My '06 ZX5 daily driver build

consciousthirteen · 11-27-2012, 11:40 PM

Had a 2001 Jeep Cherokee Sport. Was stolen. Wanted something with better fuel economy, manual, and either a wagon or hatch.
Found this:

It's not in the greatest shape. Crappy cell pics hide a bit. Worst is the driver's door at the bottom front area is bubbling. Behind the wheel in that pic is some minor rust. Scratches and dents around. Hope to get it all touched up some time if it ain't gonna cost too much.

I don't like the wheels at all but they came with the car and are wrapped in new rubber so it'll be fine for the winter.

Will post more pics soon.

First thing I did was put LED bulbs in the back for the license plate. They were both out...so why not?

Next thing to do is get the suspension right and get rid of the loud squeak coming from somewhere in the back passenger area. Pretty sure it needs an alignment too. There's a lot of vibration. Not sure how normal that is. I've been driving around in an '04 BMW 530i so it's a lot different.

Once all the NEEDED stuff is taken care of and it's running tip top, I'll be getting around to the wants.
1. New head unit and speakers. Possibly an amp to really get the most out of the 4 speakers. Thinking Kenwood Excelon all around. Head unit - x796
2. Shorty antenna
3. Tint
4. Intake
5. Catback exhaust

Not sure what else right now.

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pyroinsa · 11-28-2012, 10:00 AM

to FF

As I was scrolling down all I could think was "please don't say you bought those wheels" lol Glad you hate them too. Nice color! Check out Fswerks for an intake and exhaust, they have some great products for your Duratec. Also, the Duratec really takes to performance mods quite well. Happy modding!

matmatician · 11-28-2012, 10:21 AM

Antenna is easy. I chopped mine by a foot with little effect on reception. I lost one radio station that had sketchy reception, but gained it back with a new head unit.

All I did was take a multi-tool, chop the mast with the wirecutter, pull the old tip off with the pliers, put some super glue in the old cap, then slid it back onto the shortened mast. Is is the best method? Probably not. Did it work, and was it free? yes.

Welcome fo FF and good luck with your car! Have fun with it!

pyroinsa · 11-28-2012, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by matmatician

All I did was take a multi-tool, chop the mast with the wirecutter, pull the old tip off with the pliers, put some super glue in the old cap, then slid it back onto the shortened mast. Is is the best method? Probably not. Did it work, and was it free? yes.

Yes, it's an easy and free mod. Everyone has different ways of doing it, glad yours worked out matmatician! What I did was: I cut mine with a dremel and reshaped the end to a point, then took the part I cut off and stuck it in boiling water to remove the cap and slid the cap back on the newly re-shaped mast, no glue was needed! And I think re-shaping it to a point helps with reception.

matmatician · 11-28-2012, 10:37 AM

Yeah, that sounds way better that the way I did it lol. Mine was kind of a "Well, I've got 30 minutes to kill before the person I need to meet shows up... Hey look, an antenna!" lol. I'm kinda ADD.

pyroinsa · 11-28-2012, 10:39 AM

^ lol, that's awesome!

SvviftSVT · 11-28-2012, 11:27 AM

i have kenwood excelon in mine and i love it.
had it for 5 years and still sounds crystal clear...

(can't see pics due to work comp settings, so i will check out pics later)

DerbyCityGinger · 11-29-2012, 11:33 PM

Your car looks exactly like mine, only mine is a 2005 ZX5. Mine has some minor body damage and a hole in the A/C accumulator from being ran off the road. The accumulator was so damaged I had to saw off some of the fender shield because it was knocked back into it, rubbing it against the tire...

Is your ZX5 manual or automatic?

consciousthirteen · 11-30-2012, 09:16 AM

It's a 5 speed. Took me a while to find one. I was not going to buy an automatic. I almost gave up on finding a ZX5. I narrowed down my next car purchase between a 2001-2005 Civic or a ZX5. I couldn't find a manual sedan for Civic so I almost bought a coupe. Then this showed up for sale. So happy.