Budget Bora Buildup Part IV

To install the ABD Racing...        read full caption To install the ABD Racing doorsills, simply remove the backing on the 3M tape that ABD has already applied to the sill. Be sure to clean the area that the adhesive will contact on the OE sill with a rag and some alcohol to ensure that the bond will be secure.

The dead pedal comes with...        read full caption The dead pedal comes with self-tapping screws that you must screw into the OE dead pedal.

Though the dead pedal is aluminum...        read full caption Though the dead pedal is aluminum and the door sills stainless steel, the looks complement each other very well.

For Landspeed USA’s dash...        read full caption For Landspeed USA’s dash kit installation, we first test fitted the pieces. The thing that we noticed off the bat was how well everything fits, and how tight the tolerances are. Steady hands are a necessity to get the kit in the right place the first time. Clean the contact surfaces with a rag and alcohol before installation.

Remove the backing from each...        read full caption Remove the backing from each piece and apply to the console. The side and bottom pieces are pre-bent to the shape of the console. Be careful not to bend any of the pieces, as getting them back to the correct shape is extremely difficult. The six parts covered by the kit are the two sides, the bottom, the cupholder face, the HVAC control surround, and the storage pocket surround.

MTX includes detailed installation...        read full caption MTX includes detailed installation instructions with its Thunderform enclosures. To begin the install, we first removed the wire harness from the Monsoon system’s amplifier. For non-Monsoon cars, you will have to tap into the wires in the rear door posts, which requires some disassembly of interior panels. The wires that need to be tapped into for the pre-amp input on the Thunderform are the blue and orange/blue wires, for the left positive and negative, and the red/green and orange/green wires, for the right positive and negative.

We then plugged the signal...        read full caption We then plugged the signal wires into place on the pre-amp inputs. Low level inputs are also included for use with an aftermarket head unit. The crossover is adjustable from 50 to 150Hz and a gain (volume) dial is also included.

Though the amplifier has a...        read full caption Though the amplifier has a 15-amp fuse, a good ground is necessary. We sanded away some of the paint in the spare tire well and used a self-tapping screw to secure the ground wire.

If you’re driving your car correctly, you spend most of your time sitting comfortably in the driver’s seat with your hands on the steering wheel and the gas pedal depressed. For many of us, another requisite is that the speakers are blaring our favorite tunes. With this in mind, we set to modifying the interior of our Project Bora.

To know why we performed the following interior modifications, you have to know the shape that the interior was in when we began. The interior of our project car came fully loaded. Gray leather seating accompanied gray carpeting, while a leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob greeted our hands. A sunroof above the cockpit provided an extremely enjoyable open-air driving experience, all while a factory premium Monsoon sound system and six-disc CD changer steadily reproduced tunes with amazing accuracy. So, what could we do to the interior to make it more appealing? That was our dilemma.

We knew we wanted to add some things that would help at the shows, but wouldn’t detract from the level of comfort provided by the plush interior. ABD Racing was the first call that we made and we picked up its aluminum dead pedal and stainless steel doorsills. Installation of the dead pedal requires the use of the three supplied screws, while the doorsills use double-sided 3M tape. Landspeed USA was our next call and we ordered its six-piece center console kit. The kit is constructed of perfectly cut aluminum and is the best fitting kit we’ve ever encountered.

Another awesome part of the kit is that the aluminum is very thin with a very strong but ultra-thin adhesive, so that the kit looks as though it is factory.

The final piece of interior equipment that we decided to add is MTX Audio’s Amplified Thunderform Enclosure. The Thunderform uses a minimum amount of trunk space and still allows access to the spare tire, but provides hard hitting, clean bass. The internal 100-watt amplifier is tuned to work with the enclosure and 10-inch sub. Since the Monsoon systems amplifier is beneath the package tray in the back of the car, we didn’t have to run the speaker wires far, and the hardest part of the install was getting the power wire to the battery. Come back next month when we finish up our Budget Bora Buildup.