thanks, I read on a post here that the muffler doesn't matter, so get one you liked and I've always liked the look of a 4" tip on an Evo, so I figured, why not put one on mine...

you know, I feel like that sometimes too, my cars an AUTO, can you believe that?! I sometimes wish it was an Integra 5-speed, or at least a black Ralliart 5-speed, but it's my car, it'll be mine for a long time (I mean long), so might as well make it worth it...

I'm right there with you, remember, I'm an Auto ES, spending money on it does seem pointless, but I'll have it a long time and I do want to have fun with it...

 

very nice. should be nice and solid then. but every once and awhile stick your head under there and check out that one welded to the skin of the canister. Ive always been told the skin on those is too thin to have a reliable hanger. Ill be interested to hear if it holds.

 

Will do walking, i was told by the welder that i've got a lifetime guarantee on the welds, if they break, he'll redo for free...i just hope it doesn't take the skin of the muffler with it, he may not cover the muffler since i brought it in to him to weld, it wasn't something i bought from them.

you know he wanted 550 for a high flow cat and custom piping all the way back? i mean, is that reasonable? the cat is 100 bucks from RRM and i'm sure welding some pipes with a turn or two won't take more than 2 hours at $65 an hour, combine that with 4 or 5 feet of tube, it should only come out to about $300 bucks or so, am i right?

i don't know, it's basically like buying a Greddy cat-back on ebay, they run about 550, and that just bolts right in so i could do it myself, any suggestions on that? (i only wanted the cat for a bit louder sound, but now i'm thinking about just getting the primary resonator removed)

is that the one by the gas tank? (haha, newbie knows nothing about his own car...)

 

my first exhaust was a Greddy canister, a Greddy resonator and custom piping. And it cost me 260$ installed. 550$ will buy you a full stainless custom system.

 

EDIT::!!!

scratch that walking, I just spoke to the welder dude, if i bring the cat in, he'll charge me 150 to weld it on, and set custom piping all the way back to the muffler i had put on last week...what do you think? worth it, not worth it...cat = 100 bucks, welding/piping = 150...muffler + weld from last week = 160

total = 410 for a custom Magnaflow cat-back exhaust installed? sound of a chihuahua (2.0l Auto Lancer) barking like a great dane...priceless...

lol, sound like a good deal?


that's what i figured, so is it really worth it to buy it all there, cat + custom cat-back?

or just take the cat in and get a quote on the weld + custom piping...or, just buy a cat-back on ebay or RRM?

 

well, I'm back everyone...sorry this is such a slow build but you know, I've only got one spare kidney to sell on ebay to buy parts with...so...little by little...*i wonder how much a spleen goes for?*

this weekend I had to replace my headlight bulb harnesses because I had a set of cheap bulbs in there and they melted the crap outta the socket...

well, whilst I had my lights off, I figured, "how awesome would it be to paint my headlights and have that OZ/Ralliart look for next to nothing?!" so I did...here's some pics...

(click for larger)

This was after I had it all tore apart!



Here's some Left - Right pics!





Here's the ugly chrome lights!!!



And here she is all put back together...looks soo much better!







And a before pic just for comparison:



I think they turned out really well, no fogging so I guess I did a good job of sealing them!

by the way, anyone know how to buff out the scratches on the clear outer lens?

I realized in taking them apart just how jacked up they were...

that's all for now!

 

did you have to oven open the headlights









get some night shots
of the car

 

yes I did, they got baked for about 5-6 min to soften the stock glue. this is where most people go wrong, they aren't careful and the whole thing goes to hell in a handbasket.

I luckily didn't screw up the plastic and when I resealed them (again, baking them for a while) I also added some clear silicon just to be certain that they would seal properly...the results show, they're not fogging, and if they were to fog, they'd done so last night (I live in a real foggy place)...

and on the night shots, well, I'll do that probably tonight, we'll see how much moonlight there is...

 

look forward to seeing them

 

okay, by request here's some Twilight pics of my car (I know, they aren't nighttime pictures, but the sky was way too foggy and there wasn't enough moonlight for a nighttime photoshoot, so, here's these)

This is out by the Piedras Blancas Lighthouse (you can see it in the distance)



Here's some more from different angles:







Next mod...FOGLIGHTS!!!!!!! (you know, cause it's really foggy on the coastline!)



And one last pic of the mountains...and the ocean...



sorry about the crappy nature of some of the pics, I forgot to reset the exposure/flash settings, so it took all the pictures as if it were cloudy not twilight...grrr...

anyways...let me know what you think, I know the build isn't exciting yet with mega mods, but I'm trying, although it's all getting put on hold until I get the timing belt replaced, otherwise this'll be a dead car thread...

 

UPDATE AGAIN!!!

lolz, this thread is so dead...i'm not doing anything interesting like all the other guys...so, no one wants to read about it...lol, maybe next year after i get all my high mileage servicing done and get the car to the point where i can start spending money on the not so important important stuff (suspension, engine, body).

well, here's one of the latest things i did, mainly because it's getting to the foggy point here in Cali on the coast and because they look good...FOGLIGHTS!!!!!!!

here's some pics, i wanted to take pics as i installed it for the how-to section, but i didn't think my walk-thru would be worthy of sticky status on that, any questions just ask me (and yes, i wired them right to my parking lights, so, the switch turns them on and off when ever i want, and when they're on, they only come on with the parking lights, and they DON'T shut off with my high beams)

here's the first pic i took a series by my house: (click for full size)


and another:


another:


and another!!!


and someone once asked me for some night time pics...

well, now that i got fogs, i figured i had to take some pics, here they are!!!

night time:


another:


and another:


and one last picture showing my switch mounting location!

 

So does the guy only sell it with that wood grain panel? I'll have to paint over that real quick

 

looks good man, I know threads can be real dead for us 04-06 people. If you are looking for lips just keep looking in the for sale section and piece that oem kit together!

 

@drucea

i guess it does only come in the wood grain, my dash had the wood grain so i guess it came out okay (if only just a tad darker than the other piece), but i'm sure you can get something nice to cover over it (like one of those dash trim sets with the vinyl stickers you can get in carbon fiber or something) or you can rub the clear off with sandpaper and paint it.

it all looks hella clean and stock, and comes with some pretty bright 9006 bulbs...i'm definitely impressed and loving them. they even have an adjusting screw to aim them properly, pretty high tech, quality product for not too expensive.

also, let me know if they goof and forget to send you the instructions, they did on me and i had to pressure them to email them to me, i can forward it to you and answer any questions!

@austenm

i'll definitely be looking out for lips, but money's tight right now, definitely want to get that OEM ralliart look for mine, ebay got good deals on pre-painted OE spoilers, i don't know how great they are, but they look pretty good, and are priced well, they have the third break light, and are color code matched, but they lips they sell are outrageous expensive.

anyway, all in due time...i've got the car for a long time, i don't want to run outta mods in the first two to three years...lolz

 

so check this out, i put a set of Bi-Xenon 9007 6000k HIDs on my car now and the difference is absolutely astounding. i want projectors on my car next but they say the ones on eBay are crap because of the cut off...i'm not exactly sure what that means but the depo lights are a close second and someone said those looked really nice on his car...

so, next step, i just filed my taxes and i'm waiting for my refund:

[ ] Megan Coilovers
[ ] RRM Tower Bar
[ ] Progress Rear Anti-Sway Bar
[ ] Depo Black Backaround Projector Headlamps
[ ] HID Fogs

I also want HID High Beams but I'll have to plan all that out when I get my projectors...

pics to follow soon, but if anyone has any thoughts, suggestions, comments, requests, or criticisms, speak now, this thread has been dead for a long time and I need a little bit of input to fuel my spirits again so I don't feel like i'm pouring money into a lost cause...