turbocad's custom fx

that came out really well, john. i gotta make it down to NY to check the FX out in person someday. for as good as it looks in the pics, it has to better SO much better grill to grill.
 
guys, thanks for the compliments, really appreciate them & I gotta humbly agree, I think it looks soo hot :embarrassed: I'm kinda picky & I don't have a problem finding fault with many things. for example I haven't done even one of my me/be mirror mods yet that I would say I'm thrilled with & most things that I do I then think ah, this could have been better or that shoulda been like this, or I like it but not really happy with that... my dash came out well but I still find fault there & now I'm redoing it, my interior I love but at the same time I'm a bit disappointed with the condition of the drivers seat. even my paint job came out awesome but I still do find a few flaws that I'm not thrilled about, but this mod I'm really thrilled with... it looks exactly like I had hoped as a best case & I'm 100% satisfied with it... the front wheels probably coulda used another 5-6mm less offset but overall I think that adds to the staggered look & I don't mind them tucked slightly more, I spec'd it that way for that reason & if I get the front to drop another .5-.75" I think it'll sit perfect... very few things I'm thrilled with but this I can say that I really am...

had I not had the problems with the wheels & the brakes, then they wouldn't have even come out as good as they have, so actually in some strange way I guess I got lucky with those screw ups, as I don't think any out of the box Iforged or rotora would have given me the look that I winded up with... I'm very happy with the gloss black wheel centers & very happy with the final caliper color...


on another note, I called & spoke to stillen & I was mistaken, they do not offer a non stainless exhaust as I originally thought, it's just headers I guess that they offer both ways? so I have been assured that my exhaust is indeed stainless, but they tell me that it is not uncommon for stainless to still develop some surface rust either, & they reminded me that I do have a lifetime warranty on the exhaust too, so I'm really not as concerned as I initially was with the rusted exhaust...


I spoke to Karl Millen & I'm going to e-mail him some shots & follow up with him, but think it's not as bad as I originally thought, although it does seem that they are using a cheaper grade of stainless to begin with too... I have a 5 year old M3 exhaust in my shop that looks no where near as bad as this one year old stillen, oh well, guess paying top dollar for an off the shelf exhaust doesn't always guarantee a very high quality product, wonder how other manufacturers ss exhausts hold up in climates like nyc... had I known this I would have went for the extra $$$ & had my exhaust custom made like I was originally planning, I know that my exhaust guy uses top quality stainless & doubt I woulda had these issues...
 
higher grade stainless would be nice as getting them coated would be expensive.
So if it rusts to the point where something breaks or cracks they send you a new piece free?

Wonder what grade AlteredAtmosphere uses on their true dual?
 
man.. I haven't been on IS for a while. I guess I have missed out a lot of good stuff. Your car looks amazing John. Great job.

About the rust on the stainless, I great with HYME. It will be nice to have some sort of coating to protect the exhaust. I guess NYC's weather is similar to Toronto with lots of salts and snow in the winter as well?
 
would painting the exhaust high temp black prevent rust or prolong it for that matter?
Coating them would definatly help but that cost would be rediculously expensive I would imagine.
 
kinda defeats the point of getting stainless though... sucks really, I'd just expect it to not rust... & now the warentee is all well & good, but how does that apply to modifying the exhaust? I plan to modify the outputs from the mufflers & need to modify one pipe to clear the rear braces, does that mean when it rots away there not going to warentee it?the clamps they supply are just about done rotted & will needto at least be replaced eventually. I always wanted to weld it all togeather & eliminate the clamps... haven't gotten any answer to my email with these questions & pictures yet, gotta call...
 
just a quick update,


soon I'm going to take my fx off the road to put the new drivetrain in. my main goal is to get the hr drivetrain in & running & functioning perfectly. hopefully I can get the 07 engine management to work with the 03 electronics, if not then I may have to do a stand alone, don't want to do fi until I get it running right first so chargers on hold until after the engine is installed. also don't want to bite off more than I can chew, so a goal of in & running done is good enough for now, but I do want to do a little something to the body at least too, bumpers are showing there use from all the parallel parking on the streets of brooklyn

part of me really wants to do radical bodywork. I mean I can do it & I got a few different really nice ideas in mind that would be pretty sick I think, but I'm looking at a huge ton of major work there & can't convince myself of enough reason of why, part of me also likes the virginal sheet metal of my fx as it is now & I think the fx body is beautiful enough that it don't really need to be chopped up to look good either I think, so I'm thinking to just build a simple body kit for now

front bumper, rear bumper & side skirts, that's it, well ok, theres a wing in the picture too but hopefully that's it. rest of my body is still in good shape, no redoing the whole thing & changing colors this year I think, just like the drivetrain I'm going to try to keep this minimal realistic & achievable & have a completed fx to drive come spring time, hopefully :confused:


I've been looking at other cars for a long time for parts to graft into the fx, always easier to adapt something that build something from scratch if something suitable can be found. just so happens I have a 2010 camaro in my shop right now that I'm installing a dealer ss bodykit, so I have the old rear diffuser off & naturally first thing that pops into my head is hmmm, I wonder... funny thing is not just a few weeks ago we were talking about berts rear bumper & someone else suggested this style too, so I take it over to the fx & it looks pretty good size & angle wise, looks good enough that it's worth a shot at least so I chopped up a spare fx rear bumper cover & fit this in place for a test fit & mock up. it looks good, def looks like it could work well I think. I hang the parts off the back, over the existing bumper & exhaust tips & took some shots, used them to help photoshop vaguely what it might look like. idea here is to graft this piece in completley as one with the bumper all painted as one, not keep it like a seperate valance diffuser type thing, which should take away much of the recognizableness as a camaro diffuser so it don't look so much like a chevy part on an infiniti... looks like it would make the whole ass nice & smooth really, not loving the dual stepped stock rear bumper so much really, this looks much better to me I think

looks like it might work well I think... any opinions on this look? :tongue:


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Love'n the HR motor idea, not really feeling the rear. I think your car looks great in stock form....

I dunno, to me the fx seems to look best with a smooth and simple body styling similar to factory. Knowing you though, I am sure whatever you do will turn out great.
 
Ya, leave those jagged lines on the rear for high end sports cars. Smooth lines are the way to go like you said.
 
IMO, I like the smooth bumper setup instead of the diffuser. But nice work John. Another Monster FX soon with JWT TT.
 
I'm not feeling it either. I think the indents are just too shallow. It doesnt look like a functional part.
But you're right, the fit is very close.
 
IMO the diffuser looks pretty good..Just gI've it a try and see how much you like it John.. It's different, but hey I'll bet many thought the same about Rookie's FX too..
 
It doesnt look like a functional part.
That was my exact thinking... resembles the "look" of a rear diffuser without adding any of the benefit. (this coming from someone with a functional rear diffuser in the avatar pic :wub:)
 
I think the diffuser will look even better with some well matched side skirts and front end!

Yeah after looking over the pictures again I like it even more.. Knowing how John like to do things I'll Bet the front end and side skirts will make that bumper feel right at home. From what I have seeing getting a aftermarket front bumper to match the fx's looks it's the challenging part.. John do you have pictures of the aftermarket bumper and sideskirts?would love to see it..

Also the diffuser doe t have much of a use for the FX but after all, the FX is a xuv..

Love the looks of the new bumper..
 
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