6G Celicas Forums

"6GC: The only automotive forum where more members own something else."

Small update, just minor things.

I got bored of the ugly shift knob and surprisingly it just threads on so I got a cheap one off Amazon and threw that on. It looks so empty like that though...almost needs a shift boot lol but I wouldn't want to put one on and get called out or it. Not too sure what to do with it. I was thinking of picking up a spare shift rod and experiment with cutting it down so that the knob sits just above the trim, might look better.




Installed a sub I had sitting around since my first car before the Celi. Built a crappy box for it and threw it in just for sh!ts and gigs. Still need to carpet the box and secure it in somehow but it sounds pretty good. I also picked up a hatch cover off somebody because I didn't like the fact that people could see directly into the hatch at my sub. Put a decal on the back window for an extra 20hp.







The headlights were pretty hazy so I borrowed a 3M headlight polishing demo kit from work that comes with all the sandpapers, polishing pads and polish and a 3" air polisher and went to town.

This is essentially the kit I used:
http://3mcollision.com/products/featured-p...-kit-02516.html

Before:








After, much clearer and better light output:







Next I washed, claybarred, and detailed the car inside and out. The paint is so smooth now







Now I'm starting to think about prepping it for winter. So I picked up a set of 5 wheels off somebody that were on a couple Outbacks. Didn't realize until I was cleaning the wheels off that they were actually 2 slightly different sets of wheels lol . Oh well, I'll throw 2 on one side and 2 on the other.




These ones are in pretty decent shape, but the other set in the second picture are pretty badly chipped and scuffed. They're just winter wheels though so I'm not too worried.





Decided I'd give them a coat of paint to freshen them up a little bit. Cleaned them off with thinner, and pressure washed them. Then I scuffed them all up and prepped them for primer. I wasn't too worried about cleaning up the chipping or curb rash as they're just going to get abused during the winter anyways. If the paint peels off right away I'm not too worried.




Primed them





"Zero f*cks given"




Scuffed the primer up and laid down 3 good coats of paint. I call this colour "random colour that was mixed wrong for a customer and that they brought back" haha. It's actually a very nice colour.









Just need to get a set of winter tires for them and they're good to go! I also ordered a set of Rally Armors to protect my paint during the winter.

Since the headlights have stock projectors in them, I figured I might as well upgrade to HIDs without fear of blinding everybody. So the other day I ordered a PnP 5000k HID kit from a site Colin (jordisonjr) recommended. They were really cheap so we'll see how long they last lol.

Before:







Passenger side in:






And both done:






Pretty happy with how they look and the colour, not too obnoxious. Let's just hope they hold up alright.

And that's pretty much it for now.

I think if you were able to get a selector shaft half the height of the stock one it'd look better. Also good choice on not doing a boot, because I'd have to call you out on it. As far as the rims go you could do the ones with more spokes on the rear, wouldn't look too terribly wonky and I doubt most would notice.

My thought process on doing one set per side is that you won't see both sides at once so it's not as noticeable

Should be able to cut and thread the shaft at the height you want, but buy a spare just in case it turns out you can't.

Hmmm, there's only one solution and that's to find another match for the three.

holy!!!!! subie build thread hahaha niice job paul, glad you stayed within the forum

Haha thanks Keith! Wouldn't really call it a "build" thread haha just doing little things to it to make it a less boring daily. It is only an auto 2.5i after all

And yeah I'd rather stay here than try and start up on another forum, especially a big one like Nasioc where nobody will even care about what I do lol.

Glad that site worked out. Also curious as to how long the HID kit will last haha.
How's the cutoff while driving? Just as good as an HID projector?

I don't really have anything to compare them to but the cutoff doesn't seem too bad. Took the car up to the lake last weekend and didn't seem to blind anybody

And I'm curious too. When I got them my friend said he bought the same kit for his civic years ago and one ballast and one bulb died within a month lmao so let's hope for the best.

Hopefully not or else Ill have to remove my front end again just to change a bulb

Hopefully with a better ballast yours will last a little longer. I opted for their ballasts which I probably shouldn't have lol. The kit came with a relay though which in not using but I might add it in.

Usually the cheap kit ballasts don't even put out the full 35W which makes the bulbs bluer and lowers light output. The Fastbright F3 from Aliexpress is a solid budget performer. Rebased bulbs are always always a crap shoot and bulb alignment is so critical to optics. You'll never get as good as OEM with rebased bulbs, most times shimming is needed to get the hot spots in the right places. If you research over at HID Planet forums I'll bet you'll find that a common OEM projector drops right in, likely a Koito from some Lexus.

My brother has had luck with the more expensive line of the Opt7? brand, bolt or gold or something like that. Anyhow he had one set in his Maxima with custom projector housings that lasted for a couple years no problems before selling it. Currently has two years or so now on the set in his Genesis, and just installed another with his mini H1 high beams and it was the same colour temperature and confirmed what we thought on the first pair and that's they have lost their tinge of blue with age. Personally if I ever go HID it'll be with some oem projectors, ballasts, and bulbs since I'll have to make custom housings anyway, but I like to make life difficult for myself.

OEM everything? R.I.P. Wallet

It's really not that bad when you consider how much better it is and how much longer it will last. Most OEM ballasts rarely die. OEM bulbs last upto twice as long and carry their color and lumens level much longer. With OEM things just work 99% of the time, no shimming no fiddling, no worrying if the lights are going to work every time.

I've had my no-name ballast and bulbs for over 7 years, and just recently the bulbs died, but showed no signs of losing color or brightness, that I could notice. Ballasts are still working fine for me.

I routinely see 12 year old bulbs still running at work, dim but working. Ballasts almost never die unless the output or input are damaged by water intrusion or arcing. Sometimes aftermarket stuff is good, sometimes it's not, but it's more chance and luck than OEM stuff is. When you open and install a genuine Philips or Osram bulb you're guaranteed it will fit properly and the optics will be precise and the beam produced from the lamp will be correct. Aftermarket is a roll of the dice, even with good brands like Morimoto.