How do I find a shop that will do mods?

MuffinMcFluffin

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Every auto and body shop I have called and asked on Yelp nearby my area so far today have all said they don't do things like CAI and intercooler installs, or things like that. What proper keyword am I supposed to use in a Google search to find the right shop names that I am for some reason not able to find?
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Seth_FC3

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Every auto and body shop I have called and asked on Yelp nearby my area so far today have all said they don't do things like CAI and intercooler installs, or things like that. What proper keyword am I supposed to use in a Google search to find the right shop names that I am for some reason not able to find?
If you know enough about mechanics you should try and do it on your own. There's plenty of videos online of people doing installs, you could watch em a couple times and try it. If you don't have tools try and look for shops that rent out bays. Not sure if your area has any, but I have a shop down here that rents out bays/tools for basically any job you need. If not, you may have to do some deeper searching for a shop that could do it. Drive around, some smaller shops that may not have a yelp or anything may do the job
 

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Youre going off yelp ratings? Why not go to the shop and get a feel? Yelp is the biggest joke imo, pissed off people can tank your ratings. If ratinga are your thing.... Their google ratings seem great.

Gotta do more legwork of you are serious about finding a shop.
 


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MuffinMcFluffin

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Youre going off yelp ratings? Why not go to the shop and get a feel? Yelp is the biggest joke imo, pissed off people can tank your ratings. If ratinga are your thing.... Their google ratings seem great.

Gotta do more legwork of you are serious about finding a shop.
I mean, I read the reviews too.

Like I said, I'll be sure to ask them.
 

dark_knight097

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I agree with Seth. I'd say you do those installs yourself and save some money. I installed both the Prl CAI and their intercooler myself. After I finished I realized how much money I would've wasted had I went to a shop and have them do something so easy. Only mods I'd say you have to take your car into the shop would be a clutch and flywheel and a turbo kit. Pretty much everything else if you watch some guides on you'll see it's not all that daunting.

If you have a buddy, each one would take about 2 hours, if not then maybe 3 a piece. If you dont have the tools, I'd say invest in some with all the money you'll save doing it yourself. You dont even need a lot. Just a ratchet, some extensions, few screw drives(flat tip to get those plastic pieces off under the bumper) and a socket set from about 7-15mm cause that's about all the sizes you'll need. I noticed a lot of the bolts are 10mm. And a few a little smaller and larger than those.
 

dark_knight097

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To find a shop in your area if you really need it, your best bet if they arent online would be to look for local car groups on facebook or instagram. The people on there will definitely be able to help you find a shop that they use.

Dont be surprised if there arent any locally tho, you might have to make a 2-3 hour drive depending on your location. Most shops will be in city hubs where they can get the most buisness.
 


amirza786

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If you are willing to come down to the San Jose area, my mechanic who has been doing work for me for almost 10 years can do a lot of them. On my Si he installed the following:

aFe Takeda Cat-back SS exhaust
Mishimoto Performance Intercooler

He is honest, up front if he can't do it and is very reasonably priced. He has done a ton of maintenance on three of my Toyota's including timing belt/tune up. AM automotive on Old Bayshore hwy
 
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MuffinMcFluffin

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To respond to what most people have generally said around here, I freak out when it comes to me watching these videos and trying to figure out what they do. Sometimes it's because I don't have the tools, sometimes it's because the camera recording creates for an ambiguous "What are they really doing on that stage?" kind of thing, sometimes it's because I may not have a second hand to assist me, sometimes it's because if I damage something I won't know what to do and can't even take it anywhere because it's all dismantled, etc. I can't even wipe a freakin' LCD screen without getting smears or scratches on it, no matter what equipment I use or how many videos I watch/follow. What I am paying for is not laziness, but peace of mind.

That being said, I wanted to try to do some things myself, but much like when I first got my LED headlights installed, removing the bumper myself was not something I was looking forward to doing. I just think so much can go wrong and I am not in the experienced realm to handle something of that nature.

The first thing that I think I'm going to try and do is work out putting in an Acuity short-shifter, and I'd like to do it myself but a lot of the steps, once again, put my nerves on the fritz. I think I'm going to try and do it once I realize I have all of the tools I need, but again I can't go at it first and realize that I'll need some tools, because then I won't be able to drive the thing if it's halfway torn apart.

I used to live in the Bay Area, by the way (San Mateo and San Bruno). I just moved four months ago. I would've gladly went to San Jose to see your guy, amirza.

What mods do you want to put on your car?
  • PRL Cobra CAI
  • PRL Intercooler
  • Acuity short-shifter (with shift boot collar and Raceseng shift knob)
  • Acuity pedal spacer
  • LED fog lights
  • Tuck in GPS sat data cable between dashboard and windshield (and hold charge on that side, somehow...?)
There might be other things, but I can't recall off the top of my head.

I think I'm going to try the pedal spacer first. If that goes well, I'll go for the shifter. I'd rather that a mechanic does the stuff behind the bumper because that's not my forte, but I'll seek around.
 

dark_knight097

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I freak out when it comes to me watching these videos and trying to figure out what they do. Sometimes it's because I don't have the tools, sometimes it's because the camera recording creates for an ambiguous "What are they really doing on that stage?" kind of thing, sometimes it's because I may not have a second hand to assist me, sometimes it's because if I damage something I won't know what to do and can't even take it anywhere because it's all dismantled, etc. I can't even wipe a freakin' LCD screen without getting smears or scratches on it, no matter what equipment I use or how many videos I watch/follow. What I am paying for is not laziness, but peace of mind.
Yeah I can relate to that. This is my first time working on my car myself. And I definitely was nervous about it at first cause like you said, if something went wrong the car is tore apart so I cant drive anywhere.

Honestly, I find putting in the acuity shifter more daunting than the intercooler lol. Once the bumper is off, it's only like 2 screws and a bracket on each side and it comes right off.

That being said, if you really don't feel confident enough doing it yourself, I really recommend checking out Facebook and searching for "car groups near me". I found a group that does local meets and the occasional highway cruise. Also met a lot of guys driving 10gen SI's and that's actually how I found this site and learned how and what mods to use and are recommended for this gen. They also recommended me a few shops around my area that were experienced with this gen.

I'm pretty confident you'll find one, even if a few hours away, and they should be able to let you know what shops to find in the area. Cause a lot of good ones you'll only find by word of mouth cause they're small shops.
 

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I agree with Seth. I'd say you do those installs yourself and save some money. I installed both the Prl CAI and their intercooler myself. After I finished I realized how much money I would've wasted had I went to a shop and have them do something so easy. Only mods I'd say you have to take your car into the shop would be a clutch and flywheel and a turbo kit. Pretty much everything else if you watch some guides on you'll see it's not all that daunting.

If you have a buddy, each one would take about 2 hours, if not then maybe 3 a piece. If you dont have the tools, I'd say invest in some with all the money you'll save doing it yourself. You dont even need a lot. Just a ratchet, some extensions, few screw drives(flat tip to get those plastic pieces off under the bumper) and a socket set from about 7-15mm cause that's about all the sizes you'll need. I noticed a lot of the bolts are 10mm. And a few a little smaller and larger than those.
They sell small "mechanic" kits for under $50. Some of the larger ones are like $80 max. Comes with common socket sizes and a ratchet / ratcheting screwdriver.
After a few installs I actually bought a torque wrench and a socket set for it because I wanted to make sure things get torqued to spec / not strip anything.
 

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When I bought my car ... I asked them if they were a mod friendly dealership. The answer was YES. This is code. I am also not a gear head and for the most part would rather pay the dealership to install say a prl cai ... Exhaust system ... What have you. That being said I did install my own k/n panal, skunk shift knob and vent to atmosphere plate. Nothing like the satisfaction of doing it yourself successfully.
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