[Inmyelemet]

I had an 88 honda civic wagon with over 245,000 miles and it's still running strong, but after witnessing a very bad head on car flipping crash decided it was time to upgrade for safety reasons.

I just got my element one week ago today and my dogs and I are all loving everything about the ride...well aside from the head restraints with which honda was very unhelpful providing any solution for. I tried cushions and pillows but I dont need to be jutted any closer to the steering wheel and the idea of bending the metal did not seem safe. In the end I ended up shelling out and extra $300 for new ones built specifically for me at an auto upholstery place ( they should be done friday and I cant wait! ). Also by friday my car wrap will be done! yay! Getting some cool artwork on both sides and will post pics when its all done.

Gas has been pretty good- went over 300 miles on my first tank of gas before the light went on which was more than I had anticipated i would get.

Now that I have safe reliable wheels I will be doing a 5000 mile roadtrip starting in September with a small 2 week break in October for a photo gig in Africa. Planning on documenting the trip on a blog at www.inmyelement.me. looking forward to browsing through the forum and reading about others and their elements

 

[Lorrie420]

Welcome to the EOC Inmyelement. Can't wait to see the pics of your E. Let the modding begin!!

 

[LunchBoxDriver]

Welcome, welcome...!!!

Hey Inmyelemet, (your spelling right?)

Just wanted to say a quick welcome and wondering if you're doing the Lake Tahoe meet in Sep...? I'm guessing you're using the airport code for Portland and wanted to suggest you head on over there if you've got the time plus the distance isn't all that far...

Once again, welcome... Just joined up myself on Sunday... I hope you find a lot of fellow E-owners in your area and have many years of enjoyment with your -E-...

Congrats!
LBD

 

[ORANGEE]

Welcome to the Group
Let's see some pictures

 

[hotrodder]

Hello-----you're right-on about the safety of the Element. Lots of stories with good outcomes in here.

 

[Bonster]

Custom Head Restraint -- Pics?

I would love to see pictures of your custom head restraints once you have them (pics both in & out of your E would be helpful)!

I too have a problem with the pushed forward head restraints that I cannot fix with seat adjustments, HR swapping, pillows, nor Obus Forme back rests.

Have fun in your new & improved E!

 

[Inmyelemet]

Early update!

First off thank you Laurie 420, hottrodder, and orangeee for the welcome!

Good news! The guy ( Mark Carroll) who was doing the art on my car had time today at 7am and my element looks rather spiffy now! YAY!!!!

SO exciting! Now I have the car exterior done I can start working on a better website design incorporating the vehicle.

Bonster-I go in tomorrow to measure the new headrest to my skull ( the passenger one will be generic but the driver side will be fit to my height and concave to my skull if I ever do decide to lay my head on it... I prefer it not touching my head at all) and it will all be finished Friday. I will be sure to post pics as soon as I get em!

Lunchbox driver - I know the spelling is wrong inmyelement was already taken and I only though of trying inmyelement.me after signing up and could not see a way to change the profile name so seem to be stuck with what I have. ( if anyone knows a way to change my handle I would be ever so grateful!)My brain always works better after the fact.

When in September is the Tahoe meet? I am hoping to be in Alaska the first 2 weeks of september but may swap things up and do alaska in the late spring at the end of the trip, but I would love to come! I was originally planning on doing interviews ( film and photo much like David Lynchs Interview Project) with random strangers along the road trip but after reading all the great stories on this site am wondering if I want to get Element owner specific interviews. It would be more work arranging times to meet people in every state rather that picking some random strangers along the way but I think it might be interesting and unique in its own right. I suppose I would have to see how many element owners would actually be into the idea before I decided on that route. Would anyone reading this be up for something like that?

Sooooooo... here are a few pics!

my baby in the delivery room!

 

[Inmyelemet]

more pics

First time off the pavement

The dogs after a run in the woods in eastern Washington. Dog friendly mods include a 4 inch orthopedic foam bed and a blanket meant to cover the back seats latched over the front head restraints to keep the dogs from trying to climb up front. The green cooler bag contains the first aid kit.

a dogs life

Sammy and Sage smile their approval of the new ride

me reflected in the element.. and yes...my head is balldish at the moment... bad hair dye disaster !

just a LITTLE dirty on the first off pavement ride

 

[Inmyelemet]

and even more pics..

first sunset -pre art mod

Mark Carroll in Boring Oregon doing a wonderful job decalling my ride!

the new look... better pics to follow.. was just excited to take some right away!

 

[_jea_]

First: Welcome to the EOC!
Second: The answer to your question about Tahoe camping is here http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=54001
Third: Thanks a lot for great pictures! Your E looks awesome and the picture of your pups will be appreciated (we will just need several more pictures)

 

[Inmyelemet]

Jea- You should never ask a photog to provide more pics youll get overlaoded! Also thanks for the link to the Tahoe info.

Also I noticed most people here on the site post additions or mods to the factory standard element so I thought I would do that as well.

mine is a 09 orange ex automatic 4wd
added:

exterior-
vinyl art decals
element tent
roof rack
mid sized roof box
fog lights
window visors ( it rains a bunch here in pdx so very useful!)

interior:

New custom headrests
lumbar support pillow
Garmin Nuvi
Dog Divider
plush 4 inch mattress ( for dogs but also cush for people resting as well)
first aid/survival kit ( basic first aid kit, extra gloves and emergency aluminum blankets, lifesaver water bottle, bear spray, leatherman, axe, shovel, car tool kit)
Arm rests
1 to 3 port car charger adapter

and for now that is it

 

[LunchBoxDriver]

Thanks JEA for getting her the info...

Inmyelemet,

Congrats on a SWEET ride... Nice mods and the pooches add that "SPECIAL" touch... May s/he (do women call their rigs "HE"?) bring you many years of service and enjoyment... You are definitely ahead of the curve when it comes to "some" of us E-owners but that's the whole point in all of this...!!!

Nice work and safe trip...

LBD

 

[_jea_]

Never too many pics. Love the vinyl art decals!

 

[Bonster]

Love the art decals

WOW! Those art decals are amazing!

 

[Inmyelemet]

what a difference an inch makes!

Got my new shaved down head-restraints! Its amazing that just one inch can make such a huge difference! no more pain while driving and the restraints are still close enough to my head so that if I get rear-ended I still have support and wont get whiplash ( even though the uncomfrtable jutting only reduces your chance of whiplash by something silly like 14% and thats only for people in the correct height ranges)

Been on a few local adventure.. put on my first 1,500 miles this first week!

Some pics of my gal on the road.

all pics taken between PDX, mt hood, and mt st helens

more pics can be seen at

http://www.flickr.com/photos/xiliafaye/sets/72157622078170136/

also got some new toys... a 175wt power converter for the back cigarette lighter to charge my laptop and a jabra bluetooth speaker with fm transceiver to be able to talk on the phone while driving. It works AMAZINGLY well and sounds better that those dumb startrek looking ear thingys. It clips to the visor.

 

[Bonster]

Shaved down headrest

Thanks for posting pics of your custom head restraints. Glad to see you did both of them--your passengers will thank you and it looks like it came that way from the factory. They did a great job & this gives me another option to think about.

 

[LunchBoxDriver]

Wow...!!! I.M.E. VERY NICE pics...!

*applause*, *applause*...

You've shown me some cool ways to take pics of the E...!!! Awesome...!!! Congrats again and give Lucy an extra treat from me... Weiner dogs are too cool...! Stay tuned for mine...! I know I don't have a fancy camera like a lot of the guys do here on the forum but I'll give my lit'l Canon a run for its money...! LOL!!!

LBD

 

[Inmyelemet]

Thanks LBD!

I think you will be fine with the Canon for pics. Aside from the pics of the guy decaling my car and the first arty pics of my gal the rest are all taken on my iphone

When ya got to lug around several 5 lb cameras for work its nice to scale down for fun stuff!

Cant wait to see your pics!

 

[LunchBoxDriver]

They're HERE...!

Hey InMyElemet,

Here's the link:
http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=57921

I hope I did that right... Oh, by the way, I did the 2nd set of three pics with a bit of style and thought I REALLY need a better camera to get those super-detailed shots ... But we'll see... I'll be going camping Labor Day weekend and will be taking a bunch of pics then... Thanks for the inspiration...!

LBD

 

[Inmyelemet]

Ugh!!!!!

just realized for the first time that there is no way to open the back hatch from the inside!!!!!!!!!! Thats silly!!!!!

and LBD... cant wait to see the pics!