Liberty 2.5i BL 2007, 5 Speed Manual, EJ253

[jdmsubielover]

Seats

I was lucky enough to get my hands on 06 tbSti seats with Leather and Alcantara.
Being able to get these after 14 years since first released is something very special and satisfying for me.
I feel Privileged to have an opportunity to install them in my car and I personally love how they look and feel. They were well looked after too.

Many thanks to Leon (Turbo Lag) for saving them initially.
A big shout-out to Ben (bBb) for sorting me out with these amazing seats and for giving me insight on how to care for them.

Due to storage and usage dust and stains are to be expected from used seats. I took this opportunity to try some products that are gentle on the fabric and cleans it without damage.
I have used these products based on reviews and some reading online.

IMG_2923.jpg (141.26 KiB) Viewed 13590 times

Vacuumed everything first.
Seat base and back was cleaned with Orange agent and a clean microfibre cloth.
Leather was cleaned with Leather love and a clean microfibre cloth.
Alcantara was cleaned with Fabra cadrabra, Bowden's square bear and a clean microfibre cloth.
Different size brushes were used to agitate dirt from the surface.
A second stage deep clean is on the way. I am planning to invest in a steam cleaner to do further deep cleaning.

As of now seats smell great and feel fresh. They were thoroughly disinfected too. Few stubborn stains on the front seat's base are still present. I chose not go crazy with brushes or the product as it might damage the fabric and decided to stem clean them later.

Headliner needs a thorough clean, Still learning how to do it without leaving water stains. I was constantly working on mechanical stuff and haven't paid attention to the interior much. Now that i have these bad boys, i will do a thorough clean for the whole interior.

Space being premium at my place i had to install them right away and couldn't wait for a steam clean.
Once steam cleaned i will use a water based protectant which will avoid stains and protect them from any liquid spills.

This is how they look

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Seats 2.jpg (229.14 KiB) Viewed 13590 times

These were my old seats which came with the car.

old seats.jpg (232.04 KiB) Viewed 13590 times

If anyone is after cloth seats with airbag for road worthy or any other reason, please dm me. you can have them for free. Front seats are in great condition but the back ones have taken a beating from the sun.

[bigBADbenny]

Awesome, mate!
I’m very pleased indeed to see they wound up in the right spot, perfect for both your intent and your car!
You may need the extra grip when the Shockworks go in

Kudos on the pics too: perfectly compressed for viewing on the phone

[jdmsubielover]

Thank you Ben.
Yeah the seats hold well and there's no sliding sideways during sharp turns.
cheers

[Turbo Lag]

Seats

I was lucky enough to get my hands on 06 tbSti seats with Leather and Alcantara.
Being able to get these after 14 years since first released is something very special and satisfying for me.
I feel Privileged to have an opportunity to install them in my car and I personally love how they look and feel. They were well looked after too.

Many thanks to Leon (Turbo Lag) for saving them initially.
A big shout-out to Ben (bBb) for sorting me out with these amazing seats and for giving me insight on how to care for them.

Due to storage and usage dust and stains are to be expected from used seats. I took this opportunity to try some products that are gentle on the fabric and cleans it without damage.
I have used these products based on reviews and some reading online.

IMG_2923.jpg

Vacuumed everything first.
Seat base and back was cleaned with Orange agent and a clean microfibre cloth.
Leather was cleaned with Leather love and a clean microfibre cloth.
Alcantara was cleaned with Fabra cadrabra, Bowden's square bear and a clean microfibre cloth.
Different size brushes were used to agitate dirt from the surface.
A second stage deep clean is on the way. I am planning to invest in a steam cleaner to do further deep cleaning.

As of now seats smell great and feel fresh. They were thoroughly disinfected too. Few stubborn stains on the front seat's base are still present. I chose not go crazy with brushes or the product as it might damage the fabric and decided to stem clean them later.

Headliner needs a thorough clean, Still learning how to do it without leaving water stains. I was constantly working on mechanical stuff and haven't paid attention to the interior much. Now that i have these bad boys, i will do a thorough clean for the whole interior.

Space being premium at my place i had to install them right away and couldn't wait for a steam clean.
Once steam cleaned i will use a water based protectant which will avoid stains and protect them from any liquid spills.

This is how they look

Seats 1.jpg

Seats 2.jpg

These were my old seats which came with the car.

old seats.jpg

If anyone is after cloth seats with airbag for road worthy or any other reason, please dm me. you can have them for free. Front seats are in great condition but the back ones have taken a beating from the sun.

Funny enough I carried out basically the same cleaning process using Fabra cadabra and Orange Agent when I bought the seats (even the same Bowdens brush, and if those are the Costco cloths, same there too). I also tried some methods such as dabbing a cloth with just plain water on it to try and 'un-matt' the fibers, and using a toothbrush on tiny sections, but I didn't really manage to improve it much. Yes I too didn't want to go crazy on using harsh products to try and clear those more stubborn stains on the front specifically - ultimately after I put them in the car it was a lot harder to notice they were there, so I just lived with it.

Looks like a great job you did with cleaning them. I like the shape of those seats a lot more than my newer set, they hold you in a lot better. Looking forward to seeing these in person some day.

[bigBADbenny]

Dilute wool wash, soak, pad off with lint free towel, repeat, repeat repeat, once they’re soaked agitate but not abrade with soft toothbrush or fine nail brush... eg make very tight circles 1/2 the length of the brush fibres.

Do the whole panel for an even effect.

Kudos for MCG turf pile brushing effect

[jdmsubielover]

Funny enough I carried out basically the same cleaning process using Fabra cadabra and Orange Agent when I bought the seats (even the same Bowdens brush, and if those are the Costco cloths, same there too). I also tried some methods such as dabbing a cloth with just plain water on it to try and 'un-matt' the fibers, and using a toothbrush on tiny sections, but I didn't really manage to improve it much. Yes I too didn't want to go crazy on using harsh products to try and clear those more stubborn stains on the front specifically - ultimately after I put them in the car it was a lot harder to notice they were there, so I just lived with it.

Looks like a great job you did with cleaning them. I like the shape of those seats a lot more than my newer set, they hold you in a lot better. Looking forward to seeing these in person some day.

Thank you mate!
what a coincidence, we both dealt with it the same way right down to costco cloths. I like supporting local businesses and Bowdens's products seem to be good.
Seats feel amazing and look great in the car. Stains are noticeable only on the front seats, back ones are in really good condition. They have transformed the interior and with the door cards it will be even more appealing to the keen eye. Still have to work on the door cards so left it for another post.

Yes Leon, it would be nice to catch up sometime and I would love your feed back on my build.

[jdmsubielover]

Dilute wool wash, soak, pad off with lint free towel, repeat, repeat repeat, once they’re soaked agitate but not abrade with soft toothbrush or fine nail brush... eg make very tight circles 1/2 the length of the brush fibres.

Do the whole panel for an even effect.

Kudos for MCG turf pile brushing effect

Thank you Ben.
I will try your method soon, Just waiting for a day off and a sunny day to let the seats dry completely. No extractor or a wet vac atm
I like the brush effect which gives that just detailed look. Back seats are not used much so stays like that longer.

[jdmsubielover]

GT Brakes

Stock brakes on the 2.5i are decent and stop well. Personally i never liked the brake feel of the 2.5i. Absolutely no pedal feel for the initial braking and once pressed hard brakes grab all of a sudden with a jerk upsetting the cars posture. After reading about GT/Brembo brake upgrades on our forum, I have decided to buy used calipers from a GT and upgrade. I felt that GT brakes would be good enough for my car. I was very tempted to invest in Brembo's but they were way out of my budget and i would need new wheels/tyres to fit them which is pointless as i have invested in new tyres and used wrx wheels not long ago.

IMG_3123.JPG (217.13 KiB) Viewed 13480 times

Purchased set of front and rear brake calipers form facebook marketplace.

Calipers were from a 2006 GT. Previous owner sold me the whole lot with front and rear calipers/ pads and used rotors for $220.
Initially i wanted to just fit everything and use up all the pad material and rotors that i got with them before upgrading. But under closer inspection, front Caliper seals were busted and the previous owner used some kind of sealant to stop leaks or maybe just to stop dust from entering the piston. Sealant was in red colour and was pretty much jammed all over the caliper/pads/shims. After further reading and dismantling of parts i have found that the front pads were of the wrong size. Rear calipers and pads were in good condition with the caliper seals intact considering the age.

I was a bit disappointed but i took this opportunity to lear how to rebuild the calipers. I wanted to do it once and do it right so that i have the intended optimum performance from them. I have also learned about braided brake lines and their advantages so ordered them as well.

Setup includes -

GT front and rear calipers.
HEL braided brake lines (6). Two front and 4 rear. Kit comes with banjo bolts and copper crush washers.
316mm front rotors from DBA. Part no DBA T2 - 2650S-10.
290mm rear ventilated rotors from DBA. Part no DBA T2- 653S.
RDA front pads.
TRW rear pads.
Cusco BCS.
New shims
New caliper seal kit for the front and rear (ordered rear ones to change the dust covers and the rubber on caliper slider pins).
Degreased/prepped/primer applied and painted to revive them and make them look good.
3M Silicon paste.
3M Copper anti seize.

Rebuild Processes

Dismantling was a bit tiring as the slider pins were jammed and i don't have a vice to grip the caliper in place while i brake the bolts loose. Some how I managed to crack them open by spraying WD-40 and by using a breaker bar. Once the calpier and brackets were separated i disconnected the brake line and used compressed air (took them to my uni) and a block of wood to push the pistons out without damage. This is dangerous and a block of wood is necessary as the piston will come out with great force. To do this i wrapped the air gun with some tape and tried to push it into the hole where normally brake hose is attached. With a bit of wiggling around i could get it air tight and bam! the piston is out.

This is how the pistons were

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Pistons were pitted and have wear as expected from used old brakes. Piston housing (not sure if it's the right term) was in great condition and no signs of damage or wear were found. I used brake fluid and a piece of scotch brite to gently scrub away the rust and contaminants on the piston. Plenty of brake fluid was used for lubrication. After some scrubbing piston looked new and the surface was smooth. Repeated the same on the other three pistons.

The red stuff you see is the sealant used by the previous owner

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This is how they look after cleaning

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Painted the calipers and brackets while waiting for the reseal kit.

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Now the reassembly

Reseal kits were not in stock from Subaru so i used a Febest branded seals. Initially i watched some videos and read online about how to reassemble everything back. It was a bit harder than I thought as i didn't know the technique. I put the inner seals and dust seals in easily but was stuck pushing the piston back inside. Later i tried sliding the dust seal over the piston and then inserting the piston inside. Both ways i failed and ruined 3 reseal kits before I finally got it right with the 4th kit!

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After assembling everything back, I fitted new braided brake lines from HEL with new banjo bolts/copper crush washers and bled the whole system. Still using DOT3 as of now since i had some fresh fluid lying around. I wanted to use the car for sometime and then flush/replace the whole system with DOT 4. Took the car for a drive and did the bedding in processes.

Conclusion
Brakes feel amazing from the first drive itself. Pedal feel has improved a lot and it's a lot firmer and much more predictable. I think braided lines made a huge difference for the pedal feel but, after all the parts put together i think it's a collective effort from (bigger rotors/better pads/rebuilt calipers/braided lines/fluid bleeding) IMO that is contributing for pedal feel/stopping power. Driving on the freeway or in city traffic is more peaceful now. Car pulls up without any drama from any speed and without abs kicking in. This is definitely the best upgrade that i have done for my car. The difference is night and day between stock 2.5i and GT brakes. I would recommend this to anyone thinking of upgrading their brakes on 2.5i.

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[bigBADbenny]

Nice one!
I’d say the stock 2.5i brakes would be do-able on a manual, with help from engine braking...
But on an auto, they’re rubbish and not up to it, and that seems to be regardless of user technique.

Our auto 2.5i is so much happier with the GT brakes, just hoping my son doesn’t cook them regardless with inappropriate technique, it’s hard getting through to him if it doesn’t concern basketball

So what’s the trick with getting the seals in?
What’s the silicone paste used for?

Love the paint colour, vht gold?
I wish I knew you were working on this, I’d have recommended linishing the caliper faces for a smoother decal surface

[jdmsubielover]

Nice one!
I’d say the stock 2.5i brakes would be do-able on a manual, with help from engine braking...
But on an auto, they’re rubbish and not up to it, and that seems to be regardless of user technique.

Our auto 2.5i is so much happier with the GT brakes, just hoping my son doesn’t cook them regardless with inappropriate technique, it’s hard getting through to him if it doesn’t concern basketball

So what’s the trick with getting the seals in?
What’s the silicone paste used for?

Love the paint colour, vht gold?
I wish I knew you were working on this, I’d have recommended linishing the caliper faces for a smoother decal surface

Thank you Ben.
Yeah there is a noticeable difference between auto/manual brakes. I have driven one of my mate's 2.5i with the slush box and immediately noticed that the brakes on my manual felt better.

The trick is to get the dust cover onto the piston first and then gently work the piston in until the dust seal mates with the surface. After that you have to gently go around the edges with a trim remover tool or something pointy to make the seal sit in the groove of the caliper. Have to be careful at this point because if the piston is pushed all the way in you need to push it out again using air. It will be easier if you can get the seal to sit in the groove on the bottom side first(which is hard to see and to make it sit flush without damaging it) and then work your way up to the top. If done right there is not much force needed to slide the piston in. If not aligned properly piston will rub against the seal and eventually split it. Sorry i couldn't click any pictures of the final install to show how to slide the dust seal onto the piston as my hands were all greasy and i just wanted this to fit properly. I will attach a screenshot for reference from google.

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Previously when i purchased the car i had done some basic maintenance on the brakes which includes cleaning the shims/ re greasing the slider pins and cleaning brake dust. I have used a petroleum based grease and it worked fine. But when i started taking the old brakes apart for the upgrade, I have noticed that the slider pins were jammed in really hard. Rubber on the bottom slider pin was swollen and was stuck really tight and there was no movement on the slider pins whatsoever. At this point i did some reading and found out that petroleum based grease swells up the rubber on slider pins. This is because rubber reacts with oils and gets swollen. Whereas silicon based grease does not stick to anything and the rubber doesn't absorb anything from it resulting in smooth operation and no swelling.

Yes VHT gold, pic for reference

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I have done my brakes upgrade around July/August Ben. I wish i posted my build processes earlier, now i want the linishing badly .

These were the Braided lines I used

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[Turbo Lag]

Excellent work.

Reminds me very much of mine, even a similar ish colour you've gone for. I like your gold a lot more than my bronzey/orange. As you said, GT brakes are an excellent upgrade for these cars, IMO if I had only 1 mod to choose from it would be that, with Shockworks being next.


Amazing how similar they turned out, right down to the wheel/tyre combo.

Yes the auto brakes feel quite different, our one has noticeably less brake feel however is more consistent with feel, whereas the manual seems to have better feel but less consistent (regardless of heat).

The braided lines are a nice to have - something I never did but also didn't have a hint of fade on the track without them anyway.

And FYI you can fit Brembos behind the WRX wheels but it is quite tight, and depends on the rotors you choose. I also believe some calipers have a slightly different shape - the tbSTI 08 ones do fit. However, having both, the GT brakes are 90% of the way there - you won't get much more performance from the Brembos but the feel is infinitely better than the sliders.

https://i.imgur.com/XvEvgUA.jpg

[bigBADbenny]

I’ve seen it here that GT brakes with a good pad and disc combo are said to be better than brembos, go figure, either way it’s top notch stuff!

I’m a big fan of warts n all diys where one qualifies the diy with the setbacks if any. Thanks for the reality check, they really sting, by way of learning. Definitely bookmarking this for setback pr0n, something of which I’m much experienced

[Yowie]

Good work. I really appreciate the detailed write-ups with pictures, lessons learned etc.

I'm a big fan of the Liberty GT front brakes fitted to a Forester. Braking goes from being a scary experience (with the tiny stock rotors) to something giving full confidence, more late-braking options and so on.

[jdmsubielover]

Thank you Leone.

Those were the only wheels i liked from the ones that are from Subaru family and are 5X100. +53 Offset was also perfect and i like how flush they sit with the body. I badly wanted 235's on my car and 17x8 was good to mount them.

https://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/faq-offsets-sizes-rims-and-tires-gt-xenonk-version-closed-4426.html?t=4426
I followed this for tyre size and wheel fitment related stuff. Gave me much more confidence and understanding of how it works.

Yeah waiting for Shockworks now

The rubber brake lines that came with calipers and the ones on my car were showing sings of age. I wanted to get OEM rubber hose but i found them to be pricy. Knowing the importance of them under hard braking made me think that its worth it. Good to know that they hold up well under stress.

Sweet, Brembos look really good inside the wheel. Thanks for sharing Leone. I was wondering if it would clear wheel weights as well? just curious.
I'm really happy with the performance of the GT brakes and satisfied with the feel as well. Now that i know the difference i don't think i am missing much fun by not having Brembos.

I tried editing a picture with stock brakes and painted the calipers bronze, similar to your car.I wanted to imagine how they would look. It was too dark for my liking and the closest i could find was VHT gold. Sprayed a sample on a piece of metal and it came up brilliantly.
This is the one i edited

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[jdmsubielover]

I’ve seen it here that GT brakes with a good pad and disc combo are said to be better than brembos, go figure, either way it’s top notch stuff!

I’m a big fan of warts n all diys where one qualifies the diy with the setbacks if any. Thanks for the reality check, they really sting, by way of learning. Definitely bookmarking this for setback pr0n, something of which I’m much experienced

Cheers Ben.