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Wow that is pricey - $160+ per wheel refinish?! Wait for a black friday sale next month and get the 4GS's pre refresh forged wheels: https://www.ebay.com/itm/113300832848
Right? I was hoping it would have been more like $100 per wheel
Not a fan of the forged :/ I would want to go GS F or RC F wheels but those are pricey too!! I might just get some quotes from some other shops for refinishing.
Yeah, well, yes! I wanted to take the cool picture quickly before the odometer flipped to 10,001 miles. I was just barely coasting toward the front entrance of the country club to practice a little, so it wasn't like I was in heavy or congested traffic. You can tell by the Hybrid System Indicator in the instrument cluster that the throttle was almost at zero.
I did have both feet hanging out the window as I was looking in the mirror to check my eyelashes and put on my makeup! I learned that from @ItzFilyO
Last edited by bclexus; 10-04-22 at 07:25 PM.
Reason: grammar
I went off the reservation in an attempt to create a more cohesive interior look after the various recent mods. I'm not a fan of aftermarket interior stuff so I am trying to keep this as oem-like as possible.
I installed the alcantara cluster cover from the GS-F which has blue stitching but there was no other blue in the interior. After some research, I used a navy blue fabric pen to dye the white stitching on the dash pad to a blue color. Below is the first go at it.
It's irreversible but I figured I can always hit it with a black fabric marker to match the black stitching from the arm rest and wrist wrest. The intent wasn't to match the "F" blue but add a touch of blue to bring in the color. The process was easy on the leather, just wipe away any excess with a damp microfiber. I think I'll add some grey since it came out a bit lighter than expected, I was going for a dark navy blue, almost black but with a hint of blue.
I do like it better than white since I am not a huge fan of the heavy contrast stitching, but I do like a subtle contrast. No plans to do this on anywhere else in the car.
While @bclexus is busy putting his makeup on and going for max MPG, I on the other hand, drove my GS hard this morning and going for triple digit speeds.. again! It's so hard to resist! Was grinning big the whole way to work, no makeup needed.
Now that the mysterious rattle is gone and I don't know how, the car feels like brand new again. Only thing I did was rotate the front tires left to right and installed new caliper decals. Weird but I hope it really fixed itself and doesn't come back!
Gas is already over $7 in my area but somehow, when u go WOT in this car, all the problems in life just goes away.
While @bclexus is busy putting his makeup on and going for max MPG, I on the other hand, drove my GS hard this morning and going for triple digit speeds.. again! It's so hard to resist! Was grinning big the whole way to work, no makeup needed.
Now that the mysterious rattle is gone and I don't know how, the car feels like brand new again. Only thing I did was rotate the front tires left to right and installed new caliper decals. Weird but I hope it really fixed itself and doesn't come back!
Gas is already over $7 in my area but somehow, when u go WOT in this car, all the problems in life just goes away.
@ItzFilyO - Sounds like that $7 a gallon premium gasoline in your area is headed for $8 to $9 before long.
PS - Watch out for those California girls driving on 'The 5' at close to triple-digits while putting on their makeup!
Nice now do you plan to dye the stitching on the steering wheel? Also link to the fabric dye pen you used.
Thanks! I wasn't planning on dying the wheel, a continuous stitch runs through the leather and alcantara portions and I am not willing to risk staining the alcantara if I hit it with the marker, something tells me it will be ok but not worth the risk on the new wheel!
I could have had Elvin build it with a color stitch but I didn't think of this at the time. I'm not trying to create a blue theme but more or less make the blue stitching on the cluster cover blend in a bit, if that makes sense.
I will also try some minute blue + and - markings on the paddle shifters (like the GS-F ones), in the form of custom cut decals using the Cricut. If they dont look OEM, I wont keep them, but worth a shot.
Below is the initial marker I used, it has a great fine tip but for the grey, I just used a Sharpie I had. I tried it on a test panel (my old wrist wrest) first before hitting the dash.
I went off the reservation in an attempt to create a more cohesive interior look after the various recent mods. I'm not a fan of aftermarket interior stuff so I am trying to keep this as oem-like as possible.
I installed the alcantara cluster cover from the GS-F which has blue stitching but there was no other blue in the interior. After some research, I used a navy blue fabric pen to dye the white stitching on the dash pad to a blue color. Below is the first go at it.
It's irreversible but I figured I can always hit it with a black fabric marker to match the black stitching from the arm rest and wrist wrest. The intent wasn't to match the "F" blue but add a touch of blue to bring in the color. The process was easy on the leather, just wipe away any excess with a damp microfiber. I think I'll add some grey since it came out a bit lighter than expected, I was going for a dark navy blue, almost black but with a hint of blue.
I do like it better than white since I am not a huge fan of the heavy contrast stitching, but I do like a subtle contrast. No plans to do this on anywhere else in the car.
Wow, so I did the same stich dye with a perm marker Black on my ES350 U/L. Looked much better than the white stitching I had.
Replaced my side mirror housing that had melted and deformed from parking in the wrong spot at the wrong time (I guess). Yes, same thing I posted in the 'Melted Trim' thread. Driver side trim is removed, need to get all the tape off first and that will be replaced tomorrow. I'd post a photo of the new one but I'm pretty sure you all know what it looks like
Last edited by maclem8223; 10-06-22 at 06:06 PM.
Reason: A word...
Wow, so I did the same stich dye with a perm marker Black on my ES350 U/L. Looked much better than the white stitching I had.
Simple but effective! The whole car can be a project so I'm stopping at the dash for now. I may get a spare alcantara cloth section to practice on; I'd like to do the steering wheel, or a portion of it.
Replaced my side mirror housing that had melted and deformed from parking in the wrong spot at the wrong time (I guess). Yes, same thing I posted in the 'Melted Trim' thread. Driver side trim is removed, need to get all the tape off first and that will be replaced tomorrow. I'd post a photo of the new one but I'm pretty sure you all know what it looks like
Did you swap the puddle bulbs to LED while it was out?
10-04-22, 05:17 PM
I wanted to take the cool picture 
quickly before the odometer flipped to 10,001 miles. I was just barely coasting toward the front entrance of the country club to practice a little, so it wasn't like I was in heavy or congested traffic. You can tell by the Hybrid System Indicator in the instrument cluster that the throttle was almost at zero.
I learned that from @ItzFilyO 
