I've had the car 7 years now, 3.5 engines, 2 trannies, 4 suspensions (counting stock lol), and a couple of different interior/stereo ideas since I've had it, lots of car show shows, lots of first place, couple of "best of" awards including "best import car" twice. The most amazing thing was going to Sema last year with it, seeing it in a LincolnTech commercial was pretty neat as well, best part of all of it is meeting people at shows or driving it around and getting complimented and talking cars with strangers, I've heard the best thing about the car hobby is the people, I've gotten to learn and enjoy that over the years with this car moreso than any previous car I've customized. My future plans include possible appearance in print ads, possible magazine feature, as far as mods go I'm re-doing the suspension again (making improvements), would like to do a few more things to dress up the motor like maybe some vacuum plating or some polished pieces, there's some tiny amount of wear and tear from taking it to shows I need to get spiffed up a bit and last but not least, fixing the airbag warning light so I can finally get it state inspected. I still drive it fairly often, not every day any more like I used to, last year during the Sema build I used my savings to buy another vehicle so we could strip mine down to nothing and not have to worry about me not having transportation while we were trying to get it done for the show.

So a few things about the car since I last made an actual thread about it.
The car's on custom air ride, has shaved handles now, we repainted my sideskirts and front bumper with black along the bottom instead of the gray it came with, interior is bonkers now, back seat is gone and replaced with 3 custom amp racks which house Vibe "Lite Air" amps enclosed in mineral oil (and they bubble! lol) There's tons of hours in hand laid fiberglass in the back, the front speaker pods, even the seat backs, and of course the trunk where my rotating ball sub enclosure lives. I have a working PS3 on a linear actuator that raises it out the back decklid area, which has been completely replaced with custom interior panels edge lit in blue, (got the idea looking at Mazda concept car interiors) there's blue leds all over the interior, even under the seats lol There's also a lot of hand painted artwork used to go along with our "sapce theme" we were shooting for since we were featuring Vibe Audio's "Space" line of speakers in the car.
I also have leds installed under the hood in a few places along with an underbody kit that does something ridiculous like 16 million different color combos. (huh?) Speaking of under the hood, I've got a custom battery tray we built from scratch along with some custom lexan work to house the fuse holder and analog air gauge for the air ride, there's Sampco hoses, Aem intake, and a BHR ignition system, I also replaced my coolant reservoir and windshield washer fluid reservoir with updated clear ones, I replaced a lot of the factory hardware with burnt titanium from ballerbolts, also re-routed some of the wiring and I have some carbon fiber covers for the ecu and fuse, (not pictured, I don't drive the car with them installed) we painted the underside of the hood and some of engine bay (also the underside of the trunk and "gutter" area in the back) to better match the outside as well. There's some more details I could go over, but this is already wayyyy too long anyway

I've had a lot of fun building this thing, lot of stress at times too lol I know some people probably won't like it and that's fine, some people dig custom work, some people don't, either way we built it for a show last year to grab people's attention so it had to be a little over the top just a tiny bit

The first couple of shots are from a show I did in Houston, then some of my interior at HeatWave here in Austin this year, then a couple of closed up shots from the other day. Thanks for looking, feedback welcomed















few closed shots



















Short clip of my amps,Ps3 etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aivuMRcA25A

 

Not my taste. But, man I can appreciate the work that you did for this!! This really is a true work of art man. kudo's!!!

 

Far too much show for me.

 

I don't like the dumped look with the wheels sunken, but the shaved door handles look is clean. that car has come a long way.

 

I know sunk may be a part of the style but if only, *if only*, the wheels sat more aggressively!

I like it; different style but totally cool nonetheless. I do have to say, for half a second I thought it said VTEC on the inside of the door, haha

 

love it ...

 

lol @ vtec If the wheels were any farther out I'd have tire cleaarance issues, as it stands now I have the rear fenders rolled and still get tire rub occassionally, the rears are 19x9.5 at +29 with 265/30, I guess BFG's run a little big or something? If I were to go back to a static suspension (coilovers or springs again) I might consider changing offsets/wheels but coming from years of custom cars and mini-trucks/hotrods/etc. I was always a fan of seeing cars dumped and tuckin', especially unconventional vehicles like station wagons or "sports cars" Maybe my next vehicle will be a different style altogether, you never know what the future holds

edit: it's probably worth mentioning I don't drive the car like it sits in the photos, when it's set at ride height the wheels do actually sit a bit more flush, I just dump it for shows etc. and the wheels tuck in due to how the suspension works.

 

yeah, but how do you open the doors! haha! go yellow!

 

by remote control/actuators, it's hooked up to my alarm system, which can also raise and lower the car remotely and start it for me

 

Awesome ride man. The car has a lot of custom work. I hope to check this car out in person one day

 

Damn...

Car looks sick. I personally wouldn't have sunken wheels on my own car but yours really pulls it off. Love the shaved handles, I've never seen that on an 8 before. And what you've got inside is just wow

been a while since I saw a killer looking lightning yellow on these forums

 

That is just over the top nice work! Those rims are incredible.

3.5 engines yeah, I bet you use the wrong oil (I just had to say something stupid)

 

Wow man. A lot of work has gone into that. The interior is......crazy. Looks good though.

 

Not the wrong oil, just the wrong transmission lol

 

Looks as good as always man. A far cry from the old hail damage days I sure hope you can make it to 512 project this year if it comes back. Hopefully I will be done by then so Sifu is not the only 8 again.

We need to plan something up your way so we can hang. SARX is always down for a road trip.

 

any pictures on your suspension setup?

 

I agree with Tilt that if only the wheel setup were a little more aggressive... Still impressive for what it's meant for.

 

Id like to see this baby go thru corners.

 

With that much weight in the car?

 

Crazy custom work! Props.

 

I don't like show cars in general but yours looks very well built

 

Just for the sake of knowledge....to the right of the intake tube, air compressor for suspension right? If so, thats an awesome location, looks like it fit nice and snug.

 

Yes that's my compressor, I have 2 1 gallon air tanks mounted behind the front bumper along with 2 water traps that dump out the stock plastic front undertray piece, all I have to do to drain them is raise the front and turn a **** and all the moisture in the system gets drained out the plastic front undertray. Car uses half inch line, digital controls, a "Big Red" manifold from Air Ride Technologies, it's really a hodge podge of different companies. I'm going to try and re-do it next year, going for something sleeved with a strut built into it, either custom fabbed or airrunner, it should be awesome once I'm done as I'll be even lower, and better ride quality/handling etc. It handles ok now, but the rear uses cylinders for clearance reasons instead of strut bags so it's a bit harsh at times, would like to have sleeved bags/struts on all corners. If anyone is interested I have a build gallery up, it has most of the stuff from last year in it:

http://audiofxaustin.com/gallery2/ma...2_itemId=15063

Here's a shot of one of the fronts as requested:

 

hey congratulations man! like others have said, not exactly my cup of tea but incredible build none-the-less.

and i know the guy who did most of your body work................it's the only place i'll take my car; and he saved my ms front end a while back!!

i'd love to have shaved door handles, that might be the cleanest part!


edit: where are you going to take your car to get inspected?? i need to go but don't trust anyone now that i have a full body kit! also, does audiofx do window tint or should i just go to rebreu?

 

I love the outside of this car!