Acree's BRZ - The product of boredom and an EE degree
 

2013 Subaru BRZ 6MT Limited - Crystal Black Silica

Photos from Photoshoot (3/22/14)
http://i.imgur.com/sSIqtHs.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/rB0gpzv.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Ao0AllK.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/mpploMT.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/fJ2BWnS.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/5Zsc1i3.jpg

I've been meaning to do this for a while but just kept on procrastinating. I wanted to start a thread to help myself keep track of the progression of mods and projects for this car. I know most of you are like me and like seeing pictures. I will make it a point to post up pictures with every update. I thought the name "Testbed" would be very applicable considering what I have in mind for the car. I will updating this section with links and pictures to the individual posts as I go along. I am an electrical by education and profession, so naturally, most of the custom work I will be completing will be electrical.


Modifications Updated 01/27/14

Performance
Ark Grip Exhaust
Ark Test Pipe
HVT Dynamic Electronically Controlled Valving Prototype Coilovers
HVT Camber Plates
RacerXFabrication LCA w/Urethane Ends
Whiteline Front Control Arm Inner Rear bushings (waiting to be installed)
P&L Motorsports Black Stainless Steel Brake Lines
Carbotech XP-10 Front and Rear
Kartboy Rear Shifter Stay Bushing
Turn in Concepts Solid Steering Rack Bushings
Motive Autowerks Master Cylinder Brace
Forgestar F14 18x9.5 +40 all around
265/35/18 Michelin Pilot Super Sports
ARP Carbon Fiber Brake Ducts and Full Hose Kit

Exterior
Tom's JDM Tail Lights
Dual Function LED Authentic JDM Sidemarkers - Paint Match Tinted with Clear
Professionally shaved front bumper
Fully debadged except rear Subaru oval
Trunk swap spoiler delete
Muteki Gloss Black close ended lug nuts
Grimmspeed Hood Struts
30%/15% Front Rear Full Ceramic Tint
Headlight Conversion - 700mA Brighter Boomerang, 700mA Luxeon Rebel x7 Turn Signals, Clear Lens Swap, Washer Modded, Fully Blacked Out

Interior
Blue LED Interior Conversion
Dual Function Domelight
Hardwired Valentine 1
Color Matched Autodimming Homelink Mirror with Integrated Color Modded V1 Remote Display
Raceseng Slammer Shift Knob
Accele RVC1150T Backup Camera
WeatherTech Floormats
Custom TapTurn Module with DRL Enable/Disable Outputs


One-Off Projects
Blue LED Interior Conversion
http://i.imgur.com/L9Ug7Np.jpg

Hardwired Valentine 1 Install

Blue Valentine 1 Homelink Mirror Retrofit

Dual Function Domelight
http://i.imgur.com/SfZj1tP.jpg

Dual Function LED Authentic JDM Clear Sidemarkers

LED Headlight Conversion


Background
My car list is relatively short. I'm 26 years old and have been working on cars since I was 6. When I was growing up, we had a laundry list of domestics including a blown 68 Camaro, a 68 stepside chevy with a 454, a 78 F150, a dirt track racer, etc. In high school, my first car was a 98 GMC Sierra, and this is when my passion for electronics and lighting really came about. When I was 18, I picked up a 2005 Nissan 350Z. I drove that car for 5 years and worked on tons of electrical projects for myself and several others.

In 2010, I picked up a 2006 Mitsubishi Evolution 9. Due to a catastrophic engine failure 3 weeks after I picked up the car, it went under the knife for 8 months getting a 2.4L built motor and all the bells and whistles. My ultimate goal was a daily driven highway monster. Here it is as it sits:
http://i.imgur.com/UWy7JBv.jpg

I was always a sucker for Electric Blue.
http://i.imgur.com/CMkIUOc.jpg

Mustang Dyno 93 oct Tune: 352/370
http://i.imgur.com/pFXyt2P.jpg

Mustang Dyno E85 Tune: 556/546
http://i.imgur.com/DnsMS2m.jpg


Fast foward to 12/24/2012. I had been eyeballing the FR-S/BRZ for years but never really considered one. My commute for a few months had been 90 miles a day. The Evo is definitely not a grand tourer. Balance shaft deletes, no cats, solid motor/transmission mounts, horrible mitsubishi build quality all combined to make a very tiring drive. All of that plus never-ending miscellaneous shop visits for maintenance or tuning tweaks put a sour taste in my mouth, not to mention pissing the girlfriend off something fierce.

I finally made the decision to part out the Evo and sell it. I truly wanted to buy a Toyota, but the "Scion" plus the lack of any trim levels pushed me to the BRZ. On the Evo, I had always planned on switching out many of the sub-par systems that came standard with the USDM models with the nicer features that came standard on the EUDM/JDM models such as auto-climate controls, headlight level control, HIDs, etc.

I decided I wasn't going to mess around with that stuff this go around, and decided on the BRZ Limited. I wanted a black 6 speed and didn't want to wait. I called around to every dealership I could find in the state. Not a single one had the combination I wanted. I finally found Ferguson Superstore up in Tulsa, OK. They had one with everything I wanted with only 8 miles on the odometer. I flew up the next week and drove the car down on Christmas Eve. Here are a few pictures when I picked her up!
http://i.imgur.com/TgCe1o6.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/iwGJzpH.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/QHDYP3Z.jpg

And this is the first day home.
http://i.imgur.com/7C7Ef2J.jpg

-Acree

Great looking car! I did the same thing you did. I had a Evo IX, and I ended up selling it for an FR-S. Didn't have as much work as you, but it was putting out 350 whp on a Mustang Dyno on 93.

Nice, congrats!

CBW FTW! Congrats!

What are your suspension plans?

I'm looking at a set of KW V3s or AST 4100 or 5100. All of these suspension work will be done at the same time as tires and wheels. Before I touch any of that stuff, I will be doing full intake/header/test pipe/exhaust/tune. I'm looking really hard at the Nameless catless header and am almost positive I will go with the Ark Grip exhaust.

-Acree

Blue LED Interior Conversion

I've been doing LED interior conversions since 2005. I started on the 350Z/G35 platform and moved on to the Evo 8/9/10 when I bought my evo 9. With under 500 miles on my car, I converted the BRZ.

Every LED has been selected with the exact same spectral distribution. This means that the color blue perceived between components is identical. In some of the pics, the color of blue appears to be lighter. In reality, the color is exactly the same as the first picture. Unfortunately the camera renders brighter blue light as a "lighter" blue in the photos.

http://i.imgur.com/VFZrCUH.jpg

This is the true color and evenness of the LCD screens.
http://i.imgur.com/wqgeW4x.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/aAF0gh5.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/9ypyvbf.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Lb3rfAq.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/kMYQ5vR.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/3dRdjFA.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/exRrwqJ.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/LRz4Kof.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/e3IUssW.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/FpTpBwo.jpg

This one is really over-exposed, but I love it.
http://i.imgur.com/zFZl7eU.jpg

-Acree

Dual Function Daybright Domelight

Copied from the other thread...

This is a project I've been working on for a few weeks now and thought I would finally share it with you guys. I really didn't like the idea that in order for me to have blue lighting in my car, I would have to sacrifice usability and utility. If you've ever tried to find/read something in pure red/blue/whatever light, you know it's difficult at best. I decided to remedy that problem by creating a dual function domelight.

After waiting a couple of weeks, I finally received my proto-boards, reflow soldered the components, and retrofit it into the domelight assembly. There are a total of 24 PLCC LEDs that are used for accent lighting. The 6 main LEDs are Luxeon Rebel LEDs and run up to 900mA each.
http://i.imgur.com/Mr8k1LQ.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/SuI4L63.jpg


For the Accent function, the domelight is simply left in the "DOOR" position. A voltage controlled pulse width modulation circuit ensures that the LEDs are dimmed as LEDs should properly be dimmed. Every single product offering currently available for this vehicle does not properly dim the LEDs and simply relies on the stock voltage drop. This leads to a domelight that seems to just instantly turn off after dimming just a small amount. My domelights accent LEDs dim 100% linearly. There is also built in thermal shutdown protection, over-current protection, and over-voltage protection.

http://i.imgur.com/mlIBmHL.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/RVsSGH4.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/0OcjZ6F.jpg

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhA-6GIDAz0&feature=player_detailpage"]Daybright Domelight Accent Function - YouTube[/ame]

For the Main LED function, the domelight is simply switched to "ON." The main LEDs are truly the best part about this project. I designed the board where I can easily choose any amount of light output between 100 Lumens, all the way up to 1400 Lumens of total output. For comparison, a stock HID bulb outputs ~3200 Lumens. I ultimately narrowed it down to 3 stages:

Stage 1 - 500 Lumens
Stage 2 - 900 Lumens
Stage 3 - 1400 Lumens

The comparison photos were all shot at the exact same F-Stop and ISO. Enjoy.

http://i.imgur.com/uZmojEM.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/JnpldxN.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/aLxUYQs.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/QFuETLu.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/R5PL3lg.jpg

Another upside to this design is the Accent LEDs can be any color, and the main LEDs can be any color. This includes cool, neutral, warm white, plus deep red, red, red-orange, amber, green, cyan, blue, royal blue, purple, etc.

-Acree

Looks awesome!!
I have a question regarding your instrument cluster. How did you get the numbers and the lines on the Tacho to be different colours? They are coloured by the same LEDs are they not?

Did you have to paint the lines blue?

My god that's beautiful work! How long did that take you to do?

It's a combination of LED swap, substrate alterations and additions, and some other tricks. ;)


The interior conversion is a 12 hour straight job. The domelight took a little over a month from conception to final assembly. I'm still working on a few small revisions of the board design.

-Acree

Damn you and your secrets! :respekt:

Thanks for the answer.

The blue led looks so cool.love it,

Where are you located? Would you be willing to do this for pay?

~Febul

i would pay to get this done ot my future fr-s ..... wow!

Blue LED Interior Conversion
 

Omg, that blue LED conversion looks amazing! :coolpics: :respekt:
What would it take to do this conversion? Any chance you'll write up a DIY guide perhaps? Or at least some tips (like what LEDs those are exactly). I would totally pay to have this done on my BRZ, your interior is all i have ever wanted lol.

I was going to look into an aftermarket gauge cluster, but if I can make mine looke this good, why bother? Love the gauges and the color. If you do make up a DIY guide, I'll be all over that!

wow came out awesome, can you make a writeup for the led swap?

+1 for a guide on LED Swapping!

I got these bad boys in today. RacerXFabrication Lower Control Arms with Urethane Ends. Off to the powder coater! They'll go on as soon as my wheels and tires get here.

Forgestar F14 18x9.5 +40 all around have been on order for 3 weeks now... :thumbdown:

Rear LCAs finally powdercoated!

A very small update today, the car finally got tinted. 30% on the sides and 15% in the rear, high quality Huber-Optik ceramic tint.

I've owned her for exactly 1 year as of Tuesday. There are going to be a lot of changes with the car coming next month. She's going into the body shop and getting fully color sanded and buffed. The rear LCA's and new wheels/tires will be getting put on, as well as an official professional photoshoot finally.

Another little side project I've been working on are hand-made LED JDM sidemarkers. There are 6 white LEDs for running lights, and 50 amber LEDs for the turn signal.

The part of this project that is still under development is the integration of a TapTurn module. ScottMcphee is actually making a custom module for me which will include outputs for DRL enable/disable. The car will function exactly like the newer Audi's, Jeeps, and Chryslers where the running lights cut off when the turn signal is on, and then come back on when the turn signal is cancelled. I'm very excited for this feature and think the car should have included it from the factory.

For the past 3 months or so, I have been the guinea pig for a new set of fully electronic dampeners that will be available from the same people who own AST. I first had a set of single adjustable monotubes on the car. These are an upgrade that utilize an accelerometer mounted in the middle of the car to actively change the dampening force every 6 milliseconds. They can be adjusted on the fly from full soft to full hard at the push of a button. But the best part is the system has active anti-dive and anti-roll control. This is my daily driver, so I always leave the static setting on full soft. But anytime the controller senses a change in pitch (from braking or accelerating) or a change in roll (from cornering or changing lanes) it stiffens the correct shocks to keep the body completely flat. It's quite an amazing system that you have to experience to fully appreciate. More information can be found at www.facebook.com/hvtauto

This photo shows the control wires coming out of one of the front struts. HVT will be releasing a lot more information early next year.

Full LED headlight conversion underway. The following will be changed:

All chrome painted matte black.
Turn signals will be 7 Luxeon Rebel LEDs running at 700mA with 50 degree optics
The boomer rang will be 2 Luxeon Rebel LEDs driven at 700mA. This will be approximately 4x brighter than stock.
Both lenses will be swapped out with STI-R lenses and color modded

I recently picked up an Accele RVC1150T for a back up camera and a @SVXdc harness. This will be going in when the car gets back from the body shop.

I just finished up the headlights by retrofitting Luxeon Rebel turn signals, significantly brightening the boomerangs up, doing a lens swap, and washer modding the projectors. Here's the result of the lens swap and washer modding.

sub'd, awesome work so far

Thank you!

I have created a DIY thread for any of you who want brighter Boomerang running lights on the BRZ. Here's a link.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/attac...1&d=1390432086

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/attac...1&d=1390432086

Teaser shot of the finished headlights... A keen eye would take note of the turn signal.

http://i.imgur.com/JH0NSGs.jpg

Great looking car.
Love the LEDs, and the tail lights. Can't wait to see them completed.

Also, dat electric blue.


:cheers:

Shit, I left my keen eye at home! Glad you're finally getting it all in a thread. Much cleaner than the Z or the Lance...I mean Evo.

But it's missing 400 wheel hp...

Wanted to put up a quick update regarding the sidemarkers. I finally got them painted and installed today.

The paint is 80% clear, 20% color matched with pearl, two coats applied.

http://i.imgur.com/tmiKwAW.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/Xcw0UUZ.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/bBaFWDl.jpg

Overexposed, but the best I could get my iPhone to do.
http://i.imgur.com/ddr89cZ.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/OeLSa5f.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/MqFjI3k.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/CBZhNB2.jpg

The boomerangs are awesomely bright... :D

APR Brake Ducts installed in the front bumper. I'll have a post detailing the results of the headlight conversion soon.

Installing on Monday:
Rear LCAs
Whiteline Front Control Arm Inner Rear bushings
APR Backing Plates and Hoses

Tuesday, wheels are going on with an alignment and the necessary clearancing for the fenders.

http://i.imgur.com/ypNUUSR.jpg

The blackout work on headlights turned out real nice good job.

MOAR PICS OF THE BOOMERANGS!!! esp in daylight :P
please and thank you very much kind sir

Looks good!

More details on your LED turn signals?

Glad you're wearing pants otherwise that reflection would be all :confused0068: