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Hi, I'm Mitch, I've been lurking here for about a year now. Bought my silver 2005 G 6mt in early May of this year with 104.5k on the clock. Got the guy down to $6k (Thanks Rick, cool dude). It's now 6 months to the day (weird coincidence actually since I just looked at the date) and I've put just around 4.5k on the car since.
Not a spec of rust on any body panels or anything important. Around here the cat heat shielding usually falls off within the year, but it's even still there!
The car is my daily, and definitely makes getting back and forth to class and work a ton more fun than my '06 4cyl Stratus (the new winter beater).
So far she's been good to me, though I checked my oil wrong (goddamn dipstick, seemed to read perfectly full) at around 2k in and almost blew my motor due to the 3/4qt/1k oil consumption that I didn't notice until I was down 3 quarts (SUPER close call I know). Now I know better.
Got her completely stock, and have yet to do anything performance wise (spring can't come quick enough )
So far:
1) Entry fee: Two new tires! Pirelli P-Zeros (Previous owner definitely did some burnouts xD)
2) Got a new head unit since I'm a bit of an audio nut, and installed my sub (Rockford P300-12 for those interested, fits snug laid down xD)
3) Debadged mostly:
4) About two months later, my mom backed into my bumper. Dented it pretty good, and sadly it wasn't fixable enough since I wanted to wrap the car. Got a new bumper. Picture below of my night time driving mockup xD!
5) Taillight tint (side markers too), new bumper, and halos
6) Fixed the pretty awful road rash and repainted the wheels black
7) WRAPPING BEGINS. Color = Oracal's Matte Cranberry Colorshift + Gloss Black Roof. I originally was supposed to have a buddy help me, but his work schedule delayed him so long that I basically said F*** it and did it myself xD Roof First up: trunk Trunk done Driver side and hood *check* All done! I ran out before I could get to the bumper, so it's staying black until the spring.Oh and I painted the grille too because f*** chrome. That and the grille I bought didn't fit (last time I ebay bodyparts). Door handles and mirrors I figured would look better black, so I just painted them. Same with that bottom door strip that is rubber and won't hold wrap and flexs too much. PS I came out of work to these parked next to me. Pretty badass if you ask me xD
Plans for the spring (no particular order, except exhaust, that's a Black Friday deal):
1) Save more money and/or spend more tuition loans on car parts
2) Exhaust: I want something not too loud since I like my neighbors, while also not being crazy expensive but adding power. Was thinking Magnaflow or possibly a used HKS. I heard Gary C had a magnaflow, so Gary if you're here I'd love to hear your opinion!
3) High-quality hub centric spacers: 20mm front, 25mm back.
4) Lower max of like an inch and a half (WNY driveways and roads suck)
5) Valentine1
6) Window tint: My God does it need window tint.
7) Possible duckbill trunk if funds allow/a nice one comes up in the marketplace.
8) Short shifter
9) Gialla style grille that actually fits
10) New front tires. Toe is a B**** xD
11) Wrap rear bumper
11.5) This list won't stop if I don't force myself to xD
I'm happy I've finally gotten around to posting here and I couldn't be any more happy to own this car. Let me know any suggestions you guys might have/what you think!
Not gonna lie, I wasn't a big fan of the direction you were heading in with the silver/black combo(tail lights, side markers, wheels). I've always loved the factory look with the rays, including chrome grille. The new wrap pulls everything together nicely though. The black roof wrap does look sick! Gives it that panoramic glass look. Now you have me considering that for my car.
Also, why did you replace the wonderful stock projectors with those cheapos?
Not gonna lie, I wasn't a big fan of the direction you were heading in with the silver/black combo(tail lights, side markers, wheels). I've always loved the factory look with the rays, including chrome grille. The new wrap pulls everything together nicely though. The black roof wrap does look sick! Gives it that panoramic glass look. Now you have me considering that for my car.
Also, why did you replace the wonderful stock projectors with those cheapos?
I'm with you on the silver/black look. I bought the car knowing I would wrap it(I hate silver, and I'm not a huge fan of chrome or amber all together, personally). As for the headlights, I just really like the look of halos and my headlights were a bit cracked up. I've been considering fixing them and having someone do demon eyes on them though. I think that would be pretty sweet. As for doing the black roof, I definitely recommend it, and it only costs $40-45 if you do it yourself. Thanks for the feedback!
A decent set of oem projectors go for at least $500 around here. Could sell em to invest in some of your other plans on the car. Personally, I'd hold onto them because they are getting pretty hard to find
A decent set of oem projectors go for at least $500 around here. Could sell em to invest in some of your other plans on the car. Personally, I'd hold onto them because they are getting pretty hard to find
I think I'm definitely going to hold onto them in case the current ones crap out. I've been thinking of taking them apart and painting the housings black. Thanks for the idea!
I'm with you on the silver/black look. I bought the car knowing I would wrap it(I hate silver, and I'm not a huge fan of chrome or amber all together, personally). As for the headlights, I just really like the look of halos and my headlights were a bit cracked up. I've been considering fixing them and having someone do demon eyes on them though. I think that would be pretty sweet. As for doing the black roof, I definitely recommend it, and it only costs $40-45 if you do it yourself. Thanks for the feedback!
What's wrapping? thought it was a cheap alternative to paint but it looks really good. What did you use?
What's wrapping? thought it was a cheap alternative to paint but it looks really good. What did you use?
Vinyl wrap is a film with an adhesive on one side and some sort of color or design on the other. It comes in a roll and you use a squeegee to apply pressure and activate the adhesive as well as heat to shape the film and allow it to stretch around curves. It works very well as an alternative to a full paint job, though it can sometimes cost the same amount if not more unless you do it yourself (very large learning curve). The draw to wrap is that it allows you to change the color of your car whilst also protecting the paint underneath and being easily removable in the future.
The film I used was Oracal matte cranberry colorshift.
Vinyl wrap is a film with an adhesive on one side and some sort of color or design on the other. It comes in a roll and you use a squeegee to apply pressure and activate the adhesive as well as heat to shape the film and allow it to stretch around curves. It works very well as an alternative to a full paint job, though it can sometimes cost the same amount if not more unless you do it yourself (very large learning curve). The draw to wrap is that it allows you to change the color of your car whilst also protecting the paint underneath and being easily removable in the future.
The film I used was Oracal matte cranberry colorshift.
What do you mean by a large learning curve? How did you learn?
What do you mean by a large learning curve? How did you learn?
I learned mostly from watching almost every youtube video on the topic over a course of about 8 months and then practicing by wrapping almost every wrappable object in my house. I say there's a large learning curve because despite wrapping seeming very easy at first, it is very technical and requires a massive amount of attention to detail. Also, it is very easy to mess up without realizing it, causing the film to fail later.
I say all this as someone who is by no means a professional on the topic, but I have successfully completed this wrap without any problems that lasted after installation.
11-07-2017, 01:31 AM
College student '05 Coupe: First mods and Wrap
(the new winter beater).
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