My latest project

[car audio dave]

ive been keeping this under wrap for a few days now, but heres my latest project...not done yet..but getting there.

[Jscarano13]

yummy. did it cost u 700 dollars?

[Dave C]

wow, looks good! :thumbup2:
can't wait to see the final results...

[want2modmygt]

oh boy! i love your stuff dave. lol. i cant wait to see the final!

[rabidpanda69]

Thats awesome!

[ga5speed02]

Dave you did a kick ass job as usuall. nice :thumbup2:

[Chain]

He took the light bulbs out? Heck I can do that. :)

[car audio dave]

these are not from AED, all i did was replace the lenses with the clear covers. i tried to use spray on tint with the chrome but that didnt turn out well so i painted them black.

the bulbs are in now, but ive got painters tape holding the rubber parts on while the silicone dries.

thanks for the compliments everyone. im working on a how to on my sounddomain. ive gotta adsd more pics as i make progress, so check that out on page 7.

[Peyman]

gmm...i tried that once, i painted the inner part black....and at night time....the light wouldnt reflect off anything....so it was like driving without any headlights....is it the same for u?

[ga5speed02]

dave i am waiting for my damn covers to come in. the ordered me ones for the 96-98 and then when they orderd mine they were on back order ahaha. but ill have pics as i go along

[car audio dave]

peyman- i havnt tested them out at all, but i dont really care, i dont drive the car very often at all, and i just wont drive it at night. ill see though, maybe ill check tonight.

mike- they were backordered for me too, but they came to be before the notification of them being backordered came to me. :lol:

[Big Joe]

ohhh man that looks great !!!

[car audio dave]

thanks...ok i just added more pics on page 7 of my sounddomain...so check em out everyone...ill link em up tomorrow.

[ga5speed02]

yea i cant wait for them to come in :D

[car audio dave]

ok heres some pics for all of those lazy people:
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/2/web/482000-482999/482117_140_full.jpg
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/2/web/482000-482999/482117_138_full.jpg

ill get some more daytime picstoday if theres enough light left when i get home.

[DontPassTheFence]

god that is sexy, hows the light output on them?

[car audio dave]

the light output isnt that great from what i saw last night. its been weeks since ive driven the car, but from what i saw last night, the fogs will be my primary light source at night (in the rare occasion that im cought out in the dark with the grand am).

i love this whole daily driver thing. it makes it so much easier to do mods and i dont care if the functionality of the car is lost. :D

[DontPassTheFence]

nice. daily drivers are teh win

[want2modmygt]

yes they are. i like driving my ga during the day though. it makes me happy :D but i hate it when it gets dirty. :cry:

[car audio dave]

its the greatest feeling in the world to NOT care if i park in a tight space, and i love not having to inspect the car for new dings. the best part is that i can park as close as i want now.

the only downfall is that in my grand am i have XM radio, my olds doesnt have that, so i get to listen to AM/FM radio again.

[ga5speed02]

sattle light radio rules it. i love my sirius. but anyway dave did you clear coat the black paint you put in the headlights?

[car audio dave]

yea i did about 4 coats of clear. didnt help much. if you plan to paint the inside then i recommend NOT using primer. the chrome is so smooth that if you paint over it it shouldnt peel and itll come out smooth and with a shiny finish. when i primered it left a slight texture, which eliminated any shiny finish.

[car audio dave]

ok heres the last pics im gonna post fo the lights.
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/2/web/482000-482999/482117_143_full.jpg
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/2/web/482000-482999/482117_144_full.jpg
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/2/web/482000-482999/482117_142_full.jpg

[VanishingImage]

awesome Dave! Yea who cares if it functions perfectly,if it looks hot do it:D Wish I had a daily driver,otherwise Id be doing a bunch of body work on my GA,like shaving door handle,shaving some of the rear bumper body lines and getting the AED door panels

[car audio dave]

thanks. yea ive thought about what id do since the car is not driven daily, and right now im out of $, so that means im doing nothing. im going to a school that costs $7k per term, and im going year round, so thats where my $ goes for now.

when i graduate, if the GA is traded for a cooler car, ill consider the SC/T kit, engine swap, shaved handles, and of course new paint. ive always wanted to run 4 racing seats inside, with a center console that runs all the way to the trunk. that might be my next project...i can buy one seat at a time. :lol:

[ga5speed02]

sounds like a good plan. i asked about the to see if it helped to defuse the light better, but anyhoo it looks good :thumbup2:

[JoeyK]

Originally posted by car audio dave
yea i did about 4 coats of clear. didnt help much. if you plan to paint the inside then i recommend NOT using primer. the chrome is so smooth that if you paint over it it shouldnt peel and itll come out smooth and with a shiny finish. when i primered it left a slight texture, which eliminated any shiny finish.

The smoother the surface it is, the easier it will peel. Any paint needs something to adhere to. You have to abrade the surface somehow. if anyone else attempts this I suggest you scuff it down with a 3m gold scuff pad. It's minmal sand scratch & will give your paint something to bite into. & yes, use a good primer, even if it is an etch primer. Most paints cannot bite into hard surfaces but will into primer. Primer is designed to bite into metal which is what that thin layer of chrome really is. Get a good, quality primer & apply a few thin wet coats. If it's a good primer & you apply it right it will not leave a texture. (I'm speaking spray cans here, not my bag but I realize most people aren't skilled w/ professional spray equipment.)

[96GreenGaGT]

well the trick is to sand down the primer smooth before you paint onto it... doesn't matter whether it's proffessional spary primer or aerosol can spray primer... if you sand it down with some 80 grit first then 320 grit after to smooth it... you won't have any texture at all. it's when you don't sand the primer when you get texture due to overspray. same thing goes for top coat paint... you have to sand it down before you apply clear coat and you have to sand the clear coat as well.... just have to use different grits... like 320 and higher for top coat and 3000 for clear or something like that... my figures are off cuz i don't kno what people use... i'm just estimating.

[JoeyK]

Aresol is so thin if you apply it right there's no need for sanding. (That's why I didn't mention it) But DO NOT use 80 grit! 80 grit is for "rough stage" body work. If you must, use 400 grit, then 500 & finish off w/ 600 grit - all wetsand. & again for aresol paint. But if you must wetsand.. well, refer to the above, same w/ your clear but you'll have to use 800 lightly, that is if it's real bad. Then work your way up to atleast 1500 grit. And, of coarse (Almost forgot) You'll have to rub out your clear after wetsanding it.
But to keep it simple get as good a quality of sray bombs that you can get & apply good even thin wet coats & you shouldn't have to go through all the steps mentioned above.:)

[car audio dave]

yea im kinda bummed cus ive been pretty good with paint until now, but i was afraid to scuff the chrome and im not sure why. i shold have sanded the primer when i noticed that it left some texture, but i figured what the heck, i dont care how much light gets emmitted. :lol:

[nineteen88ga]

Originally posted by car audio dave
its the greatest feeling in the world to NOT care if i park in a tight space, and i love not having to inspect the car for new dings. the best part is that i can park as close as i want now.

the only downfall is that in my grand am i have XM radio, my olds doesnt have that, so i get to listen to AM/FM radio again.


I 2nd that.... Drove my Grand Am to work the other day only to see them repainting the parking lines in the lot..of all days I take it to work! I went inside throught the front, unlocked a back door, and hid the car out back :D lol I would have done that even if the lot wasn't being painted, but I probably would have waited a little bit before I pulled it around back.

My Si isn't a perfect car, so I'm not overly concerned with parking it in parking lot like at the mall or anything. oh and the Grand Am, my Jeep and the Civic all have Sirius in them. hehe I'm notgoing without it! Now... if I could only get it working in my house I'll be set :(

By the way...the last pics of the blacked out headlights look absolutely sick on your car dave....maybe its because everythings all black, either way good job.

[96GreenGaGT]

Originally posted by JoeyK
Aresol is so thin if you apply it right there's no need for sanding. (That's why I didn't mention it) But DO NOT use 80 grit! 80 grit is for "rough stage" body work. If you must, use 400 grit, then 500 & finish off w/ 600 grit - all wetsand. & again for aresol paint. But if you must wetsand.. well, refer to the above, same w/ your clear but you'll have to use 800 lightly, that is if it's real bad. Then work your way up to atleast 1500 grit. And, of coarse (Almost forgot) You'll have to rub out your clear after wetsanding it.
But to keep it simple get as good a quality of sray bombs that you can get & apply good even thin wet coats & you shouldn't have to go through all the steps mentioned above.:)


yea i was just giving estimated figures for i had forgotten what was what.... i dunno kinda out of it.... but yea anyways 320 grit will work fine or 400 grit.... but i did not kno you had to rub out your clear coat... i'll have to remember that for when i do my stuff.

[car audio dave]

Originally posted by nineteen88ga


By the way...the last pics of the blacked out headlights look absolutely sick on your car dave....maybe its because everythings all black, either way good job.

thanks. yea im pretty happy...a few things i regret about the project but considering i wasnt too confident with my headlight modding skills i was surprised.

mistakes:
1) the whole painting thing (see above :lol: )
2) i ran out of black silicone 1.2 way through so i bought some "clear" silicone which appears like Jiz in the small areas thats its visible.

3) still trying to find a way to secure the black rubber surrounding the headlight. i tried silicone, but i need something to hold the rubber in place for 24 hours. im gonna try to used hot glue to hold it while the silicone drys, ill attempt this tongiht probably.