This is an update for something I did a long time ago. I've been really busy all summer and haven't had a chance to get to this page. Back in Feb/Mar timeframe I got a rather suprising amount of money on my income tax return. So...I bought a set of RKSport Pro-Street coilovers. These are adjustable coilovers made in Germany with automatic-dampening struts/shocks. I was finally able to get rid of that annoying wheel gap on my car. So far, I don't know if it's the poor quality of the roads around here or if it's just normal, but the driving has become a lot bouncier. I can feel every littly bump and dip in the road. I hope that this is normal based on both previous assumptions, because I didn't pay that much money to get defective suspension. I haven't had a chance to take the car out to the track yet to see the performance difference. And I don't mean the strip, I mean the actual road course. If it weren't for the fact that it cost over $100 for one day of test & tune, I might be out there sooner.

     My car has been acting up a lot lately. It's been stumbling at idle, hesitating when starting, and even dying a few times while driving. I did some research and realized that I haven't had a single tune-up since I bought the car. As a matter of fact, I doubt this car has ever had a tune-up. So I found out what I needed to do to do the tune-up myself. Most of the parts that needed replaced or inspected, I had already taken care of through normal mods. I still need new spark plugs and a fuel filter though. So I bought an AC Delco fuel filter and some AC Delco Platinum spark plugs. The plugs are the stock plugs for this car and apparently work better than any other plug out there for a near stock Cavalier. After removing the old Bosch's I had in there, I found out why everyone hates them so much. They were fried crispy. We also had a "fun" time replacing the fuel filter; what a messy job that was. We destroyed the old clip that was on there; the "quick-connect" fitting. This made me worry that when I started the car it was going to spray gas every where. Fortunately, it isn't even leaking so much as a drip right now. I don't know how long it's going to hold up like that, so I'll probably be taking it in to the shop soon to have a new "quick-connect" put on.

     Wow. So much has happened in the last six months. I got tired of the crappiness of my own work on the interior of the car, so I decided to fix it. I found a guy parting out his car on the JBO classifieds, so I bought a whole new interior off of him. Fortunately, he had the exact same stock interior that I originally had. I reverted everything to the original colors, including the shift boot. The only thing I have painted right now is the silver vents. I still have all the silver gauge faces, though. After remedying this problem, I bought a new Viper 350HV alarm to replace the piece of crap GM alarm. I'm so much happier with this new one. No problems whatsoever thus far. I had a chance to buy a cheap 98-style SS hood from an RKSport garage sale, but someone else had been ordering the same product just a few minutes before me so I lost it. I have decided in my head right now that I will most likely be doing a headlight conversion to the 2k1 style. This is because I don't really like any of the kits that are designed for my style headlights. I was excited to find out that Street-Line is offering Toyota Cavalier fenders for 2k+ headlight models. This clinched the decision. I plan on getting the Wings West Avenger kit along with this swap. I also want to save up some money for the new RKSport Pro-street coilovers. These are top-of-the-line self-adjustable coilover/strut/shock direct replacements. I went to a car show at Rush St. a couple weeks ago and met some fellow JBO members in the local area. They are all nice guys and know a lot about modding J-bodies. Well, that's all for now. I'll be back when I get ahold of some more money.

     I took my car in for the recall work. It's a little better, but it still makes that noise. It's starting to do it on both sides now, though. I think the car is slowly falling apart. If I hadn't already put so much work into it, I'd sell it and get a cheaper car that I could afford to maintain. As of right now, I still owe more than it's worth, so that's out of the question. Hopefully, I can get it paid off/get rid of it soon, because I really want a 2001 Hyundai Elantra. I used to have a 2000 model, and I miss it so much. Those are nice, dependable, comfortable cars no matter what anybody says.

     I'm taking a vacation from work this week. So today I decided to be nice to my car. I was up at the shop this morning fixing her up. I got some rare/much envied Toyota taillights and they came with an upper motor mount insert. It took me a while but I finally got the lights hooked up permanently. The motor mount was a pain in the ass, but I got it squeezed in there. I also changed my oil with some Castrol Syntec synthetic oil. I got my speakers reinstalled, and ever since then my alarm has been in passive mode. It likes to turn itself on while I'm working on the car. It's very loud and very annoying. Hopefully, when I bring the car in for the recall work, they can fix it without trying to charge me some insane amount of money. The last guy I talked to said it would cost $90 just to look at it.

     What's up with the long breaks? I've been through a lot of financial hardships lately, that's what. I moved into an actual house with some old friends. I paid off a $1700 cell phone bill (thanks to roaming charges by an out-of-town-ex). In accordance with one of my New Years Resolutions, I'm keeping better records of my financial status so that I know when not to spend money. I'm cutting back drastically on impulse buys. As far as modding the car, the main priorities right now are doing some much needed maintenance. Most importantly I need new tires (Kumho Ecsta Supra 712 215/55ZR16), new brake rotors (Powerslot), an oil cooler (Derale), and an oil change. I might also invest in some motor mounts, spark boots, and some NGK spark plugs.
     The car club is still down to three members. One former member lost his car. We still have not received our new stickers. The leader who moved to Rhode Island is supposed to be moving back down soon. He says he's going to get the club up and running again. As far as racing, the track is closed for the winter and we do not participate in illegal street racing. My main focus right now is repairs and paying off old debts before I start investing any more money in the car. I feel confident that 2003 will have a lot of good in store for my life and I'm working on becoming a much happier all-around person.

     This past month has not been fun nor enjoyable. I've been through a lot personally and emotionally. I ordered some silver / blue gauges about three weeks ago, but due to production problems I have yet to see them. I talked to Black Cat Custom yesterday and they said they'd take off the shipping charge and send them FedEx Wednesday so they'd arrive Thursday or Friday. I'm running out of patience, so I hope they'll come in already. I'll try to get some pictures afterwards.

     I'm still alive. I have been busy lately with so much stuff I haven't really had time to work on my car. I gutted out the interior again for a complete makeover. I didn't quite like the look of the white and it was also very difficult to keep clean. Besides, it wouldn't have matched the racing seats I planned on buying. So I'm going back to a more simplistic black and blue setup with most of the same blue pieces and a little more here and there.

     It's only been this long since I've had a chance to upgrade the site. I have been working on my car over this lapse, though. So many things. I painted the bumper lenses, the interior knobs, the dome light. I painted the interior panels white and blue. I removed the top portion of the back seat to lighten the vehicle. Don't laugh, it's actually noticeable. As far as performance, I've only installed some Bosch Platinum +4 spark plugs. I've noticed that the power band shifted higher up towards 3000rpm-5500rpm. After finally painting the interior, I've decided it looks a bit childish and too toyish with the color scheme I picked. I've decided to keep it for a few months, though. After which I will go with a real black interior, perhaps black pearl paint. Then I will add some silver highlights here and there. I will keep the dark blue pedals to accent the blue lighting system I will work throughout the interior. This will all look more professional and compliment the exterior colors. Outside, I'm keeping the blue color but will probably up it to a more metallic look. I am also going to replace the altezzas with some carbon fiber tails to match the carbon fiber wing. Hopefully, this will look more professional and respectable.

    After a couple weeks of waiting I finally was able to get my muffler installed. The guy at the shop said he couldn't fit any more than 2.25" pipes, which is a total lie. For now I'm just going to be satisfied. Later on I'll get a second muffler and in the process upgrade to a 2.5" dual exhaust system. I've got a lot more work to come in the next few days, so stay tuned young'uns.