Project Eclipse: Cosmetic upgrades

Some will refer to purely cosmetic upgrades as being "Ricey" or useless. My objective here is for the car not to stand out. Everybody wants to do a little customization - much like putting a different faceplate on a cellphone. A little personalization. No bling.

1. Aluminum Pedal Overlays

I didn't want these to be too flashy. Simple covers for the gas, brake, clutch and dead pedal. Bolted through the oem pedals instead of clipped on. Home made from 3mm flat aluminum stock.





2. Stainless Steel Dash Overlay

The RS came with plain all black analog gauges. A simple stamped stainless steel overlay accentuates the gauges and complements the pedals. Purchased from eBay for about $15. Fits perfect. Mounts with double side tape and easily removable.



3. Machined Aluminum Hand brake cover

Slip on universal aluminum hand brake cover with Carbon fiber boot. I purchased this from eBay for about $25. Ractive brand. The original rubberized hand brake cover had to be removed or modified.



4a. Weighted shifter and short shift assembly

Ractive stainless steel pear-shaped weighted shifter. Polished gunmetal finish. A homemade short throw shifter and shift improvement kit completed this setup for more firmer shifts. A short-throw shortens shift distance by about 30%, considerably lowers the height of the shifter arm but also increases required shifting effort. The weighted shifter (about 450 grams) compensates for this. Got the shifter from eBay brand new for about $15.



The shift improvement kit came in the form of machined aluminum inserts to replace the soft rubber bushings. They provide really crisp and positive shifts. Although they can be considered as a functional upgrade, they do not really seem that necessary for everyday driving unless you really slam the shifter when changing gears. Plus they have the drawback of transmitting more road noise through the shift column.



4b. Shifter handle and shift boot

Even though the ractive weighted shifter works really well, it doesn't match with the hand brake cover. After much searching on eBay, I could not find a matching model to the hand brakd cover. Eventually, I gave in and bought a Ractive brand mini-ball (momo style) machined aluminum shifter and boot from Canadian tire for $50. This complements the existing hand brake cover and also comes with the same carbon fiber looking shift boot.



5. Exhaust Tip

The Eclipse's rear bumper has a very large cutout for the exhaust pipe. This makes the actual tailpipe look really small in relation to the vehicle. To compensate and to lend a more finished look, a polished stainless steel Ractive brand exhaust tip was added. I got this from Canadian tire for $20 (box missing and regularly priced at $60). Oval opening. Clamp on. Folded lip with Ractive logo.



6. Driving lights and mesh grill

Normally these can be considered as functional upgrades but you may have noticed that I have already installed small foglights in the stock location. Being yellow, however, they are pretty much useless during everyday driving. The regular headlamps are sufficient most of the time (city driving) but they can be insufficient for highway driving or in totally unlit backroads. Highbeams work but they are not usually focused where you want the light to be. A pair of regular halogen lamps are the best option. They are cheap and they "fill" the void behind the license plate. Additionally, I have installed a sheet metal mesh grill at this location. This makes the additional driving lights less noticeable when turned off thereby not making the front of the vehicle too "busy". Driving lights were obtained from eBay for $15. Mesh grill is standard galvanized 1/2 inch expanded steel (from Home Depot), cut to fit and painted black.





Update: The rectangular driving lamps have been replaced with 4.5" round driving lights. These were again purchased through eBay for about $25. The round lights complement the existing round foglights. The "rice" part of this change is that the new lights also come with a built-in neon trim ring that can cycle between 7 colors. The ring is purely decorative and is totally useless. The new lights produce a much superior beam over the flat rectangular lens installed previously.


(LED ring can be set to any of 7 colors including red, blue, white, green)



7. Dummy Rear Disk Brakes

Pending the rear disc conversion, I found a set of disc brake simulators from eBay for $5. This has got to be the "ricest" and most useless accessory for the Eclipse. The disc were aluminum anodized in cobalt blue but a quick run with a sanding disc and a wire brush brought out the raw aluminum. I left it uncoated so it will weather and tarnish normally just like a regular disc.