For all curious, here is the story of my car:
I took delivery on this car in August 23, 2002 and have been the proud owner since. The car was then my daily driver and I put 2600 miles on the car in the first month alone. Here she is in stock form:
Soon after, the mod bug hit. Not the performance mod, but rather the bling and loud stereo bug. My car soon had a full stereo and 19x9.5" HP wheels and a magnaflow exhaust; among other little odds and ends:
I then exchanged the big dopey drug dealer wheels for a nice set of TT2s, in classic 4th gen fashion. I hated those wheels more than anything. Anyway, the car at this point had a lid, catback, and maf and made 330/350 at the wheels at one of our dyno days back in 2005, I believe:
Around 2006, I became bored with the car and wanted a change. At first I looked at a then recently discontinued GTO, but the dealer was still convinced that it was going to skyrocket in price shortly and wouldn't budge. LS1Tech then convinced me that I needed a race car, so I ordered a heads/cam package, headers, full suspension, a 12 bolt, and new OZ Supperleggeras wrapped in Falken Azenis tires. Unfortunately I hurt my shoulder and couldn't install it until the following summer. I downloaded an LS1howto instruction sheet and with the help of my friend Goofy, we set to work. To this day, that was one of my most memorable summers and I still am incredibly tight with Goofy:
The finished product:
Alex (Ar0ck) flexed his camera skills with my car and two very friendly females:
That motor made 406/382 but lasted about 1000 miles. The heads, from Texas Speed, were overported and the deck collapsed and the motor was toast. This entire ordeal happened the day before I was set to take the LSAT in June, 2008. I towed the car to TTP, and am still paying for that mistake to this day. Regardless, they rebuilt the motor with my old stock heads and their Equalizer 3 cam. That motor is still in the car now and made 400/371. Last year, I took the car to NJMP in south jersey for my first HPDE. It was a blast, but it exposed a few weaknesses in the car that need to be ironed out:
Last year, I got a killer deal on some Fikse FM5s from a member on this site. I then got a great hook up from a friend of a friend out in Connecticut who polished the lips and repaired and curb damaged, and replaced a wheel face that had peeling clear coat with a wheel face I found on ebay with the help of a member on LS1tech. I wrapped the wheels in Nitto NT05s and the car just looks absolutely mean now:
This August will be 10 years I've had the car and I've been pondering doing something commemorative for the car's anniversary. One idea I've had was taking some professional shots and writing up an article to submit to GM High Performance telling the story of the car and myself. I wouldn't do that without a paint job to match the hood and fix the dents and cracks in the bodywork. Unfortunately, money is tight as I prep to sit for the bar exam in July, but I will see what I can do to set aside some money to give the car the attention it needs. Thanks for looking.