DIY Mods

Unless you want to be branded a boy-racer (and hence, laughed out of this group :) then stick to smooth and sleek - you're already on the right lines. De-Orange your side (and front if necessary) repeaters etc. StickOnTat? is a bad thing !

Interior mods, I'd leave well alone. There's very little you can do without turning it into a nasty mess.

What car are you driving ?

I'm going to be gentle, some of the other regs might not be. Simple debadging, subtle meshing done well, and a small lowering with some decent alloys and better tyres will be ok on here.

Home colour coding and "Hilighting" with a spray can won't. We are more of a performance/functional mod group here, rather than a "Stick on Tat" 3 tonnes of fibreglass group.

If you fancy playing with Nitrous, fitting a remappable ECU, or getting you head ported and flowed, or need to find someone who can bend you a custom stainless system, someone may be able to offer some advice. If you want to find out how to glass a scooby vent onto a Saxo, don't bother.

So after that, Welcome, where are you and what do you drive.

Sorry, this post may have come across the wrong way. Being 41, I am hardly a "boy" and driving a 1999 kia shuma 1.5 I would not describe myself as a "racer".

I have a minimal budget to work with, and I'm just looking for those nice touches to make the car look a little different from the normal stock driving around. The car is dark grey so I intend on meshing behind the existing grilles in black, which I think should look subtle, I like the idea of changing the side repeaters from orange. Its that sort of thing I'm looking for not huge spoilers and neons. I think nitous is a bit out of my league to be honest.

I keep looking on e-bay for "universal" parts as the oem stuff is really pricey for kia's (if you can get it). Burgerman has sent me a couple of good links to look through, If any one else has any more links or idea'sI would be very grateful

Rick

hmmm a nice in car pc install would be quite cool and make it a little different. what about some custom gauges for the dash?

excuse my ignorange, but what is an in car pc for exactly?

Don't go for cheapo DIY cosmetic stuff, because unless you're *very* good it'll just look that; cheapo DIY.

Go for this instead:

DIY nitrous. You know it makes sense...

Heh, ignore my previous post; you'll have already seen

Pretty much anything, really! Ditch the head unit, blank it off and install a PC somewhere in the car (boot, glovebox etc.; you can get some tiny cases) and touchscreen for the dash.

Then you can run all sorts off it; audio from a HD full of MP3's, video, satnav, games, etc. etc.

uk.rec.boring.old.farts.cars is over there ----------------->

For simple basic install using factory speakers and a small low power=20 but decent amplifier+ about =A31000-1500, you can build a system that will= =20 play as many MP3's as you can get onto a HDD, have integrated satelite=20 navigation, if you should wish, play back DVDs (more use to rear seat=20 passengers admittedly), play Audio CDs, and even get radio through the=20 PC, instead of a traditional headunit, all operated by a small (normally=20

Have a look at MP3car.com for ideas of what people are doing, and the=20 specialist hardware like Power supplies, and custom developed software=20 like Centrafuse that they are creating.

=A31500 in your car might sound a lot, and that is the absolute upper end,= =20 but for that kind of outlay, you would be looking at similar integration=20 and functionality as a brand name multimedia setup costing =A33-5k.

For =A3500-700 you can do something simpler, and cheaper, but no less=20 useful, especially if you don't mind getting mucked in with the=20 instalation and hardware.

--=20 Carl Robson "Sorry Sir the meatballs are orf" (The poster formerly known as Skodapilot)

Behave. He is only 5 year older than me.

One thing you should know about DIY universal stuff. In the majority of cases, it means it fits everything universally badly.

I know what you mean about things being hard to find, made for non "Popular" cars among the modding companies.

Best thing you could do is, find out if Kia use any parts from the same parts bin as anyone else. And a good way to find that, might be to locate a web forum for the brand, usually in the country they came from. Might have trouble finding an english speaking forum for Kia though, unless they are imported in to Aus, or NZ, inwhich case, they tend to be just ahead of us on messing with non mainstream far eastern cars.

Only 10 older than me...... but neither of us drive a Kia Shuma. 'Eastbourne Express'

haha you're old :)

Aw come on, thats not fair, its not a bad car, cheap to run, sporty'ish' front looks, reliable, and at least I'm trying to do something with it, thanks for the input though.

You wrinkly old bastard !

:)

I'd go clear indicators/side repeaters/rear lights if you can get em. Maybe de-badge it, mesh the front grill out, see what the offset is and if its shared with any larger manufacturers and try locate a nice cheap set of

Personally, i'd also shove a Pioneer MP3 head unit in, some decent speakers to replace the factory ones (in the same holes, under the standard grills - less tempting to theives) and maybe a nice little sub/amp setup in the boot.

I've spied some nice clear repeaters on ebay, the back has been debadged, I now have a kenwood head unit, and a DVD player installed, If I change the wheels do I need to get the speedo recalibrated?

BTW grilles are being meshed this weekend, ....and thanks for not taking the piss out of my Kia :)