FD22's Orange Hatch

[Jackal]

Looking good bro!!

[greffer31]

hope today went well man! pumped to see the finished product

[r4mi5awi]

You put the coils on yet?! I must see low!

[FD22]

Can you say SSSSS-WWWW-EEEE-T?

sssss-wwww-eeee-t!!

Nice touches. good job.

Thanks!

Oh yeah buddy. This year is going to be awesome!looks so good

Oh it most certainly is. Can't wait!

Looking good bro!!

Thank you kind sir!

hope today went well man! pumped to see the finished product

So am I haha

[FD22]

You put the coils on yet?! I must see low!

The man wants to see installed coils? Then installed coils I shall show him!

Yes, got the coils in today. Took a while, and started out a bit rough, but they're in lol. The fronts are at max low, and the rears are a bit high (I hate rake!) so will have to even it out in the next few weeks. Running at max stiffness, it is significantly a more..err noticeable?..ride than before haha definitely rougher and less forgiving to the slightest bumps/cracks/indents/ridges in the roads. The rubbing on the inner fender is something I'll have to get used to as well. I used to go slow over bumps and inclines as is, but now it's gonna have to be super-slow. Definitely a firmer ride though. Feels more planted, that's for sure.



Here's the front end after the install. The ground clearance should lessen significantly once I get my lip-on-lip back on lol



This is how the front wheel gap situation sits right now. About a (tight) finger gap. Should note though that this is with 17" winters.

[FD22]

Well, car still isn't in summer mode yet. But with about two more weeks to go (hopefully; if things go according to plan) it will be. So until then, I was in the mood to whore out cellphone pictures of the winter-mode look in summer-mode-like weather.

Can't wait till I get off these damn winter wheels! Aside from the nasty look of steelies, the vibrations and noise are really starting to get to me now that warmer weather is here.




I remember back when I could almost fit a fist in my wheel gap. Though thankfully I don't think the 3's came with as much wheel gap as the new Corolla's. I mean, jeez, look at that thing!












I actually really like the way she's sitting right now. Just gotta drop the rear a little to match the fronts.



And finally, a random parking lot creeper shot. Made my car seem super low compared to these guys, so I liked the pic haha



End of whoring till summer mode is in full effect. If it ever happens...

[Genpu_Mz3]

I feel dirty now....

[The Wolf]

hurry with summer mode. You can't let me beat you.

[jaimie08mazda3]

Its like May and your still rockin Steelies haha. I love the color of the car. Orange blacked out works. Now get the damn summers on! Hell take a half hour with the car jack. Done and done ;P.

[FD22]

I feel dirty now....

Mission accomplished

hurry with summer mode. You can't let me beat you.

Ha, it's gonna be close!

Its like May and your still rockin Steelies haha. I love the color of the car. Orange blacked out works. Now get the damn summers on! Hell take a half hour with the car jack. Done and done ;P.

Thanks man!

Wish it were that easy soon though, soooooooon

[Timotee]

"If things go according to plan....."

We will be waiting you know!

[FD22]

Having one hell of a time with this car. Much frustration! lol So it was a nice feeling to finally have something go (relatively) smoothly. Finally removed my side moldings! Really don't know why it took me this long to do it. Should've been done a long time ago.

Used a hair drier to heat it up, some (minty) dental floss to get behind the edge of the molding, and simply pulled. Took my time with it, and no paint damage or fading or anything, so was definitely happy to see that. Goo-Gone did me no good at all though lol the residue was very tough, and after trying a few methods, the easiest/most efficient way was simply heating it up further and using my fingers to rip it off. So..that took a while. Still some residue left here and there that I couldn't even get off with a claybar, but with a little more patience another day, I'll get around to cleaning it up.

Anyway, pics!









Summer mode prep almost coming to an end, finally!

[jay93]

No moldings makes the car so MUCH cleaner! Good job

[FD22]

No moldings makes the car so MUCH cleaner! Good job

I know right! Was hesitant on doing it all this time because of potential paint damage and/or different shades of paint finish underneath, but I was in the swing of working on the car the past few days, and decided to just do it. Glad I finally did. Hopefully the residue remains come off soon.

[schmat66]

one side took me 3 hours. said f it

did the other side a month later after it baked in the sun for the day... took my 15 mins

[FD22]

one side took me 3 hours. said f it

did the other side a month later after it baked in the sun for the day... took my 15 mins

Haha yea the temperature seems to play a key role. Wasn't all that warm when I did it. Many cycles of hair dryer heating and finger picking. Pulling the mouldings off took 10 mins. Pulling the residue off, about an hour.

[r4mi5awi]

More pics of the whole car when you're done! I found a microfiber cloth helps when rubbing away residue after using the blow dryer or heat gun.

[FD22]

More pics of the whole car when you're done! I found a microfiber cloth helps when rubbing away residue after using the blow dryer or heat gun.

Oh, there'll be lots, don't ya worry haha

Yes, a microfiber did also help after doing the finger work. Just to smooth things out a bit with the leftover residue around the area.

[The Wolf]

lol my mouldings were a pain. First side was in the sun all morning, came off just by pulling the moulding. Second side took me 4 hours, and a page of curse words. Turns out I just didn't know how Goo Gone worked :/

and of course the day after there was a nice ding in my door.

[turtle]

Looks good. Much cleaner.

[Reddie1337]

Second picture broken link. I want to see it!

[FD22]

and of course the day after there was a nice ding in my door.

This is exactly what I'm afraid of lol

Looks good. Much cleaner.

Thank you sir!

Second picture broken link. I want to see it!

Woops

Here you gooo

[turtle]

Just make sure you never wash it so everyone can see that you took them off.

[maxewell12]

Having one hell of a time with this car. Much frustration! lol So it was a nice feeling to finally have something go (relatively) smoothly. Finally removed my side moldings! Really don't know why it took me this long to do it. Should've been done a long time ago.

Used a hair drier to heat it up, some (minty) dental floss to get behind the edge of the molding, and simply pulled. Took my time with it, and no paint damage or fading or anything, so was definitely happy to see that. Goo-Gone did me no good at all though lol the residue was very tough, and after trying a few methods, the easiest/most efficient way was simply heating it up further and using my fingers to rip it off. So..that took a while. Still some residue left here and there that I couldn't even get off with a claybar, but with a little more patience another day, I'll get around to cleaning it up.

Anyway, pics!





Summer mode prep almost coming to an end, finally!

i feel your pain! i just took off the skyactiv badge and that was a bitch, i couldn't imagine me doing that side moulding.

[FD22]

i feel your pain! i just took off the skyactiv badge and that was a bitch, i couldn't imagine me doing that side moulding.

ha, yea can be a real pain. Just gotta suck it up and do it though, cause in my opinion, it's worth the effort. Whether its mouldings or badges, I love that cleannn look