what did you do to your Sonic today?

[AshesToArmor]

I've been working on an affordable yet high-quality light bar project for a little while now and finally tied it all together the other night. I wanted to find a way to solidly mount it on my Rhino Rack without getting in the way of my snowboard rack and with enough clearance from the rack to remain adjustable. I will admit that a fair amount of measuring and re-measuring went into this, along with checking the dimensions of half a dozen light bars and mounts.

I routed the wiring harness from the engine bay through the firewall and out the driver's door to connect the bar. The on/off switch comes through the firewall as well and will be mounted either in the fusebox cover or I was thinking maybe alongside the driver's seat. I don't like seeing wires so I obsess over making things look neat and factory-esque.

Is it necessary to have a roof-mounted bar on a Sonic hatch? Not at all. But, I love the utilitarian/rally look it gives the car which is what I'm going for, I guess.

All in with the mounts, light bar and wiring harness (plus extra hardware from Home Depot) I spent $96:

Rhino Rack Aero Work Light Bracket: $8.10 (x2)
- I got lucky and bought the last two of these on Amazon for crazy cheap. They're normally $29.99 apiece...
Universal Fit Side Brackets: $7.50
MICTUNING 32" 180W Curved LED Light Bar: $54.99
SuperBrightLED Wiring Harness: $15.25
Spacers/washers: $2

 

[Mr.turner85]

Per usual not today but a few weeks ago I ordered some el cheapo led headlights from china on eBay

And some el cheapo led fog lights also from china on eBay

Took a couple weeks to get but hey customs what you gonna do anyway got them installed and hey not too shabby

I also ordered some el cheapo led 194s for the tag lights

And some led reverse lights

The headlights honestly are not much if any brighter than the stock headlight bulbs but I prefer the crisp white light over the amber light from halogen bulbs. Now these particular leds I bought for the fog lights are bright but the beam pattern unfortunalely is so scattered that it doesn't pass light forward far if at all, so basically the fog lights are now just ultra bright white marker lights and not useful for driving. Though the style of the RS foglight housing made them poor to begin with these make them even worse but I can't stand having halogen bulbs in them so for now they will work. I also took some pics of the interior at night with the led interior lights

I think led lights just look crisper and give the car a more upscale look.



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[Mr.turner85]

The weather has been amazing here earlier this week, like end of world global warming going on but I digress I took this opportunity to remove my emblems
Before:

After:

Tools of the trade:

Also purchased some vinyl for the emblems a few weeks ago

So I took the time to install those

I think it made the rear look considerably smarter and cleaner albeit not actually clean

Which I wound up doing the next day

#warmwednesday #carwashweather


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[MyLonewolf25]

I've been working on an affordable yet high-quality light bar project for a little while now and finally tied it all together the other night. I wanted to find a way to solidly mount it on my Rhino Rack without getting in the way of my snowboard rack and with enough clearance from the rack to remain adjustable. I will admit that a fair amount of measuring and re-measuring went into this, along with checking the dimensions of half a dozen light bars and mounts.



I routed the wiring harness from the engine bay through the firewall and out the driver's door to connect the bar. The on/off switch comes through the firewall as well and will be mounted either in the fusebox cover or I was thinking maybe alongside the driver's seat. I don't like seeing wires so I obsess over making things look neat and factory-esque.



Is it necessary to have a roof-mounted bar on a Sonic hatch? Not at all. But, I love the utilitarian/rally look it gives the car which is what I'm going for, I guess.



All in with the mounts, light bar and wiring harness (plus extra hardware from Home Depot) I spent $96:



Rhino Rack Aero Work Light Bracket: $8.10 (x2)

- I got lucky and bought the last two of these on Amazon for crazy cheap. They're normally $29.99 apiece...

Universal Fit Side Brackets: $7.50

MICTUNING 32" 180W Curved LED Light Bar: $54.99

SuperBrightLED Wiring Harness: $15.25

Spacers/washers: $2

This totally needs a write up in the diy section


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[AshesToArmor]

This totally needs a write up in the diy section

I'm working on it! Should have one up after the weekend once I button everything up for good.

 

[pbkn1p]

The weather has been amazing here earlier this week, like end of world global warming going on but I digress I took this opportunity to remove my emblems
Before:

After:

Tools of the trade:

Also purchased some vinyl for the emblems a few weeks ago

So I took the time to install those

I think it made the rear look considerably smarter and cleaner albeit not actually clean

Which I wound up doing the next day

#warmwednesday #carwashweather


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I've been wanting to debadge my hatch. Just leave the RS.

Was this difficult to diy?

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[carsNskis]

I've been wanting to debadge my hatch. Just leave the RS.

Was this difficult to diy?

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Heat gun + fishing line (or plastic scraper if need be)

Super easy to remove

 

[MyLonewolf25]

How hard was the vinyl and where did you get them? ( I really like that black but I also remember that there's glow in the dark vinyl so.. idk I'm torn )


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[Mr.turner85]

Heat gun or hairdryer as previously stated, if you don't plan on saving them, some people take old badges and attach them to weird places like toolboxes or microwaves lol, just heat the badge on high heat for 10 or 15 seconds and you will see the plastic start to wrinkle and double sided adhesive start to bubble at which point grab a foot or two of fishing line and work it behind the badge, lightly sawing through the adhesive. Using monofilament line not metal so as not to scratch your paint, and try not to get it too too hot you could bubble your paint but it should come off pretty easy. Some adhesive may be left over on the panel

So take some goo gone or goof off and a clean towel and rub that off. Finally clean the area and voila they are gone like magic.

As for the vinyl I just ordered some cheap sheets that were 5"X11" on eBay. I included a picture of a listing similar to the ones I got otherwise just search for vinyl bowtie emblem and you should find some.

Get a sharp unused razor knife and a card, I used my credit card, and first using a cleaner of some sort I first used glass cleaner, wiped it up and then goo gone and pay special attention to the crevices in between the gold and chrome on the emblem to get them clean and dried. I used the heat gun I already had out on low heat to ensure the emblems were dry. I trimmed the vinyl closer to the size of the emblem

Starting from one side of the vinyl sheet and emblem began peeling back the backing and attaching it to the emblem while moving along and smoothing with the card. Once you have it completely attached to the emblem smooth out any air bubbles, you can spray a lubricant like glass cleaner on the surface so you don't mess up the vinyl. Once all air bubbles are removed work on pressing the vinyl into the crevice between the chrome and gold on the emblem.

The last step is to trim the vinyl with the razor knife, go slow and take it one section at a time cutting off the excess vinyl

After that make sure it is down and smooth and you are golden, ponyboy [emoji106][emoji16]




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[MaD]

Per usual not today but a few weeks ago I ordered some el cheapo led headlights from china on eBay

And some el cheapo led fog lights also from china on eBay

Took a couple weeks to get but hey customs what you gonna do anyway got them installed and hey not too shabby

I also ordered some el cheapo led 194s for the tag lights

And some led reverse lights

The headlights honestly are not much if any brighter than the stock headlight bulbs but I prefer the crisp white light over the amber light from halogen bulbs. Now these particular leds I bought for the fog lights are bright but the beam pattern unfortunalely is so scattered that it doesn't pass light forward far if at all, so basically the fog lights are now just ultra bright white marker lights and not useful for driving. Though the style of the RS foglight housing made them poor to begin with these make them even worse but I can't stand having halogen bulbs in them so for now they will work. I also took some pics of the interior at night with the led interior lights

I think led lights just look crisper and give the car a more upscale look.



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Does that big ballast fit inside the headlight housing?? I saw them but was worried about fitment.

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[Mr.turner85]

Does that big ballast fit inside the headlight housing?? I saw them but was worried about fitment.

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It took a lot of fiddling but yes I was able to fit the ballast which is actually an enclosed resistor inside the headlight and close the cover on the back. I was concerned about the resistor getting too hot and melting things but it's been over a month and no issues thus far. I work nights and drive about an hour to and from work, so it's dark when I leave for work and dark when I get home so 80% of my driving is done in the dark. Considering I bought these bulbs for the same price as stock replacement bulbs I have been very satisfied. I do wish they were brighter than stock but eventually I will either buy more expensive leds or hids and projectors


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[MyLonewolf25]

Needs projectors


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[DragongreenSonic]

LED License Plate Lamps

Put in green led lamps for the license plate lamps. Very easy to install. Definitely bright enough. Ordered from Amazon.

 

[MyLonewolf25]

Put in green led lamps for the license plate lamps. Very easy to install. Definitely bright enough. Ordered from Amazon.View attachment 12918

What bulbs? And how?


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[MaD]

Ya I was going to do that too... but the local law enforcement would be all over me about it, they already question my green rings on my fogs..[emoji53]

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[DragongreenSonic]

Got the bulbs from Amazon. AUTO US 194 bulbs. Ten pack for 10.00. There is a thread in exterior modifications that explains how to change them.

 

[DragongreenSonic]

Mad what green lights did you put around your fog lights?

 

[brainpause]

Here's what I did a few days ago.

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[donovanteetz]

?


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[donovanteetz]

picked up these bad boys to go with my new wheels that should also come in today


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