Halucod's P5 (Terrible Budget)

[Halucod]

Hi, my name is Cody. I am currently a Senior in High School. I work part time at Walgreens in my home town. I bring in around 300$ every two weeks hence the "Terrible Budget". I live in Pewaukee (couple miles West of Milwaukee) Wisconsin. I purchased my Silver P5 in August of 2012 for $6000. I have done few modifications to it and would love to do more.

Because I started this 2 years after I got my car I will start from the beginning, ish.

Right of the bat my dad and I painted my stock rims black.

Then that Christmas I was given a sunroof and I also painted the back bumper thingy using Plastidip.
Before

After

Last summer I purchased some Drag DR-19's off of Craigslist because I needed new tires and these rims were sweet.
They were supposedly painted with plastidip but once we got home and acctually looked at them they don't look Plastidipped at all. (Not really a bad thing)

I also got some carbon fiber taillights off craigslist. They are obviously not real carbon fiber but they still look awesome.
The taillight

Both on the car

One day while I was at work, (took one of my parent's jeeps) my dad got bored so he painted my hood with plastidip

Also another thing, I got an 8" Bazooka Tube off woot.com for around $150? Totally worth it.

My parents are freaks about Carnival Cruses which is also not a bad thing . When I got back this was my poor car...

Basically I will be adding before and after pic of mods I do. There are many mods I want to do but if anyone has any ideas hit me up.

 

[Halucod]

So, I was thinking of changing my gauge lights to LEDs. Gonna make them green. If anyone has done this and has any pics. I really want to see what it looks like because I might go with purple too.

 

[ScratchNSniff]

Welcome young butterfly...you need guidance...un-due everything you have done so far...in all seriousness though...check out some of the other build threads or picture threads to see what others have done that you may be interested in...

 

[Halucod]

I guess I don't understand why you told me to un do everything I've done. Did I do something wrong? I figured I could post this here like everyone else and people could give me feed back. I'm sorry if I did do something wrong. This is the first forum I've posted on so I'm new to this stuff. I do realize there are other build posts and I've seen how to do the gauges I was just curious if anyone has done them with green lights.

 

[Halucod]

I suppose if you mean my post location, it would be understandable because I'm guessing this is supposed to be in the Lounge and Welcome area. But the thing is, there are multiple posts about builds here.

 

[ScratchNSniff]

No, no, no...what I am trying to say is look through some other build threads and get some ideas of what others are doing...you will soon realize that the "fake CF tails", bazooka sub, and oversize wheels may or may not have been a bad investment...quality parts can be had for reasonable prices, but you could have done much better...everyone starts off modding, especially younger guys...with low budgets and needing that next mod to quench a thirst for something different...but instead of throwing items on the car just to mod, take a step back and look at the picture you are trying to create...do some research on the quality and why people are getting what they are...

Is the car a 5-Spd or an Auto...cannot tell from the pictures...

An S2000 Antenna can be had for $12, Rear Wiper delete for $5, shaved side moldings (free), short shifter $80, bushings $20, Gauge Rings $50, Lowering springs (QUALITY $130)...There are TONS of cheap and affordable QUALITY pieces out there...only by what looking at what others have done will you be able to get a good starting spot for your canvas...print off a few pictures or bookmark some links to other cars you think look absolutely amazing...find inspiration...and run with it...

 

[rj1784]

I agree it's always good to take a step back from a project and think about what you really want to accomplish with your car in your budget. That being said it's your car so do with it what you want to and don't worry what others think about it.

I have had my P5 for 4 months now and I am still unsure what all I plan on doing with it. So for now I have just been thinking and only buying parts that I need to fix what's broken or missing from it.

 

[Halucod]

I'm sorry, I feel like a jerk now because I took what you said wrong. I mean it's not like I can go back and get different things. I got that stuff already and I got it at what I thought were good prices. Besides I think the taillights look sweet and so do my rims. I've seen from zhy? About his gauge tutorial and was planning on doing that. It's cheap and look fun.

 

[02protege5wagon]

Yeah I think it looked very clean just with the painted stock rims for a low budget. I can understand why you put the Drags on since you had them before. Like rj784 said its your can so do what you want with it. ScratchNSniff is just giving some really good advice on what can help make it look better and make the drive more enjoyable. Also you should remove the back rack because it looks awkward and has no function with it staying on there like that. The hood isn't too bad, a lot of people on here have done that look with the hood.

I agree though, you should step back and think of the direction you want to go with the car. It sort of seems like you might be just finding deals on parts and just grabbing them and throwing them on the car, which in the end might just seem like your modifications/"upgrades" are random.

 

[Halucod]

I completely agree with the back rack removal. I only have one because I have a sunroof in the spot of the front rack. Also the rims technically came with the tires. I needed new tires badly and it was $350 for almost brand new tires and those rims. I have many mods in mind but its just a matter of the weather being nice enough to go out and do it. Right now everything is salty and snowy and it sucks. As I start to see a lot of the DG front lips and grille inserts im really starting to like them. Idk if this those are good investments or if I should just skip them for now and maybe work on stuff under the hood. Everything runs great but its just rusty and dirty like every other old car. Also it is 5 speed manual. Forgot to add that in. So if anyone knows of any of those parts being sold let me know because I would love to get my hands on them like everyone else.

 

[02protege5wagon]

I understand the rims situation, you needed new tires and they were in your budget. The DG front lip and grille inserts are a good investment so thats a really good start there. Or you can look into the sti lip. Search on here and you'll see how it looks. That is a cheaper option for a lip and you don't always have to worry about color matching it. I think you should take care of that rust though. Just search on here on what people do to take care of it and how to keep it from getting worse.

 

[Halucod]

Oh I know about the rust. My dad and I have tried to fix it last summer and it rusted right through again... We used bondo and that mesh stuff. We had to grind it all off but because Wisconsin eats cars, it rusted again. We were thinking of buying patch panels. We have an idea of how to do it but once again, if anyone that sees this and has advice or tips hit me up. Also I did see that the STI lips fit our cars and they do look pretty cool. I will look into that as well. But I am for sure going to order green LED's for my gauges soon. Maybe tonight yet

 

[02protege5wagon]

Yeah the way to fix that rust is the patch panels. Look at this link http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123616046-What-have-you-done-to-your-P5-today/page3645

You'll see the guy that patched up his holes from rust and how he fixed them. PM him for tips, he did an amazing job on it.

 

[Halucod]

Ok thanks that's super helpful. We will defiantly try this once spring rolls around and the salt is gone. Just curious, do you know of anyone selling the DG or STI lip or the grille insert? If not ill keep looking.

 

[02protege5wagon]

I'm not sure about the DG lip but thet sti lip, all the guys buys its from ebay. Its the 06-07 sti lip. I plan on getting mine from ebay soon.

 

[Halucod]

Ok thanks. Idk if its just me but the search function on this forum does not exactly work to my advantage. Ive seen links for where to get the lips and such but I can't seem to find them again. I know about the DG Motorsports website but not the STI lip. I will check ebay.

 

[Halucod]

Also another question, the STI lip, is that the one with the fins on the sides or no?

 

[02protege5wagon]

There are two version one with the fins on the side and one without. Both work just make sure its the 06-07 lip

 

[aznxenon]

Green gauge lights will make your interior look like it's from the 90's

I remembered being a senior in high school and wanting to do everything to my 94 Accord. Z3 fenders, body kits, altezza taillights (didn't do any of them luckily). What Mr. Scratch said, you need guidance. First and foremost, to hell with modding make sure the car is running fine first!

The amber interior lights were very modern for the early 2000s, still looks great now. I'd look into replacing interior bulbs with LEDs though, they can be picked up for dirt cheap on eBay shipped from China. Take baby steps, enjoy the car as is and slowly do stuff overtime. Especially on limited budget, it's best to save up in case you need the money for repairs than to dump it all on body parts, paint, etc and there are a lot of minor mods you can do for cheap. Just have fun with those first!

 

[pcb]

Yeah the way to fix that rust is the patch panels. Look at this link http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?123616046-What-have-you-done-to-your-P5-today/page3645

You'll see the guy that patched up his holes from rust and how he fixed them. PM him for tips, he did an amazing job on it.

I tried to find the "patch panel" reference in your link,... Do you have a page or post number ??,... there's 3645 pages in that thread.

Here's a picture of an arch panel from Rockauto,.. they only have one side available at the moment and it's $47,...