Depends on how you drive, I guess... LOL. Yes, I know it isn't really a performance *gain*. If anything, the gain I'll see will be from the Hawk pads. But man, they're pretty, and starting to look like serious-car brakes and not Nissan parts bin leftovers.

 

That's interesting. my PowerStop just came unbranded red, no logo. I bought them a while ago though, guess they changed it.

Don't use Acetone on the calipers. It makes the finish all gummy and ruins it. Ask me how I know lol.

 

I know acetone is bad. Supposedly lacquer thinner is better, but older stuff - the new low VOC stuff is mostly acetone.

 

Teaser pic of what I've been up to... spot the difference.

 

Your chrome trunk lip is missing, I think. But if you keep taking pics with your old Nintendo DS, then I'm going to unsub.

 

Chrome lip is missing pending felt tape and reassembly, and mirror is missing on that side pending Q50 engineering. But the chrome - where did that go?

That pic is just scaled down so you don't see the pollen. Actual flip-phone picture from 2005: (edited to add: Rochester's initial comment was about a 15-year old flip-phone LOL)




What's a Nintendo DS?

 

So a few things coming together. Chrome window and trunk trim were vinyl wrapped. Recently scored a deal on the powdercoated front calipers, so those, the Z1 rotors, Hawk HPS5.0 pads, and Z1 brake lines ready to go on once I find my stash of ATE fluid.

I'm also making progress on having the interior back together. Got a really good deal on a carbon hydrodipped screen surround, have been working on the carbon flake wrap for the radio panel (and replacing a rotary sender for the volume control, since mine is wonky) and a forum member is working with me on 3d printing a clock replacement panel to house the OBD2 gauge. Have a custom black suede / white stitching shift boot coming (from the UK of all places) and have decided to go with the C141 engine start switch as my traction disabler switch, so that wiring can be run.

Found some 2500 grit sandpaper (finally) and 1k clear to UV-protect the carbon rear wing, if I can figure out a way to paint parts without having them immediately covered in pollen. Same goes for the sport front lip - the flex bumper paint has cured, time for a topcoat and then install.

Meanwhile, I'm driving around with duct tape over the trunk lip and right mirror holes, and the car is almost yellow with pollen even though I washed it thoroughly Sunday to prep for the vinyl guys.

 

 

That's neat. Dip certainly is better that wrap, huh?

 

I'm not sold on its longevity, but... it is pretty, for sure. If this piece holds up I'm thinking of having them do the window switch trims. I just need to get another junkyard run to get spares.

 

I've had my window trims dipped for 3 years; and they've held up just fine. Now my shifter surround however... that lasted about 6 months.

 

Good to know. I'm wrapping the shift surround in carbon flake vinyl, so it should hold up better.

 

Well, I thought the DS comment would be more biting. Guess I missed the mark.

The DS was a dual-screen Gameboy controller. Both my daughters had one back in the day. You could take pictures with it, but the image quality is about what you would expect.

So... keeping my day job, LOL. And I'm glad to see you're still puttering around with the G while waiting for some kind of normalcy to return.

 

Not a fan of the hydrodip, looks 'cheap' in my opinion. To each their own!

 

@RobC7 I had mixed feelings given that everybody and their brother had carbon twill trim in either real or fake for most of the aughts. In person, it compares positively to a piece of actual carbon fiber plate that I have - except shinier, since the real carbon is just the epoxy surface finish. Perception of depth is definitely there - what gives it away are little details like the vent open/close symbology below the vents. With real carbon or a wrap those would be lost.

@Rochester I think my wife had a DS or one of the later versions (Lite? DSi?) around 2007 - I remember having to find a Nintendo charger rated for world current not just US 115/60. I have no idea why we would have taken it overseas, unless it was to have something to do on the plane - we had a couple of long flights that year. But 15 years ago I was doing my study abroad in Nagoya (as a much older college student than my peers) and I had a really cool KDDI flip phone that was light years ahead of anything I could get in the US. Still took toy-camera quality images LOL - man how far we've come; we have a digital SLR that hasn't been used except for major family gatherings since iPhone SE days.

Had fun driving today with HVAC/stereo controls hanging freely in the center stack - tried out my junkyard replacement to see if the circuit board itself works. I think that there's a difference in wiring between 2012 non-nav and 2013 nav - the dials worked but none of the buttons, and the entire top control assembly (with the wheel) didn't work at all. So back to trying to unsolder one of the rotary encoders to fix my erratic volume control. On a positive note, the cover plate of the junkyard car is the fake wood grain plastic - so much smoother than the real metal of the 2013 trim, and better to wrap with vinyl.

With the missing trunk lip, right mirror, taped foglight holes, and no emblems... my wife's comment was that I had taken a very pretty semi-luxury car and turned it into a heap, at least visually LOL.