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cheap mod's for any car.... rumors, myths, tell them all

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Old 04-17-07, 08:54 PM
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cheap mod's for any car.... rumors, myths, tell them all

i just was just wondering about all the different things people say work and do to make their car handle better, run cooler... and i wanted to know what you have heard, done or thought up. not saying to do on a show car but more for fun...

one that i have been told works is to slide a tight rubber hose over the swaybars and use a few hose clamps and that will stiffen up the ride.

other one was to heat up golf ***** and stick them in between the springs on the car, its said to make the ride firm.

so lets hear about the all the ways to "rig your ride"
Old 04-17-07, 10:35 PM
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Some guys wet their tires after a run to cool them. I just adjust tire pressures if they get hot.
Old 04-17-07, 10:43 PM
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Remove any excess weight, duct the radiator, remove PS, remove AC.
Old 04-18-07, 12:10 PM
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Water wetter in your coolant will help lower running temps. I use a 1990 Toyota Celica shift **** on my 87, reduces the throw quit a bit, Cheaper than short shifter. A few guys after modifying car will tamper with the coolant temp sensor to get more fuel if running lean. If you cant throw flames out of your rx after putting aftermarket exhaust on try removing the dash pot off your throttle body. E-fans help reduce drag on your motor caused by spining of stock clutch fan, I was using one out of a 2g Eclipse/Talon, can normally find some pretty decent sized stock e-fans off of other cars at junkyards or on e-bay. You can make your own grounding system for your motor by getting some ground or power cable that they use for audio systems and reground your motor better than stock.
Old 04-18-07, 12:45 PM
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Supercharger:

http://images.lowes.com/product/024761/024761013895.jpg
Old 04-18-07, 12:58 PM
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Originally Posted by mazdadude7
one that i have been told works is to slide a tight rubber hose over the swaybars and use a few hose clamps and that will stiffen up the ride.

other one was to heat up golf ***** and stick them in between the springs on the car, its said to make the ride firm.
I want to think this is a joke, but I have a bad feeling it's not.
Old 04-18-07, 01:04 PM
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Originally Posted by DamonB
Does that thing have a HEMI?
Old 04-18-07, 01:11 PM
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lol....I onced heard that if you have bad shocks, get motor cycle tie down rachets.....Take them and attach them to something solid on the suspension and lower it by rachet strapes.....LOL....(true defintion of 32 way adjustable's)
Old 04-18-07, 03:29 PM
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look i know that the ones i listed are crazy sounding but i was just giving examples of ones. and this is just for fun not saying i would do whats listed but just wanting to know what myths are out their and what work as well...
Old 04-18-07, 04:06 PM
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In the DSM world when a motor mount or carrier bearing cracks or starts to sag, we just fill them up with windoweld silicone. That stuff is hard as rocks when it dries. I don't recommend doing this for the carrier bearings though, if you don't do it just perfectly you'll unbalance your driveshaft.
Old 04-18-07, 08:55 PM
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Driving with the hood popped will keep the engine temps down to around thermostat opening even when driving on a super hot day under heavy throttle.

Note: Does not work on FC/FD or any other car where the hood opens the wrong way
Old 04-18-07, 09:32 PM
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Yep, that's a myth, it's a high pressure area, so you'll get flow IN at that spot, making the under hood pressure higher, reducing flow across the radiator.
Old 04-18-07, 10:49 PM
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Putting oil on a slipping clutch.
Old 04-19-07, 09:50 AM
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Originally Posted by Larz
Putting oil on a slipping clutch.
This trick also works real well on squeaky brakes.
Old 04-19-07, 11:00 AM
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Originally Posted by rynberg
I want to think this is a joke, but I have a bad feeling it's not.
Some people will use the hose/hose clamp on the sway bar on either side of the mounts, if they are having trouble with the bar shifting from side to side, but it wouldn't make any difference to stiffness.
Old 04-19-07, 02:04 PM
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Originally Posted by Black91n/a
Yep, that's a myth, it's a high pressure area, so you'll get flow IN at that spot, making the under hood pressure higher, reducing flow across the radiator.
I dont know about that one. My buddy has his FC hood propped up using brackets. You can defenently feel the heat coming from the engine bay. I also works to defrost your windshield.. lol
Old 04-19-07, 05:43 PM
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When going slowly or stopped the fan will push air out, but at speed it'll get drawn in, like a reverse induction hood.
Old 04-21-07, 04:08 AM
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Originally Posted by peejay
Driving with the hood popped will keep the engine temps down to around thermostat opening even when driving on a super hot day under heavy throttle.

Note: Does not work on FC/FD or any other car where the hood opens the wrong way

And when you get in a front-end collosion, the hood comes through the windshield and decapitates you. Instant 10 lb weight reduction.
Old 04-21-07, 05:11 AM
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Originally Posted by ZenkiFcKin
I dont know about that one. My buddy has his FC hood propped up using brackets. You can defenently feel the heat coming from the engine bay. I also works to defrost your windshield.. lol
No, the radiator really is set up to keep the flow sealed over and around the radiator itself, because otherwise, the cool air just wastes itself on crap that doesn't need it.
If you don't believe me or the original poster you quoted, then go to grannysspeedshop.com and read about why people who swap V8s have so much trouble. It's not 100% because of the size of the radiator; it has a lot to do with the fact that the radiator is positioned in a way that air just kinda flows around it rather than through it.
Just thought I'd point that out; as always, just trying to keep it civil ^_^
Old 04-21-07, 08:23 AM
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Fill your tires with Helium and make your car lighter
Old 04-21-07, 08:24 AM
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Put High octane racing gas in your naturally aspirated rotary makes it go faster
Old 04-21-07, 01:03 PM
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Here's a little gem I got from the forum a while back. It's the pressure profile of a stock FC, arrows out mean low pressure, arrows in mean high pressure. Notice that the base of the windshield is high pressure. That'll draw air in, slightly increasing the pressure in the engine bay, decreasing the pressure differential across the radiator, slightly decreasing airflow.
Attached Thumbnails cheap mod's for any car.... rumors, myths, tell them all-fc-flow.jpg  
Old 04-21-07, 09:10 PM
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Originally Posted by Black91n/a
Yep, that's a myth, it's a high pressure area, so you'll get flow IN at that spot, making the under hood pressure higher, reducing flow across the radiator.

Boy, glad you told me that it's a myth, given that I discovered it accidentally and later scientifically verified that it works and all. So, when the needle is pointing at the oh-**** line 2/3rds of the way up, and then when I pop the hood and it drops down to about 1/4 up, that means it is running hotter?

There is a high pressure area in the center, however the edges and the corners are definitely in a low pressure area. On my '80 you could watch this on the highway, over 75mph the corners of the hood would lift a half inch!
Old 04-21-07, 09:14 PM
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Originally Posted by scathcart
And when you get in a front-end collosion, the hood comes through the windshield and decapitates you. Instant 10 lb weight reduction.

NBL. The hood would slide up the windshield long before it could punch through it. It would be a severely glancing blow.

Cars with more upright windshields do have little arrestor hooks on the rear edge of the hood to prevent what you say from happening. I don't see it being a problem, though.

if the hood is that stiff and strong to punch through a laminated windshield (not just break, but punch through across most of the length) then the two little bolts holding the latch in place don't stand a chance either, do they?
Old 04-21-07, 11:23 PM
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Holly sheet, This thread has become a pretty decent debate on pressure zones and such... lol. I was only replying that I had seen a difference on my buddys fc, compared to when he didnt have his hood brackets. I guess I started a pretty decent food fight... lol. Thanx for the visuals though, I see your point.


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