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WRX John's 2017 Build!

32K views 69 replies 23 participants last post by  WRX John 
#1 · (Edited)
WRX John's 2017 Build

Love installing mods! Thanks to Bellipotens, Goose 42, and many, MANY others who lead the way, who taught me and many others.

My WRX Limited as ordered: Ice Silver Metallic; 6 speed manual;
Pkg. 22 (Harmon-Kardon, Homelink, Keyless Start, Blind Spot, etc.), STi short throw shifter, security system, extended armrest, and more.

Here is the car in its near-current, 34 mod-completed form, though LED fog light bezel strip added after this pic.

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Hood Bumper


The following three pictures were taken earlier, partly through the mod process.

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Motor vehicle Luxury vehicle

Washing before complete paint correction/paint protection process (itemized below)

Vehicle Automotive exterior Car Auto part Vehicle door

Wiring in the Curb Alert (as detailed later in this thread)

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Alloy wheel Rim

Calipers painted as detailed later.


INSTALLED MODS:

1) Anzio Spark, 18" black/machined wheels: @$168 each. Meet stringent European TUV structural/other quality standards.

https://www.tirerack.com/wheels/Whe...baru&autoModel=WRX&autoYear=2016&autoModClar=

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Rim Bumper


Wheels treated with two coats of CQuartz DLux. Got black lug nuts from TireRack @$1 each, with one black McGard 25354 locking lug nut per wheel.

https://www.amazon.com/McGard-25354...8&qid=1466291324&sr=1-1&keywords=mcgard+25354

Going to use factory wheels for winter tires;

2) Corsa black PVD tipped (4" X 3 1/2") CBE. Not a fan of the shiny rear butt ends mufflers reflecting light (especially with black tips), so painted them with VHT black satin high temp paint.

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Full-size car Motor vehicle


3) Subaru carbon fiber SPT rear trunk trim;

4) Limited Edition WRX badges: @$32. Solid metal, then enameled, are 5 1/2" wide, 1 1/4" tall. Contact to buy if any left: bryancauser7@gmail.com

Removed all four factory trunk badges, one new one installed where factory "WRX" trunk badge was, with second one installed in small cubby behind shifter;

5) JDM Front grille;

6) Painted factory fog light bezels gloss black/2x clear coated. Note: Later installed the iJDMTOY LED fog light bezel. -- but no pictures of it ($128 on sale):

Vehicle Car Automotive exterior Bumper Auto part


7) Subaru STi side underspoilers installed;

8) Subaru STi rear quarter underspoilers installed;

9) Gloss black, red lettering front fender "WRX" trim piece;

10) Rally Armor black mudflaps with red logos;

11) Complete cleaning/paint correction/paint protection process, including Dawn Ultra wash, IronX, AutoScrub fine mitt with detailer (instead of clay bar) re-wash, and then full polishing (Wolfgang glaze/polish 3.0). Upcoming will be one more wash, Wolfgang Protekt, then 2 coats of Wolfgang Uber Ceramic nano-coating;

12) Calipers painted Gloss Red G2 caliper paint, available @$39/kit. Extensive amount of time prepping, car raising, sanding, cleaning, taping process, but well worth IMO. Color is a little darker in real life, e.g., a medium red.

https://www.amazon.com/Temperature-...d=1466291245&sr=8-1&keywords=G2+caliper+paint

13) Interior "carbon fiber" emergency brake handle with Perrin black release knob;

14) Machined climate control knob covers (black/alum);

15) JDM fuse/coin box;

16) Subaru dual console box;

17) Complete lighting package from Will@Prolightz. Can not rave enough about his fantastic customer service, highest quality lighting/bulbs, and great pricing.
a) LED compatible flasher unit
b) Morimoto LED fogs
d) LED front turn signal bulbs (look clear, except when on)
e) LED interior lights, e.g., sunvisor, map and dome
f) LED trunk light
g) LED license plate lights
H) LED high beams
J) Tail-As-Turn;

18) Raceseng Spherelogy shifter knob;

19) Complete interior detail, including Zaino Z10 leather treatment on all factory leather, Adams Leather and Interior Conditioner on all vinyl and plastic, and Scotch Guard on factory floor mats;

20) Interior door striker and hinge stopper covers;

21) Subaru HVAC fan sound deadener cover.

22) JDM Piano Black steering wheel replacement spoke.

23) Curb Alert front spoiler system; to save my splitter/etc, set to alert at 15". Used Perrin firewall grommet for access through firewall.

Curb-Alertâ„¢ Parking Sensor - Brandmotion

Firewall Grommet 1.4" for 2015-16 WRX/STI

Lots of dash disassembly (as per below post), but worth it by saving one splitter and/or worse;

24) Perrin Shift Stop;

25) Replica RUF OLM roof spoiler (eBay)

26) Wolfgang Uber Ceramic nano-coating completed. PM me if you want lots more on this. This is rated the easiest nano coating to apply because "long working life" and therefore less "streaking" when cured. Went on easily and its hardness is approximately 8 times harder than factory clear coat (less chances for scratches and swirls). This was the last of about 7 steps from original Dawn wash, then in turn, CarPro Iron X, Autoscrub NanoSkin mitt (fine) with Glide, re-wash, polish with Wolfgang Glaze 3.0 (actually a very mild polish); Wolfgang Protekt and then the Uber Ceramic. Lots of time and some effort, but great shine and even more important, great protection.

27) SunTek clear bra, on complete front fascia, total hood, front fenders, headlights, and mirrors;

28) Front Subaru STi splitter soon; holes already drilled.

29) Skene front plate mounting system, with gloss black license plate frames;

30) Front ISM bumper plugs;

31) Overland Designs: All regular leather, with red stitching to match factory. Jason is terrific, as is his leather work.

a) Center IP display cover
b) Shifter trim surround plate
c) Shift boot
d) Emergency handbrake boot
e) Armrest cover

32) Perrin steering dampener (details in my post on next page).

33) Windows tinted: all windows (except only the upper 6" band allowed on windshield);

34) LED fog bezel trip: Bought from iJDMTOY on sale for $128 shipped.

JDM Style Subaru WRX/STi S4 LED Daytime Running Fog Bezels

Below is the best/most accurate install video (better than iJDMTOY's and more accurate and safer than even their web site advertises, as if now comes standard with an inline fuse).

https://youtu.be/-fPSRihfF0I

35) Leather instrument trim cluster (thanks to Jason@Overland-Designs). As always with one gets to choose regular leather or alcantara, and stitching color. As always, workmanship is outstanding.



36) Long overdue, removed OEM Dunlops and installed Michelin A/S 3+ — just perfect for our spring and fall cross- country over the Rocky Mts. Trips — where dodging, driving through snow is a typical event.






NOTES:

A)Found and fixed one horrible rattle, the inside the trunk emergency opening handle, by sticking a large piece of foam between it and the trunk liner.
B)Custom made "jacking puck." Was their beta tester for them; going to now make them for most Subarus. Called their "Universal MagPad," is machined of aluminum, made in U.S.A @$39. Years ago had a vehicle fall off a cheap one that broke (thankfully no injury, nor truck damage), but never again. MagPad has internal delrin lifting pad/magnets so when you stick it up on the factory "jacking horns," stays while you place your floor jack. Works great!

Red


C) I have no relationship to any products used, nor any companies named above. Happy to answer any questions, provide links to all remaining items above.

Happy modding to you! Happy driving to us all!
 
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#4 ·
Wow that's a lot of mods, man! I think those wheels make the car look very much like a scion tC ( which isn't an insult, the newer ones look good)

I also can't believe you spray canned a $1400 exhaust, haha, you're braver than me.

Keep it up!
 
#6 · (Edited)
Thank you for the excellent advice! I am really sorry you lost yours!!!

I coincidentally ordered some 3M industrial grade two sided tape a few days ago (for my roof spoiler install), and it should be arriving in the mail by the end of this week. I immediately took off the emblem; will re-apply it with the 3M tape when it arrives.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Installation of Brand Motion's Curb Alert system with optional LED warning light. Complicated and as you saw above in any intro pictures, involving lots of dash dissembly. Happy to talk if you are considering this mod, but if it saves one splitter and lower broken lower fascia, so well worth it to me.

Alert's with both a chirp and a LED light flash when I get to anything vertical in front when it gets to 15" away from the front of the car, and set to 3 1/2" height alert, so will notify me when I am also getting close to concrete, end of parking space, stops.
 
#9 · (Edited)
Pic and more re my replica RUF OLM spoiler which I got from eBay.

Very happy with the paint job, a great match to my ISM paint. Not happy with the measly amount of marginal quality two-sided tape that came with it, so before putting it on, bought the very best two-sided tape there is.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MAT2WZU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

With the 3M it is affixed perfectly, though basically covered the back of it. [Note: One year, 12,000 miles later, it is still affixed "rock solid."

Land vehicle Vehicle Car White Alloy wheel
 
#16 ·
Ripping and tearing apart more. Excited to get these items removed, as I am sending off some things to Jason@OverlandDesigns to be be leather wrapped with red stitching. Five items coming back. And along the way, a shout out to Brian Gabel, whose DIY take apart a WRX video has been so valuable to me not just today but also in above disassembly.

Vehicle Car Auto part Car seat Family car

Here is a link to Brian's great/super helpful video for those who haven't seen it.

http://youtu.be/Hwc_IvxD59Q
 
#20 ·
Sorry JaySin, was on a 4,500 road trip in our other car since, coincidentally July 6th, and why so late in responding to your Corsa inquiry. I have had Corsa in a couple of previous Corvettes and three BMW's, and loved them. Perfect combination of lusty, vibrant sound, yet zero drone. And while I love the looks of their PDR black tips, a little disappointed that the Corsa is not a loud in the WRX as I would have wanted. Love the tone, just want more volume! Perhaps just because I still haven't gotten 1,000 miles on it, and it "wakes up" over 4K, but even the start-up volume when cold (parked backwards in the garage so the sound reverberates back), is less than I would have wished.
 
#19 ·
Coming down to just a couple more items to mod, for yesterday the front end was wrapped with a SunTek gloss urethane bra, and today installed the license plates (using the Skene Design front mounting system as cleverly pioneered by Bellipotens), put in the matching ISM front fascia round plugs, at last mounted the factory front splitter, and finished the last item install of GREAT leather interior upgrade parts by Jason@Overland Designs.

Only things left are the window tinting and the Perrin Steering Dampener. The only things I did not do myself was the SunTek wrap and the window tinting.

However, as all us "mod'rs" know, something will later become needed!
 
#23 ·
So glad to get the SunTek on, and then "covered" it with Wolfgang Uber Ceramic nano-coating (now the car is completed coated). Then this past weekend, finally installed the Subaru front splitter. (Will post some updated pictures at some point, but having too much fun driving!)

Window tinting coming on Monday. But in between, going to install the Perrin Steering Dampener and eliminate too much slop[ (IMO) -- as I like really precise steering (have my 2015 Z06 steering always set in "track" mode).

If all goes according to plan, will be done with all my currently scheduled mods by Monday -- though sure there will be others at some point.
 
#25 ·
Understand. The WRX is so much fun to drive right now, and just doing a little more "fine tuning" as something better or more "interesting to look up" comes on the horizon -- though historically do about 90% of my mods on every vehicle in the first few months I own it.
 
#27 ·
Just installed the Perrin steering dampener this morning. I really like the improvement (more detail below for those who wish). A few notes FWIW.

Getting the combo socket/M5 hex bit will save you a ton of time (as per, and with thanks to My WRX Channel's linked video):

http://youtu.be/QFBeP9cnW4E

Second, for those who have posted on YouTube that adding it makes the steering so quick, that if you sneeze you end in the next lane, only two words of response, utter nonsense. The car does not "dart" with it, nor is it difficult to drive, nor anything negative, but it does give you more responsive steering, eliminating the 2015+ WRX's steering minor off-center-steering sloppiness.

I installed it on Rhino ramps, and having the ability to do certain parts of it from the top, a lot from the bottom, worked well for me. I did all the steps in the Perrin instructions (some have skipped a step). Have no idea whether it is any better doing all the steps, but figured that is the way they engineered it, so that is the way I installed it.

Lastly, for those who have installed the Perrin pitch stop (I have not and no plans to do so), and who have then autocrossed or similarly driven their car very hard and experienced part breakage and/or the firewall bending or breaking, Perrin is releasing a firewall brace within two weeks. (Source=Thomas@ Perrin when I visited with him yesterday at their facility).
 
#29 ·
It took me about 6 hours for the initial wash, the IronX, and the AutoSkin Nanscrub (a clay bar equivalent process). Then about 1 1/2 hours to do the IPA total clean (two times over) the car all of these things -- though I used Wolfgang Protekt for this. Then it took me about 8 hours to do 100% of the car with the Wolfgang Uber Ceramic process.

Expect other nano ceramics to take about the same time. Reason I choose Wolfgang is that it is the easiest to apply and take off all of them. I had never done a nano ceramic before, and by following a few basic rules of application and removal, had not a hint of an issue with streaking, residue remaining on the car, etc. It went went easily and perfectly. The car now has thousands of miles on it and still looks the same as it did the day I finished the Wolfgang process.

I am in great shape, in my late '60's, but if you are a young athlete, you could probably cut 25% off of my times -- though I took extra time at every step because I had never done anything like this before (previously a wash and waxer). Personally, glad I made the transition to newest products. If you have any further questions, if you PM me, happy to amplify anything.
 
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