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My build thread.. Lots of pics that work (Not Photobucket!)

68K views 449 replies 36 participants last post by  Ricco 
#1 · (Edited)
I've had my 2.5 RS a couple of months now and I've decided to start a build thread, hoping it's going to help me get this thing over the finish line.

This RS is my 4th Subaru


My first was a Catalunya special edition, the car I wish I still had, hence the mid-life crisis build :D


2nd was an 09 STI Hatch


3rd is my current DD, a 2016 BRZ


Picked up the RS for $2600 which I don't think was too bad, it's a sedan which I wanted as I prefer it over the coupe and the body is completely rust free. It has been in Houston for 99% of its life and is as solid as they come.

Car did have a few problems from when I picked it up.. It has a ton of dings in the body and has some parking lot fender bender damage to the hood and core support. The sunroof leaked and I also found water in the rear fender wells.

I've done a few things up to now and ordered a bunch of parts. First thing was to replace the sunroof frame as it was rusted out.. I assume the drain tubes were blocked at some point and allowed water to sit in the frame and rust it out.

I also had to have the boxer rumble so ordered some cheap ass DNA headers from Amazon - $100 and there are worth the price.


The problem however was the stock exhaust was too quiet so I still couldn't hear it.


I had a Blitz NUR Spec R on my Catalunya so I wanted one of those again but I was struggling to find one in GC fitment so I ordered a brand new GD one and adapted it to fit the GC



Then they made an adapter to mate directly to the stock NA cat pipe

It looks pretty ghetto but it is welded on the inside so it works fine.
End result


I'm still not entirely happy with it as the GD fitment makes it come straight out the back, perpendicular to the bumper whereas the GC ones come out at an angle which I prefer.. So if anyone has a GC fitment Blitz for sale, let me know.
 

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#29 ·
Not much of an update.. Nothing has really happened with my GC at the body shop since I last posted pics.




Have done plenty more karting though, my youngest brought home third place overall in the regional series he was in



I had to daily the STI for a while since the BRZ battery was dead.


Finally got around to jump starting it and taking it to Subaru.. They replaced the battery under warranty.
 
#30 ·
Took the BRZ out to get an alignment, first headed to Kozmik Motorsports which isn't too far from my house.. While they were full booked and so couldn't do my alignment, they were a very cool bunch of guys who seem to really know their stuff.

In addition to tons of Subaru's, Evo's and GTR's, they had an Ultima GTR in the shop, complete with breathed on LS motor making over 1000hp.



Next stop was to see my GC. Again, no update on it, other than it having been moved outside. At least it is under a cover.


Several stops later, most of them told me they couldn't do it for a few hours or that my car was too low, I booked an apt at this place and look what pulled in as I was walking out.

It's not a 1LE but it is a ZL1. I have a ZL1 convertible on order, hoping it will be getting delivered in a few weeks; I'll be trading in the Mustang for it.

Finally found a place to do the job that day so had the wife call and cancel the apt. The guy who was to do it was also the owner of this cool old school Supra.


It got close to the ramps but it cleared.


They did a good job, a little pricey but I got to hang out and watch everything he did the whole time and chat, which was cool. They also recalibrated the steering angle sensor once the alignment was complete.
 
#44 ·
I heard some progress had been made this week so I went and checked up on my car this afternoon.

Found a number of new parts had been painted, Door handles, Gas Door, Tail Light Trim, hood vents etc.






The core support has been painted and the front bumper installed.





My Spoiler, grill and front lip are still sitting around doing nothing though :crazy:


This is the kind of thing that pisses me off.. I don't know how many times I asked these for these to be removed before they painted it
 
#46 ·
I totally know how you feel on them door things. On my last paint job, I removed almost everything myself to avoid that. I asked them to remove the back window, and some old seal shavings fell down. 2-3 little ones and a pretty nice size one were just left... oh yea, painted right over. Glad it's on the back seat area, is a race car, and I don't mind a little spray paint to fix it.

But f me man. You got one job you do all day, clean, prep and paint. And we are paying you to do it. Don't be a lazy ass!

See you got me ranting now :lol:
 
#48 ·
Exactly, it would have taken the same amount of time to remove it, as tape it off.. Actually scratch that, the guy must have taken all of 3 seconds to mask it off that badly.. :screwy:

Thanks for the comment BTW, beginning to think no one was watching :lol:
 
#54 ·
looks like they painted the whole front bumper blue when there should be some black where the license plate goes and such.

also on the euro rear bumper dont forget to tell them to fill in the holes where the euro plate mounts. i didnt notice it on mine until i saw the holes when I mounted my caliofrnia plate.

looks good!
 
#55 ·
You are probably right about the paint on the front bumper but that part will most likely be coming off anyway as I am wanting to put on a FMIC.

Thanks for noticing those holes on the rear bumper.. Already notified the body shop twice! :lol:
 
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