Basics (For a newbie!)

[rdonohue]

Hey guys.
I'm totally new to all this modding business but really want my car to look the business.
Can you give me some basic information I need to know about lowering my car?
I have got some 15" alloys on atm and I recken it would look better lowered?
How much would it cost? where would I get it done at? how much should I get it lowered by? can i get it lowered now and later on when I have the cash put a bodykit on it? (I know, I know lol, as I've said, I'm a newbie and know nothing! lol....all help is appreciated)
I've just got some seat covers for the time being as well and there really hard to put on lol.....
Thanks,
rdonohue
:y:

[rdonohue]

Sorry, I think I have posted this in the wrong section!

[milesg]

cit tuning or pug performance will lower your car for around the £200 mark mate, thats for lowering springs on the front and the torsion adjusted at the rear to match the ride height at the front.

yes you can lower it then put a bodykit on when money allows in the future.

what model of a saxo have you got mate?

[milesg]

oh yeah and if you want a bodykit you will need bigger wheels as 15s will look tiny with a bodykit

[rdonohue]

Kk, thanks.
A 1.1i Saxo East Coast. Blue. T reg.
It's my first car, only past my test the other week lol.
rdonohue

[milesg]

nice one mate, i only passed a few months back, the only problem youve got is that your car has a 3 stud wheel fitment, which is rare and so its hard to find sets of wheels, a vtr bodykit might be a good idea as it wont make the wheels look too small, or you can do a conversion to make them four stud like the vtr etc and you will have a big choice of wheels and sizes but its up to what you want mate.

[Saxo_Steve]

A word of advise, check how much your insurance will rise before doing anything to your car like lowering or bodykit, as you may find that being a new driver they will hammer you!

[milesg]

^^^^ agree mate, check it out^^^^^^

[rdonohue]

How would I check with the insurers?
mileg you said about my car "has a 3 stud wheel fitment, which is rare and so its hard to find sets of wheels, a vtr bodykit might be a good idea as it wont make the wheels look too small, or you can do a conversion to make them four stud like the vtr" (You know your stuff lol).
A vtr bodykit, how much would that cost, where would I get it from? Also when you say conversion to make them four stud.....how would I do that and how much would that cost?
Could I go to my local "Kwick-Fitt" or "Motormania" or a local garage, would they do all this for me, lowering, conversion of the wheels etc?
rdonohue

[milesg]

which insurance company are you with mate?

if you call them up and say you are thinking of doing 'x' and will it effect your premium etc, then they will either say ok it will cost 'x' amount more or they will say it wont cost any more but you still have to declare it or they could say we wont cover you but that only with the large companies e.g direct line etc.

as i said pug performance or cit tuning are good for lowering and would fit you a vtr body kit and would also do a 4 stud conversion for you, your local garage will probably lower your car but are unlikely to do the stud conversion or fit the bodykit but its always worth asking

a vtr bodykit will cost around 90 from ebay or a breakers yard(easy to fing breakers yards on ebay or yellow pages and with saxos being common they are bound to be there) the stud conversion would be the same thing, buying them form a breakers and then you would have them fitted by pug/cit tuning,

[milesg]

* you would have to check about how much a stud conversion would cost as im not sure but wouldnt think it would cost more than 150 and thats probably an overestimate...

[rdonohue]

Cheers. I aint insured yet, getting insured on Tuesday, best deal we have had is with direct line - just under £900 ( for a 17 year old male aint that bad ) but mind you I'm going to be a named driver under my dad who has 5 years no claims bonus. I will have a look for a VTR bodykit on eBay thanks mate. You've mentioned "pug/cit tuning". Pug is in Hampshire and cit is in Nottingham. I'm in Lancashire ..... do you know any places around that area?
rdonohue

[rdonohue]

Could I buy this Demon kit off essexracing http://www.essexracing.com/product_info.php?products_id=378 ... get it sent to my house and then go to a local garage, ask them to fit that and lower it at the same time? How much you recken that'd cost? Also coz it's a diff colour I would have to get it sprayed....how much you recken that would cost? If its all to much as I'm not loaded atm lol I may just get it lowered for the time being.
rdonohue

[milesg]

right mate, a quick word of warning, direct line will not let you do any modifications and will void your insurance if they find out you have done any modifications and not told them, try quinndirect.com they are very cheap on insurance, its 1200 for me on my vtr on my mums insurance and shes aint got any no claims, insurancesupermarket.com they will find you the cheapest quote,

is your car a mk2 mate, so a 2000 onwards, as the bodykit you have shown fits mk2, you would need the vtr arches to fit that kit aswell mate.

as i said you local garage will probably lower it for you and might fit the bodykit, how close are you to northampton mate, as i know that there are a few modiying garages there that will fit the kit for you.

also dont forget that you will have to have the bodykit painted in the colour of your car as it comes in primer, and it will cost around £300 to get the bodykit painted mate

[rdonohue]

I live about 180 miles away from northampton mate lol. just checked quinn :P £985.69 TPFT....good eh? my car an mk2 mate....no idea lol. it is a blue T reg (1999) saxo east coast standard....no body kit. i just want it lowered with an okay body kit on, i dont want out OTT like a chavvy car lol you got any suggestions about what i could do for my car......as in bodykit. ive got a pic of it but how do i post it?
rdonohue

[milesg]

oh right sorry mate, that shows how good i am at geography and places in england, lol, if your car is a t reg then its a mk1, it has rectangular lights right? so that bodykit you showed wont fit, well the front bumper wont, so i would suggest buying a mk1 vtr kit, as i said, then if you want to make it stand out then a front plitter might be a good idea, modding the vtr kit is your best bet, maybe meshing the lower part of the grille etc, to be honest the bodykits for the mk1 arent great because of the front lights etc, the insurance is good mate, i would go for as quinn will allow modifactions and probably wont charge or charge very little.

im not sure about posting pics, i havent had to do it yet, but if you put them on photobucket and then post a link to the page your car is on then people can see a pic.

really in my personal opinion i would suggest a vtr kit, changing the 3 stud to 4 stud, getting some nice 16 inch wheels, lowering the car 35-50mm and then you have a nice looking car, and you can go onto exhaust and sound system or interior or whatever you want as the car would look respectable already

the interior might be a good place to move onto IMO.

never forget attention to detail pays off!

[rdonohue]

cheers mate. ive looked for an mk1 vtr kit but cant find one ?!? i will see what i can do about the pic mate. i dont want the car lowered so it scapes over the slightest of bumps, some chavs around my area cant go lik 5 mph over a bump or they will scratch there car.....what would be a good amount to get it lowered by in your opinion? can you see if you can find an mk1 (does that stand for mark one?) and link me up on here mate?
as for the interior...i know what im doing with that.....gonna spray the dash (tutorial on here) gonna get sparco everthing, pedals, gear stick and gaiter and handbrake and gaiter, mats and the ICE im getting this box at my local garage.....two 12" subs in an enclosed box with neons etc for £229.99 which is good. will have to show peeps the progress i make with the car.
bit embarrasing to say ... BUT, i got the car in december and its basically been left outside cooking in the heat and there is a bit of mold on the back seats as a result........how do you get rid of that?
rdonohue

[milesg]

heres an example of the type of thing you want to look for on ebay

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/breaking-1998-citreon-saxo-vtr-1-6-mk1-spares_W0QQitemZ320108447091QQihZ011QQcategoryZ103 76QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

contact them and say you want the vtr kit etc, see what they ask or check the for sale section on here

for lowering , if you get 16'' wheels anything upto 50mm will mean you easily go over speed bumps, although 40mm might be the best compromise, however oyur car will sit just above the rims.

if your sticking with the 15'' then anything up 40mm will still give you alot of clearance.

sounds good about the ICE and interior mate, for mold on the backseats apart from a good clean i really dont know what to suggest, the car is 8 years old and so you have to expect some things like that i suppose.

tbh my specialty is performace and styling, im not great with ICE but if you post about it in the ICE section you will get some great advice

[rdonohue]

kk cheers mate. im gonna have a look around. will be getting it lowered in the next month or so i should think. will let ya know how the progress comes along. cheers!
rdonohue

[milesg]

thats ok mate, glad to of helped, get a progress thread when the moddin begins, lol. :y:

[shooorn94]

i dont want the car lowered so it scapes over the slightest of bumps, some chavs around my area cant go lik 5 mph over a bump or they will scratch there car

gonna get sparco everthing, pedals,
rdonohue

I have the same prob with the lowerring as here in Northants as milesg will tell you tends to be a bummer for bumps! :panic:

Be careful with the Pedals all pedals from Halfords are actually illegal and for show use only :omg::n: which really is a kick in the face. But good luck anyway :)