Tweedbean

Time for a little update, so this year I have just enjoyed driving the BRZ, I love that it just works with no fuss and even though its my slowest car its full of drama. I fitted the Mod society auto fold mirror module, it works perfectly and fully recommend it. Install video here I do need to try and get to a show or two in this as it feels like forever since I've been to anything like that. Last week I decided to give it a good clean and get some up to date photos as it sits right now: Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr I have no major plans to change things, maybe a few minor mods here and there over the coming months as I am currently going through a house move which is taking a lot of my focus right now plus I have a couple of other projects on the go. I plan to upgrade the speakers all round at some point and I need to space those rear wheels out a little. For those that want to see the car in more detail, feel free to give my latest video a watch:

To help with the sale, my thread covers what this controller is used for and install is very similar in terms of use with the facelift cluster

Hi all if anyone has any 15mm spacers hanging around they are looking to move on, please give me a shout before I go the new route. Thanks James

Hi all, its been pretty quiet over the winter. I've just been enjoying driving it even if its just popping to the shops, which is about all we can do right now. No short term plans for any major changes, just little tweaks here and there. I plan to do a walk around video soon covering the current state of play. I also have a new instagram account to follow my BRZ build, I'm currently doing a recap from day 1 to now for anyone interested: www.instagram.com/tweedbean_brz

I have a new account to follow my BRZ build, I'm currently doing a recap from day 1 to now for anyone interested: www.instagram.com/tweedbean_brz From this: Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr To this in less than 12 months: Photo taken by Adam Ball by James Baker, on Flickr

What a transformation, really happy with how my BRZ turned out this year, I cant take many positives from 2020 but this is certainly one of them for me. Thanks to Adam Ball for sending me this photo below. From a white write off in March before I purchased it, to how it sits today, what to do to it next, no short term plans other than drive it right now. Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr Photo taken by Adam Ball by James Baker, on Flickr

Ordered thanks for the recommendation

How did you get on with these, nice and bright? Assuming no horrible blue tinge, but bright white?

I like the new exterior, its grown on me over the last few days. But its that dash it feels dated before its even out and really does remind me a of an early 2000's MR2.

For anyone looking for some help getting more information about that generic engine management light on their dashboard in any modern car, including the GT86/BRZ/FRS, I recommend getting hold of a cheap code reader(As little as £10) as it can make a real difference in working out whats wrong, check out my latest video covering my recent engine management light and how I managed to work out what it was. Remember to always stop the car when its safe to do so and seek advice from a professional if you are unsure whats causing it: In the 86/BRZ/FRS the OBD port is found here: https://youtu.be/E5WsYqiCAm4

Super easy install, no splicing of wires etc, all plug and play. Works exactly as expected, when you lock the car they fold in automatically and fold out when you unlock the car via the remote or door handle:

Had some good news RE the history of the car. As it was a write off, I received no paperwork including history when purchasing it. I did some chasing today with a local dealer to find out if it has had the recall work done. They confirmed it had been done by a dealer in Cornwall, so I gave them a call and they were really helpful. A month or two before the car was written off it had the following: - 6 year service so spark plugs etc - Valve Spring Recall - Power Steering ECU and Wiring Harness Recall So the above saves me a lot of time, money and effort as its all been done. In other news this arrived this week from Mods Society, Australia. Its an auto mirror folding kit which im looking to install this week and hopefully record a fitting guide: Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr

Hi they were from someone called Thomas on Facebook, it came from a recommendation from another GT86 owner that had purchased a pair from him. https://www.facebook.com/tomasz.osadzinski.3/ He is happy for you to contact him directly, I checked before sharing the above link. In terms of the grill I havent measured the stock grills yet to understand the size difference. I will get everything lined up and see where I get/what the options are.

Collection from CV7 due to size, however note this will fit in the back of your GT86/BRZ with the seats down as thats how I got it home when I got my Invidia fitted. Tips and back box in good condition, see photos, some rust on hangers but doesnt affect use, removed from a 2013 BRZ but exactly the same as GT86 stock exhaust Cheap replacement if you have a faulty exhaust or if you are going back to stock. £50 ONO

Yeah that ticking is linked to the mic from what I can see, adjusting for the sudden loud change of noise from nothing to the car starting as you can see it quickly goes within 2 seconds of the car starting. If that was linked to the exhaust it would continue throughout the video or atleast cold start sequence. Cold start sequence needs to be mapped out as there are no cats to warm up so its pointless. I have to say the video doesnt do the exhaust justice, especially with high volume noises, its tricky to capture on a camera vs what you hear in person.

A quick update so the car went in for the Invidia N1 exhaust to be fitted, while there I decided to have the following exhaust setup as I had all the parts in the garage: Engine > Borla UEL(Already fitted) > Milltek Overpipe > TD Decat front pipe > Invidia Resonated Midpipe > Invidia N1 back boxes I would say this is on the extreme level of volume, especially on cold start which will need to be mapped out at some point, even I can admit cold start sounds awful. But once that drops, its has a nice tick over burble, then when you put your foot down it has a very deep tone with that Subaru rumble, I would say it sounds exactly like an Impreza STI minus the turbo noises. This setup isn't for the faint hearted but this car is a toy for me, I dont have a commute, I have 3 other cars to drive if I need something more sensible, so the noise doesnt bother me in the slightest, I love it. I removed my rear diffuser lip to make it easier for the garage to fit the exhaust, so I need to refit that, also its going to take some getting used to seeing the angled tips that point to the sides, as per the design: Invidia N1 fitted by James Baker, on Flickr Here is a quick sound clip, so drastically different from stock, its not for everyone. I wanted that UEL rumble and I certainly got that: A comparison between stock and this setup if you need a reminder: At motorway speeds, it is very noisy, it may not have helped I had the rear seats flat as I had the stock exhaust system in the car, which does fit Will let you know once I close those seats to see if it makes much of a difference. As part of my audio upgrade I will be covering the boot and rear seat area with Silent Coat 3mm which should help reduce that noise in the cabin and improve the audio setup. Also I ordered up a set of 3D printed larger rear speakers mounts, to remove the useless 3" rears and fit a pair of 5.25" speakers. Not decided on the speakers yet but the mounts are here and look spot on: 3D printed rear speaker brackets by James Baker, on Flickr

Agreed but thats £500+ towards a turbo setup so for now I'm not too fussed with the way things are so will bank that as im now putting money aside for that. Yesterday I had the day off so decided to wire up my amp for the sub. Super easy, as there was plenty of space to work in. Upfront in the engine bay I fitted the 4AWG wire through a big bung behind the battery, down into the passenger foot well. Then I ran the wire under the sill trim, theres a perfect channel for it, due to the wire being thicker at 4awg, I shaved some little tabs but this had no affect on refitting the sill cover when done. The power wire then tucked up under the rear side panel and into the boot. Amplifier wiring by James Baker, on Flickr I removed the two rear bench seats, held in with one single 10mm for each cushion. The ground wire I bolted to one of the rear seat bolts. The remote cable connected to the back of the headunit, I dropped down near the glove box and tucked it under the centre console on the passenger side, out under the carpet at the rear and into the boot. Finally I ran 3 sets of RCA cables from the back of the headunit, one for the sub, the other two for front and rear speakers when I finally fit some new ones, saves me pulling the headunit again. These I tucked up under the centre console on the drivers side, out under the carpet at the rear and into the boot. I cut the rear foam section to sit the amp in the back left hand corner, it allowed me to keep all the power wires to the passenger side and audio cables coming in from the drivers side to avoid any interference. Stuck down for now with super strong double sided tap, it looks pretty neat and plenty of access when required. Amplifier wiring by James Baker, on Flickr I went for a stealth setup as you can see below I lose no boot space as it all fits under the OEM boot carpet, after this photo I fitted a speaker grill to stop anything hitting the top of the sub or rubbing against it. Ignore the wet mark in the middle of the carpet, it started to rain while I was working on the car so it got a little wet but all dry now. Amplifier wiring by James Baker, on Flickr It makes such a difference with just adding this over the stock system, I need to pick out some speakers and an amp for the rest of the car, just waiting on some custom rear speaker mounts I have had made to better use the space back there too. When I do the speakers I will also lay the Silent Coat throughout the car. Next up is the exhaust, thats being fitted today, dropped the BRZ off at a place in Bham that will do it as I'm not a fan of crawling under a car when both ends are jacked up, will leave that to the professionals.

Agreed thats what I ended up using. I have given it a good polish as I wanted to return it to the polished look with a drill polisher and some Autosol. Top left is the before picture, with a brushed finished, top right is the during photo. Finally the bottom two are the after pictures, much better with that polished finish. Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr

Its easily done, plus the new price you are asking is much better and if it wasnt for the tips I would have purchased it as its a super quality exhaust. GLWTS In all honesty I was disappointed with the Borla UEL in terms of the sound difference, I thought it would be more dramatic, however thats easily sorted. To hear the rumble that UEL puts out, I decided to go for an Invidia N1 catback exhaust, which I collected from a nice guy on the GT86 parts facebook page. Really helpful and the exhaust is in great condition. Only gripe with it is someone has taken what looks like wire wool or sand paper to the tips to give them a brushed look which didnt come on the N1. That should be an easy fix and for the price I paid, I cant complain. I have some polishing discs on the way to get the entire thing looking like new in no time and from what I read online should restore the polished finish on the 4" tips. While collecting the exhaust I noticed a tuning developments decat front pipe 30 mins away so I decide to collect that while I was there, gives me the choice to fit to my requirements if needed as that was a decent price too. Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr Here you can see the sort of brush finish on the tips vs the rest of the tail pipe: by James Baker, on Flickr Also my amp and wiring kit arrived this week, I've got to find some time to fit that too. According to JL Audio, I managed to get one of the first JD amps in the UK which is nice: Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr I went for 100% the oxygen-free copper (OFC) wiring kit this time, heard good things and didn't cost much more: Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr Clocking up the miles in this now, finding every excuse to drive it at the moment, gone through 2 tanks of petrol in the last few weeks, more than I think I've use in the past 4 months. Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr

Thanks, not sure on the rolled tips, plus a little more than I would want to pay for a second hand exhaust.

So this weekend I fitted my Borla UEL manifold. The plan with this was to add some extra volume, some weight as you lose the first of two cats and being unequal length should add that Subaru burble. Borla UEL compared to stock by James Baker, on Flickr Now it was actually a pretty simple process to swap the manifold and it actually took me longer to jack the car up safely than to actually swap them over. My biggest issues was swapping over the O2 sensors as one was seized due to the heat cycling of the metal. I nipped up to Millsys Autos who help me out by applying some heat and out it came without ruining the thread. Here is the fitting video for anyone interested in trying it yourself: Now in terms of feedback on the actual outcome, of my three drivers above: 1. Extra Volume - I am really finding it hard to say I can notice any volume difference, therefore if there is any its very little 2. Weight Loss - Its definitely lighter than stock so this is confirmed 3. Rumble - It has changed the tone and you can here some slight rumble but its not had the change I had hoped Clearly I need to mate this to a catback exhaust system to get the most out of this sound wise, which is fine as this was the plan but I was interested to see what impact just fitting this would have. Here is a quick before and after video, I initially did have an exhaust leak as I didn't quite nip up the over pipe bolts enough, however this was quickly resolved with the car on jacks. There is a slight rattle when I lift off when stationary, when I place my hand on the exhaust tips it goes away so I think something along the line may be making slight contact or I have a rattly exhaust tip, either way I will sort that when fitting a catback as it can only be heard when you sit there and rev the car stationary, which I dont do to often. Im on the look out for an Invidia N1 if anyone has one for sale. Here is a before and after video, comparing the cold start up and revving over both a stock setup and stock catback with UEL:

Hi all, my BRZ is way to quiet, I have a Borla UEL to go on and was looking at Invidia N1 Catback, if you have one coming up for sale, give me a shout, happy to drive to collect. Titanium tips preferred but would consider stainless Thanks James

OEM Red stitched OEM Door Top Cushions/Trim SOLD

For sale is the spare wheel removed from my 2013 BRZ. It’s never been used, 17” space saver, fits perfectly under the boot floor and will include the foam tray in picture. Collection from CV7 or can post £60 delivered