VK MotorSports Blog

Changing Brake Pads on 2012 Subaru WRX

Sun, 08 Mar 2026 00:00:00 -0500

In the previous post I described how to change the oil on the 2012 Subaru WRX that I purchased last year. In this post I describe how to change the brake pads. It is a very easy process and can be done in an hour or two, depending on your capability.

REQUIREMENTS

Lifting or Jacking Up the WRX

First step is to jack up the WRX at the jacking points mentioned in the user manual, or use ramps or use a lift like the one I have.

Make sure you do this safely and the vehicle is stable on the jack stands or ramps or lift before you go under it.

Remove the Wheels

Using a 19mm socket, a breaker bar, as seen in Figure 1, and a socket wrench, take off one wheel at a time. You can do the brake pads change one wheel at a time or can take off all the wheels at once if the whole car is up on a lift.

Figure 1. 19mm socket and a breaker bar

When you remove the wheel, you should place it below the calipers for safety as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Front wheel removed and placed under the rotor

Now spray the calipers, rotors and brake pads with brake cleaner as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Clean the brakes, calipers, rotors with Brake Cleaner

Doing the Front Brakes

The front brakes are easy to do. In my first try, I ended up opening both the bolts as shown in the red circles in Figure 4 below. However, you only need to do the lower bolt and loosen the upper bolt to flip the caliper upwards. You will need a 14mm socket to open these bolts.

If you are like me and have an old car, and want to take out both the bolts, you can. This post shows how to do this procedure by taking out both the bolts.

NOTE: If the whole caliper is being removed, remember to hold it up with a zip-tie or a bucket and not let it hang freely to avoid damage to the brake line tubing.

You can see in Figure 4, that the green arrows point to the old brake pads. There are 2 red arrows that point to some extra clips that you also need to take out and replace. If you have purchased a full brake pad set, these clips should be provided. If they are not provided, take them out, and clean them with brake cleaner spray, and then install them back.

Figure 4. Front caliper with both bolts removed

Using a flat-head screwdriver you can pop the brake pads out, as seen in Figure 5. You can see that I have not removed a clip there and it is dirty!! Must spray brake cleaner again after removing all the old parts.

Figure 5. Front brake pads removed

Now we will adjust the cylinders of the caliper. To do that first open the lid of the brake reservoir in the engine bay, as shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6. Brake reservoir lid opened up in the engine bay

In Figure 7, you can see my rusted cylinders that are extended and need to be pressed in so that they are flat as in Figure 8. This is done so that the thicker new pads can fit in. As brake pads wear out, the cylinders extend outwards. I used a large C-Clamp to do this pressing. Place an old brake pad on the cylinder, so as to not damage it. Then press the cylinders in one by one by tightening a C-clamp over it.

Figure 7. Front caliper cylinders that are extending outwards

Below is a view of the cylinders pressed in.

Figure 8. Front caliper cylinders being pressed in place with a C-clamp

Once the cylinders have been pressed in, place the new brake pads on the rotors appropriately as shown in Figure 9. You can see that the new brake pads are much thicker than the old ones in Figure 4.

Figure 9. New brake pads and clips installed on the front caliper

Figure 10 shows the brake pads installed with a view from the inside of the rotor.

Figure 10. View from under the car of the new brake pad installed

Now that your brake pads have been installed, rub some brake pad lubricant on them (quantity as shown in Figure 11), and then close the caliper and tighten the bolts to 20 ft-lbs of torque.

NOTE: Do not apply brake pad lubricant to the side of the pad that touches the rotor.

Figure 11. Brake pad lubricant applied to the brake pads

Doing the Rear Brakes

Changing the rear brake pads is similar to the front ones, except in this one I only remove one bolt for the caliper.

As shown in Figure 12, remove the wheels first and remove the bolt circled in red.

Figure 12. Remove rear wheel

Another view of the bolt to remove is shown in Figure 13.

Figure 13. Remove the caliper bolt circled in red

Before you flip the caliper up, you can use a C-clamp and press the cylinders in completely with the existing brake pads (shown in Figure 14). This process is now much lesser work !

Figure 14. Press the caliper cylinders in place with a C-clamp

Flip the caliper upwards and remove the old brake pads as shown in Figure 15.

Figure 15. Flip the caliper upwards and remove the old brake pads

Install the new brake pads as shown in Figure 16, apply the brake pad lubricant to the pads and close the caliper. Tighten the bolt back to 20 ft-lbs of torque.

Figure 16. Install new brake pads and clips

Final Tasks

Remember to put the wheels back on, tighten all the nuts and torque them to 74 ft-lbs using a torque wrench.

The brake pedal may feel loose, so pump it until it gets tight. Remember to close the lid on the brake reservoir after you do this. Any extra brake fluid should be removed from the reservoir.

Now go test drive the car, and slowly break the pads in, by driving and stopping and testing out the stopping power of the brakes at differnt speeds.

Installing a Battery Kill Switch in the Toyota 4Runner

Fri, 14 Nov 2025 00:00:00 -0500

On the 2008 Toyota 4Runner Limited, I have a weird problem of the security alarm going off at random times during the day or night. This disturbs neighbors and annoys the hell out of me. So I took it to the dealership sometime in January 2025, and they said I had an aftermarket alarm system and removed it. The dealership blamed it on that.

A few months later, the random beeping was back. I searched on the internet forums and decided that maybe it is the sunroof drains not draining. So I purchased some weed whacker string and cleaned the sunroof drains, following this video.

It is now November 2025, and the random beeping alarm is back. I got tired of disconnecting the battery before traveling for work, so I purchased and installed a battery kill switch. This post describes how to perform this install. It is really easy to do and can be done in 5 minutes with simple hand tools for $20.

PARTS REQUIRED

We need the parts listed below. Some of these you may already have in your toolbox.

INSTALLATION PROCESS

First step is to disconnect the battery negative terminal as seen in Figure 1. If you have a cap for the battery terminal, like I do, place that on the terminal to avoid accidental connection from the negative terminal. This cap is just something I saved when I purchased the battery new. You can also just wrap some electrical tape around it temporarily to insulate the terminal. Do not use duct tape as it may leave a residue.

Figure 1. Disconnect the negative terminal of the battery

Next we unpack the Nilight Remote Battery Disconnect Switch as seen in Figure 2. It has many parts:

the relay
two remote controllers
a flexible silver-colored aluminum negative terminal
a black negative cable
a brass terminal connector for the negative terminal of the battery
a red positive battery terminal connector cable
additional connectors for extensions

Figure 2. Unpacked contents of the Nilight kill switch

Next you should view the connection schema as shown in Figure 3 and make sure the switch is connected correctly as shown in Figure 4.

Figure 3. Connection schema for the Nilight remote battery disconnect switch

Figure 4. View of the kill switch installed on the battery

The positive red cable, shown by the red arrow in figure 4, is connected to the positive terminal by loosening the nut a bit, inserting the cable connector and tightening the nut back.

The short length negative black cable should be connected to the negative terminal connector provided by Nilight to the battery negative terminal and to the free terminal on the relay as shown by the green arrow in figure 4.

The negative terminal connector of the 4runner should then be connected to the brass terminal on the Nilight relay as shown by the yellow arrow in figure 4. It may so happen that you have to screw in the brass terminal onto the Nilight relay. Make sure you tighten it but not overtighten it.

You may need a 13mm socket wrench for the Nilight battery terminal connector shown by the green arrow in figure 4.

Once all this is installed, test it with the remote control. Your key in the ignition will not turn on the car until you hit the On button on the remote control.

If your tests succeed, tighten up all the nuts on the individual terminals to make sure they do not move.

The Nilight relay can be fixed onto the battery holder clamp as shown by the blue arrow in figure 4, to keep it stable in position.

That is it. You have now successfully installed a battery remote disconnect switch to handle security alarm issues.

NOTE: I still recommend you take your vehicle to the dealership to get the security issues diagnosed. It could be broken wires or water leaks causing it.

Oil Change on 2012 Subaru WRX

Sun, 24 Aug 2025 00:00:00 -0400

I sold the Infiniti G35 and replaced it with a 2012 Subaru WRX in February 2025. The Infiniti had just too many issues and had left me stranded a few times already, so I sold it to another enthusiast and bought a WRX. In May of this year, I also sold my Porsche Boxster. It was in great shape but I just needed one lesser car, so I stuck with the WRX since it was a 5-speed manual.

The WRX has a 5 speed manual with a short-shifter, had a tune from Cobb, Invidia headers and a Cobb intake. I have not researched the details of these modifications yet but I will and note them down in another post in the future.

I had driven it about 2500 miles and the oil change was now necessary to do. So this post describes how to do it. Sadly, I was in a rush and did not take enough pictures, but I have some as you will see.

Lifting or Jacking Up the WRX

First step is to jack up the WRX at the jacking points mentioned in the user manual, or use ramps or use a lift like the one I have.

Make sure you do this safely and the vehicle is stable on the jack stands or ramps or lift before you go under it.

Drain the Old Engine Oil

Once the WRX has been raised safely, you can slide under with a creeper. If you have a splash shield, you will need a 10mm socket to remove the splash shield. After the shield has been removed, locate the oil drain plug and oil filter as seen in Figure 1 below.

Figure 1. View of the undercarriage with oil drain pan bolt and oil filter

Get the parts you need ready as seen in Figures 2, 3 and 4. You will need a 17mm socket to remove the drain plug, a socket wrench, a replacement drain plug and washer, a Mobil-1 M1-108A oil filter or equivalent and 5 gallons of 5W-30 Mobil1 synthetic engine oil. We used a Dorman M20-1.5 replacement drain plug and washer, but you can buy the correct size washer and re-use the drain plug if it is in good shape. As you can see in Figure 1, the existing drain plug was too rusty so I used a new one. You will also need an oil filter pliers and a 14 flutes oil filter socket wrench.

Figure 2. 17mm socket, socket wrench and new oil drain bolt (plug) and washer

Figure 3. Mobil1 M1-108A oil filter we will be using

Figure 4. M-20 drain bolt and washer by Dorman

NOTE: Place a 5 gallon oil drain pan to catch the draining oil before you open the drain plug.

Using the 17mm socket, loosen the drain plug. Position the drain pan so you can catch the oil correctly. Use gloves to open the drain plug as some oil may hit your hand while you take it off. Figure 5 shows the oil draining into the drain pan.

Figure 5. Oil drain bolt removed and oil draining

Remove the oil filler cap in the engine bay to alleviate pressure in the engine and aid the downflow of oil into the drain pan.

The oil can take about 30-40 minutes to fully drain out. Once it has drained, clean the area with a shop towel and install the new drain plug as seen in Figure 6. Remember to use the new washer otherwise there maybe an oil leak in the future. Then torque the bolt to 30 ft-lbs or hand tighten followed by an extra 1/4th turn.

Figure 6. New drain bolt and washer installed

Replacing the Oil Filter

As seen in Figure 7, we now remove the old oil filter using an oil filter pliers. Most shops will tighten it heavily, so you will need an oil filter pliers.

Figure 7. Remove the old oil filter with an oil filter pliers

Use an oil filter pliers to remove the old filter and carefully lift it out with a shop towel or rag around it, as it will drip oil as seen in Figure 8.

You must clean the oil filter socket with a shop towel as seen in Figure 9 before installing the replacement oil filter.

Figure 8. Old oil filter removed

Figure 9. Oil filter area cleaned

Now prepare the new oil filter by filling it 3/4th with the 5W-30 oil. Then use your finger to dab the top part of the filter so that it is lubricated fully as see in Figure 10.

Figure 10. New oil filter prepared

Once that is done, twist the new oil filter back into the cleaned socket and tighten with the 14 flutes oil filter socket wrench. You may need to tighten it to 25ft-lbs of torque.

In Figure 11 we show the wrench we used for tightening, but this is for a different engine as we did not take a photo while doing it for the WRX.

Figure 11. Tighten with oil filter wrench

Filling up with New Oil

Now remove the drain pan filled with old oil from below the vehicle and keep it out of the way.

Using a long neck funnel, pour 4.4 quarts of Mobil1 5W-30 Synthetic oil into the engine from the oil filler spout slowly. Do not go overboard with the oil, and check the level with the oil dipstick. Once done, clean the oil filler cap and install it back on.

Start the engine and let it run for a few minutes and check for oil leaks. Once you are satisfied that there are no oil leaks, take the vehicle off the jack stands using a jack or the ramps or the lift.

Remember to pour the old engine oil into the empty cans and drop it off at a recycling place or at an auto parts store that takes old engine oil. Do not throw the old engine oil into the trash or pour it in the ground. It is dangerous to wildlife and your water supply.

The oil change is now complete and you can drive the car around for a while, and then check for leaks again.

Replacing PCV and Purge Valves

Sat, 22 Mar 2025 00:00:00 -0400

I described the Miata’s valve cover gasket replacement earlier. At the time I had not replaced the PCV valve, however, now that the car has aged further and received a code P0106, I chose to change both the PCV valve and the purge valve. This post describes the changes. I chose not to change the boost solenoid, which is also recommended for fixing the P0106 code.

HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS

You need to purchase all the valves and grommets in advance. All you need in tools is a hose clamp pliers or generic pliers with some tape around the teeth to protect the valves.

As you can see in the figures below, I show the model numbers of the valves and grommets purchased.

Figure 1. Dorman Purge Valve 911-706 and Beck Arnley Grommet 039-6428

Figure 2. Beck Arnley Grommet 039-6428 (model)

Figure 3. Beck Arnley PCV Valve 045-0277 (model)

Figure 4. Beck Arnley PCV Valve 045-0277 (box)

PROCESS

Step 1: Locate the PCV valve in the engine, on top of the valve cover gasket as shown in figure 5. You will need a pliers to pull the PCV valve out slowly as shown in figure 6.

The PCV valve is in very tight so be careful and it will take some effort. You will also need to loosen the hose clamps in the hose connected to the PCV valve here.

Figure 5. Old PCV Valve in the engine

Figure 6. Old PCV Valve removed

Step 2: Next step is to replace the grommet. The grommet is even harder to get out, but it comes out or you can cut it up and pull it out faster. Figure 7 shows the PCV valve removed from the hose and the engine, with the grommet also removed.

Figure 7. Old grommet removed

Step 3: Next step is to install the new grommet, Beck Arnley 039-6428 first by hand. Once that is in, you can then push in the Beck Arnley PCV valve 045-0277 into the grommet. This can take quite some effort, so you can apply some dish soap to the PCV valve and insert it into the grommet. Once that is done, connect the hose back to the PCV valve and tighten the hose clamp. Figure 8 shows the final view.

Figure 8. New PCV valve and grommet installed

Step 4: Next we tackle the purge valve as shown in figure 9. The purge valve is connected to the body via a bracket and two 10mm nuts which you will need to open with a 10mm wrench or socket. You can see the bracket removed in Figure 10. Next unplug the electrical port and the two hoses and take out the old purge valve. This is really easy to do.

Figure 9. Old purge valve

Figure 10. Purge valve bracket removed

Step 5: Insert the replacement purge valve (Dorman Purge Valve 911-706 seen in Figure 11) in the same way as you removed the old one and install the bracket back in place. Connect all the hoses and the electrical connector back in place as seen in Figure 12.

Figure 11. Replacement purge valve

Figure 12. New purge valve installed

Step 6: Start the car and clear the codes and go for a drive.

Fixing A Bad Ground Cable

Thu, 15 Aug 2024 00:00:00 -0400

Over the past one year, I have been stranded several times during the rain where the car does not start up and I need a jump start.

At first I thought it was the battery but the battery was fine as per the auto-parts store and I could recharge it fully using a trickle charger.

However, turns out the negative battery cable was loose each time, and the jump starter clamps would make it tight and it would start.

This is the problem referred to as bad ground in various forums, and it just means that you need to replace your negative battery cable with a new one.

This post describes how to and the OEM part numbers.

HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS

PROCESS

Step 1: Remove the old battery terminal from the battery first using a 10mm socket. Look at the two bolts in Figure 1 and remove them with the 10mm socket too. NOTE: Make sure to not drop the bolts in the engine compartment. Use a magnetic parts tray if necessary to hold the two bolts.

Figure 1. Bolts to be removed at the end of the negative battery terminal cable

Step 2: Now using the battery terminal cleaning kit clean the negative terminal nicely and place a new negative terminal anti-corrosion washer on it, as seen in Figure 4, where I have already cleaned the terminal.

Step 3: Use a new OEM negative/earth/ground battery terminal cable whose part number is 24080-AM600 (Figure 3). As you can see in Figure 2, the two cables must look alike. My old cable has a copper terminal and it had really corroded a lot that it could not hold strongly on to the negative terminal of the battery.

Figure 2. Compare old and new battery terminal cables

You may think that this OEM cable is over a $100 but it will last another 100,000 miles. My original cable lasted over 188,000 miles before it became bad. It is totally worth it to buy a new one and it will fit perfectly.

NOTE: I do not recommend buying an automotive parts store cable that are cheaply built. All your electrical systems in the car depend on this cable to work, so you better buy the OEM version which is the best.

Figure 3. Nissan OEM part number 24080-AM600

Step 4: Make sure to use the 10mm socket again to tighten the cable to the body of the car first as in Figure 1. Then attach it to the negative lead of the battery and tighten.

Figure 4. New cable ready to be installed on a clean battery terminal

Now your car should start just fine and the electrical issues related to the negative/earth/ground cable are taken care of. No more bad ground.

Center Console Lid Re-Upholstered

Fri, 04 Aug 2023 00:00:00 -0400

In the previous post, I installed aftermarket seats in the 2005 G35 coupe.

However, the center console lid was still a faded beige color, so I purchased a red cover for the center console lid (Figure 5) from eBay for about $25.

This post describes how to re-upholster or install that red cover permanently to your center console lid to match the seats color.

HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS

eBay center console lid cover
3M automotive double sided tape
Titebond Multi-surface Glue or similar
Phillips screwdriver
Large Binder Clips: at least a pack of 20 maybe necessary.
Magnetic Parts Tray

REMOVE THE CENTER CONSOLE

Step 1: Removing the center console lid is very easy. There are 7 Phillips-head screws (Figure 1) that you can open with a Phillips screwdriver, and the console lid comes off the interior body as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 1. 7 screws in the center console lid

Figure 2. Center console lid off the center console

Keep your screws safely in a magnetic parts tray as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Screws kept in a magnetic parts tray

Step 2: With your hands you can pull out the internal black cover in that lid, and you can see the screw holders (Figure 4). This exposes the part where the new leather material will be glued to the lid.

Figure 4. The lid’s black cover comes off

INSTALL THE LEATHER COVER

Step 3: Gather the new leather material and start covering the lid in the right way so that the stitching of the leather material matches the stitching of the existing lid material.

I did not remove the old material as it has foam in it, and the red leather material was large enough to cover the old material.

Figure 5a. Red leather material next to the center console lid

Figure 5b. The glue I used

Measure the material correctly before cutting. I recommend leaving a large portion available for adjustment of the shape later.

Step 4: Apply glue to all the surfaces and stick the leather material to the console lid. Then using double sided tape, stick the edges into the interior black lid surface. The glue and double sided tape should hold the red leather onto the console lid. Now using large binder clips you can hold the glued cover in place for 24 hours.

Figures 6-10 show the process I followed for this step. Remember to glue one side at a time, clip the side and then glue the other sides. Trim the leather only in the last step (Figure 9 and 10).

Figure 6. Glue the red leather to the console lid and hold with clips

Figure 7. Glue the red leather to the console lid and hold with clips

Figure 8. Glue the red leather to the console lid and hold with clips

*Figure 9. Red leather has been glued and extra trimmed out *

Figure 10. Red leather fully dried up after 24 hours

Figure 11. Fully finished cover

Step 5: Now that the glue is dry, install the black inner cover (removed in Step 2) back using 4 out of the 7 screws that you had removed in Step 1. Remember the 3 bottom screws (Figure 1) are for the hinge in the center console.

Figure 12. Install the inner black cover

INSTALL THE CENTER CONSOLE

Step 6: Install the now red console lid onto the center console using the remaining 3 screws on the hinge as shown in Figure 13.

Figure 13. Install the console lid on the hinge using the 3 screws

The final look is shown in Figures 14 and 15.

Figure 14. Red center console lid open

Figure 15. Red center console lid closed

Simulating the Seat Side Airbag Sensor

Sun, 11 Jun 2023 00:00:00 -0400

In the previous post, I installed aftermarket seats in the 2005 G35 coupe. However, the airbag lights were on and the codes being shown, as in Figure 1, were B1129, B1022 and B1034 (not pictured). This is due to the fact that the side airbags are not present in the aftermarket seats. In this post, I describe how to simulate the airbag sensor using a 2.2 Ohm 1/4 Watt resistor and this process is also incorrectly referred to as airbag delete. You already “deleted” the airbag when you removed your stock factory seats, you want to simulate the airbag sensor to make the Airbag Control Unit think that there is an airbag present. That is done with a 2.2 Ohm 1/4 Watt resistor.

HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS

CHECK THE ERROR CODES

Using the Foxwell NT624 Elite OBD-II scanner, I was able to check what error codes the missing airbag sensors in the seats was being displayed. You may or may not see this if your OBD-II code reader is not equipped to scan the airbag control module.

The codes were B1129, B1022 and B1034 (not pictured) in Figure 1. (I only remembered to take this photo after I fixed the driver side code.) The codes mean the following:

B1129 - Passenger side airbag missing or circuit is open.
B1022 - Occupant sensor disconnected or circuit is open.
B1034 - Driver side airbag missing or circuit is open.

In this post, I can only show how to fix the B1034 code which is to make the driver side airbag missing error go away. So far this 2.2 Ohm 1/4 Watt resistor trick only worked to do that. It looked to me that until I fixed the B1022 code, the B1129 would not go away despite it being the same process.

Figure 1. Missing airbag sensor error codes

INSTALLATION

Step 1: Locate the yellow airbag connector on the wiring harness for the driver and passenger seats. Cut the connector and save it for the future.

Figure 2. Locate the yellow airbag connector on the wiring harness

Step 2: Now take the electrical wire and cut a few inches using the wire stripper. Solder each end of a single 2.2 Ohm 1/4 Watt resistor to the stripped wire ends as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Solder the resistor to the electrical wire

Step 3: Cover the exposed soldered ends with the thinnest heat shrink tubes from your kit, and using the heat gun heat it up till it shrinks, as shown in Figure 4. An astute observer may notice, that one of my heat shrink tubes was cut too small, so I ended up using electrical tape to cover any leftover exposure.

NOTE: Using the digital multimeter check that the resistance of this wire is now 2.2 Ohm. Sometimes, the parts on Amazon can be fake so you want the resitance to be around 2.2 Ohms.

Figure 4. Heat shrink tubing covered exposed connections

Step 4: Now the main step is to take the yellow connector wiring you had exposed in Step 1, and connect it to our resistor from Step 3. Use the wire stripper and needle nose pliers to make this joint strong, and using the soldering iron kit solder the connections. Remember to insert the heat shrink tubing before doing the soldering as seen in Figure 5.

Figure 5. Solder the resistor to the airbag connector harness

Step 6: Using the heat gun as in Step 3 shrink the tubing around the exposed connections. You should see it look like Figures 6a and 6b.

Figure 6a. Connected resistor

Figure 6b. Connected resistor

Step 7: Now you need to follow the airbag reset process as outlined in the service manual page SRS-20.

Once the airbag light has been reset, you should be able to see the blinking light in the instrument panel disappear or you should refer to the code reading section above and check the airbag module codes again. I was able to get the driver side code B1034 to go away, but still need to research how to get the B1022 code to go away. Since the aftermarket seats do not have a passenger weight sensor, also known as an occupant sensor, we need to simulate that sensor too but with a different contraption.

Aftermarket Braum Seats Installed in the Infiniti G35 Coupe

Sat, 06 May 2023 00:00:00 -0400

I had been looking for a deal for good red seats for my interior for almost 7 months now, since I am going for a certain look for the Infiniti G35. I finally got a great deal on a pair of used red Braum seats for a price of $550 along with a separate deal of a pair of seat brackets by Planted Technology for $200 for the pair off Facebook Marketplace. I got these in March but finally got time to install the seats today, in May ! This post describes how to remove stock seats and install replacement seats in the G35 Coupe.

HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS

Replacement seats - can be stock, or any aftermarket seats. These are the Braum seats I got used for $550. Make sure these come with seat sliders if you buy new. If not, you can get these.
Planted Seat Bracket for Infiniti G35 Driver Part# SB075DR
Planted Seat Bracket for Infiniti G35 Passenger Part# SB075PA
Sparco 50001 Bottom Mount Seat Hardware - 2 packets of these. Requires a 13mm socket and 6mm Hex Allen Key
6-point 14mm socket to remove seat bolts
Dorman Hex Nut Class 10.9 Thread Size M12-1.25 for seat belt buckle. Requires a 19mm socket
Carpet and Upholstery Cleaning Spray

REMOVAL OF THE STOCK SEATS

First step is to remove the stock seats and cleanup the carpet. The process is the same for both the driver and passenger seats.

Step 1: Remove the bolt covers using a trim tool or a flat-head screw driver or pop them off with your hands, as shown in Figure 1a and 1b. You want to use the seat slider buttons to move the seat back and forth to get access to the bolt covers for removal.

Figure 1a. Remove the bolt covers in the front of the seat

Figure 1b. Remove the bolt covers in the rear of the seat

Step 2: Using a 6-point 14mm socket (Figure 2a), you should unscrew the 2 bolts in the front (Figure 2b) and 2 bolts in the rear (Figure 2c).

Figure 2a. 14mm 6-point socket used to remove seat bolts

Figure 2b. 2 front bolts visible on the driver's seat bracket Figure 2c. 2 rear bolts visible on the driver's seat bracket

Step 3: Before you take out the unbolted seats from the car, you have to disconnect all the electrical connectors below the seat. Lift up the front of the seat as shown in Figure 3a and locate the connectors. Some connectors will be attached to the seat bottom (Figures 3b, 3c and 3d) and you have to slide them off the tabs as seen in Figures 3d and 3e.

Using a flat screwdriver you will have to disconnect each of the three connectors - the big white one, the yellow airbag one and the small white one for the seat belt buckle (Figure 3b). Once disconnected you can remove the seat out of the car (Figure 3g).

Figure 3a. Lift the front of the seat up

Figure 3b. Disconnect the big white connector using a flat-head screwdriver

Figure 3c. Disconnect the small white connector

Figure 3d. The black tab is where the small white connector was attached

Figure 3e. Showing the grey tab for the big white connector

Figure 3f. Yellow connector is the airbag sensor connector

Figure 3g. All connectors have been disconnected and the seat removed

Step 4: We need to remove the seat belt buckle from the seat (Figure 4a), so that we can re-use it in the new seat bracket. Using the same 14” socket you can unscrew the bolt holding the buckle to the seat as shown in Figure 4b.

Figure 4a. Seat belt buckle bolt and the 14mm socket

Figure 4b. Seat belt buckle removed

Step 5: Now that the seat is out, we have an opportunity to clean the carpet thoroughly. If you look at Figure 5a, clearly the previous owner had dropped coffee (or blood) over the carpet and it needed serious cleaning. Even with 2-3 times of trying super hard with the best carpet cleaners as seen in Figures 5b and 5c, I could only get the carpets cleaned as shown in Figures 5d and 5e, for the driver and passenger side, respectively. But I think that was good enough.

Figure 5a. Dirty carpet on the driver side

Figure 5b. Meguiar’s Carpet Cleaner Spray with brush attachment

Figure 5c. Carpet cleaning foam in action

Figure 5d. Cleaned carpet on the driver side

Figure 5e. Cleaned carpet on the passenger side

INSTALL OF THE REPLACEMENT SEATS

If you are installing replacement stock seats, the installation is the same as the removal. But if you are installing aftermarket or racing seats, below is the process you want to follow.

Step 6: Gather the seats you need (Figure 6a) and place it on a workbench or in my case, a cheap plastic 6ft table from Home Depot as shown in Figure 6b. I started with the passenger seat first, since if I made a mistake, I could put the stock driver seat back in the car and still be able to drive the car.

Figure 6c shows the passenger seat bracket, made by Planted Technology, model SB075PA (Figure 6d) that we will be attaching the seat to.

NOTE: Since I purchased the seats used, the sliders were already bolted on them. If that is not the case, it is a simple alignment of 4 holes and 4 bolts using a 6mm hex key or a T6 socket.

Figure 6a. A pair of Braum Racing seats I want to install

Figure 6b. Place the Braum passenger seat on the workbench

Figure 6c. Seat bracket for the passenger seat made by Planted Technology

Figure 6d. Closeup of the label - model SB075PA

Step 7: Before you do anything, align the bracket to the holes in the car where the seat belt bolts will go in and hold the bracket. Figure 7 shows this clearly with the red circle showing that the hole is aligned and the red arrow showing where the seat belt buckle, that was removed in Step 5, will be attached.

Figure 7. Bracket must align with the holes in the car body

Step 8: Remove the seat belt buckle from the stock seat using a 14mm socket (Figures 8a and 8b). Install the seat belt buckle to the seat bracket first, to the hole pointed by the red arrow in Figure 7, as it is easier this way. You will need a M12-1.25 hex nut (Figure 8c) to hold the bolt in place and it will need to be torqued to 32-40 ft-lb as shown in Figure 8e. The final product should look like Figure 8d. The hex nut required a 19mm box wrench to hold it in place while I used the 14mm socket on the bolt to tighten it.

Figure 8a. Remove the seat belt buckle from the stock seat

Figure 8b. Seat belt buckle has to be bolted to the bracket

Figure 8c. Dorman M12-1.25 hex nut from an auto parts store

Figure 8d. Seat belt buckle fully bolted to the bracket

Figure 8e. Seat belt buckle torque from the service manual

Step 9: Now mount the seat to the bracket using the 4 bolts that came with the seat rails. Since I purchased used seats, I used the Sparco 50001 Bottom Mount Seat Hardware which comes with 4 long bolts for the slider to attach to the bracket, 4 nuts, and 4 short bolts for the slider to attach to the seats. You also need a 13mm socket for tightening the nut and 6mm Hex Allen Key for holding the bolt in place while you tighten the nut.

You will need some finessing of the seat rails back and forth to get them to align correctly on the bracket while you tighten each bolt. I used a rubber mallet and it came in handy to get the rails to move forward and backward, since they are tight and designed to move only when a heavy human is sitting on the seat.

Figure 9a shows how I have extended the rails forward and inserted the bolt in, and then Figure 9b shows how the nut has to be placed on the bolt. Figure 9c shows all the 4 bolts aligned and tightened and can be a reference for you on how to arrange them along the holes on the seat bracket. I ended up removing the seat belt buckle to do this as I struggled a bit to get it working, and then bolted the seat belt buckle back, as in Step 8, after it was done.

The process is the same for the driver’s seat as seen in Figure 9d. Remember to attach the seat belt buckle and run the buckle wire through one of the holes in the bracket as shown in Figure 9e.

Figure 9a. Extend the seat rails to expose the grooves and align the hole with the bracket

Figure 9b. Make sure the nut is outside the bracket with the washer for tightening

Figure 9c. View of the seat bolted to the bracket from the bottom showing the 4 bolts

Figure 9d. View of the seat bolted to the bracket for the driver's seat

Figure 9e. View of the seat belt buckle attached to the bracket with its wiring through the hole

Step 10: Now place the bolted seat and bracket combo in the car and install the stock seat bolts in place, for both front (Figure 10a) and rear (Figure 10b). Make sure you torque them to 32-40 ft-lb as shown in Figure 10c from the service manual.

Figure 10a. Seat bracket bolted in the front

Figure 10b. Seat bracket bolted in the rear

Figure 10c. Seat bracket torque specifications from the service manual

Step 11: Connect the seat belt buckle connector (as seen in Figure 9e) to the small white connector as marked by a circle in Figure 11a. It will just click and fit perfectly. Now test the stock seat belt on the seat by attaching it to the buckle and turning on the ignition to see if the car dash shows a light for no seatbelt (Figure 11b for illustration) and check the fit, and your comfort.

Figure 11a. Connect the seat belt buckle to the small white connector marked by the red circle

Figure 11b. Check the seat belt fitting

Repeat the same for the driver’s seat as well and now as seen in Figure 12, I have replace the stock seats with beautiful red Braum Racing seats. The seats are very comfortable.

Figure 12. View of Braum Racing seats installed in a G35 coupe

Installing a RAM® Mount in the Toyota 4Runner

Fri, 17 Mar 2023 00:00:00 -0400

There are many ways to get a phone or GPS mount installed in your Toyota 4Runner, but one of the most sturdiest ways, that will survive off-roading is to use the driver’s handle near the A-pillar.

In this post I show you how to install a RAM® Mount with the X-Grip® for your phone or GPS, with simple hand tools.

PARTS REQUIRED

Some of these parts can be bought together in a single package for cheaper, refer the links below for the best combination deal.

RAM® Mount RAM-B-367U 1” Ball
RAM® Mount RAM-B-201U Double Socket Medium Arm for 1” Ball
RAM® Mount RAM-HOL-UN10BU X-Grip® for Large phones
RAM® Mount RAM-HOL-UN7BU X-Grip® for Small phones
M6-1.0 x 75mm Socket Head Cap Bolts - The RAM® Mount ball comes with M8 bolts but the 4Runner accepts only a M6 bolt, so you have to buy a long M6 bolt instead.
M6-1.0 Nut and optional washer from your local auto-parts or home improvement store
T5 Allen Key or Socket
Phillips Screw Driver

INSTALLATION PROCESS

The A-pillar handle near the driver’s steering wheel is the best place to hang the RAM® Mount. The handle is screwed into the A-pillar with an M6 screw/bolt and all you do is replace that M6 bolt with another M6 bolt that fits the RAM® ball and the ball is bolted to the pillar and does not move. This is perfect for off-roading and street driving as your device stays in place.

Step 1: Take off the cover for the screw on the handle, using a flat-head screw driver or long finger nails. Figure 1 shows the screw that you can then remove using a Phillips screw driver.

Figure 1. Screw cap removed to show the screw that needs to be removed

Step 2: Now insert the 75mm M6-1.0 bolt in the RAM® RAM-B-367U ball (Figure 2a) and place a nut and washer that fits on the bolt below the head of the ball so that the ball will stay in place. The bolt can be too long, so you may choose to use a 65mm bolt instead. However, the ball then gets in the way of full tightening, so I used an M6-1.0 nut and washer to keep it tightly in place (Figure 2b).

Figure 2a. Insert the M6-1.0 75mm bolt in the RAM® RAM-B-367U ball

Figure 2b. Tighten the base with an extra nut and washer

Step 3: Now screw in the bolt using a T5 allen key or socket until it is tight (Figure 3). Adjust the nut in the rear to be tight by hand if the bolt does not go in fully. You want a little portion of the ball to be visible outside the handle so that the arm can be attached to it.

Figure 3. Screw in the bolt tight using a T5 socket or allen key

Here is what it will look like once tightened.

Figure 4. RAM® ball in place

Step 5: Loosen the RAM® RAM-B-201U double socket arm on one side and place it over the ball, and tighten it.

Figure 5.RAM® RAM-B-201U Arm attached

Step 6: Now attach your choice of RAM® X-Grip® to the arm using the other end by loosening the knob and then tightening it again. I used the RAM-HOL-UN10BU X-Grip® since I have a larger phone, but if you have a small phone you may want to purchase the RAM-HOL-UN7BU X-Grip®.

Figure 6. Attach the RAM-HOL-UN10BU X-Grip® to the other end of the arm

With this, now you can install the phone in the X-Grip® and drive over any terrain without worrying about it falling down. You can also use the phone or a GPS in there to show you directions when you need it, while not covering your stock infotainment system.

Carbon Fiber Wrapping the Infiniti G35 Coupe

Mon, 06 Mar 2023 00:00:00 -0500

In an earlier post we plastidipped the front grille and emblem on the Infiniti G35 coupe. But the G35 was seeing further paint wear issues as seen in Figure 1 and 2. The roof was looking pretty bad and starting to rust.

So I took a couple of quotes off Facebook Marketplace and Instagram for local installers who would install a carbon fiber wrap on the hood, roof and trunk. In the end I went with A. B. Wraphouse who did a fantastic job. He is just a young guy doing this from his home garage and is just into doing car cosmetic changes.

Figure 1. Roof paint is peeling

Figure 2. Hood paint looks worn out too

I dropped off the car for a few days, and he completed the wrap in a couple of days. He also used a clay bar on the car to remove the contaminants and cleaned it up further than what I had done. I had just hand washed the car with soap and water, no wax or polish, before dropping the car off for a wrap.

In all, it cost me around $1000 to get all of it done including material and labor. It was not as cheap as I had thought it wouldbe but it looks great and I am happy. I could have fixed the roof paint peel better but I let it be and chose the carbon fiber wrap to hide imperfections.

Below are some photos of what the car looks like now. The plastidipped Infiniti emblem was pasted back on the trunk.

There is also a video made by A. B. Wraphouse below for you to see. More videos are available on his Instagram.

Figure 3. Front view of the wrapped hood

Figure 4. Wrapped trunk

Figure 5. Top-front view of the wrapped roof

Figure 6. Top-rear view of the wrapped roof

Figure 7. Side view of the car with the hood and roof wrapped

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