I just gotta see if some of the older members on here agree with me, but the mods people these days people are doing are weak. It just got boring to me there's not much exciting mods going on anymore. I wanna see people do some crazy different custom stuff!anybody can customize. The only way to learn is to do it! Excite me people!
I think the problem is alot of people have moved on. And there still are quite a few innovations. Mainly in the engine/suspension departments. More and more Ecotec hybrid setups and combinations. And N/A Quad4's and EcoTec s over 200 horsepower now. Plus the Saturn rear swap, and at last count, at least a half a dozen of us working on different NWF swap combinations and solutions. OEM and TTR are still designing new products for us as well. Also, more and more people are running 12's or faster and/or breaking 300 horsepower (Except for Rodimus
). So the innovations are there, maybe just not as obvious as yours are.
Currently #4 in Ecotec Forced Induction horsepower ratings. 505.8 WHP 414WTQ!!!
Currently 3rd quickest Ecotec on the .org - 10.949 @ 131.50 MPH!!!
C'mon.. when I put nitrous and slicks on my first Cavalier in 2001.. a 13.9 WAS a fast quarter mile.
I know a few people have some "different" things in the works and on the drawing board. With us at KGM we are more focused with supercharged builds and performance than exterior and audio. I'm sure i speak for others(as well as myself) that the ones who are "getting serious" would rather get the builds done than document everything and spend the time posting about it. I will promise you that this spring/summer will be interesting for KGM.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edited Sunday, January 22, 2012 9:36 AM
Error: Sig not found.
while i get what you're saying i just dont think people like the whole "show car" game much any more is all.
people are much more interested in going fast and going fast around corner's right now.
the j-body scene has fell right in line with all the other sport compact scene's for the most part. the days of wanting that "Fast and Furious" look are pretty much gone. most people now a days are perfectly satisfied being "normal" or "average" exterior wise and have all the "wow" factor underneath.
Come join us over on the Olds Quad 4 and Twin Cam Facebook group!
economy is bad, people cant afford to dump a ton of cash into their car. They are more concerned about bills and looking out for their family...
Ya......I guess I just miss the exterior modifications
I think it is more that the taste has changed. Not saying people do not want good looking cars, but what they consider good looking has changed.
FU Tuning
so true look at 2000-2007 era of JBO was mainly bodykits and 747 wings just for the pretty look and the paul walker thing lol, there are some that like the show car thing and some that like speed and some that just do things to the cars as a hobby with no real intent
"As I lay rubber down the street, I pray for traction I can keep, but if I spin and begin to slide, please dear God protect my ride." -Amen
I have my show/go ride. then i have my clean n suttle sleeper. and then theres the dd whore which is getting mild yt drastic exterior yet still some fun love under the hood. Youll alway have the exterior modders like seamless. me etc cause well keep this form of modding alive just as many others have in the past with mucsle. rodders. minis etc.
Addicted to meth wrote:I think it is more that the taste has changed. Not saying people do not want good looking cars, but what they consider good looking has changed.
This.
I think the tides have just changed and you're not going to see a ton of the wild exterior builds anymore (or at least until trends change again lol). I for one think there are a great number of cool things going on with the community, many of which Roofy pointed out...the eco hybrids, new version or improvements of swaps already out there..and more so I think there are a ton of members right now trying to push the envelope as far as performance. And like Tink said, just speaking on a local level, we have a lot going on behind the scenes...I think many are just not taking the time to keep JBO informed every step of the way.
Vince has a good point with money as well. Alot of us older members are all grown up now, lol. Homes, families, jobs, etc...the hobby car really becomes a hobby car now. 5 years ago I had plenty of time and disposable income to dump into my hobbies, now the bills need to come first.
EVILution (KGM Godfather) wrote:you're not going to see a ton of the wild exterior builds anymore (or at least until trends change again lol).
Good point... for tuner shows and so on, you want something that isn't a 7 year old car (at best)... show organizers want cars in that are newer.. Cobalts took over where Cavaliers left off... now they are being replaced with Cruzes. Unless you have something really unique, but a grocery-getter like a Cavalier is old news.
i have lots of plans... just lack the disposable income to move forward with them currently.
the other issue being that the build I'd like to do to the car would mean having apart for an extended period of time and I don't want to miss out on the autox season. need to get a miata and then I can dive in.
In the meantime, I'll have to stop giving Tinkles ideas.
Economy is bad, keeping the house has priority over modding the car. Some of us old guys now have kids and are married. I have to admit i enjoy my time with my wife and kids more than i ever did working on any car. Im still interested and will one day get back into it. For now though it has taken i back seat. Im still looking for a beretta gtu if that counts.
people grow up and have more important priorities. why waste money on an old economy bucket.
car shows with 16 year old know it all punks < all the big boy toys I want
The reason why I sold my car was because I have two kids and married.... And was struggling with the economy so I know what you guys mean. But I had to get back into it cuz its just in my blood. If it was a cavalier or a new Lamborghini I would still be modding it up.
There will always be new cats stepping on the scene. J bodys fanatics will be around for life. If I had the cash and resources I would be doing all types of crazy stuff. Just keep an eye out seamless!
The show car scene changed?
(as I crawl back under a rock)
.
"now a days are perfectly satisfied being "normal" or "average" exterior wise and have all the "wow" factor underneath."<-- That right there is a very BOLD statement.. Id have to say to each their own, there are all different walks of life.. We all have different goals in mind.. Mike I know what you mean bro! I love to design and fabricate things constantly. Thats why I started my own business and stay busy.. Right now im fabricating some side skirts and a couple of weeks ago I finished reshaping the spoiler on my car aswell. Check the post out in the other cars forum if youd like.
Zyaaaa wrote:the j-body scene has fell right in line with all the other sport compact scene's for the most part. the days of wanting that "Fast and Furious" look are pretty much gone. most people now a days are perfectly satisfied being "normal" or "average" exterior wise and have all the "wow" factor underneath.
the way it always should have been.
Adam Risden wrote: -Z Yaaaa- wrote:Most people now a days are perfectly satisfied being "normal" or "average" exterior wise and have all the "wow" factor underneath.
That right there is a very BOLD statement.. Id have to say to each their own, there are all different walks of life..
its a "bold" statement, how? its the truth lol yes there are all types of tastes, etc. but for the most part you see people building cars with a more clean look and being performance oriented in mind these days, not so much the big and bright stand-out-ish bold look of yesteryear.
one merely needs to see what other vehicle groups are doing to see this. a lot are basically stock looking with rims and "stanced" exterior wise with a whole lot of "holy crap" going on underneath the paint instead.
Come join us over on the Olds Quad 4 and Twin Cam Facebook group!
I realized that putting all that money into a fwd car with a twist beam axle sort of became a silly conception. As much as I loved doing what I was doing it got to the point that when it was almost said and done with I realized ( epiphany mode here ) that all that money could've been spent on a rwd car with good weight balance.
Such is life with learning on your fwd car that in the end would only mean it's still a Cavalier.
I'll say that all the work and 'engineering' that was done has opened up the doors to knowing enough about the overall picture of the automobile that the next venture will be something that is exactly what I want.
We all grow up in the car world and that's something that has to happen to all of us over time. My realization came when I finally discovered how much fun it was to really drive a car with stick shift and enjoy all the aspects of rowing the gears. Having an auto-tragic tranny in my Jbody dealt a big blow to me once this was discovered and hence my disdain for all the effort into something that really and honestly cannot be completely driven in the state it is in.
All the work and a complete shutdown of all the neural nodes that give pleasure to driving a car and all because it wasn't a stick shift.
Do the tranny swap you say? Sure but why put more into it where my plans have changed to something better with rwd and excellent balance.
I will say one thing though that the Cavalier is what got me into all aspects of everything I've learned about cars from suspension, engine, tranny, and to tuning with software that takes it a step higher.
JBO has been there for the majority of the praise that comes with learning about all this and I thank you.
Now it's time to move on and take what I've learned and apply it to what really matters. DRIVING
Maybe that's what we call growing up I guess.
Misnblu.com
Newbie member since 1999
Thank you Dave and JBO! 
Asking older members hey? I'm an old ass member
I finally realized that a FWD J-body is not worth all the money I was putting into it. I have a cammed sunfire that can hang with mustangs that just sits in the driveway unless I need to go somewhere in the summer time where gas mileage is a concern. I was planning on building it into a Auto-X / drag car depending on the weekend and changing wheels, tires, suspension setups accordingly. Then I realized how @!#$ty the izuzu 5-speeds are. Ill continue to use my car as a "decent gas mileage" car with a screwed transmission until I cant fix it anymore, but when it finally dies I'll replace it with another cheap but reliable (stock this time) car.
Since I stopped wasting money on the J-body, I have been able to support my motorcycle addiction 10 fold while putting thousands away into savings. The younger guys at work drool over my sport bike and there isnt a day that goes by that I regret the time and money I have into it, and my old bobber, although being JDM, is the envy of a lot of wanna be biker HD owners. Personally I dont care about such things, I do it because I love bikes, but the only reason I can do it at all is because im older and smarter.
But to more accurately and generally answer your original question.
J-bodies are a old dying out model.
The ricer scene is finally dying off (thank god)
The economy sucks.
The people that can actually afford to mod cars are usually older now adays and put there money and time into things worthwhile or that are more expensive, and a J-body isnt either.
On the same token, older people usually know how to more wisely spend thier money (but not always), thats why you dont see sweet ass Cavaliers anymore like you used to.
I used to say that if I won the lotto that I would finally finish my Sunfire just to do it, but now that I've gotton older, I would just donate it to charity.
How's this to ad a little spice! I'm in the process of building a rear wheel drive jbody..! Now as silly as it sounds to most, I believe that it's the way that gm should have made the cavalier.. All rants aside, I am actually working on this. Only thing I don't have is a super clean 2door 3rd gen. That's what I want to build it into. It's a major project, but I have the shop at home and the bit of brains it will take. Up in the air is what I'm doing for a rear end.. And I've come to the conclusion and the fact that rear independent is the way to go, means more work however, I am fortunate to have a best friend with a vast parts collection..! The drive train will be a 5.3 chevy vortec from 99-2002. 5spd transmission custom drive shaft. Etc front end will be a heavy mod including mid to late 80's Camaro parts.. Custom fire wall brake booster relocation, custom tunnel. Chassis will include some modding and tube framing aswell. My thought is what are people gonna do when a cavalier is drifting sideways past a 240sx. Hate it or love it, it will enter it's own category. Cheers!
"Yes I am aware cut springs are hack!".
zrods wrote:How's this to ad a little spice! I'm in the process of building a rear wheel drive jbody..! Now as silly as it sounds to most, I believe that it's the way that gm should have made the cavalier.. All rants aside, I am actually working on this. Only thing I don't have is a super clean 2door 3rd gen. That's what I want to build it into. It's a major project, but I have the shop at home and the bit of brains it will take. Up in the air is what I'm doing for a rear end.. And I've come to the conclusion and the fact that rear independent is the way to go, means more work however, I am fortunate to have a best friend with a vast parts collection..! The drive train will be a 5.3 chevy vortec from 99-2002. 5spd transmission custom drive shaft. Etc front end will be a heavy mod including mid to late 80's Camaro parts.. Custom fire wall brake booster relocation, custom tunnel. Chassis will include some modding and tube framing aswell. My thought is what are people gonna do when a cavalier is drifting sideways past a 240sx. Hate it or love it, it will enter it's own category. Cheers!
I'd prefer to see a turbocharged eco. I'd love to do this too, but the time/welding skills/money escape me at the momeny.
Error: Sig not found.
