well time for an update I suppose. A few new things went on the car recently...
First up I had picked up a Kartboy crank pulley while I was at 86FEST. I went there knowing I wanted a crank pulley. I was actually going to get the Perrin but the guys at RallySportDirect had great deal on the Kartboy there and so I went for it.
Install was a little more challenging than I had hoped... getting the air box out of the way was pretty simple but getting the big crank bolt off required massive torque and I broke/bent a few things in the process:
So the install would have gone really quickly had I not been forced to run down to the local Autozone to pick up a new 24" breaker bar. Perhaps an impact wrench would have made the removal a lot easier too.
Anyways after getting the bolt off, replacing the pulley with the lightweight Kartboy piece was very easy. Carefully rechecked that the belt was properly seated everywhere and put everything back together, and vrooom! The Kartboy makes a distinctive whistle sound that may be annoying to some, and sound like a turbo or supercharger whine to others. I'm ok with it, knowing that the Kartboy is even more lightweight than the Perrin part so there is some performance edge there.
Next cheap-and-easy mod, the aFe Power MagnumFLOW drop-in air filter. I was kicking myself for not getting an air filter to change out while I had the airbox off to install the pulley. But a few days later I rectified that by picking up a new aFe filter from a fellow 86'er who decided to get an intake instead. I was at 13250 miles so I figured it was about time for a filter change anyways.
The filter comes with some nice stickers including one that you can put on the airbox to hopefully thwart some unsuspecting Subie or Toyo mechanic from tossing out your reusable air filter.
and there it is, after install. Putting it in is fairly straightforward, though the markings on the aFe filter are misleading. Because the side that says FRONT actually needs to face the rear of the car LOL. The airbox won't shut properly the other way.
Last but not least, I just received my GrimmSpeed front strut tower brace today as part of the initial product launch group buy. I chose the black wrinkle coat version to keep in line with the rest of my engine bay mods so far, which are all stealthy/subtle mods.
Install was pretty easy and it was nice to see it came with a simple and effective solution to keep the air conditioner hose from rubbing against the strut bar once it's installed.
All 3 mods are readily available and fairly inexpensive (mod costs: $40-60 for air filter, $60-120 for crank pulley, $130-$240 for strut brace) and I'd recommend them to anyone who's trying to mod their car on a budget. They're fairly easy to do on your own or with a knowledgable friend and they'll all bring some subtle but noticeable improvement to your car. Better throttle response, freer revving and better suspension and steering feel -- just what the car needed!