Bassboy3313

Started on some brittle plastic repair since any screw you remove from these cars seems to disintegrate the plastic. Glovebox mounting points were some of those. Used some metal brackets to cut up and epoxy on. Was skeptical at first and went a little heavy on the epoxy, but it actually turned out great. Super strong too. Call me impressed.





Also started repairing the new door panels I picked up. The mounts tend to tear away from the press board material that the panels are made out of. So I got some epoxy, 3d printed some new ABS mounts and secured them back on. 


Just gotta do the same with the one map pocket that got detached and I can move onto customizing the door panel inserts to walnut brown for my interior color scheme.

I've been working on a side project for the Coupe. Knowing that you have to remove the entire interior to access the top rear strut mounts, wasn't ideal for coilovers and dampening adjustments.
Took a chance to design some 3d printed access caps that can be installed in the carpet humps that cover the strut tops. Will allow dampening adjustments for coilovers or regular access to the strut tops for replacements or repairs without the need to remove the interior. 
First go around was a little ambitious with a threaded cap into a flange set that sandwiches the carpet for mounting.


Got the opinion of a true mechanical engineer (aka Brian) who gave me the idea of making it a press fit with oring instead of threads. Made designing and printing easier. Also added a slot on the side for a flat head screwdriver to pry cap off when removing. Seems to work pretty well. 




Next up is test fitting to the carpet and if all is good, getting these printed in ABS for longevity and heat resistance. 

Got the center console in and everything hooked up. What a huge pain in the ass that was! Hooking things up with little to no space to put hand behind was super frustrating. Hopefully everything works as it should or it's gonna stay that way for awhile, lol. 

Got the center console in and everything hooked up. What a huge pain in the ass that was! Hooking things up with little to no space to put hand behind was super frustrating. Hopefully everything works as it should or it's gonna stay that way for awhile, lol. 

Setback after setback....this is the final result! 295 rear tires and 245 fronts, fitment is great but I plan to lower it just a bit more.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Went to wire up the center gauges and install center console, but ran into a whoops moment. While testing the interior dash lights, I bumped a couple terminals with my small pick tool and shorted it out. Dash lights immediately turned off and wouldn't work again.
Checked the fuses, radio fuse was blown. Good, easy fix. Nope wasn't the issue although probably part of it. Did some googling and came up with the rheostat inside the headlight switch that dims the dash lights easily fry apparently. 
One fix is jumpering some pins in the headlight switch to bypass the rheostat. Tried that and I was able to turn the entire car on by pulling the headlight knob out. Ummm, no thanks! Reversed that.
Another fix is completely disassembling the headlight switch to solder the broken area and everything should work as normal. Let's give it a try!
Disassembled the switch

Found the spot on the rheostat that fried. Hard to see but it's the very first coil of the spring behind the silver tab.

Soldering this small is nearly impossible for my giant solder gun, so big blob it is. 

I tested the continuity between the end of the tab and the other end of the coil spring wire. Looks good to me. 
Threw it back together and into the car. All works as it should! Sorry no pics of that yet. Glad I was able to save some cash as every part of this car seems to be priced like gold. We shall see how long it lasts now. 

Sorry, forgot to update. Didn’t have any of these, the majority of the trim pieces are door sill plates. 
 

Went to wire up the center gauges and install center console, but ran into a whoops moment. While testing the interior dash lights, I bumped a couple terminals with my small pick tool and shorted it out. Dash lights immediately turned off and wouldn't work again.
Checked the fuses, radio fuse was blown. Good, easy fix. Nope wasn't the issue although probably part of it. Did some googling and came up with the rheostat inside the headlight switch that dims the dash lights easily fry apparently. 
One fix is jumpering some pins in the headlight switch to bypass the rheostat. Tried that and I was able to turn the entire car on by pulling the headlight knob out. Ummm, no thanks! Reversed that.
Another fix is completely disassembling the headlight switch to solder the broken area and everything should work as normal. Let's give it a try!
Disassembled the switch

Found the spot on the rheostat that fried. Hard to see but it's the very first coil of the spring behind the silver tab.

Soldering this small is nearly impossible for my giant solder gun, so big blob it is. 

I tested the continuity between the end of the tab and the other end of the coil spring wire. Looks good to me. 
Threw it back together and into the car. All works as it should! Sorry no pics of that yet. Glad I was able to save some cash as every part of this car seems to be priced like gold. We shall see how long it lasts now. 

Went to wire up the center gauges and install center console, but ran into a whoops moment. While testing the interior dash lights, I bumped a couple terminals with my small pick tool and shorted it out. Dash lights immediately turned off and wouldn't work again.
Checked the fuses, radio fuse was blown. Good, easy fix. Nope wasn't the issue although probably part of it. Did some googling and came up with the rheostat inside the headlight switch that dims the dash lights easily fry apparently. 
One fix is jumpering some pins in the headlight switch to bypass the rheostat. Tried that and I was able to turn the entire car on by pulling the headlight knob out. Ummm, no thanks! Reversed that.
Another fix is completely disassembling the headlight switch to solder the broken area and everything should work as normal. Let's give it a try!
Disassembled the switch

Found the spot on the rheostat that fried. Hard to see but it's the very first coil of the spring behind the silver tab.

Soldering this small is nearly impossible for my giant solder gun, so big blob it is. 

I tested the continuity between the end of the tab and the other end of the coil spring wire. Looks good to me. 
Threw it back together and into the car. All works as it should! Sorry no pics of that yet. Glad I was able to save some cash as every part of this car seems to be priced like gold. We shall see how long it lasts now. 

Went to wire up the center gauges and install center console, but ran into a whoops moment. While testing the interior dash lights, I bumped a couple terminals with my small pick tool and shorted it out. Dash lights immediately turned off and wouldn't work again.
Checked the fuses, radio fuse was blown. Good, easy fix. Nope wasn't the issue although probably part of it. Did some googling and came up with the rheostat inside the headlight switch that dims the dash lights easily fry apparently. 
One fix is jumpering some pins in the headlight switch to bypass the rheostat. Tried that and I was able to turn the entire car on by pulling the headlight knob out. Ummm, no thanks! Reversed that.
Another fix is completely disassembling the headlight switch to solder the broken area and everything should work as normal. Let's give it a try!
Disassembled the switch

Found the spot on the rheostat that fried. Hard to see but it's the very first coil of the spring behind the silver tab.

Soldering this small is nearly impossible for my giant solder gun, so big blob it is. 

I tested the continuity between the end of the tab and the other end of the coil spring wire. Looks good to me. 
Threw it back together and into the car. All works as it should! Sorry no pics of that yet. Glad I was able to save some cash as every part of this car seems to be priced like gold. We shall see how long it lasts now. 

Dash and cluster back in.

Dash starting to look complete once again

And back in...


 

Dash starting to look complete once again

So the douchebag on ebay I purchased the black carpet set from cancelled my order for no reason. Decided to try my hand at dying my existing carpet. Non of the purists will want it anyways after I strategically cut it to remove. So here goes nothing...
I am terrible at taking pics while I'm in the zone, so these are all I have.
After a vacuuming and cleaning


And done. Was hard to get the color to show in the pics due to the lighting in garage. Trust me when I say it actually turned out pretty well with consistent dark black color. And still feels relatively soft.


I will be giving it one last light mist coat in the morning and throwing it back in the car. Then I can get the remainder of the interior back together as well.

Dash starting to look complete once again

And back in...


 

Dash starting to look complete once again

Almost ready to drop the m52. 
Need to remove: Fuel lines, heater core hoses & front suspension (to make it easier to manage on a jack) 

And back in...


 

Dash starting to look complete once again

And back in...


 

And back in...


 

Changed out the halogen headlight bulbs with some Morimoto 2stroke 2.0 LED bulbs. Love these! I first put them in my previous Dodge Magnum. The cutoff, color temp and brightness far exceed anything else I've used/seen. They are engineered to work in halogen housings or projector housings, so the pattern/cutoff is exactly how it should be. No stray light blinding oncoming traffic. Need to get a good picture of the cutoff against garage door one of these evenings.

Halogens

LEDs

Next up is switching out the interior lights for LED replacements. I also ordered a footwell light kit from leatherz.com which allows a plug-n-play install of OEM style footwell lights that dim with the rest of interior lights when turning on/off. Pics of that coming when they arrive. 

So the douchebag on ebay I purchased the black carpet set from cancelled my order for no reason. Decided to try my hand at dying my existing carpet. Non of the purists will want it anyways after I strategically cut it to remove. So here goes nothing...
I am terrible at taking pics while I'm in the zone, so these are all I have.
After a vacuuming and cleaning


And done. Was hard to get the color to show in the pics due to the lighting in garage. Trust me when I say it actually turned out pretty well with consistent dark black color. And still feels relatively soft.


I will be giving it one last light mist coat in the morning and throwing it back in the car. Then I can get the remainder of the interior back together as well.