Boergy, your blackwood steering wheel is my inspiration! I plan to replicate your wheel, thank you very much!!! I just need to find some spare time. I have an extra steering wheel I purchased locally which included the entire steering column and key switch assembly---I got all of that for $40 USD. I think I can sell the steering column alone for $40 and end up with all my money back and a free steering wheel. Just need to find time to start sanding the varnish off the wood, stain the wood black, apply 5-10 coats of poly, then dye the wheel leather black (the donor wheel is tan).

Kira, thanks for the compliments on the ice blue fogs. I will keep them for a while until such time as (a) I get sick of them, (b) they burn out, (c) cops pull me over and tell me they are illegal.

KiroLS, thanks for your kind words!

 

Finally got my PowerStop cross-drilled slotted rotors and ceramic pads installed! I really like the look. You cannot have brand new shiny wheels with dirty old rotors

PowerStop Kit

Old OEM Rotors

PowerStop Cross-Drilled Slotted Rotors, jeez they look purdy!!


Close up. These new rotors really compliment my TSW Valencias.

Closer shot.

 

Tanabe Revel Medallion Touring axle-back exhaust installed! I need to delete my resonators to extract the best sound possible from this Tanabe system. Hoping to get that done soon.

love the double walled tips. Similar to a Magnaflow tip.



I love the quality of this Tanabe. Just look at those blue welds!

The 4 inch tips really fill in the bumper openings.

 

The new exhaust looks great!

 

Thanks Kira!

The drivers door would not open the other day. It would open from the inside, but not outside. It turned out to be that little plastic clip that holds the door actuator rod to the outside door handle. Pulled the door panel (aka "door card" which seems to be the most recent colloquial term), peeled back the yellow plastic vapor barrier, aimed a flashlight up inside the door and saw the broken plastic piece. I got a new clip through my local Lexus stealer because I wanted OEM assuming the new clip would last as long as the original (24 years). I know that clip was the original 24 year old part because the tan plastic caps covering the door panel screws were perfect and did not have a single mark or scratch. I am positive that my door panel had never been removed due to the pristine condition of everything. It was kind of a PITA to get my hands in there to remove the old and install the new clip. There is a video on Youtube that instructs you to first insert the clip on the end of the rod, then push the rod into the door handle. That seemed almost impossible since the rod pushes the plastic tabs outward thereby increasing the outside diameter of the plastic clip. I tried this multiple times and could not push the clip into the handle. So I decided to try inserting the plastic clip prongs into the door handle, then I was able to push the actuator rod into the clip and then I rotated the clip retainer onto the rod.

Door Panel (door card) off:


New plastic clip in place:


Detail of old broken plastic clip:

 

I plasti-dipped my emblems in black. I think this really updates the look of the car and the flat black looks super sharp contrasting against the white exterior.

 

I finally got around to "murdering out" all of my lenses. I went with VViViD hex cell pattern since it was low cost ($13.99 for a 16” x 60” roll) and available on Amazon. I’ve never tinted headlights or taillights, but I watched some YouTube videos. CK Wraps has some very good YouTube videos on this. I have experience tinting windows on cars in the past, and I’ve also installed vinyl graphics on snowmobile hoods and JetSki’s, so I’m fairly comfortable with working with vinyl. However, I am definitely not a professional! The vinyl wrap new member on the heads and tails turned out pretty well in my opinion. You definitely need a real heat gun to stretch the vinyl. Don’t bother trying to use a hair dryer, that won’t work. Anyways, check out the pictures and see what you think.Anyways, check out the pictures and see what you think.


Damn, I love the smoked tails contrasting against the diamond white pearl!

I didn’t really like the stock 1998+ tail lights because they have that ugly chrome trim underneath the lens. That chrome just looks so outdated, and this tint helps cover that up.

Looking sic and stealthy. You can see the hex pattern, but it’s hardly noticeable.

Fully murdered-out front end looks super aggressive! I can’t believe this only cost me $13.99 and about two hours of my time!

 

Turning out beautifully.

 

Love the blacked out emblems. That looks sharp on your color.

 

Not usually the biggest fan of the black out treatment but that thing looks great. Love the hex pattern in the film!

 

Thanks RX469, Perfctreig, and Rudy! Yeah, the nice thing about the vinyl film is that if I change my mind, I can simply peel it off and go back to stock.

 

Any chance you have a picture of the LED headlight’s output before you tinted the headlights? Curious how much light it provides compared to stock and how close to a true LED headlight it looks/performs?

Thanks!

Nick

 

Great Black & White contrasts ...
Solid interior

 

Class of 1 (Nick), I will try to post up some pics of headlight output before tint and after tint.

Barbary, thanks for the vote of confidence!

 

Thanks man. I’m considering following your lead and installing LED bulbs and skipping the complexity and cost of quality HID kit. If you struggle to find photos maybe you can answer basic questions like:

1) How is the color compared to other LED headlight cars on the road?

2) How sharp is the cutoff?

3) Anything you’d do differently if you could go back and do it over?

Thanks Matt!

Nick