BITCH ASS: A Build of Average Proportions and Modest Income

[cobrawannabe]

First coat:


Second coat:


I definitely have some color sanding ahead of me.


Will finish spraying color in the morning, let it cure for 24 hours, then color sand, buff, and clear on Saturday. After the clear cures, I'll be applying 3M clear bra to do my best to protect it from driveways.

[cobrawannabe]

Updates from today:

Did some test fitting. Car will be about 3" lower when all is said and done. Will put the lip about .5" off the ground.


These things showed up today. 205/40-17. 4th tire is in the back seat.


They have a great profile for what I want to do with them.


And I started my spring cleaning today. Went glue-sniffing crazy with my interior wipes and got some great results.

[cobrawannabe]

o: new system you say?

There is a crazy riced out focus near me, and it sounds nothing like yours, yours screams at high rpm's, the focuses I see usually rasp and rattle. Seeing a nice focus is cool for a change.

I have never driven in snow, so I don't know what its like hahaha.

Yessir. My business partner and I will be building a 2.5" system out of T-304 stainless. I'll be TIG-welding it, and we'll be making a switchable HFC and ORP.

As far as the other Focuses go, it is something myself and other Focus enthusiasts who spend time on quality work are constantly trying to overcome. Hopefully the MKIII ST can turn the car's image around in the US.

Driving in snow with good snow tires is a riot!

Here's another vid from today, excuse the license plate rattle, I always forget about it.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78dkN19Ero8"]Ford Focus ST Snow Plow II - YouTube[/ame]

[rice4life]

o: new system you say?

There is a crazy riced out focus near me, and it sounds nothing like yours, yours screams at high rpm's, the focuses I see usually rasp and rattle. Seeing a nice focus is cool for a change.

I have never driven in snow, so I don't know what its like hahaha.

[cobrawannabe]

Not exactly a good snow plow, but that thing sounds amazing

It's a pretty garbage snow plow on these WASTED Blizzaks (four long, abusive winters on them), but I do appreciate the kindness about my exhaust note. This is probably the last video of the car before I build the new system, though.

[rice4life]

Not exactly a good snow plow, but that thing sounds amazing

[cobrawannabe]

Is it spring yet?

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjjvaW6szKo"]Ford Focus ST Snow Plow - YouTube[/ame]

[cobrawannabe]

I didn't even realize you had done that to the headlights, I really, really like those.

Thanks, dude! I can't wait to get them in the car!

[HooWybrow]

I didn't even realize you had done that to the headlights, I really, really like those.

[cobrawannabe]

Lowered the car another inch yesterday. Winter will not hold me back any longer. Hoping to have the headlights in this week and have the lip finished and ready for paint within the next two weeks.

[cobrawannabe]

The car is currently sitting on all four stockers now after a very close call with the Nittos that were on the Merkur wheels. It is tucking on helluva lot of tire, and I think I'm going to lower it another inch or so some time before or after the snow comes through this weekend. Hopefully I can go that lower and still turn lock-to-lock. One way to find out, I guess.

[cobrawannabe]

Might as well let the cat out of the bag. Trading some custom headlight work for this bad boy. Can't believe I finally have my hands on one after over four years, whether or not it's a reproduction.

She told me to come over, so I made that trip.
And that's when she pulled out my FocusSport lip.



How it will look on the car (mine will be about 2" closer to the ground)

[cobrawannabe]

nice.. what kind of paint did you use on the reflectors ?

Thanks! I used Duplicolor MetalCast yellow.

[exs]

nice.. what kind of paint did you use on the reflectors ?

[cobrawannabe]

In case anyone cares, I finally got around to painting my headlights after letting them sit around for 2.5 years. The only stuff left to do with them is clean/seal the lenses to the housings and restore the lenses. I'm so excited to put these in!!!

Pulled apart with the turn signal chambers masked and the chrome scuffed.


Here's where I got into some details. The burs on the edges of the housings have always bothered me, so I took about ten minutes and a hobby knife to get rid of them all before paint. I'm very pleased with the results of this step.

BEFORE:


AFTER:


Here's a housing after the first coat of Rustoleum Satin Silver Metallic


And three coats


Both housings


Here are the painted housings along with the masked and painted hi/lo chambers. I decided to paint the bottom edge of the chambers, which are fluted to match the bottoms of the housings. I don't see this creating any sort of noticeable output issues as this is not a functioning part of the chamber.


Here are the Frenched turn signal chambers after masking and paint. I'm converting these to driving lights (thinking LED 3157s or going all out with H1 conversions) with a turn signal function, just like Ataru's famous fog light mod.
[IMG][/IMG]

Here are the finished products all painted and mocked up! They'll be sealed by my friend Bruce while I'm at Justin's (NHFocus) house this weekend. When I get back on Monday, we'll be restoring the lenses and installing them!