Starting build

[Fisticuffs]

This has been a long time coming. I refrained when I first got the car due to warranty worries. Luckily I did because three months in I needed a full transmission replacement. Now that it's been a year or so I'm getting antsy so I'm starting off slow. Pics will come gradually and I'll grab some shortly to show the before and after effect.

First off is tinting (told ya it was a slow start). Going on the only mildly illegal end in Ontario with 22% for the front windows and probably 13% for all the rest. $249 for the tinting which is digitally cut and lifetime warrantied, and $40 for the felt stripping which, for whatever reasons, our RA's don't seem to come with.

[bertybrate]

Hi welcome just want to know more of your transmission failure did u have leaks or just the tranny gave in?

[MTZL]

What is this felt strip people keep talking about??
I got my windows tinted & I watched the guy how he did it.
He didnt put anything on my RA except the tint films.
I had to wait 48hrs before I can roll my windows down.
Never had to install this alleged felt strip...
Anybody got pic of this felt strip???

Yeah what did happened to your TC-SST???

[Fisticuffs]

The felt strip, as I understand, is pretty commonly missing on all forms of Lancers (maybe just in Canada?). It's never been an issue with my stock windows, but with tint it may scratch a bit so I'd be wary. I'll see if I can get a picture of them prior to install.

As for the tranny...was good times. Initially I was commuting roughly an hour five days a week for about 8 months. About three months in on my way back to town I noticed my RPMs going up but no acceleration. Pulled over, played around a bit, and then finally resorted to shutting the car off and restarting and got a "Check Transmission" error. I didn't notice any leaks at all and I never hard launch it at all so I wasn't sure what the issue was. I was luckily only 10 mins away from the dealership so I just brought it in and dropped it off for the next day. They looked at it and said it could be the ECU (which didn't make much sense to me) but never gave me a definitive answer to what the problem was, but still replaced it with no questions asked and started a whole new warranty on it. Was still a pain because I was without a car for a couple weeks since I didn't feel like taking their Altima or Impala or whatever. I did test my luck and asked if I could take their Evo but that didn't fly haha.

[jay10ralliart]

This has been a long time coming. I refrained when I first got the car due to warranty worries. Luckily I did because three months in I needed a full transmission replacement. Now that it's been a year or so I'm getting antsy so I'm starting off slow. Pics will come gradually and I'll grab some shortly to show the before and after effect.

First off is tinting (told ya it was a slow start). Going on the only mildly illegal end in Ontario with 22% for the front windows and probably 13% for all the rest. $249 for the tinting which is digitally cut and lifetime warrantied, and $40 for the felt stripping which, for whatever reasons, our RA's don't seem to come with.
Wow $249 for tint...I know its Canada but thats crazy. I paid $100 for my tint I never got the felt strip and Ive had my windows tinted for 6 months with no problems!

[wutangmo15]

I've been reading a lot about the felt. Apparently it is like a 50/50 if you'll have problems or not if you have a pre 2010 Lancer. Luckily I haven't had any problems there are some kits out there for those that are worried about it.

[MTZL]

The felt strip, as I understand, is pretty commonly missing on all forms of Lancers (maybe just in Canada?). It's never been an issue with my stock windows, but with tint it may scratch a bit so I'd be wary. I'll see if I can get a picture of them prior to install.


Yes pics please, Im trying to understand why is it necessary, I got tints no scratches..looks like I got felt strip but I could be wrong.. Mine is 2009 GG RA. Maybe Canada give you guys Sun roof in exchange for Felt strips. :D


As for the tranny...was good times. Initially I was commuting roughly an hour five days a week for about 8 months. About three months in on my way back to town I noticed my RPMs going up but no acceleration. Pulled over, played around a bit, and then finally resorted to shutting the car off and restarting and got a "Check Transmission" error. I didn't notice any leaks at all and I never hard launch it at all so I wasn't sure what the issue was. I was luckily only 10 mins away from the dealership so I just brought it in and dropped it off for the next day. They looked at it and said it could be the ECU (which didn't make much sense to me) but never gave me a definitive answer to what the problem was, but still replaced it with no questions asked and started a whole new warranty on it. Was still a pain because I was without a car for a couple weeks since I didn't feel like taking their Altima or Impala or whatever. I did test my luck and asked if I could take their Evo but that didn't fly haha.

I drive 7 days a week. sometimes all day long. I drive the crap out of it on the mountain, autox, & 1/4 mile drag race...idk...
Do you have any pics of the incident?
More details on your driving style???
Which gear & rpm? Auto mode or Manual? Sports or Normal???

When I drive around cities & street.. I limit my right foot to 3k rpm mark in every gear. I drive it in mostly Normal mode in Manual sometime I would test the sports mode once a week or during spirited driving & auto events. Usually get rev'd to about 5-6k rpm in every gear.

Funny thing is I dont think any Mitsu let you drive their EVO.
I went in to buy an EVO but they wouldnt let me test drive til I sign papers. lol. Who buy a car without test driving it.
Their excuse was nobody wants to buy a used evo, is why they cant let me test drive the MIGHTY EVO! lol. Oh well its their loss than again If I bought an EVO I wouldve been repo'd. lol.

[Fisticuffs]

The average going rate for tint here seems to be about that or more, so it's not too bad. Sorry for the bad picture; just off my phone, but basically the felt stripping will go along near where my finger is and is supposed to lessen wear and tear.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v715/Mac1302/IMG_0123.jpg

As for the tranny incident, I have no pictures of it at all. From what I recall it was maybe 4th gear and I was in automatic, but not sure which mode I was in. For highway driving and steady-paced roads I tend to leave it in Normal but for most driving around town I leave it in Sport. I occasionally toss it into manual but it's not overly often. For the most part I'm not too hard on the car, so the whole ordeal was pretty baffling, especially after such a short time. I was certain I wasn't going to get the Evo, but no harm in asking haha. I know the manager of the dealership garage fairly well too so I figured I may have that extra leg up but no dice.

As for the before tint pictures, here they are with some minor flurries.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v715/Mac1302/IMG_0124.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v715/Mac1302/IMG_0125.jpg

[Jackal]

Maybe I can add to the felt and tint discussion. My Installer told me that the rubber seal on the inside plasic door panel would cause scratches on some cars. They had to re do about a half dozen cars at their expense. After that they installed felts to keep the rubber from causing possible future damage. They said they would do it without felts but would not provide a warranty unless you paid extra to have the felts installed.

They charged I think it was like an extra $50.00 or something but that included felts for all 4 doors and the labour to intall them. I am going on 19 months and have had no issues yet.

[Fisticuffs]

So I'm going away this upcoming weekend and leaving on Friday, so I was thinking Friday before I leave maybe do some plasti-dip on the front chrome ring and lip so it has time to stay clean and dry over the weekend. Never really used the product before though so anyone have any tips on it? I know I'll clean and dry the area before but I'm presuming no sanding is necessary.

[MTZL]

NOOO! No sanding!!! lol. just clean the area you want to plasti-dip.
Mask out the area you dont want plati-dip.
Follow direction on the plati-dip spray can.
Spray light even coats, keep it at least 6"inches away from the surface to prevent runs. Maybe use a empty paper roll as a spray guide to keep unwanted plasti-dip particles from flying/airborne all over & settling on other parts of your car.

If you mess up wait til it dried to peel off or you will have one heck of a mess smearing plasti-dip all over.

Practice with card boards & other items like Cell phone & see how plasti-dip works...
I practiced on my cell phone first. lol. I plasti-dip sprayed. waited til it dried about 1 hr+/- & peeled it off.

[Fisticuffs]

Picked a can up today and asked around and will be doing it Wednesday after the tinting at a buddy's heated garage bay. Gotta pick up some blue 3M painter's tape tomorrow (unless there's another tape you'd guys recommend) and then I'll be heading in with that plus the paper towel rolls like ya said and I'll probably practice a bit on them. We'll see how it all goes and I'll post some updated pictures on maybe Thursday.

[MTZL]

Picked a can up today and asked around and will be doing it Wednesday after the tinting at a buddy's heated garage bay. Gotta pick up some blue 3M painter's tape tomorrow (unless there's another tape you'd guys recommend) and then I'll be heading in with that plus the paper towel rolls like ya said and I'll probably practice a bit on them. We'll see how it all goes and I'll post some updated pictures on maybe Thursday.

Another tricky part, the masking tape when you peel it off.
I've tried to peel it off when wet (3m painters tape) it didnt do that good a job kinda ruined to edge/line..
So I did it again & waited after it dried & a hobby knife to trace along the edges of masking tape to make sure I didnt cut into the paint just enough to cut the plasti-dip before I peel off the masking tape.
:cool:

Its best to take things apart to spray. Much easier. Spray the whole thing wait til it drys & reinstall.

[MTZL]

Spray Guide :Thumbsup: My thumb had blisters when I was rubbing all the tiny particles off my RA. :o

[Fisticuffs]

Haha, yeah, I definitely considered removing the ring, but from all the tutorials I've read about it it seems like quite an ordeal for a little bit of spraying, so I'll probably tape and cover the front end fairly well just to be certain.

[Fisticuffs]

Long day but it's all done. Tint looks great and once it's a little more dry I'll take a comparison picture of the felt strip. Went with 22% in the front driver and passenger windows and 13% for the rest.

The plasti-dip was more of an ordeal than I expected and it took probably 2 hours to tape properly, but a guy who was in the garage who used to do a lot of painting complimented the taping, so that was more reassuring. When that was all over I followed the instructions as much as possible and just sprayed and prayed. Was running out of time later on but got the fourth coat of plasti-dip on and left the car at the garage and am going back bright and early to take a razor blade to the edges and take all the taping off and snap a few pictures.

[bam6985]

I'd recommend taking the tape off while it's still wet but that's just me it's hard not to cut the paint

[Mkid]

Let us know how it turns out. I've been putting it off because taking off the bumper does seem pretty scary.

[Fisticuffs]

So got the taping all off in about 1.5 hours roughly. There were a couple parts that were difficult but patience prevailed. So for the pictures I'll start with the added felt strip that is fairly noticeable. Didn't take the same type of picture as before because I didn't really want to tinker around at the edges of the tint yet.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v715/Mac1302/IMG_0130.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v715/Mac1302/IMG_0128.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v715/Mac1302/IMG_0129.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v715/Mac1302/IMG_0127.jpg

[Mkid]

So would you recommend taping as the way to go?

[Fisticuffs]

If you've got a full spare day or maybe two, and some patience, then I'd do taping. I used 1" wide painter's tape for the detailed stuff and then 2.5" or 3" for the more open areas as well as some sheets. The tape actually slides in easy to the gap between the ring and body work. Before taking it off I just took an exacto knife to the gaps and then peeled off slowly and at certain angles so as to not tear the tape and leave bits behind in the gaps. On the other hand, if you feel like going through the process of removing the front end and then popping the ring out, it would probably be slightly more thorough and definitely less worrysome. It really just comes down to preference I think. Either way, touch-ups will be easy with just sectioning parts off.