guys i cannot thank you enough for the kind words in my other thread, it really means a lot to me and im not too much of a man to admit it.
its hearing good things about my work that pushes me further and further into making things even better. i wanted to show you all just how far this thing has came since i first got it almost 4 years ago. you wouldn't think by just looking at it that so much has been done because i opted to keep a lot of the stock features but a lot has been...
so many new GM parts and replacement aftermarket stuff i cannot tell you, just know that if it wasnt for the paint and the odometer it would be damn close to a brand new cavalier.
i still have a ton of plans for this thing and its going to take years to come to get it where i want it to be considered "done". for awhile now i have been contemplating putting this car on hold and getting back to my roots-racing. my black 97 z has been sitting around for the past 5 years now and i miss the hell out of it. i have been torn between doing it up and going and having some fun without worrying if its going to rain and ruin my day or not and building a monster ld9 and turboing the white car for next year. at this point i just dont know what i want to do. what do you guys think?
here are some pictures of early days, process and work... and a few of the most recent car show i went to. got 2nd place. again, read the captions please!
i found the car online through the jboi.org (j-bodies of iowa) website for sale back in early 2005, the car was relatively clean and well taken care of with decently low mileage (92,000) for the year, only problem it had was a blown engine. we had to drive 5 hours across iowa to pick it up. i did it sight un-seen with only pictures and hear say to go on. but i fell in love and had to have it. here it is being picked up and trailered home.
see the oil slick underneath? LOL thats due to a 2" hole in the oil pan, good ole' LD9 thrown rod!
oh god... just look at those tails and muffler!!!!
my dad and i rebuilt another 2.4 we had lying around, new bearings, rings.. crank etc. stock rebuild with secret cams. i bought a few various pieces for it to dress it up and had the hood hinges and hood prop chromed. i already had quite a few parts bought for my 97z so a lot of them went on, including the entire exhaust from the rk sport 4-1 header to the magnaflow muffler that was ON it for a couple years.
YUCK!!!!!! i cannot explain in words how i feel about tan interiors. im so f'n glad its all completely gone now. i ALMOST did not buy the car because of this, but... i vowed from day one to swap it to graphite and thats exactly what i did.
i was in love with the white and black look i had going so i ditched the polished rims and bought some black with polished lip ones wrapped in dunlop tires.
the ac condenser was bent completely in half so i had to replace that, as well as the ac compressor plug was busted off so a new one was bought. lower ac line was bent, bought that. and radiator petcock was busted so i had to buy a new radiator. the front of the car was completely blown apart. looking back at this pic i have no idea where i found the motivation to continue, but i did. :d
venom intake manifold with custom 3 layer venom sticker
made by JM DECALS
and installed....
koni yellows and eibach sportlines
kenwood excelon 5 1/4 components installed.
toyota cav leather wrapped steering wheel. (overnighted from japan
)
03-05 ls sport leather wrapped shift handle and 95-99 5spd shifter bezel/boot
it really is too bad that the radiator cover covers this area up... LOL
i bought these rims (centerline storms) for my black car but since i had sold my black drifz rims and was moving i needed something to drive the car to the new house on so these went on.
i believe these next few are some of my favorites. every year i go to the same place after the same car show to get pics...
2006
2007
2008
my velox pg5s forged aluminum rims. custom powdercoated black and center caps painted black with automotive grade base coat/clear coat.
my kids!!
HAHAHA my first attempt at a tape job...
and be patient guys... i just finished up my 'secret' part today and i will be putting it on soon, pics will be coming shortly!
Fall 08 Omaha/western Iowa area meet...
CLICK ME!
Not just the car, but you as an owner/modified have come a long way over the years man.
Looks good man, some day, some day we'll get out and cruise our nice cars.
Can't wait for the new pics Brad!
I like, approve, all that good stuff.
It's clean, and very well done
.
my favorite part is the headlights, so much better than the foggy semi transparent stockers, the rest of the car is great too, love the attention to detail
www.driftnamiperformance.com
BRAD!!!!!!!!!!!
i've seen your car since 06. keep going on with it man.
never give up the dream if you can help it. you know i'll be looking for it
apparently, guys on cobaltss.net don't like OEM. stock look isn't as hot as aftermarket to them i guess
still an org whore if i can be. premium too!
It has come along way!!! Car looks great and I know it goes with the theme you have, but take the radiator cover off, it would be sooo SEXY under the hood!!!
FU Tuning
Furry seat covers?
Looks amazing man, wish my car was anywhere near that flawless.
loving how clean it looks!
"Twin" pics in the spring?
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4 Cams...32 Valves...5 Liters...This Could Get Fun!
white+CF=TMFW
i love everything! i wish i had the same time/money/motivation to do more to my car lol. did you just paint your intake?
* * BIG FOR SALE POST * *
looks good
tint strip looks a little oversized though
i <3 this car. makes me miss my 98. I know you have a theme with the carbon fiber and black but the mirrors and handles would look so good painted.
Schweet
Love the cf on white. That hood latch support chrome thing is pretty cool. Never thought of that.
-Seth
Looks good man, keep going with it.
I'm not really fond of the tan interior either, as I have one myself.. I will probably swap it out someday but it doesn't bother me that much I guess it just grew on me.
JBOK.org / J-Bodies of Kentucky
love it hope my car turns out as clean as yours..
Skunk wrote:"Twin" pics in the spring?
Im the other twin here buddy
95-99 FTW!!!
Love it Brad, so clean..
~2014 New Z under the knife, same heart different body~
______________________
WHITECAVY no more
2012 numbers - 4SPD
AUTOMATIC!!
328 HP
306 TQ
It looks good as always.
Member of JBO - 9 Years & Counting...
thanks for the great comments everyone! like i said, it really means a lot to me.
98z24ragtop wrote:one question, where did you get your headlights?
got them on
Ebay. they fit and finish blows on them, you really need to work at them before they fit good enough to be 'acceptable'. mine arent perfect and it annoys the hell out of me sometimes. but thats the way it goes with aftermarket parts sometimes.
tha_prowler wrote:did you just paint your intake?
nope, had it powdercoated at the same place that did my rims.
Alex Patch wrote:Very nice and clean. Nitrous? How big? What made you place the nozzle there?
yep, its a nitrous express universal GM efi wet kit, i have the jet sizes for 35-150 shot. currently have the 35 jets in now. and i guess i put the shark nozzle there because it was easy to access, close to the solenoids and of course, its right there out in the open for people to see.
kurt - thanks, man. LOL remember my 89 Beretta GT? yes i have come a long way.
steveO - yep... i totally agree, man. the headlights were one of my favorite mods. there was no question in it at all, they made the car look better. ive been ridiculed for them being 'depot' headlights but i simply do not give a crap, they are lightyears ahead of the stockers and i did not want projector or riced out ones so i opted for the ones closest to stock and if you didnt know they weren't stock you would not even know.
omar - thanks for the support over the years man, i think your one of the ones whos going to like the new secret mod the most. and screw those guys LOL the stock look is best!!! hahaha
mike - lol yeah i know... i had to have something black over the tan nasty seats and thats all i could afford at the time
. your car doesn't need to be flawless, it just needs to be FAST! hahaha now get out there and run a 1.6" M45 pulley (joke) and a 200 shot of NAWS lmao.
john - thanks man, hearing good things from you about my car means a lot. and im not sure about leaving the cover off, i think it looks tacky and un-finished BUT... i do love the way it looks under there and probably would leave it off if i wasn't trying to win car shows.
curt - sure!!! although im pretty sure mine won't look like it does now though
rob - thanks man, i appreciate your comments a lot as well. your another 95-99 brother LOL. and thanks for all the sigs over the years.
perry - you can do anything you put your mind on man. always think "if it is up to be, it is up to me". and know that i DO NOT daily drive my car and it sees less than 5000 miles a year, never driven in rain if i can help it and only on nice days. THAT is a lot of why my car is so clean. i cannot tell you how frustrating it is to me when i have to drive my car in rain, it means a whole hell of a lot of work cleaning and if i didn't have the option of this thing being my fun car that i dont have to daily drive i would have given up on it long ago.
david - HAHAHAHAHA, yes man... were the twins, since zack dropped out were no longer the triplets which sucks
and 95-99 FOR LIFE!
Fall 08 Omaha/western Iowa area meet...
CLICK ME!
secret huh?
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Primer Counts as Custom Paint Right?
BTW: This is my Sig.
