First off I'm a new guy
Up until this point I have never touched a 4 banger, or done any work to one. When I went looking for a car at 16 my step-dad yelled at me and said no jap scrap in my driveway, lol. I'm 19 now, my first car was a 1981 Chev Camaro, I sold that and later bought a 1989 Trans Am WS6, I'm canadian and a college student now (was working full time) so owning a muscle car isn't practical right now, and I've traded my trans am for an 02 Cavalier with 84,000KM on it, I acquire it around wednesday or so this week. My previous daily car was written off, so thats why the trade.
So here's the scoop, front end of the car has some damage (needs new fenders and bumper, being supplied with car) so I'm basically going to line it up and get a bodyshop to do the paint, one of the struts is loose.. little stuff like that. Apperently the car already has a different throttle body on it, also I believe it's the slow 2200 motor from what I've been reading. I was told he took it out to the track once and it ran a 16, hehe! Now I have about 1,500 dollars CDN to spend on performance goodies, I was thinking of getting some headers, along with pretty much a whole new exhaust, and a cold air intake. My Q is what companies to buy from, and why? Also I DO NOT want that fart cannon sound, I've heard a little neon SRT4 once, and had a nice low deep note, and thats the note I'm looking for. I'm a total and complete noob when it comes to the tuner scene, my solution to power problems is usually get a bigger engine, which isn't really practical here. I was told you guys could put me in the right direction by the folks over at nastyz28.com (second gen camaro forum). Thanks in advance for the help guys!
There will always be someone faster than you, but thousands slower and dumber than you.
wow...i hope you didn't spend a lot for a car in that sort of condition...i wouldn't buy a BEATER in any sort of damaged condition, let alone a daily driver.
R.I.P. Brian St.Germain
The damage sounds worse than it is, like, I'm sure some of the stuff could be pulled, but I'd rather just replace the fenders. I didn't spend a fortune, I'd say the price was right, I traded my 89 WS6 which had 225,000KM on the clock, and is a little rough around the edges. I'm not scared of any car work, so for me being able to actually get an 02 is good enough, my last beater was a 95
And this is actually my ONLY car for now, and probably will be for about 3 years.
There will always be someone faster than you, but thousands slower and dumber than you.
Hey Im a bigger engine kind of guy, v-8's rule. But sometimes they just wont fit. Go to the third gen forum , look at 3.4 3400 v-6 swap. Im In the process of putting a 3.4 HO out of a 01 grand am gt in my 01 cavy. I just started here looking for answers. Im doing ok and hope to have it in soon. For what your going to spend on 4 banger mods you could have a 175 hp v-6 in there, thats unmodified. add a chip and so on, well you see where im going.
01 cav w/01 3400 gam gt 4t45e
hey, im with ya on the whole new thing...dont know much about working on cars but always wanted to learn...and my bro just moved back to ak...now i can learn...i drive a 03 cavy and plan to make it better then ...STOCK lol...what should i do to it first...looks or mods?
Jon wrote:joe malechowski wrote:Hey Im a bigger engine kind of guy, v-8's rule. But sometimes they just wont fit. Go to the third gen forum , look at 3.4 3400 v-6 swap. Im In the process of putting a 3.4 HO out of a 01 grand am gt in my 01 cavy. I just started here looking for answers. Im doing ok and hope to have it in soon. For what your going to spend on 4 banger mods you could have a 175 hp v-6 in there, thats unmodified. add a chip and so on, well you see where im going.
Quote:
I'm a total and complete noob when it comes to the tuner scene, my solution to power problems is usually get a bigger engine, which isn't really practical here.
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good call my friend, i was going to point that same thing out.
MOVING ON: fix the car entirely before putting money into it. make sure every little thing is fixed...trust me it helps down the road. if you want a deep camaro-like sound, buy a flowmaster muffler (not a fart can but an actual muffler).
putting a dc sport or pacesetter header on it will also deepen the sound and make it sound more beefy.
here are some sites that have the best prices i have found with cavalier stuff:
http://gravanatuning.com
http://www.turbotechracing.com
i get my parts from there. also i would just buy a regular intake, not a cold air. instead of the extra money for a cold air, buy a larger throttle body and save up for some rotors/pads/lines for the front brake system.
hope this helps!
- Cameron (CaliforniaCavalier)
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www.csc-motorsports.com (my new NOR-CAL car club site!)
what he said^^^ and sorry but you wont get that srt-4 sound without a turbo :-(..those cars have a turbo and no muffler..but just a resonator if I'm not mistaken..it has been talked about..yeah full exhaust with about 2.25" piping, header, high flow cat, resonator (or glasspack) then a muffler seems to sound pretty good..good luck with all your tuning..there are some good resources flating around here..jsut watch out for the @$$sholes..there are a lot of tehm floatin around too
