Timothy.B's - 2011 3.6R Limited - Build Thread

[IcEWoLF]

Removed the plastidip and wrapped with gloss black vinyl. Can hardly tell that it's not factory color painted.

 

 

 

Amen to vinyl! That’s what I have on my car (you can see the grille vinyl wrappedon the edges on my profile)

Overall vinyl is way better, lasts longer than plastidip, and a lot cleaner.

[Scubaboo]

Yeah that is looking good, I'm kinda digging it more than flat black lately.

 

Timothy, did you do your window chrome trim too? Thinking of dipping or wrapping and going all murdered out.

[Timothy.B]

Yeah, the dip just faded, chipped and turned grey after a few months. I didn't do the windows. I'm unsure how I want to do those. I was thinking a flat black to go with the front lip. I'm gonna get some kind of side skirt and those will be flat black as well. It seems they're kind of a pain to do so I haven't done it yet.

 

The Anzo's, whenever I pull them apart I'll do carbon fiber vinyl over the chrome piece up top. Maybe a silver or something for the chrome around the lowbeam. I plan on changing out the projector lense with clear ones.

 

There's a guy on the Facebook group, Ken Brennan, that does custom emblems. I want to get some carbon fiber ones. It'll also light up. Something like this:

 

http://nyomi.arith.com.au/parts/Badge_K2Gear-01.jpg

 

I'm gonna start saving towards the exhaust soon. It'll probably be fall or spring time. I kinda want that done before I start getting into appearance stuff. I have a crazy idea for the front grill. Might get a used one off eBay to work with.

[Scubaboo]

IMO you can go flat or gloss on the window trim, just match the chin to the skirts.

 

I've been wondering if you can flip the light tubes in the Anzios sideways? Maybe delete the inner one?

[Timothy.B]

IMO you can go flat or gloss on the window trim, just match the chin to the skirts.

 

I've been wondering if you can flip the light tubes in the Anzios sideways? Maybe delete the inner one?

 

I'd have to look better but I'm pretty sure the light bars are somewhat built into the housing. You can remove the inner but then you'll have a empty U shape in the housing.

[Chillwill007]

Love the build so far. I'm new to the 3.6r with a 2010 limited. Your build is basically how I want to go with mine so very inspiring seeing a none turbo legacy getting g modded properly. Will be tagging along

[Timothy.B]

Thanks! Suspension still isn't on yet. I took the house work outside and have been landscaping. I did get the CKE rear bushings in and they did noticeably help with the rear end handling. It doesn't seem to be easily moved around by crosswinds on the highway anymore.

 

With the PCV valve change, my oil consumption has seemed to have dropped almost entirely. I couldn't believe it. With Motul 300V full synthetic, I had zero loss at 900 miles. I'm happy to know that I'm not in need of a shortblock replacement.

 

Went to a local Cars and Coffee recently and a fellow Legacy owner took some pics for me. They turned out great.

 

[dgoodhue]

Your car will be planted on the highway with upgraded suspension. No more highway wondering.

 

I looked at your parts to be installed picture and it looks like you have the KYB strut dust covers. They suck, reuse the OEM ones. I had drill the front bump stops get them to work for my 2.5i and they really didn’t work that well. If your build the strut assemblies off the car buy oem ones. The KYB boots to me seem like universal dust covers that one could modify to fit a Legacy.

[Timothy.B]

Your car will be planted on the highway with upgraded suspension. No more highway wondering.

 

I looked at your parts to be installed picture and it looks like you have the KYB strut dust covers. They suck, reuse the OEM ones. I had drill the front bump stops get them to work for my 2.5i and they really didn’t work that well. If your build the strut assemblies off the car buy oem ones. The KYB boots to me seem like universal dust covers that one could modify to fit a Legacy.

 

Yeah I can't wait. And yeah I got the KYB ones. Issue is I planned on building these before installing them to save a bunch of time. Or I could get some OEM ones. I know for the Eibachs I'm gonna have to cut down the bump stops. Thanks for the tips.

[Nate98gle]

Throw any codes with the aftermarket headlights? Those are sick!

[Timothy.B]

No, they're plug in play. I like them overall but I want to bake them apart, cover the top chrome triangle with carbon fiber and do some kind of hyper silver for around the low beam projector. Also want to swap out the projectors.

[Nate98gle]

Just hate removing the front bumper everytime

[Timothy.B]

Yeah and my front bumper doesn't fit correctly anymore near the headlight from removing it twice already. I would recommend doing everything at once. Like HID install, headlight swap. Anything else that involves removing it.

[Golferdude1087]

Yeah I can't wait. And yeah I got the KYB ones. Issue is I planned on building these before installing them to save a bunch of time. Or I could get some OEM ones. I know for the Eibachs I'm gonna have to cut down the bump stops. Thanks for the tips.

Quit procrastinating and put them in

 

Sent from my VS996 using Tapatalk

[Timothy.B]

I began work on the Koni's today. Drilled the holes out and drained the oil out of them. Didn't get time to start cutting the sleeve yet. Already drilled out the rear top hats.

 

Still happy to see the oil consumption is normal now. Lost about 3/4 qt in 3500 miles. Much much happier.

 

I also deleted the EGR valve finally. Perscitus was right. I did notice a slight bump in torque. Could be in my head but feels like the throttle got a tad touchier. Also helped cut down on that awful groaning sound the car was making because for some reason it was leaking around the EGR (again). I still believe I have an exhaust leak developing. Just a matter of time that the whole exhaust comes off, either by rust or by purpose for custom

 

Home has cost me much of my car work time. I recently bought a polisher and removed a good amount of the scratches she's gotten over the years. I need a vacation week.

[Timothy.B]

Mini update: Bought myself some more tools. Porter Cable cordless impact.

 

 

Uses the batteries I've got for my drill and impact drill. Also bought a Porter Cable grinder, for...you guessed it. Cut a strut.

 

 

They're all painted and gonna work on assembly tomorrow. Trying to get these in before my vacation ends this week. I've got some front porch steps to build too to make the gf happy so can't put all my break time into the car.

 

I also have some vinyl I'm gonna use for the chrome window trim and the roof rack.

 

 

Off topic but I polished up her Golf. I love this plucky thing. It's not the quickest but it does ride nice. Seats have some bolster but are comfortable. I can see why Golf is a highly rated commuter car. She wants to get tint and so do I so it's a mutual agreement that it's okay to splurge a bit on some nice tint

 

 

Whoever the previous owner was, shame on them

 

 

 

She's getting her some winter tires in a few months and gonna get some 17 or 18's for the summer time.

 

I haven't brought it up yet but tax return time I want to be for getting the exhaust on the car finally. I think it's time. She needs some more power after Koni's. I spoke to Alpha Motorworks, somewhat local performance shop and they said for the price to go with the Raptor headers. Custom will probably cost twice the amount for negligible gains. They design a lot of high dollar car exhausts so I feel they'd do a good job on the Leggy.

 

https://www.facebook.com/alphamotorworks/

[Scubaboo]

^good work on the Golf, thanks for posting that!

 

Gives me hope that the scratched up parts of my Subaru (which look like that) can be cleaned up a bit.

[Timothy.B]

^good work on the Golf, thanks for posting that!

 

Gives me hope that the scratched up parts of my Subaru (which look like that) can be cleaned up a bit.

 

It's a lot of work, no lie. My Subaru seemed to clean up easier than her Golf though.

 

First you gotta use a car soap that'll strip any existing waxes or sealants, then use a clay bar (I just used the car soap for lubrication) and clay bar the entire car.

 

Have a collection of at least 30 microfiber towels. No joke. After washing, drying, compounding, polishing, sealant, waxing, they're all gone.

 

After that I gave it a good rinse down and dried it down, make sure you get all the nooks and crannies.

 

I used a Harbor Freight DA. I don't think you guys have them there. It's like a cheap auto parts store It works for the most part. I'd like to get a nice Rupes one day.

 

I would assess the entire car, see where the worse spots are and go accordingly. Panel Wipe or some kind of IPA spray to remove any contamination while polishing. I also use this after a pass or two to remove any polishing compound.

 

I used a Lake Country orange cutting pad for the medium rough spots and went to a Meguiars cutting pad for any deeper scratches. If it didn't come out after a few passes I gave up because I didn't want to tear through the clear coat. It's good to have a paint depth gauge for this because you can wet sand any severe spots.

 

Then you just move back aggressiveness. I haven't tried it yet but they have ultra soft blue pads. I use the black foam polishing pads from Lake Country and I think I might get a even nicer finish with the soft blue. But it doesn't look bad by any means.

 

It's important to have a good 7 pads for one car. Use one for the hood and bumper. One for the front quarter panel and front door and one for the rear quarter panel and rear door, pad for each side. That's 5 there, then one for the roof and one for the trunk and bumper.

 

Afterwards you use a good sealant and/or wax. I use Ammo products because they work well together. Hydrate you use when drying your car, leaves a layer of shine after drying and the paint looks great. The Ammo Mud for tires and trim works excellent too.

[Scubaboo]

Thanks for going into detail on that, lots of good info and practical tips!

 

I'm kinda scared to go at it because I might end up burning through the clear coat lol!

 

Since over here there are guys with a lot of experience and with the proper tools (including thickness gauges) that will correct and ceramic coat for around $250 (that is 2-3 days' work for them, advantages of cheap labor rates lol), I am looking to just let a pro do it.

 

But I want to understand the work that goes into it so I can vet potential candidates, I will be looking out for all of that.

[Timothy.B]

I don't blame you and for that price I'd say have them do it. This probably took me a good 12 hours total I'm sure from start to finish. But now I just maintain it and maybe in two years I just have to go over it really light to refine it.

 

If your bumper is in really good condition, and you have insects that will frequently build up on it, I highly suggest clear bra. I wish I would have done this after I got my car.

[Scubaboo]

Yeah next cars I get I will definitely look into films for the front. Not for the Legacy now, front bumper and diffuser has quite a few stone marks when I got it. Maybe after I get it fixed.

 

I had gotten so used to SUVs that are high enough to avoid road crap, they were easy to maintain with washes and waxing. Just got back to cars again with the Legacy and after a few out of town trips the diffuser is looking a bit sorry.

[Timothy.B]

Wrapped chrome around the windows:

 

 

I actually took them off, using Rutchard's guide. I would recommend this because I was able to wrap around the edges and the window seal holds up against the vinyl so it doesn't peel away. Only suggestion I can give anyone is use a thinner flat black vinyl than VViVid because it didn't show as much definition on the bottom pieces as I would have liked (didn't seem to want to seal into the grooves very well spite cleaning and using IPA before vinyling them)

 

Also got an estimate on painting the cmod grill. Looks to be about $85 they said. I find this perfectly acceptable because buying everything to do it myself will cost more than this.

 

Suspension would be on by now but I was sent the wrong tophats, ordered the correct ones. Also Rock Auto sent me some weird (insert creative word here) bump stops and dust covers so I just ordered OEM both for front and rear. Should have done that in the first place.

 

 

Sanded them up and painted them with some black Rustoleum. Couldn't find any bus yellow in that brand and I have had enough bad experience with cheap paint to bother using anything else.

[GTEASER]

Duplicolor makes School Bus Yellow. Mine is still holding up great after 5 years.

[Falcor]

Duplicolor makes School Bus Yellow. Mine is still holding up great after 5 years.

 

It should hold up forever on a CA garage queen.

[GTEASER]

It should hold up forever on a CA garage queen. [emoji38]

Okay, 36k sunny, warm, dry miles.