pezzie

oh damn. i havent been to a meet in ages! There's always a meet on when im not free. hopefully i can free up some time soon, but very unlikely due to christmas. also hopefully by then i'll have my new camera to take pictures of everyones awesome car at the next meet :D

Hey Arc,

is there any chance of you writing up a quick DIY on how to install the headunit like you did and the ipod cable?

I havent changed my headunit because i dislike how it sticks out, but it looks damn good sitting flush. It makes me want to change my headunit now.

dw mate. I've got a red ZRE ascent and its also my first car. What tends to happen with people like us is we've got little money but want to mod our car with inexpensive mods. In the end its going to cost you more to buy a canon, dislike the sound after 2 weeks then look for a better muffler. I did things like different hub caps, sony subwoofer and amp, cheap lock nuts, and i've just ended up selling them for less than what i purchased it for or they sit in the garage now.

So my advice is to just take it slow, save your money and time and do it right the first time

prepping is very important when you paint something. Try to paint them in a dust free area, make sure you remove all wax/grease/dust before painting anything. When painting less is generally better. You're better off painting 7/8 light layers rather than 3/4 thick layers. Thicker layers can also run as well. They're pretty much all of my tips. have fun with the DIY!

its not connected to the head unit directly, its connected to the plug which connects the headunit. i drive a Corolla hatch so ive got no exposed wires. you way works fine also, in the end you just need to connect all the right cables to the rear speakers and it should work fine.

you'll need a Line out converter. Jaycar has one for 17 bucks, you'll need to crimp/solder the wires on the line out converter to the correct cables on the plug of the Head unit. After that you just install the amp and sub like usual.

I've been thinking about this for a long time as well since ive got an ascent. From research HID's will have a longer life than halogen's and are alot cheaper as well. On youtube there's a clip of a guy installing HID's into an 09 corolla sedan which should be a little similar to your '10 model so that can help. 4300k is best if you have bad vision, the higher you go the worse it gets.

Hey jtron, how's it feel with the front strut now? im thinking about getting it soon as well

wow seems like i missed out on great zre shoot opportunity afterwards, damn exams. anyways here's are a few more pics from my camera which i liked.

Thanks for the meet guys! was good to see everyone and their rides. Here are some shots from my camera on the day

i reckon save that carbon fibre vinyl for your interior, it'll last much longer in there and be better used in there.

im with chicken on this one, gloss black will give you a much better replica with the TRD front garnish.

Check out the VW Golf, it looks great and reminds me of the front garnish.

Anyway here's a quick write up and tips with how i would go about it.

1. Take off front bumper

2. Mask off areas that you dont want to sand and paint

3. Sand down that middle part or use paint stripper then sand

4. Prime

5. Sand

6. Base coat of gloss black x 3/4/5, whatever suits you

7. Clear coat x 5/6/7 layers maybe even more

clear coat in a can is extremely hard to use, its given me alot of headaches but ive got the hang of it

My tips are:

thin out clear coat with paint thinner using a paint gun, or apply paint thinner between each layer with a rag or old shirt. This will lessen the orange peel afterwards. I say do alot of coats so that you can sand it down.

Orange peel wont be heavy on curved areas so if you like dont sand it down, if you do make sure its only 2000 grit wet sandpaper and very lightly. If you sand it down it is very easy to sand down all the clear and straight through the base coat like i have which i have learnt. When you sand it will look dull but dont worry, a little bit of polish and you'll be able to see yourself ;)

thats just how i would go about it

if you want just take your number plates off, apply the whole carbon fibre sheet across the area to be covered and then just cut off the excess or trace lines then cut it. Make sure you remember where the holes are to screw in the number plate, besides that it shouldnt be too hard.

But tracing a template is much harder then you think, i tried making a rear diffuser template, i scrapped it after 10 minutes. Easiest way would be trace the area on the bumper, sand down that area prime and then paint it with matte black, which i plan on doing after exams.

Remember to say the number of people you r bringing along folks! I need to know how many people to cater for! ;)

yep just me for the day

thanks pete, i dont think my sister will want to bring headers over, i'll keep my eyes opened though and see if anything pops up

oh snap, screw exams! im in :D

not for too long though.... still got exams

Hey guys,

i was wondering if there's anything from america thats worth getting for the 2ZR-FE engine. I've got family coming over both in feb and june so im hoping they can bring over some goodies. I've got the injen CAI on the list but is there anything else? Do people reckon the Scion xD TRD muffler would fit our one?

thanks dutchie! i'll check those guys out or might wait for someone to head to europe

Im looking to get some TTE parts for my ZRE but i cannot get it directly from their website and have to go through a toyota dealer in europe. Does anyone know where else would be able to supply me the parts?

I checked out ebay but the seller wants 350 pounds for postage

Here's the pic tom, my spoilers held in by double sided tape and 4 screws.

hey tom, if you want you might be able to try to fit a screw and washer in that hole to bolt it on. i'll take a pic of my spoiler and the screws when i get home later

this is sweet as, will definitely give it a go summer holidays. Do you reckon i might get rattleing in the boot if i have my sub installed like that? my car doesnt have any sound deadening.

oh that custom boot install is looking great. is that going to replace that carpet lift up thing in the boot? I've been thinking about how i should secure my sub and amp for the past 7 months, so i might give this a go when my exams are over.

haha im another peter, i think there's 4 of us all with ZRE's, i'm the one with the ascent though.

Hey arc, if you're interested in a Cusco rear sway try 999 in Brisbane, they are a distributor of Cusco products. I called them around 2 weeks ago was quoted around 275 and 380 for front strut bar and rear sway respectively. The price included postage to your door.

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