Just a Couple Questions...

[the_don_rolo]

Im new to this board, and im new to modding, so bare with some of the questions lol. Anyways, heres the deal, i have a 2003 Alero GLS 4 door automatic and im going to mod it out. I just bought rims for it, 17" white Konig with Kumho low pros for now, will upgrade later. My plans for it other then that are to get the easy and less cost effective projects out of the way. First project im thinking, ive been lookin around and ive seen u can paint the bezel in the headlights, i just wanted to know where it is, ive looked on the boards and couldnt find out, is it the chrome piece inside of the headlight? Because if it is it would probably make sense to do that the same time as i do the clear corners wouldnt it?

Second question i have, is im planning on painting the interior, i have very expensive paint, 2 component white gloss that ill be using as well as a very high quality clearcoat, my uncles a painter, so i got all that for free lol. I plan on painting all the trims and all that, vent covers, door handles, stereo trim etc etc... u all probably know what im talking about. Question is, how do i go about taking out the dash, is it screws, or is it all clipped? Do i have to take the entire dash out to do this? Or is there a way i can save time at all?

Also, if anyones got any ideas that i can do myself for now appearance wise, let me know, as long as it doesnt cost me an arm and a leg, im starting off small, ill work up to the bodykitting and all that later, then eventually performance of course.

Any links, opinions or help is really appreciated.

Thanks boys..

[cherrington17]

as far as painting the interior... no-one has done it flawlessly yet. after about a year, it cracks and flakes off, due to the vinyl shrinking and expanding with heat/cold of the weather. best way to do it, (if you want to change the color) is fiberglass or rewrap it in different vinyl.

appearance wise? lower it, maybe new exhaust (makes the back end look a little better and sound better) and rims (which you have) other then that... pretty much a bodykit is all there really is, externally.

on the inside you can backlight w/ leds, get some racing seats, new headunit, monitors, etc.

welcome aboard. and thank you for doing this all in one thread.

[the_don_rolo]

i wasnt really planning on painting all the vinyl, just the plastic trim pieces, ive got the LEDS and the pedals, forgot to mention that, and headunit too, got to find a DVD deck for sale, those dont really come cheap though, got the amp and subs going in as well, other then that, how does dash come off? screwws or clips?

and where do i find the bezel in the headlights?

[cherrington17]

i believe there is a how to, for how to remove the dash. i think its a bunch of screws.

and where is the headlight bezel... huh??
its the ribbed chrome part inbetween your bulbs. You have to heat the outside of the entire assembly, and pull it apart (tacky rubbery glue holds it together) and then take the bezel out (or paint it while its in there)

[the_don_rolo]

ok thanks.. appreciate it.

[ares89]

when clearing your corners, use the oven trick.. it works like magic.. cuts the time to like.. 1/4 of what it would be if you just used a hair dryer/heat gun...

[the_don_rolo]

yea i heard about that, im gunna try it for sure, id buy those cold cathodes right now for the lighting too, but i didnt know shipping was $30 to Canada from Oznium.com... pretty stupid if u ask me

[lonnie]

Originally Posted by ares89

when clearing your corners, use the oven trick.. it works like magic.. cuts the time to like.. 1/4 of what it would be if you just used a hair dryer/heat gun...

Thats not entirely true, it depends on your skill level with the heat gun, cause it took me awhile to do the first one but once I knew what to do I flew through the second one in no time. I like being able to totally control the heat.

[cherrington17]

cathodes are alright.. but leds are MUCH better. and you can usually get a bunch cheap from ebay....

[the_don_rolo]

12" kits usually run from 30 and up, with shipping included, its about the same price overall, i bought a bunch of small LED lights for the vents and all that, but im looking for LEDS under the dash and under the seats, probably do all that when i rip the dash out, that would probably make sense... easier to wire everything. Plus buying those cathodes too, theres only 22" i believe to work with from the transformer to the other cathodes, so you have to buy 2 seperate kits to make it work, which i thought was pretty dumb.. im gunna search on ebay, i know walmarts got the 12" sticks for 25 bucks each or something, might just do that in a week or two...

[cherrington17]

.... or... make your own. we have a "how to" on site for led strips that are solid, waterproof, shock proof and about the size of a cathode tube.


just takes some work to wire/solder them together. no biggie though. no pain no gain, right?

[the_don_rolo]

ive got no problem with wiring/soldering, ive done alot of it, i was a mechanic for RV's at one point, you'd be surprised at the amount soldering u have to do on them... ill look for that How-To.. ppreciate it.

[CharleyO99Alero]

***

There's a how-to for most mods on this forum somewhere.

Abuse the search button ... and welcome to the forums.


***

[Nate's Alero]

Originally Posted by cherrington17

as far as painting the interior... no-one has done it flawlessly yet. after about a year, it cracks and flakes off, due to the vinyl shrinking and expanding with heat/cold of the weather. best way to do it, (if you want to change the color) is fiberglass or rewrap it in different vinyl.

appearance wise? lower it, maybe new exhaust (makes the back end look a little better and sound better) and rims (which you have) other then that... pretty much a bodykit is all there really is, externally.

on the inside you can backlight w/ leds, get some racing seats, new headunit, monitors, etc.

welcome aboard. and thank you for doing this all in one thread.

man i made you crazy didint i? lolz