Beauty & the B*tch

Well folks,

Seeing as mostly everyone on here has a build thread, I've decided to tag along. Figured it would also help motivate me to get back into it full-gear sort of speak and enable me to gauge my progress so I can kick myself in the butt if things aren't going anywhere. Dealt with my fair share of sh*t for a while as I'm sure many of you guys have as well which tends to steer you away from what makes you happy and moreso to what you feel is essential. Seeing all the issues I've had with these cars, sometimes I truly felt like it was time for something else.

However, every single time I lay eyes on a 2g, I can't help but be amazed on its styling, its never-aging looks and power capabilities. A true cornerstone for Mitsu, in my regards anyway.

Not to mention the parts I have amassed for both could last me a lifetime. As some of you know of my sickness as my *cough* hoarding *cough* of DSM parts.

I can't stand idly by anymore staring at what I know can be a world of fun waiting to be unleashed (300hp, not your most powerful DSM, in any regard, but I want a fun street-adrenaline-pumped DSM tailored to my liking from both 1g and 2g, nothing more, nothing less).

And yes, some consider me the Ricer of the group, but I don't care

Pics/history and progress to come.


Beauty (aka:, unicorn, legend, "2g, what 2g?", a lie, the make-believe DSM, rice-mobile, lightning [think Cars the pixar movie]) :




and the b*tch (aka: the bucket):




Earliest pics I can find of both even though some mods were already done at that stage.

In my opinion... You got the most flashy dsm.... And the most boring dsm!!

Not that either deserves any less respect in my world!

This is great!



Exactly how I've always felt about the 2gb.

Well said.

I'll be following this thread

PS. Why no rear end pics?

I'm still about 30% sure that the 2G doesn't exist... I'll be following this thread for proof either for or against

Nice Gui!! Look forward to progress!!

And if you forgot to kick yourself in the butt because you aren't progressing Alex always does a great job at doing that for me

Beautiful 2G Gui. You really need to start driving her and please recycle that front bumper.

It does exist...Me and Terry S saw it

Ive seen it aswell..

Dont listen to him.. Keep the bumper. Fits the look of the car and the era.

I think i saw 2Gb eclipse bumper in Gui's garage. I am just too much into OEM for looks;)

Thanks guys I know I've been absent a lot on any DSM related matter. That will change, I long for a drive in either like a fat kid waiting for his birthday cake Couldn't care less about any new models.

Front bumper will be recycled. Not solely on the fact it's not OEM...but it's fiberglass and it keep cracking which bugs the hell out of me. Already have OEM parts to suit what I want later. Just need to get them to paint. List of mods done and to come as well as perhaps a list of parts stored meant for later in case I start getting tired of small HP will be up sometime this week. Just finishing all my Christmas shopping presently, I was actually thrifty this year . Just bought 3 hoodies for 15$ total for work

Because I don't like the rear of the 2g the way it sits now *sniff *tear* lol

1g well it's a laser, nothing hugely special other than it's rare aspect without the spoiler. Plus haven't had pics taken with the new exhaust.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

A little glimpse of what's to come. When I go full out...well I don't spare anything.



Sparco are for the 2g, Corbeau 1g, Corbeau Forza well I did say I was going to build a racing sim as well Charles got me wanting to finish it, thanks Charles!

I WILL have these two in shape and in their best look I can by summer! If I need to eat Kraft dinner everyday, I will I've saved on anything and everything for 5 years (don't think this is all of a sudden, I've pieced out everything bit by bit for YEARS) to get all the parts I've wanted for my 2g and later for the unexpected 1g purchase. I will put every intention into making these two DSMs cars that people will love to look at and feel sad to see leave their line of sight. I may not be as OCD as Rob, but it'll be close Ziggy will also see more of my ugly mug around his shop lol

Everyone warned me about race seats in a DD you sure you want to do that!?

Either way those are some beautiful seats!!

Are there any holes in that cf hatch?

Wanna trade for a mint 2gb rear bumper cover?

Meh, original seats aren't the most comfortable to begin with. Slide way too much unless they are cloth (which personally to me looks tacky) Weigh a ton and I bought these with that in mind. All my sets can be bolstered, added lumbar support and can even add heated option if I want I thought ahead. They also all weigh under 23lbs. I was also skeptical before but these have won me over. I also still have my new SRT4 seats in case I want a little OEM in my world. Next time you're around Bryan come try them out, you'll soon change your mind. I GUA-RAN-TY. The 1g one I also specifically bought for their application. Made for off-roading/mudding/jeeps, they have interior suspension layer that also helps with ride comfort (if your suspension has less travel).

Yup, for spoiler, she be drilled. Just not for the hatch wipers. That will be done soon before paint. I'll buy that bumper can't trade though, hard as hell to get a cf hatch in Canada.

That's cool!! I need to figure out a new seating option, I am happy with the cloth! I have a feeling your going to make me want to spend money on seats, hahha

I'm a fan of AM seats. Specifically those brands! Although I will say it's a real pita to install them into a 2g with such tight clearances and not having a flat floor pan to work with also makes it challenging..

But that's the what modifying is all about.

Hopefully those go in easily.

Also, so long as leather is perforated, it breathes and doesn't leave a layer of your skin behind when get out of your car on a hot summer day. Hard to tell in those pics if they are or not.

Is it Plexiglas or glass in the CF hatch?

1g is a pain too Mike, the seat is actually not symetrical cause it slopes up into the driveshaft tunnel.
When Derek put race seats in the 1g they had to cut into the driveshaft tunnel so that they could center the seats with the steering wheel, Derek is also pretty tall so he wanted it mounted to the floor, maybe if it was higher you could avoid that but it may be tricky.

I'm tiny (5.8ish) so these should go in fine. Have the corresponding brackets from each company specifically for the cars.

They are indeed perforated. Less so the Sparco, but they have a open velcro middle (hard to describe). You can essentially
open the middle to add lumbar/heated pads etc so the velcro opening gives it the breathing it needs. It needed to have a more leathery look to work with the rest of the OEM leather interior. Don't want them to stand out too much. I want an OEM sporty look. The other two (Corbeau) are leather/cloth (but better cloth than OEM, looks smooth)

Got glass, figured it would be more of a hassle with the "law" to have the plexi. Don't want to get pulled over and be told my car needs to be towed because it's unsafe. May use the plexiglass if I ever want to try for 1/4 mile numbers one day.

One thing I should ad, buy from a reputable vendor for seats. I saw a lot of seats before I made the purchase, via anything I could find. In most cases, the "new" ones on kijiji are moslty fakes/copies. So be careful when you buy them, try to buy from an actual store/shop. Even then I found a shop that sold the counterfeits. Sparco/Bride/Recaro being the most counterfeited.

Where did you grab them from?

Best name the vendor to the public if they're trying to fool them by selling fakes. I wouldn't be happy to find out I paid thousands of dollars for knock offs.. When I was told they were legit.

Glass is definitely more functional with the ability to defrost the rear window imo.

What other cool stuff do you have?

Westside Performance Plus (Blenheim ON). It's a little drive Wicked place for any American muscle buff although they are more into Procar seats now. They specialize in American Muscle/Trucks and tractors. If you want they gave me their entire list of products (since I bought quite a bit lol). You can browse through next time I see ya.

Forget the fake-selling vendor, I've seen so many to find what I wanted. I just passed them. If I come across the name again I could remember, just not off the top of my head. The ones that are new on kijiji are almost all fakes FYI.

On another note, I just received my plastic spoiler/sunvisor thing-a-ma-giggah today:



Everything is finally coming up MILHOUSE!

This will most likely sound corny but...

Now that I'm back under the hood/looking through all the parts I have, planning what's to come it's like coming back to a life I had long forgotten. Feeling so happy these days.

I really wonder if this tech/mod/mech bug isn't truly a disease that only gives out happy feelings when you get a good dose of it.

I guess the Corolla/Van thing I had going really nullified my pleasure center.

I get what you're on about.. after driving only the Accord all winter, getting back into the Talon felt like a dream come true. It somehow managed to be even more exciting than getting back into the Talon after a year and a half on the bus. Driving boring cars is not only relatively cheap, it also helps you appreciate your DSM a lot more

All that being said, it's definitely corny as hell

All I have to say at this point is....I hate you Terry



Needed to be different, so these are the JDM ones. I like P&P, didn't want to fiddle with electrics and easier to take off after if I would chose to later on.

Did you say u wanna look different ?

I have a different taillight for every day of the week now

Besides yours is EDM no?

via Imgflip Meme Maker

Excited to see what's in all those boxed you've been *ahem.... "hording"....

That would take me a good month to tally

Seeing as it's too cold to work on the car (can't work too much inside my garage) and I have to keep up with this want to finish these builds... I made a mini garage to work on my mini DSM! The DSM is just a stand in, real one being worked on as well as all the other models I had on hold.

Judging by the headers, you've got a V8 or a 420A with a back up header lol

Very cool!

Actually that model only came with the damn 420a engine....even though it was packages as a GSX...lies!

Quick update, my transmission is finally on its way from Nevada Jacks took forever to send my guy a transmission purpose built box for it.

Also got word my 1g is almost ready to hit the road, oddly enough, just as the snow dissipates (a good thing as I don't trust her enough quite yet to tackle a winter storm). Just waiting on Bolton Performance to tell me my new replacement red top Optima is ready. Can't wait to DRIVE a DSM again and not just stare at it. Also have a bunch of goodies already prepped to go in.

Furthermore, I stumbled on this for Ziggy

Just did a hard drive cleanup. Found these, figured it would be a good memory to put in this thread as it won't look like this anymore.



PS even though I'm going more OEM, I did REALLY like the look. Just that fiberglass breaks too much. If they had done my kit in Poly, I would have probably kept the look.

And test fitment of the rare Clear OEM tails.

I was ready to celebrate it coming out of the garage when i saw that pic!
Which bumper did you decide on?

2gb OEM eclipse both front and rear. Keeping the old evo front in my storage though.

Keeping side skirts?

Secci

Looking good Gui. I think Jay wants to buy your evo 2g bumper

hehe



Nope 2ga Twisties are going on. Still need to source a place for all the clips. I want new clips.

What I can't wait for is this:





Also received a couple goodies in the last 2 weeks. Just want to try different tuning abilities (Will be trying out chipped eprom ecu/evo 5/evo 8 and black 98-99 box). See which I like the best. Will most likely go speed density at some point so figured I'd start the process early. I want the car to drive nice as a daily with a back seat punch that could wake up George Foreman Seeing as it will moreso be a cruiser I want the best for it while saving fuel economy (so 5th gear evo/speed density/many weight savings/small lightweight rims but not to the limit of losing any comforts).



Still debating drilling the cf hatch for a wiper. Would save weight but I do like my rear wiper...

Also as people on bookface already know , bought this cheapy so I can run the 1g at least once this year. See what it has to dish out in its present form. Tired of you guys having fun while I sit at home day dreaming.

I want to do 4spider as well, the new car has a welded and from what I have read they are not great for driving around town. I also need a 3" cat too!!

I see you are an optimist!! I am going to make the run and if I get in the 12s than I will get in trouble then get a helmet.

Safety first More than likely won't make it anywhere close to 12s but puts me in the mood lol That and I intend to go-kart a lot more this year, so it'll still get some good use.

Yeah good point, would be nice to use your own helmet instead of those gross things at the track.

My mom makes me wear a helmet. but she wont watch me race.

Iny...miny..moe? The advantages of not driving your car for 5 years. You amass a lot of fun gear. Most likely T25/t28 to get her passed emissions again and safetied. ThEn, well, I have many routes not taken. New big 16g, MAP EF2, Holset HX35, BW256, 18g (which is also on the 1g) or a Garret bb. When I finally drive this thing you better believe I'll get back my 5 years without her!

You'll never get back lost time but that doesn't mean you shouldn't drive her like you can't.

Very true! I just miss my 2g like there is no tomorrow, doubt I'll even remember the 5 years of not driving it once I'm back behind the wheel. It's like an old bud in a way, you just start back where you last left off.

if you want to sell some let me know.

I have some doubles, some triples, some "hepta-iples" I'll definitely let you know once I make up my mind on what I want to do. Still have a bunch of billet 20g wheels/ 16g billet wheels both big/small 16g, 18g billet extended wheel from KTS. I had many many many plans, that's what happens when you don't do and just plan for 5 years. Hopefully I start picking and making room.

Well just got the call from Fedex, tranny is GOOD-TO-GO! I can pick it up Monday once all the paperwork clears

Also, may be tacky to some, but I got my 2g a present for her first year back out in almost 6 years (5 and some change). Seeing as I love the brand, just seemed natural

The B*tch is back overcrowding my parking! Need to fiddle with a couple things (raise it up, too low for daily, exhaust too close to ground; need to install stock springs).

Change a couple things here and there, test out HKS VPC (cheap tune alternative for speed density until I do the evo 8 ecu swap), install Defi gauges, repair hood/repaint in black and install refinished steering wheel.

Also replace the aerocatch hood pins, cold made them brake although I think I had a knockoff set because the bolts rusted....think they're suppose to be SS.

Plug in the Wideband and find a place for it. Stephen already wired and got it fitted to the exhaust.

Oh and put the new seats in.

Thanks again Stephen! Tranny shifts smoother and those tranny cables were definitely done now that I can see them out of the car. Windows also go up and down perfeclty, no off track issues and up and down at light speed. The install of the new motors worked wonders. Still have to recheck the electronic switch for the locks on driver side, think something came undone.

A nice change from Corolla speeds. Although a little rough of a ride, will need to get used to it again.

I take that back, forgot how I like working on these cars. Snow is falling, it's cold, but rewired the door switches and installed the steering wheel already

Looks better in your driveway.....

Haha rocking the factory shift knob!! Steering wheel looks good! I have a soare now so maybe I will do the same!!

Honestly, I know I may be the only one, but in the 1g, I prefer that shift knob. 2g, different story, but in the 1g it sorta....just works.

I have one of those horsecocks in my basement somewhere. I find the weighted OEM knob is much nicer so that's what I've been using.

I rocked the 2g knob until I got my weighted metal one with the eagle emblem in it

Today I learned a very important lesson with the 1g: Why buy lightened cf components, when you can just as well remove rusted ones

Also, cars can communicate with you in mysterious ways. For instance, it used rust to troll face at me:



Also the reason I hate the 1g and why she's called the B*tch

ouch that's a crappy place to have rust!

Just more the reason to part as soon as it goes and buy me a ralliart or g37

We can fix it up if you want

My rotted old 93 was rusted there but worse. Eventually the subframe collapsed through. Either fix it sooner rather than later or give it a one-way ticket to the scrapyard. Last thing you want is the subframe collapsing through there when you put it up on stands

My new one still has the factory paint and coating all underneath it without a spec of rust anywhere to be seen on the underbody. Such a nice change.

Yeah but you also have an evo in your sig, I want one too

I will be fixing it, or rather "botching" it to be safer. But this car will never be sold again to anyone. Components will be reused for a surer car

Nah that's the Talon I'm talking about, not the X.

Oh I know, I meant I'd rather buy an evo next than fix to perfectness on the 1g.

GSR or MR ?

Whoh...whoh....w-h-o-h

Just a ralliart, don't have that kinda money

Ralliart is not an EVO

Add brembos/rims and it is

Far from man, far from.

There is a lot more than that

Been a busy bee having fun working on the 1g (mostly so I know how to do things right the first try on the 2g)

Changed tranny oil to diaqueen after break-in period. Short shifter also installed.

Wideband installed, calibrated and gauge pod made:


Cruise Control Delete: Goodbye ugly heavy module!


Hello Space saving and direct throttle response:


2g also FINALLY being uncovered!:

How do you like having it there? Do you have a separate oil pressure gauge?

I was thinking about grabbing some matching gauges to put inside the cluster like your water temp and oil pressure.

I like it, not in the way of anything too much. Can't see oil pressure all that well but just check it from time to time anyway, just have the stock oil pressure gauge. The plan was to Defi-up this car too but with the rust I may just go with essentials and repairing it to just work perfect.

Cool!

Under the knife once again, putting finishing touches to the front. Also broke a bolt in the fender fml...zip tie for now



She's got new, better looking fogs now which actually work with the front and color.



Took some time to repair a couple things as I bottomed out in downtown Toronto....stupid commissioner rd and it's incredibly uneven state. Seats tomorrow, really hoping for bolts to come out easy *fingers crossed*

Then bring this suspension up and get the HKS VPC connected so Reza can work his magic when it gets to him on the dyno.

Nice G!

Those fog lights do match the car!

yeah much better! very nice!

Passenger seat out, checked driver bolts and looks like we're good to go. Thanks Bryan for the vote of confidence, was really afraid my body there would be rusted, turns out hard as a rock!

Also, is there any way to repair the spring back action of the seat belts mechanism? or just buy a new set? REALLY tired of the saggyness and hand feeding it back into the belt slot. Corbeau sells there own version of stock seatbelts that include everything from the clip to the belt and puller.

Yea, mine was only that bad cause the last guy was a dumbass! Glad to hear it went smooth.

You can wrap the spring one more time but be careful when you take it apart, wear goggles. I almost got a spring in the eye.

Seat is in!








Straight, fits, headroom but it's very tight on the door/seatbelt area. VERY comfy, holds you like a girl in need and gives the car a nice feel.


Still trying to find the passenger side adapter. If anyone here has an account on dsmlink forum, please ask if someone has one laying around. I just don't want to dish out what Corbeau wants for them on the low budget car.

K posted on link forum.

Thanks!

Wedge Engineering (IIRC) makes seat brackets for our cars that don't break the bank.

i have a passenger seat bracket for you. I believe its "planted" brand seat bracket.

Let me know if your interested.

Yup, I may actually use wedge engineering for a fun "project" I have for the 2g as it needs to be custom Although I also have someone local that can make me the bracket so we'll see.

Cheaper the better for the 1g. Mike I'll PM ya, thanks!

Well is was bound to happen, it's time to get the 2g bumped up in status. So she gets some new BOUNCE!



Also bought new seatbelts for the 1g, corbeau, because I'm freekin' annoyed of it never going back up fully. I also care for the safety of my passengers...well not right now, as there is no passenger seat, but soon

Thats interesting, is it just a universal seatbelt kit? I would be interested in getting rid of my factory non retracting seatbelts as well. When you do the install definitely take pictures!

Will do, it's just a universal kit. By the looks of it the belt attaches to a hinge that's bolted with the seat/adapter. When it goes in I'll def' take pics.

1g getting her spoiler on....just before winter lol Better late than never.

Used windshield glue/aircraft straps and a couple of weighted objects to get it to glue perfectly to the hatch window. One thing is for sure, once the glue sets, this ain't going anywhere.

Also for those who haven't seen them at the Cambridge DSM meet:





Now, the thing you have to ask yourself, is if I'm so picky about looks on the car I don't like, what will the 2g look like

The real question is when not what.

I have all the parts, left the last gf last wkn, so should be soon. Gf money can go on car now Only thing left on the 1g is raise it up before winter; new struts/springs and winter tires, of course.

Here it is done and curing:

Alright, seeing as I spend too much time/money on the 1g lately. I want some opinions on the 2g. Remember I'm going for lightness, quick accel and overall comfy/fast

1 Seats:

I have Corbeau LG1s, Corbeau Bajas (fixed, doubt I'll use these just from the comfort and reclinability), Evo Recaros from a Evo X (heated) and SRT4 OEM seats (which personally I think are the most body hugging seats I've been in, and they are light). Yes I have a lot, but that's the problem you have when you don't use it and are really bad at making decisions

So in this department, anyone have experience with these? Specially the OEM ones on how easy it would be to implement them in the car (size/fab work)? Love my stock ones, but seeing as this is a summer car and the seats get red hot and I don't find them to give quite the hold I want, they will be going.

2- CF parts:

Legality of it. I have cf hoods/hatches. Not completely legal, but cops are sorta partial on them. Still have to decide which I'm going with. BUT Lexan rear? Big nono safety wise? Cf doors? Illegal road use? Wanted cf fenders, but after talking to some people, they weigh too close to stock to make it worthwhile.

Vented cf hoods: Engine rusting more due to being open to elements more?

3- DSS Driveshaft

I want one, not much for a discussion but I want to know if anyone would be down for a group buy. Talked to Reza/Abbas about it already in case no one else wants one.

4- Car has been run every now and then, to make sure everything is tip top, which it is. But will I need to drain the fuel tank/clean it? Fuel filter and all that will get changed anyway.

5- SRS light - only option getting it cleared at dealer? Had it disconnected as I worked in the area, never reconnected. Can I just reconnect with battery off without fear of 2 white ghosts hitting me in the head? Want her safetied before winter so I can work on her during.

6- Good rim repair guy. Have a set of SSR rims I love but are damaged. Haven't been able to track down a pair in good shape yet so may have to get these repaired to minty freshness. Looking for a guy that does the job right the first time. Want long lasing results, not 2 years down the road and paint breaks/cracks.

Oh and what clutch would you recommend for it. Daily/quick accel/I have a heavy foot/had the Daily Stage 2 Southbend on 1g, not bad (close to stock feel) but sometimes it will slip, and that's with an 18g. Although most perf clutches don't seem to like being used in traffic.

Car will have a 2g AWD 2.2 Super HD Jacks Transmission. Managed to snatch this up new with evo 5th a little while back So take that in consideration when thinking about the clutch. I could do that piece clutch kit many have that uses parts of this and that. Just looking for the best feel (not heavy, at least not too much seeing as this will be in traffic) and capable of taking power up to an HX35 which is what I will ramp up to slowly as I try different turbos and different tunes.

Endurance Stg2 with lightened flywheel would probably be your best bet there.

Seats you will need to choose something you like best.
I am here if you need fab work, my understanding is 2g is far easier than the 1g.
I don't think you need to worry about rust I am sure you won't be driving in sh!t weather.

Is the endurance the one you have? Lightened flywheel, I've heard good and bad about. Some say Fidanza some ACT. Personally I like the Fidanza for ease of use because you can replace the friction surface. I'm told that's not the better one though.

Seats, I have brackets for them, but seeing as OEM are different bolt patterns and more importantly seats are sometimes on a slant I may need to fab.

I know when I talked to the guy who did the SRT4 retrofit on the 1g he said it was a pain in the butt with a lot of measure/try/check. Heck even with the 1g Corbeau I had to do that, and that was with Corbeau brackets made specifically for the car :S

Yeah I wasn't a fan, 7lbs was too light for street use but for track and faster revving 7lbs would be the way to go. It held up great and after I got used to it it was good. I even beat it up running drag and it was fine.

Yeah but 1g is a bugger either way!!

From northern Cali ?

Henderson Nevada

Congrats on that. I got my tranny pulled out of the car. I am thinking if i should run till it blows or rebuild it.



I am also looking for a new clutch. I got tired of ACT 2100 and 6 puck sprung disk. It never slipped but just got tired of it in traffic. I dont recommend it for daily driving in traffic.

Here is my ACT flywheel after 20k of 6-puck disk.



disk plus 2100 PP


Notice the chipping on the disk ?


I defiantly ready for something new
With that being said i was considering two options:

Southbend Stage 3 Daily:


or

Southbend Stage 3 Endurance:


Defiantly sticking to ACT flywheel 11.6 lbs

fidanza flywheels very daily drivable but rpms do drop very quick im thinking of trying out the act this time around or oem

I would recommend the Competition Clutch flywheel. I changed from a Fidanza to the Comp and am liking it so far. Street manners are better than the fidanza in my opinion.

They're too light and they warp stupidly fast with the Southbend disks.

I would recommend the ACT streetlite flywheel, half the weight of stock but still enough mass to absorb heat and maintain excellent driveability.

x2 on the ACT. I didn't like the Fidanza I had. These aren't 2200lb FWD civics, a little bit of mass behind the flywheel is nice

I currently run the Fidenza and I do not like it at all. comes down way too quick and its too damn chattery. its nice on the leg with all the Toronto traffic but that's about it...

I forgot about that chatter but definitely agree there, mine was very noisy

Cool beans! ACT I guess will be my next purchase before I put the tranny in.

What about legality of cf (doors, which I think is a big nono seeing as it takes out any crash resistance)? Lexan?

Also looking on advice on these puppies:

3- DSS Driveshaft

I want one, not much for a discussion but I want to know if anyone would be down for a group buy. Talked to Reza/Abbas about it already in case no one else wants one.

4- Car has been run every now and then, to make sure everything is tip top, which it is. But will I need to drain the fuel tank/clean it? Fuel filter and all that will get changed anyway.

5- SRS light - only option getting it cleared at dealer? Had it disconnected as I worked in the area, never reconnected. Can I just reconnect with battery off without fear of 2 white ghosts hitting me in the head? Want her safetied before winter so I can work on her during.

6- Good rim repair guy. Have a set of SSR rims I love but are damaged. Haven't been able to track down a pair in good shape yet so may have to get these repaired to minty freshness. Looking for a guy that does the job right the first time. Want long lasing results, not 2 years down the road and paint breaks/cracks.

#5 yes disconnect the battery and reconnect the SRS component you disconnected. Code should clear. And for future reference always disconnect the battery BEFORE unplugging SRS components saves you from ending up in the backseat the hard way.

Lexan is definitely illegal, automotive glass is designed to shatter. I have debated on hatch glass like that which is supposed to make a huge difference.

The only windows I'd consider running Lexan for on a streetcar are the rear hatch and the rear quarter windows. The windshield must be a normal windshield (even racecars follow this one) and the passenger/driver window should be regular windows in a streetcar.

As for the CF doors, if you have a roll cage with door bars then be my guest. CF doors on a street car with no safety/crash reinforcements is a bad idea...side impacts are deadly enough as is. I don't think there's anything illegal about running the CF doors, but it is your life at stake.

Thanks for some clarifications!

Yup Stephen, everything was disconnected to begin with. Only issue I had is I kept it disconnected until now (with random starts here and there to keep the engine healthy). That was my main concern, having started the car without and then putting it back on. Definitely would not touch airbags without disconnecting everything first.

As for the Lexan , it would only be for the rear hatch window. Figured laws may be different for the rear or perhaps non existent. That's why I was wondering.

You make valid points Salomon, same ones I was thinking actually. May hold off then. See if perhaps I can engineer some with some type of crash brace in cf later in the future. Would be a fun project, especially testing breaking the crash brace

Any one know REALLY good rim repair/refinish guys that can be trusted for long term use rims?

when my dad had his magnum he cracked one of his 22's going over a pothole and the rim doctor in Kitchener fixed it like nothing ever happened for a decent price, I definitely think you should give him a call he does great work

Exactly the kind of recommendation I like to see! Thanks!

It's just minor curb rash and dings, but on the 2g, that just won't do. I'll give him a ring. Would be aces if he can repair them in winter and have them all ready for when summer summer back. All of them need repair and a good lick of "forever" paint

Rim Doc did my wheels. He is alright. Forever paint...is a unicorn.

Lexan is illegal no matter where you put it on a car that you drive on the streets. In place of any tempered glass or laminated windshield glass.


If it does carry a DOT or ANS rating.

If your battery was disco'd then you shouldnt have an srs light on. Unless you have a code that might only be cleared with a scan tool.

Guess I'll have a cf hatch for wkns and one for daily then. Good to know.

Had the code before I disconnected. Had cleared it previously with the dealer but it decided to come back so I just disconnected the system as I was working electrics in the vicinity anyway.

If it is a returning code why dont you just have the system repaired. With the SRS light on your SRS system is turned off. And with all your concern about safety your most important safety system (other then your seat belt) is useless.

That's the plan, but need to get her out first, which is what I'm doing to get her safetied.

Oh my confusion then. As you were talking about mods that would not pass safety. But yeah getting it ready for a proper safety is a good idea.