Modding advice for an St204c/happy holidays!! Options

[freethriftyz]

Merry Christmas!


helloooo 6gc.net....

You guys probably don't remember me, as I only made one post here- and that was six months ago.

So I bought the celica (convertible st204c, pic for reference)



This was to be my daily driver, but the transmission solenoids failed two days before I was to drive it from Cle. to Houston...and the gas tank started leaking! And the handbrake became permanently engaged! And the rotors had become so warped that it made a sound like God gnashing his teeth.
But thankfully all that is fixed, and the car runs great.

But when things were getting fixed, my trustworthy mechanic noticed that basically the entire undercarriage had severely rusted out. To the point where we had to replace the control arms, as they looked like swiss cheese, with rust holes the size of my face (no exaggeration)...

So those were replaced, but the rest of the car is still decrepit...

-I want to know a good catback exhaust system (NOTHING RICEY OR LOUD!! I already have an unbelievably loud 500hp Evox). Something seriously quiet, but nice and shiny, a *little* grumble is ok, and if at all possible, a performance bump.
-Also, going to buy a short ram, wondering what a good company is for that as well. Don't wanna break the banl. I have money, but don't wanna spend $400 on an intake that will bump my NA celica from 90 to 96whp.
-Springs? Will they destroy my shocks? I was looking at a $100 set of Tein's.
-What else is popular to do on these cars....headers? Mine is an auto (i know i know, it's all they had and I fell in love with the car and had to buy it) so no short shifter or anything.
-Gonna get these...thoughts? (Konig flatout white)


Thanks for your input, sorry for asking to be spoonfed, but after all the insane headaches from the 350z/evo world, it'd be nice to just know what is common, works well, and is effective. I'm done with trial and error lol.

Thanks again!

[Smaay]

looks clean for so many issues

[freethriftyz]

Yes, the undercarriage was just rotted from someone letting it sit for over 10 years I guess. I understand tranny solenoids though. Anyways it's all fixed.
I cannpt find catback exhausts for this car ANYWHERE, just those stupid exhaust tips...

[Syaoran]

Catbacks for this car stopped being a common thing to find many years ago. Same goes for intakes. Your best bet (and cheapest, too) is to go custom with stuff you know works.

DIY Intake (all you need is an S-bend about 1.75ft long and a cone filter)
DIY exhaust (2.25" mandrel bent with a resonator and a nice muffler like a Vibrant muffler)

An ebay header makes this engine really loud, exhaust wise. Most of them are too big to either give you power or a nice sound. If you could go custom there as well you'd be better off.

[ricochet1490]

Catbacks for this car stopped being a common thing to find many years ago. Same goes for intakes. Your best bet (and cheapest, too) is to go custom with stuff you know works.

DIY Intake (all you need is an S-bend about 1.75ft long and a cone filter)
DIY exhaust (2.25" mandrel bent with a resonator and a nice muffler like a Vibrant muffler)

An ebay header makes this engine really loud, exhaust wise. Most of them are too big to either give you power or a nice sound. If you could go custom there as well you'd be better off.

+1

39k miles and 300k worth of under carriage rot. Unbelievable. Esp for how good the rest of the car looks. I know the auto 5sfe is slow, I drive one, but drive about 20-25 mph and mash it. At that point it down shifts to 1st, is at 4k and right in the power band. And the car becomes fun for about 2.5 seconds lol.

WRT performance. Just do it custom. You won't find anything bolt on that is what you are looking for. Stay with 2" exhaust, because going bigger from the axle back won't gain you jack, but you already know that.
Intakes in the bay are easy - as said above. But I'm telling you, your stock air box is already a "cold air intake". Look where the draw comes from... the inside of the fender. There is a box in the bay, and a box behind the bumper and the fender that is like a pre box. I bought mine with it missing from a previous accident. Maybe try removing the lower box alone and see if you notice anything else. because honestly, you'll gain noise with a short ram and that's about it

it's a shame yours is a 96+ though. Because the advantage I have with mine is the ability to advance the ignition timing manually with the cap, and timing light, and some diagnostic port jumpering. I swear to you there is 3 mpg available and 10hp available by moving your timing from 10deg btdc to 12-14 deg. granted the power is a butt dyno, the mpgs aren't.

This post has been edited by ricochet1490: Dec 25, 2012 - 11:58 PM

[freethriftyz]

I know the auto 5sfe is slow, I drive one, but drive about 20-25 mph and mash it. At that point it down shifts to 1st, is at 4k and right in the power band. And the car becomes fun for about 2.5 seconds lol.

lol I gotta try that I guess.

WRT performance. Just do it custom. You won't find anything bolt on that is what you are looking for. Stay with 2" exhaust, because going bigger from the axle back won't gain you jack, but you already know that.
Intakes in the bay are easy - as said above. But I'm telling you, your stock air box is already a "cold air intake". Look where the draw comes from... the inside of the fender. There is a box in the bay, and a box behind the bumper and the fender that is like a pre box.

Thanks to the previous two posters for this advice, I'm going to undertake a project I've never done and build my own axleback:) And yeah, I'm not about to make a catless 3.5" straight pipe lol. Smaller diameter=more torque, and thats what I want:) And I just got a k&n drop in that gave me the (probably inaccurate) perception of maybe a little more power.

it's a shame yours is a 96+ though. Because the advantage I have with mine is the ability to advance the ignition timing manually with the cap, and timing light, and some diagnostic port jumpering. I swear to you there is 3 mpg available and 10hp available by moving your timing from 10deg btdc to 12-14 deg. granted the power is a butt dyno, the mpgs aren't.

Changing timing manually WOW...I come from a different scene...which explains why I couldn't find an aftermarket bolt-on for the life of me.

Thanks again guys!

[jordisonjr]

You can run s techs for a few months on stock struts before they blow, depending how new/old your current struts are.
I believe mine lasted about 6 months beofre they blew out.