I have had some custom emblems in the works for a while now and they finally got finished this week.  I feel the exterior badges, while being just a slight enhancement, go quite a ways in making the car look more ‘production’ compared to the ‘de-badged’ look.

Amazing what a few pieces of carbon fiber and a new grille can do to change the stance and ‘feel’. I couldn’t decide what pics to be selective about and upload, so I’ll just put them all up.

Installed the carbon fiber rocker extensions to complete version 2 of the Stealth GTM.  These are a straight-forward install – nothing worth noting really. I thought it would be tough getting into the car with these sticking out, but it doesn’t change the degree of entry/exit difficulty at all. Greatest benefit of these extensions, other than appearance, is that they will keep debris from hitting the side of the car.

With the new grille installed and nose aluminum back in I was able to install the FFR carbon fiber splitter. The nose of the car is not symmetrical at all (or maybe the splitter isn’t?) so getting the splitter to line-up from side to side is pretty much impossible.  If you get the ends lined up at the same spot on each side of the hood the front of the splitter will be asymmetrical as it curves across the front of the car. Flip-side is if you center the splitter to the center of the nose the sides/ends will be slightly off kilter, but at least the front portion is right on. Seeing as you cannot see both sides at once, I opted to have it look spot-on from the front and have the ends slightly off. In the end the difference side to side is only noticeable if you know to look for it (talking a quarter inch of variance from side to side where the splitter ends).

I mounted the splitter with some longer 1/8″ rivets, sandwiched with stainless washers (ie: rivet – washer – splitter+body – washer – end of rivet). The idea is that if the splitter takes an impact it will shear off without damaging the nose of the car (too much), as the washers will shear the rivets, rather than the nose fiberglass itself.

The splitter, combined with the new grille, really changes the look of the front of the car, and makes it look more polished and aggressive (imo).

I’ve been getting annoyed with the mesh grille on the car as it is warping and getting chipped from road debris, so I contacted Shane (VRaptor Speed Works) to cut up a new grille for me. I had it powder coated after assembling it and started installing it today.

First, I had to take the nose aluminum out so I could pull off the old mesh grille – not too tough of a task. Then I had to disconnect my front camera and mount it forward an inch or so since the new grill’s middle support strake interferes with its old location. Finally I got the grille held and braced in place with some random lumber and adhered it into place with the old trusty 3M 8115 panel bonding adhesive.  Tomorrow I can pull the supports out and hopefully it will all stay in place.

Got the GTM’s windows tinted. In hindsight, I should have had them tinted while I was building the car, but I thought the inspectors would gripe about that. Turns out they would not have cared.

To get the windows tinted ‘properly’ I removed both windows and brought them to the shop. They were able to apply the tint and bevel the corners so it is completely seamless. Turned out great, and completes the ‘stealth’ look. I also hit 224 miles on the odo today.