nhayden

Well I have had my 2004 2.5 TS since October 03'. My plans for performance were never grand in anyway since my budget is rather limited.
The very first thing I did was get rid of the factory wheels / tires and installed a set of OZ Racing Superleggera 17" wheels in the gun metal color and a set of Toyo Proxes FZ4 215/45/17 tires. What a huge handling difference that made.

Since I am a car audio guy at heart that is where most of my modifications are focused.

The head unit was swapped for a Panasonic in-dash CD player.
All of the factory speakers were replaced with JBL Power series 6-1/2" components up front and 4-1/4" coaxial in the rear. And the whole interior and hatch were covered in Dynamat to make the car a quieter and rattle free.
I am in the middle of building the amplifier and subwoofer enclosure now (pictures below). I wanted a very functional vehicle and wanted to keep as much space as possible. At this moment I have a JBL BP600.1 and a P80.4 amplifier installed in a fiberglass tube along the back seat. This is being replaced with a new rack that will house a JBL CS200.1 and two 2lbs NX bottles all powder coated in clear blue.
The sub enclosure is a single JBL GTO1220 12" subwoofer that was molded into a full sized 17" spare tire. Check out the pictures.

One the fabrication is complete everything will be painted silver to match the exterior color, while all of the components of the system are powder coated in clear blue.

As for performance modifications they are coming up next.
Currently I have a WRX rear sway bar and AEM alternator pulley.

I have a set of TEIN S-tech springs on the way and I am looking for a WRX front sway bar as well (PM me if you have one).
From there I plan on adding a cat back exhaust and possibly Borla headers and an Injen CIA. I also plan to route the NX system through the front fender in order to hide the hosing, solenoid and injectors in the fender and intake system for a completely stealth install. This is a new vehicle with a 3 year warranty, I just couldn’t have the service department come across the NX system while changing the oil.

I will add more information and photos as projects get completed.

Kevin M

iTrader: (12)

So far so good. It doesn't always have to be about horsepower.

nhayden

1. Here is a picture of the current install with two amps and a little pocket for the jack, tool and a Mag light.

2. Here is a picture of the new amp rack that I am in the middle of building with a single amp and the two NX bottles. Everthing is going to be powder coated in clear blue, so there will be slight color variations depending on the material being coated.
Along with this I have also made a custom battery bracket and fuse holder bracket to go under the hood. Once my Optima battery gets in I will update this with those pictures.

sybir

iTrader: (45)

Install looks like it will be really nice, man. I really like the sub enclosure, having the OZ on top is a nice touch, and makes a pretty beefy grill

nhayden

Thanks - its a beefy grill but is also a fully functional spare tire. The hard part was getting the spare to fit over the enlcosure due to the limited space around the wheel well.
I just have to pop off the edge trim peice to get the spare out.

theheckwithyou

i too have a 04 ts, i never knew it could look that nice. what is the offset on the wheels?

PyroManiac

Wow, that first pic looks professional!!

dcfc03

iTrader: (1)

Thats shaping up to be an very nice cruiser.

nhayden

They are a 43mm offset. I got the offset recommended by OZ. I figure that OZ makes a majority of the Subaru rally wheels so it was a real easy choice for me.
I got the dark gray for an understated look, now I need to get some lowering springs to close in those gaps.

nhayden

Thank you - I actually do photographry as a second hobby. Getting that shot took more then 10 shots to get the exposures right.

I also did a little digital editing to remove the highway gaurd-rails and a ugly tree from the backgraound.

nhayden

Here are the front doors being worked on.
I have installed a JBL P650c component system. This was a little tricky due to the VERY limited space in the front doors. My goal was to maintain the stock door panel appearance and not have to build custom grills.

First the door panel was removed and all of the plastic lining was removed. From there I added a layer of Dynamat Xtreme to all of the metal surfaces inside and out. This helps reduce road noise and vibrations, plus it helps improve the speaker's mid-bass response.
Next I have to make space rings for the 6.5" speakers and brackets for the tweeters. You can buy all of this off the internet but I have all of the parts around the shop.
The spacer is made from 3/4" MDF and is cut the match the factory speaker mounts. Then you have to sand down the plastic fins on the back of the door panel to get the best clearance, these can also leave marks (or break) in the speaker's surrounds and cones if you are not careful.

The tweeter bracket is a thing piece of 20 awg steel that was bent in a vice to achieve the proper angles for the tweeter to sit behind the factory opening.

I ran all new wires from the amplifier into the doors for the best performance. This takes a lot longer then just splicing into the factory speakers, but it is worth it.

The passive crossovers are tucked away in the door panel behind the map pocket.

If you need more specific just send let me know.

nhayden

Photos of the front doors. Before and after Dynamat.
Results - much quieter ride. There is very little noise control materials in the Impreza's and WRX's. This adds some additional weight but the ride down the highway is much quieter.

nhayden

Here are some pictures of the speakers being installed in the front doors.
I used a JBL P650c 6.5" component system for the main speakers.
The 6.5" mid bass required a little time to install properly. A 3/4" spacer ring was made from MDF wood using one of the adaptor rings that came with the speaker as the templet. Also there are several plastic fins on the inside of the panel that need to ground down with a Dremmel tool.
As for the tweeter mount, you can buy the factory tweeters and remove the mounts or make you own out of some radio back-strap like I did. Just use a vice and pliers.
The crossover network was mounted with double sided tape and fits into the door panel behind the map pocket. See the door panel picture above.

gdogg

iTrader: (38)

you sir must be one of a lot of patience...
i've done one install of dynamat... never again!
congrats on your project- it looks good.





aloha from the summit of Mauna Kea

sykosis

iTrader: (23)

Good job! I did the same with my doors, and it was a time consuming yet worthwhile investment. Nice job in the back. Make sure to post up more pics when you're finished.