OK, so everyone else has a build up thread, so I feel like making one. I've already had the car since December of 03 and already have a few mods on it, but I'll just throw them up to show what I already have. And now that I have a great paying job, I feel like I'm going to be buying stuff more often. So here it is.

I have a 2004 Silver Lancer OZ.
I don't remember the dates on all of these mods, but here's the order they came in with pictures.
First thing I got done was the window tint, definately mandatory and looks 10 times better. I went with 30%/25%. My dad paid for it so I had to keep it legal. Also, this is the picture of it right after I got it. I had some decals on the windows for a DSM website, but those are gone now.



The next thing to come was the intake. I got a K&N Typhoon Short Ram intake in blue. Made the engine louder and I guess offered better throttle response.



Then came the muffler. I wanted a better sounding car so I ordered the Magnaflow axelback from RRM. Definately sounds mean now and looks good too. Not a huge can, almost looks like a stock muffler with a chrome tip.



After that came the neons. A christmas present from the ex, ex GF's parents. I never wanted them because I drove 15 miles on a gravel road to work every day and liked to do a little spirited driving, but I installed them anyways and amazingly they remained intact. But still, I never use them, forget I have them, and the front tube went out recently, so they'll prolly come off soon.




I decided to paint my brake calipers after that. I figured it wouldn't be too hard and my buddy wanted his done too. So I did mine one afternoon and they came out great. Not too bright. Just to cover up that dirty greenish gray color.



Then I got some rims. At first I was looking for some black with the polished lip because I liked those on silver or white cars, and I planned on getting a lot of CF stuff, but then I saw the 5Zigen Hyperblack Copses and fell in love, plus the had a blue emblem on them to match my brakes. Plus they were only $999 with tires, shipped.



By then, I had gotten 4 speeding tickets (within like 6 months). So I wanted a radar detector just for a little back-up. I knew the only ones worth getting were like $200+. So I just bought the little $75 one. It goes off for everything and is completely unreliable, so I keep the sound turned down. It's really only there to make me "feel" safer.



I think after that, I got my Head Unit. It is a Kenwood Excelon, KDC-X589. It made my speakers sound a lot clearer, and I mainly wanted it so I could listen to MP3 CDs, yay for 200 songs per disc. I will probably get a different one soon when I get my system, it will be one with an aux. input so I can hook my iPod up to it. Yay for 5000 songs per iPod lol. I had the trim for it stuck on with that blue sticky tack stuff but got tired of messing with it, so it looks crappy now.



I had the RRM piggyback on for a while back when they first made it able to run on 89 octane. So I bought one and put it in. Very easy to install. It did feel like it pulled a little better on the highway, but eventually I needed some money and didn't feel like I was getting all $500 worth of it, so I sold it and surprisingly got a decent amount back from it. Back then, I didn't know they'd make it tuneable eventually, so now I'm kind of mad I sold it or I could have gotten better use of it now.



Back to performance, I then got the RDD strut bar set. He was selling the 3 piece sets for a good price, and I figured they'd look good and add to my mod list, so I bought it. I got the front and rear strut bars, and the lower tie bar. I got them in blue and they matched my intake tube perfectly. At first I thought my car was a lot stiffer, but that was just the feeling you get from putting anything new on I guess. I think it only really helps in hard turns. But they look good none the less. I also managed to cut the trunk interior very nicely, so I don't have any gaps or anything.





Next on the list is the Light Weight Crank Pulley from RRM. It looks nice and was insanely lighter than the stock one. First, I took it to an import shop in town for a quote. They told me something like $150 at the least. So I was light "Screw that." Maybe I'll find something cheaper. So I heard about FIST Racing in Houston and realized my GF lived there and we'd go there a lot (back when we dated), so I could stop by and get this installed one day I was there. I gave them a call and they told me $30. I was amazed. So I got that done, and they said they regretted doing it for that price cause it was a ***** and took like 2 hours. So I gave them $60 (lol I'm such a nice guy). It allowed the car to rev faster, and thats about all I could tell.
*Picture tomorrow*


My parents had a GPS system that plugs into the cigarette lighter that works great, then they both got cars that came with in-dash GPS systems, so I got the old one. Still works great when I do need it. It's in the glove box now, I'll switch to that picture later when I take it.



OK, got the engine repainted. Found a good blue but I didn't clear coat it. So it looks chalky. It will look good if I clear it because I painted the fuel rail, cruise control cap, and the radiator holders and cleared them and they are shiny. I also painted the IM gloss black and semi-ported it (barely at all).




I was pretty much out of money for anything good now, so lately I haven't gotten anything but dents and scratches. I saved up the money and me and my buddy both bought a Twin Throttle Body Intake Manifold from A2 guy Phillip. Most of you know the story, so basically he screwed us over, but that's in another thread (or a few).



I got the EvoM RIP Mark decal. Since I'm a mod and use the site daily and love it, I gotta represent.



Got the Kamikaze header/dp installed with RRM's test pipe. Soon I'll have a high flow cat put in cause it's too loud.




B&G Springs. Got 'em $50. Might as well right? Sits at a good height. I'm happy with 'em.




Had kustomconcepts (Tim) cut out my grill for me cause he's better at it than me. Came out great with just black spray primer right now. I'll have it done better soon.



My battery died a few weeks ago, so I got a cheap one from O'Reilly's. Nothing special.


In that time period, I've had other small things that either broke or didn't turn out good, like blue-ish parking lights, shift knob, and whiter head lights, and the stock intake tube with a custom "heat shield with the stock intake funnel thing, all of which have been removed.





That's all I have for now, so now I can begin my official build up with progress of what I am getting and what I am in the process of installing. Stay posted, but new mods will probably be spread out quite a bit since I'm not completely free to spend all my money on the car. Enjoy!

 

Next on the list is some springs. I know the shocks might blow eventaully, but it's not a problem. So I will be getting something from RRM, haven't decided on which ones yet. Those should be coming some (like within the next month).

My list of future things is this (in no specific order):
-Springs
-System (2 10" in custom boxes by my friend)
-New head unit for iPod (possibly one with a small 3.5" or whatever size screen
those comewith that don't flip up)
-RRM Progress Rear Sway Bar
-RRM CF Front Lip
-RRM CF Evo style hood
-Real CF Evo spoiler
-Maybe some HIDs
-Not planning on doing mcuh engine work, maybe header with catback that I could
sell later when I go turbo. I am convinced anything before turbo is worthless.
So only audio/visual stuff till I decide to start saving for turbo.
-Way later-->Turbo (if I don't buy a bike instead)

 

I vote for rear sway bar first! Really changes the feeling of the car. It feels more grounded. Less roll and all that. Springs second.

I love these build up threads! Keep the mods coming.

 

Yeah I was deciding on which one of those to choose first. I know that the sway bar does more because not one person has said it doesn't feel amazingly different. but I just hate looking at that wheel gap in all of my pictures. I won't be doing springs for performance since I don't think they change much, just for looks. We'll see when the time comes.
More photo shoot pictures of car up to date.






Ya see? I try to take some nice pictures and that wheel gap kills it.

 

Love the wheels. I feel you on the wheel gap thing. I went through the same thing when i got my wheels. I got desperate and stupid one day and bought some cheap coilover springs from ebay. Took me nd a friend forever to put them on. and then we
found that the car bottomed out with little or no effort. Never buy **** from an ebay seller called auto-mango.. cars and fruit dont mix.
Got the progress lowering springs and all is gap free.

 

lol awesome. So on the ebay things, was the car super low and bottomed out? Or did it just bounce so much that you'd hit the ground?

 

I think it sat higher and but springs would compress faster.

 

Found a use for one of them.

 

I got the sway bar first and I think it gave me so much confidence in the turnability of the car that I killed the stock shocks in less than a year. Granted they had 85,000+ miles but I think the hard turns that I was able to pull off finished them off. I recently dropped my ES with Tein basics and the car looks and turns better than ever. I don't have pics yet but the coilovers, along with 2154017 tires, eliminated the gap (the 2054017's add to the gap). Good luck with whatever you decide. Just make sure a reputable (not cheap) shop installs the springs.

 

Try driving without a bar, then with the stock bar, then with the upgraded perches and bar. Fun to feel your car toughen up.

 

lol I might drive around for a minute with it off after I get it just to feel a bigger difference. That spring on the chair looks pretty cool actually lol. Those are those Bomz Racing springs from ebay. My friend has them on a civic and he's had them on for a few months now and hasn't had any problems yet. That's why I was wondering about them. Guess he just got lucky.

 

Ok, new plans. I've been looking around at the threads on porting your own intake manifold and it doesn't seem to be that hard. My friend has the tools and would be interested in doing it to his Lancer as well. So this weekend, I'm going to try to make it out to his house to get that done, spray it black (just cause I thought it looked good when I had the twin TB mani on), and get my valve cover color fixed. So hopefully by early next week I will have some new pics and good news.

 

Did you finally find the right blue?

 

Not sure. i remember seeing one at O'reily's that looked pretty good, but I didn't buy it, so I will check again tomorrow. i went to walmart tonight and the one here in my town had NO paint, weird cause others do, so I will be checking the auto stores here tomorrow. Also, I'm still wondering, when you remove your valve cover, will it always ruin the gasket and need replacing? Or is that only if you've had it on for like 50k miles or a couple years? Cause I know I don't want to spend $79 on a new gasket just to change some paint.

 

I think you can as long as the condition is good.