modding a clean stock gsx

[DSMMIKE413]

how do i go about modding this here minty gsx without ####ing it up, i wanna build it up with patience and get the 16g turbo, i wanna do a 6 bolt swap eventually when i get my evo but what are some easy/cheap/responsive mods i can start off with?

 

[spyderdrifter]

I'd be one of them stupid morons who'd want an out of date hatchback. It doesn't matter what the demand is for these cars. Those of us who love them, do so because of the car itself. Sure, they break down here and there, they may not be built to last like some older cars, but we still love them. I'm on my 4th DSM, I don't feel comfortable in any other car, or truck, or whatever. I can see myself having more in the future. They're just misunderstood, mistreated cars by the vast majority and those of us that take the time to make them better understand this. So what if they loose value. The value is set by us that own them.

 

[Calan]

The value is set by us that own them.

Exactly. And, the increasing value (at some point) will be set by the ones that want them in the future when they are hard to find.

That never changes... no matter what type of car, how many were made, or whether or not it is a "collectible".

 

[Gt Boost]

Forget the 6bolt swap, start with the basics... Maintenance!

How many miles on the car?
Depending on miles, I would change out everything,

Belts (OEM!!)
Oil (10/30 synthetic)
Oil filter (k&n)
Radiator flush (add water wetter)
Spark plugs (NGK)
Spark plug wires (NGK)

As far as your air intake, I would get the dejon tool or eBay knock off. Avoid the ingen intake, the fitment is abit off with those. Keep your oem air box, for smog and legal stuff

eBay short shifter and shifter cable inserts, this will make shifting feel solid!

NGR bov with adapter pipe, it's got the greddy flange but works great! At 150$ it's a steal! Plus you'll get that sweet "Swoosh!" sound everyone loves so much, just remember to recirculate the air back into the intake!! Don't be a limp chimp and try to vent the bov! It will make your car run like poop!

That should get you started with some of the common basics.

Before you start to even think of a turbo, think about the Front mount intercooler, your going to have to consider price and preference, but they make a few kits out there that are routed abit diffrent from each other, trust me a fmic kit might cost 300-600$$ but it's worth it, I custom made my pipes and spent over 600 not including the intercooler. BIG REGRET!!

As far as what kit to get, someone else I'm sure will chime in.

For exhaust manifolds,I personally like the evo3 manifold from slow boy racing, it flows great with its bigger ports, just make sure to port match the head abit using the gasket provided...

And if your getting a 16g (which I have) keep in mind your going to have to switch to slim radiator fans, which don't flow half as good as the oem fans..

The reason you'll have to switch fans is to make room for the turbo piping...

I would hold off in the turbo, intercooler, manifold upgrade until you do a few of the basics first, turbo upgrade is a Hugh expanse and you don't want to half ass it, I would eaither start saving the cash now or start buying it in parts now but only installing everything together..

I agree with this i have a 1g bov now and love it also i have to agree with this list

 

[AK Maniak]

It's hard to tell what's going to be a collectible in the future but I really don't think DSM's ever will. When the muscle cars came out that was the car to have. Seems like most people don't even know what a DSM is; and if they do they just think they are unreliable rust buckets.

And on a side note Hot Rod magazine alone has more subscribers than every import car magazine put together. DSM enthusiasts are a very small minority.

 

[Awdspyderman]

I agree CALAN! when the muscle car era was going on guys were beating up camaro's and chevelle's all day long than throwing them in the junkyard. They would say that there a dime a dozen and they made so many of them that they would never be collectable and they could buy them for dirt cheap, make alot of power on the cheap......well that kind of sounds famillar doesn't it Calan ? FYI i kept a 66 impala SS with alot of options becuase I have fond memories of that car so I guess I am that idiot who will pay for it JK

TO the orignal OP , do all the maintenance first than do small upgrades. That way if one of the upgrades doesn't work right you know which one it is and can fix it right away instead of putting on all these upgrades at once than playing the guessing game. Good find and good luck

 

[spyderdrifter]

Small demand or not for DSMs, we the proud few that own them, will always want more of them. Doesn't matter if they're collector cars or not. Ford Pintos were seen as crappy cars, but some people still love and want those. No different from DSMs.

 

[Boosted DSM 32]

I agree with the guys that are sayin that one day these will be collectible cars i mean these cars arent even that old and already most are either totalled or rusted to hell and back there already almost impossible to find in amazing stock shape.. In 20 years when im 40 years old and remember back in my teen years of driving just a drop dead gorgeous import im going to do anything i can to have a beautiful stock one again.. the only reason muscle cars are high in price now is because the adults buying them are the ones that have money now to buy a car they really wanted but couldnt afford when they were 16 years old.. it will be the same for all of us with these cars tho im sure like skylines and supras and such will bring in more money than dsms but i think you could bring a pretty penny in for a mint condition 2gb talon in about 20 years when there almost extinct

 

[deflator]

This is silly, cars are probably the worst investment, and they have to be VERY special and RARE to have even a small chance of returning on that investment. You have to store a MINT version, eating the cost of the new car you are going to watch depreciate without use. Then you have to pay to store that for 30+ years...

Get real. The only car from my era I would bet on is the C5 Z06. These cars are great for what they are. However, they have no pedigree, weren't particularly well made, and are severely out of date now. They don't have the muscle car mystique either, so that won't fly. In the future, you will be able to get a much better hatchback with 4 cylinders and a turbo and AWD. Not so with big block RWD cars, even today with the resurgence of performance V8s.

And who couldn't afford a talon in high school but grew up and said, "I want an old car that I can pay as much as a new one for and isn't better"? We got DSMs because they are cheap! At least I did.

 

[spyderdrifter]

This is silly, cars are probably the worst investment, and they have to be VERY special and RARE to have even a small chance of returning on that investment. You have to store a MINT version, eating the cost of the new car you are going to watch depreciate without use. Then you have to pay to store that for 30+ years...

Get real. The only car from my era I would bet on is the C5 Z06.

To each their own, maybe cars are a poor investment in money, bit not in other areas. They're fun to drive and work on. Sounds ironic, but working on DSMs is my stress relief from the world. It's an investment in having fun building my car and the pride in it once it's complete. May not be like this for everyone, but that's how I am. I'll never stop loving my spyder, or the 3 previous DSMs I've owned, even if some if my friends say they're chick cars. I don't really care.


And on another note, how can you say you got your DSM because it's cheap, and still have the not-so-cheap mod list¿ I bought mine because I like the car and don't want anything else.

 

[Calan]

when the muscle car era was going on guys were beating up camaro's and chevelle's all day long than throwing them in the junkyard. They would say that there a dime a dozen and they made so many of them that they would never be collectable and they could buy them for dirt cheap, make alot of power on the cheap......well that kind of sounds famillar doesn't it Calan ?

Very well put.

What a lot of people don't understand (the ones that weren't there anyway), is that the majority of those cars weren't "muscle cars" back then; that phrase only came into popular use when something came along later to compare them to. They were just ordinary, dime-a-dozen beater cars that were nothing special, that you could get cheap and modify the hell out of. In fact, most of them are still nothing special. My 16 second, EPA-restricted Camaro sure as hell wasn't anything special...but good luck finding one like it now in fair shape for less than $20k.

The reason they have value is mostly nostalgic; for those of us that grew up in that era, there is nothing that can replace the sound and feel of a big block cranking out a bunch of frame bending torque and boiling the tires off. But from a performance standpoint, most of them handle like a wet turd and couldn't keep up with a well tuned DD DSM on their best day.

The situation with these cars is EXACTLY the same. Younger people are looking at DSMs and comparing them to cars from 40 years ago the same way we looked at our "muscle cars" and compared them to the 57 Chevys and 30s/40s coupes back in the day. Styles, performance, economics, and society are always changing... but nostalgia for the cars we grew up on never goes away.

 

[Tiki2777]

So true, now this thread will make me never want to get rid of my DSM, even for a really good price. Nostalgia...What are ya gonna do

 

[DSMMIKE413]

yup, as far as basic maintenance goes everything is mint, not a spec of rust in the underbody, strut towers are good, no leaks, just a clutch thats starting to go.

 

[gprix1]

This.

You'd be surprised how hard they are going to be to find in this condition in the future. And it's already pretty hard now.

If it was me and some mods HAD to be done, drop in a K&N Filter, T28, 1st gen BoV and Link. That's it.

Personally, I'd keep it in the garage and use it only on the weekends.

Grats on the find though! Super clean.

My suggestion exactly except I would recommend at least a a cat-back exhaust as well. Be sure to keep any stock parts as this thing will be more valuable stock down the road.

 

[Calan]

Did you ever tell us how many miles it has on it? I'm not seeing it if so.

 

[Tiki2777]

All i know is, as soon as i get out of college in 5 years with my high-paying engineering job, im going to have so many f*#%ing imports that it is ridiculous. And because DSMs are so cheap, I'll probably have at least 10 or more of them next to my supra (hopefully supraS) and rx7s and 300zxs and 3kgts and 240s and evos and mr2s and galants and and and.... (i watched too much fast and furious and i ####ing love imports) (but no hondas). I don't give a shit if you tell me cars are a terrible investment. I could care less what you think. But, in 20 years when most of the good DSM are either busted or sheltered by good owners, you're not getting one cheap. These cars have a huge following. As does any major performance import from the 90s (back when shit was done right in Japan... #### emissions). If you don't think these cars are a good investment or even collectible in the future, sell it to someone who will actually care for it or wants it (thats at you deflater). We all love these cars.

Calan knows what hes talking about.

 

[DSMnOOb00]

All i know is, as soon as i get out of college in 5 years with my high-paying engineering job

Be ready for disappointment, unless you're really lucky or "know a guy" you might get a decent paying job at some point after your done with school..

Good luck tho!

 

[spyderdrifter]

But, in 20 years when most of the good DSM are either busted or sheltered by good owners, you're not getting one cheap. These cars have a huge following. As does any major performance import from the 90s (back when shit was done right in Japan... #### emissions). If you don't think these cars are a good investment or even collectible in the future, sell it to someone who will actually care for it or wants it (thats at you deflater). We all love these cars.

Calan knows what hes talking about.

Amen...

 

[Tiki2777]

Be ready for disappointment, unless you're really lucky or "know a guy" you might get a decent paying job at some point after your done with school..

Good luck tho!

Thats kinda what i've been hearing, but CSM (colorado school of mines) has a career fair thing that gets the students internships and jobs right out of college. I think he said 95% are getting jobs immediately, and even when the economy was REALLY in the dumps a few years back it was 85%. The going rate for most mechanical engineers was like 70k a year (myb a little low but thats kinda what i remem) but petrolem/energy engineers are making around 100k a year right out of college with big companies. I think it just depends on what school you go to nowadays and how well they set you up for a career.

thanks for the support ! I'm gonna be visiting KU within the next couple days and so how they compare. I just got a letter from Yale asking me to apply there, and I realize now that if I was to get accepted there, I wouldn't even have to pay because of how low my family's income is. I still get stuff though im not dirt poor. (ps3, DSM, laptop, etc etc hehe) My family does work their butts off to make money though.

 

[NathanCarlK]

I'm in the same boat as you, I just put in a new Greedy type-s BOV, Cold air, and I'm geting the FMIC this or next weekend. All this obviously after the regular maintenance. They have really good articles on the site for each parts and comparisons. Choose a solid goal and go for it! Have fun too!

 

[95DSMGSX]

Did you ever tell us how many miles it has on it? I'm not seeing it if so.

True. I'd love to know how many miles are on this "mint" car. I recently bought a 40K mile GSX and have absolutely no intentions of adding any sort of modifications. I'll garage it for a long time and take care of it even if it doesnt yield a worthy return.

 

[DSMMIKE413]

As clean as it looks it has high miles 92,413 to be exact

 

[FLASH1970]

yup, as far as basic maintenance goes everything is mint, not a spec of rust in the underbody, strut towers are good, no leaks, just a clutch thats starting to go.

Having a mint car doesn't mean all maintenace is up to date. Do you know if the timing belt was changed at 60k? Are all the fluids up to par (coolant, rear diff lube, transfer case lube, trans lube, engine oil)...? Just because it looks purdy (pretty) doesn't mean it's all up to par. My car is sunfaded like crazy and isnt exactly purdy for now, but it has 243+k miles and I drive it 120 miles a day because I can because I keep up on maintenance.

If you do mod the car, I'd suggest like another memeber did and try to keep the stock parts. For a front mount, I prefer the Punishment style over the VRSF because I'm not a fan of cutting up sheetmetal to get it to fit. Bumper covers are easy to find so if that needs to be trimmed then so be it.

 

[Boosted DSM 32]

If the car has that many miles then enjoy the car man!!! its not like its that one orange 2ga eclipse that has like 25k on it or anything i say mod the S*** out of it and have fun with it! if you blow the motor who cares the body will still be in good shape just rebuild the power plant i say unless a dsm has less than 50k on it i wouldnt be afraid to mod it

 

[filabob1]

Saying you should have kept that 69 camaro or whatever is like saying I really should have invested in apple, or mircosoft when I had a chance years ago. , really. IMO its about those memories that can't be replaced. Build what you want and have fun with it. If your lucky enough maybe you will hold on to the car, if not oh well at least you made some great memories right? Now, I wouldn't go all crazy out the box, but some modest mods will make you grin and possibly make others grin too. OP, do what you want, hell just drive it. But whatever you do, enjoy the time, have fun and make memories. We don't live forever. Sorry to get off topic, CAI, MBC, exhaust would be a modest start.

 

[PieEyedPiper]

OP, having once owned a completely mint 1998 Cayenne Red Pearl GSX myself I just want to give you a little advice that I learned along the way. Don't mess with the interior, don't cut up metal without proper tools and re-coating the area for protection, don't put cheap shocks and springs on it, don't perform any mods/repairs in haste and learn to do all of your own maintenance.

Treat her like gold. Hope to see you stick around for a long time to come!