Northern Virginia Roll Call

my truck takes 7-10 min to get to temp normally. Was looking for power at every turn is all.

 

Supercharger......

 

So, has anyone here dealt with old dominion freight? I ordered lots of parts from wheelers including an ARB. ARB shipped via ODF and when I checked on the status of the shipment it said call their 800 number. I called: they said call the Manassas service center because they couldn't find an updated tracking status. I called checked with them, they didn't have it. But said the package was unloading in Denver. Long story short: does anyone know of how diligent the estimated ship time is through ODF? They say its going to ship by tomorrow, and I'm doubting that.

 

I've only dealt with Pilot freight I believe it was who Demello used to ship my bumper. Demello said to expect a call from the freight company by a certain date and I received one within that range to schedule a dropoff date. I would take the dates with a grain of salt though with the freight companies.

 

That's what I figure. My only concern is I get the rest of all my parts today and I'm dropping off my truck and I don't want to be stuck waiting on the bumper. I'd love to get it done in one swoop. But I tend to be a little impatient. Thanks Johnny.

 

Remember to post pics of the updated goodies!

 

Oh I will, no worries there. The suspension is, m sure, done already. Just waiting on the ARB

 

CLASSIC! lol

 

Turbocharger!!

 

For those of you interested in doing a Xenon Retrofit. This guy is doing them for you without losing your headlights for a week:

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2n...fs-fx-r-mini-retrofits-bhlm-no-down-time.html

 

Already in his queue.
I attempted mine and they looked like poo

 

Get ready for some rain showers. Big line of storms coming. Kinda weird getting severe tstorm and tornado watches in january...

 

I was listening on my scanner earlier this evening when a report of a car in water, with someone still trapped went out in the west end of Loudoun. Ended up being a car in several inches of water, and the guys literally opened the door and walked the person away from the car. Learn when to call 911...

Matt

 

We have a county alert system by text message and I got one earlier that said if you lose power call the power company, not 911

 

Yup, got all my e-mails from County Emergency Management. I got my go-bag ready!

 

How long is his queue? He said it normally takes him about 4 days to get one done.

 

id like to have a set "professionally" done but idk if i can justify spending that kind of money on it

 

I would think doing the BHLM and projector install takes about 4 days or less. The BHLM probably takes the longest amount of time. Once the BHLM is done, I don't think it would take him too long to install and aim the projectors, seal them up, and send them out. I would guess he probably has a jig set up so he can aim them without putting them onto the truck to speed things up
Only problem is his work is so good, he appears to be getting a lot of business, which makes the wait time go up. I sent him all my stuff in December ( I purchased through the TRS group buy) and last time he updated, I was 7th in line. So turnaround time will probably be a couple months from start to finish.

I agree with the money part, but look at it from my point of view and don't make the same mistake I did, unless you're better with this kind of stuff than I am.

I got in on the TRS GB back in November (I think). I purchased the H1s for whatever the price was, we'll call it about 275 (I purchased the LED halos and resealing glue too).
I then purchased a spare set of headlights on Amazon to do the retro/BHLM on, so there's another hundred.
Add materials to the list, spray paint, primer, etc. Maybe another 25. So I'll round off at 400 for total parts and materials.

Well I knew that my spray painting skills aren't that good but I decided I wanted to save the money and DIY. Fast forward to the completion of the BHLM... it looked ok, and ok is stretching it. There were runs in the paint where I oversprayed, chips in the paint where I handled them badly, and uneven coats. I decided it looked "good enough" and that I had spent waaaay too much time with these (I have two kids, one of them 1 year old so I dont have a lot of time to do anything) and went ahead and installed the projectors. They were actually fairly level and I didn't need to adjust much which surprised me as well. After I sealed them all up nice and tight and fired them up on the truck, I noticed all kinds of smudges and streaks or something inside the lenses! I actually PM'd Burt (ambiguous) about it and he called me and said I was pretty much screwed, I had to take them apart and re-do unless I liked looking at them that way LOL. He also recommended using the Rustoleum satin black instead of the krylon fusion that everyone seems to recommend.

Add more money for more materials (paint stripper, steel wool, wire brushes, paint). I then proceeded to take the lights apart and start from scratch. I stripped all the old paint from the bezels and bowls, then repainted with the rustoleum primer and paint. It looked better, but not great. I tried to clean up the lenses with microfiber cloth, which worked pretty good, but again not great. I PM'd and texted Burt several times and he was very helpful and offered several suggestions for me which I thought was very cool of him.

At this point in time, I am so frustrated with the job and I have spent waaaaaaaaaayyyyyy too much time on these, I decided I just didn't have the skills to do this to my standards and I would never get them looking good. So I sent Burt my projectors, threw the Amazon lights in their boxes, cleaned up all the junk I had used, and left it to the professional to get it done right.

If I had done my homework before hand and known how badly this was going to end for me, I would have just sucked it up and paid the extra money from the start to have it done start to finish professionally the first time. I figure with all the extra money I spent I am out about 300 bucks based on my stupidity. 100 for the lights I bought that are now sitting in the boxes in the garage, 50 for paint, supplies, etc, 25 to ship my projectors to Burt, 100 for new lights that will be supplied by Burt, and probably about 50 for him to ship the finished product to me.

So long story short, I sucked at the retrofit and wanted it done right LOL.

 

I don't drive that much at night, so I can't justify spending $500 or so on my stock headlights, which are fairly good already. I do love the look of BHLM and projectors though

Also, Chunky08, did you still want my fog lights? I'll have them out at the meet on the 10th if you are coming.

Here is the URL for anyone who missed the meet thread I posted. Post up if you would like to come!

Matt