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Finalizing the GTO :: A Few Ideas

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Old 07-29-2007, 06:11 PM
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Tony I usually agree with your suggestions, but I have to disagree on that nose. The GTO nose just works better with the two hood scoops..

As far as the spoiler, your car pulls off the stock one very well so I would leave it alone. If you have to change it for the sake of changing it, the smaller lip looks better with your modest chin spoiler.

Your GTO is damn near perfect the way it sits.
Old 07-29-2007, 07:35 PM
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Yeah, I think I'm just getting restless right now with the stock 17s on the car while I wait on my security measures so I can put the CCWs back on. After really looking at it and thinking about it I dont know that any of this stuff would offer a real visual upgrade over how the car looks now. I'm still considering trimming the kidney grilles in chrome but honestly dont think I will as it'll take away some of the aggressive edge the car has and that the GTO desperately needs IMO. I am on the fence right now about my wheels. I'm going to try Zoopseal and Wheelwax to hopefully cut down on the maintenance but if not I'm going to refinish them like this I do believe...



Silver/Polished CCW SP16s.
Old 07-30-2007, 03:23 AM
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Still not a fan of the silver polished... Regardless, you owe me a lot of money. I HATED GTO's...

Your car came along, looks AMAZING and now I'm about to go buy one... For the wife of course !
Old 07-30-2007, 04:20 AM
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dude I love your car the way it is, everytime I see it I wan to get one. and I think I am really close to making that jump, and its all because of looking at your car. just keep it how it is.
Old 07-30-2007, 07:22 AM
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Both of you guys can thank me if you make the jump. Just make sure you dont have one with strut rub issues from the factory and you'll be loving it. They really are very nice cars and extremely well built.
Old 07-30-2007, 11:00 AM
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I like the look of no wing on the back. But I prefer the stock, stateside GTO front clip over the Monaro front clip.

I like the back of this GTO:
http://www.fquick.com/garages/viewga...ewimg&id=14606
Old 07-30-2007, 04:14 PM
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Originally Posted by 01FormulaTA
get the little duck tail spoiler and then leave it be, dont paint the wheels, the car looks amazing as is otherwise.....and PLEASE DO NOT RUIN THAT BEAUTIFUL CAR WITH AN UGLY *** TWO-TONE PAINT JOB
^^^^ what he said^^^^
Old 07-31-2007, 02:00 AM
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SAP grills would be a nice touch... painted body color.
Old 07-31-2007, 04:46 AM
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Originally Posted by josh99ta
Both of you guys can thank me if you make the jump. Just make sure you dont have one with strut rub issues from the factory and you'll be loving it. They really are very nice cars and extremely well built.
Don't get me wrong... I'm still not on the delusional band wagon alot of GTO owners (not you guys, primarily guys that ONLY frequent certain GTO boards) seem to be on...

I see the car as a quality level that the Camaro or more honestly a Trans-Am (Since Pontiac definetly made their interiors nicer than Camaro's) MIGHT have made it to if it made it to 2004.

Nice interior (scale of 1-10 I'd give it a 7 with a STOCK Camaro at a 4.5 and a Trans-Am a 6), obviously good power train but other than that the car's body and floorplan seem as dated as our 4th gens.

Interior space of a Trans-Am, huge gas tank in the trunk KILLING trunk space and making fold down rear seats impossible and more blind spots (with a TINY rear window on a HUGE @ss) than our F-Bodies.

I do like the car and think it is going to make a great reliable daily driver for the wife and something I will enjoy driving as well on the weekends (we're getting an '04 with LT's, intake, exhaust, nitrous, etc...) but for performance (straightline and handling) it is no MODIFIED (basic mods: SFC's, Koni's, Swaybar, etc...) F-Body and for comfort/build quality it comes NOWHERE near BMW's (which is was made to compete with, no arguing on this point as that was STRAIGHT FROM PONTIAC)...

I do rather enjoy seeing those three letters though (my dad owned a 70' Goat I never got to see) GTO (pun intended on smilie choice )
Old 07-31-2007, 07:23 AM
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I'd rate the interior nicer than that, and build quality is three times over what any of the F-Bodies ever were. I do agree on most of the other stuff but have to disagree on the performance. My GTO is on par with alot of convertible F-Bodies in the weight department (3610 lbs) and I have done zero weight removal. Thats what gets me. Everyone talks about how heavy they are but before the fiberglass hood and weight removal on my Trans Am it was right on par with the GTO and it wasnt even a 'vert.

The only real downfalls to me are cargo space but I dont really need alot of that. If you're a drag racer obviously the IRS isn't your best bet but it certainly has its advantages for those of us who only hit the track here and there and just for fun.

Might not be as comfortable or have the build quality of a comparable BMW (although I think it is just as comfortable), I'll take that trade off for a more reliable car that doesn't cost me an arm and a leg to fix if something does go wrong.
Old 07-31-2007, 07:37 AM
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My votes:
-smaller rear spoiler, but the duck looks good too. I would do no spoiler at all personally the stock one is horrid.
-no two-tone paint, it's risky,
-changing the wheel finish would look more refined like you are saying
-maybe you can incorporate more of a brushed finish for the rear letters, and brush finish for any other exterior changes, that would tie in with your planned wheel modifications.
Old 07-31-2007, 10:31 AM
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Full Hsv Body Kit On It!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nuff Said
Old 07-31-2007, 02:18 PM
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Originally Posted by josh99ta
I'd rate the interior nicer than that, and build quality is three times over what any of the F-Bodies ever were. I do agree on most of the other stuff but have to disagree on the performance. My GTO is on par with alot of convertible F-Bodies in the weight department (3610 lbs) and I have done zero weight removal. Thats what gets me. Everyone talks about how heavy they are but before the fiberglass hood and weight removal on my Trans Am it was right on par with the GTO and it wasnt even a 'vert.
I've seen WAYYYY too many of these car's with peeling suede, steering wheel pieces that come off, knicked fabric (that wraps the plastic pieces) in the interior...

To me they just seem like an F-Body that someone (like the guy's on here) "made better" by wrapping plastic pieces in material. Definetly not soft padded nice interior pieces like you find in European cars...

As far as performance I was referring more to driving characeteristics than weight characteristics...


Originally Posted by josh99ta
Might not be as comfortable or have the build quality of a comparable BMW (although I think it is just as comfortable), I'll take that trade off for a more reliable car that doesn't cost me an arm and a leg to fix if something does go wrong.
Hence why we're getting a Goat and not a BMW also

It's like BMW's are programmed to breakdown as soon as warranty is up... I've had SOOOO many friends that couldn't keep them out of the shop even BEFORE the warranty was up
Old 07-31-2007, 06:23 PM
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Originally Posted by 6LITEREATER
I've seen WAYYYY too many of these car's with peeling suede, steering wheel pieces that come off, knicked fabric (that wraps the plastic pieces) in the interior...

To me they just seem like an F-Body that someone (like the guy's on here) "made better" by wrapping plastic pieces in material. Definetly not soft padded nice interior pieces like you find in European cars...

As far as performance I was referring more to driving characeteristics than weight characteristics...

Really? I've been around a few BMWs and a few GTOs in my day and if the GTO had navigation from the factory and it was nicely integrated I'd say it would be right there with the Bimmers (which I plan to do soon). I've never had nor seen any of the problems you're talking about so maybe this region just got some lucky batches or something. Soft, padded, and nice are three words I'd use to describe my GTOs interior actually. Either way I think you'll love the Goat long term. What color/interior/wheel/trans combo are you guys going with?
Old 07-31-2007, 06:35 PM
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Originally Posted by josh99ta
Really? I've been around a few BMWs and a few GTOs in my day and if the GTO had navigation from the factory and it was nicely integrated I'd say it would be right there with the Bimmers (which I plan to do soon). I've never had nor seen any of the problems you're talking about so maybe this region just got some lucky batches or something. Soft, padded, and nice are three words I'd use to describe my GTOs interior actually. Either way I think you'll love the Goat long term. What color/interior/wheel/trans combo are you guys going with?
Yeah, we've been searching awhile (because we needed a semi-specific car) and have seen a lot of different (years, miles, etc...) cars from a lot of different places (we're in Cali but the car we're getting is in Louisiana) and those are just the issues I kept seeing (on cars in person and on the message boards).

The car HAD to be an automatic because it is for the wife's daily driver here in LA (Los Angeles) traffic...

It could NOT be red, white or black because we also use them in film/tv and unless it is the picture car (aka: hero car) it can't be those colors...

SO it was a little difficult since manual is a popular option and red and black (white wasn't even a color option so it didn't matter) are the two most popular colors

We ended up with (or will have by this weekend) a 2004 Silver A4 GTO w/black interior (I couldn't stand the red and blue interiors personally so they were out as well).

It also has stainless steel LT's, Borla exhaust, K&N CAI and a 100hp dry shot... out of a 100pts it would score a 95pts (regarding the exterior and interior condition)

It's a daily driver so we didn't want to spend alot, we were shooting for under 20K hence why we were looking at 2004's (again, for the wife the LS2 didn't matter).

We found one local in Irvine that was $22,500 AFTER negotiations (at a dealer of course). The one we are buying is IDENTICAL to that car and we are getting it for $15,000 from a person AND it still has a GM warranty for another 40K miles or untill 2010
Old 07-31-2007, 06:59 PM
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i like that Ducktail spoiler with a Monaro bumper, SS inserts in the rear, keep the CCW's the way they are and if you can get rid of the grill in the Monaro bumper do it. do NOT change the color. Your car almost made me buy one almost identical. All stock of coarse but same color, year and all. Would have had it if it was a 6speed ~cole~
Old 07-31-2007, 07:00 PM
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If you don't like your CCW's i'll trade ya for my Y2k Vette rims in silver and i'll even polish the lip for ya lol then you'll have the silver/polished look and i'll have those SEXY *** rims on my Vette
Old 07-31-2007, 11:05 PM
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Another little something I'll be doing very soon...

The stock 17s are only going to be on the car for about four months out of the year during the winter but I hate the car when they're on. It just looks so "off" to me. So here I was looking for a good low-buck visual upgrade but I cant see dropping money on aftermarket 17" wheels. This is a good ~$10 solution that'll just take a little time to mask them off and spray bomb them.



I'm doing this one regardless of what anyone says. Just figured I'd throw a quick 'chop together to see what it would look like on my own car. I cant stand the stock 17s and this makes them look like mini-stock 18s with black centers. I saw this on an Impulse Blue Metallic GTO and thought they were stock 18s at first.



Stockers:





Modified stockers:





The Impulse Blue GTO that I originally saw them on:





Old 08-01-2007, 12:43 AM
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i like the bigger spoiler, kind of looks like the berger spoiler on the camaros. and the silver wheels is a good idea. i guess you got tired of cleaning them all the time
Old 08-01-2007, 01:35 AM
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You're already done with the car.

You don't need a ducktail spoiler and you don't need a two-tone paint job. I would definitely consider a tasteful wide-body kit, but you don't have that on your list. I always thought that the Race Mesh grilles should have came with the chrome outer trim, but it sucks that they don't. (That's actually the only reason why I haven't ordered the Race Mesh grilles--stainless steel mesh grilles need a chrome, outer frame just like on the CTS-V's and the G6 GXP's. Are chrome outer frames even available for the grilles and the front bumper? Thanks in advance for the info.) As for the wheels, I know LG Motorports has the new World Challenge Wheels that look just like your CCW's, but can be bought in chrome. If I were you, I would do some research to see if the available World Challenge wheel sizes can fit on a GTO or even contact LG Motorsports to see if they can mass-produce their new World Challege wheels for the GTO.

Last edited by damon_Z; 08-01-2007 at 01:41 AM.


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