My turn, my turn!
I’ve been following so many great build threads on this site, watching stock CR-Z’s morph into incredible machines, and I have to admit to being inspired by a lot of what you have done. Although mine might not inspire others, it may give someone an idea or two. I also think it would be fun to document my own experience.
Albeit this will not be the kind of high-performance or show-quality build that a lot of you guys have, I’m still very proud of Amy. I’ve worked hard to make her my own, and a lot of the installs were done myself (as a non-mechanic, I’m also quite chuffed about that). So, here goes nothing. Without further ado….
LADIES, GENTLEMEN, CHILDREN OF ALL AGES, WELCOME TO MY BUILD THREAD!
First off, there’s going to be a bit of time travel, as I have two years to catch up on.
April 2011, after researching the car, and getting lots of support here, I took the plunge. Not knowing what colour to get, but thinking a CVT was more suited to my driving, a call to my dealership revealed that a Milano Red had just arrived as a dealer transfer. This color was extremely rare in Canada at the time, so I drove straight out there after work, saw it, and bought it. Played a trick on my wife, that Saturday. I said that I wanted to drive by the dealer and see what they had on the lot, asked her if she liked it, and when the answer was “yes”, I told her that was good, because it belonged to us!
Here she is the day she arrived (still un-named):
![Image]()
That’s her big brother in the background.
Of course, I had no real plans to mod her (which would make this the shortest build thread in history), but sticking around you guys meant that was not going to last…
Not really understanding the disease, I posted this:
http://www.crzforum.com/forum/aftermarket-crowd/8161-modders-why-do-you-do.html
Yeah, not me. Well, truthfully, I did order my car with mud guards, but that was practical on a gravel driveway, right? Oh, and I got the CR-Z door sills. No real excuse for that one, I’m afraid. Flu-like symptoms? Perhaps.
![Image]()
Next up was tint – 25% ceramic black on everything behind the driver. Practical, I told myself.
Thought I might tour through the DIY section. DANGER, DANGER, DANGER!
I came across this one: http://www.crzforum.com/forum/do-yourself-articles/1037-diy-brighter-floor-lights-gt.html and thought “hey, I could DO that one”. Fifteen minutes later, I was starting to show early signs of modditis.
Then came this one: http://www.crzforum.com/forum/do-yourself-articles/6805-easy-tail-light-mod.html In my opinion, a must-do for any CR-Z (thank you to Talk2MeGoose for that one). So, a trip to Canadian Tire later, and we were on our way. Oh, and that is how “Amy” got her name. The eye-liner look, similar to Amy Winehouse. My wife christened the car “Amy”, and it stuck.
Then came a summer of driving her as-is, thinking I could keep the symptoms under control. BUT, as she slept though the winter, I think I was compensating for not driving her by buying things online instead!
![Image]()
![Image]()
First stop, Bulletproof Automotive, for a stainless Noblesse exhaust and diffuser. No point in getting that, without the reflectors (in for a penny, in for a pound). Couldn’t wait until spring to install them, so I kicked my father’s car out of the garage one night and did this:
![Image]()
![Image]()
Oh, and the K&N Typhoon SRI was a must-have, as well http://www.crzforum.com/forum/do-yourself-articles/7381-diy-k-n-typhoon-sri-install.html (thanks, RicoMagic):
![Image]()
Bought a Spoon rearview mirror from Artkozak1, in the classifieds. That thing is neat, although it makes the rear hatch look about 50 feet away from you, and very small. But, you do get used to it. :thumbup:
And when the snow finally melted in the spring of 2012, Amy was sporting a Rando rear wing as well. Took a while to decide what colour to paint it, but after a long deliberation, I went with gloss black. Seemed to stand out better, would be an easier match, and probably cheaper (actually, the body shop manager wound up doing that for free, and installing it at no charge as well – thank you Oxford Dodge! I’m a big customer there, for work, but I never expected that.).
![Image]()
The front calipers, I painted myself, with Goose’s help:
http://www.crzforum.com/forum/honda-cr-z-owners-forum/7482-painting-calipers-help.html and
http://www.crzforum.com/forum/exterior-modifications/8506-red-calipers.html
![Image]()
Then SOMEHOW, she came back from the dealership (oil change) with an OEM front lip spoiler on her:
![Image]()
I have NO IDEA how that happened. Trip to Margaritaville, one can only assume
I’ll keep updating this as I get a chance to back in the time machine again.
Meanwhile, thanks for looking!
I’ve been following so many great build threads on this site, watching stock CR-Z’s morph into incredible machines, and I have to admit to being inspired by a lot of what you have done. Although mine might not inspire others, it may give someone an idea or two. I also think it would be fun to document my own experience.
Albeit this will not be the kind of high-performance or show-quality build that a lot of you guys have, I’m still very proud of Amy. I’ve worked hard to make her my own, and a lot of the installs were done myself (as a non-mechanic, I’m also quite chuffed about that). So, here goes nothing. Without further ado….
LADIES, GENTLEMEN, CHILDREN OF ALL AGES, WELCOME TO MY BUILD THREAD!
First off, there’s going to be a bit of time travel, as I have two years to catch up on.
April 2011, after researching the car, and getting lots of support here, I took the plunge. Not knowing what colour to get, but thinking a CVT was more suited to my driving, a call to my dealership revealed that a Milano Red had just arrived as a dealer transfer. This color was extremely rare in Canada at the time, so I drove straight out there after work, saw it, and bought it. Played a trick on my wife, that Saturday. I said that I wanted to drive by the dealer and see what they had on the lot, asked her if she liked it, and when the answer was “yes”, I told her that was good, because it belonged to us!
Here she is the day she arrived (still un-named):
That’s her big brother in the background.
Of course, I had no real plans to mod her (which would make this the shortest build thread in history), but sticking around you guys meant that was not going to last…
Not really understanding the disease, I posted this:
http://www.crzforum.com/forum/aftermarket-crowd/8161-modders-why-do-you-do.html
Yeah, not me. Well, truthfully, I did order my car with mud guards, but that was practical on a gravel driveway, right? Oh, and I got the CR-Z door sills. No real excuse for that one, I’m afraid. Flu-like symptoms? Perhaps.
Next up was tint – 25% ceramic black on everything behind the driver. Practical, I told myself.
Thought I might tour through the DIY section. DANGER, DANGER, DANGER!
I came across this one: http://www.crzforum.com/forum/do-yourself-articles/1037-diy-brighter-floor-lights-gt.html and thought “hey, I could DO that one”. Fifteen minutes later, I was starting to show early signs of modditis.
Then came this one: http://www.crzforum.com/forum/do-yourself-articles/6805-easy-tail-light-mod.html In my opinion, a must-do for any CR-Z (thank you to Talk2MeGoose for that one). So, a trip to Canadian Tire later, and we were on our way. Oh, and that is how “Amy” got her name. The eye-liner look, similar to Amy Winehouse. My wife christened the car “Amy”, and it stuck.
Then came a summer of driving her as-is, thinking I could keep the symptoms under control. BUT, as she slept though the winter, I think I was compensating for not driving her by buying things online instead!
First stop, Bulletproof Automotive, for a stainless Noblesse exhaust and diffuser. No point in getting that, without the reflectors (in for a penny, in for a pound). Couldn’t wait until spring to install them, so I kicked my father’s car out of the garage one night and did this:
Oh, and the K&N Typhoon SRI was a must-have, as well http://www.crzforum.com/forum/do-yourself-articles/7381-diy-k-n-typhoon-sri-install.html (thanks, RicoMagic):
Bought a Spoon rearview mirror from Artkozak1, in the classifieds. That thing is neat, although it makes the rear hatch look about 50 feet away from you, and very small. But, you do get used to it. :thumbup:
And when the snow finally melted in the spring of 2012, Amy was sporting a Rando rear wing as well. Took a while to decide what colour to paint it, but after a long deliberation, I went with gloss black. Seemed to stand out better, would be an easier match, and probably cheaper (actually, the body shop manager wound up doing that for free, and installing it at no charge as well – thank you Oxford Dodge! I’m a big customer there, for work, but I never expected that.).
The front calipers, I painted myself, with Goose’s help:
http://www.crzforum.com/forum/honda-cr-z-owners-forum/7482-painting-calipers-help.html and
http://www.crzforum.com/forum/exterior-modifications/8506-red-calipers.html
Then SOMEHOW, she came back from the dealership (oil change) with an OEM front lip spoiler on her:
I have NO IDEA how that happened. Trip to Margaritaville, one can only assume
I’ll keep updating this as I get a chance to back in the time machine again.
Meanwhile, thanks for looking!
