Fair enough chap, as I said before, that big lamps are for function rather than form, I did have some Ring one that were a bit smaller and matched the 'look' better, but they fell apart, so I went with the Hella's, and they are fantastic, currently fitted with PIAA bulbs you can see over a third of a kilometer, perfect for the country roads of Warwickshire, or the coast road from Porto to Lisbon Frankly, I would have prefered to mount them a little higher and more 'in' the grill, but that would have meant loosing the front towbar, which I don't want to do as I need it in case I have a 'moment' at a track day :D

The TOW sticker is there so marshalls at track days use the towbar and not the bumper to tow the car should I have a moment too, they're not known for being gentle

The small lights are 'work in progress' a better solution will be found but for now, I like them

The stickers on the door and under the plate are Club323F stickers, and advertise this very club as a very long standing member, BA moderator and Steering Commitee member, its my duty to big up the club, there's a Jap Flag version on the back window too :D:D

The two small stickers under the side repeater are Spax and Koni stickers, both of which I have on the car, I think putting stickers of stuff you don't have on your car on your car is pretty sad Actually, I bought some really nice stickers sheets 3 years ago with the logos of most of the products I actually use on the car, cost me £35 and I've never used 'em, if I finally do, they'll be somewhere out of general view :D:D

The headlamp protectors are genuine Mazda parts, customised to give the car a slightly meaner look, which, i'm told works very well in peoples rear view mirror

They were first designed by Rich Hardesty, then copied by me, and then a few others got in on the look

I have a special set for everyday use with cutouts for the projector lamps, so i don't have to keep taking them on and off, as the mirror film they're backed with doesn't really help the already poor lamps :D

The indicator/side lamp lenses are covered with a silver film cut with a semi tribal design to my own design, I was bored one weekend about three years ago, and you know, i really like them, I made them, i designed them, no-one else has anything like them, and I'm really proud of that :D

The X is a pair of Elastoplast sticking plasters that I put there for a laugh 4 years ago to cover a small crack from when I hit a branch at 60mph one winters night on a blind bend :D:D

Since then, they've become a bit of a badge, everyone knows my car because of them, and I love the fact they've survived so long, despite the attentions of plenty of jet washes :D

As for the big round black thing, well, that was 3 years in the conception chap, I wanted a cold air feed, but it had to look right, be easy to fit, be cheap, and fit the curve of the F bumper in the right place, you can read all about it here..... http://www.club323f.com/club323f/forum/ ... 37&start=0 :D

And lastly, the black things under the plasters, they are 'canard wings' and are designed to flow air to the brakes better, not sure how effective they are, but on a track day, you need all the brake cooling you can get chap, brake fade at the end of a fast straight at top speed is very bad, and any way to prevent it is good in my book :D

So, there you go, the reasons why, like I said, a mixture of form and function, with a little style too

I love the look the F as a standard car, and I don't like over the top mods, I 've tried to add just enough subtle modification to set the beautiful lines of the car of :D

After nearly 6 years of owning her, Meanie is a big part of my life, and will be for a long time to come I hope, especially when I get my new engine fitted

That was well explained for all of us Andy. That's put me a little more in the picture anyhow. Cheers

Sure. I believe in amicable sharing of information. I asked you a question, I thought it only fair that you also had similar information from me. A matter of courtesy. It's what forums are all about and I totally support the notion.

Oh yeah - blame me why don't you

I had no idea


cool story

thank you for the detailed information
I can see you know well what you're doing in your car besides that it's only tastes

Hugzoom

I understand now..just thought you want to mean something extra with that

I know well what a forum is

AutoHoje Online forum member since 2003
http://forum.autohoje.com
The largest forum in Portugal about cars

Clube MAZDA PT administrator
www.mazdapt.com
The only forum about MAZDA in Portugal

Also member of Care Care Europe's forum
www.detalhe.net
The first in Portugal

sorry the OT here andym323

Hugzoom

Part of my 'styling' ethos is to keep the car looking as standard as possible, but highlighting the shape and design features by adding the right parts :D



Oh I have many cool stories



Yup

sorted then

No fighting, now!

Ad

Tee hee, sorry dude

Quite

All it needed was a little explanation :D

Andy, I must say I think Meanie looks absolutely stunning, and your mods do exactly what you were aiming for. The F is already a beautiful car, but the right mods make it look like it means business too

Keep up the good work fella

I think all of Andy's unique mods give Meanie a lot of character . Looks cool I say!

Absolutley stunning car andy Nicely done there chap.. you know me ive always been inspired by your modding! Even though my styling is more PIMP MY RIDE

Again mate well done on some seriously stunning modding there, every little detail is done to perfection

yes it is
I'm affraid of take a look at your's

Hugzoom

Thats a bit harsh I think Meanie looks well nice you have to see the car in the flesh to truely appreciate the mods :):)
Good work Andy
And also Da2el don't be afriad to look at ezee_gee's car as that is also very nicely modded, but each to there own opinion

Hope my comments don't start a new rift lol :):)

I love what Andy's done with Meanie . . . kept her mostly standard but yet still so unique . . . and with a character all of her own . . . she could certainly never be called "just a car"!




Club members here have vastly different tastes in styling . . . it's what makes it all fun and interesting!

My car has also strayed slightly from standard!

just a tiny teenie ickle bit wolf.... barely noticable really

now i know why there's plaster on andy's F!!!! LOL

and i was thinking if i were to do something similar to andy's cold air pudding bowl intake...(i.e. getting a hole in the front bumper, ripping out the white box, then a pipe from the hole up to the original air box, and I only have the panel filter in the original airbox) and if it's raining and i m travelling at high speed, will the water come into the hole and up the pipe into the air filter which is not ideal???

nope

hmm depends andy iv experienced it myself haha had a wet hks filter on mine cos of the Cai

Ok, let me clarify :D

Literally the day I finished the CAF, we had a monstrous downpour, heavy heavy driving rain, car ran no probs :D

And shortly after that, I had to drive to Liverpool, it rained torrentialy all the way there, and all the way back, again, no problem :D

I'm sure some of that water got as far as the filter, but, even if it gets thru, it won't do any harm :D It actually helps the fuel/air mix and aids the burning process, cooling the bores slightly :D We've all heard of water spray systems used to get better ffuel/air molecule suspension right???? :D

The only way it will damage your engine, is if you completely submerge the air intake and airbox in water, I don't recommend trying tho

Nice one Andy - you have a water-cooling system for Meanie too!

yup and its free too :D:D

Who would have thought something as simple as a pudding bowl could be so effective eh

Keep up the good work mate - Meanie is undoubtedly amongst the best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be!

i like it too!, dont know why peeps are mugging it off.

Thanks guys

You're all making me feel warm and fuzzy

i have to say that i love meanie - andy does some awesome things to her and takes great care of her - i know he takes his time over his mods (there is no need to ruch them )

i'll admit that some things on her arent to my taste - but that doesnt mean that they dont work on meanie

i still think that the CAF is one of the best mods i've seen on here yet - i really had to think hard whether to copy it or not

i chose not to - but that doesnt mean that i dont think it is amazing

good job squire, keep up the great modding

Cleared that up then.
BUT I was expecting a slightly better explanation, Some thing like:- " I aimed for and hit a Nasty Forum Troll at 60mph" as we all know Mennie is a Awesome troll killing machine!!!

Exactly chap, but i like to keep it quiet

Not had an update for a while, so, I thought I'd add some of the pics taken so far this year :D

Here's a couple from back when it snowed......




And here's the only really visible mods so far this year (apart from the socks), my revised and refreshed dash, many, many, many, many BIG thanks to Stu for getting me the warning lights, you're a star chap :D



And for those who've not seen it, here are the socks :P