Have a few modding questions, lend a thought?

[BLiT]

Hey guys, since school got out for me I'll finally be able to work full-time during the week, which means I'll finally be able to pay for my car to be fixed! ^^

Anyway, I've had plenty of time to re-think my modding, and I think I've come up with a bit better list than what I had before, but I'm worried about a few things and wanted to hear y'all opinions.

Since this is long, I'll organize it some. Please help where you can.
--SIRIUS RADIO: SPLICING POWER LINES (Custom Install)--
--AUDIO AMPLIFIER: RUNNING POWER WIRE THROUGH FIREWALL--
--TOYOTA "BODY SIDE MOLDINGS" - Yes or no?--
--DASHBOARD & GAUGE RE-COLORING--



--SIRIUS RADIO INSTALL--
Firstly, I have a Sirius radio that I hard-wired in as best I could. (Antenna is hidden under the rear deck, power's run under the console leading from the center console box's power adapter, and the radio itself is hidden in the bottom compartment. Took a good two-three days to wire in, as I even had to take the base apart and run the circuitry below the compartment in the dash board. Here's a picture if you're not sure where I'm talking about.)

Pic1
Pic2

Anyway, as you can see the radio itself blocks one of the power outlets, and takes up the only other one in the car (center console) for power. Not the greatest layout, but hopefully we'll change it.
When I first tried the install, I wasn't able to remove the outlet from the plastic piece I put the radio in. (Sorry if I'm not being clear enough.) If no one knows a way to get it out without breaking anything, I'm thinking about splicing the outlet's wires and soldering the two wires together. Not only does this mean I have to splice the outlet's wire, but also my Sirius's power wire. A) would this work? B) Is this safe? and C) Would you actually recommend this at ALL?

--AUDIO AMPLIFIER--
So, I bought a 360w JL Audio two-channel amp to power my rear-deck speakers. Amazon screwed up my order for a wiring kit, so I ended up buying a cheap kit from Walmart and did a cheap job installing it, anticipating having to do it again. Well, I never got my amazon wiring, so now I'm going to clean-up what I do have. My problem is I couldn't find a hole in the firewall to run the power wire from the battery back to the speakers.

I know people here have installed amps in there cars, so my question is: Where did you all run the wire, or did you have to drill and line a new hole?

--BODY SIDE MOLDINGS--
Ever since my accident I've been looking at my doors a LOT, and I've come to realize they're pretty plain. At first I didn't like the side moldings on our cars, as they reminded me of my sister's 9th gen Corolla, which I really just don't like, for some reason. However, I think they've grown on me a lot. What do you think, is it worth the money? Also, we're not paying our Toyota dealer to do the repairs (although it's not out of the options, yet... we just haven't bothered to ask them for prices,) so I'm also worried about paint tone. As far as I know these come pre-painted from Toyota, and although it's the same paint, I'm very, very worried that there'll be a light but noticeable difference in the paint colors. What do you think?

--DASHBOARD/GAUGE RE-COLOR--
I'm really wanting to re-do the LED's in my dashboard and gauge cluster, but I have no idea how to do it and can't even decide in the color. My two questions here are A) How hard is it really to do, especially since I'll be modding everything from the CD Player to the shift knob? Also, I'm stuck between red or white LEDs. I'm thinking white, as I plan to have red underglow beneath the dashboard itself, but I'd like some other people's opinions. All red, Red gauges with white underglow beneath the dash, or white gauges with red beneath the dash?

--STUNNING CONCLUSION--
Sorry for writing a whole book, I just figured it'd be better to get it all in one thread now than 20-million later on. Truly do appreciate it guys, I'll make it up to you somehow!

BLiT ^_^

[msncorolla422]

Sorry that I dont know anything about car audio and stuff like that but I do know that the body side moldings dont look good on the car. I've seen them in person and they look bad IMO and my little microscopic door ding....actually two little door dings would have dinged the car anyway even if I had the moldings. they have no purpose on our cars.....kinda...on older gens yes I saw them working like on my sisters 8th gen and I would definitely do the LED swap in the gauges

[SuperchargedMR2]

I like the door moldings & when I saw them on a car I think they look great. The doors are very large & the molding helps break up the large flat door & give it some style.

As far as the LED's go I love the stock orange color & replacing them all is too much of a hassle IMO.

If I were replacing the HU I would install a nice 2-din NAV unit with a nice amp & speakers.

[BLiT]

Haha, I'm still wanting to get my hands on one of the Toyota TNS700's (the stock GPS, admittedly.) I should just be able to run it through a JL audio Cleansweep to the amps, and get all the performance out of it that I would a much more expensive unit... and, I won't have all that dead space on the dashboard. =P
(Sorry, I just don't like any of the Chinese units. It's a pet-peeve, they just look cheapish IMO.)

I too like the orange LED's, but I really want the red neons on the inside, as I'm planning to match them with red underglows. I've also been disputing installing blue interior lights instead of red, as I think this would let me keep my orange LED's. Whatcha' think?

[flamedrgn]

i really want some white leds on the dashboard but the DIY is really risky for inexperienced people like myself. I also agree with Jim, get a 2din unit

[SuperchargedMR2]

Originally Posted by BLiT

Haha, I'm still wanting to get my hands on one of the Toyota TNS700's (the stock GPS, admittedly.) I should just be able to run it through a JL audio Cleansweep to the amps, and get all the performance out of it that I would a much more expensive unit... and, I won't have all that dead space on the dashboard. =P
(Sorry, I just don't like any of the Chinese units. It's a pet-peeve, they just look cheapish IMO.)

I too like the orange LED's, but I really want the red neons on the inside, as I'm planning to match them with red underglows. I've also been disputing installing blue interior lights instead of red, as I think this would let me keep my orange LED's. Whatcha' think?

I can't remember who it was that installed orange led underglows & I thought it looked great. I also think that you could do a different color than orange if you wanted to & it could still look nice.

I feel the same way about the HU's made in China. I would have to see one in person to think differently. I know that Crutchfield also sells a unit that fits our 10th Gen like the units from China but they cost like $1500. I would expect them to be much better units for that price!

[x8dragon8x]

for your amps. i was watching this guy do my alarm. and he had to run a wire from my steering column for the tilt sensor through my firewall to the horn thats in the engine bay. you could actualy just puncture a hole close to where the steering column is and you could stick a wire through it. its a rubber grommet i believe. and since its rubber its a little hard to poke a wire through.

[BLiT]

Damn, for $1,500 they better be!

Hey dude, your post in the TRD Part's thread got me looking at the Borla mufflers, and they're actually pretty cheap. Do you like it better over the Magnaflow bolt-ons? Better yet, think you could PM me a video sometime? ^_^

--EDIT--
That was supposed to be for Supercharged... damn internet lag!

@x8dragon8x: Thanks man, I tried to take a peek towards the steering column, but it was too much effort to actually get to it not knowing if I'd be able to run the wire through. I'll be sure to look again tomorrow and see what I'm dealing with - it sounds like a reasonable option. Right now I'm trying to avoid making any new holes, as I have a fear of screwing it up and it rusting in the distant future. >.>

[x8dragon8x]

uh i think i have a picture of where i wired my own wire for my fog lights.


hope you can kinda see what im talking about.

[rollarage]

For the firewall, I tried the driver side, but ended up taking out the glove box and had easy access to a rubber grommet that hides right behind the left strut tower when facing the front of the car. Trust me I tried both sides and the passenger side is much easier

[x8dragon8x]

Yeah its pretty hard to get a wire through the grommet from the steering column. But its better for your amp wire cause your battery will already be right there. If you were to wire from the passenger side, you would need to wire around the engine to get to the battery

It should be ok as long as you seal where you are poking a hole. I heard that from the mechanics at the toyota dealership near me.

[kevinnz]

Originally Posted by SuperchargedMR2

I can't remember who it was that installed orange led underglows & I thought it looked great. I also think that you could do a different color than orange if you wanted to & it could still look nice.

I feel the same way about the HU's made in China. I would have to see one in person to think differently. I know that Crutchfield also sells a unit that fits our 10th Gen like the units from China but they cost like $1500. I would expect them to be much better units for that price!

was me

[yjunkie]

man, side molding is a great investment on your car IMO, don't wait til it's too late, it's 109 dollars i think and the installation is easy, all you need are some masking tape, ruler, something to wipe off the surface with and some cleaning solutions. and they work, trust me, i had a door ding on my left rear door and it's so visible cuz the door is plain, luckily the ding is right at the spot where the manual says to put the side molding, so i covered it. again, don't wait til it's too late cuz a ding on a plain door looks ugly. To be honest, you can be super careful with your corolla, but you can never stop somebody else from dinging your doors when go shopping, movies, dine out........ so get it, you won't regret it.

[SuperchargedMR2]

Originally Posted by BLiT

Damn, for $1,500 they better be!

Hey dude, your post in the TRD Part's thread got me looking at the Borla mufflers, and they're actually pretty cheap. Do you like it better over the Magnaflow bolt-ons? Better yet, think you could PM me a video sometime? ^_^

--EDIT--
That was supposed to be for Supercharged... damn internet lag!

I like the sound more on the Borla. The Magnaflow was still a little too raspy for my taste. I posted a video on one of the threads but here it is again. I have no drone at any rpm & I couldn't be happier.

You Tube

You Tube