The Do It Yourself section is used provide assistance with mods and fixes. Whenever you are making a change to your car please take pictures and notes. Let others know what to watch out for and any useful tricks you learn. If you are starting a post in this section from scratch please hold it to a higher standard than you would for other forum posts. i.e. technical detail and even grammar.
Please post about issues or problems in the Technical Support & Problem Troubleshooting forum.
Ronzuki wrote:Next to that wine colored Kizashi from over-seas, this has got to be one of the finest examples IMHO. Very nice looking sir!
[mention]Ronzuki [/mention] thanks very much! It’s had quite a bit of work done to it this year, starting with a new stereo in January, so I’m glad to see it’s resonating with the Kizashi Club heads:)
speaking of the interior, i also got a new stainless steel shift knob to match the dashboard “blades”
johnhenrydale wrote:I actually did a smoke tint on the front "bumper lights" and they don't look quite so awful now.
You're right, that is a lot better. Still completely out of tune with the rest of the look of the car, but at least not bright orange. I'd like to get clear lenses made and put yellow bulbs behind them, but that's not such an easy task.
How about clear lenses over LEDs? That way you can have clear on clear. Seeing orange bulbs behind clear lenses always stuck out to me lol.
@jonhnhenrydale: very interesting interior lighting lol. Also great job with the buffing.
Current: Blue 2018 Mazda 3 GT 5-Door
Previous: Blue 2010 Ford Focus SES,
Black 2013 Kizashi Sport GTS-L (CVT; FWD)(RIP)
johnhenrydale wrote:I actually did a smoke tint on the front "bumper lights" and they don't look quite so awful now. Rather than upload a bunch of pictures here, I'll just direct you all to my Kizashi Instagram account where you can track the progress of the various upgrades I'm doing:
Did you get your car entirely repainted? Some of the photos on your Insta seemed to indicate that.
[mention]KuroNekko [/mention]: I did indeed!
Very happy with the results. It’s now looking WAY nicer than when I first got it 6 years ago. No dings, no scratches, no sun-faded rear spoiler. With the new Vossen CVTs and the Michelin PS AS3+ it’s got a whole new look that I feel like is finally in line with what I’ve been envisioning.
Up next: new shocks and struts. Did you get yours replaced yet?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Ah, that's why it's so beautiful.
I haven't replaced the dampers yet but I'll order them soon. I also need to do the recall and with the help of KlutzNinja, figured the closest location to me is a safe bet. However, it's an exclusively recall work location and won't do other Suzuki service. I need to give my Kizashi some TLC but I've been just preoccupied lately and also just bought another Suzuki: a 2015 V-Strom.
I went on Ebay and picked out some high quality 5008, 1156A, 5007 LED, COBB bulbs, they were 9.49 for the pair and I did the fog lights super bright white 6000k CREE LED Fog LIghts. they were like 8.99. so it wasn't that bad! my next think to do is to redo my speaker and radio system!
COBs are a type of LED. It stands for Chip On Board. These are the larger emitters you see that create a lot of light but generally in only a flood beam. They generally don't make good LEDs for automotive use given they aren't very focused in the way they emit light. You typically see these in the consumer market for work lights. I have a few and they make excellent portable work lights for a bright and wide flood beam.
johnhenrydale wrote:I did indeed!
Very happy with the results. It’s now looking WAY nicer than when I first got it 6 years ago. No dings, no scratches, no sun-faded rear spoiler. With the new Vossen CVTs and the Michelin PS AS3+ it’s got a whole new look that I feel like is finally in line with what I’ve been envisioning.
Very clean! That paint is unreally nice. I wish I could do something of that caliber to ours which now has some chips and dings which any enthusiast hates.
Vossen has some really awesome wheels. I too am usually more a fan of good factory designs than aftermarket, but they even have a set of wheels that I wish I could put on the Boxster, and I like the stock Boxster ones like I like the stock Kizashi ones. I really like the thoughts behind your choice and while it initially didn't grab me, after reading your reasoning, it really does fit well with the car's vision. Bravo! Very nice Kizashi indeed!
KuroNekko wrote:Given the repaint and the tasteful subtle mods, it's probably the "cleanest" Kizashi in North America. Any nay-sayers post your own Kiz pics!
A more competitive contest would be “dirtiest Kizashi in North America”
Current: Blue 2018 Mazda 3 GT 5-Door
Previous: Blue 2010 Ford Focus SES,
Black 2013 Kizashi Sport GTS-L (CVT; FWD)(RIP)
