PAT 3 > Issue 2: Catching Up On The Exterior And I.C.E.
Written By: David Pitlyuk

In our last issue we introduced our 2003 Nissan Altima 3.5 SE project car and brought you all up-to-speed with everything done in the performance and suspension department. In this issue we are going to tell you all about everything that has been done to the car looks wise as well as I.C.E. So read on, and by the next issue we'll begin to add new things to the car!

Lets start off with the looks in the engine compartment. Remember, we're going for a red and black theme here, so the first thing we did was take the black engine cover and paint it red. This make the biggest difference in engine compartment looks, and looks great with the red clamps and tubes that are used with the Injen cold air intake.

Along with painting the engine cover, we also painted the radiator clamps red as well. The painting for the clamps as well as the dash (which we'll get into later) was done by Boyd's Body Shop in Elkridge, MD. To top it off, we purchased a set of red billet caps from the guys over at Definitive Motorsports.

Now onto the wheels. We went with 18" AVS Model 5 replicas wrapped in 245/45/18 Bridgestone Pole Position S0-3 rubber. These wheels look amazing with their hypermetal finish, and really help out with the sporty look of the car. We will actually be upgrading the wheels in a later issue coming soon! To top everything off, we painted the calipars red with Folia-Tec calipar paint.

Again to help accent the red/black theme, we installed a red StreetGlow gold series under body neon kit.

Next we had Detail Oriented from Elkridge, MD install 15% Solar Gard tint all around. This looks great since the car is black already.

In the front of the car we of course put the ActiveTuning Sports Grille on with oval hole natural aluminum mesh. This makes a huge difference in the cars appearence as it gives a much sportier, more aggressive stance.

On the back we de-badged a couple of the emblems (Nissan and V6) to clean up the look a bit. We're still undecided whether or not we should completely de-badge or not. What do you think? Post your opinions here.

Now to the interior. The most obvious thing that you see when you open the door is the fact that the dash is painted with glossy red paint. We took every piece that was un-textured off the car (including the door accents) and had Boyd's Body Shop paint it red. One of the things that we are planning to do in a future issue is put two-tone red/black aftermarket leather in the car. This will help complete the red/black look we are going for on the interior.

Near the steering wheel you will notice 3 red switches that we placed there. This is a nice cheap mod for any switches you have in your car. We picked them up from Pep Boys for about $3 per switch. The light up when they are on, so it looks great! The switches control the underbody neon kit, LED lighted footwells, and the amp.

We also threw on some Nokya Racing Pedals that we picked up from our friends over at Southwest Autoworks. This is another one of those cheap mods that definitely help out with the interior looks big time.

Another minor modification that we did that was cheap and added to our red/black theme was changing the turn signal lights on the interior to red from green. To do this we took the dash off where the gauges are and there are two screws to access the green plastic pieces which are used to emit the green light of the turn signal. When we got those out, we took a red translucent sheet we found at Pep Boys and traced the design of the stock piece. We did this a couple times and placed the pieces on top of each other to make our new piece thicker. Then you simply replace the new piece and put everything back. You now have red turn signal indicators! Don't forget, you can do this in any color you want.

We have the upgrade Bose audio system in the car with the 6-disc in-dash CD player that we didn't want to get rid of. So we kept the headunit, and custom cut/fiberglassed a place for a 7" in-dash monitor to fit in on top. Once that was done, there is a plastic piece behind the dash that had to be cut in order to get the monitor to fit right. The video wiring installation was done by Next Level Audio & Performance in Catonsville, MD.

Speaking of video, we put two more monitors in the headrests. The monitors we chose were Power Acoustik 5" PT-506HS. The monitors just BARELY fit! As for the video source, we have an xBox hooked up in the trunk, although it can be switched to anything with a composite output.

In the trunk we have a Rockford Fosgate 500S amp hooked up to a Polk Audio/Momo MM12 12" sub. We also threw in a 1 farad Rockford Fosgate capacitor. All audio installation was done by Sound Solutions in Catonsville, MD. They also did our trunk which we chose to go with a beauty panel wrapped in red vinyl. Basically there are two wood panels, one is the amp rack that holds every component, and the other just makes it look pretty. We threw in a couple red neons as well.

We plan on getting the trunk re-done to something more extreme sometime in the future.

That brings you guys up to speed on everything that's done to the car. In our next issue we'll be install stainless steel brake lines from Mossy Performance, so look forward to that.

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