I’ve accomplished about 98% of what I intend to do with the new car. I was supposed to post this when everything was done, but there’s been a delay on the two “parts” I’m waiting on.

You have to understand that this is essentially my true “first car.” I have this wierd OC-ness with hand-me-downs/2nd hand stuff… I basically don’t like them. I like brand new stuff because I’m the type of person who really takes care of the things I own ¹ That’s the reason why people like buying my used items; because they’re almost certain that whatever I sell them will be in excellent condition

That’s why I was never attached to any of our other cars, either they were 2nd hand, or brand new but had to be shared with my sister, etc. etc. I could really never bring myself to care (or spend) for something I know other people have dibs on hahaha. That’s just the way I am.

This car on the other hand, is one I had chosen myself, I had acquired myself, and have full control over. If something breaks… I know it was because of me – because there’s no one else to blame… and I wouldn’t mind spending to fix it.

Preliminaries

So we all know I had my eyes set on a Lancer EX (or the Galant Fortis as it’s known in Japan). Here’s what the stock configuration looks like in case you’re wondering (only the one I got was white):

As you can see, this particular model is already kinda souped up; skirts, 7-speaker soundsystem, 18″ wheels, etc. But being the OC that I am, there are some things that concerned me.

First, the car’s chassis was considerably larger than what I had expected – this made the already large rims still seem small. And the stock width of the tires are 215mm (7″) way too skinny for the car’s size. Simply put, the tires/rims looked kinda gay. ² Plus I never liked the design of the stock rims to begin with

Also, I didn’t like that middle strip (where the plates are) on the fender. Why they didn’t just paint that part it all black is beyond me. It seemed like a very simple thing to do and it makes the car look so much better.

I took the picture above, ran it through photoshop, and came up with what I wanted the car to look like eventually:

See what I mean?

I had already bought the most of stuff for the inside, ³ iPod charger/audio connector, steering wheel lock, wide-mirrors, back-seat organizer, etc. etc. so the focus is now really on the outside There are basically three major non-negotiable tasks to be done: Have it tinted, change the wheelset, and paint the fender.

Tinting

My research on the net shows that from various testimonials/reviews, not only is V-Kool is both the best tint to have, but its Gilmore branch has the best people for the job. So I went there first thing in the morning, and started choosing:

Initially, I had wanted to go clear. I discovered that a car looked really good tintless when we got the Civic (2nd hand). But I also experienced how much of a hassle the heat can be when driving tintless (again, the Civic to this day is tintless). The clearest was V-Kool 75 – with 60% total heat rejection. The recommended V-Kool 70 was a bit darker and you already could see the signature green-ish hue… but it had a 90% total heat rejection rating.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depends how you look at it) while I was torn… the saleslady she pointed out that my car’s glass already had a color cast… so I was out of luck if I wanted a true clear tint. I take a look at the car while they were doing the patterns and she was right:

At this point, I was thinking that if there’s no chance at all on getting a true clear tint, there’s no point in looking for the “clearest” because all 3 (75/70/40) were still “clear” as far as low visibility went. ⁴ The point of contention was always just the color cast All I needed now was the best heat rejection… which is why I ultimately went with their top rated tint: the V-Kool 40 (98% total heat rejection)

Cost me an arm and a leg, but I was thinking that on the long term it would be worth it. It’s got a 5-year warranty, and my air-conditioner’s compressor would last longer as it wouldn’t have to work so hard. I realized that I may have been synthesizing happiness at this point, but who cares!

Rims

Luckily, while the tinting was going on, Concept One was right across the street. So I went there to take a look at prospect rims/tires. Spent a while browsing, and discussing my concern with a very helpful saleslady. I already found a particular 19″ model of theirs I wanted to try out. But for kicks, I asked her to try preparing two 18″ers that kinda looked big just in case 18″ can still work.

As soon as the tinting was done, the 3 test wheels were ready across the street. The first 18″er was mounted in the rear, and still looked too small. Then they put on 19″ on the front wheel, and just clicked! I told them to not bother trying that other 18″ and make an invoice.

Painting the front

So that same day (after the tinting/rim change), I went to the detailing shop to have the dam’s painted. My goal was to strip the car of all the “branding.” Just like my watch, I wanted it to be something that people would look at, wonder what the hell it was but would have no idea unless they really knew.

So I had them take off all the branding elements at the back (logo, and model name/make) I only left the “GT-A” logo since it looked nice… after all, any “GT” indicator identifies with “manliness” hahahaha. Then they proceeded to take out my front fender and plug it with a temporary one..

Imagine the what-in-god’s-name-was-he-thinking stares I got driving a couple of days with a fucking RED fender. It all paid off in the end though 🙂

Now, having that all-black area is not new to the Lancer/Galant. It’s usually stock when you get the RalliArt or EVO versions of the said vehicle. Unlike the RalliArt though, there’s a subtle difference at the bottom part (aside from the chin skirts); the black extends right to the bottom on the EVO models.

But here’s the thing. I didn’t like the chrome siding on the RalliArts, and I never liked the the side plate brackets on the EVO ⁵ especially with our country’s wider plates so I opted to get the best of both worlds: Do an all black right to the bottom, while retaining the plate in the middle.

As you can see, to add a bit of individuality, I wanted the plate at the bottom-center (like in the photoshopped image earlier). What you see in the image above is how I accomplished it without having to drill any extra holes. I simply bought a Mugen ⁶ I know, it’s a Honda accessory tilt-plate bracket because of it’s big backplate mount. I then had holes drilled on the bottom of the bracket and had it mounted upside-down… and of course painted black for uniformity.

All that’s left

As of this posting, this is what the car looks like:

Not too shabby! People say it looks like a shark… I say it looks like a catfish. Either way, it looks hot; sorta like a [Ford] Mustang GT with an Audi-esque front grill. Then with the larger rims and thinner profile tires, as well as the skirts, I get to retain the stock ratio of the suspension/height while making it look “lowered.” ⁷ In case that didn’t make any sense – it means I got to get sort of a lowered look without having to compromise the overall comfort of the ride.

Only thing missing now is the carbon fiber hood (which should be ready next week) and the top grill. Notice that we’ve still got the Mitsubishi logo on the [temporary] top grill; that will have to go, ⁸ Right now, I have black duct tape covering the logo and they’re still making the custom top-grill. Hopefully it would be ready the same time the hood is.

The idea, like I said is have people see the car’s front, wonder what it is (since the Lancers/Galants with the same front styling as mine aren’t common here… yet ⁹ I can only hope it stays that way ) then find out there’s no logo in front… so they wait till the car passes (to check the insignias behind) only to find out that there still aren’t any identifiers! Hahahahaha. Speaking of which, I have to cover up the rim’s center caps as well for that true “generic” look.

I’m actually tempted to have Apple alloy logo’s machined and use those instead… Apple car FTW!