Introduction
The name "Detail Junky" stems from my obsession with my car and all of the little things. The prior names for this build was "the high school budget build", a name that quickly went obsolete. The tallied investments have proved bank breaking but all of this progess wouldn't have been possible if I'd avoided pleading poverty every time I made a purchase. In retrospect I imagine I'd be a few steps behind if I'd been afraid to spend. When it came to spending I always shot (and shoot) for the best. When it came to working there was alot of cussing, an unhelpful Haynes manual, the forums, alot of common sense, and a very patient mentor (thanks to Dad). All of the headaches, the many stripped fastners, and other nightmares have contributed heavily to a never ending learning curve, something this car has been the absolute foundation of.
Really, if it'd been any other way, I probably wouldn't be half as knowledgeable or capable as I am now. When I initially stumbled into the whole Saturn thing I had no grasp on the community. Originally I thought it'd be like any other small fwd economy car. The more I got involved the more I was exposed to a rather cheap, disrespected, and unsupported group. In the midst of a crowd of grocery-getter Saturn owners there was a handful of hardcore "anything-can-be-done" die hards (RIP TSN). With a father fabricator and a rather vivid imagination I was determined to seperate my car from the generic type. Initially I had no idea how to do so, so I went with what I could understand. This lead the car through all the basics; an intake, header, exhaust, lowering springs, and other typical stuff. It also birthed the obesessive detailer in me. Determined to have a clean car I went through a restoration phase. The breif interior era was pieced together out of purchases on the forum and a few cars from salvage yards. I had a fairly clean, solid, and stock interior but not being able to get over the used look promted (among other things) its current "gutted state". Unable to afford a paint job, I sought out solid body panels as an alternative. Now only the four original door panels are still in place while the rest have been replaced with good color matching panels (with an exception to the hood whom my friends ruined).
With the early years being all about ironing out the asthetics and fiddling with bolt-ons my growing knowledge has the car planned out well beyond its current state and ready to evolve with bigger, better, and more potent builds. The almost never ending suspension build proved to be the pioneering project, being a big benchmark for the beginning of a more serious Saturn. I'm really interested in pushing the envelope; doing things with this car that haven't been seen yet in the community (or with a Saturn). I'm aiming for a car with unrivaled asthetics while being competitive at a variety of motorsports. No monster horsepower numbers either. I'm settling for something that has daily driven manners with some bite for the weekends. Right now I'm more or less focused on getting my foot in the door of a variety of new things. Namely forced induction. But, in a broader sense, all of this progress is toward making the car fully functional before I take the dive. It'll be awhile yet between money, learning, and new skills.
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