Haha wow so much goes on with ur ride lol im slowly making good progress with my project lol it feels good once u start knocking stuff off the list U have the new fender, door, and sideskirt yet? Sorry if i just missed that post lol

 

Nope, bought an AR-15 and now I'm broke. Also, I'm moving into a bigger apartment soon so I need to save up for that as well as vacation. After July I'll probably start buying car parts again (brakes first, then repair the damage, then suspension, then finish the exterior, then interior, then engine).

And I really can't say much has happened to the car in the last few months. Being 20 and being financially independent sucks (for the "you're not financially independent; you're only 20!" crowd, I live in my own apartment 400 miles away from the 'rents and am currently paying back student loans as well as paying my monthly bills. I'd say I qualify as "financially independent" lol).

 

Damn thats a lot to save upo for and ur payments and bills and such i have a little more breathing room since i got some scholarships so at least for my 1st year of college ima be able to put a little bit of money into my ride still gonna have to pay for food and gas though (and its 2 and a half hours away from here) and ima have to find someplace to stay between classes (summer, fall, spring break, etc.) so i feel ur pain :/

 

Tell me about it. The front suspension is around $1,400 and the rear will be another $1,000. The brakes are around $500 (new rotors and pads all around, new front calipers), the interior will be another $1,500, the engine work will be $2,000, and the transmission work will be another $600 or so. That's not including the body work, but that's all going to depend on what deals I can find.

The brakes do need to take priority, with the suspension soon afterward. Right now, the sliders in my front right caliper are starting to stick and the front left isn't much better, so those need replaced; my rotors have been overheated, and the pads are going to need replaced soon. Also, I have a few things bent in the front suspension, so I want to replace everything with lighter tubular parts to make sure nothing's bent. The IRS is mostly for comfort (live axles blow); I don't see me driving hard enough on the streets to need the ability to trail brake with more stability, nor do I need the ability to get on the throttle mid-turn while maintaining stability.

The way I have my budget set, I should have ~$500 left over each month after bills, but for some reason I'm always broke. I have a habit of compulsive spending, so I'm sure that has a lot to do with it.

 

Damn all that stuff is expensive as hell all of the stuff thats on my priority list now is fairly cheap stuff that i could prolly get from a pull-a-part which is my plan the bumpers, back hatch door, and tails (if i dont buy them before long) i could get (paint matched even, maybe) for like less than $600 and then a cheap no-name lip and grille from ebay would run me like $120 if that! It'll start getting pricey once i start doing the suspension, rear disc brakes, fixed exhaust, etc. But motors down here are relatively cheap if you know where to look so im lucky there. My friends dad found a complete y8 for his 95 Si for $100 idk where he found it but he did hahaha

 

Well, the thing is the only thing that's going to be left alone on the front suspension will be the spindles. The k-member (sub-frame), lower control arms, springs, struts, camber/caster adjusters, and tie rod ends are all being replaced, not to mention I'm converting from a modified MacPherson to a true MacPherson strut suspension up front. The same pretty much goes for the rear suspension; I'm swapping the entire rear suspension and rear axle out for a different unit. The brakes, like I said, will be pretty much all brand-new also.

With the interior, I'm doing it right the first time; custom-ordered Corbeau seats (inflatable lumbar supports and a submarine harness slot in the passenger seat, all installed by Corbeau during production), Corbeau 5pt harnesses, and a 4pt roll cage don't come cheap. Basically, I'd rather have seats I know are well-built and safe, as well as the extra safety of 5pt harnesses and a properly built cage than try to cheap out to save a few hundred dollars.

For the engine, the heads are staying stock, but the cam, pushrods, rockers, and springs are being replaced, as well as the upper intake manifold and throttle body. If I do end up stroking it, I'm looking at an extra ~$2,000... but I'll most likely be sitting at between 250-300whp on a naturally-aspirated engine. As far as the transmission goes, I'll be replacing the clutch with a 6-puck unit, getting a lightweight flywheel, and a lightweight driveshaft, so the price on that isn't terrible.


The biggest downside to mustangs compared to civics is the cost of good parts =/... but having 300whp on a N/A v6 mustang along with the way it'll sound (especially at idle) will kind of be worth the cost.

 

2011 V6 mustang has 300 HP stock :P

Otherwise you are worse then me for flip flopping on a project. EIther way I am sure you will eventually get this done chris. Or you could just go out to left field and buy something crazy....who knows. Also if you really want to save money you could stop smoking.

 

Meh, anyone can buy a 300hp car. I'd rather take a 175whp car and more than double the power it makes than outright buy a 300whp car. Besides, my car will still have a lower total cost than a 2011 mustang

And yeah, I'm working on the smoking thing.

 

Ah yea smoking sucks a lot of people in my family smoke and my gf's family does too its a really bad habit and its super hard to kick it :/

But anyway yah thats the one bad thing about Mustangs...name brand parts are expensive as hell i mean theyre more expensive for Civics too dont get me wrong theyre just even MORE pricey for a Stang

 

^they are so cheap for civics because of the mass quantity's ordered