As I closed with in the previous post, the hatchback was supposed to stay stock but it wasn’t long before that plan went out the window and it was seeing some changes.  99% stock is close enough to 100%, right?

As revealed earlier, the interior received some colour-matched trim on the front doors as well as the e-brake handle. As I often say regarding the sedan, it started with small changes and snowballed….and the same is starting to happen with the hatch.

Because I was already getting the rear valance and wing painted for the sedan it didn’t cost much extra to include these parts so it was an inexpensive way to brighten up the hatch’s cabin a bit.

The trim remained as the only modification for a little while but then it was decided that yellow fog lights would be a nice addition. Yellow bulbs were fitted and yellow Lamin-x was applied to the housings for aesthetics as well as protection from rocks and other debris. Yellow bulbs and yellow Lamin-x were a couple of the first modifications the sedan saw and it still has them today.

It was after this that the first big change came, in the form of a new set of wheels and tires. Two sets of tires are needed for year-round driving anyway, so why not have two sets of wheels as well to make life easier?

Some may remember that back in the fall I retired the Tarmacs from summer duty when I picked up a set of Rays Gram Lights 57DRs from an ST owner in the states. As much as I liked the wheels I felt they didn’t suit the sedan as well as the Tarmacs with their less aggressive fitment and darker colour. With this in mind I saw two options – repaint the Rays, or get a different set of wheels.

Of course at the time I had no idea that by spring they’d wind up here, but for fun we decided to swap the Rays onto the hatch to see how they looked. With the factory black trim along the bottom of the body and a similar grey on the center console trim inside (which is unique to the Titaniums), they suited the hatch much better and will be staying there. That means the sedan needs a new set of wheels now; stay tuned for that.

And of course, when aftermarket wheels come into the picture some aftermarket lug nuts usually aren’t too far behind. Recently Stance:Nation released some SN-branded pieces and an order was placed for some purple sets in the shortest of the offered sizes. A cool feature of these is a removable end cap, allowing the lugs to be run open-ended, or closed like you see here.

Following that I grabbed some vinyl and decided to try something that I’ve wanted to for a while, and that was a “benzondubs stripes” as seen here on Paul’s SE hatch. Highlighting the bottom slat in the front grille really makes a difference and from the first time I saw it, I liked it. For those wondering, the stripe’s name comes from Paul’s screenname. He came up with this idea so until further notice that’s what it’s being called. Haha.

Purple was chosen as the accent colour for the hatch, so just like for the lug nuts it was the colour chosen for the stripe. It only took a few minutes but it looks great and has been receiving plenty of positive feedback. If I still had the original bumper on the sedan this is something it would have received, because I think it looks really good.

After the changes seen here the hatch attended its first meet at Grey Eagle – which was a small one given the cold weather we had that night – but already it was starting to turn a few heads and get some attention. But of course it didn’t stop there. Just like the sedan, what it really needed after its new shoes was a front lip, and so a large box soon arrived at the door…

98% stock is close enough to 100%, right?

-Bill