Hey guys. I've been doing some stuff here and there and I thought I would post some pics for everyone. Feel free to reply or shoot me a pm if you have questions about anything.
Subs
We all know how bad the bass is in the ST, so I decided to throw in 2-12" shallow mount subs (go big or go home right?). I grabbed a couple Pioneer TSSW3002S4 (clicky) for like $60/each on ebay, used an old power acoustik amp (clicky), and made a box out of some 3/4" mdf my roommate had laying around. I used [MENTION=255]Phinnegan[/MENTION]'s thread (here) as my guide from the box design all the way down to the bed liner. His is not specifically for 12s, but the box was large enough to drop 12s in it. I'm sure the volume isn't correct for the subs since the box is only 4" deep, but I'm not going for competition level stuff here, just a nice thump when I'm driving around.
The amp I used has a remote gain knob and high level inputs. I mounted the knob up by the shifter:
And for the inputs, I just tapped into the speaker wires along the passenger side floor (going to the rear speakers).
Shift Knob
I bought a JBR shift knob off [MENTION=1900]badltinhelp[/MENTION] for $20 that had a spot of rust on it. I used acetone to remove the rest of the original finish and sprayed it with a textured black/white paint. After letting it dry for a couple days, the paint rubbed off as soon as I touched it so I needed to try something else. Rust was the only thing I knew would stick to the metal 100% so I decided to rust the whole thing out. I taped off the gear indicator sticker on top and used acetone to remove any paint residue that was left.
I did a solution of 90% vinegar, 10% hydrogen peroxide, and generous pour of salt then brushed that onto the bare knob.
After 3-4 coats of the solution and letting it bake in the sun, I was ready to clear coat it but I dropped it on my driveway when I was carrying it so I needed to do a few more coats on the freshly chipped areas.
The chips actually added some character and made it look like rust instead of just brown paint. I put a few coats of gloss clear to protect the rust and I think it turned out really well.
Dip
Right when I bought the car, I dipped the rims black. It looked awesome but I didn't really like how stealthy the car looked. I got a crazy bug and bought some highlighter yellow dip and went to town on the spokes. It took a long time to tape every spoke off just right, but in the end I love it. Keeping them clean is a huge pain, but some simple green does wonders to make the dip pop again.
I didn't mask anything off, I just sprayed and let the brakes clean the rotors and let brake dust cake on everything else.
Boost Gauge
The last thing I did was add a boost gauge to the passenger side vent. I bought the gauge before I knew where to put it and after looking at the drivers side vent, I wouldn't be able to see it there anyway. I figured a boost gauge might be something fun for a passenger to look at right? I found a way through the firewall on the passenger side so I made sure to snap a pic for anyone trying to get through:
The hole is behind some padding on the engine side of the firewall and it comes out behind the fuse box in the glove compartment.
That's all I have for now. I plan on swapping out the speakers at some point so I may add to this in the future, but other than that I don't have any plans. Let me know if you have any questions or feel free to make fun of anything you think I did wrong haha. I want to thank everyone on the forum for giving me all the info I needed to make this car into the best DD of all time. I love my FiST.
Subs
We all know how bad the bass is in the ST, so I decided to throw in 2-12" shallow mount subs (go big or go home right?). I grabbed a couple Pioneer TSSW3002S4 (clicky) for like $60/each on ebay, used an old power acoustik amp (clicky), and made a box out of some 3/4" mdf my roommate had laying around. I used [MENTION=255]Phinnegan[/MENTION]'s thread (here) as my guide from the box design all the way down to the bed liner. His is not specifically for 12s, but the box was large enough to drop 12s in it. I'm sure the volume isn't correct for the subs since the box is only 4" deep, but I'm not going for competition level stuff here, just a nice thump when I'm driving around.
The amp I used has a remote gain knob and high level inputs. I mounted the knob up by the shifter:
And for the inputs, I just tapped into the speaker wires along the passenger side floor (going to the rear speakers).
Shift Knob
I bought a JBR shift knob off [MENTION=1900]badltinhelp[/MENTION] for $20 that had a spot of rust on it. I used acetone to remove the rest of the original finish and sprayed it with a textured black/white paint. After letting it dry for a couple days, the paint rubbed off as soon as I touched it so I needed to try something else. Rust was the only thing I knew would stick to the metal 100% so I decided to rust the whole thing out. I taped off the gear indicator sticker on top and used acetone to remove any paint residue that was left.
I did a solution of 90% vinegar, 10% hydrogen peroxide, and generous pour of salt then brushed that onto the bare knob.
After 3-4 coats of the solution and letting it bake in the sun, I was ready to clear coat it but I dropped it on my driveway when I was carrying it so I needed to do a few more coats on the freshly chipped areas.
The chips actually added some character and made it look like rust instead of just brown paint. I put a few coats of gloss clear to protect the rust and I think it turned out really well.
Dip
Right when I bought the car, I dipped the rims black. It looked awesome but I didn't really like how stealthy the car looked. I got a crazy bug and bought some highlighter yellow dip and went to town on the spokes. It took a long time to tape every spoke off just right, but in the end I love it. Keeping them clean is a huge pain, but some simple green does wonders to make the dip pop again.
I didn't mask anything off, I just sprayed and let the brakes clean the rotors and let brake dust cake on everything else.
Boost Gauge
The last thing I did was add a boost gauge to the passenger side vent. I bought the gauge before I knew where to put it and after looking at the drivers side vent, I wouldn't be able to see it there anyway. I figured a boost gauge might be something fun for a passenger to look at right? I found a way through the firewall on the passenger side so I made sure to snap a pic for anyone trying to get through:
The hole is behind some padding on the engine side of the firewall and it comes out behind the fuse box in the glove compartment.
That's all I have for now. I plan on swapping out the speakers at some point so I may add to this in the future, but other than that I don't have any plans. Let me know if you have any questions or feel free to make fun of anything you think I did wrong haha. I want to thank everyone on the forum for giving me all the info I needed to make this car into the best DD of all time. I love my FiST.
