Right then. I got my beloved Ruby (that\'s the car, yeah!) back from having loads of work done this week. Unfortunately, the work hasn\'t, erm, worked, so she\'s got to go back because she\'s still pretty horrible to drive, with between two and no working turbos at random. To be fair, this isn\'t about that, and the guy who did the work is putting it right, so this isn\'t a moan thread or anything. What it did mean, though, is that I had no option but to faff with the cosmetics, since I still can\'t drive her.
For anyone who remembers three months back when she went in for work, my wheel lacquer went through also, so I had to send them back to Abbey Motorsport, who\'d done the refurbishing. To be fair to them, they re-did them from goodwill, without too much grumbling, though it was very annoying nonetheless! This is what they looked like when they went away;
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This is what they look like when they came back;
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The thing is, I can\'t resist a fiddle (f\'narr) and I got some LeMans (bikes) style reflective rim tape because I thought they might be too dour in just plain anthracite, and even though there\'s a red gasket thing, I wasn\'t sure it\'d be sufficient to key into the bodywork. Thing is, having done one side to try it out, I honestly can\'t make up my mind whether I prefer all gunmetal or with the red pinstripe. my family and friends I\'ve canvassed are exactly 50-50 split, so it\'s up to you guys and girls to have the deciding votes! So, does the pinstripe stay or go? You decide!
With;
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And without, again;
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P.S, If my new Border wings don\'t just make you wet with excitement, you\'ve no soul! I know they work for me!
Without the red bit for sure, very moody without :D
Also, inspired by Jono\'s really quite excellent Audi R8 styleee LED sidelights, I had a bash at some of my own. I certainly don\'t have the talent to plagiarise his idea of replacing the whole sidelight assy with a vent and mounting the LEDs in there, but I\'m quite pleased with the result. Mostly because you literally can\'t see them till their on, and then they burn your eyes out. Probably rather far from road legal, but hey, who cares!
Spot the lights;
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Aha, there they are
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And at night...brilliant, literally!
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Ihave the same wings in cf, they look great.
Quote from: davyv;508671Ihave the same wings in cf, they look great.
Dang! I feel all inadequate now :)! Can\'t imagine how much the carbon ones must be. I got these FRP secondhand from Martin at Speedline, but my mate has some on his R33 GTR Skyline that he imported new himself, at a cost of around £800. I think he said he was after the carbon ones, but they were literally double the price. That\'s a lot!
But what about the wheel tape? :)
I like it all....keep the lot!
Thanks, Dan, that keeps the nice 50/50 split intact! :D
Come on, guys, help me out here! 95 views on this thread and only two people with an opinion? Surely this can\'t really be MRC can it? Where\'s all the posts telling me I\'m a style-free fashion victim! I need the abuse, I\'m not capable of making my own decisions! I can\'t drive the bl**dy thing around with two red and two black wheels on it forever (actually, I can\'t drive it at all just now, but that\'s besides the point....)
Wheels without red trim = :Thumbs-up
Audi R8 Led style lights = :spank
Its in danger of getting a bit busy... keep it simple..
Loving the front wings...
personally I\'d only keep the wheel trim if you lost the shopping list...
Its looking damn fine though...
get rid of the tape mate! also the door stack i think is a no no and will look so nice,
also get the wing painted black like mine! that will look mint to as you have other black parts to your car!
(http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h235/k-tec_tne/P1010239.jpg)
So have you reduced the cooling to the oil coolers?
If so considering that 1/3rd of all cooling is done by the oil that is not good.
Of course you may not have blocked them.
Regards
Carl
i would say keep the red tape as it looks cool but get rid of the shopping list (have told you before lol)
also doing the spoiler black like steven has would look cool. nice pic btw steven
cool wings, hmm the red tape, with or without it looks good both ways
That\'s more like it. Fair and frank opinions, that\'s what we want!
The door stacks are probably coming off, in fact, one of the HKS stickers has already gone, cos I\'ve only got a boost gauge by HKS left now and I dont believe in putting logos on when you dont have the parts fitted. I\'ve only taken the one off cos frankly I got bored peeling off tiny fragments of reeeeeally sticky sticker lol! Thanks, Karl, I think that\'s the third or fourth time you\'ve told me off about the shopping list, I get the idea, dude :D!
Envyd. I\'m quite liking the two-tone effect, but I think I\'d want to get the roof done to match, and I can\'t afford that just now. Maybe one for the future. I\'m halfway through prepping sideskirts that should\'ve gone on when the wings did, but were too badly damaged, so they\'ll have to be my painting budget for now.
Carl, no mate, I\'m not a totally mechanically insensitve baboon :)! The LED bars are only about 5mm thick if that, and they\'re mounted right at the extreme edge of the vent, so shouldn\'t affect airflow to the coolers at all. In fact, I\'m hoping that the wing vents should help pull a bit more air through for cooling, in a sort of venturi type thing, it looks like that\'s what they\'re designed to do, anyway.
Still a fairly even split on the rim tape, then, bugger! Maybe I will just have to drive around with one side done and one not! The missus hates it, though, which I guess may prove the deciding factor in the end....
I say no to the red tape, the wheels look lush just as is. You\'ve got enough red in the area from the callipers IMHO.
I\'ve never understood shopping lists myself, seems like free advertising... May as well stick what toothpaste you use, and your favorite brand of condoms there too :p
I say no to the red tape on the wheels bud. From the pics it\'s a different shade than the car itself so i dont think it goes. Liking the lights tho, good mod!
Quote from: RemarkLima;509294I say no to the red tape, the wheels look lush just as is. You\'ve got enough red in the area from the callipers IMHO.
I\'ve never understood shopping lists myself, seems like free advertising... May as well stick what toothpaste you use, and your favorite brand of condoms there too :p
I think it\'s a hangover, for me, anyway, from having been into bikes for so long before cars. They tend to lend themselves rather more to the "sponsors graphics" sort of look, perhaps because the colour schemes were so dependent on graphics and logos anyway straight from the factory, especially through the \'90s. There\'s also quite a cachet in having
the right designer labels on your fairing, not that I was ever that much of a fashion victim, any more than I would only go out in the right Nikes or Reeboks, but you know what I mean. For example, this is my old \'96 FireBlade, which had a
lot of time, effort, and cash put into it. Very, very cool and wel-modded to those who know, very very hideous shell-suit coloured abortion to those who dont! :D Taste\'s such a personal thing, which is the beauty of it, I guess.
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Bobbit, I think you\'re right about the colour not matching, I think that\'s what may well swing it for me, too. It\'s cos it\'s actually light reflective tape, it looks the same as the bodywork in the shade, but as soon as light falls on it, it changes colour, which I didn\'t really take into account at first.
Quote from: Nik da Greek;509364Bobbit, I think you\'re right
WOO HOO :Party. Can you do me a favour and tell my wife that bud! LOL :Giggle
True about the bikes... It\'s funny, I was wandering aimlessly at lunch today and mused upon the very same thing, to have decals and Repsol decals all over bikes is pretty much accepted, and pretty cool if done right... Even getting it done up like a race bike looks tasty!
But do it to a car and it\'s labelled chavvy, and is kinda weird. I mean, the Scoobies in full WRC regalia including mudflaps with the driver (about 16, ginger, acne) witha Subaru jacket and cap... What\'s that all about???
But then when I had my lotus I never went in for the Lotus cap, t-shirt, fleece (what being done to you by buying all this cr@p), long johns, potato peeler, while soooooo many people did it was pretty shocking!
But it is just my opinion, and I\'ve been called an opinionated all c**t a few too many times in the past ;)
Mrs Bobbit: he\'s right!
Remark Lima, I have to agree...up to a point. It does seem ok on bikes, BUT theres never any justification for owning ANYTHING with a Harley-Davidson logo on it, not even if it\'s actually a Harley-Davidson, but especially not if it\'s a trademarked spoke-cleaning brush (Tescos washing up brush with a H-D logo priced up from 50p to £29.99), aftershave (cat\'s p!ss in a bottle with H-D logo, priced up etc..), leather wallet on a chain for your belt (you get the idea) :D
Ok, what about this... I think the red tape looks good, but it might look better still if the wheel bolts were colour matched with the wheel (anthracite).
They remind me of the Time Attack wheels, and I\'m a big fan of those - especially on a red car!
Yeah, I tried that, but the powdercoaters wouldn\'t touch the centre cap/big nut things. The problem is, the threaded part that screws them onto the wheel is a plastic insert, and it\'s interference fit so it won\'t come out, I guess to stop them just rotating but not unscrewing when you want to take them off. God knows how Volk fit them in the first place, loads of Fairy Liquid maybe lol. I could get the logo part out, but not the actual threaded bit. They weren\'t keen on powdercoating them cos of the heat, couldn\'t guarantee they wouldn\'t melt or deform. So, good idea, but I\'m afraid they have to stay alloy coloured
Right, then. Finally got the car all sorted, courtesy of Super 7. And yes, i am like a dog with two d!cks now I can to drive her properly again. Trouble is, since I now have no money left at all for gas, and it\'s all a bit late now, I\'m stuck here on the south coast whilst everyone else is enjoying the Japshow, which is a bit annoying. However, whilst I was sat about at Super 7 watching Jason mumble to himslef and disembowel bits of malfunctioning turbo systems, I took the time to peel off all the stickers, shopping list, venetian-blind "performance by rotary" weird Jap rear window thing and all. I might grudgingly admit that it does actually look better now, too!
Still hasn\'t helped me make a decision on the wheel tape yet, but looks great at least, and I can only see one side at a time, after all! Amazing what a transformation a day with a clay bar and some Gold Class polish can bring, as well.
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wheel tape looks very gay, on bikes and cars :)
the clean look is the way to go, as you are finding...
Andy
Ditch the tape.. moody is the way forward :3gears-rh
Blimey! Not sure I\'d want my wheels to appear gay (I\'m assuming that\'s meant in a bad way :)!). Not sure a BRIGHT red car can look all that moody, either, but I\'m getting the feelin the consensus is tape-free seems the way to go