RMusiq

iTrader: (2)

Hey Everyone!

Just got a week-long break, and decided to get a bunch of DIY projects done. I've had my stuff lying around the house for a few weeks now, and I finally have gotten some time to installing them. These mods aren't anything new, but I'm excited to share them with you all anyways! I had to get some work stuff done this morning, along with some errands, so this afternoon I worked on installing Andy's LED rear turn signal mod and the Cusco rear bulk power brace. I have to finish up some work, so I don't know how much more modding I can get in tonight. Next on the list - get some beer and a car wash, because the next few days are going to be very interesting. Mods happening this week:

1) Iron Man AND Evil Iron Man DRL LEDs (switch placed in the circuit so I can toggle between the two), with blue demon eyes - Check
2) TSX-R Lens swap - Check
3) Osram CBI bulb replacement - Check
4) Stillen Gen 3 Intakes - Check
5) Stillen Grounding kit (got this at a VERY discounted price, so that's why I picked it up) - Check
6) Motordyne manifold - Check
7) HID Fog Light replacement - Check
8) Headlight and Taillight restoration (yes, my tail lights are scratched up), followed by Lamin-X covering - Only did Headlight Restoration, no Lamin-X because it was too much of a PITA to put on!
9) Hotchkis front and rear sway bars - Check
10) Customsubenclosure 10" box installation (yes this is minor, and I still need to pick up a sub and amp - future mod!) - Check

Future mods: Still waiting patiently on RHFCs from Fast Intentions, and once those are put in, it will be time for a tune!

Enjoy the images.

blnewt

iTrader: (13)

In for pics, sounds like a fun one!

RMusiq

iTrader: (2)

Stupid question - how do I attach images to replies?

blnewt

iTrader: (13)

You can use photobucket to host your pics, right click on the loaded photo and paste to your reply.

RMusiq

iTrader: (2)

Thanks blnewt! I appreciate it!

My completely stock engine bay:




Driver's Headlight:




Passenger's Side:


Stock, Opened Up (MyG37.com opened on my laptop - is that meta?):

LED Placement:

Demon Eye:


Evil Iron Man, Demon Eye with TSX-R Lens:






Removed Fog Assembly (Replacing with Valeo housing and Morimoto HID Kit from TRS)

RMusiq

iTrader: (2)

Intake Manifold (sorry about the picture orientation, I'm not sure how to rotate this back to its original orientation):



This install was a PITA, seriously. The hard part was getting my OEM manifold off the engine. That took up the majority of time. Placing and connecting the M370 was a much easier process!

RMusiq

iTrader: (2)

Intakes and Manifold:




Now I'm at Kaizen Tuning getting my Hotckis Sways installed! Going to wire up the grounding kit and LED lights later tonight.

RMusiq

iTrader: (2)

Here's a quick Before/After of the engine bay:



I want to take the time here send a BIG shoutout and THANKS to GoFightNguyen. He really helped address all of the questions I had about the bolt-ons, installation, and other things. He's an excellent source of knowledge, and we are lucky to have him as a member of this forum. THANK YOU!

RMusiq

iTrader: (2)

Here are some more pics -

Lights
Full Setup:

HID Fog Light:

Passenger Side Light:

Evil Iron Man and Demon Eye:




Full Iron Man and Demon Eye:



Engine Bay Mods
Full Setup with Grounding Kit and Stickers (because everyone knows that stickers make cars go faster):




I'd say I had a productive 3 days!

blnewt

iTrader: (13)

Yes sir, that's a lot of upgrades in a short time, looks like you've done a great job all around
Did you have a chance to do much driving after each mod was installed or did you install most of them one after another? Just wondering what your impressions are of the Motordyne compared to OEM? What tune are you going to go with?

RMusiq

iTrader: (2)

Thanks blnewt!

I unfortunately didn't get any driving in after installing each mod individually. I was pressed for time since I had an appt at Kaizen Tuning to get my Hotchkis installed. I had my bumper off until 12:30 pm the day of the appt. Needless to say, it was much tougher to get that back on than it was to take off (I did all mods by myself). I was really worried I would miss my appointment, which is also why when I sat in my car, and was about to press the Start button, I said a little prayer hoping nothing goes wrong haha!

In terms of the mods, I can definitely hear the engine better. The roar is more of a throaty sound, which is awesome. During spirited driving, it sounds great, and performs better. I can definitely feel more power, and the grounding kit helps with shifting in "manual mode." Faster shifts for sure. Something I didn't expect was an increase in MPG. Before all the mods, I was averaging around 22.7-23 MPG, which I measure from my drive from home to school (191 miles one way). Today when I made it back to school, the MPG was 25.5, and starting on a full tank from home, my distance to empty after I drove the full 191 miles was 316 miles. I'm not saying this is the case for everyone, it is just my experience. The city driving MPG is crap though. I'm not going to tune until I get my RHFCs from Fast Intentions. It has been 5 weeks, so hopefully I'll get an update this week. I'm going with an UpRev tune at Kaizen Tuning (these guys are great!), since they have an AWD Dyno Dynamics dynamometer. It won't happen until December though, since I'm out of town until then.

ChinkyChoy

iTrader: (2)

awesome mods and great progress.

I am getting ready to wire in some halos in my head lights. just curious what did you tap for the power source for your LEDs and Demon eyes? i m assuming you ran the wires into the cabin and then have the switch and you tapped that into something in the fuse box?

RMusiq

iTrader: (2)

Hey Dude!

So I used a 5-Pin Bosch relay from Superbrightleds.com. It was really cheap, and I also bought it with the 5-pin harness to make wiring easier. First, remember to disconnect the negative battery terminal. I then wired a wire from the positive terminal to pin 30 on the relay. Pin 85 was wired to ground on the chassis, pin 87 (not 87a) was wired to the LED positive wires. Pin 87a was cut (not needed). The switch to turn the relay on and close the circuit between the battery and the LEDs was wired to pin 86 on the relay. The switch is basically one wire that runs from the fuse box under the driver's side dash (near the door). I used a fuse tap to tap into an empty fuse space that ran current on when the car turned on, and then ran a wire from the tap to pin 86 on the relay. Both the fuse tap and the wire coming from the positive terminal of the battery had 20 Amp fuses on them to restrict the current to a safe limit. For halos though, I believe you may need an inverter board between pin 87 on the relay and the halos, since they may run off of AC current, and not DC current. You may want to search GoFightNguyen's DIY thread on Angel Eyes, Lens Swap, etc to see what he did. Hope that helps!

RMusiq

iTrader: (2)

Here is a diagram to help: http://www.the12volt.com/installbay/.../DRL_Relay.jpg

Just don't connect anything to pin 87a.

Need 4 Speed

Great progress so far! Neat DIY lights, in for more updates.