My 1996 BRM, my first and only car

[berettaboy]

The day after i got my car, about a month before my 16th birthday.

As you can see it is a 96 brm base. At this point i just found out berettas even existed. This was my first car and being the teenager i am, i quickly started looking for ways to make my car better.

First i cleaned it up the best i could and got rid of the old silver pin strip and put a similar gold one on(the side shot of my car got corrupted but you can see the new pin stripe through the window in the pic with the door open).



gray interior, base seats, gross carpet


hubcaps


Upon searching for things to do to my car, i discover the z26 version of my grandma's car, and wow i loved the look. i also discovered beretta.net with all this wealth of knowledge and great people. in quest to make my car better i focused on looks, so eventually i purchased a white 96 z26 that was in rough shape. I salvaged the spoiler, head liner, body kit, power windows and the seats.
I had the spoiler and body kit painted and i put them on my car myself. Along with that i striped my interior down completely except for the dash. My step dad ran the wiring harness for the power windows. I put in the z seats and replaced the carpet. I had the sun visors repaired and i put them on with the head liner.
I also bought a set of z26 wheels and had them put on. i had a local place make the z26 decals and they put them on.




still gray interior with z seats, door panels off in preperation to have the power window motors installed.


idk why i had that marker out haha


Shortly after those pics above i had the windows tinted and the new pin strip put on. i also put on the wind deflectors. I eventually had the interior parts painted but i plugged the hole in my door panels and and dyed them myself.
Then i had an exhaust put on which gave it a less embarrassing sound. haha

The pics below are taken right before bfest 2012.








Flip up head unit i installed instead of the cup holder.


The rest of the Pictures are more from before bfest.








action shot at the rest area


oh yea i almost forgot, i won best stock engine bay at my first bfest this year!!!


The two give aways that i know of on my car that it is a base are the mirrors and the rear hanging brackets( was pointed out later on FB, thanks again i am trying to get ahold of some z ones)
I love my car and i am taking the best care of it i can but that is limited because it is my daily driver.
I've been meaning to post this for awhile, i guess ill update it with more things i do to my car.
if anyone wants to see anything else just ask.

Thanks,
Kyle

[snowblindburd]

Sweet, thanks for making this post! w00000t for base to Z04 conversions =). I think another give away is your suspension . You seriously did a great job on your conversion. I honestly thought it was a factory Z26 for over half of Berettafest.

I like that you're doing some mods to make it your own. I even like the pinstriping lol. I didn't know you had a flip up head unit in the cupholder area, I guess I never looked closely. I see it in my pictures of your car now, though!

I'm glad you came to Bfest this year, this car looks great in person. Someday I hope my paint can hold a candle to yours and all of the other beautiful cars in this group!


Nice signature, by the way.

[3X00-Modified]

Nice little time line... What is so different between the rear brackets? because I can almost swear that I'm still using the base ones on mine but I could be wrong. They might have been attached to the bumper when I installed it, I can't remember.

I'll find out for sure Friday when I pick up my 96 Z parts car.

If you want my FE3 springs I might sell them, I don't think I will keep them for anything but I'm not sure yet.

[Money pit Beretta]

Well now I know what my car would look like with the Z kit. LOL less the fact that my paint is junk and I have a dent. My pin stripe is close, but not the same.

Freaken clean looking car there man!

[berettaboy]

Thanks for the compliments guys.
i guess the rear brackets make the sides stick out more.
i didn't think the z suspension was different? Jon, how much would you want for the springs? i assume they are in good condition?

[3X00-Modified]

Thanks for the compliments guys.
i guess the rear brackets make the sides stick out more.
i didn't think the z suspension was different? Jon, how much would you want for the springs? i assume they are in good condition?

I'll let you know when I get the car. The vehicle only has 98k on it but it was sitting very funny when I looked at it. If it sits fine on level ground then I will come up with a price. But yes they are different, FE1 on a base FE3 on a Z26... the springs are a bit shorter and somewhat stiffer.

[snowblindburd]

The base bumper sticks in farther at the bottom edges. If you use their brackets with the Z04 bumper it sucks it in and looks kinda funny. The Z04 specific brackets allow it to stick out further.