2003 Protege5 back from the brink: budget rebirth.

[hitncry]

Okay... So no dome light bulb yet, but my LED map lights arrived today. They are nice and bright. I'm glad I decided to choose different styles for different locations too. The license plate lights are single down led and 4 around leds which are good for spread over the plate. I chose bulbs for the map lights that have 4 down leds each since they tuck up high in the housing and only need to fire in a single direction. It was the right choice. Now I am super excited for my 12 led dome light to arrive.

Here is a before and after shot.

 

[hitncry]

Well what do we have here?! Looks like someone snagged a set of RX8 18's for his P5. A friend of mine saw these pop up on craigslist super cheap today and another friend offered me to do a trade for some stuff of equal value so I basically got these for free. BOOYAH! I've wanted these wheels since 2006. They have some curb rash on the edges, but I'm going to clean them up and refinish them anyway so it's no big deal. I'm going to get these powder coated instead of the rattle can like I have on my current wheels. It might be a bit before I can get it done and afford some tires, but at least I have them in my possession.

 

[whiteMPRO5]

niiiice find! ive always liked those wheels.

 

[THE Phen]

Nice. My only beef with RX8 wheels on a Protege is that the brakes look like CD's behind such large wheels. Well.. and I've never been comfortable with 35 series sidewalls, but that's due to local road conditions. That being said, I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what you've got in mind for those.

 

[ajkulish]

keep en silver, the silver wheels looked really good on your car, i wasnt too much a fan of pink

 

[hitncry]

I'm not too worried about the 35 series tires. I have them on my truck and on the 18's I used to have on this P5. Our AZ roads are pretty smooth and I'm not doing all the driving I used to when I was with the courier service. I'm planing on doing these in a bright purple, but a bit different than the wheels are now. I didn't like when my wheels were silver. The car just looked kinda unfinished. I love the attention it gets right now so I'm going to stick with a similar feel.

 

[Teeson]

wrap them in cartoon! (again)

 

[hitncry]

Dome Light came today. Pics below.

Dome and map lights on.

 

[AzteCypher]

That's pretty bright! Might just do the same conversion on mine. I think you should paint the wheels what ever color you want but you should incorporate the comic vinyl. Perhaps leave the arms the purple color and the rest of the wheel (to include the inside surface) should be covered in the comic vinyl. Just an idea.

 

[hitncry]

That's pretty bright! Might just do the same conversion on mine. I think you should paint the wheels what ever color you want but you should incorporate the comic vinyl. Perhaps leave the arms the purple color and the rest of the wheel (to include the inside surface) should be covered in the comic vinyl. Just an idea.

Perhaps... but very subtly. I have been thinking about wrapping inside all the jams with the artwork, but I know it would be a very difficult undertaking. I plan on re-trimming in the hatch when I do the air ride and might do some of the audio stuff in the wrap or at least the hatch floor insert I build. I still need to wrap the damn center dash piece!

 

[thejeans]

wow... this thread is AMAZING!

i am in ABSOLUTE LOVE/LUST with your car! cant wait to see what else you do it

 

[UncleShrek]

Would you be willing to sell me some wrap for my interior??

 

[hitncry]

Would you be willing to sell me some wrap for my interior??

I don't actually make the wrap. I just had my design printed through my buddy's work., But any local sign shop in your area that also does vehicle wraps should be able to guide you to what you need.

 

[zoom zoom sp20]

Love it

 

[JDM_Pro5]

Just ordered the map and dome lights. I would also like to change the light in the rear hatch if you could figure out the right LED for that. I would ultimately like to change all the bulbs in the tail lights so I would never have to replace them.

 

[hitncry]

Not too much new lately, but I did wrap the radio/ac bezel with some art. I'm on the fence about this piece. It was a huge b**** to wrap and it is far from perfect. Part of me wished I left the carbon styled factory outer parts, but I really love the modern day Dorothy on the driver side. For now it stays. Hopefully I start making some more money at my new job soon so I can get my new wheels powder coated and get some tires so I can put them on. Anyway, Here's the bezel. (crappy cell phone pic)

 

[AzteCypher]

I think it looks pretty good. What is it you're not happy with?

 

[hitncry]

It has quite a few wrinkles that i couldn't avoid and the heat is starting to make it want to lift in the tight edges. I still like it though.

 

[AzteCypher]

Well bloody hell if I can make them out. Must have to be real close to see them. On those tight edges, could you use a heat gun to soften up the vinyl so it's not as tight?

 

[hitncry]

Not really something new, but more something I have yet to remember to mention. After I painted the car one of the things that really bothered me was the dirty silver keyholes. They just didn't look right. I actually left the masking tape over them after I painted it for a while. But a friend of mine who I used to work with gave me some "christmas tree retaining clips" These things get used as clips to hold in interior panels with a fairly flush look. He suggested I stick these in the keyholes. The car has keyless entry and I NEVER use the key in the door so this worked perfect.

Sample pic:

All you have to do is cut 2 sides of the "branches" off and they slide right into the keyholes. They have a slight texture to them and they look awesome! I just thought I would share this super simple mod with you guys.

Here's a few quick shots of what they look like in: