What makes your hot rod “your” car?

Ryan’s post on the aviator dash panel got me thinking (and what is his obsession with the dash anyway?), what are the items of personalization that make a hot rod distinctively yours? Lets say you purchase a jalopy that was already built and on the road… Assuming you like the builder’s general style for the car, how do you make it your personal ride? What do you just have to swap out to make it your own? It can be as simple as a shift knob or as major as a complete repaint, I reckon. Sure seat belts might get added, or a heater hooked up, but what’s your cosmetic must do? Here’s my list of the things that I’ve got to swap, even if I love everything about the car, in order of priority:

1. Wheels & Tires. Usually it’s ditching the radials, or switching to 16″ steelies but sometimes it’s as simple as getting the perfect big and little tire combo. Maybe 4.75’s on the front? Go with 5.50 or 6.00’s on the back? Yes, I obsess on this stuff.
2. Steering wheel & column. This includes wheel placement, and it’s usually right up in my chest and way too large in diameter. If I can’t move the seat back, then the steering wheel needs to go further forward. If the steering column or style of the wheel doesn’t match the build style of the car, it has to go.
3. Motor Bits. OK, the title is a catch-all, but we are talking a generator over alternator, traditional style exhaust headers, and lacquer cloth plug wires with rajah caps. No plastic radiator bottles or street rod billet air filters. If the engine is sitting out there for the world to see, it’s got to look the part.
4. Headlamps. Sound random? Well to me, its a nice bit of personalizing on the front of the car. It usually means moving their position up or down, and swapping out tiny King Bees for big BLCs.
5. Add or delete stripes/paint. If the body has too much striping (yes, thats possible in my book) I might remove lines from the glovebox or dash panel. If there are too many blacked-out items, I might swap some of them to the body color. This is a simple way to update the look of a nice car without a total paint swap.

Ok– Whats on your list?