want to do something to my exterior today...but what?

boostinss · Post by **boostinss** » Sat May 26, 2007 11:45 am

so my car is getting boring and i want to do somethign to the exterior today that isnt gunna be tooo expensive..

what i would reallllllly like is

Eyelids which would have to be custom made because i wannna go cheap...any ideas on cheap custom eyelids..would need silver.
what would be the aprox price??

or

(this is going to be hard to xplain so bear with me)

the lights inside our headlights which are amber in color...i have seen some cars that have blue ones in there which look sooo sweet at night..i was wondering how do i do that? what bulbs are they? easy install? aprox price?

SlvrACR · Post by **SlvrACR** » Sat May 26, 2007 1:05 pm

The bulb itself is 3157
Silverstar makes nice ones but are still legal amber once lite up

JRM · Post by **JRM** » Sat May 26, 2007 2:09 pm

buy some spray tint and tint your tails and sidemarkers

Cabbs · Post by **Cabbs** » Sat May 26, 2007 2:25 pm

debadge, get some goo gone and a credit card or floss.

J-Villa · Post by **J-Villa** » Sat May 26, 2007 2:33 pm

i just debadged the other day...i just pulled them off with my fingernail carefully...was easy...goo gone ftw...took the shit right off

drjeffreys · Post by **drjeffreys** » Sat May 26, 2007 3:52 pm

debadge it.. costs nothing
spray tint your tails.. 15 a can
window tint.. 200ish
if you like night driving throw some lights in it.. under the dash and seats for interior.. in the front grille for exterior

kc2005ptgt · Post by **kc2005ptgt** » Sat May 26, 2007 4:20 pm

put a Type-R sticker on it.

boostinss · Post by **boostinss** » Sat May 26, 2007 11:24 pm

kc2002acr wrote:put a Type-R sticker on it.

^^ Dude putting a Type R sticker on kills two birds with one stone!!! 50+HP and EXTERIOR MOD!!! THANKS TONS!

OB · Post by OB » Sat May 26, 2007 11:33 pm

^

A debadge is a simple and effective way to make the car look better. Removing the side moldings is also a good start. When im broke and want to do something, I break out the paint and go to town. Painting various underhood items makes a huge difference in the way it looks. I prefer subtle and simple changes, but some people paint match the accessories to the car paint, or use other crazy colors to accent the bay. Its up to you.

Also, cleaning the car from the roof to the tread, inside and out, will always take a few hours and have a great result. Detailing is very satisfying.

boostinss · Post by **boostinss** » Sat May 26, 2007 11:36 pm

does debadging make the value of the car go down at all??

and i have always wondered what the side molding is..is it the metal that is under your doors?

OB · Post by OB » Sat May 26, 2007 11:55 pm

No debadging it shouldnt effect the cars (already low) value. Most people dont even notice that its not there, but its the overall 'look' of the car that improves. Its a very minor detail that the average person usually looks over. The side moldings are the little strips that run along the doors. Theyre there to prevent other doors from hitting yours, but work pretty poorly and look pretty crappy.

boostinss · Post by **boostinss** » Sun May 27, 2007 12:52 am

how do the side moldings come off?

03blackrt · Post by **03blackrt** » Sun May 27, 2007 12:57 am

Polish it! Then wax it! That'll eat up an entire weekend... or two.

Wenuden · Post by **Wenuden** » Sun May 27, 2007 1:08 am

05neonsxt wrote:how do the side moldings come off?

they're double-face taped on. get some adhesive remover (most auto stores sell goo gone, any will work, brake kleen probably will too), spray it along the top and bottom edges, let it sit for 5 minutes, then start peeling it back with a credit card or drivers license. some people use high strength fishing line.

some people notice small air bubbles in the clear coat underneath them, and it might leave discolored stripes. Mine was 2 years old when i did it, it doesn't have air bubbles or a stripe.

OB · Post by OB » Sun May 27, 2007 1:22 am

dont use brake clean! it will strip your paint FAST. goo gone works well, just dont let it sit on there too long. I used dental floss and a credit card to remove mine. Go back and use the goo gone again once u get em off to clean up the surface underneath them. The wash the doors well and even wax them to help match the paint fade (if any). your car is new so dont worry about the paint issue. it should look fine underneath.

yellowpatrol · Post by **yellowpatrol** » Sun May 27, 2007 9:50 am

OB wrote:dont use brake clean! it will strip your paint FAST. goo gone works well, just dont let it sit on there too long. I used dental floss and a credit card to remove mine. Go back and use the goo gone again once u get em off to clean up the surface underneath them. The wash the doors well and even wax them to help match the paint fade (if any). your car is new so dont worry about the paint issue. it should look fine underneath.

My goo wouldn't come off, so I used some brake cleaner. It still didn't come off all the way, but it helped better than any penetrating oil. My paint still looks fine.

kc2005ptgt · Post by **kc2005ptgt** » Sun May 27, 2007 12:20 pm

use gasoline

I always use it, and MAN does it work well!! Even took off some nightshades that was stuck in a crevace in my tinted tails a year ago as it dribbled out and leaked onto my car

YEAH. But gasoline is what I have always used, and it always works and is safe for the paint.

KrackstaR · Post by **KrackstaR** » Sun May 27, 2007 12:29 pm

OB wrote:
Also, cleaning the car from the roof to the tread, inside and out, will always take a few hours and have a great result. Detailing is very satisfying.

thats a fun mod and you will be extra happy with her, clean clean clean

Demonik · Post by **Demonik** » Sun May 27, 2007 12:44 pm

Wenuden wrote:
05neonsxt wrote:how do the side moldings come off?
they're double-face taped on. get some adhesive remover (most auto stores sell goo gone, any will work, brake kleen probably will too), spray it along the top and bottom edges, let it sit for 5 minutes, then start peeling it back with a credit card or drivers license. some people use high strength fishing line.

some people notice small air bubbles in the clear coat underneath them, and it might leave discolored stripes. Mine was 2 years old when i did it, it doesn't have air bubbles or a stripe.

so do most peoples look like crap afterwards then? i think this would look awesome, but im scared to do it....I dont want to have any left over residue or have the paint all messed up.

i guess if it looks bad you can just double side tape the moldings back on?

yellowpatrol · Post by **yellowpatrol** » Sun May 27, 2007 12:56 pm

I did mine like a week or two ago and I still have a little residue on both sides. I couldn't find anything strong enough to take them off until I tried brake cleaner, but I was conservative with that because if you're not careful it will take off paint. I'm going to try washing it hardcore today to see if that takes care of it.

Wenuden · Post by **Wenuden** » Sun May 27, 2007 2:50 pm

Demonik wrote:
Wenuden wrote:
05neonsxt wrote:how do the side moldings come off?
they're double-face taped on. get some adhesive remover (most auto stores sell goo gone, any will work, brake kleen probably will too), spray it along the top and bottom edges, let it sit for 5 minutes, then start peeling it back with a credit card or drivers license. some people use high strength fishing line.

some people notice small air bubbles in the clear coat underneath them, and it might leave discolored stripes. Mine was 2 years old when i did it, it doesn't have air bubbles or a stripe.
so do most peoples look like crap afterwards then? i think this would look awesome, but im scared to do it....I dont want to have any left over residue or have the paint all messed up.

i guess if it looks bad you can just double side tape the moldings back on?

I've only seen one post on here where someone had paint peel off (I think his was an '00 or '01), and most of the posts i've seen that speak of discoloration, they say it blends in 6-12 months. mine had a stripe of dirt where rain would wash stuff off the car and it would get caught on the top tape strip, but that washed right off (took a bit of elbow grease, a buffer would probably make it real easy). as far as the adhesive goes, it just takes some elbow grease. when i did mine, the adhesive remover seperated the glue from the tape foam, so i had to peel the glue off the car. most of it came off clean in long strips. the best tip i can give you is to find a chemical that's made for painted surfaces, and to let it sit for a while after you spray the moldings.

OB · Post by OB » Sun May 27, 2007 7:04 pm

Story time. Last week I finished working on the car and was putting some tools away. I have a nice set of craftsman screwdrivers, and one of them was pretty dirty to I busted out the brake clean thinking it was cool to use it to clean tools fast. Took the paint right off the driver handle with one swipe of a shop towel. Using this on your car's paint is insane. If it looks like it didnt damage it, maybe it only ate through a few clear coats, but this stuff doesnt play around.

Goo gone + lots of time + patience + sponge = no adhesive.

yellowpatrol · Post by **yellowpatrol** » Sun May 27, 2007 10:49 pm

OB wrote:Goo gone + lots of time + ass load of patience + sponge = no adhesive.

*fixed

03blackrt · Post by **03blackrt** » Mon May 28, 2007 12:24 am

I just used my fingers to roll off the adesive when I de-side-gaurded my 2000 way back when. I found that the easiest way IMO.

SteelBlue · Post by **SteelBlue** » Tue May 29, 2007 12:59 pm

03blackrt wrote:I just used my fingers to roll off the adesive when I de-side-gaurded my 2000 way back when. I found that the easiest way IMO.

Yup. Did that with both my 02 and last week the 95. Works pretty well but your fingers get sore after a while. Having it sit in the hot sun helped quite a bit: it warmed up the tape well enough that i just peeled the strips off by hand and most of the tape came off with it.

TNK · Post by **TNK** » Tue May 29, 2007 1:34 pm

debadge. pull side moldings. wash. wax. tint lights. paint wheels. then lower it.

boostinss · Post by **boostinss** » Tue May 29, 2007 6:44 pm

can i tint my tails while they are on the car still?

Demonik · Post by **Demonik** » Tue May 29, 2007 8:47 pm

probably could but would be more of a pain to do it as you would have to tape off alot of the car and use some cardboard or something to reduce the excess that isnt sprayed on the lights

TNK · Post by **TNK** » Wed May 30, 2007 2:44 am

it woudl be much easier to pull the bulb sockets out and then remove the 3 plastic nuts that hold the tails in. its not a hard project.

lilolneon · Post by **lilolneon** » Wed May 30, 2007 4:54 pm

if your really bored, and have lots of cardboard, make yourself a cardboard body kit...