Reflecting On My Pillars

Anyone with a car usually ends up having issues with the pillars. Whay are the pillars you say? Well theyre the peices or plastic or metal that are between your windows along the side of your car. Example:

Behold my PT's Lowly Pillars... They are discolored and sad looking. Since Im all DIY I decided to paint them versus buying pillar covers. Now while the original pillars were a glossy black, I think it was dumb cause well... nothing else on the car is glossy black... So im going to paint them to match the side mirrors, Flat Black.

To do this I bought a can of adhesion promotor (from an auto store) and Krylon Fusion Flat Black Spray paint for Plastics (I sware by this stuff). Basically I did what I did for the bumpers when I painted it and covered the car with newspaper to catch overspray. Then I applied Adhesion promotor (which is optional but I had some left over from the bumpers) Then I started painting.

Dont be alarmed that wet paint reflects! It will dry flat trust me... So while its drying I did the other side. After I was done I removed the newspaper and was just about floored at how amazing of a difference the PT is with the newly painted pillars!

This made me so excited that I decided to paint my antenna bezel chrome! While I was planning on buying a chrome ABS plastic cover for it, I figured why not try chrome paint first before coughing up the money for a cover!

So once again tape and newspaper...

The trick with chrome spray paint to make it atleast a little convincing is to spray it with glossy black first. then with the chrome enamel. Spray Enamel comes out thick so be careful to avoid runs! Once it was done and dried I was happy with the results! While its not as realistic as a cover wouldve been in recreaing a chrome look, It will do for now until finances allow. Note my short antenna! My fiancee had to have a short one.

The other day when I was at the junkyard getting the shelf for the shelf mod I also got a rear view mirror out of a 2001 PT. While my current mirror is fine, this one had something I wanted... Map Lights!! While my PT has map lights and a overhead console I want to add mood lighting to the car eventually. And while most people change out their map lights with colored lights, I still wanted white light if I actually wanted to read something. So Ill hook up the new mirror one day eventually and post the results of it. And if it turns out great then ill tint the lights so the map lights on the mirror can be part of the mood lighting while retaining the factory consoles white light. The new mirror is pictured below and its the one on the left, mine is on the right. I like the oval shape too!

Im so pumped for Cruizin Clarion this year. Im hoping my PT holds its own amongst all the other much more impressive PT's!

It's A PT Thing!

So I orderd alot of merchandise from Cruiser Motorsports and it all came today! Above im showing off a cover that goes over your third brake light so when you press the brake it says something. And what better for it to say than It's a PT Thing. It was extremely easy to install and adds a great custom look to the PT.

I also got decals to cover up the airbag warning label that comes on most vehicles. This classy decal adds alot of PT style when the sun is bright! Also I got one for the bench in the back to cover up the directions on how to use it. While these look to be made from brushed alluminum they dont seem very alluminumish. I would liken them to one of those thin magnets that people hand out like business cards. Still, Very great product and easy to apply.

Wonderful!

Now there was something I really wanted and its a thermostat radiator cap. Its quite useful really to get an accurate reading on your coolant temp and people always seem to notice it. Unfortunatly they only had orange... Which doesnt work for me as well as red or some other color wouldve but I'll make it work I suppose! Either way its very handy and I should install something like this in all my vehicles!

Another thing that I ordered was the chrome door handle cups. These things basically keep your pt from getting scratched in that area. Plus they add a nice touch to it! Before you stick these on please use rubbing alcohol or something cause they dont stick too well. I went to walmart and bought some locktite double sided adhesive strips and put on em and they will never come off.

Last but not least by any means is my hood ornament. It adds a bit of retroness to the PT and while some may not like it, It will eventually flow very well in the grand scheme of things... Also did the locktite strip on it too. This is probably my favorite thing of all that ive done to the PT besides the grill and the diy painting ive done in some areas!

This was my first time shopping at CMS. Overall I would say Cruiser MotorSports is a great place to go to get some of these great items at a decent price. Shipping was very good as well. Out of the main PT Cruiser accessory websites to go to Cruiser MotorSports is now one of my favorites!

White Male Seeking Storage Space In PT

Anyone familiar with vehicles knows that occasionally you need more space to store your little things. My PT Has a storage drawer under the passenger seat but not under the drivers seat. Why? You may ask. Simply put, Chrysler doesnt want to be responsible for any accidents thanks to the driver digging around for things between their feet! The shelf is not on rollers so it takes some effort to open the drawer so it wouldnt just slide open while youre driving.

So to make extra storage I decided to take a visit to my friend "Taupe" out at walters salvage yard

In order to add the shelf to the drivers side you have to first get the brackets and shelf out from underneath the passengers seat of another PT. To do this you can follow the instructions for removing the seat out of your own pt that ive put in below.

First things first, Move the seat youre working on removing all the way up towards the front of the car. From the back seats you can see two 13mm nuts. These two need to be removed. They may be on very tight, remember that these screws keep your seat from flying out in the event of an accident.

From there you need to go to the front of the car and remove two more 13mm nuts from underneath the front of the seat. You may have to slide the seat back again. These may be on tight as well and are the last nuts to remove before your seat will come out of the vehicle

Once they are removed carefully remove the seat from the car. Be careful not to scratch the door while removing the seat. After its removed feel free to do some deep cleaning!

Now with the seat removed and on a clean surface as to not get stains on your fabric, you need to remove two plastic covers that are meant to hide the ugliness of the underseat. These are easily removed by using a phillips head screwdriver.

Now with those removed there are only two 1/2 inch nuts to remove to remove the metal bracket. Its a tight squeeze but by no means impossible to remove them.

Once its removed youre all done! All you have to do now it put the new bracket on with the shelf and youre complete. Installation is the reverse of removal. Just remember to tighten all the nuts and screws tight, Youre life could depend on it!!!

Heres a picture of the bracket with the shelf, and the bracket that doesnt have the shelf track.

Once you have everything put back together you can bask in being able to have more storage room. I used this drawer to store my owners manual, registeration, purchase documents, and some extra fuses. Ideally I would only recommend to store things that wont be used often, as you really dont want to have to get something while driving. And to protect my hiney, Im not responsible for any damage done as a result of performing this mod.

So Little Time...

So for the past few days I've been ridin' in style with my setup previously listed in the last post. That is until today when my new Pioneer speaker arrived! Man is this thing amazing!

This is a monster of a subwoofer. Google it for yourself! Its a perfect match to the sub box thats in my car and also works great with my amp! Its wired at 1ohm and is capable of giving you one heck of a back massage!

So this is how its wired, 1ohm. This is a DVC sub with 2 ohm voice coils vs the 4 ohm most get in a dvc.

I could go on and on about this system but I bragged in the last post and seriously im not done yet so sit tight folks youll get to see alot more of this sub!

Here it is compared to the polk AKA my travelling sub

Now thats not all I did today, nope not at all!!!

So I've been eyeballing chrome caps for all the tanks under the hood (IE. Washer fluid, coolant, brake fluid etc..) but they are pretty expensive. So I decided to do some spray painting! After researching the process to get a decent finish out of a spray paint I came out with this

Yup a chromish tylenol top!

Basically I used Rustoleum Gloss black for plastics and did a preliminary coat. After about 15 minutes I applied the Duplicolor chrome and this is what It looks like. Not real chrome but its shiny enough to pass as some sort of metal and it is an enamel so it doesnt have a painted feel to it.

Here the coolant cap (just one of the things I painted) before I did it and after

Not bad I say, And its held up great under the hood after a long drive today and so what if it comes off over time, ill just paint it again. Also im getting a paint pen so I can paint the letters black.

So getting in the painting mood I decided to fix that ugly rear wiper issue alot of pt owners have.

So to do this I bought rustoleum Metal Satin black. This is a non glossy black that will help it look factory

So since were going to be doing some painting we should cover the area well!

Now after this I sanded the arm as best as I could to ensure a great finish, Note the area at the top where the paint has just worn off with time. After your sanded (and removed the little plasric button at the base of the arm) you can give it a few nice coats letting it dry between them a little.

Afterwards this is what you get.

Obviously I forgot to put the plastic button back on and I did so after taking this but look at how nice and new the wiper arm looks, no more unsightly grays!

Yes my car needs a bath, I wash it like everyday but its so dusty and polleny out here in PA right now...

So now that this day has ended im fairly worn out and ready for some rest! Can't wait to do some more to the car soon!

Feel free to post your ideas or comments below!

All Amp'ed Up

Its been a while since my last post mainly because I have done nothing but small things and waiting on shipments from ebay.

Finally I was able to hook up my amp and one of my subs.

For those who dont know, I am going to have two different subs for two different occasions. The one that I installed today is the compact sub and box, this is the one well use when we need the trunk space. Ill show off the other one once I get the rest of the equipment for that one.

This sub is a 12" Polk Audo DXi124SVC (I believe) Its 4 ohm independent and its very decent for my small box, not really sure though if im going to keep it or return it! Im contemplating getting an excellent BOSS Phantom 12" DVC sub. While Im no big fan of BOSS, this particular speaker is their top of the line model and for about 60 bucks its the same price as the polk currently in the car. So we shall see.

For my larger Ported enclosure I should have a 12" Pioneer Championship Pro Series Sub. A very high quality sub indeed. But me and the seller are having issue its seems so I might have to pick a different speaker from them if they give me a decent deal on it.

My Amp is an Audiopipe Class D. Its capable of 1500 RMS at 1 ohm and 1000 at 2 ohms. Currently Its wired up as a 4 ohm to this particular speaker because its a SVC. With the big system It'll be wired to 2ohms, possibly 1 ohm if I decide to use two.

Of course what good is using a amp and sub if its not wired! So I had to install an aftermarket head unit (radio) and run wires.

The wires I had to run was a 4 Gauge Amp Power Wire, From battery, through fuse, through firewall and ran along the car trim to the amp. Then there was the RCA and Remote Wire from the head unit to the amp  along the trim. Then there was the gain knob ran from the amp to the drivers seat. And you cant forget the Ground wire!

In these photos you can see where I removed the old head unit, in the next two you see where I removed the trim under the back seats and ran the wire underneath them, then put the trim back on to give it a more professional appearance. Its very important to note the ground wire in the last photo. First of all I chose this central location as where the wires would go so incase I went to a show and took out the back seats I could push the sub and amp back towards the front and have long enough wires. The ground wire is black, I had to first find a good spot, and what better spot than right above the gas tank!

Honestly theres no way I was close to drilling into it as theres tons of metal inbetween them, but this spot I chose is perfect. When running the ground wire you have to remember to sand around the area down to the bare shiney metal, because you want a great connection for the ground so you dont end up frying your equipment. So I drilled a hole and attached the ground wire from the screw to the amp.

The last thing I did was run the power wire. This was quite difficult as you have to somehow manage to get the power wire through the firewall (the wall that separates the engine compartment and the front cabin in the car. So after realizing that the wiring kit I recieved called for the fuse to be about a foot from where the cable starts I had to stick my fuse under the hood... not really something I prefer but Ive driven around all day and Ive had no issues and it hasnt gotten that hot. From the fuse I managed to get a hole large enough to run the amp power wire through. From there I just ran it along the trim to the amp.

Now afterwards I finished hooking up the radio. Take Note People, Look at how nice and clean my wires are. At the least use wire nuts like the ones above (the blue caps). While wrapping everything in electrical tape will work, you will get a much better connection and it will look better using the caps. For added reliability, you can solder the wires together. Use zip ties if you want to really organize everything but I didnt go that far. I also ran a 3.5 mm cable from the rear of the head unit to a cup holder temporarily until I make a permanent solution. So moral of this paragraph? Dont skimp on your wire quality or the quality of the connections.

So now that everything is hooked up its time to rattle the walls right? WRONG! Unfortunatly all speakers have a break in period. Following this rule will prolong the life of your speaker and give it longer life. So after adjusting all the settings the amp is set just how I want it so that when it comes time to crank it up all I have to do is turn the knob installed at the front of the car.

I am surprised that as strong as this amp is, I havent had any issues with my lights dimming with the bass. So I might not have to upgrade wiring under the hood, but I might anyway later on.

Heres my Pioneer head unit installed and my iPad playing my pandora station trying out everything. Im very happy with the way this sounds. Once the bigger sub comes for the big box ill let everyone know more about that one.

If you have any questions or comments about my install feel free to add a comment below!!

Lights, Grilles, And Amps, Oh My!

Today I recieved my new tail lights, Chrome Grille, and my Amp via UPS.

I unboxed these items and quickly added them to my car. The PT Now Officially looks different from every other PT out there. But I'm not done yet by no means...

The first thing I started with was the new tail lights. These are Altezza style Retro lights. They were easy to install as all you have to do is remove one screw and the lights come out.

Wow do these new lights change the look of the car tremendously. They fit almost perfectly and they are pretty good quality for the mere 80 bucks for them. Heres a picture of the lights half and half to see the difference.

From this picture you can clearly see how much changing lights can make your car look brand new or completely different. This is probably the most expensive investment so far in the whole car but by far the most noticable.

Once they were both done you can tell that these lights give it a more modern retro look. And to make things even better today my chrome grille came in the mail. That means two major mods done in just one day! The rear of the car is basically done except for some chrome edging for the lights and the back up lights, as well as some LEDs put into all the lights in the car to give it an even more modern retro appearance. Im also contemplating tinting the reverse lights as they seem so bright compared to the new tail lights. Other than that, the rear of the car is mostly complete.

Now onto the grille.

This grille is chrome plated ABS Plastic. Its very durable and should last quite a while. Coming in at around 80 bucks its almost the same price as the tail lights. But once again, this is probably the most noticable mod to the front of the car so far. It clips onto the original grille as well as uses adhesive, but its not so strong that I would damage my paint removing it.

WOW! Look at the difference. My car now looks like Ive invested so much money into it, but honestly so far Ive put under 500 bucks into it, including repairs. I finished restoring the drivers side headlight which makes the front look so much better but you cant really see it on the camera.

After this was all done me and Emma desided to sit back and relax, fired up the charcoal grill and made some good ol' american pork chops.

Man, Doing all this work myself is helping me build a strong attachment to the car. I look forward to learning much more about it and hopefully be able to do more to it.

Stickers Are More Important Than You Think!

Today my new K&N air filter arrived. These are fairly costly but a great upgrade in any car. They never need replaced and are washable as well. I ordered one New in Box (NIB) from eBay. The cost after shipping was around 35 bucks for this particular model. Well today it arrived and lo and behold when I go to replace the air filter it turns out theres already a K&N in it! Now before you say, "You should've looked Dill". Im telling you I did! Remember the part on this blog where I meantion I have no previous mechanical experience? Yeah? Well  see these filters come with stickers that you place on your airbox that say something like, STOP! Do Not Replace! This Is A Lifetime K&N Air Filter! Other than that how am I to know its a K&N filter? So once I got the new one I popped open my airbox and noticed that my new filter and the one currently in the car look alot alike... hmm.. I took it out of the car and on the side of the rubber was a molded K&N Logo. Nonetheless I replaced it so its nice and new looking and I made sure that for the sake of the next guy with this car, I put the sticker on it.

So really today I didnt do anything to the car besides waste 35 bucks. Plus its raining for the next few days.

But never fear, I'm expecting quite a large shipment of items to arrive on my doorstep over the next few days!