Time To Uprgade My Stock Ls!

[1MiC]

Well i've waited long enough, and i finally decided to put some money into things ive been wanting to buy. Like i said i have a stock 03 LS from the grille to the battery. Im just under 100k miles and ive owned it since about 53k.

Friday I bought a replacement grill since i cracked mine in a fender bender last year. I paid $150 but had i known i could easily get a color matched grill with the chrome inside, i would have done that. Oh well!

Then this morning i decided to do a LED conversion, so i purchased everything from DDMTuning, $155 for all interior bulbs,trunk, 4 ways, reverse and tail lights. I've been wanting to do something with my fogs as i dont even turn them on right now, but thats a little lower on my to-do list. Im happy with my stock HiD's as well.

I went ahead and got the K&N Intake for $213 shipped off ebay. Im not looking for HP as much as just a better sound from my engine. Exhaust has always been a fantasy, but again, its expense has pushed it lower on my to-do list.

I've generally been driving with my headphones in for like 3+ months because my cd player went out. I considered switching to an AUX converter as i didnt want to lose the navigation, but I went with a Kenwood DDX318 for $250 from cruthfield. All the searching i've done has lead me to believe this is gonna be the biggest PITA but ive been DREAMING of putting a quality system in since i blew one of my 6x9 subs over a year ago. Ill probably just remove everything in the rear deck since i wont need the navigation dvd player, the factory amps, or the subs. My Wish List consists of a boston acoustics gt475 to run a set of infinity speakers, and a DC lvl 2 sub powered by who knows what.

Anyways, i did alot of searching so just a quick thanks to everyone who is an active member of this forum! Generally i found a thread where someone is asking a similair question that i have, and one of you guys were either answering or dropping links to older threads!

 

[mcaccamise]

Welcome

Enjoy you new mods sounds like you have a good start.
Mike

 

[Shredicus]

The intake will make your engine sound like a whole new beast. Seriously wakes that sleepy V8 up.

 

[Alax7]

Welcome.

Thats a good list to start with. I'm sure that list will grow with a few days of reading threads here.

 

[Stopsign002]

Post some pics of your car so we can see where you are starting from

 

[Price is wr0ng]

I'm about to do the same thing with the led . Just did my hidden low and fogs

 

[john doe]

If you get some chrome port holes it will add about 10 hp.

 

[RollinLS]

You should use this thread as a"build" thread. Just keep updating it with pictures and mods. Be a nice history of your LS as you bring it along.

 

[manoli]

You should use this thread as a"build" thread. Just keep updating it with pictures and mods. Be a nice history of your LS as you bring it along.

Wish i would have done that with my LS there are a few members on here that have done this as well.

 

[1MiC]

yeah i suppose thats not a bad idea

i was planning to take "before" pics this weekend when the weather clears up.

 

[1MiC]

Edit: I Guess ill start with a little history of my LS.
November 20, 2009 she came to be mine! I was with my ex-fiance at that point. The plan was to get her a vehicle in febuary with income tax, but things came up. So we shared the car for 14 months before we were able to get her a car. In this time i went from 56k when i bought it to about 89k by Feb.2011. I was extremely dissapointed that i put so many miles on my car but we had to get by! Anyways we've since split and i moved alot closer to my job. Im currently sitting just over 97,xxx and im looking to give my car new life. im 22 working 2 jobs (though im off during the summer from one of them) and i dont have any mechanical experiece in my background so i'll be taking things slow.

Well today i got to replacing my grill. As i said i got into a fender bender a while back and i will shamefully post the damage i had done. While i was at it i decided to try my hand at plasti-dip. I have mixed feelings about my work today. The product is great, but i could have done a couple more coats on the upper grill. The lower grill looks good except for the very bottom where i didn't realize till after the mistake i made while taping. Its not really visable fif your looking at it while standing, but i got lower with my camera so you can see what i mean.

Doing these 2 things today made me realize i need to color match my grill and clean up my headlights ASAP! I really wish i had searched around here before buying my grill, the LSE color-matched grill would have been a great choice. Now im concerned about painting mine because im basically afraid ill mess up. there's no peeling off paint But it cant wait! It looks like i already have my project lined up for next week.

.

Wed. ill be installing my K&N Intake since ill be changing out my brake pads as well. I also have my new head-unit sitting in my room, i might be able to install that sat. but i might end up picking up extra shifts at work.

 

[1MiC]

Also as you can see in the 3rd to last pic i have a dent next to my passanger headlight. Im hoping by next month to have that fixed. thats a little more recent then my fender bender. I was a little ashamed of my car at that point! However im planning to turn that around lol.

 

[centason]

If you dont have the money for a full catback just get some mufflers. You'll get a nice sound and a little added power.

 

[BlackLS06]

If i were to do it all over again i would go full catback but if on a budget just piece in it little by little.

 

[dunndarryn]

I was looking to give my LS a better sound too, i'm going to look into the same intake! Thanks! Good luck on your LS project, I'm also just now starting mine!

 

[1MiC]

Yeah I think I would go catback too,its hard for me to cheap out on anything lol. I always want to have the bigger better option. As far as expensive changes go, A revamped sound system has to come first! Then hopefully wheels. Depends how things go the rest of the year, No trips to the shop I hope!

Thx dunn, ill be installing mine tomorrow morning. I got mine from Kuruma Motoring, Inc. Off ebay.

 

[1MiC]

Well today the K&N Intake went in. Great addition! The engine has a nice little growl, but it definantly sounds sweet with this installed. i can see why you guys are going for full exhaust systems now. I also got to polishing the headlights, they still need some more work but i think ill get to it this weekend. Then maybe ill wash it and take some proper pics

 

[1MiC]

I took a bunch of "before" pics tonight of my interior and tail/reverse lights. Tomorrow i will be switching to the LED's and when it gets dark ill take after pics. hopefully i can get pretty close to the same positions.

I already have my trunk installed. All you do is pull down the cloth liner, and you can access the bulb. replace and put the tabs back on for the liner.

Bright ass camera flash (above) vs no flash (Below)

The light reaches to the back of the trunk pretty well. These pics are me standing about 5 feet behind the car.

 

[1MiC]

This morning i installed my interior LED's except for the glove box which i couldnt get my fingers around. I used advice from another member, but i need to go find the thread so i can quote him properly. i took pics to further explain.
http://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/showthread.php?t=80785 (this thread helped me get everything together)

Your gonna need:
Philips
Torx 10
Torx 15
1/8 Flathead (optional)
Small hands (Prefered)

I bought all my lights from DDM Tuning. evey single bulb is 194 (in this write up) i simply used different watt bulbs.
2 Front dome lights = 2.5w
2 Rear dome lights = 1.5w
2 Footwell lights - 1.5w
2 Liscence plate lights = 1.5w (1w bulb suggested)

tomorrow ill do the Tail/Reverse/Turn signals and hopefully get that damn glove box bulb out.

I'll start with the dome lights, your gonna need to pull off this cover (Which was a BI%CH to do). unscrew the 3 torx screws and then a single philips on the other side, then let it hang.

Once you have both sides, pull the headliner down and you'll hear it pop a couple times (tabs) and it should be easy to pull it down enough to get your hand up there. i sat on the console with my head in the sunroof to get a look at the lights from here you can stick your hand up by the rearview mirror, pull out the light and replace the bulb.

I had originally planned to use 1.5w for all the interior but when i saw the size of the bulb i grabbed the 2.5w that i was gonna use for the Liscense plate lights (ill explain more later). Put the light back in the housing, pop the headliner tabs back in palce, and push the overhead console back into place.

(give it a little hammer so it sits flush again (not pictured )


The backseat lights were really easy. Pull down the handle, and pop out the tabs that are covering the 2 screws. pull it down and flip it over to unswrew 2 smaller torx screws to seperate the housing.

Then you pop the light out, and take out the bulb. However you need to put the housing back on BEFORE you put the LED in, otherwise the housing wont fit. So put the housing on, plug in the bulb, and put it all backtogether.

The Licsence plate lights are the only ones i ran into problems with. I planned to use the 2.5w LEDS but the housing wont fit back on with that size bulb. I switched to the 1.5w and was able to get the housing back on but the bulbs were sensitive to being in the wrong position. Basicaslly i could plug in the bulb and it would work, but only if i wiggled it in the right spot. So i installed the 1.5w and realized they werent "wiggled into the right spot" and i had to open the housing back on.

The LP Lights are a single screw holding up the housing, unscrew it, pull out the rubber tab, and you can pull it down slightly.

here is stock

vs. 1.5w

vs. 2.5w

As you can see 1.5 is a little bigger then stock, infact the housing doesnt snap completly back into place but it will stay on. However like i said i was having problems with the the led not stayin on when i went back to screwing in the housing. This is because its such a tight fit, that the led will move out of place when trying to force the housing on. My advice would be to buy 1w bulbs (i assume they're smaller) and hopefully it will be an easy switch.

However i only had a single 1w bulb, everything else i had was 1.5w or bigger. So i actually took the plastic off the housing. This is not MADE to come off, i pryed off one of them off, but then i broke the other one. so i wouldnt suggest this. 1 because you might break it. 2 because someone could walk up to you car, reach up and pull your LED out!!

So anyways i only did this so that i could screw the housing back on, then reach up and wiggle the LED to stay on. I closed me trunk more forcefully then i would normally to see if the LED's turned off or fell out, but it did neither. Im thinking im gonna take a piece of clear plastic and glue it over so that someone doesnt steal my led, or so it doesnt fall out.

The footwell lights are not covered, you just have to put you back down on the edge of the car and stick you head under the dash to see what your doing. im 6ft tall so unless your a giant you should be able to do it. Pull the light out, stick the LED in. done.

 

[dNyce LS]

The plate led may not be staying lit because the contacts are spread too far apart. Try taking a small flat tip and bring them closer to eachother, then put the led in. !!!Make sure the lights are off first!!!

 

[1MiC]

Well ill go try that tomorrow, i wish i hadn't broke off the plastic housing lol, i could have just used stock and bought some 1w bulbs. I was fustrated and acted too fast! But thx for the advice!

Im going to post some before/after shots tonight.

 

[1MiC]

Stock(top) LED(Bottom)

Stock(top) LED(Bottom)

Stock(top) LED(Bottom)

Pictures really dont do it justice lol, it actually makes the stock look really good! But realistically the new LED lights look very nice. The reverse lights are actually more of a directional light so there for not as bright overall, but again they look really good.


LED signals

 

[1MiC]

Short video with the LEDS on

And some overdue shots.

 

[dNyce LS]

Pic 3 of post 23. I like pics with the wheel turned in on that angle

 

[M4rk]

Good work. Now you just need to swap out those ugly yellow puddle lamps