Well I have seen people ask for cheap or free mods. I am bored so I decided to compile a list.

1. Removing the bottom of your stock air box and placing a K&n filter in place of the stock one. Results exact same HP gain as a $260 CAI and the same SC whine.

2. BPV mod. Boost by pass valve. Take the tube from the selenoid that meets at the manifold remove at manifold and plug with screw. Result better torque low range less bog and your psi wont bleed.

3. Cutting off the stock muffler for a high flow muffler. Result same as the $600 exhaust systems you see out there. This car has a great exhaust setup it only has one weakness the inlet of the muffler remove it and weld a 2.5 inch muffler and there you go same resonance and hp gain.

4. Pulley. Result higher PSI considered a cheap mod if you can do the install yourself or know someone that can.

5. Torque brace. Result less wheel hop. Fabricate it to fit properly when you get it and you are all set.

I have done all of these except for the muffler. I have paid a total of $100 for my setup because my pulley was free. Cheap, free, clean MODS ENJOY

 

sounds good,keep it up

 

nothing wrong with freebies

 

So for the Exhaust setup your saying you can just have the muffler welded inplace instead of a full catback with same gains?

 

Yes. If you want to take it a step further go with the magnaflow cat convert and the magnaflow muffler. Your sound will be great and you will get the same hp gains 3 - 7 hp.

 

I don't agree with your #1 and #3 mods,

Theres a noticable difference in the sound from the open airbox and a new CAI.

The stock exhaust also varies from 2.25 and 2.5 throughout the tubing so it would see better gains if it was replaced with a new system that was 2.5 all the way through

 

There is no difference in the sound from an aftermarket CAI and the setup I have. They sound exactly the same. Think about a CAI for a minute. There are basically three elements that make it.

1. High Flow Filter. I have it with my setup
2. No more air box. Removing the bottom exposing 1/2 of the filter gets the same result
3. Tubing. Hmm well it is just tubing afterall and you can even use pvc

If you have the money to waste on a CAI great I say get it. But if you are a conservative about spending your money you can get the same results with this method. There is more than one way to skin a cat.

As for the exhaust I spoke to a couple GMP engineers and that was the exact method they told me to use. I think they might know what they are talking about. Have you ever put an exhaust on a car ? Dude you don't get a lot of HP. You get the same result replacing the restrictive units of the exhaust system rather than replacing the whole thing.

1 & 3 have my stamp of approval.

 

Yea and the gaines would be less with crush bent piping, i dont know of anyshops around here that do mandrel.

 

I was out of control

 

No shops that do mandrel ??? Yikes

 

Not that i know of around where i live, plus i have heard prices are steap on Mandrel bent pipping, but good right up i will look into the exhaust,

 

DVS and i Dynoed the same day at the same time, mine was right after his. He had the Airbox mod with the bottom of the box off. The difference was huge between the loudness of his and mine. I'll have him come in and say so.


Yeah actually i have put a exhaust system on several cars and when there is no bottle necks, even if they are small, it helps maybe not more than 1Hp but its a improvement over having pipeing that isn't the same size all of the way through. I'm sure if you asked them which was better, to replace the whole thing with a exhaust that stayed the same size all the way through or just replace a muffler and leave the rest stock they would stay a consistant build is more important and will yield better Hp increases.

 

All you have to do is replace the piece that is 2.25" and the muffler, and it will be the same size all the way throughout and have the same size system as most of the aftermarket ones.

 

1stbluss get some dyno #'s so people know how much money theyve wasted on this other bs. Who gives a damn about blower whine.

 

I agree 100% i went from the airbox mod to the injen intake and the sc whine is much louder now.

 

All he said needed to be done is to replace the muffler, if by that he meant that some of the tubing needed to be replaced to then yes it wouuld be very similar Hp increases to a catback. Its also nice to have a stainless steel system that won't rust away over time which is why those catback systems are expensive.

He obviously cared about the blower whine and i was purely commenting that there is a difference between the airbox mod and a CAI so people wouold know if they really want alot of the whine they should get a new CAI

 

You could take it a step further and remove some of the top of the airbox. My SC is very loud. Some may be louder but i am not sure if i would want it to be. People can hear me coming down the street as it is. I am not saying hey the stuff that costs money sucks or is a piece of crap. I am just saying that you can really save some money and get almost exactly if not exactly the same results.

 

Dude , I just cut the whole filter off the tube right below the sensor, shaved down the pipe and popped on a k&n filter . NOw that's a CAI! No air box at all.

 

you can remove the spare tire and jack. If I recall correctly, it was nearly 40 lbs I saved.

 

Yea i did this in my celica, a good step for a little weight reduction. you would also need others to go with this like a cf hood, and cf trunk, would make a nice setup for less weight.

 

I had the intake modd with the entire air box cut away for 4 months and just recently installed the Injen intake. The blower whine is much louder and now has better throttle responce.

 

I think it is all in your head. I have heard them side by side and there is no difference that I can tell. Plus with it done this way you can go back to completely stock ( for warranty work ) in 20 minutes. I dont think you can do that with a CAI. Seriously though sometimes we imagine a performance gain when there really isn't one just to make ourselfs feel better about the money we spent.

Again CAI are great they are just too expensive for what they do.

Also if you want it to go back to a favtory look putting the air box back on is soo much easier than readding the OEM intake.

 

I agree that the "airbox mod" is a nice and very cheap mod but a cai will be louder just cause the factory tubing will obsorb the sound. how much prob. not that much but I would assume it would be more. And as far as the exhaust goes you would have to do more than just replace the muffler cause the exhaust starts at 3" then goes to 2 1/2" around the resonator then about 2 1/2' before the muffler it goes to 2 1/4". I actually have done both to my car but I did not get a muffler on it so my exhaust goes from 3" then 2 1/2" all the way to the factory tip. yes I did notice a diffrence my trap speed has gone up 3mph more

 

Well I should of expanded you can't just replace the muffler you need to start where it restricts and replace from there. Still much cheaper than a cat back. If you do not have a shop that does mandrel however or you cannot get stainless steel then it may not be for you.

 

Car crafting, or modifying yourself must be all but dead anymore.
Maybe the majority of you don't know how, or just have deep pockets.

Modifying the last 1/3 of the exhaust system is rather easy. Mandrel bends in either stainless or aluminized mild steel are easy to obtain. But I regress......most of you don't know how to do the work. So just go buy a complete exh, and don't bother learning how to do it yourself.

1stbluSS clearly is, and I applaud him for that. The rest of you, quit arguing with him.

BTW....I measured the stock exh, and the last 1/3 is the only restriction. If you think replacing the stock muff is only worth a few hp...then leave it there.

As for the intake, I'd suggest being carefull of standing water if you cut the bottom out.

And who cares about increasing the blower whine? WTF? That is not a performance increase. The same thinking applies to nitrous fogger jets that only blow a cloud in front of the windshield, but not into the engine.
If your blower is whining like a ****....and the SRT-4 is 8 car lengths in front of you, he won't hear it anyway.....gads.

Another thing to add to your list 1stbluSS would be the GMPP extrudhoned manifold. It will add power, isn't too expensive, and it won't leak.

I'm just about done constructing my 3.5" dual X system for my 69 Nova.....the Coblat will be easy.

To me there is PRIDE in doing it myself.....there is no pride in paying to have it done and installed. Go buy a Z06 Vette...then you can be a real bad ass, as so many "I bought all of this and am kicking your ass" car folks today are. Reminds me of street rodders.....

Ron