Removed front bumper plastic grille...pics inside

Yea but Anodizing isnt cheap and it will definately show all the damn debris, scratches and rock chips in here. I say protect it and put some sort of billet grille up there instead of the black plastic one.
 
spray painting DOESN'T hurt the thermal efficiency unless you're putting like 5 coats of super heat paint on it. believe me, there have been huge discussions about that before on other forums. spray paint isn't thick.

i.e. don't Rhino Liner your FMIC.

looks better with the black, but i'd do the endtanks too, or get a bigger core. though the grill opening is so huge, there aren't many FMICs that would fill that thing up without being totally overkill.

idrvslo - you better not be getting black / polished lip wheels reminiscent of work s1/ssr professor. thats my idea :P j/k those will look hot on silver. even with the black emblems and a fully blacked out FMIC
 
I like it better with the mesh on. WHy didnt you take off the rest of the black plastic?

I do like it better after you photoshopped it to look darker. that looks better, but it would look even better behind that screen you took off. Have you thought about meshing it?
 
Not gonna re-mesh it but thanks for the advice. Below is a real picture of it painted with black 2.5-2.25 reducers on the side. I am pleased with it now. Definitely an improvement. Best thing is if I want to reverse it and go back to the silver all I have to do is turn it around. Woo woot!

REAL PICTURE, NOT DIGITALLY ALTERED!
IMG_0123.jpg
 
It looks nice, but looks a little empty to me. Like there's a hole or something missing (well, probably because there's a hole cause something's missing). Maybe there's a grill of some sort you can rig up with thinner plastic so that it's easier to see the FMIC behind it, but it still looks like it's a little 'protected'. In my eyes, it looks like it's begging to be vandalized. Kinda like having a cool interior and leaving your window open so others can see it better and not have to look through tint.

Alexi
 
Honestly think about it, the whole car is begging to be vandalized. Someone could scratch my paint, break a window, slash a tire or really do whatever they want to it. I live in a gated community surrounded by military personnel. I am not going to "rig" anything up because I wanted easy access to cleaning my IC. I am not afraid of anything ruining the IC. Cars have been running open FMICs for a LONG time with no issues. I guess seeing something different for some people is just too hard on the eyes/brain. But once again thanks for the comments, all are welcome!
 
I hear you. Cars can just be vandalized. But I'm just paranoid. I try not to do anything to make my car visually "stick out" from the norm. Cause it draws extra attention and I'm just afraid that it'd be the bad kind. Not gonna lie, I do like the way it looks, although I'd prefer it with something in front just cause it does look like a piece is missing from the car. I'd try to find someone to make a grill in front of it that's thin enough to see the FMIC through, but then it would look as though the bumper keeps it's contours across the front. But hey, it's your car. I've already done something to my car that I'm sure a lot of people would NOT like (I changed the shift knob and now it lights up with the shift pattern when I turn the lights on).

But like I've said, I'm overly paranoid about stuff. I will get out the car, roll up the windows, lock my doors, and engage the alarm system just to buy a lotto ticket at a counter 20 feet away with glass doors/windows with my car in full view. And I can't even FATHOM being the guy who leaves their car running while they get out to get cash from an ATM at a bank.

Alexi
 
Lot of work for a pretty useless mod.

It wasn't a useless mod. It was a free upgrade to improve the appearance of his car. Whether or not you agree with the look its a personal decision and he didn't even have to spend any cash. Someone could easily spend over a grand over rims that just improve the look and nothing else. Is that a useless mod?
 
Pretty useless comment....I could go through your mods list and say the same thing for 6 out of your 15 mods. Comments are always welcome, thats your opinion and I respect it. But if you are gonna state that this mod is useless I will just point out one of yours....SHARK FIN ANTENNA....enough said
 
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those last few pics look really good. btw, it's not a worthless mod. looks clean and goes well with the slv.
 
I like it and I don't like it.

I like it because it shows off the FMIC better.

I don't like it because you removed what little protection from the FMIC that you had.
 
Hahaha I like the "paint your stock grille pink" comment. I think that is the best one I have heard yet. Dont forget I did this not just for looks but also so that I could clean the IC better and remove debris that makes its way through the extremely large oh so useful stock grille.
 
I think it'd be awesome (albeit it might be impossible) if you could somehow rig the FMIC to be flush with the bumper (including the curve). So that it looked like it WAS a replacement for the grill. I think that'd be awesome.

Alexi
 
Not bad, thats what u call going "commando" :). Just don't hit a bird on that area going 65 mph....believe me, it's like a baseball hitting your intercooler !
 
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