I figure it's time to make an official build page. It's a very slow moving project so I didn't think I'd need one, but here'goes! This car has already come a long way from it's humble beginnings:
BEFORE:
NOW:
Most of my work up to this point has been aesthetic. But hopefully, soon I can begin to strategize on some power!
I just got it today, but I love it so far... screws up nice and tight, I like the feel of the button, the look... 10/10 so far.
I had to play with at first to find the sweet spot where to mount it. First it was too low, and I could move the stick into park w/o even depressing the button, then too high and it wouldn't come out of park, and there was a weird spot i had to figure out because it wouldn't let me pull my key out of the ignition? But everything is perfect now.
Too late! I f**ked that paint up before it had even dried. My wife is a disaster when it comes to cars too... she's the reason I had to replace the entire front end. And even after the paint she's plagued my baby with dents and nicks from her clumsiness. I love her, but goddamn woman! I'm dreading when we have to turn in our lease (her car). They're going to kill us for all the bodywork it's going to need, and we've already had one claim on it... it's only been a year.
Thanks though, I still like it, scratches and all.
Very nice color bro! Do u have a rear shot of the car? On a side note i have family in Virginia! Dont know how you live there........that state is strict!!!
Very nice color bro! Do u have a rear shot of the car? On a side note i have family in Virginia! Dont know how you live there........that state is strict!!!
I have a lot of shots up on another thread, but I suppose if this is going to remain my build thread I should put some pics up here. Still kind of new to this whole forum thing, this is the first one I've ever been on in my life.
You're not kidding man, I've lived here for 3 years, but have only had the car for like 6 months and I've already been pulled over once for my exhaust, twice for not having a plate on the front, once for my tint... but I always have a story for the cops and haven't gotten any tickets(yet). Well, I got a ticket for the plate, but I took a picture that made it look like it was on, went to the court and showed it to the clerk and they dropped it! So just in case, I took pictures of my car w/o tints before I got them, so if I get a ticket for them, I'll just bring those pictures in and get it dropped.
Here are the most recent pictures of the car. Immediate plans include LS Mesh wheels, lowering it about an inch more and getting a new muffler put on.
And this is the only one showing the rear, but it's before I painted the rims.
Oh yeah.......loving the color man! Keep us posted on any changes!! Good luck with them cops! I dont even drive my car to VA no more because i got sick of the harassment! Last time i took it i got stopped on my way home for my tint and i was just 40 freaking miles from the TN/VA stateline!! Yeah got a pretty little pink ticket too! I was pissed!!!
Oh yeah.......loving the color man! Keep us posted on any changes!! Good luck with them cops! I dont even drive my car to VA no more because i got sick of the harassment! Last time i took it i got stopped on my way home for my tint and i was just 40 freaking miles from the TN/VA stateline!! Yeah got a pretty little pink ticket too! I was pissed!!!
Oh yeah.......loving the color man! Keep us posted on any changes!! Good luck with them cops! I dont even drive my car to VA no more because i got sick of the harassment! Last time i took it i got stopped on my way home for my tint and i was just 40 freaking miles from the TN/VA stateline!! Yeah got a pretty little pink ticket too! I was pissed!!!
Got my LEDs today and swapped them in for all of the bulbs in my gauge cluster. They are the amber LEDs, hoping they'll kind of match with the car.
Baby monitor close, because I'm a responsable father
I removed the 2 lamps at the top of the cluster that shine onto the face of the instrument panel... I want to see how it looks with ONLY the LEDs first
Tune in tonight to see the finished product, I'm hoping the results are noticeable.
so... I went out tonight, and by the time we were heading home it was dark, so it was the big moment. Turned on the lights and... can someone say HOT and COLD spots!
I'm not happy with the big gaps in lighting... I'm in love with the way the gauges look where the light is actually strong, but the spots have got to be resolved somehow. Any ideas? I'm going to order one more set of LEDs for the lamps that I left unhooked that shine down onto the gauges from the top, see if that helps to even out, or mask some of that hot and cold s**t, but this isn't going to fly. The color is great though... just need to fill in the blanks. Has anybody painted the conventional bulbs colors and had good results? I'm curious how to achieve a consistant brightness throughout with that orange look I'm going for.
Nope, every possible bulb that isn't a warning light is now an amber LED... it's just that they are so directional I guess. I'll figure something out to fix it though, and I'll be sure to update.
BTW thanks for your comment on the paint. It's really grown on me... it wasn't the color that the car was supposed to be (nissan/infiniti - Solar Orange A53) and I was pissed when I picked it up from the dude who sprayed it. But I kept it, and have come to LOVE it. There are few colors I could think of painting it now that I've gotten used to this, because it's just so unique. Glad to hear you like it though, it's definitely an eye catcher, whether people like it or not.
Here is some advice I have after many many hours slaving over LEDs and a soldering iron. you want leds in your gauge? fine, get a gauge that was designed to use them. Swap out with a 2004 cluster. in the end it will be less wiring and look way better. However if you are dead set on putting leds in your dash i can give you some tips.
2. leds are not like regular bulbs, they are diodes and only work in one direction. i would take your cluster out and switch the ones that are not lighting up around and see if that works.
3. YOUR CAR IS SO FING COOL!!!! that color really is the bees knees.
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