3rd & 4th Generation (1992–1996 & 1997–2001)Toyota Camry Discussion for years: 1992-1996 & 1997-2001
Topics of discussion range from fuel economy, safety, modifications, performance all involving America's favorite family car, the Toyota Camry.
It's almost time for my camry-modding thrash weekend!
The goal of this post is to get the most out of my little beater. I'm not looking to break records with it, I simply like having a fun car to drive, and all mods will be for maximizing driving enjoyment. I am asking for opinions, and trying to expand the knowledge base of our cars, too.
My wife will be leaving me all alone over a 5 day period in mid June, so I'll be fixing my head gasket oil leak, as well as possibly going to side-exit exhaust and trunk mounted battery and maybe fixing some other minor issues (time permitting).
First up is the head gasket: The job isn't a problem, but with 200k coming up on the clock, I figured valve seals and a lash adjust would be a good idea. Problem is, doing both is a 16 hour job. So I bought a used head, got it pressure checked, and am going to do a little porting/polishing, and shave the head down to raise compression. Looking at the head ports, I see why the 5s-FE head is worthless for performance. The valve angle is so narrow, the flow into and out of the cylinder head can't build a decent airflow cone around the valve head. That's why the 3s-GE head is so much better - it probably doesn't make a 70 degree bend right off the top of the valve seats. I don't know what I'll do yet to straighten that and improve the flow. Any suggestions are welcome for porting advice and also for head shaving depth. I am considering shaving anywhere between 0.040" and 0.100", and am trying to raise compression to the limits of 87 octane or possibly 89 octane (I am cheap). The circumference of the 5sfe cam gear is 387mm, so I can expect about 1 degree of cam retard per mm shaved from the head. I know our little 4-banger has room to spare in the very conservative Toyota mapping, because I once got to drive around at sea level with a tank full of 85 octane - very fun!
I'm also going to slot the distributor to lie to the computer about the cam position and adjust ign/fuel timing thusly. My research hasn't turned up anything about this either working or not, so we'll see.
The side exit exhaust is for two reasons: I think they're sexy, and I need to remove/relocate the muffler to sink the battery down under the trunk floor. I want the battery under the trunk floor so that I can move the CG of the car more to the center for handling.
There's more, but my lunch hour is over. Hopefully this thread attracts some competent, experienced opinions.
I AM AWARE THE 5S IS A DOG. PLEASE DON'T TELL ME TO FORGET IT OR TO TURBO/SWAP.
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1996 Camry Sport (that's a DX Coupe with decals) with 186k
european cars are just like japanese cars, just heavier and more expensive.
7 ASE's.
seafoamed 2000 miles ago. Planning a catch can for breather system since I believe in emissions requirements and saving the earth but saw all the oil in the intake ports on my new head.
What brand of beer do you recommend?
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1996 Camry Sport (that's a DX Coupe with decals) with 186k
european cars are just like japanese cars, just heavier and more expensive.
7 ASE's.
well sounds liek ya got a plan. most NA upgrades are not considered worth the work or money on the 5s but ya seem pretty convinced and look to have done your research. hear-say is about as much as i know about the 5s so i wont try to say anythign further on that subject.
for the exhaust...if ya like it i love it.
may want to also consider suspension mods if ya dont have them already. technically you can make it MUCH faster for the money(compared to engine/exhaust mods) by making it faster in and around corners...faster in...faster out.
I'd recommend Tooheys Extra Dry but I don't think you can get them there.. we drink lots of beer this side of the planet :P AND NO, FOSTERS IS PURE SH!T! Don't even touch that... embarrassment for exported Aussie beer.
Have fun with the car mate, let us know how the performance changes..
Since you're relocating the battery, cut up the engine bay and fit a fat intake filter and good size pipes as close to the bumper or headlight/grill area as possible.
This would work well and is dirt cheap, they come by the foot:
I cant get the wife to leave me alone long enough to take a dump
hahahaha, I can relate. She rolls her eyes and sighs whenever I head to the bathroom...my 2 year old told me to hurry up once, he's learning from his mommy.
Bigbird - I've got the Tokico blue struts with H&R springs, helped a lot over the stock crap. EBC green brake pads, but stuck with the 10" disc/9" drum 4 cylinder setup until I can come across some v6 components and a larger set of wheels. The best bang for the buck deal for me so far (since I'm trying to mod for as close to 0$ as possible) has been to put the 205/65/14 tires on. I needed tires, so the performance aspect is free, it lowered the car, gave me a wider stance, and I run them at 24psi front/28 rear, and the grip is surprisingly good considering I haven't ever heard of Dean tire. I also set my front camber to -1.2* and rear camber to 0.7*. Front toe is stock and rear toe is 0. Gives a little rear tire wear from the toe, but vastly improved the gigantic understeer problem.
Jcamry94: you think I can go as far as 17-18* btdc? Will it still start?
Some of the other things I planned to do: clean K&N air filter, replace fuel filter, play with the vacuum port on the steering rack for quicker response, weld tabs with holes onto my RSB to increase rate by giving me adjustability, and try to make my MAP sensor a little more sensitive by mounting it closer to the manifold.
__________________
1996 Camry Sport (that's a DX Coupe with decals) with 186k
european cars are just like japanese cars, just heavier and more expensive.
7 ASE's.
hahahaha, I can relate. She rolls her eyes and sighs whenever I head to the bathroom...my 2 year old told me to hurry up once, he's learning from his mommy.
Bigbird - I've got the Tokico blue struts with H&R springs, helped a lot over the stock crap. EBC green brake pads, but stuck with the 10" disc/9" drum 4 cylinder setup until I can come across some v6 components and a larger set of wheels. The best bang for the buck deal for me so far (since I'm trying to mod for as close to 0$ as possible) has been to put the 205/65/14 tires on. I needed tires, so the performance aspect is free, it lowered the car, gave me a wider stance, and I run them at 24psi front/28 rear, and the grip is surprisingly good considering I haven't ever heard of Dean tire. I also set my front camber to -1.2* and rear camber to 0.7*. Front toe is stock and rear toe is 0. Gives a little rear tire wear from the toe, but vastly improved the gigantic understeer problem.
Jcamry94: you think I can go as far as 17-18* btdc? Will it still start?
Some of the other things I planned to do: clean K&N air filter, replace fuel filter, play with the vacuum port on the steering rack for quicker response, weld tabs with holes onto my RSB to increase rate by giving me adjustability, and try to make my MAP sensor a little more sensitive by mounting it closer to the manifold.
Mine is set @ 17 and has been for several months with no problems. Without 91+ octane 18 may be pushing though.
Also, just realized you've got a 94. 96 has a one-year-only(I think) distributor that has one bolt with no adjustment. Cam sensor is inside, coil is on the left fender. Later years got a cam sensor with no distributor and pencil coils on top of the plugs. I suspect I can simply hog out the mounting bolt and twist the dist, but I haven't found any proof. There aren't any ecu codes pertaining to ckp and cmp being out of sync, so I'm gonna find out if I can just go do it.
__________________
1996 Camry Sport (that's a DX Coupe with decals) with 186k
european cars are just like japanese cars, just heavier and more expensive.
7 ASE's.
The thing I'm most concerned about is this - how far should I shave the head? It's hard to find info on this mod. I read about a guy on mr2oc.com who shaved his 3s head 1/8", that's .125", that would give me 5 degrees of timing retard though, and I don't have adjustable cam gears. Suggestions for compression ratio are also welcome.
__________________
1996 Camry Sport (that's a DX Coupe with decals) with 186k
european cars are just like japanese cars, just heavier and more expensive.
7 ASE's.
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