Tweedbean

I very much had Porsche Ultraviolet on my list:

Day 105 Yesterday I received a short video of the car in the paint booth. The finish on the paint is spot on, so glossy and it hasn't even been polished yet. Here is that short teaser clip, the colour is hidden for now, reveal coming soon via youtube. Autoworx have done a great job, I cant wait to see it in person and start rebuilding it. They are now painting all the individual bits like doors, bonnet, dash etc, hopefully it should be back with me pretty soon. https://youtu.be/2ov-RKFR19k

Thanks also had the stock spoiler mounting holes welded up as I dont need them anymore as the wing I have clamps to the edges of the boot lid and dont want to be left with unsightly holes or none matching bungs. Stock spoiler holes also welded up by James Baker, on Flickr

Day 104 Not a massive update, the bodyshop have removed all the glass, removed any dents, sanded down the original paint, welded up the boot spoiler holes and are literally masking up the car as I type this. Paint will be done this week hopefully with it due back to me possible next week. It's been with the bodyshop for a month now, I didn't give them any deadline as I was happy for them to take their time and fit it in between other work, hence its taken longer than normal. Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr

Strange, I've only heard good things about their lines, they are very popular in the new mini space and not heard of any failing. Hope you get it sorted.

DAY 89 My Geraldsproject controller is here for the facelift dial cluster I have fitted. It gives me a joystick and select button to navigate the menus etc and will be installed in the blanking plate inbetween the traction control buttons. It took nearly 2 months to arrive the USA but im glad its here. Now I just need the car to fit it to. Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr I also finally have a USB retention cable that I am hoping will work this time. Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OE-Car-Stereo-Factory-USB-Retention-Interface-Cable-for-Toyota-RAV4-2012/184019557670?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

Day 86 - The wheels are back from the refurbisher As mentioned above, I picked up some super cheaper Rota Grids that looked like they had seen better days to get me off stock wheels until I can get some TE37's. I sent them off to City Wheel Refurbishment https://www.citywheelrefurbishment.co.uk/ in Birmingham who have done many sets of wheels for me and other mates in the past. I decided to go with a matt bronze finish, I have had the gloss version from them before but fancied something a little different, this colour should work well with the new body colour once done. It took a couple of weeks for them to turn them around due to whats going on at the moment but they did a great job especially for the price. £205 including tyre remove/fitting/balancing, it could have been even cheaper at around £30 a wheel if I had gone for a more standard colour such as black/silver and they didn't have to remove/fit/balance tyres. Great service if anyone is looking for somewhere to get theirs wheels done. Ignore the budget tyres, they came pretty much free with the wheels and are literally brand new so threw them on to keep the car rolling while I continue to build it. Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr

I've always been interested in the price difference between wraps and resprays. I've never had a quote for a wrap on my cars so I've never had a reference point for comparison, however your price gives me that. Price wise for your wrap, does that include the labour for them to remove the glass, aerial, door handles door seals, trim, bumpers lights etc? Is there any major bodywork for them to do other than removing any minor car park dings etc? Reason I ask is my full respray with a colour change(Going for a gloss, non metallic colour) including door/boot shuts and as much of the engine bay as they can without removing the engine is costing less than that but I have removed all those bits I have just listed above excluding the windscreen/rear 1/4 windows and rear windscreen as they have a glass guy doing that as part of the price. I'm paying £2000, its the same company that have painted two other cars for me in the past so I know their quality is spot on.

Pulled together a quick update based on video taken when I got the car back from being straightened and my prep for the bodyshop: https://youtu.be/6sH089Vl6tY

Day 78 - I finally legally own the BRZ After 78 days of waiting the V5 finally turned up today which means its actually SORN'd and legally mine. More parts arrived. Firstly suspension components, I went for Tein Flex Z as I wanted to stick with a Japanese made component where possible and I got a bargain on a brand new set that the owner never got chance to fit. He also had Whiteline droplinks which I also snapped up as no doubt the stock ones will need cutting off, which is a known issue. Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr I also removed all my silver interior trim before the car went off to paint so I could paint them myself matt black. Not a big fan of matching these to body colour so went for something simple. I sanded, primed, painted matt black then used matt lacquer for protection. I'm intersted to see how long they last, if the finish doesn't hold up, I will invest in some carbon parts but for now this was a simple and cheap fix. Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr Also an interesting package arrived from Japan, a flexible STI strut brace: Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr Unlike a conventional rigid brace, the flexible one is split and joined with pillow ball joints in the centre to be longitudinally mobile while helping laterally stiffen the body of the car. Here is some blurb from Subaru: "Different from a rigid bar which is designed just to increase rigidity of the body of a car, the concept behind this bar is to constantly enhance traction of the wheels by strongly holding in a transverse direction at the same time as moderately handling the impact from the ground, in order to realize a ‘flexible yet elegant driving feel’. As a result, responsiveness at the time of steering improves without compromising comfort, which allows the driver to actually feel that the car can turn as intended, and when they want to go straight, it provides a stable drive without too much impact from uneven road surfaces. As described, this product will further deepen your pleasure of driving." https://www.sti.jp/en/parts/feature/flexibletowerbar.html I will let you know how I get on with it, it came as a bundle with the other STi bits so I haven't lost anything by trying it.

Hi all I purchased these from another member however my plans have changed so up for sale. In great condition as per pictures. Collection from CV7, happy to do contactless collection. Prices wise I am looking at around £80 collected Note its only the side skirt bits for sale, rear bumper lips have sold.

SOLD PLEASE CLOSE

Yes I have no concerns with this, they are nowhere near each other and the car itself will be gloss.

Day 77 More parts from Japan, this time a full STI kit including front lip, sideskirts and rear bumper trims. All finished in a satin/matt black finish and will be fitted as they are. Glad I went for the genuine bits over rep parts as they should fit no issue, even if they hit my wallet hard: Side Skirts STI BRZ Parts by James Baker, on Flickr Front Lip STI BRZ Parts by James Baker, on Flickr Rear Bumper Trim STI BRZ Parts by James Baker, on Flickr I also have black controls so I can remove the silver ones to work better with my theme: STI BRZ Parts by James Baker, on Flickr

Day 76 More Parcels Finally my parts from JapanParts are here. First of three parcels to arrive were the alcantara with red stitch door toppers and instrument cluster cover from the JDM TS version: Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr I love alcantara, I cant wait to get these in alongside some other bits once the car is back from paint. Next up with have my SARD style wing. I collected it from my local bodyshop and oh my they have done an amazing job. Its like glass, theres so much depth to the clear coat now with no sign of the previous damage, I would go as far as to say the clearcoat is better than when it was new for sure: Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr I'm expecting more parts tomorrow.

Price drop

Day 71 Well the BRZ is away at the moment so I have very little to progress until its return. SARD Style Wing Refresh Part 2 In regards to the SARD style wing, the brackets etc I refreshed and look like new, so focus turned to the wing, this had suffered a pigeon strike when fitted to the previous owners car. Luckily the carbon wasnt damaged, just the clear coat. Therefore I dropped it off at a local bodyshop that I have used in the past to repair similar carbon items. They flicked off the damaged clear coat and then worked their magic. As per the pic below you can see a before, during and after repair. The final picture is the clear coat being applied, once that has dried for a couple of days they will be giving it a full polish: Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr Really impressed with their work, its a bodyshop that used to do all the bodywork/paint jobs for lots of the Max Power cars of the past so they know their stuff. I love buying a used item like this a bringing it back to life for a hell of a lot cheaper than buying new. Obviously there are certain components I tend not to buy used like coilovers items as you dont always know the history/true mileage/amount of cars they have been fitted to, but visual items like this especially have little risk if you know the right people you get big rewards. BRZ Fog Lights As mentioned above, some areas of a car you have to go new, such as the front bumper as I couldnt get any used parts but with the fog lights I refused to pay the ridiculous amount Subaru wanted for a brand new fog lights. So I went for some generic ones on ebay for £20 a pair. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pair-Fog-Lights-Left-Right-Side-Light-indicator-Lamp-for-Ford-Renault-Opel/352745427580?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649 Ive then bought some H8 female wiring connectors to attach to the cars wiring as my connectors were ripped off anyway and these will plug straight into the new foglights: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2PCS-H11-H8-Wiring-Harness-female-Socket-Wire-Connector-Plug-Extension-Pigtai-NP/324154382154?hash=item4b791b574a%3Ag%3AsjMAAOSwUwlbCkBA&fbclid=IwAR3JWNPEi5c26MlW4jY_ctc_crZkJU11Rn3HtYP8unuPZrwfgWWeipz4f4U All the electrical components have arrived for me to wire up my fog lights. On a BRZ the wiring goes into the bumper mounted DRL then back out of that into the fog light. Therefore I had to use a multimeter to identify the fog light wiring amongst that. Once the car is back I will get some photos of this.

Theres also this one if you havent already spoken to them: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TOYOTA-GT86-D-4S-PRO-2-0-25-AMP-FUSE-2015-2016-2017-BREAKING-SPARES/283689461629?hash=item420d35a77d:g:238AAOSwqOdd3WOY

Dewsbury Auto Salvage did have an 86 one in when I bought mine, not sure if you have tried there.

Any recommendation on which front droplinks to go for when lowering a BRZ/GT86? Fitting coilovers in the coming weeks and with the issues removing stock ones, I want to get some adjustable ones ready for when I have to chop off the old ones.

Either way I'm very excited as I was expecting over a month with everything going on, where as its looking like just under 2 weeks. Even if I dont have a BRZ to attach them too as its now at the bodyshop.

Quick question, I had an email today with tracking info with Fedex from Japanparts. It says it will be delivered this Friday, at which point do I get the import duty bill? When Fedex get it to the UK before delivery? At delivery? Post delivery?

Day 68 - Things are moving along nicely So yesterday I gutted the dash so I can get the trim painted by the bodyshop to match the exterior and all the grey trim rings etc will be going matt black: Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr This morning I dropped the BRZ off at the bodyshop for its respray, cant wait to see the new colour on it. I've asked for progress photos throughout so I can keep you all up to date. Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr I also test fitted the Grids on the car, just to check they actually were 5x100 before I get them refurbed. Note coilovers will be ordered come pay day to reduce that wheel gap. Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr I also used my day off today to take a trip to City Wheel Refurbishment to drop the Rota's off for a full refurb. Going for a matt finish, for the first time from them, I've always gone gloss from them. Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr My plans are starting to come together now, its just a shame I still dont have the V5 due to Covid closing down half of the DVLA, 68 days a counting since they received the paperwork.

Thanks, no unfortunately odometer readings are stored within the cluster. I'm not particularly fussed RE the odometer reading on my car due to the fact its a project car I plan to keep, from what I have read, its not illegal to show the incorrect mileage it is only illegal to mislead others when selling a car on if the mileage is lower than what it is actually done. I have kept a log of the mileage the old cluster had and the mileage the new cluster had when fitted for future reference if needed. You have a couple of different options, there are plenty of companies out there that can reprogram a cars mileages, a quick google search will find them. The other option is around dismantling the clocks, apparently if you are electric savvy you should be able to disassemble the clocks and read the memory chip and send the file to Gerald Just in the states and he will modify the file for you so you can write it to the chip. Not something I fancied attempting but possible. The simplest solution is to purchase a used cluster that has similar mileage to your car if you didnt fancy faffing with the above.

Its only easy if you know how: