I appreciate the feedback! I initially chronicled the build real-time on my Instagram, but I must admit being able to capture some of the planning (agonizing) over mod choices on here has been quite therapeutic and rewarding. I guess think of this lookback as a Netflix binge session of car goodness

I'm on a 5 year plan with the car, so there will quite more of the journey to capture here.

 

Welp, it sure has been a busy few months since my last update. My wife and I welcome our first child, Oliver, this April- so things have been a bit hectic to say the least. However my company has a fairly generous paternity leave policy; so while the little one catches some Z's I'm able to complete some much overdue work on the G! But first up to finish the last quarter's mod log:

January:

On January 1st, I received a present from my headlight builder via Instagram- the first look at my completed headlights. Satin black housing, quad diode dynamics switchback halos, STI-R clear lenses, honeycomb etched projectors, and smoked out reflectors. Just a sleek OEM like appearance with little touches for some flair



I received the headlights on January 10th- they looked even more immaculate in person:





That weekend, I installed the headlights. Fairly straightforward process, just utilized one of the DIYs from oneighty so I didn't have to fully drop the bumper. Of course it was completely freezing here in Ohio which made for a lot of fun - but the results were so worth it:






Completely transforms the look- still can't believe Infiniti never offered a "dethroned" version of these lights for a sporty appearance.

February:

Not totally G related, but I traveled to Tampa for work and got to ride in my co-worker's C63 AMG - just a beautiful understated look with a truly visceral engine:


But honestly one of the things I loved was how seamless and refined the interior of it was. Upon returning home I was interested in bringing a bit more class up to the G's interior. I'm not a huge fan of the "Carbon Fiber everything" look- however I do appreciate a CF vibe in moderation for accent purposes. To me the window controls switches and center control bezel are the cheapest looking with this stamped matte black- so I decided that I would do these in CF to give more shine and wrap the "silk obi aluminum trim" in a gloss metallic black (to bring in the wheel theme to the interior).

As I research CF options I decided to utilize hydrodipping as my preferred choice as it was a perfect blend of cost effectiveness and quality. I sent my pieces off to Maine Coast Customs to get dipped; and the results were quite impressive:





It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I personally love how the Gloss Metallic Trim, CF accents and Monaco Red Leather all work together- feels like an OEM sport trim package option to me.

You'll notice that I left the radio bezel in the OEM aluminum, as I was undecided on if I was going to install the GROM unit I purchased last year or if I would opt for one of those new "Tesla-style" android radios. More on that soon....

March-April:

Not really any progress to report as the weather remained crappy in Ohio, and I spent most of my time at work and at home prepping for the new addition to our family. What limited extra time I had was spent just trying to keep the G free from the hard road salt. Here's a nice shot of the G at the gas station (typical, she's always thirsty!):



Sooo shiny, if only she'd only stay this way all the time! That's it for the "look backs"- future posts will be more real time!

 

Those headlights look great (as does the rest of the car)!

Jake H.
Diode Dynamics

 

Very nice build thread.

How do you like the swift springs? Do you feel they are too harsh or do you wish you would have gone with coilovers instead?

 

That cheap *** rear license plate lights bracket, should have been provided to all customers owning the car for free.

Nice looking car by the way.

 

Thanks! I love the Swifts, perfect drop and ride comfort stays pretty close to OEM- a little more NVH but keep in mind I upgraded to 19'" wheels. Honestly coilover options are limited (and very expensive) for the AWD sedans, the Fortune Auto with Swifts seem to garner the most praise but its around $1.4K. At that price point I'd just go up to bags. I may eventually go to bags anyways, not because I don't like the swifts but rather I'd like the utility of higher ride height when encountering the many speed bumps/potholes at my work campus.

 

Appreciate it! And 100% agree, that bracket was complete trash- especially in the states that see road salt!

 

Update:

Well with some time off of work, it's been busy balancing a new addition to the family + moar car mods. In April, I pulled the trigger on one of those "Tesla-style" radios from Phoenix Automotive. I had scoured the threads on this forums + the Facebook group for these units- so I knew that these were not a perfect solution, but would require some finesse to work. But I was willing to take a chance to bring some much needed technology updates to the G.


Initial install was rather intuitive as each plug had a corresponding plug on the OEM harness. That said, my backup camera did not work from the harness supplied from the company. As a workaround I purchased a Metra step-down converter from Amazon and spliced it in and it was an instant fix. I also purchased a "CarPlay dongle" from Amazon which tricks your iPhone into thinking an Android headunit has OEM CarPlay. This right here validated the purchase for me as the OEM Navigation was cumbersome and outdated. And having maps on a 12" screen is truly life changing.

In addition, while I had the car apart I took the time to cut down my shifter stalk by 1" using on of the DIYs on the forum. Fairly easy process and love the sporty feel it provides!

Anywho, here's a quick picture of how the interior looks now. Just absolutely love how transformed it is. Next up, I have a custom steering wheel en route from Russia and I will send the Tesla screen fascia and the blank underneath to be hydro dipped CF to complete the console. Stay tuned, more to come!

Testing out CarPlay Dongle, also gives a good look at the shortened shifter stalk:


All tidied up, note original screen ***** were replaced by black metal guitar *****:

 

Hydro dipping the phoenix pieces is a good idea...I always thought they did a great job with the vent integration but the black plastic to the Washi trim transition was a little off...are you going to hydro dip that washi panel underneath too?

 

I agree that transition does look a bit off, I'm hoping that once all of it is hydro dipped it provides an OEM+ sporty interior feel that is cohesive.

 

Wow this thread is in need of updates. It's been a crazy few months since the last post with a newborn + work getting hectic which has made finding the time to log progress quite difficult. More to come over the weekend!

 

How has the headunit held up? Curious to see if it can withstand the temperature changes of Minnesota

 

My car is original Anniversary and at 120k miles it has seen hell...Love to see Graphite and Monaco in one sentence. Pretty Jelly of the condition you found your seats.

 

The Tesla screen has held up well. No issues with cold weather. However it has been a little quirky with the AppleCarPlay Dongle; most of which is due to the fact I have 3GB Ram Original version. There's newer ones with double the RAM now for a little more price, and I'd say it's worth it.