No $$$ for Mods...?

[95.0Stang]

Hey, I'm the proud owner of a 2003 GT, love the car, so much in fact that I saved all summer to put it in the garage for the Kansas winter. So after dropping $2400 on a very used Buick Park Avenue I realize I dont have any more money and now with the Mustang in the garage I have no Stang to drive, and no money to buy mods...It's kind of depressing!

So how do you guys get by when the cash isnt there to mod the car? I have enjoyed the progress made so far with the car!!!

Decided to show you the progress from Day 1 to now...many mods are for appearance sake, but I did add an O/R H-Pipe and Magnaflow Catback, MGW STS and several billet parts on the interior you cant see. Next year I want to do more bolt on parts...CAI, TB, Plenum, LT Headers, 4.10s, and I have even thought about replacing the 17s with 18s, and doing Cobra breaks.

BEFORE

AFTER 1 YEAR OF OWNERSHIP!!!

 

[VEE EIGHT]

I dont know how you people put these cars away for a whole winter. I just wouldn't be able to do it, even if I lived in freakin' Alaska.

 

[KBExperience]

+1

TEXAS FTW!

 

[95.0Stang]

my other option is to risk wrecking the car...no matter how well I drive I cant control mother nature and the other drivers...esp those with 4WD who think just because they can go that they can stop...snow falls and the average IQ of the people in this town falls right along with it.

 

[johnnyt03gt]

+1

TEXAS FTW!

+2 dallas tx love what you did with the car thoe
to answer ur question i wish i would have gotten a 2nd job when i first got my 03 to pay for mods only im doing it the old fashioned way when saving for mods = always on an empty tank of gas, staying at home when im not working, not spending lots on lunch, just drive to and from work and let all ur bills go late, do this for 2-3 weeks and bam mod money

 

[Pearl02]

I dont know how you people put these cars away for a whole winter. I just wouldn't be able to do it, even if I lived in freakin' Alaska.

+1

TEXAS FTW!

It would be nice to be able to drive the Stang all yr round. It's very hard to put it up for the winter. I do drive it some on nice winter days. You would really understand once you try driving on snowy and icy roads without sonw tires. These cars just plain suck when driven on snow and ice. I got stuck right in front of my house once. We had an unexpected snow the day before Thanksgiving. I woke up to 6 inches of snow. I couldn't make it up my driveway. Lucky for me I do have a winter car with snow tires on it. I had to wait for a couple of days until the snow melted to move the car. Maybe with snow tires it would have been different. Pearl02.

 

[Pearl02]

my other option is to risk wrecking the car...no matter how well I drive I cant control mother nature and the other drivers...esp those with 4WD who think just because they can go that they can stop...snow falls and the average IQ of the people in this town falls right along with it.

Your right about our winter drivers here in Kansas. The first snow fall there will be a lot of accidents. As we move through winter, things get better. It's like everyone forgets how bad the roads can get. For the mods, just try to save up for them. You already have the car stored away so there's no rush. Figure out which mods you want the most and tackle those first. What part of Kansas are you from? Pearl02.

 

[Ateup]

I dont know how you people put these cars away for a whole winter. I just wouldn't be able to do it, even if I lived in freakin' Alaska.

I agree. I would have to drive another vehicle during the winter that I really enjoyed driving too. Depressing to even think about driving a car over the winter that wasn't enjoyable.

 

[Drew0318]

I dont know how you people put these cars away for a whole winter. I just wouldn't be able to do it, even if I lived in freakin' Alaska.

Pretty easily when you get 5-6 feet of snow a winter, along with the highway department dumping roughly 82 million tons of salt on the road. That's only in IN. Those in MI/WI/MN/etc are worse off.

There's usually salt left on the roads well into May. I don't get the car out until we've had a couple heavy rains to wash that crap off the roads. The roads look like they're covered in chalk.

To me, "mod money" isn't a drving factor on my lifestyle. Simply put, there's plenty of things I can do, and I'm going to do them. I'm not going to pass up a fun night out with friends, just so I can get a CAI/etc.

Maybe my priorities are different at this stage in my life. I only drive my car 1000 miles a year, and it's fun when I do.

Probably just me.

 

[Ateup]

I only drive my car 1000 miles a year, and it's fun when I do.

Probably just me.

Holy crap I probably walk that many miles.

 

[Drew0318]

It's one of 2 supercharged Rio Red coupes for '99 with 18000 miles on it. I don't feel like putting 20k a year on it (it's only driven 6 months a year anyway)...

 

[navarro98gt]

I had a nice chunk of money set aside for a blower but I just spent it on a new daily driver

 

[twogts4us]

So how do you guys get by when the cash isnt there to mod the car? I have enjoyed the progress made so far with the car!!!

I dunno about others, but when funds are low (and they're real low now since I was out of work from March - Aug), I cleaned and detailed the hell out of it. But it appears you are keeping up on the cleaning part just fine...nice looking ride. Your list of current and potential mods are spot on. I'd get gears before anything else - they are, without a doubt, the biggest bang for the buck.

Best of Luck.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

So how do you guys get by when the cash isnt there to mod the car?

Detail it and perform preventative maintenance on it.

 

[Drew0318]

That's kinda what I plan on this winter. Oil change, change all the fluids (tranny/radiator/IC) fuel filter, plugs, etc. Then detail the interior (which honestly isn't bad at all). Been thinking about changing the head unit in it (1999 non-MACH) because the factory Ford radio that's in it now is absolute s**t. I never turn it on (can't hear it over the exhaust anyway).

Last winter, I parked it in October (about the same time) and didn't see it again until April.

 

[02nightmaregt]

I have DD my Stang for almost five years year round. With it at 95,xxx miles now (not like that is a lot for our cars) and with how anal I am about my car it's just not worth risking wrecking it. I plan to have this car forever, and I do not want to lose it by driving it in crap weather and someone wrecking me. This will be my first time ever storing it (other than while deployed) so I may end up at least driving it on some nice days.

 

[ran260gt]

I dunno about others, but when funds are low (and they're real low now since I was out of work from March - Aug), I cleaned and detailed the hell out of it. But it appears you are keeping up on the cleaning part just fine...nice looking ride. Your list of current and potential mods are spot on. I'd get gears before anything else - they are, without a doubt, the biggest bang for the buck.

Best of Luck.

What the hell is this? no put your money in a savings account you dead beat loser that has no house and lives in an efficiency apartment with M&D comment !!!!!!!!!

At lease I had 200 to spend twogts4us , yah bastard !

 

[95.0Stang]

Your right about our winter drivers here in Kansas. The first snow fall there will be a lot of accidents. As we move through winter, things get better. It's like everyone forgets how bad the roads can get.

I am kind of hoping it gets better since more and more people are driving on a rear drive platform now with the 300/Charger/Challenger/Mustang crowd growing bit by bit. This allows more and more people to experience the hell of "RWD on Ice!!!" Maybe some talented Stanger can write and choreograph something like that for a Broadway Musical on ice?

What part of Kansas are you from? Pearl02.

Topeka

 

[95.0Stang]

My attitude used to be DRIVE IT! But after seeing so many accidents and threads on sites like this about people having their Mustang totaled by another driver and with the bad road conditions, I just decided I would rather play it safe. I know if I had a special edition Mustang I would do the same thing...A Bullitt or Cobra or Mach 1 would sit in the garage except on great days, so until I can afford to get one of those beautiful machines, my plain jane GT will under go the same treatment.

 

[sbelyo]

I've made it through 8 years of ice, snow and bad traffic here in Jersey with no problems. Most of that time was on bald gatorbacks too.

But, if I had to store it for the winter I would watch football and read MM&FF