Old Car Upgrades (Passion Project)

[Mathewjk]

Calling all carbonite car modification enthusiasts!

I'm thinking of jumping into the world of aftermarket car upgrades, and I could really use some guidance from the pros out there. To be honest, I'm a complete novice when it comes to this, so any information and advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated. I want to make it clear from the start that I'm not concerned about the retail value of my car or whether it's worth it to do the upgrades. This is purely a passion project to enhance my car experience, and I'm not too worried about the cost. I plan on taking my time and doing these upgrades over a few years. The car in question is a Kia Spectra 2002 with a 1.6L engine, and everything else is stock. I'm looking for advice on performance upgrades and quality of life improvements. What would you recommend, and where can I get these upgrades done, if they are at all possible? I know it's like investing in a custom water cooling loop for an old i3 processor, just to minimally enhance its performance but I still think it would be a great project. Any advice you can share would be awesome. Thanks in advance, everyone!

 

[EELeat]

Start off with an engine swap. Put something in there worth upgrading.

 

[TheJudge]

Calling all carbonite car modification enthusiasts!

I'm thinking of jumping into the world of aftermarket car upgrades, and I could really use some guidance from the pros out there. To be honest, I'm a complete novice when it comes to this, so any information and advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated. I want to make it clear from the start that I'm not concerned about the retail value of my car or whether it's worth it to do the upgrades. This is purely a passion project to enhance my car experience, and I'm not too worried about the cost. I plan on taking my time and doing these upgrades over a few years. The car in question is a Kia Spectra 2002 with a 1.6L engine, and everything else is stock. I'm looking for advice on performance upgrades and quality of life improvements. What would you recommend, and where can I get these upgrades done, if they are at all possible? I know it's like investing in a custom water cooling loop for an old i3 processor, just to minimally enhance its performance but I still think it would be a great project. Any advice you can share would be awesome. Thanks in advance, everyone!

Serious question, why the Spectra? Does it have many upgrades available? Would it be better selling the Spectra to get a car with easily purchased options? Not say it doesn't have but had to Google what it was!

 

[Mathewjk]

Hi @EELeat , Thanks so much for the suggestion! I did look at that, do you happen to have any words of wisdom about the process or advice on do's and don'ts to be aware of?

And the @TheJudge , the car is basically just sitting there - with a significant emotional value to a family member and next to no resale value. So I thought this project could be something fun to do with it! I know it's not practical but it's a lot better than scrapping it or selling it for peanuts, and it may be a good learning opportunity.

 

[Voldoverse1]

engine swap or boost if you want real performance upgrades, NA tuning is very expensive for very little payoff

personally id go for a custom setup with a M45 eaton supercharger from a scrapyard off a c180 merc or old mini cooper s

roots charger install is fairly simple and provides good low to midrange power, you know where we actually drive most of the time, will also shift a big car like that with more ease

other than that usually its satisfying to freshen up the car, redo upholstery thats worn or go all modern and reupholster all the grey bits like rooflining etc to black

learn tondo car detailing and give the paint proper treatment

fit new supension parts, most bushes is probably worn on a car that old

and then the 2 pieces of tech that i cant live without, cruise control and proper ICE with android auto

if you have a cable throttle then cruise control might not be an option but if its drive by wire then you can retrofit cruise control

When i comes to ICE dont tllet prices scare you too much, you dont need that 6K set of splits, most people dont realise their harmon kardon or bose they have in their cars are cheap as chips speakers with cleaver trickery thats all

seal and sound deaden your doors properly, buy a set of semi decent splits like alpine or jbl or pioneers fancier line, drop in one of those mini amps from stetsom and finish it off with a tastefully fitter active sub and you will love it

 

[Voldoverse1]

Oh and learn to do your own sound install, its very satisfying and fun and most of all you get to do the job properly as most sound shops have dodgy AF installs

 

[Mathewjk]

@Voldoverse1 Thanks a lot for all your advice! Really appreciate it. I'm definately considering the supercharger setup you mentioned, and your suggestions for refreshing the car's interior and upgrading the audio system are awesome. Thanks again!

Also just to add some more context, the car is low milage for its age as it was only driven for 3 years and then sat for 13 years until it was revived so its only sitting on about 50 000km

 

[PandaAttack1]

As someone who has tinkered with quite a few cars, it is simply not worth chasing performance on this car. You can probably buy a beater e36 with an inline 6 for the money you would be spending supercharging that KIA. (Which imo is a much more fun car to tinker with)

If I was you, I would not focus any efforts on improving the performance of that motor, beyond an aftermarket air filter. I would focus on handling and aesthetics. A short shifter, bucket seats, some coil overs and some fresh wheels and then enjoy the car for what it is.

As mentioned, installing an aftermarket sound 'system' is also a good place to start. Very easy to do, rewarding and enjoyable every time you use the car.

 

[PandaAttack1]

If your are set with improving the engine's performance, your only real option is to LS swap.

 

[aiccc]

Try iron lion in jhb. They do great work

 

[pɐlΛ‾pɐq‾ƃᴉq]

You won't get anything worthwhile from that engine.

If you want to do a conversion I would say either a SR20 swop, Toyota 4AGE or a Honda B/K swop.

You could also keep it slow and make it look nice.

 

[TheJudge]

Ever see a meme and get reminded of a thread. Sorry man but this made me laugh!

https://imgur.com/a/xBeY41s

 

[TheJudge]

You won't get anything worthwhile from that engine.

If you want to do a conversion I would say either a SR20 swop, Toyota 4AGE or a Honda B/K swop.

You could also keep it slow and make it look nice.

Why does this look like a Bantam?

 

[Pynoxim]

I'm going to look into the motor that's in there. I have a feeling that it's almost based off the Mitsubishi platform as many old Kia's are

 

[Old_Liver]

I'm going to look into the motor that's in there. I have a feeling that it's almost based off the Mitsubishi platform as many old Kia's are

Looks like it might be a Mazda engine

Mazda B engine - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Ech0.]

ls v8 swap it

 

[TheJudge]

One car I honestly would love to tinker with is random. I'd love to take a Ford Ka, switch the Rocam engine to a 1.6 and bolt on Steve Windham upgrades. It wouldn't be massively fast at all but the wheels are right on the edge of the chassis and it apparently has original Mini fun.

 

[NI∀ƆOƆ‾⊥ᴚ∩ʞ]

You won't get anything worthwhile from that engine.

If you want to do a conversion I would say either a SR20 swop, Toyota 4AGE or a Honda B/K swop.

You could also keep it slow and make it look nice.

But that doesn't look nice.
Please try harder next time.

 

[The Ghost]

One car I honestly would love to tinker with is random. I'd love to take a Ford Ka, switch the Rocam engine to a 1.6 and bolt on Steve Windham upgrades. It wouldn't be massively fast at all but the wheels are right on the edge of the chassis and it apparently has original Mini fun.

As someone who owned a Ka, I wish I never sold it. I miss mine so much, it was such a fun little car, even with the whopping 51kw 1.3 engine. Always thought I would somehow fit a supercharger to it for a little more oomph. It had so much body roll, but as soon as it finished body rolling into the corner it stuck like snot XD Driving it felt raw and unrefined

 

[Pynoxim]

Looks like it might be a Mazda engine

Mazda B engine - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

You are absolutely correct, and if that's the case then the world is your oyster. There's a huge aftermarket for Mazda B engines so it just depends on which way you want to go. NA or FI. For a better base you could swap in a Mazda BP from an Etude/Astina for a decent bump in displacement and then take it from there.

 

[StangV2_0]

Kia Spectra 2002 with a 1.6L engine,

If you want to make a fast car, start with a car that is already fast ~ Jeremy Clarkson.

 

[Pynoxim]

If you want to make a fast car, start with a car that is already fast ~ Jeremy Clarkson.

To be fair I started with a 1.5L Jazz making 81kw and now it's a 2.4 making 170kw so starting from a turd isn't always a bad thing.

 

[StangV2_0]

To be fair I started with a 1.5L Jazz making 81kw and now it's a 2.4 making 170kw so starting from a turd isn't always a bad thing.

It all comes down to what you prepared to spend.

What 2.4 engine is that? And is it NA?

 

[Pynoxim]

It all comes down to what you prepared to spend.

What 2.4 engine is that? And is it NA?

K24, it is NA.