A touch of red

I really liked how well the paint matched license plate frame came out, so I looked into my engine bay and thought it too could use a little touch of red. So I painted the yellow windshield washer fluid cap and brake fluid cap in velocity red.

Order up!

To compliment my front Beatrush strut tower bar I ordered one for the rear struts. Having both strut bars will give the vehicle a better balance. Also on order is a 12oz. spray can of OEM velocity red paint.

The color matched license plate frame I purchased from RX8strakes.com less than a year ago has faded to a dark pink and I fear will only get lighter in time. I'm sad to say that this is poor quality from RX8strakes.com. I usually have good business with them but this put a bad taste in my mouth as I tried to explain that my car rarely sees direct sunlight, is garaged all the time and I wax/polish taking great care of my paint. I was simply told my purchase was "out of warranty" and they would do nothing in return. Mind you they also stopped selling the painted frames. Hmmm......I wonder why?

Update. Here is the plate repainted. Hard to capture the metal flake on film as it looks a bit like dust.

HRP heat reflective film

After talking with some of the Mazda techs at LRP about this gold heat resistant film that they put on parts in the Speedsource RX-8 engine bay, I decided to use the exact same material and cover similar areas. The PCM and fuse box covers, along with the AC line, which due to the extreme heat of the rotary becomes quite hot and thus reduces the temp of the AC air.

Of course I also did it for the extra "bling" factor".

Racing Beat Ram Air Duct

Installed the Racing Beat Ram Air Duct to compliment the REVi intake. This piece is positioned in the car so that the colder air can enter from the front grille mesh area., whereas with only the REVi intake the air enters from behind the front bumper cover, but in front of the front frame brace. Big thanks to my friend Oleg for the hook up.

6AM sunrise photoshoot

Project See Through

In the quest of customization, I had seen some modifications in which areas of the car have plexiglass panels so that one to see what is normally hidden from view. The Racing Beat intake is somewhat stock in appearance in that it is simply a big black box that houses the airfilter. This filter is quite large and has a blue anodized cap on the front.

First step was to cut an opening on the top. I followed the embossed shape on the box for the opening and by using a dremel cutting tool I cut out the plastic. Followed with a sanding bit to smooth out the edges.

The next step will be to create the plexiglass piece that will cover this opening. It could be simply left open, but since engine performance is gained by colder air, leaving it open would only allow hot air from the engine to enter the intake.

Quick trunk video

Just a quick video of the audio system in the trunk. Difficult to see the blue glow in daylight.

http://www.altspace.com/rx8/alpine/alpine_sub.html

Blue LED light

I installed a set of blue LED lights under the rear cabin panel so that it gives the space a subtle lighting effect. The LEDs are wired into the trunk light of which the bulb has been removed.