UW Mitch

Sounds like your car is pretty bad *** right now, so if it were me, I'd go for a driving school experience like at PIR. And track and autocross days.

~Mitch

cueball1

iTrader: (13)

Seat I have. Harness I have. Rotors and pads I have. I'm pretty well set for the track. Built motor I don't. Stock internals.

I'd love to

A. add power
B. improve ride/handling
C. a combination of both.

I'm a cheap guy. Always have been. I'm not going nuts I'm just wondering what the most bang might be for that kind of cash. Again, I will sell parts taken off to up the budget.

I don't know if I should replace the RA's or see about a revalving. I should get someone in the car that knows what the hell they are doing. Could be something wrong with preload or something in the set up. I can run it over to Eddy at Adrenaline to help me figure that out.

6 spd and R&P are high on my list if I can up the HP. Paul & Artie give me hope for keeping the stock internals going at 12-14psi. Of course Kaboom is another possibility at that level. Tune tune tune.... Maybe WI helps?

DIY aero I've already started. Got an ABS mushroom looking thing I just havent tweaked to mount up yet. Also working on some kind of canard/deflector for the front tires. Looking for a cheap used wing to mount to a 2nd trunk lid for the track.

Track days are coming thankfully. Yes there are days in Feb. here. Always an unknown whether it will be dry or not though.

cueball1

iTrader: (13)

The car's great at the track. I'm just looking for more! I want an amp that goes to 11. I've got a dozen track days under my belt in the last couple years. Some with instructors, some without. Wheel to wheel racing will be in my retirement or when I get close.

Something about saying 300rwhp just sounds right. Of course breaking isn't fun or something I want to do with my DD car. Maybe that power level isn't in my immediate future. With the money I can spend prepping for future power might be a good move. 99 head and 6 spd could help. Suspension's another good area as it's a DD car.

The easiest way for me to pick up power is lightening but it's a DD car and that's not in the plan. My car's a heavy pig with every possible option intact. If people have great ideas for lightening without sacrificing too much comfort that's a good area to consider too! I'm considering the piaa 3000's in the turn signals to dump the flip ups. Any other ideas for cutting a few pounds other than hitting the treadmill?

flier129

iTrader: (7)

Ohlins? haha

the 99-00 head swap ran me about $770 after it was all said and done.

$550 for a 'polished' 2000 head with 31k mi
$60 for a head gasket
$70 for oil/coolant i went thru because of leaks
$20 for random lines/hoses
$70 for the rpm switch

hoping all the work will pay-off once i boost it. only seen minimal gains vs stock but i did a lot of other things in the middle of the swap. either way its a gain.

if your looking for better suspension in a smaller budget, you could always call up fat cat motorsports for a setup your looking for.

mrtonyg

iTrader: (1)

don't take out your pitiful existence on me dude...if you can't take the slightest criticism don't post on a public forum asking for advice.

Have an nice life.

m2cupcar

iTrader: (5)

You could loan it to Pat so he could get an education.

Savington

iTrader: (31)

Shut the **** up, *******.

elesjuan

iTrader: (11)

Cueball; What do you do, if you don't mind my asking?

I thought with the Economy going south I'd get shut down, but its actually picked up and its owning my *** which sucks nearly as much.


I like Brains list, track prep then go for more power.

Added to Scotts list would be brakes and any suspension you don't have upgraded.

mrtonyg

iTrader: (1)

oh an internet tough guy...funny.

cueball1

iTrader: (13)

Savington!

Did you have your Koni Race's revalved or are they stock with those spring rates? Does it really ride as well as you say?

cueball1

iTrader: (13)

Don't mind at all! My business is the link in my sig. I sell pool tables, poker tables, bars, foosball tables, etc. Basically anything that is game room related. Been in the business for 25 years. Fun industry and I genuinely enjoy helping customers find the right stuff for them. I'm not one of those "I live to close the sale" guys.

As soon as housing took a dive business tightened up. Just look at all the furniture stores closing. Lot's of retailers, suppliers and manufacturers in my industry closing down right now. I hope to be one of those that survives and comes out stronger on the other end.

y8s

iTrader: (8)

you clearly misunderstood his situation.

if I had a business selling gum ***** and made zero dollars last year and my wife was bill gates and had money to burn, then suggesting that I need to do something responsible with ms gates money to help my business is just plain silly.

both you and cueball can stop arguing now so a moderator doesn't have to edit a buttload of pissy posts back and forth. ok? ok.

Zabac

iTrader: (39)

Cueball, make the car more enjoyable to you and you will be happiest.
$2000 is not enough to get you over 300 safely, but it is plenty to dial in your suspension.
I have factory valved koni yellows and 650/450 GC's (well eibach springs) and I am very pleased with ride and performance. I get very little body lean (also have RB hollow bar) yet the car is not bouncy, it dampens very well.
Good luck

cueball1

iTrader: (13)

Y8's I'll clean up my end myself! How's that? Any opinions on improving the car?!?


Edit: Cleaned up my posts.

elesjuan

iTrader: (11)

Okay now I recall you talking about that in the past and explains again your username. Yeah I can see where selling home game room equipment might not be a top priority in foreclosure.. Damn I really wish I had some spare $$ laying around because I'd LOOOVE to have a nice/intermediate pool table.

If you can keep the lights open long enough I'm positive things will return to normal someday. Good luck, man.

99mx5

iTrader: (16)

+1 on making your car more enjoyable to you. I tried my friend's '94 with Koni Yellows, Ground Control springs/perches and Fatcat bumpstops with the FM rear upper mounts on the track. I was so impressed with how solid it felt, I had to upgrade my factory suspension.

On the safety side of things, how about adding a roll bar?

patsmx5

iTrader: (16)

Hell yeah! Send me 2K, I'll put it to use.

If I were the OP, I'd really think about what you want. As others mentioned, if you enjoy tracking the car, save some of that money to buy track days. I would. That would be the most enjoyable way to spend your money. If you do want to improve the car, make careful decisions. IE-if you have a badass suspension and a stock engine, I personally would spend some money on a motor before upgrading suspension parts again.

ZX-Tex

iTrader: (15)

Good one. But not just for safety. It will REALLY stiffen up the chassis, especially if you add the door bars. Subjectively speaking, the addition of the roll bar and door bars was nearly as (or as) dramatic an improvement in handling as going form my old, worn stock springs and shocks to the aftermarket ones (Tein Basics). It really stiffened up the chassis, much more than the hard top does. Even though the door bars get in the way a bit (not too bad) and the car is my DD, I still would do it again.

So yeah a hard dog roll bar and door bars (or some other such brand) is a good idea IMO.

cjernigan

iTrader: (13)

Since he has the frame rails I say skip the door bars and he already has the HDHCHT rollbar so he's good there guys.

Rafa

iTrader: (22)

Another suggestion cueball; I bought FM's butterfly brace along with the frame rails. I couldn't be happier with that combo.