so I've now got my wife's old Camry as a DD. its got 240K on it, and automatic, 2.2 4 cyl, and a WORN OUT suspension. i did put new struts on it a few years ago....
The damn thing just wont die. except for it being cranky on cold mornings (a few electrical gremlins and a bad IAC), and that its let her sit at walmart a few times, there's nothing wrong with it. my dad was the original owner, and its been properly maintained.
so after loosing my 2002 legacy 2.5GT to her, and selling my open track prepped s10 daily, I'm stuck with my two choices of 89 Chevy full size long bed extended cab, or the Camry for my daily. id rather drive the truck, but at 18MPG, it makes more sense to drive the Camry.
so i want it to suck less.
heres my thoughts (and remember, no budget, I've done no research, and its a freaking worn out Camry, so anything HAS to be a step in the right direction)
- replace ALL the bushings in the suspension. I'm thinking polyurethane of i can find them
- bigger sway bars (off of what?)
- lowering. it needs to come down a bit. tires are still in great shape, though, so ill be keeping the 14's for now. and they're Michelin's.
- some nifty 14" mags
- bigger stereo (stock tape deck just doesn't cut it. needs at least a CD player)
- any other budget handling mods?
after the chassis and comfort stuff, id like to get better gas mileage and performance out of the old 4 cyl (and a 5 speed swap is NOT an option) i was thinking about a bigger throttle body, header, and exhaust system, but cant seem to find anything like that with a quick search of Ebay. any ideas?
lastly, any other avenues to make this thing suck less? if i succeed well enough, i WILL autocross and rally cross it. my main goal long term is to have some fun while driving a boring car, and see this thing rack up 400K on the origonal motor, without a rebuild.
Michael
Goldie
Piece of Crap
Get an engine tune up first though just to 100% sure everything is okay.
Linear Mode
