Bio:

I didn't even want THIS car. But I needed a car. Any car. My old ride, a 1992 Eclipse, had tried to all but kill me on numerous occasions and after the clutch went out on it, I gave up my dream of saving it. That brought me to the Chevrolet dealer in January of 2005 where I found myself awaiting financial approval for the car. They had a Cavalier with a sports package for an extra $5K but it was lame. I thought "I could do a much better job myself." So I went with the plain old Cavalier... only drawn to it by the fact that it was blue in color and brand new. The allure of not having to worry about "old car problems" was enough to attract me, save the fact that I was trading in a car with all kinds of blood, sweat, and tears dumped into it. So I got my wish. I drove this car off the lot with a whole 106 miles on the odometer.

It started with getting the stereo upgraded. First, I decided on the Eclipse CD2000 as my head unit. Luckily within the initial "customer-satisfaction guarantee period," I found another dealer with a cheaper Eclipse CD4000. So I got the deck swapped for free and I got refunded almost $30. That made me happy. Along with the deck went the Polk 4x6" speakers in the door. A couple paychecks later went the Eclipse 6x9" Speakers in the back. And not too long after that, the temptation for bump became too overwhelming and the addition of a sub was required. I intended to add only a 10" sub, but all that was in stock at the store that I went to were 12". I couldn't wait, so I didn't hesitate to jump on what they had as soon as I heard it. Being the impatient person that I am, an Eclipse SW4200 in a sealed box, along with an Eclipse EA2000 amplifier got added.

I also added an after market exhaust, to help the tone on the outside just a bit. Then, next decded to implement what I viewed at the time as a minor security upgrade. I went to get the windows tinted and actually had to argue with the shop that was doing the work. I wanted Platinum tint, and he basically told me that Platinum would look stupid. I finally told him "Fine, if it looks stupid, I'll pay you to take it off and replace it with plain black tint." So he put the platinum on, it looked great, and he says "Wow, that turned out a lot better than I thought it would." Funny how that works sometimes. =)

The next addition was somewhat of a shot in the dark. I initially wanted lighting, possibly black-light, to emphasize the subwoofer and amplifier. After asking about the availability of what I learned was called a "music interface," I purchased the neon blue led's and had them installed above the front floorboards. At the time I had those installed, I was under the assumption that my subwoofer had blown because there was no more bump. I saw this Kicker Comp 12" sub in a ported box, but I had to hear it first. So they hook it up, and nothing. No bump. A fuse was blown. But of course as soon as they replaced the fuse, the Kicker was hooked up and DAMN what a difference!! So even though I didn't even need it, I upgraded from my Eclipse SW4200 to the Kicker Comp. It was also around this same time that I decided to add the ipc-106 iPod Adapter to the mix. The lesson I learned here was: Always go with what's going to sound better, even if you have to be a bit more patient.

I left the car alone for a long time after that. In fact, it remained as described heretofore until August of 2008. That was when I finally decided to upgrade the shoes on my cav. I looked endlessly, unsure of what direction to go. I have tried a lot of new things with this car, things I've never done before. But the wheels was probably one of the riskiest. I had my mind set on doing something with a dark color to them, as it would look good along with the blue color of the car. So when I finally decided on the XXR 008 18" wheels, I had to fight for those as well! The dealer that I got my rims from was determined that I wasn't going to get the XXR 008's. She had a program that she just knew was going to convince me to go with some different wheels. This program showed my car, with any set of wheels in any size, on it. As much as she tried to convince me, I just wasn't feeling anything but the XXR 008's. She was trying to dump what she had in stock on me. It didn't matter what I wanted; it mattered what she had -- and how much money she could make on that very day. And even though her shop was located about 100 miles round-trip from my place, I had her order those wheels. And nearly a week later, I made that drive again and picked up my wheels. And what was a big risk in my mind paid off -- because those wheels look great.

The following month, I decided to invest in an intake for my car. After owning an Eclipse, and experiencing the price range of aftermarket parts for it, I was kind of in shock when I actually started looking at prices for an intake on this particular car. I can remember purchasing a new intake for my Eclipse for less than $150. The AEM CAI System for this Cavalier cost me over $300.00. Little bit of sticker shock there, but I went ahead with it anyway. And not being much of a mechanic, I am probably most proud of this part, for I installed it myself.. okay, with the help of a friend.. but still. After that, I was satisfied. Everything was good in my mind. I was going to leave the car alone. Nice stereo, nice wheels, little bit more horsepower than most.... she looked good, and I was happy.

Fast forward to January 17, 2009. I live in East TN, and we don't see much snow. I live in a valley and it always seems to snow AROUND us, not here. And most definitely not ice. So the night of Saturday, January 17th... I was out until about 2a and for the record, not intoxicated. It was supposed to rain, and that's it. Then it got cold, fast. And as I was driving home, it became ice, fast. Stuck on the road in between a bigger city and where my home was, I kept driving. Stupid decision. A drive that normally takes 20 minutes took me about 90 minutes to make that night. There were so many cars running off the road, spinning tires, stuck... flashers going... stopped... I lost count. And then, while traveling along the main highway to my home, I encountered a road block. The Police had closed the road since so many people were wrecking. So at that point, I was forced on to back-country roads that I would normally never be driving on. And then it happened. I came down a hill, in a curve, at about only 5 mph and the brakes locked up. I slid into a phone pole and it spun me around 360-degrees. I was on the phone with my girlfriend at the time, and I don't think I've ever been so scared and mad at the same time. The car had cut off. I decided to get out and survey the damage. The passenger-side of my car was done for. But it was still driveable and I was okay. And there were no cops. So I left. I continued to creep along, and to make a long drive short, I ended up (within a mile of my house) sliding off the road into a ditch, messing up the front bumper of the car. Two wrecks within one night, within 30 minutes of each other. That was a bad night. I felt defeated. I felt like all the work I had put into my car was worth nothing now that it looked so bad. Fortunately no damage was done to the frame and it was still driveable. God was watching over me that night, for sure.

I decided to turn a negative into a positive. Since the bumper was damaged and it was gonna be about the same price to get a stock bumper as a body kit, I decided it was time for a body kit. Over the next week, I scoured the internet for the body kit that I wanted. It took many many long hours of searching and lots of e-mails before I decided on the Blazer-style kit that now adorns the Cav. And although I was ready to get the car fixed at the end of January, I had to wait nearly a month for the body kit to be delivered. Riding around in the car as it was taught me some humility, and it taught me to appreciate the way it looks today a lot more, for sure. During the wait for the body kit, I also invested in the rare set of Altezza taillights that are on the back of my ride.

On Friday, February 13th 2009, I dropped my car off at Precision Collision in Johnson City, TN. I give them much respect because they did an absolutely amazing job. They estimated it would only take 4 days but quality takes time... and patience. I was patient with them, and they were patient with me. I stopped by the shop every day to take pictures so that I would have a photographed timeline of the work as it progressed on my car. The car was being prepped for paint a week later, and I stopped by to take some more pictures. It was at that very moment that I decided to add the silver flake to the mix. A last-minute decision that I am very pleased with. And a week after it was dropped off, Friday, February 20th, 2009, my car was ready for pick up. Only bad news was that the rear bumper wasn't gonna work with the way I had the exhaust welded on. So when I picked my car up, it didn't have an exhaust.

First stop, Midas. Bad news. The old exhaust wasn't going to fit through the slot in the rear bumper. Another couple hundred dollars later, I now have the dual-tip exhaust that you see in the pictures. So that brings us up to date on the Cav's history. A long journey, indeed, and one that I'm sure has not seen it's end.

To everyone who voted for me, I sincerely appreciate it and am very proud of this designation. THANK YOU!!!!!