Hello evo peeps. I have a 2005 evo 8 GSR ( wish it was an MR :P ). I got it after i returned home from afghanyland. Needed a shiny new toy, and ive loved the 8's since the first time i saw one back in 03. Im still learning, so if i say something stupid and/or wrong, please just correct me in a polite manor.

To the point. This car was in pretty bad condition when i got it. Cosmetically, id say around a 4... maybe lol, mechanically prob a 6. I got this evo for a really good price. Im pretty sure the dealer didnt know what he had, like alot of used car places dont when they are dealing with these kind of cars. Since i bought it i took care of most of the mechanically issues first, and now im on cosmetic. I will put some pictures up here if i get enough responses, or if anyone really needs to see them to answer a question. If these questions have been answered in another thread, again please politely tell me that and provide a link. Ive already done some research and im coming here for confirmation. So, here are some of my main questions.

Body kit:
I want a full IX body on my 8. It looks amazing, and with the vortex gen it makes the 8 look exactly like the 9. ( other then a slight difference in the wing i think). Ive been pricing the kit out, and for one i cant seem to find the entire kit sold together. Also im confused about the material. Do i want the fiberglass or the Polyurethane Plastic Material? Also do i need any additional parts to put this kit on the 8? If anyone knows where to get the kit either together or by themselves for the cheapest please let me know.


Lights: I would like to have the stock IX lights because of the internal blackout. I dont want to be cheap and lazy and fog out the lights (pretty sure its illegal too), and i dont want to pay 2000+ for all 4 lights. I want to attempt to paint the inside of my lights. Now ive seen some threads on here for doing that (havnt seen one for doing both front and back), but if you guys know of maybe a full dty of this either here or on another site please let me know. Also does anyone know where to get clear signal lens from. Ive been told you can get those then just replace the bulb to yellow so its legal. Here is a picture of lights of seen with them.

[IMG][/IMG]


I really like the way this evo looks too. I actually would like the same set up, still a toss up between the wing/lip. We will see when i get there. But the kit and the way the lights are, thats the way i want it.

Also for the headlights, id like to replace the bulbs. I dont have alot of knowledge on the HIDs or the best bulbs to use for this. Id like the lights that are bright and almost blueish. Im guessing thats the HIDs, can i just replace the bulbs to get that effect? or is there more too it. Overall, whats the best way to make the lights look better without buying those extremely expensive ones.


Paint:
I got the paint code from another thread here that had them. Any suggestions on should i do it myself or just pay for it. Id would need the entire car painted (with the new body kit)as well as the brake calipers. If i do get a shop to do it, what are the kind of things i should be asking? Id like the best paint job as far as protection and looks. And how much would something like this cost?


Rims:
Looking for lightweight, durable and less expensive stock size rims. If you guys have a good website for these please let me know.


Roof:
I read that the 9's have an aluminum roof where as the 8s dont. Also i dont have a sunroof. Can you buy an aluminum roof w/sunroof and install into the 8? Any info on that will be helpful.



So far this is all i have, ill try to think up more tomorrow. Any help would be appreciated. If you respond, you dont have to answer all questions lol. Also again, im still learning about evos and cars in general, so please be polite and explain something if i am wrong. Thanks guys

 

Nevermind on the roof swap, just did some more research on this and yea, not worth it imo.

 

No responses? Can i get at least one question answered? lol

 

Congrats on your Evo! Aside from the lights, all you would really need to make the body look like a IX would be the front bumper. The difference in the wing from the VIII to the IX is very minimal, so I wouldn't even bother with that. You can find a vortex generator here on the forums used and in good shape for a decent price, or purchase one through one of the vendors.

Not too sure about the headlight situation, but you will need ballasts if you want HID's. Maybe someone else can chime in who knows more about evo headlights.

 

check for for sale threads and cop an oem evo ix bumper,lights, tailights, rims etc.

there is a good shop there in kileen RST, im sure he can help you with most if not all your questions.

 

Post up a picture of your car. so we can see what we are working with. the head lights you are looking for would be about 6k or 8k hid's. you would need to buy a kit to get the blueish color.

 

I'll try and get a picture up here. As far as the kit and making it look like the 9, I also need the 9 bumper. Plus my entire kit is old, cracked, faded and my side skirts are barely hanging on lol. So yea I just need the whole 9 kit. For the lights, yea I saw some guides on painting the frame around the bulbs, gonna try that. Still not finding much info on HID's.

 

In the car above. it has a carbon fiber front bumper lip, oem side skirts, rexpeed carbon fiber side spats, rexpeed carbon fiber side skirt extensions and JDM OEM Evo 9 rear bumper. The Tail light is OEM evo 9 tail lights. they can be had for around $200 - $250 in the forum market place.

to make your headlights have the blueish color, you would need a 8000k HID kit. bulbs alone won't give you that bluish color. the kit includes bulbs, wiring and balasts. Usually it is plug and play.

If you're talking about the clear side markers that go on the side of the front fenders, I have them for sale and you can PM me if you're interested.

powdercoat the calipers for durability and as for the paint job, are you going to paint the engine bay and door jams also? what about any body work? I would say a proper paint job would run around 3-4k but it can be had for cheaper.

Goodluck