JonnyRock's WRB BRZ
 

The Subaru has been sold! Check out what I replaced her with!

INTRO
This wasn't going to be a "build" thread, but now I plan to make some real modifications to my new BRZ. This thread will allow me to share the upgrades and customizations, photos and videos, issues and experiences, etc.

CURRENT MODS:
- Debadged & Opti-Coated
- DIY Clutch pedal adjustment (w/video)
- GMS Hood Dampers & Custom startup screen
- Perrin 2" Shorty Antenna
- 32GB Thumb Drive
- Perrin License Plate Relocator
- DIY OEM Mud Guards
- Torque Pro w/OBD2 bluetooth dongle
- Mobil 1 0W-20 w/Fumoto quick drain valve
- Subaru Rubberized Cargo Mat
- JPM Alcantara Gauge Hood, Knee & Speaker Pads
- Mtec Shift Springs
- Anarchy Motive Tiger Blue Shift Knob
- Perrin 2.5" Resonated Cat-Back
- Perrin Rear Shift Mount (not yet installed)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So here she is:
http://i.imgur.com/O3xIOl.jpg
2013 WRB Limited M/T

Don't worry, that front plate was the first thing to go. I bought the car @ Gresham Subaru of Gresham, OR. It was actually shipped up from CA in a trade with another dealership. Supposedly it was basically sold down there, but when they called the dealership to ask about the car it came out that Gresham had a Lightning Red Limited M/T and the customer decided he wanted the red one more. Two days later it was mine!

And here's the car that she replaced:
http://i.imgur.com/X27n1l.jpg
1970 240Z - Vehicle #1704

Yes, I had to sell my 'old hotness' to get my 'new hotness'.

http://i.imgur.com/gqb8Pl.jpg

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

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

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

http://i.imgur.com/kXur2l.jpg

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

To be continued...

Welcome to the forum :)

You may recognize me from CZCC (spitz17)... Glad you picked up a BRZ, sad you sold the ol' Z. Hope she went to a good home.

She's getting Opti-Coated right this moment!

By Thomas Dekany (Dekany Paint Restoration). It's actually his 5th BRZ, and he says he hasn't done any scions yet.

I'll take some good shots once he's done.

Thanks, I do recognize you. I've checked out your blog a few times. I was sad to sell her, but happy to get the BRZ.

Selling that would make me cry :(

You too, eh?

Here's a pic of my green Z going "bye-bye" to make room for the BRZ:
http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u...Z/IMG_1256.jpg

I was sad to see her go, but I know I'll be happy once I'm behind the wheel of "the new hotness" as you call it. :thumbup: Congrats on yours!!

Seeing the two parked next to each other, it really gives you an idea for just where the extra 400ish pounds comes from in the BRZ.

Oh you guys are makin me sad... I used to have 1972 240 :cry:

Congratz on the new hotness, you will love her very much!!

Went home on my lunch break and debadged her while Thomas was finishing up prep!

http://i.imgur.com/xl6A8l.jpg

Ditto!

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

Debadged and Opti-Coated! Woo!

(Thomas Dekany was here from 11-7 and was great to deal with. Seems that my car was alittle worse for wear having been transferred from a CA dealership without it's plastic wrap. I haven't been able to closely inspect the job he did, but he really seemed to know his stuff. Hopefully it doesn't rain tomorrow (it's supposed to for the entire next week) and I can better inspect it.

Snapped a few pics with my phone, when it's nice I'll bust out the T3i.

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

http://i.imgur.com/pHX4hl.jpg

Today I set my EQ according to this thread (http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?p=404020).

And the BRZ survived it's first hail storm!

I'm going to try those EQ settings, I don't send enough time in that section. Thanks for the link.

Today I made a quick tutorial video for the clutch adjustment, hopefully it helps people who were having trouble.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScZFQ0j5beY"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScZFQ0j5beY[/ame]


Anytime, hope you like it.

Halfway there!
 

So yesterday on the way home from work, I hit 500 miles!

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

I also customized my start up screen with a design I whipped up on my lunch break. I made up a whole bunch of variations, and I'll post them in the start up screen thread here: Customizing BRZ Navigation Start Up Screen.

http://i.imgur.com/jOW94l.jpg

In preparation for installing the Gimmick Motorsport hood dampers that came earlier this week, I accidentally chipped the paint on my door!!!! :confused0068::bonk:

http://i.imgur.com/PLbR9l.jpg

I'm headed to the dealership right now to pick up some touch-up paint. They have it in stock for $15.

Here are the dampers, they worked out great! I painted the bottom of the brackets with plasti-dip to prevent them wearing off the factory paint over time. They're not as quiet in operation as the factory trunk dampers, but overall they're nice.

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

Considering wheel options, thought it would be interesting to see the Pegs from my V70R on the BRZ.

http://i.imgur.com/RS6zrl.jpg

Looks pretty good I think. Bolt pattern is wrong so these don't actually work, but now I'm wishing there was a lookalike option that did fit.

Check out the TSW Panorama maybe?
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20200

Perrin 2"
 

Installed my Perrin Shorty 2" antenna last night. Tried it out for a few minutes and I didn't notice any degradation in reception. I think I like the look even more than the shark fin, this is even more low profile.

http://i.imgur.com/wj7Ajl.jpg

Those are pretty close, thanks man.

Thumb Drive
 

I picked up a thumb drive earlier this week and finally got it loaded up with music (30GB worth) and put in the car last night. I like this more than using my old iPod because I don't have to deal with the conspicuously white cord standing out against all the black, or storing it when I park the car.

The interface works pretty great, as long as your files are pretty well organized into folders by artist and album. I've got .mp3, .wma and .m4a files on there, but I'm not yet sure if .m4a files will actually play.

Here it is installed:

http://i.imgur.com/4G2Xml.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/zJZ5ll.jpg

And here's the link: [ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00812F7O8/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00"]SanDisk Cruzer Fit 32GB[/ame]

Nice car, I have one very similar... Premium instead of Limited.

Thanks for reminding me about the EQ thread - was reading that before I got my car and forgot about it after it arrived!

And nice suggestion with the USB drive -- I didn't know they had such small ones with that much capacity!

Realized this morning that I was going to hit a neat mileage milestone today and figured that if I planned well, that it would make for a cool picture.

Here's the result:

http://i.imgur.com/wEw8Xl.jpg

In other news, the PERRIN shorty 2" antenna does suffer from signal degradation. My favorite FM music station now drops in and out of HD every few seconds. The difference in volume and clarity is very apparent. I'll keep the PERRIN one on there and see how things go, I don't listen to radio music too much. Mostly use the USB drive.

Nice to hear an honest review of the shorty antenna. It seems that people rarely want to evaluate a mod as it truly is.

Thanks, I know a lot of people have this antenna but I haven't seen anyone review it. I'll keep track of how it performs.

I've always been a Nissan fan, love those old Z cars !!

Nostalgia
 

Was going through some photos of my old Z, thought I'd share a few shots.

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

http://i.imgur.com/0Sk7yl.jpg

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

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

http://i.imgur.com/Ecs8Vl.jpg


It was no easy decision...

You won't regret it! (At least for a few years... then you'll sit in an old Z and wonder...)

Check!

They're great, bare bones cars. And everyone fondly remembers them and wants to talk about them when you pull up in one!

Love the 240...and the BRZ of course. I've been day-dreaming about getting a 240 as a toy but it's not happening anytime soon. Curious how much you sold it for?

- Andrew

Just over 710 miles now. Forgot to mention that I got crickets @ around 400 miles :sigh:. I figure I'm going to wait to get it fixed. Too many reports of people getting the HPFP replaced only to have it return a few hundred miles later. I'll likely wait until my first service.

I'm also getting bothered by the shift into 2nd gear. When it's cold sometimes I'll go to shift into 2nd and the stick just stops like there's nothing in that part of the gate. Releasing pressure and then pulling back again will finally get it in but this isn't how a new car should shift. I'm planning an oil change after break in and now I think I'll change the tranny fluid as well. I've been keeping an eye on the requisite threads, but opinions are kinda all over the place as to which fluids are best (Pentosin, Motul, etc)...

PM'ed

Just finished installing the Perrin license plate mount. Process went very smoothly, plenty of hardware supplied, and their instructions were straightforward.

http://i.imgur.com/wGstJl.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/a5yPEl.jpg

Also, my free sample of GTMAT came today. That was VERY quick shipping, I'm impressed. I think they took my info on Thursday. Haven't decided which car I'm going to put this in yet.

http://i.imgur.com/hDgsBl.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/g46dfl.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/5joyol.jpg

Less than 150 miles to go on the break-in period!

Dropped by my buddies shop, he and some friends sell cars locally. They were all pretty psyched on the BRZ, especially the oil filter lol. One guy said "Man, that makes me WANT to change your oil, just 'cause it's so easy!" :bellyroll:

Installed the stock mud guards and made a DIY for it as well - Stock Mud Guard Install DIY (BRZ & FR-S)

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

http://i.imgur.com/io8Np.jpg

Data logging
 

Torque Pro
I realized that I neglected to mention that about 50% of the time I'm driving, I've got Torque Pro (https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...&hl=en)running on my phone. It's a sweet android app that connects wirelessly to your car's OBD2 system.

OBD2 is your car's On Board Diagnostics system (version 2). This is what shops/techs use to diagnose most car problems. It logs trouble codes which cause things like the CEL and it also carries some real-time info.

Using a small wireless bluetooth dongle like this one ([ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0090ZJPMK/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00"]V1.5 Super Mini ELM327 Bluetooth OBD2 OBD-II CAN-BUS Diagnostic Scanner Tool[/ame]) and the Torque Pro app, you can display info like Speed, Accel, Coolant temps, Vacuum pressure, and more on your phone. It's super simple to setup. It will even log your driving with GPS, record 0-60 and 1/4 mile times, display engine maps, and read/clear trouble codes! I bought a window mount for my Galaxy Nexus ([ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007FHX9OK/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00"]iOttie One-Touch Windshield Dashboard Car Mount[/ame] so I don't have to take my eyes off the road. I'm even working on a Nexus 7 install for kicks!

I'll update this soon with pics of my stuff in the car.

Windshield Mount
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...XL._SS400_.jpg

Bluetooth dongle:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41aMH0I7pfL.jpg

Aww Yeah!

http://i.imgur.com/c6vhYl.jpg

Goodbye 4,000 rpm limit!

Fun fact: I hit this milestone on my drive home from work, at the exact same point on the road that I passed 500 :w00t:

Yay! Early birthday!
 

An early birthday gift to myself arrived today!

http://i.imgur.com/2wPsol.jpg

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

Word to the wise: I'm 6'2 nearly 200lbs and typically wear XL shirts. I ordered this in XL, but it's American Apparel and fits much more snugly than most XL's. It'll likely shrink too... so I'll have to be careful.

link to the t-shirt?

also a pic of your phone mount set-up for another android nerd?

thanks!

- andrew

They no longer offer it :cry: @blipshift only sells one shirt at a time. A very similar shirt is offered by JSC Speed but it has their branding all over it...

doh!

Nice! I also have a similar windshield mount for my iPhone, and also waiting for my blipshift shirt... where the heck is mine? Doh, when i bought it they only had L left, hope it fits me...

and Happy Birthday!

Thanks! I know they got interrupted by Hurricane Sandy, I'm sure yours is on the way, did you get your shipping confirmation?

yeah, just tracked my package... looks like I should hopefully see it tomorrow. :)

Roadtrip!
 

http://i.imgur.com/fm5s2l.jpg

Just got back from an awesome roadtrip with the wife to our old college town Bellingham!

It was a pretty good car for the 4hr trip. Not as comfy as her Volvo, but I'm convinced that car has the most comfortable seats ever (I did a two day, 1800 mile trip in that car and couldn't have been more comfortable). It was a 4 day trip and fit all our stuff great, with 2 suitcases and assorted other items all fitting in the trunk.

The trip basically doubled the mileage on the car, from ~1100 to just over 1800 now. So I'll be changing the oil soon. I may also change the tranny and diff fluids... This was the first time it spent the night outside so I got to experience a true 'cold' shift for the transmission. I'm an automotive engineer, my father is 30+ year ASE certified automotive instructor and we're in agreement that this is a poor design. No matter the temperature, a brand new, modern tranny shouldn't shift like that.

While I was gone, my Fumoto valve arrived:

http://i.imgur.com/d7ibxl.jpg

I have to agree with many here, it's a pretty neat piece of kit. I'll be getting one for the V70R as well.

Another thing arrived while we were gone:

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

My Optimum No-Rinse two bucket kit and Opti-Clean concentrate! Can't wait to give the car a good wash, she deserves it! I've been sticking to touchless washes while I waited on this. Now I know what I'm doing tomorrow!

Today was the first day since break in that I've really pushed the engine and I gotta say, it feels awesome! Did a few pulls up to 7K today and the acceleration from 4K+ is pretty great. Granted it's no turbo, but it definitely gets up and goes!

In other news, SWAG! (Thanks to the wife :wub:)

http://i.imgur.com/Nvv4pl.jpg

Changed to oil today! I'm at 2040 miles. I spent a lot of time on this forum as well as BITOG (http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/) deciding what oil to use. I came to the conclusion that as long as it meets spec, I shouldn't worry too much. I happened to have some store credit for O'Reilly Auto, so I picked up 6 qts of Mobil 1 0W-20. At the next oil change I'll probably go with Idemitsu (it'll be @ the dealer for the 7500 check) and we'll go from there.

This was the easiest oil change ever! My last DD was a V8 explorer. After contoring your hand/arm and straining to get the filter off, you ended up with oil all over the place from spilling onto lines and brackets. I got the Fumoto valve installed and am looking forward to not having to juggle a plug anymore!

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

One thing I did notice is that the factory fill is quite discolored after only 2000 miles. Makes me wonder what additive packages they use for the break in period...

http://i.imgur.com/Mi6UUl.jpg

Information overload!
 

Thanks JohnnyRocket, I have many things on my to do list now. :D

No!!

Attachment 22512

Tail light condensation :mad0259: