You can learn a lot about a person by looking at their car. It’s as much a form of self-expression as the clothes you wear, the way you decorate your living space or your choice of pet. In short, if you’re a car enthusiast, owning a car that says something about you is important.
One of the best ways to make a statement is to customize your car, so that it’s uniquely yours. You could pay someone a lot of money to make that happen, but you could also do it yourself. If you can appreciate a few dollars saved and enjoy DIY projects, try these on for size.
1. Change Up your Rolling Stock
Wheels and tires are some of the most important parts on your car. They impact its look and performance.
Pulling the old wheels off your ride and swapping on a set of new wheels and tires can be done in your garage with a few simple tools. Throw on some sticky summer rubber or swap into snow tires for a trip to the slopes!
2. Light Up the Night
A lighting upgrade, like a wheel upgrade, can enhance both your car’s looks and performance. Don’t believe us? Good lights make any driver more confident during a ‘spirited’ night drive, and there are great options for upgrades you can do on your own.
Pick out a set of new bulbs in a cool blue hue or go whole-hog into a set of HID upgraded headlight units. Don’t forget the tails and side markers while you’re at it.
3. Bring in the Noise
What’s better than cruising in your car with the music up? If your stereo is garbage, quite a few things.
The world of DIY stereo upgrades is robust enough, however, to have created an entire industry unto itself. You can do everything from adding a simple bluetooth dongle to dropping in a 1000-plus watt premium stereo. Just follow the instructions and make sure you’ve got a few extra wire nuts around.
4. Let ‘er Breathe
For performance-minded car enthusiasts who would like to add a little horsepower and augment the intake note of their engine, an air intake is a great choice.
These aftermarket intake tubes are a fun project that will typically add a few horsepower to your ride and help bring out the throaty sound you want from a performance car. As an added bonus, having a more open intake will continue to offer performance as you add new mods to the car.
5. Keep the Sun Out
Tint is a modification that you may believe requires professional installation, but you can do it on your own. Installing tint requires a few specialized tools like a razor and roller, but the trade off in money saved makes it easy to see why many enthusiasts do this mod on their own.
If you do decide to install tint yourself, make certain that you consult your state’s tint laws. Every state has different regulations as to what you can install on different areas of the car, and you don’t want to answer to the law for doing a DIY tint job.
6. Add an Exhaust
Many performance cars come from the factory with restrictive exhausts that rob you of horsepower and mute the sonorous tones of your engine.
A custom exhaust can be installed in your own garage using the right tools. You’ll need jack stands and a means of lifting the car, as well as penetrating oil to get the old exhaust system off of the car. Get it right and you’ll have a tuned sound and a car the performs with a little extra gusto. You might even get a few extra MPG out of it!
7. Protect Your Paint
Modern chemistry has made it possible to do things once reserved for dealerships and professional detailers in your own garage. How does washing your car half as often sound? When you do, the dirt and grime will just sheet off.
It’s not too good to be true. Ceramic coatings and their cousins can be applied at home with a little elbow grease and patience. If you’re someone who regularly waxes their car, consider this alternative which seals your paint to protect resale value and lasts for years instead of months.
Try These Car Mods You Can Do Yourself
Let the haters hate, there’s nothing wrong with being a car enthusiast and in fact you can carry out a number of these mods in a perfectly modest way if you so desire. Ultimately, the feeling you get when you’re behind the wheel is what matters.
Dive into one of these car mods you can do yourself and find out just how pleasurable it is to join the ranks of custom car owners. You might just be hooked for life!
Oscar Collins is the managing editor at Modded. He writes about cars, fitness, the outdoors and more. Follow @TModded on Twitter for more articles from the Modded team.
