I haven't updated my build thread in a while and I've done alot of mods to my car since my last post, so I thought I should fill you all in.
Suspension:
In my first post, I mentioned that I had some new slotted brake rotors and pads, braided brake lines, king spring lows, and KYB AGX fully adjustable shocks in the mail. Before I started work under the bonnet, I thought I would upgrade the suspension and brakes, so that when I started getting more power I could keep it on the road.
All of those components have since been installed. I installed the shocks and springs first, and later did the braking system with a nice touch of orange
The car drives like a charm now, stops really well and sticks to the road incredibly.
Plus it all looks good :)I hope in the near future to either paint the arches black or re-tar them so that the wheel arches are nice and dark. Any advise, hints or tips with that, let me know
Pictures of my setup (Car is a bit dirty):
After doing the brakes and suspension, the car looked like this (I will mention the grill next):
Cosmetics:
After my first post, the next cosmetic mod that I did was the grill. I've left it as bare plastic for the moment because I don't know if I want to paint it let; I kind of like it black. I'll most likely paint it black later on, or I might even carbon wrap it. Either way, I like it more than the stock grill. I had originally tried to modify the stock grill with the intent to use mesh behind it, but I gave up early and just bought one that I liked
Car before grill change (Before respray):
Car after grill change (After respray):
I love the look of it with the black nose; way better then what it looked like stock.
The next mod I did to the rex was changing the boot. At the time of my first post, my car had the stock boot with an STI spoiler bolted on. When I bought the car I rushed into buying a spoiler without seeing what the car looked like without one, partly because it's my first fast car, partly because I needed it ready for the respray. I liked the look of it on the car, but I wasn't totally set on it as a permanent feature of my rex after seeing the car without it during the respray period.
Here is what the car looked like with the STI spoiler (Cars a bit dirty in pic):
Here are the pictures that made me want to get rid of it:
So I started looking around for a carbon fiber boot. I wanted to car to have no spoiler, and if I was going to buy a new boot I wanted it to atleast be an upgrade. I found a carbon fiber boot at a good price and bought it. I still haven't got the fitment perfect yet, but I plan on getting round to that soon. It looks heaps better.
Here is what the car looked like with the carbon fiber boot:
The next mod I got was simply window tint. Looks so good with dark tint
Here is a pic from the day it got tinted:
The most recent mod wasn't really my choice. For a while, I had been wanting to convert my bugeye rear end to a blobeye rear end, which I liked a lot more, plus it made the bugeyes look newer. A lot of people had done it before me, but I still really liked the look of it. I was going to change the rear when I had the money, but while I was away from home with work, my beloved bug got rear ended. Wet morning, round about, traffic... You get the picture.
Here is a picture of the damage:
The damage was minor; no structural damage. All I need was a new rear bumper, so I thought I should do the rear end converion instead of getting another replacement bugeye bar. The bar was easy to get; the tricky part was getting some newer model tail lights at a reasonable price. When my bug came home from the smash repairer, it was wearing its new bumper with the old tail lights. It was a bit of an odd sight, but I could tell it was going to look awesome when the conversion was complete.
Here is a picture of what it looked like:
Within days, I found a set of lights from a nice member here on the forum, tinted them and put them on the car. I thought I would take some comparison pictures while I was at it.
Here are some pictures of the conversion (Note that boot is not closed):
I am very happy with how it turned out, and I have losts more planned
My next plans are to get more power out of my rex
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