Last week we had a poll asking how much people have spent modding thier C5's and I was surprised to see lots of cars between $50-$75,000 and quite a few over $100,000.

I wonder how many of you wished you spent it differently, like on a new Ford GT40, an AMG or a new Z06.

Would you do it again even though you will never recover most of the money? Was it worth it?

 

NO!!!!! It was like an obsession. Wanted to be different than other Torch red coupes, one thing led to another. Wish I had the cash to get a C6 Z06. It has been fun getting to this point. But hey, you only live once.

 

When i bought my car, in no way would i have ever imagined by the age of 21, i've have 40,000+ in receipts in my car. Yes, I wish i had invested 40k in my future. But such is life. I never forsaw so many mods, and parts involved.


However, had i bought a more expensive car, i would have still had to mod it.

 

Doesn't matter what the car cost..You are still going to Mod it...

 

That's two honest answers. I suspected as much.

 

im a mod-o-holic, so i will mod anything. i promised from day 1 my vette would stay stock since the last 2 cars i had got carried away and here we are 2.5 years later and the only thing left untouched in some way is the internals of the motor.

 

It took me less than 2 monthes before i had my first mod installed...and then it went down hill from there.... FAST

 

If you are mechanically inclined, and patient there is no need to spend that absurd amount of money on modifying a car. My mustang for example... I ended up MAKING $3,000 to create a 550hp blown heads/cam/intake car and got to drive it for 5 years whilst doing that after I sold all the parts, converted it back to stock, and sold it.

Currently, on the vette I have invested approx $2,100 and have the following mods:

Full exhaust - TPIS 1-3/4" - 3" Longtube headers, 3" X-pipe, 3" Borla Stinger cat back w/ 4" Quad Tips (~1,800 retail)

Fully built drivetrain - Lingenfelter hardened output shafts both sides (left/right) Cryo treated 3.42 Gears, steel coupled torque tube, DTE Transaxle brace, Hurst shifter/****, Exedy Twin-Disc clutch, Z06 clutch slave cylinder w/ high-flo bore & remote bleeder. (~5,000-6,000 retail)

Engine mods - Vararam B2 ram air intake, 150 shot Nitrous kit. (~1,000)

Appearance - Lowered suspension, Black spoke wheels.

Now, thats about 7,800 bucks on the very conservative side... and I am confident that if I were to restore my car to stock and sell off all the modded parts I would make a very hefty profit... for me.. that is what modding a car is all about... getting paid to do it.

All by having knowledge of what things are worth, bargaining, and doing the work yourself... I think those high figures are nothing to be proud of.

 

Purchased my 1st mod on the way home from buying the care.
Installed the same night

 

First, forget the more expensive car, the fun for me is in actually doing the modding. If I bought a $700K Bugatti, I'd probably mod it anyway.

Second, yes, I would also mod anything. When I get around to getting a riding lawnmower I will put headers and a flame job on it. Will the headers work? Of course not, but it'll look cool as shyte.

 

cajun, nice meeting you this weekend.

 

I agree, I do all of my own work. But sometimes even then, you can get carried away, and some people here have done that. I'm just asking whether or not they now look back and say they could have bought the new Z06 or a Porsche for that matter and realized at least some kind of value.

 

You as well!

 

I am nowhere near $100,000

 

I did not mod mine for 3 years of ownership and now glad I did and have more mods planned even though it will not increase my Vettes value

You question should I got a new Z06, Viper, Porsche etc. When the then Z came out I went to trade in my Coupe and was shocked how little I would get for my Vette and that is when I decided on doing the current set of HP mods that took me from 317 rwhp stock to 742 rwhp all in one set of mods and sure the new Z is better looking in my tail lights

 

usComing from the mustang community, the Corvette community is a very odd and exciting place to be for me. The parts for these cars are outrageous amounts of money, however the owners being in higher income brackets are much more relaxed about sales prices, and much of them are more concerned with how to install (or who to take it to) than the price they are paying... which if you are patient.. makes for some jaw dropping opportunities in picking up used parts.

 

I didn't post in the previous poll but I have spent quite a bit on mods. Would I do it again? ABSOLUTELY!
Would I do it differently? ABSOLUTELY

I made some mistakes along the way and wish I hadn't spent some of the money I had to while learning what worked and what didn't.

But it was always a dream of mine to own a Vette and every day I'm living that dream. My car is unique. Don't regret spending money on my dream and don't worry about how much I'd lose if I sold it cause I'm not planning on selling it.

I did a lot of the work myself with the help of my dad. Those are also moments I wouldn't have and wouldn't be the same without. My dad is the reason I'm into vettes and we both enjoy our opportunities to work on the car together.

 

The sad part is that all the "mods" do is make the car less drivable, less valuable, and less beautiful. Chevrolet got it right the first time.

 

Have you spent enough to buy a new Z06?

 

I don't know about that. I used to like my Vette OK when it was stock, but when I drive it now I laugh my head off.