[clsmooth]

(How he looked before I bought him...)

UPDATED MOD LIST:

Outside
Frog license plate frames
JDM logo/green galaxy front/rear emblem overlays
OEM hood deflector
Autolumination white LED front parking lights
Paint-matched front/rear washer nozzles
Green anodized valve caps
Green logo centre caps
Green calipers
OEM wheel locks
Paint-matched driver's door lock cylinder
Silver pin stripping
OEM roof rack
Autolumination green LED license plate lights
Blacked-out rear diff cover
OEM rear bumper cover
Curt 1.25" trailer hitch w/ green OEM embossed cap/cover
Blacked-out muffler
Chrome exhaust tip

Inside
DIY green intake pipe w/ cone filter
NGK spark plugs & wires
6 AWG engine grounds
K&N valve cover vents
Vibrant secondary O2 spacer
OEM magnetic oil drain plug
Castrol GTX
Engine undertray & front 'mudflap' delete
Engine bay/hood rear seal delete
Green engine bits
Camo silicone keyless remote case
OEM carpet & rubber floor mats
Passive arming disabled
Auto A/C defrost delete
JDM logo/green galaxy steering wheel emblem overlay
Green pin-stripped steering wheel channel
Clarion NX602 head unit w/ video-handbrake bypass
Autolumination green LED dome lights
Redline drivetrain fluids
OEM cargo cover
OEM trunk liner

 

[clsmooth]

Although I'm new to the forum, I'm not new to Subaru's. I've had an Impreza for the past 11 years now, but she's getting louder, stiffer and turning too much into a project car.

I've been shopping around for a good deal for a daily driver/road trip car and came across this guy!

My g/f just bought a new car from a dealership and I mentioned in passing to the salesman that I'm looking for a 2nd car. Few weeks later this came in on a trade:

2006 Green/Silver L.L. Bean Edition, 5-speed, 149 500 kms. No service history but only 1 previous owner. As it was at a dealership, a full point inspection and check was done and all it needed was a pair of front rotors. Took ownership last Saturday, went to the parts store and rotors were changed that night. While I was at it, painted all the calipers green! Never had a green car before, so It's a nice change working with a different and funky colour.

Sunday I did a full detail on the inside. The previous owners had a kid, so the rear, passenger-side of the bench seat & area needed the most scrubbing. Managed to get the sitting-for-a-while smell out too.

Here's a link to my Impreza that I'll be taking off the road. I may take her for a spin the odd weekend, but the long term plan is an eventual resto-mod:

http://www.rs25.com/forums/f145/t60844-vicky-clsmooths-00-brp-rs-coupe.html

 

[clsmooth]

The personalization has begun! Since some of the wheels were coming off to change the rotors, painted the calipers green...

 

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Had an extra pair of white LED's, so popped them into the parking lights in the headlights...

 

[clsmooth]

Some parts came in at the dealership today.

Replace the turn signal in my driver's mirror. It was orange on the inside when I bought it; looks like the LED's all popped on the inside. Parts guy said he never saw that before. It was a tight squeeze getting in there but managed not to break anything.



It's also official a Bean! In the records I was given the previous owners got rear-ended while they had their bike rack on. Nothing structural, but new hatch & glass, tail lights and bumper. The previous owners or the body shop either forgot to order, or didn't want to wait, for a new L.L. Bean badge...

 

[clsmooth]

Found an extra slip-on exhaust tip I had kicking around...

 

[clsmooth]

Another part came in!

 

[clsmooth]

Some more green came in today...


Changing these ones were more of a pain in the *** then they really should've been...

Not exactly kosher around these parts, but you gotta have something anti-establishment about yourself :rock: and this is my outlet. Did the same on my Impreza with blue ones...

Also installed my green, JDM Forester logo/galaxy background emblem overlays for front, back and steering wheel...

 

[clsmooth]

A bloody thumb and 3 hours later, the longest stereo installation I've ever tackled is done. It was not easy in this Forester...

But, he now has navigation, hands-free calling, iPhone connection and video playback by way of a Clarion NX602!



I went with this head unit, despite being a bit older now, as it's the same one that I have in my Impreza. I bought it new for that car, it does everything I need it to do and I'm already completely familiar with it; I don't have to learn another deck. I managed to find one of the last few new ones still left. I think I got the colour matched pretty well...



What added to the time and difficulty is that I also pre-wired it for a back up camera and subwoofer down the road. He's now starting to feel a lot more like 'my car'...

 

[clsmooth]

My frog-themed plate frames came in today!

 

[clsmooth]

Ready for my first oil change...

 

[clsmooth]

One of the first pieces of green finally showed up today...

 

[clsmooth]

Touched up the centre caps by painting the logo within them green...



And one thing I noticed shortly after I brought him home the first time, was that only the driver's door had a lock cylinder in it for the key. I understand why it needs to be there, but don't understand Subaru's decision regarding its placement. Seems out of place to me and is kind of a target to other saying 'It's over here'. Should've been integrated into the door handle. I had a light-bulb moment walking around the car and decided to colour-match it with the touch up paint I picked up! Looks a little less obvious to me...



My g/f also surprised me with a good luck charm as well to hang from the mirror

 

[PaulXRevere]

Username is on point. Good looks.

 

[clsmooth]

The insurance expired on my Impreza over the weekend. Moved her into storage. This is probably the only pic of the 2 together for a while...

 

[clsmooth]

Had another light-bulb moment to get a bit more green in the interior; pin-stripped the channel in the steering wheel...

 

[clsmooth]

Did my own tune-up today as I'm not sure when anything was done last.

- Castrol GTX with OEM filter
- NGK spark plugs & wires
- OEM rad cap, PCV and magnetic drain plug (these were cheapest straight from the dealership :icon_confused: )
- 6 awg cable for engine grounds



It was a good thing I did this cause I'm quite confident the plugs and wires were original and had never been changed when I went to remove them. I drained the oil while I did everything else before I filled it back up, which was good cause when I went to empty the drain pan the oil was kinda sludgy, so no idea how long it wasn't changed for, at least a year. Had to get the airbox out of the way to change the right side plugs, and the air filter's OK; which is good as I eventually want to find a used short ram intake or build my own.

Before I started on anything though, I painted the belt covers so they'd be dry by the time I'm done. Green, of course. Though only one shade of green to choose from off the shelf for engine paint...


I also went out of my way to paint some stuff silver under the hood that needed to be silver, like the vacuum, 'balancer'? Looks more integrated with the intake manifold now. I also went out of my way to paint some stuff black that needed to be black, like the annoyingly white PCV, 'sensor'? that goes to the intake. I think the subtlety of doing these really cleans up the look.

I also did an 'upgrade' that my Impreza really liked which was bigger engine ground cables. Found 6 gauge ones at Walmart :tongue: . They're cheap, Michael Schumacher's brand (made quite well actually) and already has the connectors pre-crimped on them. Replaced the spindly OEM ones at the factory locations.

The end result...


I'm looking forward to getting some gas mileage back now...

 

[clsmooth]

Yesterday as part of the tune up, I also changed the transmission and diff fluids. They were 'OK' when first looked at but still wanted to the change anyway cause I don't know if/when they were last done. I went with Redline MTL and 75W90. I happened to find the 'special' version of the diff fluid made specifically for Subaru! A bit overkill for a daily driver/this setup, but I've put this in my 2 previous cars to this one and love the stuff! Shifting has gotten noticeably a bit smoother...

 

[clsmooth]

Finally got a chance to wash him for the first time this past weekend too. Huh, so that's what he looks like clean...

 

[clsmooth]

Painted a few more engine bits green...





It's a good thing I did some of these cause it turns out the battery was loose this entire time! I'm starting to think the "inspection" that was done at the dealer wasn't the most thorough...