I'm back! Fake-Benz content inside (SRT-6)

[OSSHWA]

Sent payment for the used fenders, should get them sometime next week. I was also running some numbers today and I am hopeful that I should have the funds to get the car redone by late August/early September. Fingers crossed that I get it ready in time for H20i!

[OSSHWA]

Super boring day at work right now. Figured i'd come in here and talk to myself a bit more......lol.

So I am thinking of doing a full redout on my taillights. If I do it I will do clear red vinyl, not VHT spray. Crossfire taillights are rather pricey so in the event that I don't like how they turnout or fail inspection for them I don't want it to be an expensive "return to stock" situation. There is a company called RVinyl that makes pre-cut overlays for my car. Thinking about purchasing a set soon while my car isn't being driven to keep me occupied.

Still need to install my oil catch can & boost gauge as well. I suppose all this should all be getting done during my car's down time eh?

***Update***

Placed an order yesterday for some Lamin-X redout tailight overlays. Also going to pull my fenders off and start mocking up my custom radiator cooling panel this week as well.

[OSSHWA]

Fenders are scheduled to arrive on Monday. Going to make arrangements to install them and have them rolled and then it's back to garage for another month or so. Still waiting on my partial refund (he told me to give him 30 days) and once I have that in hand I should be good to go get the old girl her second makeover......lol.

[OSSHWA]

So I have made a painful yet neccesary decision.........
































No I am not going to sell the car.....lol. (HA! GOT 'EM!)

Rather, I have decided to opt-out of going to H20i this year. There were several factors that influenced this decision, most notably the fact that I do not want to feel pressured or rushed on "finishing" the car's ongoing makeover. Of course money plays a big part in all of this as well. Paying to paint your car AGAIN after you literally just shelled out several thousand dollars to have it painted a few months prior isn't exactly an easy pill to swallow and has been especially hard on my pockets. Lastly, a friend of mine is getting married down in the the Outer Banks (Corolla, NC) the same weekend as H20i. This is actually the second time in the last three years that one of my friends has decided to get married the same weekend as H20i....lol. I missed H20i 2012 because I was a groomsman in one of my best friend's weddings. But don't get me wrong, a best friend's wedding is more important than H20i. Anywho, the friend that is getting married this year isn't one of my BEST friends but he's a good friend nonetheless. It just makes more sense to go to his wedding than it does to stress out and pull my hair out trying to get my car "ready" in time for that weekend.

With that being said, now that I don't really have a timeframe to deal with I have decided to take my time and get everything done right. In addition to having the car's paint redone I am also going to be ordering new window moldings (both doors & rear quarter windows) as well as new upper/lower grills for up front. Just the OEM grills - my existing ones are covered in black plastidip (my half-assed attempt to "salvage" them/make them look better). I am going to have the upper grill painted to match the car. I'm just getting the lower grills to freshen things up. Oh and my reason for replacing the window moldings is pretty much the same - they are old, worn out and showing their age. I figured if I am to have fresh paint I might as well freshen up the rest of the exterior as well.

Outside of that, I still have a ton of other things that I plan to button up including installing my oil catch can, tailight overlays & boost gauge.

So that's that. The thought of missing H20i seriously pains me.....it's always been my favorite event. I love cruising with cars on the strip from all over the country, catching up with distant friends and drinking (responsibly) until the sun comes up. But alas I feel that this is for the best and once my car is finally done and ready it'll be 10x better than it ever was.

[Spawn613]

Shit. You gave me a heart attack.

[SnazzyQ]

Shit. You gave me a heart attack.

Same here haha.

But yeah dont stress yourself out over getting it ready for events. Theres always next year...

[OSSHWA]

Shit. You gave me a heart attack.

Lol gotta have some cliffhangers here and there.

Same here haha.

But yeah dont stress yourself out over getting it ready for events. Theres always next year...

True. It's just the older I get the less and less time I have to do shit. ::le sigh::

[LCG]

did you receive your fenders?

Looks like a too good to be true deal?

[OSSHWA]

did you receive your fenders?

Looks like a too good to be true deal?

No but thank you for reminding me about that. They were supposed to arrive yesterday. The place they were being shipped to (my local Fastenal branch - the guy who sold them to me works for Fastenal and shipped them to a local branch to save on shipping costs) is literally a few minutes down the street from me. I just shot him an email asking for an update. He's been very swift in responding to me thus far but if he doesn't reply by 4:30ish i'll just give Fastenal a call to see if they are there.

[OSSHWA]

Picked up the fenders today. They're currently crammed in the back seat of my '97 Civic coupe......lol.

Also, I think i'm going to order upper/lower grilles from Zunsport rather than buy new OEM grilles. The set from Zunsport is $250.00 whereas buying new upper/lower OEM grilles would run me about $450.00. And no i'm not going to get the fugly chrome finish one that's shown - I am going to get the black powdercoat finish. It'll also be nice being able to see my intake's filter behind the grille too.

http://www.zunsport.com/us/chrysler-crossfire--front-grille-set-p417

[Dr.AK]

I'm very glad you're not throwing in the towel after all the bad that's happened to this car.

Always been my favorite Crossfire and I wish you all the best in getting it looking like it deserves to.


That said, I'm not entirely sure I like those grilles you just posted. The lower ones are do-able, but the upper one looks a bit weird, I think. Maybe you'll change my mind.

[OSSHWA]

I'm very glad you're not throwing in the towel after all the bad that's happened to this car.

Always been my favorite Crossfire and I wish you all the best in getting it looking like it deserves to.


That said, I'm not entirely sure I like those grilles you just posted. The lower ones are do-able, but the upper one looks a bit weird, I think. Maybe you'll change my mind.

I appreciate the kind words. And yeah, i've always wanted an SRT-6 and i've come too far to give up now. I won't quit until the car is back to it's full glory.

And as for the grilles, I think they'll take some getting used to but ultiamtely I prefer them over the OEM ones. I just think that the picture they have on the website doesn't do it justice - largely because the one pictured is the fugly chrome finish. Looks like something out of a rap video. But the black powdercoat one looks very edgy/sporty. I figure since my OEM grill is somewhat trashed at this point (that was the reason I dipped it in the first place) I might as well use that as an excuse to upgrade. Same thing with my sidemarkers. My stock sidemarkers are kind of faded which makes my lights look pink instead of red at night.....lol. Simple solution - buy the European market clear side markers. Winning!

[OSSHWA]

Got my new (used) fenders in. They were as-advertised so i'm happy with them. The passenger side fender has two super tiny dings from "squirrels throwing nuts at them" (previous owner's description....lol) but that'll be cake for the bodyshop to fix. I'm going to try to pull my fenders and install the new ones myself to save myself a little money on labor at the bodyshop.

[OSSHWA]

Finally got around to installing my Lamin-X redout vinyl overlays yesterday evening. My girlfriend lent me a hand and I must say.....it was rather tedious! The biggest challenge was getting them lined up given that Crossfire's have rather large taillights. I wouldn't say that we did a perfect job (there are a few bubbles here and there, some of which will go away with time) but a local tint/vinyl shop was trying to charge me $90 to install them so I politely declined and decided to take on the task myself. Overall I love the look of the solid red taillight, especially since I have my rear badge shaved. I was going for a very clean/simple look and I think the overlays tied everything together nicely. Here are a few shots I snapped last night/this morning. I tried to get a few different angles. They don't look quite as vivid in person....for whatever reason they look extra red in pictures. Lamin-X also included two side marker overlays so I went ahead and put them on my front side markers. So now my orange side markers on the front bumper are red too....lol. But I don't know how long i'm going to keep the side markers red because that can result in pretty serious tickets (impersonating an emergency vehicle) if I get pulled over.

[OSSHWA]

Worked some more of the bubbles out of the tailight overlays today with a sewing pin & a squeegie - they look much better now.

Also spoke with my new bodyshop today about a few things. I have actually decided to keep my OEM grill. I am going to strip it of all the plastidip and then have the bodyshop repaint it to match the car. Additionally I am going to have them sandblast my valve covers (to get rid of all the pits/gunk) and clearcoat them for a glossy finish.