just discovered the vip scene

been into just about everything to do with car for most of my life.  started out rebuilding an 86 buick regal t-type with a 383 stroker. actually in the process of rebuilding my 97 dodge neon acr. started to fall out of love with cars when i started riding motorcycles...and then it happened. got handed the keys to my father's deteriorating 97 jagaur xj6l. completely fell in love with the car and decided to take it off his hands. this thing has been through atleast a dozen hurricanes which have taken out the headlight assembly on the passenger's side and the grill. between hurricane debris and being rear ended (which only damaged the trunk) this thing just became unloved. it became used as a daily driver onto construction sites, used to tote golf clubs, and borrowed by a couple of my siblings for a few punishing road trips. all in all this thing saw a lot of hard times and not a lot of love. luckily though my father kept up on all the routine mantainance. and then it sat for a couple of years...soaking up that great florida sun...clear coat=epic failure. 

now the car is in my hands...trying to show her the love she has soooo desperately deserved. so far i've just concentrated on getting the beast running smoothly.

so far
new alternator
new starter
new battery
new power steering pump
all new gaskets (had the valves and all the internals checked out....great:biggthumpup:)
new wheel bearings
new belts
complete fluid flush 
new ngk plugs wires
slapped on some new tires...nothing great just factory requirement (gotta get her right before i really start working it)

all in all this thing is now running great. engine hardly even knows it's got 195,XXX miles on it now.:pat:

as far as my repair list goes...
i still have to fix the front end (mainly headlight)
mount custom grill
repalce deck lid
new motor for sun roof (opens GREAT slips when it closes)


NOW THE GOOD STUFF...plans
-pretty sure i'm going to go with a satin black paint job...shaving door handles, bumpers, and the antannae. finishing up the stealth bomber look by blacking out the tails, the ambers and slapping some tint in. 
-polishing all the chrome and having the hood ornament chrome dipped to match (and i hate the faded gold craptastic look. )
-have to decide on some decent rims. not sure what will fit under there but considering finding some decent 18's and going with some low profiles.

as far as interior i plan to black out the entire thing
-new seats, carpet and headliner
-custom solid shaved dash (using original wood...only stained to a slight grey so it will have more of a marble look)
-custom center console
-haven't figured out exactly what i want to do with the door panels buuut i figure i've got enough to do so...:shrug: figure it out when i get there

figure this thing weighs half a ton...so speed isn't really going to be an issue. going to clean up the engine bay some (maybe fab up some nice covers) and pretty up the exhaust slightly.

then at some pointi'm going to throw in some rockford fosgate tweeters and toss out the old...looking for some nice speakers for the door...thought about molding in some 12's.  have 7 adiobahn 12's laying around that are getting recycled into the trunk...gonna be fun enclosing that

so that's it! thanks for reading my epic novel. any input would be appreciated as this is out of my realm of expertise. hoping i can learn some stuff on here as well! if anybody is familiar with this model i could use a little help. thanks in andvance

Sounds like a plan ... Have any pictures of how the car looks now ?

COOL post up some pics!

can't find the damn cable for the camera:pat:

Im glad your getting the car running the way it should be before you start modding. Some of these guys get one oil change a year just so they can save some money for mods :pat:.
 
Your mod list needs alittle work if you want to build a vip car but keep reading the stickies and the threads on here to get a better feel.  You can't forget the suspension which is one of the key parts to a vip build.  The car has to be on the ground or real close to it lol. Good luck

[quote=widebody_Q;185319]Im glad your getting the car running the way it should be before you start modding. Some of these guys get one oil change a year just so they can save some money for mods :pat:.
 
Your mod list needs alittle work if you want to build a vip car but keep reading the stickies and the threads on here to get a better feel.  You can't forget the suspension which is one of the key parts to a vip build.  The car has to be on the ground or real close to it lol. Good luck[/quote]

figured just wanted to make sure it looked like it was supposed to be that way. i've seen lots of lowered cars that don't have shit done to them...and it just looks busted. figure once i get it rolling right i'll get it sitting right:biggthumpup:...i'll pull out the spare and drop in my air tank