Ok....so I painted up several color chips and have settled on a burnt copper with a gloss clear and a piano black as the color scheme. I was going to paint the CAI tubes copper...but think I will leave them polished for now...the Cusco type OS bar will be polished as well. Might paint the end mounts copper to match everything else or leave them blue...might be a nice accent.
Items to Paint:
Engine cover = Piano black and Burnt Copper -going piano black outside edge, then copper, then center strip piano black with copper letters...not sure what to do with the logo...maybe piano black...
CAI boxes (not tubes) = Piano black and Burnt Copper - doing a stripe design
Battery cover= Burnt Copper -leaving frame black for now
Brake Cover = Burnt Copper -leaving frame black for now
Radiator shroud = Piano black and Burnt Copper accent designs
I would like to take out the back plastic shroud area but have no idea on how hard it is to get out..I would like to paint it all piano black...that is the frame area around the batt box etc....
Might also do do some dress up bolts or just paint mine copper to carry the theme...I do not want to get it gaudy...going for a classy race look.
would like to hear thoughts from everyone!
oh...and I spoke with Luke at THMotorsports...and the Stance coil overs look nice and seem to be in my price range -ss+. I want to drop my car only about 1" all the way around...I do not want any scraping! Will these be a good coil over for that amount of ride height? I like the way they look -match my color scheme and the price is more in my range than the Kw v3's...

Vic

 

That burnt copper is a nice color, should look great in the engine bay. Here's a pic of an engine cover in a yellow just for ideas
https://www.myg37.com/forums/3642276-post1416.html
Those Stance COs should be a good choice, seem to get good reviews and shouldn't start out too low. Look forward to pics!

 

Ok...so my calipers came back from my powder guy..and they turned out freaking sweet. The burnt orange color is bright and sporty. The gloss coat is nice and thick and the powder came out awesome. Electrotech is who did my work and they did an outstanding job even on the backside masking everything off nice and neat.
So....tomorrow I add black Akebono stickers and 6-10 coats of VHT caliper clear to seal up the stickers. I am going to wet sand with 2000 when dry and then put a polish on them.
Also this weekend I am going to start the paint under the hood and the front grille. Grille is going gloss black...can decide on the logo or not....leave it chrome or black it out...hmmm
anyway...the copper and gloss piano black work under the hood starts as well. Paint should take a couple of days. Going to seal and clear coat my TSW's while I am at it. Once all the paint and polishing is done it will be time to mount those sweet new DBA 2pc T3's I have..I will take some pics of those tomorrow and post as well...they are hot looking.

Cusco bar also came in today....and I ordered my FI exhaust....things are going well. I cannot wait to get everything together...hopefully the plan comes out like the image that is in my mind!
Vic

 

thanks for the link to the engine cover....is the black painted as well or just the part that was aluminum color? I was thinking of painting over the existing black with a gloss piano black to offset the copper...but maybe leaving it stock and just detailing it would be good as well...maybe too much gloss under the hood would look tacky....thoughts?

 

I believe he just left it as is, here's a link to a DIY engine cover that just got put up for reference
https://www.myg37.com/forums/d-i-y-i...ine-cover.html

Those calipers came out beautiful, that color is really going to pop and should go well w/ your overall look.
IMO I prefer leaving the logo chrome on the grill, just enough contrast, plus it's a cool logo, it gets lost a bit when it's all black. If you don't like it just snap it off and paint it later would be my plan.

BTW, what was the charge to p-coat the calipers?

 

Those calipers look sweet!! That is it, I am painting mine this 4th of July. I cannot stand the stock silver any longer.

 

The calipers were 300 for all four. It was a two stage color...one for color and one for clear. I then put new Akebono vinyl on them and cleared them 5 times....came out sweet. I will post an update soon. been painting all weekend. Parts are looking fantastic.

 

ok...so this weekend I got started on all the painting and detailing.
Here is a bullet list of things accomplished:
Applied Akebono vinyl to calipers and added 5 coats of clear
Sanded, primed, and painted CAI intake boxes -Burnt Copper
Removed grille...and man this was NOT easy and I did not become part of the broken radiator shroud club....but it took two people and some patience. that front brace bar should have a nut and bolt in it so it can be removed....would have been much easier.
Sanded, Primed and painted front grille - gloss black...still in process
Primed and painted batt. cover and brake cover...still in process.
Taped off engine cover and starting to prep for paint.
here are the calipers and CAI images...will post the grille and other stuff in the next post....if anyone has questions on my process let me know. I am taking a ton of pictures as I am planning on doing a couple of DIY on the CAI boxes and maybe some of my other parts. Parts are coming out EXCELLENT, good materials and good process = great results!
Vic

 

I can't imagine it coming out any better, keep those pics coming and glad you're thrilled w/ the results, the build is going along w/ perfection
Surprised the grill gave you so much trouble, it must be different on the sedans, mine takes about 5 minutes, but then again I've done it about 5 times

 

OK...so the grille came out freaking awesome. I did a wet sand before primer, then primer and another wet sand. Then 5 coats of gloss black....another wet sand and 5 coats of lacquer. Looks sweet. and should be durable as well.
I decided not paint some all of the parts I was planning to paint. The piano black areas I decided to leave stock black as the satin copper sets very nice against them. I decided I don't want too much shine under the hood...so I don't have as much to paint. Still working on engine cover, batt and brake covers. I also decided to paint the coolant bottle burnt copper...with a little window in the back for viewing.
I am also painting the spring bolts on the Akebono brakes black. I think this little detail will be sweet as the whole black and burnt orange theme is really coming along nice. It is the little details that make things pop and stand out.
As I mentioned before I have taken a ton of pics so if anyone wants some info on process or materials just pm me or drop a note here. I could not be happier with the mods so far.
If all goes well....my baby will be back up and running in a week or so.

 

yeah that grille was a s.o.b....but my mechanic friend and I just took our time and kept working it. I am hoping to get through this whole mod session with no issues!

 

Everything is looking great and good progress. Great caliper color choice.

 

thanks...you are kicking one sweet ride. Love the IP and the tasty black accents. I am hoping mine comes out that sweet as well.

 

ok...I could use some help with coil-overs.....I want to drop my ride only about 1" or so...I do not want to scrape my new FI exhaust and I do not want to fear speed bumps or dips (well not that much!). I do not drive my car that much, but do not want a harsh ride. When I do drive I am commuting long distances on freeway..some of them not so smooth. What is the coil over for me? I know KW v3 are one of the favs here...but might be out of my price range....so Tanabe / Stance / Tein / Eibach / BC....do I even want coil overs? Should I just do springs to lower a little...I do driver VERY spirited driving out here in the hills...and would like to track the car some day. I do plan on adding a set of Hotchkis sways as well. Looking forward to the groups feedback.

 

You seem to be putting a lot of effort into all the right places, that said I think coilovers would be a wise choice. I think the Stance true coilovers would be a good plan as long as you can confirm that the highest settings aren't already lower than you want to be. Those should be more budget-friendly and having the adjustment for ride firmness will be great when you can go to the track, crank -em up, then tune them down for your drive home. They get good reviews for the most part and IMO Springs would be a pretty big compromise w/ what you've already done (and plan on doing ) to your G. And then you'll also have your OEM loaded dampers if you ever need to go back to oem.