Hello everyone, my first post. I have been reading alot in this forum for the last couple weeks, ya'll seem like a good group of people. I am looking forward to talking with ya'll about Vettes and such. I am a bit behind on lingo and such, so humor me. (took me a few minutes the other night to remember what IMHO stahds for) :)

I have decided that it is time to start waking up earlier on my days off and doing some work to my Vette. I am not a mechanic, however I am not mechanically challenged. I dont plan on spending many days at the track trying to shave off tenths off my 1/4mile times, however I do want to modify for performance and asthetics. Heres the info and ideas, see what you think.

The car: 2001 Black Convertable (12,000 miles, second owner)

The mods: None, unless you count red lettering and floormats. :D

Planned mods (in order):

1) Borla Stinger Exhaust - done plenty of research on this one, and I am so stoked!

After reading the threads on installation, it seems to me it would be a good idea for me to have a shop do the install. I am planning on investing in the Vette friendly plastic ramps, a good jack and jackstands. Unless someone can convince me that I could do it with the front end on the ramps and the back on jackstands? I would much rather do the work myself for the pleasure of the work, but I dont relish the idea of jackstands on cinder blocks.
Whatcha think?

Also, any recommendations on a good floorjack and jackstands? Was planning on getting the aluminum jack pads and floorjack adapter.


2) Cold air intake - undecided.

In my area we have been known to have some seriously heavy rain at times, and my job doesnt allow me to pick and choose when and how I drive in to work, so from what I have read - The Vortex Rammer is out. I still dont understand how so many of ya'll can use that if water ingestion is such a major concern.

In light of this, I was thinking about either a Donaldson Blackwing system or the dual K&N system. In either case, plan on putting the cold air screens around the foglights. Opinions?


3) Lowering

From what I have read, most everyone accomplishes this by replacing the bolts in the rear and adjusting the existing system in the front. It seems this should be quite easy for me to do. I was, however, wondering about doing the front end. Will I need anything more than regular tools and a floorjack/jackstands?


4) Brakes

a. Painting calipers - either on my own with the calipers attached, or possibly taking em to a friend of a friend that can powdercoat em. If I do the latter, I will obviously have to break the system. With the right equipment and instructions, will it be that big of a deal for me to reinstall and bleed the system?

b. Performance pads and rotors - I would like slotted and cross drilled rotors and good pads that dont break the bank, but look nice and perform better than stock. Any suggestions?

5) Lighting

Definately HID for mains and upgraded fog lamps.
This seemed like the best package out there:
http://www.thelapd.com/Merchant2/mer..._Code=Lighting
Anyone out there done this mod and liked it? If so, is it "stage 2" lighting?
It seemed kinda ridiculous to put HID lamps behind the stock glass lens. But... :confused:

6) Paint needs touch up badly.

Gotta fix that damn convertable top! I have a nice little hole dug out down to the fiberglass on the convertable decklid on each side. Does anyone know if Chevy will fix that under warranty seeing as the top is faulty?

As far as fixing the rest, heres a link I am looking at following:
http://www.web-cars.com/detail/touchup.html

This also looks interesting, has anyone tried this system?:
http://www.langka.com/


That should keep me busy for the next year, I suppose. I look forward to chatting with ya'll. Apologies for the novel length post, btw. I will be more concise next time. Thanks!

 

3 words. DON'T DO IT. It will never stop. j/k of course. Sounds like you have a plan.

Welcome to the forum. :seeya

 

Hey One! Welcome to the forum!! I have to agree with SS!! Once you start you won't stop. That being said the only thing I've done to mine is K&N airfilter with cut out lid and upgraded floor mats. However, new Corsa Pace Car exhaust goes on in May and I'm planning on doing the work myself.

Oh and I would definitely complain to the dealer and get the paint fixed around the convertible top if it's caused that much of a problem. Enjoy!!

:seeya

 

One, welcome to the forum. I live in New Orleans so i know about your concerns about heavy rain, I installed a blackwing and a hood seal and had no problems to date.. about 8 months owning my baby:), just installed my stingers about a month ago and they are awsome, i did it my self, i took my rhino ramps and backed up the vette on them blocked the front tires and went at remove the stock exhaust i had to cut both muffs. off the get them out but since im a welder it wasnt a big deal to put them back together..you'll love the sound on a stock car. As far as lowering why dont you first crank on the stock bolts to see if thats low enough then if you decide to go lower you can replace the rear bolts and cut the front bushings to go even lower.Check here at the mall for some drilled and slotted rotors some good prices. I painted my brakes my self, just taped off the rotors and covered everything else near it and put about 4 coats of paint and 3 coats clear on them, no probs. at all. HID will be a nice addition, change out the fog lights while you doing up the lights if i might recommend. Theres a forum vender that has a package deal on it now if im correct, just look in the mall. I have use lanka and it works pretty well for minor scraches and chips, id recomend it. As far as the top i would take it to the dealer...Let the MOD fever begin
:cheers: :thumbs:

 

welcome. sounds like you have the right idea. :cheers: :seeya

 

WELCOME to the forum!!! :cheers: You'll love it here, most of your questions can be answered by searches as well.

 

Thanks for the replies, everyone! (however I am not sure at this time if my reply to illmac77 is going to be seen by all or not). I appreciate the details, Ill. Got a couple questions for ya. To make it easier for ya, im gonna number things again. Mabey I am ****, you can thank my mom for that. :eek:

1) doing the stingers the way you did, did you HAVE to cut your stock exhaust off? I am sure this would probably become apparant about the time I actually get it on the ramps and look up under there.

2) what kind of paint/clearcoat did you use on the calipers? did you use a small paintbrush from Hobby Lobby like, or did you tape REALLY well and spray? 4paint,3clear - im guessin you sprayed. :)

I guess thats all I had, numbering wasnt necessary. Thanks alot!

 

And, oh yes, btw... I have been getting this very strange feeling at night... the only thing that seems to help is a 3 hour marathon on the internet looking up Corvette parts and how-to pages. Does this mean I have a problem already, or is there still hope? If no hope, is this forum the 12 step support group I will be needing after I complete the first mod? :reddevil:

 

One, yes i had to cut my stock exhaust off just couse i had maby 12" of room to work with on the ramps but the stingers went on with no prob. since its a 2 peice system.I hear if you get the rear up aboout 36" you dont need to cut them.but a sawzall is my best friend :)

I went to the local auto shop and picked up some high temp red paint and clear coat spray paint for the brakes, taped off every thing really well, took a little time but it wasnt hard at all, i did tape each corvette letter on the brake but i hear its not needed just spray everything and sand off the letters after your done, dont forget to clean the brakes really well with thinnner or alcohol before you paint.:) you pick these thigs up being a painter as well

 

i do the sme thing everything One, there is a mod aholics group that gets together here every now and them...like once a month, i think im still in denial.

 

Thanks Illmac. :)

 

Welcome! My .02 is that if you consider lowering the rear to an extent to use longer bolts... you'll want to consider modding your shocks with Bilstein sport shocks or Hal adjustables...

:cheers:

 

I'll look into those shocks. How do you like those headlights, Richie?

 

Wow, 12,000 miles and need paint badly? First advise....Love it like it's your new infant. ;o) Anyway you are facing the delima that I faced. If you look at my mods they are, in order of importance (IMO) handling, appearance, performance. I read a million threads and came to the conclusion of that order. Firstly though, lifting pucks and service manuals. Good Luck!

:cheers: :blueangel: :cheers:

 

I love them... right now, they're just the Euro headlamps with APC bulbs on the stock assmeblies... The light pattern and brightness put the stock lighting to shame... imho. This weedend, I'll be upgrading the stock assemblies to the euro versions to get rid of the light shaking that happens sometimes... bottom line, I love this mod. :yesnod: and BTW, I've used the Lanka stuff, and with some gentle applications, it works pretty well.

 

Service manuals + jack pads definatly. Regarding my paint, I bought used at 5000mi and the decklid was already a bit thrashed by the conv. top. That just got worse. I also have a coule paint chips on the nose and rock scratches on the fenders. I am an every day driver and work doesnt have much sympathy for my vehicle, or me for that matter. So all I can do is to try to keep up with the cosmetic issues the best I can. :banghead:

TriBlak, how have you handled the problem with your convertable top rubbing the decklid? I saw a webpage where a guy had a fix for the problem. It was the same problem I have with major rubbing of the decklid where the rear corners of the top meet the decklid. I'm going to try to find that again.

I'm off for the weekend to a wedding in Louisiana, see ya'll!