performance gurus, help with 5s-fe?

[SexieWASD]

I've pulled the motor from my daily driver, and am going to swap it into my parts car and drive that for the winter while I fix the body on the dd and get some paint sprayed.

I've noticed that the exhaust valves are looking pretty beat and the seals have started to leak, the cylinders are also getting polished spots, So I', going to have a valve job done, and get it honed + new rings, but I've been thinking that since I'm dropping it into a much lighter 5spd about 20 more hp would be really great once there is snow on the ground.

I can make my own exhaust and intake cheap enough, and i'm thinking I might remove the balance shafts, but what else can I do to reach my goal, I've only got about $1500 to spend not including the rings + valves so I don't see a turbo in my near future.

(I already have a trd rsb, drop springs, disk brakes, and wheels.)

Does anyone have any ideas with such a limited budget?

[Luckynumber5]

Well, you can have someone do some head work and that will get you a little power. But the 5s just isnt a monster waiting to be unleashed

[bigbird]

balance shaft removal wouldnt be worth the potential gains i dont think. you could try going with some smaller or lighter weight pullies, doesnt really add hp but it helps with throttle response and would be great for the 5 speed.

[SexieWASD]

Yeah I don't expect the balance shafts to do a whole lot but on a budget like this. In a body that I don't really care much about (this was the silver 5sfe turbo that trd4life parted out) every little bit will help.

My other option would be to get some lighter pulleys like you said. I've got the AC system removed, so that will save a little weight, and I could get RichieRichJP's fidanza flywheel in the for sale section if he's still got it. Does anyone have any experience with webcams? They aren't cheap so are they worth it? Would I need a piggy back with them?

[bigbird]

to run custom cams and actually benifit from them you will need a tuning system, a piggyback might not even be enough. not only that but cams alone wouldnt be all that great without porting and a larger TB as well. i would stay away from custom internals with the budget you have.

gut the car! remove everything if its not your dd. some coilovers will reduce the weight a lot as well as would some lightweight wheels.

[Luckynumber5]

Cams wont really be worth the investment if its going in a Camry, they cant get much more lift out of the valvetrain design.

[Chris Crash]

I would totally remove the balance shafts, they like to go ka-boom on these engines. If you can deal with the slight vibrations at idle from the engine not being balanced, it's so worth it.

Best bet though is just swap a V6.

[SexieWASD]

I probably would drop a v6 in it if I could find one around here worth the effort. Every used car now seams over priced, I don't think that I could get one for a decent price. I was looking at just getting an outback wagon with bad rod knock and 250k mi, then just putting a motor in that for the winter (had almost no rust) but the guy wouldn't budge from $900. I would really love to put a 3sgte into it, but those are getting hard to find.

[SexieWASD]

I'm thinking I might be better served to go in a new direction. Topline has a rebuilt 5sfe on http://www.importperformanceparts.net/ for $1485. If I can get a reliable motor with all new bearings + timing components and oil pump for that price It sounds like a much better plan then does forcing more power out of an old motor. Plus that would give me two complete spare engines to blow up later. Does anyone have experience with Topline rebuilt motors, or importperformanceparts?

And what are the measurements on the left side? ( 87mm(3.425") 91mm(3.58") ) (I assume bore and stroke, but are those stock?)