So i'm looking at turning my car into a show car for next year. I'm on a student budget, but can probibly afford $500 for dress up. My question is this. what is the best bang for my buck to turn my car into a stunning show car. I've got intake swap, valve covers, headers, nice tires, stock rims, i'll be buying a new air cleaner. But what else is good? Torque arms? wheels? what catches peoples eyes the most in a car show?

 

Make sure the engine bay is clean and neat (duh, haha). You could also buy some rubber undercoating and re-coat the wheel wells so they look nice and BLACK.

As far as stuff to buy, you could drop the rear end down and POR-15 it black and then get a chrome rear cover (which is only like $20). A decent amount of work, but very inexpensive and it looks sweet. Theres some pictures in a thread in the history and restoration section.

You could also invest in some March UD pulleys which will look good and also free up some HP. A Strut Tower Brace will also look good in the engine bay.

Besides that stuff, I would basically just make sure everything glistens. All rubber, plastic, etc. etc. because in the end, its gonna be the small things that win it for you.

 

Replace vacuum lines that have aged and get all new wire loom.