What can I do to my car that is free or very cheap, to get some HP gains? I'm saving my money for a turbo, and so far all I have is an intake and exhaust. Would sticking the filter right on the TB help at all? Or would it just take in hotter air? Please name some things I could do free or cheaply. Thanks.

Oh yeah, I have another question, but I dont want to make a new post. Is the alternator driven off a different belt than the power steering and air conditioning? Jut wondering, cuz a friend of mine had his power steeering belt break and his car seemed a lot faster. I don't plan on keeping it off or anything, but when I change it, I would drive it around a little bit if the alternator doesn't run off of it.

I'm going to put my filter on my tb just for the rest of the winter. a good free mod is the throttle plate adjustment one, just tightens the slack the throttle cable...

http://www.2gnt.com/www/files/tbopen.htm

aside from what he said ^^^^ (adjusting the throttle cable), i cant think of any more free mods. perheaps a fuel pump re-wire? that would only cost around 10 bucks to do and a few hours, but i dont think the gains will be significant (if not hurtfull) considering our cars already run rich.

and we have 2 belts funning off of the crankshaft pulley, one has the power steering pump and a/c on it, and the other has the alternator. you are fine removing the p/s and a/c one, but i personally did not notice any gains in doing so. i couldnt properly defrost my windows or park in a tight spot...thats about it.

guttting the cat is the best free mod i can think of

Free mods, a few thing you can do are * gut the cat * * take the belt off your A/C and P/S * * make sure your cable is not lose * and
if you take off your intake look at the flap in their make sure that it opens all the way up I looked at mine one day and it didn't open all the way their a screw that you can play with. Personly gutin the cat I didn't see alot out of that but sound were I seen the most is when I took off my A/C and P/S belt and theirs some thing you can do with the clutch all so to make it like a stage 2 race clutch but that you'll have to look up I think it is on this site some were not sure

^^last one he referred to is the clutch restrictor mod. It won't exactly give you any more hp, but it will allow the clutch to engage quicker and eliminate some slop in there (of course if you are automatic this is not an option)

otherwise, cheap options are motor mounts (prepare to vibrate), symborski shift kit (again, no hp gain, and not applicable to AT trannies). can't think of anything more atm.

____________________
Black 96 ESI 5 speed
few mods here and there

After I did the fuel pump rewire, it seemed to make a slight difference in the way the car performed. I dont think that it makes our cars run richer, because the ecu adjusts by reading the air/fuel. It SEEMED to be worthwhile, at least for the peace of mind.

as far as your intake goes. is it cold air? I made a totally ghetto extension for my short ram, and you know what? I wouldn't give it up for the world. it SEEMED to add a lot to the seat of the pants feel, and the beefy sound alone made it worth while. not free, but damned cheep.

Is your car auto? a transgo shift kit is only about $20.00.

for a stick shift it sounds like those shift bushings make a big difference without much bucks.

If you have a dremmel, do some porting. get that stock exhaust manifold off, and do some grinding. throttle body. intake manifold. there is enough to keep you busy for a while, and make a noticeable increase in performance

I would consider doing some porting, but I don't have the proper bits for my dremel, and I don't really know what I'm doing. Can anyone help?

Just finished the Cold air intake mod.
Cost 60$ total(40 k&n being the most expensive part). The power and throttle response really kicks in at 3k rpm, plus it sounds pretty cool.

Take your exhaust off, and run an open header!:7



Black '98 GS auto
I-vers intake
Custom (home made!) ram air conversion
Front & rear strut bars
OBX fog lights w/ fog light mod
Illuminated tail mod
RSR rear section
JVC cd player
Kenwood

Does anybody know if these work? I see a ton of them on eBay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2402056702&category=33742

electric turbo kit?? :+

why get a turbo when u can put a cool fan in ur intake... it's probably the same one ur bus driver had back in middle school hahahahahhahaa