Bee’s 2010 SS/RS Rally Yellow Build

[morepowerjoe]

Looks good sir.

[hesster]

Big Un's doing that mod, awesome. Once you cut, no going back. Measure 3 K times, then cut. Love that rear Quarter mod, is it still available?.

[Bee]

Originally Posted by Leadsled

I was thinking about the carrier upgrade too! but for 300, I think I rather the aluminum shaft for the performance benefit.

Yeah, I hear ya! I've always been leaning towards the aluminum shaft, but I don't know if I would have the patience to deal with the potential issues they can cause. Plus, if I had to keep taking the exhaust off to deal with the driveshaft, then I may seriously look into converting over to V-bands to replace the slip-on/band clamps.

Originally Posted by morepowerjoe

Looks good sir.

Thank you!

Originally Posted by hesster

Big Un's doing that mod, awesome. Once you cut, no going back. Measure 3 K times, then cut. Love that rear Quarter mod, is it still available?.

So true...but with your mad skills, you could probably knock it out without even blinking!

According to ACS's website, they are still available.

[Bee]

It’s hard to believe, but my car turned 15 years old yesterday (3/24). With that, along with winter wanting to stick around a bit longer, I figured I would take some time to knock out one more side project. A few months ago, I picked up a roll of VViViD+ carbon fiber vinyl with the plan to get rid of the rest of the silver trim pieces. So I popped out the shifter trim and brought it inside to work on wrapping it. First up was to remove the traction control button, cigarette lighter, and 4-pack gauges.



Although I had a basic idea of what to do, this was my first time I ever attempted to wrap an interior piece. My wife was kind enough to lend me her Dyson hairdryer (which has an incredible warm-up time). I then mistakenly assumed that I could do the entire trim in one sheet. It started out very beautiful and the vinyl was easy to work with.



I started clearing out the shifter opening but as I began the final stretch at the gauges, tragedy struck. There were just too many dips, curves and angles to contend with. Once I made the slits to open the gauges everything needed to go in different directions so I came up short.



At that point, I decided that I couldn’t save it. Although in hind sight I probably could have. Regardless, I ended up taking everything off to start fresh. Instead of attempting a single piece, I figured I should do it in two. However, this time I first put some inlays on the slope where the bottom gauges go as well as a piece on the bottom of the cigarette lighter. I got into a groove and didn’t stop to take many pictures, but here’s one after the first piece was done. I used a scrap piece to cover the traction control button separately. I just lined up the pattern of scrap piece with the main pattern, applied some heat and stretched the vinyl.



And here’s one of the entire piece finished. I should mention that I also cut a few small pieces where the triangles are along the back as they are visible when inside the car.



Although it was tempting at first to leave the gauges in silver, I knew it wasn’t how I wanted it to look. So I began the tedious process of piecing together the carbon fiber around the bezels.





I do realize there is a bit of silver at the bottom of each gauge. However, I already was planning to get bezel trim to finish it off. But for now, here’s how it looks back in the car.

[Joe.G]

I am not a huge fan of carbon fiber on the interior, but I do think when done right and not covering everything it looks nice as is the case here. Nice Job.

[morepowerjoe]

Looks really good. Nice job!

[Ashen 6.2]

That stuff can be a pita to work with! you did a great job of adapting and getting it looking really good!

[Bee]

Originally Posted by Joe.G

I am not a huge fan of carbon fiber on the interior, but I do think when done right and not covering everything it looks nice as is the case here. Nice Job.

Yeah, I'm with ya on that...a little can go a long way. I feel better having a general vision on how I want to blend different elements together, so now I'll just chip away at them and adjust accordingly if something starts to become overpowering.

Originally Posted by morepowerjoe

Looks really good. Nice job!

Thank you! I might be going crazy, but I swear it makes the yellow door panels jump out more. LOL

Originally Posted by Ashen 6.2

That stuff can be a pita to work with! you did a great job of adapting and getting it looking really good!

Thanks...yeah, there certainly was a learning curve! Fortunately, a 1x5 foot roll was only $10 and there was enough to get two good shots at it.

[chevy pilot]

Nice job.

[Bee]

I got a little bogged down the last few weeks with some yard work. However, I took a couple days off earlier this past week to finally get the car out. The first order of business was to give it a good wash to get rid of all the dust and pollen. I did confirm that the water drains very quickly out of the rear quarter panel ports. After that, I broke out the orbital polisher for some minor paint correction and then threw on a fresh coat of wax. For good measure, I also used glass sealer on all the windows and put paint sealant on the wheels.



I then headed over to a local cruise night. I probably should have taken a picture from a different angle, because now that I’m looking at this one it makes it seem like they blocked the entire parking lot section off just for me. However, there were well over a hundred cars in the show.



Anyway, the main reason for this post is I wanted to provide some feedback on the Dynamat as this was the first time I drove the car since installing it. I didn’t get up on a highway, and it wasn’t a long drive by any means…but I can say it did significantly reduce the amount of vibrations. The best thing is I didn’t hear the annoying sound of the rear deck resonating, which is really what I wanted to eliminate. The remaining vibrations appear to be coming from the doors and center console areas, but they are now back within my tolerance range. Since I have plenty of Dynamat leftover, I will probably put some on the doors next. The center console is mostly from the cupholder switch panel. That is held on with double sided tape, which was fine until I had to remove it at one point to rewire the panel. Since then, the tape doesn’t hold as well so it has been prone to vibrate even before the motor mounts were swapped.

[The_bald_eagle_machine]

Originally Posted by Bee

I got a little bogged down the last few weeks with some yard work. However, I took a couple days off earlier this past week to finally get the car out. The first order of business was to give it a good wash to get rid of all the dust and pollen. I did confirm that the water drains very quickly out of the rear quarter panel ports. After that, I broke out the orbital polisher for some minor paint correction and then threw on a fresh coat of wax. For good measure, I also used glass sealer on all the windows and put paint sealant on the wheels.

Attachment 1150102

I then headed over to a local cruise night. I probably should have taken a picture from a different angle, because now that I’m looking at this one it makes it seem like they blocked the entire parking lot section off just for me. However, there were well over a hundred cars in the show.

Attachment 1150103

Anyway, the main reason for this post is I wanted to provide some feedback on the Dynamat as this was the first time I drove the car since installing it. I didn’t get up on a highway, and it wasn’t a long drive by any means…but I can say it did significantly reduce the amount of vibrations. The best thing is I didn’t hear the annoying sound of the rear deck resonating, which is really what I wanted to eliminate. The remaining vibrations appear to be coming from the doors and center console areas, but they are now back within my tolerance range. Since I have plenty of Dynamat leftover, I will probably put some on the doors next. The center console is mostly from the cupholder switch panel. That is held on with double sided tape, which was fine until I had to remove it at one point to rewire the panel. Since then, the tape doesn’t hold as well so it has been prone to vibrate even before the motor mounts were swapped.

Man, that car looks so slick! Looking good Bee!

[NiteProwlerSS]

Honestly I’ve never been a huge fan of yellow, but your car looks sick! Awesome job

[Bee]

Originally Posted by The_bald_eagle_machine

Man, that car looks so slick! Looking good Bee!

Thanks! I ended up putting the cover back on because I am heading to another show this weekend. I still need top it off with Brilliant Glaze dress the tires and trim.

Originally Posted by NiteProwlerSS

Honestly I’ve never been a huge fan of yellow, but your car looks sick! Awesome job

Thank you!! I know, yellow can be overbearing but I think the black accents help keep it in check.

[0stones0]

Originally Posted by Bee

…

I know, yellow can be overbearing but I think the black accents help keep it in check.

^^^^
This!