I've sat down with Daddy-O who has been a fitter for over 2 decades and loves his cars. He has helped me re-think the upgrades for the old girl to keep me satisfied for longer, plus provide a tiny bit more resale value. I explained I'm not looking to increase her resale value, only appeal to me and my desires. He reckons it doesn't hurt to add some value in the process... Rather than argue, just a "yes Dad" lol.

Anyway, this is all very subject to my loan being approved sometime in October.

Here is a breakdown of my thoughts. Vast majority sourced from RPW. Remember, these are what I personally want (after input from Dad explaining why), but I am open to suggestions:

RPW Shopping Spree:
- 4 x new polyurethane engine mounts (Yes, I DO want it stiff!... giggity)
- 380 brake upgrade for front rotors only (included 295mm slotted discs, twin piston (red) calipers and EBC Green Stuff brakes). Rear discs are slotted already, but are of standard Magna size and not being upgraded.
- 65mm high-flow throttle body (I realise this is designed for more punchy acceleration, and won't really do anything for power)
- Lukey bolt-on muffler (will require rework for the outlet, as I hate the standard down-pipe look... It must be chrome! CHROME I SAY! Otherwise it looks stupid in the cutout on the rear body kit)
- King spring superlows for the front & rear (she already has superlows, I just want new ones lol)
- KYB Excel-G gas shocks for front & rear
- Rear 22mm swaybar

And thing-de-resistance (lol)
- Quaife ATB differential

Maybe pile from RPW:
- Short shifter
- Twin fuel rail kit
- Strut brace
- Front 20mm swaybar

Outsourced (make decision upon loan approval)
- HM headers
- 380/Ralliart cams
- Manual transmission

Cosmetic:
- Repair the roof lining!!!

Total Shadow upgrade (which will include a new name upon revelation) is estimated at approximately $7,000, under half of what I was borrowing to buy a new car.

As you can tell, most of the changes have stemmed from removing the upgrades to the sound system (which I will fund at my own expense down the track). I have also had my arm twisted into HM headers & Lukey exhaust.

Sounds good :slap:

Talk to megatron on the forums.. He has access to Poly Mounts and is a Level 1 Sponsor too.

SuFz :ninja:

You are spending good money so you really should look at some good quality products, I have made some suggestions below in red


I've sat down with Daddy-O who has been a fitter for over 2 decades and loves his cars. He has helped me re-think the upgrades for the old girl to keep me satisfied for longer, plus provide a tiny bit more resale value. I explained I'm not looking to increase her resale value, only appeal to me and my desires. He reckons it doesn't hurt to add some value in the process... Rather than argue, just a "yes Dad" lol.

Anyway, this is all very subject to my loan being approved sometime in October.

Here is a breakdown of my thoughts. Vast majority sourced from RPW. Remember, these are what I personally want (after input from Dad explaining why), but I am open to suggestions:

RPW Shopping Spree:
- 4 x new polyurethane engine mounts (Yes, I DO want it stiff!... giggity)
- 380 brake upgrade for front rotors only (included 295mm slotted discs, twin piston (red) calipers and EBC Green Stuff brakes). Rear discs are slotted already, but are of standard Magna size and not being upgraded. QFM for street use are just as good and will not chew rotors
- 65mm high-flow throttle body (I realise this is designed for more punchy acceleration, and won't really do anything for power) Save your money and just put your foot down a couple more mm, is the same thing
- Lukey bolt-on muffler (will require rework for the outlet, as I hate the standard down-pipe look... It must be chrome! CHROME I SAY! Otherwise it looks stupid in the cutout on the rear body kit) These are good but can be raspy, is a good move though
- King spring superlows for the front & rear (she already has superlows, I just want new ones lol) They dont make SL for the rears, sl in the fronts be careful of the bump stops and make sure you reset your suspension bushes when installed
- KYB Excel-G gas shocks for front & rear Waste of space IMO, Boge are far better and can be purchased with some of the $$ you save not fitting useless stuff
- Rear 22mm swaybar

And thing-de-resistance (lol)
- Quaife ATB differential Also look into Wavetrek

Maybe pile from RPW:
- Short shifter These feel like crap on Magna's especially when you have a box that is a little notchy
- Twin fuel rail kit Why bother, if this is a recommendation from RPW then save your $$, not needed unless you are running boost and a good amount of boost at that
- Strut brace
- Front 20mm swaybar

Outsourced (make decision upon loan approval)
- HM headers Best move you can make, these are great, when ready give us a call as we are a HM dealer
- 380/Ralliart cams again not a bad move
- Manual transmission Best move you can make especially with the rest you are doing above

Cosmetic:
- Repair the roof lining!!!

Total Shadow upgrade (which will include a new name upon revelation) is estimated at approximately $7,000, under half of what I was borrowing to buy a new car.

As you can tell, most of the changes have stemmed from removing the upgrades to the sound system (which I will fund at my own expense down the track). I have also had my arm twisted into HM headers & Lukey exhaust.

On a further note, feel free to drop us a line for a quote as you may find some of the prices for the same items a bit cheaper thus you can have some $$ for other things. While at it add up the engine mods, take away the wasted things and you may decide that the 3.8 is a better upgrade, is far better bang for buck

Suspension, as you are going excessivly low I thought I would never say this but Coil OVers may be your best bet for the pure sake of keeping some suspension travel, given this make sure you keep a close eye on them for wear and leakage. If only going low I would recommend against coil overs but with your desires in ride height you may as well keep some drivability

....
Suspension, as you are going excessivly low I thought I would never say this but Coil OVers may be your best bet for the pure sake of keeping some suspension travel, given this make sure you keep a close eye on them for wear and leakage. If only going low I would recommend against coil overs but with your desires in ride height you may as well keep some drivability

Thats the nicest thing I've heard you say..

Agreed with the raspyness of the Lukey too.. You could also look at Supercat or XForce..

SuFz :ninja:

Have sent you a PM, Mal :)
You are spending good money so you really should look at some good quality products, I have made some suggestions below in red



On a further note, feel free to drop us a line for a quote as you may find some of the prices for the same items a bit cheaper thus you can have some $$ for other things. While at it add up the engine mods, take away the wasted things and you may decide that the 3.8 is a better upgrade, is far better bang for buck

Suspension, as you are going excessivly low I thought I would never say this but Coil OVers may be your best bet for the pure sake of keeping some suspension travel, given this make sure you keep a close eye on them for wear and leakage. If only going low I would recommend against coil overs but with your desires in ride height you may as well keep some drivability

One of our mates in Mackay has the Lukey muffler - she doesn't buzz or sound raspy on his TJII AWD Sports. Sounds beast. But I dunno, will see :)


Thats the nicest thing I've heard you say..

Agreed with the raspyness of the Lukey too.. You could also look at Supercat or XForce..

SuFz :ninja:

A LSD would be cool, but just make sure you have good tyres first, otherwise it kinda defeats the purpose.

I'd be hesitant about Superlows, particularly since you live up north. They're very low, and very soft - meaning they're prone to bottoming out. I chewed through my front bump stops in 50,000km with King Lows, and I reckon the worst of the damage was done courtesy of the state's great highway. Lows would be a more sensible choice - or if you really want to go low, consider coilovers.

Coilovers appear to be hell expensive...

XYZ do them for $928 + 338.36 freight from USA
K-Sport do them for $1,750 not including freight (made in Australia)


A LSD would be cool, but just make sure you have good tyres first, otherwise it kinda defeats the purpose.

I'd be hesitant about Superlows, particularly since you live up north. They're very low, and very soft - meaning they're prone to bottoming out. I chewed through my front bump stops in 50,000km with King Lows, and I reckon the worst of the damage was done courtesy of the state's great highway. Lows would be a more sensible choice - or if you really want to go low, consider coilovers.

Forget RPW. I took my car all the way over to Mits Fix from Perth just to get the 3.8 conversion upgrade (train + driving) 6 months ago. Then I got a tune at SKR in Adelaide. Absolutely no regrets!

Coilovers appear to be hell expensive...

XYZ do them for $928 + 338.36 freight from USA
K-Sport do them for $1,750 not including freight (made in Australia)
Sufz can get Kido coilovers for $900, and megatron can get K-Sports for $1600...

Hey mate,

I'd love the 380 upgrade, but at my age, the insurance just wouldn't be worth it... Not to mention the fact that I'd want it to be official and have a registered plate from QLD Transport noting that the engine is not standard.


Forget RPW. I took my car all the way over to Mits Fix from Perth just to get the 3.8 conversion upgrade (train + driving) 6 months ago. Then I got a tune at SKR in Adelaide. Absolutely no regrets!

General logic dictates to me that as a rule of thumb, more expensive is normally better. Not ALWAYS the case, but just as a general rule lol. I like the idea of coilovers... bit green here though. Do I need to get springs/shocks separate, or is the entire package like an all-in-one that requires nothing else?

Yes, feel free to laugh - I'm a fairy, just bear with me LOL


Sufz can get Kido coilovers for $900, and megatron can get K-Sports for $1600...

Hey mate,

I'd love the 380 upgrade, but at my age, the insurance just wouldn't be worth it... Not to mention the fact that I'd want it to be official and have a registered plate from QLD Transport noting that the engine is not standard.

Insurance will go up way more if u put mods on your existing engine.... Engine conversion won't change your rate at all.

General logic dictates to me that as a rule of thumb, more expensive is normally better. Not ALWAYS the case, but just as a general rule lol. I like the idea of coilovers... bit green here though. Do I need to get springs/shocks separate, or is the entire package like an all-in-one that requires nothing else?

Yes, feel free to laugh - I'm a fairy, just bear with me LOL

Coilovers are a replacement for the Shock/Spring.

They're an all in one unit, that is rebuildable.

If you want softer/harder springs - They can be replaced
If you want to replace the actual dampener itself - They can be replaced

SuFz :ninja:

So... phoned just car to ask about the 380 engine upgrade and insurance costs... told them everything:

- 380 brake upgrade
- 380 engine upgrade
- ECU tweaking
- Extractors
- New aftermarket exhaust
- Hiflow cat
- Non-standard mags ($800 - had to give a value for the 5 of the Sabers)
- Transmission change to manual
- Coilovers
- Ralliart rear wing
- TL Magna tail-lights
- Personalised plates
- Non-standard tint

I am absolutely shocked... Details below (with current insurer, AAMI in brackets for comparison)

Excess for Accidental Damage - $1,050 ($695)
Excess for Theft - $600 (unknown)
Insurance annually - $1,027 (approx $1,200)
Insurance monthly - $102 (approx $126)

AND... most intriguing of all:

Agreed value - $9,000 ($5,500).

I guess the catch is in the excess payable upon a claim... But weighing up all the alterations I can do and still pay LESS per month than AAMI... I'm a rating 1 for life driver, and been with them since 2007. Might not be for much longer, it seems.

Just Car said I have to provide evidence that the modifications are roadworthy, however, by way of a roadworthy certificate and approval from QLD Transport to put in the 3.8L engine, as some mods aren't permitted if the PTW Ratio exceeds a certain amount.

Sounds like you have some very awesome plans in store! Regarding Superlows, definitely consider Kido coilovers instead, for both performance and height. I have heard a few people say SL's are fine but most say they are terrible. The opposite is true for coilovers, only a few haters who don't actually run them, don't think anybody who actually uses them is against them, yet anyway. Read up on some reviews from other forums as well as our own, the Kidos seem to so far be speaking for themselves and delivering for their awesome price. For your interest, myself and SuFz both run Kidos on our GTV's with quite low height. He runs 20's, I run 18's. You can see a picture of the conservative/safe ride height I got out of them here (http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/622497_4450736750313_445631581_o.jpg). I know a few other Magnas run them as well, not quite sure who though. Performance is brilliant, the body roll and general cornering compared to factory VR-X/GTV equipment is just an immense improvement, and the ride is still actually quite reasonable. Noticeably firmer but still great. I backed my height off to avoid megascrape on the front bar but still had a bit of space in the wheel arches.

These are all personal experience and not something I'm assuming or pulled out of thin air:

Firstly, buy a GOOD set of tyres. Examples are Sumitomo HTR ZIII or Dunlopp Sport Maxx TT.. there's lots of tyres out there but I was very happy with both of these. But expect to pay $250 a corner for 17s.
Can't recommend the Quaife enough. Best thing on that list. But you'll need to decide manual or auto first as I believe you use a different unit, might be wrong.
I loved my manual but they aren't for everyone.
Highly recommend QFM HPX pads, they are super cheap - $80 ish a set. Much cheaper than EBC.
I would HIGHLY recommend AGAINST the poly mounts (I had the megatron ones but I doubt any of them are much different). Seriously. Buy a full new set of OEM ones, it's not cheap but the noise from the poly ones is irritating (all sorts of weird sounds including high pitched alternator wine of all things) and you can save money by not buying a few other things on that list. Having said that, they did seriously improve the shift feel. Drivability was way up. Also this can be worse in an auto.
Strut brace makes a huge difference also. Highly recommended. I had the whiteline one.


If you go with a manual transmission anyway (i.e. big engine bay job), go the hog and just swap to a 6G75 and skip all the other engine performance mods. 380 Engine + Manual + Quaife.


Can't really comment on the suspension. I had bog standard :D


Once you've finished doing all that, go buy an Evo instead.... you cam get them for $15k-is now. Far superior car to start with. Or a Legnum/Galant.. not as easy on parts as the Evo but you can get them for sub-$10,000, even $5-7,000 if you get the right deal.

But I did love my old Magna....

I'm keen to upgrade suspensions because my poor old bitch squeals and the current rotors just don't have the feel of Tommy21's brakes... I want. I want hard. I'll be doing the manual change, but there's a few things I need to do to be able to handle the engine change for driveability purposes to suit my personal level of comfort...


These are all personal experience and not something I'm assuming or pulled out of thin air:

Firstly, buy a GOOD set of tyres. Examples are Sumitomo HTR ZIII or Dunlopp Sport Maxx TT.. there's lots of tyres out there but I was very happy with both of these. But expect to pay $250 a corner for 17s.
Can't recommend the Quaife enough. Best thing on that list. But you'll need to decide manual or auto first as I believe you use a different unit, might be wrong.
I loved my manual but they aren't for everyone.
Highly recommend QFM HPX pads, they are super cheap - $80 ish a set. Much cheaper than EBC.
I would HIGHLY recommend AGAINST the poly mounts (I had the megatron ones but I doubt any of them are much different). Seriously. Buy a full new set of OEM ones, it's not cheap but the noise from the poly ones is irritating (all sorts of weird sounds including high pitched alternator wine of all things) and you can save money by not buying a few other things on that list. Having said that, they did seriously improve the shift feel. Drivability was way up. Also this can be worse in an auto.
Strut brace makes a huge difference also. Highly recommended. I had the whiteline one.


If you go with a manual transmission anyway (i.e. big engine bay job), go the hog and just swap to a 6G75 and skip all the other engine performance mods. 380 Engine + Manual + Quaife.


Can't really comment on the suspension. I had bog standard :D


Once you've finished doing all that, go buy an Evo instead.... you cam get them for $15k-is now. Far superior car to start with. Or a Legnum/Galant.. not as easy on parts as the Evo but you can get them for sub-$10,000, even $5-7,000 if you get the right deal.

But I did love my old Magna....

AAMI doesnt have a theft excess.

The Just Car policy is a very straight forward policy
- No HC Option
- No Windscreen Option,
- No Choice of Repairer (However you do get Repairer Preference - which allows you to supply 1 of the quotes from your preferred repairer, but doesnt guarantee they'll do the work)

You could also try Shannons.

SuFz :ninja:

As above, I have all but my company car insured with Shannons, very cheap, easy for mods and even the more extreme mods, low premiums and when my 68 XT Fairmont got stolen a few years ago, 18 days later and there was a cheque in my bank account. Would have rathered have the car but at least the pain was not extended by the insurance, they were great

Another vote for Shannons for insurance. I use them for my mildly modified GTV, an extensively modified Triumph, and my wife's 1999 Prado.

Funny thing is that Shannon's are a sister company to AAMI, & I think I heard that Just Car is too...

Another vote for Shannons for insurance. I use them for my mildly modified GTV, an extensively modified Triumph, and my wife's 1999 Prado.

Funny thing is that Shannon's are a sister company to AAMI, & I think I heard that Just Car is too...

Suncorp Group of Companies
- Suncorp
- GIO
- AAMI
- APIA
- Just Car
- Bingle
- Shannons
- Vero
- CIL
- AMP
plus many more..