Are you new to paintball?  Have you been playing long?  I ask because if you are still new to the sport your 98C will be far more capable of shooting your buddies out as it is then you will be.  This means that practicing with your new 98C and spending money on air, paint, and field fees (if necessary) will yeild far better results than anything you could bolt onto it at the moment.

If you have been playing paintball for a while then much of what Jordan posted fits.  First though, ask yourself what it is you want to do by upgrading your marker.  Do you want it to shoot faster?  More consistantly?  Have a certain look?  Once you figure out what your top priority is go for those upgrades first.  Maybe you're happy with the stock barrel but want to increase the marker's rate of fire...then look to things like response or electric triggers and high speed hoppers or the Cyclone feed.  More consistancy?  Look into a better barrel and a regulated air source like HPA or a Palmer's Stabilizer for CO2.

Also, if you have more than one goal be sure to prioritize them and keep the "needs" of one goal in mind when beginning to upgrade.  For instance, if you know you eventually want your 98C to look like a M4/M16 assault rifle but your first priority is to get more range out of the marker by changing to a range enhancing barrel then you probably would go with an Apex barrel since the Flatline wouldn't really lend itself to the M4/M16 look. Planning like this will keep you from waisting money in the long run.

Figure out what you want to do first and then figuring out what to get to achieve that makes upgrading a lot easier.  I have a full article I wrote up on this on my site (link in sig) if you want to read more but it won't tell you EXACTLY what to get just things to consider when deciding to spend your hard earned money.

Robotech wrote: Are you new to paintball?  Have you been playing long?  I ask because if you are still new to the sport your 98C will be far more capable of shooting your buddies out as it is then you will be.  This means that practicing with your new 98C and spending money on air, paint, and field fees (if necessary) will yeild far better results than anything you could bolt onto it at the moment. If you have been playing paintball for a while then much of what Jordan posted fits.  First though, ask yourself what it is you want to do by upgrading your marker.  Do you want it to shoot faster?  More consistantly?  Have a certain look?  Once you figure out what your top priority is go for those upgrades first.  Maybe you're happy with the stock barrel but want to increase the marker's rate of fire...then look to things like response or electric triggers and high speed hoppers or the Cyclone feed.  More consistancy?  Look into a better barrel and a regulated air source like HPA or a Palmer's Stabilizer for CO2. Also, if you have more than one goal be sure to prioritize them and keep the "needs" of one goal in mind when beginning to upgrade.  For instance, if you know you eventually want your 98C to look like a M4/M16 assault rifle but your first priority is to get more range out of the marker by changing to a range enhancing barrel then you probably would go with an Apex barrel since the Flatline wouldn't really lend itself to the M4/M16 look. Planning like this will keep you from waisting money in the long run. Figure out what you want to do first and then figuring out what to get to achieve that makes upgrading a lot easier.  I have a full article I wrote up on this on my site (link in sig) if you want to read more but it won't tell you EXACTLY what to get just things to consider when deciding to spend your hard earned money.

I agree with you that you have to decide what upgrades you want. The stock barrel on the 98 Custom is crap and you will probably want to upgrade it quick, but I have about 4 cousins who all have 98 customs and they have yet to upgrade their barrels, so Its really up to you. You will want to research most of your upgrades before deciding which one you want. http://www.pbreview.com - www.pbreview.com is a pretty good site for info on products.

Sounds like you have a good grasp on starting out your modification plan. :)

I agree on everything thejudge said about remotes.  I have heard there is also a ball valve that you can use instead of a slide check and they tend to be more reliable (improperly maintained slide checks can develop leaks).  I have no experiance with them personally though so I cannot vouch for this.  I use slide checks on all my remotes.  They will act like an expansion chamber.  An expansion chamber is basically an area that allows the liquid CO2 to expand into a gas.  That's it.  Most people get an expansion chamber to keep liquid CO2 out of their marker and a remote line will achieve the same result. Keeping liquid CO2 out of your marker helps make it shoot at a more consistant velocity. 

On a slide check, when you move the slide check to the "off" position the air that is between the marker and the slide check is vented out of the slide check and the marker is de-aired.

I'm not sure if this is also true with an on/off valve.

A slide check isn't a necessity but it makes life SO much easier.  I won't own a remote without one.

threeball wrote: So... if I start feeling the same way about it and the whole valve thing starts becoming a drag, can I add a slide check to my remote? Or am I going to have to buy a whole new remote line that come with the slide check pre-installed?

You can add a slide check later.