Hey guys,
I've been around the forums for a few weeks searching around for help and suggestions people had with certain things, etc. When I first found this site I was thankful and pleasantly surprised...thankful that there were people that could help me, and surprised in how awesome the Alero is.
I recently bought my cousin's 2001 black Alero GLS coupe (3.4L v6). It's got a good sized dent on the front right fender and bumper and a smaller one on the rear right bumper, but those are actually being worked on as we speak. I bought the car with 65.5k miles on it.
So far I've changed all the fluids, just passed inspection (had to drive 350 f'ing miles to reset that damn engine light) and am currently getting it reregistered (licensing and stuff).
As far as this Alero is going, since I'm in college without a steady job year-round, I'm leaning more towards cosmetics first, and once I'm out of college I'll start doing heavy performance work (might change transmission to manual :P...and yes, I'm aware that it would probably take something around 3k to do that...more if I wanted performance parts).
So far, I've tinted my windows (15% all around except for the front windshield...properly, none of that leave a 1/4 inch at the top crap), put in a WAI, put pilot motorsports' carbon weaved green LED steering wheel cover on, and replaced a couple interior lights (dome, glove box, and trunk...glove and trunk are cool white and the dome is green...compliments of superbrightleds.com).
To come: I'm working on sanding and priming my body kit and spoiler to paint them and install them (AAS combat kit and JKL GTR type-C spoiler), my Wize DTM type muffler got backordered (I originally ordered the titanium burnt tip, but because of the backorder, I switched to the regular...that should be in this upcoming Friday), I have my liteglow underglow kit (green), I have 2 Oznium rocker switches to control my underglow and my footwell glows seperately (and I got 2 10" Oznium piranha bars and a 4.7" flex strip for the footwells, all green), I just got the rest of my interior replacement LEDs in today from superbrightleds (all green), I have pilot motorsports' green el stringlights (which I haven't decided what I want to line with those yet), I bought some cheap high heat primer and green enamel paint (rust-oleum) to do my calipers and possibly my engine with (still need to get a degrease spray before I go at that), and a couple of extra fun things I'll reveal later
. I also hope to clear the corners and grab some windshield decals, but I'll address those later.
Future plans: Hopefully, next summer (when I have more money) I'll get larger rims (should I drop the car if I'm getting larger rims?), turn it into a true dual exhaust (3 cyl's per pipe), add some wheel well underglow, and upgrade my speakers and head unit.
Now, about windshield decals and clearing the corners. I think it's Ion that has the aleromod front windshield decal?...I was just wondering if you did that custom or if the forums actually sell them, because I'll definitely slap that on my Alero for the looks and to rep the name.
Now, clearing the corners...I noticed you guys had a thread pointed in a sticky, but unfortunately since you guys changed locations it doesn't work anymore. I was wondering if anyone knows of a good DIY guide as to how to clear your corners?
Last question, as far as installing the combat kit onto my car, to DIY all you do is pull the stock bumper off, mount the kit (since it's a bumper replacement) to where it would sit and just mark where the bracket holes are, drill them out, and when you're ready to install just pop the brackets back on, right?...or how should I go about it?
I'll get pictures that my aunt took of the original look of the car before I did stuff to it, and when I finish all the stuff I have for it now, I'll post those as well (everything should be installed in about 2 weeks).
Great to finally be taking part in these forums now, I love cars (studying to be a mechanical and aerospace engineer) and hope for them to be a hobby of mine for a long time. You guys are awesome, and I'll try to lend a hand when I can.