bung
12-21-2012, 12:16 PM
My one and only local car mentor, who has done many "POOWWERR" built mustangs, tuned/modded honda's, etc. says "Reading forums and looking at various parts is ok, but never do anything without a plan."
(For TL;DR skip to plan section)
Background
I got my '03 EP3 from my Mom (only owner) almost 12 months ago, my very first car ever. I'm 29 and have spent most of the last 15 years in the computer/IT world, and I took math at university, so I have never been a hands-on kinda guy.
At the end of the summer I decided to start doing things myself, partially because I think I got really ripped off by Canadian dealers getting things fixed the car. But also partially because I was tired of being afraid to do things like pick up a hammer so-to-speak :) I got my garage ready, some good tool sets to start, a hanes book, the technical manual, and have been trawling the boards for months. I have learned how to do some basic maintenance as well as small fixes and small part replacement.
Lastly, I've always wanted to learn how to drive well, shift weight around, gear better, go faster etc etc. so my friends are going to take me to the track/strip and I will get a chance to learn how to do that. It's going to be a long journey, I could spend time OEM doing that and learning how far the ep3 can go, and then see the difference every time I make changes to the car. I'm looking forward to it.
Constraints
Newbie - 4 months ago, I would never have thought I could do my own oil change and brake job, which both seem like the easiest thing now. However I don't like to pretend to know something; I don't want to go try all this stage 2 turbo, engine swap etc stuff and pretend I'm in a Fast movie. I want to take baby steps and learn slowly.
Budget - I don't have a lot of money for this either, as much as our western culture has taught me that going into debt and spending money on expensive things (parts) will make me happy, I know I am going to care a lot more about my car if I save up for everything first. I've already felt a lot more love for my EP3 by learning to do basic maintenance myself, and I'm less likely to crash on a on-ramp if I am patient and save first.
Future - Both of those last points are actually kinda conflicting ;) If I want to go to stage 2 down the line because this may be addicting, then spending money on the parts below that are only stage 1 may be a waste because some of them may have to be upgraded down the line. "You have to pay to play" is the other thing I hear a lot, and I am 100% sure that I need to take this in stages. If I go for the next stage, then that will factor in later but not now!
My Stage 1 Plan
I want to do some basic mods, some "bolt-on" but I -must- also do a bit in the engine for the learning experience! I hope to spend the winter having some fun learning and working on the car, and get out on the roads and track and feel really good that I put my time into doing it
Cams - Like I said, I think this could be a fun simple one, that may see a small gain, but will primarily get me experience with the engine. I've read a few threads about it, some people have "thrashed" their engine with skunk2s or something, but I'm not sure what they're doing, probably being stupid. I've also read about probably needing to upgrade the other components of the valvetrain if going to stage 2 cams. The prices that I can find here are pretty much the same for stage 1 or stage 2, even if the other components cost a bit I think it might be worth doing stage 2.
Intake - A cold air intake. As much as I'm tempted to try and gain "street cred" buy spending 250$ on the best injen one, I think for my level and application, all I'll be trying to do is be able to provide more airflow for the new cams, which could very well lead to a cheap ebay one. I've read the thread about intake options, and I feel like I have to unlearn the brand-hardon and price-hardon that I have (and I'm sure most people do). The machine just wants to breath and minor differences likely won't matter for this simple stage. If I end up having to spend 200$ on a bigger pipe going to stage 2 because the engine can't breath, well hey that's small peanuts if I am spending 8-10k upgrading the engine. This is the advice I've gotten, it seems very realistic to me.
Exhaust - Better airflow both in and out, right? From the sounds of it again, I could buy the cheap piece of shit 200$ ebay full exhaust system that is 2.25" and I would probably get better airflow than stock. How many of you really know the flow rates and stuff, sometimes I wish there was a wiki.ephatch.com haha. I don't think I actually want the ebay exhaust here I'm just saying more airflow is more airflow.
I've already been answered that the stock midpipe is tiny, <2" and I can do a cat-delete as well (no testing here unless you move to a new province). I was looking at some nice megan components, but I'm a bit limited with selection in canada, so i'll look for some good stuff and probably post a more specific thread on that in jan or feb if needed. I also know that the stock axle-back is probably fine to leave, and it rates well as long as you're not continually pushing it to it's limits. However, if I have the extra money that apexi noir looked pretty hot to me :)
-- Well that's all I have for now, I'm sure that's just going to seem like a rant to some of you, and maybe i'm just helping myself by writing it down and trying to figure out how dumb it sounds. But if you have any advice I'd be happy to take it, I'm very open about this stuff, but I will always decide myself what I'm going to do in the end (which I hope sounds responsible lol)
(For TL;DR skip to plan section)
Background
I got my '03 EP3 from my Mom (only owner) almost 12 months ago, my very first car ever. I'm 29 and have spent most of the last 15 years in the computer/IT world, and I took math at university, so I have never been a hands-on kinda guy.
At the end of the summer I decided to start doing things myself, partially because I think I got really ripped off by Canadian dealers getting things fixed the car. But also partially because I was tired of being afraid to do things like pick up a hammer so-to-speak :) I got my garage ready, some good tool sets to start, a hanes book, the technical manual, and have been trawling the boards for months. I have learned how to do some basic maintenance as well as small fixes and small part replacement.
Lastly, I've always wanted to learn how to drive well, shift weight around, gear better, go faster etc etc. so my friends are going to take me to the track/strip and I will get a chance to learn how to do that. It's going to be a long journey, I could spend time OEM doing that and learning how far the ep3 can go, and then see the difference every time I make changes to the car. I'm looking forward to it.
Constraints
Newbie - 4 months ago, I would never have thought I could do my own oil change and brake job, which both seem like the easiest thing now. However I don't like to pretend to know something; I don't want to go try all this stage 2 turbo, engine swap etc stuff and pretend I'm in a Fast movie. I want to take baby steps and learn slowly.
Budget - I don't have a lot of money for this either, as much as our western culture has taught me that going into debt and spending money on expensive things (parts) will make me happy, I know I am going to care a lot more about my car if I save up for everything first. I've already felt a lot more love for my EP3 by learning to do basic maintenance myself, and I'm less likely to crash on a on-ramp if I am patient and save first.
Future - Both of those last points are actually kinda conflicting ;) If I want to go to stage 2 down the line because this may be addicting, then spending money on the parts below that are only stage 1 may be a waste because some of them may have to be upgraded down the line. "You have to pay to play" is the other thing I hear a lot, and I am 100% sure that I need to take this in stages. If I go for the next stage, then that will factor in later but not now!
My Stage 1 Plan
I want to do some basic mods, some "bolt-on" but I -must- also do a bit in the engine for the learning experience! I hope to spend the winter having some fun learning and working on the car, and get out on the roads and track and feel really good that I put my time into doing it
Cams - Like I said, I think this could be a fun simple one, that may see a small gain, but will primarily get me experience with the engine. I've read a few threads about it, some people have "thrashed" their engine with skunk2s or something, but I'm not sure what they're doing, probably being stupid. I've also read about probably needing to upgrade the other components of the valvetrain if going to stage 2 cams. The prices that I can find here are pretty much the same for stage 1 or stage 2, even if the other components cost a bit I think it might be worth doing stage 2.
Intake - A cold air intake. As much as I'm tempted to try and gain "street cred" buy spending 250$ on the best injen one, I think for my level and application, all I'll be trying to do is be able to provide more airflow for the new cams, which could very well lead to a cheap ebay one. I've read the thread about intake options, and I feel like I have to unlearn the brand-hardon and price-hardon that I have (and I'm sure most people do). The machine just wants to breath and minor differences likely won't matter for this simple stage. If I end up having to spend 200$ on a bigger pipe going to stage 2 because the engine can't breath, well hey that's small peanuts if I am spending 8-10k upgrading the engine. This is the advice I've gotten, it seems very realistic to me.
Exhaust - Better airflow both in and out, right? From the sounds of it again, I could buy the cheap piece of shit 200$ ebay full exhaust system that is 2.25" and I would probably get better airflow than stock. How many of you really know the flow rates and stuff, sometimes I wish there was a wiki.ephatch.com haha. I don't think I actually want the ebay exhaust here I'm just saying more airflow is more airflow.
I've already been answered that the stock midpipe is tiny, <2" and I can do a cat-delete as well (no testing here unless you move to a new province). I was looking at some nice megan components, but I'm a bit limited with selection in canada, so i'll look for some good stuff and probably post a more specific thread on that in jan or feb if needed. I also know that the stock axle-back is probably fine to leave, and it rates well as long as you're not continually pushing it to it's limits. However, if I have the extra money that apexi noir looked pretty hot to me :)
-- Well that's all I have for now, I'm sure that's just going to seem like a rant to some of you, and maybe i'm just helping myself by writing it down and trying to figure out how dumb it sounds. But if you have any advice I'd be happy to take it, I'm very open about this stuff, but I will always decide myself what I'm going to do in the end (which I hope sounds responsible lol)