I reside on LS1 tech quite a bit and although it's predominantly F-bodies in the appearance and detailing section i always admire some of the cool cheap mods some of them come up with. I suppose the "average" F-body owners budget for mods would be less than the "average" corvette owner leading to such ingenuity and frugality when modifying. So what is your favorite "cheap" mod that makes the most difference (it can be appearance or performance) whether you've done it or not i just want to see what people have come up with!

p.s. zip tie mod would be a good example but EVERYONE has heard of it...

 

I hav not heard of the "zip tie" mod :bb.... do tell

 

Zip tie? Me either.

 

the performance hood seal must be in the same league as the zip tie mod

 

http://www.ls1tech.com/forums//showthread.php?t=126871

 

I was gonna start a new thread but saw this and figured I just post here. I did these 3 yesterday.

Finally removed BSM's.......cost $0



Got brave and took a rattle can to my car. Blacked out lower rear fascia..... cost $15-20.



Spray painted my crappy fog light screens, which were rusty and ugly, metallic silver to match the stainless center screen........cost $4




OTHER CHEAP MOD THAT I'VE DONE IN THE PAST

Front plate intake mod........$25 if you cut your plate, $75 if you buy another filler plate to cut up.



Painted headlight bezels.......I used TR paint and clear so it was a bit more than a spray can.



Under hood paint



I also have neon tube in the side coves which was only about $25 for everything.

I have lots of other stuff that was pretty cheap....too much to list here but this is my favorite and is the coolest mod ever!!

 

i like the blacked out lower portion of the rear fascia (like the CETA mod on trans ams) I plan on doing that as well as the front license plate mod painting/touching up my calipers, taking off the FRCs and painting the valve covers and the coils/brackets (and possibly the intake manifold) i've already done the zip tie mod (which apparently wasn't so well known) and plan on porting and polishing my TB and doing the coolant bypass of the TB too i thoroughly enjoy low buck modifications that are subtle such as the ones mentioned. any more ideas are welcome (except diamond shaped fender vents that aren't even level/straight for Gods sake. HAHA)

 

With the use of a roll of black electrical tape, I did the tail lights on my car with a checkered design. I'll post pics later if I remember. I just remembered, and even though it's a camera phone pic, you get the idea. Oh, we got snow overnight, and I spend the night at a friends house, so my poor car is dirty. The lenses look like they are blacked out, but they are still legal in every way.

you can see them on this pic.

And this one was a really close up one

 

damileniumboy that sounds interesting (not my cup of tea but interesting/innovative) pics soon!

DrumBum i just got a pm that i think was intended for you, so expect someone asking about your under hood paint soon HAHA! which looks very nice by the way, was that aerosol or shot with a gun? I have a HVLP that i plan on giving some pieces some love here soon with...

 

[QUOTE=damilleniumboy;1567652128]With the use of a roll of black electrical tape, I did the tail lights on my car with a checkered design. I'll post pics later if I remember.[/QU

I gotta see this

 

I thought the last one was real for a second! The real ones looks great though.

 

What is a BSM?

 

Body side molding

 

I see. I like the BSM. If I can find the paint I might try painting some of the stuff under the hood.

 

Painted headlight bezels.......I used TR paint and clear so it was a bit more than a spray can.


Very nice. What is "TR" Paint and what type of clear coating did you use.

 

You've done several things i've been looking into. I have acouple questions for ya...

- when you did the headlight bezels/under hood/rear fascia, did you wet sand? use clear coat (under hood)? what paint/type did you use?

- when you removed the side moldings was it discolored under them at all? how did you remove them?

- Any diy threads for any of this stuff?

 

Thanks everyone....

In reference to the several paint questions. My brother is a painter, the under hood and headlight bezels were all sprayed with a gun TR (Torch Red) paint with clear same as if painting a car. They underhood stuff looked great for a year then the heat got to it. The paint on the FRC's is ruined (they are for sale in the "for sale" section" with pics of what they look like now...lol.

For the lower rear fascia I followed the tips of several other people on the forum. I taped everything off, scuff sanded, and painted. I used Kyrlon Fusion satin black. It is made for plastics, so I thought it would work well. I did about 7 light coats, used the entire can and it seem like it came out pretty well..

I had no problems with paint fade after removing the BSM's. It was a pain in the butt and took a couple hours, mainly because one of them had been removed and reattached for some reason and the tape that they used to reattach was very gummy and hard to clean up. There are several threads on how to remove the BSM's. Very simple, some people heat up the part with a hair dryer to soften the tape. Then use 30 test fishing line to slide behind and "saw" through the tape. Then clean up the left over with goo gone or 3m adhesive remover or just roll if off with your thumb. I had to use clay bar, paint cleaner, and polish to get it totally clean.

 

Thanks for the tips!

 

Zip tie mod looks like something fun to try that the wife won't get upset about...

 

VERY easy just make sure if you wash your car
A. get a front hood seal
or
B.DON"T get water that drips down on your air filter from the front of the hood!

i can't remember said HP gains but i saw almost a tenth and a mph (8 hundredths)