3 big questions, but mainly the intake

[94cylcamry]

Hello everyone, I'm new here, but I've been on a lot of other Camry and Toyota forums and this looks to be one of the better ones. Anyway, soon I'll be the owner of a 94 Camry LE 4cyl Sedan, and I was thinking of some things I want to do...right away intake and exhaust came up, but right now I'm thinking more intake.

Now I've seen plenty of pictures and videos of people just ripping off the old airbox and fastening a good filter to the old hose. Should I do this instead of buying something like an Injen or Weapon-R short ram intake? I was originally thinking of the Weapon-R "secret weapon" intake, but I'm not crazy about paying 200 bucks or so for a simple pipe and filter if a simple filter will do the job. What do you think?

Now like I said my main question was on the intake, but exhaust also comes to mind. I sort of want this low rumble...I don't want it to be obnoxious when I step on the gas but I want it to sound nice. What do you think would be a good muffler for this? Or should I go and just get a good cat-back system with 2.5-3" piping?

I'm also looking into Xenon HID headlamps and some body kits...though I'm completely lost when looking at the last.

Thanks for the info!

[papariccardo]

With the mods you want to do, yep, seems like you found the right home. I'm doing these free mods, don't know if you've seen them.

http://www.toyotatuners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=158

Welcome to TN, from another n00b.

[eyeball96]

Do suspension mods first, springs, struts, and rear sway bar! Most bang for the bucks IMO! Check Here

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/sh...d.php?t=182020

[bigbird]

exhaust: 2.25 is fine unless u plan on going forced induction in the future. low tone on the 4cyl is tough but id say magnaflow would be a good choice for that.

intake: a filter on the end of the intake tube will work just as good as an injen or weapon R or whatever u find. its really there fro sound and thats about it(and what a sound it is)

lights: u should get teh depot clear headlights then do a retro fit with projectors if u wanna do HIDs. just puttin the HIDs in the factory housing is a waste.

id do suspension stuff liek eyeball said first also get some nice wheels.

its not hard to make a camry look good but its hard to make it fast.

[94cylcamry]

Thanks everyone!

Let's see...for the headlight housings I was looking at a pair of Maxzone clear/diamond cut things. $160 a pair new. "Maxzone" sounds pretty generic, but they look ok? http://www.andysautosport.com/toyota...z00033080.html

And I was looking at the Xenon HID's because I have a friend who was going to sell me his kit(lamps, balasts, etc) for a decent price. Do you think the Xenon's and the Maxzone holders would be a good combination?

As for the intake...ok I'm going to admit right now that I really am a noob to this, really. I've never worked on a car before, but it's something I think I really want to learn more about and do. So for this intake mod..I just pull off the old airbox...get one of those....fasteners...and put on the HKS(or other) high flow filter? And that might get me.... .5 extra horsepower but I want that sound. Haha.

For the exhaust...you said try out magnaflow. I'll give them a look. As for the 2.25" piping...where would I look for that? Is there a custom kit for the Camry or do I have to buy the universal pipes and have them cut and installed by some shop? I'd like to do as much of this myself as possible.

Umm...long post I'm sorry. For the suspension and stuff..I don't know what half that means...I'd have to read a lot of guides on this, but is that something I'd be able to do with household jacks?

And those free mods look pretty sweet. Some of them went right over my head but some of them like the transmission make a lot of sense. In truth it'd be nice if I could just swap out the AT for a manual tranny, but that's not really an option....

And I'm looking at some of the wheels on andysautosport.

Bottom line I have about $2000 right now to throw at this car...

Thanks!!!

[94cylcamry]

PS. I've looked at body kits, but I'm in love with this car:

Official Gen 3 & 4 Camry picture thread! DO NOT POST COMMENTS!

If you scroll down a bit you'll see the dark green Camry that is...geoff's. I love how that looks. No fancy body kits or anything, just very nice look about it. Unfortunately my Camry is the gold/tan color, and I don't know how much a paint job would be...nor does the car really need one, so it'd be for the sole purpose of changing the color. We'll have to see though.

EDIT: A tint job would be nice too...

[xet]

For the exhaust you would have to have the whole thing custom made by an exhaust shop, it might be easier just to change the muffler since it really wouldnt change all that much doing the full exhaust anyway but its up to you

Suspension you can do yourself i think you could just rent a spring compressor possibly for free at some places and then just gotta have the time and other tools for the job

I wouldnt do paint because that would eat your entire budget. as for kit just go with a rmm lip, i think those look great

[94cylcamry]

"and then gotta have the other tools for the job" Haha umm....yeah. I've got a wide variaty of wrenches and screw drivers and what not but nothing too too complex. Hmmmmm.

[bigbird]

get the headlights from Ebay. ull save urself some money, look for depo clears, they are the exact same thing.

as far as the intake if ur nurvous about tackling a custom job then yeah just buy a SRI.

there is no exhaust for the gen3 camry cept for one company whos name eludes me now(bosal i think) but it REALLY expensive. 2 grand is alot so do this.

figure out how far u wanna go with this and then decide if u want to spend close to a grand to do a full exhaust. most will say keep the resonator and that the factory exhaust is a pretty free flowing exhaust. u can get headers and highflow cat, 2.25+ piping and ull get urself a little bump in power.

if ur really hell bent on spending 2 grand on it then start with tint, body kit(if u want), springs, shocks, Rear Sway Bar(best bang for buck), some nice wheels and tires, and a SRI. after that, then id see how much i have left and do exhaust work to the car.

the 4cyl is not a fast car and things liek intake and exhaust dont have a big effect on it, mostly sound. thats why i wouldnt go and spend all the money on somthing that may not be worth it in the long run.

[360glitch]

Originally Posted by eyeball96

Do suspension mods first, springs, struts, and rear sway bar! Most bang for the bucks IMO! Check Here

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/sh...d.php?t=182020

I second that... The other day I was thinking "What would be the first thing I do to my SC300 if I was able to get one today?"... The answer was suspension. But trust me, a turbo kit wouldn't be far behind. For the record, I'm not about to buy an SC300 or anything anytime soon, but I'd dang sure like to...

[Curry]

Originally Posted by 360glitch

I second that... The other day I was thinking "What would be the first thing I do to my SC300 if I was able to get one today?"... The answer was suspension. But trust me, a turbo kit wouldn't be far behind. For the record, I'm not about to buy an SC300 or anything anytime soon, but I'd dang sure like to...

Hahah you're showing signs of coming to the dark side Classic symptoms my friend!

[felonyr301]

Just make the car look good first trust me and that includes the suspension too (it counts to in the looks department too cause of the drop) I love my exhaust and intake but I rather would of spent the money on some nice rims and performance tires instead and if anything do what they told you leave the exhaust for last so if you have enough in the end then do it. Intake is not really a dent so you can do that and it does sound fucking hot!! The 5sfe sucks balls when it comes to power and the intake and exhaust doesn't make that big of difference hell I think deleting the cat gave me more power than the full exhaust if any lol!!!

[94cylcamry]

Haha. Well thanks guys. I like Bigbird's proposed order best...tint, body kit(if I really want to..), suspension, wheels and tires, then intake and exhaust. I sort of want to just do the easy intake thing and maybe upgrade to a nice looking SRI later. Right now though with short funds I think a high flow filter on the end should be ok. And of course lights would probably be first or second on that list.

For the lights, the friend found out that his kit wouldn't fit on my car. So when I get these Depo clear headlights(I think I will do Ebay...need to save all the money I can), should I pair them up with some Sylvania bulbs? I hear they are a really good company to go to for headlamps. I may also go for the clear turning lights.

Umm. And how much do you guys think a nice paint job would be? I really do like that dark green color, and between that and a body kit I may opt for the paint job. At least for now.

Thanks!

[bigbird]

id do paint job first definatly. price depends on where u live, around MD (kinda high) id be lookin at about 2 to 3 grand for a good paintjob on the whole car. it helps alot if u know "people" to.

if u do get a body kit, first decide how much ur gonna want to drop the car first. u dont want to get a real nice body kit then find out u wont clear anything if u drop it. there are body kits for these cars where that happens and ull never get the right look with a low body kit and lots of fender gap.

[ONE_to_HATE]

personally; the tan color is a nice color if done up right and it'll be apart from the regular (already rare) modded camrys.

I'd go with with..

Lowering Springs + Struts + Mounts : about $850 Installed (if that)

18" Brand new Wheels and Tires : $1200 (give or take) or 17" + RSB

the reason i'd suggest those ones first is because they will change the look of your car instantly and the tint/intake/exhaust/kit are all around the $350 and below price range which will be a whole lot easier to save up for than 1200 later on.

- rather than getting a lot of small things done and go hungry tryna save up for wheels and tires + suspension; use the money now that you have it. This way you'd also have a drive to take it further.

Unless, it rains money in ur wallet- then ya.. $1200 is a piece of cake to get a hold of- go with which ever order!