ThatGuyThere

Its easily done, plus the new price you are asking is much better and if it wasnt for the tips I would have purchased it as its a super quality exhaust.  GLWTS
 
In all honesty I was disappointed with the Borla UEL in terms of the sound difference, I thought it would be more dramatic, however thats easily sorted.  To hear the rumble that UEL puts out, I decided to go for an Invidia N1 catback exhaust, which I collected from a nice guy on the GT86 parts facebook page.  Really helpful and the exhaust is in great condition.  Only gripe with it is someone has taken what looks like wire wool or sand paper to the tips to give them a brushed look which didnt come on the N1.  That should be an easy fix and for the price I paid, I cant complain.  I have some polishing discs on the way to get the entire thing looking like new in no time and from what I read online should restore the polished finish on the 4" tips.  While collecting the exhaust I noticed a tuning developments decat front pipe 30 mins away so I decide to collect that while I was there, gives me the choice to fit to my requirements if needed as that was a decent price too.  
Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr
Here you can see the sort of brush finish on the tips vs the rest of the tail pipe:
by James Baker, on Flickr
Also my amp and wiring kit arrived this week, I've got to find some time to fit that too.  According to JL Audio, I managed to get one of the first JD amps in the UK which is nice:
Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr
I went for 100% the oxygen-free copper (OFC) wiring kit this time, heard good things and didn't cost much more:
Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr
Clocking up the miles in this now, finding every excuse to drive it at the moment, gone through 2 tanks of petrol in the last few weeks, more than I think I've use in the past 4 months.
Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr

Yeah I over-priced it I realised (now, a year later) but fair enough on the tips!

How about something similar but a little more unique? I still have this sat in the garage because I haven't gotten around to bumping the thread:
 

I can highly recommend the focal kit to replace the front speakers. Get some sound deadening material to put in the doors while you're in there. Made a huge difference in mine, and I then just adjusted the stereo to front speakers only. With the subwoofer, it'll be perfect.

Buy this one - then you don't need to spend thousands making your purchase better:
 
That option aside, it's hard for anyone but you to know if you want to spend an extra £5000 or not. Is there anything wrong with a GT86 on 50k mileage? No, not at all. Accident damage is easy to spot, and the clutch is unlikely to be worn and even it it was, it's not as though you wouldn't have the money to replace it.
Be sensible, spend less.
Or avoid all risk, and spend more.
Either way, try not to over-think it and just go!

God damn, you're due some good luck! Glad some prgress is being made. Enjoy the updates.

Apologies for the long absence! Been a funny old year personally, meaning the car has been put on the back burner slightly... 
Now back in action with lots of things happening, so I'll try and get as much of an update in this post as I can remember! 
First and foremost, I finally got the newly built engine back from Rogue Motorsport after MANY issues with parts 🙄 Matt, Patrick and the team have been amazing! This project has tested the limits of their patience, yet they've still gone above and beyond to deliver the end product. 
It was then back to Carson Performance to put it all back together, using the existing parts that it was fitted with last time. Piece of cake, right? 
WRONG! Even the engine mounts which were EXACTLY the same for the old engine that went pop, didn't want to play ball and needed slight modifications to fit the new engine in place. Literally cannot catch a break.... 
The new intercooler that sits in the intake manifold under the supercharger, is made by the same company that make the intake manifold. So should be made to fit perfectly, right? Wrong again! Yet more slight modifications required. 
So yet again, stupid little things holding us back from getting this running. Like the water outlets for the intercooler fowling on the heater matrix water pipes. REALLY?! 😓
But, as always, Carson Performance have overcome every issue this project throws at them and made up some custom water pipes that are slightly shorter than the ones supplied, meaning it all fits into place nicely. 
Hopefully not too much longer now, but who knows what else this thing come up with to test us? 

+1, i've had mine for 5 years now and its is no more expensive than a regular hatchback (in some cases cheaper)
Its almost comical how long tyres and brakes last, servicing costs are typical Toyota prices, there are no vices or shockers with maintaining these cars.
Biggest expense is fuel, expect high 20s for low speed town driving, high 30s for a roads and motorways (driven how it should be )

My black lug nuts arrived today, internal drive ones so I chucked them on this afternoon alongside the centre caps:
Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr
I also gave the car a quick wash so I could coat it in Meguiars ceramic hybrid ceramic wax to give it some protection as I haven't had chance to give it a proper coating of wax just yet:
Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr
It was nice seeing BRZ alongside my other Porsche RS green car, my R53 Mini:
Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr

Really? We didn't know.....
The engine is still the let down on this car, had no character from the factory (sound and power delivery). Obviously adequate enough to buy one and powerful enough and I'm not even on about the torque dip as that wasn't an issue for me either, but the engine character is missing.
I also read a post recently by a Prodrive engineer who claimed that the WRX EJ motors actually had a higher COG vs the I4 competition due to the ancillaries. I'm not sure how that translates to this platform as the engine is definitely mounted lower than the WRX but I for one wouldn't mind an I4 that sounds better and peaks higher.

I had mine lowered 40mm+ on coilovers with slightly larger than standard wheels. It rode almost the same as on standard wheels/suspension. Went over all speedbumps, no fuss.

in response to both comments:
 
The beauty of the LS is that it's not heavy at all - The FA20 engine in the GT86 weighs around 170-180kg: https://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2415250
The LS engine i have (I actually bought it last year with this in mind so I didn't so much have it "Lying around" but this has been my plan for a while and I bought one while I could, they're pretty rare over here!) is also 171kg in the form you see it in my video i.e - no alternator, intake, etc so it'll go up a bit but not by a massive amount.
Granted this does of course mean that the CoG will be higher but I don't think that will be a massive difference over what say the 2JZ would change it by, as that engine weighs in the whopping range of 250-ish kg, and the problem with the SR20 for me personally is they're not actually amazing engines to make north of 350hp on and much like most nissan engines they like to munch oil pumps.
The LS is "old" ish in it's archetecture but unlike the 2JZ or RB series of engines it's not got a load of old 90's tech on it that doesn't stand up to today's standards, it simply has almost no tech at all, it's about as simple as engines come and will easily make well over 400hp without breaking a sweat whereas thanks to it's rather high compression the FA20 is rather highly strung when you try to push past 320hp.. and it doesn't make V8 noises 😋
 
Not to be overly defensive of my choices, they're both valid arguements it was simple a case for me that i found much more excitement in the thought of owning a 2 door v8 coupe that didn't have say an £80-100k price tag or Jaguar/Aston badge on it and building that myself rather than the thought of having a 4 cylinder wth a turbo and worrying if and when my gearbox is going to blow it's guts, i've kind of "been there and done that" in a way and it didn't excite me as much after thinking it through, I did actually originally want a turbo 86 at first. I even researched and still have a list of parts, turbo, pistons, rods, etc i'd go for if i were to build the engine and go down that route. 😁
 
p.s v10's sound better than v12's... in my opinion 😋

TBF, I get 33mpg so I wouldn't call the boxer engine efficient and modern.
Not sure I see the point in an LS swap, when a turbo gives 320hp and weighs significantly less. But, each to their own and I'll enjoy seeing it done!

Yeah that was my first thought as well. I was going to buy some but had the wrap to hand so figured i'd try this first.
Just need some contact adhesive to get it to stick

I think wrapping it in fabric could be the way to go tbh.

Life has got in the way a little over the last week, so not touched the BRZ, however one update I had was a picture from Grigul Design/LederManZ.  I sent them a stock BRZ/86 wheel a couple of weeks ago now for them to retrim.  Its looking much tastier now, I cant wait to get my hands on it.  Due for delivery in the next 3 days:
Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr
Its looking a top job from what I can see so far with the alcantara/leather mix, red stitching/centre marker, flat bottom and a little bit of extra padding.

It certainly does, not many green ones about.  Ive never seen a Porsche RS green one.
Here is the photoshop I created which covers my plans for the BRZ based off a yellow STI from Japan, lets see how close I get to it:
Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr
Still a long way to go, it certainly wont remain stock for long, plenty of parts ready to go on it one rebuilt.  So pleased with the colour it came out perfect and gives me a matching pair with my Mini.
JUNE 2019 R53 by James Baker, on Flickr
 
Here are some pics from the body shop while they were polishing it.  
Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr
 
Dropped off today by transporter:
Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr
 
Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr
 
The rebuild begins:
Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr
 
 

Seen the one with a V8 Ferrari engine?

Like what? I see no assumptions, only statements (except the fact that having only just bought your new car, that I doubt you've driven it hard on very wet surfaces - given it's July, that's probably a fair assumption?)

Its amazing how most people have driven everything fast and on the limit to get a real appreciation on how they handle 🤣

dude I've drove brand new 911 turbo s, Caymen S, a 600bhp M3, a M4, a RS6, m sport 235i, GTR black edition....all of them felt boring to drive because the car does all the work. Most of them (especially the BMW ) felt like sitting in a lounge watching TV. They are so efficient it doesn't feel like driving at all compared to a or manual/mechanical car. They all felt similar to my old mans 4.5l v8 range rover, but with less roll. Before my gt86, my daily drive was between  a 450 bhp Evo 5 and a toyota celica.
Out of all the cars I've had access to the most fun to drive honestly have been my brothers 1.3i original mini, the evo 5, GT86, 750 bhp R33 skyline and the wifes NB Mx5.  All of these cars felt more like you where connected to the car. You can feel everything and you are....mostly...in control of everything. Every fancy fast auto box car I've drove felt like the car did 90% of the work, specially with traction control, auto adjusting suspension and AWD systems. True a lot of these  dead/ boring feel may be due to other electronic systems in the car like those previously mentioned, but with auto boxes its another aspect of control you remove from yourself and let the car do for you. Anyone who says that all the new tech doesn't takes away from the actual driving experience and feel of a car, simply hasn't actually experienced a good manual car. 
 
Your claim about serious drives further down this thread  is true. Serious drivers are about lap times and as I originally stated, they are far more efficient and better because no one can change gear faster than the most recent boxes. Top hyper cars are all about the badge, big numbers and lap times. Nothing about fun or the feel of driving. 
 
Also the supra may end up with a manual eventually since they are adding manual boxes as a option on the next M4 and Z4 models. Since the supra is a reskined Z4 its possible 😮

Drove e92 m3 extensively with both - manual is so much better.
Drove new m4 with paddles - it's just boring.
Had Gt86 with 320bhp, never had a problem with a manual.
Some people like one thing, some another. I like the interaction with the car that a manual gives.
No need to get so upset about a gearbox my dude.

Well without wanting to bore you lot with silly words. Here's the reveal video and a few of my favourite pictures!    
       

The time is nigh to get the car back from it's wrap, just a bit of a shame that the weather is so shocking this week!   I'll be saving posting any pics up until i've had a chance to get it outside and make a little "reveal" video but also because I really want to take it down to Fuel Coffee house just outside Henfield This Saturday (they open at 11am) to give a chance to have a little meet with friends and anyone that's interested in seeing it in the flesh before i post up any videos/pictures online, so if you'd like to pop down for a coffee and to see the car, I hope to see you there!   But in the meantime i've made a few small videos for my youtube channel. The first couple of videos were a 2 part vlog just going over the history of the car, the repair, the costs, etc which of course anyone reading this has likely already seen so I won't bore you with a link to that but the other shows off the completion of the custom fibreglass work on the Rocket Bunny diffuser.   It was quite a long process which wasn't without it's headaches for both myself and the painter but i'm thrilled with how it turned out, the idea i had in mind coming to reality really pays off. After getting the Surround of the "V" light fibreglassed in to rocket bunny diffuser it was largely a case of tweaking the position, fixing any cracks that occured from that and then building up the surrounding area with Fibreglass based filler and eventually fine body filler. Doing so allowed me to sand back and form the shapes that I was looking for around the edges of the light so it looked as intentional as possible.   When it was close to completion i then passed it off to a friend of mine who wanted to finish up the filler work and then paint it gloss black, unfortunately for the both of us my fibreglass and filler materials reacted quite badly with his paint which I know can be quite a common issue for painters when dealing with someone elses' work which was why he wanted to finish the filler work himself but unfortunately I think it was a bit late at that point as the bulk of the material had been added by me. Either way some fantastic work on their end they were able to get it complete and it came out looking incredible, super smooth and in a really glassy gloss black finish.   I delivered it down to Monster wraps and i'll see it next when I get the car back!   Video of the diffuser work here:   https://youtu.be/cFae3AD4A0k    
     

Almost a year on from this post and I never got around to fixing it myself. But last month I was looking into the problem again and found that they sell these little clips on Japan Parts, and they aren't charging 15 quid each. Instead, I was able to get 2 of them for 17 quid, delivered. Overnight parts from Japan, yo! 
Although not overnight. I ordered on the 19th May and they turned up this morning. That's a little job to attend to in my time off this week