I've begun putting some $$ away and I love my 3rd gen. Has sentimental value and seeing the other rides on this forum I have many ideas. I've done some light moding already(y-pipe, exhaust, intake). What I really need to know is what my options are for an engine swap. I want more power. I have an auto and am considering a 5 speed swap when I change the engine. Am I just putting too much $$ into something like this or should I just save up and buy one of your cars when you sell I won't get the knowledge or satisfaction if I go that route though?
Open to all opinions and ideas at this point. Thanks.

 

turbo and built auto trans.

 

If you're that stubborn to spend your money on the car (like I am) then do it all yourself. There are still some other affordable mods out there. A lot Suspension work can be done.
www.mattblehm.com has a bunch of goodies. I'm currently trying to get Matt to try something out for me, but I think he's busy right now, still haven't gotten any word back on my idea.

Of course there's the body sytling route, which everyone seems to take the Stillen approach. Then you have interior work like leather, auto climate, HUD (if you can find any), and some other goodies that is listed on Craig's site. http://www.geocities.com/craigbrace/

Also there's an even more in depth route like a complete engine overhaul, using some goodies from JWT this will be my next route after the paint job. Crazy I know, because I"ll be gambling with scratching my paint.

Also don't forget usual maintenance, like Timing belt, plugs, oil, etc.

 

I've checked out JWT and liked there stuff, but spending that $$ for engine mods on a 135k engine doesn't thrill me. I would like a fresher jdm engine or the likes then start with some internals and work up from there. Maybe install something with a turbo already?

 

Read-up man, you'll find what yer lookin' for.

 

The consensus that I got from JDM owners is that it really wasn't worth it. They're almost basicly a built up US spec. Honsestly, I wouldn't really trust it unless I knew for fact it came from Japan out of a Ceifiro. Which means a buddy of mine would be the one yanking and crating it.

But I have some of that old school muscle car guy in me that wants to build up a motor. So I'm going to pull mine and do a complete overhaul.

If you want to get a good research start... spend the $20 to donate to the org so you can search. You'll find just about everything you're looking for.

 

How about an SBC swap.....Do the 5 speed swap, research, and turbo the engine that you have assuming it is in good working order now. That's only if you are hardcore. Others suggest if you have the money, sell your car, and get something fast...good luck.

 

JDM = no guarantee on mileage.
Rebuilt by yourself = 0 miles and you get to know exactly what you did + bonus HP for bench racing sessions, and street "cred"

 

Keeping the stock engine and putting a turbo on would be recommendation. Not only do you have no idea the condition of the JDM engine but they're lower compression (8.3:1) and the only real big difference between them and the max other than that is they have euro cams, which are supposed to be good for roughly 10 hp on turbo applications.

The 9:1 compression of the stock engine is plenty low enough for boost. On top of that, a lot of VG-(T)(DETT) guys seem to upgrade to 9:1 pistons. The low end power is much better, spooling is quicker, you'll have more power up high... its just all around better and unless you're wanting to push incredible amounts of boost, lower compression isn't needed.

135k miles on a VG isn't all that many. Just make sure its in decent condition (doesn't have super old oil in it or something, good gaskets, etc.) and it should be good for quite a while.

 

well the best thing I know is too do the ve lsd 5speed swap. then work on a turbo kit. dam an engine swap keep the stock vg its a beast when you go turbo. It s a torque monster. I made 351lb of torque at 10 psi on a little turbo. That was good enough to get me in the 13's in the 1/4 with less than $2000 spen all though I did all the labor

 

playing a little too much need for speed are we?

 

I agree with 93turbo gxe-get a 5 speed swap first, then when you recover from doing all of that work, turbo your current motor. I don't think it makes sense to spend roughly $1,000 to rebuild a VG motor to stock specs when you can buy a used one for under $300 that will last 100,000+ miles. And building an all-motor VG is not a good bang for the buck mod, it's really expensive. If you turbo the motor you don't necessarily have to change any of the internals, that's what makes it really cheap to do, plus you can easily run over 300hp.

 

135k on a VG.... if that engine was taken care of at all...... i could easyily be PERFECT still. If the oil doesnt dirty right away and its got good compression, its probably perfect. I turboed my Max at 170k, its now at 181k and still doin just fine. Same compression as before i boosted. And Obviously im going to say the same as the others, if you want to go fast on a vg the best way is to boost it. but yes, 5spd swap it first... and look really hard for a VE lsd tranny.

Jeremy

 

they have a thing for street "cred" on there?

 

if you want some more power do a y-pipe


don't spend ungodly ammounts of money on them like some of us have

 

Reading owns you.....

 

My girlfriend had a 90 GXE since about 91. The car had 363k miles when I parted it. I parted because reverse let go in the auto tranny and it was so rusty it wasn't feasible to fix. Other than normal mtc. the only expensive repair she had done was an exhaust manifold replacement when the car was newer. I saved the cluster out of it that shows the mileage. The car did not have the most meticulous mtc. either. I drove the car 2 hours before parting it. It ran very well just had a little rough idle.

 

Sounds like I'll be going with the 5spd swap. I'll start researching and searching for the parts. Then I'll check in with you guys about the turbo end. The engine is clean and the oil looks really good when I change it around 2500-3000 miles. I'll start filling you in on the progress when I get things rolling. Thanks guys again for all the advise and help. I'm sure I'll be bugging the hell out of you when I start the 5 spd swap. I'll prob. send in and become a member so I can research better.

 

that wasn't there before
















ok maybe






(still, unless you really really like the car and never ever ever intend to sell it, don't bother. Even then, they always sell.... )