The '"Official" Car-modding Thread!

lol i guess this guy who had this bad ass (LOOKING) truck thought he could challenge me just cuz my car is a gt, he thought his bad ass 6.1 was going to beat my little 2.2 his dumba$$ was wrong he may have a bigger engin but that ameture had a heavy truck compared to my lightweight....i would let him cautch up every time just b4 i switch gears then i was gone then id let him get nose to nose then again i was gone, i hit 120 from stop light to stop light bout half a mile. usuly i wouldt street race like that but he had it comming...cant go thinking around that just because his truck is a 6.1 he can beat the little guys...but all in all car did good had a slow start but great finnish...still working on getting money for parts and working on getting my ford running again so i have a backup car...and learning to rev at a stop and hitting it without pealing out too much or without losing torque need it just right.

 

if you're going to do a lot of drag, but sure to upgrade that clutch! you need something that will let you slip it for a good start, but still last a while. organic clutches can hold as much as 450 horsepower and would be a good place to start.

 

saw an ultra-rare 1970 AAR 'cuda at a show today...though i'd share. ^.^

 

nice.......ok i just found out about the celica gt-4.....comes stock like an lancer evo.......turbo all wheel drive.....if i manage to find one at a junk yard with engin i could use engin from there....but what i wann know is if i swap drive trains to have the all wheel drive, would the engin swap and drive train swap void my vin# could i get in trouble with it....i would if i could just fix up a gt-4 but getting one in good condition with a low budget i dont think is possible....but i do have a chance of finding i tashed one at a junkyard out here...this girl got a pretty good gt-4 for only 400$ lucky girl, but way out in fl..

 

your vin will not be voided, your car just won't be numbers-matching anymore. numbers-matching is only important if you're a car collector or looking to recoop your money when you sell the car. the vin number on your driver's side of the dash will still be the valid vin number of the car.

finding totalled cars with parts that will bolt right in is fairly common in the car world: subaru STI drivetrains into RSs, a 454 into a much smaller chevelle, etc etc. the hardest part will be the wiring. in my opinion, the easiest thing to do will be to take the ECU and wiring harness from the car you pull the drive train off of. while you're at it, take the interior, too. the factory gauge pod from the turbo car would be very nice.

and if you get one trashed at a junkyard, be prepared to do a full rebuild; it depends on how the car is looking. if it's a head-on collision, i'd expect bad driving on the part of the previous owner and the car had been raced. but if the interior is stock looking, the parts don't appeared modded or tampered with, and the car was, say, rear-ended or side-swiped, i'd say the car was probably well-maintained and maybe even babied.

nevertheless, it wouldn't hurt to pull the block apart and give it a good bit of restoration, and you definitely need to open up the tranny and differentials and give them a look over.

i think i've said it before, but just in case i haven't: a drivetrain swap is not necessarily the best thing to do. in other cases, where you were just building up what you have, i'd say do the brakes and suspension first, learning the car before you added power.

however, odds are the suspension you'd be getting wouldn't work with the new setup, and you'd need new brake stuff, too.

so, my advice is: if you are able to do a complete drivetrain swap (and the brakes and suspension don't require upgrades), really baby that car for a while. maybe take a driver's course in it. but keep the racing on the track, for sure. you don't want to ruin something you've put so much work into while showing off in the street.

 

I hate the look of the 08's. Id take 02-07 if anything. If you're going STi gearbox, why not just go turbo? You can find JDM IHI Spec C VF39's for cheap now days.

 

My nitro tc3, ahah the only suby i can drive ATM.

Hello negative camber

 

auslander, get a STi Spec C ej25 shortblock, which has forged internals, STi 6sp gearbox,full STi interior, Brembo 4pot calipers of the STi and you would have the most ballin RS. Haha, i think that's breaking the bank as well.

 

no point in doing a swap on an '05, as it is. there's still a warranty on it until 2008. when swap time comes around, it will be a full drivetrain swap from whatever the lastest impreza model is. subarus are like legos, so it should all go together pretty well.

i won't go turbo as it is for two reasons: the first is that the stock internals can't handle any decent boost, the second being that 87 octane fuel is expensive enough. running 93 or higher would completely drain me, and as a broke college student, i can't have that.

at this point, i've decided that i definitely need to keep my daily driver very fuel efficient. suspension mods, better brakes and tires, etc etc are all great, but my weekend car will remain my weekend car. not enough fuel to go around, otherwise.

 

my sis has an 01 mercury and her a/c is acting up it will blow from defrost and feet only it wont blow to face she said it stoped working after she got an oil change if that makes a diff but what could be wrong?

 

could be a lot of things with an AC system. i don't mess with them often, but the first thing i'd do is check the fans. i'm not sure how many are in the system, if there's one for each vent, or just a few in the dash that are directionalized.

does the AC power up and try to work, but no air comes out when aimed at the face? if it does, it sounds like maybe one of the air fins is jammed in position, blocking the air from coming through. if the air won't come on at all in that position, then the problem is more in the AC system itself, not something along the way in the dash.

AC systems are an enormous pain in the ass. the only thing worth doing, in my opinion, at home is recharging the coolant gas. other than that, just take it to a shop and make sure the offer some kind of warranty on their work.

*edit*
an oil change would only make a difference if she got it at a shady shop where they would mess with your car to increase business.

 

Yeah, sounds like a simple electric fan is broken, or has been disconnected.

 

iv been looking into alot of things foe my celica and found that im going to try to get a 3rd gen celica gt-4 front clip with the 3sgte motor comes stock with most of what im looking for plus will bolt right it to my celica cuz already having a S series block and cuz of being a gt tranny is already able to handle the power from the 3sgte.....but will upgrade clutch as well as other stock stuff on engin such as inter cooler and so on not really looking to go past 375whp cuz of being frnt wheel drive and all i think it will be a wast to have anything over that much hp itll just spin tires too much............but yae idea is 3sgte with upgrades, cat back exhaust, trd racing clutch, coilovers,drilled and slotted disk brakes front and back.......and as you said b4 1 step at a time relearn after each upgrade starting from toe to head (coilover,struts, brakes, drop in new (up graded) motor along with exhaust)....im also already sketching up on putting batt in deck using 4gage wire but still having - and + posts in front for jump starts for just in case reasons....thinking bout lowering batt down in deck flush with spare tire or hiding it behind rear fender(seen this done) just woundering if it will give a lean with it there?..of course there will be a kill switch fo safty reasons...still working on hooking that up....what do you think?....have not found any aluminim hoods or deck lids.........lots of body kits to chose from as well as just lips.....and going with a supra wing on back for looks, along with tail lights, and found some prjectors headlamps for 600$ kinda pricy so im holding back on those.......let me know what you think...........let mr know if frnt whell can handle more hp cuz so far all i heard is any thing above 400hp is useless

 

there's no need to waste the money on drilled and slotted brake rotors. the slots and holes were originally used in race cars to dissipate the gases caused by organic brake pads. however, no one uses organic pads in performance cars these days. ceramic pads and the like are where it's at, and with these, there are no gases to get rid of.

if you still insist on them, however, let it be known your brakes will wear out more quickly and not perform quite as well. also, don't try to drill and slot a standard set; buy ones made that way. regular rotors aren't strong enough to handle the forces of good brakes with any material removed.

honestly, anything over 250 whp in a daily driver that is such a small and light car is a waste. all it will do is cost you money and get you in trouble. those higher areas are for track cars. but anyway, you talked about 400 hp...are you referring to whp, chp, or what? crank horsepower (chp) is the power made at the crank. if it's about 375, then your wheel horsepower (whp) will be about 300.

moving the battery is an excellent idea if you want to balance the car better, so it will carve those corners. but, if you're mainly looking at drag racing, you have to remember that your car is front wheel drive. you want all the weight that has to be kept in the car to be sitting right on top of those driving wheels for best straight-line traction.

if you do move it to the trunk (which i do recommend), you could put something of similar weight on the opposite of the trunk for supreme balance (such as your windshield washer fluid container or a roadside emergency kit). but remember: you sit on the driver's side anyway. the car doesn't really lean with your weight, does it? (if it does, you need new suspension). a few pounds added to the other side won't do much. you're still improving balance, and that's the important part.

if you can't find an aluminum hood, i still recommend staying away from fiberglass and carbon fiber. these do no good, either for performance or safety, in a daily driver.

if you're good with metal or know someone who is, you could fabricate your own hood. the one you have now on the car would be a perfect template to make a mold from. with that mold, you could cast an aluminum hood.

and if you cast a hood for yourself, i bet lots of other people would want them, too. good way to make some money back on this project.

oh, and yeah, front wheel can handle more horsepower. it's common to see 700 ponies pushing pure drag cars down the track. but like i said, this is *absolutely useless* on a daily driver. just buy a second beater car and build that into a track car. never need more than one project car at once, and each should be built for a specific purpose.

good luck

 

yae i know what you mean....i got a ford that broke down on me but now that i have this celica im able to get around, but as we speak my ford is in my bosses shop and im doning all the work to get it back on the road so i can work on my track car CELICA........some drag sound like fun....i love drag but celicas are known for handeling. take a stock to any track that test handeling and celicas will come out on top (cant remeber what they call those tracks).....but i think i wanna do that as well as car shows and burnout shows and be able to drag others...prolly wont do as good on drag but pretty damn sure can take hondas and other ricers...and yea if i knew how to make a mold i would love to make my own hood cuz the 3sgte has turbo placed right on top meaning i have to cut the hood i have now cuz turbo will stick out.....gt-4s have special made hoods for it.....wow i didnt know frnt wheel drive can pull that much.....from what i was told my tires will just spin trying to pull the car but then again theres not much to pull its a light car already, just get a set of sticky tires.

 

well, if you've decided this car is going to be your dedicated track and show car, and not a daily driver, then i *highly highly* recommend putting in at least an 8 point roll cage. also, i'd gut the interior. but don't do that if you're going to shows for anything but race cars.

 

question bout sis car same question bout a/c unit but now that i went and checked it out this is what i have so far.....a/c works defrost works floor works.....when you switch it to face it just blows out from defrost i move to defrost then nuthing stays on defrost i move it to floor/face then it goes to floor/defrost....is this still a blower shortage or electrical or is the flap jamed?.....its a 02 mercury sable.........next subj. and yea im planing to put a roll cage in it but not wanting one that gives less show to it so im looking into that..of course safty is more important then show..im am fixing up the interior but i am fixing it so that it can easly be removed for racing...i will get pic as soon as i get more money running out for bills but as of now car is gutted now just working with the interior stuff in house painting fiberglass<<<<only for center councle not for body work....switches and so on

 

as for the AC, it could be any of the above. i recommend have a shop look at it at this point.

if you want to be able to pull stuff out for the track, remember that stereo equipment adds a lot of weight. if you put a subwoofer in there, make it a modular design that you can pop out in just a few minutes.

do you have a rear seat? if so, get rid of that permanently and just put the sub right there.

 

car repair help time!

i picked up 8 dollar of dry ice today. with less than a dollar's worth, i popped $500 in dents out of three cars in my household, and plan to work on the other two tonight.

it won't work for stretched or creased metal, or for massive dents, but it does work wonderfully for small hail damage and shopping cart catastrophes.

 

as of last night, my car no longer has it's OEM Bridgestone Potenza RE92's on it, but now Michelin Pilot Sport A/S's. these tires are 25 pounds, about 3 more than the last tires, so i'm curious as to how much fuel economy i'm going to lose.

however, even though they are classified as the same stock size (205/55/R16), they are a slight bit taller, meaning my speedo should be dead on instead of reading a few miles lower and placing me at a faster speed at the same old rpm.

combined with higher tire pressure (55 psi versus the 44 psi of the last tire), i hope to retain the same fuel economy or at least close to it.

these tires are performance all-seasons that create a noticeably firmer ride. i haven't had a chance to put them through their paces yet, but they seem as though they will have godly grip. and i should see 40 to 50 thousand miles.

my car calls for 32 psi up front, 29 in the rear. i was running 35 and 32 in the last tires, and i'm going to go pop these up to 38 all the way around. hopefully, this will help conquer rolling resistance and help me keep my mileage.

i'll submit reviews on the tires in a week or two.









quit letting this thread die.