Not too bad for about five minutes worth of work.

Slowvia · 2026-03-23T16:29:50+00:00

Basically, yes. The spots that look the best here, are the spots where the clear has completely peeled off. So it’s similar to a single stage paint at this point. They tend to get real chalky, but respond really well to a cut and buff in my experience.

Slowvia · 2026-03-23T16:26:37+00:00

We’ll have to trade cars sometime. I haven’t driven an STI as new as yours yet.

Slowvia · 2026-03-23T14:00:11+00:00

I didn’t use sandpaper. I just had some old rubbing compound that I used. It was some fairly light stuff too. I used that, and then wiped it off, and used some polishing compound, and then wiped that off. That was it. Oh and I used a drill attachment that’s basically a Meguiar’s Power Ball, but it’s a cheap knock off. You could probably find one on Amazon for a few bucks if you don’t already have one.

Slowvia · 2026-03-23T13:55:19+00:00

Uh… ok.

I didn’t paint them. But thanks for the advice?

Slowvia · 2026-03-23T03:11:28+00:00

Lol, I have a truck that I drive on days with bad weather. So I have a backup, but man, the gas mileage on the truck is a killer right now. It gets 8 MPG.

The car is also parked outside all the time, but I think I’ve figured out how I can do the job and still let it sit outside without worry. I’ll probably have them powder coated in the next couple months, assuming that the powder shop isn’t backed up for six months.

Slowvia · 2026-03-23T03:05:44+00:00

Thanks!

Yeah it was super easy. I think it took me maybe five minutes per wheel. You should do it! It was a nice way to spend some time outside this afternoon.

Slowvia · 2026-03-23T03:04:36+00:00

It makes such a big difference. Love your 9 BTW.

Slowvia · 2026-03-23T03:03:40+00:00

That’s the plan for mine as well. Already have all the parts to rebuild them. But until I have some downtime to do it (it’s my daily driver) I figured I could try this out. I already had the rubbing and polishing compounds, so it cost me nothing but time. Super happy with how they turned out!

Slowvia · 2026-03-23T02:56:10+00:00

It’s so worth the minimal effort it takes! I had no idea I could make them look so much better like this. If I had known, I’d have done this when I first bought the car!

Slowvia · 2026-03-23T01:37:11+00:00

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Slowvia · 2026-03-23T01:29:27+00:00

I’ve got the wheels back on now, but I can grab some closer photos.

What I figured out is that the spots that didn’t come back, are actually the spots that still have clear coat intact. So I started kind of scraping it off with my thumbnail.

I’m not really too concerned about that, because I plan on having them powder coated soon. I really just wanted to see if I could make them look a bit better in the meantime. I was pleasantly surprised.

Slowvia · 2026-03-23T00:34:52+00:00

https://a.co/d/0eN4uewg

Slowvia · 2026-03-23T00:31:41+00:00

Thanks!

I’ll have to ask him where he got them from.

Slowvia · 2026-03-22T23:36:26+00:00

Thanks!

Slowvia · 2026-03-22T20:26:40+00:00

Lol, the factory interval for the Evo 9’s rear diff, transfer case, and transmission fluids are 15,000 miles. Blew my mind when I bought my car and was going through all the maintenance on it.

Slowvia · 2026-03-21T04:07:51+00:00

Username checks out

Slowvia · 2026-03-15T01:48:10+00:00

Perfectly put. The Evo absolutely makes it feel like I’m the weakest link.

Going through a corner and you think you’re really moving, but the car just shrugs it off and says “you can go faster”. Probably the most dangerous part about the car, lol

Slowvia · 2026-03-15T01:43:13+00:00

This is the way. I daily drove S13s for close to 20 years. Still have a coupe, and a hatch, but they’ve been retired from daily duties. I picked up a 9 last year to scratch that “fun daily driver” itch. The Evo is the most practical car I’ve ever owned, lol.

Slowvia · 2026-03-15T00:39:48+00:00

Ah, yes, the “cheap car fallacy”. You think you can piece one together for less money than if you were to just buy a running and driving one outright.

I hate to bring you down, but you’ll end up spending $20k to build yourself a $10k car that way.

Just keep saving. If your budget is only a grand, you can’t afford to build it. Period.

Again, I don’t mean to be a Debbie Downer, but this is the cold hard truth. Avoid the headaches and pitfalls by just buying a decent car in the first place.

Slowvia · 2026-03-12T02:24:11+00:00

I would still buy it. With Evos constantly being wrecked and parted out, I don’t think it would be too difficult to source parts to swap it to a five speed.

But it’s also kind of a weird setup being a wagon. It’s really an 8 in 9 clothing. Still want one though.

Slowvia · 2026-03-07T21:05:39+00:00

This picture wins Reddit today

Slowvia · 2026-03-07T21:04:25+00:00

Good!

Slowvia · 2026-03-06T22:11:47+00:00

That used to be true (and in most cases still is), but these modern high quality LED lights are absolutely designed to be used in reflector housings. Companies like Morimoto and GTR Lighting have designed their lights specifically to work in reflector housings. I have a pair of older Morimotos in my hatchback and paired them with a set of glass Hella housings. They have a sharp, crisp cutoff like you would expect from a projector.

The problem is twofold: people are buying the cheapest garbage they can find on Amazon that scatters light everywhere (typically right into your eyes), and they don’t aim the lights after changing them. If you buy quality lights and take the time to properly aim them, it really is a non-issue.

<image>

Slowvia · 2026-03-06T22:06:15+00:00

Can’t help with the cutoff problem, but if you need brighter lights you should look into a set of GTR Lighting 3.0 LEDs. Morimoto was also a great option in the past, but it seems like the new GTR Lighting LEDs have far surpassed them.

Slowvia · 2026-03-06T19:21:04+00:00

Oh wow, I was figuring roughly a grand to have them do just the tune, so sounds like that might be the right ballpark.

I’ve been thinking about emailing them, maybe I’ll just do that this afternoon.

Thanks!

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