Turbo Wastegate mod – mine was set to 0 mm from the factory – adjusted to 5 mm
Wastegate Adjustment
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Ultra-Gauge
Hardly mods, but added some interior fun. Thanks to @starscream5000 @ dodge-dart.org, I bought an Ultra-Gauge. I love it! Now I realize that I do have a boost leak. I felt something amiss a few weeks ago, but never figured it out…no leaks, no missing hoses. It never showed up anywhere, until I had a gauge to show me. I will be doing the wastegate mod this weekend. My vehicle was manufactured in Sept 2012, which is way before they started figuring things out with the turbo, which was around April 2013 and later.
One of the first things added was my vent phone mount, between the steering wheel and the LCD display:
Found an orange ice scrapper: Ha!
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Vanity License Plates
That same day, my new plates arrived in the mail! Sweet! Even more ridiculousness! I also bought and installed the EZ Lip kit. Used 3 piece, and the remainder for small, tapered rear fascia fins. I later Plasti Dipped them black, and used Plasti Dip clear coat, just like I did on the front grill.
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Plasti Dip Door Handles and Fascia & EZ Lip
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Plasti Dipped the crap out of my door handles. I used a brush and painted between the handle opening area, then sprayed the rest.
I should have taped it differently, but we live and learn. What do I know, I’m just a music producer!
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I had some Plasti Dip leftover, and I had been photoshopping the front grill/fascia black – I thought it would look ok, and boy did it ever! It turned out fabulous! I also added the EZ Lip on the front and sides. (Both the plasti dip and the EZ Lip were later removed / upgraded.)
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Engine Cover Painted Orange (now for sale)
Next up, I painted the engine cover orange and black…Trick or Treat!
Inquire within if you are interested in the orange / black OEM engine cover.
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Racetrack Taillight Tint
On a clear, sunny day, I popped out the RaceTrack tail lights. Things were about to happen!
I taped off the reverse lights and the center black strip.
I used VHT nightshades and did a few coats. Then I clear-coated and then wet sanded it. I had never done this before, so i had to adjust things as I went. It wasn’t perfect at first, so I fixed it. Took a while, but I learned all about wet sanding.
The tail lights weren’t quite perfect at first. I did a bit too much wet sanding – There were small white areas between the VHT and the original black. In the pics, they looked OK, but up close, they weren’t so special. I added another very thin layer of VHT, and then a shit ton of clear coat. Now it’s rockin’!
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Footwell Lighting and Interior Pinstriping
I really dig what some of you guys have done with the interiors! That being said, I can’t find a way to change the display color in the LCD – everything on the interior matches in red/black – which I like! I realize red and orange looks bad, but inside the vehicle, I cannot see any orange. The red interior is pleasing to the eyes, and red is a more calming color than the orange, so I went with it. I added (no big shocker here) red footwell lighting under the dash on both sides, and added them inside the dash, peeking through the vents – I generally keep it on the “breathing” effect. There is also red led’s under the front seats, shining into the back seat.
I bought some red gap trim and used it in a few places. It came with adhesive, but I supplemented this with the epoxy on the ends and corners. I don’t know why, but I added the turbo sign to the glove box. I even bought a short, red usb cable to charge the phone.
I bought some red gap trim and used it in a few places. It came with adhesive, but I supplemented this with the epoxy on the ends and corners. I don’t know why, but I added the turbo sign to the glove box. I even bought a short, red usb cable to charge the phone.This is how it looked off the lot:
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Underbody LED lighting
As if I don’t stick out enough with this ride – I need more! Underbody LED lights…oh man, here we go!
The transmitter is wireless, so no need for another line through the firewall- everything on the box tucked under the hood can be changed remotely. The thing has about 18 patterns – in orange, of course!
At night (with the orange LED’s on)
During the daytime/evening, also with the orange LED’s on:
Closeup with the LED’s off:
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Intake – not a true CAI
I installed the K & N typhoon intake, which sounds pretty awesome, but I wasn’t seeing the gains I thought I would with it. It doesn’t really cool it enough. It is safer, living in Chicago, from the water – but who wants to be safe?
I want more power and more MPG’s! Here is the mod, although looking back at it, I may go with a true CAI, as this seems to be mostly a sound improvement. MPG barely changed, and the little it did go up was likely me learning the gearbox more efficiently.
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Graphics
I hadn’t explained this before, but the craziness with this vehicle goes way back…You see, I have a music and technology company called Horse-Drawn Productions, and has been around since 1998. We currently have a company truck used for live sound, sound installations, band tours, etc. The truck also doubles as a giant billboard for the company.
So now it is time to add the graphics to the Dart! I helped my graphic designer come up with something eye catching, yet not overpowering, such as a full vehicle wrap. I wanted it to show off, yet people can use google, so no need for Phone, website, etc. That may be too tacky (yeah, like putting your NAME on the back isn’t ultra tacky enough!)
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