rkrenicki's 2010 SH9 Forester X Limited - 2024-10-18 Officially traded away..

[rkrenicki]

So, we made the decision to purchase a newer vehicle and I decided I wanted something bigger like an Outback or Forester. I did a quick search and found this 2010 Forester X Limited right in my price range at a dealer nearby.

3426

I am not going to go too crazy with this car, it is just going to be a daily driver and possibly a tow vehicle for the Sambar. That said, I did order a couple of mods already.

Exterior Mods
Subaru Hood Deflector
Subaru Sports Mesh Grill
JDM Subaru OEM Rain Visors
Subaru OEM Hitch
Mitsuba Alpha II Compact Horns
Forester SH Touring Mirror Turn Signals
JDM Power Folding Mirrors
LED Bumper Reflectors
Subaru Backup Camera
JDM/EUDM Headlight Washer Assemblies
47% Carbon Tint on Front Side Windows


Interior Mods
Sony XAV-AX5000 Head unit
Infinity Reference REF-6532ex Speakers in Front Doors
Infinity Reference REF-6532IX Speakers in Rear Doors
Subaru 110V Outlet
Homelink Mirror
Subaru Footwell Lighting
Forester SH Touring Cluster
Forester SH Touring HVAC Controls
JDM Exiga Paddle Shifters


Mechanical Mods
PowerStop Powdercoated Tribeca/4th gen Forester Front Calipers
SH Forester Wheels w/Bridgestone blah-blah Tires (3 Season Setup)

[rkrenicki]

Well, over the weekend I placed an order for a good number of parts.

From Dubai:
12x OEM Tokyo Roki Oil Filters (The black ones that are no longer available in the states)
Side mirror turn signal lights.

From Japan:
OEM Window Rain Visors (I later found out that a version of them is also available from the US dealer, but it is too late to cancel)

From US Dealer:
Side mirror covers with hole for turn signal lights
Engine undercover (not on this trim)
Radio surround trim for navigation unit
replacement parking brake boot
Hood deflector
Sport Mesh Grill
Trailer Hitch
Footwell Illumination Kit, Blue
Backup Camera
110V Power Outlet
Cargo Net for Back Seat
Homelink Mirror mounting bracket adapter (to transfer my Homelink mirror in the RS30)

I normally would have spread this out a bit, but back when I bought my BG9, I did the same thing where I tried to order all of the OEM accessories that I wanted, only to find that half of them were discontinued. I did not want to be in the same situation if I tried this 6 to 12 months down the road. Hopefully this car is new enough that most if not all are still available.


I also ordered all of the parts to integrate the Kenwood DDX9904S that I have into the car. I did find the OEM GPS antenna mount and center console USB connector that I will hack to work with this radio. I picked up the iDataLink Maestro RR to handle the steering wheel controls and add data collection from the car itself as well. The OEM Backup Camera that I ordered will take a little doing to get working, but I think it will be well worth it.

[thenines']

The only good thing with owning an old money pit subie is you can go to WBM (which we should be at today-I hope it will still go on!) and spend almost no money:lol:

[rkrenicki]

The only good thing with owning an old money pit subie is you can go to WBM (which we should be at today-I hope it will still go on!) and spend almost no money:lol:

I am a bit of a cheapskate and I go to great lengths to find the cheapest price for the things I want. The vendors at WBM are far from cheap, so that is never a problem for me.

[thenines']

I couldn't even find anything from a vendor selling used stuff! Hope to you and the fozzy in September at WBM:thumbleft:

[rkrenicki]

Some progress on the radio install today. It is raining (and now thundering) outside, so I figured a job entirely inside the car was ideal. I do not have all of the parts here yet (dash trim, GPS antenna, antenna adapter), but I did what I could.

The Maestro Rr1 and the Subaru harness arrived yesterday, and today the AUX/USB input insert showed up. The Maestro USB input adapter claims to not work with Carplay for some reason, so I decided to take the AUX/USB insert apart and turn it into a glorified USB extension cable. It had no electronics inside, so I am not really sure why the Maestro adapter wouldn't have worked... but this was far cheaper anyways.
3362

I have not made an adapter for the 3.5mm AUX input, but the iDataLink RR1 Subaru wiring harness had an appropriate connector for the backup camera (which this car does not have). I will fabricate an adapter for that sometime later today or tomorrow. It is not a priority at all since I never use AUX, but I have the bits on hand so I might as well.

The RR1 has a connection to the OBDII port, so it can pull information from the car via CAN. I have not changed the configuration at all, but I did check to make sure that it was working.
3363

I tried to install my SiriusXM radio module, but I was having some issues with reception. I am not entirely sure if my antenna is any good, so I may need to pick up a replacement. I also do not have any FM radio because of the lack of antenna adapter (not a big deal for me, now that Carplay and Bluetooth are working). It started to thunder, so I whipped it back together for the day. It looks a little goofy with the big gap around the radio, but it is only temporary.
3364

[rkrenicki]

Many of my parts showed up today, so I went and picked them up from the dealer in the Sambar. Turns out that this dealer also has a JDM Sambar Fire Truck in their showroom, up above the offices! What was odd is that many of the people that worked there didnt even realize it was up there at all. I pointed out that it was the same model as mine and many said that they had never seen it up there before. There was also an old 360 Truck, an SVX, a BRAT, and something else that I could not immediately identify.. I think it might have been an FF-1 Wagon?
3365

Here is the most of the pile of parts that showed up today. The only thing missing here are the Rain Visors that showed up in the afternoon.
3366

It started raining shortly after I started installing things, so I did not get much done today.. but I did manage to install the mesh grill, hood deflector, 110v outlet, homelink mirror (I already had this, just needed the adapter that showed up today), and the replacement parking brake boot. Since it is still thunderstorming outside, I only have the picture of the front end complete... albeit wet.
3367

[thenines']

How does one not notice all those cars? :glasses2: Anchor Subaru-in R.I. has a 360 in a display case that you can see on the outside at the top of their dealership.

[rkrenicki]

How does one not notice all those cars? :glasses2: Anchor Subaru-in R.I. has a 360 in a display case that you can see on the outside at the top of their dealership.

I didn't notice it at first, but Premier also had a 360 Sedan over the front door. I am going to go back there on Tuesday to pick up the STI Sway bar, and I will take photos of all of the cars at the same time. Long in Webster has a 360 Sedan, and Holmgren in Norwich has a 360 Truck on display, both in their lobbies.

Otherwise, the Hitch, Rain Visors, and Footwell Lighting were all installed today. I also significantly cleaned up the wiring for the radio and installed a generic XM antenna. The OEM GPS antenna is being shipped from Latvia, so that will be quite some time before it arrives.. and I also ordered an OEM FM/XM antenna, but I will need to have a custom cable made up for it once it shows up.

My to-do pile is shrinking quite quickly.. I only have the Mirror turn signals (I need to find connectors for them), speakers, and mesh cargo net to install at the moment until the few remaining things show up.

[thenines']

I've seen the one at Long subaru-that's my go to dealer-the impreza is there right now-tooling around in a '20 Leggy loaner.

[rkrenicki]

I went out and took a couple of photos of the Foz and Sammie next to each other.

3368

3369

I also managed to get the speakers installed today, even with the 85%+ humidity.

I ended up buying some Rockford Fosgate speakers from Crutchfield, so they sent me some mounting brackets and wiring adapters. I went back and forth on which to install, and in the end I decided to go ahead and install the Kickers that I originally intended. I am not sure what I will do with the Rockfords right now, but they will go on the shelf where the Kickers used to be. I also used some extra FatMat around the speaker openings and some medium density adhesive foam on both sides of the mounting brackets. All in all, I would say that they came out very nice. It sounds better for sure.

3372

[rkrenicki]

My Forester Touring cluster arrived today, and I swapped it in. I had some difficulty with the Check Engine Light, because Subaru apparently changed the way it worked in 2011, and this cluster is from a 2012 model. I ended up hacking in a wire to restore the original way it worked. I also attempted to reset the odometer to match, but that also did not end up working as I could not find the mileage data in the EEPROM that I found on the back side of the cluster. It is possible that there is one on the front side, but that will require removing the needles which I do not want to do.

All in all, I am extremely happy with the results.

Old cluster:
3373

New cluster:
3374

[mike-tracy]

Subaru sure has come a long way in interior gadgets and features.

[rkrenicki]

Indeed they have. The 2004/2005 models seem to be where they really took a jump in that respect. The creature comforts are a welcome upgrade over the earlier Legacies.

Today, I changed out the engine under cover. The non turbo models get two small covers on each side, but the XT gets a full engine bay cover, much like the H6 models in 3rd gen. It was a direct bolt on except for where it connects to the crossmember. The existing jacking plate only has the one mounting hole in the middle, where the turbo version is wider and has 3 holes. I connected the cover using just the one for now, and I ordered a replacement jacking plate which should be here in a few days.

3375

3376

[rkrenicki]

Today was overcast, but still a nice temperature before it is supposed to shoot up to 90+ degrees for the next few days. I took the opportunity to install the 2015+ STI 20mm rear swaybar and installed new endlinks at the same time. It took about 30 minutes start to finish, and it is an amazing upgrade for the car. It has significantly less roll and is far more planted in turns. The best $85 I have spent so far, hands down.

Here is the 16mm bar next to the 20mm bar, before I corrected the endlink connections.
3377

[thenines']

I don't miss my '03 outback-my only subie w/an engine under cover-was always an oily mess/damaged. But, I know you like clean lines with your rides. :)

[rkrenicki]

I found a set of HID headlight assemblies from an XT, That will be a suitable lighting upgrade for me. I ordered some new D2R (low beam), HB3 (high beam) and yellow fog light bulbs from Rockauto yesterday, so once the bulbs arrive I will install the assemblies.

I also snagged a paddle shifter mechanism and headlight leveler switch from a YA4 Exiga, both which are a direct fit for the 4th gen Forester dash. I do need to make up a simple wiring harness for it to tie into the sportshift controls, but that will be quite straight forward. The leveler switch would require a harness as well, but it will be far simpler than trying to retrofit the Auto Leveling system from an XT.. besides, I prefer the manual adjustment.

I also ordered a set of front calipers from the 4th gen GT/Tribeca for some future brake upgrade. PowerStop sells some that are powder coated to prevent rust, but they keep going in and out of stock on RockAuto. I got an email this morning that they were back in stock, so I snapped up a set. I will figure out rotors and pads at a later time, but those are pretty easy to get anywhere when I am ready to do the rest of that upgrade.

In other news, I received the jacking plate from a 2009 WRX which is the same part as the XT plate, and with the N/A exhaust there is no way it would fit without some modification. That said.. it turns out that it does not have any additional connection points for the undercover anyways. There is a clip on each side that looks to attach to "something", but I have no idea what it would be. I will have to do some more research.

[98legwag]

For brake pads and rotors for the upgrade I was very happy with Hawk HPS pads and Centric Premium rotors on my 3.0R. That set up might be worth looking into.

I do have a question about your headlight upgrade. Do you know yet how much of the wiring needs to be adapted to go from the halogen housings to the HID housings?

[rkrenicki]

Thanks! I have used Centric rotors before and I like them. I used Stoptech (aka Centric) pads before, and while I liked them.. they were very dusty for my tastes. How is the brake dust on the Hawks?

As for the headlights, they appear that they may be "plug and play", at least for the basic functions. The service manual does not indicate a different pinout for the HID model, and the physical connector is the same. I have not yet tried them because I need to take the bumper off to do anything with the lights. I figure I will wait until the bulbs are here before I start taking it all apart and trying things out. The levelers have their own connectors, but the servos are the same as the 3rd gen JDM lights, so I have plenty of those connectors around.

[98legwag]

The Hawks make more dust that stock pads. I would say similar to the Stoptech street pads. Maybe slightly less than that.

[rkrenicki]

The STI Catalog springs showed up today, as well as the replacement lightbulbs for the HID headlights. I had to superglue one of the headlight mounting tabs back together yesterday, and hopefully I can get them installed tonight. The springs will have to wait until I order the Bilsteins to go with them.. and I have no immediate plans to do that. I just wanted to order the springs before they ended up getting discontinued.

3398


EDIT: So the XT HIDs are plug and play for the other models. I still have to deal with the levelers once the leveler switch shows up from Japan.. but that won't be for a while.

3400

[rkrenicki]

I am not the sort of person to put an STI badge on a non-STI car.. (or at least a car without significant STI parts).. but I decided to up-badge my car with an S-Edition badge. I know it isnt turbo like the actual S-Edition, but to me it indicates the "special edition" that my car is turning into.

3401

I am working out the final bits for the suspension upgrades. In the meantime, I stuck all of the bits on a shelf for now.

3402

I am also trying to decide what to do with the brakes. I am toying with doing Cross Drilled/Slotted rotors in the front, but I am not married to the idea. I am also considering doing the 2010+ Legacy GT brakes in the rear as well, but PowerStop does not have any of them in stock with the powder coating on them.

[thenines']

Nice upgrade:cool:

[rkrenicki]

3 of the 4 Bilsteins arrived yesterday, because one of the fronts is backordered.. I am also waiting on an inner dust-boot for the front struts as well that I did not realize was a thing on the 3rd gen Forester. That said, everything was here to assemble the rear struts, so I went ahead and did that. They went together quite easily and I did not even need a spring compressor, just had to put a little weight on them to get the top nut to grab.

3403

The other strut is about 3 weeks out, and the inner dust boots are 2 weeks out. Once they all show up, I will get the fronts put together and on the car.

[rkrenicki]

Most of the headlight washer parts arrived from the UAE. New washer tank, pump, and the washer assemblies themselves. The hose that connects it all together, some clips, and the caps for the holes in the bumper are still on their way from Japan.

3404

[rkrenicki]

The hoses and clips for the headlight washers arrived today, but I am still waiting for a timing relay to arrive from Lithuania before I have everything. If I can get a cooler day outside, I will start installing what I have.. but it appears that we are in another hot streak.

In the meantime, I finally finished the wiring for the 2011+ Forester FM/SiriusXM antenna, the Backup Camera, and installed the Subaru GPS antenna up inside the dashboard. That last one needed a small connector adapter which just arrived a few days ago, but since I had to take the dash apart.. I figured I would do all of the radio-related things at the same time. I am happy to have everything finished on that front.

Dash mounted GPS antenna, this is up above the cluster. This one is for a 5th gen Legacy, but it is exactly the same as the 3rd gen Forester except I had to drill one hole on the bracket to line up properly. I also needed a Sumitomo HFC to Hirose GT5 adapter to connect the Subaru antenna to my Kenwood radio.
3405

Otherwise, here is a shot of me working out the wiring for the camera. Many OEM cameras are strange in that they use 6-9v for power, and NOT 12v. Luckily the iDataLink Maestro has an 8v power output just for this purpose.. even if it is not well documented what it actually is.
3406

[rkrenicki]

If I can get a cooler day outside, I will start installing what I have..
Ask, and ye shall receive. Today was a beautiful day, mostly sunny and low-to-mid 70s... so today was the day to get most of the outside stuff done on the car.

Most of the headlight washer bits went in today.. The washer sprayers, washer tank with pumps, and hoses are all installed. I will need to take the bumper off again once more to do the wiring once the timer relay shows up (it attaches to the tank)
3407

Cutting the holes into the bumper was fairly straightforward, there was an outline on the inside of the cover for where the holes were to be cut.
3408

While I had the bumper off, I also ended up getting the horns installed.
3409

I also installed the Mirror Turn Signals. The wiring is not complete, just run into the door.. but the lights and covers are finally on.
3410

And lastly, some LED rear bumper reflectors. I just hooked them up to a battery to show what they look like, but again, the wiring is not yet complete.
3411

[rkrenicki]

The last strut finally arrived, so I assembled the front suspension this morning. My wife took the car today, so I will need to wait until the weekend to install them.

3420

[rkrenicki]

I ended up installing the suspension this morning. The fronts mostly just slapped right in.. since these are struts for the SJ Forester, I had to flip the ABS sensor wire bracket around and use a nut and bolt to hold it on. The rears also just dropped in, but I was just not familiar with this particular suspension setup where the shock sits inside one of the lateral arms, so it took me a little while to figure out the order of operations to get them in and out.

3422
3423

I took it to get an alignment right after, and apparently my trick of "all the way out" for the camber adjustment bolt only works for legacies.. For at least this forester, it should go all of the way in.

3424

After driving it around for the alignment, and then taking my favorite suspension testing road on the way home, I took some measurements. With the slightly softer STI springs and the slightly-stiffer SJ struts, I only dropped 5mm in the front, and about 2mm in the rear. This is perfect, as I was hoping to be as close to stock height as I could get. I must say, the suspension is more communicative, less floaty, and not at all uncomfortable. I am extremely pleased with the end result.

[Muse]

I am not going to go too crazy with this car



huge list of things done/bought

Mmmmmhmmmmm...

[thenines']

your just like a kid in a candy store:lol:

[rkrenicki]

I have no idea what you are talking about.. >.>

I hadn't put up some updated photos, so here we go.
3426

3427

[rkrenicki]

I've had a couple of busy days. Thursday and Friday was spent wiring up the turn signals on the rearview mirrors. The driver door happened to have two wires to the mirror that were unused, but the passenger side did not and required some wires to be fished through.. I ended up pulling pins out of some old harnesses to play everything "plug and play". I did not take any pictures of the process, but I did change out the temperature scale on the HVAC controls with a metric version while I had the dash apart.
3428

I had a box arrive from Japan today, which included the Exiga Steering Wheel, Paddle Shifters, Leveler switch panel, and the rear Fog light assembly. The rear foglight was a simple swap, two bolts and swap the LED bulbs over. I need to wire up the rear fog at some point, but the housing is on at least.
3429

The leveler switch assembly was equally as fast.. Pop the old one out, and pop the new one in. I was going to swap just the switch itself, but this black panel has the logo for the leveler. This also gives me the switch for power folding mirrors if I ever end up doing them.
3430

I was not in the market to replace the wheel, but it was a 2000 yen bundle which included the wheel, the paddles, and the leveler switch panel all together. Since I am changing out the other parts with black parts.. I might as well install the black wheel as well. I have not yet wired up the paddles yet, but I can get to the plug from the bottom quite easily.
3431

[rkrenicki]

I pulled the seat out today and installed the underseat subwoofer. The Kenwood KSC-SW11 is an almost perfect fit for the stock mounts. I just needed to drill out the bracket holes slightly and remove the foam underneath the carpet right where the sub went. The best thing about these low powered subs is I do not need to run a power wire all of the way to the battery.. Since it only uses a 10a fuse, I have no worries about using a fuse tap.
3432

While I had the Weathertechs out, I figured I would swap in my old SLI Aluminum Dead Pedal.. I need to get some new clips for it, but it looks pretty good for being 8 years old now.
3433

I also managed to get the LED bumper reflectors wired up as well. I wired them to the running lights and the brake lights. I was originally going to do turn signals and brake lights, but I changed my mind at the list minute.
3434

[thenines']

We really need a meet-miss the all the people and cars:-(

[rkrenicki]

I am chipping away at the red text on the first post. Today was wiring up the headlight levelers. It was not a super exciting job, nor do I have really any photos other than during my testing.. but they are all wired up now with a proper harness which is as close to "plug-and-play" as I can make it. Luckily, the switch is the same as the 09-14 STI, so I used that diagram for the job.

3435

[rkrenicki]

Today was a new item to install. I ordered the Automatic Sensing Wiper and Headlight kit from Japan for the SH. It looks to be a somewhat generic kit, but it has some connectors specific to Japanese market SHs. After some minor modification, and using the drill templates backwards.. it is now installed. I still need to tidy up the wiring for the headlight portion, but that can wait a few days. There is an "AT" and an "MT" version, but it looks like the only difference is the length of the harness due to the mounting location of the module.
3436

I also still need to make some english labels for the switches.
3437

And lastly, the sun/rain sensor, to the right of the rearview mirror in this shot.
3438


https://youtu.be/4QTNYwYIGdk

[rkrenicki]

I did a few things in the last couple of days. First up was replacing the front swaybar bushings. The ones I pulled out were likely original and were quite a bit past their prime.
3439

I also found a grey switch panel with the headlight leveler logo on PartSouq for only $6, so now my dash is back to one color.
3440

And lastly.. I fixed the odometer on my cluster. Subaru made it exceptionally difficult to get to the EEPROM on these clusters, by forcing you to remove the needles to remove the PCB. I did not want to risk damaging the needles and servos, so I came up with a different solution. I needed to add about 9500 miles, so I rigged up the cluster on my workbench and fed it a 250mph speed signal for a day and a half. I slowed it down to about 100mph last night to make sure I did not overshoot my target mileage, but it is 100% accurate now. Here is a shot of it on my very messy bench.
3441

And now a shot with the corrected mileage. I started the process at 113,491
3442

[rkrenicki]

Not a whole lot has happened to the car as of late, but there are a few small changes.

First, My vanity plate finally arrived yesterday. Nothing too terribly exciting, but at least I do not have the "Blitzen 6" plates anymore. I also changed the rear tail lights with European lights, since they have a proper Left Hand Drive rear fog light, even though I haven't done the wiring for them yet. I also need to polish the lights a bit, as they do a have some scratches on them.
3449


Secondly, I am in the process of changing out the radio. I just bought a Kenwood DMX907S to replace the DDX9904S that I had. They are essentially the same radio, except the 907 adds Wireless Carplay which is a feature that I have been wanting for a while. It does lack a CD/DVD player, but I never used that function anyways. The 9904S is going to go into my SO's new-to-her 2013 Impreza. The radio looks exactly the same as the old one, so I did not take any pictures.

[rkrenicki]

I finally put all of the Subarus in a row today. Finding a time when all of them are home during the daylight is not the easiest thing in the world.

3458

[rkrenicki]

Now that there has been a line-up change at the house.. I will need to redo that last photo in the near future.

In the meantime, I took off the winter tires since spring has sprung. It gave me a chance to learn how to reprogram the TPMS with my Autel TS508, which is super easy once I figured out the menus.

[rkrenicki]

I ordered up a set of power folding mirrors for a Japanese GH so that I can harvest the motor assemblies. For some reason, proper SH chassis mirrors are $150-200/side in Japan.. while the GH ones were $35 for the pair.

[rkrenicki]

I ordered up a set of power folding mirrors for a Japanese GH so that I can harvest the motor assemblies. For some reason, proper SH chassis mirrors are $150-200/side in Japan.. while the GH ones were $35 for the pair.

So.. it turns out that GH mirrors are completely different from SH mirrors. The bases are a totally different shape. I guess I will have a set of JDM GE/GH/GV/GR mirrors for sale whenever they arrive from Japan.

I did some digging and I found one side of the SH mirrors for an excellent price. I decided to go ahead and get the other side at the "normal price", and I ended up getting a decent deal between the two. I am not entirely sure when they will arrive, but it is going to happen.

[rkrenicki]

The left side mirror arrived today. I ordered the non-heated version, since I was planning on swapping the glass around anyways. I sort of wish that I did order the heated glass so I would have convex mirrors on both sides.. but oh well. I completely disassembled both mirrors to transplant the heated mirror wiring, and repinned the new Japanese mirror to match the US style. I have not connected the power fold yet, but it is otherwise ready to go. The mirror was shipped pre-folded, so I used my bench power supply to unfold it.

This is just before I re-wrapped the harness.
3489

And this is after the mirror was attached. I have the ground wire of the turn signal connected to the chassis, and everything else is plugged into the vehicle harness. I need to run one wire for the turn signal, but in the meantime I re-pinned the car to get the turn signal working for now.
3490

[rkrenicki]

I ordered the brake pads and rotors to finish up the fronts, and they arrived today. I went with Centric/StopTech GCX coated rotors and Centric PosiQuiet Pro ceramic pads. These things are huge (316mm) and VERY heavy. The shipping box weighs 52lbs!

I still need to get some new braided hoses before I install these, but all of the mechanical bits are now in my possession.

[rkrenicki]

A few more things arrived for the car in the last week or so. I did run strobe cables up to the front headlights back into the car. They currently end in the back seat footwell until I can decide where I want to mount the strobe pack.

Thank goodness for the clutch pedal grommet... I still need to shove at least one more cable through here for the two-way radio, and possibly for the headlight washers.
3499

Next up is the heater controls for a 2011-2013 Forester Touring. I originally bought the module from a Japanese Exiga which is physically the same module, except it turns out that the servos are configured differently and it reversed the temperature scale (hot when at 18c, cold when at 30c), and it reversed the defroster and front vent positions. Oddly enough, the feet position was correct. These controls are also dual-zone, but the car is not capable of that. I disabled the dual button and the second temperature control, so it is a plug-and-play upgrade here. The controls mount into the large "swoop" across the dash, so I had to replace that as well.
3500

It turns out that between 2010 and 2011, they changed the color of the silver swoop to more of a gunmetal color, so I guess I need to replace the rest of the silver bits to match. I also forgot to order the black plastic cover, so there are a few holes above the controls as well.
3501

[rkrenicki]

Boy.. lots of progress today. I decided to work on the strobe wiring for the rear, and to install some generic Chinese amateur radio that I have since it is small enough to fit within the dash cubby under the radio. I do not have an antenna for it yet, but the harder part was mounting the radio as it required removal of the lower dash. Since the lower dash came off, I also finished the Power Folding Mirrors and the Paddle Shifter wiring since I had plenty of access.

Also while the tail lights were out for the strobe wiring, I ran the wire for the rear fog light into the car at the same time as well. It does not connect to anything yet, but it is physically inside the cabin now.
3502

I have not yet decided where the strobe pack is going.. so the cables are just coiled up under the floor for the moment. I think it will end up in the cubby above this spot, but it sort of depends on how I can attach the pack.
3503

Here is the dash completely blown apart. Lots of things in progress at this point, and even in the end it is only partially reassembled since I am awaiting some replacement panels from Subaru.
3505

So, to sum up what happened today:
JDM Power Folding Mirrors - completed
Paddle Shifters - completed
Hide-a-Way strobes - more progress.. need to figure out control wiring.
Rear fog light - some progress.. will finish wiring when strobe wiring is run.
Two way radio - completed less the antenna.

[rkrenicki]

I did get the rear strobes wired up, and I just need some more connectors to finish extending the front strobe wiring to the trunk. I decided to install the strobe pack underneath the floor inside of the foam insert to try to cut down on the noise from the pack.
3506

I also received the shifter shroud and some other little bits of plastic trim that were either missing, broken, or scratched. The center console is essentially complete now.
3507

[rkrenicki]

My STI Catalog Shift Knob finally showed up after being backordered for almost 3 months.
3516

I also finished the strobe head wiring for the hideaways. I still need to rig up the power and control wires, but those should be somewhat easy.
3515

[rkrenicki]

I brought the Foz in to get the front windows tinted. That was the last "future item" on my mod list. I still have to finish up some of the other things on my modlist, but I have no more new things planned at this point.

I went with some 47% VLT Carbon tint, which combined with the factory glass coloration, brings me to about 38% VLT. It is a touch lighter than the 25% or so in the back windows, but I am quite happy with it. I am going to bring the Sambar to them next week to have the same tint applied.

3547

[rkrenicki]

A new mod! I came across this STI Flexible Strut Bar from a YA5 Exiga for a song. This particular part is also called for on the SH Forester. It is very much for RHD cars, as it passes directly over the brake reservoir on LHD models, preventing me from removing it.. but with the ball joint in the middle of the bar, it only takes removing 3 12mm nuts to move one half of the bar out of the way when needed. This is the earlier version with the Cherry Blossom Red hoops vs the current version with Silver hoops.

This is purely a bling item, but the price was so low, and I already had a bunch of other items coming from Japan.. it really did not cost me much at all beyond increasing the shipping cost of the package due to the length.

3882

Also since my last post, the transmission cooler hardline that runs up along the left side framerail decided to start leaking due to rust. I replaced the line along with all of the related hoses.

I also sourced some rear brakes for a 2010 Legacy GT to go with the pending front brake upgrade, but I have not yet installed them. Now that it is starting to get a little cooler out, I should be swapping all of the brakes here pretty soon.

[LosMan603]

Great thread and thanks for all the pictures too. I never remember to photograph anything lol.

Where are you sourcing your overseas parts? I have had good luck with rhdjapan (for aftermarket) and partsouq (for oem). I have heard that crooober is good as well, but I can't verify personally.

[rkrenicki]

As someone who buys a lot of parts overseas for my vehicles, especially now having a Japanese Kei Truck, I use a variety of vendors depending on what it is and who is cheaper:

Amazon Japan, JapanParts, and Amayama are my go-tos for new OEM and Dealer Catalog parts that are only available in Japan.
Partsouq (OEM) and Spareto (Aftermarket) for parts that are available in Europe.
Yahoo Auctions Japan via a buying proxy (such as Zenmarket or Tokyobuyers) for most used parts.

Occasionally I will use other vendors like Croooober (usually for wheels) or MKTJapan (another proxy service that is a bit more hands-on, but is more expensive)

[LosMan603]

As someone who buys a lot of parts overseas for my vehicles, especially now having a Japanese Kei Truck, I use a variety of vendors depending on what it is and who is cheaper:

Amazon Japan, JapanParts, and Amayama are my go-tos for new OEM and Dealer Catalog parts that are only available in Japan.
Partsouq (OEM) and Spareto (Aftermarket) for parts that are available in Europe.
Yahoo Auctions Japan via a buying proxy (such as Zenmarket or Tokyobuyers) for most used parts.

Occasionally I will use other vendors like Croooober (usually for wheels) or MKTJapan (another proxy service that is a bit more hands-on, but is more expensive)

Amazing info, thanks so much!

Have you enjoyed owning your Sambar? I have thought about replacing my old Silverado with a Kei truck, but I like the flexibility to be able to drive at highway speeds. Either way they are so cool!

[rkrenicki]

It has been great. Check out the thread in my signature for its story.

[rkrenicki]

Not a whole lot to report lately, the car is still going strong. I need to do a timing belt replacement soon, and install the big brake kit that I have on a shelf, but other than that it has just been some oil changes and whatnot.

In the meantime, I changed up my vanity plate.. I was never super in love with "The Foz", and people kept thinking it was a Happy Days reference.. Which would clearly be "The fonz".. but I digress..
3950

[rkrenicki]

Nothing too big to report lately. I ordered a timing belt kit, NGK plug wires and plugs, some Whiteline front LCAs (mostly because the rear bushing was toast, and the whole LCA was only marginally more expensive than the bushing on its own), and PowerStop finally had the rear calipers in stock that I wanted.. so I picked those up too.

Now I just need to find a good nice weather day to do the timing belt, front LCAs, and full brake replacement. I am rapidly approaching 150k miles, so I may need to move Sammie out of the garage so that I can do the timing belt, but that will require moving around a lot of other stuff in the garage too.

[rkrenicki]

I attempted to everything all at once this weekend.. Brakes, LCAs, front knuckles and wheel bearings.
4016

Turns out that at least the rear brakes have different banjo bolts. It seems that they are threaded with a finer pitch than the bolt that came on the Foz. I figured it was just a year difference, but it seems that according to the parts catalog, pretty much every forester has the same banjo bolts for every year. I am not sure what the issue is there, so I put the brakes on hold for the moment until I can figure that out. In the meantime, I did the LCAs and front knuckles since I figured there was no way I was going to get the bearings out of the original knuckles. I did also install the bigger backing plate in preparation for the bigger brakes.
4017

It felt pretty wrong to put the old rusty brakes back onto this, but it is only temporary.

[thenines']

Nice!

[Muse]

This is such a weird project. Outside, it pretty much looks like any other SF out there, but there are so many little details that you only notice after being told. Love it!

[rkrenicki]

Front brakes are finally in! I have a different set of rears on hand, but I need different hoses to actually install them.
4028

These things are massive. The old rotors were no slouches either, they were found on many of the 2000s WRXes, including the 4-pots.
4029

They look pretty good, even with my corroded winter wheels.
4030

[98legwag]

Nicely done. Those Power Stop calipers look like the same ones, well powdercoated and whatnot, that I put on my Miata.

[rkrenicki]

Nicely done. Those Power Stop calipers look like the same ones, well powdercoated and whatnot, that I put on my Miata.

Indeed, that is why I bought them, not because they were red, but because they seemed to have a high quality powder coat. I am pretty bummed that the PowerStop rears both had malformed threads, but at least I have some other coated calipers that will do the job.

[BD5_Legacy_RSb]

Any update?

[rkrenicki]

I did buy the required hoses for the rear, but it has been hot and humid and I have had no interest in finishing the swap. Once it starts to cool down a bit outside, I will slap them on. I also started to have an issue in the front suspension, I think either something is loose, or one of the bushings may have failed. I jacked it up and threw a wrench on a few things, but I really need to dig deeper into it.. but again.. hot and humid.

[rkrenicki]

The car has been getting up there in age, and it is starting to show. We have decided to upgrade to something much newer, but I have not yet decided on exactly what. In the meantime, I have started to de-modify this car to prep it for its eventual sale.

I have already removed the STI Shift Knob and Strut Brace, and I did a big swap of radios: Bought an upgrade to give Sammie some Wireless Carplay, Sammies radio went into the Forester, and the Forester radio along with its SiriusXM radio is going to end up in the wifes Legacy. The underseat sub also came out, and will likely be a spare for Sammie as I have the same unit in there too.

4083

The EDM rear tail light assembly has been replaced with a normal USDM light, and I may or may not put the original Halogen headlamps back in.. I have not yet decided if I want to pull everything apart for that.

I pulled out the old stock suspension from its hidey-hole, so the STI Pinks and Bilstein struts will come out next. I also will dig up the original rear swaybar too.

[rkrenicki]

I finished replacing the suspension (I forgot how much of a pain the rears are to replace), put the original headlights back in, pulled all of the wiring for the hideaway bulbs and headlight levelers, removed the Automatic Headlight/Wiper system, and the 3rd reverse light. I also remembered that I had a Diode Dynamics SmartTap, which seems to have skyrocketed in price as of late.. so I put the original back in for that as well.

We did decide last night to trade this car in instead of going through the exercise of selling it privately though.

[thenines']

How long before we know what new subie will be in your stable?:blob8:

[rkrenicki]

Once the paperwork is officially signed, sounds like Friday is most likely as there is a small dent on one of the doors that they are going to fix first and I negotiated in one of the vehicle options that will take them some time to order and install.

While doing the headlight removals, I also found that the upper tank on the Forester radiator has a very small crack and is starting to weep.. so it looks like my timing here was spot on.

[rkrenicki]

Today was overcast, but still a nice temperature before it is supposed to shoot up to 90+ degrees for the next few days. I took the opportunity to install the 2015+ STI 20mm rear swaybar and installed new endlinks at the same time. It took about 30 minutes start to finish, and it is an amazing upgrade for the car. It has significantly less roll and is far more planted in turns. The best $85 I have spent so far, hands down.

Here is the 16mm bar next to the 20mm bar, before I corrected the endlink connections.
3377

I just took this off today, the last mod to come off before the car goes away. I found the original swaybar with its endlinks in the back of my garage and figured it was a quick swap. Not sure what I will do with this one though.. it might fit on the Impreza?

[rkrenicki]

This car has served me well, but today was the day it was officially traded in. Good luck on your new adventures!