fowljesse's GS/SE DE/ZE ;)

[fowljesse]

I finally got around to putting on my "M3" mirrors.
I like making my intentions obvious for the idiot drivers, so the extra turn signals will be cool. Also, both mirrors on the car were scratched, so even though these are smaller, I'm hoping visibility will be better.

They only have diagonal adjustibility not 4 way, but it's adequate.
They were fake carbon fiber, which I detest, so I painted them. Also, I shaved off the cheap looking seams, where they glued the 2 sides of the mold together, and smoothed the design out alot. I didn't like the sharp edges. These look a bit different than they did when I got them, and I may fill in the seams with Bondo.
I haven't hooked up the turn signals yet, because I don't know where to connect them to, so any help would be appreciated. I was thinking of connecting them to the fusebox where the flasher realy is
Fitment is surspisingly great, except I had to get much longer bolts.

[Ryan]

I don't know how I feel about those. Should increase your mileage a tiny bit.

Look... odd, but I guess thats what seeing non stock mirrors on a car that, being looked at for a year with stock mirrors, might do to a person.

[OutlaW]

i was thinking about gettin those ... i dont know ...

[cjthor]

i was thinking about gettin those ... i dont know ...

same here. not my cup o' tea. but looks good on yours jesse!!

[mx-3_4evr]

Too much bling for my taste, I will be getting CF F1 style mirrors sometime in the future.

[IMACHU2]

Looks like Mazda cat was walkin' on your hood

[fowljesse]

Yeah. I would prefer something that would match better with the lines of the car, but I needed to replace my scratched mirrors, and wanted the turn signals. I got them used from a member, and they would have been cheap, but I'm an International buyer NewB, and paid more than I thought I was going to Thanks to the son-of-a-Bush, and the weak dollar. They're alright for now. I brought the bling factor down about 60%! Look at the fake carbon fiber ones on Ebay.
Yeah, the kitties like the car. I should put ink pads all around, in different colors.

These lights are cheaply made, of course. Beside what I mentioned about smoothing them out, I took apart the all the LED stuff. The LEDs themselves were tucked backward, so you could barely see them, so I repositioned them to point at where another driver would be looking @ them, after filling in the whole inside part around them with aluminum tape, to reflect them. They are MUCH brighter. They have blue running lights in them, too, that I'll replace with clear sometime, or maybe purple. If I ever get around to Gussying her up, I think I'll go with only blacklights.
Oh, yeah, you can also see where I painted parts of the clear lenses. It helps also to make them look less cheap.

[Mooneggs]

glad to see you finally got the mirrors on... I'll have to see them in person! I think they look right on your car!

I love how that picture of my cat "chunky" keeps popping up everywhere hahahaha

[fowljesse]

Thanks. I'd like them much more if the base plates weren't so chunky.

[fowljesse]

I found myself at the edge of my car's performance, pushing it to the point of understeer a little too often.
A civil person would back off a little, and drive more safely.
I chose to upgrade, so I can drive this way more safely
When Wytbishop made the endlinks, I knew I'd need them sooner, or later, and hoped for sooner.
My girlfriend got me a Whiteline swaybar for Christmas, knowing I "needed" it
So, off to the shop I went... Cjthor's shop!
They looked like they would be easy to put on
They guy I got the car from put on Polyeurethane swaybar bushings that were made for another car, and made the metal straps that hold them in place, because they are wider than stock. They worked great, but I got harder poly bushings with the swaybar, and needed to grind them down to fit the OEM sized bushings.
Also, the endlink on the driver's side was seized, so I had to cut it off.
Long story not quite as long, We put it all together, and they work great!
I preloaded the swaybar by adjusting the driver's side endlink to be longer. I'll explain why later
On the drive home, I took some turns faster than usual, and there was no understeer! There's an offramp that I can usually enter at about 60, and exit at about 75 (It's an increasing radius). I can do it faster now
I thought that the ride would be more harsh, but it wasn't!
I will do some more "testing" soon!
So far, I'm impressed



I used the original metal endlink protector dealie.

[mx-3_4evr]

Cool. Where do you order a white line sway bar from?

[fowljesse]

I got it on http://www.globalperformanceparts.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Part #BMR57
It comes with pretty hard bushings.

[fowljesse]

I got a few more things done....
Thou hast besquirted me, O leotarded one! (Sorry.. Ren & Stimpy flashback...)
I got MegaSquirt installed, and did some junk along the way, because I am incapable of doing things the way they're supposed to be done..
First I'd like to thank Rebel2k4 for making the MS easy to install!
As I as putting it together, I bypassed the IAC, and put in the coolant sensor with this "T" I made from hardware store parts:


I did this to keep the TB from heating up from the coolant. I did it years ago, when I had my stock GS in Texas, and didn't yet know about the thermo spacers. It seemed to help, but idle was wierd. With MS, I can program the A/F ratio, so it'll idle fine.
Here it is installed:



In the background, you can see where I plugged in the manifold pressure line, just behind the TB.



I also coned out my TB, so it transitions smoothly from the butterfly to the lip. I also smoothed down the butterfly bar (Like hourglassing, but went all the way across). My TB was honed a little, and the guy shaved down the bolts, so I can't unscrew it, anyway, so I just flattened the whole thing.

Since I no longer need the plunger VAF, I modified my K&N filter to fit right onto the 3" intake piece.

Here's the filter before, and after I cut a 3" hole in it:




Here it is done with the air temperature sensor in the bend:



And here it is all together.. extremely short ram!




Now, the smallest part of the intake is where the butterfly is, and it expands from there, and I'll be hooking up the ram air. It should breathe very easy without idle problems, and have power down low.

[mx-3_4evr]

how much did you paid for the sway bar? Looking good on the MS! I'm going to start wiring mine pretty soon here

[marcdh]

Running on MS already? I'm impressed! That intake is monstrous, and no it's got no VAF