Going along with Canadian and Austin ..

Because someone got a much needed bath today!







The Rest.

That 180* Tstat is working great, even in crappy Texas humid heat, and the KYBs are proving as awesome as I thought they'd be. Now I have clear corners on order, and I'm eyeing an F1.

Maybe if I don't eat for a month ..

How far are you from El Paso? Have a friend there that is a GM nut. Has 3 or 4. Only GP is a GTP, But if you two are close, he may be able to help you with some of your mods.
Tips look good, but a little too big for me.

Waco is way far from El Paso.

Oh, damn, yeah. It's like .. a good full day's drive. Nine hours or more. Probably more.

You know there is only three states that can say that. "Way far".
Well I thought.............

Day-yem... Looking Clean Arc!!!

Yeah, you can drive for an entire day and still be in the same state here ..


Thanks Canadian! I'd still like a nice set of the rims you have. *jealous*

Tell me about it, have two Sons in The Woodlands.
But your still number two.

arc, your car is clean as whistle. dang.

kustom kid, your exhaust tips rule the world. im getting me a set of them.

Hhhmmm... that GP looks familiar to me.

Only differences are the GT badge on the trunk, plates, and rims.

Arc, did a mighty nice job. Think I have to give my GP a bath tomorrow. Weather has been sucky as of late.

I'm looking at 6 straight days of rain.

My baby stays dirty for awhile longer.

likewise.
its been a solid week of isolated rain....

Well the weather isn't exactly nice here .. It gets up into the 90s with a 100+ heat index and stays that way until way late. I was up at midnight last night, and it was still around 87-88.

I'll gladly take that rain, Zuul!

Be like all the cool kids and take pictures.

...late September, that is.

i just washed my baby wednesday nite. its all shining and looking good. i had 8 days of solid rain last month i was so mad cuse i hate when my car is dirty. but i'll post pics when i can

dosen't really matter if I wash my car or not. about 15 mins after I do it: Pollen, dirt, dust, bugs, and pretty much everything get on it. Ah well, I guess it's what I get for livin in the middle of a forest .

Your car is lookin squeaky clean Arc. Very nice job. Did ja give is a clean on the inside?

Pretty much. I seem to remember a few Halloweens that weren't exactly comfortable to be out in. Odd thing is, it was either too hot or too cold. Isn't Texas great?

Shh! Be amazed by the shininess! Ooo, look at the shine! *haphazardly shields all eyes from the inside* I'm workin' on that!

do ya notice how no one on this site ever includes their smiling mugs when they post pics of their rides?...yes, most of the time we are the ones taking the pics...but we never get anyone to snap pics of us with the rides we're so proud of...just my 2 cents...I'm just glad to see some one Arcs age (and her gender) so high on cars...I raised two (one of each) and neither of them seem to care less about their rides...my daughter shows hints now and again but not much more...she seems content to pine for the rest of her life for a copy of "Eleanor" (not a bad car to pine for mind you...I on the other hand pine for so many I lose count) ...keep up the great work Arcx! you gonna have that ride lookin mighty boss one of these days.

I agree Tbat, but my fiancee is too embarassed when I go into the driveway to take pics of my car. She just doesn't understand....

For me, I just want to break the camera.

Yep, I'm short on other people to take pictures for me. I think it's 'cause we know where to take them from to make our car look the best. Not to mention we're the ones that take care of them, know every little thing about them, all the dents and dings, the scratches and the chips, et cetera. We're the ones that drive them, so we know the stories and the mishaps!

I used to not give a rip, T-bat. I got it back in 2003, in my senior year of high school. Previous to that, the only time I rode in "mom's car" was when I was either sick or in trouble. Thus, that car didn't have very many fond memories, plus I still had the complex of it being my mom's car until I got used to it all. My dad works on and knows about all manner of things .. And I've always been a daddy's girl, and was raised around my three uncles and my grandpa.

I didn't really start wondering about the GP until I realized I'd probably be stuck with it for awhile, and since I've always liked to do things myself instead of having someone else mess it up for me, here I am today. And I really .. really ended up liking this car alot. There aren't many like it at all, and I appreciate it even more everytime I drive someone else's car. It's handling its eight years of existence, two accidents, two bad alternators and my immaturity and modifying like a pro.

It deserves to look nice after all it's been through. It's so ninja-like .. So deceptively looking like a family car from any normal person's point of view .. Bwahaha! Anyway. I take care of my stuff. I'm protective. I'm competitive. I was forced to grow up early and learn responsibility before I should have. I am rambling.

Then you fit right in here.....

I just wish I could get mine to at least do their own maint...if they were modding with their own money and improving things, hell I'd help them do that!...they just drive them until they break...then they call me on the phone and ask me to wave the magic wrench and make it all better...they'll spend bucks on all their other hobbies...oh well, I not rambling, I'm just whining...you see I know they dont really have a thing for their cars cuz they dont wash them and they dont take pictures of them (with or without them in it)...maybe they will when they have to buy their own...cuz if and when I cut the T-Bat loose, neither of them will get it unless they pony up some bucks.

I have the Opposite problem. I absolutley adore my car and really want to mod and personalize... Alas, no money. And my dad or mom won't help me because they could not care worth beans.

the money situation will change with time...at least you got the desire...just keep on the learning curve cuz it will save you a killing in the long run...and thats more bucks to do the stuff you want.

I've got over 150 pics of my GTP and this is the only one with me in the picture:

I have the misfortune of living off a dirt road....I luv spending 3 hours polishing, waxing...and buffing (the car gets some attention as well) only to end up all dusty. So much for those detailing products that promise "dust wont stick".
I end up pulling over and quickly wiping it down....the things we do for our wheels...

The only pic of me and my car was taken the day I picked it up. The salesman at the dealership insisted that he take a picture of me and the car.
As soon as he snapped the pic, I was off with my new car (bought used, new to me).

With a Honda sign in the background no less, Bobby! That car was pretty nice looking from the beginning. Come pretty far, huh?

Yeah, I've been doing an average of 2 MPH up our driveway since spending all that time on the car. You know what sucks though? The very DAY after I took those pictures, I was over at a friend's house in town, and his mom decided to mow the lawn and turn the water sprinklers on ..

well, i hate washing anything to begin with, seems like in nc, it could rain anyday usually. got the big ole' ford and it takes so long to wash it, then driving it to the farm and hauling equipment makes it look dirty again. the only way to keep it clean is not drive it and drive the toyota.

well since I opened my mouth on this one I guess I better put up or shut up...here's the only shot I have of me and the T-Bat


Sorry!...fantasy pic ...heres the real one!


maybe I'll get mine all cleaned up and get my hunny to shoot a better one...if anyone wants to kill this thread idea, now is the time

this is the closest thing i have to a picture with "me" in it.


she posed nice didn't she

and i just have to post this. i think it's a sweet picture. i appreciate it when everyone else posts random cool photos too, so please do.... hah

Looks good, zuul!

Hey zuul, did you do all the painting with the brackets and calipers still connected, or did you do like TBat, and remove them?

next time I do my brakes I'm going to be painting my calipers and brackets and I want to know what is easiest/best.

i removed the brackets.
i used the autozone spray caliper paint.
put the brackets on a sheet of cardboard for the painting, and the calipers like this:

make sure you cover all visible surfaces though.,
its a fun job to do!

I tried to get my butt up Sunday morning but I sat sat around watched the race and I realized that it around 5pm.... too late for me to paint the calipers. Maybe next week.....

Zuul...

Interesting.

I wonder how that spray paint compares to G2 caliper paint which is brush on. I was planning on using G2, but spray paint would be easier...

You'll have more control with the G2. With the spray can, you will have to cover more surface areas so that you won't spray unwanted areas with paint.

the G2 is supposed to be some very tough stuff...but i've heard a thousand times that with paint, prep is everything...thats why I chose to remove everything. I used a wire brush wheel on my bench grinder to remove all the rusty gunk on the parts...after spray brake clean, I let the parts air dry (which was pretty quick) after which I sprayed the first coat of hi-temp enamel primer. I had set up all four calipers and brackets on some 2x4s, so I continued til I had shot the entire can of primer...I let them set for an hour and then began the rounds of red...same as before, I continued til I shot the entire can...after I finished cleaning the backing plates, I still waited a couple of hours before mounting the rotors and bolting on the brackets...they were still ever so slightly tacky so I gave the calipers another hour before I mounted those...I still mussed the paint ina few places during mounting and bleeding (remember to tape the bleeder valves if you wanna get a wrench on them later)...the job took ALL day and into the night before I was ready to roll...but well worth it...hey zuul!...for just a sec I thought I was lookin at my rotors!...nice job! looks great!

my autozone caliper spray paint worked great, no problems. just dont spray the things from 3 feet away...watch the overspray is all.

i forgot to mention the intense prep work i did.... put a wire-wheel bit on a high RPM drill and went to town on the darn things. then hit up the brackets on a mounted wire wheel. then scrubbed everything with simple green, then rinsed and dried good with air compressor. maybe i went a bit too overboard, but my calipers were ugly with this salt-stain color and grime.

i put many of coats paint on everything... basically use up the can. and now as long as i dont let a ton of dirt build up on them, they stay clean as new.

also painted the dog bones under the hood at the same time with the same paint. consider that too; saves time and it will match perfect!

I don't have a bench grinder, high RPM drill, etc.

Do you think a dremel tool would work?

I'm not really even quite sure on how to remove my calipers. Seems like every time I attempt something like that, I end up screwing something up really, really bad. So I'll probably end up painting mine and just masking everything off rather than taking a chance of screwing something up.

G2 is brush on, no need to worry about overspray. When I G2'd mine the only thing I took of were the wheels.

How did you clean yours good enough while they were attached to the car?

In addition, did you remove the brackets/calipers to paint behind them and under/inside them? Did you just paint the front part that is visible?

I was thinking I'd have to remove the whole assembly just to get them clean and paint the backsides of them.

I just cleaned them real good with brake cleaner, but I didn't get the pass side good enough, it's starting to chip off. It's lasted about a year. I need to get some more and do a touch up.
I didn't paint my brackets, I just painted the calipers. I actually painted the brackets when I did my rotors. I removed and spray painted the brackets a flat black.
As for the calipers, I just brushed where I could get, front side, top side and the front and back leading edges. Pretty much just painted what you could see. If you remove my calipers you would see that the back side is not painted.
I like G2 because of its durability. You could squirt brake fluid on it and it won't effect it one bit.

If I were to do it again I would use a scuff pad along with brake cleaner, and maybe my Dremel with a wire brush if needed.

And don't forget some good ole elbow grease.

This is the first time I've ever had time to take a picture of my GTP after a much needed bath...

So THAT is what my redfire GTP looks like underneath all the dirt!

Nice clean job. If I ever finish the yardwork I will have to give mine a bath too.

Nice! Looks beautiful!

Who's R1 in the garage?

Oh!!! That ol' thing...it's mine!!! No, not really it's my b/f's Champion Edition R1

Beautiful job 01, nice looking car

Is that the exhaust pipe coming out of the bed of that truck, or is it a vent pipe coming out of the bldg???

Bobby:
It loks like it's the exhaust... my father in law's 97 3/4 ton dodge has a 5" coming out of the same place in his. it looks like a semi pulling a heavy load up a big hill when he ets on it and makes it smoke..... Freakin' awesome and it looks cool. you should see how many people look at it like "WTF is that thing?!?!?!?!"

It's his exhaust...his is 7" and it pours the sooty black smoke w/the help of twin turbos. A monster of a truck imo...

Haha, screw the GP, I'll take the truck!! Twin turbos, dear lord. That would be so much fun to eat rice in!

He not only eats ricers for breakfast he also covers them in soot as he's flyin' by them...

here's mine after a thourough washing and waxing (yep, waxed the wheels too) at a mini WICGP meet (there were 3 of us and 4 cars... one of them had a 97 GT and 97 GTP (the red one w/ the SLP spoiler in the background), but he now has the GT and a 96 Corvette)

Looks good!

Nice job Kyle!