***The Hotness™️ Build Thread!***

[Doc_Mello]

Lamin-X yellow fog covers and smoked sidemarker covers! The sidemarker covers are a tad darker amber in real life, but the overall tint is exactly what I was looking for. ?

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[Doc_Mello]

So, sometimes you win some, sometimes you lose some. ??‍ Struck out twice with my vinyl initiative.

Interior Trim Wrap
First, for the interior, I wanted to wrap the faux-carbon trim in this neat blue-purple carbon vinyl I found: http://www.dragonlaminates.com/dlshop/purplebluechameleoncarbonfiber

I used this awesome walk-through for removing the trim: https://www.civicx.com/forum/threads/diy-interior-trim-removal-for-vinyl-wrap.19937/post-334191

Overall, though, I found the vinyl just too thick to work with effectively, even with heat. The adhesive wasn’t that great, and, in general, the vinyl just didn’t want to curve, or stick. I even tried using it on the fuel door, which looked neat, but, again, just didn’t want to stick. ??‍

Headlight Wrap
I also found this neat neo purple headlight vinyl: https://www.ezautowrap.com/products/chameleon-neo-pearl-purple-taillight-headlight-tint-film

I made a series of templates for the pieces of the headlight I wanted to wrap: the inner brights section, then later I thought about wrapping the whole lens. I used thin strips of painter‘s tape to ‘outline’ the sections, then filled in the template with larger pieces of tape. I learned this trick from all of those car building shows I like to watch. ? For each of these templates, I transferred them to graph paper, with measurements and scale, in case anyone wants to use them. Just print them to scale! ??

Inner Brights Section:

Whole Headlight Lens:
Essentially, I had to make a 3D structure 2D by hand. ? The headlight has some z-axis prisms which I had to take into account when creating the template. To do so, I needed a flexible medium that could contour to the tape-template, then flatten out to be traced onto graph paper. An old
chamois came in handy! (<- Ha! ?)

Again, this vinyl was just too thick to really manipulate, especially around those prisms. I tried using a piece of the vinyl on the inner brights section, but the roll I received had some creases (as if it had been flattened at some point, even though the box was fine ?. You can see those in the pics above) that never really flattened out.

So, after the vinyl wouldn’t work for either the whole headlight, nor the inner brights section, I cut a slice off to just cover the DRL section of each headlight. This actually worked, and looked pretty good, but I’m stupid, and didn‘t take any pics. ??‍ Anywho, it wasn’t to last: on a drive last night, a strange flapping/rattling started up. ? Part of the vinyl actually lifted off! WT...?!

Again, too thick, and poor quality adhesive. I’ve never had such trouble with vinyl after working with it for years. Anywho, hope you all can somehow profit from my screw-ups. I’ll keep an eye out for better quality vinyl, though, and open to recommendations: something thinner, and bit more pliable, and easier to work with.

 

[Doc_Mello]

Aeroflow Dynamics Kit UPDATE! Just a couple of insights from my time with this kit thus far.

1. RE the diffuser touching the Greddy DDR exhaust: heat still is not an issue, thankfully, but rubbing is. I’ve tried adding spacers to lower the diffuser, but I don’t like how it looks, nor how low the diffuser sat, plus any rattling between the exhaust and the diffuser actually increased! So, I tightened it back up, and have spent hours trying to find a high temp barrier to place between the exhaust and the diffuser. I was considering exhaust thermal wrap, but securing it is an issue. That said, I found some stuff I’m really excited about, that I think might work well! I won’t spoil it for you all, though, so, stay tuned for a future update! ?

2. I’m open to this being entirely placeboic, but I’ve noticed that my car, especially the front end, feels more stable at freeway speeds. It just feels even more ‘planted’ than before, and even the ride quality feels a bit more rough, to which I’m attributing the increased downforce.

 

[Doc_Mello]

UPDATE on the Greddy DDR clash with the Aeroflow diffuser!

Here, you can see four points where the exhaust hits the diffuser: the bolt heads on the bottom of the two muffler barrels (which hold on the exhaust tips), and the rearmost edge of the diffuser hitting the underside of the two barrels.

It’s in these four locations I wanted to place a high temp insulator between the exhaust and diffuser, but finding such a product was pretty complicated. At one point, I even considered exhaust wrap, but wanted something with an easier application, something adhesive-backed. My hours-long search eventually led me to this:

Insulation for BBQs! Specifically, BBQ/smoker grill tape. Can withstand heat up to 900+F, and even direct flame (ask me how I know. ?) 1/8” thick, 1/2” wide https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08P5KV7X6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Four small pieces fit into those four locations did the trick! No more rattling, and drive tests confirmed those pieces seem like they’re doing fine. I’ll have to keep an eye/ear our for long-term reliability. But, so far, so fixed!

She purrrrrs like a kitten, like this:

UPDATE:
So, had an incessant metal-on-metal rattle I needed to dx, and while I thought it might be due to the exhaust piping itself tap-tapping on the rear subframe (incidentally, it might’ve been, as clearance was very small, so, I adjusted the hangers a tad lower the piping away from the subframe), it seems that, some months later, just the constant rubbing motion between the thermal silencing barrier and the lower elements of the exhaust tube mufflers caused the lowest insert bolt to rub through the pad barrier between it and the diffuser, as evidenced by the shiny aluminum in the sea of black:

So, as I figured might need to happen, I pulled the lower diffuser element to clean the area, and make purposive strips of thermal barrier:

Made a triple-strip barrier, and seems to be all good now, no more rattling. I’ll have to keep an eye on if it wears through again.

 

[Beholder84]

Nice build! I've got a black coupe as well and have really been eyeing up that Greddy DDR as well, might pull the trigger soon.

 

[Doc_Mello]

Nice build! I've got a black coupe as well and have really been eyeing up that Greddy DDR as well, might pull the trigger soon.

I love it! If you ever have any Qs, LMK! ?

 

[Doc_Mello]

Next in the list: Caruse Aero Flap! ?

So, after about 1.5 mos of waiting, finally arrived! Great quality part, and like others have said, it’s a ‘transparent smoke’ type of stiff plastic.

Comes with mounting tape pre-installed. I considered putting more on, but considering the spoiler’s front lip that ‘catches’ on the front of the OEM wing, I figured it was overkill. Followed Caruse’s instructions on prep, and wiped down the clean wing with an alcohol-water mixture.

Now, prepping the tape strips on both sides of the spoiler beforehand: don’t fully remove the adhesive covering, but fold small corners down in order to have small tabs to grab when the spoiler is on the wing. However, WARNING: for the longitudinal strip (the long one that goes across the whole spoiler), ensure the little starter-corners are folded toward the rear of the piece, not toward the front, like I did. ??‍

In the above pics, the starter-corner coming out the side edge is totally fine, but I tried to show how NOT to fold the other corners, and which direction to properly fold them. I had partially attached the spoiler to the wing when I realized this error. ???‍ Luckily, I was able to correct the issue with the piece on the car, but wanted to give a heads-up.

Now, I have heard some folks say the spoiler squeaks on the car. ??‍ But, just to make sure, I pressed the front edge of the spoiler (the lip that wraps under the front edge of the wing) tightly in a rearward direction in order to ensure it was fully flush with the wing, THEN removed the rearmost tape cover strip. Afterward, I spent some time pushing the spoiler and the wing elements together to ensure the tape made great adhesion.

Now, REVIEW! Happy to report, that, thus far, no weird squeaking. ? Love the look, and in one of these pics, you’ll see an object behind the spoiler, illustrating it’s level of transparency. During driving, the wing-wobble is now more noticeable, and visible on the spoiler, as might be predicted. Also, got a new sticker today, up there in the corner. ?

Also, now that the spoiler is installed, I can remove the rear view mirror because it’s now functionally useless. ?

Full disclosure: something I did not consciously consider was the degree to which the spoiler would obstruct rearward vision. ??‍ I’ll just adopt the Ferrari Method: what’s important is only what’s in front of you. ?

Questions/comments welcomed!

 

[Doc_Mello]

Found a new song (explicit: 2019 by MonyHorse), which is amazing, but the baseline exacerbated my interior rattles, so, time to address those.

Here is the song (might be loud), but you should be able to hear a high-pitched rattle on the bassline’s upswing every measure:

I had previously silenced the infamous A-pillar rattle long ago, but these new ones appeared around where the tweeter meets the window and interior door panel, in that little 90-degree angle shown in the video.

Once I removed the tweeter assembly, I found that slightly pulling on this point away from the door itself eliminated the rattle.

So, I just inserted one of my fav silencer tools, chair leg foot pads…

…right next to the little green pop-clip at the top, inside the door panel.

I also put a smaller one on the direct opposite end of the door panel, on the inside. It’s thick enough the it kinda makes the top edge of the panel stick out just a bit, up-close, but the whole panel looks fine if I’m at a normal distance.

Anywho, here’s the result:

 

[rhino]

UPDATE on the Greddy DDR clash with the Aeroflow diffuser!

Here, you can see four points where the exhaust hits the diffuser: the bolt heads on the bottom of the two muffler barrels (which hold on the exhaust tips), and the rearmost edge of the diffuser hitting the underside of the two barrels.

It’s in these four locations I wanted to place a high temp insulator between the exhaust and diffuser, but finding such a product was pretty complicated. At one point, I even considered exhaust wrap, but wanted something with an easier application, something adhesive-backed. My hours-long search eventually led me to this:

Insulation for BBQs! Specifically, BBQ/smoker grill tape. Can withstand heat up to 900+F, and even direct flame (ask me how I know. ?) 1/8” thick, 1/2” wide https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08P5KV7X6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Four small pieces fit into those four locations did the trick! No more rattling, and drive tests confirmed those pieces seem like they’re doing fine. I’ll have to keep an eye/ear our for long-term reliability. But, so far, so fixed!

She purrrrrs like a kitten, like this:

UPDATE:
So, had an incessant metal-on-metal rattle I needed to dx, and while I thought it might be due to the exhaust piping itself tap-tapping on the rear subframe (incidentally, it might’ve been, as clearance was very small, so, I adjusted the hangers a tad lower the piping away from the subframe), it seems that, some months later, just the constant rubbing motion between the thermal silencing barrier and the lower elements of the exhaust tube mufflers caused the lowest insert bolt to rub through the pad barrier between it and the diffuser, as evidenced by the shiny aluminum in the sea of black:

So, as I figured might need to happen, I pulled the lower diffuser element to clean the area, and make purposive strips of thermal barrier:

Made a triple-strip barrier, and seems to be all good now, no more rattling. I’ll have to keep an eye on if it wears through again.

sounds good now where is the video of a drive by lol

 

[Doc_Mello]

sounds good now where is the video of a drive by lol

I never posted one because there are a TON on the YTs.

 

[rhino]

I never posted one because there are a TON on the YTs.

ya but i dont have yt here at work lmao damn office people taking it away

 

[Thusee]

Great pictures, detailed posts and quality parts! Well done! Nice to see forum builds and thanks for supporting @Unity Performance !

I still love my flex z! If you ever get a chance look into getting their EDFC controller setup. Give you that final touch for damping adjustment on the regular.

 

[Doc_Mello]

Great pictures, detailed posts and quality parts! Well done! Nice to see forum builds and thanks for supporting @Unity Performance !

I still love my flex z! If you ever get a chance look into getting their EDFC controller setup. Give you that final touch for damping adjustment on the regular.

Thanks!

Yeah, the Zs are top-notch. You know, I’ve considered it, but 1) seems annoying to have to route the control boxes with extensions on our cars, 2) I don’t feel the need to adjust damper settings with any kind of regularity. At this point, I‘m pretty well dialed in, and never change the setting, and 3) I’m not sure I could stand the little adjustment sounds they make. I’ve seen videos, and the little ‘whiirrrr’ they make when changing damper settings would annoy me, I think. ?

 

[Thusee]

Thanks!

Yeah, the Zs are top-notch. You know, I’ve considered it, but 1) seems annoying to have to route the control boxes with extensions on our cars, 2) I don’t feel the need to adjust damper settings with any kind of regularity. At this point, I‘m pretty well dialed in, and never change the setting, and 3) I’m not sure I could stand the little adjustment sounds they make. I’ve seen videos, and the little ‘whiirrrr’ they make when changing damper settings would annoy me, I think. ?

The noise is almost non existent. I actually adjust quite often depending on the roads I'm on.

Flat roads go full stiff, bumpy roads go full soft, moderate roads I keep it near the middle. Works really well haha.

But I feel you haha! The option is great to have.

 

[Doc_Mello]

The noise is almost non existent. I actually adjust quite often depending on the roads I'm on.

Flat roads go full stiff, bumpy roads go full soft, moderate roads I keep it near the middle. Works really well haha.

But I feel you haha! The option is great to have.

Yeah, and that’s the other aspect of it: I might not see the need of adjusting often because I don’t have the ability to adjust OTF. Thanks for your insight! ?? I will continue to consider it.

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