My Stratus

Not sure if I have a thread about my car or not yet, but I just did a few things this weekend to it including CD Player install and HIDs, amongst many other things, alot of headaches and pain the ass, but things are turning out for the better.


Here are the 30000k +(HIDs)+ that I just ordered and finally have pictures of installed, they look VERY GREAT!. I am definately pleased with them and for $80 total they aren't too bad of a bargain, one year warranty.





I've also done a few more exterior mods, including painting the inside of my headlights to give them the darker look, it's a great difference.

Here is the stock

[img]http://images.iimanager.com/vdata/thefriendlydifferencecom/190066_x640_01.jpg[/img

And here are mine after the painting and reflector removal.



And another.



I've also got a few dress-up items that I personally regret and will probably be getting rid of in the next few weeks, maybe wait up until the ponit where I am going to have a motor-swap performed. We'll see.



All in all i'm pretty happy with my car, although it's an automatic it's still pretty peppy and can hang with basically anything that is 'stock'. I'll post more updates when they become available

Nice looking, how do you like the new headlights at night though?

engine swap on a stratus?

Nice looking, how do you like the new headlights at night though?

The headlights at night are amazing, they were blinding people at first so I've got them more adjusted towards the ground now so it's not as bad, they illuminate the road generously compared to anything i've ever had before, I definately recommend them.

engine swap on a stratus?

Yes. Stratus R/T's as most people DON'T know come with the Eclipse GT motor (01-05) 3.0L as well as the Chrsler Sebring LXI and Mitsu Galant GTZ all share the same Drivetrain. It's pretty nice because everything is interchangeable. I'm going to get a 6g74 Diamante 3.5L engine it puts out roughly 10more hp and roughly 50 more torque, which is what actually matters, as well as a high stall torque converter which will help transfer the power more efficiently to the wheels.

I'm so excited, i'll post some videos soon as everything is done and i've been gone to the track.

I'll have some CD Player pictures up during the week, installation was a very bad headache, i'll probably write up my own How-To for it since people are getting frustruated at me copying/pasting others "work" so we'll see.

I'm still planning on
*Lowering springs installation
*Farad cap install (easy)
*Paint-matching my taillights (they're black atm) and smoking the headlights and taillights.
*Purchasing+Installing HID Fog-lights, possibly a blue-ish color, or HID Yellow..
*Motor-Swap
*Header purchase+installation
*HSTC install
*More engine bay detail
*Flip-out DVD installatino
*dual Headrest monitor install shortly afterwards.

+Many more, i'll be sure to post once I've gotten everything done.

Car may be for sale within the next 2-3 months as well pending how the motor swap turns out

The headlights at night are amazing, they were blinding people at first so I've got them more adjusted towards the ground now so it's not as bad, they illuminate the road generously compared to anything i've ever had before, I definately recommend them. Yes. Stratus R/T's as most people DON'T know come with the Eclipse GT motor (01-05) 3.0L as well as the Chrsler Sebring LXI and Mitsu Galant GTZ all share the same Drivetrain. It's pretty nice because everything is interchangeable. I'm going to get a 6g74 Diamante 3.5L engine it puts out roughly 10more hp and roughly 50 more torque, which is what actually matters, as well as a high stall torque converter which will help transfer the power more efficiently to the wheels. I'm so excited, i'll post some videos soon as everything is done and i've been gone to the track.

Yea, I just want to say that I want to shoot people that use those headlights. I'd really like to. They should be illegal and I'm sure they cause many accidents annually.

As soon as you can prove that, I'd like to call bullshit on it. Mine in the picture we're taken like that before I re-aimed them, they illuminate the ground much more now, so it's not NEAR as bad. There are some idiots out there though that leave them facing up and it generally points directly into their eyes I wouldn't doubt may cause a few wrecks nationally a year, but hardly nothing compared to people driving drunk, high, illegally, etc etc etc.

Just a few mini-updates from the Camera phone.

I've added a light-gloss to the headlights and fog-lights, the Camera phone does just NOT do the justice, but here's an idea of what it looks like.


I also got tired of the stock wheels, they are MUCH glossier in person than what you can tell on here, and this is just a rough draft, I'm going to be adding a few more coats, and doing something special with the center cap.


And lastly, the tails all tinted, and the reverse lights have gotten a nice tint, I've also retouched the rear-left quarterpanel, and eventaully am going to retouch the entire car (i'm getting progressively better at it..)


It looks great IMO, i've gotten alot of compliments from random people in traffic, local car shows, still needs alot of TLC though. I still haven't fixed my bumper, but I have touched up a ton of things under the hood, and valve cover/intake mani are up there on the to-do list now.



*And most recently* Added a set of Megan Racing Headers.

still in the fine-tuning process of the header installation, but they sound great and add a substantial amount of power,

So many idiots leave their lights on bright ...when their lights are already the equivelant of "bright" when they're on "dim" because of being that type then it's not hard to see why it's blinding when I even go by them on the highway, let alone a two-lane road.

Glad to see you don't have monstrous rims on your car.

Yeah, i'm past those days really, the jeep was enough for me.

I just got my lowering springs in the mail last week, so i've got a project for tomrrow, or maybe just hold off again 'til next weekend, we'll see.



Going to re-do the lights, re-gloss them and wetsand them down again, they're losing a bit of color on the wheels, that and I ran up a curb and chipped some paint as well as the wheel the other day

Well, so I just got the lowering springs shipped in, got some JB weld to finish sealing my headers, restored the headlights for like the 10th time. Got 2 cans of Nite SHades in the mail, i'm going to have a long ass weekend, oh and my plug wires came in (I think they're Mangacore)

Prothane motor mounts

Finally in! I ordered these about 2-3 weeks ago, and they had to be sent to a distributor, and then sent to me. They're finally in, and i'm going to do a quick little write-up of the installation itself, and a few new shots of the car.

(Currently i'm working on repainting the car, my first time spraying my own car. As of now I have it two-toned with black flat primer, so we'll see how it turns out.

Anyways, here are the mounts, if anybody cares.







Replacing mounts can dramatically inprove shifts between gears, help launch and dramatically stop wheel hop (Wheel hop = when you accelerate your wheel literally hops and you lose power essentially)


Installation instructions

Just a quick snapshot of the instructions included, i'm sure most of you really don't give two shits about this, but just filling this in for myself, so that one day I can accurately go back and recall the progression of this car and have a nice little timeframe of the whole project.

Here are some items that I am going to need in the next few months:

(Note: Nothing is a necessity besides the upcoming mounts, but all should be done).

Motor Mounts installed: $350 (quoted)
New Headlights : $115 a peice $230 total.
Two shocks/struts front:$65 a peice (130 total)
Maaco paint job.. : $299 (commercially advertised)


Within the next few months I will be trying to get my car back into pristine shape. There has been a couple of damage spots thrust onto my car recently and i'm getting sick of how it is currently. Blah!

New headlights? As in new bulbs, or something brand new?

Hopefully not the bright white ones. I still say a study needs to be done if it hasn't.

Completely new housings. I'm getting some Projector inserts so that other peolpe on the road aren't blinded anymore. I've taken the HIDs out for a while now, and just want to get things back to normal.

Thank you .

Well, my car almost died on me to the point of having to just get a new car. But with the last 2-3 weeks of continual maintainance i've finally got it back and running - most of the way.

A couple simple things that have been changed at the dealer:

-Serpentine belt
-Idler pulley
-Oil pan (lower second half)
-3 new tires
-Valve cover gasket
-Rear valve cover
-Intake manifold gasket
-Spark plugs
-Drive belt
-Batt terminals

I still need:

-Window regulator
-Headlights (with housings)
-Struts
-HVAC console (cracked)
-TPS/idler motor
-TB gasket
...ugh

$1,200 so far in car maintainence bills, and still counting (the past two months)

Are you still doin' that motor swap? If so, you may want to look into the newer 6G engine... it's got 265 horses, and I think it just drops right in... just sayin'.

But congrats on the progress... wish I had money like that to spend on my car...