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I've always loved other members build/mod threads...so I thought I'd start one of my own.
I purchased my new to me 2003 Electron Blue convertible from fellow forum member e6bailey back in May. It was basically all stock except for some Chrome Motorsport Z06 wheels, an anniversary exhaust plate and an aftermarket radio (which I had swapped back for the original).
Some specs of the car...
2003 Corvette Convertible
Electron Blue
Black Top
Manual 6 Speed
Select Ride Suspension
Power Telescoping Wheel
Electrochromic Mirrors
Heads Up Display
Twilight Sentinel Automatic Lamps
12 Disc CD Changer
Front and Rear License Place Frames
Cargo Net
Original Owners Manual
Original unopened DVD and CD
Had just over 26,000 miles....two owner...looked very clean based on the pictures and I thought since my daily driver had some real power that I'd go with a convertible for the first time to have more of a cruiser down by the beach here in sunny Florida (that game plan has since changed...lol).
Daily Driver....2016 Dodge Charger Scat Pack!
Here are some pictures of the car in its initial state when I bought it....
Of course I had plenty of mods already in place for her before she even showed up...including buying all sorts of detailing supplies from Autogeek to get her looking her best! More to follow.
I had her shipped down from Indiana using Passport Transport...my Scat Pack was transported by them as well...highly recommend...fair pricing...excellent communication from drivers....ask for sales rep John Scharff.
Here she is getting lowered out of the trailer...
Of course I looked her over up and down and was overall pleased with what I saw. I did however spend the next few weekends cleaning, claying, polishing and waxing her....using a variety of products.....Wolfgang, mostly Meguiars M105, M205....even finishing her off with Chadwick Triple Play (Neil is a pleasure to work with). After a lot of work I was overall happy with my efforts (got rid of a lot of trash and swirl marks) but wanted even more. So I looked for some detailers in the area and found Scott Harle (forum member NASTYZ06)....and he took the car to the next level!! I'll post pictures of the results in the future.
Before I had Scott work his magic I had a number of plans for the car...mostly for appearance...some performance oriented as well.
1. First mod was to get the stance looking right....Corvette's from the factory have always looked like 4x4's to me. I bought a complete lowering kit from Zip Corvettes....I was looking for these results...
The final result...the rear end was perfect...about a one finger gap between the tire and fender...but the front barely looked like it had dropped....not to mention that the ride was horrific!! And our roads are pretty much as good as they get down here...new and always taken care of due to the tourists Florida is always trying to attract. So I had them taken off and bought a set of Stance Coilovers from Dennis at DD Mods. I'll show the results in some future posts that show the detailing work of NASTYZ06 (Auto Dermatology of Naples). The ride is back to stock with regard to comfort (set at setting 5)....the rears rub a little (new wheels/tires were put on)...and it sits just a bit lower than I'd like...so it will get raised about a 1/4-3/8" so I can fit one finger between the tire and fender.
The picture above also shows the results after my detail from Scott as well as the installation of my second and third mods....
2. I also wanted to upgrade the brakes for better stopping power...less brake dust and a nice contrast of color with the EB....the unpainted finish of the stock calipers just didn't cut it. I bought a set of slotted/cross drilled rotors, rebuilt torch red powder coated calipers, Stoptech brake pads, stainless steel brake lines and bleeders from Mark at TPSMotorsports!
Pic above was taken a couple weeks after the install...so hadn't been detailed and than ceramic coated with Beeds.
Here is another pic of the powder coated brake calipers after they were detailed and ceramic coated....and a bit of a teaser of the new wheels/tires that I had installed since I purchased her.
Mod # 3...
So I knew that I wanted to make sure the car still handled well after it was lowered with the Stance Coilovers. So I took Gene at Cultrag Performance up on his offer to upgrade the C5's sway bars to that of C6 Z51's....at the same time I had the end links upgraded to a metal version. I wasn't looking for all out performance to rip up the track but wanted to make sure when I took a corner hard that everything felt in place...no slop! The results were as expected...nice and tight...a huge difference than with the lowering bolts (night and day)...but still quite noticeable compare to when I first got the car.
So I liked the chrome z06 wheels on the car...but they were in the stock size and thus a bit small for my liking...also wanted something a bit wider out back. I had CCW SP16a's on my 2001 Z06 a number of years back and have always liked how all of their models look on our rides. That being said I didn't want to buy them new and spend a small fortune when I knew there were other things to purchase going forward!!
So I looked and looked and wasn't having much luck for about a month until I tried Craigslist....yes Craigslist....found a set of 19"/20" SP550's in Miami that were a 5-6 months old...and came with Nitto NT05'S...275/35/19 and 305/30/20's. I made the trip over to the other coast to pick them up and worked out a nice deal for just over $2k!! They needed a good polish to make them really shine but I knew I had other plans for them.
Here is how they looked on the owners Z before he took them off...
With the car lowered (as I said before the rear needs to come up just slightly) and these new wheels, this car looks like a whole new animal!!! And the subtle touch of the calipers and rotors is a nice detail.
This pic was taken after the car was detailed by NASTYZ06 and ceramic coated with Beeds.
As you can see in the pic above I also ordered a set of blackouts for the front DRL's from RPI Designs....they look good but I can still see a bit of white on the bottom side...really have to be down closer to the ground to see it...so I've ordered new DRL's with LEDs that are tinted from Radio Flyer (look for a future post once installed...and I'll be happy to send anyone the blackout for the price of shipping).
My overall 'theme' for this car is black and blue with a touch of polished aluminum/steel. I took inspiration from OVRKL especially....see his awesome ride below....
As well as MicksZ that he eventually sold...
What's everyone's thought on adding some black Grand Sport hash marks?
So I also removed the chromed anniversary exhaust plate....it was pitting quite a bit (again we'll send this to anyone who pays for shipping if they think they can refurbish/refinish it) and replaced it with a new one from RPI designs but finished in gloss black to go with the black and blue theme but also for a more subtle look....I feel that something needs to fill the space between the exhaust tips but didn't want it to stand out too much either.
So I liked the chrome z06 wheels on the car...but they were in the stock size and thus a bit small for my liking...also wanted something a bit wider out back. I had CCW SP16a's on my 2001 Z06 a number of years back and have always liked how all of their models look on our rides. That being said I didn't want to buy them new and spend a small fortune when I knew there were other things to purchase going forward!!
So I looked and looked and wasn't having much luck for about a month until I tried Craigslist....yes Craigslist....found a set of 19"/20" SP550's in Miami that were a 5-6 months old...and came with Nitto NT05'S...275/35/19 and 305/30/20's. I made the trip over to the other coast to pick them up and worked out a nice deal for just over $2k!! They needed a good polish to make them really shine but I knew I had other plans for them.
Here is how they looked on the owners Z before he took them off...
With the car lowered (as I said before the rear needs to come up just slightly) and these new wheels, this car looks like a whole new animal!!! And the subtle touch of the calipers and rotors is a nice detail.
This pic was taken after the car was detailed by NASTYZ06 and ceramic coated with Beeds.
All the best,
Michael
Gotta love it, you don't see the SP550's much, nice choice.
I knew before I even got the car that I needed to do something about the exhaust....so I bought a used Bassani system from Tebo38 here on the forum....put it on for a week but while louder than the stock setup it wasn't as loud as I wanted (sorry forgot to take pics when on). So I ordered up some B&B Bullets from RPI Designs and boy am I happy!! Much more aggressive...at startup and when getting on it....there is some drone but nothing I can't take and when the top is down not really noticeable.
I also wanted to update the look and function of the lighting on the car so I ordered some LED Tailights with the Halo Mod from Radio Flyer as well as some white LED license plate and reverse lights. At some point I'll get pics of them at night.
This pic was taken after NASTYZ06 did his finest!! The tips are set pretty straight but I'll have the driver side moved over to the left slightly and to the rear of the car.
Of course the car is 13 years old so there are still some flaws...light scratches etc. but I couldn't be happier with the results...especially because Scott was able to get rid of most of the flaws I was unable to...I think I was a little limited by my Porter Cable....not to mention his expertise!!
Here are some final beauty shots...this is how the car looks....for now! Some big changes to happen in the next couple of weeks!
I had Scott take off the rear emblem to help make the polishing easier...that will get put back on in the near future!
The SP550's along with the red powder coated calipers and drillrd/slotted rotors really changed the look of the car. So when's the supercharger going in?
The SP550's along with the red powder coated calipers and drillrd/slotted rotors really changed the look of the car. So when's the supercharger going in?
The engine bay won't look like this anymore in about two weeks!!
I managed to dial in my stock suspension to a fairly low hiehgt while still saving "most" of the ride quality, but coilovers are still in my plans at some point.
Also the 19/20 combo loosk perfect, I might rebuild my 19/19 to a 19/20 (stepped lip) to fill the wheel gap that much better
Canuck9's 2003 EB Convertible Mod Thread!!
Some big changes to happen in the next couple of weeks!
