After I started my first job, my first goal was to get a car so I could actually commute easily. After test driving many cars and looking at many different models, I finally settled on the 2013 Honda Accord Coupe. I went with the highest trim, which is the EX-L V6.

profile view

Me, as an engineer, the first thing I did when I got this car was take it apart. I really just wanted to understand how the exterior and interior were put together.

removing front bumper taking off spoiler my door in my study removing center console

While it seemed like the perfect car for me already I knew I could customize it to be even better. What started as just a few LED lights soon became a complete but subtle transformation. I started with Plasti Dip, a protective rubber coating spray which also came in a variety of colors. It can be purchased at Lowe’s, but last time I checked they only carried black and white. For more colors, visit DipYouCar.com. I am not much for chrome, so I used it to black out most of the chrome on the exterior.

front plastidip view before front plastidip view after side plastidip view side plastidip view after tire plastidip before tire plastidip after rear plastidip view before rear plastidip view after

profile view plastidip after

After that, I started working on LED replacements for the interior. I always disliked the stock warm white bulbs that cars usually come with, so I opted for some 6000k LEDs, provided by ExLedUsa. They made a difference!

leds led output comparison led output map lights

When I saw how good LEDs improved the ambience of the interior, I decided to look into footwell lighting. There is a lot of plug and play options out there, but what worked for me was buying an LED strip roll (~16ft), and creating a custom LED installation. I bought the following plus a few connectors for the LED strips:

I powered the LED strip using the 12V cigarette adapter in the center handrest and then connected that to an IR controller. That made powering the LED strips easy, and from there I just lined the interior of the car with the LED strip. The results were amazing.

led footwell lighting 1 led footwell lighting 2

While browsing through the Diode Dynamics website, I came across a fog light LED bulbs plus a 12V adapter. This gave me an idea to wire up the grill of my car with LEDs as well. I sacrificed my traditional fog lights in order to create the following:

fron bumper leds grill leds engine bay leds

Another alternative to Plasti Dip I came across a few weeks after finishing my LED install was 3M vinyl. Vinyls have plenty of applications and are easy to apply as long as you have a heat gun or blow dryer. Carbon fiber vinyl combined with red pin striping type produced a very clean look.

air vent vinyl before air vent vinyl after car door vinyl before car door vinyl after red stripe profile view red stripe front view red stripe rear view

After hitting about 40k miles, my tires were about ready to be replaced, so I decided to replace the rims as well. I found a good deal at Discount Tire for the tires and rims so I went with

  • Niche Alta, 20’’ Rims

  • Motivo 245-35-20 Tires

niche wheels view

At this point I think I have done all I can with it from an aesthetic standpoint, maybe now I will start tuning!

View the whole album on Imgur!

Resources