2point0's BRZ Ltd "Mina"

[2point0]

To start, this thread won’t get updates every day, or even every week for that matter. A layoff is on the near horizon so I can’t be spending all the time/money on this that I would like.

As she sits now:




This is Mina, the night I brought her home. I picked her up on June 7, 2012 and dropped off my 2010 STi in exchange. It was a hard choice, but one I’m happy with. The STi was a blast. Very roomy inside and comfortable over all surfaces, plus the AWD and massive torque made me feel like I could conquer the world. But horrid fuel economy (18mpg…come on, my 1967 Mustang can get that), moronic rear-view mirror placement (if you’re tall, you know what I mean) and even the power, made it less than ideal as a DD. The POWER, you say? Yeah, as much as I wanted to mod the thing, I just couldn’t really get that much enjoyment out of it without being very stupid on the street/freeway and gas prices made mountain runs infrequent enough that I wasn’t having the fun with it I’d like.

The BRZ is small. Almost too small. Leg room aplenty, but I’ve got a tall torso and my hair rubs the headliner with the seat all the way down. Leaning back doesn’t help due to the roof slope, but I’m getting used to it. With the stupid mirror in the STi, I had to hunch down to see around it anyway, so it’s actually not as bad as that was. Power is a bit lacking, but the chassis has sooo much potential and power is something we can change! You can’t give an STi this kind of weight distribution no matter what you do. BUT…if you really wanted to, you can drop an EJ25 in a BRZ!

So far, I’ve been up to Palomar Mountain just once, on stock tires. The lack of torque was very evident, but this motor likes to rev and the car likes to turn! That’s something I sure missed. Well, the stock wheels/tires are now stacked in the garage and my take-offs from the STi are on the car until I get my spare set painted (5Zigen FN01R-C).

Mods to date:
• Kartboy battery tie-down. Good ‘ol KB bling!
• Kartboy crank pulley
• Kartboy shifter bushing
• Nameless axleback w/ Kartboy hangers
• Perrin foam air filter
• RCE yellow springs
• Eibach Camber bolts
• Vinyl from Bluebatmobile (installed by Ryan aka O Hella JDM on other forums):

o Gloss black roof
o Redout tails with 3/10 smoke on top
o Yellow fog light covers
o 6/10 smoke sidemarkers
o 6/10 smoke DRLs
o 3/10 smoke backup lights
o CF style eyelids

• 5Zigen FN01R-C 17x8 +48 (white) with 225/45 Michelin Pilot Super Sports
• RCE yellow springs
• Parts Shop MAX wheel spacers
• Motive Autowerks Master Cylinder Brace
• Mach V LEDs: dome, puddles, license plate, front turn signals
• Craven Speed stubby antenna
• GrimmSpeed hood struts
• GrimmSpeed front strut bar
• GrimmSpeed alternator cover / tool tray / burrito warmer
• Sound generator delete
• JDM STi Side Skirts
• BaysonR replica STi front lip


Enough blabbing, here are some pics:

Palomar Mountain run 9/9/12




Not a Subaru, but one of my top 3 favorite cars EVAR (yes, it’s a kit)


In somewhat chronological order…










Most of vinyl done…just red over tails, smoke came later.




Yup, a large-frame mountain bike DOES fit back there. Yes, front wheel is off.








Smoked tails finally done!


As of the date of this posting, I’m over 10,300 miles! I’ve got crickets and a HPFP on order…waiting and waiting. I had the nasty window switch rattle, but fixed that with a couple small pieces of foam. What a difference! If your door rattles with music, do yourself a favor: take the door panel off and fix this! PM me if you need details.

That’s all for now. More pics to come once my Mach V package gets here today.

[2point0]

Just for giggles, my previous vehicles:

• 1970 VW Karmann Ghia
• 1973 Chevy El Camino 350ci
• 1967 Ford Mustang 289ci w/T5 conversion (still have this one)
• 1992 Acura Integra LS w/B20 swap
• 2005 Subaru WRX Stage 2+ (WRB)
• 2010 Subaru WRX STi (also WRB...see a theme?)

[Jive Turkey]

i noticed you blacked out the LED strips. more pictures? and do they still look white when on?

[2point0]

Yeah, they are still highly visible when on. That's bluebatmobile's 6/10 dark tint. Same on the sidemarkers. I really thought it'd be too dark but now it's growing on me. It disappears into the foglight surround and makes the area look less-busy.

I'll post a few more pics of that in a bit.

Just got my order from Mach V so I'll be installing LEDs in a few minutes.

[Jive Turkey]

how hard was this over lay to install, i notice that you didn't install this or the tails but i'm curious if i'll end up butchering the job.

[2point0]

Don't do it! Really, let someone who works with vinyl do this or you're gonna get frustrated. Since my car was the first of these he's done, the installer had to do it several times to get to where it wouldn't peel up.

Lots of pics you see of the tail light overlays are not very close up or detailed. The top edge will pull up, so these were made in two pieces: flat piece for the top and wraparound piece for the bottom and side. That hump on the side is a bitch.

DRLs were a bit of a pain, but the rest I would have been comfortable doing myself.

[2point0]

I installed my LEDs and am stoked...except for the rear turn signals. In the redout/smoke it is WAY too dim. I'll have to see if Dan will help me out on an exchange or something. I think bright white would be good, or maybe even pure red LEDs. That way, no light is actually getting filtered out.

If someone uses the cutout vinyl overlays (as modeled above), I don't think there would be any issues with these LEDs.

The fronts are plenty bright, though not very easy to see from the side.

The blinker module was kind of a bitch to get to. I took off the lower dash (below the steering wheel) as well as the metal plate under that, and the job got a helluva lot easier. I'm a big dude, so I can't get upside down in there like I could on my domestics.

New antenna looks good, too. I'm starting to get light-headed so I'm calling a lunch break.

[2point0]

Originally Posted by Jive Turkey

i noticed you blacked out the LED strips. more pictures? and do they still look white when on?

Comparison:


Done:

[raul]

What wheels are those? They're not the ones in your initial post I think.

[2point0]

Originally Posted by raul

What wheels are those? They're not the ones in your initial post I think.

My pics go from stock wheels to the Drags I mentioned above. That's all I've had on this car so far.

[Bluebatmobile]

One of my favorite shots!

B@t™

[mufasis]

those red tails look badass. thinking of doing this myself. ^_^

[2point0]

Originally Posted by mufasis

those red tails look badass. thinking of doing this myself. ^_^

Just contact that guy above, Bluebatmobile, and he'll take care of ya!

[2point0]

Originally Posted by Bluebatmobile

One of my favorite shots!

B@t™

Mine, too! Just wish I could get that tag on my plate for real. Some sucker took it already!