Latest Things Done to My Car

sneaky98gt

10 Year Member
Apr 23, 2008
2,387
144
114
NC State University
Well, this is plenty overdue, but I finally got around to doing it. I've done several things over the last few months. Here we go.


First, I cleaned up the carpet and floor mats. They were rather nasty, and I regularly got (bad) complaints about them. I used Blue Magic Spot and Stain Remover. This stuff is awesome; it took the stains right out. It required some time and elbow grease, but they came right out. The two mats below looked identical before, then I cleaned the one on the left. The results speak for themselves.
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For Christmas, I got a new set of floor mats from AM. I really like the way they look and feel. Also got the dash utility compartment (below the radio) from a local car audio shop.
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Next up were the rear fenderwells. They were rather nasty looking, so I decided to give them a nice cleaning and coat of paint. I used black Krylon plastic paint. It still seems to be holding up quite nicely.

This is before.
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This is all the rubber that was in the fenderwell....:D
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This is after. The camera flash makes it look a little more shiney and uneven than it actually is.
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While I was at it, I decided I'd go ahead and repaint the rear calipers, brackets, and rotors. I actually took it all apart this time, and baked the brackets and rotors to help cure the paint on them. I also let a hair dryer blow on each caliper for a couple hours. It all still looks good, even after close to 6 weeks of driving in the rain and salty roads.

Before:
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After:
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I also completely detailed the car, inside and out at this same time, but didn't take any pictures of it. I replaced the right rear bumper reflector as well. It had been gone for over a year now.


Next up was the fog light mod, which allows for the fog lights to be on without the headlights on. I think that look (parking lights and fog lights) is just drop dead sexy at about dusk. After seeing how easy it was, I figured I'd give it a try. Took me 15 minutes, and it worked perfectly.
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Lastly, I got around to doing the LED gauge cluster swap, which basically involves swapping the bulbs behind the gauge cluster to LEDs instead of incandescent bulbs. This changes the gauge color to blue. It only took about an hour, and I really like the way it looks. It only costs a few dollars; I think it was like $10 for 10 bulbs. The main reason I did it is because I'm going to get the Cobalt gauges from Autometer for my SC install, and I wanted everything to match. The pictures don't do justice to how they look; they are quite a bit brighter than the picture makes them look. They are brighter than stock (if I want them to be), very blue, and the dimmer still works perfectly.
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I think that's about it. I'm going to be starting on stuff for my supercharger very soon, like the fuel pump, gauges, etc. I'm going to start a progress thread on it soon. Stay tuned. (No pun intended.)
 
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Looking good ! You should get a shifter ball from UPR , this way you can get rid of the ugliest shifter handle ever !

I got the satin aluminum but they also have polished alum. and black , I think its 40 bucks , well worth it !:nice:
 
Looking good ! You should get a shifter ball from UPR , this way you can get rid of the ugliest shifter handle ever !

I got the satin aluminum but they also have polished alum. and black , I think its 40 bucks , well worth it !:nice:

I looked at those and they sure look nice. The next things my car is going to get after I finish my SC install are some appearance mods. Chin spoiler, shifter handle, lowering springs, etc.

def looks nice. i changed my cluster bulbs a few months ago, my only complaint is now the dimmer doesnt work. oh well
did you paint the wheel well liners on the car or take them off?

My dimmer is working as of now. I painted them on the car. I taped everything up beforehand. While I was painting, I stuck the nozzle of our ShopVac right next to where I was spraying it, and it sucked all the overspray/fumes right out. It worked quite nicely; nothing got on the car at all.

I'm loving those fog lights!

Me too! I pretty much look forward to driving just as it begins to get dark. That look just looks mean as hell to me.

Your foglights didn't come on unless your headlights were on?

Nope. I hated it. Both of my granddad's New Edge Stangs did, and it made me so jealous. I looked up how to change mine, and was surprised at how easy it is to do.

That's the way they work on the 94-98 cars. Not sure why Ford did that.


Those new floormats are sweet looking in there, as well as the new cluster lights! I'd say you made some very nice progress!

Thanks man! Yes, I've gotten lots of compliments on the floor mats; they are very thick and heavy, they'll definitely last a while. And they are a little big bigger than stock, so that helps them from sliding around and keeps the not-so-great looking carpet hidden.

I really like the cluster lights so far. I'm hoping that they really match the Cobalt gauges. I'm actually going to be ordering those later this afternoon.

Lookin good man!

When you painted your rotors did you just use tape to cover the parts you didnt want to get paint on or what?

Thanks! I used electrical tape. It works quite nicely because it will stretch. So if you just go slowly and work it as you stick it down, it'll go down in one nice, smooth, continuous curve.
 
LOOKS AWESOME.....Please please tell me how to get the fogs on with the parking lights...i really would love to do that please!!!!! Oh yeah how does the guage cluster come out i would love to do the LED lights too looks nice...:nice:
 
LOOKS AWESOME.....Please please tell me how to get the fogs on with the parking lights...i really would love to do that please!!!!! Oh yeah how does the guage cluster come out i would love to do the LED lights too looks nice...:nice:

For the fog lights, I used this write up. Fog Light Fix | ::TECH ARTICLES:: | 100% 94-04 Mustang Tech, Articles, Help | SN95Mustangs.com It worked perfectly.

For the dash lights, I used this write up. SN95 LED Gauge Cluster And once again, it worked perfectly.

I can't tell, but if you have an automatic, there's an extra light bulb for the shifter light. I'm going to make a little add-on to that write up about how to put that bulb in. I'll have some new pictures later tonight of the HVAC controls and shifter light. :nice:
 
For the fog lights, I used this write up. Fog Light Fix | ::TECH ARTICLES:: | 100% 94-04 Mustang Tech, Articles, Help | SN95Mustangs.com It worked perfectly.

For the dash lights, I used this write up. SN95 LED Gauge Cluster And once again, it worked perfectly.

I can't tell, but if you have an automatic, there's an extra light bulb for the shifter light. I'm going to make a little add-on to that write up about how to put that bulb in. I'll have some new pictures later tonight of the HVAC controls and shifter light. :nice:

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!:nice: Cant wait to see the other mods you have planned...
 
making our '98s look good

Thanks man. Doing the best I can.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!:nice: Cant wait to see the other mods you have planned...

Me either. I can hardly wait to get my supercharger on.

what bulbs did you use and did you use white?

I used these WLED-x5 (194 type) Wedge Base bulbs Specifications except I bought 10 of them off ebay for $15. Can't go wrong with that. As for the color, use either cool white or super white. Don't use warm white.

I'm in the process of uploading some better pictures. Gimme about 15 more minutes.
 
Here we go.

Better picture of the entire cluster.
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Better picture of speedo and tach.
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Cluster, HVAC, and radio.
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Auto tranny shifter light.
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Everything.
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I am in love with the look of this. It took a little time, and I got frustrated a few times, mainly with the headlight knob and getting to the auto tranny shifter light, but in the end, it was definitely worth it.

And to make it clear: these are stock 94-98 black gauges with white LEDs in place of the factory incandescent bulbs.
 
Man, what I can appreciate the most about this is the fact that you got the light so uniform and even. Most guys that do this end up with bright and dark spots, and the other areas in the car don't match up. This looks factory, but better!
 
Man, what I can appreciate the most about this is the fact that you got the light so uniform and even. Most guys that do this end up with bright and dark spots, and the other areas in the car don't match up. This looks factory, but better!

Yea, much agreed. I was surprised that it turned out as good as it did. I have seen lots of pictures of guys' clusters that looked really bad, and I was kinda worried that would happen to mine. I think the problem other people have with dark/bright spots is that they didn't use the correct bulb. Mine is a 5 LED bulb: 4 mounted radially, and 1 mounted on top. This really spreads the light around to help get rid of the dark spots. Some people just took a (slightly) cheaper shortcut and got a bulb with only 1 LED, or maybe just 3, and they apparently don't fill in the dark spots very well. Their mistake.

Needless to say, I am thrilled with the result of mine.