Back in the Saddle: My Minimalistic Daily Driver Project SS
10-27-2009, 12:19 AM
#42
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No wealth left. LOL I got a little extra money on my truck deal, and payed forward my first month of not having a truck note to do all this stuff to the new car. The wheels drained me though. Time to replenish the funds, but most of the primary stuff is done. Just need to decide on tint and that'll be it for a while. I'll wait a little while before the next round. Want to put a dent in some of these pesky student loans.
10-31-2009, 05:36 PM
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Heck yeah Gh0st, the GTOs are so nice but it wasn't a car I wanted to have dropped $30k on purchasing when push came to shove.
Got the windows tinted today (20% door windows and one-piece hatch, 5% t-tops) and will be going back in a week to get the front windshield tinted (45% neutral tint, doesn't have a charcoal shade like regular tint does but slightly darkens the front window and more importantly cuts glare from headlights at night and the sun during the day). I stopped and snapped a few quick pictures on the way home. The car is flat out filthy from all the rain we've had the past few days. These will have to do to get a general idea of what the car is looking like now.
Still need to paint the brake calipers, brakes, and drums. Still need to ditch the tips completely and put turndowns above the bumper line in the rear. Still need to Whistler-mod the headlights. Debating whether to keep the stock amber front side markers or go diamond clear, clear with a black housing, or tint them with Niteshades. Past that she's pretty much done in the appearance department.
Got the windows tinted today (20% door windows and one-piece hatch, 5% t-tops) and will be going back in a week to get the front windshield tinted (45% neutral tint, doesn't have a charcoal shade like regular tint does but slightly darkens the front window and more importantly cuts glare from headlights at night and the sun during the day). I stopped and snapped a few quick pictures on the way home. The car is flat out filthy from all the rain we've had the past few days. These will have to do to get a general idea of what the car is looking like now.
Still need to paint the brake calipers, brakes, and drums. Still need to ditch the tips completely and put turndowns above the bumper line in the rear. Still need to Whistler-mod the headlights. Debating whether to keep the stock amber front side markers or go diamond clear, clear with a black housing, or tint them with Niteshades. Past that she's pretty much done in the appearance department.
Last edited by josh99ta; 11-01-2009 at 02:55 PM.
11-01-2009, 01:00 PM
#48
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Thanks guys. 
The stock corners are sticking out like a sore thumb to me now though. They have to go. I can't decide between clear corners or Niteshades tinted corners though. What do you guys think?
The stock corners are sticking out like a sore thumb to me now though. They have to go. I can't decide between clear corners or Niteshades tinted corners though. What do you guys think? 
11-01-2009, 01:27 PM
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I will be doing the Whistler mod for sure. I should have photoshopped that also. I think you guys are right. Stock headlights = clear corners. "Whistler" headlights = tinted corners.
11-02-2009, 12:17 PM
#52
hey josh this is totally off subject but do you go to the rod-run in pigeon forge april/sept ? The reason I ask is I was going to keep a eye out for this car when I head that way next april, u keep adding to this dd, lol it's making me get the mod bugg again for my dd ....and lol thats bad!.... so stop it lol J/k.......
I had clear corners on my car but they started like melting where as from heat from the bulb I guess & got the back side and towards the top of them started turning black overtime ....I loved the clear corners too but they didnt last long I went thru 2 sets then said the heck with it and went back with a fresh pair of stockers....
I had clear corners on my car but they started like melting where as from heat from the bulb I guess & got the back side and towards the top of them started turning black overtime ....I loved the clear corners too but they didnt last long I went thru 2 sets then said the heck with it and went back with a fresh pair of stockers....
11-02-2009, 03:07 PM
#53
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I've never been out there CULATR. I usually try to make it to the Shootout and I may swing down to the F-Body Gathering in Atlanta next year, all depends on my work schedule.
I went ahead and ordered the clear side markers (black housings), best of both worlds. Hopefully the bulbs don't melt or deform the housings after time. It's hard to believe a little bulb could melt plastic, but maybe I'll look into LED replacement bulbs if they put out a little less heat and would minimize the chances of melting the housings.
I'm on call on Mondays and happened to have today off, so I threw in the 6000k HIDs in the low beams and fog lights. Looks great. I also tried to do the Whistler mod while the headlights were off the car, and it was a complete failure. One light came apart like butter, just wedged the tip of a flathead screwdriver in the seam in one spot and easily pulled it apart by hand. The other headlight was a total disaster. That glue was like cement, so I'm wondering if it had been apart before and put back together with something more heavy duty than the stock adhesive. I continued to heat it to try to loosen the adhesive but all it did was make the back housing more brittle. I cracked the back of the housing in four different places trying to get the front lens separated, including taking a huge chunk out of it, and never once did the front lens budge.
Rather than completely destroying the housing and leaving myself without lights on my daily driver, I chalked it up as a loss and put the other lens back together, and tried to patch up the cracks in the housing that wouldn't come apart, then I scored some Halos with black housings online. I knew everyone does the projector headlights on these now, but I dislike how there are only two smaller non-black areas where the low and high beams are, and I also dislike the LEDs (even though they can be disabled, I still don't like the look of them in there). The projector housings that have three non-black areas still look funny to me because the center circle is so small, and they still have LEDs in them. Halos are so close to the Whistler mod anyway, and they're also really cheap now that all these projector housings are out, so I went that direction. The best look and the least cost (second only to the Whistler mod, but now that one of my lights is botched a single replacement would be at least as much as the Halos).
I'm still undecided on whether I want to hook up the Halos or not. I really don't know about tapping into my fog light wiring since the HIDs are using it, and I don't know how the additional strain would interact with the HIDs. I may leave them unconnected, or I may wire them into the DRLs so that they're on whenever the vehicle is on.
I am a little disappointed that the Whistler mod didn't work out, but the Halos will be fine. I actually think the Halos look better, although only slightly.
I went ahead and ordered the clear side markers (black housings), best of both worlds.
Hopefully the bulbs don't melt or deform the housings after time. It's hard to believe a little bulb could melt plastic, but maybe I'll look into LED replacement bulbs if they put out a little less heat and would minimize the chances of melting the housings.I'm on call on Mondays and happened to have today off, so I threw in the 6000k HIDs in the low beams and fog lights. Looks great. I also tried to do the Whistler mod while the headlights were off the car, and it was a complete failure. One light came apart like butter, just wedged the tip of a flathead screwdriver in the seam in one spot and easily pulled it apart by hand. The other headlight was a total disaster. That glue was like cement, so I'm wondering if it had been apart before and put back together with something more heavy duty than the stock adhesive. I continued to heat it to try to loosen the adhesive but all it did was make the back housing more brittle. I cracked the back of the housing in four different places trying to get the front lens separated, including taking a huge chunk out of it, and never once did the front lens budge.
Rather than completely destroying the housing and leaving myself without lights on my daily driver, I chalked it up as a loss and put the other lens back together, and tried to patch up the cracks in the housing that wouldn't come apart, then I scored some Halos with black housings online. I knew everyone does the projector headlights on these now, but I dislike how there are only two smaller non-black areas where the low and high beams are, and I also dislike the LEDs (even though they can be disabled, I still don't like the look of them in there). The projector housings that have three non-black areas still look funny to me because the center circle is so small, and they still have LEDs in them. Halos are so close to the Whistler mod anyway, and they're also really cheap now that all these projector housings are out, so I went that direction. The best look and the least cost (second only to the Whistler mod, but now that one of my lights is botched a single replacement would be at least as much as the Halos).
I'm still undecided on whether I want to hook up the Halos or not. I really don't know about tapping into my fog light wiring since the HIDs are using it, and I don't know how the additional strain would interact with the HIDs. I may leave them unconnected, or I may wire them into the DRLs so that they're on whenever the vehicle is on.
I am a little disappointed that the Whistler mod didn't work out, but the Halos will be fine. I actually think the Halos look better, although only slightly.
11-02-2009, 10:58 PM
#54
cool yea i was thinking bout trying led's but lol i gave up a and got distracted on other things and projects ....where did you get the clears from if you dont mind me asking i might try it yet again and this time by some led's just to be safe. Throw up some pics of your hid lights when you can sometime, sucks bout the whistler mod but i imagine from the sound of it you will be ok on the lights and i like the halos just as much as the whistler mod ...
11-03-2009, 07:13 AM
#55
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Ebay for the clear corners. They're all the same I'm sure, just one of the many sets of the black housings and clear lenses. I'm trying to think of ways besides LED bulbs to reduce heat but we'll see how the stock bulbs do first.
11-03-2009, 07:35 PM
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Got the RedlineGood boots in today. I read on here that Redline's "charcoal" leather matched the stock "ebony" interior, and that is not correct. It's too light. Hopefully they'll work with me on an exchange, but since it's a one-off part I'm not holding my breath. Looks like I'll have to find someone with the factory medium gray interior that wants boots and an arm rest cover with red stitching that I can ship this too after they order a set of black boots and ship them to me. This is one of the little mods I was most excited about to really bring the car up a notch. What a letdown. 
11-16-2009, 09:39 PM
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So I made a separate post for the last round and cleaning the car up really well. Two pictures from the shoot...
The side molding had to go, so I pulled that, and I also needed to work on a few other things lighting-related. I pulled the stock amber corners for clear lenses with black housings. I couldn't decide between clear lenses or Niteshades on the stock amber corners, so I thought these would turn out to be the best of both worlds. I have some chrome bulbs that light up amber on the way to replace the stock clear bulbs. The actual socket for the corner light stuck out like a sore thumb so I took some black touch-up paint and painted the outside of it black. I like the corners. I think they look better than the stock ambers, only in the sense that they make the car look more uniform. But then again I like how the stock amber corners added some contrast, so we'll see which ones I go with in the end. Here are the rest of the things I did lately...
!Side moldings and !DRLs
High beams + fog lights mod (fogs stay on with high beams now instead of going off)
High beams + low beams mod (lows stay on with high beams now instead of going off)
Removed Hurst emblem off the rear and also removed the bowtie beside "SS" on the rear
Quick pictures of the side markers and removed moldings and badges...
Still trying to sell these RedlineGoods boots so I can get the color I need.
The side molding had to go, so I pulled that, and I also needed to work on a few other things lighting-related. I pulled the stock amber corners for clear lenses with black housings. I couldn't decide between clear lenses or Niteshades on the stock amber corners, so I thought these would turn out to be the best of both worlds. I have some chrome bulbs that light up amber on the way to replace the stock clear bulbs. The actual socket for the corner light stuck out like a sore thumb so I took some black touch-up paint and painted the outside of it black. I like the corners. I think they look better than the stock ambers, only in the sense that they make the car look more uniform. But then again I like how the stock amber corners added some contrast, so we'll see which ones I go with in the end. Here are the rest of the things I did lately...
!Side moldings and !DRLs
High beams + fog lights mod (fogs stay on with high beams now instead of going off)
High beams + low beams mod (lows stay on with high beams now instead of going off)
Removed Hurst emblem off the rear and also removed the bowtie beside "SS" on the rear
Quick pictures of the side markers and removed moldings and badges...
Still trying to sell these RedlineGoods boots so I can get the color I need.
