Any plans on how to keep the rear flexible brake lines from rubbing the axles? I mounted the rear tabs much higher but that would be some work to change now, or switch to a shorter hose. Your son is doing a great job!!
We are planning to make another bracket to attach to the flex line via some adel rubber coated clamps
818 "S"pyder delivered 11/27/20, using 2007 Impreza 2.5l NA donor. Work mostly being done by my son Liam...body work and paint being done by dad (that's me)
MK3.1 #6583RD, built from 2008-2019, sold 11/2011
Good news Art/Jet, the kitchen remodel is done for now! Just waiting for the countertops to be measured and installed (probably won’t be done until late July).
So earlier in the week, Liam got to meet one of his hero’s- Travis Pastranas…and is volunteering this weekend at the Southern Ohio Rally Race where he is competing for Team Subaru.
Also got to talk with Jeff Kleiner today! We go way back to my roadster build in 2008-10…and he confirmed some of the next steps and highly recommended Slick Sand high build polyester primer surfacer. I had the used this on my roadster back then which led to the conversation when and he told me he’s been in contact with the now (new) 3rd owner of my project and he lives near Chicago.! I looked up the guy “Dave” (dpariso) on here and the car still looks great! Appears some improvements to the intake and appearance (roll bars, side pipes and cam covers) were also done since I sold it to the Coast Guard officer in Florida back in 2011. The paint still looks great which reaffirmed my skills in painting a car!
Last edited by Scott Meyer; 06-11-2021 at 07:43 PM.
818 "S"pyder delivered 11/27/20, using 2007 Impreza 2.5l NA donor. Work mostly being done by my son Liam...body work and paint being done by dad (that's me)
MK3.1 #6583RD, built from 2008-2019, sold 11/2011
Wish I could say the painting was done…but at least I’m finished with the Miami Blue color.
Wanted enhanced protection of the rocker panels and rear fender flares, so taped a clean line and used stone guard spray that was part of the paint system I used.
Followed that up with two coats of base and two coats of clear:
818 "S"pyder delivered 11/27/20, using 2007 Impreza 2.5l NA donor. Work mostly being done by my son Liam...body work and paint being done by dad (that's me)
MK3.1 #6583RD, built from 2008-2019, sold 11/2011
Thought I would jump over here and checkout your build thread since we've talked on mine. Your build looks great! Everything is so clean and it was smart to ditch some of those old rusted donor parts for new ones. That saves a lot of time and hopefully adds some reliability. You guys are building so quickly! I'm hoping to have a roller within the next month too. I'll reach out the next time I'm visiting Columbus. I would love to see your build in person if you're available.
Thanks for checking out the build! It’s definitely nice to have all new parts, I just had to get over the frustration of ordering all those parts (from RockAuto) after watching my son struggle with the rusty donor. It definitely made the “assembly” much faster and we’ve got piece of mind that everything is in good shape! Let us know when you get down this way, we are over near Muirfield Village area in NW Dublin.
818 "S"pyder delivered 11/27/20, using 2007 Impreza 2.5l NA donor. Work mostly being done by my son Liam...body work and paint being done by dad (that's me)
MK3.1 #6583RD, built from 2008-2019, sold 11/2011
Realizing we have not posted an update in well over a month. Body work continues and I’m a perfectionist so it’s slow. And hot…and dusty. Not happy with the gaps from Factory 5 I’m fixing all of these issues, extending the trunk lid and just about done with the engine cover and the CF skinning.
818 "S"pyder delivered 11/27/20, using 2007 Impreza 2.5l NA donor. Work mostly being done by my son Liam...body work and paint being done by dad (that's me)
MK3.1 #6583RD, built from 2008-2019, sold 11/2011
Awesome and scary at the same time. You know what you're doing, and it's a lot of work! Bodywork is not in my comfort zone. Will definitely be looking to you for guidance as we approach that point.
Awesome and scary at the same time. You know what you're doing, and it's a lot of work! Bodywork is not in my comfort zone. Will definitely be looking to you for guidance as we approach that point.
Originally Posted by Scott Meyer
Well, there comes a day, when you have to decide on the paint color! Liam and I had pretty much decided on this last fall after we had the choices narrowed down to 3-4 colors, and then on my way to work one day...this passed me on the highway. I work for Honda and had not really seen this color up close yet, it looks stunning on the NSX, and will really pop on the 818S!
We will be using Kirker Automotive paints, and I just ordered all of my supplies today from AutoBody Toolmart. I have painted 3 cars in my past (one of which was the 3-color F5 Cobra in 2010), plus my Experimental Airplane...so this is old hat for me.
Here is the actual color we got:
Originally I wanted to get the car assembled, and do some shakedowns, get it registered with State, etc... and then do the paint later this Fall...but I'm leaning towards the "Get it done" now!
Now that the body work and painting has been completed, we started pre-assembly of the body panels so they are ready to go! Just a quick peak at the rear bumper (license plate is from another car…we haven’t gotten the State inspection yet).
Also followed the advice (Rob Boettcher) and sourced another set of sedan rear seat belts and had them re-webbed by Safety Restore…color nicely compliments the exterior.
And the last really big project (well maybe…), the Vintage Air system. Huge thanks again to AZPete and for paving the way (Pete) and RoadRashRob for his help in fabricating some parts, helping source the OEM hoses from a Long Island vintage air dealer, and bouncing ideas back and forth for routing the lines. I stuck with the EZ-fit hose and it’s a huge learning curve, but makes sense now. Happy with the results of the physical install, just have to tap in the heater lines at the engine, and tackle the wiring and dash controls.
Last edited by Scott Meyer; 02-03-2022 at 08:55 PM.
818 "S"pyder delivered 11/27/20, using 2007 Impreza 2.5l NA donor. Work mostly being done by my son Liam...body work and paint being done by dad (that's me)
MK3.1 #6583RD, built from 2008-2019, sold 11/2011
818 "S"pyder delivered 11/27/20, using 2007 Impreza 2.5l NA donor. Work mostly being done by my son Liam...body work and paint being done by dad (that's me)
MK3.1 #6583RD, built from 2008-2019, sold 11/2011
Where do you think you'll mount your ecu/fuse boxes? I have my harness laid out and there's not much room behind the passenger seat area. I think I'm going to fully unwrap the donor harness (I was trying to avoid extra work) and move some things up to the passenger footwell area. I've heard unwrapping the harness can give you extra length for some components.
In photo #7, you may need to lower your exhaust a bit to accommodate the rear bumper. The fiberglass mounts directly to the bottom of that rear chassis tubing. I don't know if you did this already but it's a good time to test fit the rear bumper. By the way, great progress on the wiring!
Thanks, we are just mocking up the straight pipe for now. I thought the exhaust clamp might help push it down but didn’t do a thing.
So here’s what we are doing...we already have the Carbon Fiber rear diffuser...which the F5 guys say will require some modifications to the NA straight pipe...and I’m concerned how loud the straight pipe will be, so I’m getting the parts to do a compact flow master Flow FX muffler and mimic what Bob Boig sells for the turbo model.
We also have the header/cat installed without the supplied F5 spacers...had the exhaust mounted with the spacers and guess what, the CAT was lower than the frame rails, which we were not crazy about. Once the muffler and transmission bracket arrive we will mock-up the needed exhaust pipe to connect the two together, tack weld and go from there. I have a MIG welder (not used in years) and can have someone with more skills finish the welding with TIG. D8114515-34E3-4B7A-87B7-6A214EF8E3F6.jpeg3B0657F0-9371-455C-B945-A83595EF3408.jpegA469B3A7-FB61-4E6A-B126-8BB4BB2F8771.jpeg
818 "S"pyder delivered 11/27/20, using 2007 Impreza 2.5l NA donor. Work mostly being done by my son Liam...body work and paint being done by dad (that's me)
MK3.1 #6583RD, built from 2008-2019, sold 11/2011
It’s been a crazy month of August and needless to say Zero work on the 818. Spent a week in SoCal for work, and then we moved Liam to Ohio University for the start of his Freshman year in Engineering! It’s been very hard to get motivated to work on the car without him, but staying in constant contact via iMessage and sharing my recent progress…yes I’ve returned to the darn bodywork!
Since we have a NA motor (EJ253), the recess in the trunk was just a deep dish bowl, and the thought of a fake vent wasn’t sitting well with Liam. So, I made a composite core and fiberglassed it in!
Next up is to finish the engine cover, and then last is the front hood…and we may be ready to remove the panels for primer by mid-September!
818 "S"pyder delivered 11/27/20, using 2007 Impreza 2.5l NA donor. Work mostly being done by my son Liam...body work and paint being done by dad (that's me)
MK3.1 #6583RD, built from 2008-2019, sold 11/2011
I’d love to take credit for that idea, but saw it on the FFCobra...FFCars.com forum some 12 years ago, and copied it for my DOHC 4.6L powered roadster. I drove that car for 2-years, almost 2,000 mi always parked in the garage and never once smelled gas fumes. Yes a very simple design. 4” rotary sprinkler head with the guts removed, barbed 5/8” fitting screwed into base, activated aquarium charcoal and a 3M scuff pad to hold it in place top and bottom below the screw on cap!
We will flash out the EVAP stuff from the ECU. We have a Tatrix 2.0 cable and the RomRadier software to attempt that process...
Last edited by Scott Meyer; 02-10-2021 at 09:54 PM.
818 "S"pyder delivered 11/27/20, using 2007 Impreza 2.5l NA donor. Work mostly being done by my son Liam...body work and paint being done by dad (that's me)
MK3.1 #6583RD, built from 2008-2019, sold 11/2011
818 "S"pyder delivered 11/27/20, using 2007 Impreza 2.5l NA donor. Work mostly being done by my son Liam...body work and paint being done by dad (that's me)
MK3.1 #6583RD, built from 2008-2019, sold 11/2011
I had one online vendor argue with me that this word was trademarked by one OEM manufacturer, but there are currently at least 4+ exotic cars called the …Spyder.
So here is a glimpse at some of my custom touches before I lay down the base coat.
Maybe one more sneak peak…and we may not be doing Orange anymore…one person on here knows the real color but I have bribed him with Oban Scotch to be quiet!
Last edited by Scott Meyer; 09-25-2021 at 10:16 AM.
818 "S"pyder delivered 11/27/20, using 2007 Impreza 2.5l NA donor. Work mostly being done by my son Liam...body work and paint being done by dad (that's me)
MK3.1 #6583RD, built from 2008-2019, sold 11/2011
Congrats, Liam!! This milestone means that you have done hundreds of things correctly. I know that for the next few weeks, until you can drive the go-kart, you'll be starting it up just to hear it and feel your success.
Now's a good time - go out to the garage and start it up again.
818S/C : Chassis #25 with 06 WRX 2.5 turbo, ABS, cruise, PS, A/C, Apple CarPlay, rear camera, power windows & locks, leather & other complexities. Sold 10/19 with 5,800 miles.
Mk3 Roadster #6228 4.6L, T45, IRS, PS, PB, ABS, Cruise, Koni's, 17" Halibrands, red w/ silver - 9K miles then sold @ Barrett-Jackson Jan 2011 (got back cash spent).
You just put a big smile on my face on this cold yucky winter day. Thanks for sharing! Spins up really fast it seems, at least compared to my hulking 3.0 motor... lightweight flywheel??? I still want to get over there some day, finally got shot 1 of 2 for covid (yah I'm an old geez).
I think you will want to raise the front of the seats.
I placed a 1.25" (or 1.5"?) square tube across the front 2 slider holes, and thru-bolted the rear slider holes to the frame crossmember.
As I recall, you can go that far back and still not run out of slider travel forward before the seat hits the frame.
We sat on the seats inside the car and they are perfect flat on the floor for us. Liam is 6’-4” and I’m 6’-3”... we need all the headroom we can get when the soft top is up. The passenger seat will be installed where it fits (all the way back) and will not be able to slide forward due to cross brace on the 818 frame. Drivers seat will have a few inches of travel.
818 "S"pyder delivered 11/27/20, using 2007 Impreza 2.5l NA donor. Work mostly being done by my son Liam...body work and paint being done by dad (that's me)
MK3.1 #6583RD, built from 2008-2019, sold 11/2011
818 "S"pyder delivered 11/27/20, using 2007 Impreza 2.5l NA donor. Work mostly being done by my son Liam...body work and paint being done by dad (that's me)
MK3.1 #6583RD, built from 2008-2019, sold 11/2011
Ah, you're the tall guys...
At 6' I feel maxed-out, so I have no idea how you will fit. I do have different seats, but they all kinda look the same from here.
No doubt not the first time you've had to deal with these things so I wish you luck.
I've always seen the short cockpit and low rollbar as the biggest misses in the car.
Great progrees on the build, and congrats' on survival!
818 "S"pyder delivered 11/27/20, using 2007 Impreza 2.5l NA donor. Work mostly being done by my son Liam...body work and paint being done by dad (that's me)
MK3.1 #6583RD, built from 2008-2019, sold 11/2011
Hey Scott, I hope everything is going well. I was wondering if you had similar issues with the LED's that you found on Ebay. Mine look dim and uneven. None of the red markings on the gauges show up, the needles are poorly lit, and overall the numbers are not sharp. Mine only worked well in the 2 small screens at the bottom of my gauges.
Pitch black, brightest the gauges will ever be IMG_1015.JPG
Dark but with some background light, closer to real world driving on the highway IMG_1016.JPG
Looks great guys! I love the Raptor liner on the rear of the panels, and will definitely do the same. Color will look amazing, but my skills are no where near the point I would paint it myself... We're definitely leaning towards Vinyl wrap to start, and then perhaps paint some day.
You definitely helped us a lot by being slightly ahead of us in the build, but sharing a lot of common build practices that I really admire. Thanks for that!
"Import Challenge" I took my 818 to the Scottsdale Cars & Coffee a few times and was told the first 2 times, "this is the American car section. You should move to the European car section." Each time, I explained that the chassis is from Massuchusetts and the car was built right here in Scottsdale, they walked away confused.
The Subaru guys were all over it with questions and photos.
818S/C : Chassis #25 with 06 WRX 2.5 turbo, ABS, cruise, PS, A/C, Apple CarPlay, rear camera, power windows & locks, leather & other complexities. Sold 10/19 with 5,800 miles.
Mk3 Roadster #6228 4.6L, T45, IRS, PS, PB, ABS, Cruise, Koni's, 17" Halibrands, red w/ silver - 9K miles then sold @ Barrett-Jackson Jan 2011 (got back cash spent).
Well... I guess Liam put you under the gun Scott...
The first car show I went to (coffee and doughnuts with cops at the Indianapolis motor speedway) the L.E.O's awarded us "best import"...yep go figure
I did one (the only local) show late last fall once I was rolling. No category for a car like this, so went with the engine... "import". Would rather call it American but to go for a take home award I guess you have to make the rules fit your build.
Jet and Pete,
Good to hear from you both! I think we will make it and be happy with the results. I was working on the “trunk lid” tonight and Liam was fitting the drivers side door. He managed to get the passenger door “passible”, but not perfect. He’s self taught like myself and I’ve really been trying to let him learn on his own lately!
BTW, I’ve posted on Facebook, that he has decided to pursue Engineering at Ohio University this fall! We toured the campus last week and he was really happy with the environment and city. We are going to submit his housing acceptance this week which locks in his acceptance! 6 weeks until high school graduation!
818 "S"pyder delivered 11/27/20, using 2007 Impreza 2.5l NA donor. Work mostly being done by my son Liam...body work and paint being done by dad (that's me)
MK3.1 #6583RD, built from 2008-2019, sold 11/2011
There has been an Art Q sighting in Dublin, Ohio today. He was gracious enough to drive over from Indiana and show off his 818C that is crazy with little details that he’s customized and grafted in from other production cars.
Right now he’s helping Liam sort through some of his taillight wiring issues (Art thinks it’s crossed wires).
818 "S"pyder delivered 11/27/20, using 2007 Impreza 2.5l NA donor. Work mostly being done by my son Liam...body work and paint being done by dad (that's me)
MK3.1 #6583RD, built from 2008-2019, sold 11/2011
The remaining body panels have been removed. The quarters required a stand to work on and paint easier. Sanding prep and final spot glazing is done, these are ready for primer.
Now that is done, Hope to spray primer tomorrow while it’s still warmer! Have some small heaters for my home paint booth but nice to utilize Mother Nature for a bit longer…
Last edited by Scott Meyer; 11-09-2021 at 09:27 PM.
818 "S"pyder delivered 11/27/20, using 2007 Impreza 2.5l NA donor. Work mostly being done by my son Liam...body work and paint being done by dad (that's me)
MK3.1 #6583RD, built from 2008-2019, sold 11/2011
Of course I'd like this post, I'm in it . Congrats on kitchen progress as well as the car. Liam added much fun to our outing, great kid with a great future.
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Entire trip was a hoot with Jet and I leaving Indy early morning and back at 11pm. Two of these cars on the road together draws a lot of ogles. I had over 800 miles from NW Indiana and back, Jet most of that as well - both cars run like they were born for it. My 45 year old daughter after a spin that weekend said "gee dad, it's just like a real car".... now that is what I would call a heartfelt compliment.
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Originally Posted by roadrashrob
