UnsafeAtAnySpd

Well, if you all don't mind, I figured I would make a progress thread on my V here. I have one going on a Fiero forum I'm on, so the beginning of this will be much copy pasted here.

UnsafeAtAnySpd

I purchase my first V in the fall of last year. At the time it looked like this:














Mods by previous owner were:
Corsa Catback
Moore Performance Intake
BMR Anti-Wheelhop kit
Chromed Stock Wheels
V Logo Mats
Tint
Spoiler

UnsafeAtAnySpd

A few months later I hit some black ice and ended up with this:





The driver's side rear window is broke. You can see (not in this crappy picture, but in person) an impact point where it looks like a rock or something hit and broke it.


This rear quarter is pretty crinkled up.



Rear fascia is broken up some here.


And a couple more...

UnsafeAtAnySpd

Honestly though, it worked out pretty well financially. I bought the car back and picked up this higher mileage, R-titled '04:

UnsafeAtAnySpd

Living in CA while still being a MT resident made it take a while to get my plates, but here was the first pic with them (I picked up the Talon at the same time as this V):




Also, took the mats out of the old V and moved them to this one:

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Here are a couple of the V with my friend's Si. She painted her calipers and was pretty proud of herself :thumbleft: :

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I transferred the Corsa off of the wrecked car and also went ahead and installed some Kooks headers/highflow cats. (I realize it's crooked in the one pic):

UnsafeAtAnySpd

Since I was going to be needing to change the oil anyway, a few days prior I went ahead and tried seafoaming the car. I added one can to a full tank of gas, a half to the crankcase and then a half through the brake booster vacuum line.

The ensuing smoke cloud was actually less than I was expecting:

UnsafeAtAnySpd

Finally got around to taking out the POS stock shifter in this car to replace it with my UUC short throw shifter.

First step was to pull the center console:


Then unbolt the stock shifter from the console and linkage:


The new shifter has to weigh about three times more than stock. Here's the UUC unit on the left:


Then I needed to transfer over some of the old hardware and reinstall:


I also had some UUC poly bushings to replace the sloppy rubber stockers. No need to even say which is which:



Everything reinstalled except the boot and ****:


From underneath the car:



Impressions... The difference is amazing. As said before the stocker is a POS. Especially with those shitty rubber bushings. Really sloppy feel to it. Now everything is so much more crisp and smooth. Easier to find the gears. Alot quicker shifts. Really a night and day difference. Many people say this is the one must have mod. I'm definatly happy with it thus far.

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These are the first pics I got after I moved from CA up here:

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Well I need to do some things all around the car to 'update' it in an attempt to make me stop thinking about the V2. So I went ahead and started my LED conversion. I plan to convert all lights inside and out to LEDs. I had a rental DTS once that had interior LEDs and it was nice. Also, Lexus' plate lights look really good as well. All I've done thus far is some of the rear lighting. License plate lights and backups. It's really hard to capture the actual look with this camera. So anyway...
It's a pretty basic process, but I took pictures so here's the first step:

Then pull off the rear center part:

I don't have any before pics but I took these comparisons of the backup lights:



This is with one of each still:


And the final product:



The plate lights were really hard to capture so it looks like the middle isn't even lit, but it is. I still might try to find something that's more even though:

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Well I went ahead and installed the tinted sidemarkers with LEDs. I thought I had messed them up beyond repair originally when I baked them, so I went ahead and ordered a pair with the complete housing off of eBay. Afterwards I managed to finish up the project so now I have both sets. Now I just have to decide which style I like better. I have the 'clear' one on the driver's side and diffused on the other. The pics aren't the best because it's too cold/snowy to pull it out of the garage:

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I also picked up a set of billet aluminum radio ***** and door lock pulls. No more chipped radio ***** (just have to find a solution for the other buttons now). The finish matches the other stock pieces really well. I was most surprised at how good the lock pulls look. They should've come this way stock. Also, I'm kind of embarrassed about how messy the car is right now, so ignore that please.

Norm '88 GT

Clean for a salvage titled car. Was it a water car?

Jon05CTSV

Radio button fix: http://www.cadillacfaq.com/faq/answe...ons/index.html

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Hit in the front fender/door area. Biggest problem thus far (knock on wood) is the VIN on the door doesn't match and my key doesn't work in it.

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Thanks. I'm still deciding if I want to do that, pull the one from my other car or hold out for better replacement buttons.

Actually, I need to fix the CD player right now. It stopped working a week or two back. I think it might be jammed.

jerrad

iTrader: (5)

looks great man. I like the trunk pad.

UnsafeAtAnySpd

Yeah, I still have to grab that out of the other car.

needactsv

good job. enjoy, but stay away from the black ice.