smudge

After just 2 weeks of ownership, I can safely say this is the best car I have ever had...and I've had a few in my short 7 years of driving! Picked her up with just 5,600miles on the clock and have already racked up nearly 800miles in just 2 weeks. Great fun getting around town and on twisty B roads, but also extremely comfortable and economical when I had to drive to Doncaster and back, over 450miles to 1 tank of fuel! Few pictures of the day I got her: And after a well deserved 3 hour TLC session today, love the colour in the sun! Some big plans coming up, so watch this space! Whilst I won't ever tell what I'm getting until it's on the car (I like to be a bit different and therefore keeping you in suspense is more fun ) my list of mods so far: Alloys (ordered) Track alloys Coilovers Complete exhaust system from headers to backbox New rear lights Front lip, side skirts and rear spats New boot spoiler Supercharged I'll be using a colour scheme I had on my Audi A3 a few years back. Again, it's different but I'm sure you'll see why soon enough

Apologies for the long absence! Been a funny old year personally, meaning the car has been put on the back burner slightly... Now back in action with lots of things happening, so I'll try and get as much of an update in this post as I can remember! First and foremost, I finally got the newly built engine back from Rogue Motorsport after MANY issues with parts 🙄 Matt, Patrick and the team have been amazing! This project has tested the limits of their patience, yet they've still gone above and beyond to deliver the end product. It was then back to Carson Performance to put it all back together, using the existing parts that it was fitted with last time. Piece of cake, right? WRONG! Even the engine mounts which were EXACTLY the same for the old engine that went pop, didn't want to play ball and needed slight modifications to fit the new engine in place. Literally cannot catch a break.... The new intercooler that sits in the intake manifold under the supercharger, is made by the same company that make the intake manifold. So should be made to fit perfectly, right? Wrong again! Yet more slight modifications required. So yet again, stupid little things holding us back from getting this running. Like the water outlets for the intercooler fowling on the heater matrix water pipes. REALLY?! 😓 But, as always, Carson Performance have overcome every issue this project throws at them and made up some custom water pipes that are slightly shorter than the ones supplied, meaning it all fits into place nicely. Hopefully not too much longer now, but who knows what else this thing come up with to test us?

Been playing around the the grille in the front bumper, as I hate how the OEM one looks. Simply unclips from the bumper, before I started cutting out the middle to leave the edge. This way, I can fix the new grille into the surround and clip it back into place. Bought a few different style of mesh off eBay, but decided to go for a plastic hexagon style as it looks best and will be easy to plastic weld into the remaining surround. Waiting on the final piece to be delivered before finishing it off.

Installed the 5500K HID kit for the VLAND headlights today. Very pleased with the light output which is easily on par, if not better, than the OEM setup.

Yep, exactly what I'll be doing with mine. Just one large piece of felt to cover the entire shelf

Nope, not a fan of BGW's

Installed the Intec roof mounted brake light the other day. Had this sitting around for about 2 years so figured I'd do something during lockdown. Gives much better rear visibility for both the driver put the rear window and those behind you when braking, as it's a much larger and brighter unit.

Need to state a price please.

I haven't driven it properly in over 4 years, so I don't really miss it anymore 🤷‍♂️

Been a while since I updated this, also cleared out a load of chat so hopefully people can post replies in here again. All in all, very slow progress. Matt and the team at Rogue Motorsport have had my engine for a few months and been nothing short of amazing. But as usual, it's been 1 step forward, 2 steps back... Originally, the block we had came back from the machine shop with pitting inside 3 of the bores. So was deemed scrap as it sat below the 1st oil ring. Another block was sourced, but was no good on the tolerances when we measured it up against the pistons. So I decided to stop trying to piece parts together and get ANOTHER complete engine. My 4th V8 in total! It was sold to me as only having 44k miles on it, and after stripping it down, that seemed to be true as everything inside looked brand new. Matt got measuring again and the internals that we'd already had balanced up were perfect fitment, so the bottom end is all looking good for once. Unfortunately, the work I had done on the heads was below par. The seats and valves had a lot of rough edges and it seems that the new guides are also not fitting properly for some reason. Waiting for Matt to give me a full breakdown when he gets a chance to go back into the workshop sometime next week, as Rogue have closed down during this quarantine period as many other businesses have. I'm the meantime, I've been researching the best setup for the VLAND headlights as I think they give the front end a much nicer look over the OEM lights. Only issue being, they are compatible with the OEM xenon setup, which means I need to swap over the OEM ballast and xenon system into the new VLAND headlights. After much deliberation, I decided I don't want to be left with just a shell of an OEM headlight, so I've opted for a separate xenon system specially designed for the GT86 with VLAND headlights. Coming all the way from Canada, I'll do a full write up on the system next week when it arrives. Test fitted the lights this morning to see how they look, and I'm very happy with the overall result and fitment! Gives the front end a more modern look with the black housing.

So I've had a few people asking about exactly what setup I've gone for with my brake upgrade, so thought it was about time I made a separate thread with the details of part numbers and other useful bits As with a few others on the forums, I opted for an OEM replacement from Subaru's extensive Brembo range off the Impreza's. Pretty much any setup from an 02-07 Impreza will fit the front of the GT86/BRZ. The only thing you have to remember is that the GT86/BRZ has a leading brake setup (caliper in front of the axle) and the Impreza has a trailing brake setup (caliper behind the axle): GT86/BRZ (thanks Jay for the picture) Impreza So the front calipers need the bleed nipples swapping from top to bottom to allow you to mount the calipers properly given that the pistons inside are staggered. You can simply bolt them on upside down so that the bleed nipples are at the top, but this would cause uneven pad wear due to the different sized pistons I went for a slightly bigger setup that the standard Brembo's on the Scooby. I decided to opt for an AP Racing kit which consists of 6 pot calipers with 362mm discs. Very similar if not the same kit as this: http://shop.grahamgoode.com/ap-racing-big-brake-kit-362mm-6pot-subaru-impreza-gt-wrx-sti-ggs1364b-64786-p.asp All in all, fairly simple for the front. I obviously had my calipers completely rebuilt and refurbished by the Brake Caliper Specialists up in Nottingham to make them stand out a bit and get some peace of mind that they are like brand new, even though they didn't really need doing upon inspection The rears are a bit different. Subaru were obviously rummaging through their parts bin when they made the GT86/BRZ as you can't simply put a rear set of Brembo's from an 02-07 like you can on the front. The rears require the Brembo's off an 08+ hatchback style Impreza. Whilst they bolt straight onto the hub and there's no real faffing around in terms of fitment, they are quite hard to find! However, if you are lucky enough to find a set, the only modification you need to make it to the dust/heat shields on the GT86/BRZ. They need trimming or bending back very slightly to allow for the larger caliper. But it's a very simple job. The only headache with the rear setup is the discs. Subaru decided to make the rear PCD on the STi with the Brembo's 5x114.3 instead of the usual 5x100 that we all have. Thanks Subaru! So, your options are: - Use the rear discs off the 08+ setup that you would get with the calipers, and redrill to a 5x100 PCD - Find some new discs that are 5x100 fitment (only the DBA2656-10 option for this as far as I know) - Find some new discs which will be 5x114.3 and have them redrilled After being given the wrong information and discs on a couple of occasions, I can now confirm the following part numbers for the rear discs: DBA2656-10 or DBA42656SP - these are dual-drilled for both 5x100 and 5x114.3 PCD's but come at a price. The ONLY UK stock I can find is here - http://clarkmotorsport.co.uk/parts/4000-T3-Series-Brake-Disc---SLOTTED-%28Pair%29/Rear-Vented/DBA42656SP EBC GD1511 - slightly cheaper option but will only come in 5x114.3 and need to be redrilled. Cheapest price for these can be found here - http://www.camskill.co.uk/m31b0s3145p80243/EBC_BRAKE_DISCS_EBC_TURBO_GROOVE_BRAKE_DISCS_-_GD1511_-_EBC_Turbo_Groove_Brake_Discs_ There are other options from the likes of Brembo and a few others, you just need to make sure that they are the following dimensions: Diameter - 316mm Thickness - 20mm Height - 63.5mm (sometimes 63.4mm or 64mm on some websites) There are some VERY similar sizes that will NOT fit, as they have a height of 67.5mm or 68mm which causes the disc to sit too far onto the hub. DO NOT ORDER THESE!!! Front brakes are now on, rears are going on shortly seeing as I'm on my 3rd set of rear discs now!

SOLD

Carbon SARD style rear spoiler, complete with all mounting hardware, including extension brackets that I bought which make it sit slightly further back. Tried it on my car but due to the ducktail bootlid, I wasn't a fan of how it sat or looked. Best applied to a standard bootlid, one of the best looking spoilers out there. Excellent condition, 2 tiny marks that aren't noticeable unless you're looking really close. £400 collected from Aldershot, Hampshire. Ideally don't want to post due to size and fragility, but I often travel around the country so could always meet somewhere as well.

SOLD pending collection

Priced reduced to £375

Pair of 1mm thick aluminium covers to hide the unsightly ABS system and fuse box cover in the engine bay. Fits all models of GT86 and BRZ with a simple clip to hold it in place and foam padding underneath to prevent any knocking or damage. Installation takes 2 minutes and gives the engine bay a much cleaner look. £90 collected (either from me directly or at any of the big shows such as Japfest) or £95 delivered to mainland UK for raw aluminium. Matte black and other colours are £20 extra to cover powder coating costs. Will soon be looking into getting lettering and logos laser cut if there's the market for that? Throw me some ideas as to what you'd want on your set and I can see what's doable 👍

Bump

Haven't got a ticket yet but I'll be there

Count me in

Bump

V8 has now been dropped to Matt and the team at Rogue Motorsport for a complete rebuild. In the meantime, some further progress on the heads from David. Should be ready to collect in the next few days

Some more updates sent over from David who's working on the heads of the V8. Porting them by hand for better flow, very restrictive from factory. Can't wait to see these finished!

Couple of deliveries containing vital parts to the build have arrived this week. First off from the USA, we have a 7 gallon (American gallons, so around 23.5litres) water tank with an inbuilt pump, capable of pushing 2000litres of fluid every hour! This will be a vital part of my cooling setup for the supercharger to keep inlet temps as low as possible. Semi circle shaped to fit nicely into the spare wheel well of the 86. Next up from Australia is a funky bit of kit called an interchiller. This is the same principal as a water to air intercooler, with the added benefit of tapping into the A/C system to chill the coolant to FREEZING temperatures. This ensures that the inlet temps should even reach ambient, giving us more consistent power on the track. This will sit on the sidelines for a few weeks until I get time to install them. Got to work out all the different size fittings and hoses I need next, as they're all different of course 🙄

New bronze valve guides arrived from Kelford in NZ today. Means the workshop doing my heads can now remove the OEM ones to get the most of the porting process before installing these new, stronger guides

PM'd