Twinspool

It's nice to see a bunch of fellow owners here that are as helpful as you guys and I hope I can contribute in the future as well.

As you can tell from the title, I have a few questions about what to do to my P-car to make it both fast and reliable. Like anyone, I have a budget so I can't just drop $5000 on goodies but I do have some dispensable cash for things. (I'll have more when I sell my Supra) My first thought was to open up the exhaust but I don't see many people talking about downpipes or such.. what are the limiting factors in the exhaust system and what should I upgrade?

I am also planning on upgrading the wastegate (I read all the previous posts I could about them) My question is, can I keep the same wastegate if the turbo gets upgraded in the future...

And finally, a boost controller.. I have nothing against a good MBC but I like the features available with something like an Apexi AVC-R. What is installation like for that beast? Who has one? What do you think..

Anyway, thanks for reading, I look forward to talking with all of you guys.

Ben <img src="graemlins/wave.gif" border="0" alt="[byebye]" />

tt9714

I would suggest doing some preventive maintenance as a first priority since "reliability" is a priority for you. Unless your car was immaculately cared for (and you paid top $$) there are inevitably some things to go over.

Some ideas include:
* control arm balljoints
* front caster blocks (at rear of control arms)
* constant velocity joint repack
* power steering rack (is it leaking)
* power steering hoses (are they leaking)
* front rotors
* new tires
* brake lines
* clutch master & slave cylinders
* rebuild turbo (depending on mileage & oil losses)
* turbo oil supply & return seals
* new vacuum lines
* cam tower reseal
* oil cooler reseal
* rod bearing replacement
* oil pan reseal
* timing belt & water pump replacement
* fuel injectors
* fuel filter
* spark plugs
* rotor & distributor
* and the list goes on and on and on....

I know that it's much more exciting to install performance modifications at first, but I would be willing to bet that many people on this board never really knew how well their cars could handle in "stock" form. My goal on my own '86 951 with 141k miles is to get the car back to top shape in stock form. This will then serve as a baseline for any performance modifications.

eclou

I just picked up an 86 951 with 144k miles for $3.5k. Orig paint and great interior, but recently neglected maintainence. The first 2-3 days I spent just cleaning the engine bay and underbelly. Bottles of simple green and a hose to remove years of sludge and grime.

Then I did the easy things - oil,ai, fuel filters, plugs, wires, cap&rotors, checked and replaced vacuum lines, SS brakes lines/super blue/Hawk HP plus pads. The car runs much better but not perfect yet. I also retorqued the oil pan and discovered the oil leaks are gone!

I have next to do the timing belts and rollers, front seals, wp, control arms, tie rod assemblies, repair/replace leaking x-pipe, rod bearings.

TT9714 is right - unless you are running perfectly, any tweaking will probably be deleterious to the health of the car - it will run worse or you will overboost and detonate.

Eugene

tt9714

Eugene,
It's nice to hear that someone agrees with my opinion on preventive maintenance vs. performance upgrade priorities.

As an example, lately I have been looking at brake calipers on every car that I pass/see parked. I have yet to see any car on a daily basis that has fixed four (or even two) piston calipers. Even the new BMW 3 series have a pretty "wimpy" looking floating caliper design.

On this discussion board it's easy to lose perspective on our car's performance envelope. We talk about upgrading "944 turbo brakes" to "Big Reds" because the stock setup is unsatisfactory. Just keep in mind that with the stock Brembos you can pretty much "out brake" 98% of the cars out there on the street (keep an eye on the rearview mirror . We're just talking about taking things to a higher level of performance (e.g. track duty vs. daily driver).

FityOne

I just got a 951 a few months ago and I have to agree that getting the car up to spec is the first best upgrade you can make. It is not cheap, but is worth the peace of mind if the goal is a dependable car. Also once this is done, making a new perf. mod will be so much easier, by getting rid of the guess work if something does not work right. Personally, I got a manual boost gauge and a Air Fuel Ratio meter. Next come some mods, namely a test pipe I am getting made at a local muffler shop, much cheaper this way. The next will probably be a MBC, LBE and waste gate shim.

Twinspool

Definately good advice, the car is in really good shape. One of the reasons I chose this one was because the previous owner had spent $$ on maintenence.. it has new tires, new water pump, belts, new AC compressor and drier, no oil leaks (knock on wood) and runs pretty smooth.. As far as the reliability mods, I'm thinking I'm going to change fluids to synthetic, maybe an oil spectrum analysis, water wetter. I know it needs a motor mount on the driver's side. Is there any harm in replacing just the one or should I do both. What about poly bushings in the rest of the car?

Jeremy Martin

twinspool: DONT change to synthetic if the car is still using petro based oil. the reason being unless all the seals were just replaced some of them will inevitably start leaking because not only will synthetic be a lower viscosity at an equivalent weight but it will also have a lower coefficient of friction... so changing from oil to synthetic will cause some leaks in old seals that are otherwise still good... and leaking seals could mean an oil saturated timing belt and even a rebuild if the oil causes the belt to somehow fail... and even if the seals in the engine dont go, a turbo with more then 70k on it thats been using petro and not synthetic will probably start leaking... so, hold off on changing to synthetic until your next timing belt / seal change. that will take care of most of the seals that are a real danger if they start leaking. if the turbo starts leaking, then you can just rebuild / replace the turbo (although be sure to do it soon because a leaky turbo means oil in your air intake which means oil in your exhaust which means a damaged cat). so, in short, just because something is the best out there doesnt mean it's the best for a 15 year old car. hope this helps...

Jerry

For maintenance there are some things you can leave alone until they need service: turbo, injectors, bushings, and water pump. For mods all you need are the chips, the LBE, and lowering/stiffening. Thats all you really need to do to make a great street/track car. Cost for parts approx $2K. and for labor it takes a lot of hours. My preference is getting an experienced guy who has already been down the road before. Just for starters go for the LBE/chips and Porsche turbo cup anti sway bars for $1K total.

Russ Murphy

posted prev. by tt9714
[quote] On this discussion board it's easy to lose perspective on our car's performance envelope. <hr></blockquote>

You know I'd have to agree. Put your car up on jackstands and remove the wheel and open the hood and look around. Ceramic-lined 4-2-1 stainless headers! Wow, those brakes are pretty crazy. those front ventilated rotors are, what, 13". Holy cr#p! Those trailing arms make anything on a BMW look like toys. Koni Sport adjustables? Pretty versatile. These cars are KILLER as is. So bringing them up to snuff is a good thing. However, It's was was too easy to make significant performance improvements cost effectively for me to wait too long. Ditch the cat and get a major performance boost as well as not having to worry about clogging your cat with synthetic oil.

AC

I quadruple that vote. I too just purchased an 86 951 at the end of Feb. It is imparative to make sure the preventive stuff is taken care of first. It will just make the mods that much more fun. I also have a question regarding the oil situation. The previous owner used Valvoline. One year before I bought it, it had major service done on it. Timing belt, H2o pump, front and rear seals replaced, etc. Would it be Ok for the next oil change to switch to Mobil 1? And also, will 930 turbo tie rods fit the 951? Just curious, I hear the feel of the steering is better. I am currently having my steering rack replaced.

Don't forget to upgrade all your bushings. This will also help with the overall feel of the car.

Thanks.
AC <img src="graemlins/beerchug.gif" border="0" alt="[cheers]" /> <img src="graemlins/drink.gif" border="0" alt="[cherrsagai]" /> <img src="graemlins/burnout.gif" border="0" alt="[burnout]" />

JLeake

I just bought a 951 too, and have been doing a lot of research on mods. I recommend these mods in this order...I'm at 3/4.

1) Radar detector

2) Boost gauge and a/f ratio meter

3) Make sure your car is in good running order (no vac leaks, up on mtnc, etc)

4) LBE or equivalent

5) Chips & shimmed wastegate

6) Dual port Wastegate and manual boost controller, sell the LBE