sidepipe87: A pandemic miracle

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 3:51 pm

Alright, kids. Well I finished up school last week and it has been in the high 80s and sunny since last Thursday. I took off work this week to relax a little and do some stuff. So far I have:

-washed the car
-clay barred the car
-waxed car
-new rotors to replace shitty warped ones
-got car inspected
-finally debadged the trunk
-removed airbox lid & installed AEM filter for time being
-got tires mounted and balanced
-bought Gorilla lug nuts
-installed wheels today

I took a few pics of the new look. I must say... I fell in love with my car all over again

ZOMG!!! no moar trunk werdage, yo!!!

Wheels installed on right side only. Shit... I have gangster lean leading to super 4x4 mode. I measured and the difference was actually around .5 inch per side. looks worse though

After I was done, I had to hose all the fucking pollen off my car because it was yellow. I snapped a few pics. Let me know what you think.

debadged trunk. for the time being

Sorry for the shit pics. I have a crappy 4 mp PnS and the batteries were almost dead too.

I'm gonna start sanding my polished AEM intake I bought used that is all scratched up and color matching it. When I get money I will be:

-buying trunk blackout from Revo
-buying UPOL #1 clear
-lightly smoking tails
-color matching mirrors
-black housing headlights

A little later in the summer:

-Tokico HP struts
-Mopar 2gn lowering springs (1gn ACR)
-welfare sways
-Prothane bushings installed
-Magnum valve cover
-35% tint on side windows

TheRandom1 · Post by **TheRandom1** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 4:02 pm

Needs a drop even worse than it did before... but it's looking damn good!

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 4:06 pm

TheRandom1 wrote:Needs a drop even worse than it did before... but it's looking damn good!

...really?? because I think it looks WAYYY better now than it did before. Maybe I'm blind though. Oh well. Don't really care as it will be getting lowered as soon as I can afford the struts. Thanks for the input.

latief · Post by **latief** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 4:09 pm

What tire size? your are running stock struts, correct?

nice car!

Tam · Post by **Tam** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 4:27 pm

When you put nice rims on a non-lowered car, it makes it seem even higher than when its on stock wheels. Mines got a little higher too back before I bought my springs.

You're just oblivious to the wheel gap because of the rims lol.

TheRandom1 · Post by **TheRandom1** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 4:29 pm

sidepipe87 wrote:
TheRandom1 wrote:Needs a drop even worse than it did before... but it's looking damn good!
...really?? because I think it looks WAYYY better now than it did before. Maybe I'm blind though. Oh well. Don't really care as it will be getting lowered as soon as I can afford the struts. Thanks for the input.

A stock ride height looks acceptable on a car with stock wheels. You really start to notice gaps when you put an aftermarket wheel on, draws your attention to the wheels, ya know?

glasswars · Post by **glasswars** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 4:36 pm

Wow dude it looks soooooooooooo sick!!
If I had to take it from here... dump it, lose wing, lose cudas... but you do your thing man, once you lower it,.. it's gonna look redic!!!

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 5:21 pm

yes, I understand what people mean that it looks like a 4x4 with aftermarket wheels. I agree normally, I'm just shocked you all said that now because personally, I think it looks wayyy better in person now as opposed to before. again, moot point because its getting lowered so whatever. Thanks for the comments guys.

latief - they're 215/45/17 so they're taller than stock

Anthony - haha thanks. means a lot coming from you since I obviously love your car. I know not everyone likes the muscle flair but I think I'm gonna stick with this path I'm on. I think I'm finally getting somewhere where i want it to be. If I had the money I'd get an AAR hood like Brodie used to have, semi gloss it and the SRT spoiler black and grin. Hopefully someday that will happen, but for now... well. I'm broke!

superdan · Post by **superdan** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 8:27 pm

looks badass bro, i like those wheels
pictures 7 and 8 make it look 4x4, the others you dont notice it too bad

Sykora · Post by **Sykora** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 9:53 pm

Boooooy! That looks good!

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 10:03 pm

yeahhh i know. needs moar lowered. in due time. for now, i'm happy

Sykora · Post by **Sykora** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:29 pm

^^ that and you need to get rid of those butt-ugly tails dude!

Sabersoul · Post by **Sabersoul** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:48 pm

The wheels look good. What are they? I don't care for the polished lip, but the general style is really nice.

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 11:54 pm

Drag DR-9. Gunmetal wheels with a polished lip were my requirement. I want a six spoke, but they were discontinued

Tam · Post by **Tam** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 10:03 am

I don't mean to thread-jack, but I wanted to share a pic of my car with aftermarket wheels before it was lowered. And it made it helluva lot higher.

I cringe just looking at this picture.

If you want me to remove it, then just say so.

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Wed Apr 29, 2009 1:16 pm

I know. I understand what everyone means and I agree. I just think with my 45 series tires as opposed to 40, it looks a lot better than the 15s did.

superdan · Post by **superdan** » Sat May 02, 2009 11:39 pm

in person you cant ven really tell there is a gap. almost looks lowered, to me it did anyways.
car looks awesome in person.

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Sat May 02, 2009 11:45 pm

^^Finally someone that agrees with me!!

I finally got around to sanding and color matching the AEM intake I bought used from Silversport last year. It was polished originally but it looked like it had been through hell and back, so I sanded the entire thing as smooth as I could get it, roughed it up a little then primed it, painted it PS2 silver and clear coated it. I went ahead and threw it on Friday morning. It looks pretty good in my opinion other than the random blue breather hose that he sent with it... I'm gonna replace that with some black hose.

After I got that on, I drove about an hour to meet up with Superdan to pick up some black housing lights I had been wanting and to get some lunch. It was nice meeting another member and he was very understanding and easy to get along with.

Unfortunately I don't have pics of any of this crap yet since my batteries died in my camera.

Cabbs · Post by **Cabbs** » Sat May 02, 2009 11:52 pm

Looking good. Get it lowered!

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Sat May 02, 2009 11:56 pm

Thanks man. I'd do it now if I had more than $50 to my name. I only get paid once a month too so next month I'll be buying the Tokicos and dropping it!

superdan · Post by **superdan** » Sun May 03, 2009 12:25 am

rock on

* said in joe dirt voice *

supertrick_05 · Post by **supertrick_05** » Sun May 03, 2009 12:44 am

Here's a little inspiration to spend a lil money to get the springs/struts...

BTW, the car is lookin good dude! Once you get the car lowered, it's gonna look that much better. I wouldn't get 1st gen ACR springs unless it's the correct numbered springs...I had the incorrect ones and it looked like crap.

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Sun May 03, 2009 11:18 am

Thanks Brodie. I hope they're right! They're the Mopar Performance 2gn lowering springs you posted for someone else in Minnesota earlier this year!

They are sitting right next to me on the floor, just need money for the struts. Damn that chop looks sooooo good!

SOKADAO954 · Post by **SOKADAO954** » Sun May 03, 2009 11:31 am

supertrick_05 wrote:Here's a little inspiration to spend a lil money to get the springs/struts...

dammmm that looks sexy.
do it.... lol

great chop BTW supertrick.

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Sun May 03, 2009 11:51 am

haha thanks. Also, I went back and found the website I saw the info posted on where a guy lowered his R/T with 2nd gen lowering springs and he got what looks like an even drop to me. He did state:

"I can't see much difference between the rear springs, the second gen lowering springs appear to be the same height as the stock first gen ACR springs. The front ones on the other hand are clearly shorter. The front drivers side 2nd gen lowering spring is clearly about 5/8 of an inch shorter than the front stock 1st gen spring. The front passenger side lowering spring is about 3/8 of an inch shorter than the front stock 1st gen spring. Assuming the 2nd gen lowering springs provide an evenly lowered car, I would expect a 2nd gen car lowered with 1st gen ACR springs to be about 5/8 of an inch higher in the front on the drivers side and 3/8 of an inch higher on the passenger side."

So I guess that might explain why your car had saggy ass syndrome?

Here's a pic of his drop:

Edited because hotlinking won't work anymore

http://chetcpo.tripod.com//sitebuilderc ... redcar.jpg

supertrick_05 · Post by **supertrick_05** » Sun May 03, 2009 5:07 pm

Yes, if they are the correct springs, yours should sit pretty level, but the rear WILL be lower than the front by just a tad. Mine had the wrong rear springs, so the ass sat lower.

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Fri May 08, 2009 12:07 am

I finally got a pic of the color matched AEM intake I installed last Friday. Don't mind the blue tubing, it'll be replaced with black hose at some point. It's not a huge concern at the moment though

Tonight I decided to install my black housing headlights.... that was fun trying to take the headlights out without taking the bumper off. I had to remove the 3 screws from the top of the bumper to allow me to yank the bumper out so I could manage to get them out. The second one didn't take as long once I figured out what tricks I had to use to get them out.

Here's a before shot with the '03 raccoon headlights

Left black housing installed

Both installed

Hood closed, finished product

With flash

I think it looks much better with the black housings.
I may get some S style fiberglass eyelids at some point, not sure.

black housings > '03 raccoons > ugly '04+ chrome housings

So does anyone know if there is a way to adjust the horizontal aim of the headlights? Or is the screw that sticks up the only adjustment you can make? It sure seems to me that there is a lot more light shining out to the side of my car now.. It's kind of annoying.

glasswars · Post by **glasswars** » Fri May 08, 2009 12:16 am

yessssssssss black housings. get some day pics tomorrow! i can't wait till this car gets dropped SHITTTTTT

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Fri May 08, 2009 12:19 am

Thanks man. Yeah, I'll try to get some better pics tomorrow in the light. My cam is shit though and eats batteries like crazy. I wish I had some money to buy a newer one. Won't be happening for a while though because hopefully my next paycheck, which won't be til the end of the month, will pay for the Tokico HPs to finally lower this bitch

suave23 · Post by **suave23** » Fri May 08, 2009 9:59 am

The new lights look killer. I'm meeting up with somebody next week to get a set of black housings and S-style eyelids for my SRT, along with a carbon fiber injector cover and radiator shroud.

You did a great job picking out those wheels, they fit your look perfectly.