Bee’s 2010 SS/RS Rally Yellow Build

[Bee]

In other news, I was at a Halloween car show last weekend. I went to turn on my exterior LED’s when I noticed only my underglow lights were working. After I got home, I tested the lights again and found only the driver side demon eye was coming on. The rest of the lights would come on only in red, and very faint in green. Anyway, I pulled the front bumper off the other day and found the ground I used on the passenger side horn wasn’t making a good connection. Even though the horn bolt was tight, when I would jiggle the horn itself the LED’s would begin to flicker. I ended up placing the ground behind the horn bracket and really tugged at the horn to make sure the lights stayed on.



But since the front end is off, I also wanted to address couple other things I’ve been meaning to get to. First up, the harness I made to run the wires for the halo’s and demon eyes and dropped down, so each time I had my grill lights on I could see it dangling in the breeze. I had a couple mag-daddy’s left over from the underglow lights, so I used one to secure this harness to the crashbar.



Next up on the list was to route the wire to my front camera better. When I installed it earlier this year, I just ran the wire along the bottom of the splitter and secured it using mag-daddy’s by sticking them on bolts. Although they have held up so far, I didn’t like having the wire ran like that. Instead, I drilled a small hole through the splitter so I can run the wires on the inside of the bumper. This should keep them protected while still giving me access to unplug them when needed.




The last thing on my list was to try and find a way to be able to have my halos and demon eyes come on with the rest of my exterior LED’s. My initial findings were the lights could either be powered by the parking lights or a switch from a constant or ignition hot... but not both. Thankfully, I remembered that I had a few diodes tucked away in one of my tool boxes, so I temporarily setup a jumper wire to connect the power from my switch to the halo controller and confirmed it works exactly how I want it to. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find my soldering iron (it was a cheap one that may have been tossed at some point). I ordered a new Weller and it should be delivered sometime today. Once I have that I will finish installing the jumper wire and then get the front bumper reinstalled.

[Caveman_SS]

Nice clean install on that front camera. Looks good! Such a clean car.

[Bee]

Originally Posted by Caveman_SS

Nice clean install on that front camera. Looks good! Such a clean car.

Thank you!! I struggled with deciding where to place the front camera. My initial thought was to have mounted it in a spot that it could stay on the car when the front bumper was removed, but I also didn't want to be able to see it while standing in front of the car. However, since its main function is to protect the splitter from hitting anything, I think the spot I have it works the best. As a bonus, I also put a piece of painters tape right near the garage door, so now I can simply line one of the grid lines on the tape and get it in the perfect spot each time.

[Bee]

I finally got a chance to get back to working on the car this weekend. With the diodes soldered in place, I ran both jumper wires. The black wire runs all the way to the exterior light switch in the cabin, which is hooked into a constant power source. The yellow wire feeds the halos and the red wire powers the demon eyes. I left the lights on while I zip tied everything up, just to be certain none of the connections broke in the process.




One last order of business to do before bolting the front end back on was to see if I could get the lock ring in place for the front tow hook. I haven’t been able to use it because I couldn’t fit it between the receiver and the lower grill. I ended up grabbing my model nippers as they cut plastic extremely well, and notched out the back side of the lower grill to make enough room for the lock ring to fit in. However, since there is still no good way to fit the lock ring with the front end on the car, I opted to mount the tow hook shaft without the d-ring so I can slide it through the grill. Once the bumper was back on, I simply reinstalled the d-ring. Now, I should be able to drive around and not have to constantly adjust the tow hook so I don’t look like a crazy person.

[SlowLS1]

Looks like a lot of fun was had. Nice job!

Just curious, what's the process of getting the RGBW halos installed? Is the headlamp difficult to take apart without damaging it?

Thanks,
Brian

[Bee]

Originally Posted by SlowLS1

Looks like a lot of fun was had. Nice job!

Just curious, what's the process of getting the RGBW halos installed? Is the headlamp difficult to take apart without damaging it?

Thanks,
Brian

LOL...yeah, pulling the front bumper off is a process, but it does get easier each time.

Installing the RGBW halos themselves were very easy...it's just swapping out the board with the new one and running the new wires out of the head light.




However, getting to them was a pain. I watched several YouTube videos before attempting to open up the headlights. What worked for me was to bake the headlight at 250 degrees (F) for about 15 minutes and then used a wide assortment of flat tip screwdrivers to separate the lens from the housing. Once I got one of the corners started, I found using a long, thin screw driver worked best, as I could slide it between the lens and housing while it gave me just enough leverage to pry it apart. Also, don't hesitate to stick it back into the oven. I had to put the first headlight back in 2 or 3 times before I could get it apart.

As long as you are careful with the screwdriver, and make sure you have a soft towel down on your workbench, you can open them without any damage to the headlights. I did have one slip, but fortunately it was along the top of the lens and is completely covered by the bumper.

[SlowLS1]

Nice, how did you seal them up afterwards?

[Bee]

Originally Posted by SlowLS1

Nice, how did you seal them up afterwards?

I added Butyl Headlamp Sealant to my order when I bought the halo kit from Diode Dynamics. One box is plenty to reseal both headlights.

Be sure to completely remove the factory butyl from the housing and then lay the new butyl into the channel. The new stuff is pretty easy to work with, and you can stretch it a bit to get it to fit into the channel. Once your all set, just push the lens back on and pop it into the oven for 5-10 minutes. Then just use clamps, lots and lots of clamps to hold it together until the butyl cools.

[SlowLS1]

Thanks Bee!

Will be useful for me in the near future when I do mine.

[Bee]

I installed an H3R HalGuard 1.4 lb extinguisher that I have been meaning to get for a long time now. However, I was struggling with finding a good mounting solution as I wanted to keep it close to the driver’s seat while not getting in the way. So I ended up going with a product called ‘The Bracketeer’ which has a wide range of mounting options.

I first attempted to install the clamping arms into the rail, but unfortunately, once I moved the seat forward, it would push the mount right off. Luckily, I had a couple nuts and bolts laying around so I flipped the clamping arms along the bottom of the seat rails and was able to get everything secured. The last two pictures are where I keep the seat.

[SlowLS1]

That is a good mod to have, and hope you never have to use it. This is something I will be doing also before my car goes back on the road.

[Bee]

Yeah, definitely the one mod I have no problem with ever having to use!

[Bee]

With winter slowly creeping along, I thought I should probably get started on at least one of the projects I wanted to do this year.

As I previously posted, the motor mounts must have been the final ingredient needed to produce a resonating vibration. So to help combat it, I picked up a box of Dynamat and my main focus will be the rear deck. The bulk pack should also have enough to do under the back seat and the entire trunk area.

I am going to take my time with this project but will post pictures along the way. Hopefully, the hardest part is over – removing the rear speaker deck. Actually, the speaker deck itself came out pretty easy, it was the rear pillars that were being the most difficult.

[The_bald_eagle_machine]

Originally Posted by Bee

I installed an H3R HalGuard 1.4 lb extinguisher that I have been meaning to get for a long time now. However, I was struggling with finding a good mounting solution as I wanted to keep it close to the driver’s seat while not getting in the way. So I ended up going with a product called ‘The Bracketeer’ which has a wide range of mounting options.

I first attempted to install the clamping arms into the rail, but unfortunately, once I moved the seat forward, it would push the mount right off. Luckily, I had a couple nuts and bolts laying around so I flipped the clamping arms along the bottom of the seat rails and was able to get everything secured. The last two pictures are where I keep the seat.

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That bracket looks pretty sweet, I know that i need to add a fire extinguisher to my list... This bracket and the pricing might just get me to pull the trigger.