Author Topic: What did you do to your Kappa today - Part 2 (Read 1257361 times)

Sol Asylum · « **Reply #400 on:** November 07, 2011, 02:26:21 PM »

Maybe it's just the instruments that I work with TS but I am used to red being the don't operate in this area of the gauge and green is good to go. Using that logic I would want the colors swapped because we all would rather have more boost then less.

Sly Bob · « **Reply #401 on:** November 07, 2011, 07:43:00 PM »

I have no doubt that the red means HOLD ON!

TS, have you considered making a few more boards and selling that with a bag of parts as a kit for those of us that would like to add this to our car?

I could be first on the list.

This is going to be AWESOME!

sirmeili · « **Reply #402 on:** November 07, 2011, 08:31:37 PM »

I'd be second on that list :-)

ophidia31 · « **Reply #403 on:** November 09, 2011, 05:40:07 PM »

Damn TS, im jealous of your electrical skills. I feel like a caveman when I look at what I can do.

Anyway, bored at work Ive been looking into a way to disable the autolight feature automatically an not having to twist the stalk to off or have them turn on when just sitting there with the car on at night. Well figured it out and now they work like normal lights did back in the day. It was a little more complicated than I thought itd be. Ill explain why in the little writeup I do when I get home tonight.

cdflint · « **Reply #404 on:** November 13, 2011, 12:47:30 PM »

Drove it.

Doesn't sound like much but after 11 months, I drove my car for the first time on 11/11/11. We drove to Tombstone for a Sky-Sol car meet and it took 111 mile to from starting point to Tombstone hotel. It was a great 1st day!!!

Arabas · « **Reply #405 on:** November 13, 2011, 03:58:20 PM »

bought some T adapters and some vaccum hoses and fixed the hose of my boost gauge

sirmeili · « **Reply #406 on:** November 13, 2011, 07:51:10 PM »

This is more from yesterday, but I installed the DDM works fender trim kit, cleaned the inside completely, finished up a bit of my "dechroming" project, and finally I dyed the plastic just outside the windshield (not sure of the proper name). It had been faded from the Florida sun and was more grey than black. I used a product called showroom new and it worked pretty well. Nice and black again

edit: Oh yeah, I installed the sprintbooster. pretty happy with it overall. I just need to find a place to mount the button (out of sight). I've also started my research on a complete LED interior lighting system with all RGB leds and a home made controller so I can adjust the color at my whim (this will be a long term project for me since I'm planning on learning how to do all the electronics myself).

Treeman · « **Reply #407 on:** November 13, 2011, 09:21:00 PM »

Installed the DDM trim kit and put on the winter tires....

...sniff!

Dark Tech · « **Reply #408 on:** November 13, 2011, 09:41:13 PM »

Finally installed the PLX Pillar Boost guage yesterday. Washed the car and drove top down today. Anything above 40 degrres is good for topdown.

SHiNY · « **Reply #409 on:** November 14, 2011, 06:16:23 AM »

Quote from: Dark Tech on November 13, 2011, 09:41:13 PM

Finally installed the PLX Pillar Boost guage yesterday. Washed the car and drove top down today. Anything above 40 degrres is good for topdown.

Speaking of... yesterday I heard my first bushing squeak of the season

Buzzardt · « **Reply #410 on:** November 14, 2011, 03:13:35 PM »

It is finally Convert time here. Thinking about taking off the Le Mans Top.

sirmeili · « **Reply #411 on:** November 15, 2011, 07:38:33 PM »

Today I took out the headlights, sanded them both down with 1500 grid sandpaper, then sanded with 2000 grit, then polished with Mequir's PlastX, THEN!! polished with Mequir's showcar glaze, then finally put a coat of nuFinish on them. They look 1,000,000 times better!

I've always been surprised that with only 19k miles (14 when I got it) that the headlights were so scratched up and hazy. Now they are near perfect. Some micro scratches that are too deep to really get out, but you can barely tell. I may do it again next year just to give them another go.

I did this all by hand since i haven't bought a DA polisher yet, so it was definitely a workout and about 3 hours of my day, but sooooo worth it

Here's a pic of it:

Critterman · « **Reply #412 on:** November 15, 2011, 07:52:58 PM »

That looks great

EarthNTX · « **Reply #413 on:** November 15, 2011, 07:53:19 PM »

Wow! What a difference. I want to do mine and I wrote down what sandpaper you used. Great job and well worth it.

sirmeili · « **Reply #414 on:** November 15, 2011, 08:30:48 PM »

Thanks guys (and gals)

make sure when you sand you use soapy water. it will make the sandpaper less effective, but this is a good thing in this case. It keeps you from going too far too fast. You can also get 3000 grit or higher if you want, but I found that the plastX worked well enough for my needs so skipped it.

I had done my headlights on my grand am with one of those restoration kits, which is basically everything I did but with a drill attachment (makes it go by faster). If you go that route, I suggest that you remove your headlights and find a way to secure them that way you don't scratch your paint. I took mine out for easier positioning while I did them by hand. Also, if you have a DA polisher, you can use that for the last 3 steps.

Thanks again all. This is a big problem that's bothered me for the year I've had the car! I hear the wax should help keep it from scratching and hazing over. It's worth a try and shouldn't hurt the lights.

EarthNTX · « **Reply #415 on:** November 15, 2011, 08:35:25 PM »

Go-N Def · « **Reply #416 on:** November 15, 2011, 10:38:19 PM »

You really need to get a DA polisher! I've had mine since I bought the car. Probably have about 1000 hours on mine (conservative estimate)!

sirmeili · « **Reply #417 on:** November 15, 2011, 10:43:32 PM »

I am stuck though. I have a ton of mods I'm tryong to fund (about $7,500 worth) and at the same time I need to purcahse about $1,000 worth of tools and equipment. I get my bonus Dec 15th so i will probably get the tools and such even though I want the mods more. Gotta have the tools to install the mods afterall. Any suggestions for a good DA polisher? I'm looking at the meguires one right now.

gogopher6 · « **Reply #418 on:** November 15, 2011, 10:56:12 PM »

Friday the 11th, 11PM: Installed the LVKFCB (in silver). It was as easy as advertised. Saturday the 12th: made two test runs, then put her to bed for the winter.

Couldn't wait, of course, to do a run without and a run with to get a better before and after feel, but hard cornering felt great.

Go-N Def · « **Reply #419 on:** November 16, 2011, 03:43:27 AM »

Quote from: sirmeili on November 15, 2011, 10:43:32 PM

I am stuck though. I have a ton of mods I'm tryong to fund (about $7,500 worth) and at the same time I need to purcahse about $1,000 worth of tools and equipment. I get my bonus Dec 15th so i will probably get the tools and such even though I want the mods more. Gotta have the tools to install the mods afterall. Any suggestions for a good DA polisher? I'm looking at the meguires one right now.

Porter Cable 7424 is the standard. You can find them online for just over $100.

crappa · « **Reply #420 on:** November 16, 2011, 04:22:48 AM »

Quote from: sirmeili on November 15, 2011, 07:38:33 PM

Today I took out the headlights, sanded them both down with 1500 grid sandpaper, then sanded with 2000 grit, then polished with Mequir's PlastX, THEN!! polished with Mequir's showcar glaze, then finally put a coat of nuFinish on them. They look 1,000,000 times better!

I've always been surprised that with only 19k miles (14 when I got it) that the headlights were so scratched up and hazy. Now they are near perfect. Some micro scratches that are too deep to really get out, but you can barely tell. I may do it again next year just to give them another go.

I did this all by hand since i haven't bought a DA polisher yet, so it was definitely a workout and about 3 hours of my day, but sooooo worth it

Here's a pic of it:

I need to do this over winter. Bought the Miguires kit and tried it out on my 9 year old truck, all I can say is WOW, what an improvement, really worth the time and money. And I didn't do any sanding, just buffing.

Dark Tech · « **Reply #421 on:** November 16, 2011, 05:40:04 AM »

Quote from: SHiNY on November 14, 2011, 06:16:23 AM

Speaking of... yesterday I heard my first bushing squeak of the season

A little grease in your bushings will fix that for the rest of the winter.

SHiNY · « **Reply #422 on:** November 16, 2011, 06:32:02 AM »

Quote from: Dark Tech on November 16, 2011, 05:40:04 AM

A little grease in your bushings will fix that for the rest of the winter.

So will putting it in the garage except for the holiday lights drive

Hopefully I get my replacement truck this week

Go-N Def · « **Reply #423 on:** November 16, 2011, 08:43:20 AM »

Quote from: Dark Tech on November 16, 2011, 05:40:04 AM

A little grease in your bushings will fix that for the rest of the winter.

sirmeili · « **Reply #424 on:** November 16, 2011, 09:45:56 AM »

Quote from: crappa on November 16, 2011, 04:22:48 AM

I need to do this over winter. Bought the Miguires kit and tried it out on my 9 year old truck, all I can say is WOW, what an improvement, really worth the time and money. And I didn't do any sanding, just buffing.

I only did the sanding because of some bad scratches across the whole light and it makes getting rid of the oxidation faster if doing it by hand. If anyone's headlights are only foggy (oxidized), you can probably get away with just buffing. You could actually feel the scratches in my headlights, especially up near the top where those lines are (not sure how to describe them, but you all know what I'm talking about!!). Before it was rough, but now it's smooth as glass

Go-N Def, I was looking at it, but heard it didn't come with the backing plate and that would be extra and then was concerned about what pads would work with it. Mind if I PM you with any questions I have about this?

News:

Author Topic: What did you do to your Kappa today - Part 2 (Read 1257361 times)