I bought this car in Setpember of 2008 with 110,000 miles on it. It already had some work done it it, and for the price I could not pass it up. Some of the main things that it has was: Motegi 16" rims, A-1 Racing spoiler, custom paint job (2 years old...it's main color is blue, but it at night, it also has magenta when light shines on it), Streetglow window vinyl and door vinyls, (sadly, the previos owner did not have streetglow installed on the car, but it will be coming soon), carbon fiber tail lights and side mirrors, and fog lights. Well, the fog lights were trashed and smashed, so I removed them.  The front bumper was gashed on the dirver side, that's still in the works of being replaced. The person I bought this car from really beat on it badly, and needed many mechanical replacments. I started with new tires, because the old ones were bald, and I live in a winter wonderland of the Upper Penninsula of Michigan. So I put new Winterforce tires on for the upcoming winter. I also gave it a nice wash and wax job before the snow flew. I installed new rims on the vehicle, because my buddy wanted the Motegi rims for his car. The rims are NOT aftermarket. They are from a 1990 Chevrolet Beretta GTZ. I think it looks nice with the Cavalier. I also replaced the headlight bulbs with Bio-Light blue headlights.

 Looks like nothing is wrong with it...besides the bumper. However, during the COLD winter we have here, many things started appearing that showed how bad it was beat on. So once the snow melted, it was time to get down to work. I replaced a TON of mechanical things with it...including:

~Tie rod ends

~Driver side axle, wheel bearing & lower ball joint

~Front brakes

~Transmission lock up solenoid (It started to slip in 2nd gear and reverse)

                   All torn apart                                                              Transmission mount

            Strut and wheel removed                                               Transmission problem

                      NEW PARTS!                                             MORE NEW PARTS!

All back together

This was not too expensive repair, but it felt much better than the car wanting to fall apart at every turn I made. Now that the major mechanical problems were out of the way, I could focus a little more on styling it. I have not done too much since I work and have college classes, but some things to make it stand out a little better.

                              Vent Shades                                            Silver door handles

                         Silver mud flaps                               All together (wiper arms painted too)

I then repainted the spoiler on it, because it was originally gray, so now it's silver to match the rest of the car. Next thing to get was a tachometer. I have a 3 spd auto, which I don't personally prefer, so I installed a tachometer to help with shifting. 

Today the car looks much like the last exterior picture. The white dash is also silver and I am working on ideas for interior colors for the vents and other thing inside. I don't have pics yet of the system in it, but I have a 12" dual voice coil RE Series subwoofer maxing at 2,000 watts that I put in last October. My amplifier is 6 years old, and is still kicking, but not as much as I would like it. It's an Alpine V12 4 channel maxing at 1,000 watts. I will be getting a new amp for the new sub sometime this summer. The interior light on the roof is a blue LED, which goes along with the front door 5x7 blue LED speakers, and a 12" LED bar along the back deck. Pics coming soon. Check back later with more updates to come. Future upgrades will be:

~5 spd manual transmission (next weekend)

~17" black magnesium rims (summer 2009)

~turbocharger (when I can afford it...haha)

(7-6-2009)

I haven't updated this in a month, so here's what's new with the Cavalier. My co-worker has a junked 1994 Cavalier with a 5 speed on a 2.2L, same engine my cavalier has :) So I paid him $50, and got the transmission out of it. It took quite a bit to get it out, but it's now out of the junked cavalier, and it has been repainted and prepared for the swap! This past weekend, I installed the clutch pedal in my cavalier, but nothing else attached to it at the moment. Since I work a lot, I can only do a little at a time. Next week if I work a steady schedule, I will be doing the swap at the shop where I work.

I finally found some awesome summer rims for the Cavalier two weeks ago. I bought a set of 205/40ZR17; ADR Propulsion rims from a buddy for $250, and they are pratically brand new! Two of the tires are more than 1/2 worn, but hey, summer tires , you don't need a lot of tread, like I do in the winter. Here's some pics of them on the Cavalier :)

                            Looks good!                                                     Close up...

 9-24-2009

UPDATES!!!! I finally did my transmission swap on the cavalier...it took about 12 days and about 8-10 hours a day working on it to finally get it accompolished! Taking the old 3 speed auto out was the easiest part of the job. The hardest part was making everything come together to work as one from the shifter cables to the clutch pedal, and transmission mount. I had help from my sister's fiance, Scott, who did a lot of the welding, and his neighbor Kyle, who also helped weld and cut metal pieces.

                      Old Transmission out                                               5 Speed ready to go in!

                    The Donor Cavalier                                         Engine was bad, but good 5 speed!

                                                              Clutch Kit on the car!

        Welding the Shifter Plates in!          Kyle doing some grinding for the transmission mount               

I needed new axles for the drivetrain because the ends were different from an auto to a manual. So I ordered both front axles for a 1994 cavalier (since that's what the transmission was). However, after installing them, they weren't long enough and the spider gears in the boots came off when I tried to engage the clutch and it would grind....actually more like an earthquake! So I went back and checked the specs on the axles, and found out that the 1996 cavalier 5 speed axles were about an inch longer. So I got axles for a 1996 Cavalier 5 speed and they work!

The car's 5 speed works amazing and it's MUCH faster than the automatic was! However, with the swap being done now, the computer has not been changed and I have extra wires from the automatic hanging around (transmission range sensor, etc.) So when I start the car, it starts flawlessly, but when I start driving, almost all my idiot lights on the dashboard are on, and my headlights seem to not be as bright as they use to be. I think I have a lose ground somewhere, but I have been looking and found nothing. If anyone may have an idea, please leave me a comment! Also I would like to know...if standards only cae in 2 door Cavaliers, or did they come on Cavaliers with 4 doors? Because if not, my car is one of a kind then, being a 4 door with a standard :) More pics coming soon when I have more time!