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Subaru Crew - Modifications II

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    lark6lark6 Member Posts: 2,565
    LOL Colin ;-). paisan: You know us car nuts don't care about the looks until it's a finished product - it's not the destination, it's the journey.

    Mike Shields was the first person I ever contacted about Subaru performance enhancements. Very knowledgeable guy as you can see but also very friendly to me as a novice to the marque. I wish there were more like him in that respect. I understand some things were happening that forced him to scale back his involvement for a while but I'm glad to know he's still active.

    Ed
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    bluesubiebluesubie Member Posts: 3,497
    No, it looks great! Keep it that way. :-)

    -Dennis
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    I think you worked more on your vacation than most people do while actually at work!

    Welcome back, mike. Ya heard we got Patti back? :-)

    -juice
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    paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    That doesn't include the new floor in the boat and carpet, and entertaining about 10 subie nuts at my house upstate :)

    -mike

    PS: Glad to hear patti is back :) Now she needs to send me some subie stickers for the L :)
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    genegoddessgenegoddess Member Posts: 9
    I'm looking to outfit my new Subie (2003) with some accessories and want to know the best/cheapest online sites. I'm planning to get a bumper cover and cargo tray and possibly some cargo nets (do those have to be Subie specific?).

    Also, the car as is has the security system upgrade. I'd like to get an extra remote and keys. Do the keys need to be Subie specific, or can I get blanks down at Home Depot and have them cut to fit? $1 versus $20 is a big difference!

    Thanks, and I'll try to chat tonight...
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    The keys are not that unique, Home Depot should be able to make copies.

    I got the best prices from parts@liberysubaru.com. They don't have a great web site, maybe to save money and pass the savings on to us, LOL.

    -juice
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    paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    Anyone have any knowledge of start buttons? No point in keeping the keyed ignition in the L anymore :)

    -mike
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Some Miata vendors sell them. Try Miata.net, then go to the vendors page.

    If you know a bit about electronics, I'm sure it could be figured out. You might need the wiring diagram for that car, though.

    You could also search JC Whitney, but I would not expect the same quality.

    Or find an S2000 in a junk yard (doubtful).

    -juice
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Took forever but I finally found one:

    http://www.miata.org/cmt/bsp/default.asp

    Brain Storm has a start button kit for $80. You could make your own for a less.

    It's under electrical.

    -juice
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    earthwomanearthwoman Member Posts: 47
    I *think* this is the right thread for this question. I am a complete novice at this so bear with me.

    I am wondering if anyone knows of dash trim kits, I think that is what they are called, for a 2003 Forester X? Basically it is the silver pieces of molded plastic that surround the stereo, air vents, A/C Heater controls and shifter on the middle of the dash. I have seen them for other cars. Sometimes they are woodgrain, etc. but I am hoping for black.

    The silver is already scratched in my car and, as it is an easily scratched surfaced, it can only get worse because I have two teenagers and camp often. The car get used!

    Any ideas?

    Thank you.
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    qbrozenqbrozen Member Posts: 32,955
    try these folks. address is easy enuf:
    http://www.dashtrims.com/

    they sell on ebay alot. they do list forester, but it just says '98 and up. and i really don't know enuf about the '03 to know if its the same as the '98 or not.

    '11 GMC Sierra 1500; '08 Charger R/T Daytona; '67 Coronet R/T; '13 Fiat 500c; '20 S90 T6; '22 MB Sprinter 2500 4x4 diesel; '97 Suzuki R Wagon; '96 Opel Astra; '08 Maser QP; '11 Mini Cooper S

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    paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    image



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    image



    image

    Hypov drivin, after the rear sway, before the struts and springs and weight reduction.


    image
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    The '03-04 is definitely *not* the same dash as the '98-00. Even the '01-02 might be unique.

    I would remove it and paint it myself. Just sand it down, spray paint with primer, then paint with a flat black spray paint. It's just plastic painted with silver paint.

    It's funny, even our Legacy L has black plastic trim, and guess what - it's painted a semi-metallic black! Why? It'll only make it less durable.

    The plood is better. That appears to have a plastic veneer with a wood pattern on it. It's definitely not painted, so it should last longer.

    mike: she may be ugly, but she sure can cook bay-bee! ;-)

    -juice
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    paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    Even dave was 3-wheelin it!!!!

    -mike
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    hypovhypov Member Posts: 3,068
    hope that's all I do ;-)

    -Dave
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Try to keep at least 2 wheels on the ground, LOL!

    -juice
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    lark6lark6 Member Posts: 2,565
    Alright paisan, thanks for the pics! You can see she is a work in progress but moving in the right direction quickly.

    Work on keeping that inside rear wheel on the ground - reminds me of my old A2 Jetta. ;-)

    Ed
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    paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    We'll find out if the springs and shocks clear up that wheel lift problem. I think the problem was the stockers with 155K miles on them combined with the rear 22mm sway bar and solid end links.

    -mike
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Spray paint is that orange that construction workers use to mark the ground.

    -juice
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    locke2clocke2c Member Posts: 5,038
    That's a huge rear bar. I'd reduce it or put a large front bar on.

    Actually looking at the pics more closely, more roll control is definitely needed at the front.

    -Colin
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    locke2clocke2c Member Posts: 5,038
    almost right at 2 years ago. for the first time in quite a while, I actually miss this car.

    image

    that's a hard swerve with 225/50-16 kumho victoracers... note the body roll.

    -Colin
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    paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    Hmm well I'll have to get Hypov searching the boards for it. Don't forget it's an AT with the front bias of 80/20 torque split, so the 22mm rear bar helps to take the push out of it a great deal. I might dial it down 1 notch to 20mm but the 22 really feels good. Is 225 the widest that will clear the struts with a std offset? I'd like to get 245s or wider under there eventually.

    -mike
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    earthwomanearthwoman Member Posts: 47
    Thank you for the answers on the trim kit. I checked a number of sites, including the one qbrozen suggested. I found out most of these sites are distributors for the same manufacturer. That particular manufacturer does not have a kit for 2003 Foresters "yet". I found an actual manufacturer though that does. AccuLaser at (508) 674-1294. They have a website but are in the process of switching to a newly designed site so some of the product links won't work until next week. I spoke with the salesman on the phone and he was very helpful. I emailed him and he called me back within one minute! He also said they are contracted by Subaru to make dash kits for Subarus. They did some for a show in Boston recently and put some on Foresters and Bajas. He sent me some photos of their kits already on my car. I have to wait to get home to see the photo though because our IT unit at work blocks all images. They will make me a kit in any of the materials they stock but he said the carbon fiber looks awesome. The total cost will be around $128.00.

    I'll let you all know how it turns out and post pics if/when I get it installed. This is exactly what I am looking for though.
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    locke2clocke2c Member Posts: 5,038
    looking at your front end though, I'm sure some understeer is coming from all the body roll.

    -Colin
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    paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    Those pics are pre-spring and strut install. I'll show you some pics after the 27th when we run it for the first time with the complete suspension.

    -mike
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Cool Rebecca. Others have commented about the durability of the silver finish, so when you get it be sure to mention it in the Forester thread.

    -juice
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    locke2clocke2c Member Posts: 5,038
    oh yeah, tire sizes.

    if you want really big meats and you are going to be lowering the car a lot, to me the obvious choice is 225/50-15. (yep, 15.) on those WRX wheels I'd stick to 205/55-16, 225/50-16 (with some light fender mods, probably) and as a last resort the miata-sized 205/45-16. your 4EAT might work good with a tire that short for autocross, but it's too short for track use I bet.

    -Colin
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    paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    I think with the WRX Rotors/Calipers I might have to stick with 16" rims?

    Fenders? There is always the sawzall :)

    -mike
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Yes, I believe so. Even the Forester's brakes now do not fit inside 15" rims ('03+).

    You'll probably have to stick with 16s.

    -juice
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    lucien2lucien2 Member Posts: 2,984
    Oh, man, there is someone less than an hour away selling an ej22t shortblock- new, in SOA crate. Obviously I already have the 2.5 top end, but then I'd need the turbo, IC, crossmember, ECU, wiring....oh and someplace to do the work! lol.

    Ugh. I just have a feeling the new leg turbo is going to be outside my budget, and I am alsco certain these ol' HGs are going to go sooner or later. Overall the car is in good shape and pretty god candidate for later-in-life swappage.
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    paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    Drop me an e-mail about engine options etc...

    -mike
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    You're such a pessimist. ;-)

    Who knows, your gaskets have lasted this long despite hard use. What was it, 8% failure rate, something like that? Yours may fall into the other 92%.

    -juice
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    locke2clocke2c Member Posts: 5,038
    Loosh, that EJ22T shortblock should be cheap. Thinking $1500 for a complete engine, or maybe that was a shortblock, new with zero miles.

    Sounds like a lot of work. Also sounds like a car that should no longer be your primary means of transportation...

    And I don't have access to hard numbers, but I'd be willing to place a wager that the failure rate is well in excess of 8%.

    -Colin
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    lucien2lucien2 Member Posts: 2,984
    all around; just daydreaming really. As for the failure rate, we are running around 80% on the nabisco legacy boards, at least for the Phase I BD/BG guys.
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Well, my 5/60 warranty is up on August 8, Sandy's 5th birthday. I'll be doing a close inspection for any sign of oil leaks.

    -juice
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    rangnerrangner Member Posts: 336
    hey all,

    I've been displeased with the braking performance of my 2000 OBW. I was wondering if anyone else has done any brake upgrades (i.e. larger rotors, cross-drilled, slotted, new calipers) to improve performance. If so, any shared experience would be helpful

    Eric
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Pat sure has. He may be on summer vacation and incommunicato, but do a search for details on his package.

    -juice
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    kenskens Member Posts: 5,869
    I believe Subaru increased the rotor size on subsequent OBs to accomodate the H6 engine weight. You might be able to get marginally better performance by going to a larger size.

    I did something similar with my Forester. When it came time to swap out the rotors, I upgraded to the larger WRX rotors/pads.

    Ken
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    ateixeiraateixeira Member Posts: 72,587
    Brake upgrades are going to improve two things primarily: feel and fade, or prevention of fade.

    The OE brakes have enough power to lock up the wheels and trigger the ABS, so it won't necessarily stop shorter at first. In fact performance pads actually do poorly until they are warm.

    C&D had good results with Hawk pads with OE brakes on the WRX. They performed better overall without needing warming up. Plus, that's the cheapest upgrade.

    It won't help much in the feel arena, though. A different booster would.

    -juice
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    locke2clocke2c Member Posts: 5,038
    Better tires would be the biggest braking performance improvement on a reasonable budget. Pads next, although IMO the stock subaru pads aren't a bad mix of longevity, dust, and cold performance.

    Pedal feel does not come cheap or easy. You can do braided lines but it's a fairly small improvement...

    -Colin
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    fibber2fibber2 Member Posts: 3,786
    IIRC, Pat added a bracket to the brake booster / master cyl assembly to reduce flex (?). I think he indicated that really made a big difference.

    Steve
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    paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    I'd suggest tires first, then pads, then braided lines. Beyond that I'm not sure what else will help you, I run near-stock setups on my cars with upgraded brakes and that includes track events.

    -mike

    PS: Have you flushed your brakes in the past year? That is VERY important IMHO.
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    paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    Well GenROLL Chow aka Hypov and I got to run the L 2 weeks ago at an auto-x upstate NY. The AGX + Eibachs flattened it out and the WRX Rotors/calipers combined with the Hawk HP+ pads were outstanding!

    It's now sporting RS wheels post these pics with new Toyo Proxie RA1s on them.

    Here are some teaser pics for yah: Full set at http://TeamIAC.com

    image


    image

    image

    GenROLL Chow aka Hypov taking a run!
    image
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    fibber2fibber2 Member Posts: 3,786
    What's with the lone tail light? Do you signal during an auto-x, or are the brake lights out? ;-)

    Steve
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    paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    One of the taillight brake filaments is bad. I've got to check it this week and see. Either a wire is bad or the bulb, hopefully just the bulb.

    -mike
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    fibber2fibber2 Member Posts: 3,786
    That's why I thought you were signaling in the middle of the race!!! Very courteous... Just busting on you....

    Steve
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    njswamplandsnjswamplands Member Posts: 1,760
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    subearusubearu Member Posts: 3,613
    a little tire smoke on that passenger front tire in the 3rd pic; threshold braking? ;-)

    -Brian
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    paisanpaisan Member Posts: 21,181
    We don't have any good pics, but we were getting fatty-lockup all day. The combination of the lighter car (2500lbs v. 3200lbs) and single stage brake booster, and Hawk HP+ pads and no ABS.... Means that you could nearly lockem up at will!

    -mike
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    hypovhypov Member Posts: 3,068
    Will they fit into the 'L' ?

    -Dave aka 'GenRoll'
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