Salvage Rebuild + Limited Swap

[BlueRepairZone]

Influenced by B is for Build, I decided to rebuild a salvaged BRZ.

The first car I purchased to rebuild is a 2013 BRZ limited. I purchased the car without looking at it because I got it for less than $1000. After I got the car home and started taking it apart I decided that I would salvage it for parts. They wireless key fob worked and everything in the interior seemed to work as it should. The engine was damaged along with the strut tower and even the driver side firewall had damage. The passenger side and back of the car was flawless so I knew what type of crash damage I was looking for next.

A few weeks went by, and I found a 2014 BRZ premium. I got this one for less than $5000. This one started so I knew everything was in good working order with the engine when I started this rebuild. In fact, I bolted on the suspension arm, strut, tie-rod and drove the car the same day I brought it home. Most of the pieces that were damaged on the 2nd car were good on the first car. I probably could have just swapped the rocker panel, fender, buy a bumper, painted it, and taken it to the enhanced inspection. But then came the decision to swap the Limited interior into the Premium. This is the whole reason I came to this forum.

The Limited swap has me completely in over my head. I started taking apart the interior to find out that the dash harness needed to be changed. So I decided to gut both cars completely and swap over the dash harness. With everything removed, I found out that I needed to swap HVAC unit because the Limited has motors in place of gears. I’m working with a tight budget so this put the project on hold for a few weeks until I could purchase equipment to reclaim the R134A. Although the 1st BRZ had a damaged condenser, the 2nd BRZ had a fully functioning HVAC system. Just when I thought I could re-assemble the car, I realized the Limited HVAC system is powered off the engine harness.

So I swapped the engine harness and tried to investigate for any possible crush damage. I only found one wire that was broken in the engine bay, but both marker light wires were damaged also. I fixed a broken wire next to the abs module and took my time reconnecting to the dash harness. I attempted to swap everything: engine harness, dash harness, hvac system, hvac control panel, engine start button, radio, ecu, steering column, cluster, and one door.

At this point, I really wanted to see if I could get the car to start up before I finished putting the car back together. The key fob doesn’t work anymore and only recognizes the key when I place it directly in front of the engine start button. The car will crank, but will not start. I had my wife try to start the car while I listened for the fuel pump and did not sound like it turned on. I’m questioning if the fuel tanks are different between the limited and premium. The two plugs under the passenger rear seats plugged in just fine.
I have a scan tool that reads abs, air bag, traction control, and obd codes, but I'm coming up blank. The only code I'm getting is UZ122-Lost communication dynamics control module.

I’m hoping that the pictures can help someone see what’s involved with a premium to limited swap. Any help or direction you guys can provide will be greatly appreciated and I will like to continue to update this thread until my project is on the road.

[Go Frogs]

the swap sounds nice, but why not leave the key ignition in place and maybe just have a false start button?

If the car cranks and does not start, it sounds like an immobilizer issue and the immobilizer does not like the key or needs to be reset due to the crash

In some Italian cars (think Alfa), after an accident, there is a special part near the battery in the trunk that has to be swapped out as it is a one-time use "fuse/breaker" and will prevent the car from starting after airbags and stuff deploy.

why not just a simple seat/dash/door panel swap?

[evomike]

wow that car is hammered, good luck with the rebuild hopefully it does not spiral out of control budget wise with all the structural work. That front structure is really bent hopefully you understand what you got into, personally i think spending a few thousand more on a better car would have saved you money in the end.

[vladniko86]

did you ever end up pulling your rocker panel straight? need to fix mine and would like to see if others have done it