Blue Suede Outback

[EnderDragoon]

Donjer, the company I got the flocking kit from color match their adhesive with the flocking material and it works out very well. I love my Subaru! Repainted hood coming soon.

[EnderDragoon]

I wasnt a fan at first but as it gets further along I am liking it more and more, great work! Only thing I would say is go with a different shifter boot.

I will be getting a redline shiftboot (http://www.redlinegoods.com/Legacy9599shiftboot.php) in black alcantara with blue stitching soon, the blue suede shift boot is a temporary placeholder for the worn out prior original boot.

[MonstarMotorsports]

love love love love it

[Huffer]

Nice work!

[EnderDragoon]

Finished repairing the upper edge of the door panels and repainted the hood. I know the color of the hood looks goofy with the black but I wanted to see what it would be like with the rally blue/yellow on an Outback. As you can see the hood was very sun faded, had millions of cracks and several dings down to the bare metal. At the least I needed to reseal the hood and 10$ of rattle cans goes a long ways.

Damage to the top edge:



Using a razor I cut a clean line back far enough to remove the damaged vinyl:


Using a razor, scotch pads and alcohol I removed the remainder of the foam padding and any residual oil/dirt as well as removed the window seal strip (~8 tabs to bend and one rivet pulls out with pliers). Surface prep is everything!


Foam padding acquired from Jo'Annes. I was told the material is typically used for padding inside quilts and can be "ironed on" to other materials. I forget what the material is called but it is very closely the same thickness as the vinyl. 1/2 yard was about $6. Trimmed to size and bonded with 3M Super 77 spray adhesive.




Suede with a red stitching hem line (my first time sewing with a sewing machine). Again, bonded with 3M 77. The wrinkles at the forward edge will be covered by the tweeter speaker triangle cover.



Night came before I could get finished shots in daylight, which I'll post tomorrow.

[EnderDragoon]

The hood you can see before, wip, and after shots here. Wet sanded with 220 grit, Primed 2 coats, 4 coats blue/yellow, single clear coat, wet sanded with 1000 grit, 2 clear coats. As I said before, this is experimental, not the finished product, but you can't go wrong with gaining the experience, I'm happy with the results for rattlecans:

[r3v_v3ng3]

Not bad. You should invest on a spray gun or just buy the cheap ass harbor freight hvlp paint gun. It will save you money/labor/time. Grab a masking paper and practice spraying on it. Besides its a solid color and theres really not much technique required, unlike shooting metallics/pearl and custom colors.

[grayguy]

Now that you've had the flocked dash for a while, how hard is it to keep clean? I've thought of flocking mine before but I was always concerned it would collect dust/dirt like mad

[EnderDragoon]

Now that you've had the flocked dash for a while, how hard is it to keep clean? I've thought of flocking mine before but I was always concerned it would collect dust/dirt like mad

Actually hair is the only issue with keeping the flocking clean. I haven't really exposed it directly to dirt but after 2 weeks of it being in the car it looks new as ever. I regularly drive down dirt roads and get dust in the car but I haven't noticed any accumulation yet. I think I'll have to get a very soft bristle attachment for a shop vacuum to help get the hairs off of it though. It's not bad, but we have 2 dogs that ride in the back (hence why I got the cargo divider) and the white hairs make their way up there. It's about as bad as any fabric in a car with dogs, it gets on the suede too.

[EnderDragoon]

Not bad. You should invest on a spray gun or just buy the cheap ass harbor freight hvlp paint gun. It will save you money/labor/time. Grab a masking paper and practice spraying on it. Besides its a solid color and theres really not much technique required, unlike shooting metallics/pearl and custom colors.

I actually work at a helicopter maintenance facility and have access to tools like professional spaying equipment but I didn't want to invest in serious paint if I was just going to be repainting it later this year. Granted this doesn't take much skill for anyone with significant experience with painting but this was my first time painting a large area with rattlecans and for me it was an adventure and I learned a lot.

[EnderDragoon]

I promised to share final shots of the repaired door panel, also some general pictures of the overall interior.

[EnderDragoon]

Small progress update. She's driving great, about to hit 220,000 miles. I love the blue hood, but she's due for a wash. I recently installed LED interior dome lights from http://www.v-leds.com and they work GREAT. For only 18$ for all 3 overhead lights this may be the best bang for buck I've spent so far on this project. Some small things to be installed over the next few days:





It's hard to see but there are Rally Armor yellow decals to add and the classic RA keychain. The next big piece fell into my lap a little earlier than I was expecting. As I plan to do a EJ257 swap and repaint the whole car professionally I will need an in-between daily driver while she is in pieces. So I picked this up for $500 last week. 97 Impreza 2.2 that drives great. More pictures of the newest member to our family soon.





I also need some feedback on the design concept I'm working towards. I'm planning on 1 or 2 light bars as rally/fog lights, one on roof rack and one on front bumper (http://www.v-leds.com/Universal-LED/...82501-3-1.html). Along with 4x area lights for the perimeter (http://www.v-leds.com/Universal-LED/...76647-3-1.html). You can see a concept of the lighting and a custom hood I intend to build down the road (functional, not just show):

[Graver]

The lightbar sounds awesome in theory. The more this car progresses the more I love it

[EnderDragoon]

Trying to decide which way to go with her so I need a little feedback. Soon she will be torn down to nothing for a complete repainting/restoration and during this process I would like to swap in a new powerplant. She's going to be heavier and I don't believe the ej25, with 230k miles, is up to the task. Problem is I love NA. I have an 04 WRX and don't get me wrong I love the power, but I hate the lag. All in I would appreciate what the expected cost and practicality of a few different ideas is:

Rebuild the ej25 with higher compression heads, racing flywheel/crank/pistons/connecting rods/cam and get the most out of the 2.5 while keeping her NA.
OR
Find a totaled STI and swap in the powerplant/wiring harness/drivetrain/transmission/suspension
OR
EZ30/EZ36/EG33 swap.

The last option is likely the most labor intensive, which I don't mind, so long as it's doable. I've read around and found some have the EG33 swap completed with great results but it is heavier and more difficult to fit into the engine bay. The EZ36 would be a dream swap for me. Power, torque, NA. I have read that some have attempted this swap and have had issues working around the immobilizer and limp home functions as well as no ecu capable of running the AVCS. Have any aftermarket ECUs finally been able to capture this function? Would swapping in the harness from a 3.6r outback be possible to retain the AVCS? I also don't know how I feel about drive by wire throttle as I prefer the direct response and control of a cable. I would love to build a chopped down and simplified EZ36 that retains the AVCS, perhaps with a manual control of its cam position.

Ideas?

[grayguy]

I'd go Boosted EZ30. Easier to fit than the other two h6's, and since it's smaller you'll have more room for a pair of td04's that will spool instantly and you'll forget what lag is.

[ShootJoeC]

Interior looks great dude! I had never really given much thought to how I was going to make my dash not look like shit, but this may be the answer!