Cheap or Free Mods

A friend of mine has a 92? LX 1.9L wagon, and was just wondering if there was anything we could do to help out his performance. Right now I was thinking along the lines of removing the intake resonator and things very basic such as that. I'm just not sure how to do it on his car. And does anyone know how difficult or how much it would cost to put a 5spd into this car? He wants a stick, but he wants his car. That's all for now, thanks.

Bill

advance the timing gut the cat cut out the stock air box

First thing I did to my car was ditch the wierd saxophone looking thing that goes from the bottom of the airbox to the fender. You'll have to either remove or completely move the airbox out of the way, then there is only one screw or so holding the thing in...it looks like a plactic saxophone with a box on the back. Apparently it's "dyno proven" to add 8 hp, but I don't know about the authenticity of that. But just compare the size of the hole in the bottom of the airbox to that of the hole inside the sax and you'll quickly see that you'll be getting a ton more air already.

Actually, his car is a 93, not sure if that matters, don't know the generation years, but that's all there is to removing the "sax" is just one screw. Is it pretty obvious to get out once looking at it? Thanks for your help.

Bill

Yeah, it's really easy to take out, and I haven't really noticed any detrimental effects...compare the sizes of the hole in the bottom of the airbox and the hole inside the "sax"...the one in the airbox is like 3 times bigger :)

i have a 95 lx and i want to do that. where is the air box and what does it look like?

When you pop the hood, it's the big black box at the front, on the drivers side. You'll see the resonator ("sax") directly in front of it. There is a piece that comes out of the bottom of the airbox, then curves up, and eventually goes towards the drivers side fender. Simply unscrew the airbox itself and move it out of the way, and the resonator will come out easily after removing only 1 screw (I think).

im stuck doing this. i took out the air box, and below it there is a sax looking thing. its split in two places. one goes to behind the headlight and the other goes to the left fender. what do i do next? just take it out? is the sax looking thing your air intake? what is it used for?

i took it out. theres the sax looking thing along with this big rectangular box. i think the box is empty. whats that used for?

I'll look for some pictures that might help. But there is the sax like thing, and it is connected to a rectangular box that is taller than it is wide. Take that all out. It simply silences the sound of air entering the airbox, but I haven't really noticed any sound change after taking it out anyways.

sorry for being annoying but i just have one more question. if i ran a pipe from the bottom of the air box to a tire well, would that make a cold-air intake?

Actually yes. Several people have already done this. Some have made an intake that sits at the bottom of the bumper or other places. A intake that is driectly in the air flow would of course give you more cold air, but it is then prone to getting water in. Water in your engine is not good at all. However, a pipe going into the tire well might be a bit less dangerous.

As far as the silencer removal, I just posted exact insturctions here (http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/t11773.html).

The 'sax' is actually the air intake horn. The purpose is to get cold air versus hot bay air, which is why they put out the 8HP claim. It's not true of course.

The ULTIMATE upgrade for your intake involves taking about 3 feet of ductwork hose, like for a dryer or HVAC, and a K&N cone.

Remove airbox and all associated hardware. Attach duct to MAV. Run duct below headlights, then up or down, to behind an open area on the front end. Attach K&N and make a bracket to hold it in place. Stick it all together with good hose clamps. Ta-dah. Genuine cold air. :sun:

There is also a trtick with the air temp gauge on the airbox where as you put a capacitor inline with it to make it think its running cold so it ups the timing as there is no timing adjusment on the car, i tried this and am still running it but i dont know how much it addeed as i did loads of stuff in the same week...

Whoever came up with the idea of taking out the "sax" air pipe, thanks! I just removed the sax and the associated box along with it and it runs ALOT better! i don't know about this 8 HP gain crap, but you can feel it in the seat of your pants after you get the revs up. You can really feel a difference once you install a K&n air filter. Just a few pointers though for those about to try it. First thing, there are two bolts holding the whole assembly in. One for the sax and one for the associated box. Also, when you take out all of that crap, you will notice three holes in the bottom. Two of them look like a good place for water to enter. After I cleaned all of the gunk out of this area (clean freak! lol), I put a bolt through two of the largest holes. I left the smallest hole open just in case water was to get in there from someplace else. Now to the filter box. You will have a large open hole in it now! lol Bolt a screen over the hole to prevent your filter box from becoming a "critter condo". I'm not talking about a screen that you put over your windows in your house. Im talking about a screen with holes about a 1/4 in size, like fencing. You can get this at your local hardware store. Cut it to fit over the hole. One sheetmetal screw with a washer in each corner of the screen will hold it in. This should let air pass through unobstructed, and keep the critters out. Just clean it every oil change, and it should do alright. Hope this helps! :flash:

I'm just bought a 93 2 door. I just wanted to know if there are any mods or upgrades for the 1.9
:bloated:

Are there any upgrades like superchargers

Nope. There is one actuall turbo setup... check out ThomasKnightTurbos.com. I dont know much about his work etc. but I know its out there. You can supercharge your car... but it would take alot of work. You would have to build everything for it.... and for the time and money you should just do a engine swap.

Is the 1.8 High output efi a good engine. I heard it was pretty strong. Like maybe 130 hp. In my opinion, that isn't bad for a four banger!

I tryed looking up that site, but noting. I was looking in a tang magizine the other day and seen an ad saying that their company makes turbochargers for any engine. Is this true? If so, how would it work? Would you have to give them your engine so they can make it? That would be a big hassle!

Check out Escortracing.com there should be a link to that site. The 1.8 is stronger than the 1.9 its DOHC and puts out 127hp *comes in the GT models* It is the same 1.8 that Mazada uses in the Protege. So if you found a 1.8 that would be good. The thing about turbocharging any car is that its a waste of money. Its just a little blower that actually doesnt work... I have checked into it and from every source ive checked it doesnt do you any good... save the cash for something more useful.

Thanks, they got all kinds of people who know a lot.:smoka:

why dont you just take all that out and get a WeaponR Dragon Intake or one from www.ctamotorsports.com or make one yourself... you will notice a lot more gain! O yeah and ZXtuner.com has em for the 3rd gens (97+)