So I, like most college students, am kinda broke. I have a 1990 FC Vert automatic. I'd love to go through and drop a manual in it, throw a turbo and new injectors on, load up a new tunes and turn in into a proper project, but I don't have that kind of time or money. I also daily it currently, so any projects that would leave it out of driving condition for more than an afternoon are a no go. This doesn't leave me with many options, but I thought I'd throw the question out there to see if there are any suggestions. What cheapish ($100-$300 tops) mods can someone in my position do?

 

 

Speed holes?

 

With $100-$300 I would start looking a maintenance items rather than mods....Though you can still have fun maintaining your car rather than modding it.

 

^^ This is the best advice.

In all seriousness, there is not much you can do in the way of cheap upgrades, especially on an automatic convertible car. Maybe exhaust, but that will be more for sound than for noticeable performance gain.

I suggest going through and reading the FAQ in this section, then performing all the fluid changes / maintenance items. After that just keep the car nice and enjoy it. Eventually your options will either be a lot of work and money to make this one fast, or just buy a faster model. But you can certainly enjoy it as is, provided you keep the car healthy

 

Small tires is a good one. Its like lowering your car and putting a shorter diff ratio in at the same time. But if you didnt want an NA auto, it will be cheaper (and better) to buy a turbo car than to do a conversion.

 

Agreed with the above. Unfortunately, you purchased the slowest and heaviest FC to modify. Definitely smaller tires, and just perform maintenance. Those cars were intended to be cruisers unless you have some serious cash to throw at them (ported engine, turbo, manual swap, etc.).

 

I didn't figure there would be much I could do performance-wise on a budget. It seems smarter to just focus on maintenance and doing a bunch of smaller and cheaper things. I may invest in some swaybars or an exhaust, but I'll save performance mods for later in life.