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This is the story of the first 2008 GXP in Arizona - Drove her home 7/13/07.
The GXP is the Turbo version of the Pontiac Solstice. So, yes, I have turbo... VROOOM
Take the time to read this page and page two, you won't be disappointed.
Minor Mods/Add-ons:
Windrestrictor
Stubby Antennae
Badges Removed
Arrow Badge Overlay
Splash Guards/Mud Flaps Front and Rear
Visor Warning Sticker "Cover up"
Horn Replacement
Audio Mods:
JVC KD-NX5000 (in car now)
Other items below (in boxes in my living room)
Engine Mods:
Solo Performance Mach Shorty
Solo Performance 3" High Flow Cat
Coming Soon:
Interior:
JPM Shifter (for automatic when available.)
Eclipse XA5000
Sony XPLOD XS-L82P5 8" 900 WATT SVC Subwoofer
JL Audio TR350-CXI 3.5" Speakers
JL AUDIO VR650-CSI 6.5" Speakers
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Page 1 - The Story and First Mods
Page 2 - Mach Shorty
Page 3 - Audio
Page 4 - Car Wash
Page 5 - Misc Pictures
Page 6 - FAQ
I got lucky the day I decided to test drive the Pontiac Solstice.... Here is the story;
It was a hot Friday afternoon in Arizona and I was itching to go out during my lunch hour to check out the Pontiac Solstice. I was tired of my gas guzzling 2002 Jeep Wrangler that did 0-60 in 3 minutes. My payments were done and I no longer had a warranty it was time to get rid of it.
I pulled in to the Pontiac dealer just a little after 11:30 AM and noticed two on the lot and both were NA. I was quickly approached by a salesman. I told him what I wanted and he walked me over to the two on the lot. On our way he pointed out a 2008 Mysterious GXP sitting in customer parking. He told me that some guy had ordered it the day they began taking orders for them. He told me that it would take me “A long time” to get myself one, possibly two or three months. I don't know about you but I consider a few hours a long time.
I ended up taking the 2006 for a drive. It was a standard NA with about 1000 miles on it and I was a bit disappointed because it wasn't what I expected. I told him to price up the 2006 and the 2008 GXP, I’d leave and come back after work to see if we could make a deal.
I was just about to head back to work when another salesman came along and asked if I wanted to test drive the 2008. I kindly declined and told him I wasn’t going to test drive someone else’s car. However, the deal had fell through and it was up for sale to the first interested buyer.
Despite the fact that I was almost 2 hours into my 1 hour lunch I decided it would be best to test it out, as if I could refuse. About two blocks into the test drive I was sold and five hours later I was dropping off my Wrangler and picking up my Solstice.
The first few months with my Solstice were adventurous ones, about 8000 miles worth. It didn’t matter if it was day or night, hot or cold, I was out there driving... everywhere. I would get up around 5am and hit the road for coffee and end up halfway to Vegas, no kidding. I also attended a couple rides with the Arizona Sky and Solstice club as well. It was a blast to get together with others who shared a common interest.
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The end of the new car smell triggers the start of modifications
After a while I started desiring something more from my stock Solstice, stock can be so vanilla regardless of how awesome it is. So I spent my days reading posts on Solstice Forum which in-turn fueled my want for modifications. I read a lot and tried to soak up everything Solstice. I am still amazed at how Solstice owners are so involved with their cars. Amazed but not surprised, I'm addicted too.
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So what did I do to satisfy my desire?
Badge removal
I decided to do a few light modifications and started off by popping all the badges from the back, all but the GXP badge and Pontiac arrows. It was scary to remove 15 individually stuck on letters, I fear scratches.
How to do it;
Badge removal
You could probably ask 10 people how to remove the badges from a car and get 10 different answers... What I did was use dental floss to pull up an edge and then grab and pulled with pliers. That grueling process will get them off but be really careful not to scratch anything, you can even make scratches by trying to "roll" the adhesive off the paint.
I suggest you use a hair dryer to heat up the adhesive first, this will help you yank it off a lot easier.
Again, it may be tempting to "lightly" scratch at the adhesive residue left behind but don't do it! Instead start by cleaning off any sand or dirt that may have settled behind the badges, try getting a big bucket of warm water with no detergent and a soft micro-fiber cloth. Soak up some water and don't wring out the rag.... you get the idea..
Heat up the left over residue with a hair dryer and use some car wax on a soft cloth to lightly rub it off. Clean again and wax the area.
I did the same to the GM squares but left all the Pontiac arrows, you will find out why if you read on.
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And then?
Visor warning sticker
The next thing I did was to remove the visors from the car and paint over the warning sticker located on each visor. This meant that I wouldn't have visors on the car for a day and in Arizona that’s not the best thing for safety reasons. So instead of starting in the morning or in the early evening I started around 8PM so they would be dry and ready to go first thing in the morning.
How to do it
Visor warning sticker
Tools: T-27 star driver(male) to remove the visor.
Product: Performix PlastiDip, found at any hardware store.
After removing them you should tape newspaper over the mirror and the side you are not going to paint. I used the seam around the edge as a taping point. I applied two coats, waiting about 2 hours between coats. PlastiDip will give you almost the same exact look and feel, you will not even noticed you painted it.
I don't recommend painting the little door for the mirror, you will end up rubbing off the paint when opening it.
That's it. Easy.
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So what's next?
Pontiac Symbol Overlays
I liked the Pontiac arrows, they went well with the car but I didn't like the color of them.
I ordered a set of vinyl overlays that were made for the Solstice to cover the inner red area of the arrow.
This project was a little bit of a challenge since it required that I work with a tiny piece of vinyl and a razor to cut off excess after applied. My mind was overrun with thoughts of cutting up my paint job but everything went smooth.
How to do it
Pontiac Symbol Overlays
I ordered Pontiac Solstice overlays from a vinyl decal web store but I won't let you know where I got them because, Frankly, I wouldn't buy from them again. They took almost 2 months to send them to me. They made excuses and said it was lost in the mail, twice....When I asked them for my money back they said they had just shipped the third set. They amazingly appeared 3 days later.
Although all the arrow sizes were correct they were a little bit bigger than what they covered...makes sense. This meant that I had to get out the razor and do some careful trimming.
Be very careful! You will scratch the chrome around the symbols very easily. I fear scratches.
Before (below)
After - close up (below)
Almost all the other images on these pages are "after" pictures.
If you want overlays then I would suggest ordering from ccrgxp on Solstice Forums. He has very nice overlays.
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I've also tinted the windows as dark as legally possible in the state of Arizona. Tinting the windows made the car look 100% better.
I've added a windrestrictor from windrestrictor.com. I ordered it up plain because I wanted to be able to change what was stuck on to it. Today I might want a sticker that says Bee-otch and tomorrow I might want a Transformer emblem.
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Anything else?
Horn Replacement
This was actually one of the first mods on my car. I couldn't stand what the horn sounded like before so I purchased a 121db horn at Auto Zone. It was a pain in the rear to change it out and ended up going to Pep Boys to finish the job.
How did you do it?
I removed the old horn first then I cut off the connector that was left on the wires. You won't need it since your horn will probably require a different connector. Be prepared to lengthen the wires that you cut the connector from because it will be too short for the new horn, I betcha it will. Follow the instructions that came with the horn and don't forget to remove the fuse for the horn before you start ;)
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There has got to be more...
Splash Guards
Added front and rear splash guards (mud flaps) Paid 80 dollars for all four. They help prevent chips on the side of the car. I really didn't want to put them on but they are actually a must better solution than nothing at all. The sides of this car are pushed inwards causing the front wheel to constantly throw rocks and dirt at the side of the car. Not very good for a black paint job.
Before and After (below)
More After (below)
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