I agree, would be happy going either way. Would also personally use Richard at FB to fit everything but he can't unfortunately map either Syvecs or EcuTek. If he could hap either of those my car would already be done I'm sure. But if I want Rich to fit everything I'll then have to get the car trailered somewhere else to map in the injectors and fuel system before I can start it and drive it. So can't just drive it from Rich's place to another ECU mapper. It's a pain really.

The car runs really well on the current suspension to be honest but I had always planned to go down the MeisterR route again with this car and really want to fit the GT1 coilovers, but they have gone massively up in price since I last looked. Will probably do 22mm rear adjustable ARB and solid drop links front and rear again like I did on the Foz. Already have the Whiteline rear subframe bush kit fitted to the car so that should be enough once I've done those bits. That will have to happen after the engine upgrades though.

 

YESSSSSS!!!!

I’ve been patiently awaiting the update of this thread

Looking good

 

haha. Thanks mate. Have missed working on it but have been enjoying using it daily.

Last caliper now fully painted. Just need to cure the final lacquer layer now.



Mmmmmmmm..... AS Performance billet flywheel..... mmmm



Also forgot to take any pictures after fitting the Cusco brake cylinder stopper. Done.



Cheers!

 

So I got stuck in Saturday and got the car put back together.

Started with a little job that had always annoyed me. The under bonnet insulation had become discoloured and dirty with age, so I took it off and gave it a good clean. It'll do for now.



Then annoyingly when I took the rear discs off using screw to extract them after slackening the handbrake etc the drivers side still bound up on the old disc and caused damage. One of the handbrake shoes lost some of it's friction material which was annoying, but more annoyingly still was one of the spring retaining pins sheared the 2 tiny tabs off the end. Now at 12pm on Saturday as you can imagine there was no hope of getting either of these or getting the car done, so was a little bit annoyed with myself.

Brake show damage.



So I got my hammers and vice out and forged a new retaining pin myself out of a new nail. I hammered it flat at the end and then shaped it with a grinder. Pic below is half finished, didn't take a pic of the completed pin unfortunately. But pleased to say it was absolutely perfect and fitted amazingly well. It's far stronger than the original pin too.



Fitted.



This enabled me to get all the brakes back on, the new braided lines fitted and the whole system bled up with new dot 5.1 motul fluid.

Few pics below of the job completed.











It's great to have the car back on the road and I had forgotten just how much fun it is to drive this thing. Now carefully bedding all the brakes in, but I'm really pleased with how it feels now. Very positive pedal already.

Unfortunately nobody locally had a set of rear handbrake shoes on Saturday so I couldn't fit new ones at the time. I rang everywhere but thankfully I know the owner of our local Subaru dealership very well and he called me back Saturday afternoon, even although they are currently closed due to COVID-19 he has sourced me a set of new rear shoes which I will pick up tomorrow. So this weekend I'll get the back stripped back down and the new shoes fitted. Phew.

Cheers!

 

looking great buddy, which wheel nuts do you have?

bet your chomping at the bit to get the bigger turbo on

 

haha. Yes I am. I had aluminium lightweight STI nuts on the car when I got it but didn't like them. I have always preferred the steel tuner type internal drive nuts. They are the same as these:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Petrol-Tu...YAAOSwIgNXvwOr

Yep, hopefully front bumper mods, FMIC fitting test, CAI mock up etc next weekend.

 

Great improvisation.......but those calipers really belong on a yellow car, methinks! I can help with that.

 

haha. They'd look good on your car to be fair bud.

 

It's a definite no go on the oven!!

 

Haha. Man up like I did and tell her once it's too late and the whole house already stinks of paint.

 

ordered a Perrin 6 speed quick shift adaptor a couple of weeks ago from Kev @ Scoobyclinic which arrived this morning. He had no stock so this had to come from the US. Not bad turn around considering how slow things are at the moment.



Managed to put 3 whole miles on the car since I fitted the new brakes. lol.

Am now in discussions with someone with regards to purchasing their ProR Alcon monoblock 6 pot calipers and 365mm discs and bells, adaptor brackets etc for my car. The discs are worn out so will need new floating discs and pads which I know for those are MEGA expensive!

Also re-started discussions with Edwin @ MeisterR this morning as they announced that they will be putting up their prices again soon. Always wanted to put MeisterR coilovers on this car eventually as they were so impressive on the FSTI. Will see.

 

I'll be interested in the shift bushing and how it feels, as I'll probably be updating mine. I thought the Alcons didn't have dust seals like the AP'S?

 

I fitted one of the Perrin short shifter adaptors to the FSTI and it was really good. Made a big improvement. Travel was just right. The only issue with the Perrin kit is that it makes the shifter ever so slightly longer and higher, which actually felt fine in use. My FSTI needed all the bushes changing as everything was worn and sloppy, but the MY15 feels fine as it is so the adaptor on it's own should be fine.

I've never heard anything negative about the Alcons to be honest. I believe they have a pressure seal and wiper seal which will keep dust out of the pistons.

 

the Alcon 6pot monoblock competition caliper only has fluid seals whilst the road style Pro-R kit uses a similar looking body but with steel pistons and dust seals.........

to be fair we have used loads of the pukka monoblocks in our conversion kits with no issue as they are superior in all other respects

 

Check out the pistons on the Alcon calipers as they have issues with them rusting , I'm at a loss why they don't fit stainless pistons in them , we have seen calipers a couple of years old needing replacements.
We make stainless pistons for all the Alcons , and sell loads of them , not just for the Pro R kits , but for the factory fitted calipers on the FQ400 , Jags , 888 Astra's , and lately the Peugeot 308 GTi , they all have this issue

 

These may well be the road version then as they were a dealer option for the guy that has offered them to me. That's good advice thanks mate, didn't realise there were two options.

Thanks for the info Ian. I'll make sure I get some good pictures but probably won't tell what condition they are in until I have them in hand and can pop the pistons out for a check. Either way that sounds expensive. eek. Madness why they didn't fit stainless pistons in such a high end product with marginal cost difference in materials.

 

the pukka comp ones have a light alloy piston, far better

 

loads cheaper in the long run to buy some decent AP ones lol ,,, I got offered the same set of alcons but said no when I found out the discs and pads are shot as they are silly money to replace ,,, and ap are better in my view anyway lol

 

Agree with this 100 percent
I turned down alcons brand new and went with the aps
didnt want to be ****ing around with them after a few years

 

The guy offered me the Alcons for £1200 in the end. I had first choice on them and he hadn't given me a price until that point. He's absolutely mad and I told him that in no uncertain terms. Realistically I'd want to rebuild them with stainless spots, new seals, discs and pads. So for that money I'd only be buying the castings, mounting brackets a 4 bolts I could re-use, maybe the bells too. So for £1200 he's so far off it's not even funny. I told him that and he dropped his price to £1000. LOL. Bargain! Needless to say I won't be buying the Alcons.

As you boys say I can get a brand new AP setup for far less in the long run.

Thanks for the advice Ian and Alyn. You saved me a lot of hassle.

 

And plus you just painted your current calipers & bought new discs & pads

 

haha. Yes, my new setup has now covered 3 miles total.

 

At least bed them in properly before you upgrade them

 

For £1200 BN europe are selling a pair of brand new pro R alcons, but then you have to buy discs and pads still

 

Yeh I saw those. That's one of the links the guy who was trying to sell me his second have kit sent me to justify his price. To be honest everything on the BN Europe eBay store page is massively inflated price wise. Mostly unrealistic throughout.

 

isnt the guy who runs that a member on here?

 

Ross Sport prices
Cost of 365mm complete kit
https://www.rosssport.com/Brands/ALC...CF97ZG02-22F7F

cost of caliper same price for LH/RH
https://www.rosssport.com/Brands/ALC...AR9751ZG56HRRT

 

Thanks for the links Don, much appreciated. I have decided to skip the Alcons and put that idea to bed finally. I may well upgrade the whole front setup in the future and will look around again then, possibly at an AP setup. Thanks.

 

What paint and color did you use BPR if you don't mind me asking

 

Hi bud, I used the VHT caliper specific high temperature paint in their bright yellow colour.

This primer:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VHT-FLAT-...53.m2749.l2649

This yellow top coat:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VHT-SP738...53.m2749.l2649

This lacquer:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VHT-CLEAR...53.m2749.l2649

I used 1 primer, 2 base and 2 lacquer to cover all 4 calipers.