I don't know what to do :/

[BoostedTurd]

Looking for some advice on my scenario.. I know the posts are going to be slightly bias as I'm on an LTX site asking this but I still would like your opinions.

I've had my trans am for a little over two years now.. I love the car to death, but it's just getting.. old? It lost some of it's specialness to me as I have become so used to it, and as I keep driving it, the fact that it's an old american built car (not exactly the finest ride out there) the more I have this strong desire to try something new. To change things up and add to my car at this point would be really costly..

I'm selling my blown up GTI next month for $4,000. And I currently have my trans am up for sale. A rare opportunity popped up for me to buy my cousins 6-speed 03 350Z for $5,500. I've always loved driving his car, and though the power is not nearly as entertaining, the car itself is just a blast to drive. The handling, feel, interior. If I manage to get 5 for my car I would have the 350z and 5500 left over in cash between my savings and money from the GTI. This would leave me enough to get another daily and about 4,000 to possibly supercharge the Z and put some nice wheels on it.

My dilemma is, even with the supercharger, I'm afraid I might get bored with the car. I've gotten so accustomed to the power of mine.

My other option ive been throwing around is keeping the trans am, and putting about 5-5500 into it.. Make the car more of what I want. Suspension, swaybars, a good 12 bolt or 9" rear, and a nice cam and new dyno tune. (and pick up a daily obviously) But at the end of the day it's still an old Fbody lol.

Anyone wanna throw in their 2 cents?

[Blackbird96WS6]

My opinion is to go with the car your gut tells you to go with. For me, my Trans Am is everything I want/need in a car. And I have every intent in the world to build it till it's perfect in my eyes. If you enjoy the power of your car, but also enjoy the handling of the 350Z, why not use the $5500 you'd spend buying his car and put it into suspension upgrades on your TA? Then it'll not only outrun the 350Z, but out-handle it as well and you don't take any loss in power. Granted, we all know F-body build quality and interiors and such aren't the most dazzling thing out there, but it's all in what experience you're looking to get out of your car. If you want something fancier and built leaning more toward "luxury," then maybe a change-up for a while is what you need to see if it's really what you want or if you want to go back to the TA. Like the old saying goes, you never know how much you miss something till you no longer have it. If you go for the 350Z and don't regret it, then it was the right move. If you get it and end up wishing you had the TA back, then you can try to get it back (hopefully).

[firebird_1995]

Do you already have a daily? If not, pick up a nice one and that will give you something fresh to look at on the inside. I love driving my cruze and since its newer, its got all the pretty blue lights on the inside and that makes me happy to drive it, even though its a dog. When you look at the same thing all the time it gets boring. Anything different will help keep you interested in the fbody now

[BoostedTurd]

I'm done with the nice daily thing. I'm gonna pick up an old 89 corolla or something that's just insanely good on gas..

My daily was a 20th anniversary 6-speed GTI on air ride and it threw a rod threw the block two nights ago.. that's why im selling it to my buddy for 4k. I just want a little pos and focus on one car.

And even with the daily, I hardly drove the trans am and still feel like I desire more when I drive it..

That's why I'm stuck on just upgrading the suspension and rear end, as well as some nice seats and stuff on the interior and 6LE bezels to spruce it up, or try the 350Z. The way I see it is I can easily sell the 350z if I end up not liking it and buy an LS1 fbody. But as much as Im unsatisfied with my car these days, I'm so attached to it as well haha.

[Blackbird96WS6]

What do you look for in a driving experience? Do you want something that's raw power and creates that man-machine bond? Do you want something flashy/gizmo-ey? Do you want something that'll massage your ass cheeks while you drive? Narrowing that down is probably the first thing you should do, then look for what fits the bill. Just gotta find what gets you the most excited about driving a car and go for that.

[BoostedTurd]

That's the thing, I love cars that are a little of everything haha. Honestly if I could afford one, a CTSV would be my kind of car. Handling, comfort, luxury, and GM V8 power.

I love the raw muscle feel of my car, and the crude power, but I love the styling/interior/handling/overall feel of the 350z. If I could have a Z with an LSx swap, I would be in love. That would just cost more then im able to do at the moment..

[Blackbird96WS6]

Well, that's not to say you can't do a fully custom interior to update it and make it feel like you want, but it's gonna cost a good deal of coin lol. Maybe work out a temporary trade with your cousin to test drive his 350Z for a month or so and let him drive yours and see if it's what you really want? Then you don't risk losing your TA if you want it back.

[MeanTA]

I would keep the TA. There are many things you can do to make the interior nice. For example new seats or recover them, headliner/carpet, better sound deadening insulation, double din stereo, high grade leather shifter/e brake boot/ door panel inserts from redline.

And upgrade suspension. Our car can be made to handle on par with the newer car (ask me how I know;)). Your TA can be a nice ass kicking machine.

The appeal of upgrading cars can be a strong one. But you can also regret it. Years ago I traded my 98 R/T Dakota in as down payment for a 02 SS. And to this day I regret doing it

[popo8]

I say u need to decide what makes u happy. I was racing last week with a bone stock 370z...that was running 13s.... thats a quick 6cyl...and he was telling me how the car handles like its attached to the road....

Can an fbody do that...sure...but it will take upgrades...u cant compare old texh to new tech as apples and apples...u have to bring thebta up to date to compare that way.

I think ur car has alot mote potential being that its boosted...400 to the wheels should be no issue with ur blower... upgrading ur interior is up to ur creativity..with double din...flip screen in dash ipads etc etc etc u can have the gadgets....leather can be re done...and plastics amd carpet replaced...

Im biased..Im Ltx tarded...and proud of it.... ill have other toys...but there will always be an ltx...

lI didnt pay attention to where u live...and what type of winters u get...... do u get snow?

MEMBER @ LTXtech.com

[BoostedTurd]

Yeah I get snow, but I plan on having a daily driver like an old corolla or something reliable and good on gas.


I pretty much made up my mind of keeping the car and doing the following to it.. (which would be in my price range)
1) Subframe connectors
2) 9" or 12 bolt
3) CTSV brakes
4) Panhard bar
5) koni/strano setup
6) swaybars
7) seats/interior trim.

BUT... if I can get the 5500 I want from the TA, I would have 11,500 after my friend picks up the GTI. My cousin would sell his 350Z to me for 5,500. That would leave me 6,000. If I find a daily for 1-1.5 then I would have 4500/5000 to put into the Z. Which would be enough to do the LSx conversion once I sell the stock 3.5 V6.

I might end up doing this if I find a buyer for the TA. I'm more then capable of doing a motor swap, and with around 5-6k to work with I can definitely pull of swapping an LSx motor into the Z. I would have the style, feel, and handling of the Z with the good ol' GM powerplant that I love.

[firebird_1995]

Pretty sure you could part it out for more than $5500

[SSlowBoat]

Id keep the tA, but thats just me. After owning and driving my almost full suspension car for a year i can say i keep up with some serious cars in the corners for the most part. Alot of my cruising buddies have some fancy suspension cars (gtr, irs cobra with alot of suspension, c5 vettes) and it made me smile being up their ass while they are understeering and im not too close to my limits. Its all up to you eric, but honestly i think you will miss the feeling you get from your car in the long run.

[BoostedTurd]

I hate making decisions haha.

[Chris]

One thing I have learned in my short time is to stop saying I will have X amount of dollars once this happens. Look at what you have right now. A nice vw that needs a short block and a boosted fbody with tons of potential. Your more than capable of doing an engine swap fix the gti. Then slap lts and get a tune for the trans am.

Easy for me to talk but I get bored with cars in a month be glad you kept yours for two years lol

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

[Chris]

You are out what 1500 bucks reliable daily still and a 400rwhp fbody

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[devonsZ28]

I say keep your T/A I sold my Camaro because at the time it wasn't everything I wanted in a sports car and after owning it for 6 years I was just sick of looking at it outside and in, not saying there ugly but it just got old, I bought it back a few weeks ago because nothing else seemed to do it for me like when I floored that built LT1, it's still not the perfect car "for me" but I realized that I'm better off with my power house Lt1 that I know inside and out and upgrading the suspension and some cosmetic stuff to keep it fresh, than I would be starting over with a new car

[BoostedTurd]

I'm definitely selling the gti. I don't have the job to support two really nice cars. I think I was happier when I had a cheap daily I wasn't worried about keeping nice and I could run miles up on. I drive at least 60-70 miles a day.
I'd rather have a cheap little daily and focus on one nice car like the trans am

[BoostedTurd]

I made my mind up, I'm gonna put the money into the TransAm.

The way I see it is I only paid $1600 for the car with the supercharger and everything anyway, and only put about $400 into it to get it running and driving nice. So being only $2,000 invested into it, even if I put 4-5k into the car it's not like I'm losing all that money.

I want the chassis set up to handle, and be strong enough so that if I ever build the motor more in the future the car itself can handle it. I think a good rear, subframe connectors, struts/springs, and swaybars would be a nice start.

[Neil350]

Good shocks/springs make a huge difference on these cars. A lot of people say go for Konis, I have them but back around '00 or so every one ran regular Bilsteins and drop springs, I don't recall people ever complaining. With a set of good sway bars and rebuilding all the wearable parts in the suspension that alone would make the car better than new for not a whole lot scratch.

[projectbirdshot]

You want to change the feel of the car, get a steering wheel. I know this seems like a gross oversimplification but its incredible what it does(for me atleast). For me, it changes the whole mood of the car. I shelled out $250 beans for a suede Sparco and have never regretted it. Its been in every car ive owned for the past 4 years and everyone that sits in my car is surprised at how nice it feels between the wheel and MGW short throw. They then proceed to ask to drive it and i tell them theyre fucking crazy. Funny because just last week my buddy who just bought a 370Z sat in my car and went and bought a sparco wheel the next day lol. Just my .02 cents

[SSlowBoat]

I have slp bilsteins with hotchkis front/bmr rear springs and it handles really well. Not overly harsh. Its like a koni full soft. Considering you live in the area you do you may not want them too stiff

[BoostedTurd]

I wish your car was together, I'd like to see what they ride like before buying some. I was looking at the SLP Bilstein Eibach setup for 675 from strano.

projectbirdshot- any pics of the wheel in the car? I always wanted to get rid of this bonneville looking steering wheel...

[projectbirdshot]

http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/5385/ca96.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/401/ca96.jpg/)



Not the best pic but its all i got.

[SSlowBoat]

I wish your car was together, I'd like to see what they ride like before buying some. I was looking at the SLP Bilstein Eibach setup for 675 from strano.

projectbirdshot- any pics of the wheel in the car? I always wanted to get rid of this bonneville looking steering wheel...

I personally hate eibachs, too soft for my fat arse. Hopefully if things work out it will be together soon. Just gotta figure out the opti issue. Thanks for letting me know about msd's rebuild thing.

[BoostedTurd]

Project- I was looking at the momo millennium wheel, I think it'd look really sharp in the fbody cab.

Shaun- no problem. I was ecstatic when I found out about their rebuild service haha