Jayson’s BRZ Series.Blue Journal

[detaild]

I think I am a bit overdue for starting my journal on this vehicle. I am in my late 30’s, and I live in Northern NJ (Montville) about 25 miles west of NYC. Montville is probably most famous for being the town where most of the real housewives of NJ are from - for those of you who are fans of the show. (lol) I have been somewhat active on Bimmerforums / Bimmerpost for years, as well as Rennlist and some older Honda forums literally going back to 1999. Cars have been a huge passion point for me my entire life. Prior vehicles for me include (oldest to newest) 91 EF Honda Civic, 93 EG delSol, 98 DC2 Integra, 01 AP1 S2000, 2010 E87 BMW 128i, 2014 E84 BMW X1, 2015 8v MBQ Audi S3, 2001 E38 740i, 2015 BRZ, 2015 F80 M3. (and I am probably missing a few). That is my car journey of sorts. Personally, I am a Dad to a wonderful 9-year-old who I share 50% custody with my ex (we make the most of it), and currently only have a single car garage at my townhome (which the BRZ and M3 must take turns in). I am happy to be here on the forum and share some of my ownership experience with you guys!

Oddly enough I found my way to the BRZ by looking at Porsche Caymans and 997 911’s. I was hooked on the Cayman GTS after doing the Porsche Driving School in Atlanta. However, the timing wasn't quite right for me to get into a p-car, I still need a nice 4 door car for me and my daughter as a daily (enter my new-to-me F80 M3) and I am not baller status to own both a Porsche and F80 M3 at the same time (at least not as long as my monthly retirement contributions will allow - lol). So that brought me down to mid-market for a nice fun sportscar that is a font / rear layout, not a convertible (weather sucks and I am safety minded), and good for HPDE events at many of the tracks in the area. Cost of consumables was a factor as well. I really considered BMW E46 330ci’s for a long time, E30’s, as well as some older C5 Vettes (bleh). Ultimately though I was drawn in by the idea of getting a BRZ with FR layout, light, reliable, not enough power to get myself in trouble, and super economical for tires/brakes / etc. Oh, and the gas mileage is good too!

I lucked out by finding the perfect one for me a couple of hours away in Connecticut. It was a Craigslist ad for a 2015 series.blue with 78k on the clock that had one or two horrible photos from 50 feet away. I could tell from the pics that there were some bumper sag and a somewhat unkempt appearance (read: dirty as hell). It looked like it needed some love, but it was a 2015 (how bad could it be?) and had up to date service records. I reached out to the owner, when speaking to him on the phone I could tell he wasn't the type of person to thrash his car into pieces, this was more just the product of many drives to DC, a mix of outdoor street parking, and rough northeast winters. I gave him a sight unseen offer at ‘fair’ condition car on KBB, and he took it right away. A week or so later I was on a train out to CT to pick it up!

First fill-up in CT after picking up the car from its previous owner



So something to know about me, I am pretty darn particular about my cars. I am both a hobbyist mechanic (have done engine swaps, brakes, suspension, and countless work on both Honda’s and many BMW’s) and hobbyist auto detailer (paint correction, polishing, etc). From what I could see in the photos of the car, I felt with some TLC I would bring it back to top shape. When I took delivery of the car I was pleased to see that most of the work that needed to be done IMHO was superficial. The tires and brakes were in need of replacement, which was fine for me as I would have done it regardless to get ready for my first HPDE, and the paint/bodywork had its fair share of minor dings and need of love.

After a bit of traffic, I was able to get the car back to North Jersey to my house for closer inspection. The engine was pretty dirty, and every conceivable crevice was filled with tree debris (dried leaves, helicopters, acorns - something was living in there for sure). The pics don't do it justice, but there was TONS of gunk filling all of the wheel wells, inner fenders, rockers, etc. I even ended up pulling out a dead mouse that was cooked by the exhaust header.






Thankfully, after some elbow grease, everything was back to tidy with no rust or lasting damage to be found. Nasty job, but somebody had to do it.

Memorial day weekend was upon us, and my parents were travelling so I took the opportunity to drive the BRZ 700+ miles to South Carolina where I would spend a week getting it dialed in. My worksheet of items consisted of:

• Stoptech Sport Brake Kit
• Stainless Lines
• Oil Pressure Monitoring
• Jackson Racing Oil Cooler
• Perrin Master Cylinder Brace
• 2 stage paint correction (plus wet sand bumper)

My buddy, Miles, getting ready to ride shotgun for the trip down (he didn't have his seatbelt on yet)



Arriving at my parent's house after a rainy last part of the drive


I woke up bright and early the next morning to tackle the first challenge, getting the car up on jack stands. (I forgot that my parent's place doesn't have a proper jack). I had to use a mix of the BRZ factory jack and the one in my dad's truck to get the vehicle safely secure.

All Jacked Up in various stage of disassembly




Stoptech brakes and stainless lines were first to go on. The brakes went on with minimal fuss but the brake lines were a pain. 3 of the 4 brake lines came off using a flare nut wrench, aside from the passenger front. That bolt completely stripped, and I had to use some oversize vice grips to finally get it loose. Thank goodness, because for a while I thought I was going to cut it and have to learn how to re-flare a brake line. After I got everything swapped out, I bled with Pentosin using a power bleeder - will swap out that fluid with Motul before my first track day.

Stoptech Brake Package




I repacked the pulleys which were squeaky, changed the belt and cleaned the throttle body. (repacking the pulleys only mildly helped the squeak)



Next was the Jackson Racing Oil Cooler. This job was a bit messier so I don’t have as many pics, but it mounted up cleanly once the undertray was removed. The biggest pain was routing the lines cleanly, the instructions are clear but it took me a few tries to get it right with no hard bends. Everything else was pretty much plug and play!

Mounting the oil cooler


Running the oil lines


The Perrin Master Cylinder brace went on pretty easily (forgot pics)

I put in a digital Auber Instruments oil pressure monitor (as seen in this thread). Install was not as straightforward as I would have liked - the instructions were somewhat vague and the post on here didn’t go into great detail. After what seemed like hours, I was able to work through it and get everything functioning correctly.





Lastly, I did a 2 stage polish. I actually ended up going pretty light on the cut overall with Meguiars M105, and then finished it off with M205. The front bumper was a totally different story though. That had tons of chips from highway debris and some spider webbing paint from light impacts. I wet sanded the entire bumper with 2000 grit sandpaper, and then followed it up with M105 / cutting pad, M205 / polishing pad. The result was pretty darn amazing and took it from a bumper that was on the verge of needing a respray to being totally acceptable. I also went and filled in a bunch of rock chips with touchup and other light damage around the car while I was at it.



After wet sanding and compound / polishing the bumper


Polished rear quarter & door w/ Stoptech kit


I topped the car with Chemical Guys Jetseal and Meguiar’s Ultimate Wax. Moderate curbing on the wheels was addressed with some light dremeling to smooth out and black touchup paint.

All in all, not a bad way to spend a workweek at my parents place. The weather was HOT in the 90’s, so I was thankful to have the shady garage to work in.

Pics of the finished product and ~4 straight days of work

[detaild]

The drive back from SC to NJ was pretty uneventful. I hit 80k miles somewhere in the journey, and the car ran terrific with its new oil cooler. Not a single leak!



I was trying to figure out for the longest time why the throw on the HID headlights was so terrible compared to other cars I've owned. It was months before I figured out that you could adjust the height of the headlights using the dial to the left of the steering wheel (how cool is that?).




After getting back home, it was time for me to return my Audi S3 as it reached the end of its lease (I considered buying it or getting an RS3 for a hot minute, but ultimately decided my next Audi would be an R8 - and that isn't happening ANYTIME in the foreseeable future.

My BMW E38 was pulling daily drive duty for a while, but I ultimately ended up selling it soon after as well. I loved it, but the maintenance was monopolizing my time and just wasn't worth it as a daily.



Back to BRZ land, the tires were approaching the end of their usable life after my trip down to SC (both in age and treadwear) - so it was time for a BIG upgrade with a set of Michelin Pilot Sport 4s!





I celebrated the occasion by taking a nice pic of the BRZ parked at Towaco Train Station.

[tehShirt]

Nice attention to detail. Seems like you are the owner the car needed!

[detaild]

Originally Posted by tehShirt

Nice attention to detail. Seems like you are the owner the car needed!

Thank you! The BRZ certainly came in at the opportune time for me.

[detaild]

Snagged this shot with the NYC skyline.

[kch]

Any touchup paint in particular that you used for the wheels? I've just been using a black sharpie for a temporary 10foot fix lol

edit: I also gave up on touchup paint for the K1X. Never could get it to look right. Planning to just get a 2017 bumper and have a shop spray it for me.

[detaild]

Originally Posted by kch

Any touchup paint in particular that you used for the wheels? I've just been using a black sharpie for a temporary 10foot fix lol

edit: I also gave up on touchup paint for the K1X. Never could get it to look right. Planning to just get a 2017 bumper and have a shop spray it for me.

I had some black touchup paint off my BMW 7 Series (diamond schwarz black). It was OK, but I am sure there are some better options (it hasn't lasted as well as it should).

For actual touchup, I highly recommend Dr Colorchip (google) or if you use factory touchup, def. use this tool/process:
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uz-zW-cLdUs[/ame]

[detaild]

First track day was quickly approaching, time to dial in the last remaining items.



Fresh RBF Motul Brake Fluid (using the Motiv power bleeder)


New garage LED's installed on the walls


Lined up at NJ Motorsports Park next to a C7 Vette in my run group.


Also had fun chasing around this F82 M4.


Track Report


I ran with the Skip Barber School at NJ Motorsports park in the beginner group. We had 4 sessions of approx 20min each. My day was cut short by an exploding clutch at the end of session 3. I ran up front with the Corvette and M4 all day and had a total blast with the car. I am glad I was in the beginner group as I was a tad rusty (and first time on the track in the BRZ), but my prior driving experience def put me at a quicker pace than the majority of the group who had never seen a track before. Cars in my group consisted of: (F82 M4, C7 Vette, C6 Vette, C5 Vette, (2) Challenger Hellcats, S2000, C Class Merc, Ford Focus). It was a blast staying glued to the bumper of the M4 and C7 Vette, I was just as quick as they were through the technical portions of the track, only to be bested on the straights.

The Stoptech brake package with the Motul fluid was flawless, I don't recall feeling any fade throughout the day. The Pilot Sport 4s's rarely (if ever) put up a complaint and are an amazing tire, and I found the stock suspension setup to be balanced and terrific for OEM.

Unfortunately, my clutch met its untimely demise going into turn 5. While on the brakes I rev-match the downshift into 2nd and the pedal promptly stayed glued to the firewall. The car stayed in 2nd through the turn but then popped into neutral heading into turn 6. At that point my engine stalled (I wondered if it had blown for a quick second) but then glanced at my oil pressure (all good) and determined it was def. a clutch issue (as if the potent smell of burning clitch didn't give it away)

I unceremoniously limped my car off the track around turn 8 and waited on the tow truck to come and collect me.

Despite losing out on some track time, I was overall impressed with the setup of the car in nearly stock form. I cursed myself for not addressing a clutch with 80k on it beforehand, but the good news is I have an Exedy Stage 1 clutch on order along with a Fidanza lightened flywheel. The car is at a shop near the track so I may not have too many pics of the install, but I do look forward to getting a photo of the aftermath of the clutch failure!

[KFTH86]

Originally Posted by jaysonx

Snagged this shot with the NYC skyline.

This is gorgeous.

Originally Posted by jaysonx

Unfortunately, my clutch met its untimely demise going into turn 5. While on the brakes I rev-match the downshift into 2nd and the pedal promptly stayed glued to the firewall. The car stayed in 2nd through the turn but then popped into neutral heading into turn 6. At that point my engine stalled (I wondered if it had blown for a quick second) but then glanced at my oil pressure (all good) and determined it was def. a clutch issue (as if the potent smell of burning clitch didn't give it away)

I unceremoniously limped my car off the track around turn 8 and waited on the tow truck to come and collect me.

Despite losing out on some track time, I was overall impressed with the setup of the car in nearly stock form. I cursed myself for not addressing a clutch with 80k on it beforehand, but the good news is I have an Exedy Stage 1 clutch on order along with a Fidanza lightened flywheel. The car is at a shop near the track so I may not have too many pics of the install, but I do look forward to getting a photo of the aftermath of the clutch failure!

RIP your clutch, but if it was time anyway, sure was a good way for it to go!

[weederr33]

Originally Posted by jaysonx

Snagged this shot with the NYC skyline.

Woah that's a gorgeous picture. It could be a good desktop wallpaper. I'm a fan of your thread for sure!

[detaild]

Originally Posted by KFTH86

This is gorgeous.



RIP your clutch, but if it was time anyway, sure was a good way for it to go!

Hah yeah, there was another 86 owner at the track and he told me the stock clutch is pretty weak for track use. I should have known better with 80k miles on it. At least this isn't my daily driver!

[detaild]

Originally Posted by weederr33

Woah that's a gorgeous picture. It could be a good desktop wallpaper. I'm a fan of your thread for sure!

Thank you! I shot it on my Sony Alpha 6300. I want to get a nice fixed 50mm lens to do more.

[weederr33]

Originally Posted by jaysonx

Thank you! I shot it on my Sony Alpha 6300. I want to get a nice fixed 50mm lens to do more.

Nice! The only Sony lens I own is on my phone haha

[JeremyR]

I love seeing cars rescued and given the proper care they deserve! Can't wait to see what's next for it!