Big changes coming up and final posts for the time being.

Slapped this Poison Spyder hood louvre on last week. 2nd hand and picked it up for free. Had no hardware or template so I had a lot of trial and error trying to get the cut outs correct. Not a difficult process but given my circumstances it took several hours to mount. Cuts were made with a fine tooth blade on a jig saw.

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Also, picked up a set of Poison Spyder Defender XCs with a 3" tapered flare. I really wanted aluminum to keep things light, but the only one I could find was the negative flare version. Since this is still a daily driver I wanted a little bit of coverage. With this came a windstar intake, JK turn signals, and day star hood pins. I was also feeling weird and decided to pick up some PR4, Flame Red Chrysler Paint. These suckers are going to be color matched! I am going to do my best to get them test fitted this week, and hopefully prepped/painted by the weekend. We have some holiday plans that I just found out about so it may hinder my progress...
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I started modding this last night, the tabs to keep it in place on the windstar have been removed, as well as the metal tab on the lock ring. I spoke with jjvw yesterday and compared his. I am going to copy his design and cut out the inner tube (technical term?) Its not restrictive by any means, but hey, why not?
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Ive always been a fan of color matching. I am excited to see how these turn out.
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Thats it up to date. Once the fenders are on I am going to ride it for the rest of the year like that. Winter Mods (hopefully no longer a DD) I will focus on outboarding the rear and relocating mounts up front with 10-12" travel shocks.
 
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A little progress on the windstar intake was made. The section that housed the MAF was cut down to about an inch on either side, and mated together. Its not the cleanest RTV job but should hold. I am not going to win any shows with the hood popped open...

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Test fitting of the hilines went well today.

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I started to panic earlier because the grill mounts were roughly 3/4" off. What I ended up doing to resolve it was loosen the grill supports and pull the grill out a bit, then muscled the fender into place, once a bolt was threaded in the rest lined up. Going to Prep and prime later this afternoon. I also spent a couple hours Friday looking for a 90 degree 3" to 4" silicone elbow but couldnt find one anywhere in Denver. I have one on order from ebay, hopefully its here by Wednesday and that will complete my windstar CAI.
 
How do the factory and PS fenders compare weight wise?

Ask me again in a few days. Stock fender is back on for the moment. Just off the top of my head I would say between 5-10 lbs heavier than stock
 
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Sanded with 400 grit, cleaned well with mineral spirits, 5 coats self etching primer, and 5 coats of color. Throwing down 5 coats of clear tomorrow. I also received my 4-3" elbow for the Windstar intake. Went to drill the 3" hole in the firewall and my drill died. Should be ready to go later tonight. Hoping to have the intake finished tonight, fenders mounted Saturday, and spend the rest of Saturday remounting the fuse box, washer bottle, EVAP canister, and ARB compressor
 
Passenger side done. Still need to mount the fuse box, shouldn't be too difficult. The driver side tray where I have my ARB compressor needs shaved quite a bit which I'll finish up tomorrow. I think I'll have everything wrapped up tomorrow which includes mounted, equipment located in their new places, and hood cut.

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Very nice. Looking forward to the cutting of the hood.

Don't forget the weigh the old and new fenders. :)
 
Very nice. Looking forward to the cutting of the hood.

Don't forget the weigh the old and new fenders. :)


I think I may try and leave the hood on while cutting. Leaving it on and I'll easily be able to cut, check, cut, check, and so on. Initial measurements show 3.25" need removed.

Ill weigh each first thing in the morning. This will include the aluminum inners.
 
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Well...cutting my hood sucked. I screwed it up pretty f'ing bad. I was in a hurry and not paying attention. I cut maybe 3/4-1" too much. I am incredibly pissed at myself. Im not even going to post pictures because I am so embarrassed. I now have a few options...

There are five locally that I can find thru online junkyards. One is grey, one is line-ex'd grey, another is line-ex'd purple, one is black, and the last one is white. All of these are between $3-400. Plus whatever it costs for new prep/paint. I found two more north of me about two hours, one is black and in rough shape finish-wise, the other is green. Between $85 and $200. I did find one in WI, about 150 miles from my sister who conveniently enough, is traveling near my neck-of-the-woods in about 6 weeks. Its Red, and shows a few scuff marks where the PS hood louvre would go. They are asking $350. That would be ideal as no work would be needed.

Or....Look at AEV which is already cut for hilines, but factor in painting again. I am leaning towards removing my current hood, running without for a few weeks, and buy the one that is located in WI...
 
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Thats the one I came across, I guess I shouldnt have said AEV, AEV just came to mind because they are the only one I knew who made a hiline hood.

Even with the cost of paint, plus shipping its going to be up there in cost, way more than I want to spend ($700ish?). The one in WI is from a 97 2.5. So the nozzle will match, PR4 red will match, shipping provided by my sister for the cost of gas money, Ill just have to take my time cutting it this time. I suppose I can run what I have and just look like an idiot who cant cut right for 6 weeks.
 
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The Wisconsin hood sounds like a plan. I guess this fixes the hail damage from last year.
 
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Drove around about 40 miles yesterday. The windstar intake definitely has a "whoosh" to it, but performance wise I dont notice anything different. The day star hood pins hold the hood down tight too, though they will take a little bit to get used to, I keep thinking I left a tool on my hood.
 
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