Dress up/little stuff

[nametakennow]

I know I'm not the only one around who has a little bit of cash around and a need to do something to his/her car because mod/work is an addiction. So, I figured I'd ask what you guys would do/want to do to your car, kind of as a general thread for those who are in said position to reference.

I'm thinking a couple of things:1. Pedals, not for bling, but because my clutch pedal and traffic like to combine in to a horrendously painful hell for me all too often. I'm tired of my foot slipping! Any recommendations are appreciated!

2. Brake/valve cover painting. Right now I'm thinking black calipers and valve cover, but in the case of the VC, polishing the lettering for a nice high-polish silver deal to match my intake (see pic).

3. Gauges down on the DIN pocket (below A/C controls). I'd like to fit 3 2 /16s, but I know that won't happen. I may wait a while and replace my H/U with a smaller aftermarket one and then get a gauge pod up where the H/U used to be. I'm thinking oil temp, transmission temp, and A/F ratio, mostly because I'd like to know when my car is warmed up enough to be driven a little harder (I keep it under 3k rpms for about 5-10min right now, using the water temp as a reference as well).

4. Making my grey interior black, but that would also require getting my seats re-covered or getting racing seats, in which case it's gonna go well past the $ I'd like to spend (no more than $200 for sure, preferably even less).

5. Grill. I hate my grill. Actually, I just don't like the way the badging looks. I would debadge, but the outline of the badge would still be there. Would it be possible to cut out the outline or does anyone make debadged grills? (see pic, which I note is a little old, the pinstripe is gone now!)

6. Anything else you guys can think of?

Oh, the good driver mod is always a work in progress...

[xyster]

I'd do oil pressure instead of transmission temp, but that's just me. I think the valve cover would look good painted, but not the calipers, if they're stock. That's a squeaky clean engine bay, btw.

maybe you can take some of that spare cash and turn your engine the right way

j/k. I'm interested to hear what people recommend for pedals, too.

[nametakennow]

Yeah, turn the engine the right way and get the right wheels spinning...

FWD (and in that, torque steer) is the other bane of my existence, the first being my foot slipping on the clutch pedal...

I eventually plan on doing a full set of gauges, maybe getting an a-pillar set along with the set up where the radio is. That would be 6 gauges. I'd probably go with oil temp, oil press, transmission temp, voltage, A/F, and fuel press.

[MainEvent212]

why so many gauges on a mostly stock sentra? just wondering, i have a couple gauges too

if u ask me, i think that a nice slick grille and maybe new wheels would really just do it for your car. Sentras dont need much in my book to look good. maybe a nice front lip...then turbo ...those always look cool

[nametakennow]

I dunno, it bugs me that I don't know when everything is warmed up. It won't be quite as stock then either (exhaust, headers, cams, probably pullies). I doubt I'll get all 6, probably just the 3, and I figure those two temp things are really what's going to show me when my car is warm, the A/F is more for kicks than anything else. Grille would go ahead of gauges for sure, that list isn't quite in order, lemme put it by priority:1. Pedals2. Grille3. VC paint4. Interior re-covering, if it weren't so expensive... GAR!5. GaugesA good suggestion might jump ahead of any of those.I can probably do the top 3 all right now for pretty cheap, if I can find a grille, which seems to be damn near impossible. Anyone know if I could just cut the plastic where the Nissan badge used to be? Also, could someone possibly p-chop the Nissan off the grille if they're bored?

Probably going to drop either BBS RDs or Enkei RS5s in 17X7 form next summer (2005) with some nice sticky rubber.

Basically, I plan to do something small right now just to keep myself from going insane and to have something to work on. Next I can't decide what I want to do first, meaning if I want to wait a couple more weeks into the summer (say, late June, early July) and do suspension, and if so H&R Sports w/ Koni Yellows or JIC FLT A-1s (the latter being ~$300 more expensive) OR do an exhaust from our good buddy at BRM, AZHitman, in early June. Then headers and probably a rear sway, front too if I've got cash. If I still have cash available then I'll get the pullies, unless I have lots, in which case I'll go ahead and do cams. Next summer is rims/tires, cams, pullies, Stillen front lip and rear diffuser and some slightly larger side skirts to even it out (I want them to look like the stock ones pretty much though, rather than that crazy stuff with folds and angles and crap). Then the car is done, as it will be my daily driver and occasional weekend warrior until I get a project =D, which will probably be a Miata (mm... rotary Miata) or something else more fun.

edit: Oh, I would go turbo, but that'd be pretty well pointless on a front driver that I'd rather keep pretty reliable and not blow $3k on turbo. Front wheels just spin, they're too easy to break loose as is. I do plan on getting a Spec V Helical LSD in order to help with that a little, the VLSD is okay for now.

[MainEvent212]

one way to go that you may or may not like is giong wider and smaller (16x8) in some kind of 5 or 6 spoke rim, to give it more of a squat, race look. I like that personally, but 17"s are always a good option too. Ultimately, do w/e you want, but make sure you like it if you're gonna do it.

[nametakennow]

Haha, 16X8... that's funny...

It seems that wheel makers hate my bolt pattern/offset. A very small handful of rims come in ?X7.5 sizes, I don't think I've ever seen ?X8. My stock wheels are 16s as is, and considering the OE tire width (195), I'm pretty sure they're 7in wide. Plus I like the look of something just a tad bigger. I'll probably keep the stock ones and see which set perform better on the track. Once it's lowered, it should have a pretty nice stance anyway.

If anyone finds some decent looking wider wheels, I'd appreciate it. 4X114, I don't know the offset, but I'm pretty sure it's fugly.

edit: I don't know the faintest thing about wheels other than the basics, how to read size, bolt pattern, and tire size. Offsets and stuff are beyond me, I prefer to learn about engine/suspension stuff, once I get to rims I'll get more in depth.

[MainEvent212]

uh, you can hit up some 5zigen wehels...which is what i was thinking would be nice...they DO have 16x8 so blah :pface

check out wheelmax.com for some easy to access pictures and stuff...

[MainEvent212]

eh, i eat my words so maybe they only come in 4 lug for hondas...although i KNOW the typhoons at least come in 4x114.3 because i know a guy who had them on his old s14! so yeah...if you want typhoons..u can get those in a good width...i'd love to see a sentra rockin 245's all around...handling monster (saying they fit)

[Mr1der]

the first being my foot slipping on the clutch pedal...

I hate that crap...

I too need some better pedals, and maybe a little more sole on my shoe, maybe.

[nametakennow]

Main, drop a pic or a link on those rims, I'll keep them in mind. Some real fat ones would look nice, and this car already handles incredibly for a FWD, I can't wait to get the suspension stiffened up and some stickies.

1der, I'm in awe, your post was... serious! WHOA!Anyway, yeah, that slippage thing is pissing me off to no end. I've adjusted my driving style a little bit (GAR, I want to learn to heel-toe) as of late, so it's not as bad, but it still happens WAY too often.

[MainEvent212]

eh, just put some duct tape on your pedal!

but hm, i dont have any pictures...i suggest google images...