Category Archives: Build Thread

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Carbon Fiber Wrap

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Maybe not the first, but I installed carbon fiber (wrapped) side skirts, chin spoiler & door pillars.

This weekend, I got Dartlene ready to drive out to Ohio. Both mine and my wife’s families are from Ohio, so we’ve made this journey about 10,000 times. None of my Ohio buddies have seen the ride, yet, so I’d thought I’d do a few more mods:

Carbon fiber door pillars – I bought a large roll of carbon fiber, the thicker stuff (0.5mm instead of 0.2mm) and went wrap-crazy. I used paper to trace and cut templates of the door pillars. Once I had them right, I cut reverse them for the opposite side. I attempted to do the mirrors, but failed MISERABLY. I couldn’t figure out my problem, until I did more research and found out about the different thickness models. The thinner stuff will stretch further, and is good for interior trim & mirrors. The thicker stuff was perfect for these jobs.

Door pillars:

side skirts chin spoiler:

Here’s some close-ups of the carbon fiber side skirts and chin spoiler before I heated them and removed the wrinkles: (they look fine, now)

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Boost Gauge and Throttle body Spacer

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Here’s a pic of the Halo Pro Sport Boost gauge next to my most favorite mod of all time, the Ultra-Gauge.  I installed the boost gauge through the Cravenspeed throttle body spacer, the way to get the most accurate boost reading.

Here is the Cravenspeed throttle body spacer, or as I like to call it, the bloody-knuckled, curse-infusing hand-destroyer:

There are only a few of these out there – and they all work basically the same. It’s such a PITA to get the bottom bolts done/undone. Anyway, back in the day, people put spacers on the throttle body for power and performance, but on this car, you will notice no change. I bought the one from Madness Autoworks, as it was the cheapest. They all come with a plug and a nipple – the nipple is used to connect to meth injection or a boost gauge, which is why most use them on this car.

Using this method, you will get little to no oil coming in your boost line. Mine had a filter, but it’s completely clean, so far! This one is made very well, and connects securely, but they are all basically the same.

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Lightweight Pulley

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The lightweight Pulley from Road Race Motorsports. Thanks @Exitus04 for the help on the installation. Everything installed correctly, no issues, no CEL – and it’s working fine. IDK if it’s all the other mods I have, or the Unichip already on there, but I’m not really feeling any difference with the pulley. I’m surprised, b/c people on here have said it’s the single best mod for the 1.4T – so maybe I’m just not noticing it, yet.

Also added front Mopar splash guards. They are subtle, but they should stop some of the wheel spray on my doors from the extra wide tires. I had to trim down the side skirt a little bit, but no biggie. It looks pretty cool, too!

When I left Joe’s – it was mostly highway, and I had loaded a new tune via my Unichip. I should only do one thing at a time, to be fair. Now that I’ve gotten used to the Abarth 500L tune from Eurocompulsion, it’s pretty rockin! I can really plow through city lights, stops & traffic now, more than before. I notice that if I’m not careful, I can spin in 1st, 2nd and 3rd gear, even on downshifting. It seems to jump off the line quicker, and gets up the RPM easier. The 500L tune is nice, but I think @gentz tune is still putting down more power, but I haven’t run the two side by side on a dyno, either.

I’m not sure if it adds any HP to the wheels, but it definitely adds torque. I can also launch at less than 1000 rpm and it really gets the car moving. Keep in mind, 184 is the engine HP, at the wheels stock HP is about 135. I drove a 2.4L automatic as a rental – it had some pick up, but not like the 1.4T with mods – not even close. When my turbo hits @ 2200 RPM, I have to be careful not to spin the wheels, as that has happened several times as I get used to the new tune and pulley.

Update* (The Mopar splash guards were replaced when I built the side skirts, although any style will now work with my side splitter rails.)

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Shadow Lights / Under Door LED Logo

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Last night I started the shadow lights LED installation. There are a few threads about this topic, but none of them actually contain correct information, or at least complete information. The (-) side connected to the door ajar sensor (purple) so it comes on when the door is opened, but there is no 12V+ constant. The door locks are constant power, but only put out +2V, which is not enough to power the lights. I connected the 3 doors to accessory power (orange wire with blue stripe) and I’m running a dedicated constant power lead to the driver door. People are going Ape-Shit over these on FB – and I can’t believe how bright these are glowing! They are 7W, and they use Cree bulbs – I had them custom made with my logos.
front doors:


back doors:

I finished the remaining 2 shadow lights, one logo for the front doors, and the Record Label logo for the rears. FYI – there is a 12V+ constant hot in the driver’s side door. It is a red wire that runs up to the mirror – plain red, no stripe. The door ajar (-) is still purple, but now the door will show the puddle lights when there is no key in the ignition, and there were no wires to fish through the door! Shazam!

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Crosshair Delete / Custom Front Grille

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I received my Grille pieces from customcargrills.com – these pieces just showed up to the party!

Here is the link to my exact grille.  I used XXL Perforated Aluminum Mesh, and then painted it black (like the song.)

You have to remove the entire front fascia to do this – total PITA, but worth it!  Once you have the piece cut and bent, it fits into the area where the old plastic was.  I used a dremel tool to cut out the old plastic, leaving several tabs on the top and bottom.  These tabs were used as mounting points for the new piece.  Once the fitting is perfect, use black tie wraps to secure the new grille to the existing mounting tabs.  You cannot see the zip ties, and it is completely secure.

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I cut out the plastic grille mesh, but left the outer portion for support, and to have a place to attach the new mesh:
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and now cut & painted:20150814_225110

and bent:20150817_182544
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rough placement:

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This is the inside of the front fascia, needed for crosshair delete, in case anyone needs this pic:
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As you can see above, I left the border of the black plastic intact, then re-assembled it.  This have the structure more rigidity, and left me a solid foundation to add the new grille mesh.

(Re)painted the front fascia center piece: (plasti dip)20150820_003410

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The bottom half is covered up by the license plate, FYI.

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Finished bending and molding the grille last night. This pic is just a mockup, but afterwards, i attached the bottom piece using self tapping screws, and I will finish it up this evening. I also received my Unichip to USB cable, so I can backup my tuning map and make a few changes. I’m going to adjust the throttle response, and then re-use the second map for the higher throttle response and more boost. My AFR’s are good, so only minor changes needed, here!

Today:instagram

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