A broke person in need of help

[bigteddyted]

dont have money for boost yet but would like to gain somemore power to my ka. its a 95 any recomendations on what to get so i can see some speed? btw the cars is basically bone stock.

[kensreliableb18b]

how much do you wanna spend? you dont necessarily "need" to spend money on mods. save up and buy something bigger later. hmmmm but if you must ask, you can always buy an lsd and new ring and pinion :)

[MELLO*SOS]

Your KA is going to be fairly slow no matter what until you get it turbo'd. You can throw on a few basic upgrades, panel filter/intake, high flow cat, exhaust, maintenance stuff (oil & fuel filter, new plugs/rotor/wires, etc) but don't expect a lot. A new ring gear, aluminum flywheel, lightweight wheels, gutted interior will also improve the acceleration slightly.

I would invest your money and efforts into suspension... Good tires, Poly bushings and mounts everywhere, Sway bars, LSD, front & rear multi link, brakes. The car won't be incredibly faster -- but the beefed suspension will allow you to drive it better/faster with the same power. All in all it'll be a lot more fun to drive, and it should hold you over until you get it turbo'd or swapped... Plus you have the advantage of once you get the power increased, you'll already have the suspension (and hopefully, skills) to handle the new power.

[ALMOSTJDM]

just save money for boost!!!!!!

[A Spec Products]

Don't spend money on your car, unless its truly maintenance related.

Modifying cars are a luxury, not a necessity.

Spend the money on what counts, cars don't matter in the grand scheme of things.

[jrmiller84]

Modifying cars are a luxury, not a necessity.

Lies!!!!!!!! :keke:

But really, you are right A Spec. It's not terribly important. I just got into a position where I can start throwing money at a car. Before I had the money I could only spend it on cheap parts and I paid the price for it.


But to stay on topic, I would beef up the few things that everyone already mentioned as well. Spend some money on suspension and an exhaust/lsd/intake. Also some weight reduction, but don't plan on seeing or feeling much of an increase.

Perhaps in the mean time buy a part here, a part there, to work your way towards a turbo setup. That way you're not breaking yourself. It'll take longer but it will be well worth it IF (with much emphasis!) you do it right.

[redsuns3838]

well if you are planning on boosting later. I would just save $ till you get a better job. if you really want a nice bang for the buck though, and you dont have it already, a VLSD would be nice. you can get them for pretty cheap and it really does make driving the car more fun compared to open diff. (assuming you have an open diff)

[projectRDM]

1) brakes
2) suspension
3) power

Follow those steps.

[Irukandji]

Get a job and save up.

[nissanberto]

Get a job and save up.

i agree, i work at burger king and im gettin my KA turboed in teh summer.

all you need is patience.

[johngriff]

Invest the money in an IRA and School. In 4 years, you'll be balling, and can modify whatever you want.

[Taniguchi_Is_#1]

Don't spend money on your car, unless its truly maintenance related.

Modifying cars are a luxury, not a necessity.

Spend the money on what counts, cars don't matter in the grand scheme of things.


this man speaks the truth. listen well young padawan.

[usdm180sx]

If you want to go faster for free then cut the speed sensor wire

[bigteddyted]

thanks alot guys, i dont have a lsd but that was the plan for next week. i think ima go wit suspenion first then maybe get an exhast then just wait and stack up some money to either boost or swap. any recomendatoins on what to get??? i dont wanna go to low n dont wanna just drift?? dont mean to sound like a nub but i wanna make sure i spend my money right....

[nissanberto]

recomendations on what? engines? or to boost?

[s13gold]

how much u gotttt.......

[Skinner]

Invest the money in an IRA and School. In 4 years, you'll be balling, and can modify whatever you want.

geeze. do you know my dad? its all a conspiracy i swear. lol

Does an LSD really make more power?

[nissanberto]

umm no but it puts the power to the ground alot better,, instead of one tire putting the power down wit an open dif.. a lsd will lock up both tires under a certain accel.. (depends on LSD) and/or on the deacceleration.. depends on what you get...

[Wykydtron]

If you want to make your KA faster, strip the hell out of your car, eliminate useless crap. my buddy AJ kept his SR nearly stock and went all out with weight reduction... pretty quick car =] Balance is important!

http://nissanpacific.com/forum/Weight-Reduction-guide-t1441.html

and dropping weight with wiring ;]

http://nissanpacific.com/forum/Tech-artical-Drop-weight-in-wiring-t1292.htmll

dropping weight is your best bet.

[redsuns3838]

like everyone said suspension is probably the best upgrade especially if you plan to autox/roadrace/drift the car. it also makes it more fun to drive in general. but still i would get a VLSD since theyre dirt cheap and make corners a whole lot more fun
and do free-weight reductions too. that really will help a lot if your willin gto sacrifice comfort.

[johngriff]

VLSD is bogus. It is only good for meat heads who want burnouts.

VLSD provides no decel locking.

TO truely take advantage of an LSD in any arena except drag, you need decel locking.

SO... on the Super Cheap, go with welded, try "weldlock".

[turtle m3th]

+1 for a welded diff on a budget! And powerwise, the most cost effective way i gained responce was through a light weight flywheel, you won't exactly be making bigger numbers but your car will drive like night and day. And try to stay away from any flywheels that are made out of two different types of material, think of expansion, you can't go wrong with chromoly...

[KA24DESOneThree]

If you want to make your KA faster, strip the hell out of your car, eliminate useless crap. my buddy AJ kept his SR nearly stock and went all out with weight reduction... pretty quick car =] Balance is important!

http://nissanpacific.com/forum/Weight-Reduction-guide-t1441.html

and dropping weight with wiring ;]

http://nissanpacific.com/forum/Tech-artical-Drop-weight-in-wiring-t1292.htmll

dropping weight is your best bet.

He did all that work but is still running an Optima Red Top? The Red Top is like 33.7lbs; the Braille BT14115 is 11.5lbs. That's a magic 22.2lbs right there.

Teddy, if you have a very tight budget, the last thing you need to worry about is power. You need to worry about getting a better job.

[bigteddyted]

lol i got a good job just have alot of other things that i need to spend money on. a better job is always a plus anyway. right now i got like $1500 to put on the car. thats wit the lsd already put in.

['90RPS13]

Some nice coils and a set of Z32 brakes. Just my .02. *a

[Dutchmalmiss]

1500?

- gut the HELL out of the car (free)
- replace bushings
- spring/shock combo if you're not wanting coils
- tires
- brembo rotors/upgraded pads
- bolt-ons

i think that's about right.

[s13gold]

1500...can get u boostin...if u do the work yourself.... t2 setup..it can be done....check out the ka-t FAQ for all the parts you need to buy...price them out...and you will be surprised..

[Dutchmalmiss]

^^ boosting with stock brakes, wheels, and suspension? good idea.

[bigteddyted]

aight cool thanks alot fellas

[punxva]

here's my contribution...

If i were you, i'd go ahead and save up for a nice 3in exhaust system, to those na-sayers, if you want to flame because of this, then i can make you stfu with my dyno resuslts with my hks hi-power 80mm from when i was NA, and i had gains throughout the powerband, also go ahead and work on your suspension, if not coilovers, then get some AGX's with your choice of springs, i'm running sportlines on mine, but it's a matter of prefrence. Also try removing some weight, by taking out the rear seats, spare tire and jack (not reccomended unless your insurence has free towing, like mine does), relocate the battery to the trunk on the passanger side, pickup a bushing set. For now you can do the ghetto airbox mod, which involves removing the resonator under the airbox and making a nice sized hole in the bottom, if you really want to be creative you can goto lowes or home depot and get some vent tubing, and make little cooling duct that goes to it, then get a nice fram drop in filter, also while your at it, remove your AIV system, since if your planning on going turbo you will be removing it at a later time anyway. If you plan on running premium gas then advance your timing by like 2 degrees. Also you can do a cam swap, as detailed in my guide which can be found here...

http://www.zilvia.net/f/showthread.php?t=129780

Basically do a full tune-up also...

If you can afford it, get yourself a nice set of spark plugs and wires, new dizzy cap and rotor, seafoam your engine(search for seafoam for a guide), check all of your rubber hoses and clamps and replace as needed, spray some TB cleaner into your IACV hose. Next really helps with your throttle response, take off your stock intake piping, and use the TB cleaner and a toothbrush to get all of the gunk and grime off of the throttle body and butterfly.

Hope this helped you man

[SochBAT]

I like the title of the thread.

If you're broke, don't play with cars. Your car isn't in need of more power. You're in need of more money. Life, Rent, Repairs, Brakes, Suspension, Power.

[bigteddyted]

Punxva Thanks alot bro, ima look into all thoese lil tips you gave me on tuning up and cleaning shit here and there. Im gratful for your input. thanks yall.

[punxva]

np bro, good luck, just basically work and save towards turboing, aka buy smart, and only buy things you need, and that will be helpful down the road