Just bought a 2g GS. What do I do?

[2gGhost]

Hi everybody Im new to the forum and pretty new to cars as well. I just bought a 1999 Gs. Its in pretty good condition, needs body work but thats the least of my concerns. I'm interested in learning modding and about cars in general.

Car right now has a cold air intake. Pretty big but I'm thinking of changing the filter to A&M from what I've read in other threads.

Has a cat back exhaust and I know that its just piping. The sound is decent but ideas/thoughts on how to get a deeper/huskier sound? The last thing I want is to sound like the kids in my neighborhood with their riced out cars.

Lastly, the car is lowered. Extremely. The guy said it was as low as he could get it. I would say its about 3 in. off the ground. What do you guys think about that? ride is really stiff. Has a strut bar as well.

Any advice is appreciated. Again, I'm new to cars but I am a quick learner and great listener. Thanks

 

[phunny]

If you have over 60k miles you NEED to do replace the timing belt and the water pump. These are "none clearance" engines and if/when it breaks you lose.

Once you have the maintenance done there are a few things you can do to up the performance a bit. Sounds like intake/exhaust are done along with being lowered so that pretty much leaves weight reduction, nitrous and light weight pulleys.

They make some turbo kits for them if you want, but they can get pretty pricey and hurt reliability.o

Welcome to the DSM community

 

[Dhan]

These articles were written specifically for N/T 2G owners Tech Guide: 2G 420A Power Upgrades - DSMtuners

It will outline the upgrade paths. Pick which flavor works for you and go for it.

GL


PS. and follow Phunny's advice- do the maintenance first, before anything else.

 

[sypherzero]

Hi everybody Im new to the forum and pretty new to cars as well. I just bought a 1999 Gs. Its in pretty good condition, needs body work but thats the least of my concerns. I'm interested in learning modding and about cars in general.

Car right now has a cold air intake. Pretty big but I'm thinking of changing the filter to A&M from what I've read in other threads.

Has a cat back exhaust and I know that its just piping. The sound is decent but ideas/thoughts on how to get a deeper/huskier sound? The last thing I want is to sound like the kids in my neighborhood with their riced out cars.

Lastly, the car is lowered. Extremely. The guy said it was as low as he could get it. I would say its about 3 in. off the ground. What do you guys think about that? ride is really stiff. Has a strut bar as well.

Any advice is appreciated. Again, I'm new to cars but I am a quick learner and great listener. Thanks

First of all, make sure all of the routine maintenance is up to date. Check all of your fluids and belts. Plugs and wires, check for oil leeks and etc.

I think you meant K&N filter? They are really good filters, and most of them are washable and reusable. You can get the filter re charge kit (cleaner and oil) at Advanced or Autozone. Just make sure the filter is in a good location so that it doesnt get submersed in water from rain or whatnot while the car is running. You can get one of these to help prevent that. Not sure what diameter you wil need though. AEM Bypass Valve 3" Cold Air Intake By Pass 20-403S | eBay

The exhaust could maybe able to be given a deeper tone by getting a set of headers, or maybe buying a cat-back system to replace the old one. If you go that route, there are some cheap systems on ebay, and some sound pretty decent. Look on youtube for a good idea of how they sound. Just search Eclipse ebay exhaust.

And as for ride height, I couldn't see it being only 3 inches off of the ground. Not saying it isn't possible, but thats really slammed. A stiffer ride will give you more feel in the curves, if thats what you're after. If you end up changing out the shocks/struts and springs, the KYB GR-2s are a good daily driver set. And Eibach makes excellent lowering springs. Some of the springs only drop the car around an inch. Or you could use OEM springs for the original ride height.

Hope this a little, and welcome to the site. Cj.

 

[DSM1G90]

...get it paid off first and keep the insurance on it for starters....

 

[2gGhost]

The car is paid off and it is fully insured. Oh I did mean k&n. Living in philly and driving in té city do you think the suspension is too low? Also, when you say maintenance could you guys tell me everything that should be done? Sorry for dumb questions but I'd rather ask then to miss something.

 

[Dhan]

Step One: buy the factory service manual. Shoot for the Chrysler manual, not the Chiltons or Haynes.

You can find a manual on ebay. It will have a matrix illustrating all maintenance schedules and what is to be done in each maintenance interval.


BTW, in case you haven't picked up on it, your car has the Chrysler built 420A motor, so be sure when you're reading and studying about your car, it's about that engine.

 

[2gGhost]

I definitely won't touch the timing belt myself, but do you think the water pump would be to hard? I have been reading alot. And will pick up the manual. Thanks.

 

[Dhan]

You will have to remove the timing belt to do the water pump.

 

[2gGhost]

Ok. I guess I'm taking it too my dad then. He's my mechanic and is going to be helping me with the car anyway

 

[Dhan]

Great way to learn. That's how I learned everything I know

GL w/everything.

 

[2gGhost]

Ok been riding around. Love how it takes corners. Hate hitting any kind of bumps. With the suspension being so low. And with the strut bar on an car being so stiff does it effect anything else when I'm hitting these bumps?

Also, 1st and 2nd gear are really nice but 3rd through 5th don't really accelerate a lot. I want the car to be fast not just quick off the line. Any ideas?

 

[Ghost1984]

lots of great information to be found on this forum. Just do like everyone said and take care of the maintenance of the car first before you decide to do any modifications. There a N/T sub-forum with articles on different things other people have done to their cars. Good luck!

 

[brandonwh64]

Ok been riding around. Love how it takes corners. Hate hitting any kind of bumps. With the suspension being so low. And with the strut bar on an car being so stiff does it effect anything else when I'm hitting these bumps?

Also, 1st and 2nd gear are really nice but 3rd through 5th don't really accelerate a lot. I want the car to be fast not just quick off the line. Any ideas?

This is a 420A for ya. mine is a automatic (yes more sluggish than manual) and once you get around 60- 80 MPH is very slow.

 

[Alex7747]

You have an N/T, its not going to be super fast in 3rd through 5th...

 

[400hp93talon]

Sell it and get a GSX or GST!!

 

[Alan11]

Sell it and get a GSX or GST!!

Thats what i did. But a well maintanied and tuned 420a can be really good and reliable. Not really fast though.

 

[AK Maniak]

You can turn it into a fairly quick and reliable DD but don't forget that you have a N/A 420a under the hood. Don't expect to have a race car because of a few bolt ons. Maintenance first and then research everything for hours before you even starting "modding" it.

 

[2gGhost]

Maintenance has begun. Oil change tomorrow. Any recommendations? I saw a thread about this. Jus need some opinions.

Oh and I'm not expecting it to be a race car. That's why I got the GS. I saw a GSX for sale but for my first mod I jus wanted to stick with something light. And issuance was an issue. But I mean down the road. Maybe by the end of summer I want to turbo it but I will be researching.

 

[jjw205]

Maintenance has begun. Oil change tomorrow. Any recommendations? I saw a thread about this. Jus need some opinions.

Oh and I'm not expecting it to be a race car. That's why I got the GS. I saw a GSX for sale but for my first mod I jus wanted to stick with something light. And issuance was an issue. But I mean down the road. Maybe by the end of summer I want to turbo it but I will be researching.

I bought my GS 6 years ago. Do all the maintenance, and do it right the first time. 420A's can be very reliable daily drivers. But if you want speed, dont waste the money on "upgrading" the GS, and go the GST/GSX route.

 

[kingcoyote]

3" from the ground is pretty low. When I got my GST it had been lowered like that and was a huge pain in the ass pulling in and out of driveways, and even drainage ruts were causing me to scrape. If the springs are just cut to achieve that lowering your handling is probably suffering as well. Replacing your springs and struts will make the ride ALOT more pleasant and enjoyable.

 

[ssicb]

leak down and compression test. happy modding! hope you hit boost!

 

[2gGhost]

officially measured its 6 and a half inches off the ground. Took it up on the lift today at my dads shop. The springs aren't cut its actually a nice set of adjustable springs. One of the rear springs is bad though, causing a bumpy ride. Should i just replace the rear or all shocks?

Checked the timing belt and my dad said the guy must have just replaced it before selling because it looks new.

Also, you have to put the clutch all the way to the ground to change gears. New clutch maybe? For the time being my dad says Royal Purple gear oil should help.

 

[2gGhost]

Any help?

Also, I hit as bump doing about 80 on the freeway. All i heard was rattling. Took it right to the shop and got it on the lift and the rear shocks(I believe) are not even holding on. Now any bump causes them to rattle until I come to a complete stop. What should be replaced? Shocks? Springs? Thanks for the help guys.

 

[Trav83]

Also, you have to put the clutch all the way to the ground to change gears. New clutch maybe? For the time being my dad says Royal Purple gear oil should help.

Gear oil isn't really going to help with the clutch engagement, you may need to bleed the system well.