Red Sonja Gets a Makeover; My Build Journal
 

After destroying my credit as a teenager, I never thought that I would be able to ever get a car loan. I joined the Air Force in 2006 and worked really hard to get my life turned around both personally and financially. It took 5 full years to get myself ready to apply for a loan. In September 2011, I was approved and the car shopping was on. My first choice was a Mitsubishi EVO X. I drove one and loved it but the dealer would not negotiate into my price range. :doh: I then turned back to my roots; American Muscle. I drove the Mustang and it was too soft. I drove the Challenger and it was too wimpy (price range). Then I drove the Camaro and it was perfect in every aspect. I drove an IBM Convertible first. Then an IOM LS. At the second dealership, my dad found a 2011 1LT/RS in Victory Red in the very back of the lot, put out of sight to make way for the '12s. With "cash" in hand and some minor negotiations, we had come to an agreement. It was just a few weeks before my 30th birthday, so this was my present to me.

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Current Mods:

Visual-

Heritage Grill, Color Match
Euro-33 Wheels
Caliper Covers
Gorlilla Locks
AAC Ghosted Side Markers
NS-3 Stripe Kit
Rear/Front Fascia Blackout
Hyper White LED DRLs
Locking Gas Cap
Painted Tail Light Bezels
Painted Fog Light Bezels[
Black License Plate Frame
Clear Blinker Bulbs

Performance Mods

Black CAI Intake
Magnaflow Cat Back

Mods purchased; not installed

AAC Dual Color Halos
AAC Dual Color Fogs
AAC Afterburner Tail lights
Pfadt Lowering Springs

Future Mods

Windo Tint
Ported Throttle Body
RX Black Isolator
Black Out Side Emblems

Thanks for reading. There is much more to come.

Awesome! Congrats on the new ride!

Good to hear you got back in the groove financially! Congrats on the new ride and thank you for your service from a fellow service member :thumb:

Thank you very much. :thumb:

I drove the car off the lot with 302 miles on the clock.

Stopping for a celebration lunch.
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I knew that I would soon have to leave my car and head back to Okinawa where I was stationed. It was a tough decision to buy a brand new car, knowing that I would not be able to drive it. The plan was to make extra payments while I was over there making pretty decent money, but that didn't work out too well. Instead I spent the extra money on mods to help set my car apart and make it my own. I left the car with my mother in law with 1142 miles on it. She promised to take good care of her.

Fast forward 18 months.

I received orders to Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas Nevada. I was finally getting off the rock and reuniting with my baby. The last few weeks before traveling were so nerve racking. I picked up the car with 1335 miles and the perma-grin was back instantly. Almost Everything was in perfect order. The barn cats who were guarding the car from mice and rats, used my car cover as a scratching post. It is pretty much garbage now. :mad:

I opened the car door and the new car smell still filled the cabin. It was almost like I had not been gone. I did how ever have to relearn how to drive the car; getting used to the clutch, the blind spots and shifting points. Everything came back pretty quickly.

First stop was my parents house, where I was greeted with this:
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A whole treasure of boxes

These are just a few of the highlights:

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The first thing that had to go was that stupid dealer plate. Thanks for the business, but you are not paying me to advertise.

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The next thing that got put on was a locking gas cap.

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Don't mind the dirt. It has pretty much been raining non stop here in Oregon and I am not letting that stop me from driving.

Welcome home and i see you have a few things to keep you busy!:thumbsup:

Thank you so much. It is the best feeling ever to be home for good.

We switched out the blinker bulbs and the DRL bulbs
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I thought they would blink clear, but they still blink orange. However there is no orange hue when they are not on. Not entirely sure if that mod was worth it.

The next mod to go on was the ever important catch can.
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We had some rubbing issues when we put the engine cover back on but we figured it out.

My dad and I pulled all the bezels for paint.
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In the process, we had a casualty. :doh:
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The finished product.

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On the car.
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The first bit of damage came from a curb. I was so mad at myself.

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We tried to fix it ourselves and it would have worked, but the paint dried a different color. It is totally smooth though. Good thing I am putting on new wheels.

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The next bit of business was to pull the nose off and make way for the heritage grill.

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The finished product...
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It took me a long time to decide on whether or not to keep the front bow tie. After a long collaboration with my dad, I decided to leave it off

The next project was getting the side markers from AAC switched out. Since we had the nose off and front wheels off, we pulled the wheel shrouds to help ease getting to the lights.

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I really should have watched the Youtube video on how to install the back ones. We made it much harder than it should have been. The first one took us about an hour, the second one, 10 minutes.

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Nice Car and great stories....Thanks for you service to our country....:army:

Keep up the good work....:coolpics:

Kurt ABL99...:chevy:

Thank you very much. I have been on this site for a long time and know everyone loves pictures.