- Everyone wants to pretend
that they know how to grill a steak.
Okay, listen, this is Fitment Industries,
but I'm also gonna tell you that it's a must thing
that you got to know how to do.
Everyone knows how to grill a steak
or make a burger, or you know
what actually is in Italian dressing.
I have no idea.
And this is basic stuff.
And then you wait until no one is around,
when you actually invite everybody over to grill
to figure out just how long it takes to grill a steak
and how not to mess it up,
because you didn't want to tell anybody
that you had absolutely no idea what you're doing.
Pro tip, 400 degrees, two minutes,
then rotate 45 degrees again, okay?
For another two minutes,
then you're going to flip two minutes there
and then rotate another 45 degrees for another two minutes,
a total of eight grilled minutes, plus five minutes of rest.
And you've got yourself a beautiful, medium rare steak.
And if you don't like it, let it sit a little bit longer,
you get yourself a medium steak.
Okay, never said I never did nothing for you, okay?
There's a little bit of grilling tips,
but what about cars?
I'm Alex Segway, Alex@fi on Instagram.
And today we're gonna be taking it back to the basics.
We're not just going to be talking about steaks
on how to make salads and all that sort of.
No, we're done, okay?
Today, we're gonna be talking about
the number one thing above all else
when it comes down to being a car enthusiast,
the one thing that people like you and people like me,
just got to know before we jump into everything.
And ladies and gentlemen, today,
we're gonna be talking about you wanting
to start modifying your car.
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(car engine roars)
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And if you're new here,
hi, don't forget to subscribe.
And if you're looking for aftermarket
wheels, tires or suspension,
be sure to hit us up over at, fitmentindustries.com,
where we have everything you need
to start building the old car,
even if you don't really know how yet,
because this is a learning experience
and we're gonna go through it together.
That's all I got for you.
And we have a giveaway going on right now
with Artisan Wheels, our very own wheel company.
It would mean a lot if you could go check them out
and we have 0% financing, if you're looking to build
your car now and pay for it later.
Anyway, when you start modifying your car,
it can be a little bit of an unknown space, okay?
But even the most experienced people
get a lot of things wrong, pretty much all the time.
The only time you don't see it,
is usually when they're taking a picture of it,
because you can't see what they messed up.
And I get things wrong literally
every single time I step into the garage.
And you have to remember that even when you enjoy cars,
that's not gonna inherently make you a mechanic.
But the early days of modifying cars
is about the same time the very first car
actually ever hit the road,
taking it all the way back into the early 20th century.
People would take their carriages off the frame,
cut, twist, shorten and modify them, to make them unique.
Some of them which are actually shave off wood
to make it lighter or give it a wider wheelbase,
because they just thought it looked cool.
Give it about a 100 years,
and we're still doing just about that same exact thing
as we were back then, just with more tools,
more parts, more experience and yet,
we still manage to mess it all up even more than before.
Your grandpa was twisted frames, flipping barrels,
slamming things on it's nuts
before you and I were ever born.
As the years transitioned from carriages to unit bodies,
four cylinders to six and eight,
eventually three on the tree to seven on the paddle,
the seven on the paddle doesn't have the same ring to it.
And even from the domestic only vehicles
in the United States, to now access
to nearly every type of vehicle known to man,
short of the Yaris GR, because Europe
doesn't like to give us any fun.
Modifying your car has probably become
one of the most like must do things as a car enthusiast.
It's just something people do,
no matter what it is, it can be the smallest thing
in the world or the biggest thing in the world,
but almost everyone that loves cars
is gonna do something to it, to modify it to their liking.
And there are people like us,
that haven't necessarily made it easy
with doing it ourselves.
Shows on YouTube, Myspace, when that was a thing,
Facebook, IG Live, TikTok, Snapchat, and more,
have now made enjoying modifying cars
and learning about them just so much easier.
Back in the day, you pretty much had to guess
or you had to have a friend that could figure it out
if you messed it up and nowadays
you can just go on the internet
and literally have access to millions of things
that you could possibly need to know.
YouTube channels have popped up
teaching about what cars you should buy,
what cars you should stay away from,
why certain things are cool and why others may not be.
Channels like "Hoonigan" have taught enthusiasts
to just have fun with cars,
while others like "Scotty Kay", have taught us
why you shouldn't like a single damn thing
about any car you ever buy in the history of the world,
no matter what!
I love Scotty, I just...
Right.
And now with most of this information being free,
people like you and people like me,
have started modifying their cars,
because they have access to all of this stuff.
And they think that they can actually
do it without much help.
People started to modify their car on more unique platforms
that would have been previously
more than likely disappeared
into the automotive history books,
because when it actually initially came to modifying cars,
that platform didn't do anything for anyone.
And that's what's so neat
about when you start modifying your car,
especially in the 21st century.
The history lies more within the people that did it
than the cars that they did it to.
And nowadays, that's starting to switch,
where cars are made specifically for modification,
versus in the past, you knew people that modified the cars.
But that's not to say that manufacturers
have built platforms specifically around modifiability.
It's not really a word, they have,
while modifying them has been a thing for some time now,
platforms truly began to start opening this door
of almost allowing people to modify their cars,
as the 90s and early 2000s came about
after the explosion of interest
of the JDM market and the lift of the import
and tariff laws, governing products such as intakes,
exhausts, tunes, body kits, panels, glass, and more,
from actually coming into the United States.
Once you remove the old gatekeeping
that was happening there, you were pretty much set to go.
And everybody really enjoyed modifying these cars.
And because these cars were generally a bit cheaper
than the domestic counterparts
from a modification standpoint, the world blew up even more.
And when I say the world,
I mean the modification world, baby!
(clears throat) Sorry.
Really excited, it's a little bit later in the day,
I had more coffee than I did before.
So, now you're sitting here, sitting with a BRZ,
FRS, 350Z, 370Z, G35, Camaro, Mustang, Civic SI,
Prelude, or S2000 or Miata,
because a car manufacturer made it for someone like you,
and you just want to make it less reliable.
Not entirely sure why we get off on that sort of thing.
I just don't get it.
You want it to blow up?
You really truly do.
I mean, you want it to be fast,
but you know that you're probably going to blow up.
You want to slam it on it's nuts,
because that's just seems to be the coolest thing to do.
What do we want to do with our cars?
Slam it!
You want your car to sound like the equivalent
of like a chalkboard and nails,
because scraping and slamming it on the ground
just seems like a really cool thing to do.
Plus you can get a really dope TikTok
if you really needed to.
Why do we want to buy more (indistinct) box as well?
Because the world is normal enough
and we enjoy going through the pain.
Car people, I feel like just enjoy going through pain.
And that's why we're no longer gonna talk about
the history of modifying cars,
we're gonna be talking about what it's actually like
to modify a car and some sort of tips, tricks, and mistakes,
so many people actually make when they go around
starting to modify a car,
regardless on whether it's a BMW E30,
a Mustang, a Corvette, or anything in between,
because no matter what,
you're gonna have the same underlying issues,
if you don't actually go about this right.
Mostly because you're gonna mess it up
and then you're gonna get all disappointed.
And then you're gonna say that you don't like doing it.
And then you're gonna sell your project car.
Then you're gonna sit on the sidelines
and talk about how cool your project car was
and talk smack to anybody that doesn't have a project car,
but they have a car that actually runs
and your car doesn't run,
so you're actually sitting on the inside
wishing that that were you,
but because you sort of have an ego problem,
you're never gonna tell anybody that you're jealous
that they have a car that actually runs
with minimal modifications,
whereas your project car was a failure.
Let's get a few preconceptions
about modifying cars out of the way.
No matter what, first and foremost,
no matter what you do, you will (indistinct) up your car.
You will make a mistake and just plan it,
because it's gonna happen, all right?
Don't worry though, because it happens.
And to be honest, don't try to think you won't,
because you will, you're gonna over-torque something,
you're gonna plasti dip something
that you probably shouldn't have.
You're gonna buy tires that rub,
because you thought that you could go with a meatier setup.
You're gonna swap headlights that burn out all the time,
because you didn't realize relays exist for a reason.
You will mess up something.
Because when you cut a corner,
you're gonna cut an experience, all right?
And everyone does it no matter what,
there is never a time where I've seen somebody
that's jumped into cars that have done
everything perfect right out of the gate,
no corners cut, no dollar wasted,
because we're car people, we got like $12.
No matter how long you're in this crazy world,
they call the car community,
they will never be the smartest person in the room,
especially when it comes to modifying cars.
Don't worry, again, it's not a measurement contest
of any kind of limb anywhere and don't treat it as such.
There's a lot of smart people in the car scene,
but never think that you're gonna be
the smartest person on top.
So many people get headstrong
about a certain platform or style
right when they jump into modifying a car,
but they never actually venture out
to enjoy something new or outside of their experience.
This is where a lot of toxic communities can start to exist,
because of the perceived feat,
that if you don't know a platform
you jump into, you'll be ridiculed.
This happens a ton.
That's why people hyper-focus into a certain platform
and never want to jump out,
which is okay if you really love the platform,
but if you then use that to talk smack
about another platform
and you don't have experience in that platform,
you really don't know what you're talking about.
So you stick with your very first JDM, 180SX,
you buy some old wheels because it's cool
and you learn just anything else,
because how can you talk about
an old 140 horsepower stock Nissan
with wheels that were made by a no-name company that existed
like 35,000 years ago and weighed 35 pounds?
It's just a weird thing.
So when you jump into the car scene
and you start modifying cars
and you start learning about modifying your car,
never be afraid to venture out and try something different
after you've finished your first vehicle.
There's so many cool cars out there,
that you should never just stick with one platform.
When you start modifying your car, be open and listen.
There are so many insane YouTubers that have just built
just about everything you could possibly imagine.
And watching those folks build their cars
will help you actually modify yours.
You'll learn what you want to do and don't,
you'll learn if the platform is right for you
and if it's truly everything that you envisioned,
because unfortunately, a lot of times,
Instagram shows you the beauty of a car build,
but true YouTube series teach you the pain.
And a lot of times people get so head stuck
on Instagram photos and they don't watch the YouTube video
that led up to that vehicle being actually built,
to see just how much work, how much money,
how much pain, how much just tears,
cause that car to actually be built.
And you're gonna want to be careful with that,
because some platforms are easier than others.
And if you see a large community around a certain car,
a lot of times, especially when it's an entry level car,
there's a reason for that.
But if you find a platform and you're ready to commit,
be sure you've got a preliminary plan
on what you're gonna start doing
when it comes down to modifying it.
If it's a daily driver, start with the small stuff
that doesn't take your car out of commission for a week.
If you want to know how to upset your mom or dad,
that's a great way to do it.
And we all do it.
I still remember accidentally putting my 3000 GT
on jack stands and I could not figure out
how to get the ground wires put back together.
And my dad had a heyday, even though it was July,
so it wasn't like winter or anything.
In other terms, doing this teaches you
that the 20 minute projects actually take about 60 minutes
and the one hour project, take you about eight hours,
and the eight hour projects take you about a month.
This is the world of car modifications, okay?
It's like dog years sort of.
So when you start doing small stuff,
you'll learn what to do and what not to do.
You'll learn how to take things apart
and how to keep them organized.
Having a budget, a list of parts and a plan,
is a super good way to keep things on track
and not spiral out of control.
Because a lot of times, we get a little bit
more creative than our actual aptitude
of understanding how to modify cars.
Budgets will always blow up, but hey,
it's fun to make a little sheet
with green cells and red cells
to see if you're on track and if you're overspending.
In terms of difficulty, time, and money,
it can really range depending on the vehicle,
when it comes down to how difficult a car is to modify.
But you can expect that if you have more pieces
to disassemble off the car, the more difficult it becomes.
And it scales exponentially,
it's not really like a one-to-one thing.
So, does a gauge wire set take a lot of work?
No, but does a head gasket?
Yes, especially when it's your first time.
That's why it's a really good idea
to usually have a friend or two with you,
when you start doing these projects for your first time.
It can be anything, it could be over fenders,
it can be an exhaust, it can be an intake,
having two or three people to help you through the process
and at least having a couple extra set of hands,
is gonna make the difference between that eight hour project
being a three-day project,
and maybe only being a 14 hour project.
And that's okay, just because you're an enthusiast,
again, doesn't inherently mean that you're good mechanic.
You just need to take your time, research,
find what you like and understand
that you'll have very little idea
on what you're doing outside of the research
that you've actually done.
And you're going to look at something
and not really understand what the hell it does.
And eventually, you're gonna have to guess.
It'll be okay.
Buy wheels, bud, get an intake, slap an exhaust on it
that'll probably be crooked,
but do what makes you happy and try to do it right.
The best bang for buck mods
are the ones that you'll enjoy the most.
And that's really what it comes down to.
Starting with wheels, tires, intake,
exhaust, tune, coils, are a great place to start,
because that's usually what you end up seeing
and hearing and performing with the most.
But even window tints, some WeatherTech mats
and an intake, could be enough for you
depending on what your budget is
and what time you actually have available.
But whatever you do, at least start the damn build,
because that is where it starts.
That's where the itch begins.
And if you don't start, because you're too afraid to,
you're actually never gonna get it done.
But what do you think is the number one thing
you learned when you started modifying your car?
Let us know below.
And of course, let us know
what you want us to talk about next.
I'd really like to know how everybody's build is going.
And if you're looking for aftermarket wheels,
tires, or suspension, be sure to hit us up
over a fitmentindustries.com.
I'm Alex from Fitment Industries,
and we will see you later.
Peace.
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