Hey all,
I have an almost stock 97 5 speed z24, and I was wondering what you guys would suggest to start building this car. So far, I have a cold air intake and long tube header (no names, as this was done before I bought the car), and a brand new OEM clutch. I want to put in respectable brand name parts, definitely not eBay knockoffs... But I don't want to pay for top of the line parts. I want to do intake manifold, bigger throttle body, full header-back exhaust (I want to do 2.5" single exhaust, but no whiny tones from giant mufflers, I want a deep muscley-type tone), cams, valve springs, and that's all I can think of off the top of my head.. Any additions/adjustments to my list would be appreciated if you have experience, or have seen it in action, and some ideas on brand names. Any suggestions on brands of exhausts/mufflers, intake manifolds, etc. would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
James
97 z24: 5speed, short throw shifter, 3000gt spoiler, kicker audio, SRI, long-tube header. --currently in the building process...
$4000 - $6000 will get your all of that and about 225 - 250 WHP N/A after Tune
that's a short ram intake not a cold air intake
Speedline02 (GME Chat!!) wrote:$4000 - $6000 will get your all of that and about 225 - 250 WHP N/A after Tune
considering karo is the only one to have ever done this (documented) id say this statement is pretty bold. would i love to believe it? hell yes.... but the fact of the matter is to get that kind of power you're going to need more than just a fat wallet.
180hp in 1989 or 145hp in 2002, you decide. >
well some mods i would look into would be ignition, spark plug wires, spark plugs, throttle body spacer, maybe some poly engine mounts, and a poly torque strut mount, lock that motor up a bit, response is everything, reprogram the ecu, injecters fuel pump fuel rail, fuel pressure regulater. full suspension kit. i got a z24 running a t3/t4 turbo kit with full tokico all around, tein lowering springs, upper strut bars, poly engine mounts and torque strut mount. im running 8 lbs. of boost making 237hp at 233 ft. torque.
did all of that for under $3000, minus the turbo.
never go cheap on a turbo.......
christian keim wrote:well some mods i would look into would be ignition, spark plug wires, spark plugs, throttle body spacer, maybe some poly engine mounts, and a poly torque strut mount, lock that motor up a bit, response is everything, reprogram the ecu, injecters fuel pump fuel rail, fuel pressure regulater. full suspension kit. i got a z24 running a t3/t4 turbo kit with full tokico all around, tein lowering springs, upper strut bars, poly engine mounts and torque strut mount. im running 8 lbs. of boost making 237hp at 233 ft. torque.
did all of that for under $3000, minus the turbo.
never go cheap on a turbo.......
Forgot to mention, when i bought the car, the CEL was on, so I ran a scanner to it, and codes came up for motor skipping, and speed sensor. So I replaced the VSS, and I also replaced the spark plugs, spark plug boots, and both ignition coils. I also heard that a throttle body spacer will do little for a car, if anything at all?
97 z24: 5speed, short throw shifter, 3000gt spoiler, kicker audio, SRI, long-tube header. --currently in the building process...
id just go turbo. be apart of the boost club.
the throttle body spacer won't do anything but make a sweet whistling sound
christian keim wrote:well some mods i would look into would be ignition, spark plug wires, spark plugs, throttle body spacer, maybe some poly engine mounts, and a poly torque strut mount, lock that motor up a bit, response is everything, reprogram the ecu, injecters fuel pump fuel rail, fuel pressure regulater. full suspension kit. i got a z24 running a t3/t4 turbo kit with full tokico all around, tein lowering springs, upper strut bars, poly engine mounts and torque strut mount. im running 8 lbs. of boost making 237hp at 233 ft. torque.
did all of that for under $3000, minus the turbo.
never go cheap on a turbo.......
So you turboed your car and still think that a LD9 uses plug wires and TB spacers provide a gain?
He did say ignition, he may have changed out the stock system...
ac delete strut bars maybe a cai that runs into the wheel well unless plan on getting a hood with a scoop or somthing full exaust tune ect n ull see some gains maybe cams heres mine before i deleted ac n did some other stuff
Tinkles wrote:christian keim wrote:well some mods i would look into would be ignition, spark plug wires, spark plugs, throttle body spacer, maybe some poly engine mounts, and a poly torque strut mount, lock that motor up a bit, response is everything, reprogram the ecu, injecters fuel pump fuel rail, fuel pressure regulater. full suspension kit. i got a z24 running a t3/t4 turbo kit with full tokico all around, tein lowering springs, upper strut bars, poly engine mounts and torque strut mount. im running 8 lbs. of boost making 237hp at 233 ft. torque.
did all of that for under $3000, minus the turbo.
never go cheap on a turbo.......
So you turboed your car and still think that a LD9 uses plug wires and TB spacers provide a gain?
^^This
besides nitrous applications ive yet to see a purpose for tb spacers
well... one could argue that it effectively enlarges/lengthens the plenum.
weather it helps or not only a flow bench would accurately say.
180hp in 1989 or 145hp in 2002, you decide. >
Or meth injection...thats what my spacer is for.
What's the use in having all that power if the chassis of the car is noodle soft.
It's the simple things that make you happy and save the complex things for once you've gotten the foundation of the car done first.
Chassis bracing in the form of strut bars front and rear, subframe brace, rear tie bar should do nicely to get things from flexing so much from our weak Jbody chassis.
Lowering springs with some nice struts with maybe some camber plates for the front and pillow ball mounts for the rear will completely change the cars behavior on the road. This alone will bring a smile to most that own a J and probably have an effect on other things which include driveability.
THEN concentrate on the engine and tranny to make the power you're looking for.
Without a good foundation (chassis) on a car, I don't care how much power you put down, it's going to feel like sh*t when you romp on the gas as well as give you some awful driveability too.
Btw, I have yet to see a tuner company build a car by just working on the engine and nothing else on a car they're building. What do they concentrate on first? The chassis, then the suspension, and finally getting the power to the ground with engine work, and tranny work.
It's a pretty simple formula that most every tuner company uses for building their time attack cars, drifters, road cars, and probably their daily drivers.
So concentrate on the simple things first as this gives you time to figure out what exactly you want from what you're doing with your ride.
Oh and I speak this with experience as this is what I've done with my ride and I love it.
Now it's time for me to concentrate on the engine and tranny since all the suspension and chassis work is done.
Good luck with your project man and take your time with it. Explore the possibilities with what's out there and go from there.
Misnblu.com
Newbie member since 1999
Thank you Dave and JBO! 
