CT200h - Front End Refresh

It's been almost a year since the CT was purchased. Since Day 1 I've always wanted to get the front end at the very least painted. The bumper had a broken tab on one side which I rigged up to hold in place but needed to be messed with every so often to get it back in place. Also the fenders and hood had rock chips and fading clear. I knew that instead of  getting another 2011+ bumper I wanted to go ahead and do a 2014+ F sport front end conversion.

I was pretty much more concerned with the mechanical aspect of things initially. Since the major mechanical aspect of the car was tackled and I couldn't stand the exacerbating condition of the bumper I figured it was time to shift focus and remediate that. 

Ordered the front end parts and dropped the bumper off to get painted after a quick test fit. Also added the rear hatch trim piece to the paint list since it was in pretty bad shape for some reason. The parts were primed, blocked, wet sanded and sealed before painting it. 

After the bumper was painted I assembled the bumper with the grill, fog lights and trim pieces. Then moved on to getting the front end prepped for paint. Stripped the front end and got everything primed and let it cure completely for over a week.

Unfortunately I had to leave the country for two weeks and put the project on the back burner till I got back. Thankfully I have some good friends and the day I landed back in the US to my surprise I got some pics of the car completely painted!! Thanks Jeremy!! Jeremy blocked, wet sanded and sealed the front end before paint.

Only thing left to do was to put everything back together which I did enthusiastically the next day!

Happy with the outcome! Onto other things!

-AJ Abraham

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@aj_ls460
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LX470 - Grill mod

Really liked the idea of some raptor style lights on the grill. Saw the aftermarket grill options for the LX but I wanted a more subtle OEM+ look. So got some lights to mod up and see where it goes. 

The lights I got had a smoked finish because I wanted it to blend in when not in use. They were made for a Tacoma grill I believe. When I got it, I saw that it had some extensions so trimmed that. And I also used silicone to seal all the edges etc just to ensure that it was watertight.  

This is how I liked the placement of the final product to be. 

So guess snow ball time, the grill looked rough, it is 23 years old so it was time for a refresh anyway. sanded the whole grill down except for the chrome and used epoxy to glue all the lights down. 

Sealed the whole grill before paint and then on went paint and clear. Tried to match the paint as close as possible but went with a slightly lighter shade, very OEM +. 

All the wiring was heat shrunk and used braided cable sleeves to keep the wiring clean and protected. 

Routed all the wiring between the grills so you don't see any of it from the outside. 

Happy with how this turned out. 

-AJ Abraham

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@aj_ls460
@aj_lx470 
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300ZX - Ground up epic re-build - Suspension, Brakes & Wheel fitment!

With the front subframe looking all fresh we couldn't leave the rear subframe looking aged. So out that came and was blasted, powder coated and all new bushings installed. Got all new arms as well some were on back order but pics will show them installed as they came in. 

Everything looks soo clean!! Big break kit was added to flow with all the new parts and colors and will be much needed after the power upgrades. Was waiting on the new coilovers, only old piece on here at this point.

During the build process had procured some Work equips because well they are classic clean cut wheels that we thought would go perfectly with the rest of the build. Only problem was getting the right specs. Found a set of used wheels where the rear specs would work for the fronts (based off of the initial measurements). Also had to factor in brake caliper clearance to get the right disk clearance for the face of the wheels. With all the right measurements taken, some disassembly, new outer lips swapped around inner lips and reassembly found the perfect offsets!! 

Look at this combo!! BEAUTIFUL!!

With the fitment addressed we couldn't let some tired looking wheels go on the car. Full refresh of the faces with a custom color to offset the body color. 

Even the inside of the spokes were freshened up.

Although the lips were new there was some hazing, so addressed that by polishing it.

The bolts looked dull. Replacing them are pricey with original hardware. I wanted the details of the original hardware so tried polishing up all the bolts.

After a lot of trials got he bolts looking shiny and fresh again without sacrificing any of the details or a lot of money!

More to come.....

-AJ Abraham

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@flawless_fitment

@ashc_sam