Kyle
Wheeling
- Location
- Chesapeake, VA
2000 Hyundai Tiburon RD2. Bought it in DEC 2015 as a daily driver. Decided I liked it. It has a small community left around building them up. Apparently they we're popular amongst street racers. I'm not a street racer lol. I don't care. I do however like making it look cool. So I'm working on it.
It's got a 4 cylinder engine. It's a pretty light car so it moves pretty good. Acceleration kinda sucks but top speed is good. I've added a Cold Air Intake. I've painted some of the engine components. It has an additional pair of fog lights that go on the bottom (I need to wire them in yet). The car has a grand total of 10 headlights. Don't know who thought that was a good design but it's so unique most people have no idea what it is when they see it. I get a lot of stares lol. It's got a stubby antenna - like all my vehicles it's dependent on Sirius XM for radio. It's got a upgraded radio head with a custom modded dash (ahem, I took a saw and made it fit lol. Looks good though). The main headlights (2 for hi, 2 for low) have HID systems in them producing 6000 lumens each. The steering wheel is upgraded and it's got some cool pedal covers but those were cheap stuff.
So on to the goodies. This car is my biggest project. It's older and I've stockpiled parts as they've come up. The fog lights need to be installed. I have a custom carbon fiber hood and rear hatch being made. Don't know if I'm going to get those two items...the guy making it is cool...but super slow and uncommitted. Hoping I don't lose the money on that one. I have custom duraflex vented fenders that need to be installed. Custom sports mirrors that need to be installed. If I get a new hatch, as promised, I'll need to buy a new spoiler to match, nothing big. I am building a new center console because the Koreans didn't think Americans needed cup holders for some odd reason! Well, I do need cup holders and I'm going to add some more AC ports so might as well just redo the whole thing better. Lots of stuff to get done on this car. I have new headers that need to go on this car but I've put that project off a bit because I cannot get the exhaust bolts off - they're so damn rusted that they won't come off. Even with a air impact driver they would not come off.
On to the negatives. The car is 17 years old. Naturally it has issues. It's had 5 owners including myself. Currently approaching 150k miles. It wasn't taken care of all of it's time. I bought it for cheap and I knew it had issues. I've replaced a lot of internal parts, naturally by myself to save labor, but there are two big issues I can't figure out. It's misfiring on cylinder 4 and that's causing it to randomly shut off when in reverse (w/ new cords/plugs). It's gas system is screwed up - the gas lines are deteriorating and it has an issue where it won't fill at gas pumps properly. It does have a few dents and dings I plan to get rid of. It needs new struts on all 4 wheels and the motor mount(s) are bad. Also there's a really super bad rust spot on the hood - but I knew that when I bought it - that's why that guy is supposed to be making me a new hood.
This car has been fun. I like it. Others seem to like it. It's not a Ferrari, it's not a corvette, but it's got it's own flair. I've never owned a car (everything I've owned has been SUV's) before so this was my first time fixing and driving one. I've learned quite a lot of this small car.
Questions, comments, advice, etc appreciated and welcome
* bottom left square - that's a glare on the fender. Not a dent lol. Looks like a dent from that picture but it is not.
It's got a 4 cylinder engine. It's a pretty light car so it moves pretty good. Acceleration kinda sucks but top speed is good. I've added a Cold Air Intake. I've painted some of the engine components. It has an additional pair of fog lights that go on the bottom (I need to wire them in yet). The car has a grand total of 10 headlights. Don't know who thought that was a good design but it's so unique most people have no idea what it is when they see it. I get a lot of stares lol. It's got a stubby antenna - like all my vehicles it's dependent on Sirius XM for radio. It's got a upgraded radio head with a custom modded dash (ahem, I took a saw and made it fit lol. Looks good though). The main headlights (2 for hi, 2 for low) have HID systems in them producing 6000 lumens each. The steering wheel is upgraded and it's got some cool pedal covers but those were cheap stuff.
So on to the goodies. This car is my biggest project. It's older and I've stockpiled parts as they've come up. The fog lights need to be installed. I have a custom carbon fiber hood and rear hatch being made. Don't know if I'm going to get those two items...the guy making it is cool...but super slow and uncommitted. Hoping I don't lose the money on that one. I have custom duraflex vented fenders that need to be installed. Custom sports mirrors that need to be installed. If I get a new hatch, as promised, I'll need to buy a new spoiler to match, nothing big. I am building a new center console because the Koreans didn't think Americans needed cup holders for some odd reason! Well, I do need cup holders and I'm going to add some more AC ports so might as well just redo the whole thing better. Lots of stuff to get done on this car. I have new headers that need to go on this car but I've put that project off a bit because I cannot get the exhaust bolts off - they're so damn rusted that they won't come off. Even with a air impact driver they would not come off.
On to the negatives. The car is 17 years old. Naturally it has issues. It's had 5 owners including myself. Currently approaching 150k miles. It wasn't taken care of all of it's time. I bought it for cheap and I knew it had issues. I've replaced a lot of internal parts, naturally by myself to save labor, but there are two big issues I can't figure out. It's misfiring on cylinder 4 and that's causing it to randomly shut off when in reverse (w/ new cords/plugs). It's gas system is screwed up - the gas lines are deteriorating and it has an issue where it won't fill at gas pumps properly. It does have a few dents and dings I plan to get rid of. It needs new struts on all 4 wheels and the motor mount(s) are bad. Also there's a really super bad rust spot on the hood - but I knew that when I bought it - that's why that guy is supposed to be making me a new hood.
This car has been fun. I like it. Others seem to like it. It's not a Ferrari, it's not a corvette, but it's got it's own flair. I've never owned a car (everything I've owned has been SUV's) before so this was my first time fixing and driving one. I've learned quite a lot of this small car.
Questions, comments, advice, etc appreciated and welcome
* bottom left square - that's a glare on the fender. Not a dent lol. Looks like a dent from that picture but it is not.
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