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Suggested improvements to stock 2004 CTS-V daily driver

5K views 35 replies 13 participants last post by  PISNUOFF 
#1 ·
I found a 2004 garage queen (learned that term on here) about 2 years ago. The car had just 217 miles on her and now has just under 10,000. I will have the car paid off within a couple months and will have some money to put into the car. The V is my primary car but I work from home so she will never see a ton of miles. I love driving the car and love the way it looks and plan on keeping her a long time.

I am a little embarrassed to write this but my goal is not for more power. For me, it goes fast enough. I can feel you out there looking down and shaking your head. I am a little overwhelmed by all the info on the site and also some of the info seems dated as improvements come along. I want suggestions to make the car drive better and last longer. I am going to feel like a red headed step child by writing this but I won't be doing the work myself.

Here is what has been done since I owned the car (September 2010):
oil changes, CAGS, tint, battery, coolant flush, and tires

It would be great if you could be specific with your suggestions i.e. what type of short shifter to get. A rough estimate on cost would be nice (including labor).

I got no complaints other than some occasional clunks going from 1st to 2nd and downshifting but I usually get it right. I never launch. My fun is the winding country roads that are all around my town.

Thanks for your time and help. I enjoy the information and comedy you all supply on this site.
 
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#3 ·
An aftermarket clutch and flywheel might soften that clunk a bit, plus you could sell your nearly pristine stock clutch to defray some of the expense.

As far as looks go if you're wanting to enhance the car's visual appearance, lowering the car is an option.
 
#5 ·
ctsvohio said:
I really like the lowered look but unfortunately have a driveway with a little hill in it.
I highly recommend a coilover lowering kit anyway with increased spring rates... You can adjust the height so it works with your driveway and you'll enjoy the better handling. Combine that with hotchkis sway bars and you'll really see a handling improvement.
 
#7 ·
To confirm - you have a completely stock - only changes are easily reversible - 2004 CTS-V with ~10,000 miles on it and you plan to keep it for a long time. If so, my thoughts would be to not do anything to the car and keep it all original & unmolested. I believe that these cars will become a collectible over time & the chances of finding an unmolested one will be extremely limited thus making this one worth more loot. Worst case scenario, whatever you do, retain all your stock parts...
 
#9 ·
I have the opposite opinion. I think you should make the car your own and let worrying about what becomes a collectible up to the collectors. Personally, I think that the only collectible cars built in the 2000-2020 range are going to be hybrids and fully electric cars with a couple of unusual combustion-powered vehicles thrown in (Bugatti Veyron, maybe).

As someone that cut his mod teeth on the CTS-V, I understand how daunting this can seem, but I would highly encourage you to do every mod yourself. Not only wil you save a ton of money, you'll become a much more informed (and probably better) driver.

If I had to do it all over again, I would start with the Ground Control coilover conversion kit and install the Hotchkis sway bar kit at the same time. $1000 of parts that require less than a days worth of work with only basic hand tools and a hydraulic lift. Between the two, I saw my minimum speed through my benchmark off-ramp on the way to work increase from 46 to 58 mph (limit of the tires).
 
#10 ·
I hear you about doing your own mods but I am deficient in regards to tools and mechanical ability. My thought is that if it is simple enough for me to do, my mechanic is not going to charge that much. Conversely, if it is a long and complicated job for a mechanic then I don't stand a chance.
 
#18 ·
The direction a thread takes is always interesting. I asked the question, what should I have done to my car? The thread quickly became get to work on your own car. I don't really have that person around that can get me started. I also think that fixing cars comes more naturally for some people. Maybe that is just an excuse. School came easy for me. Most sports came pretty easy. Working on cars, not so much.
 
#19 ·
Parts are expensive, but relative to the cost of labor, they're cheap. For instance, you can buy a new LS7 clutch and flywheel for about $600. Having that thing installed will effectively double your cost, since you're looking at paying for about 6 hours of labor at $100/hour. I don't know what kind of school you went to, but if you already have an engineering background, look at this as a way to become even smarter. Almost like paying for lessons and getting a faster car for free.
 
#22 ·
ctsvohio I understand your point of view. I used to do a lot of maintenance on my car myself, and mods as well. The thing is, I run my own business and my time has a very distinct hourly value. The rate that my mechanics charge is below the value of my own time, and they can do the job faster than I can, and there's no need for me to invest in specialized tools. While it honestly FREAKS me out to have someone else touch my car, economically it doesn't make sense for me to turn my own wrenches 90 percent of the time.
 
#23 ·
My response to that is, "why do you own a V1?"

Let's be conservative here and assume that a talented mechanic charges $80/hr. If you work 40 hours per week, you work 2080 hours per year. 2080 x $80 = $166,400 yearly salary. If you make that much, you're much better off buying a new V2 *and* paying someone to modify it for you. You're just wasting your time with the V1, unless you really like the look of the car.
 
#24 ·
Yeah, but Fuzzy, you're not factoring in opportunity cost. I myself work on my V because I like to know how things work. My hourly rate is lower than a talented mechanic, in the way you factored it above, but honestly my career would be better off if I spent all my free time working to get ahead. For some people, that's a trade-off they're not willing to make.

So, whereas someone's hourly rate may be, say $40 per hour, it's worth more like $200 per hour to them in foregone future earnings, etc.
 
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#30 ·
Getting back on topic, I like the iPod interface mod. I have one similar to this one:

http://www.cadillacfaq.com/faq/answers/ipodkit/index.html

If you don't like the coilovers idea, there's always drop springs from H&R or Eibach that you can buy for 2-300 and it'll get rid of the wheel gap while improving your handling a little bit.

Congrats on your pickup. Remember, always mod it for your tastes and needs. Then you'll always be happy. It's an amazing machine out the box as you've already discovered.
 
#32 ·
Also, if you are going to be driving in the rain, the third brake light should be removed & sealed. There is a few posts on here about it & I'm going to butcher the facts, but I think the ballast or something like that will get water in it & will rust out. Costly to replace - unless you are fine redoing to LED lights.
 
#34 · (Edited)
From what I've read, it's b/c it's neon. Here's one of the links that gives basic info & how they fixed with LED's. There's other write ups on how to replace & relocate the balast to an area where it is less likely to rust.
http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums/cadillac-cts-first-generation-forum-2003/197420-3rd-brake-light-fix-led-cheap.html

and here's the one for fixing it and keeping the neon vs switching over to LEDs
http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums/cadillac-cts-first-generation-forum-2003/158286-3rd-brake-light-fix-pix-redeux.html
 
G
#36 ·
ctsvohio - Where in Ohio do you live? Maybe someone with knowledge can come help you. I would say lowering and sway bars would be a great start to modding for the type of driving you do. A short shifter is also good and only takes a couple wrenches and a drill.
 
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