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'00
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MODIFICATIONS ARE NOT LISTED IN ORDER OF INSTALL
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All mods were completed before October NOPI Nationals
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Interior:
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Door Panels: repaired
Sound Proofing: all car plastic paneling, sheet metal, speakers, and underside of car
Stereo: new speakers w/ red grill cloth, and amps.
Pioneer:
2- 5 1/4 added to the doors.
Boston:
1- 8in sub in the rear
Trim: painted red, flush mounted KITT box, gauges & air conditioning black
out covers, red bulbs, and carbon fiber styled seat covers)
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Exterior:
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Lights: red turn signal bulbs, red lens tape, headlight covers, headlights, and turn signal cases painted red.
Trim: Oval Exhaust tips, t-top trim painted red, RAIF emblem, dragon stickers, black vinyl trim framing back window, red vinyl on top and bottom of windshield
Ground Effects: front and rear bumper, upside down fin on rear and removed
black bumpers replaced with painted red Plexiglas
Rims: 17 inch Niche Serpents, 245/45 R15 BF Goodrich red Scorchers
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Engine Compartment:
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Style: red looms, red hoses, and painted red pattern on the top of the intake
Performance Modifications: spark plugs, wires, distributor cap, rotor, K&N Filter, and then Ram Air
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MODIFICATIONS ARE NOT LISTED IN ORDER OF INSTALL
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INTERIOR:
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He was so cute I could not pass him up.
He was to tie the dragon theme together that was decided on.
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Door Panels:
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While the door panels were still off, I decided to do more work on them. I took the door panels inside and cleaned them. When I got the car, the top window sill panel had been cracked on both sides. I went to the junkyard and liberated some good ones and replaced mine with Robert�s help. Poor guy had to help me hold the sills together while I fastened and glued them.
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Sound Proofing:
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By the time I was done, I basically soundproofed the whole car, except under the carpet. I had even ruined a shirt and a pair of shorts. The stuff is like tar, it will not wash out. No matter what you do, you get it in your hair and on your hands. I went through a box of rubber gloves. I must have personally increased Dynamat's & Duplicolor's soundproofing stock, as well as killing some serious brain cells.
Now I could update the sound system w/o all the annoying Bass rattle.
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Stereo:
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Ryan recovered the old peeling up speaker grill cloth on the dash w/ red speaker grill cloth.
I still had to deal with the unsightly crank gear from my old non-power windows. I decided to install speakers in the hole where the factory power window motor would have been. There was just enough room for 5-1/4 in speakers. Perfect for more midrange. I went and got them and an 8in sub. In the cargo hole the 8 went. I covered its grill in red grill cloth to match the front speakers.
I cut a hole for the 5-1/4 in speakers in the door panel.
I covered the speakers and the window crank with a 6X9 speaker cover. I covered it in red grill cloth as well.
Since they had been removed with the radio install, I ran my 2X30 amp bridged to the sub and the 2X15 amp to the 6X9s. Both Amps were hidden in the rear fender well on the passenger side.
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Interior Trim:
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With the red speaker grills, I needed more red in the interior. I used this rub on paint to fill in the indented Firebird on my horn.
I painted (by hand) the air vent frames.
I even filled in the small Firebird emblems on the door by the door handle. I painted the black plastic piece behind the door handle. The spacers on the door�s armrest had cracked. I ordered new ones and painted them as well.
Then I attacked the ashtray and the flip up lid. I used red vinyl on the plastic that surrounds the shifter indicator.
I got a red and black leather steering wheel cover.
Since the upholstery on the front seats started to tear, I got carbon fiber styled seat covers. I got them to help protect what was left of my old silver upholstery. Plus, it gave me the look I want to eventually go to...Black seats.
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EXTERIOR:
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Lights:
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I noticed the black plastic around the headlights and turn signals had started to get dull, so I painted them red to match the car.
Then I decided to design some headlight covers. The covers and the signals were painted on angles to match the angle of the hood lines.
I learned on lesson though. W/ Plasticoat Paints, if you let them dry overnight. Then w/o sanding before you spray the clear it will peel off in time. After that I switched to Duplicolor Spray Paints. They can sit overnight and still be painted the next day without sanding b/w coats. I highly recommend them. I still prefer Plasticoat�s touch up paints in the bottle. You can use them more than once.
I replaced all the turn signal bulbs with red bulbs. I even placed red lens tape over the side and front turn signals, so it would still look red if the bulbs faded.
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Windshield Banner
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I placed vinyl on the top of the windshield, to give the car a custom-cropped look. And it helped my eyes in the sun.
I a shop install the top strip, but after I saw how easy it was I wanted to do a lower one. The shop actually did not want to do the lower. They said it would to big of a pain with the wipers. And they would not guarantee that the wipers would not rip up the vinyl.
So I decided to do it myself...
The lower one was a pain. Robert helped, but he was taller than me and it was hard to get the vinyl on straight.
Once it was on I placed a Celtic horse sticker on the top passenger side vinyl. I then added 2 Dragon stickers: a black one up front on the lower red vinyl, driver�s side.
I put a red one centered on the top of the back window and I painted the trim of the T-Tops red.
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Rims:
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My tires were wearing out. I decided to get new rims at the same time I got tires. I wanted front wheel drive Niche Serpent 17 in chrome rims.
I had seen this picture and it was love at first sight.
Of course, they were discontinued.
I had to hunt all over online to find someone who still had a set. All I could find in 17s was with a set with a Datsun lug pattern. I had to have adapters anyway because they are front wheel drive rims, so I figured if they stepped up the lug diameter I should be ok. That was interesting I had to have some massive adapters on it for that conversion. It handles great though. I have not experienced any of the shaking or vibrations that people said spacers cause. I guess it helps to have good quality Billet spacers.
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TIRES
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The tires are 245/45 R17 BF Goodrich Red scorchers.
The rims and tires actually increased the handling & smoothed out the ride at higher speeds.
(55+ on the expressway)
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Week of the NOPI Nationals in Atlanta Sept 2000:
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SMOKED PLEXIGLAS COVERS
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I cut out around the Gauges on the dash and inlaid black Plexiglas.
I also made a black Plexiglas cover for my air conditioning controller. It is light smoke, so you can still see through it.
The KITT light box looked so clunky attached to the bottom of the dash, that I decided to flush mount it in the lower dash. I placed it next to the steering wheel on the right side.
There was just enough room to get it in there. I cut a slot in the dash for the LEDs in the controller box to show through. Its not easy to cut a straight line in plastic like that with a Dremel.
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Ground Effects
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I decided to install the ground effects I got from the junkyard off a 1984 Trans Am. The front and rear pieces would attach to mine without buying whole new front and rear bumpers. They were very rough looking. I had to cut angled holes for the lights across the front (KITT, fog, and egg lights). Luckily this was where most of the damage was. I sanded and painted them. I inlaid Plexiglas in the holes. Then Robert & Laurence helped me install them. Then I added these rubber pieces that looked like fangs to the bottom of the front ground effects.
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Bumper Inserts
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I hated the look of the bumper inserts with the new gfx, so for a finishing touch, I removed them. I took out the old black bumper inserts in the front and rear. I replaced them with inlaid red reflective Plexiglas.
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Last minute (night or 2 before) for the NOPI Nationals:
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REAR LOWER SPOILER
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I painted a spoiler black. It was just like the stock spoiler. Robert installed it upside down under the back ground effects. For this I had to run to the muffler shop, Friday at 8pm. All Pro rocks they reset my pipes low enough to clear the fin. I also had Midas put chrome oval tips on a few days prior.
Maria helped me place black vinyl on the back window to frame the red tint.
Another finger burning job. Those are some hard curves to follow.
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Engine Compartment:
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TRIM:
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The one thing I saw at the car shows... The engine compartments were all loomed: in colors. I looked at mine. It was amazingly clean for a 13-year-old car, but the vacuum lines were shot and the looms were dry and brittle. So I dove in & attacked my engine compartment. It went from black to red. I wire loomed all that I could in red. It's not easy to get everything loomed. Robert, Laurence, Maria, and I had our arms in places that we really could not fit in. I cut my hands and arms all up during this.
I replaced the black dry rotted vacuum hoses with red silicone hoses. I covered the radiator hoses in red nylon covers. All the hose clamps have anodized red covers. The oil and radiator cap is anodized red. I painted my caps and lids red. I painted the fluid containers with a transparent candy apple red. I replaced the hood liner with the silver insulated style. Last, but not least, I painted the top of the intake manifold in red to match the new red trim.
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Performance modifications:
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Considering the 2.8's limited capacity for upgrades. Heck, try finding any upgrades for this engine. I first started out with a simple tune up. I put in AC Delco Rapid-fire spark plugs, performance wires, distributor cap, and rotor. I gave it a K&N filter upgrade.
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RAM Air:
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I made my own ram/cold air induction system that drew air from under the car. The idea was to get thru a less restrictive duct verses the factory system. As well as to get the air from the underside of the car where it was cold and unheated by the engine.
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RAIF Emblem:
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I hunted until I found the right lettering. Turns out Prizm would work. So to Terry Cullen Chevrolet I went & got a Prizm Emblem. They thought I was nuts. I took it home and played with the design some. I got it to say RAIF in the cool lettering style I liked.
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MODIFICATIONS ARE NOT LISTED IN ORDER OF INSTALL
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HOME PAGE
Follow this link to additional information on the car not found on this site!
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DIRECTORY FOR RAIF'S HISTORY SITE
01 Site Overview
02 (1987) Options and window sticker...
03 (1989) Stock pics...
04 (1990) Bottom Accent color changed to Black, Enkei rims, & Tint
05 (1992) Wreck & Added 2 amps
06 (1994) Changer, Alarm, Taillights painted red, Emblems Modified
07 (1998) Engine�s top end rebuilt
08 (1999) Major mods began...Misc. trim, exterior lights, & Alpine head unit
09 (2000) Journal of events <<<
10 (pre July 2001) Journal of events
11 (post July 2001) Journal of events
12 (pre March 2002) Journal of events
13 (March 2002) Pensacola Fiasco
14 (post March 2002) Journal of events
15 Grey and Black Interior
16 Old Sub box
17 Cop Stories
18 Old 2.25 Inch Exhaust
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