Hiya, thank you for having me

[Ghetto_Imagination]

First off thank you in advance to those whom provide useful and creative impute to the project I'm working on.

For warning: This is not in the least the typical mod. project, purely aesthetic and not using any conventional mod kits or going for any kind of traditional theme. So this may not be of interest many of you.

Heres the deal. I bought a badly vandalized, somewhat weathered Saturn SL1 (compact 4 door sedan) for $500. All the mechanical workings and general running health of the car are in excellent condition.

There front driver/passenger seats will probably need to be replaced, I'm having the front/back windshields and one of the door windows replaced (know a guy whos gonna do it for about $200 with used glass), the center console is destroyed, light dashboard damage, upholstery from roof completely removed, many interior & exterior bindings are damaged(but intact more or less), minor paint damage, a few pieces of plastic exterior are cracked.

Any pieces I'm buying to replace will be from the junk yard(which will likely just be the seating), all other pieces I'm going to fabricate myself. (Except for whatever I decide for the stereo/sound system, which by no means will be extraordinary.)

I think by now it should be obvious I'm on a very low budget.

My biggest benefit to take into consideration is I work in my pops metal fabrication shop for rare and exotic cars (some of you may know him, Ellery Engel, he's really well known in Ventura county). So I have the means, the tools, the skills to fabricate/repair damaged pieces of the car.

The real base line of this project it getting the car tight and secure again, then covering up the damage with pieces of my own design. Its like a repair project by means of art.

Everything will be well made and have a consistent theme but at the same time it will obviously be an amateur piece of work. I figure I gotta repair all these these things anyways, why not put some creativity into it?

Tomorrow or the next day Ill have the glass replaced then wash the car so I have a clean "canvas" to work with.

So if this project sounds like something you'd like to follow and give your advise/impute, just stay tuned. Ill post some pics in a day or two once the glass is repaired.

Thank you very much for your time

 

[arturo]

Welcome to ZTH...

Am eagerly waiting for yr project to begin soon and enjoying yr resoration project pixs. sorry cant give u any advise or useful comments since we dont have the saturn here.

what year car is this?

 

[Ghetto_Imagination]

Thank you arturo!

Honestly with the nature of the project the car brand really doesnt make a difference.

It'll make more sense once I can get some picks up and project ideas formulated.

Its a '95 btw

One idea I had though, for instance, is there is some paint damage on the top drivers side corner of the hood. What I was thinking is I could cut out a simple but elegant shape from stainless steel with paint (on the piece) accentuating the shape its self, covering up the damage but at the same time making the car look more streamline. Using the same concept for other pieces of the car that are damaged. And of course everything would be symmetrical, so if I put a piece on one part of the car there would be a parallel piece on the other side- regardless if there is damage or not.

Hopefully that begins to give you an idea of the direction this project is going.

 

[jeyadev]

Hi... just to clarify... are you in California, USA now? with the car?

 

[arturo]

Ghetto_Imagination...u have yr own mig welder?

 

[Ghetto_Imagination]

jeyadev: Yes I'm in Ventura California- with the car. Why do ya ask?

arturo: For all intensive purposes yes.


Hopefully Ill finally be getting my ride back this afternoon from the glass shop, then I can really see what ground zero is... fyi

---------- Post added at 01:37 PM ---------- 6 hour anti-bump limit - Previous post was at 01:33 PM ----------

Btw thank you to whom ever transferred my thread to the "Do-It-Yourself Garage", I wasnt sure how to go about that.

 

[LittleWhiteWagon]

Dude, what are the specs enginewise? :) Oh and is it a FR or FF? Haha welcome to ZTH.com too btw

 

[Ghetto_Imagination]

1.9L 4 Cylinder 100 hp Gas

4 Speed Automatic

FF


lol disappointing right?

Like I said before this project is purely aesthetic.

I bought the car cause it was a good deal.

Thanks for the welcome ^_^

 

[LittleWhiteWagon]

Ah I see, well no worries im not going to discriminate you or anything, its just we rarely get american cars so i'd like to know more also :proud:.

What are your plans anyway for the aesthetics? Some crazy widebody or something? Or hellaflushing the first ever Saturn SL1? Hahaha I'd so love to see that

Anyways I drive a Nissan wagon which is also FF, 1.6 litres and carburetted... hardly performance car stuff

 

[arturo]

LWW is just being modest hehehe

Yah...what are yr plans for the car? R u gonna be doing some drastic mods on the car till it's non-recognisable?

 

[jeyadev]

like LWW, I'm suprised to see Americans here :)

 

[LittleWhiteWagon]

LWW is just being modest hehehe

Yah...what are yr plans for the car? R u gonna be doing some drastic mods on the car till it's non-recognisable?

Haha nah man, student very poor lah... just take whatever we have and maintain it hahaha .

 

[Ghetto_Imagination]

Please forgive me for not getting back to ya'll sooner! Been insanely busy!

Spend 8 hours working on my car today ^_^

Was just doing repairs all day but I believe ill be starting on the custom fun stuff bright and early tomorrow. :proud:

Ive decided to use aluminum plating for the high lights, its much easier to work with than stainless steel, less expensive and baby does it shine! Ill be using a clear enamel to protect the paint on the aluminum pieces and to keep them from oxidizing.

To attach them to my ride ive decided on aluminum blind rivets, disgustingly easy to use and that have a really clean look.

After that I'll fabricate a custom wing, its gonna be so damn dope. Been looking at designs online and I'm starting to get some pretty good ideas

Custom paint job is in order, not a full body but highlights of slogans/symbols that represent me.

Gonna be installing an over sized sun roof, just a pop latch, no electronics or nothin. Also picking up a tinting kit and will be doing that myself, should be an interesting(and probably frustrating) experience.

As well as constructing a custom center console, the original was ripped out(but thats alright cause i bet it looked like shit anyways haha). Cant do that though till i decide what stereo system im gonna get. In the mean time will be looking for the best deals on a sound system.

Eventually a front and back bumper body kit will be in order, maybe side skirt idk, but thats expensive so it will prolly be a few months.

Few side notes: the drivers seat is a piece of crap so im gonna find a dope leather seat at the wrecking yard to replace it with, gonna redo the internal lighting with colored led light tubing haha, car is in need of some serious upholstery alteration ...... the car came with good tires (practically new), so until those run down will not alter anything of that nature.


*Inhales(!!)* What a mouth full haha.




So yeah I imagine by the time im done with all those things the car will certainly be unrecognizable haha

I had no idea an american was a rare item on this site, thats cool though lol. Is ZTH a south east asia based network?

---------- Post added at 10:09 PM ---------- 6 hour anti-bump limit - Previous post was at 10:07 PM ----------

Btw thank you for showing such an interest its really encouraging!

 

[kennyyeoh]

wow, this project seems interesting. im new here too so i guess i'll hang with this topic.. i just browsed through some saturn sl1 pics, and it doesnt look much a car to be tricked. it isnt going to be easy to get good proportion with that car without a major reworking on the body.. funny it has a little 300z in its front profile. any skecthes on what you have in mind for the car.. i just finish a restoration of my pocket sized car, took me a long 6 months in the shops, but it was well worth the time spent.

i feel there some great vibes going on here.. will be watching this space

Good Luck

P.S. prolly u should post up some of your saturn pics to get some imaginations running,...

 

[Ghetto_Imagination]

wow, this project seems interesting. im new here too so i guess i'll hang with this topic.. i just browsed through some saturn sl1 pics, and it doesnt look much a car to be tricked. it isnt going to be easy to get good proportion with that car without a major reworking on the body.. funny it has a little 300z in its front profile. any skecthes on what you have in mind for the car.. i just finish a restoration of my pocket sized car, took me a long 6 months in the shops, but it was well worth the time spent.

i feel there some great vibes going on here.. will be watching this space

Good Luck

P.S. prolly u should post up some of your saturn pics to get some imaginations running,...

Your completely right this car was not made at all with mmodification in mind, honestly its kind of awkward lookinng haha the front ennd is kkiind oof pathetic, so dinkky, which is the main reason I need a front bumber body kit, if only so it will hhave more girth. Goes with out saying to have a back bumper kit of course.

Ill post picks soon but honestly it doesn't look like anything right now.


And thank you!

 

[LittleWhiteWagon]

Please forgive me for not getting back to ya'll sooner! Been insanely busy!

Spend 8 hours working on my car today ^_^

Was just doing repairs all day but I believe ill be starting on the custom fun stuff bright and early tomorrow. :proud:

Ive decided to use aluminum plating for the high lights, its much easier to work with than stainless steel, less expensive and baby does it shine! Ill be using a clear enamel to protect the paint on the aluminum pieces and to keep them from oxidizing.

To attach them to my ride ive decided on aluminum blind rivets, disgustingly easy to use and that have a really clean look.

After that I'll fabricate a custom wing, its gonna be so damn dope. Been looking at designs online and I'm starting to get some pretty good ideas

Custom paint job is in order, not a full body but highlights of slogans/symbols that represent me.

Gonna be installing an over sized sun roof, just a pop latch, no electronics or nothin. Also picking up a tinting kit and will be doing that myself, should be an interesting(and probably frustrating) experience.

As well as constructing a custom center console, the original was ripped out(but thats alright cause i bet it looked like shit anyways haha). Cant do that though till i decide what stereo system im gonna get. In the mean time will be looking for the best deals on a sound system.

Eventually a front and back bumper body kit will be in order, maybe side skirt idk, but thats expensive so it will prolly be a few months.

Few side notes: the drivers seat is a piece of crap so im gonna find a dope leather seat at the wrecking yard to replace it with, gonna redo the internal lighting with colored led light tubing haha, car is in need of some serious upholstery alteration ...... the car came with good tires (practically new), so until those run down will not alter anything of that nature.


*Inhales(!!)* What a mouth full haha.




So yeah I imagine by the time im done with all those things the car will certainly be unrecognizable haha

I had no idea an american was a rare item on this site, thats cool though lol. Is ZTH a south east asia based network?

---------- Post added at 10:09 PM ---------- 6 hour anti-bump limit - Previous post was at 10:07 PM ----------

Btw thank you for showing such an interest its really encouraging!

Haha well thank God youre using your fingers and not your mouth . Yeah its more of a Malaysian forum rather than anything else, how did you stumble across ZTH btw? :hmmmm:

Feeew, by the way youre describing it, it sounds like youre gonna be keeping this saturn for quite a while haha! Do you plan it to be daily driven or more of a show car?... Hehe i'd SO support you if you do a nascar themed saturn! Diamond racing black + red wide steelies with goodyear tires, nascar spoiler and a gutted interior but thats just me haha. Plus the rivets and all... zomg. I can think of an alu splitter with rivets.

Ooh and speaking of aluminium, I think it'd look good in a nascar themed car as a dashboard,no?

Anyways on behalf of ZTH I think we'd like pics! Its quite cool to see how your saturn progresses from its state now 'till you finish . Im really clueless how its like inside + engine bay pics haha.

What kind of bkit you planning to throw on? I cant imagine what you'd put on that :hmmmm:. Something out of NFS? Haha jokes

Last question, the pop-latch sunroof, its the ones older cars use yeh? Something like the subie's roofscoop but much bigger and glass?

 

[kennyyeoh]

not every car which starts out funny has to keep looking funny.. yeah more girth get the job done easier, but put lots of hard work and the right stuff and watch the magic happen.

here's mine

http://www.zerotohundred.com/newfor...ancil-chromaworks-sidewinder.html#post4349612

go search for the stock car pic.. maximum FTL type of car.. lemme know what you think of the final results...

the pics now is meant to stimulate imaginations ..

and youre welcome!