$500 to spend....any suggestions?

[CTGTDRIVER17]

ok my birthday is coming up so im askin for money to spend on my car. i think it will be around 500. what should i do with the money? i want to tint my windows and i was thinkin of shocks and struts. any comments would be greatly appreciated.

[Wiscon_Mark]

got a swaybar yet? That's a bigger deal the S&S.

Tint would be good on your black car :)

How about pulleys?

[MR.MCSICK]

Im thinkin swaybars definately! Handling is really the only practical thing to focus on for these cars anyway. I kinda think its pointless to dump an assload of cash into engine mods. Then again, its not like i havent thought of swapping something sick. :-D If I were you i would browse www.teaguesauto.com (http://www.teaguesauto.com) They have one of the widest selections ive found.

[scottzg]

season pass to ski!

[jey]

What do you currently have for wheels/tires? That's the best bang/buck for handling.

[Wiscon_Mark]

What do you currently have for wheels/tires? That's the best bang/buck for handling.

+1

[Huffer]

I think a swaybar is better bang for buck. It doesn't wear out like tires do. :D

Tints, do that in spring...

What about saving for a flywheel/clutch? :D

[Wiscon_Mark]

he's got an auto, which is why I suggested a pulley and not a flywheel ;)

[CTGTDRIVER17]

ok......ok......how much does a swaybar cost?......pulley? also what brands are best?

i have wheels/tires not upgrading more yet

[Wiscon_Mark]

Swaybar is probably in the 120-170 range, pulleys are 100-150 usually for the single crank pulley.

Look on rallitek for pulleys, they have a couple of them. I think boxer4racing also has 2 or 3 of them.

Avoid underdriven crank pulleys because they suck power from your A/C, power steering, and alternator, and you have to mess with different belts. Just look for lightened ones.

[CTGTDRIVER17]

im sorry mark....underdriven? lightened ones? i have no clue what that means.


sorry to ask mark but i was wonderin if u were still gunna do my sig?

[shazapple]

underdriven means it has a smaller diameter, which saves weight and requres less force to turn the accessories.

unfortunatly this means that all your accessories and alternator turn slower, possibly affecting their life and definitly affecting their performance.

I suggest a lightened pulley, same diameter, but lighter weight (doesnt require as much force to turn it) You can get one for $90 shipped from Mr Josh
http://www.mrjosh43.com/parts.html

As gil_ong mentioned to me, be sure to check to see if your crank pulley will come off first before ordering this!

You can get a Rear swaybar off a Outback. Yours is 14mm, and the Outback is 18mm. IMO it makes a huge difference. Cheap to get out of a junkyard (cost me $65 CDN). If you want you can spend double or triple the money for an after market one that will adjust from 18-20-22

[Wiscon_Mark]

oh yeah.

Shoot me a PM this weekend (actually, I get a short vacation starting thrusday) and I'll have time to do it then.

Thanks for reminding, sorry to forget.

On to business.

The crank pulley turns the serpentine belt (the belt in front that you can see) which powers the alternator and stuff. If you make it lighter, it lessens rotational mass, making it easier to turn and increasing power that the engine can put to the wheels.

The most popular way is to make it underdriven (make the diameter of the pulley smaller) so less power is going to the accessories like power steering and the alternator. You also have to mess with different size pulleys, which is why it just isn't worth it to me...

[CTGTDRIVER17]

sha_zapple.......how can i see if my crank pulley will come off?? im not too edumacated in engines. is mr. josh reliable?


also whats the difference between 14mm and 18mm swaybars?....i dont know of any junkyards near me though.

[shazapple]

I beleive its just held on with a bolt. Sometimes its stubborn though and doesnt want to slide of the crank.

14mm and 18mm are the diameters of the bar. The bigger the diameter the less it will bend while turning. I did a bit of a writeup for my install
http://www.sl-i.net/FORUM/viewtopic.php?t=16

Oh yeah, might as well get a set of endlinks while your at it. theyd help a lot as well. Unfortunatly Im not an expert on those (Kartboy might have a set for our cars?)

[Wiscon_Mark]

boxer4racing probably has endlinks (whiteline and costco, IIRC)

Mr. Josh is supposed to be good stuff...

[CTGTDRIVER17]

ok good advice.....im gonna check out the stuff...

[scottzg]

*opinion*
I question the wisdom of putting a big rear bar on a budding-enthusiast's car.

A bigger rear bar will reduce that margin for error when comming in to a turn too hot, and the benefit in midturn and exit is often not realized by the novice. I suspect that at first, the extra confidence gained by knowing the car can slough off the speed if need be can compensate for the lessened ability to adjust the car's attitude mid-turn. Only once you can nail your braking distance and entry speed pretty closely does the larger rear bar come into it's own. My guess is that if you went out and drove the piss out of the car for an hour every day for a week, you would get the feel and confidence to enjoy the larger bar more.

Automatic cars don't seem to be as sensitive to throttle imputs, so it may be wiser to run a little less rear bar than a manual car.

Some cars plough horribly, and getting a little less traction out back is necessary to be comfortable throttling out of a turn. The legacy, imo, is not one of these cars. The wrx is though, fwiw.
*/opinion*

For parts, I would look to some PU steering rack bushings and some nice brake pads. If the car has over, say, 70k, i'd invest in some new struts too. Those are just things to help increase confidence and feel, but i'd still stick them on any car i was going to go play with.

A 90-94 legacy has a 16mm bar that can had from a jy for peanuts. Not much of a change over what i believe is a 15mm bar in your car, though.

I'm not much of a fan of engine mods, imo the cost/benefit sucks and they incourage in-town hooliganism.

[Wiscon_Mark]

I agree with Scotty, which is why my vote goes towards the adjustable.

With the 22mm setting, the chance of flying your tail end out in winter is too great, which is why the adjustable is nice to be able to use for different climates, conditions, and use.

[scottzg]

22mm is huge! 363% stiffer than a 15mm bar.

http://www.whiteline.com.au/docs/bulletins/010barup.pdf

[Wiscon_Mark]

so 15 ---> 18 is your recommendation?

That's what I was going for anyways...

[scottzg]

this is probably going to be poorly worded... the swaybars affect which wheels lose traction first, and how violently. If you're not comfortable letting the wheels lose traction, then you won't be able to appreciate what the bar has done to your car, and that could bite you in an emergency or 11:10ths situation.

[CTGTDRIVER17]

im thinkin of gettin a yellowtop tomorrow, cuz my battery now is almost shot

[AFBeefcake]

I would say get some struts and springs.
I got a used set of AGX struts and H&R springs for my Impreza used for $300.00.

Handing was instantly improved. Almost doubled my safe cornering speed.

[Huffer]

Under $200: Lightweight Braille battery (or any battery lightweight :) )
Under $500: new struts

For looks and comfort: tint

For the ultimate mod: Advance Driver Training school.

[Reason]

Why don't you save the $500 for some real mods? Is it really burning a whole in your pocket? Save up for the struts, springs, strut braces sway bars end links, bushing etc. Do it all up at once or get some engine work done. Have you whole exhaust done. Think big Steve! :twisted:

[legacy92ej22t]

Oh yeah, save up for the struts just like reason said. Struts are very rare, expensive and hard to come by. They are so rare in fact, that I have no idea what they even are! Maybe some kind of new sturt. :P