Where did I go wrong?

[b4wheeler]

I bought my camaro in 2015 and immediately got the bug to modify.

This is an illness that I have and cannot leave anything alone. I have always lifted my 4x4 trucks, modified any engine in any car to make more power.

So naturally I started down this path with my Camaro.

First thing I did was go crazy detailing her, she was clean, but not my kind of clean.

Next I started on the performance with a cold air intake.
I couldn't stop there and I did an axle back exhaust.
That just opened a can of worms. I didn't like the sound, so I ventured through a few more combinations before I settled on a Borla muffler.
I replaced the stock L99 exhaust, with the huge resonator, with a stock LS3 exhaust from the manifolds to the muffler.
Then we had to go even deeper and add a set of LT headers and a tune.

Now that I have got my fair share of easy bolt-on performance, time for the appearance mods.

THis is where I went wrong..

First I lowered the car about an inch and a half.
This went well and it rode as expected. A little bouncy, but as expected.
Then came the GFX body kit. Got for a great price and got a great deal on the paint. Love the way it turned out so I added a Z28 style spoiler.

I figured I was done. Added LEDs to the DRLs, interior underglow. That was about it…

But something got up my ass and I think I took it toooo far.
For some reason I wanted and had to have Lambo doors (hold your comments). So I found a good deal on a set and tried to install them. Wrong. I can see how doing this on a coupe would be easy. You can just tape the door to the roof and it will stay there. Convertibles don't have roofs that you can tape to, so now the hinges are on and the doors are out of alignment.

I drove like this for a while and enjoyed the car.
Now what goes better with lambo doors than a reverse hood. Not hard at all, and looks good with the doors..

You would think I could leave it alone now and just enjoy it and drive it.

Nope.

Stupid me decides that I need Air ride. And before starting on that, I now need a 2019 ZL1 front bumper conversion.
Air ride was not as easy to install on the garage floor as I thought.

Well this is where she sits. For almost two years.

Now I did move, break my knee and was hospitalized with Covid in the last 6 months, but that does not excuse the year prior to that.

Somehow I drove the car with the pressure too low and blew out the front bags. Those are replaced, but now I am terribly afraid to drive it for fear this will happen again.

So I have resolved to the fact that I just need to de-mod completely and just drive the car and enjoy it.

Remove the Lambo doors, remove the air ride( this will suck and be sad) - waster of time and money.

Reinstall the loweriung springs with new shocks designed for the springs, install the wheels that I want, and drive.

I hesitate to do much engine modification for fear of ending up in the same place…….


I wrote this at work, so my grammar may be off. But feel free to comment away.

Thick skin applied

[prod]

Hey, nothing wrong with cosmetic mods, but if you havent done the lambo doors thing before, it is never as simple as it looks. It takes time, effort and research to do things right. Same with the air ride, and then you have to be careful driving it.
Hindsight is 20/20, so take what you have learned and move forward.
If you do get into engine mods, dont worry, you have the right car for it.

[SS376]

Yeah, I think you went too far. Modding can definitely get addictive, but look on the bright side, you still did less damage than if it was heroin you were addicted to. Whatever you do, don't add up what it all cost you

[Moto-Mojo]

Why does this read like an OLD Penthouse Forum column to me? For those of you old enough to remember...Met this hot chick, started buying her things and dating her, then things got serious but after many romps with the new ‘hardware’, things went south and I had my regrets I ever got involved.

This might be the closest post to conjuring that old memory for me. If it’s real, sorry, man, for the pain. If it’s not, bravo on great, fictional post!

[Ashen L99]

I think everything you did was just fine, and the bags blowing out is just a case of live and learn. I’ve got two friends down in oklahoma city that have bags and daily their cars. Nothing wrong there. Don’t let the negative experiences turn you off of doing what you, and many of us, love!

[LCPLPunk]

Engine seems pretty livable now...BUT...since you have an L99, add a converter (GPI's 278mm 3200 works fantastic) and some 3.91 gears in the back, and then you'll be done. This setup (in my opinion) is killer and is an awesome balance while not too extreme.

[gunchamp]

Originally Posted by Moto-Mojo

Why does this read like an OLD Penthouse Forum column to me? For those of you old enough to remember...Met this hot chick, started buying her things and dating her, then things got serious but after many romps with the new ‘hardware’, things went south and I had my regrets I ever got involved.

This might be the closest post to conjuring that old memory for me. If it’s real, sorry, man, for the pain. If it’s not, bravo on great, fictional post!

Haha, right? Was getting the same vibe

[pyroguy]

If you read my build list you’ll see I’m not as “mildly” modified as I claim to be. Yes there’s more in store and yes the car has far more in it than I’ll ever get back out, but the mods I’ve done I’ve waited to mod so that I’m sure I want them. The only mod I ever “impulse” bought was my cold air intake and that was because it was the exact one I wanted and it was gently used from a forum member here who sold their car so I don’t regret it.

All of that being said, make a list of everything you have done to the car. Look through it and see what you regret and see what you actually like. It sounds like the Lambo doors was a regret and surprisingly so was the air bag setup. MANY people go through exhaust systems and while I love my catback I originally bought, I ended up cutting some of it up to add some diverters/cutouts this past year. My only regret with them is I can’t get back under the car right now to adjust one of them from occasionally rattling on a heat shield. (100% on me 0% on Noweeds.)

Good luck with your demodding and hopefully you’ll dial the car in the way you want it soon.

[Cheap Guy]

The problem is that by definition and nature, car enthusiast usually want to modify or "improve" their cars. In the old days, this was almost necessary to improve performance. Nowadays, modern cars are so dialed in that most of them have more performance than the typical person can reasonably use on the street or within the driver's ability, but we still have it in our blood to try to get a few more ticks of performance. As a result we often end up just wasting money or worse, screwing up things.

Case in point, CAI and exhausts. I did a lot of research and at best, adding a CAI or exhaust, at the cost of maybe a grand or two, especially without specific tuning, will add what, a tenth? Meanwhile you put up with the added maintenance versus a throwaway filter or in the case of a poorly designed exhaust, the drone. I changed over to a 1LE suspension and it handles a bit better than stock, but even that may be just a figment of my mind since it's not like I'm tracking the car.

Maybe it's because I've gotten older, but now I focus more on just enjoying driving the car as-is more than I think of doing any major mods. I think it's also because these cars are really good right out the box, so unless you're going for a specific higher performance goals, you're either wasting money or doing mods out of pure personal satisfaction of doing something, which is still ok. Hell, I get enjoyment out of a day of applying old fashioned paste wax and now you can do the ceramic thing in an hour and it's better than the old school way, but guess what? I'm getting the carnauba out next week!

[hudson773]

maybe you should refer to this chart

[Badfinger]

[joshnmn]

To me different is great. Even a dead fish can swim downstream (let that sink in for a while). I’m always doing things that are opposite of what everyone else does. I may not agree with everything you have done but I certainly respect you for doing it.

I think your car is pretty awesome, save the lambo doors

[tomlink]

Originally Posted by hudson773

maybe you should refer to this chart