cobija's Build thread..
 

Hey guys, seems like I forgot to make one of these. Here it is I guess! I want to give a shoutout to Tyler (optional) that has helped me with installing 95% of everything listed below and all for no cost to me.
He's been a great guy and has taught me most of what I know about modding cars. This thread is still a work in progress since I don't have pictures ALL with me right now. I recently took some to fill the gaps so everything is not its cleanest right now.

List of Mods:

Engine/Drivetrain Modifications:
-Raceland CAI
-TRD Exhaust

Suspension Modifications:
-Rokkor Coilovers

Interior/Exterior Modifications:
-OEM Lip Spoiler
-S2K Antenna
-6000k HID's
-VRD Fog Lights w/ 2500k Hyper Yellow's
-VRD Badgeless Grill
-Red-out Full TBL
-TRD Rear Sway Bar
-Dr. Isotope Radiator Panel
-TRD Front Strut Bar
-Pioneer F90BT Head Unit
-Rockford Fosgate P1S4-12 Subwoofer
-Rockford Fosgate P300-1 Amplifier

Future Modifications:
-BlueBat Headlight Overlays (bought, but waiting for a heat gun to put them on correctly)
-Possible tint

Intro:

I bought the car in early November 2010. My dad paid for half and I paid for half. At first I hated the color of the car (Azure Pearl), but now I have grown to like it. Before this, I drove a truck for about a year that was my older brothers but he needed it back.
I believe we bought the car for around $13,000 which I believe is great since the mileage was only at around 15k. Here are some pictures when we went to go pick it up after signing:

Modifications:

First modification I did to my car was a gift to me. After being accepted to Cal Poly in California, my uncle asked me what I wanted as a gift for that as well as my birthday (Feb 26th). I asked for a lip spoiler so he graciously got me one. I tried installing it myself and sadly am a perfectionist. It was a little bit off
and after coming home one day from school and realizing that it was a hair off, I tore it off my car and put it in my car. Then, it took almost 1.5 hrs to take off all the 3m tape and apply more on. I asked a friend of mine to help me install it. Its still not PERFECTLY even, but I am not going to put back tape on there :doh:

After this, I became friends with Tyler and he helped me install many of the things listed above on my car.

Our first modification was to install a Raceland CAI and a Raceland front strut bar. We got the CAI on there fine but the front strut was not going on correctly. I ended up throwing it away and later buying a TRD front strut. In order to convince me to get coilovers,
Tyler took me in his tC for a drive and mad my heart beating a million miles an hour for a good fifteen minutes. Pictured below is the CAI. This was just taken since I didnt have a picture on hand, so it is blue with a red TRD front strut, its sort of a bloods and crips battle going on under my hood :rolling:

Our second modifications a week later was HID's (6k), VRD fog lights, VRD badge-less grills, TRD Rear Sway Bar and a full TBL. This was taken after, taken after our beautiful Seattle rain finally stopped pouring.

After this, my friend owed me $100 and decided to pay for part of the sub/amp deal I wanted. We convinced our local stereo shop to give us a nice deal. So, we got a 12' sub and 300w amp with a box and wiring for $300.

I got Tyler to help me wire the car for the sub and amp. Unfortunately again, we ran into a minor speedbump. My car was used and came with an aftermarket head unit. However, this head unit was technically not supposed to be inside of a car.
It had amplifier connections but no RCA out on it. So, I sold that on eBay for $275 and Tyler let me use his old stock head unit. This past week I got a great deal on a Pioneer F90BT. After my sub and amp being in my car for almost two months unused, I cant wait to get them finally installed!

Finally, our latest modification. I finally got paid back from my dad (he owed some money from me) and decided to buy Rokkor coilovers. After a painstaking 7 hours of installation, we finally got everything installed and even on each side. We dropped the car and I was shocked much of a difference it made.
After taking it for a quick spin, I realized how surprising well the car handled turns. People made such a big deal about the ride being bouncy, but I actually prefer these coils to the stock struts.

Later that night, I went home exhausted (notice the pun in a little bit). I checked Craigslist like I had been doing everyday for a month for a TRD Exhaust. I couldnt believe it, someone had posted one! I quickly called the person and he said that he had someone that was going to come check it out.
After hanging up and being mad, I decided to just go to bed. I woke up and called and the person called me saying that the person the previous night had flaked. I drove over immediately and picked it up. It was $200 and has no dents or anything wrong with it. I love the improvement of power I have with it
as well as the sound.

_____

Stickers, man. Totally reversible!

Haha^

An interior wrap is super cheap; a lip kit can be fairly inexpensive, interior painting, painting the stock rims, etc.

Dont you need to drill holes for the lip kit?

If you have to drill holes it'll be where you'll never see unless changing the oil. Just realize no matter what you're gonna get screwed when you re sell the car. Good on you, plan for the future. But you lost like 20% of that cars value when you drove it off the lot.

Oh, alright. I realize that, this car is supposed to be my car for college then afterwards I sell it for it to be a down payment for my next car. Thats why I dont want to do anything too personalized to it that cant be changed later.

The Ground Effects kit will def leave holes in the bumpers, most other kits will have them hidden.

I am interested to know why the strut bar did not fit, got mine on with little effort. Also, people would say you are on the right path as all these are the STANDARD/NORM mods. Everyone starts off about the same, which is perfectly ok.

And everytime I see people trying to sell their rims and stuff back on here, they are taking a lost. And some of the people selling and going back to stock are thinking to themselves "why did I spend so much money on it. what was I thinking?"

I am a half work/half college guy too so I know any major money I throw into the car, I will regret later. Lastly, don't say your parents owe you money lol.. that is cheesy. Things our parents have to do for us, we will never be able to fully return the favor. Drive safe and have fun with the car.

Not sure why the strut didnt fit. It fit fine on one side but it wasnt fully going on. The TRD one fit but it was a little pain.I think something might be wrong with my car, lol.

I know, exactly why I dont want to buy anything very expensive.

But they do, thats the thing. I work 20 hrs a week and my dad took money out of my bank acct then asked me. He said he would pay me back. I get what you are saying though.

Car looks good, and will be a great platform if you decide to keep it. Who knows, you might hang on to it and mod the hell out of it while buying a nicer car after pay off. Ignore the ones who have opinions and enjoy your new car.

cleaned it up...no more drama, if you don't like it keep it yourself no one cares.

Thanks, I appreciate it.

I love the sound of that TRD exhaust, its noticeably louder than stock, but not ricey loud, one of the best mods :)

Good start on the car! Is it a 5spd or Auto?

Yeah, I know. When you are in a garage, its very loud and I love it. Auto :rolleyes:

Improvement of power with TRD exhaust? what?

Yup, I feel the increase in power as in horsepower and overall responsiveness.

Nice start man. How long have you had the Rokkor's now? How are they on rough roads?

Id say for close to a month. IMO, they are not as bad as people make them out to be. They can be a bit bumpy at times and sort of annoying over speedbumps, but whatever. I have a good back for a good 30 years :)

What are your guys' thoughts on these wheels? Optional here is selling his wheels so we just put one on to see what it would look like:

https://img803.imageshack.us/img803/9726/imag0007x.jpg

Those look great.