How Have You Modified Your Car and To What Extent?

I bought a 1997 Porsche Boxster four years ago. It is the utmost bare bones, un-optioned Boxster I’ve ever seen. Over the years I’ve mainly made cosmetic modifications—although most modifications were stock Porsche parts. For example, new door panels were needed due to the hack job the previous owner did of installing speakers in the doors, cutting through the weather seals, causing massive leaking in the rain. I also took great pleasure in removing the speakers and all the other stereo components he had put in the car, ripping all the cheap Radio Shack wiring out of the car, only to discover an after market alarm was installed that no longer worked either. It felt so good removing all that cancer from the car.

I’ve also replaced the stock 16-inch “twist” wheels with lightweight 17-inch Porsche Carrera Classic wheels. All the lights—headlights, side markers, and tail lights—replaced with later model lights to rid the car of amber. The 4-post Buick looking steering wheel replaced with a Porsche 3-post steering wheel. The exhaust replaced with a Porsche Sport exhaust from a later model Boxster S. Those are the things I’ve replaced.

I’ve also added a few things, such as a the storage box behind the seats, under the top, which was an available Porsche option. This car has no glove box, so it needed some sort of storage! I removed the factory cassette stereo and put a cubby shelf in it’s place. The cubby shelf came from the center console that I removed to make more leg room—what an improvement! I also added in a 4-post steering column so I would have access to the OBC, which worked flawlessly.

I still have many things to do, I need to replace the top, and I want to put in a short-shift kit. The car can use a new paint job as well. Oh, I replaced the shift boot and knob… with the factory shift boot and knob. 😉

I love working on the Boxster. It’s an incredibly fun car to drive, and it’s equally as fun to work on as well. It’s so rewarding to drive a car you’ve put a lot of work into.

My best intentions with my car were to build a street car that could be brought to the track, like most compromise projects of this nature it went too far, and its now a terrible street car. It started out as a mostly stock 1988 Porsche 944 Turbo owned by a friend. Over the last 6 years it has gone through many different phases. I can recall maybe 3 or 4 distinct stages the car went through and wish i had quit modifying it around the 2nd stage where things were still mostly stock. The car became so heavily modified by its final stage with the original 2.5L turbo engine; it was fast but very rarely ever ran right. Big turbo, MAF conversion, playing around with the tune myself…etc. After around two years trying to work out the bugs, i gave up. The body mods were easy, just a few minor details to set it apart from the pack. Mostly touches from the euro models; rear bumper, French (yellow) fogs and some other minor touches borrowed from the 968. After a year of the car sitting while i figured out what to do i decided to go one more step in the extreme direction. It took nearly two years from the time i pulled the engine until it was moving under power with a 5.7L LS1. It was a long project that i lost interest in more than a few times, but i am heavily invested in the car, both monetarily and nostalgia. Really what it came down to was the suspension was great, brakes were great, body was straight as an arrow, just it was all powered with an engine which i never fully had 100\% confidence in despite the only original part on it being the piston rings. The LS1 swap has not been without its teething issues, but it was a step in the right direction i think.

While i love modifying my cars, i learned my lesson though to not overdue it now. I openly admit that i ruined a perfectly good 944 Turbo with the extent of the modifications done. The LS1 swap was sort of a last ditch effort to do the car justice as a now streetable track car. I mostly stick with minor touches now. I recently purchased a almost completely stock E36 M3. I had planned to keep it stock, but ive already replaced the cat-back and have coilovers and a short throw shifter waiting to install after just a few months of ownership. These are actually the only modifications i plan to make and careful thought was put in just to make a more comfortable drivers car for the street only.

’65 356C coupe

After 22 years of driving my car “bone stock” I decided to spice it up a bit. I acquired a C cab about ten years ago and the coupe was driven less and less each year, so here is hat i did to revive the excitement:

Lowered the car, installed Skirmants camber regulator. 5.5″ steelies, GT seat, Marchal Fog/Driving lights, Hood straps and rally dash clocks.

Poser? Sure, but not too proud to admit it! Everything bolts on and off. Even the hood straps are secured by rare earth magnets. It would take just a couple of hours to get it back to stock configuration.

Scientifically and aesthetically, I think that the Singer 911 is pretty convincing evidence that if that slippery slope ends, that end is far, far beyond what any one of us could create in our own garages.

But practically, perhaps even philosophically, I think that in modifying your car, whether with flashy mods like neon paint and massive chrome blowers, or with subtle touches like more elegant gauges or even just maintaining a clean interior, you are expressing yourself. Through your work you are demonstrating, even if to nobody but yourself, your priorities, abilities, and level of integrity. Though your modifications, your car becomes a representation – a reflection, if you like – of your personality. Naturally, the “slippery slope” of modifying ends when you are satisfied with your work. And because our work is a reflection of ourselves, we will be satisfied with our work when we are satisfied with ourselves.