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1slofofo's Slow Build

61K views 395 replies 46 participants last post by  1slofofo 
#1 ·
So I figured I would get into this, as next week I have a few big things coming in, so I might as well have a nicely documented area for everything, and so that if anyone is curious, they can see what my car looks like unedited.

Also, the whole "1slofofo" change from adamdv5 (old U/N) is because I saw it somewhere (a small variation) but I loved it, so I had my sister and her bf get me a w/s banner that said it. [thumb]


So of course, first night:





Then a year later, I finally did my first modification, painted my wheel covers graphite gray and took off the dealer frames:





Which also coincided with me getting my Galaxy S3, which meant real good pictures without dragging a camera around.

Then I got this slick third brake light overlay:




The week prior, I carbon fiber wrapped the whiskers (and in between there I got the license plate cover):




Then yellow fogs came from Lamin-x:




And then I stripped 18 of my lug nuts [?|] [?|] so I ran steelies with black Gorilla lugs until I found some oem ones for a decent price.




And then came the two weeks I disliked the car (it was also really shitty weather where the heater on low makes it hot, but with it off you freeze).

But once I found some oem lugs, I was back in business.




And my covers went to a baby blue.

Then came a debadge as well as my first use of a clay bar (coolest thing ever):




And then some pedal covers (and foot rest but no pic on my laptop):



And then my second favorite alteration, the "backwards" racing stripes (white carbon fiber vinyl) which change direction depending on where you look at them from:



Then I redid my stickers to make them more of what the Focus represents in my eyes (great car, but slow):



Three Twenty Decal: confuses the shit out of everyone that sees it lol




Carbon Fiber wrap (had a lot extra) the door handles just to practice:



Better pic of yellow fogs:



Nearly exactly current condition:




Thanks for reading. I'll take constructive criticism but I don't have money to spend too much on mods. That's why nothing performance-wise isn't been done yet. I bought the car in Nov. '11 and did my first modification Sept. '11 when I became relatively active here. Most people recognize my car now, and I have a twin (though totally untouched) on my way to work. But yeah, any suggestions I'll consider.
 
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#133 ·
I think I'm going to seriously consider lowering (springs). They should tuck the tires just barely (since I do have the higher profile ones from the fusion). Things are going better than I thought at work, so once the car is paid off, I'll have more money (school isn't super expensive anyways).

Though, I'd love to get 18s, I learned to love my 17's, and not having to switch for winter, but I a starting to dislike the remaining chrome. But $300+/- or so for a new set of headlights is hard to swallow. But here's a quick rendering, sans headlight modification. I had trouble imitating ti style headlights on this picture.


 
#137 ·
Thank you, sir. I'd love to do something like your wheels (with the accent stripe that matches the car) but I like the nice silver finish. I liked the gold, but it was a pain to maintain. I'm just speeding up the next phase of the car.
 
#139 ·
Mine are vinyl, but yeah, that's how you do it. I did an offset stripe, but the can was too low, it came out bad. Do it in the shade, though, plastidip dries almost instantly in the sun.
 
#142 ·
^^^ It looks great to me just like that.

The wheels are distinctive enough that you don't need stripes or anything to make it stand out from the crowd. The chrome headlight trim also looks better with the silver wheels than it did with gold.

The only thing missing now (besides a slight lowering maybe) is a pair of wide white "reverse" slanted rally stripes. Just to bug the people who don't "get it". [deviltail] Oh, yeah -- and something like the FSwerks split exhaust tip.
 
#143 ·
haha I'm working on the lowering, $17x.xx for springs is really good (eibach sportline) but I'm hearing installation costs $400. It's making me consider saving the springs and going for a nice exhaust.

True story, a neighbor two blocks away (new guy around, my mom says he goes to jewel with his dad quite a bit) came up to me as I was trying to use plastidip to remove some residue, and asked if I was spray painting the car. As he walked closer, he seemed really impressed, and thought my wheels were "rims." (As in slang for aftermarket nice wheels.) Made my day [twothumbs]
 
#149 ·
Lamin-x burned on the same fog light as it did the first time. I won't miss it much, I got tired of looking at yellow lenses when it was sunny out (looked better if it was overcast). It ended up being worse than this picture I took last time:



Currently I'm working on ditching the rest of the stickers on the rear window (they hardly flow with anything). These are the two left (I have a different font of the yoga pants one since then). Windshield banner is staying [thumb]




Still undecided on directions after winter. I think a few tweaks here and there will happen, but nothing big. I do want to try to get the roof and mirrors in gloss black. If it wasn't for the antenna, I'd do the roof myself. The mirrors are too curved for me, though I have lots of extra vinyl to mess with. I like how the car looks overall. I might mess with interior stuff, I want to make it a stressless environment for traffic and stuff.

 
#150 ·
Got some fun floormats coming in (the 3d maxpider ones) should arrive Tuesday. Stock ones look like shit after this horrible winter and 25000(?) miles. Also got some plastidip dissolver because my wheel barrels also look like shit from the old gold. [facepalm] Hope it works for the most part. I don't mind the gold lug nuts, but it looks like dirt on the inside. [?|]

I haven't had the energy or time for creativity with school and changing jobs. Though I don't see much changing. The few things I'd like to change all end up being more than I'd like to spend, and my bank account is much lower than I was expecting by now. Especially with the car being less and less comfortable (resting my elbow on the top of the hard door panel) and the suspension being very rough (could be roads, or shitty tires, or both, I can't imagine that the springs are bad already).

I just wanna keep it clean inside and out, and smelling clean. Gotta buy some vinegar and freshen the interior (which doesn't stink, but I always have my window open, I don't want to run the A/C and have to smell something foul).

Listening to any suggestions that don't involve suspension modification. [cheers]

Here's what the floormats will look like: [:)]



Here's what the car looks like (only edit was license plate in first one):





 
#151 ·
Got new bulbs, they're not HIDs, they're the fancy shmancy Sylvania Silverstar ZXE. Are they better? A bit, they catch a few more feet, but I haven't gone crazy trying them out.

Ordered an engine cover, hope to paint it creatively or something. At least splash some blue on there.

I'd love to get my side skirts/valence/front lip portion painted but I know it'll be very time consuming (more like I don't have two straight days to prep/paint/dry/etc. I still need to deplastidip the rest of the gold (the barrels and parts of the spoke still have it of course...) and stuff. I'd rather get properly sized tires+alignment.

Also debating on retinting the taillights, they've faded considerably in sunlight (still have a smoked look if it's overcast). Otherwise, no real plans. Possibly a slight lowering (<1 inch). I'm not interested in stancing it, just some better handling/that oem+ look. Tires first, so I'd be able to judge how much drop I would like.

Pics or nothing happened:






Besides, I'd kinda prefer to have an ST/Mustang. School's gotta come first though, I don't wanna deal with loans. Anyways, I've come to have a newfound appreciation for mustard, likewise with the tangerine scream tri-coat color:



I'm not here to change the Focus community, we have enough of those people. I'm just here to not ruin it, and keeping my car classy. It's been mistaken for a Fusion a few times by people (might be the wheels lmao).
 
#152 ·
The ZXE's will burn in to become brighter and whiter after a little use, so just give it a little time. I'm going to swap one set this weekend to see how much they have/haven't dimmed after a year's use. I think I'm noticing a bit of dimming, but I'm not sure if that's because the ST has HID's that are much brighter.

And the Tangerine Scream does look pretty good, but I am reserving my final opinion on it until after I polish this weekend [;)]
 
#153 ·
Eh, turns out I won't be doing as much night driving as I had thought, so it won't be a big issue now. If they crap out, I'll just go back to oem bulbs. Besides, by next car I hope HIDs will continue to trickle down. A lot of cars just keep them on the higher trims now, but they'll eventually trickle down.

Both tangerine scream and yellow blaze are nice colors that I didn't learn to appreciate until I saw them in person, pictures make the colors look dull. But then so are most colors.
 
#157 ·
I didn't take pics, but the underside is insulated with some kind of material. If it ends up not holding up, I'll get some better paint, but other people have done this, too.

I could always do navy blue, but sonic blue is more unique, and while 99% of people won't get it, I'll get it. That's what matters to me lol. And bragging rights. [wave]
 
#160 ·
It does have some sort of insulation, but otherwise there's no noticeable noise difference. Personally, I prefer looking at the cover with the blue touches than the engine. Now say it were a muscle car, it'd be different.

Functionally it's pretty useless, maybe it'll be easier for someone to find the dipstick or something. But it cleans up the engine bay quite a bit. And considering I don't have very many plans, it's something to add to the list.
 
#163 ·
Looks great I love how far you've come since day 1! Have you ever thought of paint matching your skirts or getting an aftermarket exhaust tip? Really cleans the look of the car up that much more.
 
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