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3 of Diamonds - Mitsubishi GTO (3000GT) Project Blog
Showing posts with label alloy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label alloy. Show all posts

Monday, 4 April 2016

BMW 320D M Daily Driver - What mods would I do?

So in my last post, I reviewed a BMW 320D M, and said I would talk through any mods I was thinking in my next post, so here goes. My 11 things I would do to the car. I was torn between doing a list of 11 because I would want 11, or 10 because of ocd.... 

As this car would be a daily there is nothing too brash, not trying to turn it into a race car, that's what the Mitsubishi is for after all. This list would just be a few mods to make it more mine and less like every other 3 series on the road, because lets face, there's a lot of them about these days! Each is chosen to have a relatively high impact for a low cost. I wouldn't be trying to give the car false credentials by doing mainly aesthetic mods, more just trying to make it mine (and hopefully not rice). 

1. DPF delete

DPF
DPF is Diesel Particulate Filter and its job is to filter the soot particles from a diesel engined vehicle, it eventually gets clogged up and this can lower the performance of your vehicle, preventing the exhaust to work quite as effectively as it should/could. Rolling coal anyone?


2. Remap

BMW getting remapped
The idea of this, combined with the DPF delete, would be to give the car just a bit more of a kick under acceleration. Turbo diesels typically respond very well to remaps and gains with little/no other mods can actually be surprising. And for any eco-mentalists out there, they also help you get a higher mpg!

3. Second set of alloys for winter tyres

BMW Alloys

Where I live, I wouldn't call it mountains as such, but its definitely not flat and I've known it snow in August. With that in mind winter tyres would be a must with a RWD car here. This is the part where I would normally sigh,  and reflect on how much I miss my Hawkeye. Cue the worlds smallest violin. 

4. Refurb current alloys - blackness

Black Alloys Black BMW
If the new alloys I got were really good I would use the current alloys for good summer tyres, with summer air in them and everything. The alloys had little M badges on them though, and I really liked that.... I'm a big kid at heart really! So the second set would probably be for winter tyres and the set that/s on there would get a refurb and a black coating (excluding the M badges, obviously).

5. Window tint

Limo tint

Point 4 probably started a bit of a trend, you may notice a recurring theme here. I would probably go quite dark on the tint at the back.  Partly because black looks cool af. Mainly because very black tint would hide the child seats and any mess caused by the toddler during the week till it could be cleaned out at the weekend. 

6. Paint chrome on front bumper body colour

Black grill
I would say that I'm sure the chrome grill was in fashion 2 or 3 years ago when the car was new, but I think that would be a lie. Maybe it was and I'm just not the target market.... either way the chrome would go, and as above it would look so much meaner as a result!

7. Tint head lights/tail lights black

Black tail lights
The reasoning behind this is partly the same as point 6. I like the idea of a very mean looking BMW and think this would add to that. You wouldn't get away with going as dark as the image above for long in the UK, but I'd try and get it as close to that as I could for as long as possible!

8. Tint fogs yellow (tape x too much?)

BMW Yellow Fogs
This is a funny one, because I think only certain cars suit having this done (no, your vauxhall corsa/astra/whatever is NOT one of them). Normally I would reserve this for cool old euro rides, and certain JDM ones, but I think I actually like the look of it on the BMW's, even the newer shapes. Would it be too put to put tape X's over each of the lights as well? 

9. Roof rack, low black and aggressive

Roof Rack BMW
OK, so this may be starting to get played out, but as with the yellow fogs on the right car it still works. I would mainly do this because every other car on the road these days seems to be a 3 series, and I'd just want to break that common shape up a little. The rack I'd choose would be by no means functional. But it would be black. 

10. Tow hook

BMW Tow Hook
Depending upon the colour chosen for number 11 on the list, this would be either red or yellow as they are the colours which suit the black the best. Having opted for black and red on the Mitsubishi wold probably go yellow to mix it up. As the picture shows below I actually managed to find a company that specialises in making these just for BMW's.

Dong parts.... dong....parts.... haha


11. Big brake kit upgrade (or failing finding a cheap set, paint calipers red/yellow)



Last but by no means least (and probably first to be honest) I would try to source a brake upgrade. This would most likely be a second hand set from a proper pure blooded M3 which would be a substantial upgrade for the 320D M. Failing that I would get a tin of caliper paint and have a bash at colouring in as it would probably be mainly for looks anyway. 

I just need to stop getting myself getting distracted with a Tesla Model 3 because I quite fancy one of them now... hmmmm


If you would like to laugh at my lack of progress in real time you can follow me on social sites by clicking the links below or search the @s :

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Tuesday, 12 January 2016

GTR for the GTO

Last night felt like Christmas eve. Last night felt so much like Christmas eve that I barely slept a wink. In fact last night probably more like Christmas eve than Christmas eve did.

I'm going stop saying Christmas now, it's January for crying out loud....


The reason for the excitement may have had something to do with today being the day that I picked up my first big purchase for the GTO. As I mentioned in my entry last week I had been out shopping for a new set of rims and today I was able to pick them up.

The set I opted for were Rota GTR's, and also opted to increase the size over the standard wheels. Increasing from 16x7.5 to 18x8.5. I was slightly worried about this at the time, fearing they may be too big, but I was really happy with the results. I think they now fill the wheel wells better than the stock rims, giving the car an improved stance with enough space left over to play with heights of coil-overs (when I eventually get around to getting them).



Picking the new rims up from Revolution Motorsports

Like this shot, but shame about the rain...

New Rota GTR


I didn't actually mind the original alloys which came with the car, I just felt they were too small for the car, and by changing them it has made a big aesthetic change to the car. In addition to this, when I was trying to do a baseline 0-60 for the car I ended up feeling quite tyre limited, so hopefully new rubber will help bring that down a touch. 

Original wheel drivers rear

Original wheel drivers front


The only problem with getting the new wheels, is now I'm thinking about all the other things I want to do to the car. I had got to the point where I was starting to get a clear picture of what I wanted to do, and when would be best to do each upgrade; whereas now I want it all, and I want it now!!!

I want all the car parts.... I cant afford all the car parts... Maybe I should consider a new career, like lottery winner... 




To keep up to date you can follow me on social sites by clicking the links below or search the @s :

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Tuesday, 8 December 2015

Starting to make decisions... Well, one or two...

OK, so for the last few weeks I have been playing around with apps that can help you plan projects and store links and ideas from the web, such as Google Keep and Evernote etc.

Although I have used these kind of apps before for other reasons, when it comes to planning a project car I have come to one main conclusion, and that is that 90% of the things I want to save fall into one of 3 predetermined headings which I will probably start using moving forward:

  1. 'From this list of many MANY things you may eventually be able to buy 1 or 2 items by 2019'
  2. 'Maybe if you win the lottery'
  3. 'Dude, just buy an EvoX FQ400 already....'

That being said, using these apps to actually save things has helped me to come to a few decisions on the direction I want to take some of the aspects of the car. For instance last week I mentioned that I wanted some new rims, when I started saving wheels I was interested in I noticed a recurring theme.... and I know they've been played out.... I know everyone and their Honda has had a set.... but how lush* would a set of red Volk Racing rotas look on my sexy little black Mitsubishi?... 

*Geordie colloquialism, in this instance meaning sexy as f@£k


This would raise another question though, on a black car with red rims, what colour calipers to go for on a big brake kit? If the rest of the car is black and red not sure yellow would work and that was my first thought... Would black work?... hmmm may have to come back to that one...

Rims are not the only thing this little exercise has helped me to decide. A few weeks ago I posted this meme on my instagram account:

I know I want something JDM to keep the car true to its imported heritage (and unleash a little of my inner ricer). Since doing this I have been drawn back time and again to the Katana shifters... So Santa, if you're reading this, one of them please! 

I have started looking at proper mods as well, however I still need to do more research into those. For instance, is Meth injection legal in the UK? As its not that common a mod here that question seems to confuse google when I ask it... Although saying that there is plenty of time to research that yet as power will come after handling!

This week I did order a camera to help document the build when I get it properly started in January, Trying to document engine sounds on my phone highlighted that it wasn't up to the task. So no doubt as soon as that camera arrives a baseline 0-60 test on the GTO will finally follow! (weather permitting)


So with that, I'll conclude for this week with one last thought.... "Do you even lift bro?"





To keep up to date you can follow me on social sites by clicking the links below or search the @s :

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