Sunday, May 18, 2008

New parts

Here is an update as to what new bits I have fitted to my car lately.

Since I'll be moving soon to a place without a proper garage space (it's covered, but mechanical parking - will provide photo later) I decided to add the bits I thought would be useful.

1) iPod connectivity:


2) back up camera:
Before:


After:


Amazingly useful, especially here in Japan where the streets are really narrow.

While installing these items, here is what the interior of my car looked like. Luckily, as both of these items were Pioneer units, the installation was all plug and play.






3) While I had the panel apart, I installed LEDs in lieu of light bulbs in the A/C unit display.
Before:


After:



4) Carbon bumper protector - to protect from flames and exhaust particles spewing out of the muffler. Found on Yahoo Auctions, sticks on with double stick tape. I will need to remove and cut it so it fits better (and not wedge under the rear bumper flares).



Before:


After:


5) I also installed this carbon piece in the spoiler.

Before:


After:

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Repainted my lower lip spoiler!

Some background - when I first bought the car, I didn't notice, but the previous owner had painted the lower lip spoiler - poorly, but in an attempt to hide some fading and scratches. Didn't really mind then, but then after a few track days it began to look much worse:





The underside of the spoiler had also seen better days - this is what happens because the car is so low and I hit a couple of speed bumps/high curbs:




So, I figured - I've painted model plastic cars before, I can paint this piece of plastic...

The first step was to remove the lip spoiler, a relatively simple job. Just a bunch of bolts.


The car looks so wimpy without this one piece of plastic! Amazing...




I then had to prep the bumper to be painted. This involved removing old paint, sanding down, applying primer, then painting. I used flat black paint, followed by a few coatings of Toyota 202 gloss black paint (in an effort to replicate the black plastic semi-gloss sheen). And yes, I did everything but the painting in my small Japanese apartment living room (on the ironing board).



Here is the result. Looks pretty good, but this was not to last... (see June 4 post)