03' GS - Steel Blue Pearl

[jstewart92]

I've had my GS since March 3rd,2007 and it took me almost 2 years before i did much of anything with it.


Currently:

Exterior:
-Wings West side skirts
-Wings West rear
-Window's Tinted 35%
-GrilleTech Grille
-Fake vent DIY Overlays
-18x8 +42 MB Interline Wheels
-235/40/18 Sumitomo HTR Z3
-Neochrome Lugnuts

Lighting:
-Custom retrofitted headlights w/ FXR 3.0 projectors 3" lens
-Bi-xenon relay harness
-Philips 85122+ OEM HID bulbs (combined output of about 6.5k lumen)
-Carbon Fiber TYCs
-Tinted Chrome Housed Turn Signals
-Aftermarket Fog Lights (egay)
-Custom LED 3rd Brake Light
-Custom LED Trunk lighting

Performance:
-Injen CAI (currently short)

Suspension:
-KYB AGX's
-Tein S-Tech Springs
-Moog front endlinks
-Ingalls rear camber kit


Interior:
-White Speedo LED Swap
-White/cool white center console Swap
-Cool white Rearview LEDs
-Black headliner
-Dashboard cover
-Extensive Sound deadening
-Reupholstered headliner and visors

Electronics:
-Pioneer Premier DEH-P400UB
-Metra Wiring Harness
-2 Rockford Fosgate P1S410 10" Subwoofers Punch 4 Ohm
-Crutchfield enclosure
-Rockford Fosgate 201.s (to power subs)
-4 Gauge Amplifier Installation Kit from knuconceptz
-4 Gauge 4-channel Amplifier Installation Kit from knuconceptz (with 12ga twisted speaker wire)
-Rockford Fosgate R300.4, 4 channel amp (50w RMS x 4)
-Rockford Fosgate R165-S Prime Door Components (40w RMS)
-Rockford Fosgate R1693 Prime 6x9" 3 Way Coaxial (60w RMS)




After Lowering:







More lowered photos here

More pictures of my headlights here.







New Wheels start here.



















All comments/suggestions/criticism welcome.


PICS UPDATED THROUGHOUT THREAD

[jstewart92]

I plan on painting the calipers and drums a kind of gray-silver color, like gunmetal.
And to do the LED swap next.

[Jordan777er]

I wouldn't paint the drum anything other than black, but I think the calipers would look good that color. The car looks to be in really good shape also.

[jstewart92]

Thanks, yeah the car isn't in bad shape, but it needs a real good wax and touch up paint, previous owner tried to use touch up paint from wal-mart, which doesn't have this color
Besides the other things, I also will be buying that new HU.
My birthday is the end of June and I'll be working full time (hopefully) next month, and probably part time when school starts back up, so my future mods should be moving over to current with some time, that's the only real reason i decided to start a thread, that and today was a real nice day.

[deek23]

real clean bro!

[No_one21]

Clean... why the white LED swap though? Just asking bout the color...

[jstewart92]

Well originally i wanted to do the blue LED swap, But I've seen them and they look too blotchy.
I changed my mind after i saw Pearl01strat's setup in this thread. Only problem is that SuperBrightLEDs seems to not have that right bulb in white anymore.
I plan to relocate my LED strips to the bottom of the door panels, i just need to find a way to wire them so they only come on when i open either door.

[No_one21]

Interesting I guess, mine are green. However, the blotchyness is probably due to doing a half-assed job. When people take the time to wipe the gauges down, and the other extra things, they come out well.

[Jordan777er]

When I had mine blue they weren't blotchy at all, just make sure to use wide angle LEDS to spread the light better. I love the way that white LED swap looks though. I might do that one day if I get tired of the gauges I have now.

[Trance]

Nice stocker

[wright06jhs]

Mmmm Steel Blue. My favorite.

[jstewart92]

Thanks guys, I think the Steel Blue would have looked a ton better if they made it just a bit darker, i love how it changes color depending on the lighting though.

Hah, besides what i already listed i do want to get some matched paint, and paint those four plastic inserts i put in the License plate holes.

[jstewart92]

Just put an Injen CAI on the car tonight with my brother and dad, also have pre-cut tinting to put on later this week.

I'm pleasantly surprised with how well the stock exhaust now sounds with the CAI, it's meatier than i had expected. For anyone trying to decide between Exhaust and Intake first, i say intake all the way.

Sadly the job i had lined up for July, I won't be able to get due to the company's current lack of business so mods will come slower than expected.

Pics later this week.

Edit- Post 666 and it's my birthday.

[Ryans3g]

clean stocker

[jstewart92]

So here is my CAI:

I want to paint my Radiator brackets and bolt heads chrome. What would be the best way to prep them, since they have rust on them, just sand them?

[Jordan777er]

I would think that some light sanding would be enough. Just knock as much rust off as you can. If you have the cash, you can get them chrome plated rather than try to imitate the look with paint.

[jstewart92]

So today I had some free paint and decided to paint my Upper radiator brackets and hood prop with chrome paint, and my wiper cowl flat black plus clear coated.

I tried to clear coat over the chrome but it really dulled it down, i tried it on the underside of the brackets first, but i decided it's the look i want for my calipers, so that will be next along with black + clear for the drums.

Pics=




I did a poor prep job on the brackets due to the fact that i didn't know i possessed the tools i had that would work well for the harder spots to sand, but they are good enough for me.
Would you recommend painting the wiper arms as well? i didn't think they were bad enough to need it.

(don't look at my dash)

[Blueblaze7292]

wow!

that's what a wiper cowl is supposed to look like?


my cowl is gray and faded....


nice job!


just wondering, could you help me with the headliner and painting it?

[Sh4d0wX7]

Still looks good. Man I need to clean off my head...it's filthy and yours is all clean

[Jordan777er]

Looks like the radiator brackets turned out nice. Good job on them.

Originally Posted by Sh4d0wX7

Still looks good. Man I need to clean off my head...it's filthy and yours is all clean

I can get my dad to bring some degreaser home from work and we can clean the valve covers and heatshields up. Mine is kinda gross too.

[jstewart92]

Originally Posted by Sh4d0wX7

Still looks good. Man I need to clean off my head...it's filthy and yours is all clean

Thanks, I did an oil change and service on it last week after i put on the intake. Every time i change my oil i make sure to take some and wipe everything down under the hood, makes things look clean and helps increase the life of certain parts, mainly rubber, hoses, and such.

I haven't been able to get my tint on yet cause its been too bloody hot here in south Georgia, and i don't want a poor job.

[ejsquirt20]

Clean car.

[jstewart92]

The lack of a job gives me way too much free time. Today i put the car on stands and painted the front calipers/brackets before the rain came. It turned out very well in my opinion, in shade its basically the same color as the stock GS wheels, in light, it shines.
I tried to give an idea of what i mean.



I was going to pop the center caps out and try getting the Mitsu emblem black, but the rain rushed me on, i got the car under cover just as the bottom fell out. Oh and the dirtiness of the wheels highlights the scratches from when I've taken them to get new tires. To think i actually used chrome paint and just some clear coats to achieve that look.

[Jordan777er]

Was that paint designed for high temps? Calipers get pretty warm and it would suck to have to repaint them if it all flakes off. I like the way it looks. Better than bare metal, but not too flashy.

[jstewart92]

The chrome paint is just normal paint, but the clear that i use on any part is Duplicolor's Engine Enamel with ceramic, so I think it will be fine, it might be the ceramic in it that causes the chrome to dull down, i really don't care, because i like the look.

[Sh4d0wX7]

I've been looking for a while on what color to paint mine, now I know what a silver would look like.

[scarr]

they look clean, and new. i like.

[jstewart92]

So this past week i managed to get some precut window tinting on, attempted a DIY front grille, and made Fake vent Grille overlays.
I really like the overlays, and would consider making some to sell if anyone were interested, i personally think it looks better than grillecraft too.



Let me know what you guys think about it.

I would never buy the Grillcraft side vents, but the center piece is another story, this looks almost just like grillcraft, but with a black background, instead of being able to see through to the factory holes in the bumper.

[wright06jhs]

The car is looking nice and clean
So did you install the tint yourself? Get some different angles to show it more.

[CrimsonGT]

The side grilles look good.

Kinda reminds me of what I did for my car. How did you install them?

[jstewart92]

Originally Posted by wright06jhs

The car is looking nice and clean
So did you install the tint yourself? Get some different angles to show it more.

Yeah, me and my father did it, tried to do the back window, but that was not working, you know, the whole hair dryer deal? No good, we're going to get more tint, it's the safety kind, and go take it to a professional. Overall it's a pretty mediocre job, but its good enough, driver's side window sucks, poor job cleaning window + father's dirty fingerprint= gay.

Originally Posted by CrimsonGT

The side grilles look good.

Kinda reminds me of what I did for my car. How did you install them?

You were the motivation for them actually, i was talking with Jordan777er and he pointed me to your thread with the instructions, I attempted the center grille part but it was pretty much a fail in every respect. I mounted those the same way you did, but just looped the fishing line around the back and made one knot, i forgot to get a picture of that, because i figured someone would ask.
---
I noticed in 3genGT's thread, someone, i think Wright, mentioned using a hairdryer to pop a dent out of his bumper cover, do you think i could do the same for mine? Right in the center... I didn't do it, i think the previous repo process caused it.

[CrimsonGT]

Originally Posted by jstewart92

You were the motivation for them actually, i was talking with Jordan777er and he pointed me to your thread with the instructions, I attempted the center grille part but it was pretty much a fail in every respect. I mounted those the same way you did, but just looped the fishing line around the back and made one knot, i forgot to get a picture of that, because i figured someone would ask.
---
I noticed in 3genGT's thread, someone, i think Wright, mentioned using a hairdryer to pop a dent out of his bumper cover, do you think i could do the same for mine? Right in the center... I didn't do it, i think the previous repo process caused it.

No problem for the motivation.

At first glance, I didn't catch the front bumper issue. What was going wrong with the front grille? Or was it just a combination of your own mistakes? Nothing wrong with mistakes (I've made plenty of my own in the past), but I am curious to know.

As for the hairdryer method. I'm not sure, I personally have never attempted such a thing. But I'd say it's worth a try. Good luck!

[jstewart92]

I actually really like the fishing line idea because it's invisible unless your about 2 feet away from it.

I took a dremel with a grinding piece to make the top look more factory, and purposely made it so that that part of it was on top, invisible up close when your standing by the car.



The material is made of galvanized steel and i clear coated them a few times for good measures.

The problems with the center grille, however start with the size of the piece, it's only 5 inches tall, while the front most opening on the car is 6 inches, so it would have to be set back too far for my taste, i checked it's appearance deeper and it was horrid. So naturally i couldn't put it up front without a large gap. Besides that i was using Surgical scissors for all of the cutting which was a pain, and i started with a pretty poor template. Beyond that i had a horrible time trying to shape the liner and making it stay... I reverted to using a hot glue gun, which worked, but wrinkled it, besides all of that i was just tired of screwing with it.

And the corner, which i cut a small piece out to prevent it from grouping up and wrinkling outward.

[Blueblaze7292]

...talk about creativity...

that center grill and your grill overlays look awesome for a DIYer...

nice job, and i can't wait to see them all on the car at once.

[jstewart92]

Originally Posted by Blueblaze7292

...talk about creativity...

that center grill and your grill overlays look awesome for a DIYer...

nice job, and i can't wait to see them all on the car at once.

Thanks, but the center piece won't be going on... I can't believe grillcraft makes the side pieces for $75... lol i would charge less than half of that for mine.

[jstewart92]

I just ordered my head unit, it probably won't ship out till Monday, then i have to wait another 4-14 days to get it.

[jstewart92]

Ordered my subs today, cleaned the car, and attempted some more scenic pictures, which is hard because there's no good places to take pictures around here.
What do you think?

I heard part of Forrest Gump was filmed there, about a mile from my house...




And my New Head Unit:


After i finish up my sound system, i want to do the center console with blue LEDs and maybe get an overlay for the speedo, since i don't too much feel like bothering with it, It would be the one that you can switch between white and 'cool' blue.

[wright06jhs]

Great Headunit, what model is that. Mine looks EXACTLY like that but doeant say Premier on it.

[jstewart92]

Originally Posted by wright06jhs

Great Headunit, what model is that. Mine looks EXACTLY like that but doeant say Premier on it.

Pioneer Premier DEH-P400UB with the Metra Wiring Harness.
Got the unit off of Amazon for $105, with a $77 dollar game trade-in credit, so it cost me about $28, and the wiring harness from best buy. for about $22.

The premier comes with a USB extension cord, and an I-pod connectivity cable, which i ran through my center console, down to the storage compartment under the armrest.

[No_one21]

What subs? And amp?

[wright06jhs]

Originally Posted by jstewart92

Pioneer Premier DEH-P400UB with the Metra Wiring Harness.
Got the unit off of Amazon for $105, with a $77 dollar game trade-in credit, so it cost me about $28, and the wiring harness from best buy. for about $22.

The premier comes with a USB extension cord, and an I-pod connectivity cable, which i ran through my center console, down to the storage compartment under the armrest.

That's odd, i have the same exact HU, but its just not labeled as a "premier". Have no idea why, at least you got a better deal then i did. I paid $163.00 for the HU and $20.00 for the harness.

[martin m]

great first car, my eclipse is my first also and i love it, next mod should deff be smoked corners it would look much better with that grille IMO

[jstewart92]

Everything i have on the car, and what i plan on putting on it is in my original post.

Originally Posted by No_one21

What subs? And amp?

For subs, I'm getting 2 Rockford Fosgate P1S410 10" Subwoofers Punch 4 Ohm (50-150w RMS-300 max), its a buy one get one free deal on Crutchfield, only ran me about $87 after shipping. I'm going to use my brother's old school Rockford Fosgate 201.s (600w max) it only gets 50w RMS x2 channels at 4 ohms, not sure on its peak to x2 channels, but since it's free i'll stick with it until i can afford either a Rockford Fosgate T600-2 or whatever Chereck01 recommends for me. I'm also going to go with a 4 gauge amp kit from knuconceptz.

Originally Posted by wright06jhs

That's odd, i have the same exact HU, but its just not labeled as a "premier". Have no idea why, at least you got a better deal then i did. I paid $163.00 for the HU and $20.00 for the harness.

Yeah, Whenever i buy from amazon, i always click on the "New from xxx" button and pick the cheapest dealer who has that product and is also reputable. But yours probably didn't come with the USB extension and I-pod cords

Originally Posted by martin m

great first car, my eclipse is my first also and i love it, next mod should deff be smoked corners it would look much better with that grille IMO

Smoked corners will be on my christmas list, along with just about everything else I've mentioned to do, they aren't expensive, so i might pick some up before then, only problem is that i still don't have a job and school is about to start back up.

[bluelion17]

Originally Posted by martin m

great first car, my eclipse is my first also and i love it, next mod should deff be smoked corners it would look much better with that grille IMO

Originally Posted by jstewart92

Smoked corners will be on my christmas list, along with just about everything else I've mentioned to do, they aren't expensive, so i might pick some up before then, only problem is that i still don't have a job and school is about to start back up.

if I were you i'd go with black ended signal lights!! i think it looks better than the smoked!! but that's just my opinion!!

[Sh4d0wX7]

Originally Posted by wright06jhs

That's odd, i have the same exact HU, but its just not labeled as a "premier". Have no idea why, at least you got a better deal then i did. I paid $163.00 for the HU and $20.00 for the harness.

The only difference in some Pioneer's is that the Premier are 2 year warranty and the non-premier are just one year. Other than that, they're the same HU.

[jstewart92]

Originally Posted by bluelion17

if I were you i'd go with black ended signal lights!! i think it looks better than the smoked!! but that's just my opinion!!

I've considered, very highly doing black tails, but I just can't get that idea of black lights all around the car. I like the idea of gunmetal/smoked look because of the color of the car, Steel Blue Pearl, and a smoked look gives the lights a dual-color look, which the car has. So I would think that it would match up. Besides when i eventually get wheels I want to go Gunmetal with maybe a polished lip or something like that.

I got my subs in the car Saturday I'll get picks up later today, most likely. It's nothing special.

[jstewart92]

I still need to secure it... turned into a parking lot too fast.. and yeah. I don't want that happening again.
It's more than enough bass for me even though the amp only pushes 100w rms total. now it has me wanting to upgrade my front stage.

[jstewart92]

Nothing really new with the car, just anticipating Christmas gifts and such. In the mean time, does anyone have suggestions? Broke 100k a few weeks ago Also refinished my headlights.

Edit: Oh and I'll have to add a GT front strut bar to the 'future' list

[finesse49ers]

Your car looks great. The car is progressing really well.

[Sh4d0wX7]

The subs look nice.

[martin m]

very clean sub setup you got there, and i applaud you for putting the tint on yourself minus the back, looks like there aren't really any imperfections i could see from those "scenic" photos you posted.
+1

[Jordan777er]

Looks good. Nice and simple so far.

[jstewart92]

Thanks for the positive comments!

[edd]

keep it up bro! I wanna try those inserts when I get some time from school/work

[Doberz]

Love the grills. Gonna definitely do my front sides like that. Thanks for the idea!

[jstewart92]

Results from last Friday night:



As is now:





Damage includes:
Paint damage under reverse light, above reverse light, and on the edge of the fender.
Lightly scuffed reverse light
Scuffed tail light
Crack inside of tail light
Tail light misaligned. (pushed against body of car in the corner, and pointing slightly upwards)
Minuscule crack on bumper

Could have been worse i guess..

[martin m]

sure cleaned up nicely and thank God it wasn't worse

[Sh4d0wX7]

That buffed right out.

[jstewart92]

One of the few times it applied.. for the most part. Now i need to find some OEM steel blue pearl paint... does anyone know where i can get some? like i mean spray paint or touch up paint... for those scratches... they're pretty deep.

I know Autozone makes OEM matched paint, but i have had no luck in finding any pearl colors at all.. Anyone know where i can get some for this?

[Doberz]

Originally Posted by jstewart92

One of the few times it applied.. for the most part. Now i need to find some OEM steel blue pearl paint... does anyone know where i can get some? like i mean spray paint or touch up paint... for those scratches... they're pretty deep.

I know Autozone makes OEM matched paint, but i have had no luck in finding any pearl colors at all.. Anyone know where i can get some for this?

Get the color code for your car and check sites online or call places in your town.