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.
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.
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.
This is all the rubber that was in the fenderwell....
This is after. The camera flash makes it look a little more shiney and uneven than it actually is.
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:
After:
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.
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.
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.)
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.
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.
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.
This is all the rubber that was in the fenderwell....
This is after. The camera flash makes it look a little more shiney and uneven than it actually is.
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:
After:
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.
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.
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.)
