Nice. Post some pics of the car when u finish that trim to be good. I've been thinking about blacking out mine, but not sure I want to on a silver car. And if so, not sure what product to use.

I appreciate the love, and glad I could help. The black SE tails really do look good, and that becomes even more true on a black car.

Did you use an eraser wheel to debadge trunk? Or did you get away without using one?

 

Detailed Car Wash.

 

@ D.Stillwell. I used a hairdryer on medium setting and a soft plastic scraper to remove the lettering. It was really easy. The harder part is getting the glue off. I used Goo Gone which is citrus based(I think, it smells like oranges). After that there was some ghosting of the letters which came off with some rubbing compound. Not sure if this is the proper way but it worked for me. Some people say use a clay bar but I didnt have one.

I used TrimBrite T9005 as was suggested in the forums here. Summit carries it. Im not going to recommend it until i do it over correctly and run it through some car washes. So later on Ill post some pics once it is pic worthy.

 

I installed my Midpipes for my custom sri. Love it dearly!

 

5.5 gen headlights got put in! Just need to find the time to paint my 5.5 bumper before i throw her on there

 

^^nice. What bulbs are you using in your headlight parking lights? Did you dremel some clear glass to replace the amber or use a pre existing size from _shiftice diy

 

You're the ******* who drives with hid fogs and blinds everyone.

 

Theyre clear stock! The turn signal has an amber lens. And just some el cheapos until i order some good ones.

 

No.... Those are leds that are quite dim in person Im no jack@$$.

 

^^Aah on second glance i see the ambers below ( missed it first time around; thought you had changed the amber lens)

 

It will happen though!

 

^ did you really just try to say thay those fogs are dim?



Do those fogs still have the glare shield inside? Looks like it was taken out of there. Looks pretty bright to me.


Headlights look real nice btw.

 

They are dim! The picture caught them at the best angle to make them look so bright. They may look bright... But theyre terrible at road illumination. Theyre in there for looks, since the halogen bulbs did nothing. (when i say do nothing i mean that when then headlight is on they are worthless). They cast that wide spread on the ground but after that its darkness. Shields are still in as well. Ill post a pic of halogen vs these leds output.

 

^ I see, guess it could certainly just seem to look bright. Id be interested to see a pic of the led vs halogen fogs.

Btw, if you want functionality there's always yellow fogs.

 

Just your average halogen bulb on the driver side.. Oem housing with no modifications.. Shows how dim the fogs truly are.. I put audi projectors in a set of junkyard fogs once and they were just as good as headlights.. But they didnt light the area right in front of the car and the output just got swallowed up by the headlights no matter what the weather was so i put the originals back in and using them just for their color.

 

^ Yup, those leds definitely have bad output. They do just look bright but bad road illumination.

At the least they do look good, never mind the output.

 

Appreciate your compliments!

 

Well.. Theres an issue with my headlights. Theyre badly scratched on the inside it appears. What could cause this and is this realistically fixable? Some people say they look cracked... But theyre completely invisible with the lights off so that makes me doubt it.. Idk

 

^ man, Im not the biggest expert on this but it looks like maybe they were damaged during retro, like baked too long or something.

Those (scratches) look like tiny cracks in plastic (people were right) perhaps from baking the lights? Definitely a stress crack type of look, not scratches.

 

I thought it looked like it was from a retro as well.. But theres no way theyve been opened before.. The seal is perfect and theres no other signs of it. You think so? I just feel like if it were cracks you'd be able to see them during the day..:/

 

Eh, kinda looked like a possibility. I doubt it tho, especially if they dont look messed with or ever opened..

Another possibility is that someone restored the lenses not very carefully, slightly scratching lens that u can only see with lights on.

 

I sold a set earlier this year that had similar issues. They were OEM original and never opened either. My belief is that the plastic is actually breaking down over time. Mine were more visible in daytime light then yours and in the areas most affected it felt like the plastic was structurally weaker.

 

That makes sense, I was thinking along those lines. Just stress on the plastic over the years.

 

The pictured surface cracks that appear on headlights...can slightly be fixed with a light wet sand/polish and a spray of clear coat on the headlights. It will drastically improve it visually. I have done so on previous cars yearss ago.

 

^ normally yes. The one I pictured was from an 02 and those cracks and spiderwebs were more on the inside than on the out. The pass side looked more like Kings pics. The ones on my 03 are almost mint with no signs of this. Weird how the plastic broke down so much on this particular 02's. Maybe different OEM suppliers or plastics?

 

Finally got around to installing my Megan Cat back exhaust. I still have to install the test pipe but I need to smog my car first.

I like the sound so far. Kinda quiet now but should sound better after the test pipe is in.

 

^ Nice. Good choice, if I do say so myself..

Wait till it breaks in

 

Someone's jealous they don't have HID fogs.

2013 JX35 engine is almost ready for the accessories to be mounted...

 

Realized I had a blown parking bulb about a week ago. Instead of replacing with an OEM style bulb I took a risk with a pair of T10 cree led ebay specials costing a whopping 10 bucks. I figured that it was safe to go cheap with a part like this, but maybe im wrong. Well they do work and look soo much better than the stock ones. I would compare them to 6000k HIDs in color. Lets hope they last and dont short out my electrical system!

Also made my appointment to have my TransGo HD2 installed next week. Im nervous.

 

Nothing to be nervous about. I installed mine two weeks ago and its great. The car puts the power down and the long shifts bouncing off rev limiter are history. You will like it

 

Test Pipe = HP

 

Ive read what people have to say about it here, mostly good things. What is your take on it? How is it when in traffic or "normal" driving? I know this has been talked about a lot but I cant get enough opinions.

 

It's not as bad as some would have you believe. In traffic you will learn how to drive it so the one two isn't as noticed. After the one two it's not very noticeable. The two three is just fast and crisp. One two over 4000 is like the two three it's not bad at all. Under 4000 its a thump but you can learn to minimize it once you're used to it. Other than that the other gears are like power shifting a manual. The transgo kit has woke up my auto. It's a whole different car. You will be satisfied.

 

I second all this ^^

You'll learn how to drive it. My 1-2 you cant even feel it at all, unless rpm is really low, like around 2000rpm accelerating from a dig. Like when some ******* barely accelerates in front of you, you can feel it shift then. Don't wanna describe it as a thump (at least not on mine) but more just that you can feel a solid crisp shift.

At WOT its a whole different beast tho, shifts are crisp and almost violent, not in a bad way. Violent as in hard and on point, quick, but no banging or thumping whatsoever.

Another thing is the car becomes very willing to downshift and start moving hard at any point any gear with over 50% throttle input. It will jump on you and send you flying lol especially in turns.

I love the kit, I'm sure you will too. If you have an auto and care for performance, this is a must.

 

I agree with this and thump was not a good word to use.

 

Awesome! Im really excited for this. Thanks guys!

 

The 1-2 kick

 

Cleaned my MAF. Had a slight hesitation when cold and a bit of a intermittent lumpy idle when hot, both appear to be gone after a couple of test drives. Used electrical contact cleaner, worked perfect.

 

One thing you might want to do is make sure all your motor mounts are fresh. I think that will help with the 1-2. Just a thought.

 

Check. I'll look into it. Either way they will have to be done after the kit.