Mountain Biking - Upgrade 03 Giant Iguana or not?

I have owned my 03 Giant Iguana for a few years now and it has seen dirt only once. I have ridden it mostly on pavement. It is stock and the frame has not been stressed much.

Lately, I have been doing a lot more mountain biking at Ringwood, NJ. When I get out on the trails I use a Kona Coiler and I love it. It is a little on the heavy side but it's just a matter of getting used to it. I feel like I can do anything with that bike.

Although, the Kona is awesome I feel the need for a lighter hardtail. Would you upgrade an 03 Giant Iguana to do mountain biking and xc style riding? Will the frame support the stresses on that type of riding? Obviously, I'd put quality components on it.

What would be your upgrade schedule? I want to do it gradually.

Thanks

It's a respectable platform to build from.

http://bikepedia.com/QuickBike/BikeSpecs.aspx?ItemID=38868&Type=bike

The first thing I do to save weight is a good/light set of wheels and tires. That's weight you can "feel". Kenda Karma's are pretty light. I'm digging these new Conti MtnKing Supersonic's so far.

Wheelworld was blowing out Fox Float RL's for $399 recently. That'd save you a pound or more. Easton EC70 CNT bar or Raceface Next SL would help. If you're going to be upgrading just about everything and your current componentry is "functioning" properly...save you $$$ every payday and buy a good used hardtail off ebay/craigslist. You could find a good deal on an '07-'08 Stumpy HT for cheap.

I think 26-27lbs is plenty light for a hardtail trail bike.

The Iguana is a good solid frame. I won't go as far as to say it's "bomb proof" or unbreakable, I think we've all broken something with that label on it. Anyway, back to the topic at hand. With some good wheels and a good component set you can make that into a great trail bike. Is that frame disc ready? Not that you realy NEED disc but they are nice.

bought an '04 Iguana (disk) for my son's Fiance. Gotta say it looks and rides nice!
I'd say well worth keepin and doin upgrades. Fork isn;t half bad either.
Frame seems nice, light enough and solid
Nice thing about 'upgrades' is you get to put on exactly what you like, and do it piecemeal.
A chance to experiment and 'try', ebay what you don't particularly like.
The stock wheels are pretty nice, at least on the '04.
Overall, a very nice ridin HT, even 'stock'.
Downside is (unless yo keep the old stuff to put on later) the upgrades won;t give you much more resell value if you decide to sell later - it's still seen as an Iguana.
Like another said, I;d get another wheelset to use (keep the original set), ride the bike as is, replacing stuff as needed and when you have a really good idea of what you'd like next, then 'build' it back to stock and CL.
The Iguana offers a lot of hard ridin as is, as long as you have a wheelset which can take some hard treatment.
I'm no egg-spurt, but I used that 'plan' with my Trek and glad I waited and rode the piss out of it before lookin for another bike. Found I really like the 'longer' TT of the older Treks (like GFs) and not the newer more upright ergos of a lot of the new bikes. I prolly would have made an expensive mistake (for me) if I had decided to get another bike, sooner.