The last couple weekends have been really productive on the 818C. With the progress I’ve made lately it feels like I haven’t been doing anything the last year. It’s important to look back a bit though. While I’m on pg 227, I’ve been skipping around a bit so it’s closer to 200 completed pages out of the 700+ page manual
I think I also need to remember just how much work came before this. It wasn’t just install the front suspension, then install the rear suspension. There was a ton of work drilling and riveting the sheet metal panels. There was a ton of work tearing apart the donor car. There was a lot of work getting the pedal box and the steering fitted up. Every part cleaned up, wire brushed, repainted… yeah… I’ve made a lot of progress.
Timeline so far
July 17th 2017 – Donor arrives at my house:
August 12th 2017 – doors and seats and stuff are torn out…also… found wasp nests… super…
Sept 16th 2017 – The 818C arrives! I’ve torn off more stuff from the donor mostly all the dashboard stuff and freed a lot of the forward wiring harness (one page in the manual and an eternity in real life).
Oct 7th 2017 – FREEEEEDOOOOOOM! The wiring harness is free… and it is really god damn big when you lay it out like that. The next day most of the front suspension is completely out.
Oct 17th 2017 – Inside the garage the 818C has received the forward firewall, floor, and the first few WRX pieces (after being cleaned and repainted) are starting to get bolted on
Dec 2nd 2017 – Work was pretty busy there for a bit, but the front suspension is fully installed. I start to piece together the motor in tentative steps…heads are on first.
Dec 30th 2017 – End game for the donor: Transmission, rear suspension, fuel tank, it’s not much more than a shell now, a husk of WRX. Even my wife’s helping out because she wants it out of the driveway!
Jan 7th 2018 – Test fit the brake pedals, installed the fuel pump/senders with the required modifications, test fit more stuff to the motor, but I’m missing pieces and keep having to go back to Subaru for more bolts
Jan 13th 2018 – Haven’t found anyone interested in the shell… so me and a sawzall have a day of it
Mar 17 2018 – I think I’d hit a wall here. The engine was confusing, I’d spend hours each time I went out trying to figure out which pieces go where only to find I was missing a critical bolt. Additionally I just could not seem to get the rear half axles apart. Both of these projects just seemed to be fighting me at every turn. Progress slowed a lot.
Apr 16 2018 – Work picked up with a couple of tradeshows. I’m still beating my head against the motor and the rear drive shafts. I do clean and paint some of the rear suspension and start fitting that into place.
Jun 9 2018 – Yep… work stopped for a bit. I got distracted shoehorning a 55″ LCD touch screen into a coffee table… You know… because I could. At least it explains the utter lack of progress
Jul 4 2018 – SUCCESS! I finally beat one of the rear steering hubs hard enough that it gave up the half shaft. Time to clean and paint it. I also finished installing the pedal box and started on the side sheet metal. Then I kept going, installing the brake and clutch master cylinders and the steering column
Aug 12 2018 – Half shafts are completed and I’ve started to really bolt together the rear suspension now that the rear hubs are painted up and clean. For a while here it’s just too hot out to work on the car though, so progress is slowing again.
Sept 3 2018 – It’s been very hot for most of August, but now there’s some reasonable weather occasionally. Rear suspensions just about ready for the motor and trans to come in. Decided to work on the brakes, rotors, calipers, etc. Clean paint, new rotors, new pads, all the things!
Sept 16 – 2018 the brake system is nearly in. The only thing stopping me from bleeding the brakes right now and calling it good are some missing bolts for the rear calipers. They’re on order though so while this is the 1 year anniversary of the kit arriving… I’m looking back and pretty happy.
Sure there were some distractions. I built a table, I helped my wife build a deck and install three replacement windows in the house, I worked set up for a handful of trade shows, had some late nights at work, had some fun game nights and days… It’s been a hell of year… Can’t wait for Sept 16th 2019!
It Rhymes with Hockey 