Newbie with 1911 questions.

It's a blued Taurus pt1911 with night sights. It's been a great shooter but now I'm thinking of personalizing it a little. I'm thinking grips, hammer, magwell, grinding off the billboard and having it refinished. What do you guys think? I was also wondering if a gunsmith could improve the rather cheap checkering on the front strap as well? Other suggestions and comments are very welcomed. Even negative ones which I've gotten a bit of on other forums due to the fact it's a Taurus. From what I've seen members on this forum are very respectful and offer alot of positive input though. So I really don't expect any.