will300

Update 27/06/2020 - New Brake Pads
At the start of the year I was looking forward to attending a trackday with Javelin at Spa Francorchamps around March / April time. Because this was scheduled to be a two day event I thought it best to look at getting some new brake pads. My existing front pads were becoming fairly low and I didn't want to run out of brakes at the end of the Kemmel straight for example. Currently I was using the original Ferrodo DS2500's my AP kit came with, I did swap them out for Endless MX72 pads for 6 months at one stage, however I found the Endless pads lacked the thermal capacity needed after several hot laps on track. So I swapped the Ferrodo's back in. I've kept the MX72's as my spare/emergency set. 
This now left me with a choice, do I buy Ferrodo's again or get something different. I like the Ferrodo's as basic track pad but I felt they lacked some feel / bite, as it turns out this is a common complaint from other reviews of them. So I started to look at other options, there is quite a good selection of pads available in the correct fitment for the AP calipers. 
I narrowed it down to the following selection:
Pagid - RSL29
Winmax - W5
PFC - 08
Carbone Lorraine - RC6E
Three of the pad choices are an edurance race compound, so should have excellent durability. In the end I decide to go for the PCF 08 pads, for a couple of reasons:
1. @Deacon had swapped to them last year and he's using them in the stardard caliper without issue or any overheating. Which I think is amazing considering he's still running the OEM calipers. 
2. The Nurburgring GT86 Cup cars run these pads in the VLN races.
3. Cost and Availability, at the time they were the cheapest option for a complete set (Front & Rear).
4. I could source them from @James@Amber, all the other pads would mean ordering from a new supplier and I'd rather not have to deal with an unknown company if they sent the wrong size out with the short amount of time before the trackday. (For reference: Partbox also stock the PFC pads)
5. Being an endurance pad they "should" work from cold. 
Unfortunately however the Coronavirus situation happened and that meant the Spa trackday got cancelled, so I never got round to fitting them until now. 
I'll report back on the pads once I've had time to try them out. 
Here's a couple of photos during the install:

Front PFC 08 Compound on the left & Ferrodo DS2500 on the right. 

Fitted: 

Rear PFC 08 Compound on the left & Endless MX72 on the right. 

Fitted - Just missing the pins which hold the pads in place. 

Atleast most of us have got to experience the GT86 at the limit..... 

Atleast most of us have got to experience the GT86 at the limit..... 

Atleast most of us have got to experience the GT86 at the limit..... 

Atleast most of us have got to experience the GT86 at the limit..... 

I can't wait to see it either. Will be popping up there early next week to drop off the freshly painted rear diffuser as well as a new set of boot hinges (the OEM ones on the car are red ofcourse, from the factory and I can't expect them to wrap something as intricate as a boot hinge so i picked up some new black OEM ones) so when i'm there i'll be getting a sneak peak of how the car is can't wait!

for now there's been some more little videos:

https://i.imgur.com/UPZ6d1J.mp4
https://i.imgur.com/3vHn6xb.mp4
https://i.imgur.com/upGWaTJ.mp4
https://i.imgur.com/NPzT9fI.mp4

It appears they're actually going further with it than originally discussed taking the wrap all the way under the widebody and even wrapping over the sections of the cut arches that have a layer of underseal around them. Ofcourse in reality this doesn't matter either way as the arches cover all of that up but assuming that it doesn't lift or peel at all near the underseal it's good to know no pesky eyes will be able to peek up my arches (that's quite the euphemism) and see the original red under them.

Totally forgot to do an update since last week but the car is now with Monster wraps!


Drove it all the way there without any problems ofcourse, and got plenty of looks on the motorway, it was good fun.


Got a little picture to mark the occasion - I hope the car turns out as "Spiicey" as the Porsche next to it lol




      and a small video they put up on instagram as they started the wrap, you can see at the end the colour of the wrap as they've begun doing the door jams
 
https://i.imgur.com/9iaOqPW.mp4      

New ATC wheel finally arrived today. It's a magnesium and carbon frame with leather and weighs in a 1122g. It's dished so brings the wheel 20mm closer and it's a 350mm rather than 360mm diameter.

My import duty bill took a month with Fedex. 

My import duty bill took a month with Fedex. 

What's the simplest way for me to word this.... If your happy to try these for the £400 investment (F&R) then do it, I highly doubt you'll be disappointed. They are probably the best braking upgrade for a stock caliper I've experienced. 
My only concern and I've spoken with @Deacon about this is, what will the durability be like running a high spec endurance pad on the disc's and calipers over the course of a couple of years. My BBK has been faultless over the 3 years I've had and it's not used any consumables other than when I've wanted to try different pads. 
Ask me about the PFC08's again in a months time, as I should be getting a set for my BBK, to use at Spa. 

Hi Michael
This kit should definitely fit, it has been designed to fit behind the OEM wheels: https://www.amber-performance.co.uk/product.php?xProd=25282&xSec=8430 
Personally however this the best kit available and most popular, but I can't confirm fitment with your wheels. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Subaru-BRZ-Toyota-GT86-330mm-front-brake-kit-with-AP-Racing-4-pot-calipers/254364472322?hash=item3b394dd402:g:7zQAAOSwuGhbwy2Z
It is one of the least aggressive BBK's and does clear most wheels, except the stock ones. Unfortunately those Speedlines have a really high offset so it's hard to say, you could however run a 5mm spacer which will help clear the wheel or if you don't want to run a spacer the rotor hats are custom made so they can make them thicker to have a built in spacer so to speak.
 

Day 49
While the BRZ is away at the crash specialists, I decided to start work on the wing brackets.  They weren't in the best visual condition, but it was all superficial: 
Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr
 
- So I used a heat gun to remove the GT86 stickers.  
- Followed by a light sand with fine grit to remove any minor surface imperfections or corrosion
- I then cleaned down with a panel prep spray and clean cloth
- I used a number of coats of grey primer
- Finally finished in matt black
Sard style wing part refresh by James Baker, on Flickr
 
I am looking into what protection a matt clear coat over the top would provide as not used it before.
Also had a photo from the crash specialist who are busy working away, they have the slam pane in place and are currently working out if everything else is straight.  Once, done it can come back for me to paint the slam panel and get the rest  ready for the bodyshop to paint it.  
Slam panel is on by James Baker, on Flickr
 
 

I can confirm that the Reyland kit fits under 18x7.5 ET46 Aero wheels with no problem. 
It also fits under the STI space saver wheel too. 
Shouldn't have problems undner 18x8"

As you can tell it's been full steam ahead on the 86 with the recent goings on and i've managed to get another big step finished at the end of last week just before my birthday - Making the first big cuts on the car and installing the front Arches!     It was a big step to get at the car with the angry tools but it went by so quickly and came out quite well. You'll see from the video and pictures just how much I decided to cut away but what isn't quite shown is how many times I went back to tidy up the cuts. So far i'm just going around the car to get the initial cuts sorted, rust proofed and the arches fitted with the supplied self tapping screws (yes, really!) before i eventually go around the whole car once again for a second revision pass where i'll remove the panels, clean up any rough cuts, better rust-proof the affected areas with a proper sanding back, primer and underseal as well as shaving down any high spots on the Rocket bunny panels that can lead to a nicer smoother fit and finish on the kit overall when they're resolved and of course drill out the holes made by the screws using them as guides for my Rubber Well-nuts and bolts!   Below is the latest youtube video showing off the whole process:   https://youtu.be/2zdG1lK-3uQ   And some follow up pictures!  

Why does it say Toyota USA Museum, when it's clearly the Japanese one. 🤣
I opened the link and was like I've been here and it's definitely not in America. 

Having once had white wheels you'd think I'd learn.... Guess I'll be doing weekly wheel cleaning from now on. 
Thank you, I had to try the traditional Subaru colour scheme atleast once.

Thanks James, the wheels are selaed using G-Techniq W5 Wheel Armour and overcoated with G-Techniq Exo V4, this will hopefully stop any dirt and brake dust from sticking to them, for atleast 18months. I'll spray them with Citrus wash, jet wash them and then wash them with car shampoo and they'll clean up easily. 
On my 949Racing wheels the G-Techniq coating was starting to deteriorate, so I purchased some Bilt Hamber: https://www.bilthamber.com/auto-wheel, which I was very pleased with. 

Having once had white wheels you'd think I'd learn.... Guess I'll be doing weekly wheel cleaning from now on. 
Thank you, I had to try the traditional Subaru colour scheme atleast once.

Pictures of the full car:
 

The struggle of light coloured wheels


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Pictures of the full car:
 

Pictures of the full car:
 

Pictures of the full car:
 

Pictures of the full car: