Aged 17, looking for some advice on modifing car!

Sean25

Hi all, new to this site just wanted to ask a question.

Its coming up to my 17th and ive gotten a car already and have a good bit of savings. I want to do up my car, some simple interior mods and more look good stuff then anything. I was planing on tinting my back door windows (not the back window) and also a friend of mine has an aftermarket exhaust he'll sell me, its not loud just more of a hum to it.

I dont plan on blaring my music, reving up at lights, flooring the car when i take over and all that kind of silly stuff. And i wouldnt be the type to be out late driving around the town. I live in a small estate and so will even coast the car in as i respect that young childrwn could be asleep. Basicly im going to drive correctly. I wont be havin a car packet full of people either.
I dont drink or smoke and will be spending most of my money on my car/saving for college.

I just want advice on how the gardaí will treat me on the road and if people think my mods are a bad idea?

sentient_6

What kinda of car did you buy?

There is loads of interesting discussion in this thread with regards the guards:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056250967

& this from a serving member:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=71913303&postcount=45

While i'm not really into the scene myself, i lurk on here alot, & i reckon what you'll be told is keep it tastefull & subtle.

Gary ITR

What kind of car did you get? Has it got alloy wheels already? Or anything else done already?

As for the exhaust, I myself have a loud exhaust but purely because I've a highly wound car that's tuned to the last, if I could get the same performance with a quieter or even the stock exhaust I would. Loud exhausts aren't cool, they serve a purpose Also loud exhausts tend to attract the wrong sort of attention from people, a neighbour of mine has complained to the management company of the complex I live in, so if you live in a built up area be mindful that you can pee people off

You should also read this thread

And when you get the car on the road stick to what you're saying here, be careful and drive properly, also contrary to popular belief girls won't find you more attractive if you go flying around the place with them in the car

Graham_B18C

If it were me I'd be getting nice wheels and a decent head unit first. Tinted windows would also be on the list. But why not the back window? I think that'd look a bit odd.

I'd probably advise you waited a few months before the wheels too, get all the practice parallel parking in with your hubs

Sean25

Guys thanks for the replys, all are great!

Just to answer some questioms, car is a silver 99 ford escort. Its completly stock at the min. No alloys just gonna stick on hubcaps.
Im not gonna br a boy racer, just a genuine car enthusiast. Its just the exhaust getting me pulled over im worried about, but like i said its not a loud one just hums,

Laisurg

If your car looks like a boyracer car the guards will pull you over quite often, save yourself money and embarrassment and just leave the car the way it is, i do giggle whenever i see someone with one of those dodgey exhausts and so do a lot of other people i know.

Graham_B18C

What type of exhaust are you putting on it? A big exhaust wouldn't look the best on an escort. Wheels will make the car much nicer than the exhaust IMO.

I drive a White ITR and have been pulled over once in a year and a half of ownership so I've found it's more about how you drive rather than what you drive (for me anyway)

OP, another thing about the exhaust, my insurance company wanted an extra 450 euros for an aftermarket cat back exhaust.

Atomic Pineapple

Graham_B18C wrote: »

I drive a White ITR and have been pulled over once in a year and a half of ownership so I've found it's more about how you drive rather than what you drive (for me anyway)

Same here, I had the ITR for two years and was only pulled over once and that was my fault.

Gary ITR

Laisurg wrote: »

If your car looks like a boyracer car the guards will pull you over quite often, save yourself money and embarrassment and just leave the car the way it is, i do giggle whenever i see someone with one of those dodgey exhausts and so do a lot of other people i know.

But this is the Modified Motors section, I have to giggle at posters that come in here and tell people to leave their car standard

Flesh Gorden

Sean25 wrote: »

Just to answer some questioms, car is a silver 99 ford escort.

I'm guessing it's a 5dr 1.4, the 5dr cars never look good when heavily modified

I had both a 5 and a 3 door in the past
the 3dr had all the same kit as an RS2000 and looked great, I've only seen two others in the last 3 years


Some nice visual mods if they can still be found:

- Colour coded door handles, wing mirrors and door strips
- Laguna splitter at the front (or the one one from a mk2 Mondeo)
- rs2000 spats for the rear
- rs2000 sde skirts
- 15" GTi wheels (replicas of the cosworth wheels)

they can take up to 17" alloys which fill the arch nicely but give a horrific bone crunching ride

best thing you could do is give it a good wash and polish




As a former owner a few things you need to watch out for


Leaks!!:

- Scabby rust on the boot door means your spoiler is letting water in and the little drainage slits are clogged - (It's rotting inside out)

- Make sure the black and white square hoses above the wheel arches inside the boot are placed inside the black plastic outlet and not leaking onto the carpet

- the foam gasket around the rear light cluster will perish and allow water to if they've never been fix allowing a lot of water to leak in

- clean out any muck stuck under your rear arches, they rust very easily

- there is a lip under the car used as a jacking point for changing wheels,
well known to be a starting point for rust that spreads to the sills

- The battery is poorly placed, water usually collects underneath and rots and can make the battery almost impossible to remove


Other known problems:


The thermostat was a problem in the two cars I had and escorts owned by two cousins and a former boss

- Makes sure the temperature gauge stays in the center and goes no higher the the "A' in normal before the fan starts up

- they can get stuck closed causing the engine to overheat

- or stuck open, which in these cars wastes a lot of fuel which if ignored will end up damaging the O2 sensor and catalytic converter


The idle speed control valve is another part, it gets clogged up, causes very high idling, cheap fix but hard to get access to



I loved the 3dr I had and learned a lot off both cars as they're so easy to work on

nice cars to learn in, great visibility, easy smooth gear changes
and if the little problems are fixed early they can be reliable

Sean25

Flesh Gorden,

thanks very much for the info its great!! im gonna try do that stuff, might do the colour matching handles myself! as for the other stuff as soon as i get a chance im gonna try get at some scrap yards and keep an eye out for breaking cars (in the middle of the leavin at the min)

thanks again for the info

Conor_M1990

sell the car keep your money and buy a volvo c70 t5 fast your girlfriends father isnt going to run you from the door when he sees it gards arent going to pull you every two seconds , its not going to **** itself at 100mph and since its a volvo insurance shouldnt be too bad

edit actually a t5 might be over kill for a 17 year old the 2 litre turbo might be a better choice

JimmyCrackCorn

Conor_M1990 wrote: »

sell the car keep your money and buy a volvo c70 t5 fast your girlfriends father isnt going to run you from the door when he sees it gards arent going to pull you every two seconds , its not going to **** itself at 100mph and since its a volvo insurance shouldnt be too bad

edit actually a t5 might be over kill for a 17 year old the 2 litre turbo might be a better choice

You wont insure a T5 or Saab turbo easily at 19 I tried but that was 10 years ago. :eek:


I suggest you find something like a k10 micra and go for minilites. I really wish id done this when I owned one.
http://www.dtdirl.com/forums/showthread.php?t=76926

I miss my K10 only thing I could break on it was the ignition points and it had a tough life.

Caliden

JimmyCrackCorn wrote: »

You wont insure a T5 or Saab turbo easily at 19 I tried but that was 10 years ago. :eek:


I suggest you find something like a k10 micra and go for minilites. I really wish id done this when I owned one.
http://www.dtdirl.com/forums/showthread.php?t=76926

I miss my K10 only thing I could break on it was the ignition points and it had a tough life.

k10 micras are going for silly money for what they are.
Same with the older civics and starlets

Conor_M1990

JimmyCrackCorn wrote: »

You wont insure a T5 or Saab turbo easily at 19 I tried but that was 10 years ago. :eek:


I suggest you find something like a k10 micra and go for minilites. I really wish id done this when I owned one.
http://www.dtdirl.com/forums/showthread.php?t=76926

I miss my K10 only thing I could break on it was the ignition points and it had a tough life.

AFAIK remember I got quoted 3500 on at 17 with a prov lincence at the time I know it sounds mad but considering AXA where quoting me around the same on 1 litres and the like it wasnt to bad. that was at 17 I know people suggest Micras and all as a 1st car but the way I look at it is your going to drive fast at 17 I know the OP says he isnt but I was the same now Im not a lunatic and I was quite reserved at 17/18 but I still drove fast and I still took chances.I was just throwing the T5 suggestion out there.

Ill give the OP my Honest Opinion

Sell the Escort I presume its 5 door there **** to mod good car they do what a car has to do but they dont take to mods well. The only way to turn a 5 door escort in a good modified car is to put some form of turbo engine in it and make it a sleeper that would cost a good bit money I presume you dont have.

Buy a DECENT car which has not been MODIFIED as most 1990 Hatchbacks which have been modified seem to be modified by Goons (See skangermoblies in Motors form) theres pently of good cool interesting cars out there for little money. (see bangeronics)

Spend your money on driver training instead of mods use a good instructor who has all the paperwork and who has a proven track record the the 500 euro or whatever you spend on this will serve you much better in the long run

buy a car for 100 euro of whatever and rally it round a field doesnt matter what it is but lift the stick get the car to lose control and try and recover it might sound silly but trust me its important to know how to bring a car back from a slide or if you lose it. The practice Ive had in a field as a young lad has got me a tight spot in the past and when your done scrap the car most breakers give 100 euro for a car and 60 for a cat last time I checked

Graham_B18C

A 17 year old going fast in a Micra is a lot different than a 17 year old going fast. Ridiculous suggestion IMO

Sean25

I actually dont mind my car being a 5 door, your not the first to say its crap but i like it.
and my dad bought it for my grandad two years ago but then he wasnt able to drive so im gettin it for nothing.
plus my insurence is only costing me 900e for the year.

all in all im delighted with it as a first car, itll do a good job getting me around and all and i dont think its a bad looker

oh and ive already paid for 13 driving lessons!

JimmyCrackCorn

Sean25 wrote: »

I actually dont mind my car being a 5 door, your not the first to say its crap but i like it.
and my dad bought it for my grandad two years ago but then he wasnt able to drive so im gettin it for nothing.
plus my insurence is only costing me 900e for the year.

all in all im delighted with it as a first car, itll do a good job getting me around and all and i dont think its a bad looker

oh and ive already paid for 13 driving lessons!

If you are happy with the car that answers most of the questions already.

Can i suggest that your first modification be as simple as go through the car with a fine tooth comb and tidy any problems. Then a good clean including a good de-grease.


From there decide what suits your tastes modification wise and doesn't cause your insurance to double.


Best of luck and enjoy your car which is really the point of the whole thing.

Sean25

JimmyCrackCorn wrote: »

If you are happy with the car that answers most of the questions already.

Can i suggest that your first modification be as simple as go through the car with a fine tooth comb and tidy any problems. Then a good clean including a good de-grease.


From there decide what suits your tastes modification wise and doesn't cause your insurance to double.


Best of luck and enjoy your car which is really the point of the whole thing.

thats the first thing i wanted to do anyway! cars a bit grubby so i want to give it a thorough cleaning, and yeah first thing im doing is making sure its completely road worth, thered be no point in modding if it wasn't!

thanks jimmycrackcorn.

DjKlubster

Hey Hows it going everyone?

Escort...Im Liking it already...

Currently have a 5 Door Ford Orion Project car...

As someone said further up in the thread rs2000 Bodykit will look the job...

Also a lip spoiler would look nice..nothing over the top just a lip..

As for tinting windows...on a ford i wouldnt be to fond of it so id say dont bother espeicially if only doing the back 2..

if your going for alloys then i would say the genuine cosworth alloys..but depends on your funds as you would pay in between 300 and 600 for them.
Alternate would be the mondeo alloys..there like the cosworth except without the dish effect in it. Or also the O.Z Multi Spoke racing alloys don't look too bad on Escorts..

Exhaust...Even if you got a loud exhaust you could stick an silencer in it but As someone said further up... a big exhaust doesnt suit the escorts.. Just a nice subtle one would Look the Job..

Rs2000 Bonnet would look well too.. it has too Vents..and ya would pick one up for around 30 Beans..

hope this helps