In the past week, I have done several mods to SMOKE and wanted to share them with all of you. During the past 2 years that I have owned my HHR, I have made some great friends. I have tried my best to help the HHR community as much as I can in return for all the great advise and information I have received.

Over the Christmas holidays, several of my friends sent me some gifts for Smoke and they have now all been installed. So...here's what I've been up to.

Thanks to my dear friend Karen, who I have known from all 3 forums, I no longer have to worry about the warped running board pads. We were talking in chat and I was sniveling about the pads and next thing I knew, she said Merry Christmas, you have a present coming from Truckshop.com and sent me the link. Needless to say, I was floored.

Karen and I have become quite good friends, talking on IM, in chat and on the telephone and I treasure her friendship more than she knows. There isn't anything one would do for the other and that's hard to find in this day and age, especially when you meet someone online. Thanks Karen...you're the best.

The stick you see in the picture below is what I put under the warped portion of the pads to lift them off board itself. It was about twice the thickness of a paint stick and the old board pads lifted right off. (Pics in my album of what it looks like under the pads for those who are curious. The new pads come with screws and nuts, but are nearly impossible to mount easily. I called Jeff at truckshop.com and he said to just use heavy duty exterior double faced tape and they should stick just fine. I used almost 2 rolls (1" X 10') and believe me, they aren't going anywhere. Probably overkill, but I don't want them coming loose.









There are more pictures in my photobucket album below

http://s79.photobucket.com/albums/j1...ning%20Boards/

I also got some different mesh from my friend CJ to replace the one that was in my original 3 bar grille he made for me. There was nothing wrong with it, I just wanted a change and he had some left over, so he sent it to me.





I also have another friend named Lenny aka guitarman. He was in Auto Zone and saw some pedal pads and just knew they would look great on Smoke, so he picked them up and sent them to me. Thanks Lenny...they look great and I love them.

These are rather unique, in that they don't just fold over and hang on the pedals. They actually have a little bracket and screws on them, which you loosen up, put pads on and then move bracket around behind the pedals and tighten. Only one that gave me any problem was the accelarator pedal, as I wanted the bottom of the pad to be at the bottom of the pedal, but it was too narrow at the top for the brackets to fit. Easy fix though. I removed the screws and brackets from top two holes, tightened the bottom ones and put it in place where I wanted it. I then got a drill and a couple screws and drilled a hole thru the hole in the pad into the accelerator pad and put in a couple of short screws and they look great.

Here's what they look like in the package. They are orange and chrome and made out of plastic, but they look terrific in the car. Not a bad mod for $12.99...can't beat the price.



And installed



If you have any questions on anything I posted above, please feel free to ask. Thanks for taking a look at Smoke's new bling bling.

 

hey Deb its me MJ.. looks good you did a great job with everythign if i had running boards id like those myself.. ttys

 

looking real good there bub!

 

nuestra gente been sporting that style grille insert for over 20 years!

 

Looks great Deb! It's good to see there are still a few ladies willing to drive a manual! Could you have a talk with my wife? You could tell her what fun it is to shift your own! There really are some really great people here within a fingertip's reach, it's nice to know in this day & age there are people you can count on, although it does seem an odd way to meet!

 

That's not unique. So far every set of aftermarket pedal covers I have seen work like that. My skull ones included. They have to be secured to the pedal so they don’t slip off when you apply pressure hence the screws and brackets to hold them tight. If they weren't secured by a bracket set up they are going to slip off along with your foot which is definitely something you don't want to happen when applying your brakes.....especially coming to a stop with vehicles in front of you. If the pedal cover slides off along with your foot in a situation like that you're totally screwed so the manufacturers have to secure it somehow for your safety and so they don't get sued. If you don't believe me check out several styles of pedal covers the next time you’re at an auto store and you'll see they all use a similar bracket set up.

 

From NEMO
You are quite Welcomed!

 

MJ...thanks...you'd love them.

Siresmerph...thanks for the compliment.

quest...speak english...it's America I'm sure I'm not the first nor last to use this mesh. Just sharing ideas with people who might enjoy.

CH...they are unique to me...everything I have seen has had metal straps that just seem to fold over and hook in one place. No way for us to know what you have...you just talk about mods...but rarely show photos.

Karen...thanks again...you're the best.

 

Looks FANTASTIC. I LOVE those running board pads the most...they look amazing on the Sunburst orange...

sorry, I am new here...you mentioned 'all 3 message boards"...

what are the other two?

 

Smoke Wagon, thanks for the compliment...I love them and they do look amazing on Sunburst Orange.

Sorry, but we are not allowed to link to other forums...it's not allowed here, but google is your friend when searching for anything HHR.