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Old 09-16-2012, 11:03 PM   #1
Acro2Pilot
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Default Finally did it

Picked up a 06 Baja Sport. Planned mods are a 5.5 inch lift, body and frame armor, the best tires I can fit and an STi engine swap.

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Old 09-17-2012, 06:31 AM   #2
Ti Pit
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2016 STI
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congrats and I love the color choice
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Old 09-17-2012, 09:29 AM   #3
JLBaja
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Chapter/Region: South East
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2006 Baja Turbo Blue
Phat Botti Tuned

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Nice. Now I'm really missing my 2005 Elise (Mag Blue-SOLD).
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Old 09-17-2012, 11:48 AM   #4
subeman90
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13 XV Limited
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Good to see you are still around and kickin' Scott! Good luck with the project.
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Old 10-04-2012, 08:59 PM   #5
Acro2Pilot
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Subeman, hows things?

Waiting on my lift kit to arrive, I broke out a Brat seat set and did a test fit, and it worked! I jut have to make some hard points for the headrests and seatbelts. This will be awesome!

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Old 10-04-2012, 09:26 PM   #6
subeman90
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not doing too bad. Looks like you are keeping busy

I love the brat seats. I really can't wait till you start this. I have high hopes that I know you are going to deliver on
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Old 10-04-2012, 10:36 PM   #7
Flowmastered87GL
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Chapter/Region: NWIC
Location: Portland Oregon
Vehicle:
2005 Baja Sport
Regal Blue Pearl

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I was wondering if the brat seats fit...
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Old 10-04-2012, 11:12 PM   #8
Acro2Pilot
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As soon as I get the lift on and have some more "wiggle room" I will post some pics and details of how the mounting points work out. I will work some lap belts into the seat mount. Has nobody else done this? It seems such an obvious thing to do, I thought I would be last to the party.
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Old 10-05-2012, 08:22 AM   #9
dpraetorius
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Chapter/Region: NESIC
Location: Woostah, MA
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2005 Baja Turbo 5MT
ABP

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Oh man, I have been wanting to do that since I picked up my Baja... just never got around to it! You've definitely motivated me to track down a set again. Looks great!
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Old 10-05-2012, 12:35 PM   #10
canuck37
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03 Sport
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dpraetorius View Post
Oh man, I have been wanting to do that since I picked up my Baja... just never got around to it! You've definitely motivated me to track down a set again. Looks great!
Don't know about other States, but I thought of this when I lived in California awhile back, and DMV advised it was illegal there, regardless of belts, etc. They even prohibit fixed seats in the back of PU trucks, even with camper shells on. Better check with your local DMV to see if you can actually get away with it......
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Old 10-05-2012, 02:03 PM   #11
Acro2Pilot
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Seats are going in period.
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Old 10-05-2012, 10:35 PM   #12
Baja_Gernaut
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Acro2Pilot View Post
Seats are going in period.
Go hard!!!!
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Old 10-06-2012, 10:18 PM   #13
THeArtoF-
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ive been waiting to see this..
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Old 10-22-2012, 01:15 PM   #14
Acro2Pilot
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Progress! I finished the install of the lift kit and wheel well trimming this weekend and ordered my tires. I was really hoping with trimming that I could go with 30" but the margin just isn't there without doing major work on the rear of the front wheel well so I am going with 29". I wouldn't mind so much if this were a major project but I want to get it buttoned up before the winter so it is available.

The lift I used is the SJR 4" kit designed for a Legacy, the major parts fit without any modification needed and the differences with the Baja were pretty minor. The parts in the kit are all nicely cut, overbuilt, and lined up perfectly. SJR sells these lifts with the caveat that some installer fabrication is needed and it does require some welding. The steering shaft has be to cut in half and lengthened which is the same as you would with the Legacy. The shift linkage on the Baja needed the top shaft shortened, I measured 1/2 inch and cut it 3/8 to be careful and ended up almost perfect. If I was doing it again I would have cut 1/4 inch and maybe ground it down just a hair. The rear bracket that anchors the shift linkage needed to be dropped 2 inches and pushed forward 3/4 so I used a piece of 3/4 x 3 rectangular tubing to build the drop bracket. If you go more than 2 inches you won't have the movement needed to shift due to the size of the opening in the body that the lever is in. The center bearing on the drive shaft is also different than the Legacy, SJR indicates that you flip the bearing 180deg to lower the shaft which wont work on the BAJA because the bearing flange is on the centerline. After over thinking and over engineering a drop down bracket I looked at a neighbor's super duty diesel that has a two part shaft and they used a very lightweight standoff. As it turns out there is almost no stress on this at all. I used longer bolts and 2.5 inch spacers cut from 4130 tubing and it worked perfectly. I am about to drop it at the exhaust shop to have them tuck the exhaust higher up and route it over the subframe for more clearance. So overall if you have a Baja and want to use the SJR lift I would say go for it, gotta post this on scoobytruck too.

Now it towers over Vinnie, can't wait to get the tires on, went with Goodrich Mud TA KM2

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Old 10-22-2012, 03:38 PM   #15
Lotus1
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Baja...what Baja? Nice Ferrari!

Oh yeah, good job on the lift. Did you do any before and after shots?
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Old 10-23-2012, 10:41 AM   #16
WYSubaru
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silver

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Any more pics?
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Old 10-23-2012, 12:21 PM   #17
Acro2Pilot
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Once I get it back from the exhaust shop, they are re-routing the exhaust so it is tucked up more rather than lowered with the crossmembers.
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Old 10-27-2012, 06:35 PM   #18
Acro2Pilot
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I have wrapped up the trimming and final details and am now free of rubbing other than the leading edge of the rear of the front wheel well, that needs about 1/4 of an inch of relief before it clears at full lock. I didn't measure the wheel wells before cutting so if someone could as a comparison that would be sweet. The most difficult trim was the front of the rear wheel well at about 1in. Two sheets are bonded at that location and cutting them separates the two I cut the outer one shorter than the inner one so that they would seat with some overlap and then welded them back together. So the current specs are;

Lift; 4in
Front wheel well width at bottom; 32in
Rear wheel well width at bottom; 30 3/4in
Tires; Goodrich Mud TA KM2 235/70-16 (29 inch tires)





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Old 10-27-2012, 09:24 PM   #19
subeman90
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that looks great! how does it drive?
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Old 10-27-2012, 09:25 PM   #20
Lotus1
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Wow, nice job!
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Old 10-28-2012, 04:56 PM   #21
Acro2Pilot
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I would have to describe the impact as mild on most aspects. The center of gravity is obviously higher so body roll in cornering and general handling is more noticeable than stock but it remains more car like in its handling than truck like. The tires have a slight rumble that you would expect to be more than what it is, you can cruise at 60 and listen to the radio at a modest volume. The pleasant outcome is that despite the increase in tire size acceleration and braking are minimally impacted and are very acceptable. I was pleasantly surprised at how livable the outcome is, the truck now has about the body clearance of a stock toyota 4x4 with better undercarriage clearance, yet still drives more closely to a stock Baja than a pickup. I expected the beefier EJ platform to absorb the changes more so than the EA platform, but this could comfortably be used as a family daily driver after the upgrade. And this is currently a NA EJ25 not the turbo, a Baja turbo would be impacted to a lesser extent and you could always dial in a slight boost increase to offset the loss.
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Old 10-29-2012, 09:03 AM   #22
WYSubaru
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What is the body clearance to the ground measured between the front and rear door?
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Old 10-29-2012, 09:25 AM   #23
Acro2Pilot
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16 inches from pavement to rocker panel.
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Old 10-29-2012, 10:30 AM   #24
Lotus1
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Should get some custom sliders made for it! btw, if you ever sell this thing I'd be the first to jump on it. :-) Just sayin'.

Did you ever get the exhaust tucked up higher?
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Old 10-29-2012, 11:48 AM   #25
Acro2Pilot
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With the EA Subarus not not being the rust time bombs that the EA81's are this will be a long term keeper. Yes, the exhaust is tucked up closer than stock, and routed over the rear subframe, muffler is back in the stock position. I also had it made with a larger tube to support the new engine which I have decided on. Rather than going with an STi engine I am going with the 3.0 H6 and going to supercharge it at about 5 psi as low as possible in the RPM band. Next up is the gorilla bar + winch.
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