CDailey's...new car! Update 6/12/15

[CDailey]

Small little update.

Just did my lip and mirrors in plasti-dip yesterday. My masking wasn't as good as I thought it was on the lip (plus i still need to clean the overspray from above the lip...totally forgot about that when i cleaned everything else up lol) and I did not know to remove the masking when the last coat was wet so the edges are a little rough on the mirrors but overall I am very pleased. Now that I know what I'm doing, I will redo them in a few weeks and then I want to order the Vintage Gold color from dipyourcar.com and do my wheels.

Not plastidip, but I did my exhaust in high temp black paint. Makes it look like the tips are larger.

Also, a little update. I've got almost 5400 miles on her now and so far so good! Absolutely no mechanical problems whats so ever. A few cosmetic defects though. The side skirts are attached by some type of adhesive tape and it is starting to separate on the drivers side near the rear tire. It's only maybe an inch or so that is separated so I'm not too worried about it. I'll have the dealer fix it when I go in for my first oil change when I hit 6000 miles. Only other problem is there is some slight hazing/small cracks in the driver side tail light, but they appear to be only on the inside. When I run my nails across the light, they don't catch on anything. It's weird. I only just noticed it the other day when I was painting my exhaust with some high temp black paint.

 

[homeforsummer]

That light problem is really odd. My first thought would be that someone has whacked it with something at some stage - it looks like the same effect you get when you bend the rigid plastic of a biro, lots of small stress marks.

 

[Zyla]

I love the way plastidip looks when done properly. Great job, loving the white mirrors.

 

[CDailey]

That light problem is really odd. My first thought would be that someone has whacked it with something at some stage - it looks like the same effect you get when you bend the rigid plastic of a biro, lots of small stress marks.

Here's what someone from a Fiat forum I frequent thinks:

The sheet metal may be deformed. When the light was mounted it may have been stressed from the inside since it wouldn't have been seated correctly. Maybe only showing up now due to expansion and contraction when heated up by the sun? Just a guess.

Sounds like a pretty good explanation to me. Either way, I'll get it looked at in the next month or so.

I love the way plastidip looks when done properly. Great job, loving the white mirrors.

Thank you!

I bought a can of Gunmetal gray today and some glossifier. I am thinking of doing the chrome in the gunmetal but I am not sure how it will look with the white. I'll probably try it out next week.

Here's a pic I took tonight while I was out for a drive.

 

[Ibonibo]

^Nice mate.
I've been looking to get into platidipping too, but it's hard to get eveything over here as dyc doesn't export due to regulations....

 

[CDailey]

Do any local retailers sell it? I haven't ordered a thing from DYC. I've just been using them as an information resource. All my dip has come from hardware/automotive parts stores.

Here is a little short film I made of Tess (Yes I named her. Yes, it's a she.) Actually had a blast editing this and it was of course fun to film.

Don't worry, the music stops once the action starts.

 

[Ibonibo]

Sounds good 👍
In the beginning, we didn't get the Performix in Europe. Most of the products came from Würth and weren't really that good. They did the job though.
Now the DYC products are available here (don't know if imported via freighter or produced here) but still not that easy to find everything available in the states.
I have found the DYC sprayer system, which I gonna buy (for a hundert bucks, bargain). I still haven't found the flakes here. But I think that those should not fall under the regulations for importing. Need to write them a mail.

 

[Zyla]

Finally, another car thread where the OP has named their vehicle.

Sounds awesome.

Edit: Great video editing! One day I'll have the equipment to make decent videos of my car. Until then, it's holding my iPhone up like a weirdo in a poor attempt to capture a POV driving experience.

 

[Katiegan]

Here is a little short film I made of Tess (Yes I named her. Yes, it's a she.)]

Tess, you say? She, you say? I guess these are next on your mod list then.

Of course, there's nothing wrong with naming cars and giving them genders.

 

[Zyla]

Those damn eyelashes. Even worse on Beetles. I've yet to see them on Mini Coopers, thankfully.

 

[CDailey]

Was messing around with my new phone (HTC One M8) and it has a pretty neat panorama feature. So, I'll just leave this here.

 

[eSZee]

Panorama or fisheye?

 

[CDailey]

The phone is capable of taking a 360* (in all directions) panorama but you can stop it at any time so I used it to make the fisheye effect.

 

[Heldenzeit]

Very tasteful plastidipping, good work!

I'd love an Abarth, they sound sooooo cool.

 

[Cale]

Called a dealer to schedule a test drive with an Abarth. Thought better of it before anyone picked up the phone. Brand new Left over 2013s are going for $16-17K. Would not have been a smart decision.

 

[Blackbird.]

Just read through the thread. Really cool little car! The exhaust note sounds mean haha, usually only hear that turbo whistle through the exhaust in a really exotic setup. 👍

 

[CDailey]

Been a while but here's an update.

Things I've done since I last posted: Removed the white plastidip from the mirrors and lip. Re-dipped the mirrors in black with some glossifier. Looks pretty cool IMO. Removed the headrest inserts and dipped them red with glossifier. Also looks pretty cool. Removed the rear seats. Saves around 47lbs. Also gives me a ton more cargo space. Dipped the front and rear chrome in grey plastidip. Once it gets warmer outside, it will be resprayed with black plastidip. Added an amp and sub. They are kind of in the way now since I removed the rear seats. I think I need to experiment with their placement some. Also added some go fast stickers. Oh yeah, I think the front wheels are out of alignment or something. I just had the tires rotated (and oil changed) a few weeks ago and I noticed just the other day that on the rears (formerly the fronts) are worn down to the tread bars on the outside, but there's still plenty of tread left on the insides. Not surprised the dealership didn't say anything about it though because that place is a pile of ****. I'll be taking it to an independent tire shop soon to see what they think. Hopefully they can fix it and I can even out the wear if it's not too late. Otherwise I'm looking at getting a new set of tires with my tax return, and I've only done 19k miles. I think that's everything, lol.



All cleaned up. You can kind see the dipped front chrome. This was before I dipped the mirrors black.

Seat inserts. I think these turned out great and I've only ever seen one other person in the Fiat community do it, so I'm proud of it.

Not the best pic but you can see the mirrors dipped black and the front chrome dipped

Clarkson go fast sticker

Rear seats removed. The rubber mats are temporary until I can find something else. I'm thinking maybe thing MDF or plywood wrapped in matching automotive interior carpet. Excuse the mess. This was literally right after I finished installing everything and got the sub and amp back in their original positions.

Here she is underneath an F14 Tomcat at the Naval Aviation Museum

And here she is under an A7 Corsair II at the Southern Aviation Museum

I also got a GoPro:

 

[Zyla]

Holy moly, I thought this thread had died. It's good to see an update. I'm glad the car is still doing good, and it certainly sounds just as good as when I last heard it. About the rear seat removal, I recently did that as well, although mine isn't actually permanent; I'm just putting a new, lighter one in. Those things are heavy!

Edit: Love the pics. 👍

 

[SVX]

That sticker is so rad.

Lovely Fiat. 👍

 

[CDailey]

Holy moly, I thought this thread had died. It's good to see an update. I'm glad the car is still doing good, and it certainly sounds just as good as when I last heard it. About the rear seat removal, I recently did that as well, although mine isn't actually permanent; I'm just putting a new, lighter one in. Those things are heavy!

Edit: Love the pics. 👍

Thank you. I'm still here, just don't post very often.

That sticker is so rad.

Lovely Fiat. 👍

Lol, thanks. My wife bought it for me for Christmas.

 

[Legro]

Nice car. 👍

Probably a good idea to take those rear seats off, I can't imagine many people wanting to sit there and now you have more luggage space.

 

[CDailey]

Nice car. 👍

Probably a good idea to take those rear seats off, I can't imagine many people wanting to sit there and now you have more luggage space.

My wife's alternator in her Maxima died a few weeks ago and she squeezed into the back seats. She was very unhappy. I think that's what pushed her over the edge for not caring about me taking the seats out.

 

[Zyla]

No real point in backseats in a car that compact.

besides w8 reduction y0

 

[CDailey]

Seriously, an infant's car seat (the backwards facing kind) wouldn't fit in the back seats unless the front seat it was behind was pushed as far forward as possible. I'm sure they sell it with rear seats for insurance and classifications purposes, but they really should just sell it as a two seater. Much more practical.

 

[Harry6784]

love the Clarkson sticker haha

 

[Cale]

Lol I've got a similar sticker.

 

[CDailey]

New tires. BFG g-Force Sport Comp 2s in 205/45/16. Up from the stock size 195/45/16 Pirelli P7 Cinturatos.

We just got rid of 8 inches of snow the other day so I went ahead and bought some new performance 3 season tires instead of all season. We are supposed to get 1/4" of ice and 1-2 inches of snow later this week. Oops. Guess I won't be driving anywhere until next week.

 

[Zyla]

Nothing better than the look, feel and smell of new rubber. Congrats.

 

[CDailey]

No real updates, just a few pics from a recent meetup at Cars and Coffee in Birmingham and from around the area.

 

[CDailey]

Well...pretty big update here. I traded the Abarth in for something...a little bigger. Unfortunately circumstances dictated that I either refinance or trade the Abarth in and I went for the second option.

With that said, I'd like to introduce my new car. A 2012 Hyundai Genesis sedan 3.8. It's roomy AF compared to the Abarth, naturally lol. Very luxurious inside. Incredibly smooth ride. The power delivery is so smooth. It's like you just get wafted along. Not super fast, but fast enough. Faster than the Abarth too with 333hp and 291 lb ft of torque. Not a whole lot faster since it weighs near enough to 5000lbs lol. Quicker than my friends new edge Mustang which is fine with me.

First mods were taking the dealer stickers off and those stupid pin stripes off the side. Next mods will be removing the front license plate once I get some bumper plugs, and removing the Hyundai badges and replacing them with the Genesis wings.

Picture overload: