Honolulu 818S Hana (work/build) Thread

[RM1SepEx]

The reply back from the Hawaii SCCA is they are following the 2015 rules until the end of this season, which is April. So I will be in XP class for this one race. Then I will be moving into the EM class at the start of 2016 season this fall.

I bought a GoPro 4 Silver yesterday to get ready for the race. The video is pretty good but since the camera is encased in a waterproof case you can't hear much of the engine and just some clicking noises, I guess from the suction mount. So I ordered a remote mic and since I don't see any underwater filming in my near future I'll just cut a hole for the plug to fit through the case to the camera.

I do not have any experience with a GoPro, any advice? It is pretty cool that I can control it from my iPhone though.

It was AM in 2015, no defined class, XP would need an exception granted as all XP are PRODUCTION cars!

[Aloha818]

Awsome, the Lee''s pretty much run scca hawaii are great people. Knowing the track is key to a clean run. I used to walk it a couple of times and sketch it out on a note pad. My memory is great but only last a couple of minutes. Lol. Hopefully I can get back out there in a couple of years. My kits in the garage and I'm planning to build as designed with as few exceptions as possible.

Walt, thanks for commenting on my thread!

Please have fun and enjoy building your 818. It's a great experience.

Today was the first day my wife really saw the car and the first time she road in it. It was a beautiful day here in Hawaii, a little on the breezy, cool side (low 70's) and full sun, great to be driving in an open top car.

[Aloha818]

It was AM in 2015, no defined class, XP would need an exception granted as all XP are PRODUCTION cars!

Thanks for the clarification. Since it's the last race, and I'll be lucky to get around the track without getting lost, I'm not going to argue the point. Next year I'll be all over it ��

[Aloha818]

So let's talk about car shows. Who has been in what car shows?

Today I signed up to be in the Honolulu location for Hot Import Nights (http://hotimportnights.com), here at the Blaisdell Arena. It happens on April 23rd. My application was accepted and now I am communicating with a local photographer with help with photos and a model for the show.

Since this is kind of a tuner/rice'r event I figured the 818 would fit right in!

Should be a lot of err "competition"

image.jpeg

[Frank818]

That model on the pic is your gf I guess?

[Aloha818]

That model on the pic is your gf I guess?

Frank, nope. Just the ad for the exhibition! Gonna be Fun!

[Aloha818]

Today I'm at Hawaii Performance. Getting Aloha818 strapped to the Dynojet 248.

image.jpeg

After spending about an hour making small pulls and getting all the extra fuel pulled out that had in it to be safe he made the first real pull.

https://youtu.be/3Uwcl1OYtjw

This is about 180HP (wheels).

The 4eat (auto trans) automatically up shifts and won't hold 3rd gear, 1:1 drive. So the hard pulls, including this YouTube is with it in 2nd. He is also adjusting for real driving conditions in full auto.

More vids and chart after we finish today.

[Harley818]

Sounds good and looks good from the front, but the Aloha girl is missing...... been missing for a while now.....

[Aloha818]

Sounds good and looks good from the front, but the Aloha girl is missing...... been missing for a while now.....

Harley, thanks much! The Aloha girl is there, but they wouldn't let me up on the rack to get her in the pic and vid.

[Aloha818]

After a long 5 months of rewiring the entire car, rewiring the engine and installing the Haltech Platinum Sport 1000 ECU I have a car that's tuned and 95% safe to drive at will.

A refresher on my engine. It is a stock 2000 EJ222, single cams, single port heads, my design and fab'd SS header, up pipe, flow through muffler, one step colder plugs, fiveO supplied 550cc injectors, custom cold air intake, TD04 turbo, AWIC, and zero emission equipment. The advertised numbers for the Outback are 149tq and 142hp.

I arrived at my appointed time of 11:00am, took about an hour to get cars juggled around, the 818 on the ramps without anything dragging, and strapped down. The day was sunny and about 85 degrees, the dyno is in an unconditioned shop.

The tech spent about an hour or so reviewing the car and making small pulls and adjusting before making a first full pull. The first pull had the car at 136whp and 152wtq.

A side note about a 4EAT on the dyno. 3rd gear is 1:1, but the problem is the trans will downshift to 2nd under load with no user setting to stop it. So after this discovery all the pulls are in 2nd gear which throws the results low by 10hp or so.

The tech spent about another hour or so adjusting and pulling, a total of 7 more pulls. For the day we did not connect the boost controller.

We let the car cool for about a half hour and made one more pull (#9). The car was still heat soaked but it was about 3:30 and I had a date with my wife!

The last pull has a high of 177whp @ 4600 rpm's and 175wtq @ 5900rpm's.

image.jpeg

Here is a pic of the tuning screen after this last pull. You can see the the intake air temp is high at 114degrees.

image.jpeg

There is a way to temporarily bypass some trans solenoid's on the trans to make it stay in 3rd, I need to research this more for the next dyno day.

I would have thought the number would be higher, but I really don't know what I should have expected. After the tuning the car is much faster and runs much smoother.

I'll upload the last dyno run video later today on YouTube.

This thing is going to get me into trouble!

Let me know if you guys have any advice.

[wallace18]

Super job! That is plenty of torque and HP for such a light car. You have done a great job, IMO.

[Aloha818]

Super job! That is plenty of torque and HP for such a light car. You have done a great job, IMO.

Wallace, thank you very much!

I haven't had any time to drive it around this weekend to get a better feel on the newfound power. But I was having a fun time racing through traffic on the way home!

This weekend I had to pack up my little shop and move everything into a storage place. Bulldozing it down for a Whole Foods and a condo project. Kind of fitting timing though, I rented it to build the 818 and I have to move out the day after I can dyno it.

[Aloha818]

I just uploaded the last dyno pull on YouTube.

https://youtu.be/-nL07nuUBQE

[longislandwrx]

This weekend I had to pack up my little shop and move everything into a storage place. Bulldozing it down for a Whole Foods and a condo project. Kind of fitting timing though, I rented it to build the 818 and I have to move out the day after I can dyno it.

What an perfect ending to your build story. Congrats on getting everything sorted out!



ps nice flames on that first pull.

[Mitch Wright]

Now you get to really enjoy your car, it is definitely a ride to be proud of.

[Frank818]

The last pull has a high of 177whp @ 4600 rpm's and 175wtq @ 5900rpm's.

image.jpeg

I think you meant 175whp @ 4600 rpm's and 177wtq @ 5900rpm's.


Good torque in the 4k+.

[AZPete]

Thank you for posting your journey as you built this beautiful 818. I've learned a lot watching your build thread from the beginning and now I hope you'll stick around to lend your advice and your track adventures. And, I have a crush on your Aloha Girl!

[Aloha818]

Now you get to really enjoy your car, it is definitely a ride to be proud of.

Mitch, thanks for the positive comment!

It really is fun to drive. Looking forward to the SCCA event April 3rd! I need to get a little friendly street competition to see how it compares.

[Aloha818]

I think you meant 175whp @ 4600 rpm's and 177wtq @ 5900rpm's.


Good torque in the 4k+.

Frank, your right of course, sorry for writing it backwards.

[Aloha818]

Thank you for posting your journey as you built this beautiful 818. I've learned a lot watching your build thread from the beginning and now I hope you'll stick around to lend your advice and your track adventures. And, I have a crush on your Aloha Girl!

Pete, I appreciate that my time documenting this build has been beneficial for you. Thanks for your kind words.

I am open to answer any questions asked. There are so many talented builders on this site that I am reluctant to offer my opinions on others threads without being asked.

April is going to be a fun month for Aloha818 and the Hula Girl! The SCCA event on the 3rd and the exhibition Hot Import Nights on the 23rd. I have a GoPro with external mic ready to go, so more pics and vids coming!

[Hindsight]

As apposed to the passenger side which required filler in about 7-8" and about 1/8" thick at the fender side to level out. On both side the lip of the engine cover is notched to be level with the fenders so that the bottom of the trunk would be flat.
Attachment 28441

Is it an illusion or are you actually filling the area between two panels with filler then scribing a line through it before it starts to cure, and then sanding after full cure? I did see in another post, if I read correctly, that you apply the filler one panel with the adjacent panel removed, then after it cures you lay the adjacent panel over the top of the cured filler and trace a sand-to line, but in the pic above it almost looks like there is some filler bridging the two panels.

Thanks!

[Aloha818]

Is it an illusion or are you actually filling the area between two panels with filler then scribing a line through it before it starts to cure, and then sanding after full cure? I did see in another post, if I read correctly, that you apply the filler one panel with the adjacent panel removed, then after it cures you lay the adjacent panel over the top of the cured filler and trace a sand-to line, but in the pic above it almost looks like there is some filler bridging the two panels.

Thanks!

I think in that pic I had already filled some of the large radius edges and was spreading filler to level the engine cover with the rear fender. Especially on the passenger side, that flat area of the engine cover had a good sized valley that I wanted to fill level.

I typically wait till the filler is hard before cutting any away as I would be concerned about the filler loosing its bond. It's easier to make several small batches and work the details little by little rather than using a lot at once and trying to cut/sand so much. At least for me anyway.

Did this answer your question? Let me know.

[Scargo]

It is a good trick to use an X-Acto knife or razor blade while the filler is still rubbery. Also, you can make shapes in the edges of spreaders and, with practice, drag in radii. Remember, there are many variations on fillers. Some are highly filled (and coarse) and some are like butter. Some will shrink more than others, and of course, how much catalyst you add affects the working life of it and shrinkage.

[Hindsight]

Thanks for the reply. I was mostly wondering if you were applying the filler while both panels were resting in place, then somehow separating them after the filler cures. I've been reading various techniques for this but in most of the ones I've read so far, people put a piece of cardboard between the panels to keep them separated and when the filler is partially cured, the remove one panel and break the carboard off before the bond becomes too strong. Was curious as to your technique on this since your gaps are so nice.

[Aloha818]

Thanks for the reply. I was mostly wondering if you were applying the filler while both panels were resting in place, then somehow separating them after the filler cures. I've been reading various techniques for this but in most of the ones I've read so far, people put a piece of cardboard between the panels to keep them separated and when the filler is partially cured, the remove one panel and break the carboard off before the bond becomes too strong. Was curious as to your technique on this since your gaps are so nice.

Thanks for the extra info. In my case, if I remember correctly, I used filler to fill in most of the large radius of the corner of the fender first. The large radius on all the fiberglass panels make the car look more fiberglassy than production, in my opinion. Then after I had straight lines I installed the adjacent panels and would let just enough filler flow over into the gap to be just beyond what would be my final gap so I could trace a line. I used a stir stick to gauge my gaps. I would run my stir stick along the finished/straightened panel with a pencil and then block sand to my pencil line. Then remove the panel and fill/finish the small turned down edge to that straightened/panel matched line.

I worked to make all the panel edges 90* first, then worked slowly to sand in a smaller radius on all the edges, closer in size to metal car panels.

[Hindsight]

Thanks for the additional info - very helpful.

[Aloha818]

Tomorrow will be my first SCCA event. So today I gave Aloha818 a bath and experimented with the placement of the GoPro and remote mic.

I ended up using the suction cup mount in the forward middle of the top of the engine cover with the mic placed about neck level on the front of the passenger seat.

I uploaded a quick video of a run in the parking lot of my old shop. Everybody has been moved out, bulldozers start next week. This is 0-50, I think I was having a little tire spin😄.

http://youtu.be/qYOw2Cx9sa8

Hula Girl is now occupying her permanent home!

[Hindsight]

Nice! Good luck at the event.

[Aloha818]

The long awaited day arrived for me to actually drive my creation and be able to benchmark it against an assortment of stock to race prepped vehicles in a fair venue!

image.jpeg

I believe this is the first 818 to run in the state of Hawaii and I can assume the first 818 with an automatic transmission to compete in an event.

Today was pure sunshine and 85 degrees. The Rookie class worked the 3rd heat, and ran the 4th heat. I was at the course at 7:00 and we didn't run until 2:00. As you can imagine cars and people are a little heat soaked.

We walked the track 4 times in the morning and once with an instructor after lunch. Driving the coarse is very different that what you think when you walk it and watch others driving it. Very quick and what you think is not much of a slalom really is!

Today's track was a pretty fast track. The best time I saw was about 33seconds. Most of the advanced performance guys were running between 36-39 seconds.

Here in Honolulu we get 4 runs. On my first run, with an instructor, I overshot the last slalom and missed the turn, got back on track for a time of 52.340sec.

The second run, with an instructor, was a clean run with a time of 44.175
http://youtu.be/NbjuKUSRcK8

The third run I ran solo and ran 43.847
http://youtu.be/2VXWUq-xc9s

The fourth run I ran with an instructor and ran 41.342

I was having issues with my GoPro and iPhone because of the heat before the last run, my iPhone was too hot and shut me out so no video on the last run.

My rookie friend with the 911 was running about 42 seconds and my other rookie friend in the Lotus was running 39 seconds. They have been running most of this year so I feel pretty good about my first time out.

The best news is that it was fun, nothing broke, and I didn't hit any cones! BTW, the 4EAT was basically invisible, it was always in the right gear and power was always available.


Official times are posted. 114 drivers, best time was a Lotus Elise in SSM class of 32.611.

Mine are 52.340 +dnf, 44.175, 43.847, 41.342

[walt555]

Nice runs....great first for the 818!

[Zarf]

Well done looks like a lot of fun...
Andrew

[Hindsight]

Racing cars in Hawaii..... could it get any better?

[Frank818]

Racing cars in Hawaii..... could it get any better?

Racing cars with chicks in bikini in Hawaii?

[carbon fiber]

Racing exotic hypercars with naked chicks on a private track I own in Hawaii... Man I'm so much better than you guys at this! The car looks great. Good to see you get the trans and tune all sorted, it sounds like you're having fun.

[Hindsight]

I'd just settle for racing an 818, or being in Hawaii. Right now, neither one is happening for me lol.

[Aloha818]

Nice runs....great first for the 818!

Well done looks like a lot of fun...
Andrew

Racing cars in Hawaii..... could it get any better?

Racing cars with chicks in bikini in Hawaii?

Racing exotic hypercars with naked chicks on a private track I own in Hawaii... Man I'm so much better than you guys at this! The car looks great. Good to see you get the trans and tune all sorted, it sounds like you're having fun.

I'd just settle for racing an 818, or being in Hawaii. Right now, neither one is happening for me lol.

Thanks all for the positive comments and humor! I'll have to read the SCCA rules to see if they allow bikini clad passengers😎

The HIN Hawaii 2016 show is the 23rd, so the next couple of weeks I will be wet sanding, buffing and waxing. Hopefully have some professional photos taken by then also.

Everyone, enjoy yourself during the building process, but after the build, time with the 818 is fun too!

[RM1SepEx]

Thanks all for the positive comments and humor! I'll have to read the SCCA rules to see if they allow bikini clad passengers��

As long a she wears a helmet and the required belts a bikini is "all" that is required

[svanlare]

Happy to see Aloha Girl made the ride as well!

[Aloha818]

As long a she wears a helmet and the required belts a bikini is "all" that is required

A worthy goal for the next season!

[Aloha818]

Happy to see Aloha Girl made the ride as well!

Aloha Girl is my new "G" meter!