What have you done to your car today?

[G B]

Unexpected progress

 

Tried a local auto upholsterer but he's busy until next year. Then went to another local guy who does auto/furniture but couldn't match the STi's leather exactly so would have to go to a leather supplier to see if I have any luck there.

 

Anyway, a closer look at the armrests seemed to indicated very similar sizes which got me thinking...

 

Out with a philipps screwdriver and a little dismantling showed that the rests are indeed, very similar in size. The obvious difference being the recess for the catch release on the Imprezza part.

 

I then decided to see if the STi leather would come off of the moudling and to my surprise, it did very easily. The vinyl on the Imprezza part was a little harder, but came off nevertheless.

 

I then tried fitting the STi leather over the Imprezza moulding and it justy about fits. Will need a little stretch at the sides, but nothing major. This now makes it a DIY job

So, what I have is...

 

 

A: STi armrest moulding with leather removed, but foam padding stiil in situ as this has been glued to the plastic.

B: The Imprezza lower part/mechanism.

C: Vinyl cover from Imprezza armrest.

D: STi leather fitted losely over the Imprezza armrest moulding.

 

Below is the Imprezza vinyl cover with latch insert. No padding under the vinyl - it's glued directly to the plastic but pulls off easily enough...

 

The STi leather covering the Imprezza moulded armrest part. As I said above, needs slight stretching on each side (couple of mm) and the leather needs to be cut for the latch part...

 

The STi arm rest has some foam padding which is glued directly to the plastic. This won't come off without breaking apart, so need a small piece of foam for the new set up...

 

So, hopefully, all I need to get tomorrow is some suitable leather glue, a piece of foam and should be able to complete the job myself. And save a few $ in the process by keeping it DIY

[1randomkiwi]

5 hours ago, ADIKT said:

I could never get the dragons breath to spray nicely and I end up using far to much of it. 

 

Does this stuff spray nicely? Does it go a cool colour aswel?

 Yeah the bottle it comes in seams to have a decent spray nozzle.
No fancy colour I'm afraid. The dirty picture of my wheel is with the Black Magic applied.

For $15 I'm very happy.

[KwS]

13 hours ago, ADIKT said:

I could never get the dragons breath to spray nicely and I end up using far to much of it. 

 

Does this stuff spray nicely? Does it go a cool colour aswel?

 

Trick is to dilute it, or use a better spray bottle. I use dragons breath and its good stuff.

[ADIKT]

2 minutes ago, KwS said:

 

Trick is to dilute it, or use a better spray bottle. I use dragons breath and its good stuff.

Tried 3 different spray bottles on undiluted liquid and none of them sprayed well at all

 

Tried diluting it with water and still end up using quite alot of it (end up spraying more on because its less effective when diluted) (doesn't help that my wheels are plastidipped) 

[G B]

A piece of cushion foam from a craft shop is glued in place on the top part of the Imprezza rest...

 

The leather trim is then stretched over the top and glued on the inside only, pegs clamping the leather in place while the glue dries...

 

A cut out is made for the latch mechanism and the plastic trim simply snaps in, holdiong the leather firmly in place...

 

I used some spray adhesive initially but despite a long drying time, the edges are lifting in places so will need to use a stronger glue...

 

Apart from that, all is going to plan

[1randomkiwi]

@Aurai any recommendations on fabric glue for @G B?

[G B]

So, after fixing the leather in place with contact adhesive ( https://www.mitre10.co.nz/shop/ados-f2-multipurpose-contact-adhesive-75ml-honey/p/370182 - which is what I should have done in the first place ), armrest is reassembled...

 

 

 

 

All that remained was to install it into the car.

 

Lowered position...

 

Elevated...

 

 

 

Raised...

 

All in all, a pretty straightforward DIY job with a pleasing result. It's the sort of mod that just about anyone could do and simply requires a  cross head screwdriver, contact adhesive, a sharp knife and some cushion foam. Though it would have been a lot easier if Subaru fitted it in the first place

[El_Chado]

Looks sooo good man! How much do you think you saved doing it yourself?

[G B]

@El_Chado - probably at least $200 by the time you factor in materials and labour?

[Batbaruman]

looks like a good, clean DIY job there mate. nice one.

[loner]

Early xmas present.

 

 

 

Edited December 7, 2016 by loner

[Munkvy]

6 minutes ago, loner said:

Early xmas present.

 

 

 

Nice! Any better/cheaper than the KillerB option? No excuse to not win events now

[Dairusire]

ooooh far out @loner, that's a nice bit of kit! 

[Dairusire]

@94 Leone Great to see that car in person. Looks in fantastic condition.

[loner]

1 hour ago, Munkvy said:

Nice! Any better/cheaper than the KillerB option? No excuse to not win events now

 

You are like a stuck record Eden!

 

I chose this over the killer-b sump because it's a stock sump that has been gutted... so no concerns about fitment with aftermarket headers.

I also trust their more conventional baffle design over the killer-b design which doesn't appear to be very comprehensive... even though they are

reputed to be very good. The RCM baffles look very close to macbilt baffles, which I also trust... but this was cheaper by a few hundred dollars

including shipping and faster to get by a week... and I didn't need to take the car in to get measured.

Edited December 7, 2016 by loner

[ADIKT]

8 minutes ago, loner said:

 

You are like a stuck record Eden!

 

I chose this over the killer-b sump because it's a stock sump that has been gutted... so no concerns about fitment with aftermarket headers.

I also trust their more conventional baffle design over the killer-b design which doesn't appear to be very comprehensive... even though they are

reputed to be very good. The RCM baffles look very close to macbilt baffles, which I also trust... but this was cheaper by a few hundred dollars

including shipping and faster to get by a week... and I didn't need to take the car in to get measured.

I like the gift box it comes in! 

[loner]

15 hours ago, ADIKT said:

I like the gift box it comes in! 

The Mrs really likes it too... So it turns out my Xmas shopping is more complete than I thought 😁 

 

[Munkvy]

22 hours ago, loner said:

 

You are like a stuck record Eden!

 

I chose this over the killer-b sump because it's a stock sump that has been gutted... so no concerns about fitment with aftermarket headers.

I also trust their more conventional baffle design over the killer-b design which doesn't appear to be very comprehensive... even though they are

reputed to be very good. The RCM baffles look very close to macbilt baffles, which I also trust... but this was cheaper by a few hundred dollars

including shipping and faster to get by a week... and I didn't need to take the car in to get measured.

Interesting, I run the twin scroll KillerB and haven't had any issues, maybe I need to drive faster!

[Dairusire]

1 minute ago, Munkvy said:

Interesting, I run the twin scroll KillerB and haven't had any issues, maybe I need to drive faster!

 

I believe you missed the part where Loner says " which doesn't appear to be very comprehensive... even though they are" Specifically the last bit

[loner]

38 minutes ago, Munkvy said:

Interesting, I run the twin scroll KillerB and haven't had any issues, maybe I need to drive faster!

 

As I said, they have a good reputation... but from pictures only, the oil doesn't look very constricted.

[SpeedySub]

Just received this

 

Now to start saving for tune! (and a few bits to make it work properly)

[Guest]

15 minutes ago, SpeedySub said:

Just received this

 

Now to start saving for tune! (and a few bits to make it work properly)

 

Awesome. Should get @gotasuby to check it out make sure its allgood. Just pays with purchases of this nature.

[SpeedySub]

5 minutes ago, evowrx said:

 

Awesome. Should get @gotasuby to check it out make sure its allgood. Just pays with purchases of this nature.

Yeah thats a good thought, no point buying anything till I know it works! Will take it out to hime when I sort out my steering rack. HAd a really good talk to him when I went out the other weekend, great guy to deal with.

[sobanoodle]

Got a bit upset when my tracking number ending with JP showed "Held for clearance", massive relief this morning (some 12 hours later) when it changed to "Released for delivery". Too bad I won't be able to get it before Monday  

[ADIKT]

15 minutes ago, sobanoodle said:

Got a bit upset when my tracking number ending with JP showed "Held for clearance", massive relief this morning (some 12 hours later) when it changed to "Released for delivery". Too bad I won't be able to get it before Monday  

What goodness do you have in transit?