Author Topic: A.J.'s STI (Read 35592 times)

jhtopilko · « **Reply #25 on:** March 14, 2011, 06:48:57 am »

I like the look of that shift knob, but i think I'm going duracon myself.

A.J. · « **Reply #26 on:** March 14, 2011, 09:00:25 am »

Quote from: canehdianJ on March 14, 2011, 12:57:51 am

1. I have a good camera... and will eventually return

Sweet.

Quote from: canehdianJ on March 14, 2011, 12:57:51 am

2. you tried to drive it on ramps didnt you.

Not exactly. I jacked it up with my floor jack as high as it could go, then I shoved my ramps in under the wheels (which I had pre tested for height and found that they were too high), but they only went under about 80% of the way. So after lowering the weight off of the jack I jumped in to drive it forward and I ended up rolling back too far and it landed on the bumper. Scratched both sides, spiderwebbed the paint on the driver's side (hit harder because I was sitting in the seat, and made small dents in the plastic.... I feel like such a tool about it.

BUT the G/F looked at it and agrees that a lip would make it unnoticable

A.J. · « **Reply #27 on:** March 14, 2011, 09:13:34 am »

So I went for a drive last night to test out the new shifter.

OMG I LOVE THIS THING!!!!!

It feels 1000% better than stock. Shifts feel precise and quick, the knob is at the perfect height, and because of the design it's in the same neutral position as stock and the reverse lockout doesn't make a peep. The install was super straight forward because of the excellent instructions that came with it. The shift knob feels huge and heavy, it's awesome too. It might get cold in the winter time, but I usually wear gloves when it's like that anyways

. I'm really happy I got the JDM dual console. It puts the center armrest in the same spot as the door armrest. I am tall, so it's in the perfect spot for my long arms, and it gives me some extra space to toss stuff like my sunglasses and garage door opener(for now).

Here's a link to the one I got:
http://www.twmperformance.com/shortshifters/subarushortshifters/2008subarustishortshifters.htm
It's also nice to see that they specifically engineered one for the 2008+, not like the Kartboy which is good for all STI's. (I know it's mostly just the linkage connection bushing size difference)

and here's the shift knob. The satin finish is an exact match to the silver shifter surround. I'm curious if the gunmetal one will match the "swoosh" on the dashboard or not.
http://www.twmshiftknobs.com/shiftknobs/m1abrams-reverselock-shiftknobs.html

Up next, Window tinting

canehdianJ · « **Reply #28 on:** March 15, 2011, 01:14:08 am »

Quote from: A.J. on March 14, 2011, 09:00:25 am

Not exactly. I jacked it up with my floor jack as high as it could go, then I shoved my ramps in under the wheels (which I had pre tested for height and found that they were too high), but they only went under about 80% of the way. So after lowering the weight off of the jack I jumped in to drive it forward and I ended up rolling back too far and it landed on the bumper. Scratched both sides, spiderwebbed the paint on the driver's side (hit harder because I was sitting in the seat, and made small dents in the plastic.... I feel like such a tool about it. BUT the G/F looked at it and agrees that a lip would make it unnoticable

You need to build ramps. I recommend 2x10's They make excellent ramps

Mine are stacked 3 high

A.J. · « **Reply #29 on:** March 19, 2011, 05:48:49 pm »

Got some progress updates, but no pictures yet.

Windows tinted! Got it done at Teknique in Leduc. Thanks Rob! 38% in the front and 20% for the backs. Looks pretty good so far, but because of the cold it takes a while to cure. I'll get some good pictures after it's all cured and the car cleaned.

Got my install kit for the autodim homelink mirror. Easiest install ever, but I HATE UPS. Stupid me forgot to specify that I didn't want UPS shipping so that's how they shipped... $35 in parts, $20 in brokerage. uckfaying Asshats. I probably would have been better off buying from the dealership locally... wait, no I think they still charge more than I paid

. Installing and programming the mirror is a piece of cake, and if anyone wants help let me know. The only problems I have with it is that the mirror sits too low on the windshield so it obstructs my view, and the wire cover that I got is too short to reach from the mirror mount to the headliner. Does anyone else have this problem? I am considering going to a windshield place and having them move the mount a few inches higher up on the windshield.

I'll get some new pics soon.

A.J. · « **Reply #30 on:** March 25, 2011, 05:40:47 pm »

Had a few free minutes today so I did a couple of other easy mods that I wanted to get done.

1. Intake silencer (Milk Jug) removal - Did from the top of the engine bay without too much difficulty. Took the whole airbox out as one piece, it fits but you have to twist it and be super careful when you pull on it. Getting the silencer to separate from the airbox was challenging, but doable.

2. DRL disable - While I had the intake out and easy access to the inner bumper, I unplugged the DRL's. It's super easy to do and if you do it at the same time as the silencer delete you don't need to take any other panels off.

Tint is getting re-done next week because of a bunch of dust trapped in it.

canehdianJ · « **Reply #31 on:** April 12, 2011, 08:48:00 pm »

Spring car love

damn rock chip sand blasting. at least the clay worked.

A.J. · « **Reply #32 on:** April 13, 2011, 12:26:30 am »

Awesome pictures Jeff, thanks!

jsn · « **Reply #33 on:** April 13, 2011, 12:26:51 am »

Those wheels look great on the newer STIs. Nice car

A.J. · « **Reply #34 on:** April 13, 2011, 12:34:05 am »

Thanks! I just wish my summer stockers came that colour... (I know Jeff is gonna add something in here about getting them powdercoated before I put them on...

)

Wronks · « **Reply #35 on:** April 13, 2011, 10:12:15 am »

A.J., love those older BBS's!
I look forward to seeing what you have in store for your STi.

appl2noe · « **Reply #36 on:** April 13, 2011, 11:17:39 am »

Nice looking machine!

canehdianJ · « **Reply #37 on:** April 13, 2011, 12:51:07 pm »

Quote from: A.J. on April 13, 2011, 12:34:05 am

Thanks! I just wish my summer stockers came that colour... (I know Jeff is gonna add something in here about getting them powdercoated before I put them on... )

A.J. · « **Reply #38 on:** April 15, 2011, 03:20:14 pm »

So it looks like I might be coming into a little bit of money soon

(just over $1000) and I've almost got complete permission to waste it on the car

. I can't decide what exactly I want to do. I can think of about 6 options:

1. Finish all of the little appearance things (badging, painting, powdercoat wheels, etc)
2. Start with some performance goodies (springs, sways, bushings, tune, etc)
3. Improve the stereo (new headunit, sub, amp)
4. Replace the AWFUL seats (Evo X recaro's? - I sat in some at the auto show and fell in love)
5. Exterior "apperance" Mods (Front lip or Blacktop Aero spoiler - call me ricer, but I like it)
6. Gauges

Or I can choose to be responsible and put the money towards something useful (we need to build a fence this summer).

Opinions?

hands..off · « **Reply #39 on:** April 15, 2011, 03:31:42 pm »

Hmm "permission" to blow money on anything car related is a trick.
Though id say upgrade interior items.. Better spend the money on things she won't hold against you later on haha

canehdianJ · « **Reply #40 on:** April 15, 2011, 03:57:44 pm »

Quote from: A.J. on April 15, 2011, 03:20:14 pm

So it looks like I might be coming into a little bit of money soon (just over $1000) and I've almost got complete permission to waste it on the car . I can't decide what exactly I want to do. I can think of about 6 options:

1. Finish all of the little appearance things (badging, painting, powdercoat wheels, etc)
2. Start with some performance goodies (springs, sways, bushings, tune, etc)
3. Improve the stereo (new headunit, sub, amp)
4. Replace the AWFUL seats (Evo X recaro's? - I sat in some at the auto show and fell in love)
5. Exterior "apperance" Mods (Front lip or Blacktop Aero spoiler - call me ricer, but I like it)
6. Gauges

Or I can choose to be responsible and put the money towards something useful (we need to build a fence this summer).

Opinions?

lynx440 · « **Reply #41 on:** April 15, 2011, 04:06:20 pm »

Quote from: A.J. on April 15, 2011, 03:20:14 pm

4. Replace the AWFUL seats (Evo X recaro's? - I sat in some at the auto show and fell in love)

Did you sit in the Lexus ISF? THOSE Seats were awesome. Admittedly, the EVO X / MAZDA RX8 Seats are too small for me.

A.J. · « **Reply #42 on:** April 15, 2011, 04:36:49 pm »

Quote from: lynx440 on April 15, 2011, 04:06:20 pm

Did you sit in the Lexus ISF? THOSE Seats were awesome. Admittedly, the EVO X / MAZDA RX8 Seats are too small for me.

I wish I could have sat in the ISF. They had it roped off so far you couldn't even spit on it.

Jeff, I may not be able to do both at the same time due to the cost of the gauges I'd like $:-\$ .

Edit: Well I feel like a fool, I thought you meant LFA. No I didn't sit in an ISF, probably a good thing though I'd hate to actually like a lexus.

jhtopilko · « **Reply #43 on:** April 15, 2011, 08:07:02 pm »

C63 seats are my favorite. Hold tight on the upper body but not nutcracker evo X seats.

A.J. · « **Reply #44 on:** April 15, 2011, 08:16:10 pm »

Quote from: hands..off on April 15, 2011, 03:31:42 pm

Hmm "permission" to blow money on anything car related is a trick.
Though id say upgrade interior items.. Better spend the money on things she won't hold against you later on haha

;)She's not like that, she's usually pretty cool about modding.

Quote from: jhtopilko on April 15, 2011, 08:07:02 pm

C63 seats are my favorite. Hold tight on the upper body but not nutcracker evo X seats.

Has anyone even tried to put them in an STI? I just found a set of Evo X heated leather seats for sale in Saskatoon, we'll see where it leads... the guy wants more than I'm interested in giving up right now, especially considering the amount of extra money I'd have to put into it to make it fit my car.

jsn · « **Reply #45 on:** April 22, 2011, 01:30:57 am »

Quote from: jhtopilko on April 15, 2011, 08:07:02 pm

C63 seats are my favorite. Hold tight on the upper body but not nutcracker evo X seats.

This. C63 amg seats are absolutely amazing. Comfortable and hold you tight and they look great too. You could probably make them fit, but those would probably run you a more than a grand though lol.

skylineguv · « **Reply #46 on:** April 22, 2011, 10:24:11 am »

I do know of a set of Evo X cloth (still heated, from a CDN model GSR) that may well be available soon in Edmonton. Trouble with Evo X seats is they fetch a fairly silly amount of money for some reason.

A.J. · « **Reply #47 on:** April 25, 2011, 10:45:08 am »

Quote from: skylineguv on April 22, 2011, 10:24:11 am

I do know of a set of Evo X cloth (still heated, from a CDN model GSR) that may well be available soon in Edmonton. Trouble with Evo X seats is they fetch a fairly silly amount of money for some reason.

Yeah, I know... Geez don't people know that they're just OEM seats... They should be throwing them out

Not sure if I'll be able to get around to this mod this year. My OCD wont let me install them unless they match the interior, so it'll probably be another $1500 to get them re-covered in leather and alcantara with red stitching to match.

A.J. · « **Reply #48 on:** May 11, 2011, 11:59:00 pm »

Not too much new to report.

I've ordered the sub box that I want from audio integrations, and it should be here in about a month

. They're backordered from their fiberglass supplier so I have to wait till they catch up, but at least I'm on the list now.

Car audio gone wild is this weekend, so I may end up picking up some audio gear. Will have to see what the prices are like and where stuff is the best price.

I've also been checking out rims, since I don't really like the stockers. So far the TSW Nurburgring RF are my favourite.

Cleaned the car today and took some crappy iphone pictures.

A.J. · « **Reply #49 on:** May 17, 2011, 08:04:55 am »

Got some new stereo toys to play with

Installed and AVIC-Z130BT last friday. As I suspected coming from the AVIC-U310BT it was mostly plug and play. Here are some install points in case anyone else is planning on doing this swap in the future:

OEM wiring is present for USB and AUX in center console. The USB plug is and independant cable and runs from behind the deck to the center console. Whoever installed the Pioneer simply zip ties the connectors for this cable out of the way. I removed the entire cable from my car without much difficulty.

The aux cable is run in the same loom as the normal stereo harness and is not removeable. The connector is tucked out of the way in the center console since there is nothing for it to plug into.

In my attempt to clean everything up as I was installing, I removed the OEM USB line as well as the USB/AUX line from the U310. In the end I am now left with the USB/AUX/VIDEO cable from the Z130 run from the deck to the center console (and just dangling out the hole left from the removed OEM panel).

U310 USB/AUX line gets run from the deck to the center console. They are USB/3.5mm jack on one end and both terminate at a single connector at the other end. This single plug plugs into a PCB inside the center console USB/AUX panel which has a surface mount 3.5mm jack and USB plug. I removed the connector with much difficulty, it appeared to be superglued in as well as the USB/AUX panel was superglued together. This cable was also run from the deck to the center console.

I plan on trying to make a replacement panel that will terminate the Z130's USB/AUX connectors at a panel mounted in the center console. I am currently having difficulty finding a panel mount USB port though. I may have to get a circuit board made similarly to the way it was done OEM.

Black Pioneer power connector is the same for the U310 and the Z130. A couple pins had to be moved/added to make the wiring work (parking brake(green), remote(blue) and VSS(pink - moved over from Z130 harness) . The PAC SWI module works as it did from the factory (pressing the voice button goes to the phone screen), however it appears to not be programmable. I tried to reset it to see if I could get the voice dial to work with no success. I may end up replacing it with an another newer one that can support the voice dial button on the steering wheel.

Something else to note is they wired in an auxilary power harness as well. It looks like a standard power harness for an add on accessory (like a sirius or xm tuner). The harness is just bundled up and zip tied to the main harness. They must have done this in order to make adding sattelite radio easier for the dealer.

As for the microphone, the pioneer microphone from the U310 was clipped to the headliner near the rear view mirror. I removed the OEM mic from the map light console and stuck the pioneer microphone in that spot. It's hidden now, but I haven't made a phone call so I don't know how it affects call quality.

I have some pictures off of my phone I will toss up here for you guys/gals to see.

Amp and sub install will wait for a bit. I may install the amp next week, but the sub enclosure won't be here for a while so I'm in no rush. I also ordered a back up camera off of ebay and according to the shipping tracker it should show up today. Might be able to get that installed before I have to run to BC for the weekend (for a friend's wedding).

I'll keep this updated as I do things.