thank you for the reply. fortunately, all that wont be too hard to do. i got the car from my grandpa for christmas/birthday and he kept it pretty clean. it has low mileage too. im in auto tech right now so im going to start taking it and working on it as much as possible. i plan on changing the transmision fluid after break, then turning the rotors, and the replacing the spark plugs. oh, and another question. when i get up to speed(around 55 mph) the left front wheel starts squeaking, what cuases it? i know its not the suspension

don't bother turning the rotors. our rotors are fairly thin to start off with. add that to the fact you can get our rotors for $20 each, and it's not worth the time/effort.



JBO Stickers! Get yours today!

Id be able able to turn them at school. Is it still not worth it? And another question(sorry if im getting annoying). Snow should be coming soon in michingan, and snow+parking lots=fun. How hard can i push the ecotec engine?

pvtmcmuffin wrote:Id be able able to turn them at school. Is it still not worth it? And another question(sorry if im getting annoying). Snow should be coming soon in michingan, and snow+parking lots=fun. How hard can i push the ecotec engine?

It's not the engine I'd be worried about, it would be the trans. I kinda miss the snowy parking lot fun. Since we salt the roads to death here, it's been years since I took my old cavalier wagon around the parking lot a few times....


Unless you're looking for a trailer queen, I'd just mod it for fun's sake. This area is just so darn hard on modded parts.. (ie, rims and stuff).....


http://www.autotalk.com/pictures/data/1536/medium/2005_Chevrolet_Cavalier_Xtreme_002_autotalk_com_.jpg

Thanks. It wont be to hard in the trans will it? And when/if i do put new rims on, im just going with the stock alluminum rims(right now i have the steel rims) i dont plan on going hardcore modding for drag or anything.

pvtmcmuffin wrote:Id be able able to turn them at school. Is it still not worth it?

pretty much. turned rotors make them thinner. thinner rotors heat up faster. more heat in the brakes equates to much faster wear. just replace them.



JBO Stickers! Get yours today!

ok thanks, i dont think they are that bad yet so im not going to replace them. but back to my original question. after i clean up the interior a bit, should i do stuff to the exterior or do some small performance mods, like an intake and exhaust and all that jazz?
oh, and i was looking through my car today and saw some rust on the seat bracket, what should i do about that? just sand it down and paint it?
once again, im sorry for so many question

Here is the way things are in my neck of the woods. If you go with exterior modifications to make your car look better than stock people tend to think that you can "backup" how your car looks with how it performs. Once they find out your car is just stock performance wise, the flaming begins about putting a body kit (or whatever your enhancements may be) on a car that is slow. People are quick to judge others as posers and what not because their cars may look the part but cannot act it and people with think oh he just threw a body kit on but its got no go. If you go with performance mods and leave your car looking stock then you are stuck with what may seem like a boring looking car, but, you will have some guts to back it up. The opposing argument to that is if you do proper beginning mods such as CAI, header, exhaust, people will not see that and think here is some kid with a fart can on his stock cavalier.

So ask yourself what you want out of the car.. If you want a nice dd with some pep start the performance mods and if you want to add to the exterior later then do so. if you want to go to car shows and dont really care about going fast then start exterior mods then when it looks the way you want tackle the engine. Finally ask yourself Do you like it enough to keep it for the long term? or is it just something to mess around with till you save up for something you really want. Cause if your doing it just cause you have it and your hearts not in it then whatever you do you will regret in the end anyways.

ITS ALL UP TO YOU!
so man up and make a decision instead of trying to get others to make it for you! (lol that is sarcasm not trying to be mean)

personally i would focus on the engine to start and for the exterior just lower it nice rims and make sure its clean with no rust.

thank you. that is what i was leaning torwards, so thanks for the final push. now if i get a new header and exhaust that is wider than the stock, would i have to change stuff in the computer due to a different back pressure? or is that only in new cars?

most people dont tune after adding header and exhaust and intake. But tuning is the only way to optimize the actual gains from doing said modifications. start searching my friend and all your questions will be answered

I'd hate to break it to you, but you own a Cavalier... You're not going to get looks OR performance out of it. Keep the maintenance up to date, keep it clean, tint the windows, put in some nice tunes, and be done with it. Maybe some nicer stock wheels (think Z24) if it has hubcaps on it. Keep it nice, enjoy the free ride and good mileage.


2000 Ford F-250 7.3 Powerstroke 4x4 - Not stock
1973 16' Tahiti Speedboat
1983 200 HP Mercury BlackMax
1997 Chevy Cavalier with 275K miles

you can definatley get both looks and performance out of them. looks are all personal prefrences so im not even going to ask for suggestion on how to make it look. and the performance part is possible(just not practical) GM built a 800 hp cavalier, and it still had the ecotec engine in it

pvtmcmuffin wrote: GM built a 800 hp cavalier, and it still had the ecotec engine in it

with an ecotec and factory backing, (aka unlimited moneys) anything is possible. and actually, the factory build book can take the ecotec block OVER 1000 hp. how long it lasts depends on the tuner and supporting mods.



JBO Stickers! Get yours today!

I saw articles about 1000+ ecotecs, but i knew for a fact that GM made a 800 hp one, so thats why i went with that. I hate when people say that they cant be fast just because its an economy car, or that it cant look nice without completely ricing it out. But thanks for your advice everyone. I think i decided on what im going to do

Zaairman wrote:I'd hate to break it to you, but you own a Cavalier... You're not going to get looks OR performance out of it. Keep the maintenance up to date, keep it clean, tint the windows, put in some nice tunes, and be done with it. Maybe some nicer stock wheels (think Z24) if it has hubcaps on it. Keep it nice, enjoy the free ride and good mileage.

Says the guy thats not in the quarter mile sticky, don't listen to people like that, you can get plenty of power/speed out of them, just look in racing/performance forums, there are lots of us actually getting REAL times on the track, but modding a J should be about the enjoyment and satisfaction you get out of doing it, everyone has their tastes, some of here have nice show cars, and some like PJ, Paul, me, etc.....care more about going fast (BUT we are n/a guys that are running 14s), there are guys like scott (look Canadien midwest forums and he built a monster(but selling). with these cars its about imagination, wallet, and time, as well as research. So what you want to get out of the car, is all up to you

"As I lay rubber down the street, I pray for traction I can keep, but if I spin and begin to slide, please dear God protect my ride." -Amen

Yeah, some people are runnin' 11s in the QTR mile and still drive on the street. I plan to be one of them at some point. The ZR1 Corvette runs 11.2, so I guess that car is slow, too, huh.



2004 Cavalier Sedan

Zaairman wrote:I'd hate to break it to you, but you own a Cavalier... You're not going to get looks out of it.

Fixed. You can get all the performance you want, that only costs money. The only want to make one look good is the new car mod, or the blindness mod.


1994 Saturn SL2 Home Coming Edition: backup car
2002 Chevy Cavalier LS Sport Coupe: In a Junk Yard
1995 Mazda Miata R-package Class=STR
Sponsored by: Kronos Performance

WPI Class of '12 Mechanical Engineering
WPI SAE Risk and Sustainability Management Officer

Leafy (Club Jeffie FEA man) wrote:

Zaairman wrote:I'd hate to break it to you, but you own a Cavalier... You're not going to get looks out of it.

Fixed. You can get all the performance you want, that only costs money. The only want to make one look good is the new car mod, or the blindness mod.

Or dont let you touch it.


Error: Sig not found.

Zaairman wrote:I'd hate to break it to you, but you own a Cavalier... You're not going to get looks OR performance out of it. Keep the maintenance up to date, keep it clean, tint the windows, put in some nice tunes, and be done with it. Maybe some nicer stock wheels (think Z24) if it has hubcaps on it. Keep it nice, enjoy the free ride and good mileage.

i hate to break this to ya but hell anythings better than a ford! i have a 89 f150 and i have had to do nothing but replace a bunch of parts on it and it only has 106,000 original miles on it..and plus why r u on this site if all your going to do is say things that make you look stupid since theres proof that they can runn 11s