Good points. I started a thread because I've searched before and tried searching again for solutions. No good answers though, and I'm certain a few guys have done what I"m considering, this is common for ALL AE shifters.

 

I wish I was in your area, I'd love to do a photoshoot with that car. We should set something up before summer hits.

Please tell me you're going to use a real camera when you're doing the final pictures?

 

I'm late to this party.

The whole point of coilovers is to drop the car as much as you want, without affecting suspension travel, therefore maintaining consistent ride quality/handling.

I've brought my coilovers from a two finger gap down to tucking the tires with no change in ride quality.

 

Ouch. That's gotta hurt.

When taking outdoor shots, all you need is a monkey and a shutter button.

For awesome indoor shots and macros, you need is a good bounce flash and a creative eye. But the camera itself is less important than the lighting (IMO).

But taking nighttime shots... that's hugely difficult without skills and the right equipment. (Neither of which I have, really.) And since the OP is focused on LED lighting, this is certainly a project for him to figure out how to take amazing low-light photos that showcase the LED work. It's a really hard thing to do.

Based on what I've seen, I think he'll come up with something soon.

 

LOL, thats not the true intention of coilovers.
They are originally designed to be adjustable for different track conditions, however the majority now use them to slam their ride.

 

I somewhat disagree, but don't have the knowledge base yet to say one way or the other. I do know that the lower I go, the worse the ride will be.

That's simple. If I drop more, I will need the dampers tighter to reduce body roll and bounce so it doesn't rub. Which means the ride will be harsher. If I had the dampers backed off then it may be a smooth ride still but I'd rub on every little imperfection or on any decent curve.

I'm already rubbing on hard cornering (pushed to the limits before skidding) and I've got the Dampers fairly snug already.


I also live in Canada, the roads here suck, as well as having winter
I'm already going to push snow at this setting. As I stated, my tire Diameters are all messed up right now.

My winters are 1" lower than stock. My Summers (G37s currently installed), are 1" higher than stock.

Until I wear out the current summers and old winters, I have to allow for that difference as well. That's why it still looks like it's sitting high, I'm actually tucked just a bit right now, the tire diameter is just too big.

 

Tuner, does anyone make a cigarette lighter plug which uses decorative lighting?

Wouldn't it be cool to have a little OLED screen that you could download graphics to?

Pointless, sure... I was just daydreaming, is all.

 

Cool idea, too small though. And anything bigger than the stock hole size would require modification, or would look way out of place.
________________________________
Anyways, continuing to bounce around on projects as I always do
My headlights are ready to go back together, I finally got the lenses. I still don't have HID bulbs because HIDextra scammed my money.

I'm not super happy with the Malibu Lenses, but i think it's more of a finished look than leaving them out. I think I made the right choice. And once it goes back together, you won't really be able to tell.
The lenses will never be clean enough to see that well inside. I wish they made new lenses.

 

Apr 18 2011 Update, Headlights pretty much done finally. see post 39 for all pics.

I finally said the heck with HIDextra and their crap, and drove to T.O. today to get new bulbs.

DISCLAIMER: Still need to clean the lenses, and do a full wire-in, the Bumper is not alligned since install.

 

The car looks awesome Matt. Visually speaking I wouldn't touch a damn thing on it now.

 

My tires rub at my height. But the ride quality is unaffected. Turn the dampers up a little more, I've found that the ride quality does not decrease noticeably, but the handling is much better. Just my experience.

I want these headlights. Excellent work.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiight. Yeah that's the truth.

 

Enjoy some justified pride on that work, Tuner. You earned it.

Well done, sir.

 

LOL. I've got the dampers up fairly stiff, and I'm still rubbing. It's the tire size, once I get on the low-profile Pirellis (stock diameter) I should be ok. I did turn the dampers up so I got the handling benefit, before they were pretty bouncy. What are you lowered on anyways?


Thanks guys, I'm pleased with the overall appearance up front now. I do have to pop apart the left foglight because I foolishly forgot to put the vent filter in, and now it's getting fogged up.

Other than that, I am pretty close to completion on the bulk of the exterior modifications. The next biggest item will probably be the BBK, I have no idea if/when that will happen, I have a lot of research to do on it and little to no time.

The car desperately needs a proper Wash and Wax...

 

 

Oh I had a real LOL moment there John, thank you.

I am not changing that, that's perfect, sig-worthy even, if I wasn't me, I'd sig that shyt right away. I may still do it.

 

I really can't get over how sweet that detailed paint looks.

I thought I had wasted my time with taping off the 'edge' of the housing piece, but god damn, it really looks incredible, it accents just beautifully, very subtle, but it makes a serious difference in the overall appearance.

I just had to post that, like, seriously, look at it. The edge that is on the 'inside' of the headlight especially (toward the grill)

 

Rolling the fenders would be worth considering if it comes to that. I'm on D2 RS coilovers up front and NEX GTs in the rear.

 

Alright, big thanks to Mr.ShakDaddy, Finally got a set of 2003 GLE Gauges done.

This is the 'Budget friendly' 5.5 LED Conversion. Average cost is about $125 CAD if anyone is wondering.

Pics taken in daylight with something draped over the gauges, and again, done with my point and shoot camera so it is showing hotspot around 6000 RPM, there are actually no visible hotspots to the naked eye.
The pictures also came out blue for some reason, they're not blue, actually quite white.

Before: (stock Tach & Temp):



After: Tach & Temp:



After: Speedo and Fuel Gauge



After: Cluster



Can't wait to do more of these. Very bright output and No Hotspotting, for the money~ it's a Bargain.
I am going to experiment with different colours I think as well, need to put another order in once I get a few more jobs done.

I want to do a MPH Gauge too, someone send me one!!! I think they will turn out even better because the spacing is more uniform.

 

what didnt u like about the mailbus? i think they are amazing for not being original... in other words they look original...

 

i cant necessarily agree w/ the lower you go the harsher the ride will be...as low as i went..the only issue i had was the axles binding...but thats on my BCs...of course i raised it up because of the above mentioned issue. but meh it is what it is...

 

They just don't match as good as I expected. they work fine though. You would never notice without looking really hard at them, and even then, most people would likely have no idea that they aren't stock.
They also look much better than no lens, the bulb entry point just makes it look weird without a lens.

Yeah I dunno, just speculation on my part, but the simple fact is, even though the damper/spring travel doesnt change with ride height, the rest of the suspension travel DOES, as such, the Axel, Ball Joint, Tie Rod, Sway bar, Control arm angles and travel are changed. This means you need to stiffen the suspension the lower you go if you want to try and save those components somewhat, and stop from bottoming the suspension out. If you ride them 'soft', then the stock suspension componentes and axels wear quickly, and the more extreme the angles they're on the worse the ride quality (this point is marginal).

So in short, yes, you can be slammed and have a smooth ride still, but you're comprimising the components even more, not to mention the handling isn't as good.

All that said, I've decided to lower it a little more I think, just waiting for decent weather, if it ever stops raining here.

 

yea mine is set not super soft, but just perfect enough for DD ride and to take a corner while i'm DD...i can adjust it up a bit when/if i hit a auto-x/road course

 

Temporary Velocity stack and Filter installed, almost back to work! Should get a chance to do the CAI in the next month or two if nothing else comes up





And I have to say, I"m going to miss the sound when I do the CAI....
Video has some weird noise interfering, maybe the wind? Dunno.

 

oh yea...they doooooooooooo sound epic on the SRI...but when you get a catback/etc, you wont hear it anymore lol

 

Whooo says I'm getting a catback?

y pipe eventually. Maybe catback if it gets rusty (inevitable I suppose)

 

Sounds good. My JWT intake sounds like a vacuum cleaner at idle too.

 

You better get a jump on that Cattman Y-pipe... I think someone is getting a batch going, and it might be Brian's last.

From what I understand, it's the most cost-effective power mod for the 3.0.

 

i heard OBX has a 3" ypipe...

 

I think they all sound like that, especially when they first start up.

I want to sooo bad. I have too much money to pay back right now. After a winter if irresponsible spending, it's time to wake up. I will not be spending any money on mods for the next while.

Yes, it is the most cost effective mod you can do, arguably even for the 3.5.
And after I do the CAI, it's the next on the list for sure, those 2 mods will be my largest power adders for quite some time.

 

Not on the 3.5 so much. As far as cost-effectiveness goes, Phenolic Intake Spacers take that prize.

Seriously, if you've got a shot at buying a new Cattman y-pipe for your AE, you should take that opportunity before it's no longer an option. Personally, I'm kind of bummed that a TechnoSquare Tune is no longer an option for my car. Similar regrets.

Regrets suck.

 

Alrighty, been a while. Here's some shots of my new Daytime running lights/Highbeams. Pictures are with DRL's on only. Bulbs are 9005 Putco 'Jet Yellow'

 

Finally installed the Underhood Neon's as well, a couple photos here, I'll update the old post for the underhood lights as well (I did install just one previously, as well as a little SMD board)















[/QUOTE]

 

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! love!! those yellow DRLs man! you should connect them to your park lights and fogs and switch out to 3Ks on your fogs.

 

Hood-lighting looks good! How'd you attach them and how do they turn on... got a switch somewhere?

 

check his thread about his wiring for the hoodlight...its pretty neat

 

http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generat...g-mod-diy.html

Yup yup, used the OEM security switch. Thanks man, I am liking it so far, a mechanics dream.

 

Thanks slim, I love em too. I like the fogs as they are though, just going to change to 4300k (what they were supposed to be in the first place). That way when my DRL's are on, yellow, and when healights are on, all HID white.

May put amber in the signal portion and run them with the DRL, but I doubt I'll mess with that any time soon.

 

everything looks great man loving the DRL's and the underhood lighting much props on the everything

 

Hey Tuner, how'd you get daytime running lights going on that setup?

 

Canadian car so we have DRLs, I just installed Jet Yellow High beam bulbs.