, went to the build school in April, and learned about the wait list then. I have almost the exact same donor, same color, 2006 WRX TR (the previous owner beat the crap out of it).

I'll be following this to live vicariously until maybe I can buy a kit.

E: I wish it was only a price increase that happened :(

BigDanSubaru

11-23-2022, 10:58 PM

Removed the radiator. I did the donor tear down before I received my kit and I'll admit that I didn't reference my digital copy of the build manual as much as I probably should have. If I would have referred to it, maybe I would have remembered to remove the lower radiator rubber mounting bushings. Oh well, they were a cheap pickup from the local dealership.

I found a buyer for the fuel tank so I jumped on the removal of that quickly. I am going to be using the Boyd fuel tank and not the FFR provided one. I have heard too many horror stories about that fuel tank to trust it on my 818. Since I am going Boyd and that tank comes with a fuel pump and sending unit, I sold my donor stuff with the OEM tank. This was quite the task to remove alone, but I managed it.

I also sold the rear differential to some older gentlemen who drove up from a few states down. They claimed to be using it in a Datsun 510 which is pretty cool. I like selling the parts to people who will take care of them and put them to use elsewhere. Hate seeing perfectly good parts sit around collecting dust/rust.

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BigDanSubaru

11-23-2022, 11:02 PM

This is basically my list, too. Back in 2018 I did a factory tour which sealed the deal on wanting to do an 818. I had a 1 car garage and planned to eventually buy a house, so, of course, the first thing I did was buy a donor. I've lugged that to temporary housing and now to my house, with a nicely sized garage for working on the kit. Unfortunately, I was a few months slower than you, went to the build school in April, and learned about the wait list then. I have almost the exact same donor, same color, 2006 WRX TR (the previous owner beat the crap out of it).

I'll be following this to live vicariously until maybe I can buy a kit.

Yeah I have heard about the wait list situation. I was very fortunate to have ordered when I did. Man, it was something in my gut or just fate I guess. I was planning on waiting until I graduated to order it, but something just pushed me to get it ordered.

Happy to have you here! I have plenty of updating to do on this build thread. Lots of pictures to share. Feel free to check out the Instagram if you wanna peek ahead at some of the pictures that I will be posting.

BigDanSubaru

11-23-2022, 11:23 PM

I labeled as many of the connectors as I could on the wiring harness. I removed the harness and laid it out on the garage floor. Miles and miles of wire that I really don't want to think about right now. I boxed it all up and threw it on top of my shelving unit. It has been haunting me up there ever since. I took some college classes on circuiting and stuff. It is certainly not my strong suit.

I plan to get the harness into the car and do only the necessary cuts to get the car running first. Then I will go about the wire diet process in a pretty minimal way. I don't have the confidence to remove as much as some have on here. I figure if I cut out only a few circuits at a time in between test starts, I can find where I just messed up and fix it a little easier.

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BigDanSubaru

11-23-2022, 11:31 PM

Spent the night with my dad and some friends trying to remove the engine and trans from the donor. We removed all of the bolts holding the trans on, but we could not free it from the motor. We ended up pulling the whole engine and trans out together out the top. If we had a lift, we could have dropped it all out the bottom like the manual suggests. This worked though and I was able to separate the trans from the engine once it was out of the car. I needed to use some heat on the alignment pins, then tap a drywall knife between the mating surfaces. Once I had a small separation, I got the cold chisel in there and finished the job. The trans is sitting on the workbench now and the motor is on the stand I picked up from Harbor Freight. Not much left of the donor now!

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BigDanSubaru

11-23-2022, 11:34 PM

With the kit on its way, I needed to get this donor shell out ASAP. Shooting it with a bazooka seems like the easiest method, but I may lose my garage in the process. Also, I don't know how to fire this thing. :p

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BigDanSubaru

11-23-2022, 11:41 PM

I decided that cutting the donor shell in half and shoving it onto my dad's trailer would have to do. Took 4 of us a couple of hours to get it all cut up and loaded on. Even with everything stripped off of it, it was still pretty heavy. My dad's Infiniti FX50S is the bright blue car hauling the trailer. He got a lot of strange looks the next day when we showed up to the scrap yard. Not every day you see a luxury performance SUV hauling a hacked up Wrx behind it.

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wallace18

11-24-2022, 08:58 AM

Boy that brings back some memories for me. I wish I had a team like you did. I cut up my 2002 WRX and took it to a metal dumpster. LOL. :p

BigDanSubaru

11-24-2022, 09:11 AM

Boy that brings back some memories for me. I wish I had a team like you did. I cut up my 2002 WRX and took it to a metal dumpster. LOL. :p

I definitely appreciate my team of friends helping when they can. It's a social thing for us and a learning experience for us all. This project was mostly intended to be a father-son project. It took so long to get this project started that it has become a grandfather-father-son project. My son is only 2, but he loves to spin the wheels and sit in the car.

BigDanSubaru

11-24-2022, 09:46 AM

While I was waiting for my kit to arrive, I was brainstorming some ideas for a different rear end design. I like the regular 818 rear, but I also wanted my build to be different. Here are some early concepts I made using a free app on my phone. I cut and pasted some layers to play around with taillight and exhaust placement.

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BigDanSubaru

11-24-2022, 09:51 AM

Here are some other design ideas I came up with. I landed on one that I really liked. It uses two taillights with an exhaust next to each taillight. I think this would be really unique and eye catching. A custom grill shape will need to be made and that should help relieve some of the heat inside the engine bay as well. I colored it red just to see what it would look like. I am still not sure what color I want my 818 to be. But I am teetering between white and red. Maybe some stripes too (small offset ones).

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BigDanSubaru

11-24-2022, 10:02 AM

With the donor shell gone, I got to park the daily driver in the garage for a while. Here are some more pics of the donor car. I test fitted the quick release steering wheel and ordered a Subaru badge of ownership for it. I plan to put the badge of ownership on the 818 somewhere as a memorial for the Wrx. I miss that car sometimes and I wish I had driven it more before I tore it down. It wasn't exactly safe to drive though. I found out during the teardown that it had a broken front sway bar endlink. Doh!

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rjp

11-24-2022, 12:10 PM

Are you counting the donor and 818 as separate Subarus or the same?

Ajzride

11-24-2022, 12:13 PM

I like the exhaust tips up high like that, but seems like a nightmare to try and actually fabricate, hope you got better metal skills than I do.

BigDanSubaru

11-24-2022, 02:06 PM

Are you counting the donor and 818 as separate Subarus or the same?

The donor is the Subaru tied to the badge of ownership by VIN. The 818 is more of a Frankenstein Subaru I suppose. An American made kit car brought to life with Japanese organs. :p

BigDanSubaru

11-24-2022, 02:07 PM

I like the exhaust tips up high like that, but seems like a nightmare to try and actually fabricate, hope you got better metal skills than I do.

I'll definitely be paying a performance shop to fabricate that exhaust for me. There is no way I could do that with my level of welding experience (1 project in college).

BigDanSubaru

11-24-2022, 02:15 PM

While I was waiting for my kit, I started collecting some aftermarket parts for the build. My basement quickly started piling up with stuff!

Mishimoto X-line radiator, Boyd fuel tank, Corbeau Forza seats and harnesses, STI aluminum front lower control arms and some beautiful parts from Zero Decibel Motorsports.

For anyone interested in my wheel setup, here are the specs.
Front Wheels: 18x8 +45 Storm Grey Enkei Tuning TS-V
Front Tires: 215/35ZR18 Michelin Pilot Sport 4S
Rear Wheels: 18x9.5 +45 Storm Grey Enkei Tuning TS-V
Rear Tires: 255/35ZR18 Michelin Pilot Sport 4S

I am using the VeryCoolParts trailing arms for clearance in the rear as well (pics later).

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BigDanSubaru

11-24-2022, 02:20 PM

A little more prep work while I wait for the kit to arrive. Got my blast cabinet put together and my air compressor all hooked up. I also ran a leak-down test on the motor and found that all of the cylinders were well within spec. I expected this, since the motor only has 58k miles on it and the single owner was an older gentleman who took it to the dealer for regular maintenance. But it didn't feel right to do all of this work and not just check it. Plus I picked up a cool tool that I can use on my other cars to check engine health. I ran this test with the engine at room temp because it was already pulled from the donor. I think it will still be fine though. The test is probably more conclusive with the engine at stable operating temp so all of the expansion can take place before the test.

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BigDanSubaru

11-26-2022, 11:04 AM

DELIVERY DAY! I knew this day would come some day. I was going to make this project happen no matter what it took. This was such an exciting day! Al (our delivery driver) is an awesome guy. He is super helpful and nice. I tipped him some cash along with an assortment of fresh baked cookies from a local bakery in town. I went through all of the boxes and took inventory which was a pretty laborious task. But it was like Christmas morning opening all of the carbon fiber parts. I'm really impressed with the build quality on them. I recorded the delivery with my security cameras but the quality is that of a potato. I might edit them together someday and put it on YouTube.

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BigDanSubaru

11-26-2022, 11:13 AM

Rivets for days! Here are some pictures of when we attached the aluminum panels underneath the car. We also started putting the front firewall together.

Over on the engine stand, I am taking the intake manifold off to be cleaned up and painted later. I also started disassembling the front brake calipers for media blasting. Just taking the brake pads out made a gigantic rusty mess on my nice new workbenches. But, that's what I built these benches for. They are going to get all dirty and dinged up at some point anyway.

At this stage, these posts are going to seem very ADHD. Which makes sense because that's effected me my whole life. I jump from task to task quite often. Stuff still gets done, just not in any particular order. ;)

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BigDanSubaru

11-26-2022, 12:53 PM

The rear lateral links were horribly rust (as was everything else under the donor car). I media blasted them, primed and painted them. I was considering just upgrading to adjustable ones, but I decided to file that one into my future upgrades list. I am too early in the build and I don't want to spend a bunch of money right up front. Anything could go wrong at any time and I chose to save my funds for when/if that happens.

I got the STI aluminum LCAs installed. Some holes in the frame got a little too much powder coat in them and the bolts would not fit through. I opened the holes up to the correct size, nbd. One thing that I underestimated was just how much time it takes to clean up and paint parts. Not even just the donor parts either. There are so many brackets and such that come with the kit that are not powder coated from FFR. It would be nice if they had at least done the door frames and corner fender supports since those are so large. Powder coating is so expensive here so I am just painting those items with black chassis paint from Autozone.

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BigDanSubaru

11-26-2022, 01:02 PM

My front knuckles were so rusted that the ball joint pinch bolts snapped off in each one. I was pretty frustrated and over-excited to get them apart and messed them up even worse trying to extract the broken bolts. So I used that funds I would have spent on the adjustable lateral links on new front knuckles. With the new knuckles and wheel bearings in hand, I drove to my uncles shop where he pressed everything together for me.

When I got home, I just HAD to throw the front wheels on. In true The Fast and the Furious fashion, I did so without the brake rotors on because... you know....who needs those?

The rear hubs are cleaned up and painted. Ready to be taken to my uncles shop later to get assembled.

I put all new Whiteline bushings in the lateral links which are polyurethane. Notice that I also ground off the sway bar connection tabs. Those were driving me insane since they have no purpose on the 818.

Okay, so I guess I'll take the wheels off and put my brake rotors on. I picked up some slotted EBC rotors. I don't trust the drilled ones after seeing so many fail on the track.

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BigDanSubaru

11-26-2022, 01:11 PM

Time to start working on the rear a little bit. It took forever to blast all of the rust off of the rear knuckles. I also had to get my uncle to press the really long bolt out that holds the lateral links on. That bolt was seized in there tight! I got them cleaned up and painted then assembled with new wheel bearings. Rear wheel ON! But....it hits some stuff. The large gold colored upper link is hitting the wheel. I played around with some adjustments in the alignment, but it was still hitting.

While I did some research on weather or not I would need wheel spacers, I blasted and painted the front brake rotor dust covers. I also cleaned up and deleted a bunch of the lines on the power steering rack. The manual tells you to just loop the line on the rack with a hose which is what I did. But it didn't mention anything about all of the other ports that are near the input shaft on the rack. I decided to cut all of those lines and cap them so the system is sealed up. I finished it off with the Whiteline steering rack polyurethane bushing kit.

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BigDanSubaru

11-26-2022, 01:22 PM

Back onto the brake caliper project. I got them all media blasted and in primer. Then I started brainstorming ideas for the color. I landed on classic red because I think it looks good on almost any color of car and I am not set on what color mine will be yet. I also took some inspiration from another builder (Mike Camera) and had some custom decals made to suit the car a little more. I tried to get the decals to resemble the OEM Subaru styling, but with a little more pizazz (cars with italicized font on their brake calipers go faster).

I painted the rear Subaru sway bar (which goes in the front on the 818) in the same red caliper paint. Then I got the steering rack installed (temporarily) to get it off of my workbench. I decided not to install it using the FFR clamp. I opted for the Zero DB Motorsports version because I think it supports the rack more evenly and won't smash the bushing so much.

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BigDanSubaru

11-28-2022, 03:09 PM

These are some pictures of the rear suspension install. You can see where it is contacting the wheel. Looks like I'll need wheel spacers to clear the suspension components.

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BigDanSubaru

11-28-2022, 03:12 PM

While I am working out the rear wheel spacing problem, I assembled the front calipers and installed them on the car. Fresh rebuild with new seals and I replaced any pistons that had scoring on them. I also assembled the rear calipers but I can't install them until I have the rear worked out.

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BigDanSubaru

11-28-2022, 03:16 PM

Took a break from the suspension work to get some things done on the engine. I removed the stock oil pan, pickup and windage tray. Replaced them with all Killer B products. I have had issues with the Subaru oiling system before and I don't want those issues on my 818. The pan may hang below the frame when the engine is installed. But I will work out a solution to that later. Maybe as simple as a skid plate or perhaps installing a spacer plate between the frame and the engine mounts to raise the engine a bit. Has anyone done that?

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BigDanSubaru

11-28-2022, 03:23 PM

Went to test fit the headers and found that the OEM oil heat exchanger interferes with it. From what I've read on it, it's more for cold start to help the oil heat up to normal operating temp than it is for cooling. I deleted it. I can always run a thermostatic sandwich adapter and use an external oil cooling system later if need be. I also took the timing covers off and started the belt replacement process. Lastly I installed the magnetic drain plug and the oil drain valve in the oil pan. I rotated the valve flat after I took the picture and realized how stupid it was to have it hanging down like I originally installed it. I have this valve on my 2015 wrx and I love it. Makes oil changes so clean and quick and it has never leaked a drop.

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BigDanSubaru

11-28-2022, 03:27 PM

Bolted all 4 wheels on for some pictures even though the rears still aren't sorted out yet. I am working on the wheel spacer thing. I also finished installing the new timing belt kit. All JDM parts of OEM quality. None of the cheap Chinese knockoffs that come with the Gates kits now. I had to replace one of the covers because it was cracked. While I was at the dealership, I got all new hardware for the covers too since those were all rusty.

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BigDanSubaru

11-28-2022, 03:36 PM

Turns out they don't sell wheel spacers at Home Depot. BUT, they do sell flat washers. This worked for getting an idea of how thick the spacer would need to be to achieve the desired clearance. But I would never leave it installed like this. That doesn't seem safe. 3D printed plastic is a much safer option, right? Just kidding! My coworker has a 3D printer and was bored so he printed this spacer for me to try out for fitment. Unfortunately the bolt pattern was just slightly off and the spacer would not slide onto the hub. It's a cool paper weight for my desk now.

I finally landed on some 10mm spacers (link below). I bought them with some extended wheel studs to ensure there is enough bite on the lugs. This worked out great! I have the clearance that I need now for the suspension components. Hopefully the tires don't rub the fenders. If they do, I'll have some more work to do to sort that out.

https://www.fastwrx.com/products/mach-v-10mm-spacer-kit-with-wheel-studs

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BigDanSubaru

11-28-2022, 03:45 PM

The pedal box was definitely annoying to install. I couldn't figure out why the picture in the FFR build manual looked different than my firewall. Turns out that there is some adapter plate deep in the pits of box 6 with all of the aluminum panels. Also, the place where they have you drill for the bolts leaves them WAY to close to the round extrusion that goes around the steering column. The bolts wont fit that close. I followed some advice from another builder's thread and zipped the one side of the bolt head off. The bolts were also too short so I bought longer ones to reach all the way through and have at least 2 threads sticking out past the nylon locking nut.

I also can't believe that the master cylinder is crooked by design. It kinda bothers me, but not enough to make any significant design changes. Anyway, if you're getting close to calling it a night in the garage and you think "oh, I'll just bolt the pedal box in before I call it a night", think again. Also, make sure you get the interior aluminum riveted in place first or you will have to take this all apart again so you can have space to drill and rivet them in place. As me how I know. :rolleyes:

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BigDanSubaru

11-28-2022, 03:52 PM

The interior aluminum panels were a bit of a challenge to adjust in a way that they made a good seal. It doesn't help that FFR decided to prank me and ship the two upper front corner panels on the opposite side that they belong on. I sat there scratching my head trying to figure out how the f*** I was going to make those work. Once I flipped them, it became much more feasible. I used a ton of Cleco fasteners to test fit them. I had them on and off the car more times than I can remember, trimming and filing little by little until they fit nicely. I finished them off with clear silicone and riveted them all in place. A bit tedious and frustrating, but I think I will be glad I spent the extra time getting it sealed up nicely.

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BigDanSubaru

11-28-2022, 03:59 PM

I have been procrastinating on assembling the rear drum emergency brakes. They can be quite the pain in the butt. Spring-loaded puzzle of clips that love to pop apart and make you wish you had 6 hands to hold all of the pieces in place while assembling them. I finally got them put together and that allowed me to finally install the rear brake calipers. I absolutely LOVE the way these turned out. I have since been informed that the rear brakes on the 818 are a bit undersized now that the engine is toward the rear. I already sunk a ton of time and a reasonable about of money making these look nice so I am going to run these brakes for now. I may upgrade the rear brakes at a later date if I find them to be lacking performance. I do plan to use this car for spirited drives on street and Autocross. I would like to take it to the track, but this would not be done very often. If I can even man up enough to take my pride and joy out on the track at all and risk destroying her. Either way, there is always something better out there. For now, these will work and as long as the car can stop, I am happy for now.

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BigDanSubaru

11-28-2022, 04:08 PM

I placed the Boyd fuel tank in and the firewall overtop of it. Nothing bolted in yet. This was just to start planning where the seats will end up. The seats are Corbeau Forza fixed back racing seats. With the sliders on the bottom, they slider bar sits just below that dreaded crossbar that goes under your legs across the car. I am okay with the adjustment bar being down that low. The seat cannot slide forward much because it hits that bar, which isn't really a problem because I am tall and sliding that far forward would put my knees in my chest.

I could raise the seats, but I am worried my head will hit the hardtop when I have a helmet on. I am 6'-0" and sat in another 818C where my head was pretty close to hitting while sitting in his thicker adjustable reclining racing seats. Also, raising the seat puts my head even higher up above the rollbar. There is no way I can get my head below it unless I install the seat laid back super far which wouldn't be very ergonomic. Not sure if the broomstick test is a thing when you have the coupe, but if it is, I'm failing that. I'll post pics later with me in the car and you can see where my head sits in relation to the rollbar.

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BigDanSubaru

11-28-2022, 04:15 PM

Time to tear down the intake manifold and get it cleaned up. I removed everything from the manifold and took photos. I labeled each bolt in the photo and then placed the bolt into a box with the corresponding numbered label so I could remember where each one went. I plan to paint the bolt heads so they don't look so nasty. I also removed the valve covers so I could clean them up as well. I took the valve covers and the intake manifold to a local powder coating place who quoted me $500 to coat them with base coat and clear coat. HA! That's WAY more than I expected it to cost, so I went to Autozone and spent $50 on engine primer, base coat and clear coat. More pictures to come of the process.

While I was at Autozone, I also picked up some more black chassis paint and painted the door frames. Oh, and I painted the coolant crossover pipe with black engine paint. I plan to install the barb fitting like most builders have to help burp the air from the coolant system. I already bought the barb fitting. I just need to man up and get the drill and tap out.

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rjp

11-28-2022, 08:23 PM

So, are you going through a backlog of photos or are you just moving this fast? I assume a backlog, but maybe not.

BigDanSubaru

11-28-2022, 09:41 PM

So, are you going through a backlog of photos or are you just moving this fast? I assume a backlog, but maybe not.

This is indeed a backlog of photos. I am nearly caught up to my current progress on my build. I meant to start this thread a long time ago but just never got around to it until now.

BigDanSubaru

11-29-2022, 08:29 PM

I got the intake manifold and the valve covers blasted, masked, primed and painted in VHT Engine Metallic Gold paint. The primer sprayed nice and even but the gold was very thin and runny. It didn't like to spray evenly, but the parts still came out okay considering the condition they used to be in. Waiting for the paint to cure before applying VHT Engine Clear Coat. I also removed the plastic OEM half-moon seals. They were super brittle and the raised edges broke off without much force being used to remove them. I decided to upgrade to these billet aluminum IAG half-moon seals which should be much more durable.

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BigDanSubaru

11-29-2022, 08:38 PM

I thought for sure I had removed everything I needed from the donor shell. I mean...there was practically nothing left of it when we scrapped it. Just a metal empty shell...annnnd the lower rubber radiator grommets that I need for the 818. DOH! A quick trip to the dealership and I picked up some new ones so I could drop the radiator in. It's a Mishimoto X-Line radiator and it's gorgeous. I am working on sorting out the upper mounts for it. I don't really like the way you cut the OEM Subie mounts to be reused. I have some black aluminum Mishimoto mounts that I think I can make work for it.

I am also continuing to progress on the engine projects, I blasted, masked, primed and painted the hardware that goes with the intake manifold and the TGVs. Speaking of the TGVs, I decided to leave them in place. I know there is a slight HP gain for deleting them, but that's going into the future upgrades list. IAG is working on developing new TGV deletes for this motor so maybe when those come out I will just buy those and upgrade the fuel rail system at the same time.

I am having to list out my tasks on this white board I keep in the garage. It's a great way to keep my ADHD brain from scrambling and forgetting tasks. Plus it feels great to cross a bunch of them off each night. Here is my list that I will be chopping away at for a while.

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BigDanSubaru

11-29-2022, 08:50 PM

Me, my uncle and my father started planning out how to mount these seats. The current plan is to use a bolt in approach. These steel brackets are made from 3/16" steel flat bar that is 1.5" wide. There are 4 holes in each bar. 2 holes are for the seat slider and 2 holes are for the bolts that hold everything to the car. The bolts will be fed up from the bottom of the car and there will be a welded nut on the top of the holes marked with a "C" for car. The holes marked with an "S" are for the slider bracket. I am drawing all of this up on AutoCAD on lunch breaks at work. We are trying to keep the mounts as low-profile as possible. As you can see, my head is already above the roll bar. There is no way I can get below it unless I installed the seat reclined back on a ridiculous angle which wouldn't be practical. They are fixed back seats, so we need to get the positioning just right.

Back on the engine projects, I got the clear coat sprayed on the intake manifold and the valve covers. I removed the masking tape and was very pleased with how they turned out. Are they as nice as they would have been if I spent 10X more money on professional powder coat? No, but now I can say I did this myself, learned some lessons and honed some skills. I am really happy with these and you won't be able to get close enough to see any imperfections once the engine is down in the car.

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Ajzride

11-29-2022, 09:43 PM

BigDanSubaru

12-01-2022, 09:00 PM

Intake looks nice.. but I wonder how well it will hold up? I bought an Eastwood powder coating kit and used oven on craigslist for $25, and it's been the best money I spent on this project. Everything gets powder coated and it holds up so well.

It definitely won't hold up for very long compared to powder coat. My garage is not large enough to accommodate a kitchen oven to cure things in. I am hoping I can assemble it without causing significant damage to the finish. The heat from the engine should help cure the paint and make it stronger. You're supposed to cure this paint in an over like powder coat which is supposed to greatly increase its durability. I just don't have a feasible means of doing so.

BigDanSubaru

12-01-2022, 09:06 PM

Valve covers installed with new seals (obviously) and new hardware. Coil packs cleaned up and installed. Cleaned the engine wiring harness, the TGVs and the fuel rails. All set up for assembly of the intake manifold next time. Felt good to cross a bunch of things off of the to-do list! When torqueing the valve cover bolts down to spec, I could see the flange on the bolts peeling the paint up from underneath them. You can't really tell unless your are very close, but it doesn't give me a warm fuzzy feeling about the durability of this paint. The torque spec was only 4.7 ft-lbs.

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PNWTim

12-01-2022, 09:19 PM

Sgt.Gator

12-02-2022, 11:58 PM

BigDanSubaru,
Welcome to the forum and the process.
Are you going to drop the tail of the tranny? You can also drop the tail less if you raise the engine mounts higher. If you don't know why you should drop the tail I'll send you the link. You haven't mentioned modifying the frame for it so I'm not sure you've read the threads on it.

What is your plan for driving the car? Street only, street and track- HPDE, Autox, time trials...up to wheel to wheel? No matter which it is, your head being above the roll bar while strapped in a race harness that keeps you rigid vertically in the seat is a bad idea.

Think on this pic for a bit. A Corvette C6 Z06 with the factory integrated "roll hoop". I had a Z06 and felt perfectly safe driving it on the track, I had no idea it could collapse like this. The driver and passenger walked away with no injuries because they had the oem 3 point seatbelts which allowed them to bend inward as the roof forced their heads down. The car was only going 70mph as they entered the track for an HPDE day. If they had been strapped in race harnesses I'm certain the passenger would have been critically injured.

https://bl6pap004files.storage.live.com/y4m1b0VhAFT-CjRw05W0SKXTJc_xnAzb-nPrswSFzNGgwpRcGK4Gd70Z_Cg-iUZiQgXzsjY5OrjVtRWhyg0scNCpEXgXxx2bQv5si9CBxbgP5P KtYitPJYnj1cHH-7ypIeWGLEMvgmMKWP4olVkyggoV7Ky71LlVJvOm_fWME9gD8jX u0XzBIt-fWilpE77U9lB?width=1256&height=706&cropmode=none

The 818 roll bar probably wouldn't collapse like this. But your head above the bar + the top of the helmet above that is going to put a lot of force on your neck if you ever roll it.
In short, if you came to a track where I am instructing I wouldn't get in the car with you because my head would be above yours.

Sorry to be a downer, but I'd feel awful if something happened to a young father and I hadn't said anything while it could still be remedied.

BigDanSubaru

12-03-2022, 10:46 AM

Cool project. For what it's worth, I am assuming the sandblaster is from HF. Don't know if you have seen any of the youtube videos on how to hotrod the cabinet to improve the performance but it's well worth the effort and $100 or so to do it. I have the same cabinet and it's a night and day difference starting with not filling your shop with sandblast dust.

Thank you, and yes I have watched many of those videos. I installed the metering valve and sealed up the whole cabinet with clear silicone sealant. It doesn't leak (much) and it sprays much more consistently without having to work around that dreaded siphon tube that it comes with.

BigDanSubaru

12-03-2022, 10:55 AM

BigDanSubaru,
Welcome to the forum and the process.
Are you going to drop the tail of the tranny? You can also drop the tail less if you raise the engine mounts higher. If you don't know why you should drop the tail I'll send you the link. You haven't mentioned modifying the frame for it so I'm not sure you've read the threads on it.

What is your plan for driving the car? Street only, street and track- HPDE, Autox, time trials...up to wheel to wheel? No matter which it is, your head being above the roll bar while strapped in a race harness that keeps you rigid vertically in the seat is a bad idea.

Think on this pic for a bit. A Corvette C6 Z06 with the factory integrated "roll hoop". I had a Z06 and felt perfectly safe driving it on the track, I had no idea it could collapse like this. The driver and passenger walked away with no injuries because they had the oem 3 point seatbelts which allowed them to bend inward as the roof forced their heads down. The car was only going 70mph as they entered the track for an HPDE day. If they had been strapped in race harnesses I'm certain the passenger would have been critically injured.

The 818 roll bar probably wouldn't collapse like this. But your head above the bar + the top of the helmet above that is going to put a lot of force on your neck if you ever roll it.
In short, if you came to a track where I am instructing I wouldn't get in the car with you because my head would be above yours.

Sorry to be a downer, but I'd feel awful if something happened to a young father and I hadn't said anything while it could still be remedied.

Hey thanks for the info on the frame mods. I have heard that 5th gear doesn't receive proper lubrication/cooling due to the trans being tilted forward. Since my exhaust manifold and oil pan are already going to hang pretty low, I think I would rather raise the engine mounts a bit. Do you know of any build threads that show how to do this? I know that raises the center of gravity a bit which doesn't help the rollover concerns, but I don't plan on heavily tracking this car. It will mostly be used for occasional street use and Autocross.

With my kit being a coupe, I am not sure how I would even modify the roll bar to be higher. I think the hardtop sits pretty close to that roll bar. I am concerned that the hardtop will not fit if I raise the roll bar. I have seen some 818S kits and a few 818R kits where builders have raised the roll bar to pass the broomstick test and it is obnoxiously tall. There is just no way the hardtop would fit on with that sort of roll bar modification.

BigDanSubaru

12-03-2022, 11:02 AM

Intake manifold is assembled! Even managed to do so without scratching the finish. For now, it's just sitting on top of the motor for the pictures.
I still need to tap a hose barb into the top of the coolant crossover pipe first. I have seen a lot of guys do this on these cars to help burp the air from the cooling system. That would be hard to do with the manifold on. I bought a 90 degree fitting like I saw another builder use. Now I just need to pick up the correct tap, man up and drill a hole in my crossover pipe.
I also need to sort out some minor wire routing concerns and put the turbo inlet pipe in before bolting everything down. It's really starting to look like something!

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blomb11

12-03-2022, 12:35 PM

Namrups

12-03-2022, 04:42 PM

If you can't raise the roll bar because it will hit the top how is your head (especially with a helmet on) going to fit?

rjp

12-03-2022, 06:46 PM

The roof is sloping up as it passes over the rollbar.

Dave 53

12-03-2022, 07:04 PM

BigDanSubaru

12-03-2022, 08:16 PM

If you can't raise the roll bar because it will hit the top how is your head (especially with a helmet on) going to fit?

Good point. I guess it's just hard to visualize how much space there would be to raise the roll bar up with the roof fitted on. I might have to bring mine down from storage and just take a look at it. If there was room to raise the roll bar up without hitting the roof, why wouldn't factory five do this? These aftermarket seats mount way lower than the OEM Subaru seats. There's no way anyone over 5'-6" passes a broomstick test in a coupe with the OEM Subaru seats installed.

BigDanSubaru

12-03-2022, 08:21 PM

Looking at your photo's, you might want to consider routing your belt like this...176300

You have a double wammy in that you have very tall seats that are not designed for a 3-point belt system.

If the goal is 5-point belts, maybe replace the seats you have with a fiberglass shell seat and mount it right on the floor (no slider), but you probably will still fail a broomstick test with the FFR OEM rollbar.

A better option might be replacing the seats you have now with seats that accommodate 3-point belts and fabricating mounting brackets without sliders that get them as low as possible.

My passenger side is an OMP Designer tube frame seat. Super comfortable and 3-point compatible. Fine for the occasional track day. The Corbeau A4 looks very similar. The driver side is a Sparco fiberglass shell seat. Crazy low. Not designed for a 3-point belt, but I have a broomstick rollbar system (front and rear roll bars).176301

I am sticking with these 5 point Corbeau racing harnesses and ditching the OEM Subaru 3 point. I have the belt shoulder straps fed through the seat openings as you pictured there. I just need to get the height correct by adjusting the harness bar so the belt is aimed directly through the openings and is at a slight downward angle.

I don't have the seats permanently mounted just yet. These Corbeau seats actually mount pretty low and the slider only adds maybe 3/4" to 1". Since my dad and I will be sharing this car at Autocross events and he is taller than me, I want to retain the slider so that we can both drive in a position that is comfortable for us.

BigDanSubaru

12-03-2022, 08:24 PM

I raised my engine by 1.5” and dropped the tail of my 6spd. I haven’t put it through much testing yet so that is my only disclaimer. You can also check Hobby Racer’s first build thread to see what he did with a 5spd then a 6spd. There are a couple threads that show how you can easily mold your own engine mounts and trans mount. If you are not tracking your 818 reducing the height and molding your own trans mount might be a good option.

I bought brand new group-N engine mounts and transmission mount. I would rather not hack up that transmission mount if I can avoid it. I think raising the engine mounts would be my preferred route. I just don't have welding experience. Maybe I could get some bolt on risers made? Just a steel loop with holes in the top and bottom and it would be like a bolt on spacer.

Sgt.Gator

12-03-2022, 11:13 PM

Corbeau Evolution X seats with the 3 pt belt may work. They are used by Corvette C5-6 owners to have better seats with the oem belts. Not for sanctioned wheel to wheel racing but should be no problem for HPDE and AutoX.
https://corbeau.com/racing-seats/evolution-x/

Dave 53

12-03-2022, 11:38 PM

BigDanSubaru

12-04-2022, 12:03 AM

For the belt routing, I was referring to how the webbing is threaded through the hardware.

I raised my engine by 1/2". I just put a 1/2" piece of steel stock as a spacer between the mounts and engine block and got longer bolts. I couldn't go any higher otherwise the turbo flange would hit the bolt on cross member. But that might not be a problem if you are using an OEM turbo.

My engine mounts just have a stud sticking out from the bottom. I don't think they can be removed and replaced with longer ones. Perhaps they could be extended if I could find a piece of hardware that could do that.

Or did you put the steel plate between the engine mount and the engine block and buy longer bolts to go through up into the block? Reference photo below that I found online.

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Dave 53

12-04-2022, 12:17 AM

My engine mounts just have a stud sticking out from the bottom. I don't think they can be removed and replaced with longer ones. Perhaps they could be extended if I could find a piece of hardware that could do that.

Or did you put the steel plate between the engine mount and the engine block and buy longer bolts to go through up into the block? Reference photo below that I found online.

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Spacer between the mount and engine block. I sized the spacer for maximum contact with the block similar to the contact with the block that the mount makes.

Good call on getting the Group N mounts. Mosly because with soft OEM mounts and no pitch stopper, the engine will move around too much and bash up the timing belt cover. No matter how gently a 818 will be driven, at a minimum they should have group N mounts.

FFRWRX

12-04-2022, 09:45 AM

I guess it's just hard to visualize how much space there would be to raise the roll bar up with the roof fitted on. I might have to bring mine down from storage and just take a look at it.

There will no doubt be small differences in that space due to tolerances, but I've got about 3/4" between the roll bar and the inside of the roof. I added some thin sound deadening on the roof and the hatch hinge mounts touch that. So using the stock hinge mounts, I have zero room to raise the roll bar.

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Rick

BigDanSubaru

12-04-2022, 07:44 PM

There will no doubt be small differences in that space due to tolerances, but I've got about 3/4" between the roll bar and the inside of the roof. I added some thin sound deadening on the roof and the hatch hinge mounts touch that. So using the stock hinge mounts, I have zero room to raise the roll bar.

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Rick

Thank you for posting this picture. This really clears up the situation. Absolutely no way to raise the roll bar.

Ajzride

12-04-2022, 09:04 PM

Thank you for posting this picture. This really clears up the situation. Absolutely no way to raise the roll bar.

There is a way, you just have to raise the roof as well. A sawzall and some fiberglass mat and resin will get you there.

lance corsi

12-05-2022, 08:32 AM

BigDanSubaru

12-05-2022, 03:30 PM

There is a way, you just have to raise the roof as well. A sawzall and some fiberglass mat and resin will get you there.

There is more to it than just cutting the roof and reshaping it (as if that wasn't already a huge project). The roll bar would have to be so much higher that the whole shape of the roof would need to change and it would look ridiculous. There is also an air intake tunnel that is channeled through the roof that you would need to work around. It's just not feasible.

BigDanSubaru

12-05-2022, 03:32 PM

There is no room there. I opted for a front mount tank and laid my seats back to fit within the cockpit and I’m 5’9”. My seats are bare cf by Tillett. They are mounted about 3” above the floor tubes. I also found it necessary to bump out the ds firewall around the pedals to give me just a bit more leg room.

I will try to give my seats some angle to help with this. Won't be that hard to stick some spacers under the mounts in the front to give it a few degrees and see how it ends up. I already have the Boyd tank so I am not currently considering the front mounted tank idea.

Bob_n_Cincy

12-06-2022, 02:52 AM

I'm 6'0" 280#, My son is 6'4" 350#
We installed our alum Kirkey seat bolted directly to the cross bars with about 1" of foam in the seat cover.
We reshaped the seat and went with a front mounted 14 galllon tank.
See pictures. I'm in Cincinnati if anyone wants to try it on for size or go for a ride.
Bob

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This picture shows how far back and how low our seats are.
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Shawn818c

12-11-2022, 12:20 AM

BigDanSubaru

12-12-2022, 09:33 AM

What are the specs on your wheels front and rear? Also, what changes did you have to make to allow for front and rear?

Also, you might want to consider a rear firewall now. Before you get the engine installed.

Hey Shawn, I posted the specs on page 1 (post 27). I'll paste a quote from that section here though. As for any changes for fitment, so far I am running the VeryCoolParts rear trailing arms for additional clearance and I am also running Mach V 10mm Spacer Kit With Wheel Studs in the rear. Wheel and tire specs below. No changes needed to be made for the front for fitment yet. I am considering the Bear bump steer kit though. Also, I do plan to add an additional rear firewall. Santa is bringing some things to help get that job done. ;)

For anyone interested in my wheel setup, here are the specs.
Front Wheels: 18x8 +45 Storm Grey Enkei Tuning TS-V
Front Tires: 215/35ZR18 Michelin Pilot Sport 4S
Rear Wheels: 18x9.5 +45 Storm Grey Enkei Tuning TS-V
Rear Tires: 255/35ZR18 Michelin Pilot Sport 4S

BigDanSubaru

12-12-2022, 09:46 AM

Like most builders have done, I tapped a hose barb into the top of the coolant crossover pipe (Wayne's Cooling Mod). I practiced on an old aluminum straight edge that I used for a drill jig when I was doing the large aluminum panels. I found the point on the tap where the fitting got nice and tight. Then I mocked up where to put the barb by setting the turbo and turbo inlet pipe on the engine. Most builders have used a straight barb at the 2 o'clock position. I opted to use a 90 degree fitting so it could fit right on the top of the coolant pipe. I saw another builder do this and I just liked that idea a little better.

What I did not account for were the hard fuel lines that sit under the intake manifold (I had the manifold off when mocking up the position for the barb). I got very lucky and the barb missed those lines by just a little bit. It fits nice and tight and I used some blue Loctite thread locker on it like Wayne suggested. Plenty of room for a hose to clamp on there.

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BigDanSubaru

12-12-2022, 09:53 AM

Cleaned the surface of the block where the TGV gaskets got stuck to it when removed. Then I added new gaskets, 3mm phenolic spacers, then another layer of gaskets. The phenolic spacers help to reduce the amount of heat that soaks up into the TGVs and intake manifold from the engine block. I also got the fuel rail covers, turbo uppipe brackets and wastegate painted. I am not going to be getting the turbo coated because I plan on using a turbo blanket to reduce engine bay temps as much as possible. No point in making the turbo all pretty if you aren't even going to see it (I did clean it though).

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BigDanSubaru

12-12-2022, 09:59 AM

First picture is just showing the turbo sitting on the engine while I was mocking up the barb location on the crossover pipe (before I cleaned the turbo). I then started sorting out all of the hoses and wires connecting to the intake manifold. It was a bit of a puzzle with all of the routing of the wires but it slowly starts to make sense once things are in the right place. It helps to have lots of pictures of the engine from before (I wish I took more). Once I was sure that everything was taken care of under the intake manifold, I torqued it down to spec. Absolutely love how the engine is turning out!

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Dave 53

12-12-2022, 06:29 PM

[QUOTE=BigDanSubaru;509915]I have been procrastinating on assembling the rear drum emergency brakes. They can be quite the pain in the butt. Spring-loaded puzzle of clips that love to pop apart and make you wish you had 6 hands to hold all of the pieces in place while assembling them. I finally got them put together and that allowed me to finally install the rear brake calipers. I absolutely LOVE the way these turned out. I have since been informed that the rear brakes on the 818 are a bit undersized now that the engine is toward the rear. I already sunk a ton of time and a reasonable about of money making these look nice so I am going to run these brakes for now. I may upgrade the rear brakes at a later date if I find them to be lacking performance. I do plan to use this car for spirited drives on street and Autocross. I would like to take it to the track, but this would not be done very often. If I can even man up enough to take my pride and joy out on the track at all and risk destroying her. Either way, there is always something better out there. For now, these will work and as long as the car can stop, I am happy for now.

Those wheels look great!

The brake bias might be more rearward than the donor car, but it's a much lighter car than the donor, so your rear brakes will be fine. My brake bias knob is under the hood. I wish it was in the cockpit. Something to think about before you run your brake lines, especially if you're going to autocross or track your car.

I had capped lug nuts as I see you do and I've never counted how many turns of the nut I did. I went to open nuts and realized my wheel studs were too short with a 5mm spacer - I couldn't see it with the capped nuts. Since you won't be able to see the thread engagement and you have a spacer, make sure you can get at least 9.5 turns on the lug nuts.

BigDanSubaru

12-14-2022, 12:15 AM

Those wheels look great!

The brake bias might be more rearward than the donor car, but it's a much lighter car than the donor, so your rear brakes will be fine. My brake bias knob is under the hood. I wish it was in the cockpit. Something to think about before you run your brake lines, especially if you're going to autocross or track your car.

I had capped lug nuts as I see you do and I've never counted how many turns of the nut I did. I went to open nuts and realized my wheel studs were too short with a 5mm spacer - I couldn't see it with the capped nuts. Since you won't be able to see the thread engagement and you have a spacer, make sure you can get at least 9.5 turns on the lug nuts.[/QUOTE]

Thanks Dave! I installed extended wheel studs to ensure that I have adequate thread engagement. I like the idea of putting the brake proportioning valve inside the cockpit. Just not sure where. I don't have enough of the interior in yet to really sort that out. Other than for burnouts, I probably won't touch it once I find a setting that works right. Maybe I'll just keep it under the hood for simplicity.

Bob_n_Cincy

12-14-2022, 01:03 PM

I like the idea of putting the brake proportioning valve inside the cockpit. Just not sure where. I don't have enough of the interior in yet to really sort that out. Other than for burnouts, I probably won't touch it once I find a setting that works right. Maybe I'll just keep it under the hood for simplicity.

Just a note on "burnouts"
The 818 puts all the torque through 2 wheels as compared to the wrx 4 wheels.
I'm only running 200whp and 200 ft/lb torque and I'm on my 3rd set of axle shafts caused from autocross launches.
Bob

PS: I'm on my second transmission. With all the torque going through the front diff, the ring gear bolts loosen and shear off.
Also on my second engine as high lateral g force uncover my oil pick up. I now have a dry sump system.

BigDanSubaru

02-25-2023, 08:58 PM

It has been awhile since my last update. The winter has been rough with everyone getting sick all the time so progress has been rather slow. I am also very busy with finishing up my degree so unfortunately, working on the 818 has been moved to the backburner until graduation. Here are a few update pictures of the progress I have been making towards getting the engine installed.

In these pictures, I continued bolting parts onto the engine. I attached all the hoses that will eventually meet at the IAG Air/Oil separator. I left them all long for now so I could trim them to length once I have the Air/Oil separator located in the engine bay.

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BigDanSubaru

02-25-2023, 09:11 PM

Sorry all the photos in this collection got rotated. I installed the heater core loop hose that Factory Five provides. I did some reading about the cooling system on the EJ25. A bunch of owners started running this mod that helps introduce another coolant flow path to cool cylinder 4 a little more effectively. I picked up this cylinder 4 cooling mod online and tapped it into the heater core coolant loop hose. Install went pretty smoothly and I am hopeful that it helps keep the engine a little happier, for a little longer.

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BigDanSubaru

02-25-2023, 09:19 PM

More engine work. Installing the sensors and their associated wiring harnesses for the gauges to monitor oil pressure, oil temperature and coolant temperature. Wrapping the exhaust manifold in titanium heat wrap. Installed the alternator and the belt. I was going to tear down the alternator and paint the cage, but decided against it. I figured you wouldn't really see it since it sits up near the firewall. I put a fancy cover over it too to help hide it. Maybe I cut a corner here, which is a rare thing for me to do with my build. I don't plan on doing it often, but I had a feeling that I would break something when trying to dismantle the alternator. Wisconsin rusted the hell out of everything else from my donor. I didn't feel like fighting with it.

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BigDanSubaru

02-25-2023, 09:35 PM

Started installing some 80mil Kilmat that I got from Amazon. I am pretty impressed with this stuff considering that it is much cheaper than Dynamat. I considered other alternatives, but after watching some review and test videos on YouTube, I was sold on Kilmat. It reduced the tinny sound that results from tapping the underbody. Hoping that it will also reduce/limit vibrations as well. It is pretty cold, and this stuff is much harder to roll flat when it's cold. I have been using a heat gun to pre-heat the metal before I apply it. Then more heat while I roll it to make sure it is applied per the manufacturers instructions. I got tired of rolling, so I'll wait for it to get a little warmer out to roll over the rest of what I have applied so far. Also, my windshield finally arrived from Factory Five. They shipped it in a huge box chained down to a wood pallet. TONS of bubble wrap in the box and the windshield appears to be unharmed. I moved it into my basement with all of the other large body panels that I keep walking past wishing that I could put on the car already.

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BigDanSubaru

02-25-2023, 09:45 PM

After reading through a bunch of people's build threads, I decided to add the additional rear firewall that most builders have made. I think it really improves the look of the engine bay. I was also interested in providing a barrier between the engine and the fuel tank (just seems to make sense). On top of this, I figured I would wrap it in gold heat reflective tape to help keep the heat from the engine from soaking into the cockpit. I am not adding A/C in this car (yes I know, I'll probably regret it). So keeping as much heat as possible out of the cockpit is something I am interested in.

I finished the lower panel. It was a little tricky getting the cutouts the smallest they could be and still being able to install it without having to unbolt any suspension components. I also added a thin layer of adhesive-backed foam on the backside of the panel where it attaches to the frame. I plan to rivet this lower panel in place because I don't foresee having to remove it again. For the upper panels, I will be bolting them on using rivnuts so I can remove and modify them as I need to throughout the build to route wires or whatever. I will use the same foam strip between the rivnuts to keep the rattling away. And completely wrapped in gold tape of course. I think it looks awesome! Kinda like a supercar where they use gold flake in the engine bay.

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BigDanSubaru

04-24-2023, 09:44 AM

I used M6 rivnuts and black button head hex bolts to attach the upper panels so they could be taken on and off if needed. The lower panel is riveted on. For the ones in tight corners of the frame, I used the nut and bolt trick to insert the rivnuts since the large rivnut tool would fit. This method is kind of a PITA, but it worked. I used adhesive-backed thing foam weather stripping between the rivnuts to keep the panels from vibrating against the frame. They sound very sturdy when you tap on them even without sound deadening which I will add on the interior side later.
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The finished firewall installed. I will make cutouts for wires, fuel lines, shift cables, etc. later on. I think it came out pretty good and it looks awesome on the car.
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BigDanSubaru

04-28-2023, 03:09 PM

One of the bolts for the block-off plate was bottoming out before contacting the plate. Not sure if there used to be a bracket in there or what, but I couldn't find any information on it. I zipped off a few mm of the bolt and now it's tight.

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Next I took some reference pics of the trans so I could remember where things went. I then removed the old transmission mount.
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I stood the trans up on a pallet, degreased and power washed it. Then painted it with AlumiBlast paint. Installed the new Group-N transmission mount. Looks way better now! Just need to throw the couple wires & brackets back on.
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BigDanSubaru

04-28-2023, 03:27 PM

It's no secret that the transmission in the 818 is not at the same angle of tilt that it has when installed in the Subie. The motor needs to be higher, or the transmission needs to be lower. This allows for more effective cooling and lubrication to 5th gear. Some have just overfilled the fluid and been fine, but I wanted to give this a shot now while the car is apart. I may still slightly overfill the trans just to be safe.

Lowering the transmission requires either cutting the transmission mount on the frame and welding in some lowering plates to drop it down. Then you run into clearance problems with the diffuser and other parts. You also could modify the transmission mount by hacking it up and pouring your own rubber vibration isolator. That didn't seem like the path I wanted to take. I trust the OEM Group-N mount more than one that I would make myself.

I chose instead to raise the engine up slightly. I know...I know... bUt WhAt AbOuT tHe C.o.G?!?! Yeah, I'll admit that I am not skilled enough as a driver to notice or make use of a center of gravity that is less than 1" lower. So, I created these 1.5" aluminum spacers to go between the Group-N engine mounts and the mounting platforms on the frame. The aluminum spacers have a counter-bore hole in them where a thread adapter was used to hold the spacer to the mount. This also extends the threads of the mount down far enough to reach through the frame platforms. Below is a screenshot of the hardware I used from McMaster to secure the motor mount spacers.

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It is hard to tell how much space there will be around the turbo/downpipe housing when these are installed. I may have to modify the crossmember to allow for more space as some have done on here.

BigDanSubaru

04-28-2023, 03:45 PM

The OEM clutch still had some life in it, but I didn't want to have to pull the motor again to replace it so soon if it went out. I replaced it with this ACT Heavy Duty clutch and lightweight flywheel kit. Came with a new throw-out bearing and strengthened hardware for the flywheel which I applied red Loctite to as instructed. I also replaced the rear main seal as it was leaking previously which left a huge mess. That kinda sucked because it was hard to get the new seal to press in evenly. Once you get it stated, the battle is over and you can just gently tap it in using the old seal as a barrier between the new seal and the rubber mallet.
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I also made this little bracket that holds the alternator belt cover secure. Typically, this end is secured by a bolt on top of the power steering pump bracket. But since I don't have the power steering pump anymore, I had to make something up.
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After lots of fussing around, wiggling, pushing and swearing, the motor and the transmission are married again. I need to clean up the starter because it looks like crap. But for now, it's just bolted on so we can get the motor in the car. I found some pool noodles at Lowe's and cut them to length to slip over the rear frame members to keep them from getting damaged as we lower the motor down in.
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BigDanSubaru

04-28-2023, 03:59 PM

This took 4 of us quite a while. 2 people up by the motor, 1 person operating the lift and 1 person standing on the back of it to make sure it was steady and didn't topple forward. It took many attempts, at many different angles, but it just barely slid in. In hindsight, I would have installed the motor without the exhaust on because that caused most of our fuss. The motor mount spacers also didn't do us any favors here. As you can see in the last picture in the row below, the tabs on top of the intake manifold where the coolant de-gas tank mounts are like 1/2" from the frame crossmembers that are above the engine. I planned to mount that de-gas coolant tank somewhere else anyway because you can't really service it when the cap is below that crossmember. I just loosely tossed the intercooler on the car to get cool pictures. I still need to clean it all out and make it look shiny again.

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The motor mount risers also did me some favors by giving me more ground clearance for my larger aftermarket exhaust manifold and oil pan. I will be doing a lot of street driving and autocross with this car, so the extra ground clearance really makes me feel more secure. I would not have felt comfortable driving a car around where the oil pan is hanging down lower than the frame rails surrounding it.

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lance corsi

04-28-2023, 08:26 PM

Big Dan, it’s looking good! Just remember that nearly everything you change may have an impact on everything else. It’s a packaging nightmare. By raising your engine, it may prevent the rear removable brace from going back in.

Bicyclops

04-28-2023, 10:42 PM

Dave 53

04-29-2023, 12:18 AM

While I have my tranny opened up, I just took this picture. What you can't see is the other side of the ruler is just below the axle, presumably the full fluid level. What it shows is the bottom of the axle, 3rd, 4th and 5th gear are pretty much in line. The geometry isn't prefect. I get that the pivot is at the mounts, not the axle, but what it tells me is, if 5th gear is dry, probably so is 4th and 3rd. Said another way, if 3rd and 4th are good, 5th probably is too. Maybe all this worry about transmission angle isn't as big of a deal as it seems. Seems the fluid is sloshing around as the car rolls keeping everything wet. If a full cup of coffee on the dash is spilling everywhere, I'm willing to bet 5th gear is wet. That and I hear of (and experience) only 3rd gear failure and pinion / ring gear failures. Not hearing of any actual 5th gear failures. 13,000 miles and my 5th gears look just like the rest of the gears - no signs of unusual wear. At this point, I'm no longer gonna worry about it. 183744

Having said all that, I did raise my engine 1/2" for Killer B oil pan clearance.

J R Jones

04-29-2023, 09:04 AM

Col Red has weighed in on this and did temperature research, a good reference. The coffee analogy does not hold water (ha). The gears are in a viscous liquid and act like water wheels pumping oil in radial patterns. Each gear spins at a different rate with various loads. The trans gears spin oil to the side, the ring gear spins if forward. The dynamic oil level can not be measured Gear failure suggests localized starvation.
jim

blomb11

04-29-2023, 11:57 AM

Dan, you can check out my build thread for how to deal with the downstream effects of raising the engine. Nothing really fits like the manual says so there is always some tweaking required ;). Looks good though and you are making quick work!

BigDanSubaru

05-02-2023, 10:03 PM

Thank you for all of your collective feedback on my recent posts. I know the transmission angle/fluid level topic can be a bit of a battleground subject. I didn't mean to kick the hornets nest again on that one. Let's all work together and have some effective and productive discussions on it. As a soon to be graduating mechanical engineering student, I have learned that working as a team involves consideration of all member's opinions or concepts. This typically yields the most appropriate solution.

Anyway, for now let's all just enjoy the photos of how hilariously small and low this little car is. My dad and I were smiling ear to ear from the moment the tires touched the concrete, all the way up until we packed up for the night. Clearly I have some suspension adjustment to do here. This is just how it sat with no changes to the settings from when the suspension was first installed. One of my favorite pictures is the one where I am standing outside of the garage door and looking in. The car looks like one hell of a machine in there with how low it is and how wide the rear tires are. People going for walks in my neighborhood are always staring at it as they stroll on by. I heard one person walking by say "holy S***!", which is funny, because that's basically my reaction every time I walk into the garage and see it again.

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Bicyclops

05-04-2023, 12:45 PM

It won't seem a lot bigger even after you put body panels on it - just cuter. I wish my garage was as roomy as yours seems to be. You'll find a ton of threads on ride height. I can only get in and out of my driveway at an angle at 5 1/8". I still managed to scrape on a city street dip a couple of days ago.

Ed

BigDanSubaru

05-04-2023, 09:53 PM

With the engine finally in the car, I can start working on a few things like the shifter cable routing. I mounted my Zero DB Motorsports 5 speed bell crank. I also just placed my Zero DB Motorsports shifter inside the cockpit so I could play around with the position as see what felt right. I think I will wait to progress any further on this until I have the seats bolted down and the E-brake handle mounted. I don't want to get ahead of myself and end up mounting this in a position that doesn't fit right with those other components.

I had one of these COBB shift knobs on my old WRX before. They are made from delrin which is a material that does not get super hot which was nice when the car was parked in the sun for awhile. Since this car will not have A/C, I think this was a good choice of knobs.

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BigDanSubaru

06-09-2023, 08:25 AM

I am planning where to run the brake, clutch and coolant pipe down the driver side of the car. The manual says to stay at a certain height so the side panel will fit on the car, but it kind of vague still. I decided to mock up the panel just to make sure it would fit where I plan to run the lines. Even if it is only temporary, it's really exciting to see a body panel on the car. The wheel fitment on the back looks awesome. That may change once I adjust ride height and properly align the body panels. But for now, I am just gonna look at it in awe.

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cob427sc

06-09-2023, 10:19 AM

Looks great but...... what happens when that rear tire moves up when you hit a bump? Looks like it might have a significant rub on the fender. Just a thought.

Hobby Racer

06-09-2023, 03:51 PM

Looks great but...... what happens when that rear tire moves up when you hit a bump? Looks like it might have a significant rub on the fender. Just a thought.

Nah, when you hit a bump the tire's camber curve pulls the top in, he has plenty of room. Mine sticks out more and I have no issues.

driveslikejehu

06-10-2023, 06:22 AM

Nah, when you hit a bump the tire's camber curve pulls the top in, he has plenty of room. Mine sticks out more and I have no issues.

Agreed, same as mine. But it is a "must" check; to move all wheel/tires through full motion (without springs is easiest). It took a bit of balancing with wheel spacers for me to get clearance of trailing arm and fender.

But I did forget to do it again after finishing the front fender tops/air extractors. Looks like the upper ball joint took care of it at my first auto cross last weekend, lol.:p:o
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BigDanSubaru

06-12-2023, 12:29 PM

Thanks for looking out. I will definitely be checking for clearance before the go-kart stage. It's worth noting that the side panel was not resting on the mount on the back. I was in the middle of modifying it to clear the turbo outlet. So the position that it is shown in may not be what it ends up being when properly mounted. This was more or less just to check for clearance of the coolant and brake lines inside the tunnel on the driver's side.

BigDanSubaru

06-12-2023, 12:44 PM

After reviewing the manual and seeing the amount of fittings involved in the brake system as designed by FFR, I decided to go a different route. I just didn't like that there were so many unions and thread adaptors in the system. I am sure other builders have done it this way and it has been totally fine, but that was just too many potential failure points in a critical system for me.

I decided to run my lines in 3/16" NiCopp line. It is much easier to bend than steel, and supposedly lasts longer too. I picked up a nice brake line flaring tool which is a bench vice mounted turret type devise. I did not trust the harbor freight one (again, I am sure someone has done it and had success). This tool took some getting used to with the NiCopp line. I tried cutting and flaring the steel line provided by factory five and it did great. Perfect and consistent flares each time. But when using the NiCopp, the softer material would sometimes jam if too much pressure was applied when flaring. I ran through a couple of test flares until I felt comfortable with the results. The first couple that I did, I applied too much force and it kinked the line just before the flare. The NiCopp is soft, and doesn't require near as much force to flare. I also used anti-seize on the turret to keep the material from jamming and binding which helped.

Once I got used to flaring, I started salvaging the standard flare nuts from the factory five steel lines, and used metric ones that I purchased separately for lines that connected to a Subaru component. I also used the Eastwood brake line de-burring tool which really helped to get nice flare results.

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Bicyclops

06-12-2023, 12:58 PM

I'm with you on reducing the number of fittings. When you go to bleed the brakes, any one of them can cause you fits. It took me 2 days to get all the leaks fixed. Most leaks succumbed to extra tightening, but one just wouldn't seal and I eventually remade the line. I used the NiCu line too. It is much easier to bend to fit the car while routing.

Ed

BigDanSubaru

06-12-2023, 01:04 PM

The stainless lines for the front calipers have been installed. It was recommended in the manual to restrain the line at the midpoint if using the stainless lines. I fabricated a little bracket to hold the line out of the way.
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The hard lines have all been routed and secured. I used two of the brake line mounting brackets back-to-back with a bolt and nut to couple them together. I ran them down the passenger side in the location that I checked before when I test fitted the side panel. The coolant pipe is just hanging there from when I was checking locations. There are no unions in any of the straight brake line runs. I used as few fittings as I could to eliminate possible failure points. The rear stainless lines have this circular sliding mount in the middle which has a little e-clip on it. I don't really have a place to mount this, nor do I feel it's entirely necessary. I guess it won't do any harm just being on the brake line, but I would like to at least restrain it from sliding up and down the line. I am not really wanting to zip them off with a Dremel tool. If I cut too deep, I could nick the brake line which would really suck.
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I realized that I skipped the page in the manual where it tells you to drill the hole 1/2" above the OEM location for the brake pedal push rod. Luckily I was still able to reach in there with a drill and drill the hole out without having to remove the whole pedal box again for a 3rd time.
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The brake system has been bled and I have no leaks from any of the fittings. The only leak I found in the system is at the driver side front caliper. It is leaking at the top between the two halves of the caliper. I came to find out that 2 of the caliper bolts were loose. I could not find a torque spec for these online, but I torqued them all down even to 45ft-lbs. The leak still remained, but was significantly better. I increased the torque to 55ft-lbs and it is almost gone (just barely visible at the seam between the caliper halves when pressing hard on the brake pedal). I believe one of my helpers when disassembling the donor may have mistakenly broken these bolts loose when trying to remove the caliper. I know there is a little O-ring in there between the halves, and I hope that didn't somehow get damaged. Apparently those are not able to be purchased new from Subaru either which is great. Has anyone had experience with a leak in this location?

BigDanSubaru

06-12-2023, 01:18 PM

Sound deadening has been applied to the inside of the rear firewall and also to the panel beneath the fuel tank. I made sure to leave the openings for drainage open so that if there is a fuel leak, the fuel can escape and not form a huge puddle. I am running the Boyd welding fuel tank which I will be installing soon. I need to flip the fuel level sending unit float so it reads correctly. Apparently it comes shipped where the fuel level reads empty when full and full when empty. Seems like an easy fix though, based on other posts I have seen by builders on here.

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blomb11

06-12-2023, 01:25 PM

BigDanSubaru

06-12-2023, 02:50 PM

Nice work as I learned the hard way to double check all fittings to make sure they were tight :rolleyes:. One thing you may want to evaluate is installing the sheet metal piece that goes behind the front control arms (your 3rd image) because both the front left/right lines go through that panel. Plus as you go further in the build your access to the frame gets difficult. This suggestion is in the 818 assembly sticky in the general tab. Since you have already bled the system it might be a bit more challenging or you will just have to notch the panel to account for the line and your bracket already being installed. Food for thought.

There is always something. Just when you think you have thought ahead, there is always something else you should/could have done first. Thanks for pointing that out. I will likely just slot that panel. That is kinda nice anyway, because then if I need to remove the panel to get access to something later, I don't have to disconnect the brake line and bleed the system again.

blomb11

06-12-2023, 05:08 PM

I can't tell you how many times I have had to remove and reinstall things because I did not know what was coming later in the build process. The manual is a good start, but it really diverges after you get the big pieces on or in place.

driveslikejehu

06-13-2023, 06:52 AM

BigDanSubaru

06-13-2023, 10:01 AM

To build on what blomb11 said, I was timid about the sheet metal assembly. I installed most of it first time with Tek screws. I laid it out, drilled holes for rivets, then used a few screws to hold in place. As I start to finalize things I go back and use rivets. The Tek screws didn't open up the holes, so rivets still fit.
Just a thought, if you're not already doing something like it...

I have a huge pack of 1/8" Cleco fasteners that have been super helpful in temporarily mounting the aluminum panels to the car. Super easy to take on and off to make adjustments. They were especially helpful in doing the dead pedal aluminum pieces since those required a little trimming and bending to get the fitment up to my standards (which are entirely too high). :p

I have had to drill holes in tight spaces so many times that it became worth it to pick up the $20 right angle drill chuck from Harbor Freight. It works really well and comes in handy quite often.

BigDanSubaru

07-05-2023, 08:55 AM

Finally took on the task of assembling the axles. I bought new boot kits from fastwrx.com because my donor boots were either torn, or they were old and brittle. I didn't want to risk buying cheap universal knock-off boots either. Plus these new boot came with the pre-measured amount of grease to pack them with and the oem clamps which I think work better than the metal zip ties that don't like to get tight. I painted the parts black because that OEM green color was rather hideous and it bothered me. Painted the axle shafts too so they would not get all rusty over time.

Little tip if you are using the oem swing style metal cv clamps; use a little bit of WD-40 where the clamp goes so it can slide when swinging the clamp arm over. If the clamp arm pinches the boot, it won't seal correctly. You also only get one swing of the arm so DO NOT attempt to open the clamp again once it is even partially closed. I broke one doing this because the boot was getting pinched under it (that's when I learned the WD-40 trick).

Also, the hose clamp trick takes a little fidgeting when trying to slide the axles into the one end past the spring ring clamp. But it's definitely worth the effort because once you get it right, it makes this process so much easier. That tip is something I read in the assembly tips sticky thread. Thanks for posting that one!

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BigDanSubaru

07-05-2023, 09:08 AM

I got the Boyd fuel tank bolted in and it fits great! Had to bend the lower tabs down just a bit but that was no big deal. I installed the AN fittings and capped them until I figure out my fuel line routing. I then moved onto getting the firewall fitted up. I am skipping around a bit in the manual because I am bringing my 818 to Boxerfest 2023 and I want the seats, ebrake and shifter installed before then. I can always circle back for other things, it isn't that hard to remove those things once they are installed.

The firewall was contacting the top of the fuel filler port on the Boyd tank. I knew this would happen because I saw another builder have this occur and I solved the problem in the same way. Just a piece of aluminum tubing underneath the driver side firewall panel to raise it up about 1". I used my air saw (new favorite tool) to zip off the excess firewall from the top so it would not overhang the top frame tube.

I was then left with a small gap midway up the firewall between the passenger and driver side panels. I bent up some of the piece that was cut off the top of the driver side panel and bolted it in to fill that gap. It is not perfect, but it's way better than what it was when it was fully open there. When I officially install the firewall, I will feed the bolts up from the bottom, but for now I just have them from the top down because that's easier with 1 person.

Oh, and I also had to trim the endcap piece that goes on the end of the passenger side firewall piece. It was hitting the fuel tank, so I made a carboard template and traced it onto the FFR supplied endplate and cut it to fit. I left a small amount of the flange at the top so I could put one fastener through the driver side firewall and into the endcap. I am pretty satisfied with how the firewall fits and am moving on to the ebrake and shifter soon.

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BigDanSubaru

07-05-2023, 09:32 AM

Since I raised the engine up (see engine riser post), the turbo outlet flange is now contacting the rear engine crossmember. I had 2 helpers hold it in place where it should line up and I taped out where I planned to put the new metal tubes. I plan to cut out the existing metal in-between and reroute across the engine bay while avoiding the engine components.

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To keep the bolted endpieces in place and properly aligned, I bolted the whole cross member down to a piece of wood. This ensures that the bolt holes will line up with the ones on the car after the modifications are complete.

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I bought some tube steel from Home Depot and cut it out to the lengths and angles that I needed (by hand with a hack saw). I marked the alignment of the pieces and taped it onto the frame using Gorilla Tape. I think it's gonna be strong enough like this so I am just going to throw it back on the car and call it done. KIDDING! I am going to take it over to my uncles house and weld it up. Come on guys, you didn't honestly believe that I would do that, right?! :p

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BigDanSubaru

07-05-2023, 09:41 AM

Turns out that the tube steel from Home Depot is basically Chineseium. It welds like crap so it must have some crappy alloy or something. It was also a little thinner than the FFR tube steel and I didn't really notice this until now. Anyway, my uncle is a far better welded than me so I let him handle it. I burned through the scrap piece that we tested on so I didn't feel comfortable welding on the actual part. It still turned out very rigid, just not the prettiest. I did not want to grind the welds down flat because I thought that might reduce some of the strength of the welds and that wasn't done on the rest of the FFR chassis so I didn't really care. Once it is pained it wont look quite so rough.

The main point is that it FITS! Plenty of clearance for the turbo and the transmission dipstick. It also clears the clutch slave cylinder and doesn't get in the way of the intercooler.

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Painted the crossmember with black chassis paint and inserted black plastic endcaps in the open ends of the new sections. Looks pretty good and I don't think you could tell it was modified unless you really knew what you were looking at, which is what I was going for.

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blomb11

07-05-2023, 02:10 PM

BigDanSubaru

07-05-2023, 02:27 PM

Nice work looks good! You might want to check the height of your intercooler with the rear (humped) engine panel. I had to lower the AWIC heat exchanger because it hit this panel due to raising the engine.

I am building the coupe with the hardtop so I will not have that issue but thanks for looking out. I have heard that was a problem on the S model.

blomb11

07-06-2023, 11:13 AM

Ah okay that makes sense and will make things a bit easier. I thought you had mentioned that so my bad for bringing it up again.

BigDanSubaru

08-08-2023, 12:14 PM

The axles are finally installed. Had to unbolt more of the suspension than I had anticipated, but it still wasn't too bad. Everything went together great, and the axles popped right into the transmission with a satisfying click!

Ignore the bungee cords holding the IAG Air/Oil separator in place, that was just me playing around with possible mounting locations. More details on that in the post below.

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BigDanSubaru

08-08-2023, 12:28 PM

I began looking around for a good place to install the IAG AOS in the engine bay. I wanted to keep it close enough to the intended install location on the WRX so the supplied hoses would still reach. The IAG AOS has two coolant lines and it inserts into the coolant system between the de-gas bottle and the turbo. My initial thoughts were to put it here on the outside of the rear engine crossmember. This makes it easy to service and install, but it also kinda sticks out and looks a little janky IMO.

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I decided to move it to the inside of the rear engine crossmember instead. I bent up some small angle brackets for the de-gas bottle and mounted that to the 1" crossmember running over the intake manifold (tapped holes in the frame). I was able to use the supplied IAG AOS mounting bracket by drilling an additional hole in it and tapping two more holes in the frame to mount the AOS. All of the hoses reach with ease and are tucked pretty nicely. I cut them to length as needed and used the IAG supplied heat protective sleeves to protect the lower hoses from the hot exhaust. I am pretty thrilled with this install. There are so many hoses that go to/from the AOS that it is hard to really make it look organized, but I did my best.

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Since these photos were taken, I have also installed a turbo blanket over the factory turbo. This should greatly reduce the amount of heat rejected onto nearby components.

BigDanSubaru

08-09-2023, 03:21 PM

Finally sorted out the ebrake and shifter arrangement. After finding a comfortable shifter throw from the furthest back seating position, I was not left with much space to mount the ebrake. I ended up cutting off some of that mounting tab that FFR tells you to bend flat. I drilled a new hole in the mounting tab closer to the handle and shifted the entire ebrake a little towards the passenger seat. This allowed for the passenger side shifter cable to pass through, avoiding a hard bend to get around the ebrake otherwise. I made a little extender mount for the driver's side rear bolt on the ebrake bracket since it no longer lined up with the tunnel frame. The last mod I had to make was cutting away some of the angled firewall piece so it would clear the ebrake mechanism.

One thing I had to work out was why I wasn't getting the ebrake to engage even with all of the adjustment out of the handle. Turns out that the cable retaining mount (that bolts to the thick angled firewall piece from FFR) was too close to the handle. So the cable section had a bunch of slack in it. Pulling the handle just took out the slack in the bunched up cable section between the handle and the retainer bracket piece. So I moved that further back on the firewall and just bolted it to the top and now it works great. I did not have much room at all behind the ebrake mechanism to fabricate a separate internal bracket to bolt it to, but this works just fine. The pictures were taken before I moved the bracket back which is why it still appears as if it is bolted in the FFR intended location.

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BigDanSubaru

08-09-2023, 03:24 PM

This STI intercooler needed some serious TLC. When I got it, I noticed it was dirty, had bent fins, and a broken mounting tab. I carefully bent back the bent fins and cleaned it inside and out. It's looking much better than before! I'm using a shop vacuum to make sure the inside is completely dry before installing it.

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One thing I didn't know when I bought it is that some knucklehead used an impact wrench on the Y-pipe and stripped all the threads out of one of the holes. I threw a helicoil in there which matches the thread of the factory hardware. I have a plan for the busted mounting tab. It feels good reinvigorate a part that was otherwise abused then abandoned.

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BigDanSubaru

08-09-2023, 03:32 PM

Dave 53

08-09-2023, 07:07 PM

I was looking forward to the West Coast Subifest in Southern California. But, they changed it to a date I couldn't make. Hopefully 2024.

I say defiantly bolt on some body panels!

DJWalker

08-14-2023, 02:00 AM

BigDanSubaru

08-14-2023, 12:08 PM

Some body panels would be good I think so that people get an idea of what it will look like. Perhaps just one side so you get the “hood up” view from one side and a more finished look from the other. Probably best not to rush it just for the show though.

That's what I was thinking, I don't want to rush it for the show. I think leaving all of the body panels off looks intentional. Having some body panels on but not others just makes it look like I didn't finish it in time. I think I am just going to show it with no body at all, then next year maybe I'll have the body on.

Bicyclops

08-14-2023, 01:59 PM

I am getting super excited for Boxerfest 2023. I have entered the 818C into the show, and it was accepted! We will push it up onto a U-Haul trailer and show it in its current state. I think it will be really fun to share even though it will not have the full body on it. I may just have the side panels bolted on for the show (but I am still on the fence about it).

What do you guys think would be cooler? Absolutely no body panels at all, or just have the side panels on to show how low it sits and display the rear wheel fitment to the rear fenders?

Anyway, I made this these little signs to put next to the car so people can see the mod list so far. There are a lot of quality parts on this list (some are still in boxes in the basement). I think it will help answer most of the "what is this thing?" and/or "what's done to it?" questions that people may have but are too shy to ask. I am actually really looking forward to answering any questions that people may have at the show. This car means so much to me and I love talking about it and all the work I have put into it. I am going to try to force myself to take lots of pictures, as this will be the very first time the car has left the garage since it was wheeled in on a cart by Stewart Transport over 1 year ago.

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Howdy Big Dan,

I recently put my S up on a U-Haul car trailer. My suggestion is to put it on backwards. The stuff on the bottom front of the car probably won't clear the forward wheel stops on the trailer. Another big consideration is how much weight winds up aft of the trailer axles. If the car is on forwards, more than 50% will be behind the axles. Not a good setup for trailering. Could even pop the hitch loose on a bump. U-Haul provides some over the tire ratchet straps for the front (rear wheels in my case) which worked just fine and pulled the tires hard against those stops. I tied down the front of the car with some ratchet straps. My Tundra pulled it like it wasn't there.

Ed

Bob_n_Cincy

08-14-2023, 10:09 PM

Howdy Big Dan,

I recently put my S up on a U-Haul car trailer. My suggestion is to put it on backwards. The stuff on the bottom front of the car probably won't clear the forward wheel stops on the trailer. Another big consideration is how much weight winds up aft of the trailer axles. If the car is on forwards, more than 50% will be behind the axles. Not a good setup for trailering. Could even pop the hitch loose on a bump. U-Haul provides some over the tire ratchet straps for the front (rear wheels in my case) which worked just fine and pulled the tires hard against those stops. I tied down the front of the car with some ratchet straps. My Tundra pulled it like it wasn't there.

Ed

Here is what it looks like on a uhaul trailer.

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lpmagruder

08-15-2023, 08:58 AM

Any issues with towing it backwards like that with the windshield on? When I had to bring my car to the dealership to get the immobilizer paired to a new key, I towed it like this but it was before I had the glass in. Seems like a lot of wind pressure would build up on the glass and in the dash area now.

In the coming weeks I'm towing mine in to the DMV to start the registration process (been pushing my luck a little too long driving the country roads around my house! ;) ) The cheaper rental trailers don't have enough room in front of the axle for me to feel comfortable going nose-first, trying to decide if I want to back it on to a short trailer, or grab a longer one where I could get more weight forward.

J R Jones

08-15-2023, 11:02 AM

Light tongue weight can result in the trailer swinging L & R on decel or downhill. The proportions effect the magnitude. A light towing load, trailer brakes and a heavy tow vehicle make the effect less apparent.
For the record, 10% trailer weight on the tongue is preferred.
jim

BigDanSubaru

08-15-2023, 02:19 PM

Thanks for the tips on trailering the car. I will push it up on there backwards. I won't have any of the body on for the show, so I will have a little more ground clearance at least. I will still be using boards to help with the approach angle like Bob showed in his pics.

BigDanSubaru

08-29-2023, 03:03 PM

For the first time since it was rolled in on a cart over a year ago, the 818 has seen sunlight! We pushed it out of the garage, then out onto the street. Took 4 of us to push it up some sketchy wood ramp extensions and onto the uHaul but we got it without too much drama. This was the day before Boxerfest 2023 because we had to be there to unload the car at 7am the next day. The car is sitting on some 2x4s under the rear wheels otherwise the bumper would scrape the wheel stops on the trailer. The blue SUV is my dad's Infiniti FX50 which hauled it no problem.

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BigDanSubaru

08-29-2023, 03:10 PM

We got the car loaded up in time to make it to a local Subaru meet at an ice cream shop. A friend of mine hosts this meet every year before Boxerfest to get everyone together. It was really nice sharing the 818 with them a little before the show. We kept the car on the trailer for this meet because it would be too much hassle to unload and load back up for a short meet. My son also got to sit in the car again which he always loves to do. He was a little upset when I had to pull him out of there, but the smile came back once he got some lime sherbet. Someone also gave him a little Subaru Brat Hot Wheels car which he loved. We got tons of compliments on the car and a surprising amount of people actually knew what it was.

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BigDanSubaru

08-29-2023, 03:18 PM

We had an absolute blast at Boxerfest 2023! I had so much fun that I forgot to take pictures as often as I wanted to. I did take a few here during the event while I had a break from talking to people about the car. I also walked around a lot to the vendor booths. My step-brother hooked me up with this sweet Billetworkz oil filler cap which looks way better than the yellow OEM one. The wrinkle red finish matches my IAG AOS which I like a lot. I also got the dipstick handle in the same color, but I needed tools to install that one so I will do that later. I also got to talk to Keith who has the AEM 818R. He was in the autocross and got some really great results! There were a couple more of you there and I really enjoyed talking to you there. Thanks for a great day at our first car show!

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Once everyone was lining up to leave and we were waiting for them to clear out, I had a chance to take some more pics. The car was loaded up with our stuff so we didn't have to make 2 trips.

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BigDanSubaru

08-29-2023, 03:23 PM

When we got home it was sunset and the car was unloaded from the trailer after a long day. I had to take a few more pictures of the car on the street before I tucked her away in the garage again until next year. Factory Five actually shared one of my sunset photos on their story which felt really nice, so thanks for that guys. Oh, and Mishimoto took a video of my car at the show and shared it to their story as well. I guess because I have their radiator front and center which made it really easy for them to show in their video. I was pleasantly surprised as to how many other Instagram reels featured my 818. I can't wait to bring her back next year in a further state of completion. Maybe I'll even stand a chance at the "Best Other" car show award that went to a really cool STI powered "exo truck" this year. Congratulations to that guy on a seriously impressive fully custom build.

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FFRWRX

08-29-2023, 04:46 PM

That is very cool to have your car at an event like that. Gives people a chance to see something that is very unusual. Normally these cars don't see much of the light of day until they are finished and all the guts are hidden away.

I'd say about 1 out of 10 people know what my car is; based on a couple cruise nights and delivery people seeing it in the garage. The most common guess is Lotus (maybe 7 or 8 out of 10), followed by Alfa. But the most common is "what is that?".

Rick

BigDanSubaru

08-30-2023, 09:39 AM

I spent a lot of time on those guts! Too much time to hide it all away. My attention to detail is something that I have a very hard time suppressing. There are things that I bolted onto the car for the show that have now already been removed so I can do them how I think they should be done. I am also getting into the wiring harness now. This stage is going to take me a long time.

Dave 53

08-30-2023, 11:27 AM

Looks like a fun day!

I have many friends with show cars that ask if I'm taking my 818 to whatever car show is coming up. I enjoy going to those shows without my car, but I don't like the idea of being stuck there all day. The exception being, I hope I can make it to our California Subiefest next year.

BigDanSubaru

09-01-2023, 08:29 AM

I noticed there was a huge difference in the angle of the steering tierod and the lower control arm. A lot of builders seem to be using the Bear bump steer kit so I picked one up. I swapped out the driver side to compare against the oem and there really is not much of a difference. I have seen a few builders add more washers to the kit to further decrease the difference, but that would not leave many threads past the nylon lock nut. I tend to follow the general rule when using nylon lock nuts of having at least 2 threads extending out past the locking ring.

I suppose I could find a way to extend the stud down further so I could eliminate more bump steer. I don't really want to drill out my knuckle and use a large through bolt. I might need to get a little creative here. I'll think on it for a bit and move on with the build for now.

OEM LEFT & BEAR RIGHT (Facing the car)
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lance corsi

09-01-2023, 08:55 AM

BigDanSubaru

09-01-2023, 10:27 AM

Dan, I think you’re in effect trying to correct the instant center geometry. That’s where the imaginary lines drawn from lower control arm pivots and another drawn thru the uca pivots intersect, usually a fair distance from the outside of the wheelbase. With these lines projected, the imaginary line drawn thru the steering pivot joints should pass thru the intersection point of the other two imaginary lines. The steering inner tie rod pivot should be on an imaginary line drawn from the uca inner pivot thru the lca inner pivot. Some have had spacers to the rack ends in order to correct this.

Yes, I believe you are correct. Here is a diagram I found online representing a setup with near-zero bump steer. I am not sure how I will be able to achieve this other than adding a lot more spacers to lower the tierod end on the knuckle.

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I drew these lines on my car and the instant center is off the page. The tierod center isn't even close to meeting up with the control arm center. Perhaps with a proper alignment, the control arm center will move closer?

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lance corsi

09-01-2023, 11:24 AM

Dan, if you haven’t already, check where your inner tie rod pivot joint is relative to the imaginary lines drawn from the uca pivot to the lca pivot, wheels straight ahead. If you need spacers there, it could make a difference in the angle of the tie rod, and the instant center intersection point.

Dave 53

09-01-2023, 06:50 PM

I have the Bear kit installed. I took it to a top-notch race car alignment guy (Brandon at Krause Racing, Castro Valley, CA). He exercised my suspension on his alignment rack (turn the wheel left / right and watch the alignment numbers). He concluded to be perfect, the bump steer needed to be about 1/8" longer. While we were going for a perfect track car alignment, the conclusion was "good enough" since an 1/8" washer/spacer would cut down on the engaged thread count.

My takeaway is, you won't know until you get the car on an alignment rack. And the Bear kit without extra spacers is within the +/- green zone of tolerance. I also learned... make sure you have fresh bushings. If you have the original donor car suspension bushings, change them out before getting your final alignment.

BigDanSubaru

09-06-2023, 10:15 AM

BigDanSubaru

09-14-2023, 01:51 PM

I had a little time at the end of a garage night, so I installed the billet aluminum Billetworkz oil dipstick handle. Matches the wrinkle-red finish of the oil fill cap and my IAG AOS. Cool gift from my step-brother, and very much appreciated!

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BigDanSubaru

09-14-2023, 02:03 PM

Custom bracket to lower the fuel filter down a bit. I did not like how high it was and it would have left the hoses too close to the frame rail. These brackets utilize the existing threaded holes on one of the engine component brackets that is unused.

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Fuel lines have been routed from the tank, to the filter, to the engine, and back to the tank. Evap line on the engine is capped off for now. (see question below).

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I bought this little charcoal canister off of eBay. It came off of an '05-'15 Yamaha Majesty 400. I found the manual for it and here are what each port is intended to serve.

1. Inlet to canister from fuel tank. (I am routing a hose from the tank roll-over valve to this port)
2. Inlet to canister from carb. Should I route a hose from the engine evap line (bottom fuel line on the engine which is currently capped)? Or should I just cap this port on the canister and keep my engine evap port capped? :confused:
3. Outlet from canister to the atmosphere. (I am going to route a little hose down the rear firewall pointed at the ground)

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Fuel filler hose needed to be modified to fit the Boyd tank inlet location. It was easier than I anticipated and did not require any pipe bending. I just cut the middle section of the pipe out and used the two elbows and the provided hose. I still need to cut a small section of hose to go to the filler cap, but I was just dry-fitting this before I bead roll the pipes to prevent leaks where I made cuts.

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BigDanSubaru

09-14-2023, 02:28 PM

Not off to a great start with electrical already. I don't have much experience with it. This is evident by my complete ignorance to the fact that you cannot tip a battery very far from vertical or it will spill sulfuric acid (mostly diluted but still very acidic) all over the place. At first I thought maybe it was just water because I had just sprayed down the battery with cleaner to wash it (dirty donor battery). Nope! And it ate into my aluminum panel as you can see (just left of the starter cable). So, I mixed some baking soda with water and neutralized the acid so it wouldn't do further damage. I will be painting those panels now I guess, because I don't want evidence of my ignorance immediately apparent every time I pop the "hood". :rolleyes: Gives me an excuse to buy a new battery that isn't green. It's kinda ugly tbh...

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I am jumping into the wiring harness project. I tried laying it out like the manual says, but that was nothing but frustrating and seemingly impossible without removing all (or most) of the sheathing. I removed some of it and got the alternator wires routed, then kinda gave up on that section of the harness and took the larger section out of the box (because that makes perfect sense and should be so much easier). :p

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Okay, why the heck did I think that this would be any better than that smaller section that I dumped into the car? It's massive! Well, maybe I will just strip some of the sheathing off and I will be able to make sense of it... I'll just do this on my workbench which is already too freakin small to do any work on (Past Dan in denial thinking he can just wing this wiring project...HA!).

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Nope, it's a million degrees in this garage and the spooders keep nipping at my ankles as I work on this. Time to move it into my house and just hope my wife doesn't see it or care. :cool: I am also going to slow down and take my time with this now that I have A/C and a really uncomfortable table height to work with. This folding table is super low and a folding lawn chair is the only chair I could find with a somewhat suitable height to work on it without destroying my back. I printed the entire wiring harness section of the manual and I am highlighting the wires the I delete in Orange. Anything in Green is not part of my harness from factory.

My donor is a 2007 Subaru WRX Limited with Auto A/C, heated seats and heated wipers/mirrors, and a sunroof. I am hoping that when I am done, I will have a little manual that I can refer to if I need to see what I removed (as long as I keep up with it). It is a little annoying that they show connectors multiple times in this manual. There are times where I look at a connector and swear that I removed it just to find out that I already did a few pages back and I just need to transfer my highlight marks. I am doing my best to de-pin at connectors to avoid the risk of shorts. This is a huge PITA but is getting easier with practice. I also have Mechie3's wiring delete guide printed out which has helped me identify some connectors that I did not label when disassembling the donor.

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I know wiring is pretty boring and there isn't much to take from a picture of a jumbled mess on a table. So here is a little bonus pic from Boxerfest 2023 that I found on the internet after the event.

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blomb11

09-14-2023, 05:17 PM

I printed out the entire wiring diagram and used it as my reference going subsystem by subsystem removing what I was not going to use. I also removed all of the sheathing and electrical table before any deleting and laid it out on the floor. As mentioned I used the wiring diagram marking it up like you did and I also reference some other harness dieting posts like the one from Mechie3 and some others. I documented my process from a high level, but it definitely takes time. I think it took me about ~40 hours once I knew which systems I was going to delete. I told myself I will go back and cover it back up with sheath or wrap but we will see if that actually happens :) more so for the stuff under the center console.

driveslikejehu

09-15-2023, 07:56 AM

Just to build on what blomb11 says... If you don't have it, try to get a searchable PDF of the Subaru manual. Being able to search all the locations that reference say "Radio" or a particular connector, "i2" was a help even after I assembled it all.
And I kept lots of notes in case anything had to go back together.
I was quite intimidated but once I got into it, I actually enjoyed the puzzle solving aspect of it.

On the fuel stuff, I also got a generic (moped?) cannister. I didn't connect to the engine at all, since I was unsure how the engine/ECM would deal with added air/vapor when not regulated by the stock purge valves, etc.. I just use it to catch fuel vapors and it does, I never smell fuel in the garage or driving. Also, I didn't roll beads on the cut fuel pipe; no leaks so far.
Of course, not saying my way is the right way, just letting you know what worked for me.

RPGs818SNA

09-15-2023, 10:12 AM

Sounds like you have a good process for dieting and documenting the harness. To give you some insight into the whole wiring task, here's the seven step process I used that seems to have worked well for me. I haven't had to add an eighth step called troubleshooting yet.

First, remove all the sheathing and tape so you will be able to find the hidden splices.

Next, going connector by connector, remove unneeded wires up to the nearest splice or connector. Painting the cut wire ends with fingernail polish will prevent shorts.

Next, determine where to mount the fuse boxes, ECM, and relays. Plugging in as many connectors as possible will help. I found that mounting the fuse boxes in the front, the ECM in the back, and the relays under the console minimized the number of wires that had to be lengthened.

Next, lengthen the wires that are too short. Here you have to decide on crimp vs solder. Crimp, with a good tool and connectors is probably best. I can’t recommend a tool as I used solder. Heat shrink tube with internal glue gives the connections a nice finish.

Next, optional, shorten the excessively long wires to clean up the mess of extra wire.

Next, make good grounds to the frame that will last a long time. The key is to avoid corrosion. I used aluminum powder based antisieze on fine threaded bolts into tapped holes in the frame.

Finally, protect the wire bundles with some sort of sheathing to protect against rubbing.

You'll still have to make connections to lights and other things you add along the way, but this is the bulk of the task.

RPG

BigDanSubaru

11-14-2023, 07:56 AM

BigDanSubaru

11-15-2023, 08:18 AM

Removing old sheathing and electrical tape so I could track down circuits that I wanted to remove was the first step. It is super satisfying when you finally remove the last wire that lets you take out a huge chunk of wiring. I started with just a grocery bag to hold all of the discarded wiring, but quickly graduated to a larger bin. To seal wires that I had cut at a splice, I used marine grade heat shrink that has a heat activated adhesive and pinched it shut on the end. This should seal it from the elements as well as prevent shorts.

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I am at the point now where I am just ready to put the harness in the car. I removed the bulk of the unwanted circuits. Removed about 21.5lbs of tape, sheathing, and wiring combined. There are still a few circuits that I may delete later if I decide not to use them. But they are small and don't weigh much or take up much space if I were to just tape them off in the car. I also put some sheathing on the starter wire that is flame-retardant. It runs through the car and carries a lot of current, so I wanted an added layer of protection against abrasion.

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BigDanSubaru

11-15-2023, 08:21 AM

I plopped the harness in the car and it looks like I am going to have a lot of figuring out to do still. Certain plugs are way off of their mark (like the ones that plug onto the transmission). I will try to get them as close as I can, then extend the harness the rest of the way. This will be the case with a few other things too. I will extend the alternator wires so that I can move the main fuse box up under the passenger side of the dashboard like others have done. I plugged in the main engine harness and some other things in that area. The ECU will be mounted on the back firewall in the middle as others have done. I will probably hide all of those other fuel relays and such back there too.

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I am wondering if it makes sense just to lay the dashboard in place so I can map out where the fuse boxes can mount on the passenger side. What have you guys done? I don't want to mount the box in a place where I may be installing panels or other items later. Keeping in mind that my car does not have A/C or heat so I have a little extra room over there.

lpmagruder

11-15-2023, 10:17 AM

I put the interior fuse box under the passenger area where you can get at it from the passenger foot well without having to remove the dash, but it's still kinda a pain to get to once I added the passenger sheet metal bit of the center console, definitely test fit that piece with the dashboard to see how much room you actually have to get your hands up in there. Next time I have the dash off I'll probably move it a bit.

there's the green connector pair that puts the ECU into test mode. You will need access to that, mine ended up right near the interior fuse box. If you are self-tuning like me, you will need frequent access to that. (I am probably on iteration 15 of my tune!) But if pro-tuning, you'll at least need to get to it easily on the day of your appointment, and again if you ever need to make tweaks. Similarly, I located my OBD2 port and serial interface for my wideband all in that same spot so I can get my laptop all plugged in and the car in test mode in one motion from the passenger seat. I even threw a 12v CLA port there (cheapo from eBay) so I can plug in an inverter to power the laptop.

I ended up putting the relay box in front behind the radiator. I'm forgetting exactly why, but it made sense at the time. I think the radiator and headlight wiring was a lot easier that way.

The transmission stuff was way off for mine too, I didn't even try to get those close. Just let them fall where they ended up and did the splice there. I just used 2 lengths of that 4 conductor trailer wire FF supplied. One of them was for the neutral switch and reverse sensor, the other went to the speed sensor (I think that one only needs 3 wires). Could probably have saved a tiny bit of weight piecing together smaller gauge wiring from the deleted bits, but I was really running out of patience at that point, wiring was not my favorite part of the build :-)

octobersknight

11-15-2023, 11:27 AM

I put mine all up in the front passenger footwell (https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?28884-Octobersknight-s-818-Build post #107, 112) and then made a custom box (post #114) so I could "easily) access the fuse blocks. Not sure I'd recommend this approach. I did not fully unwrap my harness and regret not laying it out better. But everything's extended to the right places now and it works as intended (except maybe the DRL function).

Dave 53

11-15-2023, 12:39 PM

I picked up a new lightweight battery and placed it in the car. But I couldn't bare to install it with the battery tray area looking like it did after some acid spilled from the old battery. I didn't want to uninstall everything and tape it all off because that would delay the build quite a bit and I did not feel that was worth it. So I just sprayed it quick as it was with minor taping/masking. Turned out okay and that's fine. Moving on!
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The coolant pipes were sticking out quite a bit per the FFR instructions and the front wheels would hit them. I saw a couple of builders using these reducing 45 elbows up front so I did the same. I also used reducing 90s in the back to clean up the bend. The corrugated pipe bends were super wide and would cause the flow to be quite turbulent. I am thinking that this will work better (as long as it doesn't leak under pressure). So far no leaks with the system filled.
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Trans fluid filled using the quantity identified by Subaru. I marked the new FULL mark on my dipstick which ended up being just under 1.5" above the OEM marker. That's a little better than usual since my motor is lifted a bit. I am sure I could have gotten it better yet by lowing the transmission, but I did not want to mess with that at this stage. The build is really dragging out and I want to drive this dang thing!
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Fuel filler pipe cut to fit the Boyd tank arrangement. I bead rolled the piping to prevent leaks. Pretty handy little tool!
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Looks like you might be using common worm gear hose clamps on silicon hose. I'd suggest doing a little bit of research on silicon hose specific hose clamps.

I'd also consider double clamping in areas that will be hard to access after all the panels and body are on.

There is a section of cooling pipe that transitions through the cockpit near the dead peddle with a hose clamp that is in the foot box and later covered. I orientated the hose clamp and tightened it from outside the car before the body was on. And of course, it was the only clamp that leaked (interestingly, only in cold weather when I was going to a track). I couldn't easily tighten it from inside the car. I had to take the body panel (and door, etc.) off to fix it, but I reorientated the clamp so next time, I can tighten it from inside the car. And because I could, I put 3 clamps on it! Takeaway... consider the tool orientation of any clamps when it's easy without any panels vs. when there will be panels.

J R Jones

11-15-2023, 12:47 PM

Looks like you might be using common worm gear hose clamps on silicon hose. I'd suggest doing a little bit of research on silicon hose specific hose clamps. I'd also consider double clamping in areas that will be hard to access after all the panels and body are on.

In a recent Roadster post, the water pump (inlet) hose blew off at idle in a commute duty cycle. That too was a silicon hose. Silicon hose material is thicker and softer and the material creeps under clamp load. Wider higher torque clamps like "T" clamps can help but retightning periodically is a good practice.
jim

Dave 53

11-15-2023, 01:25 PM

In a recent Roadster post, the water pump (inlet) hose blew off at idle in a commute duty cycle. That too was a silicon hose. Silicon hose material is thicker and softer and the material creeps under clamp load. Wider higher torque clamps like "T" clamps can help but retightning periodically is a good practice.
jim

I had a silicon turbo hose blow off and when I checked all the other T clamps, they were all loose. I absolutely concur - periodically check the T clamps.

A common worm gear clamp can also cut silicon hose. That's what happened to my friend's boat. A proper silicon hose clamp will have smoother edges.

My brand new The Driveshaft Shop axle silicon (I think it's silicon) CV boot got cut. Even though they used a proper clamp, to me, it looks like they tightened the clamp too much.
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BigDanSubaru

11-15-2023, 03:33 PM

Thanks for the heads up on the worm gear hose clamps. I just ordered (4) 1.5" and (4) 1.75" t-bolt hose clamps with tapered edges to replace the worm gear clamps. I will keep in mind the accessibility when I am installing them to the best of my ability. Maybe it would be smart to make that one fender liner panel removable? Then I could access the 45 degree elbows if I had to later.

Also, would it hurt to double up on the clamps? I could just use both the t-bolt and the worm gear clamps. I wont snug the worm gear one down super tight. It would be more to just increase the contact area between the silicone hose and the corrugated piping.

Dave 53

11-15-2023, 03:57 PM

If you're going to double up, I'd suggest a constant tension clamp as the second clamp. 192357

At least with "regular" cooling system hoses. Might want to check if they are okay on silicon.

Bicyclops

11-15-2023, 10:26 PM

I used a bunch of T-bolt clamps which leaked until I really cranked them down. If you take a look at the tubing afterwards, they crush the tubing out of round. Not ideal. They gave me trouble on my turbo to AWIC charge piping too.

I've gone to the European style worm drive clamps. These ones have the threads embossed instead of cut slots and are kinder to the hose. They tend to be fairly narrow, so doubling them wouldn't be that bad an idea. I haven't and they seem to be working well.

Ed

Ajzride

11-15-2023, 10:58 PM

They are expensive as hell, and not reusable, but the gates power grip clamps are incredible. Never had one leak. Perhaps think about using them in the really hard to reach places you never want to have to worry about (like inside the side pods). I have them basically everywhere except on the inlet and outlet of the radiator, hopefully I never have to crack the cooling system anywhere else.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CRDL6G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Hobby Racer

11-16-2023, 07:25 AM

I second the Gates Powergrip clamps. They are the best.

BigDanSubaru

11-16-2023, 07:37 AM

Thanks for all the info and suggestions. For now, I am going to double up with the clamps that I have. If I am encountering leaks, I will drain the whole system and install those Gates Powergrip clamps. I already have the system filled and the clamps I ordered already shipped, so these will have to do for now.

BigDanSubaru

12-06-2023, 10:31 PM

I got distracted and started messing around with the gauge faces. I taped them in some different locations to see what I liked. After posting this on the FB page, I had someone say that maybe 3 in the dash and 3 in a pod above would look good. I kind of like that idea. The gauges are oil temp, oil pressure, coolant temp, boost, wideband AFR, and battery voltage. I know you can get this data other ways, but I have always been a fan of the gauge look. I want them easily visible so I don't need to take my eyes away to check on things. Mainly the critical stuff like oil pressure/temp and coolant temp.

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Ajzride

12-06-2023, 11:43 PM

I like the last one, 3 on each side. My second choice would be the next to last, where they are staggered.

Bob_n_Cincy

12-07-2023, 06:46 AM

My camera in this video is about about eye level. I find the the steering wheel and my hands are often blocking the standard gauge pod. A lot depends on where How high you sit, Where you like the steering wheel, and how big of a wheel you use.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxbXW_77muc

Rob T

12-07-2023, 06:49 AM

My Cobb (with a data screen) and Traqmate (gps track system - shows RPM, lap time, etc.) is front and center taking the place of the big dash gauges. So all the other gauges are to the right, like a few of your options. Mine is track duty only, so a speedo is not necessary. I can and do glance at the other gauges on the straights.

BigDanSubaru

12-08-2023, 11:37 AM

As shown in the previous post, I temporarily installed the dashboard. I did this so I could plan where to route/mount electrical components. I wanted to test fit the part of the center console that goes up front (normally around the shifter), but I realized that my shifter is much further back. So I will have to do what most builders have done and make a custom panel for that part. Cup holders can go there or something. I also cant test fit what I have right now because so many of the pedal connector wires are too short. So, I started extending them one by one so I have plenty of room to tuck the harness away.

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I got a lot of the electronic relays and such mounted to the rear firewall along with the ECU. The wiring is starting to clean up a bit and fit down the center tunnel. Still a lot of work to do there. Extending more wires, bundling wires to make it clean, extending grounds to a common point. I think it would be nicer to have just a handful of ground connections instead of like 12 or whatever come with the donor. There is a little plastic ground group housing that is on the car with a few open slots from the wire diet process. Maybe I can plug some of them into there. That might help eliminate the risk of a bad ground in a hard to reach position.

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I started getting the grounding done. The battery is grounded using the OEM battery ground strap. I ground the engine from the location on the back of the transmission bellhousing. There were two small ground wires that came off the top of the motor on the Subie. I think they went from the intake manifold to the adjacent strut tower. Did you guys use those? Are they needed if we have the motor grounded to the chassis using the FFR strap as shown?

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BigDanSubaru

12-08-2023, 11:48 AM

The OEM boost control solenoid (BCS), is a 2 port with a tee fitting upstream of it. This limits the adjustability when tuning, so most tuners prefer to have a 3 port BCS to dial in boost more accurately. I tried my best to do a clean install of this one by Grimmspeed. I think it turned out pretty nice.

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After doing some back and forth on the wiring for the alternator power, here is what I ended up with. Thanks to the guys who provided feedback on my thread in the wiring section. I used 4 gauge stranded wire to a 125A slow-blow fuse which is mounted in a fuse holder on a frame rail. I then continued that 4 gauge wire to the starter where it can path through the FFR provided starter wire up to the battery. I wrapped the wire in flame-retardant sheathing and secured it in place. I was even able to reuse the OEM alternator terminal cover which cleaned up pretty nicely.

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blomb11

12-08-2023, 01:02 PM

Nice work! I connected ground from the engine harness to two sides of the intake manifold. I believe these are required for some of the engine sensors. Wire routing and dress up takes patience and is a skill. I definitely could have spent more time doing that. I told myself I will go back and put sheathing on at least the exposed wires. We will see if that happens :).

RPGs818SNA

12-11-2023, 10:33 AM

Great job on the big wires! The little ones can be tedious, but rewarding. I tied all the existing ground wires to the frame to provide a rich network of paths back to the battery, including the FFR engine strap. There's no harm in doing that, although they may not all be necessary.

lpmagruder

12-11-2023, 03:35 PM

FYI on the throttle cable wires, one of those is a shielded wire. FFRWRX had a lot of trouble not too long ago because of a bad splice, if you're not careful it's easy to accidentally short that one to the shield which ends up being a short to ground.

I was scared enough on that one that I did way too much work to make the original length work, but a whole lot of stuff ended up not ideally placed because of it, so lengthening it was probably the right call, just be careful of that shielded one.

RPGs818SNA

12-12-2023, 12:04 AM

Really good point on using care to extend the shielded throttle wires. The pedal wire’s shield is only grounded at the ECM, while the throttle control shields are grounded to the ECM on one end and to the engine on the other with a break in the middle.

I’ve used the braided copper shield in TV coax cable wire for extensions. Here are some photos to explain the process.

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The shields don’t have to completely cover the signal wire to be effective, but they do have to be connected to the other shields. Cover the exposed braid with small split conduit for a cleaner look.

The process can be tedious, but will be effective.

BigDanSubaru

12-13-2023, 10:31 AM

When I extended the throttle pedal connector, I did so right at the connector. I did not touch any wires at the throttle body or any that run from that throttle body to/from the ECU. I didn't notice anything different as far as appearance when I cut and spliced into the wires for the throttle pedal. Is there a way to know if it is shielded or not?

I am gonna be honest RPG, your comment is a little outside of my wheelhouse. If I read it a few more times, I can probably figure it out, but pictures or diagrams might make it a little clearer for me. I understand that the shield protects the signal from interference. Is the wire shield just a bare wire or something wrapped around the signal wire? And that shield is grounded at the ECU to a reference node. I read that you should not ground that shield to the chassis, or you could have issues.

RPGs818SNA

12-13-2023, 10:48 PM

Your pedal extension should be fine, Dan, as it’s pretty far from the spark plug wires which might interfere with the pedal signal. If you ever have a problem with a flaky pedal in the future, shielding the wire from Pin 6 may fix it.

I really should have added some photos to go with the words, but I didn’t take any. I’ll try to add some to the post to make it more useful.

A shielded wire has an insulated center conductor carrying the signal and a shield conductor surrounding the insulated center conductor. The shield intercepts interfering signals and conducts them to ground. It’s best to ground the shield to the device receiving the signal, in our case, the ECM.

Here’s hoping you never have to worry about shielding.

RPG

BigDanSubaru

12-14-2023, 09:36 AM

Thanks for explaining that, RPG. I am hoping to have some updates on a first start here really soon.

BigDanSubaru

12-19-2023, 03:24 PM

After a little troubleshooting for a no spark condition, the 818 is alive! Turns out that I had lost the immobilizer antenna plug in the sea of wiring. I plugged that into the female receptacle on the steering column and it fired right up! What an absolutely unreal moment.

I tried to insert the video, but I can't seem to figure that out. Hopefully this will get you to the first start video. Can't wait to progress with the build!

https://www.instagram.com/lightweight818/reel/C09dxQaAMj7/

driveslikejehu

12-19-2023, 04:55 PM

Congrats! It's a huge moment!

Raven225

12-19-2023, 05:20 PM

Congrats! it is a wonderful feeling! All that hard work paying off in one moment.

RPGs818SNA

12-19-2023, 05:31 PM

WooHoo, and congratulations. What an excellent milestone in your build. May you have many more.

Bicyclops

12-19-2023, 07:09 PM

Yay!!

Ed

BigDanSubaru

01-02-2024, 07:41 AM

Got the gauges inserted and wires routed. Still need to wire up a few more of the sensors for them. I have a fuse block that I am going to wire them to so each one has its own 5A fuse like the directions suggest. The gauge pod sticks down with 3M tape, but I haven't done that yet. Need to be able to get in there and unplug the gauges when I take the dash back out.

I think this layout works well. I can clearly see all of the gauges without the steering wheel getting in the way. And they aren't stretched so far out to the passenger side that they aren't legible. Really, you just need to see the digital readouts which will be really clear once I've powered them up. I could even slightly angle the gauge pod on the dash toward the driver seat, but I think it looks better facing straight back. Although the curved line on the dash in front of it makes it look a little weird. Minor detail. This was fun, and a good break from the wiring cleanup work. I needed a task that felt productive.

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BigDanSubaru

01-02-2024, 03:41 PM

I am getting a little ahead of myself because I'm nowhere near ready to install the lights. But I was dying to see how these would look in person. I'm so happy with them and I can't wait to see them on the car! These are custom lights made by Fred at RapidLotus. These are the "Type 3 LED" taillights that he offers on his site. The white outer ring is reverse, and the red inner light functions as the taillight, turn signal and brake light by changing brightness like some modern cars do. My 2015 WRX has this feature thanks to a plug and play kit that I bought for it.

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These were supposed to be .gif files, but the file size exceeded the maximum and the forum photo uploader converted them to .jpg. It trashed the quality, but it still kinda shows some of the other functions. I picked up a CURT 56175 Non-Powered 3-to-2-Wire Splice-in Tail Light Converter from Amazon so I can have the turn signal, brake and taillight operate off of that red ring. Once I hook that up, I will be able to have the brakes applied while using my signal. Without this adapter, the brake signal constantly sends 12V to the light and cancels out the turn signal flash. I will also be adding a 3rd brake light somewhere on the car to further display to drivers behind me that I am braking.

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BigDanSubaru

02-23-2024, 10:04 AM

I am still chopping out wire from this harness. I keep finding connectors with more wires coming out than are going in (or the other way around). Dumb stuff like rear wiper control, sunroof control, and rear door wiring. There's also this huge loop of wire that I really don't want to just tape up and leave in the car. I am thinking about chopping a couple feet of wire out of that so it's cleaner. It's going to bother me knowing that there's 6 feet of wiring coiled up hiding behind the firewall. The ground wires are also pretty messy, just balled up in a pile. All of this needs to be tidied up and tucked in before I reinstall the firewall.

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BigDanSubaru

02-23-2024, 10:07 AM

Looming and tesa taping the wiring harness. I'm officially halfway up the car. Granted, there are more wires up front and that will take longer because I still need to find mounting positions for all those fuse/circuit board boxes. But progress is progress. Closer and closer each night to being done with interior wiring. Then I can start putting the firewall, center console, and seats back in. Oh, and bolt in the 5 point harnesses.

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The wiring just isn't very rewarding to look at for how much time it takes. The doesn't really get me excited to work on it. But I got more wiring taped up and mounted the fuse box inside the car. I also mounted some other boxes like the keyless entry unit, immobilizer, and body control unit. Back-breaking and tedious work that I am glad is done now. I'm really looking forward to doing anything other than wiring.

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BigDanSubaru

02-23-2024, 10:09 AM

Finally got the gauges hooked up. I wanted to be able to see them all when I test drive the car. Because the dashboard doesn't get secured until later, I made a temporary wooden gauge pod to hold the gauges that I'm mounting in the dash. It will work fine. I like the little fuse block the serves the gauges. It has a plastic cover to protect the fuses. I just removed it for the photo because it's easier to tell what it is. I'll clean up the wiring a little better once the dash can go back in.

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BigDanSubaru

02-23-2024, 10:12 AM

Finally finished up enough of the wiring to get the firewall back in place. Shifter and emergency brake are all hooked back up. Bolted in some brackets to mount the 5 point harnesses to. I need to make a cross piece to attach the anti-sub belts to. Just realized now as I reviewed the photos that I switched the anti-sub and inside lap belts around somehow. So I'll be fixing that next. Moving right along.

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BigDanSubaru

02-23-2024, 10:14 AM

The carpet kit from Factory Five is really nice. I did a test fit of the pieces, and most fit perfectly. Some minor trimming is required for parts that I customized. I got the driver's side firewall carpet piece glued in place. I'm wishing I had carpeted the firewall before in reinstalled it. But that's par for the course with this project. The instructions don't exactly go in a logical order, so you end up removing and reinstalling parts a few times.

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BigDanSubaru

02-23-2024, 10:17 AM

Firewall is fully carpeted. I also got a piece done next to the driver's seat. Driver side foot well is fully carpeted (minus the center tunnel which I'm doing last). Installing the carpet is so much more rewarding than wiring. Noticeable progress without much time spent. Getting cozy in there!

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This V-band turbo outlet had some rough looking welds on the inside (ebay special). Dad spent a little bit of time grinding them down a bit for slightly smoother airflow. It's better than it was and I doubt the small power gain from getting it perfect is worth potentially having the weld fail by grinding too much material away.

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BigDanSubaru

02-27-2024, 08:14 AM

It took 3 of us most of the night to get the rear window installed in this aluminum panel. Lots of WD-40 and swearing, but we did it! In order to determine the mounting position for this panel, you have to put the weather seal around the top, then push it up against the inside of the hard top.

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Soooo, we put the hard top on! Then decided to put the fenders on to make sure the top was at the height it should be (it sits on an overlapping lip on the fender). Then we just had fun staring at how awesome it looks. Quickly turning into realization that the roof is very low and we now need to remove the seat sliders for more head room. Kinda sucks, but you didn't get much adjustment out of them anyway. Definitely going to need more headroom to accommodate a helmet for autocross.

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FFRWRX

02-27-2024, 09:36 AM

Putting that rear window in was one of the toughest jobs of the build!

What I found, that I didn't do, is that it is far easier to adjust the rear hatch hinges without that firewall panel in place. Best to leave it off, or make it easily removable, until the hatch is all lined up.

lance corsi

02-27-2024, 12:47 PM

BigDanSubaru

02-27-2024, 03:42 PM

Big Dan, I had the same problem as you and had to leave the seat adjusters out. I also leaned my seat back to give more headroom. I’m using a front mounted gas tank from Boyd’s so this helped gain a few precious inches to move the seat rearward.

How thick of a spacer did you put under the front seat mounts? I put about 1/2" under the front of the driver seat and it tipped it back some. Too much though, and the bolt wont thread into the seat because the seat is angled too far back. The bolt comes straight up through the frame rail beneath the seat, so if the seat is angled too much I can't get it to bolt up.

Another problem with angling the seats back is that it decreases the distance between the seat-back and the harness bar. That distance is already too close and I need to chop the harness bar standoffs way down so the shoulder strap length adjusters don't contact the seat. Not sure why FFR made these standoffs so long. You would think shorter would also be safer because the belt doesn't have as much of a moment to apply on the bolt holding the bar in place.

lance corsi

02-27-2024, 06:52 PM

Big Dan, I bought Tillett racing seats and they have a different type of base. The base is U-shaped with the open side up. My seats fit between the legs of the U-shape and the seat bolts are on the sides of the seat. The bottom of the U-shape is flat and that is what bolts onto the floor. Depending on where my bolts go thru the sides of the U-shape this establishes the tilt of my seat. My seat almost touches the bulkhead window aluminum. Also, I fabricated my own harness bar, so I don’t have your particular problem there.

BigDanSubaru

03-11-2024, 08:14 AM

Interior rear window panel in place. The hinges for the hatch are assembled and bolted in. The frame clamps for the gas struts that lift the hatch are also bolted on.

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BigDanSubaru

03-11-2024, 08:17 AM

Got a bunch of brackets painted last week. I was already hanging up a couple and figured I would paint the rest of them that were in the box while I was at it and the weather was nice. They were starting to collect surface rust in the box. Probably should have painted these earlier in the build, but was too excited doing other things.

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BigDanSubaru

03-11-2024, 08:20 AM

As for the seat and harness mounting, it has been a real challenge. Once we placed the hard top on, we realized that we (my dad and I) were too tall and we hit our head on the roof. So removing the seat sliders was the only way to gain headroom we needed. This messed everything up.
1. The lap belt mounts now interfere with the seat and need to be redesigned.
2. The mounting bolt for the anti-sub belt in the middle interferes with the seat bracket crossbar.
3. The tension adjustment point for the lap belts bottoms out on the plastic opening on the side of the seat. It needs to be moved up where they can be accessed.
4. The seat brackets need to be redesigned because they used to bolt up to the slide rails and now need to bolt to the seat itself.

This project can really bring you down sometimes. You work hard on a solution and invest time into it, just to find out much later that it actually doesn't work out the way you planned and you have to scrap it all and start over. But I think everything worth doing has highs and lows.

I managed to come up with a few solutions to the problems I listed. I ditched the bulky lap belt mounts and went with a bent L bracket design similar to what is used to extend the harnesses on Jeeps. This solves both problems 1 and 3. I can drill a hole in the crossbar for the seat to clear the mounting point for the anti-sub harness which solves problem 2. As for problem 4, the rear seat mounts still line up with the holes on the brackets. I will need to drill new holes for the front seat mounts in the brackets. I can re-use the front bracket holes to mount to the chassis.
Sometimes you have a rough day or night in the garage and it nothing goes your way. It really can be demoralizing and make you want to shove the project aside. But this is my dream and I cannot give up on it. I think about the project all the time and how much fun it will be when I can drive, race and show the finished car. Every hard day or night spent is progress towards that goal.

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BigDanSubaru

03-11-2024, 08:38 AM

It was a particularly sunny day out and I was determined to reignite my motivation after encountering the harness setback. I opened the garage door and brought up one of the front fenders. I clamped it roughly in place, stood back and just stared at the car for awhile. This really helped motivate me to keep progressing with the build. I also registered the 818 into a local car show which is in May and got accepted. I know I will not have it completed by then, but that didn't stop me from enjoying Boxerfest last year.

I think this strategy of maintaining motivation is really effective. There comes a time in the build where the "honeymoon phase" ends. From some 818 builders this may have been the wiring stage. Or the body (likely the doors) stage. If whatever you are working on now isn't very exciting or motivating, look ahead to something that is. Even looking at pictures of completed builds helps motivate me to reach that point and push through these challenges. Going to shows (even when your build isn't "complete") is another great way to collect some motivation. If you're at the stage when you can fire the car up, do it! Set small, achievable goals and knock them out one-by-one.

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Bicyclops

03-11-2024, 09:46 AM

A little eye candy every now an then can do wonders for the morale. A friend let me drive his Cobra on Mulholland Highway late one night when I was slogging through wiring and I was buzzing for a week. Perseverance is every thing.

Ed

Dave 53

03-11-2024, 12:01 PM

After blowing up my engine (that's a whole story), I reassembled a new long block and installed it back into the car only to discover it didn't have cam shaft seals. But I'm pretty good at cam shaft seals now because I replaced them the last time they were leaking. When they still leaked, I remember yelling out, "You've gotta ****ing be kidding me!" The leak was coming from a loose plug bolt on the head above the cams. The fix ended up being a simple 1/4 turn tightening of the bolt. I had to replace my throttle cable at the track. No big deal - I carry a spare. The spare cable was too short. I blew up 3 5 speeds before switching to a 6 speed. Then I broke an axle at Lagua Seca. I imagine we all have stories of such frustration. I just tell myself, "We'll get through this one just like all the rest and it will be worth it."

I'm thankful for advice (from this forum) that will minimize these stories and I hope others can learn from my mistakes.

PS I'd suggest painting the bracket at the bottom of the A pillar. It can get extremely rusty.

Dave 53

03-11-2024, 12:17 PM

BigDanSubaru

03-11-2024, 01:08 PM

Dave,

Thanks for the video on the harness wrap techniques! I will revise the wrap on my harness bar once I get the seat position and rough strap length better determined. I know that it's not the safest thing out there. To be fair, the whole car is dangerous. Home-built tube chassis car with no traction or stability control, no ABS, no airbags, no power steering, no power brakes, poor visibility and RWD with a high enough power to weight ratio to get you into a lot of trouble. As they say "this is why women live longer than men".

BigDanSubaru

04-01-2024, 08:45 AM

Wrapped the center tunnel in carpet. I did not use the pre-cut one from the FFR carpet kit because my shifter and ebrake are not in the same position as the directions call for. I bought extra carpet from FFR and cut this piece custom.
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Did a little CAD (Cardboard Aided Design) on an aluminum panel to cover the emergency brake. A lot of back and forth test fitting and trimming but I got the aluminum version to fit pretty nicely. I wrapped it in carpet to match the rest of the interior. I didn't want to spray adhesive the carpet to the ebrake trim because I wanted it to be removable. Ran out of industrial strength Velcro, so the top panel is just resting on there in these pics. Hoping the Velcro will hold it down nicely and it will help hide the edges.
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I bought a little shifter extension off of Amazon for cheap. It was more of a test piece to see if I liked it, and I think I am actually going to keep it. It keep the shifter at a really comfortable height, adds more leverage for shifting, and keeps my wrist from hitting the ebrake handle when I shift to 2nd gear.
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I finished installing the carpet under the seats. Now I can focus on getting the seats installed again.
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BigDanSubaru

04-01-2024, 08:48 AM

The driver seat and harness are bolted in! I can't even begin to explain the feeling of relief, accomplishment, satisfaction, and excitement that pulsed through my body the first time I pulled down on the shoulder straps and felt my body pull down snug into the seat. This was a huge challenge to sort out and I'm so glad I finally did it! I also rewrapped the harnesses around the harness bar the appropriate way following the methods shown in the video link from the previous post. Much easier to rewrap them with the seats out.

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Another long night in the garage with the guys, but we got the passenger seat and harness installed! Plus we torque checked a bunch of suspension components. Some of them we have to wait until the car is on the ground. I have a few more things I need to do before we can do that. Making progress!

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BigDanSubaru

04-16-2024, 06:46 AM

I finally got the chance to take her out on her maiden voyage! I took the whole day off to prep things and get set up. My dad and my uncle came over on lunch to take video and go for a ride. I don't have any videos up on YouTube, but I posted some on my Instagram (links below). Sorry to anyone who doesn't have or can't see Instagram videos. In the future, I may create a channel where I post content about the 818. I am just too busy at the moment to do that.

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I didn't push the car much because the alignment is still a work in progress. Brakes are firm and the car runs and sounds great! It was an awesome day. Now onto the next phase....bodywork. :rolleyes: (I've heard it's a blast)

https://www.instagram.com/p/C5jvmcssHUJ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C5nwrdXuaZd/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Ajzride

04-16-2024, 07:36 AM

Such an awesome day. I still remmember my go-kart. Congrats!!

driveslikejehu

04-17-2024, 06:52 AM

Congratulations on the 1st drive!
The body can be frustrating. A couple of tips you might consider...
The front fenders are not of equal length (at least mine aren't) at the line that joins the hood. I spent a while trying to even everything up before finally figuring this out. Then I ended up measuring everything. The frame is pretty square and true, so I marked centerlines front to back for reference.
You can check my build thread for some pics on this.
Good luck!

BigDanSubaru

04-17-2024, 07:10 AM

I have seen a few builders apply truck bed liner to the inside of their body panels to protect them from the elements and debris. I also like the way it looks rather than just the raw fiberglass on the inside. So I scuffed up the inside of all of the body panels and washed them out with dish soap to remove any contaminants.

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I let these dry overnight, then flipped them all over to apply Herculiner. It is a roll/brush on product and it applies really easily. I only needed one coat to get good coverage. It took way longer to dry than the directions stated, but I let them sit for the entire day in the sun, then brought them into the garage overnight to dry. They turned out really nice. Plus I am getting way fewer fiberglass splinters handling them.

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BigDanSubaru

04-18-2024, 01:01 PM

I had way too much negative camber at the rear. As in more than my magnetic bubble scale can read (over -6°). I thought I had the camber link about as long as I felt comfortable in terms of thread engagement. However, after talking with another coupe builder. He has 24mm of thread showing on either end of the camber link suspension tube. I had less than 20mm. I didn't think that adjusting it just that little bit would make such a large difference, but it seems to have done it. See before pics below.

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After adjusting the upper camber link to 24mm of thread showing on each end of the suspension tube my camber is much more reasonable. But there is not much thread engagement. I may order a longer suspension tube from Summit just for peace of mind.
Looks like it would be this part. Which is available in various lengths. I will measure my current tube and get a replacement that is about 1" longer so I have an extra 1/2" of thread engagement on either end. I will feel a lot safer knowing it's not right on the edge (or close to it).
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/aaf-all57158

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BigDanSubaru

04-18-2024, 01:18 PM

Okay [takes a deep breath], here we go with the body install posts. I have been doing a lot of thread reading and there seem to be a few good ways to approach this. The method that I am choosing is to set the side panels in place 5/8" back at the lower front of the panel from the vertical frame member behind the front wheel like the instructions suggest. These side panels will be my reference points to line up the rest of the body. Having too many degrees of freedom to adjust things sometimes makes the process of achieving fitment excruciating. Especially when the clamps are slipping or popping off which throws everything out of whack. I am not saying this is the best or the right way, but it's the way I am approaching the challenge.

Before attempting to install this panel, I hooked up the fuel filler tube and bolted on the door latch mounting bracket. I would recommend doing that before you install this panel, otherwise it can be a pain to get in there. You may have to adjust the location of that latch mount to get the correct body panel positioning.

For the driver side panel, I started by clamping the panel against the frame at the door sill like the instructions suggest. I made sure that the bottom of the panel was touching the bottom of the car and set the 5/8" distance back from the front frame tube as stated in the instructions. I riveted the bottom of the panel in place, then moved onto the top. The aluminum C-channel panel that wraps around the door sill does not allow for the additional thickness added if you install the FFR carpet on the inside. You may also have to file or sand down the fiberglass to the same level as the door sill frame so things are flush. To solve the carpet thickness issue I took a simple approach. I did not want to cut the carpet back, because I did not want to see the seam, or any gaps where I may have overcut by mistake. Instead, I dry-fit the panel as best I could and taped off an area of the carpet to be shaved. Yes, I mean that literally. I used my beard trimmer to shave the carpet almost down to the backing, and the metal panel fits great now. I drilled, siliconed, and riveted the top in place. I will probably wrap this panel on the car later, but that is a detail that can wait. The rear shock tower mounting point is just resting on the mounting tab for now. I will not worry about that until I get the passenger side panel and read panel on, then I can center everything on the frame.

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Onto the passenger side!

lpmagruder

04-22-2024, 06:58 AM

BigDanSubaru

04-22-2024, 07:19 AM

Oof, well they are riveted on now. I measured back from the firewall to the back edge of each side sail and they are dead even, so hopefully they are good where they are. I am working on the rear panel now. Once I get it ready to mount, I'll know how things are looking. Dropping the hardtop on after I install the rear panel will also really tell me if I have them in the correct place.

Dave 53

04-22-2024, 01:28 PM

I recommend using just a few self tapping screws to start, until all the panels are fit up. Fully riveting them in would be frustrating if you need to bump it like 1/8in or so. I definitely had to fine tune the side sails a little once I got all the rest of the parts on.

I agree and suggest drilling only the minimal number of rivet holes and only using clecos or tapping screws until everything is fitted.

I'd also suggest triple clamping any coolant system hose clamps or using Gates PowerGrip clamps in any locations that will be difficult to access after the panels are mounted. Because if you're ever gonna have a hose clamp leak, guess which one it will be...

And perhaps run the hoses for an AWIC now. Maybe you'll never use them, but if some day you want an AWIC, you won't have to take the car apart to install it.

BigDanSubaru

05-07-2024, 06:47 AM

I laid the Factory Five mesh and aluminum trim piece on and wasn't a huge fan of the look. I decided to just freehand the opening and lay my own mesh behind it. I think it turned out pretty nice. Freakin scary cutting into panels knowing that I cannot get replacements for them.

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BigDanSubaru

07-12-2024, 12:32 PM

At this point I am way behind on updating my build thread (my bad). I will start trying to get caught up here at time permits.

Here are some photos showing the wiring for the taillights. I couldn't find the black taillight plugs that are supposed to come with the kit. That plug allows for the switchback turn and reverse LED bulb to be inserted. I stuck with the tan housing and used the standard bulb that came with the lights which blinks amber only. This is fine, because I already have aftermarket lights which have a white ring light for reverse. I also wired a trailer lighting unit up which allows the brake lights to operate as a flashing turn signal. In the future I may eliminate the amber light all together and do something different with the design of the back. But for now, this will get me on the road.

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Here are some pictures of the lights operating.

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Oh, and I started playing around with the quiklatches. These things are pretty slick. Kind of expensive, but I think they will look nicer than the huge hood pins and I don't feel like bonding in studs to hide everything underneath.

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BigDanSubaru

07-12-2024, 12:42 PM

Rear bumper lower grill cutout and light cutouts. Painted the cut edges and added my own mesh with a rubber strip to cover the cut edge. Turned out pretty decent.

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Just messing around with the front of the body to see how much fiddling around will have to be done. Seemed pretty manageable, but we will see once I get deeper into it. It was cool to see the panels sitting on the car though. Really got me excited to keep pushing on with the body work.

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I couldn't get the camber on the rear wheels right because these camber links were too close to the end of their travel. Not enough engagement for comfort. I found a direct replacement that is a little longer and gave me the adjustment that I needed. Got them on Summit.

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Dave 53

07-12-2024, 01:49 PM

The lights look trick!

Looking at photos of my car on track, it's amazing how much / hard the hood get's pulled up. While those push button latches look awesome and are fine on other places, they might not be strong enough for the hood. The AreoCatch latches still look clean and are much stronger.

I share this picture because it shows the hood trying to rip off the car at about 70mph.

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BigDanSubaru

07-12-2024, 02:11 PM

Dave, that is wild how much the hood is trying to buckle in the center. I wonder if you enlarged the openings or used a mesh with a higher percentage of free area if that would help reduce that. The factory five mesh with all the small holes blocks a lot of airflow. I have the ZeroDecibelMotorsports hood hinge installed. So I will only have the quiklatches on rear of the hood. I also plan to use a more free-flowing mesh to help aid in evacuating airflow from under the hood. Maybe even open up the holes larger at some point and install the ZeroDecibelMotorsports hood louvers. Sweet pic!

BigDanSubaru

07-12-2024, 02:32 PM

Here are some pictures of my 818 at Tuner Evolution 2024 in Harrisburg, PA. I had a decent time there, but was dealing with a lot of anxiety that day. It was raining off and on, and having a car that isn't even remotely close to enclosed yet added a lot of stress during transport. Plus everyone there had some picture perfect show car and I had...well...half a car. But I didn't want to let that stop me from bringing it out and showing it. Typical turnout where the Subie guys love it and ask lots of questions (more than just the usual "what is it?").

By the end of the show though, I was getting really tired of answering that question and describing what it is. I usually don't mind, but I was already feeling kinda sick with anxiety which made me uncomfortable and a little irritable. I also have signs on the front that say what it is. Apparently kids these days call those "Boomer Boards". Guess that makes me a Boomer at age 31. Anyway, my son had a ton of fun watching the RC drift competition. I had to get a picture of him with his big smile standing next to "daddy's red car".

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Unloading after a long stressful day of moving the car around. We had tarps and covers strapped down all over it. It didn't get all that wet, but backing it up the wet ramps was very sketchy. Next time I am going to hire a transport company to take it to a show. That would really take a lot of stress off and greatly reduce my show anxiety.

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BigDanSubaru

07-12-2024, 02:38 PM

I forgot to add this picture in the last post. Honestly, I like it so much that I am just going to give it its own post. Factory Five featured it on their story too, which really made me fell good. In fact, if you go to their Instagram page, the photo is still featured there. Link here --> https://www.instagram.com/p/C7M-SkDuh2v/

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Dave 53

07-12-2024, 05:52 PM

I don't think it's high pressure under the hood. It's low pressure above the hood. In cross section, the hood looks a lot like an airplane wing. But, for whatever the reason, the hood wants to fly off and needs to be robustly secured.

At least if you have the hood hinges and the latches fail, the hood won't fly away. I'd be curious to know the results of an experiment. At what speed will it get exciting if you forget to latch to latch your hood / the latches fail. With your hood hinges, it will probably just flop around a bit. On my car without the hinges, it will fly off!

I like that picture too. It's at Buttonwillow. The car in front of me spun out and made the big dust cloud. I had to blindly drive through it and when I popped out, the photographer got the picture.

Subifest is August 4th in California. This is the second year in a row I can't make it. One of these days...

driveslikejehu

07-13-2024, 08:06 AM

Congrats on the progress! I sorta envy you as I enjoyed building it at least as much as driving it.
As you may have seen from other build threads, the front end can be frustrating. My recommendation; if you haven't, measure everything. After a bit of pushing everything around to make it fit, I found the fenders weren't the same length at the hood line and the hood wasn't symmetric. So short of cutting something, the fitting near the windshield was never going to be even.

Bicyclops

07-13-2024, 01:55 PM

Hmmmm... I've got the Mechie front hinges and quiklatches. I haven't seen any of that bulge up at well over a hundred. I do have his larger louvers as well so maybe that is letting some of the pressure out. Cooling is certainly good.

I did forget to latch them once and got on the freeway. It bounced around but showed no signs of rising. I don't think I got over seventy. I didn't even notice it on the way to the freeway.

Ed

BigDanSubaru

07-15-2024, 08:53 AM

Here are some before and after pictures of the longer camber links that I installed. Got them from Summit. Allows for much more thread engagement. The problem I was running into was that I had a ridiculous amount of negative camber, and I could not extend the link any further without having a dangerously low level of thread engagement.

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Factory Five recommends in the manual that you dab some anti-seize on the top of the hood pin, then press down on the panel to mark the spot to drill. Only problem is that I don't want to remove the entire hard top again to drill from under the panel where the mark it. I found these really strong neodymium magnets at Home Depot. They are ring shaped and self center on each other through the panel. I simply placed the one magnet above the pin on the underside of the panel, then placed the other magnet on top. Located the hole for me with ease! I left one fastener out on the aluminum bracket so I could swing it out of the way when drilling the hole.

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BigDanSubaru

07-15-2024, 09:04 AM

The doors are definitely going to take a lot of time. I managed to get both frames mounted with the door skins on and they latch on the striker. They still need some fine tuning to help reduce rubbing, but they function for now so I am moving on to the rest of the body. I'll circle back to the doors later on. One thing I noticed with the doors is that you cannot just latch the door, then tighten the door frame to the chassis. The frame has a degree of sag to it when it opens. It was helpful for me to unlatch the door from the striker and hold it slightly higher that the latch engagement height. Then my dad tightened the frame to the car. Now it lines up nicely even after the slight sag.

I also countersunk all of the hardware that holds the door skin to the door frame. I also countersunk the 3 bolts that hold the latch mechanism to the door frame like some other builders have recommended. My gaps aren't very even, but I think I can adjust them to be better later. I know I will have to take the doors off again at some point to install the skins, so there isn't a point in getting them perfect right now. I also want to get the rest of the panels on before Boxerfest 2024 which is a little over a month away.

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BigDanSubaru

07-15-2024, 12:14 PM

The hatch required some trimming around the edges to fit into the opening. I laid the glass panel onto the hatch and traced the outline onto the fiberglass with the glass panel centered and placed where I wanted it. Then I taped that line and trimmed to it as close as possible, then finished leveling the surface by sanding. The hatch fits into the opening well now and the edges look good. I just need to adjust the hinges a little bit so the hatch sits a little further into the opening at the top. The hinges are bottomed out and the hatch is sticking up just a bit over the roof line.

Glass is just taped in place for now so I could play with the settings on the gas struts that open the hatch. I think I got them adjusted into a pretty good spot where they help open the hatch, but don't bow it up when the hatch is closed. I am sure once the glass in installed and the adhesive is cured, that will make the hatch more rigid as well.

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BigDanSubaru

07-15-2024, 12:24 PM

I am back to evaluating the front end of the car and what needs to be trimmed/adjusted. I clamped some things in place and just fiddled with it for a bit. I am noticing (like most builders have pointed out) that the fenders are different lengths. My driver side fender is about 1" longer tip-to-tail than my passenger side fender. Pretty crazy that the molds are that different and it went unchanged, but I think I can kinda make it work with more adjustment.

I definitely need to trim the flange on the fender that the hood sits on up where it meets the windshield. It interferes with the A pillar and keeps the fender from coming in far enough. I also needed to trim the lower rear mounting flange of both fenders so it would not interfere with the door panel as it swings. I will also have to trim some of the return flange on the back of each fender so I can open the doors further without them hitting the fenders. Lots of work to be done here to get things to come out right. For now, I am waiting to cut anything until I can use a laser to make sure the hood is straight and true to the rest of the body. Then I will adjust the fenders to suit that centerline.

I think once I do that and I trim some of the areas that I have noted to be interfering with achieving a good fit, things will start to line up. Right now in these pictures, things are still kinda wonky due to excess material preventing proper positioning, and slip in the clamps. But it almost looks like a complete car here which is amazing to see. Makes me smile every time I walk back into the garage!

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Shawn818c

07-15-2024, 09:23 PM

Its really coming together!

BigDanSubaru

05-13-2025, 11:03 AM

z||- CLEAR!! -||z Bzzzzt! Bum-bum bum-bum...

It's time to revive my build thread and get caught up on documenting my 818 build after a long time away.

The next few posts will contain photos that I took during the build, but never uploaded. I will try to do my best to recall and summarize what work was being done and elaborate on any challenges that I may have encountered to help other builders (and to look back on later myself).

These photos are of the day I decided to post up a laser level and attempt to align the center of all of the body panels on the 818. It actually really helped to serve as a reference point to measure from.

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BigDanSubaru

05-17-2025, 04:57 PM

I had a show coming up and didn't want to show the car with two holes in the front where the light should be. I covered the lenses in black vinyl for the show and 3M taped them on temporarily. I used knifeless tape to create a 1" border around the edges to cover the adhesive when I permanently install them later. All I have to do is just peel the center portion away and I'll have a nice consistent border.

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BigDanSubaru

05-17-2025, 05:06 PM

After hearing about some builders having luck with Safelite for installing their windows, I gave them a try. Turns out they would not perform the service because they were not providing the glass and did not want to be liable for any damage. I guess I get it. But I didn't leave empty handed. The lady at the front desk gave me her husband's phone number who does installs on the side and used to work there for many years. I did a really nice job, all things considered. It was a very hot day and he was at it for hours.

We tested fitment of the windshield many times before he arrived. Using stacked up strips of foam to simulate the height of goop that supports the windshield. The higher the foam, the better the window fits. Otherwise it rubs in the corners, especially at the bottom corners. I trimmed a little bit of the gelcoat away to free up some clearance so it would not touch. It's tight, but it fits. Glad this part of the build is done.

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I also trimmed the flange on the hood down so it would sit more flush with the front fenders. It was standing up quite a bit higher. Also got the mirrors installed. Can't see much of anything out of them, but I plan to install a backup camera that runs continuously with a wide angle for better visibility.

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ASL67

05-17-2025, 05:59 PM

looks great, to bad FFR stopped offering this kit at this time. Hopefully they bring it back.

BigDanSubaru

05-17-2025, 10:19 PM

Back when I was collecting parts for this build, I bought many parts from ZeroDecibelMotorsports. Two of which were the roof scoop grill and the clam shell hood hinge system. The roof scoop grill was a simple install. Just painted it black, painted the inside of the opening black, riveted it in place, then used a little black touch up paint to coat the rivets to match.

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I installed my hood pins in the locations that I wanted them at. Then made these little extension bars to reach the pin location from the stock mounting points. Bottom side has a rivnut and top side holds the pin system. Simple, light, and effective.
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The clam shell hood hinge system was not all that difficult to install. Just time consuming. I have seen this kit installed many different ways. I bolted the hinges onto the frame, laid under the car, and marked the locations for the bondable studs. I bonded the studs to the hood with a 2 part epoxy. First I had to grind away some of the truck bed liner to get down to bare fiberglass. Then I laid 2 sheets of fiberglass overtop of the studs to reinforce them so they would not rip free. Lastly, I painted it all black and installed the hood.

My solution to the issue where the hood is curved and the mounting flanges for the clam shell hood system are flat, was simple. Just installed jam nuts as spacers between the hood and the hinges. This seemed way easier than some of the other solutions that I have seen using fiberglass and foam to level the underside of the hood where the hinge mounts to. It seems sturdy, but I won't be leaving the hood up at shows unless I come up with some sort of prop rod system to stabilize it from wind.
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BigDanSubaru

05-17-2025, 10:33 PM

I modified the center hood supports that FFR provided. I cut a custom vinyl of the 818C and stuck it on there.
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The FFR optional carbon fiber spoiler actually fits half decently. The ends are a little weird, but overall not bad. I 3M taped it on for now. For extra safety, I might stick a rivet in each corner to make sure it does not become a missile on the road.
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Now for the fun part. The power windows. These have really been a struggle. In these photos, I was making a desperate effort the weekend before a big car show to get them at least clamped in and semi-sealed. There was some rain forecasted for this rain or shine event that I had been looking forward to all year. I entered the 818 in the car show and I was not going to miss it over a little rain. I got them to fit okay after a lot of scary adjustments. If I drop the glass, I am screwed. If I cut too much of the door or I cut it in the wrong spot, also screwed.
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