SSR71,
I saw Rick's SSR and several others at SEMA, and left some drool marks as well.
Rick, Ken, Fuzzy, Rebel and others are craftsmen, and can do work on their vehicles that the rest of us simply don't have the skills to do, or can't afford to splurge for.
You can individualize your SSR gradually, a bit at a time. When I first got mine, I planned to bring it back to Canada, play with it a bit, and sell it. Unfortunately, GM messed with my plans by throwing in a huge rebate, and dealers went below cost, when they finally realized the Canadian pricing was way out of whack, and the SSRs were sitting.
I didn't want to "bond" with it, so left it completely stock. When I realized it was a keeper, I started with a bit of paint under the hood,($100/materials) added a polished alternator, ($250) bought stainless hoses that haven't gone on yet ($80), bought the underhood letters from SSRCobra (85), got dommed decals for the sills, tailgate and hood ($90), painted the calipers (25), replaced the rotors with drilled slotted ones painted to match (240), got Eiback springs and had it realigned (260 springs, 80 labour, 60 alignment), and did the big splurge with wheels from Colorado Customs (3000). Before the wheels, the total was about $1130.
Nothing I did required more than basic backyard skills, except for the springs and alignment. End result, my SSR is now mine, and I love it. I've had it in a couple of shows, and it's surprising how quickly owners of stock SSRs pick out the differences.
I can't remember when I last bought a vehicle (except the work Duramax) that I was able to keep the stock wheels on. Personal opinion only, but I don't think anything can define your vehicle better than your choice of wheels. We've seen photos of a lot of wheels on the website - what is awful to one is perfect to someone else. I opted for a simple and clean 5 spoke polished aluminum, showing the difference in offsets. Fuzzy, Mike Powell and others went with a 6 spoke wheel (Fuzzy doesn't want to tell you who built them)
that has a really nice retro look Someone else may like very ornate chromed wheels. So far, thankfully, I don't think anyone has opted for spinners!!!!
You've also got the options of adding power with a supercharger, working with new exhaust and header systems, power chips, etc.
Bottom line, your SSR is a blank canvas, and can be made to look and perform quite different from stock without dealing with body mods, custom paint, and tearing into the engine. Several owners have added custom pinstriping, or some tape - easy to do without breaking the bank.
It's a blast in any configuration - a bit of customizing makes it your own. Enjoy.
Ray
