Gripless

Well they have the BRZ Purple edition in 6 speed only. Maybe they are trying to pass the crown from Impreza to BRZ. https://media.subaru.com/pressrelease/2220/1/subaru-announces-2025-brz-series.purple-special-edition

Found more rust, again tiny. The rails have been rubbing and made little 2mm circle of missing paint. Got bored/brave and cleared up all the rusted stone chips around the car. So scratched rust and treated, primed all ready for painting. Tested roof sound deadening and it’s just quieter to notice, but not a big improvement. Though other than rain noise I think will be back when factory headliner goes back in since it is far more reflective than the foam. The heat insulation on the other hand is obvious. With a window cracked it doesn’t increase in temp anymore. The outside is too hot to hold your hand on but inside is warm but not hot. The downside is when parked in underground where it’s cold, the car is still same hot temp when you get back. Even when roof was cold the car stays insulated. I did figure out the roof rib bracing gets to about the same temperature as the roof skin. Roof ribs now has thermal tape of fibreglass and alloy like exhaust wrap but super thin. At 100kph the roof skin cools down from 70-80 degrees to more like 40 degrees. So didn’t need AC running on motorway. All this is still without the headliner which should add more insulation.

Don’t worry they are only making 500 worldwide. Plus it’s detuned compared to last generation as well.

When empty it must resonate a lot. Some old 80s luxury car a flatmate had the tank had a 3-4cm thick foam between rubber pad on top of the tank to reduce noise. So guess there is something to it. But awd cars the tank is pretty solid since it has to clear the driveshaft.

Well I’ve not driven the car yet but just in the car park the reflected sounds have dropped noticeably while installing it. tapping of the treated vs untreated was obvious, not dead like the tar/rubber mat but no ring. Very surprised now much different given it’s so thin and light. If the heat is reduced as well then will be wishing I did it years ago 😒

Very little trim comes out and it’s all bolted near top so can’t move due to airbags etc so not likely to rattle. lights are also screwed in to roof so no new rattles for those either. paranoid bit is bending the headliner when getting it out.

Prices for clips range from USD$ 0.40 - 6.50 with most places having low or no stock. Have sent enquires for set of 14. Of possible will order set and have old ones spare if some snaps theirs.

Rust removal, luckily only superficial, but now I have to paint things. While putting the sound deadening in the roof I found a rusty area. It’s right near the back quarter window unjust before the hatch inner support. It’s started in the roof sheet and moved down to the seam of the car. Main blistered point was on roof 12x15mm, but after scraping it a whole lot and adding rust converter, it’s actually not gone anywhere and the seam rust was only the very outer edge over 6cm. The metal is pitted but not very deep. Originally I was thinking it was a leak under the rails but now just that it was spatter from a spot weld that didn’t get clean and sealed. That amount of blistering in a 90’s car would have been nearly through the metal. So not only does higher strength steel help crash safety it slows rust a whole lot. Having now scraped the outside area under the roof rails a near the back where the seam sticks through. There is rust (surface only) under the very end. While is close to the inside rust it’s too minor and too far back to be the cause. Mainly where the ends are coated in sealant as the go over the end and down the hatch. A 5-7mm area under the sealant was the worst I found and that was on the other side. Now to leave it overnight to make sure all the converter is done. Tomorrow is paint day. I’m bad at painting, and I got grey primer as was only for the inside initially. But the outside bits are under the rails and 20mm down the back seam that is hidden by the hatch and wing.

This is for the two strips the run along the seam between the roof skin and the main body of the car. While these have 4 clips you do NOT have to unclip the 4 individual little ones. They are designed to stay with the rails. They have an angled channel underneath that is smooth on one side (see image below) the other notched (barely visible in image below). These slide over round T pins welded to the car. As they slide they pull tighter and the notches stop them shaking loose. To remove you use a small flat screwdriver or trim tool to slide it off the pin. Tape the screwdriver to prevent paint damage. On the right side undo is forward. On the left undo is backward. They require very little force to slide. method A common Insert from the inside edge aka the one closet to the middle of the roof. The whole middle is open, the 2 tabs sticking up in the image are likely anti-rattle and not on the early part numbers. Those tabs “could” be used to slide but you’d risk scratching the paint. method B Same as above but from outside edge. Which has wider rubber and likely the factory recommended way. The large triangle tab stick out as far as the moulding rail so easy to find. plus it’s nice and high up so won’t risk the paint as much On the hatch the are 7 per side. 3 behind rear roof rack mount 3 between the roof rack mounts 1 in front or the roof rack mounts I found them just sliding the thin trim tool until I hit one end. The opening to slide the is 2-3cm from either end. The final clip in a plastic stud about 15-20mm from windscreen. So far the best way is remove is lift the whole mounding upwards with the stud as a pivot. Mine both made a small click when the moulding was lifted. Then I slide the removal tool towards the stud and lowered the moulding which popped it off. 91048FG000, 91048FG001, 91048FG002, 91048FG010, 91048FG020 Now 91048XA00A extended to cover 2023-2024 Reinstall is just hold the rail up to the car and slide the clips on the rail so they are on the correct side of the pins welded to the car. drop the rail into place and slide them back into place. Then tap down the front onto the stud.

I had a bit of a look, but you’d need to check the pump physically matches as I don’t know much about Subaru parts and just following part numbers. I’m guessing this is old style abs with ecu and sensors attached to the pump? Anyway this may help… 27531AC000 has revision 010,020,030 then 03a then 040 and at 27531AC04A it jumps over to superseded 27539AC04A for 1999-2001 2.2L 2.5l legacy and forester there’s a 050,060 and ends with 27539AC06A last model on amayama https://www.amayama.com/en/part/subaru/27531ac040 from there it seems to go to the forester code with 27539FC010 seeming to be the most common number for 1999-2002 with some places selling it as 1997-2003. that has revisions 020,030,040 Only model on amayama https://www.amayama.com/en/part/subaru/27539fc010

Headliner out, no need to remove seat belt. On the b pillar set the seat belt height to half way. undo the top bolt under the little panel. Slide up 15mm or so the you pull the bottom outwards over the white round trim push clips and slide it down until seatbelt won’t let it go further. Each A pillars are has wiring for lights, unplug from by dash, and cut tape on the plastic holder as the wires stay with the headliner when it comes out. Will be installing this tomorrow, after testing it this week. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007251604620.html Ok firstly it’s not 2cm thick, it’s 1cm after a few days sitting unrolled. There is no way it’ll ever get to 2cm. So between 2mm and 10mm overall. The backing was clear plastic not pictured paper. After backing removed it does stretch well so will conform to curves nicely. The glue on the back seems strong enough. If you stick it on the rubber foam rips apart before the glue let’s go. Could be a task to remove or clean up in the future. Though it is closed cell and doesn’t absorb water. It has a slight fireworks or match head smell to it. When set on fire with lighter it self extinguishes so that’s good. Needs 2 rolls to do the roof. Since it will be above airbags roof between front and rear heavy beams it 1550mm and 1200mm wide. Also have speaker fill that is 30mm thick to cover the whole back of the headliner to replace the single 30mm thick woollen block of100x400mm. This will be be 960mm wide as to not go down the side and cover the curtain airbag path. It’s also well away from the pyrotechnics which are in the c pillars so should be fine. I will test burn some to see what it does and if it’s bad then may run some 50mm wide alloy tape along the sides. Will test fit with fill and if it’s does bulge anywhere then it’s headliner out again and glue the fill in place. All this is due to the car being black and roof get over 80c measured outside. So as soon answer the AC is off the heat starts to come through the headliner. Could also vinyl wrap the roof the same black so the vinyl insulates the metal. Glued some metal u screw to the fender vents where the mud flaps have been screwed into. There is a random assortment or screws from previous owner. One front is short self tappers. The other is so long it screwed through the inner metal of the guard.

Almost removed headliner so can install bumpy foam and layer of speaker stuffing to block heat and reduce cabin drone. Plus broke a clip on back of one of the roof handles. Just need to remove one front seat belt to get the thing out tomorrow. Fitted adjustable flasher relay and set to a reasonable speed. removing the old unit for the clip was the hardest part. Even after unclipping the relay stack from the main fuse box. Have a fixed rate one arriving next week as well. Removed the fender vent panels and got some rust primer to seal edges the larger cutouts needed to get more airflow. https://www.iwsti.com/threads/fender-rear-engine-vent-optimizing-performance.191959/

I had thought about that but didn’t like the idea much. The risk of a clutch system leak drain brake fluid doesn’t sound good. I’ve had clutch slave cylinder fail as well as a pinhole in a clutch line before. Plus using motul 660 as clutch fluid seems excessive.

Don’t forget if you don’t have a 3D printer that universities etc do. If you know a student ask them, the rates are cheap than commercial and their printers range from cheap to ultra high end. They likely have laser cutter as well, so can do thin metal for brackets or wood trim as well. I got a few small sample projects just before Xmas from one.

What year and spec? FYI most places will still list car as legacy not levorg though. here’s the 2020-current model https://www.subaru.co.nz/sites/default/files/2023-09/Subaru_Warranty_Service_Book_2020_SNZWRTY17.pdf try https://www.subaru.com/owners/vehicle-resources.html the owners manual for some models are 500 pages and have the service guides. Or select your year and spec and click the button. https://www.subaru.ca/webpage.aspx?webpageid=18541

Ran aux cable for stereo to centre console in preparation for airplay wifi unit. It’s an old single din unit and aux is via an adaptor via CD changer input. Finally fixed the door lock in the inner handle. When the door was replaced from the attempt to screwdriver the lock they used the lock and cable from the new door. Which has a smaller ball on the lock the the main handle. cheap fix since only used heat shrink to cover the small ball with 3 layers and now it clips into place and works fine.

Looking to tidy up the clutch master to bring it up from under the intercooler and while at it maybe the brake master. Anyone done remote mounting before? https://au.gktech.com/products/remote-mount-reservoir-kit

There are ducted shrouds and splitters from the scoop to the top of the intercooler, but nothing after to direct airflow! Older models had only a small vent to bypass the intercooler to feed the turbo cooling duct. Which was fine as air only exited under the car. The newer cars have a large gridded vent on each side as well as a series of rectangle cutout along the back of the seal. Im guessing they have these to blow the hot air to the sides of the engine bay and out via the front fenders and vents. Though possible that the side without the turbo needs far less. The rear rectangular holes would have sent external air down the firewall and over the clutch master etc. This also lets the hot air vent back through the scoop when not moving. The large gridded vents are the highest point in the engine bay so convection does its job. It is very noticeable on cold of rainy days when the shimmer from the heat exits the vent in standstill traffic. Now with a large intercooler fitted the duct ends 4cm from the back edge of the fins in the core. The much larger inlet takes up almost all the gap to the firewall. So any air that vents back there is above the seam to the wiper motor area and won’t flow downwards over the firewall. Since this requires the OEM rubber duct to be moved 4cm or more rear wards just to cover the core, maybe there needs to be a few deflectors underneath to direct some of the air towards the firewall. This may also help direct more hot air to exit under the car rather than become stagnant near the firewall.

Fitted reverse LED. Easy job as little hatches in the rear hatch to access them. Since they are foam seal light clusters the bulbs have no o-ring to get stuck. The reverse lamps come on with engine off as long as you have double tapped start button without the clutch in. Made it easy to check they worked. Fitted new fog or spot light bulbs. Both are accessible from the wheel liner if you turn the wheel full lock. There are 3 black plastic panel clips on the wheel liner lower section that is outside the bumper. peal back liner as far as you can. About 15cm of the upper section that inside the metal body work is enough. Plug is red/brown and has a single center push release close to the wire end. It was easy push, no noise clip, then slide off without having to hold it down. Bulb holder is tan and plug faces downwards and you rotate the plug inwards to undo. So they rotate differently on each side. Eg clockwise driver right side. Counterclockwise on passengers left side. The OEM spotlights are recessed so it can only turn the correct direction and acts as guide to put them back in as well. Holders have 3 equal keyed tabs that are a tight fit so once rotated still needed a fair bit of wriggling to start sliding backwards and out. The replacements one I put in came with new holders that had far smaller tabs so much easier to get in/out. On the sti the side vents allow you to see in to the back of the lamps. Clearly of right, but left has the washer bottle etc in the way. Still not hard to do just a little more care needed to get bulbs around them without touching anything. I did test one side of each and it was obvious the old bulbs had faded to more yellow and brightness had dropped a lot. Old bulb was blue tinted glass and only bulbs in car that don’t have Japanese writing or branding.

Some of the o-rings in the headlights especially get dry and crusty making them hard to remove. Newer cars or curved headlight's are more likely the issue, since you can’t easily get to the bulbs. eg 2008+ Impreza the parking bulb is on a bulb holder with a 6cm thin plastic handle as it’s so far inside the guard. That’s after having to remove the battery and airbox to get to the inner guard. Even a few week later trying to remove the parking lamp again without lube the o-ring had stuck again. You can replace some, eg front indicators are a o-ring while others like outer tail lights are a custom shaped rubber seals. i just use silicone oil on a cotton bud (q-tip) on the mating face so not to attract dust etc.

Measured temps after long drive, did a small full boost section but that was 15 mins before measuring. intercooler top mount throttle side 43c rad and killer b upper tank. 94c intake - turbo side 68c was hotter after 10 min warm up before insulation washers - passengers side 54c turbo - compressor side maybe 60-70 didn’t write it down, but water cooled core and upper res are next to it. - hot side and down pipe hpc coated 297c tested new aerogel insulation with flames measuring 570c and it went from white to a grey/tan tint. But that maybe just the soot. Either way it held the temp for a few seconds after removing the flame, but the other side was still room temp. Has little smell after heating, so better than glass fibre wrap. Next will cut section and see if it soaks up liquid, and if it’ll make the oil etc burn easier once absorbed. Have a plan for cheap easy brake and clutch master cylinder heat shielding on the way too. Wont be needed once exhaust is wrapped, but maybe useful for others and race cars.

Damn looks nice!

Don’t forget pi3 runs link ecu dash amd there is now support for canbus so you can log or react to car events.

LED indicator bulbs arrived. TLDR; very bright for modern clear lenses, for the older cars likely ideal as does fill the reflector. Will order the white ones next for reverse lights as they are very bright. I lied they fast blink, maybe due to side mirrors being led as well. Need new LED supported flasher relay now. Which is an 8 pin unit Subaru part 81980-50030 toyota part 066500-4650 Just fitted the rear two only as can’t be bothered pulling the battery, airbox and intake to do the front ones. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005131707706.html Yellow 7440 T20 7443 for 08 hatch the above fit. They are very very bright, do… fast flash and fill the whole reflector. I wouldn’t want to be looking at them on a rainy night. They are the same as annoying Audi ones before they went to the animated led strips. They light up the some of the brake light and the ground as well. This isn’t new as the bulb did the same just the increased brightness means in shade you can see the effect. The bulbs did this at night clearly, but in shade or underground carparks you didn’t notice it. Now other than sunlight you notice the effect. May have to cut the tint back another 5mm on the sides to see if that stops the brakes lighting up as much. Not that I think it will fail a WOF and increases visibility from side as it not just the tiny wing mirror ones. The silver ring around the base is alloy, while the vented part is plastic, so it isn’t reliant on anodising to stop shorting the connector.

Two additional orders 1 cup holder foam from amayama the 3 foam inserts for the cup holder and tray same as legacy and a few other models. Just as the current ones are mostly just grit and the rectangle in the middle where the tape holds what’s left down. When they arrive I’ll put them on an A4 sheet of paper and scan them with the measurements and centre points of the radius. Then have an admin host them here. That way you can just print them at home on paper and cut them out from foam, leather or whatever material. Plus you can pick coloured material if you wanted. 2 lighters sockets replaced with USB Bits for inside the console box to tidy up the sockets etc. I have a USB lead for the iPhone/iPod link to the stereo that pokes through the AUX panel. Which is a 5x2.5cm cutout with a diagonal corner that’s Subaru used since the late 90’s. There is little option to replace this due to the size, so it’ll be covered over with this dual usb A and dual usb c with PD. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008187065950.html That will connect to the cigarette lighter power wiring. The PD power delivery part will be helpful for charging a laptop a little at 20-30watts. They say 60watts but I suspect that’s only if you have 24v input. The model I ordered has voltage display as well. The console box lighter socket will be removed since the power draw from the above will be near the factory rating of the old lighter. The hole will be filled by and usb to usb cable for the stereo. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007137472845.html Since lighter sockets are pretty useless the one in front of the gear shift is being replaced as well. With a usb A and usb c with PD and QC3 for phones. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006823887384.html it also has a button to press to show current voltage on a multi colour segment display more like old air fuel ratio meter. It should be only illuminated after first button press, but it’s low down out of eyeliner for night driving anyway. Final USB is usb A female to usb c female panel. That will mount near glove box and connect to ecu tuning cable. That way it’s tidy and I don’t need to buy a new ecu to usb c plug if that is ever an option. Will print a label for cover that says ecu and tuck it away slightly out of view. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006704300239.html Last one in the list.