okay i'm getting some serious urges to mod my car but i don't have the cash to buy aftermarket parts right now. so i've had some ideas and i'd like to get some feedback from other ppl before i attempt them. and i wanna say sry in advance for the long thread.

1)whenever i get a cai. i would wanna dress most of the engine bay in a polished/blue theme. one question i have is how should i make the valve cover. i was thinking of polishing it and then painting the ecotec badge in blue. also i could do it vice-versa, leave the badge polished and painting everything else blue. i've taken a pic from jackalope (sry jack) cuz it was the only pic of an 07 engine i could find (just that mines a 2.2) and i photoshopped it to be a polished cover with badge painted blue.


would it look better with the spark plugs blue^^^^^^ or leave them black vvvvv



2) okay question 2. i was looking at silverss/sc's bi-xenon thread and i saw that he had put LEDs behind his gauges. here's the pic

and the thread. how hard is this if anyone else has tried it and is it worth it.


3) same concept as above, i wanna try doing this to all the window switches, hvac, and radio buttons. i've done some investigating in the boards for the window switches and it doesn't look too hard, but will this work,electrically(?), just taking the little bulbs out and soldering LEDs in there or how would it work. these are the boards for the driver's side switches

off (its the little blue bulbs)

on

does anyone know if you can change the color of the letters on the radio screen and gauges?



4)and last but not least, i saw the how-to on making a custom upper grill and i thought the pic of the finished product looked sick but i was iffy whether it would look wierd on an LT.
this is the custom grill


and here is the front of my car




so if you guys can chime in on my questions that would be really great. +rep for those who help the most

 

Those are some pretty good ideas man. I'd say DOOOOO ITTTTT!! and keep us updated on how it's going.

By the way, go blue with the spark plug boots

 

doesnt the 2.2 have this cover going on? Or did it change in 07:

 

no in 07 it changed. it looks almost exactly like the pic i put up just little things that are different. i would put a pic of mine but even with the plastic cover off, the intake manifold kinda covers it.

 

i like the blue, as long as you dont go overboard with it, itll look great!!

 

yea thats why i preferred the polished cover with blue badge.
this is the best pic i have of it, and the ecotec 2.2 badge is on the bottom under the intake:


don't worry i did clean it up after that


see. go SIMPLE GREEN

 

Nice and clean, that's the best way to keep it

 

I like the blue spark plugs over the black ones with the polished cover and blue badge. As for some of your questions here is what i know.

2. The LEDs in the cluster seem to me like a long and tedious process that would take a lot of time to get right. A different alternative that is very simple to do is get some new gauge faces from Black Cat Custom. They have lots of face and backlight options and are easy to install.

3. The LEDs in the buttons I am not really sure how of the right way to rewire it. However I know some other members have simply colored the lights with sharpie or even just found the wires that turn the stock lights on and tapped into them to wire in new LEDs. The Radio and HVAC can easily be changed by using sharpie there is a how-to on here somewhere I'll try and post the link for you.

EDIT: I found the how to I was talking about
Change Radio Illumination Color


4. I think the custom grille would look good on the LT. You could also switch it up a little and take the other inserts out of the bottom of the bumper and cut the plastic grilles out and replace them with the same mesh you use on the upper grille to make it nice, uniform and custom.

 

bump

 

Wut happened to your jumper post cover? I would say go polished with the blue...

 

oh i lost it idk i just opened my hood one day and it wasn't there. i was like 'what the hell man'

 

bump

 

Can you post a link to the how to you got the pic from for the grille

 

no prob. here ya go

 

wow bring up a old ass thread of mine lol btw im currently working on getting another radio while wireing led's for my radio i wound up getting solder on the board and fried my lights on my board so i no longer have led's or incondecent lights on my radio that how to was before i was changeing it over to led's so if anybody wants to donate a stock mp3 unit for the cause of me making a how to let me know

i have done my steeringwheel controls im currently working on finding a supplier for the plug bases havnt found one yet but im still working on the window switches and the guage cluster

anyways good luck and if u beat me to the window switches sweet

later

 

can you solder them straight on or do you have to add a resistor or anything?

just wanted to add in, when i was messing around with the switches i messed something up and now my rear driver's side window doesn't go down. on the driver's switches or the switch on the back. so imma take it to the dealer and see if they can check it out.

 

you have to add a resister also u have to cut the power to the light holes by cutting the lead on the board its self

im working on getting some switches now to test out my idea its not easy trust me

as for your switch i had the same problem

fix it by moveing the switch on the board to the center they move fairly easy might not work but it might also

 

is this the powder coated valve cover ? ?

 

IDK, its the only pic of a 2.2 engine i could find in the gallery

EDIT: Yes it is, the pic is from sugardaddy2885

 

bump

 

did u jus use a hose and hose it down?
isnt that bad for the engine?

 

everything important is covered. usually what i do is spray all purpose cleaner under the hood, start the car up, let it sit for 5 mins, turn off the car, open the hood and spray it all down. just make sure if you have an aftermarket intake you cover up the filter.

 

yea i do the same except starting it up for 5 min. the cleaner i used is called simple green, good product and doesn't harm the environment. you just have to be careful not to use too much pressure with the water.especially around the fuse box, but it should be okay.