Well I figured I'd take a trip down memory lane and post my whole J history. "Finished" Manta Z and sold it this week so I figured might as well post it all in remembrance.

A lot of the dates are unknown so this just goes in order, and this does miss some things but nothing major missed

August 10, 2003: Bought and brought home a 2000 base model cavalier(I mean base, no options but power steering and abs lol) It had low miles and wasn’t really a planned buy, I was just looking and decided to buy. And I was 15 at the time, was under rents name but I actually paid for it. Sometimes I miss this car, nice paint, very dependable especially compared to the green one.. and hell gas was 99c at this time lmao
notice first mod, fuzzy dice w00t!(actually joke gift from my dad)





first exterior mod! Painted dub-caps. I was 15 and bored lol(surprised some people actually liked them as well) Best part is I still have those b1tches sitting on the porch boxed up



Everyone went through the times where they bought what they could and heres mine lol



Then I got more custom lol




tYght tip and tail covers


Then I had someone on our 3lane main road clip me while driving(bastard slammed brakes and turned before I could get any thing on it)



Then I got some taste for the car, removed the front license plate mount, and bought some 16” Z24 wheels


Had to stay pimpin tho so I took off half my tail light covers.. don’t ask I dunno what I was thinking lol


Ditched the tail covers all together


took most the stupid sh1t out of interior and painted pieces white, was cool at the time lol


Then finally got my license lmao, and month later being stupid racing, got caught and dumb me tried to get away and did $500 in damage after hitting a turn of loose gravel and finding a 6” curb(notice the suspension was pushed back, donut was only type of wheel that would fit) also, amazingly that rim still held air!



Parts to repair


After a month I got er all done minus replacing the fender and came back with some mesh in bumper, and clear corners.


Then the beginning of my primered, screw paint phase started with this hood lol

ran into issues with the ram air from the stock air box because I didn’t cut it so I took that sh1t and did my first performance mod! lol


To compliment the intake filter, added muffler


Then winter of 04/05 removed Zs for the stock 14s, also removed the hood and luckily I did.



The last mod I ever did to this car, some vinyl I had laying around I planned on using for windshield



Then 1/20/05 boom, you can read here for what happened




And then there was always this chop of what I wanted the car to look like


2/12/06 bought the Manta Z




First photo shoot I had with my buddies’ 4dr(cut the muffler off because mount was broken and bouncing lol)



As I went to leave from the first photo shoot, engine started knocking.. o geez, a WEEK after bought the car, car went down for engine swap




3 weeks later she was back and running strong, didn’t wanna put all that stock air box in so a cheap eBay intake came into play, with a muffler as well due to it was better/quieter then no muffler



What do you do after u do a motor swap and its running good? Go take pics!


After that, month of March decided what the hell, I'm going to start my interior conversion to black, so I gutted it.. bigger job then I ever planned.. and hell it was never finished lmao



wrapped mirrors and rear deck




Then came the first exterior mod, APC clear corners


then, remember that ram air hood I removed off red car? Black primer and that went on



Then I came to the point I wanted to change it up so I started thinking about painting my rims(notice the spare rim, look familiar? lol)


then I kinda caught onto the black theme and took apart my corners and painted them black but one broke so I was rocking pass black corner and orange driver side lmao



Removed the ram air hood to sand down and actually primer it right instead of rattle can like first time


Then debadged the hood and trunk



Then winter of 05, decided I’d finally paint my rims, used Duplicolor wheel paint graphite and by far one of the first mods I actually really loved. Also put stock pass corner back in



minus the decals on ¼ panel windows I wish this is where I would have left the car, just dropped it and left it alone..

Picked up a spare trunk from the junker and began my first project of shaving the trunk



Then bought my second set of APC clear corners and kept them chrome lol


managed to pick up these tails from Jason at A+ fairly cheap and always wanted them, but after looking at em decided I didn’t wanna mess with em and sold em


finally got the shaved trunk on, and put 2k outter taillights on with it


Then came my awesome green lights




sometime in April, came the 2k headlight swap thanks to Jeff(Karnage) hooking me up with all the parts I needed, and then the ram air hood returned!!




Picked up a rear strut bar from Crystal Dot, and a vert bar from junker for $10


Got a Optima Redtop, painted and tried polishing IDI cover, sanded and repainted strut bar


Then from the first time I was at Jeff’s I noticed he had a messed up Bomex front bumper in his shed. The school was having a car show so I decided I wanted to put a body kit. Got some side skirts from Chris of Streetside and then spent time fixing the front



Once the Bomex was fixed the car was looking nice, never was a fan of the front till I saw it on my car.. strange how that works huh?


After 2 weeks of the car show being postponed finally came and the car entered.


I ended up winning nothing obviously for good reasons but it was fun, did get quite few compliments

Then I sold my ram air hood to Eric Francis and rocked the stock manta green hood



then came the green glow, my buddy gave me some neons from his car cuz he changed his colors from green to blue, so I installed those



Then joeydabomb sold me a import fighter rear and that was put on


Then painted the hood black because I was tired of the green hood


After that I ordered my rims, I had wanted these rims since I first got the car, got a great price on em because they had just been discontinued, couldn’t pass it up so I bought me some 18s.


Then being on JBO, Sndsgood brought up a meet that best buy was having a car show, this is where I met most of the Indy J people I now know, for the first time. Was pretty cool show although results in the end were kinda bs



Then my buddy Ben, came up and we installed Type j kit on his car that I had picked up for him and storing lol



After that, was time for the JBOM BBQ and after talking with Jeff and Eric we decided we would all go, ended up Shannon “jbodyhotty” was planning on going too so we managed to meet up with her where 69 and 80 crossed and we all drove up together. Eric took the first pic, Jeff is first car on right, Layman is car behind Eric, Shannon is one the bike behind Jeff, and I'm car behind Shannon

my car in the lineup, lemme tell you, seeing all those J-BOOST cars in person is defiantly something you don’t wanna miss, loved almost every car there.


After that, winter was approaching and I decided I need to take off Bomex front and wanted to make a lip for winter, well ended up the lip I made kinda got out of hand and wouldnt work any better in winter then the Bomex, but with my classes and schedule hardly could work on it, pic is when it was still in beginning stages just test fitting

BTW the lip is still not done lol, and once I finish it I don’t plan to use it other then mount it for pics for the new owner

Ended up selling the Bomex front and sides and going with a 00z bumper with 2k2ls lip and import fighter sides. Urethane works better in winter then fiberglass


Then in February we had our lovely snow


After that, a friend was able to hook me up with a great deal on tires for my 18s so I got tires put on the rims finally after 8months. Also managed to get some sprint springs from The01Cav


Then in all the fad of niteshading tails and seeing Alexis’ custom smiley tinted tails I ordered some Niteshades and did mine. Ended up darker then originally planned but I liked em


Finally in spring 07 car got lowered and it was sitting nice, also sold the ls lip to spyderj for some cash


Then after looking at my rims, I realized I wasn’t to fond of the polished center cap, so after some helpful opinions I decided to get the center caps painted to match. End up in all our books not finding perfect match but a close enough and ended up liking them painted a lot more
Before

After


Week or two later just before the march meet I got the rims put on and fell in love with the stance



Drove down to Noblesville for the March meet, planned on stopping at Sndsgood’s before the meet to cruise over, Spyder, Michael Barr, and Jason were all there.. also 2miles away from Jason’s house had a bad vibration, couldn’t figure it out got to Jasons, had them look at the wheel and turned out I didn’t tighten the lugs all the way on one side in the rush of getting rims on.. and the lugs came off halfway and I actually snapped one lug which caused the massive vibrations.. luckily Jason had tools and got that mostly fixed before the meet to where I could drive it. Dumbass me


Then the march meet



After that night, that Sunday I sat and thought hard about the car and realized I think I need to stop on the car, the rust on it was bad and I don’t think it could ever be fixed.. so then I decided to give up on the car, take it back to stock, and just drive it.. so first the rims came off
Drag ready lol



Next I removed all my green lights minus then headlights, and replaced em with bulbs, also removed shiftplus, motor mounts, racing wheel and sold those.


Then I went down to Noblesville to meet Ben and Paul(Paul bought my old Bomex bumper) to sell some things and pick up some things) You can see Paul is sporting my niteshaded tails lol





Then got tired of all the look fast pieces in engine so I painted intake and idi cover solid black. with motor mounts out the intake by filter rubs the bat and brake line junction when the engine rocks back and forth but its nothing major..



Then I got rid of the Import Fighter Rear and Sides and planned on picking up a front bumper and rear bumper down at the April Meet so I drove down bumperless of course.



Then at the meet I got the front bumper and rear bumper


Then I decided I needed to get the interior done and back in so I painted the rear panels finally and put those in


After that I got a notice from the city that my Car-port in the back had to be cleaned up or they'd fine me. So I cleaned it up and being I had no truck and all the people I knew with trucks were busy I decided to let the cavy haul. and it did wonderfully




Following I finally got that rear deck cover back in to complete the back of the interior




Also my buddy Ben had a Prostock spoiler and when he opened his trunk his stock antenna would get caught on the spoiler, so I traded him my 8" antenna for his stocker


Then I got me some JDM.. JDM trunk carpet that is. Didn’t plan on buying it but found it for good deal so I snagged it


9 days later, the JDM came out..


Then I drove down to Indy to meet up with Chris (s1lver_n1p) and buy a small amp he had for a 10" kicker sub I had acquired. Was hitting hard and I loved it. He also installed his rear strut bar then we went to take some pics, most of my pics turned out crappy and dark, but he posted his so you can look in that for better pics


Almost 4days later, removed the sub and amp and all the wiring lol


Then also pulled out the Insignia head unit I got for a gift, and put a old Kenwood Head unit I had laying around in, also took out the graphite 02 door panel and swapped it with a beige one to match the neutral one better on the driver side



Then came a Monday morning where I planned on removing the Sprint Springs and putting some 15" Steelies on that I had picked up from Paul day before and repainted. Well before getting into removing the springs I realized it would of been a pain in 90degree direct sunlight weather, on side of street to take the springs out. So I said Eff it and left them in and put the 15" steelies on. Surprised I actually like the look. Sleeper? lol



Then minus the dash the car was done and sold the car to a local kid needing a beater that got better gas mileage then a 454 Suburban and V6 Dakota. So sold the car to him and told him once I got a dash for him that I had a deal with someone on I’d give him the dash also.

So yep, got rid of the "MANTA Z" took a big enough money loss on it already and it was a lost cause to continue as I had already wasted 2 years.. Just wish I would have located all the rust long time before.






Also I know I was going to get the questions, what will I drive now, what am I looking for etc.. Well this answers that.
5-23-07 was a long day. Left at noon to start my drive to Bensenville IL near Chicago. Hitting rush hour got there around 3:30pm my time. Then got home around 9pm that night with my new car.
When I got to the dealer


Leaving the Dealer


In Chicago traffic


Made a Pit stop for some quick grub before the last 45min of the drive home


In Monticello..25min away from home


10 Blocks away from home


Right when I got home with the new car


Then some night pics with the 96 Z






Then after little sleep waking up took some nicer daylight pics







Now, what is it? Well it’s a 2003 LS Sport Cavalier of course. Minor underside surface rust, Came with options I was looking for, ABS, PL, PW, Cruise, Tilt, Low Miles, Moon roof, Graphite Interior, and Ecotec Engine. Wasn't planning on getting a 5speed but it kind of happened.. and after couple days and a dealer mistake walked out the door with this car for a whopping $6800 taxes included, o yeah and a 3yr/36k Extended Warranty premium package covering everything but sheet metal and upholstery

First things to do are I swapped the Z24 wheels off the green Z, and removed stupid front mount plate and swapped the Optima Redtop out.



Then last Sunday (6-3-07) was the first photo shoots trying out various locations









So there you have it folks. I know its going to be asked what I am planning on modding next, and ill simply answer that as. Nothing really.
Being the car has an extended warranty and I am with a 3year loan I don’t plan to do too much really till its paid off. Hoping to get it paid off in less than 3. So far my plans are
Swap Batteries – DONE
Swap Wheels – DONE
Put in Strut bars
Put in Head unit, Sub, and Amp
20% Tint all around
and AEM Intake after tint.

So that’s really it, but don’t think I don’t plan on buying parts and storing them till its time to mod! But I wont be rolling multicolor this time. I’ve learned my lesson.

Hope you enjoyed
btw im sure there are alot of typos. sorry. tried making it fairly easy to read and follow as well.

half way thru the pics stopped working....i'm gonna refresh.

edit: well they didn't all work, but i got most of them. awesome post dude. good luck with the new j, and please don't make it multicolored. that silver is just too sexy.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edited Tuesday, June 05, 2007 3:35 PM

Glad to see you got another j. Realy like the z wheels on the 03, need a drop though haha.

Very nice I like it and the silver is smexy but then again im biased lol. Good luck with the new car

liked it with the full kit. too bad it had to go. good luck with the new car though !






* * BIG FOR SALE POST * *

wow... thats has to be one of the longest, if not THE longest post ever!!!!!!


i think i fell asleep through that.... when i came to there was drool on the keyboard and i was at the bottom of the page lol

awesome man, very nice to see you upgraded. cant wait to see whats in store, even if its 3 years


and whats all this rust i keep reading about? was the floor rotting out or something?!!?!?!

manta z no more wrote:
After that, was time for the JBOM BBQ KRI Motorsports.com BBQ and after talking with Jeff and Eric we decided we would all go, ended up Shannon “jbodyhotty” was planning on going too so we managed to meet up with her where 69 and 80 crossed and we all drove up together. Eric took the first pic, Jeff is first car on right, Layman is car behind Eric, Shannon is one the bike behind Jeff, and I'm car behind Shannon

my car in the lineup, lemme tell you, seeing all those J-BOOST cars in person is defiantly something you don’t wanna miss, loved almost every car there.

That was my BBQ, (KRI Motorsports.com) not JBOM. lol. Just so you know.













AIR RIDE MAFIA (~airbagsource.com~) Because STOCK is boring, that's why...

Congrats dude, saw it on your myspace pic....though I don't like the Z wheels on it, I'm glad you got a 5 speed!

Don't whore this one up a million times, take your time, and it'll come together much nicer!

Get some struts to throw those springs on and get the 18's on it ASAP .

nice man you went through alot with that car

not surprised you went with another cavalier. sooner or later you will learn.










http://www.j-body.org/classifieds/miscellaneous/60612/

the lemur wrote:half way thru the pics stopped working....i'm gonna refresh.

edit: well they didn't all work, but i got most of them. awesome post dude. good luck with the new j, and please don't make it multicolored. that silver is just too sexy.

Using firefox???? It's doing the same thing for me!! It work with explorer..... that suck!!!


Nice long post!!! Like the first mods better

Looks good man

Congrats on the new Car

PS IF you ever decide to kit it i will take that rear bumper Just a thought

wow, interesting little bio! Very well done, i like it.

Congrats on the new car! hope it treats you well And i like the z wheels on the 03.


if you use firefox, the pics stop loading half way through, use IE and it works fine

I knew you couldn't resist posting pics of the new car. I really like it with the older Z rims. Your car/photoshoot reminds me so much of dave dunsmoor's car. Anyway have fun with this one, it already looks good.

so i guess i don't have to keep it a secret anymore huh...

i never realized all that your z went through. that was quite a transformation

good luck with the new car

and silver owns

congrats on the new ride!

eco+5spd FTMFW!



** FOR SALE** http://www.j-body.org/forums/read.php?f=24&i=110879&t=110879

Whoa, u weren't lying about the LONG post! lol

I'm glad that you got a new car and I'm even HAPPIER that it's a 5-speed.

Aww...For some reason the manta z always intrigued me. I always was interested in its progress. Thats too bad she had to go.






On that note, congradulations on the new car. It looks like a good clean start. I really like the z wheels on her. Have fun with her.



Go Go OG Traction!!

man i forgot about the red cav you had,before the z24
i see that sj sticker lol
new one looks good with the rims on it, enjoyed it man.....

the lemur - Yeh, i have the same problem alot of times.. but hell im on dialup lol, and yes i learned my lesson no more multicolors for me unless its c/f. and thanks for the comments

icemike89 - Yeh, i wish i could lower it but im really not cheaping out on this one including the suspension.. plus who else is going to pull out all the monster trucks when they get stuck in the mud?

Bubba00Sedan - The Ultra Silver Metallic has always been my 2nd favorite stock color on Js.. Manta green is always number 1 in my heart tho lol. Thanks

tha_prowler - I was digging the Bomex kit myself as well. just had so many changes with this car it was hard to keep a certain look but i loved changing it up and esp hearing reactions around here from alot of people lol

Godspeed - yea yea.. whatever lol. but i did mention that to s1lver i think this is one of the longest but then i remembered some of the one Halfpint posted and she would post a ton more pics lol

z yaaaa - yeah, its gonna be a tempting 3years lol, Now the rust situation, well at first it was just little on the fenders and a lil pen tip spot on 1/4 panel on top of wheel well. did 2k front end swap and found the inside of fenders have pretty much been ate up to the paint. Then noticed the 1/4 panels had about 7" up from the bottom rusted out, got in from inside and looked and the whole inside of 1/4 panel was bad looking. got under it when i lowered it and it terrified the hell out of me.. ill say i woulda had a better starting point with just a bare shell..


Kevin Richter - Dur, i knew that my bad.. but hey gimme credit. this was a long post to write out lol

Joe Schulte - thanks man. i wasnt sure on teh z wheels but there is good reason, they have 80k mile warrenty on them and only have about 11k on them. plus i have certificate for free replacement if they get damaged that is unfixable. I'd like to get struts for the springs but that means id have to remove the springs lol, plus i dont have the money right now and the new owner liked it better lowered. Plus ill just get my coilovers like i had originally planned

STREAKER1369 - sure did, and looking back it was great times it just sucks it was all pretty much wasted but i dont know if i would completely wish it never happened..

SAC - lol, yeah defiantly later.. that comment actually made me laugh cuz its so true.. i don't know wtf i got myself into..lol

Da Ghost (Qc) - lol, i was all about custom then almost everyone has those stages, just not everyone likes to admit and show them lol

sUiCiDe - One thing i've learned from my green car is no stock parts get sold or trashed lol thanks for the comments

schembo2000 - Thanks, i like the Zs too, definatly gives it a different look

Atk2008 - well i wasnt going to post till someone went ahead and blew it in Mideast j/k. yeah i wasn't planning on it but then i just said w/e i was bored, and yeah i'm glad i wasnt only one who thought of dunsmoors.. confused me considering he doesnt even have dark rims lol

alias1429 - nope, and yeah the Z went through alot, its weird looking back on it all. thanks. btw silver is sexy.

ExESIVE FIRE now with CTS - thanks man, its no CTS but almost? lol

Crystal (CrazyCavGirl) - Of course not, i cant even load all the pics lol, and yes i love it and remember.. you have to be careful

OG Nick - Thanks nick, definatly good feeling knowing i had few people really interested in what i was doing.. but this definatly was a bad one to get involved in. But trust me you'll still be wondering what im doing, my overall vision i had with the green one will be transfered over to this one. just less restoration work needed . and thanks man.

1320dance - yeah alot didnt know i had the red cav i dont think.. and Yeah SJ.. wow.. was introduced to some cool people through there. thanks man


whew, thats a long reply too.. keep the comments coming lol
Thanks for all the comments guys

Hahaha Im the same way i keep everything

But i had to try

Congrats again on a sweet new car

wow you really know how to ruin cars...


this thread is exactly why I made up my mind BEFORE ever touching my car.... do it once, do it right.

Geeez, after 20 mins of pics and reading lol... Nice pick up man, glad you got another one











~2014 New Z under the knife, same heart different body~
______________________
WHITECAVY no more
2012 numbers - 4SPD AUTOMATIC!!
328 HP
306 TQ

sUiCiDe - Yeah sorry lol, even if I was planning on getting rid of it it would already be gone too.

STYLEZ - sorry you feel that I "ruined" my cars.. but then again I don't ever remember a time I've seen you post a positive comment in anyones threads so its not your comment surprised me.

WHITECAVY - Yea lol, definitely long. but good news I don't have to post it again lol. Thanks though.