802Projects
| Purchase a Key Cover | Background | My Solution | Installation Instructions | FAQ |
When Subaru released the 2004 STI in the US, it came with a very cool Titanium key. The Titanium portion was stamped with the STI logo and at the base of the key was a blue plastic piece. I always wanted one, but my motor swap is from a 2006 WRX. In 2005 Subaru started using their Immobilizer system. There is an Immobilizer control box under the dash, an antenna on the key ring, and a special chipped key (see boring looking key on right) that all works in conjunction with the ECU. Meaning it is not enough to have a key cut for your car, it must have the digital thumbprint inside it that matches everything. If it doesn't, the car will start and immediately shut off.
Some people would find a way to use the 2004 key. They would get it cut and then zip tie the chipped key behind the plastic steering column cover. Doing this negates the purpose of the security feature. I also wonder if it could leave the car in a "wake up state" (potentially increasing battery drain) because the key is in range of the ignition at all times. Another thing people would experiment with is cutting the chip out of the OEM key and gluing it inside the key fob. This seemed to have mixed results because depending on the ring used on the key, the fob could swing in and out of range. I wasn't happy with either of these options.
If you are not keen on reading, I have a few videos that outline my solution. The first is a 1 minute short if you don't have a lot of time. The second is my original video which goes into it in more detail. Now that I've revised my prints to use a Resin printer instead of a ABS filament, I now have a 3rd video explaining the differences.
My original idea was to carefully remove the blue plastic on the 04 Titanium key. Once removed I could mill out some metal material behind it, slide the chip in, and add the plastic back. I soon realized that this is IMPOSSIBLE. The blue plastic cannot be removed without ruining it. After learning this the hard way, I decided my only option was to develop my own plastic piece. I opted to design one that could house the entire immobilizer chip without any milling needed. I spent a few weeks developing it and tested 25 iterations before I was happy with it.
Here you can see the chip slid inside the key. It's a 4D62 chip. The chip in this picture came from a $10 replica key I bought and cut open. I have now sourced the chips in bulk if anyone needs one.
My original covers (which I'm referring to as V1 covers) were made with my filament printer out of ABS plastic. These would each take 35 minutes to print and the finish on them was not pretty. To get rid of the print lines, I had to hand sand each one and dip it in acetone. The acetone would soften/smooth the outer layer of plastic and leave it with a glossy finish when it dried/hardened back up. It was not a perfect process. Maybe 4 out of 10 I was happy with and could sell. The other 6 would have minor fitment/gap issues and I would trash them or toss them into packages as freebies.
The latest version of covers (which I'm referring to as V2 covers) are made with a Resin printer. Resin has it's own hurdles you have to overcome, but the end product can be more reliably reproduced. These have a 99% success rate. I can also print a batch of 18 of them in a little over an hour. When these are printed, washed and cured... they start out much smoother than the raw ABS prints. Despite this, I still hand sand them for an even smoother finish. Then I wet sand them lightly with a scotch-brite pad and coat them with satin clear coat.
This is what the finished product looks like. I think the resin blue is a closer match to the OEM color than the ABS filament was. The resin color that I am using is not an "off the shelf" color. I had to add my own resin dye to get the shade as close as possible. I also made some with black resin.
If you are interested in buying one, please use the Conact link on the side. Let me know what you want and where you are from. If you want me to program your chip, also let me know the Model/Year of your car. Some newer cars (2017+ Subarus) I cannot copy. Please refer to the FAQ section for more info on this.
I have sold over 200 covers in the past 2 years and more recently I've had 4 people run into fitment issues. For some reason the cylinder areas of their OEM keys was thicker than it should be. This causes the covers to be too tight and they crack/shatter trying to slide them on. I don't know why an OEM part would differ so much. But starting today I will include a free raw cover with every order to be used as a dry run with the install. I'd rather have a raw cover break than a sanded/finished one. Please follow the instructions carefully.
Fitment Issues? The width of the cylinder area on the OEM key should be 8.93mm (top left photo). I have had 4 people run into an issue where their keys were bigger than 9mm. They ranged from 9.08 to 9.24mm. When they tried to install my finished covers, they cracked. Ironically all of their OEM keys were also purchased on Amazon. I purchased one myself and it was 9.04mm. With mine the cover slid on without breaking (it required 2 hands and quite a bit of force), but I couldn't slide it off as it was too tight. I ended up having to break the cover off using pliers.
If your key is oversized, please contact me and I can help. There are really two ways to approach it.
Like I said, so far I've had 4 people run into this. I'd recommend buying the keys from your local dealer or eBay. Avoid Amazon. If this starts to be more of a problem I may have to come up with another approach. I'm considering buying/reselling the keys myself so I can pre-inspect and file them down if needed. However it is such a pain (and time consuming) to cut off the OEM blue plastic piece. I'm going to experiment with a dremel to see if that works better than a razor blade.
I will not be releasing the design (.STL) file. I had shared my cabin filter file to the community and now realize that was a mistake. I didn't mind if someone printed one for themselves or their friends. But other people (including a big corporation) began selling them on eBay. On top of that, I had people contacting me with install questions about a bracket I never sold them.
I have spent countless hours perfecting this. I went through 30 versions of design changes when I was printing them in ABS, and then another 17 when switching to resin to get it to fit as perfect as possible. I purchased expensive blue resin from all the major vendors to try and find the perfect color. Even then I was not happy and did trial/error with different resin dye. I bought the chips, bought the programmer, disected the titanium key, did the work... If I could have instead spent $25 to get one of my covers, I would have done that. Yet I still get people who ask me to send them the design file and get mad when I take the time to respond to something that is the FIRST question of the FAQ. It drives me nuts when I hear "I'll just make one myself". Anyways the answer is NO, absolutely Not.
There are two things we need to consider when it comes to fitment. Does the key physically fit in the ignition? And what kind of chip does my car need?
Physical Fitment: If you have an 05-07 STI/WRX it definitely fits. I know it works in many Foresters as well, including the 2008 Forester. Likely other year Subarus too. Basically look at the blade of your key and compare it to the titanium sti key. If it looks the same, it should physically fit in your ignition. If you have the newer style lasercut key (see pic below); it will not work. The blade is different.
Chip Compatibility:Does my car have a 4D62 Chip inside it? If you have a 2005-2016 Subaru; it should. In 2017 Subaru made the switch to an 8A chip. The physical dimensions of the 4D62 and 8A chips are the same. The technology inside them is different. The 4D62 chip uses a 40-bit key. The 8A chip uses a 128-bit key. My programmer is not advanced enough (and expensive enough) to copy 8A chips. I think the only programmers that can cost around $1000 and they also require plugging into your cards ODBII port. Obviously this is why I can't offer any kind of 8A chip copy service. If you have a 2017+ Subaru you'll either have to steal the chip from one of your keys (unsure if/how they can be removed) or talk to your local locksmith.
I use the JMD KING blue chip from odbshop: MORE INFO This chip comes from overseas and from my research it is quite common. It's used by a lot of aftermarket remote start installers. It is compatible with the Handy Baby 3 programmer, but may not be compatible with all programmers out there. I test that I can communicate with every blank chip before I send them out. If you plan on having a local locksmith copy it for you; you may want to check with them first to see if it will work. Your locksmith may want to use their own brand and refuse to use your chip. Check with them to see what it will cost. One person said their locksmith charged them $40 for a chip. It may be more affordable to send me your key. I buy the JMD KING blue chips in bulk and they cost me around $3.xx each. I don't think you can find anything else for cheaper. If you take a chance on the chips and your locksmith cannot copy them, I'll refund the $4 cost if you mail them back to me (scotch tape them to a piece of paper, tri-fold it up and stuff it in an envelope). You'd only be out the cost of a return stamp/envelope. Also to help others, I would like to compile a list of which programmers are compatible. When your locksmith tries to flash them, ask what programmer they use and report back and I'll add it here. If you have a 2017+ Subaru, these JDM King Blue chips will not work for you as they only support up to 80-bit codes. Subaru uses 128-bit codes starting in 2017. You will need an A8 chip instead which I don't stock.
I bought mine from SubaruPartsDirect (I believe they now go by SubaruPartsOnline) on eBay. I've also bought directly from the dealership. Knockoff keys do exist, and should be avoided. If you search on Amazon for "sti titanium key" you will see some made by Rldym or Gztoyu. This shows the difference between the OEM key and Rldym key. Notice the cylinder area is not even present on the knockoff key. The blade portion is also just a straight piece. It doesnt T out where it goes into the titanium handle. The hump area is also a slightly different shape and if you were to slide my cover on, it would show gaps. The difference in price between the OEM key and the Rldym key is around $6. Don't be cheap!
I do ship overseas if you pay for it. I ship everything in a padded envelope USPS First Class mail. Just let me know where you are from and what you want, and I'll get you an exact quote. Just to give you some rough prices from past shipments... $17 to Canada, $17 to Singapore, $22 to Australia, $20 to Germany. Also I have to fill out a custom form when shipping and it will ask for quantity and value. Depending on your country, you may be subject to taxes. I have no control over this. In just about every package I ship, I also toss in a few defect ones or raw ones for fun. So if you buy 2 covers for $50 + 22 shipping to Australia and I toss in 3 extra defect covers... on your customs form I'll just say I'm shipping you 5 key covers at $10 each vs 2 at $25 each. Also keep in mind that international shipping can be slow. It may take 3-4 weeks for packages to show progress when tracking.
Everything gets shipped out in a 5x7 padded envelope. I get these in 30 packs for around $10. By default I ship USPS Ground Advantage in the US and USPS first class overseas. A package is typically 2-3 ounces. I live about 15 minutes from the post office (meaning its a 30 minute round trip for me), so I try to make as few of trips as possible. Usually this is 1-2 times per week, but there are exceptions. If someone sends me their only key to copy for them; I'll make a special trip to get it out as fast as possible.
Very carefully. This is something you will have to tackle yourself. It's time consuming and not a service I want to offer. There is no way to remove it without destroying the plastic. But you want to take your time because you don't want to scratch the key. Its best to wrap key blade with masking tape. Then slice the plastic vertically in the cylinder area multiple times with a fresh razor blade. Do multiple cuts with minor pressure. Eventually it will get deep enough where you can pry it open with a small screwdriver. I've cut a few off myself and occasionally the key blade will be loose. You'll be able to slide it out of the titanium end. If this happens you can add a few drops of crazy glue and slide it back in.
Any locksmith can cut the key. Most hardware stores can as well and will likely be cheaper. My local Aubuchon Hardware has cut two keys for me for free. I would not mention anything about a "titanium" key. The only part that is titanium is the part you grip. The actual blade part they cut is normal metal. If you throw the word "titanium" around they may thing the part you cut is made of titanium and refuse to do it.
You can pull the chip from one of your OEM keys if you do not want to deal with copying the chip. Assuming you have an OEM key, if you look under your key you will see a little rectangular area. That is the edge of a tiny tray that holds the chip. If you use a small pick and heat gun, it is possible to slide it out without "destroying" the key. You may end up with a few pick prying marks. Thanks @blingstrom for the picture. If you have an aftermarket key where everything is moulded together, you can't remove the chip without destroying it. The chip is going to be towards the keyblade area, so whatever method you use (squeeze it in a vice, pliers, hacksaw etc...); Stay on the far end of the handle to avoid damaging the chip.
You could try your local locksmith or even Ace Hardware. They advertise online they sell chipped keys. Unsure if they can program them too. You could also try your Subaru Dealer. You could also buy the Handy Baby III programmer ($140), use it, and then resell it to someone else who needs it. Even if you lost $10-20 doing this, it's likely a locksmith would charge you more.
I will not be doing custom colors. However over time, I will likely buy different colors of resin for other projects. If I have a different color resin already in the VAT for something else, I may print a few key covers in that color and post them up as specials. Trying to offer every color under the sun is just not realistic. Resin is expensive and has a shelf life.
While it is technically possible, this is not something I will be doing. Learn to appreciate the STI logo that is stamped on the titanium portion:)
There are a few reasons. I think the finished product looks better. Another big reason is for consistency. With the filament prints, I would have to hand sand and acetone dip each one. In a batch of 10, about 4 would end up being sellable. The other 6 would have minor fitment issues. They also took 35 minutes each to print. Meaning to print 10 would take about 6 hours. Then I would spend about an hour and a half sanding them all. After dipping and test fitting, I'd end up with ~4 good covers. With the resin printer I can print 18 of them in just over an hour. I still need to sand them, but in raw form they start off much smoother than the ABS filament prints. Plus every one I finish comes out successful.
There are some drawbacks to Resin that I had to overcome...
The raw prints are more geared towards the DIY person. Maybe you don't mind hand sanding them yourself and using your own clearcoat to save some money. Or maybe you want to paint them or use a semi-gloss/gloss clearcoat vs satin. When I hand sand them I use 400 grit. I focus on just the flat surfaces first, ignoring the edges. There are 13 flat areas. Then I scuff up everything (including the edges) with a 3M yellow scotch brite pad. Then I rinse. I use two finish nails driven into a piece of wood to support them while spraying the clearcoat. Technically you can use them as-is in the raw form, but I recommend clear coating them. It will help prevent scratches and provide some UV protection. Here is a video that goes over the exact process I use.
When I made my cabin filter brackets I did an oven test to make sure they would hold up in a hot car. Resin prints do not have melting issues like ABS prints. I've tested scratching them with my fingernail (which is possible on raw prints, but doesn't leave any marks once clear coated). I've read that UV exposure can make UV prints more britte over time which is why UV protection is needed. I have 3 raw prints that have been sitting in my bay window for nearly a year now that seem just as flexible. Since I clearcoat them and can't imagine people leave their keys directly in the sun 24/7; they should be fine. I also have a few in my freezer. I went through multiple prints to get the "tightness" perfect. Too loose and the covers could want to slide off. Too tight they could want to break when sliding them on. I'm able to take one directly from my freezer and slide it onto a room temperature key without any issues.