Discussion
MOT:
Another year, another MOT and another pass but this year we got some advisories, these were on the rear brakes and all the tyres. We got the brakes done and left the tyres as I want to get the wheels refurbed so might as well get new tyres all around when I do them.
Splitter:
I wanted to try out a new splitter without spending hundreds and having it break on a speed bump or similar. I ended up finding a 3 piece splitter for an STI204, which I would know could fit with some modding. The plan was to get one and bolt it to the bumper and see how it goes - £55 or so later and it arrives:
Some lining up and chopping commences
The initial fitting was slightly off but I've managed to tweak it better - I would say a one piece would've been a lot better.
Odd's and Sod's:
Replaced these as they were fading
Found a spark plug tool in the engine bay
Finished off spraying the last 2 interior panels now the weathers a but warmer:
Fitted some new led sidelights as one of the bulbs went on the old set - big shout to Rav for the bulbs! The splitter is also lined up better in this shot.
Wheels:
I spotted another set of RX8 wheels with good tyres for £100 and given the old ones I have need new tyres all round and a good refurb it just made sense to get these. Even a set of 4 part-worns would cost £120 plus the cost of the refurb. I did start to sand one of the old ones down but they look really far gone to make any home attempts worth while.
Getting the RX8 wheels fitted:
The tyre's are quite large being 225/45/18's so they get really close to the arch and at the moment I get scrubbing with people in the back so having passengers is a no go..
I'll be going back to 225/40/18s once the wheels are done..
Here's the old wheels, there's another slight bend on the lip due to a pot hole.
I noticed that Rota do another style centre cap that don't have the gel logo's on. I ordered a black set as the gel logo's don't last long before fading. These are staying black so hopefully should last a long time. Here's a couple of comparisons and a test fit.
Next on the list is to pick a colour and get a refurb booked in!
Another year, another MOT and another pass but this year we got some advisories, these were on the rear brakes and all the tyres. We got the brakes done and left the tyres as I want to get the wheels refurbed so might as well get new tyres all around when I do them.
Splitter:
I wanted to try out a new splitter without spending hundreds and having it break on a speed bump or similar. I ended up finding a 3 piece splitter for an STI204, which I would know could fit with some modding. The plan was to get one and bolt it to the bumper and see how it goes - £55 or so later and it arrives:
Some lining up and chopping commences
The initial fitting was slightly off but I've managed to tweak it better - I would say a one piece would've been a lot better.
Odd's and Sod's:
Replaced these as they were fading
Found a spark plug tool in the engine bay
Finished off spraying the last 2 interior panels now the weathers a but warmer:
Fitted some new led sidelights as one of the bulbs went on the old set - big shout to Rav for the bulbs! The splitter is also lined up better in this shot.
Wheels:
I spotted another set of RX8 wheels with good tyres for £100 and given the old ones I have need new tyres all round and a good refurb it just made sense to get these. Even a set of 4 part-worns would cost £120 plus the cost of the refurb. I did start to sand one of the old ones down but they look really far gone to make any home attempts worth while.
Getting the RX8 wheels fitted:
The tyre's are quite large being 225/45/18's so they get really close to the arch and at the moment I get scrubbing with people in the back so having passengers is a no go..
I'll be going back to 225/40/18s once the wheels are done..
Here's the old wheels, there's another slight bend on the lip due to a pot hole.
I noticed that Rota do another style centre cap that don't have the gel logo's on. I ordered a black set as the gel logo's don't last long before fading. These are staying black so hopefully should last a long time. Here's a couple of comparisons and a test fit.
Next on the list is to pick a colour and get a refurb booked in!
Some updates over the last few months:
1st off - we got a new stereo!
Someone was selling the new style Eonon stereo's cheap and it's really good as it has the usual FM/DAB features plus I can have gauges built into it that link to a bluetooth ODB reader. It also has Waze installed, which is quite handy.
I should've cleaned the inside before taking pics though
The front splitter was being a pain as it kept coming away at one of the joins. I put some screws underneath to secure it in place but I lost these due to a speed hump incident. As a result I bought a new one, which is the same design but using some better plastic and a one piece design. Fitting this wasn't too bad as I could use the old one as a template/guide:
The usual bumper off malarkey ensued
I managed to give this one a cleaner fit this time and whilst the older wheels were on I decided to paint the brake callipers orange.
Next was the refurbed wheels - I chose Lamborghini Imola Bronze as the colour and they looked great when I picked them up from the powdercoaters:
I was a bit unsure how the colour would look on JDM style wheels but they look great
The next job was to fit them on the car with new tyres. This time I wanted to give Rainsport 5's a try so I got these on all around. Here's a few pics of them fitted:
The different lighting angles really helps change the colours.
Impressed with the wheel refurb, I asked them to do the inlet manifold:
A lot of work is planned around fitting the new inlet manifold as I want to get the valves cleaned at the same time along with adding some new cleaned injectors, Corksport injector sills plus fitting the oil catch cans.
1st off - we got a new stereo!
Someone was selling the new style Eonon stereo's cheap and it's really good as it has the usual FM/DAB features plus I can have gauges built into it that link to a bluetooth ODB reader. It also has Waze installed, which is quite handy.
I should've cleaned the inside before taking pics though
The front splitter was being a pain as it kept coming away at one of the joins. I put some screws underneath to secure it in place but I lost these due to a speed hump incident. As a result I bought a new one, which is the same design but using some better plastic and a one piece design. Fitting this wasn't too bad as I could use the old one as a template/guide:
The usual bumper off malarkey ensued
I managed to give this one a cleaner fit this time and whilst the older wheels were on I decided to paint the brake callipers orange.
Next was the refurbed wheels - I chose Lamborghini Imola Bronze as the colour and they looked great when I picked them up from the powdercoaters:
I was a bit unsure how the colour would look on JDM style wheels but they look great
The next job was to fit them on the car with new tyres. This time I wanted to give Rainsport 5's a try so I got these on all around. Here's a few pics of them fitted:
The different lighting angles really helps change the colours.
Impressed with the wheel refurb, I asked them to do the inlet manifold:
A lot of work is planned around fitting the new inlet manifold as I want to get the valves cleaned at the same time along with adding some new cleaned injectors, Corksport injector sills plus fitting the oil catch cans.
I've just done a few odd bits and bobs over the last 6 months or so. Being parked up all the time can take it's toll so the sunstrip got replaced and the headlights got re-tinted as one started to react. The wiper arms and scuttle panels were also fading and some of the window switches were getting marked so I've started going through some renewing.
New sunstrip and tints fitted:
I have started to notice the passenger side headlight has started to go funny again so I will need to get a new headlight at some point. The drivers side is a newer light that got changed just after I got the car.
The boot struts were also starting to squeek so these got replaced with some newer ones. Some really boring boot strut pics are incoming:
The new ones are so much better and no more annoying noises when opening and closing the boot!
Next up was doing the wiper blades as the drivers one in particular was faded and had these chip marks in it that were really annoying to look at.
These got spraypainted with some black Hammerite and now look much better
The scuttle panels are next to do but I need the weather to be better before I attempt them.
Back to the interior I used some sound deadening left over from a boot install (further details below). To do a few bits to cut out some annoying vibrations that are coming through. I didn't take pictures of it all but we did a few bits behind the dash to hopefully eliminate some of the noises.
Unfortunately the issues remains so I'm going to check out the engine bay to see if there's anything I can do under there.
I re-done the window switches in carbon wrap. The new wrap is different to the old one and has a tighter weave. This time I got piano black window switches to make them look better.
I also did a bit of extra work on the handbrake surround trim as it wasn't looking too great from before and I knew I could make it better with a bit of patience.
Boot work:
I can't really call it an install as I'm not adding big subs or anything but the road noise from the boot being empty was getting annoying plus everything going in had to go around the spare wheel. To get around this I soundproofed the boot and added some custom carpet so I can still show off the K brace a bit more. I then removed the spare wheel and added a false floor which has also been carpeted. The original cover then goes on top of the false floor.
I don't have a complete picture set of the work so I'll have to get some of the completed work and will upload them. I did end up having to re-do a lot of the sound deadening so the carpet laid better.
The bonus with the new boot work is that I still get a bit more space and the boot is still deeper than oem plus I now get less road noise.
Engine bay:
There was a really cheap strut brace going for sale on Ebay so I thought I would buy it to brighten up the engine bay a bit:
At the same time I painted the bracing underneath black and added a black power steering cover as I can't get anything hydrodipped in the style and design I want anymore
Mechanicals:
MOT time was in Feb and it passed with no advisories!
I also got the VVT changed - pic of the kit below
I'm very pleased with the garage I had recommended to do the work. They have loads of knowledge with the MPS platform and the work done also didn't cost the earth so I will be using them again at some point.
New sunstrip and tints fitted:
I have started to notice the passenger side headlight has started to go funny again so I will need to get a new headlight at some point. The drivers side is a newer light that got changed just after I got the car.
The boot struts were also starting to squeek so these got replaced with some newer ones. Some really boring boot strut pics are incoming:
The new ones are so much better and no more annoying noises when opening and closing the boot!
Next up was doing the wiper blades as the drivers one in particular was faded and had these chip marks in it that were really annoying to look at.
These got spraypainted with some black Hammerite and now look much better
The scuttle panels are next to do but I need the weather to be better before I attempt them.
Back to the interior I used some sound deadening left over from a boot install (further details below). To do a few bits to cut out some annoying vibrations that are coming through. I didn't take pictures of it all but we did a few bits behind the dash to hopefully eliminate some of the noises.
Unfortunately the issues remains so I'm going to check out the engine bay to see if there's anything I can do under there.
I re-done the window switches in carbon wrap. The new wrap is different to the old one and has a tighter weave. This time I got piano black window switches to make them look better.
I also did a bit of extra work on the handbrake surround trim as it wasn't looking too great from before and I knew I could make it better with a bit of patience.
Boot work:
I can't really call it an install as I'm not adding big subs or anything but the road noise from the boot being empty was getting annoying plus everything going in had to go around the spare wheel. To get around this I soundproofed the boot and added some custom carpet so I can still show off the K brace a bit more. I then removed the spare wheel and added a false floor which has also been carpeted. The original cover then goes on top of the false floor.
I don't have a complete picture set of the work so I'll have to get some of the completed work and will upload them. I did end up having to re-do a lot of the sound deadening so the carpet laid better.
The bonus with the new boot work is that I still get a bit more space and the boot is still deeper than oem plus I now get less road noise.
Engine bay:
There was a really cheap strut brace going for sale on Ebay so I thought I would buy it to brighten up the engine bay a bit:
At the same time I painted the bracing underneath black and added a black power steering cover as I can't get anything hydrodipped in the style and design I want anymore
Mechanicals:
MOT time was in Feb and it passed with no advisories!
I also got the VVT changed - pic of the kit below
I'm very pleased with the garage I had recommended to do the work. They have loads of knowledge with the MPS platform and the work done also didn't cost the earth so I will be using them again at some point.
So here is the final ever update - I got the scuttle panels done 
And a final pic of the car before it was sold
I've been thinking of selling the car for a while as fancied a change as I've owned the car for over 6/7 years now. Someone on the MPS groups was looking for one to buy and I mentioned I might sell mine. After a conversation the new owner came down from Leeds and picked it up and offered a reasonable amount for the car given the condition. I should also get some money back on some parts not yet fitted to the car so I don't think I could of got much than a better deal.
There has been some personal changes since I bought the car, the girlfriend now drives and has the family car so I don't really need to drive much, if at all. It also means I can get something less practical, like a 2 seater
I do want to move away from having a car with a 4pot engine just because I fancy a change so something with a v6 or flat 6 would be nice. Currently I'm torn between a 987 Boxster or a Cayman but I may consider a 986 Boxster if I can fit inside one ok. I best get saving!
And a final pic of the car before it was sold
I've been thinking of selling the car for a while as fancied a change as I've owned the car for over 6/7 years now. Someone on the MPS groups was looking for one to buy and I mentioned I might sell mine. After a conversation the new owner came down from Leeds and picked it up and offered a reasonable amount for the car given the condition. I should also get some money back on some parts not yet fitted to the car so I don't think I could of got much than a better deal.
There has been some personal changes since I bought the car, the girlfriend now drives and has the family car so I don't really need to drive much, if at all. It also means I can get something less practical, like a 2 seater
I do want to move away from having a car with a 4pot engine just because I fancy a change so something with a v6 or flat 6 would be nice. Currently I'm torn between a 987 Boxster or a Cayman but I may consider a 986 Boxster if I can fit inside one ok. I best get saving!
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff