double post yay

I dig those alloys. Bill does work for Ford, I'd say a wheel swap is in order.

those are the nicest looking oem wheels i've seen

' timestamp='1326868521' post='65202']

I dig those alloys. Bill does work for Ford, I'd say a wheel swap is in order.

I will have a hard time ignoring the OEM wheels as possibilities for a summer set. As far as 'standard' Focus wheels go, these and their polished counterparts are the top of my list. Ideally though, I'd love to pick up a set of Focus ST wheels (GORGEOUS!), but I don't know when they'll be available. If I could get my hands on a set in time for summer, it'd be game over for the other options.

Focus ST sedan conversion? Possibility.

they're ok imo but i like the black wheels better

SOON.

Sex

Yay for orange(s)!

Also, a fellow member on the Focus forums did this for me:

I'm still debating doing it in real life, gloss black vinyl roof anyone?

meh i don't really like the black roof to me it makes me think that person wants a panoramic sunroof

The look was started by BMW, the E46 M3 CSL and GTR had unpainted carbon fiber roofs, and the look was idolized by the euro crowd. Soon the Japanese crowd liked it, now it's become a common look.

' timestamp='1327639852' post='65531']

The look was started by BMW, the E46 M3 CSL and GTR had unpainted carbon fiber roofs, and the look was idolized by the euro crowd. Soon the Japanese crowd liked it, now it's become a common look.

Hmm. SO if it was started in 2001, then the Pontiac Sunbird (Late 80s, but this also encompasses the A, B, and C pillars) and later Sunfire (95-96 GT option) were years ahead of the trend with their stock black roofs =).

As for the focus, I think a black roof would look awesome. You can always get rid of it if you end up not liking it since you're using vinyl. And if you end up really liking it you could just paint it on eventually.

Carbon fiber > plastic

BMW left the CF unpainted to save weight (but it did have a protective gel coat and clear coat) GM was just being cheap.

Plastic? Lol the roof is painted metal.

' timestamp='1327702754' post='65549']

Carbon fiber > plastic

BMW left the CF unpainted to save weight (but it did have a protective gel coat and clear coat) GM was just being cheap.

What if BMW's excuse for "saving weight" was also just being cheap?

Back when the CSL and GTR M3's were made, it was before CF was popular like it is today, and stupid expensive! doubt it was a penny saver.

3rd-gen Focus = Euro, so why not?

Speaking of vinyl...

Last night I picked up a few sections of vinyl from a friend of mine. Yellow, Teal (à la Tiffany & Co.) and clear. This afternoon I washed the Focus top-to-bottom, and then parked it in the garage. I'm hoping that tomorrow I can try a few things I've been meaning to, with this and some other vinyl I have laying around.

No black roof yet though, I'm still debating that.

' timestamp='1327705267' post='65553']

Back when the CSL and GTR M3's were made, it was before CF was popular like it is today, and stupid expensive! doubt it was a penny saver.

Not saying the CF was the penny saver, saying not painting it was Same deal as you said GM, in my mind the CF look is just as bad as seeing metal

Interior trim, round 1:

Thursday night I stopped by a friend's house to pick up some vinyl. I specifically chose yellow and teal (The third roll is clear), as those are the primary colours of the car (Paint, and lighting/decals, respectively). There are some ideas I've been meaning to try, and vinyl will let me experiment. If I come up with a scheme I really like, then I can send things off for paint.

Tonight I started, by changing the colour of the trim on the front doors. For reference, this is what I had - silver.

Drawing some inspiration from iND's 1M project, in which a touch of the orange paint was brought inside in the form of the steering wheel trim, I decided to first try the yellow to approximate (Read: it won't match yet) a colour match.

I removed the trim tonight and got to work.

Now on to the actual vinyl. The trim wasn't too bad to work with, aside from some tight corners. Some careful trimming cleaned them up and they were good to go back on.

Now wearing a covering of yellow, they slid and clipped back into place and I could start to get an idea of how Yellow Blaze trim would look. Again, these are not and weren't meant to be colour-matched just yet. This is a trial, to see how I like the contrast against the interior. I still have some playing around to do, with additional trim and colours. (Plus my friend is awesome and let me have this for free, so I can wrap to my heart's content.)

Overall, I don't think it's too bad.

I kinda liked the brushed aluminum finishes...

Interested to see where this goes. Just don't over do it.

' timestamp='1327821962' post='65630']

I kinda liked the brushed aluminum finishes...

Interested to see where this goes. Just don't over do it.

Just don't over do it or it will look ricey! but not bad sofar........

If I go with yellow, it'd be extremely limited and offset with something like Piano Black - the Focus ST uses that combo.

Doesn't look bad at all. Once color matched it will look even better.

on the don't over-do

My current mental picture, if I continue with the yellow:

Yellow blaze door trims, with Piano Black center stack/shifter trim. Possibly Yellow Blaze trim rings around the cluster (Currently silver as well), but that's just one possibility. Another is converting all silver to Piano black, but keeping it clean worries me.

Last night was my car club's first meet of 2012. After dinner we headed to the university parkade for a late-night photoshoot. A few of us were taking pictures, myself among them. Of course I took some of the Fofo.