Coco26's Build Thread

Is it smooth, or kinda like a mud flap texture?

 

 

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It's perfectly smooth, about the same hardness and texture of the tread on a new tire.

Did you ever get the Raspberry Pi working?

I got it to the point where it could read the messages on the CAN network, but didn't get the ability to send messages to request engine data. It would definitely work if I spent more time on it, but I gave up on that project in favor of getting the same data through the radio via a maestro rr. Much cleaner use of space in the dash.

I got it to the point where it could read the messages on the CAN network, but didn't get the ability to send messages to request engine data. It would definitely work if I spent more time on it, but I gave up on that project in favor of getting the same data through the radio via a maestro rr. Much cleaner use of space in the dash.

 

Would a Bluetooth OBD and say a torque app show boost/gauges on the video out?

I wanted a HKS Camp 2 but they are rare as hens teeth, been told to Pi it, working out if the touch screen would still register

Radio Install

 

A few weeks ago I finally saved up enough to replace my nav unit, so I figured I'd share my experience. I bought everything from Crutchfield all at once, and I must say their customer service is fantastic. They were able to build a "package" for me that wasn't available on the website, and still maintain the discount they were offering for the one that was available.

 

 

Parts

 

Kenwood DMX907S - 7 inch screen, 4 camera inputs, wireless CarPlay/Android Auto, iDatalink capable, 2 USB ports

 

When shopping, my only must-haves were wireless CarPlay and the iDatalink interface. I was also looking at the number of additional camera inputs. There are only a few options with wireless CarPlay, so I narrowed it down from there based on price, and ended up between the Kenwood 9707s and the 907s. The 907s is part of Kenwood's "higher quality" excelon lineup, and featured a capacitive touchscreen rather than the 9707s's resistive screen. Because of the minimal extra cost and screen types, I went with the 907s.

 

iDatalink Maestro RR2 - This module retains any factory systems that are integrated into the radio, like steering wheel controls and the backup camera (in other vehicles it can also do climate control, TPMS, etc. if applicable). It also connects to the OBD port to collect engine data for a gauge display, and works as a code reader. You can re-map the steering wheel controls to different functions, as well as program a whole other set of commands that can be triggered by holding the buttons. There are several other convenience features added into the radio interface.

 

A must have for any headunit retrofits in my opinion. The only extra benefit of the RR2 over the RR is the customizable external outputs (currently only 3 are available, but there are 6 in the hardware). Its also programmable via bluetooth which would be a huge benefit, but the software isn't there for that yet.

 

Metra 95-8910S - This kit converts the dash to accept a double DIN radio, and replaces the stock controls area with a handy storage pocket. Fitment isn't perfect, but its actually pretty good once its installed and adjusted.

 

iDatalink SU1 Harness - This harness mates to the factory harness plugs, and connects to the Maestro unit. NO modification of the car's harness is needed, which is usually where DIY installs go bad - a big win. It comes with the other necessary connectors to connect the Maestro to the headunit, which need to be spliced with the headunit's pigtail or just directly plugged into the unit.

 

Metra 40-SB10-18 - This adapts the factory antenna plug to the headunit's connector style.

 

 

Install

 

For the most part, the install is fairly straight forward, you don't need to be an electrician to figure things out. Crutchfield and iDatalink do a great job of providing you with the necessary wiring diagrams to figure out what color wires go where. My first step was to assemble the harness. The only work to do here was join the headunit's pigtail to the maestro harness. Generally the wire colors match, but Crutchfield provides a wire-by-wire chart that equates the colors for you. I used "solder splices" which are pieces of heat shrink with a ring of solder in the middle for a good connection. In this picture, I separated out the bundles by their destination... In clockwise order, starting at the top: direct to the headunit, the maestro unit (the custom outputs are bundled up), the car-harness mating connectors, and the headunit pigtail.

 

 

I took this opportunity to program the maestro. The normal programming is a very easy process. The custom outputs on the RR2 don't seem to be integrated very well yet, as they use a separate windows program to be setup and are a little more complicated. Here is what I programmed my steering wheel controls to do as an example:

(The "Maestro Programmable Output" options mean that they are fed to the other setup program as triggers for the outputs - so if I hold Seek Up, output A will be triggered however it is setup in the other program)

 

 

 

Time to install everything in the car. The dash kit side panels mount to the side of the headunit, and utilize 4 of the 6 mounting points from the stock nav unit in the dash. It was at this time that I realized my headunit didn't fit. It was just the wrong combination of width and depth that it wouldn't sit all the way in. After some mild panic, I found this thread:

 

https://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/install-navigation-back-up-camera-and-poor-mans-lo-jack-149213.html

 

I had to cut a plastic support out of the way, and grind down the two (unused) stock mounting points. I only ground as far as I needed to, and was able to leave the holes untouched, so the stock unit will have no problems being mounted back in there. Other smaller headunits don't seem to require these mods.

 

 

Now it fits! Connect the car-harness connectors, then everything on the headunit side. The backup camera is retained by the maestro, which converts the signal to an RCA jack, which aftermarket radios typically use.

 

NOTE: In our cars, the reverse signal is not on the CAN bus, so the maestro won't automatically recognize it. The reverse signal input wire from the headunit (extended by the maestro harness) needs to be connected to the car's harness. Other guides tend to tap into a wire in the passenger footwell for the signal, but this isn't necessary for nav-equipped cars. Locate the green, 6-pin horizontal connector on the car's harness. Looking at the open end with the latch up, the third pin from the left (a brown and yellow wire) is the reverse signal. I didn't want to tap the car's harness, so I inserted the wire into the connector pin hole and taped it in place.

 

Now you can reinstall all the trim and you're good to go!

 

Then I got a little creative. This headunit has two USB ports which I wanted to have available, so I removed the cigarette lighter from the lower cubby, and put a panel-mount USB bulkhead in the hole and connected the USB cables from the headunit.

 

Now that I have an unusable 12v socket behind the dash, I decided to make it useful. I permanently installed a USB adapter into it, and put a wireless charging pad in the new cubby created by the metra kit. I made a hole in the back for the USB cable to come through and plugged it into the 12v socket/USB adapter.

 

Here's what it looks like installed. I got bored one day and made a background with my car on it for added personalization - I also changed the startup loading screen to be the Subaru logo.

 

 

And here's an example of the Gauges screen. There are two pages - I setup the second one with a 0-60 timer, 1/4 mile timer, and some engine vitals.

 

 

 

Front Camera

 

With this new headunit, I have 4 camera inputs available, just asking to be used. One is used for the backup cam...so I added a front camera. The idea is that I could have a little more confidence when parking close to curbs and not hitting the front lip. I got a generic flush mount camera from Amazon for about $30. I chose to mount it in the center piece of the lower grill, so if I ever chose to take it off, I could replace the plastic trim piece and the hole would be covered. Installation was super easy with the included hole saw. The camera I chose has two wires that can be cut to flip the image and remove the parking guidelines. I chose to leave the lines on for now so I can use them as a sort of measuring stick for distance. In order to get the right mounting angle so I could see everything I wanted, I had a friend 3D print a bracket I designed, and epoxied it to the trim piece. The black you can see in the lower corners of the screen is my front lip - so I can now pull up to within about 1/4" of a curb with confidence. Thanks to the maestro unit, I can hold the volume up steering wheel button and the camera comes up on the screen whenever I need it.

 

Radio Install

 

A few weeks ago I finally saved up enough to replace my nav unit, so I figured I'd share my experience. I bought everything from Crutchfield all at once, and I must say their customer service is fantastic. They were able to build a "package" for me that wasn't available on the website, and still maintain the discount they were offering for the one that was available.

 

 

 

 

Crutchfield is un-believable. Hands down the best customer service out there. I bought a sherwood 4x100 amp from them in 1992 from the actual catalog - over the phone, and can you believe they not only had a record of it .... the sent me a .pdf of the instructions that came with it so one of my sons could install it in his car?

 

Did you have them do the harness? I did the original maestro RR in my 2010 GT and it had to be the best $30 I ever spent.

I did the harness myself. It was only splicing about 10-15 wires together, and took about 30 minutes start to finish.

 

I called Crutchfield's support line when I was first having trouble getting the head unit to fit to see if they had gotten any feedback about it from someone else. They spent over 30 minutes looking through all of their documentation and measurements trying to figure out why it wouldn't fit. Extremely helpful people.

Another sub-project after I got the radio installed: intercooler sprayer.

 

I recognize that this is primarily a gimmick and ineffective for my car, but I wanted to try it just because. All in, this project cost me $24, so it was worth it to experiment, and it may be useful for higher powered cars.

 

There are other methods of implementation, but this is the most "factory" and concealed way I could think of.

 

Step 1 is to swap the windshield washer tank for the outback counter part. It has two pumps vs the Legacy's one, but is otherwise identical. I got one at a local dismantler (complete with pumps and level sensor) for $10. Once you get the bumper off and fluid drained, the swap takes less than 10 minutes - I left my original filler neck in place and just swapped the reservoir portion.

 

 

 

Conveniently, Legacy's have the wiring in place for the second pump already. I got a generic windshield washer hose+nozzle kit from amazon (Link) and ran the hose from the second pump up behind the battery.

 

The best place I could come up with to mount the nozzles was on the top surface of the engine cover, pointing horizontally. Right along the edge is still within the hood scoop seal, so that wasn't affected. The nozzles that came in the kit were actually very small (about the footprint of a dime) which worked out. They shoot a flat spray pattern, which can be adjusted and rotated 360º. I drilled a small hole and dremel-ed the necessary shape into the cover for the nozzles to snap into. If anyone else tries this, BE VERY CAREFUL when working around the insulation on the bottom of the engine cover. If you get near it with anything sharper than a finger, the white fluff goes everywhere, makes a mess, and clogs up your tools.

 

 

 

The kit came with a tee, and I routed the hose under the cover as neatly as I could. One of the VIN cover plate clips worked perfect to hold the hose. I put a joint right at the edge of the cover near the battery, so whenever I need to take the cover off I can disconnect it there. The line for the right side nozzle is entirely under the insulation.

 

 

 

The electrical solutions to use the factory wiring couldn't be simpler. Option 1 is to swap the wiper stalk for one from an outback. It should drop right in and you'd be done. I couldn't find any used near me that didn't have 200k+ miles of use on them, and its not possible to add the function to the Legacy's stalk (you twist the end of the outback stalk for rear functions), so I went for a custom solution. After removing the steering column trim, you can see the white connector for the wiper stalk on the lower right side. In this connector, the Orange wire in the corner is the control for the second pump. Note that the wiper controls are always +12v, and are activated by connecting them to ground. That means if you touch this orange wire to a ground (like the steering column) the pump will run.

 

 

The simplest solution here would be to tap into that orange wire and just add a switch that connects it to ground. I don't like tapping my car's harness, so I opted to remove the pin from the connector, and inserted the equivalent male pin I scavenged from a different connector at a junkyard. You could also just jam a wire into this pin (its the socket side). Conveniently, my new Maestro unit has customizable outputs.....So I connected it to that orange wire via a standard 12v relay for isolation, and now my Maestro controls the intercooler sprayer. I programmed the Maestro so that when I hold the "Seek Up" button on the steering wheel, the intercooler is sprayed for 4 seconds.

 

 

Does it work? Not really. Sitting in a drive thru line, it took 4 sprays to drop intake temps from 117 to 115... where it stayed for about 30 seconds then continued climbing again. While moving, one spray dropped the temps from about 82 to 77 almost immediately... where it stayed for almost a minute then went right back to 80+. Not the most scientific test, but I didn't expect much. With a bigger turbo putting out more heat, it would probably be more effective.

 

I could have told you that. Someone I know did a CO2 Intercooler sprayer and then later N2O sprayer (on the outside) on a A2A intercooler. It could freeze the IC. At the track (I was at the track for CO2) it shown no gains spraying all the way down the track. The only difference it did was show up in the data logs at the starting line. He did 2 trips to the track before ripping out the system.

My latest project was also rather experimental. I like the look of our reverse/turn signal lens when its tinted much better than stock with all the chrome (with my black paint), but the tint I had on mine was 50%, which made the lights pretty dim, even at night. I decided I'd try to black out the chrome behind the bulbs similar to what people do with headlights. I also added some side marker lights while I had them apart..because I could.

 

I picked up another set of housings from the local dismantler for $20 a piece that looked almost brand new. They came with bulbs and the mini wiring harness, so if I don't like them I can swap everything back easily.

 

There's lots of youtube videos on how to open taillights that are "plastic welded" together, but the general idea is that you cut around the perimeter of the back housing with a dremel type tool. A big tip here is to cut parallel to the lens, so that if you cut through you don't risk hitting the lens and having ugly marks from the outside. Here you can see my fairly crude cuts:

 

 

 

Once you cut the full perimeter, take out the 4 screws that secure the black housing to the reflector. Its possible to get these two out in one piece, but I found it much easier to take out separately, because there will be some overlap from the black plastic left attached to the lens. Another tip is to NEVER touch the inside of the lens or the chrome side of the reflector because they are hard to clean back off. The reflector can leave chrome streaks on the inside of the lens, so I tried to avoid rubbing them against each other as much as possible.

 

I wanted to add some side marker lights for a little added effect, and I was taking inspiration from a Volvo, like this:

 

I got a strip of non-waterproof red leds, cut off 2 segments of 3 leds, and soldered on some wire leads. To help the strip blend in, I colored it with a red sharpie. I lined it up parallel to the angled edge of the housing where I wanted it and drilled some angled holes for the wires to pass through. Where I placed it is behind a reflector molded into the lens, so the strip and wires are completely invisible when powered off.

 

Time to paint. I just used a krylon gloss black rattle can. There's a band of chrome that separates the lower lights from the brake/taillights. I chose to paint up to the top edge of it so no chrome could be seen from the clear part of the lens. Similar to headlights, the chrome on the reflectors is very weak and will peel right off if you adhere the tape completely...ask me how I know. You'll want to scuff the chrome everywhere you want to black out for the paint to actually stick. A scotch brite pad was coarse enough for me. Make sure you scuff the bottom edge very well, as its going to get beat up later and you'll want that paint to stick as well as it can. I didn't care about the quality of the finish because the lens distorts it enough that you can't really see it from the outside.

 

 

And here's the finished product, with lights. You can see some missing chrome that the tape peeled off at the top corner of the black.

 

 

 

There's plenty of space between the back of the reflector and the black housing to run the wires for the lights. I ran them up next two the turn signal bulb and drilled a hole big enough for them to pass through.

 

Reassembly is the same as disassembly. I chose to put the reflector by itself into the lens first, being careful to protect the bottom painted edge...I wasn't careful enough and ended up having to re-scuff and paint it. Once thats in, the black housing drops right back on. There's one tab on the "wing" of the reflector that needs to be lined up on the way in. I used almost a full two-tube set of JB weld to reseal both lights.

 

I don't like the look quite as much as the tint, but having the full brightness of the bulbs is well worth it in my opinion. I'll probably get different bulbs that blend in a little better. Please excuse my dirty car:

 

 

 

I'm very pleased with how the lights turned out. I did some wiring so they operate at a dim level with the taillights, and at full brightness with the turn signal. Here they are during the day and at night: turn, tail, turn, and tail.

 

That looks awesome. I think that even with being able to somewhat still see the bulbs, it looks really good.