EXTERIOR MODIFICATIONS

American Muscle Clear Signals & Side Markers 

These are a nice touch on a silver car. Should be standard.

Shorty Billet Antenna

I got this shorty billet antenna from ebay to replace the "Mr Whippy" stock item.

UPR Billet Fog Rings

For reference only. these didn't work for me on a silver car. I was never that happy with them so finally took them off as I thought they were too garish with the pony grille insert.

Webelectric Grille Corrale

This was the quickest mod I ever made - the Pony grille insert from Webelectric - it took about a minute to fit and looks fabulous. Sadly, they don't sell them any more, something to do with Ford threatening legal action I'll wager.
Before & After - With and Without the Fog Rings

Magnetic Rear Panel

This was a "suck it and see" mod - a magnetic panel from ebay for $40. It was cheap and sucked! It had its use in that it led me to fit the Silver Horse Racing honeycomb panel rather than going for cliched stripes. Here it is before I tore it off again:
 

These 3D tail light surrounds are so much better than some of the stainless stuff you can get. I got these from www.showlenses.com and they're excellent! They do them in black too. Or did...they don'y any more...

Cervini Painted Side Ducts

I got these from Stage 3 but the prep (which was farmed out) wasn't very good so the edges were not sanded down enough and a big chunk of paint came off on the lower curve and the shininess of the plastic beneath betrayed poor prep. It took a lot of fussing round matching the colour and a whole load of masking to spray the insides satin black to achieve what I deem an acceptable standard. Nice touch though. Shame I had to finish them myself for the money I paid.

Legend Front Splitter

This came from American Muscle. A little disappointing in that it was rough fibreglass underneath but I bought a can of Smoothrite (similar to POR-15) and brushed on copious amounts of black to seal the fibreglass. You can't see it but you know it's there! It also requires 6 additional fixings and they don't supply any. Bad show. I used 1" repair washers from the local hardware store for extra support.
 

Foryar Billet Lower Grille Insert

An incredible bargain - $36 from www.foryar.com. You couldn't buy the raw materials for that price. Quality is great and fixes with four simple hookovers. It's a very simple way to protect the radiator and chargecooler and looks fantastic!

Silver Horse Racing Honeycomb Panel & Classic True Billet Medallion

Quality is brilliant but shipping stuff to the UK costs enough without finding out that you need something extra when it arrives! I had a few frustrating hours fitting the true billet medallion because SHR say you should re-use the stock adhesive backing. In the instructions it says they can supply a new one if you contact them. TOO LATE, I need one NOW!
Here's the problem: The stock medallion is a sod to remove. The tool SHR recommends is unlikely to be found lying round. I mean what the hell is a cotter puller? I doubt it would have helped.

No matter what you do, the thin adhesive backing is going to tear, stretch and lose it's stickiness during the removal process. Trying to keep it intact risks you slipping and scratching the paint. Dogged persistence has little to recommend it because when you finally remove the stock piece (strong fingers being key here) you are left with this (left). On offering up the billet item, you can see straight away you're going to have an exposed sticky patch to gather dirt. No point having a pull-down flap for an eyesore, even a fake one.

I did try to trim the piece to shape using a pair of nail scissors but save yourself, it's impossible and the edges will look like a dog's dinner so save time, tear it off and throw it away!

A far better solution to use bonding tape (similar to 3M)and cut little wedges out of it to get it to get a flat surface. Peel the backing off and snip away anything that sticks up. You don't need the sticky bits in the middle as they don't make contact - my bad!

Here is the finished installation - door opened and closed. How much better is that than a dirty black sticky patch.

For the rear panel, follow the instructions. I just went for it because it's like playing with strong magnets. It's pretty straight if not millimetre perfect:

The Spoiler Store GT500 Rear Spoiler

This item comes pre-painted off ebay. The finish is excellent, the quality very good, minor niggles about the side tape not making full contact being the only concern - though you won't get it off again...). The price is amazing - $150! (seen them even cheaper too). After a long time thinking the rear end was a little unresolved, my Mach 1 style rear rocks!

The Spoiler Store Hood Scoop  

I was so impressed with the GT500 Spoiler I had from the Spoiler Store that I ordered a pre-painted hood scoop. Just as the spoiler had been A1 quality, so was the hood scoop and paint finish was excellent.

To fit it, I ran a line of masking tape down the centre of the hood and used masking tape on the scoop to mark the mid-point of the scoop. You can then line up the marks and decide how far forward you want the scoop. Mine WAS about 8" (but enough about me). Once in position, I ran two lines of masking tape from the centre of the washer jets and measured the distance at various points to check the scoop was straight. Once that was done, I ran masking tape round the periphery so when it came to sticking it on, I'd put it in exactly the right place.

This kit comes with two screws but I chose NOT to use them or drill my hood. 

I didn't like the look of the thin foam tape that came pre-applied so I peeled it off. I then used this red tape on the front and side edges (leaving gaps for drainage). However, it's a little too thick and the first trip north of 100mph had the scoop lifting so

DON'T USE THIS! It's RUBBISH! 

INSTEAD, use genuine 3M Automotive Acrylic Plus Attachment Tape 06384 - Black .045" thick.

You can buy it on Ebay.com

The following principles still apply though although with the £M tape, I ran an unbroken perimeter of tape all the way round and used a double thickness at the front sides as the black insert sits a tiny bit proud and you want to keep the air out.

FIRST ATTEMPT!

Then it was a case of peel off the backing, carefully drop it into the pre-marked out shape, sit a couple of buckets of water on it for the night to ensure a good seal and it was done:

This is the finished job. Have a close look at where I fixed it to the hood, about 8" forward of the hood rear edge. To me, it looked like it was sitting just a little too far forward but it's personal taste.

SECOND ATTEMPT!

OK, I've now applied the proper 3M automotive tape and I've done all the measuring and taped out my new position for the hood scoop, this time sitting between the washers. I came up with this position by placing the scoop on the hood with the red protective tape still in place and gently pushing it backwards until it stopped, signalling the maximum friction and optimal matching of the scoop's contour to the hood. In short, i think this is where it was meant to sit. See what you think!

                                                The view from the driver's seat.

Bangastang Mirror Caps

One of those mods you never really get round to until you have nothing left to spend your money on!