Aluminum Guage Bezel
 

Hey guys,
I wouldn't mind doing some minor dress-up to my car but still keep it sane looking. I saw this on Ebay and was wondering some of your opinions on it. This auction ends in like 10 hours but there are a bunch of them so its no rush.
I was thinking about getting the white gauges too sometime so do you think that would look bad if I ended up getting both?

Ebay Gauge Bezel

Also, if you don't like this, can you think of any little things like this I can do that aren't too expensive.
Thanks
Scott

I was going to get a kit like this from UPR but after I seen it in real life I changed my mind. I also don't think they will look all that good with white face gauges. I've never seen this combo but I'm just thinking it wouldn't.

I wonder how much faster you would go with it? Maybe if you had some stickers too. or even yellow paint! Ya thats it! Yellow paint! It would go at least faster the guy without that stuff.

Just my .02, but I think it close to rice.....

Whoa!!!!!
Thats why I was asking.
Not to mention that I also asked for some simple suggestions just to make it look different than every other red mustang out there.

Most of the time if you go away from the normal way of doing things its called rice. :rolleyes:
Do what you like and don't worry about everyone else.

If you like it get it. Geez since when did making your car look different from stock and everybody elses become rice :rolleyes:

Do what YOU like. If other people like it great, if they don't **** em.

Don't like the people with Ricephoba(the fear of being Rice) get to you.

As I was saying, ahem, is that you got to do whatever you want, Hell, were all Ford guys for cryin out loud. we should be used to being picked on. I drive a mercury, try that some time. People calling it a chevelle, or some bowtie crap. Drives me nuts. But when I go the track, I pretty sure mine the only one.
My opinion of rice is, if doesn't make the car go faster, or live longer, and probaly makes it slower, then its rice.

my, that was a good rant! I feel much better now....

It would look O.K. but what happens when the sun hits it while you are driving? :cool: :cool: :cool:

I think it would look like crap. come on, it "sticks on over top" of the original panel. Were talking cheesy low quality mods here. Do something to make your car nicer, not cheaper.

But it doesnt matter what I think, if you like it, do it. You shouldnt be in the car hobby if you base all your decisions on what other people think. The fun of modding cars comes from your own ideas and what you like to be different.

gofastmercury - what does yellow paint have to do with rice??

Hey Mach1
I didn't read into it too well. I didn't realize that it was a stickon panel. I'm all set with that. I'll just have to look for a good white guage panel, like the cobra gauges. Nothing wrong with them.

And I'm asking this because I respect the opinions of most of the people here. For example. no. 1. I didn't realize that it was an adhesive cover. Good thing someone else picked up on that. And no. 2. I wasn't thinking about the sun hitting it and blinding me but someone else did, so that helped me. I'm just looking for thoughts like that when I post something like this.

Inside joke I guess, I saw a "imports suck" site awhile back that did a "yellow paint or stickers, which is faster? What to do if you ever saw a wrench!" and so on, it was funny as hell, now I can't find it.

Yellow seems to be gaining popularity for all kinds of autos. including domestic. I used to think "who would want a car the same color as pee"?.but, actually, its starting to grow on me. There are a lot of good looking yellow cars.

I think that yellow looks awesome when combined with black. My buddy used to have a mid 80's GT with T-Tops. It was yellow with the thick black stripe down the side that said GT on it. It was all stock and it looked sweet.
There also is a new convertible in my area that is yellow with a black top. It has to be the deep yellow though, none of that light crap.

killerCanary

Now that is a good looking yellow stang;)

I wasn't refering to outside colors, I quite like yellow, was thinking of painting the ranchero that color. I meant using yellow as "accent" color, as in brakes drums and calipers, interior pieces, under hood hoses and crap like that. Nothing looks worse than a 6 inch yellow drum brake in a 18 inch small spoke wheel. And the paint just draws attention to it.

Do what you want. Fixing up your car isn't rice unless you are working on a Japanese car. This whole rice thing has gotten out of hand. Just because it makes your car look better doesn't make it rice. That's part of personalizing the car to your taste. Does the shifter cover I made look rice?

I actually like that shifter cover. I was looking at one for my car, not quite as big though.
But I did want to say that there is domestic "rice". Check out www.ricehatersclub.com and you will see some excellent examples of that.

I forgot to mention...
You never heard anyone say the 2000 Cobra R looked rice. Everyone loved it. It had a huge wing, and an oversize front spoiler.

The new Bullit's have red brake calipers. The SVT Ford Focus has color coded interior accents. The new Ford 49 has polished aluminum accents in the interior. Must be rice. Damn Japanese have infiltrated SVT.

I admit, some things can be a little drastic. But rice is in the eye of the beholder. And if it has the HP to back it up who cares.

Well I have that bezel and of course the saleen white gauge faces and I like the way it looks I also have the aluminum trim around my a/c and radio compartments!!!! SOOOOO if you think that is rice BITE ME B*TCH!!! :D :D :D

See Ya,
Karen

RICE are mods done in bad taste, that look bad. Like huge wings and stickers, just to name a few examples. Wings that look ok are ok, but wings that look like crap, are rice mods...

Aluminum shifter covers arent anywhere near being considered "rice".

I think we all know what rice mods are...and if you dont, you shouldnt be calling other peoples car rice, because you dont have a clue in the first place, and therefore should just keep your mouth shut.

Hey Karen,
Would you be able to send me any pictures of that bezel in your stang? I would like to see what it looks like.

AMEN TO THAT!! :D :D

hey 2fastlx that looks sweet! ever have an idea of marketing them...:D

ONE they arent stick on ones (unless its a cheap ripoff) i know my freind has one. TWO they dont glare much. If you want to look really different try removing the original and painting it to match the car. (Dont give that BS that painting is rice. Ive seen so many american cars that have painted parts of the interior. Example, a roush stage 3 Cobra, in MM&FF and it looks good.) Just my .o2

Still stand by what I said. You don't have agree, and I don't expect everyone to. What ever you do to your car, just rember its your car, and its a free country. You just won't see me do that stuff. BTW, I bet that aluminum shifter cover stops some of the squeeks that come from that. If just for show,(as in sticks on) then yup, its rice (to me). As for comparing what the factories are doing, yes I think some of what the do is rice. I wasn't fond of that huge wing on the r model. There just doing what they think the puplic wants to see. AND I have seen some jap cars done that I woundn't call "rice" Same rules apply, If does make it go faster, live longer, and probaly makes it slower, its rice.

The shifter cover is made from 431 Stainless and is 1/4" thick. I did make some out of Titanium and sold them for $45, but it's just too much work to be profitable so I gave it up.

My rant: (read at your own risk)
Modifying the appearence of cars has been going on for a long time. Now it seems everything someone does to change the appearence of their car is considered rice, just because of the explosion of kids modifying imports. There have always been big wings, stickers, interior accents, etc. Nobody called it rice when I was growing up. If a wing is installed, and it compliments the body lines, or just adds something to the look of the car, I say do it.

My opinion on the matter is that these kids are seeing all the road race cars, Le Mans cars, etc, and they are trying to mimic them in the best way they can. Much like guys did when I was in school by sticking decals from products they had purchased all over their cars, making them look like they were sponsored. What's wrong with that? These kids don't have $100,000 to go buy a fiberglass body shell, so they buy what they can in the way of body kits. It's a comprimise, but I personally think some of the body kits are works of art. How people can be so close minded and say all of this way of thinking is ugly is beyond me.

Maybe we should all paint our cars white, leave the factory wheels on them, the same suspension, and interior, and just fix up the engine.

I want to go back to the day when adding a detail to your car looked cool because it was different. But then again, I don't give a **** what you think.

That couldnt be farther from the truth. Maybe your looking at the wrong cars, or hanging out with the rice crowd? I thinks its fairly obvious what "rice" is and what it isnt.

If you having trouble distinguishing between "rice" mods and "other" mods, maybe you should attend a car show or something, wher you can see cars modded in good taste. There is quite a large and easy identifiable difference.

gofastmercury i dont think you know what rice really is. when it first started becoming popular people would call the imports rice because people would put all this body kit/ wing/stickers of parts they dont even have on thier cars and then would talk **** about thier little economy car that they think is fast. That is the definition of rice by my standards a car and an attitude more so the attitude.

And i kinda like the painted interior panels. Take Girlscan2's car. She has a few of her interior peices painted to match the exterior of her car and it looks really great IMO.

I mean are street rods considered rice because they differ from stock appearance? :confused:

Don't sweat it, there's always going to be some dude that thinks any dress up piece is "rice" (its a wonder they even paint their cars...paint doesn't add speed!)...you've seen the childish mob mentality in the BOL lately :rolleyes:

However, I think that metal overlay is kinda chintzy and ugly. If you like silver (I do, matches my exterior) go with the silver plastic 35th anniversary gauge. I'll take a pic of mine and post it for you. Its more "stock looking" but just jazzes things up a bit.

I need to get me some white gauges like Shel :D

OMG my interior is two tone!!! I'm a ricer :eek: :rolleyes: Oh wait...Mustangs came two tone STOCK ;)

I guess rice kinda by defention means jap cars. But the style(or lack of it) defently applies to any car. I thinks mods done in taste are very cool, I think the best ones are the ones that hit you after you walked past, stop, think, and look again. But I said it before, its your car.

Ok, now imgine a rod with goofy sploiler, plastic ground effects, stickers all over the place,18"wheels with no sidewall,a single wiper halfway up the 'screen and stock four with a noisy air cleaner. Is this rice? Well? I think it quallifies.

The term Rice
 

The first time I heard of rice was from a Harley guy. He had a sign that said no rice allowed. It was refering to the Japenese bikes. This sign is twenty years old.

Well we all agree with that, but I think people were a little taken aback that you called a SILVER trim piece "rice". Hell, it'd have to be YELLER or RED to be even close to ricey ;)

I think I said if it was yellow it would be worse...

Hey Mustangbelle306
I love the look of that bezel in your car. The only thing is that your steering wheel is also grey so that makes it look even better. I have the black and tan interior so I don't know how nice it would look in my car. Maybe I'll end up just getting the cobra white gauges and go from there. Those always look nice.

And one more thing, I love that gauge cluster you have where the clock used to be. Where did you get that and how much was it?
Thanks
Scott