Morning, all. I've been umming and ahhing over the last few months about modding my 80 SX Bravo, but decided to leave it, planning to sell the car after my birthday to get myself an Impreza (please don't hate me). However, while the cost of buying an Impreza isn't that bad, every single insurance company decided that they want to tear me a new bumhole on a policy, so, I'm going to mod my Bravo (which is called Binky).

So far, I've put on a white dial kit (thanks to Ben B), de-badged it, put on some clear side repeaters and put on a chrome gear stick gaiter holder thingy. Anyway, all minor stuff that, I think, makes the car look a little different.

Today, my Dad bought me a set of Ring spots, which I was going to put on (until I read the instructions, which were scary), because while most people say they want the bumpers from the ELX/HLX so they can have the standard factory fogs, I don't mind having the after market ones (and if, at some point in the future, I decide to get the posh bumper, it's literally a case of whipping off the old one, putting the new one on, and all the wiring will be fine. Yay!). I've put on a couple of pics so you can see what it would look like (opinions, please).

Since I've been looking at body kits, I noticed that there aren't that many for the Bravo, but STX Styling have got a couple I hadn't seen before - the one I like is called the Refused Kit. Has anybody used this company and, if they have, are they any good?

Here's what I want to do to the car. If I list everything, can someone (or everyone) tell me the best places to get the bits, good deals they've found, what works, what doesn't, etc?

* BMC CDA Induction Kit
* ECU Remap
* D&G Brakes (These three are Angel Retuning) - (although, out of curiosity, which are the best brake pads to use? I've been told by a guy at work that, for my car, I want Green Stuff fast road pads - is this right?)
* A Stealth Shelf for 6x9's.
* Body Kit
* Performance Exhaust
* Bucket Seats (front only)
* JVC KD-AVX1 DVD Head Unit to replace my poor, tired old Sony.

That's what I want to do. I was planning to set up my own web domain, so I could put up pictures charting my process, but it's 5 in the morning, and I can't be bothered sorting through them now.

Ooooooh that sounds good Things to consider - instead of having your foglights just sitting in the recesses, can you find a way to mount them so that you can mesh across the front (and also the lower bit too?) This is what Wimmy had done on his first Bravo and also what I was going to do until I got the ELX bumper and it looks very sporty Also, do you just want a stealth shelf or something more individual, or a full, pretty install while you're at it? Peformance exhausts, well a custom one as opposed to off-the-shelf is your best bet so you can pick the tone and power you want - Blue flame were recommended to me and don't think they are too far for you to travel. Have you thought about lowering as opposed to (or a smaller) bodykit? It does make a difference That's my thoughts for now, good luck!

Well, since I was looking at putting fogs on, I thought I'd put them switch for them on the centre console, but I didn't want to cut the original piece and, more importantly, I don't like the coin tray - it just sits there, begging to pick up dirt, so I made a couple of trays and tried two different switches: the original rocker switch with orange illumination, and a toggle switch with green illumination. What'cha think?

Well, it was a bit of a mission, but I've got my foglights fitted into the front of the car - they sit pretty flush in the bumper, and are really quite bright - I'm liking them.

Also put some blue LED tubes in the footwells, and some small lightbars in the doors, so that they shine on my speakers - they're a bit dull in the daylight, but I put them on last night, and you could see them from about half a mile away (OK, I exaggerate, but hey, I like it). There's no picture of the footwell tubes, as my phone battery died before I could take the picks, and you can't see an awful lot in the daylight. All of these are wired into my custom coin try/switchboard, with a little flashing LED which, I'm hoping, will look like I've got an alarm fitted (I know, I can see the thieves now saying "don't go near that car, Paul, unless you want to set off that vicious blinking light!")

What does everybody think?

Next month, it's going to be some 6x9's and either a custom stealth shelf, or one from a shop (I live next to a park, so I get little scrotes walking past my car everyday).

Well, I thought I'd update what's going on with my car at the moment, and a list of what's completed on it:

* Debadged
* Front Fog Lights
* Sony CDX-CA600 Head Unit
* Sony XS-F1331 Speakers In Door & Parcel Shelf
* Speaker & Footwell Neons
* Restyled & Retrimmed Dashboard
* Chrome Gear Shift Surround
* White Dials
* Custom Coin Tray With Illuminated Switches

Here's what I'm waiting for bits from:

* Stonefeather Custom Gear Shift & Handbrake Gaiters (in the same leatherette as the dashboard)
* Chrome Gas Bonnet Lifters (ordered from Germany)
* Chrome Speedo Rings (again, ordered from Germany)
* Remote Central Locking Kit (good old eBay)

After this, it's saving up £400 to get an Angel Retune, a BMC CDA and the relevant insurance premium increase. After that? Well, who knows?

Well, it's happened, today - took it to Reg Vardy to get the car sorted from it's many problems (hesitating, poor idling, fuel drinking, ridiculously heavy steering), and I was quoted £960 to get it all fixed. Sadly, my beloved Bravo has to go, so I traded it in as part-ex for a Honda CRX, which is a little sportier, a little gutsier and a lot smaller.

If anyone's interested, I'm putting it's speakers (Sony XF-1331's, good powered 5"/13cm speakers), it's front door speaker adapters, the Haynes Manual and the custom white dial kit on eBay for sale, so I can buy some bits for my new one. If you are interested, send me an email ( [email protected] ) and I'd probably do it a little cheaper than for the eBay bodies. I'm sad to see her go, because she's been a good car to me, but it was time to move on... *cuffs away a manly tear*

£960! you can have a recon engine fitted for less than half that, with warranty. did they even say what was wrong?

Yep, it needed a new air mass sensor, it needed a new fuel pump, throttle actuator, power steering pump (possibly - by this point, I'd switched into "oh my god, it can't be true" mode). Basically, it was goosed in a magnificent way.

i think you should have come and posted on the forum 1st. things like the AFM can often need cleaned rather than replaced.
too late now but for future reference dont always take a quote as gospel