James' Gen 4 3.0R-B Wagon - Page 12 - Builds and Projects - Suby Club

Liberty 27 Apr 2017

Looking good man! That hole though.

Where'd you source the eyelids from? I know you mentioned it on here but CBF looking back at the moment.

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applegeek897 27 Apr 2017

Looking good man! That hole though.

Where'd you source the eyelids from? I know you mentioned it on here but CBF looking back at the moment.

Haha I know man haha, the next time I do a round of painting, I'll grab some front parking sensors so the hole can be filled.

The eyelids are Ultrex, they are only 100 bucks but really aren't great, better off getting either K2Gear or HippoSleek ones, they are much better from what I've heard.

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Liberty 27 Apr 2017

Eyelids aren't a genuine item from Subaru?

Haha, I'm only messing man. One thing at a time.

Seeing your updates makes me want to update mine more and more, I just lose motivation as soon as I load up mine as there is a lot to mention... I'll get there eventually.

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applegeek897 28 Apr 2017

Eyelids aren't a genuine item from Subaru?

Haha, I'm only messing man. One thing at a time.

Seeing your updates makes me want to update mine more and more, I just lose motivation as soon as I load up mine as there is a lot to mention... I'll get there eventually.

We're all waiting Gaz...

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Liberty 28 Apr 2017

Soon man, soon.

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applegeek897 29 Apr 2017

They're here!

I'm ready for the pleasure.

Man they are almost more art then part, oh and VERY green.

They were also nice enough to supply a bunch of nice stickers.

Also included was a nice damper adjuster and really nice set of c spanners.

Install should happen tomorrow, I'm just so keen!

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Liberty 30 Apr 2017

Keen to see how the car looks installed man!

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applegeek897 30 Apr 2017

Keen to see how the car looks installed man!

Install time, started with just doing a basic setup, get a rough height, although I'm flying completely blind and just did what I thought would be good.

Car in the air ready for the install.

I thought the front would be more involved so I started there first to get it over and done with, wheels off.

Time to pull the struts off.

Holy shit balls those bolts were on tight, but with lots of arm juice it came off eventually.

Strut bolts and brace next to come off.

And out it comes, goodbye old bastard.

Coils in, rinse and repeat for the other side.

The guessed high seemed to work pretty well for a first go, I might go a slight touch lower but that can be done when it goes in for an alignment at Heasmans.

For the rears just about everything had to come out to get to the rear strut tops, and even then they aren't great.

Onto the rear now.

Wheels off and struts out, these took not even a quarter of the time to remove.

Coils in, it was fairly hard with one person, trying to get everything to sit right but it went in eventually.

The rear settled a bit more after a drive. I set the dampers 8 stops down from the hardest setting, which was the recommendation from Tein. It actually seems more comfortable then the old suspension, although I take that more to the fact that this has 347,000km less then the old stuff. Everything will get another spanner check in the morning as well as a wash and a small photo shoot.

I'm so happy I finally did it, well overdue. I didn't go for the usual MCA or Shockworks, but after the recommendation from Garage 88, so happy I went this direction.

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Niko 01 May 2017

G88 recommended TEIN? I always liked them but recently they've been copping some critiscism. They look good here.

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Liberty 01 May 2017

They look awesome and the car sits quite nicely on them man. Keen to see some outside shots once they've settled in a bit. Are you keeping the Bilstein struts or selling them off? Despite the mileage they should still fetch a couple of hundred provided they're not leaking or knocking.

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CRUISN 01 May 2017

NIce work. You really need to paint your rotor hats and edges though.....

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applegeek897 01 May 2017

G88 recommended TEIN? I always liked them but recently they've been copping some critiscism. They look good here.

Yeah man they sure did. They said they have had multiple customers having issues with both Shockworks and MCA but never had a set of Tein's come back. I've also got some mates that have them and love them. Another reason I wanted to go with them is the ability to purchase their electronic damper controller.

They look awesome and the car sits quite nicely on them man. Keen to see some outside shots once they've settled in a bit. Are you keeping the Bilstein struts or selling them off? Despite the mileage they should still fetch a couple of hundred provided they're not leaking or knocking.

Thanks man, I think I'll keep them for now but might sell them off a little later.

NIce work. You really need to paint your rotor hats and edges though.....

Cheers. Brakes need to be changed soon anyway, so I'm going to do pads, rotors and lines front and rear soon. Plus I'll get the calipers rebuild and sand blasted so they can be painted properly.

Didn't get the angles perfect and the light was very different the next day but heres a rough idea of the difference.

Fronts, before and after.

Rears, before and after.

And full side, before and after.

Certainly some more fine turning to do, but man I'm happy with the result.

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Niko 01 May 2017

Before and afters look good.

Yeah man they sure did. They said they have had multiple customers having issues with both Shockworks and MCA but never had a set of Tein's come back. I've also got some mates that have them and love them. Another reason I wanted to go with them is the ability to purchase their electronic damper controller.

Interdasting...considering how much everyone sucks MCA's dick lately.

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Liberty 01 May 2017

Now you're car looks schmick man. Definitely worth the drop and the car sits amazingly well. Good stuff man! Keen to see this in the flesh.

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applegeek897 20 May 2017

So the suspension has had a good chance to settle and damn, the front was scrapping bad, totally my fault on the setup, the is my first time after all. The drivers side even got to the point where it was damaging the actual got, something needed to be done asap.

This wasn’t going to stop the car being ever practical though…

I raised the front to at least help things to start with. Unfortunately both Sydney Guard Rolling and Heasman were booked out for either a few days or more then a week. I was able to get SGR to mine on Monday evening which help sort the front out quick smart. I opted to only do the front as there was HEAPS of room in the rear, wasn’t worth the extra 75 bucks a corner to do it. Big props though he did an epic job on the car, true professional.

With the majority of the scrapping being sort it would still do so under hard compression. So the car was put away until it could go to Heasman and be properly setup and aligned.

Man they worked absolute wonders, the front was raised just enough where you almost couldn’t tell yet it won’t at all scrape. Of course the alignment was completely out, these are the before and afters.

Front Rear

Before After Before After

Caster (L) 6°49’ 6°46’ - - -

Caster ® 6°28’ 6°29’ - - -

Camber (L) -0°20’ -1°08’ Camber (L) -2°31’ -2°31’

Camber ® -0°23’ -1°11’ Camber ® -1°33’ -1°33’

Toe (L) 12.1 0.1 Toe (L) 6.7 3.0

Toe ® -1.0 0.1 Toe ® 4.8 0.5

Toe (T) 11.1 0.2 Toe (T) 11.5 3.5

Man what a difference it is too drive. I haven’t had a proper chance to give the car a proper fang due to the weather, but still. Sooooooo happy.

The guy who did the work did mention a few concerns with the car, mainly the timing case leaking oil, which I am aware of and from what I understand is a very common issue. Despite being very slow and no reason of concern, it has been dripping onto the lower coolant hose, which has now started to swell. I will keep a good eye on this but it’s something I’ll look at replacing very soon, I’d love to do a performance rad while I’m there but it’s a bit of an effort having to modify it, oh well, time will tell. He also just said diff bushes and laughed, they also need doing.

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Liberty 20 May 2017

I'm booking an alignment and having a lot of my bushes changed at Heasman's. Just in the process of organising a date that suits. Too many good reviews about their workmanship and attention to detail. My car is a little unhealthy in the bushes department so once they're all replaced it'll be back to perfection.

Top shot up there; I love the range of vehicles they have parked around the premises. So much eye candy!

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applegeek897 24 Jun 2017

Since the suspension tweeks the car has been driving incredible, certainly the best it ever has.

The car also got a long overdue wash today.

I've ordered a lower rad hose to replace the bulging one before it blows. I'd rather avoid the head gasket going on this if I can. Also have some new rear diff bushes on the way. The current ones are completely non existent. I decided to go with OEM replacement ones and then get some whiteline inserts to add some stiffness. I've heard they are pretty shit to remove, I suppose I'll see.

Next up on the list of things to do on the car will centre diff refurb with a transmission and diff oil change, it's really long overdue. After that, thanks to my tax return I'll be doing a Brembo front conversion (if they fit). Going to get a set of brand new calipers from Rising Sun Subaru, or BCW if he can supply them. Dixel Type-M pads, Hel lines front and rear, and then either DBA T2's or Dixel SD's. I'm unsure which ones for now. I'll also be getting the black removed in favour of a nice red to match the current look.

Once all that is done I'll be doing a complete revamp on the audio system in the car with a very healthy dose of sound deadening, which it really needs badly. This will be in preparation for my trip to Phillip Island for MotoGP in October.

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CRUISN 25 Jun 2017

I've got a set of STi braided lines for a Gen3/4 available. Cheaper than a new set of HEL's....

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applegeek897 30 Jul 2017

July 2017: So my initial plan for my brakes has changed. Basically just doing Brembo's for the front with new calipars, painted new pads and rotors I'd be looking at over 2K, now considering I could do new pads, lines and rotors front and rear for half the price it really makes more sense, specially when there are other things that money can be spent on. So at this case I'm just waiting for my tax-return to enter my bank account and the second it does that will all be ordered.

I've been trying some new car-wash and wheel cleaner lately, it wasn't easy switching from what I've been using for years but I'm absolutely love the Super Syrup products so far, the names will forever make me laugh.

It ended up doing a good job.

Again once the tax-return comes in a plan on doing a extremely major in-car-entertainment overhaul, but while that will happen in due time anything over 5 volume is completely unlistenable. I'm under the understanding that the factory Macintosh system while somewhat decent is pretty weak and very common to blowing. I was lucky enough to find a mostly good set of factory speakers uber cheap from a mate, so at least in the meantime I can have somewhat half decent speakers.

Door card off.

The amount of factory sound deadening is actually fairly impressive.

Man oh man these were BAD, basically torn completely all the way round.

While I was there and considering I also had them I replaced the 4 inch speakers, the passenger side was fine but the drivers side needed doing.

Rinse and repeat for the other side.

Holy balls the difference is huge, amazing how good working speakers are (mind blown).

A decent set of OEM floor mats recently popped up for sale and I was very keen to burn the old Supercheap Auto ones, mats that actually clip in is a nice thing.

Luckily it was a complete set front and rear.

Something I've been thinking about doing for some time is to remove all the stickers on the car. I liked them at one point on the car but they don't really do it for me anymore and removing them will really help clean the car up I think anyway.

Started with drivers side, before / after.

Passenger before / after.

Front before and after.

Rear before and after.

I had to keep the chopped sticker.

I need to remove a small amount of residue but otherwise it's looking much cleaner.

Lastly after a quick trip to Pick n Payless I managed to find a couple gen 4's, while most of the good stuff was already gone I managed to find a decent set of front guard liners which I really needed.

I also grabbed a bunch of these plastic devil screw clip things that should help to replace the missing ones in the car now.

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Liberty 30 Jul 2017

Awesome stuff man. I think the car looks heaps better without the stickers too. I'll be taking mine off the next time I give it a wash but I cannot let go of the SubyClub.com one; although I wouldn't mind it in grey to make it less loud I guess?

Gotta love having spare push screws. They always find a way to mangle themselves.

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