To Mod or Not To Mod?

[lil' jon]

Okay, so I bought a forest green 94 Camaro Convertible. Has power windows, locks, CD player, a mint interior, 96,xxx miles, and 3 show car trophies to boot. I really like the way the car looks, and I'm wondering if I should start modding it or not. I realize that with a 16 year old's budget it'll never be mind boggling fast, but I'd like to have a nice cat-back like a magnaflow or somethin', Cold air intake, and a short shifter. I've also looked a little into the 3400 heads and intake, but don't like the idea of changing pistons. My question is, do you think I should concentrate more on appearance, or performance. Also, my dad says I should just leave it stock, that it's nice the way it is. Any suggestions?

[vanbibber]

Re: To Mod or Not To Mod?

just do some bolt ons to make it a tad bit more fun to drive and just enjoy the car for what it is.

modding costs to much. once you start its hard to stop.

[lil' jon]

Re: To Mod or Not To Mod?

Yeah, that's kinda' what I was thinking. BTW, I just made a list of all the stuff I thought would be cool to do to the car, and the total was around $10,000 :eek: ! Geuss you were right about the cost thing!

[BLLDOGG]

Re: To Mod or Not To Mod?

leave it stock. spend the money on upkeep and other things. also, college isn't far off either

[SpeedingFirebird]

Re: To Mod or Not To Mod?

do some cheap(er) bolt on mods: muffler, K&N and skip the appearance stuff. Maybe ask for the bolt-ons for x-mas.

I also agree with BLLDOGG, save money for college - it's far more important than a car.

[lil' jon]

Re: To Mod or Not To Mod?

Well, I don't know about leaving it completely stock. I did get a killer deal on the car so I could afford some basic bolt-ons. I'm talking under $1000. Why do you say I should leave it stock, anyway? Concerning general maintenance, you just reminded me of something. I bought the car about a year ago and put it in storage. It had about a full tank of gas when I put it in storage. I start her up about once every couple of weeks. I burned a whole tank of gas just idling it, and now the exhaust smells like gas. I did get a chance to take the car up and down the street a couple of times and noticed that it kinda bucks in 3rd gear at about 30mph. Any ideas what could be wrong with it?

[BLLDOGG]

Re: To Mod or Not To Mod?

you are suppose to really drive it and get it nice and hot to get all the moisture out. :)

[lil' jon]

Re: To Mod or Not To Mod?

Now that you mention it, after letting the car idle for about 10 minutes, the ground is moist around the muffler tip (just 1 :( ). As soon as I get my license I'll take it out for a nice drive! Do you think seafoaming it would be a good idea too?

[BLLDOGG]

Re: To Mod or Not To Mod?

it is normal to have water coming out of your exhaust. part of the process. might think about seafoam when you pull it out of storage in the spring. but don't go seafoaming your car all the time. should definatly space it out like 50K+

[Smoke Panther]

Re: To Mod or Not To Mod?

I'd buy bolt-ons minus the headers, and leave it at that.

[97rs4life]

Re: To Mod or Not To Mod?

I'd buy bolt-ons minus the headers, and leave it at that.

That is hard to do once you start modding a car, trust me I know, lol. One thing leads to another and it becomes an addicting battle.

[vanbibber]

Re: To Mod or Not To Mod?

i think we all know the feeling around here

[Camaro Dom]

Re: To Mod or Not To Mod?

i would try to stay away from performance mods, especially with 96xxx miles on it already. if you wind up doing anything big (and hp is addictive so you inevitably will) you'll wind up needing to take the motor apart and motor parts are big $$$.
i'd recommend putting a nice set of subs and speakers in, tints maybe or other stuff for the interior to make your driving experiance better.
the big thing here is that especially with college coming, you need it to stay reliable, and stock is by far the most reliable condition a car can be in. millions of dollars are spent by the automakers on thier engineers to make everything run perfectly. they know what they're doing and unless you're willing to sacrefice your time and money keeping it running well i'd say stick with stock performance wise. one day when you get outta college and have moeny to play around with or if your parents are willing to help you out with your college money, then you can start looking at performance.

[Smoke Panther]

Re: To Mod or Not To Mod?

That is hard to do once you start modding a car, trust me I know, lol. One thing leads to another and it becomes an addicting battle.

Welp, on a 16 year old's budget, that isn't so hard...you'd be amazed what you won't do when you don't have the funds. That's why it took so damn long building up my car....

[lil' jon]

Re: To Mod or Not To Mod?

Thanks for the great advice guys. I think what I'll do is get a short shifter, aftermarket exhaust (gotta have dual tips), CAI, stereo, maybe the window tints, cause I think it would look cool to have tinted windows with the black top up, or windows down with top down. For appearance the car already has American Racing Rims, gold stripes, and an upholstered roll bar to match the inerior. After reading the advice you guys gave me I realized that I shouldn't get serios about performance mods, just a few bolt ons.