How would you mod your car?

[Northstar]

Ok, so I'm bored and thought this would be a fun thread. If you haven't figured it out already, in this thread you are to post the mods you would do to your car if you had the money. I'm going to do what I would do for $5k and then for $10k, I suppose you can do whatever you want, but it would be more fun if you put a couple price limits on your mods, IMO.

Anyways, here goes:

First, performance:

Kooks 1 3/4" x 3" w/ 3" Metallic Catted Connection Pipes Headers. $849 on PFYC

Borla dual exhuast: $859.95 on eBay.

K&N CAI: $195.95 on eBay

And finally, a tune. Approx $500.

For appearance:

SAP grill inserts: $194.99

SAP front fascia extension: $284.90

Banshee Dual Outlet Exhaust Inserts $149

Basically, when I would cut out my bumper for the dual exhuast, the inserts make it look finished. My rear end would look like this:

http://ls1gto.com/forums/showthread.php?p=...228#post1358228

Gravana Woodward Dream Cruise GTO hood: $849.99

Suspension:

GTO eXtreme X Coilover Adjustable 1/2" to 1 1/2" Drop: $453.64

Hotchkiss sway bars: $412.95

For a grand total of: $4750.37

Moving on, if I had more to spend...

AFR 205cc Mongoose Street Head w/ Comp Springs and Porting: $2,449.95

Vigilante 9.5" Torque Converter: $699.99

And finally, I'd have a little over $2k for wheels and tires.

[Cory Wolfe]

Damn... you researched all that.

Um... for my GA... since it's... uh... mine, I guess... how much does an entirely new engine cost? Like an Ecotec swap. Then get GM Ecotec mods from there including everything from intake to exhaust (a nice cat-back, btw). Then get some performance brakes, suspension, etc. After that, alot of the mods would be entirely custom. New front and rear fascias designed by muah. Smoothed out cladding, as well. Custom head and taillights. An entirely custom interior. More or less, I'd swap in some GTO seats, cut up a G6 dash mixed with some GTO parts. A custom center stack and console as well as door panels. Finally, I'd fit an enormous sound system into it and top it off with a sweet paint job and some 18" wheels.

[intrigued]

GM makes a 2.0 ecoteck SC crate engine you can buy for like 2 grand though I dont know if your tranny would mate with it or not. Do you have the manual BV? that would stand a better chance.

[Cory Wolfe]

Yes, I do. The Isuzu 5-speed.

[intrigued]

all you need to do is find out if the engine has the same bolt patterns as the tranny, upgrade the clutch and otherwise beef up the tranny and your good

[Northstar]

Hmm, I didn't even think about an engine swap, but an LS7 is $13k.

The Cobalt SS's engine is $3250.

[loki]

my 99 monte, i'd have to guess the 3.9L would fit, right?

would the 6speed manual fit too? lol

just fix the body"imperfections" i may or maynot have caused..

[CaddyXLR-V]

Is this in addition to the $1500 I just spent? Or including it?

[AAS]

Since I already have mods on my car...

In hindsight, I would have still gone with the suspension/chassis mods (upgraded control arms & panhard bar, strutt tower brace, sub-frame connectors), but I regret doing the headers. If anything I should have just gone with a cat-back exhaust. The air-box was a good idea too.

[Northstar]

Is this in addition to the $1500 I just spent? Or including it?

Whichever. It's just for fun, so you can make up your own rules if you want.

AAS - why do you regret the headers? Were they too loud after a while and you just didn't like the extra noise or what? I ask because if I get enough money together I'm probably going to put headers on the GTO.

[Brandon Lutz]

If I had the money:

LS2

6 Speed stick to replace my 5 speed

17 Inch Torque Thrust II's with the Dark Spokes

2003 Corvette Le Mans Mettallic Blue Paint.

White SS stripes with a hugger orange pinstripe outline

Katzkin Leather door and seat treatment with black inserts on the seats.

Some kinda coil over setup with a 9 inch rear end to replace the leaf spring setup out back.

Yes my Xtreme would be bitchin then

[balthazar]

Oy! My car is a complete ground-to-roof rebuild. It would take a wholw page to list everything. Here's just one:

Dana 60 truck axle, narrowed, new tubes, Moser 35-spline axles, Richmond 3.73 gears, 4-pinion posi, custom-built adjustable 36-in ladder bars, Heim ends, Panhard bar, 11" backing plates & new drums, all new hardware & bearings, Kevlar shoes.

That alone was roughly $1600.

I have just under $20K invested and the motor/trans isn't built (maybe $6000), no paint ($1500), no upholstery (??), wiring, plumbing, glass, a truckload of misc.... I hope to roll at under $30K.

Is that enough mods, or is restore/modify another thread?

[Camino LS6]

I noticed that you've been spending some time over at LS1GTO.com, Northie. :AH-HA_wink:

Get's the mod bug moving doesn't it?

I've built mine in my head so many times now it's not funny.

My recipe would remain the same as I first laid it out about a year or so ago with all mods being exclusively from GM,Pontiac,Holden, or HSV.

I'd start with upgrading the LS1 to LS6 specs,Wheels and tires, Z06 clutch,and HSV shifter and brakes. That alone would top the 5k limit.

I'd worry about other things later.

[Northstar]

Indeed I have been spending some time over there, and I ordered my black tails from Fred Beans on Saturday at $100 off MSRP. Hopefully I'll put them in tomorrow or Wednesday (they ship within 2 days from what I've seen over there).

I forgot I was look at some Holden/HSV wheels on eBay AU, and they were surprisingly cheap.

[Camino LS6]

Indeed I have been spending some time over there, and I ordered my black tails from Fred Beans on Saturday at $100 off MSRP. Hopefully I'll put them in tomorrow or Wednesday (they ship within 2 days from what I've seen over there).

I forgot I was look at some Holden/HSV wheels on eBay AU, and they were surprisingly cheap.

Fred Beans is in my neck of the woods (30 minute drive), but I'm afraid to go as I'm likely to come back broke with a bunch of big boxes poking out of the GTO's windows. :AH-HA_wink:

I want the CV8R tails for my car.

[Northstar]

Fred Beans is in PA? I thought it was in TX for some reason, guess not. Are CV8R tails the ones that are slightly darker, almost blood red? I would like the 427s instead of the 06s, but they're pretty similar and the 06s cost half as much.

CV8R wheels are also sweet. I would really like some Coupe4 wheels.

[ToniCipriani]

Well since I'm out of money now, I have to keep the mods that need money on hold, and need a clear day. It's raining like crap in Waterloo.

I do have on plans though:

- Intake Resonator Removal

- GMPD Strut Tower Brace

- Headlight Painting to Black or brushed aluminum

[Camino LS6]

Fred Beans is in PA? I thought it was in TX for some reason, guess not. Are CV8R tails the ones that are slightly darker, almost blood red? I would like the 427s instead of the 06s, but they're pretty similar and the 06s cost half as much.

CV8R wheels are also sweet. I would really like some Coupe4 wheels.

Yup, those are the ones. The CV8R was the Monaro equivalent to my car (limited edition Pulse Red) and is also Pulse Red. I have toyed with the idea of adding all of the CV8R goodies to my car as it seems like a natural theme. Trouble is that the VZ 18 wheels have really caught my fancy. BTW: all of the Underground Chevelle SSs (Including my sig car) wear modified CV8R wheels.

[Camino LS6]

Holden Monaro CV8R serieslll

[AAS]

AAS - why do you regret the headers? Were they too loud after a while and you just didn't like the extra noise or what? I ask because if I get enough money together I'm probably going to put headers on the GTO.

Pro's: the sound, more free at the top end, fuel efficiency(?)

Con's: performance gains didn't feel as dramatic as I expected, driver's side cat would smack my floorpan during hard shifts (until the heat shield finally broke off), miscellaneous leaks, "hissing" due to loose washers (O2 sensors don't seat completely), it's a "hassle" to smog

I got a MAC system (definitely not the best), so that could explain problems with fit-and-finish etc. But considering how much they cost and the work to install them, I think time and money would have been much better spent had I just got a cat-back exhaust sytem or even just changed my muffler.

[CaddyXLR-V]

Headers ($700)

Cat back exhuast ($300)

Adapter to connect my laptop to my car for tuning ($400)

Paint ($400)

2.25 inch Lowering springs ($250)

Bigger fuel injectors ($350)

2.8" pulley ($50)

2001 Daytona edition spoiler ($200)

race heads ($1700)

then spend whats left over one wheels/tires

[04monteintimidator]

hmm... less drastic (read: less expensive) mods...

performance:

headers

cat-back

CAI

appearance:

ram air hood from pfyc

more drastic (more expensive)...

performance:

eaton m112 s/c (model up from the m90 i have)

appearance:

custom paint job to accent the ram air hood (see the my thread in the showacse "i spiced up a monte)

most drastic (most expensive):

LS4

keep the m112

headers, cat-back and CAI for the LS4

if i had a ridiculous amount of money to spend and for whatever reason didnt want to buy a corvette (read: will never happen):

RWD conversion

LS2

Manual trans

Turbo