first car 1997 sc300
03-03-17, 10:20 PM
#1
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
first car 1997 sc300
hello everybody, so a week ago i bought my first sc300. i have never worked on a car before so im counting on all of you to help me through this process ive read some great things from all of you guys. im going to be changing the spark plugs, wires and valve cover gaskets and cleaning out the intake manifold. any tips of things i should replace while im doing this. foe all of you with the ge what intake manifold do you have and why do you like or dislike it. the exhaust manifold has some cracks so i need to replace it but want to wait til i get a turbo so i dont have to redo the whole exhaust again. what are your thoughts. and what turbo do you have. im looking in the engine bay and it looks like there is no space for anything. what are some things i can replace to free up space. im not the best mechanic. however i just started to learn how to weld and also work as a machinist so i can do a decent amount of modifications to parts. honestly i just want all of your advice so this build can work out. i just have no idea where to start and feel very anxious and nervous about opening up my first engine. please give me any advice you guys have it will be very appreciated. once i start doing some stuff ill be posting. but as of now everyone's seen stock soo.........
03-04-17, 08:00 AM
#2
Well I think most of your questions are determined by how much money can you afford to spend on each part/ the whole project.
For example if you've got 2000 your ready to put into the car then you can get a na-t set up going and have 300 hp.
If your ready to put 5000 or 10000 into it than we can talk about name brand Turbo set ups, Transmissions and differentials.
If your limited by money and can only put a few hundred at a time or whatever Think about doing maintenance to get it running great before you go bigger power.
When doing your valve covers it might be a good time to replaced the coolant hoses going to the intake manifold. The hose right above your plugs in the middle will drain coolant out onto your plugs if you don't pinch it off or at least drain some coolant out of the radiator.
For example if you've got 2000 your ready to put into the car then you can get a na-t set up going and have 300 hp.
If your ready to put 5000 or 10000 into it than we can talk about name brand Turbo set ups, Transmissions and differentials.
If your limited by money and can only put a few hundred at a time or whatever Think about doing maintenance to get it running great before you go bigger power.
When doing your valve covers it might be a good time to replaced the coolant hoses going to the intake manifold. The hose right above your plugs in the middle will drain coolant out onto your plugs if you don't pinch it off or at least drain some coolant out of the radiator.
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mims334 (03-04-17)
03-04-17, 08:24 AM
#3
Driver School Candidate
Thread Starter
well im selling my truck so ill have a couple of grand to **** around with. however i do wanna do some maintenance just to prepare the motor for that power. i also want to learn the motor. for na-t what setup do you recommend. unfortunately i dont have 5k but ill be saving up and ill change the hoses. however i want to get rid of that stupid y manifold and get something more like the gte manifold.
03-04-17, 06:58 PM
#4
First thing is to do a wet and/or dry compression test i personally got great results. 185 all around dry so i didn't bother putting oil in the cylinders for the wet test.
I'd do water pump and timing belt in terms of maintenance. I'd check your tension er and serpentine pulley just make sure they are good.
If your sure your going to go NA-T you can do gte or aftermarket head gasket and arp head studs in terms of maintenance. Your already going to be more than half way there with the intake and timing belt off. Make sure you get a torque wrench and follow the procedure
There's a rust inhibitor and penetration by a/c delco that i've found helps tremendously with the exhaust bolts.
I went with the xs power kit because i had no experience really when i started and it was easier to get a whole kit. It was okay and its lasted 2 years without any problems on a 12 pound waste gate spring. Some how I'm pushing 14 psi now but 12 when i first put it on. I attribute this to the spring wearing. I had to buy new 2.5 inch intercooler piping and rubber fittings/ adapters to make it all the piping fit. I needed fittings to make the boost controller work so i didn't even install it just went with waste gate pressure. I finally installed it a year later and the boost controller didn't work anymore so i'm not using one. I needed to buy little things here and there with the kit. I had a build thread on it. I'm currently running the TT ecu using Ali Sc3's thread. The turbo is still working well 8000-10000 miles and 2 years later. Overall it wasn't a bad kit but it could be better.
If you have experience or have someone who can help you get everything correctly piecing a quality kit together is the best way bang for the buck set up .I like running Ali sc3's tt ecu mod because the car starts and runs like stock. If i leave it sitting for a few weeks i have to start it twice because the first time it dies but the second time fires up prefect. I think this might have to do with having a gm temp sensor with the tt ecu mod but i'm not 100% sure might just be the. There's no need to tune it so its great for me living in the middle of nowhere.
I'd do water pump and timing belt in terms of maintenance. I'd check your tension er and serpentine pulley just make sure they are good.
If your sure your going to go NA-T you can do gte or aftermarket head gasket and arp head studs in terms of maintenance. Your already going to be more than half way there with the intake and timing belt off. Make sure you get a torque wrench and follow the procedure
There's a rust inhibitor and penetration by a/c delco that i've found helps tremendously with the exhaust bolts.
I went with the xs power kit because i had no experience really when i started and it was easier to get a whole kit. It was okay and its lasted 2 years without any problems on a 12 pound waste gate spring. Some how I'm pushing 14 psi now but 12 when i first put it on. I attribute this to the spring wearing. I had to buy new 2.5 inch intercooler piping and rubber fittings/ adapters to make it all the piping fit. I needed fittings to make the boost controller work so i didn't even install it just went with waste gate pressure. I finally installed it a year later and the boost controller didn't work anymore so i'm not using one. I needed to buy little things here and there with the kit. I had a build thread on it. I'm currently running the TT ecu using Ali Sc3's thread. The turbo is still working well 8000-10000 miles and 2 years later. Overall it wasn't a bad kit but it could be better.
If you have experience or have someone who can help you get everything correctly piecing a quality kit together is the best way bang for the buck set up .I like running Ali sc3's tt ecu mod because the car starts and runs like stock. If i leave it sitting for a few weeks i have to start it twice because the first time it dies but the second time fires up prefect. I think this might have to do with having a gm temp sensor with the tt ecu mod but i'm not 100% sure might just be the. There's no need to tune it so its great for me living in the middle of nowhere.
Last edited by scsexy; 03-04-17 at 07:33 PM.
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