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View Full Version : Newbie Ext. Mod Questions


Qdog002
07-03-2005, 09:18 AM
Hey was up guys (and gals). Im a new comer and am looking for some cougar mods (and I have a list...a LONG list). I dont even know where to start to looking for them and where the best prices are cause there is so much out there to sift through. I have been looking and reading and looking and reading and search for a month now and the task just seems to get more daunting! So just HAD to come to the experts and the veterans.

If you have an answer to all or some, please before your comment/answer/advice, write the number that it corresponds to. So if you have rim comments, type "1.) blah blah......" or if you have HVAC mods type " 7.) blah blah.....".

So here we go......

2.) Night shaded taillingts and head lights and the small side lights
Since im gonig with the purple and black (or purple and greyish black) I want to either black out the taillights or get the euro taillights with a black outer casing so that just the round parts of the tail lights are still the red color (or whatever the eruo color is). Also what are your thoughts on blacking out the front lights? Also is it possible to take the front light head unit out and clean the interior plastic, because when ever I wash the outside the inside still looks dingy and not perfectly clear seethrough?

5.) Kaminari Carbon Fiber hood
This is going with the "black & purple" look. I want the one that not the whole hood is the carbon fiber color but like just the middle part & it has a scoop (if that is what its called). The outer edges are the same color of the car. hope I explained it correctly.

6.) Body Kit
I want something nice and elegant. I dont want the "drift" look or the "super modified" look. Something nice that accentuates but doesnt scream. And also as far as body kits are concerned, do you have to paint it to the color of your car?? Or you can order it like that?

9.) Lowering springs & shocks
I dont know much about this arena, so I need help in it. It seems if I go with 18's I will need to lower the car slightly (seen on other cougars on this site), but with 19's I dont know if I will still need to or not. Do I need both or just the springs, or just the shocks, etc?

10.) Antenna
The car came with a broken atenna, or so it seems. It is one of the ones on the top of the car facing backward but it is just the stub, and it looks like somebody "broke" the rest of it off or unscrewed it off or something. I want the "shark fin" look so, where can I get a short atenna to reinstall up there? The radio doesnt really pick up all channesl either so I want to fix this soon. That head unit cost to much for me not to get great reception.

13.) Black medal gril to replace the plastic grill
The stock gril is way to flmisy and I think its even broken slightly on my vehicle.

14.) Exhaust system
I want to add more HP, cause all this mods and interior stuff (subs, amps, etc) im sure will weight down the vehicle. So I want to ATLEAST over come the extra added on weight. But something nice, manly tone, etc. I went to walmart and saw they had tips, but I have been told that is not the same as an Exhaust system.

17.) Anything else that I missed that you would recomend?

I have a job this summer and would like to do most of this now before heading of back to school in Aug (well at least the rims) Not to mention it gives me something to look forward to every week (what mod/accessorie to install this weekend) :] I am SO looking forward to heads turning when they see me in the car, since this would be my first car at school (after 3 years of buming rides

Answer what you may or answer all of them.

Thanks for your time and I am LOVING the cougars on here - yall keep it up too. Cant wait for my car to be at least close to yalls car mods.

Peace.

99CougarNy
07-03-2005, 12:40 PM
Ok so this is what i was told, so i will pass the advice on to u ...

cosmetically i was told to work on the interior, then work on the exterior. I did that, aside from a few small things i want to do in the near future, and i am very happy. But others choose to start from the outside and go in. My best advice is to start and finish one area, then work on another ... for instance ...

if you do body kit (including the carbon fiber hood), while its in the shop or before/after strip the headlights out and stuff and do ur mods to them as well as the taillights, and also either shave ur antenna right off and get one for the window, or get a shorty. Point is, do them all at the same time ... by this time from the shop cost for paint and installation u will be too broke for rims/suspension and all ur other mods so u will have to wait, unless ur job is that good.

Ok this is what i would suggest, before throwing a pair of $1300 rims with $800 tires, wait and hold this off for a little bit. Finish off your exterior work, such as the grill, u might want a new spoiler with whatever kit you get, you might want to tint windows, vinyl decal, etc ...
When you have completed all of this, then move on to ur rims/tires. Once those are installed, as a daily driver, you can then figure out the height range of the drop you want (1", 1.2", 1.4", 1.5", 1.75", 2") i've seen a kit i believe for nearly each and every one of those height drops. You will have to decide on springs (or coilovers, depending how much $ you have), struts, and i would suggest a camber/caster for a large drop.

Cosmetically, your exterior should be "finished" at this point to your liking, i'm sure you'll come up with ideas in the future that you would like to change, i promise it. Now i'd move into the interior. Many will probably disagree with me, but heres my standpoint, as i'm also a kid. Many of people will tell me "hey ur ride looks hott" and all that, then they walk up to the interior of my car (painted pillars, recovered door panels, c/f dash kit) and I always get a second comment, like "that looks crazy, u do that urself" which is always nice. I would like to replace my seats (racing seats in the front) and reupholster the rear to have inserts all in leather.

A lot of the mods don't cost much, such as the L.E.D. swap mod i think cost me $13 with LEDs and Resistors. Recovering my headliner, door panels, and painting the pillars couldn't have cost more then $50 between paint and materials. C/F dash kit was over $200, i'm sick of it already and don't recommend it, you're better off just painting your dash. My vstyle front, drift skirts and rear, fiberglass pred. hood, z3 fenders, tail light covers, and some other misc. crap ran me $1,400 shipped, plus $3200 for installation (had the skirts molded, and the whole car repainted to a tri-coat paint.) I am looking to change my spoiler, and get a grill in there ASAP.

just to give you an idea, I called a place for an estimate for reupholstering my seats, $1500 for front and back black leather with red inserts. If you'd be interested, you can do them urself through katzkin.com.

So to sum up this whole thing, start in one place and keep working with it. If you choose exterior, which it seems like you are, get your kit and ur hood and start there. finish off your exterior then worry about suspenion/rims then move on into the interior. Exhaust i'd say have put on whenever, its a nice look for a nice dual, but i'm assuming ur not getting into much performance wise, but if you are then i'd say wait and add that when you start your performance.

99CougarNy
07-03-2005, 12:41 PM
holy [censored] :puke:

wadespencer99
07-03-2005, 03:15 PM
Were the answers you got in your post in the newbie section not good enough?

Qdog002
07-04-2005, 06:14 AM
Thanks for the info!!! I got a really good prespective now on prices and what to aim at first wether is exterior or interior. I still have a boat load of specific questions, but that will come little by little. So now I have to ponder on what I really want and where to start, where to start! lol

And not that the answers in newbie werent good enough, I just didnt realize then that there were specific forums to ask for exterior, interior, wheels, etc. And I figured there would be more people "looking through" these parts than the newbies part. And wanted to get more input so I have a broad vew point and not just a single viw point.

Qdog002
07-05-2005, 02:14 AM
99CougarNy, what are tail light covers and what do they do as far as looks are concerned?

99CougarNy
07-07-2005, 07:34 AM
Originally posted by: Qdog002
99CougarNy, what are tail light covers and what do they do as far as looks are concerned?


As i had posted in I believe the interior cosmetics forums, do some searches and look at sites. For instance:
customcougars.com, click exterior, Accessories, and look at taillight covers ... go to cougardb.com, go to search by mods, put down taillight covers ... theres a million ways to find pictures to see what exactly they are, and how they look.

You can have them painted, get them in brushed aluminum, or carbon fiber. All depends the look you want.


http://customcougars.com/exterior/images/cftailcovers01.jpg
http://customcougars.com/exterior/images/BATailCovers04.jpg
http://customcougars.com/exterior/images/VStyleRear02.jpg

Qdog002
07-08-2005, 05:11 AM
Originally posted by: 99CougarNy

Originally posted by: Qdog002
99CougarNy, what are tail light covers and what do they do as far as looks are concerned?


As i had posted in I believe the interior cosmetics forums, do some searches and look at sites. For instance:
customcougars.com, click exterior, Accessories, and look at taillight covers ... go to cougardb.com, go to search by mods, put down taillight covers ... theres a million ways to find pictures to see what exactly they are, and how they look.

You can have them painted, get them in brushed aluminum, or carbon fiber. All depends the look you want.


http://customcougars.com/exterior/images/cftailcovers01.jpg
http://customcougars.com/exterior/images/BATailCovers04.jpg
http://customcougars.com/exterior/images/VStyleRear02.jpg

Thanks. The pics arent working though. :(


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