My BRZ daily driver build - Slow and steady

[BDKane01]

Sucks to hear about the 240, but awesome that you will be building engines. I feel your pain on the dirty brz. We just had a tropical storm here and I also did a 400 mile roundtrip. So my BRZ is a dirty girl right now lol.


I dig the subtle debadge you did. I think it looks nicer.

[laextreme5]

Thank you. I think the debadge cleaned it up nicely. Its hard to keep to clean as i park in a grave parking lot, and being Louisiana it rains majority of the afternoons in the summer so all the dirt splashes up on the car :/

[laextreme5]

Been pretty busy lately, not a whole lot to update on. Im getting tired of seeing my Recaro sitting on the corner of my bedroom so I've ordered the following.

-Street faction seat brackets
-Prodrive suede 90mm deep steering wheel
-Prodrive rappix II quick release
- Works Bell short hub

Ive wanted the prodrive setup since i bought my 12' wrx back 3 years ago and finally went through with it.
untitled (1 of 24) by lawrx, on Flickr


I also will in the future once i get a set of coils be running an air cup kit. Ive been down the road of cringing going up curbs and off camber turns and not anymore. So i decided one afternoon to mock up the air tank and pump in the trunk just to see what I'm working with. Consensus, that tank is no bueno. Will be going down the road of a custom tank that fits in the spare tire well and allows the floor to fit back in and you'd never know its there. The pump fits under the height of the floor no problem, so no worries on that end.
untitled (2 of 24) by lawrx, on Flickr

untitled (3 of 24) by lawrx, on Flickr

untitled (4 of 24) by lawrx, on Flickr

untitled (5 of 24) by lawrx, on Flickr


I also attended our local groups annual meet and took a few shots. Sadly didn't even get any standalones of my own car lol
untitled (6 of 24) by lawrx, on Flickr

untitled (7 of 24) by lawrx, on Flickr

untitled (8 of 24) by lawrx, on Flickr


untitled (9 of 24) by lawrx, on Flickr

untitled (10 of 24) by lawrx, on Flickr

untitled (13 of 24) by lawrx, on Flickr


So while we are all hanging out we see a private transporter pull up to the acura dealership across the street. One of the Subaru dealers employees pipes up and says they are suppose to be delivering a new NSX. So later on in the day we most on over, and man were we lucky. Guy had ordered it and backed out, and a new buyer was picking it up monday. This was saturday at like 3. So needless to say that was an extremely rare chance to be up and close with one f the latest supercars. Was pretty neat
untitled (17 of 24) by lawrx, on Flickr

untitled (18 of 24) by lawrx, on Flickr

untitled (19 of 24) by lawrx, on Flickr

untitled (20 of 24) by lawrx, on Flickr

untitled (21 of 24) by lawrx, on Flickr

untitled (22 of 24) by lawrx, on Flickr

untitled (23 of 24) by lawrx, on Flickr

untitled (24 of 24) by lawrx, on Flickr

[laextreme5]

Decided it was time to upgrade the stock audio system. Was getting tired of the distortion at the necessary higher levels when driving with the windows down.

Little bit of a break down of my game plan

-Factory head unit
-Bypass factory amp
-Hijack factory amp signal inpur for aftermarket amp
-Upgraded factory location speakers
-Little bit of sound deadening on the doors
-OEM looking as possible


So equipment wise i had a bit of a hickup on my order. It was in the wee hours of the morning when i made the purchase, and i had looked at so many compomnet sets, i accidently orderd a 2 way sytem that had dual 6.5" drivers, vs a 3 way 6.5'',4'', tweeter setup i wanted. So instead of returnign the product then waiting for the new stuff to arrive i decided to just order a set of 4'' mids and start work on getting everything else in order, as i got the mids 2 day air'ed.

The gear in question is

-Rainbow CSX465.20
-Focal 4'' A3 mids
-Focal Solid2 2 channel amp


Started out by laying everything out and making sure i wasnt missing anything. been a while sincei had done an audio install so took me a bit to get sorted with everything.

untitled (1 of 24)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr


untitled (2 of 24)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr

untitled (3 of 24)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr

untitled (9 of 24)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr


Once i had confirmed i had everything i need (minus my ordering mishap) i started to runt the power wire. Normally using the factory amp wiring youd use its power source as well, however i was going to be running with a bit more power than that size wire could handle, so i ran my own. PS. a level makes a great extended hood prop when the factory one gets in the way while working. ALso not show is a used a bit of goop like stuff we have at work to seal the small slit in the boot, and i also wrapped the red power wire in some loom so as it is inconspicuous.

untitled (4 of 24)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr

untitled (5 of 24)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr

untitled (6 of 24)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr

untitled (7 of 24)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr

Once the power wire was ran i focused on mamp mounting location. Again i wanted it hidden and out of sight, as factory as possible. So i took a hint from the factory moutign and mounted it opposite the factory amp just behind the rear seat. Only issue was there is a foam piece. Nothing a saw cant fix!

untitled (8 of 24)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr


untitled (10 of 24)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr


untitled (11 of 24)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr


untitled (12 of 24)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr


untitled (13 of 24)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr


After getting the mounting position of the amp figured out, it was time to start building the harness it would receive its signal from. I used the How to on using the OEM amp wiring and it worked quite nicely.


untitled (14 of 24)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr


untitled (18 of 24)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr


untitled (21 of 24)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr


untitled (22 of 24)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr


untitled (23 of 24)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr


I dont mind running wires, ill do it all day. But i HATE sautering and the actions in building a harness, so tedious and time consuming. I cant begin to tell you how many time i forgot to slip the shrink wrap on the wire before beginning the sauter.

Anyway, enough complaining. Once the harness was built i ran the speaker wires to the general locations id be mounting the crossover. the passenger crossover will be mounted in the glovebox. I have still yet to determine where to mount the driver side, but i have a few ideas.


untitled (16 of 24)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr


untitled (15 of 24)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr


untitled (17 of 24)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr


Once all the wires were ran, i made a small jumper to test the power and hooked up a mid for a test. Everything worked as planned. Next phase will be installing the front speakers, and i still have to make a mount panel for the rear 6.5's behind the qtr int. trim panels.

untitled (20 of 24)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr


untitled (19 of 24)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr


untitled (24 of 24)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr

[laextreme5]

Over the last week or so i was able to finish up the audio install.

Started by removing there passenger door and putting it on my stand to make it easier to work on. It was such a nice morning out so the wife, baby, and dog came out to hang while i worked.

untitled (11 of 31) by lawrx, on Flickr

untitled (12 of 31) by lawrx, on Flickr

untitled (14 of 31) by lawrx, on Flickr

untitled (16 of 31) by lawrx, on Flickr

untitled (13 of 31) by lawrx, on Flickr

untitled (15 of 31) by lawrx, on Flickr

untitled (17 of 31) by lawrx, on Flickr


While i was outside working the mail truck pulled up, and i had a lovely delivery. My prodrive steering wheel showed up. 330mm deep dish suede piece. It also came with a sweet origami hedgehog lol
untitled (18 of 31) by lawrx, on Flickr

untitled (19 of 31) by lawrx, on Flickr

untitled (20 of 31) by lawrx, on Flickr

untitled (21 of 31) by lawrx, on Flickr

untitled (22 of 31) by lawrx, on Flickr


After playing with my steering wheel for a bit, i got back to work to start mounting the kids and tweeters. I didn't take too many shots as it was a tight space and i just got caught up in working.
untitled (23 of 31) by lawrx, on Flickr

untitled (24 of 31) by lawrx, on Flickr

untitled (25 of 31) by lawrx, on Flickr

untitled (27 of 31) by lawrx, on Flickr

untitled (28 of 31) by lawrx, on Flickr


With all the speakers mounted, all that was really left was to remove the tock amp, grind and hook up the ground, and lastly reinstall all the interior trim.

untitled (29 of 31) by lawrx, on Flickr

untitled (30 of 31) by lawrx, on Flickr

untitled (31 of 31) by lawrx, on Flickr

[laextreme5]

Currently uploading a metric fuck ton of pics from going to SEMA. Will also have a bit of an update coming in the next few days as well.

untitled (159 of 264) by lawrx, on Flickr

untitled (154 of 264) by lawrx, on Flickr

untitled (146 of 264) by lawrx, on Flickr

untitled (38 of 264) by lawrx, on Flickr

[laextreme5]

To see the rest of my shots checkout my flickr. WAY too many to post in here.







untitled (241 of 264) by lawrx, on Flickr



untitled (236 of 264) by lawrx, on Flickr



untitled (231 of 264) by lawrx, on Flickr


untitled (222 of 264) by lawrx, on Flickr


untitled (203 of 264) by lawrx, on Flickr


untitled (189 of 264) by lawrx, on Flickr


untitled (154 of 264) by lawrx, on Flickr


untitled (146 of 264) by lawrx, on Flickr



untitled (120 of 264) by lawrx, on Flickr


untitled (117 of 264) by lawrx, on Flickr


untitled (98 of 264) by lawrx, on Flickr


untitled (54 of 264) by lawrx, on Flickr


untitled (59 of 264) by lawrx, on Flickr



untitled (38 of 264) by lawrx, on Flickr


untitled (16 of 264) by lawrx, on Flickr

[laextreme5]

My hub and quick release finally came in. However the hub is the incorrect one. The new correct one should be in tomorrow hopefully. Still waiting on the seat mount as it was backordered. Have an email out to the company to get an updated eta on it.


So excited to finally get this wheel and seat in and mounted.


untitled (1 of 5)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr


untitled (2 of 5)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr


untitled (3 of 5)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr


untitled (4 of 5)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr


untitled (5 of 5)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr

[laextreme5]

So these last few months I've been extremely busy. I installed the steering wheel back in November, and somehow the pictures got deleted from the camera. Anyway, finally got the time to install the Recaro over the holidays. At first i was kinda put off comfort wise, as the kidney area was quite stiff and uncomfortable. However after driving in it for a few days the area relaxed and broke in a bit. Now my only issue with it is the angle the seat is at. Its too vertical. So with that being said ill be making my own brackets that allow more adjustment.

untitled (1 of 6)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr

untitled (2 of 6)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr


untitled (3 of 6)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr


untitled (4 of 6)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr


untitled (5 of 6)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr


untitled (6 of 6)-2 by lawrx, on Flickr



Still have a few things i need to sort out with the steering wheel. Need to get the horn button wired up, and i also want to fab up a bracket for the cruise control stalk. Ive also still got the TRD short shifter to put on, as ill be removing the crazy rattling Jon Motoring one and goiong back to the stock shifter rod and TRD linkage.

[laextreme5]

Just a shot i took while working on my mustang over the weekend.




IMG_7968 by lawrx, on Flickr

[laextreme5]

Really been neglecting the brz with mods lately. Been mainly focusing on my mustang project and just dd'ing the brz. Doesntly really help I'm been absolutely slammed with work and other side work for people.

Over the last several months I've been searching for a set of prodrive calipers that were a factory option on the GD bugeye wrx. Somewhat rare BBK setup, and it goes along with the somewhat of a prodrive theme I'm after. The specs on the calipers are they are Alcon made, their type b 4 pot calipers and a 330mm rotor. The original rotors are expensive and single piece. Ill be going with a 2 piece rotor made by a diff company (currently unsure which). Right now i have an order in for a rebuild kit for the calipers. Was told it would be several weeks as they are a made to order.

IMG_7429 by lawrx, on Flickr


IMG_7430 by lawrx, on Flickr



IMG_7431 by lawrx, on Flickr


I also dropped in a Braille 11b battery the other day. The 12 wrx i was swapping short blocks on needed a battery so i did the logical thing and dropped my stock battery in it and upgraded my own haha. Dont have any pics as it was dark but ill get some soon.

In the mean time I'm close to order a set of coils and getting the ball rolling on the suspension overhaul.

I also picked up another project the past weekend. As if i didn't have enough on my plate. its a 66' f100 from a friend of mine. Plans for it are to turn it into a modern tow pig for my mustang drag car project.
untitled (3 of 25) by lawrx, on Flickr

untitled (1 of 25) by lawrx, on Flickr


untitled (19 of 25) by lawrx, on Flickr

[Drambeenie]

What kind of camera do you have?

[laextreme5]

Originally Posted by Drambeenie

What kind of camera do you have?

Canon 6D, most of my shots are with my 50 F1.4

[laextreme5]

double post.