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Buying An S15

Rolo Tummussey

By Rolo Tummussey,
in General Automotive Discussion

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Rolo Tummussey Apprentice

Rolo Tummussey

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I did a quick search around the internet and can find suprisingly little on the subject. Probably 'cause the silvia forum is down right now. I'm looking at buying an S15 (J-spec) and want to know about some basic modifications. The only info I can find is either from Gran Turismo doochebags who want 1000hp from a 2L whilst clearly not knowing basic mechanics like what a distributor is (to use an example) and Americans with American dollars at Mexican labour rates; I don't expect my dollar to go as far here.

Looking to spend as little as possible and begin with making about 300hp (if possible). Getting it to rev even more freely would be nice too. Can someone throw some figures at me? What could I do for $1,500, 2k, 3k etc.? Stuff that could be built on in the future would be best too. This way the end result in a year or two's time will be better. I have read that the stock engine runs at 11psi can be reliably boosted to 17psi without any attention to the internals and cooling. Is this true? To any extent?

On a side note, does anyone know exactly how much modification you can get away with when importing? I know it says it has to be factory and maintain the standard silhouette but most people seem to get away with little things and some quite a bit. I regretably passed up a newly imported silver car at a dealer a few months ago with full aftermarket suspension. Looked like there was a good 4/5k worth of gear there which the dealer said was installed in Japan before they bought it. Letting some Japanese guy pay for most of my performance modifications would be great if I could import one already done :)

Does anyone know about installing one of those stroke kits (increase to 2.2L)? Does it do anything spectacular to the performance? How much work is it to install them? I like to think I'm at least mildly mechanically minded but some labour costs for having someone else to install it would be great. Wouldn't want to blow my budget on the kit and figure out I can't do it myself.

Lastly, does anyone know anyone who does good, low cost custom decals (partially design/sketch my own and get 'em made up)? Not sure if I want to go down the full on exterior path yet but if I do, I want to do it right (not just a shopping list of the manufacturers of the parts I can't afford...).

I'm in Melbourne; if anyone could point me in the direction of a few speed shops I should talk to that'd be great.

Post Script: can't find much info on the actual install process of scissor doors; plenty of cheap kits though. Again, not sure if I want to go down this path, just food for thought. I know there's a long name for them but is there a 'street' name for the kind of doors on the McLaren F1 (kinda upwars and gullwing)? That's what I'd be after. I just can't find any info on how hard they are to install. Also read somewhere they're illegal but not sure which country the writer was in.

Edited by Rolo Tummussey
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