Chakita

[jlugo]

Looking Good!!!...

[Yellow_Glide]

Originally Posted by 2SS BUMBLBE

Waiting to see the finished door pictures!

Will take some pics this weekend and get them posted

[Yellow_Glide]

After the short road trip (500 round trip) a couple of weeks ago, the wife was saying (repeatedly and loudly) she didn't like the drone from the exhaust: which meant change the exhaust or try some of the sound deadening materials.

After doing a lot of reading, decided to go with Hushmat. Found a local stereo shop which carried an assortment and went to check it out. About 3 minutes to check out and I was headed home with a box - 39 sqft.

Started in the trunk area are realized 39 sq ft was a bit much for the trunk area - so I set aside 5 sheets (about10 sq ft) for under the rear seat - will tackle this when I do the leather seats on a few weeks.

The sheets were about 1' x 2' and were easy to fit and cut. In the first pic, I started with a full sheet on the driver side in the trunk and cut out for the option tag and rubber plug. The did a full sheet on the right side, then a full sheet between the battery well and rear seat, then started covering the remaining trunk floor and areas until they were almost solid black. Only trouble spot was the wheel wells, but some trimming and fitting to get it close and then put it down. You'll notice I did under the rear speaker deck - not solid, but enough to get probably 50 to 60% coverage.

Did learn a few tricks for those attempting to do this:
- do the large areas first will full sheets, then do the smaller areas with half and quarter sheets
- finish the area by using all of the "scrap" to fill in the voids.
- do one sheet at a time and use a roller to ensure the material is firmly attached. For curved areas use the handle of the roller to get into the small areas. You can press the mat by hand, but this gets old rather quickly. Once you think you have the sheet firmly attached, move on to the next sheet.
- the primary thing to avoid is "bridging" - areas where the mat has an air bubble or isn't firmly pressed down. Patience and persistence is key. If you do get an air bubble or wrinkle, use a razor knife to make a small slit and work out the air or wrinkle.

- Total time was 3 1/2 to 4 hours

Overall, very pleased with the results - the Husmat definitely reduced the drone and in 6th at about 65mph the car has a throaty exhaust note but the hollow sound of the drone is gone . Definitely worth the time and money if you have changed exhaust.

[Yellow_Glide]

Finally posted pics of the lights - post #17

[Yellow_Glide]

I Installed the DRL harness from Feildgoal, total time was ~20 minutes: went exactly like the instructions and worked as described. Will be upgrading the DRL lights to Hella Projector lights at some point in the future.

Took a pic of the painted calipers i did a few weeks ago and forgot to take a pic of the finished DRL install - oh well, will get a couple when the Hellas go in.

[Yellow_Glide]

Bought the leather seat covers from Leatherseat.com on the group buy. I did the rear seat bottom and started the back and ran into the issue of not enough hands and new seat foam that didn't want to compress.

Finally found a shop in Austin that would do the front seats - J&H Auto Trim - they are appointment only. They did both front seats and the rear seat back for well under 3 bills. I was in at 9 and picked up at 4. Weather has been in the 40s and 50s last few weeks, but the wrinkles will come out when the temp rises.

A few pics of the seats.

I did the dye stitching mod this afternoon and used the Elmer's acrylic paint pen. Did the steering wheel, Shift knob and boot. On to the door and dash panels.

[aquablueL99]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Glide

My granddaughter - 16 months old and already decided what she wants to drive...

How can I say no...

You can't say it!! Just check out our thread...My 2 1/2 yr old grandson is already driving with me and has laid claim to his car!! Wouldn't have it any other way.

Nice build and I simply love the yellow touches to the car. It simply makes it your creation...Keep up the good work and let the pix continue...

[RED DEMON SS]

Great name, look forward to you posting more photos of your ride!~

[Yellow_Glide]

Ordered the polished can and filter. Easy install on the can but going to need to think about the hose routing to get the engine cover to sit properly. here are a couple of pics of the initial install.

Once this is done will get the pics of the BMR Strut Brace going in, Stainless brake lines and the GTO clutch reservoir. GPS mounts should be in next week - so finally getting a few things completed

[aquablueL99]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Glide

Ordered the polished can and filter. Easy install on the can but going to need to think about the hose routing to get the engine cover to sit properly. here are a couple of pics of the initial install.

Once this is done will get the pics of the BMR Strut Brace going in, Stainless brake lines and the GTO clutch reservoir. GPS mounts should be in next week - so finally getting a few things completed

Looking REAL Sweet!! Yellow is so good looking....

[Yellow_Glide]

Baseline Dyno run from today.

Afterwards, installed ARH Headers, ARK Exhaust, VMax TB, RX Black ICE-olator and Trifecta tune.

[Yellow_Glide]

Here are a couple of pics I took from a couple of weeks ago when we did the exhaust, headers, strut brace and tune.

Chakita strapped down for the two Dyno pulls - was 76% humidity so not bad runs: 254 and 256 for rwhp and 232 and 234 for rwtq.

Couple of pics of the ARH HEaders (2) and ARK exhaust (3) laid out before they go on. Up close and personal on the Burnt Tip (4). And of course the Strut Brace. Did find out the hard way the engine cover will not fit with the Black ICE-olator and the BMR brace: have an idea in mind to resolve but will have to think it thru before I actually start.

First time I saw the ARH / ARK items was the day we installed them. I can see now why they command the money they do. ARK exhaust was absolutely beautiful for an exhaust: everything was polished and lined up first time. I was skeptical of the connection between the ARH headers and the ARK Exhaust as it used only a band clamp. Chris and I looked at it for a couple of minutes and decided what the hell, let's put it on and see of it leaks. We had the car on the rack for almost 20 minutes running and shaking everything trying to make it leak and we couldn't. I was impressed. ARH headers were impressive as well: extremely nice fit and finish. Everything lined up and fit as it was designed. After the ARK / ARH were done, we did the Black ICE-Olator and the TB. These went on so quick I forgot to take pics - I'm sure there will be another photo op in there again.

I had a little trouble with loading the tune, but that was my fault - I didn't load the driver before I started. Once past the technical issue, 20 minutes later and the tune was done. I had to reload a second time to set the Ghost Cam, but oh well. Being able to turn off the ghost cam has put a very strange look on some peoples faces. I like to drive without it turned on and turn it on when I pull up on another car: sit there for a second and hit the button. Car starts rockin, trunk vibrates and exhaust gets louder - definitely will turn heads.

[Yellow_Glide]

Chakita is running well with the new headers, exhaust and other mods. Still haven't been back to the dyno - it's on my list of things to do - and since the dyno only does pulls M-F that doesn't help.

I jumped over to the Adams forum for a bit and decided to do some clean up work. I've been using Meguiars products for years and have been pleased with the outcome. I decided I wanted to "step it up" a notch or two and see what happens when you get serious. Did a complete clay, machine polish, sealer, glaze and wax. Talk about an all day sucker: started about 10 in the morning and finished up about 6 with the sealer. Started again Sunday morning with the glaze and wax, then did a quick interior wipe down with Adams VRT. With everything done, had about 10 hours in the job but it looks a thousand percent better... See for yourself. The last pic of the hood shows two things: the reflection and clarity of the end result and the orange peel from the factory. I think the paint robot had a hangover that day.

[ENV US]

Beautiful machine. I would love to hear it sometime. I am in the Round Rock area every other month.