Kizashi Club

So it's looking likely that I will be getting a full repaint job done on my 2011 "GLS" 6MT. There are a bunch of small, but annoying noticeable scratches and dings on basically every body panel that I noticed from parking in a high foot and street traffic area. The paint / body shop said it looks like vandalism and I agree - some of these things are just not the kind of scratches that would come from anything other than someone either carelessly or intentionally scratching up my car.

Sooooo, since they'll have to remove the bumper to do the repaint I figured this might be a good time to replace the old GTS bumper with the SLS version w/ parking and reverse sensors. This is getting into some esoteric Kizashi wiring territory here, but does anyone know if the factory wiring for the GTS would allow for simply adding on a bumper with the rear parking sensors? There is a blank button space on the left front driver side button panel (which I know from my previous SLS is where that button was installed) so might it be easy enough to just strip whatever parts ai need from a junked SLS and add that button and the bumper?

Any tips greatly appreciated as I'm going to the auto-body shop tomorrow to get the damage estimate.

Thanks!

about a year ago I bought parking sensors and add an OEM parking sensor to my car and so far working flawlessly.
unfortunately, wiring is deferent and you have to that.
and one interesting point is that back of both bumper front and rear there is 4 marking point to drill and mount parking sensors.

If changing the front bumper cover, I'd try to get one from outside the USA that doesn't have those hideous orange lights on it.

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:

https://www.instagram.com/Jkizashi/

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:

https://www.instagram.com/Jkizashi/

Did you get your car entirely repainted? Some of the photos on your Insta seemed to indicate that.

KuroNekko wrote:

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:

https://www.instagram.com/Jkizashi/

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

I’m not a fan of aftermarket wheels, but I must say those are pretty nice.

What kind of product do you apply for that polish/gloss? Like a ceramic spray or something similar? I wish I could use those kind of products but I have to park under an oak tree at home that constantly drops pollen and dust and ruins the look after I wash my car lol.

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.

Next to that wine colored Kizashi from over-seas, this has got to be one of the finest examples IMHO.
Very nice looking sir!

KlutzNinja wrote:I’m not a fan of aftermarket wheels, but I must say those are pretty nice.

What kind of product do you apply for that polish/gloss? Like a ceramic spray or something similar? I wish I could use those kind of products but I have to park under an oak tree at home that constantly drops pollen and dust and ruins the look after I wash my car lol.

Thanks, [mention]KlutzNinja [/mention]: yeah I’m VERY particular about aftermarket wheels myself, especially since I actually love the stock Kizashi 2011-13 SLS/GTS 18s. But one thing always slightly bothered me about the stock wheel fitment was how they receded slightly inside the Kizashi’s nice, wide rear wheel arches. I always felt like they should come out and have a flush fitment with the body. The Vossen CVTs had the perfect width and offset to make that happen. I’ve always been a fan of these particular Vossen wheels, with their directional pattern and relatively simple design. I feel like their spiral, almost throwing star-like design complements the curvature and general Japanese fish and Samurai sword blade type aesthetics of the car’s interior and exterior lines very well.

The car as photographed above does not have any ceramic just a standard wash with some turtle wax car wash soap and some buffing with a microfiber cloth. I think the paint job and clearcoat is still new enough that it will look like it’s been waxed or had ceramic coat put on it. But I did get some so it’ll be interesting to see how much more glassy it gets with some ceramic coating!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk