What have you done to your car today?

[Perfect Balance]

Got a new shift knob. It's round and heavy. I like it.

Normally comes on a 2002 Hyundai Elantra. I got it for 20 bucks with my dealership discount.

 

[Slicks]

Update on autocross results from Sunday, as promised.

6th Overall by PAX,
10th Overall by raw time,
and 2nd in class (combining STS & STX) by less than 2/10's.

Out of 42 entries total.

 

[Moglet]

Fitted my new daytime running light bulbs today, it's made a huge difference. It makes the car look much more modern IMO.

Before, looking all yellow and cheap;


and after, nice and white with a hint of blue;


It really makes the front end stand out IMO, and they don't dazzle oncoming cars as they're designed just to be spotlights and not 'project' light. I noticed this when I pulled into the garage, they didn't light up the area infront of me as usual, they just gave off a cool glow instead.

However, in typical Italian car style, the manual said to turn the bulb holders clockwise to undo them instead of anti clockwise, which turned out to be the actual way to undo them

 

[DaddyVDUB]

NICE I sware you are making me want one of those little 500s.

 

[Philly]

Looks good! 👍

Do they do anything else besides looking cool?

 

[Moglet]

Looks good! 👍

Do they do anything else besides looking cool?

Nope! But that's what the 500 does best!

 

[Duke]

Nice results, Slicks!

 

[DaddyVDUB]

Hey is that a Jetta (Bora) in your avatar? Moglet.

 

[Moglet]

Hey is that a Jetta (Bora) in your avatar? Moglet.

Yeah, it's the one from the latest picture in my GT4 gallery.

 

[homeforsummer]

It really makes the front end stand out IMO, and they don't dazzle oncoming cars as they're designed just to be spotlights and not 'project' light. I noticed this when I pulled into the garage, they didn't light up the area infront of me as usual, they just gave off a cool glow instead.

They look pretty good 👍

For the love of God though don't change your headlamps to match. As you mentioned, the white/blue light isn't nearly as effective as the more yellow light. A friend has some white bulbs in his 3-series and on full beam they project less light than the dip beam does in my Fiesta, despite the light units being a third bigger.

 

[Moglet]

They look pretty good 👍

For the love of God though don't change your headlamps to match. As you mentioned, the white/blue light isn't nearly as effective as the more yellow light. A friend has some white bulbs in his 3-series and on full beam they project less light than the dip beam does in my Fiesta, despite the light units being a third bigger.

Funny you should mention it, the headlights have already been upgraded to a bulb better suited for night driving, it was one of the first things I did. They're still fairly yellow in photos but in real life they're pure white and designed to give the most natural looking light for driving with, without glaring oncoming cars. They've made a HUGE difference over the standard ones!

Here's how they look to the eye, not sure why they're so yellow in my other photos. It's easy to see in this photo why I changed the lower lights!

 

[Philly]

I have something similar to that on the GTI. The HID lights have that nice blue color but the fogs are more yellow that looks a little goofy under the headlights. But on that car it doesn't look all that bad because I also have the orange side markers and some other styling light that glows yellow right under the HID bulbs...

 

[ExigeEvan]

You say they don't blind people, and that may be true on the flat, but coming over a crest those things are bloody annoying. And it's very rarely flat near me.

 

[Moglet]

You say they don't blind people, and that may be true on the flat, but coming over a crest those things are bloody annoying. And it's very rarely flat near me.

They don't, not even on a crest. I got down on the ground earlier to see if they were too bright and I could look directly at them with no problems. If I were coming up a hill at about 45° you might notice a brightness but I doubt that will ever happen

 

[Beerz]

Looks great. Mog. 👍
_________________


I just painted my kidney grilles semi-gloss black today, all that chrome was really ticking me off.

 

[buickgnx88]

Ah, chrome plated kidneys, I can see how those are a pain. Seems like they would blind the doctors while they're doing surgery!

 

[CDailey]

I just painted my kidney grilles semi-gloss black today, all that chrome was really ticking me off.

Pics?

 

[Beerz]

Ah, chrome plated kidneys, I can see how those are a pain. Seems like they would blind the doctors while they're doing surgery!

Pics?

I'll have pics of them tomorrow. They're still semi-fresh and I can only put them back in the car tomorrow afternoon when I get home from work. 24h drying time.

 

[CDailey]

Ah cool. Can't wait to see them. 👍

 

[homeforsummer]

Today, I nearly inserted my car into the back end of my manager's Micra, when the daft git pulled out in front of me after work

Funny you should mention it, the headlights have already been upgraded to a bulb better suited for night driving, it was one of the first things I did. They're still fairly yellow in photos but in real life they're pure white and designed to give the most natural looking light for driving with, without glaring oncoming cars. They've made a HUGE difference over the standard ones!

If you're getting good light out of them then that's okay I guess 👍 I don't find the glow from white lights particularly natural though as it often has a blueish tint. When normal halogen lights glow bright enough anyway (as they would with main beam) I find the light from those fairly easy on the eye.

 

[Moglet]

Today, the weather was nice. So I went outside and spent 4 hours giving my car a full detail on the outside, doing the inside on Monday. Today I did a fair bit though;

-Rinsed car
-Washed wheels and wheel arches
-Washed car and rinsed again
-Dried bodywork
-Clayed the entire car to remove previous layers of sealant and surface contaminants
-De-tared the bodywork using a tough tar remover, this also helped strip the sealant layer
-Dried again after a spritz with a quick detailing spray
-Applied Finish Kare 1000P to all bodywork panels
-Dressed tyres
-Polished the glass

So now, not only does the car have a nice layer of glossy sealant on it, but it has no tar spots on it at all, so every panel is pure white. The reflections were very nice as the sun was setting;



I can't wait until the summertime rolls around, I'll be out there every day! I'm getting some Zaino Z8 final finish spray soon to give it an even glossier look for the dry summer roads

 

[CDailey]

The 500 looks nice Mog!

I need to get some more detail products. Adams Polishes ftw!

I don't get tire dressing though. Why would you make the tires shiney when they are the first thing to get dirty? To each his own though.

 

[Moglet]

The 500 looks nice Mog!

I need to get some more detail products. Adams Polishes ftw!

I don't get tire dressing though. Why would you make the tires shiney when they are the first thing to get dirty? To each his own though.

I don't use the shiny dressing, I use Autoglym Tyre Dressing and it leaves them darkened but not glossy. 👍 Never heard of Adams Polishes though, are they for use with a machine or by hand? I'm ordering a Sonus SFX orbital polisher kit soon, comes with a Kestrel machine and various Sonus pads and polishes.

If you ever need a good sealant to finish the car off and protect it, I can thoroughly recommend Finish Kare 1000P. It's an American product that we've recently got hold of at a single online store here in the UK and it's fantastic stuff. Lasts well over 4 months!

 

[nobuffalo]

I don't get tire dressing though. Why would you make the tires shiney when they are the first thing to get dirty? To each his own though.

Not only that, but if your using the stuff i'm thinking about, they attract dust like none other, and then it just looks really bad. I just spend a couple minutes pressure washing the hell out of them, soap and water. And personally I just don't like the look of a shiny tire.

Edit: Nevermind...

 

[Moglet]

Not only that, but if your using the stuff i'm thinking about, they attract dust like none other, and then it just looks really bad. I just spend a couple minutes pressure washing the hell out of them, soap and water. And personally I just don't like the look of a shiny tire.

Edit: Nevermind...

I used to use that shiny stuff and it does attract dust like mad. They used to get filthy. But that was before I got into the world of detailing and learned all about what not to do and what not to buy. My tyres get a clean every week with Valet Pro Bilberry, then they're left to dry naturally and are dressed in that state with a product that will dry to a matte finish. 👍

 

[Slicks]

Washed the car today.
I started under the hood, and spent about an hour under the hood with degreaser, a brush, and a toothbrush after bagging off the intake. I removed the spark plug cover to get in there, too - I had to sop up a little bit of oil. I'm not sure if it's a bit of spillage from topping up the oil, or if something's leaking - I'll keep an eye on it.

Moved on to the body, just did a quick job. Didn't bother with the door sills, and just gave the fenderwells a quick spray (as I had cleaned and dressed them last weekend, and we miraculously had a dry week).

I dried the car, and debated starting to claybar and polish the car... I ended up doing a couple paint touchups instead as I had (well, will be) going out shortly.

Tomorrow, I hope to do some paint correction and get a coat of wax on. I'm sure I'll end up washing it again beforehand.

 

[TheBook]

Was going to replace spark plugs, wires, distributor cap and rotor today.

Got through 6 of the 8 plugs and wires, haven't touched distributor yet. And that's after 5 hours of fighting.

 

[Slicks]

Washed the car again today. It had amassed more grime in one day than it did in the previous week, thanks to some wet roads last night.

I used a claybar on the front of the car (hood, fenders, bumper), and did some heavy polishing on a couple bumper scuffs. did a once-round of the car with some Megs Fine Cut and a rotary buffer, but it started raining as I was finishing the polish. No wax, today. Due to a crap-tastic forecast for the week, I'm guessing it'll have to wait until next weekend.

 

[Prosthetic]

I gave my car a wash that nature gave to me for free.

 

[nk4e]

I made a hole in an extra dash space to fit a button. So it should look like this: