John Hall's 2007 specB - Daily turned Restoration (Respray, Engine Build, Air Ride, More!)

[BagRidersJohn]

I failed to mention in my last post that the JDM engine covers arrived and I think they add a nice aesthetic to the cluttered Subaru engine bay. 

 

I also pulled out my air management to give it a good cleaning. It got pretty dusty in there while I was doing all the body work!

I think I've mentioned it before... maybe not. I lined the whole floor pan with butyl which is what you're seeing in this photo.

 

This panel tucks nicely into the spare tire compartment. I kept this setup simple and functional with (2) 2.5 gallon air tanks and my favorite high speed Air Zenith OB2 compressor which fills up to 200PSI @ 100% duty cycle.. it's a beast! I kept the wiring tidy with a hub from Blue Sea which you can see on the upper left and added some functionality with an air tool port on the lower right. Of course this is all stuff we offer and recommend at Bag Riders The panel is secured to the factory tie down point for the spare tire where I put an M10 threaded post to help locate the board during installation.

Servicability is always a focus of mine when doing aftermarket stuff, so removing this thing is easy peasy. With the air springs deflated, I simply unplug the air lines, disconnect the height sensor connectors (lower right) and USB controller wire, ignition connector, and main power connector (lower left) and out she comes. For the main power/ground I do a home run to the battery and introduce a break at the panel using anderson connectors like this:

I think this management setup looks right at home, it fits nicely, and is a good mix of functionality and cleanliness. I'm happy with it! If there is one thing I might change, it is replacing the DOT air line connecting the two air tanks with some 3/8 aluminum tubing that I would brush to match the air tanks. 

[BagRidersJohn]

Little update!

I've been slowly putting miles on the engine and working with a local shop VEMS for the tuning. I went the Open Source route on this car so I'm data logging with RomRaider and flashing on new tunes with EcuFlash. The car is running well and that makes me happy!

Just the other day I swapped out my prototype suspension kit with the production version, which will be released in the coming weeks. I'm really happy with how this kit feels!

The following photos are in our R&D department at our headquarters in Williston VT including some stills from the upcoming release video

 

Hey look its me!

 

In that shot I'm holding the rear strut assembly. Here is a photo of the front kit assembly on our sweep. This kit features our "extra camber camber plates" made possible by our low volume USA made air springs that provide more clearance in the strut tower compared to other air spring designs.

 

While I was swapping out the suspension with the production version, I added a bit more negative camber up front to see how I liked the look of an aggressive wheel tuck when aired out, a bit more clearance to the fiberglass body kit at drive height. I quickly eyeballed an alignment it as it was getting late, and I'll match front to rear once I get the car on an the alignment rack. Toe is definitely out!

Bonus: You can see our shock dyno and damper rebuilding station in the back left

The next morning, I went out with some of our media team to shoot the car for the upcoming suspension kit launch media content. We chose one of the cool victorian buildings on the local college campus for a location shoot

Here are a few stills from the rough draft of the video Peter (our videographer) sent over to me following the shoot.

This shot particularly has me diggin the aggressive tucked fitment

And what good video doesn't have ROLLERS?! These came out absolutely awesome. We film rollers with a remote controlled suspension arm attached to our F150 - it is quite the seup, but I think its the safest way to shoot rollers.

I'll post the full video here once it drops... for now here's a teaser  

[BagRidersJohn]

Happy wednesday LGT fam!

The Bag Riders Super Low suspension kit dropped today for the BL/BP! It may not come as a surprise that my specB has been the development vehicle for this suspension kit.

Here is some of the media we created for supporting the launch day, starting with my favorite - video!

Some cameo shots of yours truly, some production, and some sweet sweet rollers for your viewing enjoyment!

 

 

And what media release is complete without some stills? Here's a few of my favorites.

Hope you enjoy!!

[BagRidersJohn]

Hi LGT fam! I have a small but important and satisfying update!

With nearly 500 miles on the block following the rebuild, it was time for a tune! I'm very proud that my first ever complete longblock build withstood the test of repeated dyno pulls.

I dropped my car off on Monday with Nick @ VEMS (a local ECU manufacturer and EFI tuning specialist) and asked for a conservative tune with respect to the capability of the parts on the car. When building this engine, despite opting for a forged bottom end and head studs, I chose to keep the stock turbo, TMIC and injectors. My reasoning for keeping those critical power-making parts OEM is that I intend to sell the car in the near future (really, any time), and therefore the next buyer (if they want more power) can use their choice of turbo/injectors/intercooler knowing that the bottom end and clutch (i.e., typical failure points) can take it.

So yeah, here's the dyno sheet. about 320wtq/260whp at 19 PSI on sport sharp. Other modes are 17 psi on sport, and 15 psi on intelligent. Love that SI Drive!

 

In case you want to buy this turn-key specB, please shoot me a message and I'd be happy to discuss. It is in outstanding condition with a boatload of new parts throughout. I am proud for it to bear my name. I have really enjoyed building this car over the past few years and I think this build thread does a good job demonstrating the amount of work, and quality of work that has gone into it. I get the most enjoyment out of the build process, and now that I feel like I've done all I wanted to do with this car, I'm ready to see it go to another person who will love and enjoy it. "Slide into the DMs"  if this person is you!

Thanks for reading!

[SoobyDoobyDoo]

Outstanding. Whoever buys this will have a very high quality built, one-of-a-kind LGT spec B. It’s kinda bittersweet to see this is gonna be sold but that’s just me-at this point it’s too hard for me to replace what I have lol (plus I have high expectations that usually exceed budget!). Im excited to see what’s next though. The quality and amount of attention to detail that went into this is phenomenal, it’s been a pleasure to read about.